All you can eat "Buffett"

Rise above and give it back. What an amazing, successful life. Check it out: Buffett.

The US is missing out!

Stuttgart, Germany -- I am officially a soccer fan now! I love it! You cannot imagine the buzz and excitement in the air all around because of these World Cup games! I can remember watching World Cup news in the US before and just turning the channel. I mean it was almost as bad as watching hockey (no offense Sean)! But now...I get to experience it.

When we were in Mexico, I was able to watch the Mexico vs Argentina the last day when I was to get on a plane to come back to Germany. EVERYONE was watching the game! Flags out of cars, kids with faces painted, everyone with green shirts on. I watched the first half at a local eatery in a mall and everyone in the mall was watching the game. Every store had it on the radio or some sort of portable tv. It was great!

Then I got a taxi and headed to the airport. No one was on the roads...no one. The taxi man said that everyone was watching the game. Then at the airport, guards, bar tenders, EVERYONE was crowded around the television set. The closest the US comes to this type of unity in our country is perhaps the Olympics or the Superbowl. But even then there is no comparison. Check this out: The Fan Zone!

I am headed to the downtown Schloss Platz to watch France vs Spain tonight. We are rooting for Spain. Pictures to follow! The guy I am going with said he ran into Drew Carrey on Sunday nights game when England played. Anyway, it should be a good time. -- a new soccer fan.

The BIG Fish!

Acapulco, Mexico -- Wow! What an experience. Sean and I set out to sea on Tuesday last. You can see from the slide show that it was a perfect morning with a beautiful sunrise to boot. We were ready for "da big fishies"!

So, as we were headed out to sea...our captain kept taking a nap. It was pretty cool. We figured as long as we kept an eye on things, that we would just keep letting him doze off. Once we were out there (just us two, the captain and one baiter), we were ready.

It turned out that no boats were getting any bites. The captain said that the sailfish mostly bite in the morning. Hour upon hour and no bites anywhere. Then just as we were zoning out at around 1215 in the afternoon...SNAP! The reel was a buzzing! "Down" the captain yelled. I hopped down into the chair and began to try to handle the rod. Amazing feeling! But the best was yet to come.

I was concentrating on reeling when I hear Sean yell at the top of his lungs, "It's out of the water!". I look up and it was jumping sky high out of the water just like on the commercials! It did that about 3 times and then had a few small ones.

I didn't make much progress for about the first 15 minutes and then it worked. I started to actually reel in the line. I became easier and easier the latter 15 minutes. We worked the sailfish up to the side of the boat and the baiter was trying to get that bad boy on the boat. I was so excited I hopped out of my chair and tried to help him. We got it on the boat and that was when the smiles and pictures were aplenty.

I cannot describe or portray the excitement we felt. It was a rush like no other. Anytime I have the opportunity to do this again...I will! I recommend that all of you try it as well. Even if you don't catch anything (I went once before in Florida and didn't get anything), you eventually will. And all will be joy-joy after that. It was an amazing day and an amazing sailfish!

Goin' for a run...or swim?

You guys still afloat there in DC? Check this out: A light shower. Looks like you are getting a full load of rain there. Hope you are missing it.

Quote of the Day

"The pain of discipline is less than the pain of regret" -- by an 73 year-old runner that finished his 25th Hawaii Marathon.

Debt Free!!

Hello All--I just made my last payment for my college loan. So, Katrina and I are debt free, own two cars, and have no rent or house payment. Man does that feel good. Kaleb is doing great! He is back on track for his weight and is doing lots better with breast feeding. He and Katrina have another appointment tomorrow with the lactation consultant. He also has an ultrasound scheduled for a possible hernia. I don't think it is a big deal; they say it is not uncommon when comming down the birth canel to get one. I will be starting up his 529A plan this month with Uncle Danny. I have completed my training and joined the Ceremonial Flight today. I also performed OIC duties at two funerals on Monday. I got to hand off the flag on my first funeral. I thought it was very awesome. It is hard to explain, but it has never been easier to hold a salute while the firing party and taps is playing. I will be OIC at four funerals on Friday. It should be a great day in Arlington. In my opinion, there is no way to honor fallen soldiers more than by performing final honors with family and close friends. John
P.S. I added a picture of Kaleb and I catching a quick nap on lunch break.

World Cup in your back yard?

