RETIRED WARRANT

Something I like seeing

Today I had to come in a bit early to open up the classroom and labs. I guess I should have thought about it a little more as I can’t start the labs anyway, until I get another instructor so that we have enough safety observers. The military guys all have PT today so I suppose I will have to put the class on a break until they get back.

The past two weeks I have seen something that has made me pretty happy. On my way to the freeway each morning I catch 16th street through National City for a few blocks. People use it as a speedway and never seem to follow the posted speed limit. The past two weeks every morning there has been a motorcycle policeman on the street, usually with someone pulled over, and I welcome it. Also since today is trash day with him being there I did not see any of the shopping cart bums rooting through people’s trash. All in all it is a win win situation, and I hope to see this policeman each morning.

This morning on the radio the subject was about Barry Bonds and his breaking Hank Aaron’s record for home runs.

Even though he has not been positively caught using steroids and performance enhancing drugs, most people feel he has. He has made enough money in his career to pay for high priced lawyers and all to keep things quiet.

When he gets the record I think it should get the little asterisk like the one that Roger Maris has all those years after breaking Babe Ruth’s record. He had the asterisk for playing more games in a season than the Babe. He also had to put up with adverse pressure from the press and fans who wanted Mickey Mantle to break it.

Aaron had the same things going on as many people did not want a black man to break the records. He had death threats and all kinds of things going on. I remember when Aaron broke the Babe’s all time home run record and also remember that nobody really realized he was that close to it until the last couple of years. Aaron was just so consistent over the years. He quietly gained all those home runs having just about the same total runs each year throughout his career.

Bonds, McGwire, Canseco and others have been flashy hitting their home runs. They have also dwarfed others in size and strength. Canseco actually came out and admitted he used steroids and told about others that were using them. McGwire denies using them but it appears that he was and also it affected his being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in the first year of his eligibility. I have a feeling the same thing will happen to some to some of these other players that have been suspected of using steroids.

I think all records set by players suspected of using performance enhancing drugs should have an asterisk after their name in the record books. That is just my personal opinion. By allowing these guys to set records and have the records stand tarnishes the game.

Also another thing that was brought up is what is it with these sports hero’s and the troubles they have been having with the law? The latest sports guy to get in trouble is Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick over illegal dog fighting and animal abuse. Yeah, I know he has not been found guilty of anything yet but since it is a 40 page federal indictment and some of his friends have come out in the open and confirmed things with the press, I figure he will have some problems. But then he is a rich sports guy and can hire a few high priced lawyers to get him off.

The comments today on the radio were basically about if these guys did not have professional sports to turn to they would probably be in prison and would have been living a life of crime. The only problem is that they still have the gang banger mentality and with the income from sports they are nothing more than rich gang bangers. I guess that is why I have lost interest in watching professional sports. Yeah I watch the big games but they have all lost me as a fan.

Well time to get to work, so I guess I will get this saved. I have to earn my pay check.

Saving Water

The weekend is over and while I got a lot done there were still some things I would have liked to get finished but never got to.

No problem though, I will get to them. The one thing I did get finished with that I am very happy with is organizing my bills and statements. I have been meaning to get to it for a long time, but I just let the stack get higher and higher. Finally the stack got so high I had enough and decided to do something about it. Now the box where my incoming mail goes is empty and also all the checks for next month are written and ready to mail.

I was happy to see Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame over the weekend. These guys were remarkable and I love the fact that they each played their entire careers with one team.

Gwynn was known as Mr. Padre having grown up in the San Diego area and having played his entire career with the Padres, though he could have made a lot more money playing for another team. Ripken played his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles and broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played. In this time of steroids and performance enhancing drugs these guys were both clean and both good ambassadors of the game. Mark McGwire should have made it this year but the steroid accusations will probably keep him from being selected for a while.

San Diego has really been hopping with Comiccon and the west coast tryouts for American Idol going on. I heard on the news there is no a single hotel room to be had here. That should give the economy a boost.

I guess also there is some bad news, because of the drought we are in they are trying to limit residents to 20 gallons of water a day. I don’t know how they are going to work that but I will tell the kids to try and save water and all.

