An Untitled Mess

Well, I'm home.  For those of you that did not know, I was visiting my brother in Tennessee this weekend.  We sure did have a great time.  It really wasn't that bad of a drive, only about seven hours.  It took us through some very beautiful areas of the state. Cotton Field - 2007 I use to drive to Greensboro once or twice a month to see Donna and Christopher, so that leg of the trip was a pretty easy four hours.  It was rather amazing how much had changed in the last nine years west of Newport.  There was this spot on Highway 70 right before you get into Kinston coming from New Bern.  There was this very old building in the middle of a cotton field and I literally stopped one day in the middle of traffic to snap a few photos.  Well, to my dismay, this building no longer exists and the field is no longer filled with cotton.  There was actually a power line that ran through the sky in the photo that Cory edited out for me so...woot for hi...

I'm leaving...but first, I have to pack.  I actually got most of it done before work today, just getting my gadgets in check and making sure everything is charged and ready to go.  Since I won't have wi-fi on the trip, I'm loading some DVD's onto my tablet to watch.  I have my old-school Toshiba Gigabeat MP3 player in case I lose cell signal in the mountains.  I'm was going to buy a new e-book but then I remembered that I paid for some dead trees with ink on them so I will bring one or two of those with me.  I wish I had my book bag still, but somehow it was last while I was down in Florida, along with nearly all of my t-shirts, all of my board shorts, my sunglasses, flip-flops and the softest blanket I ever owned.  Oh well, just chalk it up to the price I paid, and will continue to pay for many years to come. So I guess I'm set to get going.  Really looking forward to this vacation and to seeing my brother.  It was mostly a lazy day today....

Here is a little something for Throw Back Thursday March 5, 2008 - Kodak Gold 200 film Asleep at the Spool I want to type tonight, I really do.  I've actually sat here for over an hour just thinking about whether or not I should type.  Being ignored by someone you adore is not easy.  Being called a Jack Hole is not easy.  That's what someone called me, and it stung.  Usually that would make me violently angry, but she didn't know what that meant so I shouldn't be angry about it.  But being hurt over it, that I can't help. Today, she ignored me.  No messages about blogging or asking me if I was going to type, she posted and didn't even say, no reply to the one text I sent her today of some brand new baby bunnies that were just born.  Complete silence.  Over what, because I upset her by parking in two spaces at work?  For apologizing about it?  Because she wrote something to sucker punch me knowing full well that I would rea...

It's a What Up Wednesday!  I was in a spunky mood this morning.  Getting to bed a little early will do that for a guy.  In case you missed it, I just gave you my excuse for not posting yesterday...if you still missed it, I will whisper it in your ear (I fell asleep early and did not type). So this morning, being so full of energy and being in a generally good mood (I did help to save a baby alpaca the other day), I decided to play a little joke on Bumpers .  Here is a little back story.  I totally started working at the restaurant before she was even in kindergarten (I know, I'm old as a Moses fart).  However, I have not worked there since like 2007 so evidently my old parking spot is forfeit.  It just so happens that my old parking spot is Bumper's current parking spot.  On one of my first nights back to work a few months ago, I parked in what I believed to be my parking spot.  It was claimed decades ago...I even urinated in it to mark it...

It's just what I do...saving babies and all.  No, no, please, hold your applause.  I'm just doing what anyone in my position would do.  In that sense, we are all heroes, not just me.  We share this moment together - you and me, me and you...us.  Remember, there is no "I" in "TEAM".  There is a "ME", but that's beside the point.  Today is about "US"...U...S...A?  Maybe an A?  Anyone out there Canadian, eh?  Who knows, but soak it up, you.  You deserve this. If you are confused, let me give you the back story.  Bumper's had a baby.  Well, one of her alpacas had a baby.  They did not know the momma was preggo so this was a shock for them.  Sadly, the poor thing was born with an abnormality which did not allow her to use the bathroom.  Surprisingly, she made it through the night and this morning they took her to the vet to put her down.  In a surprising twist, one of the vets said, "Hey, I think I can sa...

