Middle America's Worldview

Glad to say we get to leave the day after tomorrow now. Yesterday we had a small crises.

Kel took our son to the doc, but didn't get very far. The car wouldn't start. Sigh, I went out to check it and to me it sounded like the starter. She would crank it and nothing but click click click click as the starter attempted to turn over. Great. We ended up calling a cab (35 bucks one way) to get her and our son to the doc, then I started to make phone calls. Seems the price was going to be nearly 500.00. Nearly 100 for the tow and early 400 for the manual/parts, ect to replace the starter. The gentleman came to pick up the van and ended up doing a jump on the van. He said it was the battery not the starter. He had it running for me. My daughter and I paid him 45 bucks for his wisdom and jump and headed to find a battery. Not stopping the engine till we found a Autozone, the girl and I made up stories as we went. I pulled the battery out and took it into Autozone. They did a free test, I figured might as well get a confirmation. Sure enough it was bad if not dead now. So we ended up with a new battery rather than a new starter. 150 bucks (if you count the cab fare, battery and the tow guys jump/wisdom) was better than nearly 500.

I have a small frustration dealing with my son's situation. As you know our main purpose on this trip was to get our son back on track and into the ability of not having to return here (unless it's a simple checkup). Seems the good doctor was able to view him in a different surrounding while we were at his sons birthday party. How, I don't know, but I will leave that alone. Regardless, it seems we will be given a new exercise routine for him. During my short time to discuss with him, he kept asking me if I had any other questions. I replied with the fact its hard to ask the right questions. It reminded me when I started doing interfaces. I cannot ask the right question until I am in a specific situation of need. I am the type that learns by doing. I go head strong into a given subject, devouring the information then analyzing the required answers I need. Looking back, I did this all my life. When I was given a problem or interested topic, I would do research on it and then come out with my answers. The problem here, is I cant seem to get the proper information, therefore I am frustrated with the feeling of not having the answers. I recognize everyone is different and this is just the way it is, deal with it. My wife gets aggravated at me regarding the way I do certain things. Sorry, but I am just designed that way. It just seems if I do have a specific question for the good Doctor, I get the feeling of hesitation from him. I don't mean to back him up in a corner with specifics, but it is hard for me to work in a relative environment when I am attempting to get specific answers. Oh well, just blowing out my frustration.

This last weekend in Arizona has been fun. We were able to go to the Doctor son's birthday party. He invited us over for his sons sixth birthday. I thought it was a nice gesture and it supposedly allowed him time to view Bradens interactions. I ended up pitching to the 10 kids outside in the backyard without my hat. Now I have a sunburn on the top of my head. This is yet another reminder of how less hair I have then when I was younger.

This sunday we treated the kids out to a place called Mukutas Island. It was a combination of Chuckee Cheese and Rainforest cafe on crack for kids. The place was awesome. It had a huge floor with a giant tree in the middle of the room. Inside ladders, tunnels, firepoles, mazes within and all over the place. Kel liked the fact it didn't focus on the game playing (had a small area for the token games) but the play area itself. I liked the play area and trying to keep up with the kids, empasize on the keep up.

I bought Kel some socks and we put our stuff in the 50 cent storage locker and explored the place with the kids. I was impressed Kel actually went inside the tree, up the ladders, through the small holes/mazes, it was great. Me, there was no doubt, I had to go and play, but she normally sits on the sidelines. As we traveled the ever expanding tunnels on our hands and knees, we were reminded by our bodies the fact we are slower than the kids. They just kept staying ahead of us pushing us to go faster. heh heh

After the first round of play, Kel and I called for a break. We had to get something to drink and actually walk upright for a few moments. We bought the one 1.85 bottle of water and shared it for awhile. Then it was off again to run the playground. Kel held back, saying she was too old for this. I had to go on. Well, at first on that second round I was ok, then I started to sweat like a whore in church. Then I got really tired. Man, what was going on here? My body stopped reminding me and screamed 'give it up dude'. So I gave in and we hit the token games. After the tokens were gone, we took a lunch break and allowed the kids to hit the playground for another 20 minutes. I with Kel stayed out. For awhile we were all kids, then reality set in. I probably will be sore tomorrow, but it was cool.

You can check out Makutu's Island website here.

Ahh seven days to go and counting. We get to leave for home next Friday! I have enjoyed the stay in Arizona. I have enjoyed the bond and more bonding of the family as we lived in this 'hotel of four walls'. But the cracks are starting to show.

