Welcome to my blog thingy!

Ok. I had a blog on the evil myspace which I will still keep but after veiwing some friends' blogs on this site I decided that I can do a better blog for myself here. I still plan on doing one on my myspace but it will be short and sweet where as this one may be long winded and deep. Keep in mind that even though I made good grades in school, my punctuation and spelling may not be perfect. At least I'm trying. These days it's almost if the written english language is an endangered species.
It's 3 A.M. and I have too many lights on in the house. I just had to clean up some cat vomit and I am not tired at all. Don't know why. Those who know me know that the moments where I can't sleep is a rare occasion. I will be paying for this tomorrow right about 5pm or so.
Let me allow myself to introduce.......myself.
I am a father of three beautiful children. One 16, one 5, and one 2. My oldest daughter is a sophmore at Glendale High School (which is where I went, jeesh...), and is a great artist and student. My son just started kindergarden. He is on the letter B. The youngest is our baby girl and she is 2 going on 10. She is at that perfect stage in life where one does not have to use the bathroom, (uses diapers), gets to play all day, food and drink is brought to her, and still gets carried around if needed. No worries in this one's life.
I am a schoolbus driver for Springfield Public Schools. I love the job. I haven't been as happy as I am now in work. My students are good kids and the schools I run for are very easy to work with. Field trips are awesome. For example I get to go to places like Wilson's Creek Battlefield for free and get paid at the same time. There are many other things like enjoying the weather, being out in the world not cooped up in an office or work station, and I see a lot of interesting things around town. The pay isn't the greatest but the freetime I get is worth it. My last job I worked as a welder at about 60 hours a week. I was cranky, tired, drinking more, and was cranky with my kids. I never saw the light of day sometimes due to lack of windows while I was breathing toxic fumes. I was sweating to make someone else richer. Now I am providing a service and maybe make a difference in some kids life. I am a positive contributor to society and that makes one feel good. Plus I have always wanted to be a trucker and this is the compromise.
For fun and an outlet I play guitar and sing for a metal band named Apnea. I have been doing music since 1990 and Apnea has been around since 2000. It's like I lead a double life. Mild mannered busdriver by day, angry growling metal madman by night. I can play a show opening for Lamb Of God playing for 500+ people and then the next day go about my regular business and no one's the wiser. Apnea's lyrics are about dealing with reality. No Satanism, no gore. My lyrics can be inspiring and depressing at the same time. Music is an artform and that's how we approach it. I am DRUG FREE and only drink on occasion. A lot of stereo types would think that just because I am in a band that I must be about the "sex, drugs and rock and roll WOO HOO!!" That's not the case. Stereo types are lame and must be abolished.
Most important thing about me is that I am the luckiest guy on this earth. No I didn't win the lottery....yet. Why am I lucky? Because of the beautiful woman I am married to. Ann is the greatest. She is an excellent mommy. She is what keeps me going forward in life and I would be lost without her. She completes me. Life would be nothing without her and the kids.
Ok enough mushy stuff. This is me. I titled this blogspot as Downtime for several reasons. Downtime is when one is resting or broken down. One can use this time to reflect on things in life which is what I plan to do here. Hopefully my stories will interest you. they will make you laugh and cry blah blah blah and all that other nonsense. Since I am a driver I will post on my downtime.