Monday, January 31, 2011

Getting A Laugh

People need to laugh, especially at the start of the day. There's a sure fire method and it's not insulting, sarcastic or invasive. Being the semi-forward person I am with 'newbies'-----oh heck-------quite forward when meeting 'newbies', I've come across a method to emote smiles and chuckles and you can do it too.
When you're at the check out line at the grocery store and there's a woman(has to be a woman) behind or in front of you waiting on another customer try this. Question? What do all people do while waiting? Yep! They scan the magazine racks and look at the covers of People, Us, whatever. The flavors of the month right now have a picture of Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock. The heading for Ms. Witherspoon reads: "Another Chance At Love". After a few moments casually turn to the lady and say, "Did you hear about Reese Witherspoon? She has another chance at love". Or, on Sandra Bullock: "Did you hear about Sandra Bullock". She was stabbed in the back, again". I promise they'll laugh every time. I've done this for a few months now and it' fail safe.
You see, youngsters wouldn't get it. A twenty-year old with a hot babe behind them would utter something like; "How you doin'"?
That's too forward and a wall would be erected immediately. With age comes wisdom.
Anyway, the lady this morning laughed heartily at my comment and as I was leaving said, "You have a great day, Sir".
So, the next time your at your favorite grocery try it. I promise you'll make someone's life better at least for awhile.

Nobody Cares

Lizzie went to the pool yesterday afternoon. I decided to hit some golf balls then join her later. It's a nifty pool for the community along with a hot tub AND no little crumb crushers running around screaming.
Okay guys! Have you ever been to the beach? I mean a real beach, one where all inhibitions are out the door from the female side. The beaches where swimsuit sizes are determined by the number of square inches of fabric worn. Regardless of what we tell the wives guys, all guys, oggle the fairer sex. If they say they don't they're damned liars or homo's.
Well, in our pool yesterday, I oggled Lizzie.
This is what I noticed about the men and their attire. Nobody cares! Men actually walked in and around the pool topless. Manboobs flopped aimlessly up, down and around. The last time I saw this type of action these things had tassels on them and a guy wasn't wearing them. I would never have the courage to don a swimsuit that rode to the crotch with gobs of tummy fat hanging over but, and you guessed, nobody cared!
If it seems I'm on this aging thing more frequently than ever it's because I am. It's a part of going through another one of life's phases. Not caring. Quoting Martin Luther King; "I may get there some day, to the promised land. I'm not there yet but it'll happen", or words to that effect.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Perfect Formula



hat tip to iOwnTheWorld

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Laid Back

For those who visit the land of alligators, flamingos and pelicans, Florida is a special retreat. It can also be somewhat 'lazy'. It's more of an attitude than an action. This may sound flip to northerners but 'lazy' can mean doing the same thing nearly every day; blue skies and temps in the 70's. Our weathermen tell us it's going to be chilly for the next few days. Their idea of chilly is 65 degrees.
I was correct about the traffic. There's a lot of it. We're located just west of I-75 in western Florida. Running parallel to I-75 is Highway 41 or as it's more commonly referred, The Tamiani Trail. It's a bumper to bumper highway that runs from Tampa to Miami. The best part of it is when it turns left at Marco Island and shoots east through the Everglades.

Lizzie and I have discovered a nifty coffee shop in Port Charlotte. The proprietor and his wife and son left Yorkshire, England three years ago and migrated here. Aside from his engaging accent he makes the best scones and Scottish bread.

Yesterday we hooked up with some delightful friends from the Columbus area. They winter here and it's easy to see why. The best way to describe them is contented. That's a great way to be when one is in their mid-sixties.

We're staying a gated community in a condo owned by my former boss. It's made us feel a whole lot better about our station in life. Every Monday evening there's a first run movie shown in the clubhouse. On Tuesday a man played thirty different instruments for the hour concert. The best part of the evening: We were the youngest couple there. Lizzie was by far the best looking lady in attendance. I figured some these old codgers would be hitting on her all night.

Tomorrow we'll go to Mass. That's always an experience as you know. It takes forty minutes to go through the list of all the parishoners who passed away the previous week.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

On A Personal Note

It's not often a person has the opportunity to celebrate their sixty-fifth birthday. In looking at the obits lately I've noticed that fact. Yesterday, I had the realization that 'I've arrived'. Last night we went to dinner with my former boss. I was asked how I felt. "Well, I'm on Medicare, Social Security and I'm still good lookin'", I said. In unison Lizzie and The Boss stated, "Two out of three ain't bad".
Without getting into the intimate details, it was a perfect day; a number of birthday cards, email greetings, a fine meal at an authentic Italian restaurant and a personalized birthday cake. Brad Pitt never had it so good.
Here is the topper: being sung to with perfect pitch, "Happy Birthday to you", from my almost four year old granddaughter. Then, having each of your grandchildren offer their happiest wishes in only the way under seven year olds can accomplish.
Of all 65 yesterday was the most perfect while I've been on this earth. Ten thousand people in Vegas should be so lucky.

Health Care Waviers: Not For Everyone

One month ago there were 222 waviers given to companies who wanted to opt out of the devastating healthcare plan of the libs and Obama. As of today that list has grown to 733. Click on the attachment to see if you are one of these lucky folks. Chances are fairly good you didn't make the cut. Chances are more than good many union operations did.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Curb Your Enthusiasm

By now you're aware about how I feel about the Socialist-in-Chiefs SOTU message. Everything was done to keep from watching. However, it's impossible to switch channels going from the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on channel 14 to NCIS reruns on 16 without hitting on number 15. How long does it take to click through channel 15; possible a second and a half. This is what I heard: "We passed tax cuts". Lie number 1. There were no tax cuts. They were an extension of the Bush Plan. Lie number 2 and I've heard this since I started paying attention to these things: "We need to have better education to keep up the other nations who are leaving us behind". i.e. Throw billions more at a failed system.
Let me offer a couple of solutions to our education system. (1) Fire lousy, ill-informed teachers. Heaven knows I wasn't the Einstein of the classroom when I first entered the field but I tried to improve. Superintendent's need to eliminate the yokels who give the profession a bad name. This, in itself, may be an impossibility as long as unions control the schools. (2) Blow up inner city schools. Offer trade schools that teach reading, writing and arithmetic. Inner city high schools are and should not be college preparatory. (3) Have a dress code and adhere to it. (4) And, finally, keep pissin' money down a rat hole because as long as our culture is one of MTV, drugs, sex, low ridin' pants and foul mouthed punks nothing is going to happen of a positive nature. "Hey! I'm a realist, not an innovator"!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Born Alive Infant Protection Act

As a reminder in the event you forgot: As an Illinois senator Barack Obama voted that any child who survived a botched abortion should be left to die. No 'unnecessary' methods should be used to keep the child alive.
Since the 1973 Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade there have been 50 million abortions in the United States. Fifteen million three hundred thousand of these children have been Black babies and ten million of these were of Hispanic heritage. Laws won't change the situation. What needs to be done is change the hearts and minds.

