ornament

Closer inspection of our tree. I am sad, suddenly.

X-Mod and a Tree?

Over Thanksgiving, my garage was commandeered by the kids to become an X-Mod racetrack. As seen in the above picture, there weren't very many spectators. And the races really weren't structured. And many batteries were expended. And a good time was had by all. And the kid in the red is my long haired freaky son. (them other two kids ain't mine - them are Michigan kids)

Thankfully, due to lack of interest, we were able to shrink the track enough to get my truck back in the garage!!!

Oh and now that Thanksgiving is out of the way, we've installed the required shrubbery in the living room, as witnessed by the top picture.

multi-national

Last night once again, nothing but EAT. Had to go out for dinner, to assist with entertaining guests to our plant. This time we had folks from the company's plants in Spain and England.

Of course I ended up staying too late with my peer from Spain (he has the same thankless job I have), and one of my co-workers, who's from Nicaragua.

Picture it - a Canadian, a Nicaraguan, and a Spaniard, all sitting around sipping scotch in a restaurant in Keokuk, Iowa. Go figure. It was fun. Well, last night it was fun - wasn't so much fun when I woke up for work at 4:45AM this morning......

burp

Its official. I must be preparing for hibernation. I have eaten enough this weekend that I should be able to just curl up in the bedroom and not come out again until spring. (burp) 'scuse me.

At the very least, I shall probably not have to eat again until Christmas.

I Am

Interesting lyrics, from Jon Bon Jovi's newest album, 'Have A Nice Day'.





I AM
How you spend your minutes are what matters
All tomorrows come from yesterdays
When you’re feeling broken, bruised and sometimes shattered
Blow out the candles on the cake like everything’s a big mistake
It seems you always wait for life to happen
And your last buck can’t buy a lucky break
If all we’ve got is us then life’s worth living
And if you’re in, you know I’m in
I’m ready and I’m willing
I am
When you think that no one needs you, sees you or believes you
No one’s there to understand
I am
I’ll be there to be that someone
When you think that no one is there to hold your hand
I am
We’re just who we are, there’s no pretending
It takes a while to learn to live in your own skin
Say a prayer that we might find our happy ending
And if you’re in you know I’m in
I’m ready and I’m willing
I ain’t got no halo hanging over my head
I ain’t gonna judge you, I’m just here to love you
I am
I am
I am
When you think that no one needs you, sees you or believes you
No one’s there to understand
I am
I’ll be there to be that someone
When you think that no one is there to hold your hand
I am

verdict

The LeAnn Rimes version of the Unchained Melody ain't worth the disc space it takes up. The original by the Righteous Bros is most excellent, of course.

Got friends here from Michigan for Thanksgiving. Should be fun. I imagine all we'll do is eat, then complain about being too full and how bad our heartburn is. But isn't that what friends are for??

The Righteous Brothers

Some poor deluded soul referred to my brother and I as the Righteous Brothers. Although I have no doubt we could sing a passable version of 'Unchained Melody' together, I don't think we'd pass as righteous!! I mean LOOK at us!! Do we look righteous to y'all????

And I've just discovered a shocking truth. Of the 5038 songs I have in iTunes and on my iPod, not a single one is the Unchained Melody. I am off to the iTunes store - its a must have in my library.

Update - there are 150 different versions of the Unchained Melody available on iTunes.... hmmmm.... I think I shall buy the original, by the Righteous Bros, and a version by that young upstart LeAnn Rimes. I'll let you know which is better.

Final note - I have made a grave grammatical error above. Can you spot it?????

driving

Well, I did a LOT of driving this weekend. 2060 miles, to be exact. I drove from home here in Iowa, to Ingleside, Ontario, for my grandmother's funeral. If you want details about this wonderful lady, you can click the link over there -------> to my brother's fancy blog.

Anyhow, it was a chance for me to visit with my cousins, and some aunts, some uncles, and other assorted and sundry people. I didn't recognize some of my cousins, cuz the last time I saw them they were little kids. They grew up. Imagine that. Some nerve, growing up while I wasn't looking!!!

Whenever I get to visit with my cousins, I feel like a kid again. As a kid I saw lots more of them, and so somehow visiting now takes me back. It's a good feeling. I wish I could visit them more often. I could stand to feel like a kid more often.

Oh well, I am back in Iowa now - gotta be an adult again. (sigh)

contrast

So, my bro has been studying the Gospel of Luke lately. I've been playing Ridge Racer on a Sony PSP. How could we draw a comparison between the two pastimes?

Well, I suppose they both require concentration. I guess they both provide rewards. I got a new car on Ridge Racer. Tim probably got a warm fuzzy from studying Luke.

