Up for the count
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Tuesday was an extremely lousy news day. And, unless you're a tabloid journalist, (which I've actually been accused of once or twice going back to my high school journalism days) sometimes no news is good news.I shut the Smith Colony Situation Room down mid afternoon yesterday and actually did about five hours of legitimate business.Then I took a nap. And, apparently, it's now Wednesday all of the sudden. Albeit, very, very early Wednesday.And the Situation Room is once again powered up.In Colony news, I got an e-mail from Good Friends Mary and Donald. They said there is a chance that they may be moving to Great Bend in the near future...something to do with a none too pleasant family commitment.To make light of the situation, I told Donald that I couldn't wait for them to get here--and the sooner the better. I needed a full time driver.Ha-ha?
Read more: count
Halfway through Hump Day
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Wednesday has been a busier day than usual.Several straight hours of grad homework while simultaneously watching the ongoing court battle over Anna Nicole's remains on MSNBC can be quite taxing.I've gotten the most remarkable e-mails in the last 24 hours, including a fellow ufologist in the Kansas City, MO area concerning my own beloved Kansas based investigative organization...The DSL is a Godsend. Much, much better than the old cable Internet connection we had here. (This just proves that the problem was not my computer, after all.)I had forgotten what it's like to be able to check messages in a timely manner...When I called to cancel the cable Internet, they sure enough offered me a half price rate for a few months to give it a second chance. I told them I couldn't take that kind of chance...And, yada, yada, yada--they wiped out my old e-mail account I had with their company within six minutes of hanging up.For the first time, it seemed, they actually kept one of their promises.
Read more: Halfway
, Hump Day
Typing to the sound of chainsaws
1970-01-01 00:59:59
I've been entertained by the unnerving roar of a chainsaw all afternoon. The neighbor lady hired some derelicts to cut a tree down in her backyard.She's asked me a hundred times over the past several weeks if it was okay that they drive their truck into my backyard.And then, when the derelicts finally did show up today, they came over and knocked on my door to find out if it really was okay for them to be on my property. And then, if that all wasn't permission enough, the neighbor lady called again to find out if it was really alright for them to drive their truck into my backyard...I don't know what kind of reputation The Smith Colony has with the people that share it's borders. (All I know is that I'll probably get my yard raked for free, if I stand outside with my hands on my hips--and look disgusted--long enough.)What's really hilarious about all this? The tree in the neighbor's yard that everyone is fussing about is about the size of a fishing pole stuck in the ground... W
Read more: Typing
Cool new web cam now up and running
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Many of you are aware of my longtime love affair with Cheyenne Bottoms, a vast and mystical wildlife refuge a few miles north of here.Now a new site is up and running
and it features web cam
s that continually monitor the Bottoms 24/7. The images are updated every few seconds day and night.Among other things, the sunrises and sunsets over the large expanses of water are spectacular, even when beamed over the Internet.Go to http://www.cheyennebottoms.net/ and click on "Camera at Cheyenne Bottoms" in the menu bar on the left.The scenes are both stark and mesmerizing. To me, at least.Keep watching it, and who knows...You may just catch a glimpse of The Cheyenne Lights.
