Blog Began 25FEB04

BLOG 2004

01MAR04, Kris'Birthday

I am always better equipt to deal with other peoples birthdays.
Paul and I will make him a cake, course its gotta be anything
but chocolate on chocolate, that is our dream cake not Bebe's.

06FEB04, I ran out of cigarettes.

I didnt feel like walking to the store like normal.
Havent had a cigarette since. I had tried the Pills, the Patches,
the Gum, Mints, even Voodoo. (Read VooDoo as Hypnosis)
This time I am doing it without medical support. Not cold turkey,
This has taken TONS of Prayer. I am on every prayer list I can get onto.
And Yes it does Help. I prayed for three months for the strength
to set a quit date. Then a week early I run out and stay out of
Cigarettes.

26JAN4, Yea, im 41

Woo Who. or BIG Woop, Havent decided.
I did get a new picture for my Texas Driver License.

BLOG 2003

01FEB03 Columbia

Columbia: On February 1, 2003 a space shuttle broke up during a seemingly
routine reentry, killing seven crew members. The Israeli astronaut on board
had provided the only interest, because of the heightened fear of
terrorism. A high-profile investigation found that the technical cause
(damage to the left wing during launch) was suspected and troubling to some
engineers and managers during the mission. For various institutional and
technical reasons, the damage was never verified before reentry. The
investigation, which included a political scientist-historian and a
sociologist, found that the institutional culture of the agency and
contractors played a decisive role. I slept thru this one as well, when I
finally walked to the corner for cigarettes I noticed the look of dread on
everyones face. I recognize that look. It was the same look everyone had
when the first shuttle exploded. As soon as I got home I turned on CNN and
joined the nation in this opportunity to mourn as a collective.

11SEP01

Sept. 11: Hijacked jetliners hit the World Trade Center in New York and the
Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth hijacked plane crashes into a field in
Pennsylvania. Trading on Wall Street is stopped. The Federal Aviation
Administration halts all flight operations at the nation's airports for the
first time in U.S. history. U.S. military is placed on high alert. President
Bush addresses the nation and vows to "find those responsible and bring
them to justice." Hundreds of New York City firemen and policemen sent to
rescue WTC workers are lost when the WTC Twin Towers collapse. Reaction from
international leaders is swift as world leaders react with outrage over the
attacks.

Things I thought I had to have in 2000.
That Big Promotion

01JAN00

Talk about a let down, I had spent the last 18 months working on Y2K
projects. I had memorized most key events and the dates of them. I had
devoted most of my outreach and training to ensure that all providers in
my eleven states would be Y2K compliant. Now its 12:01 January 1st. I am
at my computer in my home office. Feeling quite let down. Paul and I
had gone to the store the day before. We had four shopping carts,
two each, we were getting the maximum allowed on the key staples. Things
like popcorn, toilet paper, and drygoods the kind of food you would be glad
to eat if it was really the end of the world. Early that evening just after
dark we fired up every vehicle he had and took it down to the Gas Station,
we filled every tank and every gas can we had. Now its 12:15 and still
nothing. I set up and watch the next three time zone join the new century.
Nothing. Deep down I was upset. I did not think we took it serious enough,
something somewhere should have still gone wrong.

BLOG 1990

Things I thought I had to have in 1990.
A Real Job

19APR95 OKC Bombing

on April 19, 1995, around 9:03 a.m., just after parents dropped their
children off at day care at the Murrah Federal Building in downtown
Oklahoma City, the unthinkable happened. A massive bomb inside a rental
truck exploded, blowing half of the nine-story building into oblivion. A
stunned nation watched as the bodies of men, women, and children were
pulled from the rubble for nearly two weeks. When the smoke cleared and
the exhausted rescue workers packed up and left, 168 people were dead in
the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

11MAR91 The Blues

I finally settled down to a Real Job working
for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, in the Medicare Secondary Payer
Department, Control Clerk II. Like this job, gotta keep my head down and
no one will get promoted.

25NOV90 Thanksgiving Day

Washington State to Colorado, Hauling
Christmas Trees, Really put me in the Christmas Spirit. Had multiple free
thanksgiving dinners, all at Flying J, my favorite truck stop.
As a Flying J memember Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were free.
We routed that trip to hit as many as we could that day.

BLOG 1980

Things I thought I had to have in 1980.
A Soloflex

26APR86 Chernobyl

An uncontrolled surge of power, followed by fire and an explosion, at
reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sends a radioactive
cloud around the world and contaminates large areas in the Ukraine and
Byelorussia. Some 50 million curies of radiation are released.

28JAN86 Challenger

The space shuttle exploded during its twenty-fifth mission killing seven
crew members. Because of the non-astronaut middle school teacher on
board, many school children around the country watched the explosion.
This event halted U.S. crewed space flight for 32 months, and changed
NASA decisively. High-profile investigations found that the technical
cause (leaking joints in the solid rocket boosters) was suspected and
troubling to engineers and managers before launch, but that for various
political and financial reasons they were overruled and pressured to
conform and approve launch. This case shows how a seemingly minute
technical issue can have wide-ranging social, political, and other
dimensions. It also introduces the issue of ethical conduct in a
technical context where there is ambiguity, conflicting interpretations,
and uneven power relationships. I slept thru this one, when I finally
drove to the college I noticed the look of dread on everyones face.
I did not recognize that look. I turned on the radio and all I could
tell was some great tragety had befell NASA. As soon as I got home
I turned on the news and joined the nation in this opportunity to mourn
as a collective.

