10-28-06

The Tale Of The Elusive Charley Frye Jersey...

This weekend I am in Lorain County, Ohio for some medical treatment. I got here Thursday morning and I plan on staying for most of the weekend. My trip has been rather pleasant. In this blog I will let you know the good and bad news conserning my medical visits and my obsession to find a Brown #9 Charley Frye jersey.

First the doctor visits. I went to the Cleveland Clinic to see an eye specialist. The doctor I saw is the best in the world. I was tested with new state of the art equipment. Even with seeing the best with the best stuff the prognosis was the same. The risks of having surgery on my eye are too many. If the eye doesn't respond I could wind up loosing it. So the best of the best said to do nothing.

I went to a second doctor today. She is a holistic doctor. This is a doctor that deals in herbal remedies. I am a believer in this type of medicine because the orient has been using it for thousands of years and I don't believe that the FDA has every medicine on the market cornered. I've seen chiropractors do wonders and I've seen people be cured of allergies just by taking certain herbal remedies.

The reason I went to see her is because she has a remedy for scar tissue. If I can get rid of the scar tissue in my eye then the chances of a successful surgery will go up exponentially. The second reason I went to see her is that even though I look well, I'm not. I am damaged. My body is riddled with metal that doesn't belong and my thoughts are tormented by events I had no control over. I put up a good front but when I'm alone the terror of days past creep back. I went to this person to find answers to things that modern medicine and psychiatry can't answer. Luckily I was given some answers.

For my scar tissue I was given a liquid that is proven to dissolve it. It will take time but not only will it work on my eye but also on the scar tissue in my chest and back. For the first time since the shooting my right eye feels normal. I still can't see but it doesn't feel like a heavy foreign object in my eye socket anymore. There are other things that I talked about and dealt with also but I wish to keep them personal. I guess my point is that my visit was successful and I feel confident that my current physical and emotional ailments will be dealt with positively.

Now for my story of the quest. I have been wanting a Charley Frye jersey. I thought being in the Cleveland area that they would have them in every store. I mean where I live in West Virginia they have every Steeler jersey imaginable. Well, It was more difficult that I thought. I started looking on Thursday and I didn't find a jersey till today. I had called every Foot Locker and Dick's sporting goods store in the northeastern Ohio area. None! I wasn't gonna pay 150 bucks at the Team store in Cleveland either. Finally I went into a Finish Line to look at running shoes and there it was on the top hangers. BINGO! Not only was it a Frye jersey, but it was 20 bucks cheaper than the other stores that sold Browns jerseys. I am elated. So now I have my Frye jersey that I can wear in Atlanta Nov. 12th.

I have more to say but It's late. I will continue my blog probably tomorrow. It's been a good visit and I want to share more.

Stay tuned...

10-24-06

There is a GOD!!!!

Cleveland Browns Offensive Coordinator Maurice Carthon resigned today. This guy is the poster child for boring and predictable. Carthon is the prime example of getting a job because of who you know. After last Sunday's game the Browns are dead last in the NFL in total offense and points scored. A change was needed big time. I don't expect a lot of change considering the Browns still have a horrible offensive line, but at least they won't be hampered by stupid plays on third down and predictable game strategy. Or will they?

I have been working on my schedule for classes next semester. By my calculations I'm a semester away from getting my B.S. in Political Science with a minor in Public Administration. I can get my B.A when I complete six more hours of a foreign language. I can do that while working at a real job. Now I have to sit down with a graduation advisor and see how many transfer credits they want to screw me out of so I'll go an extra semester. Aren't colleges wonderful like that?

Just for kicks I 'm taking Apparel Design to satisfy my Artistic/ Creative Expression studies option. I loved the third season of Project Runway so much I thought I'd take a class to learn just how those people actually do that stuff. I'm totally amazed at how someone can come up with those clothes in two days or less.

10-23-06

Wonderful Memories...

As luck would have it I have come into possession of a High Standard 8mm video camera. This is a good thing because I have a large number of tapes with video that I haven't seen in almost ten years. Included on these tapes are footage of my parents Caribbean cruise and more track events involving me and my brother than I care to mention. The jems of the memories is when my mom brought home her first cocker spaniel "Fortune" home. He was seven weeks old at the time. She took that dog everywhere including a cute scene of her at the Oberlin AAA Travel Agency with Fortune in hand. I also found some improv stuff I did in Cleveland but nothing compares to my mom dressed as Minnie Mouse for a Disney promotion at a travel seminar. My plan is to put all of this on DVD and make copies as Christmas presents for family.

I just wanted to check my mail real quick and let all of know what I found. I think it's pretty exciting. It's just strange to think that twelve years from when the video was taken my parents would be gone. You don't really think about things like that.

