Just a few New Things

This morning Barbara asked me what was on my agenda for the day?  I turned defense to offense by asking her in return what was on her agenda.  She replied that there was so little on her to do list to hardly call it an agenda.  Ditto from me.  I did mop the kitchen floor and she is doing laundry but neither were such a big deal that we had to make a list of "how to" or a plan of action.  I know that Barb is busy watering her trees, plants and garden on a pretty regular basis because we are about 7 inches behind for the year.   This was not a good year for corn.  

Just the other day, there was a post  on my carrier's page and it was pointing out that wild animals are coming into the cities for water and food because of the drought.  Yesterday my Brother-in-law from Lawrence posted a picture of a nice deer that came into his yard to drink from the bird feeder.  How cool is that?

I sure hope that Becc and her significant other Bill stay dry today as they head out to Sturgis, SD.  I think they are right between two major storms as they come north through Missouri.    We had a 60% chance of rain predicted for here but if there is any moisture falling it won't be until tonight and the biker gang from Rogers will be well north of here by then, I hope. Gang is not the right word as most of the riders in that group are pretty normal people.  It is kind of like I tell the greeters at Texas Road House that is just "Petty, group of five not Petty party of five.  We don't have that much fun unless we are seated by a bunch of little kids."

After our visit to Rogers, I have a different idea on the roads in Topeka.  Down there, they have many plans to improve the flow of traffic.  I am now starting to see ways that our streets really hinder traffic flow not help it.  One glaring example is that they tore up 37th Street between Adams and Kansas Ave and are about to tear up 45th Street from California to Adams.  That leaves the entire east side of Topeka with 29 or 53rd ad the only east-west streets.    We can hope that they wait a little on 45the closing or hurry because of the good weather on 37th.   The other impediment to good traffic is that there is no east west street between 37th and 29th off Kansas Ave and that is a major block.  


Oh well, the temperature has backed off a little here in August and we can hope that there will be several good days of bike riding in August. 

MUD

300 Miles on a Bike

A couple of years ago I bought a speedometer for the recumbent bike and this last winter the battery finally died.  This spring I put a new battery in it and it started recording miles.  This morning it turned over 300 miles of smiles riding on bike trails.  The only sad part is we have to load up the bikes and haul them to a bike trail to ride safely.  I would love to have a road with a bike lane over to lake Shawnee.  Oh well, the bikes are pretty easy to load and they ride fairly safe on the back of the car.  If you need to get out and do something, I recommend bike riding as one of the many alternatives you can do when you cross train.  We always ride on trails and wear helmets and gloves.   Be safe out there.

Dave and Barb bought me one of those edible fruit arrangements for my birthday.  It has been very yummy and anyone that says they don't like chocolate dipped strawberries didn't try any of the one's that came on the arrangement.  Barbara also made me a birthday pie and I grilled pork slices from a pork loin on the grill last night.  Great food and greater people.


One of my Facebook friends asked today how do you get over a minor sports injury.  The Acronym I use is RICE.   Rest, Ice (or cold) compression ( Ace Bandages and Rest.  The best pain medication for me is Alieve or the naproxin Sodium products.  Aspirin is good for headaches but Alieve is my drug of choice for sore back, knees or about anything you have. 


Well, better get on with the day.  Have a safe one out there.  It looks a lot like it might rain but I won't hold my breath.


MUD

Ain't Life Great?

This morning, for the first time in a long time, I agree with an editorial in the paper.  Our Country was founded based on freedom of religion.  If the Chick-Fil-A owner wants to express his beliefs and support whatever causes he chooses, who the hell are we to be intolerant of that?  I personally don't care what people do and either eat there or don't.  I am not fond of the whole biscuit and chicken deal, but I don't like waffles and fried chicken either.  My kind of meal is fried Popeye's spicy chicken, okra and a side of red beans and rice.  My drink is unsweetened ice tea, but I sure as heck wouldn't want you to boycott anyone because of my likes or dislikes.  In fact, I am kind of intolerant of intolerance.  (Is that possible?)  I am allergic to the cottonseed margarine a lot of places like Popeye's uses on their biscuits.

