GeoWHAT...

As one gets older, and officially obtains "Old Coot" status, there's not a lot left to do. I mean you can still oogle the babes, redheads in particular, but what else is there to do...really? So many sports/hobbies/timewasters require at least two or more for it to be any fun. Take sex, well, I mean you could go it alone, I think they refer to that as an "Organ Solo" in the symphony, but it's a LOT better with two. A hobby that you can enjoy solo or in multiple is GeoCaching. GeoWhat? http://www.GeoCaching.com will give you all the correct answers to your questions but basically you use a handheld GPS unit (mine is a Garmin eTrex Legend) and you use it to go forth and find hidden treasure caches that others have placed around the world. Do you have to travel, NO, there are 100 GeoCaches within 10 minutes of my house in Birmingham. They're everywhere! What does it cost? Well, a good handheld GPS unit can be had new for about $100.00, matter of fact Bass Pro Shops in Leeds has the newer version of my Garmin eTrex Legend for $99.99 everyday. Now that's a damn good deal too cause I paid $499.99 for mine the first month they hit the shelves. What treasures await me? As far as treasures go... Not much in the way of untold wealth and riches. And it's usually more along the line of Dollar Tree Trinkets to be quite honest. But as with life, it's not the destination so much as it is the journey that is the most rewarding. I still remember Joy and I trudging through a forest fire at Cheeha National Park looking for and finding the Kentuck ORV Cache. Sand even more so to my pleasure was the FatBoy TravelBug that we rescued from a fiery death.

So NO... You won't get rich, you won't have to be rich to get into the hobby, you won't have to drive to the ends of the world, just to play the game. You WILL... Get your fat ass out from in front of the boob tube, you will get a little bit of healthy clean air and sunshine, you will get in a little healthy walking, you will see babes in the park, and you will exercise your mind and eyes a little bit (may be harder for some than others...).

Today was the last day of 2010, and I wanted to do something, anything, that was a little more fun than I had done the previous 364 days, and GeoCaching was what blew my skirt up. My goal was to find all 3 hidden GeoCaches at the 3 parks on Highland Ave. I got Number 1 set in my sights at Caldwell Park and my GPS LED MY RIGHT TO WITHIN 5 feet of the hideyhole. A few minutes of looking around and damn, there it was right in front of me. If it had been a snake... I punched in the new coordinates for Cache at Rhodes Park and off I went. Now, this one was a little more difficult for my dumb ass to find, but find it I did. Punched in the coord's for Cache Number 3 at Rushton Park and off like a rabbit was I. And this one got the better of me. Not for a lack of skill on my part mind you, but a rather large lunch crowd at Rojo's had taken all the parking within about 4 blocks. So here I type... And as soon as I post this, I'm headed back to Rushton before the rain gets here and snag my last and final GeoCache for the day. But there are others close by if I get the time today before the rain hits. Wish me luck!

1 more day...

2010 - The Year of the Suggs...  I predicted at the close of 2009 that 2010 was going to be our year, The Suggs.  We were going to strike it rich, be famous, healthy and party like there was no tomorrow.  Well...  We ain't rich, infamous is a better description, and the parties have been pretty much nonexistent.  But 2010 in retrospect was indeed a winner for us Suggs.  We're all still here, a good thing considering all the other choices.  We're bigger, badder and better than we ever have been and it keeps getting better day by day!

We've all made new friends, slain a few enemy's along the way, hidden the bodies well, and in the end, we have bettered ourselves day by day.  It takes decades to build an empire, and that fact of life has not been lost on me.  So with the first decade of the 21st Century quickly closing in on us, we'll take the next step, together, as one, as family, and welcome in not only the New Year, but the second decade of the 21st Century.  What we do today, determines who we are and where we will find ourselves tomorrow.  That one has taken me a lifetime to learn.

