The girls are having a blast. They were treated to dinner at an expensive steakhouse, and my daughter ordered Mac and Cheese! If dumbfounded could take a solid form, it would look a lot like me right now. Big day for them tomorrow.
Year: 2008
The scream was like a banshee in pain
The house quieted. Evan declared, "Give me bop. I go bed now." And with a little reluctance, he put himself to sleep. Noah coaxed Amy to bed but she sprang back after he slipped out to read a book. In the meantime, I took the dogs outside and sat on the porch, shirtless to enjoy the cool evening air with no mosquitoes and chant. Shortly into chanting, the peaceful neighborhood with its waxing gibbous moon (96% full) being sung to by crickets erupted into a cacophony of barks and howls. I continued to chant and Dharma and Molly, my German Shepherds, sat silently alert. Then there was the shriek! Altogether to close! Thanks to our camping in the Okefenokee, I am quiet familiar with the sound of fighting raccoon and I do not want my dogs tangling with one of those. Chanting ends. I usher the dogs inside to find Amy having trouble sleeping so we go to her bed and chant together until she is calm enough to sleep.
Wiped out
Oh, I forgot I wasn’t barefoot!
I picked up some Teva Mush flip flops yesterday for $6! They are so comfortable and light that I keep forgetting I have something under my feet. I wore my Birkenstocks until the cork rotted away and since then I’ve keep my toes covered. It feels good to have the toes free again!
And the girls are gone!
Cathy and Sarah along with Missy took off this morning in a decked out Saturn Vue loaned to them by GM to attend BlogHer in Washington, DC. Today was also my deadline for getting my IRS paperwork straightened out before they begin levying bank accounts again. Despite my pleas for one more week, they wouldn’t budge. Fortunately since today is a Sunday and tomorrow is a federal holiday, I have until Tuesday to turn the papers in. For a variety of reasons from "I didn’t feel like it that year" to "Cathy’s name didn’t match the records at the Social Security Department," I had missing or rejected IRS tax returns from 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006. This makes Uncle Sam not like you. And when Uncle Sam doesn’t like you, he takes away a bunch of your money in fees, interest, penalties, and brute force.
The paperwork is straightened out. Amy has been to a birthday party. Evan and Noah to the circus with the grandparents. Noah is nursing a migraine. Amy and Evan are playing. And I’m programming (think I’ll slip some dinner in somewhere).
Birthday parties are fun!
McCain Endorses Obama!
Not really but John McCain just scored some points in my book. Well handled John! Watching this video was like watching a character actor step out of character. I’m still voting for Obama but McCain showed some class.
"[Senator Obama] is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared about as President of the United States," he said, before adding: "If I didn’t think I would be one heck of a better president I wouldn’t be running." [Source, The Huffington Post, McCain Faces Backlash Over Rabid Crowds and Source, TalkingPointsMemo TV, McCain Tries to Tame Flames He Earlier Fanned (YouTube and Talking Points Memo site)]
He called me shorty
I really did feel very small.
Mobile post sent by djuggler using Utterli. Replies. mp3
The State of Arizona Poised to Secede
HCR 2034 introduced by Representatives Johnson, Cooley under the reference title of "abolish federal government; state sovereignty" says that when the United States declares martial law, Arizona is outta here!
when or if the President of the United States, the Congress of the United States or any other federal agent or agency declares the Constitution of the United States to be suspended or abolished, if the President or any other federal entity attempts to institute martial law or its equivalent without an official declaration in one or more of the states without the consent of that state or if any federal order attempts to make it unlawful for individual Americans to own firearms or to confiscate firearms, the State of Arizona, when joined by thirty-four of the other fifty states, declares as follows: that the states resume all state powers delegated by the Constitution of the United States and assume total sovereignty; that the states re-ratify and re-establish the present Constitution of the United States as the charter for the formation of a new federal government, to be followed by the election of a new Congress and President and the reorganization of a new judiciary, similarly following the precedent and procedures of the founding fathers; that individual members of the military return to their respective states and report to the Governor until a new President is elected; that each state assume a negotiated, prorated share of the national debt; that all land within the borders of a state belongs to the state until sold or ceded to the central government by the state’s Legislature and Governor; and that once thirty-five states have agreed to form a new government, each of the remaining fifteen be permitted to join the new confederation on application. [Source, Arizona State Legislature]
Please note that I could not find a copy of this in THOMAS.
Update: The document says it is from House of Representatives, Forty-fourth Legislature , Second Regular Session, 2000. That would be pre-9/11.
Of Being Dad
This morning was cool…until I got up. Cathy swapped roles with me this morning and got the children ready for school. What a relaxing way to start the day! I allowed myself 20 extra minutes of sleep then calmly got dressed and went upstairs to lend a hand by making Amy’s lunch. We were right on time to make the bus but pushing it. I had a simple plan: Amy and I run to the van and get to the bus stop. I remind the air, "Don’t let Dharma out!" It has been raining and I don’t have time to clean her feet for a van ride and still be able to get Amy to school. Then Evan runs into the kitchen with sticky buns caked to his hands. I exclaim, "Go wash your hands" but he needs help and no one is moving his direction. Cathy and I simultaneously take him to the bathroom and wash his hands. Suddenly Evan is to be a passenger. I’m watching the clock tick knowing that we are at a coin flip on making the bus or not. We rush to the front door and it magically opens and Dharma shoots out. I lunge for her and miss and she lands paws in the mud then digs in to race to the van. I lose it. I engage chase and booming voice (sorry neighbors). Dharma does something new, and hides under the van. All I picture is a dog that now needs a bath on a day that I don’t need distractions. She won’t come out so I honk the horn (sorry neighbors), yell, toss some rocks, why am I still trying to make the bus, the neighbor returns from the bus stop, the children are out trying to help so I yell at them to go back inside, Sarah gets Dharma out, I smack the dog and drag her by the scruff of the neck back inside, children are crying, dog is scared, and everyone is mad at me.
