Me at med school

Watauga River near Wilbur, Tennessee

Jeremy sent us several photos from California. As soon as possible, I will try to make a slide show and post it on the blog. He and Courtney have been hobnobbing with movie stars. Thank you, Grandson.

Big game tomorrow, an improved Tennessee squad takes on arch rival Florida. Knoxville will be rocking.

Friday is always a special day to most working folk, I suppose. I know it was for me. When I was working construction and tramping the highways, it had grand implications for several reasons. One was it marked the end of another work week and the beginning of a weekend. Another was it was payday. Most important was that I was going home to be with my family for  about forty hours before having to hit the road back to where ever I was working. I am tempted to look back on those days with rose-colored glasses but the reality was that leaving Carolyn and the kids early on Sunday afternoon was sad at best and at times it was heart wrenching. We that traveled like that mostly pined for a day when we could come home to work and be something akin to a normal family. My big break came when I was able to leave a job near Parkersburg, West Virginia and take a job at East Tennessee State University, working for a local contractor. Our purpose was to remodel the old student center into the new medical school. The job lasted only three months but was the best construction job I ever had, being very close to my home plus the excitement of being a part of the new school on a nice university campus. Little did I know that in just three years I would be attending day classes on the same campus.

Enough reminiscing … have a wonderful weekend.

My two-cents worth

Welcoming Father Sun

“Techie” artists spend a lot of time and exert much creativity to do what they love doing and they also have periods of not being inspired. I am not an artist in any shape, fashion, or form but I do know some whom work on canvas and I do know some who work via computers. Notice the word “computers” is plural; they may have more than one working and they may be viewing multiple screens as they try to produce art that is fulfilling to them. Like any true visual artist, they must satisfy themselves before presenting finished work for public criticism. Sometimes all the paint in the world or all the computers in the world provide no inspiration. The ability to create must come from deep within one’s soul and sometimes that elusive genie of genius takes a holiday and the medium remains blank, yet the soul remains and will inspire on another day. Patience, my friend.

Have a fine day …

October's beauty

 

Impatiens heart

Story telling time in Jonesborough. The event is recognized around the world as one of the premiere story telling festivals. Yarn spinners from far and near come to tell their tales as do people travel here to listen to them. A more important festival as far as I am concerned is the Apple Festival in Erwin. It is held in conjunction with the story telling. I expect some delicious apple butter to to be stored in our pantry.

What is it about October that I like so well? As much as I detest the promise of winter and its harsh reality hiding just around the corner, there is something about the tenth month which I love. Maybe the waning day’s sunlight is brighter; it certainly seems so. Maybe the nip in the air is refreshing after the long hot days of summer. Could it be the colors of the leaves changing from soothing green into bright yellows, oranges, and reds? It is most likely all of these things along with a lot more subtle nuances which give me inspiration and hope. Whatever the reasons, October has slowly become my second favorite month of the year, closely following on the heels of June with its first days of full blown summer.

Alice, JJ said to tell you that Gertrude Street said “hello”. He does yard work for her. She made apple butter on her stove and sent us a jar which instantly made her one of my favorite people.

- – – – – -

Sex and Apple Butter

Happy video from my favorite music genre ... snort, hee-hee ...

Do you ever dream about being in public naked?  Being somewhere you cannot readily get to your clothes or anything else to cover yourself? I've dreamed such a couple of times and they were the scariest dreams I've had since I was a kid dreaming of being chased by a giant. The naked dream must be fairly common because I've read about other people experiencing it. I haven't tried to find out what it means and have no intention of wanting to know. However, with a fine bod like mine it isn't the worst thing that could happen in a dream.

There are only two things worth living for: sex and apple butter.

Not much going on today. I hope to see all my readers on Megashot.

"Let your love flow ...

... like a mountain stream"

A rainy wash day in the hills. I won't be surprised if we have our first frost in a week or so. Usually before mid-October when the ice man cometh. I hope the leaf color will be awesome this year.

Last week was a mixed one with a lot of good and enough bad to make me thankful for the good.  Anyway, it was a learning week and I had good teachers. I now hope I can pass the poetry of life test they meted me.

I still do not "get" the American system of politics where we are expected to vote for the lesser of two evils. Let's get the money out of the thing and vote for the better of two goods. I don't expect anyone to be another Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, or Jack Kennedy but I do expect them to be honest and favorable to the American worker. It is up to us to take the government back because the rich are not going to give it up without a fight.

Have a happy, memorable week, my friends.

Yesterday

Yesterday’s blog? Really? I was daydreaming about getting my back scratched.

... i love you ...

Always, Love

… ummmmmmmmmmmm …ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh … ahhhhhhhhhh yes yes yesssss … round and round … yessss like that … lower … ummmmmmmmmmmmahhhh … more … yessss … you know how to please me … don’t stop … ummmmmmmmmmm … i love you …

Sentimental Journey

Not much new going down. I did entice a Flickr member to join Megashot. I have enjoyed her creativity in photography for several years and I look forward to the fine work she will post on our site.

I am working hard on Megashot, trying to comment on each new photo uploaded by members. My fingers are beginning to tell the tale but they will just have to suck it up and stay busy. I don’t have much in the line of new photos of my own so I am working on old ones, a lot which I have never shown before. I have really learned a lot from Cyrus, Maggie, and the rest of the contributing members.

Still learnin' my lesson

String of Bones

A couple of people online have sure taught this old dog some lessons recently. Hope I have sense enough to live by what I’ve learned.

Ah, mid-week and I no longer have my Wednesday blues like I had for a few years. It is good to once again have purpose. I am finding it difficult to come away from Megashot and do the other things which have become part of routine.

I’ve been watching a documentary series on Roku PBS channel about Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and their respective rise to be presidents of the U.S. It is by Ken Burns and he always thoroughly researches his subjects. Being an American history student, I am getting a good education about the two admirable men.

Drifting

Lovely autumn day in the hills. Flatland autumn is nice enough for some but in the hills, Nature seems to fold upon itself giving us much more beauty per area than anywhere else. I suppose everyone cannot be as lucky as me.

Let’s see, Friday last was my friend Fred’s birthday, Alice and his wedding anniversary, and their daughter Vanessa’s birthday. After 34 years since Fred left us, I still miss him as much as ever. If I am not mistaken tomorrow is Alice’s grandson’s birthday. Last Saturday was Carolyn’s birthday but she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Is Google’s G+ doomed to the waste heap of bad ideas? Google has just stopped requiring people to sign up for the social service when they open a Gmail account. Most social site users are on Facebook and Twitter and do not want another service forced upon them. Without the Gmail tie-in, G+ growth will probably fall dramatically and sooner or later will morph into something else like MySpace did or be dropped altogether by Google. I hope they remove the G+ account requirement from Youtube, too. My videos there are what keeps me having a G+ account.

