Christmas is not over yet!!!

Today, we celebrated Christmas with my mom. That brings the total Christmas celebrations to 3. We went to Jan and Gordy's on Christmas Eve, celebrated Christmas Morning and then today makes 3. Wednesday, we are going to the farm to celebrate again and then maybe next week we will celebrate with my dad. Don't think that I am annoyed though, I have always loved a good party.

Last night, Jen and I went on an Excellent Adventure (you know, like Bill and Ted). We went to 2 different Blockbusters to find movies. I was supposed to go with Billy, but when Jen's name was the one on the free rental coupon, she went in his place. The first Blockbuster (White Lake) was about as big as my first house in Ortonville, so it was tiny. We couldn't be bothered with looking for the latest new releases in a store that would hardly fit my DVD collection, so we went to the Clarkston Blockbuster. Boy o boy was I glad I went to the Blockbuster in C-Town because when I got to the register to pay, I had a $6.10 credit. All in all, I had 2 free rental coupons and then I rented a third movie and got 2 Cokes. The Coke was 2 20oz for 1.69. What a bargain, I got out of there and didn't spend one dime!!!

As requested, snow pictures!!!

A picture of our little forest.

More snow pictures!! 

Look at the sheds. Surrounded by snow!!

These snow pictures are for my mom.

The minivan era begins!

Here is a picture of the new car...errr...minivan. I actually like it more than I thought I would. Figures that I get rid of my 4x4 and then it snows...a lot!

The first Ebay iPod sighting.

Well, the sale was yesterday and it only took a little more than 5 hours for the first person to try to make a buck on their iPod purchase.

VW iPod Auction

Someone should send this guy an email to tell him that it has a VW logo on the back. He should advertise that because it may give him more money.

UPDATE: Here are 2 more tools selling their VW iPods on Ebay.

iPod idiot #1 - This guy doesn't really have an auction, he just has a Buy Now price. No Bidding. Send him an email and ask him why he wants $286 for something he paid $69 for.

iPod idiot #2

Crazy long lines!!!

Today we had an iPod sale at VWOA. There were about 500 people who stood in line for 90 minutes just to get a crack at buying one for the low price of $69. They were left over 15gb models from the Pods Unite promotion. Little did the people in line know that they only had 317 to sell and each person was allowed to buy 2. Once again, I underestimated my peers when I had planned to get in line at 12:30 for the 1:00 sale. At 12:15, I heard that the line already wound around the lobby, so I went and stood in the line. I estimated that I was about 125 people back in line, but when the cutters showed up, I was about 150. It was a gamble, but I stood in line for the chance to buy 2 iPods. Strangely enough, neither one was for me. I was waiting in line to buy them for other people. Anyway, back to the story. When I got within 5 people of the front of the line, they stopped letting people in to the room. The lady said they needed to do a count to get an idea of how many they had left. For a few minutes I was sweating. When the lady came back, she said that there were 22 left. WoooHooo!!!! I was going to be able to get the iPods. A short fist pump to the crowd and a few steps later I was passing a check to the lady and picking up my new iPods. The only catch in this whole deal was that there were some that had bad batteries, but they didn’t know which ones. I am glad to report that both of mine work and I will be shipping off the first one to my cousin tomorrow.

In other news, it looks like our Durango is getting traded in for a…gulp…minivan. I swore I would never do it, but that was before this latest Melinda getting pregnant thing. We outgrew the Durango by 1 seat and the only option I had was a minivan. Don’t get me wrong, I could have bought a Yukon XL, but they are too expensive and they don’t fit in the garage, two things I considered. We are supposed to pick up the van tomorrow because they had to send someone to the Lansing area to get it. I’ll post pictures tomorrow.

Speaking of iPods...ahem...Jen. I need 2 more people to sign up and complete an offer at Free iPods.com. Use the link here so I can get credit. They have a free Blockbuster trial that doesn't cost anything. I will sign up with another email of mine under you if you sign up under me.

Walk down memory lane

Remember when computers were 1mhz or less? Remember when we didn't care about processor speeds? This site has histories for all those old computers. Which one did you have growing up?

http://www.old-computers.com/

We had a Commodore 64 at home and at school, we had 2 Commodore Pets. There was nothing like playing Oregon Trail on the Commodore Pet. In middle school we had Commodore 64s and then in HS, we had Tandys.

Hackers are among us!!!

The best hackers are in Michigan. Proof below:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=333698

Three men from Michigan successfully broke in to the Lowes computer system and then tried to steal credit card data. They were not successful in stealing the credit card data, but one of them was successful in getting the longest sentence ever handed down for a computer crime. Way to go slugger!!! The thing that cracks (heh heh) me up about this whole thing is that the guys gained access to the Lowes network via a wireless connection in the Southfield, Michigan store. Let this be a lesson to all of you to lock down your wireless connection!!! I can say that all the wireless access points on Boston Blvd are locked down. Why would we worry about our home network security on Boston Blvd? We couldn’t have the kind of sensitive information that Lowes has, could we? The answer to the second question is no, but there is a man out there that is more of a threat than all three men put together. This man makes Kevin Mitnick (reformed hacker) look like Mitchell with a computer. Who is this man you ask? Read on:

Rich the Superhacker has already hacked his way into a grand total of 1 wireless network in the Grand Blanc area and he is moving in the near future to Boston Blvd. Yes folks, that house in between the MacLachlan’s and the Pinter’s is the future home of the Superhacker family. In the past few weeks, I have personally witnessed more than a few suspicious vehicles in and out of Rich’s construction site. They are moving in all of his hacking supercomputers no doubt. Rich has even had his wife Becki at the property taking pictures. She was trying to make it look like she was taking pictures of her house, but I am sure she was running a surveillance mission to pinpoint any weakness in our wireless internet connections. As a neighborhood we need to reach out to him to reform him of his hacking ways, but first, we need to protect ourselves. Lock down your routers my friends and don’t underestimate the cunningness of the Superhacker. He is going to check his email, of this you can be sure. Will it be your wireless connection he uses?

Quick LAN Party Plug

Ok, I know that Laura calls them Geek Parties, but whatever you want to call it, we are having one on Thursday, December 30. I am not sure of the exact time, but it will be sometime in the afternoon and will run until everyone is played out. The location is Ground Zero (Basement of Brett Johnson’s parents house). If you like computer gaming and would like to come, post a comment. Mat and I will be going and kicking some pixilated butt.

Random Thoughts

Wow, I think I will actually get to fly on a day that I am scheduled. Usually my scheduled day gets cancelled and I have a makeup day. It is going to be a cold day to preflight though.

Remember the days when Girl Scout cookies were for people who loved cookies? Now they are the in thing to have. Everyone wants to buy them because they are the thing to get. No more can you find Girl Scouts pimping their cookies outside Kroger for discount prices. Nope, you have to pay full price now and in some cases, I have seen some people markup the cookies to $3.50 per box. Shame shame!

Volkswagen of America just announced to their employees this week that shuttle service between the 2 buildings will cease as of December 23 because of budget reasons. I’ll tell you what, if they used a little less rock salt and diverted the savings to the transportation budget, we could have our shuttle back! I will have to post a picture because it is ridiculous how much rock salt is used. We have only had a few days of snow this year, yet our blacktop parking lot is white. Walking on the sidewalks feels like walking on gravel. Just wait until I post a picture because I am not joking.

Finally, while surfing the internet, I found an interesting site. It kind of makes you think where we are going:http://letitblog.com/epic/

An entry for Mitchell & Marissa

I forget now what they were eating. Maybe a sucker. Something made their mouth turn colors.

A frustrating lesson!!!

Yesterday, I finally got to fly. One more day and it would have been 2 weeks between flights. The actual flight didn’t go that well. I made 8 or so landings and only 2 or 3 were any good. It was really frustrating. I skipped a landing (picture a skipping stone), Ballooned a landing and then had a few that were just technically off. In the traffic pattern, I think that if it was possible to do it wrong, I did it at least once. All in all, I still had fun though. My instructor said that everyone has a few days like mine during training. I’m not really sure what happened, but maybe I was too consumed with the weather conditions. There was a lot of haze, which was making visibility a little difficult and the clouds were really low. The airport was very busy, which could have had an effect also. Anyway, I was able to correct for all the incorrect things I did, so it wasn’t all bad. If I was going for my license yesterday, I would have failed miserably though. Oh well, practice, practice, practice.

Doh!!! Woo Hoo!!! Doh!!!

Yesterday was one of those cruel weather days. I called my flight instructor (Wendy) and she said that the weather didn’t look good to fly. She offered to put me on the schedule for Thursday and I accepted. That was nice of her since Thursday is her day off. So anyway, I left work at 3pm and it was looking nice out. Sun was shining and it was 54 degrees. There was a little wind, but other than that, it was nice. I started to think that I may get to fly, then I looked toward Pontiac and all I could see was dark sky. In another 5 minutes, the dark sky was back and the day was crappy. Just like that, my flying dreams for the day evaporated. Hopefully I will get to fly tomorrow.

