Thank you, UT!

Affter having been at the University of Tennessee for a little over a year now, I have to say that coming here is the best decision I have ever made!!

The people I have gotten to know here have become almost like my family. They not only provide me with the opportunity for a good education, they provided me with a place to live in a hurry when I needed it. They have also provided me with a job that gives me the time I need to study, as well as nice folks to work with who have helped me more than they know. Without these people, I would pretty much be up the river with no paddles, so saying 'thank you' somehow seems to not be enough, but it is the best I can do for now.

GO VOLS!

Walking, Part II

This walking class is tougher than I thought it was going to be. First day, we walked a mile and then a bunch of steps. My legs are killing me!!

I'll tough it out and see what happens. Still sounds like an interesting class from looking at the syllabus.

Walking

I am starting a walking class today. 1 credit which I should get an "A" in at least. I am doing this for more than the easy grade though. I also hope to get rid of some of this gut I hae developed since I have been in Knoxville, and to hopefully give me more energy as a result.

I am not sure what is wrong with me, but I just have very little motivation to do much of anything, and I know I need to do something to change the way I am going.

Divorced

Well, I went to sign all the divorce papers this morning. I am agreeable to the greatest majority of the stuff I signed. The only thing I didn't care for was that she seemed so darn HAPPY about it all coming to an end.

Now it goes to the judge, who has to hold on to it for 14 days before he (the judge) signs it, then poof.....DIVORCED!

Back in Greensboro...for now

I know now why I left Greensboro.

I am here for a few days to visit my parents, and would not live here again on a bet. Way way too crowded with nothing to do. I did get to see the Depot downtown for the first time in about 30 years, but that one highlight is overshadowed by all the corporate sprawl from the airport coming into town on I-40.

Liberalism is a mental disorder

This guy is the only talking head who tells it like it REALLY is without the political baggage of Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly on the right or Al Franken and the Air America left wing nut jobs. Check him out!

This is way cool!

Check out http://chancellor.tennessee.edu/hurricaneassistance/. The University of Tennessee-Knoxille (as well as the other state supported universities) are offering to help Hurricane Katrina victms in a very unusual and special way by offering an education to some of those students displaced from their own colleges by the hurricane.

Way to go!

Back to school...

I got a rare treat to take my son Ben to his first official day of kindergarten. He seemed to be really ready to go to school and meet all the new kids.

I start back next week.

Here are some pictures from the UT Orange and White game, and some other various pictured of my kids and my parents when they came here last month. 

Just a short note....

I ended up with a B in my second summer course. More over the weekend.....

HOT!

It's supposed to be 95 here for the next few days with heat index temperatures around 100 or so. Good thing I have a pool. Going in a little while to pick up Ben and bring him back here for a couple of days.

We're going tonight to see the Tennessee Smokies baseball team. They are the AA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The company gave me free tickets. YAY!

What rights do you have?

This post is in response to a blog conversation I have been having with the head of the Republican party in my hometown. Thank goodness I don't live there anymore.

Basically, he goes on and on about the rights of the majority and the rights granted to us by God.

Apparently, he got called to task for deleting a post where he received a lot of negative comments, and he has yet to admit that he did it (either intentionally or accidentally). He blames the post going away on a "power outage" that he had at his location. Maybe there was a power outage at his location, but that would have no effect on posts that are already stored on Blogger's servers (whereever they are).

Now, as Paul Harvey says, "the rest of the story". You will see my response to him in the comments below.....

The one true right God does give each individual is the CHOICE to accept His Son Jesus Christ or not to. What each individual does with that choice is their own business, and it will be up to God to stand in judgment, not to any of us.

It is like a former pastor of mine said about the Christian lifestyle...."if I'm wrong (about what he says from the pulpit), I at least have lived a good life and hopefully have made other peoples' lives better in the process. If I'm right, then we will receive all of the riches God has promised us in the Bible".

I think God does give us other rights, but without that first right, the others mean very little.

New pictures

My 5 year old Ben, busy at my laptop

Ben riding a camel at the Knoxville Zoo
Ben on the tram at the Zoo
Here are some various pictures. I'll upload more later.

RRRRRRRRRR

I just had to reformat my hard drive. What a pain in the butt!

Here is where I am today.

D-Day

I find out a little later today what I got for my Poli Sci class. Hoping for an A, but I still think I'll end up with a B+.

UPDATE

I ended up with the B+. No complaints....

Yaaay for me!!

I ended up with a 95 on my group project. I know she most likely won't read this, but thanks Jennifer!

I have gotten B's on the 2 tests, and an A on my paper, in addition to this grade. I still have to take the final next week, but I could end up with an A, but most likely a B+.

