Hour Long Ride

Justin and I got up at 5:10 am to being a trek over to the flea market. It is just over on highway #1 in West Columbia, so the ride through town at this pre-dawn hour should take about 20 minutes.

We load up and roll out the driveway at 5:27. We arrive at the flea market at 7:04.

When about halfway there we were stopped at the red-light where Huger & Gervais cross.

Wham! Did someone just hit us? Yes. My first concern was all the stuff we had in the back of the truck. Damage did not seem too bad. The trailor hitch was crunched in and the bumper may be a little bent. Justin went to call the cops and I talked to the chick behind the wheel. I guess she was about my age, but the guy in the passenger seat looked close to 40. It was odd. They were both fumbling around with cash. I told her that Justin was calling the police and tht while the damage did not seem that bad we could not afford to have something major be wrong. She kept talking about 'I'll pay for it - my step-dad will give you a good estimate." That was not jiving with me. I could tell she was irritated.

So, I went to go get back in the car and see what was going on. It took forever for the cops to get there, and as the minutes went on the girl kept getting louder and louder. When the cops finally arrived I heard her ask - "I don't even know how I hit them." I think it is obvious honey. They took our info and let us know a shift change was going on and that a new guy was on the way to actually write-up the incident. It was a few minutes before he got there and she was getting louder still. Maybe not in volume but in frequency. Then we heard the cop ask, "Maam, how much have you had to drink." Oh snap! Turn out that was not the case.

It felt like 5 days later when the incident was written up and we were free to go. The flea market as pretty successful. We made about $200 and were left with some piddy stuff that had been to the flea market 15 times I think. So we hauled everything to HIS House (like Salvation Army) and made a donation.

While there we also took a look around and found a nice Kohler sink just like the one I want. There was no rust or cracks so we asked how much it was. I told Justin that if it was under a $100 we should get it without a doubt. I asked the price and the guy told me $20. TWENTY DOLLAR?? Sold! I exclaimed. I could't believe it. The sink retails for something like $450.

After the flea market and such Ben came over and we watched the draft. It was a good day all in all.

I am up early this morning having but a boston butt in the over for lunch. Mom & Dad are coming up to help us fix some of the stuff found on the home inspection for the sale of the house. We are also going to do a final review on the pricing and plans for the new house. I am much looking forward to it.

I better go - gotta hop in the shower and do some laundry.

See?

Spanish 'Star-Spangled Banner' Draws Ire

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 24 minutes ago

MIAMI - British music producer Adam Kidron says that when he came up with the idea of a Spanish-language version of the U.S. national anthem, he saw it as an ode to the millions of immigrants seeking a better life.
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But in the week since Kidron announced the song — which features artists such as Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Tanon — it has been the target of a fierce backlash.

Some Internet bloggers and others are infuriated by the thought of "The Star-Spangled Banner" sung in a language other than English.

"Would the French accept people singing the La Marseillaise in English as a sign of French patriotism? Of course not," said Mark Krikorian, head of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports tighter immigration controls.

The initial version of "Nuestro Himno," or "Our Anthem," comes out Friday and uses lyrics based closely on the English-language original, said Kidron, who heads the record label Urban Box Office.

Pro-immigration protests are planned around the country for Monday, and the record label is urging Hispanic radio stations nationwide to play the cut at 7 p.m. EDT Friday in a sign of solidarity.

A remix to be released in June will contain several lines in English that condemn U.S. immigration laws. Among them: "These kids have no parents, cause all of these mean laws ... let's not start a war with all these hard workers, they can't help where they were born."

Bryanna Bevens of Hanford, Calif., who writes for the immigration-focused Web magazine Vdare.com, said the remix particularly upset her.

"It's very whiny. If you want to say all those things, by all means, put them on your poster board, but don't put them on the national anthem," she said.

Kidron, a U.S. resident for 16 years, maintains the changes are fitting. After all, he notes, American immigrants borrowed the melody of the "Star Spangled Banner" from an English drinking song.

"There's no attempt to usurp anything. The intent is to communicate," Kidron said. "I wanted to show my thanks to these people who buy my records and listen to the music we release and do the jobs I don't want to do."

