HDTV

Nephew and Niece gave me their flat screen Hi Definition TV.

Larry the Cable Guy came this week and installed the CableCard (I despise set top boxes) as well as changed a couple of cables in the house that had degraded plus he boosted the signal at the connection out at the street corner.

I'm already hooked on Hi Def programming - the picture is so vivid. I called Charter this morning and added their HD Tier. Which is a rip off - $9 for 8 additional HD Channels. But I now get ESPN and ESPN2 (but not The Ocho) which will be great during college football and college basketball season. I also already watch Discovery a lot and Discovery HD is targeted right at me.

My grandfather used to like nature shows as well. He would have loved Discovery HD. I think he's where I picked up watching the wild animal shows. Remember Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom?

This Week Part 3

I told you Erika had the 'neat' room.

This is Mami and Adrian's room.

Of course, I'm teasing them. It's tough to have to live out of suit cases in between homes and moving. Plus their move is half way around the world so there's all the passport and visa stuff to take care of. The cats are in quarantine. Cars to get sold. What to keep, what to put in storage, what to ship to Tokyo. So many more decisions and things to do than just a move across town.

It's Friday evening and Erika and Mami are watching the Hockey playoffs.

I'm on the back porch posting these entries.

Adrian flew to NoVa this afternoon. He'll be back Monday. Then he's off to Beijing. I think.

Tomorrow, Erika goes to Saturday Japanese School.

I've got yard work to do tomorrow morning.

Plus - I've got to go into the office to catch up on some work there as well.

Life is good for now. It's great having family around. I'm going to really miss them when they move.

This Week Part 2

After only a day or two - this is how a neat single guy's house looks.

LOL




The last photo is Erika's room.

She has the neat bed room!

Change up in the routine can be good.

I've decided not to try and tidy up anymore. It's a no win.

Just go with the tidal wave and ride it out.

:-)

Mami has been trying to clean up daily to help me out. But honestly, they're working so hard on moving out of their house - she should just take a break.

BTW - their house sold today - even before it goes on sale officially tomorrow (Saturday). More about that and their impending move later.

Truth be told - I kind of like a topsy turvy change in routine. Not that I could ever live this way all the time. But it's a neat change of pace.

This Week Part 1

Due to upload size limitations, this entry is going to be posted in parts.


So much going on this week.

From my last entry, you'll remember that my nephew, his wife, and child are moving back to Tokyo.

A lot's transpired. This entry isn't about all of it - I'll fill in the details in a later entry.

This is a brief photo essay (in multiple parts) is about this week at Casa del Bill.

Monday - all were very tired and crashed at my house.

Notice how neat and orderly a single guy lives.


Erika checks out one of the raccoons.


After a hard day's work packing, movers loading up, cleaning their house up for sale, and all the associated stuff - the hot tub feels pretty good.

Meg Scott Phipps

First, let me say up front that my interactions with Meg Scott Phipps were very limited. I have never known her personally outside of legal proceedings from about 7 years ago.

Meg Scott Phipps was released from Federal Prison today. She was the former NC Commissioner of Agriculture, a position elected statewide. She was convicted on Federal charges stemming from illegal campaign contributions, doctoring checks, etc. Her replacement was Britt Cobb, appointed by the Governor. Britt ran for Ag Commissioner in the next election but was defeated by Steve Troxler.

Why blog about this?

Meg Scott Phipps was an Administrative Law Judge before she resigned to run for Agriculture Commissioner. ALJs hear contested cases based upon regulatory rules (North Carolina Administrative Law).

I used to work with the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources. I regulated, and issued permits for, Landfills. Yep – the place where your garbage goes.

Applying for, and receiving, a permit to construct or expand a landfill is a very complex, highly technical process. Landfill Permits are also very much in the public eye and can be emotionally charged for people living near a proposed site. My anecdotal guess is that 25% of the MSW Landfill Permits we (DENR) issued were subject to Petitions for Contested Case before an Administrative Law Judge. In essence – a civil lawsuit to overturn the issuance of a Permit.

Meg Scott Phipps’ very last case was the South Wake Landfill Permit (aka The Holly Springs Landfill) of which I was the Permit project manager and therefore the respondent of the petition (i.e. defendant in the lawsuit).

