Been catching up on my online surfing today. Mainly it consisted of reading some of the blogs that used to frequent. But, since I still am a news junkie, I spent alot of time catching up on world events.

I've been thinking some about the funeral of Ronald Reagan. Since he died I've listened to people say what a shame it was. Frankly, I am a bit baffled by that idea simply because the man has suffered from a degenerative brain disease for over 10 years. I imagine that it is a relief for his family because he probably lost touch with them years ago. I for one am glad for him that he has reposed.

As a kid I didn't follow politics much, so President Reagan didn't leave much of am impression on my life. Now as a 30something man I must say that he was a good President and should go down in history as hero.

In other news, today is the first day of summer vacation for the kids. They are of course sitting on their butts as I write this watching cartoons. Since I am playing the stay-at-home Dad right now I will have to get busy in finding things for them to do. Maybe a camping trip or a nice hike sometime soon.

Well, I am finally back online. Today the UPS guy brought our DSL modem and it took me all of about 5 minutes to get everything installed and start surfing. Oh man it is nice to be connected again.

We are all settled in the house and quite comfortable. I must say that I am more comfortable in this house than I have ever been in any other house. It's like everything fits here and the very building itself is happy to have us as its occupants. In reality we are just blessed to be here, and we feel it everyday.

Speaking of blessings I ran into an awesome deal the other day for a beautiful entertainment center. The previous owner is leaving the area and needed to sell it ASAP. He bought it about 3 years ago for close to $2,000. It is solid oak and stands about 7 feet high and 12 feet wide. Remarkably, it fits perfectly along one wall and looks beautiful. It also includes a coffee table. Both pieces just make the room.

Anyway, I have lots to tell about the past couple months. But, not all at once.

Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. We have no internet access at the moment so I have to rely on the generosity of our friends.

All with well with us. We are slowly getting settled in our house. Most of our belongings are out of storage now and we are in the process of accumulating furniture. The house is very cozy, and I can see myself getting very comfortable there. I love the fact that it's just down the street from our friends. I think God has truly blessed us with the perfect home.

In other news, I've been keeping in touch with my one and only friend left in Memphis, and he has been giving me the low-down on what happened there after I left. Basically, the inquisition struck again and the place went into another round of terminations. Everything has been turned topsy turvy and my old boss is at the center of the storm. It seems he's not happy with simply doing his own job, now he's undermined another department head enough to get him fired and he's taking over his job. What an ass. Enough said...

Anyway, I'll try to keep this thing a bit more current. Till next time.

We have walked through the fire and emerged on the other side unscathed. The Lord has showed his mercy and granted us the blessing we waited on. Today we were given the keys to our new house. We move in this weekend.

The water problem has been resolved. It ends up the house has no gutters and the rain has been collecting around the base of the home and pooling up in the basement. Thankfully, it's a fixable problem.

I think what I am most happy about is the fact that the house is a little runned down and we will be doing stuff to fix it up. To me that makes the place a bit more homey and will allow us to personalize the house a bit. That is something very important to us just because all our lives we've been renters.

I really must say that I am very thankful to God and our friends for enduring us for so long. I am humbled.

Well, the long awaited meeting with our landlord happened today. She is a very nice lady and I think she would be honest and forthright with us. However, there is a problem with the house that she is trying to get resolved this week. Once that's done we can move in... if it gets resolved. Despite the problem we gave her money for the house. We just have to have faith that it will work out.

In other news, my buddy Space Cowboy got married over the weekend. I am so happy for him. He is such a great guy and I think marriage will be good for him. I never told him, but the reason he gave me for falling in love with his now wife brought tears to my eyes. It showed me that his heart is pure.

Anyway, I'll write more on other stuff sometime soon...

Now this is heroism!!!!

Salvadoran Army Cited for Heroism in Iraq

Mon May 3, 6:07 AM ET

By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer

NAJAF, Iraq - One of his friends was dead, 12 others lay wounded and the four soldiers still left standing were surrounded and out of ammunition. So Salvadoran Cpl. Samuel Toloza said a prayer, whipped out his switchblade knife and charged the Iraqi gunmen.

In one of the only known instances of hand-to-hand combat in the Iraq (news - web sites) conflict, Toloza stabbed several attackers who were swarming around a comrade. The stunned assailants backed away momentarily, just as a relief column came to their rescue.

"We never considered surrender. I was trained to fight until the end," said the 25-year-old Toloza, one of 380 El Salvador (news - web sites) soldiers whose heroism is being cited just as criticism is leveled against other members of the multinational force in Iraq.

Happy Mayday!!!

What an awesome day today!!! It started out with opening day ceremonies for two of my daughters playing softball. They played a one inning exhibition game in front of a large crowd and had a great time. Everyone was so excited and it was good to see alot of the people I knew from High School.

