Charlie

We have once again taken the plunge and fell victim to the cute and cuddly puppy that is now called Charlie. You may recall from a previous blog entry that I had talked about Nitro being the newest member of the family... He has since vanished into thin air. We have no idea where he went or what happened to him, but since we just couldn't resist the chance to have a wonderful pup in our family for very long... We have now adopted this fine specimen of the canine family. He is a lab / rotty mix, and has a simply excellent kind nature. At almost 3 months old, so far he has been a great addition to the family... of course there is that quite annoying thing he does at 6am every single morning, even on the days you might want to sleep in.. but I think for the most part he is going to be a great dog. So does Amy, who by the way chose the name "Charlie b. Barkin" a name that fits him to a tee. I told her that he kinda reminds me of Chris Farly in the movie "Beverly Hills Ninja". Without further adieu, a few pics to oooh and aaahhh over.

Poker Table #3

If I'm allowed to say this, I think this was my best poker table yet! I had decided I wanted something that was unusual and different... Something perfect for home games, but unique enough to call my own. So, I came up with attempting an Octagon shape, but I was unable to find one that had the excellent soft cushions that I liked on the oval tables. The final outcome was difficult, but I think it worked out perfectly! I ended up with a table for 8 that was big enough to fit 8 people very comfortably, with nice soft cushions. The most tedious part was putting together the 8 individual cushions. Unfortunately before the table was even complete someone wanted to buy it.. But for the record here is a pic of the unfinished table with a full 8 people on it


and the Final Product..



Man, I really miss that table....

Tail of the Rubber Pup

This past Wednesday while working in the shed, I heard the our dog Zoey yelping like crazy. I walked outside to find Levi getting out of his truck looking very concerned. Then the dog limped over to the shed, crawled underneath it and remained there for the next 30 min. Levi had explained that he did see the dog and was driving slow in order to avoid her, but that he knew for sure that he had run her over. My first though of course was that this was it for the poor neurotic ankle biter, and that she would soon be entering into eternal sleep. I contacted the vet in Crafordville and inquired about euthanization preparing for the worst. Before I left for the vet I decided it would be a good idea to let little bobby know what was going on:

Me: Son, I have to take Zoey to the vet because she was run over by a truck today
Bobby: Is she going to be ok?
Me: I'm not sure, that's why I'm taking her to the vet. I just wanted to let you know that she might not make it home.
Bobby: She looks ok..
Me: Yes, she does.. But if her injuries are really bad we may have to put her to sleep.
Bobby: For how long?
Me: Permanently.
Bobby: YOUR GOING TO JUST KILL HER?
Me: Well son, if her injuries insider her are really bad it would be better. We won't know until the vet checks her out. I just wanted you to be aware of what was going on and that she might not be coming back.
Bobby: Ok, I understand. She's going to be fine though.
Me: Ok. I'm off to the vet then..

After the physical exam ($30) the veterinarian stated she was unable to tell if anything was broken, but that it appeared there was not any internal bleeding. X-rays would be another $100. After the x-rays she found that her pelvis was broken, but not much out of alignment and he leg was broken but not out of place at all. The Vet had already mentioned that if her hip was broken there was not much we could do, but that it was a good sign that Zoey was active and moving around.

So, $130 later.... It seems that not only is our Neurotic Ankle Biter a mean little dog, she is also made of rubber. I guess this is the type of dog that simply refuses to be killed :)

Our Latest Addition... Nitro

Without further delay, here is the latest member to the family. My Son's Pup... Nitro!

Prediction: Gulf Coast likely a hurricane target

Tallahassee Democrat - www.tallahassee.com - Tallahassee, FL.

Guess it's time to fill up your gas can's, and dust off the generator that's been sitting for about 2yrs to make sure it still works.
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"Active hurricane season predicted WASHINGTON - Colorado State University meteorologists are predicting a busy 2007 storm season, with a nearly 50 percent chance the Gulf Coast will be hit by a major hurricane.

The school's forecasters said Tuesday that this year's season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, won't be as active as the 2004 and 2005 seasons, but they predicted that 17 named storms will form in the Atlantic.

Nine are expected to be hurricanes, and five of those are likely to be intense or major hurricanes, measuring 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.

''Now is the time to have a plan in place to respond to a hurricane,'' Phil Klozbach of the Colorado State University hurricane forecast team said Tuesday.

The team also predicted:

At least a 74 percent chance a major hurricane will make landfall in the U.S.

A 50 percent chance a major hurricane will make landfall on the East Coast.

A 49 percent chance the Gulf Coast will be hit by a major hurricane.

The team also said there's an above-average risk a major hurricane will make landfall in the Caribbean."

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You can also check out there website directly
Colorado State University hurricane forecast

Who would'nt trust a prediction from these 2 anyway :)

Animal Encounters

It's a slow week, so I figured I would take this free time to post a few pics.




First one up, is the snake we found curled up in the 4 wheeler one day when we came outside to go for a nice ride. Such a purty little white oak snake.









This is not the same snake, this one we found climbing up on top of the muffer under the car. Just like the one in the 4 wheeler, a harmless white oak snake.











Here is a shot we caught of the bear getting into the garbage. This actually used to happen quite often, this was just the first time it happen during the daytime. Haven't seen much of the bears lately though.








And finally we have our most intelligent dog Zoey. Gotta love that nerotic ankle bitter as the wife likes to call her. lol

Working while you sleep?

Crap, this means I have to admit that my wife might have been right! Guess she does need her sleep, and according to this, it might even help you sort the world out! Cool. Although, on the other hand this kinda sucks... This means we never truly get to rest... Even while you sleep, your brain is still hard at work. No wonder we like to drink sometimes!