Stuttgart, Germany -- Well, I know most of you don't care about soccer and to tell you the truth...I really don't care either. However, when the World Cup is basically in your back yard...it's hard not to be apart of it. Germany won their open rounder. The US got spanked (3-0!) in their open rounder two days ago. Everywhere you go around here, there are crazy soccer fans! It is an amazing atmosphere everyday.

I plan to go downtown to the public viewing area for the soccer games on Friday night. They have it downtown at the Schloss Platz area. HUGE movie-like big screen tv's. It is an October-fest type environment with food and beer booths everywhere. I will be watching the game on Friday night with a guy here at work between Mexico and Angola. It should be fun and I guess I will be a soccer fan for one day anyway! Then...I'll be getting on a plane the next morning (Saturday) to fly to Mexico. So, if Mexico wins, then it should be pretty crazy down there in Acapulco with all the soccer fans.

Scrubs

I have completed a little scrub of the blog here. I put a new gas price ticker to the side. It is interesting to compare last year's prices with this year's prices. Car pool and conserve this summer!

ESPN is great on TV, but sucks on the web. So, I deleted the ESPN link (link section) and added the Fox Sports link. It may not be the best, but is better than ESPN. ESPN just had too much going on and made it difficult to get to the answer to your questions (schedules, etc).

I also got rid of the Ezteam links because our baseball season is over here. We had our last baseball banquet last night for the team, parents and coaches. Speeches were made. Awards were given. It was a really nice event.

Lastly, I have added one of the coolest blogs to the blogroll. It is Mark Cuban's blog. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. It has been fun reading his blog during the recent basketball playoffs and he is pretty funny for a zillionare owner. He also takes shots at TV announcers and the media. He even taunts the other team on there. So, as many of you may watch the NBA basketball finals, read this blog and get some inside scoop and laughter.

Enjoy the changes. Oh ya, I will be making a new slide show tonight that will have some baseball pics from our season on there. To be continued...

Hypocrites or...

I am all for the stopping of human sex trade. We even have been working on a big Trafficking In Persons Awareness Program at work. But correct me if I am wrong: isn't prostitution legal in Nevada? Shouldn't we take care of our own problems in our homeland before pointing the finger at other countries? Just a thought: Hey...you all should stop that!

South America's stability

Bad for Hugo...good for America (ie. oil guzzlers). Poor Hugo!

Oil reaches 80$ and beyond?

Well, as I said in my last post...oil is shooting on the Iran news. Do we see 80$ oil this summer? I think so. I think it should reach 80$ sometime this summer and if it doesn't, it should hover mid-high 70s throughout the summer. Then, as soon as a hurricane is marked for the gulf...booya, above 80$. We'll see. Here you go: Iran & Oil .

HUGE WIN!..and LOSS!

I keep up with a lot of oil news and my hobby lately is trying to connect the dots between political/economical headlines and oil. Well check this out: Where's Hugo's Buddy? This was huge (ie. third para in article). If he would have lost, then Humala would have teamed up with a Hugo Chavez alliance (you all better know who Hugo is!...I have talked about him enough!). Anyway, if Humala would have won, then a Hugo alliance would have formed and South America would officially be unstable. With the alliance, Hugo would have more bargaining power and also have more economical swing to hold back exporting oil to the US. He has tremendous power in South America already and is looked upon by many as a hero. He is already aligned himself with Cuba, Russian, and Iran. I mean just look at what Iran said over the weekend:Here's Hugo's buddy. Look out oil prices! Well, they might become flat with the news offsetting itself, but we are in for a dismal market and high oil/gas prices this summer. Anyway, just wanna give a shout out to Peru for picking the "right" guy!

Warning: Adult Material!

There are very few things that rile me up to the point of total body, mind and soul. I could probably count talking about family as one. I really get an internal power when I think about you all. I could also count baseball. I really get riled up talking and playing baseball. I could probably include killer sunsets (I am a gay sucker here). But I must say...there is one thing that makes me want to cuss and jump and yell and cry and all of the above. One word: Metallica!

I have loved music for as long as I can remember, but only one band makes me crazy beyond control. Makes me say: "They fucking rock!" Metallica. Since I was fifteen years old, only one band has had the capability to jamn and mean it. I saw them in concert twice and I don't know where they are now, but I must see them. You all must! They gotta be somewhere close. When I think of the best--all-time rock-heavy metal band, only one word comes to mind...actually two words: Fucking Metallica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is no substitute!

Midwives

Check this out (mamaK) Midwives