Well almost time to get to work. I guess I had better get this closed and get in there and teach.

Embarrassing

The past two nights San Diego made segments on the O’Reilly Factor. I love seeing San Diego mentioned in the news for things like rare animals born at the zoo, or something good for our sports teams as that is good for tourism and paints San Diego as a great place.

Unfortunately, being mentioned on the Factor usually means the opposite and that is what the two stories painted, that San Diego has problems.

Tuesday a story featuring the goings on at Carver Elementary School was mentioned. I didn’t watch the segment as I was watching the All Star game, but heard al about it on the Roger Hedgecock radio show on my way home. It seems the fine folks at Carver Elementary School are allowing a prayer break for Muslim students in the afternoons and these prayer breaks are supervised I guess by a Muslim teacher. I could just imagine the outrage if there was a prayer break for Christians.

I am wondering why all elements of society are pandering to these folks. Almost every day on the news I hear about another concession, be it cab drivers at airports refusing to pick up fares, special prayer rooms at airports, and foot cleansing stations. When you come to America you are supposed to become an American, not change Americans to your religion or lifestyle. This morning I heard Rick Roberts talk about internment, which is a bit drastic, but we do need to do something. As with the illegal alien population we are also being taken over by radical Muslims too! We need to wake up.

Last night they had a story on the San Diego Padres, but it was not very complimentary. The Padres sponsored both a ball cap giveaway for children and a gay pride night for the same ball game. I guess anything for a buck is good enough for the Padres. I am heterosexual but I don’t have to go around flaunting it for everyone to see. I keep it too myself as that is a private matter. I don’t know why gay people have to run around flaunting their gayness. Oh well, I haven’t gone to a game since the strike cancelled the World Series several years back and I will not go in the future. I will watch the All Star game and the World Series on TV, but that is about it.

Well that is the news of today. I think I will go get something for lunch. Last night I tried some chicken nuggets and was able to eat them as long as I was careful. I will go try and find something soft and easy to chew over at the q-mart.

My mouth is healing

Today my mouth feels a little better. I have been really careful to keep the area clean and I have been really careful when shaving and brushing my teeth. I hope it heals quickly so I can get back to eating solid foods. It really is a bummer to cook something good for the kids and then have to have soup myself, even though I did fudge a bit and tried some lasagna last night. But being careful I was able to chew with my back teeth and was careful to not bite with the loose ones in front.

I watched most of the Baseball All Star game last night. It was really cool to see the tribute to Willie Mays and a little sad that there are so few role models in the sport today. He was awesome both on and off the field.

It was also sad to see the National League lose again. The inside the park home run by Ichiro Suzuki was a special treat. I guess there is always next year.

To switch to another subject that I have blogged about in the past, there is a new recycling center opening up by our local post office. They closed the old one up there about a year or so ago. I don’t know why they closed it but I was glad when they did, because all it did was attract a bad element. Here in San Diego we have a trash pickup day, mine is Thursday and every two weeks they also pick up recycled materials. We have special blue trash cans for paper, cans and bottles.

On July first they raised the deposit on bottles and cans to encourage recycling, I don’t know how high they raised it but it used to be 2 cents per can and 5 cents per plastic bottle. I don’t know how much it was for glass bottles.

Anyway between them raising the prices you can get for turning them in and also with the recycling center opening back up in the neighborhood the bums are back. Today a few streets away was trash day and I saw about five or six folks out with shopping carts going through peoples trash and recycling bins. You would figure there would be a law against it. Maybe there is but it is not being enforced. I would think that with the city having money problems and all that they would start enforcing it and keeping people from rooting through people’s trash. After all when I put out my recycling bin I feel I am contributing to the city as well as doing my part for the environment. I should not be contributing to someone’s drug habit or whatever else is holding these people back in society. I also hate the fact that now when I go to the post office or the local stores that I have to pass by more and more pan handlers. I hope to see this recycling center go the way of the other one, preferably before it opens up for business.

