I'm back.....

First of all, I must say :

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR JOEY !!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!

Also,

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, JOLYNN AND SAM !!!!

So, my week......busy. School and work keep me very busy every day. I am always running from here to there and back again. I manage to get in at least one trip each week to the No Frills Grill thank goodness, where would I be without my trivia. Ha ha !! I finally unpacked the last box in my apartment which seemed to take forever. You never have the same kind of place to put something that you had in your old place. The extra storage on the patio has been a blessing and I am finally organized. I'm happy because living out of boxes and having a busy schedule were tiring.

My company just hired a bunch more people to be home based employees. I am looking forward to working with some of my former co-workers from First American Payment Systems and Encore Payment Systems. After a great review last week, everything is going well on the job front which is very nice.

Lastly, just a comment.....I was walking out of a CVS pharmacy the other day and a man was walking in. He had this white t-shirt on with a BIG picture of Mickey Mouse - so you know it caught my eye - and then in the upper right corner it said "Las Vegas". Now, what on earth does Las Vegas have to do with Mickey Mouse and vice-versa !!?? Nothing. Do not put pictures of Mickey Mouse on shirts from states/cities that have nothing to do with Disney ! Please.

That is all.

I REMEMBER - RAYMOND R YORK

2996 is a coalition of bloggers brought together by D.Challener Roe to pay tribute to the lives of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. You can find a list of participants and tributes here.

I am remembering forty-five year old Raymond R. York who was a 20-year veteran of the New York Fire Department. He is survived by his wife - Joan and their four children.

From the New York Times :

"He Always Was My Hero"

Raymond R. York spent nearly two decades fighting blazes and loving the New York Fire Department when a shoulder injury 18 months ago forced him into light duty. But he found a second calling, teaching children about fire safety at the Fire Zone at Rockefeller Center. There, he was "Fireman Ray" to the youngsters whom he captivated.

But on Tuesday, he learned of the World Trade Center attack from a television crew that was doing a story on the Fire Zone, jumped onto a nearby fire truck and headed downtown. After traffic held him up, he hitched a ride on an ambulance and reached the Fire Department's command post at the trade center.

"We're so proud and we just want everybody to know what a great guy Ray was," his wife, Joan, said. "Everybody's saying, 'He's a hero, he's a hero.' He always was my hero. Now the world knows he's a hero."

She described her husband as a man in love with life, a man who insisted on flying the flag. "He was a Little League coach, he was a scout leader — when it came to his kids, he was there for everything," she said. That included building an ice skating rink in the backyard of their Valley Stream, N.Y., home when his son, one of four children, wanted to learn how to skate.

---Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 17, 2001.


From the Chicago Tribune :

"Raymond R. York"

Raymond York, a 20-year veteran of the New York Fire Department, had every reason not to be in harm's way Tuesday. The 45-year-old husband and father of four had been placed on light duty with a shoulder injury and was giving a TV interview at Rockefeller Center when he saw the first airliner strike the World Trade Center on the camera crew's television. York headed for the scene, hopping on an ambulance. He had just reached the fire command post when Tower Two collapsed. York is presumed dead. "He saw that this had happened and he couldn't sit still," said York's mother-in-law, Rosemary Abruzzino.Abruzzino said her son-in-law had a passion for life, his family and his job. "I know people say only good things about people after they die, but in his case, we don't have to embellish anything," she said. "He was a great man and a tremendous father to his children." Among York's interests was kayaking, and he had planned a trip Wednesday. He had started a kayaking club for firefighters and dubbed it "Blazing Paddles."

- Liam Ford (The Chicago Tribune)

( picture courtesy of RaymondYork.i8.com)

A Fireman's Prayer

When I am called to duty, God, whenever flames may rage;
Give me strength to save some life, whatever be its age.

Help me embrace a little child before it is too late
Or save an older person from the horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout,
And quickly and efficiently to put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling and to give the best in me.
To guard my every neighbor and protect his property.

And if, according to my fate, I am to lose my life;
Please bless with your protecting hand, my children and my wife.

