Merry Christmas

I am going to start this post by saying that, true to my word, it has taken less than 23 months to post again....

So, it's Christmas 2010 and what a year it's been. Worldwide travel has consumed much of the year and there will be more in the future.

I had really planned on typing more, but it's time to go to 5 Guys.....see ya!

I'm back....and you didn't even miss me.

I posted a picture of the latest addition.....100 lbs. of jaws and muscle! No fru-fru dogs here. He's 9 months old now and doesn't know his own size. Once he gets a little older (and maybe a little bigger), then he will settle down some more.

Well, I'm off again. Time to watch a movie as a family.

35 months in 5 minutes or less....

It appears I have been remiss in updating my blog....a definite killer to gaining any readership. Good thing I have a great contract with my publisher.

So, what's gone on? Well, Clancy died. That was bad. Maverick came to fill the void, but it just isn't the same.

Old Gold is gone after years of faithful service. Over 202K miles on her before trading in. Honestly, a little emotional. That was a great car.

Gayle and I now frequent the gym (her more than I) and are in much better shape than during my last post.

The boys are growing up. Gotta love 'em. Maturing some, too. Them, not me, just to be clear.

We went to Paris for a week in 2008. It was great. We are going to London and Paris this year with our friends Joel and Becky. Should be sweet!

Well, I guess that's it for now. Updates to come in the next 23 months.....stay tuned.

Southern Comfort

So now we live in the Metro Atlanta area. In many respects a nice place to live, but there are some drawbacks as well. The price of the many conveniences in this area is pretty steep and is paid twice: first you pay with your time and then you pay with your vehicle operating costs. You can cover 5 miles in a mind-numbing 20 minutes and that is not during rush hour! It just goes up from there. To make matters worse there is always the clown trying to pass everyone in the turn lane only to cut back in .5 mile down the road. Moron! Then there's the guy who thinks the go cart sized gap between your vehicle and the one in front of you is an open invitation for him to wheedle his way into your lane. Doh! Knucklehead! It's a good thing that I am a naturally laid-back kind of guy or it might actually cause me some serious consternation which would (naturally) tempt me to cause the offendor to experience said consternation.

At this point, I must digress. Have you ever noticed that your horn has varying levels of volume? I will be submitting the Holton Theory of Volume Relativity to the Argonne National Laboratory soon that states that there is an inverse relationship between the necessity and the volume of any given sound (in this case, a car horn). For instance, it is much too loud when you don't mean to bump it (or when your kids climb into the drivers seat or, as in my case, your limbs get in the way) . There always seems to be someone around to witness your moment of least poise and they are drawn to stare at you like you just called them a name.

Then, there arrives the time when one of those groups abovementioned offends your driving sensibilities with their personal illusions of self-importance and, when you go to the self-same horn, it just doesn't seem to be nearly loud enough...to the point you think maybe the horn didn't work, because that joker seems to be unphased--and you were calling him names!

I expect to receive an honorary doctorate at some point, but I am in no rush. Knowing I am right is recognition enough. If, by reading this, you feel the need to recognize me for this insight, I will accept filthy lucre. You can keep the clean stuff.

Well, Dad is looking over my shoulder, so I better type something nice. Oh, look, that caused him to leave. Now I know the secret. I'm thinking he wished he knew the secret to get me to leave before I married his daughter.... He should have done more research, that's all I can say. I have already passed the statute of limitations and, like a fence two feet over the property line in that situation, I am here to stay.

Well, it is getting late and I really should go to bed and get some sleep.

Buenas Noches, mi amigos! Hasta luego!

Back in the Ditch

Well, the holidays are over and now it's time to get back to work. The grand days of Christmas vacation with the 9 a.m. wake-up bell has been replaced by the annoying alarm clock from somewhere in Dante's Inferno which speaks forth with a Stygian song: Aaanh-Aaanh-Aaanh-It's 5:50 a.m.-Aaanh-Aaanh-Aaanh-Goodbye to your rest-Aaanh-Aaanh-Aaanh! And so I enter the ever-descending depths of the American workplace and my routine...

As with every good story we have an angel to offset the evil. She comes to me with caffeine in hand and a bite to eat, enough to get me on my course for the day and a small token of the love she holds for me. Despite this, I am already on course for yet another day in the bowels of the beast, hardly thanking my angel for the effort she has taken, and contemplating just what fresh Abyss I will encounter this day. Regardless of my thanklessness/contemplation, she will arise in the morning and bring to me a hot cup and a warm meal. For 12 years now we have repeated this daily routine and may it continue for many more. Well, all except the part about the alarm clock.....may it fall into the Abyss!