ALJ / Regulatory cases are usually very dry and boring. The cases are supposed to be decided strictly (by law) on if the rules / regulations / procedures were followed. They are NOT (by law) to be decided by ‘right or wrong’ – ‘fair or unfair’ - just if the rules were properly followed and applied by the regulatory agency.

The Holly Springs contest case was the first landfill hearing before Meg Scott Phipps and also her very last case. Having been through a number of contested cases, I was surprised by the relaxed way that MSP conducted her court – or rather – hearings. Forgetting to swear in a witness, no recording device available when a court reporter hadn’t been lined up, testimony that seemed to veer far and wide from the regulatory issues at hand. Actually, just kind of sloppy. I’d never experienced that before. (*See Notes below).

Her last day as ALJ was a Friday, the day she issued her ruling on this, her last case. She said she had been awake all night thinking about the case and finally decided to rule for the petitioners (plaintiffs). As she put it – no one was really right or wrong – everybody did their jobs right and in good faith. She just felt that “someone is [was] going to get screwed and I don’t [she didn’t] want it to be the people in Holly Springs”.

It seemed to me that facts and law were kind of pushed aside. She based her decision on her heart – not her head. Upon subsequent appeals, the Permit was ruled to stand. Which was the correct outcome. After all, we (DENR), and I specifically, would never issue a permit unless all the rules had been met. Why issue a permit incorrectly since it would be overturned at some point? Ultimately the Permit was upheld (Superior and Appellate Court) – my record at DENR was 100%.

MSP went on the win the Ag Comm position by a very close vote over Steve Troxler. Soon after, the scandal broke and MSP went to prison (with Martha Stewart BTW).

Britt Cobb was appointed and subsequently lost the next election to Steve Troxler.

Britt was then appointed Secretary of the Department of Administration (where I now work). He appointed Spiros Fleggas as his Chief Deputy Secretary. Prior to that, Spiros was the Director of the State Construction Office, where I work.

Personal Opinions

Britt Cobb is a very nice gentleman. He’s a pleasure to talk to and to work for. Spiros is an excellent life long State employee and serves Britt, DOA and tax payers quite well.

Meg seemed to me to be a really nice person but someone who forgot that you have to follow the rules. I don’t believe she was ever out for personal financial gain. Her shenanigans in the campaign fraud never were about personal enrichment – she just seemed to be in a political game and was in way above her head. Kind of a, sure, I’ll take a campaign donation from you. Oh, too much, over the limits? Well, we’ll just change the checks so they’ll be all right. That kind of thing.

Her decision in the Holly Springs case was long on heart but short on facts.

Another example - The very first motion hearing in that case was scheduled for a Tuesday. 3 days before, on Saturday, my mother was killed in a car accident. I was prepared to fly back for the hearing but when Meg found out from my lawyers what had happened, Meg immediately rescheduled the hearing so I could devote all my attention to family matters. Remember, we’re talking a high profile case, at least 6 lawyers (by my count), TV coverage, lots of public interest (at least 50 citizens by my count attended that first hearing when it was held) mounds of filings, motions and paperwork – all postponed at the last minute for one person with a family emergency.

Like I said – It seemed to me that MSP made decisions based on her heart.

I really wish Meg the best of luck. She’s made mistakes but she deserves a second chance. I hope things work out for her. She’s a nice person.

House Guests

Went by my nephew and niece’s during lunch break today to pick up a ladder. The movers were packing up and the house should be ready for showing by the weekend.

Since all the furniture will be in storage, they will be staying at my house. Don’t know for how long. Actually, I didn’t even know they were staying with me until I was getting ready to leave with the ladder; MIH pointed to 3 packed suitcases and told me to please put them in the truck as well.

LOL

I suspect they will also be spending some time with the in-laws in NoVa as well. It’s a big move back to Tokyo and GAH and CAH will want to spend as much time with their granddaughter as possible.

*Notes

This case involved a lot of firsts for me.

There was one important regulatory issue that I had questions about which I expected to be cleared up through this legal action. Instead, the petitioning lawyers took the “throw everything including the kitchen sink” approach. All of which were erroneous and mostly just plain wrong. By the time the one important question was reached – the petitioner’s credibility was already shot and the important issue wasn’t fully argued.

