Console Video Game Sale

Gamefly is having a huge used (they call it pre-played, kind of like used cars being pre-owned) game sale. Seems like some pretty good deals. Platforms include XBox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, PS3, and Nintendo DS. Here's the link Gamefly Year-End Sale.

Eddie Sutton to Coach Again

Eddie Sutton is going to get another shot at his 800th victory.

San Francisco announced on Wednesday that Jessie Evans is stepping down as basketball coach and 71-year-old Sutton is taking over the Dons on an interim basis...rest of the story(ESPN).

Good luck to Coach Sutton. Here's to hoping he gets his 800th win, has fun coaching, but at the same time, doesn't deteriorate his health, again.

Newsvine - More Farmers Raising Sheep Without Wool

Newsvine - More Farmers Raising Sheep Without Wool

NEW ALBANY — Low wool prices and high shearing costs have led many sheep farmers to add a special breed of woolless sheep to their flocks, raising fears that sheep shearing may become a lost art.

Albany farmer Jan Kostival bought a flock of woolless sheep last month with the intention of raising them to sell their meat. He was drawn to the Katahdin, a breed that grows hair instead of wool, when he learned they were hardy, self-sufficient and, best of all, didn't require costly shearing every year.

"The Katahdin need little hay and little crop land," Kostival said. "They can take care of themselves."

Sheep farming nationwide is on a slight rise after declining significantly over the past decade, according to the American Sheep Industry Association. The sheep herd fell from about 8 million in 1997 to 6.1 million in 2004, then edged up to 6.2 million in 2007. Ohio ranks fourth in the nation for the number of sheep and lamb operations raising the animals primarily for meat and milk. In 2006, there were 3,300 sheep farms in the state, the association said.

And increasingly, Ohio sheep are going woolless.

Katahdin sheep, a popular breed of hair-shedding sheep, were first bred by geneticists more than 30 years ago in north-central Maine, according to the Katahdin Hair Sheep International Web site. There are 100 million hair sheep around the world, or about 10 percent of the world's sheep population.

The decline in woolly sheep has hurt an industry already facing competition from synthetic fibers and the entry of China and other countries into the wool market. Many fear sheep shearing, once a lucrative business in Ohio, is becoming something of an anachronism.

Howard Strode, 83, of Chesterhill, was a sheep shearer for 69 years as part of a family tradition that began with his great-grandfather. As recently as 25 years ago, Strode said, he made a living off shearing, often banking about $100 per day. Strode passed along the practice to his son and grandson, but said shearing has become only part-time work at best.

There are just a few farms in the area that continue to raise woolly sheep, Strode said.

"The breeds have changed so much," he said. "In the last few years they went for more meat and muscle and less emphasis on wool. It's very discouraging."

Here's a picture of the Katahdin (pronounced /kəˈtɑdn/ [kuh-tah-dn]).

The Lake

Here's something I wrote back when I was in college.

It is the most beautiful day of the season. The sun is setting on the horizon, making each minute’s scene different than the one before. I look at the many trees with their green, gold, and brown leaves, and I hear the wind rustle the Cottonwood trees to make them sound like a light rain. The air is cool and fragrant with the many scents of nature. The crickets seem loud in the stillness of this wonderful place.

Staring out over the still, quiet water, one gets a sense of relaxation and calmness. Fish jump playfully out of the water. As the Mallard ducks glide across the shimmering lake, they send ripples that go on until their energy is spent. Songbirds skim the water and then fly high above as they chase and call out to one another. I wish I could have this peace and beauty everyday. I wish I could share it with you.

Hatari Quick Quote

Sean: "You can't whip us all!"
Chips: "I can try!"
Sean: "Well, bring a lunch!"

Christmas Songs

Well, it's after Thanksgiving, which means Christmas songs everywhere. I usually try to avoid them as long as I can before Christmas so that I don't get burned out. My favorite is "Silent Night, Holy Night". The best version I have heard (and it may be because I'm partial) is by Reba on her Merry Christmas to You album. Other favorites are "O Holy Night", "White Christmas" (especially sung by Bing Crosby), and what Christmas would be complete without Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas" from Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. "This is My Prayer for You" and "The Secret of Giving" are a couple of songs from Reba's album Secret of Giving that don't mention Christmas, but are good songs to listen to during the season.

What are some of your favorite Christmas tunes?

Reba & Kelly On Tour

Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson are going on tour together. They are going to be at Tulsa, OK at the Mabee Center on February 1, 2008. Tickets go on sale December 8. There's a widget to the right that shows all of their tour dates.

Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular

Oklahoma turned 100 Friday and to celebrate the occasion, a spectacular was thrown at the Ford Center in OKC. It was filled with many great performances and appearances by famous Oklahomans. It started out with an "Oklahoma Swing" sung by Vince and Reba and accompanied by square dancers. In what is perhaps my most favorite thing in the world to see, they had a Bald Eagle fly from the crowd to the stage. Every time I see that it makes tears well up. I can't really explain why, it just always moves me. There were Native American dancers and an incredible acrobat that performed on two cloth strips hung from the ceiling. Willard Scott was present to announce 25 centenarians and one man who was 106 sang what was the Oklahoma state song before "Oklahoma". It was a very moving performance. For all of those who bought tickets hoping to see Garth perform were disappointed. He presented the tribute to the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing victims and introduced Reba singing "If I Had Only Known". Toby Keith sang "American Soldier" as men and women from the National Guard at Ft. Sill lined the stairway. Five of the six Miss Americas from Oklahoma shared the stage. Oklahoma has the most of any state. Shirley Jones was on hand to sing a couple of songs from the movie Oklahoma, in which she played Laurey Williams. The woman can sure still sing it. There was a tribute to maybe the most famous of our state, Will Rogers. It seemed like he was always chewing gum. Makes me feel a sort of kinship. The show ended with Vince singing "Oklahoma Rising", the song that he and Jimmy Webb co-wrote for the centennial, while a giant Oklahoma state flag was raised above the stage. It was then followed by "Oklahoma". The ending was quite exciting with fireworks and confetti filling the air.

I'm always proud to say I'm from Oklahoma. I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Where else on Earth can you get such a wide range of climates in such a small area? How many other places can go from 80 degrees to below freezing in one day (sometimes in a matter of hours)? Sure we have our problems, but as a whole it would be tough to find better people anywhere in the world. I encourage our generation, and younger generations, to look into the past and take up the values that have made this state so wonderful.

Here's my list of "You know you're in (from) Oklahoma when":

You say you're going to "the City" and everyone knows which city you are talking about.
You measure distance in time instead of miles.
The trees all lean towards the north.
You understand the real meaning of "bedlam" and are most likely crimson or orange (Go Pokes).

jan von holleben - dreams of flying

jan von holleben - dreams of flying

How did he get the dog to do that?!

Schoolboy Julian's lifesaving MythBuster moment - National - smh.com.au

Schoolboy Julian's lifesaving MythBuster moment - National - smh.com.au

There's still hope for our future!

Dolphins rescue surfer from shark - People: Tales of survival - MSNBC.com

Dolphins rescue surfer from shark - People: Tales of survival - MSNBC.com

This story is about a week old, but I'm just now getting to it. Dolphins are amazing creatures. It really makes a person think about how animals and humans interact.

I can't believe the guy went back out to the exact same place to surf. I had a three-wheeler wreck in junior high and it took about two years before I had the guts to get back on one...yeah, I'm a wuss. I like his thoughts about the shark and that he was in it's territory, not the other way around.

November 7, 2007

Today's my rest day from exercising. I'm coming to appreciate them more now that I'm exercising four days a week. The day off means it's time to get groceries. My list looks so much different now than it did six months ago. There are items on there that I'd have never thought about before. Yams? Ground turkey? Are you kidding?

I don't know if I haven't eaten enough calories today or what, but I'm wiped out. It's also really quiet in the office, so that might have something to do with it.

I need to find some new music to exercise to. The stuff on my mp3 player is getting kinda old. Not old as in years (that too), but old as in overplayed.

October Gone

I can't believe that October is already gone. The time flies by so fast. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas won't be far behind. I'm not looking forward to shopping. It wouldn't be so bad if I knew what to get everyone...but I really don't have any clue.

The first week of phase II of the diet didn't show much change. I lost a bit of body fat, so at least I didn't go backwards. I'm finding it really hard to eat. I just haven't been hungry lately.

We're down to 20 ewes with a few more people to come look at them. Although I'm sad to see them go, I'll be glad when it's done.

Singer Robert Goulet Dies at age 73

Another wonderful talent lost. I'll always remember him for being Sir Lancelot in the Broadway show "Camelot" and for his beautiful blue eyes and deep, gorgeous voice. R.I.P. Robert Goulet; the world will miss you.

MSNBC article on his death.

41st Annual CMA Awards

The 41st Annual CMA Awards are Wednesday, November 7th on ABC. Reba and Kelly are nominated for Musical Event of the Year for "Because of You". Reba is also up for Female Vocalist of the Year. She won that award four straight years from 1984 to 1987. I had stopped watching music award shows, but I do believe I'll be tuning in for this one.

http://www.cmaawards.com/2007/

Young Frankenstein, the Musical

I think this would be an awesome show to see. This movie is one of my favorites of Mel Brooks' (co-written by Gene Wilder). His movies are always filled with repeatable quotes.

"You know, I'm a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump."
"What hump?"

Stupid Criminal of the Day Award

"Man Steals Printer, Calls Tech Support, Lands in Jail"

This guy is a genius.

Cool Weather

I always think I'd like a temperature change until it happens. Most of the time it's from summer to fall. I do like changing weather; warm to cool, cool to warm, parched to rainy, but not so drastic as we've had this week. And I'm sure it just seems that way because it's the first cool front of the year. I was telling myself that in mid-winter I'll be saying how it's nice and warm when it's only 50 degrees outside. Dragging out the winter wardrobe is always cool too. It's like all new clothes. This year it was especially exciting since I was able to fit some shirts that I had been saving "just in case" I could fit them again sometime. Now I can.

