Thank God the boy won't laze away the summer

My thirteen year old son is joining the workforce today. It is a volunteer position at St. Vincent hospital. He won't earn a cent, but will earn valuable experience. He'll also get something to put on his resume for when he applies for an actual paying job. He gets to feel good about contributing to society too. He has done some volunteering before, but nothing on a weekly scheduled basis. Maybe he'll find out that his dad isn't the only demanding job boss in the world.
He gets to become very familiar with the city bus system also. It won't hurt him a bit. He did this on his own. His parents didn't push at all. Yep, I'm happy with him!

My favorite time of the year is here!

Spring just has to be the finest time of the year here in Montana. Oh sure, you can get some cold and blustry days, but days like today are rare. The temp up in the high 60's and little to no wind afforded us with pure comfort. I missed my chance to have a nice walk ruined by a little white ball. Maybe later in the week. NFL draft on ESPN all day long- snore! After the first round, who really cares enough to watch? Not me! Chargers got a DB in first round. Drafting for need on that one kids. My momma could pass on em!

Daytime TV is a wasteland!

Having been home all week for a little time off from work, I have been treated to a bit of free time during the day. I started off on Monday by surfing through all 57 damn channels and - lo and behold, nothing on! That started the lame tune of the same name running through my head. I made a trip to the video store, but that too was a wasteland. I guess my expensive wide screen is a waste when there isn't a good game on or Sci-fi Friday. Thank God for that or I could just sell the damn TVs. I did learn on Tuesday that there are more judge shows than I knew of. My wife was off that day, and she really likes them. I'd prefer a root canal- but that's just me. Some of the people that show up on those programs are painfully stupid. I guess I did enjoy watching one guy get the tongue lashing of his life from judge Judy. He deserved it though. He was stupid enough to provoke her early on. Idiot.

Happy Presidents day

I'm guessing few of you got the day off. Lucky me has the entire week off. Don't turn too green! I'm sure my spouse will have a few things to keep me busy. Have a good week everyone.

Spouse Shopping

A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City , where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights.There is, however, a catch: you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men have jobs. The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs and love kids. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love kids, and are extremely good looking."Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework."Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak. She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. A new wives store opened across the street. The first floor has wives that love sex. The second floor has wives that love sex and have money. The third through sixth floors have never been visited.

Fantasy Baseball starting soon.

This is the time of year when I find myself in a sort of limbo. I really enjoy playing fantasy sports on the net. It just so happens that this is the dead time of year for that activity. Fantasy football has recently expired. I fared reasonably well on my teams there. Two first places, a second and a fourth. Fantasy baseball is nearing ready for sign ups- but that is not going to really start for more than a month. Fantasy NASCAR and fantasy golf have gotten into gear this weekend and a couple of weeks ago. Neither of those really hold my interest though. Fantasy basketball is half way over with the All star game this weekend. That means no scores to worry about there for a few days either. I'm not faring too well in those leagues this season as I had a bad draft in the two leagues I'm in. I didn't seem to get any good big men out of the ones I ranked high. Oh well. Next year, as they say!

Super Bowl Prediction

This year I'm going to have to go with the majority and pick the Steelers to take the big game. They have been on a roll in the playoffs and have beaten some very good teams. I really believe that the AFC has been the stronger division for quite a while now. The Seahawks aren't without hope. Shaun Alexander is definitely a stud that can hurt you. Seattle has won quite a few games, but against inferior competition. I'll say- 34-24 Steelers.

Our friend Tony is at it again

"Rocky? I have your address, given to me by someone who knows and also doesnt like you. Watch your back and your mouth lest be held accountable for your stupidity." Says Tony.

Here we go again folks. What was my transgression against the all powerful Tony this time? I stated over at David Crisp's place that I am a conservative and Tony isn't. I didn't peg him as a liberal or a radical or anything else- just that he isn't a conservative. I figured that was a safe statement to make that even Tony would have to agree with. No such luck, I guess. For that he decides I need to be physically threatened AGAIN. I tire of this guy and his thought that he can win an arguement by threatening people.

Here's a response just for you, Tony, since you don't have the balls to allow comments on your own site(s):

First of all, I don't scare that easily. I have as much right to voice my opinion as you do sir. Go ahead and threaten me and send me pictures of yourself with no shirt on (unimpressive) and flying (rather poor form) the bird at me. I laugh that crap off with ease. Where did you learn that tactic from anyway? Stalin?

Secondly- Don't even think about messing with my family. If you do anything to make them even feel threatened, I'll have the law on your ass quickly! I won't tolerate you even letting them know you breathe Montana air. I would never do anything to cause any harm nor even slightly scare your beautiful wife and charming daughter. If you feel you must have it out with me, be man enough to leave our wives and children out of it.

