2019-12-30 21:27
Despite All Obstacles. I chose this name for my blog, one fitting to the life I lead, in 2009 when blogging was a hip new way to journal. I've since written over a thousand stori… Read More
Blog Directory > Arts & Entertainment Blogs > Despite All Obstacles arts-and-entertainment Blog >
Despite All Obstacles Blog
despiteallobstacles.blogspot.com
Tags:
christmas
truck
children
bank cards
birthday
tradition
credit cards
cielito lindo
lord
mayonaise
family issues, faith, outdoor adventures, art, nature, endurance racing, worldwide travel, food & spirits, tobbacco, and various hobbies
2019-12-02 15:20
Cash or card? Doesn't matter today, pay however you want. Whip out your Visa, your phone, hell... cryptocurrency. Well, back in the day, it wasn't like that. We had c… Read More
2019-12-02 14:04
There is a story that exists on Grandpa's (my Dad's) side of the family which was hotly debated until the time of Aunt Norma's death, end of summer 2018. The controversy ended then bec… Read More
2019-12-01 23:37
If there is a single song that reminds me of the carefree and joyful spirit of the people of Mexico, it is Cielito Lindo. This classic folk song, popularized for most Americans by Spee… Read More
2019-12-01 23:13
JUST ABOUT EVERY Christmas movie on the planet either displays or mentions mistletoe. However, I've never seen it sold, never seen it displayed, and never heard of anyone using it in a… Read More
2019-12-01 04:41
Thanksgiving Day is the Christmastime kickoff point in my household. All year long, Christmas movies, music, and decor are "forbidden" until that day... when everything erupts in a Willy Wo… Read More
2019-12-01 04:40
Bless the Lord, O My Soul! Driving. Texting. Smoking my seasonal pipe of 20 years. Ten mile visibility in all directions of this no-man's land... a chilly, empty, rain-swept desert. Tha… Read More
2019-12-01 04:39
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional1wFive years working out of an open-bed truck in the heart of the oilfield, parked outside of every restaurant, hotel, apartment compl… Read More
2019-12-01 04:37
2019-12-01 04:35
Four strangers, all brothers, met at the American Legion in Eunice, NM last night to bring in the birthday. From left to right, Matt, Dillon, Jeremy and myself. House was pretty packed des… Read More
2019-12-01 04:33
Happy 244th Birthday, Marines! Will join you for beer and cake this Sunday, at some bar, somewhere. Semper Fi! You're still looking great! [Image: Long-awaited water resupply, CAX 2000… Read More
2019-12-01 04:31
No secret that I'm stoked about the career path of my eldest Joshua, who next week becomes fifth-gen father-to-son military man, and tenth in the family to serve. I'm now proud to report th… Read More
2019-12-01 04:29
Son Joshua is in his final hours of The Crucible @ Parris Island. In seven hours, they'll hand him the coveted insignia of one of America's last He-Man clubs. Congratulations, Marine. I'm… Read More
2019-12-01 04:28
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional1moWell West Texas / New Mexico, if you worked Morning Tour you know all too well that we had our first frost of the year, and it was… Read More
2019-12-01 04:26
Transmission rebuilds make me cringe. Had my Corvette's transmisssion rebuilt in Virginia, my Dodge RAM's tranny done by a shop in Pennsylvania, and my Chevy 2500's rebuilt by Ronnie Smith… Read More
2019-12-01 04:24
Nothing creates workplace discord like hiring a stranger over tens or hundreds of loyal workers who are eligible applicants. The problem is you. As the person who hires, you have failed to… Read More
2019-12-01 04:23
Ended a short-lived business venture today, after turning down the last call. '69 Shine was a trial business started for my son and his friend, entailing hashtag#mobilecarcare on drilling… Read More
2019-12-01 04:21
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional1moGood Morning, LinkedIn Professionals! Just a quick reminder (for myself as well as you): get some rest! When your body has had i… Read More
2019-12-01 04:20
It's that time again. Round-trip flight to Villahermosa from Midland: $1,762 w/ tax. From Dallas (5 hours away): $932 w/ tax. From Juarez (4 hours away): $168.17 w/tax. I could fly ro… Read More
2019-12-01 04:19
Pumping the Brakes... Business lunch with a client today at hashtag#TwinPeaks in hashtag#Odessa, a trendy Hooters-like chain restaurant known for its busty all-female staff in short shorts… Read More
2019-12-01 04:17
I'm not a Texan. I'm a 55-country vagabond who has also been to every U.S. State save Washington & Oregon. I can tell you that courteous drivers are found in Knoxville, abundant beauti… Read More
2019-12-01 04:16
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional1moHelluva week. "All in," the last seven full days have torn down & repaired a top drive, top head, two power wrenches, two comp… Read More
2019-12-01 04:14
