Blog Number 419

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Four and a half hours, all Stellar Kart coming from the van's CD player.  They have 3 CDs out and a best of that has 3 new songs (man I hate it when bands add new songs to a best of album).  Anyway, we listened to all the songs twice and still had a few miles to spare before we pulled into Decatur.  We arrived around 2:15 local time (check in time was 2) and were able to get some pool time in before heading out to find some hotel room snacks.  I did lose a dollar bet with the son as he managed to go from hot tub to pool within 30 seconds (I warned him it would be cold but he did not believe me).  The expression on his face was worth the price though.  We wandered up and down the road looking for a store where we could get snacks, aspirin (my right knee is sore from the drive), some anti-itch creme (mosquitoes were bad near the beach) and some chips and drinks.  We ended up at a WalMart (which I generally avoid) and then headed to the mall for some dinner before the concert.  Not many choices when you are trying to eat gluten free but we shared a foot long meatball sub (by sharing I mean the son ate the meatballs and I ate the bread and left over marinara sauce).  Back to hotel for some quick clean up and then off to the concert.

We arrived when the doors opened (6:30) and found some seats about 2/3 of the way back.  Soon it was time for the first band, First December, to start.  They are a local band (actually from Decatur) and they all looked way young to me.  They were OK and only did 4 songs.  Next up was Seventh Time Down and they sounded great to me.  They were very loud however and not knowing their music at all the son did not care much for them.  He was there for one reason and one reason only, Stellar Kart.  They came on eventually with a ton of energy.

They were all wearing headbands and bright band tshirts.  Since I know all their music I can tell you they did a great job of staying true to the CDs.  With the exception of no keyboards (their 3rd CD has a lot of keyboards), they sounded spot on.  They also were quite funny.  They did a whole Disney movie theme montage that was hilarious.  When the concert was over, we picked up an 8x10 of the band and then got in line for signatures.  Once we got to the front of the line, I made sure that they knew that their #1 fan from Indiana made the 300 mile trek to see them.  They were impressed.  The son's smile (that had been plastered on his face the whole night) got even bigger as his heroes actually looked him in the face and talked to him.  A great night to be his father.  I am sure he will not forget this time that we had.

Well we have time for one more dip in the pool before we have to pack up and head back to reality-ville.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 418

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

So I forgot to mention that I went swimming yesterday.  I had not gone swimming yet this year that I recall.  Even when I lived in TX I did not swim despite having 2 pools in our neighborhood that were furnished by the home owner's association.  I think part of it was my weight but since I am down to 180 (or was before the eating began on this vacation) I was not so self conscious about my belly.  Now, the whiteness of all my exposed skin, that is another thing.  Anyway, I convinced the wife to join us in the pool and based on the looks the lifeguard was giving us we might have been pushing it and were close to being in violation of the No Horseplay posted rule.  I did manage to beat her in a game of H-O-R-S-E as they had a small goal at the edge of the shallow end of the pool.  I won based on my superior skills and my ability to hit the "left shoulder under the water, one leg off the pool floor, one handed, bank shot" as the wife does not have this shot in her bag.  I won H-O-R-S-E to H so it wasn't a shut out.

This morning we are getting everything ready to head home (mom, boyfriend, wife, daughter) or to go to Decatur (son, me).  This is always the saddest time of any vacation as you have to work AND you know that vacation is over.  It is a very surreal feeling since you are technically still on vacation but then again you are not.  One thing I will definitely miss is the shower water pressure.  Wow, that is all that needs to be said.  They should have handles so you can brace yourself for the impact of the water that comes flying out of the shower head.  This kind of pressure I could get used to and it points out even further the pathetic pressure we have at home which my brother tells me that I might have a few hundred dollar expense coming up to get the water tank fixed or replaced.  Sigh, I guess it will be another month before I can consider getting a flat screen TV.

Well I guess I should quit blogging and go help pack.  Vacation time in South Haven is truly over.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 417

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Well this is our last night in South Haven and it was another beautiful sunset over Lake Michigan.

My camera is not that high quality so you will have to trust me that it was prettier than this.  It is hard to tell what the photo looks like since the sun is so bright and I cannot see the little screen on the back of the camera.  I have to wait until I can transfer it onto the pc before I know if I captured the moment or not.  Case in point...