Third- Be sure you have the right Rocky Smith. There are two of us living in this town. I get mail and phone calls for him all the time. I'd hate to see you go to jail for assaulting the wrong man. You might well deserve some jail time if you did this, but he wouldn't even know why you're angry with him. If you're going to Cynrock (his marketing firm) to find me, you're in the wrong place. You wouldn't need a private investigator to find me anyway. My name, adress and other information are not a state secret. I'm not going to publish them for you here. You might have to look for yourself. It'll probably take less than five minutes to find.

In closing- I'm not really sure what got you so ticked off this time anyway. Are you claiming I'm wrong to say you are not a conservative? I think even many of our local bloggers would readily agree with my statement. I didn't make the mistake (as I did once before) of trying to say you were a liberal or any other description- only that you're not a conservative. I'll stand by that statement. I must say I was a little suprised at your flaming reaction. I wasn't even attempting to get your ire up on that one. If I wanted to do that, I would have said much more than you aren't a conservative. Note that I have not threatened you ( aside from protection of my family) and I'm not even angry. I'm partly puzzled and mostly laughing about this whole affair. I won't be bullied into shutting up though. Don't bother with the threats any more, Tony. I doubt you are really crazy enough to assault me based on differing political views. We probably will never see eye to eye on much (aside from Walmart), but let's keep this a debate- not a fistfight. MAYBE you could win a fight of fists, but can you win a debate of words?

Is Iran next?

I think that Israel would have already blown up Iran's return to nuclear research if Sharron wasn't half dead in a hospital. I have little doubt that the US is being pressured to do something. Hearing Iran's President deny that the holocaust occured in WWII shows what a loose cannon with no brain this guy is. I predict that if we don't hit Iran soon, Israel will. I wouldn't blame them if they did. It's called self defense.

Merry Christmas to all!

May we all celebrate the coming holidays together in friendship and health. Whether you are Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Christian, some other religion or Agnostic- enjoy some time with your family and friends. Appreciate the important people in your life and show them how much they mean to you. Even if you reject organised religion, it can be nice to take in the positive energy of good fellowship.

Celebrate this season with care. If you partake of alcohol, please pick a designated driver. I don't want you hitting me, you lush! (Just kidding!)

Happy Holidays!
Rocky

It's all over now!

Man! My Chargers just love to disappoint me. They beat the unbeaten one week, and lose all focus the next week. No playoffs for them. Just as well, I guess. They wouldn't go far anyway. I'd still like to see them lay one on the accursed Donkeys next week though. That'd take some of the bitter taste from my mouth. I should get so lucky!

My Chargers did it!

Much to my suprise, my SD Chargers knocked off the previously unbeaten Colts to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. They beat the best team in the league (and I believe- eventual super bowl champs) on their home field. Too bad they couldn't have beaten the lowly Dolphins last week in Chargerville. Now they have to go into KC and beat the Chiefs, go home and beat the Donkeys and then hope the Steelers drop a game somewhere. All of that coming to pass is very unlikely. It's more likely that the commentators will be referring to the Bolts as the best team to not make the playoffs. Boo!

I try to stay cool driving through shopping traffic

But sometimes I want to act like kitty here and dispose with you all!

Happy holidays to everyone!

I hope you all were smarter than I and didn't overeat yesterday. The food was just too damn good though. You know you're a lost cause when you're already full, but have to stuff in a piece of pie. I enjoyed it all too much.

It was a fine day and I enjoyed seeing all my family. We hosted dinner at our house for the first time in quite a while. What a mess to clean up! It was all worth it though as I was thankful to see all my relations happy and healthy again this year. I hope your holiday went as well. Now don't go blowing too much ca$h in today's shopping madness. You won't see me out there in sharp elbow land!

The Monkey is back!

After a long absence, our favorite Monkey is back to his blog. Go visit for a laugh if you're not too puritanical to take some jokes and fun observations that might make grandma blush. He's one of my favorites. Welcome back Monkey!

Just a joke ladies!

Does this look like a guilty man?

I am not in a position to pre-judge the man, but he doesn't look too worried to me. He does resemble that "salesman of the month" moniker that Randy laid on him. If it turns out he's guilty, he must go. If he is guilty, there are many on the other side of the aisle whom have done things very similar to what Mr. Delay has. ANYONE who breaks the law must be made to pay and resign. I don't care what little letter follows their name. I gotta say that he doesn't look or sound like a man who is in danger of being convicted of anything. He says he gave a big smile because he knew the lefties were waiting with baited breath to use that mugshot for their own purposes. He sure ruined that for them. I don't doubt they'd have loved a shot of him somber and looking beaten.