For my 65th Birthday, Barb took me to Bentonville, AR to visit the Crystal Bridges American Art Museum.  I can't even begin to tell you how great the whole birthday treat was this year.  In addition to seeing one of the finest collections of American Art, it is housed in a spectacular building that one of my best friends was at least partially responsible for.   My first and lifelong friend, Harvey Blinn, spent three years in Bentonville as a one of the superintendents on that job and I know that his attention to detail is right there for everyone to see. In addition to the museum tour, we spend the evening with my niece Becc and had a great time visiting.   She and Bill live in northern Rogers and their street leads to Easy street and a park with over 7 miles of bike/walking trails.  It was such a treat to get up early and ride. We took our bikes as a test for the trip to Gulf Shores.


In the latest Mother Earth news, there was a quote that said we don't quit sports because we get old, we get old because we quit sports.  I think that riding three or four times a week has put the smile back in my life and I sure do feel better.  I know that the Doctor in April put the fear in my life when he said I was borderline pre-diabetic and I know that I need to keep busy or I could easily fall into that mode.  It runs in my family and I don't want to go there.


One nice treat was that my cousin Jim Petty from Phoenix called me last night to wish me a Happy Birthday.  He is about 6 months older than I am but he is delaying his retirement, Social security and Medicare enrollment to work a couple more years.  He said he needs to work to his 67th Birthday to be vested in the retirement system where he works.  Seems like a smart thing to me. Jim told me that he told his minister that he has been thinking a lot about the hereafter.  The minister said that was good, then Jim told him not death, but when he goes into a new room he thinks - "What am I here after." On the other hand, Barb and I did a net present value of our waiting to 65 to retire and found it was possible to take the early option and enjoy as much of our retirement time as we could.  We are!


This morning about 6:30 I woke up by a strange sound.  There was thunder and lightening with the sound or rain.  It has been so dry here that I almost didn't recognize the sound of rain falling.  You might think that after being in Vietnam for a Monsoon season I would know what every kind of rain sounds like.  I guess it has been a long time (40+ years) and I forget.  


Better close here and tell all of you to support your causes but remember that intolerance of other's rights can be a wrong!


MUD

Smart Things for Dumb Days

 First word of advice is that things can be worth what you pay for them, or not. Here are a few things that I found worthy of retelling here:

 • Political races have little relationship to what is going to happen during the year(s) the candidate will be in office. The information given is often more hype than substance. Then, a lot of people don't even bother to vote so we often get what someone else tells us we deserve. 

• Investing is a form of risk. The higher the risk, the higher the return or not. There is no such thing as fair or always in investing. The rules of investing often change and many people don't pay attention. Do you remember when buying a house was the answer to building a life estate and the basic for doubling your money? The latest information I saw said that over 40% of the value of the housing market is gone with the latest bubble burst. A bunch of people are living in a house that is not worth what they paid for it and live there because they have no other alternative.

 • Based on all the self help books I see in the book store, there are a bunch of people willing to pay a lot of money to find the secret of happiness. I have looked at the list of things worth buying out there and so far I haven't found a hell of a lot of things that bring happiness in an equal value for the cost. One time I bought a really nice electronic watch with a bonus I go on a job. You know what? It had cost me almost as much as I paid for it to have it repaired. I am pretty sure that for about 1/10th of the cost, I could have bought a simple Timex watch that I would have thrown away when it quit. What it did for me to spend all that money was to give me something that told me what time it is. My mother had a poster on the wall of her bathroom that said, "Happiness is not getting what you want, but wanting what you have."

 • In spite of how witty or pithy I make this treatise, the young people will not read it and save themselves a lot of misery. I have found that you learn by doing not just reading and the worse the outcome the more you often learn. If you are good (or lucky) you will remember these life lessons the next time, or not.

 • Clothes are really good to keep you from being naked. They won't make you popular, cute, or make people love you. I have clothes bought from the fancy stores and some from Good Will. For working in the yard, I find the stuff from Tractor Supply is often the stuff that wears the best and I don't really care what I look like when I know I'm going to get dirty.