The petitioner’s case was finally taken on by a public advocacy group at the NCCU Law School. I was actually looking forward to some good interaction with what I expected to be top notch regulatory and public policy lawyers. Nope – these guys were no better than the local real estate attorneys who usually took these cases on as a favor to someone who lived next to the proposed landfill. Actually, in a lot of ways, these guys were worse. I sometimes wondered if they had ever even argued a case in actual court before.

Oh, and then there was one of the ‘expert' witnesses.

LOL

University edumakated PhD type feller. Who was dismissed from the stand as having no real expertise in the case at hand. These people just come crawling out of the woodwork sometimes. I actually enjoyed watching this particular narcissist self-righteous ass get humiliated by my lawyers and then dismissed by the judge. Afterwards, and I’m paraphrasing here, I overheard him say: “I’ve testified in Federal Court many times. I’ve never been treated like this before”. Boo hoo. Where's my violin?

The case eventually also involved allegations of ‘environmental racism’ and had legal filings submitted to the EPA’s Civil Rights Office. Wait a minute – you’re saying I made a permit decision based on race!?! No no – not you Bill. We know you’re a decent man and wouldn’t do that – it’s just that DENR has an institutional pattern and history of . . . blah blah blah. Wait a minute; stop right there. I did the work on this permit – you’re taking about me god dammit! That’s the only time during that case where I took some of the posturing personally. It still makes me hot remembering it. Dismissed without merit.

In one of the Superior Court proceedings – an attorney (but not representing the petitioners) was in the gallery watching the proceedings. During a critical part of that day’s arguments he decided he could shed some light on the subject – stood up in the audience and addressed the court (Judge Donald Stephens).

Now, what I just said may not sound like much – but believe me – That Shit Ain't Done!

Judge Stephens let the poor young attorney guy have all the rope he could handle – then lowered the boom and verbally strung him up right there in the court room. It was the best show the regular courtroom observers had seen in a long time. Even though the attorney was on the side suing me – I actually felt sorry for him and consoled him later after court. He was damn lucky he didn’t end up in County lock up for the night for contempt of court.

Over time I came to know and respect this guy. He later became the Town Attorney for Holly Springs. He’s a fine and decent man.

And – I have no proof – but I believe (notice I said I believe, not I know) with all my heart that one person totally / repeatedly lied – on the stand – under oath. Not about some trivial small stuff – he lied big time about big time stuff. I’d never ever seen that happen before. And not since.

Oh, and then there was the point where I ignored a Federal Judge’s order to appear for a deposition. Never did that before. It was part of playing hard ball with the petitioners when they were dragging the case out for about the 3rd or 4th year. It was kind of a “I double dare ya” to the petitioners - to see if they’d actually be stupid enough to ask for a bench warrant for my arrest (and the fact they’d have to ‘show cause’ thus revealing all their lapses and screw ups in not following court orders and rules to that point).

Long story short:

If Meg had just made the right decision based upon the facts in the very beginning – a long drawn out and costly case could have been averted.

Sometimes these cases can become wild and convoluted. This was just one case out of many I've been involved with. I’m a proponent of tort reform. Trust me – I’ve been there.

Quick Update

Nephew ADH and wife MIH and child EIH are moving back to Tokyo. Bummer; but,that’s where his job needs him and honestly, MIH will be happier there.

I’m thinking maybe a once a year trip over there for a one week visit. Not much time to visit considering the lengthy travel. But, I’m not going to spend all my vacation time each year just on a single trip to Japan. My brother, sister and I have a pretty much standing family vacation each winter in February and DB, JN and I seem to have started a Thanksgiving vacation trend as well. So I’ll only be able to fit in a week in Tokyo each year.

Since they’re moving, ADH has given me his flat screen TV. I need to be there at 7 AM Saturday to pick it up as they take EIH to Japanese school at 8.

Hmmmm . . . . He also has a smaller flat screen TV in the bedroom – wonder if I can snag that as well?

Also this weekend – I want to put plants in the hanging baskets on the back deck and bulbs in the ceramic pots also on the deck.

