The Longest Road

Details will be posted later. Hurrying to get someplace else right now.

In a nutshell, KC flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Arrived at Washington Reagan a little after 1 a.m. and to the hotel (5 miles or so away) about 5 a.m.

Warm Hearts And Injury Free

Day of Caring was a success. Not a single visit to the ER for us. No one, including me, got hurt. My co-workers arrived on time, motivated and positive, in good spirits, and ready to work hard for Foundation Workshop. It was awesome. We cleared weeds, shrub and other trash, cleaned and organized the warehouse and work areas, cleaned employee lockers and work area fans, stained picnic tables, painted a lunch room, and all sorts of other little projects.

We were lucky to have Ally Francis from KCTV5 (our local CBS station) join us. She covers morning traffic every day. She was a hard worker, very personable and nice, and a hard worker. I think she had a positive volunteering experience and enjoyed getting to know folks from my company.

Pic above ... I painted the trim in the lunch room. More later.

Attacked And Volunteering

Volunteered to step outside to put some mail in the drop box and I got attacked. A wasp stung me on my shoulder. Through my shirt and undershirt! I couldn't believe it. We found that there is a small nest actually inside the mail box. Although I have a million allergies, bee and wasp stings are not two of them. I have a little welp/sore. But overall all is OK.

This weekend is Kansas City's Day of Caring. Now in it's 12th year, the Day of Caring is organized in KC by the United Way and CFC. It is believed to be our area's largest, one-day volunteer effort. This will be my ninth Day of Caring.

This year's project for my company is with an agency in Grandview. It's actually not too far from Wayside Waifs. I anticipate it being a fantastic and positive volunteer event. Also am hopeful I am not attacked by a ladder or scaffolding such as the case last year.

Just Remembered

Even the coolest of cats wouldn't be around the neighborhood without a dad. I was so thrilled about the card celebrity (albeit 15 minutes probably) that I forgot to extend some wishes to all the pops out there. None of us would be here without you!

My father passed away a year ago April. That was BB (before blog). I did provide some wishes to a few influential others. Also received a call from Dawn who always gives me a shout out on Dad's Day, and received a great "for my Uncle on Father's Day" card from O & M. Oh, and today is their dad's, The Artist, birthday. I'm sure it was a fun day in their home.

No Go And Confessions

The meeting in DC is being rescheduled. It won't be July 10. That means there's currently no "work excuse" to get out of the jury duty. I can barely contain the excitement.

Discovered yesterday that Charlie and Stanley are featured on two Father's Day Hallmark cards. These two belong to MegMacB. Talk about excitement ... she was a mad woman when she first learned they were on a card. I spent the afternoon going to every Hallmark and Walgreen in the northland. She was tackling places out south. Resulted in only four of the cards, though. None of Charlie and Stanley. Just the one of Charlie. Can you believe that almost every shop was totally sold out of "from the pets" Father's Day cards?

As for background, MMB actually had Charlie and George first. I traveled to Joplin, Missouri with her to pick up these two monsters. Stanley came along later. However, after some mounting rivalry (hehe), Charlie packed his bags and went to live with his Grandma.

Before all that, though, when they were just peanuts, a Hallmark photographer (Hallmark is headquartered in Kansas City) came out to MMB's home and snapped tons of pics of The Boyz. Two years later, there they are! The front of Charlie's card has his pic and says "I have a confession to make," while the inside says "I've seen you naked. Happy Father's Day, Anyway. From the dog." He's also pictured on the back, saying "more than once too."

Isn't that hysterical? This writer must have had this Cowboy in mind when writing this card.

Civic Duty

Received a "Summons for Jury Service" today. It's always something, isn't it? This is a first-time experience for me. Never before have I been called to serve on a jury. Juror No. 0384 to be exact. I'm supposed to report to the jury assembly room in the justice center on July 10 at 8:30 a.m. Of course, I have a work conflict and should be in D.C. on that day. We'll see what happens.

Ernesto Miranda

To celebrate the anniversary of our Miranda Rights, I am going to make every attempt to stay silent today.