I had taken a few shots of the kid's footprints but this is the only one that came out OK.  I can't even tell if it is the son's or the daughter's really.  The daughter is having the time of her life between picking up rocks along the beach or watching cartoons back at the cottage.  I bought her a 12 DVD set of classic cartoons (Felix the Cat, Popeye, Mutt and Jeff, etc) and she brought that with her on this trip.  These really crack her up for some reason.  It is more entertaining for us to watch her watch the cartoons than for us to watch the cartoons themselves.  I am sure she will be sad to go tomorrow morning when check out time arrives.  The son and I still have another day of vacation coming as we are heading off to Decatur, IL, to the Stellar Kart concert.  He is still way pumped about going.  I hope it will be as good as he hopes it will be.  Since the brother and his wife left, the wife and I inherit their room and do not have to share one with the kids.  It will be nice to stretch out on a bigger bed (previous nights found the wife and I sharing a twin size mattress).  Well I think I need another cookie since my trusty scales are not here to point an accusing finger at me tomorrow morning.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 416

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

Such beautiful weather here in South Haven, Michigan.  The locals tell us that is was not a nice summer but today was perfect.  We took the kids and headed to a town called Saugatuck where there are tons of little shops.  We walked up and down the little streets and visited a few stores and looked at some fancy boats before we ran into my mother and her boyfriend who took the kids from us.  Then the wife and I went back to the shops that we skipped over that were not very kid freindly.  One place we hit was the Fernn Valley Tasting Room.  They allowed you to taste (5) different wines (1 ounce samples) for free.  I tried the Pinot Grigio (very dry), Cabernet Sauvigon (very good), Riesling (very good, I had never tried this type of wine before though I have wanted to for some time), Briarwood Red (a desert wine, very sweet), and the Classic Port (18+% alcohol).  The port was my favorite and after lunch and some more walking we went back and bought a bottle ($18 for 500 ml).

Last night we headed toward the beach (probably about 1/4 mile away from our cottage).  I had to run back and get the camera once I saw the sunset.  Pretty, ain't it?  Once we walked the beach a bit, we headed back for some family time.  After the kids went to bed we just hung around the living room and talked about old times.  My brother and my wife are here with us and I do not get to talk to him that often.  Soon enough it was bedtime (and the Sangria had kicked in and the wife was sleepy).  There are 2 twin beds and a pull out bed in our room.  I had put the kids in the pull out bed earlier so that left a twin bed for the wife and one for me.  I got in bed first and pulled the covers up tight as it was a little cold.  The wife returned from the bathroom moments later and asked if she could get into my bed.  Before your minds gets too far into the gutter, the wife did NOT ask to get into my bed with a sexy voice but more of a "move over, I am going to steal the heat from your body" kind of voice.  We slept OK but tight.  When the kids got up, the son was a little upset that a bed went unused while he was forced to share one with his sister.  I promised him his own bed tonight.  My brother is heading home a day earlier than us so the wife and I might score our own room for a night.

My brother is frying up some hamburger as the start of his chili making.  I am looking forward to it as he used to own his own restaurant and made some pretty good food.  I will have to let you know how it turns out.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 415

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

I have been listening to a lot of music lately.  This is normal so if you knew me real well then that last sentence was unneeded.  But few people know me real well so I felt it was a necessary statement.  Ecclesiastes 1:8b says "...the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."  Well my ear is never filled with hearing.  I try to listen to music with positive lyrics but lately I have drifted toward a darker side.  I used to shy away from certain groups altogether but as I have gotten older perhaps I have gained understanding or compassion.  The things that people sing about are not so different than my experiences or at least close enough so that I can relate.  I have (2) CDs by Stone Temple Pilots now (both for $1 each).  I have heard that some of the band members had trouble with drug use so as I listen to this band I play a little game called "Where they high when they wrote these lyrics?"  Let me give you a sample from the song "Still Remains"...

1 Pick a song and sing a yellow nectarine
2 Take a bath, I'll drink the water that you leave
3 If you should die before me ask if you can bring a friend
4 Pick a flower, hold your breath and drift away...

Line 1 has to fall into the "yes, they were high when the wrote it" as it makes no sense in any context that I can think of.  Line 2 is a toss up as it is just gross enough to be a real fetish.  Line 3 seems sincere and even sounds like something I would have said to my wife while we were engaged (not that I would not say it now, just more likely to have said it when I was newly in love).  Line 4 is another toss up.  All in all, this chorus was probably written while stoned but with brief moments of clarity thrown in.

My recent attention to lyrics is probably due to 35 minutes worth of extra listening time while on the treadmill and the phenominal lack of terrain change that the treadmill offers.  With no sensory input from the eyes, the ears search for something to fill the gap.  I will be taking the next 4 days off of the treadmill as the family travels to South Haven in Michigan.  My mother and her boyfriend will be there along with my brother and his wife.  Throw in our 4 and the 8 of us will be there over the long holiday weekend.  Then it is off to Decatur, IL, for the son and I (wife and daughter will ride home with my mother) so we can go to the Stellar Kart concert.  I like their music well enough (though their lyrics are rather simple) but I did catch some video posted on their Facebook page of them in concert.  I think it might be a looooong concert if you get my drift (the lead singer did not sound as good as he does on the CDs).  I am sure I will have a blog or two about it.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 414

