Christmas Carols for all

Alright, today its a triple shot of Christmas Cheer for you all. I thought I'd fine a few fun songs about Christmas time and show them here today. The first one up comes from the Cheeky Girls, Have a Cheeky Christmas. I stumbled over this one while searching for a few songs and just had to share it. This duo is twin sisters Monica and Gabriela Irimia, from Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, Romania, and they are currently based out of Britain.



One of my all time faves is the original from the Waitresses, but I had a bit of trouble finding one from them to share here and went with this clip from the Spice Girls. Here is Christmas Medley for you Live.



The last song comes from the movie Love Actually, if you remember this little tune from the movie. This one was a real treat to watch and reminded me of some of the old music videos I grew up watching. Here is Christmas is all Around.



Well I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and at the very least a nice break for a few days. I'll see you all over the weekend now.

Look on the Bright Side

I think I've been stressed out a bit, its to be expected with the possible layoffs at work. Some of my co-workers have told me to just remain positive and not to worry, what happens will happen and roll with the punches so to speak. I know the support of my family is there as well and I'm doing the best I can to take everything to heart from their messages.

Here is another little clip from The Meaning of Life and the Monty Python players. With all the things going on these days, I think we just need a little chuckle from time to time. So even if it pushes things to the limits a bit here, I have to say that the simple words of this song could be very appropriate with all that has been going on recently. So if your feeling a bit down, then look to the Bright Side and give a whistle!

I'm going to try and come up with a few more clips to help express my thoughts of lately, so check back later this week.

Where's George when we need him?

I have to say this is my all time favorite Christmas film and one that I have to watch on Christmas Eve. Its a classic and as long as I can remember it would play that night and tomorrow we would free all of the presents from under the Tree.

I think it means more to me this year than any year to watch this film. I can't think of a time in my life that I've seen things as bad as they are. I remember the gas shortage on the news, but I've never seen so many people being laid off or heard of bail outs like we are seeing now.

I have my job for now, but the questions of how long I'll have it remain to be told. I've never planned on leaving it and I might not have a choice. What I can say is I'm thankful to have it and want to keep it. Tough times are ahead for us though and in the end, I know I have the support of family and friends.

Perhaps we all could use a George Bailey in our lives these days. I hope you'll enjoy this little clip and I have a few more to share over the next few days.

More cutbacks all around

Well more cuts were needed at work all around, in order to get the budget closer to Zero for the year. That meant a few more people were laid off at work as well as some programs being slashed as well.

Its a totally different working environment now these days. We lost about 10 people and some have gone to a contract position and working off site. It was also decided that our 2008 profit sharing would not be made, as well as 2009. They've also eliminated our 2009 401k matching benefits and last will be no salary raises for 2009.

Everyone wonders what will be next, will the the health insurance go away? Its a given that changes are coming over the next year, but how many more changes are we looking at ahead now? What will these changes do for everyone in 2009?

When my manager gave me an office memo and said, "Here is your salary reduction notice." I simply smiled and said, "I prefer to look at this paper and think, I still have a job now!" The truth is I can do what I can and handle these decisions for now. I'd rather have my job and these cuts than be laid off.

All of this has caused us to look at ways to slash spending on our home front. We've targeted a few areas and will continue to look at ways to save some money at home. I can feel some what safe at work now, but truth is it doesn't matter how loyal I am to my job, they might not be loyal to me anymore.

I might have to start looking at options for other jobs. I'm going to do what I can to help and make things better at work, but I have to keep in mind my family and future comes first and some changes might not be in line with those needs.

One thing is for sure, I don't see any bailout coming our way. It's up to all of us to bail ourselves out. I'm thankful to have my job and sad for all of those that lost theirs out there. Hopefully they'll bounce back soon and to better things.

Cutbacks have begun

So it was last Friday that everyone at my place of employments was asked to meet and informed that our times ahead did not look good.

So we headed into the weekend knowing that Cutbacks would be coming and it was even mentioned that some cuts could come before the Executive Committee comes into town to meet.

So yesterday Texas Workforce was asked to come out and speak to us and let us know what services were available if we found our self laid off. That brings us to today and my departments lost one team member.

By the time the day was over 7 people were let go from various departments and a lot of them I thought of as friends. Its been tough wondering what might happen and the fact is more could be coming still. Nobody knows what might happen during or after the EC meets.

It reminds me of an article I read over the weekend about being laid off. See in a lot of cases, its not just a job and we spend a lot of time with our co-workers and become close friends and in someways a family. That's what makes this hard to have to say goodbye to someone.

The fact is business is not as good as it was and change is needed to help the situation. Doesn't make it easier to tell someone your being let go. I can only hope the best for all of them and continue to hope that I will still have a job too.

Its just a bad time of year for something like this to happen. Really sucks to think its happening everywhere too. My mother lost her job a couple months back and I've heard of others loosing their jobs and now its hit close to home it seems.

For now I have to take it one day at a time, I know I have plenty to work on and look forward to working on my projects. I just hope to continue doing so.

The Girls Are Back Again!

Just hold out an empty hand

Where's my bailout now? Seems to be the trend if your in the USA and you mess up, just ask for your Bailout plan. I really don't get it, how things got so bad and all at once too.

So banks are hurting and they decide to give them money and make the pain go away. What did they do with the money? They put it in their banks like good bankers do.

Then comes the Auto makers and their pains. Throw some money at them and quick, its will solve everything. Don't make them sell those fancy jets they use to fly all over the place. Need to fix it quick though, if they fall then all the businesses that support them will fall next. I say we go back to riding on Horses.

Money can be hard for just about everyone. The price of gas was horible months back and now its back to and I hate to say this, normal again. Crazy when you pay almost $4 a gallon and then can go back to $2 a gallon, rocking good if you ask me. Time to start spending money I'm saving, yeah right!

So now the buzz is people feel the Government needs to give everyone this huge stimulus and allow us to pay off our homes. I say, here's my hand give it to me and I'll do that in a heart beat, after all everyone needs a Bailout right?

Helping others on Thanksgiving

Helping others on this Thanksgiving means so much to me and I'm truly thankful for everything that I have in life. Edith and I have tried from time to time to help others. Some years we give really big and other we just try to give if we can.

