I drove to my parents house the other day for a visit and to help build a rail for their deck steps. It was hot tiring work. Afterwards I had this urge to play under the water hose. I am sure it would have been great. But I resisted and drove home. When I got home as I got ready for a shower I realized I did not remember crossing the bridge at the state line. That’s scary. It is a big bridge some quarter mile long and about 85 feet high. And I do not even remember seeing it. If it had been down, would I have noticed? Wonder what else I missed. I hope I didn’t hit anything.

Then I jumped into the shower to clean-up . The cool water felt great. I had been in there maybe six or seven minutes and I was about to get out. But I could not remember if I had shampooed my hair. I mean it was wet, but did I use soap?

Ok I wonder…did I get too hot or is that a senior moment type thing. More Brain Lock ? I think I need a nap

Today ( so far ) by the numbers

24 Red lights between my house and the post office round trip.

20 The number that caught me today. Oh well some days I do better

12 Items in my post office box

2 The number that were NOT junk mail

23 Minutes to drive there, normal day. One way

31 Todays drive

2 cups of coffee

8 days for a car part to arrive from Tx. Obviously by bicycle.

3.679 Price of gas today...Yippee... it's down some.

25 number of laps around the track at the gym.

6 Minutes reading news. The city where my dad lives bought a strip club, and closed it down

1 interesting signs along my route this morning. Can someone tell me what a pizza wing is?

Now here is a job I could do.

Flybe airlines of England signed a deal with the city of Norwich to carry 15,000 passengers into the city within a year. If they did they would earn a cash bonus from the city of 280 thousand pounds ($ 550,000)

Last week one week from the anniversary date they were falling short. So they hired temps and paid them to ride the plane. It cost the airline about 6,000 pounds. But they exceeded the minimum number so they got the bonus. Lets see spend around $ 15,000 to earn over a half million. Good business move.

Paying someone to ride a jet for a day. Yeah that is a job I could handle.
Kristie and I vacationed in Norwich and the surrounding area a couple years ago. It is a beautiful place.
Sign me up for next year.

Did you see us? We were sitting right in the middle of the front row. Jeopardy doesn't show the audience very often, but we did make it on camera just before the second commercial break.

Alex Trebek the host is a warm friendly man, who genuinely seems to enjoy talking with the audience. During each break and between shows ( they film several each day ) he came over and chatted and answered questions. Yeah he does seem as smart as he looks while hosting. And I've seldom met anyone as quick witted. Since Kristie and I were seated front and center we were able to talk face to face. He told us about the life of a game show host and his world. He even shared photos of his teenage children (Matthew and Emily) and had several of his dog Sonya. We stumbled onto a subject near to his heart. Thoroughbred race horses. He once owned a ranch and raised thoroughbred horses. During the late eighties I owned a share in a racing horse we found a common interest.

We also had a chance to meet and chat with last nights repeat winner. And his family. They were very nice people and explained a lot of the in and outs of being and winning on a game show.

If you missed us, you have one more chance. Tonight's show. Same time same channel. Look for us front row in the middle, grinning like we were on TV or something.

When Kristie and I visited California this spring we were able to attend the taping of several television shows.

Tonight and tomorrow night if you are really bored look for us on Jeopardy. 7:30 pm on the U.S. east coast.

"I'll take useless trivia for $600, Alex. "

Happy Birthday to the most amazing and stunningly beautiful lady in the entire universe.


I love you with all my heart.

We just returned from the funeral home over in Georgia where we were visiting the family of one of Kristie's best friends Teresa. "Risser's" father passed away last night and visitation was tonight. There was a large crowd. Baron was well loved, around the community. We stood in line just to speak to the family for over an hour and fifteen minutes.

While we were there I was thinking how Baron ( the deceased ) had been right there at same place just two nights ago, visiting along with the rest of us on Monday. Now it's Wednesday night and we are visiting him.

I know it sounds cliché but we are never promised tomorrow. I have always believed that, but tonight's events really brought that to the forefront of my thoughts.

