Mo' Trip Pics

One of the attractions in Lubbock was a prairie dog town. It is located in a lonely park out towards the airport. Made me wonder why so many guys were there in their trucks sitting and talking. There is about a two foot wall around the park but you can see that some of the dogs have escaped over on the driving range by the golf course club house.
Some more wildlife in Lubbock. Barb by the giant Buddy Holley Glasses. How can you tell when Barb didn't take the pictures on the camera? When she is in the picture. She is twice as good at taking pictures as I am. I am a good lens bearer for that great big telephoto. She will say here carry this and next thing I know I have it for the day.

The Red Raider Dancers put on a great show there in Lubbock. I loved their band also. The people of Lubbock don't know what a treat they have.

Last night we got the first appreciable moisture of the year. It stormed and blew in at least an inch of rain. We sure needed it. It also brought a little cooler air than we have had for a week but for the rain I'll take what ever mother nature gives us. There is a little green poking up here and there and Barb finally sent a soil sample to K-State to see what we need to do in the garden.

Have a great Sunday out there.

MUD

Pictures from our Trip

Went to the Prairie Dog town and we saw the cutest litle chipmunk. Saw some pairie dogs but they weren't very photogenic. Went to the Buddy Holly Center and wasn't very impressed. What they had was nice but the selection was somewhat limited. Today on TV they had the John Wayne movie the Searchers and I got to hear the famous words "that'll be the day".

At the game, there was the cutest little guy. It was 8:30 PM when the game started and he looked more tired than I was. (by the end of the game)

I'm sure this was a town that was started during the Roosevelt era. This is really for my mother.

The Hawks won today and finished the season 14-2. They had to work hard to beat a darned good Texas Team. That gave the Hawks the longest winning streak in Allen Field house of 41 games. Bring on the BIG XII Tourney starting next Thursday.

MUD

Faux Thunder

Thanks to two dogs, here is Jenn's photo. That smile on the picture and the person is the same we have known for years. You would love her if you knew her.

I am not sure if this looks like a cold frame or a glass out house




Barb is really into the starting of a garden early this year. To help her, I built a cold frame on the south porch deck. It is mostly a 2X4 lumber frame with aluminum storm windows and a storm door. Last night the weather man predicted that a storm would move through Topeka in the early morning hours. About 3 AM I heard what I thought was thunder. As I listened, I realized that it all sounded the same and fairly regular. The darned door on the cold frame was open and banging on the deck rail. I need to get that darned door closer installed as soon as it is light enough. I went out and closed the door so it wouldn't bang unless a wind moves the frame and the door pops open again. Oh well, build it light and things happen. Build it heavy and then you can't move it.


I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of my niece Jennifer. First she went to Mardi gras and rode on a float. She threw beads to the people standing along side the road as the floats went by. Second, as a Nationally ranked rower, she rowed on the National Team and has won many regattas here in the Midwest. As such, the KU Rowing team put her picture on the wall in the newly dedicated KU Boat house. Their team also is naming a boat in her honor soon. I am looking forward to attending the dedication, launching or whatever they call that ceremony. Jennifer is also the one of the coaches for the KC Rowing team. She has had a junior rower team for several years. Many of her team members have gone on to college and rowed on the college team. Jenn is a Kansas City Fire person and is working her way up the ladder of success. I'm sure the only limit is her ability to find more time in her busy life for more responsibility. Her final glory is the owner ship of a new dog. Her girls have been getting older and as they get less active it has saddened her. I am glad to see that she has a new dog to help her make the transition when the time comes. Lets see, three dogs, several cats and a niece. I guess Jenn is just one of those people that has a big heart and lots of love to give to visitors in her home. I wonder if she would like a pair of cockatiels, or perhaps hissing cockroaches. If you click on this link and go to picture 16 it is Jenn by her picture: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/view.gal?id=43484
I would have cut and pasted the picture if I could figure out how to cut and paste out of Adobe Flash Player.

