Summer is officially over -- for me at least

I have started up my gym membership again. I suspended it over the summer to accomodate other things, such as biking and running.

This morning was my first morning back, and boy can I tell I regressed. Though I am not terribly sore, my workout weight limits were those I had back in January.

For those who do workout and are looking to change up their routine for any reason (plateaued, bored, whatever...), change it up...

Google "workout routines" and find something you like. I believe I'm going to change mine. I started this morning with the routine I ended with back in May, but it just doesn't interest me anymore...

I am told that bodybuilding.com is a pretty good site - click on "Enter Supersite", and then workouts on the left-hand side. I'll give it a go.

Off to the "Great Gig in the Sky"

Last week, David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd fame) made the announcement that Pink Floyd would never play together again (the version of Pink Floyd that included he and Roger Waters)...

Monday, Richard Wright (founding member of Pink Floyd and their keyboardist) passed away, after his battle with cancer... I suppose any chance of a reunion is definately out of the question now.

Wright didn't write many songs for Floyd in the later years, but Great Gig in the Sky on the Dark Side of the Moon album is perhaps my favorite.

Although the lyrics below belong to another song (Breathe), they are appropriate...

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It’s good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

Big Announcement

Alright folks... apparently it's time to confess my activities for these past 3 or so months. First, I'll apologize... I originally gave you the wrong date for my last training...

BUT, before I make the announcement, let me tell you about my Labor Day weekend.

Nah... just kidding... I'll make that a separate post.

For the past X number of weeks/months, Traci and I have been part of a secret government program. I'd tell you more about it, but you know the old saying... "I'd tell ya, but then..."

Believe that one? Me neither.

Try this one...

For the past X number of weeks/months, Traci and I have been undergoing training to become Foster Parents.

Believe that one? Well, it's true.

For sometime now, Traci and I have been involved in working with a child, whom we shall call KB. KB is a very nice kid, who unfortunately wound up in the system at a very young age. I can't and won't go into specifics about why, but I'm sure it's not hard for you to figure it out.

KB has been bounced around within the system from one end of the state to the other, and as far north as south. Through her job, Traci became involved with KB. It wasn't that long after her involvement started that "our" involvement started.

To date, our involvement with KB is what is known as "Respite Care". KB lives at an independent living house, managed by York County's Children and Youth Services. We started by taking KB out for day trips to different places and getting to know him, and more importantly, allowing KB to get to know us.

During this whole process, I've had first hand knowledge of exactly how messed up, and nonsensical the whole child welfare system is -- trust me, it's messed up. I understand that some of the laws/rules are written because they have to account for the idiots out there (we'll get to this), but come on...

During our initial day trips that we would do -- for example, the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD (across a state line) -- we weren't allowed to take him back to our house. We hadn't been approved for home visits. Across state lines to whatever we want, check... our house... nope. Fine. We got approved for home visits -- relatively painless process, except for the complete and entire scrubbing/cleaning of the house Traci made me do... I'm telling you, the house was almost as clean as an operating room for this home visit inspection.

Since then, we have graduated to weekend visits... Meaning we pick him up at the start of the weekend, and drop him off sometime Sunday night. During these weekends, we do things with him (ie. take him places) most of the time, but there have been some weekends where we just hang around.

Oh, I forgot to mention, KB is a teenager. KB now has a girlfriend -- it's kinda our fault. KB is very artistically inclined, he wants to attend art school of some type upon graduation -- this is a very good thing. So, during this past summer, we encouraged KB to volunteer with the local arts foundation. It was a great thing for both parties. KB volunteered for so many things, they researched whether they could treat him and pay him as an employee... alas, there are rules...

At any rate, KB meet D... We meet D. We like D, it's just now we have two teenagers at our house that we need to supervise... ah, to be young again. Now, I'm on the other side of the fence -- the parental side of the fence. It's honestly not bad. I've taken the open-communication approach with KB on everything. We sit down and discuss the ground rules, and I encourage him to ask questions and/or air his views. So far it's worked great. We've had ZERO problems with KB.