DISCLAIMER: The following is computer talk.
On another note, my computer is acting up. It started a couple weeks ago when I tried to boot it up. All I got was the windows logon and then a BSOD (blue screen of death). When I rebooted again, I lost my onboard network. I tried to reload the driver and it would not recognize it. Well, after a couple of reboots, I had my network back. Whatever. Everything seemed fine until I tried to play a game this weekend and all my computer would do is lock up. I checked the event log and I had a ton of errors that pointed to my motherboard. Now, I am in the process of trying to figure out what is wrong. At this point, I think it may have been my video card. Hopefully I will know soon because I hate having a broken PC.

My flying woes

In a couple more days, it will have been 2 weeks since I have been able to fly. Actually, I have a lesson today, but it doesn’t look like the weather is going to cooperate. That makes 2 weeks in a row that I will have been cancelled. How am I ever supposed to get out of my dead end job if I can’t fly? :) On another note, there was a day last week that I could have flown, but I told Rich that I would help him wire his house, so when the spot opened up, I had to decline. Turns out that Rich was late by 2 hours and I could have flown. Next time I will just take the time slot and then worry about helping after dark. In this case I could have done both. Oh well, I will pray that the weather clears up.

The Tent Story

Ok, if anyone has read the comments from the Car History posts, there have been a few references to a certain tent story that involved my dad. Well, for the first time ever in written form, I will tell the story for any who are wondering.

So, anytime us guys wanted to have a little fun or sneak out, we would sleep in the tent. We would pack as many as six guys into my red pup tent that was made for 2. It made for some cramped sleeping. One weekend when we were in junior high, a few friends and I decided to sleep in the tent. We did it right though, extension cord out to the tent for TV and radio. Anyway, we decided this night that we wanted to sneak out and go into downtown Clarkston. We snuck into the garage and got the bikes out. I had 2 bikes and so did my sister, so we were all able to ride. I am not sure about which friends were there that night, except for one. Jamie Kennedy was riding my sister’s Huffy and he blew the rear tire crossing Dixie Hwy by McDonalds. As I remember it, we rode to downtown Clarkston, then to McDonalds and then home. The garage door was shut when we got back, so we snuck the bikes through the service door at the back of the garage. This was a feat because our riding lawnmower was parked in front of the door. We had to lift each and every bike over the lawnmower and then around the cars. We were trying to be very quiet because my parent’s bedroom was right above the garage. When we were done putting away the bikes, we snuck back around the front of the house. As we were passing by the front porch, I heard a voice. Could that be my dad? Then I saw him. He was standing on the front porch waiting for us. He wasn’t dressed in a robe, or shorts though. He was standing there in his underwear. I am not talking boxers, I am talking tighty whiteys!!! If I was my sister, I would have been embarrassed, but we are guys, so we just went back to the tent and laughed. The ordeal wasn’t over that night though. My dad said he would talk to us in the morning. That next morning, he grounded me and told my friends that they needed to come by the house for the next couple of weekends to do some yard work. If they didn’t show up, he was going to call their parents and let them know what had been going on during the backyard camping nights.

On a side note, we did get caught one other time. This night we snuck out to climb the power lines in the field next to Spring Lake. There is a subdivision where the field once was and Spring Lake is called something else, but anyway, we got halfway down the driveway when I heard my mom. “You boys get back in that tent!” She was watching us from her bathroom window. We just turned around and walked back to the tent.

My parents weren’t always on the winning end of the tent sneaking out battle. We were able to successfully sneak out a few times. One of the times we rolled my Lemans down the driveway and then far enough down the road to start it up without the parents hearing. That was fun.

Funny Emma Story

Ok, a little background on this story. When Emma eats, she likes to grunt. Well, it isn’t exactly like a grunt, but that is the best way to describe it. If you aren’t quick in getting the next bite of food up to her mouth, she will grunt. At home, I find this hilarious.

So, last night, Melinda and I decided to go to Outback with Emma. I know, I know, big surprise. Anyway, when it came time for Emma to eat, Melinda fed her. After one of her bites, Melinda got distracted with something and didn’t get the next bite ready in a timely manner. Emma let out a grunt like I have not heard her do before! I lost it and was laughing out loud. The people at the table across from us were laughing also. Melinda, well she didn’t think it was so funny. From then on, she gave Emma bites as fast as she could swallow. It was just one of those funny memories that I will be sharing with Emma when she is older.

History of John's Cars - Part 2

If you weren’t bored with my first post on this, here is the second installment of “History of John’s Cars.”

1982 Buick Skylark – Though I only had this car a short time, we did have some interesting times with it. My Dad came up with this car for me after I tore up the ball joints and bent a tie rod on my Lemans. It was too expensive to fix, so he gave me the Skylark to drive. No mods were added to this car. It had a crappy radio, but at least it had a cassette and more than one speaker. Facts and stories about the Skylark:
-The first time I was pulled over was in the Skylark. What did I do? Well, I was approaching Dixie Hwy on Maybee Road and I pulled around the line waiting to turn left to get into the right turn lane. I had 2 of my wheels on the shoulder and 2 on the pavement. This IS illegal and some Oakland County Sheriff saw it, pulled me over and wrote me a ticket. I fought the ticket and she didn’t show up, so no fine and no points! Woo Hoo!!
-My first accident was in this car also. Something most people don’t know, Stu was in the truck that ran in to me. It was really just miscommunication. I’ll let Stu comment on this one.
-Trevor and I drove to Canada for a friend’s birthday party. What we forgot was that we had 2 BB Guns in the car with us. It was a little scary coming back into the US when they asked us if we had anything to declare.
-This car was affectionately known as the Sky Chicken.

1986 Ford Escort Wagon – When my sister turned 16, my dad gave the the Skylark to my sister and I got an Escort Station Wagon. It was my first attempt at driving a stick. It went well and really has contributed to making me the driver I am today. The radio in the Escort left a lot to be desired, so I bought a Sony detachable face radio. Boy did I feel cool.
-My Dad bought this car for $800 from a guy who won it in a card game.
-Shortly after I got the Escort, it started to hesitate like it was going to die. It didn’t do this all the time, but it did it enough to warrant taking it to AC Tire for diagnosis. They couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so I took it home. My dad finally took it to see if he could find anything wrong and the car wouldn’t act up. He got brave one day and decided to drive it to the airport. Long story short, it died on I-94! The car made a believer out of him. He had it towed to a repair shop where they replaced the fuel pump.
-Stu and I got hassled one night by a South Lyon cop who thought we flipped him the bird. I vaguely remember this, so maybe Stu can refresh my memory.
That is it for today. Next time we will cover my 1991 Grand Am and maybe the 1996 Golf. I believe that I have pictures. Everyone loves pictures

History of John's Cars - Part 1

Just as the post says, I am writing a history of my cars. What follows is a history of the cars I have owned and some fun facts about them. If you have known me for a while, this will be a trip down memory lane. At the very least, hopefully my history will bring a smile to your face. If you have any specific memories of these cars, please post them in the comments area. I would love to hear them.

1979 Pontiac Lemans – This was my first car and boy was it a fun one. It had a ton of power and got like 12mpg. Gas was less than $1.00 per gallon, so it only took $12 to fill it up. My Dad bought this car from Independence Township for $2000. Right after getting the car, I swapped out the AM/FM Radio with push buttons. It only had one front speaker, so I had to change that too. Since I was low on money, I bought a Realistic AM/FM/Cassette Stereo and 2 6x9s from Radio Shack. You haven’t lived until you have heard KMC Kru on Realistic 6x9s. Anyway, shortly after getting the car, the driver’s side door handle stopped working, so I had to get in Dukes of Hazzard style. I wasn’t complaining because it got me to and from school. No more riding in Joel Melon’s Chevette. I did like pulling the parking brake while the car was moving though. Anyhoo…some fun facts about the Lemans:
-My friends and my first trip to Canada was in the Lemans. I was at LTU and we just decided to go spur of the moment. We went to Don Cherry’s and walked around downtown Windsor. On the way back, the border guard asked all of us for our IDs. Well, Skunk didn’t have his, so the border guard had lots of questions for him. When Jamie asked why the guard was being such a “prick,” that was all she wrote. We were pulled over and the customs agents searched the car. I never would have believed that a customs agent and a dog could fit in my trunk.
-When I was 16, I worked for Independence Parks and Recreation as an umpire. In the fall, we were also called to work at the Haunted Forest at Clintonwood Park. This was always fun because we all got to dress in black costumes and scare people. Well, Nathan, Stu (I think), Darrin, Mull and I were going to pick up Jamie at his house. Jamie lived right by DTE Music Theater…err…Pine knob, so I had to drive down a dirt road to get to his house. Well, I was driving kind of crazy and hit a washboard, slid out of control and off the road. The car got stuck in a ditch and the mirror got ripped off the side door. After we got out of the car, Jamie’s neighbor came out and asked us if we needed help getting our car out of the ditch. Because of the way we were dressed, he thought we were going to play a prank on Jamie and parked our car in the ditch. Well, in order to hide my reckless driving, I went with the neighbor’s version of the story. So when I got home, I told my parents that I swerved to miss a skunk and went in the ditch. My mom bought it, but when she went upstairs, my dad told me he thought I was driving crazy. When I asked him why he thought that, he said, “I lived on a dirt road when I was a kid, I know how it is.” I admitted to my driving mistake and my Dad said he wouldn’t tell my mom if I slowed it down.
-Two words Brake Torque!
-Finally, when I was in 10th grade, Jamie broke his leg sledding and his parents paid me to bring him home every day so he didn’t have to ride the bus. Well one day, I couldn’t stop at the corner of Waldon and Pine Knob Road. We slid into a snow bank and I couldn’t back out. Since Jamie was the only one with me, He had to drive while I pushed. When I pushed the car out, Jamie wasn’t in a position to stop the car with his huge cast, so I had to chase him down the road, jump in and stop the car. It was probably very funny to watch.
Well, the Lemans went a little longer than I thought it would. Tune in next time when we will cover my 1982 Buick Skylark. You also won’t want to miss the info on my 1986 Escort Wagon!

