Since it’s “that time of year” and I’ve got my own health, diet and exercise on my mind, this post from “You Had Me At Idiot” really made me laugh.

Rated PG for some mild “poo poo” language. You have been warned.

When Trolls Sweat

And if you must know, I’m down to 231.8 as of this morning, down 14.2 pounds from when I first signed up for WeightWatchers.

And by “Late Breaking” I mean that I’m late in writing this post. I had intended to do this much earlier in the day, but my job keeps getting in the way of my recreational blogging. Gosh!

So, New Hampshire is old news. As expected the “Religious Nut Jobs” faired poorly. What was a bit of a surprise (to some) was that Hillary pulled off a win. The only reason anyone was really surprised was because the pollsters were so excited about telling everyone she would lose. Personally, I fully expected her to come roaring back after her humiliation in Iowa.

The crying thing… Now that caught me off guard. Am I surprised? Not at all. I’m convinced that Hillary would donate both kidneys if she thought it would garner more votes. Do you think it was staged? Pshyeah!! Duh! Even what she’s saying in that oh-so-tender voice backs up my opinion of her.

So, what’s next? The “true conservatives” (Huck and Fred) are skipping to South Carolina conceding Michigan to the RINOs, which I think is a wise choice. Pick your battles. Honestly, I thought they should have skipped N.H. too. Rudy is jumping all the way ahead to Florida. This puzzles me a little. I think Rudy has been stung early and I’m surprised he’s not putting up more of a fight to keep his name in the media and at least in the top four or five on the leader board. But, meh. What do I care. I’ll be happy when he drops out and goes home to his wife du jour.

I’d like to point you guys to a new blog. One of your kids has got her self a real-live grown-up blog over on Blogger. Not a MySpace. Not a FaceBook. An honest to goodness blog.

Katie is a great kid and it seems like every day I’m marveling at how much she has matured. I was especially impress with her post on this year’s resolutions.

I’m proud of you, kiddo!

This week, Tammy finds herself in a foreign land: Wisconsin. It’s kind of a long story.

Her company is doing some rearranging. They’re shifting some business from a warehouse up there to the one where Tammy works here in Dallas. So they sent her to learn how to speak Wisconsinese (I think it’s a dialect related to Canadese). It will be her job to train the folks back here how to do business in this new tongue.

She was supposed to fly out yesterday. We got up a little earlier than usual, had our weekly fellowship at Waffle House, and I took her to the airport. Don’t fret. I was still able to get to church on time.

Then she sent me a text message during church. (See, I was a good boy and set my phone to vibrate so the sermon was not interrupted by an annoying ringer. Instead it was interrupted by me spasming in my pew while my phone vibrated in my pocket in a way that made me feel un-Christian.)

It seems that the Wisconsinese weather was bad (unlike the beautiful, sunny day we had here, high in the upper 70’s) and her flight was delayed, then delayed so more, and finally canceled. (Yes, I was “filled with the Spirit” in my pants several times during the sermon.) I had to stay after church and clean erasers due to my vibrating pants, so a friend of ours got Tammy back home.

Tammy’s flight was rescheduled for 7 AM this morning and because Tammy is a model citizen she wanted to get to the airport an hour or so early. (I’ve learned that when Tammy says, “an hour or so,” it translates to what I call, “about two hours.”) So if you do the math, that means I got up at that hour which I still refuse to believe exists (<whispers>five-ay-em</whispers>) and drove her to the airport again.

This time the flight went smoothly and, as I type this, she is learning all about the Wiscon people. Maybe she’ll be able to tell me why they wear cheese on their heads. I’ve always wondered. Maybe it’s good for your hair. *shrug*

This week’s white board quip contains some simple wisdom about human nature, or perhaps more specifically, man nature.

Tell a man there are 300 trillion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a seat has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch it to be sure.

Ain’t it the truth?

The chocolate drive is drawing to a close. My friend, Tech Sergent Adam Page will be coming home from Iraq later this month, but he has assured me that our efforts will continue to benefit the wounded troops who come through the 332nd CASF hospital through his commanding officer and his replacement.

So far, we’ve shipped over 120 pounds of chocolate candy to Iraq. Not a single piece has been damaged or melted in shipping. But in a matter of weeks, the temperatures will be warm enough to make shipping impossible. My goal is to get 200 pounds shipped before that happens.

Alt-N, my awesome employer, has graciously offered to pay for all the shipping. (It comes out to about $1 a pound.) So any cash donations have been and will continue to be turned into sugary goodness. I’ve purchased about $150 worth so far. If you’d like to help out, you can donate via PayPal by clicking the link at the bottom of the sidebar.

Adam has sent some pictures! (Adam’s the guy with the birthmark.)

Bonus material: Adam celebrated his birthday in Iraq, and I scraped some pictures from his Flickr site. His crew had a lot of fun with it. I hope he doesn’t get mad at me for posting these. It took six, well trained airmen to tie him down, so I wouldn’t stand a chance!

She finished third! I can’t believe it. Third!

Hillary spent $20 million on her Iowa campaign, about the same amount that the Bronco Bomber spent, and yet she lost to Edwards who spent less that $6 million. She campaigned her butt off. The Media (with a big “M”) fluffed her at every turn. And still she came in third!! This is the best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten in January.