I guess my advice to everyone is to not take time for granted. I know this is a phrase used a lot but it's true and that phrase is "It's not how long you live but how you lived." My parents lived life to the fullest. The loved me and my brother and my family completely. You can't ask for more than that. My parents may be gone but these videos show what type of people they were. I couldn't have asked for a better set of parents.

I almost forgot. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the snow storm that knocked power out of West Virginia for almost a week. I have video footage of that too. I have almost an hour of me and my dad cutting fallen trees just so we could leave the farm. Good Fun! It took forever to get power because all the electric repair people were in New Orleans.

10-17-06

Pretty crummy day...

It's raining a lot. I mean a LOT!!! It's one of those days where you want to stay in bed and listen to it rain all day. Too bad I have to be in class until 6pm tonight.

I'm hurting today too. I don't know if it's the weather or not (probably is) but all areas where I have metal hurt. My right eye is giving me trouble too. This is compounded by the overwhelming emotions of missing my parents. I miss them a lot today. I really could go for a hug from Mom and hanging out in the barn with Dad today. I don't know what it is but since I woke up for class this morning I've been in this funk. I immediately got upset that I didn't wake up on the farm this morning. I swear it's the rain. It's just gonna be one of those days...

10-16-06

Uneventful weekend...

I worked all weekend. It was pretty uneventful because there are few Canadians coming into the Crack Shack right now. I pretty much worked all day and then went to sleep, woke up and repeated the same thing all weekend. By Sunday it felt like groundhog day. Same people. Same time going in. Same dining room and same side work all three days.

It's starting to get colder now. A lot of overcast going on. I have a test to study for so I'll be up late.

10-10-06

Something fishy is going on...

I went up to the farm yesterday and there was some pink ribbon tied to some trees. It's the pink ribbon that you mark stuff with when you plan on putting something along the lines of a utility. It could be a gas line, electric line or water line. All I know is that to put it in whatever utility company does it will have to dig up the road up to the far. That's not cool. At first I thought the Eagles were gonna put a trailer up on a parcel of land near the property line. But after close inspection I'm 99% sure it's a utility line. My hunch is that the shiesty gas company EPI is gonna try to steal (excuse me - maximize profits) some gas from one of the wells on the farm. So guess what Bob is gonna do tomorrow? He's gonna call EPI and see what they're up to.

I had my first mid-term today. It went well. I'm sure to pull out probably a B. I have a book report and some other stuff that I can do to make sure I have an A for the class at the end of the year. No worries. I stayed up all night studying for the exam. I'm pretty tired right now.

Today I have class until 6pm. Once I'm done I'm gonna go back to the Rotunda's and get some sleep. I have an early day tomorrow. I have to get the real tire that is supposed to be on my car taken care of. I also have a meeting with a man from the Department of Forestry to survey what timber is on the farm. If there is anything then I'm sure we'll have it cut.

I've been thinking about something. I have all my dad's tools in storage. I remember in South Carolina my dad had a small business called "DDIY" which stood for "Don't Do It Yourself". I worked with my dad putting up drywall and other construction jobs. We made decent money at it. I miss working with my dad on the house and other construction jobs. I learned a lot from him. There is a need in the Marion County area for someone or a company that can do odd jobs like that without stealing from you. I may resurrect DDIY. It's just a thought. I'd have to read a lot of my dad's "How to build a...." books. Who knows? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Well, I have to go to class.

10-08-06

Goodbye...

It was a day of mixed emotions. I got up early before church and headed to the farm. I hadn't fed the ducks or geese in almost two days for a reason. They're easier to handle when their hungry. They followed me into the duck house and I fed them and closed them in. I planned on returning after church to take care of them.

Some friends of mine from Church came with me. We had cages. We went into the duck house and started picking up the ducks and geese and putting them in the cages. Once all of them were caged, we left and went to Prickett's Fort state park. There we let them go.

The ducks were the hardest to deal with. They are the more friendly and more dependant. I let them out of their cages and when I went to walk back to the truck, they followed me. I had to walk back to the edge of the stream. A friend took some of the kernel corn and threw it out. The ducks started eating and that gave me time to walk away. The geese were easier to let go. I opened the cage and they just walked right into the water. All eight of them stayed together and they swam down stream. I just stood there and watched them get further and further away.

For the first time in almost 80 years there are no ducks or geese on the farm.

