We watched most of the opening ceremony last night while visiting. We also caught some of the 'parade of nations', when we got home, until both of us were falling asleep in our chairs. It certainly was an amazing spectacular, no matter what you might think of the Chinese government or its policies. It is apparent that whomever hosts the next Olympics will not be able to match it in size or scope, even if they go all out using technology.

Found it interesting that Matt Lauer actually spoke on several controversies and political issues as the various countries were announced. As usual, Bob Costas was on hand with lots of information on the various Olympic athletes, both past and present. Neither spent too much time talking over the actual ceremony just to hear themselves talk. The absence of Katie Couric was noted and greatly appreciated by me, at least. Overall it was a good job, although I suppose you could argue with some of the camera shots and angles which didn't aid the viewer.

Of course, I can't let the subject drop without saying a few words about His Smugness and the Mrs. Did he seem especially bored by the event? It appeared as if he was fiddling with his binoculars and twitching his leg quite a bit. As for her, she had the same smile and bored expression in every single shot. It really did seem that neither wanted to even be there, but when you are in debt to somebody you need to pay your respects.

Finally, I'm saddened to hear of the problems in the marriage of John Edwards. It doesn't effect, in my mind, the positions he has taken or the ideas he expressed on the issues in the Presidential campaign. I believe I still would have voted for him, had his name been on the ballot and the scandal erupted earlier. I'm really sorry that the Obama campaign will now have to spend time and effort putting distance between the candidate and his former opponent.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and whatever Olympic event you care to watch.

It's hard to believe that our cruise is less then three weeks from today. We haven't even started to get our stuff together, which for Donna is unusual, since she is usually way ahead. Probably come down to pressing our formal wear and making sure we have enough clean casual stuff for the eight days. Big debate about whether or not to pack more then one swimsuit, as we aren't sure if one of the pools is covered or not and you can't predict the weather up in Alaska.


We thought about taking the laptop along, but decided against it. To likely to either get lost, stolen or just sit in the stateroom unused. We are going to get one of the Internet plans that the cruiselines offer, where you pay for a certain amount of online time ahead, with additional cost if you go over. Never hurts to keep in touch, plus I might try to blog just for the novelty of doing so while on vacation.

Since our other camera was taken out by a Jedi in San Diego, we bought a new one (and a tad better while we were at it) this past weekend. We'll be playing with it to make sure we know what we are doing.

Nothing to add to what I said yesterday about the quake, except that the U.S. Geological Survey now lists it as a 5.4 rather than a 5.8. Trust me, I don't think the .4 makes a hell of a lot of difference when you are in the middle of the damn thing!!

Very little damage and only a few minor injuries were reported. The news shows and sites here on the 'net are filled with video of folks looking around or running for dear life. Do I care that Judge Judy all but stained her gown running for her life or that the male & female bimbos in the Big Brother house got scared? Amusing video in both cases, but hardly news worthy.

The only thing that happened in our apartment was that a card we had on top of the television fell over. Not nearly the mess I feared would confront us when we got home.

We heard from Dan yesterday, who was visiting Disney's California Adventure park. He said they made folks leave the park while they checked the rides and attractions for damage. He had joked over the weekend about wanting to experience a quake, but said he wasn't really serious and was pretty unnerved by the whole thing.

One quick thing on the political front and I know I'm repeating myself. How can the Presidential race still be this close according to polls? Is anybody paying attention to the silly, old man?

The answer is yes! At least from what I gathered over the weekend speaking to a couple of people whom I like and respect. Obama is not to be completely trusted and he is an elitist. Both of these comments from college educated folks with good paying jobs. We better hope that there will be a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, since we might be seeing a President McCain come next January if this keeps up.

Holy crap! We sure felt that one out here.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey there was a 5.8 quake, followed by a 3.4 aftershock. It was about 7 mi. east of Los Angeles near Chino.

We evacuated the Library for a few minutes and then allowed folks to come back in. Naturally, being Californians many didn't want to get up from their computers at all. Of course, it was our fault (pardon the expression) that they lost some time. *sigh*

Except for some books falling from the shelves we have suffered no damage here at the Library.

I couldn't get through to Donna on her cell, but she called me from her office phone and we compared notes. This may explain why neither of us saw Babie almost all morning. A co-worker said her cat had been acting 'hinkey' all day.

I'll let you know more if anything happens.

Lots of strange stuff went on this past weekend in San Diego and I don't know where to start.

I got through the event with the only damage being a twisted ankle and a broken shutter on my digital camera.

The first from trying to climb out of a taxi Friday night with several bags of action figures and a backpack. I was exhausted to begin with and I think it just my lack of coordination that did the trick.

The second thing I owe to a light saber swing from some Jedi. You'd expect that sort of thing from the Seth, but not from Obi Wannabe! Fortunately, the camera still works but I have to be careful not to touch the lens. Donna sees it as an excuse to get a better camera and I have to admit she took the news of the accident better than I feared.

Bottom line is that Dan and I had a good time, both of us getting a lot of stuff. Seeing what Dan picked up made Donna appreciate the fact that I collect comics and very few action figures. It's costing him a couple of hundred dollars to ship his goodies back home to New Jersey. Add to that the several hundred he spent to get the figures and the others he has pre-ordered at the con. (Personally, I would never buy five of the He-Man figures in order to get the one limited edition King Grayskull! Just speaking for myself, of course.)

I'll be talking more about this over at Shot's Shack the next few days and hope to be able to download the far too few photos I took. With the shutter jammed I could only use the camera on Friday.

Between now and Election Day I'm going to be saying this a lot, so bear with me.

How in the Hell can anybody be taking John McCain seriously as a Presidential candidate? Can the polls that show him within a few points of or actually leading Obama among voters actually reflect reality?

I know that Obama is a scary, black guy with a funny name, but even so he certainly should be more acceptable then a senile, old man whose chief claim to fame is something that happened four decades ago. I won't belittle what he went through, but that and getting folks to forget that he was one of the Keating Five (thanks for getting the American tax payer to bail out the S&Ls John!) should not qualify him to sit in the Oval Office, except for coffee.

Adding either the Anti-Christ or The Exorcist as VP, can only add to the guys scary factor, but apparently there are lots of white folks who are okay with that.

My Morning Jacket - Librarian

Librarian is the name of the album by this group. :-)

Grampa Abe McCain

Vote for me! I'm old and uuumm...can I have my oatmeal now?

