21st Century Children - I'm Not Walking!

My second installment of comparing my children's childhood experiences with my own was inspired by today's weather and subsequent "demands" needed from my daughter. It snowed last night a fair amount...probably a good 6 inches.  It's not cold and it's not windy. And for this installment I am actually going to do a broad age range for it deals with giving my daughter a ride to school...

First, I would like to detail my "transportation" to and from school...first, for kindergarten, I walked to and from school every day, it was 5 blocks.  My mother walked me to school on the first day of school and that was the last time any adult walked to or from school with me my entire school years.  For elementary school, it was sweet, about 1 block plus we had an alley that we could take to a catwalk...for some reason lots of stuff did happen on that short 1 block walk because rocks, debris, water, snow, mud, etc... all could be found on that walk.  But those were the "good ole days" once junior high hit, my parents felt the need to enroll us (my older sister and younger brother as well as myself) into parochial school and for 7th & 8th grade the catholic school they sent us too was all the way across town, as I Google map it today to get the distance, it measures 1.9 miles.  Here were my options for 7th and 8th grade, for a ride to school, I could get one but I would be there almost an hour before the school starts, at 7:00 AM, plus need to be ready to leave the house by 6:45 AM.  Or walk and leave the house at 7:15 AM.  I did usually take the ride, but after getting to school I remember some long, cold, boring mornings standing outside the school waiting for anyone to come...and I mean LONG, COLD and BORING mornings...I could have chosen to go to early mass, but I would rather stand outside in the cold then go to church. After school, if it wasn't basketball or football season, I would usually walk...and regardless of what the weather was.  Of course we all can remember junior high and this is the beginning of kids beginning to be conscience of what they are wearing and doing and are trying to "look cool" and of course one of the things you do to "look cool" in North Dakota (when your in junior high) is to wear light clothing, no hats, no gloves and certainly no boots during the winter time.  I recall having to walk home when the temps were subzero with no gloves, basically a sweatshirt and sneakers...I got frostbite on both of my earlobes and too this day they will sting when it gets extremely cold, always a reminder of that walk on that day.  During the sports season, after practice, I could wait an hour and get a ride from my father who got off work at 6 or walk...again, I usually walked.  Plus, for football, I would walk 6 (long) blocks to the practice field, practice for an hour and half, then walk back the school, change and then walk home.  Yes, for two years, 7th and 8th grade, were some tough hikes and a miserable time for me...I hated it every day.  Then high school came...my sister had her license by the time I started high school, so I got a ride to school with her for my first two years.  She would give me a ride, but she required me to go out and start her car and scrape any ice off of it before we could leave.  After school, I would usually walk, but the walk now was considerably shorter, just a mere 10 or so blocks...seemed like a pleasant stroll.  And of course by the time I was done with my sophomore year I had a job and was on my way to my first car to end the walks forever.  Throughout my school years, though, never did I ever think I was "entitled" to a ride nor could I just flat out and demand I get a ride when I want one..and when I say when, I mean EXACTLY when I want a ride...not 20 minutes later, not 5 minutes, NOW.

Now we can compare that with my daughter's experience...and as I've said before, I'm not here to judge and declare one was better than the other, just my observation of how the times have changed. First off, the schools my daughter attends are all relatively close, the elementary school is 3 blocks away, the junior high is 10 blocks and the high school 14 blocks.  My daughter has never had to walk to school and at least 50% of the time things work out where she has gotten a ride home from school.  But today is one of those days where she likely will not be able to get a ride.  As I mentioned to begin this post we had a bit of snow last night, but the temperatures are mild and there isn't even a breeze.  After telling my daughter that I would not be able to give her a ride home today she replied "But some people won't even have their sidewalks shoveled when I get done with school." and that's why she is DEMANDING a ride home from school...because some sidewalks might not be shoveled off for her.  Now of course, if she would be willing to wait at school for a half hour, she could get a ride...but no, not the 21st children.  I am done with school at 2:52 and if I can't get a ride at 2:52 I will walk home and let you know how you ruined my life, my shoes, my coat and now I'm sick and you have to pay, pay, pay, and pay!