2 Links

Not much to say here today, but I did find a couple of interesting things. One is a news article and the other is a website. First the website. Check out http://www.liveatc.net/ for live feeds from air traffic control towers around the world. They even have Metro Airport (KDTW). Now I know that the vast majority of people could care less about this, but I thought that someone like Stu may find it interesting. Melinda was getting tired of me listening last night, but it does help me to get speaking to the tower. There is a lot to pay attention to and sometimes just hearing the radio chatter helps to understand what is going on. Anyway, I digress.
Now for the funny news story. I really scanned the world for this one. Click HERE to read the story. Apparently, there is a new service from Virgin that you can add to your cell phone that stops the embarrassment of making drunken calls from your cell phone. Yup, you heard right. No more calls to cuss out your boss, ex or current significant other when you are drunk anymore. Virgin allows you to enter the phone numbers of people who you don’t want to call when drunk and then the phone won’t allow you to call them when you are smashed. Check out the stats that are cited in this article. Pretty funny.

Godzilla would kill our boat.

I was really looking forward to going to bed early last night. Melinda and I had just put the kids to bed and then we were waiting for Mat to get home from play practice in order to be able to go to bed. Mat strolled in at 9:30pm after having swim practice until 6pm and then play practice until 9pm. Melinda asked him if he had homework and he said, “yes, I have to make a boat.” This wouldn’t have been a big deal, but he has had 5 days to do it and he waited until 9:30pm the night before it was due. Then, when asked, Mat had no idea how to make the boat. Well, I guess I don’t get to go to bed early anymore. Melinda, Mat and I stayed up until 11:00pm to make a boat out of cardboard, masking tape, straws and hot glue. It was really quite interesting and a little embarrassing to create the boat we did, but I guess that is what you get when you wait until 9:30pm on Monday night. If he had more time, that boat would have been shaped from a block of wood with the Dremel. Oh, the dreams I had. Oh well, at least it is over with.

In other news, check out this CNN article. How cool, Godzilla has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. All this after he won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Movie Awards a few years back. There wasn’t anything too funny in this article, I just found it mildly humorous.

No one is safe from Emma!!!

Emma will spit up on anyone. I doesn't look like Jane minds.

Airplane ride anyone?

Yesterday was a fun time. Bobby was here still and I had to go to a flight lesson, so he came with. We took a slightly larger plane and Bobby sat in back. Instead of the normal lessons, we were able to buzz Boston Blvd. at about 2000 feet. I called Melinda and she went out in the driveway and waved to us as we flew over. Next, we flew over Great Lakes Crossing to see all the crazy shoppers. Finally, we made a landing in Troy before going back to Pontiac. Everything didn't start out smooth though. When we arrived at the flight school, all of the planes were hangered because of the snow and there were no maintenance guys around because they had the day off. This meant that we had to push all the planes out because none of us felt comfortable with the tug. All in all, it was OK, because I got to see all of the planes that I never get to because they are always hangered. I just love to check out airplanes.

Last night, Linda came over and watched Emma so we could have a night out. For anyone wondering, Linda is a friend from Church who really likes Emma. So anyway, we went to the Palladium in Birmingham to see a movie. We wanted to see National Treasure, but it was sold out, so we had to see Christmas with the Kranks. The movie was better than I thought it would be, so it wasn't a total loss. After the movie, we went to Buca Di Beppo for a little Italian food. The food was good, but the service was terrible. Our waitress only visited our table like 3 times. Actually, at the end ouf our meal, we were ready to go and we had to wait like 20 minutes for our waitress to come by and offer the check. During this time, we saw her throw a tantrum about how everybody needed her at their table and she was so busy. When she finally came to the table, she would answer a question we had and then run to a different table and then come back to ours to answer another question. She was truely terrible. All in all, it was nice to get out for a little while.

How about snowy fun???

I've heard that some areas were light in the snow area, but not Boston Blvd.!!! We got a few inches, so Bobby and I were able to ride the 4-Wheelers around for a little bit yesterday. What a great way to start off a Thanksgiving. Really, I can't remember the last time that we had snow like this on Thanksgiving. So, anyway, Bobby and I tore up the trails yesterday morning on the 4-Wheelers. Snow makes a normally fun ride a blast!! After a little fun, it was time to go to work. There was a driveway to be plowed. I shouldn't kid you, it wasn't really work. After we plowed my driveway, we decided that we just couldn't be done, so we plowed out Jan and Gordy's driveway. Just remember, if anyone asks, we worked our butts off yesterday. Hehehe. The moral of this plow story is: you can never be too prepared for the first snowfall. To all those friends who said to me two weeks ago, "why did you get the plow so soon, you won't need it for another six weeks at least," Haha!! The joke's on you!!!

Christmas Lights go up!!!

Meagan and John putting up Christmas Lights.

Fight Night!

Well, for those of you who have been living in a vacuum the last few days, there was a brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills last Friday night between fans and a few Indiana Pacers. After reading Stu's Blog, I thought I would post a comment, but then I got to thinking that it should be a post since it would be more than a few lines.
Anyway, if you haven't seen Stu's post, then you should. My thoughts are specifically about Ron Artest at the moment. While I was driving to my flight lesson, I was listening to WDFN and they had a caller that said Artest was just a punk. I want to add that he is really a bully too. You see, Artest and other sports personalities, John Saunders in particular said that Ron Artest was just defending himself and that when someone physically threatens you, you have to react. Well, from what I saw, Ben Wallace physically threatened Artest by pushing him and he wanted no part of Wallace. So, what is different about the fan who threw the cup? Artest felt more confident about pummeling a fan than Ben Wallace. It isn't about defending himself, it is about beating up on smaller people. In the end, he didn't even fight the right guy. I agree that you have to react, but react the right way. Point out the fan and have him thrown out, that was the right way to react. That’s just my take on a little piece of the whole pie. MacLachlan...Out!

Lets make it a half dozen!!!

Just remember when you tell people, you heard it here first. Emma is going to have a new brother or sister soon!!! I have to say that it was a total surprise when Melinda told me because this wasn’t the plan. We had discussed having another child, but I think I would have decided against it. The Friday before Melinda told me, I told someone at work that it would probably take an act of God for me to have another child. Well, the act of God had already happened! Even though it was a total surprise, I am very excited. Now, I am glad that she is pregnant! This will be the last though. It just goes to show you that God always knows what is best. Be praying for Melinda because she has a lot going on during the day already with work and Emma.

Please tell me you're not serious.

While scanning the news, I came across this article from the Hoosier Gazette. You can click on the link to read, but apparently a congressman in Indiana wants to change the name of I-69 to something with less sexual undertones, say I-63. Let me just say that this could be the worst waste of taxpayer money I have heard about in the last week!!! This poor congressman is tired of teenagers looking at his I-69 lapel pin and snickering. If he thinks I-69 is bad, he should just travel I-75 through Troy and he would see exit 69, Big Beaver Road. That one is screaming sexual undertones. Now, those of you who know me, know that I would error on the side of cautiousness when it comes to sex and kids, but come on!!! Can’t this guy tackle something else like the sexual content in the media? Where do you think that the undertones are perpetuated? Anyway, I will step off my soapbox and let you all read the article, it is humorous. Macachlan…Out!!!

John is on TV

This morning I have to do a TV broadcast to the VW & Audi dealers. The powers that be would like me to demonstrate how to configure a vehicle tester for the dealer technicians. I am going to be the guest on a show called Tech-Talk. They seem to be serious since I have a time I have to be in the studio for makeup. This didn’t make me happy. Really, I don’t care that I have to wear makeup, it is just that I have to wash it off. Oh well, when I get back to my desk, I guess that I will have to answer any questions I get from coworkers and then finish with, “in the Auburn Hills, I’m John MacLachlan, back to you.” Seriously though, say a prayer for me that I don’t forget what I am supposed to say. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there is a live call in session at the end of the show, so pray for that too.

iPod Update

I have 5 people who have signed up at Freeipods.com and 3 that have completed an offer. Are you ready for my appeal? Two more people, please sign up, refer friends and complete an offer. Please! If you have already signed up and not completed the offer, then please complete an offer.

Jen – please sign up with your Comcast address and complete an offer and I will sign up for you and complete an offer with one of my other email address. Good deal!

Thanks to Mandy, Mom and Hot Wife for signing up and completing an offer.

