New series of posts on the way

my phone doubles as a spur-of-the-moment capturer of memories, i.e., it has a crappy camera built in. i've got pictures on it dating back to the summer and as soon as i get a data cable for it, i'm going to dump them onto my PC and share them with you. it promises to be a lot of fun for me, and i can delete the pictures as i go freeing up much needed space.

here's a taste:

Andrea and I were in Dothan, AL over Thanksgiving visiting my family. Mom offered to watch Oscar one afternoon so we went and caught a matinée (Fantastic Mr. Fox, which we both loved) and did a little shopping. we both think Oscar would enjoy this toy, or one very similar, but they're a bit pricey new. i have never said "you can't put a price on happiness", b/c i can and it is less than $70.

on the way home, Eagle Eye Andrea spotted the toy out in front of a small shop. but this post is not about the toy and whether or not we bought it (we didn't). nor is it about all the great bargains we found in that shop (lots and lots of very inexpensive toys for our boy)...it's about my trip to the bathroom there.

by the time we left the movie theater, i had to go #1 pretty bad, but for whatever reason i chose not to go. maybe i very mistakenly thought we were going straight back and not to Toys-R-Us. well, i sure wasn't going to go there, all the kid germs and what not, so i resigned myself to holding it in. i barely made it back in the car and thought "Finally...we're going home"...when Andrea had me turn into the used toy store.

the first thing i wanted to know when i got in there was directions to the bathroom. the proprietor looked a little flustered and said, "Oh...umm....well, yes we do have a bathroom, but...well...", which did nothing to reassure my bladder. "OK, come all the way around here and go back to the back and then take the 1st right and the bathroom is on the left there". she then very awkwardly broached the "#1 or #2?" topic by saying "i don't think we have any toilet paper back there, but....."

"That won't be necessary", i interrupted.

the bathroom was relatively tough to access. there was barely enough room for me to squeeze through, sideways, due to all the racks of old clothes and broken, discarded toys everywhere. when at last I reached my destination, this is what awaited me:

I was afraid to touch the toilet seat

i don't know what the cleaning stuff was doing in there,

other than collecting dust.

eww

this sums it up

these camera-phones don't do very well capturing unbridled filth, b/c i'm telling you: i needed a shower after stepping in there. i can only imagine what the shower, had there been one, would have looked like.

Dreaming of joining the Army

i joined the Army during my Senior year of High School and enlisted 3 weeks after graduation. for 2 years and 19 weeks, i served as a 16-Romeo, which is Army speak for "Vulcan Crew Member". the Vulcan is a giant, 6-barreled Gatling gun mounted into the chassis of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). There is also a towed version. It fires 20mm shells at a rate of roughly 3,000 rounds per minute. its purpose was to shoot down aircraft, but it was outdated even when i was in. Stinger missiles were much more effective at that. helicopters, maybe, but fast movers? no way. if used on people, it would leave an unrecognizable puddle of red stuff. to my knowledge, it is no longer in use in the active duty military.

i spent a year in Korea (89-90) where i was lucky enough to go to the DMZ and see North Korea over the barbed wire. we spent a lot of time in the field preparing for war with the North. lucky it never happened while i was there: we all thought of ourselves as "speed bumps" to the North's unstoppable military machine.

my next duty station was Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX, but i only spent a month or so there and was shipped off to Iraq for the 1st Gulf War.

The last 6 months of my enlistment was spent back in Fort Bliss. i'd say Uncle Sam got his money's worth out of me in the short time i was in. looking back i have no complaints or regrets, however i can't imagine a circumstance that i would re-enlist at this point in my life.

so when i say "dreaming of joining the Army", it's not an aspiration: it is a recurring nightmare i've been having. it's always the same: it's current day and i'm leaving my wife and son to go off and join the Army. i don't know what has happened to lead me to the decision, but the emotions i feel are very real. "i'm almost 40...what am i doing joining the Army again?". "What about Andrea and Oscar? and Krusty? Will i ever see them again?". "Will i be sent to Iraq? Afghanistan? I don't want to die". etc.

thankfully, i'm able to wake up and realize it was all in my head. teary eyed and breathless, i wake Andrea and tell her about it and how thankful i am it wasn't real. but for plenty of people, it's very real. lately i've been thinking about those people: people who are having to leave their wives or husbands and their children to go off to a dangerous place, risking their lives. for what? National Security? whose?

my father was in Vietnam when i was born. he talked about being flown home shortly afterward and spending a week in Ohio. he said the quiet McConnelsville nights messed with his head. that, and the ridiculousness of it all: one day he's in Vietnam flying helicopters, getting shot at and the next night, lying awake in a bed in Ohio. going over to begin with must have been hell for him, leaving a wife, 2 kids and one on the way. imagine thinking "gosh, i may never see my daughters again or never see my son." now imagine having to go back. i don't think i could do it and i don't know how people do it now.

without getting too preachy, i just want to say that we are asking too much of our soldiers. it's not fair to keep sending them out for 12 or 15 month rotations in Iraq or Afghanistan. suicides are up, stateside murders by soldiers are up...we're killing them and it's time to bring them home.