With the Father & Child program at our local YMCA, Freya and I have helped out at Mission Arlington with the sorting of can goods. We missed that this year, but we made it a point to help with the delivery of Turkey Baskets and Hot Meal plates this morning.

To see the families first hand and make sure they have something to eat on Thanksgiving touches my heart. Today volunteers came to assist 20,000 people with meals today in Arlington alone. Sadly that is only the people that know about the program and have asked for help as well.

Trucks, Vans, and all types of SUVs came out to volunteer at making food runs to various locations today. One family waiting to get registered said that they drove in from Lubbock to do this today.

I don't think I'll ever think of Thanksgiving the same way again. I'm so thankful to have my family and I think we might have started a new tradition for Thanksgiving mornings now and will look forward to helping others out for years to come.

There is a flaw in the Matrix

A co-worker sent this to me and I found it funny and well made. So I give you the problem with the Matrix for your entertainment.

Obama wins

The best way to describe last nights Election is simply Historical. Something I would hope could happen in my lifetime has finally happened. Barrack Obama was elected as the 44th President of United States and becomes the first African American to become President. Notice the usage of the word first and hopefully not the last. I'd like to think, provided the right man or woman that runs and wins the highest office in our Nation, anything is possible in the United States.

It seems that a lot of firsts have happened in this years election, for one this is my first time to actually vote for a Democrat. I'm glad I voted in the Caucus for Obama and then I voted for him in the Election. I truly like what he's said and what plans to try and do for America. I feel he really has America's interests at heart first and I feel that is a very important thing too.

He does have some real challenges ahead of him now, but I think he can face them and take care of them. He seems to be very smart and know enough, that its time for us to stand together and work at fixing our own problems together.

A Historical moment for sure and perhaps in my lifetime we'll see the right woman become the President of the United States someday.

Publishing my first Novel

In about six months I'll have my first Novel published. No I haven't been signed by anyone to have it marketed and published on a large scale.

Last year I wrote my first Novel as an exercise to see if I could come up with something and actually like doing this. It was a fun to create a world and story filled with characters. It was also nice to reach my goal in the end and more or less win NaNoWriMo 2007.

The only things you have to do in order to win is start on November 1st and finish by the end of the month. Oh and make sure you wrote 50,000 words too. Its not quality as much as quantity and its on the honor system. So if you want your story to say the same word over an over you can, but its not going to be as satisfying in the end.

What does all this have to do with getting published though, well it was announced that the winners of NaNoWriMo 2007 would have a free proof copy published by Createspace, a partner of Amazon.Com. So after I finish my 2008 NaNoWriMo, I'll move into some rewrites and polish up last years in order to send it off for a very limited printing of 1 copy for now at least.

Young writers

Well tonight I helped my daughter with her first creative writing assignment. Granted she is 7 and in 2nd grade here, but still was an assignment for her to use her mind and create a character and setting for that character.

It was fun to try and explain to her what is was to write something and work on a project like this. Even though it was very short an simple and perhaps will not have a sequel, it was fun and I can only hope she will continue to enjoy reading and perhaps find that writing is a lot of fun too.

I'm looking ahead at the 2008 NaNoWriMo now and looking forward to writing again myself. It's a lot to try and create a story and characters, but for me its rewarding as well and fun to see something, even in need of rewrites and more polish to it and to know I created that world and story, filled with the lives of characters and let actions take hold and bring them to some final ending or at least for this particular story.

A lot has happened to me in the time that has past since last years NaNoWriMo. Things never get easier and I'll always have something to do, the point is to make time and write daily and let the story come out. Its what I did last time and what I'll attempt to do again. The clock is ticking and my next book is calling me... November 1st will be here before I know it now.

May the Force Be With Them

This Friday night on the Cartoon Network is the Premiere of the Star Wars Clone Wars and I'm looking forward to this title and seeing what they will do with it. I saw the movie about a month ago and was entertained pretty much. Although I did feel some of the subject matter was a bit strong for some little ones.

Just the same, I liked it enough to plan on DVR'n the show and watching them at home at my leisure. I'm a big Star Wars fan and that is pretty much a given that I'd check it out. For the most part I think its been getting some pretty good reviews and feedback as well. Check out the Cartoon Network this Friday at 9pm est.

Heroes & Villains: the count down begins...

It's that time of year and this season I'll be watching in HD thanks to Uverse. My only issue will be the poor audio drops from time to time. I'll have to fight through all of that is all. This show has been a favorite of mine for awhile now.

I've really loved the first two seasons and I'm sure this will please me just the same. When I knew the switch to HD was coming for me, this was the first show to pop in my head as a must watch, but I like it so much I'll watch it in Standard definition if I have to.

Your freaking me out!

The Associated Press reports that Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin has recently told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

Its statements like this that don't really sit well with me. For someone to firmly state that God is telling us to fight in a War sounds crazy to put it nicely. She also feels that God wants us to have a Natural Gas Line setup in Alaska and that we should pray for that as well.

"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

Another area that doesn't sit well was her ties with the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants to allow Alaska the right to vote on whether Alaska should have the right to leave the Union and become its own Nation.

It's been said that she use to be a member of the AkIP and the Wasilla Assembly of God, but she has recently recorded messages for the AkIP convention and spoke at her old church, so she still has some of these ties in place.

Then you have the Troopergate issues as its being called and her questionable use of power to have an ex-brother-in-law fired because of a messy divorce to her sister. I'm sorry it just seems like a closer look should take place on her being in the role of VP if you were to ask me.

Maybe I'm over reacting, I mean she's only going to be the VP right? Will she be in a position of that much power to worry? The President will have full control and its not like the VP really does anything, or at least she doesn't know what a VP does.

Still I can't help but think McCain really picked the wrong person to be his second. Now I think he has to stick with the one he's brought to the dance. We'll have to see how things go over the debates and next few weeks. For now, I'm not impressed at all with what is going on in the Republican Camp.

Thumbs up for Support so far

Well in most cases I have to say the Customer Service and Support has been really great. Top notch so far. I still have my audio problem to deal with, but they've gone ahead and given me a free month of the HD services and upgraded us to the U300 package for free over the next 6 months.

