Drus World

Always Exciting in Dru's World

2008-11-10T10:01:00.003-05:00

I want to make an announcement for all of those that have been kind enough to actually look at this blog for the past few months when I have been to busy to post any new news. Please check out http://babydru.blogspot.com/ Thanks DruU

Dru's New Blog

2008-03-07T12:06:00.003-05:00

For the 2 readers of my blog... I have bought my own Domain Name and have just set up my blog. I am going to be posting New things at http://druutopia.com/ This will be the new Dru's World and will eventually transfer my posts over but first I want to make it look better, (but I need to figure out how to make my own template first). My Daughter actually wants to start Blogging so I will be adding a new Blog soon for her. Hope to see you there...

Daughter's First Breakup1

2008-02-07T10:55:00.002-05:00

According to my daughter a long term relationship in her school is approximatly one month. I remember those days. I honestly believe that the only reason this break up affected my daughter so much was the situation. The other day I left work early again and made it to the school so I could pick her up before she got on the bus. As I stood infront of the office looking over this wave of short people I noticed my daughter (she is one of the tallest in her school). She was walking towards me with her eyes firmly planted on the ground. Her best friend was walking beside her with the look of concern. My daughter looked up and greeted me with a painful smile. As we walked to the car I asked her what happened at school. Of course I got the mechanical response, "nothin'" "Then what's wrong?" "Tony Dumped me." she said with a crack in her voice that told me she was about to cry. I knew then my busy plans for that night were changed. The car ride was quiet, she didn't speak. Then she noticed that I turned the wrong way, "where are we going. "You'll see, you need some breakup medication." We pulled up in front of a Mom & Pop shop in the tiny town next to ours. We walked in and she actually started to look around for the medicine ilse. I said, "its back here." We walked into the back where there is an old counter sat on stools and I looked at the man behind the counter. "Two Chocolate shakes, bad break up moment." The man gave a little smirk and went to the back kitchen. When he returned he handed the largest milk shake I have ever seen to my daughter and said, "it heals the heart" then placed a small Milkshake in front of me and said, "the large is on the house." Although my daughter has never been to this place I am there every morning on my way to work. Bobby, the man behind the counter, has heard about my daughter almost every week day for the past 6 months. After a couple of ice cold sips my daughter told me a tragic story of pain, suffering and betrayal. I sat there listening and secretly thought, "boy are horrible creatures, but girls are just down right mean." I will have to explain this whole story someday but as for now it has snowballed into splitting a school in half and two fathers getting called to the Principals office. The good news, after my daughter finished her milk shake and told me this horrible story, she got up with a huge smile gave me a hug and said, "I am so glad you will let me talk to you about this."

No Such Thing as Reverse Discrimination

2008-01-30T01:27:00.001-05:00

Today I was listening to the morning radio show on my way to work. They started discussing some election stuff like everyone now that the primaries are happening. They started talking about Clinton and Obama. Now being a registered republican in Albany New York I can only vote in the Republican Primaries. It really doesn't matter because I am probably going to write in my vote. Anyway this radio station mentioned the words reverse discrimination. These words, when put together drive me crazy. I am a middle class white male in my thirties, I have not been reverse discriminated against, I have been discriminated against. There is no such thing as reverse discrimination, discrimination is horrible who ever you are. This was brought up because they were talking about black votes are going to Obama and woman and idiots are voting for Bill's wife. Election time brings out the idiots of all kinds. I for one would love to see a Black Woman in Office. I have no issues voting for a person that has views closer to me than anyone else. If I stood up and said I am not voting for Obama because he is black, then I am a racist. If a black man stands up and says he is voting for Obama because he is Black he is patted on the back. I was actually talking to a friend of mine and a coworker the other day who are both Black. My friend said he was going to vote for McCain. The Coworker actually got pissed at my friend because he is not voting for the Black person that is running. Am I horrible because I will never vote for McCain, I am a Veteran and so is he. I am not voting for "my kind" Who is a Black woman suppose to vote for? Does she turn her back on her race or gender? Vote for those you agree on and leave the skin tone and gender out of it.