Pretty good considering that I truthfully understand very little of what the professor is saying (he speaks VERY broken English), but he is a pretty decent guy in spite of that.

Going away

I am going away for a few days to visit my parents. Their house happens to be in a wireless hotspot, so I'll take my laptop along and maybe blog while I am there.

Happy 50th b'day to my brother tomorrow!

Good day

I had a very good day with my little boy on Sunday. First, we went to the zoo here in Knoxville for my company's picnic. They had a terrific spread for lunch. He got to ride a camel and went on the carousel a couple of times. He particularly enjoyed seeing the elephant. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them developed.

After lunch, we stopped by the university to watch a baseball game. He enjoyed it more than I thought he would. Of course, meeting a little girl who came up and sat with us eventually probably helped that some. The only problem was that he kept cheering for the other team to hit a home run. He did enjoy clapping and dancing around when they played "Rocky Top", so there is hope for him after all I suppose.

Good morning....

I bought a webcam a couple of weeks ago, and I just figured out how to take still pictures with it (yaayyy for me!). Too bad the only thing I can take a picture of is me! I'm sure the 3 or 4 of you who read this don't want to see that.

1 A, 1 B, and 2 C's. Not great, but I'll take it.

Summer classes start somewhere around Memorial Day.

The "Big Orange Screw"

I knew why the University of Tenneessee is "affectionately" referred to as the "Big Orange Screw", but I didn't believe it until yesterday. I park in a parking lot for commuter students (I have a commuter parking tag), and I get a $12 ticket.

What's up with that?

Who's Annoying Me Today

I came across this site the other day. It has the usual liberal/socialist soundbites, but at least she has the courage to admit it, unlike most liberals.

Tell her y'all said "hey" for me now, ya hear?

Here we are....

Exams start a week from Tuesday. I'm not ready, but then again, nobody else is ready either.

Happy studying!

Can someone tell me why?

I have been trying to help out this girl who I don't think really wants my help, but I have to keep trying because I see so much potential in her. She deserves a lot better than what she has gotten out of life. She has a boyfriend who treats her like crap. She has freely admitted this to me, but does nothing to even attempt to leave him or be on her own.

I just don't understand I guess....

Nothing to say

I really have nothing to say today, but I just wanted the 3 of you who come by my blog regularly know I am still breathing.

More tomorrow.

Happy Easter

I normally don't bring up religion, because I feel that most "religious" people are phony, but let us not forget the true reason for this holiday. It is not bunny rabbits and candy and painted eggs. It is because of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The link above explains it a lot better than I can or will try to.

A sad day for me

I have an aunt who is on the verge of death, so pray (those of you that do) that she will go quietly. She has been in the hospital for about 2 weeks, and from what I know of the situation, the end could be at anytime.

Terri Schiavo, Part III

Everyone who thinks Michael Schiavo is such a great guy should read this first.

Notice the October 2003 date on these letters to Jeb Bush, yet he did nothing to help this poor woman by not convening a grand jury or whatever needed to be done to have these charges AT THE VERY LEAST investigated. Shameful.

Terri Schiavo, Part 2

Two more nurses accuse Michael Schiavo of being nothing more than a vicious bully. Click the link above in the title to find out more.

This guy makes all of the good men of the world look bad. No wonder most women don't trust men!

Terri Schiavo

Let me preface this by saying that if I were in the shape Terri Schiavo is in, I would not want to live!! Thank God I don't have to make that decision. Hopefully, no one who ever cares for me will have to make that decision on my behalf.

In this case though, this says it all. Her "husband" (and I use that term very loosely because he abandoned her years ago for another woman with whom he has since had children) lost any moral ground he had when HE consciously made the decision to be with another woman.

PS

Terri has the moral standing to divorce this guy according to Matthew 5:31-32.

False alarm

It turns out that my wife just wanted a "state of our marriage" update to see if I had changed my mind and was willing to be placed back under her thumb again. After about an hour, I realized if we were going to get back together, it would be her way or the highway, so I refused.

She wanted me to move back there with her, which wouldn't be so bad except I would have no job and I would have to give up going to school just to suit her. I also think if I did go back, we would go back to arguing, and to everyone involved, including my kids, being miserable.

Oh well, at least we are being civil to each other now.

The thing that came along to confuse things...

Yes, it happened. Something happened to definitely throw the proverbial rock in my little quiet smooth pond of life.

Basically, my wife calls me up at work yesterday, and from what I could gather, she wants to at least discuss the possibility of us getting back together (we have been separated since August), which came to me as a great surprise considering some of her previous comments. I had work to do, so I couldn't talk to her for very long, but we'll see where it goes.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the idea of getting back with her. I would love to get my marriage and family back, but if it ends up being the way it was right before I left, then I think I'll pass. Everybody was miserable, and everybody knew it. If we could honestly work out our differences and heal most of the wounds, then I would definitely consider it.

