Happy Halloween

Man it was cold tonight. A brisk north wind was blowing as my daughter and I braved the elements to go out and collect the annual candy stash. She had a great time running from house to house, but I have to admit I think I was having more fun watching her trick or treat. We were walking around the neighborhood with my sister, brother-in-law, and my niece. To be a kid again without really a care in the world at that age. After about 20 houses she stops, looks up at me, and says, "Daddy, I think I'm done". Just like that...she was done trick or treating and wanted to get home to check out her goods. We walked back the house and spent the rest of the night as the official candy hander outer at our house. Believe it or not I think she may actually have had a better time handing the candy out with my wife. She greeted every kid as the door opened and told each of them she liked their costume..she even threw in a few trick or treats before the kids at the door could get the words out. A good night was had by all. Happy Halloween everyone, no I must retire to bed and work through this tummy ache..to many snikerdoodles. Oh..reason for the Tigger picture is that was my daughters costume.

Vinnie quits???!!!!

Batman and robin, Butch and Sundance, Chocolate and Peanut Butter, Yin and Yang, all these things exist in harmony together. Because of this balance the space/time continuum remains stable. Any hint of an imbalance and you get a paradox. Well people, prepare for the worst. The space/time continuum took a blow recently that may just cause that paradox bringing all that we know to an end. The Team of Pauly and Vinnie has been dissolved...unbelievable. With the completion of the first e85 chopper ever constructed, Vinnie decided to leave OCC and strike out on his own. I could not believe me eyes watching the season finale from my Fresno Holiday Inn hotel room. Vinnie actually called it quits and left Orange County Choppers. I have to admit I did get a bit misty watching the Vin man pack up his tools and leave. I think Mikey may have taken the news the hardest as he was without words as Vin was leaving. It is the end of an era.

A day off, however not a day of rest....

I was at work yesterday running through emails, answering phone calls, putting out fires, etc. Actually, I should stop and thank the travel gods about actually being in town for once. During the typical chaos of the day, I had a brief moment where I realized that my calendar was completely clean for today. The thought poppped, could I actually have a day where there are no meetings scheduled? I was looking at something that rarely happens. I blocked the time before anyone could jam something on it. I was home free...free to do anything I wanted...free...free...free. Well..reality hit this morning when my daughter woke up my wife and I bright and early...so no sleeping in was possible. I forced myself out of bed and took a shower at the same time I usually take a shower..man I was on a day off right? I came downstairs to the same chaos that I usually do...my wife battling our kids to eat their breakfast. I sat down to my cup of coffee when my wife said, "let's go, we have to get to the doctor for the kids check up". My day off was starting to look bleak. Then all the things that I have had no time to do started creeping into my head, and soon I had a list of 8 or 9 things to do. Was I sure that this was a day off, I am not at work right? Oh well such is life....

Vikings...consider them a hurtin unit!!

We are in deep trouble. Tavaris has moments of promise only to sink into delirium during the very next week or even the next play. The kid has an rocket for an arm, yet the precision of my son throwing his stuffed toy football. Actually, I may be biased however I think my son has actually thrown a more accurate ball to me during our early football training sessions here in the house. The coaching staff of the Vikings has no idea how to call a play or properly utilize a star running back who blew the doors off the Bears defense two weeks ago. What is this 50/50 usage of Adrian and Chester? Childress comes here with much hope and promise only to completely flounder as the leader of this team. My hope for a bright future anytime before my children graduate is slowly going into the toilet. Go Vikes...yay.

Vikings 34...Bears 31. We won???

What a game today. Tavaris was back and played alright. Still much room for improvement when it comes to pressure situations. Adrian Peterson in my new hero. This kid has got talent and speed to spare. Today he was the reason we got out of Chicago with a win. Well that and Longwell booting a career long 54 yard field goal to clinch it with but seconds on the clock.

Good game...GO VIKES!!!!

Thoughts on what some people have called my birthday...

Yes..it is that day of days, the day of my birth, the day I saw light for the first time, the day I took my first breath, the day I was introduced into the world. A day that will live in infamy. Who am I kidding, it's October 11th and that's it. Another day just like any other day, although I have to say I don't really feel any different. To tell you the truth I don't feel any different than I did when I was 28 ten years ago. I may be balder..oh and a little wider around the mid-section, but I must say I don't feel like I am 38. People say that you get wiser as you age, I don't feel any wiser...and my wife would attest to the fact that I am not any wiser. Hell my kids have already become smarter than I am. I guess all I can do is to keep moving forward..maybe someday I'll feel older and wiser. Until that day comes I will continue to play with my toys, eat, poop, and sleep. Man..life is simple, it's either cherry red..or midnight blue.

Happy Birthday!

11 October 1969
Your date of conception was on or about 18 January 1969 which was a Saturday.

You were born on a Saturday
under the astrological sign Libra.
Your Life path number is 1.

