9-11-07

Rememberance to the 343 Firefighters that lost their lives and the 3,009 people who lives we gone in a tragic second:

Agnello, Joseph
Ahern, Brian
Allen, Eric
Allen, Richard
Amato, James
Anaya Jr., Calixto
Angelini Sr., Joseph
Angelini Jr., Joseph
Apostol Jr., Faustino
Arce, David
Arena, Louis
Asaro, Carl
Atlas, Gregg
Atwood, Gerald
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Barnes, Matthew
Baptiste, Gerald
Barbara, Gerard
Barry, Arthur
Bates, Steven
Bedigian, Carl
Belson, Stephen
Bergin, John
Beyer, Paul
Biefeld, Peter
Bilcher, Brian
Bini, Carl
Blackwell, Christopher
Bocchino, Michael
Bonomo, Frank
Box, Gary
Boyle, Michael
Bracken, Kevin
Brennan, Michael
Brennan, Peter
Brethel, Daniel
Brown, Patrick
Brunton, Vincent
Burke Jr., William
Brunn, Andrew
Bucca, Ronald
Buck, Greg
Burns, Donald
Burnside, John
Butler, Thomas
Byrne, Patrick
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Cain, George
Calabro, Salvatore
Callahan, Frank
Cammarata, Michael
Cannizzaro, Brian
Cardinale, David
Carey, Dennis
Carlo, Michael
Carroll, Michael
Carroll, Peter
Casoria, Thomas
Cawley, Michael
Cherry, Vernon
Chiofalo, Nicholas
Chipura, John
Clarke, Michael
Coakley, Steven
Coleman, Tarel
Collins, John
Cordicce, Robert
Correa, Ruben
Corrigan, James J.
Coyle, James
Crawford, Robert
Crisci, John
Cross, Dennis A.
Cullen III, Thomas
Curatolo, Robert
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D'Atri, Edward
Dauria, Michael
Davidson, Scott
Day, Edward
DeAngelis, Thomas
Delvalle, Manuel
Demeo, Martin
Derubbio, David
Desperito, Andrew
Devlin, Dennis
Dewan, Gerard
Dipasquale, George
Donnelly, Kevin
Dowdell, Kevin
Downey, Ray
Duffy, Gerald
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Eagan Jr., Martin
Elferis, Michael
Esposito, Francis
Esposito, Michael
Evans, Robert
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Fanning, Jack
Farino, Thomas
Farrell, Terrance
Farrelly, Joseph
Feehan, William
Fehling, Lee
Feinberg, Alan
Fiore, Frank
Fiore, Michael
Fischner, John
Fletcher, Andre
Florio, John
Fodor, Michael
Foley, Thomas
Fontana, David
Foti, Robert
Fredricks, Andrew
Freund, Peter
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Gambino Jr., Thomas
Ganci Jr., Peter
Garbarini, Charles
Gardner, Thomas
Garner, Thomas
Garvey, Matthew
Gary, Bruce
Geidel, Gary
Geraghty, Edward
Germain, Denis
Giberson, James
Gies, Ronnie
Gill, Paul
Giammona, Vincent
Ginley, John
Giordano, Jeffery
Giordano, John
Glascoe, Keith
Gray, James
Grzelak, Joe
Guadalupe, Jose
Guja, Geoffrey
Gullickson, Joseph
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Halderman, David
Halloran, Vincent
Hamilton, Robert
Hanley, Sean
Hannafin, Thomas
Hannon, Dana
Harlin, Daniel
Harrell, Harvey
Harrell, Stephen
Haskell Jr.,Thomas Haskell, Timothy
Halloran, Vincent
Hatton, Terry
Haub, Michael
Hayes, Phillip
Healey, Mike
Heffernan, John
Henderson, Ronnie
Henry, Joseph
Henry, William
Hetzel, Thomas
Hickey, Brian
Higgins, Tim
Hohmann, John
Holohan, Thomas
Hunter, Joseph
Hynes, Walter
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Ielpi, Jonathan
Ill Jr., Fredrick
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Johnston, William
Jordan, Andrew
Joseph, Karl
Jovic, Anthony
Juarbe Jr., Angel
Judge, Mychal
Kane, Vincent
Kasper, Charles
Keating, Paul
Kelly, Thomas
Kelly, Tom
Kelly Jr., Richie
Kennedy, Thomas
Kerwin, Ronald T.
Kiefer, Michael
King Jr., Robert
Krukowski, William