They were suppose to come out over the weekend and look at something and missed the window. I wasn't upset really though, I don't think they would have really fixed anything with that visit. The audio fix only will come from the new Cisco 330 or 430 boxes, to the best of my knowledge at least.

In the meantime, I so love VoD and the extra movies available at this point. We can select from Starz, Encore, Flix, Showtime, and the Movie Channel on demand libraries at this time and watch what ever they have on their regular broadcasts channels. I tell you Video on Demand is pretty cool to see and experience.

It's not super quality, but its not bad at all and it really works well from my experiences so far. So a lot of movies I've missed or thought about watching are showing up. Somethings really old and some fairly new. Was awesome last night when my brother came over and I could set the kids up in the bedroom to watch Underdog, something they haven't seen at home. Just a simple click of the remote and the movie began, just add popcorn and we were able to control the living room for our entertainment needs.

As for the audio issues, I have to remain on top of things and keep after them for the new boxes. I also need to keep checking in on Home DVR or at least I think that is what they call it. We should have the ability to watch recorded programs from the DVR back in the bedroom at some point. All in all, the Uverse service has been pretty good and I'm fairly happy about it all.

Can you hear me now... Uh, No!

Well my audio issues continue, but I seem to have found a small glimmer of hope or should I say I hear a slight peep of relief instead. I like Engadget and they have reported other Uverse users are having the same issues. They also report that Cisco set-top-boxes appear to be the answer to this problem.

The only thing is this article was back in June and I'm having the problem now. I spoke with a level 2 support and it sounds like testing in various areas is underway with the new boxes. Claims are it fixes the issue, but as to when they will be available in my area, its unknown.

Looks like I'll have to deal with what I got and I'm expecting the Support to call back after they speak with Sales on a possible credit for the current problems. I'm fine with that for now and hope that they'll get the new boxes in this area soon. I told them I would gladly test out the new boxes for them and new services in this area even. Rather nice of me to offer that, right?

A tech is expected to look at another little issue with the bedroom box locking up on us. Hopefully he'll have an easy fix for that. They did a few things outside and it seems to have crept up after that work took place.

I don't want to complain to much, a buddy of mine can't get the service at all and what really sucks is his house is the only house in his neighborhood with that problem, talk about a crazy situation.

U-ready for Fantasy Football

That's Uverse ready that is. This year I'll get to try out my Fantasy Football mangement via the TV and Uverse service. I came across this feature when I hit the Interactive Button on the remote and found stuff on Weather, Stocks, Traffic, and Sports. It was under the Sports area I noticed Fantasy Football 08.

It ties into my Yahoo Fantasy Football and all I had to do was sign up with my Uverse account. Small issue is I've used the same Yahoo ID for so long and they keep track of stats year after year, I didn't want to loose that. So I found another feature under Yahoo Fantasy for co-manager of a team.

A few clicks and I set up my other login as a co-manager now. I guess I can spend the time and blame any losses this year on my co-manager, right? Hopefully this will make things a little more enjoyable and I'll have to see how well it works or what all I can do via Uverse.

On another note, we are expecting them to swap out the HD box tomorrow. It appears that an issue with digital audio for 5.1 surround and it causes you to loose connection and drops audio when ever it wants. Not enjoyable at all, they have a newer box and think that this might fix the issue. I'll loose a few shows, but at least its just over a week and mainly kid shows.

U-verse installed today at last

Well we have the new service finally and for the most part its pretty cool. The Internet speed is not to bad and we went with the low end for now. As near as I can tell its working like it should and I didn't seem to have any issues with the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live.

Different for sure is the menu options and choices, will take a little bit of time to get use to all the new options and where things are located. I have to say it seems a high dose of Adult programming is available with the new service and in the area of VOD for sure.

Speaking of Video On Demand, its cool to see all the options and even the free stuff. I always like to get some free stuff when I can. One area is Network TV and so far it looks like CBS was the only option, to bad I'm not a CSI fan, looks like the past 10 or so episodes are available to watch. I did watch an episode of Big Brother 10, not a high quality HD picture, but cool for a stream that just started and never buffered really at all.

Audio is going to be the bad boy in this mess it seems. For what ever reason, it seems a small issue with signal unlock for 5.1 occurs from time to time. I searched around the fourms and this seems to be an on going issue. The only work around seems to be a pause an start of the show from time to time perhaps. I plan to test this more and see what I can get from Customer Service as well.

Other than the audio, its seems to be a pretty cool service so far and I'll know more as I learn all the ins and outs.

Just you and the horse, its bareback riding

Freya had her 6th lesson yesterday and while we waited for the class to get started, I heard the instructor tell them to Untack some of the horses, that they would be working on balance and riding bareback.

Freya was just checking out all the horses and I made it a point to explain to her what it meant to ride bareback. She wasn't very cool with this whole idea and really didn't want to do it.

The instructors explained that it would be fun and she would be fine. Riding this way allows you to feel how the horse is moving and allows you to work on your riding position and keeping your balance. Last weekend Freya had a habit of leaning back in the saddle and had a much harder time in class.

I wasn't sure what to expect and only hoped she would stay up on the horse. She did better than that, she rode really well the whole time. She was straight up on the horse and kept her hands where they were suppose to be. She was smiling and having a blast. She was riding bareback and doing great.

They started leading them around at first and even had them hold their arms straight out to work on their balance. Then they turned the reins over to them and had them ride around. She reminded me more and more of someone showing horses and I was really proud of her yesterday.

Looks like she's having a blast doing this and wants to continue. Looks like we are going to find a way to give her more lessons. If we keep this up, we'll need to find some second jobs to help support her new hobby and her growing love of horses.

Support continues for my wifes Journey

My wife is drawing closer and closer to the start of her journey in November. The big challenge has been working at raising money for her to walk. It looks like she'll make that easy and more an likely blow her personal goal out of the water.

Edith's sister and brother have both worked very hard to help her reach her goal as well. This past Friday was a hard day for this effort in raising money. See I brought cup cakes for sale to my work. Meredith makes really great treats and has raised a lot of money for Edith from sales at her work.

What was hard was the walk in to work for me this past Friday. The box said Cup Cakes for a Cure and as I was heading into work, a co-worker was heading out an crying. All I could say was hello to her as we passed. She had already been stopped by another co-worker and I knew something was wrong. I didn't feel I should stop her as well.

