Vibes

No Greater Love ...

It has been a difficult winter in many ways, not only nasty weather but also some personal issues. It is that time of year when I visit doctors. I’ve seen two in the past couple of weeks and have two more to go.

Seems like one has to see a specialist for everything from hangnails to achy muscles. Used to be the family doctor could take care of all except the most serious ailments.Like everything else, it is all about money.

What about the Arkansas newbie senator sending a letter to our vowed enemy, Iran? He and a lot of his cronies warned that religious-based government not to trust President Obama. All this while we are trying to achieve a nuclear arms treaty with Iran. If that isn’t treason, I don’t know what is. The Constitution gives the power to make treaties to the executive branch and gives none to the legislative branch. Trying to usurp the lawful powers of a sitting president while he is acting in what he sees as the best course for our country is not only deplorable but should be illegal. All who signed that letter should be held accountable to the letter of the law and by the voters. The Arkansas senator should scrape the pig shit off his shoes before he tackles issues of national interest. Sooooo-eeeee Hog!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Yesterday 8:00 am — 0°F (-17.78°C)
Today 6:00 am — -6°F (-21.1°C)
Winter storm warning for tonight and tomorrow. Nothing like living in the balmy South!

February Freeze

It is 28°F (-2.2C), raining, sleeting, snowing, and windy. Mother Nature is not even trying to get on my good side. Probably won’t be long until the power lines come down but I have my dollar flashlight handy, my phone is charged, and the kerosene heater is filled and waiting in the living room.

All things equal, tomorrow will be my last day with Comcast internet service. We are going back to the phone company’s slower but more reliable (I hope) DSL service. We dropped Comcast’s cable TV service last week and with a small outdoor antenna we still receive 15 over-the air stations, all clear digital plus five of them are high-definition.

I just finished pissing off some pseudo-Christian conservatives over on Facebook. Makes me happy to accommodate their complete ignorance of the bible and our Constitution. I usually ignore them but I am in a bad mood because of the gloom and doom weather.

Robin

Tammy is true to her word. She sent spring robins this way and I saw the first one of the season on Sunday. Thank you, my Florida friend.

All else is ok, too.

Snow

Expecting the tail-end of the the big snow storm to his us this afternoon. The sky is gray and flurrying as I write this. It’s Obama’s fault.

It sure took our present president long enough to turn from wimp to at least a semblance of  leader. Six years for him to see what a lot of us saw not long after he took office. He has gone from a sitting duck to a lame duck.

Jaden recently had his first birthday and Mason will have his second in a few days. Sam is still boss but Mason is eying the position.

Hope Tammy sends some robins this way soon. It is almost time for the males to arrive.

Still Here

Despite doctors and medications, I am still here. The new RA drug well controlled the disease but it also stopped my liver from normal function. I had about every side effect the medicine poses. Carolyn called the doctor but he never returned the call so I took it upon myself to stop taking the medication. I was having flash-backs to my friend Fred’s suffering and eventual death due to liver disease.  After a week, I restarted it but only every other day instead of daily. Most of the side effect symptoms have decreased or gone away but I still tire easily. and have trouble sleeping.

The boys are well and as mean as you can expect little boys to be.

“Happy Christmas to All and All a Good Night”

The above poem is the first book I recall my mother reading to me when I was small and on her lap.

I watched The Wolf of Wall Street on Netflix. Good story but the movie itself is putrid. Over acted, over directed, and overly long.

In case I’m unable to get back here before Christmas, my wish for all is to have a merry holiday.

Worldly King William

Worldly King William

Where stood my enemies now exist I alone
Vanquished I them not with sword nor with stone

With love and respect and almighty Truth
Past these days unto my youth

Soothing words smote angry beasts
With quill and ink fought I ne’er to appease

At world’s end now I stand
Life’s worst conquered… my holy land

Poem ©2014 Ken Anderson

Tidings of Great Joy

A bit of good news for me. For the past month, I have been trying a new medication (Arava) for rheumatoid arthritis. It took three weeks for it to begin working but I now have a lot less body soreness and much reduced joint swelling than before. For the most part, I feel better than I have for the past four years. The drug has been around for a while and it does carry dangerous side effects such as severe liver damage or failure, increased chance of cancers, and I am more susceptible to tuberculosis and pneumonia. Test yesterday showed my liver function as normal. I still must have blood test once each month. So far, the only side effect I know I am having is losing more of the few hairs I have left on my head.

A Waltz

The waltz presented in this video was composed by actor Anthony Hopkins. Beautiful music by a remarkable man and performed by a remarkable orchestra.

After getting used to all the lively discussion and general bull crap on Facebook, Google+ feels like a funeral parlor when I visit there.

Been under the weather for a couple of weeks but am feeling better today. Didn’t have enough energy to write much or be on Megashot. I hope to have a bit of positive news about my health next week; doctor visit tomorrow.

Must It Forever Be A Dream ...

My thoughts are that America is more divided than it has been since 1960’s. However it isn’t split by racial makeup alone. Since so many of the racial and ethnic killings and beatings by police are being made public via video, people of all races are coming together to protest and decry the brutality by the lawmen whom we expect to protect us. I have vivid memories of newscasts showing devastating riots in many American cities after Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968. His murder and ensuing revolts are the cause for his words and deeds to finally be taken to heart by so much of the public which had previously been blinded by selfish uncaring. The murder of Robert Kennedy also caused rioting in many of the same communities just two months after Dr. King died. Some of these riots were not specifically racist; they were groundswell demands for justice and equality for all. It took great destruction, violence, and many deaths to teach America a painful and long needed lesson. It also took courage stemming from sorrow and despair. Hopefully the present unrest will be assuaged in peace with a new trust in justice for all of us. Martin Luther King’s dream echoes from his grave.