Daughter's first Boyfriend

2008-01-28T07:58:00.000-05:00

Friday my daughter stayed after school since the school was showing a movie. She is in Middle School and she has been growing up way to fast this year. I left work early and decided it would be fun to go pick her up and then go out for an Ice Cream cone before we picked up her little sister from Day Care. I make sure that there are those little moments that the two of us can sit down and talk without the interruption of her 3 year old sister looking for my attention. So I walk into the Auditorium and look among the mass of 11-14 year old in this huge room. I couldn't see he and thought it was no big deal (there were a lot of kids) Then my eye caught her best friend. She was sitting just a few rows in front of me and was with a big crowd of kids joking and having fun, they definitely didn't care if there was a movie there. I scanned the smaller group and sure enough there was still no sign of my daughter. Then I did a double take, there she was, right next to her best friend. She has a favorite sweatshirt, or Hoody I think they call them, she always wears it. There it was, how could I miss her? Well this whole time I was looking for this beautiful young girl with 2 arms and 1 head, I was not looking for the kid with one head on someone else's shoulder. I was not looking for a boy with his arm around my daughter. I was not looking for this boy that was holding my daughter like she was the most valuable possession he has owned. I will admit at first my blood was boiling over, I could not believe what I was seeing, then the humor set in. I know none of her friends saw me so I grabbed my camera phone and tried to sneak up a little closer. It was to dark I had this image of snapping a picture of this and sending it to every relative we have. I just couldn't get the picture, well here I was standing right behind one of her friends that was right behind my daughter, look there, its an empty seat. I quickly tapped her friend on the shoulder and gave her the signal to be quiet. Sat down next to her and started watching the movie. Her friend leaned over and whispered, "Tony asked her out today." I quickly responded, "I see that," with a little grin on my face. I was sitting there in this group of my daughters friends trying to think of something that I could do to embarrass her. I could have thought all day long and I would have never came up with something good enough. So I leaned over to her friend and said, "just tell her I will be up there waiting." On my way up towards the school lobby one of my daughters teachers stopped me. so I sat there and talked with him for a few minutes and was taking glimpses of my daughter and her new boyfriend. Then all of a sudden it felt like I was jumped on by a Linebacker in the Super Bowl. It was my daughter, I guess she noticed I was there. She jumped on me and wrapped her arms around me and said, "Tony asked me out." Of course I had the same reply, "I noticed, and again I had this grin. At this time I looked at where my daughter was sitting and I see this 13 year old boy sneaking away very quickly. After telling my daughter I was waiting until the movie was over and then I would take her home, she gave me another hug and then went to sit down again. "Wow, not to many daughters would be excited to tell their father they have a new boyfriend," her teacher said to me. "Yeah, I know" I said as I thought about every major milestone I have seen her go though, and realized this was the next one.

How to Become a Single Father

2008-01-26T21:28:00.001-05:00

I remeber before my world travels began sitting at the local coffee shop with a friend gettin my dose of caffine before going to babysit my neice. Although I was still in my teens I never had enough energy to chase a two year old girl around the house. My brother was proudly wearing the military uniform at the time sitting somewhere in Asia so I felt it was my responsiblity to babysit his daughter so her mother could have an adult conversation every once in awhile. My friend was getting his caffine fix so he could go to the rock quarry over the border in Pennsylvania. "That sucks you have to babysit, this is going to be the party of the year." "I don't mind, Deb is going to come over after Tiny T is asleep." Tina was my brother Tony's daughter, for some reason my family was always called by initials, I don't even think my best friend even knew the name my parents gave me untill the year after graduation. "Aww, how sweet," the sarcastic jeer that I was expecting came a little slower than I was actually thinking it would, the caffine probably did't hit Brian yet. "Are you and Deb going to play house tonight?" "If I am lucky we will have a good time." Being a seventeen year old boy was difficult enough but throw in the fact that I spent the only Friday night off babysitting my neice really took a notch out of my social standing. No one cared of course when I usually did this because I usually got paid a case of beer that we would drink on Saturday. "Dude, you are going to be a perfect parent someday." "My goal in life is to raise my children. Unfortunatly that means I will have to put up with a woman all the time." Everyone I knew understood that I loved hanging out with kids. Mainly because I never wanted to grow up and always liked having an excuse to go see the newest childrens movie at the theater. It was creapy if I said, "hey Deb you want to go see The Little Mermaid?" I would never get a weird look if I said, "I want to take my neice to see "The Lion King" you want to go?" I was a Senior in High School and spent half my school day doing my practical at the Elementary school next door. I was already excepted into college for early childhood education. Whenever I wasn't in school or working I usually had my neice with me.

After a couple more cups of coffee I said bye to my friend and headed to my babysitting duties. This was soon going to be a night that I would never forget.

