Rhettorically Speaking

Pretty soon school starts....rather way too soon. I remember when school started at the end of August if not at the beginning of September. Now the kids go in the second week of the month....and summer is barely half-way through from a season-of-the-year standpoint. We should not call it summer vacation or summer break, but better to call it "brief-no-school-time" which should not be confused with spring break that actually occurs during its proper season....and subsequently winter break. Soooo when the teacher asks, "Timmy, what did you do this summer?" He should retort, "Well, I'll answer that in about five weeks when it's over...or do you not know that summer ends on Sept. 21st?" (Next stop, detention...or ISS as they say.) To be fair, school seems to end about a week earlier than when I was a kid (so there is still a two week disparity overall). We are almost done with the flurry of getting ready for school....supplies, clothes, etc. Mo...

I will try to get better at posting...or at least more frequent. Today is the New Orleans Saints at the Atlanta Falcons football game. This is a time honored tradition for me growing up...historically mostly of pain and suffering as my Saints would find a way to lose a game that they had a two touchdown lead with less than two minutes remaining. To set some background, I am originally from New Orleans (born and grazed, as I say....due to all of the good food). My dad, also born and raised there, was a big Saints fan....season ticket holder from the beginning, I believe. I would watch the Saints each week sometimes win, often lose...and my mantra after a loss was not to watch'em anymore that season. Well, come the following Sunday, I was watching again...short memory or just one of those people that has to see the train wreck happen, not sure. Maybe a little of both. I now have three boys of my own and my eldest has taken up where I left off as a child and I have resumed the r...

Well, I finally ran a road race....5K Run/Walk with my office in support of Kaiser Permanente. First, I gotta say that KP puts on a great event....sponsors, tents, power-bars, bananas, music, volunteers and a show ending fireworks display. It was a wonderful experience. Now, I have to first admit, I am not a runner. I signed on for this gig about 6 weeks ago fully intending to train properly for the run. Looking back, it sure would have been smart to do so. But what I did instead was let all the other important things in life take priority. The last three weeks have been more about sick kids and worrying about them than anything else. This is where my wife gets huge credit. When my 11 year old had a nasty flair up of his asthma with a cold on top (check out "The responsible one" blog), he would often wake up in the middle of the night (and usually two or three times on average) and Kath would be there quick as a flash. I however would wake up to see Kath heading to...

Well, it only took 9 years to get around to it, but I (meaning "we") finally fixed the faucet of the tub in the kids' bathroom. When we first moved into our current home, the handles on the tub faucets all needed to be changed. They were the plastic "cut crystal" look that had lost its sparkle long ago. When I tried to take the old handles off, the plastic broke in my hands. Not a problem, until I tried to remove the screw that holds the handle....they were frozen (meaning rusted) in place. I tried the liquid wrench type oil hoping it would loosen the screw, but no way, no how. So, for the time being, I got a pair of the friction fit handles that have set screws to clamp onto the outside of the valve so we could turn water on and off. This worked fine for the first seven years, then the cogs on the end of the valves became stripped and the handles would not grip as they should. So....what do you do? Of course, you buy a new set of the same handles to gr...

There are many things that I need to work on as I grow stronger in my faith. First, let me clarify that by my effort to be strong in faith has nothing do to with the strength of my beliefs in The Holy Trinity or Jesus' sacrifice for mankind, but rather it is a stronger faith in myself that I am living up to God's will and His plans for me to be a better Christian. One big step I made was about two years ago when I went to Kingston, Jamaica to work for a week with Missionaries of the Poor. While these wonderful men that carry on the work of Christ are well equipped spiritually for the efforts they willingly put in each day,there are many financial burdens that can be alleviated by all of us to help this Order reach out to more and more of Jamaica's sick, frail and forgotten of all ages. This mission trip opened my eyes and my heart more than I can fathom. I truly look at the poor and homeless within my own city with a much more sympathetic eye. Moving on to my topic. W...

I found a clever way to take the 1/2 hour show and split it into snippets that I could post every once in a while. There are some select segments of the show that are funnier (at least to me) than other segments...so, since this is my blog, I get to choose what to show. This first one offers some insight into the tragedy and curse that is Jar-Jar. Enjoy!!