Blog Stats

I looked at the stats on my blog and realized I have written 2,227 blogs and have had just short of 80,000 visitors.  What a ride.

I have gone back to the beginning and brought you blog number one: (From 2006)

MUD on my Recumbent

This is the first Blog in my new site. I hope you can read and ride along with me as I journey through the rest of my life. I have no idea where this will go nor do I have a plan. It is a journey not a destination.

You can see my Tour Elite 2 (TE2) recumbent bike in the picture above. Barbara took it as I was riding at Lake Shawnee. The bike was built by my brother-in-law, . The first TE was a good bike but the brakes were in need of help. After 100 miles on that bike I sent it back to him and he rebuilt both the frame and the brakes. It is designed on the Tour Easy main design with several additions. It is about the best thing I have ever ridden. He also built a bike for Dave and I do wish Dave and I could ride more. Dave lives right off the Shunga Trail and has about 8 miles of great riding right outside his door.

Barbara is a "Bent Rider" also but would rather take a camera and look for great photos than ride for miles. It is nice that we share a hobby but our short term goals are different. This difference is probably a lot like or lives. Barb will be here for the long haul and I'll ride hard and die wet. Barb will be one of those little old ladies out in her garden when she is in her 90's. The other day she came to the lunch table and had a piece of a leaf in her ear. She rubbed the ear and found the debris. She asked me why I didn't tell her about the leaf. I told her that I thought it was her life's goal to be the kind of person that goes out in the garden and comes back in with caterpillars and leaf pieces in and on her. She agreed that I had a point and we moved on with lunch.

I have ridden about 700 miles on the TE2 now and try to get in as much riding as I can. Yesterday it was too cool in the AM so I waited until evening to ride. Barb went with me over to the lake and I rode the 8 miles perimeter of the lake in 40 minutes and Barb rode up to the dam and back (4.5 miles) with the camera. I see her downloading pictures from the digital camera so I can only suppose she took some fall pictures. 

I am looking at our retirement income and payouts on the investments and pensions. Barb's is pretty straight forward but mine gets wierd because of the Civil Service and Military were both not a part of Social Security. There is something in the law that won't let you draw three pensions from the Government without the "Offset" in Social Security. After paying for the required 40 quarters I can't draw any benefits. If Barbara draws my Civil Service and Military Survivor's benefits (after I am gone) it will cancell her Social Security benefits. I know, whine and cry. I did not intend to start that this early. (UPDATE - I can draw some Social Security, just not much)
 
I guess I need to stop here and go do some of the things I need to do in my other life as a house husband

Mean Uncle Denny (MUD)

Funny Stories

Midnight Coyote

Real Coyote

Yesterday Barb and I discussed the coyote and her opinion was I could not hunt him unless he attacked me. Then we both agreed that he probably could not eat me in one sitting and we laughed.  This morning I woke up at O Dark 30 and went out to get the paper.  I was thinking about the coyote and when I walked from the light of the porch light into the darkness, my night vision faded away.  I got out by the gate where the paper normally is and from about 5 feet, a big animal woofed at me.  It was the neighbor's dog but for a minute my over active imagination almost caused a leak in my renal plumbing.  I woofed back at him and he grabbed my paper and ran for his house.  The good news was that Ronda Stadler, my neighbor was out to get her paper and could catch the dog to return my paper.  We had a nice chat  and it was kind of nice to catch up on her family. 

At the basketball game on Sunday, there was a father and son sitting next to us in the stands.  He made a video of the opening of the game and as soon as it got a little quieter, I asked him where he was from.  he was from Omaha and his father had managed to buy tickets to the game.  We had a nice chat and I pointed out that when we went to a Basketball game in Lincoln, Doc Stadler was their coach.  He is now the replacement for Danny Manning who went to Tulsa.  He looked me in the eye and said, "Who?"  I forget that Danny and Doc are both yesterday's news.

My brother called last night and said he would work on getting us tickets to the Tulsa and SMU game in March.   It will be a treat to see Coach Larry Brown and Danny Manning coach opposing teams.  Their first game went to Tulsa and it should be a great game.  Coach Larry Brown was the Coach at KU when Danny and the miracles won the National Title.  Rick, my brother sure knows how to please a couple of rabid basketball fans.

You might think that a couple of retired people would have to look for things to do.  Barb kind of complained that the calendar is getting full for February and March.   Barb likes to work the Garden Show at the Expocentre  in February and there is more and more things on the February Calendar.  Somewhere in there we are going to try to fit in a trip to celebrate our 45th anniversary.  Where ever we go, it will be to a warmer place.  Florida and California are both on the list for now. 

Oh well better get running.

MUD 

Say What?

The other day, a PhD from Baker University wrote an article for the local paper called "No Guns in Classrooms."   I just had to write her and remind her of the rule I learned years ago.  It more often than not better to not use the terms Always or Never.  She said that teachers don't have the training to use guns so there should not be guns in our schools.   I reminded her that many teachers, custodians, cooks and bus drivers have had Military Training and are very capable of using a hand gun if they choose to do so.  I sure as hell would, and did when I thought it was appropriate.  You didn't see the inside of my locked briefcase many days.  I know that we had a General that was armed every day he served.