Kopytko, Scott
Kumpel, Kenneth
Kuveikis, Thomas
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Laforge, David
Lake, William
Lane, Robert
Langone, Peter
Larsen, Scott
Leavey, Joseph G.
Leavy, Neil
Libretti, Daniel
Lillo, Carlos
Linnane, Robert
Lynch, Michael
Lynch, Mike
Lyons, Michael
Lyons, Patrick
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Maffeo, Joseph
Mahoney, William
Maloney, Joseph
Marino, Kenneth
Margiotta, Charles
Marchbanks Jr.,Joseph Marshell, John
Martin, Peter
Martini, Paul
Mascali, Joseph
Maynard, Keithroy
Mcaleese, Brian
Mcavoy, John
McCann, Thomas
McGinn, William
McGovern, William
Mchugh, Dennis
McMahon, Robert
McPadden, Robert
McShane, Terence
McSweeney, Timothy McWilliams, Martin Meisenheimer, Raymond Mendez, Charles
Mercado, Steve
Miller, Douglas
Miller Jr., Henry
Minara, Robert
Mitchell, Paul
Mingione, Thomas
Modafferi, Louis
Mojica, Dennis
Mojica, Manuel
Molinaro, Carl
Montesi, Michael
Moody, Thomas
Morello, Vincent
Moran, John
Mozzillo, Christopher Muldowney Jr.,Richard Mullan, Michael
Mulligan, Dennis
Murphy, Raymond
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Nagle, Bob
Napolitano, John
Nelson, Peter
Nevins, Gerard
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O'Berg, Dennis
Oblschlager, Douglas O'Callaghan, Daniel
Ogren, Joseph
Oitice, Samuel
O’Keefe, Patrick
O'Keefe, William
Olsen, Eric
Olsen, Jeffery
Olsen, Steven
O'Rourke, Kevin
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Palazzo, Jeffery
Palmer, Orio J.
Palombo, Frank
Pansini, Paul
Paolillo, John
Pappageorge, James
Parro, Robert
Pearsall, Durrell
Perry, Glenn
Petti, Philip
Pfeiffer, Kevin
Pickford, Christopher
Phelan, Kenneth
Powell, Shawn
Princiotta, Vincent
Prior, Kevin
Prunty, Richard
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Quappe, Lincoln
Quilty, Michael
Orourke, Kevin
Otten, Michael
Quinn, Ricardo
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Ragaglia, Leonard
Ragusa, Michael
Rall, Edward
Rand, Adam
Regan, Donald
Regan, Robert
Regenhard, Christian Richard, Vernon
Riches, James
Rivelli Jr., Joseph
Reilly, Kevin
Roberts, Michael
Roberts, Mike
Rocco Jr., Anthony
Rodriquez, Anthony
Rogan, Matthew
Rossomando, Nicholas
Rubach, Paul
Russell, Stephen
Russo, Michael T.
Ryan, Matthew L.
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Sabella, Thomas
Santora, Christopher
Santore, John
Saucedo, Gregory
Scauso, Dennis
Schardt, John
Scheffold, Fred
Schoales, Thomas
Schrang, Gerard
Sikorsky, Gregory
Siller, Stephen
Smagala Jr., Stanely
Smith, Kevin
Smith Jr., Leon
Spear Jr., Robert
Spor, Joseph
Stack, Lawrence
Stackpole, Timothy
Stajk, Gregory
Stark, Jeffery
Suarez, Benjamin
Suhr, Daniel
Sullivan, Christopher
Sweeney, Brian
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Tallon, Sean
Tarasiewicz, Allen
Tegtmeirer, Paul
Tierney, John
Tipping II, John
Tirado Jr., Hector
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VanHine, Richard
Vaskis, Francis
Vega, Peter
Veling, Lawrence
Vigiano II, John
Villanueva, Sergio
Virgilio, Lawrence
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Wallace, Robert
Walz, Jeffery
Warchola, Michael
Waters, Patrick
Watson, Kenneth
Weinberg, Michael
Weiss, David
Welty, Timothy
Whelan, Eugene
White, Edward
Whitford, Mark
Weinberg, Michael
Wilkinson, Glenn
Williamson, John
Wren, William
Wooley,David
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York, Raymond