As the sayings go, the only things certain in life, are death and taxes. Tomorrow may never come.

What have you been putting off? Who do you need to make amends with? Have you told your husband, wife and kids how much you love them. Maybe spending more time together would be a good idea. Why don't you call your mom or dad and just simply thank them for everything they mean to you? There are thousands of things like that we need to remember.

We all know people who are hurting. Take a moment and remember them in your prayers tonight, then do something special for them tomorrow. I am sure we all know people who are lost. It might be a friend, a co-worker or maybe someone you just met. Tell them about Jesus. Show them Gods love through your life. Invite them to church and offer to pick them up. It'll only take a moment. It could last forever.

A few weeks ago I was lamenting the fact that Kristie and I had three visits to a funeral home with a short period of time.

I hope that pattern is not repeating itself, but we are about to head out to Georgia to visit the funeral home,for the second time in three days. On Monday it was the sister of one of Kristie’s friends from childhood.

Tonight it is one of her close friends father. We are praying for the family in this time of grief. Hopefully this funeral will be the last one for a while.

I got tagged

Six Quirky Things About Me

Phika tagged me

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other blogger's by linking to them.
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.
And for some reason there aren't 6 rules.

Six Quirky Things about Me

WOW this is tough. Not because of a problem finding 6 things, but because of finding 6 zillion things. Which ones to post? Sorry I was so slow.

OK here goes;

• I pretty much never watch television. Unless it is a DVD or VHS playing our TV is never on. We don't have a dish or cable; we don't even have an outside antenna hooked up. I do however have huge stereo that I play for hours daily and a massive music collection...pick a style.

• Unlike most people I HATE the first night on fresh sheets. I like that broken-in feel on the second night best.

• We don't have kids so I gladly fulfill that role. I have a big box full of Burger King and Mickey D's toys. When we go shopping the second department I hit is toys. Right after the electronics video and music areas.

• I am a collector of collections. That may be classified as a sickness however not a quirk. I need to hold a yard sale for "my junk room"

• I am a pilot. Yet I have a (morbid) fascination with aircraft accidents. I believe you can learn from the mistakes and failings of others. I love reading the details of an incident and learning about the chain of events that caused it. My library of reports numbers over 2 thousand so far. (another collection).

• I sometimes have an odd sense of humor. The other day, I became hysterical with laughter after hearing a woman answering her cell phone. I am not sure why.

Ok I am tagging

Danny
Kevin
Janet
Holly
Jane Jane
and you if you are reading this.

I just got back from my scheduled six month cleaning and check-up with the dentist. Things looked fine. But I didn’t get a sucker. I guess they don’t do that anymore. Pity!

So as a reward to myself I stopped at the GREAT every thing cost a dollar place and bought a box of the new Strawberry flavored Whoppers. It’s been a long time since I had some, but I fondly remember those chocolate covered malted balls, the original Whoppers. I loved ‘em.

Remember they came in a box that looked like a short milk carton.

The new Strawberry Whoppers remind me of an old fashion McDonald’s milk shake.

They were pretty good. But I made a slight mistake. After I picked them up from the store I stopped at the car shop to check on Kristie’s Fiero. Because it is becoming a vintage car we are finding some parts are getting hard to find. This time however we finally located what we need and it is now headed this way.

As Lon the mechanic and I were talking about the new Challengers from Dodge, time was passing. Trouble is the candy box was sitting on the seat and it was already 88 outside.

Climbing back in the car I thought, "Yikes, Malt ball soup".

When I got home I stuck them in the fridge for a few minutes. I came after changing clothes and putting things away, reached in and opened the box and found I now had a large solid 4 oz mass of pink delight.


Maybe it would be best to just gnaw off a chunk. Yum. They are pretty good.

Filled up today. Nothing else to say

Dying is now against the law !!

This could be a great place to retire. There is a village in southwest France where it has become a violation of law to die.