The liberal (Yes, I know that Barb hates that term) solution is that we spend 5.4 Billion dollars a year to put an armed guard in every school.  They had that at Columbine but then made him sit and watch TV monitors.  Another solution is to put Military Members between deployment in the schools.  For those of you that haven't been paying attention, the suicide rate of our Military members is at an all time high.  Many soldiers have been deployed three or four time in the last 10 years and are not stable right now.  Give them a few years and things will settle down.

The trail cam has been very active the last couple of days.  I have had almost 200 hits a day after going a couple of days with nothing.  A lot of the hits have been the four raccoons who just love to come to my little feast and eat what I leave.  

Coyote headed home

two Coons in the feed pan

 
That's all folks.

MUD

Solutions Cost Money, How Fast Can We Go!

There is almost not one day goes by that I don't think about the problems facing the United States and how would I fix them.   With that said, I really think how would I allocate the funds we have to spend and have the greatest impact?

I think there is a need for National Defense spending but somewhat lower than we are spending.  My solution would be to have a smaller standing military and a larger reserve force.  The first 8 weeks after graduating from High School, everyone would get a shot at some form of mandatory training.  I would gear up the reserves to do a large part of this training and at the end of that first 8 weeks, those with the ability and aptitude would get the opportunity to complete some form of  training in a military skill.   Most would return to their homes with a reserve commitment either active or inactive with a two week training phase for the summers they are not active.  

The mail would be only a five day a week delivery system and I would encourage businesses to find a way to have people go to a web site to get coupons rather than deliver junk mail. Newspapers are soon to be replaced with the majority of the young people reading their news on line.  In some cases they are just ignorant of the news but I will give them credit for what they do know.  

I think that the telephone system is headed to some form of online system that will allow us almost complete connectivity.  We will have a system that allows us to communicate in all forms and either the internet of the phone system is going to go away.

Congress must take immediate steps to prioritize the laws and discover what they can afford to fund.  The idea of passing a new law that exempts some people from taxes or creates a new entitlement without understanding the effect on the budget is just stupid.   The idea that the federal Government is the solution is just wrong.  There is a limit to what we can afford to pay and how big the Government must be to do all that we fund now.  

I think I have said this before,  The IRS would be focused on making everyone pay their fair share of taxes at the source of payments.  The idea that we as taxpayers must file each year to figure out what is owed is not right.  Get the IRS out there in the pockets of the business owners and make sure they are withholding and sending what they withhold.  Find a level of funding we need and take that amount from every payment.  If it looks like income, take a share.  This would apply to royalties, interest payments, commissions, dividends, social security payments, retirements and income.  Everyone must pay a little.  I think that we would be surprised at how low that amount it would be if everything took a small bite. 

Yes, I know what a regressive tax is, and I would apply a spending tax on everything.  No refunds.  I don't care how many kids you have or how big a house you buy, no deductions.  I would impose a penalty on a business that wants to give their CEO millions in a bonus or stock options.  How does having an extra 10 million dollars motivate a CEO to do better?  We all know that there have been many owners and CEO's that ran a company in the ground and golden parachuted themselves into retirement with millions.

I don't care how good they are, there are no, repeat no athletes worth tens of millions of dollars to play a game.  Hollywood too.  That bunch of overpaid actors just need to tighten their belts and live like the rest of us.

Don't get me wrong, I am living pretty darned good right now after a lifetime of hard work.  We both got a degree and worked hard.  In my case I worked in the Guard plus my full time job and don't feel the least bit guilty that I am being paid for all those weekends and summer vacations I skipped to be in the Guard.  With that said, all that retirement income needs to be taxed.

To me, What the Govt Looks Like

MUD

Coyotes and the Food Chain

Last night about 9 PM, the dog started barking loud and pretty mean sounding.  I got my flashlight and went out on the deck.  When I flashed my light into the trees right below the dog pen, they gleaming eyes of a coyote shined right back at me.  By the time I got my shotgun and explained to the wife what I was up to, the dog quit barking and the coyote went away.  This morning we discussed the shooting of wild animals here at Rabbit Run.  Barb is totally against my shooting any animal and she wants me to shoot only to protect myself.   "If a coyote is truing to eat you, you may shoot him."    Seeing as how I don't carry either open or concealed most of the time I'm not sure how that will happen.

Coyote on the Trail Cam

Well, I like to think of myself as a benevolent member of the food chain and by the grace of me, animals that eat other animals live.  If the coyote leaves the dog alone, I probably won't hunt him down.  A few more night raids on the farm and he will be toast.  

Today, KU will play its last non-conference basketball game over in Lawrence.   They have been on a roll lately and we sure enjoy an uptempo game where they get to run and gun.  They have a bunch of talented players and a Center that is playing up to his potential this year.  They probably have a bunch on the bench that will all be starters next year or so.  We probably could field the number one and at l;east the number three team in the BIG XII right now.   There are three players that should be somewhere in DIV II basketball but their dads are  linked to KU.  Niko Roberts, Evan manning and Bill Self's son have been able to slip in the last couple of minutes in the last few games.  I don't see much of that being the case during conference season.   We have tickets to a couple of games in January and March but nothing in February.  The good news is that the local TV stations and ESPN pick up most of the KU games locally.  I get to see most of the games on TV if we don't have tickets.

