I Love You Dad

After a long illness and courageous battle, my Father passed away this morning at the age of 64. He was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1945 to Mary Ellen and Fred Armstrong. A gifted athlete, he ran track and graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in History. Later, he would receive a MBA from the University of Louisville. He was a US Army helicopter pilot and served in Vietnam from 1970-1971. He is survived by his wife Lynn, his father Fred, his brother Freddie, sister Joyce and his two loving children, Kelly Joann and Jeffery Todd and their mother Patty.

Dad was a very loving Father and a good man. He loved his family dearly and we were on his mind until his last breath. An avid University of Kentucky basketball fan, Dad was looking forward to an exciting season under new coach John Calipari. Dad loved science fiction (especially Star Trek), politics (we often disagreed) and working in the yard.

My brother and I will be leaving early tomorrow morning to make the 12 hour trip south to New Orleans. He will receive a full military funeral and will be laid to rest near his current home in Louisiana. Family will be coming from here in Louisville, Dayton and throughout the country. While it will be a very difficult week, I know in my heart that he is in a better place and has finally found the peace that has eluded him these past few years. I hope that there is a Heaven and if there is, his beloved Mother was waiting with open arms and welcomed him home.

I love you Dad. Always have and always will!

I Guess I Underestimated That

It's been almost a full week since I last visited this site and when I did, I was just starting to come down with something. Well, I haven't been back to work since, I've had one serious case of bronchitis, an upper respiratory infection and a fever that lasted about 5 days. I'm still not well, but somehow I'm going to find the energy to venture back into the classroom tomorrow. I certainly feel better than I did yesterday and even more so than on Friday or Saturday, but for some reason, perhaps the shitty weather, I just can't shake this stuff.

It hasn't been for a lack of sleeping, drinking fluids and following doctors orders, I've been a model patient, but whatever strain of bacteria that came my way deserves a cruel and unusual death. Hopefully I'm on the road to recovery and by the end of the week things will be back to normal. If not, well, I don't really know what I'll do but one thing I do know for certain is that now that I'm feeling a wee bit better, I'm going to do a much better job of stopping by this place of mine and doing what I like to do, write about useless crap.

Sick

Not sure which is worse, the stomach in knots and the urge to throw up or the cold chills and body ache. I guess it's time to call the substitute line.

Back

I've been back from the mountains since Sunday night but as is usually the case, I need a vacation from my vacation. I had one of the better trips to West Virginia and as is also usually the case, I hated to leave. One of the hardest things to adjust to when returning from the middle of nowhere is the constant noise of the city. When I would step out onto the deck of our condo, the only sounds I could hear were the thoughts inside my mind. For those who haven't experienced it, the sound of silence is the greatest thing in the world. The silence, lack of people and complete sense of wilderness is intoxicating and I'm already counting the days till I head back east.

Short Week

It's a short week for me as we don't have school on Friday. To make it a four day weekend, I'm also taking Thursday off and sometime that morning, I'll load up the car, throw in the dogs and head east towards West Virginia. My Mom and I have a condo reserved for us at Snowshoe Mountain and we're bringing all of the dogs along. While the leaves haven't started to change color around these parts, high up in the mountains, they are well on their way towards peak leaf season. I'm looking forward to just relaxing and enjoying the brisk mountain air. Having a short week at work isn't bad either.

Last Day of Summer

Today is the last full day of summer and soon the leaves will start to change. We'll have warm weather around here for at least another month and probably a bit longer. It seems that fall comes later and later each year. Three of the past four years have found my air conditioner still running at the house, so warm was it in late October. That's not to say that we won't have a cool day here or there, we will, but in these parts, summer tends to hang on a bit longer than places further north.

Growing up and all through my 20's, winter was always my favorite season. I've always loved the cold and snow and hated the heat and humidity of summer. While that's still pretty much true, this summer has been a bit different. We only had a dozen or so days above 90 this summer, far fewer than 40 or so we usually get. For the most part, it's been a very comfortable summer and because of that, I'm actually pretty sad to see it go.

This will be my 39th autumn and 40th winter and for the life of me, I can't figure out where the time has gone. It seems like only yesterday that I was graduating from high school and heading off to college. Those four years flew by and before I knew it, I was getting old. I wish just once that time would slow down and this is the year I was hoping it would. Alas, time is a constant and no matter how hard we try, it stops for no one.

Good bye summer, it was great knowing you and I'll be looking forward to reconnecting with you next May. As for autumn, well, it's usually pretty freaking awesome around here and here's hoping it doesn't disappoint.

Before T. Rex

Of all the dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus Rex was always my favorite. T. Rex is by far the most dominant creature to ever walk the earth and I would bet the most famous. Well, everything we thought we knew about T. Rex has just been turned upside down as a new species of dinosaur has been discovered in China. This tyrannosaurid, known as Raptorex, lived about 130 million years ago and is an early relative of the mighty T. Rex. Unlike T. Rex, this guy stood about 9 feet tall at full maturity and weighed as little as 140 pounds. In an unusual twist, the fossils were smuggled out of China and sent to the United States where they were purchased by a private collector.

I Saw Her Standing There

I did a double take when I first saw her, unsure if my eyes were lying to me or not. With a deep breath and a shake of my head, I realized that my eyes weren't a lying and the most beautiful and interesting woman that I have ever had the fortune to know was standing right in front of me. In a different world, I would have once asked her out. Sadly, in this one, I haven't.

Please Help

If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I am a huge animal lover and have a special soft spot for elephants. You see, elephants are among the most intelligent animals on earth. They live incredibly social and emotional lives. That we humans would capture them in the wild and give them a life of misery in a circus is just beyond belief. A life in the circus is essentially a death sentence for an elephant.

Forced to perform tricks that they don't want to do and give rides to fat American kids, elephants often go completely insane as they live a life of loneliness and heartache. They are kept chained up for most of the day, beaten into submission until they perform and forced to live a life that none of us could ever endure. For the life of me, I just don't understand why the circus is allowed to use animals in their shitty performances. Alas, millions of Americans feel totally different and gladly fork over money to watch miserable animals perform for their entertainment.

In the hills of Tennessee, a 2,700 acre elephant sanctuary has arisen and is now home to a couple dozen elephants that were rescued from circuses. The Elephant Sanctuary does amazing work and because of it, a few lucky elephants are able to live out their lives in peace, with their dignity restored. Alas, the recession has hit the sanctuary and they are in need of donations. I know money is tight but if you could, please visit the donation page here, to make a small monetary gift to help an elephant live.

Get Off My Lawn

GOP congress critter Joe Wilson of South Carolina to President Obama during his speech before Congress: "You Lie!"

Classy!