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September 17 Long Live the KingOutstanding slide show from Toms great friend, Wally.
Services will be held on Sat 6PM Sept 23, 2006
52 N Macdonald
Mesa, AZ 85201 - 7329 (480) 834-9255
Celebration of Toms's Life will be held at 8PM
1730 E Elliot Rd
Tempe, AZ 85284 (480) 831-0822
Hathaway, Thomas Greer Thomas Greer Hathaway, 55, of Chandler, AZ passed away unexpectedly Tuesday, September 12, 2006. Tom was born in Milwaukee, WI on May 7, 1951, and grew up in Neenah, WI. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in 1973, he immediately moved to the Chicago area to be closer to his beloved Cubs & Bears. In 1994, he picked up everything and moved to Phoenix. Tom worked at several companies during his career, including TRW, Signode, Illinois Tool Works, and Motorola. Then in 1996, he surprised all with the decision to retire. He wanted to further enjoy his passions, including: sports, the internet, family & friends, garage sales/e-bay and beer. Number one of these was baseball, especially his Chicago Cubs. When he lived in Chicago, he could often be found at Wrigley Field, and after he moved to Phoenix, he was never far from a TV tuned to WGN. Unfortunately, he never got to see them win it all. His other passion was the internet. Several years ago, he started a blog on MSN Spaces entitled "If I Were King". Tom quickly gathered a large fan base and was anointed "King Tom" by setting numerous laws based on his royal status. The internet also led him to the love of his life, Jin Yu Yi (Rose) of China. Tom was a life-long bachelor until this spring when he traveled to China and married Rose. She was unable to return to the states with him, but he was actively working through many visa issues to allow his "Queen" to join him in Phoenix. He was so looking forward to her arrival. Tom is also survived by his mother, Jane Hathaway of Naples, FL; sister Susan Hass (Dan) of Brussels, Belgium; brother Steve (Elaine) of Madison, WI; and five nieces and nephews: Gretchen and Katie Hass, and Nathan, Craig and Sam Hathaway. He was especially close to Gretchen, who moved to Phoenix a few years ago. They saw each other often. A memorial event will be held Saturday, September 23, 2006, at Boston's Bar & Grille, 1730 E. Elliott Road, Tempe. All his friends are invited. Please consult Tom’s blog for the time. Those wishing to make an expression of sympathy are asked to consider either Cubs Care at Wrigley Field, 1060 W. Addison St., Chicago, IL 60613, or the International Myeloma Foundation, 12650 Riverside Drive, Suite 206, North Hollywood, CA 91607-3421, in honor of his father.
September 13 I am a friend of Tom's, Michael T.
I am very sorry to announce that Tom, better known as the King has passed on. He died in his sleep. As more information becomes available, I will post it on my site. I know that you all want to do something but please go to my site on Thursday and I will update you all.
Again, we are so sorry at the passing of a great friend and our best wishes go out to his family and friends.
September 11 WeekendBEARS WIN
What a great start to the NFL season. The Chicago Bears shutout their hated rival, The Green Bay Packers, 26-0. To all my Wisconsin friends....................HA HA...........I told you so. Its the first time in Brett Favre's career that he has been shut out. We are all wondering, are the Bears that good or are the Packers that bad?
The answer to last Fridays movie quiz is "The Predator". The 2 actors who became Governors, were Arnold and Jessie.
Since my hiatal hernia symptoms are not improving, my Dr wants to change my medication. The Dr wants to double the dose of Protonix to 80 mg. I'm still surviving on the free samples I was given 2 weeks ago. Walgreens notified me that my insurance company, Healthnet, would not cover it and it would cost $260. After checking with Healthnet, I found out they will only cover one of the 6 acid blockers on the market, Aciphex. When I got to Walgreens to P/U the Aciphex pills, they told me Healthnet would only cover 30 pills @ 20 mg. GRRRRRR. I did more research and found 50 pills, Protonix, 40 mg, at Costco for $176 of my own money. I gave this info to the Dr and they will phone it in to Costco, and the pills will be shipped to my house within a week. THANKS HEALTHNET!!!
And I've come up with a new meal plan. My symptoms usually start to get bad in late afternoon, which interferes with my dinner. So I've decided to eat my main meal at lunch time. Maybe this will stop the weight loss.
Less than 2 weeks until the first MSN Space Convention. For those of you on the official list, please let me know if you are still attending. Paula has a list on her site of people who are confirmed, I hope it is accurate. Send me an email if you have any questions. I will have more details later this week or next.
She came home early and found her husband in their bedroom making love to an attractive young woman.
