Moving

Well, my brother has finally started is journey west with his family (and a few others). For reasons only he (or He) knows, they've packed up their house and hauled off to Logan, UT. I'll be jealous of him this winter when he's out there skiing and snowmobiling. But I am sad to see him go. I really hope they are able to sell their house quickly. They certainly picked the right time to drive a large, heavy, gas-guzzling truck across the country.

The did spend quite a bit of time here, but it really would have been fun to see Jonas and Rachel grow up together. Well, here's hoping Brian and Amber don't do the same thing. But Brian keeps threatening to run off to Texas. (Ooh... must resist political rant about businesses booming in TX and how the liberals just don't see why that is.) ... Whew, urge resisted (mostly).

Well, I love it here in KY and I'm glad that Noelle loves it here, too. (Politics and poor education aside.) Though, I think it would be fun to cart off to some exotic, gulf location for a year and hang out... but reality sets in, and I've got to think of the best place to raise my kids. And that, for my family, is in KY. For now, my opportunities for work are still excellent in Louisville (as long as Oba... must resist politics).

Cornhole and Gas

CORNHOLE

I've been working on a cornhole set for quite some time (a few weeks). Noelle had been bugging me that she wanted one, but I wasn't all that interested. Now I like a good game, but I wasn't sure we'd be able to get much use out of one. Granted, I still don't think we'll get a lot of use out of it, but we can certainly bring it to parties now.

Anyway, after a co-worker of mine brought his set in to a work party, I went out and bought the lumber that day, put most of it together over the next week. I had to replace the particle board because I left it in the rain. Plywood is better, and that's what I got next. Well, I'm mostly finished now. I've painted it, but I need to set the legs so they set properly and I need to overlay the paint with a layer of something to smooth it out.

Well, here it is. Be nice, I'm not that great a painter, but those logos are hand-painted. They turned out well for my first time.

GAS

By the way. If you have a short memory, I'm going to show you something very interesting. Yes, the cost of a gallon of gas has been pretty high for a while. But did you remember that back in January we were complaining about $3.00/gal for gas. In Louisville, it was around $2.80-ish, but still high. Then all this spring and summer we were in the upper $3 and lower $4's.

Well, just a year and a half ago, we were at the high $1's and low $2's. Just 1.5 years ago! Granted, just 6 months before that (2 years ago) we were in the mid $2s and complaining.

Now, here's the amazing thing. It took THREE YEARS (2003-2005) for the average price of gas to go from $1.23 to $1.84!! And this year alone, we've had a $2.00 shift positive and negative.

I like the current down swing and even predicted it to a few people. But that's neither here nor there. It will likely go back up. Why? OPEC is going to have a meeting, decide to cut production, and the price of oil per barrel is going to artificially increase again. They will say they are losing money, but the reality is they are not making as much as they could when they are gouging us. Okay, enough rant.

Louisville Gas Prices is a great site, and where I got my info. If you look at the 6 year graph, you will notice a slight trend upwards (about a 10 degree uprise) from 2003 to 2005, then it increases a bit more, and then it really trends upwards. The red line is what I (very) roughly drew on the picture to show you what I mean. If I had the raw data, I could make the line a more accurate, but I don't have that time ;^) I just sit here frustrated with the gas.


Well, I did get a lot of great exercise this summer riding my bike. I'm still considering this winter and how much I want to freeze my tush on the way in. I've driven the past couple of weeks.

Cruxlux

So, I happened across an article on slashdot.org that maps the blogosphere and web content by perspective. It is an interesting tool called Cruxlux. I added their widget to my site. Mainly because if someone likes what I post, they can donate a quarter to the cause. Maybe I'll earn a quarter... but I don't expect it.

Anyway, check out this cruxlux. It's a pretty cool and inventive search tool. Oh, I should mention: I'm NOT asking for donations, that's just silly.

Cute loldogz pic

While browsing the loldogz site, I came across this picture that made me think of Rachel.



On another note...
CONGRATULATIONS Brian & Amber!
They are going to have a girl and they have the ultrasounds to prove it. Check them out here.

Break dancing anyone?

So, I don't know what you all think about break dancing, but I think it's cool. The way the dancers can control their bodies, whether on hand or foot or head, is really amazing. It inspires me to go exercise to build up my upper body strength. Anyway, check out this video at this site [bboytube]. I think the site is devoted to this style of dance. I'm going to have to check out some of their other vids.