Unfortunately, some of the family members get anxious or upset (myself included) over the little things and it is becoming apparent more and more we are ready to go home. Just imagine being with your spouse, two kids for 5 weeks and the hotel room is as large as your living room. Yeah, I will leave it at that.

I think my wife is wearing me down on this cursed pool want. Prior of our 5 week tour, she was talking about getting one of those blow up pools for the back yard. You know the kind. I am sure you seen them in most of the stores. They range from sizes 15' to 18' in diameter coming with a electric filter. Yeah those round blue ones. When she brought this up, I must had initially looked at her as if she had 3 heads. Our kids get out of school and were gone for 5 weeks. When we get back to ou home, we have 2 weeks before we leave for another week in Pennsylvania. Then the kids start back to school August 11.

Hmm, lets see how this looks to me.
We start out with about 14 weeks of summer vacation for the kids.

Gone away literally for 5 weeks right off the bat, leaving 9 weeks left.

We are home 2 weeks. However, the first week will consist of vacation bible school during the day and basketball during the evening for both kids. Then we leave that following Friday, barely 4 days there. (Lets not forget getting our crap caught up from our leave) That's seven of fourteen weeks down.

We are then gone for one week in Pennsylvania. The family actually gets to come to work with me. Six out of fourteen down.

Alright, so that leaves six weeks for the pool. Hmm, that's if you play in it every weekday. With rain and other stuff going on, I am not sure. It just doesn't seem worth it to me, inititally anyway. She threw me a new bone the other night. Let's just say images of two adults under the stars. Not fair using that while we are here in the same room with two kids for 5 weeks straight.

For some reason, I woke up this morning contemplating on perception and in regards to ones situation.

There is a great book/cd out called ‘who moved my cheese'. I listened to some of it during our 10 plus hours down here. One of the things he pointed out made a lot of sense. He said “humans our different than animals in the regard we can decide our actions rather than our actions being decided on the outside stimulation".

The example was our ability to choose to become angry, afraid, ect. with the given outside stimulation.I let that thought linger awhile as we drove into Arizona, now more than 3 weeks ago.

Last night similar thoughts entered in my conscience again. I heard my wife speaking with one of her friends on the cell. This friend of ours is also going through a hard time. She has a disabled child and it just seems an uphill battle for her in regards of the school providision. In addition it seems generally a bad week regarding her health. I heard my wife make the statement “I guess we did something bad in our life to have to pay for it now." Or something to that effect. So I made the statement to her “No we are making small steps for something good in our life". I think she thought it was humorous. However, I already see a differences in our lifestyle and way of thinking then in other families within our area.

We live in a small town with small ideas. With our family having to go outside the area and bring in ideas outside the box, it has given us new perception of life and knowing there is more than the local community. Having been introduced to new medical treatment, Kel has introduced this to a local Doc/friend. This has created a symbiotic relationship in regards to now having the medical equipment closer for us, and allow the doctor to branch his office to new more availability for others. Since our son is special in some areas, Kel has grasped everything available to Oklahoma parents and passed that knowledge onto others who are less fortunate in acquiring knowledge and rights. I personally have a better sensitivity toward other parents having disabled children and this will bring me more clarification regarding a school board member. I just wanted to point out a couple of things this experience has given me and my family. In addition I wanted to point out what I meant by perception. Rather than wallowing in the idea of woe is me. I am viewing this as an opportunity to learn from it. For now at least, I may be griping at a later date. Heh heh

Another example of a change in perception for me personally stood out last night. Being here in Arizona, one cannot help to notice the other people. I am speaking in regards to attitude and especially body habitus. There are some good looking girls/women around here. Being a guy, I simply cannot help but notice. Now, however, I have noticed a change in myself regarding my appreciation in their physique and appearance. It hit me as I was waiting for this skinny girl to fix my mocha. My wife and kids were waiting in the car as I stood there thinking about this. This chick couldn't be about 17 (but who knows anymore). She was a cute girl. I can recall my dad and I going out on the town, way back then before marriage and kids. He and I would scope out the chicks. As I stood there in line zoning and thinking on these things it hit me. ‘We would probably be scoping this chick out too and this girl'. Then another thing hit me, 'that could be my girl fixing the drinks while some perv was scoping her out'. It was a chilling but serious change in my perception. My daughter is going to the second grade, but I realize in no time flat she will be in this same situation too soon.

I know I probably digressed too much, but wanted to blog this as I was thinking about it. Never know when it might actually mean something to someone else.

On another note, Gary Bauer wrote this interesting statement yesterday. I thought it fit well with my view of perception so early this morning.