Last night one of our Fed mates used a racial slur in the chat, and that was extremely depressing to see. He tried to justify it by saying the word was not offensive in his country of France but I don’t care where you are from or who you are. There is no place in this world for words like that and as I have traveled to many countries in my time those words are know as offensive anywhere you go. I was impressed by the way it was handled in the chat and I hope I don’t have to see things like that in the future. It is very hurtful to many people and totally uncalled for.

Laila was a little upset this morning when I got up and I really can’t blame her. She is the only member of all our allied feds that is on the ranked outpost posting list, though I think a few of us are getting close. She spends all her free time watching out for others and rarely makes a mistake that results in losses. She is always trying to help outers and improve her knowledge of the game.

Last night she was the last to refresh her DP time, through no fault of her own. She wound up going out very late and basically I was falling asleep at the keyboard. A few members said they would watch over her and sent me off to bed, but when I got up this morning she said that after I went to bed, they did to, leaving her out with only static outpost. That would not bother me so much if I were out with only static, because to break my main with the stack I use and the system defense I have would be extremely hard at the PR I play at.

Laila’s empire is much weaker than mine and is susceptible to attack. She feels betrayed, even though I did explain to her that while I went to bed at Midnight it would have been 2 AM or 3 AM where some of the team mates were. If she would have known that they were not able to stay up, they should have told her not to go out and posted static for her to go out later should nobody post, as we do have some players overseas that come on while we are asleep.

Anyway, today she will not be playing actively because she has to take care of some personal business regarding our court cases and will not be there. They can then get a taste of what it is like when she is not there all night as she usually is. I think some folks have grown to take her for granted, and that is wrong.

Today was pretty cool, as my class knocked out all the first set of troubleshooting problems and almost all of the second set. That means tomorrow we will finish second set and start the final set.

The new class started today and is pretty big. I will start teaching them on Wednesday, next week after my current class graduates. I would have liked to have started with them from day 1, but such is life.

I suppose that is it for today. I have to get this done and get back to the job since the lunch hour is ending.

Odds and Ends

Today I got off a little early as the guys went to a conference downtown. I could have gone, but parking is costly and miserable there and besides I figured I could go ahead and get a haircut. After all a military haircut is part of the job.

Anyway, I came home, paid the bills and called the phone company since the phone is still in the ex’s name. I just never got around to changing it. I will write about that fiasco later.

Carlos and I were hungry, and I didn’t feel like making a big mess in the kitchen so I decided to get pizza. That way we have lunch and dinner already made and there will also be some when David and Judy get home from work.

Yesterday I was watching Fox News and they had a story about how the owner of Little Ceasar’s had given a franchise to a marine that had lost his legs in Iraq. I was so moved that I made it a point in my mind to start buying my pizza there when I buy take out pizza.

I used to get them at Mike’s Giant New York Pizza, but after getting ripped off, I have not, nor will I ever buy anything there again.

So I called in my order, jumped in the car and stopped by the post office to drop off the bills on the way. I used to go to Little Caesar’s many years ago, but were located in an inconvenient location so I had been buying from Mike’s. I went there, parked my car and discovered the old location is now a tax preparation place.

I knew from the address it was supposed to be close by, so I got back in the car and drove west a couple of blocks, and didn’t see it, so I turned around and went east. There it was in the shopping center behind Jollibee’s. The only problem was that I was in the wrong lane, so I turned off and then went up a few blocks then cut back to Plaza so I was on the right side of the street.

Well that was a bad move because Plaza is one of the more busier streets in National City and they had half the street torn up for water pipe replacement. It took me about ten minutes to go two blocks, but I finally got there and got the pizzas.

I then had to go back through the construction to get home. Anyway I also found the new Goldilocks Bakery while in that area. Laila smiles Big Smile.

Also on my way home I passed by the barbershop I usually get my hair cut at and there was no waiting so I stopped and got my haircut. They had a new female barber there, Laila frowns Sad, and she was the only one there so she cut my hair today.

