Happy Birthday Jo!

Jo is celebrating her first birthday as a member of another state today! We miss you and hope that you are having a wonderful day. I hope they still celebrate birthdays and have cake in Kansas…

Tanner’s Orchard

Rhya and I had an awesome Saturday. We worked on the basement, went and saw “Flightplan” (it sucks), and then decided to take a trip to Tanner’s Orchard.

Some of you know, I grew up helping my Dad (as much as a 5-10 yr. old can) on an orchard. M&E Orchard in Laura, IL to be exact. So, I was really excited about going to Tanner’s, as I haven’t been to an orchard in years. We walked around the grounds and picked up some cider and apple pastries. (We later heated the cider with some mulling spices – excellent)

It was a great time, but Tanner’s is no M&E.

Lions eat Turkeys

Energized by the earlier Madden win against Jeff, I decided to try to beat Chip at NCAA 06. For any of you that have seen me play Chip previously, you can understand that I was bracing myself for a the bad side of a 60 point slaughter. However, I had one thing on my side: the controller layout. Chip had broken all of his PS2 controllers, as he has a habit of doing. So, I brought my XBOX over for Chip, Jeff, and I to play Madden and NCAA. However, the layout of the buttons on an XBOX controller is slightly different than the layout of the PS2 controller, and all of the buttons are named differently. So, it is harder for someone that is used to the PS2 layout to use the XBOX controller. Furthermore, they both have an “X” button, but they are in different places, causing some throws to the wrong receiver if you don’t adjust. Ok, enough with the setup…on to the game.

I decided to use Penn State, as I normally do. This year, I’m blessed with an extremely agile quarterback (Robinson), and a pretty decent linebacking corps. It’s nice when the team that you normally play with has all the weapons that you like to use. Chip went with the Hokies, even though I warned him that my Mom’s familial relationship (2nd or 3rd cousin) to Frank Beamer may cause a conflict of interest.

Chip pulled out to an early lead, and I figured it was going to be same-ol’ same-ol’. However, the voodoo of the XBOX button layout, combined with the magic of the option, saw my young quarterback rush for over 250 yards on the way to a 34-17 PSU victory.

There will be no post about the next time I play Chip at NCAA on the PS2. This is the only game that counts.

Offense Swap

Last night, all was made right with the world, as the Chicago Bears dealt a crushing mortal wound to the Detroit Lions in a game that can only be described as a battle of the swapped offenses. On the Lions’ side, it was a game that saw Kevin Jones rush for over 100 yards, racking up at least 6 yds/carry. However, the Lions’ running machine was no match for the machine-gun aerial attack of the Bears. Commanding the troops, rookie Kyle Orton dropped the bombs, amassing 348 passing yards. His favorite receiver of the night was the larger-than-life Justin Gage, who burnt former Bears’ CB RW McQuarters for over 200 yards receiving.

This epic battle concluded with another W for the good guys.

Bears 33
Lions 29

Forget the Needle, Pass the Iron

Rhya found out last week at her doctor’s appointment that she is not diabetic! That was definitely a big weight off of both of our shoulders. However, in their spelunking of her blood, they were unable to find enough iron.

So, to help Rhya squash the anemia, they gave her some iron supplements. It’s amazing. In the short couple of days that she has been taking them, she feels like a new person. It is a amazing how much iron plays a key role in the energy of a person. She is much less lethargic and is excited to have this new-found energy!

Meebo

I’m running Meebo through an ssh web proxy (tinyproxy), I’m going to try to stay logged into AIM, MSN, and Google Talk as much as I can.

Lack of Content

I haven’t gone anywhere. Truth is, I’ve been so busy at work getting ready for the Germany trip, a lot of things have been slipping. I’m going to try to commit to 5 posts per week for the next two weeks. Then, depending on Internet access, there will either be a steady stream of posts, or lumps of posts and photos.

Comfort is less than 2 months away!

Rhya and I put in two recliners for our living room last night. Rhya has been so miserable trying to get comfortable on both the couches and the bed. She’s constantly changing positions, and we dont’ really have a good way for her to recline right now. So, we went in and pre-ordered the chairs, but it is going to take 2 months for them to “build” them. But, at least there is light at the end of the tunnel!

If any of you are shopping for a recliner, here are two little bits of information: La-Z-Boy has patents on two fairly important “features.”

1. Being able to recline the back without putting up the footrest
2. Being able to have the footrest partially extended (actually about 3 or 4 different positions)

To us, #1 was a deal-breaker for all other chairs.

What’s the difference between Neo-Conservatives and Libertarians? | Ask MetaFilter

What’s the difference between Neo-Conservatives and Libertarians? | Ask MetaFilter

Wow. This was a pretty good thread that talks about all of the different cateorizations of “right-of-center” political groups.

As for me, I’m still struggling with how much of an “isolationist” I am. Preemption vs. the “Sleeping Giant.”

I think I’m pretty solid in my feelings on domestic policy, but foreign policy as it relates to domestic policy gets a bit hairy.

The Dumbest Quote in History

Barbara Bush, former first lady, was quoted in a radio show after surveying the displaced Katrina victims in the Astrodome. After seeing such horrible circumstances, what could this member of political history muster?

Drumroll……

“Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.”

Barbara Bush

What an idiot. What a self-centered, emotionally-dead idiot.

Call in the clean-up crew for this one….Looks like we need the industrial sawdust. So, Press Secretary Scott McClelland comes to the rescue. He’s asked if he thinks GWB thinks the same way that his Mom thinks.

”I think that the observation is based on someone or some people that were talking to her that were in need of a lot of assistance, people that have gone through a lot of trauma and been through a very difficult and trying time. And all of a sudden, they are now getting great help in the state of Texas from some of the shelters.”

Scott McClelland

Let me summarize this for you: “Bedee Bedee Bedee (this job sucks sometimes).”