JD pitched great at the showcase this weekend and had some colleges interested in him.  Out of over 100 players there, JD was told he had one of the best curveballs.  We learned the next day that colleges asked for his contact information so that is certainly good news.

We go to enjoy spending some time with my mom and we also spent some times with friends at the showcase and then went to dinner with some of them afterward.  I know JD likes to go back and hang out with his old friends and they had a good time together.

The end of another 12 days straight is in sight and Friday will not only bring a weekend off but also news of my company's earnings for the 4th quarter, the full year earnings and then an announcement of the average profit sharing check.  The Detroit newspapers are already publishing articles about how big the checks are going to be but the truth is, no one will know until all of the financial details have been announced. 

I spent about a half hour last night working on our income taxes.  Since the IRS is having to deal with late tax changes, those who itemize can't file until February 14th.  Well, that's us but it isn't that big of deal since I have our withholdings adjusted so we get the money in our checks each week versus a sizable tax refund.  I see people complaining about having to wait to file and I think to myself, why in the heck would you give alot of YOUR money to the government tax free for an entire year?  Now you're upset you can't get YOUR money as quickly as you would like?  Duh!

I will quickly give you the Cliff notes to tonight's State of the Union address: " Blah, blah blah, blah, blah. Jobs.  Blah, blah blah, blah, blah,   Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

A Child writes a letter to God,

"Dear God, why do you allow bad things to happen in our schools?"

God replied,"My dear Child, I am not allowed in your schools."

White and bright

The sun is out today and the area is encased in white.  We have at least 8" of snow on the ground at the house and it could tally more.  We're finally getting some regular and substantial snow falls here in KC.  In the 4 1/2 years we've been here, we really haven't got that much snow with the exception of a couple blizzards last year but that was mostly the high winds creating snow drifts.  I enjoy deep snows but I'm glad I don't have to travel very far on the highway to get to work because most people can't drive in it.  Thirty minute drives were taking 4 hours last night in some areas.  I got home in 7 minutes.  JD and I cleared 6" off the drive last night in about 15 minutes.  There was about an inch or two on the drive this morning and JD gets his 4th snow day of the year.

JD and I spent some time this weekend adding microphones to his drum kit and beginning the learning process of recording drums.  We were successful in getting all 8 microphones to record and he was able to sync it up with a song he played along with.  We now need to fine tune the recording quality and much probably has to do with recording in a studded out basement that has a lot of "echo".  We may need to build a studio room in the basement to get the best sound quality. 

I've been adding some corals to my reef tank lately and have some really nice ones shipping in this week from California.  There aren't many locals who collect the higher end corals that I do so I have to purchase or trade with people who live in more affluent areas or where the corals are more easily accessible. 

I'm taking JD to a baseball showcase in St. Louis next weekend.  There will be quite a few D1 colleges present to assess the talent on hand.  Only one of the schools represented has seen him so it will be a good opportunity for him to be seen by others.

Some "accidents" just can't be avoided

I saw a fundamentalist, Muslim extremist fall into the Rio Grande River this morning; he was struggling to stay afloat because of all the guns and bombs he was carrying.


Along with him was an illegal, Hispanic, drug cartel member who was also struggling to stay afloat because of the large backpack of drugs that was strapped to his back.

If they didn't get help, they'd surely drown.

Being a responsible American, I informed the El Paso County Sheriff 's Office and Homeland Security.

It is now 4pm, both have drowned, and neither authority has responded.

I'm starting to think I wasted two stamps.

According to auto news sources, this is very close to the production version of the new Escape that will go into production later this year.  You can click on the photo for a larger view.  Looks pretty cool to me!