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Blogging the House o'Web.............. |
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November 11.04 Election Day here in paradise. Even with all the early and absentee voting we still had to wait patiently in line with all the other fair Fultonians who thought right when the polls open would be the best time to go. We're not complaining, mind you. Not one bit. I had my say, and lemme just say, I like to back a winner. And a few Liberitarian candidates I wern't familiar with 2. Skipped over some that were running unopposed. I mean, I doubt my write-in woulda won anyway. And with a few civic issues thrown in the whole thing too almost two hours. Proud now, boy.
October 10.25 Happy B'day to the Richmond contingent, Karen yesterday and Bob on Tuesday! Meredith last week, Penny a few weeks ago, me, hey it's the birthday season! Readying for a week up in NC next week and packing up my long johns cause it's gonna be chilly. So far today I'm taking it easy, watching some old Frankenstein movies, cleaning out closets & drawers, and updating my website. Well, I guess you coulda figured out that last one. It's a real pretty day here in the ATL, so sooner or later I'll have to get up and go out for some fresh air & sunshine. Oh wait! Son of Frankenstein is coming on!... I'm JB and I approve of this crap. 10.19 Well, another birthday come and gone, this one was the last of the forties and I'm trying to decide if this puts me beyond my bio description of 'middle-aged' or if now I'm just plain old. I used to rationalize by thinking that once the window for living fast, dying young, & leaving a good-looking corpse had closed , everything after was gravy, but now I think it's the gravy itself I need to look out for. Had a lovely day down in HHI, right where I wanted to be...Usually don't want to make too much of a political statement here, but as far as anyone knows JBzHouseOfWeb is officially endorsing Barack for Prez this time around. So put that in your pipeline and smoke it. 10.09 Oh, whah, oh, whah, oh, whah...I'm in one'a those moods. So, lookout. Always trying to find the right words. Finally got some rain! Now everythings muddy. It always sumpthen. Love ya. -JB 10.01 Off into the wilds of Central Fla again, coming to you from the 2nd floor of the MCO Wingate after a day of straight shooting southbound. It's also been a day of significant numbers. Finall made my 2500th geocache find within walking distance here, and turned over 88888.8mi on the ole work truck. Hope the numerology thing extends to our lottery tickets we got for Maggie's birthday yesterday...I'll let you know how it comes out. September 09.27 So nice of you to drop in. At least with gas prices the way they are nowadays stopping by the Ol' HouseOfWeb is a deal! And gas prices? How about gas lines? Had to get in one this am to fill the Jeep after running around last night on empty looking for a station that even had some. Well, not empty exactly. A little better than a quarter tank. OK, half. So we just joined in the circus with the rest of the clowns. Had two near altercations with fellow queuers myself. The news says this could stretch out for another week or two. Between this and the stock market and the election and the international conflict and the,..hey, let's just try'n keep it all in perspective, take care of each other and our little planet here, and in spite of it all, have a nice day! ;^)
09.13 Slicing and dicing on the House here a bit. Check it out and see if you can tell where. JB 09.03 What a great weekend in NY Catskill, perfect weather for the most part, lots of family goings on with kids home from school, birthdays and ice cream rides w/ Rose. She's 98 y'know. I'll post some (33) pics on a new Catskill 08 page if I can remember how. I didn't get any shots of the Joe popping the locked car door, or of the screaming fox in the cemetery, or any corn eating shots either for that matter, but you'll get the jist. The big buzz kill will come at 5am tomorrow when I have to get outta bed and go back to work. Damn.