My friends and I came back to the farm and we moved some old wood onto the burn pile. The wood we moved was the scraps of wood that were left over from building the new barn. Tomorrow I will torch it. There was more wood than we expected though. It took us longer than we though and more work than expected. Let's just say we're all gonna sleep well tonight. We're planning work days on the farm with some guys from church. That way we can get the farm cleaned out and ready for the winter. I still have a lot to do in the other barns but with friends working with me we can get it all done. We should have a mild winter so November shouldn't be too bad. Hopefully it won't rain much.

I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed. I'm really beat. Plus I smell like rotting wood and duck poop. EEEWWWW!!!!!

10-05-06

MySpace Page update...

As some of you already know I have a new layout and new pics on my MySpace. I added some recent pics and changed my layout to look more West Virginia Univerisity friendly. I will be adding more pics and tweeking the WVU layout in the future.

It's been a while since I've blogged about something political. I haven't really taken the time to because in all honestly I haven't really had any reason to blog about it. That is until now. Recent events involving a congressman from Florida and some perverted instant messages to a minor have sparked me to blog.

First off, this story gets more bizarre each passing day. So until we get to the bottom of this I don't want to comment on the specifics. I do think it's good this guy resigned and that he's being investigated. What bothers me is how the media and others are making this into a circus.

It's an election year. We all get that. When you pic a candidate to vote for what do you look at? Do you look at issues? Do you look at who is the right person for the job? These are questions that have to be asked when you go to vote.

As most of you know I am a Republican. So I will admit there is some bias in my voting choices. But I will be honest that there are things that I disagree with my party on. I don't like Bush's stance on immigration (guest worker plan in particular). I don't like Bush's Harriet Meirs choice for the Supreme Court. I didn't like the Dubai ports deal. If you ask me how much I agree with the progress of Iraq and the war on terror I can say that I approve only 65 to 70 percent of the time. I guess my point is that I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker.

With that said I will let you know why I will still be voting for Republican candidates this November. The main reason is that I may disagree with some of the things that Republicans do, but the alternative would be DISASTEROUS!!!!!!

Think about it. What platform do Democrats have? Absolutely nothing. For six years Democrats have come up with nothing but raising taxes to solve America's problems.

Here's an example of the Democratic Party's platform on the issues...

Dems on Social Security - Carl Rove leaked a CIA agent's identity!!!

Dems on Health Care - Rumsfield must resign!!!!

Dems on Iraq and the War On Terror - Bush lied!!!!

Dems on Immigration - Culture of Corruption!!!!

Do you see a solution to any of these issues when you hear a Democrat speak? Nope. You get the same Bush hate over and over again.

I take that back. The Dems do have a stance on Iraq and the War on Terror. They want to cut and run from Iraq. We saw what happened when Israel cut and ran from Lebanon. It would be disastrous if we left Iraq before the job was done. The terrorists would see it as a major victory and even though we stopped, they won't. Don't believe me? Watch when Hezbollah attacks Israel again in the next few months.

Dems don't believe in the war on terror. They believe that the terrorists are a loosely tied group of political fundamentalist dissidents that should be treated as criminals. As if the World Trade Center was a major act of vandalism. From my own academic research and the writings of prominent people who study terrorism (Lewis & Esposito) they conclude that terror networks are sophisticated and work with drug cartels and rogue nations. This creates a new wave of warfare that we are still defining the terms for.

My point is that we need elected officials that understand that our greatest threat is terrorist networks and not Wal-Mart. We need to elect people who won't take money out of your pocket to use on useless government programs. We need to elect people who have solutions to our health care, social security and immigration problems. We need to elect people who understand the need to fight a war on our terms and not the enemy's.

I know it may cause you to be nauseous, but when you go to the polls just hold your nose and vote for a Republican. I guarantee you that you'll get the status quo from a Democrat. What's that you ask. Simple. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!!

For my liberal friends who think that Republicans will keep gays in the closet and shove Jesus down everyone's throat, I have a secret to tell you. It's not gonna happen. If it was it would have been done already. So remember to vote with your wallet and your security this election. I guarantee you that Roe vs. Wade will still be there in the morning, nativity scenes will still be banned from public squares and you will still be able to watch Bravo Network.

OK. With that said I'm gonna go to bed.

10-03-06

Catching kitties!!!

I had a lot of stuff to do yesterday. One of those things was buying a racoon trap to catch some stray cats. Where I'm living there is a family of stray cats that if left unchecked could turn into a small army of felines. Don't worry. It's a no kill trap. You put food in it and when the cat steps on the platform the back closes and they can't get out. I then put the stray cats in a large cage. We will be taking them to the Animal Potective League to get some of them neutered and spayed. The others we'll let them find happy homes for. The ones we bring back will remain around the house and eat the field mice. Cricis averted, no harm done.

I have a test in my Civil Rights and liberties class. Wish me luck. I skipped going into the gym to study for it.