10/26/2016

Changing Things

I feel honor bound to start a new phase in my life.  I truly need to find new avenues to keep me occupied with life.  The joy of singing has lost it's allure and I am for the second time going to stop singing with the Topeka Capitol Men's Barbershop Chorus.  I have both men's and women's tickets for the KU Teams this year.  I intend to attend as many games as I can.

I am also going to find a new way to get more physical exercise.  I don't intend to find myself in worse shape as I start next year.  In the past, I found the downtown YMCA a great p[lace to swim and work out.  I hope that I can fins a way to get Barbara to participate with me.  I owe her the same opportunity to be at her best as I can hope to be.

I will also use this change to start accumulating my many posts on this blog into what I hope will mount to more than just a way to pass a few hours.

I will do my best to be charitable, somewhat truthful , and to remember as many humorous things as I can.

MUD

10/12/2016

Have I Told You How Much I hate Getting Old?

Yes Dear one's, I know the alternative is worse, but I really do hate not being able to complete projects with the same energy I had even a few short years back.  Even getting up off the floor is a challenge.  Can you imaging me crawling under the floor in my son's house to fix a leak in a Pex water line?  If you knew just how hard it is to get up off the floor you might understand. 

I have a brother-in-law that shared with me that maintenance on his rental's finally caused him to sell them.  I think I am nearing that point faster and faster each year.  The problem is that keeping them is just going to diminish the profit point as I have to have more and more maintenance hired out. 

Every time I go out somewhere, I see more and more Vietnam Vets wearing their baseball caps proudly.  The problem is that they are all old guys.  Hell, I went to Vietnam with a bunch of kids not a bunch of old farts. 

Being retired from the National Guard, I get their newspaper monthly.  I find it more often than not, the new Generals and major unit commanders are people that I don't even know.  I guess the fact that the Adjutant General was a Captain that worked for me should tell me something.

I am considering buying a member ship to the YMCA again.  I found a regular workout/swimming schedule was great a few years back.  I will admit that the hot tub really made it nice after a work out.  

Oh well, here I sit complaining about getting old and I need to get up and go do something.  I did notice that I have nearly a million view on my blogs.  I wonder if there is a time I need to stop even this effort.

MUD

Have I Told You How Much I hate Getting Old?

Yes Dear one's, I know the alternative is worse, but I really do hate not being able to complete projects with the same energy I had even a few short years back.  Even getting up off the floor is a challenge.  Can you imaging me crawling under the floor in my son's house to fix a leak in a Pex water line?  If you knew just how hard it is to get up off the floor you might understand. 

I have a brother-in-law that shared with me that maintenance on his rental's finally caused him to sell them.  I think I am nearing that point faster and faster each year.  The problem is that keeping them is just going to diminish the profit point as I have to have more and more maintenance hired out. 

Every time I go out somewhere, I see more and more Vietnam Vets wearing their baseball caps proudly.  The problem is that they are all old guys.  Hell, I went to Vietnam with a bunch of kids not a bunch of old farts. 

Being retired from the National Guard, I get their newspaper monthly.  I find it more often than not, the new Generals and major unit commanders are people that I don't even know.  I guess the fact that the Adjutant General was a Captain that worked for me should tell me something.

I am considering buying a member ship to the YMCA again.  I found a regular workout/swimming schedule was great a few years back.  I will admit that the hot tub really made it nice after a work out.  

Oh well, here I sit complaining about getting old and I need to get up and go do something.  I did notice that I have nearly a million view on my blogs.  I wonder if there is a time I need to stop even this effort.

MUD

What did we Learn in School?

It never ceases to amaze me that young voters think this is the worst race for the President.  Over the years there are elections that said horrible things.  "Ma, Ma, Where's my Paw?  Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha." This  was an attempt to pin paternity on Grover Cleveland. ( I have no idea if there is any truth in it)  Goldwater was going to blow us all up!  The press printed the results that Truman lost when he really won. 

I am sure that back to the beginning there have been campaigns that said and did things that were bad and in a lot of cases wrong.  The report was that Lincoln would lead us into a Civil War when it was the inevitable thing for a house so divided. 

