Bills Blog

9/11/01 Never Forget

2010-09-10T16:11:00.002-04:00

Once again we have come to the anniversary of the attack on America. I see this date as a day of reverence and remembrance. This year we are seeing an attempt to build a mosque near the sight of ground zero. The Imam that is building this mosque claims it has nothing to do with the attack on 9/11, but will not move it. I believe that the location and the fact they want to dedicate it on the 10th anniversary of the attack is a slap in the face to America and the fallen Americans at ground Zero.
We are asked not to judge all Islamic people by the actions of a few radicals, yet

the Islamic world is threatening all Americans over one radical preacher that wants to burn a Koran in Florida. Our president and 99.9% of all Americans have denounced this action yet the peaceful religion of Islam threatens our people and country. I believe both the Imam and the Preacher have the right to do what they want but, if they were the men of God each claims to be they would do what is right.

We are still the greatest country in the world. Our current administration does not believe in the type of defence that made us the only remaining super power in the world. In the words of Ronald Reagan " Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same."

America is the protector of much of the world and financially support most of it. We are taken for granted mocked for our efforts. I don't care if we are respected out of need or fear but it is time we demand the respect we deserve. I know I am preaching to the choir but every once in a while I need to let it out.

Please take this day to remember all who have sacrificed for out freedom. God bless America and all who protect and defend it.

Still worken around the house

2010-06-18T19:11:00.007-04:00

We have finally finished working in the yard for now. Deb has some flowers and plants started.

Here is the upside down tomato planter we got this year. The one I made last year didn't work out so good. This one is going gang busters. Deb Planted some Basile, peppers, oregano and parsley in the top and it is growing like crazy.

We put stone around the fire pit and lawn shed also.

I have also made a new nest for the BIG GREEN EGG. It makes everything easier. and looks cool

I got my outdoor kitchen ready for Pops party.

Who knows where the cutting board came from? It has been waiting for this home for a long time. I got an ATV cover to keep it out of the weather.

See you all next weekend.

Back Home and working hard.

2010-05-16T08:15:00.006-04:00

I have been in Vegas for a trade show most of the week. I got home Friday morning about 5:15am. I slept for 3 hours and worked the rest of the day. Had a good trip and got some leads, I hope they turn in to sales.

What you see in the picture above is between 5 and 6 tons of river rock. Looks like allot. We had 17 1/2 tons delivered on Friday. Deb and I spread the other 11 or 12 tons on Saturday.

This is not as easy as it use to be. We started about 8:00am and made good time.

I started taking the wheel barrow to the farthest point first because I knew I would be whooped by the end.

Deb started helping me shovel after the second side of the house. She sould see me waring down. I would roll 5 or 6 loads out and she would spread it out. We started taking a break after every 5 loads or so.

We finished up about 2:00pm and got cleaned up and relaxed for a while. Next weekend we will attack the rest of the rock. Last evening we went over to Dan and LaFay's house for a big celebration. LaFay graduated from Mercer yesterday, They celebrate their 20th anniversary today and Ashley (LaFay's niece that has been living with them for the last 4 years) leaves for the Navy on Thursday.

Well we have been keeping busy what about everyone else. Y'All need to blog.

Keeping busy

2010-05-02T20:01:00.002-04:00

I've had a long and full weekend. The state trap shoot was this weekend at South River Gun Club. The club is located 2 miles from our house and even though I did not compete this year we had some friends that did stay with us. Friday Deb and I cooked salmon on the Big Green Egg for out guests. It was great!
Saturday I pressure washed the deck and patio to get ready to seal it in the near future. I then went to the gun club and watched the shoot. That evening our friends Roger and Christie took us out to dinner at Outback. It was good.
this morning (Sunday) I met my buddy John for breakfast and we went to Road Atlanta for the vintage car races. Had a great time and got a bunch of sun. Not bad for a weekend that was supposed to be raining both days.

Been a while.

2010-04-20T19:02:00.007-04:00

I know, it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog. I seem to be busy all the time but have nothing to talk about. Last weekend Deb and I went to the Indy car race at Barber Motor Sports park in Birmingham. We along with Dan, Lafaye, Larry and Connie have had this planned since November. I have not been to an Indy Car race in 10 years, so it was a treat for me. The funny thing was I pulled for Marco Andretti (Mario's grandson) because that is the only name I remember.

I have been to the Barber Museum several times but this is the first car race I've seen there. That place is beautiful. You park about 5 miles away and buses take you to the track. They have trams doing constant loops in the track so you can catch a ride anyplace.

On Saturday The GTP (Prototype) cars raced as well as the GT (Mustang, Camaro ect...) With the retro style on the mustangs and camaros it looked like the racing I remember.

Sunday the Indy Light and Indy cars ran. A lot of good racing and good times with good friends.
The green car is Danica Patrick. She did not have a very good day. She didn't even win the ladies division.

On the home front. We finally got electricity run to the garage out back. I now have to move tools and work benches to the back. One thing leads to another. Well that's it for know. See Ya!

I have been looking for something to blog about.

2010-02-13T07:46:00.015-05:00

As everyone knows we got snow. So I got out the camera and make a record it. Deb left on Thursday for Canada to babysit for her 2 nephews while Johnny and Laura head to the Caribbean for vacation. I will be heading up next Friday for about 5days. I'm looking forward to it.

I like the way our place looks in the snow. Probably because we don't see it very often. Some of the pic's were from about 5:00pm yesterday and the rest from about 7:00am today.

This tree is the one I show in the fall because it has great color. now it looks cool in the snow.

This is along the side of our yard. It blocks our view of the neighbors house. I was happy to see no broken branches.

Looking up our street you can see a good number of cars have passed last night, and now it is very slick.

That is the fire pit out back. As you can see on the deck we got 3 1/2 to 4 inches.

That is the BGE hard at work. I knew I would be here all day, so yesterday I decided to do a small pork roast. I put it on at 11:00 pm last night and have had it going @250 degrees and plan to keep it going till about 3:00pm. As I sit here looking at my remote wireless digital thermometer the internal temp is 181 Degrees. Anyone that wants to head this way, dinner is at 5:00.

I have to head to Savannah on Sunday. I have meetings Sunday evening and Monday. I will be in Folkston Ga. (A suburb of Jacksonville) on Tuesday then home to get ready for my trip. Got a lot going on but all in all, It is good to be me.

Annual Realfoot Duck Hunt.

2010-01-07T13:10:00.006-05:00

This is an unbelievable way to see the sun rise. This was my 6th year to go on this trip to Realfoot between Christmas and new years. My friends, Tommy, Von and Johnny and I took the trip on December 26th and were joined for the 3rd time by Steve. This year we had Chris come over for 2 of out 3 day trip.

The boat ride to the blind is always a treat. the picture above is the trip back in, but you can see how everyone is bundled up. When we head out to the blind it is 5:30 am and about 20%. The boats have no permanent lights on them, not even the green and red markers that are required by law. The guide has a large handheld spotlight that he turns on for about 10 seconds at a time to line up on reflective markers. The lake is only about 6 feet deep and full of stumps. When he is lined up on the markers all lights go out and they floor the gas. You are headed in to total dark at 45 to 5o miles an hour.

Every once in a while the spotlight goes on and the boat turns. the next thing you know you are still at full blast in a narrow channel.It is crazy. As you so deeper in the channel it gets narrow and they slow down.

Once they see trees fallen across the path everyone gets up front so the boat just slides over the blockage.

Realfoot is an eagle sanctuary, and they are every ware. This one was hanging out in a tree next to our blind. At one point we shot a duck and an eagle came down and took it away before we could get it. (Our National Symbol on Welfare)

As I said earlier it was cold. Here is Chris and Steve covered up from the wind.

This is the blind we were in for the first 2 days. The boat goes in a carport like place on the back.

This is where we stand to look and shoot. The black mats behind us hold the heat in the back of the blind.

Here is the back of the blind. See the heater on the wall. The Door leads to the boat port. That is a full size stove in the back. We get 2 meals a day in the blind.

Here is my new screen saver. This is what reminds me of how good life is.

BIG GREEN EGG NEWS.

To day I go for BGE101 cooking class. Last night I did salmon on a cedar plank and it was great.

Extravaganza Blog

2009-12-22T17:16:00.009-05:00

The annual Christmas extravaganza is history. I tried to give people time to blog, but nothing. Katie, I will fill you in.

All the usual suspects were in attendance. We gathered about 1:00 and visited for a while. Once we were settled in, dinner was served. As usual we had more food than we needed, and all of it was outstanding.

After the meal, we were all ready for the presents that were calling to us. It is good to see that Santa's helpers are getting younger each year.

Now the biggest present in the room to be opened had my name on it. Turns out everyone in the room, and others, were in on this. I have wanted a BIG GREEN EGG for a long time and my personal Santa made it happen.

As usual Mom and Dad were the last to open there presents. Looks like they were well taken care of. I think all of us were. We wish you, Bryan and Maddy could have been with us but life sometimes gets in the way. We always have next year.

Now the real EGGstravaganza

HO HO HO that was Eggstreamly funny.

Great Day.

