Per Daughter
| You Are 85% American |
 |
Not exactly true :)
March 30, 2007
Not exactly true :)
March 29, 2007
I'm a great uncle, Damn it!
I have a nephew that life has not been kind to. I was dating my wife when we found out her brother was expecting his second child. From the minute he was born I knew he didn't stand a chance.
His parents were already divorced by the time they had him. Not to far along in his life they both remarried and started new families of their own. Being in a divorced family is hard enough and his parents did fight about custody but not about who would get him but who wouldn't. The child was raised between two houses in different states. Any action by him was followed by the reaction of being shipped away to the other parent.
One house offered an abusive step dad with kids of his own and a new baby from my nephews mom. The other house offered a young step mom, only ten to twelve years older than my nephew, with two new babies with his dad. The second house also featured drugs and alcohol abuse.
We watched helpless as he struggled with school and life. Well last year at the age of eighteen out of the blue he joined the army. I was so happy to hear the news. Finally he would get the discipline and guidance he never had all his life. It came as no surprise that he excelled in the structured environment of the army. Of course there are some who worry that he would be harmed in Iraq. I too am one of those people but I would rather he go and serve with the chance of coming home with a better direction that could make his life worth living. If he dies, at least it will be with honor and in the service of others. (this is not a comment about the war but about service to your country) Had he not joined I have no doubt that he would have a lifetime of drug abuse and crime that would end with him in jail or dead on the streets. That is not an exaggeration.
As I said I was pleased to hear he had broken away and was doing something with his life. Well we just learned after being in the army for just six months he has met a girl, married her (he's known her for two months) and they are expecting a child. He will be deployed to Iraq, in June, for eighteen months. I can't help but feel his lack of guidance has cost him another shot at a good future. Now the odds are stacked against him again.
So I'm going to be a great uncle, whoopee, I get to watch another child grow up with out a chance in hell. Damn it!
His parents were already divorced by the time they had him. Not to far along in his life they both remarried and started new families of their own. Being in a divorced family is hard enough and his parents did fight about custody but not about who would get him but who wouldn't. The child was raised between two houses in different states. Any action by him was followed by the reaction of being shipped away to the other parent.
One house offered an abusive step dad with kids of his own and a new baby from my nephews mom. The other house offered a young step mom, only ten to twelve years older than my nephew, with two new babies with his dad. The second house also featured drugs and alcohol abuse.
We watched helpless as he struggled with school and life. Well last year at the age of eighteen out of the blue he joined the army. I was so happy to hear the news. Finally he would get the discipline and guidance he never had all his life. It came as no surprise that he excelled in the structured environment of the army. Of course there are some who worry that he would be harmed in Iraq. I too am one of those people but I would rather he go and serve with the chance of coming home with a better direction that could make his life worth living. If he dies, at least it will be with honor and in the service of others. (this is not a comment about the war but about service to your country) Had he not joined I have no doubt that he would have a lifetime of drug abuse and crime that would end with him in jail or dead on the streets. That is not an exaggeration.
As I said I was pleased to hear he had broken away and was doing something with his life. Well we just learned after being in the army for just six months he has met a girl, married her (he's known her for two months) and they are expecting a child. He will be deployed to Iraq, in June, for eighteen months. I can't help but feel his lack of guidance has cost him another shot at a good future. Now the odds are stacked against him again.
So I'm going to be a great uncle, whoopee, I get to watch another child grow up with out a chance in hell. Damn it!
March 27, 2007
The gray will stay, next time
My hair has started turning gray. A fact my wife never misses a chance to point out. She is always bugging me to do something about it. The other day she bought some stuff you kind of shampoo in and rinse out. The gray should be gone.
After thinking about it for a few days I agreed to use the stuff. I mean really, what do I care? She has to look at it not me, right? Well she may have to look at it but I have to live with it.
By now you have probably guessed it didn't go well. Even though I only left it in half the time it said to, two and a half minutes, it still turned it too dark. What was worse by the next day it seemed to be getting darker.
I was really surprised at my reaction to it as well. I'm the type person who really doesn't care if my hair is sticking straight up or plastered to my head. Gray or gone, hey that's life, it's still me. But I was dreading going to work. I think I was having a problem because it was so obvious that I had tried to alter my appearance. That people would think my gray hair had bothered me so much that I couldn't live with it. I even considered wearing a hat. That of course would draw more attention and right to the area I was hoping nobody would notice. No hat.
At work only a few people commented on how dark my hair was but it was obvious when talking with people they were looking at my hair and not my eyes. Come on people it's just hair not boobs. Needless to say I was very self conscious about it. Then around closing time I remembered I was going to the gym that night.
