Sarah Palin who?

I know a lot of people out there do not follow politics and certainly haven't shown very much interest in the current Presidential Elections. I'm here to tell you that you need to be aware of what is happening on the national stage.

John McCain has made a point of attacking Barrack Obama's lack of foreign policy experience. This, along with his accusations of elitism, have been the largest attacks coming from the McCain camp. McCain can no longer make those accusations.

Sarah Palin is no doubt a wonderful person, the mother of five (including a Downs Syndrome baby born just this past April 18th. She has been a force of ethical integrity for the last few years. She's married to a blue collared oil worker on Alaska's North Slope. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Idaho. She was the mayor of a small town (5500 people) in Alaska until December 2006 when she became the first woman governor of Alaska. Now, in 67 days this self proclaimed "hockey mom" could be one heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in the world.

You see, this morning, John McCain proclaimed in Dayton, Ohio that Sarah Palin would be his Vice-Presidential running mate.

Let me explain about John McCain. John McCain, if he was to win the office of President would be the oldest person to ascend to the position of President at 72 years, 144 days old. This should scare everyone to death. McCain has survived cancer (and while his most recent exams have shown him to be healthy and cancer free) yet at age 72 anything could happen. If it did, the station of President would fall to Palin, and therein should be where we are concerned.

When asked if Palin would be interested in the job of Vice-President Palin refused to comment stating that [paraphrasing] she cannot be qualified to speak on how well she could do without first knowing what the VP job was all about. Palin has absolutely no experience in the world of foreign policy yet Republicans have claimed she is qualified because her son leaves in September for a tour of duty in Iraq.

Palin has no national experience whatsoever. Palin has less than two years as the governor of Alaska. Palin has less education than anyone in this election. Palin isn't qualified to be our President yet she is on the doorstep of that office because of John McCain's decision to put her on the ticket.

I'm sure Sarah Palin is a wonderful individual. She is a beautiful woman with a record of being tough on rule benders and a house cleaner who takes no prisoners. Yet she is still so young (she could have went to my high school had we grew up in the same area of the country), so inexperienced and so distant from the Washington political scene (both in experience and physical distance).

I hope the American public sees the risk McCain is taking putting her on the ticket. I really feel as we cannot elect him now, simply because there is way too much risk with her on his ticket. I really hope Palin has a wonderful political career, but she isn't ready for the top office. Not yet.

Where is Our Country Going?

Okay, this is goiong to be a rant, plain and simple. I couldn't think of anything to write, so I've decided to just blurt out some of my political thoughts. You may agree with some, you may disagree. That's fine, in fact I would be happy to argue with anyone about them (surprise there, eh?). So, off we go...

-- Gas prices have dropped here in Indiana to a respectable $3.69 a gallon. So, my question is: when the hell did $3.69 become respectable? $3.69 a gallon is ridiculous. The United States is arguably the most innovative and intellectually rich countries in the world yet we can't figure out how to take a vehicle froom point A to point B without burning fossil fuels. How sad is that? The fact is that we have technology but lack the infrastructure to put clean vehicles on the road. The brilliance of the Eisenhower administration was its vision and pursuance of the adoption of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Let's imagine how many new American jobs could be created by developing brand new products used to fuel/power electric vehicles. Additionally the United States could put itself back on the automotive map, surpassing Honda and Toyota by becoming the world leader in electric vehicle production. How cool would that be?

--We are still at war in Iraq and planned to be until 2015 until the Iraqi government compromised and said we could stay until 2011. They didn't want us there past 2010 but we felt we needed to be to "protect American interests". American interests = oil fields. Don't listen to the rhetoric about the savagery of Iraq's previous regime when US allies like Saudia Arabia are also horrible perpetrators of human rights violations. If the US was serious about human rights then they would do something about slapping restrictions and tariffs on China who has been identifed as one of the world's worst violators.

--College education (education in general) and medical costs are two of the most out of control costs in our country. It seems to me that if there was anything worthwhile in our country for the government to invest our tax dollars in it would be those two thing. Yet we give tax breaks companies that result in billions of dollars going directly into the pockets of CEOs in the form of bonuses. Even floundering companies like Countrywide reported huge bonuses for their CEOs because tax loopholes have made it possible to make that money untouchable. It sickening to hear a company is looking for government intervention only to learn that the CEO pocketed $40+ million dollars in bonuses.

--In Fort Wayne yesterday two kids were pulled from a school bus and cuffed by city police officers. It seems that the two boys got into a fight and when the bus driver tried to break it up, they attacked her. The police promptly showed up and while talking with the boys, were attacked themselves. That led to the officers putting them in cuffs. What makes me angry is that people in Fort Wayne were in an uproar because the police did this. How crazy can people get?

--The governor of Indiana is looking into leasing out the state lottery to help pay for education. The state lottery has supposed to be there to help with education but for some reason it isn't working. The money is being spent on things other than schools (investigations have shown that there have been issues with people at the state government level using the money to pay for trips, personal expenses and other things). Why don't we just crack down and make it work as it was intended?

--What is so difficult about illegal immigration? Hispanics are coming into our country from Mexico in droves. Why? Because conditions here are better than they are in Mexico. So, why don't we try this: Don't give jobs to illegals, if you are discovered employing illegals, you pay a very significant fine, your business license is taken away, or you and those who do the hiring are put in jail. Do not give social security cards or drivers licenses to illegals. If you give medical care to illegals require hospitals/doctors to report them to immigration immediately. Make it a requirement to show citizenship to enroll children of illegals in school. Basically make it so difficult for illegals to get anything accomplished in this country that they have to go through the correct channels to achieve citizenship. I have nothing against people trying to find a better life for themselves, but I do have a problem with them doing so at the expense of our taxpayers.