The wetness has been strange this year as well. The grass is still green. By this time, it's usually starting to go dormant. The leaves are just now starting to turn, with only a few leaving the branches. The wind has been true to Oklahoma form this week. As my cousin from Arkansas once said "No use in fixing your hair". It's great to be an Oklahoman. ;)

Diet Phase I Complete

Well, I've made it past the first 12 weeks of the diet. Results:

Lost 10 lbs of weight.
Lost 21.91 lbs of body fat.
Gained 11.91 lbs of lean muscle mass.

Not too bad. I've already started Phase II. Since stock shows are over and we're working towards selling the sheep, my time to spend at the gym is hopefully going to increase. I've gone down a pants size and cleaned out some of the "huge" shirts out of the closet. I'm hoping to reach my goal by my birthday (February 16).

Quote: Doris Lessing

"There is only one real sin, and that is to persuade oneself that the second-best is anything but the second-best." — Doris Lessing, British Nobel Prize-winning author

Angels' Season Over

Well, the Red Sox completed their sweep of the Angels in the ALDS last night. The Angels aren't making excuses, but the injuries piled up on them at the last of the season. They had a good season, however, and should be right back there again next year. I want to say a personal 'Good Job' to my friend Reggie Willits. We are so proud of you!

So now I'm rooting for the Indians and Rockies. I'm ready for some new blood in the World Series. I guess, really though, it's been fairly new blood the past few years...

Today in History - Oct. 5

From Newsvine

Stars Present Their Films at AFI Bash

From Newsvine

Warren Beatty leaned down to chat face-to-face with Kirk Douglas. Sylvester Stallone chomped on pineapple and glanced across the bar at Clint Eastwood. Angela Lansbury gawked at Jack Nicholson. Julie Andrews laughed with Billy Crystal.


I would love to have been a fly on the wall at that bash. Imagine what a person could learn...

Entertainment Highlights in History Oct. 7-13

From Newsvine

Today in History - Oct. 3

From Newsvine

Today in History - Oct. 1

From Newsvine

Angels Clinch Division

The Angels have won the AL West division title. They need to keep winning though to get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Congrats to the whole team. It's been a definite team effort. And congrats to our favorite Angel around here, Reggie Willits. Here's a recent article on Reggie.

Survival Of The Fittest: M&M Style

best of craigslist : Survival Of The Fittest

Man, now I want to eat some M&Ms so I can do this!

Smart Squirrels

I know this has been around the web a few times already, but I just had to post the link. The fact that they would do this willingly...

Squirrels on an obstacle course.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones IV now has an official title: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. At first I thought it was kinda lame, but then I was reading a comment that reminded me that the movies were based on the serials of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Harrison Ford is back as the title character (wouldn't be an Indy movie without him) and Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood. New additions to the cast are Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, and Ray Winstone. There are more that you can check out here.

I hope it lives up to it's predecessors. I grew up with this series. Temple of Doom was my least favorite, but still good stuff. It's due out Memorial Day of 2008.

(cool Harrison Ford site)

The Only Promise that Remains

A couple of days back I posted about the song "The Only Promise That Remains" written by Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris) being another great song from Reba's Duets CD. After listening to it over and over (and over and over and...), I've come to some decisions on what makes it so good. What attracts me to a song is the music, the lyrics, or both. This is one of the occasions where both are excellent. I would have the song on my mp3 player even if it didn't have words. It is a mix of old and new country and a little soft rock. The lyrics are such that what isn't said makes the song much better. It keeps it from being a corny Country & Western song. The harmony of the singers' voices is also very nice. It's also a lower pitched song. I prefer those types of songs to the ones up in the rafters. Granted, some artists do those songs very well (Julie Andrews in her heyday, Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, to name a few). Even Reba has had some good songs that were high pitched, but in recent years, I like her songs that are down lower.

Some other songs that are growing on me are "Everyday People" with Carole King, that tells stories about ordinary people doing great things for their fellow man, "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma" with Ronnie Dunn, and "Break Each Other's Hearts Again" with Don Henley. The song with Ronnie Dunn is one they co-wrote together. It reminds me of Country songs from the 1980s. It kinda has a George Strait beat to it. There are a lot of each of the artist in the song, and it makes it special.

All in all, a very good CD. Definitely worth adding to the collection.

Life as a House

I finally opened up the Life as a House DVD that I bought ages ago. It's still a good movie. Get your hanky if you watch it though. My favorite part of the movie is when Robin (played by Kristin Scott Thomas) backs her car back up to the house and asks George (played by Kevin Kline) about his feelings for her...

"Do I still love you? Absolutely. There's not a doubt in my mind. Through all my anger, my ego; I was always faithful in my love for you. That I made you doubt it, that is the great mistake of a life full of mistakes. But the truth doesn't set us free, Robin. I can tell you 'I love you' as many times as you can stand to hear it, and all that does, the only thing, is remind us that love is not enough. Not even close."

Reba Duets Released Today

I purchased the new Reba Duets album from iTunes today (they have the digital booklet that comes with the album. Very cool.). So far my favorite song, after "Because of You" with Kelly Clarkson, is "The Only Promise That Remains" with Justin Timberlake.

The video for "Because of You" is currently at #1 on GAC Top 20 Country Countdown and CMT Top Twenty Countdown.

