Proof of Normalcy

It has already been explained that the reason I started this blog was to show to my wife and the rest of the world that I am completely normal.  

I got a new cell phone a month ago.  I'm sure all of you are familiar with new cell phones.  The come with thin plastic covers on the screens and key pads.  The purpose is to keep it from getting scratched, right?  People spend lots of money on covers and cases to keep their phones from being unnecessarily scratched.  To me, it comes with free scratch protection.  So I leave these thin protective covers on as long as they will stay.  It keeps the scratches down and doesn't cost me anything.  I can put off buying a case or cover (if I get one at all).  Who doesn't like to save money, or keep their phone scratch free, for that matter?  

Yep, you guessed it.  My wife thinks I am crazy for leaving them on.  Now, I do have to admit that the free covers are nearing the end of their usefulness.  As the pictures show, they are beginning to peel and come off.  So it looks like I am going to have to find a way to keep them on for a while longer or go with out.  I keep you posted.  

Guess?

So.  What in the world is this?  Hint.  I took this while on a family trip to my wife's grandparents.  The same place the frog pics came from.

Keep Going.

Keep Going.

Here is the answer.

El Toro Negro

"Crack"tacus

Some or most of you may know that my youngest son has the middle name of Caractacus.  (My wife's suggestion.)  He is 18 month now and a real toot.  He has never run across a food that he doesn't like.  It's a wonder he's not 100 lbs.  I found him bustin' a sag and caught it on tape.  It's o.k. to laugh. 

El Toro Negro

Short Notice

I thought I was done with school.  I thought after 24 years of life I had completed my "go to school" education.  Not so.  My oldest son changed my mind.

On the way home from a baseball game for one of my other sons, I get a call.  It is my oldest son letting me know that I have an assignment for school.  His class is doing a time capsule, except it isn't a capsule, it is a file folder, and it isn't going in the ground, it is going in a filing cabinet.  I am to write a letter to him.  He is to open it when he graduates in four years.  I guess it is an ok idea.  A lot can happen in four years.

He told me it didn't have to be much, a few sentences.  Mind you it is about 9:30 at night and my bed time is rapidly approaching.  I tell him he is crazy and that his teacher wil just have to wait a day or two.

I finally got around to doing it and it turned out to be rather fun for me.  I guess that they expect a parent to give words of congratulation and perhaps a few words of advice.  I took the opportunity to give lots of advice.  Four typed pages of advice.  Twenty five hundred words of advice, and still didn't get it all in.  

It included things such as advice on saving, education, marriage, health, friends, character, and much more.  Nothing earth shattering, but rather a compilation of all the thing that I have been teaching and showing him for the last fourteen years.  At fourteen they know everything.  Perhaps at eighteen it will mean more.  Who knows?

I'm thinking about posting it, but I don't want to bore anyone.  Plus, he's not to read it before graduation.  Well see what kind of comments I get.  I am also thinking about finishing it so I can be ready for the next five kids.  You now, just touch it up to make it relevant for that particular child and print it out.

I would like to call it a lecture on steroids, but it much more than that.  One of the things I mentioned in "the letter" was that everything in doesn't have to be experienced first hand.  Careful observance or study of others successes and failures can teach us a great deal, hopefully shortening the learning curve, without having to go through he pain and heartache that accompany bad decisions.  Not that I have been through so much, but you don't have to look hard to find someone that has been through what you are about to face, or at least something similar.  You don't have to divorce your wife to see how it destroys a family.  There are plenty of examples around.  That may be the extreme, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I got a kick out of doing it, and if it help him just a little I will think it a success.

El Toro Negro

Kermit?

You buy a camera and you want to start taking pictures of everything.  I found this guy hiding out in a hanging plant.  I thought the pics were good. 

El Toro Negro

Dance, Dance, Dance

This is a picture of some (crazy) kids at a youth unction at my church.  I thought it was really funny.  I think they were learning a new dance.  I don't know what the head lock is for, but that guy looks mad.  Maybe it is over one of the girls.  I love the guy in the white shirt.  Is there a gale force wind holding him up?

El Toro Negro

Play Me a Song

So my son has taken one semester of guitar and this is his recital.  The girl on the piano is my niece and I put her on here so her dad could see her play.  He wasn't able to make the recital.

El Toro Negro

You Might Be A Terrorist If...

OK. So I know that this will land me on every government watch list, but given the current status of our Republic, I will take that to be a badge of honor.

So you have heard of the memo that came out of the DHS.  That's the Department of Homeland Security.  It is headed by one of obama's goons, Janet Neapolitan, Napolitanna, Napolitano, or something like that.  (She's a looker.)  It basically outlines the type of person that is likely to pose a threat as a terrorist.  