Its hard being a Dallas Fan in NY

2008-01-23T10:39:00.000-05:00

Living in NY as a Dallas Fan is hard especially now that the New Jersey Giants are in the Super Bowl... But... The Giants have been NFC Champions 4 times since 1970: - 1986-87 - 1990-91 - 2000-01 - 2007-08 hmmm... How bout them Cowboys? - 1970-71 - 1971-72 - 1975-76 - 1977-78 - 1978-79 - 1992-93 - 1993-94 - 1995-96 The Giants have won the Super Bowl 2 Times: - 1987 - 1991 How bout them Cowboys? - 1972 - 1978 - 1993 - 1994 - 1996 The Giants have appeared in the Super Bowl 3 times, this will be the fourth - 2 wins, 1 lose - Who else has been to the Super Bowl 4 times? Buffalo Bills - Great Company to keep there... The Cowboys have been to the Super Bowl 8 Times - 5 Wins - Who else has appeared 8 times? NO ONE... Who has appeared more? NO ONE... So to the Giants Fans out there, enjoy the Hats and T-Shirts now because as a Cowboys fan I can wear one for each day of the week...

The Next day in court

2008-01-21T23:56:00.001-05:00

Last week I went to court again. It was a great trip once again and proved to me that the family court in my county is very unorganized. We were scheduled to see the judge at 12:00 noon, I thought thet was funny since that is when they usually take lunch. Due to all the times they have changed the times with out notification I called my lawyer as soon as his office opened up. They checked the schedule to let me know there was no change. So at 11:00 am I left work and headed to the court house. I was checking into security and they looked at me funny. "what was your name?" I told them for the second time. "and you are suppose to have court today?" of course I responded, "that was the schedule." Then came the dreaded words, "we do not see you on the schedule." I then asked them if they could let me in so I could talk to the Administrative Assistant, they did so I quickly learned that the vacation time off of work is worthless.
I called my lawyers office to find out what they had to say. His assistant, great woman, checked the same online calendar that she had checked earlier in the day. We had been removed. She quickly got off the phone with me and within 10 minutes the court clerck came to me in the waiting room, "Mr. Topia, I just got off the phone with your Attorney and I am not sure how you were removed from the calendar but you will be seen at the scheduled time."

At this point I was a little stressed out, ther are two things to look for in an attorney when you are going infront of family court. The first trait that I noticed about my lawyer that helped me choose him was his compasion. I could tell right away that he understood how emotionally drained I was trying to save my marriage and that I didn't need the additional stress involved with court. He was the first one that would try to relax me and take away as much stress that he could. The only time he pushed stress on me was when I was on the stand and he actually made me cry. But he later told me that he wanted to pull that emotion from me to show the court I wasn't a heartless stereotypical man.
the second trait I noticed about him was he was always confident that his view on the subject was the same as the courts. There were a few times that he talked me out of leaving him because he was letting the ex-wifes lawyer hang herself. Everything she said eventually made my ex look worse and me better. He definatley had the view that if we did what was morally right we would win. It has worked.

So we sat there and waited until 45 minutes later when my name was called. I started to walk into the court room but was then told, "Lawyers only"

For benefit of the doubt I am going to say 5 minutes later, when waiting for court 5 minutes seams like an hour but it only felt like 5 minutes. My lawyer came out with a smile on his face and said let's go where we can talk. As soon as we were in the vacant stairwell he said, she is going to start paying $850/month as of Feb 1st.
So the story of the day ends with a temporary order of $850 Feb 1st, we go back to court in a couple of weeks and they will decide on how much back child support is due.
Keep the faith though all lifes battles and you will make it though.

The Sun will be out Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

2008-01-16T10:11:00.000-05:00

I actually had to leave my Cubicle this morning, I usually only do that to get Coffee or to get rid of the used Coffee ;) I am sitting at my desk and all of a sudden this bright light started to make it really hard to see my Computer Monitor, I had to get up and investigate. I looked and it was coming from the window on the other side of the room, As I walked around the Seas of Cubes in the office I noticed that it was actually coming from outside the window, it was the sun. My friend is coming back from his long journey around the world, I have been coming into work in the dark and have been going home in the dark I forgot what it was like to feel the warmth of my friend looking down at me. I hope he will stick around for awhile. This actually reminded me of one of my favorite blogs by a guy in Northern Norway He still has a few days till the big guy shines down on him.

Wow, What a Trip!!!

