"My son told me he likes to go swimming just to look at the girls! And he's only two - oh Lord..."
-@b_jai2012- (via twitter)
"I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry, and I know you do the same things too, so we're really not that different, me and you..." -Collin Raye- (Not That Different)
"'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' (1953) 2 1/2 stars - Revived by a North Pole atomic blast, a submerged dinosaur swims to New York and goes to Coney Island." -Time Warner Cable t.v. guide movie preview for a 2:30 a.m. movie Friday on TCM-
"You got it, you got it bad, if you miss a day without your friend, your whole life's off track..."
-Usher- (U Got It Bad)
"It's been about a month since I've had a "coke" or an energy drink..." -@coachatx- (via twitter)
Good evening everyone. This is my super early Monday post. As a matter of fact, it's so early that it's still Sunday night... I'm heading back to Austin very early in the morning, so I thought that I'd give you a little something at least. I'm going to be working hard again to track down a job, so I'll have much more for you later. Friday was a very eventful day, so the blog won't be lacking for material... :)
Speaking of Friday, I posted that last quote above (about the cokes) on Wednesday. Well..., then I went to Austin. I knew that the temperature was going to reach about 100 degrees on Friday (which it did), so I brought my gallon jug of ice water and a cooler with about a dozen cokes/energy drinks that I had leftover. Yeah, so long story short, I drank four cokes on Friday, after not having a single soda for a month... :P IT... WAS... HOT...
I absolutely LOVED reading the middle "quote" that's up there - I was flipping through the on-screen t.v. guide very early on Friday morning, and I came across those words for 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' - they certainly don't make movies like they used to... :) No..., I didn't watch the movie, as I was FINALLY ABLE to fall asleep before my Friday trek to Austin, but I couldn't stop myself from smiling at that preview...
I'm not going to give you the full fantasy baseball update this week because I'm short on time right now and there will only be three full days of games this week due to the All-Star Break, but my teams are currently in 7th (The View From Bikini Hill), 4th (The Bikini Hill Bobcats), and 4th (The Bikini Hill Nine) place right now.
I hope that you have a great Monday and I'll see you again tomorrow!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Spending The Day In Austin
"And I play it off but I'm dreaming of you, and I'll keep my cool but I'm, finding, I try to say goodbye and I choke, I try to walk away and I stumble, though I try to hide it, it's clear, my world crumbles when you are not near..." -Macy Gray- (I Try)
"And all of your weight, all you dream, falls on me, it falls on me, and your beautiful sky, the light you bring, falls on me, it falls on me..." -Fuel- (Falls On Me)
"Your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone, these wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real, there's just too much that time cannot erase..." -Evanescence- (My Immortal)
Good morning everyone. As advertised, I'm going to be spending the day in Austin, so you are seeing a super early post today. Not only that, but I'm cheating in the sense that I didn't even write this. I was told that I could use these words as an "official review" of my blog. These very kind words were left as a comment on my facebook page, and come from someone who has followed Bikini Hill from its infancy...
"I had to get caught up so I just read "This Starts Now" and "Could You?" back-to-back. Your blog has always been such a great way for me to relax after a long day at work. ;) I especially enjoy hearing the songs in my head to go along with the lyrics you post... These last two posts are probably my most favorite so far. I swear you've become an even better writer. You're so damn witty! I lol'ed so many times and the "100 years" gets me EVERY time. Then, when you were blabbering on about fantasy baseball and practically read my mind I almost peed! To top things off, you then proceeded to teach me something. I now know what "defensive indifference" is (it actually sounds more like a relationship issue to me). Given the VERY little I know about sports, I also think DI is stupid (silly?). I always thought stealing bases was one of the biggest parts of the game. Why bother if folks are indifferent? ("Folks" would be the opposing team, right Coach?)" -Miletus Ogden Borne-
Miletus probably didn't expect this review to show up here, but I sincerely appreciate the fact that she even took the time to write it, let alone the kindness of its contents... I'm sure that Miletus will enjoy TO NO END the fact that I'm posting her comments on a Friday, the day of the week that will be reserved almost solely for football predictions and banter in the coming months. :)
I hope that you have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!
"And all of your weight, all you dream, falls on me, it falls on me, and your beautiful sky, the light you bring, falls on me, it falls on me..." -Fuel- (Falls On Me)
"Your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone, these wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real, there's just too much that time cannot erase..." -Evanescence- (My Immortal)
Good morning everyone. As advertised, I'm going to be spending the day in Austin, so you are seeing a super early post today. Not only that, but I'm cheating in the sense that I didn't even write this. I was told that I could use these words as an "official review" of my blog. These very kind words were left as a comment on my facebook page, and come from someone who has followed Bikini Hill from its infancy...
"I had to get caught up so I just read "This Starts Now" and "Could You?" back-to-back. Your blog has always been such a great way for me to relax after a long day at work. ;) I especially enjoy hearing the songs in my head to go along with the lyrics you post... These last two posts are probably my most favorite so far. I swear you've become an even better writer. You're so damn witty! I lol'ed so many times and the "100 years" gets me EVERY time. Then, when you were blabbering on about fantasy baseball and practically read my mind I almost peed! To top things off, you then proceeded to teach me something. I now know what "defensive indifference" is (it actually sounds more like a relationship issue to me). Given the VERY little I know about sports, I also think DI is stupid (silly?). I always thought stealing bases was one of the biggest parts of the game. Why bother if folks are indifferent? ("Folks" would be the opposing team, right Coach?)" -Miletus Ogden Borne-
Miletus probably didn't expect this review to show up here, but I sincerely appreciate the fact that she even took the time to write it, let alone the kindness of its contents... I'm sure that Miletus will enjoy TO NO END the fact that I'm posting her comments on a Friday, the day of the week that will be reserved almost solely for football predictions and banter in the coming months. :)
I hope that you have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
I Remember The First Time (25)
"Halloween 1996: I was a tomato. Why my parents allowed this is beyond me. #thatkid #ivebeencoolallmylife" -@GiselieMo- (via twitter)
"Know what you're thinkin', 'cause I've been there myself, I've been kicked so many times, I don't know nothin' else..." -Night Ranger- (Sentimental Street)
"If you call me sweetheart, baby, babe, or baby girl, chances are that I probably won't talk to you again... #MyNameIsAlyssa #HatePetNames" -@Uhh_lee_suhh- (via twitter)
"Maybe redemption has stories to tell, maybe forgiveness is right where you fell, where can you run to escape from yourself?" -Switchfoot- (Dare You To Move)
"I'm just really thankful for ten minute slow snail moving trains... #myfavorite #takeyourtime #ilikewaiting" -@PaigeHutch3- (via twitter)
I remember the first time that I was almost killed at the river (and no jokes here my friends, this is a true story)... So yesterday I'm at the river, hanging out at the ladder where I've been pushing tubers, assisting swimmers in reaching the ladder, and helping to save lives... I was the only person in the water in that area, and I was looking up the river toward Bikini Hill when I heard a small "plunk..." This noise sounded like somebody had thrown a small rock into the river, and that it probably entered the water at least five yards from me. If I had been prudent, I would have climbed the ladder to find the guilty party, but I assumed that it was a one time thing... A couple of beats later, I heard a BIG "WOOOOOSH...," and again, I didn't see what hit the water, but this time it sounded like it landed only a couple of yards away from me, at the MOST... I INSTANTLY went up the ladder, saying "HEY!" I was greeted by an apology from Frisbee Dan, who said that he didn't know that anybody was in the water. My SNAP REPLY was that he couldn't just throw stuff into the water without looking. Fast forward to about twenty minutes later, when I was walking on the back edge of the basketball court toward Bikini Hill, and a couple of kids stopped me. They brought up what had happened earlier, and said that they had no idea that he was going to throw this huge rock into the water. Then I asked them exactly how big the rock was... One of them held up their hands, to show me that this..., BOULDER was about 15 inches long and 9 inches wide, indicating that this was a "Coach would have had a REALLY BAD DAY if it would have hit him in the head" type of rock... This guy said that they had no idea that Frisbee Dan was going to throw the second rock into the water, and that when he realized what was going on, he started going, "whoa..., Whoa..., WHOA!...," all to no avail... Again people, before you jump or decide to throw boulders into the river, please check to see if anyone is in the water first...
