Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day

This year's Martin Luther King Day carries a special meaning with the inaguration of President Barack Obama coming tomorrow.

As many TV comentators have said, the first black president is not a realization of Dr. King's dream, but it is a big step in the right direction.

Take a moment out of your day to give his "I Have a Dream" speech another listen:
http://www.mlkonline.net/video-i-have-a-dream-speech.html

And, if you would like to do your part to help build the Washington, D.C. King Memorial, you can download a search toolbar from the following link:
http://www.mlkmemorial.org/

The toolbar installs on Internet Explorer, and every time you seach, 5 cents are donated to the building of the memorial.

Family Christmas cards through the years

Merry Christmas to All ! ! !

Thought I would share this year's Christmas card with everyone,

and post our past cards just for fun.

ENJOY

2008

2007


2006 Family card

2006 birth announcement

2005 card with our wedding picture


As you can tell, we like to get creative with our cards.

Photoshop Rocks!

Plus, .19 cent 4x6 prints from Walgreens are nice on the budget too.

Ding, Dong, the King is Dead ! ! ! ! !

After 20 years worth of 5 year Super Bowl plans, KC Chiefs general manager/CEO/Grand Poobah/King for Life Carl Peterson has resigned.

That great cheer you heard echoing across the land was from all the KC fans who have suffered under the regime of King Carl.

The prayers of thousands of message board trolls, bloviating bloggers, and talk radio ranters were finally realized the afternoon of Monday, December 15, 2008. The day after a forth-quarter meltdown loss against San Diego, following a year filled with disgraceful games, Carl saw the writing on the wall and finally and thankfully fell on his sword.

To be fair, Peterson did a lot for the Chiefs in the first half of his reign in KC. He took a dismal franchise and made it a winner. Going from half-empty stadiums to season-ticket waiting lists is no easy task. He opened up the parking lots early and started the best tailgating scene in the NFL. The Chiefs, under the coaching leadership of Marty Schottenheimer, had one of the highest winning percentages of the 90's, with several playoff appearances and one trip to the AFC title game.

But Carl peaked around year ten. The second half of his tenure featured desperate free-agent signings, zero playoff wins, and first round draft busts year after year. Dick Vermiel's team set many offensive records, but a laughable defense that could not get off the field. The defense set a dubious record for futility in a playoff game against the Colts in which the Colts punter never took a snap in the game.

Some say Carl's biggest failure was to never develop a franchise quarterback during his time in KC. The bottom line is that he failed to have a coherent draft strategy year after year, and was forced to make desperate moves in the free agency market to bandage over all of his draft shortcomings.

The king's reign is over and now it is up to Lamar Hunt's son Clark to show KC what kind of owner he is going to be. With the stadium renovations due to be complete in 2010, let's hope Clark will make a bold move to make this team a winner again, to go with the new era in Arrowhead!

Repeal of Prohibition - 75 Years Ago

Sippers, tipplers, chuggers, and guzzlers Rejoice! December 05, 1933 marked the repeal of Prohibition. Happy 75th Anniversary!

This date also marked the start of the long rebuilding of Missouri's wine industry, decimated by the 13 year nationwide ban on alcohol.

Before the 1920 start of Prohibition, Missouri was the third biggest wine producing state in the US.

Many of the vineyards destroyed by the "revenuers" have been replanted and are back and better than ever. The caves used to age wine have been rediscovered and put back into service. A new generation of viticulturists and enologists have been perfecting their art and Missouri is back on the map as a producer of great regional wine.

But don't take my word for it ... come and see for yourself what Missouri wine has to offer.

http://www.missouriwine.org/

http://www.missouriwinecountry.com/

Eggnog Haikus

We were working on our grocery (and liquor) list for the coming week. Since the weather had turned cold and Christmas was less than a month away, I decided it was a perfect reason to add another haiku to the blog:

Eggnog oh Eggnog
Sludgy goo that we love so
At least once a year

Eggnog on the blog
Posts need topic to inspire
Cheesy but timely

Eggnog and Brandy
Drink that inspires visions of
Chestnuts and Santa

Happy Birthday Cherry Mash and cherrymash.com

Looking for candy gifts this holiday season?

Try my friends at Chase Candy.

Home of Cherry Mash Since 1918

Happy Birthday Cherry Mash!

90 Years young and just as tasty as ever!

http://www.cherrymash.com/

I met the fine folks at Chase Candy eight years ago when I was just starting my PC Tech business. The owners had gotten a virus on their home computer. I spent three hours working on it, but finally got rid of the pest. While we waited for the various virus software to scan the computer, we chatted.

I was also getting my feet wet in Web page design at the time. Chase had just gotten Internet access at the factory, and were thinking about starting a web presence for the company. A very nice case of serendipitous timing if I have ever seen one. A long term business relationship was born on that first meeting, but also the start of a friendship that continues today.

Dozens of meetings and preliminary designs later, the website http://www.cherrymash.com/ was born. The website will be eight-years-old in December. The website is WAY overdue for an upgrade, and we are working on new designs to give it a face lift. Check it out and feel free to send ideas about what you would like to see on the new site.

VOTE ! ! !

vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote
***
I just had to add to this post.
After a VERY long campaign season, it is time to govern.
My wife, a life-long Republican, and I, a Democrat, have supported Obama, and are happy that he won.

Now it is time to govern!

It's time to make good on campaign promises, it's time to work on the issues our country faces, it's time for change to happen.

It's time we all get together and make it happen.

It's time that we Americans become the United States of America again.

No more red and blue, liberal and conservative, coastal states and flyover states ... pick your favorite cliche, but it is time to come together.