Whirlwind

I have not sat @ this PC for a long time. It is really amazing. As it is, I am on my way upstairs. Karen and I rented "The Hangover" since the kids are in Balltown. Maybe tomorrow night...

Dragons

I had a dream that a Komodo Dragon attacked me and bit off my left arm. Read about them here.

Little Johnny Joke

It is near the Christmas break of the school year. The students have turned in all their work and there is really nothing more to do. All the children are restless and the teacher decides to have an early dismissal.


Teacher: "Whoever answers the questions I ask, first and correctly can leave early today."


Little Johnny says to himself "Good, I want to get outta here. I'm smart and will answer the question."


Teacher: "Who said 'Four Score and Seven Years Ago'?"


Before Johnny can open his mouth, Susie says, "Abraham Lincoln."


Teacher: "That's right Susie, you can go home."


Johnny is mad that Susie answered the question first.


Teacher: "Who said 'I Have a Dream'?"


Before Johnny can open his mouth, Mary says, "Martin Luther King."


Teacher: "That's right Mary, you can go."


Johnny is even madder than before.


Teacher: "Who said 'Ask not, what your country can do for you'?"


Before Johnny can open his mouth, Nancy says, "John F. Kennedy."


Teacher: "That's right Nancy, you may also leave."


Johnny is boiling mad that he has not been able to answer to any of the questions.


When the teacher turns her back Johnny says, "I wish these bitches would keep their mouths shut!"


The teacher turns around: "NOW WHO SAID THAT?"


Johnny: "TIGER WOODS. CAN I GO NOW?"

Another Day

I have the feeling this week will fly by. We have something going each night - basketball for Alex Monday and Tuesday - and then whamo! It's Christmas Eve on Thursday, followed by heading north to Balltown on Christmas Day. We'll come back on Sunday, leaving the kids in Balltown for a couple of days.

Tired & WW & SOS

Karen and I did a marathon Christmas shopping trip last night. I think I overdid it because I went to bed @ 11 and was going to get up @ 6 to work on the PC, but I slept until 9. I didn't want to get up even then.

Megan got a call to go to Fun City in Burlington with a friend of hers so she's already gone for the day.

Karen is singing and I am playing drums @ 5:15 Mass tonight.

I think Alex and I are going to the NL Rec Center later today. It really sucks that the NLRC doesn't have their pool table anymore. Apparently, there were too many discipline issues so they got rid of it.

My friend Matt sent me this:
|
Last night I was at a buddies and he was listening to a CD. I liked the band. It was a really different sound crossing multiple genres. The band was “Wicked Wisdom.” Have you ever heard of this band? If not, I recommend giving them a listen.
|
I had written back to Matt that I did not know this band. Just now, I checked my CD list. I have a self-titled CD by this band from 2006. Funny.

---

---

---

My brother in the Twin Cities went to see this band:

---

---

Editor's Note: It's unclear to me who "my friend Matt" refers to in the above text.

Master of Puppets.... Really?

Megan and I were in the den earlier today. The den is in a state of chaos. When I've been in the den the last two weeks, I've either been working or checking important stuff like Facebook. The CDs I've been listening to have been accumulating in a stack.

Somehow, the case for Metallica's "Master of Puppets" ended up on the kids' PC's desk.

"Master of Puppets? Really?" she asks.

So I start singing (from memory)

---

End of passion play
Crumbling away
I'm your source of self-destruction
Pain monopoly
Brink of misery
Life is getting nearer

Taste me you will see
More is all you need
Dedicated to
How I'm killing you

Come crawling faster
Obey your master
Your life burns faster
Obey your master! Master!

Master of puppets
Pulling your strings
blah blah blah
blah blah blah
Blinded by me you can't see a thing
Just call my name because I'll hear you scream

Master
Master
Just call my name
Because I'll hear you scream

Needlework the way
Never you betray
life of death becoming clearer
pain monopoly ritual misery
chop your breakfast on a mirror

---

It was here that Megan said, "What?"

I had previously discussed cocaine with her and how dumb people snorted it up their nose to get high. Instead of rehashing that, I started singing "Creeping Death":

---

Heed to his every word, live in fear

---

Megan says, "New song?"
"Yep." Pretty soon after that, we had to go upstairs to do something.

---

TNA & WWE: Monday Night War Redux

Years and years ago, Monday Night Raw went toe-to-toe with WCW on Monday nights. You could switch between the two when there was a match that didn't interest you on either of the channels.

Now, for at least tomorrow night, TNA is reigniting this war. Hulk Hogan is making his TNA debut and the best way to go against WWE is to try to snare a larger audience in the same time slot. WWE, for their part, are having their annual "Slammy" show where they self-promote the best wrestler of the year, best match of the year, etc., with a lot of highlights from PPVs and episodes of Monday Night Raw. They have drawn Dennis Miller to be the "guest host" with the idea that those who like Dennis Miller will tune in to watch him.

