No good deed....

And the mascot debate continues.  Some factions are pushing for a mutt, some are going for a rescue.  I am all for change (well, certain changes) and much as I think it would be cool to have a rescue mutt, realistically there are too many that feel that a Collie is the symbol of our school.  Besides, we are sorta known for our Traditions.             

In the interim, it is amusing to see the debate pan out on the intraweb for other possible mascots to consider: 

Kyle Field Prairie Dog

12 Manatee

Kyle Field Mouse

E. King Gila Monster

Speaking of Reveille, the ESPN video of her handler blocking out the player has gone viral down here.  The sophomore (Ryan Kreider) has gotten a number of interviews and attention from his simple, instinctive reaction.  Good kid, nice block, seems genuinely embarrassed over all of the attention this has garnered.  Just to show you how much that one selfless act meant to a few others, the Commandant of the Corps (Brig. Gen. Joe E. Ramirez) offered to buy Ryan's senior boots.  Not too shabby of a gift considering they cost somewhere near $1600 these days (back in my day, they ran close to $600).  I  even read that some anonymous Aggie has offered to pay for his ring.  Despite all the attention Ryan still appears humble and doesn't feel he deserved all this attention for "just doing my job".  Of course, Ms Reveille, being the Queen she is, was pretty indifferent to all of the hullabaloo.

Tail Wagging the Dog

Sorry guys for not posting more or keeping up with everyone's blogs.  I've been buried at work and just haven't had the energy to keep up with everyone's shenanigans much less come up with some witty and inspiring blog post.  That's why I fall back to my dogs - they don't care how late you come home or what mood you are in.  They are just happy to greet you at the door with a lick and a wag no matter what time it is.  I promise to play catch up this week.  

I had a post half written about all the work stress I've got right now, but I felt that was just too whiny so I'm not going to bore you with any of that narcissistic crap.

Instead, I will engage/entertain you with the ongoing debate that has arisen down here about a dog.   
   
As some of you might have gleaned from my postings, I went to a certain university down here that is fairly well known in Texas.  We are kinda known for certain characteristics, flair, and an over-the-top spirit that permeates the campus.  Football is one of our passions (yes, Abby, we seem to have put together a football team despite someone moving off to the big leagues) and the weekend football games can get be epic events.  My school is known for traditions.  One of which is our school mascot.  A lot of universities are known for their mascots and some are based upon animals (Baylor Bears, SMU Mustangs, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Rice Owls, Oregon Ducks, Colorado State Bison, and even a Texas Longhorn).  My school is no different - we have a mascot that speaks to our traditions and spirit.  We have a purebred Collie that is named Reveille.  She is a regular fixture on campus, attending every game, going to class with the students and generally enjoying the attention and perks that come with being the highest ranking cadet on campus and nicknamed the First Lady of A&M.  The current Reveille on campus is the 8th in the line to bear that name.  

While Reveille is generally known as a Collie, she has not always been that breed.  Just to give you some small background, here are some excerpts from the traditions website:     

Reveille I came to Texas A&M in January 1931. A group of cadets hit a small black and white dog on their way back from Navasota. They picked up the dog and brought her back to school so they could care for her. The next morning, when "Reveille" was blown by a bugler, she started barking. She was named after this morning wakeup call. The following football season she was named the official mascot when she led the band onto the field during their half-time performance. When Reveille I died on January 18, 1944, she was given a formal military funeral on the gridiron of Kyle Field. She was then buried at the north entrance to the field, as all Reveilles are, facing the scoreboard so that she can always watch the Aggies outscore their opponent.

Reveille I

Reveille II was not a Collie either, but a Shetland Sheepdog donated to the University in 1952 by Arthur Weinert, Class of 1900. She was originally cared for by committee by the Aggie Band for a couple of years before a cadet found her wandering around campus in 1954 and began the tradition of taking her everywhere he went. Reveille II had a rebellious streak, as well. 