SAYING GOODBYE ( A Tribute Poem to those who were lost)

Yesterday was just a normal day...
You smiled... said "I love you" and said goodbye...
Told me to remember to pick up milk.....
And said you would see me tonight....
Well yesterday has come and gone
and many things have changed...
For ever since 9/11/01 my life has been rearranged...
No more smiles...
no more kisses good bye.....
No more "I love you's" as you walk out the door...
Now I see your face only in my dreams....
And know you are gone forevermore...
I love you, I miss you and my heart still breaks....
But I know that one day in heaven....
We will smile and say I love you and look into each others eyes..

And never forget 9/11/01 and those who lost their lives....

GOD BLESS ALL THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON 9/11/01 AND THOSE WHO
SURVIVED...

Written by Liza Schejtman-Bach

Smokee the Bear

Kev speaks

You know the old story of sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you? Well, that story came to life at work this last couple of months and some might remember from the old blog the story of me catching this 800 pd black bear and releasing him up further on the mountain, however he seems to have found his way back!

Now this guy was a bugger to catch in the first place, it took us about 60 days to get him into a trap the first time and NOW he wasn't about to go in that trap for anything and he certainly was harassing campers and rummaging for food. He is also very sneaky. Not to many have actually SEEN him just the remments of what was once a weekend food supply.

Most people tend to leave foodstuffs in coolers and Bags in vehicles or there tent. He has also shredded a screen on a campers RV and had himself a field day.

So all this means that we have to catch him before he actually hurts someone who think that he can fend off a bear. Never challenge a Bear. Move away slowly (upwind if possible) and avoid direct eye contact or anything a bear can interrupt as aggressive. If you have food on you try throwing it on the trail (not at the bear) or an article of clothing so as to distract said bear. Move away slowly and leave them alone. NEVER lay down and play dead as you soon will be with a bear.

So as I am driving toward where the last sighting has been I stop and get myself coffee and an a apple filled bear claw (no pun intended)……….and as I am driving away from the store a thought hits me. (believe it or not I do have them from time to time)

Why not use donuts as a lure into the bear cage? So I drive back and get a dozen of the biggest freshest smelling gooey donuts I can get. Drove me crazy for the 25 miles I had to go into the woods and to say the WHOLE dozen made it to the site would mean I could trip over my nose when I said it!

So at the site I explain the idea to the crew who by now think I have completely lost my mind. We really cover up the trap with all kinds of downed tree limbs and branches, put what was left of the dozen donuts in the cage and spray cover spray all the way back to our vehicles. The sugary smell was intoxicating even in the woods.

Then we all left and went to check on a few other things and came back only to find said donuts had been scooped out of the trap and gone…….RATS!

About an hour later on of the crew calls and said "HEY Guys come over hear, you never going to believe this!" So off we all went and this is what we came upon. The bear upside down, paws in the air asleep!
We were all laughing and I loaded up the dart rifle and we tranquilized this poor guy and drug him into the cage.

This time we took him up around Mt. Rainer to let him go and if he finds his way back this time? Good question!

Of Birthdays and Life Lessons

From my best friend Suzanne's blog who turned 48 today. To the next 20 years of freindship! Happy Birthday Babe! VIRGO'S RULE!

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement, starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything, if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood, but the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative .

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters, in the end, is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Stunned......................

Not sure I know why a man molests children. I think it is without a doubt the most vile thing on the face of this earth to hurt a child or an animal. But for a man to have sex with a 14 year child goes completely off my "BUT" chart.

I can stand the 'but' word for a lot of things on this earth 'but cause she came on to me" just somehow effects my sense of wanting to murder someone only stopping because I refuse to go to jail for the bastard.