Me? I'm going to be at Alex's school concert. It was cancelled last week because they didn't have school. Alex normally has drum lessons on Monday nights so he has to bail out of that. I probably won't even see a minute of either the WWE show or TNA. I don't own a DVR (yet!) so that isn't an option.

Stupid People

I am tired of stupid people in this world.

Let's say you rent a car. You accidently scrape the driver's door against a concrete pillar. You check out the paint and there is no visible damage. When you return the car, you tell the clerk at the desk. You ask them to come and look at it. They do. They don't see any scrapage. You settle up your bill and move on.

Six months later, you get a registered letter that references a previous letter you never got. There's a $600 bill for the rental car. It seems they had to repaint the car and want you to pay for it.

When you ask the rental company if they put the car out of service after you reported the possible issue, they said no, we rented it to other people. But now, they say, there is a giant scratch on the passenger door and since you reported it, you must have done it.

First of all, the damage reported was for the driver's door so it has nothing to do with the issue.

Second, an employee of the rental company looked at it and said they didn't see any damage.

Third, the car was then rented to other drivers *after you*. There is no proof that someone after you did the damage. It's been six months since you drove the car.

So, you try to bargain with the company. They don't want to turn it into their insurance b/c there's a $250 deductible. Fine. You offer to pay that. Nope. Not good enough. You have an itemized bill so you pick and choose what could have possibly been caused from when you drove it. Nope. You need to pay the whole bill, including the two service charges because the repair place hasn't been paid while it waited for you.

When you ask why the car was not taken out of service, the answer is that they need the car in the fleet. That's not my problem. The car was put back in service, driven for 6 months and then you are expected to pay a bill? No way. So you turn it into your insurance company and pray that your insurance company is smart enough to laugh the car company all the way to the bank.

Here's the worst part. You know you will probably have to rent a car from that company again. That's what really sucks.

Getting Back to Normal .... slowly

We went to 5:15 Mass last night. I wasn't going to play drums, considering I was in the hospital at this time last week, but a friend of ours literally rushed over when she saw me and said that the priest (a sub) had asked if anyone was going to play drums because he likes them. I was supposed to usher but Karen found a sub. I missed the majority of rehearsal and didn't really get a good sound check. I was told after the first song, no one could hear the drums. I turned up the volume and then it was better.

I really enjoy playing drums at church. I don't play drums in any other capacity so it's fun for me. Keith usually is playing bass with me. Last night, he told me he likes playing with me and wants to bring his bass over sometime. That would be a lot of fun, especially if it worked out for my friend Brian Guitar that plays guitar to come over @ the same time.

Today, we are going to get our bedroom and bathroom ready to be painted on Wednesday.

Return to Forever

I'm going to the doctor today. Hopefully, the pneumonia has broken up enough in my lungs and I can return to my "normal" life.
I just got a phone call from Karen that the Iowa City School District voted to not bus Regina kids anymore. This is terrible for me. I will now have to drive
from North Liberty to Regina (20 minutes when the traffic and weather are perfect),
back past North Liberty (20 minutes),
north on I-380 (20 minutes) to work.

My morning commute just tripled.

Still Not a Ball of Fun Around Here...

I've decided that watching other people work hard is not something I like to do.

With my recent trip to the hospital, I'm supposed to "take it easy" and "rest" which would both be easier if there weren't a blizzard outside and snow to clear. On top of that, my workbench in the garage is a mess of empty pop cans, the furnace room needs a once-over to allow the water softener guy (Robert) access to the water softener tomorrow, there is something wrong with the van, there's the golf cart people in the North to deal with, and, on top of everything else, I have to fill out my insurance renewal forms for work. They are due today. I hate insurance forms. I want a check box that says, "I understand my premium is going up but I want *exactly* what I had last year. Hook me up."

Oh, and on top of all that, as if there weren't enough to add to my life, my mom had a stroke and is in the hospital.

That's all for now.

Well, that really sucked...

I was admitted into the hospital on my 40th birthday, 12/4/2009. I stayed until yesterday, when I was released. I was diagnosed with both Influenza B (seasonal flu) *and* pneumonia, the pneumonia diagnosis coming on Friday at a follow-up doctor appt. I am to be off work all of this week, but I may start 1/2 days Wed. b/c I know nothing stops just because you are gone. The world keeps going and there are a lot of things that are going to cross my desk in the not so distant future.

Influenza B

Went to the doctor today. She stuck a thing up my nose to take a culture. Came back positive for influenza B. Fun.