Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish

Due to a family situation I care not to blog about, I have spent a great deal of time recently on the phone with many businesses. From the phone company to the electric company to the bank and satellite people. It is amazing the number of choices each one gives you when you call. But have you noticed that speaking to a live person is usually not one of them? Also, the reason that you are calling is not one of them either. I did, however, discover an interesting way to get a live person every time. When you get of these menus (after pressing 1 for English of course) make a selection that either signs you up for something or adds more services. For example, for the bank I selected opening a new account and got a live person immediatley. The satellite company will answer quite quickly when you want to add programing. I hope this advice is helpful for you. If not, please press 9 to hear further suggestions.

How things change...

Well, since my last blog, life has definately changed. Last week our new puppy "Dex" had been sick with an upset stomach (nothing uncommon for a dog moving to a new home). During his 2nd visit to the vets in 5 days, the vet felt something strange and wanted to keep Dex overnight and stated that most likely they would have to do surgery the next morning. It was hard to leave him there (little did I know that would be the last time I was to see him). The next morning everyone waited and hoped to hear good news. Alice received the call mid-morning stating that Dex had made it through surgery just fine, however, he stopped breathing while waking up. They had tried to revive him but couldn't. Words can't explain the rest of that day. I drove out to pick him up later that afternoon and in the evening we buried him at my inlaws. Dex only spent 5 nights with us, not even enough time to get a tag, yet it felt like he had been here even longer. Alice and I had waited 5 years to get a puppy. We have found another and will be getting her next week. I am excited, yet even more nervous than ever. I'm sure she'll be fine and do well. What happened with Dex was a rare occurance. I'm glad we have some wonderful pictures to remember him by.
Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter April 17, 2006-July 13, 2006.

Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter

Okay...so the blogs aren't flying from me. Well, with the addition of our newest "child" sleep is once again something I can't remember. Our little guy is keeping us pretty busy with learning not to do his business in the house. It will be worth it in the long run though. Using the words of Jon Bon Jovi "I'll live while I'm alive and sleep while I'm dead".
By the way....if you are wondering about his name....Farnsworth Dexter is a character from the 80's primetime drama "Dynasty". I always thought his name would be great for a bassett hound. Dex was also a pretty cool guy, so it is quite fitting.

Summertime=Blogs

Yes, the title is correct. Now that it is summer you can expect more blogs coming your way. I feel badly that people check my site so often only to be left with nothing new. Well....trust me you will be getting a lot of new stuff. We just got back from an awesome vacation to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Summer school starts tomorrow. We are about to get a bassett hound puppy. We have 2 more trips planned for August.....the blog should be red hot before long.

The first comment I wish to make and perhaps hear back about is a series of props (feel free to raise the roof) for my son Doug. This little guy was an absolute trooper on vacation. Can you picture a 1 year old riding 13 1/2 straight hours in the car? Can you picture a 1 year old skipping naps and not being a monster? Can you picture a 1 year old sleeping in a new place, in a crib that is usually only used for playing? Well, my little guy did all of that and with a smile most of the time. It was an eye-opening experience for sure. On top of all that, now that we are home he has just given up his bottle (only sippy cups allowed) and his binkie (parent code word for pacifier). I can't even begin to say how proud I am of him.

Okay....I have lots more to write about but I should save some tales. I want everyone to keep coming back. I promise that I will be adding new posts regularly.

Oh, by the way...how about those Mets? 6 players on the All-star team and they already have 49 wins. I am hopeful about October!

The Month of May

I just realized that May is coming to a close and I haven't posted a Blog. When I started this Blog I truly intended to post a new entry weekly. Somehow that hasn't happened. So I guess I need to come up with something interesting to say for this month. I'm kinda stuck. It was a pretty good month. Nothing really stood out as being Blog worthy. Work has been a pain but I really don't want to write about that. We got a new chest freezer this month. Now we can store up mass quantities of frozen vegetables. I am really looking forward to the end of school. The summer is setting up to be awesome. We will be heading out for a 9 day trek to Michigan as soon as it starts. Then I teach summer school for about 5 weeks. We go to Philadelphia for a few days. I work at the Dutchess County Fair for a week and then we spend the last week in Vermont. Hopefully we'll be getting a bassett hound puppy this summer as well. I think I will be pretty busy. It should be fun. Hopefully some Blog worthy events will occur.

Whaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!