21st Century Children - I'm Staying Home

It was 3 and half years ago when I had an entry detailing some of the observations I had about the children of today and had some general observations about the differences between them and my experience as a child.  Well, on New Year's eve it hit me as my wife mentioned to my 15 year old daughter, who was sitting on the chair stalking us as she does most days, that when she was 15 she was totally doing something different than what my daughter was.  That's when it hit me... I am going to put my daughter's teen age life up against my own.  I am not going to judge either because we both chose the path we did...I just shake my head at the path she chose.  The best way, that I could think of, was to try and recall what I was doing on particular events at her age and then compare them to what she is doing.  I was certainly not the most popular kid but I also wasn't a complete loser either...like most, probably somewhere in the middle...just like I think she would be as well....

So for this first installment of "21st Century Children" I thought the idea that spurred it all should be the starting "event' and that is my daughter, a 15 year old sophomore in high school.  For New Year's Eve she sat at home in a chair while her parents watched Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve.  Probably did some facebooking and texting as well to add to her new year's excitement.

When I was 15 and it was New Year's Eve I remember what I was doing.  I, like her, did not have a license or car of my own yet...but I knew someone else that did (as does she).  Even without a car, staying home was rarely even considered, especially on a party night like New Year's Eve.  We ended up at the (old) Holiday Inn in Bismarck which has been a haven for New Year's parties for many years and every minor within 50 miles would be there.  By this time (age wise) we knew people that had rooms but it didn't matter.  By midnight the Holiday Inn was packed wall-to-wall top to bottom with people, with many if not most of us being minors.  I didn't get arrested, didn't hurt anyone...had some beer and a fun time.

After telling my daughter that story the first words out of her mouth were "What did your parents think of that?" I smiled and said "They never knew about it and still probably don't."  She kind of laughed but also got this devious look on her face and I knew right then that she totally plans on telling my mother about that evening...that's what my daughter would rather do...tell on people and be a narc...that's a good time in her world.  The funny thing is, is that event happened almost 30 years ago...I think my mother no longer gives a shit at something I did when I was 15 and back then, if you weren't arrested and got home alive...everything was good.

So there you go, my first "event" of comparison...my teenage daughter versus my own teenage experience...

Valentine's Day And How Girl's Can Keep It Special

Today is Valentine's day, a day that has been engrained in many people's minds as a special holiday.  A day when women get showered with gifts by the men that love them.  But let's get real...if you've been married for any length of time (more than 4 years is the mark now-a-days) and/or have kids, Valentine's day will likely be just another day.

When you are in a relationship and aren't married, Valentine's day is a huge day...I almost feel sorry for the poor saps that are in this predicament but then remember it once was me so it's really nothing new.  When you are not married or even newly married, Valentine's day HAS to be special.  A man is essentially required to take the wife out to an expensive dinner after giving her roses and candy.  Then after the meal you will snuggle and exchange mentions of loving each other and hopefully seal the deal with some hanky panky later on if everything is up to the women's standards...and you will be fully aware of how horrible a Valentine's day it is if you indeed fail on your part to totally pamper your girl.

What am I going to do for my wife of over 16 years on this Valentine's day?  The same thing I do every Valentine's day...buy her some flowers.  If I am lucky I will get a thank you in return, but I'm not holding my breathe.  Why don't I shower my wife with gifts, take her out to supper and make her feel special on Valentine's Day?  Well, it's simple...when your wife let's you know that you have an exactly 0.0001% chance of any hanky panky, on any night, let alone Valentine's Day, a man's desire to treat his wife special is greatly diminished.  Oh and here they come...the chorus of women who are shouting "That's because that's all men care about is sex!"  If I wasn't such a pig and wouldn't want (or expect) sex from my wife, then she would return that affection.  No, wrong.  At a certain point most married women no longer have any interest in having sex like they once did and especially after having children.  If I have sex with my wife more than once every 2 months I think something must be wrong or she must be trying to get pregnant again.  When women begin this period they then also begin to use sex for leverage and try to gain favor, and you'll see many men in this type of married relationship.  When the guy knows the women is in favor of having sex and all he has to do is be her man servant until the deed, that guy will be hovering around that women like a bee making sure her every whim is taken care of pronto.  But eventually women will fail to follow through with that and then their power of sex over men is worthless and then the fires of romance in your relationship have been fully extinguished.  What is the end result with any romantic intentions?  Yes, the generic to show and receive love answer will be accepted but anyone that knows the "game" knows that's just the first inning.

