A Little Funk

I've been in a little bit of a funk lately. Sometimes life kind of gangs up on me. And to top it off my poor Bucaneers are in for another bad bad bad season. Well you may ask how an old guy from upstate NY comes to root for Tampa Bay Buc's . . . well I was born and raised in Tampa so I pull for their teams - there still is an emotional connection there.

I am on a new diabetes drug called Byetta and so far it is working very well. My numbers have been good and I've been able to stop taking two oral meds and cut my insulin by half.

Just Miscellaneous Thoughts

On August 19th we gave my mother in law her 90th birthday party. We had close to 60 people here plus children and had a great time. Some of her relatives came from Florida and California - it was amazing. Of course we spend about 3 days before the party cleaning and catching up the yard work to get ready.

My father was too lonely to be in the house without my mom so he asked to go to the rehab center/adult home he was in last year. So far he loves it to have company around to talk to. The grief from my mom's passing will not go away but at least this will help him some.

On the way home from work I listen to Focus On The Family most days (depending on their subject) and I really like it. If only we could all live lives the way they talk about it would be a much better world to live in; imagine peace and love instead of the increasing violence our world has.

Since My Last Post

Since my last post about a month ago my wife (Dot) and I had to make an emergency trip to Tampa; my mom passed away and my dad is 89 years old and pretty frail and actually we thought we had lost him last year but he rebounded thanks to God. My mom passing was quite a shock and I still have a hard time believing that it happened.

Our cute grandchildren are here tonight through Sunday night so things will be quite hectic. I have so much to do this weekend I don't know how I will get it all done. I have a lot of weeding in the front flower beds and trimming and planting some new plants we bought and cleaning up the junk in the garage and geeesh I am making myself tired.

We are finally getting some warm weather here in upstate NY and have gone almost a full day without rain - yay!

Focus On The Family

Lately I have been listening to a radio show coming home from work called "Focus On The Family" and on todays show they were talking about a game some kids today are playing called the "Choking Game" where they are choked until they pass out and when coming to they have a high euphoric felling like you get with drugs and alcohol. This game is addictive as the kids love that good felling and play the game more and more frequently. If they play it by themselves then they need some kind of a device to choke themselves. And the frightening part is that this game kills off thousands of brain cells everytime it is played and some kids develop problems such as loss of memory and seizures among other things. And there are some kids to die playing this game.

As a grandfather with two grandkids in the age group that play the game (10 to 15 is the largest group) it scares the heck out of me.

Old Horrors

Recently I saw a documentary on HBO called "Paperclips" about a school (from Whitwell Tennessee) project kids did about the Holocost and just watching that show and thinking about what those people went through in the death camps was overwhelming and once in a while I had tears running down my face.

This show reminded me of the book "Anne Franks Diary" which I have always wanted to read but have never gotten around to buying it; maybe my next good payday.

Coincidently my wife taped a show that was on Oprah about the Holocost and she interviewed a man who had survived it. It was very touching and frightening at the same time to think that some people are evil enough to do that to other people. Six million Jews were murdered and another Five million people for a total of Eleven million people were murdered in the death camps.

When I think of this I am reminded of a song / poem that Rod McKuen wrote and sang - it goes something like this "It makes me cry to see the things that some men do to one another".

Memorial Day

At church this morning we remembered thos who paid the ultimate price for protecting our freedom. Although I served during Viet Nam I wasn't in the front lines carrying a gun and I don't know first hand the horror of what those men went through. My prayers go out for them and their families.

My time in the Air Force was something I do not regret; it made me grow up real fast. And although I'm proud the bombs we loaded on the B-52's protected our ground troups I often wonder about those that our bombs killed. As a man who will not ever own a gun I oftem wonder about that and I pray that our bombs never killed any innocent civilians.

If the whole world were to come to Jesus Christ we would not need any more wars or guns or anger. I guess evil will always be in the world I just pray that we are strong enough to stand up against it.

Life - Am I Lost Or What

I used to think that if I kept plodding away that somehow someday things would get better or easier. I don't think that anymore, as I think about everything going on in my life I get very overwhelmed and just don't know what to do about them. I do try to keep a smile on my face and make jokes whenever I can but somedays I just get withdrawn and moody as I brood over things. I wonder if it is too late for me to run away and join the circus?

Cell Phones and Driving

When NY passed the hands free cell phone law I was against it and thought it was a total waste. But lately I have noticed in my travels to and from work that when someone does something incredibly stupid and dangerous that 99 per cent of the time they are on a cell phone. Of course I believe the key is not in being hands free but the fact that they are not paying attention to what they are doing.

