6 Kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, Mom, and Dad

Proper Rules of Etiquette for dealing with Peace activists.

The following bit of advice came through my email and liked it so much I decided to post it here:

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With all of this talk of impending war, many of us will encounter "Peace
Activists" who will try and convince us that we must refrain from
retaliating against the ones who terrorized us all on September 11, 2001,
and those who support terror.

These activists may be alone or in a gathering.....most of us don't know how
to react to them. When you come upon one of these people, or one of their
rallies, here are the proper rules of etiquette:

1. Listen politely while this person explains their views. Strike up a
conversation if necessary and look very interested in their ideas. They will
tell you how revenge is immoral, and that by attacking the people who did
this to us, we will only bring on more violence. They will probably use many
arguments, ranging from political to religious to humanitarian.

2. In the middle of their remarks, without any warning, punch them in the
nose.

3. When the person gets up off of the ground, they will be very angry and
they may try to hit you, so be careful.

4. Very quickly and calmly remind the person that violence only brings
about more violence and remind them of their stand on this matter. Tell them
if they are really committed to a nonviolent approach to undeserved attacks,
they will turn the other cheek and negotiate a solution. Tell them they
must lead by example if they really believe what they are saying.

5. Most of them will think for a moment and then agree that you are
correct.

6. As soon as they do that, hit them again. Only this time hit them much
harder. Square in the nose.

7. Repeat steps 2-5 until the desired results are obtained and the person
realizes how stupid of an argument he/she is making.

8. There is no difference in an individual attacking an unsuspecting
victim or a group of terrorists attacking a nation of people. It is
unacceptable and must be dealt with. Perhaps at a high cost.

We owe our military a huge debt for what they are about to do for us and our
children. We must support them and our leaders at times like these. We have
no choice. We either strike back, VERY HARD, or we will keep getting hit in
the nose.

Rocket's red glare or I'm blogging from the center of bagdad.

I just read about this blog supposedly written by someone living in downtown Bagdad. If it ends up being a hoax it falls under the "don't let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Please Mr. Please or A goddess must make great wine.

Who knew that Olivia Newton-John would have her own line of wines? I've seen the Koala Blue wines in a local liquor store but not the "Olivia" wines.

"Let me be there" when they hit a store near me. I have to "believe they are magic." I'll most likely "get physical" when I see a bottle and yell out "you're the one that I want" when I do. I can't help it, I'm "hopelessly devoted" to ONJ.

You've won the oscar or Now I'm a political expert and can say my piece.

Amazing how being famous entitles you to be an expert on everything, and especially politics.

I think it was funny when Steve Martin did his monologue and said that some actors are democrats and some are...

Wishing for peace when our troops are dropping bombs, surviving as POWs, getting killed, and marching toward Bagdad seems to be a matter of the right wish at the wrong time. Maybe they think their wish for peace is enough to get everyone to stand down and head home. I guess they can leave the Oscars and congratulate each other for being compassionate and experts on foreign policy.

Helicoptor down or Let's jump up and down with guns over our heads...why?

Watching the coverage can be maddening at times. They keep showing the video that shows the downed US helicoptor and a bunch of Iraqi soldiers jumping up and down. Don't they realize how totally uncool they look when they do that?

Son got his license or be careful what you wish for.

Son got his license this morning, the first kid in our family to do so. It seems like just yesterday that he was getting a bath in the kitchen sink and now he can drive a car.

Talk about shock in terms of insurance. It will cost $1200 for a year of him being the "occasional driver" of just one of our vehicles. I've heard that girls cost a lot less though.

Maybe I'll let him go get a carton of milk tonight.

Nothing will change or Get me out of here and someplace that is warm!

I just read about a 25-year-old software engineer that won $39 million from a slot machine in Las Vegas.

I just can't imagine what it would be like to win that kind of money. I'd be happy with $100. And talk about changes... One thing I know for sure, Beautiful Wife and I would be in a tropical area and pouring expensive wine for our Good Friends.

Cellar this or Brother can you spare 4,000 dimes.

Well, if you have $400 just laying around and you don't mind waiting until the year 2012 or so to see if you made a good choice, I have the wine for you.

CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD Pauillac 2000 (100 points, $400)
Subtle aromas of currants, leather, tobacco and cedar. Classic cigar box nose, with fruit. Full-bodied, with an amazing texture of silky, ripe tannins. This is a wine that completely coats your palate, but caresses it at the same time. This is the best young Lafite ever made. A triumph. Best after 2012. 18,000 cases made. Collectible.

Dessert or should we eat that whipped cream that's been in my locker all day.

Oldest Daughter brought a pie into one of her classes and took along a can of whipped cream too. She left it in her locker and decided at the end of the day that it should be ok for her and her two friends to eat.

The fact that it was warm and they ate it is amazing enough. One of them said that it kind of smelled like throw up and they ate it anyway.

They spent the evening, night, and morning throwing up. I made sure to point out that they had the same symptoms as what they'd get if they ever decided to drink a lot of alcohol. I'm never one to pass up an opportunity to teach them a lesson. :-)

CCB Scoop or you first heard about the next wine tasting dinner here!

Oldest Youngest Sister took me out for my birthday dinner last night to my favorite restaurant, Crescent City Bistro. She had a gift certificate and I made sure to help her spend it all.

Anyway, the chef there came out to tell us that we were the first to know about his next wine tasting dinner. We'll be tasting the wines of Portugal and the dinner will be hosted by one of the author's of this book.

What did I have for dinner? I started with the crawfish boil and a Cuban Mojito cocktail. I ordered the strip steak, medium rare, with the garlic mashed potatoes, corn, and roasted head of garlic. I had a glass of Vigil's zinfandel because he wasn't selling Four Vines by the glass. I finished up with a grand marnier creme brulee and a glass of Presidential 20 Year Old Tawny Port. It was amazingly good and paired well with the dessert. Part way through the small glass of port the bartender came over with a new bottle and topped it off because he didn't think it was a good enough portion to start. You have to love a place with workers like that!

Wine Tasting or Hey, that guy isn't so bad after all.

We went to the winetasting last week with Good friends at the Crescent City Bistro.

Christian Tietje, the winemaker for Four Vines Winery was their with his selection of Zinfandels that were absolutely out of this world. In every course his wines provided the perfect pairing with what we were eating. Christian spent a lot of time talking with us doing equal parts educating and sharing his passion for his wines. He may have been on his best behavior because his mom was there. I just think it is a shame, based on the pictures at his website, that he didn't bring his wife with him. :-)

Jamie Pawlak, the winemaker for Vigil Vineyards was there too. We've always enjoyed the wines and it was cool to meet the person behind the bottle.

A Good Breakfast or That poppy seed bagel cost you your job.

I spent last night sitting comfortably in my chair watching the Discovery Channel. We had eaten out, as a family, at Friday's and I was unwinding from a tough week at work.

Anyway, a show called Myth Busters was on multiple times in a row. The premise is that they take myths and urban legends and try to recreate them to see if they are actually possible or not. This particular episode on Poppy Seeds was simply amazing.

The two guys on the show ate a couple bagels or poppy seed muffins each. They then used the standard quick test used by most employment screeners and after only an hour one of them started showing positive for opiates. They continued to test positive for almost 8 hours!

This means that you could grab a big muffin on the way to a drug screening and you'd never get the job because you'd be positive.

Wine for Sale or One way to build your wine collection.

Wine Collecting?

And here I thought I should read, study, shop well and hope I get lucky and get a really great bottle of wine.

Coffee, Tea or Would you like to meet the Centerfold.

An idea who's time has clearly come, a Women of Starbucks spread for Playboy. I haven't noticed much suitable talent in this area but who knows what a lack of clothes might do for someone's face.

Home Alone or What I do while Beautiful wife is away.

Well, I went to the doctor's office and got some prescriptions for this sinus infection that I have. I have a horrendous cough too but my lungs are clear though how that is possible when I can hear myself wheeze is beyond me.

I drove out to the Manchester, NH area to watch the girl's highschool basketball championship finals. Oldest Daughter is a cheerleader and was there to cheer on the team. Our team won and I thought the game was pretty good since it was close and not a complete blowout like some of their games.

I lead such an exciting life...

Nothing Much or Chest Cold's and Sinus Infections Suck.

Beautiful wife went with Daughters to see Disney on Ice in Manchester. Son and I opted to not attend said event. Son stayed home that evening and I met Good Friends at Crescent City Bistro for drinks and dinner. It was good to get out and see them though I wish Beautiful Wife could have been along too.