Beast1624

Who said it?

2013-05-23T12:22:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite celebrity quotes of all time:

"The whole world is three drinks behind. If everybody in the world would take three drinks, we would have no trouble."

Wimpifying America

2013-02-19T17:41:00.000-06:00

From WildBillforAmerica:

Who Am I...?

2013-01-24T16:58:00.003-06:00

White Christmas in Texas

2012-12-26T16:40:00.000-06:00

This is the third white Christmas we have had here in Dallas in five years. Very unusual...darn that global warming!

Who said it?

2012-12-20T14:09:00.000-06:00

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government”

UPDATE: The Final Voyage

2012-12-04T11:30:00.001-06:00

I just read that at the inactivation ceremony for the USS Enterprise the Navy announced that they will indeed name the next carrier, CVN-80, the Enterprise.

May God continue to protect "...little children and ships named Enterprise."

Merry Christmas...

2012-11-29T16:44:00.001-06:00

...and remember: Si vis pacem, para bellum.

The Final Voyage...

2012-11-29T16:29:00.001-06:00

In case you haven't heard, the USS Enterprise has just finished her final voyage and is scheduled to be inactivated on December 1st. This is the 8th ship in the US Navy to bear the name Enterprise. There is a wonderful history of all 8 at the official Enterprise site. Enterprise VII still stands as the most decorated ship in Naval history. It's sad to me think there will be no Enterprise roaming the seas watching over us. There was a movement to name CVN -79 Enterprise, but that one was named after John Kennedy and is scheduled to be completed within the next 8 years or so.

But, there is always hope:

http://ussenterp.epetitions.net/

This is an online petition to name CVN-80 USS Enterprise. If you are interested I encourage you to go sign one of these so that hopefully this name can live on.

Only one try...

2012-11-26T11:43:00.002-06:00

My Beautiful Wife is correct. The quote in the previous post is from non other than the icon liberals hold high and dear:
John F. Kennedy

"A rising tide lifts all boats...

2012-11-19T16:09:00.001-06:00

...It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low -- and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut rates now. The experience of a number of European countries has borne this out. This country's own experience with tax reductions...has borne this out, and the reason is that only full employment can balance the budget -- and tax reduction can pave the way to full employment. The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budgetary deficit but to achieve the more prosperous expanding economy which will bring a budgetary surplus."

Who said it?

It is hard to tell of happiness...

2012-11-06T23:05:00.000-06:00

...time goes by and we feel safe too soon...

To all the people who made tonight possible: I salute you

Si vis pacem, para bellum

The Holidays have begun...

2012-11-01T11:55:00.003-05:00

...hope you have your track shoes tied, it's the start of that mad dash to New Years

That is, if we make it past December 21st.

Merry Thanksgivoween, ya'll!

Checkers or Wreckers?

2012-08-01T15:08:00.002-05:00

How about both

My buddy Bill assembled the bodies, painted & decorated them. He then built the chassis and tested/tuned them. We used these for our 'IROC' race last December (each vehicle stays in the same lane and each driver drives each one) and everyone had a ball with them. We will probably use these for our September race.

The Great Experiment...the next big step

2012-07-18T11:05:00.000-05:00

I told you there was a reason for the sparse posts the last year or so, been wanting to put this up but really had to wait to get to this point to do it. Waaay back on 11-6-09 I posted about the toy train layout we built for the kids and I hinted at the next thing: giant slot car track. You may have guessed by the video in the post a few days ago that we finally finished it. Well, finished is a relative word. I don't think this sort of stuff ever really reaches a 'final' finish, you just reach stages of 'that's it for now' finished. The last thing you want something like this to turn into is 'work'. That takes all the fun out of it.

