It's The End of The Year As We Know It

Let me tell you, a year goes by so much more quickly when you are employed. I certainly prefer this over the alternative. Also, even though I can barely remember it because of my advanced age, the years really do seem to go by more quickly nowadays.

I took an unofficial poll yesterday of how my cube neighbors will be spending tonight, New Year's Eve. Two have a party, one will stay up, and four expect to be asleep before midnight. As for me and my house, we will be parrrr-taaaaay-ing with Kyle and crew on Beatles Rock Band and such. In the morning, we'll need to get up in time to prepare for lunch(?) at Dad's house. Whew! I am tired just typing all of that, much less living it.

Has anyone made any resolutions for the new year? I have one, but it doesn't come true if you tell it, right?

I have my annual review today. No, I am not really nervous, but then, I've never had one here at Apollo. Yes, I have been here 15 months and this is a bit overdue. No, my current manager was not my manager at all during my first 12 months. So, I took the liberty of documenting my unbelievable accomplishments that he may not have known about. Eh, why not? I know I would keep me.

OK, I'll be back next year with more strips and quips. Happy New Year!

We Are Almost Out of Decade

We are running on fumes for the first decade of the new millennium. Did we ever decide what to call it? The Aughts? The Zeroes? And what will the next one be? The Tens? The Teens? The Tweens?

How about a bit of CoV to help ease the pain of losing a decade? Only one cartoon left for this year and this decade. Be here or be square.
We took down our Christmas stuff yesterday. I have not moved it to the attic yet, but at least it is packed up. No, wait, I did not pull down the lights on the front of the house yet. So one final thing and then Christmas is over.

So, I ended up only taking time for a single LOST episode last night. 5 left. And I did not take the time for photo uploads, so no photos today.

So, Kyle gave me the CD for The Rescues album for Christmas or birthday (I forget) and I like it. I found them listening to the Internet music station thesixtyone.com. Hey, if you decide to join, let me invite you first so I can get some points. No, I don't know what that does for me, but I thought I would try.

Game night tomorrow. We have so many, including Beatles Rock band. I hope we can get two or three different games going simultaneously.

Medical Bonanza

To me, it seems that these savings accounts that let you reserve tax-free dollars for medical reasons are a bonanza for doctors and hospitals. After all, if you do not spend it, you lose it, so why not go have medical procedures done just to use up your money. And we never seem to realize that we still have so much in it until the end of the year. That is what led to today's Clarity of Vision.
I don't use it, so I guess I will not go have a bunch of medical exams during the next 2 days. Too bad, huh? I think I am at my best when it comes to useless stuff.

Only 6 episodes remain in my quest to be ready for LOST Season 6. Things on the island are going crazy. One thing is certain. Their hair styles do not make me nostalgic for 1977.

It appears someone entered the home Alison is house-sitting while she was gone. Either that or the house is related to the hotel in The Shining. When she got there last night, one room had all the stuffed animals lined up facing the door as if daring her to enter the room. Spooky, huh?

Yes, I do have some unposted photos. You can see most of them through Kathie's Facebook account, but I want to post some here. However, you may not have heard that I am watching a LOT of LOST, so I seem to do nothing else each night.

The year and decade are almost over. I am toying with cartoon ideas for that, but no punchlines have come to mind yet. Stay tuned.

Thanks, Santa

Today's title could imply that I got everything I asked for (I did!) or that Santa did something wonderful for our planet (he did!). After all, isn't the movie from today's Clarity of Vision a seasonal classic? It was made in 1964. I guess that was way back before your time.
I got some new games (Apples to Apples, Catchphrase), Dad got Simpsons Scene-It, KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall) got Beatles Rock Band. I suppose I will keep going to their houses so I can play their games. Hey, I got the Christmas Vacation DVD. I had never watched any of the commentary versions of movies before. OK, I only watched 5-10 minutes of it, but it was kind of funny to hear them talk about shots and filming during the summer, but making it look like Christmas.

Publishing this CoV means I am back at work. The alarm went off so early today. We should have more holidays that give us two days off every week.

I have 9 LOST episodes left in Season 5. I will definitely be ready for Season 6 in Feb. We watched all of our DVR shows, so I was able to watch extra episodes during the Christmas break.

So, what was your favorite gift this year?

