Duke of hazard? C'mon guys

I am appalled. I grew up watching the Dukes. My dad had a 69 charger that didn't run. I spent me whole summer hood sliding and climbin through the window. To me the Dukes may have been all about bad acting, running moonshine, and scantily clad girls with big parts, but at 8 years old, it was my life. Now they've gone and messed it ALL up. Dumb A.. oh I mean Jackass host Johnny Knoxville is playing Luke, and Seann William Scott is playing Bo. Jessica Simpson is Daisy, and the only GOOD role portrayals I see will be from Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg (Now trimmed down and skinny) and Willie Nelson as Uncle Jessie. I don't know if I can even go see this. It'll probably be like a really bad Mad TV Skit. More on this later. Oh yeah you better believe it. I'm ticked.

Photo Friday

Ghostly!

I WANT MY LAPTOP!!!!!

I ordered my Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop on February 16. Elizabeth, the super nice salesperson was SO incredibly helpful in making sure I got what I wanted while staying in my budget (Plug for Elizabeth who will HOOK YOU UP!). She told me the ship date would be Feb. 25. I am completely fine with that. But I neglected to remember how ridiculously IMPATIENT I am. I've been tracking the order on an hourly basis, watching it go through the pre production phase, the testing and boxing phases. I'm saying HURRY UP. I WANT IT NOW!!! This is not Dell's fault. I'm the impatient one. Since my Compaq 1501 caught fire and smoked me out of my office, I've been using the P67 laptop. It's great, but so many people need it. Namely P67. The mission team also needs it. I can't wait to give it to them because that means my impatience will have given way to overjoyed excitement because I GOT MY LAPTOP!!! I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT. I WANT IT NOW!!!!!!! WHERE IS IT, GET OUTA MY WAY!!! IS THAT THE FED EX GUY???!!!!! HEY, COME BACK HERE!!!!!! MR. FED EX GUY!!!!!!!! oh, sorry, got carried away. UPDATE: I just receved my tracking # and my NEW LAPTOP will be shipped via UPS. YOU GO BROWN! YOU GO BROWN! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!! IT'S... oh sorry. It should be here Monday. I'm so excited and I jus can't hide it. I'm abOUT TO LOSE CONTROL AND.... oh sorry again.. Read on for all the new laptop adventure.

Can I get excited yet?

I want to be excited about something going on but I'm afraid I'll be disappointed. Maybe "afraid" is too harsh a word. I'm not scared, I just don't want to get my hopes up just to set up for the letdown... If it comes. I'm not one of these worry wart people who can't enjoy life because something "may go wrong." But on past experience I have learned to limit my expectations for the sake of my sanity. Maybe it's a coping mechanism. I can say I trust God (yeah, he is in control of the universe whether we understand it or not) to handle the situation and to handle ME if I don't get what I want, and I hope that's where I am, instead of just skeptical. Part of me wants to SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!!! The other part of me wants to forget anything's going on until certainty takes over. Oh well, I wrestle with myself for now. Hopefully, I can shout later. Yesterday on American Idol: Dawg! Randy got some new choppers over the weekend. Did you see those pearly whites?

WHere Are You From?

So, where are you from? I'd love to see how far this thing reaches. LEAVE a comment and feel free to come back.

Photo Friday

Today's Challenge: RURAL

Another Chance for Roadhouse Grill

I want to add an update to a previous post. I got a call from the general manager at the Roadhouse Grill in Harbison (Columbia, SC) after leaving a comment on the corporate website. He apologized for the bad experience and offered to make up for it if we would let him. I am obliged to take him up on it. Let me just say the food was terrific, it was the service that was lacking. He made no excuses. He only wanted to make it right. I REALLY admire that. Too many excuse makers. They already gained 5 more points just for that. So, as for now, we have them up to an 8. After we go, I'll see if we can go any higher. Props to Erik for making it right. Thanks Roadhouse Grill Crew.

Hitch Review

On a Scale of 1-10, this one gets and 11! What a movie. Hitch was great. I won't go into a full review but you gotta see this one. I am the kind of husband who wants to go to the theater to watch excitement, adventure, stuff blowing up, shooting and action. Cheesey chick flicks are much better when i can pause, go to the bathrom, fall asleep and pay a fraction of the price. But this movie was well worth the money. Will Smith is great but He doesn't make the movie. The cast of charactars compliment each other very well. I would call it a hilarious, well rounded movie that kept me laughing the whole time. Most "funny" movies put all the best parts in the previews. Not here. This one gets even better. Great date movie for young and old.

Roadhouse Grill Review

ON A SCALE FROM 1-10, I give it a 3 Kim and I had a reservation at Roadhouse Grill in Columbia for 7 PM this past Saturday night. We were joining Kim's family we see maybe 3 times a year. You'd think a place that big could seat party of 10 even on a Saturday. They had several hours notice on the reservation and we even expected a little delay. After 45 miniutes of waiting and asking about our table, we were told another group of 25 were coming in @ 7:30. They were already late and weren't expected until 8:30, but they had to hold their tables. Becuase of this, we were faced with a delimma. Leave and go wait another hour at any other resteraunt or sit at 3 different tables that couldn't be pushed together. We opted for the latter. 3 different tables. You'd think it would be over. It still took us almost an hour to get our food. The manager came out a number of times to see if we were ok. Each time I showed my disapproval in a very nice way. I finally made the comment, "I'll be doing a lot better when I get my steak." His response was classic. "Well sir, unfortunately a party of 25 had their order put in before you and it has us backed up a little." No I'm sorry, or we're working on it or nothing, only excuses. We finally get our food and I have to admit, it was VERY good, but not worth the hassle and wait. We enjoy our meals while making jokes and calling the other tables with cell phones. When we get our checks, much to my surprise, they added gratuity because we were still technically a party of 10, even though we had three different check and three different tables. Of course, I nicely protested. They offered to take it off, but I paid it anyway. I also let them know that whereas the food was great, it really wasn't worth it and that I would not be coming back. I decided to email the link to this post to the corporate headquaters of Roadhouse Grill. Roadhouse, You have been negatively blogged. I think next time we'll take our buisness to Smokey Bones.

