Buck's Babble

November is here and now almost gone. I'm bored on a graveyard shift and decided to babble a few minutes and update family and friends on anything new, which isn't much. Samuel has finished his Cross Country season and it went great. He really enjoyed the season and it was his first season running the long distances of cross country. He handled it, literally, in stride. The season was marred by the unexpected death of one runner from their time while at an event. Chris Lopez will be in our hearts forever. At the awards event at the end of the season Samuel won the first annual Chris Lopez award. It was touching and brought those tears to my eyes. I hate crying in public but, man, I almost lost it a few times that night. Again, Sam's latest report card was a perfect 4.0 with all As. So proud of you Sam! Emily has been doing great as well. She did not do any sports this season but really helped out by doing a lot of mom and my chores around the house. These always...

So I'm reading this book written in the late 70s and I come across some reference to the 70s swine flu fiasco. WTF I say?! So I immediately google 1970s swine flu shots and boy do I get a surprise. I'll throw some interesting links out there towards the end. Now I already had decided I would not get vaccinated nor would my family. We never have and never will if I can help it. Now I really stand firm in that decision. I don't want to change anyone's mind but just open a few minds, as mine was after reading this stuff. Turns out in the 70s some soldier contracted a swine flu and a nation-wide scare began. Vaccinations were created and swiftly given out. More people died from the vaccinations than died from the flu! Not only that, many contracted Guillain-Barré syndrome which is a paralyzing disorder. In fact this is still a known, but rare, possible side affect of getting ANY flu shot. In the 70s there were almost 1100 CDC recorded occurrences of this syndrome. So what s...

So of all the friends I've encountered on FB and elsewhere, I have not run into any who play video games, specifically MMOs. So what is an MMO. MMOs are Massively Multiplayer Online games. If you've ever heard or seen ads for World of Warcraft, well thats one with over 9 million people playing currently. MMOs are unique because you play with people from all over the world, interact with them in the game, chat with them via text or even live through a microphone. I've been online playing and talking to people in Russia, Australia, Japan, Europe, and everywhere in the states ALL AT ONCE! It's a real unique and neat experience. So why a video game? Well, it's my little hobby. It's what I do when I'm alone. Instead of heading to a bar, or a party, or anything else sure to get me in trouble, I stay at home and play, still getting my social interaction with some cool people. These aren't the types of games many of us older crowd may think of from ou...

Wow! Where to begin with a mind so full of incredible memories. Among other things forgotten was the necessary notebook so most of this will be from memory. Also this will be an extremely edited 'public' version but should give a good gist of the trip without incriminating any of us (not that we did anything incriminating). I was a little nervous about the trip since I hadn't seen many of these friends in over 20 years and hadn't done any 'true' backpacking in quite awhile. Even though I had worked on trails with the CCC and spent a lot of time in the backcountry, having all your gear packed in by mules is a far cry from packing it all in. The trip actually began Friday night with Gordon Metz picking me up at my house and we had about a 7 hour drive ahead of us. It was like I had seen Gordy just yesterday and no time had passed. What an awesome drive and catch up time. We got to Sonora Pass about 1:00 am and spent the next hour looking for Shawn and Paul ...

So June has come and almost gone and I'm working a graveyard, loathing with nervous energy (and a little angry) so thought I'd throw out a quick update, which I promised to try and put out more often, for my sanity if anything. Even though its not officially summer, the weather has been most unusual for this time of year. Usually we've had temperatures in the 90s by now. So far we've had nothing but rain, constantly. I won't complain though becuase it has really helped the garden and new grass. This years plantings: so we started off by planting grass in the very backyard. The area used to be all dirt, a muddy mess in the rain, and looked awful. I prepped the ground a little (rototill and levelling) but nothing too fancy. With the help of the rain it is now the fullest and greenest of all the grass at the house. In the garden we have growing very strongly: tomatoes (cherry and biguns), zucchini, onions (big and little), pumpkins, bell peppers, and habanero p...

The year is flying by already before it even seemed to begin. Life progresses on its course. The weather doesn't seem too May-like around Siskiyou County: very rainy and cold. It hasn't hurt growth, however. Our lilacs are blooming beautiful and oh-so fragrant flowers which the wife has all over the house in containers. I planted grass from seed in a large area in our backyard and the rain has really helped it literally explode through the ground. Some garden herbs have been planted but the majority of the garden is still in my head until the rain stops. As usual our garden focuses on salsa ingredients which we make by the gallons in the summer. Dispatch work has been steady. Part-time sucks for the simple fact that I rely on others to take time off for me to get work and with only 6 full-time dispatchers, I worry about getting my time. But so far, I haven't had to worry, and take everything I can get, even if that leads to some long stretches and mixed hours. I c...

So a glimpse of what Tom watches based on my recorder, DVR list Monday 24 Tuesday Fringe Wednesday Dog the Bounty Hunter Top Chef Lost Thursday The Beast Survivor Hell's Kitchen Eleventh Hour Friday Battlestar Gallactica Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Dollhouse Sunday Big Love The Girl's Next Door Snoop Dog's Fatherhood And naturally these change as seasons come and go. Lots of movies on HBO and PPV mix and match with these but these are regulars. 8)