Keeping with the theme...

Well, to keep with yesterday afternoon's impulse blog I decided to go back in time (about a month or so ago) and pull another ridiculing email I sent Tom. It's about Tom and Stephanie (I'd post a picture of them, but can't get the upload thing to work). A pathetic, greatly affectionate, happy couple who still oogle over each other because they are "in love". That'll change in a few years. Then they'll just argue with each other about who snores the most or who has the biggest farts. Anyway, they are engaged now and the big day is May 19, 2007. Soooooooo...because they are the pathetic, greatly affectionate, happy couple that they are, they had a "negative 1 year anniversary" for each other on May 19 of this year. That same day was a Friday night that the guys were supposed to drink beer and play wiffle ball. Imagine the frustration us guys had to endure to hear Tom say that he couldn't do anything that night because he had his "negative 1 year anniversary". On that note...I decided to unleash the below email to the guys to show Tom how lame that "negative 1 year anniversary" idea was. Enjoy...

Well...Tom knew about the negative 1 year anniversary last week and didn't mention them spending "quality" time together. I will be at his house around 7:30 to prep the field. Them going to a movie does not stop the world for me. I'll be playing with Brighton and Colton if I have to.

To pull a Sellner...what the F about the negative 1 year anniversary anyway? What kind of stupidly, whipped, girly-boy actually acknowledges and supports an idiotic anniversary like that? Like 50 years is your golden anniversary, and 5 years is paper or something like that. What the F is for the negative 1 year occasion...a kick to the junk? Because you're stupid enough to be getting married in a year, but she's still able to rope you into something as senseless as negative 1 year. Man...what a pansy!

Just give it about 6-8 more months and he'll start turning away guys nights at POs because he's busy making paper mache butterfly centerpieces for the reception. Tom...should I plan on buying you a new "pair" for your wedding gift? Apparently, Stephanie has already seemed to have taken your current ones. Man...negative 1 year anniversary...everytime I say it I get more confused. How did Tom...master "de"bater...one who mocks all and fears none...go from the verge of greatness to being a sick puppy under the rule of Mistress Stephanie and her whips of torture? I don't know...I just don't know. I guess this means we're going to have to kick the bachelor party up a notch...BAMM...Emeril style! Put the man back into thoMAs sellNer.

By popular request...

Well, apparently Cameron had a long night of drinking and more drinking with "The Bad Influence" aka his brother-in-law (my cousin) Justin. Our ususal guys night at the local watering hole is in jeopardy because he may be "too sick" to go out. Here is his email to Tom and I...

I don't know if its the buffalo chicken I ate for lunch or all the shots I had last night. If my stomach doesn't start feeling better I'm probably going to skip this weeks committee meeting. I transfer my votes to Tom.

Well, I didn't like that statement so I responded with some rude comments of my own. Tom liked my response so he requested I post it on the blog for the whole world to see. Soooo, here is my response to Cam's lame excuse...

Sorry...skipping tonight's meeting is not an option. I don't give a sh^t if you are currently drenched in honey and bees are swarming you from head to toe, or if your left testicle just fell out of your sack because you just ripped a hole in it trying to quickly zip up your pants. By skipping the committee meeting you relenquish all your rights to any voting or ruling ever made in the future. In fact, you lose all right to your own boat! We say when, where, how, why and what happens with your boat. I'm already thinking of the new name- FAMILY TRUCKSTER in big bright lime green letters! Just because your sorry, stupid a$$ decided to go out with the bad influence last night does not give you any "pansy" excuse to skip tonight. What did you think was going to happen last night? You guys would sit in front of the nice cozy fire and knit a quilt? Idiot...you were the one who gave him the "bad influence" name. Maybe you should learn to not give in to peer pressure and say, "no Justin, guys day is on Thursday. If you want to go out on Thursday, then meet us at POs". My God! I'm having flashbacks of Vietnam...or last month. Do you remember the "negative 1 year anniversary" crap. Holy crap...I'm having a coronary right now just thinking of how equally lame of an excuse you gave below as Tom's "negative 1 year" bullsh^t. What gives man? That's it. I am currently stabbing myself with a pen thinking that this makes more sense than you saying "If my stomach doesn't start feeling better I'm probably going to skip this weeks committee meeting.". I'm speachless right now...freakin speachless! You know. I'm going to go ahead and give you the benefit of the doubt right now. Instead of taking a shovel to your head the night time I see you, I'm going to go ahead and just hit you with a stale piece of bread with strawberry jelly on it. That way you get crumbs all over yourself and you'll have to take a shower. So much for "Cameron's last hoorah" Even though they'll probably be more "last hoorahs" in the future. I was really looking forward to it...congratulating you for real, shaking your hand, beating you in darts, talking about giving you a shot but not really doing it because I don't want to spend the $5 for the jeagerbomb. Anyway, I'll call you later Tom to have OUR committee meeting and determine future plans for our new acquisition...The Smokercraft!

