wheelsonfire

Updates so far

2011-10-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, things were rolling along really nicely following Ramsey's advice. I used some of my savings to pay off Becky's Tahoe and we were saving money and making some extra payments on the house. Then one of my rentals had problems. The floor under the water heater rotted away and the water heater dropped through the floor enough to pull the pipes off the top and spray out as much water as it could from the heater. So the house was wet and the floor was rotten. It turned out that the floor of the room where the water heater was at needed to be torn out and totally replaced. The joist were rotten and the flooring was in terrible shape. The contractors did a nice job but I think that I should have done it myself and tried to save some money. So savings went down some there.

My truck is getting up in the years and this month the odometer rolled 236,000 miles. A lot for a ten year old truck, right? Go Chevy! Other than standard maintenace, a new set of u-joints, new front wheel bearings and a fuel filter the thing has been rock solid. Anyways, after hemming and hawing, I bought a 1982 Honda CB900C with a Hitchhiker sidecar on it. I paid more than what I wanted to but it ended up in my garage and I have put 2000 miles on it since June.

So I took out money to pay that off so we are down on the savings and some of my renters are not paying rent on time or not at all. Renters are great aren't they! In August, I had three renters move out of my fourplex within thirty days and now it has only one renter in it.

That is the breaks of being a landlord. I know what I need to do and where I want to go I just need to continue with the plan on getting there. I will finish my college degree in Business Administration on November 1st and graduate from Kaplan University. After that I'm going to look for a job so that I can get some extra money rolling in. I have a list of things I want to do.

1. Get two months reserve saved up.

2. Take a vacation!

3. Start working on the rentals and get them fixed up

4. Pay them off!

5. Pay off the house!

6. Ride a motorcycle around the world

Not sure what order 3,4,5,6 will fall under but 1 and 2 should happen pretty quick. No less than 6 months is my goal there from the time I get a job. Man after ten years of not working, going back is going to be a headache! But all with the plan.

2010-12-31T13:58:00.000-08:00

My wife and I have set out on a new adventure that we hope will bring us closer together, closer to God and closer as a family. This began from frustration at just being broke all the time and feeling like we weren't getting ahead even though we were making plenty of money. I picked up Dave Ramsey's book "Total Money Makeover" and we set out to 1. set up a budget and stick to it and 2. become financially set using Dave's principals.

We don't carry that much debt, I paid off my credit card each month and only used it for paying for school and then paid it back using the VA GI Bill money. I paid it off and canceled the card. It was a Capital One Double Miles card, after passing a lot of money throuth the card, I could barely afford a one way ticket from Columbus, Ohio to Seattle, Washigton. So it wasn't worth the yearly fee. So now we are credit card free.

That left Becky's Tahoe and I took money from my trading account and paid it off. So now all we have left is the house. So in Dave's book he say that we should be saving for a rainy day fund. After we have 2-3 months of expense money saved in the rainy day fund, we should be putting 10% into giving, 10-15% into savings (IRA, investments and savings) and after we pay out bills, we start putting extra on the house.

At this point we should be jumping up and down and socking the money away. I have fifteen apartments and a single family home that seem to need tons of maintenance and then people stop paying their rent for some reason so I end up paying people to live in the apartment for a month or two until I can get them out.

I have the rentals for sale and have most of them rented. I think that I am on the downhill side of some of the maintenance that I should have done and not put off. I am hoping that I can contribute less to them and more to my own fund.

Enough whining about me going into debt to get rich by taking mortgages to fund my purchases. The main goal is to get out of debt as fast as we can so that we can both get on to do what we want, when we want. That mainly is traveling.....

I have ambitions of traveling the world on a sailboat seeing every reef, wreck and ocean through the lense of my dive mask and then switching from water to dry land and spend time traveling the world on the back of a motorcycle around the world. My wife rolls her eyes when I talk about this. Maybe I can convince her to hit every state with a ski slope in US and Canada. Our son would be happy about that! We both would like to get a camper and travel around the US seeing all the beauty that we have here.

We have asked God for his favor as we embark on this journey and pray everyday for his blessing to be with us. I pray for everyone out there who is on the same mission. We are all missionaries for God and for financial responsibility.

Lead Paint!

2010-11-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

I haven't written on my blog in a few years, mostly because of the advent of social media. Facebook. It happens to be a great way to stay in touch with old friends and make new ones and along the way share the ups and downs of life.
I have a few rental properties and one is an older brick home that was converted to four one bedroom apartments. I rent to HUD/Metro and single people. During the last HUD inspection, they determined that my property didn't pass inspection because there was peeling paint on the outside of the building. I had more than 20 square feet (about five feet by four feet). Since the building was built before 1978, I need to have a lead safe contractor come in, remove the lead paint and get it recertified by the EPA as free from lead.
I'm not the only one facing this issue. Many people that rent to persons receiving HUD funds are finding themselves in similar situations. They are going to lose tenants, some very long term and tenants are going to be forced to move.
Lead may have affected some children over the years but there were generations that grew up with lead based paint and lead based lots of stuff and most of them are fine. Now, we the new owners are being forced to repair, replace and upgrade because an advocacy group got their way in Washington and got a bill passed. They didn't stop to ask how this would efffect home owners, land lords, tenants and business owners who are now forced to jump through more regulator hoops and spend more money on permits, training and equipment. To me it seems like a big money maker for the state.
I realized that lead is dangerous and I am probably glossing over the effects and the dangers of having lead in our bodies but most kids aren't eating the windowsills or picking the paint off the walls. It is frustrating to work hard to have a nice place for people to live and I want to provide a safe, healthy environment for my tenants but when it requires me to expend thousands of dollars just for a new paint job and a guy to take a few test, I feel a little angry at the government. My tenants will be moving on and I will be forced to find new ones to replace the income I have lost and I will have to deal with the peeling paint issues.
The moral I'm trying to come to is this, when you let the government pay your bills, the government gets to make the rules. We have given far to much power to the government to rule our lives. I didn't see anything about lead paint in the Constitution and I never will but for now, I have lead paint test kits and dollar signs dancing in my head.