"Hail, hail, fire and snow"
1970-01-01 00:59:59
As if we weren't already living in, basically, the worst parts of The Bible... I was watching the Weather Channel just now and it said that my little part of the world is simultaneously under both a Tornado Watch and a Blizzard Watch--as we speak.(Didn't the exact same plot play out in some crappy Made-For-TV movie on Lifetime Television starring Melissa Gilbert and John Schneider?)The wind has picked up and it's raining , thundering, and hailing like hell outside the windows of The Official Residence. I just heard on the police frequencies that someone reported their tool shed blew away...What an interesting scenario this may turn out to be.The lightning flashes recorded by the web cam out at Cheyenne Bottoms are surreal.And despite the fact that it's about 50 degrees outside, it--supposedly--is going to start snowing and possibly turn into a blizzard in a few hours. This now leaves me wondering where the tornado part fits in.All this and it's not even 1:00 AM. The night, for me
Near blizzard conditions bring wisdom and insight
1970-01-01 00:59:59
For a few hours late Saturday afternoon, I had nothing left to do but pull an old book of mine off the shelf and reread parts of it.The title? Dead White, by Alan Ryan. It's a little known horror novel that came and went way back in 1983.Here's the blurb that originally appeared on the back cover: "In the tiny Catskills town of Deacons Kill, the blizzard strikes without warning. The people of Deacons Kill have seen terrible storms before, and they settle down uneasily to wait it out. But this one is different. As drifts creep higher, a train appears out of the storm, arriving on rusty abandoned tracks--an antique circus train bringing clowns...and shadows...and death."Some copy writing, huh?And, finding myself in a total whiteout today, I had the uneasy urge to pull this old classic out, open every window shade (to enjoy what remained of the setting sun) and watch the snow pelt the ground, and worry about whether or not my house was going to blow away in the helter-skelter winds.For
Read more: conditions
That's what dreams are made of
1970-01-01 00:59:59
My friend Jason, in Denver, called about an hour ago and told me he was trying to figure out what he should do (supposed to do?) with the rest of his life.Jason and I, as you may recall, served as police officers together at the same department way back when.His badge number was #332. My badge number was #337.He had a bad accident in his red Corvette while coming back to town from his mother's funeral, in December of 1996. And he was initially declared dead by a state trooper in a cold and lonely field out in the middle of nowhere within thirty miles of where I now sit.How wrong that state trooper's diagnosis turned out to be...Jason's left leg was nearly torn completely off, but after a thousand surgeries, he survived above and beyond the call of duty.Jason now makes a good living driving a truck and delivering liquor in the Mile High City. And, since he is an avid golfer, he won't mind me saying that I think that's par for the course.He continues to hold the rank of Chief of Sec
Rolling on the floor laughing my arse off
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Despite what you may think, I very seldom make myself laugh. In fact, I very rarely even laugh out loud--even though what is actually happening on the inside is still up for debate and speculation.In a weird way, that kind of makes me the Alfred Hitchcock of Humor. (Oh, my GAWD, did I actually type that?)Regardless, you might just say that I just don't get me...Monday was a little different, though.After posting my last rambling, I got a bunch of urgent calls from one Officer Hansen. He noticed that I had mentioned him repeatedly in my last entry and was, let's just say "concerned" that the Van Halen lyrics might, let's just say "take away" from, let's just say "his manhood."Emphasis on the words: "He man."Specifically, Officer Hansen was concerned about what this sort of sordid lyrics implied. (About him.) Specifically, the liberal use of scandalous words like "baby." And, most specifically, how that word is used in the same posting as the name of an EX-COP.Well, I had to give him
Read more: Rolling
February was good to me
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Goodbye to one month and hello to another. March is approaching and, traditionally at this time every year, I go kite shopping.And, in a few weeks, you'll see me on the north field at Veteran's Park--attempting to fly a kite, more or less. Providing you can get an afternoon off in the middle of the week. (I only come out to play when everyone else is at work.)Thanks to my rocketeer friends, I'm also building my first real model rocket--courtesy of the Estes Rocket Company. Hint--it's one of the biggest rockets they sell. The damn thing's parachute is bigger than a king sized bed sheet!(I'm not getting any younger, so as always, I decided to start at the top. Regardless of the Recommended Experience Level printed on the side of the box.)It's the end of February
. The (important) bills are paid. And I already have spring fever.Don't get me wrong--I'm always up for one more genuine blizzard, but... I have big plans for the Spring Equinox.I heard from Mary and Donald earlier. And,
The time of my life
2007-03-02 07:52:00
I'm going to be spending a lot of time working on an offline project over the next few days, so I won't be posting here on a daily basis...Unless there's developing news.I won't wander far, however. All of you can still reach me via e-mail and land line. So don't freak.Rest assured, I'll remain planted firmly in the Captain's Chair in front of the computer monitor. The same as always, except mostly I'll be working offline in Microsoft Word.Go figure...all this trouble just to add a few more academic acronyms behind my name. But, I have high hopes that it will all be worth it.Regardless, I'll still be checking my e-mail and my messages on My Space every few hours. Just in case.