First thing we had to do was get the Cave cleaned out...over the last few years since building it everyone and their dog had been 'say..mind if I store some stuff down there for a week or two?' which turned into a month or two then finally a year or seven. Issued the ultimatum in the summer of '09: you want your crap, come and get it or get it off the curb. Once we got a nice open space to work with

is was time to finish the floor

The trains were added next

(still love the site of these in the dark)

Then it was time cover the trains and build a grid for the slot car track. We decided on HO scale (about the size of Hot Wheels cars but with motors) since that's what I have collected most of my life

Thanks the Lord for table saws, electric miter saws and air nailers. Had to leave a gap behind the grid so we could get in when a car came off. After experimenting with various elevation changes we decided on a final layout, cut a roadbed out of some donated pegboard (thanks Chris!) for the track to rest on, bought a good power supply and wired everything up temporarily then ran it that way for sevearl months to make sure this was the design we wanted before nailing things down a little more permanently. Decided not to cover the grid with plywood because of expense (that stuff is really expensive) and also wanted to keep the weight down and make it easier to run permanent wiring later on.

After about 6 or seven months I hooked up with group of local guys that go to a commercial track every Friday and race. Each year they do a series where once a month they go to different guy's houses and race. Got my GS and SIL hooked on it and next thing we knew last August we were agreeing to host the final series race for 2011 in December. That meant we had 12 weeks to take sheets of Styrofoam glued to the grid in some areas; layered to make terrain changes in others & rasped down to even the slopes; wads of paper covered with masking tape to make rolling hills in still others; all covered wtih plaster cloth and painted to look like the Rocky Mountains from the video in the previous post; install a timing system on the old PC and run it to the flat screen we bought for the back wall (and run cable and blue-ray for 'guys nights' while we were at it); add some checkered flag skirding around the whole thing to turn THIS

into THIS

We did add a 1.5' extention to the middle section so we could build our drivers stations, moved the side straight out to the wall by 15" and built a 12'x5' platform over the trains to protect them and give work space on top for when we have everyone over. Each lane is 105.6 feet in length and has the same number of left/right turns. On the old T-Jet HO cars from the '60's it takes about 16 seconds to make a lap but with the new A/FX Mega G magnet cars that get's cut to about 7 seconds. Every raceway needs a name so we decided to name this one (what else?) THE BEAST. So on 12-10-11 we had our series final race. There were about 20 people there. We managed to get some slot car parts makers from around the country to donate door prizes and had enough for everyone to walk away with several extras. Everyone seemed to have a good time

Our next big race is scheduled for September 8th. Place is a complete mess right now, have to get busy cleaning it up! Well, not sure if this is of much interest to the general population but at least now you know why I have been MIA much of the last year or two. That's the next step...boost the wireless to reach from the house down to the cave so I can stay in touch a little better (since my Beautiful Wife has gotten on FaceBook I don't get as much time online at home as I used to). My 'train' invitation still stands: If any of you are ever in the Dallas area get in touch! Come by! We can run trains, race cars and who knows...might even find something cold and tasty in the fridge!

#9: Update

2012-07-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

I've been terrible for not posting the last year or so. No excuse for it...well, maybe a reason, more on that tomorrow. Forgot to post that GC #9 arrived safe and sound on 9-15-11. She is growing like a weed, sweetest thing in the world and, needless to say, has Grandpa wrapped around her little finger:

Breck Amber:

So far she and Sissy are getting along great:

It boggles my mind how much each of them look like their mother and aunt at the same ages, then I see pictures of their dad at the same age and I see them just as much in him. Really neat how 'fearfully and wonderfully made' we all are.

NO ONE...

2012-07-17T12:38:00.001-05:00

...is gonna' mess with my girl

Texas Slot Cars - Excoboard.com

2012-07-08T22:05:00.001-05:00

Texas Slot Cars - Excoboard.com

This is what I've been up to the last year or so. The last track picture in the link above (the one that looks like this Coors Light commercail) is the track my son in law and grandson helped me build...believe me...it has earned it's name: THE BEAST

Uncle Max

2012-01-17T21:04:00.000-06:00

When I was young I went to visit my aunt Nelda and uncle Max at there Arizona ranch where they raised and showed Peruvian Pasos. At that time I had had very little interaction with horses having only ridden a couple of times. My two week visit there was one that will stay in my memories as the best time of my life. I had so much fun spending time with all the horses brushing them, helping to feed them and just exploring the ranch and all its beauty.

