Thursday, September 26, 2013

Secret Invasion

Because of my crazy sleep schedule, at least that's my excuse, I sometimes fall asleep when I sit still. Sometimes it happens at church. Though usually at church, I drop into half sleep. Which means my eyes are mostly open and I still hear everything that is being said, but don't necessarily comprehend what's being said. This happened again on Sunday. Typically I rotate between pinching myself, pulling my arm hair, and biting my cheeks in order to stay awake, but it's not always effective.

Sunday night Matt read Revelation 5:1 "Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals." What I heard was, "seated on the throne a Skrull." In my defense I have been rewatching Earth's Mightiest Heroes season 2, so Skrulls have been on my mind lately.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

And the Winner Is

Some time ago (I won't say how long because I won't write all of this in one sitting) I asked you my loyal readers to answer some trivia questions about me. I intentionally made them difficult. I doubt even I would be able to get them all right. Now it is time to reveal how little you know about me.

1. I was born at 11:17 am. After the first two entries I decided to give credit for the eleven o'clock hour, but then Moma blew the curve. Also you will notice that the post was published at 11:17.
2. Crooks Road. Though it now has a number that I don't even remember instead of a name.
3. Celebration 1986 at the Cobbages.
4. I have a BS in mathematics. I think that means I can make numbers lie.
5. I graduated in December of 1996 with a GPA of cough cough.
6. I've lived here over 15 years.
7. May 13 aka Mary Jo's birthday.
8. By the time this is published it will likely be 15 years (I don't actually remember my hire date), but as full time it has been 14 years. It feels like forever is a more accurate number.
9. The ring finger on the left hand. I have been meaning to add the story to this blog but have not gotten around to it yet.
10. Just the 2. The Grand Prix and the Mazda.
11. It only took five times before I learned my lesson. 92, 94, 96, 98, and 99. Apparently, I had no problem paying a speeding ticket every other year, but when it happened in consecutive years I decided to change my ways.
12. My car is named Betty after the classic Chevy Chase song Call Me Al.
13. I needed a name to represent the source of all knowledge and information in the world. Though I guess I could have chosen a name that went with playing games. My obvious choices were Giles and Wesley. I chose Giles. I rarely use his name though because I believe that all gender neutral things should have girl names.
14. My favorite color is purple, though during basketball season, it is also navy and gold.
15. My favorite food is doughnuts though ice cream is also an acceptable answer.
16. My favorite grink is coffee. I've only been drinking it for around seven years, so I have thirty-three years worth of missed coffee that I am trying to catch up on. And since Moma can't have coffee anymore, I feel obliged to drink her share too.
17. My road trip food of choice is peanut M&M's. When we were kids, I was on team plain, but some years ago I converted. I still like plain though, I always buy peanut.
18. My favorite number is 8. It is a perfect cube and also Andre Dawson's number with the Cubs.
19. I play MLB 13 the Show more than all other video games combined. I think this is my second or third version of this game,but even before that baseball has been my most played for years.
20. I have difficulty choosing between Angel and Buffy. They are practically the same show. Angel is a little bit better but there are 34 more episodes of Buffy. So either answer is correct.
21. My television's default channel is the MLBNetwork.
22. The Count of Monte Cristo. Also he makes a great sandwich.
23. Labor Day is the best. You don't have the hectic schedule of Christmas or the regimented schedule of Thanksgiving. MLK and Memorial Days are contenders but there is less car time with Labor Day than those two.
24. The aforementioned Andre Dawson is my favorite.
25. This question used to be much easier. Though in the past few years Carlos Zambrano, Derek Lee, Ryan Theriot, and Aramis Ramirez have all retired or left the Cubs. Darwin Barney is my current favorite Cub, but overall Ramirez is still my favorite.
26. Unfortunately only 3. One at Wrigley and two at old Busch.
27. This one is really hard. I would have given credit for anyone in the top 5 or so. Cuthbert Victor, Ed Daniel, Jewuan Long, Isaac Miles, Vincent Rainey, Marcus Brown, Tyler Holloway. My college career and Popeye's only overlapped by one year. Otherwise, he might be higher on the list.
28. Matt Murdock
29. My Daredevil #1 is CGC 3.5. There was a 4.0 on ebay recently that went for $610. I assume this is my most valuable.
30. My intent was to award this question Price Is Right style. But I only got one actual bid. 5357 was the number back when I asked the question. That's counting all trades and graphic novels as one comic each regardless of how many they might collect. I believe Moma's answer of "a bunch" is the closest without going over.
31. I've got two David Mack Daredevils and an Andy Lee Captain America.
32. I usually say telekinesis, but it is actually long range teleportation. TK would be fun, but being able to be in Clinton, Lexington, or Shalimar with just a thought would be better.
33. I saw Baseball for the first time in 1995 on KET. I don't remember when I started watching it every year, but it is one of my favorite traditions.
34. Naturally the second born Jase is my favorite regular on the show.
35. But my favorite episodes are the ones with the little girls.
36. California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia 22
37. 10 though Ellen thinks it's 11.
38. I thought this question might entice Mac to respond, but I guess he has forgotten his way to this blog.
39. I've got 157 Acappella songs out of 1853.
40. Farty.

