Cold wave hits the south! Worst is yet to come. Don'tch love it, this weekend it will be in the sixties then turn cold by Tuesday the lows will be in the twenties highs in the forties!

What would we do if we couldn't complain about the weather. Surfing the net I ran across a sight you have got to see!

This may be the best chance I ever get to look off the Eiffel Tower!

Thought for the day, my grandpa use to say son, it doesn't matter how much you give at Christmas but how willingly you gave it!

One most memorible Christmas? That was a question on one of my blog friends sight. I have several and I know you do too! A neat subject to blog about so here is one of mine...
Favorite Xmas? Hum… I have several, but I will go with this one… Xmas 1949, I was eight years old and had just found out there was no Santa! Needless to say I was devastated. I had dreamed of a new bike, and had pics. all over of it. I just knew Santa would not forget me. The news of no Santa haunted me; I cried but as for as I knew no one was aware of my broken heart.

My grandma always made me go to church with her so I was well aware of the reason for the season. Dang it I still wanted that bike!

Xmas eve I went to bed early because I didn’t want to talk about getting anything. I tried the best I could not to think about not getting the bike. At daybreak every one was opening presents and singing for joy. I tried to ignore them. I went in the kitchen to stay warm by the stove and listen to the radio.

My mom came in and said every one wanted me to come to the front room and open my presents. I told her I would be up later! She said you have a card that looks like it was drug through the snow! There is no snow mom! Well you need to open it and see what it is!

I went up and sure enough in the tree was a card with my name on it and it was smudged all over! I opened the letter, and it said Hohoho Merry Christmas! I had no room to put your bike so I put it in the closet! It was not signed but I knew my mom and grandma had played Santa for me!

Footnote: I like to have never got that bike out of that closet!

We are about at the end of our turkey leftovers! Just a little turkey left and will make a sailed with that. Man that meal as large as it was disappeared fast. That's good I hate to see food go to waste. However around here the anamels wind up with it. They will eat almost any thing!

I was suppose to play golf yesterday but had such a sinus head ache. I went to bed with it and woke up with it. It was not a good day anyway. Thunder storms rolled through bout all day.

I have some up dated pics. For you that I keep forgetting to post...

Megan's friend from school!

you no who playing around!

Playing around!

For our new Church directory

Thought for the day, my grandpa use to say son, holidays just ware you out so make sure the lighting is kept cold!

Shop till you drop!


Thanksgiving was anything but peaceful and restfully! My BIL has had the event at their home for the last four or five years and want to keep it that way! Hey that's fine but things do change with cercomstances.

This year my son was on call from work so couldn't be sixty miles away! We only had the twins and their sister in the morning. Their dad had them for the afternoon.

My wife felt we should go to her brothers so my family was at home and we were at my BIL. It turned out to be a beautiful day weather wise. After dinner I sat out side in the afternoon sun. All the food was suepurb! Did I over eat? Does a duck like water? You bet I did! I did well with the meal but OD on desert! ;-)

Yesterday we meet Paul and his wife at Sam's Club at 5:00am! I got four hrs. Sleep! We hit Sams, K-Mart, and our largest Mall in town. Then spent two hours at Cracker barrel trying to get breakfast! This is the third time I have been marooned at Cracker barrel and the last time!

Three strikes and your out!@!!#$%^&*

Thought for the day, I hope all of you had a great holiday and thank each of you for stopping by the creek and saying hello!

Happy Thanksgiving every one! May all who visit here today find peace and a reason to be thankful! It seems like the holidays roll around quick. I enjoy them but not the materialism. Every thing is about buying the biggest and the best. Bill Gates can attest to this! LOL! Can you believe they expect to sell three million Xbox 360's in ninety days!

I haven't heard the Quito Apple is expecting to sell with the ipod! Any way enjoy the holiday. I believe this is the last in our series on the Big machines and it is a douse...

