Car go fast

I know this is a crappy picture, but I took it from a moving car. (Please don't give my insurance agent this blog address) I saw this car, and as you can guess by the airplane wing they have added to it, they zoomed passed me. He got caught in traffic and with a little weaving in and out of cars, I was able to get close enough to take the second worst picture of my life. I hope it is clear enough for you to see this thing because it's the funniest thing. On top of the wing being huge, it was a bright white on a red car so it stood out that much more. Plus, the car was cheap, a Ford Tempo or something. (note the missing hubcap on the front wheel) It kills me when someone buys a car worth $50 and sinks thousands of dollars in wheels, radios that vibrate my car as they pass, and now wings. I'd say "kids," but this wasn't a kid driving this airplane prototype. Trust me, I'll be watching for this thing to be parked somewhere and will get a non moving picture if I can.

WOW, Scary

I found this article on the web. Makes you thankful you live in the good ol USA and have the freedom to name your teddy bear anything you want.

Sudan charges British teacher with inciting hatred after students name teddy bear 'Muhammad'

Associated Press - November 28, 2007 11:43 AM ET
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Sudan has charged a British teacher with inciting religious hatred after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons was arrested Sunday after the parents of 1 of her pupils complained, accusing her of naming the bear after Islam's prophet.
In London, the British government says Foreign Secretary David Miliband has summoned the Sudanese ambassador to discuss the charge.
Sudan's official news agency says Gibbons' case will be referred to a court tomorrow. If convicted, she could face up to 40 lashes and six months in prison. A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office confirmed the charge.

Skymall

So in my recent travels to Jamaica and Houston, I've had the privilege of leafing through the Skymall catalog. I'm sure you've seen these in the seat pockets, a potpourri of products that you either don't need or are way to expensive to actually purchase. A few of these have caught my eye for different reasons. I took pictures of them out of the magazine, but I think you can see them enough to get my point.
Picture #1.
Where do I start with this one? I think the nickname for this is the Boston strangler. Is that comfortable? I know what it is intended to do, but would you buy it after seeing this picture? I think they needed to find a model with a long neck so the pillow doesn't look like a torture device. Lets move on.
Picture #2.
Are you kidding me? These straps are so good that they can make, what I can only guess is a 500# dresser, weigh virtually nothing. They aren't even holding the straps with their hands, they are sitting on their forearms. Ladies, no offense, but do these 2 women look like they can hold this big thing up that high with anything other than an elevator? I worked for a moving company and moved a few of these in my day and I'm telling you this is photo shopped or something. Unless this thing is made of cardboard, this ain't happening.
Picture #3.
Who in the hell has enough watches to necessitate this thing? I have one watch and I'm guessing I'm closer to the norm (in this case only) than people that have 50 watches. Some women might have several, but this thing looks like it would hold 16 watches. If I'm wrong, call me out. Then, since you have enough disposable income that you can buy a watch for every month of the year, plus an extra one for Christmas, Anniversary, Birthday and Presidents day (I ran out of even reasonable days), drop one watch from your inventory and send it to a watch poor person to get them off the, cruel, one watch column. You'll feel better and that person will be able to hold their head high knowing they are on their way to needing this thing.

Side note, is this girl Shannon Daugherty from Beverly Hills 90120? How far we have fallen:(

Iowa Energy

So Iowa has a new basketball team, the Iowa Energy, that is basically a farm team for the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. This is their first year and last night was their home opener. I bought 2 season tickets along with my little bro Brian who has 2 seats as well. Last night, Brian and I plus his son Addison and my friend Joe went to the game. Let me tell you that it was one of the best games I have ever seen live. We were down by 10 with 3 minutes to go and came back to win in the last 20 seconds, awesome. We bought the cheapest seats they offered, so I wasn't expecting very good seats. I was pleasantly surprised that when we got there, they are pretty good seats for being behind the basket. We are close to where we come in and the bathrooms and concession area is close as well. The arena is huge and not very full, so we will be able to move around if we want. There was one thing that bothered me, and his name is Surge. Here is a pretty bad picture of him:

You can't really tell from this photo, but lets just say he is disturbing. He is like a car wreck, I couldn't look away. Can you see that, thing, hanging from his neck? I'm not sure why they gave him a turkey neck, but they did. Maybe it's a Thanksgiving thing. I'll try to get a better picture so you can have nightmares as well. We had an interesting experience trying to get out of the parking ramp. I'm sure you have heard over the years that machines are taking the jobs that people previously held. Let me tell you a story on how that isn't happening in a parking garage in Des Moines Iowa. We got back to the car pretty quickly and got in line to get out. There was probably 8 cars in front of us and a second line feeding in, so say 16 cars ahead of us. I can see the exit and we just aren't moving that fast. I look a little closer and see a sign that says "Automated Pay Line." I can see the machine that you are supposed to put your ticket in and then I'm guessing you put money in it as well, but I can't see the details yet. The interesting thing is, there are 2 guys standing at the machine, one in front and one in back. Five minutes later when we have moved one car closer, I see the guy in front is taking the tickets from the driver and then putting it in the machine that is one foot from the driver. Then, he is taking the money from the driver and putting it in a slot in the machine that is one foot 2 inches from the driver. Does this driver not have any arms? No, he is driving so he must have arms. Perhaps he is challenged in some way? He must have a license and he has gotten to this point with no issues, so I toss that theory as well. Ten minutes later we have moved another car length closer and I see the guy at the machine is doing this for everyone. Apparently "Automated" means confusing to all, except Bill in his Parking Garage coat. After another 10 minutes or so, we make it to the machine and I'm so excited to see if the writing is in Spanish or Chinese, explaining the hold up and the need for Bill. I was slightly saddened to see everything is in English and quite easy to figure out, but I gave him my ticket and money and he in turn handed me my change that the machine spit out. This whole time, guy number two has been standing behind the machine, watching. So you see, this machine hasn't eliminated a job, so lets think twice before we talk badly about technology. It is obviously to confusing for us regulars to figure out, so we have Bill. Thanks Bill!

FUNNY

I found this the other night and it made me laugh. Thought I would share it.

http://www.break.com/index/japanese-binocular-soccer.html

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We had our first snow here in Iowa on Wed., 3 inches, and it was good to see that most people haven't gotten any smarter over the summer. There were several accidents and people going 20 mph over the speed limit, even with cars in the ditch and one SUV on its side. I say this and will probably end up in the ditch next and will have to eat crow. Marcy did the black Friday thing again this year, yes, she is nuts. The mall here opened at 12:01am, but that would be insane to go that early, so she went at 1:00am, much more sane. I guess that is the difference between insane and sane, 59 minutes. The paper said there were a lot of people there and Marcy said the line at Kohls was huge, as usual. I think most of our Christmas buying is done, but I'm sure we have missed someone and will be out again. I'm still working on Marcy, and have my usual problem I have no idea what to get her. I've given up on clothes, we don't have the same taste. I've given up on jewelry, she doesn't wear much. I swore I would never give her anything that plugged in, unless specifically requested. That leaves food, she is picky, or a magazine subscription, don't think that will fly.

Our friend Michelle is back in the USA, welcome home Michelle. We are glad you are home and the boys can't wait to see you. The insulation is all most all up and then it is drywall time, your room is coming along.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all have or had a Happy Thanksgiving. Here is a little gift God gave us this last summer. Now that I know how to get pictures off my phone, I thought I'd share it.

Love,

Mark

Disc Golf day

The whole family went Disc golfing today, so here are a few shots. Max hit me in the nuts and in the knee, my 2 most sensetive areas, so he now has a black eye. Don't mess with daddy, he hits back:)