The Journey

The new tribe bites so this will be my last blog entry

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 15:14:48 GMT

This whole thing has felt like a big bait and switch. I have not seen one positive comment about the new format and Tribe went ahead and changed it. I will be keeping my blog on a paid site where you are allowed to say what you want and there are no ads. If you are popular, you end up getting your money back. If you are really popular, you get more than your money back. I don't play the game but it's there if you want to. blogit.com/Blogs/Affil/?26562 There aren't any discussion boards or photo galleries, just blogs. But that's the part I am interested in. That's why I added people to my friends list, so that I would know when they updated their blogs. Tribe has shortened up that list to the point that I have to click on each friend to see if they have updated their blog. That's too much of a hassle. I am not going to unsubscribe so that if people are curious about where I am, they'll be able to find me. Hope to see you all there. Let me know if you join up and I'll add your blogs to my favorites list. I enjoyed Tribe but truly what I enjoyed was the people of tribe. Without you guys, there really is no tribe.

Another look at Wendover

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 20:44:19 GMT

Wendover really does seem to be out in nowhere but it's surprising how much of it is actually seen on TV. Every car commercial that you see where they drive on this big flat expanse is filmed out here. A lot of films have scenes shot out here as well. Wind, Independence Day, and Con Air come to mind and there have been several others. Anthony Hopkins was out here filming something the week before I moved here. A massage therapist out here, Jo Black, had her picture taken with him. Land speed records are set out here as well. The salt flats are just that, flat. Flat for car racing. Not actually flat because from one of the hills in Wendover, you can see the curvature of the earth. This year, they were able to create 13 miles of usable flatness for the speed trials. I believe the land speed record stands at about 763 mph. Tomorrow night, Stardust comet collector will enter the earth's atmosphere over Wendover and land in the desert. I'm hoping the weather holds so that we have a good view of it. My wife and I are going to go out and have a watch.

Yesterday is over

SuccessWarrior — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:40:23 GMT

That's how I feel. Yesterday is over. Nothing much more than that. It lasted for 31 hours and it finally ended. I didn't plan on being awake for that long. Rarely do I make plans to be awake that long. 24 hours, yes. 31 hours, no. And even when I plan my 24 hour days, I still try to sneak in an hour or two of nap. I would love to post something funny right now but right now, I'm still thinking about going back to bed. That's the bad thing about deprivation, isn't it? It changes your mindset. People say that fasting helps tune your mind to God, it's a spiritual experience. Fasting makes me hungry and unless your god is a "double Whopper with cheese, supersized and what the hell is for dessert?", I wouldn't call that worship of any kind. So it goes for sleep. I reach a point where I'm doing what I need to be doing but my mind is calculating how many minutes until I can get to bed and trying to figure out how much time I could sleep if I waited until the last second to wake up. Okay, if I go to bed right now, and fell asleep instantly, and slept until 6:12, I could get 1 hour and 48 minutes of sleep. I usually do that for about 30 minutes and, worrying that I won't hear the alarm, wake up early so that total sleeping time is cut down to just the 48 minutes. If I have one word of advice to pass on, it would be this. You can't hurry to go to sleep. It just doesn't work. The more you try to hurry to sleep, the less likely that you will actually sleep. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have some lunch and rush off to bed.

My son has added a new skill

SuccessWarrior — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 20:36:17 GMT

He is getting proficient with hitting people with a stick. "That's my boy," was my response to the news that my wife broke to me yesterday. In actuality, I already knew about my son's new addition but last we talked, I thought we were going to keep it between him and me. All you dads out there know the talk I speak of, "Your mom doesn't need to know about this." We'll have to work on the secret keeping or maybe, once again, it was the language barrier. I'm sure that people think that I'm odd for how much I speak with my son. My wife thought it was odd at first but she has just gotten used to it. I say things, he says things, I answer and neither of us really has a clue what's being said. Although, through our conversing yesterday in the grocery store, we were able to find the oven bags for the turkey so you can't say that something isn't working out there. Back to topic, my wife said that she thinks I'm going to raise a violent child. I don't think that just because I showed him the proper way to make a fist the day after he was born means that he's going to be violent (he kept putting his thumb inside his fingers when he made a fist, a sure way to break your own thumb when you hit...IF you hit someone). I think that my training will give him the ability but not the tendancy. Today, he started saying, "thank you," when you give him things. So add that to his vocabulary and toward nonviolence training.

