Beast1624

Beast's Refuge

2009-10-13T16:42:00.010-05:00

Every Beast needs a place he can retreat to when the the world stops making sense. I'm no different. When we moved into our current house about 15 years ago I had a unique opportunity to build a work shop nestled down in the back yard to my specs (this was back in the days when I had a little money to put into such projects).

I decided on a 31'x31' space with a 31'x10' loft to give me 30' inside dimensions. Simple slab floor, plenty of plugs on each wall taking into account for a workbench on one side, 4 floor plugs on 10' centers, each wall with its' own breaker and commercial grade florescent fixtures. Decided to heavily insulate the walls, finish out with drywall/tape/bed. Stopped short of texture to save money but had them primer to seal everything. And, of course, central heat and air. This room's so tight the AC only runs about 30 minutes a day total to keep it at 80 in the heat of summer. Had them build the outside to match the prevailing architecture in the neighborhood. A very nice start to an escape from this world. The Cave:

Unfortunately almost immediately the whole building turned into a place where other family members and friends decided to store their 'stuff' because they didn't have room for it at their own abode [George Carlin's definition of stuff: when it's your crap it's stuff, when it's someone else's stuff it's crap] so between their stuff and mine after about a year you couldn't hardly walk through the place. Finally this past summer my Beautiful Wife and I issued the warning that if they wanted it they'd better come & get it or it was going out. We started around the middle of July and finished about the first of September. Loads of now-crap-formerly-stuff went to the curb, walls and ceiling painted, floor etched and painted (Wife suggested peach and tan but I decided on true Man-Beast colors: Black and Gray) and now a cave to be proud of:

And yes, there is a black mini-fridge stocked with an assortment of tasty refreshing beverages. Just a few finishing touches: already have cable run so just need a TV mounted on the wall (Ahh! Now I know what to do with all those Best Buy gift cards I've been saving from Birthday/Father's Day/Christmas the last couple of years!), then just need to run Cat-5 from the house for Internet access and that will be about it for fixing up.

Next up, chronicling the fulfillment of a life-long dream and the real purpose for all that square footage.

Best Time Of Year

2009-10-01T00:08:00.003-05:00

October is the perfect month. You can contemplate the year to date and pause just long enough to soak in the world around you before the Holidays try to run you over. I'm determined for 2009 to not get swept away in the flood of commercialism and family time robbing 'things'-that-have-to-be-done-or-the-world-will-end. I'm at the start of a project close to my heart intended to give our family an excuse to come together this season and all year. This will be the culmination of a life long dream. I will post some in-progress pics in the coming days.

In the meantime, here's to a beautiful 'Moon Of The Changing Seasons'...if you need me you know where to find me.

Question---

2009-09-30T15:09:00.002-05:00

If a midget fortune teller escapes from prison would he not be a small medium at large?

A Message From The Phantom...

2009-09-11T16:19:00.005-05:00

Amor Numquam Moritur, indeed.

The Beast...

2009-09-02T15:33:00.012-05:00

Many have asked where I came up with a handle like 'Beast'. Well, mainly three things over the years came together and it just kind of evolved.

First, I'm partial to the fairy tale. The basic Beauty & the Beast tale is at the core of many of the most powerful love stories, like Phantom Of The Opera. There's even some elements in stories like Star Wars. I'm still waiting for someone to do a serious big screen adaptation aimed at adults. The TV show from 1987 set new standards in my opinion for excellence in writing, acting (Ron Perlman was fantastic and Linda Hamilton? Mmmmm), and especially music.

Second, Psalm 73 is very close to my heart. Many a time I've had to apologize to God and say "Sorry for being such a 'Brute Beast' before you (in other words I made an ass out of myself)".

Third, I've always loved Mongo from blazing saddles. He strikes me as the quintessential Beast.

Mainly it all started in November of 1989 when my old P.O.S. Chevy half ton pickup spilled it's guts on I-35 40 miles from home and left me stranded at the end of a very hectic day. That thing was junk almost from day 1 in 1979. After 10 years, 115,000 miles, 3 engines (yes, 3 in 10 years and only 115k miles) and several cracks in the frame we came to the conclusion that it just wasn't up to the task.