I guess my efforts early in the mouse hunt of 2012 paid off.  I haven't had a mouse for a couple of weeks.  I probably will go out and re-bait the traps this week to make sure.  Last year I got about 43 and this year only 14.  I didn't count the one I found on the floor dead near the traps.  I think he got hit and managed to escape the trap but died of his wounds.

Speaking of wounds, I have read that many of my combat veteran buddies are celebrating their Alive Day.  The anniversary of when they were hit and survived.  I have been rocketed, mortared, ambushed shot at and shit on but I managed to come home without the enemy getting lucky.  This about the time of the year I got to come home from Vietnam and I think I am going to set our anniversary as my Alive Day.  My celebration is to mark that I was able to return home to a life with the wife.  February 11th will be our 45th anniversary.  We don't even compare with Barb's parents record of 70 years and I'm not sure I will.  My mother and her second husband Bill had been married over 100 years (Combined) to other people when they married.  I am sure that I don't want to even try to match that.   

Oh well, moving on....

MUD

     

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J'es Thinkin'

Every year about this time, I begin to start looking at ways to reduce the amount I have to pay for taxes.  Not so much the amount of withholding, but the amount of the check I will have to write above what I have already paid.  I know, I have had this conversation at other times in this blog and have freely admitted that the taxes I pay is not above average and the good news is that we have it to pay when needed.   There needs to be a ay to reduce the property taxes without getting rid of property.  Don't even try to bring up selling the biggest taxable place Rabbit Run.

One thought I had earlier this week is a storage shed for the tractor and all the vehicles here at Rabbit Run.  I wonder what extending the current garage would add and what would it take away?  Barbara doesn't like that the garage faces north but there is not much I can do with that for the current garage but an addition may allow the extension to come in from the west.  I would also like to do some solar work to help warm up the garage. It might even be possible to do some second story work on an addition and have my turret.  OK, it would be accessible by ladder and my knees aren't as young as they once were.  

For a couple of days, there were no pictures on the trail cam.  I am not sure why, as this morning there were 36.  Mostly the one small herd of female deer and the coyote.  The other day, one of the other Tecumseh residents posted a picture of a Bob Cat they took with their trail cam.  We had one that was a frequent visitor until it got hit by a car.  I brought it home and gave it a burial on the place thinking that some day I might dig up the bones and see what a Bob Cat skeleton looked like   Now I can't find where it was I buried it.  Heck, I have trouble keeping the septic tank located and it is about 6x10X8.  I did leave a fence pole at one end of the dang thing the last time we had it pumped.  

My real mystery to solve is the water meter fluctuation.  One month it will be normal and then we will have a $70 dollar bill.  Curious.

Oh well, better get cracking. (Yes, that is a British saying but it also applies to old knees)

MUD 

Jack Reacher

The reason the movie was delayed a few days after the shooting in Newtown, Conn is that the movie opens with gunman in a parking garage killing five people along the river walk by the Pittsburgh, PA ball diamond. It ends with a gun fight and a lot of people are killed.

I won't spoil the plot of the movie only talk about the role of the Main Character Jack Reacher.  It didn't take long into the movie where Jack squares off with five guys in a fight.  Tom Cruise performed the scenes in the movie in a pretty good manner.  I think they must have hired every vertically challenged actor in Hollywood to be in the movie with him.  There were several good car chase scenes and I loved the 71 Chevelle 396, with a 4 speed except that he crashed the hell out of the car and it was trashed and crashed at the end of that scene.  It was fun to see the Chevelle chasing an Audi and then a bunch of Crown Vic Cop cars chasing both of them. It did show that the Chevelle had a tough time putting all the power down on the road.  In a little rain or snow, it must be a hog on ice.

The co-star in the movie is Rosamund Pike and she is a stunningly beautiful blond that oddly Jack doesn't bed in the movie.  

All in all, I give the movie 7 out of 10 stars and might want to see it later on when it is out on DVD.  

MUD

Thoughts Just For Today

In case you haven't figured it out yet, my mind is pretty much what you see is what you get.  I don't tend to make long term plans anymore and have always loved the challenge of doing the best I can one day at a time.  Kind of like the stuff I have here at Rabbit Run.  I am not a collector, I am an accumulator.  I do try to buy buckets to help organize my tools but sometimes I forget to put everything back in its place.  

Today I am going to see the movie "Jack Reacher"  and will report on it tomorrow.  I love the novels by Lee Child's but am having a little trouble seeing Tom Cruise as that character.  We'll see.  On the book, Reacher is six foot and 250 and Tom Cruise has to wear lifts to make 6 foot.  Jack Reacher is a guy that makes women stop and look and Tom Cruise's nose is just off putting.  