Plus – there’s still a bit of touch up and trim work with the planting beds I installed.

And – I got so much on my desk – I think I need to come into the office Sunday and knock out a few hours work.

Mundane but busy weekend in store.

Phone Conversation

Spoke to my sister in NoVa this morning. Amidst the usual chit chat and family stuff -

Me: "Do me a favor. Please go over to that idiot asshat Alberto Gonzales' house and tell him I said it's way past time for him to resign."

Sister: "I won't need to. His mother has already told him".

LMAO!

Winston-Salem

We’re finishing up work at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Driving over, I was quietly talking in the back seat with my co-worker RT. RT told me about a couple that are friends with him and his wife. The husband, Jamie, was studying and teaching German at UNC when RT worked there. Jamie’s wife is from Germany. They attended some of the same church functions, RT and Jamie were on a dart ball league together, and they did other outings. Jamie went to Virginia Tech to pursue his studies and to teach there. RT and his wife got the call this morning – Jamie was one of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Later in the day, I was perusing the Raleigh N&O. On the front page, reprinted from the Washington Post, was a description of the gunman entering a class room and shooting the instructor first, then the students in the class. I looked up, asked RT – “Was your friends name Christopher James Bishop?” Yes it was – why? I showed RT the article which was the description of his friend’s death.

It has been a tough day for RT and his wife V.

I’m writing this in my hotel room, checking email, catching up on some work.

RT is headed back home to Chapel Hill.

Like stones tossed in a pond – the ripples spread out in an ever widening circle.

Stevens Center

 

The Stevens Center was an old hotel and vaudeville theater. It’s a wonderful building. The NCSA renovated the building back in 1983 and it now houses offices, recital rooms and such. The huge theater is just wonderful. It’s showing it’s age though and could use some refurbishment.

The facilities person who maintains the Stevens Center is Ronnie Hunter. Also known as Big Ron Hunter. Ronnie is a blues player and will be performing at Shakori Hills this Friday evening.

Virginia Tech

People die at the hands of madmen every day.

Seems to happen most often in the Middle East, Africa, Indonesia.

Other places - far, far away. Places that are remote; places that are somehow - less civilized.

Closer to home - it feels worse.

I'm not religious. Used to be. Not for a long time now.

I would to God . . . .

Psalm 23 (KJV)

1. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

And I Thought I Spend Too Much Time . . .

I spend a lot of time thinking about college football and basketball. Specifically - NC State college sports. Along with just about everybody else in my office – we’re State engineering grads. As engineers having no social lives, we discuss State and ACC sports in some way or fashion just about every day.

Right now the topics are how recruiting went and what the upcoming seasons may be like.

I thought I spend too much time thinking about sports – but when it comes to basketball – Joe Lunardi of ESPN has everybody beat hands down.

Leading up to the NCAA Tournament, he publishes his picks for the NCAA brackets. Who's in, who's out, who’s bubble is going up, who’s bubble is likely burst. Great fun reading leading up to selection Sunday.

Well – he’s gone one further.

He’s already got his 2008 NCAA Bracket online!

Based on past performance, returning players, recruits and next year’s schedule – he’s got his picks and regions set. The little up and down arrows will indicate his projected teams’ movements throughout the year. Hell, he’s already got his bubble teams listed.

The NCAA Selection Committee already has their work done for them. Billy Packer can just stay home – analysis completed.

LOL

BTW – Looks who he’s got as his projection for the number 2 seed in the South Region (as of today anyway). Man, I hope he’s right.

Weekend

Friday




Went to a rodeo Friday night. I haven’t been to one since I was a kid. It was good family fun.

In addition to the bronc and bull riding, there were calf roping, barrel racing and other timed events.

One of the best parts was when kids under 10 chased some small calves that had ribbons tied to their tails. The kids who got the ribbon won a prize.

Now here’s a bit of a problem – this is almost the same thing that pray4ray was doing when he got hurt in Spain. Of course these kids weren’t drunk, and they were chasing small calves – not 1000 pound cattle. But, some of these kids were pretty small. They had adults with them to watch out for them but I was a bit worried that someone could get hurt. But – apparently it never happens. Still . . .