I remember the first time that I had a better story to tell from the river yesterday... This kid MIGHT HAVE BEEN about ten years old... This guy comes floating over toward the ladder yesterday when he EXCLAIMS, "HEY..., THERE'S CRAWFISH IN THIS THING!" :)
I remember the first time that I plugged some new blogs here..., again... :) Okay, in the past week or so, I have now added three blogs to my link list over to the right, so let me point them out. 'Honu Honi' is Julie Pierce's (hey, you two are using your full names now on your blogs and on twitter, so I realized that I can too...) new blog at http://mauihonuhoni.blogspot.com/ Julie has been giving a day-by-day account of her move to Maui, and she is only now just beginning the second week of her blog, so you can still catch up. Her husband Scott (the person at fault for me having a blog) has also started a new blog called 'My Maui Life' (guess where he's going to be moving also) located at http://lahainahaole.blogspot.com/ Scott is packing up the rest of what is in Las Vegas, and he will be joining his wife in paradise shortly. The newest new blog that I'm touting today is being written by Alison (yes, famous Alison of 'she is the outgoing Vice President of the Student Body at Texas State University' Alison). :) Alison's blog, 'Stories From My Suitcase' can be found at http://sibleytravels.blogspot.com/ Alison's first "real-world" job finds her working as a Collegiate Leadership Consultant for her sorority, which will have her traveling all over the country to college campuses this year (tough gig, right?). Alison just barely completed her first blog entry last night, so it won't take you long to catch up here either... :) You will always be able to find all of these links over to the right also, so you won't have to keep returning to this specific page of my blog.
I remember the first time that I not only plugged new blogs, but also stole a complete paragraph from one of them while doing so... Job hunting is personally a very relevant topic to me right now, and here are some encouraging words on the subject that Julie wrote: "If there is one thing I learned in Vegas, it's that everybody is hiring, all the time... for the right person. Just because someone says they aren't hiring doesn't mean they won't give you a job. If they believe you are a good fit for their business, you will get hired." Very timely words Mrs. Pierce, very timely... ;)
I remember the first time that I ripped off somebody's blog that I plugged in the past... So recently on Lucki Duck's blog 'Small Potatoes Poker and Sports Betting' http://smallpotatospoker.blogspot.com/, he posted a photo of a receipt from a Dairy Queen that one of his friends had forwarded to him. The last item on the receipt was "Free Water,", and the charge was obviously..., ummm..., are you serious???, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS... Again people, you can't make this stuff up... :)
I remember the first time that somebody made me feel like I was a hundred years old... So when I was up at the Veranda recently, I ran into my friend Caroline. Because I'm the clever person that I am, I started singing, "Sweet Caroline..., DUN DUN DUN..." Then I said to her that she must get that all the time, to which Caroline replied, "no one ever sings that to me..." PUNK... :)
I remember the first time that I knew somebody who knew somebody that's famous... A few years ago, I remember my friend Lacy having a facebook conversation with this guy named Chris Davis. Well..., Davis was playing for the Texas Rangers at the time, and very recently he was the leading vote-getter in the American League for the Major League All-Star Game. I think that Davis finished as the AL leader in votes, but I won't promise you that he did... Not only did Lacy go to high school with Davis, but she also went to school with Josh Scobee, who is the placekicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars (yeah, it's not as glamorous as playing for the Orioles is right now, but you do what you can)... :) Okay, so really quick, besides me, who is the most famous person that you know? ;)
I remember the first time that I segued in this blog..., EVER... So, you brought up football Coach - WHEN is the football season going to start? I did a little bit of investigating last night, and this season's first college football game will be played on Thursday, August 29th, when South Carolina hosts North Carolina. This season's first NFL matchup will take place on Thursday, September 5th, when the Denver Broncos host the Baltimore Ravens. As I have for the last two seasons, I will be making weekly predictions on games once the season begins, and I also plan on giving some other random football predictions before that time. Stay tuned... :)
I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!
"Know what you're thinkin', 'cause I've been there myself, I've been kicked so many times, I don't know nothin' else..." -Night Ranger- (Sentimental Street)
"If you call me sweetheart, baby, babe, or baby girl, chances are that I probably won't talk to you again... #MyNameIsAlyssa #HatePetNames" -@Uhh_lee_suhh- (via twitter)
"Maybe redemption has stories to tell, maybe forgiveness is right where you fell, where can you run to escape from yourself?" -Switchfoot- (Dare You To Move)
"I'm just really thankful for ten minute slow snail moving trains... #myfavorite #takeyourtime #ilikewaiting" -@PaigeHutch3- (via twitter)
I remember the first time that I was almost killed at the river (and no jokes here my friends, this is a true story)... So yesterday I'm at the river, hanging out at the ladder where I've been pushing tubers, assisting swimmers in reaching the ladder, and helping to save lives... I was the only person in the water in that area, and I was looking up the river toward Bikini Hill when I heard a small "plunk..." This noise sounded like somebody had thrown a small rock into the river, and that it probably entered the water at least five yards from me. If I had been prudent, I would have climbed the ladder to find the guilty party, but I assumed that it was a one time thing... A couple of beats later, I heard a BIG "WOOOOOSH...," and again, I didn't see what hit the water, but this time it sounded like it landed only a couple of yards away from me, at the MOST... I INSTANTLY went up the ladder, saying "HEY!" I was greeted by an apology from Frisbee Dan, who said that he didn't know that anybody was in the water. My SNAP REPLY was that he couldn't just throw stuff into the water without looking. Fast forward to about twenty minutes later, when I was walking on the back edge of the basketball court toward Bikini Hill, and a couple of kids stopped me. They brought up what had happened earlier, and said that they had no idea that he was going to throw this huge rock into the water. Then I asked them exactly how big the rock was... One of them held up their hands, to show me that this..., BOULDER was about 15 inches long and 9 inches wide, indicating that this was a "Coach would have had a REALLY BAD DAY if it would have hit him in the head" type of rock... This guy said that they had no idea that Frisbee Dan was going to throw the second rock into the water, and that when he realized what was going on, he started going, "whoa..., Whoa..., WHOA!...," all to no avail... Again people, before you jump or decide to throw boulders into the river, please check to see if anyone is in the water first...
I remember the first time that I had a better story to tell from the river yesterday... This kid MIGHT HAVE BEEN about ten years old... This guy comes floating over toward the ladder yesterday when he EXCLAIMS, "HEY..., THERE'S CRAWFISH IN THIS THING!" :)
I remember the first time that I plugged some new blogs here..., again... :) Okay, in the past week or so, I have now added three blogs to my link list over to the right, so let me point them out. 'Honu Honi' is Julie Pierce's (hey, you two are using your full names now on your blogs and on twitter, so I realized that I can too...) new blog at http://mauihonuhoni.blogspot.com/ Julie has been giving a day-by-day account of her move to Maui, and she is only now just beginning the second week of her blog, so you can still catch up. Her husband Scott (the person at fault for me having a blog) has also started a new blog called 'My Maui Life' (guess where he's going to be moving also) located at http://lahainahaole.blogspot.com/ Scott is packing up the rest of what is in Las Vegas, and he will be joining his wife in paradise shortly. The newest new blog that I'm touting today is being written by Alison (yes, famous Alison of 'she is the outgoing Vice President of the Student Body at Texas State University' Alison). :) Alison's blog, 'Stories From My Suitcase' can be found at http://sibleytravels.blogspot.com/ Alison's first "real-world" job finds her working as a Collegiate Leadership Consultant for her sorority, which will have her traveling all over the country to college campuses this year (tough gig, right?). Alison just barely completed her first blog entry last night, so it won't take you long to catch up here either... :) You will always be able to find all of these links over to the right also, so you won't have to keep returning to this specific page of my blog.