Over the 34 plus years of my life I have seen quite a few movies. I enjoy going to the theater and also renting a good flick to watch at home. I enjoy many genres of film from comedy to horror, drama and even some good old classics. Recently it seems that I keep getting into conversations where people mention a movie that I haven't seen. Yes, it is true I haven't seen them all. The common response is "WHAAAAAT....You haven't seen ______________ "(insert name of any movie you have seen). It's as if I have committed some horrid crime. I feel like I should mention a movie in return that they haven't seen...but by then the effect is gone. I admit, there are some classics I haven't seen (Casablanca, Rear Window, The History of Pickletown) and even some more recent ones that I've missed(Jurassic Park ((hey I'm not much into dinosaurs)), Pochohontas, Crash etc.), but I mean really.....what movies have you missed? Who here has seen "Chopping Mall"? Anyone? How about "Sarah, Plain and Tall"? Well anyway, the point is that I haven't seen every movie and at the rate new movies come out I don't imagine I'll ever catch up. I'd rather watch a Met's game anyway.
To wrap up this post I thought I would list my Top 10 favorite movies with you. If you choose to leave a reply why not include your Top 10. I'd be interested in how many I haven't seen!
Brad's Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Time:
1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
2. Smokey and the Bandit
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. The Music Man (with Robert Preston)
5. Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
6. National Lampoons Vacation
7. Pulp Fiction
8. Airplane
9. The Naked Gun
10. Rent

Great taste! Less filling!

In order to fully appreciate this story you need to know 2 things.
1. My friend Dave does home brewing. About once a month he comes over with some new brews, I provide the pizza and we watch a baseball game or play a video game. To help with his home brewing I save all of my empty beer bottles for him.
2. We had a mouse in the house a few weeks ago.

So, last night Dave and his wife Laura came over for pizza and beverages. We ate, chatted and watched the Met's game. While Dave was over I asked him for some advice. (He works in construction building and remodeling houses) I told him that I thought our mouse friend had died and was under the dishwasher or sink area. The smell had gotten pretty bad the past few days but I couldn't find a mouse corpse anywhere. He showed me how to pull out the dishwasher so that I could get a better view. I planned on actually doing this today. Later in the evening Dave and Laura were about to leave so I gathered up the empty beer bottles and apologized about the odor since I keep them under the sink. As we were chatting a bit more Dave noticed the odor getting quite strong and asked if the mouse was in one of the bottles I had given him. Sure enough, there was the mouse corpse in the bottom of a bottle of Caramel Porter.
I'm sure Dave is going to carefully inspect anything I give him in the future. I had thought about mailing the bottle back to the beer company and blaming it on them. Then I remembered the lady with the finger in her chili and decided not to. I was, however, quite impressed that the mouse was able to fit in the small opening of the bottle. At least he had good taste in beers!

Kids

I spent the day today overseeing the scoring of 3rd graders New York State Math exams (yes, someone actually put me in charge of something). It was interesting to see the way 9 year old minds work. One of the questions asked the students to draw a ring around the 2 rectangles (there were a variety of shapes to choose from). A large number of students actually drew "rings", complete with diamonds on top, around the rectangles. Now don't worry the students still got full credit (I think they should get some extra credit). I am continually amazed at students. One of the best things about being a teacher is that every day is different and you never can predict what the kids are going to say or do.

Happy Pancake Day

I hope everyone is enjoying National Pancake Day! In honor of this special day IHOP is offering a free short stack of pancakes to all customers. What a deal. I love going to IHOP. The variety of syrups is wonderful, plus you get your own pot of coffee. Back to the topic at hand...pancakes..yum! Now I'm sure that you have tried some different types of pancakes.....blueberry, chocolate chip....but have you had Pigs in a blanket pancakes? IHOP has created a menu item where they wrap a buttermilk pancake around a pork sausage. Not only that, you get 4 of them! If only they could deep fry them and of course toss in some bacon. Perhaps there could be a cheesey dipping sauce. Now that would be a pancake celebration!

New Blogs

I apologize for not posting a new blog in a while. Life has been interesting to say the least recently. I added a blog that I started working on a few weeks ago. Unfortunatley it posts the blog according to the date I started it. So please take a moment and scroll down to February 20th. I think you'll enjoy the tale.

