Date night

I'm kinda psyched as the lovely Mrs. CrappieRaider and I are going to a movie tonight. The last time we went out as a couple was a few months ago and if I recall, we had fried pickles, me for the first time. I'm not a fan at all. They should soak them in beer batter instead, now there's a good idea.

Edit: No pickles thank goodness.

We're going to go see the newest Adam Sandler movie Funny People. We already have tickets purchased so there's no backing out now. Not sure if the wife is gonna rock the fried pickles again but you can bet I'm gonna need refills on popcorn. Gotta love the movie theatre popcorn. What's better with popcorn though, beer or Coke? Review might be posted later (both popcorn and movie). Someone look after the flowers on my farm please.

Edit: Funny movie, slow in the beginning. It could probably have been edited down about 20-30 minutes but then again we got our money's worth. B+

I got the 1/2 bucket of popcorn, no refills. I wish everyone would fill it half way, put butter on, fill it the rest of the way and add more butter. For that small snafu, I'll give it a B-. Lastly, I finally broke down and got the tanker. No refills though.

What would you do?

1. If someone got your password, changed your blog and got you in trouble with your boss or spouse?
2. If Sonic charged you full price for a drink at 3:00? What about 3:59?
3. If the neighbor walking the dog always left the dog's number 2 in your yard?
4. If your spouse woke up in the middle of the night and screamed, "Sandbagger"?
5. If your bicycle had a flat a mile from home? Yes, you are riding it.
6. If you suddenly realized you had two left hands?

Answers coming soon.

Weekend Approaching...

and I'm not sure I really care. Anybody with me?

We had Apple server training yesterday and today and it was pretty lame. Yes we learned some things but overall, poor. There was no structure and when I asked a question I was told "I'll get to that later, anything else you want to know right now?" Thing is, he would follow up with, "what else do you want to see or learn?" Um, yeah, I just told you what I wanted to see. This went on for a while before I finally said the heck with it, just act interested and ask an occasional question. Throw him a bone.

We imaged 8 computers at a time and it only took 20-25 minutes, pretty cool. We'll pick up again on Monday and hopefully have all 200 done by the end of the day. Keep your fingers crossed. Or not.

Anyone up for the Greenbelt in the morning? Bright and early? C'mon people get off your lazy arses and let's get it done. Currahee!!! Six miles up, six miles down. Maybe 9.5 up and 9.5 down. Got motivation?

What was that?

So I was riding bike on Tuesday and was right at 10.5 miles, finishing up. I decided to go around the block one time to cool down a little bit. As I turned I noticed a van backing out of their driveway. This is not out of the ordinary, vans back up all the time. So I slow down and pull in behind them. We are going about 10 MPH and the fumes weren't bad. I also noticed a parked truck on the left hand side about 20 yards ahead.

I'm now about 15 yards behind the van and something smacks me right in the mouth. I mean, scared the crap out of me. TWACK!! I jerked back but kept my hands on the handlebars, barely keeping myself from veering into the parked truck. My elbows popped as did my neck. Holy Crap that hurt (still does). I assumed something flew up from the van, maybe a piece of rubber. Thing it, it was stuck to my lips. HOLY CRAP. I used my left hand to grab this thing and felt it still moving. HOLY CRAP. Yes, a friendly little grasshopper decided it would take a free ride on my mouth to the end of the block. I understand, it was pretty warm at the time.

I threw the wicked beast onto the pavement and wanted to turn around and run it over. I did not so all you PETA people chill out (I like ducks). As far as I know it is still alive as I didn't hear or feel any cracking or popping when I grabbed or threw it.

So there's my little story for the day. Hope you get a laugh out of my near death experience.

Wondering if...

• People think Seinfeld is still funny. Me? Golden!
• Humidity helps or hurts plants.
• LCD TVs will have staying power with the LED TVs now released. Very cool but very pricey.
• David gets bored in the pool. I mean really.
• DirecTv misses us. I can't quite get used to the verizon menu but I hope I do soon. It's driving me crazy but the picture is good. There are more HBO channels which is always good.
• Televisions still work now that we're all digital.
• The lesbian neighbors realize their kid is a tool.

Food Review

From vacation, in order:

Thursday

breakfast: homemade burritos on the road. A, would you expect anything else?

lunch: Whataburger, official restaurant of CC. C+, generic grilled chicken.

dinner: Pier 99 fried shrimp. B, the flavor was there, somewhere, buried in the Crisco. I think the shrimp was cooked too long in grease that was too old.