Suggs, our family name.  Made up of many names from many different countries and cultures.  Mostly American Indian, English, Irish, Scottish with names like Barnes, Bishop, Payne, Sisson, Dunnaway in our pasts, we come from a proud heritage of loyalty, strength, and warriors.  My ancestors fought in Viet Nam, Korea, WWII, WWI, Civil War, The War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War.  I myself served in The United States Air Force as a cop from 1980-1986 and during that time we saw the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Communism and The Berlin Wall, and engaged in battle in Grenada and Libya.  So yeah, we've stood up and have been counted, the names of our family war dead are on a monument somewhere, and I'm very proud of the fact that we are some of the people that has kept America, my America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

As 2011 looms near, I like to think that I have not lost my warrior spirit and that I can still see the world through the eyes of my Indian ancestors and recognize what is truly important in life.  Cherokee, Blackfeet and Apache blood flows through my veins with every beat of my heart, put their by my Indian ancestors, and carried on in the blood of my children.  They know of not what greatness they are descended from.  It is for them to discover as have I.  And they will, in their own time.  Knowing who you really are, where you really come from, the battles that have been waged and won, and the blood that has been spilled, won't, change who you are.  It hasn't me.

For 2011, I'll trust it to a Gladiator's prayer and ask for little more.

"Ancestors, I ask you for your guidance. Blessed mother, come to me with the Gods' desire for my future. Blessed father, watch over my wife and child with a ready sword. Whisper to them that I live only to hold them again, for all else is dust and air. Ancestors, I honor you and will try to live with the dignity that you have taught me." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/quotes?qt0404409

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

56 Murders so far...

We'll... This is going to be my first blog post from the new toy! The jury is still out on the new iPad, but I'm really liking it so far. OK, as of Monday Dec 27th, we had hit 55 and 56 murders for 2010 due to a double homicide discovered Monday morning. And if you consider we are usually pushing 100 by Dec, looks like 2010 is going to be a good year. Unfortunately, when it comes to murders in BHM, there's always next year...

Now on Twitter...

With the recent addition of the iPad to our family of gadgets, I have decided to give Twitter a try and see what it might have to offer.  Still trying to duck my Internet stalker, so I came up with a real catchy name for my Twitter ID,  RiderBHM  I said it was catchy, right?  I have a select group of friends that like to catch up with each other over a cup of coffee and I thought Twitter might be the answer.  I mean we all need more coffee! 

So if you want to follow along with my wild and crazy adventures as I ride the streets of BHM, dodge Southside's famous and infamous bums, meet up for a cup-o-coffee somewhere or just see how close we come to actually crossing paths, then git yer butt on Twitter and follow RiderBHM.

Christmas Booty...

It's 4:30am the Monday morning after Christmas.  And I know some of you are already rolling in your beds dreading going back to work after a nice extended Christmas holiday.  But it's just another day, and another opportunity.  Truth is, for me anyway, it was a short holiday.  Joy had a nice long block of time off, and we had the Grandkids for almost a week. But Caitlin only had Christmas day off so it was up at the buttcrack of dawn for us both all through out the Christmas Holiday weekend.  And in the end, just another day.

Although I needed/wanted nothing, and specifically requested that no one waste their money on me for Christmas, Santa, the redheaded one,  decided to be a little on the naughty side and disregard my request and saw fit to leave an iPad under the tree for Joy and I.  I've played with the iPad here and there in stores, and Joy and I had talked about them numerous times and for what we use a computer for, an iPad fills that bill quite nicely.  Santa got us one of the 64gb iPads with BOTH WiFi and 3G capability, so I think we're maxed as far as hardware goes.  Now all we got to do is learn how to use the little fruit.

And I won't dive into all the ooh's and ah's the iPad has to offer, but I will say it's a Mac, and I'm not.  So it'll take a little getting used to for me.  Luckily I had gone off the reservation and played with Safari and Firefox as a browser so it was sort of like meeting an old friend for coffee.  But there are a lot of new things to be learned, at least for me.  Caitlin has a lot of time on a Mac at UAB editing video and other assorted projects so she's ambiputerous and can help this old dog learn a few new tricks.

