Fishin' for ZooDuck 3 (Book) http://www.Writing.Com/main/books.php/item_id/1063038/action/archive Whoa. Noting the date on the last entry I made in here almost gave me a coronary. It brings me sharply back to Gram's injury, and how just a few short days later all of our lives starting changing. Things were changing partly because of the parade float accident, and partly because other things had been set in motion, or would be shortly thereafter. Thi...[Read Full Post] Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:39:25 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/609114 Day after Thanksgiving : Still plugging along here. Zach is graduating from high school in the spring. He will turn 18 next week. He had surgery this summer for an umbilical hernia, and then another one two days ago for a Pilonidal cyst (actually two of them), at the base of his tailbone. Very painful, like sitting on a marble. Now, while recovering,...[Read Full Post] Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:55:09 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/551093 I saw James Taylor singing the National Anthem during the major league baseball postseason this year, and after hearing that, I knew, that all was right with the world again. What an incredible job he did. Hope restored. Z Look for it on youtube. I don't know if it's there or not, but look for it, wouldja? ...[Read Full Post] Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:14:15 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/546538 I had to oil the hinges on this rusty gate just now. Logging in, I almost couldn't even remember my passwerd. Or even how to spell that. I know it's been awhile. I can tell because I don't feel right sitting in my chair in front of this format. My butt not comfortable. It can tell that it's not in the Zenith chair back in the office, ...[Read Full Post] Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:29:30 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/520201 Remember when things were easy? When you didn't have to try so damn hard to get your responsibilities taken care of? Those were the days alright.... I remember them. Little more than a pizza job and a creative spirit. That's all I needed. A few bucks and a beer. Pretty easy livin' back then. Now? Well it takes a llittle more beer. And ...[Read Full Post] Tue, 08 May 2007 22:00:27 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/507102 The frustrating thing about my being a musician with a discerning ear, is that my ability to reproduce what I hear inside my head is somewhat limited. I can hear it, but I can't always play it, or sing it to my own satisfaction. I think the same might be true for the other members of the "band". We hear what we want to do, but we are limi...[Read Full Post] Tue, 08 May 2007 21:52:55 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/507100 Stone Brick Like a leaf on a tree, short stem on a weather vane, baby, An old rock on the pile, crusty berm on the sandy beaches, I'm a drop in the ocean, blue fragment of all that's around you. I'm the razzle-dazzle, green neon thread on the back of your jacket. I'm a stone brick, in the miniscule, co...[Read Full Post] Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:23:07 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/503789 Well, golf isn't going so well, so well, so well, so well. I'll give this a shot instead. It's about ten minutes before the tourney starts. The poker tourney, that is. There's a 250 dollar prize pool, and I didn't put up anything because of my frequent player points. FPP's! Looks like maybe 3500 people will have regi...[Read Full Post] Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:27:07 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/503765 Holy Batshit, Batman! They took the safety net out from underneath me! My boss sent me this nice little note saying "You no longer have to submit your audits to me for review before transmitting them for processing." I almost shat a grape when I read that. A real grape. Not those little rubbery ones that only look real until you pop o...[Read Full Post] Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:06:59 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/501054 Alrighty then - a most fabulous opening to a journal entry if I ever heard one. The day after April Fool's Day, and I have to slam down a little note in here to let you all know that I, we are alive and kickin', with just barely enough time to bake you a chicken. Couldn't resist. I got to the end of the line and just couldn't resist. ...[Read Full Post] Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:18:04 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/499172 Female hormones are enough to deal with when they are all grown up and matured. Try filling a gymnasium with twelve-year old girls trying out for cheerleader, and add their moms (a lot that are even more nervous than their daughters), and what you end up with is place that no man should ever venture into unaware. I was somewhat prepared for the tear...[Read Full Post] Sat, 10 Mar 2007 13:08:20 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/493972 Out in the small rural areas of Texas, the signs along the interstate highways say "DRIVE FRIENDLY", because that's the way people are in small communities in the South. They honk or wave when they pass each other on the highway, usually whether they recognize each other or not. They pull over on the shoulder on narrow Farm to Market roads, t...[Read Full Post] Fri, 23 Feb 2007 22:27:14 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/490192 On January 6th of this year, I did a nasty dirty thing. I went through a reputable, online teller company and plunked down fifty real, American dollars into a poker account. I figured, I've been playing Hold'em for long enough now that I sort of know what I'm doing. The online poker communities out there are full of people that think they...