Designated a “Great Ohio Adventure of Learning” by the State of Ohio Division of Travel & Tourism.
Southeastern Ohio has some truly amazing things and the following provides some of our strongest documentation! The Big Muskie Bucket is the centerpiece of Miner’s Memorial Park located just 16 miles West of Caldwell I-77 Exit 25 and right along SR 78. This artifact has generated unbelievable interest from young and old all across the United States and from around the world! Why?
The Big Muskie was the World’s Largest Dragline and one of the seven engineering wonders of the world! The machine has even been featured on the History Channel! The Bucket weighs 460,000 pounds empty and when loaded carried an additional 640,000 pounds. It’s volume is equal to that of a 12 car garage. Can you imagine what Big Muskie must have been like to even move such an object, let alone maneuver it effectively?
The Big Muskie Bucket and Miner’s Memorial is without a doubt a one-of-a-kind destination. The site represents a major piece of history and assures that the mining men and women of Southeastern Ohio will never be forgotten.
To learn more, study the history of Big Muskie on the following pages and discover a Hidden Corridor, which is the only place in the world where you can still go inside the cab and even read inscriptions on the walls! Study the photographs, review the statistics, and then visit the Memorial. Take a picture of your family in the Big Muskie Bucket with your car parked next to it. We guarantee you’ll be captured forever with fascination and disbelief!




Thought for the day, my grandpa use to say son , it's easy to be thankful on a full stomach, today think of those who will go without!

After the rain the cold! Not to bad though I think it got up to 49*! Suppose to get in the mid fifties today, which brings out the call of the golf course! LOL! Sometime you just got to do what you got to do!

More BIG machines...

daily News Construction equipment flies aboard world’s largest aircraft
An operator maneuvers a bulldozer into the cargo hold of the Antonov 225. The dozer will help build a pipeline in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Three excavators and two bulldozers took a five-hour ride on the world’s largest airplane July 17 to get from Prague, Czech Republic, to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where they will be used to build a long-distance pipeline.

Plynostav Pardubice Holding, a construction company based in the Czech Republic, needed to move the machines quickly and other transportation alternatives were not as efficient as air travel, said David Benton, director of corporate communications for Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, the company that arranged the flight.

“It turned out to be a very smooth move,” he said. “The plane even left early.”

The equipment operators took the 2,660-mile journey with the machines, driving them onto the aircraft and unloading them in Uzbekistan. Jump seats were added to the cargo plane to accommodate the operators.

Only one Antonov 225 exists, and it was built to transport the Soviet Union’s space shuttle. The aircraft made its first voyage in December 1988. The plane's maximum payload is 250 tons and its wingspan is 290 feet. “It’s an exceptional plane for heavy lifts,” Benton said.


Thought for the day, We're in count down mode to 5:00am shop Friday how about you?

Much needed rain has been received! The dogs had their legs crossed most of the day. I believe we got about 1 1/2" of rain. We have been so dry! I am not complaining.

I made out my living will and it back fired...
A man and his wife were sitting in the living room
and he said to her,

"Just so you know, I never want to live in a
vegetative state, dependent on
some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that
ever happens, just pull the
plug."

His wife got up, unplugged the TV and threw out
all of his beer.

More Big Machines...

What's huge, slow, and capable of hauling up to 400 tons of bullshit? While my first response would probably be Slashdot, too, in this case we're describing the Liebherr T 282B truck, a 224 ton monster with a massive 3650-horsepower diesel engine. New Scientist has an interview with Liebherr R&D head Francis Bartleby in which he drops a load of tasty T 282B trivia, like the fact that the huge diesel engine actually generates electricity to power two electric drive motors, and the story about the time a driver of one of the big trucks accidentally crushed a normal-sized service truck and didn't even notice.


Thought for the day, my grandpa use to say son, close your eyes and you can smell the turkey and dressing baking. I still can!

Hard to believe it's Monday but "HERE IT'S! My son and I are cutting out dead limbs and trees at the lake. We had a huge burn pile so today we lit it and boy did we have a roaring fire. One more large pile to go and we will be in pretty good shape around the lake.