The wife was very upset! You are a disrespectful pig! She cried; How dare you do this to me. A faithful wife and the mother of your children! I'm leaving you. I want a divorce right away! He replied; Hang on just a minute love, so at least I can tell you what happened. Fine, go ahead, she sobbed; But they'll be the last words you'll say to me! And he began; Well, I was getting into the car to drive home and this young lady here asked me for a lift. She looked so down and out and defenseless that I took pity on her and let her into the car I noticed that she was very thin, not well dressed and very dirty. She told me that she hadn't eaten for three days! So, in my compassion, I brought her home and warmed up the Enchiladas I made for you last night, the ones you wouldn't eat because you're afraid you'll put on weight. The poor thing devoured them in moments Since she needed a good clean-up I suggested a shower and while she was doing that I noticed her clothes were dirty and full of holes so I threw them away. Then, as she needed clothes, I gave her the designer jeans that you have had for a few years, but don't wear because you say they are too tight. I also gave her the underwear that was your anniversary present, which you don't wear because I don't have good taste. I found the sexy blouse my sister gave you for Christmas that you don't wear just to annoy her and I also donated those boots you bought at the expensive boutique and don't wear because someone at work has a pair like them. He took a quick breath and continued. She was so grateful for my understanding and help and as I walked her to the door she turned to me with tears in her eyes and said; Please... Do you have anything else that your wife doesn't use?
Chinese word of the day Wo shi........(wah shi)..........bedroom
September 08 FridayBetter late than never. I wont go into details, but my hiatal hernia symptoms have been terrible this week, so I haven't been doing much at all with this blog, writing or visiting. And yesterday, MSN spaces was probably down for 12 hours. I dont know what to write today, I'll just wing it on the fly. I usually write it the night before and save it as a draft.
Are you ready for some football???? I AM. Good game last night, it kept me entertained. I am again in the same football pool. Its a confidence pool, no point spreads, just pick the winner and assign points. The team you think has the best chance of winning, you give 16 points to. The team with the least chance of winning, is given one point. I dont use any brain cells while filling out the pool, I always pick all the home teams. The home team that is favored by the most points, is always given 16 pts. The home team that is underdog by the most points, is given one pt.
And for the 2nd straight year, I have a fantasy football team. I have a feeling I'll be near the bottom of the standings when all is said and done.
2 weeks until the first MSN Space Convention. For those of you on the official list, please let me know if you are still attending. Paula has a list on her site of people who are confirmed, I hope it is accurate. Send me an email if you have any questions.
Phoenix police, on Wednesday, arrested a man in connection with the rape of 2 sisters last year. This incident was connected to the "serial Baseline Killer" who has been terrorizing the area for the past year. He may or may not be the killer, but everyone has their fingers crossed.
And as I type this entry, the national news is reporting on the sighting of Bucky Philips in SW New York. All the major news stations are now covering this. He was spotted on a golf course and shots were fired. The authorities are trying to surround the area, and once this is done, they will slowly move in on this dangerous man.
Who can answer this movie trivia question? 2 future(when it was made) governors appeared in the same movie together, what was the name of the movie?
Chinese word of the day
Dian ying.........(de-an young).........movie
Have a great weekend and I'll see everyone on Monday.
September 06 PCThe third time was the charm, my first two attempts at re-installing Win XP failed miserably. After consulting a website on this proceedure, I finally did it correctly. My laptop is working perfectly now. For those of you that have not upgraded to IE 7.0, which I highly suggest, here is the website. This is a beta version, so there will still be some bugs. If you have problems, check out the discussion groups in the support section. They also have a toll free number for support at 1-866-876-4926. If you are having trouble viewing other blogs, its probably because you have an old version of IE.
For those people who sent an email requesting a law..........I lost my saved emails when I reloaded XP, sorry. You'll have to send in another request.
Katie Couric and Rosie O'Donnell started their new jobs yesterday, does anyone care?
Who would have thought this: According to TV Guide Channel, Ty Pennington, host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, is the highest paid endorcer in America.
The 8th grade science teacher, Mrs. Parks, asked her class "Which human body part increases to 7 times its normal size when stimulated?"
No one answered until little Mary stood up, angry, and said, "You should not be asking 8th graders a question like that! I'm going to tell my parents, and they will go and tell the principal, who will then fire you!" With a sneer on her face, she then sat back down.
Mrs. Parks ignored her and asked the question again, "Which body part increases to 7 times its normal size when stimulated?"
Little Mary's mouth fell open; then she said to those around her, "Boy, is she gonna get in big trouble!"
The teacher continued to ignore her and said to the class, "Anybody?"
Finally, Kevin stood up, looked around nervously, and said, "The body part that increases 7 times its size when stimulated is the pupil of the eye. Mrs Parks said, "Very good, Kevin," then turned to Mary and continued, "As for you, young lady, I have three things to say:
(1) you have a dirty mind,
(2) you didn't read your homework and (3) one day you are going to be very, very disappointed Chinese word of the day
Jiao shi........(gee-ow shi)..........teacher
September 04 HolidayI forgot all about Labor Day, I wonder if anyone will be reading this entry today. I guess I'll make it a short one. Yesterday I had to reload Win XP on my laptop. I did something wrong, so I'll have to reload it again. Some of my files and folders that I saved to my external harddrive have disappeared. And after I restored my emails to outlook express, I noticed that no saved emails after 4/06 were present. I wonder where they went?
Before I upgraded to IE 7.0, I wanted to check a few spaces that people were having problems with. Sure enough, IE closed down. When I upgraded to IE 7.0, those same spaces opened right up. SO, upgrade to IE 7.0., if you're having trouble. FYI....Win XP was preloaded on the laptop and no CD was included in the purchase. I had to contact Dell to send me one.