The mayor has promised residents to expect severe punishment if they die, because there is no room left in the overcrowded cemetery to bury them.

And it is not just a crazy mayor. The city council passed an ordinance saying just that. After the meeting Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of Sarpourenx that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish."

He then added: "Offenders will be severely punished."

I can see the tourist posters now. Come here and DON'T DIE.

I am back home and recovering. Everything went perfectly at the hospital. And the doctor tells me I did fine and everything was great. It was a minor procedure, but anytime you are in the hospital you feel some nerves. Going in we were surrounded with prayers.

I knew things would be fine when in the O.R. we were all laughing and telling jokes. Then in a snap, I was asleep. What seemed to be 2 minutes later I was awakened. It'd had actually been about an hour. I was still on the table in O.R, but fully awake as if I had just been napping. After a short few minutes I was taken back to my room and thirty minutes later, cleared to go home. Surprisingly I was allowed to walk out under my own power.

I feel no ill effects at all. In fact I feel the best I have in ages. They have made amazing advances in anesthesia in the past few years. Still no driving for 24 hours. So I am filling my time by napping.

Remember the famous Adventurer and Aviator Steve Fossett who went missing last year?

If you remember he went missing after taking off from a private airport in a two-seat Bellanca Decathlon. A massive search-and-rescue effort was launched... unfortunately, those efforts failed to yield any sign of the multimillionaire aviator... and an Illinois judge declared Fossett
legally deceased February 15

Well the Nevada Governor Wants $687,000 from the estate.

Say What?

Yep

They are billing the widow, Peggy Fossett for the cost of the unsuccessful search to offset budget shortfalls.

The are actually sending a bill to the widow for the search.

Talk about adding insult to injury.

'So Sorry For Your Loss... Will That Be Visa Or MasterCard?'


Interestingly just a few days earlier state Emergency Management Director Frank Siracusa, noted,
"We do not charge the rich or the poor. You get lost, and we look for you. It is a service your taxpayer dollars pay for."

II think this sets a dangerous precedent. 'Sorry can’t rescue you until you pay.'

I have a friend who is training to run in the Ironman Triathlon. You know the marathon where you ride a bike for 112 miles, swim in the ocean for 2.5 miles, then top it off with a full 26 mile marathon run. All in the same day. It takes 9-11 hours.

Sicko

The closest I'll ever get to doing that is wearing my Timex Iron Man watch.

My buddy is a nice enough guy, but I am convinced his mama dropped him somewhere along the line. On something HARD.

My idea of a real person marathon would be an uninterupted hour eating my wife's fabulous "Trissy chicken". Followed by a funny movie and returning to the table for an hours worth of Raspberry-Chocolate Truffle Cheese cake. Rubbing my belly a while then napping for two hours. Finally capping it off by repeating the process one more time before retiring for the night.

Now THAT is a MARATHON I could get behind.

Good Luck with your Triathlon my (nameless) sicko friend. I'm rooting for you as I relax here in the A/C.

Deep Thoughts # 9

If time heals all wounds, how come the belly button always stays the same?


What did they go back to before drawing boards were invented?


Do the obituaries in the newspaper prove that people die in alphabetical order?


When standing in a long queue ( line ), why do we feel so much better when
somebody comes and stands behind us?

Wanna spy on the Astronauts?

There will be a special treat for sky watchers this week. The International Space Station (ISS) should be visible this week in the skies. The best time to catch it is within the first 45 to 90 minutes after sunset. Or if you are an early riser ( bless your heart ) about the same amount of time before sunrise. It can be seen because the sun light is reflected off of it against a darkening sky It will be visible all night but those times are best because there will be fewer stars shining brightly to obscure the view. It should be easy to spot because it is one of the few "moving stars.” The ISS is by far the largest and most brilliant of all the man-made objects orbiting the Earth about once every 91 minutes. The Space Station is circling the Earth at an average altitude of 240 miles and at a speed of 18,000 mph, it can appear to move as fast as a high-flying jet airliner, taking four or five minutes to cross the sky.
The station is big more than four times as large as the historic Russian Mir space station It measures 356 feet across and 290 feet long, and has almost an acre of solar panels to provide electrical power.

