I've been sick for the past several days, with the congestion, sore throat, coughing and headache. I thought I'd ride it out, but I missed two days work and wasn't feeling any better. This afternoon I finally decided to go to the clinic, where I was diagnosed — to no big surprise — with a sinus infection. Yea, more pills to take!

The answer, apparently, is seven. There's one behind the truck (you can just make out his feet by the rear tire) and another in the cab. Tax dollars at work. I don't think this is the kind of "putting people to work" Obama had in mind.

The missus took our oldest to work with her this morning, so that left me to entertain the younger. I chose to take him to the Y because, basically, it's already paid for.

One of my favorite sites that I visit regularly is failblog.org. Most photos are facepalms, but sometimes a photo is such awesomeness, it's christened a win. This is one of the first, if not only, times I've actually stopped to snap a picture of something that catches my eye. I saw this today and, well, how could you not want to eat here? Total win.

Once again we procrastinated regarding our jack-o-lantern, but not content to procrastinate as in Halloweens past, we waited until Halloween day to carve that gourd. Nothing gets you in the spirit of Halloween like driving around town hoping to God to find a store or produce stand that still has pumpkins in stock. Nada. Well, mostly. There was one stand that still had a few. By the way, all the carving kits were sold out too. I had to use a dull steak knife. Does it show?

I've finally gotten the site to the point where I can add and edit posts without having to do so directly in the database. What a pain that is. And now that I have the ability, maybe I'll finally get around to writing about our trip to Nashville. But not today. Today is all about White Steamer.

I feel even more behind than usual. Not so much because I haven't posted anything for a couple weeks but because I've actually had things to post and never got around to it. To make up for lost time, I'll start with something a little older: our hiking adventure.

Okay, we don't really live in the ghetto, per se, but it's about as close as one gets in this part of the state. Having said that, one of the few perks is the sheer entertainment value our less-than-educated denizens provide. Living on the corner next to a major thoroughfare means we're privy to a high degree of police activity. The accompanying picture is the best of series of photos I took of a car pulled over Friday night, it's occupants patted down, but eventually sent on their way.

Okay, this didn't turn out like I thought it would. Frankly, the picture is crap, and it's the best one I could get. Turns out my new camera phone is less than stellar when it comes to close-ups. So what looks like a mosquito bite is actually a marinara burn.

I've written before about how much my brother and I enjoy a good Chinese buffet (good being relative, of course).  Sometimes we take the kids, and sometimes the eldest tries a little something, um, less-than-American, while the other sticks to lemon wedges and soft-serve ice cream.  Meanwhile, the missus wouldn't be caught dead at a Chinese buffet, which is fine, but in the past until my brother moved to town it always meant the only time I'd get Chinese is if going with co-workers at lunch.  Myself excluded, the family has never been big on Far East cuisine. So it was with anticipation but some trepidation that the missus (yes, not I, but the missus) decided we were taking the eldest to a Japanese restaurant for his birthday.