I am still having a great time on Megashot; if you haven’t joined us now is as good a time as any.

Goodbye To You

Sometimes we should say “enough is enough” and move on.

I’m back on Megashot and having a fine time. Even though I have no new photos to share it is great to see and comment on the wonders being posted by old friends and new. Cyrus sent me some screen shots of version-2 which I hope will be ready for public use soon.

Autumn has come with some rain and much cooler temperatures.  However, the clouds over the mountains are very nice, still having some of summer’s fluffiness.

Have a good worsh day and week!

Playing with photos

I am once more active on Megashot, not as much as I need to be but about as much as I can do. I now have the urge to get back to the hills this autumn and do some color shooting. Damn, I miss having the camera against my face, holding my breath while composing the shot, and finally releasing thew shutter. The photos are great to see but the real thrill is in the making.

I downloaded Microsoft’s free Movie Maker and am playing around with it. It is not hard to use but the results so far are unsatisfactory. I tried making a slideshow movie with music and the music is okay but the photos look like poop. Above is my first try. I will let you know if I can get better results.

Have a great weekend!

An Outsider's Insight

Will Scotland vote for independence and self rule?  It seems to me to be a mistake if they do so in this troubled world. Independence today and possibly something like ISIS setting up shop tomorrow and no way to stop it from happening.

Whom else is threatened? Poland and Eastern Europe. Poles have a history of aggression from Russia and if Putin succeeds in Ukraine, and he likely will do so to some degree, Poland and neighbor countries could be next. Even if NATO steps in to try and stop Russia, it will still mean war in these countries with fragile economies.

Can ISIS be stopped? Probably but it is only the next threat in the Mid-East. At least Saddam Hussein was a known constant but now the entire region is in greater flux than it has ever been, all because of the West’s gluttony for oil.

How much of a threat is North Korea? Not much as long as the leadership fears for the life of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. I don’t think he is the actual leader of the government but he is the one the people there fear. I believe the military is in firm control of the country and Jong is but a puppet.

Ebola? Be afraid; be very afraid. Our government isn’t telling us just how fast this disease is spreading. So far, isolation of infected people is the only deterrent from this plague. It knows no borders and is not bigoted.

Wednesday Stuff

I wonder if Apple and the band U2 are pondering what went wrong. Apple forced out the latest U2 music album to more than one-half billion customers. Even though the music is free, a lot of those iPhone and iPad users are plenty pissed. In fact, so much so that Apple had to release a special software tool for the removal of the music from devices of users. Personally, I don't use Apple products and I don't like the U2 band. Apple is just another arrogant big business whom think they can bully their way in the world. U2 comes off to me as being just plain arrogant. I've never liked their music and even though lead man Bono has talked some good deeds, he still turns me off.

I have for sale my Pentax DSLR camera. It is a 2008 model K200D and is in good shape and working order. I also have some K-mount lenses that fit this and just about any Pentax SLR camera ever made. They include an 18-250mm zoom, a 105mm macro, and a 50mm f1.4 prime lens. I also have various filters for these lenses which include polarizers for each of them. If interested, leave a note at volmanken@gmail.com.

Be kind, my friends ...

Sweet Love

The coming cold and gloomy days are Mother Nature’s way of telling us to stay indoors and make sweet love. It is the reason more babies are conceived during winter than any other season. I was conceived in the back seat of a borrowed Buick in November when my father was A.W.O.L. from the army. Let’s do it.

I am finished with deleting photos from Flickr. There are several I’ve kept and made private but most are gone forever. The ones I’ve left are those of family, friends, and a few that have special meaning for me. It took something like this to show me what I’ve always suspected and that is how terrible I was at photography any way.

I am into a nasty comment exchange over on Facebook with some tea partiers.  No one has unfriended me as I write this.

Girls like their COCKS!

Some very pretty University of South Carolina girls like their cocks big and fast. As I watched a football game between S.C. and the University of Georgia Saturday evening, the Carolina cheerleaders kept holding up large “COCKS” signs. Man, if I was young, I wouldn’t hesitate a moment to enroll at that school. Surely even shy I could score amongst girls who like cocks that well.

Sammy and Mason were here for nearly eleven hours yesterday. Sammy climbed on my back, put his legs around my neck, grabbed my ears, and I was transformed into a motorcycle. I must have been a trail bike because the riding was rough and long.

Have a beautiful Worsh Day!

Sunday Morning Coming Down

My favorite Sunday morning song.

Have a great week!

Easy

Cloudy, wintry look outside today even though the world is still green. A day for blues and melancholy. I don’t look forward to winter but I know another lovely spring will follow in its time. There is not much positive about winter except it is a time to stay indoors and make sweet, easy love. Oh, to be once more young.

The boys will be here tomorrow and I will be worn to a frazzle by the time they leave. They both compete for lap time on me because I find things on the PC for them to see. Mason wants “Choo-choos” and Sammy wants latest super-hero toys. Yes, the do fight.

Big football game tonight for my Tennessee Volunteers. The young team has little chance of winning but it will be a learning experience they will need. Their day will come, maybe not this year but soon.

Stay easy, dear friends.

Another Friday

Another Friday. Back when I was working it was the day of the week to look for. When working out of town on construction, Friday was payday and the day to go home for a few short hours. Many of my older co-workers would not make the trip back and forth each weekend, some choosing to stay away for a month or even more. We younger ones, especially we whom were married, could not wait to get away from the work place and on the road toward home. We were often accused of coming home with nothing but a sack of dirty clothes and an erection. Pretty much true, too.

Have a great weekend, dear friends.

Fear

Thirteen years ago today America began to grow old. We spent two and one-quarter centuries in the exuberance of youth and the complacency of middle-age before the unfolding events of 9/11 jerked us out of our snug but mediocre existence and into the realm of fear which the rest of the world lives. However, if we are vigilant we need not fear. The government sure wants us to be remain scared of our own shadows. George Bush was elected president in 2004 when he ran on a platform of fear. We came to find out that he was the biggest threat to our way of life. If we want to do so, we can retake our government from the special interests that now run it. Wake up America; it ts once more time for us to assert the notion of We The People are in control just as the wisdom of our forefathers intended.

Spell on You

Not a lot going on today so I will present a tune and take my leave.

