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• BoyGeeding’s first soccer game was on Saturday and I decided to test out my new camera. The picture above may not be great, but it’s not bad for one that’s not edited, cropped, or filtered. What’s funny is that’s the closest he ever got to the ball the entire game. He’s not much for contact, and most of the time stayed away from the action as evident in this picture. The ball is on the far right, BoyGeeding is #16 and is the furthest thing to the left.
  
• Soccer was something he wanted to try and nothing we forced on him, but after the game, he said he wished he was back playing tee-ball. In this picture, I imagine him thinking, “I wish I was in a shaded dugout.”
  
• When WifeGeeding and I first got married we were looking for a church home and visited First Baptist Church Coppell, which is now GracePoint Church and a much larger facility. Here’s what their old sanctuary looked like, at least I’m pretty sure that’s it.
  
  Instead of tearing it down, someone was creative enough to turn it into a kids play area using the Biblical ark theme. It already somewhat resembled what one would think the inside of an ark would look like, it just needed a little “imagineering”. The place can be rented for events, and I attended a birthday party there on Saturday.
  
  I’m not a creationist or fundamentalist (that’s another conversation for another time, but shouldn’t surprise any of you), but I was impressed with the idea of how they transformed the old facility embracing the old structure.
  • In the second picture, the very back is for toddlers and has an underwater theme to it with a bunch of sea creatures. Personally, I thought they should have thrown in some drowned humans just to keep it real. In the story, God did wipe out all humans with the great flood and only saved Moses and his family.
  • Also, in the second picture, in the window, there’s a dove with an olive branch in its mouth, which I thought was a nice touch.
    • I love how the U2 song “Beautiful Day” references the ark story with these lines about peace and God’s rainbow promise:
      • And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
        After the flood all the colors came out
• Toilets were cheaper than I thought, we got one for $98 at The Home Depot. Now, I just have to install it.
• College Football Thoughts:
  • Louisville has one very impressive quarterback in Lamar Jackson, this run was a thing of beauty. I wonder if Chuck Strong has second thoughts leaving that program, but having Bobby Petrino as their coach doesn’t show the program really have high moral values.
    • Loved this Tecmo Bowl-inspired sign these fans made for Jackson.
    • Michael Vick says Louisville’s Lamar Jackson is much better than he was at Va. Tech
  • That catch by The Ohio State University Noah Brown was extremely impressive. It reminded me of this catch back in 2009.
    
  • I was surprised at the number of Buckeye fans at Oklahoma.
  • One of the analysts impressed me during the Texas/Cal game when he basically predicted a blocked punt, even naming the player who would do it.
  • I love how North Dakota State has built up their program over the years.
  • Oregon played at Nebraska and played it classy by laying flowers at the 27-yard line to honor a Nebraska player that died this summer. The player wore the number 27.
  • Baylor
    • I’m not a fan of college football being played on any other day than Saturday, especially on Friday nights, which should solely be reserved for high school football. So far, Baylor has played three games this year, two of them were on a Friday night.
    • Art Briles is like a turd that won’t flush. I understand his son and son-in-law are still on the Baylor coaching staff, but it’s odd for him to show up and sit in the stands considering he was fired by the university. It’s perplexing Baylor fans would give him a standing ovation, which shows delusion, as Briles was the loan football staff member blamed by the university.
    • The Rice band mocks Baylor for sexual assault scandal during halftime performance
      • I get the Rice band has a tradition of doing this, and they weren’t making fun of sexual assault but made fun of the people who enabled sexual assaults, but that was a poor way to represent your university.
    • This guy really must like RG3, but I wonder how he feels now  while the QB is divorcing his wife but dating another woman and already has her name tattooed on his arm. But then again, I too have put people on pedestals only to see them crash to the ground.
    • I rant on Baylor’s easy schedule, but I have no issue with them playing SMU and Rice. At least those have both regional and historical significance with the old SWC.
• I’m a fan of late night television, so I enjoyed this TIME article about late night talk shows and the election: The New Politics of Late Night – In a wild election with a ripe orange target, comics are ditching balance and taking sides
• This is a great phone accessory for a Trekkie – A Bluetooth ComBadge
  • Once connected, one touch answers/ends calls, plays/pauses audio, or accesses Siri, Google Now, or Cortana. And, of course, a touch plays that classic communicator sound effect.
• Buzzfeed – This Mom Pumped Breast Milk While Running A Half-Marathon
• At 7-foot-1 and 400 pounds, high school football player Brave Williams is larger than life – Senior at Lake Shore High School in Angola, N.Y., is bigger than any player in the NFL.
• FiveThirtyEight‏ – The TV Stars Who Were Only Great In One Role
• Surplus military Humvees for sale in San Antonio, across the U.S. for as low as $4k
• It just weird having the Emmys go against Sunday Night Football.
  • I was a big fan of the A-Team and Jeb Bush cameos in the opening last night.
  • Kimmel was a better than expected host, I thought he was great.
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus thanking her father, who died on Friday, was quite touching.
  • I have no idea what “rocks my chain” means but it cracked me up hearing it referenced so much last night.
  • How the miniseries became the coolest category in television

