The Snow!

Rubi said she plans on blogging some of the pics she's taken of what one local blogger sarcastically called a "Snowpocalypse". We got an inch of ice and 6 inches of snow. Iced over power lines failed, iced over tree limbs broke off and fell onto power lines.  At one point locally, almost half of our city's population was without power. Some entire towns in the area are without power.

 

The power to our house starting browning out early in the evening on Tuesday. A little after 2am Wednesday morning, it went out completely.  Later Wednesday morning, our phone went out too, but by that time we had temporarily relocated to Rubi's parents' house. They were nice enough to open up their home to our clan until our power comes back on. We're blessed to have family in-town that we can rely on. The power to my parents' house is out too; they went to stay with one of my sisters.

 

I was off work for a couple of days when the storm hit (I seem to be lucky that way!), but had to go back today.  Rubi tried to go to work, but couldn't make it in Wednesday, and today when she got there, discovered only some of the building had power - and not the part that she needed! 

 

We still have around 50,000 people without power here in our city, and thousands more in the area without power. School's been out since Tuesday. I can't ever remember school being out for that long due to a storm.

 

The power company keeps teasing me. They told me they'd call me when the power to our house is back on.  They keep calling me - but to let me know they are aware of my outage and are working on the problem, and it could be next week before they turn it back on.

 

 

The Snow!

Wow!

Wow!

MCF Test 25

I can't believe MCF has reached number 25 in his Astonishing Tests.  He's had a rough month, and we wish him and his clan well.

 

On with the answers:

 

1) Where were you when America's new president was sworn into office?
Asleep.  I had worked 3rd shift the night before.

 

2) Who is your favorite legacy hero and why?
Not sure. The only one I can really think of that's close is Zorro from the recent movies - and does that even count? Anthony Hopkins wasn't really Antonio Banderas' father in the films.

 

3) What was your best concert experience?
Haven't been to many concerts. Took Rubi to a Petra concert before we got married. Went to a few country music concerts when we worked in radio... went some "concerts" at church...

 

4) You're piloting a plane when geese fly into your engine; what do you do?
Hope my parachute isn't a knapsack!

 

SPECIAL BONUS QUESTION: Can you name all the GoBots in the following questionable clip?
Apart from Leader-1, nope.  And *where* do you find this stuff?!

 

 

MCF Test 25

Another Random Meme Stolen from KRAD

I stole this meme from KRAD.

 

What are your nicknames?
Kev, Dad, Daddy, hey you.

 

What's your Chinese Astrology sign? Be specific, with the element and stuff!
I was born in the year of the Water Ox. Some highlights of that from ChineseAstrology.com: The Ox/buffalo is the hard working, serious loner of the family... Family and duty are of the utmost importance to the home-spun Ox. Oxen are powerful individuals with stubborn, reliable personalities. ...easy-going, but possesses intense passion beneath their calm exterior. The nature of the Water element is that of feelings and emotions. Water element souls have a well developed ability for communicating with people and thrive in public relations ...Water's color is blue and corresponds to the season of Winter and cold.

 

What's the last book you read?
I just finished reading Field of Blood by Eric Wilson. It's a Christian novel about undead bad guys and immortal good guys.

 

What color shirt are you wearing now?
Wine-colored work polo.

 

Are you an introvert or extrovert?
Introvert. Not shy, mind you, but introverted.

 

Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer?
Both.

 

Do you nap a lot?
Yes.

 

What was/were your favorite childhood toys?
G.I. Joe and Transformers.

 

What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction?
Firefly and Star Wars.

 

What are you currently reading?
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn.

 

What was the last thing you ate today?
Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings and hasbrown casserole.

 

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
Depends. Some mornings I take it easy and get ready as I want. Most mornings "getting ready" includes making sure all the kids are bathed as needed, fed, packed for school, then I'm showered and dressed, followed by devotions before we head out the door. So...  a couple hours at most.

 

What websites do you visit daily?
Gmail, Google Reader, iGoogle, my Custom Comics page from Chron.com... That's daily.

 

What's the last movie you watched?
Straight through... probably WALL-E. The kids got it for Christmas and have watched it at least once a day since then.

 

Do you like to clean?
No.

 

What time is your usual bedtime?
If I'm working my normal hours, between 11:30pm and midnight. If I'm off, anywhere from 9pm-midnight.

 

Do you read any web comics?
If reading the daily comics on the web counts, then yes.

 

What is your favorite weather?
Overcast, lower 60s, no humidity, light breeze.

 

Iceland is going bankrupt. If you ended up buying it at the auction, what would you do with it?
Kick everyone off the island and turn it into my own personal lair! Muwhahaha!

 

Where would you see yourself in ten years?
SSDD, unless that Iceland thing happens.

 

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Another Random Meme Stolen from KRAD

Alphabet Meme and then some

Found this one at KRAD's LJ.

A
- Available: uh, no!
- Age: 35
- Animal: He rocks!

