My New Hiking Buddy!

Is that really mud under the ice... You mom's gonna love you...

The Thrills of Moving...

Thrills? Thrills? What the heck. I hate moving, and worse every day I've had to move has been crappy weather, and the days that the weather has been good, the shortage of help has been a deterrent. My brother did help a little this week. We spent a day in Columbus visiting with Matt and Brian, two of my buds that set up shop in the same office complex and usually spent half the time I've set aside with one then hit the other for a few. Bro and I then went to Hooters, Ahhhh... Good wings and leftovers for work.... We then made our way to the apartment to pack up the dishes and move all the big stuff down stairs. So all I have to do is load everything in a truck and head south, but then here come the rain, snow, and cold... Damn.

So later that day Eric and I went shopping for Dad's Christmas gift, and after several hours of talking, looking, and deciding we finally got it. All I can say is he better like it. (I'll edit this one after Christmas, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.) I think he will.

So the last few days have been crammed full of getting stuff together so I can live normally again. Going to work, which has been slow but I'm not complaining. Imagine being a kid and shoving a crayon up your nose, I think if was a blue or a green one. That's what I deal with, something different every day, thank God.

Today, I've updated a few websites, and planned a short trip to camp to look some things over and take some pictures. Getting ready to plant 3,000 pine trees and I'm a little worried about running out of time to get everything done. Why does it seem like this is the busiest time of the year for everyone. I know summer is busier, I guess I'm just laid back more in the summer because I know it the same thing every year. Plan for spending time at camp and work. Until I get a family, i know that's what will be happening...

So That's all for now, No picture for today. I'll have you a good on later....

Magali and Thierry Bataille-Palgen

Magali and Thierry.

When folks hear me talk about my good friend from Belgium, I'm talking about Magali Palgen. Magali was a foreign exchange student at Jackson High School in 1993 where we met and soon became very good friends. Ever since then I have been blessed with her willingness to visit the United States several times and have enjoyed having her stay with me while she was here. It's been almost 3 years since Magali has visited and I miss her very much.

It's always a great day to go to the mail box and find a letter from your friend, but words can't explain the feeling I get when I see that little blue sticker that tells me that Magali has sent another letter. I always take the letter in the house and place it on the desk and leave it there for later. Building my excitement to open the letter and reveal what my friend has been up to. I truly wish that the ocean was not the pond we have to cross to visit each other. I wish my friend could live across the street and we could visit everyday and have some hot chocolate together, but wishes are just that sometimes. So I try to save my pennies to go visit, but always fall prey to the cheaper vacation to just get away. My promises of visiting are even more complicated by my willingness to view the world and the US. But this time I'm serious.

My friend was married to a wonderful guy, he seems wonderful from the 2 or 3 conversations I have had with him on IM. I missed their wedding, and would have given anything to show up and show my love and support for my friend on her big day. I think that if I could have, I would have walked in and sign the guestbook, watched her walk down the isle and then later when she wouldn't have expected it, let her know I was there. She would have enjoyed the day and I would have enjoyed seeing my friend happy and in love.

I have several great friends, and I get to see most of them on a monthly basis, but if there is one friend I wish I could see more often, it would be Maglai. So good luck Magali and Thierry. I wish you a happy lifetime together.

Reindeer Games!

Tis the Season... You know it's getting close to Christmas when the Christmas specials start to come on T.V. So, per our (my rommie Steph and Me) yearly tradition, we proceed to load up on Pucker and Rum and totally ruin the Christmas specials for ourselves fro years to come. Nothing like turning a childrens film into a x rated classic with just a little dubbing over while drinking. And since we both have had a laps in the sex scene for quite sometime, we were extra naughty. Keep in mind that we are rommies, and nothing involving actual contact went on, just a bunch of sarcasrtic, and crude comments about the childrens classic. So here's to Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer, and the elf that is not a nit-wit.

"Ho Ho Ho! Five bucks to do the deer", said Santa Pimp.

Ahhhhh........ The Holidays are here...

One fine morning.

One fine morning, about a year ago. A little fog and a gentile breeze. Going back through all my digital pictures on my computer brought back memories of backpacking at Isle Royale last year. Sure beat the rainy day that I woke up to today. I haven't posted on here for a while since I have been working a lot. On Thanksgiving morning we responded to a guy who fell in the freezer at General Mills, not bad but it was -20 degrees in the freezer. My teeth were chattering before we got to the patient. He was bleeding from the head but awake. When we tried to backboard him my fingers went numb. I couldn't feel a thing and trying to get that guy situated was very painful. We had him out in about 15 minutes. He was ok I guess... Didn't freeze anything off.

Thanksgiving was ok, lots of food and visited with the family. Back to work for a couple of days straight. This morning I went with my mom to look at a house that I want to buy. It's kind of a long shot if it all happens, so I'm trying my best not to get excited about it. I've got to find something soon though. Got to move out by December 31.... Steph had already started moving out. We'll see what happens...

Yeah!

One Down... A few thousand to go....

And we didn't even have to kill this one.

Go ahead and morn this terrorist... Just remember he was the President of the PLO, who were instrumental in the death of US soldiers bombed in Beirut, and he had influence over Hamas, Hezbollah, And the PLO who over several years were responsible for mass murder, War on Civilians, Destruction of the Holy Land and not to mention Suicide Bombers.