 • Once upon a time, I made the decision that instead of paying big money to have someone do things for me, I would buy the tools to do the job and learn how to do the job through On The Job Training (OJT). You know what it has done for me? I now have a hell of a lot of tools that I can't find when I need to fix the next thing. I wish I could tell you which way is the best. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

 • There is a law in Physics that says for every action there is most often an equal and opposite reaction. I don't have a clue if this is what causes the Law of Unintended Consequences (LUC), but here are just a couple of things that I find funny caused by LUC. - The whole Country has been resisting having some kind of National Identity Card. Then they herald the Passing of the Affordable Health Act without thinking for even a minute that the only way this could work is for everyone to have some kind of a national health card. Hum? I guess as a Soldier the fact I had to carry and ID card at all times isn't fair to those of you that stand around and enjoy the fruits of Liberty the Military provides. Throw in some medical care and they will stand in line to get the Benefits (and a card) 

- Somewhere the rules got mixed up and we have let the first thing that crosses our mind rule our hearts. The Constitution, or more correctly the second amendment says that the Congress shall pass no laws that inhibit the right to bear arms. OK, I know there are a lot of other things in there about Militia and such in there but we have all sorts of things tried and changed. We felt that there are some people that are really trustworthy and good people and will let the carry a c concealed weapon. Then we have let people put up that little sign of no guns allowed in certain places. When a gunman shoots a lot of people and there is no one armed to shoot back we then argue that we should ban guns altogether. I would pass a national "You Have to carry Law" and make everyone have a concealed weapon card. Wouldn't that drive the people nuts?

 - Do you know what the difference between the AK-47 and the AR 47 is? The AK is a fully automatic rifle that can fire a magazine with only one pull of the trigger. The AR-47 is semi automatic and you have to pull the trigger each time. When the Government passed the Assault Weapons ban a few years ago, they said the 100 round magazine for the AK or AR 47 should be outlawed. That magazine seldom works and often jambs and you have to stop and take out all the bullets to make the rifle work. Instead of banning the magazine, they should have made it mandatory and that alone would keep people from shooting 100 time without reloading

 • Have you ever noticed that men want their children to grow up and leave home? I think we all feel that the better job we have done, the longer the kids will stay on their own. Mothers have this instinct that wants to protect her children forever and provide a place for them to come back to. You figure out that one.

 • There is a City in Nevada where the whole reason for going there is to Gamble. You know why they call it gambling? Because a lot of the time you lose and people wouldn't go there if they called it Losing. Yes, I know there are a lot of people that go there and pretend they are in it for the entertainment, food, shows and free drinks. They lie. They go there because they think they are capable of winning a lot of money and it is easy to do so.

 • When I am out and about, I see a lot of old guys wearing Vietnam Veteran Hats. I didn't go to war with a lot of old farts, we were young, full of piss and vinegar and ready to do battle. What happened? Yes, I really know we got older. I wish we had all gotten smarter in our old age but the result of time passing is that we get older. Then a lot of us die. Wait, we all will die sometime, it is only the when part that eludes most of us.

 MUD

Takin' Sunday Off

Just a quick update on the diet front.  I am down from 270 to less than 240 and have the body fat under 29%.  Mostly it is the fact I am eating basically what Barb is eating with a slight indulgence now and then.  OK, I went to Cold Stone Creamery for Happy hour during the week.  I am working on finding a diet that I can sustain not just lose weight and then yo-yo back up to 270.  

One or two things I have done for my health include the fact that I don't smoke or drink and we are trying to regularly ride our bikes.  During the summer months, I have enough work to stay busy for at least 4 hours a day.  With this hot dry weather, about noon is all most people would want to be outside.    I will stop in to see my Doctor tomorrow and see what are the results of the blood test done this last week.  I have a high hopes that everything is better and I am not on that slippery slope towards being a Diabetic.  It runs in our family so I am vulnerable to that eventually.  It is a little like my thoughts on Death.  We are all going to die and I don't fear it, I just don't want it to be today or tomorrow. 


