I'm Back!!!

Who said I was getting old? Yeah, my bones creak every time I move a joint, and I no longer hang with the 20 som'ns and no longer kick it like I did... even 20 years ago. But aside from all of that, I'm just as I young as I used to be. As I mentioned earlier, I was having a bit of trouble getting back in basketball shape, and was actually disappointed that I couldln't move like I used to. But guess what? It took 4 weeks, but I'm Back!! I have my youthful, springy legs back. When I played ball this past week, I became a dunking machine! Yes! I can still play above the rim!

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So Sunday came, gametime, and I was juiced. Don't let me have an open layup... I had visions of dunking on somebody. Well, not onsomeone, just near someone. I should have searched for an opportunity at the beginning of the game, cause with each minute, everyone became more & more physical. In fact, I have 2 bruises near my right wrist, one bruise on my left shoulder, scab on my inner left knee (don't know how that happened), and a left over scab from from last week on my right knee. Did I forget to mention that this hostile, overly aggressive game is part of the CHURCH league?

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In the first half, I had one of those blocks folks just dream of. Dude was taking a 3 point shot, I was in the air before he released the ball. I almost palmed his shot in mid-air! But just like in every kid's dream, I smacked his shot way into the 4th or 5th row of the stands!!! OK, fast foward to the 2nd half. I grab an open rebound. Everyone else is tired. I go up for the two-handed throw down, and *BOOM*! No, not what you're thinking. Some fool smacked me in the face on the way up, so I didn't get to throw it down. I was up there too! To make matters worse, the ref didn't call a foul. :-| Aside from winning the game, I was very happy for achieving my personal victory. I didn't have a goal of dunking again, or even necessariy dunking in the game (as I dream some more), but it was an indication that my dedication to staying fit & in shape has its rewards.

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Trick or "GEDAHELOUDAHERE"

Yeah yeah, Trick or Treat. I celebrated last Halloween, passed out candy, posted a scarecrow in the frontyard... I used to dress up & scare the kids when they came to my crib in California, but I think I inflicted very permanent damage on some. I would turn off all the lights, except for the outdoor light. Open the door, it's pitch black inside. As the kids walk up, I would charge the door in my all black grim reaper outfit. Face covered... very scary. LOL The good ole days.

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But those days are gone. You can read about last year's Halloween if you like, but based on these fools taking the fun out of my day last year, I have no desire to give out free candy this year. So why was my doorbell ringing throughout the night even though my outdoor lights are off? My parents are here, and they keep wanting to open the door... knowing they don't have any candy. I convinced them not to open the door anymore, but kids kept on coming up to my door. Why? I looked out the window, and saw parents out there. Is it because they see I'm eating dinner from the window? Is it because I seem friendly the other days of the year? Because they recall all the goodies I gave away last year? I don't know, beats me.

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Ski Flashback

Ahh... getting chilly. You know what that means, right? Ski season is almost here. Here's a video clip of one of my adventures in Vermont. Unfortunately, you'll have to tip your head sideways to see it clearly... or lay your monitor on it's right side. lol As I look at it, it made me wonder if I will have anyone skiing with me this season when I take my more adventerous route. And no, I'm not crazy, I have the skills to make it through safely. Can't wait to hit the slopes!!!

Naughty & Nasty!

So here I am, relaxing, watching the typical nonsense on the news, when a subtle news flash makes this report not-so-typical! The same jailhouse that let a woman handle an ex-football player alone... who ended up killing several folks & escaping... was caught with its employees searching porn sites. Yeah yeah, whatever, happens everywhere, all the time. But then they showed snidbits of the porn, and it was all black men! What the hell?! I feel real sorry for any inmate subjected to a strip search up in there. Watch the news clip here!.

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Friends Can Steal

I'm going to try not to write too much, but it's on my mind, so I have to write something. It's sad when when someone you are cool with turns out to be a thief and a liar. Stealing from the same source of much of my time and & money. Just when you think you know someone, you find out you don't. I guess access to other people's money can bring out the greed in some. I don't understand it. If it's not my money, I have no use for it. Guess you really can't trust folks around money, no matter who they are.

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Adventures

I don't have anything exciting to report. No adventures this week. I will be going to the exciting Asheville, NC next weekend, maybe something will happen there. My parents are arriving this weekend, that may spawn some stories. If not, I'll have plenty of adventures coming soon. Ski season & Honeymoon is coming up, so I will be travelling the globe, stay tuned!

Risky Business

I certainly had an adventurous weekend! You know me, I have to have something going on, at least monthly. But this one is different. Wasn't planned. Not in my job description, but duty called.

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A little background info first. I had a chance to fly on plane to test some equipment when I was in Seattle. The flight was on a small King Air 2 prop plane (6 seater) that was flying very close to ground, flying very close to mountatins, and flying very close to antennas. I thought about it for about 250 milliseconds, and said "No".

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Fast Forward to last Wednesday. "Jez Chill, do you want to fly?" This time, I gave it 500 milliseconds of thought, and said "No". Thursday comes, and my management comes and personally asks me to get my ass on the plane. Of course, I said "YES". The adventures begin. I'll try to keep the summaries brief.

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Due to very bad weather, it doesn't look like we're going to fly. So I head off to lunch with my management. I'm tagging along, since I normally don't eat with the "Good Old Boys". I guess it was the one manager's turn to drive to lunch. He can't see well, his reaction speed is 2 seconds too slow, and it's always an over reaction.