June, July, August, September and October pics are up!!

just check Andrea's blog.

and this video!

Happy Birthday, boy

according to Jewish culture, you're a man now...

Andrea decorated the cake!

traditional "handshake" photo. i have 13 years worth of these.

the streak is over

i've had my beloved Krusty dog for almost 13 years now. his birthday is the 12th of this month and let me tell you: he is SO a Libra.

throughout his youth, i didn't have to concern myself much with trimming his nails b/c he was always running around so much, they wore down naturally. but when i did trim them, i always took great care to keep it above the quick and make it as painless and blood-free as possible.

for nearly 13 years that has been one of the prides of my life. when Oscar was born, i voluntarily took on nail trimming duties, given my impressive track record with the dog. things were going well until he was 5 months old and i chopped off a large hunk of his left index finger right before bedtime. not good. on the positive side, i don't have any stressful records in the back of my mind when doing his nails now. AND i know it's not the end of the world if it happens again.

i've been thinking a lot about Krusty's mortality lately. he has slowed way down, but is still the same happy, loving dog he's always been. only now, the fun needs to involve things that don't require him to hear, run or jump.

today we took a family walk around Lake Johnson. Andrea blogged about taking Krusty and Oscar on the same walk and how hard it was for her to handle them both. i went along this time and let me tell you: she wasn't kidding. Krusty freaked out walking across the bridge again and stopped to pee on everything. but it was great seeing him out in the woods on a beautiful Fall day. it was also a nice treat to veer off the path down to the waters edge and play stick. he enjoyed that. see for yourself.


Happy dog


Glory days

we have hardwoods throughout our house and often times, Andrea and i are in opposite ends. Krusty goes back and forth checking on both of us until we come together in the same room. problem is, he goes back and forth right in front of Oscar's room and with those long nails, sounds like 8 people wearing tap shoes. he has woken the baby on more than one occasion and tonight i figured it was time to cut some dog nails.

as tired as he was from our walk earlier, he was putting up his usual resistance. i'd trim one nail and he'd pull his leg back, as if i had hurt him. Andrea came up with a good idea of giving him a little treat after each nail. he's totally food motivated, and the "painful recoiling" ceased once we were putting food in his belly.

and then it happened: i squeezed my fist to activate the pincher style blades on the clippers and blood started oozing out of the tip of his nail at a frightening rate. i was numb. all i could say was "Oh my God....he's bleeding". Andrea went in the bathroom and got some toilet paper and a Hydrogen Peroxide soaked cotton ball. by the time she got back, the bleeding had stopped, but not before my fingers were covered and my heart was broken. did i mention he never even flinched? again, thanks to Andrea for taking his mind off it. all he wanted to know was "Where's my treat??".


Exhibits A, B and C

we finished his last paw without incident. he and Andrea are in bed now. i'm so thankful i didn't cause him any pain. he's such a great dog and has been my best friend...i don't know what i'll do without him. anyway, he's fine. i just had to get this off my chest.

in other news, my son really looks like Chucky in this picture:

Little Pal

Oscar's my little pal and it makes me sad to listen to this song and imagine singing it to him for real. naturally, i listen to it over and over again. you should, too.

Great site

"MarloweDK", funk bassist of YouTube fame, had his account suspended b/c of his "play along" videos which violated their copyright rules. so he did what anyone would do: made his own YouTube-like sight and uploaded them there, and you can do it to! here's a taste. the run at 2:29 kills, as does the one at 3:26.

May Pics are up!

Oscar - May 2009

T + 16

pics from Wednesday, June 3rd: 16 days after seeding.

what's the worst song a bunch of good musicans can record?

click to find the answer.

T + 10

pics from Thursday, May 28th: 10 days after seeding.

T + 9

pics from Wednesday, May 27th: 9 days after seeding.

T + 8

pics from Tuesday, May 26th: 8 days after seeding.

Phase 5

Monday, May 18th, i spread the seed. the weather called for rain the day before, so i didn't want to chance it all getting washed away by doing it then. instead, while Andrea was at our weekly Community Group meeting (Bible study), Oscar slept and Krusty and I did our thing.