• Is it better to buy a new toilet at Home Depot or Lowe’s, or at a surplus store like Seconds and Surplus? But then again, it’s just a toilet, there’s really no need make this too complicated.
• I rarely drink alcohol, but my favorite drink is the Haymaker at Haystack Burger and Barley, it’s basically a citrusy whiskey slushie. To my surprise, they provided the Dallas Observer with the recipe which is rather simple, though it may be hard to duplicate their signature blended iced tea.
• In other Dallas Observer news, the included the Baker Hotel from my hometown of Mineral Wells in this list – 10 (More) Crazy Things To See Along Texas Highways, Explained [Thanks, J.C.!]
  • It states that in 1922, residents raised the initial $150,000 to build it. That’s the first I heard of that. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $2.14 million.
• In other Mineral Wells news, there’s going to be a Medal of Honor memorial ceremony on Saturday. I remember that monument when I was in high school, it was located at the high school but furthest from all other buildings and badly maintained. Glad to hear it got a deserved makeover.
• Random He-Man toyline tidbit –  profits fell from a peak of $400 million in United States sales alone in 1986 to a mere $7 million in 1987. 
• If I read this Star-Telegram article correctly, likely Texas voters view Sen. Ted Cruz more unfavorably than Trump, and Hillary is only two points higher.
• Armchair Political Pundit: Trump was on Dr. Oz and Fallon this week, even getting his hair messed with. That’s a lot of good exposure, more entertainment than political, which makes him more relatable or personable. Maybe the shake-up his campaign had in leadership recently is doing some good for the campaign. That’s taking advantage of Hillary being sidelined for most of the week. He was mostly reserved regarding her health when she was off the campaign trail recovering, which I think will help humanize him. Oh, and last night he stated he believes Obama was actually born in the U.S.
• Benjamin L. Corey – How Christian Fundamentalism Is Making A Concerning Comeback In America
  • American culture is currently experiencing what some, and now I, am calling New Wave Fundamentalism. The original fundamentalists stem from the early 20th Century, and was rooted largely in fear– fear over this new concept of evolution, fear that culture was growing too liberal, fear that the nation was drifting from God, and fear that it would all come crashing down if they didn’t take culture back.
  • Blogger Note: I neither condone or condemn his blog post, just thought some of y’all would find it interesting or something that may increase your blood pressure.
• High school girl gets nominated to be on the homecoming court, she shows up wearing a T-Rex costume and is the homecoming queen winner. She’s the homecoming queen America wants, needs, and deserves.
  
