In an recent interview, General Norman Schwarzkopf was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness toward the people who have harbored and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America.

His answer was classic Schwarzkopf.

The General said, “I believe that forgiving them is God’s function …. OUR job is to arrange the meeting.” (Thanks, Ron!)

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Listening to: Kiss – Strutter
via FoxyTunes

Happy Birthday, Connor!

Here is the link to all the photos I have from Taste of Chicago. It was really cool this year. Took the whole family. Lots of walking, but it was still cool! Here was the basic itinerary:

• July 3
  • Drove from our home to Princeton, IL, and got on the Illinois Zephyr to Chicago. The train left Princeton at 8:35am.
  • Arrived in Chicago at 10:45am. Walked from Union Station to our hotel, the Congress Plaza Hotel. We got to the hotel about noon; didn’t expect it but our suite was ready so we dropped our bags there.
  • Went to Taste of Chicago. Had LOTS of food and plenty of drink (water and Gatorade – no alcohol!)
  • At 3pm, got to see Steve Miller Band at Taste of Chicago – FREE! Wow! What a show!
  • Left the Taste and walked to Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and went up to the SkyDeck. Awesome view from there!
  • Went back to the hotel, ate a late supper and crashed.
• July 4
  • Got up kind of late – it was nice to sleep in. The kids brought us breakfast from Dunkin’ Donuts.
  • The hotel agreed to watch our bags after checkout so we didn’t have to carry them. Great!
  • Walked to Navy Pier. Wow! Lots to see. We walked along the shore of Lake Michigan.
  • Walked all around Navy Pier. Ate lunch at one of the restaurants there.
  • Spent a lot of time walking around looking at the kiosks that had knick-knacks.
  • Took a water taxi to Shedd Aquarium, then walked back to the hotel from there.
  • Took a break in the hotel – air conditioning was welcome.
  • Walked to Union Station to catch our train, which left at 5:55pm.
  • Train to Princeton and drive home were uneventful.

Lots of sight-seeing, eating, laughing and good times. And a great time spent with family.

It happened this afternoon. Our neighbor called KC at work and she called me. George is down and out.

Now for the hardest part: the cleanup. Do I hear the call of any volunteers?

We had tornado warnings today. They were issued while I was at work and we all had to file into our “bunker” during the warnings. And I guess a tornado was sighted here in town. But that’s not my big news. My big news is that George fell down; well at least part did. George is the name my daughter gave the pretty much dead willow tree at the bottom of the hill in our back yard. And George is down. We’ve been waiting for this to happen since the other tree simply snapped and fell in the wee hours of the morning. Of course, that was just under four years ago! Here’s the damage:

So now it’s time to clean up. Do I have any volunteers?

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Now playing: Spatterdash – Learning to Crawl
via FoxyTunes

Have you ever wondered what the difference between Grandmothers and Grandfathers is? Well here it is:

A friend, who worked away from home all week, always made a special effort to be with his family on the weekends. Every Sunday morning he would take his 7-year old granddaughter out for a drive in the car for some bonding time — just him and his granddaughter. One particular Sunday however, he had a bad cold and really didn’t feel like being up at all. Luckily, his wife came to the rescue and said that she would take their granddaughter out.

When they returned, the little girl anxiously ran upstairs to see her Grandfather.

“Well, did you enjoy your ride with Grandma?”

“Oh yes, Popa” the girl replied, “and do you know what? We didn’t see a single idiot, dumb bastard, dip shit, jack ass, or horse’s ass anywhere we went today!”

Almost brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it? (Thanks, Ron!)

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Listening to: Stevie Ray Vaughn – Pride and Joy
via FoxyTunes

Happy Anniversary, Zach and Jessie! It’s the fifth anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, Al and Sue!

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Now playing: Dada – Posters
via FoxyTunes

Nile Kinnick was and is a real Iowa hero. He is the only Iowa Hawkeye to win the Heisman Trophy. His Heisman Trophy acceptance speech has been called the greatest in the history of the award. He is from Adel, Iowa, which is about 20 miles west of Des Moines on US Route 6. The Hawkeye football stadium, known as “Kinnick” here in Iowa, is named after him. He turned down lucrative offers to play both professional football and professional baseball to serve in the US Navy as a pilot. It was on one of the training exercises where he met with an untimely death due to mechanical failure of the airplane he was flying.

Gotta love this quote from him:

“To be a tough, rugged boy is every lad’s ambition. But to be a gentleman, to be kindly, charitable, thoughtful as well as tough and rugged is much more to be desired. And he who can be both is much the better man and usually much tougher in the long run.”

— Nile Kinnick

Kind of brings a pride to you knowing that someone from your home state said something this great. And it makes you wonder about some of the thugs running around calling themselves men.

A good one for all of us to read! (Thanks, Ron!)

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE: “If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.”
2. My mother taught me RELIGION: “You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL: “If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
4. My mother taught me LOGIC: “Because, I said so, that’s why.”
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC: “If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me.”
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT: “Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”
7. My mother taught me IRONY: “Keep crying and I’ll give you something to cry about.”
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS: “Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM: “Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck”
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA: “You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone.”
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER: “This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.”
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY: “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate!”
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE: “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.”
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: “Stop acting like your father!”
15. My mother taught me about ENVY: “There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do.”
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION: “Just wait until we get home.”
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING: “You are going to get it when you get home!”
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE: “If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.”
19. My mother taught me ESP: “Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you are cold?”
20. My mother taught me HUMOUR: “When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT” “If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”
22. My mother taught me GENETICS: “You’re just like your father.”
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS: “Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?”
24. My mother taught me WISDOM: “When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”
25. And my favorite, my mother taught me about JUSTICE: “One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”

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Listening to: Pat Travers – I La La La Love You
via FoxyTunes

Happy Birthday, Zach!

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Listening to: Bon Jovi – I’ll Be There For You
via FoxyTunes

Happy Birthday, Nick!

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Listening to: Fabulous Thunderbirds – Mustang Sally
via FoxyTunes