Continuing our BIG machine series...



McDemott's, DB-102 - The world's largest derrick barge using custom design McKissick block to lift 6600 Metric Tons.
The world's largest block especially designed for a derrick barge has a lifting capacity of 6000 Metric Tons and weighs over 200 Tons. It is equipped with forty - 55" Diameter "Roll Forged Sheaves" with sealed tapered bearings. It takes 38,800 feet of 2 3/8" Wire Line to reeve the 80 parts of line. The block itself is 30 Ft. tall, 28ft. wide and 12 Ft. thick. The quad hook is capable of receiving two - 14" diameter slings on each prong. The complete set of tackle is certified by American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), DetNorske Veritas (DNV) and Lloyd's Registry (Llloyd's). The crane is also equipped with a 1000 Metric Ton auxiliary Block capable of sub-sea operation and a 220 Metric Ton Whip Line.

Thought for the day, short week for most! We have so much to thankful for!

Continuing our BIG series we now look at the largest DRILL BIT use for tunneling these bits are huge and bore holes right through solid rock! Listen close you can almost hear the noise these bits make cutting through the earth...


The German company Astro- und Feinwerktechnik Adlershof GmbH has produced new transmitters for Herrenknecht AG mounted on their tunnel boring machine seen above. Every second the transmitters send sound waves into the ground, microphones receive the reflecting signals which are data processed and can visualize important geological changes up to 40 m in front of the rotary shear blade. These innovative transmitters have been developed using the expertise Astro gained during their work for ESA on the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft.

Credits: Herrenknecht AG




Today was Iron Bowl day here and Bama lost to the other team 28/18! The worst game I have seen them play all year! Well... Maybe next year! That is four in a row we have lost to them. You want to see a two MILLION dollar smile? Catch a pic. Of Coach Tubervill of Auburn!

Thought for the day, my grandpa use to say son, winning isn't every thing! I don't think I have ever seen a happy looser!

I missed posting this morning so here I am this evening! I have been thinking big ever sense I saw a big jet go over so here is some big, I mean really big things for you to marvel at...

World's Largest Digging Machine
(or wouldn't you like one of these babies in your garden shed?) This is the largest digging machine (or trencher or rotating shovel) in the world. It was built by Krupp and is shown here crossing a road in Germany on the way to its destination, an open air coal mine. Although at the mine the treads are unnecessary, it was cheaper to make the machine self-propelled than to try and move it with conventional hauling equipment. Some factoids:
· The machine is 95 meters high and 215 meters long (almost 2.5 football fields in length)
· Weight is 45,500 tons (that's equivalent to a bumper to bumper line of jeeps 80 miles long)
· It took 5 years to design and manufacture at a cost of $100 million
· Maximum digging speed is 10 meters per minute
· Can move more than 76,000 cubic meters of coal, rock, and earth per day





TO BE CONTINUED Monsters Still Walk The Earth!

Thought for the day, why do we need things biggestggestigest or the best?

I'm getting later and later posting! Cold here this morning and will be for the next few mornings. My golf buddies played golf today and I am a no show. Just too cold for me. If I can't enjoy myself I had rather not go! These guys would play in the snow if the course was open! LOL!

I have a friend who has started a flicker account using his Photo Thursday and Fridays Themes. I have him listed under my Photoblogs as Will Burnham his flicker sights

Please take the time to visit his sight. You want be disappointed! He is a great photographer with an eye for the unusual. I have been visiting Will and Lorien at JOLOLOG for over a year and they have never failed to please me with their work. Visit Lorien & Joe here

I love to take pics. But never see what a real photographer sees! It is dishearting at times but I will keep trying.

Thought for the day, I dream of the day I can visit each of you in you mind, can mind travel be far away?

How fast is fast? How about 281 teraflop per second! Before the human mind can comprehend this in distance this calculations would be millions of miles away!

