My old friend Chris www.numskullery.com isn't the only geek out there. Two old friends far apart still do the same goofy stuff. What are the odds? Hey, my son and I thought this was cool stuff though. We did the same thing last year, but I couldn't figure out how to make the film cells stick and mold to the silly eggs. We got it right this year. Really HOT water. Pay attention to the instructions, do I must.

As previously talked about in the first blog this day......they have made the best Transformers ever. These are not toys though....you transform them as you wish and display the silly things. They call them the Masterpiece Collection and only 4 have been made. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, and Ultra Magnus. In my opinion....Starscream being the best. When he is transformed........robot or F-15....it looks EXACTLY as it should......the F-15 looks like an actual F-15 and when in robot mode.....he looks EXACTLY as he should .....even down to the little smirk on his face. And of course...he is extremely posable......even with a plastic stick up his butt so it looks as though he's floating in air. In Aircraft mode...the nose cone flips open to reveal the radar on an actual F-15....now that's detail. Optimus though....I am now questioning.......I got John the 20th Anniversary figure (the bigass Optimus in the photo on the other blog) earlier today and now I notice the masterpiece.....Looks exactly the same....including the Megatron gun, Energon Axe, the autobot matrix of leadership,the articulation points, and what not are the exact same. I wonder.....is this truly a masterpiece which would be something different at $180 or the same thing I got at Wal-Mart today for $50? I wonder...never-the-less, It is truly still cool. But in essence...to make it complete I would just have to order the trailer separate (which is available). Or buy the whole kitten-cabuddle for $180? I wonder. The Megatron masterpiece is alright.

Legos, Legos, Legos. We got John into lego's some time ago. He really loves them. But now he can actually build a few small sets. When it comes to the more larger sets we of course have to help him out. Needless to say the most of them are Star Wars lego's. There are a number of other series he's getting into. One point of concern though.....we'll spend a number of HOURS building these sets with him and within 2 hours or a day.......he blows them up. And I'm not talking in just major sections.....as the photos show......he took them apart piece by piece.....down to the little pieces. If he sees them blow up on the TV.......he'll blow them up with his hands. But what I do like when we help him build these things.......it helps him to think in a 3 dimensional way......looking at the steps in the instructions....which are 3D...then put them together in real time. It's coming along I think. His Pre-K teacher has told us he has the highest IQ in the class. Now I don't know if that's saying much with a Pre-K class. But I do believe that teaching him to think in a 3D way has a part to play in that.

The hype is generating in me now for the new "Transformers" movie coming up in July. Now, I have always been into Transformers ever since they came out in the early 80's. But of course, living an adult life I haven't been into it for some time now. Seeing how much some of the Generation 1 and 2 figures are now.....man I sure wished I was more into them when I was in my teens. An old friend Jerry, had quite a few and I think he even had the original Optimus Prime which goes for an arm and a leg now. We've been getting a few transformers here and there for Johnathon over the past few years, but a few weeks ago I showed him the Animated Transformers movie which came out in the late 80's. Needless to say...he's diggin it. COOL. Now I can get some too. There have been a number of hit miss transformers with each series they produce. But lately they have been making these "Classic" series. They claim to be reminiscent of the Generation 1 figures......but with a catch....they made them look more like they did in the cartoon. Which is pretty cool. And to top it off.....they ensured they have more articulation for extreme posability. So you could put together an armada of Autobots or Decepticons with motion...if you will. An Added benefit, Wal-Mart has an exclusive poster series out of the orginal stuff now...3 total. we got John the first today. Bummer they didn't make cool stuff like this back then.

This is the salad after mixing in the two types of lettuce. It turns out to be a very visually pleasing salad. Very colorful. It takes approximately an hour to make. But worth it, and what else is there to do if you care about your health? I do try to cut out the brown parts of the lettuce.....creeps me out a bit. One trick though I forgot to mention before.........when you wash your vegetables......make an attempt to dry them out......otherwise over time sitting in the fridge....all that water will drain to the bottom, and make everything down there soggy. Pretty gross. I think tomorrow we'll get some fresh shrimp over at Sexton's and cook them in my wife's new steamer......mmmmmm good!

Recently, the Air Force has been pushing a mandatory PT regimen unlike any that has taken place in my career. Of course, I'm a little overweight and I smoke (that sure doesn't help my run time), but they also push (if you're on the mandatory program) a Healthy Living Workshop and Fitness Improvement Program. Both of which I attended 2 years ago. But I have slipped since then and have begun an attempt at healthy eating again. Since I do have high blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol.....(this is checked as well plus I am on Lipitor for that), I test again in April......and knowing the military, I'll be tested in March, I have begun in earnest the beginning of my healthy eating habits again. Starting, with my awesome natural salads. At least once a day chow down on some of mother nature's finest. It comprises of 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 3 carrots (real carrots mind you, peeled and sliced....not the baby carrot stuff in a bag....although still good), 1 white onion, 1 red onion ( good for the blood and heart), a mix of chopped up romain lettuce and regular head of iceberg lettuce, and one bag of chopped ham just for meatiness. NO CHEESE! Now watch out for the calories on your dressing.........I prefer right now zesty Italian dressing....Ranch and Thousand Island (although taste awesome) are double the amount of calories compared to Italian. No croutons....high in carbs........but just a dash of bacons bits is good. One good size salad of this nature will actually fill you up......and that full feeling you get after a meal, will only last about an hour and half. And pooping later on in the day is so smooth and squishy.....it's actually relaxing. You know how after some poops you feel like it's not all out of you? Well, you get that nice empty feeling after regular eating of this salad. Funny thing though......your farting stench will intensify......I was conducting roll call the other day at work and cleared everybody out. Hell, I thought my own shit stank...and boy did it ever. But It just gives me a good feeling, knowing that I'm eating healthier.