What I love about Hillary is her disgusting, grinch-like, touch-me-not, self righteousness. After coming in third, here’s her sound bite (emphasis added):

“I want the people of America, and particularly Democrats, and like-minded independents and Republicans who have seen the light to understand … that the stakes are huge, that the job is enormous, but that I believe we’re going to make the right decision.”

Yes ma’am. I agree. We are going to make the right decision. The Iowans already did. The rest of us are just waiting our turn. Can you believe her gall? Those “who have seen the light” are, in her mind, people who see her as some shining star of political omnipotence in spite of the termites in her smile. She really is worse than a sea-sick crocodile.

And OBTW, in case you hadn’t noticed, my man Mike beat the pants off of Mr. Boston Millionaire Liberal-In-Sheep’s-Clothing. (That’s Mitt Romney, in case you weren’t sure.)

Now, let’s have a little perspective. Winning Iowa is not winning the White House. Many have won Iowa early and faded later in the race. But if you consider the wealth of media coverage and the lack of money spent, Huck is doing awesome. I’m also glad to see that Fred fared pretty well, tying for third with McCain (who’s a RINO like Romney). I think he’d make a stellar VP.

Tomorrow begins 2008. Two-Thousand Eight!! We’re well into the 21st century people! I’ve always enjoyed those far-out forecasts of what life will be like in the future. (I’m still waiting for my flying car, dang it.) However, as technology advances all around me, I find myself more and more often blurting out, “That is so Star Trek!!”

Once again, I have bent the rules on English. Before I turned Google into a verb. Now I’ve turned Star Trek into an adjective.

This phrase first entered my lexicon when I walked in on a coworker reading Lord of the Rings as an eBook on his PDA. Because, seriously, Captain Picard always read books and reports on a little, hand-held computer screen. (Someone PLEASE send me a picture of this.) Now, right here in my own life time, I can do the same thing. That’s unbelievable. That’s Star Trek!!

I think it’s healthy for us to look back once in a while and see just how far we’ve come. That gives us the ability to make much better predictions about where we’re going. I found this great forward thinking movie from 1956 on YouTube. (In a 1956 frame of mind, YouTube is incredibly Star Trek!) The best thing about this old flick is how many things they got right. Here are my favorite (follow along as you watch the video):

• Automatic lighting on highways. (00:29)
• Heated bridges reduce black ice. (00:40)
• Cadillac’s “Night Vision” (2000) was improved upon last year by Mercedes and BMW. (00:53)
• In dash navigation systems now incorporate traffic reports. (01:06)
• Rear view cameras.
• “Care Flight” helicopter ambulance service. (01:31)
• Suburbia and long distance commuting (02:42)
• Interstate highways. (03:00)
• “Synchronized scanning map” again answered by in dash nav system. (03:33)
• Increased leisure time and RV’s with “all the comforts of home”. (04:55)
• Amphibious RV. (05:35)
• Shipping containers transition from ship, to train, to truck. (But not yet rockets. *wink*) (05:44)
• And don’t forget the smog! Subtly added at the end around 08:21.

Here’s another great “future” video. “The Future Is Now” – 1950. From personal video cameras to guided missiles, microwave ovens to solar panels. These guy’s nailed it.

So here we are marking the arbitrary point in Earth’s orbit once again. Time to contemplate life looking behind and ahead.

While 2006 only ranked as “ok”, I’d have to say 2007 was a good year for me. I’ve made advances in almost every aspect of my life. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of my year.

• Took on more of a leading role at church…
  • Got certified to drive the short bus. Seriously.
  • Was a team leader during the New Orleans mission trip.
  • Took a leading role with the youth while we searched for new staff.
• Survived a flooded apartment. (New carpet and furniture arrive in January 2008.)
• Took a great vacation to Colorado and climbed Pikes Peak… almost.
• Lost a great co-working in Dave, but took over as team lead and moved to the corner office.
• Started WeightWatchers and lost about 15 pounds so far (which surpasses my goal set last January).
• Coordinated a couple of really great volunteer/relief efforts, including Adam Page’s chocolate drive.
• I would say (and I hope she would agree) that Tammy and I have strengthened our marriage this year.

Now it’s time for me to set some goals for 2008. I met two of the seven goals I set in December of 2006. That’s good for me. I tend to set my goals pretty high. That way, even if I don’t achieve them, I’ve pushed myself in the effort. Here’s a few of my 2008 goals:

• Pass at least three Microsoft certification tests.
• Memorize 52 new Bible verses.
• Ride the entire North Shore mountain bike trail in a single day.
• Read four non-fiction and two fiction books.
• 200 pounds.

So here’s to 2008. May it be a good year for us all.

2007 sure was great,
But now it’s time for 2008.
I’m sure ’08 will be just fine,
But not as good as 2009!

I just want to say this before the phenomenon sweeps the nation for a second time.

I witnessed American Gladiators when it premiered back in 1989. It was all about guts, sweat, glory and tight tank tops with short shorts… on guys.

This is what 21st century game shows were supposed to look like! Back then, the future was looking bright and I was confident that by 2001 we’d be watching Monday Night Rollerball. Sadly that never happened. Instead we ended up with Fear Factor and Survivor. Oh, poor baby has to eat a bug… Bogus!!

Here’s hoping this new generation will follow through.