Does it even pay at this point to mention the lies and misinformation His Smugness put out this morning? Apparently, he has been planning for this all along and he warned us about the price of oil rising and the like. No surprise to him. Also, it's the fault of Congress (especially those who call themselves Democraticals) that everything isn't working out. Bastards!!

It's all good and we can trust him to have it all fixed before he leaves office. The best thing would be to skip the elections and just hand everything over to John McCain. Why go through the hassle of all that voter fraud, intimidation and another move by the Supreme Court?

Stop whining!!

So can we safely say that the President is a blowhole? Is that still within my First Amendment rights?

Looks like the economy is about to totally go down the toilet and the American taxpayer about to bail out banks and lending institutions that are 'too big to fail' (whatever that is supposed to mean). So naturally, His Smugness has decided to help out his oil buddies and future employers by ending the ban on off-short drilling. Hell, why not? The lame ass seat warmers in Congress, going by the name Democrat, haven't stopped the SOB from doing anything else he wants, so why start at this point?

Yeah, I have a headache and don't feel all that well, why do you ask?

For some reason I was unable to sign into Blogger Thursday, but I wanted to let you folks know how things turned out.

Donna is home and getting used to her medication. Unfortunately, one of the side-effects is possible dizzy spells, which was also one of the symptoms of her heart ailment. Thanks to the major pharmaceutical companies for doing such a great job!

There are no major problems, but there appears to be a portion of her heart which is not receiving enough blood. This is in the tip of the heart (if you glance at an illustration) and her doctors feel that it is not serious enough at this time to operate or do anything invasive.

They want her to have a 'sleeping test' to monitor her outside the hospital. They believe she may have sleep apnea, but neither of us have seen any indication of that. As someone who was thought to have had that myself I think I'd have noticed after all this time.

She will be going back to work on Monday and we'll be keeping an eye on her, as you can imagine. It was wonderful to receive the phone calls and e-mails asking about her. We gratefully appreciate it.

Okay, here it is down to the basics.

Donna had not been feeling well and had an appointment to see a cardiologist today. Monday she was tired and her feet were swelling, but we chalked it up to the cruise. Tuesday morning both feet were badly swollen, she had shortness of breath and it appeared that her lips were bluish. She got an immediate appointment with the doctor (one of the perks of working in the medical field where so many doctors know each other) and was told that she had to be admitted to the hospital.

She spent yesterday undergoing different tests on blood, a CAT scan and with various monitors attached. This morning she will be having a 'stress test' and hopefully will be released by this afternoon.

There does seem to be some irregularities with her heart and the diabetes, plus her other meds are making things diagnosis difficult. Sadly she had a bad night, but I guess we expected that given her being wired and unable to shift much in bed.

I'm concerned, but trying not to panic. I love her very much and hoping that everything will work out.

I'll let you know as things progress.

Oh, man! I am so beat....

Donna and I have been up since around 5:15 this morning, since we decided to do the self-check out option. Had to be all packed and ready to leave the ship by 6:30am. Maybe sitting in the casino, gambling and having drinks wasn't the best idea for Sunday night. :-)

While the cruise was fun overall, we've agreed that we won't be doing a July 4th one again. Seems that a third of the passengers were twelve and under, with little parental supervision. Place felt like a Disney cruise sometimes!

The next thing on the agenda (not counting some doctor appointments) is the San Diego ComicCon at the end of the month! I think Donna will be happy to have the place to herself for a few days.

Donna and I are heading out for a weekend cruise on the Carnival Paradise, so I won't be lurking or posting until next Monday (7/7).

Folks might remember that we took the same ship on the same 3-day package last November with Donna's BFF, Fran. This time out it is just the two of us away for a romantic break from everything. This will get us into practice for the Alaska cruise next month! :-)

Hope that you all have a safe & happy Independence Day weekend. Take a moment to think of the history of this country and the men & women in uniform not able to celebrate with their families.

See you all on Monday!

I had a nice time at the American Library Association annual convention this past Sunday. Ran into a couple folks I know and got all kinds of stuff. I actually had to go out to my car after a couple of hours as my 'goodie' bag was getting heavy, after dropping off all of that I headed back in for another hour or so.

Got to chat with Dave Kellett, who does the SHELDON strip, getting a nice sketch of Arthur in my copy of the 1st SHELDON TPB,"Pure Ducky Goodness". The guys from UNSHELVED seemed busy, so I'll try to catch up with them at San Diego later this month.

Lots of publishers were promoting manga (Viz, TokyoPop, among them) and there were a couple of anime distributors showing off their catalogs. I must have about thirty catalogs from different publishers and I plan to go through them, as well as actually reading some of the manga, comics and prose novels I was handed. I have at least two DVDs and some audio CD samplers that I grabbed.

The biggest prize was totally unexpected and I don't really know if I should mention it, since I don't believe that it was supposed to be a give-away. I'll just say that it sometimes pays to act the total fanboy, which I have down pretty well after all these years. I'll only mention that it includes a PVC figure of one of my favorite comic characters and a reprint of one of his mini-series.

Somewhere on the 'net there are supposed to be photos of me with IRON MAN, a couple of pirates and a pic of me holding a copy of the aforementioned SHELDON TPB. They were all seperate incidents, so as not to confuse you. It's possible that I might also show up in other photos of the Anaheim convention, since there were a lot of exhibitors taking video and digital pictures of the show.

The CS6 Numa Numa Project

This is how I spent almost ten years of my life. Things haven't changed.

FTN!!

How could I not post this? I also heard that there may be a Mr. Peabody & Sherman live-action movie in the making. We'll see!

Talking Points Memo had this article today, with a link to the original Washington Post column from Richard Cohen that explains the 'real' reason that John McCain is getting off easy. Now it all makes perfect sense! Recommended read!!

If you do head over to TPM check out the two items regarding Albania. Coincidence?

A Tribute to George Carlin

Nothing says more about the man than he did in his own words.

Always remember!

I was deeply saddened to learn earlier today of the passing of George Carlin. The man was brilliant and except for his attempts at a sitcom or two, he seemed to succeed at just about everything he did. Writer, actor, comedian.

Like most guys my age, I listened to Carlin's albums over and over until I could do entire bits by memory. Along with those of The Firesign Theatre and Cheech & Chong, the Carlin albums helped to form my adult sense of humor, as the Stooges did that of my youth.

Wherever or whenever you are, Mr. Carlin, I hope you have room for your stuff!

When I get a chance, either here or over at Shot's Shack I'll probably post some video clip in memoriam.