In February, 1968, I finally convinced Barbara to marry me.  We were on the return trip to California and planned a Stop in Las Vegas and the little Chapel of the Bells was able to fit us in.  Surprisingly my Mom and Dad agreed to come with us and a lot of Barb's family drove up from Southern California.  For those of you that are mathematically challenged that is about 45 years.  I did spend the first year in Vietnam so I am not sure how to count it all.  Just for the record, I will count it all.  With my early retirement from the Military (30 years is early?) We have had a lot of time to be together that some people didn't have.  

I think my deer feeding station has been discovered by the birds and they are enjoying the cracked corn more than anything else.  The little birds are still up here by the house and hitting the black oil sunflower seeds and the suet block.  I can see blue jays and the doves down the hill.  They do have to come back up the hill to get a drink out of the heated water bowl.  

Better get running and try my best to get up to something.

MUD

Thoughts for Today

The funny papers hit my life, "right between the eyes" today.  They say the life of old retired men cycles between the three stages of activity.  First there in activity then reactivity as our bodies react to the urge to drink coffee.  (Well actually there is the need to pee first) That is big time reactivity and hopefully it doesn't happen too far from the toilet. Living here in the country, there are patches of yellow snow here and there.  Then there is the urge to eat, so we don't starve by lunch.  That is the level of pro-activity. and somewhere after lunch there is the Inactivity level also known as naps.  Notice that I didn't say anything about tweets, texts or most of that electronic activity.  Writing on this blog is about as electronic as I get.   Throw in a 46 inch Samsung LCD TV and you have it in total.

Yesterday I truly stayed home all day and did not venture out into the world except to shovel the snow off the front walk.  I found it difficult to not get out on the roads to find something to break that terrible cycle listed above.  The only thing that helped was the number of football games on TV.  I really don't know who won what other than Oklahoma State just killed whatever team they played.  

Speaking of Football, Only the KC Chiefs could win the first pick in the draft by winning the fewest games. The Kansas University Football team won the same number of games but played 5 or 6 less games to get there.  The Kansas City fans, both football and baseball will someday stop spending money on the professional losers that play in the Arrow Head complex.   The KC Chumps and the royal losers have long ago lost my interest.  I wouldn't mind if they even showed up and gave the other team a good game.  2013 is going to be a long year in the KC sports Marketplace.  When all is said and done, there will be a lot more said than done.

The last couple of days, the traffic at the feeding site has been pretty minimal.  The only regular visitor is the neighbor dog and the coyote.  Well, there is also my trips down and back to get the trail cam and put out more food.  With the two inches of snow, it is kind of dangerous for an old guy to go down the hill in my size 13 street shoes.  I wore my tennis shoes but they let snow melt in the tops of the shoe and until I went in a changed socks my feet were wet and cold.  Perhaps I need to go to Tractor Supply sometime today and get a pair of chore boots like my grandfather wore.  Barb said that her grandfather lived on a farm and always had a pair of those tall rubber boots by the back door.  In the summer, my grandfather wore what I called engineer boots and those rubber Chore boots in the winter.  I remember my foot fit in them only for a brief period when I was about 13.  

The other day I was making a junk food run to Dillon's and saw a guy my age with his mother.  It reminded me of the time I spent with my mother and i just couldn't resist saying Happy New year to her.  She put her hand on my arm and looked me right in the eyes. I could tell that she was full of life and I'll bet she had stories to tell that would keep you busy for hours.  A couple of aisles later I saw the son coming back as he had gone ahead to fetch something.  I told him that seeing his mother reminded me of how much I miss my mother.  A black lady there on the aisle said isn't that the truth. She too missed her mother something terrible.  It seemed kind of like a hassle to have to shop for mother but oh how I miss those post shopping visits. When my mother went to Tulsa to live with my brother, I mentioned that I could make her some macaroni and cheese for lunch and she said, "Oh, I don't like macaroni and cheese."  I had bought that for her at Dillon's hundreds of times.  She wasn't bashful about telling me how she wanted her salad from the salad bar made.  I wonder if she just ate so much of the yellow stuff that she no longer liked it or if she had not liked it all along.

Oh well, what the hell, what the heck do I care... I really do but the need to escape the clutches of inactivity call.

MUD 

 

Just One Day at a Time

I am not an alcoholic, I am just a sober drunk.  I don't go to the meetings to stay that way.  I did read the book, or at least gnawed on the cover a bit to get the flavor.  My real problem with AA is that they base what happens to you a lot on a higher power.  I don't happen to believe that anyone (with the exception perhaps of Barb) has control over my life.  I feel that I alone am responsible for my actions and reactions to life.  I am the source of my own happiness and sadness and don't need to drink to modify the way I feel. I might still have the urge, just not the need.

My 2013 Post on Facebook was:  Oh, that I  have the strength to change the things I might, the courage to accept the things I cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference.  Petty Corollary - Or that I will have enough young relatives that I can live vicariously  through their accomplishments.    Kind of the AA saying but modified to my tenants.  