It wasn't until 1966 that a purebred Collie was selected to serve as Reveille III, and details on the decision are not well-documented. However, like many traditions, it probably began largely by coincidence.

Today, Reveille is considered a member of the corps of cadets and attends every game as well as classes with her handler (a sophomore student from the outfit in charge of her care).  Tradition has it that, if Reveille barks during class, the class is let out.  Just to give you an idea on how well Reveille is being cared for comes from the football game this past weekend.  Needless to say, the ESPN clip garnered a lot of attention to the cadet who was just doing his job (his words).   

This comes on top of the news of last week that they are planning to retire Rev VIII after this year.  I dimly recall when they retired #7 a few years back and #8 was selected.  

Reveille VII & VIII

This has spurred some heated debate over what Reveille IX should be.  As we had during the last selection process, a number of people have voice the opinion that we should go for a rescue dog instead of one from a breeder.  There are some who argue to go back to a rescue mutt as with the first Reveille.  The ensuing debate is getting interesting.  I am on the fence.  I am all for keeping with  tradition, but as one who has adopted two incredible rescue mutts, I can definitely see the benefit of going with a rescue.

Book 'Em Danno

Ok, Terri threw down the gauntlet and RC followed it up with his own spin. I guess I can add my two cents as well. I may not blaze the trail but I can follow a path.

Books. They can open doors to whole new adventures.

I would label myself as an average reader. As a kid, I was more into comics than novels. I really did not start into books until high school. Some of the required reading in middle and high school seemed long & tedious to me. Great Gatsby, Grapes of Wrath, A Tale of Two Cities, Catcher in the Rye. Some of these I connected with, some not. At that time of my life, I was more into escapism. I was an introverted teenager and spend a lot time reading sci-fi and fantasies. It was in high school that I discovered Tolkien. Started with The Hobbit and got hooked onto the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I have read those many times and still have the hard back volumes on my book shelf.  When I get hooked on a particular author, I tend to read through all their publications. 

In college I read a few books, but it really wasn’t until I went joined the Army did I start to read more. There is an old saying in the military – Hours of boredom punctuated by Moments of terror and chaos. We spent a lot of time in the field training for combat operations. The expression “Hurry Up and Wait” was our motto at times. I recall spending days on end in the field on guard duty or training maneuvers or waiting our turn for gunnery practice. This was in the days well before the Internet, cell phones, wireless communications, Nintendo, PSPs, iPods. To pass the time, a lot of guys would either play cards (could be detrimental to your bank account), shoot hoops, or read. We would spend 4-6 weeks at a time in the field and I learned to take a few books along to fill in the down time. I tried to find books long enough to last me a week or so, but eventually, we’d plow through those and be looking for something else. We set up a mini collection of books in the company so as you finished one book, you could trade for another. Most of the guys were not that complex, so the style of books available was a bit on the simpler side. I would up reading a lot of westerns (Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Max Brand). I’ll even confess that I’ve read the entire Robert E Howard (Conan The Barbarian) series. When you have that much time on your hands, it doesn’t take more than a day or two to plow through one of those books. At one point, I wound up reading a number of sci-fi series(Anne McCaffrey, Doug Adams).

As I got older, my tastes changed. I started reading more adventures or mysteries or Sci-Fi. I’ve read most of the books by Tom Grisham, Dan Brown, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Sue Grafton. Sometimes it takes me a while to get into a book, but, once I do, I will plow through several chapters at one sitting.  Whenever I travel, I will try to find a book that will keep me entertained for the trip.  On my recent road trip to Milwaukee, I read through the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and I am on the next one in the series. What made this one interesting to me is that I had also gotten the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo DVD from Netflix. I wound up watching the movie right after I had finished the book to see how it looked in film. Interesting but dark story.

I see some people with the new e-Readers (Nook, Kindle, iPad) but I am not sure I am ready to give up my low tech paperbacks.  Easy to carry, simple to use, requires no batteries or external power source, no accessories, low cost, will not interfere with airplane operations, no special TSA screening requirements, and you can use it when the power goes out.  As new and intriguing as the e-Readers are (yes, my inner geek wants one), I will probably stick with my old fashioned books (for now).