What Assassination Attempt?

The American Thinker brings us word of an attempted assassination you probably have never heard of.

It happened in September of 2010 in Missouri. A 22 year old named Casey Brezik, wearing a bullet proof vest, charged toward Missouri’s Democratic Governor Jay Nixon with a knife and attempted to slash his throat.

In light of the media’s race to talk about the right’s climate of hateful rhetoric, you have probably guessed by now that Casey Brezik was an anti-Christian, anti-capitalist leftist who participated in a number of leftwing protests. He was also a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic.

Luckily for all involved, Brezik was high on pot at the time and got confused. Instead of slashing the Governor’s throat, he slashed the throat of a community college dean he took for the Governor.

Jack Cashill, writing at the American Thinker, notes

In his “About Me” box on Facebook, Brezik listed as his favorite quotation one from progressive poster boy, Che Guevara. The quote begins “Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism” and gets more belligerent from there.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Florida Diary, Day 3

Talk about a boring ho-hum drive down to Florida-----except for the following. It must have been a year ago when I wrote; stupidity and carelessness fuel our economy. I am the king of carelessness. Most humans enjoy feeling clean and refreshed when beginning a journey. That involves a morning shower and that's exactly what I did. As I pulled the towel into the shower I reminded myself to watch out for my glasses that fell to the floor. If we had been playing a game of Clue it would have been MJ did it the bathroom with the towel. Sixty seconds after the commission of the crime I stepped out onto the bathroom floor and heard the 'crunch' sound under my foot. It wouldn't have been quite so upsetting if these were glasses were purchased from Ben Franklin but they were only two days old. Is it a case of the cup being half full or half empty? I only destroyed one lens. You decide.

People in Tennessee do wear shoes. What they don't do is fix the potholes on I-75 through the entire state. My Mazda played dodge 'em for 178 miles. At the very least we left the snow of Ohio and Kentucky in the rear view mirror.

Lizzie and I did have one minor problem. We stopped at a Florida tourist center in Georgia at mile marker two. I only went in since I had to use the latrine but they didn't have one. Across the alley was a combo Dairy Queen and TA gas station. Lizzie came along, too. It's always necessary to buy the obligatory coffee after using the men's room. That sounds sort of silly, doesn't it; buy coffee after one gets rid of coffee. Why not purchase a salt lick instead? Regardless, in the car we jumped and away we went into Florida. About an hour later, Lizzie said, "I think I left my purse in the ladies room at the gas station". She did. Back we went and with the help of the Georgia State Police, the county sheriff's department and a kindly lady at the service station Lizzie retrieved her purse, credit cards and $400 in cash. We were happy as was the nice young girl who received a big time reward.
Guys! Think quick on this one. What would you have said to your spouse? Well, if you have my track record for the last forty-one years you say, "Honey, it could happen to anyone". Then you block it from your memory forever. If Lizzie kept a daily diary, 365 days for forty-one years there would be foul ups so huge God couldn't make it right. Heck! I sacrificed my glasses with a foot stomp only twenty-four hours earlier. I know of what I speak.

Today is Sunday, January 23rd. Today is the day my one and only daughter turns forty.

But, and you know I love Sunday church stories and today's is a dandy.
A women, bleached blond, fiftyish, sat next to me. Have you ever seen those steel thermal coffee cups with a sip hole at the top? This gal brought one to Mass and drank her coffee during the service. Her husband/boyfriend had his arm around her nearly the entire hour rubbing up and down her arm. Do you know what I wanted to say? "Get a room"! But I didn't.
I need to focus more on the Mass than what's going on around me. Blinders could be the perfect solution.

So, that's my mini-diary for the last three days. Nothing great but a couple of tidbits worth mentioning. I can hardly wait for tomorrow.

Fox Hires Olbermann



from Gateway Pundit

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Calling Joe Biden



Who, at the White House, is in charge of these things? The President of China, HU,HU, HU, not Chu, has to be thinking: "and we're worried about these clowns".
Yes, every computer in China zeroing in on the White House web site will see a slight form of disrespect. It'd be like Obama going to China and their web spelling his name, "dumb ass".

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Going South


Unless something spectacular happens between today and Friday this might be my last post for a few days. We're driving to Ft. Myers, Florida for nine days then shoot up to Destin in the panhandle for a month. I have no doubt that there's excitement awaiting MJ. A walk on the beach waters may lead to an encounter with a Portuguese Man 'O War. "Ouch" for me ahead of time.
Ft. Myers is fun except for one thing; driving. It's population is composed of more elderly than the rest of the 49 states combined. A few years ago I was standing on a street corner on Hwy 41, The Tamiani Trail when a policeman approached. I posed a question to him, "Sir, I noticed in Collier County last year 249 people were killed in car accidents. Why is that". "Elderly drivers", he said. This I understand.
Sixteen years ago my 88 year old father-in-law was visiting us in Davenport, Iowa. He was at a busy intersection making a left turn. Oldsters get into more accidents that the US population combined when attempting this maneuver. My Dad-in-law was a serious collision but survived. From that time forward, until he passed away at age 95, he planned his driving itinerary. If he had to go six blocks to the grocery store he never made a left turn; always made a right one. The trip took a lot longer but it was, indeed, much safer.

Lizzie and I would love to stay in southern Florida for the winter but--it's--too--expensive! A condo will run 4K for a month. Since I'm a cheapskate we've found Destin to be more to our liking; nice condo on the beach, golf course 100 yards from our place for $1,300 per month. In Destin one always takes a chance on the weather but I can handle the 60 degree average temperature for February.

After our sojourn I will be heading out to the old homestead of Boone, Iowa. Readers may know a little about it from my writing but to get a better handle why not google the community. There's a lot to do there, if you've been in a gulag your entire life.

Have a wonderful winter, Y'all. Check in daily if you will. I'll be taking notes. We will be driving through Tennessee on our way down. That's always interesting. People tell me they are now wearing shoes.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Slammin' Sarah

In the last week Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty and Chris Christie have given sweet Sarah the 'what for'. They say she should think before she speaks. You know what this means, don't you? They're running for President.If Palin's 'in the cross hairs'(I couldn't help it) of anyone it's a dead(sorry, again) giveaway their hats in the ring.

As long as I'm on the subject I think I've figured out why liberal men hate Mrs. Palin. Take Richard Cohen of the Washington Post, please. Cohen, last week on television stated, "how much time do we have left to talk about how stupid she is"? He's as handsome as a two legged Komodo Dragon. Never in his life would he have been able to get a date with her.
About liberal woman: Sarah has it all; has a handsome husband who is an outdoors man. Ms. Palin has no fear of picking up night crawlers. She can hunt, fish, was an all-state basketball player. A guy wouldn't be afraid to take her to a baseball game. Liberal women would want to know when the quarterback was going to come in and pitch. This all makes sense to me. Sarah Palin is the real package. The old bags are jealous.

