So much for hope...

The crappy week is continuing...*sigh* Only one more day....just one more day....I think I should invest in some stock for Gaviscon.

Hump Day

Wow this week will just never end. Each day has had a crappy component to it. Today I was at a breaking point and it required frozen yogurt to sooth it. My students are really happy when I have days like today. I just hope tomorrow isn't like today....

Only if it were true...

The squeaking wheel doesn't always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.
-- Vic Gold

Pounding...Pounding

Oh I had a headache of headaches today. It was compounded by a crappy day at work and other things. The only thing that killed it was an ice pack and an Advil.

Life is a Smile

From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere... If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good.
-- Dr. Seuss, One Fish two fish red fish blue fish, 1960

Grand Canyon Railway

It's going to be a good weekend

Dinosaurs...trains...and fun!

Can we always?

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
-- Dr. Seuss

My human body...

Some mornings I am better off climbing back in bed with either a heat or an ice pack. Today is one of those days. My neck and shoulder decided to have an argument with the rest of me. I am not surprised since all that drives me up a tree gets stored there. Tomorrow will be another day.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom,

Happy Birthday. You are awesome!












Love, Me

I own a clue

The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught.
-- Marquis de Vauvenargues

A fun Sunday

In my veins...

This weekend is the Celtic festival in Flagstaff. I have missed it the last couple of years because I am usually out of town. Not this year! It is a great festival with Highland games, piper and dance competitions and seminars on a variety of topics. Plus you can get great Irish beer as well. this year I found a seminar by Glenfiddich distillery. They compared 12, 15 and 18 year old scotch. It was a blast. I have now found the job I want. Going to festivals and other events talking about scotch and how to drink it. Now I just need to figure out how to get this job....

My favorite methodology

Keep it simple; as simple as possible, but no simpler.
-- Albert Einstein

Something to remember

A fork in a hot pan may be hot. Instead of using raw flesh to find out, use a pot holder no matter what. Otherwise you get unhappy flesh on fingers. So....

Hot Pan + Metal Fork = Oh now that was smart!

Thump...thump...thump...

Dear moth...

Please stop running into the window. You are not coming in. All I hear is thump...thump...thump. You are just going to knock yourself silly. I am turning off the light now and going to bed. Go find another window.

Me.

In honor of movie night

Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.
-- Jane Austen

Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations.
-- Jane Austen

Rain drops keep falling on my head...

Well I know I should have taken pictures today but I think it will be a funnier description in words. It is lovely monsoon season. Like RiskyTruk, I like this season and October...although I do love snow. Today was great. I went to lunch with two of my friends. One walked back to his office at the start of the rain because we were only 100 yards from it. The other two of us waited for the downpour to subside with our bikes. It finally let up and off we went. We had attempted to decide which way we were going to head back. We had a communication break down and I went one way and he went another. I figured we would meet up on the other side. Well I am circling and circling and getting more wet and finally he comes from the other side. Turns out he and a curb did not negotiate well and he ended up on the ground...Ouch! So we get to the office and we are wet but not drenched. Right when we get to the bike rack, the sky unzipped and just dumped. Now I was drenched and looked like I just got out of the shower with my clothes on. One of the students says to me "you picked a good time to grow your hair out"...he is probably right. I was still damp when I got here 4.5 hours later. I love monsoon season!

Argh!

Why are things so difficult?

The greatest...

The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.
-- Atisha

Clear skies..

There is one thing that I love about Arizona when you get out of the big cities...the night time sky. Tonight I got to hang out with my mom looking at the constellations and the shooting stars. I made my wishes...will they come true? Only time will tell.

Quietness of my thoughts

It has been a bumpy couple of years...as I have written before about the losses of people and pets in my life. Anniversary dates come and go and over time, things seem to get a little easier. This week I experienced another loss from my extended network of family...my aunt. My mom and one of her sisters were unable to get there in time to say good bye. I think that would be kind of difficult even though they weren't getting along. My hope is for peace in their souls.

In my mailbox

One of my friends left me the following quote in my mailbox at work:

Realizing one's own real essence is the ultimate expression of enlightenment.
-- Hui-neng

It is now posted in my office. Thanks for the reminder.

Three of my favorite guys

Joe, Jacob and Mike. Love you guys!

My day

Am I a morning person?

The answer to that is simply...No. So people, do not expect me to use the English language correctly, be in a good mood or ready to have an intellectual conversation. I have heard it is the best time of the day. So when it is summer I will get up early and when it is winter I will get up late. Thank you for your understanding.

Fragility of Life

So this week I got the news from my mom that one of her sisters, my aunt, has been moved into hospice. How did we get the news...my grandfather. In a moment I will explain but first, my aunt has been suffering from Lupus for over 20 years and now has cancer. She has survived strokes and the breakdown of her body from the medications she has had to take. My mom has three sisters and one brother. They are all unique in that paths they choose for their life as did my mom. So why did we have to hear from my grandfather? Simple, our family is currently the black sheep of the extended family. Why? We are who we are and do things with out the expectation of reciprocation. Some times people see in others what they wished they could do or be like. Although we are the black sheep, my mom still tries and cares. There are a number of emotions flowing right now. In the end, all will be right. I am very appreciative that both my dad and my mom who taught me that caring is important and doing what we can for others with out expectations is always the best thing to do. Dad and mom...Thank You!

It's been 232 years...

Today is the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. To be exact, it is the 232nd anniversary. The changes that have occurred during this time has been immense. The changes that I feel have made the greatest impact are:

• Definitions of words have changed (i.e. what a patriot is)
  
• The modernization of industry
• The movement from the greater good to the individual
• Religious Agendas

From my list, I will only comment on the first one. It is interesting to me that we don't feel that people are patriotic if they do not believe what their government has decided. I fully support our troops and want them home soon. I disagree with why they are there and the choices my government has made. Does this make me less patriotic? Not just NO but Heck NO. However, this view would be deemed by many as not being patriotic. So I hope that someday the people of my nation look in their history books and see what a Loyalist is and what a Patriot is. Because if it was 232 years ago and the Loyalists had their way...we wouldn't be celebrating our independence day.

It's your birthday

Today I smile as two of my close friends have a birthday today. One I get to hang out with and the other is in Chicago. I woke up thinking of them both. Each are unique but share the same birth place and are not related. So to them...

Happy Birthday!

Brain to Mouth

We all have those moments when the brain to mouth connection fails. You know the one where you should be having a calm conversation but instead you have a failure in the system and it comes all out wrong. Tonight that was me. When I did finally realize I had corruption in the brain to mouth connection, I put myself into time out. The hard part was I was on the phone and telling the other person I needed to hang up now before I had full system failure is a bit hard. I was very fortunate to be able to resolve everything later in person. Sometimes trying to talk things through the phone or via email just doesn't work. I just need to learn from this and work from minimizing the corruption from occurring again.

It's Here!

I finally broke down and got a new desktop computer after 5+ years. Now I could have bought all the components and created a new Windows box but in reality, I don't really use Windows at home much. As a Windows sys admin, you would think I would...but alas, no. I am a Mac person and have been for over 20 years. Today my new Mac came in. I got an iMac with a large enough drive to load Windows on part of it using Fusion (I still need to do my job). It is just really cool. I am combining two computers (a Mac and a Windows box) to this machine. In my personal techie world...I am happy.