So I Was Eating a Pop Tart Today...

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 22:12:20 GMT

My son's vocabulary is increasing. Nothing yet that really sounds like hocking out a good deep loogie but I am still betting that skill comes in handy. He does that sound quite a bit so I'm thinking I'm on to something. We have Tek, kitty, cheese, uh oh, cheese, 'ey! (at the top of his voice), and I think I heard ball today a couple of times. I'm waiting for him to pop out a verb so we can start working on a sentance. Not that, "ey, cheese ball! Hxkxxxkxk thplooooh," doesn't have its uses. I can think of dozens of reasons why someone might yell this out. As soon as I teach it to him though, you know he's going to try it out on his mother. You can just see the picture as she gets home and walks in the house. Her darling little boy looks up from his blocks and yells, "ey cheese ball," and then makes the sound of a good wad of spit. I'll be on the couch with a, "that's my boy," and a high five. He can high five so we've got that part covered.

Watched Another Movie Tonight

SuccessWarrior — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 04:11:46 GMT

My wife and I decided to watch another movie tonight. I wanted to see Serenity but as luck would have it, the movie wasn't in. I try to rent one video once in a while and the dang thing wasn't even in. We came home and had dinner and still in the mood for a movie checked what was on ppv. There's no doubt that we haven't seen whatever is playing so it's just a matter of what is on and will we actually want to watch it. Garbage, looks yucky, probably sucks, sounds stupid and a whole host of other movies were available. We decided to go with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I know that I was recently complaining about the fact that there are no new ideas but I was interested to see Depp play the part. It wasn't bad. We both enjoyed the original better because of Wilder and we liked the ending better in the first one. Depp was fun to watch and there were some funny bits. Next month, I'll go looking for Serenity again or maybe by then it will be on ppv.

A Brand New Game

SuccessWarrior — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 03:57:29 GMT

My son has started a brand new game in our house. The game is called, "Go To Bed". Here is how the game is played. My wife gives my son a bath, puts on his pj's, and brushes his teeth. We take him to his bed where I read him a bed time story. Tonight we read about the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah and about Abraham sending his mistress off into the desert with one of his sons where she thought they were certainly die of thirst. There is nothing like a bit of death and destruction, infidelity, and child abandonment for a great bedtime story. After the story, my wife and I kiss our son on the head, let him know we love him, and wish him a good night. All of this is much like setting up the Monopoly board, cards and money to begin the game. Now the game actually begins. We close the door and step away. The door opens. I say, "Go to bed," and take him back to his bed. I go back out and shut the door and wait for the door to open and then I say, "Go to bed," and take him back to bed. There is a small variation. Before he really starts to get tired, he will actually run back to his bed and flop on it, half in and half out of the bed. As he gets more tired, he tends to just lay closer to the door, and open the door while laying down. Quite frankly, he would probably win this game except that my wife and I are a tag-team. So, I'll do it for a while and then, getting worn down, I'll tag her in and go take a break by doing something like writing in my blog. Then she'll tag me in and so on until we win. There is a definate reason that parents come in two's.

Happy New Year

SuccessWarrior — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 19:50:02 GMT

Another year gone, another year ahead. In the grand scheme of things, it's just another day but I suppose that we tend to look for starts and finishes. Today is a start. A brand new start, some say but the habits of all the yesteryears aren't so easily banished. How about a resolution? I'm not really one for resolutions because most people tend to make wishes instead of resolutions with no follow through, or no follow through after the first week. Then it's back to the same ole, same ole. I have decided to make one this year. One that I think I can keep. My resolution is to post to my blog more regularly. Not necessarily every day because my life right now doesn't seem to lend itself well to an "everyday" kind of resolution. 4 to 5 days a week seems do-able to me and if I hit and every day of the week once in a while, it'll be a nice bonus. I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.