It was unintended that a link was going to be included in the piece but I came across an article in the American Thinker the author gives on why Sarah P. is hated. Some coincide with my thoughts. The author is a reformed liberal and gives many logical insights on reasons for the hatred.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies? There isn't anything better. Lately, I've been on a chocolate chip cookie frenzy. If Lizzie doesn't have any lying around the house I'll cheat by tearing open the semi-sweet Toll House bag she tries to hide. When it comes to finding those little bell shaped treats I've got a nose like a bloodhound. Things have been getting even more serious for me. I've waited for her to hit the hay then I raid the freezer to snag the cookie dough. I sinned big time two nights ago by eating what I knew she was saving for the grandchildren so they could have their treats when they visited. The very last luscious lump of dough slid down the gullet and I said, "Oh oh, I'm cooked". "What to do", I thought? Then I remembered. Papa Murphy's Pizza store sells cookie dough so, the next morning, I jumped in the car and drove to the pizza shop and bought a container just in time to save a monster chewing out.

Then, tonight, I came across this story. It's funny, most especially if you enjoy CCC's the way I do:

An elderly man lay dying in his bed.

In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen.

Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven. There, spread out upon newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table, landing on his knees in a rumpled posture. His parched lips parted; the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth; seemingly bringing him back to life.

The aged and withered hand, shockingly made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.

"Stay out of the those", she said.

"They're for the funeral".

Surprise! Loughner Hated GWB

Why, this is surprising. Jared Loughner hated George W. Bush and considered him to be the man behind the 9/11 disaster. The vaunted New York Times has the story but the Washington Examiner lets us know about it. The Old Grey Lady hid the story in the 43rd paragraph of a Loughner story.

Irritatingly, the Right seems to be on the defense allowing the Markos Moulitsas crowd at the Daily Kos determine the agenda.

"If they bring a knife we'll bring a guy". That's what Obamaminski said about his enemies(Republicans). Dammit! My wish is the Pooblicans would bring a howitzer.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

She's Only A Child


In this case you can call me an old 'fuddyduddy' but don't ya' think seventeen is a tad bit young to be named Miss America? Teresa Scanlan, from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, who will become eighteen on Feb. 6, was crowned that in Las Vegas last night. The emcee, Bert Parks, placed the crown on her head as he has previously done for every other winner since 1921. Oops! Wrong guy. I don't know who emceed since I didn't watch the show. While TV surfing I did see a couple of derrieres walk in front of the screen then I switched back to NCIS reruns. I say this in all seriousness, watching the Miss America Pageant presents the same allure and excitement as if I was watching one of those five year old beauty jokes of a show. You know the ones: Mom weighs 50,000 pounds, has her hair in a bouffant style of the 1960's and is yelling at the child about acting like an adult.

Back to reality------what can a seventeen year old know about the world? The highlight of her life has to be the night she necked in the back seat of her dad's car with the captain of the football team. Do you think she still uses Play-Doh? I'm fairly certain she's reached puberty. C'mon, I'm not that old and out of it.
I remember when I was seventeen. I bought tons of Clearasil and Stridex.
Teresa baby was home schooled until her sophomore year so most certainly she knows Lincoln is the state capitol-----maybe!

All of this Miss this and Miss that are off the wall. Ever watch the Mrs. America contest? the winner is usually around 29 and childless, having never heard of a stretch mark.

Lizzie and I have four granddaughters. I pray that they grow up to be nice and nice looking. As for drop dead gorgeous; uh-huh!

So, good luck to Teresa Scanlan. Here's hoping this honor will allow you to have 'line cuts' in the cafeteria and be elected to the Student Council the second semester of your senior year.

God's Way

Life goes on. Sitting at the computer this morning and my thoughts are with our neighbor's and dear friend's. Their son, forty-one years old, was taken off a ventilator at a local hospital an hour ago. It will be up to him and his body if life goes on. Lizzie and I have discussed what we would do if one of our children was in the same situation. It's easy to think we have the right answer now but until you've been there.....! Thankfully, we don't have to make the choice.
Our friend's found their son, unconscious, in his bed two days ago. The young man has had some health issues over the years so his parents have hesitantly prepared themselves for this day.
I'm not as sad as I thought I'd be and here's why. I've written about our friends before. They are God fearing Baptists. They not only know the Bible they practice it in their daily lives. The wife is one of my heroines. She has had two different bouts with cancer; one ovarian and the other with breast cancer. Never once, not one single time, did she ever complain or say, "why me"? When she was sick she smiled, told jokes and praised the Lord for the blessings she received. She is living the life the way God expects us to do.
It must be horrible for a mother to lose a son; a perfect human being formed inside of hers.
This lady, through her personal suffering and mental anguish, has prepared herself for this day, regardless
of whether her son lives or dies.
For we who believe, the exact situation occurred two thousand years ago. A mother, a son, life, death----eternal reward.
It may be a very sad day. My heart aches for our friends.
The faith of the husband and wife will save them.
Praise the Lord!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Let Me Understand

Let me understand this: Oil is nearing a hundred dollars a barrel but we have the reserves available domestically to last hundreds of years if we were allowed to drill.
Food prices are skyrocketing.
Joe Biden told the American people patriotism is determined by the amount of taxes we pay even though the administration is full of tax cheats!.
Social security benefits for the elderly remained the same; no inflation, remember?
And, the working middle class is about to pay for a health care system that will destroy the best in the world. That same system is the one members of congress and over 200 companies are allowed to opt out on.

And this administration wants to focus on civil discourse. Yeah right!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Administration Gave Away T-Shirts

The “Together We Thrive” T-shirts that starred at Wednesday’s Arizona "Memorial’ originated from Organizing for America, a sad fact unearthed by The Drumbeat of Liberty and the Preservation of Freedom editor and Canada Free Press (CFP) columnist Robert Rohlfing. In the controversy of the pep rally/rock concert style Memorial for those who lost their lives in Saturday’s Arizona tragedy, the mainstream media reported that the “Together We Thrive: Tucson & America” T-shirt given to mourners as they entered McKate Center was the idea of University of Arizona brass, not the Obama administration. The Obama administration lied. It was they who initiated the entire t-shirt giveaway.

Journalism: Phooey


In 1982 a certain teacher was doing his thing in a parochial high school in Rock Island, Illinois. Since his field was social studies he was assigned the task of dispensing information for discussion on so-called, "non-essential" classes. It was that period when teachers were to find out where the students were coming from so they could better understand their problems. One of these classes was called, 'Understanding Ethnic Minorities'. The curriculum was designed for an appreciation of Black, Hispanic, Jewish and Japanese contributions to American society.

One spring day a student brought to this particular teacher a 'cartoon flyer' picked up in a fast food restaurant. It depicted a black man being hung from a tree. On the lower right hand corner was an address: Ku Klux Klan, POB, Villa Park, Illinois.

