What Have I Done?

It's Judy's fault.

She told me to check out her Facebook.

So I did.

And I saw lots of people I used to know.

So I signed up.

And now I check my e-mail every few minutes.

Someone else might leave a comment or add me as a friend.

Facebook is so cool.

I love you guys.

"That's a Bad Word"

Abigail's homework assignment was to pick three words that rhyme with "truck" and write a sentence for each word.

Her first word was "luck".

She then tried "book" but that's only an approximate rhyme.

Her next word rhymed with "truck".

I asked her to repeat what she said.

She did.

"Sweetheart, that's a bad word. We don't use that word." I can be a very good father sometimes.

I had a feeling this might happen when I saw the assignment.

Soup Time

Now that Autumn is here and temperatures have dropped into the upper 90s, I decided it was time to make Navy Bean Soup. It turned out pretty well. I used 2 pounds of Navy Beans but I think one would have been better. Now I have enough soup to feed an entire ship full of hungry sailors.

Navy Bean Soup

1 pound navy beans (soaked)

1 pound ham (chopped)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped carrots

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

6 to 8 cups water

After the beans have soaked, combine all the ingredients in a large pot and simmer until the beans are tender. Enjoy.

That was easy.

Sunday Photos

I was playing around this morning with the macro setting on my camera.

Sexy?

Tab was looking for a Halloween costume the other day. She had a hard time finding a costume that wasn't prefaced by the description "Sexy". There were costumes for Sexy Nurse, Sexy Maid, Sexy Cop, Sexy Doctor, and Sexy Hooker. Tab's already got Sexy Schoolteacher covered.

We started thinking about other "Sexy" costumes for the ladies. How about a Sexy School Lunch Lady, or a Sexy Taxi Driver, or a Sexy Stenographer. Perhaps a Sexy Administrative Assistant or a Sexy X-ray Technician. Or a Sexy CEO. I think Sexy Mortician would be a perfect Halloween costume for a daring young lady looking for a good time on October 31.

I'm just going to dress up in my usual costume on Halloween. I don't have any specific plans but I'm sure I'll be going to a lot of parties.

I won't be bringing beer.

Shouldn't You Be in Bed?

It's about 12:30 in the morning. I had to run down to work to drop off some papers. On my way home, I stopped at my local 24 hour Walmart to see if there was a new issue of "Woodenboat" magazine.

I didn't find "Woodenboat" but I did find some people shopping with their infant and two toddlers.

Let me give you a moment for that to sink in.

...

...

Can you believe I went to Walmart?

Crazy!

Chuck's Belly

It used to be a little bigger.

And it had more stuff inside.

It's Never a Good Time...

... to get detained by the police. You're either very thirsty or you have to pee really badly. Sometimes it's both.

I Love This Country

In the circles I run in, you hear a lot about how "We need to take this country back for God" and "This country was founded on Judeo-Christian values." I'm not sure what "Judeo-Christian values" are but I'm pretty sure they don't include animal sacrifices, polygamy, and stoning.

Evangelical Christians have had unprecedented access to political power for the past 30 years. Jimmy Carter, for all of his Southern liberalism, was a "born again" Christian. The religious right rallied to thrust Ronald Reagan into the White House. Evangelicals turned the Democrats out of Congress in the 90's and helped George W. serve eight years in office. Evangelical pastors have had the ear of the president and Congress for a while now.

To what end?

The past thirty years have seen a continued erosion of "Judeo-Christian values" in this country. Divorce, drug use, pornography, teen pregnancy, gay rights, abortion.... The list goes on.

All of this political power has netted Christians in this country nothing.

Vote for whomever or whatever you think is best in November but don't think it's going to stem the tide. It's time Christians started leading by example and not by legislation.

Pants

Yep, it's that time of the year again. Time to dust off those blue jeans and put away the shorts.

Well, I won't be putting away the shorts but I will be wearing pants every now and again.

When I was in Junior High I had one pair of blue jeans. They were Levi 501's. Mom washed them on the weekend and I started wearing them on Monday. I'd run around all day in them and wear them again the next day. They would get progressively softer as they got dirtier through the week. By Friday, they were kind of gross. When they wore out I got a new pair.

I used to dream about having more than one pair of blue jeans to wear.

I'm a little particular about the jeans I wear. I don't like them too loose or too tight. I don't like them too long or too short. I like to have a pocket for my cell phone. I like to wash them often.

I got my 2008-2009 pair today.

I may buy only one pair a year but I don't wear them everyday and I don't wear them out like I did in Junior High.

It Must be Autumn...

... cause I've got ropey clumps of phlegm dripping down the back of my throat. There's nothing like hacking up a mouthful of phlegm in the middle of the night.

It's beautiful.

The leaves are changing. The Santa Anas have arrived to make every firefighter think that there might be enough overtime for a great Christmas this year. The air has that cool crispness. The A/C stays off and I start to think about firing up the furnace. I get to wear long trousers. And a sweatshirt. And rain, sweet rain, the gift from above, is just around the corner.

Here in So-Cal we have two seasons: Summer, and Not Summer. We are finally coming into Not Summer, my favorite time of the year.

Except for the phlegm.

Forty Years Ago...

I remember when "Forty years ago" was a long time ago. That was when Grandpa was in the South Pacific during WW2 or they brought electricity to rural America.

Now "Forty years ago" is just a couple of years before I was born.

Soon "Forty years ago" will be personal memories.

Dang!

His First Splint

Aidan sprained his wrist last Friday playing at McDonald's. Two hours at Kaiser, a healthy dose of radiation, and a little fiberglass and Ace wrap makes it all better. We took the splint off last night (he needed a bath) and haven't put it back on.

Watching him jump off the rocks at the Canyon Crest Starbucks today, I was thinking this won't be the last splint.

She's Been Waiting for the Day

Tab has wanted a place where she could go and work on her art away from the hustle and bustle of her needy husband and children. She had hoped to use part of the garage, but the garage is the repository of all the junk acquired over 12 years of marriage so there wasn't much room left for creativity.

And then I told Tab about an article in the New York Times about hip-young couples buying prefab modernist sheds to put in their backyards. They use these sheds/studios/retreats/playhouses/get-aways to store stuff, create art, retreat, play, or get-away. What a cool idea.

This mention along with an idea long-simmering in her mind caused a flurry activity now known as the "Great Backyard Structure Search" (the GBSS). About two weeks later, Tuff-Shed built a not so modernist 10 foot by 12 foot shed in our backyard.

She really likes it. Now I just have to fulfill my promise to get electricity to the studio.

Complex Economic Problems Explained Simply

You might have read detailed breakdowns of the economic issues facing this country. It's all a bit too complicated for my non-mathematical mind to take in.

I can however tell you the root of this crisis:

It all started when I got my first credit card 16 years ago in college.

Way to go Wells Fargo!