rollerblading in the middle of the main street which parents in the neighborhood use to take their kids to school in the morning….could you….would you….PLEASE GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE FRIGGIN’ ROAD SO CARS AND SUVs DON’T HAVE TO SWERVE AROUND YOU, CAUSING MANY NEAR MISSES AND MUCH FRUSTRATION?! I mean…it’s not like there’s not a nice, big wide bike path/sidewalk right next to the road.

Oh, I know…you look hot in your brand new roller blades and helmet and very tight rollerblading spandex pants…..and you wanted to be sure EVERYONE got a gander at your outfit and supreme skating style….whatever.

SOME people not only THINK it’s all about them….they act upon this thought to the detriment of many others. Jerk.

is that nobody seems to EVER eat or take a bio break. But they do seem to drink coffee here and there. So where does that coffee go if that is indeed what they are surviving on? And when do they shower? I mean, are these people supposed to be human, or……?

Anyway, I just think it’s weird. That’s all.

Oh, but they are, my friends. There I was, fully prepared to watch my favorite smut show…cheese and crackers and freshly poured glass of wine at the ready and Scytheboy sent off to work on his project…only to find….Desperate Housewives is friggin’ re-run!

Crap. Well, I’ve been taught by my Irish-Catholic family and the Air Force fighter pilot community that it is a sin to waste a perfectly good drink….so I drank…and watched my TiVo’d episode of Surface. You see…I pre-drink a little before Desperate Housewives. Always a good idea to pre-drink no matter what the circumstance. Surface was pretty good. But now….now…I have a full hour of more drinking (2nd glass poured) before I can watch a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy – and yes, Grey’s Anatomy is much better if you are a bit tipsy.

But wait…..they have an Iron Chef behind the scenes deal on Food Network. OK, I can deal with that. I’ll watch that until Grey’s Anatomy while I listen to Scytheboy who has now moved on to practicing his Sax. He’s learned the first few bars of “Soul Man” and the Pink Panther Theme by ear. He is very talented, if I do say so myself. A nice accompaniment to Iron Chef behind the scenes thingee. Love Iron Chef.

Later, I will listen to electric guitar practice while Grey’s Anatomy is on. But it’s all good. I’ll prob’ly be on by 3rd glass by then. Yeah, Grey’s Anatomy! Yeah, Patrick Dempsey! Yeah, Christina…my very honest, very loyal friend but not politically correct hero!

OK, gotta go watch the rest of the chef thingee. I may have to slice more cheese…I’m almost out. Buh-bye!

When you put on your bikini and it covers more of your rear than it did last year.

THAT (if you are a girl) is the definition of bliss, my friends.

I am very happy.

That is all.

I don’t think so. But apparently many parents in the Dallas ISD area do. I was watching the local news this morning while I was waiting for Scytheboy to get ready to go, and there was a quick segment about schools in the Dallas ISD moving kids in the 6th grade to middle school. Apparently, many parents went to the Board meeting last night and were up in arms over the whole thing. One parent was on camera saying, “Kids are not ready for such a highly charged emotional environment at this age. I mean…the people that are supposed to care the most about our children are stealing their childhood.” Or…something like that. But it’s pretty close, trust me.

Wait…what? “Stealing their childhoods”? They’re 11 and 12 for God’s sake! I have never heard of 6th graders NOT being in middle school. I mean…I was. I know some areas do junior high instead of middle school and that’s 7th and 8th grade…but the areas that have middle school usually start in 6th grade don’t they? Or…maybe I’m wrong.

What I’m trying to say is….I have a strong suspicion that it’s not the kids that aren’t ready for middle school….it’s the parents. These are probably the same parents that held their kids back a year before starting them in kindergarten because they “weren’t ready”. Whatever. They were ready. But the parents weren’t. I will admit that in a few extreme cases where the kids have been highly sheltered they might not be quite ready for kindergarten, but I believe that is the fault of the parents for not getting them ready more than anything else. Just my opinion…I’m not a psychologist or anything. I’m just a parent who through the years has seen some really good parenting and also some really bad parenting on the part of my son’s friends’ parents.

I can say from personal experience that our son was MORE than ready for middle school. There’s more freedom of choice, less coddling, and more expected of them in the way of academics, physical education and how they behave toward others and their teachers. I think sending them to middle school is a GOOD thing. Our son was miserable in elementary school, but he is thriving in middle school….in the 6th grade.

They are more than ready, my friends. More than ready. Not ready? Ridiculous.

“I’ll just wait right here, and that way I can get the first cookie.”
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Jack could see Freddy had already arrived at the squadron as he pulled into his marked space. Lt. Col. Jason “Jackknife” Diggs had been recently put on the pavement, and the white paint could clearly be seen by all. “Well, being a commander isn’t all bad,” he thought.

Freddy walked out the front door and down the steps. “Man, I’m so sorry about Janet telling Debra about our orders. I just assumed you had told her.”

“Oh, that’s okay. It’ll blow over. It’s just hard for all of us right now,” said Jack. They turned to walk up the steps, knowing that the plans they were about to start would rock a lot of worlds, and not in a good way. “I brought the coffee. Did you get the donuts?”

“Sure did,” said Freddy. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about that new kid, Tidwell.”

“You mean that cocky little son-of-a-bitch who took off alone with my Kate?”

Laughing, Freddy slapped Jack on the shoulder and said, “Yeah, Jack. That one. Hey listen. I was at Osan while he was at Kunsan. I never heard a bad word about the kid. In fact, he got Top Gun Dive Bomb for three months in a row. He’s a damn good stick, Jack.”

“Good to know. I still don’t want him anywhere near my daughter. And I’m serious here, Freddy.”

“You can’t keep her 17 forever, Jack. She’ll be 18 by the time we get back and then you’ll have to deal with this thing rationally if they still want to pursue a relationship.”

“Not while she’s still living under my roof, I don’t. She’ll still be in High School. Well, she should be, if we redeploy when they say we’re supposed to. But I don’t want to start talking like that now and jinx it.”

“I know what you mean. Let’s get started. We’ve got a lot to do before we spring this on the guys tomorrow.”

“No shit,” said Jack.

r

You’re all about raw power. You’re tough, you’re loud, and you don’t take crap from anyone. Leave finesse to the other cars, the ones eating your dust.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Here’s one for you. I know whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you feel strongly that your view is correct and that others need only be educated about the facts in order for them to see the light.

But guess what? According to a new study, researchers found that test subjects on both sides of the political aisle reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted, no matter what the researchers had to say. Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix.

The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making. Notably absent were any increases in activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most associated with reasoning.

I…am not….surprised. Are you?

Apparently, an eight year old boy shot a seven year old girl “accidentally” at a daycare center in Maryland.

Accidentally? Come ON, people! Let me say that I live in Texas and I do believe people should be able to own guns. Unfortunately, there is that segment of the population which is so ignorant of gun safety and/or neglectful of their kids that they just leave the things laying about the place for their kids to pick up, put them into their backpacks, and take them to school.

According to the story, the boy was simply playing with the gun and it went off by mistake and injured that poor little girl. I believe the parents should be charged with criminal negligence in this matter, or something along those lines.

How many more kids have to get hurt before people realize their actions (or inaction by not putting the gun away in this case) can cause others serious injury? Some people just should not be allowed to have kids.