Today will be a day of round ball watching because the Big XII season is on its final day of the regular season. KU can win the Conference Championship outright if they can manage to beat Texas in Allen Field House. They have won a record 37 games at home so it is a good thing to be home. On the other hand, Texas is playing to salvage what is left of their season. It will be Senior Day so Matt Klineman will get a start. Be nice if he could score some points but he is going to be an architect and has a 3.6 GPA so he doesn't have to score for KU to win.

Have a great day out there

MUD

Master Foods Class

see more dog and puppy pictures

Just and update on how my beard is doing

After getting up at 4 AM yesterday to make a flight back to Kansas, I went to my Master Foods class in Lawrence. I was just a little late and we got to make a cake and fudge in the time left in the morning. Other teams Had made peanut brittle and lots and lots of different kinds of cakes. What a haul. Everyone took home a plate full of cakes and candy. They made the quick fantasy fudge using marshmallow cream but it was OK. The afternoon as a lecture class ad I about broke my neck head bobbing trying to stay awake. OH well, this is a fun class and we are learning a lot. Now if I can just remember the details.

I am contemplating writing the paper in Lubbock. On senior night, when they should show up to see their 5 seniors graduate, play the leading tea in the conference, and a great weather night, the Red Raider fans in the stands were outnumbered by Jay Hawk fans. They had the band and cheerleaders so they made more noise. With Missouri beating Texas this week, KU needs to do the same this weekend. Failing to do that, Missouri will own the Big XII conference Championship. Oh well, KU could have done a better job against Texas Tech and have the title outright. It was theirs to win.

What the heck is going on with the networks? They have been starting a game and cutting somewhere else without warning. I sure hope someone nails their ears back and they don't do that during the Big Dance. It is just a pain to get into a game and then find your coverage cut to a different game.

That's all for now, Going to a Doctor's visit.

MUD

Grand Canyon of Texas

There is a Canyon south of Amarillo that is the second grand canyon. It is called Palo Duro and is a great place to visit. Met a couple with dachshunds and couldn't help but put their pictures in my blog. Weather here is in the 80's. Can't beat that with a stick.

I Call BS on the Today Show

The Today show brought on a very angry black man today and he railed about the fact the Republicans controlled the last 8 years and that is the cause of all our problems. He then said the Republicans are obstructionists and blocking all the good moves the congress is doing now.

First of all, Ask Nancy Pelosi Galore who has been the speaker of the house for two years. Ask Harry Reid who has been the Majority leader of the senate for the same period. The President is responsible for setting the budget, it is the congress that allocates the money and controls the spending. They are the part of our government that controls the money.

If the Republicans are obstructionist, how the hell has the Congress authorized well over a Trillion dollars in new spending in the past month. If they were obstructed, what the hell would they have done without someone calling for spending that makes sense. To me, spending money on pork projects and talking about raising the taxes on the 20% that pays the tax bill is not responsible. The Today show is so full of it that they should fail.

I just love that somehow Rush Limbaugh has been labeled the leader of the Republican party. Rush is an entertainer and gets to say almost anything without being held responsible. He can blame those pesky liberals, the Mexicans, the Congress and those litigating Lawyers for all our problems. In fact, the entire problem belongs to all of us and name calling or blame placing only takes the responsibility off of our shoulders.

If anyone wants a target date for the failure, go back to October 2007 and look at the Stock Market prices. In the time the Democrats have been in charge we have been heading down. I think the responsible thing to do is for everyone in Congress to not get re-elected during the next cycle unless they have been a part of the solution and can prove it. Spending the money of our grandchildren is not my answer. Bull Shit on the Today show. They know what it means.

I noticed that the counter on the side of my blog has hit 19,000 hits today. I want to thank all of you that have been stopping in to see if I have written a rant or a rave.

MUD

Hi From Texas Tech

Right outside the Student Union is the Book man statue. Barb and I couldn't resist. There should have been a beer man statue outside of WSU when I attended there. Weather was in the 40's when this picture was taken. Ended in the high 70's. MUD

No Pictures to Post...Yet

Slept about 11 hours last night and we are up and at 'em this morning. Great night at the Comfort Inn. We will see Lubbock today and see if there isn't a Buddy Holly picture worth some space on the web. Have a great day.
MUD

No Respect

We are in Lubbock and were watching the KU MU game on CBS. As soon as it looked like KU was going to win, CBS cut to a different game. To add insult to my injury, they didn't go back and wrap the game up when it completed. It is like that game didn't happen.