Okay, I got a bunch of stuff off my chest, and I feel better. If you want to let me have, I would be happy to hear what you've got to say.

Can't forget Bub

I would be remiss if posted about Gracie without also writing something about her little brother.

I'm not going to get all mushy about him, mostly because he is simply a terror right now and as much as I would like to fawn on about him, I really don't feel like it.

Bub is having some mouth issues. He has sores on his tongue that I guess he probably got from scraping it with his finger nails. He is having so many problems with his teeth that he puts his hands into his mouth and I think he is tearing up his tongue. I think Angie is going to see if she can find some children's Abesol to put on it to relieve some of the pain. I know that he didn't nap at all yesterday and struggled to go to sleep at bedtime. He just stands in his bed and screams. Eating is difficult for him. I hope these teeth stop hurting him soon as he is simply unbearable as he is.

Balin is starting to talk more and we have been able to pick out a few words. The other day he said Megan and that surprised us. He has also said Gracie, Daddy, Mommy, kitty, see it, and once we thought we heard him say thank you. It si so hard to tell when they are that little, but we do know he is progressing. He can point to his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, hair, toes and fingers. When you ask him to do simple things, like throw something away he understands and does so (he is very disciplined in that when you ask him to do something he does it right away).

Balin also understands different things. When you ask him if he wants a bath he runs into the bathroom and regardless of what he is wearing, tries to get into the tub. He knows what to do when you ask him if he wants to go outside, typically running to, opening, and scooting out the door. All I can say is you better have your shoes on when you ask because he throws a fit if he can't go out right away after you make the suggestion.

One thing I can say about the little guy is that he really loves his sisters. You can tell that he misses Megan. He loves to hug Gracie and whenever she is on the floor he wants to play with her. All and all he is a good little boy. He is smart, funny and determined. It will be interesting to watch him evolve as he grows older.

Soon he will be back to his normal self, the happy-go-lucky little guy who is cruising all over the house, getting into stuff and loving life. Until then I suppose we are just going to have to grin and bear it. I will try to get some morres of him when he is feeling a bit better. He just wasn't up to snuff this past weekend so my shots were limited.

The Rush of Daddyhood

When I brought my camera in to work this morning I knew I was going to have to post a couple of the pictures that I took this weekend but in truth I really didn't know what kind of story I was going to put to the pictures. Sometimes it is difficult coming up with topics to talk about when it comes time to update my blog. This is especially true when it comes to the kids. It's easy to write about things that they do, or accomplish but it is difficult on those everyday type times when things are just status quo.

Such was my quandry this morning as I was downloading the pictures. Once they were finally transferrred to my computer I took the opportunity to open a few of them up to see how they turned out and that's when it hit. That's when the "Rush of Daddyhood" overcame me and I knew what I was going to write.

Life is extremely imperfect. We trudge through many parts of it, forced to face situations that we would rather just ignore. There are so many moments of monotony, of stress and of anger and frustration. Then there is the "Rush of Daddyhood".

When I opened the picture you see above something happened to me. My heart lept and a smile came across my face as I looked upon the image of my little girl. What an incredible feeling it is to have someone like Grace in my life. There are so many moments where she erases all dread and stress and for that I feel extremely blessed.

Some of those moments are very mundane, like when she falls asleep on the couch and I have to carry her in to bed. Others come in what she says, like when she tells me she loves me all the way up to the sky.

Sometimes it is just watching her when she doesn't know I'm peeking in on her. Like in the van when a song comes on and she begins to sing. I love to listen to her and watch her in the rearview mirror. Eventually she looks up and sees me and that smiles explodes across her face as she quits singing in embarrassment.

Other times it is her profound reliance on me for love, protection and strength. I remember the last big storm we had she was so scared. She came to me in the living room and she and I sat in the dark, her huddled up next to me, jumping at every thunderclap. I wrapped my arms around her, and while this may sound selfish, allowed her to cling to me as I basked in the feeling as I allowed her to take solace in my protection.

I heard the Kenny Chesney song, "There Goes My Life" yesterday and couldn't help but think about Gracie and how perfectly she fits that song. As we recently sent Megan off to college, I imagine Gracie, 12 years down the road, doing the same thing and it made my eyes tear up a bit. She is my little princess. I tell her everyday how much I love her and love it when she reciprocates. Everytime she does I get that satisfaction felt only with the "Rush of Daddyhood".

I know that eventually there will be a time when she goes away and makes a life of her own. Those days will be painful for me, as she is my life and will take a huge part of me with her when she goes. Until then I will steal every moment I can where I can feel the rush that tells me that at this very moment, this very second, I am living life as it was intended to be lived: with a profound feeling that God is lookng down on me, giving me a gift that makes all other travails trivial. He fills me with a feeling born in Heaven and only granted to those who are deserving of his Grace. Funny how that works out.

The Olympics are over, but are they?

This past Sunday the 2008 Olympics came to a close with the ceremonies in Beijing, China. They were exciting to watch and while I had grown a bit tired of them, many people didn't want them to end. There was a lot of excitement and incredible stories of human endurance, accomplishment and triumph. They were enjoyable from start to finish.

For many, the Olympics are not over, but instead, they are just about to begin...