My mom had come to visit the last couple days I was there and my aunt and uncle had finally let me ride one of their horses. I was hooked from that moment on. As I rode around the big coral in front of the house they turned to my mom and said "I see she has had riding lessons!" and my mom informed them of how little riding experience I had had and my uncle told her I was a natural. From then on he and my aunt encouraged me to get into some kind of horsemanship.

A couple months later my wonderful parents purchased our first horse and from that moment on I have spent every day in the presence of a horse. If not for there encouragement I would not be in the business I am in today. I have had a wonderful career in the thoroughbred racing industry as a jockey, exercise rider and assistant trainer and I owe it all to that short visit with my wonderful family that saw my potential long before anyone else did.

In December of 2008 we lost Aunt Nelda and just this past week we lost Uncle Max. My heart was broken when I got the call from my dad. They were two of the most important people in my life and I am eternally gratefull to have known them. I will miss them more then they will ever know and I wish I had taken the time to tell them just how important they were and how they played such a pivotal role in the road my life has taken.

Posted by Amanda

Hard trip to Arizona

2012-01-17T18:10:00.003-06:00

Had to make a hard trip to the Tucson area last week. My Uncle Max (mom's brother) was at the end. Left Wednesday 1-11-12, made it that night. He left this world on Friday 1-13.

Max was 81. He ran a successful business for years in Tucson. He and his wife Nelda were two of the kindest, funnest and most loving people you would ever meet. In the late '80's they moved east to Benson and engaged in their passion of raising Peruvian Passo horses until her death 3 years ago.

After mom died they (along with mom's sister Joann and Uncle Jim) were like the parents we didn't have anymore. We now have a hole in our hearts that won't be filled this side of heaven.

Max and Nelda gave our oldest daughter the greatest gift you can give anyone...the next post will be from her.

Whether your are a fan or not...

2012-01-16T14:35:00.005-06:00

...there are some things about Texas you just can't help but like...

Time for the Hollidays

2011-11-23T17:12:00.014-06:00

Matthew 24:22
"If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened."

Time is funny stuff. Jesus uses what sounds to me like past, present and future tense all in the same sentence...and it makes sense. To believers this isn't hard to grasp since we look at God as the architect of our universe, including time.

As I'm still here waiting on some updates to finish & everyone else has gone I have been thinking about this strange stuff called time. Is time unchanging? always marching on? never speeding up or slowing down? Appears so since no one that we know of has come out to say they have found a way to travel back or forward through time (although some pretty bright people on a Science channel documentary the other night said that while we can't do it, and we haven't been flooded with visitors from the future, and common sense says 'no you can't', that all their evidence can't disprove the notion that time can be changed...in fact they said that all their data says it can).

For me time is more like a river, with rapids and slow moving deep pools, currents and eddies. When I was young, before I started school, I remember spending days on end outside playing. The days seemed to last forever and the future was this far away thing that I didn't need to worry about. Then as I got older things moved a little quicker, though it seemed that in grade school from the first day of the school year to the last was like 9 years...and the summers like 3 weeks . In high school we picked up the pace a little, then college flew by in a blur.

I just thought that was fast...seems like the time from my children's birth to now, all grown with families of their own, has lasted about 31 weeks or so. I blinked twice last Christmas and here I am today.

Sometimes time itself seems to slow down: like the time we were on a mission trip in 1997. My group of 12 high school students and 3 adults had a week to roof a ladies house. The first four days time flew. Each time I looked at my watch thinking only a few minutes had gone by it had been hours. The days evaporated and we weren't making any progress. On Friday, with about 4 hours left, we had more work to do than we had been able to do the previous two days and I was afraid we were going to fail. I said a quick prayer asking God's help to get done what we needed for this lady. Suddenly time seemed to slow to a crawl. We were working like Trojans and meshing like gears in a watch. Looking at the watch thinking it had been an hour, only minutes had passed. We finished with no problem and the lady received a much needed roof.

Then there are the magic times when time stands still: our wedding, the births of our children, their weddings, the births of our grandchildren, the times spent meeting new friends like Allison & Brian and Russ and too many more to mention. The holidays are like that. Time spent with family and friends seems to last forever. When I visit these old friends in memories it warms from the inside like hot soup on a winter's night.

