The Jaz Files

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

 

 

Here is a photo of Luke from last year as a Squirt A.

[Airies 0]

^ What a great pic. You must be proud.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

^ What a great pic. You must be proud. :)

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Thanks, Airies! And, yes, I am proud of him and his accomplishments. He keeps my wife and I busy with all his activities. He is playing tackle football at the middle school, and participates in open hockey to practice his skating and stick handling skills. He is good about doing his homework promptly. Luke enjoys art classes and math. Not too keen on english and reading, but he is doing better. :P

[Airies 0]

My son can't wait till he's 10 so he can join flag football at the YMCA. I can't wait either. :) He's 8 but time flys when your raising kids. My kids are the opposite they like English but aren't real good at math. And they say thats not genetic they are all 3 just like me. (That could be scary depending on which age me I'm talking about :P late high school years forget it :( ) Good luck!

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

I've been away from the boards for a few days. I made a trip to Sedalia, MO to help my sister and brother-in-law move to their new home. They now have a house on base. BTW, my brother-in-law is a member of the USAF, and is currently based at Whiteman AFB, home of the B-2 "Spirit" bomber:: no, I did not see one; shucks! :: and also the A-10 and T-38. We were unable to get a tour of the base, as the moving van broke down, and it was very late in the evening by the time we downloaded it. It seemed " Murphy's Law" was the norm that weekend. The next day, I wanted to contact my sister but her cell phone was no longer working! So Luke and I (my wife stayed home) drove to Lee's Summit, near K.C. and did some shopping. Later, we all met at the motel for pizza and swimming in the pool. I opted for the spa, and was it ever warm! Ooo lala!

 

My next long trip will be in December. My son Seth will be graduating from Basic Training at Ft. Benning, GA. I plan to fly this time!

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

I just read Ace's log, and learned that his friend had died. My co-worker's mother, who has been sick for sometime, died on Saturday. Naturally, he will be gone this week. I recall when my dad had died, and I actually felt relieved for him. He had been in a lot of pain with the lung cancer, which spread into his bones. He had been taking morphine for the pain, but it didn't seem to have much effect. He was shipped out to a local hospital that has a cancer ward. I remember him lying on the bed with his gown, and as he breathed, only one side of his chest would rise. It was a very sad day for me. I am grateful, however, that he is in the presence of God this very day. Whether or not he is looking down through a "hole in heaven":: from a country/western song by ??? :: I don't know. Its a nice thought , however.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Well, by now my son Seth should be in-processing at Ft. Benning for Army Basic Training. I'm sure that he will do fine once the initial shock wears off. I remember how it was for me, tho I did my basic training at Lackland AFB. I don't know when he will be allowed to call home or even to write letters. Of course, we are all excited for him. I hope to attend his graduation. I looked into flying down with Luke. Plus room for two nights, and a cheap rental car, it appears that I would spend around $1000. Well,... maybe I could drive if another person helped out. I think its about 18 hrs or so. Later on that decision.

 

I tried watching the debate, but the way that Kerry seemed to attack Pres. Bush each time he spoke , well, I was really turned off. For those who decide to vote for Kerry, are they also so pent up with anger? There seems to be some sort of paranoia among certain Democratic leaders in Minnesota. As if Pres. Bush is somehow going to rig the election, or "steal it" in the words of one local. They apparently want the election sites monitored ( by whom?) to avoid such a thing. Crazy! I can't seem to understand this baffling behavior. Like some fear that If the President is reelected, then America is doomed. I actually believe that it would be Kerry that would put our country in jeopardy. If he is actually further to the left than even Sen. Kennedy, then God help us all should he get elected. Oddly, the immoral man who sat in that chair for eight years, Bill Clinton, was reelected by perhaps these same voters. Maybe I am the one who should be paranoid! LOL! :( j/k

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

On a more lighter note, my family has grown by one - a cat named Davy. He belongs to Seth :: he called today from GA - only had one min. to talk, but was good to hear from him BTW :: so we are watching him for a while. He enjoys lying in the bay window, watching the birds at the thistle feeder. Today, a red squirrel :: larger than a chipmunk, smaller than a gray squirrel :: scurried up the tree, and , boy, did Davy's tail ever start wagging! What was he thinking at the time: "let me at 'em!" or "lucky! I'm stuck here inside" ? Whatever. Anyway, he and Jazmine - our golden retriever - get along. Davy basically has the run of the roost, other than the table and counter tops. It'll be fun. :(