2008-01-15T10:51:00.001-05:00

It is amazing what kind of trip you can get on the internet. This trip I just took was amazing. There are a few sites that I try and look at everyday when I get some slack time at work and then there are times where I just want my mind to wander. Today was one of those wandering moments that I wasn't planning on. I got on the internet to read up on what is going on in the world. I of course like hearing people Bitch about things so I had to visit DOUG anyone that has enough complaints for almost everyday has definatly got a more exciting life than me. But then I recieved an email from a friend asking if I saw some research on WebMD. This was research released around a month ago out of Germany and I saw it on Fox News. So I ended up going over to WebMD and read what they had to say, I posted my thoughts on my other Blog Of Course you can not get to WebMD and not find yourself reading a bunch of stuff... From there I went to an Article about Alzhimers Disease then to something about Lie's men tell, then to how to keep a marriage, then to advice on Marriage, then on and on and on. Article after article of pointless crap. The last site was almost like taking a very large circle around the web, this circle started at Cancer slow down, to Dogs being able to sniff Cancer... That was a fun day at work :D

Discrimination against the Single Father

2008-01-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

I think women should have the same opportunities as men, Raising two daughters I have come to the belief that women are smarter and more able at a lot of things than men. I also believe that men should have the same opportunities as women, Children raised by a man should be treated the same as children treated as women. I recently went to court the other day for Child Support, Again... It has now been 18 months since I was granted custody of my youngest daughter. We have Joint Custody with Primary Physical custody awarded to me. Since there are 4 states between us there is no everyother weekend visitation it all goes off of seperating holidays and school vacation. 18 months without child support, 18 months of paying for a 3 bedroom apartment so each of my daughters has their own personnal space. 18 months of $700 per month in Pre School and Daycare tuitions = Thats $12600... For Court we both had to do Financial Paperwork and according to that and research of how the state figures out child support I have come up with the figure that she should be paying is $1200/month. I am asking the court to provide me Child Support of $1000 per month to help cover Daycare, Preschool, gymnastics and Figureskating costs. I have been turned down four times. Well I will take that back. I haven't been turned down, I have been told that we need to pospone another month for the past 5 months. Will I ever get child support? The Ex-wifes lawyer is good at one thing, posponements. I have been told, She should not have to pay since she lives so far away and she has to pay phone bills, and travel costs to see her daughter. My answer, She is the one that moved so far away. I have been called a loser because I am trying to take money from a woman and a man should be able to make enough to provide all the great things a child needs. This last time, her lawyer actually got up in court and said that I do not deserve this money because I should be able to get a higher paying job as an Information Technology Professional. My answer to this, She is on TV every night working for a major network, She will make a lot more than me. I might get offers making almost 2 times what I make now but those would cause me to travel, move or work very long hours. I work 80 hours every 2 weeks, that is it, no more no matter what. To me that is neccesity so I have all that off time to spend with my daughters. The latest job I was offered was 3 times what I make now but it would have made me move to New York City, at least 50 hours a week and on average 6-10 days a month out of town. Now either way, I am a parent of a little girl that wants to learn Figure Skating, I had to pull her out of the classes so I could pay my electric bill. I am a parent and I make all my decisions 100% with my daughters in mind. I do not deserve to get child support because I am a father? When you go to family court it is usually very stressful anyway. When you go as a father you are the most sterotypical, Dead beat, tempermental, abusive man that anyone has met. Getting custody is a major accomplishment and you can tell a lot about a mother if the court grants custody to the father, look at Britney. But as soon as the custody is over you are back in the courts eyes for a worthless loser that just wants to screw the ex-wife over. Why don't women have to pay child support?

The Wedding

2008-01-09T13:02:00.001-05:00

I am sitting in court right now and of course my mind is thinking about the wedding 5 years ago that brought me into Divorce Court today. Seperated for over 2 years now and we are still dealing with all of this crap.

I am reminded of the last wedding I attended as a guest. Actually, as I think about it is the only wedding that I have been to where I was not in it, as the groom or in the wedding party. It was actually pretty relaxing.

One of the relatives and I sat there at the reception talking about the excitement of wedding while going though a divorce. I disagreed with a lot of the things he was saying. He kept bad mouthing marriage and how horrible the concept is.

My cousin (the Bride) ended up over hearing some of his comments. I could not handle it, here is my baby cousin on her wedding day over hearing some bitter guy talking about something that this young lady was dreaming about forever. She was happy and I couldn't let anything upset that.

I ended up taking my cousin aside and telling her that although I am a 2 time divorcee and I have sworn off marriage I was excited for her.

This world is a rough one and fighting all the little battles we as humans face is tough and draining on the soul. Marriage is saying to someone tha you want to take on your own battles and help them fight the world with their battles. Marriage is an institution that is amazing if both parts combine powers to take on the world. The problem is when the two parties involved fight their seperate battles and disregard the other person or turn it into a fight against this team mate you have selected.