We live in a world of speed and doing the un thought of has become common place. I remember as a young man a story of the Russian scientist sending the world smallest drill bit to the US scientist and they returned it with no comment. The Russian team contacted the US team and asked why no comment. They were told to look at the drill bit closely! After doing so they found the US team had drilled a hole through the center of the drill bit!

Once again we're reminded that the only constant is change. Now the battle is between the US and Asia.



IBM remained the dominant company in supercomputers. Big Blue accounted for five out of the top 10 supercomputers in the semiannual Top500 ranking, including the top three computers on the list. Overall, Big Blue accounted for 43.8 percent of the machines on the list, more than any other manufacturer or university.
The company's BlueGene/L, which knocked NEC's Earth Simulator from its top spot in November 2004, remained the top-ranked supercomputer in the world for the third time in a row. Installed in Lawrence Livermore National Labs, the computer has doubled in size in the past six months and now contains 131,076 processors. It will continue to grow.
"The limit is less of an issue of architectural characteristics than....What the customers are looking for," said Dave Turek, vice president of Deep Computing at IBM.
BlueGene/L can now churn 280.6 teraflops, or nearly 281 trillion calculations a second and is the only computer to exceed 100 teraflops.

Thought for the day, time is like a stream flowing through the universe, we are but sand pebbles on this incomprehensible shore!

The last few days have been a blur. Vertigo hit me again and I have been out of it. I still don’t feel well so I thought I had better get something posted to let you no I haven’t flown the coupe! I ran across this note of entrust about my neighbor to the east of us…



World's largest aquarium set to open
11/14/2005, 7:20 a.m. CTBy DOUG GROSS The Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — The whale sharks are kings of the 6-million-gallon tank, their presence palpable even before they emerge from the murky darkness like massive star cruisers in a science fiction film.
But once visitors to the new Georgia Aquarium have seen Ralph and Norton — the only whale sharks on display outside of Asia — they will still have at least 99,998 more fish to go.
When the aquarium opens Nov. 23, it will become the world's largest by virtually all major standards of the industry. It was bankrolled almost exclusively by a $200 million gift from Home Depot Inc. co-founder Bernie Marcus.
The aquarium was designed to hold 8 million gallons of water and be home to more than 100,000 fish. By comparison, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago — the nation's largest indoor aquarium for decades — has 5 million gallons and about 20,000 fish.
The Atlanta aquarium's pair of juvenile whale sharks — characterized by their streamlined bodies and depressed, broad and flattened heads — could grow to more than 40 feet long, giving visitors a rare glimpse at the world's largest fish. At the time they arrived at the aquarium in June from Taiwan, one was measured at 15 1/2 feet and the other at 13 feet.
Also featured will be five beluga whales, two of them rescued from an amusement park in Mexico, in an 800,000-gallon tank.

Can you imagine anything big enough to hold these huge fish I have been to the Shed aquarium in Chicago several times and to the one in Gatlinburg Tenn. These two are huge but Atlanta will make them seam small!

Thought for the day, my grandpa use to say son, life is like water seeking the easy way to go, so try to go with the flow!

EL Toro! Yap I did it. We took it out to the lake yesterday!

No it was not a new Pet friend...



LOL, No it was not a new ...



This is our new expert...



BIL. Doesn't;t no I bought it yet he's at the beach. LOL! I am quite sure he want like it and all I can say is tuff! Done deal!

Thought for the day. My grandpa use to say son, never be afraid to make a decision. Unless grandma is around!

How we want to cling to the old ideas! Even though they can be most expensive, most want to hold on to a bit of our past.

I will never forget the first corvette I rode in and got to drive. The Vet was given to my friend Robert for his sixteenth Birth Day. A brand new green and white 1957 Corvett! She was a beauty, pale green that made every one green with envy!



I thought of Robert today when I ran across the rebirth of the camaro! GM stopped making the camaro in 2000 or 2001 not sure of the date but two guys have bought the rights to reintroduce the original muscel car patterned after the 1969 camaro.

