Relay For Life: Operation: Spread Hope

After I write this I am going to go over to my Facebook and post a status update that I hope takes off and spreads. It will follow along the same lines as a repost about military appreciation, wedding picture week and way back week. Those went fairly well. The idea is to make it viral and have it spread across for thousands of people to see.

I hope that my friends take to it and repost it. At the very least I expect those that participated in other reposts to participate. I am not one for forwards generally so the wording might be a little awkward. I tried to find one from before to use as a template but could not. Here's hoping it catches on.

Until tomorrow, may you spread hope.

Skate

Two Tidbits

I would like to start off with a little devil's advocate story:

I was in my purgatory office when a discussion of the Healthcare Reform (HCR) came about. It was instigated by having the news show President Obama declaring a challenge for those who running on a repeal platform. Three people in the office had been discussing HCR when one popped in with "You know that when that many people are against it something must be wrong." The other two agreed and piled onto that train of thought.

At this moment I could not resist the role I had to play. I stood up and announced I was going to play devil's advocate then added:

"A lot of people opposed Civil Rights too."

I sat back down. The room was quiet.

The second is something that was brought up this weekend. Where is the outrage over Big Ben? He has been accused of sexually assaulting two women in one year and nary a peep has been heard compared to a few years back when the outrage poured in over Michael Vick. Michael Vick was being accused of animal cruelty in the form of dog fighting and the world erupted and came crashing down upon him. That was before he was even convicted; the moment he was convicted the hoopla quieted down considerably.

Big Ben has allegedly assaulted two women on two very separate instances and not much has been talked about it. Instead of suspending the star, the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, has just shown concern for the mess that he has gotten himself into. No outrage from a throng of people, no suspension, and little media coverage by comparison. There seems to be a lack of consistency. One would think that a crime against a human, two no less, would warrant more fuss than crimes against animals.

I am a big "innocent until proven guilty" advocate. I am not claiming his innocence nor his guilt. I am just noting that there has been little to-do about Big Ben's alleged crimes. Maybe people will wait for a verdict this time and then start to talk then.

Until tomorrow, may you play the part.

Skate

Delayed Idea

I had an idea for this morning's post but was unable to find all the information I wanted. I will try to have it up on Wednesday.

The weekend went fairly well. Friday night was spent nursing orange juice; Saturday night I added in some Vodka while enjoying the company of many friends. The One went on a cleaning kick on Sunday. This is her second weekend in a row doing so. It is that time to do Spring Cleaning.

I for one have never really been a big fan of Spring Cleaning. I imagine that might be because, from what I remember, that it generally happened during Spring Break. Nothing like getting away from school work to do house work.

Until tomorrow, keep your room tidy.

Skate

Where the Wild Things are Not

If you are ever tempted to see the movie Where the Wild Things Are, do yourself a favor and track down the book instead. Read it. You will be far more entertained if you do. When I first saw previews of the movie I was excited. It looked like I would truly love to see it. When it finally came out, it had little (okay none that I am aware of) fanfare. Still I wanted to see it.

The One rented it for us to watch last night, thankfully for only a dollar. About twenty minutes into the movie we wanted to turn it off. I was determined to stick through it and we did. Despite the movie being less than decent, it still managed to tug at the heart strings of The One who was in tears (spoiler alert) when the kid leaves the island.

I did not have high expectations. In fact I tempered them down from the initial excitement to expect just an average movie. Maybe I should have tempered them even more. If you need your Wild Thing fix, I am sure The One and I would be more than happy to have a story time session. We will take your dollar rental fee and just spare you the trouble of seeing the movie version.

Until next time, may you be the king or queen of your own island.

Skate

TeeHee Thunders Up

I got to see a side of TeeHee that I do not think I have seen before. He was excited and energetic about a sport.

We scored discounted tickets at the Thunder Watch Party for the game last night in OKC. I met up with him well before the game to have dinner and walk around. As we were about to enter the arena. I was stopped by a Swiss television crew. They were asking people about Thabo Sefolosha, who is from Switzerland, to get a feel of how people like him here. I gave a glowing review of his defense and mentioned he had been working on his shot. Once inside we walked around to the different vendors, scored some free swag and TeeHee bought a Thunder polo shirt to blend in.

When the game started, the normally quiet, TeeHee erupted with energy and excitement. He started several defense chants, participated in a wave and cheered the whole way through. He was even spouting off statistics and mentioned he was impressed with the Thunder's rebounding.