If Edwards, Clinton and Obama are running, then so am I
2007-03-04 07:37:00
To prove how committed I am to running
, I went out Saturday evening and bought a brand new electronic pedometer.And, in spite of the cold, I came home, suited up, and ran all the way from Jefferson Street to Harrison Street...and back again. (Nearly) nonstop.The names of the streets in my neighborhood run in consecutive order of the names of United States Presidents. You do the math as to the tremendous distance I actually ran. (But I'm not even going to hint at how long it took. You'd be embarrassed for me...)Much like last year, and the year before that, my goal--from March 1st through November 1st--is to run two miles a day, four days a week.Of course, anyone that knows me knows that I can't do anything in moderation.A Fitness Expert would have told me: "Trace, after four months of not doing a damn thing, start off easy! Walk around the block a couple times. Then jog. Then run... Gradually built up to where you want to be say, over an eight month period."Ha ha!Now I'm staggering
Read more: Edwards
, Clinton
, Obama
Dear Mr. Trace...
2007-03-05 15:49:00
With the switch here at headquarters from cable Internet to DSL, I had to clean out my previous e-mail account. And I saved the important stuff from it. Especially the questions that I never quite got around to answering...I think these are some of the best:Q: Have you ever seen a ghost?A: No, though I may have and not realized it. I have heard one or two, though.Q: Are UFOs visiting us from other planets?A: Without doubt, thousands of honest people have witnessed unexplainable phenomena in our skies and our oceans. Personally, I am not convinced that UFOs are from other planets. (And the implication that they may not be is even more mind blowing than if they merely were from outer space.)Q: Seems from your writing, you prefer cats to dogs. You are a "guy," why is that?A: Guys I know prefer dogs because they feel they can easily dominate them. Something impossible to do with cats. Cats are strong and independent and either they like you or they don't. Cats are hard to win over and are
Read more: Trace
The Wichita/O'Hare UFO connection
2007-03-07 08:40:00
I debated about posting this. But, I've been monitoring the television news stations out of Wichita
reporting on the supposed Strange Sight Over Kansas that occurred last Tuesday morning.In the local news broadcasts I watched, they always seemed to have the hapless weatherman explain the multiple photographs and video away as something called a "hole punch cloud."Well, something about this, and similar stories rang a bell with me. And sure enough, I did a little research and found a correlation between Tuesday's event over Wichita and the now famous UFO incident last fall at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.As you may recall, United Airlines pilots, flight crew, and mechanics reported a disc shaped object hovering over O'Hare's tarmac-- before the thing took off at tremendous speed and ripped a round hole in the gray clouds, briefly exposing blue sky behind the dark overcast.A quick Internet search on your part would show that this is by no means limited to Wichita and Chic
Read more: connection
So, that's why we never went back
2007-03-07 01:53:00
Here's something you just don't see every day.An alert reader forwarded this video to me. It allegedly shows footage of an ancient structure on the moon. Apparently, it was actually shot by Apollo astronauts and shows Neil Armstrong walking through it.According to the story behind it, NASA flight surgeons back on earth were monitoring Armstrong's heart rate and were alarmed that it suddenly and mysteriously shot up to 160 beats per minute during the exact time this footage was secretly being filmed. And the medical team never could figure out why his heart was racing for such a brief period when no strenuous activity was being officially reported... Or so the doctors were told.This could be a hoax. But if it is, it's a very elaborate one. And very expensive.One way or another, it's creepier then hell. (It sort of reminds me of the final minutes of The Blair Witch Project.)And, if this video is real, it would certainly explain why--after six successful missions--NASA never returned
Schedule...
2007-03-08 14:41:00
I'll be working mainly offline for the next few days. (It's not always pleasant being so committed to a goal...)And yes, I'm still running! I almost broke the one mile barrier Wednesday evening. If it tells you anything, my legs aren't nearly as sore from running as my hands are from writing.As always, I'll still be available by e-mail.
Read more: Schedule
"Earth, do you copy?"
2007-03-11 07:30:00
I feel like I've been living in a huge fish aquarium for the past several days--underwater, where everything seems to move in slow motion and the world is eerily silent.The fish tank I'm talking about, of course, is my house. And I was in self-imposed isolation within it...looking out of the thick glass windows at human beings rushing up and down the streets, no doubt running senseless little human being errands...Yeah, I may have been in an aquarium, but my neighborhood was nothing but a mindless ant farm.(Now I know what the aliens must think of Earth
.)In the past six weeks, I've finished the equivalent of six months of graduate school crap. Why, I do not know. All for a few more pieces of important smelling paper to frame and hang on the wall, I guess.A smart ass friend of mine asked me this question earlier: If you're really the smartest guy in the world, how come you need to learn anything else?Well, my smart ass friend--I don't need to learn any more. Rather, I need credenti
The next voice you hear...
