as very surprised that people are starting to find this blog. Really, I did not expect folks to be TOO interested in hearing about my family and what is happening in my life here in Vegas, but I think there is some fascination with the Vegas life that people like to hear about.

In any event, I was contacted by Larry M. Bushbaker recently. Don’t know who Larry is and when Pete pulled together the family tree, I did not pay attention to learn my family history as well as I should. I feel ashamed by this and will try MUCH harder in the future.

I have not spent as much time on this blog as my other blog, Las Vegas Real Estate Guy. At that site, I have a lot more to write about and say, at least I thought. I will most certainly spend more time creating content and information on this blog in the future. If for no other reason than my Mom has told some of her friends about it and they are paying attention….now I have a reputation to uphold. If they only knew…

I am going to work especially hard in the future to put pictures of my newborn boy here, Jackson. He is a great boy and we are having a lot of fun with him. I promise to put more of him up here….matter of fact, here are some of the prodigy right now. BTW, I am almost certain he said “daddy” the other day. I know at only 8 weeks old, he can’t really talk, but I think he has been watching Stewie on Family Guy. I am pretty sure he said it…

Here are a few recent pics from the little guy:

This is the JD simply saying “I am not sure if this finger is used for Similac dispensing or just for sucking or just…I am not sure…”

This is a great pic of the little man. His skin is glistening…not sure why…since he is a darker skinned young man, he dries out much more than pasty white Mommy and Daddy, so we have to lather him up quite often with lotion…he likes lotion…

His face is all goofy here, but the picture is to die for….LOVE IT!!!!!

Here he is simply saying “call me”. I am sure the next thing out of his mouth will be what Daddy would say as well, “let’s do lunch….you’re buying…” This is true…

Here is our very good friend from California (originally from Detroit). She is a natural, but not sure if children are in her future. Only she can answer that question….

I call this one Happy Alien Baby. Looks kind of like an alien with his big eyes. You know the old question for single guys looking at potentials…bug, mouse or horse? (you need to ask Nathan about it if you don’t know…)

He will be an athlete for certain, but is it too early? I didn’t think so. No objections from Mommy? Then it is settled.

One of my favorite pics of JD. He is sitting there looking at his Daddy definitely saying one of two things “Really daddy?” or “dude, when you gonna lose that shed around your waist?” Time to lose the weight and make sure I am setting the right example.

Another very cool pic. He is still pretty small in this picture, but Mommy loves Jackson…

I am not sure if Auntie Judy would want this pic on the site, but it is here. Auntie Judy was his first visitor from Detroit (except for my Mom of course). Jackson loves his Auntie Judy.

The family cat, Little P, simply says “whatever” to all this baby stuff. He is not amused and since losing Mr. Hobbs, he was #1 in the house. He knows he has been demoted, but still…can’t he care just a little bit???

And finally, my wife pulled together a neat little collage of our photos and put them in this 6 weeks PDF. Pretty cool…check it out…

OK…enough of the kid and other goofy pics. I promise to make this site as informative and interesting as possible. More cool Jackson pics coming though first…

Tags: Adoption, bushbaker, Personal

I found this article by Norma Love at the AP on the web today concerning a new alternative of dealing with bodies of our loved ones. The following description was offered up in the article:

“The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in this country 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.”

They are claming this revolutionary technology, developed 16 years ago used on animals, is a game changer for the industry.

Since Gail and I are relatively young, we have not talked very much about what we done with our bodies after we die, but this certainly has peaked my interest in the subject and I will tell you why.

The alternatives have always been either bury or burn. I hate getting burned and I think that option doesn’t work for me just because of my hatred for the feeling of getting burned. Will I feel it when I die, I don’t think so, but why take the chance? Then, what do J.D. and Gail (I am certain she will outlive me) do with the ashes. I mean, I thought it silly to have ashes buried, put out sea, or placed in some remote place on the Earth, “because he always loved that…” How messed up is that thinking? Nope, that option stinks.

The other option is to bury me. Not much better than the first option. What if I wake up and find out that I am 6 feet under. I know that there is a very remote chance of that happening, that’s why they call it death, but still, what if? How horrible the thought. Who would hear me and I simply don’t have the time to learn the amazing put my fingers through wood trick that Uma Thurman’s character “The Bride” was forced to learn in Kill Bill. So, if I am buried and not quite dead yet, I would be very upset.

Finally, and this is not really an option (at least for me), dedicate my body to science. What the heck does that mean? In my mind, there would be a bunch of punks looking over my torn apart liver from all the beer I drink at my favorite watering holes. Not to mention the years of sipping cocktails with friends on the weekends. Those same punks might then decide to use me in some weird experiment to see what happens to the human body when put under severe duress or something like that. Ouch…again, what if I can actually feel that on the other side…not a good thing.

This new alternative means that I have face the music with the whole burn thing, but they know for certain that I am gone and there is no coming back. The best of all it is “green” for the environment. No worm food jokes or sprinkling the Bush-man over Lake Michigan while everyone toasts…”remember when” or “he always liked the Chicago skyline and now he will get to see it forever.” Just fry me up, turn me into some powder that can simply go down the drain and move on. I am liking this alternative already…

Tags: burial alternatives, death