The weather here was a little cold upon arrival but is warming up nicely. I hope you are all set for some good weather a little later on this week. Didn't get a chance to bring the bikes darn it. I'm sure that Barb will have some good ideas for exercise. We left home about 3 AM and Barb and I have both had to take a catch up nap. It will ruin her sleep tonight. I won't falter in that area.

OH well, the hotel here has a computer so I am able to get on line.

MUD

Barb's Birds

Chicadee

Tufted Titmouse

Fluffed up Junco

Last Day of February

What wonderful things has the last day of February brought to Kansas? Snow, glorious snow and cold. The birds are staying in the trees mostly but have come down to the porch to peck under the finch feeders. I can tell that I will need to go out sometime this morning and replace the suet block and I might throw some food down for the juncos. The weather was 75 for Wednesday, 55 for Thursday, 35 for Friday and today it won't make 30. Typical Kansas weather. If you don't like the weather, wait a day and it will change. But ain't it purdy?

We leave Kansas City at 6 AM tomorrow morning and arrive in Lubbock by noon. I hope to find a sports bar that has the KU game on and have a nice lunch there. It will be a chance to play Missouri at our home and put Missouri in third place. As I said last time, the fate of the BIG XII conference championship is in their hands to win or lose. I did see that a lot of K-State fans are really bitter about the Hawks being on a roll. Barb and I are fans of K-State when they don't play KU. Win or lose, sports at the university level is at best a game and no matter who or what, someone has to win. I am just as concerned that players graduate with a good education and a championship. I was sad to see many underclassmen leave KU this last year when they won the big dance. Money in the short haul is nice but they need to return to complete their degree as soon as they can.

Speaking of money, if you had any, what would you be investing in right now? The stock market rule is to buy low and sell high. Don't listen to me on advice there. I have shares of GM stock that are tanking out right now. My last 401 (k) was a stock market based plan and it is now a 200.5 (k) and not headed up. Most of the rest of our investments are in real estate or Government Money Market funds. You know the kind that say the return of your money is more important than the return on your money. If the Congress keeps spending at the rate they have for the last month even those won't be worth much for long.

Oh well, guess I need to sit back and watch it snow for a while. Boo Hoo for me and yea for you.

MUD

Government 102

I want a Federal Government that does what the Constitutions requires and little more. There are mechanisms to change through additions to the Bill of Rights or Constitutional Amendments. The Major things are:

• A postal Service that delivers mail State to State. They could stop the stupid delivery of any packages over 3 Lbs for all I care.
• Regulation of Interstate Commerce. For obvious reasons.
• Raising and leading an Armed Service for common protection of our country. The Border Service and the Coast Guard should be in the Military only.
• Making Laws and procuring money to pay for the essential things.
• Coordinating Disaster mitigation, not funding to States for them.

In my perfect world, there would be a guarantee to be a success or failure. If you want to live in a State where there are lousy schools and lots of poverty, live there without my being required to fund what you and yours don't. I cannot imagine a more wrong thing for the Federal Government to step in and take money from me to give to a State so they can do things for their people. If your State wants to dole out their dollars to the poor and undereducated, more power to them. If I wanted to live in California, I would.

I hate the idea of abortion. I absolutely refuse for it is ever be right for the Federal Government to legislate or fund any part of that discussion. If you feel strongly, give your time or money at the local level to choose. What ever you do, don't ask the Federal Government to make a choice for you and protect your right. Once you let the nose of that camel under your tent, what else will they want to control?

Let me make this clear. The US Government is not the Oprah program. They don't give you a free car, a free house or a free ride. What they guarantee is the right to get out there and win or lose in the big world of life. They don't realize that their mechanization's with/of the banks caused the problems of today. When the bankers could walk away from the need to collect on the loans by off loading the bad stuff to Jenny Mae how long did it take them? Do any of you remember the short time back that while Hillary was on the stump for the Presidency that Bill Clinton said we need to cool off the economy and slow things down. It did and now Pelosi Galore and Harry Reid are out there trying to spend it back to health? Did anyone read that there is another 400 Billion in the works to step up spending?

