LilBear

What have we here?

Well, in taking advantage of the oh so hot weather here in SeVa to stay indoors, I started tackling the cleaning and organizing of my computer/office room here at home. Alot of this work is sorting through my closet, which like most closets in my house not in a bedroom, get filled up with all those things that need a home out of the way, and even out of sight.

But, what did I happen to come across in this closet? Something that somehow has survived for almost 10 years, granted, not in the best of shape, as well as three moves and three residences. Well, let me show you, then I can explain it. I found this:

Well, I must imagine there is some head scratching going on now. Which of course means it is story time.  During my last two years at Virginia Tech I lived off campus with some friends. But, during my last year because of my class schedule (an early class, then all afternoon classes), I would go hang out in the dorm room of two friends of mine in between classes. We would go to lunch, maybe do homework, goof off, watch tv, and even quite often fall asleep on their floor or on their futon. Seriously, there was like myself and two or three other friends of mine that lived off campus that spent afternoons asleep in this room besides the occupants.

But anyways, to get back to the story of the suit.

One of my friends in this room was an art major, so he was always doing projects that to us engineering and science related majors we found quite odd and amusing. This paint suit, was the result of one of his projects. In this case, the class had to take a plain white paint suit and turn it into an art project relating to some sort of social commentary, and then model it in class and explain it. There was one problem with part of this project for my friend. He is well over 6' tall, and despite what is advertised, one size does not fit all. So he got an idea. Hey, LilBear is usually sleeping in my room while I am away in class, and I am sure the suit will fit him, so maybe I can get him to model it in class for me while I explain my project to the class. So, with the promise of a large frosty (hey cmon, college students will do almost anything for free food), I agreed to model his project, titled "Mad Cow Disease".

Those with a good eye will even notice I have an udder, conviently made out of a surgical glove. To even better help express the harmful effects of mad cow disease he poked holes in the fingers, which we filled with milk to show that mad cows have a problem holding their milk. It was amusing because I walked up to the plastic that was laid down on the floor, holding this milk filled glove/udder above my belt so we would not lose the milk before his presentation. Thinking back now, he should of said something more interesting like "RELEASE THE UDDER!!!!", but he said something like "alright, here is my project" and I let go of the glove. And milk went everywhere. My legs, the plastic, the floor, I think even perhaps a few people in the front row of the class. Add together little pin holes in fingers, milk, and gravity, and I had a little squirter. But, being art students, they all got a good laugh and enjoyed it.

Anyway....just wanted to share a memory I came across while doing some housework today.

A little thief caught on tape!!! and other brief thoughts....

I know we have many animal lovers on here (not that way you sick perverted person, ew), and I came across this video of a thieving racoon. It amused me. Ok, so maybe I am easily amused. Thats not a bad thing.  Almost makes you think twice about installing a doggy door in your house depending on where you are at.

A theiving racoon can be seen here.

So, another week is almost to a close. The ups and downs of my job are interesting at times. I spend monday and tuesday just trying to fill up an 8 hour day at work, and by wednesday the tide had turned, and I have about three things that all need to be worked on as soon as possible. Well, at least that will keep me fairly busy over the next few weeks.

On a sadder note tomorrow, one of my coworkers is retiring. He deserves it for sure, being 70+, but I will miss having him around. He gave me my first job out of college oh so long ago in 1998. And then a few years later when he and my other boss at the time both left the company we were at, he came over to me as he was leaving and told me "don't worry, you will be taken care of." That following weekend he called me at home and offered me for a job with them at their new company. I turned in my resignation the next monday. Then 3 years ago, basically the same thing happened. Him and my boss there decided it was time to move, and they offered me an opportunity and a position with them, which I jumped at. Hard to believe I have been working with him just about 9 years.

Anyways, almost time for bed for this bear butt.

Odd signage

So, when your city has become a tourist and vacation destination for people around the country and the world (summer time walking at the beach and ocean front you can hear smattering of various European languages and get foreign students working shops at the beach), what can you do to improve it? Well, here in Virginia Beach, they decided that language was a problem. People cussing, being offensive, etc. at the oceanfront. So they posted a sign, as shown below:

But....what does it really mean? No swimming in the whirlpool while playing electrified tic-tac-toe excitedly? That's just my guess. Well, as I said, it is supposed to mean no foul language, but I guess it would have defeated the purpose, but been more entertaining, if they had posted a circle sign with the words "ass fuck shit damn" with the "no" symbol across it. But, what made me want to post this is that in a way it kind of has become an amusing focal point to people. Just this past friday walking out of a movie theater with my roomate, we saw a group of kids all huddled around this sign and its post taking group pictures pointing and laughing. Which isn't that uncommon. It seems many tourists and vacationers with a sense of humor want to get their picture with the sign. I know it isn't quite as special as the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota or something, but it is ours.

So, I guess if you don't have alot of memories of your vacation, at least you will have the pictures of you and your friends and family gathered around the "No Ass Fuck Shit Damn" sign.

Monday Funnies....also known as "When Cows Attack!!!"

