Where I work, they have raffles from time to time to raise money for the Juvenille diabetis research foundation.
I walked out in the atrium where they lay out the goodies that you can win, and the tables were stocked full of piles of sh-tuff. You pick a table of goodies that you want and buy tickets to put in the bag on each table. They will draw winning tickets after lunch.

This is all fine, but the problem is that some of the tables had so much stuff on them that I would need to rent a U-Haul to get it home!! Take the bedding table for instance. Even if I were a lot less masculine and could feel comfortable sleeping in a pastel fuscia bed, I still could not win that prize because my vehicle would not hold it all! They have the entire ensemble: sheets, pillow cases, pillow shams, bed skirts, comfoters, throw pillows, a frilly piece of cloth, two round disks of the same cloth, a few other things that I did not know what they were, a shower rod, a cloth to hang from the shower rod, a blanket two crystal candle holders, and a pair of candles the same color as the stuff.

Who exactly has the time to make a bed with al of that junk on it in the morning? Matching candles? WTF? All of the tables were like this. One of them had no less than a dozen ceramic turtles, that I would need to leave in the yard, because I have no room in my house large enough for them to fit comfortably. Another had a centerpeice the size of my entire table and six smaller versions of the same.

One prize was a big stuffed chair thing that rocks and has audio inputs on the arm to feed the speakers in the head rest. That one would fit in my car if I folded the seats down, but where would I put it once I got it home? In the end, I made a donation and gave my tickets to an associate, who said he wanted to win the bedding for his mother-in-law, in order to stuff her room as full as she tries to stuff his with junk. I liked his reasoning so I doubled his chances to win!

I think I can handle that!

See my Role Model, no wait my Dad is my Role Model...well then my Hero...nope Dad again...sigh. Ok so my favorite hockey player of all time is Mario Lemieux (my Dad can not skate ), and he just signed a lease to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh for 30 years! So that gives me a long time to get myself and a kid or two, or more, up to Pittsburgh to see a game. Before I left PA, I was going to an average of fifteen or twenty games per season. I was going to Pitt University which is only a few miles from the Arena. Add that to the fact that they used to sell you the best available seat in the house for $15 if you showed your college ID, and you can see how I found it easy to make it from my late class, down to the Arena.

What is not so easy is explaining how class ends at 8:30 and I made it to the game before the 7:30 faceoff to my Mother. She was too smart to buy that in my physics class we were working on time travel. She also never would have believed that they delayed the start of the game to give me a little more time to get there. Maybe that is why I never tried those excuses. Oh yeah, that is right, I never said a word and just hoped my Dad never saw me on TV at the game. It could have been worse, I could have skipped all my classes, never graduated, and ... oh wait, heh.

With the onset of Spring in the next few weeks, I thought it was time to write down my goals. Then in the middle of summer I can say heh guess I should start thinking about cut those weeds down...nah it is too late now!

I need a machete...I could get a gas weedeater with a metal blade, but I just know the neighbors would rather see me use a machete on the weeds that are taking over the hillside. Also, if I fall down the hillside with a power tool, I am far more likely to hurt myself than if I am holding a machete...or not.

1. I want to cut down the dead weeds before they turn green in the Spring and are much harder to deal with.

2. I want (need) to finish the doors under the kitchen bench.

3. I want to organize my old computer parts in the file cabinet..possibly even selling some/giving some away.

4. I want to get my audio equipment set up so that I can play my guitar and record it to my computer.

5. I want to get myself setup and motivated to paint some of my miniatures a night or two a week.

6. I want to write again, possibly another night or two a week.

7. I want more nights a week, so that I can also play poker a few nights, watch a movie on a night, play board games on a night, etc.

8. I want to sell some old comic books, but I am going to wait until the Spiderman movie comes out to drive up interest, as most of my comics are Spiderman.