I want to tell you about a guy named Kevin Stone. He is a 47 year old guy from Kodak, Tennessee. Kevin has been married and divorced, raised two kids, a boy and a girl, and served his country in the army. Kevin however isn't a typical guy though. Kevin is a fighter whose determination is driven by every cell of his body and he has an incredible story.

Kevin is an accomplished archer. So much so that he is considered one of the top twenty markspersons in the United States. On August 23rd, 2008 he kicked off the fire works for the Knoxville Smokies Triple-A baseball team by lighting the first fuse with a flaming arrow from 325 feet away. To put that in perspective think about how difficult it would be to shoot ONE arrow the length of a football field to hit a target. Now imagine that arrow on fire with the entire stadium full of people watching you and your target being a small ring. That is an incredible feat to say the least.

A crazy as his abilities with a bow, Kevin is even more amazing because of his past.

In 1985 Kevin was in the army, stationed in Granada. On his way back to base one day he was the passenger in a jeep, sleeping soundly, when the driver lost control. The jeep plummeted over a cliff, with Kevin strapped inside. The driver managed to bail out, but Kevin had been sleeping and suffered an impact with a granite ledge. Hitting top first, Kevin took the impact to his head. It drove his skull into his spine column and broke four vertebrae. The diagnosis for Kevin was grim: "Death, or total quadriplegia forever." His family was told he'd have neurological damage, degenerative disc disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and degenerative brain disease.

Kevin would not give up fighting though and eventually left the hospital, wheelchair bound and doped up on large amounts of medication. In the years that followed Kevin continued to fight and eventually learned to walk again. He was so determined to live a normal life that at one time he even played volleyball in his spare time with his friends he met while going to college to ear two degrees in art and music.

In the early 90's the pain became even more unbearable. He was taking up to 4,200 milligrams of narcotics a day to deal with his medical conditions. Additonally the brittle bones in his legs started to chip from his efforts to try to move without a wheelchair. Eventually the doctors wanted to amputate his legs. Kevin refused to allow them to.

Then in 1996 a therapist suggested that Kevin suggested that Kevin get involved with athletics. He headed out to Seattle for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games where he saw people competing with more limitations than he had and they were blowing away any score he possibly could imagine.

An accurate long-range shooter in the Army, Kevin decided to compete in rifle shooting. To his surprise, he was beaten by a paralyzed veteran who used a blow tube to activate the trigger and moved the rifle with his chin. In the end this motivated Kevin and he began to train in earnest.

This new fight gave Kevin new motivation and provided him with an upgrade in his quality of life. Always a fighter, this gave Kevin an outlet for his energy, and he began to excel. He managed to medal at various events, finding success in team pistols.

It was then that Kevin decided he was going to up the ante and become an Olympian. He switched his discipline to archery and managed to qualify foir the U.S. Archery Team, disabled team. With that he traveled to Madrid, Spain and competed at the World Championships. The following year he represented the United States at the Paralypic Games in Athens, Greece.

The Paralympic Games are the shadow of the Olympic Games, occuring in the same city as the Olympic Games, just a few weeks later. They have similar events for handicapped individuals. The similarity doesn't end there though. There is also stringent drug testing and Kevin knew that preparing for though games meant getting off the meds.

Kevin suffered through a month of pain medication withdrawls, going from 4,200mg to 10mg of meds a day, including abandoning a 17 year habit of taking 160mg of morphine every day. This came in addition to working out 10 hours a week, strengthening his back and core muscles, and shooting a bow and arrow 30 hours a week. In 2004 he went to Athens and came home with a bronze medal in team archery.

In less than two weeks Kevin will travel to Beijing to compete in the 2008 games in both team and individual archery. Among Paralympic archers, he's ranked in the top 10 in the world.

He works hard to keep that ranking. Kevin practices archery for five hours a day, six days a week. He also works out three hours a night at National Fitness Center in Sevierville: 35 minutes of cardio, a half-hour of core training (sit-ups, back extensions), one of various routines using weights, and a half-hour solely on his legs. He can walk short distances but risks breaking bone.

So, to say that the Olympics are over would be an understatement as I know that Kevin's aren't, nor are the games for 100's of others across the globe who will converge on the same venues that we, over the past two weeks, have become familiar.

There won't be the same coverage for these games. You won't see blocks of competition broadcast on NBC, or scrolling results at the bottom of your screen on ESPN. Yet these athletes will be giving the same degree of effort as Michael Phelps, Husain Bolt, and Misty May.

I will be following the results as best I can, watching online to find out how Kevin has done. Over the last few days I have thought back to those games of volleyball I shared with Kevin. I remember going back to Adrian College for homecoming and hearing how Kevin refused to bring his wheelchair to the football game because he didn't want any of his fraternity brothers seeing him diabled (this was at the time when his doctors were suggesting that Kevin get his legs amputated). I remember Kevin joking with me, calling me Captain Adverb (in reference to the old School House Rock cartoon "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here"). You see Kevin is my friend and brother. One that I've known since shortly after his accident. I learned his story as he's lived it. I got to see him struggle with raising a family with his horrible disability. I've got to see him watch his wife Bonnie work while he put himself through college.

It is so rewarding to see him find something that he excels at and claim back his life that was written off by so many doctors. Kevin is a great guy, with a great heart and the drive and determination to never, ever give up. I am proud to have him as a fraternity brother. I am proud to have him as a friend.

So, if the readersof this blog can find it in them to give the Olympics a little more attention, I encourage you all to follow Kevin's progress in his quest to get a gold medal while in Beijing. Think about him when he leaves and competes during the second week of September. I will keep you all updated on his results. Let's hope he brings home gold.