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Today, I rid the lawn of a few more leaves. I made four :: or was it five :: trips to the neighborhood compost site. I made a pretty good dent, but there are plenty more leaves still to fall. Arrrrggghhh! May a fierce breeze blow them all the way! Hahaha! Yeah, right. And I'll get the leaves from the homes behind me. :( :(

 

And an amazing thing happened today. The Purple Gang didn't choke! The Vikings went down to New Orleans and played a very good game. Both sides did, actually. Way to go, Mike Tice! And get better, soon, Randy Moss! :(

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Seth called yeaterday from Ft. Benning. He said that he'll get to come home for a couple of weeks over Christmas! Woo hoo! And this also means that I won't be going down for his graduation. I may go to his AIT graduation in February,or so.

Luke completed his Peewee Hockey tryouts. He will be assigned to the "B" squad team this year. Which is good, as he can develop his skills and gain more strength and weight for next year, and be better for the "A" squad. Some of the players are amazingly big! :) :)

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Davy is one silly cat! I have never known, or certainly haven't met, a cat that will fetch a ball. Either Davy was never told that, or he is a bit of a rebel. For instance: I will be watching TV, and Davy will plop a small ball by my feet. I'll toss it behind me, and Davy scampers after it, only to return and plop it by my feet again. This will go on for a while. Today, however, Davy was more cat-like, in that I did the fetching instead. Whatever. :)

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

It appears that I will be "batchin' it" for a few days. My wife and son went "nort" ~~Norweigan version of "north" ~~ for the weekend. Her mom has been under the weather. My father-in-law has emphysema, and no longer drives. Hopefully, her mom will be on her feet by Monday. Meanwhile, Davy the black cat, Jazmine the golden retriever, and I will manage just fine.

There were some fish, but they contracted "ick", and now they are no more. Luke's aquarium has seen quite a few residents, and all eventually died. Execpt for one very piggish lyretail mollie. After a couple of weeks of it gorging on food and chasing the others away, I secretly gave it a "burial at sea" - I flushed it down the toilet! :: Luke doesn't know this BTW :: Please don't judge me too harshly, as I'm a soft-hearted guy.

Saturday, if the weather cooperates, I will be out raking again, and reorganizing my garage so I can get the van back inside. And then watch Game 1 of the World Series - St. Louis vs. Boston.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Here it is, 4:30am, and why am I still awake? Maybe I could run down to Wal-Mart and pick up a few things that I meant to earlier. All I really accomplished was the baseball game, and even then I was "surffing" to other channels. Yesterday seemed a total letdown. I had the house to myself, so I could better focus on reorganizing the garage. I no sooner had begun, when I hit a mental roadblock of sorts. I realized that I needed another shelf or two, and something to organize my mug collection. I don't really know what happened to me. I cut out my TV viewing for the day, but that didn't seem to help. I ended up in the chatroom for the interview with Bill Blair, "the alien guy". That was worthwhile. I enjoyed it. Right now I feel depressed, and I don't really know why. I just came from playing mahjjong solitare on the Yahoo Games site, listening to jazz on the Launchcast station. Christians aren't supposed to feel depressed, or so it seems. I guess that I will eat something, then try sleeping again. Else, I'm road-trippin' to Wal-Mart. Would like to pick up a couple of CDs - by Norah Jones and also by Boney James. He plays a mean sax!

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Well, ~~you know what they say about wells: it's a deep subject for a shallow mind! LOL! ~~ I did finally go to sleep, so no trip to Wal-Mart. Our town has a grand opening for a Wal-Mart Supercenter very soon. I recall when K-Mart built a store here. That seemed like a big deal. Ha, how times have changed. It'll be curious to see if K-Mart survives. Who knows?

[A l t e r E g o 9]

... Our town has a grand opening for a Wal-Mart Supercenter very soon.  I recall when K-Mart built a store here.  That seemed like a big deal.  Ha, how times have changed.  It'll be curious to see if K-Mart survives.  Who knows?