There are no pics of the "post-smoothed" yard, but it's not hard to imagine: barren dirt, but somewhat smooth instead of lumpy. not all that picture worthy. But before seed could be spread, it needed to be roughed up a bit, and that took nearly an hour. i went over the whole yard with a garden rake and took the opportunity to remove more clumps of dead grass and dirt, to facilitate further smoothing of the surface. then, it was go time. 15 pounds of "shady mix" grass seed into the spreader and i was off.

in the beginning, i was trying to be all careful, but after a while, i was just zig-zagging all over trying to ensure no square inch was left unseeded. there was another whole 15 pound bag and the plan was to use some of it, but i ended up using all of it, too. so...30 pounds of grass seed later, it was time to spread some starter fertilizer. this stuff looks like rabbit food and didn't spread as easily as the seed, but is a necessary ingredient.

Monica gave me a partial bale of hay, which didn't cover the whole yard, but was better than nothing (i have since purchased a bale and completed that step).

the soaker hose i bought was completely worthless. i mistakenly thought it was the "sprinkler" style, but as the name implies, it just seeps water out into the ground. it would be perfect for a huge garden, but terrible for a new lawn. as luck would have it, Steph came home right about that time and said she had a sprinkler head they didn't use, so i gave them the soaker hose in trade. it's now in their huge garden, doing what it was meant to do. thanks, Bob and Steph! Witchger's to the rescue, again. or should i say, to the "Fescue"?? huh? huh?

Here's the yard after seed and hay application:







see the caution tape? i decided it was necessary what with all the foot traffic the yard gets. all the mail boxes in our neighborhood are on our porches, so the mail man walks from house to house, cutting through everyone's front yards. i felt like a jerk blocking off his path, so i left him a "Thank you for not screwing up my yard while the seeds sprout" card. oh yeah, and $20. hey, a little palm grease never hurt anybody.

we found a few grass blades yesterday. check 'em out!



not too impressive. but before you judge, check out the picks from a few minutes ago:




by my best and most conservative estimate, i'm thinking tomorrow it should look something like this:



nothing like lush grass to attract the neighborhood cows. i'll deal with them when the time comes. tomorrow.

as per the stipulations of the watering permit i purchased from the city for $50, i am allowed to water between 6 and 10 (am and pm) every day for 45 days. we have year round water restrictions, so without the permit, i would only be allowed to water 3 days a week. there's no way that would sustain a new lawn, so it was a non-negotiable.

you may be thinking "it's too late in the season to plant grass seed, you idiot!". that's fair. but in my defense, i say: nuh-uh. the night i seeded was the beginning of an unseasonably cool streak, thereby simulating optimal seeding conditions. add to that the absence of young-lawn killing thunderstorms, and i'd say the pieces are in place.

more pictures and less talk in the coming days.

Lawn Project Update!!

Phase 4 - Subphase 1
as per the last post, Bob lent me the family tiller again and i went over the yard. it was great! the tines got lowered down to several inches, since it had to go through the new layer of topsoil to get to the original surface. it was fun to get the two layers mixed in and i could really feel the dirt moving. the hard part was going back over it with the garden rake and smoothing it out.

Phase 4 - Subphase 2
today i rented a manual "sod roller". it's just a ~22 gallon drum with a drain plug you fill with water. and a handle. not much to it. the cost for 4 hours was $11. it didn't exactly pack the dirt down the way i had hoped, but it did a decent job. as Andrea put it, once the grass comes in, the variations in smoothness won't be visible.

from the rental place, i went straight to Lowe's and got 30lbs of "Shade Mix" grass seed that's guaranteed to grow. we'll see. also picked up several bags of starter fertilizer. i called my dad on the way, as he's the lawn king. he did the same thing to his yard a few years ago that i'm doing now, rather successfully. he encouraged me to keep going and said everything sounded like it was going as it should. i was gonna seed today, but it's supposed to rain pretty hard tomorrow, so i will either wait until evening, or Monday.

all the pieces are in place. i'll put up some pics of the smooth dirt yard later. and should this all fail (too late in the season to plant, deluge washes away dirt/seed, etc), i can just do it again in the fall. all the hard work has already been done. going forward, it's just maintenance.

Operation Rejuvenate Your Crappy Front Yard - Phases 1 through 5

Andrea and i have been sick of our front yard for a while now. the previous owner either didn't have gutters, or had gutters that served no purpose (which was the case when we bought the house). the result: run-off from the roof cascading down the slope of the front yard toward the street cutting ravines and stealing precious top-soil. what little grass there is grows in tufts and small islands, 2 to 3 inches above the surrounding dirt.

Phase 1 - Infrastructure
we replaced the gutter along the front of the house last year. without that, it would have been pointless to try and do anything with the lawn. this was an easy step, as it needed to be done anyway and didn't require tearing anything up, yardwise.

Phase 2 - Kill
with my Dad's encouragement, I proceeded to the next step from which there was no return: apply RoundUp everywhere and kill everything.

