Sleepless in Midlo...

Well kiddies, it is that time again. Yes it is time for me to have that wonderful "shift-rotation" from nights to days. YUK! The last time I did this, I was unable to get good rest for about 2 weeks! I enjoy night shift and will miss my "peeps" that are on it.

Day shift is a lot more hectic with many more engineers and workers running about the Fab with tasks to get done before their deadline is over. It will be hard getting adjusted to getting up at 5.00am and leaving by 5.45 to get to work. Traffic will not be bad in the morning or evening, but that is of no consolation. I will be on "days" for the next 2 months and then rotate back to nights again. The one good thing is that the house they are building 40 feet from my bedroom will be completed and I will not have to put up with hammering and sawing from the workers!! They cut down a lot of trees in the back, but left enough so it would not look bare and it has not appeared to stop the birds from eating from my feeder.

This is just in time for "Spring Break" to occur here as well. We are supposed to go to DC next week and tour The White House. It is very hard to get tickets, but we were able to do it. During this trip, we are also going to tour The Capitol again, but a better tour will be given then the last one we took. I hope to have some good pics to go along with these tours as well. We are supposed to go to one of The Smithsonian Museums also and time permitting, go to The George Washington Masonic National Memorial. Here is another link to the site: http://www.gwmemorial.org/ This also gives details about the memorial. I have wanted to go to it for a while, but we have never made it there due to time constraints. I hope to get there this go around, if not, it is always about 2 hours from our home.

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It is that time of year...

Well folks, it is that time of year again for the pollen to fly and for the weather and temperature to be on a rollercoaster ride. For the last few days, it has been in the 80s, very nice Spring Time Weather. The trees are starting to bud out and the pollen is starting to fly. I can see it on my truck hood...AH Chew!!

Easter is upon us this Sunday. We just got our cold front that generally happens around Easter weekend. I remember as a kid, we would always go camping at Lake Sam Rayburn for that weekend and all of the "family" would circle the wagons so to speak. We had Aunt Dale and Uncle Forestray, Aunt Babe and Uncle Talmadge, and Aunt Jewel and Uncle Don as well as Etha, Pawp and me and other various kids and cousins. We would all go to Mill Creek Park and try to get on "Easter Point" every year. If you go to the map link, the spots are sites 60 and 61. It would always bee nice and warm that week before, but we would set up camp and get "Blue Norther" and nearly blow us off the camping site. It would go from 80 to 30 degrees that night and we would all freeze!! We all had camping trailers with electric, but it would still be cold!! A few of the boats would sink because of the wind straight out of the north would swamp the ends on them because of the waves.

After the maelstrom of the preceding night, we would slowly come out of our campers and I would get a fire started as I was a "fire Bug" back then. I still love fire!! My Aunt Dale was the "camp master" and she would get the breakfast started. All the men would go and survey the boats and get the water out of them if need be to go and catch some fish. At the end of all the camping that weekend, We always had a "Fish Fry" on that Sunday afternoon and then we would break camp and go home.

Aunt Dale, Uncle Forestray, and Uncle Don have all since passed from the world, they are missed by all and it would seam that the title of "Camp Master" has passed to me according to Aunt Dale's Daughter Patrice. She said that I am the only one that can get the family together when I come to visit them in Texas. If that is so, then I have very big foot steps to follow in and I would ware that mantel proudly.

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Test…This is a test using MS Word 2007

So How Much Is Too Much?