How could this have gone differently? All I had to do was close the front door. Within 15 seconds, Dharma would have been scratching to come inside. We could have said something witty and laughed instead of cried. And who cares if we missed the bus. I want to be that perfect tv dad. Can I have take 2?
State of Me
Ouch! I just sneezed and I think the left half of my skull fell to the floor. I’m afraid to look. Cathy says my cough has worsened and insists I go to the doctor but she has it too so we have that stubborn Mexican standoff martyrdom don’t waste money on the uninsured adults thing going on. We don’t get sick that often so I guess we are due. All of Knoxville has this so I’ll start into my Oak Ridge secretly testing non-lethal severely debilitating chemical weapon conspiracy theory after I make more progress on today’s programming. Coding stops for no cough!
I Twittered the debate
I allowed myself to be distracted by the Presidential debate at Belmont in Nashville last night. I Twittered my thoughts as Obama, McCain, and Brokaw played their game. Naturally, apologies were issued for the flood. Read from bottom up.
#debate08 #nashdebate mccain scores last laugh by blocking tom brokaw’s teleprompter. Tom needs an improv class. about 9 hours ago from txt
#debate08 #nashdebate its the anticipated pow reference! Everyone drink! about 9 hours ago from txt
#debate08 #nashdebate political cartoonists are going to be on easy street for the next 4 years regardless of who gets elected. about 9 hours ago from txt
#nashdebate #debate08 not with Russia. The next cold war will be with China. Search http://realityme.net for “china” about 9 hours ago from txt
#debate08 #nashdebate have they forgotten they are on a stage in Nashville? Instant win to the first one that pulls out a guitar! about 9 hours ago from txt
#debate08 #nashdebate yes! Now its a debate! about 9 hours ago from txt
@therealhoff re Rules for Radicals yes about 9 hours ago from txt in reply to therealhoff
#nashdebate #debate08 a minute ago mccain’s hero was Reagan now its Teddy Roosevelt. about 9 hours ago from txt
#debate08 #nashdebate that’s the 2nd invocation of The Reagan! about 9 hours ago from txt
#nashdebate #debate08 either the debate caused twitter fail whaled, everyone went silent at once, or my phone melted. about 9 hours ago from txt
#debate08 #nashdebate i predict tonight’s winner is Tom Brokaw. Mccain, i won’t see a dime of your 5k. Wear my shoes! You won’t like them. about 10 hours ago from txt
@vinull keep a heathy society and have a productive happy society. The sick don’t add to gnp. #debate08 #nashdebate about 10 hours ago from txt in reply to ViNull
#nashdebate #debate08 John if you kill the oceans you kill us all. There is more to the continental shelves than money. about 10 hours ago from txt
Tom is really getting ticked about the 1 minute time. Just turn off their mics at 60 seconds. #debate08 #nashdebate about 10 hours ago from txt
#nashdebate #debate08 did he just complain about’fix it for us’? Isn’t that what we just did on wall street? about 10 hours ago from txt
Mccain is desperate! He invoked The Reagan! #debate08 #nashdebate about 10 hours ago from txt
$5k tax cut for medical won’t help many of the 47 million uninsured. I won’t see a dime of that 5k and i will still be without healthcare. about 10 hours ago from txt
Scalpel vs hatchet was good. #nashdebate #debate08 about 10 hours ago from txt
@akula i second the minute gong! #debate08 #nashdebate about 10 hours ago from txt in reply to Akula
Mccain can also lose “my friends” and “I did that” #nashdebate #debate08 about 10 hours ago from txt
I like that the candidates aren’t hidden been podiums. #debate08 #nashdebate about 10 hours ago from txt
Things they must quit saying:Obama-“well look” McCain-“i suspended my campaign” #nashdebate #debate08 about 10 hours ago from txt
@vinull i am liking the whip cracking. Obama takes first cheap shot. #debate08 #nashdebate about 10 hours ago from txt in reply to ViNull
Just how long was that campaign suspended? 2 days if at all? #debate08 #nashdebate about 11 hours ago from txt
http://debatehub.c-span.org/ is well done! about 11 hours ago from twhirl
@cspan just invited people to join them through skype. Cspan is demonstrating the right way to use technology! #nashdebate #debate08 about 11 hours ago from txt in reply to cspan
With due apologies for the Twitter flood
Rumor has it that outside a this valley thar be other states beyond just Tennersee. Nows I can vouch for that cus I done traveled a bit in my life and seen me those other states. That is til I ran into da Mississip out there to the West. Head South an’ it gets hot inside an out! The weather and food is spicy! And thar’s that Gulf of Mexco. Lota water an nothing else. Head East an tis the same thang. Ocean of water and far da eye cn see. Taint nothing else.
Now, it been told that beyond all da water thar’s other lands. Some says we came from there. Some says all the land was squished t’gether an it drifted apart like Billy’s raft done in the river current las sumner. Ifn ya ask me, I gots to say what’s it matter. Sholy a Twitter message caint reach dem other lands. It’d fly straight off da Earth befo’ ev’r reachin them lands.
Ahem! Sorries.
I predicted Tom Brokaw the winner
At about 9:55pm I called Tom Brokaw the winner of the Presidential debate in Nashville.
#debate08 #nashdebate i predict tonight’s winner is Tom Brokaw. Mccain, i won’t see a dime of your 5k. Wear my shoes! You won’t like them. about 1 hour ago from txt
Anyone call it sooner?
Update: My other debate Tweets.
