quick hits and more stuff with Donna

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours was smaller than usual. No family other than mom-in-law came into town, and all our military family friends actually had husbands back, so nobody else joined us. It was just mom-in-law, the youngster, the wife and me. Consequently, we did a 7 pound turkey breast instead of the whole turkey thing...and we are now leftover turkey free. It was a nice day with just the four of us.

Saturday the wife and I participated in the Players 5k with Donna, another breast cancer benefit. We are not runners, so we walked it...along with a bunch of other people. It was a chilly 39° when we started, but it warmed up a little and so did we, while we walked. Overall, it was a fun way to spend a morning and benefited a good cause.

Tiger Woods...the guy backs into a tree in his neighborhood and all of a sudden people are talking divorce and affairs and whatnot. I think someone was playing a game of "naughty nanny" and things got out of hand with the golf club....but who am I to say. It's his life. Does anybody (other than Nancy Grace, who needs to fill air time with something) really care?

Bobby Bowden is supposedly announcing his future today. I hope he doesn't drag his tenure at Florida State on any longer. It was once a proud dynasty and it's becoming more sad and pathetic by the day. Watching FSU get trounced by UF last Saturday and shots of him on the sideline, he just looks like a confused old man having trouble finding his teeth. It's time to sit on the front porch in a Country Time Lemonade commercial.

Biking 26.2 with Donna

Donna is a local news talking head who has battled breast cancer...at least twice that I know of. maybe three times. She's fairly athletic, and last year organized a marathon that benefited breast cancer research at the Mayo Clinic. She called it 26,2 with Donna, and it was a huge success.

I don't run. Long ago my knees and I made a pact. If I agreed not to run as a regular form of exercise, they'd agree to continue to function as knees. If I were to run like I did in my 20's, they threatened replacement surgery...so I listened, and agreed. Therefore I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the 26.2 with Donna.

This year, however, quite by accident I found a related bike event. A few weeks ago while googling something else, I came upon Bike 26.2 with Donna. It was a bike event, riding 26.2 miles, benefiting the same cause....breast cancer research at Mayo. It was the marathon distance, but it was bicycling. The event was being held a little less than 10 miles from home.

The synapses started firing in the old Lumberyard brain. I mean...breast cancer research. Worthy cause. I mean, we're talkin' breasts here. Women have 'em. Men love 'em. Gotta save 'em. We wouldn't even have to pack up the car. We could ride from home to the event. Do their 26.2 miles. Then ride back home. Talked to the youngster. he was in. Talked to my neighbor, who rode the MS ride with us and his boys. They're in too.

The ride was yesterday. We got up and walked outside to a chilly 50º morning. It was sunny, but cold. The weatherman promised it'd get warm, but we weren't close to there yet. It wasn't too bad, until we started moving. Once we were doing 18 miles an hour, it was pretty chilly. We were wearing long sleeves under bike jerseys, but just bike shorts. It felt worst on the hands, which even with bike gloves were feeling a bit numb. Everyone was looking at me, and asking, "Whose idea was this?"

The nastiness lasted the whole 8 or 9 miles to the event. We got there about 7:45, and it didn't start until 8:30. That 45 minutes was my savior, because it warmed up quite a bit while we waited. I wasn't expecting a huge turnout. Like I said, I found it by accident, and it wasn't very well publicized. If I wasn't internet surfing one night, I never would have known about it. I was wrong though. I don't know who got the word out, but even if I wasn't in the information pipeline, a lot of people were. There were hundreds of people and cars all over the place.

The ride was beautiful. It was still cool, but not cold anymore, and it was sunny. We were riding out to the beach and along it. I really enjoyed it. It involved back and forth trips across a sizable bridge over the intracoastal waterway...a pretty good workout, and some nice scenery.

The youngster is at the point where he can kick my ass on a bike. So far he's polite enough not to. He held back and stayed with me so we could cross the finish line together. The line of the morning..."Lets ride in together, Dad. You know there will be cameras. Try not to look tired." Yeah. Thanks, buddy. I love you, too. Still, we weren't slouches. I'd say we finished in the top 50 to 75 people, and easily in the top 10% of the field. He was right, too. There were cameras, and they did catch us, but they won't let you download pictures...just link to them and buy prints.

