Automatic for the People

I forgot to post this earlier, but ISU did a nice simple memorial for all the people who were murdered by the hijackers on 9/11:

In other news, it was announced last week that REM was disbanding.  While I haven't been a huge fan of their later stuff, nothing can beat their 1992 album, Automatic for the People.  Everybody Hurts, Man on the Moon and (my favorite) Nightswimming are a few songs that take me back to those high school years (I'm getting old!).  When ever people people hear that I'm from Athens, GA, it is typically associated with REM or the B52's.

Not much else is going on, I'm still taking welding classes on Saturdays and we had our third golf class last night.  I am amazed at how much effort and thought goes into a good swing.  You have to get in the right position, hold the club properly, the list goes on and on.  Each night, we get a bucket of around 100 balls and we practice and practice.  Next week is going to focus on putting.

We have another guest coming to visit this weekend.  She and Karen both have birthdays in October and they have adopted the concept of the "birthday month."  Instead of just celebrating on the day of your birth, they say you should celebrate the entire month.  The theory hasn't caught on for others, but Karen definitely tries to exploit it around the house as much as she can.  "It's my birthday month" becomes the universal excuse to avoid doing dishes and other household tasks.  Of course, I don't typically give in on these things, but she gives it a good effort anyway.

A quick update

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a nice weekend.  Not a lot going on here this weekend, between having a 4 hour class on Saturday morning and the college football season being in full swing, it is hard to do much else.  Not that I'm complaining, it sounds like a good way to spend a day to me.

Last weekend, we had a weekend guest from Virginia.  After my  welding class, we piled into the car and drove east to Bloomington, Indiana. Yes, we went from one Bloomington to the other in order to go to the University of Virginia vs. University of Indiana football game.  Considering the fact that Indiana is a basketball school, they had a nice football facility.  Too bad they couldn't fill it!  UVA took an early lead, only to blow it in the second half.  Then, out of no where, they drove back and tied it up with 1:30 left.  We thought we were headed to overtime when a UVA play stripped the ball from the IU quarterback and UVA kicked the winning field goal as the clock hit 00.  It was a great ending and made the long trip worthwhile.  We got there a little early, this was the pregame warm up for UVA:

Karen and I had our first golf class last Monday night.  It was pretty interesting, I had no idea so much went into a good swing.  I guess that is why everyone isn't playing on the PGA tour...  Our second class is tomorrow night, I hope we both see some improvements in our technique afterwards.  I could see myself getting hooked on this sport, just what I need, another expensive hobby.

Speaking of hobbies, the welding class is going well. I was nervous the first week because we were doing oxy-acetylene gas welding. Basically using a flaming torch to heat the steel to 2000 degrees and melting it together. Very cool. This week, we did MIG welding, which uses electrical current to instantly melt the filler wire and the metal you are welding together. The process produces a very bright arc of light that you can't look at with unprotected eyes, you have to wear a welding helmet. Here is a picture of the classroom that the welding class is in:

And here are some pieces of steel that I welded together using the torch, insert your best Tim Allen grunt here:

Where were you when?

Everyone is probably tired of stories about this event, but what the heck.  As the 10 year anniversary of September 11th was closing in, I have been watching documentaries on the events from that day.  Watching those shows has got me thinking about where I was that day and I  I also decided to pull out some images that I saved from back in 2001. 

Considering the fact that I have a bad memory when it comes to most things, I remember exactly where I was that morning.  I was living in Dunwoody and working at Reece, Hoopes & Fincher at the time.  For some reason I was working on a residential landscape design in one of the Principal's office instead of at my desk.  A coworker stuck his head in the door and said that a plane had crashed into one of the WTC towers.  We walked up to the conference room, where the live video was playing on a small 13" tv.  Soon the room was full of co-workers, and we watched with disbelief when the second plane hit.  None of us could believe what we were seeing.  We just sat there watching in silence, then suddenly the first one fell, and then the second.  It was mind boggling.

I went home and sat in front of the tv all evening.  The next day we all tried to go back to work, but I am sure everyone was having trouble focusing on work.  That night, I spent the evening glued to the tv again.  That pattern seemed to go on for days, until all hope of finding survivors passed.

I look at all the political bickering that is going on right now and I wish the United States could get back to the way the country was right after 911 happened. Everyone put aside their party loyalties aside for a while and focused on rebuilding the country and finding the people responsible for the attack.

I could continue on the political track that I just got on, but I might offend some people, so I will stop myself now.

Where were you that day?

First week of the College Football Season

I was very excited for the start of the college football season, and very disappointed with the outcomes.  Out of the four teams that we follow, only one won.  Illinois State, James Madison AND Georgia all lost.  The University of Virginia was our only shining light, and they were playing a team that that they were pretty much guaranteed to beat.  Not a good start, it could be a long fall, especially if Georgia doesn't get their act together.

We didn't do much over the holiday, just took care of some errands and misc. projects around the house.  One of Karen's friends is flying in this Friday night for a weekend visit.  (In case the rest of you didn't know, we're always happy to have visitors!)  We are going to drive to Bloomington, IN  on Saturday for the University of Virginia vs University of Indiana football game.  At least one of our teams is playing within a reasonable distance, hopefully they will give su something to cheer about.  The bad news is that I will miss the UGA/SC game.  However, if they play like they did last week, I might be better off not watching it!

Welding class starts this coming Saturday and golf on Monday.  I'm sure I'll have some stories to share...