I remember the first time that I not only plugged new blogs, but also stole a complete paragraph from one of them while doing so... Job hunting is personally a very relevant topic to me right now, and here are some encouraging words on the subject that Julie wrote: "If there is one thing I learned in Vegas, it's that everybody is hiring, all the time... for the right person. Just because someone says they aren't hiring doesn't mean they won't give you a job. If they believe you are a good fit for their business, you will get hired." Very timely words Mrs. Pierce, very timely... ;)
I remember the first time that I ripped off somebody's blog that I plugged in the past... So recently on Lucki Duck's blog 'Small Potatoes Poker and Sports Betting' http://smallpotatospoker.blogspot.com/, he posted a photo of a receipt from a Dairy Queen that one of his friends had forwarded to him. The last item on the receipt was "Free Water,", and the charge was obviously..., ummm..., are you serious???, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS... Again people, you can't make this stuff up... :)
I remember the first time that somebody made me feel like I was a hundred years old... So when I was up at the Veranda recently, I ran into my friend Caroline. Because I'm the clever person that I am, I started singing, "Sweet Caroline..., DUN DUN DUN..." Then I said to her that she must get that all the time, to which Caroline replied, "no one ever sings that to me..." PUNK... :)
I remember the first time that I knew somebody who knew somebody that's famous... A few years ago, I remember my friend Lacy having a facebook conversation with this guy named Chris Davis. Well..., Davis was playing for the Texas Rangers at the time, and very recently he was the leading vote-getter in the American League for the Major League All-Star Game. I think that Davis finished as the AL leader in votes, but I won't promise you that he did... Not only did Lacy go to high school with Davis, but she also went to school with Josh Scobee, who is the placekicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars (yeah, it's not as glamorous as playing for the Orioles is right now, but you do what you can)... :) Okay, so really quick, besides me, who is the most famous person that you know? ;)
I remember the first time that I segued in this blog..., EVER... So, you brought up football Coach - WHEN is the football season going to start? I did a little bit of investigating last night, and this season's first college football game will be played on Thursday, August 29th, when South Carolina hosts North Carolina. This season's first NFL matchup will take place on Thursday, September 5th, when the Denver Broncos host the Baltimore Ravens. As I have for the last two seasons, I will be making weekly predictions on games once the season begins, and I also plan on giving some other random football predictions before that time. Stay tuned... :)
I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Could You? (25)
"@coachatx just said, "I felt special when those two girls came and said hi to me, and didn't say hi to you Tim"..." -@MrHawkins11- (via twitter)
"The sign, that I couldn't read, or a light, that I couldn't see, some things, you have to believe, but others are puzzles, puzzling me..." -Coldplay- (Speed Of Sound)
"I don't know what a carb is, but it sounds good. I want one..." -Ebonie Landrum- (via facebook)
"Tell me what, is this thing, that I feel, like I'm missing, and why can't I let it go?"
-Stacie Orrico- (More To Life)
"Ahhhh..., they were just playing the Super Mario theme song in Starbucks!!"
-@PaigeHutch3- (via twitter)
Could you talk about someone who is almost as shameless about trying to get into the blog as Alyssa and Gabby Coach? Sure I can, and good morning everyone... Oh, and by the way Alyssa and Melanie, I still use that Bobcat "tumbler" EVERY DAY (it's the biggest cup that I have..., you know...). :) Okay, so back to the shameless people... I was talking to Texas State's recently graduated football star Tim again this past weekend at Veranda. I brought up the topic of all of the positions that he played on offense for the Bobcats (Tim's versatility at the skill positions was discussed in a recent post here), and Tim said that after starting out as a wide receiver, he was put in at running back after an injury to one of the starters. The coaches basically told him that he was just as good as anyone else that the team had at the position (that sounds like a RINGING ENDORSEMENT I told Tim). :) Anyway, the same thing happened later on after the starting quarterback was injured. Alright..., now everything that I just typed..., none of it was going to be in the blog today if that was the whole story. I basically told Tim, "I wish that I would have known all of that when I wrote about you before - I could have put it in the blog..." Now as we're speaking, girls are just COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK to say hi to Tim (he played every offensive skill position on the football team - WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT that football players would be popular?)... :) I actually asked Tim if he had like 50,000 friends on facebook. He then told me that he did get requests ALL THE TIME, and that he probably had like 500 that he hadn't acted on yet (which I honestly believed). Then Tim SHOWED ME on his phone, scrolling through SCREEN AFTER SCREEN of requests that he had received and hadn't taken action on - and you LAUGHED when I said that I was good at reading people/situations... PFFFTTT!!! ;) Now if you read the opening tweet of this entry, you should already know that the best part of this story occurred when two of my friends, Natalie and Kate, came up to me and said hi, and they DIDN'T say hi to Tim..., didn't even know him AT ALL I don't think... :) And sure enough, as soon as he tweeted about that with my "name" in it, BAM!, Tim's in the blog again... :P Congratulations again to all three of these recent graduates - both Natalie and Kate have moved on to Houston to begin their new careers, and Tim currently has his sights set on staying here in the San Marcos, America area, which is obviously a good move (non-move???). ;)
Could you find a way to work Gabby's name into another segment, while including Maureen and addressing a serious subject? Wow, you people ask for A LOT... Okay, this was something that I meant to mention in yesterday's entry. So I assisted in saving the woman from drowning on Sunday, and about fifteen minutes later, I walked over to Bikini Hill to get a drink of my ice water. Then I got back into the river and noticed that there were two lifeguards sitting and chatting by the second set of steps leading into the river (the first set being the steps closest to the bridge/street). I stood up (the water is like three feet deep there) and asked them if they were being employed by the park, of if they were working a special function, etc... (it wasn't obvious like it was when Gabby and Maureen had their 200 "Cat Campers" there on a slow day - instead, this was a busy Sunday, and the group being watched MAY HAVE been comprised of 20 people). That's when I interjected that since both of them were sitting there, that one of them might want to think about watching the area with the deeper water, and I informed them that not much earlier we had saved a couple of people from drowning... They told me that there was another lifeguard "over there" (he was actually located at the next set of steps, which is maybe twenty yards from where this pair was sitting). This guard's location left him about another FIFTY YARDS from where we saved the mother and child who flipped the tube, and a footbridge crossing the river probably obstructed the view of all of these lifeguards, based on where they were positioned (I'm also assuming this because none of them came to assist when the tube flipped, and probably were unaware that it had happened). Well anyway, the two guards that I spoke with just resumed chatting... Yeah..., let's guard the water that's 3 feet deep, and not worry about the water that's 10 feet deep with the stronger currents. Very disappointing...
Could you mention something else that you forgot to address yesterday? Sure... :) When I told the story about seeing my friend Alvin for the first time in twenty-seven years, I neglected to mention the fact that we went to high school in New Hampshire - that's NEW HAMPSHIRE... So when we saw each other again for the first time in over a quarter of a century in TEXAS... Well, that probably would have added something to it, huh? ;)
Could you vent a little more Coach, and tell us about something that you find completely stupid (that would be "silly" for you youngsters out there, right Amy?). :) This topic happens to have even greater relevance to me now that I play fantasy baseball... For you baseball fans out there, WHO is the genius that came up "defensive indifference?" This is one of my biggest baseball pet peeves, so I may have blogged about this before... For those of you who are unaware of what I'm talking about (Miletus :) ), defensive indifference occurs when a baserunner steals a base, but he IS NOT CREDITED with the steal because the defense did not try to throw him out. It's obvious that the defense does not want the runner to have the extra base, but because they don't have a chance of throwing the runner out, they're concentrating on the batter, WHATEVER..., they don't make an attempt. This rule makes about as much sense as when a girl breaks up with a guy (or vice versa), and the guy is like, "Well, she didn't really break up with me... I didn't really like her anyway, or it never would have worked out in the long run, or (insert her alleged character flaws here)..." YES, she DID break up with you, and IT IS a stolen base! Oh, and YES, this rule DID cost one of my fantasy players a stolen base a few nights ago, which is the reason that you just suffered through that paragraph... :)
Could you be more dramatic? This year's Main Event of the World Series of Poker is currently underway, so I thought that I would include this little bit of insight... I was watching the telecast of last year's Main Event a few nights ago, and Lon McEachern is just always SO HYPED UP about the hands that are being played out. Lon is kind of like the Fox News of poker... There was as open-ended "Broadway draw" (the player had 10 J Q K, and needed an ace or a 9 to make a straight and win the hand). When the river was turned over, Lon exclaimed, "it's the SIX OF CLUBS!!!" Of course, that river was a TOTAL BLANK - I'm sorry, I just think it's funny... :)
I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again on Thursday!
"The sign, that I couldn't read, or a light, that I couldn't see, some things, you have to believe, but others are puzzles, puzzling me..." -Coldplay- (Speed Of Sound)
"I don't know what a carb is, but it sounds good. I want one..." -Ebonie Landrum- (via facebook)
"Tell me what, is this thing, that I feel, like I'm missing, and why can't I let it go?"
