Wolf Creek Cemetery Coming Soon

Yesterday my DW, kids and bubby went out to the storage bay and grabbed some of our over sized props for this years haunt. We got them in the yard and went back for the Mausoleum and monster in the box.

Today I am hoping to at least get the cemetery arch way and fencing up. Anything else is a bonus. Maybe the thunder columns will be hooked up with the lightening a thunder generator too. Here's keeping my fingers crossed.

We have piano lessons tonight, and tumbling practice Wednesday and Thursday so I hope to get a few things up before this weekend went we get to go visit my cuzes new house. I can't wait. I also hope to get the opportunity to visit a couple of Halloween stores down in that area too.

We went to Eville this weekend and I was thoroughly disappointed in what all the stores have down there. Alot of the same crap you see every year.

Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary

Today I have been married to my wonderful, marvelous and I must admit sexy wife for 15 years. Whats that??? Did I hear someone yell bullshit in the crowd. Yes, I can understand why everyone may think that I am telling a fib but it is true. There is someone on Gods green Earth that can stand my ugly ass this long. It came as quite a surprise to me also.

If you are reading this I would like for you to stand up..... Go ahead stand up.

Now lets put our hands together and give Brando a round of applause. (Go ahead Brando take a bow.) Ok, thats enough... Now everyone please bow your heads in prayer and pray to give Brando the strength to endure my worthless hiney hole for a few more years. (A few more years is about all I can reasonable ask for. I mean she is a wonderful person but shes no saint. Lets get real here.)

Brando, all kidding aside, I want you to know that you are the light of my life, the sun of my day and the stars of my night. I couldn't begin to think of living this life without you. You are the central hub of the family and a wonderful Mom and wife. I surely was blessed to have been given the chance to be a part of your life. I love you and will always love you until time itself doesn't exist. You are truly my one and only love..... You might say, my SOUL MATE. But who really believes in that stuff anyway?

HAPPY 15th ANNIVERSARY BABY!!!!

I LOVE YA!!!

Hell Why Not Bail Me Out???

( And here is a picture of the assholes that caused it all)

Once again the public tax payer is forced to bail out some big company who's executives lived high on the hog and cooked the book to ride their pony until it dropped. WTF? If I take my money to a casino in Vegas and put it all on one roll of the dice and bust is the federal government gonna bail me out. Hell NO! Id be out on the street as fast as you could bat an eye. What a crock of shit. I know why we are forced to do so not because of all the people who were insured with AIG would be uninsured and there polices would be worth what I flush down the toilet. I feel bad for them but they can get a new policy with a new company unless they are mid claim. However I think that I would be pissed if my retirement was through that company and it when belly up. What a kick in the crotch. I hope they parade the executives that caused this flop out in the middle of the street and give everyone a pair of clippers and as they walk by them clip a piece of them off and then throw and bit of salt where they clipped. I know where I would start first. We are in the mids of a war that is costing us a ton, business that cook the books and fall on there faces and an election year. WTF else could go wrong??? Heaven help us because no one else on this planet seems to have a clue. Maybe we can come up with a bunch of government programs to help deadbeats get mansions to live in. HELL WHY NOT!!! Might as well take all of my check. Its not like I worked for it or anything. This shit really chaffs my cherries.

Wet Rabbits

Yesterday was the day that what was left of Ike blew threw. I was standing at dinning room winds when the house creeked. I don't think I have ever heard that noise before. The wind gust must have been considerable. Brando looked outside and the rabbits cage lid was blown up and the little bunnies were getting soaked. I put on a shirt and braved the elements to save the little long eared fuz balls. Then about 10 minutes later another gust blew threw and low and behold the rabbit lid was up again. Once again I went to their rescue. I will have to build a latch for the cage. Poor little bunnies.

Match-o-matic II

One of my friends at sent me a test to take to see which candidate I agree with. I must admit that both were very similar to some extent. After taking the test I had picked 10 or of 13 total quotes for McCain. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing. I really was suprised and now I would like to offer this test and have everyone post in the comments how they done. Please post honestly as I have. I am sure I could take the test again and the results might change a bit but I thought that I would offer it to anyone willing to take the test.

Here is the link: http://abcnews.go.com/politics/MatchoMatic/fullpage?id=5542139

Safe at Home

We got back from Houston last night around 8:30 pm. We were on the fence about leaving early until we heard about mandatory evacuations of the Galveston area. We got our airplane tickets bumped up a day and checked out on Thursday morning. While checking out, we over heard the hotel workers turning down someone wanting to stay for the night. They asked if they had rooms empty and the hotel said yes but they could not rent them out with the evacuation. I guess the hotel will be emptied sometime soon. We got the heck out of Dodge or Houston as the case may be and headed to the airport to turn in our rental car.

