R U Serious?

It’s Baxter.  The shy one with the short legs.  The one that Buzz picks on!!  But he’s my best friend… Bonnie is a pain in the a**l gland!

They tease me alot ‘cause I like to sleep so much.  When dad gets up I crawl under those warm blankets and sleep until I’m good and ready to make my appearance.  Of course, I never miss breakfast before I do that.  But I always find time to blog!!!

Now, as for that ‘ball’ thing, I don’t know why they ever bother buying me one ‘cause Bonnie always ends up with all three of them.  Even if she’s outside, if I pick one up she seems to know.  She runs in, bowls me over and takes it away!  And when dad gives us pig ears he puts me on his lap to keep her away.  Females!!!!  And to make matters worse, dad clipped my claws…. my last line of defense, but he got tired of me drawing blood from his arms.  I love my humans except when they dress me up, like this!

At least Bonnie gets something pretty..  Disgusting!!!!

Remember Burt, my tortoise friend??

I haven’t seen in a long time.  I think he’s sleeping, like I love to do, but dad says they only do that in the winter.  I hope he’s not under the house again. 

Uh oh!!  Bonnie is giving me a mean look so I gotta go!  As dad would say…

Yall take care!!

Baxter

This is Buzz, the handsome dog…See?

Baxter and I don’t give a bark what she eats.  She never shares anyway but I had to laugh when I saw her losing it on the rug!  Poor Dad!!  It was 6:00 am and he almost added to it!  Besides, I’ve seen her eat her own poo!!  Ewwww!!  How could she?  She thinks she’s so tough, chasing cats, rabbits and squirrels but show her a cricket and she hides!  What’s with that?

Anyhow, ‘The Ball’!!  Dad brought home one for each of us (I still don’t understand how he can leave and yet always find his way back here!), and Bonnie took all three of them and wouldn’t share.  I finally got one of them but poor Baxter never got a whiff of one.  Maybe he’s the smart one because she slobbers on them.

But all in all, we are good friends and do our best to protect the house.  Teamwork!!!

Well, most of us do…

Well, Dad wants to use the Innertube or whatever it’s called and my nose has made a mess of his keyboard.  I wish I could type without having to use my nose.  I think I’ll take a nap.

Bye for now!  Woof!!  Woof!!

The nice dog.  These guys I live with are  %&*$#*@ morons!!  And as for mom, I put up with her.  Last night she left out almost a full bag of Peanut M&M’s and of course girls, you know how much we love chocolate!!  But I think I ate WAY too much!!  I barfed on the carpet (I never do it on the tile floor) and when Dad came out at 6:30 am he was slapping his forehead for some reason.  I guess he was proud of me!

Anyhow, my friends, I’m OK!!  I didn’t have time to digest before I puked!  Dad thought it was baked beans! But he found out fast that it wasn’t!!  I have to hide the empty bag better next time.  Keep them guessing!!

Now, that new ball!!   

It’s my new best friend!!  My brothers are on their own.  I have two of these balls and DON’T like to share!  I’m the princess so they are MINE!!  Dad took me on a walk today and of course, the ball went with me.  Even when I’m napping, it stays close.

Now if only Dad would  &*%$#+@ open the new bag of Pig Ears.  It better happen soon or next time I’ll vomit on his pillow!!!  Won’t be the first time!

Those guys who mow MY yard are coming today so I need to rest up.  Ankle biting is hard work!

Well Dad’s friends, until next time, have a good weekend!  Arf! Arf!

Bonnie 

I’ve always been fascinated reading stories about the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.  They were only expected to survive for 90 days but it has been close to 6 years since they landed on the Red Planet.  Amazing that they are ‘driven’ by Rover operators from the Jet Propulsion Lab in California.  If only MSN could do this well!  But now, Spirit is in big trouble.

