From all of us here, we wish all of you a Happy New Year! We hope that this past year has been as good for you as it has been for us. To ring your New Year in properly, we leave you with an ancient Scottish New Year blessing.

Sincerely

Contagion, Ktreva, Boopie and Clone.

Posted by: Contagion at 04:20 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Happy New Year to the entire Contagion Clan. One good thing from this year? Getting to know y'all.

Next year? More Quality Time Together!!!!

Posted by: Tammi at December 31, 2005 05:45 PM (lfQya)

2 Happy New Year! And many more.

Posted by: vw bug at December 31, 2005 07:06 PM (t+Bvy)

3 From us to you, as well

Posted by: caltechgirl at December 31, 2005 07:15 PM (uI/79)

4 Happy New year......I am missing another party.

Have FUN!!!

Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at December 31, 2005 08:47 PM (0Ccqi)

5 Happy New Year from the House of Bou!

Posted by: Bou at December 31, 2005 09:38 PM (iHxT3)

6 .. same to you, brah... Happy 2006!..

Posted by: Eric at January 01, 2006 03:28 PM (r5XsL)

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I noticed that I was getting a lot of google hits for “Pack Of Angry Chihuahuas Attack Officer”. I just had to see what the heck was going on so I brought up google and checked, sure enough I find this story, Pack of Angry Chihuahuas Attack Officer.

When I wrote this post, I was warned you! I foretold you all that this was going to happen. Now IÂ’m just waiting for them to open up hunting season!

Posted by: Contagion at 07:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In my Christmas dinner post I made the statement, “For those of you reading this worried about the effects of alcohol on the children, remember alcohol cooks out during the baking process. There was a minimal alcohol content left when it was finished.” In the comments, Harvey of Bad Example linked to a Kitchen Myths site that had the following information (Also found on numerous other sites.):

Alcohol added to boiling liquid removed from heat retained 85% of alcohol
Alcohol Flamed retained 75% alcohol
Alcohol stored overnight, no heat, retained 70% of alcohol
Alcohol baked, 25 minutes, not stirred into mixture retained 45% alcohol.
Alcohol baked/simmered, stirred into mixture retains:
15 minutes cooking time: 40% alcohol
30 minutes cooking time: 35% alcohol
1 hour cooking time: 25% alcohol
1.5 hours cooking time: 20% alcohol
2 hours cooking time: 10% alcohol
2.5 hours cooking time: 5% alcohol

Most of the sites I found that have this information state it comes from the US Department of Agriculture Nutrient Data Laboratory. Spending way too much time searching through the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory website I was unable to locate any such study they have done nor documentation that coincides with this data. IÂ’ve gone so far as to send them an e-mail to verify if the data is accurate. According to them, I should get a response in 5 business days. With the holiday, that should make it January 10th at the latest I should get a response. Until then, IÂ’m going to just assume that the data given is accurate within acceptable levels of deviation.

Based on said data lets review how my statement stands up. Since the alcohol used in the whiskey sauce was stirred into a mixture (the Sauce, not the pudding itself), I’m going to use the data for “Alcohol baked/simmered, stirred into mixture” table. This is a completely unscientific study, so my results will be off.

First we used standard bourbon, at 80 proof or 40% alcohol by volume. When you are heating the original sauce it is simmered/boiled for 15 minutes. Now, this is not adding it to a boiling liquid then removing it from the heat, this is a mixture that is heated/simmered. It takes about 15 minutes simmering time. It is then poured over the bread pudding and baked for about it is baked for 45 minutes. Just for ease of this calculation IÂ’m going to use the 1-hour baking/simmering time of 25% alcohol retention.

25% of 40% alcohol leaves 10% alcohol per volume.

My wife used 4 tablespoons of bourbon. Four tablespoons equal two fluid ounces. There are 1.5 ounces in your standard shot of alcohol. Thus there is a one and a third shot of alcohol in the recipe. The recipe makes six servings. That means there is two-ninths of a shot per serving.

Since weÂ’ve already cooked down the alcohol to 10% alcohol per volume. That means that per serving there would be a trace amount of alcohol.

Thus I stick by my original statement: There was a minimal alcohol content left when it was finished.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:34 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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My grandmother is in the hospital again. The difference is that this time she is not going to be coming home. If she is released, my mother and aunt are taking my advice from the last time she was hospitalized and going to put her into a managed care facility, ie Nursing home.

