Tag Archives: Awesome

Mah baby turned 9!

April 3, 2012Awesome, FamilyAwesome, Familywarren

My baby girl turned 9 today. How can that be?! It was just yesterday she was born! Of course, it was just yesterday I was 18 too so I guess I have blinked! Anyhow, to celebrate, we went out to eat with family tonight. Emily asked Abigail where she wanted to go for her party. We figured she would pick any number of places but we never expected she would say she wanted to eat at the Mexican restaurant where we often eat. You see, what makes it especially funny is that she always orders a hotdog or a hamburger…at the Mexican restaurant.

Well, a bunch of us ate together and Abigail had a great time! She sat at the head of the table and absolutely absorbed every smile and laugh from our group! She was in her element at the center of attention. Just as she was finishing up her ~~french~~ Mexican fries, the wait-staff brought her fried ice cream and a big sombrero. She didn’t know, as they sang her a birthday song, that she would get a nose full of whipped cream, a Mexican restaurant tradition.

For her birthday, Abigail wanted folks to donate money to relief efforts for the recent tornadoes in Kentucky. We sort of poked around a little though to see what else she wanted. I figured she would pick a new book or maybe some clothes…nope. She wanted wood files. That’s right – my little girl wanted wood-working tools that she has seen me use. Heck, I was happy to oblige…she got wood rasps for her 9th birthday!

After we got home tonight, she was just a delight. She danced around and laughed and said, “this was a splendid day!” That’s my baby girl…growing up so well!

Bullets vs. hard drives

March 28, 2012AwesomeAwesomewarren

Did you ever wonder what would happen when a bullet passes through different things? I have always enjoyed shooting a random pumpkin or a tv. Just fyi…a pumpkin makes an excellent display when shot with a proper shotgun. A tv is far more dull than I expected. I suppose that shooting a plugged-in-and-running tv might be interesting but I digress.

Anyhow, guns are awesome things…in both good and bad ways. I truly enjoy target shooting…that’s one of the good-awesome aspects of shooting. So, a friend of mine at work often heads to the shooting range with me at lunch. This week, Emily came along with us too. She wanted to shoot her Valentine’s day gun (and you thought I wasn’t a romantic).

So, my friend and I work at an IT business. We are both involved in developing software but we often get old or crashed computers in that are headed for the big website in the sky. We always recycle every bit of equipment that comes in. Part of that includes destroying the hard drives to protect any information that might be on them. Eventually, every hard drive gets shredded in a super cool shredder machine that eats them like a paper shredder chews stupid credit card offers.

Anyhow, that gives us an opportunity to pre-destroy the hard drives via bullet. We took two hard drives to the range the other day and shot them with a bunch of different guns. The one that surprised me most was the 38 caliber bullet. If you look carefully, you can see how it ricocheted off of the hard drive face. I couldn’t believe it! How could a bullet not pass through a simple hard drive?! One bullet splattered on impact. Why oh why 38 are you so weak?

Bullets through a hard drive — 45 through the top left, .223 through the bottom right and beside the splattered 38

We stepped it up a bit with other calibers and had great success with the 45 caliber and the .223 (typical assault rifle ammo). I knew those bullets would penetrate but I was incredibly surprised about the 38.

So friends, if you ever find your self in possession of a hard drive that simply needs to be shot, I can heartily recommend only calibers larger than the pitiful 38!

And that’s how you send off a mortgage

March 21, 2012Awesome, FamilyAwesome, Familywarren

My parents bought the house they are in awhile ago. I was not born in that house but it is the only house I ever knew as a kid. So, like many folks, they paid for it month after month for what seems like an eternity. Just in the last few months they made their final payment and are now mortgage free.

Shooting a 45! Check out the ejected shell!

We were in PA for a party (more on that another day) and had a little time to hang out with an old friend. You see, my brother was also in for this party so it was a pretty cool opportunity to hang out with a guy that we have both known since for as long as we can remember. Jefé(as we will call him here…to protect the innocent) has been a great friend, especially so to my brother. They went to school together since kindergarten (I went with Jefé’s sister since we were in kindergarten).