About Deep Throat

Well, the Washington mystery has been solved. “Deep throat," the source responsible for leaks to The Washington Post that brought downthe Nixon presidency, is none other than W. Mark Felt, formerly the number two man at the FBI.

Mr. Felt was being judged a hero last night for his clandestineleaks. But just a few years ago another “whistle blower," Linda Tripp,released secret tapes that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment and I don't remember anyone in the “mainstream" media calling her a hero. Did whistle blowing go out of style, or does your status depend on which president you attack?

I received another interesting email today. This time from American Family Association. It calls for a boycott on Ford. I intend too. In addition I have also added it to my 'check out links' on the top of my blog.

----------------------Here is the letter-------------------------------------
Ford Motor Company Supports Homosexual Marriage Movement You are probably unaware that Ford Motor Company is a major supporter of the homosexual movement, including homosexual marriage. From redefining family to include homosexual marriage, to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to support homosexual groups and their agenda, to forcing managers to attend diversity training on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality, to sponsoring a "commitment (marriage) ceremony", to sponsoring Gay Pride Parades, Ford leads the way.

To let you see Ford's support, we developed the BoycottFord.com site. I urge you to take action today. Sign the petition to boycott Ford. Call your local Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Mazda and/or Land Rover dealer (all are part of Ford Motor Company) and inform them you will not be buying a Ford product until they stop their promotion of the homosexual movement and homosexual marriage. Be sure to forward this information to your friends and family. They will be as surprised as you to learn of Ford’s extensive promotion of homosexuality.

Click here to go to BoycottFord.com and take the action listed on the right hand side (signing the pledge and calling your local dealer). Remember, calling your local dealer is very important. Please be polite. If the dealer wants more information, refer him to the BoycottFord.com page.

Sincerely,
Don
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and ChairmanAmerican Family Association

P.S. Don’t forget to call your dealer and to forward this to family and friends.
----------------------------End of Letter------------------------------------

On a lighter note,Michelle Malkin had a funny link to share of our weeping Senator. Poor George Voinovich.

Constatine is a heavily CGI film depicting halfbreeds (angel/demons mixed with humans) that get their butt kicked back to hell. The movie started out pretty good. I was thinking I might actually buy this one to keep but as the movie dwindled to a closing, I thought..nah.

I won't digress in the inaccurate theology (my opinion), nor the inaccurate account of Jesus death. I won’t even point out once you enter heaven or hell there is no turning back. No 2 way ticket on those rides. If you can overlook these main themes in the movie, you can enjoy the show.

Constatine was born with a gift/curse to be able to see half-breeds (demon-human) that influence us human kinds for our souls. The struggle between good and evil lies in the Earth where the quest for souls is the prize. Constatine unsuccessfully attempts suicide, thus puts his soul in the possession of hell. Regardless, he attempts to work for his acceptance in heaven as long as he lives here in Earth.

The show isn't bad as a storyline goes for entertainment. However, I wonder how many people will actually watch this and wonder if there is any truth in it. This is my primary dislike of the show. It is built around the concept of a persons actions to gain access to heaven by works. I realize this is the same concept as most if not all but one religion. This is not the fact of the truth, in the concept of Christianity. Biblically, the only means to attain Heaven is by accepting you're a sinner and ask Christ to take your place (as He did on the cross) for your sins. I digress.

I thought Keanu Reeves did well playing Constatine, considering the given character. Keep in mind I never knew of this character till the movie. I also enjoyed seeing Keanu with Rachel Weisz again. I liked them together in the movie Chain Reaction.

All in all it was a decent movie and entertaining to watch. The cool main website is found here.

Initially when we headed to Arizona for our 5 week tour, I had at least 3 things on my mind to accomplish. Unfortunately due to laxidazia and simply falling into a routine, they just didn't happen.

Thought number one. I figured I would start excercising on a regular basis. Either get up early to do it or during my work lunch hour(yeah right, more like 15 min) or in the evening. Somehow I started out doing more than normal and then it was shortened due to business to simply stopping all together.

Thought number two. I figured I could catch up on my web site creation, revision, and home projects for church ect. Again the thought was there, but I find myself on the computer all day for work. I am unable to get on the actual internet due to having to be connected to work via VPN. Hence my online activities are restricted to early before work (prior of 6 a.m. local time) or in the afternoons. Well, I find myself again tired of the computer after being on it all day. I normally just delete my personal email junk and read the blogs of interest, when possible. Needless to say, this hasn't been done yet either.

Do an indepth study of the bible or something and write a small article on it. Sounds good but this takes time to do and personal study. I find myself in my off work time simply playing with the kids. Then the fact being in the four walls, we find ourselves wanting to simply get out of the hotel. This is usually either in the park(when it's not hotter than hell) or walking the malls.