And let's really boil down what the end result of Valentine's day really is...by most accounts you buy flowers, which will die soon and have an expensive dinner, which obviously won't be around for long either all for what?  To reaffirm your love to each other?  Ok, make her think that, but the truth is Valentine's Day is a day that is marked for men to "score" with their ladies.  Once the ladies no longer are interested in playing the game and letting the guy score, then the guy isn't interested in playing either and thus, you no longer will get flowers and candy.

The women that really treat their men nice in bed are the ones that have the huge bouquets sent to their workplace, maybe even accompanied by a singing delivery person.  They are picked up from work and driven straight to a spa and pampered with a facial, manicure, pedicure, massage and what have you.  Then whisked to a candlelit dinner at a romantic restaurant which is followed with some wine on the couch with the lights down low.


But the moral to this all is that women, if you want to keep romance in your life you can not douse the flame.  I'm more than willing to buy the biggest bouquet and have my wife delivered by horse drawn carriage on Valentine's Day, but the game has to be started again and for that to happen...well, she has the ball.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

May 1994-May 1995 Greatest Year ... Ever?

I'm getting old...too old.  A "game" I have played with myself for pretty much all of my life is I try to reflect back to what I may have been doing at this time 10, 20, 30 years ago ... sometimes bad/sad memories are recalled, other times they might be happier memories and other times it may just be recalling "my life" at the time.  As I've played this game for most of my life I also try to somewhat "rate" my time...were the times generally good or were they generally bad for whatever reasons.  And through that process, I have determined that I think I was the happiest, most enjoyable time to be alive was a period from 1994-1995 ... when I was 24 and then turned 25.

I often look back at my "times" in the early 90's ... this is a period of time where I graduated from college and didn't have a job in my field.  I was either working a crappy retail job or sold and delivered auto parts.  I look back and wonder how I was so much more happy and enjoyed life so much more when I had a crappy job I didn't care about, didn't make any money and had no money.  But it is like most things in life ... the more things suck the more a person can make it better. 

So what made that time so enjoyable?  Well let's look at some factors:

1. The Workplace: Even though my job, at the time in 1994-95, wasn't nearly as prominent as several I have had since and the pay was pretty low I was friends with all my coworkers.  It was common for all of us to go out for drinks after work, I remember chipping in to buy pay-per-view boxing fights and watching them at a coworkers house with all the other coworkers.  Our company picnics were simple affairs but always fun. 

Now, I have an office and can almost dictate my own work hours.  My pay is easily 100% more than what I once made.  My job is noteworthy and many people are impressed.  I haven't attended a Christmas party in 8 years and haven't had drinks or attended a work social event in about the same.  There are "cliques" where I work now, just like high school, and since I've been relegated to the "loser" clique because I like loud rock music, I'm not invited to any social events...not that I'm disappointed because it would be extremely awkward if I ever did show up.

2. The Home: In 1994-95 I was living in a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 of my friends and it was a blast.  Most every work day was the same routine: I would get up, usually hungover, and get to work by 8:00 AM, get off work at 5:30 PM.  I would usually eat something but it certainly wouldn't be any elaborate meal ... PB&J and soup was a common supper meal for me.  Depending on the time of the year, go for a mountain bike ride, fishing or whatever would/could take place after supper.  Then at about 10:30 our room mate that worked at a movie theater would get home from work and would coax at least me into going out drinking for most of the rest of the night...did I mention I would be hung over most every morning?

