What I'm Up To

Last night I went to watch my first high school football game of the year. Canyon Eagles versus the Andrews Mustangs. My nephew is a senior this year and starts on Canyon's defensive line. He played well despite being double team most of the time. He did especially well in the second half when his size and strength began to wear down his opponents. The only down side to his game was when he took a 15 yard personal foul late in the first half for a blow to the opposing Quarterback's head.

Here is what an article about the Texas Panhandle's top recruits has to say about him ...

Josh Risner, Canyon

Senior, defensive tackle, 6-3, 275

Scouting report: Missed some time as a junior with an injury, but has the size and strength to be an interior force.

If you happen to know any college recruiters whisper his name in their ear.

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What else is new? I have to work all three days of the long weekend. yes, even Monday. And you thought all postal employees got the holiday off.

I've been writing a new short story but I keep going back and forth on whether it should be told in first or third person.

Still trying to decide what my next novel length project will be. I actually have far more idea than I do time to write them.

I have been querying for my comedic novel, Plundered Booty. I've managed a few partial requests and one full but overall response times from agents have been slow in coming. Maybe things will pick up now that summer is almost history.

I've done a crappy job of keepin up with my blog reading as of late, so I'll try and pop around to your sites sometime over the next few days. Adios for now.

God Hates Who?

I told those that follow me via twitter that I'd blog about my being called the anti-christ by one of my coworkers, but that is rather a long story and I'm not quite up to it today, so I'm going to tell a shorter one along the same lines.

I work with a handful of people whose political and religious leaning are to the far right. I also work with some who are just as far to the left, but most of us, myself include are somewhere in the middle. One of my flaws is the fact i like to argue. A good debate keeps your min alive and when you are toiling between the windowless, cinder block walls of a governmental agency all day you need to infuse all the excitement into the job you can. More than once I've sparked a robust discussion by taking the contrarian stance to someone opinion even though I sort of agreed with them. It's a lot more fun to play devil's advocate.

There is one particular fellow that likes to argue as much as me. 99% of the time we get along just fine but we have had some doozy debates over the years. He is a staunch Republican, and a strong believer in the religious right. Today, I'll tell you about the first time I made him mad enough to spit.

A few years back a tornado hit the small town of Happy, Texas which is just a bit south of Amarillo. Here is a picture (see note at bottom) of that very storm.


The next day the newspaper headline read something like ... Tornado Kills Two In Happy Trailer Park.

The smaller story at he bottom of the page was about the same twister destroying the community's Baptist Church.

My coworker was reading the first story at the break table and had the paper folded so that I could see the other story while sitting opposite of him. It was upside down but I could still read the Headline. Tornado Demolishes Baptist Church.

Right about now my work buddy says of the article about the husband and wife who died in their single-wide trailer house, "This is further proof that God hates mobile homes."

I chime in and point to the other article, "He must hate Baptists too."

I was simply using the same logic as my coworker, but needless to say he wasn't amused.

I probably should point out I was raised attending a Baptist Church and most of my family are still Baptists. I find it funny that people often get the maddest when you turn their own words or logic back on them.

What's the maddest you ever made a coworker?


By the way the above tornado picture came from a website called Tempest Tours. If you ever wanted to be a storm chaser and chase down a tornado give them a visit to learn how you can.

I Think I'm Pregnant

Sure laugh at that title all you want but look at the evidence.

1. My gut is swollen up like three day old roadkill. Sure it's been that way a decade but maybe I have a long gestation cycle.

2. For the last week I've been hungry all the time. Even after a Vegas buffet I was hungry a half hour later. this fact has greatly added to fact number one by the way.

3. I have odd cravings. How else do you explain that I spent nearly four bucks in the vending machines at work so I could have peanuts floating inside my bottle of Coke. The salty fizz was quite tasty yet it did not satisfy fact number 2.

4. As of yet I haven't cried for no apparent reason, but I did feel queasy this morning. Then again I feel that way every morning that I have to crawl out of bed and head to work.

5. I haven't been able to get comfortable at night and therefore haven't been sleeping well.

6. My bladder seems to be shrinking as I've had to get up several times a night the last week or so which has only added to the dilemma in number 5.

I would take a leak on one of those fancy sticks but I'm half afraid of what the results will be.

I Smell Pigskin

This afternoon I make my debut as a head football coach. I've assisted an a dozen teams over the years but this season I am the man for the juggernaut St Mary's Catholic School 2nd grade flag football squad. Should be a lot of fun. We might not win a game, but I'll consider the season a success if everyone is smiling after the last game.

Now off to a meme that Steph tagged me with and since it' s been awhile since I did one.

The rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell six unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag six bloggers by linking.
5. Leave a comment for each blogger.

This isn't an easy chore since by now I've discussed most of my quirks, but here goes anyway. I'm keeping to a single theme.

1. I'm a mean video game football player. Madden or NCAA football by EA sports. Go ahead challenge but I'll warn you I like to run up the score, yes even on my seven year old. I have no mercy when the controller is in my sweaty palm.

2. I play fantasy football and have every year since 1991. Yes I am one of those guys.

3. Despite my tenure as a high school football ref I continue to curse the refs whenever I feel they have slighted either my beloved Nebraska Cornhusker or New Orleans Saints.

4. I once heckled Deion Sanders from the top tier of the Superdome. He played for the Cowboys at the time and the place was virtually empty. He was out there long before the other players to test his sore toe and I was fueled by one too many Blackened Voodoo Dixie Lagers and I harassed him until he shot me the bird. I was satisfied once I knew he'd heard my robust critique.