All in all, I have myself to blame. I should just simply do it, regardless of what the it is.

I finished reading Song of Susannah, the second to last book of Stephen Kings Dark Tower Series. It was an excellent book and I can't wait till July when the last book goes to paperback. I simply cannot spend 35 bucks on a book, sorry.

I started reading James Patterson' Big Bad Wolf, in paperback. I like Patterson's writing, as I do Kyle Mills. The chapters are small, but it started out pretty good.

I am completating on seeing the Keanu Reeves movie Constatine at the 2 dollar movie. It is only playing at 9:30 p.m. tonight. I would be watching this alone and while the kids and Kel more than likely be asleep at the hotel. I told Kel, 2 bucks is cheaper than a retal. This would be one of those movies where I alone would watch at night with the kids and Kel asleep anyway. Depends on how tired I am around then anyway.

Tomorrow Kel is taking our daughter to watch The Ice Princess while our son and I stay at the hotel. He doesn't want to watch it and my on-call starts tomorrow (yeah Memorial Day) anyway.

Since Yu-gi-Oh was so dark, we switched over to Pokemon. Little did we know the kids not only enjoyed ,Pokemon, but seem to be possessed by it. First it was the cards, then the movies, then the shows and toys! I mentioned we acquired a used Pokemon board game the other weekend as well.Yes, we are entrenched with Pokemon, so I figured I should analyze it.

Pokemon card game_Deck

Initially we bought 3 deck themes. The game was easy enough to learn. At this time the kid's ages were five and six. In fact, this game was far easier than Yu-gi-Oh was. Plus I didn't have to keep reading all the cards over and over again as we played.
Basically you can have a maximum of 60 cards in your deck. The guidebook we bought suggested 28 energy cards, 16 Basic Pokemon, 10 Trainers, 4 Stage 1 Pokemon, and 2 Stage 2 Pokemons. The easiest for a beginner is to just purchase a theme deck and then you can buy extra cards to change out, modifying the theme deck to your liking. I use Team Rockets, James theme deck. The kids just acquired 2 new themes decks, both Deoxys. Now they pretty much kick my butt. Luckily I just enjoy playing with them. The game plays as one on one. However, the kids and I all play the same time. Normally they gang up on me and annihilate me pretty quick. Before the Deoxys decks, I could still take care of them, but no longer. ( shaking head sadly) All in all, the game plays easy and well. I would suggest Wizards of the coast official guide ‘Lets Play Pokemon' book. My wife found it for 3 bucks in a discount table. We usually use it more often then the rulebooks.
This is one game I enjoy playing with the kids. I use to play Magic about 10-11 years ago. So this is a way for me to play again while enjoying time with the kids. In fact, I plan to look into creating a league in our area when we are able to. Yes, Yu-Gi-Oh is the primary card gaming in our area as well. However, I think this game can become popular with some push and organization.

Pokemon cartoons

The family and I don't watch the Pokemon cartoons on TV. However, I found some DVD sets that contain plenty to watch, over and over and over again. Quite frankly it's to the point of identifying which cartoon by just listening to it. Sigh.
The cartoons are geared to the younger audience. I haven't heard any attempts to push theology on the kids, unlike Digimon. However, the cartoon isn't so silly as to not be entertaining to adults. Maybe it's the kid in me but I find myself watching the crazy things as well. We have 3 DVD sets. Within the sets, the team with Ash Ketchum works together along the way to some tournament. In each cartoon, Team Rocket (the humor part of the show) attempts to steal Pikachu. The characters are sound and the storylines are actually good. This is one cartoon I feel comfortable with my kids watching without me having to be in the room or preview them.

As a side note, I bought the Pokemons Master Quest rather than the individual dvds. You can purchase Pokemon Master Quest through Amazon.com here.

Below is an email from NOW in bold. My thoughts in italics within the email.

NOW Condemns Senate Confirmation of Priscilla Owen

May 25, 2005

Today the Senate approved the controversial nomination of Priscilla Owen after a filibuster was ended — the result of a "compromise" by 14 senators Monday night. Democrats filibustered Owen's nomination twice in the past four years, and it is worth noting that they again garnered more than the 41 votes needed to maintain a filibuster, had that option not been removed by the compromise.
"Another notch in Karl Rove's belt," NOW President Kim Gandy called the Senate's 56 to 43 confirmation of Owen to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Karl Rove's involved with this?