Shooting a 44 magnum — Jefé shooting a 44 magnum...get ready...

Anyhow, Jefé found himself in possession of a small cannon. Yes, a literal cannon. My parents had their paid-off mortgage papers, we had access to a cannon…do you see where this is going? Isaac, my brother and I spent the day target shooting with Jefé, so the cannon as grand finale was a perfect end to the day. Right after dark, Jefé loaded the cannon with powder and my Mom stuffed the mortgage down into the muzzle.

Mom putting the mortgage into the cannon

We stood around anxiously waiting for the fuse to burn down. It was only a few seconds but the excitement we all shared was so awesome! The cannon fired sending flames and smoke and the remnants of the mortgage flying through the air. The mortgage had met its match and lost!

;

Click here for a sideways video of the cannon (my software to rotate it properly is messed up…but you will get the idea!)

I can’t wait until my mortgage is paid off. The few seconds of excitement blowing Mom and Dad’s away was so much fun. I am sure they are relieved and proud and relieved. Honestly, every bank should be required to supply a cannon to folks when they pay off their mortgage. There is such celebration when you sign on for a mortgage but the best part usually goes by without even a mention. Not me dear friends…a cannon will be a part of many important celebrations in my life!

(By the way, shooting a cannon is incredibly dangerous so DO NOT try it on your own! You can’t pay off your mortgage if you’re dead!)

You’re welcome Landau

February 27, 2012Awesome, Family, Fun, WVAwesome, Family, Fun, WVwarren

I just thought I would take a chance to tell Landau Eugene Murphy Jr that he is welcome. You see, he had the privilege of singing with my daughter on Friday night. I suspect it is a night he will never forget.

For those of you who don’t know Landau, he is a West Virginian who recently won the tv show, “America’s Got Talent” (Seriously, click the link and watch the video!) Abigail sings with the Appalachian Children’s Chorus and they had their annual benefit concert on Friday night. This event was a pretty important one because all of the money from the event benefits both the ACC and the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, an organization that takes care of and helps place children no longer living with their biological parents.

The Clay Center in Charleston was pretty much packed on Friday night and we were not disappointed. Landau got to sing a few songs with the ACC which was so cool. Oh yeah, he sang a lot on his own too. He’s really a great performer. He sort of became famous for his dreadlocks and his perfect crooner voice. As Howie Mandel noted, what better way to bring back Frank Sinatra than with Landau’s look. I couldn’t agree more. I think he is equally or maybe more talented singing Motown though. He has a great deep voice that is a delight to hear.

More importantly though, he is a really sweet spirit. Before winning the show, he worked as a car washer in a coal town in WV. In his spare time, even then, he worked with the Children’s Home Society to share music with the kids in their care. This concert was a perfect opportunity for him to broaden that work and bring more attention to those children.

He is funny and uses physical humor like a pro. Maybe someday he will have the opportunity to sing with Abigail again. I am pretty sure she would be delighted!

Country Neighbors

November 23, 2011Awesome, Cabin, Family, Land, Thoughts, WVAwesome, Cabin, Landwarren

I grew up in the country and it was just a natural thing then I guess. People always waved to each other and talked as you passed and left extra zucchini on your porch and helped out when you needed it. It’s been 20+ years since I lived in the country though and my city life has sort of become ingrained. We moved to Nashville and it was a huge culture shock to me…from a town of 600 or so people to a town of a million and a half. I remember as we drove in to Nashville on one of our first visits, there was a guy in a car ramming another guy in a car going full speed down the interstate among how-ever-many lanes of traffic there were then. It wasn’t a wreck…yet. They were road-raging and ramming each other. I knew this wasn’t quite like where I grew up.