This will be a super car with a super price tag...! Ford has a $350,000 Mustang for sell, well are you sitting down... The new Camaro will have a modest price of $427,000!...

The reincarnation of the Baldwin-Motion Performance Group, a company that specialized in making high-performance Chevrolet during the height of the muscle car era, has brought the reincarnation of the Camaro itself. This time, they're making their own Camaros from scratch.



The SuperCoupe is powered by a 700-horsepower V-8 engine. The company lists the engine's displacement as 540 cubic inches. That's about 8.9 liters. The engine is not supercharged, but it can be if the customer wants more power.



Thought for the day, I wander when the match box version will be out for $5.00 bucks!

Our worm spell is over! WOW! 36* this morning, that's nipy but had just soon get this season behind me! I don't want to wish my life away, I'm not a winter person. I dry up like an old prune on cold days. Old author lets me no real quick to seek out a worm spot. My hands hurt from the cold so my golf days are limited during the winter months.

I took a few shots out back of the leaves and my dogs playing. They love to run through the leaves. The tress are shedding quickly due to this fall being so dry...



The trailer in the back ground is my sons place.


Hershey wanted to play with the dogs too!


Playing hide and seek


Ginger blending in... What's that I hear?


My last flower along the fence.


River of leaves


Back yard in the afternoon sun


Thought for the day, my grandpa use to say son, enjoy the warmth of the evening sun for winters chill has just begun!

I started off this morning ranting about my loosing it with my granddaughter yesterday. After I finished I felt the last thing you guys wanted to hear was the problems of an old grandpa. So I am condensing it to say I lost my cool!

My granddaughter has abused her mother to the point I had to step in and say something because her mother could not make herself do it even though she knew it had to be done.

Since her divorce she has gone from one job to another and even lying that she was working when she wasn’t so her mother would stay with her kids! She would drop them off here and give some excuse to leave and would be gone all day and some time wouldn’t come back till the next day.

I am not prejudice but she had a black guy move in with her and in this neck of the woods she is asking for trouble. She has turned the family agents her and she could care less as long as her mom kept the kids!

Well to make a long story short, she knew her mom had fell and hurt herself and she still expected her to keep the kids! I stepped in and told her to find someone else. She took them to her x and told her mom I hope you’re happy! I told her that if she couldn’t help her mom with the kids to leave them with her x!

Today my daughter finally went to the doctor. She can hardly walk and her daughter has already called looking for her. Never ending story…! This too will pass!

Thought for the day, sometimes love hurts, especially when you have to make hard decisions!

I am running late this morning. My daughter fell down the steps at my son's trailer yesterday and is all banged up. She has a big bruise on her hip and rear end. She also cut her foot on the cement block stairs. I have been waiting for her to get up to see if she wants me to take her to the doctor. She would not go when this happened!

I think the twins are starting to be to much for her to Handel! They are into something all the time. Yesterday they were up on the road! Spanking didn't seem to make them stay away. They thought it was a game of catch me if you can. Today they will have me to contend with. They don't want to listen to her so out comes the big guns LOL!

I didn't no about the road problem until it was over. They must learn that the road is off limits! Period! The road is suppose to be 25mph but they do 60mph on it. We live in the county and traffic control is none existent.

Have you ever wanted to just hit the road and travel all over? Man I have! I saw this yesterday on the net...




Now that's the way to hit the road! This is a full size tractor trailer conversion mobile home! Heck you could take the whole gang with you.(or all you golf buddies!)

Thought for the day, raising twin boys is like combat, you have to plane your strategy every day!

This past week I as millions watched as Tiger Woods lost yet another match. Yet he is still the money winner of the year and may get golfer of the year with his six wins.

Tiger pretty well summed it up in an interview stating "golf is not a game of perfect, you go out each day and do the best you can"! What an understatement when you see the worlds best golfers sachem to a forty-two old no body on tour? Makes you wander what in the heck is going on!

