Best Opening Line

I mentioned in yesterday's post that John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany" has one of the best opening lines I've ever read. If you've seen the movie Simon Birch, then you have heard this line spoken by Jim Carey of all people. Simon Birch was a miserable failure at converting this book to a movie though a decent movie on its own. Irving sold the rights to Owen Meany but asked them to change the character's name and the title of the film since it was so different from the book.
Opening line from memory; I apologize if the punctuation isn't correct:
"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice--not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."
The book does have some failings, Irving tends to side track on some political commentary via the narrator, John Wheelwright, but the overall story is worth reading.

Reread Again

I'm working my way back through some of my books. I have a fairly large selection but, I'm out of books to read for the moment so I picked up John Irving's Cider House Rules for probably the fourth time. Funny how a story reads differently when you are in a different part of your life. Irving rights some great tragic characters and I really like this book, A Prayer for Owen Meany (best opening line ever), Hotel New Hampshire, Widow for One Year.
Some of my friends and coworkers think I'm nuts for rereading books but a good book I've read in the past can seem like curling up with a good friend with good insight in the future.
Looking ahead on my reading, come fall I'll pick up the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan again http://www.tor.com/jordan/index.html. His usual schedule is a new book in the series every 2 years so there should be one in the spring. The schedule of his book writing has extended due to illness. The story line is so in depth that I lose track of too much in two years and always reread before the new book comes out.
I need some reading suggestions. I've recently read some mystery books and I've always been a fan of good fiction and science fiction. If you know of anything let me know. The good friends have been nice to visit over the past few weeks but after Cider House Rules I'll be ready for something new.

Accident Prone Update

The roommate did not actually break a bone in her knee. It turns out the radiologist who read her x-rays was a short bus rider. She had strained the MCL tendon last year and when you do that a calcium deposit tends to form where the MCL and the bone meet.
On the down side, she definitely messed her knee up. The doctor doesn't think she tore her MCL or ACL though she probably strained both. There is also a slight chance she tore the meniscus cartilage but that is a fairly easy fix. She has an MRI this week and a doctors appointment in 2 weeks so she will know more then. In the mean time it's physical therapy, ice and frustration for not being able to do what she likes.

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Mingle² - Online Dating

Dang, I may have to get more creative in the future...I thought for sure I'd at least be a PG

Say What?!

My friend, Gary, one of the best people I have met on this planet, had an amazing business opportunity present itself to him. Gary now has a fledgeling business selling shirts with outrageous sayings very inexpensively ($7.50 + S&H). Right now he is selling off the current stock. Then he has a notebook he has been adding to for years filled with some great sayings that he will slowly turn into new stock. Go check out his E-bay store. Warning: not all shirts are children appropriate, some make me laugh hard enough to shoot water out my nose though. Buy a shirt! Get a good laugh! Tell your friends! If you buy one from this link add the word ZEBRA into the comments. Every 5 ZEBRAS earns me a shirt!

Accident Prone

All additional repairs and major work on the house are now on hold for at least 6 weeks. Rachel, a.k.a. the roomie, a.k.a. the girl who fell off her bike and broke her nose a few months ago, stepped up into her booth at work (she powder coats metal) and broke a bone in here knee last Thursday. The step is tall and Rachel is not and something in her knee just didn't like the experience. So, she is in an immobilizer and on crutches and has an appointment with the specialist on Wednesday. Keep positive, healing thoughts for her. I'm praying the fracture is all that is wrong so she'll be up and mobile very soon.
Regardless, I'm still going to call her Hop-A-Long for quite awhile...

Repairs

The shed in my yard is like an extra room in the house with electricity, phone line, vent fan and loft. The original owners, our good friends, John and Mary, built the deck and shed. The shed was not just storage but also John's workshop so it is quite large. the loft space is great to store the camping supplies in the winter and the Christmas stuff in the summer. The workbench is handy, the shelving is great and the floor space allows for the bikes and lawn mower to be stored while I still have room to walk from one end to the other.
Our home was beautiful at the time John and Mary bought it and raised their kids in it. When they moved to Cincinnati, OH, they land leased it to someone who seemed nice. The land lease didn't work out. The person didn't pay on the lease, allowed the dogs to destroy the carpeting, ripped out a bathtub and water softener, the damage goes on and on. The land lease was withdrawn and the person was kicked out. Mary and John decided to sign the deed over to Tara instead of selling it to her. The damage was too great for them to feel right about selling. Since we have taken the place over we have done quite a bit of remodeling and still have quite a ways to go. The latest endeavor was the shed. The inside was fine, outside the concrete pylons on the right side were tilted significantly and I was beginning to fear the she would slide off into the house.
The roomie, Rachel, and I took a house jack and jacked the shed up off the pylons, discovered the front and back ones were tilted and the middle one had broken in half.
We then dug out the pylons.
Did I mention John is an engineer?
He builds things right. The pylons sunk over a foot into the ground. They were not meant to shift.
The shifted due to bad drainage.
My soil is full of rocks and roots.
It took a heck of a lot of work to get them dug out and leveled.
But in the end we prevailed and the shed is now sitting on beautifully squared and level concrete pylons.
I smile every time I look off the porch at them.
The entire time Rachel and I were working on the shed the cats were watching. Three cats in the window taking turns yelling at us for having the audacity to be outside, within their sight and not inside giving them attention. MEOW, MEEEWWW, PICMOW! It adds a bit of fun to the work when you know you have an audience. Even if it was a furry one.