She was watching CNN on television and commenting about the news stories. They started talking about the global warming thing which I do not believe in and she was concerned about climate change. I then told her that one volcano puts out more gasses than man puts out in years and that there has been a lot of eruptions lately. She then told me about the volcano’s in Hawaii, since she just moved here from there.

Anyway we talked about volcanoes for a while, and then she finished my hair and I came home and ate pizza. Carlos was really happy and loved it. I got them fully loaded with everything even though it costs a little more.

Anyway about the phone. I called and they told me the ex would have to call. Changing the phone is no problem, but then he gave me bad news about my internet. He said they would have to disconnect it and that it would take about five days. After they disconnect it then I have to call them and request installation in my name and that would take three days.

What a ton of BS that is. I am half tempted to go with another internet provider because of this stupid business practice. It is inconceivable to me that they can not leave things the way they are and change the billing. Anyway I will have it canceled and reinstalled while I am gone. It is either that or I will go with Hughesnet and use satellite.

As I was driving around stuck in traffic I was listening to the radio and they were discussing the fact that the National Football League can not afford to loan Alex Spanos any money to build a new stadium for the Chargers. Since he can’t get it from the city I guess the Chargers are going to have to continue to play at Qualcomm or move.

Also I heard that the drunk driving charger shot by the off duty policeman is going to sue Coronado and the policeman. There was a lot of talk about all the crime that has been committed by professional football players this year. If they are going to be paid the money they get, then they should not be risking their careers doing things that are against the law.

Also they were talking about how Mike Ditka is trying to establish a new retirement program for players of old. I was shocked to hear that these players who put the sport on the map are only getting $147 a month from a sport that takes in billions. This is an injustice that has to be taken care of.

Well I guess that is all for today. Let me get this posted and wait for Laila to wake up. We were not able to go out together in the game yesterday because her power was off. They were repairing a post or something. I went out on my own and didn’t do that bad. We will try and go out together tonight.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Well I guess I blew it on the playoff picks. We just got home from church and picking up lunch and I saw that Chicago is ahead 6 – 0, then they scored again while I was getting my lunch, and went ahead 9 – 0. By the time I was done eating it was Chicago 16 – New Orleans 0.

Judy, Carlos and I went to the 11 AM mass this morning and I felt bad for Judy because she had difficulty kneeling because of her back. She made it through the mass though.

Today was the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time and the readings and gospel were quite lengthy today. The first reading was Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10. The second reading was 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 and the gospel was Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21.

While the gospel was about how every person and every position is equally important Father Khing used the mass to talk about how our parish is celebrating it’s 50th birthday. He talked about all the celebrations and activities that will be held all the way up to September which will be the birthday of the church. He did relate the birthday to the gospel towards the end, but mostly it was about the 50-year milestone of the church.

After church we got some Chinese takeout since it was later in the day. The last thing Laila said before going to bed was to remind me about spicy food so I got some noodles, broccoli beef, and something that looked really good, but when I bit into it the stuff was really spicy so I gave it to Carlos, who loves spicy food.

Wow the Saints scored a touchdown Chicago 16 – New Orleans 7. Maybe this will turn into a game.

Anyway I was giving Carlos a hard time today. He loves the show “Heroes” and he also likes “24″. The both come on at 9 PM tomorrow and so I was giving him a hard time about what we would watch. Luckily we will watch one and record the other on the DVR. Tonight will be a “Deal or No Deal” night.

Wow, Chicago 16 – New Orleans 14, this is definitely a game now. I guess I will get this posted and watch the game. Have a great day.

Ouch, a flag in the end zone for intentional grounding. A safety? Chicago 18 – New Orleans 14. This is a game now.

Update: The Saints fell apart and lost 39 to 14 so congratulations to the Chicago Bears who are going to the Super Bowl.

Playoff predictions

I am getting ready to go to church, but before I leave and before the games start I figured I would list my playoff predictions.

The Patriots will beat the Colts and The Saints will beat the Bears.

Anyway, it’s off to church and breakfast so I can get back and watch the games.

Have a great day.

Alarm Clock

This morning, I again did not hear my alarm clock and wound up staying in bed until 10:30 AM. And again I discovered the alarm clock had messed up, so I went out and got a new one today.