Additional Tributes to Raymond R York

http://raymondyork.i8.com/

http://www.legacy.com/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=93194
(great comments and thoughts by family and friends)

Saturday night and some memories.....

Last night Charles and I went to the first home game of the TCU football season in Fort Worth. It was alot of fun. They played UC-Davis and TCU won 43-16. We stayed for the whole game and it was a super nice evening out weather-wise. The entire place was a sea of purple and if we go again, I think I am going to have to get a purple shirt to wear....as if I don't already have a million. Here are a couple of pictures from my seat of the game and the half-time band performance [taken with my camera phone] :

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tomorrow is the anniversary of 09/11 and I, along with thousands of other bloggers, will be posting a memorial post to a specific victim of that day and as part of my tribute I will leave it as my headline post all next week. So, no updates until next weekend.

I wanted to take a minute today to post my own remembrance of that day. I had been in NY the day before it happened, at LaGuardia airport on my way back from Providence, RI with my brother. We had been visiting Johnson and Wales Culinary school trying to decide if Joey wanted to go there or to the one in South Carolina. We had arrived back in Texas on the evening of September 10th.

The morning of September 11th, I got up, earlier than normal, to take my brother to the airport because he was flying home, from Texas back to Florida....Tampa to be exact. I dropped him off at the airport early and watched until his flight took off.....and then I went to work.....at American Airlines. I remember sitting in my office when one of my co-workers came in and asked me if I had any pliers [I worked in tech support] - he needed them to try and change the channel on the TV in the conference room because he had heard that a commuter plane had crashed into a building in NY. I didn't have any.

You all know the events that unfolded after that, so there is no need to recap. But, in addition to the events we all went through, I can remember waiting and waiting so that I could call and talk to my brother. Watching the clock as his landing time in Tampa approached and being scared to death. Even now, tears come to my eyes just thinking about it. It was one of the happiest moments of my life when I finally talked to him as he made his way in the Tampa airport to get his luggage. He still has his boarding pass from that flight.

Everyone has a memory of that day, what they were doing and where they were and I hope everyone takes a few moments of silence tomorrow to remember. And, if you've bought a new car in the last 5 years or your American flag sticker on your car is faded, buy a new one and remember that no matter how horrible that day was, it was also a day when a nation united as one, the way we always do and always will.

God Bless America !

My car does trigonometry

Who knew ? Today in trig we were doing story problems - yuk ! - and we learned that there is actually something you learn in trig that is used in real life. It has to do with the rotation of your tires and the size of your tires which determine how far you go in miles. And, did you know that all odometers are based on standard 24" tires ... so if you change your tires out to something larger, then your odometer is never accurate going forward. Your car may think you've gone 1.0 mile when you've actually gone 1.2 miles......CRAZY !

Everyone have a great weekend !

Rest In Peace - Steve Irwin

For the last 24 hours, my thoughts have been on the untimely death of Steve Irwin. It's weird, actually. I don't really watch his show with any regularity and I never saw his movie. But, if you even saw him once, any human being would feel the loss. He was so alive.

So, my heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife and children, to his endless number of fans and to the animals he loved and protected every day. His absence will be felt by the planet.

Rest in peace, Steve Irwin.

Steve Irwin with his wife Terri and children, Bob and Bindi, on stage at his Australia Zoo at Beerwah, Queensland, in 2004

School Update

So, apparently, everyone needs a school update. Week one is over. Hurray !

It's gonna be tough.

The two classes I have on M, W & F mornings are going to be OK.....one is Trigonometry and one is Applied Mathematics....both are my favorite subject and I think with a little work here and there, they will be a breeze.

Now, Biology is another story. HARD. First of all, it is for science MAJORS, which I am not, technically. Lecture, two nights a week.....lab [3 hours] once a week. Lots of reading, lots of studying......5 tests in lecture, 3 in lab......HARD. My lab instructor says that the average lab scores are 65 on every test and only once has someone scored higher than a 92 on a lab test and that was someone taking the class for the 3rd time......YIKES ! Also, she says the professor that writes the tests [my lecture professor] tries to give all possible mistake answer choices on the test...in other words, he figures out how you might mis-calculate and puts that answer as a choice.