Imagine a job where advancement is rapid and the pay is incredible... but every five-to-ten years, you willingly trade in your senior management title, healthy six-figures and company vehicl… Read More
2019-12-01 04:13
When did job requirements become so complicated? Like most of us, I thumb through online job opportunities on occasion, usually a couple few times a year. I've noticed a growing trend that… Read More
2019-12-01 04:10
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional2moMissing from your job: recognition. Monday, I'm sending out first wave of Rig Angel letters of appreciation / recognition. Barel… Read More
2019-12-01 04:08
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional2moQuite possibly, the oldest West Texas oil storage tank in use. Made out of wood! Tried to build an oak wine barrel once... leaked… Read More
2019-12-01 04:04
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional2moIn Q4, Rig Angel will be distributing Certificates of Appreciation to all individuals and companies who have positively contributed… Read More
2019-12-01 04:02
Status is onlineMatty SpeightsOil & Gas Professional2mo • EditedDear Mr. Rig Manager, Your IDS-350 Top Drive is still in bypass. You listened to your electrical guru on the phone… Read More
2019-12-01 03:46
So, the 'OK' symbol is now under fire for being a symbol of hate. Rainbows belong to gays, prom dresses must be 'culturally appropriate', and now goodwill hand gestures and fugly 'bowl cuts… Read More
2019-12-01 03:43
Here are the [internet] facts. I'm rounding the numbers; call me out for sources: U.S. ratio of women to men is 1:1. Men comprise ~67% of the workforce. Women own ~37% of all businesses… Read More
2019-09-07 15:09
For two solid months, the temperature in West Texas remained over 100 Fahrenheit, usually around 105. One day, it reached 110... with a heat index in the 130's. What keeps people… Read More
2019-09-07 14:21
Refrigerators... should be the size of pantries, and vice versa. Then we will have more room for fresh foods (veggies, dairy, meats, juices) and less room to store snacks (chips &… Read More
2019-07-03 21:13
Jolina and Cara are playing 'pretend' or make-believe. Cara says, "Let's be grown-ups now... I don't always just wanna be a puppy." Read More
2019-06-26 01:43
One evening in March, I stopped by to check in on Joe. He had a guest—some other old homeless guy who was sitting by the fire with his shoes off, warming his feet. I walked… Read More
2019-06-26 01:41
Joe and I were picking up parts from a warehouse with a big awning in the front. “This-a remind me ofa my grand-a-fatha house.” He said. “Back inna Italy… Read More
2019-06-26 01:39
Since October of last year, I have had the pleasure of knowing Giuseppe “Joe” Figliola—aka Homeless Joe—and his little dog, Roscoe. Joe and I have shared many m… Read More
2019-06-26 01:34
In exactly one month, I will celebrate my company’s five-year anniversary. For much of the first year, and for most of the last year, I’ve been running solo, fixing literal… Read More
2019-06-26 01:32
About a month ago, I was driving to the Fort Davis Wilderness in Texas, to see if I could spy one of their abundant mountain lions to reach out and touch with my Nikon. Didn’t se… Read More
2019-06-26 01:31
When it comes to contact lenses, I feel the world of long-term wearers are lemmings, just sailing off of cliffs with no thought to what will become of their eyes. Hear me out.I had poo… Read More
2019-06-26 01:29
In my mind, this is a Depeche Mode-style song:Everyone has got the answerUncle Melvin’s tea cures cancerDoc says no and Doc says yesWhich one’s right? You’ll have to… Read More
2019-06-26 01:28
After years of urging her to kick it off, Petra finally started her small, home-based business of belly, beard, and baby balms. Starting with her staple, a smooth, amiably-scented bell… Read More
2019-06-26 01:27
…Are almost nonexistent… maybe once or twice a decade. Thankfully, the notion of skipping work and school, cozying up, and watching movies all day is still a reality in W… Read More
2019-06-26 01:26
I remember the first time I tried to grow an avocado. I was a kid, living in Germany. I placed a toothpick in each side of an avocado seed, rested the toothpicks on the mouth of… Read More
2019-06-26 01:25
It kicked off with the gifts of (1) a custom tee that Petra had made for me, which reads “King Daddy,” and (2) a custom coffee mug that reads “My Daddy!” written in d… Read More
2019-06-26 01:23
Really gonna miss Josh. They don’t tell you how lonely you feel in the pit of your stomach, knowing that one of your kids is leaving the house. Even though I’m rarely… Read More
2019-06-26 01:22
“Where do I put all my stuff?” asked Josh. “What do you mean, Son?” “Well I’m leaving for boot camp next month, and Lily’s taking my roo… Read More
2019-06-26 01:21
Jolina was sick to her stomach. “I think I’m about to throw up,” she says. Momma: “I’ll get you a bowl.” Cara: “Or you… Read More
2019-06-26 01:20