Enter the Beast:

Purchased new the day after Thanks Giving 1989. It was a Ford F-250 HD (now called Super Duty) 4x4 extended cab with a 7.4 liter gas engine. It would pull half the world and could climb a snotty glass wall. On the down side it only got 9 mpg but on the upside it didn't mater if it was empty or pulling my wife's 30 ft goose neck with 5 horses or hauling 100 bales of hay it got 9 mpg. In 11 years & 190,000+ miles, other than normal maintenance and wear & tear, we had just 1 clogged catalytic converter before my idi...er...my son drove it 10 miles one night with a burst hose and no water in the radiator and cracked the head on the engine. These days you can't find anyone who will open a block with over 100,000 miles and a new engine was just too expensive, plus in our current house I just didn't have a place nor did I have the time to do the work myself like I did on the old Chevy at the old house. The Beast was a faithful helper and never let us down. Even at the end it made it home and died in the driveway.

We sold it and were down to 1 vehicle for the last 8 years. Not really a problem since I rode my bike everywhere. In '05 I bought the Motorcycle and that filled in nicely for getting around. Still, it's tough to haul stuff home from the Depot on a motorcycle.

For about the last year my wife has cajoled, persuaded, pleaded and twisted my arm until July 23rd I finally got...

...the new Beast. A little more civilized, to be sure, but much more spartan. The original had every option conceivable, this one just AC and AM-FM-CD. No power or remote control nothing. This will be a new experience for me. Every vehicle I've ever had was Black and had everything on it. So far we're getting @ 19 in town and 22 on the highway, right where the sticker says it should be. I must admit it's been nice to be able to haul my stuff myself when needed and not have to borrow someone else' s truck. I never dreamed I would buy a new vehicle ever again. I found a 2 year old one with 12,000 mile on it online. By chance I looked at the new section of the dealer's website just to compare prices to new and low & behold but the new one was just $200 more than the used one for the exact same model. I'm not that stupid so I opted for the new one. If this one lasts like the last one (and judging from the way Nissan builds their stuff I'm guessing it will) and considering that I don't put near the beating on a vehicle that I used to have to, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

On my mind...

2009-09-02T15:06:00.004-05:00

I know there's not much up there but I did manage to come up with some answers to Laura's questions

Itching to work with… I know I sound like Hank Hill but I dearly love mowing with my Snapper Commercial mower with a Honda engine. Makes the yard look like a carpet and it starts EVERY time you pull the rope.

Listening to… white noise. Can’t really get into anything here at work. Never know when we will get flooded with calls.

Driving… the motorcycle. It was too nice this morning not to.

Shopping fix… plop me down in the middle of Cabela’s/Bass Pro, Home Depot/Lowes, Best Buy/Fry’s. I don’t want to buy anything, just want to wander around for a while.

Signature scent… Since after the first few minutes I can’t smell it anyway I defer to what my Beautiful Wife and Daughters like best (they will smell it a lot more than I will)-Aramis. Same theory applies to my hair. Since she will have to look at it more than me I have it cut the way she likes it.

Necessary extravagance… Weatherby Euromark in 257 Wby Mag with Leupold Vx-3 4.5-14x50mm scope. Either that or Cheesecake.

Maintenance must-haves… Casio Solar Powered G-Shock with Atomic Timing. I’ve had mine for about 4 years. It syncs with the Atomic Clock in Bolder CO. each night. I gave my son and SIL each one just like it. When we are all together we love to compare and see all 3 synced up to the second. Plus this thing can take everything I’ve thrown at it from construction to ditch digging to jack hammers to bike wrecks.

Fear factor… rats. OK? Let’s just leave it at rats.

Currently craving… What-A-Burger triple meat with cheese…but since that’s not good for me I’ll probably wind up with leaves.

Speed dialing… Just my wife and kids. I seldom get any calls from anyone else.

Latest splurge… toys for the Cave.

If I weren’t a… Beast I’d be the Timpanist for the NY Philharmonic.

Dreaming of… Montana.

16 and-a-half weeks...

2009-09-01T09:21:00.006-05:00

The Beautiful Wife and I went to J.C. Penny's last night up at Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville (last day of August, mind you) and you would have thought it was Christmas Eve. Decorations everywhere, pushing for buying that 'perfect gift', Peanuts Christmas shirts, the only thing missing was Santa himself. Nary a trace of Halloween or Thanks Giving, they were going for the Christmas jugular. We had just come from Michal's (had to get some stuff for my special project...more on that later) and even they didn't have the halls decked like Penny's, just a couple of rows of fall/Halloween stuff.

I'm the worlds biggest fan of the Holiday Season, well-maybe second to Laura, but even I think 8-31 is a bit early for the full Christmas Kit.

