November 2004

11-30-4
Thanksgiving trip 2004
I thought I had planned my trip a little better this time. I was wrong. First of all, no matter how well you plan for it, flying on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving will NEVER go right! The flight was scheduled for 5:55p, connect in Atlanta and land in Pittsburgh at 9:30p. I got to JIA at 4:00. Early enough to sit there with a cup of coffee and relax; I didn't want to be one of those "late people". I cruised through security. They did want to look twice at my sack of change. When he opened it up and saw the deck of cards with it he just smiled and asked, "Poker money?" I guess to an x-ray machine a sack of pennies could look like shrapnel. I got to the gate and sat down. As more and more people came in it looked like I had the system beat. I just sat there in the seat with the best view, a cool drink and 10.7 days worth of music on my iPod. This is how we're supposed to travel, this is how it's supposed to work I thought. Then the flight delay went up. 7:00. OK, not too bad. It'll be cutting my connection in Atlanta close (8:00) but I can still make it if the gates are close. Anyone who ever went through Hartsfield Airport knows that the connecting flights are ALWAYS as far apart as they can make them...
Another delay, 7:20... 7:45...

I finally made it onto the plane at 8:00. They make the announcement to turn off all portable electronics until we reach 10,000 feet. I do as I'm told even though it's a bunch of bull. The flight attendant gets bitchy with me because I left my headphones plugged into my ears (I was planning to turn it back on after they announce it's OK). I told her it was off and she still got upset at me. I showed her the iPod and she said, "How do I know it's off?" I said, "You don't." She gave me a scowl and moved on. I already have a problem with this policy anyway and now I have a problem with her.

I refuse to believe that any yokel can walk into a Wal-Mart with $20, buy a Walkman, and crash a 767 by using it in-flight during take offs and landings! If these planes are really that sensitive, we've got bigger problems than we thought. I can see it now, the "terrorists" will all go out and buy CD players and get on a flight. When their synchronized watches all hit zero, they all turn on a Cat Stevens CD and down we go, right?! NO, I don't think so. 30 years ago unshielded RF interference may have been a problem but now they're just trying to piss me off. That's right, me. She got up that morning, looked over the flight itinerary, picked me out and said, "What can I do to really mess with him?" Bitch.

I had a cool conversation in flight with the guy next to me. I noticed he was reading a book written in Arabic and making notes in the margin. I was fascinated and kept watching him jot down notes in Arabic and English. He was a student and it was a book one of his professors wrote. I told him that I've never actually seen anyone write in Arabic and that and that I though it was cool. I asked him to translate a phrase from English to Arabic. He wrote it down for me. For all I knew it could have said, "This guy's a jackass and won't leave me alone", but I thought it was cool.

We land in Atlanta at 9:00. The guy at the gate (Gate A) is hollering out connection gate numbers. Pittsburgh, Gate E. Of course, as far as possible. Some guy asks me what gate he said for Pittsburgh, I tell him and off we go doing the mad dash through Hartsfield trying to make a flight that was scheduled to take off before we left the ground in Jacksonville. I guessed that it MIGHT be delayed... I guessed right. After running my fat little body as fast as I could go, Gate E27 tells us that our flight is still here and scheduled to leave at 10:20. An hour and a half to kill.

I went and sat in the sports bar. It was near impossible to find a seat but the waiter called me over to a table as people were leaving. The guy was pretty cool playing like he was a butler or something. I told him to bring me a double and he brought out a guy that looks just like me (sorry, couldn't resist). I downed it before he turned around and I ordered another. When he came back I ordered a chili-burger and another double. And another. When I was done, I told him to bring me a Beck's Dark, and a double. I knew that I could have bought 2 full bottles for the price I was paying but full bottles were not available to me at the time. I threw him a $20 tip and walked out. I still had an hour to kill but now I didn't care. I cleared a space on the floor and leaned up against the wall (with everybody else) and just zoned out listening to my music. I did get a little upset when I saw that all that running and sweating made the ink run on the Arabic writing that guy did for me. Now it's just a blue blur. Oh well.

Flight delayed until 10:40; I didn't care. Yet another delay, 11:00; I just smiled. My method worked!
The flight was so rough they didn't even bring out the drink service. I stopped caring about turbulence about my second flight that hit it. I figure there's nothing I can do to stop it and if we crash, so what. The only thing I can do about it is not get on the plane in the first place. I just sit there and realize that as soon as I strap myself in, whatever happens, happens. My fellow passengers apparently don't feel the same way. Panic and fear all throughout the plane while I just sit there with a smile, the alcohol may have helped too. I actually heard someone behind me throw up. I hadn't heard that on a plane before. A new first for me. Pretty soon the plane smelled of sweat, vomit and piss. What can you do? The only thing I keep thinking is I'm glad Teresa isn't on this flight, she'd probably never fly again. I swear when we landed the wing almost hit the runway.
We land in Pittsburg at 12:15. Jerry has been waiting on me since 10:30, so much for plans. 2 bottles of wine and a half bottle of ginger brandy later, we arrive at the house around 3:30am. I am succeeding in my aspirations of becoming a raging alcoholic...