Once we hit the finish line, we hung out for a while, checking out the booths and sponsor tents. I've never really tried protein drinks before, and now I can say...I'm not a big fan. That stuff's a bit chalky. The smoothie booth made for a good chaser to get that taste out of my mouth.

From there we took it kinda slow back home...finishing at about 44 miles on the morning and home by 11:00. It was a blast though.

a new level of concern

Much like it really is true that you never knew you could love anything so much, as when you have and love your first child. I never knew I could worry, or be concerned about someone so much...as when that first child first drove an automobile solo...out in the real world.

Last night I had radar ears, waiting for the front door to open.

trouble's brewing

I know the Yankees are going to win...excuse me...buy the World Series. I don't have to like it though. I hate what the Yankees have done to baseball. I used to like baseball a lot more than I do. There are several reasons that it's lost its luster in my eyes, but right up there is the New York Yankees. They've taken baseball and turned it into a warped version of Supermarket Sweep. Baseball isn't a competition anymore. It's not a sport. It's something to be bought and sold. What used to be a real sport is now a tired ancient game show....and that's sad. Yankee fans tell me to just get over it, but how do you get over that? Getting over it doesn't make it any less wrong.

Then there's the other sobering news. The youngster passeed his driver's license test this afternoon. Be wary America!

you know you're a bit warped when...

...you enjoy watching one team win a baseball game, but you get far more enjoyment out of watching the other team lose.

Paranormal Activity

I guess i should preface this with...I'm not a scary movie person. I don't watch them. I don't enjoy them. I'm a comedy guy...or an action thriller guy. I like to be made to laugh or be wowed...and horror flicks don't do that for me.

Friday night the youngster came to me with a request.

"Dad, there's this movie I want to see with my friends, but it's rated 'R' for language. Can I go?"

The conversation went from there into what movie, and who wanted to go, and they needed an adult to take them and buy the tickets, since they're all 15 or 16. It's a really scary movie, and pretty much, they're all daring each other to see it. After some research, I decided it was OK, so I agreed to take the lot of them to see Paranormal Activity on Saturday night.

Mom-in-law was in town, so I arranged to take the kids, buy their tickets and leave to meet the wife and mom-in-law at a nearby restaurant for dinner. Another kid's mom was going to pick them up after the movie ended. So far, so good....almost.

We get to the theater, and the attendant informs me I have to have a ticket, and I have to see the movie with them. The kids came in more than one car, and the number I'm now 'accompanying' has increased dramatically. They buy me a ticket, and we discuss sneaking me out after the lights go down. Inside the movie, more of their friends appear with two other adults. The adults all have the same plan. Let the movie start and leave. So far, so good...almost.

The lights go down and one mom leaves, and about 5 minutes later, returns. The movie theater naziiiiierrrrrr...employees followed her...to the concession stand...into the rest room..and informed her they expected her to return to the theater with the kids she brought, or they were throwing them out. I called the wife and told her to go ahead and eat with her mom. I was trapped.

And trapped I was...in the most boring piece of crap movie I've seen in a very long time. It was about as stupid as another movie I took the youngster to...when he was seven...the Pokemon movie. It was equally scary, too, but the Pokemon movie moved faster, and with that one, I knew what I was getting into. This time, I had no intention of seeing a movie, particularly a really bad boring one instead of having a decent meal.

This wasn't scary. I don't think it kept any of those kids up that night. In fact, it was hard staying awake while I was still in the theater. You spend the majority of the movie watching two people sleep. I was jealous. It crawled at a snail's pace, and I kept looking at my watch, wondering how much more I had to endure. The recurring thought I had was....I could be eating steak right now. After it was over, one of the kids, in an effort to rationalize a decent reason for spending $10 on what he just sat through, said, "Well, it did startle you a few times." Sure, and if you would have stayed home, you could sit in a chair and have one of your friends clap his hands behind you when you don't expect it. You'd be just as startled and $10 richer. Bottom line, that's 98 minutes of my life I'm not getting back....and that's the most horrifying thing about this supposed horror flick.

dude...they're shoes for cryin' out loud

Michael Jordan's son, Marcus, is refusing to wear Adidas shoes when he plays basketball at the University of Central Florida. The school has a contract with Adidas, who supplies all their athletic shoes. Marcus says he'll only wear Nike Air Jordans, because the shoes hold special meaning for his family.