Reba is also going to be at the Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on November 16 of this year. She'll be joined by Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood, and more. Tickets seem to be sold out already (there are some on Ebay), but it says it will be shown on OETA as well. I would love to see her in concert again. It's been about 15 years since I last went to one of hers.

Jack Hanna, Flamingo Stuck in Turnstile

Associated Press Article

I giggle every time I see this headline. I would love to see that picture, but I doubt a picture would do my imagination justice.

R.I.P. Luciano Pavarotti

I've never been a big fan of Opera, but I've always liked Pavarotti, especially the duet of "My Way" he did with Frank Sinatra.

Quotes: Adventure

From Quotes of the Day:

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered. - G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936)

Adventure is just bad planning. - Roald Amundsen (1872 - 1928)

Slowing Progress

My diet progress has slowed down in the past two weeks, but so has my cardio workouts. I skipped a few because of shearing and getting cows out of the creek caused by the tropical weather we had. I'm back on schedule this week and I'm going to increase it and see if that makes a difference.

Here are the totals so far:
Body Weight Loss	5 lbs
Body Fat Loss	12.99 lbs
Lean Body Mass Gain	7.99 lbs

Week 3

I've slowed down on losing this week, although my middle "feels" quite a bit smaller, but I still lost some fat and gained some muscle. I bought a smaller belt Monday, but I didn't buy small enough. I'm already close to the last hole.

What crazy weather we have had. The "tropical storm" came through Saturday night/Sunday morning and Oklahoma was flooded. The Washita River is totally out of it's banks around here. A lot of people had their houses flood. Unfortunately there were also deaths. My heart goes out to those families.

Diet Update

The diet is going well. I lost almost 5 more pounds of fat. Didn't gain as much muscle as last week, but I didn't lose any either, so I can't complain. Going to have to put another hole in my belt. I'm thinking I might just have to get a new one...

Sheared the show lambs last weekend and they look gooood. But I can never tell how good they really are until we get to the first show.

Man, it's hot. The seasons seem to be skewed. We're now having the middle of summer when we should, it seems, be winding down. We could use another rain as well. You wouldn't have thought we'd say that after the first of the summer, but like my Grandpa always said "In Oklahoma, don't cuss the rain cause it's gonna stop one day and it'll be a long time before it comes again".....or something like that. ;)

New Diet

Welllll, I started a new diet last week. It's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto. It's a bodybuilding diet. It's all about learning the right stuff to eat, and how much, with weight lifting and cardio. Yesterday was my weigh in day and I haven't lost any weight....but I lost almost 5 lbs. of fat and gained that in muscle. It kinda makes me worry that I'm not reading the measurements right, but I do see a difference in my body shape. I still have a long way to go, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Stock shows are getting ready to start up. I'll be shearing the next two weekends to get ready for the first show the second week in September. The lambs are looking good and have been healthy so far this year. After last year, that's a major accomplishment.

2007 Home Run Derby

Congratulations to Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on being the 2007 Home Run Derby winner. It was a really good contest this year. The All-Star game is tonight at 7 p.m. CT on FOX.

The New York Times

Here's a great article on Reggie from The New York Times...

I'd be willing to bet money that Amber has gotten in that cage to take a few swings.

Because of You

Because of You

Here's Reba's latest video with Kelly Clarkson from Reba's Reba: Duets album that's scheduled for release on September 18.

Edited 7-3-07: This single is available on iTunes. I haven't looked at any other online music stores.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

From Quotes of the Day:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye. - Miss Piggy

Digital Blasphemy

Here's a site that has lots of great, amazing artwork. There are free wallpapers there as well. Check it out. Digital Blasphemy

Good Intentions

From Quotes of the Day:

I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. - Augusten Burroughs, Magical Thinking

A Bore

From Quotes of the Day:

The secret of being a bore is to tell everything. - Voltaire

To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Newsvine Thought for Today

Newsvine

"Initiative is doing the right thing without being told." — Victor Hugo, French writer (1802-1885).

More Quotes of the Day

From The Quotations Page

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. - e e cummings (1894 - 1962)

To err is human--and to blame it on a computer is even more so. - Robert Orben

Nectarines vs. Peaches

So, all this time I thought that nectarines and peaches were, like, cousins, when in fact they are exactly the same. You could have nectarines on a peach tree and vice versa. So why do they taste different to me? They are similar, but I've never had a nectarine that tasted exactly like a peach. I've had peaches that tasted exactly like another peach or a nectarine...you get the picture.

Just another example of my weirdness...

Quote: Rachel Carson

"One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, 'What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?'" — Rachel Carson, American biologist-ecologist (1907-1964)

Quote: Charles Bukowski

Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead. - Charles Bukowski

Quotes of the Day

From The Quotations Page

Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. - Unknown, quoted by Jim Horning

Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame. - Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)

Genres in my iPod

Mak asked me a while back what was in my iPod and there wasn't really any way I could tell her, except to say a little bit of everything. I put a list to the right showing the genres...I guess it's obvious I like a little bit of everything.

Tagless Shirts

I don't get the whole tagless shirt thing. They say it's tagless, but all they've really done is move it to the side where it really scratches. If there is going to be a tag that sticks out at all, just leave it at the neck. Thank you for your consideration (end sarcasm).

