The Best Intentions...

Well… I had great intentions towards the middle of February of once again returning to the world of the Blog on a regular basis. However, as I have heard, “…the road to hell is paved with good intentions…” Maybe I need to get off the road for awhile and trudge through the woods!

Since taking my new position in January, I’ve been just a little on the busy side of things to say the very least. Where on one hand I truly enjoy this as it keeps me engaged on a daily basis, it also has the effect of leaving me pretty worn out by the end of the day. So when I do manage to drag myself home to spend some time with the family, I find that I really am not in a mind set to do much of anything else that requires me to actually think.

I’m still hoping, however, to get back to being more involved here both in writing in my own Blog, while also keeping up with and responding to others. The simple fact of the matter is that I miss the interaction. My “intention” for this weekend will be to actually write something with some meaning… I know there are several things going on in the world that I’ve been thinking about, so maybe I’ll pick a subject and write about it. I also know that I have the in-laws coming up on Sunday… That could produce interesting fodder for a Blog entry. Hummmmmm….

What A Cool Day

First of all… I’m still here. I appreciate those of you who wondered and asked. I hadn’t exactly intended on giving up my on-line life, but I’ve been a bit on the busy side since the first of the year, and something had to give. Guess what it was…

Anyway… A short recap of the past month and a half… I lost my job at the start of the year due to a layoff, which wasn’t a big surprise as my old company is having some financial challenges. You would think this would be a bad thing… It wasn’t… I was actually quite happy to lose the position. It gave me some extra time at home to spend with the family (the kids were still out of school) and to relax a little bit. I knew I had money coming in through the middle of this month, so no worries. Besides, I was off for two weeks and then went back to work as a Network Engineer with another company with better benefits, and a much better salary. So… Life is good.

Today, I’m working from home as our office is closed due to the winter weather in the area. I just got back a little while ago from taking the wife to work and all I can say is, the conditions are brutal out there at the moment. It’s not the worse I’ve ever experienced, but it’s more than enough to keep sane people at home.

However, I’M LOVING THE WEATHER!!!! I like winter… I’ve been ticked off all season since we only really first got a decent snow (six inches) just last week. Now with what we are getting today, I’m happy. I feel like we’ve had a winter now. It reminds me of living out in Colorado, of which, and by the way, the wife has decided she would have liked if it was like it is today.

Here’s hoping the rest of you in the region are safe and warm today. I’ll try, as I can, to catch up on some over due reading. And maybe I’ll be able to keep a little more current on things than I have for the past six weeks.

In With The New...

It is the twilight of 2006... A new year is only a few short minutes away… As is normal with life -- with time -- change is a constant. This year has been no different for me, for you, or for the world in general.

It is a given that each year events will unfold… Some will be good, some will be bad, some will simply occur leaving us neither better or worse off than we were had it never happened.

This year has seen, from my own perspective, more change in my life than might be considered usual. It has not been as dramatic as some years, but it will last in my mind as more memorable than many of years past. Again… Some for the good, some for the not so good…

I am ready for the new year to begin and I hope it is one that sees more of the good than of the bad.

My best wishes to you all… Happy New Year… May it be a good one…

Observations…

I couldn’t help but notice over the past few days some of the following that is going on in the world:

James Brown died: “I’m going away…” were his last reported words…
The death toll in Iraq has exceeded the 9/11 casualty total…
Once again, the people of Somalia are suffering but the Islamic forces are being driven back…
Hamas is still causing strife in the Middle East…
American forces take down a top Taliban leader in Afghanistan…
An oil pipeline exploded in Nigeria: 200 dead…
Pakistan is building a fence, complete with mines, on part of its border with Afghanistan…
Yet another car bomb attack in Baghdad… 23 killed, 105 wounded…

…and the 21st century continues.

The Christmas Story

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: 'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'"

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."

When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.

Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."

And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more."

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

Wishing It Were A Winter Wonderland

It is days like today that make me regret ever moving back to the mid-west from Colorado. I have been reading, with great envy, about the snow storm currently piling all of that lovely white snow, now measuring in feet in various parts of the state. (NOTE: The PIC is from a web cam very close to where I used to live in Denver.)

I was just having a conversation about snow, or rather the lack of it, here in Indiana last night and we both agreed that it would be nice to have a white Christmas. Well, if we were living out west we’d be having one.