This certain teacher knew the editor of the second largest newspaper in the state of Iowa, The Quad-City Times. Since the population of the Quad-Cities(Rock Island, Moline, Bettendorf, Davenport, East Moline) was over 500,000 newspaper distribution had to be sizeable. The teacher in question told the editor, in passing, about the cartoon. The editor asked said teacher to bring the cartoon to his office later that day. The teacher, being stupid and naive did so and showed him the KKK paper.

The editor then asked the teacher to talk to one of his reporters. No big deal because the certain teacher had no questions, answers, opinions; just a cartoon paper.

The next morning, in the Quad City Times, there was a banner headline reading:
"Klan On Rise In Quad-Cities". It was blatant 'yellow journalism' that would have made William Randolph Hearst proud. How much research on the subject could be done in a matter of ten hours had that reporter worked all night? "Damned little", the teacher might have responded.

Said teacher was embarrassed as was his school since it's name was in the newspaper without permission being obtained.

There are certain professions that cry out: "I am scum". Journalists, by and large, fit the bill. If you don't believe me look at what's been going on around the nation in regard to the Tuscon shootings.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

10,000


Readers: We jumped over 10,000 hits at 6:05 pm, January 13, 2011. Thanks a wheelbarrow full and I mean it. Let the congratulatory phone calls begin. Lizzie sends her 'thank you's, too.

Humbly speaking, it is imperative I request my faithful readers stop sending monetary rewards in any form. I do understand you appreciate my insights but I must retain my amateur status. This blog was created as a hobby. Most importantly, it keeps me off porn sites.

One More Good Reason To Keep Your Gold

"The bleakest year in the foreclosure crisis has only just begun.

Lenders are poised to take back more homes this year than any other since the U.S. housing meltdown began in 2006. About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages and industry experts say more people will miss payments because of job losses and also loans that exceed the value of the homes they are living in".

From Yahoo.com

P.S. Jobless claims were up by 35,000 last month and that was for December when there were so many seasonal jobs available.

A Memorial--Hardly

Right off the bat let it be stated that I did not watch last night's 'memorial'. It is impossible for me to watch Obama without having a visual impression of the president looking like Benito Mussolini, jaw tilted upward, as he prepared to invade Ethiopia. The visual is of a pompous jerk. Preferably, the news of the event will be given to me by reading and listening to the media I prefer.

A correction is needed. I did happen to catch the opening ceremony. What was the deal with Chief Thunderthud leading the 'congregation' in prayer? Listening to Quinn and Rose in the Morning radio show they stated there were fifty-two ovations during the ceremony. Pardon me! Sounds as though it was one giant pep rally. Good Gosh Almighty, there were commemorative t-shirts given away to the crowd. Idiots!

Do me a favor. If you happen to be around when I die this is what I want: the visitation should take place in the back of the church two hours before my funeral Mass, a homily from the priest, hopefully my children or grandchildren will be present and one of them will have a nice thing to say about me. I'd like a long time friend to tell a funny story or two. Always leave 'em laughin', right? Then the hearse will take me to the cemetery, the priest will say a couple more prayers and as soon as everyone departs drop me in the ground.

I've always prayed that I die on a Monday or Tuesday so I don't screw up people's week-end. You'll notice there have been no calls for hip-hip-hoorays and cheers to celebrate the adulation family and friends felt toward me(in my own mind). There have been occasions when mourners have retired to the local pub. Go ahead but keep it somber til' you order that first mug of brew.

It's difficult to recall all the funerals of politicians or memorials through the years I've witnessed. Correct me if I'm wrong but when the Liberals are in charge doesn't it seem like they ARE pep rallies? Who can forget the Paul Wellstone 'memorial' in St. Paul after he died in a plane crash. Here's the result of that one: Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa made such a fool of himself that his exhortations of "do it for Paul" guaranteed the election of Norm Coleman as senator from Minnesota. It also must be stated that Republican congressman were harassed so badly they had to get up and leave.

What is it with these folks that tragedy turns into something political? I went back through the archives and looked up the Challenger tragedy of 1986. Ronald Reagan was President and, only conservatives will understand this: His speech was one of decorum, respect for the departed and lasted four minutes! Obama spoke for thirty-five. And what was the main message given: It centered around civil discourse which had absolutely nothing to do with the murders of American citizens in Tuscon, Arizona.

Liberals: pathetic, political and ridiculous.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

On Second Thought, I'll Have A Bud Lite


Snake wine is a Vietnamese alcoholic beverage that includes a whole venomous snake in the bottle. The snakes, preferably venomous ones, are not usually preserved for their meat but to have the snake poison dissolved in the liquor. However, the snake venom is denatured by the ethanol and therefore inactivated. In many countries in the Far East, snakes are believed to possess medicinal qualities and the wine is often advertised to cure everything from hair loss to eye troubles.

from zuzafun.com

Kiss Gt. Britain Good-bye

"Obama the Stupid" has proclaimed France our strongest ally. Since when? Did this nugget of information slide by you? It didn't me but, then again, I waited awhile to see how the MSM would handle 'The Socialist-in-Chief's' proclamation. They didn't.
A quick review of the contributions from the sissy country are: aid from Lafayette in the Revolutionary War, the Statue of Liberty and-------------that's about it! Small time gifts would be: french fries, kiss and ticklers, plus Maurice Chevalier.
How is it the 'Blunderer' has disrespected Gt. Britain? Since Day 1 in office this administration has done everything possible to get rid of our relationship; remember the CD's given to the Queen as a gift? Recall how he removed a bust of Churchill from the Oval Office. It wasn't bad enough he took it out of there but he had the stupidity to give it back to England.
Good Lord, France was half Nazi in WWII. It was called, Vichy France, or, in the words of the language, "I'm a sissy so I'll side with Hitler". Did ya' love and respect Charles DeGaulle? Well, if you were a 60's hippie who hated America you did. He was that big of a piss ant.

Speculation on why the disrespect to GB would be that Obama's grandfather was living under British rule and was imprisoned and/or tortured. Good move, Brits.

Livin' The Dream

An important lesson learned as a career salesman was, always be positive. If your wife left you, the dog died, debts were piling to the sky, you always remained positive.

Now and then, especially in the throes of winter it's danged hard to be 'chipper'.
Walk into the bank and you'll be met by some toothy chick: "Hello! And how are you today"? Depending on your degree on depression the answer may range from an "OK" to "Fine". Not to cheery, huh? January can have that impact.

My six year old grandson taught me a huge, huge lesson. It was first noticed at the end of his 4th year. He has a habit of saying two very wonderful words when adults ask how he's doing. With tremendous enthusiasm he'll answer: "I'm GREAT"! You have to wonder where he picked that up. His mom and dad are very positive and conscientious. That might be it.

Regardless, it's an excellent way to be; answering with positive responses, especially on those days when the sun comes up at 8 am, goes down at 5 and the windchill is -50. This applies to Iowans and Minnesotans, especially.