August 08.26 On with the parade!! If we could just make it through the next couple of days, we'll be Labor Daying up the country. Baby do you wanna go? Oh, hell yeah. 08.18 One never knows what one's gonna get when you come a-surfin' our way. Today I've got a link for you all the way from our bestman, TimP in AbuDhabi. He's working on a top-secret project from what I can tell and the place seems to be quite a departure from Simpleville via CaymanIs. What's all this mean? Check it out, dude. 08.14 Ordinarily the pic above'd change from time to time, but I like that one. We had a really nice visit in NYC & you can still get some warm fuzzies looking at it... Anyway, there were connection problems again today here at the HOW. We did had a strong rain late last night and when I came in this pm the computers were actin' up. Always just when one needs it, she goes out. WTH. So we hooked up the old cable modem directly and finally got a signal, good, get some work done then try'n call Comcast. What?! The phones are out too??!You gotta be kidding me. Thank God for cell phones. Eventually AT&T got the problem fixed, although while I'se talking to their tech hotline they kept referring to it as my problem. Uh-uh. Called Comcast again. Got cut off 3 times for my effort. A lot of good that did. I wound up having to figure the whole thing out myself and by the time I did, 3 hours later, I got both the ethernet and the wireless back up and resecured. No small feat for a bigfooted bricklayer. Just stay calm and when other things fail, try turnin' things off and then on again. But don't waste time calling tech support. They generally suck... Still haven't showered from work yet and it's 9pm. Shutting it down for tonight. Adios. -JB 08.02 Another Sat am another jblog. When do I have time? Well, really the question is when do I take time. Just finished a week of OSHA IH class at GT OTI, and the coming week should be a real pleasure back out in the fields & hot as August in Ga. But that's how we roll here at the HOW. Later.
July 07.19 Mornin'. Up early on a Sat when I could be sleeping in. Why not. 07.11 Ole'Rode Hard coming to you from the HOW, glad to be home. Of course Maggie's off playing tennis and that just gave me the perfect opportunity to do my stinkin' RodeHard laundry. Look out when you're in Fla is all I've got to say. Something bad always happens down there. Luckily I got out relatively unscathed this pm. Whew! That was close! Look out, I'm telling you. 07.07 On the road this week coming to you tonight from a hot and muggy Savannah. We had a nice relaxing Independence Day weekend not doing too much except the things that needed tending to. Walked over to the AnsleyCC Friday night and found some great front row seats for their fireworks which were, as usual, impressive. Saturday we decided to try'n rent a canoe for a paddle down the Hooch but we wern't the only ones with that idea and by the time we got around to it everyone else had rented all the canoes and kayaks for the day. Welp, we just rode over to the Dam Store, bought some cheapie floats and lodged ourselves on the lake for a couple of hours. Nice. Except for the second degree burns on the parts of my body that aren't included in the trucker tan package that I usually sport. And the third degree burns on the bottoms of me feets from the blistering hot sand. I guess I thought they'se tougher than they is. Stayed inside and recuperated yesterday whilst watching the Wimbledon men's final which was worth it to say the least. And don't forget the Tour de France is going on these days, Stage 3 was today and I think I'll get cleaned up, head down to the river and see if I can find a cold beer and the results since I missed it while I was on my own little Tour de S Georgia today. Thanks for listening and I hope yours was a good one whatever it was! -JB 07.03 What a nightmare! My old trustworthy EarthlinkDSL connection bit the dust back on June 16 and those idiots couldn't get it back on no matter what they tried. At least I think they tried. They said they did. So forget 'em. I went out and got meself a cable modem, ran a few lines and here I'm is! The connection is actually a bit faster and, at least for these first 6 months substantially cheaper. You live, you learn. I'll tell you one of the most frustrating things about this whole deal is the fact that I got so damn wound up because I was cut off from the internet for a couple of weeks. Man, I actually had to do other stuff. Played my guitar, worked in the garden, Jeeped around some, watched Jon & Kate Plus Eight. Oh, well. I'm still waiting amusedly for the Earthlink people to call me with the good news that my DSL connection is now working. And waiting. And waiting. Think it may be time to trade that nearly worthless Earthlink stock too. And waiting...still waiting. But BACK!! Aloha, brudda! June 06.09 And to think we made it almost all the way thru May without any hot weather, it must've been backed up 'cause it burst out on the scene here in the BigA with a vengance. All over the SE really. How 'bout Cordele, GA. Was down that way last week and it was hot, Hot, HOT! That's enough bitchin' about the weather, now maybe I should kick in about the election, or the price of regular, or, or, naw, it's too hot for all that! -JB May 05.25 And today we're in NYC touring and enjoying the fine spring weather. Keeping very busy making the most of a long Memorial Day weekend. Staying on the Upper West Side and making forays on foot and via subway to the Bronx, Brooklyn, Central Park, Lower East Side, and only scratching the surface of what's doing here. Tomorrow it all comes to a crashing halt and it's back to the Big A and, ugh, work. Oh well, it's good while it lasts and I've got some good shots which I'll post from the HouseOfWeb when we get back. See ya's latah. 