A LOST Night is Your Loss

I did watch several episodes of LOST last night, So, all I have left of Season 4 is the two-hour finale. That leaves me with about 40 days to watch 25 hours. Sounds reasonable, right?

Still, in watching LOST, I forgot to upload any birthday or Bella/Kendall photos. That means you must wait a little longer. And tonight, since the girls are staying with us, I may not get to the photos again. And then, it will be Christmas and I will have new photos I need to share. It is a never-ending cycle.

While I know that Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana does advertise that the Queen buys their fruitcakes, I don't know how often that has happened. Still, if it happened to you, wouldn't you advertise it? Sure!

If I don't do anything before Christmas Day, Merry Christmas to all. Now, bring me some figgy pudding. I appreciate you loyal readers, and even family members. Ha ha! Did you catch that? The way I made it seem like family members weren't loyal readers. Wow, I am so clever. And if you see this blog posting via Facebook and comment, I have not seen your reply. I rarely check Facebook. That is Kathie's job.

OK, It IS My Fault

We ended up out at KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall) again last night, so I did not upload any photos again. Yes, we did get home by 9:30 or so, but I did not get on the computer. Maybe tonight. I said MAYBE.

For you younger readers, both Pan Am and TWA shut down some years ago, hence the direction of the clever final panel. Pretty funny, huh?

I suppose today is my Thursday this week since I am off for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Starting over with vacation at a new job stinks. Since I now only have two weeks, only one week remains after our Fall trip. So, I will work this week and next. Oh well.

Bella and Kendall are spending the night tomorrow night. That will be fun.

Hey, a dude just stopped by and made me do some work. Is there no recognition of personal time for blogging anymore. What is this world coming to? I suppose I'd better sign off.

This Always Happens

See, I get to work and am creating the day's blog entry when I remember that I did not upload any photos the night before. After all, we had Dad's b-day party, my b-day party, Christmas with KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall), and the final Chorale concert of the year. OK, there are no pictures from the concert, and only one at Dad's birthday party. I know that is no excuse, so I will try to remember to get some posted tonight. You can see them on Facebook under Kathie's photos.

Today's punchline was suggested to me and I took off from there.
Kathie and Ali and all teachers are off today, but that made little difference on the traffic. Why are all these people working this week?

One of my gifts is the new Glee CD. I like it, so I brought it in to rip onto my work computer so I can listen during the day. I also got an a Capella holiday CD (Straight No Chaser) and another CD recommended on a scrapbooking site (The Rescue). I will rip them all today and boogie all day.

Happy B-Day, Dad

Yep. Dad's birthday seems to roll around every year on 12/18. That means each of us has one more week to try and decide what we can get him for Christmas that he'd like. He doesn't really need anything, but we have to give something. Oh well, I've got 7 more days, why rush it?

Today's CoV is not at all what I designed yesterday. Somehow, a different idea came to me on the way in today since I wore my Santa tie. I will save the original idea and use it a different way on a different day.
Holiday potluck today. I brought a fruit platter (cool, it includes mango). Except - bummer - I've got a meeting from 10:30-11:30, so I cannot start nibbling early, nor get in line to make sure I get some of the few meat dishes. Ehh, what are you going to do, huh?

Kendall comes over tomorrow at 1pm to spend the afternoon with us. The rest of her family is, I think, going to the movies. Then they'll come over and we'll have a birthday celebration like no other. Actually, it will probably be like most others, except that we will eat out instead of Lyndsay cooking. I asked for those date bars instead of a cake, so we'll see what she found. Yes, it is exciting. Yes, I will tell you about it next week.

Birthday Celebration Tonight

That's right. It is time for the annual Don'N'Randy B-Day Bash. We will be celebrating with drinks, dames, and deceptions. Probably water, our wives, and Russell on Survivor. Hey, does life get any better than that?

While that may be debatable, getting the truth out of political speeches or management reviews has not changed in years.
Who would have guessed that dates would rate so many comments yesterday? That was fun, but I fear my ability to blog about dates is short-lived.

How did you pronounce the last word in the previous paragraph? Was lived one syllable or two? Was it lived with a short 'i' or lived with a long 'i'? What about if you read Blessed Jesus? Is blessed one syllable or two. Yeah, for me, I thought short 'i', but realized I toyed with a long 'i'. And blessed is two syllables in that phrase. There are other instances like that, but it is too early to think of them.