Her husband was fighting Cancer himself and not doing well. I later found out she was rushing home to try and be with him, he had taken a turn for the worse. I would later find out he had passed away from his battle with this disease. All I could think about as people stopped to buy a cupcake was me walking past her with the box of Cup Cakes.

I really wish I could have done more in that instance. I could see the pain in her eyes and I hope she could tell I wanted to say more and that I meant more. It just shows me all to well that this can strike anyone at anytime and its a very worthy cause to take on an try and fight.

My wife has always given of herself to others and she is truly a hero on this journey. I wish I could actually take this journey with her, but perhaps this is something best ventured and experienced on your own. I can't wait to here how things went and give her such a huge hug when she reaches her goal.

She's doing something great and a lot of people are behind her, but what she does is for so many many more and hopefully the support of a few will be a tremendous amount of help for all of those fighting to survive.

It takes two to HD

I've been discussing HD lately with my folks and decided I should perhaps write it down. Maybe that would help explain things a little better. The short is it takes two parts to have HD, that is pretty simple and the fact is you need parts A & B to have HD.

For examples sake, we will make the TV part A and that is an HD TV (LCD or Plasma). This is the first part you'll need for sure. Now just because you have one of these, doesn't mean you will have an HD experience now. Remember that you have to have two parts... a part B to complete the process.

Part B is the HD receiver, Blu-ray player, or Antenna pretty much, the device that takes care of the media going to your TV. Just like before, you can't have an HD experience with one of these and not have an HD TV to view it on. Once again from an earlier article; next year when analog goes away, it doesn't mean you have to go an buy an HD TV, boxes will take care of all that for your old TV.

I really can't think of a better way to explain it. Pretty much I have a HD TV right now and I use an old pair of Rabbit Ears to see local HD (over the air). Next month I'm switching my service and getting an HD receiver to send me many, many more shows that are in HD. Having the box is part B and with out an HD TV its pointless. With both parts A & B or parts H & D, I'll be set so to speak. I really can't wait to see all of the shows in HD, my antenna is working really hard.

Uverse goes all in for the win

The deed is done, DirecTV will lose us as a loyal customer as of August 16th. The new kid in town is Uverse from AT&T and they will have our eyes, ears, and minds for the time being when we start using their services.

As a last ditch effort DirecTV tried to offer us a price freeze, a free HD/Tivo box for a promise of staying another 24 months with them. To late though and they could not match the $200 cash back offer from AT&T.

The bad thing is the costs went up with DirecTV and we'll still pay the same with Uverse, but the plus side is we get the HD DVR services, the ability to record 4 shows at the same time. No cost to setup and the first month is free.

So the cycle of leaving someone and becoming a new customer starts over again. Maybe some day a company will figure out a way to give us a little cheaper price after staying with them for 3 years. Sure would be nice if they had done something like that instead of raising prices and causing us to look for something else.

I hope the service and features will be great and I think having HD will make it that much better in the long run. I'd rather not have to shop around again and I'll have to look at ways to cut costs in other areas and save money. I'll report back in August on how things are going with the new Entertainment & High Speed services U-verse has to offer.

Vote for me and I'll set you free

A few months ago I was hanging out in this chat room and talking Politics and about how I really felt that change was needed. It was some pretty good discussions and I guess one thing led to another. Now it turns out that people really liked what I thought, my ideas, and what I had to say. Then I started getting e-mails and private messages about supporting me.

I told them it would take a lot more than a few people in a chat room to make this kind of change. My name would need to get out there for people to see and that takes a lot of money. Then I got a replies back from people saying they had already printed signs and started telling people about me. I'm really not sure how this all took off so fast and now a News Station has caught wind of all this and it looks like I'll be running for President in 2008.

I'm really shocked... the month of November is going to be so very busy with me supporting my wife in her 60 mile 3-day walk, a Fall Show for APHA, and the writing of my second novel too. How can I also run an election campaign at the same time.

Turning 40 and setting a new record

So this is 40... well its not much different than any of the other birthdays really, but it did bring out the jokes from co-workers. You would have expected this at hitting 50, but I'm only 40 now. I have to say I do see the signs of getting older and will not dwell on any of that though.

Now setting a new record has nothing to do with me turning 40 and I'm not about to keep track of each birthday and claim its a new record. No, the record I'm thinking about now is in my blog posts. Today's post is actually 1 more post than all of last years posts. Its a new record for my writing.

This does not get me into some special club, but its still cool to look back and see that I'm writing a bit more. I know I have quite a bit more to post for 2008. When it comes to writing, I don't set out with an agenda or plan really, I just write what I feel at the time. I never know what the topic will be, but I try make sure to many days don't pass between blogs.

My past few posts were an insight into the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show and what it takes to put on the show and some of the things I do for and at the show. I don't plan to repeat that next year, but I'm not going to rule out a post or two just the same from next years show.

More blogging, posting, writing or what ever you want to call it is sure to come. I have my game/techie blog to keep up with and I plan to write my 2nd novel this year in November for NaNoWriMo, which will be crazy with all the things going on during that month. So it looks like I have plenty to do and turning 40 is not going to slow me down.

We're out of here...

That's right, the show is now over and we've packed up and moved back to the Offices. It never fails to feel the same for me. I like the horse show very much, but after so many straight days in a row, the last 3 days I'm reaching a point where I'm ready for it to end.

I've missed my family so very much and I'm ready to spend lots of time with them. I did have some small windows of time with them during the show, but I'm ready to be home at a normal 5pm daily and have my weekends off too.

We still have things to do at the office, lots of things to fix and get online for everyone. So it will be next Saturday before I get a full day/weekend off. Today was only a partial work day with out move out. Monday morning I'll be in bright and early to set my PC back up and start at the list of things that need attention.

Speaking of lists, I need to make me a list of things to do around here. Its been 15 days and I'm sure I can come up with a few things that need my attention and quick. For now, I just want to sit and be with my family and do absolutely nothing. I just want to be right now.

The Final Cut

Well its the final day here at the show and its been a long process, now it all comes down to the Final Awards Night & Free Style Reining this evening. I've submitted a total of 222 photos from the Open Show for consideration in this years Final Night Video. Tracy puts this together from the images he and I have shot and a few others who submitted images as well. I'll have to wait and see which images make the final cut out of mine now.