My grandmother should have been put into one years ago. SheÂ’s been failing in health for a long time now. She has diabetes and other medical issues that cause her chronic pain. A year and a half ago she sold her home and moved in with my aunt because she couldnÂ’t live on her own anymore due to chronic health issues. She refused to take care of her self, follow doctorÂ’s orders and do her therapies. She continued to get worse. My mother and aunt felt it that if grandma were living with my aunt, she would have better supervision and take care of herself.

They where wrong. She would buy candy and hide it in the house, when my aunt was gone, she would eat it, thus not taking care of her diabetes. She still didnÂ’t follow doctorÂ’s orders and refused to do her therapies when my aunt asked her to. She just continued to get worse and worse. She can hardly walk, she can barely bend her knees and she has a form of ParkinsonÂ’s disease that is has almost completely taken over her ability to do anything on her own. The sad thing is that if she had just followed doctorÂ’s orders years ago they know she wouldnÂ’t be anywhere near as bad as she is now.

When she was brought into the hospital a couple of days ago, over an infection she has that if she had followed doctorÂ’s order she wouldnÂ’t have had, it was finally determined that she can not go back to my aunts. My aunt just cannot be there all day every day to take care of her, as she needs. My grandma is not happy with this decision. She keeps telling my mother and aunt that she feels she can go home. Fortunately, my mother and aunt disagree with her.

I called and talked to my grandma the other night, I canÂ’t visit because she is in the infectious disease ward and I donÂ’t dare expose my kids to nasty bugs floating around up there. When I spoke with my grandma, she sounded like she had a stroke. My mother, aunt and the hospital staff convinced me that she hadnÂ’t itÂ’s just the medication, pain, infection and ParkinsonÂ’s effecting her speech. This is not the woman I remember fondly from my childhood. I hate seeing her this way, and I donÂ’t like hearing about her this way.

We know she wonÂ’t get better. She may live for many more years, or she may be dead as I write this. IÂ’ve never had any illusions that IÂ’m a good person, but how bad does it make me that IÂ’m hoping and wishing for the later?

Posted by: Contagion at 12:39 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Have you ever been to a New Years party that is dull and boring? They suck, everything is quiet and people just set around having “gentle” conversations. That is why you need to find a Scot and go to their party. According to this article, Scottish New Year parties tend to have more incidents. Now in this article they are mainly referring to property damage, not physical damage.

” Parties in Scotland were the most accident-prone whilst those hosted in the southwest were relatively staid affairs.”

Of course they are; Brits donÂ’t know how to have fun. It takes a Scot to have a good time! See, itÂ’s not about breaking things; itÂ’s about fun. When people are having a good time, they tend not to think and do things on impulse, when this happens items get broken. Sure, itÂ’s annoying, and yes, maybe it can be expensive, but itÂ’s fun!

” One teenage party in Bristol got so out of hand that the claim for theft and malicious damage came to 5,000 pounds, he said.”

Those crazy teenagers! ThatÂ’s only about $8,626.50 American dollars, depending on when it happened. ThatÂ’s a small price to pay for a party that will live on through history. IÂ’m willing to bet the participants of this party will be talking about it until the day they die. Then their grandkids will regale their friends with the story of party.

Some of you may be saying to yourselves, “Sure there is more damage at a Scottish party, they are all boozed up.” People, that is an assumption. Sure, there is a readily available supply of good Scotch whisky, but that doesn’t mean they are all drinking it. (Yes, I said that with a straight face.) Maybe they are drinking some good Scottish beer!

Anyway, the moral of this story is: If you want to attend a good New Years party, find a Scot.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:54 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This should make every blogger out there kick themselves. An English lad, Alex Tew, came up with a brilliant idea on how to make money, the Million Dollar Home Page. I know my brain had a momentary seizure when I read this:

”The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots (pixels), and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100.

What the hell? HeÂ’s selling pixels on his home pageÂ… and major companies are buying it up?

”That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for pixels, with links to their own sites.”

You know why this is working? Idiots like me are linking to this kid, driving up his traffic. That means people are actually seeing these adds, thus making it a fairly plausible marketing campaign.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:36 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Whoo-hoo!!!! I just received notice of the 2006 Schedule for the Rock River Raptors. The Raptors are an indoor football team for which I have purchased season tickets. Row 1, 50 yard line, right behind the teams bench.