SNOW!!!

I finally saw some snow. I had to go to WV to see it, but BIG FLUFFY FLAKES ALL DAY LONG made it well worth the trip. I went with some High School SR's from Ben Lippen. Great trip. I hope to get at least one more ski event in before it gets to hot. Got a wedding today and gona take a long deserved nap. Might be gin out with Kim's family tonight depending on how she's doing. After lunchtime, It's free time. Have a great weekend.

Photo Friday. Luscious!

I Smell Smoke

It's OVER. IT'S OVER. No, not only late fees at blockbuster. My 2 year relationship with my Compaq 1501 laptop is finished, finito, kaputz, OVER! Monday afternoon, she went out in a blaze of glory. Literally with sparks, smoke and everything. It stunk up the office. I don't know how it happened. I think Cliff was up to something. He couldn't hack my xanga so he decided to blow up my laptop. Today, along with getting ready for my WONDERFUL students, I will be looking for someone who can download my hard drive. Then, I'll go to the powers that be and beg for another laptop. There will be a memorial service for my laptop before high school worship tonight. Let the mourning begin.

No Name Post

It's amazing how communication works. Email, cell phones, memos. But none quite get the point across like a face to face conversation. I'm a student of people. I love to see actions and reactions. I love to watch when they aren't trying to impress anybody. I love to hear vocal inflections, see facial expressions, look people in the eye. It's a lot harder to fool someone that way. It's a lot harder to hide behind formality. I remember going to Promise Keepers in Atlanta in 96. Jack Hayford started off his talk in front of 60,000 men with a very simple statement. Something along the lines of, "Imagine we've known each other for years and we're sitting down at the breakfast table, drinking coffee and havng a heart to heart talk." He had me at the coffee part. No, he really had me at the heart to heart part. I found out yesterday that a lot of doubts and misconceptions are cleared up face to face. In a technological world, we need face to face. Keep it real. l8r

Busy Week

I hate to NOT post because I like people to see something new when they drop by. So I make it short and sweet. I'll be in meetings all day and I can't wait to get home at 10PM to see my wife for 30 minutes before i totally collapse from exhaustion. It'll be a long one. I hope yours is great.

I Like It!

Check this out. email me for a free month. I am IMPRESSED with Vonage internet phone service. I ordered Wednesday and had my equipment by Saturday. Here's what they offer. $24.99 - unlimited local and long distance calling Caller ID Call Waiting Voicemail Call forwarding 3-way calling 911 access, and more. I'm currently paying almost $50 for all of this through my local phone company without the long distance. There is also an option to forward to a cell phone if your internet goes out. If you are interested in a free month of service, email me and I can send a referral. They actually give you your second month free. Give it a try.

Photo Friday Left Overs

I'm going to leave up photo friday even though I'm almost sure you're really not impressed with my ugly mug. I just got done watching The Order. I'm now watching Flatliners. The question seems to be what part does death hold for us. This is not a morbid post, but one I want to spend more time with. I'll add to it later. Right now, I'm going to enjoy the movie. l8r Phot Friday: Distorted Take the Photo Friday Challenge! Click Here.

SNOW?

NOT! No Snow, At least not here. I was supposed to be in a lot of it by now. The plan was for me to go with the 5th and 6th graders to Winterplace, WV for tubing. Should have left @ 4 today and would return by Saturday. Well, didn't happen for a number of reasons. BOTTOM LINE, NO SNOW!!! I want snow!!! REAL SNOW. FOr all you northern folk who are sick of it, send it down here. I WANT IT!!! GIVE ME SNOW (as jayuff is throwing his laptop across the room, rolling around on the floor, kicking and screaming like a 2 year old)!!!!! OK, I feel better. I have my chance to go skiing next week, Thursday and Friday. I have to be back fo ra wedding rehersal Friday Night, but we'll se how it works out. If you have snow, enjoy it.

Thanks Rick, or Erik, or whoever started this.

On A Serious Note

I know a real special person who is struggling because of the pressures of life. Too much to do with too little time and way too many expectations. I know how she feels. The world seems like it's spinning way too fast and you just want to get off of it for a while and find the center of YOU, not what everybody else expects you to be. I think we all go through these times. They actually can lead to incredible times of growth. If you think about it today and if you pray, Lift up Tia. l8r

You ever wake up...?

You ever wake up wondering what day it is? I was praying and hoping this morning was Saturday and I mistakenly set the clock to get me up @ 5:45. No such miracal. Not even hump day yet. I'm still suffering from my Xbox thumb but we've added another ailment. When I was 20, I was with my church group and I did something stupid. For those who know me, your probably saying, "What else is new?" I got very adventurous at a swimming hole above the natahala river in Bryson City, NC. I jumped off a rock into a swimming hole. No big deal right? The rock was 65 feet above the water. I landed wrong and cracked my tail bone. Yeah, go ahead, i had a pain in the @#!!. Over the last 13 years, I have had a few problems, but the biggest is this severe back pain that lasts several days at a time. All I can do is take some advil and keep it stiff. OUCH!!!! So, I'll try to work today and probably come home early to rest. I guess it's a good thing it's not Saturday. I want to feel better on my day off. WEATHER ALERT!!! They said it yesterday. Possible snow by the weekend. It'll never happen. Thanks Guys. It's ALL your fault. l8r