OMG! I'm still having the whole Matt Hughes problem going on. Only now it has become six fold. Yes, there are at least six guys calling me Matt, with the first one still yelling it from across the gym. My mind quickly painted a picture of me walking in the gym and the screamer, yelling across the gym "hey it's Matt Hughes and he dyed his hair." Followed by a lot of laughter of course. Thank God that didn't happen. I did wear the hat to the gym. An admitted defeat that my appearance does matter to me more than I thought.
I figured at the gym nobody would notice me wearing a hat, everybody does every now and then. What I hadn't thought through was the hat I wore was a college hat that people either love or hate. So all night people were walking over to me to talk about my hat, that was on my head, that was suppose to be covering hair, so I wouldn't draw attention to myself. Great plan huh? I managed to get through the work out with no comments on my hair but a zillion close calls (in my sick mind that is).
When I got home I asked my wife how long my hair would be like this. With a big ass smile she said "as much as you wash it not long, about six weeks." One things for sure, I have to get a new hat.
March 25, 2007
Life's important conversations
So I'm riding with the wife to the grocery store when a song comes on the radio. My wife reaches for the radio to change it.
I say "wait that's Neil Diamond."
She says "I know who it is, I hate his stuff."
What? How can you hate Neil Diamond?
Well I do, this is terrible
Neil Diamond? everybody likes Neil Diamond
I don't
and with that she changed the channel.
You think you know somebody then you find out they don't like Neil Diamond. It's like I'm living with a perfect stranger.
Oh, and P.S. I wear an extra large t-shirt. Not large, I haven't worn large in 15 years. So unless you're buying t-shirts for you and just saying they're for me it's extra large. Like always. Just thought you would want to know. Thanks.
March 24, 2007
A Springtime Thought
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost page
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost page
Why must everything get old? Why can't innocence last longer? Why can't things stay exciting? It really does make me sad.
March 23, 2007
Pugly? Not to me :)
This post is for Jen who wants a dog, well not just any dog but a great dog, a pug.
My Dad had a business partner in who lived in West Virgina. Our family went up there to visit him and his wife one summer, when I was about 10 years old. I don't remember much about the people, the state or what we did but what I do remember was their dog. He was a very adorable, smart and energetic pug. His name was Mr. Bojangles.
From the moment we arrived the dog had our totally undivided attention with his personality and clever tricks. So much so that my brother, sister and myself cried when it was time to go because we had grown so attached to him. Even after five years I still felt sorrow when I learned of his death. Many times while looking for a dog I thought of getting a pug but I never did because I knew there would never be another Mr. Bojangles.
I hope you get your pug Jen :) they are great dogs.
My Dad had a business partner in who lived in West Virgina. Our family went up there to visit him and his wife one summer, when I was about 10 years old. I don't remember much about the people, the state or what we did but what I do remember was their dog. He was a very adorable, smart and energetic pug. His name was Mr. Bojangles.
From the moment we arrived the dog had our totally undivided attention with his personality and clever tricks. So much so that my brother, sister and myself cried when it was time to go because we had grown so attached to him. Even after five years I still felt sorrow when I learned of his death. Many times while looking for a dog I thought of getting a pug but I never did because I knew there would never be another Mr. Bojangles.
I hope you get your pug Jen :) they are great dogs.
March 21, 2007
Nice and Weak? I don't think so!
Being the type person I am, I have a conscience the size of Texas. To avoid the torture of an over active conscience I have learned to be nice. Nice shouldn't be a bad word but in today's society it is. A lot of people just can't handle someone being nice to them. They take my my niceness as weakness and try to exploit it. The truth is being nice and being weak are so far apart you could place the Grand Canyon in between them and still never touch either one.
When some people come across a nice person they see opportunity and weakness. They see a nice person as a target, a mark. They will push me and try to squeeze everything they can get from me. They think as long as I'm smiling I am unaware of what they're doing.
It's funny to watch these people work their little angles and position themselves for the big payoff. I like to play along to see how far they are willing to take it. Letting them get almost to their goal before I snatch the rug out from under them. Sometimes I just keep agreeing with them but never quite do the thing they want. After they spend hours convincing me to do something they know I should never do I say "oh, I see your point, I'll have it ready by Thursday." Of course when they call Thursday I push it back until Monday and so on. I don't feel bad about wasting their time because I always try, in a nice way, to tell them I won't ever do it. They just won't accept this unless you're a jerk.
The truth is at work I'm whats know as the hammer. When there's a problem that needs to be handled, firmly and directly I get the job. A problem customer, I have to call them. Fire an employee, yep me too. Collecting on an over due account, give me the phone. Once I decide that what I'm doing is correct my conscience can be left at the door. To an employee that knows me this directness usually catches them so off guard that I have very little confrontation and get good results. To a person who doesn't know me this attitude can result in a one sided shouting match, them screaming at me trying to make their point while I stay calm and stand firm. That really pisses them off.