5. Back in my younger days I sued to wager as much as $1500 dollars a weekend on college and pro football. and this was at a time when I only earned a fourth that much each week. Those were in the days I worked at the feed store and I stopped when my boss, who bet twice what I did, got subpoenaed after our bookie was arrested.

6. While in Vegas last week I bet a whopping ten dollars on the Saints to win the Superbowl this year. Should they actually pull that off I'll get $160 dollars back.

So tell me, are you a football fan? College, NFL, or both? Who do you root for?

Soaring -- A My Town Monday Post

This statue stands in the main concourse of Amarillo's airports. It is there to honor this man.


Rick Husband was born in Amarillo on July 12th, 1957. He attended Belmar Elementary, Crockett Junior High and Amarillo High School graduating in 1975. After college at Texas Tech University he entered the US Air Force as a commissioned officer where he became a test pilot and flew a variety of aircraft until being selected by NASA in 1994 to enter their training and evaluation program. In 1999 he fulfilled a life long dream and was among the Space Shuttle Discovery crew that made the first ever docking with the International Space Station.

January of 2003 Rick Husband left on his second space mission as Commander of STS-107. Sixteen day later he and his Columbia crew perished in the skies above Texas when their spacecraft disintegrated upon reentry.

Today the Amarillo airport's official name is is Rick Husband International Airport in honor of our local boy's accomplishments. His death as well as the others on Columbia was a great tragedy, but some soalce can be taken by the fact they died while living out their dream. May we all be so lucky when our time comes.

CHECK BACK HERE FOR POSTS ABOUT OTHER TOWNS

Linda McLaughlin -- Anaheim, California
Britta Coleman -- Stuck somewhere between Fort Worth and Denton, Texas
Barbara Martin -- Toronto, Canada (Be sure and read all five parts if you can)
Reb -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
PreTzel -- Des Moines, Iowa
Barrie Summy -- Niagra Falls, Canada
Patti Abbott -- Detroit, Michigan
Mary Nix - Olmsted Falls, Ohio
Davis Cranmer -- Cameroon, West Africa
Lyzzydee -- Delft, Netherlands
J.L. Krueger -- Kabul, Afghanistan
Debra -- Peninsula, Ohio
Theresa Meyers -- Port Orchard, Washington
Kimberly Willis Holt -- Amarillo, Texas
Clair Dickson -- Brighton, Michigan

Heathen

Do I look like heathen? Does the goatee make it appear as if my soul is in peril? Maybe it's the devilishness glint in my eye? Or my substantial belly. I guess it does speak of my gluttonous tendencies, but all in all I like to think I'm a decent enough fellow.

But apparently I look in need of salvation. I shall explain.

There I was this morning. Watching my money disappear as I gassed up at the Pak-N-Sak. Made me feel like I was back in Vegas for a few minutes.

Anyway, there were half a dozen other people doing the same as well as a handful of people trudging inside for their morning coffee or 32. oz carbonated wake up drink of choice. A rattle trap green car pulls right up next to me in the middle of the gas pumps. Inside is five young guys all dressed in suits. One pops out of the back seat and hands me magazine. "The Lord's word," he said.

I glanced at the magazine as he handed it to me. WATCHTOWER, the literature of choice from the Jehovah Witness religion.

As I see what it is I say, "No thanks, I'm Catholic." Not a complete lie since at this point I'm as close to Catholic as anything. My wife and boys are Catholic and it is the only church service I've attended for years, and should I ever feel the calling, it will be the religion I reach out for.

The young solicitor gave me a hard look at my reply, snatched the Lord's word from my hand. He got back in the car and the whole crew exited the convenience store lot and left. They didn't approach another person. Not before, during or after their failed attempt to douse my fiery soul.

Why?

Did I appear to be the only sinner in the lot? Were they going to try and convert others but my answer drove them away? Did they fear they had wandered into a hot bed of Catholicism? Maybe they thought I was going to offer them a beer, invite them to next months sausage and bingo fest? Who knows? But I sure know what my standard line will be next time they approach.

Maybe being in Vegas for a week stained me with sin somehow only the righteous can detect? Now there is a scary thought. I'd hate to think there is some kind of anti-halo hovering above my noggin. I suppose it would glow red and flash like those three X's above those truck stop adult bookstores along the interstate.

Or maybe it's more blunt and gives a direct indicator to the owners recent sins? Maybe I have a glowing red dollar sign for the gambling I did, or perhaps a hazy, three-quarters full rum bottle spins lazily above my head visible only to the pure of heart, body and soul.

Who knows what that car load of guys saw that propelled them to stop and single me out. I just hope there's room above me for all those wicked shapes. Must look like a card table at a yard sale by this point.

Taking the Easy Way

I''m not feeling all that creative today so I'll post a few things others have created and get out of the way. I spotted this over on Linda McLaughlin's blog and thought I'd play along as well.

You Are Fencing

You're competitive but not brutally so. You compete to make yourself better. You find having an opponent to be challenging and rewarding. You are fierce when you're in a competition, but you don't wish your rivals any real harm.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

All in all I'd say it's a fairly accurate description.

The comedy show was great last night, especially Daniel Kinno and the headliner Rondell Sheridan. You may recognize Sheridan since he's starred in several TV shows for the Disney Channel as well as other projects.

Kinno has a new CD coming out soon and he was hilarious though a bit edgier than Sheridan. Here's a little clip of him I got from his website. Check him out of you get the chance. There is a bit of language and sexual content so keep that in mind before you give it a watch. He had me laughing last night with some of this same material.


Live at the Fillmore Theatre from danielkinno on Vimeo.

And after the show Lady Luck was kind enough to show me a bit of favor. Which means I'm itching to get out there tonight and see how things go. I'm going to play one last Hold 'Em tournament before I fly home. Wish me luck.