A Good Sport :)

Since I'm not the bragging type I'm NOT going to mention that The Georgia Bull Dogs beat the Florida Gators this past weekend in Florida. I will not post the score but I was pleased with the 42 points that Georgia scored and their 12 point margin of victory. I also didn't pull up next to the people, on their way to work, with the Florida Gator stickers on their cars and do a big Gator chop at them, although I did smile at the people who did.

I will only mention that it was a great game and I enjoyed it immensely.

A Lone Limb

A few weeks ago I ran into my Aunt and Uncle. They are great people and I love them dearly but they are the only people in my life that make me feel adopted. They don't do it on purpose but for someone who forgets he is 99% of the time, it's a weird feeling.

Them: How is your mom and dad

Me: Oh, they're great

Good, tell them we were asking about them

Of course I will

They are such great people, you children are so blessed to have them.

er... yes, we are very lucky

It just proves God has a plan

Yes, I'm sure he does

Just think, they could have been given any children but they got y'all. Your parents are lucky too.

Well, we are all happy the way it worked out.

I've always known I was adopted. My parents never hid that fact from me and my siblings. I can't remember it effecting me as child. If it did I didn't notice. I just grew up not knowing what I would look like, where my blue eyes came from or how tall I had the potential to be.

As an adult it's rare to think about it. When I'm filling out medical information about me or my kids it becomes an issue. No history on my side for anything. Just a bunch of blank pages and the standard adoption explanation to the nurse. Does autism run in my genes? Don't know. Is there a history of cancer? I couldn't tell you.

Once when watching an episode about adoption on Dateline, the wife turned to me and asked what I thought. We had been watching the program for twenty minutes and it didn't hit me until she asked that they were talking about adopted people like me. Of course the show was about adopted kids finding their biological parents. The wife wanted to know if I ever wanted to find mine? Did I ever think about them and if I had the chance would I meet them?

I quickly answered, "no, no and no"

She seemed disappointed and couldn't understand why I wouldn't want to meet them. This seems to be the number one question people have for adopted people. I asked her to think about it for just a minute and she would see my point.

My birth parents were most likely young, in their teens, when they conceived me. It was the late sixties so the situation was either a girl who got knocked up by her boyfriend or I was a love child of some hippy drug user. Either way I seriously doubt the man and women are together now or then. Chances are they grew up and started families of their own, moved on.

Would I want some guy knocking on my door claiming to be my brother? Hell no! Family relations are hard enough without throwing THAT monkey wrench into the works. Do you really think my bio mom would want me disrupting her life with a similar knock on the door? Doubtful, and to what end? So I can be told I was a mistake? That my bio dad didn't want a baby or worse he raped her. Why would any adopted person travel that road?

The truth is, for whatever reason, my bio mom did me a huge favor by having me and letting me go in hopes that I could get whatever it was she thought she couldn't give me. It was a gift. You accept gifts for what they are and make the most of them. You don't slap the giver in the face by trying to find the cost of the gift.

In my opinion people that go looking for there bio parents are missing something in their life and it has nothing to do with finding two people that they never knew and had no influence in their upbringing. They would be better off looking inside themselves.

I remember when my son was born and everybody was saying how he looked exactly like me how odd it felt. To that point in my life I had never looked like anyone. My son was the first person I ever knew that I shared genetics with.

Genetically I have no family tree. I am the seed, the roots, the trunk and the lone limb on my side of my children's tree. So when my son looks at my face and ask, "if he's going to grow up to be just like me?" I can say, "no, you're going to grow up to be you." Because in the end, I know, that's all that matters.

Happy Birthday Jen!!!

Happy Birthday Jen!!!

I hope your day is as special as you are!

Remember, a birthday is the first day

of another 365-day journey around the sun

On a sad note

For anyone who doesn't know, Southern California is burning. These fires are out of control and have already burned thousands of homes.

Even though I'm on the other side of the country, these fires hit close to home. Unfortunately, Daughter of night lives in San Diego, California. Last time she posted the fire was within a half mile of her home. She even took a few pictures from her house.

So please say a little prayer for her, her family, the people of California and the brave men and women who risk their lives to fight these fires. Some have already lost everything.

Daughter, please be careful!

Just a few pics

I've been too busy to post about a few subjects that have been on my mind. Since I haven't posted anything about my children in awhile, I thought I'd put up a few of photos from them at Disney World last week. So, just in case anybody thought I was finished posting about my children,WRONG!

