7and8

Today the Cub Scouts participated in a ritual held near ever Memorial Day. We were honored to replace the flags at the graves of veterans. Every year the VFW post replaces the American Flag at every grave site in this town. In this part of the country the veterans include those who fought in the revolutionary war, civil war, WWI, WWII Korea, Vietnam and those conflicts not mentioned. Our Cub Pack is chartered by this VFW post who allows us the privilege of helping veterans honor their own. One mention that really caught my ear was at the ceremony of the retired flags. The post commander said that as long as there is one veteran left in this country there will be someone to replace these flags so any sacrifice is not forgotten.
In a few days we will march in the Memorial Day parade. A Memorial Day parade is very different here than anywhere else I have lived. It is a somber yet necessary ceremony where the pride in your country brings tears to your eyes. It reminds me that I don't know the meaning of the word 'sacrifice'.
I was riding the other day and witnessed another growing ritual; the posting on every utility pole the name, rank, age, flag, and state of those fallen in the current Iraqi war. There are a lot of utility poles in this small town and there doesn't seem to be enough to go around.
I stopped to thank the gentlemen for posting these tributes and their contribution to this country.

If you have a chance, please thank a veteran.

Lifehack had this post recently. The Jedi said it more succinctly with, "Be mindful of the future but not at the expense of the present." Maybe that was Aristotle rather than Qui-Gon. But whoever said all of these things just saved me a lot of therapy time.

My buddy went and got a job. Bravo, go get 'em Haus. Just remember your ole comrade when it comes to Miller time.

I made him a CD (a little stalker but guy love understands) of working songs. I found that 90% of working songs are depressing and about how 'the man' keeps you down. That is all fine and good but what about those who love work? Where is their anthem celebrating all the good things work does for a person?

Leave a comment with your favorite workin' man's songs.

Remember that Thanksgiving post? Yeah, that one.

I never told the whole story about the Brit and the invisible dog fence. Here goes...

We have an invisible dog fence. It's quite humane and the dogs trained to it immediately. We also have an extension unit positioned so that the kitchen (very small and dangerous to have anyone under foot) is off limits. Our Thanksgiving guests were very curious about it and we told them the whole story of how we came to own it. They kept asking what it felt like. Jumpback to when we got it, the installer encouraged us to feel the 'correction' (shock) so we knew what it felt like. I explained to our guests that I had done it a couple of times to make sure I wasn't subjecting my dogs to anything torturous. It feels like a static shock. Just like when you have on blanket sleeper pajamas and shuffle your feet across a carpet and touch a door handle. The sensation and duration is exactly the same. (FYI the collar beeps before it corrects so the dog has a chance to get out of the NO zone, you train the dog to react to the beep)
Well a few of our guests had been drinking and really really wanted to know what if felt like so I had them hold the collar in their hand (not clip it to their neck) and had them walk toward the kitchen. Beep beep, *correction*, expletive, they dropped the collar and had a giggle.
Then the Brit decides he would like to try it. He picks up the collar, walks toward the kitchen...Beep beep, *correction*, expletive. He freaked out or more accurately he flashed back. He proceeds to tell us how much it reminded him of when he was electrocuted. He was freakin' electrocuted and still tried this for GOD know why. Apparently he was working in his mum's garden when he hit the electrical supply to the house. It was bad enough that he spent the night in the hospital. Here is to drunks trying to prove...well I don't know why he did it but here is to people getting shocked when they are piss-drunk.

Seven is doing a special reading program to catch him up to grade level. I won't defend his IQ because it's not a matter of ability it's the fact that the school sees acting your age as remedial. But I'll move on.

One assignment is to make up a sentence based on a story he has read. Write the sentence out and then cut all of the words apart. He is to remember the sentence and recreate it by gluing all of the words in the right order on to construction paper. Very good mental acrobatics indeed. But where did they get this idea? When 7 is done it looks more like "My first Ransom Note" The Wife thought it wouldn't be cool to recreate the sentence with words cut from a magazine along with pictures of smiling faces with the eyes cut out.

I went back to the heavy-handed dentist today to have a crown installed. Part of the crown had to be gold...Bitchin!

But she messed up and now there is a piece of cement stuck between the crown and the tooth in front. She was yanking so hard on the floss to make it break free that my big ass almost lifted out of the dentist chair. She did everything but put her freakin' foot on my forehead for leverage.
The cement is still there and I'll bet I have more drilling my future.

Stay in school, don't do drugs and Brush/floss daily or the heavy-handed dentist may come for you.

Will they make a 'Heroes' lunch box?