I awoke the next morning to falling snow and the ground was already white. That's what I'm there for; the scenery. Beautiful. I really love the cold weather. We hunted, played poker and visited family and friends. We may have also done some more drinking somewhere in there too. The stories they tell up there get better every year.

When we visited Annabelle I went into the house and sat down while everyone else was still getting out of the truck. She was in the kitchen reaching for the stove and asked if I wanted a cup of coffee. Figuring she had some on the stove and wanting to sit and talk with her, I said I would. She turned around reached under the counter and pulled out the coffee maker. I told her not to go through the trouble that I thought she had some already made but she insisted. Of course, by the time the coffee was ready, all of us had cups with saucers, the milk was in a little pourer and there was a plate of cookies (pumpkin-raisin). Imagine 4 UGLY guys dressed in hunter orange and 1 refined lady sitting down to what amounts to "Allegheny Mountain High Tea".

They all poked fun at me as the "new modern hunter". Cell phone coverage is spotty at best and even then only on the main roads. Well we were out in the woods gun-in-hand and my cell phone rings. I answer it and I end up talking to Freddy for 10 minutes. (He thought I was still in town and wanted to know if I was going to the Slayer concert) No phone coverage at the house but I had 3 bars while I was deep in the woods. Go figure.

JR likes to run his dogs to get rabbits. This time we were in a long line, JR to my left with the dogs, little John to my right and Jerry beyond him. After a long wait, the dogs start yipping and I hear 2 shots and JR yell, "It's coming towards you!" Right about that time I saw it coming and raised up my shotgun. I got three shots out and the thing ran right past me. John got the final shot and I think the rabbit died of shock. I was wondering if maybe JR and I were shooting blanks because I've never seen a rabbit take an artillery barrage like that. Next time I'll use the 'Holy Hand-Grenade of Antioch'. Later on a neighbor asked if we got them all; I had to admit to him it was just one rabbit.

No one had a deer as of 1:00 Monday when I left for the airport to come home. No delays coming back and Thom picked me up at the airport right on time. 11:30 on a Monday night all because he insisted on picking up my truck from the airport so I didn't have to pay for parking. Isn't he the coolest?

11-23-4
I've got a new toy and everything else has stopped except my quest to put all my music on my new iPod. I'm not so sure it's going to fit. 40Gig is a lot of space but I'm already up to 12G and just under a quarter of the way through my collection. I need to start prioritizing my taste in music. Both Teresa and I already have our Christmas presents, her with her Dell and me with my iPod.

Tomorrow I leave for Pittsburgh. With all the excitement in the woods, Teresa wants me to stay on the porch so I don't get shot over a hunting dispute...
The van is getting overhauled today so Teresa and the girls will be safe on their trip to Atlanta.

With the new electronics, van repairs and plane tickets, we are officially tapped out for money... but very happy.

I've been neglecting the webpage this week. I did add a few pictures of Becca at Girl Scouts. I'll have a lot more to post when I get back.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

11-19-4
Dude, she got a Dell!
Teresa's computer was pronounced dead 3 years ago. Thom and I resurrected it and gave it a few more years on this Earth. It has been slowly bleeding to death since then. I've added additional hard drive space and memory but the processor just couldn't keep up. It was becoming increasingly impossible for her to do her data-entry work from home.

In secret, I prepared to order her a new computer for a Christmas present. Last Friday, not 2 days after I created the Dell account, the infernal machine quits on her again and she tells me that she forgoes all Christmas presents and only wants a new computer for Christmas. The wind was taken out of my sails because a new computer under the tree wouldn't really be a surprise anymore. I went in and clicked on "submit my order". It arrived 2 days later on Monday.

I immediately set it up and she was happy for 1 whole day until...
The next day, I asked a friend if he had a copy of some software I needed to load on her new machine. He told me he would bring it over the next day after work. When I got home he had already loaded it. The machine hasn't worked properly since. I only needed a specific program from the CD; he loaded the entire CD including previous versions of MS Outlook and Outlook Express. I could NOT get them back off the machine!
Every time you brought up any e-mail, the system crashed and every time I though I had it fixed, it crashed again. Brand new machine and you can't e-mail out of it.
After many, many, many hours playing around with adding and deleting programs in different orders, I THINK I have it fixed as of last night. 4 days of down time on her brand new machine but it's up now. (And MUCH nicer than mine. I can't get her to trade with me though)

The old machine is being recycled into Becca's computer. When I build my new monster machine (after the holidays) Becca will get the one I'm on now and Teresa's old P2/100Mhz-3G machine will finally be cannibalized and put to rest.

11-18-4
The phone rang last night and as I went to look at the caller ID, Becca called out, "It's for me Dad", picked up the phone and started talking to her friend from school.

