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I must divert from the chronological order and talk about what we did this evening.



Avert your eyes if you don't want a partisan political message.





Dave came home from school yesterday and said that he heard that former President Bill Clinton was going to be at the area High School on Friday. He was very excited and asked if we could PLEASE go. Dave rarely gets things straight so we took it with a grain of salt. At band practice one of my fellow trombonists works for the school district. She told me that, indeed, President Clinton was holding a campaign appearance at the High School for Hillary.



This morning I did some searching on the internet and found the details about the appearance. So we decided we would try to make it. I got off a bit early from work and we headed over to the high school at around 6:00 pm for what was supposed to be a 7:15 appearance.



Well, the previous campaign appearance ran late and he didn't arrive until about 8:40. A local County Commisioner and our Congresswoman spoke first and introduced President Clinton.



I must say that up until this week I have not been able to decide who I was going to vote for in the Pennsylvania Primary next week. I think Barak Obama is very personable, and does have some merit. I also think a black President might go a long way towards mending the racial divide in our country. Hillary Clinto seems to be a more confident speaker and better able to "think on her feet". She has been bashed so many times that she can let the shots roll off and keep fighting back. Obama seems more upset when he is attacked politically.



I was a big supporter of Bill Clinton when he was in office. Sure, his moral behavior left something to be desired, but I think he ran the country well. I made more REAL money each year under his leadership, I was able to afford new cars, gas to put in those cars, a new house and felt safe. Under G.W. Bush I have old cars, and can't afford a new one, lost my job as production at the company I worked for was shipped off to China, lost my house as a result of being out of work, and it now costs me $45.00 fpr a tank of gas!



Mr. Clinton is a VERY eloquent speaker. He was down to earth, personable and was able to bring the crowd together. After hearing his explainations of Hillary's policies (which I had all ready read about on her web site), I left there with the knowledge that I will vote for Senator Clinton next Tuesday. Both Gina and I also both decided to volunteer to help her campaign over the next several days.

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Elemental
03:49 Apr 19 2008

Personally, I would vote for Hillary over Obama. EVERY time.

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meeper
04:25 Apr 19 2008

By just looking at policy alone, I'd choose Hillary everytime. Obama maybe able to reach out to blacks much better than Clinton, but we need a president who has in roads in all communities.

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Vampirewitch39
00:47 Apr 24 2008

Yeah for Hillary!! She is a woman who knows what life is, who is able to think on her feet. Of the two- she is the one I will back.

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KCRC
02:46 Apr 24 2008

She won the Commonwealth and our County, so I'm glad I did my part.



Bill Clinton was the second President I have seen in person. The other was Richard Nixon, when I was in 6th grade. Of the two, I am more pleased to have seen Clinton!

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We had to be at church by 8:00AM Sunday for Dave's confirmation, as the kids decided to be received at both servives. It was quite a rush in the morning, as Allie and Chrissy were home as well as Allie's boyfriend Zack. 6 people, 1 shower - NOT fun!



The first service went really well. This is our "contemporary" service and is much less formal than the later service. The leaders had shot some video clips of all of the confirmands and interspersed it thoughout the service. They interviewed the kids and used their video taped answers to introduce each aspect of the service. David and one of the others explained what confession and pardon of sins meant to them and it was shown just befor ethe prayer of confession and assurance of pardon.



After the first service the confirmands, their mentors and their families had a breakfast in the fellowship hall. There were some awesome dishes as well as donuts, cakes, danish, muffins, fruit etc. MMMM.After breakfast it was time to get ready for the second service.



I went off to choir warm-up and got my rome and stole on. Gina decided not to sing as she had a runny nose and cough. so she sat with the girls and Zack. The service seemed particularly long, as I had heard the sermon at the first service, add to that the fact that the choir sang the prelude and not an anthem plus the A/C for the chancel had not been turned on so we were sweating like crazy...and the service took FOREVER!



After service came the time for cake! We had a reception for all the confirmands and had 2 cakes, one white cake with strawberry filling and white buttercream icing and one chocolate cake with raspberry filing and chocolate buttercream icing. They were quite tasty.



We had to bolt out of church in order to make it to Dave's "Confirmation gift", a Phillies game. We drove down to North Philly to the "Fern Rock Transportation Center". This neighborhood is where a Philadelphia police officer was shot dead as he checked in on a Dunkin Donut shop as it was being held up last year! We got on the subway and rode down to the sport complex.



The Phillies had a give away going that day for kids 14 and under, a 2007 N L East Chanpionship Hat. Dave got a hat, and the guy at the gate looked at Chrissy and decided she was under 14, so he gave her a hat too! (She's 21!) We got to our seats and started to enjoy the game. In the 4th inning Dave and I were getting hungery so we headed off to the concessions. We decided to visit "Tony Luke's" I got a Roast Pork sandwich with Provolone cheese and Dave got a Cheesesteak "Wiz, Wit".



The game ended up going into extra innings, as Tom "Flash" Gordon one of the relief pitchers (with a 10.76 ERA) blew another save and let the Cubs tie the game. The Phils managed to loose the game in the 10th on a throwing error. Grrr.