I have fond memories of several of the snow storms I went through while living in Colorado. They were fantastic! Not quite what we had here in the mid-west back during the Blizzard of ’78, but good enough. I even went through one “thunder snow” storm while living in Denver. The lightening was red and purple…

Four years ago, here, on Christmas Eve we had a very nice storm come through which left 9 to 13” in various parts of the area. That was a great Christmas morning…

Alas, according to the forecast for next week, we won’t be having a White Christmas here. So… Enjoy all of you denizens of the Great Plains! Maybe next year…

And to All! A very Merry Christmas! …and a Happy New Year!!

Tis’ The Season…Of The Herd

Of the many ways to enjoy and celebrate the “holiday” season which stretches between Thanksgiving and New Years, shopping to me has become the antithesis of Joy & Good-will.

Maybe it is due to one very simple fact… I have a great dislike for people. Not to say that I am not quite fond of some individuals, for I am… But people… That collective of wasted DNA which so often provides the ultimate display of utter ignorance… I really can’t stand to be around them, let alone find myself within their midst.

However, since I do not have a mass stockpile of the basic items required these days for human existence, I find that I must venture forth from my sanctum sanctorum on occasion during this time of the year, even knowing that I will have to face my great nemesis; again…and again…and yet…again.

My most recent foray into the realm of the objectionable was last night. On my way home from work, I had the need to visit the local Meijer store (i.e. Super Wal-mart type store) for a few items. I knew that it was not going to be a pleasant experience even before I had managed to creep along the parking lot to a place to park the car. Already, the people, here forth noted as, “The Herd,” were wandering back and forth with all the rush of a herd of turtles crawling through a dust storm.

Once inside the store, my situation did not improve… I had been encumbered by The Herd while still in the parking lot, but once they found themselves within the confines of the store, they became paralyzing. I simply had to stand for awhile watching as The Herd, with glassy eyes, attempted to figure out which way they should lumber off to in search of whatever it was they were searching for. Given the slack jawed, glazed eyed, befuddled appearance on some of the faces I saw, I would surmise that many were there simply to be there without any true notion of what they were seeking, or even if it could be found within the store.

As I finally managed to make my way through towards the back of the store where I needed to start my shopping, I had many occasion to pause and observe the same look, the same response, the same pattern, that The Herd shared wherever they were encountered.

To make a long story shorter… I finally, and I might add without turning any of The Herd into jerky, managed to get everything I wanted and made my way to the check out lines. If you think that things couldn’t have gotten any worse, you would be mistaken. Out of almost 30 check out lines, there was a grand total of 4 open for business. (I discount the check it yourself lines as I had too many items, and they had already been swarmed en mass by The Herd.)

I watched for 25 minutes as the cashier (undoubtedly culled from The Herd) slowly, oh, EVER so slowly checked each and every item before passing it over the scanner… She displayed all of the speed of frozen ambergris as she went about the performance of her duties. Once she finally started checking my items, she haphazardly dropped the items into plastic bags, not even once looking to see where the items were going. On the second bag, as she released a box of angle hair pasta, the corner of the box hit the side of the bag on the way down, causing a rip in the bag. Of course, the box continued its path through the rip; followed by the second box of pasta, and seven other items. Again, all of this was missed by this Herd reject as she continued along her mundane way. She didn’t even pause to observe, let alone question or assist me, as I picked up all the items and placed them into a new bag.

Finally… Finally it was OVER! I paid!! I started my escape… Only to hear her say, “Have a good evening…” I didn’t bother to stop and try to explain to her why I KNEW I was going to have a good evening… After all, my torture was over… Rest and deliverance was at hand… I was leaving The Herd in my wake and returning again to the peace and tranquility of my abode.

Auld Lang Syne...

Aside from the fact that the song Auld Lang Syne is so well known in the world, there is something about the melody that sings within in my blood. Maybe it has to do with the origins of the song and some imprinted memory hidden deep in my blood, but whatever it is, I can not help but start thinking about things ‘…old long since.’

I am once again listening to Christmas songs via web radio, and this tune started playing. I found myself immediately thinking about various memories I have from around this time of the year:

I’m not sure how old I was, but I remember going out with Dad to cut down a Christmas tree one year. It was cold, and there was snow. We went out east and south of where my grandparents lived (on my mother’s side) and found a small cedar tree. I know both my grandparents were still alive at the time, so I had to be somewhere between 3-5 years old. Of course, this was also before we found out I had allergies, so there went real Christmas trees…

I remember another year when I accidentally set fire to a Christmas decoration in the east room of the old house. It was something Mom had put together with cotton to represent the snow. There were candles… I knocked one over… Poof! I remember Dad putting it all out with a bottle (still 16oz glass at the time) of Coke. I think I was 5 or 6 at the time.