Random DR photos

2008-11-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

2008-11-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

1. Snorkeling in the pool near the waterfall

2. Cool pineapple drinks, (i was trying to get the girl in the shot too, but she turned, dont tell my wife)

3. Sunbathing

4. Whos flying the plane?

5. Rode ATVs to the sugar cane fields, ate soem sugar cane. The extra boy in the photo came with our guide and the boy drove the ATV most of the time.

More DR!

2008-11-03T10:19:00.001-08:00

1,2 Inside the first Cathedral in the Americas

3. Statue of Columbus in front of the first Cathedral. Columbus wasnt famous in Spain until after his death.

4. Running with the bulls on the street of the ladies

5. First sundial in Americas, it still works, it reads 3:00

Dominican Republic Sept/Oct 2008

2008-11-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

1. Firing cannons from the Calle de los Dames. (Street of the Ladies) in Santo Domingo. Protecting the New World's first city and harbor.

2. Beach at our resort, Coasta Caribe, Juan Dolio

3. WoooH! Sandcastles rock!

4. Dive boat and water sports hut at the resort. The guys would drag me across the sand tot he boat, pick me up and put me in it and then throw me over board. Rinse and repeat to get back to shore.

5. A good looking troop

Waterskiing

2008-08-25T07:49:00.001-07:00

I did my annual waterski run with TAASC this summer. Here's a few photos of the sinus cleansing. When you're jumping wakes, you're bound to fall. The guy in the last photo, shouted "shake and bake" as I was taking off and that spurred a wole round of Talladega Nights jokes.
"I got two knives in my leg!!" "Calm down Ricky Bobby we're going to use one to pry out the other one." "One's a safety knife!"

Virginia for a Henderson

2008-06-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

Friday June 13, 2008, George and I loaded another E150 van for another road trip. We headed south towards Huddleston, VA, to pick up a Henderson motorcycle for Tom Brim, George’s boss.
We stopped around midnight in Beckley, WV to stay at a Holiday Inn that didn’t accept cash for a room and had no cash on site. We stayed on my card and spent a nice night in a large accessible room.
Gone by six-forty five, we took US 64 into Virginia and then some back roads to reach VA 43. What a road, it looked like someone spilled their guts and some one else made a road following them. It was a fun road but in a E150, my butt was puckered to the seat. I wished I was on my old CBR929RR and kickin’ Riche Law’s ass through the curves.
We met up with Bill Saunders at his backwoods hideaway and picked up the Henderson which was in pieces ready for assembly. Before loading the van we were treated to strong coffee with Chickaree in it, ginger muffins and home made apple butter and fruit. After loading the van and ogling the many other vintage bikes in the garage, including Indian Big Chiefs and vintage BMWs, we set off towards West Virginia.
We took a different route out, seeing some different scenery and not keeping the seat puckered up the backside. George was gentler on the drive out with the loaded bike.
After a quick stop in Covington, VA at a motorcycle junkyard, we landed at Tom and Kathy Law’s house in Oak Hill, West Virginia in time for supper. Tom took George for a ride in the Cateram Super Seven sports car, an overgrown go-kart on steroids, before we headed out for wings and beer at a small gas station. It seemed odd but this is West Virginia and they had the Buffalo Wild Wings symbol on the door.
Back at the house we played cut throat pool and partners eight ball before heading to bed. We didn’t want to leave the peacefulness of Tom’s house in the morning and we were greeted with a breakfast of eggs, fresh biscuits, home made blackberry jam, bacon and cooked apples. With full bellies, we watched the end of the LeMans 24 hour race and then packed ourselves back in the van.
Up route 19 to Summersville and Sarge’s dive shop to check out the dive conditions and accommodations. We wanted to dive but George wanted to get home and we pressed on winding across the mountains on Route 60 along the Kanawa river and into Charleston before getting on the highway and cruising home.

