NOW: I Wonder as I Wander

I really wasn't wandering.  I was walking with purpose.  Tonight was the first night since Father's Day that I was able to use the Nike+iPod device to help track, monitor and provide feedback for walking. 

The small sensor (left) goes in the shoe and the receiver (right) connects to the iPod.  Then a friendly voice tells you how you are doing on your exercising.  "You are halfway there!" "100 yards to go!"  "1.5 miles complete."  After my walk, the data (speed, distance, etc.) is sent to a website and I can track all of my walks.  I am already looking forward to using it more!

As I was walking through the neighborhood tonight (all the while hoping the lightning would not get any closer than it already was) I noticed something strange. Three, count them, three houses were using TVs in their garages.  Now in our old neighborhood, there was one house where the owners did the same thing.  But there it was because the older man used the garage as a shop and watched TV while he was working in the garage.  In the all of the garages tonight they were just sitting there in chairs watching TV.  Sometimes it was someone alone, sometimes it was more than one person. 

Now I started wondering?  If I wasn't working in the garage, why would I find myself watching TV there?  Is there anything on TV that becomes that more enjoyable because you sit next to your car to watch while you are in the garage?  Are there no extra hookups in the house so they resorted to using one in the garage?  My home builder did not put a TV connection in my garage.  Was that an upgrade or a do-it-yourself addition?  Does having a TV in the garage help with resale value?  I would not think so.  Are there more homes in the neighborhood watching TV in the garage and I didn't see them?  Are they on the cutting edge of a trend that has so far eluded the mil10 home?  Is watching TV in the garage one of those things that you should not knock until you have tried it?  However, I think from having to eat too many meals in garages during family get togethers that I would have enough basis to form an opinion that TV viewing in the garage would be slightly less than desirable.

I really do wonder why someone would enjoy watching TV in the garage instead of from inside the comforts of their home, but not enough to try it myself!

NOW: Almost There

The mess that is spreading in the Gulf of Mexico has been on my mind today.  Before I left for work today I saw where the journalist on Good Morning America was broadcasting only a short stretch from the pier on Pensacola Beach.  Just about a year ago the mil10s spent summer break resting on that very beach.  In fact it was because we liked our visit in 2008 so much that we decided we would return again in 2009.  Oil could soon begin washing ashore.  Reports say that the oil sheen is only 4 to six miles offshore at this time.

Right now I'll have to remember our visits to Pensacola Beach before the oil came ashore.  The fun we had.  The beautiful beaches.  The friendly people.  Eating out. 

I can even look at the sand and shell collection that we made with what we found on the beach and brought home.

Right now I will have to think about how nice this destination was and hope for the best for the "world's whitest beaches."

BIG: Something to Think About

Well, it happened.  All too soon, might I add.  After six days of not having to work too hard to find something to blog about relating to NoBloPoMo's theme of BIG, I drew a blank tonight. 

I thought about a few things that I could write about and may share later, but not tonight.  I just wasn't "feeling" writing about those topics.  Maybe later.

While looking for something to inspire me and while reading other blogs, I found a few things that got me to thinking and I found myself asking BIG questions.  First, I found a cool YouTube video about a math teacher that was having problems with his projection equipment. 

I hate it when my presentation gets the best of me!

If your BIG question is "how did he do that?" there is a tutorial video if you feel inclined to make one at home.

I also stumbled across promotional posters of Fiesta San Antonio. 

"Fiesta San Antonio started in 1891 as a one-parade event and has evolved today into one of this nation’s premier festivals with more than 100 events..."*  Fiesta 2010 is only 7 days away!  Is anyone up for a road trip?  Each year there is a new promotional poster.  I don't really know why, but I enjoyed looking at these.  My BIG question is "What would Hometown's annual poster look like?"

That's what I like about spending time on the internet.  Sometimes you see something you have never seen before, sometimes you actually learn something, sometimes you are entertained, and sometimes you start asking BIG questions.

If you find yourself asking BIG questions, don't be afraid to start looking for answers.  Sometimes you have to be the one that finds or creates the answer!

Here's to discoveries that lead to BIG questions all of the new things that BIG questions lead you to!

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Blogging lately just has not been happening.  I have been reading everyone's interesting posts about what is going on in their homes, deep thoughts, or new discoveries in far away lands.  I like to check blogs and the links on other friends' blogs to see who has updated and what they have to share.  Despite it all, I have not found (or made) time to sit down at the computer and type myself.

Is it Facebook?  I haven't gone a whole day without it since I jumped on board in the fall.  Is it my 2010 resolutions getting in the way?  I have to squeeze in time to exercise and drink all that water somehow.  I am not really sure.  Maybe it doesn't matter.  Quality over quantity, right?

I have been really interested in reading how Denyse has committed to a post a day during the month of January.  In addition to blogging everyday, she has tied all of her posts to one month long theme!  Wow!  I decided to see what NaBloPoMo has for its next theme, but could not find it.  Well have to see if it is a topic that this mil10 can relate to.

