Middle America's Worldview

I slept in my own bed last night and it was great. We arrived home late evening yesterday and we are still in the process of doing laundry.
We drove in heavy rain from the other side of Little Rock, Arkansas to home. Yet, we did make it safely home.

The kids didn't make it very long being home. Their Nanna and Pappa already snagged them this evening and will keep them tonight and most likely tomorrow night. This will give Kel and I a night alone. Hmm, I wonder what we will do alone after being in the same hotel room for the last 2 weeks with the kiddos.

I refuse to check my buisiness email till tomorrow morning.

Kel and I had to get our news fix. Yes, I watched a bit of the Fox channel as well as G4. She watched E. One of the things I was surprised to hear was Batwoman was making a reappearance, as a lesbian. LOL
Check it here. Unreal.

We are traveling back home. We initially were going to stay a couple of days at Orlando and not even head back till Monday. We hit Gatorland, then a couple of outlet malls. We then proceeded to I-75 North toward home. We didn't make it too far out of Orlando, but we are heading home none-the-less.

For some reason, I woke up this morning stressing on an old job I had about 8 years ago. Odd that I would be thinking of an old job.

We hope to be home no later than late Monday. We still are not 'trying' to run home, rather take it easy on our trip home. Yet, I feel we all are ready to sleep in our own beds again.

We should be going through Georgia today. We stopped in a Marriott within Ocala, Florida last night. I hope we don't see as many wrecks as we had coming here.

The vacation is half over already. Today was a very relaxing day (except for a emergency issue that was resolved). Today, we didn't run from one ride to another, rather we slowly floated around a lake at Discovery Cove. It was very nice and did I mention relaxing? sigh.

Basically we hit Disney Friday and hit Downtown Disney first. Saturday we stayed half the day at Animal Kingdom. We basically hit all the rides by half the day. Our son started collecting the Disney Racer cars, our daughter the pins. I wanted the kids to get the penny press's. So I hit the penny machines.

That Saturday evening we cruised over to MGM since we had reservations at the Scifi Diner. We actually was able to hit a couple of the shows and rides that evening at MGM. We had a great time and were able to hit many of the rides, ect. we didn't expect too. The big extra was us seeing the parade that contained the Power Rangers, our sons hero's.

Sunday we hit Epcot. We again hit all the rides we wanted too. On the second day, we already learned the best way to do this is to hit the ones having the early hour. This allows us to hit the rides we want without the long waiting line. We didn't do the walk around the world, yet.
That Sunday evening, we hit Magic Kingdom. We had a supper reservation at Crystal Palace. We mainly walked main street and was able to watch the parade.

Monday morning we hit Magic Kingdom again. We watched the shows and hit the rides. Magic Kingdom is basically like a wheel with the 'lands' as the spokes. The castle lies in the middle. We started out watching Stitch great escape and worked our way around the other lands. The one thing I was looking forward too, but was disappointed in was 'The presidents hall'. It was suppose to be about the presidents but it was mainly about 'Freedom and equality'. Yes, it was a good message per se. However, it really wasn't what it was suppose to be. Plus it used the Civil War as a example of slavery(going with that equality thing). After reading about the Civil War, it wasn't a war about slavery (that was brought into it after the war started). So again, misleading the people. Oh well, Magic Kingdom was cool, but hot in weather.

Tuesday, we hit Discovery Cove. We swam with the dolphins and lazily relaxed. This by far was the most relaxing of the trip. I told the kids it was nice to just float, swim, ect. We didnt' have to run from one ride to another. sigh.

Vacation officually started for me yesterday evening when I fully shut down the laptop. Ahh felt good to shut it completely down. It's normally on all the time.

First day out we drove and drove and drove. We crossed about 4-5 states in our journey. We are crashed at a Best Western in Byron, Georgia. It has free wireless net access, so I can check my email and blog when able. I didn't bring my work laptop, purposely. So I get to use Kel's. We drove since 3:20 a.m. our time. We lost an hour crossing over to the new time zone. So its about 8:55 p.m. here. So that's about 16 hours straight? Most traffic was in the small part of Tennessee, and Georgia. Alot of wrecks in Georgia.