Kidron said the song also will be featured on the album "Somos Americanos," which will sell for $10, with $1 going to the National Capital Immigration Coalition, a Washington group.

James Gardner, an associate director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, said Americans have long enjoyed different interpretations of the Star Spangled Banner, including country or gospel arrangements.

"There are a number of renditions that people aren't happy with, but that's part of it — that it means enough for people to try to sing," he said.

Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Perez, said this country was built by immigrants, and "the meaning of the American dream is in that record: struggle, freedom, opportunity, everything they are trying to shut down on us."

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Associated Press writer Suzette Laboy in Miami contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

Song history by National Museum of American History:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/ssb/6_thestory/6b_osay/fs6b.html

Yea! Finals!

Justin and I fought through a torrental downpour to get the final plans on the house yesterday. When we arrived they were still being printed so we had to wait what felt like an eternity. I am pleased that everything is taken care of!

Big Moment
Justin and I drove the truck through the wooded portion of the driveway yesterday for the first time. Yesterday morning a nice man named Frank (that kind of reminded me of my Dad) came and took out all the stumps. We originally planned for him to only take out about 20 - 25 larger stumps and Justin was going to do the rest on the tractor. Well - he took out about 60 of them, and we dont have to do a thing!! :-)

Awaiting Approval
Now that the plans are all taken care of we are sending everything into underwriting for the loan. Please, Please, Please - let this come through quickly and favorably!

Awaiting the Fixes
The home inspection was yesterday. I know the guy found something. Home Inspectors always do. It is only a matter of time until we know how much Justin and I have to shell out to fix whatever it is. My bet is that they will have us replace part of the railing on the back deck (it is kind of warped). Who knows what else there might be that we don't know about. I have also scheduled the Termite & HVAC Letters for the end of next week.

Going to Mt. Pleasant / Walterboro
Lori is having orthoscopic surgery on her knees today. Jeremy had to go to GA for work so Justin and I are going to pick her up from the hospital and carry her home. After driving from Columbia to Greenwood & back on Monday and then from Columbia to Florence & back on Monday evening I am not looking forward to being in the car all afternoon. I hope the rain clears up. Knee surgery is not fun in any way - I hate Lori is having to go thru this. Bad part is that if there is orthoscopic, then there will be worse survery later more likely. ewww...

From Dad
Dad sent me a forward - I happen to agree with it!

This is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a
Tampa, FL Newspaper. Note, I have edited for grammar and punctuation - that does not imply it is all correct or that any of the spelling is proper.

IMMIGRANTS & NON-AMERICANS MUST ADAPT.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge
in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However...... the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about
the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.

This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans...... we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan.. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women.......on Christian principles.............founded this nation..... and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.
If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as
your new home.........because God is part of our culture.

If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.

This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so! But once you are done complaining....... whining...... and griping....... about our flag.......our pledge...... our national motto........or our way of life....I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other Great American Freedom.......

THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

So, it may be a bit harsh but I think you get the point and I think it does a pretty good job of making things clear. I have often wondered what dramatic changes would occur durning my lifetime. For my grandmother it was the invention of conveniences like microwaves and TVs. For my mom it has been the emergency of the internet and mobile technology. For me and my peers it will not be a lifetime of advancement (which we ourselves have seen a great deal of). Our children will all be born on what I see to be the brink of deterioration. All the advancement has exploited natural resources and we are becoming the victims of our own success.

On one hand I am very fearful of moving out on our new land. The house we are building is so far from our final goals that if the economy breaks down we may never get there. Fortunately - if the economy does break down, we have 21 acres of land. We have the space to raise livestock, grown vegetables, refine bio-diesel, or whatever we may need. We will also be nearly 20 miles from work. But, I think that if the economy breaks that far my industry will be gone. People will always need to learn (my mom is a teacher), people will always need their homes repaired (my dad a contractor). The population will not always need high-end Web applications to optimize their business processes.

I could stand on this soap box for a good while longer, but I have work to do and while the economy can handle it I better do it.

Plans Plans Plans

I am notorious for planing. Justin hates how much I plan. I will be one of the people that plans my funeral in advance just so I know what goes on. It seems however that I must not convey my plans very well because Southland delivered butchered prelim plans to us on Monday. Oh my gosh it was terrible.