Your fortune cookie reads:
Your skill will accomplish what the force of many cannot.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2440505.5.
The golden number for 1969 is 13.
The epact number for 1969 is 11.
The year 1969 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/17/1969 and ending 2/5/1970.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rooster.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Raven; your plant is Ivy.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Choiach, the fourth month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 30 Tishri 5730.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 1 Heshvan 5730.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.17.16.3.1 which is
12 baktun 17 katun 16 tun 3 uinal 1 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Saturday, 29 Rajab 1389 (1389-7-29).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 6 April 1969.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 13 April 1969.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 19 February 1969.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 25 May 1969.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 1 June 1969.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 13 September 1969.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 3 April 1969.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 18 February 1969.

As of 10/11/2007 11:27:14 PM EDT
You are 38 years old.
You are 456 months old.
You are 1,983 weeks old.
You are 13,879 days old.
You are 333,119 hours old.
You are 19,987,167 minutes old.
You are 1,199,230,034 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:
Michelle Wie (1989) Michelle Trachtenberg (1985) Artie Lange (1967)
Luke Perry (1966) Joan Cusack (1962) Steve Young (1961)
Dawn French (1957) Elmore Leonard (1925) Art Blakey (1919)
Jerome Robbins (1918) Eleanor Roosevelt (1884) Henry John Heinz (1844)

Top songs of 1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In by Fifth Dimension
In the Year 2525 by Zager & Evans
Get Back by Beatles (with Billy Preston)
Sugar, Sugar by Archies
Honky Tonk Women by Rolling Stones
Everyday People by Sly & the Family Stone
Dizzy by Tommy Roe
Wedding Bell Blues by Fifth Dimension
I Can't Get Next to You by Temptations
Crimson & Clover by Tommy James & the Shondells

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 5.4320939334638 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

Your lucky day is Friday.
Your lucky number is 6.
Your ruling planet(s) is Venus.
Your lucky dates are 6th, 15th, 24th.
Your opposition sign is Aries.
Your opposition number(s) is 9.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 366 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 39 candles.

Those 39 candles produce 39 BTUs,
or 9,828 calories of heat (that's only 9.8280 food Calories!) .
You can boil 4.46 US ounces of water with that many candles.


In 1969 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1969 the US population was approximately 179,323,175 people, 50.6 persons per square mile.
In 1969 in the US there were approximately 1,800,000 marriages (9.3%) and 479,000 divorces (2.5%)
In 1969 in the US there were approximately 1,712,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1969 the population of Australia was approximately 12,407,217.
In 1969 there were approximately 250,175 births in Australia.
In 1969 in Australia there were approximately 112,470 marriages and 10,930 divorces.
In 1969 in Australia there were approximately 106,496 deaths.


Your birthstone is Tourmaline

The Mystical properties of Tourmaline

Pink Tourmaline promotes female balance and protection. Green Toumaline promotes male balance.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Opal, Jasper

Your birth tree is

Rowan, the Sensitivity
Full of charm, cheerful, gifted, without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good


I know, I know...more than anyone wanted to know about my birthday. My apologies dammit...after all it is MY BLOG and you are a guest here fro cryin out loud!!!

Working out again..been a while

I have over the last few months began lifting again with very positive results, although I have noticed that with age comes a slower recovery time as well as a bit more creaks and cracks as the heavy weights go up. I have reached a 280 lb. bench, a feat I had not accomplished since college all those years ago. A personal goal of mine since 2 years ago I went through some major shoulder surgery on the right arm that took 3 months of physical therapy and another 8 months of recovery time.

What I do find to be kinda funny is seeing all the youngsters in the weight room. I find it funny because I used to be just like them. Attempting to lift weights that they know are WAY TO HEAVY for them. You see them loading the plates on the bar, laying down on the bench, grabbing the bar, breathing heavy with the first lift, only to see the bar crash down on their chest. Just yesterday I thought this kid's head was gonna blow off as the bar hit him square in the chest. If I hadn't of pulled the bar up it (his head) very well might have come off. I cracked a smile when he said, "thanks for the spot man..I had it". "No, you didn't" I said, as I warned him about breakin his shit trying to lift to heavy. Other's are walking by every mirror they can checking themselves out of the corner of their eye..flexing to make sure that everyone sees just how freakin ripped they are. Turning sideways between machines cause they are just to wide to walk straight through. Show Boaters, Grand Standers, Wannabe Superstars, ridiculous, and I was just like them. When I think about it, it's quite a humbling experience really. Was I really that much of a punk ass idiot? Yes...yes I was.

Meat..meat..the magical food....farewell

A friend of mine has been chronicling his journey of a life without meat. Although he did not start said journey because of health reason's, the affects have been beneficial to his health. The result is weight loss. There is nothing I like better than sinking my teeth into a think steak doused in 'chup. Now it can't be just any 'chup, there are unwritten laws that must be followed regarding the use of 'chup as there is no room for bootleg 'chup. And those that use bootleg 'chup should be completely destroyed with extreme prejudice. My thoughts and opinions regarding the useless and quite ridiculous discussion of the difference in 'chup and bootleg 'chup will have to fill the halls of another blog post. Anyway...through my friends example I have also decided to begin a journey of a life without meat to see what that life will bring. Consider this.....October 8th 2007, a day that will live in infamy...or just call it Day 1 of operation Absence of Meat.