Well, since I started this blog. Cameron responded to me. Its a good one as well. Here it is...

Bravo, well done Todd. Sometimes people only need a little motivation to get them going. Like Rocky. He didn't really die. He got busted in a child pornography ring so he faked his own death while giving Rocky the inspiration to defeat Mother Russia. In the end they both win. Rocky developed brain aneurysms but went on to have a lucrative movie career while Apollo ran off to Mexico and is probably making money as a Congo tour guide. Which of course he's doing miserable at because he has yet to find the Congo in Mexico. I know it makes no sense but it did let me waste 2 minutes while a query finished.

Ah...good times!

More from Kentucky...

I need to find a better way have easy access to my camera when we're on the boat. I always have it in a bag or in the glove box so I foget to take a lot of pictures. My supply from last weekend is pretty pathetic so here are just a few more from our enjoyment at the sandbar...

We hung out and drank.

We played football.

We floated in the water.

We pee'd in the water.

We even had my parents out there with us.

And, I finally figured out how Cameron is able to get his hair so blonde...he doesn't even use the spray nozzle!!!!

The sun prevailed over the storms...

As noted in my previous blogs, this past weekend found us staying at my parents house down at Kentucky Lake. Althought the forecast was pretty dismal, the weather turned out to be pretty fantastic once the boats hit the water. There were only a few times where the clouds covered the skies, but they passed fairly quickly. Some of the members of the group experienced moments of sickness that halted their enjoyment at times, but everyone was able to overcome the illnesses and make the best of it.

Our first 2006 journey on the lake found us casually cruising the area scouting territory. We found our way into the quarry where we saw a few cliff jumpers and some of the famous graffitti lined walls. After that, we founds ourselves a very nice sandbar in the next cove over and enjoyed some riveresque relaxation.



More to come later...

Yeah...so it's sort of a slow boat reporting day. The thunderstorms are coming into the area and all I can think about is the weekend being washed out, and I keep getting mad. Anyway, to curb your appetite for a post today, I copied the below article from Discoverboating.com about the top reasons for boating. So...for those of you who aren't sure about the joys of boating...I hope this makes it more clear. My comments/additions are in RED.

Top Reasons for Boating
Whether you want to rent or buy a boat, over a dozen studies have shown that being with family and friends (mostly friends), relaxing, drinking beer and being outdoors and close to nature are the primary reasons people spend time on the water. Recreation with family doesn't have to mean spending a fortune on a theme park vacation in order to have an experience that everyone will enjoy. Should you decide to buy a boat, the monthly payments can often be less than $200 (if you're lucky), which is well worth the improvement in quality of life.

Boating is about Family
Work. School. Music lessons. Sports practice. Ever feel like your family is being pulled in a million different directions? Bring them back together with recreational boating.
Time spent on a boat is quality time. Whether you're fishing, swimming, tubing or just cruising along taking in the scenery, you're having fun together (or fighting...which is fun too). You're not waiting in long lines, under the hot sun, bickering about what ride to go on next.
Out on the water there are no distractions. You can focus on each other. You can have conversations. Share stories. Laugh. Drink beer and bbq. Reconnect and create memories that will last a lifetime.
Life really is better on a boat. DEFINITELY!

Boating Lets You Relax
It's hard not to relax when you're on a boat. Out on the water there are no faxes. No computers. No interruptions. There is the open water. The fresh air. The beer. The sun warming your face and the Sun-In coloring your hair! And a sense of freedom and adventure you can't find anywhere else.
Whether looking for blissful, deadline-free days or pulse-quickening adventures, you can find them with recreational boating. After all, you're the captain when you buy your own boat (you got that right! none of the pleab crap Cameron!). The only rules are the ones that you make. And you're free to break those.
With a boat, great getaways are just a weekend away. You may be just a few miles from home, but it feels like you're a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of your daily routine.
Go boating—and find the freedom to be your best.