We looked for gas stations to fill up the tank before turning it in and all the stations were packed with cars. Some on the news showed NO GAS signs out front from all the people filling up to evacuate. We finally found an empty station close to the airport. Traffic was not too bad since we were heading South to Hobby and everyone else was heading North to safety. We got the car turned in and got to a jammed packed airport. The ticket lines was passed the cattle stalls and out to the main walking area. I stood in line while Brando got our ticket at a ticket only window to help move our transaction at the counted with luggage check in a little quicker. The guy behind us said he that he flies out every week and never seen it like this. I told him that if they are anything like Phoenix that they will have us at the counter soon. The line at Phoenix was twice as long and I was checking bags in about 20 minutes. 10 minutes later we had our bags checked and on our way to security. 5 minutes later I was tieing my shoes and headed to the gate.

We ate at Papacitoes and sat to wait for the plane. While waiting we heard that by 9 am Friday the airport would be closed. We were suppose to fly out of there at 1:30 pm. This would have put a crimp in our plans. Our plane was about 20 minutes late and after boarding and getting all the standbys on the plane we took off about 30 minutes late. So we also arrived at St. Louis 30 minutes late. We ate at Hooters and headed home to our wonder little chillin. Mom and Dad had taken very good care of them. The first thing out of their mouth was MOMMY & DADDY! Then came the inevitable, What did you bring us? Kids......

Oh yeah all this happene on 9-11..... We fly to stick it to the terrorists!..... and to flee the oncoming hurricane. Take that you stinking terrorist!!!!

A House Full Of Pizza.....

.... and I can't eat any of it. Tonight Yin and Yuri are doing some of their gymnastic moves in the living room floor called a pizza. It is what I call a back bend but they also call it a bridge but the little kids class call it the pizza. I have a couple of pieces in the fridge and a couple of goofballs in the livingroom floor and being that I am taking my Bros advice about trying to go gluten free to maybe help cure some of my recent symptoms a can't have any pizza. Funny how you don't really want something until you can't have it.

The chickens are doing well but we only got 3 eggs today. Maybe it is just the cycle of things and not a sign of being unhappy with me. We have 2 dozen in the fridge and when Mammer Jammer comes up this weekend, we hope to have enought to keep everyone filled to the brim with eggs.

We are gearing up for our venture South. We leave for Houston Monday morning and the kiddos will stay with my Mom and Dad. Heaven help them. I know them miss the kids when they are gone but I am sure they will have their fill by time we get back on Friday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Looks like we are in for a bit cooler weather.

The Truth???

Look at these poor Caribou obviously upset about the oil rig encroaching on there territory. I bet the Caribou would like something more aesthetically pleasing like a Starbucks Coffee House on there block. I bet property values would soar then.

This is what you see in the media about the drill site in the Arctic National Refugee.

This is what is really there.

What??? You can't see anything??? That's because at there proposed drill site there is nothing to see. Nothing but a few Caribou. Don't get me wrong, I think that we do need to reduce our use of oil both foreign and domestic but unfortunately the technology to do so isn't there yet. It is on the horizon but until then we need a plan to help everyone out. I personally don't gripe about what I pay at the pump. I pay the same price as everyone else out there and I along with everyone else that has and operates a gasoline or diesel combustion engine are part of the problem.

I think that the money I pay at the pump is a fine for being part of this global problem. If the fine gets big enough then I personally will find ways to reduce my use of it. The reason big oil hasn't been charge with any wrong doing is because they haven't really done anything wrong. I hate to see people making billions of dollars in profit but in the right context this is not outrageous profits. These companies in prospective are making roughly 10% profit. They have to spend 100 billion a year to make 10 billion profit. They do it because they have the deep pockets to do it.


I wonder what Wal-Marts profit margin is??? I can assure you it is several times over 10%. But they only make several million a year in profit and the public outcry goes unnoticed because of the big oil profit. Most companies couldn't stay in business with only a 10% profit margin when the federal regulations are changed for day to day. Everyday the EPA, OSHA and federal government change the rules on what is legal to do. Can you play a game where the rules change from second to second. How would you feel if you made 10% on your 401k with inflation at 5 to 6%???


