Lets see:
New car + just moved + looking at houses + looking for people to pay me $$ = not much time to blog lately.
But I’m working on it. New version of RSI (Remote Systems Information) software coming out tomorrow also. Version 3 is a complete rewrite from scratch… so a lot of testing went into making sure its ready to go.

Being the proud father, I thought it’d be obnoxiously fun to make everyone look at my kids.

(From left to right is… Lorna, Gwen, and Emma)

I like this: Naughty Kids Lose Gifts to eBay.

Saturday morning was sure not to be very jolly for three brothers, 9, 11 and 15, who didn’t straighten up when their father told them Santa (search) wasn’t too pleased with their fighting, cuss words and obscene gestures.

The only thing is, I wonder just how long before the kids bring in the lawyers to sue their parents.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone
In a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give,
And to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by the mantel, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung some pictures of far distant lands.

He had medals and badges, awards of all kinds,
And a sober thought then came through my mind.

For this house was different, it was dark and dreary.
I found the home of a soldier, once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor of this one-bedroom home.

The face was so gentle, the room in such disorder,
Not how I pictured a United States soldier!

Was this the hero of whom I’d just read?
Curled up on a poncho, the floor for his bed?

I realized the families that I saw on this night
Owed their lives to these soldiers willing to fight.

Soon round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate a bright Christmas day.

They all enjoyed Freedom each month of the year,
Because of the soldiers, like the one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home.

The very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice,
“Santa, don’t cry, this life is my choice;

“I fight for Freedom; I don’t ask for more;
My life is my God, my country, my corps.”

The soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep.
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours, so silent, so still,
And we both shivered from the cold night’s chill.

I didn’t want to leave on that cold dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over, with a voice soft and pure,
Whispered, “Carry on, Santa. It’s Christmas Day and all is secure.”

One look at my watch and I knew he was right.
Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night.

Heat Miser is on!!!

As the holidays approach, many oriented businesses are much busier than usual. Such as the post office, department stores, and Santa’s workshop. Here’s an interview with Santa’s CIO on preparations that the team up north is making for tomorrow’s festivities:

Ãnter Klaus is CIO of Christmas HQ, and as the mist billows round the windows and the car sets off he explains how his responsibilities centre on the NGBS (Naughty Girl & Boy System) with its billions of records.

The reality of Christmas HQ is far from the pixies and fairies wonderland described in legend. Klaus must manage the terabytes of data and facilitate the Big Day (BD) or Christmas Eve. “We have tremendous organisation, logistics and planning for each year’s timetable,” he says. “I must make sure each child gets only what their record demands.”

The size of the job is impressive and while delivery is run with Santa’s special abilities IT must rely on its own resources. “Magic is very expensive and hard to control,” says Klaus explaining how it requires technical expertise to wield magic effectively. “Things can go very wrong without the right level of support, maintenance and specialist staff.

“We recently implemented a Magic Oriented Architecture (MOA) but had enormous difficulties integrating NGBS. The project has been a major compliance exercise, but no matter what products say on the box, we’ve found there’s no silver bullet.”

Compliance is Klaus’s top item. Christmas HQ runs via many organisations world wide and each has its own requirements. Even though the enterprise is beyond any single jurisdiction they must still respond to requests from subsidiaries and pressure is escalating due to ever-more financial products given away in Christmas stockings. “Kids don’t just want chocolate and model cars,” he says. “They have sophisticated tastes we have to cater for.”

Damn I’m cool… thanks Anarchy!

These were too good to not share them… simple, but good!!!

The wife made up these cookies today… and they are damn tasty.
The recipe was pulled from “Christmas with Southern Living 2004″. (Yes… I buy too many cook books.)

Anyway… they’re quick… easy… and damn addictive. Try them out…

Ingredients:
1 cup Shortening
1 cup Sugar
1 Large Egg
1½ tsp Orange Extract
1¾ cups all-purpose Flour
½ tsp Salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to at 375°.
Beat shortening at Medium speed until creamy.
Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
Add egg and orange extract, beating well.
Combine flour and salt. Add to shortening mixture, beating until blended.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 11 to 12 minutes (or until edges are lightly browned).
Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to wire racks.
Eat.
Repeat.

Just ran over a tumbleweed!!

It was 5:01pm on the nose (mountain time) that we crossed the colorado border.. irony folks is I was born at 5:01pm (april 29th) but how ever so cool.. born at 5:01pm only start my life fresh and new in Colorado at the same time..

Things happen for a reason, something all who know me hear me say over and over, it is my motto, my mantra, my life.. this is how i believe whole heartedly. Though our trek west had been delayed slightly, due to my health more then anything.. all could not have fallen into place better.

Timing of selling our home gave us the top dollar in our development (aside from the the southwoods section, and those homes are MUCH larger, so they don’t count)… To sell in just 2 days, to have the packing and moving go so well.. sure there were issues with the staff who did not show, but those who did, did a great and quick job for what its worth. Chad leaving his job went smoothly, with no crap from those he worked for.. each and every step has been beyond belief!

My realtor who had just bought a new construction home, and letting us rent it till we decide on a home to purchase.. and there is no rush, just making another step as easy as it can be.

There was fear of storms, snow storms, while we headed west.. i kept an eye on the weather and i thought we would be fine.. and yep we was.. After we left Illinois and Indiana.. they were hit and hit hard the next day.. roads have been closed in Indiana because the plows can not clear them quick enough. Now we have reached Colorado with flawless weather, and clear driving all the way out.. dreamy really.. we reached the border and making a sleep over in Burlington.. before we reach the house we are renting in Colorado Springs tomorrow (Monday)..