# of Drinks	BAC by Body Weight								The Effects on You
	100	120	140	160	180	200	220	240
1	.04	.03	.03	.02	.02	.02	.02	.02	Blue = Not legally intoxicated. Brown = Driving judgment and skill is impaired though you are not legally intoxicated. Red = You're drunk, legally intoxicated and dangerous!
2	.08	.06	.05	.05	.04	.04	.03	.03
3	.11	.09	.08	.07	.06	.06	.05	.05
4	.15	.12	.11	.09	.08	.08	.07	.06
5	.19	.16	.13	.12	.11	.09	.09	.08
6	.23	.19	.16	.14	.13	.11	.10	.09
7	.26	.22	.19	.16	.15	.13	.12	.11
8	.30	.25	.21	.19	.17	.15	.14	.13
9	.34	.28	.24	.21	.19	.17	.15	.14
10	.38	.31	.27	.23	.21	.19	.17	.16

This estimator is only a guide and is not considered accurate enough to use as legal evidence. The figures given are averages. People will vary somewhat in their personal alcohol tolerance. There are also many factors that affect the rate alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, such as food in the stomach. Other influential factors include medications, health, lean body mass, and psychological conditions.

 

Stages of Intoxication

BAC	STAGE	CLINICAL SYMPTOMS
0.01-0.05	Subclinical	Behavior nearly normal by ordinary observation
0.03-0.12	Euphoria	Mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness, increased self-confidence; decreased inhibitions, diminution of attention, judgment and control. Beginning of sensory-motor impairment. Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests
0.09-0.25	Excitement	Emotional instability; loss of critical judgment. Impairment of perception, memory and comprehension. Decreased sensory response; decreased reaction time. Reduced visual acuity; peripheral vision and glare recovery. Sensory-motor incoordination; impaired balance. Drowsiness.
0.18-0.30	Confusion	Disorientation, mental confusion; dizziness. Exaggerated emotional states. Disturbances of vision and of perception of color, form, motion and dimensions. Increased pain threshold. Increased muscular incoordination; staggering gait; slurred speech. Apathy, lethargy.
0.25-0.40	Stupor	General inertia; approaching loss of motor functions. Markedly decreased response to stimuli. Marked muscular incoordination; inability to stand or walk. Vomiting; incontinence. Impaired consciousness; sleep or stupor.
0.35-0.50	Coma	Complete unconsciousness. Depressed or abolished reflexes. Subnormal body temperature. Incontinence. Impairment of circulation and respiration. Possible death
0.45 +	DEATH	Death from respiratory arrest.

 

New Videos...

I posted 3 new vids to that section of my BLOG.
Enjoy!!!


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Guility Pleasure...Type-O-Negative

Members
Peter Steele – Lead vocals, bass guitar, guitar, and keyboards
Josh Silver – Keyboards, synth, effects, programming, backing vocals
Kenny Hickey – Lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Johnny Kelly – Drums, percussion, backing vocals

With a career going from 1991 until 2007 as a band with little or no radio play, they are very under rated as artists. The style can be described as Gothic Metal. The deal with topics of humanities dark side or the depths of despair and human suffering that no band can put so eloquently or bring forth like they can.

The started out as a goth/punk act in 1991with Slow,Deep, and Hard where the songs were stripped down to the core with total rocking out riffs and dirge lyrics. Some of them clocked in between 8 and 14 minuets, Much too long for any radio play or music videos.

In 1992, The Origin of the Feces was released. It was a live remake of the 1st album. It had new arrangements of the tracks with the "live" part dubbed over as it was recorded in their basement. With some tracks clocking in at over 14 minuets and a very good cover of Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

1993 with the release of Bloody Kisses, their sophomore effort the band saw stardom and airplay with several tracks and heavy rotation on MTV. The thrash metal and ranting from the first album was all but gone, and the band had made huge strides in the progression of their musical style. Bloody Kisses mostly addressed loneliness and heartbreak, with songs like “Too Late: Frozen”, “Blood & Fire”, and “Cant Lose You” all being tributes to long lost loves. The organ-driven “Set me on Fire” is vintage sixties garage rock, showcasing the band’s keen sense of melody. The title track is a Romeo & Juliet retelling of a love/suicide pact. The two singles, “Christian Woman” and “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” were more radio friendly and accessible, after having been edited down to more radio-friendly lengths (the album versions of these songs were 8½ and 11 minutes long, respectively), with heavy guitars and bass combining with ethereal keyboards and gloomy melodies. They also did a cover of Seals&Croft - Summer Breeze. It was a very good cover.

