Well the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend is over. It was a wonderful one. My family has been blessed beyond belief. This year we were able to bring my dad back to his home for a visit, his first in sixteen months. One year ago dad was in the hospital. His doctors called us together and told us he didn’t expect dad to survive the night. At the hospital they didn’t expect a miracle. But we did !!! Having dad back in his own recliner even if just for the afternoon made Thursday one of the best Thanksgivings ever.

I spent time this week remembering a lot of my Thanksgivings past. I remember ones spent with mom, dad and my little sis thousands of miles from loved ones. Especially strong is the memory of thanksgiving spent on a Pacific Island where turkeys were unknown. But we did have coconut pie made with fresh coconut from a tree right outside our door. The table center piece was a gobbler made from another whole coconut with palm frond feathers. I always grin at that thought. Another fond memory is the times when the entire extended family was together. My Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and other people, not really related, but thought of as family. Those Thanksgivings always had 50 or 60 adults and a multitude of kids running around. There was always plenty to eat and naps for every one afterward, well except for us boys who always set up a game of backyard football. One year when I was in college we were playing our game when a group of guys happened up and asked if they could join in. I realized several of them were part of the University of Georgia National Championship team. Needless to say we lost.

Another Thanksgiving that stands out was one before I met my wife. I had just started a new job and didn’t have the money nor the time-off to go home that year. So I was truly alone on Turkey day. All the restaurants seemed closed and I drove to the Waffle House on the highway at the edge of town. For those who have never enjoyed them, the Waffle House is a roadside diner style chain, popular with truckers and late night travelers. I remember the waitress. She was an older lady, probably named Alice or Flo, I really don’t remember. I think I was her only customer all day. On that holiday I believe she was as lonely as I was. She was working alone because everyone else needed the day off. Sitting at the counter I ordered coffee and we talked as she grilled us up a big steak and plate of hash browns. Then we split a stack of pecan waffles for dessert. I stayed there talking, just talking and sipping coffee with her nearly five hours. She was at least twenty or twenty-five years older than me. We talked about the life, the world and her adventures in it. She had been most everywhere. One of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met. Though I ate there many more times I never saw her there again.

I treasure all these memories I have been truly blessed. I have friends and family who love and care for me. I am not alone, lonely, cold, or hungry. I have more to thankful for than I could ever list.

Yes TRULY BLESSED

I am thankful.

I'd like to wish my snowball throwing friend

and fellow Monk fan a very



Happy Birthday.



Ah...

Well...

Ah...



I had it in my mind

to

send you


a cake

but ....

Ah....

well ....

Ah ...


OOPS

I have always heard girls are cleaner than guys.

Today while cleaning our bathrooms I started to contemplate that theory. I think I may be on to something. Cleaning her shower I noticed three bath cloths and a puff. Four shampoos including one that has something called JoJoBa in it. I saw two conditioners and two bottles of body wash and a tube of paste-like stuff called apricot scrub. Also present was a brush-style thingy and a hunk of seaweed ( I think ) that is used to soften the heals of your feet. I may be wrong about that last idea. There was a whole end with space taken by a cup and a razor. The shave cream was in a tube there as well. Oh yeah I forgot to mention the extra large bars of Dove and Ivory soap. Finally I noticed a bottle of Tilex to clean the shower after each use.

Moving to my bathroom, in my shower I have a bath cloth, a well rounded bar of Dial or some generic soap I donno which. A bottle of peach shampoo ( 99 cents ) and one of those bottles of Tilex ( her idea ) which I forget to use about half the time.

Lets see the score here:

Her Shower; 20 items

My shower; 4 items

My theory: with that many items to contribute she must be at least five times cleaner than me.
Just my thought.. what is your theory?

Did I mention that she always smells incredible?

Uga VII: "Loran's Best"

The beloved University of Georgia mascot Uga VII passed away suddenly Thursday at his home in Savannah



"This is a very sad day for all Georgia people," said Damon Evans, Director of Athletics

There will be no Mascot on the sidelines for Saturdays game against Kentucky but a substitute will be at the Georgia Tech game.

A full time replacement will be announced before next season.

It's been a tough year for Georgia fans. Munson retired, the loss of several players to the NFL, a disappointing season and now the loss of our Mascot in only his second year. We will miss you Uga

Thanks

I may get go to Cleveland for a couple of days. While I am there I'd like to be taking in a Indians game but that'll have to wait until next summer. Still I can spend time revisiting the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Then there is the very cool and totally interactive science museum. Best of all I'll have the chance to once again the fantastic International Women's Air and Space Museum at Burke Lake Front Airport right down town.

I am flying up in my plane. One way is about 3:15. Driving would take ALL DAY.