This should come as no surprise, but here's the article from the New York Times discussing the oil deal being wrapped up in Iraq.

I can't even joke about this and the fact that it is one those great "no bid" contracts makes it even more obvious that this has been one of the goals all along.

Have you no shame, America? Was it worth the over 4,000 U.S. troops that lost their lives? Will cheaper oil make us safer and cheer the families of the dead?

I suppose it should not have been a surprise, but I was disappointed to learn that the New York Mets have fired Willie Randolph as their manager.

There were calls from fans and the NY sports press to let Willie go at the end of last season and the bad early showing of the team increased those calls. Still it seems odd that the Mets ownership would do this after the team won the last two games.

I'm sure this won't be the last we'll see of Mr. Randolph and I would like to see him bounce back, perhaps leading a NL team next season to victory over his former employers.

I also don't expect to see any manager picking up the pieces at this point and do a much better job. We'll see.

While I'm on the topic of baseball. Go Red Sox!!! If they could only play as well on the road as at Fenway there would be no stopping them.

I hope you all enjoyed your Sunday, whether you celebrated Father's Day or not. We relaxed and did some domestic stuff, then ended the day tossing some burgers on the grill. We had spent a couple of hours down at the pool on Saturday evening, but were more in the mood for air conditioning and our recliners last night.

My sympathy goes out to any of you in the mid-west who are having problems with flooding and the weather in general. I see that the mid-Atlantic is going to be hit today or tomorrow and I'm certainly glad to be missing out on that. I'm sure those of you in Iowa and other effected areas are all looking forward to G.W. flying out to tell you how he and Homeland Security are going to help out, now that he is returning from his latest overseas waste of time. Seeing video of the flooded homes and businesses immediately makes one remember New Orleans, but have our fingers crossed that things might go a bit better for you this time around.

I had to pay $4.53 the other day at the pump and I'm afraid to see what it might be Wednesday when I have to refill. Donna and I were laughing at some guy complaining about paying $4.10 somewhere, wishing we were only paying that much! We're already seeing some supermarkets raising the prices on some items, especially California tomatoes which have been declared safe.

As you can see, nothing of note to pass along, but did want to let you know I'm thinking of you!

John McCain: No, You Can't

I enjoyed this.

I was surprised and saddened to hear the news yesterday of Tim Russert's passing. I had my problems with him at times, but you certainly couldn't argue that Meet The Press was one of those shows that news junkies had to follow. Also, if you watched NBC, MSNBC or even local NBC affiliates you saw Russert discussing the current political stories.

As many of his friends and colleagues said it will be strange not to have around during the rest of the election cycle. They guy sure loved politics.

My condolences to his family, friends and the viewers who enjoyed his broadcasts.

On a personal note, I was surprised to discover that Russert and I were the same age. It was especially strange that I heard the news as I was coming from a visit to my own doctor's office where she scheduled me for tests of my heart. My mother and both paternal grandparents suffered from heart problems and with that kind of history I probably shouldn't take chances.

Not shocking, but still an interesting article in USA TODAY on folks in higher income brackets not paying their fair share. Right! Big surprise, huh?

Since getting told that removing our troops isn't important to John McCain, I guess he'll be focusing on his economic policy plans. A leader for change, for sure!

It's time to write your Congress person to get behind Dennis Kucinich on the articles of impeachment.

I don't expect anything to come of this, given the cowardice of the Democratic leadership in both Houses. However, I think an e-mail or phone call to your representative might let them know that we are not just a few out of touch Leftists.

So how was your day?

Well, the past weekend was pretty busy.

Saturday we finally got around to putting up the Thomas Kincaid print we bought at auction & had framed. It looks really nice over the loveseat. We also put up a valance over the window to the balconey, something we have talked about since we moved in but put off. Now that we have put the househunting on hold we are doing some rearranging and decorating on the apartment.

We have some more valances to put up in the guest room and I have to decide if I'm going self-frame my Speed Racer poster or have it professionally done. Considering it is signed and the price (don't ask, even at auction!) I might have somebody who knows what they are doing take care of it and not just throw it into something I pick up at Wal-Mart. :-)

Don't think I mentioned it, but our PC monitor went out after barely two years (I do not recommend Acer!), so we went to Circuit City to buy a new one. We got a nice 19" HP flat-screen, which we are happy with so far. Also, Donna got me an early Father's Day present and I returned the favor, for no reason other than we both wanted one, by buying me my first MP3 player. We went with a couple of Sansa products, with FM tuners, since it will be nice to have that as an option. As I learn more about using it I'll let you know what I think. So far, I'm happy with the FM presets, but not sure how I feel about the five 'free' songs that come already installed.

More on all this tech later.

Does it pay to even discuss the events of the past week? I mean the pundits and talking heads have been all over the Clinton/Obama thing since Tuesday night, so I doubt I have anything new or original to say. Not that I’ve let that stop me before. :-)

It bothers me that there are actually websites being set up by supposed Hillary supporters to urge Democrats to vote for John McCain. I know that I’ve said things in the past about not voting for her, but I know that I would NEVER vote for McCain out of spite. The man and his Party represent everything I am against culturally and philosophically. Personally, while some of these people setting up the site might actually be Dems, I think a lot of folks signing up are really Republicans hoping to keep the animosity going through November. They know that only if the Democratic Party splits will McCain win the election.

I also don’t believe the ‘campaign maps’ that the news shows are trotting out. I don’t think that there really is a huge base of support for McCain, even among Republicans. I’m sure there are a great number of people who respect him for what he did and what the media paints him as, but I don’t know that they are all waiting to see him in the White House.
Of course, I was wrong about the last two elections, so….

Bad commute into work this morning, due to a couple of accidents. First one was on Crown Valley Parkway, which turned a five minute turn-off for gas into about fifteen minutes. Then there was an accident which tied up two lanes on the 5 and backed up everything before the 55 turnoff. I'm glad I tend to leave early everyday since I never know what I'm going to encounter.

By the way, I've all but stopped looking at the price at the pump, since it has passed the $4.13 a gallon mark for Regular. It would take longer to search for cheaper gas than to head to the AM/PM where I usually stop off. It generally has the cheaper gas in the area anyway. Heck, a gallon of gas costs more than a pack of cigarettes, which considering the taxes on that stuff here in California is up around $3.80 a pack. Glad that cigarettes aren't among my current vices!