For those who do not understand, TeeHee is not real big on sports. He plays and watches tennis but other than that, as far as I know, he really is not into sports. He shows up to sports group gatherings for the social aspect, not the game. Most of the time he has his books with him to study while we watch the games. His actions at the Thunder game were not quite what I was expecting. Especially after discussing WoW at dinner.

That alone brought everything beyond what I expected. I expected to have good time. I had a superb time. So much so, that we are planning on coming down again. I really have never had a bad game experience, I do not think I ever will. I want to get all my Thunder fan friends together and go to a game. We would make a day out of it.

Until tomorrow, THUNDER UP!

Skate

Face Value

Before we begin read this blog post about a Republican:

http://blugill.blogspot.com/2010/03/confession-of-racist-homophobic-closed.html

People have a tendency to take things at face value. Our immediate impression is based off of very little value and are generally stereotypes when it comes to people. We judge quickly based on what little information that is given to us in the first go. Using the headline to an article to devise what the entire story is about. Reading the cover a book to see whether or not it is a good book or something to shelve.

One of my side jobs deals with voting assistance. My big push is for people to educate themselves and vote. Before the Presidential Election, I was going around and making sure people were registered. I found entirely too many people who were not registered, did not care, or just did not know what was going on. I would give my spiel on why voting was important and during which I would be interrupted. It almost never failed. Whenever I got to the education portion where I stress using multiple sources and not just mainstream media or the word of someone else, someone else would interject that they would show them where to go.

Having people help would not be so bad; unfortunately, through further discussion I find out that the person offering is extremely bias. It happened from both sides. Taking the numbers at face value it appeared that more often than not a Republican who was more than willing to show their way. However, we live in an area that is deeply red. Proportionally, my guess, is that the numbers were equal. The root of the problem was the same. People were getting one-sided.

I wonder how many Republicans were against the Healthcare Reform just based off of what other said about it. I wonder how many Democrats were for the Reform just because their source said it was a good idea. I know Blu did his research, BoBo did too. I did not have too many Liberal friends that voiced their opinions so outwardly with facts as those two did.

I, myself, did very little research. I listened to what both sides had to say. I did not get too entirely involved at point. I will have to pour through some reading material to see what is going on. I did do enough reading to know that it will effect me very little in terms of insurance. I have yet to register a vote either way. I enjoy sitting on my fence and watching both sides get riled up. One side swears it will end the world and the other side makes it seem as if it the best idea ever. I am certain it is somewhere in between.

Until tomorrow, may you dig deeper.

Skate

I'm All Alone, at the Office

First off, I intended to snooze in this morning. Nothing big, just ten minutes and I would be up. Dog, I think, wanted to get up; she imposed her will by sitting on my neck. More and more I think this mutton-head is confused on what animal she is.

My entire office is out for professional development today leaving me all alone in the office. Not that I will be in the office much as I start the morning in a meeting, move to a workshop and then have a teleconference. When I finally do get back to the office, I have a project that needs to be worked on. It should be a busy first Friday.

I love taking days off in the middle of the week. A Friday or Monday are nice to have off to extend the weekend, but I rarely feel as if those are really breaks. Taking off in the middle of the week actually seems like I get a full day away from work. Maybe it is the split of the work week that provides the relief or that those are busier days than the others; either way, it is a nice welcomed break. I have so much leave stacked-up that I need to take even more.

Until tomorrow, may you find your work relief.

Skate

Wild Wintry Weekend

This weekend kicked off with a late night at the office that ended with a drawn out discussion of why things are not working and are heading for disaster. Then the winter weather hit on the first day of spring. We had quite the snow storm. It left a snow drift of about three feet high in our front yard. It was entertaining to see Dog jump over it all. On Sunday most of the snow was gone, or so we thought. We went into town to buy groceries, taking the route I normally take to get to work. There was a large snow drift that still covered a decent chunk of the road. The snow drift caused an unexpected off road experience as we ended on the other side of the road near trees. It was very exciting and fun to me, not so much for The One. Needless to say, we took a different route home.

Sunday seemed to have ended with drawn out discussion of why things are not working and that we are heading for disaster. Healthcare Reform passed last night. I will only add this: People have the right to live. A person's health is something that directly correlates with right to live. It is unfortunate that we live in a time where a person can not be seen because they do not have insurance. Even worse is that for people who do insurance it comes at great cost. I do not believe that healthcare insurance is a right. I do believe that in the times we are living in that it has become a beast that some see as a necessary evil. Healthcare Reform targeting insurance will help some people. It is not a glowing success, nor is it a path towards damnation. I am sure there better ways to target healthcare; the people we appointed thought that this was a step in the right direction.