Give me my Christmas present now!

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 15:55:49 GMT

We bought my son a little bed for Christmas. I mean, a little bed. I didn't know they made beds this small. You buy the frame and put the crib mattress on it. You see, my son is a climber and we realized that it wouldn't be long before he was leaving his crib on his own. He has conquered many, many things in the house. He has been to the top of Reclineryama and nearly off the back a couple of times. Mount Windowsill has been no challenge and in fact, he's been in a couple of them. The next time I download pics off my camera, I'll show you one. Don't tell my wife. For the most part, we are on the same page about how to raise our young alpinist. On things like balancing on top of a ball, that was placed on a Tonka truck, that's resting on several stacks of multi-colored blocks, which were put on a chair, so that he can reach the knife set, we differ. She thinks that he should be immediately removed from the danger. I, on the other hand, think that a picture should be taken first. "Hang on son, forgot to charge the battery!" He's been on the table, on the counter, on the dog, and shows no sign of this being a quick little phase. Getting out of the crib was inevitable and we just hoped he would wait until Christmas. You know I wouldn't be writing this if such a thing had happened. I'm lying in bed the other night and I hear the thud. Sure enough, out my son comes. Thinking that this is a possible fluke, I put him back. Maybe he somehow managed to get all the planets in alignment for just that moment. Kids are like that sometimes. They'll do something and you won't see it again for weeks. Not this time. He was screaming about how pissed he was to be going to bed and then thunk. Mind you, it's two hours past his normal bed time so he really had nothing to that mad about. We take his mattress out and put it in on the floor. Time to start the new training and keep himself from eventually hurting himself. I put him in his new make-shift bed and close the door. He is still so angry that he's making all kinds of rabid animal sounds. Thank goodness he hasn't figured out how to get enough leverage on a doorknob yet to actually get it open. Never let it be said that God does not have a sense of humor. The doorknob rattled a bit and click, the door opened. Perhaps a fluke. Yes, I am a little slow but I prefer to call it "hopeful". I put him back and close the door. Sure enough, he opens it. I'm a man and a problem solver. That means that I have access to Home Depot supplies and I'm not afraid to use them. A little bit of duct tape and whammo, problem solved.

My contribution to my son's vocabulary

SuccessWarrior — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 16:45:44 GMT

About a month ago, I came home from work and my wife said, "Watch this!" She proceeded to fake a sneeze, to which my son echoed it back. "I taught him how to pretend to sneeze," she said. Usually, I'm pretty quick with a response but this one left me a little off guard. Lots of thoughts ran through my head and I couldn't figure out which one was the best one to vocalize. First thought, "Great" said with all my practiced sarcasm. Sidenote: In our marital fight rules, sarcasm from me has been banned because of my so-called aptitude in said skill. This has resulted in many "don't you have anything to say?" comments because many times, all I have to say is sarcastic. On with the story. Next thought. What a wonderfully useless skill to teach our 18 month old son. Unless of course he goes into acting and manages to get a part in a cold medicine commercial, in which case, I will have to say, at that time, how profoundly intuitive the training was and, depending on the size of the check, how thankful I am that my son knew how to fake a sneeze at such a young age. What if that led into something bigger. I can just see my son at the podium, naked gold man in hand. "I'd like to thank the God, MTV, the academy, and all my fans for making this possible. Most of all, I would like to thank my mother for teaching me to fake sneeze when I was a toddler. Thank you all and God bless." <screaming applause> A month later and an odd thing has occurred. My son, who as faithful readers know, has for the most part boycotted the English language. Other than the dog's name, Tek, and the ever so useful "uh-oh", speaks only in baby talk which somehow resembles Klingon to the point that I'm not really positive that he isn't speaking via communicator to some bird-of-prey orbiting our planet cloaked. This would also make me wonder more about the ridges on his forehead and the possibility that maybe I'm not the biological father. Anyway, it's a month later and my son suddenly has added two more words to his vocabulary. "Ouch" and "shoes" are now said on a regular basis. Interesting. Ouch-shoe. Hmmmmm. This makes me think. Not about apologizing to my wife for all those thoughts about the uselessness of teaching a fake sneeze. I am a man after all. So we're driving back from Salt Lake City one day and I decide to implement my own plan about 40 miles out. I teach my son how to fake the sound of hocking a loogie. For 40 miles, we practice this. Everytime my wife tells me to stop, my son does it for me. This, of course, makes me laugh and also makes me mimic it back to him. She tells me it's disgusting, my son does it again, I parrot it back to him. 40 miles. Nearing home, I tell my wife that her fake sneeze has produced two new words in a kid that refuses to talk. I tell her that this new game may also produce a word or two. She says, "Yeah, for all those words that start with the sound kxckxxk thploooooh." I laughed so hard that I was crying.

