First Guest post

Just a quick post to give you some info and introduce myself. I'm Jen's dad although I get to call her Jenny. I answer to eric, Papa, Hey You, Moron and just a host of other less savory appellations occasionally hung on me by some of the people I contact in my daily work world. I'm the only one Jenny allows to call her that btw so just go ahead and be jealous. I'm also the guy who got the presidential election badly wrong and had to pay my debt to dug, who was very gracious about the whole mess. Frankly I would have laughed and pointed but some people have more class than others.

With Jenny headed out of the country i'll be posting on here from time to time. With the kids and the move to a whole 'nother country and things and stuff, Jenny will be busy and I have absolutely no problems embarrassing her. Maybe I'll post some video of her as a kid.

Jenny and family are right now in Mass. visiting the hubby's family. If their visas and whatnot arrive early enough tomorrow they'll be on that big silver bird for Hungary about 2200 EST on Monday. If not they'll wait for them as long as they can and take a later flight. If all else fails Jenny and the kids will come back here and join Rob when they can. (Is it wrong for just a small part of me to hope for a systemwide failure of the mail delivery system? It is? Crap.)

I'm missing them already.

It's funny. I hate to fly (that's a vast understatement. my wife flat refuses to fly with me anymore. i'm badly claustrophobic.) I always feel like they're close as long as I can drive to them no matter how far. Something tells me I won't be able to make the trip in the Ford to Hungary. Not without a boat anyway. Well, maybe in the Vette. It's fiberglass you know. Just like a boat.

Jenny is already feeling the pain of missing her rides. She's got the Jones on her back and I do believe she's a hefty gal. A Star Jones maybe. She has a plan though. She's already scoped out some local bike shops and I think she's got her eye on a few possibilities. The riding should be fabulous! Great country, new places to explore and a ride happy populace. She'll have a ball.

The stinker.

Her Mom (hereinafter referred to by one of her childhood nicknames; Lu. Again, I'm the only one so blessed to call her that. Aren't I special?) ran a 5k today. It was to benefit the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center so it was for a great cause. She ran it in 38:05 which is 1:12 faster than last year. Her next goal is to get under 35 minutes. She'll get it, believe me. Not bad for someone of her.......er, advanced years. (Yeah, like that won't get me in trouble!)

Lu Before.

And after. Still fresh as a daisy!

Isn't she sexy? Damn straight. And yeah, it's an awful place to live but we do try to carry on.

As for my own alledged athletic accomplishments, I did 83 miles on the new Giant FCR2 last month (We love the new bikes). Im on course for at least a hundred this month. I am so happy! I know, most of the serious riders do that or more in a weekend. Or a single ride! But I'm a 49 year old fat guy with a balky wheel. (Indy said it best; It's not the years honey, it's the mileage.) If anyone's interested in the story of 'How I Completely Blew Out My Achilles Tendon' aka 'Unh' let me know and I'll post it. It's about a painful injury so of course it's at least mildly amusing. Anyway, the plan is for Lu and I to up our mileage every month. The goal is a Century Ride (my secret goal is the Leadville 100 but please don't tell anyone) but that will have to wait for Jenny to return. I won't ride the first one without her. If I get killed I'll still expect her to ride it so there's no way for her to wuss out. Heh heh heh.

I guess that's it for now. Between Jenny and I we should be pretty regular and I'll be posting their arrival at the new house.

Did I mention I'm missing them already?

eric

Dad

My riding partner.

The guy who pulls me along.

Who inspires me.

Who helps me achieve more.

My buddy.

My Dad.

Wrong

(From Dad)

Wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

W
R
O
N
G

Wrong. Incorrect. Wide of the mark. Not even close. Uh, no. El Bado Callo. Missed it by that much. Mistaken. Erroneous. Misguided. Faulty. Flawed. Foolish. In error.

Am I being too subtle here? Holy flaming chads Batman but I missed that call. The worst part is how badly I missed it. It’s not like it was even a near thing. That part I got right it was just the whole wrong guy thing that threw it off. Take a minute, go back and read my post again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

You tell me. Did I miss the call? Maybe just a little? Comeuppance come to mind? Nee-ner, nee-ner, nee-ner? Go ahead, I deserve it. A missed call of that immense magnitude has to be mocked and pointed at. If you don’t I’ll never learn.

That said I have an excuse. Several actually.

See, what what happened was that my dog see, he came in see and he ate my polling data.

I was sick and the fever softened my medulla oblongata.

My dog hypnotized me and made me do it. (I have a pattern of blaming my misfortunes on the dog. It’s ok though. He’s a Lab and besides, he told me it’s alright)

I watched ‘Stop or My Mom Will Shoot’ and it made me suddenly stupid.

My last 2 brain cells rubbed against each other too hard and burst into flame, rendering me incapable of recognizing reality when it started flicking me on the nose.

The aliens kidnapped me and shoved the probe too far up my ass and scratched my brain.

That wasn’t me; it was Fluffy, my evil twin.

I may in fact be stupid (you’ll have to ask my wife about that) but I am a man of my word.
Presented here for your enjoyment: My Shame.

Jen and I took these photos. Some willingly, some less so. At least no tears were shed. Not until the nerf gun was brought out anyway. You know how it is. Refusals had been uttered. Threats were made. People were ‘convinced’ to keep certain promises. Craven snuffling followed.

Dug, I hope this satisfies my debt. If not I will entertain suggestions. Nothing obscene.