About two weeks ago, Cara stood on the scale in Momma’s bathroom. She looked down at the numbers, then up and away, frustrated. “Ugh!” She exclaimed as sh… Read More
2019-06-26 01:19
Today… is the first day of the rest of my life. I want to write. I need to write. The stories of this life, of the lives of those I love, are passing with incredible… Read More
2019-05-07 20:09
Years ago, I found this little guy stuck to the newly-epoxied warehouse floor. The floor had been dried for days, and he had presumably been there since. I used a razor blade to… Read More
2018-11-19 14:06
Wow, this is my thousandth post on this blog. I started in 2009, wiped it clean and shut it down in 2011 after a potential child abduction scare, then kicked it back off later in 2011… Read More
2018-11-19 14:01
This is a memory etched deeply. The girls making silhouettes on the fence in the backyard, at the Clover Trace house in Spring, TX, in the Spring of 2015. Here's the art in progr… Read More
2018-11-19 13:53
Daddy & Baby Cara, Outback Steak House, Houston area, March 2015:Step 1: Wait for the right window... wait for a distractionStep 2: Avoid the fickle fingers of catastrophe… Read More
2018-11-19 13:43
2018-11-19 13:35
Gotta love West Texas. There are cattleguards everywhere, heading down every lease road--basically just parallel sticks of metal pipe that run over a finished ditch or culvert across t… Read More
2018-11-02 08:52
I was motivated, I was driven. Educated. Physically, morally, and spiritually fit. Though I still have purpose in this life, it is largely responsibility-driven; had I no r… Read More
2018-11-02 08:20
I love salt. Put it on everything. I keep a standard 26-oz. salt container in the truck to sprinkle on everything healthy. I can catch a manufacturer's sodium reduction jus… Read More
2018-11-02 08:07
I remember, Mom. I must've been six years old. No... seven. You cried for days after losing him. Noreen Cooper came over and brought you food. Stayed and cooked… Read More
2018-10-06 03:56
Ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you I'm no fan of West Texas. I prefer terrain--elevation and relief--and water and trees in abundance. This arid, drab-colored land sap… Read More
2018-10-03 19:58
With all this hype about the Brett Kavanaugh case, major media outlets have tunneled their vision and ignored other stories of broader national interest.One of these stories is far graver th… Read More
2018-08-19 18:08
Yesterday we packed up for a day trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas. It was really cool! At this National Natural Landmark, you can walk the paths of three di… Read More
2018-08-12 05:05
Humped that five-gallon gas can ten miles each way. Passed by a hundred trucks or more. Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico. Rest Stop Guy Walking His Dog: "No, I can't giv… Read More
2018-08-12 04:06
Had a really rough couple days. No sleep, lots of walking with a gas can, failed fuel pump, limping home a couple miles at a time. Not one single person in two days and nights ha… Read More
2018-08-08 05:48
Just got back from a long-awaited summer road trip! Here are the highlights, in 28 photos:And we're off! No phones allowed on this trip, except to take pictures. After thre… Read More
2018-07-04 13:53
Here are the latest quotes and 'isms' from Casa Speights:Ayla: "What are those birds that try to eat you when you're sleeping?" "Oh yeah, never mind." "Vultures."Ayla: &hell…Read More
2018-06-21 15:14
"That's not poop," exclaimed Jolina, offended. "That's Mr. Chocolate Ice Cream Man!" Read More
2018-06-21 15:08
"Raise your hands!" -- Cara, every time a song from the movie Trolls is playing"Happy Birthday, Cara!" Cara's enthusiastic response: "Happy Birthday!!"Momma: "Jolina… Read More
2018-06-02 14:53
This week, the kids got out of school and I blew the dust off their kiddie pool. Set it up in the backyard on Wednesday.Side note: kiddie pools have changed a lot since the 70's… Read More
2018-05-30 13:23
"C'mon Care Bear, time to take a bath!" "Yay," she says. "Daddy, can you make lots'n lotsa bubbles? "Yes Baby, sure can." "Yay, bubbles!!" "Daddy, can you be Santa?"… Read More
2018-04-23 18:20
Well, it's finally time for shirts and hats. This July will mark four years in business, making just shy of a million a year in service labor between myself, Maria, and a couple other… Read More
2018-04-23 18:05
Media sources everywhere report overwhelming support and advocacy of video games. Included in this blanket support is the projection of a popular "study-based" or "proven" opinion that… Read More
2018-04-22 16:10
Two nights ago, Maria and I were driving from State Line Road to 300, headed back to the apartment after a long job. On the side of the road was a dead calf... not uncommon on this ope… Read More
2018-04-17 13:50
"Higher, Daddy!!" Cara taunted me to push her higher. She was already swinging higher than my own comfort zone. "Higher!" So I told her, "Babydoll, I don't want to pu… Read More