Thoughts?

Loving life....

Things for me are going well, which means sooner or later something wll come along to mess that up, but I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Shift leader

I got a promotion at my job with Scripps. I am now a shift leader (supervisor).

I am still learning all the fine details, but overall, it isn't too bad. It can be rather tedious at times, but I think I'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

Why I hate math.....

Before I begin, I want to say that I actually like math OK, but the way they're doing it now really sucks, and makes no sense.

The math class I'm taking here at the "Big Orange Screw" is a class that doesn't so much depend on getting the right answer, but explaining how you got to that answer (like those old high school math word problems on steroids). I never knew that answering a relatively simple math problem could be as complicated as explaining the Revolutionary War on a history exam.

It is such a pretty day outside. Think after I go to Wal-Mart to return some stuff that didn't fit, I may find a park or someone outside on campus to go to and then go work out.

Not happy........UPDATED

I was supposed to have an interview with Aldi Foods for a district manager position they have available. Now, through the Career Services office here on campus, they tell me that even though they promised me an interview, they are now going to break that promise.

Makes me wonder what other promises they've broken to their employees, customers, and/or suppliers. I wrote a letter back to the Career Services people this morning. I include it below. I'll let everybody know if they send me a response.

I know this [my interview being cancelled] isn't really Career Services fault, but it does seem extremely unfair that a company would be allowed by the University to say one thing and then actually do something else, and that Career Services doesn't seem to be able to require this company to honor its commitments.

Since I am relatively new to the University, I will assume that this was simply an isolated occurence and is not a trend for companies who interview here.

I don't know if I would want to work for a company who promised students an interview and then for whatever reason decided at the last minute to not honor their promise. In all honesty, it makes me wonder what other promises they have broken in the past to their employees and/or customers.

Thanks for keeping me updated.

Here is the update. After I basically threw a fit, I did get invited to go to the dinner, which was very nice. I do have one small complaint though. Everybody else there had a name tag with their name printed on it, but I didn't, so I had to make my own. Minor detail, but it did make me feel a little left out. I even wound up with a huge can of their store brand of spaghettios. They put samples of their products on the tables, and that is what I ended up with, so life isn't all bad. I did get my interview the next day. They said they'll let me know something in a couple of weeks.

Stay tuned.

Math......YUCK!

I hate math. I don't have time to explain right now, but I will later.

Sick, sick, sick

I am still sick with a cold and cough that makes it unbearable to sleep at night because all the drainage collects in one spot and sits there like a sumo wrestler on my head.

I go back to the doctor tomorrow (Friday) morning. Hopefully, they'll tell me something so I at least can sleep at night.

An attempt at poetry

I have never been very much for writing stuff down (kinda makes ya wonder why I have a blog, huh?), but with my little ones growing up so quickly, and the fact I see them infrequently, I figured I better start writing stuff down or else I may miss or forget something important along the way, so I will try to post something here every day.

Today's entry....

PS

I added a couple of verses and changed it slightly....here goes


I Stand

I stood in the daylight.
Hoping not to be seen.
Afraid to be with all the people.
Who are cruel and mean.

I stood in the nighttime.
Thankful for the peace.
Thankful for the serenity.
Of sleep's sweet release.

I stood in the shadows.
Wondering what I should do.
I stood alone in the shadows
Knowing that I miss you.

I now stand in the daylight
Alone and afraid
Wondering what I'll do now
I thought I "had it made".

I stand alone in the world
But I am not ashamed
I stand alone, enlightened---
By the light of the Torchbearer's flame.

Freedom.....

From my friend Ann and her blog. Love ya, girl! You had the wisdom I needed for so long.

I have decided that I deserve to be loved, and am capable of being loved. I also am going to pledge to love myself for the person that I am.

This is so freeing. I can be me now, and it's ok. There is nobody there looking over my shoulder, waiting for me to "mess up", so they can yell at me.

Mommy....

Hi there everyone (all 3 of you)! I have come down sick with a cold with a sore throat and so on.

Makes me want to stay home and eat chicken soup, especially when it is 11 degrees outside.

ZZZZZZZ

Not much to report from here. Classes have started, but it is too soon to tell how rough they are going to be. My new job is going well.

I am very tired though. Will be glad to have Monday off.

Hello world....

Not much going on with yours truly at the moment. I like my new job, classes start tomorrow, and everything is more or less right with the world.

More later....

How about this??

2005 SBC Cotton Bowl

Tennessee 38
Texas A&M 7

FINAL