IIWK..... All computers sold with a pre-loaded operating system, will include the operating system on a CD.
In sad news, Steve Irwin, AKA "The Crocodile Hunter", was killed today by a stingray barb to the heart during a diving expedition.
While we were in Buffalo last week, we had to cancel our trip to the cabin in western New York. Bucky Phillips, who escaped from a nearby jail on April 2nd is still on the loose. He's somewhere in the woods near the cabin. He is also wanted for the June 10th shooting of a state trooper. The manhunt intensified Thursday after 2 state troopers were ambushed outside the home of Phillips ex-girlfriend. The officers were in critical condition as 75 more troopers were called up to reinforce the search. Hes been surviving by helping himself to food, clothes, and guns from unattended homes and hunting cabins and is believed to have stolen about 15 cars.
Less than 3 weeks until the first MSN Space Convention. For those of you on the official list, please let me know if you are still attending. Paula has a list on her site of people who are confirmed, I hope it is accurate. Send me an email if you have any questions.
In Nascar news, Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth has taken over the lead in the points standings for the "chase for the cup". HOO-RAH.
Chinese word of the day
Ji suan ji........(gee swan gee).........computer
September 01 Convention3 weeks from today is the start of the first MSN Space Convention. For those of you on the official list, please let me know if you are still attending. Paula has a list on her site of people who are confirmed, I hope it is accurate. Send me an email if you have any questions.
HOW EMBARRASSING
Greece 101
USA 95
Unlike Las Vegas, what happens in Buffalo, doesnt stay in Buffalo. This was our 2nd annual little reunion. Everyone but me lived in Buffalo at one time, I'm the outsider. I first met most of these peiople in 1979 and that story will be told in another entry some day. John was the newcomer this year, flying in from Fort Myers Beach. Ron drove from Cleveland, Terry flew from Oldsmar(outside of Tampa) and we all stayed at Michaels home. Consumed as usual were Canadian beer, wings and beef on weck. We hit the usual Hamburg hot spots......Mammosers Tavern, The Boston Hotel and for the first time, the Moose Lodge. While Ron was flirting with all the Moose women, the 4 other guys had a best of 3 shuffleboard match. Even though I was insulted by my partner all night long for my alleged poor playing, I still had enough good shots left in me to carry us to victory.
The Friday morning rain cut into their gold plans, so Michael, Ron and Terry gave me a crash course in Bridge. John, the 4th player, was still in the air on his way to Buffalo. Lucky for me, the first 3 hands, I was the "dummy". They all said I did pretty good, but believe me, I had no idea what I was doing.
Early Saturday afternoon was our fantasy football draft, with 6 of the 12 members present. The five above mentioned people were joined by Sherri, another Buffalo resident. 3 people phoned in their picks, Buck(Atlanta), Danny(Clearwater) and Chuck(Buffalo, who was sitiing in a bar in NY city). Kim(Iowa) turned in his top 200 list, and both Jim's(Fla someplace) picks were chosen by the best available list supplied by Yahoo.
Sunday was the annual summer party at Anacone's Inn. Up until the mid 80's, it was situated in a nice blue collar part of town. Today, its a very dangerous neighborhood, and a completely different color if you know what I mean. There were 3 separate murders over the weekend, just blocks from the bar. Mark Anacone, the host, put on a good party again.
It will come as no surprise that the residents of a city known as "The Nation's Watering Hole" like to have a beer or two. But Milwaukee isn't just your average brewing town. It's the hardest-drinking city in America, according to Forbes.com's ranking of America's Drunkest Cities. To determine the rankings, we started with a list of the largest metropolitan areas in the continental U.S. Thirty-five candidate cities were chosen based on availability of data and geographic diversity. Each city was ranked in five areas: state laws, number of drinkers, number of heavy drinkers, number of binge drinkers and alcoholism. Each area was assigned a ranking in each category, based on quantitative data, and all five categories were then totaled to produce a final score, which was sorted to produce our rankings. ( Click here for the complete methodology.) Milwaukee ranks high for its drinking habits across the board. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey 2004, more than 70% of adult Milwaukeeans reported that they had had at least one alcoholic drink within the past 30 days--the highest percentage on our list. Twenty-two percent of Milwaukee respondents confessed to binge drinking, or having five or more drinks on one occasion--also the highest on our list. And 7.5% of the population were reported as heavy drinkers--adult men that have more than two drinks per day, or adult women who have more than one drink per day. Milwaukee has long had a reputation as a city built on beer. It was once the nation's top beer-producing city, home to four of the world's largest breweries: Schlitz, Pabst, Miller and Blatz. Legendary sitcom characters Laverne and Shirley fixed bottle caps on one of the city's assembly lines. Even the name of the town's baseball team--The Brewers--alludes to its boozy past. Today, Miller Brewing, now a subsidiary of SABMiller (otcbb: SBMRY - news - people ), is the only major brewery left in town, but other major corporations call the city home, including Harley-Davidson (nyse: HOG - news - people ), Briggs & Stratton (nyse: BGG - news - people ) and