Christmas Music 24x7

I am sure that each of you has at least one radio station playing Christmas music 24x7 during the season. We have one that goes from Top 40 to Christmas just before Thanksgiving and lasts until the end of December. Plus there is at least one Cox Music Channel dedicated to Sounds of the Season. With that much time to fill, you can imagine that some of the songs are less traditional than others. And then there are lots of repeats. And that does not count all the Holiday songs I have in my iTunes. Still, this is not one of them.
Do you remember a box cookie mix from Betty Crocker for Date Bars? Well, it was one of my favorites, but they stopped making it 20+ years ago. So, for my birthday, I have challenged Lyndsay to make me a good substitute. Isn't that exciting? Well, it is for me. Hey wait, does that mean I have to share it? We'll see about that.

So, the dude I worked with yesterday is sitting in a cube directly behind me. I feel a little self-conscious writing this with him there working. OK, not enough to not do it, but I feel his eyes on my back. It's like when Jeremiah Johnson is in the Indian graveyard and realizes something is not right. So, I was thinking about stopping this a paragraph ago, but I haven't stopped yet. Hey, I give the company plenty of hours.

We did not sing last night at Chorale practice. It was our annual potluck. I did indeed flit between tables, although there is no video to prove it. Sorry to those of you waiting on the DVD. And we do not have practice the next two weeks, so there is at least one episode of LOST per night that I can watch.

No, I do not know my publishing schedule for CoV during the holidays. You and I can both be surprised when we see one.

10 Shopping Days Left

Wow! Just a couple of weeks left in 2009. Maybe I am living a LOST episode with time travel because the year seems to have passed by so quickly. I guess that is what being employed all year does for you.

What did not pass quickly was a firetruck that passed by just as I was getting onto Broadway Rd. Well, actually it did pass quickly, and I started thinking what Kathie would say if she were in the car. "Honey, we should pray for that family." In my warped mind, though, I compared the difference between my initial thoughts and Kathie's.
In my email, I got a coupon for a buy one, get one deal at Spicy Pickle. It said birthday on it, so I thought it was for my b-day. No, it was for theirs. Anyway, we had that for dinner and it was good. Plus, I had half a sandwich left for today's meal. Suh-weet. I also have a free meal or two around, but I cannot remember where right now. I think I can go to a movie free on my b-day, too. Cha-ching, baby.

Glee is off the air until April. Now I know how the LOST fans felt when their show disappeared for months.

I think tonight's Chorale practice is really just a Christmas meal get-together. I will go, but I am not excited. I will go ahead and eat beforehand and just flit around and visit.

I have a meeting at 8:30am, but the dude I meet with just walked by. Man, they are getting in earlier and earlier. I suppose I'd better knock out a couple of things before we meet.

Has It Been Two Years?

Apparently, it has been two years since Kendall was born. They grow up so quickly, especially for grandparents. And since I have over 1500 photos of her, it must be true. Happy Birthday, Kendall.
We had the next to the last Chorale Christmas concert yesterday. I thought it went well, and the orchestra adds a lot of depth to our sound. One more next week and then we get a little break.

I did not make it to this year's company party. They had Rob Schneider and Louis Anderson as the entertainers. I have heard they were better than last year's music impersonators such as Dolly Parton. Well, maybe I'll attend the party next year.

Hey Justin, be sure to time your run so that you are back to watch the Cardinals and 49ers on Monday Night Football. I hope it is a good game.

OK, we are two episodes into LOST Season 4. I think we are definitely on track to be ready for Season 6 on Feb 2. Speaking of LOST, there is a podcast called LOSTies created by a couple out of Iowa. They were here in town Saturday and came by to meet Kyle and Isabella, who create a number of videos for their podcast. That was kind of fun. And now that I know more about LOST, I may have to go back and watch them to understand their references. Check them out. You can reach them via iTunes.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Whew! I was beginning to think I would not have time to get this out today. I've already had to reboot my dumb machine twice because I could not get an external internet connection. As you can see, third time's the charm. So, to make sure I give the masses what they expect, we'll get Clarity of Vision out of the way first.
Of course, this blog has always made extensive use of appellations (nicknames). After all, I've got a Preacher Brother and an Architect Brother. With two people names Carey/Kari Mooring, we try to make some reference that identifies which one we are meaning. You know, I had another note in my future CoV topic log for nicknames but never got anywhere on it. I wonder if I should delete that entry now. Still, these aren't really nicknames. I'll have to ponder that.