OK, they put food on your table and probably bought your car, but they're shoes for cryin' out loud. If they mean that much to you, go to a school that's sponsored by Nike. Don't go shitting all over your school's sponsorship parade over a pair of freaking shoes. Wear what they give you when you play and get over it. After the game, you can put on the shoes that mean so much to you and your family.

it's a sweep!

In an unprecedented move, the Heisman Trophy Trust will not be sending ballots to the traditional Heisman Trophy voters this year. Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy et. al. can relax and watch the ceremony with the rest of America on the couch, as it has already been announced that this year's winner will be Barak Obama.

FOX and CW are now scrambling for programming, as the reality show titans, American Idol and America's Next Top Model, have also mailed it in...Barak Obama.

In other news, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced it has awarded the Oscar for Best Picture for the upcoming year. Yes, it's Barak Obama. Responding to criticism that Obama isn't actually a motion picture, the Academy defended its decision, saying that Obama's rise from poor black child raised by his grandmother to the Presidency instills such hope in small ideas that dream of one day becoming blockbuster movies, that his influence was just impossible to ignore.

People magazine fans are now waiting with baited breath for the announcement of the sexiest man alive. Who could it be?

it bugs me, and it really shouldn't

Times are tough. People are losing jobs, or getting their pay cut either by getting salaries reduced or cutting hours for hourly workers. No matter what kind of spin the administration or economists want to put on the recession and it being "over"..tell that to the folks who are scraping by on unemployment or worse, whose benefits have run out and they're still looking. I know all this.

I know some of my family and friends are affected, even if they don't talk about it. It's not something you bring up when someone asks, "How's it going?" You don't want to admit you're barely making it...so you say "fine" and just move along. The conversation would just make it all the more painful. But I know it's happening. I know of people who have been affected, either by losing jobs or wages. I know of one person close to me that it's happening to for certain. Other than that one, I know of nobody, but it has to be happening. Why would the nation be having issues and by some miracle, most of my close friends and family are unscathed? It isn't possible. I know that too.

Still...I've been doing this bike ride thing for the past three years, begging my family and friends for money to donate to a pretty worthy cause in the National MS Society. Each year, for the most part, they've been stepping up. Some more than others, but the overall response has been pretty good. This year it's dropped off quite a bit...and that's not the part that bothers me. Like I said, I understand people probably have more pressing needs.

I do have issues with some of the people though. For example...one family member of the in law variety asked me earlier this year, if I could get him and his friends on an exclusive golf course in town. He flew in from halfway across the country to play. His friends drove down from Georgia. They played for close to nothing (like $40 on a course where the greens fees alone are over $250). Now, I would think when I come calling for a worthy cause...one or more of these guys would be jumping right on it, out of gratitude if nothing else, but no. Nada. It's not like it just slipped the in law's mind. I'm not bashful about not-very-subtle hints. He's had e-mails with pictures from the ride and a link to where he can donate.

This really shouldn't bother me. I didn't help them out on the expectation that there'd be some kind of pay back. They could well be having financial issues I know nothing about. They could have any number of reasons why they can't or don't want to support my little cause, and none of that should bother me.

So....why does it?

quick hits

Well, it was a weekend for biting the bullet.

First there was the issue of a vehicle for the youngster. I've been agonizing over this for months...not the actual act of purchase, because it's become a necessity, but how to afford it, what we can get for how much money, all that. I think we found something dependable, small, good on gas, and he likes it. Learned a lot about buying cars on cragslist.com. If you find something you think will work, you need to pounce fast. The decent cars for a decent price disappear in less than a day.

Then there was the event I've been dreading for years...the one ending in 'oscopy'. That one's now behind me, figuratively and literally. The prep for it was everything I expected, and nothing I want to do again soon. The actual procedure was a walk in the park...or maybe a nap in the park. I woke up in a drug induced haze and was told it was over. I sort-of remember being led back to where my clothes were, and putting them on, and the wife picking me up and taking me home. The whole day is a fuzzy memory though. That's 24 hours I'll never get back.

Then there was the Jaguars. A few weeks ago I said I witnessed the worst performance ever by my team. I should have added the word 'yet'. Lets just say, between prepping for Monday's 'oscopy' thing and watching the Seahawks pummel my team, that was about the shittiest Sunday evening I've ever experienced.

another year, another great bike ride

It really does seem to get better every year. The last two years we dealt with lots of wind and rain. Not so this year. I was beginning to think we'd never catch a break, but we had fantastic weather.