NASA scientists said Thursday that they had come up with a plan to free the stalled rover Spirit from its Martian sand trap but also warned that the plan might not work. If it doesn't, the popular robot could finally reach its end.
Rover managers will send the first in a new set of computer commands on Monday in an effort to maneuver Spirit out of the fluffy, loose soil where it's been stuck for the last six months. In a teleconference briefing for reporters, the Mars rover team said it was "optimistic" that Spirit would be able to resume its peregrinations across the Martian surface.
But in admitting that this is by far the most serious threat Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, have faced in the nearly six years they've been exploring Mars, the team members seemed to be preparing for the inevitable goodbye.

"This is bittersweet," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars exploration program at NASA. "Spirit did the equivalent of falling through the ice and has not been able to pull itself out."
Ashley Stroupe, a rover operator at the Jet Propulsion Lab in La Cañada-Flintridge, where the project is managed, spoke of "the tremendous bond" that has developed between team members and the computerized machines. The robots have gathered vast quantities of data about the Red Planet and its history while outliving every expectation for their survival.

For now, the plan calls for the rover to try to back out the way it went in. The first commands will turn the wheels six times before stopping so scientists can assess the situation.
Besides the fluffy soil, rover scientists are concerned about a small rock under the robot. Further efforts to free the rover could cause the undercarriage to snag on the rock. Tests showed that if that happens, the wheels will lose traction and the rover could become permanently stuck.
In such a scenario, Spirit could still do science, but as a station, not a rover. Also, without the ability to move into a position that gets good sunlight to wait out the harsh Martian winter, its batteries could be drained, dooming the robot.

 
Even if the initial efforts Monday are unsuccessful, operators will continue their efforts to salvage Spirit at least through February, when a NASA review panel is scheduled to discuss the rovers' fate. If Spirit is still stuck, the panel could call off the rescue.
"If Spirit cannot make the great escape from this sand trap, this might be where Spirit ends its adventure on Mars," McCuistion said.

Over their nearly six years of exploration on Mars, the two rovers have helped unravel the planet's geological past. They also found evidence that water once flowed on the surface.
Opportunity is currently on the opposite side of Mars driving toward a large crater called Endeavor.

 
The rovers have attracted a worldwide fan base that has followed their every move and hardship. There's even a “Free Spirit” campaign, which has its own logo emblazoned on T-shirts sold at the JPL store.

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I have kept my mouth shut about the Fort Hood murders however I do have a few things to say. 

It is indeed troubling that despite the post- 9/11 efforts to create interagency task forces to improve intelligence-sharing, communication lapses continue -- including those that may have led to the tragic massacre at Ft. Hood, Texas.
What possibly could be more important than doing everything possible to ensure the integrity of those who wear the uniforms of our armed services, and to whom we entrust our country's security?
One suggestion is for Congress, primarily those seated on the left side of the aisle, to stop meddling in the operations of the intelligence community and let them do their jobs.

U.S. intelligence officials?
Now that's a shining example of an oxymoron!

I wish you all a fine weekend!!

I’m a Veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam but do not honor me.  It is the Veterans of WWII that truly need to be honored and remembered.  So fly your flags and buy your poppies but most of all, remember. It's always a rough day for me.  I lost alot of good friends.

I read this today and wanted to share it with you.

WWII Museum: The number of WWII veterans is dwindling

William P. Rutledge

Member, Board of Trustees, the National World War II Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana

Today, Nov. 11, commemorates the 90th anniversary of Veterans Day in America. I encourage all Californians to seek out and thank a veteran for their service to our country, especially those who fought in World War II like my friend, Ollie Thomas, who was a tank commander with Patton's Third Army. For these men and women, this day grows only more poignant with each passing year because those who fought that war for us are leaving us.

As a member of the Board of Trustees of The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, I attended the opening of its new expansion last week. Though the event was celebratory, I left with some sobering statistics that illustrate the urgency of cementing the legacy of our World War II veterans while they are still with us.

In 2000, there were 555,974, WWII veterans in California, according to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. There are now 213,118. Ten years from now, just 30,370 will be alive. Across the nation, we lose 900 WWII veterans a day.