Movies this week...

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 18:17:38 GMT

I actually sat down and watched some movies this week, lent to me by one of my karate students. He buys just about every new release that comes out and will soon have more movies than the local video rental place. I watched "Madagascar", "Christmas with the Kranks", and "War of the Worlds." I have been reminded why I don't watch movies. It took me about 4 sessions to make it through War and when it ended, there was a commercial for King Kong on TV. I guess all of the good ideas have been used up and we are left with watching reruns. I hope it's just a phase that the world is going through and that we will emerge on the other side rested and ready to be innovative again.

"Big Time"

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:46:10 GMT

That's the new medical word that I learned today. I should add it to CV Rick's words of power tribe. They are certainly words of power. I went to the doctor today. Being a man, I have been putting it off for a couple of...weeks. Yeah, that's me. My wife has been trying to get me go but I'm the "rub a little dirt in it, walk it off" kind of guy. Yesterday, finally tired of being tired and sick, I made the appointment. All by myself! Usually, my wife makes the appointment and tells me that I'm going. Maybe I'm making progress. Nahhh. I check in, tell the nurse that I think I have a UTI. I have never had a UTI before so I can't say that I had a lot of medical backing on this guess. Yesterday, I didn't have to turn on the light for my early morning pee because the flames shooting out of my penis provided plenty of light. I used this as one of the clues for my nonmedical shot in the now lit dark. Of course, I have to pee in the cup. That was a little bit of extra delight. You ever notice that visiting the doctor is always painful? "Does it hurt when I press here?" "How 'bout here?" "When I hit you with this hammer?" "You're going to feel a little poke," as they pull out the needle they use for injecting race horses with steroids. The doctor comes in and asks what I think the problem is. I have already told the nurse and I'm sure the notes are in the folder that she has in her hand. I'm thinking that this must be some kind of test. She probably plays all kinds of games with people who have WebMD in their favorites list. I throw it out there anyway. "A UTI is my guess," I say, wishing that this was a multiple choice test instead of a fill in the blanks. True/False would have given me better odds and 50/50. T/F You have a UTI? Uhhhh, true? "Big time," was her answer. I think I should get credit for the correct answer. I wasn't asked to what degree I have a UTI, although I could have given a good shot at an answer based on the melted rim of the cup that I peed into. "Big time?" I'm thinking. Is this some kind of new medical term that I have missed in all my years of damaging my body? I've heard things like severe, chronic, and acute but Big Time? New advances in nanotechnology and geekiness are probably having an effect on the biolingo (yeah, I made that up but hell, big time?). She shows me the readout from the UA. "See, look at your white count," she points at some spot on the sheet of paper. I look at the paper as a whole, notice how it's split into sections, a grid of about 5X5 on half a sheet of paper. I don't bother looking the number she's pointing at. "It's way up." Way up? More newfangled biolingo. I have to take her word for it. I have no idea what my white count it when everything is functioning properly. If it's up big time, I'm going to defer to her judgement on this. I nod my head like I know exactly what she's talking about. "And look at this," she points to another square on the grid. "There's quite a bit of blood in your urine and that's bad." Wait! Let me grab a pen and some paper and make some notes. Lots of blood in urine is, what did you say again and can you slow down so I can keep up. Okay, okay, got it. Blood + Urine = Bad. Is that just bad or is it bad Big Time? Maybe that equation would look like Lots of Blood + Urine = Bad Big Time. She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that is supposed to be especially good (way good?) for treating UTI's and told me to drink plenty of fluids. That's good advice because you know how much I'm looking forward to peeing. I'll bet doctor's chuckle when they get together and talk about the things they put us through. "You should have seen this guy I had last month. Peeing flames. I told him to drink plenty of fluids and told him I was prescribing an antibiotic but actually, it was a diuretic." I can just see the picture of a dozen highly educated people rolling on the floor yelling, "Stop, stop, I'm going to pee my pants!" "So is the patient! I made sure of it!" More laughter.