And Kevin, if you happened to read this article, I just want to tell you good luck and as always, Love and Respect.

2 Out, 5 In

This weekend was all about teeth. It was a long weekend and by Sunday night Angie was begging to let her go to work for me so she could get away from the kids. We both had our fair share of the little hellions this weekend and Monday morning couldn't get here soon enough.

We'll start with Balin. He has not been feeling well. In fact he was running afever on Friday so Angie took him to the doctor's to find out that he has 5 new teeth coming in. Yup, 5, all at once. This has turned him into a Devil-child. He may be as happy as can be at one moment, and the next he is screaming at the top of his lungs, his fingers in his mouth trying to massage the sore gums. It has been extremely trying for us. He won't sleep through the night, waking up crying once or twice a night. He won't take good naps because he wakes up and his mouth hurts. He can't eat much and we are trying to find soft foods but even with those he only eats a little bit. It has left both of us with the hope that he gets over it soon.

Grace has had her share of tooth problems over the weekend as well. The last time she lost a tooth she was initally very excited, and then proceeded to pass out cold in the bathroom. That said, this time around she was terrified of losing her newest loose tooth. She wanted it out, but as soon as we went to help her she started to lose control and just sob uncontrollably. At one time Saturday I truly feared that she would hyperventilate she was breathing so fast. She wanted me to pull the tooth and besides my own teeth, I have no experience with that kind of thing. When I had a loose tooth as a kid I just went into the bathroom and wiggled the stupid thing until it came out. Gracie would have no part of that. Finally on Sunday Angie just reached into her mouth and yanked the damned thing out. That was the end of that. Grace was fine, she didn't faint this time and was happy to put the tooth under her pillow last night with instruction to the Tooth Fairy not to take the tooth because like her first one, she was saving it.

Megan called from college yesterday. She and her roomate are both sick. Kendra has been throwing up the last three days and Megan has both a terribly sore throat and three fever blisters on her lips that hurt and cause her great consternation. I think that most of the problems come from their collective worrying, which Megan is very good at. She did say that she met a girl down the hall and has been hanging out with her as Kendra has been too sick to leave the room. It makes me happy to hear that she has started making friends. She is coming home this coming holiday weekend (I imagine it is the need to pick up some things she didn't take with her the first trip down than it is to see the family she is missing). I know I look forward to seeing her and hearing about all the new things she is experiencing. She starts class today and said she would call tomorrow (her light class day) to let us know how they are. I will post an update when I find something out.

On a positive note, Angie and I took the kids on a picnic lunch to the rose gardens yesterday. I was able to get a few pictures of the kids that I should be able to post soon (I forgot to bring my camera to work today otherwise I would have done so with this post). Balin was having tooth issues, so I only got one or two of him, but I did get some good ones of Gracie. I especially like one of her high up in a tree. It turned out very good. You'll see.

Well, that's a little taste of my weekend. Nothing else much happened. Lots of teeth, that's about it.

One Down, Two to Go...

Well, we turned Megan loose yesterday. At about 1:30pm we left home, the van and her car loaded up with her stuff, off to college for her first semester away from home.

To say that yesterday was a stressful day would be an understatement. Megan was a mess all day long up until we left her last night.

It started bad. She decided that she was going to meet Caleb for breakfast so she could say goodbye to him. Granted, they broke up a couple of months ago, but they have remained close and have spent time together. We have no problem with this. Evidently she does. She came home just wailing and crying. I guess he gave her a note and she was so distraught she couldn't even read it. I felt bad for her, but I think she will find out that she did not make a mistake when she decided to move away to go to school.

When I got home at 11:30 I asked Angie and Megan if they wanted something to eat and that I would run to the store to pick up something. Megan said that if she ate anything she would throw up (she was stressed/nervous). She actually broke down and started crying when we were clearing out her room, saying she was afraid and scared to death because she didn't know what to expect. I tried to make light of it and tell her that she could come home anytime she wanted but nothing would help, other than letting her cry herself out and get over her fears.

Anyway, we made it to Ball State. Wow, the traffic was horrible. It seemed like a million people were moving in at once. Megan actually got to move in a day earlier than the rest of the population because she signed up to live in the dorms for two years, otherwise move in days start today. Let me tell you, I think everyone is staying in the dorms for two years and everyone has a last name that starts with an A-E because it seemed like the whole student body was surrounding Studebaker West (the dorm Megan lives in). Megan's designated time (3-5pm) was based on the first letter of her last name, with all the people before her supposedly being gone when her group moved in. Not the case, I assure you.

We pulled in and was told by campus police that we were to back into a space, pull everything out of our vehicles and throw it on the grass, then move our vehicles 4-6 blocks away at the field house parking lot. Well, I told Megan just to leave her car and that I would move the van after unloading. I did that, came back and met Kendra's parents (Megan's roommate). Luckily her dad had brought a dollie and helped move all of Megan's stuff upstairs. We waited for an eternity in the building elevator bay, taking our turn to ride up the 5 floors in the cramped car to Megan's floor. We went all the way to the end of the hall where Megan had her room overlooking the same lot we just unloaded in.

The room seemed small. It is probably a couple of feet smaller than the rooms a Adrian. She really would have benefited from a loft, but with the new furniture they were not allowed one. They did stack their beds into bunks and were able to get each of the two drawered dressers under Megan's bunk, freeing up some room. After about an hour of moving furniture around we were able to get the beds made and everything put away.