Going to crash.

It was a nice weekend. We were able to get the living room, hallway and bathroom ready for the painting. We are having some friends paint these while we are away. Kel literally has us packed and ready. We are officially packed and ready. I will be mowing the yard Monday or Tuesday, right before we leave to get it cut down well.

We also had time today to play with the kids on games, ect while we cleaned house. We had purchased Rags to Riches and watched it as well. I never seen it, so it was new to me. Not a bad movie, pretty cute. However, in the now, a single guy acuiring 6 girls for adoption, would probably be looked at more closely.

The kids had written a song a piece by themselves. I was actually impressed with what they came up with. They also gave breakfast in bed to Kel as well as give her a program, where they sung, and did knock knock jokes.

All in all, a very nice weekend.

It's nearing time for bed and only Monday, Tuesday left to wait for a getaway.

4 days and counting. We are outta here next Wednesday.

Unexpectedly the kids are off to their Nana and Papa's for the night. I rented two movies for Kel and I. We are watching 'Rumour has it'. It's ok, but not all that. Those that have watched it, may understand. Basically, one guys has sex with 3 generation of women. It's a attempted spinoff of 'The Graduate'.

I also grabbed 'A sound of thunder'. Yeah, that ones for me. As I looked through the movies and read the back of them, it just seems they all sound the same anymore.

The plan for this weekend was to clean the house, and finish preparing for our trip.
However, it appears Kel's mother has plans for tomorrow.

Seems like anymore, I am pissing and moaning about something on my blog. If it's not about the political situation its about my busy life.

Well, why break a going thing. I have been really humping it at work these past, now, week and half. Since we are going on vacation in like 6 days, thank God, everyone wants their pet project done now.

I been counting it up. I have rolled out nearly 50 interfaces since last Monday. I kid you not. One of my peers asked if I am going for the record. In addition, I have worked on new projects and a merge of two facilites. The merge consist of two facilites currently on two separate systems, going to one system. Basically a conversion of the systems. So for the past nearly 2 weeks, I have been basically turning on the music (loud) during my non-conference calls and hacking away. No news. No interruptions. So in a nut shell, work has been busy. Top if off this week prior of vacation, I am on call.

The problem with on call, other than it comes out to 5 bucks a night, I get the most stupid calls. Tired and exhausted, the family crashes (including me) before 9 p.m. tonight. This is highly unususal for me to go to bed and be asleep so early.

Low and behold, 11:30 p.m local time, I get a call from work. What is it about? Interfaces down...network outage...no. Some facility showing their radiology connection is down. OK. The facility says a (name withheld) consultant says she is working on it. OK. But I can't find her number anywhere.

I get up and look on my contact list for her number. As I begin to look, I see she is on sametime. We use Lotus Notes at work and Sametime is the equivalent of its IM. I simply tell her this. She doesn't first see her then know how to add her to her contact list. Sigh. This is what I get woke up for?

So as usual, once I get woke up, I have a hard time to get back to sleep. Yeah, I know more pissing and moaning.

I have noticed a continueing disturbing trend with the American Public. Rather than a continued fight for the current rights of the state and the people, there is a tendency to only rise on the removal of those rights. This is a slow rise to boot.

The history of American shows it to be the youngest country in the world, but the most prosperous. Many have fought and laid down their lives for the simple right to vote, attend public meetings, ect. Only to have their descendants neglect in the simple task to register for voting.

I attended a district board meeting recently. One of the two attending representives mentioned the fact there were so many (about 4 inches of paper)new legislation items entered daily, no one can physically view it all. They must simply rely on the special interest groups to inform them what is more important at the time. This basically puts the groups that scream the loudest or has the representives same interest or ear in power. No longer are there many in the public that have any clues as to what new legislation or changes are being put in place. Much worse, many of the public citizens are clueless of their current representives.

The main form of information are the portals from TV. It already has been determined the majority of these are bias.