I love my country but I fear my government. It has grown so big that it is almost consuming everything we produce.

MUD

I Get It!

Yesterday at the Master Food Volunteer Training one of the instructors had a 20 LB Pork Loin in a pan on the table. She spent about 10 minutes showing us how to cut one up and make neat things to eat out of it. This morning I read about the 9,000 items in the Porkulus bill. Now I get the symbolism of that giant pork loin there being cut up into smaller and smaller pieces and how and why she finished the demonstration by cooking small pieces for us to taste. I get it! What a great idea and I'll bet no one else in the room will wonder about it.

MUD

Life 101

Have I just gone brain dead? We got a credit card application in the mail and it offered us the great deal of 18.8% with only a 20 day turn around a minimum interest payment of $1.00 and a great rate of 25% if we were late a day. WTF? I have a nice 12% rate from the local credit union with a 30 day no late payment fee and no minimum interest. With the interest rate so low, how come a guy like me (who pays all his bills, or at least Barb does) doesn't get requests for cards at 8%? All those non payers out there just keep those that can pay, paying through the nose. Well, screw you Master Card. Just so you will know, this credit card was from Sam's club and was a Master Card. Oh sure, I could get 2% of my total Sam's Club purchases back if I paid all year and on time.

There was an article in the local paper about the value of real estate in Shawnee County holding its value for tax purposes. Duh! Just how the heck would you think that the County would lower the value of our property? In fact, it isn't the appraised property value that raises or lowers the taxes, it is the proposed spending in the budget that sets the amount of money they will get and the appraised value just determines how much of that pot you have to pay. If all the values go down and the pot amount stays the same, the mill levy on your house will go up. With a straight face, the county Commissioners will tell us that they didn't rise the mill levy for a year and the county appraiser just raises the value of our houses by the 3 or 4% additional money they want. (Notice I didn't say need) If you really want to have fun, try to sell a house for the appraised value that the County Appraiser gives it. The Real Estate people have come up with some formula that gives your house "comparables" and adjusts the value based on what they sold for. Yes, I know it is all paper money.

It is a sign that spring is almost sprung when the first of the finches at the feeder shows in a coat turning yellow. I notice the red cardinal also is sporting his bright red coat also. Even the giant flicker on the suet block looks pretty good in the early light. I am not sure what he is doing besides throwing chunks of far and corn on the ground for the juncos. He seems to tear up the block more than eat the contents. That is probably more based on the fact that I bought those blocks of suet for a buck each rather than a real observation. Cheap bastard that I am...

Drove the 53 pickup to Lawrence yesterday and man am I glad that the fuel gauge reads light. It has about three gallons left when the gauge reads empty. I didn't remember to fill it up the last time I drove it and headed out for the 25 miles to the nearest station in Lawrence it said the tank was empty. I know it was pretty dry when I got to Lawrence because as I went around the corner to get to a pump the needle didn't move because of splash. The tank is about 15 gallons with some room for expansion and I put in over 14 gallons, almost 15.

I have a lot of small things to do today to get ready for the trip to Lubbock. We will be there Wednesday night to see our Hawks take on Texas Tech. They played Texas a close game at Texas so our guys will have to bring their "A" game to take a win out of there. We lead the Big XII with three games left. Missouri, Texas Tech and Texas. Not one of those teams will roll over and let us win easy. It is ours to win or lose at this point.

Have a great day out there.

MUD

My Quote gone Horribly Wrong

see more puppies

For years I always advocated that it is easier to gain forgiveness than permission. I tried to reward intuitive in my subordinates and the only way to move forward was for every once in a while things to go south.

Today was another Master Foods Class in Lawrence and we cooked, ate, cooked, ate, cooked and ate. Then we went to a local school where the instructor cooked and we ate. Can you tell that I am in no shape to want any supper tonight. I did find out that in spite of my earlier thoughts, I do not hate TOFU. We ate it in salads, food substitutes (meatballs that were darned tasty) and even in a dessert.