Bottom line.....I have finished getting out of the old apartment....and after tomorrow [crossing fingers] I will be totally un-packed in the new apartment. I have 2 work related things on Wednesday and Thursday this week - my days off - grrrrrrrrr. And then, I'm all work and school, nothing else.

I think I can. I think I can. I know I can.

P.S. Tom, I decided I needed a seperate folder/notebook for lab/lecture in biology....so you'll be pleased to know that the notebook/folder for lecture is now green and the lab is yellow.

Things you may not know about me......

You don't have to reply and give me your "four things" but you can if you want.

Four jobs I have had:
1. Revco Drug Store
2. McDonald'se
3. Allen's Ace Hardware
4. American Airlines, Inc.
Four Movies I have watched over and over:
1. Legally Blonde
2. You've Got Mail
3. While You Were Sleeping
4. Two Weeks Notice
Four places I have lived:
1. Long Beach, CA
2. Germantown, TN
3. Charleston, SC
4. Commerce, TX
Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Law and Order : SVU
2. 24
3. The Closer
4. Psych
Four places I have been on vacation:
1 Disney World, FL
2 Las Vegas, NV
3 Toronto, CN
4 Branson, MO
Four of my favorite foods:
1. Crawfish Etouffee
2. French Fries
3. Pizza
4. Mexican Food
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. With my mom, dad and brother
2. With my sister and her family
3. Disney World
4. At the movies

Now, you know a little more about me.

Check it....

....check out my new profile pic over to the right. LOL !!!

HMMMMM : Teaching the dog to drive

A woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region, crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday.

No injuries were reported although both vehicles were slightly damaged, it said.

The woman, identified only be her surname, Li, said her dog "was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive," according to Xinhua.

"She thought she would let the dog 'have a try' while she operated the accelerator and brake," the report said. "They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car."

Xinhua did not say what kind of dog or vehicles were involved but Li paid for repairs.

OMG !

2:05p - It's raining !

2:12p - It stopped and now it's sunny and muggier than hell.

Drat !

All moved in !

Well, the move is over and thanks to JoLynn, Sam, Lewis and Eddie, I am now surrounded in my home-office, living room and kitchen by about 50 boxes that all need unpacking. Hurray !

I slept pretty good last night.....had a hard time going to sleep.....new place and all. But, now I am up and at work. Today should be slow at work so I am going to try and get as much done as possible today....because the next time I will have time to work on un-packing is Wednesday. I don't have cable over here yet so no Emmy's for me tonight. I was going to go somewhere to watch them but now I have decided to just stay home and work on the apartment instead. I can find out who won on the internet tomorrow.

School starts tomorrow and life gets busy....I'll try to give you the scoop on teachers later this week once I've met everyone.

I'm just saying.......

So I am talking to my sister about the move tomorrow and the guys that are helping me move, God bless them......

Tracy says:
i am going to get some gatorade and water to have for them
JoLynn says:
good idea
JoLynn says:
and styrofoam cups for spitting
Tracy says:
gross
Tracy says:
I am totally blogging that request
JoLynn says:
yes - but styrofoam the bottom won't wear out
JoLynn says:
like it does in paper cups
Tracy says:
double-gross
JoLynn says:
and they won't stain your regular cups
Tracy says:
triple-gross

HMMMMM : Iguana Boom

A Southwestern Florida community facing a reptile overpopulation problem is taking drastic measures.

Residents in Lee County said they are being overrun with iguanas.

There are so many of them that the County Commission has decided not to protect the lizards so people can get rid of them.

Commissioners voted Tuesday night to allow Lee County residents to use any means necessary to reduce the iguana population.

Officials said iguanas outnumber people on Gasparilla Island 10 to 1.

The best part about this is that I actually witnessed this while I was on my vacation in Florida back in May.....we went to Gasparilla Island and there were a BUNCH of Iguanas and we talked about the whole issue. Now it's national news......crazy.

School days, school days......