So what are the public left with? Simply those citizens wishing to be adequately informed. This requires work. Unfortunately, many of the public view this as un-necessary work or simply un-interested in this until it effects them on a personal level.

This brings us to my concerning view of the American People. They are called to action by having to react to a cause against their rights as opposed to be proactive and fight for their current state and individual rights.

Wake up America, your rights, legislation are being removed, changed in front of your very eyes.

As I had stated before in a prior blog, I was bumbed by not finding my backup of geneaology files.

Well, we went to Tulsa this weekend and spent Friday night with my wife's Aunt. She also has a laptop and cable internet access. I had to check on my Ebay and seen where I had installed the Family Tree Maker on her laptop. I thought, hmmm.

I checked into the FTW folder and low-behold a Geneaology folder was in there containing all my lost files! I must had given her all my backups, letters, pics ect. Totally elated, I could have hugged her.

It was pretty obvious by her response, she had never really looked at them. However, at that point, I didn't care. I will be able to pull off all the files when she comes back in my town (I didn't have my memory stick and she doesn't have a cd writer). I was able to email most of the gedcom files to myself. I checked the folder and it about 100 megs of data.

So, this allows me to check, update my info, after 5 years of me not touching it, without having to re-enter my already contained data.

I have no clue what the parameters are as to how they evaluate this.

Is it really May already? Man, this year is flying.

I guess the news will be covering the illegal alien parade today. I understand the arguments, I see the points on both sides. However, the points spoken on either side, touches around the given subject, without really addressing it.

They are illegal immigrants pouring into United States. That is the concerning subject. It's not a needed working class. It's not a means to emphasize those wishing better for themselves and their families. It's not about immigration. It's about illegals invading our country with the expectation of amnesty. Pure and simple.

I will probably turn the news on and off during the day. However, it probably will be pretty much repetitive after the first hour of broadcasting.

It's ironic, by obvious organization (but by whom?), the illegals pick Labor Day to not do any labor. I recall their first walkout showing Mexican flags in the streets. The bias news had to comment on this. Low and behold, across the nation, it was quickly changed to United States flags during demonstrations.

The news needs to ask, who is organizing this massive stunt, rather than perpetuating the incorrect cause.

May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in every country except the United States, Canada, and South Africa. This despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the United States, with the fight for an eight-hour work day....

I have created an additional Blog, purposely to promote my site Get Rid of Toxins and to post articles regarding toxins, detox, ect. This will allow me to post the information I am unable to on my site, in addition to further promote.

Yes, you can call it innovative, good idea, or just plain tacky.

I purchased 20 pages when I initially created the website. Quite frankly, a lot of information and articles are availible out there. So, I hope you bookmark, add it to your list for the information value alone.

I have added it to my 'sites I read daily' on my left column.

OK everyone check this out below. It was an article I snagged from Webpronews.
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Telecommunications giants scored a victory over Net Neutrality advocates in the U.S. legislature yesterday as the proposed "Markey Amendment,"a provision to prevent Internet providers from creating access chokepoints was voted down in the House of Representatives.

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Editor"s Note: Did the House Energy and Commerce Committee sell out the Internet? Or do you think Net Neutrality supporters are overreacting? Share your thoughts on this very important issue in WebProWorld.

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The amendment"s defeat has caused a firestorm of accusations against the telecom industry and the legislators siding with them in the debate. A diverse and growing opposition believes that Congress members like Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-ILL), who pushed for the amendment"s defeat, are acting not in favor of their constituency but in favor of the big-money telecom industry.

Telecoms, like AT&T and Verizon, want to create a two-tiered Internet where customers and content providers can be charged for premium content delivery at higher speeds and quality than other content. The harshest critics believe that ability will give ISPs the ability to block, slow, or degrade content unfavorable to them, including access to websites and email.

The Markey Amendment, proposed for addition to the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act (COPE), was created to protect what proponents call "Network Neutrality,"a philosophy that the Internet should remain free and open to encourage innovation, startup business, and free speech. Called the "Internet"s First Amendment,"this concept is supported by Internet and technology giants like Google and Microsoft.