Differences exist as well. The PSP requires electricity of some kind, the Bible does not. The PSP has awesome graphics and sound that you can see, while the Bible has the same, you just have to imagine it.

Which all makes me wonder how Luke would have enjoyed a PSP?? :-)

fixed

'Puter is fixed. Walmart had US Robotics modems, didn't need to go to Staples. Old Sony is alive and kickin' once again! I notice, however, that the even with a brand spanking new dial up modem, the internet ain't any faster....hmmmmmm.....strange, that.

Hobby Lobby was way cool. They have everything the crafty type would want, and then some. I felt VERY outnumbered in there .... me and about a hundred older, kind-looking, calloused fingered quilter-type women. Eeeeeek!!!!!!!!

Plan is to watch 'Batman Begins' tonight. (yawn). whatever.

so.......what else?

So, I wonder what else will fail on my puter. First the hard drive was on its way out, now tonight the phone modem crapped out. Hmmm....

So now one of the laptops has to be the internet gateway, until I can find a new modem. Prolly have to drive 40 miles to get one, or order online. Gotta love country living. Mrs. G says we can drive to Burlington tomorrow to get one, cuz then she can go to the Hobby Lobby. Wooohoooo. Let's pack a picnic lunch and make a day of it!!!!

At lunch today I was listening to Midday Connection on the local Moody Bible Institute broadcast repeater. (its a woman's show, but whatever) Today they were talking about modest dress for young girls, and how to teach them to dress appropriately. It seems that to love God is to be a frump, based on what I was hearing. Why not go all the way and just require women to be completely covered, as they do in the Middle East?? I mean where do you draw the line? One woman was quite proud of the fact that she didn't look in a mirror for a whole week ('tis vanity, dontcha know). Gadzooks I am glad I don't live with her!!! Yuck, Phooey. I say 'Bring on the Mirrors' - they are wonderful inventions. Another woman said that God had spoken to her and she felt moved to wear only jeans and a t-shirt for a period of time. (what she meant was no 'dressing up all fancy like') No wonder Christianity can seem trivial and unappealing at times.....

At any rate, I don't believe that requiring or even suggesting a dress code is required. But of course, that's just my opinion. I reckon that if Eve wore fig leaves, then today's gals can pretty much get away with anything. :-) God created men and women, and although I might be wrong, I don't think Levi's and a Fruit of the Loom t-shirt came with the deal.

ER

Its ER night. Missus Grumpy is settled on the couch, in front of the bigscreen TV, surround sound cranked up, ready. She is pumped up..... (she loves ER)

Me, I am going to make some new playlists in iTunes, or, maybe I'll go watch Without A Trace in the bedroom, on the wee little flatscreen TV. (binoculars required, and the sound SUCKS)

Of a certainty, I shall not be watching ER.

I need to recover from the day - had a conference of my peers from other plants at our plant, reps from 5 other plants came. (Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ontario, Mexico). I had to host, and it seems to me that all we did was eat. Might have learned something, I am not sure. We had a good time in spite of all the food, and it's always nice to interface with others in the same job.

I'm done.

hats

You should see the hat my son HAD to have. (well, you can see it above)

I cannot believe he wears it in public. I must be getting old. I am so not cool. And my hair is waaay too short.

Luckily, these hats only came in packages of 10. (they don't sell such hats in southeastern Iowa, so I had to order them online) White knitted beanies with a visor. Apparently you must wear them with the visor off to one side, and the hat pulled down over your ears. There are plenty of these in the house now, so I can wear one too!!

Somehow, I don't look as cool.

NG

Read this in National Geographic the other day. A Jewish cantor named Joseph Portnoy wrote this to his wife during his service in WWII.

"Ask God to give you what you want. Help him to justify your wants by the way that you live, and then having given him your prayer, have the faith and courage to rely on his power to do the thing that is right in his eyes"

Very eloquent, and appeals to my logical mind. I think he has said in two sentences what a Baptist preacher could preach 3 hours on and still not make the point!!!

Ok maybe not 3 hours, but it would sure seem like it...... :-)

Cadillac.....or Lincoln?

Had to go to Dee-troit this week for a couple of days. You'd have to pay me a SLUG of money to live there....

However, I had to visit GM's Hamtramck plant, where they build the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne, and then over to Ford's Wixom plant, where they build the Lincoln Town Car and Lincoln LS. Its always cool to watch cars being assembled.

I reckon the domestic automakers could kick some butt against the imports if they'd just build the dang cars in the same plant. Hard to tell which plant is which...is that a Lincoln or a Cadillac rolling down the line????? Why not just fill one of the two plants, either Hamtramck or Wixom, building both Cadillacs AND Lincolns. There appears to be plenty of capacity in either one....think of the savings.....