-Stacie Orrico- (More To Life)
"Ahhhh..., they were just playing the Super Mario theme song in Starbucks!!"
-@PaigeHutch3- (via twitter)
Could you talk about someone who is almost as shameless about trying to get into the blog as Alyssa and Gabby Coach? Sure I can, and good morning everyone... Oh, and by the way Alyssa and Melanie, I still use that Bobcat "tumbler" EVERY DAY (it's the biggest cup that I have..., you know...). :) Okay, so back to the shameless people... I was talking to Texas State's recently graduated football star Tim again this past weekend at Veranda. I brought up the topic of all of the positions that he played on offense for the Bobcats (Tim's versatility at the skill positions was discussed in a recent post here), and Tim said that after starting out as a wide receiver, he was put in at running back after an injury to one of the starters. The coaches basically told him that he was just as good as anyone else that the team had at the position (that sounds like a RINGING ENDORSEMENT I told Tim). :) Anyway, the same thing happened later on after the starting quarterback was injured. Alright..., now everything that I just typed..., none of it was going to be in the blog today if that was the whole story. I basically told Tim, "I wish that I would have known all of that when I wrote about you before - I could have put it in the blog..." Now as we're speaking, girls are just COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK to say hi to Tim (he played every offensive skill position on the football team - WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT that football players would be popular?)... :) I actually asked Tim if he had like 50,000 friends on facebook. He then told me that he did get requests ALL THE TIME, and that he probably had like 500 that he hadn't acted on yet (which I honestly believed). Then Tim SHOWED ME on his phone, scrolling through SCREEN AFTER SCREEN of requests that he had received and hadn't taken action on - and you LAUGHED when I said that I was good at reading people/situations... PFFFTTT!!! ;) Now if you read the opening tweet of this entry, you should already know that the best part of this story occurred when two of my friends, Natalie and Kate, came up to me and said hi, and they DIDN'T say hi to Tim..., didn't even know him AT ALL I don't think... :) And sure enough, as soon as he tweeted about that with my "name" in it, BAM!, Tim's in the blog again... :P Congratulations again to all three of these recent graduates - both Natalie and Kate have moved on to Houston to begin their new careers, and Tim currently has his sights set on staying here in the San Marcos, America area, which is obviously a good move (non-move???). ;)
Could you find a way to work Gabby's name into another segment, while including Maureen and addressing a serious subject? Wow, you people ask for A LOT... Okay, this was something that I meant to mention in yesterday's entry. So I assisted in saving the woman from drowning on Sunday, and about fifteen minutes later, I walked over to Bikini Hill to get a drink of my ice water. Then I got back into the river and noticed that there were two lifeguards sitting and chatting by the second set of steps leading into the river (the first set being the steps closest to the bridge/street). I stood up (the water is like three feet deep there) and asked them if they were being employed by the park, of if they were working a special function, etc... (it wasn't obvious like it was when Gabby and Maureen had their 200 "Cat Campers" there on a slow day - instead, this was a busy Sunday, and the group being watched MAY HAVE been comprised of 20 people). That's when I interjected that since both of them were sitting there, that one of them might want to think about watching the area with the deeper water, and I informed them that not much earlier we had saved a couple of people from drowning... They told me that there was another lifeguard "over there" (he was actually located at the next set of steps, which is maybe twenty yards from where this pair was sitting). This guard's location left him about another FIFTY YARDS from where we saved the mother and child who flipped the tube, and a footbridge crossing the river probably obstructed the view of all of these lifeguards, based on where they were positioned (I'm also assuming this because none of them came to assist when the tube flipped, and probably were unaware that it had happened). Well anyway, the two guards that I spoke with just resumed chatting... Yeah..., let's guard the water that's 3 feet deep, and not worry about the water that's 10 feet deep with the stronger currents. Very disappointing...
Could you mention something else that you forgot to address yesterday? Sure... :) When I told the story about seeing my friend Alvin for the first time in twenty-seven years, I neglected to mention the fact that we went to high school in New Hampshire - that's NEW HAMPSHIRE... So when we saw each other again for the first time in over a quarter of a century in TEXAS... Well, that probably would have added something to it, huh? ;)
Could you vent a little more Coach, and tell us about something that you find completely stupid (that would be "silly" for you youngsters out there, right Amy?). :) This topic happens to have even greater relevance to me now that I play fantasy baseball... For you baseball fans out there, WHO is the genius that came up "defensive indifference?" This is one of my biggest baseball pet peeves, so I may have blogged about this before... For those of you who are unaware of what I'm talking about (Miletus :) ), defensive indifference occurs when a baserunner steals a base, but he IS NOT CREDITED with the steal because the defense did not try to throw him out. It's obvious that the defense does not want the runner to have the extra base, but because they don't have a chance of throwing the runner out, they're concentrating on the batter, WHATEVER..., they don't make an attempt. This rule makes about as much sense as when a girl breaks up with a guy (or vice versa), and the guy is like, "Well, she didn't really break up with me... I didn't really like her anyway, or it never would have worked out in the long run, or (insert her alleged character flaws here)..." YES, she DID break up with you, and IT IS a stolen base! Oh, and YES, this rule DID cost one of my fantasy players a stolen base a few nights ago, which is the reason that you just suffered through that paragraph... :)
Could you be more dramatic? This year's Main Event of the World Series of Poker is currently underway, so I thought that I would include this little bit of insight... I was watching the telecast of last year's Main Event a few nights ago, and Lon McEachern is just always SO HYPED UP about the hands that are being played out. Lon is kind of like the Fox News of poker... There was as open-ended "Broadway draw" (the player had 10 J Q K, and needed an ace or a 9 to make a straight and win the hand). When the river was turned over, Lon exclaimed, "it's the SIX OF CLUBS!!!" Of course, that river was a TOTAL BLANK - I'm sorry, I just think it's funny... :)
I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again on Thursday!
Monday, July 8, 2013
This Starts Now
"Here I am..., talking while you don't hear a word I say, knowing you're watching me from far away, somewhere that I've never been..." -Billy Joel- (State Of Grace)
"I'm sorry that I hurt you..., it's something I must live with every day..., and all the pain I put you through..., I wish that I could take it all away..." -Hoobastank- (The Reason)
"'Cause I can't take anymore of this, I want to come apart, or dig myself a little hole, inside your precious heart..." -Staind- (Epiphany)
Good morning everyone. Today's post title is the answer to "this stops now," which is what I said when I saw my scale register 240 pounds on May 18th... :O "This" actually started a while back, and I don't know if I can pinpoint an exact moment (although if I'm going to be using 'This Starts Now' as a post title, I might want to figure that out) that this started. Hey, it's Monday..., gimme a break... ;) <<<<< This weekend someone told me that I like the "winky faces" - sue me... ;) ;) ;) Anyway, the job hunt will be all-consuming now, as will my upcoming move. In the past month since leaving Harper's, I have successfully lost over ten pounds and flipped my sleep schedule. I also said goodbye to my dad as he headed north after a long run on the outskirts of the Alamo City. Now I have phone calls to make and LOTS of classified ads to read, so let's get to it... Here we go...