Wish me luck..I am already craving a hamburger and I just finished typing this damn blog entry.

Damn quizzes...

Why the hell can't the programmers of these fucking quizzes get the graphics to line up right. These damn things just end up screwing your Blog up and making it look freakin retarded. AAAAGH!!!!

For you Scif-Fi lovers..a quiz of Serenity

The quizzes are abound yet again....looks as though I am...

Your results:
You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)

Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 75% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 70% Wash (Ship Pilot) 70% Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 65% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 50% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 45% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 40% Alliance 35% Inara Serra (Companion) 30% A Reaver (Cannibal) 25% River (Stowaway) 20%

Honest and a defender of the innocent. You sometimes make mistakes in judgment but you are generally good and would protect your crew from harm.

Click here to take the Serenity Personality Quiz

Signs that you could be a Minnesotan...

A buddy of mine not from this great state of mine sent this to me. Surprisingly accurate although not totally. It is quite scary what other's perceptions of us are. Stupid foreigners!!!!!

You measure distance in minutes.
Down south to you means Iowa.
Snow tires came standard on your car.
75% of your graduating class went to the University of Minnesota.
People from other states love to hear you say words with O's in them.
You hate Fargo but realize that a lot of your family has that accent.
You assume when you say "Twin Cities" people know to where you're referring.
You know what uff-da means and how to use it properly.
You own an ice house, snowmobile, and a 4-wheel drive vehicle.
You know that when it comes to AM, there is only WCCO; besides, what else do you need?
Everyone you know has a cabin.
You consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping the food will swim by.
You are proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation.
You have refused to buy something because it's too "spendy."
You're a card-carrying member of both the NRA and the ACLU.
Your local Dairy Queen is closed from December through February.
You have no concept of public transportation.
You instinctively walk like a penguin for three months out of the year.
Someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there.
You know more than one person that has hit a deer.
Your dad's sun tan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead.
You have apologized to a telemarketer.
You may not have actually eaten it, but you have heard of Lutefisk.
You know what Mille Lacs is and how to spell it.
Nothing gets you madder than seeing a Green Bay sticker on a Minnesota car.
You have worn shorts and a parka at the same time.
You have either a pet or a child named "Kirby."
Your town has an equal number of bars and churches.
You have had an entire telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number.
The only reason you go to Wisconsin is to get fireworks, to fish, or to buy beer on Sunday.
You know how to say Wayzata, Mahtomedi, and Shakopee.
You grew up thinking rice was only for dessert.
You think that ketchup is a little too spicy.
You drink POP, not SODA.
You always believed that vacation meant "going up north."
Every January, from age 2 to l3, you let your older siblings talk you into putting your tongue on a steel post.
You consider Lime Jell-O a highly versatile food: a breakfast dish when filled with fruit, a salad when it has shredded carrots and a dab of mayonnaise, and a dessert when topped with Dreamwhip.
You never had to rewind any part of "Fargo" because you missed some of the dialogue.
You call highways freeways.
Your town has an annual festival honoring a fruit, vegetable, or ethnic food.
The first time you saw "Grumpy Old Men," you thought it was a documentary.

My son the monkey

My son has learned his skill. He has the god given talent to scale any object, preferably something that will assist him in gaining any altitude higher than his mere 26 inch frame will allow. Over the weekend it rained here....when I say rained..it poured basically day and night. I emptied the rain gauge each morning and each time it had no less than 3/4 of an inch each time. Long story longer, the plethora of rain caused a situation where the kids were forced to stay inside over the weekend. Because of this..a serious case of stir crazy was upon us mid-way through Saturday afternoon. One of the symptoms that first reared it's ugly head was my son's aptitude for climbing. Anything was game; stairs, chairs, tables, ladders, my leg, my wife's leg, the kitchen cabinets, the railings, you name it and he was climbing it. Now, it would have been tolerable had he only climbed things. Unfortunately, his climbing things ultimately had an ulterior motive. Out of all the things that he enjoys climbing on, his favorite is by far the kitchen table. He begins by pulling one of the chairs out, climbing on top of that, and then onto the top of the table. Late Saturday afternoon, I came downstairs, turned the corner, and who happened to be sitting on the table but my son. The minute I hit the hard wood floor, his head turned and his expression was similar to our friend pictured in the upper left corner of this blog entry. Dad had come down just in time to discover that my son had emptied the contents of the salt shaker onto his head and all over the table. He had been joined in the crime scene by his accomplice, Hobbes the Cat who was doing his best to lick up all the evidence. BUSTED! All I could do was laugh. What was that kid thinkin?