Their room looks nice. Not a lot of free space, but a decent enough room. They each have really nice desks and armoires to keep their clothes in, and surprisingly had plenty of room for their stuff. They could actually bring a lot more clothes than they did, so that is a good thing. The room looks cute. They still have to decorate a bit, but I'm sure they'll take care of that over the next couple of days.

Megan got to meet a couple of the girls across the hall, one of whom is a scholarship softball player. The dorm was hosting a Popsicle on the Patio event that night, so Megan was looking forward to that. They wanted to give the residence the opportunity to meet the other people from the dorm.

After getting everything put away we took Megan's car over to the stadium so she could park it. It was about a mile away, so I doubt she'll be driving it much. After that we took her to Burger King to get something to eat. She had a terrible headache (from not eating since breakfast combined with the stress she had put herself under all day). Afterwards we took her to Wal-Mart and bought her a few things like a case of pop, some Pop tarts, granola bars, a desk lamp and bulbs, thumb tacks, double back tape (to hang her cute little valance they were hanging over their windows), crackers, and cable for her TV. I learned that Wal-Mart was not the place to be on move in day as there were a million BSU students in there buying stuff for their dorm rooms. Live and learn.

With that we took Megan back to her dorm where she intended on getting a nap before Popsicles on the Patio. I think Angie was going to call her today to find out how she was doing. Megan intended on spending the entire day today wandering the campus trying to figure out where everything was. I told her that she just needed to make sure she asked questions and learned her way around. I know with Kendra there they will figure things out.

It was a little difficult leaving. I wanted to stay with Megan and encourage her to push ahead and not to be scared. I wanted to assure her that she was going to have a great time. Caleb was really weighing on her emotions, it was pretty apparent.

I also wanted to stay because I just love the campus atmosphere. Every little nuance took me back to my days on campus. I loved every second I was in college. I miss that time of my life more than any other time I've been alive. It is such a joy seeing one of my children get to experience it as well.

We left campus at 7:30 and made our way home. Angie got a little teary-eyed on the way home. I didn't feel sad, but happy that Megan was finally take a huge step in her education. I will always contend that college has a lot of scholastic learning to offer, but being away from home provides the greatest learning experience.

Megan will be home over Labor Day weekend and I can't wait. Not because I miss her already (she hasn't really been gone long enough yet for that to happen) but because I can't wait to hear what stories she has already began to accumulate. I will soak up every word and through her transport myself back to my four years. I hope that her's are as adventure filled and wonderful as mine.

Fantastic Contraption

A friend of mine posted this link on one of the forums I visit and I wanted to share it with all of you. It is a horribly addicting game that has made me much less productive both here at work and at home. It is called Fantastic Contraption. It is a simple concept but so frustrating. Truthfully I just like to make random machines and see how they work. Take a peek...

Fantastic Contraption (<-----click here)

Review: Agricola

Last Thursday, when the board game Agricola was released in the U.S. with the English rules translation a very significant thing happened. For the first time in many years, a new title became the highest rated board game of all time. Now these ratings are based on the website Boardgamegeek.com. Over 2000 people rated Agricola and based on its average score, it overtook Puerto Rico as the highest rated game. To people who follow the board game industry, this is a very big deal. For years Puerto Rico was looked at as the epitome of perfection and now a new champ had been crowned.

Personally I have been waiting nearly a year for this game to be translated and released in the United States. It was a wait plagued by delays and unbearable anticipation. Starting in June I started saving my pennies, skipping lunch on Fridays so I could put money away to buy this monster. Even with my 30% discount from the store, I was going to need $50.00+ to pay for this game and I intended to have it the first day it was released. Well, Thursday I got my copy.

Let me explain a little bit about the board games I tend to favor. I like imported games (many of the best are conceived and released first in Germany) and most of the top games on the BGG list are from Europe. Agricola is one of those. The Euros (as they are typically known) are generally based on strategy and not luck. There is very little randomness and often times requires the players to manage multiple aspects of the game at one time. Additionally Euros tend to reduce the amount of direct conflict you experience with other players. In opposition, American games generally use a lot of dice, are linear (roll, move, do what the space on the board tells you to) and have much more conflict (think games like Monopoly where you are taking other player's money or Sorry where you are sending your opponent's pieces back to their starting areas). Euros are very cerebral and take great deal of thought and pre-planning. They require you to look a bit into the future and determine the course of action you are going to take. Finally, Euro games tend to be extremely high quality with wooden (as opposed to plastic) pieces, heavy card stock and beautifully rendered artwork on the boards.

Agricola (pronounced Ah-GREEK-ola) is a prototypical European game. It has tons (100s) of wooden playing pieces in multiple colors. There are more than 300 cards with individual artwork on each card. Additionally it comes with multiple boards that are configured to form the main game board (with individual player boards to track your own progress). The gamer is stunningly beautiful and the quality makes it well worth it's $70.00 retail.

Agricola is basically a game about being a farmer in the 1700s. You start the game as a humble farmer and his/her spouse, with a plot of land and a two room wooden hut. The object of the game is to build up your farmstead, bringing prosperity to your family while struggling at times just to feed them. Each turn you get to take one action per family member. These actions range from plowing fields, building livestock pens, chopping down trees for wood, building on to your house, sowing your fields, or even fishing. As the game progresses you can expand your family, having up to 3 children who can then be put to work through to performance of additional actions. The caveat there is the fact that you have to feed each of your family members or resort to begging for food if you can't put the chow on the table. Furthermore, the only way you can have children is by adding on to you house, which requires more wood, reed (for the roof) or even clay or stone if you choose to upgrade your humble abode.