Did the rest of you Jay hawk fans see that Jacques Vaughn is the new coach for the Miami heat.  I think he is one of those players that has studied the game and knows what to do to help players win.  Kansas has been a good place to learn the game of basketball.  From players to coaches, they have a long list of people that have been better for stopping there.  Gee, a College where people go to learn.  What a novel concept. 


Oh well, no crushing thing left to write, I am thinking about some of the good advice things I have learned over the year and have at least an outline for a couple of good, pithy blogs later on this week.

MUD

Opening Ceremony

Did anyone else make it through the entire opening ceremony of the Olympics?  Somewhere I dozed off when the Industrialization part and them woke up to find the parade of Athletes was on.    I think I made it through England and finally dozed off for good.  

Sleeping through the Olympics opening ceremony

It was a long week out there and I got a lot done on all the properties.  Most importantly we mowed everything and I put the finishing touches on the deck.  I will say the squirrels don't appreciate the deck work as this AM it was covered with Hickory nut hulls.  


Barb and I have been pretty good about riding our bikes this past month and I feel pretty good about taking them with us as we travel in September.  I hope we can find some interesting trails enroute to Gulf Shores. 


MUD

Funny Book

Yesterday I went to the book shelf and picked up the first funny book I could find.  It turned out to be Tim Allen's, "Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked man."   I did not remember reading this book earlier so I started into it and have been laughing my butt off at just how funny and true the book is.  

Number one, the people you learned from about sex were mostly telling you lies and you know it now, but you didn't know it then.  All the people that witness any tragic event always ask, "What could that person have been thinking?"  With young men, it is all reaction not thinking that gets them in trouble.  Combine sex into that, and there is just no way you could ever explain.  Tim nails this as a topic in one of his chapters.


When I went to the Batman movie, they had a preview of a new movie coming out this fall.  The Lee Child character Jack Reecher will be played by Tom Cruise.  If you have read the books, you know that Jack is one Bad Assed Dude and about 6 foot and 220 Lbs.  Tom might go 5'6" and 180 if he is dripping wet.  Making him to be the great big bad ass will be akin to the Green Mile where they made an actor seem 7 feet tall.   I am reading a new Lee Child book and am loving it.  The main character is about to leave the Military and start living life on the outside.  


Oh well, had a great week and have finished several projects.  Tomorrow will be clean up day and I will not start anything new, only put things where they should be for a few hours.  Stay Cool!


MUD

Ridin' The trails

A few years back, Barb's brother, Ken, was here with his bicycle.  He convinced me that if I wanted to have a smile on my face, I needed to start riding a recumbent bike.  While searching for a donor bike to steal the components from, we ran across a nice little Eazy-1 and picked it up for a nice price.  (About half of retail) When we got it home, Ken thought it might just make a good bike for Barb and we searched for a different bike to get parts from.  Ken made my bike and equipped it with some darned nice components from a bike he picked up at a second hand store.  He later updated those components and I ride a terrific bike now and love it.  Barb rides along with her bike and seems to have a smile on her face also.

At the start of the year we try to rice a course from 29th too 45th on the west side of Lake Shawnee and it takes us about 45 minutes.  Today I rode that same course in 30 minutes and loved it.  We have almost 2300 miles on the speedo this year and plan on taking our bikes to Gulf Shores in September.  I don't know what the bike trails will be like but we will also ride along the way down and back.  

You may not find bike ridin' as much fun as I do but it sure puts a smile on my face.

MUD

Just a few Things

Just enough to whet our whistle.  That's the way they talked in the movies of my day.  The good guy wore a white hat and the bad guy almost always died.   My heroes were as likely to kiss their horse as the gal.   I also wanted to get me one of those 16 shot revolvers from the long drawn out gunfights.  OK, we got about 1/4 of an inch of rain last night and it may rain again this morning.  The bad news is that the sun will be out by noon and it will be 101 by five PM and the moisture that fell will be all burned off.