05.13 Coming to you from the QC this week in town for a long overdue visit. Having beautiful weather, I'd enjoy it except for a sinus dealie, but as they say in MPTHG I'm getting better! Looking forward to the Big Apple at the end of the month, maybe I'll have some stories then. Well there was this one thing at Leslie's garage sale last weekend when the Buckhead young blonde things swooped in on the hardbound books and demanded a deep discount claiming they wern't actually going to read the things. To which I later parried when questioned on whether I really needed a third beer at dinner that I wasn't actually thirsty. And then, oh yeah, the one in the store buying shampoo with extra body for someone with a fresh buzzcut. I don't know. And mark your calendar for Mon it's our 24th anniversary. That's half my life! Wow! Love is crazy! -JB 05.02 Hay! Spring is here. Trying to squeeze one in here before my battery goes out. Have a good'un! -JB
April 04.16 Busy, busy just sounds like excuses, excuses at this point, I know, but we are still in business here at the HouseofWeb, pathetic as it may be when we only post a new JBlog once a month or so. Oh well, let's have at it. Dammit man, I've been busy as hell. At least I've been staying in town for the the past few months, but that's all on the verge of changing as I begin to take over the helm from my boss & mentor and the torch is passed, so to speak. You don't really need to know all the crappy details but let's just say the stuff'll hit the fan in about three weeks and I'll be strung out for real then. Meanwhile, since we're on the subject, I did have a minor victory in swapping bathroom toilets last weekend here at the HOW. That's right, bricklayer that I am, now I can add half-assed plumber to my resume. I took out the old 1952 American Standard 25gal per flush and installed perfectly a brand spankin' new Kohler comfort height 1.6 gal gleaming clay pot. In under 2 hours start to finish. Mighty proud of meself. The wife helped, too. If you ever need advice or direction on how to do this project yourdamnself, look it up on the net like I did... Now were taking bids on installing a French drain that will hopefully stem the flow of runoff that streams thru the garage ever time it rains. Oh joy. Needless to say I won't be doing that work... The geocaching has been taking a big ole backseat role to everything else lately and truthfully actually coincided with being knocked out of the top 10 in GA. I haven't lost my zeal, it's just that I find it much more fufilling to waste away my precious weekends on the couch watching HDTV and cooking up some tasty vittles...Congrats to Meredith & TJ on the birth of baby Caitlyn! And kudos to Leslie for finally getting rid of her beloved "hoopdie" and hooking up with a new red Camry.... I'll post a few pics on the PhotoHut after I get through here so the content of this site doesn't have to be just me rambling on and on about how fantastically whatever our little lives are around here. You get the picture. Thanks for dropping in, now go out and do something! March 03.30 Hi. Squeaking another one in here at the end of a busy month. You may have heard about the tornadoes that blew through here a couple of weekends ago wreaking havoc around town. And they said a twister couldn't stay formed because of the tall buildings in town. maybe they should've told the twister. It was a Friday at about 9pm when Maggie came shreiking into the bedroom clutching her weather radio where I was all but sacked out watching AmericanChopper. "We're under a tornado warning! I'm going downstairs!" OK, honey....Here at the House even though we got some wind, rain & hail there wasn't even a pinecone in the yard that next am. We actually got another round that next afternoon and of course everybody was on pins and needles watching for the next big one. We got lucky when you look at Cabbagetown, Oakland Cemetery, and some downtown areas where they're still cleaning up the damage. Meanwhile, work has been crazy and almost overwhelming at times, with weekends spent recouping and reorganizing for the inevitable Monday morning. Sounds kinda lame when you see it in print. We do do some other stuff from time to time. Was talking with a buddy the other day that I hadn't seen for a while and he asked me what I'd been up to after telling me all about shooting up to the Rhyman to see the Shins last weekend. Yup, lame is an apt description. We'll try'n do better next month! 