With your help, I will be able to realize my dream at Freeipods.com



Click on this link to sign up under my name: http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=9092457

Football and Xbox

Well, Saturday was a happy day!! Michigan won against Northwestern, which wasn’t such a big surprise. It was interesting in the second half. The purpose of this is entry is not to praise my beloved Wolverines, but to praise the Spartys in East Lansing. They had a job to do and they went out and did it. For those of you who know, the Spartans thoroughly demolished the Wisconsin Badgers this weekend! The Badgers were the number 5 team in the country and MSU isn’t even ranked. Geez, this was unexpected, but welcomed. Why is this Wolverine so happy about a Sparty win, you ask? Well, Wisconsin and Michigan were both undefeated in the Big Ten and they don’t play each other this year. This means that because Michigan lost to Notre Dame and Wisconsin was undefeated over all, Wisconsin owned the tie breaker and thus would go to the Rose Bowl over Michigan. Not any more!!! The big MSU win means that Michigan is in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten and only need to beat the cheaters from Ohio State to win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl!!!

This weekend my Xbox went old school. Remember all the old games on your Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo? Well, my Xbox can now double as any one of those systems. Yesterday, I played Excitebike, Mike Tyson’s Punchout, Clay Fighter, Toejam and Earl and Tecmo Bowl!!! Now, I want to hear from you, which games did you play back in the day? I would like to find them and load them into my Super Xbox. By the way, the next 2 retro things I am going to try to emulate on my Xbox are Commodore 64 and old school arcade games.

I am so tired this morning!!!

Last night, Mat, Brian and I helped Becki and Rich move some things from their old house to their temporary house. Actually, we moved some things to the Church and then to their temporary house. We didn’t start until 7:45pm because Brian didn’t get off work until 7pm and Rich asked me to pick up some packing tape for him before I came over. All in all, we did have fun, but my lack of sleep was constantly in the back of my head. Rich was nice enough to stop by after the move to pick up the new 4-wheeler. It was idling very low and we were having a problem keeping it running. There was also a gear sticking. He is taking it to work to have it looked over and adjusted.

Some things I learned last night:
It doesn’t matter who you are, when leaving one place and meeting at another, everyone considers it a race. By the way, Rich won the race to the Church with the trailer and all. Brian, Becki and I all took pit stops to get gas. At least I got 5 bonus points for leading a lap.
Rich can turn any flat surface into a dance floor. Last night, Brian and I had some 80s music playing on our XM Radios and when Rich heard, he turned Anderson’s flat bed truck into a dancing floor. It was pretty amusing.
Kids light up shoes are very amusing when they are flashing through a trash bag. This shouldn’t need any explanation other than it was late and we were tired.

Pray that the weather stays clear today because I am flying today and I don’t want another repeat of last Thursday when the weather was nasty. All I did was fight the elements the whole time. At least I experienced landings in severe crosswinds though.
Abbey will be getting some fresh batteries in her shock collar today. She has escaped the kids one too many times in the past few days. Actually, if she escapes the kids, that means she really escapes me because I am left to get her. Yesterday, Mitchell, Christian and Marissa stood with the back door open and the dog got out. After she escaped, the kids chased her in to the field in back of our house. Kids think they are helping when they do this and they can’t understand that the whole thing is a game to the dog. When Abbey came out of the weeds, she had burrs all over her. She wasn’t very responsive to my calling, so I had to go into the weeds, and I had burrs all over me also. That was just how I wanted to spend my afternoon. Yup, the shock collar needs batteries.

Opps!!! This can't be good.

We sure made a mess of Billy's yard!

Comedy of Errors

This weekend was pretty good as far as weekends go. We had good food and fellowship on Friday and Saturday. We also got work done. Let me elaborate:

On Friday night, we went to Jen and Billy’s new house to help them out with moving. I was able to get Jen’s internet working upstairs in their office. Don’t tell anyone, but I was a little nervous that I was going to have nothing but problems. Other than a cut finger, the install was pretty smooth. Anyone that knows me, should have expected some kind of injury. Whether I smash my finger, cut my finger or get 9 stitches in my arm, something is going to happen, it is just a matter of time. After we had a great meal consisting of pizza, breadsticks and Greek salad from Highland House, I helped Billy move in a some beds and a dresser. Thanks to Jen and Billy for the “good food.” Note to self: when ordering Greek salad from Highland House, a medium salad will feed a small army.

Saturday started off fairly normal, except that it was a nice day for once. I had to take in the 4-wheeler for its 20 hour service and have a plow fitted on it for the winter. I was very happy that the service department performed a recall, maintenance and fitted the plow in 1 day. They forgot to reset the oil change light though. Brian was able to reset it, so no harm done. On another note, we got a second, slightly used 4-wheeler for the kids and Melinda this weekend. Rich gave me a deal I couldn’t refuse. Now all the kids have to do is take the safety class.

Saturday night, we had a BBQ at Jen and Billy’s new crib. They don’t have their grill yet, so Brian and I put mine on the trailer and brought it to their house. Jen and Billy have a wrap around porch, so Brian and I thought that we could pull the 4-wheeler up next to the house and lift the grill right on to the porch. Bad idea!!! We got around to the back of the house and then we just stopped. When I looked down, we were sinking in to Jen and Billy’s freshly back filled yard. Brian jumped off the trailer to see if he could find some solid ground, but he quickly sank into the mud. All of this was going on in plain sight of the women in the house. They were deep in conversation and didn’t bother to look out the doorwall to see our plan and the grill sinking fast. It was like being on a sinking ship and watching a boat full of people go right by and not one of those people see you. Anyway, we had to think fast. Ahhh…ha!! Brian could go and get another 4-wheeler and we could have him pull us out. In retrospect, this wasn’t such a great idea, but we never will find out how bad it could have been. I was able to switch to 4 wheel drive (I almost bought the non 4 wheel drive model) and back up in the rut. With a running start, I was able to get out of the quicksand. If Billy hasn’t raked it over, I will post a picture of the aftermath in his back yard. Unfortunately, as far as mishaps go, we weren’t out of the woods yet.

So, Billy had stopped at the store to buy meat to make hamburgers. We had turned the grill on high to preheat. We turned it back down to low in anticipation of cooking the burgers. Now Brian has a timed system of cooking that usually makes perfect burgers every time. The two variables that must be constant are heat (which we had a little much of), and beef (we had hamburger and the recipe required sirloin or ground round). After the first timer in Brian’s system went off, he went out to the grill and let me just say that it wasn’t pretty. Brian brunt the hair off his arm and he also singed his eyebrows. There was quite the fire on the grill from the hamburger fat. Needless to say, we had 9 hockey pucks to eat. Luckily for us, Jayson was enroute from Home Depot, so we had him stop and get some ground sirloin at Farmer Jack. The second time around, the burgers cooked up quite nicely!

Sunday ended up pretty good. We were able to get our second shed moved, thanks to Billy’s tractor. We also were able to move stuff from the garage to the shed and then put our deck furniture in the shed. We are almost able to get the Durango back in the garage. It has been a long time since that has happened.

ABC's Lost explained...maybe.

If you watch Lost, I found a link that gives the theories to explain the island and their odds of being correct. Click on the link to read about the theories. Disclaimer: Reading the article gives nothing up about the series, it just gives you things to think about. If you don't want to be spoiled, don't look at anything else on the site.

Lost-Media Theories

A few random thoughts

OK, enough of the rain already!!! It is raining like every other day. Normally, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but I have a shed sitting in my side yard that needs to be moved and until it dries out a little, we cannot move it. Also, flying can get cancelled quite a bit because of visibility on rainy days. Hopefully I will get to fly today.

On another note, it looks like the Pinters and Hendersons are moving in this weekend, so I will have my work cut out for me. It is a good thing that there is no Michigan game this weekend. Let me just put out the call right now to the 2 families that are moving this weekend to have good food available to the people helping. John secret #1: I am a sucker for good food. If the food is exceptionally good, Billy’s internet may start to work upstairs. Just kidding. I am not sure about what is going on at his house.
I read an article yesterday that a guy in Taiwan jumped in to a lion’s den at the Taipei zoo to lead the lions to Jesus. Wha??? If you want to read the article, it is on MSNBC. For his efforts, he received a bite on the leg. Zoo keepers had to shoot the lions with fire hoses to keep them away from the man. This guy gives Christians a bad name. Witness to people, not to lions. It isn’t a hard concept. They can’t understand you, but they can bite you. Is this one of those things that you can say, “it sounded like a good idea at the time?” Probably not. Check it out, you will probably get a laugh just as I did.

Give all the credit to my flag!!!

Now I am not a superstitious guy, but I must say that the Wolverines are undefeated when the Michigan flag flies on the flagpole at my house. For proof that the flag is the good luck charm of the Wolverines, I give you this fact: I was not flying the flag for the first half of the game on Saturday and they were losing miserably. I had planned on flying it like I do on every Saturday afternoon Michigan plays, but this weekend the wind was terrible and I had to take the flag down that morning to avoid damaging it. Actually, I didn’t want to, but Melinda suggested it, so I did. She asked me not to blame her if Michigan lost and I told her I wouldn’t. At halftime, I couldn’t take it any longer and I went outside and raised the flag. What do you know, it worked. The Wolverines put together the biggest comeback in the history of Michigan Stadium. Hmmm….I wonder what would happen if I got a Lions flag.

Disclaimer: I know that the flag has nothing to do with winning or losing sporting events. It is all in fun.

A rough landing!

