NEWS & UPDATES...
June 27, 2008 (Friday) - Finally joined Facebook, you can go to my account HERE if your a member.
T-Ball game tommorow and then Adventureland on Sunday with Lori, Jayden and his cousin Ethan. - I HATE ADVENTURELAND, I guess its because of my absolute fear of being killed on one of the damn rides. Luckly Jayden is fearless and loves the rides even the roller coasters.
Also anybody remember the Garabage Pail Kids...
June 23, 2008 (Monday) - Due to a busier than anticipated summer and fall my Iowa County Road Trip may be put on hold until Memorial Day week of 2009.
Busy weekend with t-ball, swimming, parks and everything else.
Jayden and Caleb at Lowe Park in Marion go to my flickr account to see all the pictures from the park
June 18, 2008 (Wednesday) - Jayden had a T-Ball game last night and did really well. Up to bat three times, had to hit off the T at his first at bat, the second and third at bats he crushed the ball. The third time out in the field, he fielded at 7 of the 10 hits and threw the ball to first base really well.
Caleb and I went for a walk last night, he really enjoyed it. We never had the chance to take him for walks as much as we did for Jayden when he was Caleb's age.
June 15, 2008 (Sunday) - Always having to wait my turn for the computer in the house...
Click on the picture for larger version
June 11, 2008 - Caught a band called Dirty Penny at The Volume in Cedar Rapids great band everyone should check them out if they play in your area. Unfortuantely I also had to witness one of the worst bands of my life a Poison Tribute band called Poised, avoid them at all costs.
Also wanted to share a great site with everyone. I try to check it out at least once a week. Rob Cockerman at www.cockeyed.com has got to be one of the funniest and most creative guys out there.
Lots of new photos added to my flickr account, take some time to check them out.
Just one of hte many new pics that can be found HERE
June 2, 2008 - Returned from the Canada Fishing Trip, pictures of the trip HERE. Not to bad of a week, a couple of very cold days and one really hot day. Fishing numbers were down but the sizes were up for me.
Just a view of what I had to look at everynight while in Canada.
May 20, 2008 - I've been riding my bike to work for the past couple of weeks, we'll it caught on and a lady from work started to ride her bike as well. Her bike had a basket and we couldn't help but "mess" with her bike a little.
I know know no the best picture in the world, but that is E.T. in the basket. Now a close up of her enjoying the joke.
May 16, 2008 - Only 8 more days till the Canadian Fishing Trip to Lake Coli. I'll start packing and organizing this weekend.
"Trapped in My Computer"
May 12, 2008 - Finally got my birthday present on Saturday. I've been saving for it, so I guess that's why its almost two months late... "The Nikon Coolpix P80" 18x Zoom with 10.1 Megapixels. With the new camera I should start taking more pictures and getting them posted on my flickr account.
May 6, 2008 - Bret Micheals concert got announced for Memorial Day, but I'll be Canada that week so can't go. Along with Bret it will be Stephen Pearcy, Gimikk, lyinheart, Cold Filtered, Rude Mood and several other bands.
May 2, 2008 -
No it was not that bad, just felt like it. I only lost about $45 on the Casino Floor. Stayed at Planet Hollywood and National Planning Conference was held at Paris and Bally's. Had a nice time at the conference and got plenty of pics during my lunch hour and evenings. Hope to have some posted this weekend.
April 26, 2008 -
April 25, 2008 (Friday) - I'm now down 20lbs, I started at 252lbs about 7 weeks ago, I'm now at 232. My goal is 200lbs so I'm a little under 40% of the way to my goal!!! Pants are getting harder to keep up, I've moved down a notch on my belt, back into pants I was ready to ship off to Goodwill.
April 21, 2008 - On short notice went to the Bret Michaels (Poison) concert in Dubuque on Saturday. Brett gave me a call and twisted my arm to go. Had a great time and got in FREE, Brett was on the guest list and was able to get three tickets. Met a young lady there that is currently undergoing chemo for a rare cancer, and was a huge Bret Michaels fan. Brett was able to work with the guys in the band and got her backstage to meet Bret Michaels, I think she was really excited, dream come true.
Did some more landscaping work around the house, it will be a pretty big project this year to get it finished up, hope to have before and after pictures someday soon.
Caleb's Birthday Pics - HERE
Jayden's Birthday Pics - HERE
April 18, 2008 (Friday) - Happy 3rd Birthday Caleb. Pictures from tonights upcoming birthday party will be posted sometime this weekend.
