2011 Church League Fantasy Draft

Friday night, the guys at church got together to hold the 4th annual Punt, Pass & Praise Fantasy Football draft. For the second year in a row, everyone was present. If some one isn't present, their players are picked proxy, and some one winds up with players they don't want.

During the draft, there were some funny things said:

(Upon seeing that Cleveland wasn't among the top 15 team defenses that were listed on our draft sheet) "I noticed that the Browns defense is conspicuously missing from the list" "I noticed that it is conspicuously missing from the field. Bwhaaa."

"We will finish the draft tomorrow after _____ makes his pick."

"In the time it took you to make that pick, that league over there conducted it's entire draft"

"I don't think those who brought their laptops are really researching player information. They're probably surfing porn between picks."

"(Player's name) is off the board." "Was he really even on it. Hahaha."

"Dude, you've drafted three quarterbacks. Are you rooting for an injury?"

We had a fun time. We went to Frozen Rock Ice Cream afterward. I am way too spoiled by our local ice cream shop. The portions are MUCH bigger for half the price.

Flashback Friday # 151

The Cave

Welcome back all. Glad to see you again. Where I lived, there were no caves around (except ones that had already become tourist attractions). We decided on day to create our own.

How does one create a cave? If you have excavating equipment, it's easy. Being young teens, we didn't have anything like that, but we had Mother Nature give us a hand.

During one of my many trips to Westerville, One of my friends there, Ricky, spotted a tree near the edge of a hill at the very back of the property owned by the Catholic school that was just up the street from Grandma's. Where we were heading wasn't up the street, it was almost directly across from Grandma's house, about 3/4 of a mile away.

The Catholic school was planning to do some expansion, so they had begun to excavate the area we were heading for. The excavation, plus erosion had laid bare about 1/3 of the tree roots from the tree at the top of the hill. The dirt beneath the tree was soft, so we were able to scoop out a section about four feet deep and big enough to fit me, Ricky, and Ricky's sister in. We also took some rather large rocks up with us so if anyone tried to invade our hideout, we could roll the rocks down on them. It was really a cool cave.

Being young & foolish, we didn't think about the danger we were putting ourselves in. Here we were sitting under a tree that has been undermined. It's root system was the only thing holding it up. We played back there for several hours before we had to head for home.

The next time I was in Westerville, I went back to check out the cave. It was gone. Due to the fact that it was undermined, and no longer had a foundation, the first strong wind that came by toppled it over. Where the tree used to stand was a gouge in the hill that looked like someone had taken a bite out of it. I had already had one tree nearly fall on me, I'm glad I wasn't around to make it two.

It Made My Day

Yesterday, I pulled into the parking lot of "The Boy's" school. It was the first day of school and I was to pick him up since his mother, "The Ogre", had to work. In the parking lot there is a large bin for paper recycling. I had some newspapers & magazines that I had saved up for the first time I was by there. I make sure this is the only paper recycling bin that I use so my grandson's school will get the profits from it.

But I digress. Shortly after I placed my stuff in the bin, two boys came out of the school carrying a large tote of papers from their classroom. After they dumped the tote, one of the boys looked back into the bin. Spotting the two Sports Illustrated amongst the items that I had recycled, he leaned in to fish them out. His friend asked "What ARE you doing?" He responded "Cool! Look what I found!" as he smiled from ear to ear as he waved the magazines over his head.

It made my day to see the joy on his face that resulted from some recycled magazines.

Still have the touch

I took this pic a whlie ago, but I haven't shared it with all my log peeps, just those related & in my phone.


It's one thing to be sneaky enough to put a sticker on some one's back. It even sneakier to come back later & take pictures of it.

Flashback Friday # 150

Out On The Town

Welcome to all who have ventured onto this blogspot for this momentous occasion. Yes, It really is Flashback Friday number one hundred and fifty. Who would have thought that I would have stuck around for so long? I'm glad you've stuck with me.