Charlotte's Web

If you haven't seen Charlotte's Web yet, I highly recommend it. I feel it stays true to the spirit of the book. Both made me cry (I know, I'm such a sap). I thought it was an odd and wonderful choice of Robert Redford for the voice of an arachnophobic horse named Ike.

A bit of movie trivia for you: Kathy Bates took over the roll of the unsinkable Molly Brown in the movie Titanic for Reba McEntire after Reba was unable to do the film because of scheduling conflicts. In Charlotte's Web they play the cows, Bitsy and Betsy.

Softball

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Softball games are about to start. I guess we've been pretty lucky. We've only had to cancel two practices; one for cold and one for rain. We have team pictures Saturday and then the games begin on Tuesday. The team is definitely improving. I think the girls are learning and having fun, and that's my biggest goal. They are wearing me out. They like to run the bases after practice, trying to catch the girl (or guy if Levi or Darryn is running with them) in front of them. I'm anxious to see how sharp we look Saturday, all in our uniforms.

I'm so tired. The Molly dog is scared of storms, so when they've been coming through at night, she's been keeping me up. Then she gets to sleep during the day so that she's ready for the storm the next night. It's my day off tomorrow, so maybe I can get caught up...or I'll just spend all day keeping her awake.

Quotes

You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.
Woody Allen (1935 - )

The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words.
Ellen DeGeneres

Only the mediocre are always at their best.
Jean Giraudoux (1882 - 1944)

We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.
Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)

You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations.
Orson Welles (1915 - 1985)

There's always somebody who is paid too much, and taxed too little - and it's always somebody else.
Cullen Hightower

Virginia Tech and Violence in Video Games

My heart goes out to all of the friends and families of the people killed and injured Monday at Virginia Tech.

I was watching the coverage Monday night and Dr. Phil McGraw was interviewed (I believe it was by CNN). Before the name of the shooter even came out, he was claiming that violent video games were to blame. Why should they be to blame if we don't even yet know if he played them? I didn't see the interview, but it's been written that Jack Thompson has said the same thing. Yes, it's true that some of the past school shooters had played violent video games, but how many of these games have been sold in the U.S. alone? If you take the percentage that played them compared to the percentage that go out and shoot/rob/etc someone...Taking away everyone's violent video game because they might go commit crime is like taking away someone's car because they might fall asleep behind the wheel.

Parents aren't as involved with their children as they used to be. My parents knew my brother's and my friends, what we watched on T.V., what video games we were playing, decided when we were mature enough to handle movies that had adult themes. If we really wanted to watch/play something, we could plead our point (because so-and-so gets to was never a good argument). Occasionally we changed their mind. It doesn't seem like parents do that anymore. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't want to overgeneralize. I know there are parents out there that still do, but it seems like more and more don't bother. I wonder sometimes why some people have children. They don't seem to want to have much to do with them. Will parent interaction stop all crime? No. There will always be those that were abused, are mentally unstable, etc, but I'd be interested to see how many could be prevented if parenting got back to being parenting instead of trying to just get along or be friends with their kids.

Interesting article on parents "bribing" their kids.

"The Road Not Taken" - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Quote: Mother Theresa

People
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, People will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Courage

Yesterday, Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day. It got me to thinking about all of the men and women who are "pioneers". Those courageous and strong enough to take on so much for the sake of those that follow. Those people that break the race, gender, etc. lines; those that speak out about things no one wants to talk about. To those people I say "Thank You". Yes, there are still many problems in our nation, in the world. But because of these people, knowledge is spread. One person that might have otherwise been ignorant is now passing down a new way of thinking to their children. Change doesn't happen overnight. It seems like the smallest change takes forever sometimes, but we can't give up hope and we can never stop working towards the day that everyone will be treated equally and with the respect they deserve.

Quote: George Burns

"You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there."

Lambing Season is Over

One other ewe had her lambs, twin boys, Thursday. Only one of them made it. We are past the point where they can have them, so I guess the other two didn't breed.

The second softball practice is today. Hopefully it will be warmer than last week. And hopefully be more fun/productive.

Easter

It looks like we're going to get our cold weather for Easter. I can only remember one Easter in my lifetime that was warm and sunny...and I was sick that year. My brother, Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa hunted eggs in the back yard. I could see them from the couch, where I was stuck. The cold weather is also going to make the first practice of summer softball less pleasant. I'm kind of nervous, but Mom has talked to some of the girls and they seem excited, so that helps. I'll be glad when we get past the shirt ordering business. There's definitely a benefit to being assistant coach if only to avoid that mess.

The three ewes still haven't had their lambs. I'd be worrying, but their eating and grazing habits haven't changed, so I think the lambs are still alive. They are just waiting to get here. Probably sometime between Friday night and Sunday morning, when it's raining/snowing and around freezing.

Baseball!

Baseball season is here. The first full day of MLB. My friend Reggie Willits made the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim team. He's a backup outfielder. GO REGGIE!! I have two fantasy baseball teams this year. One on Yahoo and one on MLB.com. So far I'm seriously under-impressed with MLB.com's.