Well, another week is drawing to a close. That's always a bonus. Hey, if you are free Sunday night at 6pm, come on over to College View Baptist and hear the East Valley Chorale performing Christmas music with the orchestra. A good time will be had by all.

Lunch today is a bunch of ex-Motorolans. That should be fun.

Still have one episode left in LOST Season 3. I know we'll knock that out this weekend.

Did you there are two movies coming up with the same name. Well, in print, it will look different. One is Nine and the other is 9. Kinda funny, huh? OK, maybe it is only funny to me.

Two and Some Zoo

It is Kendall's second birthday. HAPPY B-DAY, Granddaughter. Tell your Mommy to let you have some extra leeway today, and plenty of sugary foods and drinks.

So, today we are celebrating Kendall being two and going to ZooLights the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, it took a while for me to remember to post them, but at least they are here now.

Yes, there were some lights at ZooLights,too. These are animated to one of the songs by either Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
How come I never end up in these shots? This time, neither is Keith since we were both taking pictures.
Some Walkers and Moorings walking and mooring (whatever that means) at the zoo.
Now this is one happy pilgrim. I bet she is happier today on her birthday.
Wait. Before we go, how about a little CoV?

This is NOT Par For the Course

Sure, you hear stories about Tiger Woods and you immediately think of golf analogies. I did, and this is the result.
I did not get any photos from the Chandler Light Parade uploaded. Sorry. We had Chorale practice last night with the Christmas orchestra. At one point, the director wanted to step back and listen, so he had me come down and conduct a number. Whoa, that was fun. Leading the choir and orchestra was niiiiiiice. I could get into that. So, our last two concerts of 2009 are both with the orchestra. Y'all come on down.

One episode left in LOST Season 3. I think we are still on schedule to be ready for the final season by Feb 2.

ZKW, welcome back online. Y'all can see he commented on a post earlier this week from his current posting in Pepsicola, FL.

It is supposed to only get up to 56F today. Man, I will need my ski jacket soon if this keeps up.

Why Didn't We Have Ginger Beer With Our Gingerbread?

One of Kendall's favorite phrases at this age is "I did it," with each syllable clearly enunciated. So, in your mind, hear her saying this as I announce "I did it." Check out some photos from last weekend's gingerbread house making.

In order to make the best quality product, we needed the best quality ingredients. So who better to pick those up for us than Kendall.
Then, Bella helped make sure we got the best quality by testing every ingredient.
Finally, this year's Gingerbread House entry from the Walkers. OK fine, it did include strategically placed hot glue, but it held together during decorating.

What we should have included in the house was a little gingerbread TV with this playing 24x7.Still, I do wonder what else she can sing.

Yes, I Have Some. Just Not Here

Yes, I do have new photos of Bella and Kendall, but no, I have not uploaded them nor attached them. I'll try to have some for tomorrow. I will not tell you that we went to the Light Parade and Tree Lighting in Chandler, AZ, until I have the photos ready to support it.

Another thing I cannot support is people sneaking into places where they should not be.

It is supposed to only reach the mid-50s here today, plus some heavy rains. I realize that is nothing to many of you, but it is a big deal here in the Valley of the Sun. We think a deep winter freeze is 65F. I actually brought a jacket today.

We had a good Chorale concert last night at a retirement center down in Chandler. Next up is one of our concerts with an orchestra. Cool. Those are always fun.

Only one episode of LOST this weekend. That will not cut it. though. 2 episodes left in Season 3.

Media Mountains out of Molehills

Someone at work challenged me to comment on how media hypes up stories until minor infractions appear to be world-shaping events. I said no and just did this instead.
I sat down last night to add some photos from ZooLights, but got distracted by (a) Survivor and Russell's mastery of his fellow castaways, and (b) choosing a photo for our Christmas card. I found a card format I liked, but it was $2 each at Ritz Camera. Look, I like you people, but I am not going to pay $2 each. I guess it is back to Walgreen's.

We are building gingerbread houses tonight with KLIK (Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall). We did it last year, so I suppose this is the second annual event. I think something is up for tomorrow, too, but I don't remember what.

Beatles and Buses

Yes, I finally remembered to gather some photos. I decided to start with our Game Night. Come on, it was my first time playing Rock Band, and it was all Beatles.