We rearranged the living room yesterday, so that meant the folks from Cox Communication had to come out and switch on the cable. We used their visit as the final incentive to get a DVR for the one set, but haven't started playing around with it yet. According to them we can record two shows simultaneously, although we can't watch a third one at the same time. When we do start recording we would probably move to the bedroom and watch there. Of course, it is pretty rare when there are more than two shows we watch at the same time. We do like the way the 'guide' appears now, since it allows you to watch the current station while scrolling the upcoming shows. The previous version didn't allow that, so we would usually wait for commercials to check on what we wanted to see next.

Yeah, we do have pretty boring lives, don't we?

Back in my youth I had the opportunity to catch a number of concerts. I’ve talked about some of them before, but the death yesterday of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bo Diddley reminded me of the time I saw him perform.

I was stationed in Norfolk, VA at the time and a few of us decided to take in a ‘rock ‘n’ roll revival’ concert on evening. The headliner was Chuck Berry, along with Bo Diddley, ‘Chubby’ Checker and several singing groups from that era, The Dovells (“Bristol Stomp”) & The Shirelles (“Soldier Boy”).

The show was opened by a local 'fifties' group that played covers of several artists, none of them part of the show. They also played back up for some of the artists later. First The Dovells performed, followed by The Shirelles. Both were excellent, but I don't know enough about either group to be able to tell if how many, if any, of the original members of either was on stage that night. There was no mistaking Chubby Checker when he came out and performed about a half dozen songs. Doing the 'twist' for so many years, he was certainly not 'chubby' by any means and he had the crowd up and moving for his entire set.

A couple of hours before the show one of my friends (Don Ludwick, I believe) and I were sitting in front of the hall trying to decide if we wanted to grab a bit to eat. A black guy, in a wide-brimmed black hat and carrying a guitar case comes over to us and asks if we know how he can get inside. I ask him if he is in the show and he smiles, telling us that he is. We tell him that if he goes around the side of the hall that he’ll see the delivery doors and that they would probably let him in there. He thanked us and went off as we had directed.

By now of course, you know where this is going. As he walks away both of us realize that the guitar case he has is rather oddly shaped. It’s square! At the same instant we both say to each other…”That was Bo Diddley!!” Brush with greatness, indeed.

After Chubby Checker, it was time for Bo Diddley to step on stage. If Don and I had any doubt about the identity of the man before we were not disappointed to have been proven right. Not only did Bo Diddley do his own amazing set, but he later sat in on drums backing Chuck Berry. How can you forget something like that?

Rest in Peace, Ellas Otha Bates. Hey, Bo Diddley!

The big news out here has nothing to do with Presidential politics, Iraq or the economy (except in the local sense), the major story in the newspapers, on radio & television has been the fire at Universal Studios this past weekend.

It was pretty spectacular to wake up yesterday, turn on the news and see aerial shots of the New York City street, King Kong building and assorted sets & film stages going up in smoke. For close to twelve hours firefighters were trying to contain the blaze, keeping if from spreading to other studio buildings and up the hillside to private homes. Fortunately, there were only a few injuries, mostly to firefighters and those non-serious. Considering the amount of flammable material and several explosions that took place it could have been much worse.

Early reports seem to indicate that workmen may have accidentally caused the fire while working on the New York set.

Donna and I have talked about doing the tour, but have never gotten around to doing so. We have both been there in the past, she several times with Kristina and others, and I went with Elayne years ago. We both have found memories of the visits and might finally get around to doing another trip once some of the clean up has taken place.

It was great seeing so many of Donna’s family and friends this past weekend. It was also a good reminder of why we don’t miss Brooklyn as much as you might think.

Don’t get me wrong, there are things we do miss (good pizza, bagels and Italian bread & pastries) but more we don’t (alternate side of the street parking tops the list). It was nice to have a Dunkin’ Donuts only a few blocks away, plus amazing Italian restaurants & pizzerias within walking distance. Except for Tuesday the weather was good, especially on Monday when my brother-in-law Doug had a barbecue in the back yard.

The flight out on U.S. Airways wasn’t all that great, as we hit turbulence over the central states and changing planes in Las Vegas was a pain in the butt. Both there and at JFK (where we flew back from via Jet Blue) are under construction, so we had to take shuttles from one terminal to another. Fortunately, we did have enough time in both cases. The planes were packed both ways, and even First Class on U.S. Airways isn’t what you would think it would be. The extra seat space is nice, but you would expect more than the usual snacks and soft drinks for the price wouldn’t you?

Unless a family emergency, wedding or the like arises I can’t see us flying back in the next couple of years. I do feel guilty that I wasn’t able to see my sisters & friends in Connecticut, but they have open invitations to come out here at any time. We have talked about trying to sail on a cruise together one of these days, but we’ll have to wait and see. Since I have more vacation time than Donna, I might take a few days next year and just fly solo to Connecticut.

We have had some very, heavy rains and flash flooding today. The worst were in the areas still recovering from the wild fires of last year. Fingers crossed this is over by the time I have to drive home!!

I've added two new links over on The Left that you might want to check out.

Tabloia! is from web artist and fan, Chris Wisnia and lots of very talented folks. Those include Sergio Aragones, Dick Ayers, Jill Thompson, John Severin, Sam Keith and others. If you miss the old WEEKLY WORLD NEWS, love giant monsters and just want to laugh this is a site you might enjoy.

On the other hand, What's The Harm? is a bit more serious, although they do have a sense of humor. Here you will find links to sites which look critically at pseudo-science, 'alternative medicines' and other things which really might not be as 'harmless' as you might think. Hopefully, you do think?

On the political front, there's not much to say about the results of yesterday's primaries. Neither was a surprise to anyone following the polls and talking heads, with both candidates doing pretty much as expected. Although a couple polls had Hillary doing a bit better in Oregon than she ended up doing. With only three primaries left to go I don't think there is any doubt who will be the nominee in early June.

One interesting thing from last night was Tucker Carlson (on Dan Abrams' After Hours show on MSNBC last night) hinting that there were things about Obama that we don't know yet, but will come out in the Fall. Curious if he has some knowledge or is just trying to help Rush with Operation Chaos.

Donna finalized our plane tickets for this Friday, so all that's left to do is pack. We're flying out of John Wayne Airport on a 'red eye' for JFK. It will be nice to see Donna's family and some friends for a few days before heading back here.

It's weird, as I may have said before. It is still sometimes surprising for me to look around and realize that we are actually living in California. Just a few years ago it was something we talked about doing 'one day' but now we are actually here and just going to New York to visit. I'm happy to see the reservations call for a round-trip. :-)

I have a class in Microsoft Office '07 later today, which I'm not thrilled about. I have a feeling it will just confuse me more than I already am, but it's not like I have a choice. All out computers are being updated in the next few weeks, plus we are planning on upgrading the public PCs later this year. I feel ignorant enough about some of the things folks want to do on the computer without the additional headache of learning a new system. Oh, well!