There are still three more ewes that have to have their lambs within the next few days...or we have a problem. We have 21 live lambs. They all seem to be doing good. The bottle baby is starting to put on a little weight. She's cute as a button (I've always wondered why people say that. Buttons aren't all that cute.).

It's time for Little League summer softball. I'm head coach this year. My brother's going to assistant coach. My mom is taking care of all the paper and leg work. I'll be glad when we get that part over with and can concentrate on softball. The focus is going to be on learning the fundamentals. I figure, if we get those down, winning will come on it's own.

Saturday's Are Nice

It's not a workday and it's not Sunday (where you have to worry about Monday, which is a workday). I spent the morning getting feed, cleaning out self-feeders and fixing fence. Every year I say I'm going to clean out the self-feeders (feeders where the lambs can go and eat their fill whenever they want) after we start individually feeding them and not wait until spring when we have a new lamb crop. And every year I fail to do it, so it's always wet and moldy. Luckily we've figured out that a shop-vac will suck that stuff right outta there. It was really dusty this year. I had it from head to toe. Warning: The black widows and wasps are already out.

We've decided to bottle feed one of the lambs. The mom only has one working food source and the bigger girl seems to be cleaning it out before the little girl can get to it. She ate 1/4 of a bottle this morning and 1/2 tonight. She's really too cute. She's teeny-tiny and has a bleat that breaks your heart. It sounds a lot like a newborn baby when it's really wailing.

I upgraded my Ubuntu to Feisty Fawn. It's a beta version, but for what I've used it for so far today, it's worked great. The best thing is I didn't have to install any printer drivers or anything to get my printer to working. Yea!!

Happy Birthday Sydney!

It's Been a While

I know it's been a while since I posted, but that shows how truly boring I am.

We've had a few more lambs and lost a few. We have four ewes left to lamb, but I think that one of those isn't bred.

I've been playing with Ubuntu; installing, reinstalling, tweaking. I did get MLB.tv/audio working...but then I broke something else and did a clean reinstall.

I always think of things I want to rant about/post on here when I'm away from a computer, and then when I get back to one I've either forgotten what I was going to post or it just seems silly when I think about it.

I want to say a belated happy birthday to my brother. I love ya little bro.

Update: Dad just called and we have two more lambs, a boy and a girl. So now we are down to three (or two if I'm correct).

Ubuntu and Canon

I know that Murphy's Law covers a great many things. I haven't had time to sit down and read them all, so if there isn't one that matches it, or if there is one I want to rename it, that states "If something can go easy or it can go difficult and it always goes difficult" that's Mandi's Law.

So in a previous post, I talked about how I installed Ubuntu on my external hard drive. Well, of course my Canon Pixma ip4200, and all Canon's for that matter, aren't very compatible. Why did I have to have a printer out of thousands that wasn't compatible? That's right, Mandi's Law! So after many frustrating hours of trying to get it right with the driver that's supposed to be for that printer, I may have found a solution using a Canon bjc-8200 model with the recommended driver. It printed the test page and a spreadsheet successfully. I haven't tried a picture, but I'm going to end the night on a successful note and not try it until later.

I still haven't gotten MLB tv/audio to work in Firefox on Ubuntu, but I do think I'm getting closer. I gotta get it working before April 1st for sure. ;)

Huge

Another ram lamb was born last night....and he's HUGE! He is almost as big as the February lambs already. And he got up really quick. I was surprised. Usually when they are big, it takes them a while to get going. Not him. Like all sheep, he was thinking with his stomach as soon as he was born, but it does run in his family. His mom was looking for food in the middle of labor. I'd say that within thirty minutes of being born, he had stood up and found the food source. They always want to shake as soon as they stand up and then always end up falling in a heap. But I learned last night that they really do get rid of some of the wet when they shake, since I was standing right next to him when he did it.

All of the other lambs look good. I will probably let the two others that are in the nursery out today. The babies are running around the pen. That's usually a sure sign they are strong enough to go out.

We may not be up in quantity, but I think our quality is good. As Dad says, "We've taken worse ones that that to the show".

Time Change

The lamb crop is slowly growing. We've lost a few and gained a few. The ones that have made it are looking really good, and are mostly girls. We have eight ewes left to lamb.

I love the long evenings that come with daylight savings as much as the next guy (or girl), but it isn't worth all of the problems it gives me at work. I would be happy if they would leave it one way or the other.

I love seeing the green of the grass and trees budding out this time of the year. I hope we don't get another freeze that, well, freezes them.

Happy Birthday Mom

I'm a day late (and a dollar short), but happy birthday Mom! You look great!

Lambs and Ubuntu

This weekend has been productive. We've had four lambs yesterday and one this morning. The totals are twelve live lambs (eight females and four males), and we've lost five. There are eleven ewes left to have lambs. We don't have as many as we did last year at this time, but the ones we have sure look good.