During our Youth Show I shot around 2,200 and submitted a total of 123 images from the first weeks batch. So far in the second week, I've shot over 2,800 photos and I think I'll get a few more Cutting shots in today. Now not all of the images are great and useable, but I think you have to shoot a lot to get the good photos. I'm always looking for what I feel is that perfect shot and it’s a great feeling when you see something and feel you have something meaningful.

After the show is over, I'll go through all of my images and weed out those I think are really bad and then I'll provide what is left to Marketing for consideration in other areas of promotion. The past two years I've seen these used in our Promotional World Show Poster and I just found out that the Fort Worth Key Area Visitors Guide Book has used portions of those Posters for the June issues over the past two years. That means a lot of people traveling here have learned about our Show from these guide magazines and seen some of my work. I think that is pretty cool.

Hope you all have enjoyed reading about what I do at the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show and what happens during the show. The Show is about to be over, but we still have a lot of work afterwards, when we get back to the Office. But for now I'm looking forward to next Saturday and just spending time with my Family, it will be nice to have a well deserved day off at last.

Happy 4th from the Show

Number 8 for me now here at the World Show, that is 8 Fourth of July's in a row that I've spent here working for APHA and away from my family. I guess in some ways APHA can be like a family though, we spend so many, many hours working together through out the year, you can't help but get a little close to your co-workers.

Just the same, the show must go on and most of the time the classes don't end in time to run out and see Fire Works. We normally have an entertainment act at least, like the Freedom Riders I photographed in 2006. If I'm lucky I can run out as soon as I hear the fireworks go off and see a little of that from the John Justin Arena.

I at least can look up if I'm lucky and think that my family is some place safe and watching Fire Works and I'll be home soon to at least to kiss them good night and catch a little rest before I go back to do it all over again. This year I'll be thinking about my family and my APHA family, those that are here with us and those that are away from us. Be safe now and everyone have a happy Fourth of July.

My favorite shot for today came while the Amateur Working Hunter Class was waiting for the results and awards to come in. I was down at the in gate and seeing what I could capture. I found this pair passing the time together.

Its really been a long show for everyone and for exhibitors you reach a point where you've done all you can and its no longer in your hands. That is when the waiting begins for most people and in some cases you'll find friends and family or trainers waiting with you. No waiting party with this group though, but I think they looked happy on their own.

Down to the final two days starting tomorrow, Will Rogers is ready for the Cutters and we are done with Watt and the Halter classes. Saturday will be busy and crazy for the final awards night. We close out the show with Freestyle Reining and a packed house.

Working Cow Horse and Cutting Up Next

Things are progressing well for us here at the show today. We are down to only one Arena once again with all of the Halter classes ending early. Some of those classes only had a single horse, congrats... your a winner! Hopefully some of the smaller classes will start to grow. If you have 10 horses, that gives you a 1 in 10 shot at winning and you'll be a Top 10 Winner too.

Tomorrow we'll pick back up with the Open Working Cow Horse classes and then Friday the Cutters will arrive and start their portion of the show. That means we will bring Will Rogers back online with the Wireless feed to my location. Both of these events are among my favorites to watch. I still have a little more Reining to watch as well over the next few days and its looking like the rest of this week will be fairly easy hours to work.

Slide right into home

This has got to be one for the record books. I made it home by 6:30pm with plenty of day light. The show wrapped up for the day at a little after 4:00pm a record time for the past 7 shows that I've experienced.

Its really nice, but so very strange to me. World Show has always been these crazy 15 hour plus days. What is only a 10 hour Show day? A breeze if you ask me.

The show actually ended before dinner arrived on the grounds. We had to wait and eat to make sure the food was not wasted. Great dinner by the way and I was fine with waiting.

Well even though my day was short, I still got in some photo ops and had a good time. I tested out the changes on the PDA app for the show. Really nice to click and see who is in the pen and what is going on in the other arena.

Well that is all for today's show events, we are looking at the final turn and home stretch now. Only 4 more days of show left, I have one more warm-up announcers gig to go. Still need to try an grab a few more pics for the final night video, but all in all the final curtain call is about to be made.

Good Night... I mean Good Evening

What a crazy week for my 8th Paint Horse Show. Year after year the show has always gone to at least 10pm or later, but not this year. Now we are looking at early nights and the sun is still up even in most cases.

Tonight we finally had some Reigning classes take place and they were suppose to be Prelims with finals taking place tomorrow. Two of those classes took went ahead and had finals tonight. So we are already short two classes for tomorrow, as best as I know that is. Now I've seen this happen once in awhile, but not as much as with this show.

Tomorrow was already projected to be an early night and it looks like its getting even earlier as the show progresses. I'm not complaining, its just something so out of place and strange for this time of the year for me. My family is awake when I come home now. Well its only 5 days left in the 2008 show and at least its been a little bit easy for the Open portion.

Photographers Digital Assistant

So today I had this idea about a PDA app (Photographers Digital Assistant) that would allow me to see what was going on in the various arenas. The easy way to do this would be a small web based app that would work on a cell phone that has web access.

Over the past few years, I've run around the horse show snapping photos for the final night videos we put together. But in addition to this, I've been asked from time to time to take some photos here or there. The only problem is knowing what class is going on and what the order of go they are on for a particular arena. That is where I thought a cool little app could help me out.

Tracy already had some stuff like this going for the video stream and I asked if he could make a scaled down version for a mobile phone. He played with it today and its almost exactly what I was expecting, but I think its more of an issue with my phone and web pages, but it is still a lot closer to what I envisioned. I wasn't able to switch between arenas just yet... phone issue I think again.

But so far a little idea I had looks like it could really work and with the right tools (phone) to access, I can see where this and a few other things could be really handy to the mobile staff photographer out on the show grounds.

Riding tall in the Saddle

I'm still at the horse show, but today I came in late to work having decided to take Freya for her second session out of six lessons. She had a blast and her eyes lit up when she heard they were going to go ride in the park for today.

The instructors are really pleased with her and think she's a great listener. I couldn't help but notice how well she looked while riding. Year after year I watch exhibitors compete and see how they ride and I can see tiny bits of them in what Freya is learning to do and is such a short time.