By the way, anyone want to buy a shirt? Nice color, no tears, low mileage.
Only cried on once.

(From Jenn)

Lastly, I will leave you for today with a teaser that our latest ride will be documented either later today or tomorrow (you'll want to see it:).

Oh, um, and there is this:

I tired to stop him, really I did... What can I say, the pain was just too much to bear!

It's here

Just a short note to say that ths shirt is here. (good thing I spellchecked that.... shirt minus and r isn't what I intended to say!) When the time is right we will be sure to snap those pics for all 4 of us to see:)

Gah. I feel dirty:)

Yep, been online looking to buy (gah, buy!) an Obama shirt. Oh, the horror I tell ya! And now, of course, I feel dirty:)

So, the run down: I've been horribly busy trying to clear housing, move in with my folks, talk to my hubby via an Internet telephone and run to Utah and back. Needless to say blogging wasn't my primary concern. That all being said, I am in a (mostly) stable moment and it's time to make good on the bet. I did the dirty work for Dad, getting the shirt, and as soon as it's in we'll post a picture of it. Anyone have a suggestion for the backdrop? I mean, I wanted Dug in his infamous shorts and socks after all. Now, we might not take the suggestion, but it might be fun to see what ya'll think. And by ya'll I mean Gramps, Dug and Chris cause I don't think there's anyone else out there.

And if anyone else is out there... Well, then, HI there!

So, stay tuned. Not only will there be pictures, but I'll have to enlighten you all as to why I moved and why I'm talking to Hubby via a phone line.

Uh, I'll try not to take a month this time!

A departure from my Conservative roots

Alrighty, like the title says, I have something to say that most conservatives won't agree with.

Here goes.

Here in California there is Prop 8 out to set marriage as between a man and woman. I'm not going to do a blog about moral issues or any of that. No, I have a much simpler reason for not supporting Prop 8 and it is because of civil rights.

The proponents of Prop 8, and of the defense of marriage issues in general, say that not allowing same sex marriage is not a civil rights issue, but I disagree. It is paramount to not allowing a black man and a white woman to marry. I use to support the idea that gay marriage was not an appropriate thing for our nation to allow; then I became heavily involved with a forum website that takes on these kinds of issues (politics, religion, 9-11, etc). I started the thread against gay marriage and I will admit that it changed my mind. And here's why.

In our society, marriage is the legal way for a couple to announce their intentions to petition the government for certain legal rights. To disallow certain legal age citizens to petition for these right based on something like gender is a civil rights issue. From a legal standing, not allowing two people to petition for legal status, and yet allows others the same right, is not freedom. I have many issues with the serious lack of freedom in this country (income tax, ever heard of it?), and I take serious issue with the idea that "freedom" should be the reasoning for allowing all manner of things to take place; however, in this situation it is a serious infringement upon my freedoms to not be able to gain legal rights because of something as minor as gender.

Yes, I said minor. I understand where the defense of marriage folks are coming from. They look around and see drive through divorce shops, families shattered, morals declining, and a general muckery of the institution of marriage and family. Totally with ya. But this isn't the way to go about saving the family. It just isn't, and it doesn't give you the right to say that person A and B are fit for marriage and person C and D are unfit. I've met persons A and B, and trust me that they shouldn't be married. C and D? Great together. Totally. Does it matter their gender? Really? Why? Cause they will teach gay marriage in school? Sorry, doesn't fly with me.

As schools are already teaching abhorrent sexual issues (right to choose, my ass), and sex ed is being taught as early as 2nd grade, I don't think that gay marriage is our biggest concern with the educational system. That modern teachers have almost unlimited rights to teach any (left-leaning) propaganda that they choose (remember, I'm in Cali, and educated here), and that parents have little to no say in a child's education is a much, much scarier issue for me. As long as they aren't teaching what happens on the honeymoon, why is talking about gay marriage so terrifying?

So, no, I don't support ending my right to marry whomever I wish. Because, even though I'm happily married to an opposite sex partner, I'm American enough to be pissy that someone thinks they have the right to tell me whom I can marry and who I can't.

*Edit to add: I understand that many Christian see this as a moral issue, but I strongly feel that if that is what you believe, then you should preach it not legislate it. What I'm talking about here is the legal standing of two people. Legal. Not moral.

Throwdown!

Well, this little blog has gotten a little more exciting recently as Dad and Dug have been having a spirited bit of debabte! In the process, Dad threw out the challenge that he who's candidate isn't elected will post a picture of themselves in the other candidates shirt! Now, Dug is undeterred, but then Dug has a decidedly fun wardrobe and I personally hope McCain wins even if it's just to see Dug in a Palin shirt, plaid shorts, and (if I'm lucky) a bike with a basket on the front. (Really, go read his blog, and while you are at it, go visit Elden. They are great and it's kinda backstory:)

So, there it is, Challenge throwndown, Challenge accepted! Alright then.... This should be fun:) We'll have to get all the rules ironed down, but stay tuned, only 3 weeks to go!


On a personal note from me:
This has been an interesting experience for me as I have a distinct tendency to shy away from confrontation.... But, really, Dad and Dug have been having a friendly discussion about this election and that has been sorely missing the last few years I think. The election has become a yelling match that has had a very mean streak in it. This nation has always been divided when it comes to politics, this election is no different. It's just nice to see people with such different views that can still be friendly. Okay. All done:)