April 13 2011

Or around about there... That's when I become Daddy. Yup. The wife is pregnant. 11 weeks as of yesterday. Pretty pumped on that, pretty terrified as well. Still undecided if we want to find out if it's a boy or girl. Have names picked out already. (Lorelai Willa if it's a girl and Liam Richard if it's a boy.)

I've gone back to school. Pursuing my Fire Science degree. I remember now why I don't like school, I actually have to apply myself HA! It's fun though. Only taking one class this semester, probably try for 2 next semester (since my employer does tuition reimbursement and that's all they will pay for lol) . Kelli want's to go back to school as well, she just didn't get all of her paperwork submitted to UNM in time. Oh well, she knows for next semester. Of course with her being pregnant that may change.

That's the short of it.

Of Mosques and Men: Reflections on the Ground Zero Mosque (Scary...)

Reflection...

The sun drives me, the wind blows me. The music soothes and inspires me. As the noise in the background drones I wonder where we went. What happened to all of us? There used to be so many of us. Now there are few.  Who went where? Where are they now? I sit looking towards the east, towards the place I despise so much, but long to go back to. Strange how I can hate and love one place so much at the same time. Things were simpler., though at the time they seemed so complicated. So many good times were had that I didn’t even realize were happening at the time. Mistakes were made, people hurt. We lost a few good friends during that time, some forever, some just by relocation. We keep in touch ,some of us anyway. Lifelong friendships were forged and still survive. There are things I wish I would have done differently. If I’d known then what I know now… I’d have gotten into a lot more trouble.  If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn’t. Those days, especially the hard ones, made me who I am today.

After May, we all went our ways. Some of us ended up in the same place, others far away, still others even further away.  Being away from friends and family was hard, harder when we thought about them and even harder when we spoke to them. New friends were made. New discoveries made, some great, some terrible and all of them contained a life lesson. Don’t drink the night before an exam… At least not too much. Pulling an all nighter is great, until you have to go to work and you haven’t slept in 26 hours. Campus police ARE police and DO have authority. You can’t fish in the campus pond. You can’t swim in the campus pond. Discharging a fire arm inside city limits is illegal. Yes even if you are on a dairy farm. Yes it’s a farm. Yes it’s in the city limit. No you can’t fire your gun there. No, not even if the pigeons are destroying the feed. Sometimes you wake up in the bed of a pickup in the middle of the desert without any recollection of how you got there. Volkswagen engine blocks are made of magnesium. Magnesium burns very hot. Burning magnesium reacts very violently to water. If you decide to go tearing ass through the Dona Ana county desert at 1 am, make sure you have sufficient lighting on your vehicle, lest you drop your front end off a ditch and land upside down…
“And when we win this game
We'll buy a keg of booze
And drink it to the Aggies
Till we wobble in our shoes”
Some made it through 4 years, others… Well we came home and tried to figure out the new plan. We had new tools under our belts and were ready for destruction. Livin’ wild hard and free, we were legal. Working just to pay for the weekend. Fast cars. House parties. Rock and Roll living. We had made it big, or so we thought. We learned more life lessons. Street racing is illegal, yes even if it's on a deserted street at 3am. If you go to the bar parking lot at about 2:15 am you can see some good fights. If you take the seats out of your vehicle it nets you about 50 lbs in weight reduction. Less than 1/4 of a tank is light and is plenty of fuel to get you to the drag strip and about 3 passes, but not enough to get home, but it was worth it to have that 11 second slip in your hand. You can outrun a cop car, but not a radio or a helicopter. When the neighbor says he is going to call the cops because you are being too loud, he means it. Slowly we realized the consequence of our choices. Some made the adaptation necessary to maintain sanity and health quicker than others. Some never had the chance. We lost a few good friends during that time, some forever… We found out some true personalities in dire situations. We got in trouble. We made it through. Some of those decisions from that time still haunt us. They grow distant, but linger in our minds.

Somehow we made it, we grew up got married. We knew this day would come, however we had no idea how soon it would come. It felt like just yesterday when we were skipping class and driving to the outskirts of nowhere. We have careers… Not just jobs anymore, careers. We have obligation. Other people count on us for things, for their livelihood. We have to think about a lot more before making decisions. No more can we just “tie one on” just because we feel like it. We never thought when we were there we would wish we could go back. 

Changes...

Well a little update here. On Friday morning at 4:22am I became Uncle Dustin. My sister had a daughter, Jennie Anne Stone. 3 weeks premature, 4lb 15oz. She is doing well though and should be out of the NICU by the days close. She was having a little bit of trouble breathing but that has since gotten better. >> Baby, mom and dad.



I got rid of the Jeep for something less problematic. Bought a 1981 Toyota pickup 4x4. Very simple truck. Very easy to maintain and build. Now the concern is getting it ready to go to Moab in 2 months.

That's all I have at the moment.

Jabberwocky

Having just watched the new Alice in Wonderland I was reminded of a favorite poem...  


Jabberwocky
Lewis Carrol, from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice found There

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
  The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
  Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
  And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
  The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
  And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
  The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
  He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
  Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
  He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.

Hmm... Kindey forgot about this place

Yeah... Kinda forgot about ol blogger. Been busy moving and working overtime and living... Back in January we moved from way out N. of Edgewood to just S.E. of E-town. Smaller place, less land, newer home and much nicer though I think. We are happy with it. Had to move because the landlord at the other place was wanting to sell and we couldn't afford their asking price (which they raised on us...). So we were put in a tight spot and had to get out quick, but it ended up good for us. Only bad thing is we are doing a lease purchase here too and we can't have the dogs. They are living at my parent's house though which is just down the road so it's not terrible, we can go see the 'kids' whenever we want.

Been working a bit of overtime lately to pay for my nasty Jeep addiction, I was Jeep free for almost 3 years and relapsed last month... Working with my new crew has re-motivated me to build the Jeep and get her on the trail again. We have a trip planned to go out to Moab, UT for a week at the end of May beginning of June. Should be fun. Lot's needs to be done but I figure if I can get 1 thing done a week I should be good to go. Axle swap, build the front axle so it doesn't break, fix the cooling system, motor mounts... The list goes on. Poor thing sat for a LONG time un-touched so the neglect shows. But like I said it should all come together.

In... I guess January I got my Amateur radio operator "Technician" license (Ham radio) so that was pretty fun. Took a little studying and time but it was worth it. Fun hobby. Been talking to people all over the area. In April I'm going to try to upgrade license class to "Extra", which means I will have to take two exams at once. One for "General" and one for "Extra", it'll be tough but I think I can do it. I mean there's kids with their Extra lic. so a 25 y/o should be able to do it... Right?

The other day I had the thought of "Holy crap 2 years till 10 year reunion..." That was kind of... Interesting. Still feel like 18. Don't really know how that much time passed so quickly. Kind of looking forward to seeing how well (or not so well...) some people are doing.

Well I think that's all I have at the moment. Battling a cold so that's fun. Out.