Tuesday, my flight lesson included landings. I must say that they are a little more difficult than I originally thought. With a little practice, they will become easier. It doesn’t matter how many times that you read about them and practice in your mind, there is no substitute for the real thing. So anyways, we were able to practice landing like 12 times. We would just land, take off and get back in to the pattern. We had a few landings that were rough. We actually landed on all three wheels once. That was bad. We also got caught in some air disturbance from a plane that landed in front of me, twice. It is weird to be approaching the runway nice and easy and then at the last second, the plane is all over the place. You have to make some quick adjustments. I am proud to say that my best landing included the disturbance. Really, I am not sure what I did to correct for it, but it was a good landing, so I take credit for it. Next week, my lesson will include more of the same.

We got our 2 sheds delivered yesterday. Special thanks goes out to the towing company because they dropped them off nowhere close to where they go. After work, Melinda, Mat, Meagan and I tried to push the smaller of the 2 sheds. Uhhh…that didn’t work. It wouldn’t budge. Next, we tried to use a 4x4 as a lever and 1 person lifted the shed and the others pushed it around. This was very slow, but it was working. Just when I was thinking that we were going to spend hours moving the stupid shed, a group of teenage boys on bikes showed up looking for Meagan. How wonderful it is to have a beautiful teenage daughter sometimes. Melinda told them that they needed to help us for Meagan to be able to hang out with them. Yes!!! The ultimate bribe! With three more boys, it took us a total of 5 minutes to get the smaller shed in to place. Thanks goes out to Meagan’s friends. They can hang out any time, unless one of them asks her out. Then, they are banned from our property! We will have to get Billy and his tractor to help us move the larger shed because the towing company dropped it off in the middle of the side yard. Maybe I will post a picture of it and let everyone know where is should be. It is truly funny.

FYI

Mandy has pointed out that you only have to complete an offer to count as complete for me in the free iPod offer. You do not have to refer 5 friends. So, if you are just trying to help me out and don't care about getting a free iPod, just complete an offer for me. Thanks.

So far:
Mandy has completed
Bob has signed up and yet to complete an offer

I need 3 more people!!!

There goes the neighborhood!!!

So I was down at Jen and Billy’s house talking to Billy and he mentioned that they may move in this weekend. We may have neighbors on our street by the weekend!!! Meanwhile, at the house across the street, Jayson and Wendy got their phone service, but no cable modem. That will be coming soon I hear. Ok, I have to come clean and say that I was fairly outspoken in telling people that I didn’t think that either of those houses would be done before Thanksgiving. Well guys, prove me wrong!!!

Last night, Melinda had to pick up Mat from play practice because his ride left him at the school. Needless to say, the parents who left Mat behind are in for a surprise when we don’t give a ride to their kids today! Hehehe. I say all this to say that as soon as Melinda left the house, Lucas, Christian and Maya came over to see Mitchell. I invited them in to play in the basement with Mitchell and Marissa. Oh yeah, Logan had come over a little while before Melinda left, so we had a full house of kids. This is just a preview of what is coming for all the families on the street. On any given night, this could be you. Note to the parents who may read this: All the children were pretty good. Actually, we did have 1 issue. Logan decided to tattle on Mitchell because he wasn’t sharing the Xbox. I told Logan to have Mitchell come upstairs and I would take care of it. Logan then went downstairs and I overheard him say that Mitchell needed to come talk to me because someone told on him. Not Logan, but someone. Ha, that was funny.

In case anyone needs another laugh, check out this auction:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1469&item=5510319713&rd=1

This guy will ship overseas, so email him and you could get in on this deal!!
Remember the iPod deal. I need help to realize the dream. Please join.

Free ipod!!!

Please help me to get a free $250 iTunes certificate and you could get one in the process. You can also get a free iPod. It is your choice. Click on the link HERE or at the bottom of the post to help me out and register yourself for a free iPod also. All you have to do is signup, complete one of the special offers and refer 5 of your friends to get in on this special offer.

Now you may be wondering if this is legit. Yes it is!!! The good folks at G4TechTV's Screensavers signed up and Kevin got a $250 iTunes gift certificate and Alex got a 20GB iPod. They also have been written about in the USA Today. Anyway, if you sign up and use my referral link, I will give you a free gmail account invite. Gmail is Google's new email system with 1GB of storage. No more full email boxes with gmail!

Some suggestions of offers to complete:
1. The Blockbuster Offer - 2 weeks of Blockbuster Online for free!!
2. 13 Weeks of the USA Today. This one costs money, but if you want the paper, a good one to try.
3. BMG 12CDs for the price of 1 Deal.


http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=9092457

Slickdeal just for Jen

Here is another Slick Deal for those of you who have a DVD Burner. NewEgg has 100 Pack DVD+R for $35.99 - $10 MIR. I told Jen about it this morning and she asked that I post a link on my blog, so click HERE.

A Picture of Emma!!!

Look fast because she will be grown before you know it!

Quick Update

Just a quick update before I go watch the Michigan-Purdue game.

Mom - The Kite link in the last post is fixed. Click on it now!

Mouse Update: I spoke too soon yesterday, we did catch a mouse, it was under Dan's desk. Actually, we didn't catch it, the trap killed it. It also seems that 2 of the 4 mice have disappeared from outside the door. Maybe the live mice started to drag them off to give them a proper burial. Who knows, I just know they aren't eating our food.

This morning, we went to buy a shed. There is a place on Dixie Hwy that has some models on clearance. We wanted this nice red shed that had a lot of upgrades and was like 50% off, but some guy bought it right from under us. I said that a nice compromise would be to buy the $10000 Barn/Shed. It was awesome! It had 2 floors and you could pull a car in it with lots of room left over. Anyway, they were selling that model for $2500 if you could find a way to move it. I am still trying to find a way, but it doesn't look too good. In its place, we bought 2 smaller sheds and they should deliver them fully assembled this week some time. If anyone knows who would move the big Barn/Shed, please let me know because it is a great deal!

Funny Ebay Auctions

Ok, this is a little weird, but someone here sent me a link to an auction this morning that wasn’t meant to be humorous, but I found it funny. They were selling a HUGE collection of Japanese games. Someone has a huge obsession. They were asking like $70000 for it. Needless to say, it didn’t sell. This whole incident got me wondering, what other funny things can I find on Ebay. Below, is a list of just a few things I found.

Marshmallow stick – Ok, this one made me laugh. You must read the questions. I can’t believe it actually sold! Maybe it is because it came from a sassafras tree. Hehe… sassafras.

Poem4You– This guy will actually write you a poem if you are the winner. The description is funny. He will write about anything you want.

Hurricane Wind - This guy is pretty funny. He bottled hurricane wind in Tupperware containers and is selling it to the highest bidder. If that isn’t enough, he is also selling a Kite that he flew in hurricane Ivan. His descriptions are haliarous. I wish I’d have thought of the idea.

A couple of other funny auctions:

Crappy Wedding Gift
Digital Picture

MacLachlan...Out!!!

Another Slick Deal (Hard Drive)

Ok, this one is for Jen especially. Outpost.com has a 120GB Seagate for $39.99 after rebate. Just click HERE. The drive has a 5 year warranty which is quite good. Add it to your current system for a ton of video storage.

TGIF

I’m so glad it’s Friday! This has been the most hectic week at work I have had in a while. There are too many new things that need processes. Oh well, in a few hours, I will be outta here for the weekend! Actually, it is like 7 hours, but who cares, it’s Friday!!!

Back Update: My back is feeling better at the moment, but I still need to go to the specialist. They usually can’t get you in right away, so I am glad God has given me a rest from the pain.

Mouse Update: We didn’t catch any mice last night. Maybe we got them all, but who knows. It seems Bob & Butch are now known as the Mouse Slayers. If you have seen Shark Tale, you will know what I am talking about. They aren’t as hip as Will Smith is though. The Mice Slayers lined the mice up outside the door so that any mice that happen to pass by the building will see their fallen comrades.

Pray for my back

Yesterday I had to visit the doctor to get X-rays of my back. For about the last month and half, I have been having back problems. Hopefully the pain will be gone soon. At the beginning of September I had to go to Dr. Oneil’s in the middle of the night to get a shot in my back because I was in so much pain. After that, the pain went away in my right leg, but about three weeks ago, the pain came back in my left leg. Yesterday was kind of my breaking point. It was a little worse than normal as far as pain goes, but I just lost my patience and decided that the pain had to stop. I called the Dr. Patel and he referred me to a specialist and asked me to get X-rays. Yesterday I got the X-rays and today, I will call the specialist to make an appointment. Whatever is causing the pain, I just want it fixed so I don’t walk like a cripple.

Mouse hunt update: Our trap has produced another mouse! Butch has decided that we need to add a trap to the mix, so now we have 2. I cannot disclose the locations of the traps in case the mice are reading…wait, we are not setting traps, all the desks are trap free! Heh…heh…suckers.

The great mouse hunt!

We have mice in our office, or so that is what I was told last Friday. I have candy in my desk drawer and I was told by my colleagues to store it in a different place because the mice would get it. I must admit that I was skeptical, but Monday morning, Bob’s overhead bin was ransacked by a mouse. It shreaded his Kleenex and used it as a potty. This one incident was all it took for Bob to bring out the big guns, or shall I say the big trap. He baited with peanut butter and set the trap under the desk and waited. Well, we didn’t have to wait long. This morning when I came in, there was a dead mouse under Bob’s desk. It looks as if the peanut butter was too much to resist. He is not stopping with one mouse though, he will fight until every mouse is eradicated from the first floor! More to come.

