.: bistan.net :.

Tristan at Camden Yards in Baltimore

Without getting mushy and all, it was five years ago today that I became a parent.  Happy Birthday Tristan!

Guess what he is getting?  A digital camera just like me: Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Waterproof Digital Camera Blue  I’ll have more birthday details later after Saturday’s big party.

Some students here at the law school who were previously in the military are hosting a Veteran’s Day ceremony this afternoon.  I guess since Mercer doesn’t care enough about veterans to give us the day off, its good that the students have stepped up.

The AV guy is out this morning so I’m charged with getting the podium sound working.  I walked down a few minutes ago to scope out the setup when I noticed that the guy in charge was already setting up the refreshments table.  Right in the middle is one of those huge five gallon containers of cheese balls.  Yes, the kind that the day care gives my two year old after she takes a good nap.  The kind that never taste quite right.

Usually Mercer takes better care of their students and alumni (especially those who have served).  The speaker is actually a prominent member of the judiciary, which makes it even more odd that we are serving cheese balls.  I know that a lot of the liberals here consider the commander-in-chief to be a cheese ball, but isn’t this taking it a little far?

So for all of you out there who have made sacrifices and served this nation, thanks — and have some cheese balls!

I am jonesin for some LOST.  I have never been through withdrawal from a television show like I’ve been lately for LOST.  Watching the old episodes Monday nights on Sci-Fi just isn’t cutting it.  Anyway, in a tribute to LOST, I’m going to start posting Flashbacks on my blog.  Some day, I’ll give Charlie Pace a shout by posting my Greatest Hits on my blog.  Maybe even one day I’ll do a flash-forward.

Here is my first flashback:

FIVE YEARS AGO: FALL 2003

Five years ago, Kimberlie and I were wrapping up our first year of marriage.  She also had a few more days before Tristan was due to arrive.  Looking back, I have no idea how we ever made it.  I was the only one working and I was only making half of what I make now.  I was the webmaster at Macon State and I liked the job, but the pay absolutely sucked.  We also still had the normal newlywed challenges: adapting to living with someone other than your parents (and how much control to allow your parents to have in your marriage), owning and taking care of a new home, and paying bills that you never had before.

TEN YEARS AGO: FALL 1998

Ten years ago I was working at Publix making $8.25 an hour, which at that time was GOOD money for a 19 year old.  That fall, I started taking classes at Macon State.  I decided to transfer to Macon State because I had no idea what I wanted to become in life.  The previous year, I was at GC&SU in Milledgeville, but it didn’t make sense because as an undecided major, I could take the exact same courses in Macon.

Who knew that five years later I would be married with a kid.  I don’t think I even had any serious dating prospects back then.

For those of you who didn’t know me back then: See, I told you I’ve gained 40 pounds since I got married.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: FALL 1993

Fifteen years ago I was a freshman at Central High School.  High school was much better than middle school, but thats not exactly saying much.  It was tough, because we moved to the north side of Macon that year and I didn’t know anyone when I started at Central.  I do remember getting braces that Fall.  Before that, I had the most embarrassing teeth.

TWENTY YEARS AGO: FALL 1988

Twenty years ago I was a fourth grade student at Heard Elementary School.  Things were tough back then because I was one of two kids living in a single parent household.  At the time, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t have the Nike Airs and other name brand stuff.  I certainly understand now.  I do remember going on my first overnight field trip that fall to Rock Eagle.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO: FALL 1983

In Fall 1983, I was four years old.  That’s the same age my son is today.  It’s hard to remember way back then.  My parents were actually still married (but not for much longer) and all of my grandparents were still living.  I do remember that I was Raggedy-Andy for Halloween (my sister was Raggedy-Ann).

FLASH-FORWARD?

I wonder where I’ll be 5, 10, 15, 20, or even 25 years from now.  Perhaps a better question should be IF I will be.  I could be long gone by then.  What sort of technology will we have by then?  Will 2008 be as defining of a year as the media thinks it is?  Will this year’s election and economic turmoil really have a profound impact?

OK, back to my LOST reruns on Sci-Fi!

First, whether you are a democrat or republican, you have to admit that this was not a “fair” election.  Legally, it may have been fair.  But in reality it was not. 