The instructors probably just hang their heads and wonder where they went wrong when we put out all our fish dishes to share. I hate to follow a recipe to the letter and didn't. Everyone wanted to know which menu had the peppers and poached cod in it. Who me? I'm sure that there was one in there somewhere.

Oh well, I am now ready to take a short nap and then see if there is a whole grain snack to try. (Popcorn) See ya tomorrow.

MUD

I Hate it When that Happens!

This has nothing to do with this blog. It is just another of Barb's pretty pictures.

Last night, I listened to our President's speech and I really hate it when they make the speech short so we will listen and then have to cut the details out so we will not go to sleep listening. He was positive and upbeat but there were a lot of things glossed over. There is $2,500 worth of spending in this bill for every man, woman and child in America. Who does the President put in charge? Joe Biden, "No body messes with Joe". My faith in the system was severely dented by that comment. In fact, as the person who presides over the Senate, I wonder if there isn't a conflict of interest with the guy in charge of presiding over the bill being responsible for the spending of the money.

This morning I did read that there is a tax credit of 30% of the cost of high efficient furnaces and windows and doors. I need to read the details to see if I can make this work and put a new furnace in the kids home. I think it will take some duct work but it is do-able.

With our interest in a fuel efficient car, I will also look into the credit of $7,500 for an electric car conversion. Might as well do something for me as well as for you.

Oh well, the real thing I hated worse than having a short, no detail speech was having Rahn Emanuel come on and tell what the President meant and then the Republicans telling us what they think is the truth. Guess who skipped over to another channel when that happened.

Did I mention Basketball? The Big XII Conference race is heating up with three teams at the top of the pile. Oklahoma, KU and Missouri are all in a position to win or lose a game or two in the next week and a half. With only a game between KU and Oklahoma and then another between Missouri it will be a fun stretch to watch. KU has Texas, Missouri at home and Texas Tech on the road left. Missouri has to tie the K-State Wildcats tail tonight to stay in the hunt. Then we will move on to the Conference tournament.

Oh Well, will be a great day today so I will get out on the south porch to work on the cold frame.

MUD

Across the Topics

What A Life. Surrounded by nuts and Acorns too.

Many times I find one segment of my life and discuss it adnauseam. Yeah, it kind of makes me sick to see that I have ranted on sometimes. I find ways to fill my thousand words that in the light of day should have been a few hundred shorter. Today I want to cover a few topics across the board and not one in specific.

For the last 5 years and a bunch of times since the big XII got together it seems that the Hawks have the season championship almost tied up. It is unfortunate that Oklahoma has, two years in a row been unable to field Blake Griffin for the KU game. They have nothing to be sad about as that team, without their star, gave KU all they could handle. They will dance in the Post Season and long. It is in the hands of the round ball gods now and all I want is for the remaining games to be good. I will be in Lubbock for the Texas Tech game. The game of basketball at the College level is three phases, pre-season, conference season and post season. Anyone can win any one of the seasons and to win it all, they have to end with wins. Surely some one in Oklahoma can find Blake a jacket that doesn't look like something Marty Robins left in Amarillo. (That is a quote from today's paper)

I think I mentioned that most of us don't really know when we are to die. I looked at some actuarial tables and found that a man my age should live 19 years and 8 months longer. That put my death statistically speaking (with a 20% +/- probability) that I will live to October 2028. There are a lot of variables to this but I think that's a good start.

This time of year had to be driving my friend Two Dogs nuts. He hated the Oscars and doesn't seem to share my fondness for basketball. At least we can agree that the Oscars suck. They gave their biggest accolades to a foreign movie I won't see and one to the best supporting actor that is dead. Talk about making yourself insignificant by your actions. Hell, the coverage even mentioned that stupid family from Westborough Baptist Church who showed up and protested "Milk". That movie, its name, the subject, and the actor are just wrong at so many levels.

WTF... The President has stamped the Porkulus Bill as the best thing since sliced bread and is planning on doing a Jimmy Carter and killing the economy in the next two years by cutting the deficit spending by 50%. I guess all the spending the congress has planned will keep the good afloat until he is out of office but focus man, find a strategy and stick with something. The Governors were in Washington and had a feed at the White House. They are saying that the spending bill is not good but they are lined up to get their share. Even good old Ahnold has Cal-i-fornia in for a big share. RINO that he is. I wonder how many of those Governors flew in to Washington on a private jet?