I mentioned that we played Beatles Rock Band last weekend. Here I am with Bella and Kendall as Bella sings Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
And here is Kyle with Casey, Paul, and David rocking out to some other Beatles song. Yes, this is a serious business. If we had fun, it was purely an accident.
Yes, Lyndsay and Alison got caught up in Beatlemania, too.
Kendall wasn't quite ready for singing the songs, so she released her inner Ringo.

Hey, weirdly, the other-blogs-have-been-updated widget is now working. Maybe it takes a while (more than one day?) to catch up. Anyway, a couple of updates now show up. Check them out. You might check out Dad's blog, too, looking for new scientific facts. I don't know if he posted any, but you might check.

Lastly, let's see today's Clarity of Vision. One of the Project Managers was talking to me yesterday about a manager who thought she was unresponsive and was passing on notes to other team members and she felt he was throwing her under the bus. Hmm. Where would I take the idea of being throw under the bus? Yeah, like you didn't already go to the same conclusion.

Broken Promises

Yes, as I sit at my desk creating this post, now I remember that I wanted to add some photos of Kendall and Isabella. I did say I would load them at home and publish them the next day, but I forgot. Last night was Chorale practice and so I don't get home until after 9pm. I will do my best to remember to add a couple tonight. Speaking of Chorale, we begin our Sunday Christmas concerts this weekend and continue for the next three. Only the last one will include an orchestra, though. This week's is at a retirement home. The last is at an RV park.

I did not forget to add a CoV, though.
Thanks to Dad and What's-his-face for adding comments to yesterday's post. At least I know someone is reading this. What I do not yet know is why the last updated capability stopped working. Brenda posted again, but it is not reflected in the rankings. Disappointing. I guess I will search through new widgets and see if there is another that does a similar function. Maybe they released a new version of theirs that will work?

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to friends whose birthday and anniversary is today. Happy normal workday or retirement day to the rest of you.

Whadayacallits

How many words do we have in English that describe other words or concepts when we cannot think of what we want to say before our mouth utters the words? Where's what's-his-name? I need that whatchamacallit. Those kinds of words or phrases. So, today a guy was making coffee and asked if I knew where the gizmos were. I had to look over for a visual clue before I could answer him. That led to today's Clarity of Vision.

So, Brenda has a new post, but it does not register on my page. What is up with that? Why do I have that portal on mine if it does not consistently work?

I do have new photos of the grandgirls, but since I post this first thing at work, I don't have access to photos at home. Yes, I know. What's up with that? I need to put some up the night before and then I can just add the CoV the next morning. I can't do CoV at home because I don't have Visio for Mac.

I'm in that weird possibly sick place. I don't feel sick, but I don't feel right. I took some cold medicine at bedtime last night and did sleep OK. We'll see how today goes.

We caught up on two episodes of LOST last night. So, we are on disk 5 of 6 for Season 3. Still on target to be ready for Season 6 in February.

Ending A Wee Holiday Break

Is any holiday break long enough? Probably not for those of us in the work force. So, after a nice Thanksgiving break, here we are back at work. And as some of our teacher family noted, this week, we have to work all five days. Still, having a job in today's economy is a reason to give thanks.

We had a good visit with family, including Moorings from Tempe, AZ, and Queen Creek, AZ, and Walkers from Tempe, AZ, Chandler, AZ, Queen Creek, AZ, Pahrump, NV, Redding, CA and Riverside, CA. We played games, ate, and even did some programming so that Preacher Bro can handle his prayer requests. And we fit in a little Christmas decorating. We did not, however, have time for any LOST. With the delay in LOST premieres from January to February, we still have to watch 5 episodes a week. We should be able to restart that this week.

We played Beatles Rock Band Saturday night at the annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Get-Together and Game Night. It was so much fun that our granddaughters said "Whee." Hmm. Playing Wii and saying whee. Maybe that could lead to a cute Clarity of Vision, right?
OK, maybe not cute, but I had to get those words out of my head. There, now they are in yours, too.

A Cartoon-Free Day - So Give Thanks

We have reached the beginning of the holiday season, at least here in the US. What better way to start than by giving thanks for everything we have. In fact, in some cases, we can give thanks for things we do not have, also. No one in our family has cancer, and that is a blessing. Dad is back to his usual jovial self. I have been cleared from being checked again for a whole year (I have been going in every six months).