I have visited Cleveland before and I promise Dorothy Parker was wrong. Cleveland is a nice town and fun to visit. It really doesn't deserve the bad rap. A better quote would be from rock singer Ian Hunter when he shouted "Cleveland Rocks"

Daylight savings time is a pain in the clock.

Lets see now, last week I reset the clocks. The one on the stove in my kitchen, the microwave, the coffee maker and of course the one on the wall. In my living room I have one on top of the entertainment center. Five on electronic devices ( tv dvd, vcr and so on ) along with two lamp timers. Two additional stereo timers, a programing timer, and a clock near my easy chair. Two in my home office not counting the three on the computers. Then there is the one connected to the alarm system and the one in the answering machine. Two in the hall, one on the thermostat, and one on the indoor/ outdoor temperature receiver. One on the clock radio in the guest room, one in the other bedroom. Four in the master bedroom ( two alarms each, yes we are odd ) One in each automobile and one in the garage. Several watches. Two in the plane. Ok I admit the GPS units in the plane and cars set themselves. So do the cell phones and pda's. Still by my count there is a heap of resetting going on in my small world.

It appears that a time warp going on inside my house. Is it a time warp, a distortion of the space and time continuum? Could Einstein be wrong? The clock on my thermostat and the one on the indoor / outdoor thermometer both have been off one hour twice in the past week. I corrected the error last Wednesday morning and just tonight I noticed the discrepancy again.

Should I be worried, I mean isn't a rip in the fabric of time serious?

Stay tuned to this blog page. Updates may well follow and they could unmask a vast shift in time as we know it. ...

Or maybe I just set them wrong ...twice.

Guess I will have to take my plane to the shop again Monday. No the wings are not falling off, but the $3800 engine analyser is not working.

Owning a plane is not really a great investment. BUT it is FUN !!!

Where were the film crews when I needed them?

This morning would have been a great time to film a coffee commercial at my house. The temperature and relative humidly were perfect and when I poured my first cup it produced a massive amount of steaming vapor.

It's hard to resist a piping hot cup of my favorite brew.

Recently our church group, the NewSpring Band was voted the “Best Band in the Upstate” for the third year in a row. Think about that. A church group, playing songs that are up-lifting, filled with praise and worship beat out all other local groups. Jesus filled music was voted better than all the “broken hearted, lying, cheating, hot rod, trucking, she done me wrong” songs.

We had an extra special time doing just that early this weekend during the recording of a live cd. For about an hour and a half the band worked through an amazing set featuring fourteen new original songs. Some rockers, some slower, a couple more worshipful in the traditional style. It’s the same type of music we have every week at NewSpring. I am certain those who attend services at one of our locations would agree. We are blessed.

The night was awesome. Working down front at my camera location, I was overwhelmed. I was surrounded in a virtual sea of people. All around me stood worshipers of all ages, from early teens to those born years sooner. All standing, hands lifted in praise, faces filled with tears of joy, words of rejoicing upon their lips. There is no way to describe fully those moments.

It was a great turnout for a cold Friday night. There were a number of competing events around the community. It was a night for local high school football, Halloween celebrations and more. Even so the crowd was fantastic with large crowds arriving well before starting time. I found out just before the we began that several people from neighboring states had driven down, set-up tents and campers right there in the church parking lot, so they could be there when the doors opened. Imagine, tailgating at church.

But the part that meant the most to me was back stage, just moments before starting. The members of the band, the crew, along with our pastor met, joined arms in a circle, each of us to praying for God’s blessing. I was especially stricken when in his prayer one of the singers, who wrote or co-wrote all of the songs said, “Thank you Lord for giving us these songs and this place to worship you, let us remember tonight and always, it is for your glory not ours that we sing”. What a great prayer.

I’ll post the news here when the cd is ready for release and supply the details of how you can obtain one.

Squashed like a bug.

I was reading a couple days ago that a chunk of recently re-discovered space rock, previously discovered, lost and now has been rediscovered ( how does that happen ? ) turns out it may hit us one day. The rock chunk thought to be a burned out comet that now resembles an asteroid, last seen, in 1960 is considered "potentially hazardous"

And it is a seriously large chunk too. More than 500 feet across. Some day, over time, it's orbit will shift and could cause it to hit the our planet. The rock is too dim to be seen by the naked eye from Earth, at least right now.

But don't lose sleep over it or anything. It will not be anytime in the foreseeable future. So go back to sleep and enjoy the extra hours rest tonight.

Be right back

I am busy contemplating one of world slipperiest mysteries.

Why does Teflon stick to the pan?



Seriously it has been a busy week but I shall return asap.

It's play season at Anderson University. Time to enjoy yet another year of fantastic live theater by the Drama dept.