I remember when I was just a little Beasty, about the middle of August everything in the stores was 'Back to School' (yuck). Then, come September 1 it was falling leaves, red-yellow-brown, sweaters & jackets. Middle of October you'd see some Halloween stuff then Nov. 1 it was Thanksgiving. And that Friday after Thanks Giving it was jingle all the way. Seemed everything had it's season. But when I was 5 I remember going into the old Woolworth's store the day after Halloween (a week before my birthday). They were taking down the Halloween stuff and putting up some of those aluminum Christmas trees. I thought it was neat to have Christmas stuff up around my birthday but all I remember mom saying was how ridiculous it was that they put Christmas decorations out so early.

So...in spite of what we may think it hasn't been a recent thing for stores to decorate early. But now there are more economic pressures than ever for retailers to perform they have blended the fall together and start the "Merry Thanks-Giv-O-Ween" season as early as possible. Heck, one of the biggest parts of my company's business is selling Giant Christmas Stockings...and Easter and Valentines and Patriotic and Halloween stockings, among others.

But who am I to criticize. I'm just a Beast who would be happy to spend his days playing with Toy Trains and Slot Cars.

17 Weeks...

2009-08-28T11:50:00.004-05:00

...from today

AHHHHHHHH!!! It may as well be 17 days as fast as it will go!

One saving grace, I haven't seen Christmas decorations up yet at Wal-Mart or Sam's, although I did see some generic 'fall' decor for sale at W-M the other day but hey, it is almost the first of September.

It's been in the neighborhood of 100 since mid-June with some well timed rain breaks every 2-3 weeks so even though it's been a normal-hot summer here everything is surprisingly green and I haven't had to take out a second lean on the house to keep the grass green or keep it comfortable inside.

We are supposed to get a break for the coming days, only low to mid 90's and less humid. Believe it or not 100+ isn't hard to take as long as the humidity is under 30% but contrary to popular belief the Dallas-Ft. worth area runs around 50-60% most all summer WITH 100 or so in the day and never below 80 at night (that's the kicker...it never cools off). One advantage to North Texas summers is you always know where you stand with the weather - hot and humid doesn't sneak up on you. It slaps you in the face and makes you cry for Mama - but out Laura's and Jeremy's way the desert dryness will fool you into thinking it's not as hot as it really is and next thing you know your out on the ground or worse.

I'm eager for fall. Besides being my favorite time of year I have a couple of interesting building projects I've started that I hope to have finished for the Holidays. More about that and some pics later.

"What have we done...?"

2009-08-25T13:57:00.003-05:00

What To Do...

2009-08-25T10:13:00.003-05:00

If seated next to a jerk on an airplane:
1. Take out your laptop
2. Slowly open your laptop
3. Turn it on
4. Make sure your neighbor is watching
5. Close your eyes for a moment, then look up to the sky
6. Open your browser to this site

Laptop: $800 at least
Plane ticket: $200 minimum
Look on your neighbors face: Priceless

"Don't Say She Lost"

2009-08-12T10:45:00.006-05:00

Blatantly borrowing this post title from Eldon. He posted sad news last Wednesday night. While he lost a wife and his children lost a Mother I totally agree with him...she did NOT loose. I'll go one more and say she is the winner. She beat cancer at it's own game and is now free. Please be in prayer for them as they have to start a life without their loved one. If you get a chance check out his posts the last few weeks. They are very touching, very honest (brutally so sometimes) and chronicle the closing days of their family's battle against this bastard of a disease.

I've lost a mother, grand father, an aunt to cancer. I have an Uncle who, although having beaten brain cancer, is now fighting the battle scars of loss of mobility. Even though Sandee's blog isn't updated regularly any more my wife got a FB update Monday and Sandee is still fighting with everything she's got. I doubt there is any one of you who has not been touched in some way by cancer.

I hate what this disease does. It not only tries to steal the life of it's victim but it tries to suck the joy, hope and love out of everyone close to them. I say dig in...don't give an inch. Ironic thing about cancer is it usually does the opposite...draws people together and gives them a rallying point and something to draw strength from.

[I've always tried to keep this blog at least a PG but...]
On October 27, 2007 Lori won her battle. They've changed her profile pic but it used to be the same picture of her, head shaved, looking defiantly at the camera, except it showed her flipping the double bird with the following on her shirt: "FUCK CANCER"

Can't say it any plainer than that.

Been really busy lately

2009-08-12T10:39:00.003-05:00

I've missed posting the last few weeks. Been really busy here with work (a VERY good thing) and some home & family projects (another VERY good thing). Lots of news to catch up on and share...some of it sad. Be tackling all that shortly.