Saturday


Met up with Chip and Weeble at the spring NC State football game. Just about everybody played and you got an idea of what the different players could do. The newspaper estimated about 15,000 people attended.

Daniel Evans is clearly the best quarterback. And we’ve got 3 really strong running backs including a freshman (who hopefully will red shirt). Looks like we’ve got the potential for a balanced passing / running game.

I couldn’t really tell how well the offensive and defensive lines were. We’ll just have to wait and see. One thing I am sure of – we’ll do a hell of a lot better than last year’s 3 and 9 record.

As much as I wish Chuck Amato had been successful – we made the right choice by replacing him with Tom O’Brien.

Coach Amato did a lot to bring up the enthusiasm and expectations of Pack fans. The investment in facilities was planned before Amato arrived but he was the catalyst for getting it done. Unfortunately the on field performance didn't match the hype. Even though our past 4 or 5 years records are mediocre - our expectations are high. We figure, why can't NC State be a national football player?

I think TOB has what it takes to get us there.

It won't be easy. In the ACC alone there's Miami, Florida State, and Virginia Tech which are already there. NC State along with UNC, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Virginia all think they can be in the top 10 or top 20 on a regular basis and are pouring money into their programs.

One thing for sure, football is going to be pretty darn competitive in the ACC.

Sunday

Getting ready to go have brunch somewhere and then head into the office to get a little work done.

Might Addendum this entry later.

Afternoon Addendum

Screw going into the office. I have some things I wanted to get done today. But rather than make the drive all the way into Raleigh and back, I've decided I'll just go in early tomorrow and get a couple hours done before everyone else arrives. I get in at 7 anyway - and that hour before the rest of the gang arrives is my most productive everyday.

I'm just lazing around the house. Doing odds and ends. Doing laundry but that's about it.

The Texas NASCAR race is on the TV.

Nuke is upstairs in his space pondering world events.

Basically a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Spring Football Weekend

The NC State Spring Football game is this Saturday at 1300. Nuke is coming up Saturday morning to go to the game with me. Sunday I think we’ve been invited to dinner – but not sure. Nuke has the details. There's also a rodeo in Sanford Friday night and Saturday night - I think it starts at 2000 each evening. That might be worth going to. Nuke has a dentist appointment Monday morning in Raleigh so it’ll be a full weekend for him.

Coach O'Brien

I follow basketball and football recruiting a bit more than the average person because I’m a WolfPack Club member and season ticket holder. In fact, the football ticket order package arrived in the mail last week.

I like what I’ve been reading about recruiting under new head coach Tom O’Brien (Ret. Col. USMC). Academics seem to be more of an issue with potential recruits with TOB. Also, a lot of the talk is that TOB and staff have expanded their geographic recruiting base and are also credited with being able to spot underrated hidden talent. If that’s the case, I'll be very pleased.

TOB isn’t going to be a flashy splashy personality like Coach Amato. He’s more of a WYSIWYG kind of guy. Here are a couple of TOB quotes that I like.

On coaching at the Naval Academy:

“One thing about coaching at any of the academies, you learn how to coach,” O’Brien said. “You don’t have great talent all the time, but you really work hard to put your players in position to win. They have to go out and win the game, of course, but if they are fundamentally sound, believe in what they are doing and have faith in the person next to them, they are going to have a chance to win every time.”

On assembling his coaching staff:

“I always try to hire guys who are smarter than me and are better coaches than I am. The things I look for when I put my coaching staff together were guys who have good moral values, are good communicators and are good educators.”

Funny Article

National football signing day was back in February. Here’s a really funny article about recruiting by Terry Bowden – network TV game analyst and former Auburn Head Coach – son of Florida State Head Coach Bobby Bowden. He swears it’s true.

Hold My Sangria and Watch This

This entry really doesn’t do anything positive. In fact, it’s downright unkind. So why post it? Well, it’s how I feel so I might as well be myself and put it out there.

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I’m not always the sweet, lovable, kind, tolerant, sensitive, forgiving and all around great guy that everybody thinks I am. ;-)

A while back I posted an entry about Ray Ducharme who was seriously injured while doing some really stupid stuff to cattle in Spain.