We managed to get an express train back from the sport complex, our cars were still in the lot at Fern Rock and we got home in good order.



It was a busy but nice day....But Monday was but hours away!

COMMENTS

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Nightgame
21:13 Apr 18 2008

*day of rest* Oh goodness but it was good to have that time with your kids I'm sure. :)

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Vampirewitch39
22:04 Apr 18 2008

Fine- family stuff and all. But this weekend- you and Mrs Bull on the couch, resting and healing up.



:)

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Vampirewitch39
22:05 Apr 18 2008

Of course you could stay in bed and rest.. or not rest. *wink wink* O.O What am I saying? *rubs eyes as I run away* No... can't think of the Bull doing that... EWWWW!

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A busy weekend and a crappy start to the week!



I'll start with the first half of the weekend. That should provide enough entertainment for y'all until I have some more time to be on VR again.



I took the afternoon off work so I could get ready for the camping trip. First U had to go to Costco and buy two cakes for church on Sunday...Brought them home and got them into the fridge until Sunday morning.



I had to go explore in the garage for our sleeping bags, sleeping mats, folding camp chairs etc. Then I had to find my back pack, Dave's duffle bag, our mess kits, flash lights (then go buy batteries), pack up clothes, medicine and all the other stuff and got the car loaded up.



Next I cooked dinner....Pork BBQ, Cole Slaw and french fries. After dinner Dave and I headed over to the scout cabin. We got there at 6:30...realizing that the "leave time" was scheduled for 6:30. Of course, I was the first leader there and the new scouts and their parents were nervously huddled in the parking lot. I explained to them that the Scout Master and Assistant Scout Master of Troop 141 are ALWAYS at least 15 min. late!



Eventually everyone arrived, we packed up the trailer and hit the road. It was about a 2 hour drive and it didn't start raining until an hour into the trip. We arrived at the State park and just as we did the rain tappered off to a drizzle. As we entered the park we saw a big sign "THIS IS BEAR COUNTRY". Yeah! We signed in and got our paperwork and a lecture on how to keep safe from bears. We got to our site and started setting up. The three adults set up the big canopy for our common area, stoves, lanterns tables etc. We tasked the 9 kids to set up all of the tents. They had 3 tents up by the time we were finished , so we had to step in and help the older scouts get the younger ones in line and focused on putting up the tents. We finnaly got done setting up just as the steady rain started back up. We had a quick snack and all headed off to bed.



I think I fell asleep around 4:00 AM. The damned rain was SO loud on the tent that I could not sleep. Then the floor of the tent started leakin and the bottom of my sleeping bed, and then my feet, got soaked. Luckily nothing else did. I ALMOST fell asleep around 2:30 but I was jolted up by a huge flash of lightning and a massive thunder clap.



Around 5:45AM the younger scouts woke up and decided to have a loud fight right outside my tent. So I woke up! I started the stove and made some coffee so I could wake up. The kids wanted to know what was for breakfast, but I wasn't in charge of that and told them they would have to wait until "Mr. C" the Assistant Scout Master, woke up. I also told them if THEY woke him up, they would have to wait until lunch to eat!



At about 7:30 the other two adults got up and breakfast was started. The day was turning out to be sunny and warm. By about 8:30 the older scouts woke up and we all ate breakfast. During breakfast the kids said they were sure they heard a bear the night before. I told them they were immagining things. Then I went to get something out of my car and there was a HUGE muddy paw print on the door of my car! I sure am glad I didn't get eaten by a bear!



The rest of the day was dedicated to the younger kids learning knife skills and the older guys gathering, cutting and splitting fire wood. I made lunch, Hamburgers, Bratwurst, sausage patties, chips, fruit and raw vegatables. After lunch we took a hike to the "boulder field" at this park. This was about a 5 acre area of huge boulders. This was left here by a glacier 20,000 years ago. We explored the field and then returned to camp. While Mr. C prepared dinner, I got the honor (since I have a fishing liscense with a trout stamp) to go fishing with the kids. I got to untangle lines, put hooks on lines, pull hooks out of fingers and gennerally had a hell of a big time!



Finally dinner was ready! We had salad, corn bread, venison stew and Apple - pineapple crisp. We showed the younger scouts the proper way to start a camp fire. By that time it was past time for Dave and I to head home, so that we could be up "bright and early" for Dave's confirmation on Sunday.



We ended up getting home and going directly to bed at 10:30.



I'll let you know about the rest of the weekend tommorow!

COMMENTS

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Elemental
02:58 Apr 17 2008

Sounds like good horrible fun with your son!! Good memories for the future....after rest and recuperation. :)

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sahahria
03:04 Apr 17 2008

YAY so glad you're back :D

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BubbleGumClaudia
03:30 Apr 17 2008

Scout Master KCRC!!!! Help Me Untangle My LINE!!

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Sinora
10:25 Apr 17 2008

Some people get all the good times *sighs* lol

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artemka
14:14 Apr 17 2008

I am not gonna say ... told ya so :D

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Vampirewitch39
21:36 Apr 17 2008

Sorry- I got lost after the two cakes. What kind did you buy?



