• The wood shed is coming along nicely.  I have the frame built and the floor on.  Tomorrow I finish everything but the doors.
• Shopping list for the shed:
  • 6 x 8 foot 4×4 posts
  • 4 x 10 foot 2×4’s
  • 2 x 8 foot 2×4’s
  • 31 x 8 foot 2×6’s
  • 5 bags of gravel for drainage under the shed
  • Decking screws
  • Lag screws
  • 6 pack of beer
  • 3 bandaids
  • 1 pair of tweezers
• I got all that on one cart in Lowe’s.  It took every ounce of oomph I had to get it moving once I was loaded up, but I did it.
  • Should I have done it in two trips?  Probably.  But why not take the opportunity to practice my Sisyphus imitation?
• That may not sound like much, but I could have bought an M-1 Garand at CMP for what I spent on lumber today.
  • Being responsible sucks
• The number for the day is 27.  That’s the number of trips it took from my truck to the back of the property to get everything back where I needed it.
  • Girlie Bear had gone to the mall by the time I got home from the lumber yard and Irish Woman was packing up to go visit her aunt.
• There’s something kind of nice to come into the house after working outside all day and smell turkey and stuffing cooking.
• Boo term of the day – “popcorn store” – noun – The place where mom and dad take him to eat popcorn in the dark while someone plays a movie on the wall.
• We’re watching “Brave”, and I have to say that I object to the manner in which it portrays grumpy male bears.

Actually, two days.

• My turkey with nipples was a big hit.  I’m worried what the crowd we enjoy Thanksgiving with will ask for next year.
• On Wednesday night, I was the designated driver, drank three whole cans of ginger ale, and woke up with a hangover the next day.  Thursday I drank three large glasses of red wine and a bourbon and coke, then woke up feeling fine this morning.  Not sure what’s going on there.
• Moonshine spent all day yesterday walking around the house trying to figure out where that wonderful aroma was coming from.  The older dogs just sat and watched, knowing that eventually, turkey would be theirs.  Wisdom does come with age.
• One of the little pleasures in life is sitting in a garage, smoking cigars, sipping whiskey, and comparing guns.
• The day after Thanksgiving is an excellent time to stock up on pumpkin and fresh cranberries.
• Tomorrow I begin work on a new wood shed.  Whoopie.
  • Need to get the new shed built because we’re a bit low on firewood, and I don’t want to get a bunch more and then have to move it out of the old place.
  • Did I get this work done during the warm part of the year?  Of course I didn’t.  That would be intelligent.
• One of Irish Woman’s nieces brought her boyfriend over to the family gathering today.  If the young man can survive the interrogation he got from the uncles and older cousins today, he might be worth something.
• I never thought I’d be glad to get gas for $2.96 a gallon, but today I was.
• Tomorrow is Thanksgiving II: The Reckoning.  I promise to not violate this turkey like I did the last one.

It’s been a good year for us.  Yes, the world isn’t as we would have it, but things are still good.  My family is safe, warm, and fed.  We don’t have to stand watch every night to make sure that we’re not robbed or worse while we sleep.  Where many others have to worry where their next meal will come from, or where they will spend the night, Irish Woman and I have good jobs, our kids go to good schools, and while we’re not wealthy, we’re doing OK.  For these things, I give thanks.

I’m thankful that even though tonight’s dinner will be huge, filling, and delicious, it’s not an aberration in our diet.  Many people have much less than us, and for them, I hope and pray that they have at least this one good meal, and that they also reach a place where a feast is a big meal, not a miracle.

I am thankful that men and women are away from their families today so that my family can safely be together today.  From the young man keeping watch on a cold mountain to the police officer who just drove past our home, we owe you all so much more than we give you, and I thank you.

I am fortunate to have this outlet, and the community of people I have met through it.  I look forward to writing here every day, and I hope that you all enjoy my meanderings.  I am very thankful for the tribe I have met here, and for all of you.  Thank you.

