Needless to say, it has been a long time since I have posted. I promised to quit cussing in this forum, so in the name of honor, let me say that I have been feeling like feces lately.

Michelle and I went to Tullahoma to share Thanksgiving with her family, much to the chagrin of my mother. After enjoying a great meal Thursday afternoon, everyone repaired to the TV room to watch "Elf" with Will Ferrell. Since I despise most stupid Christmas movies (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation notwithstanding), I drifted in and out consciousness. I was awake long enough to tell a funny (to me) story about my very brief career in bicycle assembly, though (more on that later). All seemed well until the next morning. I was playing X-box college football, trying to master the option offense. In dynasty mode, I lead the University of Georgia to 5 national championships in a six year span. With success comes scrutiny, of course, so my team got put on NCAA probation for two years. Those darn boosters are always screwing things up. Anyway, I started itching in a couple of places about mid-morning. Turns out I was having an allergic reaction to something, and I got a rash that spread all over my body. From head to toe. Jeez. Itching like CRAZY!! I spent about 3 days in agony, trying not to peel off my skin. About the time the rash went away, I developed my bi-annual sinus infection. So, I have continued to be in agony the past few days. So, I cancelled class today, and didn't even get out of bed until 2 PM. I feel horrible. Oh well. All things must pass.

**In regards to my previous mention of a very brief career in bicycle assembly, let me explain. When I worked at Wal-Mart, I got moved to the toy department one Christmas season. My first assignment was to assemble all the bikes. Management was wanting me to do about 15-20 per day, but the best I could muster was about 3-4. So, after a couple of days, I got moved to a different job. LOL.

I hope I start feeling better soon, because like most people, I simply do not have time to be sick. Please wish me well.

Michelle came over tonight to create a Powerpoint presentation for tomorrow. It was good to see her--she was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dreadful day.

We watched Jeopardy Ken lose tonight, after an incredible run of success. He missed two Daily Doubles, and that sealed his fate. He was a class act in defeat, offering a gracious handshake to the winner. We could all learn a lesson in humility.

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening. Peace...

The new poll in the margin consists of the top 10 greatest songs (in order) according to Rolling Stone magazine. Although I agree with this top ten to a large extent, I would have had a few differences. My top 10 would have been something like:

1. Satisfaction (Rolling Stones)
2. Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan)
3. Yesterday (Beatles)
4. Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)
5. Hoochie Coochie Man (Muddy Waters)
6. Imagine (John Lennon)
7. What's Going On (Marvin Gaye)
8. Good Vibrations (Beach Boys)
9. Born To Run (Bruce Springsteen)
10. Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix)

Some things I noticed were that Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares to You" is #162, but the highest Pink Floyd song is #314? Hmmmm. Nirvana with 4 songs, Nine Inch Nails with none? Hmmm. Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" is only #250 (its the greatest heavy metal song ever!!)? Hmmm. "Stairway to Heaven" is only #31 (top 20 at least)? Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" is #95, but Elvis' is #423? Hmmm.

Leave some comments and tell me what you think. Peace...

We got back from the retreat with our sanity intact, barely. We were both exhausted, so when we got into town, we went to her dorm for naps. I had barely over an hour before I had to go to a baseball meeting (we laughed about the fact that people who don't know would never guess that baseball season starts in November), but thankfully the meeting was at APSU, so I only had to walk about 2 minutes to get there.

The retreat was great--I think most of the kids had great experiences. I am not sure my sermon was all that great, I dunno. I did the best I could, so I am OK with it. I plan on posting some pics, maybe tomorrow. I need to get them sorted out first.

Friday, about 30 minutes after I got home with my new power cord, the cord I ordered from Dell arrived. That really ticked me off--the fact that according to Dell's tracking, it had not even made it to the carrier yet. So, now I have two cords. I am going to send the Dell cord back to them and get a refund. I am completely infuriated with Dell in general (I have been through 2 hard drives and 2 power cords in 15 months), so I doubt if I will ever buy from them again. I want to sell my laptop and upgrade by the end of next summer, but I have not made a decision in regards to which brand I am going to buy. More research is needed.

The alternator in Michelle's Explorer is going bad, so my brother Tim and I are going to install a new one this afternoon. Michelle and I are going to leave for Tullahoma after that, and we will be driving my truck there. That way, her dad can help me install a new windshield wiper motor. I have been driving without wipers for several months, and have been fortunate not to have gotten caught in any big storms. I don't want to push my luck any further, though.

