Rain

You know you live in AZ when it rains and you blog about it!!!

As you guessed, it is raining here in my part of AZ. Why do I get all excited? Well, there are millions of reasons I do. Rain not only helps clean the air of impurities, but also replenishes water reservoirs that were depleted during our ultra-drought.

Yes, we live in the desert. Yes, we are used to not having rain. Hey, the way most people see it, as long as Colorado gets snow, AZ will be okay. That is partly true being that the Colorado River provides us with over 50% of our water.

However, there are cities, like the one I live in, that depend on well water for survival. While rain will provide some relief to the ground, ground water will not be replenished so easily. Being winter, plants, trees and grass don't require as much watering.

Since we have received a good amount of rain, I am going to turn off my sprinkler system until Monday. My grass only gets watered on Sundays in the winter. So this rain fall will satisfy my grass watering needs for this week! Also, my plants get watered on a 4 day skip cycle. That is 1 gallon/plant ever four days in the winter.

If every household in AZ getting rain was to do what many do, it could amount to millions of gallons of water not wasted. Remember, 40-50% of the water bill is spent on watering outside plants and grass.

We need these rains to continue into the night. If only the Gila River can flood again like it did in '93, that would help with some of the ground water issues facing many cities that border it. While the Santa Cruz River flows during the monsoons, it is not enough to satisfy the diminished water supplies.

Well, enough doom and gloom. The rains sure are nice. It is a cool 63 degrees. No AC, no heater and no water wasted. The only problem, I can't cut my grass tomorrow. I will have to give it 2-3 days of drying.

Eh, who cares. I hope it rains all weekend. Oh, by the way, if you live in AZ becarefull with all the drivers. Remember, accidents increase 40% during and after a rain in AZ. Yeah, we can't drive in the rain.

Its Been Busy

Where to begin.

I haven't been on blogger.com in a while. With everything else I am trying to do on the net, it seems that I don't have time for writing. I use this more for a vent than for blogging.

Lately I have been messing about with Google Desktop. I became jealous when I saw my wife's cousin's Vista Laptop. The only impressive thing about it was the widgets.

So, being the "let's try anything tech" kind of guy, I decided to re-install GD. I browsed some cool gadgets that I love and some that were not up to par with me. The ones that I have now are gdShredder, Battery Meter, CPU usage meter and two weather gadgets.

I am still browsing and looking. Eventually I will settle with something that fits my everyday needs. However, Google makes it very easy to add and delete as you wish.

As you can see from the picture, I have it locked. It is a little inconvenient when browsing treonauts.com. The website does not adjust so I have to scroll left and right to get my posts read.

Every other site though seems to do just fine. Well, I will keep messing about and see if I like it.

I also have Spring Widgets but so far, Google Gadgets has had the biggest impression on my.

Veteran's Day

Its Veteran's Day today. We are going to a parade. To honor those who fought for us. Who gave it all without a fuss. Times are sad for Veteran's today. They are rejected by Americans in every which way. All they do is protect and serve. Keep our rights they lose no nerve. The ultimate sacrifice they did give. They lost their lives even limbs. Today is the day we honor them. Yet so many despise them. It does not matter for they know. That they are doing what is rightfully so. When they come home they will see. A great America that is FREE. If I lived in another place. What rights would I have, could I say grace? The Constitution was not written. Without American Blood spilled, no Rights hidden. We have fought for what we think is Right. GOD has given the might to fight. To be free in every way. That is why I type, I can say it everyday.

I made this poem off the top of my head. I did not edit it in any way.

The rights that we take for granted, is the very right that they have died for. Could you imagine what kind of country we would be now if our fore fathers hadn't "killed" for freedom? Yes, I am not denying that wars are nasty and cruel. Some wars may not be just in some one's eyes. I am trying to find a quote from a war reporter who hated war.

He went on a mission with the soldiers and Marines. He then understood what was going on. He understood that the basic human rights that we as Americans take for granted, was the same rights we were trying to give these people. Many say that "the war is not here". But isn't that the American way. To ensure freedom for everyone, not just Americans.

We cherish the basic human rights. The Freedom of Speech, The Freedom of Press, The Freedom of Religion and so many other rights. So many countries that take these rights away from their citizens.

Every one can question our beliefs. In America we respect everyone's rights, that includes Gay Rights. I ask you, go be gay in a Muslim country and see if you are greeted nicely. No, you will be rocked to death or beheaded. Hmhm. That is what we have here. Not everyone may agree about homosexuality, but at least you won't be killed for it. We have a long way to go on the homosexuality thing, but this is the solution. Love everyone as a human being. Don't find fault in them before you fix your faults.

If you don't agree with Veterans it is ok. It is your right not to agree. However, don't disrespect or spit on their faces. Express yourself, another guaranteed right, but you don't have to intimidate them or their families.

Calling them killers because they killed to keep you free, I will call that Hippocracy.

Thanksgiving

What does Thanksgiving mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

I just found out that I have to work that day. Its ok, I should be home by 2 p.m. Normally, on that day, I would be assisting my beloved wife prepare some of the food for the evening meal. Of course, my way of assisting is taking care of the children and emptying the garbage every half hour.

When it is all said and done, we all gather around and chill out and talk. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? Family and communication is important as well as being together as a family unit.

This year we have a cousin, my wife's actually, coming from Guadalajara, Mexico to partake in this years Turkey Day celebration. He is coming because he always hears about the day and wanted to know what the big hoopla was about.

What is the big hoopla? I talked about it briefly already and mention the important things for family. It is a tradition that started when I married my wife. We used to celebrate it at her parents house every year. Since moving to Phoenix, we have been having Thanksgiving Diner at our house.

My wife, she needs her own cooking show I am serious, takes care of everything for the cooking. I think it is her therapy. She relaxes and enjoys it so we let her do it. (Insert evil grin here.)

Then as the family begins to show up, I still don't do a thing, the conversation begins, which makes me mad because I am trying to watch football.

When it is all said and done, we overate, over drank, and over communictated. I still feel that it is well worth the time, energy and fatigue that one goes through.

Basically, it can be whatever you want it to be. It is you and what you want. Some people will not have a Thanksgiving Diner but will instead be volunteering their time at a shelter or Red Cross. What ever it means to you, just do it!

Growing up, we didn't have Thanksgiving Diner/Day or anything. It just wasn't our tradition. My mom, being the legal immigrant, didn't know nor did she ever celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I would eat meals at school, but it wasn't the same.

Do you remember how Thanksgiving Day came about? Starving Pilgrims that could not sustain themselves through the cold and harsh times.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day and remember to stick with the fundamentals. Don't fall for these companies portraying this holiday as a means for you to get your ass into more debt.

Halloween

Well, Halloween is over and it was over quick. Seemed like just yesterday that I was putting up the Halloween Decor.

We have a little family tradition that I started. Obviously it is nothing that most family don't with their children but it was new to me. When my daughter was 2 years old, we started to carve a pumpkins for Halloween.

We continued this until my son was born. Since his birth, we have been carving two pumpkins for Halloween. It just seems as though it became more stressful. Darn kids fighting over whose pumpkin I was going to carve first.

What would having kids be without the fights, right? I enjoy and my wife enjoys taking video as I gut out two pumpkins with my kids designs on them. I don't claim to be a pumpkin carving expert, but as long my kids are happy, I am happy too.