My New Toy

I know that Palms Pilots are old school and not as exciting as say an iPhone or a crackberry a blackberry but I just bought a new one and I couldn't be happier.

The only reason I have it is to keep phone numbers and contacts with me. I know you can do that with a cell phone but it's a pain in the ass when I switch services or don't have my phone with me.

My Palm syncs with my computer at home and work so I can easily update my contacts in both locations. I can also carry around pictures of equipment I'm selling so I can whip them out in a moments notice at an unsuspecting customer. For anyone who carries a palm I can also beam pictures and files into theirs from mine.

Another nifty feature I like is that it has WiFi so I can browse the internet and check my email whenever I'm near a network, which is pretty much all the time these days. Yes, cell phones can do this anywhere but WiFi is F.R.E.E. So now I can grab my work email before I leave the house and look it over when I'm stuck in traffic. So by the time I get to work all the spam promising me a larger penis, terrific stock tips and Canadian grade Viagra are Deeeeleted. It even scans for active WiFi so I've managed to find some connections to the internet while sitting in traffic. I hope no one minds, tuff stuff if they do.

It still has the old standard features like being able to write notes on the screen, a calender, a calculator, mp3 player with video and the ability to work with Word and Excel documents. The steel pen that is neatly hidden in the side gives me a ninja aspect against any attacker who doesn't realize the power of the Palm. I'm sure I could easily put an eye out with it.

Yep, I'm pleased as plumb with my new old school device.

Impact

In my line of work I get to meet a lot of people. Most come and go without making much impact on my life. But every once in a while you meet a customer that stays with you. At first you don't notice that much. Then you start to appreciate their loyalty. As time passes you get to know them. Then when they show up at you business it's not like dealing with a customer at all.

These people become part of your business. You may ask them to answer the phone if you're stuck on a call or give them a key to your gate because they need to pick something up on the weekend. Sometimes they stop by for no reason at all except to hang out and you don't even notice that they aren't there for business.

I have about five or six customers that fit this category. One of them died this past weekend. It's sad but not unexpected. He had been sick for a few months with cancer and he was in his 70s, I will miss him though. He was very old school, hard working and kind hearted. I was surprised to learn he had done three tours of duty in Vietnam as a tunnel rat. Bits of information like that are what make these customers real people.

A few weeks ago I learned how much of an impact we had on his life. While he laid on his death bed his family began to quarrel over his possessions. They were asking him about his will and wanted to know who would get what. Frustrated he turned to us and asked if we could help manage some of his assets after he passed.

When his sister brought the legal documents she explained how much pride he took in being part of our business. She told us that he often boasted about being able to come behind our counters, having a key to our gate and being able to take any equipment he wanted by just simply telling us he would make arrangements later. I had no idea. I guess we don't always know the impact we have on other peoples lives but it's nice to know we do.

Sweet tea & pop tarts

I feel like a jerk for writing this but this is why I started my blog so screw it.

The wife and the kids went to Disney World this weekend. They left Friday and won't be back until Monday. I will miss them but honestly, since getting time to myself is a rare event, I was giddy at the prospects.

Now some people may take the opportunity to go out and have some fun but not me. No I just wanted to be at the house alone. I had a lot of projects I wanted to complete and while some would call them chores, I enjoy doing them when I have the time to do them right. At night a glass of wine, a movie of my choosing or a good football game sounded perfect. Sunday, no work, no kids, so sleeping late was the plan. It's been years since I've been in bed when 8:00 am rolled around. So I thought I would give it a try.

So Friday night, after turning down many request from co-works to do something, I headed to the house. I jumped on the lawn mower and cut grass until I ran out of daylight. The evening went well and I was ahead of my weekend plans.

Since I have to work Saturdays, I got up and headed in, anxious for the clock to strike twelve so I could go home and really get started. Then it happened. My best friend showed up at work a few minutes before I was going to leave. It seems the wife had mentioned to him that I would be alone this weekend and might want some company. Grrrr!

So he asked me to lunch and to go see a house he's remodeling to see if I can help him with any ideas. Since he knew I didn't have the family waiting on me and the whole weekend in front of me I saw no way out without hurting his feelings. So I said yes, damn it.

