GO GET'EM COAST GUARD!

The current disaster in New Orleans will showcase the fearlessness, sacrifice, and dedication of some of the most caring and couragous men and women of the USA! Uncle Sam's Can-do Group. Don't forget the men and women who are keeping us safe by risking their lives right here in America while the other branches of the service are off fighting abroad. Go get'em Coasties!!!

Time to go at it again!

Well, finally got the resolution on the ticket thing. This burns my ass, but I made a deal (through my lawyer) for no points on my record if I plead guilty and pay the fine. Railroaded! The swine! Money grubbing bastards! Now that I've vented, I guess that is not so bad, but I did not deserve the ticket in the first place. I get hit by some schmuck and they give ME the ticket. $800 ($650 for lawyer, $150 for ticket) to keep my record clean. Just goes to show you that we have the best justice system that money can buy.
Took the family on vacation to the Upper Peninsula and hit all of the sights. Mystery spot (where gravity does really weird stuff), Taquaminon Falls (really dry this year, but still great to see), Marquette, Houghton, Gay (had to stop at the GAY BAR), Eagle River (got some thimbleberry jam at the JAMPOT, and Copper Harbor, which is the home of the Estivent Pines. These are the biggest pines in Michigan. Unfortunately, the biggest one (the Monarch of the Forrest) fell over a couple of years back. Eighteen years ago as newlyweds, my wife and I were just awed by the size of it. It was a real disappointment to not be able to show it to the kids. Overall, a fun vacation. It was striking how the area has slipped even further into decline except Marquette, which seemed to show quite a bit of growth. We also stopped in Munising and took the boat tour of the Pictured rocks, which are really pretty. Besides that, it's been a decent summer at home as well.

I'm on the road as I write this, and it has been a rough day. I'm sitting in the Hampton Inn in Wausau, WI. Got here at 9:45 AM, and had to wait until 1:00 PM for my tools to make it. I did my equipment installation, drove back to the airport and still no suitcase! Finally tracked it down. Somehow it was still in Detroit and will be delivered sometime after midnight. Needless to say, all I have is the clothes on my back. I'm either going to St. Cloud or Rochester, MN tomorrow to take care of some more customers, and am hoping to cut this trip short if I can arrange my schedule right, but of course that always depends on whether the equipment arrives and if the surgeries don't interfere with things. I've still got to hit the Cleveland area before the end of the month, and go to our annual service meeting in Denver as well. That actually could be fun because we are going white water rafting on the Colorado River. It is usually a booze fest for at least one night so it will be fun to see that since I have decided to quit drinking until I lose some pounds. Those vacation pics were just SCARY! So I said to myself "Tim, you are not having another beer until you lose that spare tire!" I'm also cutting out any dessert, pasta, etc. I've lost a few pounds in the first week. I've also been increasing the exercise, but I'm telling you, when you're over forty you won't lose any weight if you suck down 5 or 6 beers almost everyday. Not gonna happen!
As an outlet, I've started drawing again.

I have a good friend from the old days (I've known him since 1975) that I haven't seen in forever. He is a professional Comic Book artist and now lives in Israel. He is sort of a walking contradiction. He is Jewish, and Lebanese. I think he is the only Jewish person I have ever met who is also an Arab. After he moved to Israel, he changed his name from Michael Nasser to Michael Netzer. I've really enjoyed getting re-acquainted online and have participated in his blog and forum discussing comics and art. He is really a great guy and very talented. He is also quite off the wall. He has a lot of out there ideas about religion, politics and such. But you know what? He is very creative and I think that creative people push the envelope of convention and therefore move art and civilization forward. He is also quite fearless about what he says and doesn't care who thinks he's a nut, he'll say what he thinks without worrying if you agree.
Mike has also sort of inspired me to be a little more honest with myself and my feelings. I don't think I'm going to go off the deep end and join a kibbutz or anything, but I'm starting to realize that for the last 15 or so years I have been trying to act the way others expect me to be and not who I really am. I think that's why I've been unhappy to a certain degree for quite a while, because I'm suppressing my dreams and therefore suppressing who I am. Some of that fearlessness is rubbing off, for good or ill, I'm not going to try to stuff that genie back in. I'm starting to get my smile back, and Mike, I thank you for that.