Manpower (nyse: MAN - news - people ). Prominent Milwaukeeans say the city's history gives it a bad rap. "It's just such a stereotype," says "Lips" LaBelle, longtime afternoon DJ on 94.5 FM WKTI. "Milwaukee has so much to offer, and I hate to see it painted in that light. I don't think [alcohol abuse] is any worse here than in any other city." Perhaps the city's wide and varied summer activities are driving up the alcohol numbers, he suggests--Milwaukee is also known as "The City of Festivals." Or, there could be another explanation. "It's cold here, and we need our brandy," says LaBelle. Coming in second on our list is another chilly metro: Minneapolis-St. Paul. The twin cities ranked No. 2 for adults who reported having had a drink in the last month, No. 3 for binge drinkers and No. 12 for heavy drinkers. Rounding out the top five drunkest cities are Columbus, Ohio; Boston; and Austin, Texas. Curiously, several towns with a reputation for partying and drinking didn't rank very high on the list. You might be able to score a free cocktail in any Las Vegas casino, but overall, the city comes in at only No. 14. New Orleans is home to Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras, but it only ranked in 24th place. And spring-break party spot Miami placed all the way down at No. 33 of 35. Of course, just because a city ranks high on the list doesn't make it a den of debauchery. A top-drinking town could be populated by grandmas who imbibe a glass of wine every night to keep their heart healthy. And just because someone tips back a few beers doesn't make them irresponsible. But it's a safe bet that nobody's going thirsty in Milwaukee.
Chinese word of the day He zui le.........(ho sway la).........drunk
Have a great weekend and I'll see everyone on Monday.
August 30 Home againI'm finally back home AGAIN. Buffalo was fun as usual. I'll soon post the few pictures I took , unfortunately my new camera isnt working well, and I have to send it in for warranty service. The flight home wasnt the best. Northwest cancelled my connecting flight to Detroit about 1.5 hrs before takeoff because of mechanical problems. They got me 2 different flights on US Airways, from Buffalo to Philly to Phx. I got home about 2 hours after my original scheduled time. As I was waiting for NW to make these new connections, I overheard the conversation between a young couple with a small baby, and the ticket agent. She couldnt find them a flight until the following day. The couple asked for hotel and food vouchers and the agent refused! She said since the mechanical trouble did not occur in Buffalo, they didnt have to give them anything. HUH? So what?
IIWK....... All airlines shall provide hotel and food vouchers when they cancel flights due to their own problems.
From my favorite columnist in the Arizona Republic, Clay Thompson:
Why does a wet dog always wait to shake until it is near a person? My dogs get out of the pool and run over to me before they shake. Is it a greeting or a way to share the feeling?
Nobody knows for sure, but I found a few ideas. Here's one: They want to show you how great they are. Say your little girl is just learning how to swim or maybe how to dive, and you're sitting there watching and she does something really good. What does she do? Chances are she will get out of the pool and come over to tell you about it. It's the same thing with a dog. It's like: "Hey, look at me! I jumped in the pool! Wasn't that great? I got wet! See how wet I am! Am I a great dog or what?" Here's another one: happiness. It's hot out. The dog is hot. You let it go for a swim and cool off. The dog is delighted. It feels great, and it runs over to show you how happy it is. And shakes all over you. Another suggestion: It's a funny trick. The dog knows that if it shakes water all over you're going to squirm and make funny noises. This is a good game for the animal. Last idea: The dog is a jerk.
Hiatal hernia surgery is scheduled for October 18th, and I'll probably be in the hospital about 3 days. No solid food for the 2 weeks following the proceedure. :( I am now taking applications for a temporary nurse, to wait on me hand and foot. You may apply at my email address.
Chinese word of the day Hu shi........(who shu)........nurse
August 24 TestExcept for some discomfort when they shoved a tube up my nose and down my throat, the test went well. My esophagus is strong enough to follow thru with my hiatal hernia surgery.
Now I have to schedule surgery, working around my Las Vegas trip in Sept and my Fla trip in Nov.
I NOW LOVE POKER
Poker players may have to bluff in the buffYou've heard of someone losing his shirt while gambling? That's the idea behind - drum roll, please - the World Series of Strip Poker.
Sponsored by Pokerbility.com, the event - tentatively set for February in Las Vegas - would pit finalists from the World Series of Poker against Playboy Playmates. The Pokerbility people say their software, which is supposed to aid players in making decisions while engaged in games, will enable the Playmates to emerge clothed. Colleen Marie, Miss August 2003, said in a news release: "At the end of the day I will be the only one still wearing my clothes." With $500,000 planned to be in the pot, she said: "Mark my words, it will be the most money I ever make for keeping my clothes on." (If she wins some of that money, maybe she also could buy herself a last name.)
I'll be on a 6 am flight to Buffalo today. Have a great weekend and I'll see everyone next week. August 23 TripBusy, busy, busy, work, work, work, I'm exhausted, I need a vacation.
YES, I'm flying to Buffalo early Thursday morning and returning late Monday night. I dont think you'll see a blog entry until next Wednesday. Pictures and stories to follow.