The game is about balance. It is also about understanding what you want to do and concentrating on that plan. While there is no direct conflict, there are opportunities to screw your neighbors by taking resources they had planned on utilizing. There are many different ways to win, be it by becoming a rancher and filling your pastures with sheep, cows and wild boar, or planting your fields and harvesting grain, afterwards sending it to the ovens to be converted to bread.

The game itself is won based on victory points accumulated by the expansion of your homestead. Each head of cattle, each planted field, each unit of grain or vegetables, each family member, even each room in your house counts towards the victory conditions. Failure to upgrade or fill you fields, or raise particular animals results in penalties that lower your score, so spreading yourself out and diversifying in the name of the game.

Agricola is very complex in what you can do, but fairly easy to learn. My first game was a disaster, as I was so preoccupied with feeding my family that I never properly built the infrastructure to do so consistently. I would sooner send my farmer to the fishing hole to catch dinner than send him to the field to plant grain that would continue to produce food long after I decided to ignore it.

Agricola is a learning experience. It is intense and enjoyable at the same time. There is a certain amount of initial frustration that goes into trying to get your food machine running, then a varying degree of frustration that comes with trying to expand you farm without out growing your food production capabilities.

Overall Agricola is simply brilliant. There are certain aspects of Puerto Rico and Caylus present in the game. There is a bit more luck involved in Agricola (the cards do this but also means that no game will ever be the same, something Puerto Rico and Caylus can't always claim). The game flows well with very little player downtime. Even with some downtime, most of it is utilized trying to figure out what your next step it. The game zips by in a hurry, but not so much as to seem frenzied.

I would recommend Agricola to anyone who has played some of the heavier hitting Euros (Puerto Rico, Caylus, Powergrid, or Goa). I would recommend it to others as well, but not without first playing it with someone who has had access to it previously. The rules can come off as complicated and the shear mass of pieces and cards can be quite intimidating. The game however starts to take off immediately and it isn't difficult to understand why this games, above all others has assumed the title of King of Boardgames.

Questions and comments are always encouraged.

End of Summer

Well, it is officially the end of summer. This morning Angie took Grace to school so she could start the 1st grade. Wednesday we drive Megan down to Muncie where she will begin her sophmore year. Balin, well he's just going to stay at home and keep growing eating and growing some more.

Gracie was a bit nervous this morning and didn't really want to go to school. I think she was worried about chaning to a different teacher and not having friends in her class. Well, her worries were without merit and there were at least a couple of her friends in her class. I think, like kindergarten, she will fit in immediately and really start to enjoy school again. I think she is going to be a very good student. She is such a smart little girl and when she sets her mind to it, works extremely hard.

As I drove in to work this morning the news came on and mentioned that Fort Wayne Community Schools was investigating breaking up the high schools in town and making them into magnet schools. Now, Grace is in a magnet school now, and Angie and I both love it and know that Grace will continue to enjoy going there. For those who don't know what a magnet school is; it's a school that has a concentration in a particular field. Croninger, Grace's current school is a communication magnet and provides kids with opportunities they wouldn't normally get at a typical school. They are already teaching the kids Spanish and they have a fully functioning television studio where kids learn broadcasting. They also put a huge focus on public speaking, giving kids skills they normally don't receive in elementary school.

So, from what I've heard they are looking at breaking up the high school by focus. Snyder, the high school Grace is slated to go to and the one closest to our house would become a medical magnet, giving extra attention to the hard sciences and offering classes they currently don't/can't. Other schools might be social science magnets, or business magnets, or other type of schools. Frankly, I think this is a great idea and even if we were forced to take Gracie to school so she could get the applications best suited for her eventual goals, it would be worth it.

I feel lucky to have gotten through high school and still be able to progress through college. I want that same thing for my children. Working for the two years for Southside coaching debate gave me an idea of how good Fort Wayne schools actually were (compared to the extremely limited curriculum of Woodlan) and as much as I would like to move back to the country, I would still want Gracie to stay in FWCS. It offes a whole lot more and as bias as I may seem, I think Gracie is going to be extremely special. She is such a beautiful girl and is extremely smart. I really want to provide as many doors for her to open as I can and FWCS seems to do that.

That said, I also need to think about Balin, who is also going to be a smart one. Balin is slotted in to Croninger without me having to run him through the lottery like Grace was. I certainly don't want to lose my spot there becuase it is (studies and indicated this) the best elementary school in the county.

Anyway, today is a big day. Wednesday will be even bigger and then we fall back into our routine. So is life. Before we know it we will be celebrating Balin's first day of school and Gracie will be driving. Oh how fast time flies.

Book Review: The Sleeping Doll

I haven't done a book review in awhile so I figured now would be a good time to do one. This time I'm taking a look at Jeffrey Deaver's most recent paperback release, called "The Sleeping Doll".

Deaver is one of my favorite authors and his characters Lincold Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are two of my favorites of all times. That said, whenever Deaver creates a new character I get a bit anxious wondering if he can capture the same degree of complexity that he has in those two.

I got a bit of a taste of Kathryn Dance in one of his previous novels (The Cold Moon) and frankly was really excited about reading this book. The Sleeping Doll plays off of my love for communication arts in that the heroine is a kinesics expert. What is kinesics? It is the ability to read someone based on their body language. Kathryn Dance is n interrogator who uses her kinesic reading skills along with her knowledge of paralanguage (voice inflection, tone, attitudinal shifts, etc.) to basically serve as a human lie detector.