As luck would have it, I probably have almost enough to write about for the whole week, due to the fact that this weekend was more eventful than I would have anticipated. Yesterday I woke up SUPER EARLY for no reason (if you're new to the blog, "for no reason" means that I didn't have to get up, I didn't set an alarm, etc...), so I went and bought some groceries. I went back to sleep at about 9:30 a.m. and set my alarm for just before noon, knowing that my friend was going to be calling in the early afternoon. Shortly after noon, Alvin did indeed call, and said that his group was just entering San Marcos (insert EEEEEEEKKK!!! or YIKES!!! here, both words that I don't normally use)... I was expecting a call when they were about to DEPART from the ATX, but I'm adaptable... ;) <<<<< (Obligatory winky face...) Anyway, I met up with Alvin, Amy, and the two precious youngsters that they had in tow at Grins. Now Alvin is a high school classmate of mine, and I hadn't seen him in... (c'mon..., take a shot at this..., you know what I'm going to say..., that's right...) one hundred years... Alvin was nice enough to buy lunch for all of us (which is not near punishment enough for the fact that this whole group lives in... (c'mon, take a shot at it..., you can guess it..., that's right...) Las Vegas... I better have a REALLY GREAT YEAR up in Austin since it seems that I'm the only one who doesn't live out in Las Vegas or at least visit the desert every other month (I might be exaggerating)... :) I really enjoyed catching up with this group as I ate a "light lunch" (half an order of 'Nachomoles' and two of the kids' quesadillas that I managed to steal)... ;) <<<<< (Gratuitous winky face and NO, I did not really steal their food - it seems that two young ladies had a "pre-lunch" of yogurt on the Square)... OH, I forgot to tell you, when Alvin called me from the Square, he suggested that we eat at this place called 'Harper's Public House'... I told him that Harper's doesn't serve food, and that I had worked there until recently (as you know, this was a DEAD GIVEAWAY that he hadn't read the blog before)... :)
So after a great visit, they dropped me off at my apartment (Grins was like a five-minute walk for me), and I quickly prepared for my trip to..., THE RIVER (which is the reason that I ate the light lunch, after learning how soon we'd be meeting)... As you probably guessed, I would have written about this reunion today anyway (it really was the first time that we had seen each other in twenty-seven years), but then something happened at the river yesterday that's worth mentioning. Oh, and by the way, Alvin is my first high school classmate that can testify as to how rough life is on Bikini Hill... :) #thestruggle Anyway, as I hung out at "the ladder," a group of about ten tubers reached the turn by the basketball court where the water gets deeper (it goes from about 3 feet to over 10 feet deep) when a tube with a mother and her young daughter (I would put her on being about 3 years old) flipped over. The two of them weren't wearing life jackets, and as it turns out, neither of them could swim... Coincidentally, someone asked me a few days ago if I was a lifeguard when I was escaping the sun in the river... Well, the bright side of my AC unit having its problems battling the late afternoon heat is that I was there to help save these two. I was about twenty yards away when I started, and immediately went for the little girl (which almost everyone did as it turns out), and it was only when I got closer that I realized that the mother couldn't swim either. There was a guy helping to keep the mother afloat when I got to them, but the problem with where she ended up was that she wasn't in the current, so we actually had to pull her to the current, at which point the water helped us in getting her to the ladder. Afterward the mother said that they didn't realize that the water got that deep... Needless to say, this was the end of the tubing trip for the father and his family, and he was nice enough to seek me out after all of the commotion has passed to shake my hand and say thank you.
Now in some happier river news, I met a few more Rattlers on Saturday. The Rattlers are the mascot of the local high school here, where I taught and coached... (c'mon..., you know the answer to this one..., that's right...) one hundred years ago... Now the first time that Elena and Marissa crossed paths with me, they wouldn't have found their way into the blog, but I did notice that when Marissa reached the ladder, she kind of paused, almost like she had..., choked or something??? The thing was, she wasn't making any choking noises, and when she had composed herself, all she said was, "that was attractive..." This made me laugh out loud, and my guess was that she was just worried about how her hair looked... Now the next time that I saw this pair..., ha ha ha... As these two ladies hit that same spot where the tube flipped yesterday, OUT OF NOWHERE, a snorkel POPPED UP out of the water, right in Marissa's face!!! The way that she reacted, you'd have thought that it was a snake, and I don't blame her for being alarmed. NOTE: In addition to the non-swimmers needing life jackets, the snorkelers need to be aware of their surroundings - one popped up from beneath the surface of the water yesterday and got hit in the head by the paddle of someone passing by in a kayak... On a related note, maybe in the near future we'll discuss the wisdom of trying to navigate kayaks and canoes through the river at Sewell Park during a predictably busy Fourth of July Weekend... Okay, so back to Elena and Marissa... So what clinched me asking their permission to put their adventures in the blog today was their next trip down the river, when one of them (I forget which one) claimed that a fish had swam between their legs, to which the other responded, "WELL GET OUT THEN!" :) Now when I asked these two if I could use their story in the blog, they actually made me feel bad for a second when they told me, "yeah, someone put us in their blog last year..." Knowing that they were local high school students, I asked them if they knew the twins (Victoria and Trinity from last week's 'Sisters' post, which they did), quickly summarized the story that I had written about those two, and then told Elena and Marissa that I coached at the high school a hundred years ago (you already knew that it was coming that time)... Since these two had already been put in somebody's blog last year when visiting Bikini Hill, I didn't want them to think that it was like some kind of scam of something..., like they were going to be obligated to buy..., I don't know..., ALUMINUM SIDING in the future, or become a part of some devious pyramid scheme... :) Thankfully I'll be moving to Austin soon, before TWO THOUSAND San Marcos High School students want to be in the blog... :)
Weekly fantasy baseball results you ask? Here ya go...
League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place/125, 2nd place/25)
1) DraftDodgers 74.50
2) Neshanic 69.00
3) Buschleaguers 62.50
7) The View From Bikini Hill 51.00 (7th AND over 50 points?!) ;)
League 2 (40 entry fee - 1st place/300, 2nd place/50)
1) Breaking Bats 85.00 (PACE YOURSELF dude...) :)
2) 4troublemakes 71.50
3) Loons XXIV 59.00
4) The Bikini Hill Bobcats 54.50 (4th - must be a typo...)
League 3 (40 entry fee - 1st place/300, 2nd place/50)
1) Pittsburg Crawfords 72.50
2) jonnylove7 64.00
3) Nappy Heads 62.00
5) Fishing For Trout 56.50
5) The Bikini Hill Nine 56.50 (there's hope...)
I know that you're all waiting to hear how many pitching victories I got from the Bikini Hill Nine last week, after my pitchers had an uncanny EIGHTEEN starts... The answer is nine, which I'll take... :) My teams are heading in the right direction, so much so that I actually had trouble deciding which player to drop yesterday when I had a player return from the disabled list. WHAT am I going to do when everyone on The View From Bikini Hill (still six players on the DL) becomes healthy?!
I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!
"I'm sorry that I hurt you..., it's something I must live with every day..., and all the pain I put you through..., I wish that I could take it all away..." -Hoobastank- (The Reason)
"'Cause I can't take anymore of this, I want to come apart, or dig myself a little hole, inside your precious heart..." -Staind- (Epiphany)
Good morning everyone. Today's post title is the answer to "this stops now," which is what I said when I saw my scale register 240 pounds on May 18th... :O "This" actually started a while back, and I don't know if I can pinpoint an exact moment (although if I'm going to be using 'This Starts Now' as a post title, I might want to figure that out) that this started. Hey, it's Monday..., gimme a break... ;) <<<<< This weekend someone told me that I like the "winky faces" - sue me... ;) ;) ;) Anyway, the job hunt will be all-consuming now, as will my upcoming move. In the past month since leaving Harper's, I have successfully lost over ten pounds and flipped my sleep schedule. I also said goodbye to my dad as he headed north after a long run on the outskirts of the Alamo City. Now I have phone calls to make and LOTS of classified ads to read, so let's get to it... Here we go...