I forgot to post last week after Michelle's birthday. It was a really nice day (especially for her!!), as I showered her with gifts. LOL. I got her a Keith Urban CD (which was free with the purchase of an Eric Clapton CD, so it was win-win), a basket of things plus a loaf of bread from the Apple Barn, and a new set of tires. Nothing says true love like BF Goodrich. LOL. The new tires are not yet installed, so I will get that done when I have a minute to breathe.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will miss not being here with my family, but I am sure they will survive...LOL. Peace...

Michelle and I are getting ready to leave for the fall retreat. We are really excited. We have 15 from our church going, so it will wild getting them there and back. I will be delivering the message tomorrow morning, so keep me in your prayers.

I was assigned the task of giving a sermon on the topic of "peace". I decided to talk about spiritual peace, instead of political or eschatological peace. I feel that spiritual peace is a precursor to the other two, anyway. I am going to play the George Harrison song "Give me Love, Give me Peace on Earth" as part of the sermon. I hope the kids will get the point. Wish me luck.

I got tired of waiting on my power cord to be delivered from Dell (as of last night it still had not been sent to UPS), so I bought one at Batteries Plus on Wilma Rudolph. It seems to be working well, and it has a 1 year warranty. I am leaning towards selling the whole unit and upgrading, maybe sometime in the spring. I dunno yet.

Earlier today, we stopped by Rossview High School so I could drop off some stuff for Richard McWhirter. While we were there, we went to see Sandra Black, who teaches there. She and her family have been good friends for a long time, so it was great to see her. She told me that her daughter Rachel reads my blog, so I am going to stop cussing. LOL.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Peace...

Today is Michelle's and Jessica's birthday. I would like to send a shout-out to both of them. I hope they both enjoy their special day. Michelle's suite-mates are cooking dinner for us tonight, so it should be a lot of fun. I am looking foward to it.

The power cord for my laptop has died. This is the second time that this has happened in the 16 months I have had it. Boo hoo. Seriously, this stinks. So, my computer access will be somewhat limited in the next few days.

I was at Grinder's yesterday at about 5 PM, and I ran into two of my philosophy professors who were there separately. It was funny, but kind of weird. The strangest things was that I was reading a book that was written by one of them. I made sure to point that out, so maybe I will score a few brownie points. LOL.

Michelle and I are taking the youth group to the Nashville Presbytery's annual fall retreat this weekend. It should be a good experience for everyone. I am preaching on Saturday morning, so for the past week or so I have been working on a sermon.

Sunday afternoon, my college baseball umpire's association is having its annual meeting. It promises to be 2 hours of sheer boredom. Oh well.

My football game last Friday was really exciting. CPA was leading Mt. Pleasant 14-0 after three quarters, but Mt. Pleasant scored 21 points in the 4th quarter to win the game. That was the first time I had ever been to Mt. Pleasant, and they treated us real well. I would not mind going back there again.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

I will be leaving shortly for the bustling metropolis of Mt. Pleasant, TN, for my football game. It promises to be a wet, nasty affair, as the weather is horrible. I am packing all of my cold-weather gear, to be safe.

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening. Peace...

This morning, I was unable to get online at home. After doing some trouble-shooting, I concluded that it was a problem with the cable(I have Charter alleged-high speed) since the "cable" light on the modem was alternating between blinking and steady off--when it should be steady on all the time. So, I called Charter, and after spending 15 minutes with the automated customer service lady doing stuff I had already done, I got to speak with a real person.

Benjamin was a nice fellow, but something strange happened on the way to getting the problem repaired. We both deducted that the problem was indeed in the signal, so he began writing up a work order. While doing this, he suddenly screamed, "Wait!! Stop!! We are being ambushed!! We are being ambushed!! At this point I am nearly ready to shit my pants, thinking someone is walking around Benjamin's office with an Uzi, ready to take out their frustrations on the world. In reality, "ambushed" is Charter-speak for the act of receiving a ton of calls about a specific problem from a specific area. It seems that most of Clarksville was unable to get online, and the office was being deluged with calls. So, the work order was cancelled, and Benjamin told me they would investigate the problem and that I should try to get online later in the day. Whew!! I was thinking, "Jeez, what will I do if people die in an attack while I am on the phone?" I am glad nothing like that happened!!

As you may surmise, I am now online again, so it appears the problem has been solved. Without violence, thankfully.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Peace...