[Read Full Post] Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:41:21 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/487070 On the weekends, I climb up on the roof to sweep off all the offending debris that has collected there throughout the week. Marinas, boat rentals, pleasure craft, YMCA's, Day Care centers, Children's shelters, distribution facilities, trucking companies, AC/HEAT, concrete construction, asphalt application, restaurants, hotel reservations, mil...[Read Full Post] Sat, 10 Feb 2007 13:05:12 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/487041 Last night she was a squirrel. I saw her scurrying up the dry bark of the pines, skittering along the branches and jumping from tree to wire, wire to tree, freeze framing herself still as a ghost, twitching her tail before racing off again. When she stopped, she did things with her little clawed fingers. Clutching little bits of this and that, nibbli...[Read Full Post] Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:07:44 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/483852 Even HoloZoo has been acting funny lately. I caught him out behind the back fence reading Nancy Drew mysteries, and sipping bloody marys. So I asked him, "are you messing with me, or are you really going to start dressing like a girl?" He said, "Yes." He said it very calmly without looking up, and when I walked away dumbfounded, h...[Read Full Post] Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:39:52 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/483845 Sixty-six emails says the little banner, but the eye-liner brigade is camped out at the dining room table, looking like the walking dead to my untrained eye. I've never seen the walking dead except on TV, so I'm not really qualified in that area. Physcology either, but that's okay. I still think that with me on the outside and El Guapo on the...[Read Full Post] Sat, 27 Jan 2007 00:54:54 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/483844 Erica looks you right in the eye when she talks to you; mature beyond her years, self confident and sure of herself. If she is nervous, or uncertain, it doesn't show at all. She draws anime characters of her own creation, and draws them well, well enough to be able to get her cartoons in the school newspaper. She's a pretty neat kid, all in all, ...[Read Full Post] Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:46:00 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/479776 I was standing in a carpet store one day, and someone pulled the rug out from under me. Then, a year later, on Halloween, I was dressed as a wolf and someone pulled the wool over my eyes. Then, about six months after that, I was standing in line at the chiropractor's and someone pulled my leg. Really. Isn't that weird? The world is a funn...[Read Full Post] Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:03:22 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/479351 I have dropped off the edge of the earth, and I can safely say... Christopher Columbus was right, after all. If you just keep driving and driving in a straight line, you'll eventually drive off the edge of the world. It's dark here. There are no witty insights, no ridiculous assumptions, no crazy musings, no gross generalizations or anythin...[Read Full Post] Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:03:45 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/478886 Thirty-four years ago I was a nine year-old, sitting in the basement of Violet Ave elementary school with the rest of the music class. The music teach, Mrs. McKey was going around the room, student by student, asking each of us who our favorite musician or performer was. I don't remember what the other kids' answers were. Probably "The Be...[Read Full Post] Fri, 22 Dec 2006 15:56:29 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/476658 Underneath these things that we pretend to do each day lie our ulterior motives- the things we really want to do, the things we really think about. But we all have to do something with our day to day lives- something substantial and meaningful, even if our dreams aren't. So we swallow the nasty taste in the backs of our throats and we sign on with th...[Read Full Post] Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:11:06 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/476317 I know it's been a long time, but something is coming. It will be long, and indulgent, and very much like a giant summary of everything from musical thoughts to life's little insignificancies, to job summaries, to religous awakenings, to family happenings and everything in between. Until then, I'm confident the wait will be worth it. T...[Read Full Post] Tue, 19 Dec 2006 01:07:49 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/476013 Inspiration hits in the early evening, when you come home to an empty house. This is written for a friend of mine, a house daddy, with four young kids, while mama works 9 to 5. EAGD Mama Big Where you been ... Mama Big It's time to get yourself home... and take these kids, offa me.... They been wearing me down straight on down,...[Read Full Post] Sat, 02 Dec 2006 12:50:22 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/472588 And there I was, sitting in a corner of Gram's garage, literally swatting flies with the other old men, watching Dallas play football on Thanksgiving afternoon. It was good that I was sitting down, though. I needed that after only ten minutes of chasing Zach around with a soccer ball. Ten minutes. That's all. Just ten minutes. Whew. So, sitting a...