Dude...don't speak so soon!

While I was looking at the comments to my last post, Jen said something that encouraged me to post. Actually, it was Billy that said it, Jen was just quoting. What did he say you ask? He said something to the effect of, why would I want to pay for radio? If you want the exact quote, check the comments to my last post. To Billy, I say, "Dude, don't speak so soon!" A few years back, I remember a lot of people saying, "now why would I want to pay for TV?" Last time I checked, Billy is the proud owner of a Satellite system that unless he has one of those illegal smart cards, he is paying for TV. He is also paying for TiVo, either on a monthly basis or he already paid for the lifetime subscription. Now why would anyone pay a monthly fee to record TV??? Hmmm. My point in this is not to rip my friend Billy. I really can't since I pay for satellite and TiVo. Heck, I even pay for XM. Satellite radio is well worth it. I can listen to the same station anywhere in North America and some reports say I can listen anywhere in the world. The message is this, be careful because in the future, you never know what you might end up paying for that was once free. Remember when the ATM was free?

A boring couple of days.

Ok, I have to just say that I am so happy that people I know have been using Slickdeals. Yes, that means you Jen! Actually, Melinda has been using it too, but she has been using it for a few years. It is a good feeling to help people save money on tech products. Hmmm, maybe they wouldn’t have spent the money before Slickdeals, so I am actually costing them money. Ahhh…something to ponder.

Yesterday I was sick. All day I felt like I had to throw up, but I never did. It was weird. Stomach problems are never good. On the plus side, since I didn’t go to work, I got to spend the whole day with Emma! She is awesome! At night, I sucked it up and helped Billy with some of his floor. Apparently I am the floor expert since I helped a friend lay one before. Anyway, in the 2 hours I was down there, we got quite a bit done. I will probably help him again on Friday after my flight lesson. If it rains, I will probably be grounded, so Billy will get extra help in that case. Well, that is the quick update of my boring life…MacLachlan…Out!

Weekend Getaway!!!

Melinda and I got to go to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes overnight on Friday! It was a good time to getaway, but I did miss Emma.

Awesome MP3 Player Deal!!!

If you are looking for a good MP3 player and you don’t want to spend iPod money, then check out Dell.com. They have their Dell DJ 15GB Player for $129 and free shipping. Just click HERE. The site will say that it is $179, but when you add it to the cart and go to the checkout, enter the following coupon code: 3G5HL48BG9CHSB. Click Apply Coupon and the new price will be $129, plus you will get free shipping. Don’t debate too long because this deal ends October 5. If you have any questions about how to set it up or use it, just ask, I'll help you. MacLachlan...Out!

Weekend Update

Friday was the first day that I actually talked on the radio during my flight lesson. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about talking for the first time. Over and over, I asked my instructor, “ok, so what do I say again?” This was all after I read over the section in my FAR/AIM about radio communications. Anyway, I was able to communicate fairly well to Pontiac ground and get clearance to taxi to the runway. Then, when I spoke to the tower to request clearance for takeoff, it all went down hill. I was a little nervous and I asked to be cleared to takeoff on runway 9L. That would be fine, except that everyone was landing on 9L. I am sure that in that split second, the tower was thinking, “what is this guy thinking?” Before what I did had any time to sink in with the controller in the tower, my fearless instructor jumped on the radio and corrected what I had said. Crisis averted.

Saturday was Homecoming for Meagan and Mat. My gosh, you would have thought that Meagan was getting ready for the premiere of a motion picture that she was starring in. She got home from her Dad’s at 11:30AM and she spent until 8:00pm getting ready. On the other hand, Mat started getting ready at about 7:00PM and he only started at 7 because he thought they were leaving at 7:30. Girls are funny. No girl I ever dated spent that long in the bathroom though. One year, we had a game on Saturday that didn’t end until 4:00PM and Homecoming started at 7:00PM. Melinda vowed that for her sanity, Meagan will not take that long next year.

As Promised, Abbey's picture!

The busyness that is life

There are too many things to do today! Actually, I have too many things to do in general and they all will not be done today. Last Wednesday night, we got the remainder of our things from Becki and Rich’s house, so now everything is stacked in the basement. Things need to be rearranged. Maybe that will happen this weekend, who knows. Speaking of the basement, the pipes need to be insulated. This has been on my list of things to do for a while now, I just haven’t found time to do it yet. Oh yeah, more grass needs to be planted in the back and side yard. Another thing that I haven’t found time to do yet. Speaking of grass, it needs to be mowed! Argh! The final thing that I can think of off the top of my head is that I have to get insulation and hang drywall in the garage.

On another note, I have a flying lesson today after work and I forgot my tennis shoes. Why do I need tennis shoes you ask? Well, when flying a plane, the rudder is controlled with both feet and so is the brake. The brake and the rudder controls are all on the same peddle. Using my dress shoes is next to impossible because you can’t feel the brake part of the peddle. I am lucky because Melinda said that she would meet me at the airport to give me my shoes. Geez, that lady is nice! I am sure glad that she is my wife.
This just in: the kid’s computer is broken again!!!! Add that one to the list of things to do. Mat decided that he should login on Melinda’s computer in the mean time. This is not good. The kids computer is the only one that is ever broken. It isn’t because it isn’t good mind you, it is how they use it, so the last thing I want is them to use Melinda’s computer because that will just create more work for me when her PC breaks. Her computer is the most important one in the house since she uses it for her business. I can blow off fixing the kid’s computer for a day or two, but not Melinda’s, so it is just better that the kids with the golden touch stay away from it. Maybe the best thing to do is to give them a quick computer class and tell them how to fix common problems and then let them know what not to do. Note to the kids: reboots solve many problems. Anyway, after my flying lesson, I will fix their computer and they don’t know it yet, but I am going to move a printer from upstairs to the basement, so they will have a printer near by. They will be happy about that.

By the way, also on my list is to update the MacLachlan Family website. I figured I better add this to the list because I know that there would be numerous comments about it.

Tales of lunches and brain operations

I am excited because Dan went to Panera for lunch today. That means that I get Panera for lunch. Dan is a guy in our office and he always goes out for lunch. That pretty much means that he decides what I eat for lunch every day if I don’t want cafeteria food. Anyway, it is lunch time and he just went on a Panera run. Mmmmm…Panera.
Yesterday, Abbey had surgery to have her “extra brain” removed. Anyone who has seen her, has seen that she had some kind of lump on the back of her head. Well, not anymore!! Melinda got sick and tired of it, so she had it removed. Unfortunately, Emma will never get to experience the joke about Abbey’s extra brain. Oh well. The vet said that the lump they removed was the strangest thing they have ever seen. It was like a ball of fiber with fluid in the middle. There was one fiber sticking out of the middle and every time the vet pulled it out, another one would appear. Ok, enough grossness. I will post a picture because she looks quite funny at the moment.

Star Wars Rant

The Star Wars Trilogy on DVD came out yesterday and I must say that I am a bit disappointed. Let me just say that I am not a Star Wars snob, but I do have an opinion about what has changed in the movie for this release. Ok, how lame is it that they replaced the old Anakin with Hayden Christensen at the end of Return of the Jedi where Luke looks to the sky and sees the “Force Ghosts?” Is it too much to ask to get the original movie? The other thing that melted my cheese was voicing over Boba Fett’s voice with that of Jango Fett. The explanation is that since Boba Fett is a clone of Jango Fett, then they should have the same voice. Come on! The whole thing is oh so lame! I guess that I should be happy that I have something that resembles the Trilogy on DVD.

On another note, there are Star Wars snobs out there who debate things like the administrative pay for janitors on the Death Star. I’m not kidding, you can check it out at CNN. These people have too much time on their hands. If you are going to point out something that minor, how about pointing out that Luke Skywalker had no flight time on an X-wing Fighter. Come to think of it, he doesn’t even have his pilot ratings. They should have put him in a Cessna before they trusted him with a multi million-dollar fighter jet. Shoot, they could have at least made him play that Star Wars sit down arcade game from the 1980s. Anyway, that’s just my opinion. Can you tell that nothing exciting has happened in the past few days?

A weekend of follies

On Friday, Brian and I decided to put together Melinda’s Bowflex. Don’t you just hate it when you are putting something together and you find out that the company didn’t give you all the required pieces. That happened to me this weekend with the Bowflex. The great Bowflex company shorted us on the washers. This caused us to debate what to do for a few minutes. Our final decision was to use the washers that we had in place of the ones we were missing and see what happened. We were prepared to visit Home Depot if need be, but we ended up not needing to. One thing that caused a lot of thinking is that the directions said we should have 6 adjustable pulleys. We only had 4. This would normally be a bigger deal than the washers, but after looking at all the pictures for 30 minutes, I couldn’t find where the other 2 pulleys went, so I moved on. After completing the last step, it looked like a Bowflex, so I called it a day. No one has used it yet, so I am not sure of the integrity of my construction.
Why does Red Lobster remove every item that I like from their lunch menu. This is really getting kind of annoying. Yesterday, all I wanted was some Mahi Mahi and they removed it from their menu!! Argh. They did the same thing with the Teriyaki Chicken. Please submit to me a list of what you like off of the menu, and I will make sure not to order it. I do like the Admiral’s Feast, but that is off of the main menu and my financial advisor said that I couldn’t afford it. So, what did I eat you ask. I decided to go with the all you can eat soup and salad. My financial advisor did say that I could stop on the way home and get a cheeseburger from Burger King, but I gave that up to go to Best Buy with Mitchel, Christian, Meagan and her friend Melissa. In case you’re wondering, I bought absolutely nothing at Best Buy. Some times it is good to just look at all the electronic goodness.