Fees for Free

Remember when you could go to your local bank and many of their services were free of fees? Free check refills, free financial advice, and free of overdraft charges to customers who didn’t make a habit of being over drawn. You could open a savings account and draw decent interest and make unfettered withdrawals whenever you wanted. Now, there is a fee for nearly everything the banks have under their control. You even have to pay them to allow you to use your own savings account funds if you choose to make more than one or two withdrawals per month. In the meantime, they are using your savings to make mortgage and auto loans and raking in several times as much interest as they pay savings account holders. Banks should be federally regulated. Personally, I use a credit union instead of a commercial bank. There, I don’t have to pay a fee each time a teller smiles.

Just ate a bunch of double-dipped chocolate covered peanuts and for some reason I am nauseous. It must be age; I used to eat more than I did today all I got was happiness.

Santa and Cranberry Sauce

My boys loved my Santa hat

Carolyn must be showing her years … she put the bowl of leftover cranberry sauce in the cabinet instead of the refrigerator. She found it two days later. Welcome to my senile world, dear wife.

We had a decent Thanksgiving although it was mostly spent by just the three of us. The boys came over late so their momma could go shopping but Sam decided his place was in the store with her. This is Sammy’s first year believing in Santa and he also has Mason believing. Mason is at the stage where his “I won’t” and “I’m not” is getting his hands smacked and his butt reddened.

I did some online Black Friday buying but it was on Saturday. I bought the latest version of Paintshop Pro for thirty bucks and it included After Shot which is a very good RAW editor for photos and there were also a few filters with the bundle. PsP comes in 64 bit and 32 bit versions. I prefer the 32 bit because I have a bunch of plugins and scripts that won’t work with the 64 bit. I don’t make a lot of photos these days but it is one area where I am still optimistic.

It looks like a lot of Black Friday sales will extend until Christmas. I just don’t understand rampant commercialism. It’s all Santa’s fault.

Happy week, y’all!

Monday is wash day

Stupid weather. Wear a heavy coat in the morning, shirtsleeves in afternoon, and back to coat at night. It is 71°F (21.7°C)  as I write this at noon today but it is supposed to snow Wednesday and Thursday.
Had to buy another new cable modem Saturday. Even with that, the net connection is unusually slow. Comcast needs to do some equipment upgrades.
 
Carolyn has gone to get a problem with the van looked at. I think the starter is bad. Also, she bought two new tires for the rear of the van about two months ago and one of them already has a knot on it.

Most people do not smile on Monday until 11:16 am.

All these degrading TV shows and movies; I would like to know the zombie’s side of the story.

Later

Getting ready for Christmas — Sam and Mason

I will be away from blogging for a while … at least until my health improves. RA is a day-to-day malady so who knows, I may be back tomorrow. Have wonderful days until we meet again, my friends.

Reflections on Elections

Our new friends in Washington seem to be doing what the people elected them to do. I cannot understand why liberals, democrats, and environmentalists are up in arms over fracking of shale being allowed. Voters want fracking and fracking they shall have. Even if the majority of the natural gas produced will be exported to Asian markets, so be it. Voters voted for big money to continue guiding the country down whatever road that leads.

In 2012, voters reelected President Obama, apparently wanting him to take on Congress and see that they do what the people need. Instead, the president went on the defensive and hunkered down for two more years, allowing the latest election to go to hardcore conservatives. Now, after losing his chance to lead, Obama jumps up and starts rhetoric about positive immigration reform and many of the other things he allowed to sit idle for so long. Too late, Mr. President. Go back to bed.

Monday Boys

So this is Monday
What else to say
Boys were here yesterday
I’m pooped today

Rant

Bumble bee on golden rod

Why the hell can I not go on Facebook without seeing Kim Kardashian’s big ass? I don’t even like her face, much less a glorified picture of her naked butt. Facebook is sicker than ever.

Carolyn isn’t having the best of weeks.  Wednesday night she was pulled over by a policeman for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. Yesterday she was in a waiting area while oil was being changed in the van when someone in a car rammed into the wall of the building behind the chair where she was sitting, nearly knocking her to the floor. The car driver left the scene and the proprietor called the sheriff’s office but they were too busy to respond.

Above photo is on my Megashot stream.

Better

Do a spontaneous kindness for someone and you may change their life for the better. Do many good deeds for as may people as you can and you may change the world for the better. Don’t worry; feeling good about doing good is not being selfish. It is just your soul patting you on the back and saying ‘you did what was necessary‘.

Afternoon Wednesday

Golden autumn magic

Used to be I only scratched my head in wonder when the good people of Texas elected some nut case but now the whole country has me pulling out what few hairs I have left.

I suppose I like the above photo as well as any autumn shot I have made.

The awaited comet landing seems to be at least mostly successful. I smile.

Carolyn, with the help of Jaden, lost one of her birthstone earrings I bought her. Now, I must get her a new pair. Shopping Amazon.

Wednesday; the day we finally get past Monday’s hangover.