Critter’s Krib

And a quick video

Introducing Kyne Adam

Next battle for U.S. Marines: tattoos - CNN.com

OCEANSIDE, California (AP) — Five tattooed skulls stretch from Marine Cpl. Jeremy Slaton’s right elbow to his wrist, spelling out the word “Death.” He planned to add a tattoo spelling “Life” on his left arm, but that’s on hold because of a Marine policy taking effect Sunday.

The Marines are banning any new, extra-large tattoos below the elbow or the knee, saying such body art is harmful to the Corps’ spit-and-polish image.

Slaton and other grunts are not pleased.

“I guess I’ll get the other half later,” grumbled the 24-year-old leatherneck from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. “It’s kind of messed up.”

For many Marines, getting a tattoo is a rite of passage. They commonly get their forearms inscribed to remember fallen comrades, combat tours or loved ones, and often ask for exotic designs that incorporate the Marine motto, Semper Fi, or “Always faithful.”

At a time when enlistment is low, they go and lock themselves out again. I can understand the restriction and regulations on vulgar or offensive tattoos, and yes, I am sure what is vulgar and what is offensive can be debated, but really… we all know the difference. To put a total ban on tattoos below the elbow and knee is just a slap in the face. You can fight our wars, but you can’t have any color exposed.

I wonder how many people will not re-enlist or join because of this?

Lock your keys in your car? Chances are I can get it open for you. I have owned a large kit for about 15 years now. It has come in handy on more than a few occasions, andI have made a few bucks here and there with it. Legally, of course! Today, my mother phoned from her work to ask me if I could unlock someone’s car.

Not a problem.

I took Talon to school and took care of a few items that needed attending, and then went to look for my kit. I looked everywhere I could think of and I cannot find the damn thing. I just about tore apart the truck, thinking it was in there.

It was not.

Hopefully it turns up, but as it looks so far, I really doubt it. There is always the possibility that I put it in a “safe” place, so that I won’t forget it.. right? *sigh*

She was such a lovely kit. I shall miss her My kit was similar to the kit pictured on the right, but mine had a few more pieces.

Dude, that is all I ask. You know when you are allowed to speak and when you are not. You know that you are in class to learn. You are not in an all day recess class.

You know I love you to death, you mean the world to me, but I am seriously stressed. You do so well when you apply yourself, yet everyday you return from school having been talked to about your speaking out of turn and disturbing the class. I know where you are coming from, though, daddy heard these same things when he was your age. You have to buckle down though. There are times during the school day when you can talk. Hell, I am pretty sure when you are at recess you can run and scream! But the middle of class,man, is not one of those times.

You have been “grounded” in the past for constantly getting talked to, about talking. You have been rewarded for not getting talked to about talking. I am not sure how to even handle it anymore. I know you can do it, you have done it in the past, when you put your mind to it. You can do it when you try. I get the feeling you are not even making an effort lately.

For daddy’s sake and sanity, please stop talking when you are not supposed to.

I need to catch up, not ketchup. I am tired and it sounded witty in my head, so you will have to deal with it. It’s been ages since I have posted. To be honest, I am not entirely sure why. I have been busy and not so busy, but when I fire up the blog editor, I just draw a blank and any motivation of writing anything quickly leaves.

There is a lot of things to catch up on, but I won’t go that far back. Let’s just start fresh from today, ok? And today we traveled to the auto show at the fair grounds. There were a couple cool cars, the Ford Reflex Concept car (pictured below) was pretty damn cool. It’s a shame they didn’t have the doors open on it. They open up like lambo doors, except from the back.

They also had a few nice Ford Mustangs and a Ford GT. Honda and Acura did not make a showing at all. Jeep had a kickass concept car called the “Hurricane” I’ll take one. kthnx. The thing has TWO HEMI engines and a zero turning radius. Schwing!!

The Dodge Concept car that was in show was absolutely horrid.

There really wasn’t all that much there. I was a bit disappointed. Talon enjoyed looking at all the cars, though. And that’s good enough for me. We also ran into his pre-school teacher, Ms. Cahill ? she’s married now, but I don’t know her new surname. It was really weird, you should have seen how Talon was acting. All of a sudden, he was Mr. Shy! I haven’t seen him act shy around anyone in ages. Too cute. I wonder if he didn’t have a crush on her or something.. ?

Anyway, that is it for today. I shall work on keeping the family better informed of the goings on. I promise

Sheesh, do I even use this thing anymore? It sure as hell doesn’t seem like it. I think I have just been too stressed to jot anything down lately. I have thought about catching up on things, but that never seems to pan out. Hell, I even have a speech to text program on my computer, but I can’t even be bothered to use that lately.

Other than my stress nothing is much different. Phoenix is steadily gaining weight and doing great. Talon is doing alright. Still struggling with his talking in class, but his reading and spelling has greatly improved over the last few weeks.

That’s about all I can squeeze out at the moment. *shrug* I’ll leave you with a pic of the boys to keep you happy. eh?