Random thoughts on a random Tuesday

Listen up ‘yall, I am about to drop you the info straight efficient like. Awwwww....yeah!!!

Ok, I wasn't very good with the lingo, but yesterday was quite eventful. After 3 years off, I finally went back to taking flying lessons, or should I say, flight school. Ok, my thoughts on my first day back. First, I thought I was going to get to fly…nope. When I was taking lessons before, the instructor just took me up in the airplane and we flew, but now, I have to actually sit through a lecture. Wow, I am back in school so to speak. At least I will now know what actually makes the plane fly. Anyway, I will have more updates to come on my quest to be a licensed pilot.
On another note, there are some things in this world that are just never going to happen. For example, the Lions winning a Superbowl, Meagan getting her driver’s license, Mat eating corn on the cob. Well, you can cross off Becki and Rich building their house. There is finally a hole on their property and this one isn’t going to be a swimming pool! When Melinda called me to let me know, I made her go take a picture just to make sure it wasn’t an illusion. It is the same reaction I would have if she called and said she saw the Michigan Panther. By the way, what ever happened to the Michigan panther? Oh well, I can ponder that in another post. The point is, they will be moving to our neighborhood soon.
Can I just say, I love Cops!!! Not police officers, the show Cops. Last night, they came to arrest this guy who was living in a modified school bus because he had like 18 bench warrants out for his arrest. This bus had a TV and all the comforts of home. Actually, it was his home. Now when I was a kid, if I saw this modified school bus, I would have thought it was cool, but now I just think white trash. Back to the story, there were 6 or so officers outside the bus and they were asking him to come out. He was resisting the urge to exit the bus because he was afraid someone would steal his stuff when he was gone. Next, some guy, apparently a friend, stopped by and tried to persuade the guy to exit the bus. He told the bus guy that he would be right down to the station to post bond and he would have him out that evening. Sounds like the friend has done the whole posting bond thing before. In the end, the guy exited the bus crying and they slapped on the cuffs and ran him downtown. That was such a happy ending. The only thing that I pondered after that episode was how I could find out the guy’s name so I could write MTV to get that guy and his bus on Pimp My Ride. I can see it now: “This is X to the Z Xzibit and the Cops bus guy has no idea that we are going to post his bond and pimp his ride!”

Why, why do you torment me so!

I should have known that this was a lost cause. Lloyd Carr has lost the road opener for like the last million years. Notre Dame is a rival. Notre Dame was looking for revenge for last year’s 38-0 loss at the Big House. The game was being played in South Bend. Michigan was starting a freshmen QB. The Wolverines always lose at least one game to someone they shouldn’t. Even after taking all these reasons in to account, I still came to the conclusion that Michigan could, no wait, should win this game. After all, Notre Dame sucks this year. Heck, they lost to BYU and looked terrible in the process.
So, I set aside the time to sit down and watch the game and for about half of the game, it looked like it would be time well spent. Sure, Michigan was not looking very impressive, but hey, they were shutting out ND at half time and Rivas had made every field goal he had attempted. We were well on our way to winning this game. Then came the second half. Contrary to popular belief, you do have to play a whole game to be considered the winner. The Irish came out and quickly scored a TD. Ok, it is 9-7, but our offense has to come to life soon. Well, that was not to be today. Why, you ask. It is because of the luck of the Irish. Actually, it wasn’t. It was because Lloyd Carr didn’t open up the offense. He played the same old conservative game that kills us at least once a year. You should have learned Lloyd. You have been on the coaching staff long enough. Argh…when it became 21-12, I turned it off and went upstairs. By this time I am not in a good mood. The day is ruined and I wasted my time watching something happen that I should have known would happen. I am a sucker and I will be a sucker again next year on September 17, when Michigan plays a team that has yet to be announced. Don’t worry ABC, or whoever televises the game, I’ll be watching, just please give me some good commercials. Oh well, at least Brian, Chad and Billy are around to ride 4-wheelers with.

All reviews are not created equal

I know, I know, I haven’t posted in over a week. Well, I was surfing Amazon.com this morning and found the funniest reviewer ever. Read some of his stuff by clicking HERE. Be careful though, you might just pee your pants laughing so hard. If you do, this wacky reviewer has found just the product for you.

Signpost up ahead.

Clearfield, PA is a strange town. It reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode. You know, the town that the character visits and then can never escape. That is this town. There were quite a few people staying at the hotel, but when we went downtown, it looked like a ghost town. All this being said, I submit for your approval:
The downtown was quite creepy. There were a ton of stores, but no one was shopping. To its credit, the town was incredibly clean, but I guess it should be because no one was hanging around to dirty up the place. It was as if the whole town was created just for Brian, Jayson and I. We had just wondered in to the Twilight Zone, never to be heard of again. We decided that we wanted to see a movie. We checked the listings in State College because it was apparently not too far from Clearfield. For some reason, which I still cannot explain, we decided to go to the theatre in downtown Clearfield. This theatre, which is called The Ritz, looked like it was lost in the 1940s and just found on Saturday. It was playing first run movies, but they were only charging $5 for admission. When I commented on the deal that the admission was, the ticket taker said in a creepy voice, “I see that you have gone to the movies outside of this town.” I was waiting for the mad scientist laugh, but it never came. Anyway, at this point, I was thinking that I should have brought the camera. Really, it wouldn’t have mattered because I was starting to think that I wasn’t going to get out of this town. We could get back on to I-80, but the only exit we would pass by would be the same Clearfield exit, over and over again.
Ok, back to my story. Next, I bought some water and Hot Tamales and decided to go sit down. Right before you enter the theatre, there was a 100 gallon fish tank with 2 Oscars in it. One Oscar was huge. I swear, it was about a foot and a half long. This thing must have weighed at least 10 pounds. After I got over the enormous size of the fish, I started to wonder why that there was a fish tank in the theatre anyway. My mind quickly jumped from the fish to the smell of the place. It smelled like the basement of a 100 year old house. Nothing I had seen thus far could prepare me for what we would see when we entered the theatre.
Once we entered the theatre, on the left, there was a fireplace with a fake glowing log in it. Above the fireplace, there was a portrait of some medieval lady. There were swords hanging all over the walls and the sound system for the movie looked like 2 big house speakers set up in front of the screen. The movie had no previews and no “be quiet” ads. Oh well, I guess that they were all about getting down to business. In my mind, I half expected to see a 1940s style news reel ad, but none came.
Anyway, when the movie got out, we returned to the car and still, no one was on the street. We laughed about it and went back to the hotel. Since I am posting, you can probably guess that we did make it home. Read all about our quest on the Ultimate Burger site. MacLachlan…Out!

Your exclusive Ultimate Burger blog...

is not here. I know that you faithful readers check MacLachlan...Out for all the latest news, but unfortunately, the staff at MacLachlan...Out does not have the exclusive rights to report on Operation Q.U.B. or it participants. Now I know that you are thinking, "hey, John owns both sites, what gives?" Well, it is a very complicated set of rules that we operate under here, so I ask you to tune in to "Quest for the Ultimate Burger" for all the news on our progress.

Gala...schmala!!!

I must qualify this whole post by first saying, I am not gay, I just am a sucker for the Olympics. It doesn’t matter if the sport is baseball or gymnastics, I am a sucker for it all and so I watch.
Ok, now that I have that out of the way, I am seriously ticked because of the supposed “Gymnastics Gala” that was on last night. I know, I know, it is gymnastics, but just stay with me. Anyway, it is supposed to be an exhibition where the medal winners get to show off what they can do. You know, stuff that they don’t want to risk in competition, or that they cannot because it is illegal. I saw nothing of the sort. First, Courtney Kupets did her same old floor routine that I have seen over and over since the Olympics started. Next, Carly Patterson did the same thing with her floor routine. Argh…I could do her routine now because I have seen it so much. Well, actually, I couldn’t, but I could teach it to someone. You know the old saying about those who can’t. No disrespect meant to teachers, I just know my limitations. Paul Hamm did his high bar routine and he didn’t do the same one he had been doing the whole competition. He did even less!!! How lame!!! Where is the show boating?? I want to see what these guys and girls can do and then I want them to taunt the crowd!!! Well, last night I got none of that. Next time, I will pass on the “Gymnastics Gala” and tune in to track and field where at least I can count on Justin Gatlin and Shawn Crawford to talk smack and taunt the crowd.

And yet another project!!

Check out our deck!! Hopefully it will be finished in 2 weeks. I would shoot for next weekend, but we will be on the Quest for the Ultimate Burger!! Don' forget to donate.

