Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?!

Er. . . kittens that is.

I have kittens. Well the neighbor cat (if the neighbors claim momma cat) had them some time in the last 36 hours. Thankfully after a huge hail storm had already passed by. Missed our house but we had some torrential downpour for a while.

She had them under a couple of wooden pallets stacked against our concrete retaining wall in a bed of leaves.

(sigh)

Kids are excited. Me too a little bit.

Momma cat is a sweet heart.

Would have loved to see what offspring would have resulted from our male and her genes mingling. But our male has long been 'fixed'.

We'll likely end up with a kitten. Ugh. Already have trouble keeping up with our Mongrel Dog and Mongrel Cat. We'll see.

Currently looking for a box to protect the litter or a bag to send em all down the river in. Wonder which I'll find first?

So, How do you like your cheerleaders?

What's with the "emasculation" of our cheerleaders?

Do you like them with small ones?



or like me, with big ones?



Is it just me or has pom pom shrinkage gotten out of control? Wonder what our politicians have to say about this?

Superdome vs. Homes; Priorities

It was the perfect place to start?

Maybe.

185 million dollars would have built 350 brand new, nice, homes.

And how much did the owner of the Saints contribute to the reconstruction project?

Will mom and pops who had their businesses damaged by the storm be bailed out so nicely?

The Superdome renovation - which included everything from extensive roof repair to sanitizing every seat - cost $185 million: $116 million from FEMA, $41 million from the Superdome Commission, $15 million from the NFL and $13 million from the state.

The FEMA money came from funds to cover uninsured losses to state property, which is separate from funds used to reimburse individual homeowners. The Superdome is one of nearly 1,000 state-owned facilities that will receive assistance.

"This money could not have been spent in the neighborhoods," Thornton noted.

Roy Mouledous, vice president of the Broadmoor Construction Management Agency that oversaw the project, said 30 of the Dome's 35 sub-contractors were locally owned.

"We need jobs and this generated construction jobs," Mouledous said.

Paying to Volunteer?

I'm headed back to Miss. Gulf Coast to continue rebuilding efforts as part of my Presbyterian Church's outreach.

Last time, we went and paid a little upfront money ($15/day) to cover soup kitchen costs.

Now?

The Miss. Presbytery is requesting a $100 tax/fee/donation for all Presbyterian 'volunteers'. I'm claiming highway robbery.

I'v "heard" complaints that they were having to pay for volunteers who'd show up with nothing. I saw none of that. I saw many, MANY folks with their own trailers and equipment. My church even put up money for our initial outfitting.

It's not our place to ship sheetrock down there though we've done it when given a donation in Atlanta. We'll go down there and put up, fix whatever the owner has on hand, clear debris or demolish as need be. That's the plan.

Really makes me wonder what the Miss. Presbytery really wants with this money. They shouldn't be collecting taxes/fees from volunteers to help bolster the poor or displaced residents either. If that's what they need, they should formerly ask for that kind of assistance.

Not to mention the possible inhibiting force on the free flow of volunteers (from within the Pres. Church) to the Miss Gulf Coast.

One way or the other, I think that they're robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Who Really Comes Off Bad in ABC's 9/11?

Beauracracy. Plain and simple.

Both administrations.

LEGO Star Wars II : The Original Trilogy

I'm SOOooo stoked!

The follow up to the LEGO Star Wars video game is about to be released. Very cute and well done game that was fun for both grown ups and kids. Not to mention it encourages cooperative play.

Oh yeah, my kids are excited too. :P

Pointless Office Complaints

Just got a department notice earlier today reminding us to mute our cell phone ringers during the day. Apparently, people have been complaining about someone's cell phone going off constantly.

Granted, your cell phone ringers can be different, but in my opinion, little worse than the company phone on your desk ringing constantly.

Geez. The things people complain about in cube farms!

Guess I'll have to curtail my intracubicle soccer match with the hottie down the hall. :P

I Must be Teething

Got a fever, the aches and the watery output.

Wife reminded me that our friend John Michael is having the same problem.

That brought up a discussion with our doctor years ago about our baby's condition at the time. They were treating our child for a fever, diarhea and general ill temper.

We asked if the teething might be the cause for the diarhea.

We were told bluntly, no. Not possible.

To this day, this statement has wrong hollow in our family.