The clock I have been using has been with me since 1975 and though I have had to repair it several times it has been kind of a favorite. Lately it’s radio receiver has been drifting off the station, so sometimes when it goes off it is hard to hear.

Since I have been staying up later over this weekend I need the loud music to wake me up in the morning and that has not happening lately, so it was finally time to get a new one, so rest in peace old alarm clock. And thanks for all the years of service.

Ouch, Laila is going to be upset. Since I got up so late I didn’t even log on to the PC since she would have been off to bed, or so I thought until I opened the chat. Seems she logged off at about noon. Sorry Laila.

Before I went to bed last night I shut everything down, and since I got up so late, I just took a shower and ran some errands, finally logging on just now so I just got her message.

Well so much for the Chargers season. I guess they decided to take the holiday weekend off too! Yesterday’s game was painful to watch especially the time management towards the end of the game. Well good luck to the Patriots and please beat the Colts. If Payton Manning goes to the Super Bowl and wins he will be on even more commercials.

I guess that is it for today. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Three Day Weekend

I am so glad Friday is here now. It has been a really busy week and I am pretty worn out, but now I have a three day weekend to recover.

I just have to make sure I take it easy on the Unification Wars game. Laila and I have been playing that game a lot the last few days and it has made getting up in the morning really difficult towards the end of the week.

It might also be the weather, because I have noticed the kids have been a little tired and in fact Judy is taking a nap right now. It has gotten really cold today as we have a winter storm going through over the weekend. It is supposed to be windy, rainy, and downright cold, though people that live in the east would disagree with it being cold here.

I am looking forward to watching the New England Patriots playing the San Diego Chargers in football on Sunday. This town is going crazy with Chargers fever and it would be great to see it continue. This is also the first time I have seen the Chargers have a chance to win it all. Winning the Superbowl would be great.

Well since I have been dragging butt all week and I still have a little time before Laila comes on line, I think I will get this posted and take a nap.

Have a great weekend folks.

Second Sunday of Advent

Well today I overslept a little, probably because I stayed up too late with Laila last night, and my daughter woke me up so I could talk to Laila and still have time to go to church.

We said our prayers and traded our blogshares blogs then I said goodnight to Laila and went to church.

Today was the Second Sunday of Advent and we watched a family light the second candle on the Advent wreath. The first reading was Baruch 5:1-9. The second reading was Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11, and the Gospel was Luke 3:1-6. The message today was about making sure we go to confession and take communion.

After church we went to Jack in the Box, Judy and Carlos love going there after church, and the place was really crowded this morning. We got our food and went home, then we woke David up and Judy, David and I went to the commissary so I could stock up the house with supplies while I am in the Philippines.

I let them pretty much buy whatever they wanted and though it costs a little more I feel happy that they will not run out of anything. I also picked up some stuff to take with me.

The commissary was not that busy today and I was hopeng to be home in time for the Chargers/Broncos game. We almost made it but I only missed a few plays. The Chargers started out dominating but then seemed to slack off in the second half, but it looks like they will win since they have a two touchdown lead, look to be going in for another and there are only a few minutes left.

Anyway I am sure they are going to win and since the Colts lost today they will be the number 1 seed in the AFC and they will have one the Western Division. So congratulations to the San Diego Chargers and I hope they go all the way to the Super Bowl.

Judy and Carlos took off for Walmart and are buying a few things. She got paid today and I am glad she will be able to get a few things she wants. I think she is also getting Christmas presents.

Wow LaDanian Tomlinson just scored and tied the record for touchdowns in a season and the Chargers are now leading 41 to 20 with 4 minutes left so I think this one is in the bag. If Tomlinson does not get the MVP then there is something wrong with the system and now Merriman just stripped the ball away and recovered the fumble on the Broncos 7 yard line. Grrrrr Denver is asking for a replay. Ah the play stands and Tomlinson just scored again breaking the record. WWWWWWWOOOOOOOWWWWWWW.

Well on that note it is time to post this and savor the moment. Have a great weekend all.