Thursday, May 06, 2004

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

I just read a new story about the Miami internation airport being evacuated because of people getting sick there. Said that people were coughing, gagging, runny noses and burning, itchy eyes. Said someone found a pepper spray can empty on the floor somewhere and that the symptoms of the people were the same as what happens when people get sprayed or are near pepper spray.

To be honest, I began laughing at the story. Not because I'm a sicko and like seeing people gag and be in discomfort. But it made me think back to the fall of 92, about 10 years ago. I was in the caferteria of Northeast Community College sitting at a table with about eight friends. We were pretty much done eating but still hanging around talking before afternoon classes started. I was playing around with a friends keyring. She kept telling me to be careful because she had this pepper spray thing on there. I wondered what this pepper spray stuff was. She explained that it is what lots of girls were carrying around now to spray on would be attackers. Supposed to sorta like a mace spray. But it was in a little, dinky can about the size of chapstick.

So I didn't think much of it, but I was fiddling around with the keys and all, flipping them back and forth over my hand. I'd had it in my lap, under the table when all of a sudden I thought I'd accidentally hit the spray nozzel. So I slid the keys back accross the table really quickly to my friend. Then I tried to look really innocent.... But all of a sudden it started happening.

The whole left side of our table started blinking and coughing. Then the table next to us, then the tables behind them. And then to where all the football players sat, and on to the trey return area. Soon, half of the caferteria was coughing and and wheezing and rubbing eyes and leaving. I thought, surely not from a half of a squirt from this little can. I mean, I didn't even hold it down to spray it.

But I got really worried and left quickly. I later found out that some school administrators were wanting to find out who had done that (along with some big, husky football players) but my friends were loyal and didn't turn me in. The crazy thing was, I was right there ontop of it, and I never smelled a thing....

Friday, August 02, 2002

Last night I got out of bed to go to the bathroom. I turn on the bathroom light, and there, big as day on the bathmat is the biggest freaking spider I've ever seen outside of a zoo! It was about the size of a jar lid. A huge, hairy old mama! I stare at it for a while and then go get a shoe. It starts moving, so I start moving...away. But then, with a primal grunt/exclamation I pound that sucker with my size 11 adidas! It curled up, like wounded spiders usually do. But man, I can't figure out how the thing got in the house. Through the tub drain maybe?

I'd called my wife in to look at it before I smacked it with the shoe. After we went back to bed, I'd lay there and then think I felt something crawling on me. I even danced my fingers lightly along my wife's shoulder and you'd have thought I jabbed her with a cattle prod! I wonder why you skin starts feeling like that? Anyway, I'm debating buying the PestOffense off of the internet. It's one of those things you plug into the wall and it makes all the wires in your house hum with some high frequency something or other that is supposed to make all pests flee the premises. If it works, it would be a good investment since ants are sometimes a problem at our house too.

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State was picked to finish last in the SEC west yesterday by the media. That's fine. It usually works out better for us that way. When we're picked to do well, we usually stink (look at last year for an example!)

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Well, I'm off to PickWick. Space is at a premium and people keep wanting to add. We need someone to want to add a boat! I'm afraid we'll be too crowded.

Thursday, August 01, 2002

Well, here goes nothing....

This is my first foray into the world of keeping a weblog..or "blogging". So welcome to my blog! I hope between now and too long I'll figure out what kind of voice I want to have here. I know it can't really be a "private" journal because whoever wants to can come here and read if they know the address...so what type of stuff do I want to put on here? I think this will be a living journal that will begin to form itself as time goes along. Also, I'm starting out on good old Blogger, but I'm trying to figure out the best option in the long run as far as a blogging tool.

The summer is almost over and that means a different kind of busy coming up. Instead of youth trips and weekly events ontop of MYF, it will mean ball games and keeping up with recruiting and FCA and school stuff. Amid all the hustle and bustle, I know I need to develop some personal discipline to be able to bring some order to my time wasting. It seems like I keep thinking of more and more things I'd like to do or be involved in with out dropping things already taking up time. So time management is a weakness of mine. And blogging is something else that can take up time! Maybe it will help me get my thoughts in order to get stuff done more efficiently.