I’m glad I don’t remember that process.  They say that is one of the worst pains ever but truthfully how would you know?  Babies can’t tell you how it feels or how it compares to childbirth, root canals or drawn and quartering.  You can’t hook them up to a meter and see the pain on a graph.  I guess it’s like most things… a guess.

Michelle and I took a little time last weekend away from the baby and went to have lunch at Red Lobster and then off to see Zombieland.  If you haven’t seen Zombieland yet then you are truly missing out.  It’s funny, goofy, scary (stupid clown), self-deprecating, a bit gory and full of action.  There’s even a touching moment so there’s something for everyone.  Meaning emotionally touching… not inappropriately touching…  you know what I mean.

I’ve got a bunch of vacation days that need to be taken before the end of the year so I am figuring out how to plan that out.  Everytime I think I have it all sorted something new comes up.  It happened again today.  Urgh.

Oh, I have a Playstation 3 now!  Yay!  Although I really don’t have any games for it.  I got it used on eBay and it did come with Street Fighter 4 (which I really don’t like surprisingly) and Singstar (which is kinda fun but quite limited compared to other music games).  So I don’t count those.  I’m hoping to get the Game of the Year edition of Little Big Planet for Christmas because that just looks fun to me.  Maybe I should download the demo and try it out first but it seems interesting.  Plus God of War 3 will be out eventually although since the main guy involved in the first two is no longer part of the franchise I’m not holding my breath.

I got the old 60GB PS3 which is why I got it on eBay instead of going to the store.  I picked that one specifically because it is the only model that has the hardware emulation for both PS1 andPS2 games built-in.  So of course the first thing I did was play We Love Katamari.  Because I just can’t get enough of rolling stuff into balls.  Don’t ask because I don’t know.

I say they are taking the wrong approach.  We all know that tornadoes do massive amounts of damage in terms of both life and property as well as lost revenues for businesses.  OK so we’ve established that there is expected to be some damage.  Great.  So next time a big tornado touches down why don’t we scramble a few fighter jets and have them shoot to air to surface missles at the base of that big bad F5?  If the concussive blast from that doesn’t disrupt it then maybe they could also fire an aire to air missle and remote detonate it inside the tornado at the same time.  Disrupt it at the ground and in the air.  Those blasts should have enough force behind them to make the tornado falter if not die out.  The changes in heat in the air should also help.

Why hasn’t anyone thought about this before?

I mean seriously, we talk about fighting these natural disasters but we never actually confront them.  We don’t fight them.  We just have tons of people scurry about and guess a lot while spending money that could be better spent on more important ventures.  And worst case, would testing this theory really cost any more than what we are doing now?

If we could spend $100,000 to launch a jet and three missles and save lives, property, livestock, businesses, crops, and a fortune in insurance claims (if the victims were covered) then wouldn’t it be worth it?  And be awesome at the same time?  What pilot wouldn’t be volunteering for that duty?  Talk about your homeland defense.

What do you think?

Interested in joining this elite group of writers?  Send me or Yoshi an e-mail.  If you don’t know our e-mail addresses then you probably aren’t someone we would let in anyway.  Unless you are like some people we know who can’t keep track of contact information to save their lives.  You know who you are.  Comments here will also be considered.  Mostly.

Note: There are no prizes.  If you are only in it for the prizes you will be sorely disappointed.

Michelle has a very busy week this week with editing photos from multiple gigs, friends coming into town and going to see a big concert and who knows what else is on her list.  She’s busy.  So her mom’s doing us a favor by keeping Kira so Michelle can do everything she needs to do and I don’t have to take time off work or get bombarded by stuff when I get home.

Of couse this means that we can do whatever we want without fear of waking Kira up or that she will wake up in the middle of the night.  I stayed up till almost midnight last night playing a game without headphones.  It was awesome.

But I do miss her and it hasn’t even been 24 hours since she left (however it has been over 24 hours since I last saw her).  The way she smiles at me every day when I come home makes everything worthwhile.  *sigh*

Well, better make the best of it.  As I understand it, I believe the lawn has my name on it tonight.  *sigh*

Oh well… there’s always tomorrow I suppose.