Owen, whose career from obscure Houston lawyer to the U.S. Court of Appeals was engineered by Karl Rove, embodies the basest of political motives—payback, pure and simple. Rove plucked Owen from relative obscurity and raised nearly $1 million for her first campaign. And he will no doubt be gratified, as Owens' anti-women, anti-civil rights, anti-worker and pro-business opinions benefit the wealthy and powerful—George W. Bush's political base. Like her fellow Texan Tom DeLay, Owen is ethically challenged, having taken campaign contributions from corporations like Enron and Halliburton and then ruling in their favor.

Are they speaking about a terrorist here?
According to the facts... She was a standout at the top of her Baylor University Law School class; she became a partner at a major Houston law firm, Andrews & Kurth, where she practiced commercial litigation for 17 years; and she was elected in 1994 to the Texas Supreme Court, and re-elected in 2000. She received the highest rating, "well-qualified," from an American Bar Association committee that reviews judicial nominations.
Hardly from an obscure past. If she is so anti (such a negative word) why did she get nominated twice and well spoken by the American BAR Association?

"Priscilla Owen is now the proud owner of a lifetime appointment to the second highest court in the United States, where she can inflict her utter disregard for individual rights on the people of Louisiana and Mississippi—as she has been doing for the more than 10 years in Texas," charged Gandy.

Unlike your ideology oppressing the public, eh Gandy?

As a member of the Texas Supreme Court, Owen consistently took the side of big corporations and the powerful against workers and against ordinary people who had been injured by wrongdoing. In one case involving a young man who had been injured in a truck accident, Owen delayed writing the opinion for a year and a half. According to the New York Times, "the man, who was on a respirator, died when the family could not afford nursing care because the appeal delayed the multimillion-dollar verdict." Her pro-business bias is so strong that in her 2002 judiciary committee hearing, despite an extensive record of dissents, she could not find even one occasion in which she had dissented in favor of an individual suing a corporation.

Rather than pulling one example in 17 plus years, I would like to see the whole grid of her actions.

Owen's contemptible record on women's rights, civil rights, and individual rights makes her unfit for a lifetime appointment, and many innocent people will pay the price for this base act of political patronage. Her opinions were publicly criticized at least a dozen times by Bush's own Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, when they were both on the Texas Supreme Court. In one case, when Owen tried to re-write Texas' abortion laws to suit her own ideology, Gonzales referred to the attempt as "unconscionable judicial activism."
"Our democracy and our rights were compromised by the machinations of a power-hungry administration and its lackeys in the Senate who put their allegiance to George W. Bush above their oath of office," Gandy said. "The fight is not over. Moderate senators must put the interests of their constituents ahead of the Republican leadership's slash-and-burn politics, and refuse to be strong-armed into approving any more extremist nominees."

Dang Gandy, sounds like your in a war, rather an organization to further your cause. Who were the lackeys in the Senate that compromised the unwilling up or down vote? Put the interests of the constituents ahead? That would be a first.

Today I was itching to get out of the hotel room. I don't know why today moreso than any other ones. I wasn't on support at work, but it went fast enough. I was able to catch up on my projects and get rid of the ever increasing tickets. I managed to do all this with the family in the same room most of the day. I had only one conference call scheduled today, but end up on the phone about 3-4 times.

I sent a long email to the Doc. Regarding Kel and our son. It wasn't blistering, but I hope to drive home a couple of things. Like a good little hubby, I let Kel read it before I sent it. I had to get the email address from her anyway. Perhaps he will return it with some clarification. I also will try to take a day off next week to get some clarification from him. I get out of here 2 p.m. local time. This should also be enough time to allow a evening discussion without me losing a day. I guess we will see.

I am ready to get back to my routine at home. Tonight, we are stealing the one tv in the room. I will be watching the last Contender finale and then Kel wants to watch Dog the Bounty hunter. I think we are both pretty much cartooned out. The kids can watch a movie on the portable dvd player.

I also been progressively playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 on the PS2 with the kids. Nearly have this one beat. Even with some cheat codes, this is a booger to beat. We finally beat the bloody thing.

Other than this, I been laughing my butt off of Jays, Trashman, and Jacks blogs.

Being in the hotel, we found 'Robots the movie' to be on the pay per view. We watched it last weekend. In short, a great family movie with a good message.

The story consists of a son of a dishwasher robot, dreaming big. The dream is to be an inventor that makes the world better for the other robots. As he grows up to the point of moving out his mother wishes for him not too. The father on the other hand supports his son and tells him about his own dream he had. The dad goes on and explains, if you have a dream and do not follow or try, you will always wonder if your life will be different. He was trying to explain he had not followed his own dream, rather just became a dishwasher as his dad wanted.