Giving

I heartily believe that Christians should take one-half of one week’s per month monetary offering to their church and give it to a decent charity such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or Shriners Hospitals for Children. Both of these organizations depend on donations to care for these suffering kids and neither of them charge anything to the children’s parents for the loving care given. After all, the churches will still exist just fine without the few extra dollars from each member and thousands of affected children and their families around the world will be better off.  “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2nd Corinthians Chapter 9, verse 7.
You may say ‘well, it is easy for Ken to dispense advice because he doesn’t give to any church’. Yes, that is true that I don’t give to a church. None the less, we buy a lot from Amazon online, from groceries to clothing to household stuff to electronics, to children’s needs and wants and for each purchase a portion of the profits go to St. Jude hospital.
Please help make a difference in the lives of these sick kids.

Dancing in the Moonlight

All is good in the hills even though autumn is bearing down on us as if we were deer frozen in its headlights.

The boys were here yesterday and were as always, enjoyable. However, as they are growing bigger, they are becoming more rowdy and are quarrelsome with each other. I don’t know how much longer we can stand to have them stay the day together. Carolyn and I were exhausted when they left us last evening. Maybe we will have to take a Sunday in turn for each of them.

Tonight is a full moon, a harvest moon, and a super moon. I think I may stand on the porch and moon passers-by in celebration. I too can show a super moon.

I have deleted more than one-thousand photos from Flickr and have about that many left there. I am in no hurry to shed them but in the end, they must go.

As much as I detest Facebook, I think it will be my home for socializing on the net. I have friends from Flickr and from Megashot there. I tried Google Plus but it is not for me. I am also trying video chatting and I like it pretty well.

Now and Then

Have you noticed how quickly ‘now’ becomes ‘then’? All our moments are preciously fleeting and should be used to the fullest.

Yep, autumn is surely coming. I haven’t seen a robin in the past week, tulip poplar leaves are yellowing and falling, and it is sinus season.

Since I shaved off my mustache, I’ve been considering doing the same with my chest hair, oiling up, and maybe standing in front of a mirror doing flexes and such. But then I figured my reflection would faint when it saw my sagging boobs. I am glad I am heterosexual or I would probably fall in love with myself.

Good fortune to Sandy’s husband Don as he tries to beat his personal best of a whopping 337 mph in his streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

I spent a bit of time on Flickr yesterday and this morning deleting photos. I want to have them all gone before I give up my pro account which doesn’t expire until next May. Internet life can be complicated.

Thursday's child

Happy Birthday, Aunt Ivy!

Another week about gone. Thursday is a decent day; I was born on a Thursday. I remember it well, too. Hot, it was. My soon to be mom was with the family, hoeing weeds from the tobacco patch. They had just returned to work after dinner when I decided I had enough of the over-heated swimming pool I had been in for months so i began kicking and screaming to be turned loose into the big world. All work immediately ceased and just after three o’clock I was brought into the light by Dr. Brabson whom had been summoned from Jonesboro by one of my uncles walking the two miles to town I was born a bluish color and the doc couldn’t get me to draw my first breath. After the normal procedures all failed, they tried alternating warm and cold water on me which were of no avail; I was just being stubborn. One of the mid-wives lurking about took me on her lap and began to shake me with her knees. Nothing. The doc then went to my mom and told her that I would not live and just then I squawed, pooped, and came to be. Here I am three score and ten years later and I am still stubborn.

I said my goodbyes on Flickr, fixed my blogs to where they won’t be broadcast around the web, took care of a few more problems, and am now in pretty good surfing shape. One thing I want to do is rid myself of my G+ account but Google–in its heavenly wisdom–forces my Youtube account to be tied to G+. If I remove G+, I can no longer upload my videos like I used to and I do not want to delete the Youtube movies of the boys.

Wasted

I had another near sleepless, wasted night and am shaky today.

Autumn is in the nighttime air; the days are still hot and lazy but the nights are cooling in promise of the coming change. I don’t look forward to winter.

Americans think it is a terrible abomination when one of our citizens is beheaded in Iraq but when our kids are gunned down in our public schools we seem to end up thinking it is alright for every nutcase to arm himself with assault weapons. We are just as much terrorists as are those whom have no respect for any life outside their tiny minds.

Today I make more changes in my net life. I will take a leave of absence from Flickr. I will also stop having this blog showing up on Twitter. As soon as I find how to do it, I will have posts from Blogger stop showing on G+. I don’t want to be everywhere.

Moment

My shaved lip is cold; glad I didn't await winter to shave it.

Shaving my mustache has made the long hairs growing out of my nose look ridiculous. I must take a few hours and give them a good trim. It is good I cannot see my ears for I suspect the wild hairs in and on them are longest ones on my body.

I hate being ignored even if I deserve it. I may just have a snit and pout a bit.

Almost that time of year for my autumn bath in the creek. Now that I am using my cane more I see no reason I cannot make the effort and get into the cold water. Besides, I like being naked in the woods.

Looks like I've lost a few readers. I still remember my first few blogs on old Blog Spot. Alice was my first and most loyal reader and my second posting back in '06 drew a comment which caused me to be hooked on writing the pages ever since. My first commenter was Robin.

I am happy to be writing again. I have finished a story and have another in the cooker.

Shaving the Zombie

I think I made the correct choice. The two night’s of lost sleep I wrote about earlier may have paid off. For two nights I wondered if I should shave my mustache and I concluded to do it. It is a done deed. My crumb and snot catcher for several years is no more. No, I don’t look any better and it not being there doesn’t make me feel any better. What is better is that I am over a wishy-washy period of my life; no more Charlie Brown for me. Now, I look for other places to shave.

… ——— …

I sat down to have a conversation with a zombie and first thing that happened was he stuck out his forefinger to make a point and the damn thing fell off. Awkward. I’d never interacted with a zombie before and all I could do was drop my jaw and stare for a moment while the scene registered in my mind. He looked at the stub on his hand then at me and seemed as incredulous as was I. The digit landed tightly against the side of his shoe as if it were trying to blend in. I quickly turned my head, trying to think of how I should react. When I looked back he was carefully placing the wayward finger in the breast pocket of his soiled suit. He apologized and I nodded and said no harm and that I hoped he could fix it. Anyway, it was good enough reason to end our palaver before it got started. We said our see you later’s and he went on his way and I continued my porch sitting, pondering what I just encountered. I concluded the world is a much different place than what most of us think it is or want it to be and we can either adapt (evolve) or die ignorant. I don’t think I want to be a zombie, though.

Labor Day 2014

Happy Labor Day, America. If you can, take time from summer’s last hurray and remember how this holiday day came about. Many men and women over the years gave their blood, sweat, tears, and even their lives to secure rights for workers and to keep children out of dangerous work places.

For a change, I am happy. I had a tough emotional weekend but two nights of sleeplessness allowed me to come to the conclusion that I should do whatever it takes to make me contented. Hopefully the trend will continue but with a lot more sleep.