I remember one year going out for a drive with Dad on Christmas Eve and when we got back home, I found out that Santa had come early that year!! Of course, later in life, I found out that Mom and Dad had done that because they knew a large snow storm was encroaching upon the area, and Dad worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation, so he knew he was going to have to leave later in the night and be working on Christmas…

…But that started a bit of a tradition for our family as we started having Christmas on Christmas Eve from then on out. Most of the time Aunt Zelda (my mother’s sister) and Uncle Marvin came in to celebrate with us. As my grandparents were all gone so early in my life, they ended up being more like my grandparents than just an Aunt and Uncle.

In 1977, about a couple of weeks before Christmas, I ended up just about taking off the middle finger on my left hand while out knocking wood loose on the wood pile. We had an ice storm, so the wood was all froze together. I had went out with mom and was tapping it loose with a sledge hammer, when I somehow managed to get my finger down over the edge of the wood and hit it with the hammer. I was OK until I got up on the porch and took my glove off and saw all the red. We tried soaking it in cold water for a little while, as I was watching "Frosty The Snowman" on T.V., but Dad realized very quickly that we were going to have to head over to the hospital… Which was almost a thirty mile drive… On icy roads… And I really didn’t like the idea of stitches. But, that is what had to happen. I remember the doctor saying how lucky I was that the damage hadn’t gone just a couple of mille-meters more or I’d be missing most of my middle finger.

Another year, I can remember walking around town with Dad looking at all of the flood water after heavy rains had hit the area. I had a short sleeve shirt on since it was in the low 70's!!! For the mid-west, that is just SO wrong on Christmas day!

I remember Christmas Eve of 1988. It hadn’t been a very good year… I really wasn’t looking forward to the holidays. That morning, I happened to stop by the local tavern and run into one of my cousins. Well… We started out having just a couple of beers, but ended up spending most of the rest of the day bar hopping. Needless to say, by the time the evening rolled around I was seeing the vapor trails off of Santa’s sleigh. I still hear about that one from time to time… Not something I’m exactly proud of either…

Christmas of 1989… I was living in Denver. I had an apartment by myself that was small, but decent. I couldn’t afford a trip back home that year, so I ended up having a simple dinner with an Uncle (on my Dad’s side) who lived there as well. I had a very small tree that came with lights set up on one of my stereo speakers and had set up some Christmas cards for my holiday decorations. All in all… It was one of the hardest Christmas times I’ve had.

Maybe the hardest Christmas was in 1995… I had gone through a divorce, and my ex had fallen off the face of the planet with our daughter. I didn’t have the money at the time to hire a lawyer to pursue legal options. I didn’t have enough money to come home to try to be with anyone. And even though I had some offer from friends to spend time with them during the holidays, I just couldn’t bring myself to go anywhere. And… It was also just three months after my Dad had passed away… I got up Christmas morning and listened to the "Christmas Story" on the Charlton Heston Presents the Bible CD. Later in the day, I’m sitting there flipping through T.V. and I come across "The Music Man" on one of the channels. That was just about my Dad’s favorite musical (and one that I like very well) and it was at that moment that pretty much all of the events of the year hit me like a ton of bricks…

Christmas of 2002 saw over 10” of snow of the ground from a storm that had passed through the night before. It was a good Christmas day, and just two days later, the best Christmas present ever came along… My son… And he has continued to make Christmas a joy.

And this year, I think Christmas will add additional great memories as well with a blending of the old and the new, forming a new Beginning of sorts full of wonder and excitement with all the possibilities of the future in place.

Tis' The Season Of Solstice

I am of the opinion that the “winter doldrums” may have arrived early for me this year. Of late my mind is sluggish, I am prone to not feeling like doing much, and I feel as if I could use a good 18 hours of sleep. Of course, it could also be that I’m still trying to rid myself of whatever little nasty bug I ended up picking up a week ago.

I keep thinking that I would like to come up with something meaningful to blog about – like a post I was contemplating yesterday to mark the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and yet, as I was getting ready to type, my mind refused to cooperate, so I ended up posting nothing.