After a long and grueling ordeal of digging, hunting (oops, poor choice of words), and snooping, I found the first draft that Janet issued to her crew at the DHS.  She was going for the "lets have a fun workplace" type memo.  She titled it "You Might Be A Terrorist If".  I have reproduced it here.  Don't be surprised if you find yourself on a Gov't watch list.

You Might Be A Terrorist If...

• You have ever, even once, attended a Christian Church
• You think "I am Joe the Plumber"
• You think families should consist of a Father, Mother, and kids.  Not two mommies, or two daddies.
• You own a gun, have ever shot a gun, have ever thought about buying a gun, or have ever seen a gun, even on TV.
• You are or were in the military, know someone in the military, have thought about joining the military, respect people in uniform, or think we should have a military.
• You think people should come to the USA legally.  
• You think the President of the US shouldn't go on a worldwide apology tour.
• You think the President shouldn't kiss the ass of ANY world leader.
• You think the UN should be dissolved.
• You think the US government is too damn big.
• You think California should have to sleep in the bed of social programs and high taxes it made for itself.
• You think self-reliance and individualism are part of being an American.
• You think you should seek help in this order: self, immediate family, extended family, friends, community/church, local gov't, State gov't, and then the federal gov't.  
• You believe in personal property.
• You only speak one language.
• You hum along with, or God forbid, you sing along with the national anthem.
• You know the words to the national anthem.
• You salute, remove your hat or cover your heart when the flag passes.
• You own a US flag or your state flag.
• You own your own business.
• You have ever donated money (your money) to your church or a charity.
• You believe in the tenth amendment.
• You believe in the Bill of Rights.
• You know what the Bill of Rights is.
• You have ever heard of, read, or own a copy of the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States.
• You think the founders got it right.
• You think the money you earn is yours.
• You believe in a free market.
• You believe that businesses can fail.
• You know that evil really does exist.
• You think people should be held accountably for their actions.
• You think our elected officials should be held accountable for their actions.
• You think taxes are too high.
• You have ever been to a "Tea Party".
• You have ever written you Congressman or Senators.
• You think it is ok to have to prove that you are a citizen to be able to vote.
• You have ever listened to a talk radio show, or watched Fox News.
• You think there is bias in the media.
• You think mandatory volunteerism is an oxymoron.
• You have ever gone to a war memorial to pay your respects, and not to desecrate or degrade it.
• You think we should teach constitutional law.
• You are not offended when a prayer if offered.
• You have ever prayed.
• You have ever read the Bible.
• You think that separation if church and state is to protect the church from the state, and not the other way around.
• You don't support abortion.
• You think you are responsible for your own healthcare.
• You think that a balanced budget is more than just an idea.
• You think that the gov't is not responsible for your mortgage, gas for your car, your cell phone bill, your retirement.
• You think that job security comes from doing a good job and making yourself irreplaceable, and not from the gov't.
• You think the employer and the employee should be able to work out a mutually agreed upon wage/salary.
• Your think contracts should be honored.
• You think the Federal Gov't should get out of the education business.
• Yu think school choice is a good idea.
• You think the social security system is a big fat joke.
• You are tired of seeing fat people with a cell phone, manicure, flat screen HDTV with every cable station known to man pull out their state welfare debit card to pay for Oreos, powdered doughnuts, lucky charms, and lucky strikes at the local grocery store.  
• You believe that if monster truck fans should be forced to support the "opera" then opera fans should be forced to support the monster truck industry. 
• You believe the fairness doctrine is misnamed and ridiculous.
• You have ever eaten apple pie.
• You have any article of clothing that is camouflage.  
• You have food or money saved in case of an emergency.

El Toro Negro

Tap Tap Tap-a-roo!

My wife claims that I am strange yet she (and millions of others) do things that make no sense to me.

You have heard the story of the new wife that always cut the end off of the roast when she cooked it.  The new husband asked her why she did that.  She had no idea other than that her mother had done the same thing.  At the urging of her husband she decided to find out the reason for the "cuttage".  

Her mom couldn't give her an answer than the one she gave her husband, "Because my mom did it."  So the new bride goes to see her grandmother.  Come to find out, her grandmother remembered that as a child her mothers roast pan was rather short and in order to get the roast to fit she had to cut the end off.  And thus, the cutting tradition began.  

So why the story.  My wife is one of these that thinks that tapping the top of a coke can that has been jostled about will somehow keep it from spewing.  I have never seen this work.  I don't know why people think that this will help, but they keep on doing it.

El Toro Negro