[Read Full Post] Fri, 24 Nov 2006 11:03:06 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/470905 I guess it's safe to say that I've always liked smoke. It sounds funny, but there was something about the way it swirled, blue and translucent around grandma's head that drew my attention. Even the way those Winstons smelled, lingering in the living room next to the fireplace, where she smoked, but especially while she was actually puffing...[Read Full Post] Sun, 19 Nov 2006 14:26:30 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/469948 On a Saturday, you try to pretend you have no responsibilities, that your life is, and always will be filled with hours upon hours of wasted time surmising, and supposing; staring dreamily out into the atmosphere, letting the calm and peace of the doldrums take you out to sea, even when there is no breeze, no wind, no hurricane. The workweek can't...[Read Full Post] Sat, 18 Nov 2006 18:47:07 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/469814 If Marv's got Duluth and Wyoming going on, then I must have Rhode Island and New Jersey swimming around in my Levis. It's a diminishing state of affairs, but that's the way it is. I officially have the beginnings of 'old man ass', to such an extent that I could stand behind a tree and nothing sticks out. I don't dare put anyth...[Read Full Post] Sun, 19 Nov 2006 14:04:43 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/469773 Today was a pretty damn good day, I must say. I received an email from my bossman, telling me that I did a very thorough job on one of my audit investigations involving a very suspect claim. I exposed the facts which I believe will eventually result in our customer coughing up some money they owe us for contract labor that they still haven't le...[Read Full Post] Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:49:43 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/469169 Holo Zoo came along with me on my appointments today. He said he wanted to see what all the fuss was about. "Why are you so uptight about your job?" he asked. I'd never heard him use a term like "uptight" before. Obviously he's been studying some slang vernacular or something in his spare time. "Uptight?" I repeated...[Read Full Post] Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:25:32 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/468970 You know what they say about hotel room comforters, about how they never wash them, just the sheets, and that the first thing you should do when you get to your room is put on some rubber gloves, and rip the comforter off the bed and toss it in the corner? It's probably good advice. I haven't noticed anything in any of the other places I've stayed at, b...[Read Full Post] Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:19:47 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/468962 Here I be. I be here. Right here, right now, right here. At least for a few minutes. It's starting to look like I don't know when I'm going to find time to be here. I'm incredibly busy during the week, and when the weekend comes, I want to either collapse for a while or relax and just play around on guitar or on video games, o...[Read Full Post] Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:35:36 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/468105 BT(ld) Man, how cool would it be to have time for the band again? It was only a few short months ago that I had all kinds of extra room in my brain for creative thinking. Time to spend inside my head- but even as I say that, I think that in some ways it's better for the creative process to forcibly turn it off completely for a few days. Then, the ...[Read Full Post] Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:24:38 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/464993 Aw, crap! The Mets are not in the World Series. I had a pretty good feeling about them going all the way this year, but oh well- now I shall just have to ease the pain by eating giant buckets of ice cream and crying like a big fat baby, ordering giant sandwiches that wouldn't even fit through my front door, watching Oprah all day or all those ann...[Read Full Post] Thu, 26 Oct 2006 21:04:38 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/464649 I'm standing on the 2nd or 3rd floor of the parking garage at the La Posada Hotel, in Laredo, TX. This is classy Old World Mexico, and I can see out between the ornamental concrete lattice work, across the greenish-brown Rio Grande into Nuevo Laredo where the Mexican Mafia is supposedly taking a foothold these days. The locals here in Laredo are all ...[Read Full Post] Thu, 26 Oct 2006 20:30:17 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/464643 Laredo is flat and uninteresting. There are prickly pear cactus everwhere and the road to get here goes on and on forever. I have a non smoking room, but it smells like a wet dog lived here during the dry season. I'd almost rather smell old cigar smoke. It took us five hours to get here, and then we drove another 3 hours just to get to our tw...[Read Full Post] Mon, 23 Oct 2006 22:16:38 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/463945 It's a strange thing, this life I bit off to chew. It's sweet and creamy on the outside, but inside it's pretty damned hard and crunchy, and there's something in there that's distasteful, too. Maybe a cockroach or a little grubworm or something. I haven't decided yet. I liked being the guy that knew the answer, the "go ...