• When we spend an afternoon hashing out a plan on how to do something, and we rationally discuss options and come to a compromise on a few aspects of the plan, that doesn’t mean to restart the argument when we are presenting the plan and timeline to the customer and senior management.
• I’m a peaceful, nurturing, friendly soul, but it only takes a few moments for me to go from the big, gentle guy to “HULK SMASH!”.
• The turkey is in the sink.  I say again:  The turkey is in the sink.
• Irish Woman and I are going to a pre-Thanksgiving bourbon tasting party.  It’s like a wine tasting, except you drink the whiskey.
  • If I’m not back in 36 hours, I’m passed out in the gutter.

• Sometimes you just have to drop your voice a couple of octaves and sound off to get your point across.
  • I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
• 8 hours in a room to diagnose a problem and plan the 6 hours it’s going to take to fix it.  Yeah, that’s about par for the course.
• Apparently the folks down in Gaza have decided to play “Poke the Israelis” again.  Who’s got the popcorn?
• I may rename the puppy “Puddles”.

• It is rarely a good thing when your rheumatologist asks how long it’s been since you had  a chest x-ray and an EKG.
• Nothing good can come from “I need to talk to the managers.  Everyone else, please leave.” at the conclusion of a staff meeting.
• Boo asked me tonight if I was “bona fide”.  I replied that I was the “pater familius”.  He thought it was funny.
• Girlie Bear is working a project for geography class where she researches major American cities that don’t have an NFL team and comes up with good reasons that they should get one, along with a name.  We had to break it to her that the “Las Vegas Pokers” wasn’t such a great idea.
• Overheard in the grocery store:  “Look, just because I pick up a couple cans of Redi-Whip doesn’t mean you get to make a pass at me!”
• Moonshine craves maple syrup.
• It is very difficult to get maple syrup out of the fur around a puppies mouth without giving him a complete bath.
• Bluegrass seems to have fully accepted the new puppy.  Shadow still isn’t too happy.  OK, let’s face it, he’s in a blue funk over the whole thing. I’ve never had a dog get depressed before.
• Went and bought Birdzilla for Thanksgiving tonight.  I guess I can be pretty confident that I’m right when I say that a 24 pound turkey probably isn’t organic.
  • Yummy, yummy hormones
• I almost fulfilled my prophecy from yesterday and hit a deer tonight.  It was a nice 6 or 8 point buck who looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see him when we both skidded to a stop.
• Drinking beer and listening to hippie music is  a fine way to end the day.

Filling out a questionnaire at the arthritis doctor. To ‘List any built up devices you use to make gripping easier’ I answered ‘Hogue grips’.

I can’t wait for the follow up.

• Taking your daughter hunting is an excellent way to spend a Saturday.
• Holding a safety briefing next to a running generator is less than optimal.
• It felt really good this morning when the sun came up.
• I broke out a couple of MRE’s for lunch today.
  • I had the Chili and Macaroni, which was quite tasty.
  • Girlie Bear had the Vegetable Burger in Barbecue on Whole Wheat Bread.
    • She said it tasted good, but that bread just didn’t look right.
    • And seriously, veggie burgers in field rations?  What are these people doing to my Army?
• Noticed a distinct lack of acorns and/or acorn caps under the trees this year.  I hope the animals don’t have a problem getting through the winter because one of their principal sources of calories didn’t do well this year.
• Didn’t see hide nor hair of a deer all day.  Saw a couple of places where it looked like they had bedded down and some old droppings.  But the antlered beasts were notably absent.
  • I simply must have words with their social secretary.  I specifically asked that they be lined up according to weight at sunrise this morning so that I could pick out the pick of the herd.
• After several hours of hearing gunshots in the area around you, with no evidence of deer in your line of vision, you begin to wonder if it’s you.