Florida Trip II

2008-04-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

“My boss wants me to pick up a motorcycle in Fort Pierce, Florida.”
“When do we leave?” I asked over the phone.
“We’ll leave on Thursday for sure but earlier if I can get off work.”
A trip to Florida and we don’t have to pay for gas, a dream come true. We loaded up an E-250 van with our dive gear and I crawled into a Toyota Corolla. Six foot three and driving with hand controls and no cruise control. We got underway about six on Wednesday night, April 18th. One motorcycle pick up had turned into a car and motor delivery in South Carolina and a motorcycle engine delivery in Delaware, Ohio.
Three-thirty in the morning, we crawled into a hotel in Virginia off I-77. The place stunk like smoke and when we left at seven in the morning, I felt like I was walking in a smoker’s lung. We delivered the car and the motor and then headed on south on I-95. We stopped in mid-Florida and took a break before stopping in Ft. Pierce to drop off the trailer we were dragging and then headed to my friend Don’s place in Hollywood. We ate at a nice outdoor café and then headed further south to Key Largo.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, boy were we smart when we left, and arrived at Capt. Slate’s Atlantic Dive Center early Saturday morning. We got onboard the Star Fish Enterprise II with our gear for the ride to the Spiegel Grove. The water was perfect, seventy-five degrees to the bottom, flat seas and little current.
I went off first and headed up the drift line to the mooring buoy and the George and I got separated. He went down a different buoy that the boat drifted. I had to get back on the boat and wait for the next dive. I wasn’t happy at all.
The second dive, we moved up to another mooring ball and had a better dive. I bottomed out in the well deck at 121 feet and we toured the gantry cranes. So they weren’t the best dives and we didn’t get to see the front of the ship but it was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to go back.
When we got back to the dock around noon, we were looking for something to do besides sleep. A group was going out on a twilight cruise. George and I signed up for the three tank dive and ate lunch off our grill and then loaded the boat. The tide was out and boat was about three feet down from the edge of the dock. They moved the gangplank and I hopped out of the chair onto it. A guy held my legs and I walked down the plank on my hands and popped into the chair on the other side of the gunnels.
We dove on the Benwood, an old wreck with lots of life on it and then Horseshoe Reef. I got an hour out of the tank and still had almost a thousand pounds of air left. We dove at the Horseshoe again for a night dive and got back to the dock around nine.
After packing our gear and tipping the boat crew, George drove us to Marathon. He had called Abyss Dive Center about a ride on the boat Sunday morning but didn’t make arrangements for staying the night someplace. We ended up sleeping in the back of the van after hearing that the only hotel room in Marathon was going for $409 a night. It was a long, hot, humid night on a steel floor.
The dive boat broke down right after we exited the channel, a cooling hose blew off. We waited for a half hour for a makeshift hose and then went on our way. The boat broke down four more times for the same thing. The capt wasn’t very happy with the boat owner. We dove two reefs and after a half hour on each one, we got bored and went back to the boat.
We met with Don and Scott at Cocomos on Holiday Key and drank a few adult beverages and ate lunch then headed for Ft. Pierce.
In the morning, George and Chris packed the van full of motorcycle parts and a Norton bike and then loaded a Ducati Super Sport on the trailer and we headed for Tampa, we picked up a Cagiva and then made to Ponce de Leon before getting a hotel room. Morning found us at Vortex Springs, I tried out a Dive Rite TransPac and fell in love with it. We explored the cave on the first dive and then explored the basin and cavern on the second. All too soon, it was time to pack up and head home. We pressed on to Paducah, Kentucky where we spent the night. We made it home about noon, Wednesday the 23rd of April. We were tired and sun burnt but it was well worth every minute. Next time we wont drive that stupid van though. Ten states, seven days

Winter Sports Clinic

2008-04-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic was held the first week of April and 491 disabled vets made it to Snowmass Colorado to tame the mountain. We had ten to twenty inches of deep powder and they said this is the best skiing in 22 years of the clinic. I enjoyed myself in the deep powder and a bucket that fit me really well. Way to many margarittas were consumed and if you think its a foofoo drink and your a man because you drink beer, well one word for you Tequila! Over all it was a great time and I cant wait to go back next year! With my own ski.
That snow on the table fell overnight.

Mine Countermeasures Gear

2008-03-02T10:59:00.001-08:00

For those of you who know, check out the old MK-105 and the Q-14 at the Man in the Sea Museum in Panama City.

The Chippewa

2008-03-02T10:57:00.001-08:00

This is the wreck we dove in Panama City. I saw the stack and part of the pilot house, the rest was lost in the crappy viz. Cant wait to go back.

Vortex Springs

2008-03-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Some shots of Vortex Springs in Ponce De Leon, FLorida. It was a beautiful place with great visibilty and a cave you could get lost in. The first three hundred feet are open to all divers, or maybe just the stupid ones, and the rest is locked off to only certified divers. At the locked gate, the depth is 119', 300' into the cave. If yhou dont have your mind screwed on right a lot og stuff can go wrong.

Florida Road/Dive Trip

2008-03-02T10:47:00.000-08:00

Friday Feb22 George (tk1031) and I loaded up and headed for Florida about four thirty in the afternoon. Our original plan was to hit Ginnie Springs, the Blue Grotto and try to make an ocean dive off Jacksonville. The weather was miserable in Ohio with sleet, freezing rain, snow and a lot of ice on the roads. We spent an hour trying to get around Dayton because of all the accidents where idiots ran off the road. Under the lights along Interstate 75, the snow was crusted with a slick sheet of ice. We stopped around one o’clock in the morning in Knoxville, TN and slept a restless few hours in a hotel room.

Saturday Feb 23 We got on the road about eight in the morning and after checking the weather reports decided to head Gulf side. The internet showed us Vortex Springs in Ponce De Leon as a place to get in the first dives of the year and then hit Panama City for some salt water wreck diving. The weather around Jacksonville was going to be nice but seas were going to be running 4-7 feet and PCB was showing calm conditions.
After what seemed like an endless stint in Alabama, we made it to Vortex Springs around six in the evening. We checked in, got a wrist band and then went to 4CBBQ a few miles down the road. Back to Vortex and we kitted up in the dark and made a night dive in the gin clear water of the Florida cave systems.
I don’t do a lot of night diving but we wanted to get in the water and get a dive in. I tried my new to me dive light in the cavern area. The fresh water eels were creepy because I hate snakes. I was testing out my new Interspiro AGA full face mask, coupled with the first dive of the year, a night dive and being out of shape helped me to wolf down an eighty in no time flat. It was a good dive and we stripped off our gear and headed for PCB.
An hour later we found the Dive Locker off Thomas Drive and a hotel room around midnight.