Later in the day we went to Lake Siskiyou and had our first swim of the year. Despite the fact that the temperature was in the mid 80's, the water was ice cold. The kids had fun but didn't stay in the water long. All was not lost though because we ended up sitting on the shore basking in the sun and enjoying a tasty picnic of deli meat sandwiches.

Then, the best part of the day was a short 4X4 excursion up the mountain and a hike to Ney Springs and the falls. This was the first time that the whole family made it to the falls. No one was around and it was absolutely glorious!! The falls continue to roar and the kids had a ball playing in the mist and slipping on rocks. There is one place in particular that everyone got to stand at the base of the falls where is literally takes your breath away. I think overall it was a spiritual experience for the whole family. It made my heart actually proud to see my kids frolick and enjoy God's creation.

In other news, I found out yesterday that I will not be working for Americorps and our house might be in jeopardy because of previously unknown water damage. However, I am not worried. It's in God's hands and we will wait upon his blessing.

As a way to commemorate today, I am posting a speech made before the House of Representatives yesterday regarding the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide by the Turks.

I rise today to commemorate the 89th anniversary of one of history's most terrible tragedies, the Armenian
Genocide.
On April 24, 1915, 300 Armenian leaders, intellectuals and professionals were rounded up in Constantinople, deported and killed, under orders from the Young Turk government. This was the beginning of a campaign of terror resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians and the deportation of more than 500,000.
The government of the Ottoman Empire justified this policy by claiming it was necessary to suppress revolts being launched by Armenians as a consequence of the ongoing military operations of World War I. This assertion was patently denied by survivors and witnesses. United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morganthau reported at that time, "Deportation of and excesses against peaceful Armenians is increasing and from harrowing reports of eyewitnesses it appears that a campaign of race extermination is in progress under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion.''
Not content with perpetrating this atrocity, the Young Turks denied a genocide had taken place. Generations have since been raised denying this tragedy. Such denials are refuted by the archival documents and first-hand accounts found in such recent scholarly works as Peter Balakian's The Burning Tigris and Samantha Power's A Problem From Hell.
Director Atom Egoyan presented the horror of the siege of Van in his film Ararat, which was based, in part, on the memoirs of Clarence Ussher, an American physician and missionary working in Turkey at the time.
Mr. Speaker, for myself and my constituents, I rise today to urge those who deny this genocide to accept it as fact. Only then can we move forward and stop these atrocities from repeating themselves over and over again.

The source doesn't name who wrote this speech.

For my own family's sake I'll say that my Grandmother and Grandfather were first hand witnesses to this tragedy. I had two uncles and an aunt killed along with countless relatives that I'll never even know. It's easy to objectify this by those that are unaffected. But, for me it is my whole family and everything that goes with it that is gone. When I hear people talk about their own family and their traditions, etc it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. All because this tragedy is not even known about by most people, and those who know hide it like a secret best forgotten. At least the Jews had the Nurembourg trials.

What a glorious day!! It's nice and sunny here today so we went for a hike up to Ney Springs. I took Mister Ed along with me and we had a nice time. The falls were roaring and beautiful. I stood at the base of the falls and nearly lost my breath. The water tasted sweet and left a lingering mineral taste in my mouth. This is why I came back to California, for days like this.

In other news, I go for my final interview with the Americorps board next week. I'm pretty confident that they will hire me. I'm looking forward to the work and the opportunity to serve my community. I'm also glad that it pays fairly well and is not full time. That allows me to earn the money we need but have the time to spend with family and friends.

As for the house, we had a setback. The contractor who inspected the house last week flaked out on us and won't give us a bid so we have to find someone new. Our landlord has another company coming in on Monday. But, this whole thing sets us back another week. The worst part is our welcome here is already wore out, so tensions are a bit high. It's in Gods hands so I am confident that it will work out. He has brought us this far, and I am so thankful that we are here.

At this point I can honestly say that Memphis, Mississippi, James Wozney, and Games Workshop seems like nothing but a bad dream to me.

Well, it seems the job search is not as easy as I thought. There just ain't much in the way of decent paying jobs around here. I'm still waiting to hear about the position with Americorps. I'm set to meet with the committee next week. So far, that is the best opportunity for us.

The housing situation is slow as well. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We are still set to purchase that house down the street from where we are at now. We walked through it the other day and it is nice and roomy inside. I think the place will be perfect for us. It has a nice big kitchen and dining room. I can see lots of possibilities for decorating and making it an ideal home for us. I am so excited about this possibility. As I have wrote many times in this journal, I have always wanted to own my own home.

We went and saw "Hellboy" last night. It was an alright movie. Enough to keep me entertained though I almost did fall asleep several times. I think it was more from me being tired than from the quality of the movie. If your thinking of going to see it, I'd suggest waiting until it's out on video. Now the Alamo... that's a flick I want to go see!!