What does Kadoogies mean?

This is a family word used by my mom. She said it was the crunchy droppings left in the skillet after frying chicken or pork chops. She also said it could be anything good!

Recently I spoke to someone who said it means presents in some dutch dialect called "drents"

presents = cadeau = kadoogies :)

No.... I wasn't scared!

I only screamed for 90% of the free fall.

You feel the wind blowing past you, but you don't realize how much it distorts your face.

September 6, 2010

I didn't start out the day knowing that I was going to do this. Ray and I stopped by the airport to pick up some equipment from Kaiser for our next fireworks shoot. He thanked me for doing some favors and said he would like to repay me by letting me skydive.

My mouth said "Hell Yea!" before my brain knew what was happening.

I called Tia to tell her what I was about to do. While I was talking to her, I realized I was shaking. She said she could hear it in my voice. It is probably important to know that I am terrified of heights.

I watched a video and signed some paperwork. The paperwork re-enforced my fear. But I signed it anyway. Then I had to wait until my turn. As time went on, I kind of relaxed. Finally, I was suited up and met the guy who was going to video tape my jump.

My tandem man was Gila. I heard he was crazy. He was a confident, take-charge kind of guy. He strapped on my harness, explained what was going to happen and what to do. Before I knew it we were on our way to the plane. I looked at Ray and thought about crying. I didn't. I just kept walking like a robot.

I climbed into the plane and we took off immediately. I always get a rush of fear when I fly. I told this to Gila. It seemed like the more I told him I was scared, the more he enjoyed it. I decided to ask him if we had a reserve parachute and did I need to know how to pull it if he passed out. He simply replied, "I don't pass out". I said, "You never know, what if my head hits yours and you pass out". He said, "It won't happen". I couldn't believe it. We were getting ready to jump and I don't even know if there is a reserve parachute. He laughed and said, "Yes, there is a reserve". He then explained how it would deploy on it's own, even if we just fell out of the plane. No one had to do anything.

Someone slid open the door on the plane. There was a loud sound of wind rushing by, and my hair started to fly around. I got another rush of fear. I wiped my face with both hands and said, "OH, MY, GOD"! All these thoughts ran through my head. I can't believe I am doing this. Can I change my mind? Next thing I know, a video guy climbed out of the plane and was hanging on outside the door. The first jumpers moved to the door and out they went. We scooted forward on the bench. Gila said, "Stand up". I stood up. I was amazed that we weren't sucked out of the plane. I started to grab the rail overhead. I think he stopped me. I didn't even have a chance to say no. Next thing I know, I felt a push. OMG! we are out of the plane. I didn't jump. We are just out of the plane.

Needless to say I screamed. We were diving, then we rolled over and back down again. It didn't really feel like I'm falling. It wasn't the same rush I get when I go down a roller coaster. It was more of a floating feeling. I could see the ground. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, but I couldn't stop screaming.

I don't know how fast you actually fall, but I guess you are falling a lot faster than you think. The sound of the wind rushing by you is so loud. My goggles were smashed against my eyes. Gila told me to let go of the harness and spread my arms out. I couldn't even answer, (still screaming) all I could do is shake my head no. Then he grabbed my hands and put them out. I immediately grabbed back hold of the harness. Oh, maybe I need my arms out here for a good reason, maybe to keep us from falling too fast. I let go of the harness and put my arms out.

I started to realize I need to stop screaming and close my mouth. The wind dried my throat out clear down to my lungs. I couldn't even swallow. I finally started to calm down some. We are falling and screaming isn't doing anything. I should just enjoy it.

There were small jerks as the parachute deployed. It didn't happen in one big jerk like you would think. After the parachute opened, everything became strangely quiet. The rush of wind in your ears seemed to stop. My ears popped as the pressure seemed to decrease. All you could hear was the fluttering of the parachute in the wind. I hung there looking around. We are still so high. Giant rolls of hay looked like little dots. I couldn't believe how far I could see.