03.04 Here I sit in the middle of the day in the middle of the week, highly unusual I know, but I contracted some sort of stomach virus and feel pretty miserable. And the cable's out due to some heavy storms that rolled thru earlier. So here I'm is blogging between trips to the ol' bano. I won't disgust you with the details but just about everyone has had either this or the killer flu that's been going around and up till yesterday I'd been lucky enough not to be included. I guess my obsessive hand washing and Purell using tactics weren't enough this time. So what's been up? One thing that I'm glad to see is that spring is clearly on it's way. For now is nice, with daffodils, quince, forsythia, cherries and magnoilias doing their thing, but we all know in a month or so this place'll be green from top to bottom with pollen. Time to break out the Claritin. And oh yeah, can you believe that I got another parking ticket?! Outside the House on the Jeep parked at the curb facing the wrong way on a two way street! What a joke! I guess that's all the more better things that APD has to do around here. Then when I went online to pay my $25 & the ticket's not in the system yet. So I call and still no luck. This being the sixth day of a 7 day period one has to remit payment until the fine doubles I wrote out a check and posted it in my PJs in the rain. The way my luck is going lately there may very well be a prison sentence in my future. I'm trying to be good, really I am. Well I think I'll go throw up now. -JB
FEBRUARY 02.25 Had to come back to edit that last blog. I was typing in a hurry yesterday and really shouldn'tve been cause the story could've been embellished and exagerated to the point where it actually would've been interesting reading for you poor unsuspecting victi...er, visitors. I mean you've got your own damn problems, right?. That's why JBzHouse is here for, to get away from it all, right? Well, if it helps any I did get stopped by the DeKalb PD today. As if going 75mph on the Connector was a crime. Everybody else is doin' it!... I know, I know...... She let me off with a warning anyway. One of these days I'll learn. 02.24 Now that all the smoke has cleared more or less, I guess you'd like to know just exactly where the hell I've been doing. Let's see, since the SuperBowl, oh yeah....That next Monday I got in the ol' F150 and hauled ass down to Orlando, well the log below was from the Wingate Inn MCO so during the week went pretty much OK. We got done with our class and I was ready to hit the road back to Atlanta about noon. That's when the fun began. I got about 25 miles into my 450 mile journey and the truck started misfiring and blowing out white smoke. Mind you, I baby this machine and never had it let me down throughout its short 70000mi life. Well hell, I pulled over in the Okapahumpka service plaza on the Fla Turnpike and the nice tow truck driver did what he could to help me which included turning the truck off. Never got it started again. It would turn over but wouldn't crank. And more white smoke. At that point all he could do was to load it up on his wrecker and haul me over to Wildwood to some shadetree boys who had the computer diagnostic stuff. They scoped it out and got so many codes that they weren't sure which one was the problem. I mean this place was in the middle of nowhere and had 4 mechanics under, over and in the truck, all smoking, and saying stuff like, dang, I ain't never seen this happen before. Well, it was decided that we needed a new starter so they went and got one and slapped it in whereupon trying to crank the truck says POP! The head dude comes over to me where I sat watching all the shenanigans and says I'm gonna need a new motor. For those of you that don't know, this is a company truck so I called my boss and he suggested that I have it taken to a Ford dealer. Which I did after locating the closest one in Leesburg. Using the ole GPS abilities, I not only located the dealership but also arranged to have a rental car so I could continue on home. Which I did, leaving my truck in Leesburg and heading north again at about 5:30pm on a Friday. Well, I like to say that everything went smooth after that but this wasn't one of those days. I started out with a full tank of gas in the rental Subaru and once I was up near TiftonGA I knew if I filled up again I could make it to Atlanta without stopping (except to pee every 25mi) and that was my goal. But filling up the tank is only a problem if you can't figure out where the filler door release is located. (under the front mat.) But of course I was nearly panicked when I called Maggie at 9pm asking her to crank up the computer and see if she could help me find the freakin release. After about 15 minutes of searching and listening to Maggie giggle on the other end I finally found that bastard. damn. Well, McDonalds was right next door so I thought I'd just pop in and get an iced coffee and a couple of extra pickle cheeseburgers. Well, I guess Tifton nightlife consists of hanging out at MickeyD's and half the population was in there milling around so I just peed and hopped back in the Outback and got in the drive-thru. Finally got my order and hit the highway. Opened up my bag and wouldn't you know they gave me double cheeseburgers with no pickles but did I go back and complain? Hell no. I just rolled down the window and flung the extra cheesey patties out onto the dark I-75 night. Kind of