On Sunday we took the boys to Stone Mountain Park, our favorite place in all the outdoors. With the possible exception of just outside the carport in front of the burn barrel while drinking beers and tossing back vodka shots.

Where was I? Oh, yeah - Stone Mountain. We had the two boys from next door as well since their adults were off to Taladagua Taluhdagua Tailadaygua Talladega to watch redneck drive-bys NASCAR race. For those of you who don't know parent math, five boys are approximately four times as many as three boys after putting them through the "Outdoor Nature" algorithm and multiplying by the "Peer Impression" conversion factor.

They were suspiciously well behaved. I began to think that I had made an error in my math calculations. Perhaps I'd failed to carry the 1? We went to a classic car show in the fair grounds and the worst they did was an occasional touch of a highly polished muscle machine. I couldn't fault them too much for this as I myself was having a difficult time not rubbing my groin on some of those beauties.

The next stop was a ride on the SkyRider (aka sky-lift) to the top of the mountain. Again, they behaved almost frighteningly well. The only gaff here was Bear(5) walking into a puddle after being specifically told not to walk into a puddle (no extra socks or shoes on hand, otherwise we turn them loose). Maybe we didn't see their typical boyish terrorism up there simply because we didn't have enough time. It was right chilly on the top of the mountain, we had no coats, and the trip was aborted pretty quickly. more...

Posted by: Jim at 12:01 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Do Not Press

(Yanked from IMAO)

* Yes, I realize that the title has nothing to do with the entry. You try coming up with a title for a three word post.

Posted by: Jim at 11:18 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 That's from The Matrix, isn't it?

Posted by: Victor at May 03, 2005 12:17 PM (L3qPK)

2 Ding! Ding! Stealth point.

Posted by: Jim at May 03, 2005 12:22 PM (tyQ8y)

3 Dang! Busted by the network filters! I think that's twice today...

Posted by: Nate at May 03, 2005 03:17 PM (uKuUC)

4 It's also from Dog Soldiers :-) But your stealth is slipping Jim, that was a little blatent

Posted by: Rob at May 04, 2005 05:04 AM (kXZI6)

5 I was in a giving mood.

Posted by: Jim at May 04, 2005 09:26 AM (tyQ8y)

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[profanity alert]

I heard about this on NPR the other day and it pissed me off to no end.

The ivory-billed woodpecker, a magnificent bird long given up for extinct, has been sighted in the cypress and tupelo swamp of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, scientists announced yesterday.

That's not the part that pissed me off. I actually thought that was pretty cool.

Dr. John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, who led the effort to confirm the sightings, said at a news conference in Washington, "This is really the most spectacular creature we could imagine rediscovering."

That didn't piss me off either. I'm happy for the birders. This is like finding the holy grail for them and it really is an impressive looking bird.

The Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups have bought land in the region of the refuge to help preserve a larger area.

Nope, that didn't piss me off either. Private groups spending their money to preserve nature is okay in my book. People can do what they want with their money.

[Fitzpatrick] was joined by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who announced that the agency, along with the Department of Agriculture, had proposed to spend $10 million of federal money for research, habitat protection and law enforcement efforts to protect the bird.

That's the one! What the fuck!? The government wants to spend $10fuckingmilliondollars to protect one damned bird? That's right - ONE bird was found. It took them an entire year to verify that ONE ivory-billed woodpecker was alive and they want to spend TEN MILLION DOLLARS on it!

What in the ever living fuck are these worthless shits thinking of? If people care enough about this bird then they'll pony up the cash to protect it. And guess what? They do care and they did pony up. The bird's habitat is already purchased and protected! By private organizations! The way it should be!

Damn, am I pissed!

(This rant spurred because I was reminded of this travesty by a post at I Hate My Cubicle)

Posted by: Jim at 09:37 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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We got some pretty terrible news yesterday. My dad was put in the hospital for a collapsed lung. More properly known as Spontaneous Pneumothorax, this is one of the recurring side effects of emphysema.

Emphysema destroys the elasticity of the lung walls and structures. The alvioli become rigid and weak and trap air instead of transferring it. Eventually an air sac will rupture allowing air to collect in the chest cavity and collapsing the lung. Treating pneumothorax involves cutting open the chest wall and sticking a tube inside. This lets the air escape and the lung will typically reinflate within a few days.

It is not a pleasant sensation.

Mom had a couple of ectomies to treat her cancer. Her sister (my auntie) is in her third or fourth remission after some seriously rude treatment. Grams and Nana both had emphysema. Lung cancer killed Dad's sister. Everybody smoked.

I guess it's time to wake up and smell the nicotine.

Posted by: Jim at 10:31 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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