Someone made a comment on a friend’s G+ that Sheryl Crow’s cover of the above song was better than the original by Guns N’ Roses. Crow’s rendition is very good but all I can say to the commenter is “Bull Shit”!

Breaking Bad, breaking good

Saturday night we watched the final two episodes of Breaking Bad TV series. After sixty-two shows I am still confused about a few things but I have to admit the overall series was very good if you discount the unneeded fluff of soap opera-like situations. For sure, the producers could not have found a better song to close the show and end the life of Walter White. No matter where you are if you ever have the chance to see this series, I recommend you do so.

I hope Sandy and family are okay after the earthquake near them. It did a lot of damage in and around the Napa Valley. Speaking of Sandy, I wish her a belated but happy birthday.

 I bought Sammy a Spider Man bicycle and helmet last week and posted this photo on Ashley’s Facebook wall. As soon as Sammy saw it he made his mom come to my house and get it.

Latest photo of Jaden

Going back

I think we all need an Island to ‘go back to’ …

Breaking Amore

Another birthday has come and gone and I suppose this is the first time I really feel the years on my body. Carolyn drove me to the Nolichucky river valley and into the mountains Saturday; it was a very good gift to get out of the house and to the trees and creeks where I always long to be. Thank you Alice for the birthday card and thank all who had good wishes for me. Especially thanks to Sammy and Mason whom spent the day with me yesterday.

I finally talked Carolyn in to watching the drama series Breaking Bad on Netflix. She loves it and I can take it or leave it. It began as a good story line but has turned into little more than a soap opera. The writers of the show quickly killed off the most interesting character, Jessee’s girlfriend. I am to the point of watching an episode every now and then.

Dog Days are nearly over and the nights will be cooling soon.

Hear here

The mouse is still winning.

I know I fussed because we had a lack of rain but now we are getting more than we can use. No complaints from me, though.

I finally surrendered after five years of nagging from Carolyn and ordered myself a cheap hearing aid. Now, maybe I can hear audio on TV movies without raising the volume so much and save myself from many of her elbow in-the-rib punches.
Happy is the hearing man; unhappy the speaking man. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

You ever have those days when you don't want to do anything except maybe roll up like a pill bug and await better times? Don't feel like staring at a TV or PC monitor, reading or even porch sitting? Lately, I am having some like that. I'm in a Dog Days slump, I think, but I trust it will soon meld into alertness.

Pillow talk

For most of m life I’ve comfortably slept on a feather pillow but the one I have been using is worn out and cannot be fluffed anymore. In its place I am using a foam pillow which I detest. It sleeps well enough but it cannot be folded or punched or wadded onto submission the way I would like it. Also, the worn feather pillow was probably exacerbated some of my eye allergies which have not been as bad since I stopped using it. Is nothing sacred? Seems like all my past is like the pillow; worn down from much usage and ready to be discarded.

Blues

The boys, especially Sammy, have been very sick for the past week. I haven’t had the heart to blog while they were unwell. Sammy ran a fever of more than 1oo°F (37.78°C) for four days. His face was was swollen and he was covered with red spots, all due to fever. Mason and Jaden both have runny noses.

Carolyn made goulash for supper yesterday and blackberry dumplings for desert. Also, she is once more in a war with a mouse … or mice, spending a small fortune on various traps and such. So far the rodent is winning. I was a casual observer until the critter got into my stash of marshmallows which I keep in a drawer beside the bed so now I am hoping for his exit in whatever form it takes. Don’t fool with my stash, Rat!

I watched a very interesting documentary on Roku PBS channel about the new pope and how and why he got to be the church leader. Seems like the Vatican hierarchy is corrupt to its very core, even to the point that it could go bankrupt or worse. Pope Francis wants to reform the church but has been told by Rome police that if he tries to fix the failed banking system that the mafia may try to kill him. He appears to be a good man and I think he will try to get his house in order even it does kill him.

Johnny Winter died yesterday. He was one of my favorite blues guitarists.

Summer breezes

It rained forty days and forty nights in just one hour early this morning. My world of East Tennessee is once again green.

Sammy had a great birthday party. He didn’t pay much attention to his Batman mug but he very much liked the little picnic table we gave him. He had a doctor checkup Monday and is fine, weighing in at thirty-seven pounds.

When Jaden watches Sammy and Mason romping about, his arms and legs begin flailing and a yearning brightness comes to his eyes. He badly wants to get down and mix it up with them.

July and summer are whizzing by so quickly. Carolyn and I are thinking about taking another short-stay trip to Chattanooga on Labor Day weekend. She desperately needs some down time away from home. I am also thinking about going to West Virginia and revisit some of the power houses where I worked on construction back in the seventies. From there maybe to Morehead, Kentucky  to pay homage at my friend Fred’s grave. I also want to visit some of the Civil War battlefields in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Time.

Trainsience

July 3rd. … first day of Dog Days. It has been too hot and dry for several weeks. Hopefully the hurricane now off the Carolina coast will bring a bit of rain but it is probably too far away. I suppose I should be wary of what I wish for, though.

Is anyone truly surprised by the recent Supreme Court rulings? If the misdeeds of this high court can ever be undone, it will take many, many years.

Medicare for all Americans is a fair and just proposal.

Sammy’s birthday presents from granny and me came via FedEx yesterday. We got him a picnic table and a Batman coffee mug, both made in China. He loves that darned bat!

Tomorrow is Independence Day in America. I find it very difficult to celebrate in this age of corporate ownership of We The People.

Happy Birthday to a Wonderful Young Man

Sammy 1yr. old

Sammy 3yr old

June the last

Last worsh day in June; this month has gone by like a like a hound-chased ‘coon and now it is treed.

Sammy is having his third birthday party at our house Saturday; he said for me to say “y’all come!”.

Sammy finally has me figured out; he told his granny yesterday that “Papaw’s crazy”. Mason is now  growing a bit taller instead of spreading out. Jaden seems like he is about ready to crawl.

Yesterday was my Bride’s and my fiftieth wedding anniversary.

Things

This morning while porch sitting I finally saw a honey bee on the white clovers in the yard. One only but I was very thankful for it to be there.

The boys were here yesterday and are present again today. I don’t get much time for net stuff except what they deem necessary: Batman and Thomas the Train.

We need a good soaking rain. Been hot and dry for weeks. I remember last year how the yards and fields stayed lush and green up until frost. Now they are brown and spotty.

Monday muse

Trying to recuperate from a day with Sammy and Mason. Sammy wasn’t bad but Mason wanted to get into everything and he also wanted to dissect everything. He managed to spill my glass of tea into my lighted keyboard and it no longer functions. I am now using an old one but the keys and letters are small and my eyes are weak.