cathartic actually. I had managed to grab the CD's out of the truck before I split but only listened to Wish You Were Here about 25 times in a row. I just felt right. Got home at midnight, pulled off my pants and rolled into bed next to my honey. Whew. So I returned the car the next day and drove around in the Jeep that next week. Then last Monday after hearing from the Ford dealer that my truck was fixed and that it had to have a new fuel injector and spark plugs (no new motor), I rented another car in ATL and headed south. This time all went smooth, stopping in Savannah to check on a job there and on to Orlando Tues where they had picked up my truck and parked it at the office. Needless to say as every mile goes by I feel a little more sure that every thing with the truck is again copasetic and it'll make another 70K or better before the next disaster. And all the regular life stuff keeps right on coming. The wife nearly got stuck up in DC this week, weather-related, Mom and Dad are in Mexico, Grandma Rose isn't feeling herself and they're snowed in up in NY... And then we've got that spy satellite to shoot down so it won't smash into the earth, too! ....We did manage to buy a big screen HDTV and let me tell you it's awesome! Now we're gonna have to replace the others cause once you see the HD it's all over, jack .... I know this was probably the longest jbzlog of all time but there it is and that ought to do it for the rest of this month. See you in the Spring!! -JB
02.04 When I'm wrong, I'm real wrong. WTG NY Giants. I think most of the rest of the US didn't really care but wanted to see NE go undefeated, but that NY squad was way too tough on Sunday. Awesome. .. 86 degrees today in FL! 02.03 Readying for a road trip to Orlando next week and the big game tonight. Don't be surprised if you see another blog here within the week from FL. I'll be busy but I do usually have a little boredom time in the evenings stuck in some lonely motel room. Hey that sounds like a song. Maybe I should take my gitar! As for the big game tonight I'll just say NY has their hands full. Oh yeah, and we traded the ole Benz for a new Acura TL this past week. Pics in the PhotoHut.
January 01.29 In Savannah looking at a job we've got right in the middle of it all. Almost like stepping right in it. Much warmer down here though and downright deserted on the riverwalk. Wait till StPats ... Anyway I hear it windy & rainy up north so let's make the most of it! After watching the other Pats win theXLIIth SuperBowl on Sunday, it'll be off to Fla Monday for the last 30hr and some fun in the sun. Oh, well..from the banks of Old Towne Savannah, A Dios. Y Bon Nuit! -JB 01.20 Made it through the big storm yesterday! Most of the inch of snow we got melted off the critical spots before the temps plummeted last night so it really turned out to be a non-event. Other than the lovely feeling one gets while the stuff is actually falling and how pretty it is first stuck to the trees and such, the excitement was short-lived. We did bundle up, put the Jeep in 4-wheel and headed over to the park for a walk and a gawk at the sledders trying to make it down the hills without having to push themselves along. What Atlantans lack in accumulation we more than make up for with enthusiasm! It was kind of funny that as you walk along the roads that circle around Piedmont Park there were snowmen of every creed and guise standing like sentinels along the way. They were more than happy to pose for a picture or two and you'd stroll on down and there's another! The snow was just right for packing and snowballing. Saw one dude get the ol' unexpected-right-in-the-ear iceball during a spirited melee to which we gave a wide berth as we headed home for some hot cocoa with mini-marshmallows. 01.19 WTF? It's January already? Where've I been? We're dodging the snowflakes once again here at the HouseofWeb and it's about time I checked in to update the place. December 12.21 Well, tomorrow is the first day of winter and all anybody can talk about is Jesus's birthday next Tues. Whatever. I'm going along to get along. If it seems like we have a holiday theme going most every year, then this year the theme must be 'artificial'. The Christmas Bomb hasn't exploded around here for a number of years in thinking back, but usually we'll at least have a small live tree. Not this year, boy. The only seasonal decorata we have besides the usual half-lit outside mini lights is a white wreath on the front door and a 3' tall silver LED tree inside, both from Target. And, oh yeah, those three odd sized Christmas plates that always seem to magically appear this time of year. Maybe it's the awesome power of the winter solstice...anyway, got a nice holiday card from an old friend with an interesting link to a thoughtful blogspot. Check it out when you've had enough of JBzHOW...Finally rainy and cool here in the ATL, and not complaining too much because we're just a little worried about having to truck drinking water in from Kentucky these days. Besides, it does make the scene a bit more Christma...er, um...wintery, winter solsticerly. 12.04 Holiday season is upon us and we're scurrying about acting very nice so St.Nick'll be sure'n stop as he flies by the HouseOfWeb.