Over the weekend we attended the seasons first offering. A little known play " Fiddler on the Roof" Obviously I am kidding. Fiddler is one of the most successful Stage presentations in Broadway history. In fact it was the first Broadway show to exceed 3000 productions. It was also made into an academy award winning motion picture. The film won three Oscars.

The A.U. production was large enough to be held in the biggest auditorium on campus. On the night we went it was about packed out.

Fiddler is a story centered on a simple man, Tevye the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions. He must learn to cope the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters as they choose husbands while dealing with the harsh life he faces as a Jewish milkman in a small Russian town. Dealing with the events of the Revolution and persecution of all Jewish people by the Tsar's government.

This production was directed by Deborah McEniry who also did an outstanding job last year.

The Drama department chairman David Larson, his students, and staff do an outstanding job. You really should check this one out.

WISDOM ??

Two little boys were coloring eggs for Easter.

The older brother says," I'll give you a dollar if you let me bust three of these raw eggs on your head". "

Ok, " said the little brother

So he raps his brother on the head twice breaking two eggs and laughing as the slimy mess ran down his the little guy's face. Then he puts the third egg down and starts walking away.



"You said three, where's the third one? " the smaller boy inquires.

The bigger child, being filled with so much more worldly wisdom replies, " It isn't coming."

"What? Why? " the brother asks

To which the older brother answers," That one would cost me a dollar "

I've always felt that for a joke or cartoon to be funny we have to be able to identify with it, or at least there had to some small grain of truth presented. I bet you all can identify with this and as for truth. Well yeah !

Our flights will Never be late

Then again, we'll never actually be on time either.

When the thrill of being on an airplane matters then we've a flight for you.


Well not exactly a flight....

A retired Airline engineer is selling the 'ride'. With his tickets, you spend a few minutes on an Airbus A-300 jet plane that goes nowhere. It just sits. But people are lining up in droves.

The owner, Captain Bahudar Gupta, makes announcements about take off, landing etc, and his wife and five other crew members go up and own the aisle, serving snacks and drinks.

If any of the ‘passengers’ has to use the facilities, that could be a slight problem because the fuselage has no bathrooms. That is really not a big problem because the "flights" are under an hour each.

So pack you bags, gather the kids and head out on a "STAY CATION" by taking a flight to nowhere.

Dah Dah Dah Dum (snap) (snap)

Dah Dah Dah Dum (snap) (snap)

They’re creepy and they’re kooky

Mysterious and spooky ….

We all instantly know that song. It’s the classic theme from televisions “Addams Family” comedy. Writer Vic Mizzy ( 93) died yesterday. He was no stranger to tv songwriting. I am sure you can remember with equal ease the song for tv’s “Green Acres”.

But it’s the Addams Family theme that I catch myself humming most often. Mizzy was not a stranger to the music charts either. Having written top hits for Dean Martin, Doris Day, Perry Como and Billie Holiday in the 40’s and 50’s. If that was too far before your time you might be surprised he also had a song on the sound track for the “SpiderMan II” and “Spiderman III” movies. His family said he stayed busy until his last days.

Tonight I plan an Addams Family ( tv version ) mini marathon in his honor. And don’t be surprised if tomorrow you hear me singing:

Green Acres is the place to be

Farm living is the life for me

Land spreading out so far and wide

Keep Manhattan just gimme that country side.

I was always told never start off a story with an apology. I guess that applies to blogging too. However since I know nothing about proper writing I shall ignore that advice, and offer my apologies to those who set their lives by my postings. OK I am being silly. But I am a little late posting. I experienced some blog access issues last night. Something about maintenance and I fell asleep while waiting it out.

First up I planned on flying to the Atlanta area this morning on business, but it is seriously foggy here, way to bad to try to takeoff. And the airport at Cobb County is reporting the same if not worse. Maybe later.

As I said in my last post, Saturday was my anniversary. I had a great low key celebration with my beautiful bride. The day started slow because Kris had to forgo sleeping-in to attend a function at the University. Work related Saturdays are rare for her, but that doesn't make it any easier to arise early, especially when I am still sleeping. About the time her event wrapped up and she had returned home both the Clemson and Georgia football games were starting on tv. She had eaten so I grabbed a leftover chicken leg and we settled in to watch those games. Both teams have struggled inexplicably this season but Saturday they cruised to sorely needed victories.

After the game we had dinner reservations at the Galley. It's a somewhat upscale restaurant located on the shore of Lake Hartwell, at the marina. Dining in a quiet romantic setting while watching the sunset over the water was just the anniversary treat we had hopped for. It didn't hurt that the food was wonderful too. Those who know us well will be surprised to learn she, not me ordered the Prime Rib. That she passed up the Chicken Parmesan is still a mystery. I had grilled Salmon and it was amazing. But I did not miss out on the steak as she ate a little less than half and I get the leftovers later this week.