Try building a multi million dollar unit as big as a city block in a refinery that will not make you a dime because the EPA mandated that you must have that unit only to say that in 4 years that it is illegal to run that unit. Try opening up a refinery today to help relieve our refining capacity shortfall and see how the EPA will help you. NO NEW REFINERIES HAVE BEEN BUILT SINCE THE 80s AND SINCE THEN SEVERAL HAVE SHUT DOWN DUE TO THE EPA. I wonder why gas is 4 dollars a gallon? Just something to think about.


OK I am off my little soapbox. I am not really pro anything. I would like things to be good for everyone on GODS green Earth, however I don't think we are going to get there by posting information to support my own agenda either. Lets just see how hard we can spin this. The people that need elected will spin this issue which ever way the public opinion needs them to spin it to get elected or reelected. The TRUTH is there really is NO TRUTH just the way it is. There is no politician that is not biased and to think there is you are a fool. If we could spin this hard enough maybe we can spin the Earth fast enough to get rid of this problem, which is all of us. Who is the enemy here? Look in the mirror. I shave the enemies face every day.

My advice for the reader is to not to believe the HYPE of everything you see and hear in the media. Look at several sources of information and make an educated opinion about the subject. The majority of the population seems to make there opinion on what the headlines read in there politically ran daily newspaper. I challenge you to look beyond your own agenda and beyond what people are PAYED to print.

STRIKE AVERTED!!!!!

STRIKE AVERTED!

I think The Girls and I have come to an agreement. They will lay the eggs and I will continue to feed and water them. Clause 3 paragraph 2 states that the care giver will make sure the workers of The Girls & Double U Egg Factory, (they get top billing), will provide ample food and water at all times. There was a jocking for position at the signing and they threw in a last minute amendment for an occasional romp around the yard.

Feeling particularly bad about the horrible conditions that The Girls had to endure, I was caught in a weak moment and agreed to all demands. Now I check on there amenities every day when I get home and check on them, of the evening, to see if there are any problems with their accommodations. So far egg production has increased to 4 eggs a day. Now we are seeing white eggs so the offenders are now starting back to work.

What they don't know is that they are working for chicken feed and their union rep. didn't mention anything about a health care or pension plan. I hope they don't get wind of that or I may be hiring scabs. Oh well, they signed a 2 year contract so after the contract is up and they strike again there maybe some jobs on the chopping block. Literally!

(Oh yeah it is also written in the contract that when referring to them in writing, I must capitalize The Girls. What can you say? There only chickens.)

Chickens on STRIKE!!!!

Well they gone and done it...... They done went and struck on me. After all I have done for them, they do this. For the past few days we have only gotten 2 eggs out of 8 chickens. I know which ones are holding out.

It's the White Pearls because for about a week now we have only been getting brown eggs and those are layed by the Black Star hens. I think I have figured out the major malfunction..... I haven't been squeezing them hard enough...He he he. NO I am just kidding.

I think I haven't been feeding them enough and it took a while to show and now since I have purchased a new feeder, and there is corn and laying mash a plenty, it will take a while before I see any more production from the hens.

I hope to see some production increases in the next week or so. Not sure how long it takes to get their little systems cranked back up. I may have to concede to their contract demands but, I think daily foot massages and heated roosts are a bit much.

Uh-Oh I've been had!

(The only picture I got of their super secret union meeting before being spotted and flogged back up to the house. I barely made it with the camera intact.)

Wolf Creek Cemetery

Not the site.....The place. Today my sweetie Brando took me to a place I have wanted to go for a while. It wasn't Disney by no means but pretty neat all the same. It was a little known cemetery called Wolf Creek Cemetery. We got the coords off Google and headed on our way. It doesn't have any signage to speak of but it is the only cemetery anywhere close to the original coords which were pretty close. Here is a pic of the small cemetery.

We also ventured a bit further North and went to Wolf Creek State Park. The rangers were really nice and I told them I was sorry they were on the list to be closed down November 1st and our little park was on the block a few years ago and we rose such a stink we pulled it back from the brink of destruction. Ok a bit over dramatic but still it was a good accomplishment. Here is a pic of the state park sign.

Brando and Yuri went on a small hike while I stayed with sleeping Yin in the car. When they came back they had little mites all over there socks and we had to douse them with insect repellent just in case they were biting nasties. Here is a pic of their adventures of Lake Shelbyville.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. It went way too fast.

I'm shaven the chickens and pluckin the hogs!