March 25, 2006 07:00 PM @ Evansville Bluecats
April 1, 2006 07:30 PM Sioux Falls Storm
April 8, 2006 07:00 PM @ Bloomington Extreme
April 15, 2006 07:00 PM @ Sioux Falls Storm
April 22, 2006 07:30 PM Peoria Rough Riders
April 29, 2006 07:30 PM Omaha Beef
May 6, 2006 07:30 PM Bloomington Extreme
May 12, 2006 07:00 PM @ Ft. Wayne Freedom
May 20, 2006 07:30 PM Lexington Horsemen
May 27, 2006 12:00 AM BYE
June 3, 2006 07:00 PM @ Lexington Horsemen
June 10, 2006 07:00 PM @ Omaha Beef
June 17, 2006 07:30 PM Ft. Wayne Freedom
June 24, 2006 07:30 PM Bloomington Extreme
July 1, 2006 07:00 PM @ Peoria Rough Riders
July 8, 2006 07:30 PM Ohio Valley Greyhounds

***Home games in bold***

IÂ’m not sure what the rules or regulations are yet, but I have time to learn before the first game. The best thing about this is that it fills the empty months between Pro-Bowl and Pre-Season. However, IÂ’m not sure if this schedule is accurate, it looks like they are playing the Bloomington Extreme three times, so there may be some changes. As it stands right now, IÂ’ll be able to go to all but one game. The April 29 game falls on the date of one of my re-enactments, priorities folks, priorities.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:56 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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A couple of years ago we broke away from doing the big family Christmas at my GrandmotherÂ’s house on Christmas day. On Christmas Eve, we would go to my parentÂ’s house, and then on Christmas Eve we would go to my GrandmotherÂ’s house. That left us with no time for just our family and the boys didnÂ’t get to play with anything they had been given. It made for a very hectic holiday.

When I was growing up, my parents would spend Christmas Eve with just us kids and then Christmas days at my Grandmothers. I wanted the same thing with my family. My mother didnÂ’t want me to break tradition by not going to GrandmaÂ’s. It didnÂ’t take much explaining when I reminded her that when growing up we didnÂ’t spend Christmas Eve at GrandmaÂ’s and Christmas Day at Great GrandmaÂ’s. I told her to pick which day she wanted us at, she picked Christmas Eve.

That left me with what to do on Christmas Day. I knew I wanted to spend time with my family, but I wanted to start our own tradition and I wanted to make a special meal for all of us. When trying to decide what to make, I looked back on history to see what they used to eat on Christmas day and I found my inspiration. After conferring with Ktreva, I decided to make a goose, a nice traditional Christmas goose. We decided to make it a tradition and do it again this year.

For those of you that have never had goose, it is a very interesting bird. There is no white meat, itÂ’s all dark meat. Depending on the type and age of the goose you have depends on how dark the meat is. Last years goose the breast meat was a dark chocolate color, this year it was more of a milk chocolate color. If you are not aware of this when you start carving the bird, it can come as a shock. I had thought I ruined it the first time. Goose is also very fatty. There is a layer of fat between the skin and the meat as well as veins of it running through the breast and thighs. This makes for a very juicy bird. Well, that and my special cooking style for birds.

I also made a nice homemade stuffing to go with it. When I say homemade, I mean I made it from scratch, no box and no pre-made ingredients. I even used fresh herbs that I had to prepare by hand for the seasoning. I did cheat and buy pre-made bread this year. In years past Ktreva would bake me a loaf of bread to use, but I decided to give her a break this year.

We also had Green Beans almondine, and baked sweet potatoes. I baked them because IÂ’m not a fan of those different sweet potato/yam dishes with tons of brown sugar and marshmallows on it. Just give me a plain baked sweet potato with melted butter and a light sprinkling of brown sugar. The rest of the family likes them that way as well. I picked a nice red wine for Ktreva and I, while the boys had milk. Everything turned out very well, but then Ktreva had to trump me.

I told her she didnÂ’t have to make anything; I would take care of it all. She insisted on making the dessert. Digging through her stack of recipes, she decided she was going to make her bread pudding with whiskey sauce. She served it warm at the table right after the main course was finished. When it was removed from the oven, the aroma itself was enticing. The boys and I sat in anticipation it smelled so good. We served it up, and as soon as each person took a bite, we could barely contain ourselves from just gobbling up this delicious culinary delight.

For those of you reading this worried about the effects of alcohol on the children, remember alcohol cooks out during the baking process. There was a minimal alcohol content left when it was finished.

Last night we re-heated the left over bread-pudding and finished it off. IÂ’d be lying if I didnÂ’t say that it reheats very well. It was just as, if not more, delicious then when it first came out of the oven. Ktreva was very proud of herself, and rightfully so. It was probably; no, it was the best the dessert she has ever made, not too sweet, not too rich, and just right.

WeÂ’ve decided that she will be making that again next year, it will become part of the Contagion Family Christmas Tradition.