Sunday was special too. Once again we were able to get the whole family together and take my dad to his church. Only his third visit since his accident. Though Liberty Church is the old family church, it is growing so fast I hardly know 25% of the people there these days. That is a great thing. For years they hovered around 100 - 125 regular attending members, but in the past couple years they have more than doubled that. The building is bursting. Fortunately the new facility is nearing completion. During the service it was easy to see why the growth. First the people were on fire, and preacher Todd seriously brought it. Five salvation's. Rejoicing in Heaven was loud Sunday.

After church we were able to take dad out to lunch at a local meat and three place. We had a good time.

One of the things I love about my church is that we have four identical services every Sunday.
So attending in the evening I still did not miss anything. Our teaching pastor and Evangelist Clayton King chopped wood. God is using Clayton and we had witnessed another 126 souls added to the roll. THAT NEVER GETS OLD. Thanks Lord for men of God bring your message and praying people in churches like Liberty and NewSpring. I am so glad to be a part of this movement.

It's my wedding anniversary. After my accepting Christ, marrying her is the best decision I ever made. It proves I can do some things right from time to time.

Kristie was made just for me. She is a beautiful, smart, gifted lady. An amazing woman. Truly sold out to Jesus. Every part of her world is guided by that faith.
I am blessed to be loved by someone who has more talent and ability in one finger than I have in my whole being. She is the most important person in my life and my best friend.

I am thankful for her and her influence on my world. She is an answer to prayer everyday in my life. I love you sweetheart, you are my dream come true. Every year gets better than the previous one. I can hardly wait for the times yet to come.

Thank you for putting up with me all these years

You are my sweetie

I love you very much

I had an entry all written, illustrated and ready to post. But some events in the news caused my to table that blog 'episode ' for later.

Yesterday I watched the tv reports, totally captured by a human interest story. It seemed a young boy, six years old, had become involved in a family project with scary result. I'm sure you all followed the unfolding drama too.

But just in case you were exploring a deep underground cave or were off the planet or something I'll quickly sum-up what happened.

• A Colorado family were working on a science ( ? ) project They are amature storm-chasers and were planning to use the balloon in that hobby.

• The balloon is large about 20 feet across, the boy was small 38-45 pounds.
• Interestingly the balloon was saucer shaped, it looked like a UFO
• It has a plywood "cabin" or compartment on the bottom for holding cameras and instruments.
• The six year old's two brothers saw the boy climb into the compartment.
• The balloon broke free from it's moorings. Quickly rising into the sky, and floating away.
• The balloon climbed to a height of between 6000 and 8000 feet. Drifting 50 miles at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour.
• Police, fire, rescue and even the National Guard were called. They responded with two helicopters to "follow" the craft.
• Passing just north of the airfield the balloon disrupted air traffic at Denver International airport for around 15 minutes.
• The Balloon slowly deflated and landed gently in a field about 20 miles northeast of Denver
• Rescuers were shocked on the scene when they found the "cabin" door ajar and the compartment empty. Raising fear the boy had fallen out during the twisting, turning flight
• Happy Ending. The boy was found safely at home. The brothers had not seen him exit the craft
• Afraid he was in trouble the little boy had hidden in the his attic
• So after a two hour adventure and thousands of dollars for the rescue efforts and disruptions the whole story ends with a smile.
  

I guess you can't turn your back nor drop your guard for even one second when you have three young boys.

Oh BTW the six year old little guy ..... His name is

FALCON.

My wife and I don't watch a lot of commercial TV.
Plain and simple we seldom find things that fit us. We don't have Dish or anything similar. Don't subscribe to cable. We don't even have an outside antenna. Some people would say that is why we don't find anything to watch, but after years of cable I argue it's because the quality of most of shows is lacking. Why on earth would I want to pay for shows I am not going to watch anyway?

A salesman knocked on my door a few days ago offering to install this thing called Direct TV. I said to him, " I already have direct TV, it comes straight from the stations tower direct to my rabbit-ears and I get 22 channels." He left me alone after that.

People often ask what Kris and I do if not television. Ever hear of conversation? It's like texting except you utter words in the actual presence of one another. And it doesn't have to be 140 characters or less.

Don't get me wrong I watch stuff. I love reruns of "Law & Order" for instance. And I have accumulated a collection of great tapes ( remember those ) and DVD's.

But some nights we just listen to music and read. Books not l.c.d. screens kiddo's

Tonight we enjoyed something different. Classical Jazz music for piano and drums. You see Kris is a great piano player and I am obsessed with drums. So tonight I broke out my Bill Bruford / Patrick Moraz cd " Music for Piano and Drums. If you don't know who they are then you never heard of the groups Yes, King Crimson, The Moody Blues, U.K., Genesis and many more.

Do yourself a favor. Google them and expand your musical education.