So, I saw on Facebook that some family has arrived from NV. Lunch is planned for 12:30-1pm, somewhere in that range. Then, America's Team plays football at 2pm. Family, food, football - is there anything else needed? If so, it had better begin with the letter F to fit our theme.

I took a civics quiz. Have you tried it?
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx.
I answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %. I missed #8, 12, 27, and 31.

Kathie is cooking away behind me and I am writing this silly blog. I definitely got the better deal.

Here is a view we do not have out our back window. It is Yankee Boy Basin near Ouray, CO. It will probably not reach 82F there today, either.

Here is a view we will almost certainly see this afternoon. Kendall is into Pops right now.

Here is another sight we might see today, if Kyle's sweet tooth kicks in.

And we will certainly see this sight if Mom brews some coffee after lunch.

Current photos counts of granddaughters - Bella has 2936 and Kendall has 1656.

I Really Did Try

Yes, I did try to make this CoV a bit more serious, but it didn't flow. So, instead, here is what you get.
I sent it out at work with the warning that Oakland Raiders fans send it to the Recycle Bin without opening it. After all, my true colors showed up today.

I hope Katie gets better and Keith and crew make it down to the Valley for tomorrow. If not, we'll eat turkey and ham and sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes and salad and Lyndsay's homemade desserts without them. Oh sure, we will mention them in the prayer, but then we will settle in for eating and the Cowboys and leave them to their healing up in Pahrump.

I do not know what I did to the director of Chorale, but I seem to be permanently on the back row now. Sure, I usually end up beside Dad and that's good, but I used to be on the third row near a tenor buddy and now I am stuck between basses.

I think the girls are planning some Black Friday shopping. great. More power to them, especially if they start closer to midnight when some of the local malls will open. I think last year, they were out from like 3:30am until 6:30am. Hey, that reminds me, I read that, if you buy TVs and such on their deals, be sure you are not getting lower quality model of their normal product. I cannot remember the word I read and I just tried to Google it. Anyway, caveat emptor.

Two Tomorrows Till Thanksgiving

Let's keep yesterday's nonsense going by expanding the scope of non-specific words. I'm sure this could apply to your work environment, too.
It is almost Thanksgiving. It became a national holiday on Dec 26, 1941. Since then, it has become more of a secular celebration than a religious one. That does not give us an excuse to leave God out of our remembrances. As our pastor said Sunday.... Well, I don't remember exactly, but something about the blessings God gave us and how we should keep those in mind. Take that thought, remember the sermon you heard, and combine them, and that's what I am implying.

I have a lunchtime meeting today, but I have two chocolate chip loaves that Lyndsay made to share with the team. Nice. Now I just need to make sure I do not open them early.

Do you have to work tomorrow? I do. Oh well, I do have a job, so that is good in today's economy. What it means to you is that there will be no Clarity of Vision on Thursday or Friday. I know that may throw some of you into withdrawal, but it cannot be helped. even creative minds need some recharging. No, I should not say that, because then you will expect new levels of humorness next week and I don't have anything planned yet. Let's just say that I only publish so many per year and I am nearing my limit, so like TV shows, there will be a hiatus, OK?

The Dryer From H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks?

Now see, all of us thought that the dryer saga was finished when we replaced the motor last week. No! It worked for three loads and then.... It looks like that new motor was broken, so Dad and I went and traded it out Saturday. So far, it is now working, but I guess I will keep my fingers peeled and my eyes crossed. I was going to call it the dryer from... well, you know, but I think that would be inappropriate. After all, if the dryer did come from there, it would work really well, right?

As you will discern from today's CoV, we rate projects by stoplight colors. So Green is good and Red is bad. That is what drives the central idea of easily recognizing the status of a project by its color.

We are almost to Thanksgiving, a day when we should all reflect on the blessings in our lives. It brings to mind a Carpenters song that Craig Hughes and his sister used to sing in choir concerts. It might be called Sometimes. Anyway, it goes

Sometimes, not often enough, we reflect upon the good things,
And those thoughts always center around those we love.
And I think about those people who mean so much to me,
And for so many years have made me so very happy.
And I count the times I have forgotten to say "Thank you"
And just how much I love them.

And last night at Chorale concert, the director told a story about a man who ate at an all-you-can-eat BBQ. When he went to leave, he found he had thrown his keys into the bin with all the trash and thrown-away food and used napkins. He ended up digging through it to find them and came away dirty and disgusted, but he had saved what he went in there for. The director compared this to Jesus, who left the beauty and glory of Heaven and came to a dirty earth for each of us.