You'll never catch your limit of fun
Buy a boat, and you'll never catch your limit of fun (or beer). There are always new places to explore. Bigger fish to catch. Bigger fires to be made! Friends to be found. And new memories to be made.
Reeling in the big one, catching a wave off the board or just taking in the scenery, after a full day of fun on the water, it's easy to remember why it's called the "Great Outdoors".

Kentucky Lake

Last Saturday was a blast, excluding the domestic disputes that brewed up in the afternoon. We ended up having a large group attend the festivities and we were able to miss any storms that were lingering in the air. Unfortunately, I was never around my camera so I have no pictures to share of the day.

Well...this weekend's schedule has the Nautical Thugz heading down to Kentucky Lake for some out-of-state Sun and Fun! We will be staying at my parent's house in Paducah and making the short 30 minute trip to the lake each day. There should also be a good time with some relaxing evenings enjoying the friends and forgetting the stresses that will await us back at home.

Kentucky Lake has their own version of "Party Cove" as well. It's called the Quarry and our group may just have to check it out this weekend. Here's a picture of a string of boats in the Quarry from KentuckyLake.com

I've also found a couple of other picture from the website that might be interesting to view. A beautiful sunset overlooking Lake Barkley (looks very peaceful), and the other picture on the right looks like something Berk would love to see. He would probably even enjoy hanging with the Mateys! I too think it'd be cool to see that pirate ship sailing down the Lake.

A week ago today...

Well, I can't believe it's already been a week since last Thursday's evening jaunt to the river, but hey..that just means there's only 1 more day left until this weekend arrives. Because it's the 1 week anniversary I'm going to post a couple of pictures of the evening. First, I took an extended picture of the Iowa beach around 7:30pm to show how large the group was. The other picture is one of the sunset with Mindy and Colleen posing for the camera (who's that loser in the background, and what is he trying to do? Who invited that guy?!)

Well...nothing spectacular going on right now. Make sure you check out Cameron's blog (altonpool.blogspot.com). His post today is a fine expose on the what can be accomplished on the yearly funds that are spent by women on coloring their hair. Wow...what a guy could do! The upcoming weekends plans are as follows...

Friday 6/16- The girls (Amy, Stephanie, Val) are going out on the Sea Doo for a girls day. It has been suggested by the guys to do a late afternoon meet up with them in the Tahoe after work. I haven't discussed it with Colleen, but we'll see.

Saturday 6/17- It sounds like a good sized crew will be boarding the Tahoe for sun and fun. Hopefully the thunderstorms hold off long enough (or all together) for a full day of fun.

Sunday 6/18- It's Father's Day and the forecast is for rain a good part of the day. Probably be time spent with family.

See you on the river...

Again, Back to the Future (or Past), whatever....

Ok...I was able to slightly cure my complications with the dial-up connection and download some pictures from the past week or so. I was able to resize then to a small enough size that would allow me to upload the at a much faster rate.

Anyway...today's blast from the past takes us all the way back to Saturday June, 3rd. We launched both the Tahoe and Smokercraft that day and based most of our suntime at Iowa Island. If you still don't recall the day...it was the day I got the jumpstart from RiverBill. As soon as we got the boat running, we took a quick cruise up to the Winfield lock and dam to get the battery charged. We had the Smokercraft follow to make sure things were running smoothly. I was even able to click a couple of good "action" photos of the family truckster cruising alongside us...









That Saturday was also the day Amy realized that Cameron is a little unexperienced at swimming so she forced him to wear his lifejacket at all times while riding on the boat. Kind of reminds you of the days back when you rode the short bus to school...eh Cam?

As I said earlier, we ended the day with some socializing on Iowa Island. We were joined by our usual neighbors...Malibu Matt and his Mob, and had a great time throwing the football, grilling, and enjoying a few beverages. Nathan, Mandy and their friend Brian were able to join us for the day as well and spent some time cooling off in the shade.

Tomorrow's edition should feature pictures from last Thursday's night out...stay tuned!

Back to Memorial Day...

Hello all...I tried to upload some pictures last night from the camera of our adventures on Thursday and Saturday of the previous week, but was forced to realize that dial-up connection SUCKS! I guess it is time to invest in DSL. Funny...you'd think someone who works for one of the largest providers of high speed internet connections would use his own product, but not so. Well, maybe soon.