In this book, a Charles Manson wannabe escapes from prison and manages to elude Dance using his abilities of manipulation and control. He is the perfect mirror of Dance in that he too can read people and uses this skill to control his victims.

The book is extremely fast paced, yet often cerebral. I would say it is a notch below the Lincoln Rhyme novels in it's complexities, yet still makes my mind race with thoughts of learning even a smidge of the skills Dance displays. Sadly, the parts of the book that deal with her skill sets are few and far between, which is a bit disappointing. It kinda reminds of that television show Numb3rs which is about a math genius that helps his FBI brother solve crimes. The numbers part is often secondary to the actual episode. It was the same for me in this book. That's however is not to say that the book was bad, it wasn't. It was a very good book and quite enjoyable, just not on the same plain as what my expectations were.

The criminal in this book is brilliant, though not flashy like many of Deaver's villians. I liked that quite a bit because it brought a bit more realism to the story. The Bone Collector and the The Conjuerer were great criminals in his other books, but they brought about a sort of otherworldly quality, something you would see in a comic book, not a newspaper. Daniel Pell, the killer in the Sleeping Doll, was pure evil, nothing more.

The book centers on a murder (ala Charles Manson) that occurred many years before. The only person in the house that survived was a girl dubbed the Sleeping Doll, due to the fact that she had survived the attacks because she was asleep in a pile of stuffed animals and dolls, overlooked by the killers as they were murdering her family. The perpetrator of the killings has escaped from prison and it is up to Dance and her team to figure out why he is sticking around Monterey and not fleeing. He leads her on a chase, seemingly one step ahead of her at all times. Occasionally it will seem as if he is putting distance between them, but then Dance figures out his plans and manages to foil one of his many objectives.

The book is good, it moves along and is a story well told. I have one bone to pick however. Deaver loves twists, and this story has those. One in particular is the basis of the whole story and he does an excellent job hiding this untl the very end. There is another one, however that grinds my nerves. I won't say what it was, but I didn't feel it was necessary and while it deals with Dance and her relationship with another character, it is extremely clunky and doesn't fit well in the story. Furthermore it serves no real purpose other than to drag a couple more chapters out of the book, something it doesn't necessarily need.

I would recommend The Sleeping Doll for anyone who likes crime dramas. It was a good book with great characters and excellent pace. I was left wanting to read more about Kathryn Dance, which is a good thing in my opinion. If I had to rate it, I would say the Sleeping Doll rates a solid 4 out of 5.

Stuff that's happening

Sorry about not writing over the last couple of days. I have a job that is basically mundane except for two times a year when I have an independent auditor come in a check out my plant, writing non-conformances if the quality system is lacking. Well, yesterday was one of my audit dates. I used most of the earlier part of the week getting ready and really didn't have time to write. Now I have a bit of time, so expect a posting or two over the next couple of days.

Okay, we had a pretty exciting evening on Tuesday. One of the things we tend to do in the evening is go outside to sit in the driveway or play in the cul de sac. It is nice because there is next to know traffic and the neighbors across the street bring their little girl out so she can play too. The kids ride bikes, ride powerwheels (the neighbor has three of them) play ball or other fun things. Well, the Delaney (the girl across the street) has a bike without training wheels and we decided to let Gracie ride the bike without them. It was amazing how quickly Gracie figured it out. In less than ten minutes we were able to teach her how to ride a bike. Now, she's still a bit wobbly, and she has some panic issues when she is getting too close to the curb, a car or other people. Additionally, I took the training wheels off her bike and because it is a bit larger than the neighbor's bike, she loses confidence. I don't think it will take long for her to get that confidence back though. I also think she will really start to like riding bikes once she gets comfortable.

Balin is turning in to a little monster. He loves being outside. He also knows how to open the door going out to the garage. This has led to issues as he occasionally will wander outside on his own. When he does get out he typically heads for the cul de sac (the place where we play in the evening). This is a bad thing and leads us to have to keep a close eye on him. He is also belligerant when it is time to come back in the house. He screams and cries and throws a tantrum. It is getting old fast.

One of the things we need to do is get the kids back into a routine. Grace and Balin both have been thrown off a schedule during the summer. With school starting next Monday this should get better. Hopefully Angie gets the job she is interviewing for (as I write this as a matter of fact) which would allow us to send the boy back to the sitter which again would establish a schedule. Grace will start going to bed at 8:30 again and we will have at least an hour and a half of peace at our house before we go to bed. I look forward to that.

Megan has two more days of work and then she is quitting to enjoy a few days off before she becomes a fulltime college student again. She is really starting to get excited. I think she is ready.

Well, that's about it for an update. I will make sure to send out a couple more posts later on.

Megan's Journey

It is quickly coming to the time where Megan starts her true journey into adulthood. She's almost 20 years old, but she has largely been dependent on Angie and I for all those years. On the 20th of August she officially leaves for college, to explore the world of responsibility on her own.

Megan is really excited about going, and for good reason. This is a very exciting time. I've told her countless times that my college years were and continue to remain the best years of my life. I think that she will enjoy them too.

Personally I'm very excited for her. I feel myself getting wrapped up in all of her preparations. I can't go in a store without wanting buy something for her to take to college. Last night I went grocery shopping, just to pick up a few things for the house and ended up buying a bunch of groceries for Megan to take to school. I figured she could use them. I bought he microwavable macaroni and cheese, cans of soup, ramen noodles, microwave popcorn and microwavable fettucini alfredo. I wish I could have bought more, but I didn't want to go overboard. Besides, Angie wants to be involved in the buying process as well and she was at home.