2009-11-15T19:45:00.007-05:00

The weather was great for getting out and enjoying. I got a call from our friends Dan and LaFaye this week. LaFaye is taking some classes and has been so busy we have not gotten together in some time. We decided to go riding. We called Tim and Terri Collins and Larry and Connie Collett and headed out.

Dan heard that Kennasaw State University has a part of the Berlin Wall on display so we headed to see it. Turns out General Lucius Clay engineered the Berlin airlift in 1948. His grand son Senator Chuck Clay was asked to go to Germany for a remembrance of the General. He was expecting a plaque and was given this.

I guess he has no place to keep it.

Next we headed up to Cartersville to the Booth Western Art Museum. Relay cool place with some great cowboy art. This place has a reciprocal agreement with the Smithsonian. You are not allowed to take pictures inside but it has some great bronzes out side.

We got home about 6:00pm just before the dark and cold. What a good day.

Catching up.

2009-11-10T12:22:00.002-05:00

Been wanting to blog but haven't made time. Since the last blog I went to Vegas for a trade show. Allot of people but no real leads. Work is still slow but we have a few things going on.

This past weekend Deb's family came in for a get together. They did a Low Country Boil. They also did crab legs. Everything was great. I was back and forth to Heflin Alabama all weekend to do an AKC hunt test. We had great weather, and a large turn out. 40 dogs were tested each day. I had the best time of all, hunt birds all day and come home to a great dinner. (What a life)

We are getting quotes on replacing our Heat Pump. It is 17 years old, and given us very little problems but we know it will not last foe ever. The electric company did an audit for us and think we will lower our bill by 40 to 60%. That will make it worth wile alone. I will keep you all up on the project.

That's it for now, I'm at lunch and saw KT's blog and felt guilty.

Mom's Party

2009-10-08T15:02:00.007-04:00

I have decided to use Sue's idea, lots of pictures and few words.

Friday was a reunion night
All the girls were there

They just kept coming

waiting!!

It's OK, I'm with the band

Deuce of Cakes

Surprise!!!!

Remember Home Alone?

The Birthday Girl

Are we at Tybee?

Again, all the girls made it

THE END

The Great Smoky Mouintians

2009-09-29T11:11:00.009-04:00

We spent the last weekend in Pigeon Forge Tn. For Chris and April's 5Th anniversary. We had a great time. Deb and I picked up mom and dad about 8:00 on Friday morning and headed to the mountains. I had planed to go up Hwy 129 threw Blairesville then up to Cherokee NC. and take Hwy 441 to Gatlinburg. With all the bad weather last week I decided to stick to the bigger road and took 985 to 441 in Clarksville, and stayed on 441 all the way. It was a good call and we got to Pigeon Forge 2 hours earlier than expected. We met Chris, April, Katie, Bryan and Maddy, Peg and Steve and got to spend some time before the cabin was ready.

The view from the cabin was spectacular. April's family arrived at the same time as we did and we all settled in. A bit later Kelly and Josh showed up, safe and sound.

Chris and Bryan cooked hot dogs for us for dinner. (notice the hot dog in my hitch. I can see Steve's finger prints from here.)

We woke up on Saturday to a heavy rain and a breakfast of home made biskets pork tender loin and gravy thanks to Aprils parents and grandmother. It was good.

Aprils family went in to Gatlinburg but the Shore side of the family decided to hang in the cabin. That evening we had the anniversary celebration and we were joined by some of April's family as well as Chris's college buddy Jason and his wife Brandy.

I think we all had fun watching TV, playing games or just hanging. On Sunday we woke to a beautiful morning and got ready to hit the road home. Our side of the event stopped for breakfast (thanks Pop) before going our separate ways, Thanks again Chris and April for including us in your celebration.

September 22nd

2009-09-22T14:13:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to my brother Jimmy and Happy Anniversary to Jimmy and Sue. One of the new status symbols in this country is a long marriage. You can not buy it, you have to earn it. Congratulations.

Never Forget

2009-09-11T17:29:00.004-04:00

9/11 by the Numbers

Total number killed in attack 2,819
Fire Fighters / Paramedics Killed 373
NYPD killed 23
Port Authority officers killed 37
Number of employees lost tower 1 1,396
Number of employees lost tower 2 614
Number Killed on Flight 93 40
Number killed in Pentagon 184
Number Killed on WTC air craft 152

The numbers speak for them self. Today I heard more about the man that called Obama a lyre and ACORN than I did about 9/11. This should be a day of reverence and reflection, not politics. I am not one who thinks this should be a national holiday. Americans tend to make national holidays as a day off and forget what they are all about, look at July 4th and Christmas. I think it is up to all of us to keep this day a raw memory. How many people under 50 can tell you about Pearl Harbor?

2009-08-30T11:11:00.010-04:00

I have been wanting to blog since last weekend but just haven't had time. I got a call from my buddy Larry Collette telling me he had use of a cabin in Blue Ridge Ga. and wanted to know if Dan and I wanted to take the bikes and go up with him. We have stayed in the cabin before and it is great so I told him to count me in.

Dan and I met up at 7:00 Saturday morning and headed north to have breakfast with Larry in Canton. We hit some rain in Atlanta but out ran it by the time we got to Marietta. Larry was waiting at Cracker Barrel and when we were finished we took a round-a-bout mountain ride to Blue Ridge. We got to the cabin at 11:00. We drooped off our clothes and groceries and took off. We headed north/west past the Olympic white water sight and found our way to Telico Plains Tn. The Cherahola Skyway starts here and is one of my favorite rides. Check out the pictures and you will see why I come here,

The Skyway goes east from here and in about 50 miles you wind up in Robbinsville NC. We picked up HWY 129 and headed back to Blue Ridge.

The cabin is a log cabin and most of the furniture is made of logs and branches. Check out the pictures and you can see why I come here.

Larry did the shopping, I think he did well. Can you see why I come here?

We ate dinner on the back deck, it is hanging over the Toccoa River.

We had a few drinks, relaxed and hit the sack. This is my sack, see why I come here"

In the morning Dan and I headed south/east threw Suches, Dalonega, and home. Larry went west to meet his wife on her motorcycle and spend the day riding.

Great weekend, great ride, Great friends.

2009-08-10T11:02:00.002-04:00

Haven't had much to blog about lately, so I just wanted to let everyone know Deb and I are doing well. We have both been working a bunch, and Deb has been out of town some. She took her mom up to Tennessee when she got home from Canada and called on a customer up there. Too weeks later she went to a family reunion in Louisiana.

It has been to hot to ride the motorcycle so I have been working around house and relaxing. I pressure washed and sealed the deck two weeks ago and took my grill apart to clean and replace some parts this weekend.

Like I said not much going on, we are looking forward to seeing Katie, Bryan amd Maddy next week. Talk to you all soon, Bill

2009-07-08T17:45:00.010-04:00

I guess it's my turn to blog about the 4Th of July. I took off last Thursday and deb and I headed out about 8:00am to run some errands. After the errands we got to mom and dad's house about 9:30 and on the road by 10:00. We took I 85 to Greenville and picked up Deb's niece, Sydney. Syd is heading to Canada for the summer so we got to spend a few days with her before she flew out. We got to Peg and Steve's about 3:30 or so and just relaxed the rest of the day.Some games were played and some baseball was watched. Friday the weather was great, the deck is in the shade and was the perfect place to hang out.Steve cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and we watched the Braves. Saturdays weather was just as good and everyone basically hung out all day. It was great to have Mike, Michelle and the girls with us. All three girls Hannah, Heather and Sydney are all big readers, so when they were not playing games with grand mom and aunt Debo they were scattered around the house with books. Steve put a pork shoulder and a bunch of ribs on the smoker in the morning and let them go all day. After the feast we watched the NASCAR race out on the deck. then came the fire works. Steve had a nice selection that would have awed the crowd until the neighbor broke out the professional set. just one of those things was 2 feet high and 12 inched across. Thay were wild.

On Sunday we headed home. After dropping off mom and pop we made a stop at Sam's for some grocery's then home to get ready for another work week.

An other Weekend

2009-06-14T10:03:00.009-04:00

Another weekend and I have a lot going on. Dan and I went on another Patriot Guard Ride. Three members of the Georgia National Guard were killed in Afghanistan last week. They were only in country for 20 days when they hit an improvised explosive device. A fire fight ensued and 3 lives were lost.

We went to the funeral of Sergeant John Beale. Sergeant Beale lived in McDonough with his wife and 2 children. His body came home last Thursday, his son’s 13th birthday. One of the neat things I saw at the church was when the family limo came up to the door it was flanked be 2 State Patrol motorcycles and 4 Patriot Guard bikes. The bike in front of the limo has the 13 year old son on it. The PGR had a good showing, 140 members showed up to honor the family. This was the largest procession I have ever seen. Not counting the PGR motorcycles It took 35 minutes from the time the first vehicle left for the cemetery till the last one got out of the church parking lot.

It was 22 miles to the cemetery and every car in both directions stopped and most of the people got out and stood at attention. Hundreds of veterans stood saluting in front of their homes and subdivisions. Every police and fire man in every jurisdiction we went thru were along the road to pay respect. The city of Lovejoy has 2 ladder trucks with an American flag across the road. This all tells me that AMERICA STILL CARES.
I would invite any of you to join me or Steve on a PGR mission. You do not have to be on a motorcycle to participate.