[Read Full Post] Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:13:29 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/463217 Zach reassured me, and I reassured him, too, that we are both in a sort of a new spot, ages away from each other, in two totally different worlds, yet standing inches apart from each other saying, "Yep, I know how that feels." There can't be another father and son relationship quite like this one, which isn't to say it's better tha...[Read Full Post] Tue, 17 Oct 2006 17:00:59 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/462447 Happy to report that my laptop and I have made our peace finally, I click happily away now, right now, in fact, as I type this. Also, finally I have a smoking room at a LaQuinta. Damn, there must be a lot of freaking smokers that come to these places. Three days in San Antonio last week, and two this week in Houston, and each time I was forced to crack o...[Read Full Post] Thu, 12 Oct 2006 23:07:50 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/461247 I picked up the company car today, and I got my keyfob. The company car was the last piece of the puzzle. At least now I can start conducting myself as I should be, by having everything I need for my job on my person, or in my car at all times. I truly am a roving audit machine, which is not the same thing as a raving idiot machine in spite of the similarities in t...[Read Full Post] Thu, 05 Oct 2006 18:16:09 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/459447 And then he was so gosh durned happy that he'd written it all down, that he decided to add the chorus, or maybe it'll be the bridge, and it went something like this. Picture a jamaican or regae song, or maybe some old Mexican dude, like Cheech on a beach somewhere... with a litte AEAEAB7 action just to keep the dogs in the pound happy. ...[Read Full Post] Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:40:52 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/459443 A little snippet of a song I wrote last night, coming home from being away from the newly strung classical guitar, together with my not having played much guitar lately, got me inspired. I let my fingers start to walkin' and got my little voice-box squawking, ,and here's what came out. A little EAB7 form, with some 4/4 upbeats in order to git...[Read Full Post] Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:43:38 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/459429 It's obvious that I haven't been here in awhile I can tell it is so because I very nearly had to second guess myself while entering my password. That's bad. That and thrity-six bloody emails, all of which will be happily opened by me tonight when I return from dinner. I'm clickety clacking away in my room at the LAQuinta, which is Spa...[Read Full Post] Tue, 03 Oct 2006 20:41:39 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/458998 When I was twenty-six, people would tell me that I didn't look a day over twenty-one, that I was aging well. When I was thirty-five, people still couldn't believe I wasn't twenty-something. I'd look at my face in the mirror, searching for signs of aging, amazed that my skin didn't seem to be wrinkling up, nor my hair graying, or falli...[Read Full Post] Wed, 27 Sep 2006 12:32:24 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457645 I'm sleeping in my tent in the woods when I'm awakened by something that smells terrible. The sun has not come up yet, so it must be still the wee hours of the morning. It's dark in the tent, so I grope around for the flashlight near my pillow and my hand falls on something coarse and furry. Bear with me. My wife and I are sleeping in...[Read Full Post] Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:56:35 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457639 Half a day of office work today, then I'll be on a plane bound for California, where I'll maybe sleep a little, but more likely I'll have to wage war with the pressure changes in my head from the altitude. I'm having a sinus issue this morning, which to me already means there's something going on with the pressure inside my head. The ...[Read Full Post] Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:40:57 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457594 I watched an old man getting off a city bus today. He was engaged in a bit of bus stop nose-picking while I waited for the light to change. He looked at me and I looked at him. He didn't even care, pulled his finger out and examined his find. In fact, he even went back in for a second helping, staring right at me. Disgusted, I looked away, and as the...[Read Full Post] Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:16:25 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457368 And the world keeps rocking right along, doesn't it? Clear evidence of that is the way the cars keep streaming into Austin every morning, no matter if I'm driving, riding along in the passenger seat, listening to Nickleback, or checking out Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story. It doesn't matter what I do, the rest of the world keep...[Read Full Post] Tue, 26 Sep 2006 08:51:27 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457356 The golf was terrible this weekend. I can't remember when I played so horribly. I could mention that I was playing with a set of clubs that I've never used before, but saying that will only make me feel better and will do little to address the fact that I actually continue to suck at the game I love so much. I did manage a par and I few nice chips ...[Read Full Post] Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:57:41 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457180 I have one of those cool, stainless steel, travel containers to drink coffee out of. It has a black plastic lid that can be rotated slightly to let the liquid out, or to keep it in. When it's closed, you can turn the thing upside down and it won't spill. If you're one of those, like me, that drinks coffee every day while driving to work, it f...