As you can see I added a egg ticker to the blog for a running total. Today we had 5 white and 1 brown. 1 ckicken was confused and layed her egg on the ground. Not sure if the bin was occupied or what. It seems that they prefer the corner nest for laying for that is the only nest we find eggs in. I finally took some pictures with the chicken tractor to full capacity. I built it for 6 chicken comfortably but now I am wondering if it is a bit cramped. In a week or so I plan on letting them out during the day to see how it all works out. I had to modify the bottom to be fitted with a door for access to the bottom for the lazy chickens that dont wanna wait for the corner nest to open up. Like there isn't 2 other nest right beside it. Oh well they are just chickens.

(Here are the girls all up to mischeif)

(This is a shot of the door I added for easy access)

(He is the money shot of the corner nest complete with egg)

Chicken Tractor

What is a chicken tractor you might say. Well, a chicken tractor is a portable chicken coop so as they scratch and mess in one area you can move it to another area. These devices usually have handles an wheels to facilitate the moving of these portable pens. We were showing rabbits for 4-H and told some people that we were interested in chickens so they asked how many. We said, "Oh....about six." They said we needed about a dozen. I didn't want to feed the neighborhood with eggs just enough for ourselves and a few for the neighbors so we ended up with 8 chickens. I also failed to mention that we have already had 1 egg. Yeah baby and thats when the big bucks start rollin in.

Here are there fancy digs that though the help of the world wide webs helped me come up with a plan. I hope you like and I hope the chickens don't mind them either.

This is my chicken tractor.

Here is the back hatch to collect the eggs.

Here is the inside. It has 3 bins for the hens to lay there eggs to the left. There is a vent on each side for cross ventilation and a hatch to go below into the bottom where they can eat grass and bugs and enjoy the sun and air. There is also a 5 foot roost up top that is not shown in this picture.

If you are interested in seeing other chicken tractors click here.

So Far So Good

No more fishes have died and all is well in the pond.

Yesterday Yuri was puking but today seems to be on the mend.

Brando and I purchased a Wii and Wii Fit and have been Wii Wiing it up at the house. I think I will need a day or two for my shoulder and back to recover from Boxing, Golf and Bowling. It is alot of fun but easily overdone.

Yuri sold his rabbit at the 4-H fair. You would not believe what rabbits are going for at this day and age but if I could I would have a rabbit farm. He also did very well at the Horse Show including a first place trophy for his first show. We are really proud of our little Yuri.

Turnaround at work is over until spring of next year which will be the worst one of all, from what everyone is saying. Normal Turnarounds last 3 to 5 weeks this one is scheduled for 8 weeks.

Getting my car worked on to help save gas but I have a feeling that it will cost a mint to get the shitbox out of the shop. I have my fingers crossed.

Cant wait for the Cache Slash Event and even more amped about Halloween. Wish I could get moving on my projects for this year. Maybe this weekend I will get off my but.

Dead Fishes

Well the final count for dead fish is 13. Ooooooooooo what a scarey number. Most of the fish that died were the smaller ones and only a couple of mid size but it looks like all of the bigger fish made it though. I was starting to wonder because one of the bigger koi quit eating for a couple of days and started breaching out of the water on occation which is unusual. He calmed back down and started eating and acting normal. The water pump has been running ever since I installed it to help get the O2 level back up. All seems well now in the pond.

I mowed the yard a couple of days ago and while doing so mulched up the 13 dried fish bodies that laid in the yard. They were all dried and pale. I picked one up and it was as light as a feather and the texture of paper. He chipped up nicely into dust. Probably with the kill I wound up losing about 50 or so dollars in fish.

We have been working on 4H projects for this week and the kids and wife have been at a dead run for the past few weeks. First it was bible school, then swim lessons, then 4H. The kids havent had much of a break since school and nether has Brando.

We had some drama down the road and found out that someone came home and found someone sleeping in there bed.........with there spouse. Maybe they were tired. I get tired through the day but I think I would think twice before napping when the hired help is around just incase they get tired and decide to take a nap too. That would be hard to explain. I mean who would sleep on the job anyway. (I am really not that clueless but like to act like I am.)

Hope everyone has a nice weekend. I will be spending it at work.

Well CRAP!!!