I found one nugget during my reading that I would like to share. Throughout all the discussion of healthcare being a right, people seem to have forgotten the right of equality. While some people tasted victory on Sunday, others are left to continue fighting for their rights. The people fighting for equal rights for gays and lesbians still have their work cut out from them. Maybe they too shared a victory this weekend. One that provides hope that change can still happen.

Until tomorrow, may you find your own personal victory.

Skate

Relay For Life

It is a common delusion that you make things better by talking about them.- Dame Rose Macaulay

Last year I was apart of something very special. Relay for Life.

"The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length."-The American Cancer Society

This will be the first of a few blogs that I will be writing about Relay For Life. They will be spaced out and share different stories, notes and maybe even bargains. For every $100 raised on this site: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=14418441&pg=personal&fr_id=23950

I will personally donate $5. On top of that for every dollar raised I will spend a minute walking the Relay.

If you have a story you would like to share please share. I would like to hear them.

Not to disappoint Blu, but I will be taking a weekend break from blogging. I will return on Monday.

Until then, may you make me walk all night.

Skate

Post TWP

The Thunder Watch Party was a lot of fun. Between TeeHee, The One and I we managed to score discounted tickets to a game next week, a tote bag, two T-shirts, and some beads. One of the more exciting grabs of the night was Rumble's autograph. We had some fun pictures with Rumble and managed to get an autograph. It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to going to the Houston game with TeeHee next week!

The One and I are church bound during lunch. She had previewed this church prior to having TOM, TOD and I out there. She is in love with it. I imagine we will be quite pleased as well. It is exciting to think that this might be the place we will get married. I have some ideas of what I would like it to be; I hope that it matches those ideas.

Well, I'm off to work. Tomorrow I should be prepared to write about something very important.

Until then, I wish you sobering thoughts.

Skate

Bare Necessities

I asked The One last night if she minded if I spent the Income Tax return on a new computer. She was okay with it as long as we got a computer at a good price and something that would be valuable. She also wanted to load her Sims game on the new computer, but that is not going to happen. I might have caved before I started removing all her old versions off this computer; removing these files has proved to be a burden in itself.

As I sit here removing old programs, doing a disk clean-up and defrag this computer, I cannot help but wonder about the bare necessities. A new computer would be nice, but is that where my money is best spent? There are plenty of bills to pay, including a recent water damage bill. There are home improvements to be made, a fence would be nice. I have not had a rainy day fund for about a year now; something that is very important to me. We have a trip up to Iowa for my sister's wedding. There is our wedding and honeymoon that need to be payed for. I think you get the point.

My family knows that I am not a person to go out and buy fancy gadgets, no matter how nice it would be. My older brother and JDad bought me a TV because they knew I would never buy one myself until the one I had broke. (Thank you again. We love it.) I often talk myself out of buying new things buy justifying that the money could, and probably should, be spent elsewhere.

That is where I currently am. I want a new computer. I want something newer, faster and something that would run more efficiently; but, I do not want to put myself in a bind later because I purchased something I wanted. The One and I are going to sit down sometime this week and set out a budget. After this we will know if we are going to get a new computer now, or if I will be saving my entertainment money over the next couple of months to do so later.

I am happy to see that The One and I are responsible young adults. I know that it will come in handy later in life.

The One and I have our Thunder Watch Party tonight! We will be celebrating our Irish heritage and enjoying a great game. Be looking forward to read about that!

Until then, be responsible.

Skate

Love and Basketball

The One and I played basketball with my work team last night. Not only was it a lot of fun, but we won. We both played equal minutes and when we were on the floor we helped extend the lead. She scored two points and played solid defense in her first time playing competitively since high school. The One was upset with her shooting, and thought she could play better. I thought she was wonderful.

The One tutored me on how to play post; it was the first time I had been coached. She taught me a lot in just a few minutes and I was able to apply it during the game. A few more lessons and I might actually be decent. I still put up an arrant shot or two but I did score four point and pulled down four boards. I smile when I think about projecting that out to an NBA 48 minutes as I would be close to a double-double. I hope after tonight's lesson that I play even better in tonight's game an maybe get that double-double.

Thank you The One for spending the time to teach me a few things about basketball. Thank you for coming out and playing with the team. I am glad you enjoyed it. I love you.

Tomorrow will be a little less sappy, but still touch on our basketball game.

Until then, keep your hands up.

Skate

Another Side of Skate

I have rambled on about my fanaticism of sports. I actually have curbed this really early because all I was talking about was football, be it Readskin, OU, or fantasy. I have even thrown in my excitement over Thunder basketball; they just got win number 41 which means they could do no worse than breaking even! I have written about my love of performance and wishes to make it a full time gig. Just wait till I have am back in a show and you will be reading even more.