So can someone explain this to me in a form I can possibly understand? That there is some underlying set of circumstances of why that happens to someone you have known quite well for over 20 years and up until this point you have no clue there is an issue? Even with his own kids which now we are kind of wondering about as well. Model husband, loving father, straight arrow kind of guy.

What thought process tell them this is OK? That because she had on short shorts and wanted to kiss him this was OK because a child of 14 knows what she is doing at that age and its just sex so………

This makes it OK? I am shocked, sicken and appalled all in one breath and I have nothing else…………………………

Idiot Sightings

IDIOT SIGHTING: Hubby and I had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a "large enough" motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, "Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower." I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, "NO, it's not. Four is larger than two." We haven't used Sears repair since. _____________________________________________________________________ IDIOT SIGHTING: I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road. The reason: "Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to cross anymore ______________________________________________________ IDIOTS IN FOOD SERVICE: My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for "minimal lettuce." He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg. He was a Chef
______________________________________________________ IDIOT SIGHTING: I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?" To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?" ?He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."
______________________________________________________ IDIOT SIGHTING: The stoplight on the corner buzzes when its safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, "What on earth are blind people doing driving!" She was a probation officer
_______________________________________________________ IDIOT SIGHTING: At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker: She was leaving the company due to "downsizing." Our manager commented cheerfully, "This is fun. We should do this more often." Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare.

IDIOT SIGHTING: I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and couldn't understand why her system would not turn on. A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office no less. _____________________________________________________
IDIOT SIGHTING: When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "Its open!" His reply, "I know ,I already got that side."

"Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ~ anonymous

Yup......gonna be a Bear

In this life I'm a woman.

In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear.

When you're a bear, you get to hibernate.

You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're mama bear, everyone knows you mean business.

You swat anyone who bothers your cubs.

If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling.

He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup, gonna be a bear!

Boxers, Briefs or ?

Kev speak:

It's come to my attention that there are some men out there—even a few friends of mine—who've not yet switched to boxer briefs. These are otherwise intelligent guys who, either through ignorance or recalcitrance, begin each day by pulling on (shudder) traditional boxers or (double-shudder) briefs. I feel great pity for these men. Because the irrefutable truth is that boxer briefs—a knit, mid-thigh-length compromise between boxer and brief—are the ultimate male wear. The sooner you accept this, the happier your crotch will be.

It's not too late to change. We humans have a terrific capacity for adapting to new underpants. I know, because I've switched styles twice now. Consider my first (though ultimately misguided) underwear revelation:

Billowy boxers were meant to look anachronistic and silly. But this joke was lost on me. Compared to my briefs—which revealed my pale and scrawny pre-teen upper thighs—those modest, roomy boxers looked positively dignified. And cutting-edge, too: My father didn't wear them, thus by definition they were modern and stylish. (I didn't realize at the time that baby-boomer men had switched to briefs in large part to tack away from their own boxers-wearing fathers.)

Soon after, I made the leap. And by the end of high school, every teen I knew was wearing woven cotton boxers. (Often carefully showcased—allowed to peek out below the hem of a pair of shorts.) It's still not clear what sparked this large-scale boxer rebellion. Theory: Since underwear is concealed in day-to-day life, and we can't see what our neighbors and co-workers are wearing, we have only pop culture to give us our cues.) Nonetheless, boxers remained the near-universal choice of my generation throughout college and into the years beyond.

I now realize, of course, that those were wasted years, groin-comfort-wise. All that time, a better option had awaited. Although by 1993 those iconic Mark Wahlberg print ads for Calvin Klein boxer briefs were in heavy rotation, the famous query put to Bill Clinton in 1994 ("boxers or briefs?") didn't even acknowledge a third possibility. I was aware that the boxer brief existed, yet my naive understanding held that it was a choice open only to European men.

It wasn't until a forward-thinking friend clued me in ("It's the best of both worlds," he enthused) that I was made aware of the cut's functional superiority. Soon enough, I switched again—this time for good. After just a few days, I could see the boxer brief's profound advantages:

Support. The obvious, yet oft-unspoken flaw with traditional boxers is their lack of cuppage. They are useless for athletic events, and can even be a hindrance. (An acquaintance refers to the "tunnel" created by wearing boxers under soccer shorts. Via this tunnel, one's testicles can gain sudden and direct access to the world outside.) Boxer briefs hold your goods in place and out of sight.