• I agree with Teddy Roosevelt – I hate the trend to being hyphenated Americans.  I’m not a Norwegian-American, or Irish-American, or German-American.  I’m not even a European-American.  I’m an American, who happens to be of Northern European descent.  I don’t think of some of  my friends and colleagues as being African-American.  They are Americans, most of whom have ancestors who had something absolutely horrific done to them.  I want to point out that we’ve been working toward righting that wrong for at least the past 150 years, sometimes in fits and starts, and sometimes with mixed results, but we’ve been putting in the effort and we are showing progress.  Oh, and I’m not caucasian.  I’ve met people from the Caucasus, and they don’t look like me
• If you pay income taxes and believe that you and the rest of us who have a job and pay income taxes should pay more, here’s an idea for you:  At tax time, sit down with your accountant and figure out what your tax burden would be if the tax rates were at your desired level.  Find the difference between that number and the amount you actually paid under the current, lower rates.  Then, take that difference and donate it toward the cause of your choice.  Doing that will make sure your money is targeted toward causes you support, rather than just dumping it into the big slush fund in the sky to be doled out to the current Congressional pet project.  However, if you truly feel that the government should choose where that extra money goes, then by all means, write Uncle Sam a check and let him figure it out.  Just leave the rest of us to do have the same freedom to save, spend, or donate our income as we see fit.  Oh, and if you don’t pay income taxes, stay the hell out of the discussion.  If you don’t have a dog in this particular hunt, I don’t care to hear your ‘informed’ opinion.
• If you break down in the left hand lane of the expressway and you can’t safely make it across 5 lanes of traffic to the right shoulder, please pull over to the left shoulder, turn on your four-way blinkers, and stay with your car.  Someone will eventually stop to help you.   Please DO NOT TRY TO RUN ACROSS 5 LANES OF TRAFFIC TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY DURING RUSH HOUR.   Thank you.  I did not wish to exercise my collision avoidance drills today, and you would have looked really silly laying on a slab with “DODGE” bruised into your chest. 
• If you don’t like me walking through your staff meeting, don’t hold it in the hallway between me and the caffeine delivery apparatus.  Seriously, we paid a lot of money to have rooms with chairs and tables and such.  Please utilize them.
• I hunt because they don’t sell venison at Kroger, that’s why.  Also, deer are vicious creatures that drink the blood of babies when the moon is full and we should all do everything we can to keep their numbers under control.
  • Yes, I took a playbook from the anti-gunners to make a pro-hunting argument.  Why do you ask?
• Irish Woman was watching a TV program last night about people who make illegal whiskey in Appalachia.  This morning she had a southern twang so thick you could cut it with a knife.  It’s probably what will happen when I start watching TV shows about the people working the oil fields in North Dakota.
  • I will say that a southern accent is a lot more attractive to me than “Oh yeah, he’s a nice fella, doncha know?”.

• The thought that kept running through my head today was “Please remove your opposable digit from the lower portion of your alimentary canal.”.  
• Apparently, in order to replace the EGR valve on my van, you have to remove the alternator and move a couple of other things.  Yet another reason to never buy another Chrysler.
• Boo quote of the day – Dad, I need to go to that McDonald’s to use the potty and get a milkshake.
  • No comment on the outcome of that situation.
• Irish Woman made dinner before she left to go to her meeting tonight.  I saw precisely two-thirds of it when I got home and fed the kids.
  • Oh well, leftover barbecue chicken tastes good.
• I’m hoping tomorrow night is cold, but dry.  I can’t find my good rain gear, and I’m going deer hunting after work.
• You know, when I’m feeling stressed, I bake.  That may explain why Irish Woman fell in love with me.
  • Tonight it was applesauce spice cake.
• I’m about ready for the whole “alpha male” thing to get worked out between Shadow and Moonshine.
  • It is, however, absolutely hilarious to see the look on Shadow’s face when the puppy barks back at him.
• Irish Woman has begun the destruct phase of her project to re-do the trim and closet in the bathroom.
  • No rest for the wicked I guess, although I have taken the stand that this is her project, and I’ll just be there for heavy lifting.
  • We’ll see how long that lasts.