Let me recap the events of the last several days:

Friday:

I showed up at Michelle's dorm at the prescribed time, to find that she had transformed her room into an Italian bistro, complete with warm mood lighting and great decorations. We enjoyed a wonderful lasagna dinner, and watched a movie afterward. It was a blast!!

Saturday:

I worked 3 football games, and forgot to apply sunscreen to my face. The burn has receded, but at this moment I look like a reptile that is molting. LOL. I was at Books-A-Million this morning, and some guy gave me a weird look. LOL. Whatever.

Saturday night, Michelle and I ate at Don Pancho's, the best Mexican joint in town. it was great. We ran into a family from Mt. Denson, so that was funny. Afterward, we went to my house and listened to music for a while, then she went home. Sometime later, I got a phone call saying that I had been assigned a 2nd round playoff game this Friday. Way cool!! I was not at all expecting to get a game, so I am really hyped. I do not know where we are going, only that we are leaving at 2:30 in the afternoon, so I can surmise the game must be pretty far away. We'll see what happens.

Sunday, after church and lunch, I took a LONG nap, about 2.5 hours. It felt great. The youth group meeting was really nice; we had 3 visitors that had never come before. Cool. It's a good sign when the kids are comfortable enough to invite their friends. Michelle and I are really excited about what we have going on with the group.

Yesterday, I ate lunch with the Nashville Presbytery ministers. There is a big Christian Education meeting in Memphis this week, so a lot of the regulars were there. It was still nice, however, to catch up on all the latest gossip. LOL. When I left, I stopped by the church and rearranged some of the furniture in my office. I have been given another bookshelf, so I am trying to decide where I want to put it. I needed another shelf, because I have filled up the one I started with. One of my aunts recently gave me a huge box of books and minister-type materials, so I needed to find a way to store them.

Last night, there was a spaghetti dinner in Michelle's dorm, so we went there and ate. Good fun was had by all. Afterward, we went to the "new" Brary to hang out for a while. That was the first time either of us had been there. I ran into a kid that grew up playing baseball here, and we talked a while about baseball and stuff. I have umpired a ton of his games over the years.

It has been sort of a light week in regard to school, so there is not much to report there. I have been doing a ton of reading lately, trying to catch up.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Peace...

This has been a really crazy week, and I am now glad it's over. Whew. Very busy. Insane. Out-of-control.

I have been instructed to be at Michelle's dorm, nicely dressed, tonight at 6 PM. The rest is still a surprise. Since I don't like surprises, I am a little uptight about the whole thing. However, I trust her, so I am trying to keep cool. I know everything will be fine. I hope.

It has finally cooled off a little, and the weather is great. I love the crispness in the air. Long sleeves are once again de rigueur for me. YAY!

I picked up a couple of football games tomorrow, and a couple next Saturday. I am fairly certain that will wrap up the season.

I have decided to continue umpiring college baseball next spring. I know the time commitment will run me ragged, and readers of this blog can expect me to rant about my exhaustion and misery. However, I love the game too much to give it up, and college ball in particular is so much better than high school ball that it would be really tough to give it up. Being single and without kids affords me opportunities to do things that guys with families may have to miss, and I want to take advantage of the opportunity while I have it.

I have also decided to not work Saturday football next year. I am not allowed to wear my sunglasses on the field, and my eyes are too important to me. An old, out-dated custom was for sports officials to not wear glasses of any kind, be them prescription or not. This was to avoid the "four-eyes" ridicule that was sure to follow. However, I would like to believe that we live in a somewhat more enlightened time, and that ridiculous customs such as this can be cast aside. I liken it to the old idea that people should not drink water during competition, lest they get sick. Yeah, like heat exhaustion is a better idea. Blindness is not a good idea for me. Jeez.

Anyway, sunglasses are not allowed in Saturday football (perfectly OK in baseball), so I will not participate. It is not an issue in JV or varsity games, as those are played at night. So, I will continue to work those games. Besides, my officiating jones can be satiated with fall baseball.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Peace...

Michelle and I have just discovered a new coffee shop in town, called Grinders. It is located on Wilma Rudolph, behind Sprint PCS. We are here right now, using their free Wi-Fi. I think it may be my new favorite place to be.

Peace...

Being a Republican, I was overjoyed to see Bush win re-election. I feared that President Kerry would have brought about a decline in the country's moral values (abortion, stem cells, gay marriages would have all been full-steam ahead), not to mention higher taxes. Since both of my brothers are small business owners, it would have been tough for me to see their taxes skyrocket, as I feel they would have under Kerry.