That is what we will probably end up doing.  However, that’s not the trip I want to take.

Here’s the trip I would love to be able to take some day… preferably in the fall.  I’d fly to Maine, maybe Bangor since that is where a lot of Stephen King books took place, and rent a nice comfortable car.  Then head north to Quebec and see that just because.  Then head south down through Vermont and New Hampshire to get to Boston and have some Clam Chowder.  That would rock.

We’d head west then and in to Pennsylvania to see a true national landmark: Hershey!  Tour the facilities and ride the rides at the park.  Then drive through Pittsburgh just to mark it off the map on our way to Sandusky, OH to visit Cedar Point where more roller coasters and other various rides would be ridden till I was hoarse from screaming like a little girl.  We would head west again towards Chicago and stay with our friends there for a night.  Off again after breakfast we’d head north through Madison, WI and stop in at the Mall of America near Minneapolis.  I’ve been there but Michelle hasn’t.

We could then head southwest a little towards Sioux Falls and head to the Badlands via Hwy 90.  That place is very cool but I haven’t been there since I was little.  After a few pictures we would continue on 90 to Billings, Montana and then through the skinny part of Idaho and into Spokane, WA.  Since we are that close we would probably spend a night in Seattle and then stop in Olympia to see Yoshi and Meesh.  We could then take Hwy 5 south to Portland and visit Katie and then continue on to California  probably splitting off to 199 at Grants Pass to get to the coastal highway.

All the way to San Francisco to spend a night or two sightseeing and then back on the 101 to go through Los Angeles and then stop in San Diego.  For fun we could go an hour out of our way to cross the border into Tiajuana for a beer and trinkets and then find our way back across to Hwy 8 and take that to Tucson, AZ.  Off again and into Texas we would pass through El Paso and head southeast to San Antonio and then Houston on our way to New Orleans in Louisiana.

We would pass through Gulfport, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama and travel the length of the Florida pan-handle to get to Jacksonville where we would steer that poor mistreated rental due north.  We could take Hwy 95 to Savannah, GA and then continue on… maybe go to Charleston… maybe not.  It looks kind of out of the way.  Probably just stay on 95 to Raleigh in North Carolina and then off to the coast again.  I’m thinking Virginia Beach.

Then based on the map it looks like there is a bridge that will take you on to this strange island or maybe it’s a peninsula called Delaware.  I’m not even sure that is part of the United States.  May need to have our passports there too.  Hehe.  Then up to Philadelphia as we re-enter Pennsylvania because the alternative is New Jersey and no one needs to see that.

If we had to return the car to Maine where we rented it then I suppose we would travel past New York City and maybe drive through Rhode Island because seriously… how long could that possibly take?  Perhaps stop in somwhere else for some clam chowder to wrap up the trip and back to the rental place and then to the airport.

I wonder how many miles that would be?

Da-da has been getting schooled in the new feeding which is completely different than the old feeding.  Now that Kira eats mostly the same food we do (with the exception of formula) her meals have become somewhat easier since she feeds herself most of the time but harder for Michelle because she has to pre-prepare foods in advance a lot of times.  Of course the threat of allergies to soy and milk are making that interesting but Michelle is doing an excellent job at figuring it all out.

I’m always a little apprehensive when I get to take care of Kira on my own with no help because I spend so little time with her comparatively.  But I don’t dread it at all because I get her all to myself during those times and I really do enjoy it.  There’s no way I could have figured out all the things that need to be done and am thankful that Michelle is there to show me what needs to be done ahead of time.

Kira is closing in on eleven months of age and she’s doing great.  She chatters like crazy and is close to mastering the ability to walk on her own.  She’s up to about seven or eight unassisted steps at this point without holding on to anything.  She also generally carrying a stuffed monkey half her size and stopping to squat down and pick up a pacifier along the way.