Yesterday afternoon I was just tired of sitting around the house so I went to a movie.  Barb had a good book and she stayed home.  I saw the latest batman flick and other than I wish I had taken ear plugs, it was a fairly good movie.  It did leave the door open to another follow on movie or two.   I'm sure that Cat woman and Robin will play a prominent role in the next movie.   

In one way, the latest Batman movie was a throwback to the movies of my day.  There was a lot of fighting but the real graphic rip their guts out wasn't shown.  I guess the scene where Batman got his butt kicked was pretty graphic and his recovery fairly realistic.  That isn't a spoiler alert, it is just a part of the movie that tied it all together.  This morning there was a short movie about the 2nd Bat 503rrd Abn on hill 875 where a friendly (Their words not mine) bomb was dropped on a battalion and  a lot of people killed.   In Murphy's rules of combat there is a sayin', "Friendly fire isn't."   Pretty much says it all to me.

Well, unless I start eating grass stems, I have little else pithy to say.  Hang in there, August is coming shortly.

MUD

Wonder Why?

There is a little map of where people that view my page are from and the pages for South America and Africa are white.  Wonder Why?


MUD

Guns

The latest thing that is coming up after the Aurora, Colorado shooting is the old ban on assault weapons discussion.   Am I one of the few people in the world that know that the gun is only the weapon of a deranged mind?   People say that in England there is a ban on weapons and they don't have many gun massacres.  How about the bombings they had when the IRA was active.  Ditto with Japan - They had Risen poisoning.  None of that was the fault of the gun but the crazies we have been forced to let loose because unless we could prove the nut jobs were a threat we had to let the run free.  The catch 22, is they must initiate the real bad stuff before we house them away.  


I will not tell you what weapons I have because I have that right.  I will not register for a concealed carry as that also causes the Government to think I have a weapon.  Weapon Ownership is like my vote - What I do is none of anyone's business but my own.   The reason we have weapons is to prevent our Government from taking over and taking our weapons away so we cannot protect our liberties.  I love my Country but there are times where I fear my Government.  


Whatever you do, remember to vote and keep our country as free as we can.


MUD

Wind before the Storm

I don't know what it is like where you live, but the wind almost always blows a little harder from the South when a cold front is predicted to pass.  It is a gusty wind and blows all night.  When the wind does this trick, the temperature stays near 80 at night and it really doesn't cool off.  This morning the wind is gusting up to 20 MPH and the Temp at 7 AM was 84.  The high today will be 104+.   


In a little while I am going over to the Dr.s Office and have a blood test.  A couple of months ago I was way overweight and the Doctor said my A1C reading said I was borderline diabetic.  After losing about 30 lbs, I hope he has a different diagnosis.  It doesn't hurt that I have also been doing a lot of physical labor during the intervening time.  I will have the blood drawn today and will see the Doctor face to face next week. 


This being healthy stuff can be expensive.  The work in my mouth has been close to $4,000 this month.  I had been delaying having some major work done and it has all come due at once.  It doesn't hurt that the Dentist I have used for years is going to retire at the end of next month.  I'm sure that he wants to leave me in as good a shape as he can so the next guy doesn't wonder what kind of a Dentist would let his patient get into such bad shape.  The other problem is on 1 August I turn 65 and medicare rears its ugly head.  Because of the birthday falling on the first, I became eligible for Medicare 1 July.  The insurance companies are playing pass the buck to see who will really pay for the medical care.  (Hint- no one but me will pay for the Dental work.)


My helper had an appointment today and I had this blood work this morning so we are taking another day off.  If It rain in the AM we will also take tomorrow off.  I need to go up to Dave's and do some painting on the back of his house.  The back wall stays damp and the paint shows some mold there.  There is one of the Kills brands that is enamel based and says it will prevent any mold.  We'll see.  I will but the cheap rollers and throw them away when we finish.  


Better get the show on the road.  Have a great day out there.


