A Georgia Treasure

I'd have to say that it has been a fun filled action packed weekend. It's not quite done but I wanted to post something before I left the house again. The highlight, or at least something totally new for me this weekend was the hiking trip a bunch of us took to Amicalola Falls.

Nestled just away just an hour from Atlanta is a majestic state park filled with trees, wild life, streams and a couple of waterfalls. I think we had a total of about 12 people there. A couple of my buds along with some peeps I haven't met before. We got up there around 11 and got our hike on for a few hours. The hike to the top of the falls is pretty gnarly. It's a huge set of stairs that they built so people could hike up. It took about 40 minutes or so to get up and then we chilled up there for a while before we took the long route back down.

When we got back down we had a little quiet reflection time and prayer session. It was a great way to say thanks to the man upstairs for this great place He has blessed us with.

All in all a great day with a bunch of cool folks....

Here's some pics with even more right here

Here's the treasure they call Amicalola

425 Steps to the Summit....After a 175 to base camp....Oxygen please

Before we scaled the mighty falls we had to take the advice and get our stretch on....

The View from the Top...

The Park Ranger let me hold her owl, his name was Owl "Capone"....

I'm ready to get my cook on.....

I'm thinkin' someone was telling me that I need to go fishing because when I got home tonight I had a brand new Cajun Fryer by R&V Works. Check out the website here.....

Here's a brief statement from their website as to why the Cajun Fryer is far better than conventional fryers....

"The success of the Cajun Fryer is due to the design of the Burner/Flue. The Burner is positioned 6" above the bottom of the oil reservoir and is at a 45 degree angle. This prevents the food batter from collecting on the burner and allows it to fall to the bottom. Since heat rises, the bottom never gets hot enough to burn or scorch the batter. This keeps the oil clean, cooking after cooking."

Here's a pic of the beast. Hopefully we will put this thing to good use in the very near future.

My Two Cent Dilema

For the first time in my life I buy a book of stamps opposed to just buying singles when I need them and then the postmaster does this to me.....

I wonder if these will be worth something one day....

Piedmont Photo Field Trip

This past Sunday I had a lunch with a girl that is taking photo classes at The Showcase in Atlanta. Apparently she needed a few photos for her Monday night class so we decided a photo field trip was needed. I hadn't used the big camera in awhile so it was cool walking around Piedmont Park for the day just snappin' photos and hangin' out. Here's a few for your viewing pleasure....

Can't hate a dude that enjoys pink flowers



The sun wanted to make sure that drivers knew there was a stop sign ahead

The Conservatory in Botanical Gardens

Little Fountain Action....

The abandoned chapel is undergoing renovations and local artists are doing their part

The little statue dude kickin it in a garden....

I hate bugs...Seriously!!!! So this scared me.

Culture Warrior

So my second book review of my four recent book purchases is a book by Bill O'Reilly called Culture Warrior. I'm sure most of you know who Bill O'Reilly is and it's probably a love or hate relationship. I personally like his talk show on Fox News, not so much because of the conservative stance, but because of his intelligent insight on things going on.

I would say that my political ideologies tend to skew to the right (both social as well as fiscal) but I'm not some neo-conservative right winger. Needless to say, I really did like this book and would recommend it. The premise of the book is Bill talking about the movement of secular-progressivism vs. traditionalism in the US. He cites several examples in the book as well as drops a whole bunch of names that are on board with the SP movement. Since I've only read one side, I can't really make comments about these other people's stances on things. I think one of the biggest problems that we face is not so much the ideologies of people but the arguing and smearing that goes on. People take politics so seriously and personal that it's tough to have an intelligent conversation about it without people getting all jacked up. If you "Google" blog search Bill O'Reilly, you get about 9million hits and I would say that 95% of them are people bashing. Likewise, when you blog search some of the people that Bill isn't too fond of (George Soros, ACLU, etc.), it's the same thing. Let's get over it people. Opposed to getting all bent out of shape and sharing your feelings online or in print, do something about it in a peaceful and effective manner. Rants and raves in my book just don't get things done.

Anyways, that's number 2. I'm debating what book is next. I have a relationship type book and I have a Kurt Vonnegut book so I don't know which way I'll go.

Wedding Numero Dos....

This past weekend we celebrated yet another friend diving into the harminious state of marriage. Big Austin tied the knot with Tamara. Fortunately my flight into Texas worked out well this time and Austin was able to pick both Carson and I up. After getting our tuxes and grabbing a bite to eat we headed to the rehearsal and dinner. Good times were had by all. Mr. Brooks gave an awesome toast to Austin and Tamara. Anybody that didn't shed a tear during that obviously doesn't have a heart. After that it was on....Hotel Style...

I'm thinkin' the folks at Springhill Suites weren't liking us too much. We finally got the boot from the room and the pool area so we resorted to Texas style tailgate in the parking lot. It was a beautiful thing. The highlight was the night was a joke they played on me that was intended for Trey's chick but got me hook, line and sinker. I owe you one guys......So anyways, the night finally ended around 3:30 - 4ish....

Now, what was supposed to be an 8am tee time turned into a 10am tee time for myself and Carson. Apparently the front desk forgot to call us and we slept in a tad. It was a good thing though because I only needed nine holes to put a spankin' down....Trey's chocolate shorts were an inspiration to all and Carson tossing cookies in the parking lot was classic.

The chapel/reception hall they chose was absolutely simple and awesome. Everything went smoothly and everyone had a great time. Everyone threw down on the dance floor including John who for some reason thought he was jungle kitty crawlin' around. All in all, a freakin' blast.

Rumor has it, another bachelor party is scheduled for Broken Bow in July....Bring it....It's a good thing because I need some rest until then....

Here's a few pics with a bunch more right here....

Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more from Austin that the photographer took. I'm sure there were a few good ones from the evening....

The Bride and Groom - Ken and Barbie

Tailgate style with the boys
PGA Tour Members

Why my job doesn't suck....

Regardless of how much you like your job, there are times when you just want to bounce out and try something else. I think it's a natural feeling that most people get if they dig their job. I am one of those people. We've been extremely busy at the office here lately and I've been kind of blah about things. Well, this week I got a huge re-charge in my batteries and remembered why I like my job, my company and the industry I work in.

Every year, we invite our boat builders we do business with to show them new programs, pricing and product. The last couple years, it has been more about programs and pricing opposed to product. The product is the fun part in my industry though. This year was a much different story though. We held our meeting in Chattanooga, TN and at our test center in Bridgeport, AL. The whole meeting, cocktail party, jibber jabber stuff was cool but the fun started yesterday as we headed to the test center to run product on the Tennessee River. What a blast!!!! I hadn't been on the water for a while so this was a much needed adventure.

We had 14 boats in the water ranging from a 14ft. Aluminum Boat to a 36' Contender Offshore boats with triple F350's (More on this later). I think I was able to get on 9 of the 14 boats. And to make things even better it was about 85 degrees outside. I love it....

A few of the fleet resting before more testing...

This is the 360 Grady White Express with twin F350s. Nice boat. Wait, I take that back...Extremely nice boat. Those are some Japanese staff that were getting their first taste of the action of this beast.

This is the Contender 36 I mentioned before. Imagine a 36 foot thing with 1050 HP strapped to the back. Bad to the bone is all I have to say. 70 mph!!!!! And I got paid yesterday for driving this thing....

Here are the three beasts that power this big boy...Not two "O's" but three "O's" in Gooose boys...
And this is the free hairstyling you get when you run boats all day....That's called boat head. Sweet huh??