So you may ask, if you've been doing what you've been doing for so long, why are you know going through foster parent training classes? It's the system's fault. Currently KB is supervision of government agency A, but soon, he'll be under the care of government agency B. Agency B has different rules and regulations that we must meet, in order to continue our involvement with KB. To satisfy all involved, it's just easier to become foster parent certified.

Fine, I agreed to go through this process. And it was painful. I cannot believe the amount and depth of some people's stupidity. Obviously, this training program focuses part of the training on the rules that foster parents MUST abide by. Surprise, there are certain things that you have to do... no exceptions... you know, pretty much the normal governmental bureaucracy. During some of the training, the people giving the training will say "Here are the rules you must follow for this aspect of the program/child's life/etc."

OK. I've agreed to do this, so I must also agree to the rules. Rules like "If you have weapons in your home, you must keep them in a locked cabinet with no glass surfaces, and must also install trigger locks on them." We don't have guns, so this isn't a big deal. BUT, I live in York County, where the redneck-population is fairly high. Redneck's don't like to take down their interior decorations (guns/knives/swords/weapons that I couldn't even imagine hanging on your walls), let alone locking them away with a trigger lock to boot. 20~25 minutes of discussion later, we still have grumbling about this rules.

Here's an idea... becoming a foster parent is purely voluntary (for the most part -- if you are taking in a relative's child (even your grandchildren), you MUST become foster parent certified). If taking down the Browning .50 caliber aircraft machine gun is really that offensive to you, don't... just leave. It's OK for you to quit the training. OR, if that bush knife with a 4' razor-sharp blade on it, MUST remain above the sofa in the living room, walk out... I'm not sure many people would be that upset with your decision.

And believe it or not, there are people who do foster care for the not just for the money, but that's at least a consideration... I'm not going to get into this, but suffice to say that I've done the math... I don't want to sound elitist, but the money I'm entitled to for having a child in my home, isn't going to any money in my pocket.

Last question, are Traci and I going to become full-time foster parents for KB? Answer is no, I would prefer to only have to deal with one teenager on a permanent basis -- and if you think that living with my brother isn't like living with a teenager, I'd be more than happy to have him come stay with you for any period of time you think you can deal with.

Kidding aside, Traci and I discussed this in depth... in the end (for a lot of reasons very beneficial for KB), the current situation is much better for him. That being said, there is a very small chance that sometime in the future, you may see a post stating that KB is now living with us, but that's a very SMALL chance.

As for other potential foster children. No. This was pretty much a one shot deal. Think what you will, and I'm a fairly laid-back kinda guy with most things... But, believe me when I say, "This was a one shot deal".

Wife's Law Firm

I'm happy to report that the firm is coming along very nicely. All three attorneys are quite busy and have a decent number of cases/clients.

Things are going so well, that they believe they will be able to pay themselves come July sometime.

Now, I realize the obvious, that you want to pay yourself when you own your own business, but we didn't originally think they'd be able to pay themselves until after the summer was over.

I'm happy to report that we were apparently wrong. We not retiring yet, but this is definitely a step in the right direction!

This time next year, I'm planning on life being very good. The brother will be gone, the wife's practice will be going great, and her and I will be tooling around on our brand new motorcycle (I'm pretty sure which one I'm getting, but as it's still months away, that's subject to change.)

I don't often wish time away, but I'm really looking forward to 10 months from now.

Another Big Announcement

I realize that I am not very good as maintaining this BLOG, but for those of you who still periodically check, you'll be rewarded...

I am currently going through a training process for something... yes I realize I'm being vague about this something. The training process will end on August 20th, and until then it is a twice a week, intensive training in the evenings. Once it's done, I'll tell everyone what the training is for and why I'm doing it.

But until then, to give you something to ponder, last evening we talked about subjects entitled:

Infectious Material Control and Weapons Control.

Also, for this training I was given a 16 page background questionnaire than I need to get filled out.

Question #1 (and I'm not kidding): "Please describe your childhood."
Question #4 (and I'm really not kidding about this one): "Please describe your current relationship with your mother and father."