B
- Beer: No thanks.
- Birthday: Late August.
- Best feeling in world: Rubi's arms around me.
- Blind or Deaf: no thanks.
- Best weather: Cool.
- Been in Love: Am.
- Been on stage: Yes.
- Believe in Magic: Depends on your definition.
- Believe in Santa: no.

C
- Candy: Smarties
- Color: Blue
- Chocolate/Vanilla: Vanilla usually. Sometimes chocolate. Depends on what we're talking about.
- Chinese/Mexican: Sure.
- Cake or pie: CAKE!!
- Continent to visit: I'd like to visit, uh... I'm happy here.
- Cheese: Sure.

D
- Day or Night: night
- Dance in the rain: Maybe.

E
- Eyes: blue
- Everyone has: gas
- Ever failed a class?: yep. Especially those college classes I never actually made it to.

F
- Full name: Kev
- First thoughts waking up: grmphmmmblgrmmphzzzzzzzz
- Food: Oh yes.

G
- Greatest Fear: death of loved-ones.
- Goals: Some
- Get along with your parents: sure
- Good luck charm: none.

H
- Hair Color: brown
- Height: 5'5ish
- Happy: sometimes.
- Holiday: I love to take them!
- How do you want to die: peacefully in my sleep.

I
- Ice Cream: French Vanilla
- Instrument: none

J
- Jewelry: just my wedding band
- Job: supervisor
- Write a journal: nah

K
- Kids: Three!
- Kickboxing or karate: nope.

L
- Longest Car Ride: Orlando.
- Love: Yes!
- Letter: Sesame Street!
- Laughed so hard you cried: Often with my wife.

M
- Movies: rarely.
- Music: sometimes
- McD's or BK: Usually McD's, occasionally BK.

N
- Number of Siblings: 4
- Number of Piercings: NONE!
- Number of Tattoos: NONE!
- Number: 5

O
- One wish: debt-free

p
- Perfect Pizza: Turoni's Pepperoni and Chicken.
- Pepsi/Coke: usually Coke

Q
- Quote: The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.
Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin (1973) "Personal Conduct"

R
- Reason to cry: do you need one?
- Reality TV: PLEASE NO!!!
- Radio Station: used to work at!
- Roll your tongue in a circle: yes

S
- Song: Sing a song!
- Shoe size: around 9ish...Depends on the brand.
- Salad Dressing: Often none.
- Sushi: Only on Rubi's plate.
- Skipped school: occasionally.
- Smoked: never
- Sing well: No.
- In the shower: Not out loud.
- Swear: I try not to.
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Strawberries for Kaylee.

T
- Time for bed: whenever I get tired, or whenever I get home from work.

U
- Unpredictable: Doubt it.

V
- Vacation spot: Anywhere that's not work.

W
- Weakness: procrastination and stubbornness
- Which friend acts like you: none
- Who makes you laugh most: Rubi and the kids.
- Wanted to be a model: no.
- Where do we go when we die: depends on one single choice you have.
- Worst Weather: HEAT and humidity

X
- X-Rays: Yep.

Y
- Year it is now: 2009
- Yellow: and blue make green!

Z
- Zoo animal: Panda!

LAST PERSON WHO…

1. Slept in a bed beside you: Rubi
2. You went to the mall with: Rubi
3. You went to dinner with: Had lunch with Rubi's family today. Does that count?
4. You talked to on the phone: uh.. Susie from work. Called her to try to get her to work 3rd shift tonight so I wouldn't have to work til 3am. Drat! She can't.
5. Made you laugh: Rubi.
6. Hugged you: Rubi.
7. Said they loved you: Rubi
8. You spoke with: see #4.
9. You cried over: not sure.
10. Made you mad: yeah, that would be me.

ETA: woops, when I copied and pasted this meme from my source, I inadvertently overlooked an entry with a foul word in it.  Sorry!

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Alphabet Meme and then some

Seven Things About Me You Probably Don't Care About

Derek tagged me on this.

Okay... I've done several of these random useless facts about me before. I always have a difficult time coming up with ...interesting things - or at least things I think someone would find interesting. That's why on the last one I did, I mentioned that I like cheese - because these random useless facts are so hard to come up with!

1:  At home I have one monitor on my computer (and it's OLD). At work, I have four computer monitors that I use all the time, plus three more that are in my peripheral vision that I use as needed, as well several other screens (computer/TV) that are in the room that have information I might need on them.

2: I have blue eyes.

3: I love free stuff! I'd take samples passed out in stores even if it's for something I'd never use. Granted: I'll probably end up throwing it away if it is something I'd never use. 

4:  I'd like to learn to shoot a gun, just so I have the knowledge. (I mean, besides 1: point away from self, 2: pull trigger).

5: Five is my favorite number. Always has been as long as I can remember. I think maybe because in grade school the Fives Multiplication Table was rather easy...

(shoot... I was thinking Five was how many I had to do. Now I have to come up with two more).

6: I sometimes post reviews of books I read, but I read many more books than I review online - I love to read.

7:  I abhor working 3rd shift hours. 

I'm supposed to tag seven other people and have them do this meme. But I don't like to tag people. If you read this and want to do it too, go ahead!

Seven Things About Me You Probably Don't Care About