Maybe I just need a vacation… It has been almost two and a half years since I last took a real vacation, and I’ll admit to being more than a bit burnt out with work. So, some time off doing something enjoyable might be in order. However, with Christmas fast approaching, and still getting over the recent move, and everything else, I tend to think it will be awhile before that might occur. Maybe during the Spring Break…

At least my most favorite day of the year is fast approaching, that being the Winter Solstice, which will officially occur on December 21 this year at 7:22 p.m. EST. There are a couple of Winter Solstice events in and around the area that I’m aware of this year which might be interesting to observe. It’s always fun hanging out with the Pagan’s.

The Joy of Web Radio

There is one thing I really enjoy about web based technology... The ability to find just about anything you would want to list to any time you want to -- on demand.

Take for instance today. I'm still feeling wasted with whatever it is that has been going around and finally settled in our household. So in order to try and brighten my mood a little and lift my depleated spirit, I decided to log into laucnch.yahoo.com and listen to a little Christmas music.

There are several different "stations" to choose from, including a "Scrooge Toons" selection. For myself, I always prefer Traditional. So, I will sit here and listen to Bing, and Frank, and Doc and try to be reposed for awhile...even while listening to Tony Bennett

Tired And Feeling It...

I know I haven't been posting in almost two weeks and I thought I'd take the opportunity today to do something about it but now that I'm here I find myself too tired of mind to really try and blog about anything useful so I guess I'll simply leave things about the way they are for now in the hopes that sometime in the next couple of days I'll feel more like saying something.

The Joys of Moving...

I'm not sure how many times I've actually moved from place to place over the past 22 years. I actually used to keep count, but somewhere over the course of time, I sort of lost count. I'm sure I could...or at least I think I could...sit down and count them all up again, but when I actually start thinking about it, then I'm not so sure I want to know for sure.

All I know is that I've moved once again... This weekend... To a large apartment on the second (top) level of the building... (I hate hearing anyone walking above me.) That means up and down the stairs... 26' U-Haul truck... Packing, unpacking... Pain in my back, shoulders, arms, knuckles, hips, knees, ankles...even my toes. I think about the only thing not hurting on my body at present is my hair.

I ended up taking the day off of work (well, mostly as I’ve been doing remote work) trying to recover from the weekend. Recover at least physically. There is still a lot of stuff to finish putting away, or getting rid of, until we’ll really have our home situated the way we like it.

I’m tired of moving… I see one more in the future, maybe a couple of years (or less) from now, but I’m already going to start putting money away because the next time I’m going hire movers and let them suffer the ill effects of all the heavy lifting and the stairs. I’ve had it… There are still a couple of friends I’ll help move, but for myself… No more… Been there, done that, have the walker to prove it!!

But for now… I and Mormon Girl can start to rest knowing that the move is over, we’re here, and we don’t have to worry about it for awhile. And, if it hadn’t been for the help of O.Y.G., we never would have made it through the weekend.

So… If you will excuse me, I will say so long for now as I have a date with a bottle of Tylenol.

Business Trips…And Memories

I’m currently sitting in a hotel room in Henderson, Kentucky. It’s just a quick, overnight business trip. Nothing exciting, nothing special, just a night sleeping by myself, which I’m not accustom to doing since getting re-married. At least I have a king sized bed with four…count them, FOUR…pillows to sleep with, so all is not lost.

The last time I spent the night in Henderson was back in early 2001. A good friend of mine from Colorado was down here on a business trip of her own and I came down to spend some time with her. After I got here and we had dinner, she was telling me of all the problems that she was having with her husband (also a good friend of mine). We ended up sleeping that night in her room as she didn’t feel like being alone… It was all totally platonic… I wouldn’t have had it any other way, and I don’t think she would have either. Sadly to say, it wasn’t but a couple of weeks after she returned to Colorado that I got the call they had separated and filed for divorce.

It’s funny what you start thinking about when you’re on the road all by yourself. I can’t help but wonder what a friend of mine from St. Louis was thinking when he was on a business trip one time and decided to commit suicide in his hotel room. I can’t help but wonder how some of the people I’ve known in the past, thanks to business trips, are doing right now. I can’t help but think about some of the fun I’ve had taking business trips, along with some of the not so good times that have happened while on these trips.