It only took a few hours and then I zipped home to get started. I jumped on the lawn mower again to finish the grass. It didn't take long before I noticed my dad driving up to talk to me. My mom went with the wife so he knew I was home alone too. He asked if I wanted to go to supper? I tried to explain I had some chores planned but he wasn't letting it go. Luckily I didn't give in. He left disappointed, I felt guilty but I was gaining ground on my projects. So I spent the rest of the day working my ass off because Sunday was going to be mine, all mine. With everything done I would sleep late, watch football and make the couch my home.

That night I was absolutely wore out. I poured a glass of wine and sat back to watch some college football. Of course the phone rings. It was the wife and she's having a hard time with my mom at Disney World. She vents for 20 minutes then slips in that she heard I pissed my dad off about supper. Great, as if I didn't feel guilty enough. Screw it, I was tired, so I went to bed early because tomorrow is veg-out day.

The phone rings. It's my dad. "You want to get some breakfast?" "um, sure dad, what time?" "As soon as you get ready" I hung up and rolled over, the clock said 7:30 am, SHIIIIITTTT! Now this may sound odd put I'm not a big breakfast eater and anybody that knows me knows that about me but occasionally I love having Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts with a glass of sweet tea, no ice, for breakfast. I was very much looking forward to that this morning, oh well.

So I go to breakfast with dad, he buys, thanks dad. When I get back home there's a message on the machine. It's my best friend again and he says he's heading over. OMG!!!! I guess I'll be doing some house cleaning. When he arrives he has season three of The Office. I love The Office but I've seen them all. We watch all 9 or 10 episodes, then go bowling. On the way to go bowling my dad calls. "You want me to cook us some supper?" "No, I'm with my best friend." An hour later the wife calls my cell to bitch about my mom some more. She also mentions " I hear you pissed your dad off about supper again." So I call dad and ask if we can pick him up something. He says yes and we all eat at his house. My best friend leaves me at 10:00 pm.

So that was MY weekend. I know I should be grateful that people were willing to keep me company but DAMN. Give a man some room. When the wife gets home she will ask how I enjoyed all that time to MYSELF.

I wish I knew...

Hidden message?

The wife likes to rent DVDs every now and again. When she does she always picks herself up a chick flick. She knows I don't watch them so she always picks me up some kind of action flick to compensate. The last five times she went to the rental store she grabbed me something a little different. Here is a list of the movies she picked up for me to watch while she enjoyed her girly movies.

Saw = horror and gore

Saw II = horror and gore

Saw 3 = horror and gore

Vacancy = horror and gore

1408 = Horror

The strange thing about this list, I'm no horror movie fan and I'm not a big fan of blood and guts movies either. When I asked why she keeps getting me these extreme movies she just says she thought I would like them. WTF? If she trying to send me a hidden message? If so I'm not getting it. All I'm getting is creeped out.

No need for a divorce, the new 7 month plan

On March 22, 2006 Mary Winkler took a shotgun and shot and killed her unarmed husband in the back while he was laying in their bed. She then took their three young children and disappeared. Later, she was found in Alabama where she had rented a hotel room for her and her children before the shooting had even occurred. She was then returned to Tennessee to stand trial for murder.

She was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 210 days in jail. She was given credit for serving 5 months before the trial and was allowed to serve the remaining 60 days in a mental health facility. She is now free, yes free, and seeking visitation with her children.

There is no doubt of her guilt because she did confess to killing her husband, claiming he had abused her, although there is almost no evidence to support that claim. There is evidence however that she was writing bad checks and did not want her husband to find out. Kind of sounds like a motive to me.

Now I've never been the victim of abuse. I know that escaping abuse can be more complicated than picking up the phone and calling the police or packing a bag and leaving. I'm aware that in some cases your legs just don't have enough power to get you far enough away from a bad situation. Still, I have to think there shouldn't be such a straight line between abuse and death.

Isn't there a level of personal responsibility one must first exercise before murder becomes the only option? Can society really accept her actions as a reasonable response to her situation? With all the information that is available today it's hard for me to believe that most people can't reach out for some kind of help first.

It's a horrible precedent that has now been set. Not because Mary Winkler got away with murder like O.J. Simpson but because she did not. To be honest, had she been found innocent I could have accepted this situation a little easier. The fact that she was CONVICTED of voluntary manslaughter and only served seven months scares the hell out of me and pisses me off. What is happening to our legal system? What is happening to our society?