When someone is part of a marriage they sometimes deny that they have weaknesses and need help with things in the world that are attacking them. They end up hiding these battles from their partner and when the battle turns into a war they forget that the ally is waiting there as backup incase you need help or maybe just provide a little obsticle so you can rest and be refreshed for another battle. The goal in a marriage is to provide support and assistance in all you do as a couple or as individuals. Managing each battle as two is so much easier than as individuals as long as you don't get in each others way.

It is important to know that when a person in a marriage has the ability to communicate with their partner about everything then marriage is a wonderful amazing thing. The problem always exists when things are kept from each other and the battles of life start beating you.

I am not sure if she understood this and I am not sure if it makes sence to anyone other than me. But I hope that no one else has to feel the pain that I am feeling right now as I am waiting to get called in front of the judge.

The simple thing that made my day

2008-01-08T09:18:00.001-05:00

I have only been bogging for a few months and never had the writing experience to make it interesting. I have been meeting some very interesting people and some very great writers since the begining of my blog.

I have seen that there are some who do this tag with their Blog friends where the tag someone with links to their site and in return they get a link from somone else. I have never been a part of this and never thought that I was a big enough part of any community to be part of it.

I was looking at my favorite community today and noticed my name on someone elses post. This was not only a post for the new game of tag but with rules that make it a Compliment for me.

I was selected as a Victim that has to Select 5 more Victims and then I have to give 3 Writing Tips that have helped me. If anyone has read my writing then they know I can not give tips of my own. But I will try. I am also not sure if this was suppose to be for those that belong to this Community butlooks like most the people I get my advise from in the community are tagged already so I am reaching out of the domain to some of my other friends that may enjoy this game. So the next writing tips to come will be from: Natalie - who has some great written articles Kelly - Freelace writer Doug - Just some funny stuff Thomas - Has my favorite blog at the moment And Grace Who like me just writes to write, You can tell she just loves it. Now I have choosen the 5 targets, next is the writting tips from me... 1. Write what you feel and hopefully the reader will feel it also. 2. Don't over think or it will get confusing and wordy 3. Who cares about my spelling mistakes, my readers don't care neither do I... If it is that important to you then use a spell check. I do want to thank Chronic Complainer for including me in this, it means a lot to me.

Getting into the mindset

2008-01-04T14:25:00.001-05:00

Right now I am getting into the mindset to quit smoking.
I have been asked to assist in a new bog. Here is my latest adventure

4 Days Until the Day I Quit

Regrets, None Here

2008-01-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

There are so many times that I am asked if I regret things I have done in the past. I can honestly say that I have no regrets. But then I look at my life and think of all the little moments that were life changing for me. I think of the moments that looking back at them would have changed who I am now and what I have become. One of my favorite movies of all times is Star Wars, think about how that Trilogy would have turned out if Luke didn't make the decision to take the tracking devise off R2-D2. How about if Uncle Owen decided not to take C3PO and R2-D2 from the Jawa's. Would Luke ever have met Obi Won Kenobe? Would Uncle Owen have ever let Luke join the Academy? The story would have been a lot different. When I look back at my life and think about the little choices I have made that would have made my life completly different. How could I regret any of my choices? I can think of more little situations that have led me down the path I have taken. There are countless times where people have said to me that I am making a wrong choice, there are times I can remember that even I think I have made the wrong choice. Whenever someone asks me if I have any regrets all I can think saying is, "none, I am happy with who I have become." Then I think about Star Wars with another view, how many situations in life have really made me who I am but have never had any input from me? How many other people could have changed my life story by making a different decision? What would have happened to the story if the Storm Troopers forgot to switch their weapons to stun before they shot Princess Leia? How about if we heard, "there are no life forms, shoot it down for practice." when R2-D2 and C3PO were in the escape pod on the way to Tatoine? That changes a lot of things, when someone asks me if I have any regrets, I am happy with the decisions I have made, but maybe there are some people that have regrets because of the way my life has turned out. So from now on my answer to the question, do I have any regrets? is going to have to be, "No, I am happy. Does that make you regret anything?"

Dead Beat Parents

2008-01-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Another Holiday season come and gone. Another gift giving time where my daughter axiously awaits the package that her mother promised and another disappointing time for my daughter. "Maybe it is lost in the mail" "Maybe she couldn't send it because she had to much school work." "Maybe she couldn't afford to send it, she does have 2 other children dad" These are the reasons she has come up with this year. 10 years of this crap and I can not understand how this girl can sit here and wait time and time again. No phone call, no card, nothing... I found her mother on myspace, what a wonderful sight. A woman with a child she has seen 2 times in the past 10 years. Two children with her current husband that is serving in Iraq and here is her Myspace. The Profile picture, her making out with a guy on the couch. You would think it would be a picture of the husband that is serving the country in Iraq, YOU WOULD BE WRONG!!! This is some 20 year old guy who in her words, "Would give up everything to have more babies with." Why does my daughter have such an image of this woman? How I wish I could show these pictures to my daughter and say, "This is the woman that gave birth to you, do not think she is the perfect woman." I vowed the day the divorce was final that I would never talk bad about the mother of my child, I would never hurt the image of this woman that gave birth to my beautiful daughter. Why is this woman making it so hard for me to keep this promise? Please help me figure out what to do? Please let me hear your story about the dead beat parent in your childrens lives. Let me know I am not the only one out there that has these issues with the egg/sperm donor in your childrens lives.