The amendment expressly warned the telecom industry "not to block, impair, degrade, discriminate against, or interfere with the ability of any person to use a broadband connection to access, use, send, receive, or offer lawful content, applications, or services over the Internet."It was voted down by a vote of 34-22 in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The COPE Act will now move to the full House for a vote, and then to the Senate if passed. The Senate Commerce Committee is expected to propose its own Net Neutrality legislation in the coming weeks.

"The House vote today ignores a groundswell of popular support for Internet freedom," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press. "We hope that the full House will resist the big telecom companies and reject the bill. But we look to the Senate to restore meaningful protections for net neutrality and ensure that the Internet remains open to unlimited economic innovation, civic involvement and free speech."

Free Press recently spearheaded a campaign through the websites blog SaveTheInternet.com, a nonpartisan initiative that attracted over 250,000 petition signatures and over 500 weblog authors in just a few days. While the initiative is not apolitical, it is diverse along party lines with membership ranging from libertarian Gun Owners of America, to the Consumers Union, to MoveOn.org.

SaveTheInternet.com doesn't view it as a total loss, however. The attention the coalition has generated seems to have made a large impact on the voting. Before the initiative launched, Net Neutrality provisions were shot down 23-8 in the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

"The telcos have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and many years lobbying for their position; we launched four days ago, and have closed a lot of ground,"reads the website.

"The Commerce Committee is headed in the opposite direction of where the American public wants to go," said Columbia Law Professor Timothy Wu, a pro-market advocate and one of the intellectual architects of the Net Neutrality principle. "Most people favor an open and neutral Internet and don’t want Internet gatekeepers taxing and tollboothing innovation."

Barton and Rush Under Scrutiny

Congressmen Barton and Rush have been put under the microscope by opponents lately for their financial relationships with the telecommunications industry. Both vocal opponents of Net Neutrality provisions in the Commerce Committee, Barton and Rush led the charge in defeating the Markey Amendment.

Many find it no small coincidence that out of Barton"s top three campaign contributors, the second and third largest ones are SBC Communications (now AT&T) and Comcast Corporation. Tied for 12th among contributions is the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

The Chicago Sun-Times points out that Bobby Rush, the only Democrat to sponsor the bill, recently "received a $1 million grant from the charitable arm of SBC/AT&T"for a community organization Rush is associated with called the Rebirth of Englewood Community Development Corporation.

To see which committee members voted against the Markey Amendment click here.

It's Monday night and I am still awake with no nap. Sigh. It's nearly 10 p.m. local time. So what is that...like 20 hours straight?

Kel had a 6 to 9 p.m. confernce to attend tonight. I watched Millions with the kids. Our son didn't make it to the end. He crashed. Our daughter made it through but not an additonal movie in bed.

Since both kids crashed and Kel was out on a conference, what do I do? I finished up some emails, troubleshooting and currently running a requested script for work. Yeah, fun fun. I also put up nearly 3 loads of laundry. Talk about getting behind on that one. So now it's 10 p.m local time and my wife came home with a cell phone to her ear. Perhaps I can chat with her before we both crash.

The script is 92% done.

I had a issue with Blogger publishing, so my weekend update didn't come into effect till today.

It stormed like crazy tonight. Kel and I was awake probably around 2 a.m. After talking awhile, we finally got up.

Our last PTA meeting is today at 3:30 local time (12 hours from now). Kel also has a mom's meeting regarding home school later that evening.

The kids and she went on a GATE outing yesterday. They went to Tulsa at the zoo and did not return till nearly 8:30 p.m. local time. It allowed me to run some errands and spend more time on looking at things, I normally wouldn't have time to look at.

Work Monday was very busy, but it made time fly by. I looked up and over half the day was already gone before I barely realized it.