The rest of the questionnaire deals with personality type questions, more family relationship questions, conflict resolution questions, situational questions (how would you deal with X), and such.

In addition to the questionnaire, there will be an FBI background check conducted on me (and those above the age of 18 living in my house -- talked to my brother about this one last night).

Now, for those of you who know me... if the questionnaire about the family issues don't sink me, the FBI background check could prove interesting.

I know the types of things that will turn up on mine (I've had one's done previous)... nothing that will scuttle my endeavor, but I'm willing to bet that I'm one of the few people (if anybody else at all) that will have anything turn up.

Stay tuned for more details.

Runner #218 - Me

(Photo Coming Soon)

I friend of mine (Jerry) has recently created his own sort of "bucket list" -- other than turning 30-something there's nothing wrong with him. Apparently one of these things was to run in a 5K race... or a race of sometype or other.

He asked me to join him, and together with another friend (Sean), we crossed this off our lists.

I had 2 goals for this race:

1) Beat both of them - Done
2) Finish strong (meaning pass as many people as possible at the end, and not allow anyone to pass me) - Done

Out of a field of 361, I finished 210th. In my defense, I wasn't running at my own pace. I ran the first mile with Sean, and the 2nd mile with Jerry. It was shortly after the 2nd mile, that I picked up my pace a little.

Now to make all you lazy couch potatoes feel especially bad, according to the official race results, the follow aged people ran in the race:

9 year-old Brady: 26min 21sec
8 year-old Tommy: 27min 53sec
9 year-old Mason: 29min 12sec
86 year-old Ruth: 60min 22sec

In addition to these, there were several 10, 11, 12, etc... that ran. Come on people, close your browser, get off your lazy butt (if this applies to you), and do something.

It's a New Year -- 2008

Alright, I realize I haven't blogged recently, and I have SO much to blog about.

I will try to catch everyone up, but in the meantime...

I have a MAJOR, LIFE-CHANGING event for my wife and I, that I will announce on January 14th.

Can't reveal it right now, but trust me, it's BIG (at least as far as I am concerned).

Stay Tuned!

My NOT so Super Powers

First, let me say that growing up, my favorite superhero was Spiderman. In a short while you'll understand the importance of this.

In a recent post I had made reference to a blogable event that was on-going that would be revealed soon... Well here it is.

Short time ago, I had noticed a bug bite on my hand. Upon examination, the bite was swollen, and had a red outer ring, but the area immediately around the bite was pretty much pure white. There were really no other symptoms at the time.

Upon telling the wife (she was with me when I noticed the bite), she immediately latched onto the idea that I had the beginnings of Lyme's Disease. My reaction, was "you're crazy!" As the next several days passed, joints in my right arm (hand included), shoulders, and some in my left arm started to get sore.

Researching the symptoms of Lyme disease, I had many (but not all the symptoms.) The most prominent were the red ring around the white bite, sore joints, and fatigue. I have to admit that during this period of time, I was EXTREMELY tired pretty much all the time -- I'm pretty sure it was work related, but hey... maybe I did have Lyme disease...

So I went and got tested. Results are negative. So, what was the bug bite, and reason for my symptoms? Current theory by my doctor was that I was bitten by a spider, and the spider's toxin would account for the bite mark and my sore joints... fatigue? Probably work, but could/maybe/possibly be somewhat related... but probably work.

SO... I was bitten by a spider... Given that I live less than 10 miles from the site of the worst Nuclear incident in US History, I'm hoping it was an irradiated spider... That would give me Spidey Powers! (note the Spiderman tie-in).

While waiting for my powers to develop, the wife and I talked about what they would be (she was humoring me). I told her, it would be GREAT to develop the web shooting thing, but that I was worried about where I would be shooting from. A spider pretty much shoots from their rear-end. I don't think York would appreciate me swinging around the great metropolis that it is, shooting spider web from my behind.

The fact that the movie version of Spiderman developed the web shooting from his wrists was just luck (hollywood luck). Think about it, for a spider pretty much all of their appendages are the same; what would stop me from developing the web shooters in my ankles for example? Come on... this is me and my luck we are talking about.