After the ride Dan and I went to Peachtree City to see a C130 storm chaser that was on display. The line was very long so we did not go in but we spent some time with the load master and got some great info.

The picture below is a probe they drop in a hurricane out the bottom of the plane, and it has a parachute to get weather info. ( I was told if the Russians got a hold of this picture they could play havoc with our weather for years to come,so do not pass this on.) Hay Bryan, This a modified J model (Early J model)

All in all I had a good day. I got some sun and shed some tears, but it was good.

New Car

2009-05-30T19:31:00.004-04:00

Well I found a new vehicle. It is a 2005 Kia Sorento. I had never thought about a Kia, but I needed a car for the wedding and the Sorento was the biggest one the rental company had. I really liked it and started to look in to them. The Sorento is rated very high by all the consumer magazines and web sites. I started looking for one and found quite a few in the price range I was looking. After looking at 4 or 5 I found this one in Gainesville. It has 45,000 miles, so I still have 15,000 on the warrantee. It has more options on it than anything I have ever had. All the normal power stuff plus a sun roof 4 wheel drive and remote start. It has 3 garage door openers built in the rearview mirror.
I think it will be a good car, and the best thing is it is not a Taurua.

I've Been Busy

2009-05-27T19:33:00.009-04:00

It has been a while since I blogged. We have been busy. On Friday the 15th I was on my way to the office and had a small accident. I hit a guy in the rear in traffic. My air-bag went off and the bumper was pushed in but with 137,000 miles it was totaled. I think I have bagged my limit on Taurus. ( or is it Tauri?) I have been looking for a new vehicle and actually found one today, but I will tell you about that in the next blog.

This past weekend was Micah’s wedding. The week leading up to it was full of stress but the events went early well. Deb, the bride and groom and I are the only locals in ether family so we invited everyone to the rehearsal dinner as a get to know each other. The biggest compliment we got all evening was when Christine’s grand father told us it felt like a family reunion not a meet and greet.

They were married at Holy Spirit Church on Northside. It was tough to find. Even people with GPS had trouble. Deb’s mom and dad almost missed it. Once they got there everything was great. The reception was at the Hyatt at Windy Hill. We danced and celebrated till midnight. All in all it was a perfect day. I have some of our pictures to share with you. I didn’t get any at the church because we were front and center but when we get the photographers shots I will share.

Enjoy

Micah and Christen

Up To Something!

Deb with Vergil and Mary, parents of the Bride

Barbara Money and Mildred Evans

Micah and John puton a dance clinic.

And finally the obligatory Y.M.C.A

2009-05-08T16:39:00.005-04:00

Just a quick bolg, last weekend I went on the ride for the Children’s Healthcare Network. I met Dan, John Franck and Larry Collett for breakfast at the IHOP on La Vista rd at 7:00am. We then headed to Stone Mtn Harley for the ride. It was an over cast day so not a lot of people showed up. At about 10:00 we took off on a circuitous route past 3 of the Children’s hospitals. It was a good ride for the most part, but as we were headed back to the Harley dealership one of the escort officers was hit by a car coming out of Stone Mountain Parl. He was stopped and rear ended. He was not seriously hurt and one of the new trauma ambulances that Wal-Mart donated was following the bikes so help was there literally in 2 minutes. They put him on a back board and took him in for a checkup. He was only bruised but not broken.

Dan and I went by the Honda dealer in Conyers after that. They had a stunt bike show going on. (quite a different crowd) That is when we saw this guy. Neck brace, stunt vest and German helmet, that is a “never say die” attitude. The Dan got a picture of Sergeant Schultz
“I KNOW NOTHING”

On Sunday morning I had to leave for a business trip to Tampa. I had meetings Sunday night and Monday. I worked my way home on Tuesday and was home for a late dinner. All in all another busy week ,but that is my life.

How can they do that?

2009-04-26T21:53:00.005-04:00

That is the question. How can they do that? Two weeks ago Deb and I went to Kohl’s to look for a black suit for me to ware at the wedding. I got a new suit, tie and belt for $127.00. I also got $20 in Kohl’s bucks to be spent in the next two weeks. Thought that was a great deal. The next weekend I took my Kohl’s bucks and went looking for some sneakers. I found the shoes you see in the picture. They were $59.99 on sale for $29.99. Holy cow. I give the cashier mc Kohl’s bucks and she tells me it is $25.83. I said they were on sale for $29.99(not sure how we got to $25.83) She said everything in the shoe department was an additional 15% off. She then deducted my $20 and I paid $5.83 for a $60.00 pair of shoes. How can they do that?

I spent Saturday morning working in the yard. I trimmed some trees cut back some undergrowth in the woods. Deb’s mom and sister came down to go to a funeral of an old neighbor so they went out Saturday afternoon. I took my motorcycle out for a ride and got home about 8:30. Today when the girls went to the funeral I met Dan and we went out to the Monroe airport to see the new skydiving place being set up. I took my camera and was practicing some shots.
Oh yah we also went to the radio control airport.

Another Weekend

2009-04-19T14:24:00.007-04:00

We spent this weekend just doing some things around the house. Friday evening I mowed the lawn so I didn’t have to do it on Saturday. When we got up on Saturday we went and had a bagel then did some errands. Deb needed some shoes to go with a new dress she got for the wedding and I needed some sneakers. That is a story for the next blog. (How Can They Do That) coming soon.

We stopped at the hardware store and I got some tomato plants. This year I thought I would try the upside down tomato planting thing. I made my own planter instead of buying one. I have seen the upside down with the plants coming out the side and some with the plant coming out the bottom. I decided to go out the side but think next time I would come out the bottom. I am worried that the weight of the plant may break the stem. Time will tell.

We also planted a couple of azaleas around the yard for some color sometime in the future. When we were finished we hopped on the bikes and rode to dinner. We wound up in Loganville and met my buddy John. We got home just before dark.
Steve called last night to let me know his deck was at the finally finished. I’m sure Peggie will tell that story, I just wanted to say good job. I know he spent a lot of time on it but he will get many more hours of enjoyment from it.

The weather is not supposed to be great so I fired up the smoker. I figured we would just be hanging around the house so I could keep an eye on it. I put a roast beef on it. I usually do pork roast but figured I would try something a little different. I will let you all know how it goes.
I took some pictures around the yard this morning and wanted to share them.

See you all later.

Starbucks Stinks

2009-04-16T12:20:00.003-04:00

Well not much going on with us for the last week or so. We did some work around the house on Saturday. On Sunday I did some work in the garage then Deb and I took the bikes for a ride. We wound up at Starbucks in Conyers. We go there because it is central to our friends and us. Our other coffee house we like is closed on Sunday. At one time the Starbucks in Conyers was the busiest in the state, but it is now over run by 14 to 17 year old kids who run around and scream constantly. We stopped in at 5:00pm Deb sat outside with some friends and I went in to order. I asked for a cup of decaf for Deb and was informed they did not have any made. I asked the fellow if he could make some and he informed me it was against corporate policy to make decaf after noon on Sunday. He did have some decaf “Café Americano” (espresso) I told him that was to strong and I passed on buying anything. About 10 minutes later he showed up at our table with a cup and said here you go a free cup of decaf. Deb took a sip and spit it out. All this kid did was take the Café Americano and water it down. A letter will go to the headquarters and ask about this policy.
Below is a link to the video of the bike wash I told you about. At the top of the page is a tab for the video. I hope this thing sells.

http://www.motoexpresswash.com/Home/tabid/290/Default.aspx

See you all later.

I'm Back

2009-04-06T19:41:00.005-04:00

I got home from Vegas Saturday evening. I flew in and out of Birmingham, so I could fly on Southwest airline. It was ½ the price of anything I found in Atlanta. This was my first flight on Southwest. They still treat you like a customer.

The first afternoon in Vegas was full of meetings with manufactures and venders. The show started on Thursday. Most of the manufactures were pulling back this year but Wash World, one of the companies I rep for, had 3 new wash machines including the motorcycle wash and stole the show.

The local Harley dealer heard about the wash and paid $230 to get in and see it. He likes it so much he brought 3 other dealers back. I will post a video when I get it. We did not have the crowds we have had in the past, but the people who came were serious buyers. We will see.

One of our venders took me out to dinner at the 4 Seasons hotel. People who can afford that place live in another world. It was beautiful.

Talk to you all soon.

I'm Back

2009-04-06T19:35:00.002-04:00

I got home from Vegas Saturday evening. I flew in and out of Birmingham so I could fly on Southwest airline. It was ½ the price of anything I found in Atlanta. This was my first flight on Southwest. They still treat you like a customer.
The first afternoon in Vegas was full of meetings with manufactures and venders. The show started on Thursday. Most of the manufactures were pulling back this year but Wash World, one of the companies I rep for, had 3 new wash machines including the motorcycle wash and stole the show.