[Read Full Post] Sat, 18 Nov 2006 23:51:51 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457140 On a Monday, the coffee is darker and the cream sucking whirlpool pulls with it, the remnants of a drunkard's weekend; drink it down to the grounds for a chance to see what your life is really like. On a Monday, the foul taste of responsibility is tempered by peppermint candies perched on twin spoons, lowered into the cup like staring bloodshot e...[Read Full Post] Mon, 25 Sep 2006 09:13:42 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/457134 Okay, to start off with, I'll just come right out and pretend that I understand why women are crazy for Johnny Depp. And the purpose for pretending to understand is so that I can start off by saying... I understand why that unshaven, creepy little pirate is making women all over the world melt, but in the rest of this entry, I'm going to pret...[Read Full Post] Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:52:07 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/456618 All I really want to do on this Friday is tuck and run. I don't really feel like being in the office, listening to a "Tone from the Top" meeting that is actually scheduled for today and not yesterday. I'd like nothing more than to spend the morning digging into my brain, plucking out witty things to say, and imaginative ways to say them. ...[Read Full Post] Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:21:12 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/456546 Nothing like driving down the road well before the crack of the rooster's ass, feeling the cool autumn air blowing through the windows, watching an endless stream of red tail-lights stretch out in front of you, winding their way purposefully into the city. The cow pastures and fence-lined highways give way to an over-abundance of pavement, concre...[Read Full Post] Fri, 22 Sep 2006 08:34:12 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/456537 It's "in transit" this week is all we've been told. All I wanted to do yesterday was practice throwing numbers on the page, practice working my brain around the intricacies of payroll periods vs. pay dates, and reconciling with quarterly filings. We didn't have any audits scheduled, so it was an office day, but I wanted to be out ...[Read Full Post] Thu, 21 Sep 2006 08:45:30 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/456316 Last week, I was building office furniture every night, thinking, "Man, I'm glad I don't do this kind of thing for a living." In retrospect, it wasn't all that bad. Holy crap, what a day yesterday turned out to be. We had three appointments scheduled, and I spent the first two-thirds of the day thinking, "this is going well, I'm ...[Read Full Post] Wed, 20 Sep 2006 11:27:55 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/456100 BigTiny is back in town. It was really good to see him again last night. Whiskey shots by his side, bigger than life itself, he had loud stories to tell in his sophisticated street talk. They finally found him in Nashville, and extradited him back to Texas where he served 3 months for violating his probation way back in the days when BT and the Lost ...[Read Full Post] Tue, 19 Sep 2006 08:37:41 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/455851 Plenty of opportunity, but no motivation. Have you ever read one of those journal entries that goes on and on about how much there is to do, and how there is simply not enough time left to do it all? A great list of things is given in great length and detail, with attached explanations for each task just in case anyone was actually wondering why an ap...[Read Full Post] Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:14:06 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/455436 This is like climbing a tree for a very long time, so that when you go out on a limb, any limb, it's a bit of a risk if you decide to jump to another branch or reach out for a higher one. It's hard to loosen your grip on what you already have, even when you see something you think might be better. Hard to let go of what you got. But we do...[Read Full Post] Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:12:01 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/455260 I'm starting to get a taste of what this job is going to be like, and I think I'm going to like it. That's fortunate since I just about mortgaged my future with this company by accepting it in the first place. They've already sunk a ton of money it setting it all up for me, and I'm pretty much committed to this for the long haul. T...[Read Full Post] Sat, 16 Sep 2006 17:03:06 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/455224 7:18am, and another day begins. What with all of the shifts to my schedule, I'm finding it hard to keep up my daily writing analgesic. I'm learning a lot, though, and the assessment test that I bombed earlier was quite abit easier the second time around, now that I know what I need to work on. I only missed two questions this time, and those were just incom...[Read Full Post] Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:42:30 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/454442 Well, crap. My beloved Longhorns lost yesterday and again I say thee, crap, and crap again. I felt that the Horn's defense would stand up, and play well and I was right about that. I fully expected Ohio State to score plenty of points, but I was hoping that our freshman quarterback would at least be able to keep up with them. Crap on a stick....