NBM #11 Friends

   I feel so lucky to have so many caring friends. When the world seems to be harsh and even the people close to you, who should support you, are not. I know that there are people who love and care about me and will always have an ear for me to talk to. And in return, I am always there for them. A good circle of friends is the best defense against the anything that gets you down. Some of these friends I have known for many years and some I have met on Facebook. I am equally grateful to all of you for all that you do for me. I like to surround myself with friends that are as open minded as I am. I have friends from all walks of life. It doesn't matter what you believe, what you do for work, or what you do in your spare time. As long as you don't judge other's by their looks or stereotypes and are a good person. I am very pround of my friends, I love you all.

NBM #10 Heat

Today was very warm. After Fall went missing and temperatures dropped like a rock, today we almost went back to Summer. It's no wonder so many people are getting sick. Can't we have a nice gradual cooling into Fall?

NBM #9 The Future

   Nobody knows the future. And for good reason. If you knew the future, it might affect your decisions, thereby altering that future. So the original one could have never existed in the first place. A paradox. The future is a dark highway. We try to shine our headlights to see the way on our journey, but it only illuminates they time we are currently in. Your future is never set in stone. Good and bad choices affect it equally, and in the end, it's still your own future that you determine.

Bud

   I have, what I think, is one the coolest cats ever. His name is Bud and he's going on 12 years old. When I was renting a room from a friend in a townhouse on Timberlake Road, her Cailco cat had a litter of kittens. Most were also Calico, but there was one solid black kitten. I decided to keep him. Soon my friend moved back to Delaware and I took over the townhouse. I would let Bud out to rome daily, he would be back in a few hours. One time, after he had been out for a while, I suddenly heard high pitched sqeeling from outside the door. I opened it find a baby rabbit in Bud's mouth. I took it from him and saw that it was not seriously injured. I ended up releasingg the rabbit a few just outside f the city that evening. A couple weeks later, I opened the door to let Bud in and he had another baby rabbit. This time, he must not  have wanted me to take it because there was only half of it left. Bud was having rabbit for dinner.
   One Sunday, when Bud was about 1 year old, I let him out as usual. The next morning I was leaving for a business trip to Puerto Rico and Bud had not returned. I asked my girlfriend at the time to come by and let Bud in that  evening. I was sure he would come back soon. Tuesday morning I got a frantic call, she had found Bud at the door. He had drug himself there with one of his back legs barely hanging on by a little skin. She took him to the emergency vet. They off what was left and stitched him up. We never found out what happened, but the vet said it looked like a clean cut. I think maybe he got into an engine compartment and got caught in the fan. When I got home later in the week, I found a 3 legged cat. He healed very quickly. Within a day or two, he was hobbling around and had figured out how to walk well with 3 legs in a couple weeks.
   Now, 11 years later, he still gets around great. When he runs, you would never know a leg was missing. Since I had his front claws removed after the accident, he was never an outside cat again. Although he has managed to escape a few times over the years. But he's always back in a few hours. He loves to sit in an open window and watch birds and squirrels.
   Bud is one of the few cats that loves people and will let you rub and play with him whenever you want. When we have parties, he always makes the rounds to all the guests, looking for attention. He even hops a little more to get people to feel sorry for him. When the day comes that he dies, it will be a dark days. I am not looking forward to it. But for know, I will continue to enjoy my cat that beat the odds.

Nutrition

   It's that time of year. All the food holidays are coming up. It's time for me to get back on my nutrition plan.  I've fallen off of it over the last couple months. Starting this week, I will go back to my large breakfasts, mid sized lunches, and light snacks for dinner. Hopefully I can keep off the holiday weight. :)

VA Tech Cross

   Today was the cyclocross race in Blacksburg. This was a fairly large event with around 70 to 80 racers total. When we arrived, the temperature was 36 degrees and it didn't warm up much, if at all. The cold wasn't the worst part. The  course was very tough, a lot of steep climbing and sketchy downhills. After 1 lap, I was hurting. I settled into a groove and tried to hold my position. Finally after 5 gruelling laps, it was over. That seemed to be the consensus from all the racers all day, "I'm glad it's over". I ended up in 6th place out of about 15 in my class.

The Jeep

   I love my old Jeep Cherokee. I was never big into SUV's or 4 wheel drive vehicles, after driving aircooled VW's for many years. But when my first Saturn coup was totaled, which I love them too, I found a great deal on an 89 Cherokee. It was nothing special, slightly bigger tires and a 5 speed. It would go anywhere and everywhere. There's something about the older Jeep transmissions. Even some of today's computer controlled All Wheel Drive systems don't perform as well. After a couple years, I sold that Jeep and bought another Saturn. I still wanted another jeep though. Finally a friend was selling his 89 Cherokee and I grabbed it. This one is automatic, which I don't like as much as the 5 speed, but it already had a 4.5 inch lift and 33" tires on it. After making some much needed repairs to it, I have been driving it for over 4 years now and it is well over 200,000 miles. I wanted a safari look, so I built a full roof, and then some, rack for the top, with a ladder mounted on the side to climb up. It's now badly in need of some body work and new paint, which I hope to take care of next Spring. The old Jeeps seem to go on and on. Hopefully this one has a lot of life left in it.