Sunday Feb 24 After a quick breakfast, a stop at Kmart we got to the dive shop, loaded up a few tanks of 31% Nitrox and headed for the Fintastic, the dive boat. The day was beautiful about seventy degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The weather report wasn’t lying because the seas were flat and perfect all day.
The area experienced a lot of rain and the bay water was a nasty brown color from the over flowed sewer and treatment plants. Out in the ocean the viz was great staring into the water from the boat. About forty-five it crapped out and you could hardly see ten feet at ninety-eight feet.
We dove a wreck called the Chippewa, an old tug, on the way down the line was a huge school of amber jacks. I think they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed them. The water was littered with jelly fish and good sized Man-Of-War. Schools of black, dinner plate sized, French Angelfish roamed the wreck. The dive was great in 68 degree water except for the low visibility, which was about ten feet. I joked that I had to swim fifteen feet to see fifteen feet of the wreck.
I had switched back to my standard gear using a mask and regs on the dive and missed my AGA even though I had only dove with it once. The Nitrox was extremely dry and I needed to snort some snot to clear my sinuses so all that had to wait until I got back to the surface, fifteen minutes later.
Back on the boat, we switched tanks and ran to the next dive site, after visiting four more places, we canceled the second dive because visibility had dwindled to about five feet or less.
The rest of the day was spent cruising around PCB checking out the sites and finding local fair to eat. We ate lunch at J Michaels had supper at the Boathouse. We wanted to see the inside of the History of Man and Water museum but it was closed and I relived some of my Navy experiences looking at old helicopter towed mine-countermeasures gear on display outside the museum building.

Monday Feb 25 we left PCB and headed back to Vortex Springs for some salt water rinse and more diving since we have only made two dives on this impromptu road trip. We got to Vortex Springs and spent time talking to Johnny in the dive shop and Ed, a diver who works in the springs and cave. They gave us a local history and lay out of the cave area.
The spring isn’t large and at the bottom, at 60 feet, there is a small cavern opening and then a cave that extends back three hundred feet into a large open cavern where there is a gate into the main cave. We made two dives into the spring and explored the cave up to the gate.
We loaded up and headed for home spending the night in Eufaula, Alabama and then making the rest of the trip into the nasty snowstorm in Ohio on Tuesday.
I was disappointed that we didn’t get in more dives but we kicked off the dive year with a road trip into great weather and beautiful water.

Unnatural Nature

2007-11-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

I hate to report that this nice cat, Jessie, to go with Bo and Luke (my sons Duke's of Hazzard theme), fell out of a tree and died on Saturday.

Pumpkin Carving

2007-11-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

We carved pumpkins and my hands hurt after it was all done so we made a mummy out of my pumpkin and the dogs promptly tore off the wrappings.

At least let me do the speed limit!

2007-11-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

Another wreckless moment

2007-10-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

Ramp Jumping

2007-10-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

If you think that I had a hand in this, I was only behind the camera. It was Becky who built the ramp and got him going down the porch ramp.

Speaks for it's self

2007-10-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Tricycles and ramps don't mix

2007-09-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

Good thing he's too young to feel that!

Chair Dog

2007-09-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Old Bo has taken to hanging out in the lawn chairs. I cant believe how fast they have grown in a few short months. They are the laziest dogs but they are loyal to Patrick and stay at home.

Stupidity Rules!!

2007-09-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

2007-09-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when two guys have too much time on their hands and not enough common sense. Strapped to a motorcycle and doing wheelies!

Whistler Bungee

2007-09-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

The bridge is 167 feet above the creek so its a long ways to fall. Six guys picked me up and chucked me off the bridge. Richie said "Its not everyday you get to throw your best friend off a bridge."
I pirated the last photo off WhistlerBungee.com

Zip Line

2007-09-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Patrick rode the zip line. At first he was unsure and then about half way down he yelled, "This is awesome!" So he did it over and over again.

Random Photos

2007-09-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

1&2 Patrick works his way through a "spider web" and hangs up side down.
3. This guy is riding a trials bike and doing a time ride through the boulders. He can't put his feet down without losing points and hops from boulder to boulder using the bike and a spring. THese guys are amazing.
4. Patrick and Katie
5. The motley crew.

Riding the Luge

2007-09-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

Why they put this up and let sane people ride it down the hill I'll never know but man was it fun. Good thing they didnt sell beer to close to it. Lean in the corners and no brakes. Hope the steel doesnt take the skin off your arm. Oh and yeah, we rode it more than once.

Whistler BC

2007-09-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

Our hotel in Whistler was pretty sweet and even though it was tight and didnt live up to the handicap billing, I would still take it again. Always thought my first trip to Whistler would be to go skiing but no. More pics to come.

Wheelchair Bungee

2007-09-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

I couldnt figure out how to turn this video sideways.

But its cool none the less because I went bungee jumping!!