Holy crap, so look, you have got to help me with this.  On my way out to work this morning, I spotted a box of Everlasting Gobstoppers (R).  So I filched them, naturally.  It's awesome because the box fit perfectly into one of my nine pockets on my work pants.  Why does one need so many dang pockets? you may ask.  Well, because I have stuff that I hold.  Wallet, cell phone, car keys, pocket knife, Everlasting Gobstoppers, lucky rabbit foot, Horcrux...the normal stuff people carry with them. Yup...this is what crazy looks like. I'm demolishing this box of sugary happiness while I'm washing dishes and it just hits me.  The most profound question of the century.  Do you want to know what it was?  Once you hear this, you can't un-hear it.  The life that you once knew will be shattered into a thousand pieces.  It would be like taking the blue pill and waking up to the Matrix.  You will lose hours of sleep over this.  Sani...

 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.  John 16:33 NASB  What does this mean to you?  Does this give you hope and strength or does it just fall on numb ears? Let me tell you something I was reminded of today.  There is no peace that can be found in the world.  No person or thing can give you the peace and comfort you seek.  There is no friend faithful enough, no family member loving enough that will give you a restful, tranquil, worry-free life.  We chase these things like they will fill the gaping holes in our hearts - money, drugs, relationships.  These things are fleeting and they will never quench that burning thirst we seek to satisfy.  What brought this up for me is that I've been hanging on to relationships and friendships because they have brought me some sort of false comfort.  The reality for me is...

Hmmm...something worth while to say.  Something profound.  Okay, hows about this.  Song lyrics from The Byrds: To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven It is my personal opinion that this is a terrible song, musically speaking.  However, they did cook up some serious lyrics on this one.  I think the Bible even talks about this kind of stuff.  Maybe The Byrds even ripped the Bible off to make a buck.  Check out Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and then look at the lyrics for the song...you decide. Life's answers are not in this thing...trust me. I have a hard time with the changing seasons in our lives.  I don't like change too much, especially if I am comfortable in the season that I am currently in.  Everyone likes a changing season when the transition is from winter to spring, but not too many people like the change from fall to winter.  What I mean is that of course ...

 Here's how the first hour of my morning went... I guess Blogger won't let me upload a video...lame.  Here is a link for it then: Dunkin Donuts Fiasco Maybe this will be a new thing for me...part blog...part vlog?  I don't know...verbally stone me in the comments section if you would like to have a say in this. Work was a busy and boring day.  There was just a ton of stuff to do for this huge catering order we have for tomorrow.  We had to cut 250 chicken breasts, cook 13 cans of green beans, 250 chocolate chip cookies, 6 pounds of mashed potatoes.  We had all of that to do and we still had to do the prep work for the restaurant too so I was there a little past what I usually am. Morgan and Bumpers were not at work this morning, and I have to be honest...that sucked.  Morgan is my karaoke partner.  I swear, I can think of a song that I know for sure that he doesn't know the words to and sure enough, he can sing it better th...

What up?  It's Wednesday...let's hear it for Odin, the paganistic god of the Danes for whom this day is named.  Or if that offends you, let's here it for the Geico camel who turned Hump Day into an international sensation. Bumpers didn't post last night...just throwing that out there for no particular reason.  I just hope she has a good excuse and that's all I'm saying on the subject. Except, I don't think it's fair that she guilts me into posting every night, even when I don't feel like it or if I don't have anything to say and then she just up and skips without running it by me... Can someone please explain how a "cashless ATM" works?  Seems hypocritical. Cashless ATM? The password today was "pickles"...again.  I gotta remember to change that dang password before everyone finds out and tries to use it.  Work was rather fun today.  I like Wednesdays because I'm doing mostly prep work by my lonesome.  I also ge...

No post tonight...I added some photos...click the link at the top of the page or click here .

Saw this on my run today...I honestly don't know why I took a picture.  Maybe just because I could?  It is kind of cute.  Obviously a lot of love and effort was put into this.  Some heartless people might want to call this "ruffian graffiti".  But you have to look closer, see the motivation of the artist to express themselves this way. Today, Bumpers called herself an "art-teeste"...like, some fancy way of saying, "Hey, I'm a creative spirit and I channel that creativity through various mediums including drawing, painting and sketching with Sharpie (R) markers."  Of course, I gave her a hard time and told her she sounded like one of those hippies that hang out at Starbucks (R)...which she is and she does. So this was how she got back at me for pointing out an obvious fact about her life:  I had just cut, peeled and chopped fifty pounds of onions...FIFTY POUNDS OF ONIONS (without shedding a single tear...usually I'm an emotional mess when ...