3 years and still kicking

If you hang around this blog long enough, you might surmise that I am big on traditions. School, patriotic, holidays, family, work, football. I seem to have a tradition for everything.

I've started my own tradition. Not sure how I would label it - Celebratory? Defiant? Morbid? Somber? Or perhaps Depressing?

Three years ago, I went under the knife to deal with prostate cancer. I got diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (fancy 5 dollar word for cancer) back in 2007 while doing a physical for my trek to Philmont. I won't bore everyone with a rehash the old story, but you want the gory details go take a look back at some of my older postings.  

Given the prognosis, I had a couple of options I could take to deal with the situation:

1. Expectant Management/watchful wait (do nothing and keep getting probed/tested)
2. Radical Prostatectomy (surgery – aka Whack-A-Mole)
3. Radiotherapy either (nuk’em till they glow)
4. Brachytherapy (stick some radioactive pellets in the neighborhood)
5. Cryothreapy (something about freezing the little buggers out)

None of those sounded all that exciting to me and I eventually chose the surgery route and went under the knife and came out clean on the other side. Follow up exams show I am still "cancer free". I have marked this event down in my calendar to remind myself just how lucky I am. Not everyone who has been diagnosed with this crap has done so well. I've been able to go back to my normal bad habits/life style without any major issues. Sometimes, when things get busy/hectic/chaotic, I will forget that this even happened. Whenever I get too busy or self-absorbed with my own petty problems, I need subtle reminder not to take things for granted. That's one of the reasons I started running the half marathon about 3 years ago. Actually, I did try to run it in 2008 before my surgery, but the race was completely booked up and the only openings were in the adjoining 10k race held at the same time. So, technically, I've been participating in the hoopla for 4 years now. Come this Sunday, this will be my 3rd time at bat. I hope to break my time from last year, but will be glad to make it across the finish line upright. Occasionally, family/friends will ask why I do this and my reply that it reminds me that I'm still alive. I may be sore & stiff come Monday morning, but at least I am still around to complain about it.

Pain heals, Chicks dig scars...Glory lasts forever.

5 days and counting.

      

Looking back now, I just realized that I started this feeble attempt at blogging around that time, so I guess I could call this a 3 year old blog. I've been told I'm full of BS, just didn't think I had so much to make it last this long.

Happy 2011!

Ok, a day late, but figured a lot of people were hungover from too many parties or too much football.  Low key/quiet celebration for us this year.  Just momma and me and the dogs.  Stay up late, drink some wine/scotch to usher in the New Year, go outside and listed to all the fireworks/commotion.

• Side notes: 
• Golden Retrievers tend to be thunderphobic.  Fireworks are just an extension of thunder.  Grayson was cool, Claire was not happy but they both did well as long as we stayed indoors (and behind the couch).  
• In our part of town, there is the occasional idiot/jackass who thinks that celebrating the new year by shooting off their firearms is a good idea.  Friday night I was outside listening to the barrage of fireworks being shot off (illegal in the city limits) and there were several that too measured for my tastes 

New Years traditions - not sure what everyone else does to celebrate (aside of drinking and making resolutions).  Even though we were not with my folks for the rally this year, we had our traditional round of blackeyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck/prosperity.  Spent yesterday trying to recover from the holidays/celebrating.  Went to a movie (Tron Legacy), took down the Christmas Tree, pulled down the outside decorations, watched a few football games, took the children to the dog park.  Even though it is in the low 50s, the blond still likes to lay in the pond. 

Getting geared up to head back to work tomorrow, even though it will be a short week for me.  Off to California for another supplier audit.  Just hope the rain and wind have let up to not mess up the flight.  After last week's weather delays, I am not anxious to be sitting in the airport or on the runway for any longer than we have to. 

Holidays are over, time to hit the ground running.