I was annoyed at the pious tone in the news reports and especially on the pray4ray website at the unfortunate fate that befell this poor fellow.

In retrospect, maybe I was being a bit harsh. After all, somebody must have put a gun to his head and forced him into the bull ring. Probably the same person who held the gun and forced Ray and all his party buddies to consume all the alcohol so ubiquitous in the photos on the pray4ray web site at the time.

This article in yesterday’s Raleigh News & Observer (probably copied from the Charlotte Observer) reports that he’s recovering nicely. It truly speaks well for his determination and drive to recover so fully. I am glad he’s doing well. Regardless of how stupid he is, or was, I certainly didn’t wish him paralyzed.

He sounds a bit more reflective. Hopefully he was able to sober up during his long period of hospitalization and recovery.

I guess you can tell, a little stupidity goes a long way with me.

Of course, this guy outdid me with his blog entry about Ray.

I honestly do hope Ray recovers fully. His will power and hard work are impressive to say the least. All initial reports had him with no hope of walking and limited use of his arms. His recovery is a testament to his determination. However, I did not purchase a tee shirt they were selling to raise money on the pray4ray website. I think there are far more deserving causes where I can lend my financial support.

There are other young men and women who do dangerous stuff and get seriously injured. Many of them also face a long arduous recovery. You might want to check them out at Wounded Warriors.

There's also Habitat for Humanity. That's a pretty good cause.

And if you get a chance, click on AnySoldier.com in my links area.

Regular or Extra Crispy?

When I got home from work I started on putting fabric and chips under the back deck. Also laying out concrete squares (16 x 16) under the deck from the crawl space door to the back yard brick walkway. I got 26 of them yesterday.

That was fun.

Afterwards, I was relaxing on the porch when Nuke ‘Em called.

He’s coming to visit this weekend.

We'll go to the spring NCSU football game Saturday.

Hummingbirds

While sitting on the porch – I finally saw 2 hummingbirds at the feeder.

They’ve arrived!!!

I look forward to them every year.

Trailer

Just got a call from a Sanford friend. He wanted to know if he could borrow my yard trailer.

His kid is handicapped and he and a local group are taking a load of handicapped kids to a camp this weekend.

They have individual vehicles that accommodate wheelchairs. For this trip they have access to a hydraulic wheelchair lift. But no way to haul the lift to the camp.

OK to borrow my trailer?

Of course.

Just placed the keys and trailer lock bag on the front porch by the front door.

Regular or Extra Crispy?

How many times have you seen a burning car by the side of the road?

DB and I were driving west on I-40 back in what must have been the late 1980’s. I can’t remember where we were going. Possibly backpacking. Somewhere past Greensboro we drove past a Taurus that was on fire. I remember seeing the aluminum wheels melted. I remember that car because both DB and I had Ford Taurus (Taurii?) at the time.

A decade later, I’d built my house out in the boonies. Since I’ve been here, 10 years this August, I’ve seen 4 – yep – 4 vehicles on fire on US 1 between Cary and Moncure.

1 pickup truck, 1 white mini-van, 2 cars. Not burned out cars; these were on fire when I saw them. The pick up truck and one of the cars were pretty spectacular blazes.

Today after work, this Buick and the grass were on fire at the exit to my house. Others had already stopped and everyone was well away from the vehicle so I went the 2 miles to my house, got my camera and came back. In the 5 minutes it took to get the camera, the fire department had arrived and put out the flames.

Today’s car fire makes vehicle number 5 burning on US 1. What are the odds of seeing that many vehicle fires in one’s driving lifetime? Not cars that were in accidents and burned – I’m talking about cars that just caught on fire. And all on the same 15 mile stretch of freeway between Cary and Moncure. All during the morning or evening rush hour for that matter.

Plus, this is the same stretch of highway that had the airplane on it a couple years ago.

What is it about this part of US 1?

And Now, Apropos of Nothing – A Brief Editorial Opinion

His support for children with cancer and other health issues and Armed Service Veterans is wonderful. I think his apology is sincere. But in the end - Don Imus is a racist idiot.

Raccoons

I'm listening to music and watching the raccoons and possums eat peanuts from the bowl on the deck.