Yes, we're talking what has become an annual event in the Lumberyard, the MS Bike Ride from Saint Augustine to Daytona and back. Saturday on the way to Daytona, we actually had a tailwind most of the way. The youngster did the century (100 mile) route with me and a neighbor. The neighbor's two sons also rode with us - all of them doing the trip for the first time.

Sunday, a little bit of a headwind, but not too bad, and it was overcast, so not too hot. Seriously, we couldn't realistically ask for better weather.

Not only that, but a photographer was at the finish line to take this picture...which I will treasure for the rest of my life. Times like this don't come around all too often

are vampires the new gay?

There was a time when, if you wanted to be "edgy" on TV, you put a gay person in your show. Same with movies. If you wanted to raise an eyebrow and add some trendiness to your movie, insert gay person here. Then, after a few years, sticking gay people in everything got overdone, and it got to the point where all the reaction you got was a yawn.

Are vampires doing the same thing? No, the controversy isn't really there with vampires, but damn...entertainment seems to be oozing bloodsuckers. If you want to be cool and edgy, insert vampire here. Need a box office jump? Add a vampire. Maybe because I never really caught on with the whole vampire thing, but I'm about sick of them. They seem to be just about everywhere you turn. At one time, it was kinda novel and interesting, but it's been overdone already. Is it just me, or has the whole vampire thing jumped the shark?

the MS ride is right around the corner

The youngster and I got our freebies last night for this year's weekend trek from Saint Augustine to Daytona and back to benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society. It comes in less than two weeks.

It's the first year our team jersey is sleeveless, which doesn't suit me and my farmer tan all that well, but that's life. I still think it's pretty cool.

The Jaguars

My optimism for a respectable Jaguars season took a serious dive yesterday.

We've had season tickets for 15 years...since the birth of the franchise. I may be suffering from selective memory, and perhaps some other piece of ugliness was so bad I've wiped it from my collective consciousness...but, what I witnessed yesterday looked an awful lot like the worst performance I have ever seen from our football team. It was so bad, it would have been funny if I didn't care so much...

Yo Kanye West

You're amazing
so amazing
lyrically challenged but amazing
too amazing
way rude but amazing
just amazing
so amazing
so amazing
get over yourself amazing
too amazing
you're amazing
a waste of amazing.....

Jamaican me crazy

The youngster came home from school about a week ago, and we had dinner. Having dinner together has always been a staple for us. From what I hear, it isn't with everybody, and I've always taken it for granted. I'm starting to realize the value of doing that, but I'm also realizing I'm getting off track.

At dinner, he got all serious and I was thinking...oh shit, what happened at school that you're telling me about before I get either the phone call or e-mail. It was nothing like that though. It was...every year the school organizes a few mission trips to some impoverished part of the Caribbean. This year, he really really really wants to go. The cost is...well, it ain't cheap. They'd be doing some undetermined (as of yet) project in a very poor part of Jamaica. Last year they built a house for 8 people. It'd be something like that. Lots of prayer. Lots of reflection. Lots of work.

I was proud that he'd want to go. maybe taking him with me to do community service in Jacksonville's poorer neighborhoods is rubbing off. Still, it's not something we can just write a check for. This will require some sacrifice and budgeting.

Last night there was a meeting, for families with kids considering this trip. My main concern was the only one that had been presented to me so far. Cost. I hadn't even given thought to the other possibilities, and the meeting opened my eyes. There was discussion about disease, injury, civil unrest, and other possibilities and how those get handled. The fact that no matter what you do, there is an element of risk involved that you have to be willing to accept, was borne out. One parent asked how much the kids are supervised when there's free time, and they go out on the town on their own. The guy laughed. He said, first, there is some free time, but the days are pretty packed and it's not like the kids have time to go out on the town much. The few times they do, though, they're chaperoned.

Another part that became evident was, just because you raise your hand and say, "I want to" doesn't mean you go. About 35 kids get this opportunity, and I saw about 50 at the meeting. There is a selection process, and the first criteria is trustworthiness. On that point I have little concern for the youngster. The second though, is grades. It's been well documented here that the youngster struggles with ADD, and his grades have been an issue. This year he seems to have matured quite a bit, and the grades are better, but still under constant surveillance. If there's one place in the selection process where someone else will go and he won't, this is probably it.