Spring Time

2009-03-27T19:46:00.001-04:00

Seems like just the other day I posted a fall picture of the same trees. Only March and I have had to cut the lawn already. We have had rain for the last two days and more tomorrow. I am picking up an aerator in the morning and useing it on Sunday. I’ll hit the yard with some weed + feed then some seed and I’m done for a while.

I have a trade show in Las Vegas this week. It is the “Car Care Expo”. It is the biggest show we do each year. All the new and big things in our industry are shown here. One thing I know will be shown is an automatic wash for motorcycles. My company will be the distributor for it in Georgia. In this day and age we need all the new products we can get our hands on. I’ll talk to all of you next week.

Time to blog again

2009-03-22T13:41:00.008-04:00

We had a great time this weekend. Steve has been training Dixie and wanted to see if she could hunt quail. We had talked Chris about going for some time and since the season ends this month, we finally were all able to make it. Peg had plans at home so it was just going to be a guy’s weekend, but her friend could not make it and she came to spend some time with mom and pop. It worked out for everyone.
We got over to Circle W in Heflin Alabama about 8:00am Saturday. The fellow who runs the preserve did not have much faith in Dixie. Chris and I had no idea what to expect,

but Steve was sure she was ready. Dixie showed all of us she was a hunting dog. We were in a field that was between 15 and 20 acres and covered all of it and found the birds.

She may not have retrieved to hand but, she got them back to us from some very long distances. Steve was even able to call her back when we missed one. That is a real trick.

The weather was perfect in the high 50’s and low 60’s and that helped keep the dog going. Heat is one of the things that hurt a dog in the field.

When we were done Chris headed back to Tenn. and Steve and I came back to Covington. Mom and dad brought Peggie down and we all went to dinner. Like I said it was a great day.

This morning Peg and Steve headed to the Shores to visit then head home. Back to work in the morning.

PS. Steve took the pictures but I bloged first. Ha Ha Ha!!!!

I just need to Blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-04T07:56:00.002-05:00

I’m still here, Just have not had much going on to blog about. Last Thursday night we went and picked Johnny, Laura and the boys from the airport. They are headed to Mexico for Johnny’s 40th birthday.

The boys Nicholas

and Shane (AKA The Chunk)

are staying with us. Deb’s mom and sister came down to spend the week with the boys.

We also got the snow on Sunday. It started snowing about noon and kept going on very heavy till Nine thirty. We had a good 4 inches in the morning. Our thought was the boys will love the snow. They are from Canada... they are tired of the snow.

I had to go out of town on Monday. I spent the night on Columbus. They even had a few inches that far south. When I got home we still have some on the ground. That is the longest I remember snow hanging around.

2009-02-10T19:40:00.005-05:00

Had another great weekend, I was over at Circle W hunting preserve in Alabama for another AKC hunting test. As you can see from the picture the weather was perfect. We had about 20 dogs each day to hunt over so I got to shoot a ton of birds. This was the last test of the season but I was invited to shoot at a training seminar next month. I took my new camera and played around with some settings. Some came out good some not so good but I am learning. Here are a couple that came out pretty good.

Deb took out her bike and went for a ride with Dan and LaFaye. A good time was had by all.

See you guys soon.

He's Aliiiiiiive !!!!!

2009-02-03T18:23:00.002-05:00

The sign didn’t say it but I think it will be a live performance. I was driving through Walnut Grove and saw this, and just wanted to share the news.

Deb and I had a great weekend. We drove over to mom and dad’s house on Saturday morning so I could meet Steve. He and I went and picked up Jimmy and Aaron to go to a gun show in Gwinnett. Deb was going to go shopping for a dress for Micah and Christine’s wedding. After the show I called and she never left mom’s house. She and Peg just hung out with mom and pop. About 4:00 Debbie, dad and I headed to the hockey game. We met some friends there and had a good time. The Gladiators played terrible but managed to force overtime. We then lost in the first few minutes.

On Sunday we met up with Dan and LaFaye rode the motorcycles for a few hours. We did about 100 miles and were home before dark. This time of year, dark = Cold.

That is about all for now.

Home again, Home Again……….

2009-01-28T13:37:00.005-05:00

Deb and I spent the week end on New Orleans. I had to go to the NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) show for work. This is the place dealers go to see what is new and buy anything that they need in a dealership. This was a bad place to be if you were selling stuff (ME). Most years it is one of the biggest shows put on. This year GM had a booth with only 1 car from each division; Ford only had 4 cars in the booth. Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Nissan, VW and Audi did not even show. We were one of 3 car wash companies that came, out of the 20 that are usually there. 17,000 dealers are members of the NADA and only 2400 showed up. We got less than 50 leads in 4 days. That is for the entire country. Georgia got zero. I left the show a day early, no sense wasting another day.

Deb and had a good time in spite of the show. We drove down on Friday and got to the hotel about 3:30pm. We were about 1.5 miles from the French Quarter, so we walked over for dinner. We went to The Crescent City Brew House. This is my favorite restaurant in the city.

We found it with Peg and Steve and Mike and Michel when we were on our cruise. I have been a few more times when I’m on business. From there we walked over to Bourbon St. They are getting ready for Mardi Gras, and was fairly quiet. As we were walking I saw a court yard with the gate open and some great Dixieland music coming out. A 3 piece group (Base, Banjo and trumpet) were going to town. The trumpet player sang and sounded just like Leon Redbone. We stayed for about an hour, and then headed back to the hotel. When I was at the show on Saturday, Deb went to the Riverwalk and did some Christmas shopping. We met up after the show for dinner. My feet were killing me from being on them all day so we just walked to a place about 2 blocks away. The Sun Ray is a local place you have to look for but worth the hunt. On Sunday we got up early and ran over to Café Du Monde. This is one of Deb’s favorite places. Deb had some work to take care of while I was at the show so she just hung out till I was threw for the day. We found another great Cajun place, Mulats, for dinner. At 7:00 a band came out and made foe another outstanding evening.

I went to the show on Monday but by 11:00 I knew it would be dead so I made the decision to head home. I talked to some of the folks who stayed and things never did pick up, so I made a good call.

When My ankle did that I had to get it fixed.

That’s all for now, see you all later.

Just another blog

2009-01-18T18:39:00.006-05:00

I finally got something to blog about. Deb and I went to Kholes and got some decorations for the living room. Mom here is your Christmas money at work. On the floating shelves we have some of the knick knacks we have picked up over the years. One thing that I thought was cool is the hangers for the shelves have level bubbles built in to them.

We went to the movies today and saw “Grand Torino” with Clint Eastwood. It was very good, both of us thought it was outstanding. Not what I expected, but very well done. We give it 2 thumbs up.

I have to do a trade show in New Orleans at the end of the weekend, and Deb is going with me. We will drive down on Friday; the show is from 8:30 till 5:00 Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We will have the evenings to see the sights then drive home on Tuesday. That will give me another subject to blog about. Mike asked if I was going to visit the “Hotel in the Hood”. It just would not be the same with out Steve and the Essence Festival.
That’s all for now.

The Party's Over

2009-01-05T14:56:00.005-05:00

It has been a long couple of weeks. I saw all of you the Sunday before Christmas, and have been on the move ever since. We had a quiet Christmas with mom and dad at home. Deb and I love to have visitors. I headed out on the 26th for my annual duck hunting trip.
This is the 5th year for this trip and we always have a great time and enjoy the company. I have known Tommy (older fellow in the back) and Von (second from right) for 20 years. I met them shooting skeet. The other two Johnny (with beard) and Franck I met at AKC test and skeet shooting for 10 years. We stay in the Blue Bank resort on the banks of Real Foot Lake each year. We meet our guide at 5:00 each morning at the boat ramp and head out in the dark for our blind. We get to see the sunrise over the lake and enjoy every second of it.
This year our first day was 40 MPH winds and 3ft swells and no good for ducks. We did get a couple but that was just good shooting. (Wink, Wink) The second day was cool and beautiful. Our guides worked hard to call in the ducks and we bagged 8. Hunting ends at 3:00pm on Real Foot so we headed in and hit the road home.
I got home about 2:00am on Monday. Deb and I headed to Peg and Steve’s about 2:30 on Wednesday and rang in the New Year. We worked on the new deck for a couple of days and came home on Sunday. Now it is back to a full week of work and try to get back on a schedule.

See you guys later.

2008-12-30T13:50:00.008-05:00

Just wanted to drop a note before New Years, I have a few pictures to share with you all. On the Saturday before Christmas I went with Micah and met Mildred Evans for lunch. She is 80 now and still getting around good.

On Sunday,after we returned from the Towhey Christmas Extravaganza, we had Christmas with Deb’s niece, Sydney (13 years old now), and her mom and sister Katie. Everyone was well taken care of by Santa.

On Monday evening I put the window Peg made in the opening over our front door. It looks great.
On Christmas eve Micah and Christine came over for dinner and gifts, another fun time. I haven’t downloaded the pictures yet from that. (Sorry) Christmas day mom and dad came over for dinner. This was the most laid back holiday we have had in a long time.

On the 26th I left for a duck hunting trip. That will be the next blog. Deb and I are leaving for Peg’s house tomorrow to spend New Years and help Steve work on his new deck.