Nice Weekend

This weekend was rather uneventful for a change. I spent most of the day on Saturday working on the computer. Since I have been working on the house for the last few months, the computer work has been piling up. I did my best to catch up, but was unsuccessful. At least Melinda's PC is fixed now.
Saturday night was off road night on Boston Blvd. Brian, Billy and Rich stopped over to ride dirt bikes and 4-wheelers. We rode until dark and had a blast. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, stop by and see our trail that we made.
Sunday was relaxing for the most part. After church, we ran to Home Depot for a chainsaw and then watched some of the Olympics. Sunday evening, Brian and I put up the first wall at the tree fort. Rather boring, but this is the life I lead. Every day can't be a quest for the ultimate burger day.

Quest for the Ultimate Burger

Just a quick note about something coming soon to a blog near you. Just remember that you heard it first right here. In the coming weeks, check out http://ultimateburger.blogspot.com/ for info on the upcoming road trip to Pennsylvania to break a world record and eat a 6lb. hamburger at Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub. No one has eaten this monstrosity…yet. So check it out, and check their website out because in the next month or two, they will be updating their website with the names of our special hamburger forces team. Never again will they be able to say that no one has eaten their burger.

My Official Response

In recent days, it has been brought to my attention that some family members have been talking trash about my repeated promises to update the Maclachlan Family website. I thought that I could turn a blind eye to the comments, but alas, I cannot. To all of you wonderful citizens of the MacLachlan family, I say to you, I am sor….err…hey, GET OFF MY BACK!! Building tree forts and planting grass takes time! Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I have a promise to make as the MacLachlan Family.com commander and chief. On August 12, 2004, check our wonderful website because before you all, I hereby promise an update by that time. MacLachlan…Out!!!

Tree Fort Monster

Building a tree fort for the kids has taken a little longer than expected. I had assumed that it would be done by now. You just can’t build something like this without it turning into some kind of grand construction project for the ages.
Really, building a tree fort is not much different from constructing a bridge or a building. You see, it is always bigger and more costly than you think. You will always run into unforeseen problems. Finally, there is much satisfaction when the project is done.
Our tree fort is no exception. It started out as a simple platform, but you can’t have a group of men building the thing without it growing into a project deserving several permits. Anyway, we have renovated the old floor and added more floor space. We also added a lower level and are discussing the addition of an upper level. Now, I know that I have been promising pictures for a while, but they are coming soon!

Random thoughts on my weekend.

Ok, so I haven’t posted in a few days, so I have a couple of things on my mind. Anyway, I present John’s thoughts, in no particular order.
Have I ever said that I love parties? This weekend was our house warming party, sponsored by Wayne Homes. They provided all the food and drink. Hey, they even provided a moonwalk for a few hours. If you missed it, sorry, but we had a great time.
I learned 2 things from the party this weekend. First, most people are scared of driveways if the homeowner doesn’t have a car parked in it. For those who missed it, I parked both of our cars across the street, so people could pull up in the driveway if they wanted. Well, out of all the people who showed up, Rob and my Dad were the only ones who parked in the driveway. Actually, a couple of people did park in the driveway after the 2 brave guys, but they made sure to park all the way down at the end.
The second thing I learned was that it doesn’t matter how long that you have a moonwalk in your yard, it is never long enough. Kids just love that thing, right Chad and Marie?
Stepping on nails is no fun. The kids and I decided to renovate an old tree fort at the back of our property and there is a lot of nail filled wood lying on the ground. Brian and I were helping the kids make their floor stronger and it was getting dark, so things on the ground were getting harder to see. Anyway, I stepped on a nail and put it into my big toe. I must say that I was a little disappointed that the pain from the rusty nail by no means fit the actual wound I acquired. The dumb puncture didn’t even bleed. Oh well, at least I have had a tetanus shot in the spring when I had my last accident.

The grass is growing!

It is official! We have new grass in our front yard. Yesterday evening, when I was mowing the lawn, I spotted little blades of grass in the part of the yard we hydroseeded last weekend. Then, this morning when I left for work, I could see whole green patches in the new area of the lawn! Wow, what a great feeling. The work is far from over though. This grass needs more tender loving care if it is to turn into a full fledged lawn.
By the way, I will have pictures soon for those who need to view the grass.

A cow? Huh?

Maybe this is becoming a weekly thing, but it seems like once a week, I read or hear something that makes me shake my head and ask what the..? This week’s story comes all the way from Cambodia and you can read it in its entirety here: http://wwrn.org/parse.php?idd=9503&c=80.
For those of you that don’t want to read the story, I give you the gist. Apparently there is a cow in Cambodia that is healing people with its tongue. She gives a couple of licks and you are healed. There are two caveats though. First, according to the cow’s owner, you must pay. You know, there is no free lunch, or lick in this case. Second, you must believe in the cow’s powers. Rumor has it that she can sense whether or not you believe and will not lick you if you doubt. Yeah, right.
Ok, my take on this whole thing. I seriously doubt that this cow has the power to heal anyone. It is all in the heads of those zany Cambodians. Maybe the cow has saliva like a dog. You know, it has healing enzymes. If you have a cut, the cow can lick it and you will heal faster. Ok…a little far fetched, but at least that is somewhat believable. If I have cancer and the cow licks me, there is no way that I am going to be cured. According to the owner, the cow wouldn’t lick me anyway, because I am a skeptic.
The owner says that he found out about the healing powers because the cow was licking his wife all the time and suddenly she was healed of an illness (which they never name) that they had spent a lot of money trying to cure. Let me just say that if this cow was licking my wife as much as this guy says it was licking his, I would have shot the cow.
Finally, the article says that the Cambodians are very superstitious. No, really?

Just call me Mr. Greenthumb.

If you haven’t noticed, it has been a few days since my last entry. Fear not, because I’m back and there is good reason for my lack of attention to the blog. This weekend, with the help of some family and friends, I planted grass on the side of my house. Geez, it was a huge job! The worst part about it is that I only planted a small part of my lawn. There is still the back yard and the other side yard. Oh well, I won’t worry about it right now because I am too busy looking at the accomplishment on the other side of the yard.
Melinda and I started raking the topsoil on Saturday morning and by 4pm, I was tired and had only finished a 20x15 foot spot. At that point, Billy and Gordie came by to help me rake the yard with the tractors. Now we were rolling. Melinda went to pick up the hydroseeder, which I had secured excellent rental terms for, but that is another story. Now we had all the pieces to spray hydroseed and it was only 5:30.
So, Melinda shows up with the hydroseeder, which was so large that it almost bottomed out the Durango. I guess I really underestimated the size of this thing. We got started filling the 500 gallon tank with hose water and took a break to eat. After dinner, we put in the first half of the hydroseed recipe and then added more water. It was kind of like baking a cake! Finally, we agitated the mixture. You have to make the seed mad, or they will not grow! We were now ready to spray our first 7500 sq ft.
Well, we only got half of the 7500 sq ft out of the first batch. Those guys at Michigan Rental either grossly overestimated the coverage of the batch, or Billy and I were laying it on really thick. By now, it was 8:00 and we were out of mulch. Since there was no place open to buy more mulch, we called it quits for the night.
Sunday morning, Melinda and I went back to Michigan Rental to buy more mulch. Our only problem was that we needed 300lbs, but they only had 150lbs to sell us. After a frantic search, we finally found the other 150lbs we needed in Highland. The only problem, they closed at noon and it was 10:30. So, I rushed Melinda and Emma to church and then drove out to Tool Time to get the mulch we so desperately needed. On the plus side, it cost about 1/3 of what the mulch at Michigan Rental cost. The moral of the story: visit Tool Time on Milford Rd. at M-59 for all your mulching needs. After racing back to church in time to hear Pastor Rod’s message and then stopping for lunch with the family at Red Lobster, Brian and I were back to baking a cake…err…mixing a batch of hydroseed. Wow, this is getting long. Ok, to finish up quickly, Brian and I mixed 2 more batches of hydro seed and finished planting the grass just in time for a Sunday night cookout. Check out the pictures of the hydroseed event at http://www.maclachlanfamily.com/. Coming soon. MacLachlan…Out!

You gotta love the smaller things in life.

In a day filled with entirely too much rain and craziness, I managed to let the small things impress me.  For example, my riding lawn mower hasn’t started in over a year and I was able to start it yesterday.  Yeah, I know, its no big deal, but it was great.  All I had to do was charge the battery and apply the choke a little.  You see, normally something like this would turn in to a huge problem and money would have to be spent to fix my ailing lawn mower, but not yesterday.    The whole thing didn’t end with the lawn mower though.  I submit example two.  Abbey (Golden Retriever) needs to visit the bathroom I call a yard several times a day.  On a normal sunny day, this is no big deal, but yesterday it rained ALL day!  For those of you that haven’t seen my yard, it has a lot of dirt in it and dirt, when it rains, turns to mud.  Mud on the bottom of Abbey’s feet is not good.  It creates a lot of problems when she comes in contact with the carpet.  Our solution to this problem has been to wipe her feet off before she comes inside.  I suppose that is easy enough, but last night when we got home, the last thing I wanted to deal with was Abbey’s paws.  So, I let out the dog and she did her business and then ran around a bit.  In my mind, I was thinking that her paws were going to be a big mess.  Ugh!  When Abbey decided she was done, she ran back to the door.  Next, she sat down and waited for me to clean her paws.  Well, what do you know, her paws weren’t really dirty.  How could this be?  She ran through the mud, but the paws weren’t dirty.  Without giving it too much thought, I wiped off her feet and let her in to the house.  Yup, it was the small things that mattered on this day.