I owe, I owe, so off to work I go....

The Christmas Season

Christmas is a time that is somehow glows with the prospect of being with family and happy memories of years past. This year we are all hanging out in Knoxville and the whole family is here. The adults will be going out to dinner tonight while all the children are being watched by some friends. It is always a lively time when we are with Gayle's family: there's a dash of sarcasm mixed with a smidge of laughter and just a soupçon of serious discussion. It is always a good time and there is always a fair amount of food. Correction: There is a lot of food. There is also the requisite amount of head-scratching as all the ladies try to manage the meal distribution while the men all work on their laptops or talk like techies (only one programmer in the lot, but we are all geeks in our own right) until one of the children (or wives) kindly and gently, in a spirit of meekness and patience, demand our attention. In all honesty, they are generally very understanding and the other men are a lot better about being responsive and engaged than I am (case in point--I am blogging by myself in the corner while everyone else is engaged in conversation). As we listen to the family, there is a conversation about how the dogs circle and bark, how Dad's brother-in-law is building a garage in March, and that hot dogs and buns are on sale--and I am missing several going on in another room. If you don't like one conversation, you just mosey on over into another. It's free-form family living and one that we really enjoy. Doug just asked if I was blogging about how wierd our family is. I responded that I was. It is strange anymore for a whole family to still enjoy their time together even as adults. Everyone gets along with everyone else and if you put any two of us alone in a room, it would be perfectly natural and easy to spend time together talking. It's a wonderful strangeness and one I am perfectly content to continue.

Happy Holidays,

Dan

The Great Trek

Ok, who flipped the world over? Whoever (or whomever--i never do get that correct) did it: Not Funny!

Really, it only seems like the world has been turned upside down. We moved this week from Tennessee down to Georgia. Hotlanta, to be more specific. It has been an adventure for us all. The dogs aren't sure that this is home yet, while Gayle and I try to turn this house into a home. There have been a multitude (not Greek for "many small shelties") of contractors in and out of the house for the last two days. This has been a great convenience for us--I don't know how we would have accomplished half as much in such a short time.

As fun as that sounds, we are glad to be winding down a little. (Obviously winding down, as I have time to clown-around typing and not installing blinds, etc.)

Note to self: never again should you move the week of Christmas! Everyone wants to head out for the holidays (understandable) but that makes for a slightly more distressing look for the basic necessities of life: all shopping outlets (including Tractor Supply) are jammed with people looking for just the right gift; the roads, already famous in Atlanta for their congestion, are somehow worse; and when you do finally get home with whatever you went "In Search of...", you are so worn out that any use of the newly obtained article is best left for after your much needed nap.

Well, that's about it for now. I think I shall retire to the bed chamber for some desired-but-not-earned R&R.

Dan

Dogs

After years of research, our conclusion is that a sheltie is a pretty dog--pretty grumpy when all is said and done. We have had our Amazon Sheltie (that is the breed) for well-nigh twelve years now. She is as amiable as a fence post. Make that a splintery fence post. Not that she isn't obedient, she'll do anything I tell her when she is good and ready to do it. The breed is loyal to it's owners purely because they have, in their own little doggy-scientific studies, found that showing the least little bit of loyalty ensures kibble in the bowl at dinner time. Had that study proved inconclusive, loyalty would have been out the window. In all fairness, "The 'Tude" is a beautiful dog. Again, pointing to the intelligence of the breed, she also knows this and flaunts it as she deems necessary...unless you happen to be a male dog and showing interest in her feminine wiles. Should some cur find himself sniffing her daisies, he will quickly find that her teeth have had an intimate encounter with his muzzle, neck and ear all before he can come up with his lame pick-up line. Her pulchritude has been commented on by many and caused consternation to not a few small male dogs.

The other breed we have encountered on our trek through the doggie kingdom is the Rough Collie, also known as Lassie, or in our case, Forrest Gump. Our collie, again a pretty dog to look at, has no more intelligence under the hood than your typical 45-pound plate found in any local gym. She is a boomerang dog, as we call it, sure to come back to you. We are split on whether or not that is a good thing. "The Box of Rox", as we call her, is a Good-Time Charlene, in a manner of speaking. She knows no enemies and would have certainly littered 50 times in her short 6 years had we not had the forethought to cut out the production lines. Yes, she makes her rounds (the herding instinct) and she gets around (a different instinct altogether). All in all, a fine canine, provided you don't ask much of her, she is a great comfort to Gayle. Mostly as a pillow, but Gayle also enjoys her conversations with the collie, which can go on for minutes, as long as Gayle doesn't use any big words.