Psycho Drivers

Aaarrrggghhh!

You know - I completely understand why 'Road Rage' exsists!!!

Saturday, I ran into a bunch of goober drivers that really, REALLY drove me nuts.

First, it started with following a friend out to a picnic and the road went up Lookout Mountain. Now, I'm from Colorado and LOVE mountain driving. But taking hairpin corners at 50 mph in a minivan is just silly.

Pet Peeve: Driving together in a 'convoy' with anther vehicle(s) - if I'm in the lead, they drop way, Way, WAY back. Or if I'm following the lead vehicle they blow through yellow lights or drive crazily speeding up or slowing down. Aye yai yai!!!

Ok - so we had our picnic and a wonderful afternoon. Then we hit a couple of Geocaches on the way home. Yeah baby!

So we tried to find one more cache and were unsuccessful. Gonna have to go back and find that one again. Then, trying to get back onto the highway, we missed the turn and headed down to another on-ramp to get on there. Well, we got right in the middle of a traffic jam in downtown Chattanooga due to a graduation.

Well, at an intersection we sat through 2 green light cycles because 4 stupid mooronic drivers pulled into the middle of the intersection then got stuck there, because they weren't paying attention to what was happening around them. Because of these 4 and the traffic ahead of them, no one in the intersection could move through 2 green light cycles. So at the next cycle where I got the green - a couple of them moved so since I was taking a left, there was room and I started to sneak through - and as I got in front of this lady, she realized she could move 1 1/2 foot and acted like she was gonna run into me, then jammed on her brakes and started 'gesturing' at me through her windshield.

Oh man - that got me HOT! HOT, HOT, HOT!!! I tried to roll the window down to holler at her and just tell her what a dumb nincompoop she was for blocking up the intersection. But I couldn't find the right button. So I pulled on through and we got on the interstate and headed towards home.

Then, because of more traffic - I had more merging problems with a couple of vehicles. Argh!!

Then back on a two land road, with a turn lane, someone stopped in front of me, in the driving lane to make a left, not even using the turn lane! THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE THERE FOR - THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT A TURN LANE!!! THAT'S WHAT THOSE CURVED ARROWS IN THOSE LANES ARE FOR!!!

Then, THEN following this big Chevy Blazer around a corner up a hill, they decide at the last minute to make a left, don't use the blinker, just jam on the brakes and turn, don't use the turn lane, don't even look ahead and almost run into an on-coming vehicle and veer back into our lane.

So I'm railing against the quality of drivers out there with each incident and Doreen is just laughing herself to death because of my antics in handling the actions of these poor quality drivers.

What, WHAT, WHAT is the matter with people when they get behind a steering wheel - they just get stupid? Very, VERY stupid?!!!!

I mean, I have problems with people like that on the truck, but it doesn't bother me as much - maybe becasue I've come to expect it out there - and it just takes me off guard when I'm in a little vehicle.

People have just become so incredibly inconsiderate while driving now-a-days. They cut you off, don't merge properly, don't give-way to let people in. Their are so many talking on the phone, they don't take the time to signal and use their blinkers or prepare for obstacles down the road. So many don't even prepare for an exit coming up and jump over 3 lanes in front of a bunch of people to try and make the exit ramp.

Man-o-man O man!!!

Psycho, psycho drivers.

Gym Girls

The latest Bubbie box we received had these two matching gym outfits that are absolutely perfect for the girls. It was very natural for them to strike this pose! They can't wait to start a gymnastics class this next fall.

Two Too Cute!!!

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

A week ago when Doreen was at softball practice with her friend Cheryl, I got together with Chery's husband Tracy and the girls, Tracy and I fired lots and lots of bullets at things that blew up...

...got 'hole-y', disentegrated, flew off the ground, looks like a block of swiss cheese and just generally had a lot of fun. The top photo is JP shooting my .12 gauge shotgun. The bottom she's help to fire a .357.

Sweet!