Now, I live in a house with a wife and two children.  My wife is currently going to school to become a nurse and because of that works nights and weekends...so I am the main parent in the house with my kids on most days.  So now, when I get home, I am usually greeted with the words "Dad, what's for supper?" before I can get my shoes off.  Then after picking up the house of the litter that the kids have generated from being home for 2 hours unattended, emptying the dishwasher and making a full meal for the family which I then get to clean up with no assistance from the kids all the time being hounded to "hurry up" so that I can drive one the children to their friends house 20 minutes away before I can come home and sit down for 5 minutes before I have to drive 20 minutes to pick my child up from their friends house.  I "go out" maybe once a month if I am lucky.  Money is still tight so eating out is a rarity at this time.

3. Friends/Friendships: In '94-95 I had numerous "pals".  On most any Friday or Saturday night there would be a good 5-10 of us just hanging out.  We loved to play cards, drink, go to concerts, drink, mountain bike, drink, etc... In 1994, me and 3 others drove a "white trash" van to the Sturgis Bike rally ... drank and had a blast.  We could walk into our "regular" bar and likely meet up with someone we knew and a festive time would be had by all.  Not to mention I lived with probably my 2 best friends at the time.  We all three got along pretty well so living together wasn't a problem at all.

Now, I would say that I have about 3 friends that I associate with.  This, like many of the other factors, is simply because of the family.  I don't get out as much and much of my time is simply tending to family needs.  A card game that was started has ended years ago and my friends (and me as well) work on many weekends so right now getting together with any of them is asking for stars to align ... and occasionally they do, typically for a show of some sort.  And don't get me wrong, I think I still have lots of "friends" its just that I don't get the chance to talk or do much with them anymore.

It is this process that reminds me of Kevin Spacey in the movie American Beauty.  I often do yearn to quit my job and return to a meager existence.  As I have mentioned a couple times in this piece, at almost every stage of my life I have always been essentially broke...so what's the difference of what profession I do have when my net gain is exactly the same...nothing. At least back then I seemed to be enjoying life, whereas today it seems more like a chore.

21st Century Children

I have 2 children, a soon to be 12 year-old daughter and a soon to be 7 year-old son. Since their birth I have tried to 'compare' their childhood experience to mine...not to evaluate or rate which experience is better or worse, but just in a general sense. Comparing my children's childhood experiences in today's society with what I experienced when I was younger.

Let me preface everything with this, I love my children unconditionally...and the following will likely appear as more of a negative dissertation towards them and the children of today, but it is not. It is just my observations and opinions. Yes, my children have angered me but they also have brought joy to my life...and those with kids probably can relate. I have never hurt my kids, not even a spanking - which might be a factor in development of respect and attitude, but I'm no expert.

What has spurred this blog entry is my daughter. My daughter is of the age where she now essentially hates me...which I think everyone as a child goes through...the dislike of their parents. Of course we all know that this is in words only but it still hurts everytime she says it to me and I also know that she is saying it in an attempt to anger me...but here is the differences between her childhood and mine...

First, my daughter is a slob and lazy. Yes, kids are oftentimes not the tidiest and with little to no responsibilities it is easy for them to adopt a routine that allows them to essentially do nothing. My daughter not only does not do anything around the house to assist the family, if left alone for any amount of time, she will have the house completely trashed with shit strewn from top to bottom. If you are able to get her to clean up, rest assured that a mess of almost equal size will be left behind and anything that was 'cleaned up' is likely lost or broken but, most certainly, not put away properly. I was always under the impression that girls were neat and clean, but I am clearly incorrect. My daughter's bedroom is testament to that. Not only is her room littered with trash and clothes at almost all times, she is so lazy that instead of simply putting her dirty clothes into a hamper, she oftentimes chooses to 'hide' her dirty clothes in her closet or in shelves...or where ever...why? No one, including her, I think knows for sure. Comparing her current 'lifestyle' with my childhood, I don't recall ever getting punished for having a unclean room or trashing the house...why? It never was even a consideration. Oh sure, I know there were probably times when I made a mess around the house but the magnitude that my daughter mess makes greatly outweighs anything I ever did. But again, it was never even a consideration when I was young to leave a mess after doing any activity...it was a simple rule, you take something out you put it away, you make a mess you clean it up. My daughter not only laughs at such foolish notions, I think purposely makes even a bigger mess knowing it bothers her parents. The floor around my computer desk is littered with snack wrappers, chip crumbs, popsicle sticks, ponytail holders, jewelry and more and there is literally a garbage can right next to the desk ... so instead of reaching over and dropping her trash into the garbage can, she elects to throw it on the ground...that's how considerate she is.