There's a man living in San Antonio who is a radio talk show host. His stage name is Joe Pags. Sometimes, he subs for Glenn Beck. His, "how ya' doin" comeback is, "Livin' the dream". I like that. Primarily, because I am doing just that---living the dream. It fits. There is no one more fortunate the I.

Therefore, as of this morning, January 12, 2011 I am officially adopting, "Livin' the Dream" as my comeback response to "How are you". It's going to be stitched on the left breast of golf shirts, on the back of my jacket. Some guys have, '#1 Grandpa' on their t-shirts. Not me. It's 'livin' the dream'. Gotta be careful, though. It wouldn't be smart to have a stencil of two bikini clad babes on a t-shirt, arms around a cartoon looking me, with the words, 'livin' the dream' underneath. Maybe I could stencil 'livin' the dream' on my car. How about this one: a few years back the Christian men's group, Promise Keepers, came out with a line of clothing with PK emblazoned on their attire. Let's take this to the next level: 'LtD' on shirts, pants, shoes, jackets. Get it? People, If DKNY can get away with it so can we. The idea will catch like wildfire and we will REALLY be 'livin the dream'.

How about a 'Livin' The Dream' club that would replace Facebook. Register and tell the world how you're 'livin' the dream'. Wow! This is so good!

Good habits(or bad ones)take twenty-eight days to fit into your lifestyle or so I've been told. The way I figure: In twenty-eight days I'll be walking the beaches of dreary, boring, overly sunny, Florida still working on my habit. If I begin today there'll be three more weeks after the 28 days to make it work. I can handle it and you know why, don't ya'?------Cuz I'm livin the dream.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Representative & Lt. Col. Allen West-Hero


When The Sheriff Is A Criminal

If Sheriff Clarence Dupnik will not enforce Arizona immigration law by arresting illegals is he breaking the law? He has said he will not arrest or send back to Mexico IA's because he believes the law is wrong.
When he took the oath of office he "promised to protect and defend the laws of the State of Arizona".

Bernie Sanders Vt.(D-Communist) Uses Arizona As Fundraiser

News) — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, today sent out a fundraising email to supporters in which he includes his analysis of the Arizona shootings that ties the tragedy to “right-wing reactionaries.”

“This horrendous act of violence is not some kind of strange aberration for this area where, it appears, threats and acts of violence are part of the political climate,” Sanders said in his letter. “Nobody can honestly express surprise that such a tragedy finally occurred.”

Weasel Zippers thanks

This 'n That




If the weather is colder than normal is that global warming? If the weather is hotter than normal is that global warming? If the weather is exactly what it's supposed to be is that global warming?

If it's called 'comfort food' why do I feel like a bloated pig when I'm finished?

Is New York City being dumped on with snow because they're all fornicators?

Is the Target Store logo now politically incorrect? If so, could they change their name to Remington and get away with it?

When I turn 65 will I think Angela Lansbury is hot?

The most oft repeated lie in winter: "I'll watch what I eat beginning tomorrow".

Why would homeless people stay in Columbus, Ohio in winter? Wouldn't it be embarrassing if they all jumped a train for warmer climates and the next sign they saw was: "Welcome to Buffalo".

I read a definition for 'transgendered' people and still don't know what they are.

Should congressmen and women required to take a literacy and comprehension test?

Why are conservative women attractive and liberal one's look like trolls? Just asking.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Clarence Dupnik: Universal Buffoon

You haven't heard much about the name, Clarence Dupnik , unless you've followed the 'Shootings'. Dupnik is the sheriff of Pima County Arizona. He's a registered Democrat and immediately after the 'Tuscon Massacre' blamed talk show hosts on radio and television, aka, Conservatives. According to Dupnik, "no facts, just opinion". Now he's taken on Rush Limbaugh saying the shootings were his fault. When you tangle with the master you is in for big trouble and Dupnik is just that.

Oh, reports being released say that the department of which he is in charge had received six complaints about Loughner and no action was taken. More on these allegations later, say, tomorrow. In the meantime, listen to and watch Dupnik on YouTube by clicking on the blue link.

Not In The Mood

Check back tomorrow. The inspiration isn't there today. However, there is a wonderful writer out there, name of IowaHawk. He runs in big circles and is intelligently, hilariously funny.

Proof Positive: Loughner A Tea Party Guy


The jigs up. We've been exposed and it's not going to be pretty once the left side of the congressional aisle gets ahold of the photo at the top of this article. Buying bladder control meds at the pharmacy will require due diligence. It's time to break out the ski mask and parka. Can't take too many chances.

What more proof does a person need to recognize Jared Loughner was a Tea Party guy. Hopefully, the brethren in Arizona will lay low for awhile and, for God's sakes, please get rid of your skull shrines.

Let the garbage commence; the Ed Schultz crowd is already raining down on us right side loonies folks. Golly, I feel so terrible that my crowd, the over 60's, the Ragin' Right, has brought this upon the nation. There is one problem. Unlike Loughner, there isn't a Communist Manifesto in the house. One more thing that needs to be purchased when I'm out and about. If you have five minutes check out nutjob, Rachel Maddow, from the station no one watches, MSNBC. It's a fab YouTube

Picture courtesy of NY Daily News

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Rhetoric From A Particular Liberal

** Obama: “They Bring a Knife…We Bring a Gun”
** Obama to His Followers: “Get in Their Faces!”
** Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
** Obama to His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
** Obama on the private sector: “We talk to these folks… so I know whose ass to kick.“
** Obama to voters: Republican victory would mean “hand to hand combat”
** Obama to lib supporters: “It’s time to Fight for it.”
** Obama to Latino supporters: “Punish your enemies.”
** Obama to democrats: “I’m itching for a fight.”

thanks to iOwnTheWorld

Coincidence, Clairvoyance or Divine Providence?

Windshield time is thinking time. It's phenomenal how many different thoughts run through the mind when driving. Yesterday, on the way to the grand kiddies house, it happened, something I had not remembered for 18 years. The sun was shining, blue skies, Interstate 70 was clear sailing and, quicker than quick, I hit a snow squall.
My mind immediately jumped to Cleveland, Ohio in December of 1992.

Cleveland takes some getting used to if you're not a native. Before retirement, I worked in steel mills, paper mills and places not located in the best parts of communities. I found Cleveland to be tedious; overcast, dirty, sooty from smokestack material and that always present 'dirty feet' odor of the mills. Anyway, I had a Tuesday morning appointment at a company called Horsburgh&Scott. They were manufacturers of gearboxes. Since H&S is located somewhere around East 20Th Street and I stay in hotels away from the city I needed plenty of time to make my appointment. Typically, Mentor, Ohio is a good spot. It's ten miles east of Cleveland. I liked Mentor. It has nice hotels and a big mall. Salesmen populate malls.