Finally a show about the Father having the brains in the family and supporting the kids in a clean decent way.

The son heads to the big city to only find it's not what it's cracked up to be. However, he ends up helping others, as he wanted to do.

The story unfolds more and in the end the son of the dishwasher comes out on top. I am not going to give it away. However, I will say there were many underlying jokes (my wife and I got, but the kids didn't) that cracked us up. Did I mention this is an incredible story with a resounding good quality message? Most movies anymore has the message of tolerence. This message is about someone wanting to use their talents to assist and better others by following their dreams, believing they can be more than they are.

I was surprised of all the known actors providing their voices in the movie. The list contains; Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Mel Brooks, Greg Kinnear, Drew Carey, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, and Robin Williams.

This is a movie, I will definitely buy for the kids once availble on DVD. The official website is found here.

You can also purchase the dvd from Amazon.com here.

What can I say. It's been a busy week. We have mainly been eating in the hotel all week. We broke that last night by actually sitting in a nice restruant. So what did I order? A double hamburger with all the works, lettuce, tomatoe, red onion, cheese and mustard. Sigh. Man it was good. I finished it today for lunch.

This week we also revisited a used book store. I was going bonkers to get out after being cooped up in the hotel. At least home, I can step away from the office. In here it's all the same room. The bed, foldout couch, and island to separate the little kichenette from the bed and couch. I don't feel like I can step away. Anyway, I found 2 magazines to read. A biblical archeology for 2.50 and an old wired magazine for a buck. The kids found a used Pokemon board game. We already played it 4 times. It's actually a good game and last for about an hour for the 3 of us to play.

Kel took the kids to a zoo today. It sounded very impressive. It was their luxury outing this week. She was good to take some pics which I could see this afternoon. Sounded like they had a blast.

I had also bought the Song of Susannah, Stephen King, book this week. I started it last night. I am a fan of the Dark Tower Series and look forward to the story wrapping up. I bought the paperback and seen the last one in hard back. The hard back looks thick, approximately 5 inches (no kidding). I noticed the Song of Susannah is large print and not very thick, so don't expect it to take too long to read. I am not ready to swallow the price for the last hardback though.

Nearly half way there regarding to staying here. Last night during our meal, I noticed our son staring out and mentioned it to Kel. Then he had a full blown seizure. It's not the kind of grandmal seizures of the jerking but a starting out lost of time kind. Kel called the doc and took him back within that hour, dropping my daughter and I at the hotel. Kel later told me the Doc. was glad to see this episode and believes he now knows what to do to resolve our issue of his body to progressively keep the toxins out. I don't know, Kel didn't ask any specific questions and I had plenty. I guess I will have to do a 101 QA with the doc at some point to get all my inquiries out there. I want to get to the technically specific and it is a bit frustrating to hear Kel generaliize. I get the feeling this doc is one of those generalizer's that doesn't like specifics. Perhaps doesn't want to get put in a corner. I don't know. I hate to speculate.

I will say this day was the fastest of the other 3 this week. I ended up on 4 conference calls and more IM's. I grow tired of the PC by end day.

Yesterday the family and I went out to get away from the 4 wall hotel room. It was nice to stretch the legs outside and leisurely walk around.

On our way back to the hotel on Broadway street, I witnessed something I never thought I would.

Waiting on the red light to change, we sat in the second to last right lane. The farther right lane turns to the right. A guy on a Bicycle was cruising in front of us from the left side to the right. A car on the farther right lane started to make a right turn. The guy on the Bicycle approached him and I could tell was screaming "GO! GO! Go!" Well the car didn't just go. It stopped halfway in the turn in front of the path of the bicyclist. That evidently infuriated the guy screaming Go, because he nearly stopped and literally tried to hit the back of the car with his hand screaming obscenities. The car finally moved along away from the screaming guy on the bike. Then to add to the comical scenario, another guy in a van in the other street screamed at the 'mad bicyclist'. Probably to chill out. The bicyclist responded with a finger.

What the heck is up with some people? Perhaps a bad day? But in a logical setup, the car could had backed into the guy and creamed him easily enough. Unreal, but somewhat amusing.

I guess this would be week one down from five. I think it was a bit slow, although busy. I basically been in the hotel with the exception of one night we ate out and two errands I had to run. Personally I don’t care. I am pretty much use to it working home.

I noticed something else too. My wife needs more sociability than me. She literally lights up when a friend calls her on the cell to talk. I knew she enjoyed time chatting, act. With her friends, but didn't really understand the need till this trip. I read somewhere guys more easily picked up old friends easier after years of not seeing them or required less 'guy time' than what was considered 'girl time'. I guess it holds true.

