Pet Peeved

I've now been driving Jacob to school every morning since the beginning of the year and I've recognized a pattern. Almost every morning I silently deal with my frustration and refuse to act upon it. But, the tension builds. Luckily, I'm strong enough of a person not to let this tension cause me any problems. As a matter of fact, writing a blog about it helps.You may be wondering what the source of my tension is. And, if you aren't then you must be extremely patient. But here it is. About one-third of the parents that drop off their kids at school at Weaver Elementary must think that they are better than the other two-thirds. As you can...

Read More

Human Interest Story

Last October one of my fellow employees here at SRC Heavy Duty Division passed away. His name was Ricky Alan Fender, known as Rick to his coworkers. I never really talked to Rick more than the usual, "where do you want this pallet?" and "are these ready to go?" back in my fork truck driving days which was eight years ago. But, like all my coworkers, I saw him everyday all over the plant. Still, I can't say that I knew him well or anything.Earlier this week was Rick's birthday (4/22). In the morning production meeting with all the department heads and team leaders, Tom Harms brought to attention what he called a human interest story of sorts....

Read More

Another Project

Another home project is set to begin in the very near future. We will be receiving an entire new guttering system. Complete with spouts that run where we need them to rather than out on the ground near the house where it won't go anywhere but in our basement. When it's a nice slow rain we don't see a problem, but like a lot of places in the Midwest, Springfield is not really known for its gentle rains. Rather, rain comes to us like we did something to anger it. Torrents of high powered H2O ammunition explode on everything. It's this type of rain that the lay of our property cannot handle. Huge puddles form and become stagnant. The water...

Read More

Home Mortgage Early Payoff Calculator

Recently my home property tax went up. Because of this increase my Escrow was actually in the negative and needed to be caught back up. The bank in which I have my home loan through was gracious enough to give me a couple of options. I could either send them a check for the amount in which I was in the negative or if I didn't do anything they would just increase the amount of money required to go into Escrow every month for the next twelve months. This increase would pay back the amount that I was in the negative as well as cover the new estimated amount to cover my taxes at the end of the year. So, my payment went up. I tell you all this...

Read More

I (insert non-biologically correct heart shape) Weekends

Well, I didn't get done as much as I was hoping to get done this weekend, but I did have a great weekend.It began with a Friday night in which I got to relax, which is always nice. Then, Saturday at noon we took part in the March of Dimes walk at Jordan Valley Park. After the walk, they served hot dogs and chips, so we stuck around for that. We ran into Cheryl and Tonya who also walked, but due to the large amount of people involved we hadn't seen them until this point. So, we hung out with them for a while and kept up the tradition of being the last people to leave. I got a lot of really cool photos of the family as there are several good...

Read More

Tis the Season To Be Jolly

I'm so glad that it is warming up. I have so many things that I have wanted to do, but due to a short amount of daylight and a cold, bitter wind things have not been accomplished like I have wanted them. I need to finish siding the salon that was built a little over four months ago. I have the materials, but I haven't had a good day to do it. Tomorrow is Saturday and it's looking like it'll be a great day for it.Jodi and I plan to take the boys, after Lyric's morning nap, to the March of Dimes walk at Jordan Valley Park. It starts at noon and according to Weather.com it should be sunny and a warm 56 degrees. The walk is for two miles and...

Read More

Ouch!

Seriously? Is gas really $3.25 in Springfield? What on earth is going on? I hate to sound like an old man, but I remember a time when gas was 71 cents a gallon. And this was a time when I was driving and buying gas. It wasn't back when I was a toddler or anything.I have to blame it on the President of the United States. When George W. Bush took office gas was $1.46 a gallon on average in the U.S. On average! That means it was more like $1.29 here in the lovely low-price region of Springfield, Missouri. And, if you'll remember, we were all hoping that it would go back down at that point. The reason I blame it on the President is for several...

Read More

So-Called Stimulation

The Economic Stimulus Plan of 2008. What a joke. Don't get me wrong, I'll enjoy the money that I get, but the fact of the matter is that there is no way possible that this will help the economy. All it does is increase inflation even more.Let me put the economy into a nutshell for you. The government incurs a large debt from having overpaid unconstitutional programs that it can't afford. These programs are generally not opposed by voters because they bear some social give-away where the bulk of voters (the elderly) will benefit from. The government has to pay for these programs with money and so they have the Federal Reserve print them...

Read More

Movie Review: Margot at the Wedding

Do not rent this movie. Do not download it. Do not purchase the DVD or the VHS. It was terrible. I've seen some bad movies in my day, but this one takes the cake. It was a horrible attempt at entertainment.Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jack Black team up to prove that they are have no ability to read a screenplay. Or they are in on a little secret that the rest of us don't know about. Maybe they're committing group career suicide and this is their form of self-affliction. It's really impossible to know.I wanted to make sure and let eveyone that this movie blows. The only reason I decided to watch it was bacuase I thought that...

Read More

Fitness Update

Last week marked the mid-point of the Wellness Challenge. It's been six weeks since its start and there's only six left to go. They did weigh-ins last week to see how everyone is coming along on their goals. Tomorrow is when I am scheduled for my make-up weigh-in. I'm pretty excited. After all I am still carrying an unfair advantage.Last week I was plagued with Type 2 Influenza. It began Monday and did not relent until early in the morning on Sunday. I absolutely hated the symptoms so, of course, I was glad to see them go. But I was also enthralled with the nature of their passing. I fell asleep Saturday night and woke up an hour later...

Read More