Probably have a few more comments later tonight, since I'm working.

I was saddened to learn of Ted Kennedy's medical problem. It really doesn't look good, but my fingers are crossed and I'm hoping for the best. I don't believe that he is up for election until 2010, but it would not surprise me to find that his doctors and family may push for him to retire perhaps after the November elections.

I had yesterday off so I used a 'free pass' a friend gave me to catch IRON MAN at the local multi-plex. I'll post a quickie review over on SHOT'S SHACK later today.

Donna & I had to renew our Verizon contract and took the opportunity to get updated phones and new numbers. Up to yesterday we still were using our New York numbers, which was pretty confusing, but not worth the price of changing them over. We now have local phone numbers, so some of you can expect phone calls and others e-mail. If you need my number ASAP drop me an e-mail or call our home phone.

Autism Recovery-A Remarkable Conversation PART 1

The first part of an interview with my friend Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci on autism. Today Dorian is one of most intelligent and witty women you could hope to meet. A wonderful mother and very, talented writer.

The interview should give hope to parents and family members who deal with autistic children.

Good for you, Dorrie!

G.W. seemed to use his Knesset speech as an opportunity to take a swipe at Obama.

Does the GOP really want to get into painting Obama as anti-Israeli? A glance at his Senatorial voting record would show that is not the case. On the other hand, the Dems might want to discuss the cozy relationship this administration has with Saudi Arabia, including a very large military sale to them. Hardly done to make Israel safer, IMHO.

John McCain vows to get us out of Iraq by 2013, just in time for his second inaugural I guess.

The John Edwards endorsement of Obama is nice and a sucker-punch to Hillary, for sure.

Also on the plus side, the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on gay-marriage here in the state. Of course, this is another issue the GOP can use to raise funds and get out the 'faithful' this election year.

Another swell day in American politics!

Bill O'Reilly Flips Out

And he wrote a book for kids???

Pardon his language! Bwahahahaha

Well, I spoke to my doctor this morning and things are not as bad as I feared.

The two diverticulum on my bladder contain no stones, so for the time being nothing will be done to remove them. I'm going to continue on the medication I was given and in three months will have another x-ray taken. Dr. Randall tells me that he has patients who have had these for years and they caused no problems. The surgery is pretty invasive, with a week to ten days of recovery, so if I don't have to have it done I would like to put it off.

Thanks to those who have written or called me about this. I appreciate the concern.

Nancy Pelosi Rubber Chicken

Go Shirley!

Nothing major going on, but I figured I should post something so you'll know I'm still around.

Personally, I don't believe that today's primary results will change much of anything. Unless one or the other candidate wins both states I think the whole thing will drag on.

Probably because I'm a Obama supporter, not a strong one by any means, I fail to understand Hillary's appeal. I'm afraid to criticise her as it may make me appear sexist and I'm anything but. However, she seems to me to be running a mostly negative campaign and I would think that would turn more voters off. I expect, should she get the nomination, that my fellow progressives will fall in line behind her. I just cannot see myself joining the herd.

Health issues continue to dominate things here at Chez Chaput. Donna is having difficulty with her diabetes and I'm still waiting to meet next week with the specialist regarding my bladder. Sadly, there is no simple solution for either of us.

The next few months will be busy ones for us, with trips to New York and then our Alaska cruise coming up way too soon. In between I'll be heading to San Diego for the ComiCon in late July, probably a one-day trip to the American Library Association Convention next month and we are trying to decide what to do for the Independence Day weekend.

Regarding various headlines:

I hate to see myself agreeing with anything Laura Bush has to say, but it is indeed a tragedy in Myanmar (or Burma, if you will). I hope the dictatorship there will allow aid to reach their citizens.

It seems it is okay for a major mainstream magazine to have revealing photos of an underage actress, but if an adult male was found to have similar photos of a non-famous female the same age it would be questionably legal. Am I missing something here? Maybe now as a step-parent I see things differently. I really have to wonder about this girl's parents, who were supposedly present at the photo shoot.

Probably more tomorrow on today's election results!

Norbert

In tribute to Free Comic Book Day. Vinne Bartilucci's NORBERT drawn by Rick Geary.

Star Wars according to a 3 year old.

This is pretty much how I remember it, too!

Pretty warm here in the OC, as I'm sure folks have heard. Easily in the 90s the past few days and perfect for shorts, even for chubby, middle-aged white guys. The Child and her friend Christine were brave enough to hit the beach, but I'll keep my tasty bits in the pool while that Great White is cruising off shore.

On the medical front, Donna seems to be getting her sugar under control, but she still needs to see a specialist about other things. I will be discussing unpleasant matters with my own doctor in a couple of weeks and then a decision will have to be made. The big one is not IF, but rather WHEN the operation will have to take place. Personally, I'd like to hold off until after our Alaska cruise in late August, but we have to see what the doctor says. Our trip back to New York is in about a month and I really want to get to the San Diego con this year, so I want to put things off until September.

This is a Bladder Diverticulum. You have your normal bladder there in the center and unnatural growth of the diverticulum on the sides. Basically like squeezing a balloon until smaller projections appear.

They can only be removed by surgery.

One guess who has two of these?

Not my best year!

Will I vote for Hillary Clinton? No!

Will I change my mind come November? Probably not.

Will vote for McCain? Definetly not!

Will I vote Third Party? Maybe.

Will I simply not vote for President? Likely.

The longer it goes the more uncomfortable I feel about her. I believe that she would rather destroy the Democratic Party's chance of taking the White House than allow anyone but herself to be at the top of the ticket. I really do feel that she would rather have John McCain win this November, allowing her to run again in 2012.

You disagree?

Donna and I are both awaiting results from medical tests we have taken. Her situation is more serious than mine, so we are both concerned. I'm hoping to get my results tomorrow and we'll see if I need to undergo any surgery later this year. Same may hold true for Donna, but we won't know until she has discussed things with her specialist. Not our best year healthwise, although everything else seems to be going okay.

On a lighter note, I was talking to a friend from Brooklyn last night and he said he had a good time at the New York Comic Con. He reports that it was much better than last year. There is a possiblity that he may fly out for the San Diego Con, so that should prove interesting (even if his female companion doesn't join him). Dan has never been to the SD convention, while it has been a decade since my last trip. It should be fun for both of us!