It is urgent that we honor these heroes now, while there is time. Strangely, given the scope, magnitude and importance of World War II, America had been woefully late in acknowledging a debt we can never repay to those who defended the liberty we take for granted.

That is why completing The National World War II Museum is so important. In 2003, Congress designated the institution as the nation's World War II museum, preserving the legacy and telling the story of the "Greatest Generation."

It holds their memories and is a monument to their valor, but it's also a place where all Americans can come to learn the important lessons of World War II for all generations: freedom is not free.

The National World War II Museum tells the story in the words and voices of those who fought the war and faced its horrors. To visit it is to remember the lesson that peace without the resolve to defend freedom only brings blood, sweat, toil and tears. Its artifacts – aircraft, landing craft and personal accounts – link us to the young Americans who fought in WWII. They purchased for us a precious birthright we can't take for granted. And while reminding visitors of the sacrifices we made then, the National World War II Museum also symbolizes renewal. As it grows into its new campus in downtown New Orleans, the museum is helping with that city's post-hurricane recovery and becoming an anchor for a reviving city.

As we observe this special day of remembrance and thanks, it is my hope that the nation recognizes the sacrifice of the "Greatest Generation" to the preservation of this country's founding principles and the strength of the American spirit.

Again, I encourage you to seek out a World War II veteran and say "thank you." It might be the last chance you'll get to meet a genuine hero.

11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th month…..

My Veterans Day song - Alan Jackson

Nothing going on here today so here’s this:

By MARCIA C. SMITH

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

My editor's editor says he was told I can use the word only once in this column. My mom would probably frown at me if I used it at all. But arrange a Hoover vacuum company picnic, stage a Tootsie Pop convention, eavesdrop on the cell phone conversation of a 13-year-old girl or sit among a bunch of disgruntled sports fans in an arena – or a Hooters on an NFL Sunday – and you're bound to hear it.

Kids, cover your eyes.

The word is suck, which, for the sake of my personal employment, I will now refer to it as ‘The Less Vulgar S-verb’.

In sports, it has become part of the vernacular. The Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs do it. The Clippers have done it. It has been attached in slogans, signs and chants to the names of rivals, coaches, refs and visiting sports villains. It's acceptable. Usually.

Dictionaries commonly present their primary definition of The Less Vulgar S-verb with some mention of the "mouth" or "lips" before going on to mention secondary meanings involving "absorption" and the slang, which according to Dictionary.com, is "to be repellent or disgusting." The Web site even demonstrates the slang usage in a sentence: Poverty (S-verbs).

It seems fairly innocuous, right?

Well, it seems that slang usage has suctioned-up some quality time of the local teams' fan-conduct policymakers, prompting discussions about whether The Less Vulgar S-verb qualifies as lewd, obscene or vulgar enough warrant censorship.

People use it all the time in casual conversation to describe something that disgusts, disappoints, repels, stinks or, dare I say, blows. Granted, it's not the most appropriate word for church, a job interview or dinner with the grandparents.

But The Less Vulgar S-verb has fit snugly into the sports fans' word bank to express negative or dissenting opinion. And isn't that expression at the very core of the modern-day sports fan?

During a Chargers' game last season at Qualcomm Stadium, hundreds of fans at the victory over the Indianapolis Colts asked Brian Murphy, 33, of San Diego, where he got his T-shirt with "Peyton Manning (Stinks)" on its front and "So Does Eli" on its back. It was funny and done without controversy.

"I could have made a bundle selling them," he said.

But during this past regular season at Angel Stadium, at least three Halos fans were told by ushers to invert or use jackets to cover up the "Yankees (Repel)" T-shirts they had bought from street vendors in Boston.

"When did (The Less Vulgar S-verb) go back to being an obscenity," said Damian Hogan, 26, of Temecula. "It's not like I have (curse word), (curse word) or mother (curse word) on my chest. Whatever happened to freedom of expression?"