The ridge board that supports the rafters at the top end

So, I became a city boy and all that friendly stuff had to be put on the back burner. It’s not that people in a city aren’t friendly once you get to know them… it’s just that you have to find a way to get to know them first and sometimes even neighbors aren’t interested in getting to know one another.

So, fast forward a bit. The folks from whom we bought the property still live on the land they retained the next hillside over. Larry, Granny Sue’s husband, delivered some scaffolding he had over at his place a few weeks back. He showed us how to set it up and use it and has let us keep it up there as long as we need it. And then last weekend as we were working on setting up our rafters. One of the boys (they are grown men but we call the brothers that live near us, “the boys” and I think they would be ok with that) came by on his 4-wheeler to ask if he could hunt on our property. I told him that any of the boys and their family could hunt but I didn’t want anyone else who didn’t live up there hunting. I would have never known whether they hunted or not during the week but I am really glad he asked.

Anyhow, we agreed that he could hunt so I figured he would go on to do other things with his day. Instead, to our surprise, he asked if we needed help. I was thrilled because Emily and I were trying to maneuver 16 foot long 2×8 boards around by ourselves on the second story of the deluxe shed. It was going to end up with a bout of intense negotiation. So, our friend climbed up and we started to work. We worked an hour or so before we had to head home.

That’s about half of the rafters done!

Now that’s one thing, helping a guy for an hour, but the next day we got up there and my friend came over and brought his brother with him! We worked together all day long and got half of the faters in place and secured! They were a huge help and I was delighted to get to know them a little better. We had met on other occasions, but we hadn’t really talked or goofed around before. Aside from their tremendous help, I absolutely loved the sense of community and belonging that we have felt up on the ridge. The neighbors across the way (she’s a sister to the brothers) came to visit the first day we showed up. Our kids have played with their kids every time we are up there. They invited us to a potluck dinner one night where we talked about all sorts of things and may have solved the world’s problems. The brothers who helped with the rafters along with Larry and Granny Sue have been so kind and helpful as we work on the new place. With the utmost respect I say that I am so glad to have country neighbors!

See all of the progress on the cabin

Healthy Coke

November 15, 2011Awesome, FunAwesome, Funwarren

So when I am feeling all romantic and stuff, I take Emily to the Club to eat…Sam’s Club that is. You see, I can buy 2 gigantic slices of pizza and two gallons of drink for something like $2.79. We usually take an after dinner stroll around the…rice and beans aisle and just generally check things out. Some stuff we just pick up regardless of whether we need it. Stuff like brown sugar, canned peaches and tube socks. Can you ever have too many tube socks? No, I think not. I just love the smell of brown sugar too. If they made brown sugar cologne, I would wear it and I don’t do cologne.

Anyhow, I have a few vices, mostly centering around sugar and sweet stuff. I like pop and sugary candy in a bad way. I guess I only drink 1 pop per day but I would live on it if I thought I could. Corn syrup sucks, I know. It’s in everything though. Heck, it’s even in new car tires. So, when we wander around in the Club, sometimes we ponder life and the future and stuff and I lament the tragedy that is corn syrup and how it is shortening my life. As we toured around one time, we noticed bottles of Coke…glass bottles. It caught my attention because I fondly remember walking after school to my Mom’s office in the court house in my hometown.

They had an ancient pop machine on the first floor that sold $.25 pop in returnable bottles and I loved drinking straight from the bottle. So, I checked out the Cokes in the Club…and then I saw the price…24 bottles for $19! Back in the courthouse, I could get those same bottles, already refrigerated for $6! Emily was quick to remind me that my pop machine memory was from 30 years ago. I guess inflation happens. Still, it seemed silly until I considered the price I pay for corn-syrup filled pops at the gas station in the morning. The bottles of Coke at the Club are the famous Mexican Cokes made with pure sugar – healthy Cokes, right?

We scooped up a case of the Healthy Cokes and Isaac and I have been having one a day for…well, the last 11 days. Yes, dear friends, there are only 2 left. It looks like it’s about time to take my lady back on another date to the Club. Only the finest for my woman!

