Someday’s you work hard all day and at the end of the day you feel good. Today is not one of those days. I feel wore out, tired and hurt. My tooth, back, and shoulder all hurt. I’ve taken a couple of pain pills to easy the pain but so far it hasn’t really helped. ouch…

Well I got up at 6:30 am this morning and started teaching. It’s now 10:24 pm and all I have left to do is my blog and vlog, which I want to do more than have to do.

The boys are off house setting a friends house, My oldest daughter is spending the night with her cousin, so it is just My wife, Isabella (the baby), and myself at home this evening. I hope I sleep like a rock and get so great sleep and rest. Next week I have to teach, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and have a meeting on Friday. But, I’m OFF next weekend so I’m going to rest and get some of the thing I want to do done. We’ll I will work if anything comes along, but I’m sort of hope that it doesn’t but won’t turn down the money if it does. LOL

I love my family, every single one of them even though they can be a pain in the ass.

It is a great song but it’s way more than that. When you’re in the military you make friends for life. I was in peace time Army and I have some of the best memories and consider some of the people my best friends. Even though I’ve been out of the Army for 26 year I still think of the friendships that I made. I guess when you’re with people 24/7 you become very personal with them. You talk about family, friends, women, the future, and everything else. I’ve seen places that I would have never seen if it had not been for my time in the military. I saw a lot of Kansas, Missouri, Germany, The Netherlands, and Austria.  I was at 2 Oktoberfest in Munich, and went to Dachau Concentration Camp. I went white water rafting in the Swiss Alps and saw David Bowie in Paris. We road trains all over the place from city to city. We made a bunch of friends and ate many different foods.

The thing about it was I hated the Army. I hated getting up at 5:30 everyday, and hated running in PT. I always thought myself way smarter than 90% of the ranking NCO’s. I counted the days from the time I was in basic training of how much longer do I have before I get out. If it had not been for my stupid sense of loyalty I would have smoked some dope and got thrown out. But, because I a commitment for 4 years I honored that commitment. I was EXTREMELY happy when they announced a 60 early release in Jan 1988. If you were not going to reenlist they were letting you out 60 earlier than you original ETS date. It was truly a prayer that had been answered. Now 26 years later I look back on those times as some of the best days of my life. If I could do it over again, I would never join… it’s a love/hate thing.

Realistically I went in because of a girl, Jennifer Gerloch. I’d join and get through basic and when that was over she’d be 18 and then we could get married and move to Kansas to live. But under a month into basic training she told me it was off and that she had found another dick. She truly broke my heart and I was stuck in the U.S. Army for a long 4 years of my life. Maybe if I had went in on my own or for other reason things may have been different. Who knows, it’s all hindsight now and I’ll never know. May 22, 1984 – Sept 1, 1984 was the longest 3 months of my life. Going through basic training with a broken heart is nothing I’d wish upon anyone…

1. Solar Powers Cloths Dryer – My grandmother called it a cloths line but it’ll save more money than you think. Watch your meter when the dryer kicks on… how fast it moves.

2. Turn A/C up to at least 77 degrees, and if it’s a little cool open the windows and shut the A/C off.

3. Programmable Thermostat – you may spend $100 on these but you can raise the temp in your house when everyone leaves and an hour before you get home have it start cooling again. Then at night after everyone is asleep you can have it raise a couple of degrees. Once programmed it works automatically. You can save $100 per year with these.

4. Caulk around all your windows and doors. So much energy is lost through the small cracks that add up.

5. Weather Stripping around exterior doors. If you live in a home more than 10 years old check all the weather stripping. It’s an inexpensive fix that could keep your energy in and insects out.

6. Low Flow Toilets and Shower heads. Use a fraction of the water to flush the toilet instead of the old 5 gallons at a time. An inexpensive toilet is only a little more than $100. At least have one in the family room where everyone goes constantly.

7. Low Energy light bulbs. We’ve slowly changed ours out throughout the house and have noticed a change in the electric bill. Especially those lights that seem to always be on… those are the most critical.

8. Hot Water Heaters – you can adjust the temperature on your hot water heater to warm instead of scalding hot. Also, if you can put a timer on it where it shuts off during the day when you know nobody is there and will not be taking a shower, you’ll see a decrease in your bill.

9. Insulation – there isn’t much you can do for the walls, but the attic you can. Go up and see if all the insulation is still where it is suppose to be. Don’t pack it down, insulation is suppose to be loose. If you can put the spray foam on the underside of you roof it will make a huge difference. Also, while your up there check the attic fans and get that hot air out of the attic.

