Gelkote

Collecting lots of great stories at IdeaFest so stay tuned. Taking a quick timeout from the festivities for this evening’s debate. Should be interesting to see how the debate plays out.

Quick picture from yesterday evening’s Taste of Innovation. One of the folks demonstrating was Mixologist Joy Perrine who looked like Sex Talk‘s Sue Johanson. Ok, maybe not exactly but it popped into my head.

Joy Perrine at Taste Of Innovation IF ’08 – September 26th, 2008

I’ve found my share of turtles having grown up in West Virgina but I’ve never heard of a Post Turtle until my coworker Jeff sent me a forward about John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin. I couldn’t stop laughing.

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away from being President .

The old rancher said, ‘ Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle.’

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was.

The old rancher said, ‘ When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a post turtle.’

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain.

‘ You know she didn’t get up there by herself, she doesn’t belong up there, she doesn’t know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.’

I Googled the term Post Turtle and discovered they used the same story to describe Bush. Our world is neck deep in shit right now and we don’t need anymore Post Turtles.

Just returned from Cleveland where we gave Grandpa a nice sendoff. It was full of close friends and family, shots of Leroux blackberry brandy and shared memories.

Dad painted a nice picture of Grandpa’s character through a few stories, Linda Ellis’ “The Dash” was recited and while Cherie disagrees, one of the Brickman Brothers funeral guys looks like Lenny Clarke. You be the judge. Lunch at Mario Fazio’s was tasty too.

The best part was seeing all my cousins, aunts and uncles. Some I haven’t seen in over 10 years. I wish there was more time to spend with them. We need to come up with a way to get together under less time constrained circumstances.

All in all, it was a simple and peaceful sendoff. Grandpa would have wanted it that way.

I was pulling in from work Friday evening as the phone rang.  It was my Mother calling to let me know my Grandfather wasn’t doing so well.  His sugar was bouncing around, his ankles were swollen and he had fluid in his lungs.  It was only a matter of time before he passed due to congestive heart failure.  I immediately planned to visit him Saturday but that wasn’t soon enough.  He passed Saturday morning around 1:00 AM.

A Younger Grandpa

I asked Cherie if she thought he stuck around or if he was gone.  She said he ran for Grandma because he really missed her.  Her words brought tears to my eyes but I couldn’t be happier that his time of poor health and nursing homes is finally over.

Spruce Knob (Highest Point in WV – 4,863 Feet) – October 13th, 2000

The last time I visited him was July 27th and 28th.  He was in good spirits but ready to go. He had Cherie and I run to buy him some blackberry brandy.  It was a ghetto liquor store with folks peddling pre-release movies on DVD and all the booze behind a fenced in counter.  They only had one kind.  The bottle was dusty but he didn’t care.  It was his liquid oasis.

Grandpa’s Final Toast – July 27th, 2008

The last few weeks I’ve had a terrible dread in my heart but couldn’t place it.  It is gone now so I’ve either figured it out or everything has come into perspective.  Omen or not, I rented The Savages last weekend.

Cherie has a nice post with some of her memories, photos and videos. Check it out if you’d like to see me and Grandpa match wits. I’m pretty sure he kicked my ass in the end.

Grandpa, you will be missed and never forgotten. Send Grandma my love and I’ll see you someday, sometime.

Barak Obama’s running mate Joe Biden stopped by Wilson’s today on the way from Toledo to Wooster for a quick burger.

UPDATE: The Courier has an article and a photo gallery on the visit.
UPDATE2: There is a blog post on Obama’s website with a paragraph on the visit and few pictures.

Joe Biden at Wilson’s – September 17th, 2008

CBC’s The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos kicked off its latest season last night. I love show and George’s style. Check out their online clips or watch old school style on channel 19 at 11:00 PM & 5:00 PM (Mon – Fri) if you’re in my neck of the woods.

Bridge Construction at Blanchard Landing – November 7th, 2004

Was trying to find a power supply in all the unboxed boxes from when we moved and came across a 5 year old receipt from Verizon Wireless for my very first cell phone.  That wouldn’t be a big deal except it was a one year contract and I haven’t signed a new one. That’s right folks, I’ve been going month to month for almost 4 years! I would still be using the original LG VX4400 except something happened within the last year where it would get confused, lose signal for 30 seconds, regain consciousness then finally dial or send the text message. The only help Verizon would provide was to encourage me to upgrade because I was long overdue for their new every two. None of their phones interested me or were crippled so I got an almost as old LG VX6000 hand me down with and kept trucking.  I dropped that phone, cracked the battery and switched to an old LG VX8100 which I’m using today.

Discovered Verizon Receipt from 2005 – September 8th, 2008

I’m thinking it’s probably time for an upgrade. Something new and shiny but what to get? I’ve had my eyes on the Blackberry Bold with WIFI and GPS but it is debuting with AT&T on the GSM side. Who knows when it might come to Verizon and how locked down it might be. Verizon will have an iPhone like Blackberry Thunder coming out this Fall but I’m not sure I like the form factor. It doesn’t even need to be a Blackberry, just something solid and different. Only time will tell if I end up with a new phone and contract or keep using hand me downs.

The big pine tree was removed from the backyard today and it has opened that side of the yard up considerably.  It will be nice to have something more than just weeds, bare dirt and a ring of mulch with a lone hosta.

Backyard with tree gone – September 8th, 2008

What is it with old school amusement parks closing? I touched on Geauga Lake outside of Cleveland earlier and now I read that Coney Island’s Astroland is closing. The article notes that the owners sold the property in 2006 for $30 Million and then leased it back. Guess what? The lease is set to expire and the new property owner isn’t interested in renewing the lease. This country is losing its soul!