Howdy all....as few readers as there are out there on my site. I'm back......it's been pretty busy since my last post in July. In that time, I've been TDY to NCO Academy....moving up in the world with promotions, plus a lovely trip to the jewels of Iraq and Afghanistan. Not the best time in the world.....but none the less...part of the job.
I did happen to make it home for Christmas. And my wife was nice enough to hold off on my son's B-Day until I got back.....his B-Day is technically the 10th but we celebrated it on the 17th. He turned four....so he hasn't quite grasped dates yet. Then Christmas came around...and more presents for the boy.........talk about toy overload! Shit. One cool thing though.....he now grasps the idea of Santa Claus....and it was awesome! He watched the old 70's animation stories of Christmas....Rudolph, Santa's Coming to Town, etc........and he was all about leaving cookies & milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer before bed. Then he crashed out within 15 minutes. Bonus! Christmas morning....his eye were wide open.....then he just rubbed the presents before opening them.....like he valued them with pride and joy. It was funny.
Another part of the changing of the times .......I'll be changing duties at work.......it sucks.....for the past 3 years I've been working in Support Section....first year and a half...I worked as shift supervisor and HAZMAT Manager downstairs....then the past year and a half....I was NCOIC of Support upstairs...in which I have really enjoyed....but now with the yearly mass personell changes...I'm going back out to the line.....and after 16 frigging years of service......I'll be turning wrenches again. What crap! I waited years to make Staff Sergeant just to be in charge of and teach my young troops.....then busted ass to make Tech Sergeant......to expedite and lead troops.....but nowadays.....so many people have PCS'ed or separated, plus the decommissioning of the H-53 helicopter.....that Tech's just turn wrenches on aircraft. I'm not happy about that shit at all. Oh well. There's still food on the table and a roof over our heads.
Anyway......I was supposed to go home for Christmas.....took leave and everything....but things just didn't quite work out. I'll try to keep the site up to date for awhile.
Later.

Ok....for every Star Wars geek out there.....this is "THE" game to have. I've played damn near every SW game there is.....and this is the BEST! Granted....I've been out of the game playing scene for like 3 years now.....but nevertheless....this was the game to bring me back. I bought this like....last Feb...and I just now finished it. Given of course....I haven't played every day....can't do that with a toddler in the house. Played both sides Empire and Rebellion......The Empire is the toughest. This has it all....fleets to build.....ground forces to create.....then take over the galaxy, system by system. The sound effects are dead on with the films......and then using heroes such as Han Solo in the Falcon or Boba Fett in the Slave I is really cool! I do prefer playing the space battles compared to the ground battles though. The missions are addicting as hell. Good job on that. The graphics are superb! Even if your not a fan of SW....but just a gamer of real time strategy games along the lines of Command and Comquer and Starcraft...this is a must! And to top things off....there's an expansion pack coming out.......The Forces of Corruption.......see it at www.lucasarts.com. This looks awesomw as well......but in a way....I think I would like to see a pack for say Episode I-III time period. EAW does containe a few elements of that period.........but I think all out at that time would be good.

Recently we got back from a trip home to Oklahoma. It was a great trip....although my wife, son and I did get sick as hell for a short time while we were there, but no biggee. Out of the past three trips home....we are two out of three times getting sick.......I'm talking the whole puking and shitting liquid type as well. Maybe it was the dry weather or pollen flying in the air. Who knows. But other than that, it was good.
I got to see the family...they are doing well.....saw the town.....and one of my old good friends....best part of that .....we actually had a chance to sit, have a drink and shoot the shit for awhile. I haven't done that with anyone in over 4 years. It was good. Like I told Chris when I was up there...no one down here speaks my language or are into the same things as I am, and I haven't been that relaxed like that for sometime. Everyone down here is either into fishing, hunting or drinking. And I don't know anything about hunting or fishing. Plus I'm a supervisor at work .....so I can't just hang out with a few of my subordinates...it could be perceived as favoritism.
But I think the best part was when I took my son to Mackleman Park down the street from the house......and I just watched the sunset. The atmosphere and look of the sun going down.....was so familiar like when I was groing up there....it just felt like home. It was, once again, ...relaxing.
One wierd thing though....even though we are the same time zone........the sun didn't go down until 9PM........down here...the sun sets at 7:30. Just goes to show the difference the shape of the earth makes, eh?
Like I told my dad when I was there......and maybe age has something to do with it........but I have never in my adult life been so homesick than I am now. In my twenties....I just wanted to do my own thing, didn't care where I was living, and just partied on. Now in my thirties, and being a father looking for a better life for my son.......which includes a higher quality of life standard......I look to Oklahoma City. And in addition to that, maybe there's a little bit of selfishness involved....meaning I have my family, friends, and a big city for me.
Am I coming off as wishy washy? Oh well.
I'm pretty tired anyway........I'll chit chat later. And next time I blog.....I'll thing of something more interesting.

After much deliberation of having a new car payment, we went and traded in our nasty Nissan XTerra for this awesome 2003 Chevy Avalanche. I'm very pleased with this, other than how much gas it takes, it's a great vehicle! It has plenty of room inside, a massive V-8, smooth ride,every other little feature you can think of and the back bed area is bigger than it looks. This will will be much easier for us during hurricane evac as well.