10. A/C Ducts? How old is you home? The A/C ducts are probably the same age. Get some tape (from a supply house) and buy a cheap smoke machine at a party store. Set the smoke buy a return and go up in the attic. If you see smoke you have a duct leak. Tape it down or replace that section of duct work. At some point it may be a good investment to call someone and have the duct work redone.  You can also have a duct test ran to show you what your system is like. YOU’LL BE SHOCKED! 

1. Always use the bathroom when your out somewhere. It their septic, water, and paper being used.  If you’re a family of 5 that’s a lot of TP paper!

2. Mooch every possible meal that comes along. Go to every party, gathering, wedding, or anything else were food will be provided.

3. Unless you sweat or working outside you should be able to wear the same pants and shirt more than once… at least a couple of days wear out of them.

4. Cold Showers… conserve on hot water and everyone will take a quick shower.

5. Use the Library as your source of entertainment. Books, movies, audio CD, and much more at no cost.

6. Yellow is Mello, Brown goes down

7. Schedule your runs when out… stop by the store, Walmart, etc. when your coming home from work or already out. 1 run per week, instead of multiple runs.

8. Encourage your kids to spend the night with friends.

9. Set outside on those hot windy days and turn the A/C off.

10. Always make a challenge on how to feed a family of 5 on a $10 dinner… It can be done!

Every month I do up an 8″ x 10″ photo of the month. I have to have it by the 7th of each month to display for the month. So it’s 12 new photos in the frame per year.

I use to keep them in my office and then we moved them onto the bedroom. Once my new frames arrive we are moving them downstairs into the family room.  I still want to keep the same idea and change them out on the 7th of every month. They have to remain PG-13 rated because they are up for the world to see.

This is the first one I’ve done with my motorcycle…lol

My nephew Jonathan Allen Carroll would have been 33 years old this year.  It’s hard to imagine he passed away 26 years years ago. I can still hear his voice and see his face as plain as anything when I close my eyes. I think he’s been looking over me for a long time…

Jon was only 7 years home when he was called home. Jon is my younger sister Tara’s oldest son. They live in Grayson County Kentucky. That was the hardest funeral I’ve ever attended.

Happy Birthday Jon, I still love you and think of you often!  Till we meet again someday.

I typically first wake up at 6:20 – 6:30 for the ritual of brushing teeth, showering, and getting ready. That usually takes about 20 minutes or so… then it’s gather up my stuff and out the door. Now when I first got married my wife would have a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee ready for me as I left, but after 20 years it’s “your Microwave lunch is in the freezer and the bag of instant oatmeal is in the cabinet”. I love you buy… so I get to the office make myself some coffee before class and have a nice packet of oatmeal (low sugar and it taste like shit)… ah the good life.

Students start coming in at around 7:30 and asking what they should bring in and asking various questions. I drink my coffee log into the webinar and wait for 8 o’clock. I sometimes stand by the computer and pray somehow the class is cancelled and I can go back home to bed. (that has never happened yet) Class begins at 8 am, we break at 10 am for 15 minutes or so, then go again till lunch, 12:00 pm. The afternoon session starts at 1 pm and again we take another break at 3 pm. Once break is over I’m on the downhill slope and I typically finish between 4:45 and 5 pm. I lock up the building, turn on the alarm, and go home.

I know all I do is stand and talk but it’s pretty mentally exhausting. The older I get I almost have to take an hour nap or so and I’m usually tired till I go to be for the night. The family even says a little grumpy…bah humbug. It takes most of the next day for me to fully recharge and then Sunday night I know the next day is Monday and it’s time to go again.

Onward March…

Three African American teenagers, two boys 13 and 16, and one girl 15 attack and beat an 83 year old white man and then stole his car. The amazing this is this is not being called a hate crime, why not? They purposely chose an 83 year old white guy to attack, beat, and possibly kill. I think if the victim was black and the teenagers were white everyone in the media would be calling this a “HATE CRIME”.

Somehow every time we have a crime committed against an African American by whites it’s instantly labeled a hate crime, when it was a crime. Would these boys and girl attacked the 83 year old man if he’d been black, I’m sure they would have. So in most crimes it’s not a crime because they’re black or they’re white… it’s just a crime. Criminals don’t care what color you are they are only concerned about what they can get. They prey on defenseless or helpless people whom they know can’t or won’t fight back. Most of them are cowards who prey on the weak.

The single father of the boys was at work when the incident occurred. He thought the kids were in school. We don’t really know what the story is on the girl… who knows and does it really make any difference, probably NOT.

That is a standard that everyone should consider whether it’s a hate crime or not. If the person was another color would the crime have still been committed? If yes, then it’s not a hate crime. If the answer is NO, they yes it is a hate crime.