Sigh. Tomorrow is a new day.  Let's see what happens.  Maybe it will be something that inspires me to share here.  You never know! 

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Now that we have officially entered into 2010, I can't help but look back this little blog project.  It simply started as a hobby.  We thought it would be a fun way to publish what we have been up to.  We really didn't know who would read it when we started.

I must say that having a blog has been enjoyable even if we did not document everything we have been doing.  Is that even possible?  I am sure it may be for some, but we decided long ago that this project should cover the highlights.  Looking back, we averaged about one post every three days.  It is safe to say we are far from having covered everything.  What did we miss?  Fun with new cell phones, caving in and getting on board with Facebook, most of the busyness and festivity and meaningfulness that is December, another art award for EK, and so much more.

So what lies ahead?  The mil10 blog will continue to cover things that we find interesting, things that we have learned, and things that we are doing.  There is a year ahead of us full of possibilities--a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!

Let's Talk Groceries

At first glance, I guess this is a common sight in most houses.  Bring in the groceries, place them on the counter, and then hurriedly put them away before things begin to thaw or melt. 

But if you look closely, you will see that all of those sacks are different.  Now, we didn't visit each of our hometown food markets.  And a baby's teething toy.  Why is that there?  Truth be known, these are the groceries that came OUT of our refrigerator!

Since Modie was moving and had food that was perfectly fine, but did not have anywhere to keep it, we gladly took those jars of pickles, soft drinks, and other items that are better served cold and took them to our house.  Who enjoys throwing away perfectly fine individually wrapped servings of Brussels sprouts or corn? Finding room for all of those items was another story.  We had to make room.  How?  Well, as you can see, our ice box had become cold storage for a few things that we could live without.  How does the ice box (that is the mil10 word for refrigerator) become a virtual junk drawer?  Especially when we already have a real one!  How does someone let something stay around even though it expired months, or maybe even years, ago?  It is not like we are dirty people.  Our ice box doesn't even look dirty.  Sure the shelves could be wiped down a bit more occasionally, but someone would not see inside our ice box and think, "Those are some nasty people."  I hope. 

As you can see, we found several things we could live without.  Take the glow necklaces for example.  These have been in our freezer (because if you keep them there the glowing abilities are retained and you can use them again sometime, or so we were told) for so long that we don't even know where they came from.  Does butter really go bad?  Ours was past the date printed on the tub.  So was the stick of butter.  Also, how far can you go past the "best by" date?  That doesn't really mean it is expired does it? 

Our child turns eight and we are just now throwing away the teething toy.  We will see what we find in the ice box after another eight years!

I Should Have Known Better

Apparently a grown man should realize that when he works indoors and spends little time outside, he will get a sunburn from being outside over nine hours of the day.  I guess you don't think about that when it is just over forty degrees when you start the morning.  No hat, no sunscreen, just a bad sunburn in late October.  Fun.

Maybe I'll be a tomato for Halloween.

Rain, Rain Go Away

This morning WFAA's Cynthia Vega brought us news we didn't want to hear, but we were not surprised. More rain today. This is the eighth straight day of rain here in our part of Texas. In fact, Cynthia said we have only had two days without rain so far this month, meaning we are already two times greater than the normal amount of rain we usually receive in October.

At least it isn't 1932. That was a record breaking year with 10.8 inches of rain for the month.

Sure mrs. mil10 and EK have had plenty of time to use their Mary Poppins umbrellas, their souvenirs from the musical. However, I am ready for the rain to hold off for a while.

UPDATE: If it has been raining, it is currently raining, and is expected to continue to rain, why can't the garbage men close the trash can lid after picking up the trash?  Perhaps this is one of life's little mysteries.  While we are at it, here is another one.  If "neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," then why does a neighbor's car that is parked too close to my mailbox mean no mail for me?  Maybe someday we will know the answers.

Global Blogger, Really?

A few months ago, while the whole blogging hobby was very new to me, I added a Feedjit live traffic feed monitor.  It captured my curiosity almost immediately.  Soon thereafter I added the same information in the form of a map.  If these little tools from Feedjit are accurate, I can quickly see that someone from almost every continent has stumbled across the mil10 blog.  There really were dots in Asia yesterday and I still have hopes for Africa.  However, I don't think I will hold my breath for visits from Antarctica.

Why?  I don't know.  I can't explain it.  What was posted that brought someone from Spain or Greece here?  Is there someone in Sydney, Australia that has the same interests as the mil10s?  Why more Brazilians over Canadians?  I can't answer those questions, but it does make me wonder!  And then my mind drifts back to the fourth sentence of this post.  "If these little tools from Feedjit are accurate..."

Read and Think

Sometimes you see signs that contain messages of motivation or inspiration.  You don't usually expect it from a gas station.