After they left last evening, Carolyn and I sat on the porch and watched some major thunderstorms just beyond the mountains toward Boone, North Carolina. Didn’t have a camera with me.

Is anyone watching soccer? I don’t know how to play the game nor do I know any of the players which leaves my interest lacking. Shucks, I haven’t watched NBA basketball since Michael Jordan retired.

Seems like Polish politicians are learning the hard way that freedom is not a one-way street. Watch what you say and where you say it, boys.

Cometh Summer

This morning and for the first time in my life, I awoke with a blonde in my bed. I hope it’s true that blondes have more fun but she’s never been one to kiss and tell so I suppose I’ll never know.

The boys are doing well. Chris and Ashley had a yard sale at our house Saturday and both boys were in the sun most of the day. Sammy is as tan as a beach bum and mason is a shade darker than usual. Jaden is learning to sit alone and is always smiling. Sammy loves to play Batman and Mason likes to watch Thomas The Train on my PC but only if he sits on my lap. Sammy will be three years old in two weeks; where did time go? He is such a big boy now with a soul so gentle. Mason has to dismantle everything including his food. He has talent of a mechanic or engineer.

My eyes are still improving but still cannot stand much bright light.

Solstice is in three more days. I don’t look forward to shorter daylight but at least this year I have had plenty of porch time. My hide is tanned in places and has peeled twice already.

Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.

This birthday thing is out of control. From now on I will count my existence as scores of years. I am three-score and nine at present and I think that sounds much better than saying that I am sixty-nine years old. Sixty-nine sounds ancient but three-score and nine has a lighter note to it. Besides, saying it in scores instead of continually progressive years should make people stop and think a moment when they hear or read it. Stopping to think is good as long as you don’t do it while driving down the street. Verily, I will celebrate my next natal anniversary when I become four-score.

My heart doctor summoned me for a checkup which I was supposed to have attended just after my knee surgery last July. He tut-tutted at me and then told me what I already knew; my heart is doing fine for a man three-score and nine years of age. As soon as I left his office I went and ate a huge celebratory cheeseburger and french fries. If you are three-score and nine years old you should have learned over the decades that greasy burgers are good for ones mental health just as ice-cold beer is good for the kidneys.

Do you know me? Do you know that my favorite desert is blackberry dumplings which barely edges out banana pudding or brownies? Do you know my favorite meal is brown soup beans, mashed taters topped with peas, spinach greens, fried country ham with red-eye gravy over biscuits, green onions, and iced tea with a slice of lemon? I’ve been eating such fare for most of three-score and ten years. Heart-healthy grub and fine country cuisine.

Do you know that each evening after leaving the office I go to the kitchen, get a small or medium size tomato, grab the salt shaker and stand at the sink and feast? Now you know.

Title quote by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tennessee

"This is the original version in original length and unaltered. Tennessee is one of Hans Zimmer's finest piece in his career in producing movie soundtracks."

Chewing cud

My eyes are at last clearing a little. I owe some of you folks email and I will get to them in a day or so … I hope.

I watched (as best as the eyes allowed) a few movies last week. I always like Morgan Freeman flicks so I watched The Magic of Belle Isle. It wasn’t a great movie but it was worth watching. I also watched a documentary about Edward Snowden and the content of the NSA  documents concerning domestic spying by our government. I also saw two of my favorite movies from the eighties: The Gods Must Be Crazy and The Blues Brothers.

We got the Escape repaired. It had bad wheel bearings. Hopefully I can soon get out on some weekends and make a few photos. I haven’t driven a car in nearly two years but I think it is time. The mountains call me and I damn sure need to find a bit of contentment in their shaded slopes.
We also got two medical bills paid off from Carolyn’s hospital stay back in 2009. We still like two more.

For me. growing old has been like a happy drunk stumbling around in the dark and suddenly finding myself up to my nose in a cesspit.

Where have all the soldiers gone ...

D-Day June 6 1944

 Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Lyrics by Pete Seeger

Summer begins

Evening conversation

My eyes are still messed up; will post a blog when ever possible.

Good bye, Mr Anderson

Eye drops

I feel better today than I have since before the pneumonia. I slept well last night with the help of a Xanax tablet and my eyes are allowing me to write this short blog post if nothing else. The weights on my knees are working but I don’t know how far they will go with straightening the leg. Anyway, I was able to walk better this morning and I can tell the leg feels stronger.

I’ve had some good porch time the past two mornings. The worst distraction is that there is a patch of white clover blooms in front of the porch but I have yet to see a honey bee on any of them. When I was a lad, white clovers with their attending honey bees were a bane to this barefoot boy; it was normal to be stung on the feet several time each week. Alas, the bees are all but extinct from some places and it is saddening that we so much ignore our natural world.

The title is my favorite quote from the movie The Matrix.

Mid-May already

Feeling pretty good except for my blurry eyes and perpetually sore knees. I bought ten pounds (4.5 kg) of weights to place on my new knee while the leg is stretched between two chairs. Doctor wants me to have the knee crushed again but as long as soreness from fluid is there it won’t do much good because I cannot do the exercises properly.

Have you heard the old saying “he looks like he is knocking on death’s door”? I don’t think I have been knocking on his door but I do believe I have been slumming around his neighborhood too much recently.

The boys are growing. Jaden is at eighteen pounds (8.1 kg), Mason is thirty-four pounds (15.4 kg), and Sammy is thirty-five pounds (15.9 kg). Sammy’s hair has turned a dark copper color.

When a fifteen month old little boy (Mason) walks into a room full of unused but familiar laps and comes to me to pick him up and then puts his head against my chest and his arms around my neck, it makes me feel like I have been doing something right with my life.

A plague of locusts. That is about all that is left to hit California where Jeremy and Courtney are living. So far this year they have had earth quakes, drought, flash floods, wild fires, and searingly dry winds.

May flowers

Here is my annual tribute to the best love movie I’ve seen–The Notebook–and to the song writer Dave Loggins and to the performance by Three Dog Night.

I seem to have overcome this last bout of pneumonia and I say it is the worst one I’ve ever had and I’ve had many. It took a trip to emergency room to get me on the path to being rid of it, at least for awhile. I truly thank Alice, Jola, Sandy, Mark, and Maggie for your concern and get well vibes. You all are blessing in my life.

Sunday I got a bit of a surprise. An old friend I haven’t seen in many years called me and within a few hours he and another friend from back in the day were sitting with me at my house. It was Ken Moore and Mike Townsend. Our relationship goes back to the nineteen seventy-three. I was very happy to see them.