I had good news from the American govt on Saturday. Yu Yi's visa application and green card application are both approved. All paperwork is on its way to China. I mailed her the last of my documents, including the "affidavit of support". Now she will wait for the phone call, to set up her interview, and bring with her all of her supporting documents.
Today at 3:30 pm I'll be having a test called a Esophageal Manometry. Its a prerequisite to my hiatal surgery which will take place sometime this year. No food or drink after midnight, I'll be starving all day long.
Eddie wanted desperately to have sex with this really cute, really hot girl in his office.... but she was dating someone else. One day Eddie got so frustrated that he went to her and said, "I'll give you a $100 if you let me have sex with you" The girl looked at him, and then said, "NO." Eddie said, "I'll be real fast. I'll throw the money on the floor, you bend down, and I'll finish by the time you've picked it up." She thought for a moment and said that she would consult with her boyfriend.... so she called him and explained the situation. Her boyfriend says, "Ask him for $200, pick up the money really fast. He won't even be able to get his pants down." She agreed and accepts the proposal. Over half an hour goes by and the boyfriend is still waiting for his girlfriend's call. Finally, after 45 minutes the boyfriend calls and asks what happened? Still breathing hard, she managed to reply, "The bastard had all quarters!"
Chinese word of the day Shou shu..........(show shoe)..........surgery
OOOPS, I didnt realize it at the time, but DENISE posted this same joke almost 2 weeks ago. I missed alot of blog reading while I was on vacation.
August 21 contractsIts been a real long time since my last law. I do have a few requests that are on the back burner some place, I'll have to check my old emails. In the mean time I saw this in the paper:
Jul. 28, 2006 (Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News delivered by Newstex) --
Top draft pick Vernon Davis signed a five-year contract today worth about $23 million and joined the 49ers in time for their first training camp practice. The signing of Davis, a tight end from Maryland drafted sixth overall, followed all-night negotiations between Davis' agent, Ethan Locke, and 49ers executives. Davis said he had instructed his agent to keep going with the talks until there was a resolution. According to ESPN.com, Davis' average annual compensation of about $4.6 million immediately made him the NFL's highest-paid tight end. This is nuts, the man has not played one down in NFL football, and he is the highest paid tight end.
IIWK...... All rookies in all sports shall be paid the minimum wage. 1st round draft picks will all be given a signing bonus, with the #1 pick getting one million, and the following picks bonus money prorated. Contract negotiations may take place in year #2, based upon performance, not potential.
After 2.5 weeks on the road, I came back to this:
ANTS
 WEEDS
From the "what its worth dept": 8 teams from the United States are participating in the Little League World Series. Of all the boys on these teams, only ONE is African-American.
Too busy and too hot to hit the few garage sales over the weekend. But I did post a few pictures from my Wisconsin finds.
Recent viewings are now added to my must see TV/movies: "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia", Thursday nights on FX "Supersize Me"
I have not seen the movie, nor will I. But "Snakes on a Plane" has to be added to the Must NOT see list. The plot is absurd, just like that last airplane movie I saw Flightplan. How did the mob know the witness would be on that particular plane? OK, so they found out, why not just shoot him, why the elaborate snake thing? How did they sneak the snakes into the cargo hold? Why snakes, if they were going to put anything into the belly of the plane, why not a bomb? The mob isnt that stupid to use snakes as their hit man!!!! Ya, ya, ya....I get it....no snakes, no movie.
A woman meets a man in a bar. They talk; they connect; they end up leaving together. They get back to his place, and as he shows her around his apartment, she notices that one wall of his bedroom is completely filled with soft, sweet, cuddly teddy bears.
There are three shelves in the bedroom with hundreds and hundreds of cute, cuddly teddy bears, carefully placed in rows covering the entire wall! It was obvious that he had taken quite some time to lovingly arrange them and she was immediately touched by the amount of thought he had put into organizing the display. There were small bears all along the bottom shelf, medium-sized bears covering the length of the middle shelf, and huge, enormous bears running all the way along the top shelf. She found it strange for an obviously masculine guy to have such a large a collection of Teddy Bears, but doesn't mention this to him, and actually is quite impressed by his sensitive side.
They share a bottle of wine and continue talking and, after a while, she finds herself thinking, "Oh my God! Maybe, this guy could be the one! Maybe he could be the future father of my children?" She turns to him and kisses him lightly on the lips. He responds warmly. They continue to kiss, the passion builds, and he romantically lifts her in his arms and carries her into his bedroom where they rip off each other's clothes and make hot, steamy love.
She is so overwhelmed that she responds with more passion, more creativity, more heat than she has ever known. After an intense, explosive night of raw passion with this sensitive guy, they are lying there together in the afterglow. The woman rolls over, gently strokes his chest and asks coyly, "Well, how was it?"
The guy gently smiles at her, strokes her cheek, looks deeply into her eyes,and says: "Help yourself to any prize from the middle shelf."