I had a rather busy morning... having the digital camera with me, I figured I would snap a few shots. I had no idea I would get a small morning walk in the Park to snap a few more pics.

Well next Saturday marks the third lesson and will be the final day of the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show. I'll miss taking her to her lesson, but I'll look forward to the following weeks and the rest of her riding lessons.

I'll also look forward to regular hours and being back with the whole family again. It's a lot of work and hard being away for so long. I know the family will be glad I'm back and Edith will enjoy a real break once again.

Early night for once, really

Wow I'm home and its nice to get here at a decent hour for a change. Tonight it was rumored that we would go until 1am. Thankfully that all changed and we ended early. Not to mention the last class of the evening was Solid-bred Paint Horse Trail and with only two exhibitors.

Could you imagine waiting until 1am for a class of only two. Here's the thing, APHA is working to help grow this area of competition for Solid-bred Paint Horses. In most cases a class has to have at least 6 to make, but all of the Solid-bred Paint Horse classes will take place no matter what it seems.

Kudos to the exhibitors for showing off the talents of their Solid-bred Paint Horses. They might not be loud and proud like most Paints, but they are still Paint horses just the same. I say they have color on the inside.

Well going to relax a bit and drift off to sleep. I'm going in late to the show and taking my daughter to her horseback riding lessons in the morning. Looking forward to seeing her for sure and the rest of the family.

Germany for the Win!

The Paint World Games were played today at the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show and as much as I would love to see Team USA take the Gold, I'm really happy with Team Germany winning Gold this year.

I think its a great event for the Youth to take part in and to have seven countries all gathering together, to compete with Paint Horses is just plain awesome. The games were a nice way to bring an end to this years Youth show.

The awards nights took place as well and with a huge hiccup. For what ever reason the final video project was not played and an earlier version, a partial demo played on the big screen. A number of people said they thought it looked cool, if only they had seen the final video Tracy had worked hard on. Well hopefully they'll take a look on the web and see what was missed.

That's all for tonight, going to sleep in some for a change and go in late. Tomorrow is Trail Classes from John Justin and its expected to be a super long night tomorrow.

Excitement on many levels

Its been a busy day so far for me... running around and snapping photos where I can, trying to get more images for the Youth final night video to select from. I have to say this, just like the horse above, I'm jumping up and down too with the early version of the opening that I've seen so far. The video is going to rock big time if you ask me and I can't wait to see the final cut.

Now not all of the photos have been set and transitioned just yet, but some of them look great and fit right where they are in the song. Each year I submit a nice portion of photos and my buddy Tracy, a co-worker of mine, picks and sets them all to music for the videos. He does an incredible job year after year. Not only does he produce the videos each year, he takes great photos as well for the projects.

Well I need to get back out and shoot some more, its all about being in the right place at the right time. Sitting in front of my screen keeps me from catching those moments in time. So far I've snapped a little over 1,700 shots for the show.

Still going and going

One of my favorite shots from the day comes from Youth Working Cow Horse, a new class for the AjPHA Youth this year. They start with a Reining pattern first and then release a Cow to work in the Arena afterwards. It's pretty cool to watch and one of the things you see from time to time is someone get close enough to place a hand on the back of the cow, not something I've seen happen a lot to tell you the truth.

Today the show offered you just a little bit of everything. We had Heading, Healing, and Steer Stopping in Will Rogers from Open exhibitors for the most part. Then English events that involved some Jumping in John Justin to name a few things you could have seen today. Finishing out the night is Western Pleasure riding and its going to go long and slow. I'm trying to decide if I'll sleep in or not now, I'm scheduled to arrive at 10am and I think I'm going to follow that.

My girls love horses

That face says it all if you ask me. Tonight my daughters made it out for the Stick Horse competition and had a blast. One of the best events of the show and the kids light up when they get to run around the arena for a change.

Some of these little ones will actually move on to ride real horses and even show them perhaps. But as for tonight, its clearly their time to shine and show what they are made of. For the past 8 years, I've had the best time watching these kids on stick horses.

I'm sure this event will always be a favortie of mine and I know Miss V & Lil M have many years to perfect their stick horse riding skills. Freya will be learning to ride real horses and hopefully can share some of her stick riding skills with the little ones.

Its showtime all day long

Good morning and what a difference a little sleep can make for someone. I'm feeling really great right about now. Well day two of the warm up announcing is now in the books and I received a number of compliments from various Judges and Ring Stewards that our working our show. Felt really good to hear all of that for sure.


I've always been OK with a microphone and I do OK winging things... pretty much taking my directions from downstairs and calling out the gaits is easy. But something strange happened and I heard, STOP! come over the radio. So I said STOP!, then some people standing in as Judges said, Whoa! and I thought something might have happened and repeated the same. Of course the directions given were all wrong and I had to get them all started again. Walk your horses please, I know that one by heart.

It's hard to see what is going on right below the announcers booth and I pretty much followed the directions fed to me, I don't think STOP was suppose to go over the radio and hopefully that will be the last mistake in this regards I make (knock on wood).

Speed, baby! Its the events I love and I'm talking about Barrel Racing, Stakes Races, and Pole Bending classes. Some of the fastest riders on Paint Horses will compete today tomorrow. By the looks of the photo I snagged last night, it sure looks like they are having a blast if you ask me. Check out the APHA World Show web site and click on the Live Feed links to see some of the action.

Well this is an early post for today and this will be one of the longest days of the whole show. I'm expected to stay until about 1am and decided to post early. I want to try and post daily from the show and on events at the show this year. I hope you all enjoy my coverage and hang in there with me now. I'll see you all tomorrow, which very well could be the end of today's events.

The long and short of it

Tonight turned out to be an early night for a change. I'm home now, but the family is out an about right now. Edith is working on her training and the kids are with Grandma & Grandpa. What does all of this have to do with the title. Well its been a long day just the same.

The baby had issues sleeping and pretty much woke me up around 3am (song playing in head...) and I find it hard to get back to sleep. I had to go in early and announce the practice. Now I'm really beat and need a little rest.