Earthquake in IL around 4:30, didn't wake up although some at work said they did. At around 10:15 ladies up front said they felt an aftershock, didn't believe it because I was standing right there with them, but about 1/2 later the news said there was a 4.3 aftershock in IL, but felt here in Marion.
April 16, 2008 (Wednesday) - Sold the 2001 Malibu today to a mechanic, it had about $2,100.00 worth of repairs, the mechanic is getting a good deal as he will be able to fix it for about half and have a pretty good car in the end.
LAS VEGAS only about 10 days away, will be a great five days. I'll start working on my exact plans around the conference soon.
April 15, 2008 (Tuesday) - Bought a new (used) car this weekend and 05 Taurus. Not the ideal car but the price was really right and it was low miles. It will work really good around town. On the way home with it I got tagged with a ticket in Bremer County for 83 in a 65. My first speeding ticket in over 10 years.
Jayden had his birthday (6th) on Friday, he had a nice time with lots of gifts from everybody.
April 11, 2008 (Friday) - Happy Birthday Jayden.
April 9, 2008 (Wednesday) - No Waterstock Rock 2008, sounds like greed and complete mismanagement made this great festival fail. It's gonna be a pretty slim year for concerts for me I think.
April 7, 2008 (Monday) - We took the boys to a hotel over by Des Moines the other day and Lori's brother and his kids met us there. We celebrated Jayden, Caleb and their cousins Ethan's birthdays as they all fall in April a couple of weeks apart. The kids had a nice time in the very cold pool. Jayden spent about 8 hours total in the pool and Caleb spent 3 or so either clinging to Me, Lori, or his cousin Jodie's neck. The boys had some very nice presents and cake that they shared with everyone.
Grandma Hockett was admitted to the hospital the other day, she has been sick for a week and her hip had been bothering her. I haven't talked with her yet, but will this week sometime, she seems to be on her way to recovery.
April 4, 2008 (Friday) - Democrats versus Republcans in the Mortgage Crisis: Democrats believe the government should bail out individuals who made stupid (i.e., greedy) decisions about getting a mortgage they had no hope of ever repaying. In contrast, the Republican believes the government should bail out banks and brokers who made stupid (i.e., greedy) decisions about issuing mortgages to people who they knew had no hope of ever repaying them.
Just a bunch of greedy folks across the board that will end up hurting those of thus that took out responsible loans from honest banks and brokers.
I also saw a number the other day that your mortgage payment should be no more than 30% of your gross income (before tax). I figured ours out and it is a little over 11.25%. I did some more quick calculations and figured out what our monthy payment would be if it equaled 30% of our gross monthly income, and it only took me a couple of minutes to realize that there was no way we could afford 30% of our gross income. It is an absolute shocker that people can't do this simple math themselves and realize that they would be in over their head and that goes for teh lenders, they can do that calcuation in their head in 2 seconds and realize that there is no way those people can afford a loan like that. Just greed pure and simple, the government has got to let both of these parties fall on their faces, because of their lack of simple math / common sense skills.
April 3, 3008 (Thursday) - Summer concerts are starting to take shape even though I don't think there will be any Waterstock this year. Vince Neil will be in Burlington, Bret Michaels has a couple more Iowa Dates, Cindrella will be at the state fair, Firehouse will be in Waterloo, Jackyl is booked at the motorcycle rallies and of course plenty of local bands are teaming up with national touring bands and the clubs. I'll have a more complete calendar in a few days.
April 1, 2008 (Tuesday) - Lots of news to pass along. I'm heading out to Las Vegas later this month for the National APA Planning Conference (5 days/4 nights). Should be a nice trip since I've never been. Then in May I leave to Canada for a week long fishing trip with my Dad to Coli Lake. I've made the trip a couple of time before this will be my 4th trip north.
I have my Iowa County Courthouse Road Trip website created. I hope to take this nine day trip sometime in the Fall of 2008.
March 31, 2008 (Monday) - New format to the page, at least the 50th since 1996 and hopefully the last. Real easy to update from my end so that's the reason for the change. You'll also notice a new website address.
I'll post updates from time to time as well as links to family pics and videos as I upload them. Please bookmark this page and look for more changes coming soon.
March 29, 2008 (Friday) - The Geography of Nowhere - Dave Hockett's Personal Website is Coming Soon...