This weekend we plan to hit the Mesa Market. It's basically a large outside flea market. I am looking forward to getting out and just leisurely looking around. I will bring my pda with me in case I get a call from work. Tomorrow we plan to have a picnic in one of the nice parks nearby. I haven’t been on a picnic for quite some time. Again I am looking forward to it.

Arizona surprises me with its cleanliness and obvious leaning on the natural healthy side. There are more health shops, natural stores than one can shake a stick at around here. We went into a simple store the other day and I bet there were 4 aisle of nothing but vitamins. Ironically there were 6 aisles of wine. All but one brand I never heard of. This was only part of one side of the store. Nothing compared to home. The medical ideology is a dichotomy when compared here and home. It seems more natural, higher if not different technology here than at home. Those here are more apt to have different views on the attempts to cure someone here than the 'thinking in the box' view at home. I find it fascinating when comparing to the states.

One gripe I guess I have is my wife has been taking our kids to places and out during this whole week. That isn't the gripe. The gripe is our kids seem to require 24/7 entertainment time. Their though of going to Mesa Market is 'what are we going to do for fun today or tonight'. I hadn’t realized how much they are in to 'the me'. If nothing else, this trip has opened my eyes on many things. I see some of these things in my family and also some of me. I recognize I require 'getting away' time as well. This is done by watching a movie when the kids are nearly asleep or reading. I went through a whole book in a matter of a couple days. I read slowly so I think I astounded my wife. I continue to be sick of being on a computer after on it all day. So I find entertainment in playing PS2, battle with the Pokemon decks we brought with the kids, ect. Oh well. As previously thought, this will be a long 5 weeks, but not I also believe it will be eye openers.

Midweek of one out of five already. Well, regardless of the busyness with work, it still seems slow. This getting up 4 a.m. and to work around 5:30 6 a.m. is something else. My computer's clock remains set to eastern time to help me with my scheduled conference calls. I have to turn around to the microwave clock within the hotel room to see the local time. When I came into this hotel room I recognzied the layout. I asked the main desk later this week if they were affiliated with MainStay. They said they use to be MainStay, but no longer. This is the exact floorplan as the MainStay hotel I stay at in Pennsylvania. How freaking weird is that? The room is smaller than the one in PA but the same layout.

My wife had another emotional day today. She came into the room and I could see she was crying again. Seems the every other day schedule has been changed to everyday for our son while we are here. However, the Tuesday and Thursday's are only for 15 minutes. Seems our son informed the Doc 'mom been doing physical therapy, speech therapy, ect' Yeah, it's called excercise and continued speech therapy since we are in bumville and not home. So the gracious doctor thought it best to come in on the T days to do some physical therapy. Probably charge us another 2 days per week for this. The other thing that is upsetting her is the office stating it may be longer and/or more expense than we have informed you, prior of coming. But we will take a percentage off, ect to assist. Man, I wish they would find the solution and soon. We been out 10K out of pocket for this and most have come from charity or assistance. I shouldn't bitch because most families could not even do this. I have a lot of blessings and lattitude as opposed to most. Yet, it is frustrating to continue to see my wife and family go through this rollercoaster.

It boils down to this...The metals, toxic's ect that we have and flush out of our systems on a daily basis is not big deal. However, our son seems to not be able to flush those same metals, toxics ect out of his body. They want to remain there and build up. This crap then brings on the seizures, inability to concentrate, ect. The doc here is the only one identifying that and can remove it from his system with the high-tech equipment and treatments. However, the issue is for our son to continue to do so on his own. This is what the doc is now trying to figure out.. him and whomever he is consoling. We had hoped and was told the full program should remedy this issue. Since only being here a little over one week was such a remarkable improvement, it sounded logical to us. The set back we experienced was due to our son not continueing to flush this out without the laser, daily treatments ect. But we really can't live here, so we are hoping and praying for the answer to remedy this.

Our daughter stays with me in the hotel room while Kel and our son goes to the doc. She fixed me lunch and we took a break to hit the excercise room. I actually walked 2 miles on the treadmill. At least it blows steam and maybe some calories.

Work went as usual today. Three conference calls, worked on 4 projects and bothered by peers. If one thinks by working out of a hotel eases ones load, think again. The main difference? The 3 hour difference. Having to work 6-2 rather than 8-4 makes my day seem very quick. I am on call this week, but next week will enjoy the evenings off with the family without the worry of a cell phone ringing.