Daddy Coloring Seat

So on Wednesday this week, due to a flat tire on the trailer before we left, and an added backhaul in the middle of Ohio (We try to avoid going thru OH going to and from MI - We all run IN because we can run 65mph instead of the snail paced 55mph! **grin**), I didn't get home until 5a.
So part of my interaction with the girls was to be a comfy seat the girls could sit on and color with their crayons till their little hearts were content! I got to relax, snooze and generally enjoy myself! :)

Adventurers Sunday - Tennessee Aquarium

Last Sunday we had Adventurers Sunday taking the kids to the Tennessee Awuarium. Here Natalie is checking out a beautiful butterfly...





...and here Joelle has landed some odd looking creature she took home with her. We're in the undersea cave!

It was all a pretty fun day!

Fleet

Here's the fleet all in, cleaned up, loaded and resting ready to head out for another busy week of work!

Re-Connecting

So this weekend, we went to a campground, we've camped at a number of times with our old church family.

They were camping there, and we went up to spend the day with them. Hadn't in a while.

It was great re-connecting with some old friends. These are the people that were there before Joelle was born, many of them came to see us/her in the hospital, many of them we helped and worked beside in at the church and did a many great things together.

It was actually Doreen that was feeling this nostaliga after we had to split because it started raining pretty heavy! :)

But then later on, at home the girls and I were wrestling around and Doreen was playing her guitar singing a bunch of song from an old song book she got back in our Illinois days.

She played #134 "Less of Me" and #237 "Try a Little Kindness." Both those reminded me of a friend who LOVED to pick those songs at EVERY song-service then shoot me an evil littl grin. Then she played #93 "I'll Fly Away" which reminded me of a Pentecostal friend, who would sing in his rich bass voice SO incredibly loud every time we sang that song.

Re-connecting with friends and memories - Priceless!!!

Nice!

Fav Pop Song

So while I've been driving, I've been listening to channel 08 on my Sirius Satellite receiver radio. It's all 80's music all the time - NO commercials. Of course I listen to channel 120 - ESPN radio, channel 123 Sirius Speedway, channel 103 Blue Collar Comedy among many others.

Anyway, as I've been listening to a lot of the 80's stuff again, I have once again been reaffirmed of my favorite pop song ever.

Jefferson Starship "Nothing's gonna stop us now."

Love the song. Love it in the movie "Mannequin" just all around my favorite.

So - do you have a favorite pop song???

Thar She Blows

So yesterday, up in Northern Michigan, we had one drop left and we were headed to it when we heard a boom, pop, hssssssss in the truck.

The hsssss continued, but the truck was running ok. Then another boom and it started blowing billows of white smoke everywhere. (We could'a charged them for foggin out the mosquitoes for 'em I believe. *grin*).


So, we're on this little two lane road with no place to pull off. A couple minutes later we find a place, turn it off and whoose, black oil start blowing outta the stacks and lots of other place

Turns out we blew the turbo in the thing. It took about 2 1/2 hours for our cooridnator and garage mechanic to actually figure out what happened, find a shop and a rental truck for us. Then it took another 5 hours for it all to come together so we could swap tractors, hook up to the trailer and boogie for home.

Usually when I'm on this trip, I get home between 1 and 4 am Wednesday. This week - didn't get home until 11a.

Got a good nap while waiting for the rental though!

That experience wore me out and I'm just glad to be home. Gotta go back out tomorrow, (to NC) but hopefully, I'm praying for a mechanically sound truck!

What an experience! :)

Double Sore

Happy Mother's Day y'all - especially to ALL MOMS! Y'all are very, VERY special.

So today, for Mother's day, Doreen met with some other ladies to practice for their softball team. She's not played in years, but still has the moves. Although she is very sore from fielding, hitting and running. She'll get into softball shape soon. Sounds like they've got a pretty good ladies on the team.

While she was doing that, I was at a friends house with the girls. We ran out quickly to show a guy our pickup - pray he buys it - soon! :) Then back and got the guns out and carefully we shot a .22 target pistol, .357 revolver and a 12 gauge shotgun.

Basically we aireated his lawn. Yeah baby!