Another Day At The Office

2009-07-24T16:19:00.004-05:00

From '02 until '05 my oldest daughter was a professional jockey...after her 3rd child she decided it was time to stop. Now she works with trainers and exercises about 10-15 horses a day. Once a year Philadelphia Park hosts an amateur race that she likes to ride in. This year she took 2nd. Although it's potentially a very dangerous profession I have to hand it to her for sticking to her guns and making her passion her living. Enjoy.

Help With Clasification...

2009-06-05T15:35:00.008-05:00

Would this be called Statutory Rape....or just a Moosedemeanor?

"The Website Is Down..."

2009-06-03T14:38:00.007-05:00

In honor of the 8th anniversary of the first of my jobs that was outsourced to India I give you the following. Anyone who has done any kind of support work can relate to this.

Content Advisory: contains a couple of F-bombs and some adult graphics. If such offends you do not watch. Otherwise, L.Y.A.O.!

Terminator Salvation: Opening Night

2009-05-21T02:28:00.003-05:00

Just returned from the 12:01 show of Terminator Salvation. A more in depth review will follow, but for now let me say that if Star Trek and Terminator Salvation are any indication of what we can expect from this summer's movie crop then Transformers and G.I. Joe should really be worth waiting for.

Tuesday Afternoon

2009-05-19T15:38:00.004-05:00

Today is another one of those rare perfect weather days...not too hot or cold, not too humid, just right. Way too nice to be working.

This cartoon has been on my mind lately and I could'nt resist...just had to watch.I know I'm probably opening a can of worms by saying this but I think this is just about the funniest cartoon ever...enjoy...

Rabbit of Seville, featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (1950) @ Yahoo! Video

This Just In...

2009-05-08T09:52:00.004-05:00

My Beautiful Wife just forwarded this video to me. They had a special intro to the movie last night. They asked some trivia questions and gave away a couple of prizes. I won't say where, but if you look carefully you can find the Beast and his posse.

Hint: I WAS NOT wearing a costume, however, I was able to pass along the correct answers to 3 of 4 trivia questions so family could win prizes.

Reveiw: Star Trek

2009-05-08T08:19:00.002-05:00

I remember when I was 9 years old. A show came on TV that was unlike anything we had seen before. It was the future, but this was believable...we could see this happening. This changed everything. We began to talk seriously about how neat it would be to have your own computer you could go to for answers to any questions, how neat it would be to have a little box you could hold in your hand and communicate with anyone anywhere? I died a little the day they canceled Star Trek. Over the next few years there were rumors and rumblings that they would bring it back to TV or make it a major motion picture (believe me, in those days it was tough to keep up with those rumors). Finally by about 1977, cars/girls/High School later, along comes this little movie that no one knew anything about that changed our world again, this time forever. Now it was obvious even to the dumb a$$e$ that run the entertainment business what fans had been trying to tell them for years: people were desperate for this stuff. Well, over the next couple of decades our cup raneth over with Ep V-VI-I-II-III, VeeGER, Kahn, Death, Resurrection, Whales, Countries, Generations, Space Stations and Voyagers (never got warm and fuzzy about Enterprise). By this time the keepers of the Katra had grown either bored or tired because they were just throwing crap and hoping it would stick to the screen. Then, about 2005 rumors started again about a new direction and a fresh idea to reconsile everything for those who had grown up with it and address a major complaint of many that if you hadn't followed everything you couldn't enjoy the latest offereing. It's been a long hard road, with weekly trips to Trek Movie the last 4 years to keep up with everything.

The long wait is over and all I can say is Wow. What a fun movie.

(No spoilers) The reports are true: you don't need to know anything about Star Trek or be a fan of the stories and characters to enjoy this movie...it stands on it's own, a true and clean new start. It's a busy movie...lots going on, action literally from the first seconds, lots of characters to meet. If I had to compare this to anything I'd say this does for Star Trek what Batman Begins did for that franchise.

There are 2 sequels planed by this team. Here's hoping the next will be like Dark Knight and be even better than this first fantastic story.

Thank you, J.J. Abrams for such a wonderful gift. It struck me last night as the end credits rolled. I looked at my daughter and saw the same wonder in her eyes that I had 40 years and last night ago in my own: things have come full circle and it is good.

Now, the circle would be complete if we could just convince George to let someone help breathe a little fresh air into his world...then I think he would be ready to tackle Episode VII-VIII-IX.