So far, I'm impressed as hell with the iPad.  Battery is FANTASTIC and never fell below 40% after both Joy and I used it pretty much all day on Sunday.  It uses any available "open" WiFi signal it can find first and then switches seamlessly back and forth to the cellular 3G AT&T network as needed extending your cellular access time.  And now having a new and truly portable device will again open the wonderful world of coffee shops to my wit and charm.  Some of the negatives I have found for me are it's hard as hell to hold on to.  I need one of the Gel cases so it doesn't slip out of my hand, so will probably pick one up today before I drop it.  Another negative is there is no user manual.  So, if you really don't know what an iPad is, or what you can do with it and what nifty little features are built in to it, well... you still don't.  I can't figure out if the little fruit has a GPS chip in it or not.  Also I really don't appreciate the fact that the iPad is heralded for it's picture ability, but you don't find out until you are trying to plug your digital camera into it that there is no USB port, but guess what, they sell an "accessory" that replicates a USB port and a memory card reader.  So, all it takes is just a little more money...

Everything has it's own up's and down's and I doubt if our new iPad will be any different.  I am really excited about being able to be mobile again without having to either squint to see a microscreen or having to tow a trailer for all the peripherals and cabling.  And third party apps are just crazy.  Makes me want to write programs again.  I looked over a GhostHunter application for the iPad that was just insane.  It makes use of all of the iPad's built in sensors (light/sound/motion,etc.) and turns the iPad into a mobile paranormal lab.  Now a serious Ghost Hunter I am not.  I'm not even a serious believer in the paranormal, but I thought it would be a cool app to have and use with the Grandmonkeys.  Might even scare my wife under the covers with it?  And just for the record, I lean more towards the Bigfoot side of the "mysteries of the unknown" in my interests.  No, never seen one, never looked for one, HAVE woken up beside a few that resembled a Sasquatch, but I was really, really, drunk, and it was a long, long, LONG time ago and thank God they didn't have cellphone camera's back then!  But hunting down a "Squatchy" does hold some sort of allure for me.

So, I hope ALL of you had a good Christmas, got to spend some happy quality time with friends, family and loved ones, ate some scrumptious Southern foods and enjoyed the first White Christmas we've had in Dixie in many, many years.  We did!

Christmas Eve... Eve 2010:

The Christmas season has always been special to our family. It's always been a time when Joy and I could do great and wondrous things for our kids that would make their eyes pop open when they saw all the festivities that Christmas brings. The tables full of scrumptious foods, riding the hay wagon, hunting for and cutting down the annual Suggs Family Christmas Tree, decorating said tree, wrapping and stuffing the presents under the tree, having friends and family over, stringing lights here and there, and then... Christmas morning, and the discovery that Santa had once again, found our house AND had not found out about that bad report card a few months back leaving presents behind as he took to the sky again.
All good times and good memories for Joy and I. Wouldn't trade a second of it for all the gold in the world. And now we get to sit back and watch our kids do the same things for their spouses and kids. The same excitement is still there, the same wonder, and the same pleasure of giving to someone you love on Christmas day. The traditions you instill in your kids is the real gift that keeps on giving. Watching our 3 kids instill these same hopes, dreams and traditions in their kids and loved ones is something that brings a smile to our lips and a tear to our eye, year after year as we get older. A memory we both will cherish forever.

When it rains...

...it pours.  Looks like December is taking it's toll on the Suggs Family as far as bad information goes.  As you know, my Mother is in the hospital at St. Vincents with pneumonia.  Been there for a week almost.  And is doing better.  The antibiotics are doing their job and she is getting better slowly.  She's still very weak, and just about any type of exertion leaves her out of breath and near collapse.  They have determined as soon as she gets well enough, they are going to transfer her to a long term care/skilled nursing facility that has a physical rehab unit as soon as they can find a bed/room for her.  And on one hand I know in my heart that this is the best for her and exactly what she has been needing for many years now.  And their will be many benefits for her to enjoy as she gets stronger over time.  But the cold hard reality is that my Mother is no longer able to care for herself 100%, and that saddens me.