As luck would have it, I probably have almost enough to write about for the whole week, due to the fact that this weekend was more eventful than I would have anticipated. Yesterday I woke up SUPER EARLY for no reason (if you're new to the blog, "for no reason" means that I didn't have to get up, I didn't set an alarm, etc...), so I went and bought some groceries. I went back to sleep at about 9:30 a.m. and set my alarm for just before noon, knowing that my friend was going to be calling in the early afternoon. Shortly after noon, Alvin did indeed call, and said that his group was just entering San Marcos (insert EEEEEEEKKK!!! or YIKES!!! here, both words that I don't normally use)... I was expecting a call when they were about to DEPART from the ATX, but I'm adaptable... ;) <<<<< (Obligatory winky face...) Anyway, I met up with Alvin, Amy, and the two precious youngsters that they had in tow at Grins. Now Alvin is a high school classmate of mine, and I hadn't seen him in... (c'mon..., take a shot at this..., you know what I'm going to say..., that's right...) one hundred years... Alvin was nice enough to buy lunch for all of us (which is not near punishment enough for the fact that this whole group lives in... (c'mon, take a shot at it..., you can guess it..., that's right...) Las Vegas... I better have a REALLY GREAT YEAR up in Austin since it seems that I'm the only one who doesn't live out in Las Vegas or at least visit the desert every other month (I might be exaggerating)... :) I really enjoyed catching up with this group as I ate a "light lunch" (half an order of 'Nachomoles' and two of the kids' quesadillas that I managed to steal)... ;) <<<<< (Gratuitous winky face and NO, I did not really steal their food - it seems that two young ladies had a "pre-lunch" of yogurt on the Square)... OH, I forgot to tell you, when Alvin called me from the Square, he suggested that we eat at this place called 'Harper's Public House'... I told him that Harper's doesn't serve food, and that I had worked there until recently (as you know, this was a DEAD GIVEAWAY that he hadn't read the blog before)... :)
So after a great visit, they dropped me off at my apartment (Grins was like a five-minute walk for me), and I quickly prepared for my trip to..., THE RIVER (which is the reason that I ate the light lunch, after learning how soon we'd be meeting)... As you probably guessed, I would have written about this reunion today anyway (it really was the first time that we had seen each other in twenty-seven years), but then something happened at the river yesterday that's worth mentioning. Oh, and by the way, Alvin is my first high school classmate that can testify as to how rough life is on Bikini Hill... :) #thestruggle Anyway, as I hung out at "the ladder," a group of about ten tubers reached the turn by the basketball court where the water gets deeper (it goes from about 3 feet to over 10 feet deep) when a tube with a mother and her young daughter (I would put her on being about 3 years old) flipped over. The two of them weren't wearing life jackets, and as it turns out, neither of them could swim... Coincidentally, someone asked me a few days ago if I was a lifeguard when I was escaping the sun in the river... Well, the bright side of my AC unit having its problems battling the late afternoon heat is that I was there to help save these two. I was about twenty yards away when I started, and immediately went for the little girl (which almost everyone did as it turns out), and it was only when I got closer that I realized that the mother couldn't swim either. There was a guy helping to keep the mother afloat when I got to them, but the problem with where she ended up was that she wasn't in the current, so we actually had to pull her to the current, at which point the water helped us in getting her to the ladder. Afterward the mother said that they didn't realize that the water got that deep... Needless to say, this was the end of the tubing trip for the father and his family, and he was nice enough to seek me out after all of the commotion has passed to shake my hand and say thank you.
Now in some happier river news, I met a few more Rattlers on Saturday. The Rattlers are the mascot of the local high school here, where I taught and coached... (c'mon..., you know the answer to this one..., that's right...) one hundred years ago... Now the first time that Elena and Marissa crossed paths with me, they wouldn't have found their way into the blog, but I did notice that when Marissa reached the ladder, she kind of paused, almost like she had..., choked or something??? The thing was, she wasn't making any choking noises, and when she had composed herself, all she said was, "that was attractive..." This made me laugh out loud, and my guess was that she was just worried about how her hair looked... Now the next time that I saw this pair..., ha ha ha... As these two ladies hit that same spot where the tube flipped yesterday, OUT OF NOWHERE, a snorkel POPPED UP out of the water, right in Marissa's face!!! The way that she reacted, you'd have thought that it was a snake, and I don't blame her for being alarmed. NOTE: In addition to the non-swimmers needing life jackets, the snorkelers need to be aware of their surroundings - one popped up from beneath the surface of the water yesterday and got hit in the head by the paddle of someone passing by in a kayak... On a related note, maybe in the near future we'll discuss the wisdom of trying to navigate kayaks and canoes through the river at Sewell Park during a predictably busy Fourth of July Weekend... Okay, so back to Elena and Marissa... So what clinched me asking their permission to put their adventures in the blog today was their next trip down the river, when one of them (I forget which one) claimed that a fish had swam between their legs, to which the other responded, "WELL GET OUT THEN!" :) Now when I asked these two if I could use their story in the blog, they actually made me feel bad for a second when they told me, "yeah, someone put us in their blog last year..." Knowing that they were local high school students, I asked them if they knew the twins (Victoria and Trinity from last week's 'Sisters' post, which they did), quickly summarized the story that I had written about those two, and then told Elena and Marissa that I coached at the high school a hundred years ago (you already knew that it was coming that time)... Since these two had already been put in somebody's blog last year when visiting Bikini Hill, I didn't want them to think that it was like some kind of scam of something..., like they were going to be obligated to buy..., I don't know..., ALUMINUM SIDING in the future, or become a part of some devious pyramid scheme... :) Thankfully I'll be moving to Austin soon, before TWO THOUSAND San Marcos High School students want to be in the blog... :)
Weekly fantasy baseball results you ask? Here ya go...
League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place/125, 2nd place/25)
1) DraftDodgers 74.50
2) Neshanic 69.00
3) Buschleaguers 62.50
7) The View From Bikini Hill 51.00 (7th AND over 50 points?!) ;)
League 2 (40 entry fee - 1st place/300, 2nd place/50)
1) Breaking Bats 85.00 (PACE YOURSELF dude...) :)
2) 4troublemakes 71.50
3) Loons XXIV 59.00
4) The Bikini Hill Bobcats 54.50 (4th - must be a typo...)
League 3 (40 entry fee - 1st place/300, 2nd place/50)
1) Pittsburg Crawfords 72.50
2) jonnylove7 64.00
3) Nappy Heads 62.00
5) Fishing For Trout 56.50
5) The Bikini Hill Nine 56.50 (there's hope...)
I know that you're all waiting to hear how many pitching victories I got from the Bikini Hill Nine last week, after my pitchers had an uncanny EIGHTEEN starts... The answer is nine, which I'll take... :) My teams are heading in the right direction, so much so that I actually had trouble deciding which player to drop yesterday when I had a player return from the disabled list. WHAT am I going to do when everyone on The View From Bikini Hill (still six players on the DL) becomes healthy?!
I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!
Friday, July 5, 2013
Goodbye
"And all this could be, such a dream, so it seems, I was never much good at goodbye..."
-Night Ranger- (Goodbye)
"I will remember you, will you remember me, don't let your life pass you by, weep not for the memories..." -Sarah McLachlan- (I Will Remember You)
"It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right, I hope you had the time of your life..."
-Green Day- (Time Of Your Life)
Good morning everyone. Let me start off by saying that I wouldn't be able to do this post the justice that it deserves even if I sat here at my keyboard for the next week... Even though I was only 10 years old at the time, I still vividly remember the move from Virginia to Texas after my dad was transferred from Quantico to Randolph Air Force Base in 1979. I still remember the TORRENTIAL RAIN that we drove through in Houston as I rode co-pilot with my mom, following and trying not to lose the car that my dad was driving with my brother serving as his co-pilot. We didn't lose them, but that rain was HEAVY (looking online just now, I learned that the name of the tropical storm responsible for this rain was Claudette - 42 inches of rain recorded in Alvin in a 24-hour period)... I remember the Motel 6 on Loop 410 in San Antonio where my family lived while we were waiting for base housing on Randolph, and endlessly checking the vending machines for the surprising amount of loose change that I was able to find... I also remember being thankful that this hotel had a SWIMMING POOL, because it was HOT. I can tell you that this move took place in late July and early August. I'm only positive about the time frame because I just looked up when New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson died in a plane crash (August 2nd, 1979). I was a huge baseball fan when I was younger and I still remember that happening during our move. This was in 1979...
Not long after we arrived, my dad found a second job as a bartender in Universal City, at a bar which is located about half a mile off the front gate of Randolph. My dad retired from the Air Force in 1984, and he just worked his last shift as the manager of the Pawn Pub on WEDNESDAY... Yes..., Wednesday..., July 3rd, 2013... On Tuesday while I was driving to U.C. to meet my dad at the Pawn, I realized that he was 34 years old when he was transferred to Randolph, which coincidentally happens to be the number of years that he worked at the Pub - 34 years. I know, WOW... I cannot even begin to tell you how many people are going to miss him. If I had a dollar for every time that someone at the Pawn has come up to me and introduced themself because they found out that I was "Billy's son," or told me how much they thought of him, or bought me a drink because I'm his son, or told me that I look like him (and you have to have sympathy for anyone who looks like me), well, I'd have a lot of dollars... I heard someone refer to my dad as "the historian" the other day. My dad's memory is UNCANNY, and his ability to remember names and people makes me completely envious (and is something that I MUST get better at doing). Like I said, I could sit here for a week and not even put a dent in mentioning the seemingly endless number of friendships that my dad has cultivated over the years, or the lives that he has influenced. And the stories that I wish I knew... When I told the story yesterday about Mr. Hollis and my dad being part of the group of 19 golfers in Las Vegas that was out on the course with the winds gusting up to 70 miles an hour, all while the decision to CLOSE McCarran International Airport had been made... Yeah, I WISH I knew all of the stories... :)
As I write this, my dad is driving up I-35 North with a full truck, making the trip to Missouri. To say that things won't be the same here is the understatement of all time... I'm sure that I speak for everyone who knows him when I say that we're already looking forward to Thanksgiving, which is when Dad's first visit home is supposed to take place. Of course you have to remember that everything in life in fluid - Sunday, the day of Dad's going away party (and thank you everyone, it was OUTSTANDING), was also the day of his last shift, as was MONDAY, and WEDNESDAY... :) Have a safe trip Dad, and we'll see you soon...
