So we took our dog Pepper to the vet to have a look under his cast. Remember he broke his leg two weeks back? Turns out he has sores on his leg. It got wet under the cast. So we're putting him up where he can heal and monitored. Then we had to prepare for his arrival home on Friday. There's a kennel and stuff for him. The doctor told us we have to keep him as still as possible. Right... He's a puppy! They have him sedated at the animal hospital and I think we're going to have to keep him drugged up when he gets home. I'm really not sure about this guys. So we're doing this for him now, and he'll be better later? We'll see...

My youngest returned from spending the summer with her grandparents. Everyone had a great time and all my girls are under one roof. This means one thing: summer is basically over. My older two have been attending flag corps practice at the high school for a week now. It's worse for my sister. All of her children have moved out. My nephew is going to live in Alaska. One neice is moving to California while the other stays in town and goes to college.
Where did the summer go?
I suppose I could still sneak off and get some fishing done.
So here is one of my girls doing what they do best.

Steph with an ABC fish. Already been caught

Kayleigh modeling.

She is smarter than you and knows it.

Don't they look gorgeous? And in answer to your next question. I may not own a gun, but I am pro knife. There are a few swords around here too.

This morning before I left for my Clark Kent job, I noticed something. Danielle Corsetto wants to do a cross-country book signing for her web comic, Girls With Slingshots. In her comments section she wanted fans to give a shout-out for their city, in hopes she can come visit.
http://www.girlswithslingshots.com/
Of course I would love to have her come and be a guest at our con here in town. Right after I posted my plea to grace us with her presence, it was echoed by a few other San Antonians. In my shameless plug, I invited her to come meet our deaf gamers. Certainly I qualify for that, but what about others in the deaf community in the area?
My goal here is two fold. I would like the artist who created GWS to visit, but I also want to bring some gamers over to my house for regular sessions. And why not? Running a game in sign language would really be a challenge, am I up for it? Maybe.
So Danielle please come to San Antonio. It would mean so much to me and my friends. I plan on shamelessly plugging and begging. I will put you up at my house, I will cook for you. I will see that you are entertained while staying here in our city.

Promising yourself that you won't write anything unless you have something to say is all well and good, in theory. It also is in direct conflict with my other rule: You will write at least once a week. I would like to believe that my life isn't that boring. I should be able to find something worthy to touch base on.
The Olympics are on right now. My girls are watching beach volleyball. A couple of nights ago, the women's gymnastics team performed feats of agility that were truly mind boggling. There is something that everyone seems to forget: Training for that level of competition is painful.
As a teen, I was a member of our high school gymnastics team. Thrilling. Awesome. Confidence raising. Those are the words I'd use to describe it. I also remember the salty sting of the chalk as the blisters on my hands tear open. There were weeks when I couldn't even hold a fork to feed myself. I dutifully shaved my calloused hands, but most of the time the results were raw craters across my palms. My hands looked like I'd put them in a meat grinder, which coincidentally was our nickname for the horizontal bar. A concerned teacher noticed I was having trouble writing one day and asked what was wrong. Holding up my hands was usually all I had to do.
The memory that will stay with me forever is that of blood welling up from between my fingers as I begin the second set of giant swings in my routine. All I could think of then was 'that blood is going to make the bar slippery.'  Twenty-six years later I still remember the image of crimson lines blossoming across my knuckles. The pain fades. Skin heals. Bones knit. I still have that medal from the competition. The glory doesn't go away. Team USA all the way.

Whatcha building?

The saying goes: Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.
There's a convention here in town where people come to play games. Board games, card games, role playing... you get the idea.
A couple of years ago they asked me to be a safety, which is PC for security. I'd be with a group of other guys who would monitor the behavior of these gaming geeks and keep them from getting out of hand. I mean, really, you know how those types can get. They throw down their Magic cards, the screaming starts how Felica Day is way hotter then Karen Gillian, and then the slapfest begins. I mean come on guys, like you would ever have a shot. I would put it at 98% chance that geeks such as that would lock up in terror if Day or Gillian got within ten feet of them. That, or they'd wet themselves... but I digress.
Somehow or another I decided that what Chimearacon needed was props. Statues (sculptures?) of things every card carrying geek would recognize. My first such attempt was a cardboard and PVC creation that fell apart about 20 minutes after the con ended. So much for my first attempt.
One of the things I've always prided myself on was my friends. There to celebrate your triumphs, always present to laugh at your fumbles. This time I put a call out for help, and boy did they come through.

Using rebar, paneling and glue, my friends and I created our own Battlemech.
With our own money and a bunch of blood and sweat, my friends and I brought this to life. Not bad for a shoe string budget and basing it off of a 15 mm. miniature.
Long story short, no buyers on E-bay. It's taking up a bunch of space in my garage. With no buyers in sight, I might just have to bring it to the 2013 con. Of course I'd want to tweak it by adding lights or sounds...
'But what is the Chimearacon build team going to do for next year?' people ask.
Wait, I'm in charge of the build team?
I have people coming to me volunteering for the next build. Painters, welders, engineering students, construction workers. To quote a hero of mine: Oh my!
I don't like ordering people around (too much). I want everyone to have a say, not just follow me blindly. Okay; I am a leader, but I'm a reluctant leader. I don't get off on the power trip. If someone came up to me and said;' I've got this great idea for a build.' I would be all; 'let's hear it.' There would be one rule from me: Not another mech. I don't have the space to store it and we did it last year. The Chimearacon build team is not a one trick show. Last time the build team got together, I threw some ideas out for everyone to think about. Nothing set in stone, but we have to pick what we're going to make, and pick it right quick.

My friend owns a liquor store. That is not why he is my friend, although that would be a good reason. I wish to talk about something near and dear to my heart: Tequila.
Camarena silver is 100 % blue agave and just about the smoothest tequila I have had the pleasure of purchasing from Henry's liquor. Located next to a H.E.B. grocery store at the corner of Thousand Oaks and Perrin Beitel , Henry's liquor boasts a fine assortment of Whiskey and Scotches in addition to the Tequila I enjoy so much. For those of you who can not get to 12014 Perrin Beitel, I humbly suggest Henry's second location at 2220 South W.W. White road, both located in San Antonio, Texas.
One can experience the smokey wood as this spirit glides past your taste buds. A 1.75 liter bottle cost me a little over 31 dollars for the silver and I can't stress this enough: it is smooth and worth every penny, comparing favorably to more expensive Tequilas.

Just got back from a writing conference in Austin. All I can say is Wow! It's been suggested that I start making this a regular thing, this blogging. On the one hand, you shouldn't write about something unless you have something to say. Thus, my absence from the blogosphere lately.
While I was gone, my dog broke his leg. Let's say it all together now, AWWW.

On the one hand, I feel bad he got hurt while I was out of town. A small part of me was like, "damn him for doing this while I was away."