Afterwards, we ran a couple of errands, ate out at a yummy Mexican restaurant and did some goofing around in the afternoon. We put the girls to bed, watched and was very dissappointed with the restults of Survivor, now I'm blogging, gonna go make my lunch for tomorrow's trip - pack my bag and hit the sack!

It has been a Good, very, VERY good weekend!

The Pesters 2006

Which Bunny??? :)

which happy bunny are you?

you are the cute but psycho happy bunny. You adorable, but a little out there. It's alright, you might not have it all, but there are worse
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A Favorite Movie Line

Just recently I watched the movie by Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo & Mark Waters called, 'Just Like Heaven.' It's a great little movie.

It also has a line that is just the coolest.

"Look around you, OK? See this? This is the world. Join it. Stop swimming around
in your own mind. That is a dangerous neighborhood you should not go into alone."

That one cracks me up every time!

Oh - here's another one that is great. Pat Morita pulls it off perfectly in 'Karate Kid.'

"You uh walk uh highway. Walk left side safe, walk right side safe, walk uh middle get the squish, just like grape. You walk life, walk left side safe, walk uh right side safe, walk uh middle get squish just like grape. You must a find balance. Understand? Ush!"

A movie line, but yet a very, VERY good way to live a life!!!

I'll have to come up with some other movie lines that I love.

What's some of your favorite movie lines.

The Big "3-6"

So as of today, my life is over half over.

Well, the average life expectancy of a male in the USA is approx 70 years of age and today I turned 36, so I'm on the downhill side of life.

I'm hoping that by going downhill, it'll make a few things easier. Here's to hoping! :)

And I don't look at this all in a negative way, I've had a very full and good life. The best part is, I've still got years to go.

So here's to the next 35 years!

:)

Different Directions at the Same Time

Ok - so I had this really Odd thing today. (This is a true story by the way.) As I was driving from a stop in Sevierville, TN to Maryville, TN I was heading West, but driving on Hwy 411 South & 441 North. So basically I was going 3 different directions at the exact same time.

Can someone please explain that to me?

I can't wrap my mind around it! :) (Well, I can by understanding it's the Government that 'names' these roads and directions, and we ALL understand how confused they are!)

He, he, he!

Ghost Town

The year is over, graduation is finished and our bustling little town now has the feeling of a ghost town.

It was kinda odd driving through Collegedale on Friday and seeing the student parking lot almost vacant. Most of the cars are seniors and family visiting for graduation. But compared to how many are there during the season - empty! :)

We really love living here and it's interesting to see the flow of living in a University town. (Especially now we pretty much have to drive through it most places we go.)

Have a great weekend y'all!

Brave Girl

Today, Joelle had her 5 year old well child check.

Everything is in tip-top shape.

She even got 3 shots (vaccination boosters) and 1 hemoglobin finger prick and not a peep. She was a very, VERY brave little girl. All the nurses and Dr's in the area came by and mentioned they were impressed with how well she handled those shots.

In fact the nurse who did the 'deed' told Joelle, "you can come here anytime and give other little boys and girls instructions on how to be brave when I give them shots."

My youngest little girl watched the whole thing wide-eyed and told the staff that when she turned 5 she was going to come get her shots and be brave too!

It was precious and I'm a very, VERY proud daddy of my oldest little girl.

Exxon Chief Says He Understands Gas Woes - "B Friggin S"

Exxon Mobil chairman Rex Tillerson says oil companies do not get together and illegally manipulate oil prices. (HOW COME THEY ARE ALL THE SAME ALL THE TIME, OR AT LEAST WITHIN A PENNY OR TWO. MY EYE!!!)

He tells NBC's "Today" show that he understands gas prices are causing difficulties for people, but the alternative of no gas or long lines isn't attractive either. (UMMM - HOW ABOUT FAIR PRICES - THAT SOUNDS LIKE A PRETTY FAIR ALTERNATIVE.)

Tillerson pointed out that the price of oil is set on the open commodities market and the price at the pump eventually reflects that. (YEAH, PLUS THE HEFTY ADDITION THEY PUT ON FOR THEIR OWN POCKETS.)