The Lord has given me so much and I want to say thank you to Him and to all my loved ones. But not today. Oh no, then what would I do on Thanksgiving?

Extra Parts When Reassembling

A friend suggested that, when I put the dryer back together, I would probably end up with extra screws. It's true. How does that happen. Where did I pull one from that I forgot to reinsert? How long before that bites me? Anyway, Dad found a new motor for the dryer and we put it back together last night. It worked! Yeah, that probably is because he helped. Still, let's go for another 20 years with it.

Today is the end of the 'where do famous quotes come from' series. I think I chased down that rabbit hole long enough. Here, go ahead and read it.

SPOILER ALERT for Survivor if you TiVo'd it.
Did you see Survivor last night? Can you believe Russell has found his third immunity idol? And how about that tall bearded guy's expression each week when one of his team gets blindsided? Yeah, this is a good season. Speaking of good, we picked up wings from The Vine and a flat crust pizza from a new place called Chicago Pizza that just opened Sunday. Both were good.

I Lint Dad the Motor

No, you are wrong. I did not misspell anything in the title of today's blog. Well, I should say I did misspell something, but it was on purpose. The dryer motor died a couple of days ago, so Dad and I disassembled the dryer last night and confirmed the motor was bad. Whew! You should have seen how much lint was down inside the bottom of the dryer, and all over the motor. So, the appliance parts place is only open until 5:00 or 5:30. So, Dad took the motor and is going to get a new one during regular hours. Then, we get to figure out how to put all those pieces back together.

CoV time. You need to read this with a Scottish accent, OK?

I must admit that some of the musical arrangement on the FOX series Glee are really clever, even if I don't know the originals. Last night, I did and the way they move back and forth between songs is quite creative.

We now have 42 episodes left of LOST. 13 more in Season 3. 13 in Season 4. 22 in Season 5. I am sure we will be ready for Season 6 now.

Taking a Shot

OK, so we had time for one episode of LOST last night. Now I can overlook so many inconsistencies in TV shows and movies. It is OK when a kung fu fighter hangs in the air for six seconds. Still, in this episode, Kate is standing on the beach holding a walkie talkie. Suddenly, it is shot out of her hand. So they were able to hit a 5-6 inch target from 50 feet away. Now, she and Sawyer are startled and begin to run up the beach. The bad guys chase them, but now, they cannot hit within 20 yards of them. Why did that catch my attention? I don't know. It just seemed too incongruous (whatever that means).

Fine. Let's take some CoV, shall we?

Hey, have any of you seen the new Prisoner on AMC? I watched the first one (of three), but I have not made up my mind yet. Certainly, Caviziel is no McGoohan.

Looks like our clothes dryer needs some surgery. I am certain the belt must be replaced (it is the original belt, well over 25 years old). Now, the drum won't even spin, and when I press the start button, I get a noise but nothing is spinning, not even the motor. I'll bust it open tonight, clean it up, and see what I find. Yeah, I am excited, too.

Today's Is Ready

Sure, I did have an idea for today's CoV. It is tomorrow's that I am struggling with. I have all the panels ready except the final comment in the final panel. So, if you have any clever ideas to end it with, let me know. What? You need to know who it is about before you can help? No, that would spoil the surprise.
Somehow, I did not record the password for my electric company online payment. So, I told it to send it to me. Nothing. I suppose I also have the wrong email address in there. The mind is a terrible thing to waste, isn't it?

I am recording the new AMC remake of The Prisoner. I have not real expectations on it, so that may help make it good. I certainly enjoyed the original (no, I only saw it in reruns).

Did anybody see 2012? It made big box office over the weekend, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is worth my time. What about the new 3D Christmas Carol? We saw the preview during the nationwide train tour, but that was mainly a 3D teaser. Some critics are saying Jim Carrey was too much as the ghosts.

Five. Five Epi. Five Episodes of LOST

Did you read the title of today's post the way I wrote it? You should have heard the current advertising jingle for Subway when you read it. You know, "Five. Five dollar. Five dollar footlongs." Anyway, we caught up some by watching five episodes of Season 3 this weekend. Yes, we will have to make up the other two sometime this week.