Then before the Oct. 30 game against Vancouver, Ducks' season-ticket holder Brian Gilmore and about a dozen of his friends were stopped at a Honda Center entrance by arena security for wearing their black, custom-printed "Ref You (The Less Vulgar S-verb)!" T-shirts. It was as if they were trying to bring in a live cheetah.

"Hold on, you can't wear that shirt in here," Gilmore recalled being told. "They (security) said, 'We have a new policy.'"

Gilmore and friends were protesting the officiating of the Oct. 26 defeat in which the Ducks lost, 6-3, to Toronto and were tagged for 17 penalties, including 14 minors for roughing, slashing, hooking and misconduct and one major for fighting.

"The ice was so heavily tilted toward the Maple Leafs that I made the shirt to show my frustration," said Gilmore, 34, of Costa Mesa. "I was so irritated when the security people told me I'd have to leave or change my shirt."

Gilmore said he and his friends were corralled by a dozen security personnel for more than 15 minutes. The puck had already dropped when arena representatives returned with free Ducks shirts they could be worn over their deemed-distasteful apparel.

"I couldn't believe the T-shirt was something bad because 'Ref You (The Less Vulgar S-verb)!" !' has got to be the most popular chant in the arena," said Gilmore.

Incensed, Gilmore went home Friday night and blogged about his experience on his site (www.refyousuck.com), attracting well more than his usual 1,200-a-day hits and getting him an interview on Bob McCown's "Prime Time Sports" radio show on Toronto's FAN 590.

The day the interview aired, Gilmore's blog had a record 17,023 visitors. Feeling entrepreneurial, Gilmore, who has been unemployed since being laid off from his construction job due to an S-verb-ing economy, printed up more shirts and sold more than 30 of them online for $14.99 apiece.

Meanwhile, the Honda Center and Ducks' front office staff discussed the situation and soon after decided that The Less Vulgar S-word wasn't so bad after all.

"We did talk about this, and we decided that the T-shirt is not inappropriate for now," said Tim Ryan, an executive vice president and the chief operating officer of the Ducks and Honda Center.

"It's a judgment call. We will always reserve the right to judge what is and isn't appropriate to have in the arena. ... We take into consideration the context and try to create a fun environment while showing respect for the fans."

This decision wasn't made in, shall we say, a vacuum. More than 45 Ducks and Honda Center staff members at the weekly meeting weighed in on the topic of The Less Vulgar S-verb.

When Gilmore and more than two dozen shirt-donning Ducks fans attended Saturday night's game against Phoenix, they didn't have a problem.

"We just walked right in, wearing the shirts, passing the same security guards who had stopped us the night before," Gilmore said. "I felt like I stood up for the fan."

Gilmore did. Had he been stopped, that would have (stunk).

I guess it's time to stir things up around here because it's way to quiet and that (The Less Vulgar S-verb) s.

