Catching Up

Its been a couple of weeks since I last blogged - but I have been busy.  We've had folks visiting us and I've been short handed at work.  So I'll try and catch up.
First - when I got up to come to work this morning there were a couple of deer in my front yard.  Hope I can see 'em in the fall.  They can be right tasty with mashed taters and corn!
My wife put some neat stuff  in her blog - and I'm just gonna provide a link so you can read if ya want to and not just repeat stuff.  I will say that the "Wolf Spider" (big as my hand) that she posted the pic of is not distant family.  :-) 
I have a short blurb in the current month's newsletter published by our Electric Power Association.  I've provided a link - but the current month won' be available online until next month.  Odd - I know.  Anyway if ya want to read it - its under the "Mississippi is...." section.
My youngest son (CNW) got good news.  He did well on the last Coast Guard  servicewide exam and will be promoted to E-7 (Chief) before the year is out.  This is great!  I put nearly 21 years in before I retired from the Coast Guard and was an E-6 when I did.  He's done it in around 9 years.  But most, if not all, of my kids are smarter than their old man.  (If ya don't believe me - just ask 'em!)  And - the grandkids......(massive eye roll)!
My oldest son (JWWII) will be leaving later this month to go to New Jersey with his family.  The missus will be working for the Newark school system.  She was placed there to meet part of the requirements for her doctorate.  But she will be coming back here briefly later this year to defend her dissertation.
My daughter (DMW) in Portland, OR, has been going back to college for a couple of years now (and after a bit of stressing) is happy to report she is still carrying a 4.0 grade average.  YOU GO GIRL!
As I was typing this morning I was carried back to my high school daze (errr... days) by the internet radio.  Immigrant Song (from Led Zeppelin III) played.  This song came out about the time I first started driving and I WORE OUT my 8-track of this album.
My oldest (MSB) is taking classes (online right now) - but is on course to graduate from East Mississippi C.C. in December.  YOU GO TOO!!
I think this kind of catches up the news.  I've got to mow this weekend though.  Its been two weeks since I last did and with the rain we had the last few days the grass has shot up higher than its been all year.    I've got an out-patient procedure next week (27th) and I'm pretty sure I won't be working outside any that weekend.  Its nothing serious - but it is necessary.  I'm in great health and want to continue that way.
Everyone have a great day!

So What?

I was reading today that according to "The Sporting News" (and others), Mississippi State has the weakest non-conference football schedule in the nation and could conceivably be 6-1 or 7-0 before going into the "meat" of their schedule.  I say "SO WHAT?!"  "I DON'T CARE!"   Not too awful long ago MSU's schedule was ranked the toughest in the nation and we struggled to a 5-6 season.  I said at that time - "Why aren't we playing winnable non-conference games?"  Well, changes in leadership (new A.D. and Coaches) and "voila" here we are.  Heck, I'm tickled pink! A 6-1 (or better) start would guarantee a post-season bowl.  I don't care if we have multiple blow-out games. And I'm sure if they were honest - other fans would say the same.  Go DOGS!

Here's our schedule:
2012 MSU Bulldog Football Schedule

Sept. 1 - Jackson St.- Starkville
Sept. 8 - Auburn - Starkville
Sept. 15 - Troy in Troy, AL
Sept. 22 - South Alabama - Starkville
Oct. 6 - Kentucky in Lexington, KY
Oct. 13 - Tennessee - Starkville
Oct. 20 - Middle TN St. -Starkville (Homecoming)
Oct. 27 - Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL
Nov. 3 - Texas A&M - Starkville (Snow Bowl Reunion)
Nov. 10 - LSU in Baton Rouge, LA
Nov. 17 - Arkansas - Starkville
Nov. 24 - Ole Miss in Oxford, MS

Only 3 weeks or so until the NFL training camps start (Eagles start 7/22).  Most teams start on the 27th or 28th.  The first pre-season game is the Hall of Fame game (in Canton) on August 5th between the Saints and Cardinals. Hard to believe football is so close with the triple digit heat outside.
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and I (like 90% of  the nation) plan on grilling out for me, DKW and our Moms!  Don't worry on my cooking will be done outside (in the shade).  We will enjoy the eats inside with the AC.  (Triple digit heat - 'member?  We ain't crazy!)
Everyone have a great day

"Its a Weiner-ful Day!"

Ok!  I sure everyone know's by now about our Sophie!.  Our little Chi-Weenie dog that appears to be a full-blooded dachsund.  Anyway, DKW and I never, ever spoil her (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) - but who can turn down that face?

Any - hooo!  These are not pics of our girl, but they are funny and I thought I'd share.  The first one I had to use.  We've told each other many times that Sophie is a cat in a dog suit.

And this last one is for my oldest - who is down in our state capital area.  Enjoy!

Everyone have a great day!

Movies, Movies and Oh yeah - Movies....