Happy New Years

Someone Had To Be First

2008-12-22T07:27:00.006-05:00

It is 6:00am on the 22nd of December. Deb just left to take Sydney to the airport so she can spend Christmas with her dad, step mom and 2 brothers.

Deb and I had a great time with everyone yesterday. This is what Christmas should be. As great as it was, I have to thank the first of all mom and dad for hosting the “EXTRAVIGANSA”. But for me the Shore / Williams family stole the day.

Katie thanks for sharing Maddy with all of us.

Chris and April, thanks for making the effort to make the trip. It is not always easy but I hope it was worth the trip.

Peg and Steve, you made the day for Debbie. She has been working hard to remodel the house and your gift will be the crowning touch. Everyone who comes to our home will see it, but only our family will know the love in the giving and receiving in this gift. As soon as I get it up I will post pictures.

I could go on but I need to let all of you have something to post.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.

Happy Birthday Peggie

2008-12-19T11:37:00.001-05:00

Just needed to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" See ya Sunday.

Book Challange

2008-12-14T12:26:00.000-05:00

He enjoyed her so much, and hated to see her leave. He smiled and the pretty young woman blushed.
“I really apologize” And then suddenly remembered she hadn’t introduced herself

That is page 56 lines 5, 6 and 7 from “Fine Things” by Danielle Steel. Deb’s mom left this book here and it was the closest book to me when I got the challenge.

Not much going on around here. Last weekend I shot in a AKC hunt test and had a good time. Deb and I went shopping Christmas yesterday, and today I am wrapping gifts and watching Dirty Jobs.

Life goes on.

Peg's Challange

2008-12-03T09:06:00.002-05:00

I guess it is my turn to answer Peg’s challenge.
It is hard to start this off and not pick how thankful we all are for this family. One time when Uncle Jack was visiting he and I were riding and I said I was glad we were lucky enough to have left New Jersey. Most of the kids we played with never graduated from high school. He told me that he believed you make your own luck. I agree with that but you need to have the moral and ethical base to make the choices in life.

When we were young I know dad was on the road a lot but, I never remember him missing anything that mattered. I did not think he was gone that much. Now that I spend time on the road I know that it seems like more time to me than the people at home. I also remember him taking jobs on the weekends with “Joe D” to bring in a little extra when needed. I thank him for the work ethic that all six of his children have.

Some of my friends use to tease me about being from the Cleaver family. That is a compliment to me and mom was the base of that. I never remember a dinner that the entire family was not at the table. We never ate in front of the TV. I can still hear, as plain as day, from the back step in Rancocas Heights “Jimmy, Peggie, Billy, Dennis time for dinner”. We could hear that from any place we were, and came running. Our house was always clean and in order. Six kids is a full time job. I remember mom having coffee ready for grand pop when he came home from working the night shift.

All six of us have made good choices as far as jobs and who we have chosen to spend our lives with. The bases of those choices are directly related to our upbringing. The economic times may affect some of us negatively, but we have the upbringing to know what we have to do to make it.

I am also thankful for people like Bryan, Tommy and Chris. People who chose to make our community and Country safe are a special breed. When the rest of us run from trouble they run to it and try to fix the problem. Thanks.

Last but not least Debbie, I have been to 28 states and 7 countries, most with her. This is the only person that would not only let me do all the things I want, but do them with me. Many times she not only does them with me but she does them better than me. She has put aside her fears on several occasions to join me on some adventure that I wanted to do. Deb is afraid of heights but has joined me on a zip line on an active volcano in Nicaragua, and a rain forest in Alaska. She can out work me and out play me. She makes me a better person. (Don’t tell her about this.)
I know there is so much I have not listed but I have to stop someplace.

Finisned at last

2008-11-21T10:36:00.009-05:00

Just a few more pictures of the hard wood floor project, It took longer than I would have liked but the outcome was worth it. Our floors were prefinished but they had to sand the subfloor for some reason. We had saw dust everywhere. As I said we painted before the floors were installed, we now have to go back and touch up. I think they touched every inch of wall below the waist.

Peg, we painted most of the walls a light gray. It looks like blue next to the dining room and picks up the green around the kitchen. The trim is the same kaki as the kitchen. We reversed the colors on the wall with the fire place. I need to be careful, if I keep up all of this decorating talk, I may end up with a cable TV show.

Now we are ready for Thanksgiving. Hope everyone has a happy holiday.

Construction Zone

2008-11-17T21:25:00.004-05:00

We are in the midst of having our hardwood floors installed. The material was delivered last Monday so it could acclimate to the house. We chose Australian Cypress because we liked the color variation as well as all the knots.

As you can see in the pictures we were not let down. Today they did the hall and started on the stairs that is the most cutting and hardest part. Deb and I have put felt pads on the feet of all the furniture to keep from scratching the new floor. They should be finished on Wednesday, a little longer than I thought but the steps are tricky. We finished painting last Saturday and I can see we will have some touch up when this is over with

The pictures in this blog are from my old floppy disk Sony camera. The newer camera has taken a dump on me. It started acting up in Chicago and has gotten worse over time. I will post some more pictures when we are finished.

2008-11-10T15:32:00.003-05:00

Well as you can see by the picture, fall has come to Newton County. Deb and I planted the trees in this picture in 1994 when we moved in to the house. Hard to believe they have grown so much. We started out the weekend having dinner with mom and dad, to celebrate Deb’s birthday. We went to a great Mexican joint dad knew of.

Deb had started to paint the entryway last week so on Saturday I got the ladder out and we finished that. Our entry is like the one on Edinburgh, 2 stories and hard to get around in. In true Debbie fashion the entryway lead to the hall and that lead to the living room, on and on.

Back about four years ago we were looking at hardwood floors but put it off when Debbie’s job went under. Well as we finished the paint in the entry we noticed the flooring on the landing was really worn so we went to look at new flooring for the landing. Well in true Debbie fashion the landing lead to the steps, the steps lead to the hallway and that lead to the living room and dining room. We wound up choosing “Australian Cypress” in 5 ½ inches wide by 3/4 planks from Lumber Liquidators. It will be delivered Tuesday and has to acclimate for one week, then will be installed next Monday. That is the plan and I hope it works out because we have 12 people coming over for Thanksgiving. Micah’s future in-laws are coming. I have met them already and Deb has met Christina’s mom but not her dad. We may be eating off boxes of wood if the timeline gets messed with. I’ll let you all know how this thing works out.

I should have pictures of the newly renovated Covington abode by the bext blog. In the words of “Kenny Z damn it” “ I long for one more night on Kensington Ave” I’m with you Kenny and I got the amo.

Another Weekend

2008-11-04T21:39:00.007-05:00

I had another great weekend. I was invited to be the Gun Caption at an AKC hunt test. The Welch Springer Spaniel club held the test at Circle W Hunting Preserve, in Heflin, Alabama. The picture above is the view from the club house. The weather was absolutely perfect. The mornings were in the 50’s and the afternoons were in the low 70’s.

The gunners at the test go in the field with the dog handler and the judges and hunt for birds. They use people like me who have a lot of experience shooting a shotgun for several reasons. The first is safety, with all the people at a test and very expensive dogs in the field you need to be sure of your shot. The next is each dog has a limited amount of time to find, flush and retrieve 2 birds. We have to make sure the birds are dropped so the retrieve can be made. If you miss too many shots you don’t get asked back. There is a long line of people who want to take this job away from me.

We shot over 20 dogs on Saturday and 21 on Sunday. There were 12 different spaniel breads represented this weekend. The official photographer for the AKC was at the test, and below are some of his pictures. You can see more at AKC.ORG then look on the right side for the Welch test.

Deb and I just got back from the Thanksgiving dinner at Camp Sunshine. It is a gathering place for families of children with cancer. It is one of the charities we support each year. This is our 4th year to serve the families. We fed over 100 people this year; unfortunately the bigger numbers are not because the food is so good. This is the start of the holiday season for us each year. It is that time again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBBIE

2008-10-26T17:22:00.006-04:00

Most of you know last week was Deb’s 50th birthday. As a birthday surprise I took he to the Veranda B+B in Senoia Ga. Over the years we have stayed many times at the Veranda, we love the place. The Veranda is where the cast of “Fried Green Tomatoes” stayed during filming. The movie “Broken Bridges” with Toby Keith was filmed in the Veranda.

There have been some changes since out last visit to the inn. Bobby and Jan Boles, the inn keepers, have retired and sold out. The new owners, Rick and Laura Reynolds, are doing a fine job keeping up the high standards, in service and food, set by the Boles.

The surprise for Deb was that I invited her Dad and his lady friend Brenda, her mom, Micah and his fiancée Christine, and her sister Katie. Unfortunately her mom is still in Louisiana and did not make it. Deb and I got to the inn about 4:00 Friday afternoon and she was shocked to see Pops there. One at a time the others showed up and took her aback. We walked to main street in Senoia for dinner. Main street has just under gone a complete period correct (1900) makeover. We ate dinner at McGuire’s Irish Pub. It was easy to find, around the corner and down stairs from “The Red Neck Gourmet”.