We had such a mild winter last year and such a mild fall that it is somewhat surprising that we now have cold weather and three inches of snow.  I hope that the moisture is a good sign that things will be a little wetter this year.  I am pretty sure that it has been so dry that there is no sub soil moisture to help the farmers grow crops this spring unless we get a lot more snow.  I can do without the cold, but a lot more snow wouldn't hurt a thing.  I am sitting inside looking out the window and resisting the urge to go out and put the blade on the tractor to try to push the snow around a little.  It would really be more play than serious work but I am trying to resist the challenge and the fun.   

Looking down the hill, I can see that something tipped over the deer feeding pan last night to get down to the feed under the snow.   In just a little while I will go down and look at the footprints (or hoof prints, or better yet, tracks) to see who was the culprit.  I will bring in the trail cam and look for picture evidence.  Then I will fill the pan and put out the camera  for another round of fetch the camera and see what is to be seen.

Buck during the day yesterday

One stupid dog 24 hours later

MUD

So Fall Off the Damned Cliff!

As today progresses, the talk of the "looming" Fiscal Cliff is about all the news on any Media source.  I am afraid that we truly do need to fall off the cliff to get the system energized to start working on the big problems.  Simply put, we need to tax more and spend less.  Failing to do that will just continue us in the cycle of "Do what you did and you will get what you got!"  Yes, it easy for me to say.  I have mine and so far the gutless Congress hasn't even looked at taking some of it away.   I think the wife and I agree that we have some to give if it would help fix what's broken.  I might feel different after I pay my taxes after April 15th, but I get over it.

With that said, the NIMBY (Not in my back yard) Crowd is running around re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and trying to find someone else to blame the iceberg on.  I really hate that something Al Gore said a couple of years back is correct.  he said we need to step our economy down a little and do with a little less.  Now that I have mine, I agree with him.  But I want the Federal Government to do a little less also.

Today I listened to talk radio on my way to stock up with last minute goodies for New year's eve.  It is also going to snow 4 - 6 inches so all the old folks were out stocking up at the last minute.  One of the callers was actually pissed off that the gun laws aren't the same in each State.  The talk host (a fill in over the holiday period)  missed a wonderful opportunity to educate that bozo on just how our Government runs.

First of all, there is a Federal Constitution that details what the founding fathers expected the Feds to do.  They also made ways to change that knowing that no Government can remain Static forever.  They left those things that were not in the Constitution to the States.  I know they were thinking that nothing in Maine could resemble Georgia so the States were left with a broad latitude of things under their control.  I can't imagine that the Governor of Kansas or Nevada would tell us that we couldn't go to Sonic and buy a Route 44 drink. Don't even try to tell me that the restriction on guns acceptable in new York would even clear committee in our State Government.  

What I really want in life is a Government that values my ability to think and produce as much as they value the tax I pay.  I have a nice income but it would scare most people to know just how much the State of Kansas and the federal Government taxes me on what I do and earn. 

Surely there is a way to fix the problem without bothering us with all this talk about a Fiscal Cliff.  Just remember that even with an approval rating of about 8%, the majority of all the Congress got re-elected this last cycle.  Just yesterday our local paper said that the governor got 3 out of 5 of his items done this last year.  Last time I looked, that only about 60% and would not get him admitted to any college in Kansas.

MUD

I do love the Smell of Cordite in the Morning

In Vietnam, one of our morning rituals in the Field Artillery was burning the excess powder increments. The Artillery round go a set distance based on how many Charges (Bags of powder) and the elevation on the tube.  Unless you are trying to reach out to the maximum distance, there were always a few powder increments to burn the next morning after a night of firing. 

Right after the Monsoon Season, I found myself with back with my battery and we were located on a hill top west of Kontum, Vietnam.   For the most part everything we ate drank or fired was brought out to us by helicopter.    Our mess section was located in a base camp in Kontum and on occasion they would send us a hot meal.  Most of the time it was C-Rations for us. 

One morning, we awoke to bright sunlight and a valley floor filled with clouds.  It was a beautiful sight to be higher than the clouds and in the warmth of the sunlight.  I think there were smiles everywhere and it just seemed to be like some kind of a holiday after almost endless days of rain and clouds.  I did my best to see if there was a way I could add to this wonderful morning.

During one non rainy day the week before, the mess section brought out a breakfast meal the night before and cooked it for us the next morning.  there was no way we could duplicate that feat today because the clouds covered the valley and the air field.  But, an old fishing trick put me on to something.

We managed to snag a three pound can of coffee from the mess section and I was determined that at least one morning we were going to have hot fresh coffee.  Not that damned instant kind, the real stuff. On a fishing trip a couple of years earlier, after a day and night of fishing, my dad emptied out the work can and after a quick wash in the creek made us some of the best coffee we had ever had right there in that can over a small fire.

I discussed this with the Chief of the firing battery and he said that the empty powder cans looked like big old tin cans to him.  We lined up three of the canisters and filled them about 2/3rds with water.  We split the coffee between the canisters and then started throwing powder increments near them and using the flames from them to heat the coffee.  Using a whole powder bag turned out to be a bad idea as it boiled the water right out of the can.  We dug a small trough near the cans and started cutting the increments open and throwing a hand full of the powder at a time in it to heat the water.  Just right and when all the powder was gone, there sat three cans of steaming hot coffee.   The word was sent out and the battery turned out to get a canteen cup of the hot stuff.

