Home, Halloween and Family w/ NaNoWriMo around the corner

Well let's see:
1- Karen's home for a long weekend.
2- We're getting ready for Halloween and Conner's spending the night.
3- Cul-de-sac halloween picnic.
4- Last day at wild animal park.
5- National Novel Writers month starts on 1 Nov.

short and sweet- too busy for more!

Happy Halloween!

The Cursed Hard Drive Crash of October 14, 2005

Awful. Totally heart breaking. That's what it was like when I got the message that I should put my boot disk in my computer. "Hmmm," says I, "I thought the boot disk was my hard drive?" I tried to start it up several more times, to no avail. It was then that I had this ominous, sinking, gut wrenching, feeling that something bad had happened. Something very bad.

Thoughts ran through my head... When did I back this thing up last? Are all my pix and docs now toast? Who can help me?

I trucked the whole CPU and case into the CompUSA store and surrendered my charge card number to the technician to be pre-charged for an hour of his labor and left. The phone call came two days later, "sorry pal you're screwed. Your Hard drive arm is broken and we can't save the data. Unless you want to pay $200 an hour to someone to rebuild your wrecked hard drive to T-R-Y and salvage your data." Sounds pretty expensive. Hmmmm- I'm not independently wealthy and hey, I backed it up ...when?

I told him to put in a new HD and call it a day. I got it back and am loading my programs back on right now. I'll also put back the data that I had backed up. I'll also keep the old hard drive. Who knows... maybe I can get it done for cheap in the future and bring all the old stuff back to life !

LESSON LEARNED: Even though you think you're backing your data up often...it's never too often (or often enough).

Happy Birthday Karen

Happy birthday honey, wish you were here.

It was a long 3 hour drive from the stumps back to civilization for a meeting tomorrow. Whewww. I can't wait until I don't have to make that drive!

Happy Columbus Day and Halloween Double-Top Secret Plans

I'm enjoying Columbus Day off. It's sunny and warm. I cleaned up the yard, edged, trimmed and cut the grass. The Lions won a game yesterday...yes it was a good day. We are getting ready to watch the Chargers host the Steelers on MNF. Go Bolts!

If you have been following hockey...the Red Wings are 3-0, playing like they will win the Stanley Cup this year. Hope so, for many of them, Yzerman, Shannahan and Chelios it might be thier last time.

We are gathering our supplies and getting ready for the spookiest Halloween ever. I think we might even hit very scarey this year. Since this is so top secert that we even keep the garage closed I could never reveal it here on the internet. But rest assured We'll get plaenty of Pix and post some of them in this blog. Is anyone else out there doing something fun and scarey for Halloween? Click on this link if you need some on line haunting your house resources for supplies and ideas.

try here http://www.scaryguys.com/

here http://hauntedhouse.com/search/Marketplace_,045_Shopping/Props/

or here http://www.horrorseek.com/halloween/juggernaut/projects.html

Happy haunting and to muy Italian freinds Happy Columbus Day

Nanowrimo

Whatizit?

National Novel Writers month is November 2005. click on the title or here:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I'll be working all month on my novel. Feel free to check in here over in November and see how I am doing! I'll try to keep you posted.

If you've got a creative bug and have the stomach (and persistence) to pound out a novel in 30 days, why not check out that website? I've never done anything like this before...until now. Wish me luck!

Another Day in Paradise...

You ever realize just how nice it is in San Diego? Here are ten reasons... today... that I love living here.

1- Sleep with the windows open in October.
2- N.L. Western Division Champs in Baseball.
3- Sunday football starts at 10:00 a.m.
4- Rain...what rain?
5- S-U-N-S-H-I-N-E.
6- Going out for coffee in the morning, taking a nice walk and it's quiet out.
7- Pretty mountains and hills.
8- Ocean only a short drive away.
9- A drive into the mountains.
10- 75 degrees- year round.

Climb to the Top

I made it to the top of Iron Mountain in Poway and even gave Karen a call when I got there. It was 6.5 miles to the summit and back. I could have reached out and touched a black hawk near the top he was sooooo close!

That's me up there... right below the X ! I wish I would have taken my camera (the view was fahntastic- according to Gov Ahnold) and some water too. I drank down nearly a half gallon of water when I got back home!

