This morning my 10 year old daughter had a bit of a melt down because she only got 88% for mathematics on her recent progress report, not a grade, but a progress report. It was strange, because when I was a kid my parents would probably have done a dance if I got an 88%... Continue Reading →
I put down my Elmore Leonard book on the approach to El Paso As there are many new things to see, new to me at least There are sandstone hills, topped with scrub brush So neatly arranged it appears to be combed hair, cornrows maybe The back of the hill reveals a gaping wound... Continue Reading →
Our first full day in Paris was a Wednesday and it was quite a contrast from the previous day. Tuesday had been a day of many contrasting emotions, the sadness of leaving my Dad & my home town, then the joy of seeing my sister for the first time in almost 5 years. We added... Continue Reading →
We started early on this rainy Tuesday morning in Leeds, a 6:30 alarm call is not usually what you want on vacation! Still, we were mostly packed & the early start enabled me to drop the family off at the train station, return the hire car & then get a ride back to the station... Continue Reading →
The continuation of my vacation journal from our big thanksgiving trip to Europe …. York was wonderful, we could have stayed for ages, however it was time to go to Leeds. If York was a nice time catching up with family, Leeds was to be a great time, if a little busy catching up with... Continue Reading →
Well, as was somewhat expected, the vacation journaling got a little minimalistic and scattered after we left Scotland. Not a lack of desire, rather a wonderful time of catching up with many loved ones, family & friends that I had not seen in almost 5 years, or much longer in some cases. We were in... Continue Reading →
Yes, I am way behind on the journal, I'll catch you up when I can, probably mostly when I get back home. Heres my journal entry from back on day 4 - seems like a long time ago now 🙂 We had been spoiled by the weather so far, it was never going to... Continue Reading →
I am starting to think that my goal of visiting the Dalwhinnie distillery while we are here is doomed to fail. We were so enchanted with Stirling yesterday that we didn’t leave in time to visit on the way to Fort William. Today we slept later than expected & had a wonderful cooked breakfast even... Continue Reading →
Our first full day in the UK began in the wonderful small city of Stirling Scotland. After a solid 13 hours sleep for all 3 of us (wow), we headed out from the hotel to Stirling Castle, the city of Stirling is an absolute delight, the picturesque historic old town surrounded by modern conveniences. With... Continue Reading →
The great European vacation of 2015 has begun, for once I took the flight day off, it should have been, as it began, utterly relaxing, however leaving packing until the last minute saw it turn stressful, including realizing I’d left my phone at home 10 minutes into the journey to the airport. We got it... Continue Reading →
I had the opportunity to do something pretty special on Sunday morning using the Christmas present my wife got me this last year. I got to spend some time at Texas Motor Speedway that culminated with an 8 minute drive in an “Indy style” open wheel race car with the Mario Andretti Racing Experience. That’s... Continue Reading →
And now for something completely different; This last weekend I was fortunate enough to take part in the PS4 public alpha testing for the forthcoming sci-fi FPS game Destiny. This was a pretty bold / confident step by the producers, usually Alpha tests are private, only occasionally are the later Beta tests made public. This... Continue Reading →
The book “Jesus is Better Than You Imagined” by Jonathan Merritt was quite the read for me. It stirred my mind and soul like none other. I wrote page after page of notes and as I have a blog, the expanded notes are finding their way here in what I am calling the JIBTYI... Continue Reading →
I’ve had the idea for a few years that I need to get a pedal board for my guitar gear. It would make moving things around the room much easier and for the rare occasions when my stuff ventures out of the room it would be a great help for that too. The problem is,... Continue Reading →
Being a parent can be so very rewarding The free displays of love a child gives The giggles, the smiles, the hugs Watching your flesh and blood grow It is such an amazing blessing Yet there are those times when it is oh so difficult When your teachings have failed Or more so when... Continue Reading →
I figured I should write about this before Easter becomes too much of a distant memory and the post just seems completely random. This past Easter something pretty cool happened at my church, we had an Easter choir. To my knowledge this is the first time there has been a choir there. So being the... Continue Reading →
You know how it happens, you ask a question, you have a brief conversation and before you know it, you've volunteered to do something completely out of your comfort zone. Well that’s what happened the 2nd Saturday in January when I was helping out at the Solomon’s Porch homeless ministry. There were a couple of... Continue Reading →
One of my occasional hobbies is making beer, I say occasional because I usually only get around to doing it once a year. It is a process I enjoy, but it is very time consuming, hence the irregularity of my brewing. The actual process of making the beer is fun, especially knowing what the outcome... Continue Reading →
So you never win anything huh? Yeah me too, until earlier this week that is. I got an email on Monday from one of my vendors letting me know that a colleague and I had won their Christmas promotion. After getting over the initial disbelief I started to get rather excited, you see I though... Continue Reading →
Ok, so I wrote this about a month ago & then forgot to post it, so here is my account of a very long bike ride. Strange side note, I’ve not go on by bike since that day, I need to rectify that soon! August 24 2013 I rode 102 miles on my bicycle... Continue Reading →
What can be said about today that hasn’t already been said a thousand times? The awful events of 9/11 will live with us forever. The scars & pain of the families & friends affected will always remain. It breaks my heart every time I think about it. I am not going to attempt to write... Continue Reading →
Saturday July 27th, I (we) finally got to see Brad Paisley in concert. I say finally because this is the 3rd time we have had tickets to see him, but the first time we have actually seen him. He usually plays at the Fair Park amphitheatre (it changes its sponsored name every 3 days it... Continue Reading →
My cycling season has not quite gone as planned. I skipped the ride I was scheduled to do in May as it was the week after my vacation & frankly I was exhausted and didn’t want to go do it. The ride I had planned on doing in June clashed with my Mum visiting from... Continue Reading →
So that was it, my cruise journal. I still have a couple of poems yet to publish from on-board, but other than that, this will be my last post relating to this vacation. I learned a lot of things on-board about myself and about how I would like to spend future vacations. I learned that I... Continue Reading →
Day seven was our last day at sea and our last day of vacation. We have been sailing north / north west since we left Cozumel last night, sailing towards the end of this wonderful week. I had a pleasant sleep-in to 0745 (something is wrong with that being a sleep-in on vacation), followed by... Continue Reading →
