Catching Up

Twitter is really eating into my intermittent blogging ideas. I suppose it’s that I figure it’s already ‘out there’ I don’t have to put anything ‘out here.’ So, I’m going to bullet some stuff to catch my trusty reader(s) up on what has been going on lately.

  • I’m not sure I’ve described my office here but it is a combination equipment store room/office. Oddly shaped with some of the walls being exterior walls. It has one vent that is approximately 6″ in diameter and I believe it is connected to the vent in the rest rooms. So, I keep it closed. In the summer it gets rain forest hot and the winter it gets arctic cold. I have done without the suit and tie at work and have been wearing a polo shirt. I am getting used to it.
  • My DirecTV was acting erratically last week and there was fear that we’d miss the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus 3-D movie on the Disney Channel on Saturday. When I called DirecTV the earliest time I could have gotten a service call was today. Not good. But the digital satellite gods smiled upon us and blessed us with uninterrupted ‘tween pop star goodness. And that was 2 hours that I can’t get back.
  • The Introvert/Extrovert family had a wonderful time being back in Montreat/Black Mountain, NC. Sigh, it was very nice catching up with that community. I miss it so.
  • The Elder Extroverted Holy One has an interview with a church that is located in the eastern part of Tennessee (vague enough?). I’m excited for her and the potential of this church.
  • The Young Extroverted One starts kindergarten in a couple of weeks!?!?!? Holy crap! We are so not ready for that and at the same time we are so ready for that.
  • Contemplating stuff to do to the house to make it look better is overwhelming. My head is going to explode.
  • I missed the Music City Brewer’s Festival this year due to me paying attention to publicity for it. Damn.
  • Caught a new show on the Planet Green network called “Off the Grid.” Chronicling the efforts of my man crush Les Stroud and his family to live off the grid in the Canadian wilderness. Nice.

Alright, carry on with your daily activities I am done.

Huh?!?…Wha?!?…Oh! Hey there!

Don’t sneak up on me like that!

Yeah, so, it’s been a while. I guess my Twitter account is seeing more action than this place. I need to work on that.

Here is something that has been on my mind lately (among lots of other things). They’ve just added a new channel to DirecTV called Planet Green. Which is pretty cool and they have some good shows which appeal to my moderately handy, mostly granola self. But it mostly just pisses me off.

Seeing these architect/developer/real estate agent/independently wealthy couples either building green or fixing up old houses green kinda makes me a little mad. I’ve always felt that being environmental (and I do mean mental) is only possible if you have the money to do it. We do what we can here in east Nashville. We recycle pretty much everything, we compost (even though we don’t have a garden)(this compost heap looks like Marjory, the trash heap from Fraggle Rock but not as matronly), compact fluorescent bulbs throughout the house, buying produce from our friends’ farm in Springfield (if anyone wants info on buying from Natural Fields Farm let me know!), etcetera, etcetera, yadda, yadda, yadda. I agree that every little bit helps but I also believe that it’s the big stuff that will make big differences.

Big differences like solar panels, wind turbines, a brand new house…the list goes on of what we can’t afford as normal human beings. It just seems like these people on Planet Green are doing it because it’s cool and they get to be on TV. I think it’s cool but I also think it’s very important. Why aren’t these planet saving things more affordable? If they were more people would probably be able to obtain them which means more people doing the green thing. Wouldn’t that make the planet green?

Alright, I’ve ranted long enough. At the moment I’m helping do my part by not driving to work…which I have to do…right now…sigh.

Super Stormy Tuesday

Crazy bad storms roared through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky last night. Luckily, those of us in the Nashville area seemed to fare the storm pretty well.  I stayed up late (after an exceptionally long day at work) tracking the storm activity instead of keeping up with the primary results and the Predator/Hurricanes game on Versus.

While I was at work I set up to record the hockey game on my DVR. DirecTV is so cool for adding that feature. I AM UNSTOPPABLE!!! Unless, of course it’s overridden by the ladies at the house.