After School Program

SuccessWarrior — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:41:41 GMT

Today I start teaching martial arts in an after school program at the elementary school on this side of the state line. I will be teaching there about once a week for the rest of the year. The school started up programs for children after school and has had very little participation from instructors so there isn't much to offer for the children. I'm not sure what interest there will be for martial arts but it's worth a try. If it doesn't work out, I'm not out much. I'm taking my white belt curriculum as the course of study so it's just a matter of my time. It's good to see them add a physical skill for kids. No matter how many times I see it, I still find it shocking to see how many obese kids there are. When I was a kid, we didn't need an after school program to encourage us to move. We never stopped moving. We had to be called in for dinner. Now parents have to turn off the video game to get kids to dinner or rather, to get them to eat while sitting in front of the TV. I better stop not before I really get going. =)

No snow for us and it's a beautiful day

SuccessWarrior — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 21:13:11 GMT

The snow hit the mountains, we got some freezing rain. Today is absolutely gorgeous out. My son and I went for our walk. I ended up taking off my hoodie because it was too warm. Probably in the 40's today. It was supposed to be colder than that but you know that I'm not complaining about it at all. My son still refuses to speak. He says "Tek" and "Hi" and there is a rumor that he says "bye" but I have never heard him say it. My wife and mother say they heard him but they very well could be lying to me. I was trying to teach him how to say "Jeek Chop" (sp?) which I believe is Klingon for "Bite me!". That one has caught on yet with him. He was saying "Eeshkah" for a while which is what gave me the idea for the Klingon. I'm not sure what "eeshkah" means but I think it loosely translates as "my dad rocks." That could be a very loose interpretation. I'm still working on "mama" but it looks like he's going to hold out past Christmas on that one. At his last check up, the doctor said that if he wasn't talking by now, we should check his hearing. The thing is, he hears fine. He hears the smallest of noises. I just don't think he has found a use for words yet. He does try to type thought. That's my boy! He does babble and I babble right back with him. We hold complete conversations. My wife says that he'll never learn to talk if I choose to speak his language. He won't have any incentive. I disagree. I'm sure that by the time we get to, "Dad, can I have the car keys?", there will be plenty of motive and he will choose to speak my language.

It might snow today.

SuccessWarrior — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 16:16:20 GMT

The weather in Wendover is something that I can appreciate. The summer didn't get as hot as I thought it would and the winter is more mild than where I was living. While much of the country is being dumped on, we have a chance of snow and it probably won't be enough to bother shoveling and will be gone the next time the sun shines. I actually enjoy the snow but I don't enjoy cold. That's a tough one to get around. Maybe that will change now that I don't have to work in the cold. When I can choose when and how I will visit the chilliness, it might be more enjoyable.

Blue! 32! Blue! 32! Hut, hut.