Trip Photos

2007-09-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

1. Baby Katie having her first Cheerios, man she looks happy.
2. Proud papa Richie and baby Bear. Is that Richie or Tom holding up Katie??
3. Patrick, king of the rock in the law front yard.
4. What else to the kids do, watch Sesame Street.
5. Guys on the back deck stoking the chimea, drinking adult beverages and telling stories. This one time in Bahrain.........

Deception Pass

2007-09-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

Deception Pass is so apply named becasue the explorer (dont remeber his name) thought that the island was a peninsula. And so they were Decieved (evil music plays) those tricky islands. Anyways, its two really high bridges and they dont have big sidewalks so baby strollers and people in wheelchairs best stay off, this coming from expirence. I do wish I could have taken Patrick for a walk down to the beach because he wanted to go and so I wanted to stretch my legs except these darn legs wont work anymore, grunt groan try. to. throw. them. off. wheelchair. ahhh anyways....back to the car.

2007-09-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

We took the fairy from the main land back to Whidby Island and we cut the line because we didnt get over soon enough and we had no clue about what we were doing. The guy we cut in front of told the lady at the ticket booth because he wanted us to go to the end of the line. The lady in the booth shrugged and we told her we had no clue and we still go on the fairy even though the guy was bragging to his buddies about how he got us kicked out of line. Thanks for the favor man because we got to park on the outside of the fairy and had a great view of the bay, the mountains (Mt Baker in the background pic 2) and the wonderful scenery. The camera can't do justice for natural view of the eye on God's beauty. Thanks Buddy and we won't cut next time.

Seattle

2007-09-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Richie and Tara loaned us their Jeep and we road tripped down to Seattle. Patrick was bored most of the time as a five year old can be. I dont remember being unbored until I turned 21 and quit waiting on life to catch up and started catching up on life.
You can't go to Seattle and not see the Space Needle, and no Shawn, they arent going to launch it off in 2010. Patrick wanted to climb over the safety railing and go sky diving.
After the Space Needle, we went down to the Fish Market and watched the guys at this booth throwing fish to each other. What you cant see in this picture is a Monk fish hanging by it's tail. You can see the tail just to the left of the gray tote. The tail was attached to a rope and a guy behind the counter took great pleasure in scaring anyone who came near it. In this picture I'm telling Patrick that the fish is dead and there is a guy pulling on the rope because he kept saying "Dad, the fish is freaking me out! I want to leave." If I wasnt holding him on my lap, he'd have swum the channel back to Richie and Tara's.
That and he didnt like the fact that the gray tote in front of us was filled with live crawldads.

2007-09-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, Washington, (the great state people not where all those politicians that claim to run the country and spend our money so freely hang out) We deplaned and Richie picked us up at the airport. We decided to go up to the Mt. Baker over look so Richie made a right when we should have gone left and this one time in Washington.... anyways we finally made it there and then we couldnt go all the way to the top because the State hadnt finished the snow removal from the upper roads. It was cloudy so we couldnt see Mt. baker but the rest of it was still spectacular.

HELLO?

2007-09-04T12:59:00.001-07:00

Luke wonders "What the heck are you doing in there Patrick?"

Rolling Around

2007-09-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

I brought home a blue barrel and cut the end out of it so I could wash my dive gear but Patrick thought it would be of better use transporting him down hill. He had lots of fun with it.

DUI DOG of the Weeks

2007-07-06T16:19:00.001-07:00

George and I tested dry suits at Gilboa Quarry with the dry suit manufacturer DUI. We made the DUI web site. http://www.dui-online.com/2007_gilboa_thanks.html

Keep the Heat Turned On!

2007-06-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

I said Draw Mister!

2007-06-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Is that a gun you're reaching for or are you happy to see me?

Diving Gilboa

2007-06-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

1. Geared up for the rock and roll. The chair received heavy mods to the back after this day so I could sit in it normally and have the tank sit on a little board mounted to the back. Pretty sweet I'll post it later.
2. Hey George look out for the monster trout!
3 & 4. I'm feeding the fish and then George's turn. Wow, I was fending them off with my hands to keep them from ripping off the mask from my face and the regulator out of my mouth. Even if you don't feed them, they stalk you like sharks smelling blood in the water.

Mike, the owner of the quarry is a very cool guy but he posts a sign that says NO FISHING. Come on man look at the tasty dinner treat swimming out there.

The Boys

2007-06-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Becky wanted a house full of boys and well, she got it. Only we brought home two dogs. They are brothers from the same litter. The blonde one is Bo and the black one is Luke. So far they keep each other entertained and sleep alot. Patrick really enjoys them, they're like his brothers. Someone he can boss around.

Tribute to George

2007-06-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

Diving Gilboa

2007-06-06T06:54:00.001-07:00

1. Doing my whale impression. It aint pretty but it gets the job done.
2. Me on the left, George on the right at the school bus.
3. At the school bus again. Being attacked by rainbow trout and bass.
4. Me waiting for my buddy on the surface.
5. Dumping air at the motorcycle. Guess good looks dont get you to far when your underwater!

The water is usually very clear with visability in the 30-60' range. It was cloudy because dry suit manufacturer DUI was doing their dry suit demos and there was over 500 divers going in and out of the water all day. Test dove a dry suit, very nice needed more weight at the end of the dive becasue I got pretty light but I'll take one thank you.

World's Finest Navy

2007-06-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

Second Picture Top to Bottom: USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Kitty Hawk, USS Ronald Regan.

We dont need no Air Force flying cover but it looks cool.

Aaarrgghhh!

