Top 13 things 'to do'

Well I guess I'd better write it all down:

1. Steam wallpaper off bathroom walls.
2. See Doctor about past healthcare issues.
3. Call pals about job leads.
4. Get a DEA number
5. Join a local society.
6. get a 10 year term life policy.
7. Re-energize the stalled Flipbook project.
8. Smog check the family van.
9. Dust off the winemaking stuff.
10. Clean up the front yard and replant.
11. Grocery shopping.
12. Vacuum the house.
13. Catch up on correspondence.

All Digital

1. We made the move and got digital phone to go with cable TV and Roadrunner cable Internet. The install guy arrived today and hooked up the digital to phone connection that gives all our phones glorious digital sound. Now we can call anyone in the U.S. of A. and talk for hours- for free.

2. As a downside to the digital hookup. We had to move some boxes around in the garage and two boxes of old books were found to be soaked from the outside sprinkler. It seems that the sprinkler nozzle was somehow misdirected and was aiming directly into the garage vent hole. Right on the books. Several were saved- but many were already mold infested and tossed quickly into the trash.

3. I made my award winning Chicken Vegetable soup today. Here's the recipe: One chicken breast (grilled then chopped), 4 cans chicken broth, 4 carrots, 2 stalks celery, 6 green onions, 1 yellow crook neck squash, 1/2 cup halved mushrooms, 6 stalks (w/ leaves) bok-choy, 1 cuop instant rice. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 45 minutes. And that's my secret!

4. It's youth group day!

5. I averted a serious i-pod problem when it locked up as I was synching it with the computer. Help was on the way... I called Erin and she told me how to reset it.


Bonus: I listened to the President's State of the Union Address last night. Let me start out by saying that I support W. and voted for him both times. Two things I noticed: Nancy Pelosi is going to be a fine speaker of the house. She was composed, polite and articulate. The second thing is that the Prez is going to be in for a long two years. He isn't backing down an inch and although he said he wants to work with Congress across party lines, I think it means he wants them to come over to his side of the aisle. I like many of the President's ideas (energy, immigration and even Iraq) but what the hell was he saying about healthcare and health insurance? I mean his ideas was almost as complicated as Hillary's were when she bungled universal health care as first lady. I guess I don't understand... let's just make it mandatory that everyone has it and pay for it by taxing the tobacco, liquor and beer companies! After all- most of the reasons you need to see a doctor center around using one of the products of these three industries.

Victorious!

All four of those rascals have been dug up and their roots exposed to the light of day! It took about 30 minutes of digging yesterday and 45 minutes today to complete this awful task- including the 'mother-of-all-sawgrass' that is pictured here with me (BTW-this is just 1/2 of the Queen's root ball). In the now 'infamous' words of our President in 2003- Mission Accomplished.

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As an oh-by-the-way.... three of the obnoxious pooches from next door actually ran away from home last night... no fooling! They took off down the street and never returned to their owner. That only leaves 5-6 at home. Thankfully it seems the loudest and most obnoxious barker was one of the escaped prisoners.

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Check out the fine refurbishing of our house light- completed by yours truly. Once a rusting and spray paint splattered eyesore, it now looks better than new. All for the cost of a $5 can of copper paint. The light out back got the same royal treatment.

Clump Warrior

In this corner weighing at an even 200 lbs... me... the gardener. In the opposite corner weighing in at 75lbs... four nasty sawgrass clumps! I have been battling getting rids of this plant for over a year. I tried killing it with poison, gasoline, chopping it down and pulling it out... Everything except digging it out roots and all. Nothing Worked. It's one tough plant. So I made up my mind to beat this plant at it's own game. Veni, Vedi Veci... I came, I saw, I conquered. I wil win this fight!

1- Yesterday I chopped this lovely looking plant- down to the roots. Even with long sleeves and gloves, this nasty little devil still managed to scrap my arms and find it's way up my pant legs.

2- Today I dug out two of the four clumps. They were anchored by thick roots and were about twenty pounds each plant. After a half hour battle- they sucumbed to me.. the victor.

3-It tuckered me out. That and the yapping little darling dogs next door. Let me go off on a tangent here. Our Neighbors must be directly related to Noah. I think they are stocking animals for the ark over there. They have seven cats, hundreds of fish and if that wasn't enough- they added one dog.. then two... then three and now its a pack of seven small, yapping little barkers. They are pretty destructive too. When left to their own devices they have found plenty of mischief to get into on their own. They've ripped up all their cushions, stuffed animals, worn out their grass to the bare dirt, knocked down the gate and essentially destroyed their entire back yard. I can't wait unti lthe summer when I'm out back and get to enjoy thier non-stop baring...Next.