Star Trek

2009-05-07T16:25:00.000-05:00

We have tickets to see the 7:00 opening show tonight. I'm just marking time here at work until we can head to the theater. I have been waiting for this movie for almost 5 years. This will be the first big movie that I've been to the first show on opening night since The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Full report afterward.

Break-In Update

2009-05-07T14:42:00.008-05:00

Knot remindeded me that after my rather emotional report of our break in that I haven't updated. There have some interesting and not-so-surprising developments.

The break in happened on 4-7-09. On 4-16 we heard that two houses in a neighborhood a couple of miles away had been broken into with striking similarities to our break in: the car seen outside was black, the beds in every room had been turned upside down, someone had crapped in each place and put the toilet paper in the waste basket. The good news was the police caught the buglers at the other two houses in the act and found out they had quite a bit of stolen items in their vehicle as well as a storage unit where they were keeping other items stolen from other houses.

I waited until 4-23 to call the police to check on our break in's investigation. I was told that (after just over 2 weeks) that our case had not been assigned to an investigator yet. I explained the information I had found out and that I was interested to see if the other cases were related to ours. I was told to call back when I knew the exact addresses of the other break ins and they would reference it on our case for when an investigator was assigned.

Meanwhile (after finding that the insurance company had put a limit on the allowable amount for stolen firearms which was about half the value of what I lost) we continued with the laborious task of inventorying everything for the insurance claim, gathering proof of purchase and serial #'s and looking up replacement costs, all the while hoping we would hear from the police that they had recovered at least some of our stuff. I was amazed how many receipts and records I still had...one of those things that seems a pain over the years to keep but really comes in handy when you need it.

On 4-28 we turned in the insurance information. On Friday 5-1 I called the police back after finally getting the addresses of the other break ins only to be told that in one short week our case had been marked as "inactive due to lack of leads". What!? I asked who it was assigned to and they said it had never been assigned. WHAT!

In the mean time it has now been over a week since turning in all the claim information===UPDATE: as I was writing this the insurance company called and they are ready to send us a check. So far so good.

As for the burglary: What do you expect from people who live off of others? You expect them to rob and steal and be societies leaches.

No, the hardest screw is from the police...especially considering how we pay through the nose for the services. AND BEFORE YOU SAY IT'S DUE TO AN OVERWHELMING CASE LOD---I refer you to this little gem where our city officials brag about having the lowest crime rate in 50 years...

I share Johnny's attitude towards the thieves...from both ends of society...

Dear Dr Phil...

2009-05-05T10:10:00.004-05:00

I finally decided to spend time enjoying my favorite pastime -- bass fishing. I got my own little fishing boat and tried to get my wife to join me, but she just never liked fishing.

Finally, one day at the Bait & Tackle Shop, I got to talking to Sam, who it turned out loves bass fishing as much as I do. We quickly became fishing buddies.

As I said the wife doesn't care about fishing. She not only refuses to join us she always complains that I spend too much time fishing.

A few weeks ago Sam and I had the best fishing trip ever. Not only did I catch the most beautiful bass you've ever seen, a few minutes later Sam must have caught his twin brother! So I took a picture of Sam holding up the two nice bass that we caught and showed the picture to the wife hoping that maybe she'd get interested.

Instead she says she doesn't want me to go fishing at all anymore! And she wants me to sell the boat! I think she just doesn't like to see me enjoying myself.

What would you do? Tell the wife to forget it and continue my hobby or quit fishing and sell the boat as she insists?
Thanks.

P.S. Enclosed is a picture of Sam with the two bass we caught...

What we really need to focus on...

2009-04-22T09:25:00.005-05:00

It's not about left or right...it's about right and wrong. And the way congress has been wasting our hard earned money the last few years is wrong. Time to start looking at some REAL alternatives and REAL change next election cycle because all we are going to get from this bunch is more of the same.

HAPPY TAX DAY!

2009-04-15T09:11:00.010-05:00

The day before yesterday (April 13th 2009) we hit 'Tax Freedom Day'. Today we all mail our checks to the IRS.

All I can say is I'm glad my tax obligation is behind me. I don't have someone at my throat any more!

I'm ready to hit the ground running with endless energy and work for myself from here on out!

I have nothing to worry about...no more strong arm government at my door! I am master of my fate! I am the captain of my soul!

To The Government!!

...and the horse they came trotting in on.

Arrrrr Maties!!!

2009-04-14T11:16:00.005-05:00

That be a job WELL DONE!