2007-03-16 00:46:00
Without even knowing it, I think I've allowed myself to dream just a little too much about the future this week.I've been caught up in a clinical hypnosis class I'm taking--streaming video on the Internet--no less. And it may have gotten to me ...how should I say it politely? In my attic...Momma always said: "Trace, never mess around up in your attic. You never know where those filthy rats crawling around up there have been!"(Momma also said essentially the same thing pertaining to nearly every girl I've ever dated. Except, she'd always substitute the word "crawlspace" for "attic." And "down" for "up.")After 60 hours of virtual classroom time, I learned at least one thing about hypnosis that I secretly assumed all along--the real secret of hypnotising another person is... (Ha ha! Momma also taught me to never give the milk away for free...)But, here's a crazy thing that just now instantly happened: I glanced out the window and an old lady was walking by and it appeared as though
Let's walk for awhile
2007-03-18 10:32:00
I broke the two mile barrier last night as I was running. And now that I've reached it, I realize how goofy it sounds... Putting myself through so much pain and all...to do something that your body--secretly--HATES!And to prove what? Most importantly, to who?I reached my imaginary finish line shortly after midnight, red as a stop sign, beyond out of breath, and way past puking. And for what?Working out is great. For me, it's a lifelong commitment... But, why in the heck did I choose running? (Arguably my worst subject in high school gym class.)There I was, in mid-gallop, in the middle of Great Bend, when these questions crossed my oxygen starved mind: Where are you running to? What are you running from? (I was on the verge of stroking out, so pardon the dramatics.)At that point, for some reason I started thinking about some old Climax Blues Band tune... In part, it says: "Let's walk for awhile..."And, being on the verge of falling down on the side of the road and projectile vomiting
At least we're in good company
2007-03-23 17:18:00
Here's something for you to mull over:Former Governor Fife Symington, of Arizona, just came forward and admitted to actually--personally--witnessing the "Phoenix Lights" event(s) of 1997.For those of you that have never heard of the "Phoenix Lights," you can read about the extraordinary happening at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Lights (just be sure to come back...)And most importantly, Gov. Symington now expresses his believe that whatever the massive object was hovering over Arizona was alien in origin...otherworldly...not of this earth... Here is a link to the latest on this from CNN:http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/tech/2007/03/22/tuchman.ufo.phoenix.lights.ktvkSome of you, no doubt, are going to laugh at all of this. (The Idiots, anyway.)But, some of us are going to have the last laugh...
Read more: least
, company
In Kansas, they probably do
2007-03-25 11:21:00
There are two very important books laying in front of me that I really should be reading; God knows, I paid enough for them.I read the first chapter of each, and now can't recall a single word of either.Instead, I've been sitting here, looking out the window. Dreaming important stuff up.However not dreaming up, for instance, real big important things like a cure for Lupus--just wanted to clarify that so a few of you wouldn't get your hopes up.(Ha ha! Bet you didn't think I could even spell that one.)Rather, I've been daydreaming aboutAnyway, studies are going pretty well. I'm more or less one-third finished and 87 percent burnt out. My biggest vice is lack of moderation.So, instead of doing what I should be doing--remember the two aforementioned books?--I've gone on a massive online shopping spree. Currently, I'm hunting down a Plantronics headset.Just like the ones all those cool guys at NASA wear... And, for reasons unknown, I feel like it's a matter of life or death that I
Read more: Kansas
Recess, by any other name
2007-04-01 19:11:00
I'm going to be taking a brief hiatus from Just A Trace for a while over Easter....I nearly typed "over easy" instead of "over Easter..." I must have Easter Eggs on my mind...In other news: It's official !I'm now only one-third finished with the dreaded online graduate school phase of my life. And I passed. So far...You would think that would satisfy me, but I still--somehow--wound up getting into a fierce and bloody fist fight(slapping match)with their Admission's Office on the phone last Friday. I reminded them that I was their Best Student. I owe that much to them.Plus, they owe me so much on account of the fact that I wrote an Official School Song for them--which they were sorely lacking. (Still waiting to hear back about their decision on that one.)I've been "advance paying" on my tuition in order to... well, finish faster... And, apparently, their bookkeeping department doesn't have the computers necessary to keep up with this one simple quirk of mine.When it comes to money
Read more: Recess
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