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

This morning Oreo (our beloved poodle / shih tzu mix) lost his manhood to the vet's knife.  As much as I don't care for the little guy, as a fellow male I feel some sense of loss.  Don't get me wrong, I am glad we did it.  For one thing, he has become a one dog show with the various things he, um, well that he attempts to prove his manhood to.  It has gotten so bad that we have given him his own theme song.  If you recall one of the songs from the movie Madagascar was "I Like To Move It" by the character King Julian.  Well if you replace the word MOVE with HUMP every time it occurs then you sorta get the idea.  At first the wife and I tried to ignore these primal movements but with time (and due to increased frequency) we simply had to sing (along with the kids) the "I Like To Hump It Song."  Our poor Doberman was catching the brunt of the humpings (of course).  To a 10 lb dog, Nina is a lot of woman.  I question his instincts though as the humpings were not quite on the mark (and often times about as far away from the mark as is caninely possible).

We were able to find a low cost ($30) neutering clinic about 30 miles south of us.  Throw in a $9 plastic collar and we were out for under $40.  Considering the local vet wanted upwards of $200, we are quite happy (happier than Oreo anyway).  It might still take a month for the testosterone to drain from his system so we are not out of the woods just yet with his dirty dancing but at least we will get a few days respite while the stitches heal.

 

While the wife and daughter were picking Oreo up, the son and I attacked the front yard.  Actually I had done most of my part on Sunday so I only had a few corners before I unleashed him on the remainder.  I have not hit the treadmill since last Thursday since I was sick most of the weekend and woke up Monday with a very sore left knee (perhaps from mowing on Sunday).  I had a 6 am meeting this morning so the treadmill was out of the question.  Hopefully I can get back into the rhythm tomorrow.  I am still holding steady at 179.5 (for the last 3 days) so the lack of exercise has not hurt my weight but with the long weekend coming up, I hate not to get a day or 2 before week's end.

Well the wife has the water on for some hot tea (it is supposed to be down to 45° tonight) and the cone headed man beast is out of his cage for a while (walking quite timidly I might add).

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon

Blog Number 413

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

The calendar stated that not only was today August 31 (the last day of August) but also that it was our monthly Ice Cream Social (denoted simply as ICS since our 31 had to share a square with the 24).  I don't like it when calendars do that, share the squares.  There has to be some new calendar printing layout technology that would end this unfairness to the last Sundays and Mondays in months that have their 1sts on a Friday or Saturday.  It is a true injustice.  Anyway, where was I?  Oh yes, ice cream social.  Normally we run 5 miles west to the Sweet Retreats place in Russiaville (located near the only flashing stop light in town).  However, tomorrow AM I have to be in to work at 6 and the wife is taking Oreo in early to the vet for a minor operation (I had a similar operation a few years ago and as I was comforting him about his upcoming "loss" I promised to share my bag of frozen peas that "conforted" me during that time - he must have understood and appreciated these kind words as he replied with a lick on the face, which if I am not mistaken is doggie for Thanks Guy).  Anyway, where was I?  Oh yes, ice cream social.  We decided to hit the frozen custard place near my mom's house.  It is OK but it is definitely not Sweet Retreats.  We got our treats to go and hung out at my grandma's apartment while we ate them.  She had not seen me since my LASIK surgery and commented several times that I did not look right (mind you she did NOT say that I looked good, just that I looked not right).  We also watched some TV there (just a rerun of America's Funniest Home Videos).  Once we had our fill of guys getting it in the area that Oreo would soon be sore in, we took the kids down the street to mom's house for the night.  While there, she handed me a $5 off coupon for Walgreens that expired at the end of the day.  There was no minimum purchase (except that you did not get a refund for spending less than $5) so once we left her house we wandered around the Walgreens for 15 or 20 minutes looking for $5 worth of stuff.  In the end we bought a large choclate candy bar that was marked on clearance for $0.89, a $3.49 container of roasted peanuts, and a $0.79 bottle of 20 oz soda.  The cash register had some sort of error and charged us negative sales tax we ended up with a $0.06 credit which appeared to be a problem as the cash register lady then informed us that the only way to complete the purchase as is was to put it on a gift card (which she was willing to do until I found a 10 cent piece of candy that threw us back into positive territory).  We carried it all home but did not eat or drink any of it (not even the 10 cent candy) and just finally watched the season finalé of NCIS (a show that we just started watching over the summer).  We are both happy to know that the season premier is only 3 weeks away so we don't have to wait very long until we find out the answer to the cliff hanger.  Most of our favorite shows start up again in 2 - 4 weeks and we are ready though we still have the finalé of Lost on the hard drive to view.  After that though we are empty.  Well, it is definitely time for bed since I have that early morning meeting.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon