No Perks @ Perkins

Today my family went and had lunch at Perkins. These are the classes of people that I observed-

The Church Crowd: They just came from church in their suits and hats
The Family Frolic: These are families that came in for lunch and it seems quite apparent by their combined weight that they are not strangers to the establishment
The Greasy Gabbers: Like the family that sat at the table next to us. They looked like they hadn't bathed in a few days. I had more teeth in my mouth alone than all four of them had put together. And they smelled like they lived in an ashtray. [I have nothing against smokers...but come on, were you steaming in your car with the windows rolled up right before you came in?]

It seems like the list of acceptable restaurants in Marshalltown is getting smaller. Here is a short list of places we no longer patronize and why, and in no particular order-

Burger King: They usually get our orders wrong [even when we are the only people in the joint] and none of the workers speak English
Wendy's: My wife insists that her burgers are always cold when she gets them
Arby's: The inside of the place always seems a bit dirty and the drive thru takes longer than waiting inside
Subway: Because my wife is pregnant there is some reason, that I can't remember, as to why she can't eat cold meat sandwiches right now
KFC: Because we always get more fried batter with our food than actual chicken
Long John Silvers: Heart attack in a greased box
Perkins: For the reasons listed above that spawned this post
The Olive Garden: "Because when you're here you're like family" and apparently it's OK for your family to serve you food that is only "not bad" but "not great"

Places we do still go-
Applebee's: Feelin' good in the neighborhood
McDonalds: Not sure why but they are still OK
Pizza Ranch: Nice buffet and a fairly clean place
Hardee's: Fairly clean and fairly good
Zeno's Pizza: Kind of an old place but it still has a little bit of class
Maid Rite: It is a classic restaurant. Literally on the map as one of the best in the area
Hickory Park: Very classy and great food
Old Chicago: Because the food is awesome and we can have fun
Taco John's: 6 pack & a pound. Cheap Sunday lunches and the place is clean

Bon Appetite

A short rant

I just wanted to take a quick moment to share with the world one of my deepest pet peeves: non-graduating graduations.

They now seem to take these forms-

• Kindergarten
• 5th Grade
• 8th Grade
• High School

Let's take a look at what it means to graduate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This grad·u·ate Audio Help /n., adj. ˈgrædʒuɪt, -ˌeɪt; v. ˈgrædʒuˌeɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[n., adj. graj-oo-it, -eyt; v. graj-oo-eyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, adjective, verb, -at·ed, -at·ing. –noun

1.	a person who has received a degree or diploma on completing a course of study, as in a university, college, or school.

2.	a student who holds the bachelor's or the first professional degree and is studying for an advanced degree.

3.	a cylindrical or tapering graduated container, used for measuring.

–adjective

4.	of, pertaining to, or involved in academic study beyond the first or bachelor's degree: graduate courses in business; a graduate student.

5.	having an academic degree or diploma: a graduate engineer.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to receive a degree or diploma on completing a course of study (often fol. by from): She graduated from college in 1985.

7.	to pass by degrees; change gradually.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to confer a degree upon, or to grant a diploma to, at the close of a course of study, as in a university, college, or school: Cornell graduated eighty students with honors.

9.	Informal. to receive a degree or diploma from: She graduated college in 1950.

10.	to arrange in grades or gradations; establish gradation in.

11.	to divide into or mark with degrees or other divisions, as the scale of a thermometer.

I can see no reason for Kindergarteners, 5th or 8th graders to have such a ceremony. It seems like it just kind of takes the meaning out of the High School one...the legitimate one.

I remember my 5th grade graduation. We had to make and hold up signs signifying what we wanted to be when we grew up. Most of the other kids had signs that said:

Doctor
Lawyer
Marine Biologist
Teacher
Firefighter

Mine said "Professional Skateboarder." The only place that I now live that dream is in my head because somewhere between my heart and feet is this stomach that prohibits me from enjoying much of the former pleasures that I extracted from sporty activity.

It is only kindergarten people. Don't do it.

Just say no.

News Break 5.23.08

Fitting picture.

This is how I seem to feel most of the time as of late. I really don't want to spend the whole post here talking about my parent's divorce so I'll only hit the high points.

Divorce sucks. The reasons don't matter. Period.

Divorce starts to bring out all kinds of "truths" that have been hidden over the years. You find out that people either may or may not be who you knew or suspected.

My mom is having a very hard time with everything and I can understand from a distance. After almost 32 years of marriage it would be hard to find out that your husband had been having an affair for the last year. It would then be hard to set your sights on trying to pick the pieces back up to see what can be salvaged only to find out a year later, before your 33rd anniversary, that the last year had been for nought.