From a British newspaper:

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Seven schoolgirls have sparked a major search and rescue mission - after being frightened by a herd of cows.

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The terrified pupils, aged 14 and 15, were on a geography field trip in Swanage, Dorset, when they sent out an SOS.

They were dropped off three miles from their outdoor centre and told to find their way back using a map.

But the teenagers, from St Albans in Hertfordshire, got stuck on a hill when they came across a herd of cows in a field blocking their way.

A coastguard rescue team, police and an ambulance were scrambled to rescue them after one of the girls called for help on her mobile phone.

A Hertfordshire County Council spokeswoman said: "The children were concerned because they realised they were going to have to walk through a field with cows in it.

"They called their parents and then the centre.

"Someone from the centre went out to meet them and persuaded them the cows weren't dangerous.

"They got to the other side of the field but were feeling tired and it started to rain so someone from the centre called the coastguards."

The Year 10 girls were on a residential field trip run by the Allnatt Group as part of their geography coursework and were staying at the Chatsworth Centre in Swanage.

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When asked for a comment, the cows went "Mooooooooooooooooooooo". Serously. Scared of cows? And I thought the only way to be scared of cows was if you were caught on the wrong side when you were trying to tip them over.

For BabyBlues and Elona...

I came across two videos in my wanderings this morning that reminded me of some conversations and blog exchanges we had earlier this week and had to share them.

I think this one is self explanatory. Slurpee-Like Drink Commercial. And Elona....I still need my cherry slurpee back.

And then there was the nice discussion about the joys of mexican food the other night. So, maybe we should get a group together and give Taco Town a try.

Hope everyone is enjoying their friday.

Random thoughts....

I think I need 5 lashings with a wet noodle for alcohol abuse. Seriously, it wasn't my fault. I was unloading the back of the Pathfinder after grocery shopping, and the bag carrying the 6-pack of Bacardi Mojitos got caught on a bag I was holding, and onto the driveway they went. The 6-pack apparently fell flat on its bottom, all the bottle caps popped off, and the back of my legs got sprayed with mojitos. Then they fell over and I just stood there watching all these bottles roll down the driveway. *sigh*

 Random quotes I have found online or other places:

"Sometimes I think the world is crazy, except for you and me. Sometimes I have my doubts about you."

"Life without bears would be unbearable."

"Question: What is the difference between a hamster and a gerbil? Answer: I am pretty sure there is more dark meat on a hamster."

I survived!!!

Well, it shouldn't be that hard to survive a vacation, right? Well, when it only happens every few years to go visit family, sometimes you can be more exhausted when you return. But, this time, other than lacking a bit of sleep, I feel pretty good.

My parents and I were back in Illinois for 7 days. One day on each end was for travel, being only a 19 hour drive each way. Out of those 7 days I was able to golf 4 of those days, had a couple of family cookouts, watched two fireworks shows (some of which can be seen over on my photos), and basically had a nice time overall. I guess I did not realize how much I needed to get out of the office and away from work.

The highlight of the trip though was basically the fourth of July, where my dad's side of the family got together. And nearly all of us were there. This really doesn't happen that often because of the size of the family. Like I mentioned in the blog before I left, my dad is the oldest of 9 kids. So, when we all got together (including wives, husbands, girlfriends, and kids), there were 33 of us. We were missing a couple of cousins (with husbands and wives) and step kids which would of brought the total up to 43. So, we cooked out, talked, drank, played horseshoes, played volleyball, the usual family small town stuff, before heading up to see the fireworks at the town park.

But anyways, before I finish this thing off, I have a few observations and thoughts from my trip to share.

July 4th - While at the park waiting for it to get dark my mom runs into one of her aunts that she hasn't seen in a few years, grabs me to introduce me to her. My great-aunt (thats who she would be, right?) introduces herself, and asks me "Do you remember me at all?". I reply "When was the last time you saw me?". She goes "Oh, you were about 3 months old." "Uhm, then no, I don't" I reply. This seriously happens to me with someone every time I go back to this town.

Margaritas are to be drank, not snorted. Friday afternoon, I finish golfing with my dad and two of his brothers. We go to a mexican place for dinner. We have been in the sun all day, hot but no breeze. We are all thirsty. We get to the restaurant and order a round of margaritas. We get our drinks, all start drinking the nice cold refreshing margaritas. Suddenly my dad goes "ahhhh....brain freeze". I start laughing in middrink and SNORT goes the margarita up my nose. Ahhh it burns!!! My uncle just starts laughing at my dad and I. I will admit, once I got my nose cleared, it was kind of funny.

West Virginia - Ok...who the hell in West Virginia is teaching their kids its ok to pee all over the toilet seats and stalls at the rest stops and restaurants? In what part of our society is this acceptable behavior? Holy crap, if they think this is acceptable in a public place, it almost scares me to wonder what the hell they do to their own bathroom. Finger painting with poo? Shag carpets because their extra absorpent? Ewwww. In any case, these people need to be taken out behind the woodshed and beaten with a clue stick.

 Well, thats all for now. Back to finish unpacking and doing laundry.