Finally, I get my van back

Today I got it back. 4 days shy of 1 month! Man, I was dying to get rid of that Hyundai! I caught it a bit from the Boss over being in this situation in the first place. He did it without really chewing me a new one, but the underlying threat was very clear " IF YOU LIKE WORKING HERE, THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN". So, I think for the next couple of years Tim WILL BE OBEYING ALL TRAFFIC LAWS, NO EXCEPTIONS! If you are behind me and beeping your horn, TOO BAD! I am not going to speed.Period. I will try to get into the right lane to let you pass, so please don't tailgate. It was a long day. I drove to the Cleveland burbs, got the Caravan, then continued on to Youngstown, OH. I did my work, left, and continued on to Buffalo, NY. I really kind of like this place, it has a lot of heart. All these Great Lakes cities do! Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Erie. I just don't know why they are not thriving. I go to North Carolina, Denver, a lot of other places and they are hopping, even though I think they have less resources as far as climate, water, forests, etc. Even down south, in Florida, they don't have the space, etc, but everybody goes down there. Yes, they don't have winter but it is murder in July! Okay Fla. people, I like your state, just not in July! You should come north in July. We have FRESH WATER beaches waiting for you. If you are in Buffalo, you must go to the home of the original Buffalo Wings, the ANCHOR BAR It is a treat. I'm doing some work tomorrow here, and then heading back to Detroit though Canada. I wonder if they will give me crap when I go through. Last year it was smooth, but I hear they are tightening up because "SINCE 9/11" (God, if I hear that one more time I will puke!). If only they would have tightened up the Afgahnistan border two years ago and caught OSAMA BIN LADEN, then maybe I could go in and out of Canada like I used to since I was 6 years old. Now, they are talking passports. Not only that, but they want to force states to make you present 4 pieces of ID to get a driver's license! When I was a kid, it was only your birth certificate! Oh, let's not forget about seeing what books you have read at the local library! "If you choose Security over Freedom, you will have niether" said Benjiman Franklin. Why do they keep using "SINCE 9/11" to take away our freedom? Why are they after US and not OSAMA BIN LADEN? I think we should have stayed out of Iraq, and sent all those soldiers to Afgahnistan to finish that job. But what do I know. In 2000 I said if GWB got in, we'd be in Iraq. My Republican friends said "Yeah right". Well, here we are. Oh yeah, the insurgency is on it's last legs: IRAQI INSURGENT VIDEO. How much longer will we be misled before we begin to see the truth? (Breath in... Breath out... sorry, didn't mean to get political, but I really hate this war).

Summer is here!

Summer is here! The Caravan is in the shop again, this time from an accident in the Cleveland burbs. I got hit by some guy, and I get a ticket! Man this is burning me up. I got a lawyer and am fighting it, but I'll bet my chances of winning are low, because I am from Michigan and an out of stater. Not much going on of late, but a lot has happened since my last post.
I've been to Minneapolis, Syracuse, Cleveland (see above), Myrtle Beach, SC. and Wilmington, NC. When down there I rented a new 2005 Ford Mustang and all that I can say is this car is BADASS! I drove 70 miles up to Wilmington, and then back to Myrtle Beach (140 round trip), and it was the best driving experience I've had in a long time! I get to drive a lot of different cars when I travel for my job, and so far this was the best! I did finally get a new windsurf rig, and am lovin it! Forget the Bic Techno, this is the one! I got a STARBOARD GO 180 liter, and a 7.8 square meter Aerotech sail (mine looks just like the yellow sail in the picture, but the slash mark is red) and all that I can say is SWEET!, I am a 43 year old blasting around on the lake like a kid ( I even had a couple of women trying to get me to give them "lessons" until they found out I was married). I got all this gear from Surfingsports.com, and I'm telling you what, Warren (WARDOG) Thomas, the owner there will really set you up right! He spent the time with me over the phone to make sure everything was right before it was shipped, and I was totally satisfied with the price and the gear. Go there if you need anything for wind/kite/surfing. Let's see, what else... Got my driveway redone and had part of my yard hydroseeded where it was ripped out for a new septic field last year, and painted my living room, bed room, and stairway before getting new carpet (which will be probably st the end of this month). Still have to get to Youngstown OH and Buffalo NY this month, which will be next week after I get my van back from the body shop. I'm driving a Hyundai rental car for now ( I hate it but my wife and kids think it's great).