Friday

breakfast: cereal that we brought. C, same Kashi cereal, different place.

lunch: Chili's Chicken Baja Tacos. B+, plenty of lettuce (g00d) but not quite enough chicken. The baja sauce is really good and I don't need to mention the chips and salsa always rock.

dinner: Pizza Hut pepperoni and meat lover's. A, two large pies delivered to the hotel after hanging at the beach. Can't go wrong with the Hut after burning off some energy.

Saturday

breakfast: Whataburger taquitos. B, nothing special just good eggs n stuff.

lunch: Combo fajitas at Rita's on the Riverwalk. C again. Too much pepper on the meat and I think this meal is what gave me an upset stomach. Margaritas were too sour and did I mention the cost? Salsa had too much tomato taste.

dinner: I skipped this meal, still full from the mediocre fajitas.

Sunday

breakfast: cereal in the hotel. C, please see above.

lunch: Sonic popcorn chicken. C-, too crunchy and the honey lemon sauce wasn't that good.

dinner: chips and queso at home. B, was jonesing for it but didn't quite live up to expectations.

There you have it, official triple-fake meal review of unofficial origin. Huh?

Musings from Vaca

I can't remember the last time I averaged 80mph on a trip. That's greatness. I bought a GPS before we left and yes, that's greatness. I'm sure there are a few features that pulled us off course once or twice but overall I can't see why anybody that travels doesn't have one. At the same time, I can't believe I waited this long to pull the trigger.

I wanted to stop by the capital and take a tour but I'm glad we didn't. I was very happy to get home and I don't think the family wanted to do any more walking. That could be a two day getaway at some point.

The Riverwalk is waaayyyy overpriced. We dropped $90 on lunch Saturday which was by far the most expensive meal on the trip. All together we spent about $400 on food for the 4 days. That's crazy.

It would have cost about $90 for the aquarium in CC but I thought that was too much. We hung out at the beach instead...good call. The morning jog on Saturday was greatness. I left the ipod at the hotel, took a few sunrise pictures (one below), and didn't fall down once.

I'm ready for another trip. Somewhere a little cooler this time. It wasn't too bad at the beach but if there wasn't a breeze, it was pretty warm. There were only a couple of times that I was miserable though.

Not My Usual Post...But

Too good not to share.

Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch, is part drill Instructor, and part stand up comic. Here are a few of his observations on tactics, firearms, self defense and life as we know it in the Civilized world.

"The handgun would not be my choice of weapon if I knew I was going to a fight....I'd choose a rifle, a shotgun, an RPG or an atomic bomb instead."

"The two most important rules in a gunfight are: always cheat and always win."

"Every time I teach a class, I discover I don't know something."

"Don't forget, incoming fire has the right of way."

"Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets. I may get Killed with my own gun, but he's gonna have to beat me to death with it, Cause it's going to be empty."

"If you're not shootin', you should be loadin'. If you're not Loadin, you should be movin', if you're not movin', someone's gonna cut Your head off and put it on a stick."

"When you reload in low light encounters, don't put your Flashlight in your back pocket.. If you light yourself up, you'll look Like an angel or the tooth fairy...and you're gonna be one of 'em pretty soon."

"Do something. It may be wrong, but do something."

"Nothing adds a little class to a sniper course like a babe in a Ghilliesuit."

"Shoot what's available, as long as it's available, until Something else becomes available."

"If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That's Ridiculous.. If I have a gun, what in the hell do I have to be paranoid for."

"Don't shoot fast, shoot good."

"You can say 'stop' or 'alto' or use any other word you think Will work but I've found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's Head is pretty much the universal language."

"You have the rest of your life to solve your problems. How long You live depends on how well you do it."

"You cannot save the planet. You may be able to save yourself And your family."

"Thunder Ranch will be here as long as you'll have us or until Someone makes us go away and either way it will be exciting."

More Excellent Gun Wisdom....... The purpose of fighting is to Win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more Important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The Final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.

1. Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

2. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.

3. I carry a gun cause a cop is too heavy.

4. When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.

5. A reporter did a human-interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and Asked him 'Why do you carry a 45?' The Ranger responded, 'Because they don't make a 46.'