Usually when she sees one of the cats she starts saying “kih kih kih” over and over while she watches or reaches for them.  Last night she saw the orange cat come around the corner and said out loud “kih tuh” which amazed me.  We call all the cats ‘kitteh’ because we are like that and we can’t help it.  So her saying “kih tuh” was not just close – it was spot-on.  She’s a smart one.

After some amazement at the amount of stuff we were going to have to pack into his Accord and the thought that we still had to pick up another guy and his gear, we headed out and eventually got everything and everyone settled.  The sun was up by then.  I was hungry.

We drove and drove and drove some more.  Stopped at Jack in the Box for some food that we would later regret and drove some more.  Once we reached the middle of nowhere we made a right and headed straight for Ozark Country.  The Accord deftly zipped around horse trailers and logging trucks.  I was too tired to care much.

We had to wait almost two hours for a group to show up and then boarded the bus for a very noisy ride many miles away.  Cubs fans were made fun of.  Laughter ensued.  We loaded up the canoes and floated about eight miles to the campsite where some more friends were already setup and waiting for us.  They had kayaked down the day before to make sure they got the spot they wanted.  Crazy bastards.

It was a beautiful weekend where I derided anyone for checking their watches.  I caught a few fish and generally relaxed.  I was bored now and then and I couldn’t nap when I wanted to because my tent was like an oven.  The water was ice cold so there was no recreational swimming.  But it was still nice.

By dinner on Saturday night I was taking two Immodium because I didn’t want to experience again the horror that happened after lunch earlier that day.  Dig a hole and cover it up.  Hah! Tell that to the rehydrated Chili Mac that was coming out one way or the other.  No more pooping in the woods for me thankyouverymuch.  I’d rather be medicinally constipated.

It took three tries to get my tent back in the small bag it came out of on Sunday morning.  We sat around till lunch and shot the shit and packed up the canoes and kayaks after eating.  It took a few hours and some serious paddling and we were back at the pull out site.  We were tired, smelly and I wanted to get home and see my family.

We packed up the Accord once more with slightly less than we had arrived with.  We left Ozark Country with fresh clothes on our backs but still in need of a serious scrubbing.  We made a left at the middle of nowhere and headed home once more.

So I’ve been shopping a bit.  When your stuff has been in storage for a couple of years you start to forget what you did and did not keep.  Important stuff – like a tent.  Yeah I used to have a nice tent but it no longer exists.  It had gotten a few holes in it from over-acheiving bonfire builders a few years previously so I have the vague recolection that maybe we sold it at the garage sale.  Either way – we were tentless.  So that went on the list.

I bought some travel toilet paper because that went missing from my supplies and that is a serious must have.  Sure I could have just taken a whole roll of TP, but the kind made for camping is much smaller and has it’s own little carrying case.  Now if only I could find a camp chair with no bottom for me to sit on.  How am I supposed to hold myself up, poop and read in the middle of the woods?  The idea of taking care of things in the woods is not completely alien to me but this is the first time I have had to “plan” for pooping in the woods.

No I need to go to the store and pick up some bottled water, beer, snacks, something to burn for Friday night’s dinner and some breakfast-y type stuff.  And get my fishing license.  Can’t forget that otherwise I may as well not even take my fishing pole.  License enforcement happens all the time.  Some other stuff too I think.  I better make a new list.

This week is especially short for me though.  Not only did I have yesterday off as a holiday, I am taking Friday off as a vacation day to go on the float/camping trip.  Some vacation day that will be too.  I will have to get up before the sun even wakes up to get my kit together and drive to my friends house.  He offered to come by and pick me up but honestly that is a BAD idea.  The dogs go crazy when anyone comes around the house.  If Kira was startled awake at 5:30am by insane dog barking, I’m afraid that would mean a very long and unpleasant day for both her and Michelle.  And she thinks I don’t think about her.  Pbbpttbt….

Did you see this article?  A guy in Arizona wears animal masks to and from work every day in order to get out of paying tickets from the photo-enforcement division.  Clever I suppose.  Well, until they start staking out his house.  Hehe.  Read the article.  It’s funny.

This picture just cracks me up every single time I see it.  Ha!  I am partial to monkeys though so maybe that has something to do with it.