drop-in

As President of this our Family Reunion this year, I have launched a reunion website.

I have a few mashups (pictures, videos, blog, maps).  As I say on the site:

All things web web now 2.0, which basically means that the web is at the next level of interconnectivity. Maps can be embedded in web pages; pictures can be shared; but most importantly people’s stories can be shared with one another like never before.

As part of this plan, I made some postcards, check them out here.

Packed with features:

1. Poke - Send messages directly to all of your friends.
2. Wall - Send messages to all of your friends at the same time.
3. Photos - Share pictures with a few or all of your friends.
4. Embarrass - Send juicy secrets from one friend to all other friends.
5. Notifications - Be notified instantly when your friends want to contact you (and you can immediately respond to them).

Sign up here.

At the early warning shots of Gas Crisis 07, my wife and I, in our infinite wisdom, purchased two new SUVs.  Brilliant. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad until the full-on war of 08.  $3.89 absolutely sucks the bucks from my account. To save money, recall the Nixon Administration, and the 55 MPH Speed Limit–I SLOWED DOWN.

I went from 8 to 10 MPG–lying–10 to 12.5–lying–14 to 17.5 MPG. Yes, folks thats right 25% more gas by slowing my ass down. And what makes this even better is that my road rage has suddenly dissipated. I am not gunning for the top spot–slaying those in my path with imported fossil fuel. I am simply “Cruising Grandpa” my way to better efficiency.  That way I can store all my rage for the $5/hr employee at McDonalds. As Steve Covey says, “Win - Win.”

Do you have a Gas Saving Story. Share it.

Went to the store this morning and saw this subtle snub atop the promo area:

Loser? Ouch.

Seeing Stephen last night at HOB in New Orleans was certainly the next best thing.

We were tired (from traveling all day and getting up at the ass crack of dawn to distribute the children to the proper locations before the trip–I will let you decide who actually did that), so when we thought about dinner, I thought about 96 oz. of beer and an appetizer; the wife thought about quick dinner and coming back to the room to watch a movie…WHAT??!?

We strolled down Canal St. over through Riverwalk and then started down Decatur St. In front of a huge tour bus sat a burley truck that was covered in Rasta stickers, and in the bed sat a dude with serious dreds –and I mean serious.While getting the first 48 oz. of that beer and some calamari (yes, I was getting my way–happy anniversary), we met a local that said she was going to see Stephen Marley (Bob’s son) playing HOB.

We bounced down Decatur for an assumed non-existent dive called Coop’s, but we finally found it. A dive it was, but it was definitely the best damn dive this side of the Mississippi–not sure that is saying much since the Mississippi is only about 4 blocks from Decatur…anyway. We ended up meeting a couple from Phoenix and another couple from Biloxi. We told them about Stephen, and lo and behold we all went to get some rasta vibrations. Needless to say, we didn’t see a movie, and I think that was perfectly acceptable.

I guess this means three more months of denial that winter is over.

In response to rising fuel costs, a local volunteer fire chief decided to park the fire engines over the weekend, which contributed to more than 14 deaths in the small Tennessee town.

Fire Chief Wayne Smith said of the act, “last week the big rigs made their point about high gas prices by parking their rigs,  so I decided to do the same.” When Smith was questioned that he was not in the delivery business but instead of the business of saving human lives he responded, “six in one half dozen the other.”

Over the weekend,  7 fires blazed the small town where Smith refused to mobilize the fire engine. Although the town had a “bucket brigade” mobilized, the town  only had one bucket due to the bucket shortage associated with the town’s crystal meth production, which was the cause of 4 out of the 7 fires over the weekend.

When asked about a time frame for mobilizing fire service again Smith exclaimed, “that biotch ain’t movin til the gas prices drop.”

At the depth of Winter’s dark dormancy, a spark–a glimmer of hope, the return of life. Quietly, without fanfare, bud’s blossom bursts.

In a forest of lifeless branches, a single sign of promise. This beacon of hope springs. As if telling the cold forest wood that again summer’s soft green covering will return. Without subtlety or conformance, the bud explodes color into its lifeless surrounding. We are alive!

Friends are important. Really important.

I was thinking about another benefit of friendship today when an acquaintance on the telephone began exploring deeply personal issues and crossing boundaries with his frustrations.  I didn’t really know this guy that well, and I was a bit shocked at his behavior.  Then it dawned on me, he is friendless.  Although he has plenty of acquaintances, he has not confidant. Therefore a stranger, an animal, or a lightpost can take away his pain.

High times, toasts, and roaring laughter I often associated with friendship, but vulnerability, trust, and accountability are another face of friends. As humans we need partnerships of trust to listen to our pain, counsel us in our grief, and kick us squarely in the seat of the pants from time to time. These partnerships enable us to appropriately invest our intimate feelings in safe harbors, and then we can regroup for the rest of the world.  But a relationally fractured individual may freely invest intimacy inappropriately, or, on the other hand, they may harden and invest nowhere–ultimately left to die an emotional death.

Today, I was shocked and amused at the conversation, but ultimately I was left with pity. A world so full of people yet so fragmented.

Okay, Doug, I left that one without saying anything smart ass at the end, so there.