November
11.22 No way to ever tell what you're gonna get here at the HOW, but today it's a big Happy Thanksgiving 2007 greeting for ya! And a rainy one at that from the parched streets of ATL. Now there's something else to be thankful for! I guess you've missed quite alot while we've been off doing our thing and not blogging any of it, but nothing too exciting that we can't just lump into the living our lives category. Work, play, eat, geocache, exercise(some of us), sleep, shower, yardwork, call Mom, watch a movie, work some more, drink a beer,..well you get the picture. And thankful for all of it! 11.01 November is here and JBzHouseOfWeb rocks on!.... On at totally unrelated note, in years of travel from job to job I've always thought that there were some good nicknames around. You'll find your Smokey's, Tennessee's, Rock's, Shark's, Peanut's, Tex's.. and a few new ones here lately.. one boss they're callin RayRay, his up-and-comer WeeWee, and his helper, DimeBag. I think the nicknames may help them from calling each other worse during times of extreme stress. Copy that. october 10.28 Happy Halloween, almost. I only post that greeting because it seems to be the popular thing to do this time of the year and it also seems nearly un-American to do otherwise. Even though I've developed a negative attitude toward this particular holiday. And really, it's not an actual holiday,holiday. We don't get a day off for it. Maybe I'd feel better about it if we did. I'm also kind hung up on the whole ghost & goblin ghoulish death and destruction side of the deal. Who needs to be reminded of all that stuff, let alone have a holiday that celebrates it? Not for me, but it's a free country. And going door to door expecting your neighbors to load your kids shopping bag with candy was cool back in the good old days, but now..? I can remember some of the last years that we were young enough to go trick-or-treating we always heard the warning about razorblades in apples. Never actually got an apple and if I had I'da probably thrown the danged thing away anyhow and ate up the Snickers bars instead. But nowadays with all the freaks in the world, do you really want to take that chance? Sadly our porch light won't be on this year. I love to see those little kids with their costumes though. There was one in Sundown Cafe on Friday night with a lovely pair of wings. She couldn'tve cared less about a taco, but she was greeting folks at the door with a big "HI" and making damn sure that everyone in the place knew she could fly whenever she wanted. Too cute. Then there's the commercial side of Halloween that's become so popular, these Haunted Houses. Never been to one myself, but this other kid yesterday at the carwash was on his Dads phone with his mom, in a big loud voice, "But Mooooommmm, the line is gonna be humongus, and Dad has to come home to go to the bathroom 'cause he won't go here!!" Really had to feel for the guy. Then Maggie N I were thinking we should check one of those Haunted Houses out this year and she didn't think it appropriate that we (old as we are) should go without a youngster for cover. But since we couldn't come up with a rental kid, decided to go to the movies instead. To which I wore an outfit suited only to wearing in a dark place that included socks and sandals, and didn't care 'cause it's nearly Halloween and I really still haven't let go of my inner kid, yet either. Boo! 10.14 Had some fun running thru the NC hills in the KJ this weekend. Posted some pics from the event on the PhotoHut. Heading out for the coast tomorrow am hopefully be back in time for a little birthday action in the atl. See you on the road -JB 10.07 Howdy and welcome to our little world. Can you believe it's October already!? I guess when one stays busy with work and travel and exercise and eating and cleaning and making weblogs and everything else in the world that has to be done then yes, it sometimes seems as if there just isn't enough time in the day to squeeze it all in proportionally. Just gotta keep on gettin' it. Had a long week in NC, came home Fri night, went to the Greek festival yesterday and today I'll be resting my back which unfortunately is killing me again. Then tomorrow it's back on the road like deja vu all over. Looking forward to heading up to Tellico for the 23rd Appalachian JeepJam next weekend with the mrs and wheeling about for a couple of days. That's us. Whadda you been up to?
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