Chinese word of the day
She........(shu).........snake
August 18 IllinoisNot all of my trip was spent in Wisconsin. I drove to Illinois on a Wednesday and returned on a Saturday. I saw a few old friends in Wauconda, Palatine, Woodstock, Cary and Marengo. Mike and I always take a trip to Marengo to visit our friend Dave. He is arguably one of the finest Motto Guzzi motorcycle restorers in the country. He is so well known that he doesn't do any advertising, just word of mouth. His new hobby is buying old "bread" trucks and restoring them. He's almost finished with his first truck.
On my way to visit a friend in Woodstock, I stopped and took a picture of the town square. Some of you may recognize it from the movie Groundhog Day, which was filmed there.
I was standing across the street from Zimmer Hardware, a great Mom and Pop store still in business. You know the type, creaking wood floors and packed shelves. When I lived in this city we had something called "light bulb service" sponsered by our electric company. For 60 cents a month, we would get 6 or 8 light bulbs, I cant remember. I would take my electric bill to Zimmer's and pay it and get my free light bulbs. I looked in my laundry room the other day, and I still have 4 light bulbs from this store, and I moved to AZ 12 years ago. I guess I am truely a pack rat.
I'm interrupting this entry to tell you that the "Bomb episode" on Greys Anatomy is on right now. Oooops, I guess by the time you read this, it will be over. Sorry.
I had to rush back to Madison early Saturday morning, so I could attend the 20th annual Great Taste of the Midwest. Its the same one I attended last year. 100 different breweries from the Midwest, serving about 500 types of beers. I've been waiting a long year for this great event. Unfortunately, about 1/2 hour before my brother and I were to go, my hiatal hernia attack happened again. I was so sick I couldnt go!!! GRRRRRR. My nephew Nathan went in my place, as did his mom who was the DD. Its not scheduled yet, but I'm definately having surgery this year, I dont want to miss next years tasting.
Sunday we all piled into the van for the 70 mile drive to my Uncle's house in Oconomowoc. Uncle Wes and his wife Toby were the perfect hosts. My four cousins, Peter, Scott, Mary and Jeff were all there, along with their spouses and most of their kids. I have not seen my cousins in 33 years. It was a great visit and hope to see them every time I return to Wisconsin.
I've added 2 new photo albums.
Two good ole boys down in Alabama were sitting around talking one
afternoon over a cold beer...After a while the 1st guy says to the 2nd, "If'n I was to sneak over to your trailer Saturday & make love to your wife while you was off huntin', and she got pregnant and had a baby, would that make us kin?" The 2nd guy crooked his head sideways for a minute, scratched his head, and squinted his eyes thinking real hard about the question. Finally, he says, Well, I don't know about kin, but it sure would make us even." Well this was certainly a short entry. Maybe I'll have a longer one on Monday when I see you next. And when will I pass a new law, its been sooooo long. Have a great weekend.
My prediction: John Mark Karr is a nut. JonBenet Ramseys killer is still at large.
Chinese word of the day
Mo tuo che.........(maw twa chea).........motorcycle
August 16 HomeI finally arrived home in AZ late Monday night. Living out of a suitcase for 2 1/2 weeks isnt one of my favorite things to do, but I did have a good time. The bad part about being away from home for that long, is the chore list gets pretty long. Plus I have almost 3 weeks of blog reading to do.
I have plenty of stories that I can write about, but at the moment I'll leave you with just one. I took off from Wisconsin for the northwest suburbs of Chicago for 3 days. I spent the first 2 nights in Wauconda, home of my blogging friend DEB. We met at 7 am at her favorite coffee shop before she went to work. I was embarrassed to tell her that I forgot her gift, its sitting in my garage. I'll be mailing it shortly. Deb was kind enough to give me a great T-shirt, "The bars of Wrigleyville". The hour we chatted flew by, and we both had a good time.
An attorney got home late one evening, after a very taxing day, trying to get a stay of execution for a client James Wright, who was due to be hanged for murder at midnight. His last minute plea for clemency to the governor had failed and he was feeling worn out and depressed. As soon as he got through the door at home, his wife started on him about, "What time of night do you call this? Where have you been?" And on and on.
Too shattered to play his usual role in this familiar ritual, he poured himself a shot of whisky and headed off for a long hot soak in the bathtub pursued by the predictable sarcastic remarks. While he was in the bathroom, the phone rang. The wife answered and was told that her husband's client had been granted his stay of execution after all. Finally realizing what a day he must have had, she decided to go upstairs to give him the good news. As she opened the bathroom door, she was greeted by the sight of her husband's rear end as he was bent over naked drying his legs and feet. "They're not hanging Wright tonight," she said. He whirled around and screamed, "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WOMAN, DON'T YOU EVER STOP?" I was planning on writing a little more, but I started to watch the Cub game last night. And it when on, and on, and on. The Cubs finally won it in 18 innings. Then I switched to the Diamondback game, and it too was in extra innings. It wouldnt end, finally Arizona pulled it out after 18 innings!!!!!! I'm tired.
Chinese word of the day
Li wu......(lee woo).......gift
August 09 Cub gameLast night was the much aniticipated Chicago Cub game in Milwaukee, but before I get started, I have a little quiz for you. The answer will be at the end of todays entry. The 3 people pictured with me at the ballgame, have never met, live in different states, but have something uniquely in common. What is it?
