it's just a prototype.....

We usually use a picture from summer vacation for our Christmas card. Here's one we're considering for this year.....

there's stress, and then there's stress.....

KCTV Kansas City - 5/20/09

Marcella Rivera said the last she heard was that her soldier-husband, William Rivera, would try to reconcile with her and their five children when he got back from Iraq, but then her mother saw a TV program on returning soldiers that showed William being married to another woman. Marcella pressed a bigamy charge in Independence, Mo., but prosecutors dropped it in May after William convinced them that "post-traumatic stress disorder" suffered in Iraq had made him forget that he was married.

still not acclimated.....

Yesterday was tough. Stacks of mail. Voice mails. Having to wear pants.

We had a great week in East Tennessee. We stayed at the L & G Bed 'n Breakfast, and it was wonderful as always. Here are some take-aways from the week:

• Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg continue to grow.
• I still can't ride roller coasters without feeling like I need to puke for several hours afterward.
• My golf game goes from brilliant to terrible from one hole to the next.
• I brought back some of the wonderful food I ate in the form of a larger waistline.
  
• The bride and the girls could never live where they went on Friday. Too quiet.
  
• Cousins are good people to have around.

Time to have the house torn apart by people who say they know what they're doing. Better them than me.....

day tripping.....

Time for a little vacation. We're looking forward to spending a week in East Tennessee with my family and doing some day trips next week. We'll visit some friends and family, spend a day in Pigeon Forge and Dollywood, hopefully get in a little golf, and eat Mom's/Gramma's cooking.

Good times.....

shocking.....

St. Petersburg Times - 5/16/09

The head of Florida's Department of Corrections admitted in May that at least 43 children (including a 5-year-old), who observed their parents' prison jobs as part of "Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day" in April, were playfully zapped by 50,000-volt stun guns. DOC Secretary Walt McNeil said the demonstrations (in three of the state's 55 prisons) even included one warden's kid, but that only 14 children were individually shot (with the rest part of hand-holding circles feeling a passing current). Twenty-one employees were disciplined.

tiger math.....

It's been reported that Tiger Woods made $110 million last year. Let's see how that breaks down:

$310,370 per day

or

$12,557 per hour

or

$209.28 per minute

or

$3.49 per second

Let's assume Tiger sleeps 8 hours each night. While he sleeps, he makes $100,456. If we assume he takes 20 minutes to eat a meal, he makes a little less than $4,200 while he eats. In the time it takes him to brush his teeth, he's made about $420.

So, Tiger, if you're reading this, the bride and I are doing some renovations at our house. If you could spare a couple of hours, we'd really appreciate it.....

seriously, they exist.....

Anchorage Daily News - 5/24/09

At the biennial World Beard and Moustache Championships in May in Anchorage, Alaska, four local heroes "defeated" the usually dominant German contingent in the 18-category pageant, including overall champ David Traver of Girdwood, Alaska, whose woven chin hair suggests a long potholder. Said Traver, of the Germans, "They were humble, and you have to respect that." One defending champ, Jack Passion of Los Angeles, fell short with his navel-length red hair, despite having authored "The Facial Hair Handbook" after his 2007 victory. Traver acknowledged that no money was at stake (only trophies and "bragging rights"), but added that there are "a lot of ladies" who fawn over men's facial hair. "Seriously, they exist."