Many of the guys had packages of hot cocoa out of a C-Ration and made a hot coffee and cocoa mix right there in the middle of nowhere.    I think we all smiled the rest of that day. 

At the family Christmas party, I was reminded of a special gift I was sent for Christmas 1968.  My sister Myrna sent me a bottle of 409 Cleaner.  I wondered what the hell that was for until I really looked at the bottle.  When I unscrewed the lid, I realized that it was filled with a good Scotch.  Knowing that a cease fire was scheduled for Christmas,  I saved it for that special occasion. 

 On Christmas eve, we all sat around the Fire Direction center playing cards.  I filled a two quart canteen with the scotch and the rest with water.  I sat there with a dumb look on my face and drank myself into a good night's sleep.  I don't think anyone else really knew what I was drinking, and I really didn't care what they had in their cups.  I'm sure there was more than just my stash being consumed that evening

I sure loved the smell of cordite in the morning.   Someday I hope to meet up with my old friends at Fiddler's Green and share a cup of muzzle blast and get to swap some of these stories.

MUD - ORAG

(Old Retired Army Guy - Field Artillery)

Wintertime Cooking

One of the things I love about wintertime is that if you are bored you can always cook a pot of soup.  We try to stock up on the basic ingredients when we shop and are seldom out of everything.  I have canned stocks, stocks in a carton and bullion (Beef and Chicken) on hand most of the time.  I find the petite diced tomatoes add a great flavor to any soup.  Leftovers are the main ingredient.  I don't get to use my smoked turkey or the pork roast in the soups as they wind up in the enchiladas I love.  Throw a pkg of frozen shrimp in the freezer and a couple pounds of potatoes in the pantry and you can whip up a good soup about anytime.

For the Petty family dinner, I made a fancy pot of soup using collard greens and Kale.  Last night I made frozen cut leaf spinach with dinner and it hit me that it would have been just as good in the soup and much easier. I have found that our local grocery store has started carrying strips of peppers and one had the pkgs of the trinity or onions, celery and carrots. I couldn't get the spell checker to even recognize the french term. 

This morning I made the snickers dip for our New years bash.  It is basically cream cheese, frozen dessert topping and ground up snickers bars.  I have graham crackers to use as the dipping tool.  I may buy a couple of granny smith apples when I am out today.  I have made the same dip using shrimp and Green onions but Barb doesn't like shrimp much.  

Oh well, better get cracking or cooking and get on with my day.

Who Goes There?

MUD

Rudolph!

I am pretty sure that my trail cam caught a picture of Rudolph the red nose deer.

On the other hand, this is living proof that even an amateur can Photoshop a picture.  There were no new pictures on the trail cam this morning.

MUD

Who Am I Trying to Fool?

I think retirement is a lot like combat.  There are seriously boring times with brief interspersed moment of more action that I need.  The good news is that I can nap here at Rabbit Run and recover quickly.  I am also a lot less likely to die by doing chores than I was doing combat in Vietnam.   

This Christmas we kind of instituted a new rule.  We tried to limit the gift exchange to one gift and for barb and I the new rule.  "If I can't eat it, wear it or read it, we don't need it."    Pretty much worked out.  

This morning it is only 11 degrees here in the heartland.  Out on the flat topside fetching the paper with a pair of sweatpants left the boys a little more exposed that I care for.  Going down to the trail cam out of the wind it was no big deal.  I think I am going to play with the settings tomorrow and change the batteries.  Yesterday was overcast and the pictures were kind of dark.  There were only 18 or so and the deer were there for over a half an hour.  Should have been 60 or 70.  

Daddy Buck

Family Photo

Seems like the turkeys have been on vacation somewhere else lately.  I am back to feeding chopped corn and I do try to spread some around to share with the turkeys.  I think I am mostly feeding  the other birds hanging around here for the winter.  

Oh well. books to read and miles to go.

MUD

For Harvey

Who do you consider your best friend?  For me, the choice is real easy.  Harvey was the first friend I ever had and in a lot of ways lived a life on parallel courses.  Harvey was the only boy in the Blinn Family and for a lot of the time, I only had two sisters.  I think in a lot of ways it was us guys against the girls.  Harvey was a year older but due to an unfortunate accident somewhere during elementary school we were in the same grade for the second half of our school years.  Until somewhere about the third grade, Harvey lived just two houses south of our house on Byrd Street.

I am not sure, but I think some of the attraction Harvey had for me was that he just followed me to see what trouble I would get into next.  He was careful, quiet, clean and more precise in the way he did things.  Kind of the opposite of me in a lot of ways.   I would not call him shy, just deliberate in a lot of ways. 

We went to Minneha Elementary and I'm sure he was figured into the group that had an asterisk our name to be separated if possible.  Jesse James, the two Denny's on Byrd street and Harvey were separated as much as possible.   You know, I don't have a clue what kind of grades he made in school.  As for me, I thought "D" was for Denny.  I'm sure that a lot of teachers gave me D's to ensure they didn't get me again the next year.