I know that God has a purpose for each and every critter.

But good Lord - Opossums are pretty darn Ugly.


How was your day?

Added Links

I've added links to blogs that my friends and relatives maintain. Well, some maintain better than others (hint hint Adrian).

(At this point, Flack frantically looks to see if there's a link to his blog. LOL)

These folks are pretty good writers. Well, I don't know if you'd call what Nuke publishes writing - hell - I don't know what it is.

Anyway - check 'em out.

If any of you would rather me remove links to your blog - let me know. Will do. Of course, removal will entail snide commentary.

Geeky Humor

My friends and family know that I like dorky humor. If you have any 'groaner' jokes - send 'em to me.

This is great. The line "this displeases me..." is when I started LMAO.

I love this kind of stupid stuff.

:-)

Hippitus Hoppitus Eousaum Accendo Actususm

Click on the Photos for a Closer Look







Not completely done yet, but you get the idea.

I’ve been wondering how to do the final ‘trim’ so that it will look clean and yet natural. While taking these photos it hit me. Instead of trimming the fabric – I’ll simply place additional bark nuggets over the fabric edge to the gravel drive. That will give the beds a natural looking transition to the gravel driveway.

Another dilemma is how to finish up the fabric and bark between the driveway and the wooded area.

Originally I was going to stop at the end of the front yard (such as it is) and the wooded area but that didn’t look right. As you can see, I carried the fabric and bark a little further out.

Stubby looking. Better than my first idea – but still not quite right.

Obviously I’ll have to carry the fabric and bark further around the curve of the driveway. Maybe to the large oak tree. That still might look stubby like it does now.

I’ll probably end up having to place fabric and bark all the way to the driveway entrance at the street.

Sigh – I thought I was almost done.

Tally so far is 150+ bags of pine bark nuggets, 4 rolls of fabric, 1 edging tool (indispensable), 3 rolls of plastic edging, 2 pair of work gloves, and $100 plus a steak dinner at Ruby Tuesdays for Nuke’s help last weekend.

Closing in on about a thousand dollars. Yikes!

(Niikuri-san: that converts to about a billion yen. Or – 2 drinks at that Geisha bar we went to. LOL)

And I still haven’t bought / planted a single plant or tree yet!

Still formulating ideas for what to plant. Whatever I plant will have to be flowering and colorful. Not just green shrubs. How boring. Why do people do that?

So far, I’m only sure of a Peach tree, a Cherry tree and a flagpole.

Plus – I have to start a vegetable garden next to the porch in the back. Otherwise Nuke won’t shut up about it.

That’s what started this whole project in the first place – the fact that Nuke insisted I “must grow” my own food for self sufficiency. Along with stockpiling a 3 month supply of non perishable food, 40 gallons of fuel and a weapon (shotgun) to defend myself and supplies.

More likely – the deer, rabbits and wildlife will eat the vegetable garden; the fuel drum will catch on fire and burn the house down; and while fleeing the house with a shotgun I’d trip and shoot myself in the foot.

Happy Easter.

Windy

Yesterday I almost finished with the planting beds. The plan was to finish this morning. I've been trying, but it's just too windy. I spent all my time chasing fabric. I'm going to have to wait till later in the day for the wind to die down or tomorrow to get it finished.

On a different note - this means nothing. But it's an indication that Coach Lowe is on track!

The spring winds and such remind me - There's 3 seasons.

Football Season, Basketball Season, and gettin' ready for Football Season.

There's 4 if you count NASCAR Season.

Spring Football Game is in 2 weeks.

Movie

The 10 NRA Commandments is typically broadcast around Easter. It's on tonight. I don't know why, but I really like this movie in all it's overblown glory. To me it's the archetypal "Hollywood Grand Spectacle" of the '50's and '60's. I honestly don't think I've ever seen it completely. It's so long, I usually fall asleep sometime after halftime, er, intermission. Maybe tonight I'll finally get to find out how it ends.

I just wrote a reminder to myself on a post-it note and stuck it on the TV so I wouldn't forget.

So let it be written . . . So let it be done. Preferably in it's entirety.

1983

April 4th, 1983

We weren't even supposed to be in the NCAA Tournament.