Well - I do feel kind of entitled. Today is Father's Day after all.   I accomplished quite a bit around the ole homestead on Friday and early Saturday.  I was pretty sore and took most of Saturday afternoon off (except for doing my Mama's grocery shopping for her) and today - until I came to work at 2 pm.  DKW was out of town picking up a friend that's coming to stay with us for a week or so, so I showered and crashed in my recliner and watched a lot of tivo-ed stuff. Now there were a couple of movies I gave about 30 minutes and then left 'em.  They were titled "Surviving Christmas" and "Due Date".  I just didn't like them.  Now, as to some ofthe ones I did watch.  I thoroughly enjoyed the 2003 version of "The Italian Job".  Since I have a 2003 Mini Cooper and they were featured in the film.  Also I found this version much superior to the 1969 version.  I was a bit disappointed when I watched that one not too long ago.  I also liked "X-Men: First Class", but I am a bit of a comic book geek.  Speaking of comic book geeks - they featured prominently n a film I had never heard of but found extremely enjoyable with a mayriad of stars appearing.  It was titled "Paul"  and featured a couple of British comic book geeks coming to the U.S. for Comic-Con and hooking up with an alien (named Paul) who is an escapee from Area 51.  If you haven't seen it - it is funny.  Another (UK-made) movie I had never heard of but found very moving and kind of disturbing is "Never Let Me Go".  It was classified SciFi but it was not what I expected.  As it goes along you figure out that its an alternate earth where people (basically clones) are raised in orphanage-type institutions as spare parts for the "originals".  It's definitely worth a watch.  "Tenure" with Luke Wilson was good, not great, but good.  I count "Supersize Me" as wasted time.  And on the cheesey front (and those who know me know I like to watch me some cheesey movies)  I watched "Piranhaconda" on SyFy.  And it was just as cheesey as it sounds, but like a car wreck I couldn't turn away. Interspersed with the movies I caught some College World Series games.  So a weekend filled with more TV than I usually grab - but I did enjoy myself. 

Everyone have a great day!

Just two more months....

More or less. Depending on the team or teams you follow, but football is just around the corner.  The NFL pre-season kicks off on August 5th with the Cardinals and Saints in the Hall of Fame game in Canton.  Mississippi State's first game is September 1st.  Starkville High's first game is August 17th.  And for those that might care - the Canadian Football Leagure pre-season started last night.  I'm always ready for some football!  So is Sophie!  SEE! ^
Today ends my work week because during this month and next I am working Sunday-Thursday.  I actually kind of like it, because on Sundays I work 2-10 PM - so its like a 3 day weekend every week.  But I do stay busy at work and I've got a couple of projects lined up for this Sunday.    Anyway - thats all I've got to pass for now.
Everyone have a great day!

Bye Bye Buddy!

Yesterday I lost a friend.  I found Beider (pronounced Bye-dur) when I went out to feed him Saturday morning and one of my first tasks of the day was burying a very shy dog that deserved much more than he ever had.  Beider came into my life a little over three years ago when I first met DKW  - who is now my wife.  He was a stray, and they really kind of adopted each other.  Prior to her claiming him, it seemed evident from scars and his very shy/skittish demeanor that he had been abused as a pup.  She would leave him food and water and it was a great triump when after a few months he allowed her to pet him.  (I know because it took 3 to 4 months of my feeding him and speaking to him every day before he appproached and allowed me to.She and I were the only people he allowed to.)  One of the things I did when DKW and I got engaged was to build a pen (about 30'X30") on the side of my house for him.  He was still painfully shy and never, ever attempted to leave the pen once he was there.  I think thats because he had a house there, was fed there, and felt safe there.  I'm glad he didn't want to leave the enclosure since I live near a heavily traveled state highway.  He was such a sweet dog I can't help having a couple of regrets.  One being that I wish I had spent more time with him (I did try to give him at least 10 uninterrupted minutes every morning) and the other that he didn't have a little boy to call his own. :-)  I think he would have been a great companion for a boy if given the opportunity.I know it will take a little while for me to be used to his being gone - I actually started to go out and fee him this morning.  I'm gonna miss you Beider.  May you rest in peace buddy!

I was 12 again this weekend!

Saturday, Turner Classic Movie channel ran "The Lone Ranger".  This movie was the 1956 theatrical release based on the television series (that ran 1949-1957) starring Clayton Moore as the Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto.While the movie pretty much followed the same plotlines as the TV series, this was a movie I had never seen and man - did it take me back! When I was 12 (in 1967) I would walk from my school to my grandmother's (my dad's mom).  I would hurry because "The Lone Ranger" came on at 3:30 every weekday afternoon.  I (at that time in my life) didn't know the show was over 10 years old and was in syndication - It was just cool! Exciting!  So, I watched Misters Moore and Silverheels with a grin on my face as I was carried back to MawMaw Arie's kitchen table to watch the Ranger on Silver thundering across the plains (in glorious black and white), eating one of her skillet-fried peach or apple turnovers with a talll glass of cold milk. (Mmmm!)  There is one other theatrically released Moore/Ranger movie (1958's "The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold") and I hope that TCM will show it also - because I'd like to see it.  There are other Moore/Ranger movies out there - but they are all compilations of the TV series episodes.
I know there have been other Ranger incarnations (one coming out within the year with Johnny Depp as Tonto), but for me Clayton Moore was, is, and forever shall be "The Lone Ranger". 
MSU's run in the NCAA baseball tournament is over.  They were eliminated with their 2nd lost on Sunday.  While I hate to see it end - I can't be sad.  Afterall, they did win the SEC Baseball Championship.  Now its time to start looking to FOOTBALL!
Everyone have a great day!