Morning, Sunshine

The beeest paaart of waaaakin' up, is Iraqi in your cup living room.

Snow everywhere

Here are a few pics from our walk this morning.

2010.1.blizzard

John Murtha

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9DO6O4G0&show_article=1

Since the death of John Murtha I've received a flurry of emails essentially saying, "Good riddance."

I think this is a little harsh.

Of course, many smart people have effectively argued that Murtha's comments on foreign policy and individual soldier/Marine actions may have been hurtful and detrimental to our military efforts. I don't necessarily disagree or agree with this analysis, but I do think the focus on Murtha's comments as a free-speech-loving civilian miss out on the big picture. I mean, the guy served in Vietnam, received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts (not to mention his family has a lineage of military service). He also served as a successful and distinguished Member of Congress. Despite some possible imperfections in Murtha thoughts/decisions over the years, I think his actions embody the famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

It seems to me like people are nitpicking the record of an imperfect man (I mean who the hell is perfect?) at the expense of recognizing his service to the country as both a warrior and as a government official. How many people were moving to Canada, trying to get college waivers, cutting their pinky toes off, and gaining excess weight so they could dodge the Vietnam War? At the very least you gotta respect a guy who at least "got in the ring." The guy's dead, the least we can do is honor his service and let the guy rest in peace. Sheesh!

I say Semper Fidelis to Mr. Murtha, and I'd do the same for all the imperfect Marines out there who bite the dust (yes, I'm brainwashed. Sorry.)

My Driver...

I was doing a job interview with the University of Washington last week and ran across a nutty character. My driver on the way to the airport happened to be an up-and-coming country music star. I bought a CD off him and had him sign it...his name...
Johnny Walker...
Here's his first mega hit. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc6HnITjJh8

Sarah Palin visits Cottonwood, CA

Well, not really...but my wife took hold of a Remington 870 shotgun with authority. Let's call her the smart version of Sarah Palin. Oohrah!

From 2009.AliceChristmas

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/nrKETwc8Gkk2TXoC-uQgDQ?feat=directlink


Here's a link to the rest of the pictures from our Christmas Vacation
http://picasaweb.google.com/gray56508/2009AliceChristmas#

New Crossfit exercise--Wife Turkish Getup

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitParkCity_SpealWifeyGetup.wmv

I wonder if Katie will let me try this. Even if she declines, I know Alice will be game :)

Grease gone mad

Last week the neighborhood pizza joint dumped a tub of grease into the sewer (or that's what the city thinks after they found a 40lb ball of grease gumming up the system). Suffice to say, the grease ball backed up the sewage pipes around our neighborhood. Everyone on the block woke up to the fresh aroma of terd water and basements filled with sewer water. Luckily, we only had an inch of so, while the rest of the block had 6"+.

Despite the chaos, I actually had fun because I got a few new toys: a sump pump, a dehumidifier, and an opportunity to clean our our basement...which means I can FINALLY redo the concrete down there so it doesn't look like we have a fault line running through our basement.

here are some pics from the episode:

From 2009.11.month_7

Katie's kitchen stuff was saved...barely

From 2009.11.month_7

Having the various extension cords and power in the water was probably not a good idea...got electrocuted a few times...but it was still fun watching the sump pump work its magic!

From 2009.11.month_7

and as usual, Alice was having fun regardless of the circumstances...

From 2009.month7

Quasi moto speech

ht Aaron S.

Why are the Republicans parading around clowns like Sarah Palin when there are up and comers like Allen West...fix bayonets. ha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP2p91dvm6M

The tiger was on the prowl...

ht Henry B.

We must all ask the question: Why is it surprising that Tiger Woods is a player? Let's see, millions of dollars, suave dresser, professional athlete, supermodel wife, hangs out with all the stars...
don't hate the playa, hate the game. I just wish people would stop bugging about this so I can see him back on the course!!!!!!!!!! ha!

Hardest. Workout. Ever.

I'm not sure what was going on today, but the "Linda" Crossfit workout is the toughest workout I've ever done. I used 225lb for deadlift, 70lb dumbbells for bench, and 115lb for power clean...sheesh.
http://www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/004868.html