Posted by: Contagion at 01:11 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Over the last couple of weeks, Clone has decided he does not need to sleep. We can put him to bed, but he continually gets out of bed, plays in his room or comes downstairs. This little ritual has gone on nightly. No matter what weÂ’ve done, it doesnÂ’t seem to work. We even suspect he does it in the middle of the night after weÂ’ve gone to bed. WeÂ’ve found certain items turned on or items left in places they do not belong.

We have gates on his bedroom door and in various rooms, but they don’t work. Heck, the gates are nothing more then suggestions. They work more like ineffective speed bumps then anything else. Clone can climb/scale the gates in a matter of seconds, even the “climb resistant” varieties. There are times when he doesn’t want to waste his time climbing the gate. He’ll get a running start and throw his body into the gate knocking it down. He’s actually broken the hinge on one of the gates trying to get around it.

This may shock some of you, but I’m not one of those lovey, comforting, “He’s expressing himself” kind of parents. I learned parenting from my father I’m the spanking, taking away, “Red Foreman” kind of parent. Clone has faced the wrath of dad, and continues to pull his little stunts. When I’ve put him back in bed I say, “Its bed time, you need to lie down and go to sleep. If you get out of bed again, you’ll make daddy mad. You don’t want to make daddy mad, do you?” He’ll shake his little head no and lay down. Give it fifteen minutes and I can find him sneaking down the stairs to the living room. Yes, I’ve followed through with my threats.

The next morning when we have to wake him up he is tired and cranky. Which makes getting him ready just that much more unpleasant a task to undertake. He pulls the same thing at nap time, or heÂ’ll only nape for a short period of time and then gets up. That night heÂ’ll be back to old tricks. The lack of sleep is not causing him to get tired enough to sleep.

KtrevaÂ’s theory is that he is afraid he is going to miss something happening. SheÂ’s right, if he goes to sleep heÂ’s going to miss the business side of my hand on his bottom!

IÂ’ve joked about duct taping him to his bed, but IÂ’m starting to think that might be my last resort.

Posted by: Contagion at 01:08 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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1 Dude, an old screen door and a couple of cinder blocks, like I told you before. :-)

Posted by: Sarah at December 28, 2005 02:25 PM (i/Ety)

2 Being a fake Dr. I've decided to help you and sent you something that can solve this problem.

Posted by: Dr. Phat Tony at December 28, 2005 02:28 PM (fk/lm)

3 Maybe a bed like they used to have in the mental health facilities of old with the straps.

It may even have the hookups for electroshock therapy, great stuff for the teen years. Hell I may even buy one myself.

Posted by: phin at December 28, 2005 02:29 PM (Xvpen)

4 The spankings aren't working? I'd say it is time to start taking away beloved toys. When I have to spank my son it does no good. In fact, sometimes he tells me "it didn't hurt" (he gets it from me) or he'll laugh at me and be up to his old tricks, but man, when i take away his toys or his power ranger movies, the boy does an about-face like you wouldn't believe.

When all else fails, a slide lock on the outside of his door might work, also, it may be time for a baby monitor in his room again.

Posted by: oddybobo at December 28, 2005 02:39 PM (6Gm0j)

5 Electric fence (a weed burner), or shock collar.

Worked on me...

Posted by: That 1 Guy at December 28, 2005 03:07 PM (gYO9V)

6 Oddybobo took my idea. Lock his little ass in there and let him howl. He'll get the idea soon enough. Just make sure there's nothing in there he can whack himself with before you can get the door open

If the problem is that he won't sleep at night because he's bored and not sleepy, take away nap time. And then lock him in at night.

How about motion detector lights in the hall? That might scare him back to bed....

No wait here's the best idea: put him to bed, go through the normal routine and let him think everyone has gone to bed. But you don't. Sit up downstairs with the light off and wait for him. When he comes downstairs to watch TV or whatever, wait until he gets into whatever he's doing and then let him know you're there in a not so subtle way (such that you scare the crap out of him) and THEN haul him back to bed. Might scar the little bugger for life, but I suspect it would work....

Posted by: caltechgirl at December 28, 2005 03:25 PM (XbOsd)

7 Sarah, he's no longer in a crib.

DPT... What?!?!?! you're not a real doctor!

Phin: That might be an idea.

Oddy: taking away of toys... done, baby monitor... we never stopped using one. He's sneaky. Locking the door... Unfortunately in Illinois that is considered child endangerment and is illegal.

T1G: Really, that explains so much.