Also this weekend, I successfully installed Ubuntu Edgy Eft (6.10) onto my usb external hard drive. I thought that installing and using Linux would be fun and I might learn something in the process. I was right. Using this guide and steps 1-3 of this guide and a little googling, I was able to get it going. From this, I learned that my SATA controller shows up as /dev/sda vs. /dev/hda that the guides have, and so my external hard drive shows up as /dev/sdb. I point this out in the hopes that it might help someone else that is as newbie-ish as I am. Also in the BIOS (which you want to be careful messing around in), on my Dell Dimension 8300, to set the boot order I had to go to the boot sequence menu, put CD-ROM first and Hard Drive second. Then go into Hard Drive boot sequence (can't remember right now exactly what it was called) and move USB up to the top. Also, the default setting in the GRUB bootloader menu file has to be changed. To do this, use Step 11 in this guide. If you reboot before editing this file, you might get an error and it asks you if you want to edit the file (or something like that). Choose to edit the file and find the place that says "(hd0,x)" where x equals anything other than 0. Change the x to 0 and hit enter. I believe it tries to start up again and it should go into the login process. Then after you're logged in, you can change the menu file.

I was able to change my monitor settings, but I haven't figured out how to get my Canon Pixma ip4200 to work. It'll work using Turboprint, but the free version puts the logo on it and I don't think I want to pay for it, so I'd like to get the driver working. I got tired of messing with it and decided to play with other stuff and come back to it.

So now I have the best of both worlds. If I want to boot up in Windows, I just turn off my external hard drive, otherwise I leave it on and I'm in Ubuntu.

I also got to see my family this weekend. My nieces' birthday party was yesterday. I think everyone had a good time. Levi and I played basketball for an hour and I'm feeling it today. Then they came down to Dad's today and had lunch. That Colin Dade is such a cutie!

It was just a pretty darn good weekend.

Triplets

I don't know what is with all the triplets being born the past few years. Another set was born last night. Two boys and a girl. They are all legs.

Spring training baseball games started today, so you know what will most likely be on my tv, pc, or XM radio for the next eight months.

Tennessee's Basketball Program

On January 22nd Bruce Pearl shocked many by painting his chest to support the University of Tennessee's Lady Vols team. To me, that was awesome! It's not often enough that you see a NCAA men's team support the women's team. So last night Pat Summitt returned the support by doing a little cheerleading. This is quite a change from her icy stare on the sidelines. Let's hope all colleges learn something from these two great coaches.

Head Cold

First off I want to say a much belated Happy Birthday to Missy and Sam. Because of the head cold I caught, I wasn't able to get the post up when I had planned. Hope you both had a wonderful day!

Head colds...what good are they? It started off with just a sore throat, then it moved to my ear and now it's stuffing me all up. Left work early on Friday and slept from ~9 a.m. until 11 a.m. on Saturday. Luckily the Molly dog was stuck right to me the whole time. I'm sure that's what helped me recover. I'm still not great now, but much better than I was then.

The Oscars were last night. It lasted a long, long, long time. I thought Ellen did a great job. I haven't seen any of the movies, so I don't know if I agreed with the results or not. I usually see the movies after the awards shows.

Become an M&M

You'll notice the green m&m over to the right...That's how I see myself as an m&m. It's kinda hard to picture without a nose, since my nose takes up a lot of real estate on my face. You may have seen the commercials on TV. One guy is break dancing, one's walking his dog, there's a couple taking a picture in one of those mall thingies...

A Good Birthday

I had a really nice birthday. There weren't any problems at work, my dog got a haircut, I got a perm, and Jerry took me out to eat. We didn't have any lambs born in the cold. The three lambs are moving out of the nursery in the morning. I'm calling the little boy "Mr. Freeze". His ear is still floppy. The ewe that's been out by herself all this time will be very happy to have company.

Thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes. Another year in the books.

There's Nothing Like A Hot Shower

I got to take a hot shower tonight. It was wonderful! Made even more so by the fact that I was frozen from mistakenly waiting on a ewe to have another lamb when she was only having the one. But that one was up and eating when I left, so it was worth the wait. We lost two this morning. Why the sheep wait until the coldest days of the year to have them, I'll never know. But we're still above 50%. The poor lamb tonight is the only boy so far, and poor boy he was. She had him out in the pasture and when I got to him, his ear was stiff. I rushed him into the nursery and put four heat lamps on him and dried him with a towel, then laid that towel over him. Eventually he got warm enough to attempt standing. His ear became flexible again, so I don't think it was damaged. The two lambs I was worried about yesterday are running and hopping in their pen. I think they are going to be okay. Dad's named one of them "Spock" because one of her ears is lazy. Now I just have to teach her to do the Vulcan sign with her hooves...

I got some early birthday cards today. My sis sent me one with a sticker I'm gonna wear tomorrow. Right now I'm feeling all 29 years.

What A Day

You know that old saying "mama said there'd be days like this"? Well, I don't ever remember my mama saying that, but if she did today would be one of those days. It started first thing this morning. I got out of bed and went to brush my teeth. Turned on the hot water and...nothing. It froze up last night. But my morning routine wasn't all that interrupted without hot water. I sit down at my computer to make sure things are going okay at work and I get a message that something's messed up. Great, well, I'll have to get to it a little later because I'm supposed to go check on the lambs this morning. I put my Michelin man suit on and drive to Dad's.