Why the number one player in the world misses fairway after fairway and still pulls out his driver when he can hit his three wood almost as far? His driver gave him no advantage even on the par fives!

Why the number two player in the world who by the way spends more time hitting balls on the practis range than any one; is hitting the ball all over the place and missing short puts you would think he should make with his eyes closed?

Golf is not a game of perfect! Could this be the real reason lefty stayed home the number three player in the world?

Makes you wander when you see the great men out done by some one not in their class?
The same is true with the Nextel cup races! How can cars that are sat up the same and have the same horse power leave another driver looking like they have put on the brakes?

I watched in disbelief as I saw Edwards pull steadily away from Martin? Could it be money talking in our sports?

I played golf yesterday and hit the ball well off the tee and that was it! Couldn't hit an iron! Couldn't buy a put! For me I couldn't concentrate! There were two detractor's that I had trouble keeping out of my golf mystics! Could this be our top golfers problem...





Thought for the day, it's not how you play the game but rather if you have fun or not, after all it's just a game!

A police Officer was concealed checking speeders when a car went by doing 22mph. He thought to himself this is a dangerous as some one speeding.

He pulled the car over and found it was driven by a elderly lady and she had another up front and three in the back. All were unusually quite he thought.



He told the lady, he pulled her over for going too slow and may cause an accident! The driver told him, officer I was doing the speed limit I always do! He ask her if she knew how fast she was going and she said why yes I was going 22mph.!

He told her that was the road sign rout 22 not the speed limit! She smiled and said she was sorry and would speed up.

He then asked about her friends who all looked scared half to death! She laughd and said oh they will be alright we just turned off rout 119!

Thought for the day, be careful out there and don't forget to...

Not much going on on the home front. we went to our Mexican restraint last night. Haven't been in a couple of weeks the food is so good. Far the first time I couldn't eat it all and got a Doge back for today!



Los Troscaso employees all ware Bama T-shirts with the no. 34 except the bus boys all ware no 12 haven't quite figured that out yet. The place was packed as usual but service is good. We had our food in no time.



I hope every one has a good weekend! It is worm here suppose to be in the 80s again today!

Thought for the day, when you go out to eat do you ask for a dogie bag?

Last night was another big dance at Megan's school!

School dances were fun in my day too. I had one little girl by the name of Evelyn that I danced a lot with. I was just plan convertible with her on the dance floor. Other than that I never talked to her! LOL! Go figure! My best friend at the time wound up marrying a girl he meet at a dance. His live was down hill from there. LOL!

Thought for the day, did you cut a rug at school?

More and more grandparents are razing their grandchildren. There was a period of years in my life that my grandma was the center of my life. I remember her more than I do my mother. Like So many young mothers of today things have not changed much. When you have no where else to go, you go home!

This is not by choice but rather by necessity! The last thing a child wants to here is I told you so or we tried to tell you to keep you pants on! Don't get me wrong I don't have the answer to this age old problem. All I know is as a grandparent you don't have much of a choice other than turn your back on your children. That's hard to do in most cases.

Why am I bringing this up? Well because I am trapped in this unending drama of children and grandchildren. I also know many of you are in the same situation! I have a daughter who has been married three times has three children of her own and six grandchildren! Where are they? You don't have to guess I think you already no! Now we have had to add to the number. My youngest daughter's son was raised by his grandparents on his fathers side. I told you that their home was destroyed in Gulf shores Al. Last year by a hurricane. Well to make a long story short he has no where to go and is working in our area so he asked if he could move in with our son in the trailer! What can we say! No is not an option!

My wife and I are at wits end at the moment but I know this to will pass! I like many of you could write a book on the things our children have done wrong. Hey I could Wright a book on the things I've done wrong! LOL!

I am reminiscent of the show that use to be on TV where one family lived together back out in the country. I don't remember the name of the show but I remember the grandpa saying "good night John boy"...



Thought for the day, give me the strength to except the things I can not change and the wisdom to understand why!