Phase 3 - Till
Two and three go together, really: "Kill 'n Till". but they are two distinct steps, so i've broken them up. Bob let me borrow the Witchger Family Tiller last weekend. Here are some photo highlights:

Before:



During:



After:



Phase 4 - Dirt
we're down to mostly clay and rocks in our front yard. i found a place that would deliver 10 cubic yards of dirt (that's 270 cubic feet) for a reasonable price, which they did this past Friday. check out the action:



Bob and i were mesmerized:



Bob stuck around after the dirt was dumped and helped me blow through that big pile in no time! we got it spread all over the yard in a few hours:







it took me the whole rest of the weekend to recuperate from Friday. Saturday Andrea managed to get to the Farmer's Market and buy some fresh veggies, as well as veggie plants for our garden. we even got them in the ground! Sunday we cleaned up inside and out. but all the while, my back was complaining. Friday really beat me down. Bob, on the other hand, helped another friend of ours MOVE ROCKS Saturday. oh, to be 29.

the next part of this Phase...the 1st Sub-Phase, is to till again, trying to make the 2 layers of old and new dirt into one super layer. the 2nd Sub-Phase is to rent a big hand powered roller to go over and smooth things out.

Phase 5 - Seeds!
not quit there yet. i'll let you know when it happens and expect lots of pics to monitor growth. it's a little late in the season to be doing this, but i've got no choice now. gotta keep moving forward!

Oscar - The First Hundred Days

it's hard to believe 100 days have passed since Oscar was born. he's gone from a wrinkled red ball with really long fingers to a happy little baby of normal skin tone. he loves to eat and sleep (like his Daddy), as well as smile a lot and sing (like his Mama). he's fascinated by his hands and just last night used his fists to hold his bottle for a few seconds! he likes playing "super baby" and has great core strength, keeping his body flat and parallel with the ground when we hold him up over our heads.

nothing melts our hearts like seeing his smiling face in the morning. or during the day, at night, or any other time. he's a great baby and he's growing up so fast!

all in all, i'd say the first hundred days have been a major success.

My youngest son is a maniac

M8M clip o' the week

trippy, man...


Find more videos like this on Middle8Media

Middle8Media

check the weekly clip. good stuff, as always!


Find more videos like this on Middle8Media

Shark cage

every year, the squirrels get more bold and cause more damage to my prize Jade and Christmas Cacti. April through October is when they get their prime "outside time" and i can't have a bunch of disgusting animals destroying my plants!! i decided to take a (hopefully) more effective approach to keeping them safe: i give you shark cage.







it's an 8x4x3 box made from 1x3's and chicken wire. Andrea is supportive so far. her only comment was, "so what color are we going to paint that monstrosity??". i'll let her decide.

Documenting a special moment from late 2008

i used to disc golf. all the time. summer weekends were dedicated to tournaments, mostly local, but occasionally i'd travel. random doubles after work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and casual play in between all of that. i never really got "good", but i was ok.

the competition of organized tournaments was fun, but the moments i will cherish the most are the hundreds of rounds i played with my dog, Krusty.

we started in Alabama in the late 90's, early 2000's. back then, i'd shank discs left and right into the woods and i'd send him in one way after them while i went the other way. "Go get the frisbee!" i'd say right before heading into the thicket. most of the time, i would come out of the woods and he would be sitting there with the frisbee on the ground in front of him. who knows how long he'd been sitting there?

we moved to NC at the beginning of 2001 and i started picking up pointers from some of the best disc golfers in the world, so not as many discs for the dog to retrieve, but still lots of fun to be had. he and i have weathered thunderstorms, snow and ice, intense heat and yellow jackets all during a round of disc golf. it's been some of the best times of my life out there, him and me.

he's 12.5 years old now and i didn't play a whole lot of golf in 2008. i'm in the cycle of "i don't have the time or money to play tournaments, and even if i did, i don't have the time to play casually often enough to be competitive in a tourney, so why bother??". it doesn't make me feel to badly b/c he doesn't get around as well and the summer heat really takes it out of him. we get our exercise and playtime in the house, on walks and in the back yard where i have a basket and practice my putting now and then.

i was feeling sentimental late last year and decided to get one last round in before 2009. it would be the only full round i played at my "home course" of Cedar Hills. it was a beautiful December day and the weather was probably mid 50's. i packed up the dog and my golf bag and we hit the course like the old days. he showed no signs of slowing down through the entire 18 holes and did super. luckily i brought my camera, but only managed to get a few shots. i present them to you now:











this wasn't the most memorable round of golf based on my score or spectacular shots, but b/c i know it's one of the last times i'll be out there with my special dog. i couldn't have asked for a better day.