Excuses and lies: Nothing is my daughter's fault. My daughter has an excuse for everything. You could catch her lighting the house on fire and it wouldn't be her fault. If she gets a poor grade in school, it is my fault because I didn't help her enough. The excuses that come out of her mouth every single day is astounding. If she doesn't have an excuse handy then she just reverts to lying and a lot of the times it is both... she has an excuse for something that is usually a lie. More than once I have flat out told her that I don't trust her and I think she is lying and she will storm off saying how she hates me and that no one ever believes her...but to date, she has yet to do anything that has proven her to be even remotely trustworthy.

Cares about nothing, respects nothing: My daughter does not have one thing that she cares about or that she cherishes. Nor does she respect anything that you may have cherished or cared about. Her mother and I had a fair amount of games that we had when we were children. These games were (obviously) about 20 years old, but could still be played and in as good as shape as you could ask for a game that would be that old...all the pieces still present and boxes in good shape. None of those games are even playable today. My daughter has wrecked, lost and ruined every single board game I and my wife had as child. These games, that we took care of starting at her age and held onto for 20+ years was all for naught. You can walk through my house and find a piece from my Risk game here, a Monopoly piece there and so on. The sad part is that any game that is given to my daughter can be played one time and just one time only because after that first time the game can not be played properly because pieces will be lost or broken. My daughter got Attack Uno for a present a year ago and I remember our entire family unpacking it and playing it...having a good time. A week later I found Attack Uno cards throughout the entire house and she came up to ask if I would play it with her and I simply said that we can not play a game that is incomplete and that game has never been played again. To me that is just sad... I had multiple games that I literally played hundreds, if not thousands of times and here my daughter can't take care of one game long enough to play it more than once. But it isnt' just games, it is essentially everything...my daughter cherishes nothing. There is nothing that is 'special' to her or at least enough to have her care about it. She has been given 'special' jewelry, books and items ... all are often shoved into drawers, lost or broken, but in any effect, if asked to produce any of these special items, my daughter would be hard-pressed to do so.

Social life: my daughter almost races home after school and when gets home will close the doors and stay inside waiting for her mom or me to return home from work. She does not want nor does she even consider doing anything with anyone else outside of school. Once and a while she has gone to a movie or to a friend's house, but for the most part, she is content to stay home and inside the house. For the past couple of summers she has stayed home during the summer break from school and what did she do? Nothing. She NEVER left the house and stayed hunkered in everyday. Again, comparing it to my childhood (once again, not right or wrong, just a comparison), when it was summer time and I was her age and it was a nice day, it would be extremely odd if we stayed in the house for the entire day. Usually, I would get up and be outside for the entire day and return home when I was literally totally tired. I recall biking across town to watch a movie, play with a friend, go to the park, go on a bike ride, go to the Dairy Queen...just go anywhere! To stay home on a beautiful summer day seemed totally wrong when you have your own 'wheels' and the entire summer to explore the world. My son is adopting the same attitude towards summer time ... On a beautiful summer day it is easy to find my children...they will be inside the house. There have been times during the summer, on a beautiful day, that my children will literally be driving me nuts and I begin to get upset with them. I then will say "You guys have an entire garage full of bikes, skateboards, scooters, water guns, balls, bats, gloves, frisbees, chalk, an endless amount of toys to play with outside, parks and playgrounds and instead of doing ANYTHING else, you two kids are going to choose to stay inside this house and drive me insane?" And that is what they will choose. Yes, to me I find it extremely odd that as a child they would rather stay inside the house and get screamed and yelled at by their parents when, what would clearly be a more entertaining and enjoyable time for them is a viable option, they would rather stay inside the house and make my day even more miserable. You say then, they just want to be with you, to do things with you...yes, I know this and don't get me wrong, I do enjoy spending time and doing things with my kids. Here is the difference though; you see, if I was to go outside on a beautiful summer day to just stand in the front yard and not do anything...that's right, just go outside and stand in the front yard and nothing else, my children will almost run me over to get outside. While I stand in the front yard, doing nothing, the kids will get out the bikes, balls, skateboards, whatever and begin to play and have a grand old time. But the second, and I literally mean the SECOND, I set foot inside the house again they almost trample me over to beat me inside the house. When I was a child, especially during the summer, I never expected my parents to be outside or do anything with me outside...and why should they? As a result, I have already come to the conclusion that I will NEVER go outside during the summer until my children have enough sense to do so on their own.