It was a beautiful day for a ballgame. Perfect weather. We got to the parking lot in plenty of time to have our little tailgate party. My brother cooked us some brats and dogs. My friend Ed and his family from Illinois, drove up to the game and he found us in the lot. It turned out his seats were a few sections to our right. And we met up with another friend from Iowa inside the stadium, Kim and his son Tris. Our seats were great, in the "loge" section. With these seats there are no vendors, only waiters and waitresses. La De Da!! I wasnt too comfortable with that, I had to go get my own beer! The Cubs hit 2 home runs in the 1st inning, scoring 5 runs. And they hung on to win 6-3, delighting half of the crowd which were Cub fans..........including Mom and myself.
Thankyou to everyone who left nice comments at Yu Yi's space. She really thought that was wonderful.
This from Clay Thompson column in the AZ Republic: Why are toilet seats in public accommodations U-shaped with an opening in the front and seats in homes are round?
The U-shaped seats are required by the Uniform Plumbing Code. It's mostly for sanitary reasons. That forward part of the seat, the part that is missing in public facilities, is the most likely place for contamination to occur. Also I am told that U-shaped seats are easier to install, although I'm not sure why that is.
OH OH, not again!!!!! SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- For the second time in days, Chinese authorities have ordered a mass slaughter of dogs to curb a rabies outbreak - drawing criticism from animal lovers but also support from many who say it's the only way to contain a disease that kills more than 2,000 Chinese a year. Officials in the eastern city of Jining plan to kill all dogs within three miles of areas where rabies has been found, the official Xinhua News Agency said Friday. The measure came in response to the deaths of 16 people from rabies in Jining in the last eight months, Xinhua said. It didn't say when the slaughter would begin or how the animals would be killed. It said the city had about 500,000 dogs. Rabies cases are on the rise in China, with 2,651 reported deaths from the disease in 2004, the last year for which data was available. Only 3 percent of the country's dogs are vaccinated against rabies.
This bloke rings his boss early one morning: "Boss, i can't come in today, i'm sick."
"Sick!" cries the boss, "just how sick?" "Really sick boss, so sick i just can't come in today." "How sick is really sick you bludging bastard?" "Well, I'm in bed with a 12 year old boy and 2 German Shepherds. Is that sick enough for you?" Chinese word of the day
Wei sheng jian.........(way shung gee-an)............toilet
I'm heading to Illinois today and may not be able to blog until I return to AZ on 8/15. So if I dont see you, I hope everyone has a great weekend.
OOOH, I almost forgot, you need the quiz answer.........I am their Godfather. What were the odds on having all 4 of us at the game last night?
August 07 Weekend highlightsYAWN. What weekend highlights? A few garage sales on Friday morning, picked up Mom at the airport Friday afternoon, dinner at Capt Bills on Lake Mendota Friday night. A lazy Saturday watching a few baseball games on TV, a so-so dinner at a mexican restaurant called Abuelos. My brothers family returned home Saturday night, so my dog sitting duties are over. Rain all morning on Sunday.
One of the serial killers was captured last week in PHX, which leaves the "Baseline Killer" still at large. It turns out that the captured killer was actually 2 men. And they lived just a few miles from me. They were also responsible for the fires at the 2 Wal-Marts which I wrote about a few months ago.
MSN spaces is working a little better now. One item which I like is the new module called "space content", which contains profile, blog, photos and lists. I closed out most of my lists, they dont clutter up my space anymore, but can be easily accssed by clicking on "lists".
Is your town haunted? JUST CLICK ON YOUR STATE!
After looking for love in all the wrong places, a man returns from the Middle East and is feeling very ill. He goes to see his doctor, and is immediately rushed to the hospital to undergo tests. The man wakes up after the tests in a private room at the hospital. No one is around but the phone by his bed... and it rings....
"This is your doctor. We've had the results back from your tests and we've found you have an extremely contagious and nasty STD called 'G.A.S.H.' It's a combination of Gonorrhea, AIDS, Syphilis, and Herpes!" "Oh, my gosh," cried the man, "What are you going to do, doctor?" "Well, we're going to put you on a diet of pizzas, pancakes, fried eggs, and pita bread." "Will that cure me???" asked the man. The doctor replied, "Well no, but... they're the only foods we can get under the door."
Chinese word of the day Bi sa........(bee sah)........pizza
The winning $200 million Powerball ticket was sold in Wisconsin on Saturday. WAS IT ME???? August 04 Daisy
MSN works, it does not, it works, it does not, it works, it does not
I've been in Madison for a week now. The best part so far was my lunch date with 3 bloggers. We met at Glass Nickel Pizza on Tuesday. GNP has been voted Madison's best pizza for 7 years in a row. For those in the PHX area, I'll compare it to Nello's. We had a great time, and you can read all about it at the girls own blogs, because they tell a much better story. From left to right are Sherry, Ursula, me and Cindy.