Sunny Day

The maker of my clock radio had a twisted side, placing the snooze and off buttons side-by-side on the top. They even have the same feel to them so you have to remember your left from right when not yet awake. Today I must have confused them and hit the off button so I woke up late.
But I didn't panic.
Full night's sleep, waking up on my own, not to the sound of loud beeping, two kitties curled up beside me and sun light sneaking through the curtains. I actually had a relaxing morning.
My work is at a desk so coming in 45 minutes later than usual is not really an issue. I stayed a little later yesterday and I can do the same to day and I'll be on time and still get to enjoy the sunshine.
The late start actually made the day better. It's going to be a fabulous day.

Shipping Out

Tara's son, Robert has proudly served in the US Army National Guard. He spent close to two years in Kuwait and came home safe. He has been going to school and serving as part of the honor guard for military funerals. Two weeks before his service was up he was informed that due to a demand for more soldiers in Iraq Stop Loss was being inacted on him and he was being held in the National Guard for two more years.
Robert is currently with his unit in Texas going through dessert training to return to Iraq no later than the end of summer.
Regardless of your thoughts on the war and the US presence in the Middle East, please keep Robert, his battle buds and the other soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.

Semi Travels Part 4

We had two days in Florida and spent a wonderful afternoon on Delray Beach. Due to Subtropical storm Andrea, the waves were very high and surf was rough which meant no swimming. We did have fun dodging the waves by standing on the beach and waiting for them to come in. We weren't fast enough at one point and ended up drenched.

The surfers, of course, ignored the red flag warning and were excited to get in the water and ride the waves.
The parking on Delray Beach is limited to road-side parallel parking. We left the trailer at the hotel and bobtailed to the beach. We took two spaces and paid both meters. An older gentleman in a Delray Beach sheriff's golf cart pulled up and started off by telling us trucks aren't normally allowed to park there (meanwhile, he forgot to set the break on the golf cart and it rolled a short distance before coming to rest on the curb). Tara turned on the charm and he relented saying, since we took two spaces it should be safe for someone to pull out from behind us or in front of us since we'd only be there a couple hours.
From Delray, we went back and hooked up the trailer, worked our way across Florida (I had no idea there were large cattle farms in central Florida) and picked up 10,000 lbs of plastic lids that went to Evansville, Indiana. From Evansville to Hawsville, Ky to pick up 45,000 lbs of rolled paper Bright white Xerox that hadn't been cut and delivered to Washington Court, OH. From there, back to the yard then the homeward load.
Overall, it was a great week together. I saw quite a bit of the East Coast and learned a lot about truck driving. It is a hard and demanding job and most of the drivers do a great job at it.
One thing I heard over and over is the truck drivers wish that 4 wheelers (people in cars) would be more careful. A truck fully loaded can weigh up to 80,000 lbs which means it cannot stop on a dime. The brakes are mainly on the truck. If a car jumps in front of a truck and slams on the breaks, it is in danger of being run over. Most truck drivers will sacrifice themselves and their load to save the four wheeler but the whole thing is needless. Truckers are the lifeblood of North America. No trucks, no goods delivered to stores and businesses. When you see a truck driver, respect them and don't cut them off or slam on your breaks.

To my Alpha Phi Omega Brother

I joined Alpha Phi Omega in college. No, I am most certainly not a sorority chick. Alpha Phi Omega is a co-ed international service fraternity. Leadership through service. It was a great time with a great group of brothers.
I found out today, one of my brothers, Ed Dick, passed away two weeks ago from complications of liver failure. Ed was one of the bright people in my life, a lot of fun. During a regional conference in Louisville, KY one year we held a costume contest and 300+ lb Ed wore a nurses outfit (complete with skirt and hat). He didn't shave his face, legs or arms and stood there and said "Sponge Bath?" holding a sponge and basin. He won the contest by a landslide - way scarier than the monsters.
Ed, you were a great big brother and I hope you've gone on to a great party in the next life. Tonight is my evening to grieve, tomorrow I will go and party with the brothers as you requested. I hope you join us in spirit for awhile.

Here's to Alpha Phi Omega
Loyal Brothers we.
True to self and to each other
Firm in Loyalty
Daily working daily striving
Ever more to be
men (and women) of Alpha Phi Omega
Our Fraternity
Brothers clasp the hands of brothers,
Strong the circle we.
Ever mindful, ever serving
All Humanity.
Now we raise our grateful voices
In our song to thee
Men of Alpha Phi Omega
May we always be
ALPHA PHI OMEGA TIL THE DAY WE DIE! (and beyond)

We'll miss you Ed, God Speed.