Oh, and don't forget about the masses of Palestinians that danced in the streets in celebration of the attacks on September 11, 2001. They are peace loving people, and they like it when Americans Die......

What A Leader Huh.... Rot in Hell Yasser Arafat.

Yasser Arafat

Taser Used: Police Shoot Man With Taser

http://nbc4i.feedroom.com/iframeset.jsp?ord=423279

Check out this footage from NBC 4 in Columbus. In the story you will see a guy talking about how the Taser works, Matthew McJunkin, That guy's my best friend Matt. And the guy who get shot in the Demo is a guy that works for him. He's fine, but these things save lives.

A little story about saving a guys life... A few months ago there was this guy in Wellston, Ohio that baricaded himself in his house and told the police to kill him. When they entered the house, they used the taser to subdue him instead of shooting him... Why would they shoot him? He had a gun, had shot it at the phone, and when the entry team entered the room the man was in, he shot 1 round off striking the back window that a sheriff deputy was standing next to coming inches from his head. Using the taser brought the man down to the floor where they gained control of him and cuffed him. The man was alright besides being stressed out after a 4 hour stand off with police. The only other tool other than the Taser in that situation was the gun. That man just bonded out the other day on $20,000 bond, instead of rotting in a casket.

Check out Matt's bushiness online Investigation and Protection Agency Inc. www.ipainvestigations.com.

Lucky Panda

chocolate dipped strawberry Panda?

During Labor Day weekend I traveled to Washington D.C. to do a little touring of the Nation's Capitol. While I biked and metro'ed around the city I kept running into all these panda's. They were all different, sculpted, painted and placed on the streets. It was a Panda Invasion. This was one of my favorites.

Anyway, I traveled the 85 miles one way to work yesterday. It was frigin cold. The sunrise was brilliant, pink, orange, blue. Then the Deer..... Sometimes I wish that I have an old beater that I didn't care if I smacked a deer or not.... I could have nailed three or four... Work was slow, only 2 runs. A pregnant chick from Bundy Heights, there's a surprise, and a 20 year old that said he had a 5th of whiskey and a case of bud... Right.. He was still walking....

Helped my bro today get his computer up and running. He had almost 500 different spyware files on his computer from when he was at college... Told him to stay off the porn sites...

My friend Martha Called today. Told me to check out this new band website www.ne3band.com. She roomed with the chick violin player when she was in Texas for some Boy scout training. Got to check them Out.

Weird Things Around Town.

Ever been driving down the road an see something that just totally blows your mind? When I first moved to Dublin, I was driving own Frantz Road and stopped at a stop light. I looked to my right and saw this huge field of concrete corn cobs. I'm talking about 100 of these 8 foot tall corn cobs. The W.T.F. factor set in. I began laughing and just had to circle the block again to check this out. I mean who the heck takes the time out of their life to build an 8 foot tall corn cob? Come to find out some dude thought it would be nice to commemorate the reason this area was settled, farming. But again who the heck takes the time to sculpt an 8 foot tall corn cob? And why is that art? I went to an art museum in Washington DC and saw some art that I swear was made by a guy that was high swinging naked from the ceiling with a squeeze bottle full of mustard that just happened to hit the canvas and .... Wallah... Art.... I bet my niece could do better and she's two.

A giant concrete corn cob field in Dublin, Ohio.

Screw Fallujah

As our troops enter Fallujah, I just want to remind you of the reason that we are there. September 11, 2001, the radical extremist Muslims loyal to Osama Bin Ladin attacked out nation. We are fighting them on their home turf. Just be glad that we don't have to fight them here. I hope that our soldiers accomplish their mission and come home safely. God Bless the USA.

I support our troops in IRAQ.

Wow a Blog.. Who would have thought...

Well, I did it. I started Blogging, whatever that means. I guess it's like tying to write something cool or maybe an online journal or something.... Ah, I'll write random thoughts and funny things that happen during the day.. Anyway, I'll talk about the last few days to get started. On Thursday November 4th, I saw my 4th Howie Day show. That guy just rocks, and thanks to him I've been on a mad hunt to find out the name of the last song he played. I thought it was Radiohead but it was Jeff Buckley's "New Years Prayer". A weird song but Howie just pulled it out and slung it at our faces. Now I have this weird song running through my head... A new "love" of my life.. Tristan Prettyman opened up for him. I was psyched up to hear Nickel Creek, which is a bluegrass band open, but I was glad to see Tristan Play. I sent her an email, can't believe she posted her email address on her website, but in the last 2 days decided to take it off. Lucky me, I still have it. Work sucked... I was called rude even though I wasn't. Some stupid patient got pissed off at me and told me to leave her alone... So She got a bumpy ride to the ER some 45 miles away... I ran out of pot holes to hit... Oh well... Yesterday, I spent some time with my Gramps and Dad. My little niece watched the race with us, Dale Jr. won at phoenix. He should have no problem winning the championship. Madison is so funny, I just don't know where to begin with her... Today, I will be cleaning... Lucky me. The apartment is a mess and the Kitchen will be my main objective today. I'll try to keep this thing going. Who knows it might be cool....

Howie Day @ the Newport, Columbus, Ohio 2004-11-04