A Tattoo to Heal

2007-12-29T10:30:00.000-05:00

"I want that one," I said pointing to the perfect image of a Bald Eagle with the full moon behind it. "Where would you like it?" The tattoo artist asked in a bored monotone voice. I could sense the boredom of a man used to new recruits walking in as if they were going to be the next hero a movie would be about. A bunch of kids that barrely had to shave, could not legally go into a bar and order a drinkand have never had the opportunity to vote for the Commander in Cheif that was going to send them to horrors they could not imagine. I was the typical new recruit that left for basic training with the most beautiful girl waiting for my return to have the small wedding in my new uniform. I not only thought I needed to do the ritual tattoo a graduate wanted but I needed some meaning to mine. While I was looking though the abused three ring binder of cookie cutter tattoo's, all I could think about was the letter I received half way though Basic Training. The Letter that made my heart leap and my spirits soar when I saw the beautiful hand writing of my love. "I know this is not easy for you and you are going though a stressful time. I can not imagine how alone you must feel in a place where you know no one. I have been doing a lot of thinking this past month and realize that I want to enjoy my first year of college and not worry about being a wife. I want to see you before you leave the country but I can only see you as a friend. I am sorry." I had full intentions of a tattoo that showed my torment, maybe a heart that was getting torn like a piece of paper, or a boot squashing the life out of a heart. I then saw this Eagle which to me was a symbol of America, a symbol of strenght, power and most of all wisdom. A moon, a huge mass that lost a part at every rotation, the look of damage every time it passed by, but a mass that always regenerated and you could count on seeing whole again. The combination of the two symbols made a symbol that showed my prayers. The prayer I said every night, "Lord, please give me the strength to heal my damaged heart. Give me the wisdom that it will heal. Lord show me that my heart will regenerate like the moon so easily does. Lord let me survive and learn from this pain." "So, where do you want it," the impatient artist asked once again. "Above my heart," I said with the air of confidence I have not felt since I opened that envelope.

The beauty of Technology

2007-12-29T02:30:00.001-05:00

I have never been a fan of cell phones. I believe that the only
reason for my dislike of the phone I could carry everywhere began with
my first supervisory position. This was the first job where I was
issued a cell phone, "in case of an emergency."
This dislike was compounded by the genius that came up with a cell
phone that also could provide email support. As the person in charge
of a communication center I quickly realized that they could now reach
me 24-7 for those small issues that were not worth the phone call.
Ever since I left that position I stayed far away from the, "more than
a phone" cell phone technology. That is until I was looking for a
personal organizer. I recently realized how far Technology has come
since that first Blackberry I was issued many years ago.
For Christmas this year I went to my old addiction of online auctions.
I ended up winning an auction for a used Palm Treo. This is day two
of it in my possesion and day one after my ability to use it after
switching from my old phone.
This Treo is great. I still have a lot of "playing" to figure some
things out but I LOVE IT.
I have been writing in my blog for awhile now and have been trying to
get some of my thoughts organized. I am currently sitting here typing
this on my new device and will be able to post it without sitting at
my desk.
Technology is great...

The Humor of Life

2007-12-28T14:53:00.001-05:00

I started this blog in hopes to help my writing. I have always been interested in creative writing and telling the stories of my life with little exagerations. I do want to get something out there that has the disclaimer, "All names have been changed to protect the innocent" (does that mean I don't have to change the name if they were guilty?)

I have started a few projects over the years to find that my life is very humorous to outsiders and the stories I can tell would make a great sitcom. I however can not finish one story without something else in my life taking a humorous turn towards a tragic comedy. Then there is also the fact that I tend to write more and better while I am in a depressed state of mind, which is hard to do when you are trying write about it and it ends up making you laugh. So I am trying to get an idea of how to finish a project. How can I finish a project when the weekly grind of life makes it difficult to think that the past week was tragic?