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We get a cell phone call, the weather cleared up, so head off to the airport. Up until this point, I didn't think I was going to fly, so I was relieved. Now I'm asking a million questions to see if I should call & triple my life insurance policy real quick.

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At the airport, the first flight of guys were leaving as we were preparing to jump aboard. One guy is sick. Looks like he ran a marathon, and was running straight for the bathroom. Come to find out later, his management forced him to go despite his desire not to. Now I'm really worried.

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So we fly into the North Georgia mountain area. Of course, nothing but mountains of forests and a few antennas. The wind was whipping the plane like it was made of paper. We flew 500 ft above the forest, getting within 500 ft of mountains & antennas ahead of us. OK, that wasn't too bad, equpment works, I'm ready go home.

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Uh... no. That was just the first mode. The second mode requires us to fly at 300 ft!!! OH SHIT!!!! I'm sweating like the sprinkler system went off. One manager is telling stories how his squad searched and found the wreckage of a plane that crashed a month earlier at one of the mountains. Everyone is trying to turn up & readjust their air vents. And now here we are flying just above the tree tops and avoiding mountains & antennas by LESS THAN 300 feet.

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I forgot to tell you, instead of the test pilot flying, one of our guys somehow worked a deal to let him fly instead! WTH?!?! So the test pilot is giving the havne't-flown-a-plane-in-20-years pilot directions the entire time.

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We returned safe & sound. I swear, this was not part of my job description, but it was pretty cool when I look back on it. Scary though. Just when I thought I was safe, I get in the car with the blind manager... I think that ride back was scarier than the plane ride!!!

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Garage Work

I spent Saturday hanging up dry wall on an unfinished wall in my garage. I've never done it before, but it was pretty easy. I called my neighbor over, he approved of my handiwork, with several good suggestions. Here are pics of my progress. I feel like such a stud now. :-)

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Hoop Dreams

I bought some new kicks, so I ready to play some basketball. I was thinking, the shoes was the only thing I needed to allow me to jump as high I used to... back when I could dunk the ball. No luck. but my feet sure do feel better! Unfortunately, my youthful thinking convinced me that I should dive for a loose ball. What the hell was I thinking? So now I'm really sore, and there's a big chunk of skin from my knee still lying on the floor somewhere. *ouch* My hot tub sure came in handy last night!

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Big-Screen Debut

I saw myself in The Gospel on Friday. 3 scenes. Things that didn't make sense at the time now do make sense. It's great how careful editing makes nonsense sensical. We did switch seats in the church scene to make it look like a different day. But we also additional scenes on a different day, but I didn't see myself then.

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There were 2 scenes that I got called to be in, the basketball scene when Boris is talking to the kids in the gym, and a scene in a bar / cafe. Boris is like, 6'5", and they wanted folks that looked like basketball players. But anyone standing next to him is going to look like short, and I saw that on screen. Maybe next time, I'll have a little more advance warning, and I'll make arrangements to leave work and make my mark on "Ghettowood".

Movie Star!!!

OK, I'm made my first move towards obtaining a gold Star engraved on Peachtree Street. Have you seen The Gospel yet? Don't feel bad, neither have I. But I'm getting a bunch of messages from folks who saw me in it. I'm in two church scenes! I'm wearing a Navy Blue Polo Shirt, dude w/ the locs I didn't think anyone would see me. But apparently, the camera stopped & focused on me while I was "acting" out my grand performance of pretending to enjoy the director's antics, clapping to the CD, and pretending I wasn't exhausted from sitting in a church at 1 AM for a 10 min scene that we repeated about 50 times.

As I blogged about earlier, a couple of times, I have dabbled with getting my movie hustle on. And I had a great opportunity to appear in more scenes and get speaking roles, but I decided the opportunit just wasn't worth it. So instead, I'm going to enjoy my 15 seconds of fame! I wonder if my name appeared in the credits. Doubt it. But anyways, go check out the movie. I'm in the church scene in the beginning when little Boris Kodjoe was singing, and near the end when big ##### enters the church. (I don't want to ruin the movie).

I'll be on the Walk of Fame on Peachtree Street signing autographs at noon tomorrow, right after the Star dedication ceremony.

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Old School Hoops

We just won our first game in the basketball church league! Whoo-hooo! We nearly doubled the opponents score. That's a good sign. Playoffs, here we come. But *ouch* my body is just not springing like it used to. Can't jump like I used to. *Ugh* I just read an article in my Men's Health magazine, and it said that shoes should be replaced after 200 miles. I think I've put about 300 on mine. My heels are killing me!

I bought my kicks to play ball last year, but it didn't happen. So I figure I'll just wear them this year. But they make me feel like I'm jumping on a pogo stick with no spring! New shoes, a must, gotta get. So here I am walking into work today in my dressy shoes, with sore heels. This means I'm more comfortable walking on my toes. Dilemma: Walk on my toes & look like some fruit cake, or suffer in pain walking like a man. Well, this is no dilemma, not question. I'm walking around all day, gingely as possile, knowing my insticts is to walk on my toes to spare me the pain.

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Broken Glass

So I headed off to the public library for a meeting, pull into a nice lil spot, and everything seems all good. When I return, I seen shattered glass everywhere at my driver's door. "AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" (That's a yell, not a scream) Heart starts beating at 300 beats per minute. I walk slowly up to my car... and it's not my window. "Whoa". The car next to mine is gone. There was no car there, & no glass when I pulled into the spot.

So today, I rolling down the street & see a auto store with an eye-catching sign on the store front: "HOT CARS WANTED". I wonder if the car from the library is over there.