Carmichael's Position

Happy Halloween!

Shamelessly Stolen from the Oft entertaining "Grouchy Old Cripple"

There is a Fair Wind Blowing at My Back...

For those of you who know... you know... For those who don't...

Read "Metaphor".

"Sea-Fever"

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying...

By John Masefield (1878-1967).

That Sox!

Well... that's that...  Damn it has been tough being a Padre and now a Colorado Rockies Fan. 

But to be honest... Kudos have to go to the Red Sox.  They simply outplayed the Rockies.  Anyone who claims an 8 day layoff did not negatively affect the HotRocks is fooling themselves! 

The Rockies and Clint Hurdle will obviously claim otherwise... they are a CLASS ACT afterall... but streaks are all about momentum!

Thanks Rockies for getting there and bringing all your fans, be they fair weather, or fully dedicated... you did indeed bring some joy to us here this year!  Baseball in October is Fun! 

Here's to October Baseball next year!

To Ensure Your Banana Will Be Protected!

This is a real product!  But, Oh God! was I having troubles reading through my tear filled, laughing eyes!

These are just two pages from their website!  

Oh the places you can go!  And now you can take your banana with you!  In Colorful Style!  It's ventilated! 

And most importantly from their FAQ...

Q: "Not all bananas are the same size or shape, so how can the Banana Guard fit them all?"

A: The Banana Guard was specially designed to accommodate the majority of banana sizes. Our testing indicates that over 90% of commercially available bananas will fit into the Banana Guard. Highly curved bananas can be straightened ever-so-slightly without harm to fit the Banana Guard shape. The opposite holds true of very straight bananas.

I'm thinking "VERY STRAIGHT BANANAS" might enjoy getting slightly bent and put in a box....

Just say'n..... 

Seriously!... Everyone who is owned by a cat goes through this!

This is an EVERY morning ritual! [LINK TO VIDEO]

The culprits at Casa De Carmichael are Pudge (pictured left) and her 22lb brother Scrunch (right)... AKA the "Cats Darwin Forgot" coined by my buddy Ken!

Oh sure... they look so innocent now!

DC-10 Helps in Combating San Diego Wildfires

A converted DC-10 provides aerial firefighting support.

Tanker 910 [download PDF description]can carry up to 50 tons of water or fire-retardant in three external tanks, and it can dump 12,000 gallons of retardant on a blaze in as little as eight seconds, laying down a wet blanket 50 feet wide and as much as .8 of a mile long.  The aircraft flies with a four-person crew, and California Department of Forestry (CDF) -- the state's forest fire-fighting agency -- has signed up to lease 910 at a cost of $26,500 per hour. Since a single drop from Tanker 910 is equivalent to 10 to 12 drops from one of the CDF's S-2 Trackers, the DC-10 is best suited to suppressing very big fires.

This is Not Nice!... FUNNY! ... But Not Nice!

While on my all to brief honeymoon a couple of weeks ago (God has it been that long ago?) Ginger and I swung into the Las Vegas Hilton to try our luck at the games there.  Amazingly enough we did very well, I at Black Jack and Ginger at a particularly generous "One Armed Bandit" and at a "3 Card Poker" game.  I think combined, we came out that day $700.00 or $800.00 better than we started.  Certainly not bad for Vegas!

What struck me as funny was.. before we left to head back to our roost at Caesars, a potty break was in order.  After all, sitting at a Black Jack table for a few hours will draw the attentions of the ever-present, scantily clad (and properly boosted) cocktail waitress bearing gifts of fine "Adult Beverage."  -- Um... numerous times!

After cashing Ginger's and my chips in, we headed off to our respective facilities.  As I walked up to my selected urinal I have to admit, I was taken aback somewhat at being... well.... WATCHED!  If not Ogled!... By NUMEROUS!!!! Hot Babes!!!! 

Nope I'm not in the wrong bathroom... It appears that the Hilton has a bit of a sense of humor and wishes to challenge their male patrons in a question of Stage Fright!  Here's what one has to contend with!  My Buddy Stu wouldn't stand a chance!!!