-Night Ranger- (Goodbye)
"I will remember you, will you remember me, don't let your life pass you by, weep not for the memories..." -Sarah McLachlan- (I Will Remember You)
"It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right, I hope you had the time of your life..."
-Green Day- (Time Of Your Life)
Good morning everyone. Let me start off by saying that I wouldn't be able to do this post the justice that it deserves even if I sat here at my keyboard for the next week... Even though I was only 10 years old at the time, I still vividly remember the move from Virginia to Texas after my dad was transferred from Quantico to Randolph Air Force Base in 1979. I still remember the TORRENTIAL RAIN that we drove through in Houston as I rode co-pilot with my mom, following and trying not to lose the car that my dad was driving with my brother serving as his co-pilot. We didn't lose them, but that rain was HEAVY (looking online just now, I learned that the name of the tropical storm responsible for this rain was Claudette - 42 inches of rain recorded in Alvin in a 24-hour period)... I remember the Motel 6 on Loop 410 in San Antonio where my family lived while we were waiting for base housing on Randolph, and endlessly checking the vending machines for the surprising amount of loose change that I was able to find... I also remember being thankful that this hotel had a SWIMMING POOL, because it was HOT. I can tell you that this move took place in late July and early August. I'm only positive about the time frame because I just looked up when New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson died in a plane crash (August 2nd, 1979). I was a huge baseball fan when I was younger and I still remember that happening during our move. This was in 1979...
Not long after we arrived, my dad found a second job as a bartender in Universal City, at a bar which is located about half a mile off the front gate of Randolph. My dad retired from the Air Force in 1984, and he just worked his last shift as the manager of the Pawn Pub on WEDNESDAY... Yes..., Wednesday..., July 3rd, 2013... On Tuesday while I was driving to U.C. to meet my dad at the Pawn, I realized that he was 34 years old when he was transferred to Randolph, which coincidentally happens to be the number of years that he worked at the Pub - 34 years. I know, WOW... I cannot even begin to tell you how many people are going to miss him. If I had a dollar for every time that someone at the Pawn has come up to me and introduced themself because they found out that I was "Billy's son," or told me how much they thought of him, or bought me a drink because I'm his son, or told me that I look like him (and you have to have sympathy for anyone who looks like me), well, I'd have a lot of dollars... I heard someone refer to my dad as "the historian" the other day. My dad's memory is UNCANNY, and his ability to remember names and people makes me completely envious (and is something that I MUST get better at doing). Like I said, I could sit here for a week and not even put a dent in mentioning the seemingly endless number of friendships that my dad has cultivated over the years, or the lives that he has influenced. And the stories that I wish I knew... When I told the story yesterday about Mr. Hollis and my dad being part of the group of 19 golfers in Las Vegas that was out on the course with the winds gusting up to 70 miles an hour, all while the decision to CLOSE McCarran International Airport had been made... Yeah, I WISH I knew all of the stories... :)
As I write this, my dad is driving up I-35 North with a full truck, making the trip to Missouri. To say that things won't be the same here is the understatement of all time... I'm sure that I speak for everyone who knows him when I say that we're already looking forward to Thanksgiving, which is when Dad's first visit home is supposed to take place. Of course you have to remember that everything in life in fluid - Sunday, the day of Dad's going away party (and thank you everyone, it was OUTSTANDING), was also the day of his last shift, as was MONDAY, and WEDNESDAY... :) Have a safe trip Dad, and we'll see you soon...
Thursday, July 4, 2013
I Remember The First Time (24)
"You end up like a dog that's been beat too much, til you spend half your life just covering up..."
-Bruce Springsteen- (Born In The U.S.A.)
"Living In America..., eye to eye, station to station, living in America..., hand in hand, across the nation, living in America..., I got to have a celebration..., ROCK MY SOUL..."
-James Brown- (Living In America)
"Let freedom ring..., let the white dove sing..., let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning..." -Martina McBride- (Let Freedom Ring)
"And they were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry, them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die..." -Don McLean- (American Pie)
"And I gladly STAND UP, next to you, and defend her still today, 'cause there ain't no doubt, I love this land, God Bless the U.S.A..." -Lee Greenwood- (Proud To Be An American)
I remember the first time that I was curious... Good morning everyone, and Happy Independence Day! So yesterday after I posted a facebook status, it came up on my wall with that 'promote' tab as one of the options (Like, Share, Promote, etc...). Out of curiosity, I clicked on 'promote'... In case you've never done this yourself, you can get your facebook status put in a prominent place on your the walls of your friends for ONLY..., wait for it..., wait for it..., $6.99! PFFFFTTT!!! I don't know about you, but I don't have anything to say that is that important (which you already know, since you're reading my blog)... ;)
I remember the first time that I talked about facebook again... When I went to my personal page on facebook last night, it encouraged me to 'Complete Your Profile Places' (after signing up for facebook, I filled out EVERYTHING that I could, and later on the people at facebook decided to WIPE ALL OF THAT OUT, so I've refused to retype most of that information). Anyway, the first prompt was 'Which City Do You Live In?' This prompt was followed by possible choices, which was followed by the number of friends that I have who live in each place. IN ORDER, my choices were: San Marcos, Texas; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada... I guess that I did a pretty good job when I renamed the blog, huh?... ;)
I remember the first time that my attitude completely changed... I went to H-E-B last night to pick up a few things because I didn't know if they would be open today, and the store was PACKED just before 9:00 p.m. If you know me at all, you know that I HATE shopping at night for this reason. EVERY FOOL WITH A CART was cutting in front of me, or SUDDENLY STOPPING for no reason... As I was walking back to the front of the store, I walked past a "split aisle..." Yes, I'll explain... :) There's half an aisle of goods, then a gap where you can see into the next aisle, and then more goods. When I hit the gap, I thought that I saw somebody that I knew in front of me, but her back was turned toward me as she talked on her phone. The odds that it was her were low, because I had seen on facebook when I woke up from a nap just before leaving to shop that she had been out with a friend an hour earlier. From behind her (the other side of the goods from me) I heard a little girl calling out to her, so after a few more steps I turned back toward the voice. From only having seen this cute little girl's photo on facebook previously, I realized that the person that I had seen was indeed my friend Monica, and that the girl was her daughter. I walked over and gave Monica a hug, and while she resumed her phone conversation, I had NO SUCCESS in getting her handsome two year-old son to shake my hand... After a few seconds, her beautiful five year-old girl comes down the aisle to ask Monica if she could get something (we were in the toy aisle - what are the odds?)... :) Monica said yes, and her girl went back to where she had been looking at toys. When Monica got off of the phone, she grabbed a kid's fishing pole for her son while we talked, and in his excitement, he called out his sister's name, and said, "look..., a fishing pole!" His older sister, who was still sorting through toys to find what she wanted to take home, shot back, "I don't wanna see it!...," and then turned back to the shelf of toys... :) I have a feeling that these two could keep me going all day long, and isn't it amazing how your attitude can change, just like that?... ;)
I remember the first time that the rest of my stories switched to tales that I heard at my dad's bar this week... As I have said already, my dad was working his last shifts at a bar during the past week, a bar that he has worked at for the past 34 years. Tomorrow I will be writing a little bit about this... In the meantime, I have a few stories for you... Regarding ALL OF THE LEFTOVERS that I took home from his going away party, Steve (one of the bartenders who came in to work that shift) made this comment upon arriving at work: "I was gonna have lunch and I thought..., WHY?... :)
I remember the first time I realized where my sense of humor comes from... The bar was getting busy before my dad's party began, so I answered an incoming call, and then handed the phone to my dad. Debbie (the caller) was asking if the bar had any bowls. This was Dad's response: "Don't I ALWAYS have bowls? I haven't quit yet baby..." :)
I remember the first time that I mowed a lawn... Our friend Steve (Mr. Hollis, a different Steve) was telling a story about mowing the grass at the house that he once rented from my dad (the house that I lived in when I was in the seventh grade, a fact which has no bearing on this story whatsoever...). He might have been about five yards from the house when he suddenly heard a CRASH, and quickly realized that the mower had SHOT A ROCK through the sliding glass door, causing the whole thing to LOUDLY SHATTER! Steve proceeded to go and pick up two replacement panes of glass. He picked up a pane for the one that had shattered, and another that had never been there since he moved in. The way that he told the story about it taking him AN HOUR to carry the glass from the front of the house to the back porch is HILARIOUS! :) He was moving the glass BY HIMSELF, and you know how heavy and awkward those doors are to carry, right?... The best part is that he went to my dad's bar after installing the glass, where they proceeded to haggle over who should pay for the panes of glass (over SEVERAL drinks)... :) Okay, I won't keep you in suspense - each of them ended up paying for one of them, ALTHOUGH I thought that since Steve had installed them... ANYWAY... :)
I remember the first time that I never golfed during a hurricane... The story that made me laugh the most over the past few days at the bar was the tale about the time that Steve (from the mowing story) and my dad were among a group of people who went out to Las Vegas to golf and gamble for a few days. One day at Angel Park, they were part of a group of nineteen people that was out golfing on a windy day. Okay..., windy... When they returned to the casino that they were staying at, they learned that the winds had been gusting up to SEVENTY MILES AN HOUR!... Okay..., windy... They also learned after the round that McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas HAD BEEN CLOSED due to the high winds... Now just sit back and imagine how much money the city loses when those passengers can't land and gamble away their money, yet the winds were strong enough that they decided to..., SHUT DOWN THE AIRPORT!!! :O Steve said that they were using DRIVERS on par three's and that they were NOT EVEN COMING CLOSE to hitting the greens... :P
I hope that you have a VERY SAFE and HAPPY 4th of July, and I'll see you again tomorrow!