I know that it's not a Throw Back Thursday but lately I've dubbed myself and my blogging buddy the Midnight Marauders.  Technically, we don't loot, plunder, pillage, raid or rob but still...we own the night (sorry, I ripped that from a commercial...probably Taco Bell).  So, since I don't want to talk about my day (it was pretty bad), I'm going to tell you about my old friend Mike Sandler, a.k.a. Sandman and his radio show, you guessed it, the Midnight Marauders. Sandler was my co-counselor when I worked at Camp Sea Gull in the summer of 2005.  Cabin 37, first and second sessions.  That was my first summer working out there and it was just crazy fun.  I was assigned to Cabin 37 with the Sandman and a dude named Alex Ferraro, a.k.a. Chief, with whom I became very good friends.  I didn't have a cool nick name, I was just Dan.  I was a co-counselor but I didn't sleep in the cabin because I was on crutches after my knee surgery and the director thought ...

I did not misspell that...Google it if you must.  The flea market was so dead today, it was very depressing.  I spent maybe twenty minutes there and saw a blue ray player that I was thinking about getting but then decided that without a refund policy in place I should probably skip that one. Then I shot to Wal-Mart to look for a case and screen protector for mom's tablet.  Dad got her a Galaxy Tab A 10.1 inch for Mother's Day and I've been spending the day setting it up for her.  The idea is that she can use it for the Barnyard and take it with her so she can always have her calendar, phone numbers and emails with her.  She honestly is not huge on the technology thing but maybe we can get her to like it.  I'm sort of jealous though.  I have a 9 inch Galaxy Tab E so mom's is slightly larger and a little more powerful than mine. I didn't find a suitable case or screen protector so I settled with buying some tea (Early Grey and Green) and shot to th...

Thanks to my b logging buddy (<--click to see her awesome blog), I only got four hours of sleep last night.  Totally blaming you.  I know, I'm grown enough to tell someone, "Hey, I love talking to you but I have to be up early in the morning and I have to work all day."  But, it's pass-the-buck Friday so...considered it passed to you. Amber's car was leaking oil worse than an Exxon rigger captained by Edward J. Smith in the frigid North Atlantic.  Add ten cool points if you know who Edward J. Smith is.  Subtract five cool points if you went and Googled his name.  So, they dropped the car off last night at the dealership and let sis take one of the trucks so she could get Oinkers to day care and then get to work.  Dad took the other truck into work this morning so that meant mom didn't have a way to get to the farm.  Being the super-awesome son that I am (that was number 6 on the survey ), I woke up at 6:30 to drive her out there.  Tha...

I literally don't have anything to say tonight but I need to keep the streak alive.  A friend suggested that I write my thoughts and feelings.  *scoff*  I'm a man.  Manly men such as myself don't have feelings (this is the part where you forget about the last two blog posts).  I did experience a little envy today, but it didn't last very long.  Want to know what it was?  Some friends of mine were going to the beach and I can't go.  Boy, that sounds petty. My neighbor is remodeling his kitchen and needed my help moving a piece of granite this morning.  The inside looks amazing since the last time I saw it two weeks ago.  Then after lunch, mom needed my help getting Caramel the calf into the horse trailer.  She drove him to the vets to get castrated.  If I would have known that, I would have set him free instead of load him into the vehicle that would carry him to the snippers.  I hope he is still my friend after all of th...

Product placement, anyone? Do you know what the first thing I noticed was when I opened the microwave to heat up my cup of tea?  It still smells like burnt popcorn . Then I racked up some serious negative karma points when I looked down and saw this little dare devil, in true Hunger Games style, trying to run to the safety of the dark, dusty underside of the refrigerator.  Dan one - roaches zero. Obviously not Katniss Everdeen... Okay, so let me put this out there.  I had a bad two days, and I'm sorry.  I try and be positive as much as I can.  Making people laugh and smile and feel good is what I'm all about.  Never do I want to hurt someone or make them feel bad, that would just kill me.  However, even though I think that the best thing for me to do when I'm having a bad day is to be neutral, to shut down and not say much of anything to anyone, even that has unintended consequences.  I'm not use to being the person that others look ...