We could not wait.

Kristie and I ventured over to Greenville to attend the launch of our church’s 2nd location.

NewSpring Greenville is an answer to prayers.

The satellite campus rocks.

Who could ever imagine 1,710 would be there. Not bad for a new location in a new city. Even more interesting was that the Anderson campus set an attendance record as well. God’s dreams are always larger than ours! This is just the beginning.

The Florence campus is well underway and we have plans for a second Anderson location. And just as exciting we are launching a virtual church ministry soon. God is amazing, and I am so thankful to be a small part and to witness the super things happening here.

Thanks Wayne for the photos

Thirty -five minutes I'll never get back


A quick rant. I know you all feel the same pain.

We shop for some things at WalMart. Not because we like it there. We detest it. But we buy some things there because of price and the fact that it is all located in the same store. But trust me, we hate going.


Late last week while spending our entire paycheck on trivial things like canned goods, light bulbs, aspirin, paper towels, Kleenex and so on I picked up an air filter for my little truck. Shopping for auto parts requires looking up the correct item in a large book depending on the make and model of your automobile. So I searched and found the item I needed and tossed it into the buggy.

When I arrived home and tried to install the filter it was the wrong part. So I went back to the store to recheck my reference and to exchange the item. Nope I did not make a mistake looking up the part number. The book is wrong. I guess that happens sometimes.

But when I tried to return the filter I had to wait in line. And wait, and wait and wait some more. It took thirty-five minutes waiting in the line to return and get credit for a $10.95 unused part. And I was only the forth person in line.

WALLY WORLD.... you need to do something here. And while you are at it. How about asking the clerks to at least smile and say hello, may we help you. All I got was a snarl to my hi, I need to return this.

I just Thirty-five wasted minutes of my life because of the books error.

On this past Tuesday Kristie got up and left for very early. She does that during audit time. I was still sleeping soundly when she departed. I finally awakened, stumbled to the kitchen, and not being a morning person barely saw a note which I struggled to read through sleepy eyes. After my coffee I could better make out its contents.
We had photos ready to be picked up from the photo lab. And would I stop by to get them while out and about.

I forgot.

So the scene was repeated again on Wednesday.

I forgot.

Well today I was up before she left for the office. “Please stop by and get the photo’s”, she asked

Going to the store three times in one week to pick-up photos, yet coming home without them twice is sad.

Looks like I have Brain Lock.

I hope my local friends all survived yesterdays storms with out damage. It got severely loud here, but nothing worse.

Several people have asked me about the header photo on this blog page. It was taken a couuple years ago at the Anderson Airport about 2 1/2 miles from my home. I was huddled there with all the other flyers waiting out the storm. It was an amazing display of God’s power.

Ever since I was a boy I have been fascinated with lightning. I fondly remember a few years ago overlooking the Grand Canyon at sunset. There are no words in my vocabulary to express the beauty of that event. While I was there, just as the final rays of light ducked behind the hills a magnificent thunder storm approached. God truly put on an astonishing fire works and light show, the best I've ever witnessed. Truly overwhelming.

Lighting facts:

At any given time there are 1800 t-storms occurring on the planet
Each year 16 million storms
3 billion strikes
In the US
100,000 storms annual
20 Million strikes annual

Lightning can:

Flash can be six to eight miles long
Heat up to 60,000 degrees (5 times the surface of the sun) carry 1 billion volts and between 20 and 30 thousand amps. A house uses about 200 amps

Can be lethal up to 60 feet on the ground and 600 feet in the water.

Myth
Lightning never strikes the same place twice
Fact
It often strikes the same place. The Empire state bldg is hit an average of 25 times a year.

Mom and Dad came over last night to spend their July expiring movie coupons. Dad had said he wanted to see "Get Smart". So we all piled in the car and hit the cinema. They both loved the movie and we all laughed out loud.