They start of the article with:
"Ever wondered why sleeping on a problem works? It seems that as well as strengthening our memories, sleep also helps us to extract themes and rules from the masses of information we soak up during the day."

Damn, that explains alot... Course what about dreams? Where does that play into this? I don't know about you, but some of the dreams if not most of them, have had very little to do with my experiences of the day. Most of my dreams are pretty off the wall, and tend to be quite "Enjoyable" lol....

Then the article ends with:
"Sleep helps us extract rules from our experiences, says Stickgold. It's like knowing the difference between dogs and cats, he says, even if it is hard to explain."

Ok, this is just funny. Basically, if it were not for sleep, you would not be able to tell the difference between dogs and cats? I'll just let you use your imagination to come up with other items you might not be able to tell the difference between without sleep given that example...

In all seriousness though, this does seem to explain how you can wake up in the morning and be completely sure of how to "fix" or how you can "Clearly" visualize the answer to something you were working on before.

Here is the link to the actual article..

While you slumber, your brain puts the world in order - being-human - 22 February 2007 - New Scientist Environment

Slithering Encounter

This is one of the reasons I love this place. This is definitely not the first encounter, just the first one since I started posting to this blog. I have pics of white oak snakes resting intertwined in our 4 wheelers, as well as one that wanted to nap under the car on the muffler. Eventually, I'll probably post the Bear pic's that we have as well. But figured this would be a good start.



And yes, it was ready to strike. In fact right after snapping the picture it struck at our dog.

If you are curious, the snake was unharmed. I brought the dog inside and escorted the snake back into the wooded area of the property. Against the wife's wishes.. lol

Snakes are just so damn cool.

YADBGAG #1

The above title stands for : "Yet Another Difference Between Girls And Guys"

Lavatory Activities when doing #1:

First for the Girl:
A girl will quietly enters the bathroom, possibly even turning on a fan or something to make more noise because she doesn't want anyone to hear her. When finished she will wipe, but will wipe in such a way that it's a one way trip.. meaning no up and down motion... its one way and let go as soon as possible cause this is gross! Now that she is yucked out, she will flush hoping that no one hears the toilet.. while toilet is flushing is when she gets re-dressed then she washes her hands with both water AND soap. Dries hands and TADA elegant and clean. As she exits the bathroom, fan goes off, light off. Done. PS. If this is Public location, addition step includes hovering... A task that can only be thought of by a woman, and is not even known to most men. I would attempt to enlighten you on this, but I'm pretty sure you can picture it... LOL

Now for the Guy:
Enters the bathroom possibly while finishing a conversation with someone in the other room. No need to worry about a fan or even a light for that matter, it's not going to take that long. Stand in front of the toilet usually using the knee or shin to make sure we aren't too close. At this point is when the difficult decision comes, lift lid or practice aim? This is typically a 70/30 choice... 70% of the time we practice aim, 30% we will lift lid. While peeing, make circles in the toilet because this is taken longer than we had thought and there are many other things we would rather be doing. Next, flush toilet because we find it fun to try "race" with the toilet to see who will finish first, this is usually when the fart gets released for that extra boost! Next, shake to make sure most of the liquid has made it, occasionally this is where the uncontrollable shoulder shake happens. Finally, flush again because the toilet won the race and deserves a victory lap. Next steps may vary depending on situations. If we are alone or with other guys, close shop and continue doing what ever we were before... If drips actually hit our hands, then wash but just with some water and dry on whatever is handy in following order: towel, dirty clothes, jeans, shirt, or shake hands vigorously. If girl is in another room, run water to give her the impression that we are clean.


This is the first post in a series of post that might include more of the differences between men and women :)

Cat's in the Cradle?

The other night as we were preparing for bed time... We walked into our bedrooms to find our wonderful kitty cat lying comfortably...

Comfortable there Cozmo?

Props for Originality!

I must give my wife big props for this one. Being a smoker, I have for quite some time heard every reason in the book. Everything from each cigarette takes 1 day off your life, to the descriptive black chunks of tar that are building up in my lungs, to the awful smell it produces on my clothing, and that I'm killing the ones I love with second hand smoke... the list goes on... But never has a phrase caught my attention as what I heard this past weekend.

I woke up the other morning and began my morning ritual of brushing teeth, taking a shower, ect.. Once dressed and ready for the day I moseyed on into the kitchen for a glass of sweet tea. It was an excellent morning, Not too cold outside, got plenty of sleep, I was feeling wonderful. Then I began to step outside to enjoy the freshness of the outdoors... and of course to have my morning smoke. Just prior to stepping outside the wife and i had said our good mornings and were just chatting about typical stuff... She looked up at me as I started to head for the door, and just as I opened the door to let out the dog she began with "Baby, What would it take to get you to quit smoking, Cause Ya know...... I really like the way you smell when you get out of the shower, so fresh, and clean; (insert momentary dramatic pause here while she puts her thoughts in order) But when you smoke did you know that your not very edible." Yup, it took me a few moments to process that as well... lol

Now I have been accused of many things, but never did I once consider the palatableness of myself very important, of course I also never realized the carnivorous nature in my wife! (ok, so maybe i might have had a clue about that one) but with this new knowledge, and after hearing the rather "tasteful" concerns of my wife, I've decided that it might be time to start seriously considering the edibleness of myself. Therefore from this day hence I shall strive to become smoke free in order to attain that pinnacle of delectable pabulum she so desires. On that note I bid thee a "Scrumptious" afternoon.