La Playa

Modern Technology?

2006-12-29T14:13:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder if we really save any time with these wonderful machines. (The computer of course.) For the last four days I have been trying to get on to this page to make an entry. Yesterday I finally got on only to loose four paragraphs of ramblings to cyberspace. Right in the middle of inserting a picture Netscape decided to close down on it's own. I am writing this using Microsoft Internet Exploder....the reason for the change to Netscape years ago was over a similar problem. All these years and still no improvements. Anyway enough ranting, if you are reading this post Exploder let me finish.

How about them Broncos, you know the pro? football team in Denver. For some reason my son Nathan has been an avid fan since he was old enough to root for the team. Monday they have another shot at the playoffs and I will be watching with one eye, it hurts too much to watch with both. However I have another reason to root this week. Nathan's uncle and cousin back in Kansas set all the future leaders (See first post to this blog, Sammy, Sadie, and Devin) Broncos wear and I believe that with this extra edge the mighty Orange Crush may have a chance at victory.

I don't know about you, but Pawpa thinks this crew will make the Superbowl!

Neat Things About Being Pawpa

2006-12-16T11:09:00.000-05:00

This being my third post I decided I should clear something up now for any of you scholarly types that have read the first two post and may be asking yourselves, "Doesn't this guy know the King's English?" I give you all a resounding "Of course he is and he lives in a wonderful castle."

Last night was a very special and fun night. Sam and Sadie came over to spend some time with Pawpa and Mima while their parents attended a Christmas party. Sam showed up with his suitcase and favorite dvds, Cars and Little Mermaid. The suitcase was packed for an overnight stay. He stayed over one other time and made it through the night but we were not sure if he would make it this time.

As soon as he was in the door Little Mermaid came out of the case. Sam jumped up on the couch and waited patiently as Pawpa got the movie going. How long has it been since you've had a 2 year old around for much time? I heard someone say 2 year olds are like dogs on a walk. They walk beside you for a little bit then run over to the first interesting they see, then they bound over to the next item of curiosity. Back and forth then back to your side until something else interesting catches their eye. Well, that is Sam. About 5 minutes into Little Mermaid (Enough that Pawpa was settled in and getting into the plot) Sam decided it was time to get out the toy tractors. (An interjection here. Being a Pawpa give you the right to watch all those fun kids movies.) Anyway, Sam started playing with the tractors and Pawpa tried to divert his attention between Little Mermaid and all the farming that was happening on the coffee table.

Soon, after about 3 minutes of tractor time, the Cars dvd case caught Sam's eye and he decided that would be better than Little Mermaid. Now we had a dilemma. You see Pawpa was now really into this Mermaids adventure! Quick adult thinking and child psychology practices were implemented and Sam was diverted back to his tractors... for you guessed it....about 3 minutes. (Another great thing about being Pawpa, you can, if you are on your toes, out think the youngster. A word of caution, you can get miserably out maneuvered if you don't stay on your toes!)

What the heck, I had not seen Cars yet so maybe we should watch it. (I could, after all, finish Little Mermaid after the puppy was wore out and sleeping!) So Cars was placed in the player and the action began. Wow! the sound on the surround system was unbelievable! Sam made a good choice. The tractors were forgotten as the opening race ensued. Sam sat back down on the couch and watched intently. (Pawpa playing with the volume and testing out his surround sound was pretty intriguing to him as well. This could cause problems back home when viewing movies. That is another great thing about being Pawpa, you just send them home and let mommy deal with it!)

After dinner Mima thought it would be fun to go out and look at Christmas lights. (Second word of caution. You cannot use psychology on Mima to try and finish the movie. She cheated anyway and had Sam on her side before they ambushed me!) The car seats were loaded up and the voyage began. I was still kinda miffed about stopping in the middle of the movie but after all I could watch the end after Sam and Mima were sleeping. (Could turn into a long nite.) Oh yea Christmas lights. The first shriek out of the back seat brought me back to the task at hand. Looking at Christmas lights. Santa and Frosty lit up in all their glory as big as the house, wow! Little sparkly lights and a train with wheels that looked like they were moving, and nativity scenes, and Rudolph, and candy canes, and multi-colored lights. I'm telling you, Clark Griswold has nothing on one of our neighbors. (Pawpa went around the block twice so Sam could get a better look at all the detail.) Just when we...er.. when Sam thought we had seen the best display yet another would take the number one spot. (Just so ya know, they didn't have 10' inflatable animated snowmen when Papaw was a boy.)

