From the people who brought you Geek & Gamer Girls

h/t to Rev. Paul @ Way Up North

Planning fail, family win

So yes, I had a whole list of things I was working on today, getting caught up from the week & ready for next week when I will be tied up in training.

Made it almost halfway through when we had someone decide to leave a bit of a suspicious item near a government office here, which turned into a five hour bit of fun what with the call, paperwork, staff reports, etc. Plus I still have to get things ready for a Saturday dog & pony show.

So much for those "to-do" lists... some days you're just happy to tread water, much less swim any.

On the other hand - walked in the door to a loving wife and smiling, laughing children who were thrilled to see me. Followed by kids who behaved and listened and had fun on a dinner out, no arguments during cleanup, bath and bedtime. And now I get to relax in our own home, with a loving family, security, a full stomach and all those other things.

Kind of reminds you of the important bits of perspective.

Sleepy time

For spending all day doing nothing but teaching and cleaning up, I feel remarkably beat down... bad part is tomorrow is more of the same.

Your learning for the day

I was going to cut & paste parts, but the whole thing needs a read. Head over to Peter's spot for a good overview of the financial mess facing us as a society:

The state of the U.S. and world economy

Your test is what happens in the next five year based on the choices we make.

Kilted Pic

As promised, here's the kilted shot for the month - Jacob and I both in our kilts, and Princess Kyleigh had to jump in with her skirt. Let the laughter at my pale legs commence!



and seriously folks - we can't even come up off five dollars or so for the donations? Please, let's step up at least a little bit here... just a bit over a week left.

Copying the cool kids

As everyone else is posting pictures of their daily carry knives, I figured I'd join in.

Top one is an Emerson Roadhouse. I've carried one Emerson or another for twenty years now - never had one fail, and it seems to me that his designs keep improving with time. I've used them for daily carry, duty as a cop, and for diving, combat, working on live ordnance, and all sorts of other stuff. In fact, my three "spare" knives happen to be Emersons as well. Quite simply, you get what you pay for.

Bottom is a Hide Away Knives neck knife. This one is purely intended as an "oh-crap" sort of tool, but works perfectly for it. There are other carry options available as well, but I like the neck carry for extremely low profile and access with either hand.

'Tis the Nineteenth day of the Ninth month -

And all before the mast know what that means... it's "Talk Like a Pirate Day" yet again!

'twere a fine day aboard me vessel here. I spent the morning watch huddled aft with a master of the use of powder and shot, lining up new techniques and tools to use when storming the fortress of some hapless town for plunder and booty. Then, after the cook rang 8 bells I journeyed briefly ashore to sample the wares lain out by a visiting merchantman. Whilst doing so I had the privilege of encountering some lads from down under who sailed under a winged dagger; it took all of a minute for us to find some shipmates in common and then spend another watch sharing stories and recollections of grand adventures at sea and ashore. Ah, it was a fine thing to be in the company of such men again, and my first mate enjoyed the laughter as well as he heard the comments and imprecations shared liberally between the crews.

Tomorrow 'tis back to sea and various bits of privateering and brigandry as the case may be. For tonight, I leave you with a lively tune:

Kilted to Kick Cancer

Started by Ambulance Driver and Happy Medic, this is a September drive for those of us so inclined to wear our kilts publicly, and to talk about male-specific cancers when asked why.

I'm getting into the game a bit later than planned, and I'm certainly not competing for prizes - but I will ask those of you out there so inclined to drop by and leave a donation for research. Additionally, if you follow the links you'll find that several other organizations are helping out & even throwing in free stuff. Everyone wins, and hopefully some great research gets accomplished.

Additionally, if you're a man, I'll urge you to get checked at your regular physicals. If you're a woman, remind your male friends. A lot of these things are much easier to treat the earlier they're caught...


EDIT - my donation link is the top one, please take a moment to follow it to Livestrong and leave an amount you feel appropriate. Thanks again.

Prostate Cancer Facts:

• About 240,890 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2011.
• About 33,720 men will die of prostate cancer in 2011.
• About 1 man in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
• More than 2 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.
• Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer.
• About 1 man in 36 will die of prostate cancer.

Testicular Cancer Facts:

• It most often affects men between ages 20 and 39.
• It affects 8,000 men a year, and kills 390 of them.
• It is the most common form of cancer in men ages 15-34.
• 95% of cases can be cured if detected early.

Finally, my own kilted pic will make an appearance soon, in full spirit of the fun.

Thanks all.

Comparison time

Is it any less wrong or creepy for a politician to say "If you love me you'll get this bill passed," than it is for a teenage boy to say "If you love me you'll put out." ???

Cue the opening notes of "Cult of Personality" yet again...

Word of the day

Cat-ervision - the direct supervision performed by a person's feline when they are attempting to accomplish some task. The degree and proximity of cat-ervision required is directly proportional to the delicacy of the task, or the possibility of small pieces which might be entertaining to said cat.

I'm sure I can also draw a corollary to my long-stated theory that if you laid a newspaper out to read it in the Serengeti a lion would shortly come along to lay across the pages...

I feel dirty....

The universal truths of search warrants -

- Why do they always seem to be in a house occupied by a hoarder or a slob? If you've lived someplace six years, you might consider cleaning & unpacking at some point...

- On ever search warrant you will find porn and sex toys. Every single time. And it's never stuff you want to see, more the kind you go "Let me poke out my eye now and pour lemon juice in the gaping wound."

And we're back...

As the saying goes, rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated...

Since our last episode we have had fun with hurricanes, a multi-day power outage followed by over almost two weeks of no Internet, a couple of 80 hour work weeks and all the other related fun. So - I've spent the time taking care of my family as opposed to getting on here, but now I think it's stable enough for a return.

Hopefully a few of you still out there, and we will now resume our normal programming.