CTG: Scaring him might work, it might not. But I might have to give it a try.

Posted by: Contagion at December 28, 2005 03:30 PM (Q5WxB)

8 OK, the "scare the crap out of him" idea sounds like a real winner. He is no longer in a crib, so my idea won't work with the screen door. If it is illegal to "lock" him in there, is it illegal to pile cinder blocks in front of the door so he can't open it? It's not a lock, just a well placed pile of bricks, right?

Posted by: Sarah at December 28, 2005 04:19 PM (SuilU)

9 Oh, I really do think the "scare" thing is an awesome idea, just want to clarify that.

Posted by: Sarah at December 28, 2005 04:21 PM (SuilU)

10 I have the same suggestion as I do for the car ride issue ... alcohol ... a little nip and hour before bed and he will be sound asleep by the time head hits pillow.

Posted by: Machelle at December 28, 2005 05:59 PM (kVHm5)

11 I keep thinking about this. He's going to outgrow it. He will. I'm wondering if he has outgrownhis naps. My kids did at his age.

I know this is perfectly awful, but have you tried lying down with him until he falls asleep to see how long it takes? I'm all about gathering data...

Posted by: Bou at December 28, 2005 10:02 PM (iHxT3)

12 I'm with Machelle. Give clone a couple spoonfuls of Robitussin or Nyquil and he'll be out. Of course there's the whole dependency thing but we'll cross that bridge later...

Posted by: spurs at December 29, 2005 09:41 AM (tdOZ4)

13 Geeze I didn't read down this far last night.... *grin*. How old is he again??? My kids gave up naps by 1 year old and they would be awake until 11pm and up by 7am... I never got them to sleep through the night until they went to first grade. Yes, I believe they thought they might miss something. Oh the bad memories this brings back!

I would cut out the naps - as hard as that might be on you guys. And as Bou says - either laying down with him or sitting in the room with him until he falls asleep. Young son used to lay in bed and hold his breath to keep himself awake at night - I'd sit next to him and hear that - and tell him to breathe... it was most annoying!

Posted by: Teresa at December 29, 2005 10:35 AM (FZwDL)

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Yesterday marked the end of an era, at least for us football fans. Yesterday was the very last Monday Night Football (MNF) game on ABC. On September 21, 1970, this tradition of football during primetime started and was the longest running primetime sports show in history. Effectively covering 36 seasons, this show became a staple for football fans around the country.

As I am in my early thirtyÂ’s, I canÂ’t remember a time when there was not MNF, so last nights lack-luster game with all of its clips and highlights was difficult to watch. Not because the game was crappy, but because of what it symbolized, the end of an era. When I was younger, I remember watching the games with my dad. The times we spent talking about the teams, the players, the plays; it was a special time for us. As I got older, I always found MNF to be a welcome distraction to the different troubles that lives throw your way.

Sure, they are still going to show Monday night games on ESPN, but that’s just not that same. The game isn’t going to start with the traditional, “Are you ready for some football?” song by Hank Williams Jr.. Sure, they are still going to have annoying announcers, but damn! No John Madden and Al Michaels babbling about the plays in some inane commentary, no on-screen doodling by Madden to try to make sense of his babbling, no long winded stories by Michaels to try to give some semblance of importance to what he is saying, it’s all gone. There will be no more “Horse Trailer” Player of the Game. Nothing will be the same!

ItÂ’s not just the football that made MNF great; it was the whole production that made MNF what it was. IÂ’m sure there are many out there donÂ’t understand what IÂ’m talking about and think IÂ’m going even further off of my rocker, but to the football junkies out there, you understand. You all know exactly what I am saying.

Farewell MNF, life will not be the same with out you. Thank you Meredith, Cosell, Gifford, Madden and Michaels for all the memories. Thank you.

Posted by: Contagion at 04:17 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I WON, I WON, I WON! I know you all find that hard to believe after the insanity of this post, itÂ’s as if I hardly tried. Dr. Phat Tony will be sending my shirt to me. Since I hardly if ever win anything, IÂ’m stoked! I mean, the only thing better then blogger wear, is free blogger wear.

DPTÂ’s official announcement has a screen shot of the ecosystem showing my 279 links. ThatÂ’s right, two hundred, seventy-nine links. Yes, yes, yesÂ… I know I have issues. Sure, it took 2.5 hours of my life to make that post, but it was worth it. Oh yes it was worth it!

I would like to take this time to acknowledge my lead rival and competitor for the t-shirt. Pandy of What Panda. She put up a good fight, and was a worthy opponent. I honestly feel that if she had been distracted, she could have easily won this competition. My hat is off to you dear Pandy for the valiant effort, my utmost respect.

