Thursday, June 25, 2009

Back to nature

Me and some of my friends are gonna hang out this weekend at the bike show. Wanna come along?

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!

My dad and I went to Cancun together years ago. No real occasion for it. He said he just wanted to take me and we had a blast but what I was reminded of today was how he handled a fast-talking time share salesman. Here's the story:

My dad has been a Baptist preacher for longer than I have been alive but he also volunteered for a while to do a stint as chaplain for the local police department. It's a small town and there wasn't a whole lot of action for a chaplain but my dad was prepared for the action even if none appeared. He had all the accessories, let's just say that. He had hats, jackets, lights, even the gun but he also had a special wallet to hold his big, gold chaplain's badge. Never know when you might need to show your badge and Pop could whip that wallet out and flash that badge with the best of 'em.

So there we are in Cancun, Mexico, just the two of us for some sun and fun and we saw some guy in the hotel lobby giving out information on some fun things to do in Cancun. Through him one could go snorkeling, parasailing, fishing, diving, boating, tours, etc. He said if we just went to a quick orientation we could get a free breakfast and go snorkeling or parasailing for free. Well, we're all about free but Pop asked the guy if they were going to try to sell us anything and the guy assured us they would not. They just wanted to give some information.

We showed up at the place and sure enough, bigger than Dallas, they wanted to sell us timeshare vacation deals at "bargain prices" and all we had to do was listen to their presentation. At the end of the presentation we would not have to buy anything but we would get vouchers for free snorkeling or parasailing. So we tried to sit through it but after an hour or two of listening to this infomercial, we finally got up and left just to save what little time we had there in Cancun.

Later on that day we just happened to go into a mall not far from the hotel and there was the original salesman in a kiosk in the mall selling those timeshares. Pop marches up to him and asks him about the lie he told us about not trying to sell us anything. The guy recognizes us and starts to try to say something but before he could get it out Pop reaches in his pocket and pulls out the special wallet, flips it open like he has seen on TV too many times and flashes the big, gold chaplain's badge at the startled Mexican.

"In my country you would be arrested for business practices like that! Who do you think you are telling us a lie and trying to deceive us into buying a timeshare? That's illegal where I come from..." and Pop continued to tell the guy what he thought about him and his business. "I think you ought to go to jail for such behavior!" He looked at me and I tried not to laugh and just nodded. Pop didn't let up.

He griped at the scared Mexican salesman for a minute or two and the man got so intimidated and nervous he couldn't hand over vouchers quick enough. He wound up giving us vouchers for free parasailing and snorkeling and he even threw in a t-shirt just to make the mad American policia go away! Pop never said he was law enforcement but evidently "Chaplain" does not translate well when flashed on a badge for half a second and if that was his impression, oh well! We enjoyed the trip even more as we parasailed and snorkeled and laughed the whole time and Pop still cracks up when we talk about it. So, happy Father's Day, Pop. Good times! And remember, "Just act like you know what you're doing".

Monday, June 15, 2009

Could have been worse...


Ok, this is just off the top of my head. I didn't see Letterman when he told "the joke" and I didn't see him when he apologized and I know that much is told non-verbally so I just have to go by what I read here. My first thought is: at least he said that much. I just assumed he didn't feel bad at all about saying something like he did about Sarah Palin's daughter.


If you don't know what I'm talking about well, good for you. Nevermind. Don't worry about it but most people have heard that David Letterman said something offensive about the Palins. To tell you the truth, I wonder when people are going to quit taking seriously what "famous" people say. He's a stupid comedian who went for some cheap laughs by taking a shot at somebody else that is famous. Did he mean for the joke to be about the 18 year old or the 14 year old? Who knows? Who cares? What's really the difference? Yes, it's tasteless and offensive but get over it. That's what people like him say.


I'm a big Palin fan but honestly, she probably overreacted. I'm not cutting Letterman any slack. He never should have told that joke but Palin should have never let it escalate to this point. Maybe I want to live in a perfect world but people have more important things to do than wah wah about people saying mean things. Put your big-girl panties on and show people that you have style and grace even when your name is slandered and your feelings get hurt.


So, my point is that at least Letterman apologized. Could it have been better? Yeah, sure. Did he really mean it or is he worried about his ratings? Eh, probably a little bit of both. Who knows? Who cares? Let's go to sleep and tomorrow we fight bigger battles. Like...how is Teddy ever going to get home?!


Thursday, June 11, 2009

I'm not there yet...
















But I will be soon. Sometimes a man just needs to get away. I work hard. I've earned it and even my boss can't stop me. I told my parents the other night that I was going to Yellowstone Park and on up into Canada riding my motorcycle by myself and they just looked crestfallen. They know they can't do anything to change my mind and now it's all I think about on those rare occasions when my mind can go where it wants. It always goes north. You know what I want to see most? Sunrise. I promise to come back with the picture of a sunrise. You will know that's why I went when you see it. More info to come.





Wednesday, June 03, 2009

More handgun probs


Ok, I have a few problems with this article. First off, it's so very obviously a toy gun and anybody should be able to tell even tucked into a waistband. Secondly, these kids were rummaging around the dumpsters looking for unused booze on a college campus. Is there such a thing as unused booze on a college campus and would they really throw it in a dumpster? Also, the fourth paragraph says, "No shots were fired". No (headbob) kidding! It was a toy gun! This article is getting on my nerves!