[Read Full Post] Sun, 10 Sep 2006 18:08:40 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/453878 There's a doghouse rose that God knows I didn't send soon enough, sittin' in the middle of our crippled kitchen table, barely standin' up from where our kitchen was. Kevin Fowler's Hard Man to Love I just love the phrase "doghouse rose". [Link To User msalvo] ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only...[Read Full Post] Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:49:57 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/453431 Now wasn't that just incredible. See how I did that? How I managed to empty my mind of all the new terminoligies and phrases that I've been studying? I emptied them straight into a rowdy, free-verse poetry format without even blinking an eyeball. Really, though. I didn't sweat myself one little bit in that last journal entry. You have ...[Read Full Post] Fri, 08 Sep 2006 00:18:23 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/453389 So, I traded my sitting-on-my-ass-all-day job for a "get up and go" job, instead. I handed over my Senior Accounting Specialist title for a Premium Auditor title. It's okay. I'm still a workers' compensation specialist. And in a year, maybe sooner, I'll be even more valuable to this company. executive officers, general incl...[Read Full Post] Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:44:56 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/453343 Don't you just hate it when you're driving down the road and one of those flimsy, plastic grocery bags gets caught under your car, and you drive down the road like that, looking like a huge dork? It's not your fault, of course, but you still look like a doofus. I caught one on my car's antenna one time, and flew it like a freakin&#...[Read Full Post] Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:09:50 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/453046 There's a new TV show on FOX called Standoff, or something like that. It seems to borrow all the things that people liked about 24. Like the "on the edge of your seat" drama, the tension, and the action that made people nuts about Keifer Sutherland again. I had thought he was long ago washed up, but that's another story for ...[Read Full Post] Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:33:06 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/453042 During the course of your parenthood, the urge to laugh at the cute things your children do and say will inevitably occur more than once. At first, they will be young enough so that you can get away with it, and they will probably laugh, too. But if you continue laughing at them throughout their lives much scarring can occur. Emotional scarring for them,...[Read Full Post] Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:31:32 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/452842 Stephie says the craziest things sometimes. Things that make me look at her with an eyebrow raised, thinking, "she didn't just say that, did she?" Then I remember that she's her mother's daughter and suddenly, the clouds break and it all makes sense. Usually, the crazy things she says fall into one of two categories; "I know damn well th...[Read Full Post] Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:19:59 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/452839 "Stuck in the middle with you," are words to a song that I've heard before, words that I can't place right now and resisiting the urge to look it up real quick on Google, I still think they may be Jackson Browne lyrics. Zach is stuck in the middle. Halfway between remaining a kid, as in,"But I'm just a KID," and being an a...[Read Full Post] Tue, 05 Sep 2006 09:40:18 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/452787 Today marks day one of my being the newest field auditor for my company. I want to remember this day, because after nearly ten years of remaining loyal to this place, after ten years of listening to people around me say,"Mike, you should really be making more money than you are. You should find another job that pays you what you are worth," I&#39...[Read Full Post] Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:42:27 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/451960 [Link To User msalvo] ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** So, now I have two sets of clubs sitting in the garage collecting dust. I walk past them and look at them, sometimes. They just sit there. My golf shoes with the plastic spikes broken and worn off sit there, too, ...[Read Full Post] Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:16:29 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/451662 The world has a whole bunch of good doctors, some really really smart people that can build rocket ships, a ton of savvy business men and women, and plenty of super atheletes. The world is most certainly blessed with all these different people, But can there be any question that the world is also filled with a most impressive display of inconsiderate...[Read Full Post] Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:10:40 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/451630 No journal entry on the 29th. I should be drawn and quartered, tarred and feathered, then summarily beaten with a wooden spoon until tender. This workplace has sucked me in, really hard the last few days. I've been trying to think of everything that will be affected by my leaving, and putting in place measures that will allow the next person ...[Read Full Post] Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:17:33 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/451610 Man, these certainly are the new days of our lives. This is the serious chapter with the previous entry. Everything for everybody is DIFFERENT. Not just me and Marv with our new positions, but the kids, too. Zach is new. Stephanie is new. The whole damn thing is new. The only way we can react to this is to keep OLD principles in place, smile , be ...