Today, We are going to visit Sir Gattabout at Fort Bragg, NC. We had recently purchase a brand new Ford Pinto (what is it about us & bad cars?) and were raring to get some miles on it. We talked to Gattabout to see if he would be at base if we came to visit him. He said he would be there so we packed & got ready to make the 9 1/2 hour trip.

Dad had talked to his best friend, Chuck, about his youngest daughter making the trip with us. Carly was five. Gattabout was one of her favorites & she hadn't seen him for a very long time. Dad told her that we were going "for a drive". She had no idea that we were heading to North Carolina.

When we got there, Dad went into the HQ to find out where he could find Gattabout. Guess who was there. When Dad came out with Gattabout, Carly went nuts. We then took Gattabout out for supper. At supper, he asked where we were staying. Mom told him the name of the nearby motel. Gattabout made the suggestion that since one of his roommates was home on leave, I could stay at the barracks with him tonight. Mom & Dad agreed to it.

Once we dropped Mom, Dad & Carly off at the hotel, Gattabout got on the phone & called some of his friends. He told them that his little brother was in and he was going to show him a good time. Five of us squeezed into my parents new car and headed to Hay Street.

Hay Street was called "Little New York" on the base. If you wanted it, it could be found there. Disclaimer- I am not glorifying what happened that night. I'm simply telling it like it was. Looking back, I'm rather ashamed of what happened that night. You may want to stop reading now.

Oh, I see. You're either a glutton for punishment or like to see people get hung out to dry. Since you're still reading, don't say I didn't warn you. It gets ugly fast.

The first place we stopped was a bar. Topless bar. Gattabout bought me two beers there. Nobody asked to see any ID. Nobody asked for it at the next bar either. Or the next bar. Or the next. At one of these bars, a couple of Asian girls came over to our table. They told me I was cute & ran their fingers through my hair. They wanted me to buy them a Coke. Gattabout told them to scram. I found out later that they were prostitutes and "Buy me a Coke?" was code for solicitation.

After several bars, we went through a drive-thru and picked up a case of beer. Gattabout then drove to the drive-in movie. There was a double feature playing. We had missed the first movie on the billing. It was "Deep Throat". The other movie was an X-rated cowboy movie. After the movie (and after I had consumed somewhere between 12-15 beers), Gattabout headed for his barracks.

There were three guys who shared a room each guy had a corner with the bathroom in the other corner. I laid down on his buddy's bed, not feeling so well. That night, I had a dream that there was a train barreling full speed through my body. This train had hooks that extended from its sides that tore my vital organs out. Come morning, I was really feeling bad.

We were to meet Mom & Dad at the Restaurant next door to the hotel for breakfast. On the drive there, I asked Gattabout if he could stop at a gas station and get me some Alka-Seltzers. He told me I would be fine. I asked again, same reply. I then told him we HAD to stop for some Alka-Seltzer. When he pulled into the gas station parking lot, I open the door & exclaimed "Too late for Alka-Seltzer" and began purging the previous nights revelry. It felt like I puked for hours. We got a bottle of Pepto Bismol for me to nurse on.

When we got to the restaurant, Gattabout made up a story about going to the drive-in and getting chilled (it was fairly cool for NC at that time of the year). He told Mom that I must have gotten sick from the chilly, damp air. She bought it. Dad told me, much later, that he knew what was going on. While everyone else was eating French toast, waffles, eggs & bacon, I drank some hot tea & nursed the bottle of Pepto Bismol. I swore that day that I would never again drink alcoholic beverages, and I can say honestly, after nearly 33 years later, I have kept that promise to myself.

Funny Interveiw

I spotted this video and thought I would share it with my readers. It is simply hilarious.

And Now For Something Completely Different

The posts of this week haven"t been my normal cheery self due to unforseen circumstances. It's time to get back to normal. Today "The Girl" was a flower girl in her first wedding. Here are a few pics:








I also filmed the walk up the aisle with my phone. It took two shots since I can only take 30 second videos.