Now that everything was calm, Gila said, "Let's get comfortable". He proceeded to tell me that he was going to loosen the harness and I would hear some popping noises. Is he crazy? I don't need to be comfortable; but, like a robot, I did what he said. I put my feet on his and got into a sitting position while he loosened the harness and slid it down my legs. He told me to relax and sit and enjoy the ride. I told him I liked being tight and safe better than lose and comfortable. He just laughed.

I tried to visualize being a bird as we quietly floated down to earth. We slowly circled around and then Gila said we are going to do some maneuvers. We zigzagged around a couple times. It was incredible. Not like any ride I have ever been on. It was kind of like swinging from the clouds.

I wasn't at all scared as we approached the ground. Gila had already proven he was fully in control. I raised my legs as we glided in. I thought we would land on our bottoms. That is how everyone else was landing. At the last minute, he said to put my feet down and we landed on our feet. I started to trip since we were so close together, but he kept me upright.

That was the most incredible thing I have ever done. I will definitely do that again some day and when I do. I am going to ask for Gila.

Here is the link if you want to try it. Start Skydiving!

Needless to say, if you are going to do this you should get the video with pictures. My video is awesome. Everyone who watches it falls out with laughter. The pictures are excellent. I got 92 pictures of my jump. As you can see, the pictures are priceless!

Tia is auditioning for Glee. She needs your help. Follow the link and give her a gold star. http://www.myspace.com/gleeauditions?link=31828196

Giant Jesus Burns to the Ground

June 15, 2010

The 62-foot "King of Kings" statue visible from I-75 burned to the ground this morning. Apparently "Giant Jesus" was struck by lightning Monday night. Calls to the Monroe and Warren County emergency services started around 11:15 p.m. Witnesses said the right hand was on fire first. It is believed that lightning struck that hand and started the fire.

Fire fighters were dispatched to the scene at 11:16 p.m. and arrived at 11:22. Jesus was fully engulfed in fire when they arrived. It took about an hour to put out the blaze. The adjacent amphitheater building also caught fire but was extinguished.

Jesus was constructed of a steel frame covered with styrofoam, fiberglass mat and resin.

A few chunks of styrofoam and some burned fiberglass mat was all that was left.

This is one of the photos I took of Jesus during a storm. I was lucky enough to capture a small rainbow in the corner of the picture.

Other names that the King of Kings statue was known by:

Touchdown Jesus

Big Butter Jesus This name came from Heywood Banks

Giant Jesus

This is one of my favorite pictures of Ray and Cupcake.

Here is a picture of me in Florida for Biketoberfest. This guy had 5 birds with him. I thought it was cool the way the one bird would lay on his head. I asked him to set the bird on my head. He immediately started loading me up with birds. I guess I wasn't standing straight enough at first, because the bird on my head kept sliding off. I tried to keep my head up, but the bird still slid off. I think the bird was nervous by then.

As you can see, other people found this interesting also and started taking pictures of me with the birds. You know Floyd would have been extremely jealous if he had of seen this. He doesn't even like Ray to get near me.

After talking to the guy, I found out his name is Hector. He is known as the "Birdman of Orlando". He rescues and trains birds. You can visit his web site here. He never asked me for any money, but I gave him some anyway. I know how expensive taking care of these birds can be.

		Here is picture of me and Floyd. As you can see from the picture, Floyd is a lot bigger than Hector's birds. I wasn't afraid of Hector's birds since I am used to Floyd climbing all over me. Floyd is a really good bird. He usually just sits on my shoulder. He always wants to get to the highest spot. By the way.... Floyd is OK with Cupcake, but he hates Jade. Jade is too energetic and makes him nervous. When Jade was a puppy, she was always getting into the bottom of Floyd's cage trying to eat the droppings. Floyd doesn't like him down there and always screams (very, very loudly) "Get out of there, get out of there, I said get out!" Needless to say, he learned that from me. You can see more pictures of Floyd and my other pets by visiting my photos page.

Favorite Quotes:

Failure is the tuition you pay for success.

A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

If you love your job, you will never work another day in your life.

He who strikes the first blow admits he's lost the argument.

If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it.

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

Jade must be chiseled before it can be considered a gem.

I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.