I was excited Monday afternoon to find out that the prelims were ready on the house. I knew there would have to be changes due to our crazy 2 bedroom requrirement, but that would only involve putting up some extra walls. The Southland office is not .25 miles from a Fatz Cafe. Justina and I headed there to review the plans and celebrate. Well, we got our glasses os Sweet Tea and opened the giant booklet of drawings. "Wow, thats the wrong shape," I said. Justin agreed. It was not the right shape at all. He responded with, "I kind of like it though." The garage door was all in the wrong place and everything was all skewed. We turned the page to see the drawing of the opposite side and saw the same problem - duh. The next page is where the real screw-ups began. The 1st floor had the stairs in the wrong spot and there was no bathroom. The next page, the loft, had a note saying that the bathroom could not be up there because there was not enough ceiling height.

I immediately called our guy at Southland. "Kevin," I said, "these plans are completely wrong. Can we meet this afternoon?" He was fortunately available to meet, so Justin and I left some dollars on the table for our waitress and bolted back to the Southland Office. Kevin was waiting for us and he agreed - "they screwed up."

So - we are pretty much back to square one. New prelim plans should be available on Monday at which time we will be rushing to approve them in order to get through underwriting for the financing and such. This has really thrown a wrench in the schedule. Evertything is contingent upon financing and financing is contingent upon the prelim plans. Every day we do not have prelims makes us one day further from getting approval. The # of days available to get the survey, building permits and the like are dwindling quickly.

The good thing is that Kevin is a really nice guy - I think he has our interests in mind. We will see how well the plans were conveyed to him once we get new prelims on Monday....

Country Kick Over?

For the past few years I have been on a big country music kick. It really turned into a habit. But recently i have found my desire for the country twang declining... Now, that does not mean I still don't like my australian hottie Keith Urban!

My affection for new Edwin McCain music is also at an all time low. His new album, Lost in America... I am not even going to talk about it. I refuse...

So - the replacement? Justin's EMO rock stuff or whatever it is called. He just dropped me a batch of mp3s today - some I requested - others I did not. One that I did request was Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, we're goin' down swining" With much of rock music on today understanding the lyrics is tough. In fact after the little incident I am about to describe I realized I was missing half of the words in this song.

Justin IMs me over to his desk - I scurry over. He hands me his ear phones and on one monitor I see what appears to be the intro page to a bad animation video for the Fall Out Boy (FOB) song just mentioned. On the other monutor a page with the lyrics for the song.

I immediately catch words I did not know and had horribly replaced with other things. This video really did a great job of emphasizing the terrible diction and annunciation that this song so clearly presents listers with. Thank you Andrew Mathas.

The Lyrics:

Am I more than you bargained for yet?
I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear
Cus that's just who i am this week
Lie in the grass next to the mausoleum
I'm just a notch in your bedpost but you're just a line in a song
Drop a heart and break a name
We're always sleeping in and sleeping for the wrong team

We're going down down in an earlier round
And sugar we're goin down swingin
I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded gun complex
Cock it and pull it x2

Is this more then you bargined for yet
Oh don't mind me. I'm watching you two from the closet
Wishing to be the friction in your jeans
Is'nt it messed up how i'm just dying to be him
I'm just a notch in your bedpost but you're just a line in a song
Drop a heart and break a name
We're always sleeping in and sleeping for the wrong team

We're going down down in an earlier round
And sugar we're goin down swingin
I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded gun complex cock it and pull it....

So - when you thought this good post was about over I have 1 more thing for you...
EASTER TURDUKEN. Heck yes!

Happy Easter

Justin and I dyed eggs today. It was fun. I also fixed some dang tasty chili for dinner. It cooked aaaalllllll day - from like noon to 9:00pm.

Going to be even more busy with us having to work on packing up the house. Prelim plans on the house where suppose to come in this past week, but they did not. Before financing gets worked out we have to have those in. The time is ticking...

I need to go to bed though.

Happy Easter!

Under Contract

We got a deal worked on the house.

109750 (asking price)
2000 closing
leave fridge
leave blinds
leave pot rack

Just signed the paperwork at 10am with Kim. :-) Going to be closing on May 18 if everything moves appropriately!

