One of the features with this new look is the rotating pictures in the headers which is really nice.  Every picture here at ‘The Average Man’ is from my camera.  Most of the stuff that you will see is from our recent trip to China and our travels around the Yellow Mountain district.

The addition of video capability is really slick.  It will have to be used judiciously but I am just loving it right now.  There are a lot of Pod Casts that are really cool and I would like to keep them on file.

In the process of upgrading the foundation of the web site here, I found several new features that will be evident in the coming posts.  I installed the plug-in Smart Youtube that will allow the easy addition of Youtube videos to the posts.  That is really SWEET!  Lets check it out, OK?  Also, the upgrade should add a measure of additional security to the web site and cut down on the spam.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_NMZv6Vfh8

So how did that go, did it work and were you as impressed as I was with the statements of Collin Powell.  I am floored by the wisdom of the statements that this REPUBLICAN PARTY member made. The Republican Party, of which it is a ashame to admit I am a member, is now in total disarray.  I switched political parties back when we had the recall election of then Governor Gray Davis here in 2003.  California was a total mess and it was expedient to be a Republican Party member so that I could vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger a Republican.

The two major factions of the GOP, the religious right and the fiscal conservative business types, have hit a dividing wall.  The policy makers within the upper ranks of the Republican Party are at odds with one another and the road forward for the conservative movement is not clear.  I just subscribed to the periodical, The Atlantic, which describes these in-fighting’s in detail.  Great Rag with lots of good WORDS, highly recommended.

So if you have not seen these gentlemen, Mr’s Obama and McKane, discussing their campaigns and policies I strongly advise you do so before election day. Make up your own mind. I have based on what I see.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvdfO0lq4rQ

These political debates are vitally important and this third and final debate between these two candidates illustrate the statesmanship of Mr. Obama and the wonderful president he will be!

The campaign headquarters for Barack Obama needs your support and your VOTE.

So I will leave you with this latest Pod-Cast from The Atlantic which is wonderfully hilarious:

Well yes, I do think that my hiatus is over and that I will be posting more to the blog.  What has kept me away for so long is not something that is even clear to me.  I do look at the site daily but just have not had the interest in posting.  Just a phase of the moon thing or something else more sinister?  Its up to you to decide.

SPAM!  I can not tell you how much comment spam I have been getting.  Luckily the filter I have has caught all of it but I still have to go in and delete it all which gets to be very tiring.  This new version of Word Press even has a spell checker.  Another reason to upgrade to the latest version.

More later.  Right now I have to make sure everything is working as it should.  Thanks Matt!

For the next several months work as a new nurse anesthetist demanded all my attention. Initially I was hired to work as part of the Keck School of Med group at the University Hospital USC thing. Starting at Los Angeles County hospital while the privileges came through has been really great. Funny thing happened. I was offered a teaching position at LAC-USC which I happily took. So now I am working with new students about half of the time that I am there at the hospital. As you may know I am a former LA County Employee and my file was just waiting for me to start up again. It has taken several months to complete the application process but all done now. Its official finally – I am County with a joint faculty position at USC. I am loving life now.

Jennifer and I decided to change out our living quarters and move into a house with a bigger back yard. This has not been a small feat either. We sold our town-home in Arcadia last month and moved into a smallish 3 bedroom guest house while our new place closes escrow. You begin to see why I have been so busy. Moving has been terrible with all of the packing and storing stuff here and there. We gave away some of the older furniture and only kept the newer stuff but we are still very cramped in our temporary place. The new house that is in escrow will need a little work so we may stay here in the rental for a short time while the property has some work done. The old galvanized pipes have to go first and the swimming pool that is in the back yard in coming out as well. We have several projects planned for the place and I can’t wait to get at them. This all sounds like so much fun!

Besides all of these things I have the teaching position and didactic stuff I need to prepare to present for the nurse anestesia program. In another week I am starting a review course for the senior class that will be graduatin soon. It will be interactive and fun.

You already heard about the bicycle training that I have been up to in preparation for the RAGBRAI ride coming in July. So the days are busy but I would not have it any other way. Check out the new web site at cyclingpigs.com/ I think its a blast.

Jennifer has been in China for the past week and a half in preparation for new year celebration with her parents. This will be for another post. I have kept away from updating you all for a good while now and there is too much to talk about but that should let you know the basics of what is going on around here. Drop me a line any time and I would love to chat.