Which leads me to my final observation...my children have little or no respect towards their parents and especially not me. I am only their cook, butler, chauffeur and provider of funds for them, but that is it...nothing that would deserve even common courtesy. The way my daughter talks to me on a daily basis would have had her beaten to a pulp if she was raised my parents when I was a child. Very little is 'talking' from her. It is demanding and when demanding it is RIGHT NOW! Not tomorrow and not in 5 minutes, I mean right now and even if her demand is spoken in a civil tone, if your reply to her is anything less than what she wants to hear she will instantly erupt into a screaming tantrum. An example will be as follows:

Her: "Dad can I get on the computer?"
Me: "Can you wait 5 minutes so I can finish what I am doing?"
Her: "NO! And thanks Dad, now I am going to fail my science class because of you. Now you see why I hate you!"

My daughter on more than one occassion has 'needed' some things from school...not just one thing, but a plethoria of things. On one particular occassion she needed an entire list of items for some school project...and not for next week or tomorrow...RIGHT NOW! This list was like going on a scavenger hunt...there was not one store that could possibly have all the items and after all was said and done the bill was $30. But because of her screaming tantrum, I got her items for school but am hard pressed to believe that a teacher would require their students to get this entire laundry list of stuff for tomorrow...but of course my daughter just follows up with and excuse/lie ...and why not? She has her own personal chauffer, cook, butler and provider of funds to cater to her every whim....

To conclude, I just am perplexed... I know it will likely get worse before it gets better... but I just don't know why my children (especially my daughter) will make the decisions that she does. My daughter has done very few of the things that I considered normal for when I was a kid. Instead she has chosen the exact opposite. If I knew her when I was 11/12 it would have been almost laughable to have a conversation with her...

Me: "I'm going to the baseball diamond to play ball, what you going to do today.?"
Her: "I'm going to stay inside all day long, leave garbage and my personal items all over the house along with any of my parents things that I want to get into and then when my parents get home I am going to DEMAND that they take me to a store and buy new shoes because I don't like these ones."
Me: "Well, have fun with that...I'm going to go play."

Just makes me sad that this is a child and that is the decision she chooses to make rather than do ANYTHING else....what makes it even more sad for me, it is my child. I would feel sad for any child that's life is such as hers....but at least she has her personal butler, cook, chauffeur and free money....

Back From Vacation

Back from a long Fourth of July vacation. Here's some quick pics taken from the spillway overlook on the Garrison Dam of Lake Sakakawea - close (Pick City) to where we spent a fair amount of our time. A good, fun, relaxing time...

Holiday Plans

So our holiday plans are semi-set and they involve going back to Bismarck and Lake Sakakawea (sp?)....

Should be a fun time...

Masters Starts, Google's My Maps

The first PGA major of the year and "A Tradition Like No Other," The Masters starts today and plays through Easter. I'd be watching the tournament regardless of whether or not Tiger is playing, but I admit that I do cheer for Tiger because he could very easily be the greatest golfer of all time. I will often pull for a person who can be considered a great if I can respect them. Barry Bonds I have no respect for and is not nor ever will be the greatest home run hitter of all time in my world. I pulled for Walter Payton, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky. All of which are the greatest players of all time in their respective leagues. Right now Jack Nicklaus is the current holder of greatest golfer of all time but anyone that is following Tiger's progress knows that his reign of greatest golfer of all time may not last his lifetime.

There's a pic of the kids dyeing Easter eggs. My son was especially excited to dye eggs and has wanted to do so for 2 months already.