Flashback Friday # 149

Bad Things Come In Threes

Welcome to those who have braved coming back. I think most of my readers have become addicted to Facebook, but that's OK. The main reason I blog is to leave behind my memories to my children. They don't know some of the stories that I have written here, neither does my wife. It's not that I'm trying to be secretive, it's just some of the stuff I didn't feel that they would be interested in, or they would find it boring. If that is the case here, they can always skip to the next post.

My Freshman year of High School was rough for me. You can tell this by reading Flashback Friday 136-Present. It was also rough on my brother, Sir Gattabout.

That year, while Gattabout was away doing field training & maneuvers for the US Army Corps of Engineers (he drove a road grader), we got the news that one of his friends from Westerville had died. Had this friend lived long enough, he would have become Gattabout's brother-in-law. He was fixing his car in his garage and it was cold outside, so the garage door was shut. When he finished working on the car, he started it to see how it sounded. The carbon monoxide fumes overcame him. Since Gattabout was on the field in training, he wasn't able to attend the funeral.

Shortly thereafter (a week to ten days) we got word once again that one of his Westerville friends had died. He had finished the training and hopped the first flight to Columbus. This friend was special. It was his best friend in Westerville. She also was the youngest sister of Dad's best friend, Chuck (who I mention here). She was on her way to work in her Volkswagen Beetle, leaned over to change the radio channel, and struck an oncoming car. Gattabout said he would have gone AWOL if he had to to be there. Fortunately, he was able to get leave. He was one of the pallbearers.

A few weeks later, once again we hear of one his Westerville friends passing away. Cars & telephone poles don't mix. Since Gattabout had just had a leave, he couldn't get one again so soon.

In the space of about five weeks, he lost three friends to automobile related accidents. He now wondered if he did the right thing in joining the Army. He was at Fort Bragg, North Carolina,so far away from those who he cared about. Later in life, he reflected that this time was one of the hardest for him. I wish all of my Flashback Friday posts were comical & high spirited, but I can't lie. My life had plenty of rough spots, of which, I have only begun to tell.

Gone On Ahead

Frequent readers of the drivel that I post have noticed a lack of frivolity this week. In fact there's been a lack of posting this week too. Today, I called off work and attended the funeral of one of my brothers-in-the-Lord. Since I very rarely mention real names here, Ninja John has a wonderful post about him here.

It says a lot about a person when the funeral (which was held at our church) is standing-room-only. On the way to the grave site committal, the funeral procession stretched out for at least a mile. I counted him as a friend, and will miss the quiet strength and faithfulness that he brought with him everywhere he went.

Flashback Friday # 148

There Goes My Car

Greetings, one & all. Are you ready for another thought inspiring tale of epic proportions? You're not? Good. There's nothing like that here.

Many moons ago we bought a brand new car. I've written about that car before. It was the same one that Mom crashed in the car wash. A shiny new copper colored Chevy Nova hatch back.

When this car stopped running, it was set in the side yard, because it was going to get fixed one of these days. I was told, since I was now 15, that once I turned 16, and got my drivers license, that would be my car.

We liked to play in the car and pretend to drive. We would be the good guys and be in hot pursuit. We would be the bad guys and outrun the authorities. We were cool dudes in that car. I couldn't wait until it got fixed, and I could take it for a spin.

Whenever I asked Dad what was wrong with the car, he would say "The valves needed ground". I didn't have a clue what that meant. It must have been serious, since that car sat in the side yard for several years.

One day a tow truck pull into the driveway. It was Dad's friend (who we referred to as "Uncle")who had bought our pool table when we sold it. He ran an auto salvage business (that's hi-faluting words for "junk yard"). I watched in horror as he hooked the tow bar up to MY CAR. I asked Dad what was going on. He said that since the car had never been fixed, and it had set for years, there was a really good chance that the engine had seized up. We never had enough money on hand, so the little bit that he would get from this car would help. I was crushed as I watched my car roll off into the sunset.