[Read Full Post] Mon, 28 Aug 2006 23:51:01 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/451294 Something about getting a new promotion makes a guy feel like the lord of his manor in a way that causes him to take new stock of his place in life, in his possessions, the house he lives in, and the quality of the cars that sit in his driveway. It's almost disgusting in the most horribly materialistic sense, but there I was, walking around the outsi...[Read Full Post] Mon, 28 Aug 2006 21:15:48 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/451252 I was glad to spend the majority of yesterday resting and digesting all the stuff I learned this week. I'm starting a whole new database in my brain cells with regard to the auditing profession. I can fell it growing already. By this time today I've read through more than half of the APA91 text book. Much of it is little more than a reaffirmation of all th...[Read Full Post] Sun, 27 Aug 2006 19:41:47 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/451022 Such a busy time for me lately. I flew into Tampa on Wednesday night, had dinner with my new boss and his wife, and finally got to the hotel at about 10:30pm. I don't have my travelling laptop yet or I would have rattled out some blathering journal entry about driving a rental car around in the dead of night in a strange city, looking for the windshe...[Read Full Post] Sat, 26 Aug 2006 18:50:32 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/450794 I have discovered a new indulgence. Bratwurst. It's usually made from pork and veal, but from what I understand you can substitute beef for the veal, although I have to imagine it's nowhere near as heavenly. I heard a commercial on the radio while driving home from work, about a product called Johnsonville Bratz. It sounded good the way t...[Read Full Post] Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:15:40 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/449900 WARNING: This journal entry has all the interest and entertainment value of a farmer slopping his hogs. Trying to close out the month on a good note, so that my replacement doesn't think,"Damn, what a mess Mike left behind," is easier said than done. I have one foot in collections and one foot in audit study, trying to bone up on cla...[Read Full Post] Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:56:51 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/449872 That Zoo. He's a real pisser, isn't he? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Now there's a phrase that doesn't get enough use. Sorry Ma, but that's an oldie and a goody that I just don't think gets enough airplay anymore. I don't know where I heard it before. Probably picked it up from dear ol' Dad or something. Not ...[Read Full Post] Mon, 21 Aug 2006 21:06:59 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/449715 Arby's is trying to be funny, but it doesn't work for me. I like their new menu, because they now offer a corned beef reuben sandwich which is pretty damn good. I just ate one. While I was eating it, I was reading the text that they print on their drinks. They go into a short explanation about why it's good to "wash down" your Arb...[Read Full Post] Mon, 21 Aug 2006 21:11:45 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/449656 I love that commercial where Burt Bacharach plays piano and improvises. "I'll- never get hit in the ree-aar, again.... " ♪♫ Or the one where the black guy in the office is eating cake and says, "Whose agitatin' my dots? You agitatin' my dots?" [Link To User msalvo] ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ ...[Read Full Post] Sat, 19 Aug 2006 20:46:44 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/449023 I spent most of today involved in some online training modules designed to better prepare me for the new job assignment. I hate these training modules. They're so damned generic and never seem designed to do exactly what they're supposed to. Either that, or the questions are stated in such a way that you are never sure if you are supposed to ...[Read Full Post] Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:18:09 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/449014 Holo-Zoo called me down to the pond last night about midnight. He has this bad habit of calling me on my cell phone, no matter what time of day or night it is. He just doesn't understand "the sleeping thing", as he calls it. I found him standing on the shore, leaning proudly against what appeared to be an ancient, and very rusty, firetruck. H...[Read Full Post] Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:01:29 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/448952 I'm not sure what I think about this, but it's definitely worth talking out loud about to see what flavor shit hits the fan. By the time I get to the bottom of this page, you'll know how I feel and so will I. Assdrop High School conducts random drug searches at different times during the school year. From what I understand, this is a comm...[Read Full Post] Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:08:12 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/448733 I was editing that last entry while at least five of you were reading it! It's much better now. [Link To User msalvo] ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:44:07 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/448472 There's a strange little zoo in my county that has some of the most mixed up species I've ever seen, or even heard about. Assdrop County Zoo is off of FM973 out in the country, and it claims to have a two headed musk donkey that knows how to operate a loom. Sounds like a personal problem to me. A two headed donkey is strange enough, but t...