Super strength, improved/perfect eyesight? I'll take it, but with my luck, I'd develop the 6 extra eyes, and need another 3 pair of glasses because I'd have the same crappy vision. Nevertheless, I was optimistic.

Well, I am happy to report that it would appear that I do possess some spider powers, but true to my luck (crappy luck), it is pretty much worthless.

My power is: I can more often than not catch flies out of the air as they buzz around the house. At least I have been very successful as of late in catching flies out of mid-air.

Not such a super-power as super-powers go. Crap!

Happy Anniversary

It's a day late (technically 2 since I am writing this at 00:13 on October 16th), but this past Sunday was the wife and I's first anniversary.

Don't worry... I didn't forget about it either with her, or with respect to the blog... I just choose to NOT do any computer related activities for the last several days.

Now a question for all you married folks out there... When does this marital bliss thing kick-in? I figure it's kinda like runner's high... after a certain amount of distance(time), the pain ebbs it's way into a euphoric high, right? So, when can I expect it to start?

Just kidding (wife reads this, and wanted to pull her chain a little)... life on the home front is pretty darn good... exception is the brother living in the basement, but into every life, a little family must fall, right? Even that isn't sooo bad. Could/Will be better once he moves out, but that's MONTHS down the road.

The wife and I took an extra long weekend -- 4 days -- and spent time doing whatever we wanted. Went to Philadelphia for a day, hung around the house, ran some errands, etc.. I finally had time to go to the eyeglass place and pick out a new pair; my last pair was again broken while playing with my dog, and for the last several months, I have been wearing my prescription sunglasses around both day and night... I just hadn't had time to go, and when I did have time, I honestly didn't feel like doing anything.

For our anniversary dinner, we went to Morton's steakhouse down at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. She and I first broached the idea of marriage at a Morton's steakhouse while celebrating her passing the bar several years ago, so I figured we'd just go back to where it all started.

Oh, the wife and I joined a gym on Sunday as well. Now that summer is over, and the decent running weather is almost at a close, I won't be running, and the wife won't be biking. We figured we take this time and start up at a gym. Went through the whole sales pitch thing, because we are currently "trying it out for a week free", so they made us work with a membership counselor, who gave us a tour (very nice facility), and then started in with a hard sell. Even went as far as to give us individual body fat analysis's.

Mine came back at 15%... I'm in the excellent range on the charts. Kinda took the wind out of his sails. I am NOT, however, in any kind or exceptional shape... decent - yes, exceptional - no... still loads of areas I want to work on. I hope to use this blog as a quick place to track progress... not for any purpose, other than to force myself to keep going. Figure if I post results for the world to see, I'll be more likely to stick with it. I will make it known now though, that I really only want to go regularly in late fall/winter/early spring time; once good outside weather returns, I would like to get back to running and biking.... we'll see.

But starting... well now, it's back to work. I am writing this blog entry as I wait for a process to complete in a maintenance I am doing for work right now. Remember my last entry -- the maintenance that didn't go too well? -- well, I'm at it again. This time, things are going much better.

We'll, I'd better finish up, as the process should almost be done. Off to bed, and up bright and early for another GREAT day at work.

P.S. I'm all a flutter... in a couple more hours I get to see Tiger Army in concert. Pity sarcasm can't show through too well in a typing medium. The wife is becoming a big fan, and I (the loving husband) am accompanying her to the concert tonight.

See ya later.

I'm Baaackkk

I realize it's been a while. Received an email addressed from Chuck to our Fantasy Football League, wondering if we should file a missing person's report. Thanks for the concern Chuck. I'll do a better job keeping up, and thanks for the concern.

Have several blog worthy things to say now (they'll follow this post), and couple of things in the works, but don't want to ruin them. I should be able to post about one sometime next week... the other is months down the road, and when I blog it, you'll probably not associate it with this post, but this event/saga/episode is taking a considerable amount of time at the present.

Other than this... let's see...

Works sucks
Life is good
Stock Market is down
and I'm done.

Until next time...