Speaking of yesterday, Heidi started back to work part-time, for an old friend of hers who needs some part-time nannying. Katie started back to school, and Connor and Donovan start school today. Back To School Night at Woodrow Wilson Academy was on Monday night, and Heidi and I got to meet the boy's teachers. We like them both and feel they'll be good for the boys. Donovan's first piano recital is Saturday, and we're looking forward to that. His first flag football practice is Thursday evening. Connor is doing well with karate, and his next tournament will be early October, so we're mere weeks away. Connor and Donovan both start Cub Scouts again soon, and that's always fun. That's more of a challenge than it might sound like, for all of us, because as a den leader, Heidi is on the pack's Parent Committee, which happens to be chaired by my EX-wife. I told Heidi last night I'd love to be able to watch the interactions without anyone knowing...that would amuse me greatly.
The FJ is doing beautifully, although I got a crack in the windshield a couple of weeks ago while driving back from a security conference in Colorado Springs. That made me mad, and it continues to mock me as it sits directly in my field of vision while I'm driving, and it also continues to grow, meaning a full windshield replacement is probably coming due by year's end. Given Colorado's known love from gravel on its highways during winter, I'm going to see if I can make it until spring, but the crack is growing pretty quickly and might not let me delay. It would really disappoint me to replace my windshield in the fall, then have to replace it again in the spring, and all with the truck less than a year old.
[Editor's Note: the next section of this post is about OU football, so if you're not interested, scroll on down to the next part.]
So OU has chosen its quarterback of the future...for now. Congratulations to Sam Bradford, though we all suspected it was coming and that suspicion was confirmed by his excellent, consistent play in last Saturday's scrimmage. I am among those who think Sam's going to do extremely well. There are those, however, who are concerned that now that the young freshman phenom Keith Nichol will transfer rather than face the prospect of playing second banana to Bradford. They bring up the close parallel of last year's McCoy vs. Snead battle at Texas. On the other hand, there's a reason why Stoops and Co. want to keep him around...this situation could turn out to be more like Nate Hybl vs. Jason White from 2001. That didn't turn out so badly for us, did it? I guess the question might be, who's Hybl and who's White?
Another story about another idiot. There are so many, even my hard work to remain positive is sometimes broken down. Two interesting things come from this story, though. First, in all these stories, why do the mugshots always make these people look like guilty, backward morons? Look at the picture, and read the guy's quotes from the story, and tell me you can't almost hear the "Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel" accent the guy must have?
Meanwhile, the story is sad but not too tragic since the dog lives, but you knew he would...look at his name.
I don't like my neighborhood. First, I'm not a big believer in HOAs, but ours is worst than most. Let's just say they're very focused on compliance. The April HOA newsletter was about ten pages long, and seven of those pages were dedicated to means of complying with HOA regulations over the summer. It's worse for us because we rent and thus have no official stake in the neighborhood and no voice in the HOA. Now, however, a new threat has become prominent: crime. One of our neighbors was robbed just last Friday. (Though he said one of the police officers who responded stated that this was the 14th such robbery in the last several months, even discussing the MO in detail, the Westminster PD has officially denied that figure.) The officers said that there wasn't much they could do, and they would file the report. That family lost not only jewelry and valuables, but priceless family mementos such as all the videotapes of their children growing up.
It gets better. Another of our neighbors reported to us that several months back, the husband had stayed home while the rest of his family went out, and while he was there, a woman opened his back door and walked in as he lay on the couch. He asked her, "May I help you?" and she then ran out and away as fast as she possibly could. It is common knowledge that a weirdo in a beat-up white pickup truck drives around our neighborhood on trash day and goes through our trash. He has been confronted several times by residents and declares he was raised to do this, and that he is within his rights to do so. (The law seems to back up his stance; if you leave your trash on the sidewalk, it is on a public easement and is thus considered "abandoned." So we no longer place our trash on the sidewalk; we leave the container just off the sidewalk on our lawn where it is presumably protected on private property.) There's a couple who have been spotted walking around with a stroller, as though they have a baby and are just out for a stroll. They have been seen stopping at every mailbox and going through mail.
Even Heidi and I have not been immune; we had only been living in our rental house for a few months when someone walked in while we were out and stole my bag containing my wallet (cash, credit/debit cards, and all), MP3 jukebox, books, and several other items. The bag was found the next day by a jogger, laying out in the open space directly behind our house; everything was in it, except for the $7 that was in my wallet at the time it was taken. This was obviously some punk kid on a dare or something; when he came in, our laptops, TV, and several other high-dollar items were out in plain sight, yet weren't touched. Last summer, our rear kitchen window was cracked by a rock obviously thrown from the open space area; it was laying on our back deck, directly beneath the cracked window. Just last Saturday night, our minivan was hit with eggs and ranch dressing containers (hadn't thought of that last one; who said today's youth aren't creative?). We've lived in our neighborhood just over two years, and I've seen and heard of more crime than in the 13 years that I've been out and on my own.
Our HOA is great at making sure there are no oil stains on driveways and everyone mows regularly, but where are they as the crime level continues to climb? Can you say, "dropping property values?" Isn't the HOA supposed to watch that?
With new military gains in Iraq that has even the most hardened media critics of the war grudgingly praising the Surge, those critics' sights are moving to a different target: the Iraqi government. I have a response. How long did it take the United States to become independent, draft its own constitution, and ratify it to successfully institute the final form of the US government? Gauging from the beginning of the military action to the final installation of the government (i.e., similar to Iraq's experience), here are some dates:
- 1775 - Battles at Lexington and Concord ("The Shot Heard 'Round The World")
- 1776 - Declaration of Independence
- 1781 - Articles of Confederation ratified to provide interim US government
- 1781 - British surrender at Yorktown
- 1783 - Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolutionary War
- 1787 - Continental Congress in Philadelphia
- 1789 - Constitution ratified by most states; George Washington becomes first President
Try this out: Internet Anagram Server. A few of the better ones for Chris Mallow:
Call His Worm
Ah Crows Mill
Caw Him Rolls
Mars Cow Hill
Mine go along well with the old "Deep Thought" from Jack Handey: "The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw."
Welcome back to America...REAL America, not that fake, Coast-based brand that you see on TV...
http://www.imagefactoryphotography.com/slideshows/Heros/
If you're not crying or at least deeply, deeply touched by the time this is done, it's time to get your heart checked, or maybe move to Europe.
Thanks for reading along.
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