6. An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous Regularity.

7. The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady Commented on his wearing his sidearm. 'Sheriff, I see you have your Pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'No ma'am. If I were expecting Trouble, I would have brought my rifle.'

8. Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to Use it!

If you believe in the 2nd Amendment, please forward. 'The true Soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' -G. K. Chesterton

A people that values its privileges above its principles will Soon lose both. DDE

'Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who Do not.'

~ Thomas Jefferson

Hey Dave!! Let's Do This!!

Hurry up and Wait

Sitting in the network closet waiting for this install to finish. OMG. I guess if the database weren't ninety-seven-hundred-dozen megagigwatts it might go faster. So here are my latest thoughts:

Servers are incredible when you think it all comes down to zeroes and ones. For that matter, the Internet is even more incredible. I mean think of all the zeroes and ones that are flying through your computer as you read this. Now quaddoublefunction that number. What if there were only letters? Would IBM has chosen A's and B's or would they have gone outside the box and chosen L's and P's? I'd stick with X's and O's. Then we could say Vince Lombardi invented computers and Bud Grant invented the Internet.

Ducks are cool.

I will probably miss not having the Sunday paper but what the heck. Just saved $80 a year. Let's party!

Ever wonder why people imitate Andy Rooney? I mean really. If it weren't for that guy some people wouldn't have a career. And did you ever notice he has big eye brows? I mean really. Imitate somebody that means something to somebody. How about Barry? today's pick me up, two chicks in bikini's. On second thought that might be too easy.

Check out the poll I posted. Please triple fake vote even if you haven't seen any of them.

Skattershooting While Jogging

I've been biking and running for about 6 or 7 months now and have kept a log, sorta. I know I missed logging a few days in June but May should be pretty accurate. Here are the numbers:

May Biking: 93 miles

May Running: 18 miles

June Biking: 75.5 miles

June Running: 16.5 miles

So far this month I've got about 25 biking and about 9 running. Just need to keep it up as I'm shooting for 100 biking and 25 running. We're headed to CC for a few days and I hope I have the time and energy to go running on the beach. Sounds like fun.

So what runs through your head as you run through the neighborhood? I've got some doozies. Ever seen a sunrise that looks like the center of a Longhorn logo? Well it's pretty ugly. The moon was out this morning too and it appeared as though the sun was going to catch up to it.

By the time I reach the 1/2 mile mark I'm wondering if I'm going to make a mile. Then at the mile marker I'm feeling pretty good and thinking I'll go further today than last time. About a half mile from the house I'm thinking, "Please don't let me collapse in the neighbors yard. No way I'm going further than last time."

This morning I kept going as the last two jogs I've logged 5K or more. Since I get cooled down by all the sprinklers I figure I can go another 1/4 mile. I try to think of other things to divert my pain but I just can't. If I do, it's something negative and I push it out of my head as soon as possible. Well, after all that I completed another 3.2 miles this morning. I followed it up with edging and weed-eating in the front yard which completely drenched my shirt...again.

Please tell me your workout thoughts that keep you going. I'm counting on you to help me meet my monthly goals.

Once a Month

Yes, I have decided to blog once a month only and since it's July, here you go.

I spent three hours rewiring network closets today. About 2 in the MDF and 1 in the IDF. It is a task that needs to be done every summer. I spent about an hour last week reorganizing an MDF at an elementary school. Drives me crazy. I think I'll write some people up next time they're jacked like this.

Went to see Princess Bride at the theatre last night and was disappointed. It was played on a DVD player and data projector. I can do that at school and have good air conditioning. They could have saved the night if it were Blue ray but it weren't was not ain't.

You know it's hot when you can't get motivated to go fishing at 6 am. It was 80 degrees on the way to work today and it's only going to get worse.

Delkus teased the weather with "rain in the forcast?" but returned to tell us it will be in the 100's for the next 7 days. Talk about cheap "stay tuned" tactics.

I hope Delkus reads this.

I hope somebody reads this.

Fubar is a great nickname, wish I would have gotten it first. I think the first decent nickname I got was ELZI but it sucked because it was the same as my brother's. Other than that, I was known as F'n Leon in the fraternity. Not really a nickname you want to stick. Oh, and then the Army basic training nickname that I distanced from as soon as I could: Frogger. That's a story for another blog.

Happy rain delay is over on the Cubs game day!