Stability. Traditional boxers never sit still. They are forever riding up above the waistband of your pants, or slipping down below it. That loose fabric tends to twist, and bunch, and wedgify. Constant realignments are required. (This is especially true with the "bubble-butt" cut of boxer, which uses a spinnaker-like central back panel. The idea is to avoid having any seams line up with the butt-crack, but all that extra cloth just crawls up in there anyway, to disastrous effect.) Also the thought of exiting my truck in pursuit of some crafty criminal type and having to rearrange the goods and pull the extra out would allow said criminal to beat a hasty and laughing retreat all the way to Timbuktu.

Containment. That simple slit of a fly on traditional boxers encourages a phenomenon I will term "flop-out." Some boxer shorts seek to rectify this with a button enclosure, but a button is the last thing you care to deal with when you urgently need to urinate. Boxer briefs use the much more effective and user-friendly Y-front.

Aesthetics. My unscientific polling suggests that ladies dig 'em. While it has all the comfort, support, and fit of a knit brief, the boxer brief's full-cut thigh lends it the modesty of a traditional boxer. And that thigh is functional, too—its snug, ribbed cuff serves to hold the garment in place. This prevents the boxer brief from riding up or (worse) burrowing into one's posterior cleavage. (The Calvin Klein boxer brief is particularly well-tailored, and is my personal choice. I own one pair of boxer briefs from 2(x)ist, bought at the little store in my gym when I forgot to bring a change of underwear, but I find they take an overly presentational approach to the genitalia. Sort of a push-up effect.)

I'm confident there's really nothing the boxer brief can't do better. But just to make sure, I recently revisited the other underwear alternatives, to see if I was missing something.

Step 1 in my research was to buy a pair of Brooks Brothers briefs in a lovely, mercerized white cotton for $14.99. When I first slipped them on, I found them incredibly comfortable. And even a bit stylish, with that racy curve tracing the cup of the buttock. But all the old problems pertained. I felt naked, and also like a 7-year-old. I could tell that the bright white cotton would quickly dull to beige. Worst of all, the briefs crept way up over the course of a long day. Verdict: Too tighty, and too soon not-whitey.

Next, I picked up a pair of plaid boxers from Burberry's for $45. I felt as dapper as anyone can feel when dressed only in underwear. But the boxers simply wouldn't remain in place under my pants, always migrating 30 degrees around my waist in one direction or the other. The leg-openings would ride up and accordion, leaving weird marks on my thighs. And while Burberry's model prevented "flop-out" with a button enclosure, I found myself leaving the button undone. Who wants the bother? Verdict: Classic preppie choice—looks sharp, underachieves.

I've also tried trunks. There seems to be some disagreement as to what this term means, but my understanding is that trunks have an abbreviated thigh-length and no fly opening at all. I bought two pairs that qualify while traveling last year. (I'd run out of clean underwear. The vast majority of men's underwear purchases, I suspect, are born of desperate and immediate need.) Trunks have many of the same benefits as boxer briefs, but I can't understand the lack of a fly opening. Standing at a urinal, you're forced to reach through the fly of your trousers and pry the trunks' elastic waistband down with your thumb. Should you lose your purchase on the waistband, it will snap back violently—with messy and painful results.

Some men endorse going commando. I find it thoroughly unhygienic. Also rife with potential for injury. No dice.

I couldn't bring myself to try on a thong. I realize this is a viable choice for some men these days (perhaps even some straight men), but it's just not for me. I have no need to prevent panty lines. And, more fundamentally: Half of what I'm looking for from underwear is wedgie avoidance. What is the thong if not a permanent wedgie? No doubt, future generations of men will adopt the thong as a comfortable, minimalist alternative and will urge me to ditch my fusty old boxer briefs.

Until then, I beseech you: Make the boxer-briefs switch. You, and your groin, will not be sorry.