Last year I think the funniest movie was "Wild Hogs"


"Get Smart" is the funniest movie this year so far. And it keeps getting funnier and funnier as it goes on. It contains a great back story of Max and his desire to become a field agent.

For me it will be an instant classic. Most adults will really love this movie because they grew up with the TV show. And it is very classy with several tributes in the credits. It's also filled with salutes, inside jokes and references to the series through out the film. Still you can enjoy it even without knowledge of the old series. I think mostly any ages can enjoy it as well. Except for small children who probably won't get about half the jokes, so there is no point in them watching it. It is rated PG-13


I think this is probably Steve Carrel’s best movie yet. He is a master of making you laugh with his face expressions. Get Smart features extreme laughter to anyone who watches it. In the theater everyone was truly cracking up.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who might be willing to die from a laughing coma.

After the movie we all “Frogged our Sides” at Dockside. Yummy

I think I finally found out the difference between what I brew at home and what they brew at Starbucks.

Other than those snazzy paper holder deals.

I was getting a tank full of gas and noticed this sign at the station

Bud Family Suitcase on sale here.

Nothing says family values better than a suitcase full of beer for the wife and kiddies.

While I am on the subject of stores selling beer and drinking.

How can we claim to be serious about drunk driving enforcement but let gas stations sell COLD beer?

I’m just saying !!!

Three strikes and you are out. Really? What about one strike and you go under the jail?

Total drunk driving deaths
in the U.S. this year (so far):

7210

The countries oldest pilot has died. John M. Miller was 102, nearly as old as aviation itself.

John Miller born Dec. 15, 1905, witnessed some aviation histories most exciting events. And he was a part of several too. When he was four, he saw his first airplane. Glenn Curtiss landed in a field across from his. Johnny was there when Charles Lindbergh took off across the Atlantic to Paris. Amelia Earhart was one of his friends.

His last words were to his nephew at the bedside. “I guess my flying days are over,”

Johnny flew for United and Eastern Airlines. Later he was a test pilot for Kellett Autogiro Company. He pioneered the flying of airmail from the roof Philadelphia post office using an autogiro. Three planes flown by Miller are in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. John Miller held three world records in aviation including one which stood for seventy-two years. Coast to coast in an autogiro

John Miller was a health advocate. He never smoked or drank and he maintained the same weight and blood pressure as when he was 18. For exercise, he took brisk walks up and down hills.

"Flying is a youth preservative, if you live through it." J.M. Miller, 9/3/2002

Deep Thoughts # 8

• If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are your waiting?

• Why is the greatest pleasure in life doing something others tell you that you cannot?

• Why do teenagers express their burning desires to be different by dressing exactly the same?

• Should you live every day as if it were your last because eventually, one day you'll be right?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sadly there was drowning at the lake this weekend. The story was well covered by the local media. Yesterday and today several stories have appeared identifying the victim as an illegal alien with an extensive criminal history. He had been deported five times. The most recent was February of this year. He had entered the country illegally in 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008. The victim had a number of false id's and arrest records in many states, including South Carolina.

It’s a common story these days, and illustrates an issue. Obviously our borders are not secure. That has become a serious problem. Not only are we seeing crime on the increase but it also holds the potential of infiltration by terrorist groups. While it’s true the majority are hard working, and otherwise law abiding people, the illegal alien issue has added considerable strain on our infrastructure.

Another issue on my mind is the rebuilding and disaster protection of New Orleans. A large part of the city is below sea level so renewed flooding is likely at sometime in the future.

Yet another problem is the decreasing habit for Alligators. Those pesky and dangerous guys are running out of room in Florida and along the Carolina coast and are apparently moving into the upstate.

Three Problems that need solutions:

I have an idea.

• First let’s dig a wide deep mote across the border.

• Fill it with water.

• Take all that dirt, raise New Orleans above the floods.

• Round up the gators. Put them into the mote.

Problems solved.

Quantum of Solace clips