Google is releasing their 'MyMaps' web site which is interesting. Just goto http://maps.google.com and it lets you create your own 'map' and share pictures, videos, text, etc. And obviously Google is allowing public sharing so it will only be a matter of time when a 'master map' will have pictures of almost every place in America...it will be cool!

Wouldn't you think Apple Inc. would be all about be environmentally friendly? Being that it is so 'hip' with the p.c. crowd, but no! Apple was ranked LAST in environmental friendliness by Greenpeace. If Apple has to start revamping its production and manufacturing to become more environmental friendly their products' price would be even more astronomical and not worth it.

Rock Star Training

If you have a child age 10 or older and/or contact with any college-aged person, odds are you either have or have heard about Guitar Hero. I puchased the game last week for my family and it is a big hit. My daughter still needs to practice some of the songs but if she does, she is able to play them after a bit. So I will most likely need to purchase a second guitar so she can rock out with someone else. My son isn't old enough to grasp it yet, but if everything holds together, the game will be waiting for him in a few more years...and who knows by then there may be even more sequels to this game.

My son calls says this game is 'Rock Star Training'. They have songs ranging from Kansas to Megadeth. It's fun to play when you get a group of people together and really rock out!

Vacation Pics

Here's some select snapshots from the big vacation. The kids had a good time. We did not get any pictures of them at a big water park or Matthew, (my son who is licking the corn on the cob in the second photo) driving a 4-wheeler with me.

The first picture is a picture of me and my family at Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park. We are on top of a block house and that is the Missouri River in the background.

The 2nd and 3rd pictures are us picnicing...

The fourth is my daughter riding a real, full-sized horse. She has ridden ponies many a time but never an actual full sized horse... she was in heaven.

The last 2 pictures are of the us at the World's Largest Buffalo in Jamestown, ND. You can see the buffalo from the Interstate and they have always wanted to go up and look at it so we did on our way back home today. There is also a live buffalo herd roaming around that statue. The last picture is a marker of the buffalo stats.

The kids had a blast and it was a good time.

Vacation

Me and the family are on vacation next week and for the first time ever, all four of us are going somewhere together! Well, it is barely somewhere, but it is somewhere other than home, so that will meet the minimum criteria for a family vacation. We are packing up and going to spend a few days in my hometown of Bismarck. I haven't been back there in about 3 years so it is meeting the pleas of my family that continually hound me as to why I haven't been back in so long and after next week, I will remember why I don't go back that often...actually I don't need to go back to remember why, I know why. It is about as boring and lame as it gets. I do have some friends back there but living in Dullsville, USA has made them complacent. The last time I was back none of them even wanted to go out and hit the town...and not that I blame them, there really is nothing to do there...but come on, make an effort. I've already contacted all of them and with the exception of one , I expect to not see much of any of my friends while I am back...and not that it is that big of a deal because we wouldn't be doing much anyways.

This vacation is mainly for the kids and for our family members that don't get to see them that often. I'm sure the kids are going to have a blast and my wife and I will be happy to get back home. It would be nice to have a large sum of money to go somewhere farther and do more but that is not the case...this year. Since my wife and I had children I have always told her I've wanted to go on a family vacation. Every year something has always prevented us from doing so...mostly money and time. This year I made sure my vacation time would be saved and be used during the same time as our daycare provider..taking care of the time issue. Now I just need to work on the monetary issues, but I am hoping a year from now that will at least be less of an issue, but with gas prices rising by the hour may always be an issue.

Anyways, I'm just glad to have a week off and am excited to get done with work tomorrow so that I can officially begin my vacation!

New Vehicle And Missing Tool

Being an avid Tool fan I have seen them perform live 7 times since 1997. I have yet to miss any of their major tour stops in my region. Yet, it is my sad duty to report that I will be missing their performance at the Target Center in September due to work. I am still semi-stunned from this fact because this is the first time where my job will prevent me from attending the show but it is just a freak coincidence that this event is at night and the same night as a Tool concert. I am mostly confident I will get another opportunity to see them perform again, just a little saddened by the fact I am missing out on a show that I know will be attending by many of my friends and will no-doubtedly be a good time.