4- Tomorrow I'll conquer the last two clumps. I'm saving the big nasty, mother-of-all-sawgrass until last. This one spawned all the others.

5- Actually our animal loving neighbors have some of these nasty plants in their yard and were nice enough to share them with us. I mistakenly thought it was an iris that was planted in that area. But like in Jack and the Beanstalk, I woke up one morning and there it was bigger than life.

I Will Prevail!

Today it Sucks to Live in Chargerland

Well it looks like Marty found another way to lose a playoff game. Here's five reasons the Chargers get to watch the Super Bowl on TV:



1- You give the ball to the league MVP (L.T.) just 9 times in the last 30 minutes of football.

2- You head butt a player (Drayton 'aka dumb-ass' Florence) to get a 15 yard penalty and give NE a first down to keep the drive alive.

3- You drop several interceptable passes (Hart) from Tom Brady.

4- You intercept a fourth down pass (Marlon McCree) instead of batting it to the ground and then compound your mistake coughing it up with a fumble to give NE another first down.

5- You challenge the call on McCree's fumble (Marty) and lose a timeout. (that timeout would have come in handy during that last drive).


Ultimate reason the Chargers are staying home... Poor Coaching. Marty you're a knucklehead. You were counting on your kicker to kick the longest field goal of his career to allow you to T-I-E a game you pissed away and should have won.

I see some handwriting on the wall at Quallcom stadium ... 'Marty ... you're fired' !!!

Get Ready for the Big Time...

My Five things...





1- Patriots come to town to play the Chargers. Rivers and Co. better be ready for Belichick's boys. Go Bolts.









2- Gary and I are fighting the California Crud. Lots of liquids, rest, sudaphed and TheraFlu.

3. Karen has been enjoying her stay in America's Finest City.
4. I'm making progress on 'The Clone Book'. Using Papel and ity's working out just fine.
5. I'm hoping to clear my head and start feeling better after a good nights sleep.

It's been a few...

...days since I've blogged. It's been nice having the family together over the holidays. We took Erin back to UCLA and got a tour of the campus. It's a very nice place in the heart of a very big city!



If I were the king of the world...







1- I'd get rid of those scratchy tags on the backs of shirts. Does it bother anyone else but me? Ouch!

2- I would make it mandatory that every America do three things: i-Speak English, ii-understand and follow baseball-- America's past time. iii- learn to use turn signals.

3- I would completely outlaw tobacco smoking... addiction or not. What a nasty, un-un-un- healthy and disgusting habit. Too many 'other' people have to pay for these idiots. And not only in $$$$ but in emotions for those idiot relatives we all have when they get old, cancer-infested and unable to breath without supplemental oxygen. It not only kills them but extracts a huge emotional toll on everyone they know. Seeing someone you know kill themselves one puff at a time and then watching them die from cancer is sickening. Also I'm tired of breathing in their polluted exhaust as second hand smoke! Who's with me?

4- I'd go completely away from fossil fuels. Mandate that in ten years no more gasoline powered cars would be allowed to be driven. Also no more gasoline could be produced. Without cars the oil could be used for heating fuel. Also I'd plant more forests- we need something to suck up and breathe our CO2 and then make oxygen for us to use. (Plants and people--- God's unique partnership for life). Also use the wood to make paper bags and thus eliminate that annoying 'paper or plastic' decision at the stores. What would I do about power? Safe nuclear or solar power...

5- I would require that all new homes have solar panel roof shingles added. Also any new or replacement roofs would be required to be solar. Soon all buildings would be solar energy producers. What a great idea! God gave us the sun for light and heat... let's use it... darn it!

Resolution Time

Yes it is time to put electrons down on the old cathode ray tube and list five things I'll do different in 2007.
1- Lose 20 pounds. That would get me down to 180 and at 6'2" that would be just about right. How will I do it? Cut down a little on calories (eating better and supplementing my nutrition) and add some aerobic exercise... walking, jogging, yoga (for flexibility) and bowflex (for strength).
2- Write a novel. Enough said if you've read any of my November posts. Also I'd like to put together 4 short non-fiction works and sell them on the internet (Amazon, websites, e-bay, etc)
3- Expand my skills in my profession and add another quality day.
4- Complete the Personal Power 2 series by Tony Robbins.
5- Take a family vacation to New Mexico and then visit my parents in Michigan.