Soon the phone call came that Sam's mom and dad were ready to pick up Sadie and go home. Pawpa turned the car back toward the house amid protests from Sam to "go back" once again to the house with the inflatable Santa going down the chimney.

Back at the house Sam decided he was going to stay the night. He jumped up on the couch and declared he wanted to watch Cars. (See, Pawpa is in control. Kinda...Mima thought the high volume surround was a bit too loud to induce Sam into slumber so I had to finish the move at a less than desirable decibel to fully appreciate the system.)

Sam finally closed his eyes and went to sleep and the delightful evening came to a close. Almost... I had to see if Lightning McQueen could win the big race and save the town of Radiator Springs. He did.

Guess I will have to have Sam back over soon so he can finish watching Little Mermaid. Oh yea, Sadie went to sleep so early into the Christmas light voyage I am sure she will want to get out at least once more and look for the best display.

Pretty neat thing...Being Pawpa

Jury Duty

2006-12-13T23:31:00.000-05:00

Today marked another first in a lifetime experience for the Beachbum. Jury duty. (Just playing with all the neat tools) When the notice came in the mail about a month ago I immediatly began think up excuses to get out of my civil obligation. Not 0nly could no real reasons for not participating come to my mind, the excuses all sounded pretty lame. After considering the situation I realized this could be a great learning experience and maybe even fun. So at 8:00 a.m. this morning I cheerfully reported to the county courthouse. Apparently everyone reporting does not report with the same attitude. This was evident by the over cheerful attitude of all the clerks and assistants. More happy greeters than the Micky Mouse House! Keep the atmosphere light.

After a light hearted orientation, (and a half hour wait) a list of juror numbers were read off. Mine not included. The first group was lead off to their assigned court room. Approximately one half hour later my number was among those listed off. It was now 10:00 a.m. We were told we could leave the building for lunch or other personal tasks but were to report back no later than 1:00 p.m. There was still a chance we would be needed.

At 1:00 I reported back to the jury waiting area...and waited... until 2:00. At that time our numbers were once again called and a nice officer of the courts escorted us to the waiting are of courtroom 3C. He lined us up in the correct order and politely asked us to wait... are you getting the pattern? That's right, hurry up and wait.

Now 2:45 p.m. still waiting. The doors to the courtroom opened and a two very disgruntled peopled exited....the waiting continued,3:05 pm the doors once again opened and two very happy people exited...more waiting... 3:15 again the doors opened and the officer of the courts ushered us into the court room, completly empty except for the judge.

The judge thanked us for our patience and informed us that we would not be needed today. Bummer. All that waiting and we didn't even get to sit in the jury box...Maybe they will summons me next year.

2006-12-12T21:01:00.000-05:00

Ten minutes ago I didn't even know what a blogger was. Now I are one!

Back in the old days if you wanted to show off your grandkids
you had to tote around a slide projector (oops, telling my age, I skipped over 8mm and VHS!). Now all you need is a digital camera, (just a phone camera will do) to properly bore friends and neighbors and all of cyberspace.

You can blame the Cecil
for this newbie attempt at blogging. I started reading his blogs and decided to give my own a try. Grandchildren provide the perfect filler for those not so inspired moments and every so often what I personally consider an almost profound thought does cross my mind. Hopefully I can remember it long enough to get it posted!

Let me introduce you to our future leaders

This is Sammy. He is the oldest of the trio. He likes coming to Papaw's house to play with my toy tractors and feed the fish in the pond. He also delights in playing hide and seek with the cat. She doesn't think the game nearly as fun!

This is Sadie, Sammy's little sister. Won't be long now till the cat is out numbered. Sadie just wants to have fun. She will laugh and grin at just about anything. She can crawl faster than most adults can run.

And this is Devin, Sam and Sadie are his cousins. He's brand new, just a little over a week old. His favorite activity is eating and his favorite pastime is sleeping. The cat still likes him. Papaw's wisdom says this will change in the coming months and years. I have to mention that Devin is an extreme Denver Broncos fan. We won't talk about them again till they win a game.

That's enough excitement for one post. See ya soon