There are the dark times, when time seems like a prison: when my father, son, brother and mother died...each of these times seemed like never ending pain. The torment that lasted years when we struggled to make a business work, thinking we were stuck for the rest of our lives in hell. They all lasted forever. But, time has been like a blanket...smothering out the memories of the bad times to just a dim, smoky haze so that today, no matter how hard I try, I can't bring up the worst of these times in my memories.

Now it's time to head home. The Holidays are here. I am looking forward to this next stretch of time.

To all my friends and anyone just driving by: have a good time this holiday season and thank you for spending some time with me.

Dead Dog Days

2011-09-02T14:58:00.005-05:00

Yes boys and girls, it's been that hot here in North Texas this summer.

How hot has it been? It's been so hot that the other day when it only got up to 100 it actually felt nice. 105+ during the day is bad enough but come on, Lord...68 days is enough!! The real killer is it hasn't gotten much below 85 at night since about he middle of July...no chance for anything to cool down. But, after all, it is September and it only got up to 100 (so far) today. The weather man says that a "cold" front (smart a$$) is coming in Sunday and by Monday the high will only be about 88 or so and the low will be in the upper 60's!! Sweet relief at last. Besides the heat it's been bone dry. We can only water 2 days a week and then not between 10am and 6pm...that doesn't leave much time to get any water down before it evaporates. I have barely managed to keep my grass and shrubs from dying. Right now they look like they usually do come Thanksgiving. While the temps are about to moderate for a few days looks like the long term rain chances are slim to none...and the 15 day outlook puts us back around 100 by the 14th.

But hey, October's a comin'! Ironically after the last summer like this one (1980) the following winter was colder with a little more snow and ice than usual. We'll see how it goes this year.

In the meantime, do like the dog...stay cool!

New Favorite Movie Line...

2011-08-12T08:54:00.002-05:00

"...Stop talking or I'll put you back in the trunk..."

Guess which movie?

#9

2011-05-16T13:45:00.007-05:00

...on the way, still cooking. It's a girl...

Vitals: 19-20 weeks, 15cm, 12 oz, due 10-6-11

This will be #9 GC for my Beautiful Wife and I and #2 dotter (that's right, 2 'T's) for John and Amberle. Stay tuned.

I am wondering...

2011-04-26T09:01:00.004-05:00

E-readers (Nook, Kindle) are gaining in popularity. My daughter loves her Kindle. She is a voracious reader and puts away 1 or 2 books a week. So far she has 500+ on hers so this format makes total sense for her and the cost saving has paid for the reader many times over.

If I had the time or interest in reading books like she does I would jump on one. Only drawback for me is I am more into magazines and the Kindle (due to it being black and white only and not lending itself to pictures) is a little thin in that mag department.

So, what about the Nook? It's color after all. Well, they do have a much wider selection of magazines, even carrying about half the ones I get hard copies of and about 4 or 5 more that I would like to subscribe to or did in the past. The reader itself is competitively priced to the Kindle so what's holding me back?

This brings up a question to: why should I spend $149 for a 7" screen then have to subscribe again to a magazine I already get in the mail (for $10 a year...mailed to my doorstep...a paper magazine I can have and hold) and pay them $23.88 for a year...for the same one I get a hard copy of for $10 a year...

LISTEN TO THE WORD COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH: make people pay $24 a year for the paper magazine and only pay $10 a year for the e-magazine and you may actually be able to get some takers. Especially for those who want to feel warm an fuzzy about saving a tree.

And...AND...what about us people who have drunk the Kool-Aid and been faithful subscribers for years (been getting Bicycling mag for 12 years straight now) where's our incentive? I'm paid up for the next 18 months because I took your hard sell 'Go Longer and Save' pitch but I can't switch from paper to electronic? And if I wait a year and a half for it to run out your going to charge me the same or more to get less?

Sorry, seems like a broken model to me. I just don't think that many people will be fooled by this...but then again look at the last presidential election.

(BTW you can check my numbers yourself: go to barnsandnoble.com and look a the e-subscription rate for Field & Stream, then go to fieldandstream.com and click 'subscribe' and see what they charge there)