worthless

Today has been a lost day. We are having an open house for Eric -- today is his last day. The day has mostly been a lost cause... No one is working, just hanging out. On the bright side, we did get the office cleaned up and put up displays of our work that we have been meaning to do for over two years.

Tomorrow, I take over!

D

cruisin' and bruisin'

I did it. I ordered a new bike. Not the Harley Crossbones Softtail that I have been looking at, but something a little cheaper. I went with the Navigator 2.0. Reviews indicate that I made the right decision. It has a lifetime warranty and all aluminum frame. It's time to get serious about losing 20 lbs for my class reunion.

Now for the bruisin'... I bought JD a new baseball bat yesterday. He wanted to try it out so we headed to the school for some batting practice. After about 45 minutes of pitching, the old man's arm felt like rubber, so I dropped side arm and gave him my best Dan Quisenberry fastball. It caught him just under his armpit, in the ribs and he went down hard. But to my amazement, there were no tears and he got up and climbed back in the batters box. I'm sure that will earn me father of the year!

D

Long Time

It's been a week since I last wrote. I haven't wrote since last Wednesday. In that time, I have been to Hutch, back to Salina, to Anaheim via Wichita to Dallas to Anaheim and back by the same route, then to Falls City, NE. Then tomorrow I go to Topeka. By my calculations I will have traveled over 4500 miles in a week when I return to Salina tomorrow afternoon. Disney was fun -- most of it was by myself. But I rode all the rides with no problem. All the popular rides have a ride for single riders so I managed to cut in line on almost every ride. I also dicovered a new beer at the bar in the Marriott -- Samual Smith's Oatmeal Stout. Very good beer. I was dicussing dark beers with the bartender, mentioned I was from Kansas during a story about the oatmeal stout that the micro-brew in Beaver serves. The bartender says "You're from Kansas, huh? Where? Coffeyville?" You could have picked me up off the floor -- I said, "How do you know of Coffeyville?" Turns out he had an uncle that used to live there. The world is small.

I also made the Salina Journal. Partial story here or full story on B5 of today's paper.

D

Whew!

I'm official. The President of Harris Enterprises introduced me to the staff today as the new president. The staff was shocked that Eric is leaving but excited about me being named president. The energy level was certainly higher. I picked up a new car over the weekend. While it is not in my possession yet, I am anxiously awaiting its arrival. The gas mileage will be better than my truck. I'll still have the truck, Kim and I will collectively own 16 tires attached to a truck, suv, car, and two motorcycles. The newest addition is a 1991 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight. It's a real chick-magnet, as long as you're trying to pick up grandmas! But it gets good gas mileage and the price was right -- FREE. It was my grandma's, now it's mine...until JD turns 16, then the grandma-chick-magnet is his!

D

Sunday, Sunday.

We made it back from Oklahoma. K was 35 minutes late for a birthday party, but made it none the less. JD lost his game today. Practice is supposed to be rough tomorrow. We came home to find Shep (our Bluegill) had eaten another fish while we were away, so off to Lakewood he went. Wonder how he'll do as the hunted instead of the hunter. Yesterday was rough, but made it through. We left about 10:00 last night to go to Darrel's. Thanks for all the kind words, both about my Grandma and on my promotion. Tomorrow the staff will find out. Wednesday I am going to the Publisher's Meeting at Harris to be formally introduced to the Harris Board. Thursday Kim and I fly to California. Jane will be on taxi duty. Wish her well if you see her!

D

el presidente

Today I interviewed for and was offered the position of President of MarketAide Services, Inc. The announcement will be made to the staff on Monday, so it is still hush hush until then!

Now I'm off to Oklahoma. What an up and down week!

D

Dee Day

Tomorrow (Friday) is Dee Day! I'll be able to share my secret soon.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words regarding my grandma's passing. It's been a rough day.