Still here

Beginning to feel better from pneumonia. Thank all of you for your care and concern. I will answer your inspiring comments as soon as possible.

Feeling putrid

Haven’t been blogging for awhile. Going to doctor tomorrow. Probably have my annual case of pneumonia.

Mice and crackers and shoes, Oh My!

"Unless it poops droppings as big as pool balls I ain't paying it no attention." These were my words to Carolyn when she awakened me in the middle of the night and said there is a mouse in the house. She heard it rattling papers in the trash can on my side of the bed. A few moments later she turned on her lamp and I felt the air of one of her shoes whizzing by my head. Clunk; thunk. I rolled over on my back and in a few minutes we again heard the trash can rattle. Woosh ! The other shoe barely missed my nose. Whap; bang.  This must have been all mousey could stand because after another hour long vigil by Carolyn he was no longer heard. The law has been laid down to me: No more eating a snack at bedtime. It was only a package of Lance peanut butter crackers but now I am denied even that small indulgence. She has banished my trashcan so henceforth I will  have to sneak my snack before she comes home from work each evening and hide the wrapper under my pillow until morning.

This morning my bride offhandedly asked me "where are these mice coming from?" I thought for a moment and told her "Hobos". Then I had to explain that science has found a new off-shoot of the regular house-mouse species that has begun catching rides on trains as they move about the land. I told her it wasn't uncommon these days to see a bunch of mice sitting on top of boxcars as they went rumbling down the tracks. The mice sleep at night inside the freight cars and ride all day in the sunshine. When they get hungry, they jump off the train and visit houses such as ours along the tracks and I told her that the mouse would soon miss his wayward life and go hitch on the next train that stopped at at the nearby siding, all just like human hobos once did.
------
Well, it is April Fools day so what was I supposed to tell her; go buy a trap and kill the little critter?

Take me out to the ball game

Once more it is near time for America’s game to begin a new season. I don’t much care anymore about baseball but there was a time when I was as passionate as the next kid about the game and all the major league stars. It was 1955 and our school principal was also an avid fan, so much so that he allowed us to quit class and go to the auditorium and watch the game on a TV which he had placed near the front of the stage. The room wasn’t huge but I hope you can imagine a flickering black and white screen no bigger than a dinner tray and tiny speakers baring as loudly as possible. I hope you can also smell fresh popped popcorn; the principal borrowed a backup popcorn maker from the local movie theater and each of us received a small bag of the treat. The game was during the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, one of several “subway” series they had back in the day. I don’t remember who won the game or on which home field it was played on, but I know we true fans were in ecstasy. A lot of the kids were there just to skip classes for the afternoon. Many of us did not have television sets at home and would linger watching the game until after all the school buses ran and we ended up walking home, some of them for many miles. It was worth the trek as we discussed the game amongst ourselves  on the way. It didn’t pay to stay until the very end of the game, however. If we did, we were recruited to clean up all the spilled popcorn from the seats and floor of the auditorium. Did I mention girls? No girls attended the game viewing; not one because they were not welcome. They were all allowed to gather in the gymnasium and discuss whatever it is that grade school girls talk about and they did have popcorn if they wanted it. It was a man’s world in that era and I can only imagine what would happen if something like that was attempted these enlightened days. I suppose the refrain lyrics for this video song are still played and sung at every major league game during the season.

Wintry blues

Abandoned but not forgotten

Snow this morning and more expected tonight. I am sick of winter.

Both the Lady Vols and the men’s basketball squads are doing ok so far. They both are in the round of sixteen. The men have a chance to advance farther but the women are not playing well.

Sammy and Mason were here Sunday. They both have colds and were a bit ill tempered but we got along good. Mason is saying a few words; he is only fourteen months old. His little legs are so fat that when he walks, he waddles like a bow-legged penguin.

The lost airliner was apparently beamed up by illegal space aliens. Fox news is likely working on a way to tie Obama to responsibility for the tragedy.

Nearly all of out daffodils are blooming for the first time since we moved here.

An Idle Mind

I am neither happy nor sad that hate monger and pastor Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church has died but I am glad he is no longer an American.

I’ve been watching (finally) Baseball by Ken Burns. I’ve watched some of his documentaries including The Civil War, Jazz, The War and others and I have learned much about America and its people. Our true history lies in the things we do and either succeed at or fail and not in the words of great men. If Burns never received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he surely is past due.

It is trying to be springtime but air temperatures are still chilly; it has not officially reached the 70°F (21.1°C) mark so far this year. “They” are saying we will have snow next week. Doesn’t surprise me because our deepest snows have usually been in March and April. Fortunately they melt fairly quickly.

The front door to springtime is a photographer’s best friend. ~Terri Guillemets

" ... as virginal as the first daffodil of spring"

March daffodils

The photo was made yesterday in evening sun. First time I have used the big Pentax in nearly a year. Felt good to hold it. Little hands have surely been at it as the power switch was turned on, the batteries were dead, and every dial and switch on it was changed. I’ll need a new hiding place for it. Here are the same daffodils from last February 15.

The U.S. Congress; that august body has been wandering in the wilderness for decades, worshiping Gods of Mammon, and always just beneath the radar of blame.

Pretty weather here in the hills but the air is cool. Seems like nature is once again making us wait until the last moment for glorious spring.

It doesn’t bother me that I am but the second most interesting man in the world. This guy claims to be the most, most interesting.

My view from the far left

I wonder if anyone has asked the N.S.A. if they know where the lost plane is? If they don’t know, Google probably does.

Seems like CNN News very much wants the missing plane to be the result of terrorism. I watched about thirty minutes of their coverage last evening and became a bit nauseous as the anchor kept leading his panel back to the hijacking theme when they strayed from the subject a bit.

Speaking of NSA (National Security Agency), I think it hellishly funny that the Senate of the U.S. thinks they are being spied on by the agency. Hearings into the abomination are under way in D.C. It’s about time the worm turned; Congress has always ok’d the spying by “intelligence” agencies on the lives of we everyday public as a security priority but when they may be targets themselves, they scream “foul” and needlessly spend tons of money to find out the “facts”. The facts are that each screamer is probably guilty of some nefarious deed which the public should know about but they have kept covered under their top secret security umbrella. Phooey!

Why do we need a Homeland Security and a Defense Department? Why not allow Homeland Security to take care of homeland security and rename Department of Defense back to its moniker of War Department which it carried until 1949? After all, it is best at making war, especially in and on small countries who have a lot of oil and few soldiers.

Let’s kiss and make up with Cuba.