2007-05-21T04:20:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm in search of a new digital camera. I left mine on the back of my trailer beside a set of allen wrenches and then forgot about them. I found the allen wrenches on the road but havent seen the camera yet. They say the first thing to go is your mind, which is good because I can get by on my good looks!

Weekend Ride

2007-05-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in April, we got together at Cory's house and rode some ATVs. Nothing like riding in a corn field and trails that arent very long but not every place can be Tom and Kathy's in West V. We'll be down soon Tom, prep the scuba gear, we're going to Summersville.
From Left: Patrick, Darrel, Cory, COry's brother and myself on far right.

One week later and it's 77

2007-04-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

Throw all the beer cans you want and call the man gay but he's a better driver than anyone currently active and better than any armchiar racers throwing cans and names! Way to go Jeff its the Drive for Five.

76 Wins

2007-04-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

A win in Phoenix, a first for Jeff, a win from the pole, a first at Phoenix and tying Dale Earnhardt for 76 wins. What a night and what a race. Championship number five and four wins for eighty this season is my prediction.

Don't need no stinkin' goggles!

2007-04-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

Ski partners Darrel McCaulley, Cory Anderson and myself.

Me and Bo Derrick

2007-04-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

Snowmass, Colorado

2007-04-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

1. In front of the most photographed mountains in Colorado, the Maroon Bells. I'm with Cassandra and Ernest from the Cleveland VA. We were having a snowball fight and I fell off the sled while hurling a snowball. It was pretty funny. Fortunately we were stopped.
2. Ready to go, to bad I had a clapped out 340 two stroke with a rattly clutch and a passenger who didn't like to get extreme. An enimic 27 mph.
3. Geared up and ready to go with my favorite liberal Dr. Barbara Fleming. Unfortunately, she collided wiht another skier on the final run of the day and broke her humerous bone. (thats the upper arm, people)
4. Long away and far ago we rode the quad to the top.
5. Rippin it up on the slopes, my instructor ready to assist if I fall, which was quite frequent.

Random Acts of Photography

2007-03-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

The new bath

2007-03-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

This is our remodeled bathroom. We had them lay out a tile floor that incorporated all the colors and it turned out quite nice. We used a glass block wall to provide privacy for the walk in shower which has both a hand held shower and a wall mounted one. The door by the block wall is a door into the walk in closet which you can see in the bottom photo. It's completed now and a mess of clothes and other junk we have yet to put away. The joys of moving.

Kitchen Before and After

2007-03-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

If you remember when I started this blog, I bought the house in Feb of 2006. We started work on the kitchen and renovated it before moving to other areas of the house. Now we have the rest of the place remodeled and we got the floor laid which completed the kitchen and the dining room. Yea!! So this week we are moving it to the house. A long project nearing completion. Now there are a whole handful of projects left.

Happy Birthday and St. Pattys Day

2007-03-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Number 5 to my laddie Patrick, or wee "Patty T." All on St. Patties day no less hoist a green beer for me laddie and one for me! I need all the help I can get. (This must be read in an Irish accent as I wrote it in one.) The boys shirt says "Irish Girls Love Me"

Ten Things to Ponder for 2007

2007-03-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

TEN THINGS TO PONDER FOR 2007

10. Life is sexually transmitted.

9. Good health is merely the slowest rate at which one can die.

8. Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without
an erection, make him a sandwich.

7. Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person
to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

6. Some people are like a slinky...not really good for anything, but
you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

5. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the
hospital dying of nothing.

4. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no
attention to criticism.

3. Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars, and
a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?

2. In the 60's, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now the
world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER ONE THOUGHT FOR 2007:
We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among
the millions and millions of cows in America, but we haven't a clue as to
where thousands of illegal immigrants and Terrorists are located. Maybe
we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration.

Happy Anniversary

2007-03-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

It been two whole years and we haven't killed each other yet.

Superisory Position Wanted

2007-02-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

This is why we have kids! Nothing like a cup of coffee and watching the kid scrub the floor. Preperation for a career in the Navy. Ahoy, yea swabbie!

A Trike I Like

2007-02-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

I think I could ride this beast. Throw on an electric shifter and a thumb brake and I'm all over it. Just need a rear rack for the wheelchair.

Some of the cool stuff on the bike. I pirated the text from http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/02/10/can-am-spyder-details/

VSS - Vehicle Stabilization System, developed with Bosch which helps maintain vehicle control.
Brakes are activated by the right foot pedal which distributes braking to all wheels, minimizing nose dive. WHAT, NO STOPPIES!!!!
Rotax 998cc V-twin, 106 hp, 77 foot pounds of torque. MEANS GO FAST!
5 speed transmission with reverse
Exhaust meets CARB, EPA and Euro2 emission standards. STINKIN' GOVERNMENT
44L of enclosed front storage space plus a rear luggage rack is available A REAR TRUNK

Come on Richie, I think Frank could smoke you on this! I know I could, then again the only thing you ever saw was my taillights!

Patrick

2007-02-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

Just some pictures of the boy. One of the great things about life changing events is that they bring new people into your life and God brought me Becky and Patrick. He is a great kid, open hearted, has an active imagination that can't be topped and he wants to be like his dad. He's a hooligan in training. Forget the training, he's writing his own hooligan rules.

Group shot

2007-02-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

Looks like our dive master JR needs to take the official SSI Underwater Photography class and get the subject in the main view. Oh, well. They may have chopped off have of the duo but you can tell who is better looking, right Archie Bunker!

