Minutes to Memories

#1: Our home computer died last night. We knew it was coming, but its still a bit of a blow. You just can't prepare yourself for these things - you think you're ready, but...

#2: My heart hasn't been in blogging recently, as has been apparent I'm sure.

So...

Don't expect to hear from me here for awhile. And when I return, it might be weekly instead of daily.

Just so's you know...

It's Dallas Cowboy night on Monday Night Football (well, for me - I guess it is also Buffalo Bills night for others), and I'm excited about the possibility of my favorite team moving to 5-0 on the season. At this point, only the Colts and the Patriots are undefeated, too, and I'm pretty happy to see my team mentioned in the same breath as those franchises.

My gut tells me that electing judges is a fundamentally bad idea, but such is the case in the State of Mississippi. The idea that judges should worry about popularity is simply problematic. Nonetheless, when Sharon Sigalas runs for another term as Youth Court Judge, I would go out of my way to campaign for her.

Judge Sigalas is so very good. She is also hilarious, funny enough to make for a great court television show, but the sad cases she deals with day after day aren't for public consumption. Child abuse and neglect is not for entertainment.

Jody, Hillary, and I had the opportunity to eat lunch at the judge's house today, along with other CASA volunteers. We had a wonderful lunch, with even better conversation. It was great fun hearing her stories, and it got even better when her husband (an attorney) came out and added to the mix. The two of them could keep anyone entertained for hours!

It was interesting to notice that, as is often the case in South Mississippi, the conversation ended up hovering around Hurricane Katrina. I wonder how long that will be the case?

Today was simply a great afternoon.

Enjoyed an all-church fish fry tonight. We had WAY too much food, but that's usually better than the alternative. I think we ended up with about twelve basketfuls left over.

It's "Cruisin' the Coast" week on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the biggest special event in the state of Mississippi. 2007 marks the 11th year for the classic car event, a spectacle that draws over 5,000 cars from 37 states, bringing with them about a $15 million boost to the local economy.

Ocean Springs is in full festival mode, having blocked off the downtown area for three consecutive days. I went down around lunchtime to take some pictures, and it RAINED and RAINED while I was down there. I still came away with a few pics, including the 1940 Chevy Sedan above. Later, my daughter and I went back together, and this time it was sunny and hot! I forgot my camera that time, so I'll have to settle for the picture above.

Here is a picture from the Gautier Convention Center today, where I worked a United Way event with our county CASA director, Frances. CASA is a family event for her, and her invaluable (and most impressive) daughter, Katie, was there as always to help her mom. They make quite a team.

Outside of that enjoyable event, today was sort of a dark, introspective sort of day. However, tonight I had a long, long, long, long, long talk with my wife, and it turned out to be one of our best talks of all time. Isn't this the way things are supposed to work? Turn to your closest friend for the support you need? It sure worked tonight, and the world is suddenly a brighter place.

107 days ago, I pledged to begin exercising again, and for proof that the age of miracles still exists, I am still keeping my pledge.

Admittedly, I’ve modified the practice a bit over that time period. Now, after listening to my jogging friends and my aging knees, I do my running three days a week. But I’ll quickly add that last week I reached my original goal of two miles each time I hit the road!

A secret to my success this time around involves timing. I’ve NEVER been a “first thing in the morning” athlete, and though exercising late at night sounds good in theory, it never worked out for me in practice. It was just so easy after a long day to talk myself out of it and go to bed. But getting up early, doing a little work, etcetera, then exercising after being up about an hour has worked out well for me. And I’m happy.

This morning, however, was a challenge. My wife switched hours with a friend at work, so I needed to take Hillary to school. Plus, my first court date as a CASA volunteer was this morning in Pascagoula, so I realized last evening that, if I would exercise today, it would be one of those “first thing in the morning” deals. And I hate those deals.

But I did it. I got up at 5:30am, ate a quick bowl of cereal, got dressed, and hit the road at 6am.

It is DARK at 6am around here!!! Nothing but dark skies, scattered stars, and a bright moon. And me.

And kids!!!

Sheesh, there were high school kids lining up at the bus stop at 6:07am today! In the stinkin’ dark!

After seeing the first gathering of kids, I continued my run, and soon was lost in thought. Thoughts like, “Why does my breathing pattern sound like I’m a heavy smoker?” Thoughts like that… And then, out of nowhere, like a scene out of an October Halloween movie, I passed by another couple of teenagers lined up in the dark for the school bus, looking like zombies with their floppy hair covering their eyes, silent in the early darkness.

It was pretty freaky.

I have a feeling I’d look like a zombie if I had to line up for a school bus in the dark, too, but still, I’d appreciate a warning or something.

I'm posting a wee bit earlier tonight in hopes of going to BED at a decent hour. No, I'm hoping to go to bed earlier than a decent hour. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by life right now and could use some rest.

My friend, John Dobbs, has a great question posed on his blog, one that I'd encourage people to discuss with him. At this point, I'm the one needing answers to it, too, and am in no position to offer constructive advice. So it's a two-for-one deal, help both of us out with an answer to being "Overwhelmed By Opportunity."

I had my first CASA home interview today, and I'm already going to be in court tomorrow morning. I'm in love with CASA, by the way.

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

Just for giggles: my word verification for this post is "idbrp"

Well, if you drink too much Coca-Cola at once, of course you would.

So I drop by the office this afternoon because… well, how do I put this nicely… well, I had to pee.

TMI I know, but anyhow…

First thing I notice is smoke billowing across the parking lot. With great reverence to the biological wonders of God, my personal needs were suddenly less important because, in case you haven’t heard, where there’s smoke there’s FIRE!

It didn’t take me long to discover a brush fire in the backyard of one of our business neighbors, but this was odd on two accounts:
(1) they are out of business and the building is vacant, and…
(2) no one was there.

I did a little wandering around following my discovery because wandering around is what you do in situations like this, and then I decide to call the realtor who has the place listed because I’m guessing she would be more concerned about this than anyone. She was. She thanked me and said she would call the fire department.

That’s good, I think. I didn’t want to be involved in case the neighbors are burning some brush and get mad at me.

So I go back to wandering around again, and I run into another neighbor. We talk, and I learn that the owners “had” been there that morning working on the building, so I’m starting to feel guilty right away. So I decide to go to the bathroom.

But, no.

I notice a lady walking up to the property, and my first thought is, “Oh, crap (sorry for the foul language), now I’m caught.” So, like the sad puppy I am, I go over to talk to her and admit my moral failings, but I get the distinct impression that this was not the owner, but the realtor (for one, she was a different race, and for two, she seemed to be wandering around like me).

Turns out it wasn’t the realtor, but someone who had just dropped by to check out the property for sale. Anyhoo, she enlisted me in an attempt to put out the fire.

So now I’m getting deeper in this.

Well, we start to fill up an abandoned cooler with water from a water hose when the real fire truck shows up. I happen to know one of the firemen, which was cool, but anyway, they put out the fire quickly. Most excitement they’ve had all day (and me, too).

So one of the other firemen comes up with a notebook and wants my name, address, and telephone number.

So I’m getting ratted out on this deal anyway!

Oh well, at least the story ends well. After all the water putting out the fire, I finally got the chance to go in and use the bathroom.

What is the moral of this story? Well, if you have to pee, and there's a fire in the backyard of an abandoned neighbor's business, and if you don't want to give your contact information to the fire department, well, instead of wandering around, just go extinguish the fire naturally.