We also did see the girls this weekend, but I forgot to take my camera, so no photos. Speaking of photos, though, I am almost finished with a new photo book. It is a departure from my usual, day-to-day photo journaling. You'll have to come here and see it. Sorry. Well, first, I've got to complete it and get it printed. Then you can come and see it.

Speaking of the weekend, the Boys went down, the Cards came back, and the Suns held on. Two out of three is not too bad.

How Does He Find Those Idols?

I know we are not supposed to have anything to do with idols, but how does Russell keep finding the immunity idols on Survivor? Last night's episode had a great blindside at Tribal Council when he played it. Let's see if he can find a third one.

They are playing for $1,000,000. That is a lot of scratch, a lot of cash, a lot of simolians. Speaking of money, please read today's CoV.

When I research these strips, I look for quotes by the actor, his or her filmography, anything they may be famous for. I could not find much on Cuba Gooding, Jr., so I had to play off the single line. Yeah, a bit of a stretch, but certainly challenging.

Kathie cruised out to Lyndsay's last night for dinner and to pick up some cakes for school today. She came back with three bundt cakes that are so big, they cover almost our entire kitchen table. I don't know how Lyndsay baked them. Maybe they are really just jello molds covered in frosting?

IT'S FRIDAY! Yeah, baby. No, nothing really planned. Maybe we can knock out a few LOST episodes. The days are inexorably counting down. (Is there anything that counts down exorably?)

Marlon

Marlon is an unusual name, to be sure. When I hear it, I think of my trips to Scotland back in the 80s. One of the things I remember was how they enjoyed teasing me about my accent (because, of course, they don't have one). Anyway, one of their pet US peeves was that the name Marilyn and the state Maryland are pronounced pretty much the same over here. They pointed out that they would pronounce them Mahr'-lin and Merry-land. Fine, enough personal junk (you can't really say that, though, because it is my blog.
Alright. We are almost caught up on TV again, so we can get some serious LOST going this weekend. And we will have to if we are to keep up with our goal of being ready for the final season early 2010.

We have reached another Thursday, with the family Survivor get-together. Will Russell make it through another week? As obnoxious as he would really be in life, he does make for good TV and is great to hurl insults at during the program.

Holidays (Yours and Mine)

As almost always, we will get CoV out of the way for today. However, I am interrupting our regularly scheduled comic strip series for a rare detour into seriousity and appreciatingness for Veteran's Day (this is a holiday for our nation)and those in our family who have served in any branch of the military. Thanks.
Here is a sample page from the photo book I am working on from our recent foray into SW Colorado (this is a holiday for our family). Most of my past books have moved sequentially through our vacation. On this one, I am moving through the photos by theme. So here, we have tall tree shots with a road or path and minimal people, so I grouped them into Roads Less Traveled.

While I am not a veteran, even for those that are, today is a normal workday at our company. I will return tomorrow with more brainless, time-wasting fun.

As you may have noticed, the folks threw down a gauntlet yesterday on your favorite Clarity of Vision author. He picked up that metal glove and promptly dropped it on his foot. I have several actors queued up for skewering, but I am not sure how they will measure up against Arnold. I chose to release that one first because I had shared the upcoming series idea with several at work and wanted to go ahead with it. In retrospect, maybe that should have waited. No matter, though. There are some other clever ones coming. (Note to self: write some clever ones)
Work is crazy. The other person on my team is out until after Thanksgiving on FMLA. I hope nothing too bad is going on, but it does raise my stress level handling all the responsibilities. Still, tonight is Chorale night, and that always helps.

It has been a year since I created a photo book. I am trying to make one now, but it must fit into my TV/LOST schedule. We have not yet started Season 3 because all the regular TV shows have started up again following the World Series (which only includes US baseball teams. What is up with that? I mean, with football, they call it the Super Bowl, which may or may not imply we are the best in the world. And in hockey, they have the Stanley Cup. Again, no international implications). Sorry. I am back now. I am trying our Booksmart from Blurb. It lets me alter the layout templates so I can arrange photos and text however I want (well, as long as the shapes are rectangular. No round shapes are possible). I will see about exporting a page to show you.

Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. I need to get in a Thanksgiving mood. Isn't it sad how easily we can slip into day-to-day mode and not really recognize the blessings and gifts our Heavenly father provides. It seems so easy to thank Him for things in daily prayers, but not reflect on Him and how thankful we should be.