When I awoke the next morning and looked out the hotel window there it was; that which is most common in NE Ohio from November through April; SNOW! It was big-time snow. It's called 'lake effect' snow. I don't care how it gets there. To me, it's snow just like snow in Colorado, Iowa or Minnesota. It's snow and there's a lot of it. I hurried my pace to make the appointment.

Interstate 90 is the main thoroughfare through Cleveland. It hugs the south shore of Lake Erie and on this day the snow was falling so rapidly I could barely make out other vehicles on the highway. As I approached 58th street I saw a car off to the side of the interstate. Bear in mind, any off ramp that reads, 'East' in Cleveland, is in a war zone. There's only one reason to take an off ramp and that's to buy cheap wine and crack cocaine.
The stranded car had no tape holding on a tail light, no rust spots. It wasn't tilted to one side do to a broken axle. i.e. I was sure it belonged to a solid citizen.
My car was a tan Buick LeSabre. I veered off the interstate and backed up, close to the other car. Even though my attire was top coat, suit and tie, the young lady inside looked at me with unimaginable apprehension. There is something significant Lizzie has taught me. Women wouldn't trust a strange man even if they were 100% sure he was the Pope. This young girl, in her twenties, barely cracked her window. I asked if she needed help. She wanted nothing to do with me. I'm a good soul so I continued on, trying to gain her confidence. Honestly! I was fearful for her. In 1992 there were no cell phones. I did, however, have one of those monster mounted telephones on the floor of my car. "May I call someone for you", I asked? I'm sure she thought I was going to call a buddy and that we'd do all kinds of nasty things to her. She gave me the one word answer, "NO"!

Cleveland in 1992 had a population of 480,000. Many of these citizens are nice. Some, not so nice. In East Cleveland--it can be very scary! I wanted to do anything I could to get this girl off the road so I began explaining my life history and what I did for a job. I mentioned my children, my teaching and coaching career; anything that came to me. I told her I was Catholic and went to Mass three times a day. "My last statement was:
"I'm on my way to a company called Horsburgh&Scott for a meeting with a man. Please trust me. I won't hurt you". I had piqued her interest. "Who", she asked, "will you be meeting"? I told her I had a 9 am appointment with a young engineer named *Bill Anders".
Without further hesitation, the young girl asked, "what is this Bill Anders phone number"? I didn't have the number off-hand but it was in my report. She then said, "When you get the number, call this man and ask him where he proposed to his fiance'"?

I made the call. I explained the situation to Bill and gave him the question. Upon returning to the lady's car I told her it was at some restaurant; can't remember the name now. Long story just got shorter.

By know you've determined that Chris was Bill's future wife. What are the chances---1 in 480,000?


So, what is it: coincidence, clairvoyance or Divine Providence? You decide.

*fictitious names

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Shootings In Tuscon

It hasn't yet been twelve hours since the Tuscon shootings and already the Lefties are doing the blame game. None of us are privy to the exact number of people shot or the number who died.

Jane Fonda of traitor fame has tweeted that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are responsible for the shootings. A New Jersey dumbocrat has put the blame game shootings on the back of Fox News. I promise, if law authorities find one mention to support the Beck/Palin/FoxNews link with the alleged shooter, Jared Loughner, I'll state publicly that Ronald Reagan started the Cold War. Finding info about FoxNews in Loughner's apartment has about as much chance as finding a comb in Ted Kaczynski's shack.

This is what's going to happen. Information will shake out and, who knows, we might learn the this Jared character is a liberal, left-wing radical. Maybe he's a doper.
Maybe he's both a doper and a left winger. Maybe his favorite TV show stars Keith Olberman or Ed Schultz. Wouldn't that be oh so delicious. But, it won't be so since this clown is more likely to play video games that kill people.

So far the right wing blogs are keeping their powder dry. You know, close to the vest in opinion. But that's the way the are; patient.

In passing, and this is from the Los Angeles Times: Loughner's favorite books are Animal Farm, Brave New World, Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto.

Retarded Birds?

Isn't it the rule that robin's, the bird kind, have to go south for the winter? When the leaves fall and northerly chills strike the upper latitudes these birds are supposed to be in Acapulco. Not any more.

Five red breasted of these fly boys have made our crab apple tree their feeding grounds for the winter. It snowed last night, only two inches, but when looking out the front window this morning there they were, in a feeding frenzy.

Are any of you readers ornithologists? If so, let me know if crab apples ferment. If they do then these little guys are getting a heck of a buzz on. Party on, boys. Hey! Maybe that's why so many of these fellas are falling out of the skies.

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Pony Express

Customer: Arrived at US Postal Office in Dublin, Ohio @ 2 pm EST on Friday Jan. 7, 2011.

Customer: now being waited upon @ 2:25 EST(it was a long line)

Customer: "I would like to overnight this envelope to Boone, Iowa, please".

Postal Worker: "That will be $19.75"

Customer: "That's great. And it will be there tomorrow morning"!

Postal Worker: "No, we don't deliver to that community in Iowa overnight. It will be there on Monday".

Customer: "But I'm paying overnight prices. Why would I pay $19.75 when it's not overnight"?

Postal Worker: "Well, to make certain it gets there on Monday"

Customer: "I could put a 44 cent stamp on the envelope and chances are good it'd be there on Monday".

Postal Worker: "Maybe"

Customer: "Is there a better way to ship and not pay $19.75"?

Postal Worker: "$5.50 might do it".

Customer: "I don't like the word 'might'"

Postal Worker: "You'll have to make up your mind".

Customer: "So, it'll be in Boone, Iowa on Monday morning."

Postal Worker: "No. It's confirmation is around 4 pm CST"

Customer: "I could get in my car, start driving, and be there by midnight".

Postal Worker: "Whatever"!

Customer: "Would you give me my twenty-five cents in change, please"?

Customer: "What a dunce. Why didn't I got to FedEx"?

Video: Passing The Gavel To Boehner

Here's a fab Weasel Zipper YouTube. In my wildest dreams if only it were so.

Taxes On Lottery Winnings

There was an article on the net about one of the men who won the MegaLottery a couple of days ago. There were two winning tickets and a man from the State of Washington's share came to $190 million before taxes. When all is said and done he'll get a little more than half of that. This was always a source of irritation to me. What, exactly, has the government done to deserve the rest of the cash? It's understandable there are employment positions to be filled and big fancy office buildings for lottery officials in each state and, of course, the 'mecca' in DC to be regally outfitted.

Do you suspect the reaction of everyday Americans, if they won the lottery, would be that the cash received is so large they don't care about the other half? Remember, though, there are lottery winners each week, different ones, The government gets it's slice of the pie on a weekly basis. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard that most of the money TAKEN from the winners funds education. Well, answer me this, Mr Sage: if lotteries have been funding education lo these many years why is it our Fed And State taxes are being used to educate kids and we still have a less than stellar product? Just askin'. I don't actually have an answer. Maybe the cash is being used to heat the schools.