• Obama had the mainstream media by their collar from day one beginning with Oprah Winfrey pleading with him to run for president during an interview about his book. (That’s as far as I’ll take my Oprah bashing in this post.  After all, she did SERIOUSLY hook me and Kimberlie up last year during one of the biggest events on national television.)  The media preference was obvious much later as Sarah Palin interviews highlighted her errors and edited out her thoughtful answers.
• Obama supporters (if not Obama himself) managed to turn the election into a civil rights issue.  The race card was promptly played against pretty much anyone who criticized Obama.  Voter registration drives also focused on minority populations — knowing that people vote skin color in places like Macon, Georgia.
• The two party conventions weren’t even in the same league, thanks to a potentially destructive weather scenario that nearly cancelled the Republican National Convention.  Even though the convention eventually began, scores of speakers were never heard.
• Obama also duped McCain with the whole public financing thing, allowing him to surpass previous campaign donation precedents.

Regardless of how I feel about the fairness of the election, I do plan to give Obama a fair shot.  I did go back and forth between Obama and McCain during the last several months so I’m certainly not bitter about the results.  I think in spite of the media bias, Obama will be under a microscope during his presidency.  Anytime you are the “first” of anything, people watch you more closely.  This happened in Macon with C. Jack Ellis, the city’s first mayor.

I hope that the election of a (half) black president will move us along as far as racial tensions are concerned.  Racism is rampant here in Macon and non-racists like me are sick of it.  Even if Obama turns out to be the worst president in history, if he can move America forward where race is concerned, than it will probably be worth it.

I also think the Obama will have better luck getting things through Congress than his opponent would have.  Many democrats were elected at all levels of government, no doubt riding Obama’s coat tails.  With that much support, he should have a nice honeymoon period as president.  At least until he screws up.

I went to macon.com this afternoon to check the latest on the senate race.  Instead here is what I found:

Check out the top four stories:

• Macon man carjacked at gunpoint while using ATM
• Two teens charged in weekend shooting death to be tried as adults . . .
• Macon man shot in leg during robbery
• Employee robbed while leaving Macon gas station

Tomorrow is Election Day and thankfully it will be over.  No more negative commercials, robocalls, or biased campaign reports.  Just a bunch of lame ducks.  Personally, I’ve already voted and could pretty much care less.  I don’t think I have much to lose under either presidential candidate.  I also think our world will be fine with either representative and either senator in office.  I’ll be in Atlanta all day tomorrow for a Dell thing anyway.

If you haven’t already voted, go ahead and do it.  I don’t live in a state where it makes much difference and your one vote probably won’t make much difference either.  But if it does make you feel like you have some sort of control on your destiny, then by all means do it.

I won’t make any predictions, because like my life, this election has be predictably unpredictable.  I’m sure I’ll be back Wednesday with lots of commentary.  Let’s just hope we don’t have a repeat of Florida in 2000.

This morning, I ran the Jay’s Hope 10K.  This is probably my favorite race out of the 10 or so that I’ve run so far.  The Jay’s Hope organization offers assistance to children with cancer.  This organization is especially important to my family because:

• one of the therapists that Kimberlie works with was Jay’s godfather
• one of my co-workers has a little boy with a similar brain tumor as Jay had
• the little boy mentioned above is a friend of Tristan
• Tristan is about the same age that Jay was when he died

The course is also great — a run from Central City Park all the way along the River Walk, which is one of the coolest things about Macon.  This morning there was a 5K and a 10K.  I opted for the longer race.

I crossed the finish line at 57:11.  That’s more than 10 1/2 minutes faster than my previous 10K, which was just 2 months ago.  It wasn’t a pleasant run.  It was absolutely FRIGID at the beginning.  I did find some nice atheletes who helped me pace myself.

For the first time in my life, I placed!  I got 3rd place for my age group (25- 29).  Instead of a trophy, I got a nice ornament hand made by a child who is dying of cancer, which of course I’ll cherish forever.  What an awesome race!

We had a blast Trick or Treating last night.  After convincing Mackenzie (for 45 minutes) that it was indeed alright to wear her “Belle” dress out of the house, we started on Main Street in Byron, Georgia.  Byron apparently is THE place to go Trick or Treating.  There were hundreds of businesses giving out candy from banks and gyms to Dennys and the Waffle House – probably every business in town.  The kids got more candy in one hour than they have gotten in all of the other years combined.  There were at least 10,000 people there.

We then left and came back to our neighborhood to Trick or Treat with our neighbor friends.  Big mistake!  There were only about 10 houses in the whole neighborhood participating.  Next year, we will hit up some church Trunk or Treats after leaving Byron.

I hope you had a nice Halloween too.  Now Daddy is going to eat the kid’s chocolate!