Anyway, until the dial-up problem is correct I'll have to revert to prior pictures that have already been saved to CD. Today's feature is on the family. Back during Memorial Day weekend, for the first time, we were able to get both our families on the boat together. Sure...we maxed out the occupancy rating of 9 passengers, but we were still able to stay under the 1700lbs limit (even with the supplies)! Heck, we were even able to find room for 3 dogs! Below are some pictures of both my parents and Colleen's parents. We all enjoyed a nice leasurly float from just off the shore of Cedar Hill Resort downstream a couple of miles.



We also had Colleen's siblings (Mindy and Nathan) and Nathan's girlfriend (Mandy) on board. They were finally able to enjoy a nice sunny day, relaxing on the swim deck, and catching some tanning time.

And so I blog again...

Sorry all...this week has been pretty hectic for me and I haven't had a chance to download last weekends pictures from the camera, let alone had time to post a blog.

Saturday was an awesome day and was well spent on the river...hanging with old friends, sitting on Iowa Island meeting new friends, and to top the morning off my boat got a jumpstart by none other that RiverBill himself (again, many thanks!). I'll be sure to post a few pictures that were taken.

Sunday was an off day as I had a family 50th wedding anniversary to attend. I know it doesn't compare to a day on the river, but I have to say, any 2 people who can put up with each others' CRAP for 50 years deserve some kind of party. Heck...I'm only going on 3 years!

Monday was a slightly momentus occasion. I saw the boat reach its 20 hour mark over the weekend so I dropped it off at the good people of Dan's Boats to inspect the engine/drive and change the oil. I wasn't too excited to see the $$$ total for the service, but I guess it's a small price to pay to make sure the system is running properly.

Well, that pretty much brings us to current. Tentative plans were that Cameron and Amy are taking the family truckster (Smokercraft) out for a Thursday night excursion, however, since the time I typed this blog, the tentative has changed to definite. The wife and I plan on joining them so it looks like we should be able to bring home some pictures from tomorrow as well.

And so I blog again...

Sorry all...this week has been pretty hectic for me and I haven't had a chance to download last weekends pictures from the camera, let alone had time to post a blog.

Saturday was an awesome day and was well spent on the river...hanging with old friends, sitting on Iowa Island meeting new friends, and to top the morning off my boat got a jumpstart by none other that RiverBill himself (again, many thanks!). I'll be sure to post a few pictures that were taken.

Sunday was an off day as I had a family 50th wedding anniversary to attend. I know it doesn't compare to a day on the river, but I have to say, any 2 people who can put up with each others' CRAP for 50 years deserve some kind of party. Heck...I'm only going on 3 years!

Monday was a slightly momentus occasion. I saw the boat reach its 20 hour mark over the weekend so I dropped it off at the good people of Dan's Boats to inspect the engine/drive and change the oil. I wasn't too excited to see the $$$ total for the service, but I guess it's a small price to pay to make sure the system is running properly.

Well, that pretty much brings us to current. Tentative plans were that Cameron and Amy are taking the family truckster (Smokercraft) out for a Thursday night excursion tomorrow, however, since I started typing this blog, the tentative has changed to definite. The wife and I plan on joining them so it looks like we should be able to bring home some pictures from tomorrow as well.

The fun never ends...

More photos from the weekend. These are a mixture from the 3 days. Just want to get some of the remaining good ones out there for those to enjoy. We should get some more from this upcoming weekend (maybe video too). We had some fine meals over the weekend.
Gotta show everyone the "kitchen" that
was created. Does it get any better than
this? And take a look behind the grill at our food
transport. If you ain't tubin'...

We also found some time to drink...pepsi? I can't see what is in our hands, but I'm pretty sure we were good this weekend. Maybe an occasional AB beverage.



We were also able to get some people to stop partying and just take the time for a nice snapshot. Like this one of Tom and Stephanie...

And what about Stephanie's impersonation of posing for the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She gets my vote!

Continued fun from the weekend...

Today's pictures feature activity from Saturday. Colleen received a gift from my dad on Friday...a new competition slalom ski...so pictured below left is her first trial. Although the water was choppy, she was able to manage a good opening season run. In the center, you can see Stephanie ready for her run on the wakeboard posing with Amy (me pictured in the background with the beer...hmmm that's what most of my pictures feature). On the right, Stephanie is riding the wake.


As the day progressed, we found ourselves camped out behind two branch island. The crew started to prepare for the day of relaxation...

and Cameron made sure he found himself a nice place to rest...what a life!...