If I see another BDU in the next 3 days I may just roll over and die.

Yesterday was Stand Down Saftey Day and Alert First Fire Equipment, Inc. was there in all it’s blazin’ glory. I was in charge of the booth inside while the boys got to give the demo classes outside…kinda disappointing but better than nothing I guess!
We had over 1,000 soldiers visit our booth, I enjoy talking to them, finding out where they are from and where they’ve been. Got to see some of my good pals and met some new ones.

We handed out tons of goodies, they all seemed to be happy to get free stuff (but then who isn’t?). I took tons of pictures, once they are developed I’ll put them in the photo album so ya’ll can see my “real” job *snicker*. I went out to the demo site right before lunch and Charlie walks up to me and simply said:

“I caught myself on fire Sarah.”

Then he started to laugh like a maniac…damn boys. Turns out he’d started a fire in the bin, grabbed a Co2 unit and when he sprayed it down got a lil too close. Singed the hell out of his arm, there’s a lovely red mark. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Charlie has this long ass mustache ala Virgil Earp and it got toasted on one side. I have to laugh because this morning he came to the shop with an itty bitty mustache and it just didn’t look right! Never seen him any other way…but he’s in good spirits about it so I reckon it all turned out ok.

But enough about all that…

I’ve got to take a moment and tell you about my new friend. His name is Dan, lives in a castle…and is scared to death of spiders. Honest to god…there’s no punch line here, he’s a real dude! Anyway, Dan’s a really sweet guy and he runs a really neat jewelry shop in England which you can visit by clicking here! Or if you get on down by the UK you can pop in and say hello as the addy to the shop is on his site )

Next on the adgenda is that Sebastien will be turning 17 tomorrow. And god do I feel old’er then dirt right now. My baby brother who towers over me is getting older…he’s officially going to be a senior in highschool in 24 hours. *sigh* Where does the time go I ask you? Pretty soon he’s going to be off at college and I’ma be sitting here in the desert wondering where our childhood went. Anyhow I’m sure you don’t have the time to sit here and listen to me ramble about the days of yore…

I got the cake ordered, buncha teenagers will be here tomorrow at 11am. I’m praying it’ll quit raining because otherwise all them kids’ll be cooped up in the house and so help me god…But there’s gonna be pizza and weather permitting the pool. And of course there will be NO underage drinking *snort, cough, hack, giggle* Jeez almost said that with a straight face! Well, I do believe I’ve rambled enough…onto deal with the inbox!

Hope all you moms have a good one! )
My mothers day present arrived at 5.30am under my bed. Tinkerbelle had 3 kittens! (pictures will be coming later today once they tidy themselves up a bit)
So it’s early, I’m now a grandmum and I need some coffee…to view the kittens click here…top two pics on the left:

Your Birthdate: August 8

There is much potential for material success associated with this number.
What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Isn’t she just beautiful? Anywhoot, I finally finished the latest Marilyn book that I found in my flea market travels. It’s called “Marilyn” by Norman Mailer. I liked this book for a couple reasons actually. First and foremost the photographs that Mailer have in it are to die for, it’s a collection of 23 different photographers work. Secondly, the format of the book is on more of a psychological level than most of the “straight facts” type of books that have been written about her. Pretty good read, I’m impressed, if you love her as much as I do I suggest you go pick it up )

ISBN:0-448-01029-1
Grosset & Dunlap 197?

Colorful dresses, paper flowers, lots and lots of beer! Ahhh, that’s right folks the 5th of May is here! This is predominantly a southwestern holiday that is actually a Mexican holiday but has been adopted by the gringos (white folks) because we’ll use any excuse to party down.

Cinco De Mayo is often called the Mexican Independance Day…well, let’s clear that up right now. It’s not. If you want to celebrate that with them you’ll be drinking your liver into a coma on September 15th ;o)

Here’s the quickie rundown of why this day is important:

Because 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862.

That’s right…we’re celebratin’ because they beat the living shit outta the French. *snicker* If you want the whole story click here. Anyway, that’s a little history for ya…why are you still here? You should be out buying some salt and lime, get the hell on outta here and have a safe Cinco De Mayo

One of the main roads leading the way to our house is being repaved, it’s a 5 mile stretch, and currently it’s nothing but a white cliche path with orange construction flasher-things down the center. I love dirt roads, they are more fun and considerably less traveled than the paved ones thereby making it easier for me to get from point A to point B.

However, this main road (while it was paved) was highly traveled. So now there’s lots of traffic on a dirt road that is now marked down from 45mph to 25mph. No problem right? Not really, most people haul ass down it anyway (bless their souls) but I do have one BIG problem.

Enter the SUV. Since they first appeared in the autos world I didn’t quite get them. Spend $30-40grand+ for a gas guzzling hopped up minivan (yes I will compare them to a minivan, it’s all about seating). You can’t really haul much in them, first because of the roof then because of the interior that you just forked over your life savings for. The logical side of me just says “Go buy a truck.” But then I figured that maybe I was wrong, these people took their beasts out on the weekends and romped the hell outta them, after all…what else is 4×4 good for?

Fuck no. I’ve noticed that old people in massive caddys and the kiddies in their lowered rice-cars drive faster on dirt roads than the SUV drivers down here. After being trapped on this particular stretch of road with the ass end of an Xterra/Rav4/etc. blocking out my entire window at 10mph I’ve had enough. I’m not in for a Sunday drive through the desert…I’ve seen the damn thing…and I have no A/C and am usually running late for a meeting that started 5 minutes ago. Let’s get the lead out and get on with it already!

Now the irony of this whole situation is that on the paved roads/highways SUV drivers are totally insane. They are the folks flying past everyone, cutting you off, nudging their beasts into your lane while they yap away to whomever is riding shotgun then shooting you a dirty look for not knowing better that because they have a (insert model here) that they have full run of this stretch of black-top so getthefuckouttamywaybitch! *shakes head*

Now, I’ll admit that I drive like a bat out of hell on dirt roads. We’re talking 65mph+, but that’s just because I was raised on them suckers and I know how to do it. If the speed limit is posted 25…go 25…or if you really want to do us all a favor do 35, I can live with that. But please, if you are going to go 10mph and tap your brakes every ten feet because you see a *gasp* small rock in the middle of the road, pull it the hell over and let the big dogs on through. And for god sakes ya’ll…if you spend that cash on a 4×4…use it, otherwise just go get a minivan and stay on the porch.

And I must make a small footnote here…when I refer to SUVs I’m not including Jeeps in this category. Jeep drivers haul some serious ass and I find myself pulling over to let them by quite often…