An Octomom costume provides a falsie sense of security

By Chris Erskine

Our Halloween was so good we would almost like to do it again a week later. The night was crisp and smelled of apples. We hit a couple of wonderful parties, raucous affairs, as befits the day.
The Snickers bars seem to get smaller every Halloween, but not the festivities. Life is candy. Good friends too.
While out trick-or-treating, I crashed one party just to catch up on a football score. They had the game up on their big screen, which you could see from the street. One of the hidden little payoffs of trick-or-treating with the kids is getting to look inside other people's homes.
So, in costume of course, I wander into these strangers' house, where about 10 of them are watching USC snooze to Oregon.
"So what's the score?" I ask.
"Octomom!" someone shouts.
"Where?" I ask, looking around.
Actually, I was the Octomom. It was the wife’s idea. She called me at work the previous day and announced she was buying a bunch of babies to pin to a dress.
Now, an Octomom costume is a good idea, assuming you are a woman to begin with. she insisted it was an even better idea were I to be the one to dress as Octomom, because men in drag seem to carry with them a certain reverse gravitas.
"Really, you should do it," I told her after thinking it over.
"No, you should do it," she insisted, and I detected in her voice a sense of revenge for all my failings of the past 30 years -- the times I forgot the dishes, or left globs of toothpaste in the sink. I am, relatively, not an awful husband at all, but that's only when measured against the other guys. As you know, that's setting the bar at a very modest height.
So I slipped on the dress she bought at Goodwill. Then I added a wig the color of old nickels. Hot.
Then I added the chest pieces -- a couple of balloons, modestly pumped. I've lived in L.A. long enough to know that if a woman wants to stand out in a crowd, she should wear small tasteful breasts, for everyone else has the other kind.
Dignity is a strange thing -- it comes and it goes. But the moment you put on a wig and falsies, you've pretty much given up every shred of anything approaching human dignity. At such a moment, nobility is a distant thought, like whitewall tires or $2 gas.
In fact, in drag a man becomes a different creature -- a mysterious confection. For the first time ever, I was the hottest woman in the room.
"Octomom!" people shouted, and suddenly I felt the tug of celebrity and unconditional love, all the things I dread in life.
"Oh, look, it's Octo . . . something!" I heard over and over.
I was astounded how quickly folks got the concept, for the only thing that separated me from every other Halloween floozy were the eight toy babies that Posh had pinned to my dress.
"Jon & Kate Plus 8?!!" guessed one person.
"Close enough," I said.

House to house we went, past other people's pumpkins, which seem to get more artful every year. My jack-o'-lanterns always look like self-portraits -- a little bloated, as if they had a six-pack with dinner. You could carve them with a corkscrew.
And as the night proceeded, the Octomom comments became more reckless. At one point, my balloons flipped around, nozzle side out, and it looked like I was chilled, in the womanly manner of '70s-era sitcom actresses.
"I just caught myself," one dad confessed, "looking down your blouse."
He wasn't really that ashamed either. The guy wrote it off as a male reflex. Me, I probably should've been more offended.
"Get him a drink, he's boring me!" one mom yelled.
"Yeah, get me a drink," I stammered.
Women are weird. First of all, you wouldn't believe how competitive some of them became. Sure, I was working it a little, but I've seen enough old Milton Berle skits to know that, while wearing the enemy's uniform, it's best to be unaffected and very deadpan.
Danielle, for one, saw me as an instant rival, though I have no interest in her husband, John, or any man in her life except maybe myself.
Second of all, the women became obsessed with my chest pieces, way more than the men. At one of the parties, they kept arranging the falsies in different ways. They pushed them together so I had cleavage. Let me just say this about cleavage: Even on a man, it looks good.
In the end, it was a worthy gag, and everyone had fun with it, particularly my wife, the only person I really need to please, after all. She giggled like a schoolgirl at almost everything. For a moment, I thought my outfit might add a whole new dimension to our torrid little relationship.
But Halloween is tiring -- heavy food, lots of walking. We both fell asleep about 10.

Great costume, don’t you think??  HAHAHA!!!  Why didn’t I think of that?

I always love to read this guy!!

WTG Orange County Fire Authority!!  Idiots!

After all of the destructive and deadly wildfires we have had here, our genius fire authority made a really bonehead decision.

The part-time hand crew credited with keeping last year's Freeway Complex fire from racing through Anaheim Hills and Orange Park Acres was disbanded at the end of last year's fire season, and a plan to upgrade it with a round-the-clock crew was shelved because of hard economic times, fire officials said.

Hand crews – highly specialized teams that cut lines around flames to rein in wildfires – are instrumental in controlling the flames, the Orange County Fire Authority firefighters union and management agree.

Despite repeated calls to maintain a critical part of its wildland firefighting force, OCFA soldiers will have to continue on without a hand crew for the first time in 30 years.

The department is relying on other agencies to lend hands, transforming its own engine companies into hand crews and crossing its fingers that it won't be faced with firestorms like the ones it has been dealt twice in the past 23 months.

If another major fire occurs, there is no guarantee outside help will be there. For now, the largest fire department in the county is taking the fire season one day at a time.