Politicians and the public are looking for ways to deal with rising gas prices. (MAYBE GETTING THE GAS/OIL COMPANIES TO QUIT STICKIN' IT TOO US MIGHT WORK!!!)

Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas says the government must encourage alternate sources of energy besides oil. New Yorker Dominic Valente, the owner of a food distribution company, says he's passing on the costs to his customers, but adds they seem to understand. (YEAH, ALL COMPANIES ARE PASSING ALONG THE HIGHER COSTS TO TRANSPORT GOODS TO THE CUSTOMER - SO NOT ONLY DO WE GET STUCK AT THE PUMP, WE GET IT AGAIN FOR BUYING PRODUCTS THAT HAVE A HIGHER PRICE ON 'EM!)

Trucking companies are facing similar problems as they deliver their goods. (TELL ME ABOUT IT - I MEAN JUST A WEEK AGO I RAN 8,200 miles, DIVIDE THAT BY 6MPG, THAT'S 1367 GALLONS OF FUEL. TIMES $2.70 DOLLARS PER GALLON EQUALS JUST UNDER $3700 JUST FOR FUEL TO DO MY JOB.)

I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, I DON'T MIND ANY COMPANY MAKING A PROFIT, EVEN A GOOD PROFIT. BUT DOG-GONNE IT, DO THEY HAVE TO STICK IT TO US IN SUCH A SICKENING AND EXTREMELY UNFAIR TO SO MANY WAY??!!!!

NO THEY DON'T, BUT DO THEY CARE? AGAIN - NO!

THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR IS MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN PEOPLE.

SAD, SAD, SAD!

Stay at Home Mom's Salary Worth - $134,121

A full-time stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year if paid for all her work, an amount similar to a top U.S. ad executive, a marketing director or a judge, according to a study released Wednesday.

A mother who works outside the home would earn an extra $85,876 annually on top of her actual wages for the work she does at home, according to the study by Waltham, Massachusetts-based compensation experts Salary.com.

To reach the projected pay figures, the survey calculated the earning power of the 10 jobs respondents said most closely comprise a mother's role -- housekeeper, day-care teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive and psychologist.

"You can't put a dollar value on it. It's worth a lot more," said Kristen Krauss, 35, as she hurriedly packed her four children, all aged under 8, into a minivan in New York while searching frantically for her keys. "Just look at me."

Employed mothers reported spending on average 44 hours a week at their outside job and 49.8 hours at their home job, while the stay-at-home mother worked 91.6 hours a week, it showed.

An estimated 5.6 million women in the United States are stay-at-home mothers with children under age 15, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.

NOT 'JUST A MOM'

"It's good to acknowledge the job that's being done, and that it's not that these women are settling for 'just a mom,'" said Bill Coleman, senior vice president of compensation at Salary.com. "They are actually doing an awful lot."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 26 million women with children under age 18 work in the nation's paid labor force.

Both employed and stay-at-home mothers said the lowest-paying job of housekeeper was their most common role, with employed mothers working 7.2 hours a week as housekeeper and stay-at-home mothers working 22.1 hours in that role.

"Every husband I've ever spoken to said, 'I'm keeping my job. You keep yours.' It's a tough one," said Gillian Forrest, 39, a stay-at-home mother of 22-month-old Alex in New York. "I don't know if you could put a dollar amount on it but it would be nice to get something."

To compile its study, Salary.com surveyed about 400 mothers online over the last two months.

Salary.com offers a Web site (http://www.mom.salary.com) where mothers can calculate what they could be paid, based on how many children they have, where they live and other factors. The site will produce a printable document that looks like a paycheck, Coleman said.

"It's obviously not negotiable," he said.

On average, the mother who works outside the house earns a base pay of $62,798 for a 40-hour at-home work week and $23,078 in overtime; a stay-at-home mother earned a base pay of $45,697 and $88,424 in overtime, it said.

In a Salary.com study conducted last year, stay-at-home mothers earned $131,471. The potential earnings of mothers who work outside the home was not calculated in the previous study.

###

WISH I COULD AFFORD TO PAY MY WIFE THAT MUCH! :)

THANKS FOR BEING A GREAT AT-HOME MOM!!!