2007-02-19T12:37:00.000-08:00

1. Relaxing on the Vitamin Sea between dive sites.
2. George in a school of Amber Jacks
3. One of the times George let me hold the camera and I didnt lose it.
4. A gobi cleaning JR's fin
5. Scenery

I bought a reusable Kodak camera at one of the dive shops and took some pretty cool pictures. Too bad most of them have water spots on them. What's with that?

2007-02-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

Where's the gear? I'm ready to go into the water! I'm also ready to go back to Florida after all of this snow. Whatever possessed me to stay in Ohio? As for the last post, no that's not me swimming with the Goliath Grouper. I just stuck that pic on to show the size of the fish.

Marathon Key

2007-02-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

We made it to Marathon, Fl on Sunday evening after weaving through Super Bowl traffic in Miami. My Bears didn't win but Manning has his Super Bowl ring. George and I were happy to be here even though there was only one bed in the hotel room. George got to sleep on a roll-a-way bed at the Holiday Inn.

By Friday, we logged eight dives with Abyss Dive Center, www.abyssdive.com. Bill and Heidi Ferrell, Carmen and the good Captain JR were top rate. I can't wait to get back down and dive with them again. That's Bill in the bottom picture powering up after a morning on the boat.

By far the coolest dive we did was to the wreck of the Thunderbolt at 110 feet down. Hanging around the ship were Goliath Groupers that easily weigh four hundred plus pounds. George got plenty of cool video of these giants and of the ship, plus many of the reefs we dove. Most of our dives were training dives so we could get our Advanced Open Water dive cards but we found time to take video and still photos. We played with big lobsters, puffer fish, saw some eels and a few nurse sharks.

I also recommend the guys at Halls Dive Shop, www.hallsdiving.com. They answered all of our questions, gave us good information and were willing to lend a hand and gear. Thanks to Nick, the blimmy Brit and Paul. To all our friendly waitresses and every one who moved to Florida from Ohio, which is just about everyone we met.

Devil's Den Lodging

2007-02-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

The lodging at Devil's Den was very architecturally appealing but the wheelchair accomodations weren't so great. There were nice ramps to the cabins but there was a steep little hill from the grass parking lot. The shower had a sliding door on it so it was hard to get in and then I discovered that the shower didn't work.

The neighbor left us some Ethiopian coffee and we had a good caffeine boost for the next few hours on the road.

Escape from the Cold!

2007-02-09T16:23:00.000-08:00

George and I escaped Ohio on Friday Feb 2, 2007 and headed south to Florida. After a marathon drive session we got to Williston, FL and decided to spend the night with and ulterior motive. We wanted to get in a tune up dive before we got into the big blue Atlantic.

The plan was laid for stopping at the Devil's Den, www.devilsden.com an underwater cave system. We made two dives into gin clear water that was about 70 degrees. Getting into the place was a bit ackward but with the help of a lot of strong backs and weak minds of a few people we got it done.

Pic 1. George at the bottom of the hole on the dive platform.

Pic 2. Two guys who had a dream and made it come true.

Pic 3. Getting me down the stairs.

Pic 4. The rickety, slippery, steep, uneven stairs. Plus there were more to get to that point.

Pic 5. Another view into the hole.

Arches

2007-01-31T12:35:00.000-08:00

My wife decided that she wanted to have an access into the living room from the kitchen area. Everyone told her she was crazy for wanting to put an arch in because it would make a circle route for the kids to run.

She proved everyone wrong by helping dad tear out the wall. My woman with a sawzall and a hammer! After the dust settled, everyone who told her it wouldn't look right complimented the arch and liked it very much. Ah..vision!

Top pick is me, George, my dive buddy and sister-in-law Ruth's boyfriend and Patrick. These photos were taken from two different sides of the wall. The first is from the kitchen and the second is from inside the living room.

Sports Fan

2007-01-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

Yea, Ohio State lost the national championship but I'm still a true Buckeye fan. I know Darrel Gators rule, yea, yea...I'm corrupting the boy with Jeff Gordon, 4x Champion! But lately he has this Kasey Kahne kick.

Whats The Problem with this Guy?

2007-01-29T13:23:00.000-08:00

Whatever his problem is he knows who will win the SuperBowl! Da Bears!!!!!

Truckin' on Down the Road

2007-01-29T11:38:00.000-08:00

On the left is my old truck, of all the vehicles I've had, this one is my favorite. It was a 1992 Chevy Sport. 2wd, regular cab, short bed with a 305 V8 and a 5 speed manual transmission. I had alot of good years and memories in that truck. A sports car with a six foot bed. I had to sell it because I couldn't drive a standard anymore. On the Right is my current truck, a 2002 extra cab, short bed Chevy with a 5.3 L V8 and auto transmission. I drive it with a pair of portable handcontrols, never had fixed controls installed. I have 150,000 miles on it and it's going strong. In the foreground is a 2002 Honda Rubicon 500. I have quite a few miles on it too.

Toys

2007-01-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

Wanted to share some pictures of my toys to demonstrate that my wheels are truely on fire. Well, smokin' anyways..The day I picked up my 2002 Corvette at home and at the dealership. Bottom picture is of the 22' Wellcraft Scarab that I had for a few years before the stringers and transom got rotten. It had a single 350 V8 in her and she would do just under sixty. It would tow a tuber if you don't crank the wheel over to hard and try to throw everyone out of the boat.
I miss my Water Therapy.