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Christmas is over, that means I have a truckload of stuff to take to the Salvation Army. All the old, un-played with toys have to go in order to make room for all the new, un-played with toys. For those of you that have kids, I have a question.

Have you ever noticed that your kids receive more toys then they can play with, yet they usually have one or two that they will play with to annoyance, and never look at any of the other gifts for more then five minutes?

That’s our house. Clone received all kinds of presents from Mom, Dad, Boopie, Santa, Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles. Every toy had to be unwrapped, assembled (Santa and I are having a talk next year, no more of this “some assembly required” crap fat man. Else I’m going to be “deer hunting” next Christmas Eve) and in working condition. Once that was done, Clone would play with it for five minutes, stop and go to something else. He has some toys that he had me take out of the wrapping just to watch me take out of the wrapping; he hasn’t played with them at all. On the other hand, Santa gave him some toy guns. A submachine gun and a 9mm semi-auto pistol that when you pull the trigger on both the slides actually have realistic action, he loves those. He also received a toy .30-30 lever action and a Colt .45 Peacemaker in a western set. All with appropriate sounds, including a ratchet noise with the lever is cranked on the .30-30. Those toy guns are his favorite toys by far. If they where real, there would not be a standing structure with on 500 yards of our house.

Boopie, being 12, is too old for Santa. He still gets a stocking, but no presents. Which is good for him, because then Ktreva and I could sink all the money into getting him stuff he would rather have. We decided that he needed a PSP, (Play Station Portable) for Christmas. Since they are relatively new, the system and the games for them are fairly expensive still. That was his major gift from us, that and some games for it. We were going to get him a movie to watch, but wasnÂ’t sure what kind he would want. At least I know he really likes it. He charged the battery, drained it, charged it again, drained it again and charged it a third time. Do you know how much game play that is? I would list the other stuff he received, but he pretty much ignored those.

Boopie is on his way to Florida with his biological father to visit relatives down there. Actually he probably is there as they where flying out last night. He wanted to take the PSP with, but I had to say no. Let’s just say while with his biological father I could see it being “lost” or broken. Either that or the biological will tell everyone he got it for him as he’s done in years past with really good/expensive gifts. Yes, I might sound as if I’m being snarky about not letting Boopie take his new gift. Honestly, I’m just trying to protect him. He’s going to discover things about his parents in time; I just don’t want him to find out during Christmas. That’s why I gave him the cover that I didn’t think PSPs where allowed on airplanes and I didn’t want it confiscated. I’d rather he think I’m being mean and an idiot at this point in his life.

KtrevaÂ’s favorite gift was the Sims2 Expansion packs she was wanting. I could pretend it was the necklaces that I put much thought into before buying, but no, it was the games. Hey, I donÂ’t blame her. There is a lot more interaction with a game then with a necklace.

My big gift was a food dehydrator. I had been talking about making my own jerky for a while now, so Ktreva decided she was going to get me the stuff to do it. She also gave me the Firefly series on DVD. Both of those are the gifts that keep on giving. I can watch firefly and eat my homemade jerky all year. You never get tired of Firefly and jerky!

Overall, it was a good Christmas in our household.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:41 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Sounds wonderful. I'm glad you all had a nice Christmas.

Posted by: oddybobo at December 27, 2005 11:46 AM (6Gm0j)

2 Glad you guys had a good one. Firefly, huh? You lucky bastard.

All I got was sculptures of dog crap, made from real dog crap. And a lump of coal.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at December 27, 2005 11:54 AM (jsd7T)

3 I never buy peoples kids stuff that requires assembly. I go for the scientific experiments instead. Like "Make Your Own Volcano!" and don't try this at home without safety goggles and constant parental involvement. hahaha

Hope your Christmas was terrific, Contagion.

Posted by: uber at December 27, 2005 01:28 PM (8LdKN)

4 "I had been talking about making my own jerky for a while now"

Wore out the two you have so you have to make new ones?!

Posted by: Machelle at December 27, 2005 05:40 PM (17TsN)

5 Sounds like fun. Firefly and Jerky, huh? Not a combination I would have come up with off the top of my head, but it works.

Posted by: caltechgirl at December 28, 2005 01:05 PM (XbOsd)

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I would like to take this time to wish everyone a safe, fun and wonderful Christmas.

Since I didnÂ’t get any of you anything last year, I felt I should make it up to you. I put it in the extended entry since it might be questionable if you open it at work.

See extended entry for your presents.
more...