The matter started on March 13, 1963 when Mr. Miranda stole $8 in Phoenix, Arizona (a place I have visited). June 13, 1966 is when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision.

Although not being much of a legal expert, my little monster certainly seemed to fully understand Miranda Rights. I'd come home and find cat hair in places it shouldn't be, dirt from plants somehow on the floor, or maybe a cat toy stuck under the sofa. "How did that get there?" her expression would say. Or if I walked away from a bowl of ice cream and returned to find what appeared to be a tongue mark. "Why are you looking at me?" I'm sure she was thinking as she sat there looking all innocent.

She never once incriminated herself. The only time she ever obviously provided evidence of guilt was in expressing how excited she was when I would arrive home. Was I glad she "incriminated" herself in this way? Guilty as charged.
--------------------------------------
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense."

FuzzyFotosKC

How about a photo contest featuring Kansas Citians with their fuzzy companions? That's the idea of the Fuzzy Foto contest. It is $5 for each vote cast, with proceeds benefiting the No More Homeless Pets KC project and the Kansas City Free Health Clinic. Voting ends June 19.

The majority of the people are with dogs, but there are a couple of awesome pics with cats. One couple's pic is with their slippery companion. Even if you don't vote, it's fun to check out the pics. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image and to learn details about the creatures in the pic. I'd guess most of the folks are some of KC's "high society" types. Thus, I don't know any of them. Recognize the weatherman, though.

The winner will be announced June 22 at a Yappy Hour. I'll be sure to let you know who wins.

Niewald And Guggenheim

The Artist and my friend BET received undergrad degrees from the Kansas City Art Institute. The two went on to receive MFAs from Boston University and University of Miami, respectively. The Artist's in sculpture, BET's in ceramics.

The Artist's BFA is in painting, though. At KCAI, he studied under Wilbur Niewald. I got to meet Wilbur while The Artist was a student. Wilbur is a simple, very humble man. But his landscapes, portraits and landscapes are amazing. I predict there will be a day when he is known in Kansas City much like the area celebrates Thomas Hart Benton. I could be wrong, but the unknown is one of the things that makes art and artists exciting.

Over the last several years, I've had the opportunity to attend many of Wilbur's shows, have shared meals with him, and have stopped to see him at work. I still don't own one of his pieces (they're a little out of my price range currently, but The Artist and The Wife do), but I dream of owning a painting one day. Even just a little one.

In April, it was announced that Wilbur was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. It is considered a very prestigious fellowship for artists. For the next few months, he will be based in Santa Fe (where my sister lives). Here's a link to a story on KCUR.org (KC's NPR station). No registration required. The story includes slides and an audio narrative.

If you don't already know of Wilbur Niewald, someday you might be able to say you heard it here first!

National Champs!

After four rounds of golf at the Sunriver Golf Course in Oregon, my Cowboys (see the final scores) topped all other schools with a 9-under for the tournament. Florida was next on the leader board with a 6-under. OSU golfer Jonathan Moore was the tournament's top golfer.

I couldn't believe it. After falling to seventh after Day 2, I really didn't think they had much of a chance. However, the team pulled back into the top three on Day 3. On the final day, the Pokes jumped into the top spot after about the eighth hole and never let go. Here's a link to a video on newsok.com of an interview with the team after the win. We won the national title in 1983 and 1987 when I was in school. I even attended once. This is the Cowboys 1oth national golf title, with the last victory in 2000.

I know this is not exciting to anyone else but me. I'm not even a golf fan. But I am a collegiate sports nut, regardless of the sport. It is such an entirely different atmosphere when it's your school. Especially when you absolutely love your school. Oh, and our women's golf team this year placed 18th in the NCAAs. Duke won its second straight title.

Memorials And Meetings

Attached is a little bonus treat I received in the ol' inbox tonight. MegMacB is in DC for work stuff on Friday. But she took my advice and headed out on a flight Thursday morning in order to discover all DC has to offer.

Convinced her to go on a "See the monuments at night" tour guided by All About Town. The pic is from the World War II Memorial.

She reports that she had a wonderful time on the tour. Glad she enjoyed. After meetings on Friday, she'll go back to exploring the U.S. Capital.