......good 'ole golden rule days. Oooops, that's my dad's song. By the way, dad, if you want to call and sing to me on Monday, you need to do it around 7:30a your time.

So - what is the school plan......here is the schedule :

This probably looks pretty daunting, but the thing is, I'm really trying to get this done. As of a couple of weeks ago, I was only taking 6 hours...basically, M, W, F 8:00a -10:00a and to be honest it just didn't seem like enough. So, now I have added a class on T, TH nights from 6:00p - 7:30p - it is a Biology class and it has a lab on Thursday afternoon. Now, I have 10 hours, which seems like maybe a lot, but I decided that I need to just COWBOY UP and get on with it. I can still get a Saturday off if I need to but my visiting with the Abilene gang will be limited over the next 3 1/2 months and we're just going to have to deal with that.

Oh, and I'm sure some of you have been dying to know what colors [folders, notebooks, etc.] I am using for this semester so here is the rundown :

Trigonometry : Red
Applied Mathematics : Hot Pink
Biology : Yellow

Wish me luck !!

What is wrong with me.....

.....I haven't blogged in FOREVER. My apologies to the faithful readers, you know who you are. ::wink:: Let's see, what's going on with me.....?? This may be a long one.

So, I did move my office over to the new apartment with much appreciated help from my friend Charles....it was proof positive that I need to lose weight and that I am old. Hmpf. But, with one phone call to AT&T, my DSL was up and running and the office was ready to go.

Basically, the rest of my days off were spent with errands. I did move some more stuff over to the apartment but not as much as I had planned. It is just so HOT here that it wears me out walking up and down stairs in the middle of the day. I think we are on day 15 of over 100 degree temps. Yikes.

So, I worked Friday thru yesterday and each day I brought something over to my apartment. Yesterday was pantry food and refrigerator food, so all of that is over here now. I'll probably move my microwave over here tomorrow....but most of tomorrow will be spent packing everything that is left so that everything I own is IN A BOX by the end of the day Friday.

As I've mentioned before, the big move is Saturday, probably starting around 11:30a and hopefully ending quickly since I have LOTS of awesome help. I'm fortunate that I have so much support so that I didn't have to hire someone to move me. The financial changes of living on my own are going to be a struggle at first so every little bit helps.

So, today is my normal day off but I am working for a co-worker who is then going to work for me on Saturday so I can supervise the move but I am off tomorrow as usual.

I'm going to try and log on tomorrow some time to give you a school update which starts on Monday.....some changes to what some of you know about so look for that too.

Until then .... ciao !

By the way.....

....I am still not biting my fingernails. Yay me !!

HMMMMM : New Blog Feature

While working, I frequently search the news sites for news and current events. It never fails that I run into something as ridiculous as this in my daily trek thru the news sites. From now on when I see one of these I will be headlining it in my blog under HMMMMM :

A woman is suing the J.C. Penney Co. after an alleged run-in with a store mannequin that she says left her with a cracked tooth, a bloodied head and recurring shoulder pain.

Diana Newton, 51, of Westminster sued the Texas-based retailer last month in Orange County Superior Court, claiming she was cracked in the head by a legless female dummy at its Westminster Mall store.

Newton said the incident happened nearly a year ago in the women's department, as she was shopping for a blouse. The only one in her size was on the mannequin. As a salesclerk was removing the garment, the dummy's arm flew off and struck Newton's head, according to her lawsuit.

"I felt a burning sensation," she recalled.

Paramedics treated her bleeding scalp at the scene. Newton drove herself home, then had someone take her to a hospital for further treatment.

The blow also cracked a molar, which led to a root canal, she said.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

A spokeswoman for J.C. Penney said the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.

My "weekend" plans......

So, my two days off start tomorrow.....I started my laundry on Sunday and finally got it finished yesterday morning so no laundry to do. Basically, I will be finalizing installations of services at my new apartment and will probably actually move some stuff over there tomorrow. Fragile stuff like plants, pictures, etc. Also, in the afternoon tomorrow, I am moving my OFFICE over there. I have my DSL modem from SBC and my phone over there is now on, so I figured it would be good to move my office over on my days off before the real move and get everything up and running. And, then starting Friday, I will go over to the new apartment to work and come back to the current apartment for sleeping, etc.