On the bright side of things... I got a new vehicle! It's not a new car but a 2000 Grand Am. Nothing too fancy and about a billion times better than what I was driving. And just to illustrate what I was driving... I purchased a 4-door, '91 S-10 Blazer in 1995. It was in good shape, ran good and was generally a good vehicle...until about 4 years ago. About 4 years ago was when I let the truck go into disrepair because the expense to maintain it was getting to be too great so when I got rid of this beast here's the list of issues it had that made driving it an adventure:

- There was a hole in the pipe between the catalytic converter and the muffler making the vehicle sound incredibly loud, the exhaust would smell like rotten eggs and decreased gas efficiently. The pipe itself is only about 6 or so inches long but to get it replaced or repaired ment that both the catalytic converter and muffler would have to be removed and both likely would needed to be replaced, so was never done.

- No air conditioning. About 3 years ago the air conditioning needed to be recharged, I just never did.

- Driver side window and one back window would not work. On hot days, with no air conditioning... good times!

- Rear hatch window would not remain open.

- Vacuum issues. When you would drive faster than 50 MPH, for whatever reason the air being circulated into the vehicle would not come out the vents but only through the front window and lower dash vents (a setting typically used for heat). But worked properly if under 50 MPH.

- A steering joint was broken. What this meant was anytime I would turn left or hit a respectable pothole, a loud THUD could be heard. It did sound as if the entire front end of the truck would no longer be attached.

- Cruise control didn't work.

- Both front CV joints were shot. This meant as you would drive you could hear the front wheels 'chirp' anytime they would move up or down with the road you were driving on.

- Big crack in the windshield.

- Having aluminum rims in the winter time meant that anytime the temperature was below 10 degrees the tires would constantly deflate. What makes this a bigger pain is that when it gets that cold that most places that have an air hose to use (convenience stores) will have them inside because they will not function when it is that cold either.

- 4 wheel drive was somewhat functional, yet not fully functional - as it once was.

- The ABS went out shortly after I purchased the truck so the ABS light was always on.

- Driver side door panel was cracked. You could not close the door using the 'handle' because that would just pull the inner panel and would cause it to further crack while the door would remain open.

- The brake lights always remained on. Probably due to a sticky brake pedal, but if the truck was to remain parked for any extended period of time, I would remove the fuse to get the brake lights to turn off and then prior to starting the truck up, I would replace the fuse and the brake lights would be on, but always on, as I would drive.

That details many of the woes that truck had. It also had some other minor things like the tape player didn't work and the rear seat latch was sticky...but those didn't seem that bad compared to the list above.

Needless to say the things I enjoy about my new vehicle that is like a new found pleasure to me is air conditioning, windows that work, cruise control and operable brake lights.

Happy 4th Of July

Happy 4th of July!

Taking It Easy

Summer time is officially here for me. The end of June through July is the 'slowest' time of the year for me in regards to my employment and for blogging... just because I'm not around a cpu as much as I am during the other parts of the year... I am also taking some days off here and there which also cut into my blogging time...

So I'll be posting a bit less over the summertime, but most likely will increase the posting frequency as football season approaches...

Happy Father's Day

Went to the Zoo with the family... the Red River Zoo in Fargo is small, but still a pretty respectable Zoo... They continue to expand, so here's some of pics from the outing...

There are Bison painted up in various ways and placed throughout the community (like 50?)... this is a pretty cool looking one that was outside the Zoo... a Catfish Bison... My daughter turned 9 on Father's day... that's her with said painted Bison...







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Memorial Day With The Kids...

This is how Memorial Day should be for kids... eating after getting out of the pool on a nice, hot, sunny Memorial Day with not a care in the world... wish I was them again...

Happy Memorial Day 2006!

Son Watching Son

Because I just started using YouTube (which is pretty cool imo), here is a video of my son watching the video of himself and sister (previous post).

My Crazy Kids...

Video of my kids chasing balloons...

My son, myself and the Stanley Cup. Mar 2004.

Myself with Kellen Winslow