The Tucker Stories

I found this clip over on Wimp and I’ve gotta say that this is what my life is all about:  I have lived for my kids.  The Number 1 highlight of my life was when Kelly said she’d marry me.  Number 2 is when all of my kids were blessed with their fingers and toes and everything else in the right spot.  With that, my kids have become Eagle / Gold Award Scouts, very active in school sports, participated in other school activities, had good grades and the opportunity for a college education.  Even so, Patrick Henry Hughes has said that though he doesn’t have eyes and can’t walk, so what?  “God has given me the gift of music!”  For me, I see the dedication his family, especially his father, has given to support Patrick to find his way in the world and it warms my heart to see that Kelly and I aren’t the only ones living for our family.

Any man can be a father, however, there’s a lot of work required to be Dad.

Cheers!!

Jon is the big 23 now and half-way to being an OLD MAN!  Happy Birthday, Jon!

Cheers!!

And, we’re d-u-n!!  The Great Flooring Project of 2011 is complete and the Snaps are posted; AAR to be posted later!  Just to give a sense of the transformation, here’s a before and after of the hallway.  Cheers!!

I was born in 1967 and today I turn 44.  My mom was born in 1944 and is 67 this year.  Hmmm!!

Cheers!!

You don’t stop playing because you got old.  You got old BECAUSE you stopped playing!!  Cheers!!

If you believe the Mainstream Media, this sounds cheesy.  I don’t live my life for them but for myself.  Joke ‘em.  I do believe in the promise I made 20 plus years ago and hope that I’ll be blessed like these couples have, here and here, for the privilege of spending that much time with my best friend.

Cheers!!

Jon posted this link and, per usual, it was simultaneously enlightening and frightening.  Only in the US can it be this screwed up and no end in sight.

No “Cheers!!” on this one…

Yesterday, I bought an APC UPS BX1300G to protect Kelly’s new TV as I felt that it was expensive enough to warrant the protection.  Well, about an hour and a half ago, we took a series of power outages and have been without power for the last hour.  Since then, we’ve been on the Intarwebz using the UPS to keep the network up and running.  Yeah!!  Gotta have those Intartubz.  So, I’ve taken the time to upload a bunch of snaps on the Gallery that I’ve been meaning to get ’round tuit.  The first set is my surprise gift to Glenn-o, a subscription to our favorite PC Flight Sim magazine, Computer Pilot.  The second set are of our friend Kevin Archer, with his daughter Madelynn and son Patrick, who took his kids and Miss Niss over to Paraclete for some fun.  They got videos and I’ll try linking those in later.  Now, back to my new book!!

Cheers!!

Yup, as soon as it was announced, I bought the Bentley Publishers‘ MINI Cooper Service Manual and it was delivered yesterday!!  I was so excited to read this that I didn’t take time to post as I was reading all the letters off the page!!  This massive tome is the only non-BMW published source of MINI knowledge, as neither Chilton’s nor Haynes has anything for the MINI.  Though it doesn’t cost as much as the BMW Service Manual, it wasn’t cheap but is excellent value for the price as this is a Service Manual vice Repair Manual.  The difference is that a repair manual takes you through typical, common automotive repairs, whereas a Service Manual pretty much shows you how to completely disassemble a car.  This lists all of the torque values as well as the special tools required for those finicky jobs, like compressing the pistons into the calipers for changing the brakes.  So, now I need to decide whether it is more cost effective for me to get the MINI Extended Maintenance Plan or do all of it myself.  Decisions, decisions.

Cheers!!

And if you do, you’ll end up s-Matt-ed down and on the RidicuList.  Snap!!  Holy dictionary, Matt-man!!  “…a whole lot more Good Will Hunting than it is Team America.”  Classic.

Cheers!!