SuccessWarrior — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 19:01:18 GMT

Our Christmas tree is up. We put it up on Saturday. We usually try to get the task done on Black Friday but we were too busy that day and didn't get home until 2am after the concert. We have a tradition of buying a new ornament for each member of the family each year. As such, there are a fair number of St. Louis Rams ornaments on the tree. =) This year Snoopy and Tigger found their way to our tree. I was a Snoopy fan before I was a Rams fan. We put a Tigger ornament up for our son because of his Halloween costume. This morning, as I was trying to find some breakfast for my son and I, I heard this clatter down the hallway. I went to see what it was and found one of the Rams ornaments still moving on the kitchen floor. It is shaped like a football and my son knows exactly what to do with a football. My wife said this isn't the first time he has taken a snap from the tree and thrown the bomb with the ornament. I moved the ornament a little higher. Don't tell him but I did buy him a football last week for Christmas. I think he's going to like it.

It's the day after Thanksgiving!

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 14:30:31 GMT

And why is that important? Because it's my birthday, of course. =) On top of that, I have the day off from work and from teaching karate and my wife has the day off. That's something quite rare. We will be spending the day together and tonight, we are going to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

Getting the van back today

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 21:46:26 GMT

My wife went to get our van. I didn't go because I didn't think there would be enough time to get to Salt Lake and back before I have to go to work. She wanted to take her time, as well, to take a break from Wendover. We discuss moving all the time but right now, aren't sure where we would be going. We have discussed plenty of options including Minneapolis. I enjoyed the time I spent their visiting CV Rick. Nice place. I'm not a big fan of cold so that has to be taken into consideration. We don't want to move just to get away from here, we want to move toward something. Don't know what that goal is right now.

Wendover isn't the end of the world but you can...

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 05:03:48 GMT

No, no, wait. It is the end of the world. So continues my blog on "Life in Wendover", today coupled with more on my son (of course). Sunday, my son had a high fever which I told you about. Monday, not as bad. Tuesday, everything looks to be good. Wednesday, a rash on his face. Today, it was worse. Time for a doctor's opinion. I had slated the first half of the day to work on my website in which I am completely overhauling the directory system because the dang thing which started as a simple idea has grown to nearly 200 pages and looks like it's going to keep on snowballin'. We wait for doctor's offices to open and make a call. An eleven o'clock appointment, so we head out the door, thinking that if we are a bit early we can make a stop at Walmart for some winter pajamas for the boy. On the way, we call a pediatrician when they open up and they can get us in. Thinking that the better choice, we switch appointments. Timing is about the same, 10:40. We drive the 100 miles to the freeway exit and the 25 south to the doctor's office. They have us wait for an hour before seeing our son. "Viral rash, nothing you can do but wait it out, thanks for choosing our service." Now we're hungry and make a stop for food and then hit Walmart because no one in Wendover drives 125 miles and doesn't stop at Walmart or Home Depot or a mall or...you get the idea.

Another break for my son

SuccessWarrior — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 15:44:35 GMT

It's not that I like the kid or anything. ;) I made him noodles for lunch. He and the dog, Tek, have a pact. When Trey has had enough to eat, he chucks the rest of the food off onto the floor. My High Tek vacuum then cleans it all up. I can't have Tek in the room while my son eats or he shares from the start. I stepped out of the kitchen for something and when I came back, well, it looks like my son was a little zealous in the noodle throwing. I went and got the camera which does stills and video. I took a couple of pictures and then took some video of him with the noodle on his ear. I showed my wife the video later that night. "Why didn't you take the noodle of his ear?" she said, trying not to laugh. I didn't answer because that was answer enough. That, and the fact that I'm going to try and save up embarassing video for later in his life. I'm sure he'll do the same thing for me when I'm 90 and drooling on myself. What goes around...

