Hello again, dear reader

It has been a very busy and hectic almost first month here in Northeast Kansas. The snow barely melted from the ground when it started to rain yesterday, which later in the night turned to snow. The streets were a mess last night, but much better this morning. We finally found a few hours of time this past weekend to take down our Christmas decorations. Let me tell you, it really isn't easy raising parents. If you have the chance to move away before you feel like you would be abandoning them because they are so needy - DO IT! Do it fast, and never look back. You can always go back and visit for holidays and stuff. I have to say that sometimes (most of the time?) it sucks to be the smart and responsible one. But I manage.

No. 2 Son is still in trouble school wise from last semester. The school are supposed to post a progress report every Wednesday on a secure web site so parents who care can track their student's progress. But the stupid site hasn't been updated since 13 December and I'm getting kind of ticked about it. He had a couple of Fs on that progress report, and the decision was made that he would not be able to play any computer or video games of any kind on a school day until his grades come up. He tells me that with the new semester, everybody starts with As. And that may be true, but all I have to go on is the last progress report. So still he is in his pickle.

He has been doing better so far. Every day he gets at least one or two of his teachers to sign his homework tracker. The deal there is; his bedtime is 9 PM, but for every teacher that does not sign his homework tracker, he goes to bed 10 minutes earlier. Since we started this back in late October, he has pretty much held a 7:40 PM bedtime. Now he is getting to stay up until 8:30 or so most nights.

I know, it seems like I'm a hard-ass, and I feel that way much of the time. But something has to be done. Nothing else we do seems to get through to him. And believe me, if you mention it, I've probably tried it. This kid is as stubborn as they come. I think he is 1/2 mule and 2/3 goat.

I know it's been a while since I have posted anything here. I'm not ignoring you, but I have been extremely preoccupied with work. The end of the year was a madhouse with so many projects having deadlines, it was sheer nuts. We're in the process of setting standards for the software department. This is something new because up until now, software has mainly been a kind of internal support/sideline thing. But the company realizes that web-based applications are where the world is going, so they are really pushing to beef up their software side of the house, and I have to tell you, one of the things I'm pushing for becoming a standard is zero deliveries to clients between 20 December and 7 January.

"There is no shame in being second best"

For quite some time now No. 2 Son has been talking about his great desire to be a Navy Seal. I don't know what it is that created this desire in him, but I'm not going to do anything to dispel that either.

As the regular readers know, No. 1 Son is in the Marine Jr. ROTC program at his high school. The instructor for that program is CWO Gunner. Awhile back No. 2 Son and Gunner were discussing things, and the discussion turned to the military where No. 2 Son did not hesitate to relate his desire to be a Navy Seal. Gunner asks why he would want to be a Seal, and No. 2 Son responded that while he knows the Marines are tough, the Seals go in, get the job done, and get out without anyone knowing they were there. This didn't seem to phase Gunner in the least (very little does) as Gunner responded "Well, that's ok. There is no shame in being second best if that is what you want."

This conversation was brought to memory yesterday as we were watching "The Unit". I have said before, and I still believe, that this television program is the single best hour long commercial for the US Army ever developed. The plot was the team was extracting a kidnapped journalist from Lebanon. Things didn't go according to plan and their extraction helicopter was shot down, and one of the team was badly wounded in a gunfight so they could not get to the secondary extraction point. They tended the wounded soldier and put a marker on the top of a building hoping the satellites could see it and send help.

At the end of the show, help arrived in the form of the US Marines. This sent No. 1 Son into hysterics as he found great joy that the US Marines had to be sent in to rescue the US Army Special Ops team. I'm certain that at school today, he is telling all of his MJROTC comrades about it.