Last night Becky and I went to a concert featuring “The Outlaws“. It was absolutely fantastic. They are very accomplished musicians, and put on a great preformance.

What made the concert very memorable was the venue and the size of the audience. The concert took place outside at the The Eagle Knoll Winery, and I would guess the crowd numbered no more than 200 people. So, it felt like our own private little performance.

To the band’s credit, it didn’t seem to matter how large the crowd was. They played as if they had an audience of thousands.

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If Wal-Mart doesn’t have it, you don’t need it, right?
Subject: Wal Mart Doctor

One day, in line at the cafeteria, Bob says to Stanley, “My elbow
hurts like crazy I guess I’d better see a doctor.” “Listen, Bob, you
don’t have to spend that kind of money,” Stan replies. There’s a
diagnostic computer down at Wal-Mart. Just give it a urine sample and the
computer will tell you what’s wrong and what to do about it. It takes ten
seconds and costs ten dollars…a lot cheaper than a doctor.”

So Bob fills a small jar with his urine and takes it to Wal-Mart. He
deposits ten dollars, and the computer lights up and asks for the urine
sample. He pours the sample into the slot and waits.Ten seconds later, the
computer ejects a printout: “You have tennis elbow. Soak your arm in warm
water and void heavy activity. It will improve in two weeks.”

That evening, while thinking how amazing this new technology was,
Bob got wondering if the computer could be fooled. He mixed some tap
water, a urine sample from his dog, urine samples from his wife and
daughter, and some water out of his favorite fishing hole, just for good
measure. He then went back to Wal-Mart, eager to test the computer. He
deposits ten dollars, pours in his concoction, and waits. In ten seconds
the computer prints the following:

1. Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener.

2. Your dog has ringworm. Bathe him with anti-fungal shampoo.

3. Your daughter has a cocaine habit. Get her into rehab.

4. Your wife is pregnant. Twins. They aren’t yours. Get a lawyer.

5. If you don’t stop fishing, your elbow will never get better.

And, as always, thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart

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Went to the final BSU “public” scrimmage Friday night. I really liked what I saw. There’s a lot of depth – especially at the quarterback position. I guess it says a lot when you move you “heir-apparent” QB (Legedu Naanee) to a wide receiver position. But, from what everybody says, he’s probably the most athletic player on the field. (I swear he grew taller. I guess it must be the bulking up he did over the summer).

After the scrimmage we got a bunch of autographs from players (mostly starters) and Coach Hawkins. My boy Josh was ecstatic, and is now the proud owner of a 2005 BSU cap with 20 or 30 signatures. And, I got this wonderful idea to get all of their signatures on a poster/schedule I can put up at my office to really annoy the Idaho Vandal fans I work with (evil laugh).

Here’s a great article from Sports Illustrated about the Broncos and Fresno State.

As the date for the opener at Georgia looms, I’ll try to add material to this Blog.

19, 18, 16….

Those are BSU’s respective pre-season rankings from USA Today, the Associated Press, and Sport Illustrated, respectively. Fresno State also made it into the AP, and SI polls, at 24 and 19.

Are the polls important? Yes, and no. Of course, being ranked does not guarantee anything, especially for a Mid-Major college. On the other hand, being on the radar screen before the season starts does improve chances for being noticed at the end of the season. And, the NCAA football championship series is, in the final analysis, all done with mirrors.

Kicking woes?

Looks like the Broncos are going to have to score touchdowns with a vengeance this year, at least early on. That’s because Tyler Jones is no longer around to play mop-up with his extraordinary foot. During the last couple seasons whenever the offense sputtered (not that often), TJ almost always saved the day.

One redeeming point – and I hope he doesn’t have to be tested much – is the punting leg of Kyle Stringer. During last Friday’s scrimmage, he punted a couple beauties. One of them, a spiral from the back of the end-zone, was a good 60 yards in the air. Pretty slick.

Who will catch it?

BSU has had an impressive passel of wide receivers the past few years. But, this year will be anyone’s guess as to who will stand up and shine. The only really expreienced wideout, Drisan James, has been suspended for the Georgia game (that’s another story), so someone will have to step it up a bit.

Josh Smith (the man with the golden teeth) and Legedu Naanee both look promising, as does Cole Clasen, a transfer from Oregon State. I’ve not heard anything about the other players – yet.

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Haven’t posted since June. I guess summer is not a good time for blogging. For me anyway.

Pretty well finished building the deck. Got some caps to put on the side yet, and the finishing work (sanding, staining). I guess the final dimensions are *roughly* 15×50. Actually, it looks kinda like this:

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I have no idea how that will come out. Not bad for about a grand.

Upcoming projects outdoors:

1. Add storage area with new fence.
2. Bark on ALL the berms (probably 20-30 yards eventually).
3. Rock and cobble in the drainage ditch around the property. BIG job.
4. Brick or macadam the driveway.

Next week we are leaving to go camping for 5 days. Let’s see how much we can accomplish before then!

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Well, this morning I got some very bad news. An old friend of mine, Joel Walker, died yesterday (5/25) from lung cancer. We became friends nearly 30 years ago during my last year of high school. He had already graduated, but he and his buddies liked to hang out at the JB’s restaurant my little gang of friends and I liked to haunt. Once we got to know each other, we all became great friends.

Another old friend of mine, Dave Crawford, passed away a month ago (4/25) from colon cancer. I knew him from about 3rd grade on, and we were always very close. During our high school summer vacations, Dave and I lived together in a tent and worked in mountainous Stanley, Idaho. I consider those days to be some of the best of my life.

Joel and Dave were as different as night and day. Joel was introverted and reserved. Dave was extroverted and never met stranger – in fact, I believe it was Dave who first started chatting with Joel and his friends back when we all met.

Both men honored me by participating in my wedding nearly 24 years ago – Dave as the Best Man, Joel as an Usher/Groomsman. It’s a shame neither lived long enough to witness our 25th wedding anniversary.

The catchphrase I will always associate with Joel is, “Well, beats sitting around watching TV”. He used to say that to me when I’d call him up to go have a beer or coffee somewhere. He said it to me again about a year ago when I was bragging/complaining about all the projects I had going on around the house. I will miss his thoughful, yet dry, humor terribly.

One of Joel’s favorite past-times was to grab a couple six-packs of beer and head out onto the desert or into the foothills north of Boise. We spent many hours up on hilltops looking at the city lights, drinking beer, listening to music, and solving all of the world’s problems.

Dave will always have a very special place in my heart. He was one of my first real friends, and was always there for me when the going got tough.

One of the best stories I remember about Dave is when we were working in a restaurant in Stanley. Dave wanted to learn how to cook, so one day he asked the cook (Joanne, I believe) how she knew when to turn the pancakes she was cooking. “49 bubbles”, is all she said. Then, she told him to watch the grill while she started the next breakfast.We all stood around giggling as Dave tried to count all of the bubbles on each pancake before he flipped them. Finally, we heard an exasperated Dave say, “Oh, to hell with it”, as he gave up counting and just started flipping.

Here’s to Dave (clink), and Joel (clink), two of the best people, and friends, I have ever known.

(In a year’s time now I have lost both my parents and two of my dearest friends. Let’s hope and pray nobody else dies for a long, long time).

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