Tuesday the STUFF comes.. chad frets it won’t all fit in the house, i figure what does not fit in the garage and other 2 rooms we will just take to a storage unit if we must.. things have progressed so beautifully that is just not even a thought for me!

I am blown away.. yes it was hard to leave the house we llived in for 5 1/2 years, it was hard to leave friends and Chad’s family.. I will miss them, but DE was killing me, and there was nothing there that we wanted there that was not movable (hint hint folks)..

I still have my fingers crossed about a home i want, we shall see.. details to come! Ciao ALL!

Passing the six legged cow and prarie dog town…

Or, 1000 miles of cruise control. All is well, checking in from Columbia, Missouri… Next stop, Colorado!

Well, we’re now officially homeless…
…But also completely out of debt.
Trying to figure out which is worse, homeless or horribly in debt.

Anyways, on the road tomorrow. Stopping in Lancaster, Ohio. Dinner with mom’s brother and family, haven’t seen them in many years. Should only be on the road about 7 hours, which isn’t bad.
Haven’t slept much lately. Between the general stress, the movers taking until almost midnite to finish loading, and cleaning up after, and not sleeping in our own bed, it’s just hard staying asleep more than a few hours.
Although those aerobeds with the built in sleeping bags are pretty damn nice and comfortable. But anyone who has been in a nylon sleeping bag knows, they’re pretty damn loud.

For those who want to know, here’s the route, click to enlarge the map:

Essentially, we’re leaving our house, going north 4 miles, turning left, driving 1750 miles, then turning left into Colorado Springs. Sweet huh?
Overnights in Columbus/Lancaster Ohio, Columbia Missouri, and then just inside the Colorado border, in a town called Burlington. Monday around lunchtime we should be arriving in the Springs.
Now, I should have the kinks in the posting to here from the cell phone worked out, so hopefully every few hours I’ll chime in with a “Just saw biggest ball of twine on the left near mile marker 207″ type of post. I only get about 180 characters per post because of the cell phone SMS limitation, but still should be interesting.
Stay tuned… and thanks for hanging around!

Chad decided to let me play around with his blog a little. So for my first post… I’ve decided to stick to the theme of this page by sharing an image of my favorite pirate painting.

This painting is entitled "Marooned". It was painted by Howard Pyle (a native of Wilmington, DE) way back in 1909.

Many of Howard Pyle’s paintings depict pirates in tattered clothing, eye-patches, bandanas, and earrings… images which are still heavily associated with the subject today. Mr. Pyle is often called the "Father of American Illustration".

For those of you who don’t think that you’ve ever heard of Howard Pyle before… you’d probably be suprised to find that you’re more familiar with his written works. He authored the retelling of many fictional adventures, including:
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883)
Men of Iron (1892)
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903)

If anyone is interested, you can still check out some of his work at the Delaware Art Museum and the Brandywine River Museum.

I’m now unemployed, finished my last day at work.
Finish packing, movers come, settle on the house, and start the drive to our new home…

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books.
I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.”
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.
As I handed him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives.”
He looked at me and said, “Hey thanks!”
There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.
He said yes.
We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!”
He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke.
I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.
He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.
Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great.
He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days.
I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!”
He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks,” he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach…but mostly your friends… I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.”
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.
He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
“Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it’s depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
With one small gesture you can change a person’s life.

And I’m not the only one to notice it. More channels than ever, in higher resolution even, but its sooo much worse. Sgt. Mom has a “top 10″ list of why TV has gotten worse.
My favorites:

5. I am quite thoroughly sick of shows about doctors, criminal lawyers, and police officers, and all the many permutations. Yes they do interesting work, and any of these professions afford an easy excuse to be involved in other people’s lives and problems, but for the love of mike, aren’t there any other interesting jobs out there? Even shows about reporters, lifeguards and firefighters haven’t been beaten into the ground nearly as much as the big three. There have been occasional shows about truck drivers, the staff at radio and TV stations, the inhabitants of small towns, the military, and farm families, amongst others, so we know that you are capable of moving beyond law, crime and medicine.
6. Cease and desist immediately from painting children and teenagers as wiser, more tolerant, more worldly and cooler than their chuckleheaded parents. Get over the Sixties, already. If we need to have our parental authority undermined, that’s what our children’s disreputable and idiotic friends are for.
7. Please try and get out of Southern California, and New York City. While they are interesting places, where live many people who wouldn’t consider living anywhere else, there exist great swaths of the United States which are just as scenic, and have just as much to offer. I don’t just mean zipping in for a couple of days to shoot exterior scenes before scuttling back to a sound stage in Burbank, but actually staying around long enough to get a sense of place. The only damned thing on TV that even comes with in a mile of reflecting where I live”¦.is a freaking animated feature!!!

Not just standard shows, but commercials are the same way. We refuse to purchase anything with a dumb ass commercial. Expecially the ones that violate rule #6 above. I have worked long and hard… well, long at least, to get old enough to know better. I want to be treated like it.

Ugo has a new Hero Generator available, with new features and functions.
Give it a try, see what you can come up with…

The LA Times breaks the story about Dick Clark:

Clark’s New Year’s Eve Countdown Is on Hold Due to Stroke
‘No one can say 100%’ whether the TV host, 75, will attend his special, a spokesman said.

Oh crap, I hope he gets better…
I know the animatronic Dick Clark isn’t ready for the brain implant for another 6-10 months. They’re working out some of the details. And it being a stroke, instead of organ failure, thats another kink that wasn’t planned for.
They’re going to have to drag his hospital bed to the bottom of that falling ball thing, because I’d hate to be stuck in 2004 for another 12 months.