Why this week?  Why do I have to fight all of this right now?  I don't want to be strong any more, I don't want to keep putting this mask on to masquerade through life. Today I had to talk about something I didn't want to talk about to someone that I didn't want to talk to.  Another mask, pretending like it didn't bother me and that everything is "ok".  Well, guess what, I don't have the answers you want and you don't have the answers I need. Then I get this from Alex: I'm not sure what it means, but it seems like the surgery that Hunter had last week didn't do what they were hoping it would and he is back in the hospital.  He doesn't deserve this...another battle. I went to a banquet tonight with dad that was for honoring veterans.  I sat at a table with a man who joined the Army in 1943.  He fought in World War II and Korea and made over 100 jumps in his 23 year career.  He knows battle.  Sure makes your life seem insignifi...

What am I going to do with this...THING...growing on the top of my head?  The plan is to let it go until the end of summer but...I don't know.  A little trim maybe?  I asked a woman for some advice and she told me to let it go.  Usually, when a woman gives that sort of advice, a man should not think twice about heeding it.  If a woman... any woman, tells you that they like your hair a certain way...even if they like it as a neon pink reverse mohawk...then you should totally go with the flow.  And that's what my hair is doing right now...going with the flow...any flow that happens to push it around, whether it be the wind, or the water from the shower nozzle, or the tongue of a baby calf licking it...Any.  Flow.  Period. I woke up at like 6:30 this morning so I did what any single guy with no one warm beside him to snuggle up with in the early morning hours of the day would do when he wakes up...I went back to sleep.  Duh.  I didn't st...

I wasn't going to post tonight but... Went to church this morning and met Amber there.  This guy that was in the chair behind the one Amber saved for me was like, "You can't sit there, I won't be able to see over you!"  Then he laughed, gave me an awkward pat on the shoulder like it was all just a joke.  Sad thing is that I believe that is really how he felt deep down inside...why else would he say it?  He doesn't know me, we're not pals so...I don't know.  I didn't try and hunch over for him either so I guess that makes me a jerk too.  Dad and mom had a big day out at the farm so they didn't go with us.  It was a pretty good service.  Still trying to figure out the analogy of "prayer shouldn't be your 911 call when things go bad...it should be like your spare tire in your trunk."  Umm....isn't the spare tire in the trunk in case things go badly?  Who thinks about the spare tire at any other moment other than when you get ...

Laugh if you want to, but this style is making a comeback. I love Saturdays.  You know you love a day when you think during the rest of the week, "Man, I can't wait for Saturday."  Most people love Saturdays because for them it's the weekend.  Two glorious days off from work to just lounge around the house, maybe get some chores done or go to the store.  Soon we will have football to capture our attention and to help make American productivity decrease by 20%.  But for me, Saturday is just another work day...but with a little bit of a bonus.  The Newport Flea Market is open.  That's right, rain or shine, hell or high water, the red neck swap meet will always be jumpin. I like to go mostly to just walk around and watch people.  That sounds a little odd...let me clarify.  I don't post up and stare people down in the dark corners with cammo pants and a black hoodie on.  It's just the atmosphere...it is a mingling of all sorts of diff...

Come on, don't pretend like you don't know who I'm talking about.  I know you're reading this right now.  There was a promise made tonight, and I'm keeping it...so here you go.  This post is yours. She drew this portrait of me...pretty  spot on. I was going to wake up at 7:00 a.m. this morning to go for a jog.  It's been about two weeks since I went running, mostly because my back has been bothering me.  The person I'm writing this post for kept me up until nearly 2:00 a.m.  This is not a complaint, it really was the highlight of my day and I would do it every night if that's what they want.  I actually woke up at 7:30 this morning, by some sort of miracle.  When I looked outside, I would have lost money betting that there was a hurricane out there.  It was insane.  It was raining sideways!  Bell got scared and was pacing out in front of my bedroom door so mom let her in.  She came over to me in bed, like she was mak...

Got a text from Alex tonight updating me about Hunter.  He went into surgery earlier today and it seems that it went well.  The doctors got most of the tumor out of his brain except a small part that was too close to a critical part of his brain.  Here is the text I got: What's there to say except praise God?  Keep fighting on Hunter, we're all praying for you my friend. On a lighter note, a buddy of mine from Florida sent me this photo...made me laugh so I hope it makes you laugh too. Boom Chicka Pop, baby!  I have to find these and try them out.  How could you not?  Work went well tonight, but it was pretty slow and kind of boring.  Debating on whether or not I'm going to go to bed early and go for a run in the morning.  I have to work at noon tomorrow so maybe that's not a good idea.  We'll see.  If I do, I'll post the map of the run here, haha!  Later Days!