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Howdy. Just a quick note here; a Wal Mart opened just a few miles from where our local Big K has been in business for years, we were worried about the same thing but the Wal Mart hasn't affected our Big Ks business at all.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

... Our town has a grand opening for a Wal-Mart Supercenter very soon.  I recall when K-Mart built a store here.  That seemed like a big deal.  Ha, how times have changed.  It'll be curious to see if K-Mart survives.  Who knows?

275728[/snapback]

 

Howdy. Just a quick note here; a Wal Mart opened just a few miles from where our local Big K has been in business for years, we were worried about the same thing but the Wal Mart hasn't affected our Big Ks business at all.

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Thanks AE! There are a few "gloom-and-doom" folks here that picture Wal-Mart as some giant ogre, that will devour most of the retail business. I'm glad to hear that that isn't true. For me, it will save me a 30-minute trip out of town, the next-closest Wal-Mart.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

I helped Luke with his spelling tonight. I really didn't do too much tonight.

TGIF - in a few more minutes! Seth is fully involved with bootcamp. He'll be home for Christmas for a couple of weeks. Our new Wal-Mart is up and running. I am broke, but I checked out the place anyway. Am surprised that they do layaways for the holidays. I've had my eye on a certain tool...hmmm...do I or don't I.....LOL! My wife has already begun the gift buying, and looking for places to hide them. I'm glad the Red Sox won the Series. w00t,w00t!

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

The storm hit last night, with strong 40-ish mph winds and pea-size hail. About three inches of rain fell. Thankfully, no tornadoes, although there were warnings in the Twin Cities area. Today's weather has been gloomy.

I took Luke to hockey practice, then we went to a pet store for fish. His aquarium has been empty since his last batch of fish died, due to "ick" or some sort of stress. Tonight, we may go to a "walk of horror", put on by a local university. Tomorrow, we may go see a flix, like "Friday Night Lights".

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

My plans for Halloween were a wash. Luke ended up with a friend from church, and spent the day with him at his house. I was going to hook up with Luke at the ice arena, as his friend's sister is a figure skater. No such luck. Next, I drove to Menards, a hardware store akin to Home Depot, bought some shelving material and then went home. As it turned out, George, the father, was on his way to my place to drop off Luke! I had just missed him by a couple of minutes! The story doesn't end there, as my wife and son decide to try to catch up with me. I went left...and they went right..so neither of us met anywhere except back at the house some time later. Maybe a present for the two of us, Cindy and I, is a pair of Tracfones. This cell phone is pre-paid, which I like. Luke and I had watched the movie "Van Helsing" on Friday night, however. :blink:

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

I think I'm ready for another signature...hmm...what shall it be...? Meanwhile, the Peewee hockey season is underway in this river town. Luke's first game is at home Sunday afternoon against Hudson. Next weekend, we have two out of town games, both in the Twin Cities area. Just one of many sleepovers. Hopefully, the motel has a decent size pool, and a hot tub/spa. Looks as if our budget is taking a big hit this month, so we'll need to eat cheaply. It always seems to happen this time of year, when I most need more money for stuff like gifts, and now with travel expenses to boot. I guess I need to be thankful for the blessings that God has sent my way: a loving wife, a son who still thinks I'm cool - - and a roof over my head.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

As you can see, I changed my signature. I have long been a fan of Mark Twain. I was in Hannibal, MO earlier this year, and picked up a book of his quotes. Some are familiar, others not, but are both funny and insightful into Mr. Twain's take on humanity, politics, and world events. I hope to share more of them in the upcoming weeks.

 

Latest on events in Jaz' household: my son had a sleepover, a friend from church that share some of the same classes at the middle school. Although this was billed as a time to work on a paper, due Monday, they spent a "prodigious" ~~ my word for the day - hehe! ~~ of time playing, either PS2, or outside with street hockey or a game of catch. Luke's friend was the QB for their football team this fall. I didn't realize that two pre-teen boys could giggle so much! They were awake until 2:00 am, playing Monopoly and talking about stuff, whatever young boys talk about. Next time: no sleepovers during the week unless a parent is not working the next day. Eeeeeeeee! :sleepy: :sleep3: LOL!