ATV Gang

2007-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

More fun in West Virginia. In the top photo from the left is myself, Brian Law, Tom Law, Mike Sissler and Corey Anderson. In the bottom photo Tom caught us at rest on top of a moutain. Brian later rolled that green ATV down two hills and busted it up pretty bed. He stayed at the top and had some sore ribs and hurt his hand. He walked away. Corey also rolled his ATV over on top of him on a hill climb. He was unhurt, he is a paraplegic also.

My Naval Past

2007-01-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

Yeap, that's me, styling and profiling with the AN-AQS14A or Q14, in sunny Bahrain. My Hooligan brothers will remember this little island in the Persian Gulf with great fondness, what we can remember after all those pitchers of kamakazis.

That's me and my mom in front of the MH-53E Sea Dragon, the mightiest of all helicopters. I'm six three and my mom is six foot so you can see how big these pigs are. I had to learn to love these greasy, oily beasts and when you move to AMCM side, you love them even more, cause you don't have to work on them!

That's the beast at hover.

West Virginia Mud Runner

2007-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

Several times a year we venture to Oak Hill, West Virginia to the home of Tom and Kathy Law and spend time riding on the many trails around the New River Gorge, Beckley and Oak Hill. We get pretty dirty but have alot of fun. Richie lost the exhaust off the Warrior, silly Yamahas, doing jumps and wheelies. We hit a big mud hole together and both of us got soaked.

Me and Patrick

2007-01-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

This is my son Patrick. We're clowning around as usual. He likes to wrestle and try to beat up dad. We have puching contest to see who can hit the hardest in the leg. He hasn't figured out that I don't have any feeling in the legs......

2007-01-23T13:01:00.000-08:00

We put cement board on the walls behind the counter top for installation of tile and moved outlets before starting to hang the cabinets back on the wall. We reused the old cabinets and replaced the original hinges with inset hinges that are hidden from view and brushed nickle door handles and drawer pulls.
The island was made of some of the floor cabinets and some of the wall cabinets. The tall cabinet is an old double oven cabinet that was cut and fitted for doors to make a china cabinet out of it. We also enlarged the window.
The kitchen is done except for the flooring but I dont have any current pictures of it. I will post some when I get them.

2007-01-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

As you can see, we gutted the kitchen all the way to the sub-floor. We saved all the cabinets for later use. The guy who built the house did some strange things like running a lot of wire up through one part of the wall. We didn't move any of the wires and left all of that in place.

In the last picture, you can see we removed that small wall in the dining room and opened up the kitchen to the dining room so the place isn't a cave.

We laid new sub-flooring and then used ten bags of floor leveler to get the floor straight and then laid 1/4" louwan (sp) plywood as a suitable substrate for hardwood flooring. We found out later that we can't lay tile over the plywood because the plywood absorbs the glue and delaminates.

The Kitchen

2007-01-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

The first thing we started with was the kitchen. It was like a bear den in there with all the dark cabinets andlow wattage bulbs. There was a six inch step into the kitchen so that had to come out so I could easily access the kitchen.
In the top photo from the left is Jonathon, my brother-in-law, Tom, father-in-law, and Ruth, sister-in-law.
In the bottom photo, there was a small wall froming a hallway in the dining room. It had to go too.

The Ranch

2007-01-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

This is one of the reasons I started this blog; my house. It was bought in February 2006 and has undergone alot of improvements. It is 2000 sq feet with a fully furnished walk-out basement. There are five bedrooms, three and 1/2 bathrroms, an office with a beautiful built in walnut gun cabinet. The basement has a full bar and plenty of room to roam. The house sits on 10 1/2 acres divided by Wolf Creek and I mow about half of that.
I am a veteran who was injured while on active duty and applied for an adaptive housing grant through the VA. If it weren't for getting $50,000 to remodel the house I wouldn't go through that hassel again.
The grant came through in September of 2006 and we finally got the contractor there full time in late November. So I haven't been living there because I can't use the bathrooms. Here it is January 2007 and we're still remodeling. Things always move slower than you think they will and then we change things or things can't be built as designed and changes are made. I will post a bunch pics to get up-to-date and then I will post as we get through the process.

The Ranch

2007-01-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

The Richie Factor

2007-01-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

If Weebles wobble and they don't fall down, then gumbies bend and they don't break. Put Richie in that catagorie. He could be gumbie but he's smokin' on a bike. They don't call us hooligans for nothing. Third pic down is Mike "Pimp Daddy" Sissler and his Bandit. The last pic is me getting smoked by the man at a drag strip in North Carolina. Yamahas still suck!

Breakin' Out

2007-01-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

I present proof of the broken chair! A sickening crunch followed by an aahhh crap!

New Wheels

2007-01-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

My wheels. So I've been in a chair for almost six years and in this picture, I'm on my fifth wheelchair. The one pictured is an Invacare A6S which they don' make anymore and I retired mine with a cracked frame. Broke in in half. Guess I shouldn't have been jumping off the front porch!

How to Look Fast

2007-01-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

This pic was taken in March 2001 less than a week later I found out all about wheelchairs. What a sweet bike, I loved every ride. On March 23, 2001, I was with my buddies south of Norfolk, VA on Head of River Road and met an oncoming semi on my side of the road in a blind corner. I dont remember much about that day but a broken back, pinched spinal cord, busted shoulder and a cracked skull later, you find out how good your helmet, your riding gear, your friends and your faith really are. Thanks Hooligans!