A couple of weeks ago we went out on our anniversary and ended up buying her all kinds of stuff. We got her a nice refrigerator, a hot pot to heat up water or soup, an electric sandwich maker so she could cook grilled sandwiches in her dorm room, some dishware (including silverware) and a bunch of other little things.

I think this whole college thing is confusing her because we took her and Grace out to buy supplies for school and she just got frustrated. She doesn't know what to expect so she doesn't really kow what to take. It is actually pretty funny. She wasn't going to take her stereo and I asked her why? She really couldn't give me an answer. I told her that she could listen to music at college and she could take it with her, but frankly I don't think she really could picture having her most precious music with her. It's almost like she is packing to go on vacation, when in fact she's actually moving away. I can conceivably see her coming home a week after getting there just to get the stuff she figured she shouldn't take but now realizes she needs.

As far as prepping for classes go, I think she really has her work cut out for her. College is like a fulltime job. It really is something that should be spread out over the five weekdays with catchup time spent on the weekends. Not Megan, she is taking 5 classes but all of them are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She liked the idea of having a couple days off during the week. I told her that she has to be careful and not burn herself out because she will be spending all day on her "days off" studying. Five classes is a pretty decent class load and to have them all crammed into three days is quite a task. Oh well, time to let go and let her learn. It's funny, I will always contend that personal management was the most useful skill they teach you in college. I guess Megan is about to learn that first hand.

I haven't admitted this, but as happy as I am to see her go, I'm going to miss Megan. With her hours now I don't see her much, but for the most part she has always been good to have around. I think however that this is a tremendous opportunity for her, one that she will cherish. Besides that, I think it will teach her little sister a valuable lesson too. I want Gracie growing up wanting to push herself to higher degrees of learning. I think Megan will serve as a good example.

This is an exciting time. I will have the opportunity to live vicariously through Megan, and that is a good thing. I harken back to my college years and wish they would have never ended. It makes me happy that I had those days and that now my daughter will get to experience the same thing.

My Views on the Death Penalty Revisited

When I was driving home yesterday I listened to the radio and the talk show host who I listen to, Pat White, had a discussion about a man named Jose Medellin who, along with five others, tortured, raped and murdered two young (16 and 14) year old girls in Houston back in 1993. You can read a summary of this horrible crime by following this link. I wanted to post this particular version because I believe it paints a better picture of the crime than the vanilla newspapers and news broadcasts which tend to clean up the details in order to protect the viewer/reader.

Anyway, this scumbag was put to death yesterday for his crime yet controversy erupted from this. You see, Medellin was not given access to the Mexican Consulate during his trial or subsequent incarceration. Because Medellin was born in Mexico and moved to the US when he was 3, he was still technically a Mexican citizen and by virtue of the Treaty of Versailles, was eligible for this Consulate access. The lawyers attempted to stop the execution based on this loophole and actually took it to the Supreme Court where a split decision ruled that the World Count nor the Federal government could prevent the Texas State Courts from carrying out the sentence. Medellin was put to death around 9:00pm last night.

Now, you are probably asking, where is Lonnie going to fly off the handle and start spouting diatribe about the death penalty. Well, I'm not. I'm going to say simply that I support the Death Penalty. Some will say two wrongs don't make a right. I believe this is true. But, like putting down a animal that savages a child, I also believe that it is a legimate, humane penalty to carry out against a human being. Okay, that's it on that subject. Now the jist of this whole discussion.

It took 15 years for Medellin to die and I think that is way too long a time to wait. Furthermore, his execution was nearly held up because of this loophole concerning his Mexican citizenship. The Death Penalty is a horribly inefficient form of punishment. It is expensive and takes an incredible amount of time and resources. We need to do it better. I think that lawyers need to be held responsible for the defense that they offer their clients. This whole mess with the Consulate could have been avoided if the public defender had done his job and made it known to the defendent that this was an option. I believe that Mendellin deserved a defense, as indefensible an act it was that he committed. I want the scum of the earth to exhaust every possible option they have, but they need to do so in a less time consuming way. I think the attorneys should bear the responsibility for making this happen. The two girls who died in this horrific crime didn't have those 15 years. Had they, perhaps they would be wives, have children, have enjoyed college, the beginning of a rewarding career. Hell, they would have had a chance to graduate high school!

Stuff like this really bothers me. I makes me sick to think of something like that happening to Megan or Grace or even Balin. Why do I support the death penalty? Because if something happened to one of my children like what happened to those beautiful girls, death for the people responsible would be the only acceptable punishment. Plain and simple. We should never have the luxury of allowing ourselves to be lenient and forgiving of the monsters that destroy other's loved ones if we can't be lenient and forgiving if they do the same to those we love.

Finally, an MSN.com article contained the following:

In Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where Medellin was born, a small group of his relatives condemned his execution.

“Only God has the right to take a life,” cousin Reyna Armendariz said.

This struck me as one of the most ridiculous statements I'd ever read. This idiot believes that only God has the right to take a life, yet she supports a man who stomped the thoats of two innocent teens. Some people just don't get it.

Welcome Back: ME!

Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I updated by blog, but I finally feel comfortable writing again. Things have been a bit crazy, both at home and here at work and frankly, I lost the ambition to write. I know that there are a few of you that read this and really enjoy reading what I write, so I am going to try and be a bit more dilligent about writing again.

HINT: posting comments really makes me happy and is evidence that someone is really reading this and would encourage me to continue writing. I love feedback, call it ego if you like.

Anyway, I'm back and will try to post once or twice a day, as long as I have ideas filling my thick skull.