It was the 2007 Santiago fire that taught OCFA a harsh lesson: No one was coming to save them. Tens of thousands of acres were burning around California when the fire erupted. With 21 major fires burning at once, the October 2007 fire siege destroyed more than 517,000 acres, killed 10 people and destroyed more than 2,200 homes and buildings.

Firefighting resources across the state were stretched. OCFA's hand crew was the only hand crew fighting the Santiago fire for days, trying to corral the monster blaze.

"Hand crews are a scarce resource when the fires get burning. We can never count on anybody else's," said OCFA Battalion Chief Ken Cruz, who oversees hand crew operations. "With your own, it's faster to help control the fire, and you know they're going to be there."

The OCFA vowed to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours before needing assistance from other agencies. Then the economic bottom fell out. And the idea of having a full-time hand crew was abandoned – at least for now.

Carrying more than 25 pounds of gear and tools, hand crews are a rough-and-tumble group willing to hack, cut and scrape up hillsides covered by dense brush and trees. Clearing a line to bare earth and giving the fires nothing else to burn, their work keeps wildfire in check. For up to nine months a year, they live and breathe fire, then go back to their lives as lifeguards, grocery clerks and students.

It was an OCFA hand crew's scraping and cutting away of brush that kept the Freeway Complex fire from racing into Anaheim Hills and Orange Park Acres after it jumped the 91 and ran up the hillsides, said Joe Kerr, president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters.

The fire service world is a world of specific roles. The engineer drives the engine. The paramedic treats patients. The dispatcher answers emergency calls and sends help. The hand crew has its role: cutting fire lines around the fire. It is a complicated unit, dependent on teamwork and experience to be effective. It is a young man's job, made up of hours of hard labor.

To make do, OCFA is taking paramedics and engineers out of their engines, handing them shovels and rakes, and teaching them how to be a hand crew. Instead of treating car accident victims and heart attacks, engine crews are cutting brush and picking up used hoses.

Firefighters can do the job of clearing brush, but they are hardly the experts, union and management officials agree, and in many cases are not qualified to safely handle some of the equipment.

"I just don't think it's the best use of our resources," Cruz said. But management decided not to staff a hand crew, and the agency is trying to make it work.

"It's not a tool we use every day," Kerr said. "Hand crews are specifically dedicated to the mission of brush clearance. And that is just as important as the mission of our firefighters."

Some engines carry chainsaws, but many of OCFA's 800-person firefighting force are not certified to use them. Just 45 out of roughly 800 OCFA firefighters are qualified to use chainsaws to cut down burning trees, with 20 more waiting to be certified.

Additional wildland chainsaw training has been offered to firefighters, but is not required, Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion said.

In July, that fact forced OCFA firefighters to wait for two Los Angeles County hand crews to cut down burning eucalyptus trees at a Lake Forest fire. Plans are in the works next year to train an additional 100 firefighters to cut down trees, Cruz said.

Pulling engines from their stations to transform them into makeshift hand crews sets off a complex chain reaction, forcing other engines to cover larger areas. That means potentially longer response times and longer periods of times engines and trucks are unavailable for the next call.

"We still cover the dirt," Concepcion said.

If one is needed to fight a fire on state land, Cal Fire sends one of its 196 prison inmate crews. Mutual aid from other agencies, like Los Angeles County and the U.S. Forest Service, kicks in for other fires. But they may be hours or days away if there are other major fires burning elsewhere. Sometimes they might not be there at all.

"It's fairly easy for them to request hand crews, engines or aircraft," Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. But requesting and getting is not always the same thing.

"The problem is with so many fires at one time, it takes a lot of resources," Berlant said. "Especially in the first 24 hours, you always feel like you need more. And you don't know what other agencies are going to be available."

Being neighborly sometimes means pitching in for free. "We've had to ask our neighbors for help while we're in this predicament," Cruz said.

"You don't have to staff a fire department for the day-to-day," Kerr said. "You staff a fire department for a major emergency, 'cause it's coming."