Especially when my matriarch, the nurse, put it this way. Kids sallivate prousely when teething. If it doesn't escape via drooling, and it won't all escape, it's got to go somewhere.

That's a lot of moisture, excess wet above and beyond normal, for the immature digestive system to handle.

So, whenever our kids were afflicted thus, we'd just keep an eye on them for weight loss and such, otherwise we eschewed formerly frequent visits to the pediatrician.

Erk Russel - RIP

A wonderful man has moved on today. The defensive coordinator of the University of GA football team during the 80's (Go you silver britches!) had a stroke today and is no longer with us. He went on to Georgia Southern and helped them earn numerous awards and titles.

Think I got to meet him personally at a Rotary meeting years ago. Self-effacing, friendly guy who could tell wonderful stories.

Truly an awesome character.

Told a joke at the Rotary meeting that I'll never forget.

Pulled up to a light behind a woman who wore her heart on her bumper. You know the type: Jesus Saves, Save the Whales, Protected by SmithNWesson. Even had one that said "Honk if you love Jesus" that seemed to be holding part of her bumper together.

Feeling mischevious, he beeped. She didn't seem to notice.

Hmmm. Beeped again, but didn't get the recognition he wanted from one who was in touch with the Lord as much he was.

This time he laid on the horn hard, and this little old lady with a flowery hat stuck her head out the window and looked back at him and yelled, "Stop honking already! Can't you see the #*@%?^ light is still red baldy?"

Can You Imagine the Uproar?

Conservative groups force a major network to alter new docu-drama Fahrenheit 9/11 because it plays loose and fast with the facts according to critics.

Protests over the censorship of free-expression have been all the rage across America. Not to mention fredom of the 'press'.

Bush Visits Atlanta

Specifically he came to the Cumberland/Galleria area to talk to the Georgia
Public Policy Foundation.

Went for a walk around the perimeter about 30 mins prior to the event so I
could check on the 'circus'.

Cobb County Police had pulled old cruisers out of mothballs and had plenty
of manpower on hand to deal w/ traffic and what not.

Had the Fire Department on call too, checking things out, testing water,
etc. . .

Lots of blue lights. Lots of traffic being rerouted in the business
complex. That's one reason I came early. That and to claim my reserved
parking spot before someone else did. Couple of K-9's.

Protesters from Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition were supposedly
present. They were camped across the street of the main intersection to the
complex to be in sight of the TV cameras - their main audience. Saw about
20 folks with signs. Mostly handmade - "Impeach Bush", "Admit You Failed",
and a fabric sign stretched between a PVC frame that was giving them
trouble during set up.

Saw one of them question the cops about where they were supposed to be.
Nice and non-confrotational.

Poor Delta Pilots

The horror . . .

They lose their pension plans today.

Thank God I don't have a pension. I'd suffer like they will.

Delta estimated that after the plan is terminated, retired Delta pilots' average pension benefit will be $75,200 on an annualized basis, including the lump sum. Some retired pilots dispute that amount.
.
.
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Pilots have already taken a large financial hit during Delta's Chapter 11 case. Wage rates for active pilots have been cut almost in half under two contract agreements since 2004, and pilots are now on a 401(k)-style retirement plan going forward.

Oh the horror!

I'm a Technophile, But . .

I'm a slow adopter.

Priorities.

In fact, I don't own a PDA.
I don't subscribe to OnStar.
I don't use a GPS.
I even lack an emergency weather radio and an in-dash CD player.
I haven't even jumped on the HDTV bandwagon yet.

I can't completely count the internet access since it enables me to work remotely.

The Mrs. has her Ipod at least. And we both have the swiss-army flash drives.

I love 'tech'. Priorities.

I guess I'm what you might call a Techno-voyeur.

Nice gadget you got there. ;)

Missle Fired at Presidential Candidate NOT Newsworthy?

Have heard very little about this. Guess Couric trumps all.

Stop the Immigration Hate!

Really.

Wife is on an email list and one of the participants related a story about a Hispanic woman interviewing for a job.

When told that there were no openings, the applicant got all huffy and said something to the effect of:

Well one day soon, you will all be let go in favor of bilingual speakers.

If this is the mentality of our immigrant population, I say bring on official English!

Tickle Tickle

My son can't tickle anyone without saying "Tickle, tickle".