My Dad, whom I have never been close to, more of a "friendship" than a Father/Son relationship lives in Panama City, FL.  It's been well over a year since I have even spoken with him (my fault entirely), so I thought I would take the current situation with my Mother as a good enough reason to give him a call and check in and see how he, his wife Grace and his three kids and umpteen grandkids were doing.  After a few minutes of talking to Grace (she always answers the phone), I ask how things are going with Dad, and she tells me that he has, since I spoke with them last (almost 2 years), been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and is actually not doing very well at all.

I did speak to him, and although it was a nice conversation, with him even cracking a few jokes, I could tell it was hard for him.  Grace told me that his Doctor had prescribed some sort of new PD and that after taking it my Dad basicall turned into a Zombie and sat unresponsive in his chair drooling all over himself for a few days.  They have since taken him off that particular medication but it has actually made his symptoms more severe after being on it.  So disheartening news to say the least.  His wife said he could not drive anymore, had to be fed and dressed most of the time and had a lot of trouble walking.  She also said that he would often have spells of time where he was perfectly ok for a few hours at a time so at least he has a some good time.

I'd like to go see him soon, maybe this summer will work out.  I know that it will take a lot more than this to get the best of him.  It might be humbling, but I doubt if it will put much of a kink in his craw.

Joy, my wife, has lost her voice.  And I am experiencing "technical difficulties" with my ears at the moment, so she can't talk, I can't hear.  We just sit in front of the fireplace amidst the warm glow of smoldering hickory logs and flip each other off as neceassary.

Wes had to take his wife Tara to the ER tonight with breathing/coughing/fever issues, but according to his/her FB page it is bronchitus.

So, yeah, looks like a happy holiday all around!  Like I said...

When it rains, it pours!

2011 RIBQUEST Pre-Run...

Man oh man!  If the Pre-Run for RIBQUEST 2011 is any indication of the lip smackin, finger suckin, bone gnawing fun that awaits me, then 2011 is going to be a DAMN GOOD YEAR!  I didn't plan it this way, but last week I had occasion to eat at the Eastwood Logan's Roadhouse 5 (count `em - FIVE) times.  4 lunches and a dinner and I was accompanied each time with one or more of Birmingham's most beautiful Ladies, my wife and daughter.(they don't let me loose in pubic anymore without a handler...).  And ALL FIVE TIMES I had RIBS-RIBS-RIBS!  Some were good, some were so-so, and one was DAMN GOOD.  Matter of fact it was the best rack of ribs I have ever eaten.  I will say that the "half rack" seem to be consistently drier and less tender than the full rack of ribs, so keep that in mind as you follow along and do your own RIBQUEST 2011.

And the prices aren't bad either.  You can add a half rack of ribs to any entree for $6.99 and that's what I did most of the time, just asking for a plate and they were happy to oblige me.  Their regular stand alone order for a half rack of Baby Back Ribs is $12.99 and you get the customary two side dishes with that as well (Cinnamon apples and a baked Sweet Tater is the way to go...) But for $4.00 more you can get the "Full Rack" of Baby Back Ribs, two sides for $16.99 which is a much better deal to me.  Of course you gotta have the $16.99 in the first place.  Their BBQ Sauce is thick and sweet, just the way I like it with no hint of "heat", just good ole BBQ Sauce.  AND they now have Sweet Potato Fries too.  I haven't had `em yet, but I will on my next trip to Logan's Roadhouse Eastwood.

And while your there, ask for the General Manager.  His name is Daniel, tell him I sent ya and he'll have a special gift from me, to you.  Angie is the Kitchen Manager and she watches the food that comes out of their like a hawk which is why I keep going back over and over again.  Sandy runs the bar if you like to wash your ribs down with something a little stronger than Sweet Tea.  HOPE TO SEE YA SOON AT LOGAN'S!