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Luke's first game of the year is over. His team lost to Hudson, 2-0. There doesn't seem to be a standout offensive player, like a point guard in basketball. Perhaps one or two will develop, and soon. Next weekend will be interesting, with back-to-back games. As a parent, all I can do is cheer them on, and not get beligerent towards the poor refereeing or cheap shots by the other team. So far, none of that has occurred, like last year. Oh well, I must keep a cool head and let the coaches do their job. Luke did ok playing defense. Our team had too few shots-on-goal vs. the other team. However, the season is young. Luke may have a chance to score on a breakaway, or if the coach switches him to offense. We'll see.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Watching a program on the History Channel about Roswell, NM, and the UFO sightings. Very interesting! Declassified gov't files suggest that there were secret projects using weather balloons and manequins. There were even tests with high altitude parachutes, with persons jumping from an altitude of 100,000 feet! Wild! :)

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Here it is after midnight, and instead of sleeping, I am posting. The thing is, I need to be "up-and-at-em" at 0430 hrs. I've done this sort of goofiness before. Many times before. I don't know why. It isn't as if I'm addicited to posting ~~see my post count; I average less than 2 per day~~but I seem to proctrastinate the inevitable. I did, however, make reservations for a room on Friday for the two-game hockey weekend in the Twin Cities. Maybe check out the Mall of America afterwards. Luke loves Camp Snoopy. I like the rollercoaster and log-chute rides. Anything wilder than that, and I'd certainly barf! :blink: There is a neat shop with NASCAR collectables, which I may also check out. Now, I guess my appointment with the "sandman" is long past due. Well,....maybe a little longer, hehehe! :unsure:

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Well, it seems that I'm in the same predicament ^^^ as last night. Arrrggghhh!

While I type this, Davy the cat is sniffing inside of Luke's hockey bag. Do cats have a thing for B.O. and sweaty socks? Maybe yes,....and maybe no. Only the cat knows for sure, and I just chased him away. Goofy cat! :unsure:

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

This weekend is finally over. Although I normally like the time off, this one was chocked full of events and surprises, most of which I'd just as soon forget. Luke's hockey travelled out of town for two games, and both were losses. The team didn't score a goal in either one, and had few shots-on-goal. The defense needs a lot of work as well. Too often the players were bunched up around the net, or as with Luke, had their stick off the ice when defending the net, allowing the puck to slide by unchecked. Oh well, the year is still young. I hope that I feel better by tomorrow, as this cold has kept me down long enough. I seem to be sapped of energy and motivation. Off to bed, I suppose. :sleep3: :sleepy:

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

I'm still battling a head cold/ sinus infection. My wife, a nurse, thinks I need to wait a while yet before I see a doc about it. He may feel its viral, so its only a matter of time before the virus runs its course. In my history with these "viruses", it usually leads to a sinus infection, which requires an anti-biotic. Docs must be less likely to prescribe a med now than in the past, due to the rise in drug-resistant "bugs". I'm due to see the chiropractor tomorrow, so perhaps he has a remedy of sorts. I once had an electronic acupuncture performed on me for a cold. Maybe its time to try that again. Or take lots of ramein noodles! LOL!

Maybe a "spot of tea" hehehe! :lol:

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

Another night with this stubborn cold. Decided to have a "spot of tea", Earl Grey, that is. Yesterday morning I was hacking and spitting up gross you-don't-want-to-know stuff. Almost called in sick. The gorgeous weather we had - in the 60's ! - made for an ok day. This morning? Well, that remains to be seen. I am sure glad that its Thursday. One day closer to the weekend. No out-of -town games this time. Yee haw! :lol:

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

I stayed home from work today. Saw the doc. and got some anti-biotics. Right now I'm watching "Modern Marvels" on the History Channel. This episode is about extreme aircraft , from the X-1 flew by Chuck Yeager, to the B-2 and the F-22. I've always been facinated with airplanes. As a third grader, I remember sketching planes of my own design, while my classmates did their homework. In a subsequent report card, my teacher noted that I seemed "busy " with something or other. :lol: I was never scolded for that, I guess because I still maintained above average grades. Now I operate a fork lift. No flying allowed.

[Jaz4stfguy 0]

The anti-biotic seems to be working fine. My wife informs me that it takes time for the meds to work properly. I need to remember and take all of it, to insure that the bug is truly dead Luke has another game today. Hopefully with their successful scrimage on Friday, that it will carry over into this game. Luke needs to remember to keep his stick on the ice. Slinging it around with one hand ~~why? I don't know ~~ won't cut it.