Yet another milestone on the long road of getting older.

She had her Investiture ceremony at Girls Scouts on Monday. She really likes it and say's she'll stay in GS even though Mommy won't be the leader next year. Becca is the only one in her troop, maybe even the whole city that wears the little Brownie beanie hat. Cool! I remember my sister wore that beanie hat when she was in Brownies. No one wears them anymore. Teresa says that they even considered not making them anymore because kids think they look goofy and refuse to wear them. I think they look cool as part of the uniform. If I were a leader I'd MAKE the girls wear them and if they took them off I'd staple them to their heads. Maybe it's a good thing I'm not a leader huh?

11-8-4

Well, what can I say? I'm a damn dirty hippy and proud of it!
Just got back from AutumnMeet last night and I haven't come down yet.
I drove out there Monday night after a short work day and set up camp. There may have been "better" campsites available but if I'm camping, I want to be in the woods! By the time evening fell, some friends arrived and wanted to camp by me. I helped them set up their tent (in the dark) and by the next morning, we had established the unofficial staff-camp annex much to the chagrin of those that wanted all staff to camp together over by the RVs.

I spent Tuesday doing the shopping. This is my second time running the kitchen at the festival and my first time doing the shopping. I'm trying to take over every aspect of the kitchen from Dianne so she can go on to worry about bigger and better things. I think by the next event I'll have most of the kinks worked out and the kitchen will truly be mine. $1300 of groceries is difficult to fit into even the largest of pick-up trucks. It was funny dragging 3 "flatbeds" and 2 carts around 'Sam's', each of them so full that things were falling off of them constantly. On the way back I snuck over to my side of town to vote, getting in just before the polls closed. Early voting for me next time.

Wednesday I shopped some more and was able to convince Dianne that I could do it myself so she could stay on site. My plan is working, she is slowly beginning to let go of the kitchen.... Ughh! The closest place near us is Macclenny. They do not have a 'Sam's' or 'Home Depot' and their 'WalMart' is always missing the stuff we need so back into Jacksonville! I've got to be back to cook and serve dinner by 5:00 and as I leave my list just gets bigger and bigger because no one else wants to drive into town either. The pressure begins. I'm only now beginning to understand the chaos of trying to run around and care for everybody while still putting dinner on the table on time. I go nuts trying to do it for one week a year and my mother and my wife do this every day of their lives! I couldn't do it. I'd go insane.

After all is said and done, we did well and I couldn't have done it without such an outstanding crew of kitchen slaves this year. Bekka, Leprechaun (Shayla), Greenfox and Naked Tom were incredible. And as always, Scarlet and Zephyr were indispensable. Every meal was served on-time and they looked edible to me. I rarely get a chance to eat because I'm running around like a lunatic trying to make everything perfect. I've got some more ideas to improve the efficiency of the kitchen. The ones I implemented this year seem to have worked. Maybe we'll have the kitchen under control soon. Anyone who has any ideas on how to get rid of hordes of flies please e-mail me. I'm cooking and serving in an outdoor kitchen and I can't leave any food uncovered for even just a second. I'm guessing we fed around 90 people on average at each meal. Wade is guestimating 600 in attendance in March which means we'll be feeding around 250-300. Better get busy!

I was absolutely ecstatic to see my friends again. E-mail and phone calls just won't do. It was good to embrace them and talk for hours...
We came together to celebrate as our ancestors did and boy did we! We had a re-dedication of vows hand-fasting, an anniversary, 2 birthdays, 1 un-birthday and we said goodbye to a few friends that passed over since we came together last. And those are just the ones that I knew about.

Teresa and Becca each got their first tattoo. It's only henna but it's still a tattoo... Teresa got a butterfly on her ankle and Becca got a sun-burst around her belly button. I got a simple design on my wrist. It's fun but the lady that put it on was either new to it or had some lumps in the mixture. It got a little sloppy but still looks good. They'll wash away in a few weeks. Here at work, Paul still pretends he doesn't see it. I'm thinking about learning how to do it myself. Really get into and learning all the meanings of all the intricate designs from India/Morocco.

The dancing and drumming around the fire circle was incredible! The planets aligned and we had a collection of the greatest drummers in the country playing with us this weekend. Nighthawk, Cephlian, Freedom, Tabber, Migwell, Kelly, Talon, Panther and about a dozen other big names. Everyone just came together and the drumming was powerful. I sat there with Thom's little ashika and joined right in. I WILL have my djembe by March! Becca jumped in and danced around the fire like she had been there a thousand times before. She made me realize that it won't be long before she leaves the little girl behind and grows into a young woman. I'm not so sure daddy's ready for that. Sunrise, Sunset. Right?

Sure enough, Sunday came around and it was time to go. I knew I'd miss everybody again. To steal a line from festivals past, "I DON'T WANNA GO!!!!" At least this time it's only for a few months. PhoenixPhyre 2005 is right around the corner in March and I already can't wait!

Onward to December 2004 Back to Updates