I knew it was a bad sign when I walk into the nursery and the lambs are shivering. They hadn't eaten all night. Some mom's have a thicker teat plug (it is exactly what it sounds like) than others. That it is a good thing because it prevents mastitis, which is what the first ewe had on one side. Back to the story at hand; Apparently the enzymes in the lambs mouth and/or the sucking strength wasn't enough to break it loose. I got it un-plugged and tried to get the lambs to eat. It always seems like if a lamb goes more than a few hours without that first shot of milk, it is almost impossible to get them to going after that. So Dad and I milk a bit out and feed the lambs with a bottle. Dad then decided that we might try mixing some vitamin D milk and honey to get something in them and might make them hungry to try eating on their own again. We decide to leave them for a while.

So it's back to home and the problem at work. I decided that it would take too long to try and fix it from home so I drive into work. Let's just say I made good time. Once I get to looking, it's not a problem really, just a matter of timing.

So it's back to home and check on the lambs once more. It didn't look like they had made any progress, so I tried to get them eating again. I was successful with one, but the other one didn't act very interested and it had a wet mouth. I think maybe it had already gotten a little bit on it's own. So my day is starting to look up.

Jerry and I make a quick trip to OKC, and then it's time to feed. While I was feeding I saw both lambs eat at least once. I don't think any more will be born tonight.

So that was my day. It started out pretty bad, but gradually got better. The lambs aren't out of the woods yet, but I'm beginning to see some daylight. And still no hot water. Cleaning up tonight might be a little interesting, but on the bright side...we do have cold water. I'm trying to look at the glass as half-full...of cold water. ;)

By the way, Happy Valentine's Day! I got beautiful roses from my Honey. I hope it was a good day for everybody.

More Lambs

Two more baby girls were born tonight; all legs and ears (a very good sign). We may have a rush of them this week. It'll be the first time in a few years to have one on my birthday if we get one Friday. Dad was telling me tonight that by this time last year, we had already had about 23 born. Oh well, better late than never. And they are coming out girls. Ewes is good!

Ashy in Action

Well, here she is. She's still the only lamb and she's getting a little lonely. Actually her mom is getting lonely. There's another
picture of her in my public gallery on Picasa.

I was going to post that Sunday, February 18th would be the series finale for "Reba", but when I went to find the link for it (and then decided I wouldn't give The CW the benefit of a link), they've changed "Series Finale" to "Season Finale". I can only hope that this means another station has picked it up. Tune in for updates...

I Like What I See

I can't believe it. I like my page now, and it didn't cost me a dime to make. I used a combination of tools. I used Evrsoft First Page to do a bit of html editing. To get that totally cool picture, I took advantage of Picasa2's collage feature (pictures of absolutely beautiful kids not included). It was all brought together here on Blogger after making a few modifications to a template I got from Beautiful Beta. It took me a few hours of trial and error, but I "got 'er done". I'm probably not totally finished with the modifications, but closer than I ever thought I would be.

New Look

As you can tell, I've totally revamped. At this point I'm not sure if I'll ever find something I'm satisfied with. It's like rearranging furniture.

I didn't like the fact that visitors couldn't leave comments and the feeds weren't working on my webpage. This may limit my creativity a bit until I figure out how to change it, but I wasn't all that creative anyway.

About the name change...An Australian station can be used to raise sheep. We aren't quite that large though. Also www.dictionary.com says that a station is "a place or position in which a person or thing is normally located.

Back to the regularly scheduled program...Still no more lambs. Ashy was quite rambunctious today though. She was running and hopping around the pen.

2/7/2007

No new lambs and it looks as if we are going to have to help the mom out with one of the first two. She has mastitis on one side and so one lamb is fat and sassy but the other is looking poor. I've named one Whiskers, because she has white hairs on her jaws that look like whiskers. She'll be the one to get the bottle. The other one is Ashy. She has white spots on her back. With the temperature change we might have more, but no phone calls from Dad yet...

Update: We lost Whiskers. She went downhill quickly overnight. It makes me very sad, but I've learned after raising them for 16+ years that it happens.

Update II: Sandy the Sheepdog died today. She had been chasing cars with more regularity and one got her. Not a good day really...

2/2/2007

Lambing season has officially begun...and on a high note! Numbers one and two came yesterday, both girls. I really think that lambs are the cutest animal babies there are. These two seem to be mouthy and I suspect they are going to be troublemakers like their older sister....wait for it....Trouble. I love seeing all the lambs at lambing season, but I hate the cold, late nights of waiting...and waiting...and waiting. Most everything to do with sheep is hurry up and wait. But then, a lot of things to do with life is hurry up and wait

I've never really had a favorite comic, but I have really started getting into Wally and Osborne by Tyler Martin. You might also see/hear it referred to as On the Rocks. I love the drawing style and the content is clean and funny. While reading through the archives, the artist wrote that it is featured at FunBrain, which is a family-friendly site. I took a quick look and it seemed to be a really cool place.

For those of you that aren't first time visitors (I know. I'm flattering myself here thinking there are any visitors), you might notice the major color change. I'm still searching for the look I want. I also made some tremendous behind the scene changes, but hopefully you won't notice. As always, feel free to give feedback using the email link at the left

Happy Groundhog Day! I'm not sure what the "official" results were this year, but after doing some research, it looks like the groundhogs can be contradictory anyway. I hope it's an early spring!