So the final score is Joshua 28, Bill 20, Moma 20 plus 3 bonus points for funny answers on 6, 10, and 31.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

I don't care if I ever get back!

Last night was game 3 of the Texas League Championship Series. Here's what you missed. 

Great weather. It was 72 degrees with an almost chilly breeze.
Free verse poetry.
Our catcher picking a runner off of second base.
San Antonio stranding runners on first and third with no one out in the third.
Then stranding the bases loaded with one out in the sixth (though they got their one run that inning).
CJ Cron hit a two runner homerun into the Mission's bullpen, and the San Antonio's centerfielder dove over the wall attempting to catch it.
A driving catch by our centerfielder on a shallow linedrive.
Two bunt singles (one for each team).
A 9-4-2-5 when one of the Travs took too big a turn around third on a double.
No free cheese dip, but a braut and a funnel cake.
The comedy stylings of Robyn and Ellen.
Post game fireworks.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Did that really just happen?

I told this story verbally at least five or six times Labor Day weekend. Hopefully the delay in putting the story into writing will change the telling up a bit, though the story is so long that I never had a memorized version.

Some years ago I bought a house. On the day I moved in, I went to Best Buy and said, "Give me the biggest tv you've got!" I made that part of the story up, but it was big. The sixty-five inch rear projection tv was admittedly too large for the room I put it in, though I didn't mind at first. After a few years when flat screens had become the norm, I was ready for something that took up less space. The problem with making that happen was that I had this behemoth to deal with.

Some friends of mine are adopting twins from Haiti. If you don't know anything about international adoption, I'll sum it up for you. It's expensive and takes an indefinite amount of time. When I saw on the facebook, that they were having another community yard sale to raise funds, I declared that the time for buying a new television had arrived.

I went back to the Best Buy and bought a much flatter but not that much smaller screen. With my usual amount of fore thought, I drove my Honda Civic to the store instead of the Ford Escape that was sitting unused in the driveway that day. I was able to wedge the television into the trunk after laying down the back seats. The Best Buy employee wanted no part in the loading process. Though the box was a little smashed, the tv made it home fine.

Whew, that was so much back story.

I borrowed Dad-o's truck and with some help loaded the tv into the back. As I was driving down the highway, I look over at the honking car next to me. I am incapable of reading lips and am only slightly more skilled at reading hand gestures. The hand gesture looked like break, but when I checked the mirrors the straps both appeared to be in place. Being the paranoid that I am I pulled over, and the car did as well.

It turned out that the guy wanted to know if the television was broken. He has one just like it that is broken. I told him about the yard sale that the tv was destined for. As I was giving him directions to the yard sale, I remembered the old saying, "a sale in the hand is worth two in the bush." So I said, "since this is already loaded, let's just take it to your house."

He called the repairman with whom he had previously discussed his broken television and was told that mine was worth $50-$100. We split the difference and agreed to $63. Later I did some ebay research and found people asking for more money but not getting any bids.

As I was following him home, it crossed my mind that this could be an elaborate plan to lure me into the country to rob me. I wasn't too worried though because he was wearing an Uncle Si t-shirt. We got to his house, and after running an extension cord out to the truck to prove that it worked, we unloaded the television.

I made my way on up to Beebe and put $34 of the $63 into Dad-o's gas tank. I had planned to not tell my weekend house guests about the new television, but since they beat me to Beebe and there was this great story, I wasn't able to bury the lead. If I had been able to keep that secret, the new tv might have gotten a better reaction than it did from those sleepy girls the night before.

What are the chances that I would have been driving that stretch of road at the exact same time as someone who was looking to buy that television? Very slim, I would think. The fact I was driving a Sandlin truck might have influenced it. Crazy stories happens to Sandlins with stunning regularity. But I am giving credit to God on this one. I am always reluctant to say, "God did it," about anything happening in this day and age. Even now, just two weeks removed from the event, I can feel my instincts kicking in telling me to hold my tongue. When it was happening though, I had no doubt that God made that sale possible. Sixty-three dollars won't go that far in covering the adoption expenses, but this may have been as much about strengthening my faith as caring for orphans.