I was watching the storm coverage on WTVF (don’t meteorologists take some sort of glee in dangerously active weather?) confident that I wouldn’t miss the game of two of my favorites going head-to-head.  All of a sudden right after the first super cell barreled through downtown they take a call from a former employee who is at the Sommet Center. As he is on the phone he describes the actions taken by the staff at the arena and mentions the outcome of the game!?! Hello? Gimme a spoiler alert warning for Pete’s sake! I know you’re stressed out but come on. . .

I suppose I’m the kind of guy that once he hears the outcome of a game that he is taping he no longer has interest in watching that game. Even if it turns out to be good contest. For me, it’s kind of like watching the movie ‘Titanic.’  I know the thing is going to sink so what’s the point?

I am Not Frightened by Some Ethereal, Supernatural Being

I have become a big fan of the show Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi Network. These two plumbers-by-day-ghost-hunters-by-night and their team are intriguing to me. I’m hooked on the possibility of maybe there being some footage of a glimpse of an apparition on video. I don’t know what it is about it but I’m addicted. My favorite episode is the St. Augustine Lighthouse. They all had some questionable personal experiences but seeing the footage and hearing the recordings has me a little convinced about otherworldly goings on.

Now they have a Ghost Hunters International show that airs on Wednesday nights. I thought it had some great potential especially with Europe’s history going a little farther back than ours. But I’ve been let down.  The two downers for me are Brian Harnois, whose most memorable quote is, “Did you see that?” and Barry Fitzgerald the drama queen of the show. And, yet, I still watch.  Now, I’m not saying I’d be spooked and see stuff or not want to continue a hunt but I wouldn’t do it in front of a camera to be shown on TV.

Lately, I’ve been checking out Paranormal State on A&E. I was slightly interested in the differences of their pseudo-scientific techniques between TAPS and PRS.  Other than being a little more dramatic it’s not too bad. But the Elder Extroverted Holy One and I were watching Paranormal State last night and they visited a woman and her husband who were experiencing hauntings in their condo that was once a schoolhouse. As Ryan was interviewing the woman I saw that she looked very familiar. All of a sudden it hit me! She’s on the GHI crew! What the heck?!? I’m not sure how one becomes a haunted victim to a haunted hunter but she’s done it. With tacky outfits to boot (ya gotta watch the show).

Other than having some spooky vibes at one point or another I’ve never really had a personal experience. That is until the EEHO and I were at our dear friend’s parents’ house in Black Mountain, NC. Their family is probably one of the oldest in the town. Sitting around their great room one night I smelled pipe smoke and then so did the EEHO and we both commented on it. My friend had said that they had a relative (I can’t remember which one) had long since passed but used to smoke a pipe. That was kind of neat . . . as long as it’s not in my house! I have enough problems dealing with the brown recluses!

The Young Extroverted One’s ‘Hockey Night in Nashville’*

The Young Extroverted One has gone to her first hockey game. Last week we had ‘YEO and Daddy Hockey Night’ on Tuesday. It was the Edmonton Oilers vs. the Nashville Predators but if you asked her she would just shove her stuffed Gnash in your face and tell you that she enjoyed the game.My highlights were sharing the sport that I love with my daughter and the Preds winning. Her highlight was actually seeing Gnash and having him wave at her every time he came out from the concourse to our particular vomitorium to do his bits during stoppages. Around the fourth sighting and frantic waving I do believe Gnash was starting to wear down. I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised to hear him say, “Kid! Leave me the ‘F’ alone! Sigh.” But he was gracious and his arm, I assume, got very tired.

Well played, Gnash. Well played!

YEO made it to almost seven minutes into the third period! I was expecting to leave earlier. But she was great, the game was great, some of the fans around us were annoying and a little dumb and Gnash was a gentleman sabre-tooth Tiger.

*First, I must beg forgiveness from my friends of the Canadien persuasion when I referenced ‘Hockey Night in Canada.’ Not having DirecTV and the Center Ice Package anymore I sure miss the CBC‘s beloved Saturday night games and mean no disrespect to that fine institution.