D

Mary Jane Harris : March 1, 1930 - April 9, 2008

Dad just called. Her time on this earth has passed. My last living grandparent died this evening after surgery. She was a remarkable lady. Caring for my papa from 1979 until his death in 1997 took a lot out of her. But through it all, she was a saint. I have many fond memories of her. Her red Torino. Spending all day at the nursing home where she worked. Phone calls, the many phone calls. One at two in the morning to tell me, "Wait Grandma, the tornado sirens are sounding...", "I know Dee, that's why I called." She loved to track the weather. The last conversation I had with her, she wanted to know how much rain we got. She was my final tie to Oklahoma -- besides uncles, aunts, and cousins. This is the end of an era. No more Thanksgivings, no more Chirstmases -- all of the constants from my childhood are gone. She's with papa now. She was scared about this surgery. I think she knew what was coming. She didn't want to go, but that is one thing we can't control. With her passing, there are relatives that I will probably never see again. Second cousins that took care of grandma, mowed her lawn, trimmed her trees. They loved her as much as I did, but they had the advantage of being closer. She will be missed. The kids took it hard. K immediately went to the photos, JD cried. He loved her. He was her only great-grandson. Kim was pregnant when papa died. We told her weeks after he passed. I think she held a special place in her heart for JD because of that. I will miss looking at her many pictures. She could tell you the name of almost anyone in those photos. Times like this always make you ask why. This week has been full of anxious moments. Now this. It makes you stop and think and pray and cry. My world is changing. I am no longer anyone's grandson. I'm lucky. I'm 38. Some people face that reality much earlier. I have been blessed.


I love you, Grandma!

D

Q: How do you drive a co-worker nuts?

A: Have closed door meetings. The one employee that thinks she needs to know what's going on because she thinks she is more important than she is will go nuts trying to figure out what is going on. I have been in atleast six closed door meetings today, and it's driving her crazy that I won't tell her what's up. I told her it was on a need to know basis and she doesn't need to know.

D

AHHHHH!

Most of you know that I am not a huge fan of flying! In a week, Kim and I are flying to Anaheim aboard American Airlines. While I can get beyond my fears, little issues raise the anxiety level. It seems American keeps cancelling flights, 850 today, so that they can correct problems with the wiring on it's MD80 jets. Although a spokesman for the airline says they are simply complying with FAA orders and the "saftey was never compromised". The short leg of the flight, Wichita to Dallas will be on an MD80, so as long as we can get to Dallas, we should be OK. I smell a road trip!

Big words

From time to time I will share the language arts skills on one of my co-workers. 
Today she injected this word into a conversation: 
Overhang -- meaning not feeling well after a night of partaking in too many alcoholic beverages. 
As in "The 3.2 flu is when you have an overhang." Direct quote, I swear. She was explaining what 3.2 flu is to another co-worker...

D

Heavy

No not me...

WOW! Six posts in one day. Kimmie doesn't do that many in a month!

I am watching Heavy Metal on VH1 Classic. It's an anthology of stories from the magazine Heavy Metal. Very bizarre, but entertaining. It's either this or fold clothes because Kim is at class.

On the exercise front, JD and I took Harley for a walk around Heusner Elementary. After we finished, I noticed a sign that said "No Walking Dogs in This Area or On School Property." Yet if my kids get permission, they can bring their dog for show and tell. Does that mean I have to carry her (Harley, not K) into the school?

Still waiting on the news? Just keep checking. As soon as I can I will let everyone in on my secret.

I've also spent the evening looking at dishwashers on line. The windfall I get from Dub-ya is going to get me a new one. The one we have now has shelves that are falling apart. I happen to know the the average life of a dishwasher is almost 10 years. I think I've had this one about 7 -- guess I shouldn't have bought the cheapest model Sears had.

I bought a new grill last week. It great! The Chargriller Duo. Side burner, gas grill, charcoal grill, and an option for a smoker box all in one -- it took me 4 hours to put the thing together, but it cooks a mean brat!

More blogging tomorrow, and who knows, maybe some news... but probably not! :-P

D

I'm a regular smorgasbord

According to this survey, my body would feed 14 cannibals. I even got a seal to prove it.

D

Pictogram to Live By...

Seems simple enough...

D

Beer Fear

Global warming is going to make my beer cost more? It's time to get serious about putting a stop to this crisis! How in the world will the bartenders at Paden's ever figure how much a pitcher is?

D

teaser...

BIG News coming later this week.
Stay tuned.
I will be glad when I can talk about it.
I was blind-sided yesterday and have leaked the news to some. 
Excited and Anxious. The anxiety is a real killer.
NO! Kim is not expecting.

D

blogging?

Today is Tuesday, April 8, 2008. Today Dee started his own blog.

Not sure why, but we'll see how it goes. Over there on the right, I will be keeping track of how much weight I lose before my class reunion.

I also want to use this space to vent about work. Today our accountant called in sick! I'm 99% sure she's just hung over from the game.

Here is a laugh-out-loud-how-stupid-are-these-people video from Family Feud on youtube... STUPID 

KU Fans in the office are driving me nuts. Memphis had KU by the balls and let them get away! Oh well, maybe KU will suck next year!

D