Leaked: ABC's Stephanopoulos interviews John McCain

You can only wish George S. would ask some of these!

Sadly, this is exactly what happened to me!
It took a couple of months, but I'm growing it back.

Good to see ABC doing Fox News' job last night.

I'm sure if there is a Hell I'm going to burn for passing this along.

For fans of LOLCats, here is the LOLCat Bible

Interesting article in today's New York Times on the housing bill proposed by the Senate. Should come as no surprise that it will NOT be the family trying to stay in their home that will be getting the biggest benefit.

Politics as usual, no matter what, especially in an Election Year.

So who wouldn't be bitter? I grew up in a very, small town (less then 2,000 people when I was a kid lived in Taftville, CT) The entire city of Norwich, where my parents later moved was around 45,000 in the l960s.

Even then we felt abandoned by government, badly treated to the companies which were closing the factories in which most folks worked and found things like fishing, hunting, sports and church major parts of our lives. Maybe Hillary forgets what others in her hometown have not, since she put down her rifle and got her law degree. People in rural areas have every right to feel bitter and forgotten by those who do not share our experience.

Frankly, when I look to see who I think has a better understanding of being a 'have not', it seems to me it's Obama. Hillary just seems desperate to be President and McCain seems to feel it is his right.

I personally don't see this as being a major stumble for Obama, but another example of the Clinton campaign grasping at whatever they can find to keep folks from realizing she is sliding.

Personally, I try to sign every post I make on other websites or blogs. If I don't actually use my name, the screen name I use will usually link to my e-mail and isn't meant to disguise who I am. SChaput, Sachaput or Stevec50 are pretty easy to figure out!

If you want to reply anonymously please send me an e-mail, with your real name, and let me know before hand or immediately after you post at either of my blogs. If you have a good reason not to reveal who you are I am willing to hear you out. I make it a rule to delete posts that are spam or not signed.

Finally, I want to apologize to folks who may have come upon Spam or other links embedded in replies to my blogs. I try to get rid of them as soon as I become aware that they are here.

While I am not a long-time friend of Mark Evanier, I am a fan and have spoken to him on occasion. I will not allow my blogs to become a place where he can be defamed or ridiculed behind his back!

Just a couple of things about Blogger lately.


If you click on that 'Next Blog' link above I would say you have about a 50/50 chance of getting something in another language. About two years ago you would have to click three or four times to get that first non-English posting. There also seem to be more for schools, sports fans and people posting their art & photos then previously. In quiet moments I'll spend ten or fifteen minutes just going from one blog to another to see what is out there.

Oh! Be warned that you might hit one that is NOT 'all ages' suitable, so you might not want to play this game at work. :-)

Not that I'm losing sleep over all this, but I will admit to mixed feelings.

I think having the Olympics in China sends a signal to that government that they can get away with just about anything. I'm not naive enough not to know that economically they hold sway over corporations and governments, none of whom dare to stand up to them.

I realize that there are athletes who train for years for the one chance to go to these games, even if they only see the possible dollar signs from endorsement deals rather than national pride. They should probably be allowed that opportunity.

Probably be a good idea though, at this point, to pack up the torch and fly it directly to Beijing. The problems in Paris & London were unfortunate, and I only see similar if not worse events should the relay continue. Fortunately, nobody has been seriously hurt, but these things escalate and it may only be a matter of time.

Finally, we all know that His Smugness will be all smiles at the opening ceremony, since he and his cronies probably already have business deals worked out for '09 and beyond. Only time will tell how any of the competing athletes may make their feelings known.

I'm sure Matt, Ann & Meredith will tell us all how great things are! At least we can be grateful that Katie isn't going to be there. :-)

Centralia

A fellow vet passed this along. Whatever your political bent, this is an amazing story. Watch the entire video, after the song is finished.

I was tempted to reproduce the guy shrugging again, but I'll hold off on that for the time being. Needless to say things remain status quo here at Chez Chaput and at our jobs. We also are expecting really nice weather this week, so unless we get hit by an earthquake everythings pretty good. :-)

Speaking of tremblers, we are averaging about 20+ per week here in SoCal, but only one was measured at over 3.0. Most have actually been located south of San Diego, out in the desert and a few minor ones west & north of us.

We are making some plans to take a couple short trips, since the condo-hunting is put off. One of Donna's long time friends from New York is going to be in Las Vegas for a week, so we are looking into getting a room for one weekend. Our plan is to drive down Friday night and back on Sunday, unless one of us loses the pink slip in the casino.

It's possible, depending on if I can get some vacation time, that we'll be flying back to New York for Memorial Day weekend. We haven't been back since the funeral last year and Donna really misses her family. Me, I miss Dunkin' Donuts!

I'm not going to go into the whole thing, but as matters stand right now Donna and I aren't going to be going through with the condo. We've talked about it and found that we are not comfortable with a few things. One of the things has to do with the place that holds the mortgage at this point, but that's not the only thing.

Anyway, no need to update your address book for the next half of the year or change your speed dial. We're still here in Ladera Ranch and will finally get that Thomas Kincaid up over the love seat. Still not sure where my Speed Racer poster will go?

Maybe it's time for another cruise! :-)

Just really quickly I wanted to point out that I have added a link to the American Empire Project

Using the books and lectures of Howard Zinn as a spring board these folks are producing books & graphic novels in hopes of showing Americans just what has been done 'in their name' for the last hundred plus years or more. Browse through the site when you have a chance.

Just paid $3.63 per gallon for Regular this morning. Twenty bucks barely got me from a quarter tank to over three quarters. Yet, the Oil companies are crying they need those tax breaks!

The worst part is that you know that Congress will give it to them after some meaningless camera time. "See, we held hearings? Could you please re-elect me this November? I really need a few more years before I can get a seat on the board of a multi-national and that lobbyist job."

On a personal note, Donna will be meeting with our agent and the appraiser tonight. They'll probably be finished by the time I get out of work, so I won't know the situation until later. We have our fingers crossed and plan to apply for a VA loan if everything looks good.

Have a good day!

I usually stick to talking about baseball over on Shot's Shack, but had a quick comment. Since it does touch on the 'political' I felt it better to mention it here.

Anybody else notice that there were almost as many folks booing G.W.B. yesterday when he took the mound as cheered him? Also, though it shouldn't have been a surprise, nobody over on ESPN even mentioned it. Same held true for shots of the event last night & today on the news shows and most seem to have edited the crowd sounds out completely.

