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.