Update:Monday morning before 8 a.m. local time.
Kel's dad had asked me to provide a printout on their family geneaology. I researched mine while in highschool and was lucky to find someone in California (online) that had already done the bulk of the research on their side (surname Snook). I use Family Tree Maker as my choice. However, this research was done back in 99. Since we were up since 2 a.m., I figured I would try to get this request out of the way. I had to re-install the software on the PC, but low and behold, I could not find any backup files nor my gedcom file......anywhere. Sigh. Fortunately, I had the sense to create a printout, but it's frustrating I can not seem to find my cd's. I found some old gedcom on 3.5 floppy, but not all of it. Hmm, did I even have a CD writer 6-7 years ago?

This weekend we simply stayed home and did some serious house cleaning. This time, I really threw away many of my old papers, ect. In addition, while our kids visited their nana and papa Saturday night, Kel and I spent 4 hours going through, preparing all of the PTA documentation, things for Tuesday's meeting. We(more she than I) now have everything in one tupperware for the new president. Kel typed everything up for the president, while I cleaned up the briefcase and created walkthroughs for the online bank and PTA website. I hope those things we have started and provided for the school and kids, continue.

We started to actually pack for our Disney trip Sunday afternoon. There is only around 22 days before we actually leave. However, this trip seems overwhelming and we honestly wish to have the best of it. This will be the first actual vacation we really had. All the othe other "trips" have been to a Doctor, or out of necessity. We simply made the best of them. This will also be the longest duration for me from work. I always bring it with me. This time, I actually plan on not taking my laptop for the trip. I shudder at the thought of no internet access, email checking, ect for nearly 12 days. We are actually using ziplock bags for our packing. It was an idea Kel read somewhere. You put a full set of clothing in one ziplock bag per day. This way you mark each family members Name and Day. Then you simply pull the bag for each day. At the end of the day, you can put the clothes back in, keeping the dirty clothes from smelling up the place. As we packed each of, starting out with the youngest first, we find what we still need to get for the trip. Let's just say, I have plenty of socks and Kel has plenty of under wear. But if we only wore those, it would scare the little children.

Today, Kel and the kids are going on a GATE trip out of school. They will be gone for all day and not return till after 6 tonight. I will home working all day regardless. However, since I have the possibility of a free evening, I think I will go see my dad. I need to run some errands in Fort Smith anyway.

I woke up early this morning from a bad dream (5 local time). It allowed me to get some blogging done, as well as letting the dogs out. However, I don't like waking up with bad dreams. It wasn't like a nightmare, rather unsettling. It consisted of my son being used by some guy I didn't know. The dream was my son and I at a gas station and as I entered in the gas station, my son disappeared for a moment. I then spotted him talking with a couple of guys at a table. He immediately came over to me as we paid out and we went back to the vehicle. But as I got into the vehicle, he did not. Rather, he was walking in the middle of the street. The actual gas station ended up in the middle of the street and even though I was parked by the gas pump, many cars was behind me and trying to go around. I was afraid for my son, until he came back into the car. Once in the car, I talked with him, and found out he simply bought 20 dollars of lottery tickets for the guy. Nothing trivial, but during the dream, it was a feeling/worry of someone using my son.
It was a weird dream, but I had this fear for my kids when I woke up. I'm sure it's just a dream. Perhaps its just a accumulation, with all the news of kids, stress from everything and with the changes coming up after summer. I sincerely worry about not only my kids, but the younger generation itself.

We are on a verge of deciding a lot of changes regarding our family and how we do things.

PTA will be done, for us, next Tuesday. It will be the last one we attend as officers. Although, I enjoyed being part of something bigger, I think it's time. Since, we will be ending our activity (wish consisted of more time than I realized), we are looking for additional activities.

Kel is looking into creating a Girl Scout Troop in this area. I am looking to start up a Cub Scout in this area. Currently, we have neither for our town. As I look into this, I find myself looking forward to it. It's interesting on how to setup a Den or Pack (cubscouts) from nothing. There are some packs in the towns nearby, but none within our town. I am looking forward to getting this started.