I didn't listen to the game- but heard the Padres got whupped 8-5. It's only game one! Hopefully they can come back and make a series of it. The Red Wings are getting ready to start the hockey season and the Lions/Chargers are giving me the Yin-Yang of football this year.

Who out there thinks President Bush's choice of Harriet Miers is a good one? Heck, let's just pick the sleazy lawyer, Lionel Hutz, from the Simpson's if you want someone with NO FRIGGING experience! Or maybe someone has a cousin or good old boy bubba they can recommend for the job. Did you talk to anyone (with a brain) and get some recommendations for this appointment or what ??? Come on W, put some thought into it!

Miramar air show is coming up soon. Who wants to go? Looks like the family does. Speaking of family- I just finished the "Godfather Returns..." and it was good. Remember keep your friends close- but your enemies closer!

Well it's back to the salt mines of 29 palms tonight. See y'all when I get home.

Tigers Fire Trammell as Manager

Turn out the lights- your misery is over. His time as manager of baseball's worst franchise over the last 12 years is finished. Alan Trammell, star SS for the 1984 World Champion Tigers got the broom yesterday as General Manager Dave Dombrowski took 3 seasons of bad, losing baseball out on his manager. Trammell, a San Diego native, couldn't be a tough enough disciplinarian to improve a terrible Tiger team, that has not had a winning season since 1993.

His first year they lost an American League record 119 times. His lineup in 2003 was littered with has-beens and never-wases. He could be given a pass for that sad season. But the last two years the owner and GM opened the coffers and brought in some quality players. (Rondell White, Mags Ordonez, Placido Polacio, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Jason Johnson and Troy Percival).

But he failed on two big promises and lost control of his clubhouse. These failures got him fired.

Fundamentals and Enthusiasm were what he promised. Show me where either improved.

1. He took the job stressing fundamentals. Game after game his Tigers lollygagged the ball around, committing the same basic baseball mistakes as they did when Trammell signed on. Trammell never benched a guy for a bonehead game, never called him out for his mistakes, never held him accountable. A pity that his players never got the message about how to play this little boys game right. They kept on with their bumbling ways.

2. He promised that his players would play with the enthusiasm that he, Lou Whitaker and Kirk Gibson took out on the field. He could motivate them to play inspired baseball was the claim. Sadly not one listened- they were the same yawning Tigers. It was most noticeable during a critical August road trip that would seperate the contenders from the pretenders: his Tigers lost every game and fell out of the wild-card race for keeps. I think this was the moment Dombrowski decided to fire him.

When he really needed their best efforts to save his job at the end of 2005- they played flat and fundamental-less baseball and lost the last 5 games in a row.

So Tiger baseball embarks on a new era...another new era. It'll be the same story... again... but with a different manager. I think they have caught the Detroit Lions syndrome. Play good enough to fill the seats- but don't win too much or people will start expecting it. Where have you gone Sparky Anderson?

Best of luck Alan Trammell- you are a fine man and a hero to all who remember the 1984 season. But until you get a lot tougher you'll never manage in "the show" again.

Chargers Wup Up on Defending Champs 41-17

Another fine Sunday afternoon.

1- Chargers win again for the second week
in a row.
2- Fine Church service.
3- Nice lunch at China Fun.
4- Fine dinner Chicken Taqco salad.

Opps...something happened on the road to the Rose Bowl...

Losing in overtime to the Wolverines. Well let's face it... this game is a battleground and it came down to field goals. I though Hart might be back for this game and boy did he make a difference. Sparty needs to regroup and play hard the rest of the season.

Hope to see the Irish play well and beat Purdue today. I can only root against Notre Dame for one game a year.

At least it has cooled off today. The last several days were scorchers. Just ordered some books:

Universal Baseball Association
Get a Life
No Plot- No Problem
Life's Great Lessons
Another Shot

...and I am currently finishing up The God Father Returns (about halfway thru).It fills in the gaps between the Godfather Movies 1, 2, and 3. All I can say is Fredo...you sick man!

Other books that will be getting at least a quick read this Fall:

You and your Network
Getting Things Done
The Portable Coach
The Plot Thickens
Writing the Novel
The First Five Pages
Natural Cures
High Intensity Workout
Make Yourself a Millionaire