Right now I am working on the past tragic instance in my life but I am looking at how the path that was tragic at the time has led to the beautiful (and humorous) events of the present. It just makes me think more about the regrets I do not have. There have been a lot of things that people may look at and say, "Don't you regret that decision?" But everytime I actually sit down to think about it I view the outcome of that decision and think, "I wouldn't change it because it has made me the man that I am today."

The Smoking Challenge

2007-12-28T09:11:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I am just amazed at my oldest daughter. One of the gifts I received this year might be the most thoughtful gift I have ever recieved. My daughter is now 11 and of course in school she has learned how bad smoking is to you and the dangers of smoking. I am not sure how she came up with this stuff but when I was opening presents this year for Christmas she had wraped a package and what was inside made me feel a lot of emotions. All at once I felt happiness, love, pride, and most of all Fear. She had made this present from her heart that was for sure and the first thing I saw was a note,

Dad, I love you but this present is for your daughters.

So I continued on though a small package. The next thing I saw in the package was a Contract already signed by my Oldest Daughter and a Scribble Mark from my youngest. There was a space on the contract for me to sign. This Contract said that I would try to quit smoking on Monday, January 7, 2008. On this day I will allow my daughter to throw away all my cigarettes, Lighters, Ashtrays and anything else she believes causes me to smoke.

After I read though it I noticed that there was a pen in this little package and some 3x5 cards. There were little things on the cards that my daughter wrote. "Dad, I want you to see me Graduate from High School." and "'Dad, I want you to see me go to my Prom.' 'Dad, I want you to see me get married.' 'Dad, I want my children to know you.' 'Dad, we Love you.'"

This brought the tears, I quickly grabbed the pen and signed the contract. I am looking forward to January 7th, 2008. I feel it is going to be a great year.

I wonder if she read this Blog!

Dru the Early Years

2007-12-27T11:50:00.001-05:00

After getting a chance to talk to my Elementary School Best friend this weekend my mind started bringing up a lot of memories of my childhood. One of the conversations that we had was about our adventures. We lived in a development of boxes that all looked the same just different colors. I am sure if I was to look at it now from an adult view I would see the robotic view of parents leaving in the morning and parents coming home at night. I am sure that the most interesting thing that my parents ever saw while living in one of those dupicate development houses is the time the house about a mile away blew up and we could see it from the porch. But as a child in that neighbor hood it was adventure after adventure. We were discussing this weekend the long trips into other worlds that we would see without a thought to the rest of the world. It didn't matter if it was sitting in the tree in the back yard or if we followed "Rock Cliff" then passed "Root 2 Path" for hours and ended up in the middle of a forest that to us was a aventureland that know explorers have ever seen before. But looking back now it is hard to believe that this small amount of land that was surrounded by these duplicate houses held so much potential for excitement. Although over 20 years have gone by since the last time I explored that area I can garuntee that me and my child hood friends have seen more in those woods than anyone else has since. I actually can close my eyes and take a tour of this land that was our home. from the "Gateway" across the street to the cliff on the other side. There were 4 of us that traveled that land with nothing more than an imagination and a pair of shoes. but as soon as we would leave JD's backyard and cross though the gateway we were all alone in the world. There were terrifying slips on the rock cliff there were times we just couldn't climb the mud on the step trail. These were the moments that team work was important. We had our own little aspect in the group that would assist each other though the bad times. The Brains that would provide a plan for any situation. The Conscience that would not allow us to do the completely stupid and kept us from getting into trouble. The Brawn that could muscle the team though it all. The Leader, the one that would come up with the great ideas of where to go and we would follow for days if we had to. The four of us had the perfect team, everyone had their part but we all had the one common factor that made the team work, We all loved to explore.