In 1997, October Rust was released. It can be compared to an epic Pink Floyd album in style and layering or instrumentation. With songs about love, loss, death, and vampires, all the bases were covered. The keys were very lush and layered giving way to Peter Steels deep bass voice. Songs such as “Love You to Death”, “Be My Druidess”, “Green Man”, “Die With Me”, and “Haunted” all combined goth, rock, and new wave styles. Several other tracks that stand out are: Wolf Moon [Including Zoanthropic Paranoia], and Red Water (Christmas Mourning). The also, once again, did a cover song on this album. This time covering Neal Young - "Cinnamon Girl". They also had a few songs go to MTV videos.

In 1999, World Coming Down was released. It was a more stripped down album then October Rust with less instrumentation and more guitar. The overall vibe of the album was a significant change from the pop inflected and airy nature of October Rust: this time the band revisited the more doom and dirge oriented sounds from Slow Deep & Hard, and the result was an honest (if difficult) tone, where the band seemed to wallow in their misery. This time around, instead of sex, the lyrics focused on death, drug addiction, depression, and suicide. Songs such as “Everyone I Love is Dead,” “Everything Dies,” “World Coming Down,” and “All Hallows Eve” were not meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but rather, real life reflections of the mindset affecting Steele at the time. It was a hard album to get into, but if you like Type O, then it is a must.

In 2000, The Least Worst of Type O Negative was released as a Best Of album going back 10 years with unreleased tracks and some remixed ones as well. Also available is the band's cover of "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath, and a cleaner officially studio version of "Hey Pete", which was originally released on the mock live album "Origin of the Feces".

The year 2003 saw an album called Life Is Killing Me. A humorous cover of the song "Angry Inch" from the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, detailing a sex change operation gone terribly wrong, marks the band's return to its trademark humor that had been absent on their previous album. The album conveyed the band's style or music and lyrics in their usually style.

Now 2007, Dead Again. The bands 7th studio album. IT is a rocking album in the Type O style with several tracks clocked at 14 minuets!! The have the same style as the last 2 but with a little more keys and some heavy bass elements included if you have a system that can produce that low of a frequency!! They are back after 4 years, still under recognized, but as always rocking the goth scene. Some stand out tracks are: The Profit of Doom, and Halloween in Heaven (with Lycia's Tara VanFlower)

They also have 2 DVD titles out. One in 2006 called Symphony For The Devil, is the first Live DVD of the legendary Type O Negative, featuring Pete Steele. The Live DVD features a concert filmed at the Bizarre Festival in Germany 1999, with an awe-inspiring 5.1 sound mix. Bonus features include an audio CDS with a Santana medley, behind the scenes footage, interviews with band members, photo history of the band, commentary with band members, bios and more.

The other DVD came out in 1998 and it is called After Dark. it is a collection of their music videos off of three of their albums. Here is the track listing for the video:

Tracks:

1. Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)

2. Christian Woman

3. My Girlfriend's Girlfriend

4. Love You To Death

5. Cinnamon Girl

6. Christian Woman (Naildriver Version)

7. Everything Dies (bonus video)

Yes, they are one of my favorite bands and the are kept on my Creative Zen mp3 player all the time. They are leaders in their style of music even if they are under rated and under played in main stream media. I for one, will always support them...

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A friend of Bill W’s…Part 2

Here is part 2 of my story...
It is difficule to tell this story because I go back and forth to Illustrate how things and issues fit together, so bare with me.

Well, I had admitted that I was powerless and that my life was unmanageable. That much was apparent. I was at that stage in my addiction, going on binges and staying gone for several days and cleaning out my bank account. So, I went to Rehab.