Brando is outta town and everything is going to hell in a handbasket. It started yesterday when the pump in my pond quit working. This is the major filter/aireator pump for the pond. I tried to fix it but to no avail so sometime before 6 pm Monday my pump stoped. I got up Tuesday morning and yanked the pump to take to work and get replaced but it would have to wait till after work. I get the pump replaced a race home to put it in and when I did I noticed the pond was really warm and have a smell to it. While installing the pump I seen the first dead fish. I scooped it up and tossed him in the yard. With the pump running I thought well maybe stressed and heat and all. What I had forgot about was that I had added a chemical to the pond the day before the pump went down and when you add this chemical to the water it kills algea but in doing so you need to keep up the aireation and good circulation to keep the oxygen level up in the pond. Also the warm water does not hold oxygen very well. So with the pump down for longer than 24 hours and the chemical that totally kicked the O2 in the ass my total kill count this morning so far is 6 dead fish. I hope when I get home this evening the numbers dont increase. When seeing the dead fish this morning I quickly turned on the pump that normally only runs 12 hours a day to help get oxygen back in the pond and did a quick dip test to see what the water was doing. The only thing it showed was the the Nitrites where high indicating and elevated stress level for the fish. I hope all is well when I get home. The pump is a 3600 gal an hour pump in a 2k gal pond so it should get the water circulated and O2 plenty in a hurry but with the pump shutting down at midnight last night and the kill of the algea really hurt the fish. I should have known better. I have a spare pump but didnt think I would need it. I guess you cant fix stupid.

BIG THANKS

This is a big

THANK YOU

to all who wished me a happy birthday.

Love you all.

Officially OLD

Yesterday I finally turned old. Yep I have one foot in the grave and the other in an old folks home. I bet those wrinkly women are HOTTT. Eeew!

The only difference is maybe that I wake up with more aches and pains than I remember when I was younger but my mind is slipping so I cant even rely on my memories.

I also notice that I have trouble staying on subject when I am blogging so I tend to ramble a bit I hate my work.

I also tend to repeat my self more often than I used to. I also repeat myself more from time to time and also did I mention that I repeat myself?

I am also experiencing trouble getting it up......on outta bed. Yeah if given a chance I would sleep forever and never get up. Sometimes my beloved Brando has to put her foot in my back and give me a shove.

I would type more but I don't have the energy and I forgot what I was gonna type anyway.....OH by the way did I mention that I like to repeat myself?

Flip this Pin

Well, I thought since I have been a posting fool here lately, I would make a post, count them, TWO months in a row. WOW!

We made it back from Gods Country on Monday and surveyed the damage done by the wind. It is really strange. If so much as a duck farts in our direction the patio furniture will flip and move and the grill will get shoved off the patio. However, these are untouched but Waylon's dog pin was picked up and lifted over a 5 foot fence and placed on its roof about 25 to 30 feet in the field. Most of all the dog is perfectly fine. Mind you this is a 10 X 10 chain link pin with about a 3 hundred pound wood frame and metal panel roof attached to it. Nothing else was touched. It was weird. We got the pin put back but the roof is where the wind left it. Hopefully we will get a bunch of us together and get it put back on.

Being the religion the I am I know the God tests us in many ways to keep our faith in check as well as others that like to toy with us but so far here is a our grade card for the semester.

Earthquakes A
Flood A
Power Outages A
Water Outage A
Dog Pin Flip A-

We have also received information that one of Brando's relatives has some serious health issues. Please keep this person in your thoughts a prayers. I know we will.

Nice visit with the folks.

My folks was up this last week and we tried to spend as much time as possible with them. But, with the warm weather of spring, all the cookouts, birthday partys and ect came outta the woodwork and took some of our time away. I always miss my mommy and daddy when they go.

I was on vacation last week and my honey put me on a honey do list. I had a bunch of stuff I planned on getting done but didnt have the energy to do much of it. Here is a list of things I wanted to do with a asteroid beside what I got done.

1. Clean wash camper for camping
2. Change oil in car
3. Change oil in van *
4. Change oil in truck
5. Vacuum out pond
6. Finish mulching landscaping
7. Wash Brandos Van*
8. Clean garage

These are things that got added from Brando that got completed.

1. Hard wood floor the hallway
2. Rip up carpeting and tack track from hallway and dining room
3. Hardwood floor the kitchen

These are the things she wanted to do but didn't get done.

1. Hardwood floor the dining room

She wants to try to get the dining room done this weekend if the supplies come it. I am not sure if I am looking forward to battling the easy to snap in floor planks. The little 3 inch sections at the store are easy to snap in but the 20 foot section you have to put together and fight in all at once is a bear. Dont believe the hype with these easy to install floors.