It's understandable that some winners might squander their winnings but, then again, most would donate a great deal to charity and it wouldn't be 'government charity'.

Freaky Friday



From The UK Guardian:
"Mystery of mass animal death epidemic
deepens after 8,000 turtle doves. fall dead
in Italy with strange blue stain on their beaks".

It's not only in the US, folks. This bird killing is all over the world. Ain't it cool! It's time to start checking out websites from the loonies. They can come up with so many scenarios a host of prime time TV shows could develop.

I'v gotta admit the blue stain has me puzzled. My only suggestion would be aliens are dipping their beaks in inkwells and using them to write letters home. It's interesting, though. Recall before the 1969 moon landing when 'common folk' wondered what was on the other side of the moon, aside from green cheese.

My major concern about the 'bird bombing' is: we'll be in the Florida soon and I don't want anything that flies falling out of the skies onto "our" beaches and screwing up the vacation.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

We Are Doomed


hat tip TerrellAftermath.com

A Golf Quiz

“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

Who said this:

(a) Osama bin Laden
(b) Barack Obama
(c) Bill Clinton
(d) ____________(fill in the blank)

Meet Bobby Schilling



Why in the world would MJ Hawkeye post a blog on Bobby Schilling? It's an easy answer. The newly elected congressman from western Illinois has made this old man proud. Bobby was a student of mine in 1981. He earned a solid B grade in my American History class. He also was a wide receiver on our state-playoff football team at a parochial high school in Rock Island, Illinois.
He's come a long way since those days. This may read weird but he started out as a union steward for a paper company then was a union organizer for an an insurance firm as well as one of their top salesman. A few years ago Bobby and his wife of 24 years along with their ten children decided to open their own business, a pizzeria, in Moline, Illinois.

Jump forward to the summer of 2010. The Representative from Bobby's district, a liberal Democrat named Phil Hare uttered these words to the news world: "We don't care what the Constitution says. We're(Democrat controlled congress) going to do what we want anyway".

If you concentrate on the map of Bobby's district notice the irregularities. It was gerrymandered over the years to make certain the Democrats maintained control. It is a blue collar district. Guess what? Bobby defeated Hare by 15% points. Schilling is a staunch conservative. He has promised to serve no more than three terms and he's out.
The Illinois legislature has made it their top priority to gerrymander again to make certain Bobby is a one term guy. If it happens so be it. Bobby and the people of Illinois' district 17 have made their point. Besides, the Ohio legislature has promised to do the same with Dennis Kucinich. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?

Personally, I couldn't be more proud of any of my students than I am of Bobby; Pro-life, Pro-gun, term limits, conservatism. I wish I'd known what he was going to do in life thirty years ago. I'd have floated him an A.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Boone Iowa: My Home Town

Everybody has to be from somewhere. MJ Hawkeye saw the first rays of sunshine in a community of 12,000 hard working souls in the late 1940's. There isn't much special about the town unless you happened to grow up there. It's main source of employment, at the time, was the Chicago and Northwestern railroad. My grandfather worked for the railroad; got his first job at the age of ten in 1898, carrying water to the workers at 10 cents a day. He retired in 1953 but had worked his way up to a higher position. Dad worked there, too.

This is my first post about Boone, in general. A man named Jim Grabau recently published a book about growing up there. It's called, "And That Reminds Me Of A Story". He recalled his memories of the town and of what influenced him in his youthful years. The nifty aspect of being 'different' is that we all have varying views of what made us what we are today. Jim was a year ahead of me in high school but we went through kid baseball together. His book is a nice read; something to do on a cold, wintry day--and I did.

Right off, I should tell you, if you grew up in the big city you might as well do something else with your time rather than read this post. Unless you're a citizen of 'Smallville USA' it's impossible to understand the simple things in life. In the big city it's more than problematic to tie a sixty foot rope to a car bumper and attach it to a sled. The driver goes lickety-split on residential streets trying to throw you off as he takes snow and iced corners at 35 mph. Why we aren't dead I'll never know.
The All-State football player and University of Iowa Hawkeye, John Hendricks, could perform a trick unfathomable to mankind. We'd take the same rope attached to a bumper and Big John, wearing snow skis would grab the rope. He'd then slide down into a farm ditch. Varoom! Jude Rolfes would fire up his Nash Rambler and away John would go. How he stayed up on those skis I could never figure out but he did it. That's when he became my hero. We didn't drink beer and do drugs in those days. We did, though, do things that if our parent's knew would have placed us in an insane aslyum.

When I visit home, which isn't often, I'll drive around town and look at my influences. Keep in mind, this takes fifteen minutes unless I stop the car to visualize days gone by teasing my thought bank.

I had two very best friends. They continue to be that. Since 1955 we have traded birthday cards with a dollar inserted. On each birthday we three would gather at the celebrants home, have lunch and cake, then exchange the cards with the magical dollar enclosed. These guys are the best; loyal to a fault.

Little League baseball started in Boone in 1955. I played for the Knights of Columbus Giants. No! We didn't make players become Catholic to be on the team, either. That'd be like a kid playing for the West Boone Dodgers and having to move to that part of town to participate. Yuck! Nobody wanted to live in West Boone. I heard that a lot of 'Hoods' lived there.

Sacred Heart School was where I matriculated from grades 1-8. We had nuns. Grades 1 and 2 were in one room, 3-4 were in another and this pattern continued through grade 8. Some of the nuns were scary. They were associated with an order called Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary or BVM's. We called them 'Black Veiled Monsters'. Some of them were nice and others not so. I know they clipped their nails in a way that they came to a sharp point; made it easy to pierce our ear lobes when they became angry with us. By 'us' I refer to the boys. Once in awhile we got into some trouble; it usually involved one of the Ferry brothers, or Mark Collison, Jude Rolfes and/or MJ Hawkeye. There were eleven kids in the Ferry household. The eldest was a girl then she was followed by ten boys--or was it nine?. I loved going over to Tim and Jim Ferry's home. It was like going to Ma and Pa Kettles house. I never knew what was going to happen next and who was going to show up.
To this day, I don't know how Tim Ferry, Jude Rolfes and I escaped punishment when we put Limburger cheese in the school heating system. Thank goodness we had access to the rosary. I was pressing so hard on the beads I broke three sets.

When we were in high school we "drove around". The main drag of Boone was about four blocks long and two blocks wide on either side. We'd get in a buddy's car, three or four of us, and do figure eights on the city streets for two hours. The radio was tuned to KSO or KIOA out of Des Moines so we could get our Rock n' Roll fix. Does this seem really stupid to you? It does me but gas was only 25 cents a gallon and we could get a fill for two bucks if everyone chipped in. There'd be six other cars doing the same thing we were doing and every time we drove by them we'd wave. Boring? Not when you're young and stupid and the whole world revolves around "the coolest guys in the world" in Boone, Iowa.