The real sad thing today is that the press lacks credibility in reporting so bad that no one really knows fact from fiction.  Today a Gary Heart's picture on the poop deck of  Monkey Business would not be believed.   How did our past Presidents get such a free pass and candidates today are excoriated at the first drop of any hat.  

If you can make sense of any of this, you are a better man than I, Charlie Brown. 

The United States presidential election of 2016, scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016, will be the 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. Voters will select presidential electors, who in turn will vote for a new president and vice president.     

MUD

10/11/2016

How do we fix this mess?

This morning, I had a nice talk with a black professional man and we agreed on more than we disagreed on.  Because he is a professional, I will not divulge his name.  He has worked hard to become a success in his field and I will treat him as such.

First of all, we agree that our Country is in trouble.  His biggest complaint is that there is some strange trend that thinks that adding new laws and layers of paperwork will solve problems.  I think that all laws should have a sunset and a published cost.  In case you don't know, we right now are incapable of funding all the laws on the books.  Each budget cycle, is more burdensome in cost and in the mix, something must get left out.  If our Tax code was simply a table with what you pay based on the amount you make.  Cut out the loop holes and don't allow changes.  (Except to raise the percentages as it costs more)  No free rides no tax loopholes.

I think Congress must first agree on what the heck they first must fund.  The cost of having a Federal Government is pretty much at the top of the list.  Second, our Military Defense is a requirement.  You can list the other Government functions until the money runs out.  But, they must really understand how much it costs and how much of it they can fund. 

If Dave Ramsey was the OMB Director, he would make them first write down what everything costs and to develop a budget that is realistic.  If the President wants to import 80,000 Syrian Refugees, what in his budget will he cut to do that.  You and I might want a new car but we sure as heck don't get on if we can't pay for it. I am not sure where I draw that line but I am sure that we can predict what Natural Disasters will happen and build in a slush fund to pay for them. 

Congress needs to cut out the Petty squabbles and get to work on funding how and what we are going to do as a nation.  I promise you that if the first time they can't it was taken out of their pay that failure would be not repeated. 

How the hell did someone convince the congress that allowing Companies to move their operation over sea's would help us?   Instead of the $20 - $30 per hour job in manufacturing, we have the state of California giving Burger Flippers at McDonalds $15.00 per hour.  Instead of having our young  youths have jobs that they can live on, we let Mexican Immigrants cross the border and take the hard labor jobs at a rate our citizens can't live on.  Then, in spite of the difference in pay, the Mexicans are allowed to send home Millions of dollars each month without the Government taking a bite out of it.  Can you feel that somewhere down the line, some bright bulb in the Congressional pack is going to tell us that all the illegal workers need to be given Social Security even if they haven't paid in to the fund?  Anyone want to take that bet?

The problem really boils down to the fact that the Democrats and the Republicans aren't made to get together and do their jobs.  In fact, it is easier for them to sling mud at each other than do the real hard work of Government.

MUD


10/01/2016

Water Leak again

Yesterday I spent the majority of the day fixing the water leak at Dave's.  The old Plastic fasteners on the PEX lines from the 80's are prone to break and because they are under the house a major pain in the backside.  This time I opened the floor in the master bathroom to attack the problem from above.  I still did have the problem of getting my big old body through a hole and then back out.  I got the leak stopped but I need to work on replacing the broken T adapter.  Then I will have to fix the hole in the floor.  Oh well...

Today will be a pretty nice day to get out and do some yard work here at Rabbit Run.  Barb has a lot of her plants that she will want to bring inside.  There are three trees that need planted and black walnuts everywhere.  If the squirrels would do their job, the nuts wouldn't be a problem.  At least they are not eating the nuts on the sidewalk and leaving nut hulls that become shrapnel when I mow.  The other thing I hate is the nuts falling on the roof and banging their way to the ground. 

The Barbershop chorus is getting to elect the 2017 officers.  Seems like my name just slipped off the list this year and I do not have a job other than to attend a few meetings and work on a committee or two. 

Oh well, gonna close here and see if I can get a few things done.

MUD