MUD

Hot here in the Heartland

If you start early and don't work past noon or one O'clock, it is not all that bad.  Perhaps the last half hour or so is kinda tough but looking forward to a big cool drink with lunch makes it all worth while.  Lunch, dry clothes after a cool shower and things are pretty nice.  Perhaps a nap snuck in there is a good thing too.


The weatherman says we will get some rain either tomorrow late or early on Thursday.  We sure could use a week of cloudy misty weather.  What are the chances of that you say?  Nil, Nada, bupkis, zero, zilch and never going to happen.  I hate to think what the Rural water District has up their sleeve for my next bill.


We are spending a lot of time this summer at home and it is one of those "Stay Cations."  I have managed to find enough to do and just the materials has made it a little expensive.  Thank god I have some natural talents to do a lot of things and I don't have to add a lot of labor to that.  I am keeping our nephew busy a few hours a week and he is worth almost every penny.  At minimum wage it is pretty easy to justify his work.  Right now we are writing it all up and he gives the money to his dad.  I try to make some of that up by making sure he gets some pretty good meals while working.  Bonus, he likes Sonic.  Bonus, I like Sonic.  Double Bonus.


Yesterday evening I was watching the Military Channel and they had a special on the Secret Service Detail that was assigned to President J.F. Kennedy.    At the time I was a Junior in High School and the assassination didn't really touch my life much other than we had several days off.   The Secret service detail all commented on how quiet and reserved Jackie was until he husband was shot.  She tried to collect a piece of the skill that blew off and had it in her hand as they got to the hospital.  The Washington crowd wanted to have Lyndon Johnson immediately get on the plane and fly back to Washington D.C.  Jackie said she wasn't going to leave Dallas until the body of the President was on the same plane.  Lyndon said he wouldn't leave until Jackie was ready and for a while it was a stalemate.  Dallas finally gave in released the body to the President's Physician so long as he accompanied the body to the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital.


As the motorcade arrived at the airport, one of the aids asked Jackie if she didn't want to clean up as she was covered with blood and brain tissue.  She said she wanted the world to see what they had done to her husband.  One tough lady when the chips were down.


Gotta run. Stay cool.


MUD

Where Do My Rights End?

If because of the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado I must give up some of my right to bear arms, am I diminished?  That is the question we must all answer.  Just as soon as there is a clear answer to the question of will limiting the kind and number of weapons I own prevent such occurrences in the future?    I don't see me walking into any place and emptying my weapons on people that have no ill feelings about me.  


There have been many people that want to limit the Westboro Baptist Church right to picket funerals.  As little as I think this will really hurt me in the short run, I am not willing to give up even one small piece of my rights to assemble, have free speech and freedom of religion no matter how looney they get.  


I think that the courts will be looking at a lot of the situations that are right now Freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.  Stand up and say you feelings and thoughts about this,  Someday you might not have that right.


MUD

Takin' Tomorrow Off

First thing in the morning I am going to see if the idler for the chain on Dave's bike that I made works.  I will put it on and take Barb for a ride on the Lake trail.  The design looks good but the details are in the puddin'. If it works, it will be golden if not, back to the drawing board.  It is still 102 here at 7:45 PM.

MUD

NCLB is left behind

Somewhere in the distant past, someone came up with a nice Goal - No Child Left behind.  (NCLB)  The idea that all children should be able to achieve excellence in education is a lofty goal but I am afraid that it ranks right up there with "Zero Defects" and another slogan someone tried to make happen.  

First of all, Goals must be achievable, measurable and have a cost benefit.  It is the first item right out of the box on that list that made it not a good  item to have on the list.  The idea that 100% of anything is something that you can achieve is not very realistic.  This morning I read that there are kids that will freely admit they are in school because they have to be there not because they want to be.  It is not the schools responsibility to motivate these people. the parents have to step up to the plate.

Let me remind you that I have been married to a teacher since 1968.  During that time, I have met many of her fellow teachers and have been very impressed with the quality and their ability to teach.   Consistently, I find them brilliant people that not only give of their time, but spend a lot of their own money on their students.  Sometime go to the resource room at your school and check out the science kits.  They often need bulbs, batteries and wires to help teach the kids.  Often there is little money in the budget for such things and teachers spend their own money to make them work. 