High School zipped bye. Doesn't it for everyone? I left the Catholic school after grade 8. The day I picked up my transfer papers I stayed in the car and waited for my dad to exit the school. All I can remember is Sr. St. Felix standing in the drive way yelling at dad, "You're going to Hell for this". I hope she was wrong. I'd feel real bad for dad.

Boone High had excellent teachers and, better yet, wonderful examples for us by being great parents. I loved my coaches; was afraid of a couple but that's not all bad. There's nothing worse than the fear of God unless it's the fear of a coach.

Sometimes, when I have very little to do, I'll google a city to see what famous citizens came out of there. Boone doesn't have many. The town, originally called Montana was founded in 1865. According to my best guesstimate I'm the 1,535th most famous person to come out of my home town. There was a fella named Jimmy Archer who was sort of legendary. He was a major league baseball player in the early 20th century. His claim to fame was he could throw a runner out at second without standing up. "Iron Mike" Enich played football at the Univ. of Iowa with Heisman Trophy winner, Nile Kinnick. And, finally, it's the home of Mamie Douds Eisenhower, wife of President Eisenhower. There was a big motorcade that came through town in 1956 with the Prez and Mamie. It was a block from my home so I walked up the alley to get a peek. My dad wouldn't go. He was a die-hard FDR guy and, worse yet, a union man. Some things change and some things stay the same, huh?

Well, that's it for today's update on Boone. I'm tinkering with the idea of continuing on with Jim Grabau's book, asking eight or nine fellow classmates(before we croak)to write down their thoughts and memories on growing up in Boone.

I'll wager, if you aren't from Boone you don't know our school mascot was a Toreador? Better yet, you don't care. He, or was it a she, wore a toreador uniform and dressed in red and green, our school colors------but that's another story for another day.

Oh! If you ever want to go to Boone it's eight miles east of Ogden, three miles west of the Jordan curve on old Highway 30, fifteen miles south of Stanhope and twelve miles north of Madrid.

When I get back to the old homestead give me a jingle and we'll meet for coffee at the Dutch Oven Bakery. I understand they now have wifi.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Birds Are Dying! The Birds Are Dying!

Didn't Alfred Hitchcock die years ago? How come we've had two incidents of birds dropping from the skies in the past week? First, starlings in Arkansas did the dead dive bomb sky then yesterday another 3,000 of the birds met their eternal nest in Louisiana.

Personally, I think it's a warning from ancient Mayan spirits letting us know the world is coming to an end in 2012. My neighbor thinks it has to do with aliens preparing for a take over of our planet.

Surely, the demise of all these birds couldn't be scientific in nature. Most anyone would be utterly stupid to think it had anything to do with cooler weather conditions in the upper atmosphere or some such thing. I mean, starlings! If it was an alien they'd go after something significant, maybe a North American bald eagle. That'd be an attention grabber.

Would you care to know what I think? I think it was a cryin' shame Suzanne Pleshette had to die in, 'The Birds'. She was a cutie!

Monday, January 3, 2011

A Nightmarish Story


Sgt. Sean Collins, along with four of his buddies was killed in Afghanistan on Dec. 12, 2010. Collins funeral took place Dec. 29, 2010.
It's a sad story as is any involving loss of life by the brave members of our military. It gets worse. Young Collins was from the State of Washington. Sen. Maria Cantwell(D) sent a letter of condolence to the family. In part it read, "please accept my warm condolences on your loss of Bryn". Appears to me it might be a form letter. Do ya' think?

It gets worse. Ret. Lt. Col. Patrick Collins, the father of the deceased, called the White House and asked if the President would call the lad's mother to express his appreciation for his service and to extend his sympathies. According to reports White House staffers said the President doesn't normally do these things. If that's the rule I guess that's the rule, however, as Paul Harvey would say, "now for the rest of the story".

Lt. Col. Patrick Collins is now livid with anger and not a supporter of Obama. On Dec. 26, three days prior to the Collins funeral, the White House announced that Obama had taken the time to call Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. The purpose of the phone call: to thank Lurie for giving dog killer, Michael Vick, a second chance to play in the NFL.

There is a young man, a friend of my son-in-law, living in San Antonio. He designs prosthesis for soldiers who have lost limbs in overseas action. According to him, the great percentage of these wounded are sent to their Texas hospital. This fellow told me of the many times George W. Bush and his wife make unannounced trips over to SA to visit with the boys. Of course, you knew GW gave up golf while serving as President. He didn't think it looked good to play the game while our soldiers were off fighting and dying for our country.

Can I write it, please? Our President is disgusting! Democrat senators aren't all that special, either.

/story content from WeaselZippers.us

Government! What A Joke

There was laughter all around after my mid-morning experience. Some things that happen are too classic not to share.
Since I'm turning 65 this month a questionnaire from the federal government was sent to the house asking me to fill out information necessary for I don't know what. It had to do with am I still employed, the type of insurance provided, any diseases I might have while working, black lung, etc. There are four pages to be completed. Since I'm retired I could do only one thing, sign my name and put N/A in all other spaces provided.

Naturally, I misplaced the 'send to' envelope BUT on my forms was the following: The info sheets can be filled on-line. All that is necessary is go to www.MyMedicare.gov. Sounded easy enough except when I tried there was the following notice. "This site is under construction. Check back later.

And they want to be in charge of my health care!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Winner Is--------------


Of all the posts that have been put up on this site in the past two years, this happens to be the most popular one.

There were 298 hits on this picture and this was before my readership was seen by a little more than close friends and a couple of neighbors.

Now, I thought I'd come up with some tantalizing material over the past twenty-five months; family stuff, political insight, sports analysis, etc. And what do you creatures vote the top post: Sex, sex sex. Congratulations Y'all!

If you're interested in some vitals the lady's name is Eve. She lives in Australia and is 6' 11" and a half. No mention was made of the stat between her navel and neck. You can make up your own number.I'm an optimist so I'll say 88 DDDDDDDDD.

Oh, the little lady on the left; who cares?

Misdiagnosis: Penis Amputated

Source: The Local:Sweden

Is it possible national health care or lack thereof might have had something to do with a man's penis being removed. Scroll down to the last sentence. When the word, "National" shows up you can be certain the government failed and will then cover up the problem.

"The man, who is in his sixties, first visited a local clinic in Blekinge in southern Sweden in September 2009 for treatment of a urinary tract infection, the local Blekinge Läns Tidning (BLT) reported.

When he returned in March 2010 complaining of foreskin irritation, the doctor on duty at the time diagnosed the problem as a simple case of inflammation.

After three weeks passed without the prescribed treatment alleviating the man’s condition, he was instructed to seek further treatment at Blekinge Hospital.

But it took five months before he was able to schedule an appointment at the hospital.

When he finally met with doctors at the hospital, the man was informed he had cancer and his penis would have to be removed.


The matter has now been reported to the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) under Sweden’s Lex Maria laws, the informal name used to refer to regulations governing the reporting of injuries or incidents in the Swedish health care system."