High School Musical 2

I saw High School Musical 2 this past weekend with my 5,8, and 11 year old cousins and now i'm hooked. I liked the first High School Musical but 2 is much better. I am ashamed to admit that i'm almost 30 years old and as of today I am the proud owner of High School Musical 2 soundtrack. It's actually "Fabulous."

"What team? Wildcats! What team? Wildcats!"

Greetings from Dallas!

I've been in Dallas this week for work. I do have a couple of stories for everyone but those will have to wait. It's a quarter to 9:00 and we are still at the hospital. There's lots to do before i can issue the audit report. Hopefully we can leave soon. My tummy is growling. Hopefully i can update my blog with all the funny stories that have happened on the past 3 trips next week when I'm in Virginia Beach for another audit.

Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso are my heroes

It is a known fact in my department that i am not a morning person, especially when we travel for work. I have decided that a couple of my co-workers are slow learners and must have ridden the short bus to school. Here's why...

We hired a couple of new people so I understand if on their first audit with me they have no idea not to talk to me before 10:00 a.m. We were in Arlington driving from the hotel to the hospital. There are four of us in the car. I'm in the back seat with the newbie. I have my head leaning against the window, my eyes are closed, and i'm not saying a word. Ten minutes down the road, Newbie says to me, "Hey! Are you tired? You have your eyes closed!" I tried to ignore him because i was sleeping. He asked me again and my response was, "I was sleeping till you woke me up." One of my best friends who also works with me was in the front seat and informed him that i'm not a morning person and it would be in his best interest if he didn't talk to me (unless work related) before 10. Ok, not a big deal because this was Newbie's first trip with me. He didn't know but now he does.

Fast forward to Salt Lake City. I NEVER speak to anyone when we are eatting breakfast, never. Apparently Newbie didn't realize this. He starts talking to me and the only response he gets from me is the occassional grunt or moan. Thank goodness the third person on our audit team finally made it to breakfast so he could talk to her and leave me alone. This is the normal routine for about 4 days. On Thursday we walk into the audit room, i sit down at my computer and start working. It's going on about 8:45 and i have not said one word to anyone. Newbie, who is sitting across from me, says to me, "Either you are not a morning person or you don't like us?" If looks could kill! I lifted my head and said, "yes - in the morning" Seriously, did you ride the short bus? Are you a slow learner? You have been told that i am not a morning person so DO NOT talk to me.

So, the next trip was to Philly. I have another newbie with me and it was worse than having the other Newbie. I think we hired 2 really slow learners because how many times do i have to ignore you in the morning, how many times do you have to be told before you realize i don't start chit chatting with you till 10:00???? I don't have a problem talking to you before 10:00 IF if is work related because after all, that's why i am here. But i do not care about the new road or the new type of bread you found at Wal-Mart.

I don't feel bad when i don't talk to them since they have been told that i'm not a morning person. Good grief, are you really that slow? My not being a morning person also extends to the office. Why, oh why, as soon as i walk in the morning does Newbie #1 feel the need to tell me about every piece of useless knowledge he has obtained since 5:00 yesterday.

At this point, the Newbies are lucky if i even turn around and look at them when they talk to me. I feel like Dr. Cox from Scrubs. I think i'm going to take a page from Dr. Cox the next time any of the newbies walk up to me before 10:00 without a work question.

J.D.: Dr. Cox...
Dr. Cox: Newbie, if the next two words out of your mouth aren't 'See ya' then the third word will be 'Oh my god. My crotch. You've punched me in my crotch.'.
J.D.: See ya.

Great, i have to go. I hear one of the Newbies walking over to my desk. I think I may try this quote on the Newbie today...(Insert "Lester" where you see "Dr. Kelso.")

Dr. Kelso: Hey, guess what has two thumbs and still doesn't give a crap? [Points at his face with his thumbs]
Dr. Kelso: Bob Kelso! I think we've met...


P.S. Can i get a shout out from all those who are fans of Scrubs?

American Idol and Ground Hog Day

Have you ever seen the movie Ground Hog Day? Well, today was one of those days. You know you have spent too much time traveling when you are sitting at the airport and start to recognize (or think you do) people in the airport. I'm still waiting for the day when i start to go through security and they treat me like Norm from Cheers..."Lester!!"

Anyway, I'm in Philadelphia this week but let me tell you there's not any brotherly love coming from this southerner. Let me tell you about the car we rented from Hertz. We always rent a full-size car when we travel such as a Ford Taurus. Today was no different. I rented a full size and what we got was a toy car a.k.a a Dodge Calibur. I could not get the door locks to work. I couldn't get the back door to unlock. I tried several times but was unsuccessful until my boss realized i kept hitting the lock button and not the unlock button. Once we got the back door opened we realized there was no way we could fit 3 suitcases and 3 computer bags in the back. We had to lay down part of the back seat just to get everything in the car. We have so much luggage i can not see out the back window. I do have pictures but will post them when i get back to Nashvegas. We drove around for about an hour looking for some place to eat that looked safe and that had past a health inspection. We finally got to the hospital at 3:00. We worked for 3 hours and then left for dinner. Dinner was great except for the church service and debate that happened. One girl started preaching and after about 15 minutes i reached for my purse which they asked what i was doing. "oh, i'm getting out my purse so i can write a check because i know at any minute we are all going to stand and sing 'Just as I am' and pass the collection plate. The debate was over....drum roll....speaking in tongues. By the end of dinner I wanted to rip out their tongues.