After we ate we strolled down to the “Senoia Coffee Shop” for a cup of decaf. We were happy to see two fellows playing music. Deb made the remark Sue would love it. They played Celtic tuned on a variety of dulcimers’ and small drums. They were very entertaining.

We returned to the Veranda for a game of Rook and a good night sleep.

On Saturday we woke to a breakfast that was way more food than anyone needed. We walked off some of breakfast by heading around the corner to see the home used in “Fried Green Tomatoes”.

Next we loaded up and headed to Juliette Ga. to see the “Whistle Stop Café” from the movie.
When we got there we found out the “Green Tomato Festival” was going on. The place was jammed but we had fun. Thank goodness we were so full from breakfast the line for the Café was around the block.

Next we drove over to Warn Springs for the afternoon. We walked the shops and did a little shopping before heading back to Senoia. We had dinner at McGuire’s again so Micah could see the Georgia – LSU game. We settled in back the Veranda and played “Phase 10”. At 11:30 we called it quits and retreated to our rooms.

Before leaving this morning we gorged on another amazing breakfast then took some pictures and all headed home.

One of the benefits of staying at the Veranda is we can be home in an hour or so. We had the run of the place all weekend, there were other guest but we only saw them at breakfast. Debs dad said this is as good as being home but someone cooks and cleans for you.

Another Weekend Gone.

2008-10-20T14:40:00.004-04:00

Another weekend gone. This weekend we had another house full. Deb’s brother Johnny came in from Canada to see his daughter Sidney. Sid lives in South Carolina now and Johnny drove up on Friday to pick her up. Deb’s mom had come back from Tennessee with her on Tuesday so she could visit, then go back to Canada with Johnny for a month.
On Thursday we got a call that Jeanette’s (Deb’s mom) brother was not doing well, he has been sick for a long time. On Saturday morning we put her on a plane for Louisiana.
Katie, Deb’s sister, came down to see Johnny and Sidney on Saturday and also spent the night with us. The picture below is Sidney, Johnny, Debbie and Katie racing Mario carts on the WII. On Sunday I got up early and headed to Road Atlanta for the Vintage car races. I left about 6:30am and it was about 55%. I was on the bike but was dressed well. I met my buddy John in Winder and we got to the track by 8:00. By mid-day it was beautiful and we had a great time. I love the old cars. I saw a 1955 Corvette that was an old factory race car. 1955 was the first year they put a V8 in the Corvette and they only made 3 race cars, and this is the only one left. I have no idea what the value of that car is but I’m sure it is up there. John made the statement as we walked in the pits that the smell alternated between racing fuel and money. He was right on. I headed home about 3:00pm and had a good long ride home on a perfect fall afternoon.

Fall In the Mountains. Aint it Beautyfull?

2008-10-12T19:13:00.003-04:00

First things first. The answer to last weeks question was in deed Mythbuster Adam Savage. I think the glasses gave him away.

Well today Tommy and I took a nice little motorcycle ride. Since he is a new rider we wanted to keep the group small. I left my house about 7:30am and was not sure about the weather. The sky was full of heavy low hanging clouds. It sure looked like rain was coming. I decided to head to Tom’s house anyway and see what he thought.
I got to Tommy and Tonya’s place just as Tonya and the kids were leaving for church. Tom suited up and we were on our way. As we left his neighborhood a very fine mist appeared on our visors, bit in a few miles we were out of that. The clouds still looked bad but we rode on. We took a rout threw Gainesville and northeast to Clarksville. The picture above is at a stop for coffee in Clarksville but the store was closed.
We took Hwy 197 north; it is a nice curvy road that follows a river and cuts threw pastures then winds up at Lake Burton. The lake was up to the brim unlike Lanier that was as low as I have ever seen it. We stopped at a park on the lake for a pit stop and use of the little boys’ room. We soon found Ga. Hwy 76 and turned west threw Young Harris, Hiawassee then found lunch at a hole in the wall in Blairsville. The name of the place was Hole in the Wall so I wasn’t kidding.
By now the sky was blue and sunny. It turned out to be a perfect day to ride. The leaves are so colorful this year. I think the next 2 weeks will be peak watching time.
Tom and I took off south on Hwy 129 and made our next stop atop Blood Mountain. We saw a good number of motorcycles and some bicycles up there. You have to be one tough cookie to ride the mountains on a bicycle. We followed 129 back past Cleveland and in to Gainesville. We split up at hwy 53 and 211 in Flowery Branch; I came home by way of Winder, Loganville and Conyers. I totaled 294 miles for the day so Tommy should have about 80 less. I had a great time and Tom got some seat time. Nothing could be better for new and old riders.

THE WINDY CITY

2008-10-09T19:08:00.004-04:00

Well I need to start out with a big “Job Well Done” to Katie and Bryan. Maddy is a doll, and I know the two of you will guide her on the long journey ahead of her with the same love and parenting you have received.

Deb is in Tennessee for some work and some visiting. She will be home on Tuesday so I am on my own till then.
I was in Chicago for a trade show this week. I went up on Sunday and returned late Tuesday. I love going to the big cities, especially this time of year. On Sunday night I went for a walk to look for some dinner.

I was staying at the Congress hotel, on Michigan Ave, one of the main streets in town. I headed north for 6 or 7 blocks then went west for a block and found Wabash St. Wabash has the Ell over it, reminded me of Kensington Ave, On Wabash I found “The Exchequer” it had a sign that said “voted best deep dish pizza in Chicago”. One of my plans for this trip was to try real Chicago style deep dish pizza so this was the place for me. It was a bar and restaurant, and the White Sox were playing in a playoff game. Watching the game in a bar with real Sox fans was cool. It turns out that this place was once known as “Diner 226” and was a dinner club owned by Al Capone, It was during prohibition and he had gambling up stairs and booze in the basement. There was a secret tunnel down stairs to get away when the cops came. I ordered a small pizza and it was great. I could only eat half of it but it was worth the walk.

I met Jack Allison (he works in our Birmingham office) in the lobby the next morning. Jack told me that McCormick Place was only 2 miles away, and asked if I wanted to walk. Jack is 71 and I was not going to let him show me up, so off we went. We headed 2 blocks over to Lake Michigan and went south.

Who ever told Jack 2 miles was way off. It was well over 4 miles and I think it was 5 miles. After that we had 6 hours standing on the show floor. My dogs were barking that night. The show was slow but we got a few leads so it is time to get to selling.

See you guys later. Bill

Time for a BRAIN BUSTER

2008-10-03T18:27:00.001-04:00

Ok this is just for fun. In the Billy Joel Video for “Your only Human” is a scene with a boy being saved from drowning The actor who plays the swimmer is presently one of the stars of a weekly TV show. I know all of the TOWHEY boy’s love this show. You can go to you tube and type in (Billy Joel Your only Human) or try the address below. At the 2 min and 30 sec. mark you get a good look at him. You can stop it there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbuU1OtaX4g

I am leaving for Chicago Sunday morning but will be checking for your answers. Good luck. This will ether jump out at you or stump you completely.
I will talk to you when I get back.

Peggies Challange

2008-09-23T16:01:00.002-04:00

Childhood memories, let me see. Could it be the time Jim, Peg and I burned the white carpet in the 1 week old house? Or maybe the time we put Peggie in a box and pushed her out of the tree house. Bye, Bye tree house. Or even the time mom slammed the ketchup bottle so hard that ketchup flew up on the ceiling. Then there is the time I got my finger stuck in the handlebar of my bike, or when I got my finger stuck in the sprocket. (that one hurt)

I think I will tell about the 4th of July. Most years, in the New Jersey days, on the 4th of July we went along most of the neighbors and our Philly cousins to Robbins Beach. It was located just down the street in our neighborhood on the Rancocas Creek. We spent all day playing in the water, drinking Shop Rite cola and eating hot dogs. Who remembers the old hand well pump? We played egg toss, sack races and three legged races. Late in the afternoon dad and the uncles went back to the house setup fireworks between our driveway and grand mom’s. When the women and kids got home around sundown the show was ready to commence. I’m sure that roman candles and bottle rockets were all they had, but at that time it was better than anything Phips Plaza ever thought of. After the show a bonfire followed every year. I don’t remember who launched the flaming marshmallow and hit our uncle Bill in the belly but he must have deserved it.

Out childhood was much like Mayberry or leave it to beaver, but that was a much different time. I guess it is our job to see that the next generation has as good memories as we do.

P.S. It is amazing I still have all 10 fingers.

Happy Birthday Jim

2008-09-22T09:08:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday to Jim, and happy anniversary to him and Sue, smart move keeping one date. I started the weekend off with a Friday night Braves game. A good game but we lost. On Saturday I installed an outlet on the back patio. I figure 1 to 1 ½ hours. (sure) I went out directly behind an inside outlet and passed the wire threw, hooked black to black, white to white, ground to ground. I turned on the breaker and no power. The inside worked bit not the outside. I took it all out and reattached it, no good. I got my next door neighbor, Kenneth who works for our EMC. He checked it and found my new GFCI outlet was bad. Got a new one and all is well.

Sunday Deb and I worked in the garage all day. We started insulating and putting up plywood in the walls. We got the insulation at Lowes and I had the ply left over from a project at work 8 years ago. We got about half way and called it a day. We plan to finish next Saturday, by then we should be over the stiffness.