I think the American people spoke loud and clear about their values by defeating gay marriage in all 11 states where it was on the ballot. Alaskans defeated a bill that would have legalized pot. California showed it is on the far left, by authorizing stem cell research.

Michelle and I watched the returns in the lobby of her dorm. There was a nice party, with an eclectic mix of Republicans, Democrats, and even a couple of Nader-backers. Spirits were high, and attitudes were cordial, so everyone had a good time. I won 3 cans of shaving cream by answering various trivia questions about previous elections, so now I am well-stocked.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Peace...

As of 8:30 PM last night, I had no sermon for today. I finally got inspired, and put something together. I went waaaay long, maybe the longest in Cumberland Presbyterian history, but most people did not seem to mind. I think I finished about 12:15.

I am sort of dreading tomorrow, moreso than most Mondays. I hope it goes well.

Michelle had an interesting dream last night. She dreamt that she received horrible service at a fast food restaurant, and I think she may have said she got into a physical confrontation (in the dream). Today after church, we went to Burger King, and received the worst service ever. It took three tried for the guy to make a burger with "no pickles and no mustard". The first time, it had both pickles and mustard. The second time, it had pickles, and extra mustard. The third time, it was finally right. But of course, my burger and fries were cold by then. Jeez, it was horrible. Fortunately, she kept her cool and no blood was shed. Although, we were both pretty ticked off. LOL.

I have a paper due Thursday in philosophy, so I guess I had better read the other half of the material.

We went over to Tim's tonight to hand out candy. We left before they got back from trick or treating, so I relieved him of some of his DVDs. I am watching the Eagles' reunion concert right now, to be followed by Rounders. I also took back some DVDs of mine that he has had for quite some time. I bought a new rack to hold my cds and DVD's, but have not as yet assembled it. So, I have about 150 various cds scattered around the house, and all my DVD's are on the floor next to my bed. I guess I will get around to it sometime. Oh well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Peace...

Michelle and I have been enjoying our Netflix subscription. We seem to be getting red envelopes nearly every day. Cool. We watched The Big Chill last night; it had been a long time since I had seen it and she had never seen it. We both enjoyed it immensely. It is one freaky flick, that's for sure.

I have a lot of work to do today, before I head to the football field this afternoon. I have 3 games at Kenwood starting at 1:30. These will be my last football games of the season. Our season-ending banquet is Monday night (whoever heard of scheduling a banquet on Monday-friggin' night, anyway?!?!?), and that will bring my season to a close. The playoffs start next Friday.

I realized yesterday that I used a fallacious argument in my philosophy paper. Jeez, I made an A in logic, and I still did that. I am pissed at myself. No telling what my grade will be; half the paper was based on that argument. Damn. This sucks. I have been under a lot of pressure lately, and I guess this is a by-product of that. By the way, the fallacy was that I used the word "immanence" instead of the word "eminence"; this is called the fallacy of equivocation. Oh well, life goes on. With a lower grade of course.

I am going to work on tomorrow's sermon after my football games. I sort of have an idea in my head, but haven't been able to get it down on paper. I think I am going to sleep at the church tonight, and shower at the minister's house in the morning.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Peace...

I got some good news this morning when my philosophy prof said he was going to curve the grades from the test. The highest grade in the class was 31/40, so everybody sucked. I think he realized that was the hardest test ever given. LOL. I am in line for a B overall in the class, provided my papers are good.

Peace...

Several years ago, I read an article in a car magazine in which the author was discerning the differences between "car" guys and "non-car" guys. One of the points at issue was how two people would assess a muffler that is dragging the ground. The author said that if a "non-car" guy suspected his muffler was dragging the ground, he would get out of his car, look under the car, and say to himself, "Hmm. My muffler is dragging the ground". A "car guy" would get out his car, climb underneath the car and say, "Hmm. My muffler is dragging the ground". Earlier tonight, whilst driving to the library, I started to get the feeling that my muffler may have been dragging the ground. So, I got out of the truck, climbed underneath it, and said to myself, "Hmm. My muffler is dragging the ground". LOL. My muffler has a lifetime warranty, so until I can get to Midas, I will be riding in true redneck fashion, with my muffler being held in place by two wire coat hangers. I just hope that Joan Crawford, subject of the 1981 movie "Mommie Dearest", doesn't start beating me for using wire hangers. LOL.

