You've got a lot of choices. If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice. ~Steven D. Woodhull

Longcor Christmas (the League City version)

Josh and Kim & Mark are coming for Christmas which we will be celebrating on December 24th so Kim and Mark can get back to Austin for Christmas Day with the Granthams clan. Diane and I are planning a "Blow Out".

On the menu this year. Christmas Eve Breakfast will be

Quail

Pheasant

Biscuts & Creamy Gravey

Christmas Eve Dinner

• Dinner Salad
• Deviled Eggs
• Herb Crusted Peppercorn Beef Tenderloin with Herb Mustard Sauce on the side
• Chessy Smashed Potatoes
• Cut Green Beans
• Pumkin Pie
• Coconut Cream Pie

I hope it is good!

JUST IN: New photos from our spear fishing adventure

Spearfishing July 3, 2009

I am fortunate to have found another new way to add excitement to my life. It's not that I am bored or need to blow more time and money, it's that if something sounds fun and Diane does not tie me down I will probably give it a go.

At 6 AM Friday morning Ablert, Steve, George (George has a boat) and I launched from Dickinson Bayou to dive some offshore platforms and do some spearfishing. 2-1/2 hours and 50 miles offshore we reach the BP platform we were looking for but there were all ready 4 other boats there. We could see another platform about 8 miles further south so we took off again. About half way to our second choice we decided our fuel was to low so we turned around and went back to the first platform to find all but 1 boat had left so we tied off to the platform structure, jumped in and headed to the deep.

The surface temperature was in the high 80's. Visibility was fair on top yet below 50 foot deep visibility was not much more than 10-15 feet which made me nervous since we had seen one small shark get caught and barracuda were hanging out looking for an easy meal.

My first catch with a spear gun. This big boy broke my rented spear gun so I was done. I did dive again to watch and see what kind of trouble my crazy friends would get into. I also fished with rod and reel from the boat some.

Steve with a 45 lb ling.

Albert shot some snapper and caught a king mackerel on a rod during a rest break. Albert had the king 3 feet from the boat just ready to gaff him when a big barracuda hit slicing the king in half and scaring the "fish bait" out of Albert. We got the top half of the king on the boat and marvelled at how neatly the barracuda has sliced off his portion. Albert still got a good 10#'s of meat off the king.

Steve with a nice string of snapper

The snapper were all in the 15-25 lbs range. It was a great day in the Gulf of Mexico.

Valentine's Day 2009

Valentine's Day 2009 may be the best one yet for Diane and I. We went out with Albert & Laurie Davis. Following dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse we drove over to the Aquarium and had a horse drawn carriage ride through downtown Houston in the rain. The carriage was not covered but we had one small umbrella to share between the four of us. The only effective strategy was laughter. All wet yet still having fun we decided to go to the Big Easy and listen to the JT Coldfire band. This blues band from Austin is very good and loud. I would like to see them again sometime after Diane gets her hearing back. The pictures are from my cell phone and not to high quality. Some might say the photo subjects weren't high quality either but they sure had a great Valentine's Day 2009.

Five Fabulous Things

OK this will most likely make me sound OOOOLD yet these are the things I think of most often.

• My Wife Diane of course
• My Kids: Kim, Mark & Josh
• U.S. of A.: wouldn't want to live anywhere else!
• Sunrises and Sunsets: can't have one without the other.
• A good rum drink on a quiet beach anywhere

What Really Scares Me

My world is changing at a rapid pace these days. The U.S. economy is whacked. Barack is an unproven player facing more serious challenges (in my opinion) than any president before. The global economy, banking system reforms, nuclear programs in third world countries, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Illinois governor auctioning a Senate seat, government bailouts, the lack of a U.S. Energy Policy (which was a hot issue when gasoline was at $140/bbl) are some of the issues headlining lately.

Despite all these news headlines, which could cause anyone to think our world was collapsing, there are only a few things that really scare me.

• Ignorant People

These people can ruin the lives of Innocent bystanders. They kill people. They are the ones you see weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds because they are in a hurry and your in their way. They vote without knowing why. They blame others for their troubles. "Ignorance is Bliss". I don't necessarily agree. If you are ignorant, hopefully; you will receive enough criticism and negative feedback so that eventually you will begin to feel like crap no matter how ignorant you are. Ignorance is a condition or a state which can be corrected. The difficulty is that most people choose to be ignorant probably because being ignorant is expedient and less trouble than understanding facts or they are just plain selfish.

• Politicians

What motivates a politician? Usually it's power. How does a politician gain power? Often by giving someone else what they want. Is a politician likely to act in the long term best interest of the nation? Not if they have an option that will provide them with more power in the short term. That is exactly why the U.S. does not have an energy policy.

There are some very good leaders in Washington yet I am afraid there are not enough.

• Flying Monkeys

Those guys are completely out of control.