My daughter and I took a break today to work a little in the excercise room. It has a nice treadmill, stair climber and bike to work with. Plus the abilty to watch the whopping 12 channels on their tv. yeah.

Thankfully our PS2 works well. The abilty to play games in addition to movies will be a lifesaver. There is nothing on TV, so Pokemon DVD is it. I will have to use the portable dvd player tonight to watch a 'dad's movie'. I been cartooned out already. I was able to catch some news this afternoon just to get an idea of what is going on in the outside world.

This is going to be a looonnngg five weeks.

Well we rested today. Still having trouble with the time change. It is 2 hours behind here from where we are. So at 5:30 at here the kids are playing PS2 in pajamas (already showered) with the sun still up. Kel and I are like...ready to get prepared for bed?

Although we 'rested' today, we ran around checking the grounds around us. We found our old stomping area in Mesa. We hit a couple of stores to walk around and found a really good park. I was impressed with the park and we will probably be hitting it quite often. I managed to do the laundry (unbelievable, but yes already)this afternoon. We also managed to play in the park, get our bearings, play in the pool here at the hotel, found the excercise room and tried out the 3 items, and get settled in the room.

Other than that, we called our mothers to wish them a happy mothers day. We ate at Macaroni Grill here for lunch.

I also checked the buisiness email so it won't bog me down too much tomorrow.

Made it to Arizona! Talk about God watching over us. Man, it was a long drive.
We arrived in Amarillo yesterday around 3 p.m. We stayed all night with Kel's aunt and uncle. Thinking it was 5 a.m. we actually were up at 3 a.m. and drove it straight through to Arizona. We are all tired but with needed showers done and pizza in our bellies, contempt.

We continue to get ready for our drive to Arizona. We have nearly everything ready. I will be glad when we finally arrive there.

Want a free DVD? Check out Last Best Chance.org They are sending out these DVD's while they last. It depicts off facts regarding terrorist's getting nuclear arms. It looks intense.

Today is our son's 6th birthday. It is hard to believe he is already six. Man, feeling old. We will be going to Chuckie Cheese tonight for him to play with his friends. Yeah, fun fun.

A lot is going on in today's news. Here are some highlights and my thoughts.

2 toy grenades were loaded with gunpowder blasted small damage outside the British Consulate.
My thoughts...What if it has nothing to do with the Brits, rather a probe to see how we respond and timing us?

Sex offender in Florida cuts off his ankle tracking bracelet (near school yard) and flees

OK guys, it's getting crazy for these sex offenders running helter skelter. This makes 2 sex offenders escaping in Florida doing this. What the he** is wrong with them down there anyway? I say plan a GPS in all sex offenders body (say internal that will detonate upon attempt of removal) regardless of victims age. Have their GPS on the net so anyone can view where the he** they are on a given moment. They already have their mugs on the sex offenders list anyway, so this would only bring it to real time. The bleeding hearts worried they will be looked after to be picked on, tough. They should had thought of the consequences when they were enacting their own desires on a innocent.

No. 3 in terrorist group caught and talking.

Who knows what the guy is saying. Perhaps the government just leaked it to the media to watch the ants run.

Documents to prove Kofi Anon may be guilty of the Oil and Food Scandal

Is there anyone really not surprised?

I will be the first to admit I am not the sharpest tool in the shed. However, I have to tell you this one. As you know, I been attempting to pull a index of school board members in the attempt to have the members a way to converse across the districts for ideas, ect. I happen to find out our area is district 14. On the ossba.org site there are 2 contacts listed. I called one of them to inquire what their roles are. I found out they were considered directors of the district, voted in by the other districts school board members. Hmm, ok a person of information. I explained to him my history of inquiry with no answers and asked if he was aware of any index of contacts. Nope, he doesn't believe it exists. I could ask OSSBA. I informed him, I already went down that road. So this was another dead end. Then he stated the district has 2 meetings a year for a chance all school board members within the district to get together. Perhaps I could attend and bring it up or make some contacts that way. OK so I asked the obvoius question. How does the members get notified of the when/where/ to attend? He answered very quickly. Oh, the OSSBA sends out a letter to all the board members with that information..... OK, I repied, that would be an indication they had a index of contacts. Only silence from the other end of the phone.

We had our last PTA meeting last night. I for one am glad of it. We were in and out within 30 minutes. Fortunately no hassle from anyone. I will be the treasurer for next school year as well. Guess, I am doing something right on that part. ( smile )

2 days after today, before we leave for Arizona. I need to get some stuff down around the house, big time. I was on support for work yesterday, hence no time to do anything else.