So it seems Bush is urging the Iraqis to pass an amendment banning gay marriage. In a private meeting with Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum, President Bush urged the Iraqi Governing Council president to amend the recently ratified Iraqi constitution to protect the sanctity of heterosexual marriage. "The Iraqi constitution, signed just a few short weeks ago, will usher in a new era of democratic freedom in Iraq," Bush said. "But there are some unlawful and unholy acts that the constitution's original drafters could not have possibly intended to protect." Bush then told al-Ulloum he must act quickly and decisively to preserve his country's most sacred tradition.

And I must not forget, Happy Birthday to Ray and Happy Birthday to Kaleb. And yea, I stole it from The Onion. April Fools, as if you didn't know.

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Last night I sat up in bed-
Rick: Hey hey hey hey hey hey!
Duncan: What?
Rick: Did you bring the chocolate recipe home?
Duncan: What chocolate recipe?
Rick: You were supposed to bring a chocolate recipe home with you!
Duncan: You're dreaming, go back to bed.
Rick: OK.

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Since 1954, Nipper The Dog has graced the top of the former RCA building on Broadway. The victrola was taken down many years ago but the current owners continue to maintain the four ton Nipper.

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I've known my best friend Ray for more than twenty years. Today, right about now, he is under going surgery getting his gallbladder removed so my thoughts are with him. Last week when I was talking to him, he told me that his sister was moving up here with her husband to help open a restaurant for the owner of the restaurant where they work now in Greensboro. There just aren't a lot of Mexican restaurants here so it was quite easy to figure out that it would be a second location of the one we frequent quite often. We knew the guy was from Greensboro but didn't know Rays' sister worked there. We dropped by last weekend and met up with Ray's sister who is suffering from serious culture shock but seemed to be having a good time.

My battery made it all winter with temps going below minus 12 for several days and almost a month with out getting out of the 30's. Yesterday it died.

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As far as I know, I'd never taken an IQ test before so when someone sent me one, I decided to do just that. I printed it out, abided by all the rules and the time limit and sat down and went at it. It was 60 questions in 45 minutes. The time went rather quickly. When all was done, I scored 132. Thinking that seemed too high, I found another rather quick test online and scored 159. Knowing that couldn't be right, I found yet another quickie online test and scored 116. I decided to stop after that. I'm not sure what any of this means, but I have now taken an IQ test.

Ray was supposed to come home from the hospital today but due to some very slight complications, his doctor held him another day. He is looking fine now and should come home tomorrow.

DS9 in on SpikeTV and I am HAPPY!

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Last night, again, I sat up in bed-
There was an electrical cord lying on the bed shocking me. I ripped off all the covers on my side. I sat there for several seconds to realize there was no cord. Duncan never moved. Kaleb never moved. I went to the bathroom and went back to bed.

I usually sleep like a rock. I don't have to wake up to pee during the night and I sleep through most disturbances. I peed in the bed until I was eight years old and never woke up once while doing it. I never remember, not once, my mom getting mad at me for doing it. I can only imagine some poor kids getting their asses whipped every day for doing it. She would simply come in and pull off the sheets and wash them every day. There was some sort of plastic liner on the bed. One day, I was introduced to the Wee-Alert. Twenty-one days later, It was gone. I never peed in the bed again. Under the sheet was a piece of very heavy foil. On top of that was a layer of paper, and on top of that, another piece of heavy foil with small holes in it. Connected to each piece of foil were two small clips (like very small battery cables) and the wires ran to the unit. When the pee ran through the holes in the top piece of foil, it wet the paper and made an electrical connection between the two pieces of foil which then set off a very loud buzzer. I woke up. There was no shocking involved contrary to what my brother told me. He had me scared shitless because he told me they connected the clips to my wee-wee and it shocked me when I peed. Asshole. I stopped peeing in five days and the Wee-Alert was gone in 21 days. Not only did I not pee in the bed, I didn't have to wake up to pee at all. It seems the wee-alert is no longer around but the new version has a sensor connected to the underwear which is connected to a vibrator on the shoulder that goes off on the first drop.