Got An Offer

Kim called - we have an offer on the house!! :-)

108500
2500 closing
leave fridge
leave blinds
leave pot rack
close by May 18

Can't wait to see what happens!

Good Call Justin

I thawed red fish to have for dinner tonight. It is enough for 2 meals. I wanted to make this brazilian recipe I found - Justin wanted to fry the fish. We compromised. Tonight fried - tomorrow Brazil.

I didnt think the Red Fish would fry well, but dang. Justin did a fab job. He used Panko bread crumbs and with the left over egg & breading I also fried up a few pieces of broccoli - yeah dawg (in my best Randy Jackson voice). We had it will sauteed broccoli and grits. Mucho tasty.

So, may props to you justin for your most rad seasoning of the fish. Good call bra.

Measuring Success

In order to feel successful I need to be able to measure how well I am doing. In school that was very easy - I either got good grades or I didn't. As a professional it is a little different. Yeah - I am told that I am doing a good job, or I might book a big contract, but it does not feel quite the same. I get enjoyment from feeling successful and last night something very scary happened...

The house is on the market - if you read my last post you know that. Because it is being shown we have to keep things neat and tidy - and if you know me - you know that...

Leslie : House Work :: Oil : Water

On to the scary part - I was cleaning up from dinner and when I got to the last pot I had a moment. Not 5 minutes previous there had been 3 dirty pans 2 plates & 2 salad bowls + utensils on the counter. Now the counter was clean... I felt a level of measured success because of house work. Weird.

This morning I churned out a contract for a prospective client, filed taxes, paid bills, responded to e-mails, answered messages, and made a blog post. It is only 9:12am. I feel good about that too...

Byee Shelia

A guy named Alan brought $2000 and left with Shelia... The back deck is empty now... Almost bittersweet, but not really. That $2000 will buy me 1500 feet of my 1800 ft driveway.

Brain Blogging

I would blog more if I could blog directly from my brain. You know, think my blog posts and they automatically are posted. With the flex schedule Justin and I are running (in the office ~7am - ~3pm) my day is full of work and in the afternoons we always have something going on. Honestly - if I had been blogging over the past few weeks these are the topics I would have covered...

- Our FANTASTIC trip to Niagara Falls (photos)

• The hotel was fab - it overlooked the falls and had a fireplace. The bed was sooo luxurious, Sheraton on the Falls


• It snowed one day!


• We saw Lord of the Rings the musical.


• We went to the Butterfly Conservatory - AMAZING!


• We visited Inniskillin and their sister winery Jackson Triggs - so in love with ice wine

- The pig pickin on the land... (photos)

• The pig was HUGE


• We could not have done it without Hoke


• Curba & Alan brought fab greens from Blue Marlin


• Scott & Lisa brought fantastic banana pudding


• A good time was had by all.

- The selection & purchase of logs to build the initial house on the land.

• We selected a custom plan from Southland Log Homes


• Rob is our rep - he is super nice


• We are using dovetail logs as opposed to round ones


• We are using wood colored wood & tin colored tin

- The stress and awfulness of building a home.

• Finding a surveyor - $5,000???


• Finding a plumber


• Dealing with the county


• Getting financing approval and being discriminated against


• Please someone just give me a loan so we can build it and be done with everything... gosh

- Putting our house on the market

• Using Justin's second cousin Kim Spell from Wood Realty.


• The Realtor.com posting is here


• We have already had several agents call to make sure it was OK to show the property.

- Going to Lake Lure

• Alex, from Palmetto Payroll, allowed Justin and I to go stay in his cabin free. All we had to do was take photos


• The cabin was GORGEOUS


• Ben & Amelia went with us


• We climbed Chimney Rock

- Meeting Sarge - Sarah Jane's baby bulldog

• Sarah Jane & Hannah brought Sarge over yesterday afternoon for a photo shoot on the front lawn.


• Mary & Hannah came over from next door to play


• Sarge & Gohan played well


• Vegeta did not like Sarge

That really summarizes it all. I will try and do better. There have ben more posts floating in my head I just have neglected to take the time to write them down.

Lata!