2018-04-16 21:32
Last week, Josh & Caleb each took their first CLEP test. Caleb took College Math, and Joshua took U.S. History. Neither of the boys were ready for the test. I simply wa… Read More
2018-04-03 16:34
Jolina and I are enjoying some rare cool and overcast weather on the back patio today. The next door neighbor's chicken must've laid an egg, because she started clucking in that manner… Read More
2018-04-02 20:14
Jolina is five years old. She reads and spells everything. I mean everything. We have seven kids, and so far, Jolina is the brightest kid we've ever encountered at that age… Read More
2018-04-02 20:09
Yesterday was Easter. Speights + Easter = Speaster. And April Fool's Day. Really could have had fun with that, if I'd tried to. But we were too busy having fun… Read More
2018-03-01 00:46
My mom was a quote-unquote Refried Jesus Wheezer. The oldest daughter of eleven children, she broke away from a traditional middle-class Catholic tradesmen family to go gung-ho for Jes… Read More
2018-02-28 23:46
I'm not really intending to pick on any movie theater chain in particular. It's simply that I am SO EXCITED to learn that a theater group in Mexico is allowing people to bring their ow… Read More
2018-02-28 15:32
One of Cara's Christmas presents last year was a set of stackable wooden dolls made popular by Russia. Maria ordered the blank wooden dolls from a Chinese website, and I painted them… Read More
2018-02-28 15:20
Watching the Today Show this morning, I learned that 'modern medical science' has revealed that egg yolks and real butter are actually okay to eat! You idiots. Egg yolks have alw… Read More
2018-02-28 15:10
The only arrowheads I have ever owned--two of them--were given me by my uncle Ken. He told me when I was young that they were from his father, and since he didn't have a son, that he w… Read More
2018-02-18 23:32
We've heard it all our lives. It's been spun fifteen ways from Sunday. The drivers of two similar vehicles nonchalantly trade waves of the hand in passing. "It's a Jeep thi… Read More
2018-02-18 23:17
And Now...The long-awaited answer to that question, the one that has pummeled your soul for countless nights, ever since the day that you dedicated your life to unlocking the mysteries of th… Read More
2018-02-18 21:00
In 2009, when I first started blogging, I ranted about how confounded I was that our society--as a conglomerate of ever-demanding consumers--was restricted in ordering delivery food to only… Read More
2018-01-29 19:43
The first time I dabbled with making a chess set, I was locked up. I was one of the four lucky bastards among the Long Term Prisoners at the Camp Lejeune Brig who, during the latter pa… Read More
2018-01-29 17:46
There's something deep inside my soul that 'clicks' whenever Christmastime comes around. I blow the dust off my old pipe, sit back with my notebook and scribble down gift ideas... that… Read More
2018-01-29 16:56
I need help. Much like my buddy Mac, who, when asked about his interests, replies "I collect hobbies..." I am a very much a hobby collector. A collector of collections. One… Read More
2018-01-29 16:09
Yesterday we went fishing. Cara never tired of throwing rocks in the water--which, by the way, is a great strategy for getting fish to bite--and Jolina, God bless her, was collecting p… Read More
2018-01-29 15:43
Just found out on the Today Show that Chihuahuas are the second-most euthanized dogs in America. They didn't mention which breed of dog topped the list... my money's on the Pierr… Read More
2018-01-29 15:33
Originally Posted on Saturday, December 16th, 2017 @ 10:30 AM. Problem with Blogger app on phone caused this post to show "Published" when it in fact did not. As if you care… Read More
2018-01-19 18:36
Spotted near College Station, Texas... a great spot for family photos in the springtime Read More
2017-11-20 21:21
This is an almost identical re-enactment of a photo Daddy took of Momma 17 years ealier in the Florida KeysLove these old painted signsHammock sitter on the upper deck. He's got the ri… Read More
2017-11-20 21:04
2017-11-20 21:03
2017-11-20 17:27
Houston house, March 2014: Lily reading Little Owl's Night to Jolina and Pinky Bear Read More
2017-11-19 14:32
I was looking back over my blog to see where I'd left off. So many things have happened over the past few years, I doubt I'll ever be able to catch up. Among other things, this b… Read More
2017-11-19 11:46
These are some pics of Ayla back in Houston, age 4-6 Read More
2017-11-19 11:36
I found a list of blog stories and photos that I never published. @ Daddy's Window... This one is about "my favorite window... the one with the most beautiful view." These p… Read More
2017-10-07 04:19
Not gold, but only men can make a nation great and strong. Men who, for truth and honor's sake, stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep, who dare while… Read More
Subscribe to Despite All Obstacles
Get updates delivered right to your inbox!