By the way, sorry about all of the pictures…I was feeling so healthy that I just got a little carried away with the camera apps on my phone…

Good clamps are hard to find

November 1, 2011Awesome, Cabin, Family, LandAwesome, Cabin, Family, Landwarren

We’ve been busy. My company is getting ready to move so I have been pretty involved in that process. Hopefully that will be done at the end of this week, though it ain’t over ’til it’s over. Both kids also have strep throat so that’s been fun too. I am at home with Abigail today, in fact. She still has a fever and looks pitiful. Anyhow, I didn’t get a chance to show our progress on the cabin from two weekends ago so I will post about that today. Hopefully I can post pics from this weekend’s progress later this week.

We had great help…both Emily’s grandfather and her uncle came by to help on Saturday. My brother tells a funny story about working on stuff with our Dad when we were kids. He claims my Dad said, “I don’t know if you’ll ever amount to anything son, but at least you will make a good clamp.” Both of my helpers were much better than clamps though that is all they would likely claim to have performed as during our work.

We fixed up some mistakes we made the previous week when we were framing the walls on the platform. Once those were fixed, we got more walls set up and we installed some of the OSB on the walls. Without our helpers, Emily and I could never have lifted and held the OSB on the high points of the “deluxe shed”. The ladder was steep and the clay was slippery so someone had to hold the ladder while I screwed the sheets to the framing.

Lunch!

Uncle B. claimed that he was not handy but he seemed to be pretty good at hitting a nail and reading a tape measure. I think he is holding out on Aunt P. So, working all together, we made great progress.

Emily and I returned Sunday to see how far we could get. Actually, we built a few more walls and were able to set them up ourselves.

Emily makes a great mule. I think she has a similar term for me…

We got quite a bit done and we didn’t even brawl too much! Like so many things, now that we are so far along, we are finally getting the hang of this whole thing. Emily was a little hard on some of the tools though. I am not exactly sure how I feel about the look on her face with the skeletons of my former glorious tools.

Anyhow, we went back out again last weekend so stay tuned for more pics of the progress we made.

See all of the progress on the cabin

Our car…the worm edition

July 21, 2011Adventure, Awesome, Family, Fun, NatureAwesome, Funwarren

So a few days ago, I told you all about the fun we had with crows on our honeymoon. You may recall that my brother and a friend had put a bunch of birdseed into our suitcases as well as in the car. By “in the car” I mean inside the car…literally. There was birdseed in the dashboard, in the heater vents, down in the seats, floorboards, and even more in the dashboard. Well, you get the point. Anytime we drove around and hit a bump, even months later, birdseed would fall through the dash and onto the floor.

wedding2Small — The start of the birdseed saga!

Jump ahead to our move to Kentucky for graduate school. We were in marital bliss. I suppose we didn’t see the world around us very clearly as we missed some obvious things…you’ll see in a second. So, we were poor and all that but it was cool being married. Emily seems to remember a rough few years as she attempted to train and civilize me. Once she gave up, things got much better. Anyhow, part-way through school, we moved to an apartment above a funeral home (more on that in another post!).

We noticed some wormy things in the backseat one day while unpacking groceries or something at the funeral home. I didn’t think much of it. I squished them and went on with my business. Days later, we noticed them again…and again and again. It started to get serious pretty quickly.

wedding1Small — The car...already doomed!

I got a wild hair and decided to remove the back set of the car to see what was going on. Why oh why didn’t I just remain ignorant?! The entire back seat was infested with meal worms! I don’t just mean there were a few crawling around. Oh no, the foam in the seat was full. The carpet in the floor was infested. It was a regular larval zoo in our car!

I often deal with things like that with extreme overkill. We had a Chevy Celebrity which, incidentally, was the best car ever made! I loved that car! Emily and I sanded the thing down in the weeks before our wedding so we could get it painted. We wanted to make a flashy exit from the wedding ceremony. Anyhow, back to overkill. A Chevy Celebrity has maybe 30 sq ft of cabin space. An insect bomb for a 2000 sq ft house seemed about right. Makes sense, right? If some is good, more is better!