It's 3:55am, do you know where your sock is?

See if you can picture this in your mind and follow along...  It's 3:55AM, a dark bedroom, sitting on the side of the bed, no glasses yet, gotta pee, very cold floor in an old house.  With me so far?  Good. 

I grab my pants from the end of the bed and slide into them, ah, a little warmer.  I walk across the cold, dark, bedroom floor to my closet and grab a pair of socks off the man shelf and hobble back to the bed sitting down as gently as possible so as not to awaken my sleeping redhead.  I cross my legs, grab a sock and slide it on my right foot.  Man, do I have to pee!  I grab my other sock and cross my other leg and slide it on my left - WAIT A DAMN MINUTE!  Something ain't right here. 

Did I just miss my foot entirely while trying to put my sock on cause the sock is still in my hand, and my foot is now on the cold floor.  And I still gotta pee... really bad. 

OK, let's give this another try.  Nope, missed again.  What the hell?  It's dark, it's cold, I don't have my glasses on, AND I GOTTA PEE!  This sock has got to go on my foot before I turn into a home fire suppression system and hose down the residence. 

One more time!  No matter what I do, or how I try to wiggle my foot into that damn sock, it just simply won't go on my damn foot,  I give up, and with sock in hand, hobble, limp, slide my way into the bathroom across the cold slippery hardwood floor, and with a big smile of relief, affix myself to the porcelain throne. 

With what could best be described as the background sound effects for the movie "Niagara - The Falls" echoing through the room, I flip the light on to look this bastard of a sock in the eye.  There are but a small number of things in this life that I have admitted defeat to, and this rogue sock from Satan has indeed beaten me and I will not rest until I look it in the eye. 

There's a lot to be said for glasses, and a lot to be said for proper lighting, but there's only one thing to be said about a person who just spent the last 30 minutes of their life trying to put a FABRIC SOFTENER SHEET on their foot!  STU-PID!  Here's to hoping YOU have a sweet smelling and static free left foot like me today as well.  STU-PID!  STU-PID!  STU-PID!

Project ROADPIG December 2010...

ROADPIG meet the world!  She looks a little better/worse with the stock tank and seat on her depending on your tastes.  But once you get the overcoat off, and the cute little black dress off, and she's standing before you in nothing but the skimpiest of little lacy things, you can see her lines.  And I think for what I had in mind, these lines will do just fine.  The whole point of this post was to bring you a December Update.  And here it is...

December Update:                           Nothing!  Oh I've cranked her a few more times, run her through the gears up and down, but really... Nothing.  At least visible.  I have however started compiling a Parts/Source list, and I think I have pretty much plotted and planned where each and every single part, spoke and nut & bolt will come from.  And I have even started a hidden slush fund (coffee cup on top shelf) where I toss my left over monies at the end of the day.  It ain't much, but it grows daily.  As soon as I get enough money in the slush cup to completely order a part, pay for the shipping, etc., then I will.  And the pile-o-parts will slowly grow over the weeks and months of the winter.  And just before Spring 2011, there will be a furry of noise, sparks and paint spray in the garage as Project ROADPIG roars to life.

So as the parts arrive, I'll post pictures of them here and discuss their intended usages and then I'll cover the actual build as she goes under the knife.

December 2010 Updates...

Well 2010 is about on it's last leg.  The weather has turned as cold as a Witches tit over the past few days thanks to a dip in the Jet Stream and damn, I just can't seem to get warm to save my ass!  I stay cold all the time.  Cold as a carp, in Dixie?  That just ain't right you know.  Maybe it won't last long.  And I'm not the only one that doesn't like it when the numbers on the digital thermometer fall below freezing either.  The Liberty did this same thing last year, so maybe we'll make it through this winter as well.  When it's below freezing, the power steering moans like a whore in church until it warms up to operating temp.  After that it's good for the rest of the day.  I dunno?