Speaking of money, is there any other profession that so undervalues their professionals?  Well, perhaps Social Workers who are required to have a Masters Degree are less rewarded but teachers must go up against the School Board and beg for a small share of the funds allotted to the schools.  Instead of rewarding them for excellence, they have been passed over or held back over the years.  

Don't hand me that crap about teachers only working 9 months of the year.  If you had to garner as many continuing education hours as they do, you would probably have them paid for by your employer and you would be given time off from your work to achieve them.   How do you think my wife got her Masters degree in Special Education?  By utilizing Petty Cash and going to schools when most of us would be sitting by the pool.  After teaching for almost five years, she not only had to go to school, she had to perform a practicum or Student Teaching under a certified Special Education Teacher.  No OJT for that level of certification. 

If you really want to single out a teacher to emulate, try one of the Special Education Teachers.  They must test each student to find out where they are proficient and prepare an individualized education plan for each student.  They work darned hard with the very children not able to make it in the class room and help them bring their skills up to the level of other students.  Will these students ever be able to achieve 100% proficiency.  Not with the current level of funding and resources. 

I guess this was all brought on by an article in the paper that said that several States have dropped the NCLB as their ultimate goal.  Will that mean they will accept much less?  Not if the teachers I know come in to play.  They are dedicated, motivated and willing to roll their sleeves up and work darned hard with the students. 

I have always said, "If you can read this, thank a teacher."  The Petty Corollary is, "If you can read this in American English,  thank a soldier.  Or kiss one of them for me.

My favorite Master teacher

MUD

Odds and Ends

For the last couple of years, when I went to my Dentist, he would tell me that I had several teeth that were in need of some additional care (Read $).  Last week when the Hygienist cleaned my teeth, she said she could smell decay from a leaking crown.  She located the  problem on the first crown I ever had and it dang near fell off when she hooked her probe underneath. It was clear in the back of my mouth on a wisdom tooth and they said it was number one in the teeth count.  When the Dentist came over he re affirmed that I had one (number 4) tooth that had been filled to the max that was again had a cavity and two teeth (12 & 13)  that were broken and in danger of falling apart.  If that happened, there would be no crown, there would be an extraction and a partial.  Bring on the crowns.   Well, to make a long strory not much shorter, yesterday I went in and the Dentist ground four teeth down and I was fitted with temporary crowns.  In a couple of weeks I'll go back and have the new crowns installed. I can remember when you could buy a dang near good used car for what I will have to pay.

Do you have a model of your teeth?  I Do.

There is a couple of funny stories in here.  The Assistant to the Dentist was the person that fitted my first crown over 20 years ago.  She has done about every one since and I told her that I had spent about as much money on her as I had my wife over the years.  I was warned that I should never poke fun at a person that was going to be in my mouth with pointy tools. One time years back, the crown fell off the wisdom tooth and as the assistant was working on the re-fit, she dropped it and I was lucky that my gag reflex kept me from swallowing it.   Then, after the temporary crowns were installed I realized that the assistant had one of the most gentle touches I had ever had work on my mouth.  I started to tell her that when I realized that the dentist had my mouth so numb that the assistant could have been driving a jeep in my mouth and it would have been gentle to the feel.  The only sad part of this story is that my Dentist of many years is going to retire at the end of next month and I will have to use one of the other Dentists in that office.  I was told that I didn't have to make a choice as the scheduler would make sure that I was taken care of.  One of them works Monday through Thursday and the other works Tuesday through Friday.  They swapped weekends on call for emergencies. 


Last night, my temporary worker, Austen, was discussed and I feel that he is worth every penny I pay him.  The subject came up that he was available today and Barbara indicated that I needed to take the day off.  I guess working half a day on the deck was a bit much in this heat and a day off did sound pretty good.  It is to be 104 today and and at 8 AM it is already in the 80's.  I am not sure what we will do for fun today but I'm sure I can stay busy having fun.   The boys do have something to do at their Grandmothers today so all is well. 