Behold

)

—-

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! ~Sitting Bull

—-

The little spring peckerwood is back! He visited a couple of times last month but this morning he was in full and glorious happiness, drumming on the side of our house. Daffodils are in full bloom and the temperature is supposed to be 72F (22C) today. Time to think about serious porch occupying. Of course it is early spring and they are calling for snow flurries tomorrow night and temperatures well below freezing for a day or two. Such be early spring. Hope the temps moderate before the gigantic Ides of March celebration which never happens.

I hope Sandy and her family were able to withstand the sizable earthquake which occurred just off the California shore from where they live.

My Lady Vols won the conference championship in three straight come from behind victories. I hope they can get a number one seeding in the Big Dance; that way they won’t have to face too many teams better than they before the Final Four. They really aren’t as good as they are ranked to be. The men’s team is also playing well but there is doubt as to whether they can get into the NCAA tournament.

Imagine: This modern tech-heavy world has lost without a trace an entire jet airliner!

Almost spring

Still winter brown but some spring green is showing

Been winter-ish for a day or two but is supposed to be very spring-like next week. I am surely ready.

Lady Vols play LSU in the SEC tournament this evening. Vols aren’t as good as I thought they would be this year but even if they were great they could not come close to beating Mark’s Ucon Huskies.

I’ve been rereading some of my stories I wrote back in the 90′s and I still like them.Wish I still had the ability to type out the words like I did then. I tried dictation software but my voice has become so raspy that it has trouble understanding me and I have to do more editing than I would have with straight keyboard input. I don’t like talking to infernal machines nohow.

Dark of the moon is at the end of this month so be sure to plant your taters at that time. Eyes up.

I saw a good movie on Netflix last week. Stand Up Guys should be seen by anyone getting along in years. Christopher Walken has been my favorite bad guy ever since I saw him in the James Bond movie A View to a Kill.

Seems like Russia is going to annex Crimean Peninsula and maybe much more of Ukraine and the West is  vainly shaking their collective fists full of dollars and euros.

Chocolate as a fruit

Johnson City's best kept secret

I recall Seaver’s bakery ‘fried pies’ from when I was a small boy. On Fridays when Paul’s Rolling Store came around, Mom would buy either a half dozen donuts or a few of these pies. After Paul left to go to the next house, Mom and I would sit in the living room listening to the radio and eating our treat along with a grape or orange soda. The packaging in the photo is still basically the same as it was sixty years ago. Back then, the pies were fruit filled but chocolate and one or two other fillings were added to the product line. Not long after I was married, we rented a house just up the street from the bakery which is still in business today. It was a good place to live if you like baking scents, which I strongly loved. They were generally known as fried pies but they were actually baked. My favorites are cherry, pineapple, blueberry, and chocolate. Those moments alone with my grandmother, sharing fresh baked treats and our favorite soda flavors will be in my best memories as long as I have recollections. Photo made with HTC phone camera.

Walking

I was able to accomplish something yesterday which I thought was going to permanently elude me; I walked without crutches or cane or any kind of aid. I also found out I have a very long way to go to get it done right. Just a few steps is a beginning.

Jeremy sent us a set of coasters with some of my flower photos on them. They are beautiful and we are very grateful that he thinks of us. Granny was all teary-eyed again. We love Jeremy and Courtney and wish we could see them.

It has once more turned winter in the knobs. Carolyn’s daffodils are just now out of the ground but this time last year they were in bloom. It is going to be a great spring!

Coming soon to a forest near you: Spring!

Olympic Ice Dancing and Skating: All contestants should be required to use Judas Priest music for their performances. It would darn sure even things out and make the event at least a bit more tolerable to watch. I was fortunate enough to see these guys in concert just before they made it big. I don’t remember which band they opened for but it was probably REO Speedwagon or KISS.

I am glad to see some smaller nations win many of the medals in these Winter Olympic games.  Jola’s Polish team has won four medals so far and all have been gold. Russia, Canada, and the U.S are doing well as is China, a country which will someday dominate  the games both summer and winter.

We are having a touch of spring-like weather this week but I don’t expect it to last long before winter again closes its icy fist on the hills.

The boys are doing well and not having a lot of winter sickness. Sammy and Mason were with us Sunday and all three were here yesterday.

There is a bill before the Tennessee legislature to cause the state to have daylight savings time year round. I am all for it

Leviticus 19:33-34
³³ When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. ³⁴ The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself,  for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Bad Grandpa

Thanks to Jeremy, we just finished watching watching Bad Grandpa. We both laughed our butts off. Thanks, Jeremy!

I succumbed to boredom and watched some of the Olympic events on TV. I saw curling, various skiing, speed skating, and some individual women sliding down an icy path on a board, an event known as “Skeleton”. Curling seems like a cross between a game of darts and a game of marbles we used to play as kids except the marbles a flattened, round stones. They must get dirty easily because there is always two people skating ahead of them sweeping the ice as they slide toward the circle and bulls-eye. None of it makes sense because if you knock an opponent’s “stone” out of the circle you don’t get to keep it. Carolyn likes figure skating but it is the ultimate in boredom for me.

We endured Wednesday’s snow storm but there is another due tonight. This winter is trying to make up for a bunch of mild ones we had over the past decade or longer.

Ready I Am

I’m ready for the snow storm! Got a candle, a one cell flashlight and extra battery, and kerosene for the space heater; I think there is a strike anywhere match left in the box.. I’m good for the duration.
It was sad to learn about Mark’s dog Summer passing. I was always glad he adopted an older dog from the shelter and he gave her what were probably the best years of her life. Like so many of her breed, she was a gentle soul and even tolerated cats.

I received an interesting comment on my Smokin’ blog from last week. Here is a link to a blog about ginseng and its cultivation. When I was young, I tried to cultivate some of the wild root but all I ever got was stunted plants that died after the first year. Ms. Woods seems to know how to make a good crop and has written a book about it.

A couple of days ago I saw my first robin of the year other than the local wintering flock. One lone male was scavenging in my back yard. Any sign of coming spring is a good sign even if it is tempered by the coming storm.

It has begun to snow as I write this.

Smokin'

I am happy that CVS pharmacy has decided to refuse to sell tobacco products any longer even though it is a huge financial hit for the huge company. Personally, I use a local, minority owned pharmacy for my prescriptions even though sometimes I pay a little more than I would at CVS or Wal-Mart. My long-time pharmacist is an immigrant from the middle-east and attends a Muslim mosque. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Rush Limbaugh. I am a sixth generation Scots-Irish-German-Swedish American but it makes no difference because I am just plain happy I was born here and allowed to live my life in these East Tennessee hills of America. Brotherhood, y’all.