Glad he had time enough to sit through and even take a seat in the broadcast booth for a while. Not like there is anything of any importance going on that he might want to look into before taking off for a few days.

The chart and the stuff in italics below are from Pew Research. You can use the link to see the full report.

I find it interesting that even with the Wright controversy, Obama still is seen in a more favorable light than Hillary. This has always been a weakness for Clinton and perhaps something she simply cannot overcome. It appears that the recent statements and what looks like bad memory, if not outright lies, about what happened in Bosnia certainly are not going to help.

I have also been a bit troubled by those Dems who say that they will vote for McCain should their candidate not win the nomination. Granted I still waffle on voting for Clinton should she get the nomination, but I know damn well that I would never vote for John McCain! How could you go from supporting a pro-choice candidate, who hopes to improve the availability of health care to voting for one who is anti-choice and feels he can sit back while the economy is going down the toilet? Spite goes only so far!

Large majorities of white Democratic voters view Obama as honest, inspiring, patriotic, and down-to-earth. Obama's personal image surpasses Clinton's on almost every personal attribute tested in the survey, except patriotism.
In addition, roughly twice as many white Democrats say the word "phony" describes Clinton than say it describes Obama (30% vs. 16%). And the gap is even larger in perceptions of likability; 43% of white Democratic voters say the phrase "hard-to-like" describes Clinton, while just 13% say it describes Obama.

Just interesting and I thought I'd pass it along.

Probably shouldn't say anything until the contracts are signed, but it looks like The Chaputs will be moving again.

We just heard from our real estate agent and he tells us the bank has accepted our offer on the condo.

Like I said to Donna, I don't know if it's a sinking feeling I feel or excitement. A bit of both I guess.

I'll let you know as we learn more about what we do next! Wish us luck!!

Nothing of note to add, but just a few general comments about political stuff.

Various news stories and some things I've heard on Air America have me wondering if the recent visits to the Mid-East by Cheney, Rice, McCain, etc. are indications of coming events. The neo-cons only have a few months to start a war with Iran, and I would not be surprised if they use the Israelis as cover. There is a report out of Germany that the Saudis are having meetings to plan what to do in case of nuclear fallout from an attack on Iranian nuclear sites. Face it, the Bush administration would never do anything without permission from the Saudi royal family!

Anybody else more interested in the protests that may occur during the Olympic Games in China than the games themselves? I know I am! Also of interest will be to see how NBC (which will be televising the games) will try to both mention the protests (so they don't look like they are covering for the Chinese) but will downplay any that take place (to keep on the good side of the same Chinese officials monitoring them). Should be more entertaining than track & field!

USA TODAY has an article about the possibility of a 'dream team' ticket of Obama & Clinton. It seems to imply that many Dems would like such a thing. Any of you know a fellow progressive hoping for that? I don't! Personally, I think only the Clinton camp is keeping their fading hopes alive with that idea and they are the ones who floated it to begin with.

At this point, I think the November election is going to be much closer than I would have thought even a couple of months ago. With the Clinton folks leading the charge against Obama and going negative they are basically giving the GOP a playbook to use, in addition to the Karl Rove classics they have on hand already. All the RNC has to do is keep Hillary's worst campaigns ads on a loop and keep having Fox replay them over and over. Sure save some money on doing their own.

As I may have mentioned before, I have my fingers crossed that a Democratic majority will keep President McCain from totally going bonkers in his first term. We can probably say goodbye to Roe v. Wade and any First Amendment rights we have left, but maybe we can keep ourselves out of the camps in Arizona until 2012.

They couldn't print this if it wasn't true!

Hope everybody had a non-toxic Easter, with lots of goodies (organic or not).

I would love to talk about what happened at Chez Chaput, but this is a family oriented site and I don't want to have to spend time explaining things which are hazy even to me.

Interesting being the only 'straight' male at dinner, but not the only thing that made the day special.

Donna outdid herself with the pork roast, her cheesecake and way too much other stuff that had all eight of us overeating. Folks also seemed happy with the leftovers they took home and I'm looking forward to some of the same later this week.

Two quick things I'd like to mention to folks considering using computers in the library.

1) We librarians really don't need to know your business or private life. We are here to assist you with the electronic resources we have for your use and are happy to do so.

2) If you might possibly have naked photographs of yourself on a disk or USB drive, it is probably not wise to ask us to assist you in accessing such material.

Thank for your kind attention. I going to go put my head under a faucet now.

I'm adding a link to the site VA WATCHDOG over on The Left. On this the fifth anniversary of 'shock & awe' we should take a moment (maybe many moments) to remember the nearly 4,000 men & women who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, the hundreds of thousands from both conflicts who returned maimed in body & spirit. All the while His Smugness and cohorts continue to lie, cheat and steal as much as they can before January of next year.

I hope that there will come an end to this, if not next year than at least a beginning of an end. A return to what some of us still believe is a country of values and morality. Than again, maybe I'm being too optimistic.

I was a history major in college and have probably forgotton most of what I learned during those four years. I've been reminded of this when I began listening to the audiobook adaptation of Stephen Kinzer's "Overthrow: America's century of regime change from Hawaii to Iraq." Highly recommended and doubly so as you see that a little more than 100 years ago the American government began working with corporations to ensure U.S. economic superiority.

Some of the most frightening passages talk about the arguements used by politicians, business men and their media stooges to justify what they did and to stir up the public. Henry Cabot Lodge in the late 1890s would fit perfectly with the neo-cons of today. It's also sad to recall the 'real' Teddy Roosevelt both before and after that charge in Cuba.

I also want to recommend the articles over at SLATE titled, "Why did we get it wrong!" Some good pieces by folks who formerly supported the war, and of course, one by Christopher Hitchens on how he didn't.

I think Senator Obama gave an amazing speech. It demonstrates that he has class and will not backstab a long-time friend for political expediency. In another place and time, this would end the matter and we could move on. Sadly, for the Clinton and McCain campaigns, the entire Republican Party and most of the Mainstream Media it will not stop them from bashing him.

As I see it both Clinton and the GOP are not going to let this go. The GOP because they would rather run the old man at the head of their ticket against the one Democrat they can beat. Hillary and her handlers would rather have McCain win and allow four more years of Republican domination, so Senator Clinton can run again in 2012 and possibly win. I actually feel bad about feeling that way but in my heart, I think that is exactly how the Clinton’s see things. If not her, than nobody!

The two talking cats

Somebody will know why I posted this.