This was long before expansion to 64 teams. In 1983 only the ACC Tournament winner was assured of getting into the NCAA's. With few 'at large' spots available back then - maybe 2 other teams from the ACC might get invited. Probably Virginia with Ralph Sampson, Carolina, Maryland if they're lucky.

State, with injuries, had mounted up double digit losses. In 1983, no team with double digit losses got an 'at large' bid.

But we won the ACC Tournament.

Automatic Bid.

Of course, we could get bounced out the very first game. Out by the second game for sure.

So what the heck are we doing playing the University of Houston in the Championship Game? This was Phi Slama Jama - with future NBA superstars Akeem Olajuwon, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, Greg “Cadillac” Anderson!

Heck, 4 additional guys from this team were drafted by the NBA.

And how did we get past Virginia and UNLV anyway?

Houston, basically a pro team in college, will put us in our place. They'll slam us down in the first half. It won't even be close . . .

(Check out how young Brent Musburger is! Also notice how long Musburger and Billy Packer go without saying anything after the end - they were left speachless.)



I watched the games at Mitch’s Tavern on Hillsborough Street except for the final which I watched with a bunch of friends at one guy’s trailer on Western Blvd (where the Taco Bell is now).

The early round games were carried on this thing called cable TV on some sort of new fangled channel called ESPN. Mitch’s was one of the few places around that had it. Back then only the Regional Finals and NCAA Finals were on broadcast TV.

Mitch’s was always packed. Way past legal fire code capacity.

Since we were always supposed to lose, after each win there was a big spontaneous celebration on the Brickyard. After all, each win was going to be our last so we had to enjoy it while we could.

Mitch would always hand everybody a beer in a big plastic cup as he sent us out via the back stairs to the alley way. Couldn’t let us go out the front with beer in hand – he’d get busted by the police and lose his ABC license.

That sure was fun.

I’d like to win another one of those things someday.

Pretty Much Sums It Up

This cute skit pretty much sums it up for me:

Still Working On The Yard +Bike Addendum

Nuke visited this weekend and helped me install plant bedding edging, fabric and bark chips. Took the trailer and picked up a pallet of bark chips. There’s 62 bags in a pallet. By my count, I’ve installed about 110 bags so far, 4 rolls of fabric and 120 feet of edging. I think I’ve got enough fabric, but I’ll need a lot more bark chips.

Rough tally so far is about $330 for the chips, $260 for the fabric, $135 for the edging, $25 for an edging tool (very handy) and a few bucks for miscellaneous stuff. That’s what - about $750 so far? Haven’t even bought any plants yet. Stuff adds up in a hurry.

We got the back yard around and under the deck done and a start on the side of the house. I’ll work on the side yard and the rest of the front after work each day this week. Got about a third of the side done tonight. I should be finished by Friday if I work at it steady.

Really does improve the looks of the house if I do say so myself.

I had to reset some clocks last Thursday, but not all of them. Figured it was a quick power blip. While working around the house meter, I noticed that a brand new digital radio broadcast meter had been installed (Nuke pointed out the FCC number). That explains the power blip.

Getting ready to watch the NCAA Championship Game – it should be a good one.

Tuesday Addendum

I forgot to tell about the bike.


Saturday for lunch, Nuke and I went over to Ray’s Supermarket. Ray’s is a combination gas station, grocery store, hardware store and butcher shop. They still run hand written accounts for folks who have cash flow difficulties – which is unfortunately the vast majority around Moncure.

Anyway, Ray’s was celebrating their 50th year in business Saturday. They brought in a couple of grill trailers and a pig cooker and had lunch available for ‘old time’ prices. Hot dogs or hamburgers for 55 cents. BBQ and what have you. All proceeds went to the local youth center.

Lots of people showed up. They planned to have stuff going on from 11 to 6 – but they were already running out of food by 2.

They were also selling raffle tickets for various stuff with the grand prize being a 15-speed street / mountain bike.

Nuke won the bike!

That’s great for Nuke since he lives in downtown Southport. He tells me he usually walks around town and only uses his car to go to his folks over in St. James Plantation. Now he can bike around town.

And Yeah - We did some work.