Speaking of the Liberty... I just had the lower balljoints replaced under a factory recall at a cost of $Nutin$.  Didn't cost me a penny, of course they also told me my upper balljoints were toast too and if I'd drop a grand in their hand they'd fix me up with a new pair of those too.  I passed, we'll see how long they last while I pray for another recall.  Other than needing some new meat on the rear tires, she's doing pretty good.  Even fixed a small electrical problem she was having all by herself.  I'm still keeping my fingers crossed until spring!

On to the humans...  I got a clean bill of health from my kidney doc last week and he said all my kidney numbers and values had returned to nermal or better.  So I guess I dodged that bullet.  I've had way too many of them hit me dead center over the years though so I am thankful this one missed me.  Been having some gastro issues of late and I don't know what/why and it bugs me.  I've wrestled with tummy issues for the last half of my life so maybe this is just another chapter.

As the weather has gone from nice to cold, I find myself indoors a lot more than I'd like to be.  Boredom is not a pretty picture.  So, looking at some new hobbies to help my bide the time until Dixie blooms yet again.  I fooled around with R/C (radio controlled) cars back in my teens and early 20's, and they were damn expensive back then.  For about the same chunk of change, today you get a modern marvel that just blows me away.  They have always interested me, so I think I'll try to find a local club, track, etc. and immerse myself into the scene once again.  Oh, I'm still swinging my metal detectors when the ground isn't frozen or my suitcases don't rattle when I go outside.  And yes, I'm still on the trail of the two canon that Nathan Bedford Forrest captured at the Battle of Memphis and left behind in Alabama, it just takes money to mount the field operations that I just don't have available at the moment.

New Years Resolutions...  I might as well get mine in early since I never seem to complete them all anyway.  One of the things I am going to shoot for for 2011 is to concentrate better on my overall physical fitness.  As the years start to rack up on my personal odometer, I see that I have lived the soft life way too long and it's time to turn that around for my next 50 years.  And 2011 is as good a time as ever to start.  Daily exercise, stop smoking, more active lifestyle, better food, would all be good places for me to concentrate my efforts.  What about you?

As I get ready to celebrate my 53rd Christmas, I realize life is short, and most of us have little to no control over a lot of it.  I've lost a lot of friends over the past year or so, and with the passing of each, it makes me realize just how short a time we have here.  So get off your ass, make each second count, let those whom you love know, and never, ever, give up!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING YA'LL !

Turkey Day 2010...  They just keep coming don't they?  Any day in Birmingham is Turkey Day, the trick is to make sure your not somebody elses Turkey.  We (Birmingham) just received yet another dubious award title last week.  Seems like we are the 10th MOST DANGEROUS CITY IN THE USA!  Yeah us!  Go home team!  Pass the friggin ammo!  We were 6th in the nation last year for murders, and so far this year we seem to be right on track with about 50 piled up in the morgue so far for 2010.  The big rivaly around here is AL / AU Football, but I see another quest for a coveted title brewing between BHM and DET for MURDER CAPITAL USA!  And I almost got to raise our score by one just this very morning as I returned home from my predawn trip to drop Caitlin off at Starbucks.  The short story is he was walking by my house in the shadows when I turned onto the street so I figured why avail myself to be in the situation where I might have to shoot an idiot on Thanksgiving Day morning, right?  So I went around the block to give him some time and distance and by the time I made it back to my parking spot he was at the opposit end of the block.  But he saw me park.

