My 15 minutes...

Wow, I'm on iTunes!

My church has the practice of recording the pastor's sermons and posting them on our website for anyone to listen to or download. Well, the Passage series, of which I was a part, has been uploaded to the website and is available on iTunes. Search for Harvest point and look for HP Sermons. Look for the recording from 7/20/08 and there I am!

Cool! I'm on iTunes!

More about me...

I'm still trying to figure out what I "really" want to blog about. I'm mainly trying to get into some sort of routine in blogging. Maybe, at some point, I'll say something of "importance" but for now, it's just randomness.

So, here's more randomness.

Hello, my name is Tom and I collect G.I. Joes...

In some form or fashion, GI Joe has been a part of my life since I was a kid. I had some awesome vintage stuff "back in the day." The 5 Star Jeep, Mercury capsule, AT Headquarters, the yellow AT helicopter, all sorts of good stuff... and all long gone.

Well, when the 3 3/4" figures came out in 1982, I collected those as well. I've never been too old for toys! Eventually, the 12" guys came back out and I started collecting them again. They're out of stores for a while, but I still enjoy them!

Here's a picture of one of my troops on an alien beach.

Well, actually, it's a highly photo-shopped picture of Ormond Beach!

Here's another picture of my collection at home. Thanks for your indulgence, honey! These guys are based on the characters that were created for the 3 3/4" GI Joe. For a closer look at my collection, you can go here.

Peculiar sign...

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean...

Looks like a fair price for a "special rash."

A nation of whiners?

So former Senator Phil Gramm says that we are a "nation of whiners." Everybody is outraged, it's been the top story on all the news channels. Guess what?

We are...

Minions at Work rocks!

Hmm... really in the blogging mood...

I stumbled across this blog a couple years ago and it has become one of my favorite blogs to check every Monday. I'm talking about "Minions at Work" by author J. Steven York.

Steve uses 1/6th scale figures to highlight the plight of the most abused group of workers, the Minion. To really do his website justice, you have got to visit it! You don't have to be a toy lover, but a good sense of humor helps!

I even did some local work for him a couple years ago, highlighting Minions at Work at the 2006 Joelanta show.


Go there now, the Minions demand it!

Great July 4th Celebration!

We had a great time on the 4th of July this year!

I invited my brother and his family (husband, wife, 4 teen aged & up sons), my sister and her family (husband, wife, 2 teen aged & up daughters), my father & step-mother and then of course my family (husband, wife, teenage daughter, 20 yr old son). We had a full house...

My brother brought ribs, chips, drinks and some other stuff. My sister's family brought a smoked pork shoulder and extra stuff. My father & step-mother brought barbecue chicken, homemade potato salad, and pasta salad. We had corn on the cob (grilled...), hot dogs, beer, home-made Margaritas, homemade Whiskey Sours, homemade Sex-on-the-Beach. There were cookies, popsicles, all sorts of stuff. Food everywhere...

I should have taken pictures... Too busy eating and drinking...

While the adults prepped the food, the kids jumped in the pool. Once the food was ready, everyone descended and we all had a great time of eating and just enjoying each others company.

Once we had feasted, nearly everyone headed for the pool. No, we didn't wait 30 minutes and there was not one case of stomach cramps!

Once the swimming was done, everyone scavenged for seconds and we gathered for our pitiful but fun fireworks show. Fortunately, a neighbor behind us is a local Pastor and he had a bunch of his flock over for a fireworks show. So we watched some big fireworks and launched our own small fireworks show.

A great time was had by all!

I think I'm still full...

Re-Roofing the Homestead!

It took over two months of haggling with my unnamed insurance company to finally get my roof replaced. Last year, we had a helluva' hailstorm that just rumbled through this area (south-side of Atlanta). Early this year, roofers started showing up in the neighborhood, working with homeowners to replace their storm damaged roofs.

I finally contacted a roofer who had done at least a dozen houses in the neighborhood with spectacular results. I started the process with my insurance and the first adjuster didn't seem to be quite up to speed on accurately measuring roofs. Everything finally got settled and last Monday, June 30th, a small horde of workers showed up, climbing all over my house, tearing off the old shingles and just causing total chaos!

They worked for at least twelve hours on Monday. Surprisingly, the noise wasn't that bad! I suppose you get used to it after a while. My kids couldn't sleep in, though. Awww....
After another nearly full day of work, the crew finished on Tuesday and the house looks great! We paid a little extra to have an architectural style of shingles put on the roof. Looks great! It'll probably add some extra value to the house (hopefully!).