I do know this… I am very glad that I haven’t had to spend my life, my career, living out of hotel rooms. I don’t care how fancy of a hotel you are staying in, or how good their dining room might be, or how comfortable the bed… In the end you are stuck in small little room… And it gets really old, really quick… I found that out one time when I was on a month long business trip in Massachusetts. But that is several other stories…

Just Say NO…to Talking Jesus Dolls

I need to stop reading or hearing the news. Anymore, most of it just depresses me. Here’s a good one out of Los Angeles…

The Marine “Toys For Tots” program has rejected the donation of 4,000 talking Jesus dolls by a company that specializes in Biblical figures. The rational was that they “…can’t take a chance on sending a talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim family…”

Ok… Let’s see if we have this straight… According to the Marines Toys For Tots Foundation web page, the Foundation “…provides Marines the opportunity to bring the joy of Christmas to needy children and accomplish passive mentoring by serving as positive role models.”

Maybe I don’t understand the definition of Christmas… Let me look it up… Hang on… Entering in the Meriam-Webster URL… Referencing Christmas… OH… It’s a noun… OK… Here it is…

The definition: “A Christian feast on December 25 or among some Eastern Orthodox Christians on January 7 that commemorates the birth of Christ and is usually observed as a legal holiday.”

So… If I understand the philosophy here… The Toys For Tots program is saying that it is inappropriate to hand out a toy doll made up as Jesus during a holiday season (Christmas) that commemorates His (Jesus) birth because it might be inappropriate, even though their program is designed to “…bring the joy of Christmas to needy children…” but somehow by sending out a Jesus doll during the commemoration period for Him (Christmas) it would be wrong…

Ok, boys and girls, I’m about to have a WTF moment here… Guess it’s time to stop thinking about the absurdity of this particular mind set before I stroke out.

I guess before I go, I need to ask: When in the bloody hell did this country, founded upon Christian principles, make such a wrong turn into ludicrousness?

What A Touching Story…NOT!

I was at the hospital this last weekend and I caught a glimpse of a news story on the Fox network. I wasn’t happy with the little bit I gleaned while trying to follow a conversation and choke down some dry turkey.

Now today…I see the story on the Internet news. It’s titled, “Boy, 7, asks Mexico to help stop mom’s deportation.”

I’m sure you can guess the story… A woman who came to the United States from Mexico ILLEGALLY gave birth to a son on American soil which automatically made him a citizen and now this tiny, four foot nothing American child is pleading with the media and pleading with the authorities and pleading with the Mexican government to help his poor mom to continue to stay in the United States…a country in which she has violated our laws, ignored our sovereignty, and is thumbing her nose at our Republic!!!

The picture was taken to evoke sympathy… The story, about this little AMERICAN boy, was written to evoke compassion… And should somehow the United States screw up at this point and not kick his mothers sorry ass out of the country, another THREE MILLION children just like little Saul with THREE MILLION to possibly SIX MILLION law breaking parents might end up permitted to continue to reside in our country too; where we’re paying for their medical care, paying for their schooling, and paying for their food, shelter, and clothing in a lot of cases.

And what are the parents doing for this country, besides draining our tax dollars? Why, they are working illegally, taking money out of our economy, and funneling it back down to Mexico to help the rest of their family while at the same time refusing to blend into our society, or adopt the benefits accorded to all LEGAL residents of the United States and trying to contribute to the greater good.

Sorry, Saul… There is a little flaw in our Constitution that has been perverted into allowing you the status of being an American citizen. (I personally think it needs be amended to NOT allow that status to a child born to someone in the country illegally.) However, there is no question about the status of your mother. She goes!

My children, legal citizens of the United States, born to parents who were legal citizens, born to parents who were legal citizens, and so forth back to the middle 1700’s need to be the primary concern of our Government with regards to health, education, and employment. If your mother wants to leave, apply for citizenship, and pay her dues…then come to this country to adopt our values, our culture, our LANGUAGE…GREAT! Welcome home! If not… ¡Hasta luego!

It’s nothing personal… I like Mexico… I like Her people… I wish you well… But my family and the family of every freaking legal citizen in this country come before your mother. Why? Because this is OUR country… It is OUR home… And by damn, WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, come first. End of story…

President Rudy Giuliani

I just noticed that the former mayor of New York has taken the first steps in making a bid for the 2008 Presidential Election.

I hope he is successful. Not only is Rudy Giuliani a well known figure through out the world, he is also a moderate Republican and should be able to reach out to a wide array of American voters. Where I personally as a conservative centrist do not agree with all of his positions, I none the less would be willing to trust the man to lead the greatest country in the world as I think that over all, his policies would be sound.