Posted by: Contagion at 11:24 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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1 Merry Christmas, dude... thanks for the gift!

Posted by: That 1 Guy at December 24, 2005 10:12 AM (hyPCH)

2 Merry Christmas!

Posted by: Sarah at December 24, 2005 10:58 AM (H7Csq)

3 Merry Christmas ... the missle tow is just plain awesome.

Posted by: talulazephyr at December 24, 2005 10:58 AM (/Vg0b)

4 Merry Christmas. The missle tow was my favorite.

Posted by: caltechgirl at December 24, 2005 12:12 PM (XbOsd)

5 Merry Christmas you Grouchy Old Man!

Posted by: Machelle at December 24, 2005 05:44 PM (l5WmW)

6 Thank you for my gift, and since the terrorists will be too busy to thank you for theirs, I'll thank you on their behalf.

Hope your holiday is wonderful, peaceful, full or cooperating relatives and full of joy for the kids.

Posted by: michele at December 24, 2005 06:35 PM (beN4P)

7 Merry Christmas dude! Loved the Missle, TOW, too. :-)

Posted by: Wes at December 24, 2005 09:36 PM (XKQLY)

8 Merry Christmas brother.

Posted by: littlejoe at December 25, 2005 02:23 AM (vBIjH)

9 I want to know why my gift wasn't under MY tree!!!

Merry Christmas!

Posted by: Bou at December 25, 2005 12:09 PM (iHxT3)

10 You always know just the perfect gift!

Posted by: Shadoglare at December 26, 2005 10:43 AM (eA8RY)

11 Merry Christmas and THANKS!!!

Posted by: vw bug at December 28, 2005 08:36 PM (t+Bvy)

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Okay, I really want to win this T-shirt from Dr. Phat Tony. Pandy over at What Panda is really giving me a run for my money, thus IÂ’m going to have to do something really drastic. This is going to be time consuming, annoying and just a general pain in the arse, but I donÂ’t know what else to do at this point. From some of the e-mails IÂ’ve received I know that some of you are getting tired of seeing these posts, but IÂ’m doing what I feel I have to do in order to win. This contest only runs until Christmas day now. However, I thought it ran all the way to New Years. But since I donÂ’t make the rules, I only have to follow them, IÂ’m trying everything in my power to win. Yes, this post is probably really annoying, and if you want to skip it. I wouldnÂ’t blame you, but itÂ’s what I need to do. Loyal readers, please forgive me as I am in desperation mode and IÂ’m just trying to win something. Some of you may understand, some of you may not. But by the time IÂ’m done IÂ’m hoping that this post should push me over the edge and show just exactly what level of desperation I am at. Thus, causing others that are trying to play to give up. If I need I will make a post like this daily until the contest is over and I am declared a winner. . Sure it is a lot of work, but to me it's all worth the effort. If you really want something you need to work for it. Nothing is free, contrary to what some people would like to believe. Right now I am just willing to bet that Dr. Phat Tony is real happy he does not have auto trackbacks set up through haloscan. Other ways his e-mail would be over loaded with all the pings from this post. Yes, that is a link to every post he's made to date, no you really don't want to know how long it took me to do this.

Thank you for your consideration. This post will stay on top until the contest is over, see new below.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:16 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Posted by: Contagion at 08:34 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Well hell, in all the excitement and business that is work I forgot an event. Knowing how much one of my blog fathers puts stock into things like this, I decided it’s better late then never. Harvey of Bad Example noticed last week “(I) had over 10,000 people visit this crappy blog.” He is so kind and nurturing. After putting up with his crap about that, I decided I better at least put a blurb up about this event.

Two days ago, 12/21/05, was my one-year blogiversary. Not one year from when I was discovered and outed by Tammi of then Road Warrior Survival (Now Tammi's World), but one year from when I decided it was time for me to start a blog. When I decided to start blogging, I thought it would be fun to see who actually tracks their hits. Thus, I didnÂ’t tell anyone that I started a blog. It wasnÂ’t until March 3 that it was stumbled upon and I was outed. Now, that necessarily wasnÂ’t a bad thing, I didnÂ’t post much in the early days, I was having trouble adapting to actually writing things for the world to read, IÂ’m shy and I had to get past that. If you want to see it, here is my first crappy post on Blogger. Contrary to Harvey's oppinion, I did not get any better.

Therefore, in honor of my blogiversary, IÂ’ve prepared a short speech.

One year and 2 days ago, I brought forth in this blogosphere, a new blog, conceived on boredom, peer pressure and a proposition that all menÂ’s BS is equal.