Of course, there will be a WalMart run sometime in the next two days also. I don't really need much stuff, milk, butter, some lunch meat.....but I will be getting a few things for the apartment like a new shower curtain, ice trays, etc. And, I do plan to have a lunch with my friend Eric on Thursday.

All in all, a good two days off. Probably won't be on the computer much other than when I set it up tomorrow so have a good Wednesday/Thursday and I'll be back at the end of the week.

All about me, Monday !

So, my sister put this on her blog to see what her friends knew about her and I thought I'd try it on my blog....now, if you want to answer, you'll have to figure out how to comment on my blog. Go on, try it....the blog won't bite. Hi-light the questions below, select EDIT, COPY .. then click on comments.... select EDIT, PASTE and then answer the questions....you can do it !! And, let's see how well you know me.

Your name:
Where did we meet:
Take a stab at my middle name:
Do I believe in God:
How long have you known me:
Do I smoke:
What was your first impression of me upon meeting:
Color of my eyes:
Do I have any siblings:
What's one of my favorite things to do:
Do you remember one of the first things I said to you:
What's my favorite type of music:
What is the best feature about me:
Am I shy or outgoing:
Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules:
What's your favorite memory of me:
Do I have any special talents?:
Would you consider me a friend:
If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:
If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what one thing would I bring?

OK - answer away and don't cheat by reading other people's answers !

Have fun !

Belated birthday greeting, days off, new apartment....

Lots to talk about....this is a long one.

First of all, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to my friend Curtis. His birthday was yesterday and I didn't get on my computer at all yesterday so I didn't give his day the attention it deserved. Click on the GRAND MASTER CURTIS link to the right to send him a belated greeting.

So, days off happenings.......Wednesday, I got the keys to my new apartment so I went over there to check things out. Turns out I do have a fireplace [yuck] but I can deal with it. I just don't think when the temperature daily is 105 degrees, I can appreciate the need for a fireplace in Texas....even in the winter it is not that cold. Everything else looks great. It is smaller, no doubt about it, my place now is very big, but it will be nice and cozy once I get settled in. Ran some more errands on Wednesday and then met my friend Charles for a movie, MIAMI VICE. It was OK. I guess I tend to compare movies like that to Bad Boys or Die Hard or something action packed like that and this one was good but not as action packed as I would have liked. I am experiencing some kind of random insomnia lately so when I got home, try as I might, my uncooperative blue eyes would not close until 4:15am. Grrrrr.

Thursday, I got up [after about 4 1/2 hours of sleep] and went to Half Price Books to sell back some more books that I had come across in my random packing efforts. While I was there I was wandering around and came across what I thought was the textbook for one of my classes. I was thrilled. I asked them to hold it for me so I could confirm. After I got my money for my books, I went to meet my friend Alberto for lunch, it was great to see him. I haven't seen him in like 3 1/2 months. We had a talkative and yummy lunch and promised to make it a habit in the future. Then, off to the UTA bookstore and sure enough, it was the book. Woo hoo ! Went back to Half Price Books and bought it.....so, the book was $65.00 at the UTA bookstore and $5.98 at Half Price Books, what a bargain. Yeah me !! Home again, and then to color the hair, Loreal Preference Dark Golden Brown.....and of course, last night, we hit No Frills for dinner and trivia and then came home.

It was a busy and fun two days off. Another insomniac night put me to bed at 4:00am but I was up and ready to go when I got a call from my brother, Joey, at 8:20a. I have missed him soooo much, I can't even express it. I was trying to remember how long I have ever gone without talking to him and I can guarantee you that it was not anywhere near 28 days. So, I am thrilled to have him back at my beck and call......ha ha !

Whew.....a long one. Well, I was going to post some apartment pics, but the blogger picture uploader is not working [frown] so I will try again tomorrow. I am outta here, everyone have a great weekend.