And Now It's May

Well here it is May; I missed posting for the whole month of April.. . . . oh well thats life. April was both my sons and my birthday - I decided to keep holding at 39 again.

Several weeks ago I joined the church I had been going to "United Church of Cohoes" - it is a Presbyterian church. Since I grew up in a Presbyterian church it is a good fit although it is a bit more charasmatic than I thought I was comfortable with. But when I walk in I can feel the energy and love of the congregation.

I took a 3 day training course for work this week. It was on being a business analyst for software development. It is very interesting but good old NY decided to give it in downtown Albany where there is no parking except some paid lots nearby. I found out there is a residential area close by and left really early each day and cruised until someone left for work and then I took the spot and walked to the training building. I am really glad that is over.

Favorite Blogs

Two blogs I have run across in the past several months or so that I regularly visit are "bogbumper" which has many pictures of birds and nature and a few other things and I think they are about the best, most beautiful pictures of birds I have ever seen. Another blog is called "New York Hack" and is by a lady cab driver in NYC and she posts pictures during her shift and talks about the many people that she transports in her cab and she is a very interesting writer; however the language and submect matter can be very colorful so if you offend easily you may want to steer clear of it; myself I love it and go back regularly to read it.

Worship Workshop

The Lenny LeBlanc worship workshop will be help at the United Church of Cohoes.
When: Saturday May 6th 2006
Where:United Church of Cohoes NY
Time: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

And also: Lenny is is a very acomplished musician and has many songs to his credit. His team will be leading worship at The United Church on Sunday morning May 7th.

St. Patrick's Day

The next Holiday coming up is St. Patrick's Day. This holiday is given to us like you would throw a dog a bone. A holiday with no high expectations, no shopping, no cooking a large 3 course meal with 100's of desserts; this holiday is just fun! ! ! One of the best holidays ever! Just wear something green and eat corn beef and cabbage maybe some green food coloring in the beer or whatever you choose to drink. And as the old country song says just "Live, laugh and love".

Apology

I just saw this on the web and liked it so much I thought I would share it with everyone:

An apology is a friendship preserver,
is often a debt of honour,
is never a sign of weakness,
is an antidote for hatred,
costs nothing but one’s pride,
always saves more than it costs
and is a device needed in every home.

Baseball Season

Well my dad told me that the pitchers and catchers were reporting to training camp already so I guess the season is about to start. I haven't followed baseball in many years except to look at the standings and stats in general. But every year I tell my self that "this year" I would pay more attention to it. I'm not even sure I know what team I would follow anymore. Since the Yankees are doing spring training in Tampa (where I was born and raised) I might lean that way. . . but I'm sooooo confused.

Poem "House By The Side Of The Road"

The House by the Side of the Road
Sam Walter Foss
(Born June 19, 1858; died February 26, 1911)

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the place of their self-content;
There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner's seat,
Or hurl the cynic's ban-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears,
Both parts of an infinite plan-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
But sill I rejoice when the travelors rejoice,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road-
It's here the race of men go by.
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are
strong,
Wise, foolish -- so am I;
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat,
Or hurl the cynics's ban?
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Valentines Day

Yesterday was Valentines day and was also our 36th Anniversary. Geeeesh it can't be that long can it? Oh well. We went out to dinner last evening with my son and his fiance and her parents and had a grand time. We ate a Romano's Family Restauant here in Clifton Park NY. The food is great and the atmosphere is fabulous.

This past weekend we watched the Womens Hockey team win two games in the Olympics. They look just super. I just can't find any weekpoint for them except that maybe their goalie doesn't get tested because their offence is so strong. I can't wait to see their next game (providing it isn't on when I am at work).

I'm So Tired

Sometimes life just wears me down. Things aren't going badly enough so this morning I discovered we had water in the celler and the heat and hot water were out. I waded in the celler to try to find our submersable pump but it wasn't there; my legs were so numb they hurt. After I found the pump and got it working I discovered it just wasn't going to be enough so I went out and charged another pump and a garden hose to take the water away. It wasn't until around 6 p.m. tonight the water was finally down and I set about getting the heater to run on so we don't freeze to death tonight. Then I got the hot water heater to turn on so we can survive the night. I have an early meeting at work tomorrow or I would consider sleeping a little late.

On another note my Bucaneers lost, my sons Bears lost and so I was going to pull for Indianapolis . . . but they also lost. I guess at this point I don't really care who wins the Super Bowl.