Enough, cease and desist this madness. Go out and get sunshine as it will be 60 here in the heartland. Might even take the bike to the lake for a few circles.

MUD

Bored or Boring

Yesterday afternoon I reached a point where it was difficult to decide if I was bored or boring. You know, that point where your own boredom becomes contagious. Where you have counted all the flowers on the wall, taken a nap and have no plans to accomplish anything. I have a cold and the resulting cough has my ribs so sore I can't stand to laugh. In spite of my shortcomings, Barb agreed to take me somewhere so in Glen Petty speak, I could "Blow the stink off" A lot of his terms came from his stint in the Navy and I have no idea if that was one of theirs or an old family saying. Whatever the source, a little time outside at least has me less bored.

The one thing here at Rabbit Run we can pretty much count on being different is the view out the window. I looked up yesterday to find a yearling deer about 30 feet from the house trying to decide if it was safe to get closer. This morning there is a pair of doves sifting through the seeds on the ground for a snack to start their day. I can tell the possum was here last night as there is fresh possum scat. For you city folks thats poop in small clumps of seed that looks like mouse size footballs.

Barb's sister asked a good question about baking with whole wheat. I am sure that the source of the grain is important. Bread flour tends to be a higher protein content wheat (Hard white is the highest protein) and better for bread than the "all purpose" flour. I guess 100% of a hard white wheat would be better than others. I would look for a 100% whole wheat bread flour if it is available. We are going to the Merc next week in Lawrence and I'm sure that I'll know more after that trip. I would recommend that anyone considering the conversion to whole wheat try a 50/50 mix to start off with or even a 25/75 (whole to white) blend to get their audience to move that direction. One of the instructors said that at first her kids wouldn't touch the whole grain pasta and she won them over gradually. She said her grand daughter won't touch that whimpy white bread now.

Finally, something the President is doing makes sense to me. For some reason, Congress was fighting the War Against Terrorism off the books, so to speak. It wasn't included in the budget dollars so it really wasn't clear how the entire budget looked without some work. Roll the money up in the big spending and let us know what the entire package costs. On the other hand, I want to be one of the first to tell you that the budget lies, or doesn't tell the entire truth. Congress often tells the States that they want something done and then ignore it in the funding. The money is set by the congress and they control the actual priorities for spending. The spending levels can be changed as they often fund "whatever blows their hair back".

I guess it is a lot like the way we do our home finances. When we start the month we set priorities for what we are going to spend. We spread the money out into the little categories or places for expenditure and start spending. Midway in the month, you blow a tire and must buy a new one. If you had planned for emergencies, that would be in a reserve fund. If not, you must buy it on the credit card or don't buy something else you had on your list. The problem is that most people haven't realized that having a reserve is important and just go out and buy a whole new set of tires on the plastic. This is what congress does when they create deficit spending. Even if they are put on a busget, the Persident claims to only be able to cut their mad spending by 50% to about a half a trillion or 3% of the total spending in two years in the red.

Somewhere in the training of our Congressmen, we didn't set up the training that includes the simple phrases. "Out go cannot exceed income in the long run". If you borrow it, you must have a plan to pay it back. If you legislate it, you should have a plan to pay for it. Don't tell people you are going to pass a bill to make them happy, tell them it is something we can't afford if it costs too much. When you pass a Porkulus bill and build a train from Disneyland to Vegas it will be your legacy on the line. Pelosi Galore and Happy Reid will have that one to explain someday.

Oh well, MUD

Why Are We Here? How Long Will It Last?

As we started the 1960's, I took over a paper route in Wichita, Kansas. I had the route that was most of my neighborhood and was a walking route. It was for the Wichita Eagle and Beacon after they joined forces as "the paper" to read in Wichita. I am pretty sure that I walked between three and four miles twice a day for just about a year. During that year, I developed and maintained a habit of reading the paper. I am almost fanatical about having the virgin paper to read and pretty much read it in the same order each day. Today I walk out and get the paper at the end of our driveway and love to sit in the sun with a cup of coffee and read.