And guess who will pay the price?  Not the Big-Wigs who decide these things.  You would think they have learned a lesson by now.  I guess not until their mansion is burned to the ground.

Rant over….. Just ticks me off!

Hope you had a nice weekend!

I thought you would get a kick out of these.  These people live among us!!

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!!

Ok, so I’m a little bitter and disappointed but I’ll admit that the Yankees were the best team.  Make that the best team money can buy!  HAH!!  $423.5 Million to ‘buy’ 3 players?  The rich DO get richer.

The sad part for me was watching the Phillie’s manager, Charlie Manuel, giving an interview in the bowels of Yankee Stadium while the Yankees were dancing and partying on the field.  As he was saying how proud he was of his team, you could see that he was having a difficult time holding it together.  But he did.

Charlie Manuel

Although he was born in West Virginia, his family was actually living in Virginia at that time, and he lived in Virginia throughout his childhood. He was born in a automobile while his mother, June, was visiting her mother. His father, Charles Sr., was a Pentecostal preacher, and the family lived in Wythe and Grayson Counties until they settled in Buena Vista when Charlie, the third of 11 children and the oldest son, was 12.

He became a four-sport star at Parry McCluer High School in Buena Vista, playing baseball, American football, basketball and track and field and captaining the baseball and basketball teams. His first love was basketball and he had received scholarship offers in that sport, but his plans and his life would dramatically change just before his high school graduation.

In April 1963, his father, who had been ill with diabetes and heart problems, committed suicide, leaving behind a suicide note asking that Charlie, who was already married with a child, take care of his mother and siblings. He turned down his basketball scholarship offers, including one to the University of Pennsylvania, to consider offers from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, and New York Yankees, ultimately signing with the Twins out of high school in 1963 for $20,000.

During his time playing in Japan, Manuel learned to speak Japanese. This has become an asset, as he has been able to communicate with players such as So Taguchi and Tadahito Iguchi.

At a game against the Lotte Orions on June 19, 1979, he was hit in the face by a pitch from Soroku Yagisawa. The pitch crushed his jaw, and he was told by his doctor that he needed at least two months to recover. However, he returned to the game after being sidelined for only 14 games, as the Buffaloes were struggling to win the first-half season championship. To protect his bruised jaw, Manuel wore a helmet equipped with a American football facemask. The team went on to win the first-half championship and eventually the pennant for the whole season.

Manuel has survived a heart attack, quadruple bypass surgery and cancer. During his time with the Indians, he worked in the dugout with a colostomy bag beneath his jacket. Manuel's mother June died October 10, 2008, at age 87 in Buena Vista, Virginia. She had suffered a heart attack earlier in the week. Because of the Phillies' 2008 NLCS five-game win, he was able to attend his mother's funeral. He currently has a fiancée named Missy.

He’s a ‘Good ‘Ol Boy’ and he vows that the Phillies will return to the World Series in 2010.  But they really need one more dependable staring pitcher and to upgrade their bullpen. ‘Nuff said about that.

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Cat Comes Down With Swine Flu

A 13 year-old Iowa cat has been infected with swine flu, veterinary and federal officials said Wednesday, and it is believed to be the first case of the H1N1 virus in a feline.

The domestic short-haired cat was treated last week at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames and has recovered.  The virus also has been confirmed in two ferrets – one in Oregon and the other in Nebraska – but they died.

“We’ve known certainly it’s possible this could happen,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner.  “This may be the first instance where we have documentation that transmission occurred involving cats or dogs.”

The veterinarian who treated the cat said two of the three people in the cat’s Iowa home had flu-like symptoms before the cat became ill.  Other flu strains have been known to cross species.

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My wife is attending a company-sponsored golf tournament today and Friday in the desert and a baby shower for our niece on Sunday in Phoenix so yeah, party here again!!  She doesn’t golf so I think she will be operating the beer cart.  My weekend starts NOW!!!!  Hope you all have  Super one!!!