The year we graduated from High School, Harv and I worked construction together.  That first summer we were both common laborers and shoveled a lot of sand and concrete.  I always tried to get assigned to a job where I helped the carpenters to get that extra 15 cents an hour as a skilled laborer.  I managed to get the nails of the right size and the extension cords to where they were needed.  We mostly worked on jobs where Harvey's dad was not the superintendent.  I really liked to work with a fellow names Blaine Wilson as he could almost outwork any of us young punks and enjoyed to laugh and tell stories as we worked.  He treated me like a son and I did my best to not let him down - ever.

The fall in 1965, Harvey and I both started school at Wichita State.  Back then, ROTC was a mandatory subject and Harvey pledged the Military fraternity the Scabbard and Blade.  I didn't and just was one of the crowd.  I remember that the first semester I made straight C's and also didn't apply for a student deferment.  Second semester, I managed to find a 10 point pitch partner that cheated as much as I did and we played ourselves right out of attending classes.  I withdrew from all but one of my classes except for  religion and I got an F rather than a with drawl for that class.   Later on, that caused me to be readmitted to WSU on probation after I got out of the service. 

In July of 1966, I got my draft notice.  I went up for the "Pre-Induction Physical" on my 19th birthday and when I went for Induction in September, Harvey was going for his Pre-Induction Physical.  That put me about a month ahead of him in the Army.  I did manage to get over to visit him when he was in Reception Station.  He seemed to stay there a lot longer than I did and by the time I got through AIT and into OCS, he was off somewhere  in his AIT.  He too applied for OCS and I was almost middle class by the time he got to Fort Sill, OK.  Fort Sill was one busy place and we never got to visit much.  He was lower class and I think he was just turning middle class as I got to my last week there.  

I think we got away from Fort Sill one weekend for a trip to Wichita Falls.  There was a motel on the north side of town and right next door was a Mexican Restaurant that served the biggest glasses of beer and the best Mexican food.  I think the glasses were about a quart of beer and a couple of those and a big platter would just about end our weekend right there.  I remember that we would generally just go back to the Hotel and crash until the next morning.  There was a pancake house outside of Key gate that we would go to and then back to post.  

When I got orders for Fort Irwin, Harvey said he was going to Germany.  I thought he was crazy but he was right.  I went from Fort Irwin to Vietnam and he went to Germany.   I got out of the Army in the summer of 1969 and Harvey got home just in time to start the fall semester at WSU.  

Oh, I left out a couple of steps.  The summer we were drafted, Harvey joined the Carpenter's Union. and they counted his time in the Army as time in the Union.  By the time he got out of the Service, he was on their books as a Journeyman Carpenter.  He had very little experience but danged if he wasn't able to make a hell of a lot more per hour that I was.  And, during the time I was at Fort Irwin, I met and married Barbara, the love of my life, and still to this day my wife. 

During the next couple of years, Harvey met and married Pat.  They have a son Ed Blinn.  They were not destined to be a long term couple and it was later that Harvey met and Married Wynsue. 

Over the years, we have managed to stay in touch and even though we are separated by 800 miles, we can get together and the conversation just starts where we left off the last time.  I think that is the sign of a friend and I am proud to say that Harvey is my best friend.

MUD

  

More Red Tape

Friday,  the phone rang and without looking at the caller ID, I answered it.  It was a debt collection bureau and they wanted to speak to Dennis.  "Yep'er, you got him."  Prior to launching into the meat of the matter they wanted me to give them my social security number to verify who I was.  Nope, it is your nickle and if you want to impart some information on me, give it a whirl.  They insisted that I needed to give them what they wanted first.  Wrong.  As far as I know, all my bills are paid and I don't owe anyone anything. She indicated that she couldn't open the data base from the City Water Department without that information  Thank you goodbye.  

I thought about it and realized that with three rental properties in the city there is just an outside chance that a bill may have been overlooked.  I called the City Water Department and with them, I verified the last 4 of my SSN and was told that in fact the final bill from this past summer had in fact been turned over to a collection agency.  Now, the why that was that done comes to mind.  For some reason the city knowing that I was not in their data base for my home service made me post a $25.00 deposit.  For some reason they failed to enter my home address as the billing address. They sent the bill to the rental property address and  I never saw the bill.   Hence it is overdue.They gave me the billing location number so the collection agency could open their data base without my SSN.

I called them and got the same person I had spoken to earlier.   She denied any knowledge of my calling earlier and even though I gave her the parcel number to open the data base refused to do business with me.  I asked her to think about it and tell me how anyone but me would know the parcel number?  I gave that information to her and I just don't give out my SSN to anyone over the phone (only a half truth) She did open the data base but would not tell me the exact details even though the water department had and I told her what I knew.  I told her that they were just going to have to put it in writing and send it to me.  

I hate stupid people that hide behind the red tape.  Nominee number one.  The Kansas Credit Bureau.

MUD

Don't Mess With Success!