*rat grins*

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Nightgame
01:54 Apr 18 2008

Sounds like an exhausting but very fun time. What type of cake was that? *cat smacks lips*

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Yeah...I get to go camping tonight and tommorow with my Son's scout troop. Not enough leaders were willing to go so I stepped up. It's supposed to thunderstorm all night where we are going. We have 5 new scouts who just crossed over from Cub Scouts who have never camped without Mom & Dad who are going.



Yeah!

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xxEmaeraldxx
22:04 Apr 11 2008

Hey K, Hope y'all have a great pow-wow! :)

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Sinora
22:32 Apr 11 2008

*Waits for next journal entry* lol

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sahahria
14:59 Apr 13 2008

Ooooo I hope you all had a blast... and I do NOT mean from the lightning ;)

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artemka
21:02 Apr 13 2008

Awesome



... you got snakes in the US right ? oh and the black widow spider, termites, fireants ... cougars, bears, wild boar ... poison ivy



Have a great time :D

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Joli
05:17 Apr 15 2008

God, I remember being 9 mos. pregnant and doing the scout camp out with my son. It smelled like I was sleeping inside a sneaker. Good times.

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On the news tonight a story came on regarding the attempted theift of copper wire. The price of copper has skyrocketed and people are stealing copper gutters and downspouts, wireing from houses under construction, etc.



Well this winner took a sawz-all to a power line that was live with 5,000 Volts of elecricity. As soon as the saw hit the wire the guy was shocked so severely that he burst into flames.



Amazingly he did not die, but is in the major burn unit in the Philadelphia area.



Here's one for the Darwin Awards for sure.

COMMENTS

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Vampirewitch39
13:49 Apr 07 2008

Please... they been doing that for years here. And just how stupid can you be?

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Joli
21:55 Apr 09 2008

I swear, I would donate MONEY to the "Support Natural Selection in Humans" organization.

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I used to drive by this one house on my way about town. In the spring time there were very colorful rhododendrons and azaleas on the side yard, but they always looked like they really were not maintained very well.



Now I LIVE in that house. The reason everything looked so bad is that the fools who previously lived here planted Ivy around a tree at the corner of the house. They then let it just go and grow wherever it wanted.



Today Gina, Dave and I spent 3 hours pulling up Ivy. We filled 5 huge garden bags with it, and we are barely half done. At least the shrubs will look better when they bloom next month, and after that I can prune them back and make them healthier for next spring.



Ivy is one of the most aggressivly invasive plants. Don't plant it if you are not willing to keep vigilant control of it's spread. The only thing I've seen that's a bigger pain in the ass is Kudzu. That stuff is bad news.

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artemka
20:40 Apr 05 2008

Couldn't you have just dipped the end of some of the leaves in jars of weedkiller, and watch it drink itself to death, crumble away and become nutritious and delicious food to other plants - while you sat inside and drank beer watching TV ?

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Last night Gina, David and I went to the wake for his friend's Dad. He was the Police Detective who took his own life a week ago.



It was such a sad occasion and I felt aweful for the family. Every police officer and fireman from a 30 mile radius was there to pay their respects. We waitied in line for an hour and 45 min before we got to the family to express our sympathy. The parents of he deceased were there with his widow. David's friend's Grandfather gave David (whom he had never met) a huge hug and thanked him for being there, then he told hi "Please watch out for Jimmy. He's going to need a lot of help from his friends". I was so proud of david as he just said "Yes sir, and I am so sorry about Sgt. Pifier".



The worst part of the whole thing is that I was right there 2 and a half years ago. Right up until the gun fired and took his life. I KNOW what he was thinking, how much pain he had to be suffering from, not realizing how many people would care for him, help him, LOVE him, if he just asked. The difference is only that he had a well maintained modern police weapon and I had an 80 year old poorly maintained handgun. So here I am, alive and happy, enjoying seeing my son growing up, looking forward to my daughter graduating from college next month, being with my wife and sharing our lives. He was burried 6 feet beneath the ground today. His wife now has no husband, his children no father and his parents are missing their son.



Very sad indeed.



RIP Det. Sgt. James Pifer III

COMMENTS

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Vampirewitch39
07:33 Apr 04 2008

*sends a blessing out to Sgt. Pifer family.. and one out to the Gods that kept you safe in the darker times*

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Nightgame
14:17 Apr 04 2008

I too am very thankful that you are still with us all. I'm afraid I've seen too much of this as it's a major problem in law enforcement. I hurt for this officer and his family for the loss of one is an injury to the whole body of police. Hug David for being a great friend and a good person for understanding his friend's pain.

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BubbleGumClaudia
16:04 Apr 04 2008

It is very sad that someone takes their own life....



Im very glad you are still with us.....



Ive known a great many people who have lost friends from taking their own lives...



*sends prayers your way*

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Sinora
18:22 Apr 04 2008

Thinking of you.

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RedQueen
22:26 Apr 04 2008

I'm sorry sugar- I know this is hard, but you know what? Just reading your story made me proud to know you, because in knowing you, I know how much of a great person your son is, and that when he said he would take care of his friend, he WOULD. And I know he is just like you...

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