Other than that meeting, I've done absolutely nothing. Well, I did go to The Capital Brewery and tasted their award winning beers. But other than those things.....NADA. Next week will be more fun, a Cub game in Milwaukee, a 3 day trip to the Chicago area to visit friends, a beer festival in Madison and a family reunion at my Uncle's house. I'm pretty sure we have added 2 more people to the 1st annual MSN Space Convention. Please visit The Stepford Place and Mud Treasure's Space and welcome them aboard. On a sad note, I think we may have lost 2 people from the convention. I'll find out for sure in the coming week.
First-ever super raffle raises a half million for wildlife PHOENIX – Nine lucky winners now have hunt-permit tags of a lifetime while Arizona’s first-ever big game super raffle raised more than a half million dollars for wildlife conservation in the state. The nine winners of special, prized commissioner’s hunting tags with yearlong season dates were drawn from a drum on July 8, and almost immediately the goal for next year’s super raffle was set at raising a million dollars for wildlife. The big game super raffle is a new concept, not just for Arizona, but for the nation. For years, two commissioner tags were set aside per big game species in Arizona, and they were auctioned off or raffled by individual sportsmen’s groups to raise money for wildlife. A third tag per species was created last year by the state Legislature. Several sportsmen’s groups then joined together in a unique collaborative effort to market these nine new commissioner tags via a super raffle. These dedicated sportsman-conservation groups sold 42,606 raffle tickets for the nine available commissioner tags, a total raised of $514,055. Although 56 percent of the tickets were sold within Arizona, raffle tickets were actually sold in every state except Vermont, plus Canada. Every dollar raised goes directly to wildlife and wildlife management for the particular species. In addition, 4,752 raffle tickets for a Swarovski optics package were sold, which raised more than $47,000 to cover the operating expenses of the raffle. Swarovski donated the optics package. The super raffle winners were:
Couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember. Later
Chinese word of the day Bing qi lin........(bee-yon chee lin)........ice cream
Have a great weekend and I'll see everyone on Monday.
August 03 GRRRR PT 2Well, I'm still not satisfied with this new look. This is the biggest change to date, it will definately take some time to get used to. The music plays off and on. The spaces take to long to load. The "statistics" dont work. Buttons aren't in their usual place. That crazy ad is up on top. It took me a long time to find the new "save" button, its now a floppy disk icon. The new "friends" thing is a ripoff from Myspace, lets just hope MSN space doesnt turn into that teeny bopper site.
Wow, that rant took quite a few brain cells, and its a Thursday, my non-blogging day. I'll end this with a cut & paste from the paper. I asked Yu Yi and 2 other people from China about it, and none of them heard a thing about it. There is alot of censorship in China, and I think this is one thing they kept from the public.
A county in southwest China has ordered all 50,546 dogs to be killed in an effort to fight a rabies outbreak that has caused the deaths of three people, state media has said.
Around 90 percent of the dogs in Muding county, Yunnan province, had already been killed since the campaign began on July 25, the Beijing News said. Owners were ordered to kill their pets or face having teams of local police and other enforcement officers kill them, it said. Even the 4,292 dogs in the county that had been immunized against rabies were ordered put to death, as authorities said the immunizations were not 100 percent effective, the report said. From January through July, 360 people in the county had been bitten by dogs, with the three human deaths occurring since April, the Beijing Times said. Some owners have used methods including hanging their dogs, electrocuting them and clubbing them to death, while others used drugs, the Beijing News said. Dog owwners had been compensated five yuan (60 cents) each for the loss of their pets. A reporter for the Beijing News who visited the county said one woman was told by dog-elimination squads patrolling the streets that her dog had to be killed. She covered her eyes as the patrollers beat her dog to death. To prevent dog owners from violating the order, roadside checkpoints had been set up to inspect vehicles for dogs, the Beijing News said. Any dogs found were immediately killed at the scene. Only police dogs and canines used to guard military artillery warehouses were spared. China has laws banning harm to endangered animals. But there are no regulations protecting other animals, including pets. A small but growing number of animal activists and pet owners in China are pushing to build a humane society and legislate animal protection, but those efforts are usually only in big cities. I'm stumped, maybe someone in blog land has an answer for me. I guess my music IS playing, but the only person who cant hear it is ME. In fact, I cant hear anyones music. My WMP works fine on music on my harddrive, it just doesnt work in spaces. August 02 GRRRRRRRChinese word of the day
Sheng qi.........(shung chee).........angry
Why cant MSN leave good enough alone? I cant access my space at times, everything is super slow, music doesnt play, my space looks different. Whats the sense of writing an entry, when 1/2 the people cant read it? I'll post something as soon as they iron out the bugs.
August 01 ThanksA big thankyou to Fritz for filling in for me yesterday. He was right about that movie, I dont think it even deserves a rating, it should go right into the trash can.
The World Series of Poker started last Friday at the Rio in Las Vegas, and ends on Thursday, 8/10. In a publicity stunt, Pokershare.net tried to enter a 4 year old Chimpanzee named Mikey in the tournament. Unfortunately, he was denied admission. You can read about it HERE.
Beer Troubleshooting chart
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