The Circle of "Life"

A bowl of cereal has to be one of the most versatile meals. It's great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack. As Jerry Seinfeld says the milk at the bottom of the bowl is "the nectar of the Gods". There are so many wonderful varieties that you always have a new flavor to discover. Aside from Grapenuts (which I have to believe are a cruel trick to make people eat actual bits of rock) I haven't met a bowl I didn't like. I recently discovered that I share my birthday (February 26) with Dr. James Kellogg the inventor of the Corn Flake. He was born in the 1800's (a couple of years before me). I have to believe there is some connection between us. This coming June Alice, Doug and I will be heading on vacation to Kalamazoo, Michigan. We are heading to visit our good friend Corey and while we are there we plan to visit the Kelloggs factory. There is also a chance we might get to go to "Cereality" in Chicago. If you have never heard of "Cereality" take a moment to check it out. www.cereality.com
So, in honor of Dr. Kellogg, have a bowl or two of your favorite cereal this Sunday. You know I will.

Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow

Back in the late 1970's my cousin Tom was supposed to get "Milky" as a Christmas Present from our grandparents. Luckily for him, I discovered the cow in the closet and proceeded to open the box. Needless to say, "Milky" didn't survive. I convinced my cousins that the toys in the closet were for us to play with. Milky was quite an invention. She actual would moo and lower her head into the water trough. If you mixed water with the milk tablets you could actually "milk" the cow. We couldn't get it to work and I'm not sure what my grandparents did with it, but I have never lived it down. I recently discovered that these cows are still available (on E-bay of course). They sell for around $100 in various conditions. I keep checking back and hoping I'll be able to get one. I couldn't picture spending more that $50. I vow to give my cousin a "Milky the Cow" and watch him milk it with joy. So do me a favor....take a look in your attic or check a relatives basement and let me know if you find one!

Celebration Time

Happy President's Day! I'm sure most of you are in the middle of your traditional President's Day activities (going to the mailbox and remembering there's no mail) or perhaps in honor of President Lincoln bringing an end to slavery you are purchasing some new shoes. I am here to suggest a new twist to your usual celebration. How about, in honor of President Warren G. Harding you attend a meeting of the KKK (he was a member) or to honor President Andrew Jackson you could challenge your neighbor to a duel (just like in those wild west movies, DRAW!) Okay so maybe these ideas aren't the best, so let's just celebrate the memory of President Howard Taft and eat so much that we actually get stuck in our own bathtub! Whichever activity you choose, have a spledid time!

Stop...Hammer Time

I realize that I am now officially addicted to curling. I don't know what I am going to do next week when the Olympics are over. Although the US Women's team is out of it, the men are looking like they might get a medal. I find myself using the Tivo if I have to step away from the matches for just a moment and I am really enjoying the phrase "The US has the hammer". For all of you non-curlists the "hammer" is when your team has the last "rock" to throw. It gives the team the advantage for the round. My head is now full of all this information. Aside from the Olympics I'm not sure when or where I can watch curling. I suppose there might be some illegal late night underground league somewhere if I search. Anyone out there interested in starting a team?

Maximum Overdrive

I have never been one to understand machinery. Power tools and devices with engines are not something I am confident with. Last weekend this created the first repair I will need to do to our house. (We have only been here 1 month.) At the end of the snowstorm on 2/12 I ventured outside to fire up our new snowblower (thank you Earl). For those of you who have never used a snowblower (which was me a week ago), there are two levers, one on each handle. The right lever engages the actual snow blowing part of the machine. The left one engages the power drive to the wheels. As I was clearing the small path behind the house I wanted to stop the snowblower, however, I did not release the correct handle. The snowblower drove under the house smashing through the "fake brick" siding that goes all around the house. You can see in the picture that I have sort of pieced it back together for the time being. I am really hoping that I have better luck next week when I use the new chainsaw!

The Gift of a Broom

Here goes......Thanks to Corey for inspiring me to be a copycat and start a blog. I pondered over the idea for days wondering what on earth I would write about. I guess I decided that I have a few interesting personal tales and random thoughts that someone might find interesting.

So............the first musing I would like to put out there has to do with the Winter Olympics. I have always been a fan, I can remember watching the bobsled events during the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. This year I have taken an interest in the curling. I have tried to get Alice (my wife for those of you who don't already know) interested and I think I am making progress. Anyway, it dawned upon me that the only acceptable time to give a woman a broom as a holiday gift (birthday, Christmas, etc.) is if she is a curler. Any other time and the broom will probably become a weapon.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Comment if you chose, I won't be offended if you don't.