Let me tell you a little about my parking spot.  If you laid a dime on the street where my left front tire sits, it would be exactly under my tire, every single time I park in front of my house.  And here's why.  With my car exactly in that spot (+/- an inch), I have a 10 foot wide stripe of light that bathes the area just immediatly outside the drivers door of the car so I can see anything that moves into the light to my left, and as soon as I stop I hit the power control for my drivers mirror and pan it out as far as it goes and that gives me a view of anything that might emerge from the shadowy walkway up to the apartment building next door to my house.  I have various lights across the street to illuminate anything that may come at me from that direction, but me and my car sit in total blackness under the row of Bradford Pears at the street's edge.  Point is, as soon as my wheels stop, I go into defensive/protective mode and I position myself so as to best be aware of anyone or anything that may approach me BEFORE the get close enough to give them the edge of surprise.  And this morning it saved somebody's life.

As I parked, I saw the creeper way up at the other end of the block and I really didn't think he'd make the effort from that far away.  But then Steppinwolf interveined and Born To Be Wild came on the radio as I was about to unlock and unbuckle my happy white ass and go get back in the bed to dream about big fat turkeys and juicy cranberries.  So I sat, one song, that all, I swear.  By the time I had bopped along with the radio, the creeper had come down the ally behind my house cut throught the parking lot and sidewalk of the apartments and was waiting for me to open the door of the car as he hid in the shadows just outside the reach of the lights.  He wasn't a large person, had a gray hoodie on with the hood pulled up over his head and some kind of small paper sack in his hand, and I really don't know whether he was going to ask me for spare change, spare food or spare smokes or just stick a knife in my back and take what he could find in my pockets and car.  As I turned the radio off, set the parking brake and turned the car off, I guess he figured that was his cue and down the bank of the apartments he shot.  I saw the blur of movement in my outside mirror and knew it was showtime.  I popped my .45 out of it's Fobus holster and brought it up into the drivers window ready for the curtain to go up.  He had his hand in the bag outstretched towards me as he ran down the bank and towards my still closed door.  As soon as he got close enough to actually see me inside the now totally black car, he must have been able to see the barrel of my .45 pressed against my drivers window and decided this was NOT a good day to die.

He tried to stop his forward progress but was met only with slippery wet leaves under his feet.  Then he tried to do a two-step with a little zig and zag move and wound up bustin his ass right as he slammed into my drivers door.  I saw two huge eyes look up from the swirling pile of leaves as he focused on the tip of my barrel..  Those eyes must have been directly connected to those feet, because there was no lack of communication betwixt what the eyes saw and what the feetsies needed to be doing which was RUN!  In the blink of my eye, he was running up the sidewalk shedding leaves like a tree in a strong wind.

He'll be back, if he's stupid enough.  And he probably is.  And maybe next time...  Who knows, maybe one of us will be able to put some points on the board.

So, I did make it back into the bed all safe and sound, I did dream about fat bottomed...turkeys and plump, juicy, succulent...cranberries.  And as I opened my little blue eyes a few hours later, my nostriles were happily greeted by the wonderful oders of Thanksgiving.  Joy was already up and moving like a one woman cooking machine in the kitchen.  Hell she had even enslaved the Grandkids and had them standing by to help out as needed.  I am looking forward to having all of our kids home again, under one roof, just like it used to be.  But I get the added pleasure of two extra daughter-in-laws and two extra Grandmonkeys and it just sweetens the pot that much more.

I hope YOUR Thanksgiving day leaves you with a full plate, a full home and a full heart.  And to my little creeper friend, I'll be seeing you again, real soon.  ...

Happy Vetran's Day...

If you slept all warm and cozy in your bed last night, THANK A VETRAN!  If you don't know, I am a Vetran.  USAF Security Police 2854th Security Police Squadron (now 72nd SF) Tinker Air Force Base Oklahoma 1980- 1986..  That was 24 years ago for me.  I was an active duty Air Force Cop when the Cold War came to an abrupt end with the breakup of the Soviet Union, when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff in 1986, Grenada and our response to Libya firing missles at our planes in international waters off their coast.  There were many a night, that the world was in turmoil as I and a lot of other good men and women in the US Armed Forces did what we felt we needed to be doing at that time.  I served with some of the finest and bravest men and women I have ever met during those six years and I am glad to be associated with them even still today.  I hope YOU take just a moment out of your day tomorrow and say "Thank You" to a Vetran, it will be highly appreciated, trust me.