Now I am engaged in a great civil war, testing whether a blog, or any blog so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of the blogosphere as a place for others, who are more talented, can come and see the words of a lesser man. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow – this html. The brave bloggers, active and in-active, who have struggled to maintain blogs, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what I post here, but it can never forget what bloggers have done! It is for the bloggers, rather, that I dedicate this post, to the great task remaining before them – that from these honored posts we take increased devotion to that course for which they post the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these bloggers shall not have posted in vain – that this blogosphere, with out UN control, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish them from the earth.

Yes, Lincoln is spinning like a top in his grave.

Posted by: Contagion at 02:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Your Christmas Stocking Will Be Filled With Coal

You haven't been *that* naughty this year Santa is just screwing with you

'Tis the season. On my daily rounds I noticed that CalTechGirl had taken this quiz, I thought to myself. Hmmm, I wonder if I can score anything other then coal and answer honestly. I guess not.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:21 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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ARGH!!!!!

One of my peers has this week off. IÂ’m doing both his and my job.

I’m also attending five meetings a day to give the “good” news about goal changes for next year.

There is a reason they have two people to do both jobs, there just not enough minutes in an hour to get all the stuff done for both jobs each hour.

Throw in meetings, even if they only take 15-30 minutes and you have even less time.

Something has to not be done when this happens, which is usually my peers job. People get upset if they request time off and you donÂ’t approve it right away.

All this has caused my brain to think funny thoughtsÂ….

Salt looks better on a margarita glass then on the roadÂ…

Â…I hate margaritas.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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A friend of mine sent this to me in an e-mail. Normally I don't post these, but after sensitivity class I found this one more amusing then usual. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of
others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all......

...and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make this planet great, [not to imply that this planet is necessarily greater than any other planet or is the only planet in the known or unknown universe], and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

Liberal Democrat way to say, MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!

Posted by: Contagion at 12:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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One of my minions had a Christmas party last weekend. Since I was unable to attend, she was filling me in on the details. She had invited some friends of hers both from work and outside of work. From what she was telling me it sounded like everyone was having a good time.

Then she went on to tell me she ran into a problem later in the night. She had run out of food and beverages for everyone. When she sent out her invitations, she asked people to RSVP to let her know if the invitee was coming and if they were bringing a date. If no one got back to her, she marked them down as not coming. She wasnÂ’t expecting everyone she invited to show up, so when some people didnÂ’t respond she was not surprised.

What surprised her was when the party started people where showing up that did not RSVP. She also had people that showed up that brought a date and didnÂ’t indicate they where bringing anyone else. Five extra guests she had not planned on showed up for her party. Five doesnÂ’t sound like many people, but it is when you are planning a party to ensure there is enough food and drinks for everyone. You have to think five people are an entire family! In this case, four separate invites didnÂ’t RSVP or didnÂ’t put down the correct number of attendees.

It doesn’t surprise me. Any more people don’t have common courtesy to others, so why should they take 5 minutes to call and say yes or no I’m not coming. Personally, I know how frustrating this can be. I can’t remember the last time I held a party and had an accurate count of people that where going to attend. My favorite excuse is when someone says, “Well you should have known I was going to come.” If I had known you where going to come I wouldn’t ask you to RSVP! How do I know if you didn’t make other plans? Maybe you’re bringing a date, or maybe you just don’t want to come. That would be like my throwing a party and saying, “You should have known you were invited” instead of sending out invitations.

Some people are in the belief they should call and double check with each possible guest if they are coming. Personally, I’m not a babysitter. If I throw a party, the guests are all adults. My checking with them is the invite. If I’m going to call these people to see if they are going to come, why even bother sending an invite? Why not just call them and say, “Sup, homey! Yo, check it out. I’m throwing a banging bash at my crib. You in dog?” Well, maybe not exactly like that, but you get my drift.

When I was younger, I used to be inconsiderate like that. I wouldnÂ’t RSVP and just show up. That all changed when I was a junior in college and we threw a party for a bunch of our friends. Only a handful of people said they were going to be there so we only bought two kegs. Nothing is more annoying then making a beer run mid party when you have a good buzz going. Ever since then IÂ’ve been very good about it.

ItÂ’s just common courtesy people. Whenever I get an invite somewhere and there is an RSVP, IÂ’ll contact the host and let them know whether or not IÂ’m making it. That way there is no doubt in their mind. So if your are going to the blogmeet and havenÂ’t said anything yet, get off your butt and do it now!

Posted by: Contagion at 01:01 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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