 

  Makes me wonder what was in the "Sit Down" stalls?

Denver's First Snow 2007!

Yep it was 76 degrees yesterday!  Woke up this morning and... well... it sure ain't 76 now!  

We're only anticipating a couple or three inches today, and it will probably all be gone by tomorrow... but the mountains are rumored to have received 10-16"!!!  Whooo hooooo!  Wax up those skis baby!

Click! "You Sneeze You're a Deadman!"

Love this guy!

A Few Really Nice Photos From my Buddy Scott

One of my Best Men, Scott sent me a few pics he and his wife Kristi took while out here for our wedding.  These are really nice ones and are also contained in the same Smugmug gallery [page 15] I pointed you all to in my previous post.

http://jcas.smugmug.com/gallery/3632821/#206979701 

Here's their pics: 

This first one is a panoramic of Golden CO, our chapel is to the right of center in this image.

Then there are a couple of nice photos of Ginger and me (well... of Ginger anyway!)

And finally a good close up of the Star Gazer Lilies on the cake.

Thank you Scott and Kristi!  These are awesome, and will absolutely serve the purpose of helping Ginger and I remember fondly that great day in October!

The difference between throwing your metals over the wall and leaving your STARS at The WALL... Character!

Why I have the utmost respect for people like General Peter Pace and ... well... notsomuch for the likes of John Kerry...

When General Pace left his position as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, primarily because those in Congress didn't approve of his "Take Charge and Move Out" mentality regarding war fighting. What did he do?  ... He paid his respects to his men!   In a way we can all be proud of...  now that's a LEADER!

Extracted from Neptunus Lex article:

I wanted to share with you what we saw in Washington DC last week. After the mid-term brief we toured the Mall and made the usual stops at the WWII Memorial, the Wall, Lincoln Memorial, etc. At the Vietnam Wall we saw something unbelievable. We noticed three small index cards at the base of the Wall. I knelt down for a closer look and noticed that a 4-star general’s rank was pinned to each card. The cards were personally addressed and said:

“These are Yours- not mine!
With Love and Respect,
Your Platoon Leader,
Pete Pace
1 Oct”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had laid down his rank for his boys who died in Nam just the day before! I later found out that 1 Oct was also the same day he stepped down as chairman.

More of the Story Here: [LINK]

Wedding Pics are now Posted

Well, many of them anyway...

I could still use more if you took any.  Just send to my comcast e-mail.  If you don't know my comcast e-mail leave me a comment here and I get it to you.

Full Gallery is here: http://jcas.smugmug.com/gallery/3632821/#206979701

The series includes:

1. Tour into the Mountains with Mom, Dad, and Kelly
2. Golf day with the family at “The Ridge” at Castle Pines
3. Beginning Page 5 = Golf w/ friends and Family at the Meadows the Egyptian wear was for who ever shot the highest on any hole (painful skins game!) I’m proud to say I never earned the honor that day!
4. End of page five = Rehearsal (bad focus but I wanted to put the images up for historical reference)
5. Rehearsal Dinner
6. Then completing decorations at Stu and Linda’s house
7. The moon and Star picture signifies 6:00am on Wedding day (I was up early)
8. Early morning prep… then wedding
9. Not many pics of the wedding (left that for the real photographer) Linda has some good ones but we are having trouble uploading from her computer (we will have them up sometime soon I hope).
10. Then the Reception some fun group pics there of Ginger’s Co-workers, Our Pool team, the San Diego / San Diego State group of guys (that could not be a serious picture no way no how!)
11. Finally some from our trip to Vegas (NO! None of THOSE!)

Here's a taste:

 

 

   

 

 

That about sums it up!

WHAT DO DEER THINK...?

Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being
interviewed by a French journalist and animal rights activist. The
discussion came around to deer hunting.

The journalist asked, "What do you think is the last thought in the head of
a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it, 'Are you
the one who killed my brother?'"

Nugent replied, "Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they
care about is, 'What am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next,
and can I run fast enough to get away? They are very much like the French."

The interview ended at that point.