Unbelievable, the Red Sox have won the first two games after making 4 errors in each game. The only thing worse than the Sox defense is the Cardinals pitching. Can the Sox snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, like they have done so many times in the past? I dunno. I just know that they are on a roll. If Schilling can reach deep down into his soul and get another win, the Sox will win as well.

Peace...

I got a lot of work done yesterday on my paper for existentialism. I just need to clean up the works cited page, and it will be ready. It needs to be good, after the horrendous test.

Earlier this week, Michelle and I signed up for Netflix. We received our first shipment of movies yesterday, so we are looking forward to watching them this weekend. Cool. We got "High Fidelity", which we both have already seen, and "Love Actually", which I have not seen (I think maybe she has). We also got a Bruce Hornsby concert. We both like Bruce a lot.

I have a youth council meeting in Nashville tomorrow morning. Joy. A meeting on a Saturday--what a concept! Stop the insanity, please.

I am preaching next Sunday, so I really need to start working on my sermon.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Peace...

I havent had much to say recently, so it has been a while since I have posted. I don't really have much to say today, but I felt like writing something, so I am going sort of free-style.

I got the results of my existentialism test this morning. Uh, not good. The highest grade in the class was 31/40, and unfortunately, that was not my grade. I got 23/40. Damn that hurts. The prof told me that the grades overall were lower than what he expected, and relied by saying something like, "Well, duh. That was the hardest test ever known to mankind. Jeez." Something like that, not exactly. Anyway, I can still get a B in the class if I do well on the papers. Speaking of which, the first paper is due next Tuesday, so I guess I need to get started on it. I am almost finished reading the material, so I should be able to knock it out tomorrow. Cool.

Fall break was wonderful. Michelle and I had a great time hanging out, and I think we actually got some work done, although not much. LOL. I guess that's why they call it a "break". LOL.

Fidelio has been running wonderfully with his new RAM chip; I am so jacked.

The Red Sox somehow staved off the curse last night. Winning 4 straight against the Yankees was incredible. I am not sure who to root for in the Series, but I lean against rooting for Boston. That would be setting myself up for serious heartbreak. if they somehow do win, however, that city will burn in celebration. Hopefully Ellen's part of town will be OK. LOL. I guess Cambridge is a whole other universe anyway. LOL.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Peace...

Tomorrow is the official mid-term, and my Brit Lit class has yet to have a graded assignment. LOL. It's almost comical.

On my way home tonight, my headlights began to dim, and the radio started fading out. The battery voltage meter was reading 10 volts, and it was dropping. I made it about halfway home before the engine stalled. I called Michelle, and she took me home. I had to leave the truck (Xanthas) on the side of the road, but I will get it taken care of tomorrow. I hope it is still in one piece. Something must be wrong in the electrical system, because the battery, starter, and alternator are all new. Maybe its the voltage regulator, I dunno. Wish me luck.

The library is open during the break, which is good because I have a ton of work to do. I have to read two plays for existentialism, and write a paper about them. I also have to read "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens for Brit Lit. Joy.

Peace...

Fall Break officially began for me about 20 minutes ago. YAY!!

The exam this morning was really tough. We had seven questions we were responsible for. One was left off the test, and we had to answer 5 of the six. The one that was left off was the one that I am strongest on. Boo. So, I did the best I could, and I feel like I probably made a middle or low B. Although, I never really know. Some people can walk out of a test and know exactly how they did, but not me. I have a pretty good feeling about this one. I have to read two plays over the break and write a paper over them. Joy.

Peace...

Michelle just found me in the library, and brought me a gift to help me take my mind off my test tomorrow. She bought me a 96-count box of Crayola crayons!! COOL!!! Growing up, I never had more than the 16-count box, so this is really neat. It even has the sharpener on the back. YAY!! She suggested that I use an assortment of colors on the test tomorrow. I wonder how that would go over. LOL.

Actually, I am thinking of asking him if I could type the answers on the laptop, then print them out. My right hand has been hurting lately, and it is a bit difficult to use a pencil or pen. Two summers ago, I jacked up my index and middle fingers by getting hit with a foul ball, and on Mother's Day this year, I dislocated my thumb playing volleyball. Once it went back into its socket, I naturally kept playing, and knocked it out again. At that point I gave up. The next day, I had a final exam. That was tough. Ever since, the thumb gets weak and sore from time to time. This is one of those times.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Peace...