So the short is getting out early I'd normally run off and pick the kids up. They are in very good hands and this is a chance for me to get at least an hour of rest if not more in. I'm up early again for another go at the annoucer spot for morning practice. Tomorrow is expected to be a super long day.

Yeah I'm out of here, check you all later, I'm not going to last much longer at all.

I say let them grow up to be cowboys

Checkin went smooth as near as I can tell. Some tiny glitches in other areas behind the scenes, but no biggie. So the Youth Show kicks off tomorrow with Team Tournament events and I go live with my first stream around 4pm CST.

I hope it all goes over smooth, at least for me that is. Monday evening is the Stick Horse event, one of the coolest things to watch as these young Cowgirls & Cowboys show off their skills with their Paint Stick Horses. My kids should come out and have a blast, its the one event that my kids can actually take part in.

It's a blast to see these kids and their Paints as they show in all the events. Speed events start early and its a little crazy with some of the Open (adults) showing during the start of what is really the Youth show. Its also a little interesting to see some Youth come back in the Open show for the Cutting. It all has to do with setting the arena up for each events in the end. Cows come later in Open is why. Well that's it for today, going to relax a bit for one last time.

This is why we do it!

Day four of setup is in the books. The horses move in tomorrow and the show kicks off on Saturday. Tomorrow is the fifth day of setup and check in.

We still have a few odds and ins to take care of, but for the most part setup is really over and its time to put on a show now. Take a look at the photo on the left. This was clearly one of my favorite shots of last years show and the reason we do this.

OK, its our job, but we all pretty much enjoy seeing some great horses compete year after year. Reining as shown on the left is a favorite class of mine to watch and photograph. Speed events are favorites too.

Tomorrow I'll spend my time looking into the video stream settings and preparing to go live on Saturday evening. I have some web edits as well oh and I'm offering my services as a warm up announcer on a few days. Means I'll be arriving early to the show and calling out the various gaits.

Well that's all for now and from the setup stand point. Today was a good day, my video edits went well and the problem PC corrected itself more or less. I got to head home early for a change and even worked in a haircut. Should feel cooler during the show now. Hope you all have enjoyed the behind the scenes of show setup now. Please check back for more on the show now.

Look ma, no wires

Well we tested the wireless feed from Will Rogers to John Justin today for this years show. Worked like a charm with out a glitch. Looked like a good picture and sound came over fine. One of the best pictures we've had wireless too.

I setup my work station and streaming machines at the show. Wouldn't you know it, one of the stream machines is acting up on me. I'm fine for the show and will look at what trouble shooting I can do and see about reformatting perhaps. Streams go live on Sunday.

Testing from all arenas looks to be ready to go as ever. We are at the mercy of the coax that is in place and do what we can. I need to look into fiber video options and see what that all takes. Love new challenges like this.

Well tomorrow I hope to just work on video edits and try and get the AjPHA video completed. I don't want to really work on that for Friday. The event is Friday evening and I would like to be done with this and not stress on trying to complete a video. Wish me luck that it all goes well tomorrow.

3 Screens later on Day 2

Well it was day two and it came with a whirl wind of activity to say the least. We actually had a small storm blow through really quick. Later in the day I would find out that this storm had blown my Antenna on Justin over. I sure hope it still works.

The first day we hung the screen in John Justin and we were suppose to hang the NCHA screen in Will Rogers. Small problems kept this from happening until today. This was a slightly harder screen to pull up in my mind, but we did and are ready now.

Where does screen three come in. Well this is a little screen we use to monitor events in our command central. Funny thing is its been hanging since last year in the same place. So we didn't have to hang it really. We did mount are special projector holder and get that all set for the show.

So two screen for public and a behind the scenes screen later and we are another day closer to the launch of this years show. Tomorrow I plan to move my PCs out, test the wireless feeds and look at my settings for this years stream. Wish me lucky and no more rain or at least no wind please.

Setup has begun for World Show

Day 1 is now in the books, as we've moved out and staked our claim to Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth. The setup for the APHA World Show is an interesting time of the year. We pretty much work over 4 to 5 days on setting up one of the largest equestrian events to take place. It's our big show of the year and we go big ever year.

The first day is setup of the Scoreboard screens and our wireless antennas to name a few things. The Scoreboard is used to display class details and results to name a few of its uses. Our Wireless Antennas are used to transmit a video feed from Will Rogers over to John Justin and in this location I distribute that live feed, along with John Justin, and Watt Arena through out the building and encode it live to stream over the Internet.

It takes a lot to put on this show every year and we spend a lot of time doing it right. This is the start of 26 straight days of work and putting on a huge show for the American Paint Horse. Its a great show and some of the best Paint Horses are on display here in Fort Worth during this time. If you can't make it to the show, then visit the web site and check out the Live Stream.

Father's Day Off

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there now. It was 39 years ago I gave my Dad his first Father's Day and it was 7 years ago my daughter gave that gift to me. I hope you all have a great day as Dads or celebrating the gift your Dads gave you.

Its my day off today. Woot! Not because I'm a Dad and it doesn't mean I don't have to do things or get to do what ever I want. Just because I'm a Dad, I don't take a pass on things. I did sleep in a little bit, not having to be anywhere early just the same.

Its still my day off and a special Day at that. This is the last free day off I'll have for 26 days. You'll learn more about that later if you don't know already. So I hope to really enjoy today with my family. I'll see them over the 26 days, but my time will be so short because of my job.

I'm looking forward to see more of the family today. We don't have any real plans and that is cool too. Nice to have a day off and just do what ever and be where ever more or less.

Happy Fathers day again and enjoy this day once again. I'm off to do just that and will see you all over the next 26 days now. Oh I smell breakfast going... yep time for me to get out of here for sure.

Support only a click away

It's the last weekend before the big APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show and I spent part of my time running around helping my father and my In-laws with PC troubles.

I should have looked at installing Log Me In down at the In-laws, but I might hold off until they get a new PC. Now on my Dad's I managed to get it working once again and he can turn it on and off when he has an issue.

The nice thing about a program like Log Me In is that one they have a free version and I can pretty much help him when I get a chance and from home. With a simple few clicks and secure login, I have a connection from point to point and can see his screen and make changes like I was right there.