[Read Full Post] Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:41:52 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/448469 I've played golf at Butler Pitch n Putt many times since December 2001, some with my son, some with Bovet, and sometimes alone. It's a great little spot in the heart of a city that seems intent on eating the park, chewing it up, and swallowing it down. It's in South Austin, and near Barton Springs, Auitorium Shores and Zilker Park, so there i...[Read Full Post] Wed, 16 Aug 2006 10:32:57 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/448401 Today I had a teleconference with the branch offices about July's numbers and August's progress thus far. It will be the LAST time I ever have those meetings again. I won't miss being on the spot for these things, explaining every last detail of why this isn't collected and why that isn't cancelled. I won't miss that part at a...[Read Full Post] Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:34:15 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/448228 Did anyone catch what I did with the previous entry? 5000 gps to the first person to tell me what I did, how many times I did it, and what those instances were. [Link To User msalvo] ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ...[Read Full Post] Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:14:17 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/447948 The family wants cable TV. They haven't exactly been knocking on our bedroom door at all hours of the night and day asking for it, but I can see that they think it'll be coming soon, that this is finally the year when Dad hauls us all up out of the Iron Age and subscribes to satellite or cable or something. It's almost like we've been ...[Read Full Post] Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:12:40 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/447947 Hell in a handbasket. That's where we're headed. I know that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing, and I'll move on down the road like a good little soldier and keep my lip zipped. But when I watch the news, what I do on a daily basis, and what everyone else does from day to day seems so small and meaningless to me. Maybe...[Read Full Post] Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:15:29 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/447907 He's been having a dream lately, where he is crouching in the middle of an eight-lane highway, trying desperately to siphon gas from an abandoned, red moped. The highway is mysteriously quiet and free of traffic, a huge wasted expanse of heat and concrete smothering the landscape, marching for miles. It's too quiet. And too hot. He knows it&#...[Read Full Post] Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:38:47 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/447707 I'm looking around my cubicle at all the notes and memos pinned up on the walls. All of this stuff will be useless information to me in a few weeks. I won't need to know how to operate the cybersource credit card terminal any longer. Nor will I give a hill of beans about the Cash inquiry screen and how to use it or the Invoice Aging report, or ...[Read Full Post] Fri, 11 Aug 2006 17:23:52 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/447304 Flying by the seat of my pants today. Much to do, and not enough time to do it. Barely enough time to journal... Ahhhh, who am I kidding? I've already answered my 25 voice mails, and replied to my 46 emails, handled the 15 real pieces of traditional mail, and "thank you'd" all the coworkers who have been congratulating me today. ...[Read Full Post] Fri, 11 Aug 2006 14:18:06 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/447275 The cardinal rule in negotiating is to ask for more than what you really need or want. Bottom line : no asky no getty. I can only hope the rest of my career is as easy as choosing between Toyota Higlander, Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota Camry LE, Honda Accord LX, and Nissan Altima S. Upward mobility, at last [Link To U...[Read Full Post] Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:50:03 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/446291 The horseshoes are laying in the sand, rusting. They've been sitting there for a couple of weeks now, and occassional rain showers have caused them to settle in a little bit, like heavy flagstone embedded into a walkway. The watercolors have been temporarily put away and their table dismantled in favor of drumset, keyboard and music computer. I ...[Read Full Post] Mon, 07 Aug 2006 12:09:34 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/446270 Riding the bull takes talent and imagination. It was a no-tax weekend, and I stuck out like a fart in a spacesuit trying to find a fairy shirt at Hot Topic. Dressed for the office, I was called "sir" way too many times at the mall, by pierced and studded bouncing butt-cracks and cleavages clothed mostly in black. I talked to God this weeke...[Read Full Post] Mon, 07 Aug 2006 10:32:20 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/446246 A company car is a must-have item, not a negotiable item. It was offerred to me in my very first converstation with the man in the home office. It would really be a shame if they pulled that off the table now. Toyota Highlander, Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota Camry LE, Honda Accord LX, or Nissan Altima S. These would seem to be my cho...[Read Full Post] Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:24:14 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/445627