Talk to everyone later.

Remember 9-11

2008-09-10T09:27:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is the 7th anniversary of the attack on our country. As time passes it seems our memory fades. We all remember it, but now think of it more as history than a reality that is still possible today. Because the attack took place on our soil, the American people pulled together like no other time in history, with the possible exception of Pearl Harbor.

The following is my opinion only and not meant to offend anyone or discount any other opinion.

This is the land of the free, and the rest of the world want to join us or destroy us. I am the decedents of immigrants. On moms side 2nd generation and dads side 3rd or 4th generation. My feeling is that anyone who wants to come here is welcome. Do it legally. Having said that we need to make it possible for hard working, self supporting people who want to contribute to this country can do it in a reasonable time. If we help them they will help us. If you come here illegally you do not deserve an education, health care or the right to vote.

The people who want to destroy us do not get the rights of the constitution of the country they want to end. If they are locked up till they are old and gray so be it. They are terrorist. They do not wear a uniform or fight for a country. They hide in schools and churches and kill people that have different beliefs than they do. They decapitate Americans or drag the body of a fallen solder threw the streets and cheer. We take a picture of a prisoner with underwear on his head and that is an abomination. If water boarding saves one American life, line them up.

I need to end this but Americans need to stop giving this country away. The United States gives its citizens inalienable rights. If the rest of the world wants them they need to join us or change the government of their country.

Remember 9-11

Remember to vote. This truly is the most important election of our life.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Just another weekend

2008-09-08T09:38:00.001-04:00

On Saturday I got up and met my buddy Dan for breakfast. We met in McDonough on the square at a a great place Called “Gritz”. 2 Eggs, Sausage, Grits and biscuit is only $3.85. Can’t beat it. We rode the bikes over to Newnan to a new Moto Guzzi / Aprilia dealer. I test rode a new Aprilia, Mana. It is a 850cc motorcycle that has an automatic transmission. It was cool. You can pick Sport, Touring or rain mode for the shifting pattern or shift yourself but no clutch. It would be a great commuter bike.
When we left there we headed to Thomaston, Ga. Dan had his parachute being inspected by the FAA, and it was ready to be picked up. When we got there he decided to make a couple of jumps. On the airport property is a DC3 flight school. They have 2 DC3’s for the school. As we were leaving I pulled up in front of one for the picture above. What I did not know was they were in the plain and ready to fire it up. As I was sitting in front of this thing, a guy stuck his head out and said what are you doing? He scared the stew out of me.
On Sunday we ran some errands and grilled out. Our weekends are about to start to fill up soon. I have some trade shows coming up in Orlando and Chicago. Then in October some trips to Tennessee.

See you all soon.

2008 Can-Am Spyder

2008-08-27T14:48:00.002-04:00

Is that thing cool or what? It is made by Bombardier Recreational Products, the same people who make Ski-Doo. I have been reading about this thing now I found a dealer who will let me ride one. I’m going over Saturday to ride it. This thing has ABS brakes, Traction Control, and Stability Control. If you get 1 wheel off the ground, it cuts the HP back and levels the bike off. I don’t think I will be getting one, ($17,000.00) but I need to try one out.
We have had a quiet few weeks. Not much going on this weekend ether, we will probably cook some burgers on Labor day but that is about all. Just wanted to let you all know we are still here Have a good holiday.

Not much going on

2008-08-11T15:27:00.003-04:00

Time to keep you all up on what is (or is not) going on. I had a very quiet weekend. Debbie went to Tennessee late Thursday; her mom had some minor surgery and had some complications. Everything is ok now but she wanted to be there in case she was needed. That left me to my own devices for a few days.
Friday I met some friends for dinner at a Mexican place in Conyers, and then we went to Starbucks for the evening. Saturday I got up rode my bicycle, then ran some errands. Micah came over around 1:00, he was borrowing Debbie’s car. I took him up to the shop and got his car back. I took my motorcycle for a ride and met my friend John for dinner down town. The weather was as cool as it had been in a long time so I took the scenic route home. I got home about 10:00 and watched some of the Olympics.
Sunday I rode the bicycle in the morning and just piddled around the house. I watched the NASCAR race and waited for Deb. She got home about 4:00 and we cooked dinner on the grill.
All in all a relaxing weekend.

Not much happening

2008-08-03T14:01:00.002-04:00

Now it’s my turn to catch up. Not much going on with us lately. Last weekend I did the PGR ride in Cumming. The town did itself proud. So many local people were lining the streets that the town sent the school busses out and brought them to the church then the grave site. That was great.
Sunday I got up and met Micah at 8:00 and played golf. He came back to the house and we had a birthday celebration for him. He turned 30 this week. One of the highlights of the party was Deb’s “WII” . She got it last week and uses it to do the work out programs. This thing figures your body mass index and keeps up with your progress. The work out’s really get the hart rate up. It is also filled with the most life like games (bowling, golf, tennis, ski jumping) It is a lot of fun.
This Saturday I got up and changed the back tire on Deb’s bike. The new lift I bought is great. Keeps the old guy off the floor. The rest of the day we just chilled out. This morning I took my bicycle to the park and did a good long ride. I cut the grass when I got home, and Debbie is working on some new project for work. The NASCAR race is starting so I will say “ GOOD DAY”

PGR kind of day

2008-07-20T20:45:00.004-04:00

Today was a long day for me. I got a call late last night that there was a Patriot Guard mission today,(Sunday) in Snellville. Below is an article on the young man. My friend Dan and I met up and rode to the church about 12:00. It looked to be about 150 PGR people there. The family of this young man was incredible. In what had to be one of the lowest moments in life, they held it together and told how he was doing what he felt needed to be done. He was only three weeks from the end of his tour in Afghanistan. As we rode from the church to the grave sight the people of Snellville showed there fallen hero the spirit of America. The rout was lined with people holding flags, old men saluting, parents telling children what was happening. As you ride tears of pride run down your face. Everyone there are patriots, no Republicans, no Democrats, no left wing and no right wing, just patriots. One of the proudest moments in my life was being called a patriot by a veteran. I got home about 7:00 this evening between the riding and heat I am tuckered out.
Now for some bad news. Next Saturday there is another mission. Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, of Cumming who died along side Jon Ayres will be buried next Saturday. I am planning on going unless something big comes up.
That’s all for now.

Fallen Georgia Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Laid to Rest
Last Edited: Sunday, 20 Jul 2008, 6:23 PM EDT
Created: Sunday, 20 Jul 2008, 6:23 PM EDT
A Georgia soldier who was killed while fighting in Afghanistan was laid to rest Sunday, July 20, 2008 at a Snellville church. Corporal Jon Ayers was killed when Taliban forces attacked a U.S. base in Wanat on July 13.
SNELLVILLE, Ga. (MyFOX Atlanta) – A Georgia soldier who was killed while fighting in Afghanistan was laid to rest Sunday at a Snellville church. Corporal Jon Ayers was killed when Taliban forces attacked a U.S. base in Wanat on July 13.

Video: Fallen Georgia
The service was held at Zoar United Methodist Church in Snellville and was restricted to family and friends. Burial with full military honors followed at Eternal Hills Memory Gardens on Stone Mountain Highway.On Saturday, a motorcade for Corporal Ayers stretched for miles through the streets of Snellville. Young and old, citizen and veteran all gathered to pay their respects to a fallen soldier who gave his life for his country.Cpl. Ayers was killed in Afghanistan when his unit was ambushed by Taliban fighters. In all, nine soldiers died defending their post. Georgia native Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, from Jasper was also killed in the attack.The other seven killed were 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii; Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, Calif.; Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash.; Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tenn.; Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C.; Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Mo. and Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky.

Just needed to blog

2008-07-17T16:23:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to drop a line to let everyone know we are still here. Last weekend Deb was in Tennessee. She went up for work on Thursday and stayed to visit with family. I spent Saturday running errands in the morning. I picked up a lift for the motorcycles. The last time I changed the oil my back ached for days. That afternoon I took our friends Cindy and Lavada to the airport. They are on a cruise from England threw the Netherlands and then they end up in St. Petersburg Russia. They will be gone over 2 weeks. Lavada retired in May from Rockdale County Sheriff’s Department. Cindy is home from Kosovo. She has been working as a UN Peace keeper and her tour has ended.
Sunday morning I met Micah and we played golf. We got rained out after 3 holes so I came home and relaxed until Deb got home. I had to go to Jacksonville for a trade show on Monday morning and got home late Wednesday.
The picture is one I just put in for no particular reason. It was taken on my birthday shortly before I had a plunger on my head. That is a story for a later time.

See you all later.

Back to the Blue Ridge

2008-07-08T11:19:00.000-04:00

We had a great week end. Deb and I went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway with Peg and Steve. We left on the bikes Thursday afternoon and went to Peg’s for the night. Steve cooked some steaks on the grill and Peg made an ice cream cake. Life is good. We got up and headed for the mountains on the 4th. We were staying at the Bluffs Lodge at Doughton Park. Steve and I stayed here last year and knew the girls would love it.