Relationships thought Lost

2007-12-26T09:17:00.001-05:00

I have to tell the story of a very important relationship that I thought was dead, I have always thought of this person and talked about him so much with my children that they know who he is just by the type of story I am telling. When I was born my father was in the Air Force and we moved around until I was 4 years old. He finally got out of the Military and got a job in New York. I was scared to move from my friends in California to New York. We moved to our new house and I quickly found out that the new next door neighbor was also 4 years old. Most of this is from what my parents told me since I really do not remember to much of those days. To me I think I met Brian when we went to look at the house before we moved into it. We would do absolutly everything together. He would come to my house and play with my toys until we got bored then we would go to his house and play with his toys until we got bored. There was always something for us to do. Even when we were bored we had fun together. There were other kids our age in the neighborhood and we would play with them and hang out with them also but they would have to go home and me and Brian would still be there. While we were growing up we were totally different people with different goals in life. We were brought up with totally different backgrounds, different religions, different customs, and different opportunities. But for some reason we were still best friends. Until, something changed. I am going to blame Girls and Sports, but I am sure it was my own immaturity that caused us to grow apart. I was getting into the Partying scene and Brian was still the Great student. By the time we reached High School I was Drinking, Smoking, doing things that would cause most parents to keep their kids away from me. Brian was in the Math Club, Debate team, Physics club, etc... Until one day we would only say high when passing in the hall. My senior year I moved out of the house I grew up in. I was still in the same school but with work, after school sports, and after school parties I never saw Brian. He was in the Classes for the "smart" kids while I was in the classes for the "Lets see if we can get him to graduate" kids. On graduation day I remember seeing Brian walk up to get his diploma and thought, "Wow I miss hanging out with him." Years went by with failed College, Military moving, kids, and all the great things life brings and I never heard from Brian again. Every once and awhile I would find an email address and send him a couple of notes. But then Life would happen again and I would go a couple awhile before I could catch up with him again. This weekend Brian was in town. He warned me in advance that he was going to come and visit his family. I was so excited that I was going to see him again now that we have both seen life and have our own families. Saturday, I woke up and was planning on meeting him for Coffee, I was nervous that now that he has Dr. in front of his name and I am just your average Joe walking around this world not contributing a thing. As soon as Me and my daughter walked into the Coffee shop I felt like a kid again, I was so happy to see Brian, it felt like we were friends all along and this was the same kid that I watched learn how to ride a bike. We sat their and talked for awhile but we both had things to do and my daughter was not having to much fun with the two old guys talking about the days before there was a computer in every house, and what is this Record thing... So we decided it was time to go. The next day his sister and her family flew in and we made plans to meet them at my parents house. It was unbelievable that I was sitting at my Mothers dinning room table with two people that I ate with almost everyday many years ago. A visit that was suppose to last for an hour soon turned into 3 and just like minutes it was time for them to leave. As I watched Brian and his sister drive away I realized that this is a relationship that made me the person I am today. This was my best friend for so long that that his friendship made an impression on me and helped me though some rough times in life, even if it was not there at the time. I am a better person for knowing this man when he was younger and I am very proud of what he has done in his life. I now understand that a relationship that I thought was once lost now has the opportunity to be grown again.

Winter Driving in NY vs Alaska

2007-12-20T11:26:00.000-05:00

I grew up in NY and learned to drive in NY snow. I am used to seeing cars falling apart due to the rust. NY is pretty good at snow removal using a lot of plows and throwing salt on the roads. It was a large surprise when I left NY and moved to Alaska. One of the first things I noticed in Alaska was that there were more older cars with very little rust. Snow removal was of course better than in NY and I soon noticed that they were not using salt on the roads. They would lay sand down but I never saw salt on the roads. Now I am back in NY and wondering why NY thinks it is better to put salt on the roads. I know that it is my responsibility to make sure that the salt from the roads is cleaned off my car so it doesn't rust. I really thought about this. Alaska receives a lot more snow and for a longer period of time though out the year. I do believe that Alaska will not put salt on the roads because with 7-8 months of the year getting snow would rust the cars on the road way to fast. But why can't NY come up with a better way of removing snow from the roads? Thinking about this I also thought of something else and it may show my ignorance but let me know what you think about this. During winter you see dead Deer all over the sides of the highways. I know that Deer love salt and throwing a salt lick in the back yard will grantee some great pictures of deer from the porch. Does putting salt on the roads to help with ice attract the deer to the roads? or is it a different type of salt? If I am on the right track if NY was to stop putting salt on the road not only would cars last longer but there would be a lot less accidents do to deer in the roads.

Entertainment for All

2007-12-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

I have been told by many friends and family lately that I need to write a book. I have seen a lot and dealt with a lot in my life that I guess is very entertaining to others. I have a hard time understanding why but then I read an article about Briteny Spears getting drug tests on her sons to prove that He Ex is smoking Marijuana around them. I guess since that is headline news for the rest of the country my life could be considered entertaining. I am not confident that I can do this story of Dru any justice at the moment since my writing skill are not that great and I am kind of Biased on most topics about my life. There is one thing though my stories that I would like to emphasis to my readers. My brother calls me lucky but I call it faith. I understand very little about the world we live in and the universe that this world is a part of. I know that having faith that things will work out usually means it will work out. I am not sure if the paths I have choosen in life were those of faith guiding me or just blind luck but for my sanity at this moment I am going to say it all has to do with faith. I will post soon the first story of Dru... Keep a look out.

Momma's Boy, Insult?

2007-12-08T11:19:00.001-05:00

Post Moved To http://druutopia.com/Joomla/content/view/12/1/