Vote for it as most adorable on YouTube.

We have put a few things on hold here at Chez Chaput, since we are still waiting for the results of some medical tests Donna took a couple of weeks ago. Once we get those (hopefully today) we can begin planning what has to be done.

I don’t mean to be mysterious but I also don’t want to say anything if it turns out to be something less than the worst. Trust me, I’ll keep you all informed.

The main thing is that we are going to hold off on condo hunting for a while. We are leaving the two bids we have in place, but won’t be actively looking for anything else for the time being. We would be pretty happy with either of the places we’ve found so far, although one would need a bit more work than the other before we could move in.

Because of that we have spent some time at Loew’s checking out appliances, carpeting and flooring, as well as looking at way too many paint samples. Considering my partial color-blindness it seems to me that over a third of the samples look identical, so I’m leaving it up to Donna (with not always helpful input from Kristina) to pick the colors.

On a much lighter note, Donna and I spent part of both Saturday and Sunday playing Bingo. We went to our favorite place on Saturday evening and then made a last minute decision to travel to San Manuel for their Sunday games. Seriously, at 10:30am we had very different plans for our afternoon and at 1:00pm we were handing over the car keys to the valet at the casino. Part of this was due to unreturned phone calls from my stepdaughter who was busy playing in a ‘ladies only’ poker tournament at a different casino. As Donna always says, “Let’s blame The Child!”

As the Democratic Primary process drags on and on I have to ask myself, seriously, if I could/would vote for the Dem candidate no matter who it might end up being. At this point I don't know that I could and still feel good about myself or the party of which I have been a member since 1972.

I don't think I've ever felt as passionately about a candidate as I did when I voted for George McGovern way back when. I not only donated several hundred dollars to the campaign, but worked in the Norfolk, VA campaign headquarters as a volunteer for several months, up to and including election night. Since then I've restricted myself to simply voting in primaries & in general elections.

In 1982, I happily voted for Barry Commoner, who ran as the candidate for the short-lived Citizens Party. Although several of my friends tried to get me to switch to John Anderson, a very likable guy who ran as an Independent as some of you may remember. It's not that I was rabidly anti-Jimmy Carter at the time, but I still had hopes that a more liberal voice was needed on the political scene.

Finally, I don't regret voting for Ralph Nader in the 2000 election. The campaign was Gore and the Democrats to lose, with aid from Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris and politicized Supreme Court majority. There has been enough proof since then to show that Nader's total vote count would not have changed the results, but rather the election was stolen. Of course, why Nader continues to run baffles me totally.

The only reason I bring this all up is to point out that while I haven't always supported the Democratic candidate at the top of the ticket, I've always considered myself a Democrat at heart. In non-Presidential elections it's not unusual for me to simply enter the booth, pull down the Democratic lever and leave. Of course, that was back in New York & Connecticut when they had the old fashioned (and much missed) voting machines.

I'm going to keep thinking about all this and will let you know, probably by November 3rd, what I've decided to do.

Holy crap! I just read that NY Governor Elliot Spitzer is stepping down. According to what the New York Times reports Spitzer has 'links' to a prostitution ring which is being investigated. The governor's name came up during wiretapped conversations of some sort.

I'm sorry to hear this as I have always had a lot of respect for Spitzer and voted for him back in 'o6. Just goes to show you can never tell what's going on.

I'll be following this story and am really curious to hear what my friends back in NYC have to say on the issue.

Even the mainstream media (MM) are discussing the following issues, so I guess it's safe to make a few comments.

Hillary wants to have it both way it seems, attacking Obama with the 'fear' ad about the 3:00am phone call, but at the same time floating the idea of Barack as her V.P. Everybody, including the Big O have already pointed out that he is ahead in delegate count and number of state primaries won. Why should he even consider the Number Two spot if he may very well be running for the Oval Office seat later this year? Also, if he isn't qualified to answer the phone why IS he qualified to be V.P.? Finally, the whole "I have experience, John McCain has experience and Obama made a speech" thing seems silly if she wants him to join her in the podium in August.

From what I've been seeing the past few days the Clinton campaign might have done a bit of research before putting the "3:00am phone call" ad together. You use footage about eight years old and then have the 'little girl' in the ad pop up all over the news shows talking about how she not only supports your rival but is working in his campaign. Bwahahaha!

I'm at work and typing this, so I'm not sure if the Blogger site is still being blocked by our filter, or if the 'work around' I'm trying is what works. I'll probably be using this from now on if it continues to give me access.

Should somebody be dismissed from a political campaign for engaging in 'free speech'? Considering the stunts the Clinton campaign has pulled and continues to pull on an almost daily basis the term 'monster' actually seems pretty mild. I could think of a few more terms, but won't as this is a 'family' blog. :-)

Considering that at one time I had a great deal of respect for Hillary & Bill, I really do feel bad that they have revealed themselves to be exactly what others have said of them. Seemed way too easy for them to pick up the Rove brand of campaigning, didn't it?

Just to keep everybody updated:

We're still condo hunting out here and will probably be checking out two or three places tomorrow with Eric. Sadly, we still haven't heard back from the bank on one of the properties on which we put in a bid. We have seen a couple places nicer, but the earlier place could be fixed up and Donna loves the layout. Bottom line, it is also a few thousand dollars cheaper even including some of the things we'd have to purchase.

On a more pleasant note, we're heading out to Bingo again tonight. I hit for $250 last Saturday night, so I've been picking up some comics and tonight's 'buy-in' from all that. Donna and I have pretty decent luck at this place, although her biggest hit was still back at San Manuel Casino.

Speaking of that place, The Child seems eager to travel up there with us so we may be taking a family outing next Saturday when I'm off. My step-daughter is going through a serious poker playing phase, winning a few online tournaments and doing pretty well at another local casino's tables. Word is she has been mistaken for a certain female Poker all-star by several folks. A couple of the dealers at one casino have even given her the nickname, "The black widow" because of the number of male players she has 'killed off'. Ya gotta love it!!

Just wanted to jump in quickly here with some news.

Apparently the City of Orange, at least their computer filter, has labeled Blogger a ‘social networking’ site. Therefore I am unable to access it while on at my workstation. Since I rarely go online at home (as I like to be spending time with my wife) I can’t say how often I’ll be posting at either of my blogs.

I’m considering trying to find someplace else to post a webpage that I can get to on my breaks and at lunch. I’ll keep you informed.

On a political note, I WILL NOT vote for Hillary Clinton in November. FYI!!