Returning to Life in Wendover

SuccessWarrior — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 17:11:27 GMT

Here is a picture of the golf course and driving range. My son and I walk past it nearly every day on our way to the post office. They don't deliver the mail out here. You have to go to the post office to pick it up. My son and I are becoming a part of the city, it would seem. People come up to me all the time and tell me they saw us out walking. Pretty soon the tour bus will have us as part of the scenic drive. "If you look out the right side of the bus, you'll see Alan and Trey walking to the post office." The post office is probably half a mile from our house. The grocery store is only a couple of blocks farther so we sometimes add that to our route. Our credit union is moving this week and will be in between the grocery store and the post office. That's going to be a convenient little walk for us.

Allow me to further digress

SuccessWarrior — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 18:06:08 GMT

Euporia wrote: "Puerto Rico's another country? Since when? Even your map says it's U.S.! " And that really is the point, isn't it? People can call themselves anything they want and you aren't politically correct if you don't accept it. For example, I was really good friends with a woman from Africa. She isn't African/American because she still lives in Africa or did, the last I knew. We met in London and she planned on living her life in her home country. If she were to move to the U.S., then she would be able to say that she is African/American. Born in Africa, speaking her native tongue, she definately gets to claim that right by my new rules. Her skin color is pale white. Claiming to be from Africa leaves a lot of leeway considering how large the continent is and how many races are represented there. One final thing before I go back to "Life in Wendover". If this is the melting pot where everyone is equal, why are we trying so hard to separate people?

We interupt this program...

SuccessWarrior — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 04:27:56 GMT

My son is sick tonight, running a high fever. He's just laying in bed with my wife, awake but not moving. That's the first clue right there because he never stops moving. He's on the go from the time he gets up until you force him to bed. His fever is pretty high so we are keeping a close eye on him. I'm hoping that he feels a little better in the morning.

I'm Puerto Rican/American

SuccessWarrior — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 18:19:22 GMT

I'm part of a majority here in Wendover, I suppose. I say that I suppose because with the new guidelines, I'm not really sure where I fall. If you go by my ancestry, I would say that I'm probably English/American. If you go back further, I'm probably Dutch/American. Further? Middle-eastern/American. Further still? Garden of Eden/American. I was born in Puerto Rico though so I think that gives me the right to say that I'm Puerto Rican/American. That's closer to the truth than many people that put something in front of the slash who were born in the U.S. and whose parents were born in the U.S. and so were there parents. Most of them have never been to the country that they put in front of the slash, nevermind being born there. I have heard estimates that Wendover is 60% and even 70% hispanic. Most of these people do not call themselves Mexican/American. They leave after the slash and the American part. Many of them are here illegally so I guess they technically wouldn't be American anyway. One thing I have noticed is that some of them rate your Mexcianish by your language. In this case, I would not be able to claim to be Puerto Rican/American because my Spanish bites. If you neglect to learn or remember the language of your origin, then you are no longer part of that country. More tomorrow...

We Recycle. Do you?

SuccessWarrior — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 15:08:04 GMT

(This is another picture taken from in front of my house, facing the opposite direction.) I was having dinner with a couple of other supervisors last week and we were discussing a recently terminated emloyee. He had decided on several occasions not to come to work and didn't bother to call to say that he wasn't coming in. The third time he did it, the manager decided to let him go. "I wouldn't hire him back for at least 3 months," Supervisor 1 said. "I'd wait 6 months," Supervisor 2 said. I didn't say anything. I tend to be the quiet one at these meetings and I also feel like an outsider, being the new guy. What I'm thinking is that I would never, ever hire this guy back but then I'm not the one that has to try and get warm bodies on the floor. I am beginning to understand how things work out here and so I kept quiet. There aren't enough people out here that give a damn to hire. People leave or get fired every week and they just walk across the street and get a job at another casino. They work their way around all the casinos, one after another and eventually are hired back at the original one. I have seen it time after time. With this kind of atmosphere, there is no encouragement for these people to try. All of them have the attitude that if they get fired, they'll be hired the next day anyway. And they will. Someone will pick them up. And if a casino won't hire them, there's always Smith's. =)