Automotive rant...

As many of you know, I am a Factory Certified Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Nissan, Honda and Subaru Master Mechanic as well as a AMI Certified Motorcycle Mechanic.  Ah... those were my late teens and early 20's.  I was also a Licensed NASCAR Mechanic at the tender age of 16, so I guess that's really where I let my tools and my skills put food in my face, etc, etc.  I won't bore you with all of my other mechanical marvels, just trust me when I say I know which end of a screwdriver to use, ok?  And tools, Oh My God!  I have spent more money on tools, toolboxes, shop equipment, rags and other "had-to-have" gear than many people spend for a house.  Yes, I work on all of my own cars, motorcycles, hovercraft and gravitational portals, I can, I usually have all of the tools I need and I have a garage, so why give all that lovely green paper to someone else huih?  But I gotta tell ya, I no longer look at those of you who take your cars to the "QuickyLubie" and cough up $50.00 to a $100.00 to have your oil changed and your zerk fittings greased with the same eye as I did in the past.  And here's why...

I have come to the realization that every single nut, bolt, screw and grease fitting on your car now REQUIRES you to have a specific and unique tool for that particular nut/bolt/screw/etc.  Back in the `70's when I was a Honda mechanic working for Bart Starr in Hoover, we used to joke about how their were certain "specialty" dealer only tools for a couple of applications on the Honda cars.  Then Ford joined that bandwagon and made cars that had to be returned to the dealer for servicing at regular intervals (Ford called it their "Dealer Assurance Maintenance Program").  Well, look who's laughing now!  I just got through trying to do a simple lube job on our Jeep Liberty and got nothing lubed, just walked away shaking my head in disbelief.

My old Plews grease gun bit the wennie quite a few months ago so I attempted to break the current world record (whatever it may be) in the International Grease gun Hurl and although I'll never know if I ever came close, the experience was, nonetheless, satisfying to me at the moment of my attempt.  Well, we as a family have needed one for quite some time now and I finally broke down and bought one of the mini-grease guns just for the occasional squirt here and there, besides I figured the mini could be used on Matt's Harley, my Project RoadPig (can you say "pipe dream"...) and on Logan and Anna's bicycles as well.  I dropped about $20.00 in the cash register at WallyWorld for a new Plews (the best made) Minigun and a few tubes of grease and headed home for the "fun" of working on my own car.  Well, it wasn't fun, and as a matter of fact I was unsuccessful at even getting any grease on the car, anywhere.

You see, in order for me to actually grease my own car, I need to "upgrade" my new grease gun a little bit, AND I need to actually BUY some grease fittings for my car because Chrysler was too damn cheap to put them in in the first place.  The "upgrades" will include a flex hose ($9.99), a movable angle head ($14.99) and about ten actual zerk fittings ($10.00).  So, I need to spend a total of $60-$75 buck all told just to have the fun of doing it myself.  Now I know why you guys take your cars to the "LubieQuick" and waste a few hours warming a chair on Saturday mornings.

And I'm not just picking on Jeep/Chrysler either.  I've got a `98 Astro that requires a $125.00 tool to replace the $50.00 waterpump.  Yeah, it's still sitting, somewhere.  It's also the same van that if it had been a `97, the fuel pump would have cost $60.00 at any car parts place, but noooo, it had to be a `98 and that fuel pump is only available at the dealership and it lists for $801.00.  For a fuel pump?  Come on!  Do I get a lifetime supply of KY with that?  Overnight?

So, I guess it's time to give in to the Tool Gods, and run right on down to the tool store and start completing my collections with the addition of  the likes of "Left Handed" wrench's and screwdrivers.  I wonder how long it takes before we have to have one wrench to take a nut off, and another to put it on?  If I could invent that one, I'd be getting a nut off I assure you!.  - Tim.