I generally start out with the front page. I skim the headlines and read most of the articles that grab my attention. If the article really grabs me, I will continue reading the article as it goes to page three, four or five. There are more that continue somewhere else that I don't follow than those that I do. I give the opinion page a glance to see if Joe Schmoe has written anything controversial. Most of the time I know if there will be the chance of something there but I never know. I will read what the editorial staff has chosen as their topic for their rant but don't always read it. Those small columns at the bottom of the paper are often notes from the dis staff side and I don't read them either.

Somewhere in the paper the ads begin to fill the pages and if often skip them and move to the Obituaries. Today a dear friend from work had her obituary in the paper. I always tell people that I read the obits to make sure that I am not there. I would hate to have a "Sixth Sense" moment and discover that I am really dead and don't know it yet. My Friend Wilma and her husband Clarence worked for the Kansas National Guard for years. Clarence was the truck driver that delivered goods to our Armory for years. He was the conduit for the unofficial news from Topeka. I am fairly sure that he fostered that role to get people to come out and help him unload the items in the truck. It worked as most of us would gather around for the news and the unloading would go fast. Wilma worked in the Full time personnel office and was one of those people that would always give you the correct answer if you had a problem. I can't remember her ever giving me bad advice. She was sad if she had to give you bad advice but it was always by the book. Clarence and Wilma retired and for years gathered up a list of full timers and sent out an invitation for a yearly get together at the Local VFW.

This leads me to the point that I question why we are here? I know that Wilma and Clarence had many joys and many heartaches in their lives. They weren't rich, but they always were rich in friends. The birth of their children and grandchildren were their joy. The death of their daughter to an unknown killer was sad highlight. They were friends to many of my friends and belonged to the church that I sang at with their dinner theater. Where they here to touch the lives of so many, or for their personal joy? They will live in my memories for as long as my memories exist.

How long will it last? Last night we had our daughter-in-law over for dinner with her nephews. Kyler and Austen are two bright kids that Da' Barb's both love. They are pretty typical boys and I think they will do well in the long run. It kind of hit me that if I do live long enough to have a grandchild, there is probably a small chance that I would live to see the birth of a great grand child. At 60 I am not sure how much more of life I will be allowed to live. I am not sure how much more I want to live. 20 years? 30 years? not 40 years! It would not be unusual for Barb to survive another 40 years as her family has a long history of old women that survive the death of a husband. My dad made it into his mid 70's so I feel confident that baring some major illness I'll make it there. Neither of my grandfathers lived as long as I have so there is no frame of reference there.

I am pretty sure that if I went out on the Internet I could find a table that would tell me based on the year that I was born what the expected life length should be. How many of us would really want to know to the day how long we will live? I will live, love and laugh until the last of my days and continue to have confidence that I won't suffer long. I don't fear death and I don't long for it.

Have a sunny day and eat an orange for me. In fact, eat two cups of fruit and three cups of vegetables for me. I will.

MUD

Whole Wheat Flour in my Rolls

At the Thursday class of the Master Food Volunteer (MFV) training we made bread in a bag. It wasn't a perfect whole wheat bread, but a 1/3 whole, 2/3 processed wheat bread. Barb made it into Cinnamon rolls and man were they a great treat. I was worried that they would be a little heavy and not light enough to be a sweet roll but they were just right. Barb was careful to let them raise enough in the pan so they were light. Even this morning the last roll was a treat.

I told Barb that I was fine this morning if I could sit still and sniff about once a minute. Otherwise, my nose becomes Old Faithful and erupts without warning. She said I need to adapt the cowboy spit cup to include a strap and hang it right under my nose. It would be a snot cup to catch those pesky drips. Either that or I need a shoulder strap for the Puffs box. (Never leave home without it) Perhaps if that strap also had a way to hang a trash bag underneath it would be the perfect solution. Nah, sit still and sniff and apply Vick's to your nose to cut the red.

Yesterday it was almost 70 here and today it will be sunny and work hard to hit 30. With all the basketball games on Saturday TV, I will survive. Hope you have a great weekend. Eat oranges and take a nap.

MUD