John and Ginger Carmichael

Yep, Its Official!  I done gone off and got myself hitched to the girl of my dreams!  Ginger and I were joined in marriage on Saturday, Oct. 6th in front of God, our Family and our Friends in a lovely ceremony at Foothills Chapel in Golden CO.

We were joined on this special occasion by our wonderful families, and countless numbers of our closest friends. (Countless cuz, damn it, they wouldn't stand still long enough for me to get an accurate count!)

We partied until well into dark, it was heartwarming to be in the company of such great friends!

I'll post more soon, but I wanted to get the official announcement out.  One of the traditions of getting married is making a "Public" proclamation in the paper or such media... Well hell this is the new millennium, and we're going to do it this way!  In a few weeks, I'll bet a web search on "John and Ginger Marriage" or "John and Ginger Carmichael " will hit this post for all the world to see!

Oh... and by the way, the picture above is not any of our formal photos, those won't be ready for a week or so, this was just a crop/Photoshop I slapped together from one of the many candid photo's taken at the reception... I'll post a better one when I have it.

And on the topic of photos, I know many of you took some great photos while at the reception, and I would love to see them (as I'm sure other's in our family would too!) I will be setting up a public gallery of the images soon, and will try to enable a public download of the pics as well... for now, if you would like to send me some of your images in an e-mail please feel free to do so.  Click here and attach whichever images you have that are nice.

Thank you again for all you love and support, we wouldn't have it any other way, you are all so special to our lives!

-John & Ginger  

Tick... Tick.... Tick....

The clock continues, as it always does, to inch toward Saturday's appointment with Matrimony.  "Am I stressed yet?" is a regularly reoccurring question as of late.

'Yet?!"... Are you kidding?  What's there to be stressed about?  It's just a simple matter of coordinating the: 2 rounds of golf, a rehearsal, a rehearsal dinner, a wedding, a reception, including the food, alcohol (can't forget that) and the music, and the requisite travel plans following, all well staying somewhere in the same universe of Budget I originally set out to meet.  Yeah, that's happening!

Anyway, I am trying to focus on the "Fun" rumored to exist in the midst of these tumultuous times, and for the most part I am succeeding.  My family and Ginger's family are both in town (and in their neutral corners thankfully) mixing these two families together with too much vigor could ruin the quiche!  Ginger's family is here with us at the house... for the entire week... doing what they are supposed to do... drive Ginger Nuts!  They are very good at it I might add.

As for my family, they chose (were instructed by me actually) to get a Hotel suite near my Buddy Stu's house where the reception is going to be.  This has been a Godsend, as they are always quite conscious of "Trying to ease their way through the minefield of "In-the-way" -vs- providing sound advise and great help!  This far they are definitely in the latter.

Lessons learned thus far: 

• When cats get stressed by too many people hanging around, they like to throw up... a lot.
• Check lists help!  Recommend multiple ones... you're gunna lose something somewhere!
• Have a pad a paper and pen at ALL TIMES!!!! You'll drive yourself nuts trying to remember what "Outta left field thought hit you at 3:00am!... while you're cleaning the cat barf!"
• Buy your Father-in-Law-to-be a hearing aide!!! Lots of time will be saved in the lack of repeating yourself...I said... Lots of time will be saved in the lack of repeating yourself... "LOTS OF TI.... ah to hell with it!"
• FRIGG'N REGISTER!  Dispose of that thought that a registry seems presumptuous!  It helps in two ways!  One... People are going to get you gifts so get over it.  and Two... you won't have to field the question "Where are you registered?" 87 times followed by the obligatory explanation as to why you aren't.  For the record... My script according to Ginger:
• "Ginger and I have been together for 10 years now, and have accumulated much of what we could ever really need housewares-wise, however we have recently purchased a new house so anything related to that would be great, we would be very appreciative of Gift Cards, from the likes of Home Depot, The Great Indoors, and Bed Bath & Beyond are all excellent gifts!"        --- Me? I would have registered... I'm expecting any number of pink toilet brush caddies...  I could use a router, sawzall, or table saw... if you must know. ;-)

More to follow... I have to hit the road to hit the golf course today... Yea!