Did I tell you the story about the last Bat Man movie?   I think it was called the Dark Night and I watched it alone in a theater and thought it was the darkest movie I had ever seen.  As I got up to leave the theater,I realized that I still had on my clip on sunglasses and it was no wonder it was a bit darker than I liked.  I think as an adult, I am not afraid of much in life and I want to admit that Heath Ledger as the Joker creep-ed me out.   I do wish that whatever demons that challenged him hadn't won.  I loved his acting in the Patriot and the Bat Man movies.  I wasn't as thrilled with Broke Back Mountain but he did play that role in a convincing manner.

Bridge with new handrails

The picture above is the bridge I built for Barbara with the new hand rails to make it sturdier.  Did you notice the metal running rabbit?  I think the design was from Barb's sister Judy and her brother Kenny turned it to a metal sculpture.  They are the most talented people I know. 

MUD

Second Round of 100+ Temps.

This week is going to be the second round of 100+ days this summer.  It would be OK if there was some rain in and amongst the hot days.  The bad news is there has been little rain for this month and not a lot predicted.  Shame that some of the rain in Houston didn't make it our way.  

A noon today, the local station was full of news about how the grain prices are up and the cattle prices are down.  There will be smaller amounts of crops this fall without some rain and the farmers are already starting to run out of grass in the field to feed the cattle.  In fact there is a large amount of grass in the CRP program that the farmers in a normal year would do nothing with.  For only a 10% hit, they will be able to hay the set aside ground or to graze cattle on it. 

We can hope things get better but I wouldn't bet on it. 


MUD

Funeral

I am headed to Lawrence to attend the funeral for my sister's Father-in-law.  He was a great guy and lived a long good life.  

Update - I think that was one of the most positive funerals I have ever been to.  The Minister was also a personal friend for many years and had a lot of positive things that the family had shared with him as well as a few of his own.  I hope Barb can find someone to say that many nice things when I die and not have to lie very much.  The entombment was very short and sweet  It was getting near 90 already and no one wanted to be there long.


I hope that you all can find a place to drink cool drinks and stay out of the sun today.  We are on our second run of 100+ days this week.  Oh well, better run


MUD

Value of a Life

In this world, there are a bunch of people that seem to not place any value on human life.  From atrocities in Syria to a home invasion right here in Topeka, people just don't seem to get that life in its most simple form has a great deal of value.  At the very base of my beliefs, I know I am capable of taking your life if it comes to that, but it would have to be a damn good reason.  Money or power just aren't motivators for me.


On another note, this morning, I went out to get the paper and one of the local deer was out in the orchard eating the fruit.  Just looking at the trees, you can see where the lower branches are stripped bare of fruit and the tops of the trees are just full of fruit.  The apples and pears aren't very big this year because of the lack of rain, but the do seem plentiful.  If I really wanted to hog all the fruit, I would move the dog pen and the dog house out to the orchard.  

My decking project seems to be going OK for now.  Not the fastest "decker" in the world, I am just working a few hours and then stopping for the day when the temps get near 100 or lunch arrives.  In the past, I would tear the entire deck off and then have to fight to balance as I rebuilt the deck.  This time I am taking off a board at a time and replacing it in strips.  It seems a lot easier that way.  


The other day, I asked Barbara, "If life is exactly what I planned and am making it to be, do I have any right to be bored?"  My mother would tell anyone that admitted being bored that they were boring and go do something.  I for one will just keep any such thoughts to myself.   There is no shortage of things to do, only motivation to do them all. 

The other day I posted a fake obituary which just might make it to the first chapter in my someday book.  I really want everyone to know that I have had a great life and if it all ended today, just be happy in the fact that I loved almost every minute of it.  It has been a journey filled with friends, lovers and family.  Barbara says she can find me in a crowd by listening for my laugh.  That's just the way I want you all to remember me and find me in a crowd - by the laugh.  No small tittering for me, a good laugh is where I live.


MUD