After we arrived Steve and I decided to go on a beer run. The sky looked bad but I said I would go and since I had taken all my bags off the bike, I would not take my rain gear. Wrong move. We got about 4 miles and the bottom dropped out. I was following Steve and his GPS told us to take a left. We did, and found our self on a 1 lane dirt road with twists and very steep inclines. The rain was as hard as any I have been in for a long time. The next thing we see is a 1949 Citroen CV2 coming the other way and not giving us much room.

At that point I had enough and headed back soaked to the bone. Steve went on. About 3 minutes after I got back here comes Steve. The road got worse and he followed my lead. At least he was in rain gear. The sky cleared and we went out to the patio to here a talk by the ranger and enjoy the big fire place. It was in the low 60’s and the fire felt great.
On Saturday we rode over to Mount Airy NC. It is the town that Mayberry was patterned after. They have a lot of the things from the show in town. (Wally’s Gas, the Snappy Dinner, and Floyds Barber shop)
They also have the old Court House set. We all got in the cells’ and sat at Andy’s Desk. The ride to Mount Airy was well worth the ride over.
The ride back to the lodge got a little messy. As we ascended to the parkway we hit some rain then rode in to the clouds. We were riding in about a 10th of a mile visibility on and off for 10 miles. You were afraid to stop for fear of someone coming up behind you. We got back and spent a second evening just enjoying the patio.
On Sunday we hit the road home. Deb and I decided to hit I85 and make some time on the way home. The weather was iffy. The traffic was not bad till we hit the GA. State line. We got off the interstate in Commerce, take the back way home, and stopped to gas up. As we got to Athens the sky opened up. That put us in a good rain for about 50 miles. That is not bad for a 1000 mile trip. See you all later.

just my weekly Blog

2008-06-21T20:26:00.001-04:00

WOW
This picture is one that surfaced when Peg was rounding pictures for my birthday book. ( I think from Jim) I do not remember seeing it before, but I remember the trip. It was simmer of 1977 or 78. Larry Duckett ( Red Head), Tom Basile (Dennis’s brother in-law) Jeff Anderson (A friend of the our neighbor) We went up to the Appellation Trail for a week long hike. One thing I remember was we hiked over to Brasstown Bald. It is the highest point in Ga. Jeff, who was always gun ho, wanted to go to the top and back down before we made camp that day. The rest of us were not so sure. He started up and we were debating what we were going to do when an old man and his wife in a Buick 225 came and offered us a ride up to the top. The three of us got in and waved at Jeff as we went by. The old guy did stop about a quarter of a mile up the road and picked him up. We did walk down and made camp. If it not for this picture I may have forgotten that entire trip. Great old memories.

Talk to you later.

Only 2 things money can't buy........

2008-06-12T19:14:00.000-04:00

That’s good loving and home grown tomatoes. As you can see my batch of maters is coming in. With the news of a tainted crop in the market place, I’m looking pretty smart now ant I.

That bad boy you see there is going to be the first. I see some white bread, mayo, salt and pepper in our future. This is my second try at growing tomatoes. In 2005 I planted some then I had my crash and could not tend to them. I spent $40 and had 1 tomato the size of a grape. this time I have 2 plants and have about 20 good ones growing at this time. Will they gust keep producing all summer or is there a limit on each plant?

Not much going on with us this week. Deb picked up Sidney on Monday and we put her on a flight to Canada on Tuesday. We love to have her visit. Saturday we are going to a cook out at Dan and LaFaye’s house. They have a Wi and we are going to play some games. We will be over to mom and dad’s on Sunday morning for father’s day. I hope to see some of you there.

Good to see Peg this week. Nice to see ya visit just for the heck of it. I guess that’s it for now.

KEEP ON BLOGING

Now Thats What I'm Talking About.

2008-06-05T18:12:00.000-04:00

Today is all about the pictures. They show the glory of what we saw but they cannot compare to being there.

This was the best day for pictures. The sky was blue and you could see the snow caps much better.

We were in Glacier Bay National Park. They put some Rangers on the ship to answer questions and tell us what we were looking at.

Say good by to the Rangers.

You can not see it but the ice is blue as blue can be.

If you were looking at the 3 spots about a half a second before this shot you would have seen some Dallas Porpoise. They are black and white and look like small killer whales. This was in College Fjord; we also saw a hump back whale and her calf. As the small one dove we got the tail up and a wave. Too cool. It happened too quickly for the camera.

I have a ton more shots but you have to leave them wanting more. Ok just one more.

Skagway

2008-06-01T11:34:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the time off but the computer was in for a quarterly check up. Glad to say all is clean and ready to go. When we got to Skagway we had booked a trip on the White Pass / Yukon Rout railway. The rails were laid in 1895. They follow the rout the gold miners used to get to the Yukon Territory. The rout goes thru British Columbia on the way.

In the old days before a miner could cross in to Canada he had to have 6 months supplies. This could take up to 20 trips with a mule before they could cross. The scenery was spectacular for our trip and as we climbed the mountains the snow got deeper and deeper.

As we started back down the snow startes coming down. It snowes hard enough that several trips after ours had to be cancled. Every once in a while along the tracks you will see an old cabose. The rail line leaves them there so hikers can stay in them and get out of the cold.

Once we got back to town we walked around Skagway for a while. Parkes in town is an old train with a snow blower.

I was surprised to see in town that they have wooden sidewalks. It looks like an old western town.
Next time we will wrap this thing up with Glaciers and mountians. See ya.

Juneau the way to Alaska?

2008-05-29T18:27:00.000-04:00

The next stop was Juneau. The excursion here was an Alaska Salmon Bake. It was ok but we were a little let down. The fish camp was cool and had a beautiful waterfall but was in an industrial area. They also kept running out of salmon.

After the salmon bake we went for a walk around Juneau. As you can see Deb and her mom found alternative transportation, I found it interesting that both Juneau and Ketchikan have no way to drive in. You must come by air or boat. Steve and found a place called the Red Dog. It is an old bar with saw dust floors and all sorts of cool stuff including 1 of Wyatt Earp’s gun.

In the next blog we get in to the great sights in Alaska. See ya then.

Back at the zipline

2008-05-27T19:27:00.001-04:00

When we last left our blog, we were arriving at the zip line tour. We were loaded up in to a 1979 German troop carrier and driven to the top of the mountain. This is our 2nd time to zip and the strange part about it is Deb is deathly afraid of heights. As you can see in the picture you start close to the ground, and the hill drops away below you. This setup was much nicer than the one in Costa Rica. It may be because we have OSHA and Costa Rica has “Bob the jungle boy”. On this trip we were 130 to 160 feet up in the tree tops.

We had great views of the mountains and the Pacific Ocean from the tree tops. As you went from tree to tree you would stop on platforms with no rails. You were always clipped to a safety line but you sure wanted to hang on to something.

Between some of the zip lines were cable bridges. They were about 160 feet up and would swing some as we crossed. Below the bridge were rivers and waterfalls. We also saw a black bear den. Once a bear leaves a den, It will never use it again. No other bear will use it ether. We made our way down the mountain and in to a warm hut out of the rain. I was proud of Deb for facing her fear and going with me on this adventure. We made our way back to the ship and swapped stories with the rest of our gang and head out to the next big adventure.
Tune in next time for more of the ALASKA EXPERIMENT.

2008-05-26T17:01:00.000-04:00

Now for the Alaska story. You all may or may not know but Deb, her mom and sister, as well as our friend Terri went up to Vancouver 2 days before me. I got to the hotel about 1:00 am on Saturday May 10th. I found my gang as well as Peggie and Steve in the bar and no pain was being felt.

We all got to bed around 2:00. (5:00am Atlanta time) We got up around 6:00am (could not sleep) I went out to see a little of the city before heading to the boat. The picture below was directly across the street from our hotel, and was one of the more tame shops.

As we were eating breakfast we ran in to our friends Dan and LaFaye with LaFaye’s mom and niece. They got in after me. Dan’s brother and sister in law also came on the trip. We had a blast. The theme of the trip was doing what you want. If we want to do the same thing great, if not have fun and we will catch up later. Saturday was spent standing in line to get threw customs and on the boat.

(Wrong Picture...Sorry)

We sailed about 6:00pm on Saturday and spent the rest of the day exploring the ship and getting our sea legs. On Sunday the sun came up at 4:25am. Deb woke up at 4:30 and thought the ship was docked. We went out and looked to see we were about to dock in Ketchikan. Deb’s mom, sister and Terri were going to a Totem pole deal and Lumber Jack show. Peg and Steve were going on an ATV trip and Deb and I went Zip Lining.

I will Tell more about that next time on "BILLS BLOG"

Bill has made it

2008-05-23T19:03:00.000-04:00

Well I’m trying out the new blog. It is a bit confusing but I think I will catch on. As you all know, we just got back from Alaska. Thanks for the ride home Jim. We had a great time with Steve and Peggie on the cruise. I will show some pictures and tell of some of the excursions in the next few days. At this time I just want to try out this page out. Happy Birthday Chris, and Congratulations to Katie and Bryan on Katie Junior. Please reply so I can tell if anyone is getting this