-Bruce Springsteen- (Born In The U.S.A.)
"Living In America..., eye to eye, station to station, living in America..., hand in hand, across the nation, living in America..., I got to have a celebration..., ROCK MY SOUL..."
-James Brown- (Living In America)
"Let freedom ring..., let the white dove sing..., let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning..." -Martina McBride- (Let Freedom Ring)
"And they were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry, them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die..." -Don McLean- (American Pie)
"And I gladly STAND UP, next to you, and defend her still today, 'cause there ain't no doubt, I love this land, God Bless the U.S.A..." -Lee Greenwood- (Proud To Be An American)
I remember the first time that I was curious... Good morning everyone, and Happy Independence Day! So yesterday after I posted a facebook status, it came up on my wall with that 'promote' tab as one of the options (Like, Share, Promote, etc...). Out of curiosity, I clicked on 'promote'... In case you've never done this yourself, you can get your facebook status put in a prominent place on your the walls of your friends for ONLY..., wait for it..., wait for it..., $6.99! PFFFFTTT!!! I don't know about you, but I don't have anything to say that is that important (which you already know, since you're reading my blog)... ;)
I remember the first time that I talked about facebook again... When I went to my personal page on facebook last night, it encouraged me to 'Complete Your Profile Places' (after signing up for facebook, I filled out EVERYTHING that I could, and later on the people at facebook decided to WIPE ALL OF THAT OUT, so I've refused to retype most of that information). Anyway, the first prompt was 'Which City Do You Live In?' This prompt was followed by possible choices, which was followed by the number of friends that I have who live in each place. IN ORDER, my choices were: San Marcos, Texas; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada... I guess that I did a pretty good job when I renamed the blog, huh?... ;)
I remember the first time that my attitude completely changed... I went to H-E-B last night to pick up a few things because I didn't know if they would be open today, and the store was PACKED just before 9:00 p.m. If you know me at all, you know that I HATE shopping at night for this reason. EVERY FOOL WITH A CART was cutting in front of me, or SUDDENLY STOPPING for no reason... As I was walking back to the front of the store, I walked past a "split aisle..." Yes, I'll explain... :) There's half an aisle of goods, then a gap where you can see into the next aisle, and then more goods. When I hit the gap, I thought that I saw somebody that I knew in front of me, but her back was turned toward me as she talked on her phone. The odds that it was her were low, because I had seen on facebook when I woke up from a nap just before leaving to shop that she had been out with a friend an hour earlier. From behind her (the other side of the goods from me) I heard a little girl calling out to her, so after a few more steps I turned back toward the voice. From only having seen this cute little girl's photo on facebook previously, I realized that the person that I had seen was indeed my friend Monica, and that the girl was her daughter. I walked over and gave Monica a hug, and while she resumed her phone conversation, I had NO SUCCESS in getting her handsome two year-old son to shake my hand... After a few seconds, her beautiful five year-old girl comes down the aisle to ask Monica if she could get something (we were in the toy aisle - what are the odds?)... :) Monica said yes, and her girl went back to where she had been looking at toys. When Monica got off of the phone, she grabbed a kid's fishing pole for her son while we talked, and in his excitement, he called out his sister's name, and said, "look..., a fishing pole!" His older sister, who was still sorting through toys to find what she wanted to take home, shot back, "I don't wanna see it!...," and then turned back to the shelf of toys... :) I have a feeling that these two could keep me going all day long, and isn't it amazing how your attitude can change, just like that?... ;)
I remember the first time that the rest of my stories switched to tales that I heard at my dad's bar this week... As I have said already, my dad was working his last shifts at a bar during the past week, a bar that he has worked at for the past 34 years. Tomorrow I will be writing a little bit about this... In the meantime, I have a few stories for you... Regarding ALL OF THE LEFTOVERS that I took home from his going away party, Steve (one of the bartenders who came in to work that shift) made this comment upon arriving at work: "I was gonna have lunch and I thought..., WHY?... :)
I remember the first time I realized where my sense of humor comes from... The bar was getting busy before my dad's party began, so I answered an incoming call, and then handed the phone to my dad. Debbie (the caller) was asking if the bar had any bowls. This was Dad's response: "Don't I ALWAYS have bowls? I haven't quit yet baby..." :)
I remember the first time that I mowed a lawn... Our friend Steve (Mr. Hollis, a different Steve) was telling a story about mowing the grass at the house that he once rented from my dad (the house that I lived in when I was in the seventh grade, a fact which has no bearing on this story whatsoever...). He might have been about five yards from the house when he suddenly heard a CRASH, and quickly realized that the mower had SHOT A ROCK through the sliding glass door, causing the whole thing to LOUDLY SHATTER! Steve proceeded to go and pick up two replacement panes of glass. He picked up a pane for the one that had shattered, and another that had never been there since he moved in. The way that he told the story about it taking him AN HOUR to carry the glass from the front of the house to the back porch is HILARIOUS! :) He was moving the glass BY HIMSELF, and you know how heavy and awkward those doors are to carry, right?... The best part is that he went to my dad's bar after installing the glass, where they proceeded to haggle over who should pay for the panes of glass (over SEVERAL drinks)... :) Okay, I won't keep you in suspense - each of them ended up paying for one of them, ALTHOUGH I thought that since Steve had installed them... ANYWAY... :)
I remember the first time that I never golfed during a hurricane... The story that made me laugh the most over the past few days at the bar was the tale about the time that Steve (from the mowing story) and my dad were among a group of people who went out to Las Vegas to golf and gamble for a few days. One day at Angel Park, they were part of a group of nineteen people that was out golfing on a windy day. Okay..., windy... When they returned to the casino that they were staying at, they learned that the winds had been gusting up to SEVENTY MILES AN HOUR!... Okay..., windy... They also learned after the round that McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas HAD BEEN CLOSED due to the high winds... Now just sit back and imagine how much money the city loses when those passengers can't land and gamble away their money, yet the winds were strong enough that they decided to..., SHUT DOWN THE AIRPORT!!! :O Steve said that they were using DRIVERS on par three's and that they were NOT EVEN COMING CLOSE to hitting the greens... :P
I hope that you have a VERY SAFE and HAPPY 4th of July, and I'll see you again tomorrow!
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