What Are You Thankful For?

"What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for last night."
What are you thankful for? Can you come up with 5 different things every day?

It is amazing how your outlook changes when you focus on what you have, instead of what you don't.

Call Him President-Elect

No one saw this coming?  For weeks, I'd been saying that the polls were wrong, that Hillary didn't have as big of a lead as we were being told. For months now, as I would scroll through my Facebook newsfeed, yeah, there would be posts from the far left denouncing Trump as a racist, womanizer, and any other label they could think of. But way more prevalent, were anti-Hillary, anti-Obama, anti-establishment, anti-government posts.  So did I think this was possible? Of course, in fact, I expected it.  What I didn't expect, was all the hate. Sure, we knew if Trump lost, he'd blame the media, Hillary's lies, voter fraud.... but I didn't picture Mrs. Clinton to be the sore loser she's turned out to be. Nor did I foresee America so divided that there would be such a thing as "Not My President" movements...protests...violence... all those who didn't and don't believe Trump can make America great again sure aren't doing anything to make it better themselves... in fact, they make America look like the joke they are sure Trump will make it.

Pawn Stars Revisited

Over 2 years ago, I wrote a piece on "Pawn Stars", after a visit to Las Vegas and the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. It was a disappointing visit, especially for my wife, who had hoped to meet Chumlee. Well, on our anniversary weekend, we traveled to Vegas again, and her dream came true!

It was fun to meet him, but that wasn't all - we got to meet Mark Hall Patton, known as "The Beard Of Knowledge"

We even had him video chat with my mother-in-law, who was equally star struck!

Then, we got to meet Corey and hang out with him!

Our visit was topped off by visiting with the man himself. No need for the introduction 

"I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop. I work here with my old man and my son, Big Hoss. Everything in here has a story and a price. One thing I've learned after 21 years - you never know what is gonna come through that door."

My wife was so star-struck she couldn't even pose in the picture!  He did sign her pawn slip for a ring she sold. Would have loved to meet the Old Man. Maybe next time!

Labor Day

So remind me again why we have this last "3 day weekend" before the end of summer? How many even know what we are celebrating? Labor Day was created way back in 1887, and dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers - a tribute to the contributions made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. A well-deserved day off, so to speak. Or, as many celebrated today - a day to go out shopping and eating, and make others work who aren't as fortunate as those granted the day off. Which sadly was most of the workforce in retail and restaurants, those who protect and serve, those driving trucks... For all of those working on Labor Day, a fitting music tribute was made over 30 years ago now, and it applies just as much today!

Internet Slang

Internet slang has been around a long time, well, almost since Al Gore invented the Internet! Back when it first became cool to type "LOL" instead of laughing out loud. Which got me thinking... how many people ever typed "laughing out loud" anyway? Were they really laughing? Then of course there is the infamous "ROTFL" If you were really rolling on the floor laughing, how did you type it?

 And I shouldn't even get started on EMOTICONS :-) ;-)

HASHTAGS? #idontevenknowwhatthismeansbutidoitjusttolookcool

But now we have "ISO", which used to be a term to determine the light sensitivity of film for your camera, but now is "In Search Of".... and "BAE". Shouldn't it be obvious that my wife comes "BAE"? Do I really need to refer to her by the Danish word for poop?

"POTUS"......OMG, even if he is a POS, can't we still respect him and call him the President of the United States?  See what I mean?

I guess I am just SMH over how lazy we've become that we can't spell out what we mean!

Lagoon - It's What Fun Is!

Two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to go to an amusement park for free, thanks to a wonderful and generous boss. It had been going on 20 years since I'd experienced such thrills, so we jumped at the chance! Many crazy and exciting rides had been added, so there was the added excitement of trying these for the first time.

First up, was "Cannibal". An insane coaster which shoots you up a 200 foot elevator, then down a first drop which is actually a backwards drop.

If that doesn't have you screaming, 2 upside down loops and barrel rolls will. So of course we rode this 3 times. The best and least scary ride, amazingly was in the front seats.

Next, a ride they call "Wicked". Though I thought it was kinda lame. Samantha screamed and had her eyes closed, but after the fun of Cannibal, this really was lame.

Straight up, straight down, one inversion. Only rode it once. Lame.

"Wild Mouse"? Now that was wild! I was ready for this ride to end before we'd even gone down the first hill. Each turn had us feeling like we would leave the track.

Then the brakes shoved my lap bar deep into my chest. Really glad I hadn't eaten yet. Samantha claims it to be much scarier than it looks, and way scarier than Cannibal.

By no means new, but still scary, in a "this ride may fall apart and I may fall out" kinda way, was the wooden roller coaster.

The only thing "terrifying" about the "Terror Ride" was a headlight and horn honk at the end, which made you think you were heading into oncoming traffic.

Except it was an amusement park ride, inside a building. Still made me jump though! And the green faced creature pictured reminded us of Michael Jackson.

"Rattlesnake Rapids" promised we would get wet. That wasn't a lie. WE GOT SOAKED!

Not so much on the log flume. That was a very long line for a very short ride. Don't think we'll be doing that one again.

Our favorite ride, by far, was "Colossus - The Fire Dragon".

Don't be fooled by the screaming - she loved it!

In fact, on our 7th time riding, Samantha even put her hands up through both loops. And she can't wait to go back for more!

Riding the "Rocket - Re-entry" was a blast, and possibly the scariest of rides, falling over 200 feet in a matter of seconds.

But for me, the absolute most terrifying ride was the Scrambler. Two weeks later and I am still a bit dizzy and leery of losing my lunch!

After riding the Scrambler, the "Skyscraper" was a mistake. Couldn't even look down for fear of motion sickness. Maybe an old man shouldn't be doing this!

Or this!

All in all though, it was more fun that I imagined. Who knew so much fun could be had at age 50? I guess that's why they say "Lagoon - It's What Fun Is!"

Comet? Meteor? UFO? Space Junk???

So I am at work Wednesday night, and head outside to take the trash out. And I see these strange lights moving across the sky!  At first I figure I must be hallucinating, because it looked like fireworks, all glittery, gold, green, and blue...but moving sideways. I stood there speechless, watching this amazing sight, then realizing I could be watching history, decided I needed a second set of eyes to confirm I wasn't going crazy!  Is this for real? A comet? A meteor shower? UFO?

This brilliant display lasted for about 45 seconds, traveling from west to east before it left our view. I then grabbed my phone and reached out on Facebook to see if anyone else had witnessed this. I found that several in my area had, but no one had an explanation. A bit later, after I got home, reports were coming in that it was some sort of "space junk", which has now been confirmed to be the Chinese CZ-7 R/B Rocket Booster breaking up after re-entry into the atmosphere. Still, an incredible event I will not forget any time soon, as I wonder what inspired me to be outside at that exact moment.