I'd rather look at Ali Landry anyway:

Montana Rescue Mission

Last Saturday night, I took my son down to the Rescue Mission to help serve dinner. We did this as part of his community service as a member of the Kiwanis sponsored Builder's club. At first, I think he was expecting to see all kinds of derelicts and drug crazed idiots down there. As we served spaghetti and garlic toast with milk and dessert, he came to see that many of them appeared to be normal folks who just happen to be in a tough spot. Even the "Meds" who got to eat ahead of the general populace didn't seem very strange. He came away from the experience with less fear and more understanding of how things really are. That was a good experience for him which I would recommend for all kids in junior high or later. The couple of hours of honest hard work didn't hurt him either. He came away wiser with a sense of accomplishment. I thank the staff of the Mission for their work helping those in need and taking extra time to teach many of our area youth in their kitchen. Support them where you can.

Tony has spun out

Some of you might be familiar of Tony of http://www.spunandspinning.blogspot.com/ . This guy is so far left that he is insulted if you call him a liberal. He wants to be referred to as a radical. I have to agree that he is. Recently, we have been jousting over the afteraffects of hurricane Katrina and the blame game following it. I posted a comment that stated Bush and FEMA did a poor job on relief efforts. I continued on, saying that if he was anywhere near fair, he'd admit that Governor Blanco and mayor Nagin had dropped the ball also. He refuses to admit that Blanco screwed up and hasn't called her on it in his own words at all. He did mention that SHE has recently accepted blame, but did HE call her on it or admit she was wrong too? Of course not! Everything is BUSH's FAULT! He is so whacked out that not only wouldn't he call Blanco on her mistakes, but he has ERASED EVERY COMMENT I made on his site about the matter. That, IMHO is just plain CHICKENSHIT! He now dumps any comment I post on his blog. I don't expect him to agree with me (far from it), just to at least engage me in honest debate. Apparently, he isn't up to it. I have visited many a left leaning blog and left comments that the blog's author disagrees with. The folks at Two good legs, Left in the West and Wulfgar all debate concepts and ideas with me fairly and honestly. They often disagree with me and might sometimes get perturbed by my posts- but they accept the challenge of fair and open debate. They are all good people and worthy of reading daily. Matt, at Left in the West has even convinced me to give a serious look at John Tester for Senate in the coming election (I'm not a big Burns fan).

I'm going to continue to post to Tony's blog every day. He's going to get worn out removing my comments. If any of you reading this are conservative, I suggest you drop by his site and leave a few comments of your own. Just don't expect to be heard fairly. He claims I get all my news from Fox, what he calls hateradio (Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly) and conservative blogs (yet I read his?) and that I know nothing. It so happens that I watch news from a variety of sources- Fox, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC and read many liberal blogs. You might have seen some of my comments there.

By the way- note that I said what he did was chickenshit, but that I didn't stoop to calling him names (he calls me the Bushmonkey- strange since I freely stated that Bush and Co. blew it on hurricane relief) . I freely admit that I'm a conservative and tend to back Republicans but I have criticized the right on more than one occasion. I try to be honest and admit when I'm wrong. I don't erase comments from those who disagree with me. I welcome the debate and diversity of thought. You won't get blackballed here, not even if your name is Tony.

Update: I was going to continue posting comments to Tony's blog, but he has since threatened physical force. While the guy doesn't scare me in the least, I do have a family to consider. I'd like to think he is just a blowhard, but I'm not taking that chance. I guess I'll let the radical lie in peace.

His kick today is to refute my point that environmentalists have hampered levee construction through a lawsuit and many protests. He concentrates on that point since he still doesn't want to answer my suggestion that he should admit that Governor Blanco has fault in this mess as much as Bush does- and BOTH of them have admitted it this week. He wants to concentrate on one lawsuit back in 1997 over levees that were 97 miles outside New Orleans (and you know water won't go around a levee if it's 97 miles- that's too tiring- plus there isn't anyone living 97 miles outside the city limits I guess). No matter that they were working on over 300 miles of levees either. Gotta stop levee reinforcement to protect bottomland hardwood trees because they're more important than people. Let's also not mention that one of the main failed levees had already been reinforced. That big barge that smashed through it was probably Bush's fault too. I'm sure he loosened all the anchor points for barges while he was down there blowing up levees. Okay Tony- maybe you're right about the levees and I'm wrong. Maybe no envirowhackos ever slowed or stopped construction on levees. I'm certainly not an expert and I do want to be fair and admit to it if I'm wrong. Now- how about some words from you on the Governor? I didn't think so.

Oh- and as to your offer in the comments of this post- NO THANKS! I don't go that way. I doubt Craig or Dave are interested either, but you keep on trying. I won't judge you if you go both ways.

Islamic support of terrorism Declining

According To PEW research, Muslim support of terrorism and Osama Bin Laden is waning. Is it possible for the world to defeat terrorists and bring back peace and security? Only time will tell, but these are encouraging numbers. The report also suggests that the people of this area are becoming more willing to consider Democracy as a viable government system. Hatred for America is also waning. I wish the same could be said for some Moonbat liberals here in the United States!