Weather is a bit crazy which is getting to be the norm since we screwed up the stratosphere. Yesterday we had high winds which—at this time of year—normally means that spring is trying to horn in on winter’s time. No telling what it means these days but it is cold and gray today. Give it up, old man winter and allow baby spring to have its way.

Winter Olympics begin today but I won’t be watching much of it except maybe speed skating; I hate cold and darn sure don’t want to look at it on TV.

New “reality” series on TV about harvesting ginseng. I knew the plant was becoming rare but I didn’t know it was bringing up to one-thousand dollars or more for each pound. I used to sell a bit of it back in the day but the price then was seventy-five to one-hundred twenty dollars per pound and it had to be dried. It takes a lot of the dry roots to make a pound. The big prices these days are for fresh out of the ground product and nearly all that is harvested here is exported to China. I also harvested may apple root and bloodroot. I occasionally see ginseng plants when I am in the woods making photos.

In perfect harmony

This Coca-Cola Super Bowl commercial brings me unbound pleasure in the superb multilingual lyrics and the diversity of American cultures shown. The part which pleases me most about it is that it has pissed off so many conservatives, including rednecks, Jim Crows, and tea partiers. These jerks claim that all Americans should speak nothing but some form of English. Many think “America the Beautiful” is the national anthem of the United States of America. It isn’t. Some decry the ad because it shows gay Americans. Little do they know that the woman whom wrote this wonderful song, Katharine Lee Bates, was an American lesbian. I suppose that some folks lives are so poorly lived that they have to find someone to hate so as not to dislike themselves so much. To them I say “have a Coke or a Pepsi or whatever you prefer and enjoy whom and what America stands for and whom and what it really is above your lowest wishes and highest expectations”.

Of Mice and Windows

Keep on turning, Pete

"If you sing for children you can’t really say there’s no hope."

Finally got Win7 running like it should. It is fast to operate on the new solid state hard drive. The problem was my old Logitech mouse. For some reason it would not cooperate with the new system and caused me much grief by scrolling backward through my browser all on its own. Page after visited page sped by. A new Amazon brand cheapo mouse seems to have cured the problem. I also added two sticks of memory to the PC; it now has six gigabytes total.

I’ve had enough super-cold for one winter; it was at 0°F (-17.8°C) this morning. I want to thank my Canadian and American Yankee friends for sending us this bountiful frigid season.

Still haven’t seen baby Jaden and tomorrow is Mason’s first birthday.

Winter thoughts

I have Win 7 installed along with all my needed programs. I have one major problem which is probably going to cause me to have to redo the entire setup. It is so bad that if I finish this blog in one day, I will be lucky.

When I passed my first kidney stone, a nurse told me that I now know how it feels for a woman to have a baby. All I can say is that if having babies is as painful as having kidney stones, the world population would be a whole lot less than what it now is. Kidney stone pain is constant and can last for hours or even days. Mark recently passed two stones and I wonder how he feels being a mother. After passing my last stone, my buddy Fred asked me what I did with it. I told him that I pissed it away like I did everything else I ever had. All seven of my stones were barely visible and when they moved to my bladder I had no problem passing them.

Another snow here today with schools and many businesses closed. Carolyn probably won't make it to work tonight. This may turn out to be the first real winter we have had in many years.

New phone but same old me

I am mentally trying to prepare myself for a task that at one time in my life I rather enjoyed. Now, it is a dreadful storm cloud hanging over me. Because Microsoft is going to stop issuing security updates for Windows XP, I must install Windows 7 in my PC and reinstall all the other software I use. I also have to install a new copy of Quickbooks accounting software for Carolyn’s business needs. I chose to purchase a new hard drive, too. It is a solid state drive and I trust it will be much faster. All this is an expensive upgrade but it is direly needed as Win XP will be of little use in another month or so.  I have the new drive prepared to go into the PC and the software is due to be here today. I will need two long days of hard work to get it all done, that is if all goes ok. Now, to get myself psyched to get it done.

I’ve been needing a new phone for awhile; my old Droid X has become obsolete and stretches its resources just to make a phone call. I found a new HTC One on Amazon for $30 based on a two year contract agreement. I’ve been using it for a couple of days and it seems to be much better suited for what I have to do. I hate the contract, though.

Enough for today except to say it is again super cold here.

Carry on

Sammy naps with new brother Jaden

Welcome to Jaden Michael, brother of Sammy and Mason. All are well except Mason has a cold.

So far this has been as close to a normal winter as we’ve had in a long time. Not much snow but the season is still young. First sub-zero degree day in several years, thunderstorms, sleet, and lots of rain have been the norm. Our electric bill is more than $200 for the first time ever.

Our government is still in shambles because of weak “liberals” and overly zealous tea-partiers. The voting people are too lethargic to try to do better. Amen

And When I Die was a popular song during my electrician apprenticeship.

Bits and pieces

Roku now has Youtube … again. Please post videos of your lovely selves so I can watch you on big screen tv.

Speaking of tv, my Samsung DLP tv stopped working yesterday. Mason tried to fix it.

I had a great time with the boys yesterday. Sammy wallered (wallowed) me good.

Nice. mild weather here after sub-zero temps just a few mornings ago. I can tell there is a little more daylight in evening so I suppose there is hope for spring to come.

Another of my friends from back in the day died on Dec. 26. We had a bit of falling out and he disappeared for many years. He was in Chattanooga where his sister lives when he died  I remember he and I sitting in my old pickup truck drinking beer and smoking fine weed. Another friend from back when’s wife died a week or so ago.  He an I also had a falling out and I have seen but little of him since he got married in mid-eighties.

The bloody morning after

Marijuana has been legal in Colorado since the first of this young year and the world hasn’t stopped turning and the polar ice caps didn’t finish melting. What have we become? Allowing gay people to marry and allowing legal pot smoking, we are bound to be a nation who must bear the wrath of God. We even allow men to have long hair and women to wear pants and shorts in public. We got down from our camels and invented automobiles which is surely an abomination. We put away our clay tablets and sharp sticks to invent paper to write on; unheard of in the days of Moses. We even buy most of our clothing from an atheist Chinese communist nation. A huge part of our oil supply comes from a part of the world whose ubiquitous religion vows to destroy Christianity. We are in debt to countries who hate us. We allow our kids to carry assault weapons to school and kill students and teachers. Our largest corporations are wholly or partly owned by foreign companies who pay little if any taxes in the good old U.S.A. Used to be politicians would deny being owned by Big Business but now they are open about it and proud of it. What is to become of us? Only God knows.

I hate the quality of tomatoes at this time of year.

The way it was, 2013

Following is a link to my New Year's post on Wordpress. I am lazy today.

https://looselaces.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4776&action=edit