It comes in handy when a fire breaks out and something needs to be looked at and quick. With the show around the corner, I'm not going to have the time to drive over and look at something. With Log Me In working again, he can grant access and I can make a quick fix and get back to what ever I was doing.

Mind you I'm talking simple things and some stuff might need a first hand look, but at least with access I might be able to poke around and see something an trouble shoot from my end and then prepare to come on site and take care of things in person.

FCC looking to back free wireless broadband

I came across this story today and wanted to pass it on to who ever pops in here. Prices are growing like crazy for all kinds of goods & services. Apple has recently introduced its new iPhone, due out in July and the thing is sweet, but its the cost for the phone service and the price to get on the net that kills you.

My thought is at some point all phones will be more like the iPhone and PDA devices and the cost to make a call or browse the web will be cheaper. What I hope is just like all phones have a camera, they'll all be more PDA/net friendly and with cost effective services. Charge extra for something new like Video Streaming with voice chat and let those who want to have that pay for that service.

Well perhaps things like this will be closer in the future after all. The FCC wants to auction of a spectrum of network to a company with the goal of providing FREE Internet on a National level and at Broadband speeds. I sure hope they can pull this off and sorry to those companies in place now and charging an arm and a leg, better offer something else to cause us to pay & stay.

Here is a press release from a California Rep who has introduced an Act along the same lines. What a world it would be to have FREE Internet where ever I go on a PDA phone or a Laptop I can take with me.

Eshoo Introduces Free Wireless Broadband Legislation
Washington, DC – Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) and Rep. Christopher Cannon (R- UT) introduced the Wireless Internet Nationwide for Families Act (WIN) which, if enacted, would foster the deployment of a new nation-wide wireless broadband network.

The WIN Act mandates that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction certain spectrum that is currently lying fallow. The winner of the auction would be required to build and complete a network within 10 years that must provide coverage to at least 95% of our country. The licensee would also be required to provide service for free to consumers and public safety users. The WIN Act also requires the licensee to deny access to obscene and indecent material on the free service tier.

"The cost of broadband service is a barrier for too many families who want broadband, with more than 100 million Americans without broadband at home," Eshoo said.

"By every measure, the U.S. is losing the international broadband race and our competitiveness as a nation is at stake. The Innovation Agenda made a commitment to spur affordable access to broadband and this bill will go a long way to providing universal broadband access."

"The results of the 700 MHz auction disappointed many of us who hoped that a new entrant would emerge. 70% of the spectrum auctioned went to only two carriers. While the auction required under this legislation is open to anyone, it is my hope that the bold conditions of requiring free, family friendly service will encourage the entry of a new kind of national broadband service provider."

Oh No! Say it Aint So McCain...

People slip up at times and this one is too funny to leave alone. I heard this heading in this morning and had to do a search for it. Poor McCain... Now I'll have to look into this more, but it sounds like he's cutting him self off and not everyone else. Perhaps a line item Veto would be best for some people in this situation. For me, I like a nice cold one as I grill in the backyard every now an then and hopefully that will never be vetoed.

He's going to the show now

Wow, he wrapped up the democratic nomination and I couldn't be happier really. Checking things out in Texas and taking part in the Democratic Caucus was a real learning experience to say the least.

So as an Obamacan, I'm happy to see he managed to get the nod from his Party. For me a vote for him was also a No Vote for Hillary. It's not that I don't feel a woman can do the job, not at all the case. I'm just not willing to back Hillary for the job.

In the end it really doesn't matter so much who gets the job. I mean they all claim they'll do something and in some cases they do and in most cases they don't. What I mean is promises are made and broken always.

I've actually voted in the past elections for the independents for the most part and that really doesn't do much. I for one wish they'd change stuff and make every vote count and do away with the electoral college all together. Sorry if your state doesn't have that many people, but the fact is you still get a vote.

It will be interesting to watch over the next few weeks and see what Obama does next. Who will he pick and what stands will he take now. He got my early nod, but he has to still earn my vote in November now. That goes for you as well McCain, that's right its not election time yet and I'm watching you too.

Obama is favored and I like a lot of what I see so far. But in the end it will be interesting to see who wins and who sticks to his words. One of the coolest things is he's not that much older than me and that is something I'm not use to seeing at all. Someone close to my age could be in charge of things! Could be cool or scary!

The Perfect Ride

It was an event for father's & daughters that I had in mind for over a year now. The YMCA Father Daughter Program (YMCA Indian Princesses) provides Dads & Daughters with various activities and Horseback riding just happens to be one of those events they suggest. So I had this idea to get all of our tribe together for a riding session and that day finally arrived today.

I had contacted Golden Gait to set up this event and we had a total of 12 riders (5 adults and 7 girls). For me it was perfect, this was the best money I could have spent on an activity for my daughter and I. To see her and even a friend of hers riding around solo like that was priceless. To top it all off, I was able to get on a horse and ride too, something I had not done in so many years.


From left to right is Katie who rode on Silver and had never been on a horse before. I rode on Pie and she was great horse to put up with me. Freya had Rosie and they made a perfect pair if you asked me. I think I could have used a slightly bigger horse and be a little smaller myself, but thats a whole other topic in itself.

It's an amazing thing to be on a horse and something I would recommend everyone try at some point. I hope this is the start of many more riding sessions for Freya and I, even the whole family at some point. If I could even swing it, I'd love to own some horses myself some day. Until that day comes, I'll jump at a chance to get back in the saddle again.

No Slumber Here

So its called a Slumber Party or a Sleep Over, but its far from that. We'll have no slumbering here or sleeping at least until we can not stand it no longer and our heads just drop to the nearest pillow.

It will be a night or morning full of giggles & stories though. Playing games and having all sorts of fun. We'll hide this behind the guise that we will be sleeping. We will at some point sleep, but not anyone else until we say its time to sleep.

I don't think this actually what goes through there heads, but its what happens at a Slumber Party or Sleep over. What it is really is some plain fun for kids. My daughter had a birthday/slumber party last night. They went to the opening night for Kung Fu Panda and then came home for some Dance Dance Revolution 2 and other gaming. They lasted to about 2am and finally dropped like rocks.

Then you have dough nuts and milk and a little more playing before your shipped back home. The real slumber was for the parents back home and comes later for those hosting the party the following night. Yes, we'll slumber good tonight, yes we will.