I thought about putting a sign on my door that says "Please don't mistake my niceness for weakness" but that just might ruin the surprise.
When some people come across a nice person they see opportunity and weakness. They see a nice person as a target, a mark. They will push me and try to squeeze everything they can get from me. They think as long as I'm smiling I am unaware of what they're doing.
It's funny to watch these people work their little angles and position themselves for the big payoff. I like to play along to see how far they are willing to take it. Letting them get almost to their goal before I snatch the rug out from under them. Sometimes I just keep agreeing with them but never quite do the thing they want. After they spend hours convincing me to do something they know I should never do I say "oh, I see your point, I'll have it ready by Thursday." Of course when they call Thursday I push it back until Monday and so on. I don't feel bad about wasting their time because I always try, in a nice way, to tell them I won't ever do it. They just won't accept this unless you're a jerk.
The truth is at work I'm whats know as the hammer. When there's a problem that needs to be handled, firmly and directly I get the job. A problem customer, I have to call them. Fire an employee, yep me too. Collecting on an over due account, give me the phone. Once I decide that what I'm doing is correct my conscience can be left at the door. To an employee that knows me this directness usually catches them so off guard that I have very little confrontation and get good results. To a person who doesn't know me this attitude can result in a one sided shouting match, them screaming at me trying to make their point while I stay calm and stand firm. That really pisses them off.
I thought about putting a sign on my door that says "Please don't mistake my niceness for weakness" but that just might ruin the surprise.
March 19, 2007
Per Lindsay - I figured if you can wear my pants, I can take your survey :-p
Just for the hell of it.
| You are a Mild Mama |
 You don't have to be screaming at the top of your lungs to have a good time You rather chill, soak in the moment, and appreciate life for what it is Guys appreciate your "take life as it comes" approach... (Though they wouldn't mind if you got a little wild from time to time!) |
March 15, 2007
The Gap closes the gap
I was watching TV with the wife last night and a Gap commercial came on. The commercial was about new pants for women.
Me: is this a commercial for men's pants that women want to wear?
The wife: No it's a commercial about woman's pants
Then why is a man wearing the pants
because they're called "The Boyfriend Trouser"
And men don't wear them
No
But women want too?
yes
Because they look like pants men would wear
yes, sort of
Why don't women just buy men's pants if they want to wear them?
Women don't want to wear men's pants, that's silly, these pants are for women
and they're called "the boyfriend trouser"?
yes, because they're cut like men's pants
that makes no sense
you just don't get it
what's not to get, I have pants that women don't want to wear but they want some just like them to wear
Just forget it
I wish I could
I've said it a thousand times, women confuse me.
March 14, 2007
Happy St. Patrick's Day
This is the week that our little city explodes and becomes a mini Madi Gras celebration. I have lived in and around Savannah, Georgia my whole life and while we claim to be the hostess city to the south we are even more famous for St. Patrick's day. Our city of about 130,000 swells to over 700,000 to put on a huge St. Patrick's day parade and party second only to New York.
I use to love going down town, getting drunk and making a fool out of myself. Since I was 15 years old I always looked forward to the festivities. Everybody down there was there for one reason and that was to have fun. Well the times they are a changin'. Over the past 10 years the crowd has gotten younger and meaner. The thieves and thugs see a golden opportunity with all the drunks around. There were always fights but more the friendly, push a drunk down kind. There was a little flashing of the chest but only at night when the families had long been gone. Not so anymore, now anything and everything goes. People come from all over the world to have a good time but some just come to trash the city and cause problems. A few years ago they even talked about shutting the whole thing down. Of course they can't because when a few 100,000 people show up you better have somewhere they can go and something to do.
At 15 I felt totally comfortable going down there and living it up, unsupervised, but not today. Maybe I just didn't see the dangers then like I do now but it sure seems things are different. I haven't been to River Street (where the party happens) for a few years. The last time I was there the wife and I ended up in the middle of a gang knife fight that ended with a guy being stabbed right next to us, literally.
Now we just take the kids to the parade and leave all the partying to the crazy people. Since the holiday falls on a Saturday this year we will be skipping all of it. The weekend holiday means people can stay longer and drink more and a three day drunk is not a very nice guy or girl.
So if anyone is in Savannah around St. Patrick's day head on down to River Street and get your party on. You'll have plenty of company, as you can see from the picture. I think I'm the 27 guy over from the right on the 87th row, the one with the green shirt. :)
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYBODY!
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