Winter Snow Storm

This weekend, we got our winter's worth of snow. Friday evening, we got a butt load of snow. The next morning, we crawled out to assess the damage. We probably only got a few inches of snow, but the high winds pushed it all over the neighborhood. Some sections of the yard had 3-4 feet of snow, while others had 1-2 inches. The Front porch was buried and the overhang of the house had an additional 1-2 feet of frozen overhang. Yeah, it was a mess.

During the day, it was warm - 20-40 degrees. But the snow and other sludge made moving around difficult. We used the snowblower and shovel to get most of it. Then we'd go over the rest with our push broom. Sunday, we had to go back out and do it again. The truck had little difficulty getting through most of it and we did slip and slide some of the way. But there was no way the car would make it.

Jacob got to work his first real job at Jason and Judy's store. He worked there to earn an airsoft gun he wanted. Judy gave him 50% off and he was already making plans for a second (or to work off the other half). He did a very good job cleaning up their store, breaking down boxes, and shoveling snow and Judy said he was welcomed to come back and work. She did add the stipulation that he try harder to behave himself and continue doing well at school.

Kris is gong to be getting her late birthday present, too. I ordered some goodies and treats for her at Figis.com - an online candy, cookie, and gifts store. Since she is now on a healthier diet, I choose some items that were healthier. She's trying really hard to eat right, quit smoking, and begin to get more exercise. I'm very proud of her and trying to be as supportive as possible without being demanding. I'm simply buying healthier foods and encouraging her to try them. She already likes my Mandarin Orange, Pineapple, banana salad!

That's really all the news I can think of for this week. I'm still tired and hoping to rest at work and this evening after my Monday fix of Star Trek Enterprise. 4-5 shows a night lets me catch up on the show I've missed.

Stress-filled weekend

This weekend began at about 1230am, Thursday morning. Kris woke me up, complaining of chest pains and difficulty breathing. As she suffers from acid reflux, my first question was "was it indigestion or gas." She said she didn't think so because she was about to pass out. SO we got dressed and hurried into the Hospital.

At the hospital, the doctors got two EKGs and found nothing. During the third test, she had what was later referred to as a "Massive Heart Attack." Doctors were able to clear one major blockage and then several lesser clots. Her doctor told me if we had waited another five or ten minutes, she would have died.

Unfortunately, we hit the hospital during a small crisis. They were completely out of beds and she had to spend the rest of the first morning in the Cardio Wing OR. It was shortly later I found out just how serious her condition had been.

Kris had complained about chest pains Wednesday, but had thought it was due to a cold and the fact she had had to chase down Jada on Tuesday. But she also complained about dizzyness and shortness of breath. Kris smokes and is out of shape, so having to chase down Jada was thought to be the cause.

The dizzyness and shortness of breath was likely caused by the clot in her artery, which was choking off the flow of oxygenated blood to the rest of her body. During a heart attack, the flow of blood is not able to supply oxygen to the rest of the body and the body begins to react to suffocation. The artery collapses on the other side of the clot as the body attempts to suck the oxygenated blood in much the same way heart attacks just totally suck, anyway.

Usually, the body responds by sending message to increase blood flow, which means the heart pumps harder to attempt to resupply the body with oxygenated blood flow. In some patients with other heart problems, the heart can simply give out.

Kris has a strong heart and is full of stubbornness, so she was able to bounce back rather quickly. But this experience has left her shaken but determined to live healthier. She had her first cigarette last night shortly before her first homecoming meal. She commented that it didn't taste very good and she was disgusted by it. She is determined to quit, now, which makes all of us happy.

This episode has also shaken the rest of us. We hope and pray the kids realize that the daily crap they push on their mom was killing her. And we hope that we can all do a better job of taking care of her, because we know losing her would be very hard on all of us.

Andrea has gotten a wake up call about her behavior and how her health conditions are serious. Kris and her will be working together to try to live healthier. Jacob, is off in La-La land right now, so when he does come home, we'll have to deal with him. Both kids will be getting a stern lecture from their aunt and uncle about their behavior.

I've already gotten a few, myself about "letting the kids" walk all over her and not keeping up with the house chores. I'm truly too exhausted to argue with them right now. And once the dust settles on all of this, I am going to try much harder to take care of Kris.

I just hope that the kids will do their part and not weasel out as they always do. But I guess at this point, even if they do, I'm going to have to make things happen at home.

Valentines' Day

In 1074, an illustrious man named Valentino de Cornwall stuck a deal with a Franciscan Friar that he could create a day some infamously stricken with blatant greed that the entire world would suffer its agony. He wagered his immortal soul that all mankind would suffer this tragedy. Unfortunately, it took over 900 years for this outrage to be perpetrated on the people of this tainted orb....

Valentines' Day is a day celebrating blatant consumerism. To quote a rather jaded soul, "its a farce in which men make a half-ass and rather forced to attempt realize just how much they care about their woman and decide give her one day of treatment she should be given everyday." Yeah, as if one day of the year receiving candy, flowers, and other obnoxiously gay crap would make up for another year of BS.

Kris doesn't much care for flowers and stale boxed chocolates, so I cut her a check for $20 and wished her well. Her children - I wished the girl well, and cursed the boy. The dogs I gave a lovely treat of chicken-flavored dog treats and some of my breakfast. They love scrambled eggs and bacon - who wouldn't.