I want him to go. I think it'd be an amazing experience for him. If he gets selected, we'll do whatever we have to, to get him there. I'm just crossing my fingers that he doesn't get chopped off at the knees before he even gets started. I guess I need to figure out that whole passport process. I've been all over the place, but that was in my former military life, and a passport wasn't required. Now, I need to figure out how you get one of those, and all I know so far is...the post office can help.

go to class. do good. make us all proud

I think it's fairly well documented that my views are slightly right of center. Ok, maybe more than slightly. Still, I don't blindly go running with whatever comes down the conservative pike, and I don't buy the idea that whatever is being pushed by liberals is automatically the devil's spawn.

So it is with this speech the President wants to give to school children. I really don't get the uproar and opposition. People are actually refusing to let their kids to listen to the President tell them to do well in school...Why? Because he's Barak Obama? The President wants to tell kids to take responsibility for themselves and kick butt in school. In my mind, that's a tip of the hat to conservative America. Grab some personal responsibility, kids. Don't expect anyone else to do things for you. Don't wait for your government to do things for you. Don't expect the "village" to do things for you. You have the ability to be somebody. Do them for yourself.

I feel like there's a warped segment of people...people I usually tend to agree with...who are basing judgement on, "If Obama's for it, I'm against it." Let's not be throwing the baby out with the bath water. If the guy wants to tell our kids to study hard, I hope my kid listens. It certainly can't hurt.

not ready to drink the koolaid

Everybody wants to get all giddy because the jaguars looked good in their last preseason game.

The passing game has sucked in recent years and looked much improved in that game. There was a pass rush, which had been missing before. The offensive and defensive lines looked much better than in previous weeks. They dominated the Redskins.

Yeah...but.....

First, it was the Redskins. It wasn't Indianapolis.

Second, it was the Redskin second and third string. Unlike the Jaguars, the Redskins first string players had already proven they can play, and got to sit out the last preseason game. The Jaguars played against the guys who aren't sure if they're good enough to make the team. They're playing for a spot. So, there's a reason they're playing. They aren't as good as the guys who took the night off. If they Jaguars didn't look good against those guys, I'd be really worried.

I'm encouraged by the execution the Jaguars displayed, but I'm not buying into the idea that they can do the same things against top shelf talent. That, I still need to see.

the pots and pans circle jerrrrrr....game

A long time ago..I wanna say about 20 years, maybe longer (might have even been about when we got married)...my parents bought us some pots and pans. They were really nice pots and pans, and they served us well. We used them for everything, until about 2 years ago. The wife announced she didn't like them anymore. She also announced there was some special deal going on at the grocery store...buy a pot/pan a week for a special price. They were lighter. They were a pretty blue. They were all teflon coated and came with power windows, sunroof, cruise control and wireless internet access. They were...in the pot world...da bomb.

So we bought them, a week at a time. When we had the whole set, we gave the old stuff to our niece, who was just starting to make her way in the world, and could use pots and pans.

After about a year and a half, the handles on the lids of these fancy new cheap ass pots started breaking. The first went when I was holding it by the handle to wash it. I was ridiculed for washing it 'too hard', but soon I wasn't the only victim. One by one we lost them. The lids still functioned, but you needed a screw driver or pliers and pot holders to get the lid off, because the handles were worthless.

Finally, this weekend, the wife had enough. We went pot and pan shopping, and came home with a new set. We've come full circle. It's an updated version (because it's 20 years later), but basically...they're the same brand and stuff we used to have. Maybe we learned a lesson.

Rick Pitino's had enough?

Rick Pitino held a press conference today to say that the sex scandal he's in the middle of has been pure hell for his family, and that he's had enough.

Really? It's been pure hell for your family? Really? DUH.

You've had enough? Oooooh I don't think so, Ricky. You're going to get a whole lot more before it's all said and done. I don't think the "you've had enough" call is yours to make, and to say you've had enough is playing a smugness card that frankly, isn't in your hand. I think a whole lot of media and whoever else decides to put their nose in your very public business will be deciding when you've had enough. You may think you've had enough, but you're about to find out how much more you can handle...or can't. Either way, it's coming.