There is one thing that I have not written about. It might have been hinted in a couple, but it has never been outright. I am a closet nerd. I have an inner fantasy geek that tries to balance the rest of my personality. I am attracted to and entertained by fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I have played Magic: The Gathering and other completely nerdy games. My desire for a new computer stems from starting up World of Warcraft again. I just could not resist.

I first played World of Warcraft when it first came out. I was originally drawn to it because I had played the Warcraft series, and most importantly they had Druids. Druids are one of two things fantasy that I am drawn to. I played relentlessly and enjoyed it immensely. When my playing time dwindled, I quit. I have picked up the game and stopped it four times. This is my fifth go around with it. I have always enjoyed, I just get to the point where paying a monthly fee for a game I only play a few hours a month on just would not be worth it.

Each time I have had a reason to get back into it. Most of the time the decision was based on friends. This time I had stumbled across some artwork that piqued my interest. Werewolves. The other fantasy idea that I am obsessed with was drawn as a playable character. I could not resist, I had to find out if this were true. I went to read posts and to my delight it was. Werewolves, known as Worgen in WoW, would be a playable character.

At this point The One had walked in the Man Cave and asked what was I looking at. I explained, she rolled her eyes. I told her that I was really interested but would resist. I did warn her though that if I read that this new race could be Druids, resistance would be futile. And sure enough they could and I was done for.

The new race does not come out for some time. The only reason I have started now is because they are going to completely redo the original area. As it has been two years since the last time I played I wanted to make sure I was familiar with what it used to like. As I read more about the game I also found that there are items that will help me when I start my new character but I must earn them now.

All of this has been somewhat exciting. This weekend I logged quite a few hours in with my older brother and TeeHee. I do enjoy playing with people I know. Everything we have done so far has been new to me. They find that as exciting as I do.

I think I have opened this closet door far enough for now. I will attempt a return to normalcy tomorrow.

Until then, enjoy your adventures, real or fantasy,

Skate

It is My Hour

The one clock I control that does not automatically set the time is in my car. That clock will not lose its hour. I refuse to give up my hour. I understand I must conform to everyone else's time; I cannot just show up to work an hour late and they would understand. But at least in my car I get to keep my hour. I wish we would just do away with this taking of an hour. I certainly have never bumped into any one who thought it was of use these days. I understand why it was put into place, but we have the technology to get past that now. Let us keep our hour.

On a side note, I would still be in favor of giving us an hour in the Fall. I love that day.

Oh where to begin? I have been absent from this blog for a long time. My absence coincided with my waking up a half hour earlier to workout until it was time to get ready. The One will be quick to point out that I have snoozed in this last week. That was a period of time where I needed my rest. I still got up and did a condensed workout, but it left little time for anything else. In between all of that we had pipe burst inside our house. Thankfully the plumbing bill was low, unfortunately the carpet drying service was not. The carpet service however was outstanding and I will be drafting up a letter to send to both my insurance company and the carpet service to show them my appreciation of the service and recommend them to anyone in need.

Mother visited last weekend. She brought a friend who I cannot remember whether she was Thelma or Louis. Once I determine which one she was that will be her name. I hope they enjoyed their visit. It was complicated at first as I was taking care of the household. They were driving down when the pipe burst. Things did take off that first Friday and it was mostly taken care of by the time they left.

The One and I received the two Irish blessings. The first from Mother, a bell. Whenever The One and I might quarrel we are to alternate ringing this bell to end the fight and seal it with a kiss. This has served us well to this point as any mindless bickering has led to a quick bell ring, a kiss, a declaration of our love for each other and an exchange of apologies. The other Irish blessing was given to us by TOM and TOD. It is a blessing for our house and to us.

I went to another Thunder game at some point during my break with B12. It was an enjoyable time and the THUNDER WON! I was happy to see them win in person. This week, on a very important day, The One, TeeHee and I are going to the Thunder Watch Party. It should be loads of fun. More friends are welcome, just let me know and I will try to save a seat or two. Forewarning for those not familiar with where it is being held at, the service is horrible and the food is okay.

The One's play finished last weekend. She had an amazing run. She even more fantastic than I thought she would be. I told her that I was nervous for her before she came bouncing on stage. Much like when a dad is nervous for their child. I think the nerves were set on by my wanting her to do well and for the audience to love her as much as I did. They did. The entire show was quite the treat for the little people.

I do believe that sums up my absence. If I think of anything more I will be sure to post. As for tomorrow, I plan on divulging another side of Skate.

Until then, keep your hour!

Skate