• The largest (Dallas Morning News) and second largest (Houston Chronicle) newspapers in Texas endorse the Libertarian candidate for Railroad Commissioner.
  • In case you were wondering: Top 10 Texas Daily Newspapers by Circulation or Top 10 Texas Daily Newspapers
• I bet this guy has been doing this for years just trying to get caught, and let me guess, he was listening to Huey Lewis – Man arrested for speeding in DeLorean at 88mph
• The Economist – Why Companies Make Their Products Worse – And why that’s a good thing for their customers.
• Scattershooting the other day wondering what ever happened to Billy Blanks 
  • The Fitness Gospel of Billy Blanks – Tae Bo was the ’90s workout of choice for soccer moms and celebrities alike. Twenty years later, its founder is hoping to win over a generation that has never heard of him
• Whataburger Fights DC Comics Over Wonder Woman Logo
  
• Study: San Antonio is the No. 1 ‘Cougar Town’ in the U.S.

• I like to think of myself as being handy around the house, but a plumber, I am not. Many of you would have identified the problem immediately, but at least this is a life lesson for me.
  • There’s a rusty spot on the tile beneath the toilet in our half bath. Anytime there’s been a problem with a toilet, I’d replace the flush valve and that would solve my problem. And since the rusty spot was right beneath the flush valve hole, I thought that was all I had to do, thinking some metal component rusted out.
  • I turn the shut-off water value from the wall off and remove the toilet tank hose or valve hose. It’s one of those cheap contractor grade hoses that’s made of brittle metal, like this one.
    
    Well, after installing the new flush valve inside the toilet tank, it turns out the toilet tank hose broke. Time to go to the hardware store and buy a replacement hose, albeit, and more flexible and sturdy one.
  • Since I have to replace the toilet tank hose, I decided to also replace the old shut-off water valve to a more convenient quarter-turn version. I had some trouble replacing it due to the existing compression ring, which I decided to reuse, but I got it done.
  • When I hook it all up and turn the water back on, I notice a drip from the tank. Further inspection shows a very rusty bolt which attaches the bowl to the tank. So all the work I did wasn’t warranted, I just needed to replace the bolts which connects the bowl and the tank. Time to make another run to the hardware store.
  • I replace the rusty bolts that hold the bowl and tank together, turn on the water, and spot a small leak. I ever so gently tighten the bolt, but then the porcelain tank cracks. I wasn’t gentle enough.
  • Research tells me my Crane toilet tank is a 3.5-gallon flush tank. All that is available today are 1.6. So I can’t just by a replacement tank.
  • Time to buy a new toilet, but I can’t decide if I should just hire a plumber (Any of you Ticket listeners have Randy Cody’s number?).  And while buying something as simple as a toilet should be easy, I’m going to over think it and compare all the different versions.
  • I told the family to avoid using the half bath. DaughterGeeding promptly made this sign and hung it on the door.
    
• In other toilet related news, Colin Powel’s son tried to sell his him a used toilet for $1,000.
• Without giving it a whole lot of thought, I’m willing to bet that if Colin Powel entered the presidential race today, he’d beat both Clinton and Trump in the popular vote. But I’m not sure how the Electoral College would turn out.
• I think I blacked out yesterday, and I wonder if it’s because of my new blood pressure medication. Yesterday was the first time I took it and then I worked out about two hours later, a moderate one in which I didn’t really push myself all that much. For my cool down, I stretch, and part of the routine is to hold a kettlebell over my head with both hands and lean back slightly arching my back. I never fell down, but all I know is that I lost my balance and for a few moments I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing. It was like waking up and not knowing where you are or the time or day.
• YouTube – Ellen and First Lady Michelle Obama Go to CVS
• The funniest line I heard on the season finale of ‘Better Late Than Never” when William Shatner decided to step in the ring with George Foreman was, “Punch him in the pacemaker!”
• Ah, South Park….

South Park fixes the National Anthem problem pic.twitter.com/hFP6PF1k3W

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) September 15, 2016