On two separate occasions, I set off house-sized insect bombs in our little car. The worms remained. It’s a wonder we remained! I am certain that a concentration of insecticide like that was not all that good for us. After losing on the second bomb, I just re-installed the back seat and we looked no more.

How did we finally deal with the issue, you may ask? Well, we traded that car in for a Chevy Prizm, the second best car ever made! It was new and worm-free! I blame those worms on the birdseed. I have no doubt that the seed had meal worms in it. They lived a good life for a couple of years on all of the birdseed in the car. That wedding birdseed was the gift that kept on giving!

Coopers Rock

June 22, 2011Adventure, Awesome, Family, Fun, Nature, WVAdventure, Awesome, Family, Fun, Nature, WVwarren

A few weekends ago, we went on a little getaway vacation to Coopers Rock State Park in Bruceton Mills, WV. I was mainly excited for the cabin in which we were staying and the hot tub it advertised on the back deck. Never did I imagine how cool the park would be. More about that later.

So, we got to the cabin after navigating the ~~Grand Canyon~~ road back to the place. The cabin itself was nice and did in fact have a hot tub. The kids jumped right in as Emily and I unpacked and prepared for supper. I am not sure why, but the power went out and we were without water or AC. When you are not prepared, both are pretty important. Anyhow, several hours later, it came back on and all was well…even the well. We could shower and do dishes, etc.

On Saturday morning, we gorged on cheap powdered sugar donuts and Doritos then headed to Coopers Rock (it seems like there should be an apostrophe in there but there isn’t). Little did we know, but there was a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the park. The place was teeming with things to do as all sorts of groups offered nature talks, projects, and hikes.

The kids built cool birdhouses and painted rocks. We played on the play ground (where I tried my best to dislocate my shoulder). We saw rescued birds of prey from the West Virginia Raptor Rescue Center and even got to touch a red tailed hawk who was very friendly. It turns out, she was essentially raised in captivity so was not bothered by people. The other rescued hawk and owl were not so friendly. Still, they were awesome!

I think the best part of the park though, was walking the trails under the rocks. We explored some and saw great rock formations. The kids and I walked into a cave/tunnel and went all “Dora the Explorer”. Abigail fell in the dirt and got muddy. It was perfect and cool and a great time to be together as a family.

If you ever pass through the northern part of WV, stop in at Coopers Rock. Its views are breathtaking and there is all sorts of fun to be had there. It turns out that the hot tub was very popular, but it paled in comparison (for me at least) to the beauty of our state, just as it is!

Milkshake mania!

May 18, 2011Awesome, FunAwesome, Funwarren

My company recently bought a restaurant in South Charleston, WV which will soon be converted into office space. As a part of the process, all of the restaurant equipment has to be sold so remodeling can begin. This was a fairly large, well known, established restaurant so there is a ton of stuff in the building. Lots of restaurant folks have been through the place buying things they need but I was very fortunate to be among the first round of people to get a shot at a few things. Let me introduce to you my new best friend…

That’s right…in my kitchen, as we speak, I have an industrial strength, commercial grade milkshake making beast! This, my friends, is the Hamilton Beach 94900 which is capable of bringing frozen goodness and delight to men, women and children alike! The price was right and karma was with us so we scored a gem!

But before you get too jealous, let me take you back to its beginnings. Mainly, it was gross. The sanitary status of the machine was questionable. In fact, there was still a chocolate chip and gooey icecream on the impeller when I received “the Beast”. After much Mean Green and elbow grease, the milkshake machine was made whole again.

So, we have made several milkshakes with this thing and it is so much nicer to use than a blender. It’s faster to set up, faster to clean, faster to produce a milkshake and it makes smoother milkshakes hands down. I love the new milkshake machine and I think it is a hit with the family too!

My Home Among The Hills

Life in WV!