Another post starting without direction... I'll just ramble for a moment until something catches my fancy. The latest kidstuff:
A while back, I'm pretty sure I shared the info that Joe bailed on college. He and his gf had been staying down in KY with his grandma (mother's side) for the past few months. They had a JoP wedding a couple months back, and just this past weekend got their very first apartment together! I'll be making the drive to KY in a couple of weeks to check it out and deliver some furniture.
We visited Samantha down at Radford last weekend. She arranged for some beautiful weather, and we had a really nice tour of the place. It was 'Family Weekend' along with 'Highlander Festival' so most of the buildings were open and showing demonstrations, and all the courtyards were packed with vendors and fairground foods.
Ethan and Megan are midway through their first semester already. Interims came out, and we have mixed results. Some really good news, and some not-so-good. That's all I'm saying at this point.
Got a couple bits of advertising to squeeze into this action-packed post...
Augur is playing the gazebo stage 3pm, Saturday at SterlingFest. I've been a fan of these guys for a couple years now; great rockin' music, lots of fun, and they continually support the community. (Get to SterlingFest early, and you can catch the belly-dancers at 1:15.)
BYRN, roots reggae rock, is one of my new favorites. Old friends, but hadn't heard them play until recently. I'm really liking the sound. They're kicking off a whole Sunday night of music at Jimmy's Old Town for the 10.10.10 Vet Aide event. Good music, great cause!
One more ad, then I'm done for the week. This is some good shiznit. Tasty and uber-healthy. Dark energy in a bottle!
(imagination credits go to Hell's Newsstand.)
Roller coasters, video games, puzzles, and wasting time. Perfect.
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Huh? What? I wasn't listening.
Mustard with attitude.
What? You didn't hear that? Lemme drop the F-bomb once again:
High speed, mid-air dolphin collision! Maybe they're not as smart as I think they are...
Who uses phonebooks? Seriously, paper phonebooks are one of the biggest, dumbest waste of resources I know. Please please please use this link to get off of multiple phone book distributions.
Yeah, that's exactly how I'd use my magic powers, too.
A map of high-school sexual relationships. I think it's legit: the chains look realistic enough, and I recognize similar patterns from my school. I've even have names for a few of the dots...
The banjo scene from Deliverance. Classic. Bobby was still untainted.
I hadn't laughed at Sarah Palin in a few weeks. Consider the streak broken.
Yes, I missed writing an update last week. I had to do a lot of workstuff before being able to entertain, and I figured with the holiday not many people were suffering in the office on Friday afternoon. I'm sorry for acting like a grown-up, but sometimes I don't have much choice. Full refunds will arrive in your inbox shortly.
(click the pic to enlarge)
Before I start my yammering, I need to apologize to anyone who doesn't get a shout out or credit for submissions this week. I'm honestly putting about 10% effort into this edition of the Waster, which is a good 5% less than normal. Some lapses in quality are expected.
First though, to get your brain back in the mood, check out the ad below. Eh, nothing exciting. Look again. Once you notice one instance, you'll understand. Mmmmmmhmmmm. After you get on my wavelength, you're allowed to continue reading....
(click the pic to enlarge)
OK, now that we're sharing a brain, I'll release the logjam of updates.
Many of you asked about "Fripples", as mentioned in my reference to the pic of Farrah Fawcett. Fripples are frozen nipples; or simply "high beams". Clear now? If not, please return your eyes to that pic above, until your mood is proper. Thanks.
June 27 was my one-year anniversary of not smoking. None nada zippo zilch goose-egg. Not even a sneaky puff off of somebody else's cig. I can't touch it, bc I still really miss it.
It was also my one-year anniversary of retiring from the bar down at the 'Hole. I miss that even more than smoking (but there's no way I could ever tend bar without lighting up). I promised myself, and a lot of other people, that I'd return to hang out a lot as well as occasionally pick up a guest-shift behind the bar. Fail x 2. I haven't tipped a glass there nearly as often as I would have liked, and didn't even work a single shift. (Maybe one football Sunday this year? Note that I have to ask permission bc it's not my bar anymore.)
The NC trip was an overall success. We're in touch with a couple of realtors, and have identified a few properties to investigate further. At the moment, we've narrowed the choices to Robeson, Scotland, or Moore counties. Next step is to get into more boring levels of detail, such as how deep we have to drill to get water.
The FirstLady was sick all of last week with the flu. The for-real flu, not the made-for-TV swine flu, & not the stay-home-from-school bellyache. I'd never seen anyone with the flu before, and it was rather odd. No nastiness, no hurling, no yarfing, just an overall feeling of bleh that lasts for over a week. She's all good now.
Kid1 is not returning to university in the fall. They finally called him out on not paying for the spring semester, so he's in a bit of a jam. He has stepped up his work ethic a bit, though, and is busting his tail at 2 jobs to get his finances back in order. He's living at momma's house, and registered at the community college for the fall. His plan is to straighten out money and grades, so he'll be able to go back to the dorms as soon as possible. I'm there to help him, but I'm not carrying him any more.
I started back to school this week. One week break between spring and summer semesters is not enough. wah.
I've got a drywall repair project to do this weekend. I hate drywall. Stupid dogs. We lock 'em in the laundry room when we're not home, and they have access to the backyard thru a little dog-door. One of the dog-tards was scared witless by the fireworks, so she dug a hole right thru the laundry room wall out into the house. Grrrrrr.
Kid2 is in driver's ed / behind-the-wheel this week. Finally. I'm pretty stoked that we'll have another taxi driver in the very near future. She got her SAT scores back the other day, too, and was totally happy with the results. All numbers are right in line with the schools she's planning on. And we celebrated her 17th birthday last week. Only 51 weeks til I stop paying her portion of child support (and, following the pattern of Kid1, only 45 weeks before my ex takes me to court again for an increase on Kid4).
I added a swim to my regular workouts this week. I started hitting the pool for 30 mins in the morning before work, and it's totally kicking my tail. I failed this morning bc I was just too whipped to get out of bed early enough to make it to the pool. I'll be back in the water tomorrow though. Promise.
I've always liked Tiger, bc he just gets out there and does his job. Michael Wilbon supports my case.
Tech and financial things to understand about gas stations, gas, and your car.
The next big romantic thing for redneck couples: combine a luxury cruise with a hunting trip. Only this hunting is juuuuuust a bit different.
In case the past week of media coverage has helped you forget, here is MJ's otherlegacy.
One final MJ thought before I'm done with him: Michael Jackson is dead, not just to me, but to everyone.
One final Sarah Palin thought before I'm done with her: She stilldoesn't make any sense. Not then, not now. Goodbye.
Any last words?
The parting words of men and women on their way to the (allegorical) gallows. I didn't expect much from this link, then I got sucked into reading dozens upon dozens of 'em.