We leave the restaurant and head back to the car. Just as i get in the car i am struck with a sudden urge to pee. I knew that we were not too far from the hotel so i decided to hold it. Bad, Bad, Bad idea. In order to get to the hotel we have to drive around Independence Hall (it's sort of like a round-about). As I see the turn i need to make i realize that i am in the wrong lane so i tried to change lanes but i can't see jack b/c of all the darn luggage in the car. I have no idea if there are cars behind me or not. The entire back of the car is a blind spot. I miss our turn so we have to drive around Independence Hall again. It takes about 2-3 minutes to make the entire trip around the Hall. My bladder is starting to hurt. Long story short, we had to drive around the Hall a THIRD time. We finally make it to the street our hotel is on...I can see. I start to tell myself, "i'm going to make it." I pull up to the street and it's blocked off because of road work. We finally make it to the hotel, i parked on the street, left the car running, jumped out and ran inside to the lobby. I can't find the bathroom b/c it's on the lower level and i'm on the second level. I have never ran down a flight of stairs so fast as i did tonight. I make it to the bathroom, and oh, sweet relief.

Did i mention that American Idol is not too far from the hotel holding try-outs.

Kevin, Uncle Bob, and Elvis

Little over two years ago my Uncle Bob passed away. My brother, Kevin, was really close to him and his passing really affected Kevin. One thing that Kevin and Uncle Bob shared was their "love" of Elvis. My uncle actually grew up with and was friends with Elvis. When they were in high school Elvis and my uncle and their friends were all sitting around listening to Elvis play the guitar. My uncle actually told Elvis, "Too bad you won't be able to make any money playing that guitar." My uncle and Elvis grew up in the same projects in Memphis, Lauderdale Courts, which is located right beside St. Jude. Anyway, last night was the big candlelight service at Graceland. Below is an email i received from kevin this morning.

As you all know today is the 30th Anniversary of Elvis' death. From 2001-2004 Uncle Bob and I would go to Graceland on the night of August 15th for the festivities and the Candlelight Vigil...we always had so much fun. We would always get a hamburger at Checkers on Elvis Presley Blvd...take it to one of the stages and eat it while we watched "Elvis" perform. We would walk around some more, go into the gift shops, and make our way the the big screen and watch concert highlights...then we would make our way to the street and always sit in front of Graceland and watch the fans make their way up the coffin. Every year I made Uncle Bob tell me all of his Elvis stories...they never ever got old. We made so many memories together down there from Uncle Bob tripping on the sidewalk and both of us laughing until we cried, to him always always running into to someone who had, at some point, bought some Elvis memorobillia from him.

The 25th Anniversary year Uncle Bob and I couldn't believe how many people were there for Elvis. I think there were about 30,000 people there. I remember clear as day when Uncle Bob said, "I just can't get over how many people are here for just one man. I can only imagine what it will be like for the 30th Anniversary. I bet there will be about 75,000 people here that year (wouldn't you know it...he was right!!). I hope I'm still around for the 30th" When he told me that I replied, "Well, if you're not around I'll come down here for the both of us." I felt like at that point Uncle Bob had found a pretty good Elvis buddy.

So, I had plans to go down there by myself last night but Melanie said she would go with me because I think she knew it would be kind of hard on me to go there by myself. I'm so glad she went. We got down there and she was so amazed at how many people were there. She said, "All of this for one guy!" I said, "Yup..and Uncle Bob knew him". I found Uncle Bob and mine's spot in front of Graceland in the middle of Elvis Presley Blvd. We sat down in our chairs and I started telling all of Uncle Bob's Elvis stories as best I could. She enjoyed them. I attached some pictures from last night..the last one is a guy drawing with chalk..really impressive.

I had fun but it was not near as much without Uncle Bob for obvious reasons. Every year we went to this Uncle Bob and I got a little closer and that's what I looked forward to the most. As I was sitting in front of Graceland last night I kept wanting to look over and talk to Uncle Bob and ask him an Elvis question and it was so hard realize that he was sitting right beside. It was so odd being at Graceland without Uncle Bob. Towards the end I realized Elvis and Uncle were looking down last night watching us...and that brought a smile to my face.
Kevin at Graceland

Melanie and "Elvis"

If You Choke Don't Look to the Reeves' For Help

This past weekend I went to Montgomery and was able to spend a little time with two of my favorite of aliens – Judy and Rudy. It was so nice to hang out with them. As soon as I got back to Nashville I went straight to Margaret and Terry’s house for dinner. While we were eating dinner Nate and Niño kept making all of us laugh uncontrollably. I leaned over and told Margaret that they had to stop talking long enough so I could drink some of my tea. I was afraid to take a sip of tea for fear of getting choked on the tea from laughing at the boys. About 2 minutes later as I was telling a story, Nate made some comment that really wasn’t funny but the delivery was priceless right at the same time I started to take a drink. The next thing I know I was reenacting Ryan’s choking scene from Honduras. I started laughing and then choking. If that wasn’t bad enough I had sweet tea coming out of my nose and my mouth. I kept waiting for someone to come to my rescue like Ben did for Ryan but no such luck. All I got was Nate and Niño trying to decide how many “points” they should get for making me choke. Nate said he should get at least two points. In between trying to cough everything up and catch my breath I hear Niño say, “Nate, I concur. Two Points!” I finally feel Margaret slap my back and then I hear Nate, “I think we get Three Points if she dies.” Dang, tough crowd!! I would have been fine had the boys not kept talking and kept making me laugh. It was absolutely hilarious. Both Margaret and I had tears running down our faces.

Thriller

Can I get a shout out from all my peeps that at one point in their life knew some of the "Thriller Dance" This is a group of 1,500+ inmates dancing to thriller. This is awesome!