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Yea, it's kinda funny that one of the main stories this week was the opening of the new Subway in downtown Schenectady. What's even funnier is the fact it's covered in The Miami Herald.

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My next door neighbor's plan today was to have an Easter Egg Hunt. He went out early and hid all the eggs for the kids to find. Unfortunately, squirrels like Easter Eggs too. This may seem like common sense but these weren't boiled eggs. They were plastic eggs filled with money and treats. They carried them off to the neighbors' yards and buried them in the ground. I told you they were relentless.

I still love Bobby Hill.

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Kaleb spent the day at the vet ...again... I took her back Tuesday because her leg was still bothering her and her hair still seems to be falling out. Today, he did a hip x-ray to confirm arthritis and a skin biopsy to see what's going on with that. Already, since Tuesday when he gave her something for her hip, she's started jumping on the couch and bed by herself again. Gotta wait about a week for the results from the biopsy.

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I agree with the assumption that kids from diversified schools have a better appreciation for people who are different from themselves. TV is a lot more diverse than it used to be and there are a lot more ways to pick up information these days, but there's no replacing real life experiences.

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About a month or two ago, the city took down a traffic light not far from the house. Today, I noticed them putting it back up.

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Today was my first time on my bike this year. I'm not as out of shape as I thought I was but that's not saying much. I rode part of the bike trail along the old Erie Canal. The bike path served as the tow path where the mules walked as they pulled the barges toward Buffalo. The old canal, (now they use The Mohawk River for boat travel) is still intact in some areas and very isolated and quiet. As I rode along the old tow path I imagined how it must have been 150 years ago as men drove the barges from Buffalo to New York City. Food and building supplies and anything else that today would be carried by trucks and trains. These men were probably away from home for long periods of time because it was a slow trip. They probably met all kinds of freaks along the way, much like a truck stop today. The Erie Canal was completed in 1825 and closed about 100 years later when rails became the dominate way to transport goods and locks were installed along The Mohawk River to handle boat traffic. I also saw a mom with her two kids having a picnic. I want to go on a picnic.

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As I sit on the back porch now, I notice what was covered with snow not long ago is now covered with flowers. What was swampy and dirty not long ago is now green. Trees with only sticks and branches possess blooms with leaves waiting to emerge and birds are feeding after a long brutal winter. Kaleb is sitting on the neighbor's patio waiting for someone to come out with some treats. She'll get what she wants several times over.

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I was out in the backyard today taking the top off the Jeep when my neighbor from behind called me over. She had received a poem called Desiderata from the lady who lived in our house for more than 50 years before us and made a copy for us to have because she thought it belonged with the house. It's quite beautiful actually. Our copy is dated Baltimore 1692, but after some research, I found out it was not penned until the early 1900's. I'll just keep that fact from my neighbor in the back.

I just got a call from Duncan, he and his sister just drove across The Hoover Dam. He's out of town on business.

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Vermont is a beautiful state. We've spent a couple of days there the last week exploring and such. There are a hundred or more covered bridges that date back more than a hundred years so we set out to find some. Here's some pictures. Duncan is back from Las Vegas and he brought his sister back so she's here for the week. She's been my exploring partner this week. And since I haven't updated in a while, Kaleb is doing well on her arthritis medicine seeing she's started jumping and running almost like she used too. We finally figured out what was wrong with her skin. She developed some sort of bacterial infection so she's on antibiotics which seem to be doing the trick. It's been a long winter for her.

The yard is starting to look like spring again. I cut the grass yesterday and planted my birthday flowers and generally set it up for some good back porch sittin'. I remember my dad used to love to sit outside and read when I was a kid. He still does today. I used to wonder why the hell he did that when he could be inside watching TV. It's strange how things come around. I love to sit on the back porch and read and watch the birds and squirrels and whatever else is gong on out there. It's kind of an escape I guess.

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