So... Good luck Mr. Future President of the United States of America!!!

Assimilation Complete

Well, I finally pulled the trigger and converted to the “new and improved” Blogger Beta. Not sure what I think so far since I haven’t really had the time to look around. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow night while I’m sitting in a hotel room down in Kentucky.

But… For what it isn’t worth… Here’s my first Improved Post! Woo Hoo!

Here’s To Bionics

My Step-father went into surgery early this morning to receive a couple of implants; A defibrillator and pacemaker. He has had heart problems for awhile (underwent emergency open heart surgery about two years ago) and the condition has finally gotten to a point where in order to have an improved quality of life, it was determined the assistance of technology was required.

My Mother called a little while ago and said that everything went very well, aside from taking a little longer than was expected to complete the surgery. He is now recovering, is expected to be in the hospital over night, and then will be sent home to rest and take it easy for the next six weeks while the implants take hold.

This isn’t exactly the stuff that made The Six Million Dollar Man a legend, but it is still a prime example of how today’s usage of technology is so vital and important to our health and well being.

Where he may not be leaping sixty feet into the air, or running along at 60 miles and hour, or fighting Big Foot, he is expected to end up with more mobility and energy.

At least… That’s what we are hoping for…

The Joy of Little Ones...

It’s fun having a small child. Having the opportunity to view all of the wonders of the world through their eyes sometimes reminds us of what we have lost by transitioning into adulthood.

Last night was a good example of such a time… My son, who will turn four late in December, went out to “Trick or Treat” last night. When I arrived at his house, he was already dressed up as a black cat complete with a chain leash wrapped around him. (He was supposed to be the familiar to his older sisters Witch.)

He exhibited all of the exuberance of youth in his quest to collect more candy in a couple of hours than the country of Switzerland produces in a year. The excitement of his costume, of Halloween, of seeing all the decorations and other children dressed up was very apparent in all of his actions.

Setting out for the evening, he ran, he jumped, and he knocked on doors yelling “Trick or Treat”, collected his candy, said his thank you, and ran to catch up with the older children, already on their way to the next house.

But as the evening wore on, his steps slowed, his enthusiasm waned, and the bucket on his arm (already carrying an impressing haul) started to dangle. Soon, he was begging to be carried and passing his bucket off to anyone who would assume the burden. And eventually, instead of showing exhilaration at the prospect of receiving free treats, he started to feel apathy at having to visit yet another house, and eventually, dread. But once the evening was over, and he was back home looking through all of the different candies he had collected, his excitement about the evening returned and he appeared to be content with his efforts and their desired results. The anxiety was lost in a moment as he realized his journey complete.

Later in the evening, after I had returned to my apartment, I was standing outside in the chill night air smoking a cigarette while observing Orion rise above the horizon. I started to reflect upon the evening and I found myself impressed at how my son had shown me a full cycle of a life experience in less than a couple of hours. I saw how a lot of our adult life is spent, sometime in weeks, sometime in months, sometime in years, starting a journey, being excited about the prospect, sometimes feeling overwhelmed as we go along, and most of the times feeling relieved once it is over.

Yet, we can then look back with a certain amount of satisfaction on what has been, knowing that the trip was worthwhile, and wondering when the next journey will begin.

Hail Samhuinn

Once again the old blood of my Scottish ancestors, still coursing through my veins, sings out in tune with my favorite time of the year…Samhuinn...the beginning of the dark season.

And much as I did as a child, I long to go forth into the world and create a little mischief and mayhem just to keep the old traditions going, and finish by building a large bonefire to burn a sacrifice of grain (grain alcohol that is) upon, and reflect upon life. And should, indeed, the barriers between realms thin and blur and I should find myself learning something about my past, or present, or future…so much the better; knowledge is always welcome and useful.

In Mexico, this time of the year is call Dia de los Muertos, meaning, Days of the Dead. (Some add a more plural meaning to the term.) Many flowers are sold, much food is prepared, and every necropolis is full of people spending time with those who have gone on before, sharing food, and drink, and laughter, and reflection. I was able to be in Mexico about four years ago during this time and be included in this celebration by some friends of mine down there. It was magical and spiritual and I can only think this must have been how the ancients celebrated almost 2000 years ago.

So enjoy! Be merry! Create a little chaos… And ponder that which is on your mind…