Additionally, we are seriously considering Home schooling. I am still researching both the scouting and home schooling. As I learn more of each, I find a unknown world opening up before me. I did not realize there were so many options and opportunities regarding home schooling. Examples: There are over 100,000 kids currently being home schooled in Oklahoma alone. There are many many structured groups regarding home schooling. The available curriculums far out weighs the current public school system. I watched a DVD demo regarding the Becka curriculum and was very surprised to see the grade level knowledge of the kids in comparison of the expectations placed in public schools. The Becka curriculum demanded more and the kids excelled in memory verse, ect.

Do I think home schooling is for everyone? No. While there are many positives to be found, there are also examples of the other end of the spectrum. While it has been conveyed to me Oklahoma is the best state within the Continental United States to home school due to protection of the state constitution, I see a means for parents to abuse it. I spoke with a parent on the other side of the state, and quite frankly, it scared me. Oklahoma may be the best state to provide home schooling, it doesn't have requirements. This is then placed on the parents in what is taught to their children. Knowing this, you can already see the implications it may bring on the child. If you have lazy parents, it will fail the kids. I do not find myself with this concern regarding our own. So currently, I think if the parents have the means and can facilitate it, I think home schooling would be a outstanding plus for the kids.

With these two things looming ahead, I can see a major change in how we would raise our children. We could incorporate the value system of the scouting along with the high curriculum at home. This would provide us with a unparallel chance to structure our kids in a good way. Of course none of this would even start till after the summer vacation, but the decision and preparation would be necessary before then.

I have to say, I really feel sorry for the kids of our generation. They really have it tough in some areas. On one of the end of the spectrum, they are supposed to have the maturity to have abortions, sex, ECT. with out parental knowledge (see Iowa supreme court, and teen sex). Yet, on the other side of the spectrum, they are ignored when attempting to be mature (see child mom dies when calling 911 and kids call as drunk bus driver hits car).

There should not be any argument the ultimate one responsible for children lies in their own parents. But let's face it, not everyone is a great candidate to be a parent. Just because you have kids, doesn't mean it makes you a good parent.

I ran across 12 things a parent should do for their child and found it interesting.


1. To know Christ as Savior, early in life. Psalms 65:1, 1 Timothy 3:15
2. Have a hatred for sin. Psalms 97:10
3. Will be caught when guilty. Psalms 119:71
4. Protected from evil in each area-spiritual, emotional, physical. John 17:15
5. Have responsible attitude in inter-personal relationships. Daniel 6:3
6. Respect for those in authority. Romans 13:1
7. Desire right kind of friends and protected from the wrong friends. Proverbs 1:10-11
8. Kept from wrong spouse and saved for the right one. 1 Corinthians 1: 14-17
9. Will be kept pure until after marriage and the same for who they marry. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
10. Totally submit to God and actively resist Satan. James 4:7
11. Single-hearted sold out to Jesus. Romans 12:1-2
12. Hedged in so they cannot find a way to wrong people and places. Hosea 2:6


I did a little research, biblically, and found some verses referring to children. I am posting them with my comments in italics.

Matthew 19:14 - Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
This is bound to be the most known. What may not be known is a child moral values are already set by the age of 9. This is why it is imperative to teach right and wrong at such an early age. In addition, it is also why so many groups are thrusting their own ideology on children at such an early age.

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Notice it states, "in the Lord". I have seen and heard some parents use this verse, as well as the commandment against their kids. I have always thought it important for kids to obey their parents. There are many biblical verses referring to kids obeying and honoring their parents. But on the other side of this coin, the parents should bring them up with righteousness, teaching and knowing Gods' laws. We see this in verse 4.

Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
As parents, we are suppose to teach, nurture, provide encouragement, and good quality skills for them.

Psalm 127:3-5 . Lo! children are the heritage of Jehovah: the fruit of the womb is the reward which he bestows. As arrows in, the hand of a strong man so are the children of youth. Blessed is the man who shall have filled his quiver with them; for they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.