North West Missouri State 1981 to 1985

I did stay with Grandma and Grandpa Newlon for the first three years,
with Mom and Scott most of the last year. Oh So Close. But I had a
good run. If I had stayed at Golden Corral, and on Thompson Street,
I would have likely completed my BS.ED Secondary in Speech and
Theatre with a minor in Psychology. Instead, I didnt. IF is such
a big word. Its easier to regret something you did than something
you wish you would have done.

HS Graduation Spring 1981,

Im sure the date is written somewhere. Yea I did graduate Excelsior Springs
West High, ESWH. Noah Moran stayed over the night of my graduation.

Hugh O'Brian Youth Foundation 1979 to 1981

This was a big thing for me. In 1979 I was selected Outstanding Sophomore
for Excelsior Springs East High. I went to state competition at Columbia
Missouri. After that I served two terms on the Ambassador Council, 1980
and 1981.I have newspaper clippings of this linked from my home page under
Clippings.

BLOG 1970

Things I thought I had to have in 1970.
A Halliburton Briefcase

Summer 1979

I stayed in Kansas with Grandma and Grandpa Mildward
the entire summer I hauled Hay. I only took my pay twice that summer,
once for Street Dance and then again the end of the summer. That summer
was amazing. Fell in love for the first time that summer. Drove
everything in sight. Had my first car crash. At the end of that summer
I had a pair of cars, a new pair of boots, and money to burn.

28MAR79 Three Mile Island

Dangerous gas bubble formed. Risk of hydrogen explosion. Some vital
instruments were exposed to more radiation than they were designed to
withstand. Reactor is so highly radioactive it may never reopen.
Radioactivity in reactor building is 100 times lethal level. Three
Mile Island accident had 150 precedents...150 valve failures in similar
reactors, a US Government official told the US Senate.

Summer 1976

We moved to Polo Missouri, Wonderful rental house very big.
Scott, Mom and I, on our own. That is the summer I develop a love for
found goods. I made mom a doorstop, it was a piece of cement with tiles
in it. I counted the tile and realized I could write,
"God Loves you, That makes two of Us."
Deep down this was a rough period but it had its high points,
Like Scott and I going to see "The Monkeys" in concert.
It was the only time I was ever considered for a sport team,
Polo was so small everyone always went out for the team just to have
enough people to play. I did go on my first two dates while in Polo,
Both of them hayrides. Evelyn Handy and I were sorta dating,
When I had to move back to the big city, She gave me my first ever kiss.

Winter 1974

Scott falls thru the ice on the Lagoon, I go in under the ice after him.
We get so cold and wet. Of course, Ronnie, Robert, Scott and I continue to
play till almost dark. Mom made us strip out of those wet clothes on the
front porch, that was worse than falling thru the ices. Ronnie and
Roberts sister Brenda was watching. How embarrasing.

BLOG 1960

Things I thought I had to have in 1960.
My Own Library Card

Death Threats against the Pillsbury Dough Boy

I thought it was so cool that the DoughBoy could jump out of the can and
giggle. Mom was fixing dinner and I wanted to ask what the odds of him
jumping out in our kitchen. Mom honestly and promply replied that
"if he did jump out in this kitchen, I am taking a rolling pin and
killing him." That memory will always stick with me.
That and mom saying our room looked like a "shamble".
Look it up some time. Shamble is a crime scene normally a homicide scene.

04APR68 Martin Luther Kings Death

April 4. King is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., by James Earl Ray.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.,
unleashing violence in more than 100 cities. This is my second imprinted
memory. Mom was trying to Iron, Mom did lots of ironing back then, She
still has that Ironing board, I did my name on the bottom except I got my
second E backwards, which makes no sense, I got it right the first time.
I think I was trying to make it a mirror image, I still like symentry.
Anyway I digress. Mom was trying to iron, she was having a hard time
because she was crying so hard. I asked her what was wrong and she said,
" A good man died today for the wrong reason."
I didnt know what she was getting at but I was able to put it back
together over the years. She was right. She still is right. She loves being
right but occasionally likes to fight about it first just the same.
Its good exersize.

14JUL66 My Brothers Birth

This may be my first ever imprinted memory.
I have tried for the last 15 years to find an event that predates
this in my memory. To no Avail. It was very warm on that Greyhound Bus,
Grandma Newlon was on the bus with me. She had got me a Superman Comic
Book to read on the trip. I remember the storyline in the comic book.
Flashfoward to NKC hospital. All my family looking at my new brother
thru the glass in the nursery. My first feeling was Jeolousy. He had
a real cool tent, it was clear and big enough for two. I wanted to get
in there with him, to check out my new brother. The tent was an oxygen
tent, course I was too young to put any of that together. everyone seemed
pale. Course I knew everything would be ok.