While I was in LAHA, we went to meetings and group secessions. Chris Raymer in his morning “Town Hall” meeting drove the point home to us that this is a 3-fold disease: Mind, Body,Spirit. You have to treat all 3 parts or it will fail. See, about 10% of the population are genetically different than the rest of society in that we process “mind altering” substances different. If a “normal” person drinks/drugs, they may like it and abuse it, but given sufficient reason to STOP, they can. Take for instance, a normie gets a DWI and looses his license. That would/should be reason enough for ANYONE to stop. For an addict, it will be, but only for a time period, days, weeks, etc. This disease makes him/her forget about the consequences that have just happened and he/she will go out and do it again. Addicts will try to blame everything on “External” reasons for their problems. I got in a fight with my g/f, I had a crappy day at work, those were all external reasons. The problem was with us, an internal problem.

I liked to drink and drug. It was fun in the beginning. I could handle it. I needed it to feel normal or what I thought was normal. I, in the beginning, did not know what cravings were, but I did no when it was time to get “fixed up” and feel on an even keel so to speak. I knew this as early as 1990, my second years of college. I partied a long time and I was able to control it. I was a very functional addict through those times. I was a Coke/Crack addict from 1993-2001. That is a very long time. In that time, I saw people spend entire fortunes, loose houses, cars and wives. It was total carnage and I was going through the middle of it.

See, I could not remember that my girlfriend at that time, now my wife, told me if I go out again, she would leave me. My disease told me to go get high, but only enough to satisfy the cravings that I was having. That final spree was horrible. I was going to fill out applications at a place in Austin, but the cravings were just too strong for me to deal with. I had to get my soul quiet and fill the void that was devouring me a little at a time. So I did…but I only planned to do a little, but that turned to about 3 days

I drove around Austin Texas getting high and was on a psychotic episode. I saw my family in every car that was on the road, or at least a member of my family. They would look at me and be sad or mad depending on what I was doing at that moment. I heard police sirens the whole time I was out and I thought that every other car was a cop. I got a speeding ticket during that time and you know what I did to calm my nerves? I went and bought more crack. WOW, how insane is that? It is only by the Grace of God that I did not go to jail or die from an overdose. As you can see, I was not in control of my life in the least bit, my addiction was in FULL SWING and I had hit “Rock Bottom” I knew that I needed help and that I could not make it on my own anymore.

While I was in LAHA, we worked on steps, but hammered on Step 1 & 2. Step one along with the drugs got me there, then I had to work on Step 2. I had to believe that a Power Greater than my self could restore me to sanity. This would seem to be an easy task; to believe in something bigger than my self and ego. Well Try it...

in·sane -/in seyn/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[in-seyn]
–adjective
1. not sane; not of sound mind; mentally deranged.
2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a person who is mentally deranged: insane actions; an insane asylum.
3. utterly senseless: an insane plan.

Let’s look at this word. Insane. Another definition is and it applies to addicts is “doing the same thing and expecting different outcome” See every time I went out to drug it up, I expected a different outcome!! I was insane!! IT is like hitting your hand with a hammer repeatedly and not expecting it to hurt the next time. The “power” could have been a tree if you did not believe in God, Jesus or something like that, it did not matter! The only thing was to believe in something more powerful than yourself. Because under your power, your best foot forward; Your power got you to rehab!! My power got me nowhere except broke, tired and addicted. Thank God I got to rehab…to get some help where all else had failed, all of my best intentions and promises failed.

SO, I believed that “power” greater than myself could and would restore me to a better way of think. It was apparent that my thinking was off, so I had to try it by learning a better way or a different way. This was the essence of Step 2 which i will get into more soon.

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My Dad...

Years ago, my Dad owned one of these planes. I was about 5 years old and I remember going flying with him on Sunday afternoons all over East Texas. I would sometimes fall asleep while he would be doing "Take-Offs" and "Landings" at the different regional airstrips around Southeast Texas in the balmy summer air...

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