Shakin'

Sitting on the second floor of a building during a 5.4 magnitude earthquake centered about 20 miles away can make for a pretty exciting morning, especially when you hear the two large 1800L tanks of liquid Nitrogen right behind your chair bouncing around...
It was all done in less than a minute, but the news folks on radio and TV are still talking about it, even though no damage has been reported anywhere in the Southland. Slow news day, I guess...

Action Shots

Number One Son about to complete the handoff...


Number One Son just made a pass right before the sack...

Go Panthers!

Our Flag Football team, the Panthers, won their semi-final game on Saturday, which means they'll be going to the championship! Man, it was an exciting game! We gave up 2 TDs within the first few minutes and things were looking pretty grim... but we pulled it out with a final score of 33-19. We'll be playing the Ravens on August 2nd, who so far have gone undefeated... our last game against them we blew a 3 TD lead, so I know we can score against them - my boys just have to hang in there for the whole game...
My wife took some nice shots of the game... when she gets back from Rollerblading in Newport I'll put them up...

Sad day

Our mighty little rat terrier, Spartacus, finally met his match tonight. He was bitten by a rattlesnake around 8:30pm in our back yard. I heard him yelp and went over to see what was up, and saw a fat diamondback curled up behind our shed. I grabbed him, ran over to my wife who took him with her cousin to the nearest animal hospital. I ran back to the shed, grabbed a shovel to kill the bastard, but he'd already gone under the shed. I could see him through a hole but it wasn't big enough to get the shovel in. Since we live in the city - albeit on the outskirts - I couldn't shoot the damn thing with a firearm, so I grabbed my BB gun. Yeah. Fat lot of good that did. Just pissed it off and it snuck further under to where I couldn't see it.
Sparty was given antivenom and put on an IV at the hospital, and my wife came back home. They said they'd want him there for a couple of days to watch him.
Well, they just called about twenty minutes ago to say he wasn't breathing on his own... then ten minutes later they called to say he'd passed.
Spartacus was my wife's special little buddy. She took him everywhere, and he'd already been through so much, having fought through a parvo infection when he was just a few months old. He was a tough little trooper, but that snake was just too much. He topped the scales at five pounds max, so his little body didn't have much chance. We did all that we could getting him to the vet ASAP, but it wasn't meant to be. We're going to miss him terribly.
So long, little soldier. Rest in peace.

July 4th Weekend...

...Was spent at the beach in Oceanside, one of my favorite places to go. My wife's parents have a condo about 50 yards from the sand on the second floor, so there's a nice view and we can watch all the fascinating folk cruising up and down Pacific Avenue.
Friday started out cloudy with a marine layer that burned off in the late afternoon for a brief spot of sunshine, but by 7 or 8pm it had come back with a vengeance.
The condo is about a mile south of the pier where they have the annual firework display and is normally a good spot to watch it, but by the time the show started, we couldn't see down the block, let alone the pier. It was so thick you couldn't even see a glow - but we heard the show, right on schedule...
I had such a good time there that this didn't dampen my spirits at all - I was more amused than disappointed. Hanging out with family and watching my kids boogie board was way more important...

One word questionnaire...

...Shamelessly stolen from Dirtcrashr...
I saw it, and given my fondness for brevity, liked it.
Here goes...

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Your significant other? Awesome
3. Your hair? Receding
4. Your mother? Irish
5. Your father? Hero
6. Your favorite time of day? Bedtime
7. Your dream last night? Twisted
8. Your favorite drink? Lager
9. Your dream goal? Family
10. The room you're in? Bedroom
11. Your ex? Stripper
12. Your fear? Failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. What you are not? Optimistic
15. Your Favorite meal? Curry
16. One of your wish list items? AR15
17. The last thing you did? Drank
18. Where you grew up? England
19. What are you wearing? Shorts
20. Your TV is? Old
21. Your pets? Dogs
22. Your computer? Stutters
23. Your life? Predictable
24. Your mood? Content
25. Missing someone? Parents
26. Your car? Deteriorating
27. Something you're not wearing? Wig
28. Favorite store? Bookstore
29. Your summer? HOT!
30. Your favorite color? Blue
31. When is the last time you laughed? Today
32. When is the last time you cried? Unsure
33. Your health? Middlin'
34. Your children? Treasures
35. Your future? Uncertain
36. Your beliefs? Unalterable
37. Young or old? Youngish
38. Your image? Fast
39. Your appearance? "Husky"
40. Would you live your life over again knowing what you know? Duh

Hands free

Today's the day the cell phone law goes into effect here in California. Get caught using a cell phone without a hands free device, and you'll be popped for a fine of $20. Of course, once all the additional fees and whatnot get added, your $20 fine will grow to $76... for a first offense. Expect to pay $190 for your second. I'm not kidding.
But you know, texting in your car while cruising the highway is still legal. I totally don't get that, unless I'm the only one out there who's all thumbs when it comes to sending texts on my phone... that's WAY more distracting - to me at least - than holding a phone to my ear.
Just another tax, is all.