My dad, as we have come to find out, began casual email correspondence with an old co-worker. After two or three years it escalated to something more. It essentially turned into a second life. Now as more and more comes back to the surface the plot only thickens and becomes more complicated.

I plan on meeting with my dad this weekend to discuss some of the insanity in which he now lives. I'm glad that we are finally meeting because I was beginning to fear that he was avoiding me and that our relationship might altogether dissolve. He is, after all, still my father.

My mother has rightfully told him that as soon as the house is refinanced in her name and she has ownership that she wants him out. I kind of hate to see that happen but it is what she needs to be able to move on with her life.

I find myself loving on my kids more these days.

One thing is for certain in life- nothing in life is for certain; circulum ad nausium.

In other news, I was recently able to finish tiling my bathtub surround. I only have a few pieces of crown moulding that need to be replaced. For the most part though, it feels pretty good to have a project complete. I haven't seemed to be able to do that for a while.

I am typing this post through the Safari web browser.

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. My motto: Oppose war at all possible costs, but support our troops when it does happen.

That will be all for now.

Catching Up

What a last several _____ it's been.

Let's recap on some things that have gone down lately.

Back on December 17th my wife and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Who would have known, including us, that we would have lasted this long? Well we have and I must say that it just keeps getting better. It truly does keep climbing. We sure have plenty of differences but we have really learned to deal with them and how to still have fun with each other. It seems like a lot of the things that may have set us off a few years ago are now just little things that we can calmly and rationally discuss without then having a week of silence. I love my wife and she loves me. That is really what these seven years have been about.

The weather out side is frightful.

The only thing we have to fear is... the fact that John McCain apparently sent me an email today to an account that I don't even use. I don't know if that is even legal, but I am just really bothered that I am now getting unsolicited email in accounts that aren't really even registered with anything. I am happy to see though that we finally got our family Xmas card from the Romney family. I was afraid that with everything that goes into the campaign that they might forget to cease the opportunity for such a shameless personal plug.

Last night I watched the movie White Christmas for the first time.

I really would like to have dreadlocks.

While driving on the way home from work yesterday on the Interstate Santa waved at me from the car in the next lane over. I waved back and then continued on. All the while I couldn't help but think "hey, I just got waved at by Santa."

Perez Hilton is really ugly, but he's got on incredibly irrelevant website that makes a whole buttload of money everyday.

There's life out there but not as we know it.

I now leave you with this-

And the winner is...

There is no winner; that's just a catch title.

Well, I just got up this morning. My wife is gone and my son is still in bed. I probably would still be sleeping except I was woken up by my bladder telling me to get up or else.

Another week of work is gone. I am currently waiting to hear back on a job that I applied for with the Iowa Department of Transportation. I originally applied for the position a few months ago and the hiring process has been put on hold a few times for various reasons. But I just got an email at the beginning of last week saying that they were going to begin the process again by the end of this week. I think it would be a sweet deal- the pay would be better, I would occasionally get to travel, my hours would be more consistent, I would have the job security of working for the State...many benefits.

On Thursday morning I got a funny call from my dad saying that he had something for my kids. When I asked him "what" he replied "a box." So then I said "oh yeah, what's in the box?" He then proceeded to tell me how, around his shop, they have all kinds of Praying Manta. He said that he had gotten 2 of them and that they were waiting for me to pick up. Reluctantly, I did.

When I got them home, we set the box in the floor and took the tape off so that it would open up a little. Then we shined a flashlight down in there to see if we could see anything. Then, like some scene from a scary movie one of them started to come out of the box, so we all screamed and then shut the box up again. We then decided that what we'd do is relocate the hermit crab and put the manta in her tank. So now they are out and wandering in her tank and I have to admit that they are kind of cool but still kind of creepy. They will watch you if you get up close. If you want to see a video of a praying mantis killing and eating a mouse then click here. If you'd rather see a strange cartoon drawing (unrelated to the subject at hand) then click here.

So we still have the manta until my daughter comes home and then it sounds like we will be letting them go outside. That is too bad because I was going to name them Genghis and Clementine. Those seemed like fitting names.

Just when it seems like all hope is lost, rest assured that it probably is.

I was thinking about something last night that seemed like it would make a very cool obscure subject for a blog entry but now I don't remember what it was.

My wife is on a [much necessary] kick to clean out all of the junk toys and unneeded children's cloths in our house. Wow do we have a lot of stuff. I can't believe the amount that we are either going to throw away or donate to charity.

Have you ever gone to bed and woken up with better hair than you had the day before?

I gotta go. My son needs breakfast, my wife needs help and my nephew needs his laptop fixed. Have a happy Saturnday.