To continue on this Valentines' crap, I was in a somewhat festive mood. I decorated my desktop with a mildly aesthetically pleasing picture and changed my Windows Startup SOund to the Jetson's Doorbell sound. I set my shut down sound to "Jane you ignorant slut" from SNL. It was mildly pleasing.

A Tridge Wover Boubled Oaters?
I expect to be in trouble when I get home today. Jacob has been an even bigger turd than usual. He has a difficult time getting up, not because he can't wake up, but because the little shit thinks its funny when we desperately try to get him up in the morning. HE yells and screams at us when we try to get him out of bed. Then he argues with us that he is up and that he is getting dressed.

Whatever. I've had enough of it and just let him sleep late. So last week, when I decided to start dong this, he got up late and almost lost his "Safety Patrol" gig. Yeah, it was my fault that he wouldn't get up and be ready to leave on time. THis morning, after numerous attempts to get him up, I gave up at around 740 and started my shower. I got out at around 815 and he was still in bed, light on.

I told him he'd better get up and going or he'd miss the bus. To which he responded "I don't ride the bus anymore." So I told him he was gonna have to walk, then. He stayed laying in bed for another 15 minutes and missed the bus. At 835, I had to leave for work, so I called Kris to let her know he was going to be late and that he was not ready to leave.

She did her usual thing where she tells me that from now on, he's on his own, but I need to give him a chance this time. The same thing she always says and the biggest reason why the two kids walk all over her. I didn't have time to wait another 15 minutes and he already had the attitude "yeah, mom told you, you have to wait on me." So I left him there and went to work.

I'm sure Kris will be pissed at me when I get home, but honestly, what else am I supposed to do. I get up at 7am every morning. I go into his room and turn on his light, pull the covers off him and tell him to get up, get dressed, and eat breakfast. And every morning, he pulls the blanket back over his head and lays there. Then I come back in there and pull the blanket off of him and we repeat the same thing. Then he thinks its funny when I yell at him that he's going to be late and laughs at me when I tell him he's gonna have to walk if he doesn't get moving.

At 8am, when he needs to be eating and taking pills, he's usually yelling at me to shut up that I can't make him walk to school because its cold. Then he calls his mom to "tell on me" because I won't make him breakfast or wait another 15 minutes for him to be ready to go. Because he thinks she will make me drive him to school, even if it makes me late for work. Ha.

Yeah, Valentines' Day is so damned special. Its the one day of the year that you're supposed to be all lovey dovey and gay with warm, pleasant frickin' feelings. What a scam.

New Airsoft Pics!

This weekend, I finally had some free time to get pics of the current collection. Here they are.


HFC Glcok 17 SD

This is my HFC Glock 17 with the HFC Suppressor Set. This gun has proven itself time and again. It is accurate, reliable, and incredibly gas efficient. I have two spare mags and plan to order two more by June.


Tokyo Marui Hicapa 5.1

This is my Marui Hicapa 5.1. Currently, it has a Guarder Aluminum Slide. I prefer using the 4.3 style magazines and I to buy two more later. This gun is currently up for sale. I am going to buy another one and leave it stock. This gun is super accurate and reliable.


My Ultimate Hk Collection - G3SG1, Hk33EA2, MP5SD6, and USPc

This is my "Ultimate Hk Collection." Pictured are the following guns. Tokyo Marui G3SG1, Classic Army Hk33E, Tokyo Marui MP5SD6, and KSC USP Compact.


Tokyo Marui Hk G3SG1

Tokyo Marui G3SG1, my second SG1 that I plan to upgrade for Counter-Sniping/Sharpshooting. My upgrades are still being decided upon, but the rifle will be ready to go in April.


Classic Army Hk33EA2

Classic Army Hk33E, a rifle I bought from Wolf Recon's leader, Ryan. The gun was recently upgraded to 350-360fps and will be used as my primary.


Tokyo Marui MP5SD6 and KSC Hk USP Compact

Tokyo Marui MP5SD6, my CQB/Scouting rifle. This gun will remain stock. I do have a suppressor-mounted tactical light for CQB. And my KSC USP Compact, I bought just because it was a great deal. This gun is my back-up, mostly because of its small size.


Tokyo Marui G3SG1, Classic Army Hk33EA2 and KSC Hk USP Compact

I also plan to pick up some additional parts, upgrades and hardware. I will post pics when I get them.

Damned Cold!

This weekend was pretty quiet with both kids engaged in other things. Annie went on a trip to an indoor water park while Jacob spent the weekend at his father's house. Kris worked on Saturday and then we went shopping. This weekend has been the coldest since I got here with temperatures down to -35 degrees!

Hella Cold!
Yep. This week, the temperatures dropped and we had more snow all throughout the week. Friday's high was -4 degrees with some sunlight. Saturday, the temperatures were simply miserable sinking below -12 into the day and dropping down to -28 that evening. Overnight, the temperatures sank into the -40s.

Sunday, we were greeted by -35 degrees, with an arctic wind chill that made them down around -502. Yeah, that's really cold, especially for me. This is easily the coldest weather I have experienced since I arrived here in 2001.

This would not be so bad when running around town if it we not for our truck heater being broken. Last night, after picking up Annie and suffering the wait with Kris in no heat, I struggled to change out fuses on our truck's fuse box. That didn't work. I think it may be a diode on the actual circuit board under the hood. that needs to be replaced.