God provides children to us as a heritage and rewards. There are a couple of things to note in the above passages. One, heritage is defined as Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition. Children are provided by God, Himself. Parents are bestowed the inheritance and responsibility to pass on our knowledge and skills. Second, the reference to fruit of the womb is the reward, makes reference to God providing children as a blessing. I at times find this difficult to see, when a 21 year old single might have 4 kids and pregnant again.

2 Corinthians 12:14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.NIV
This one actually threw me. Although in context the apostle is speaking to the church he is about to visit. But it is interesting he notes children should not have to save up for their parents; rather again it's the parents responsibility to the children.

Throughout the bible there is recurring themes regarding children.
1) They are viewed as blessings and gifts from God.
2) It is the responsibility of the parents to raise them, providing them with the knowledge of God and teaching them accordingly.

Looking at what is thrown at kids in today's culture, one should not be surprised seeing the outcome in many of the youths. Many kids today are pushed into adult roles way too young, without the proper guidance. For me, I simply need to pray more for my own as well as all of them in today's time.

It seems no sleeping in for me for the weekend. I was awakened Saturday by work (the continued on-call luck) to a non-issue. Since I was up early anyway, I decided it would be best for me to grab my supplies for a home project. We had the A.C. fixed Friday night. It appears we were 2 lbs shy of freon. Fortunately, and blessedly, we have cool air again. I knew it was too hot in this bloody house. In the continued interest of keeping the 3 mutts (dogs) off the A.C. unit outside, I wanted to build a wall around it.

I ran to Lowes for the supplies, it took a bit to find the necessary items. To make things simple, for a simpleton like me, I grabbed some 2x4's, nails and some lattice work. The idea would be to keep it simple, but efficient.

Since, I was to go out, prior of the kids waking up, how about grabbing some donuts, and that pool we been talking about. This is my wife suggesting a more efficient run for me.

I grabbed the stuff at Lowes and managed to fit the 4x8 lattice work in and 2x4's within our van. I would be bopped in the back of the head but oh well.

I then proceeded to Walmart on Rogers street. No pool. I then went to the one on Zero street. Yes, as unreal as it seems, this area can support 2 super center Walmarts and 2 smaller ones. I had a girl find the requested pool. As usual it was someone not within the dept area and the items were located somewhere else. It was by hardware none-the-less. So I am looking at this behemoth of a box, thinking, ok, it will surely fit with all the other wood in there.

The nice lady found me a cart in order for us to roll or push it onto, as opposed to lifting it on the regular shopping cart. Since she was so nice, I decided to do the most of the lifting and pushing onto the metal cart. There went one nut, busted. But I restrained the grimace, a bit.

I proceeded up to the counter where everyone was 4-5 people lined back. I readily found the old lady cash registar with the equally old lady counting her pennies for her supplies. Once I finally was able to pay out, I was asked if I needed assistance. Looking at the "2 man lift" on the box that reached my head, I replied "Yes, please". I waited for about 10 minutes before the group of guys about 6 feet away was done drawing straws.

The poor loser of the straw drawing followed me out to the van. After, I removed the lattice and boards, we began to put the item in the back of the van. Yes, I removed the back seat before leaving the house. Rather than lifting it, he simple began pushing it over into the van. After some muscle and the second nut (mine) busted, it was in. We nimbly dodged the metal cart from hitting us as it flipped during our course of action.

The kid then took the cart and ran off. I replaced the wood and climbed in. The lattice found its way closer to the back of my head. I then had to find the donut shop on the way home. This was accomplished readily enough as it was close to the store.

After grabbing a box of donuts, I proceeded home. I had a good view of the sky as the backend raised the front pretty good. If it was Herbie the love bug, I am sure the sentence from him would be "Get that fat bit** off my end." But it wasn't, so I just imagined it as I proceed home.

I made it there with the axle still surviving.

I have to say at this point, I was able to get my project done yesterday, but the pool box remains in the van.

I hadn't seen these before, so I thought I would share them. The Email title was "Pictures to horrible for the Media"
Hopefully, they will not eat up the bandwidth. The email asked to share and pass on.
Happy Good Friday to everyone and continue to pray for the troops, our leaders , those that are lost, and this Nation!