Our family developed a routine a few years back that seems to work well for us.  Being so far from her parents, Barbara and I started spending the Christmas weekend with her family. It didn't hurt that they lived in Southern California.  In response to that, my family started to get together the Saturday before that and have the Petty family weekend then. That gives everyone a chance to have their own private Christmas at home.  It evolved into everyone bring a favorite soup and a White Elephant gift exchange.  We generally eat and visit, followed by the gift exchange.  Our family rule is that we start from youngest to the oldest and pick one gift at a time.  If you see something you want, you can take it away from that person and they open another gift or they get to take one away from someone else.  The only rule is that a gift cannot be taken away more than once in each round.  The first person has the final say and can take home any gift from anyone.  This is fun as the gifts have gone from truly "Basement" finds to gift boxes with Booze in them.  I try to take home my wonderful gift secure in the knowledge that next year there is always re-gifting. My Doctor and my liver have me on a strictly no "booze for you" routine. 

Barbara is so sneaky.  She has a telephoto lens and stands clear across the room as people open their gifts.  She get in most cases a candid photo of the participants and I love to see the looks on the faces of people that have just opened their gift.  

Normally Barb is not in the photos.  I picked up her camera and took this one

I had the opportunity to spend some time with the kids (21 is probably the average age for that group) and to see what they truly think about all of the events unfolding in the world.  Contrary to what the old white Republicans think (Mostly me), they think things will all work out in the end.  They are full of the hope I had at that age.  In spite of the Watts Riots, the assassination of MLK, a war in Vietnam, Watergate and inflation we too moved on.   It was interesting that later on, during the KU game there was an almost continual texting with friends going on.  This multitasking was how they enjoyed the game.  I just enjoyed watching KU win. heck, I still haven't gotten Dave to show me how to set up my voice mailbox.

Speaking of winning, K-State played Florida and won yesterday also.  I am sure that the K-State fans enjoyed that home court win a lot.  many of them are getting ready for a trip south to the Tostitos bowl.  I wish them well and hope they have a fun time.  I am really not a college football fan and the thought of spending hours driving somewhere to see a game I can watch on TV is just not my style.  Especially when I have seen some of those games played in freezing blizzards.

My hope for you all is that for even a moment, you can forget the trials of the world and enjoy something about the holidays.  Between the family, the food and the friendship there just has to be something for you in there. There has been for me.

MUD  

Don't You Hate Red Tape?

A while back, I had a meeting engagement with the VA over a simple hearing test to see just how bad 30 years of Army service in the Artillery had damaged my hearing. I was told when I was discharged that the VA would do a hearing test when I got to the point that my wife complained.  I went to the VA and was issued a pound of paper to even see if i qualified for a hearing test. The final encounter was that I was not deaf enough to be issued hearing aids but the constant ringing in my ears qualified me for a 10% disability.  The catch 22 in that deal was that they would pay me 128 dollars a month but it had to be taken out of my Military Retirement check for my combined years of service.  OK, it was a transfer of the money into a Tax Free form that I don't hate, it was the law of unintended consequences kicking in that I hate.

Sure enough they notified me of an adjustment in my retirement check very soon after they declared me subject to a constant ringing in my ears.  Tinnitus?   After a couple of months I finally got my first check in the mail for $128.00 along with a stern warning that the Government thought that my getting a real check was an imposition and I needed to have that changed.  For some reason, I assumed that they would just deduct the $128.00 out of the one electronic deposit and make another for $128.00.  WRONG!   Being the busy person that I am, I figured that I would get around to it soon enough. Surely $128.00 was not hardly worth any notice by the Federal Government. Again, WRONG!

Yesterday I got an official Government letter that told me I was in violation of some Federal Requirement and if I didn't call some 1-800 number I would stop getting any Government payments.  OK, Fair warning is enough for me and I called the number and got what was either a trainee or the least informed Government worker I have ever dealt with.  Having a background in Government and in teaching Customer service for a call center, I am expert in spotting someone that really doesn't care what I want.  The lady launched into her speech and when I asked her to slow down she acted offended.    She had a list of five things she wanted me to have and that was that.  I politely informed her that I was calling because of her letter and there was nothing on that letter that indicated I needed half of what she was asking for.  Not being stupid, I was prepared to give her all the identification she would need and the banking information to send the check to.  beyond that, if they would put additional requirements in a letter to me I might be able to share with them the name of the person I was dealing with and what I thought of her crappy service.   For some reason that broke the ice and we began again to start the process rolling.

Last four of my Social, My Mailing Address, the amount and source of the check and all the Banking information.  Then I was informed that this might take a couple of months to get into the system and I should get a letter in the next 7-10 days to notify me that the change would take effect.  Peachy, I will report later on if any of this came to any good end or if it was a waste of time. 

MUD Feeding the Deer

MUD

First Snow Storm of the Year

Like the sign says, "If you don't like the weather in Kansas, Wait a Day!"   It was kind of gusty yesterday  and that is typical of a front moving in.  Last night it started to rain about 9 PM and by midnight it was snowing.  This morning we have between 1 and 2 inches of snow stuck to everything.  It is mighty pretty but when you get out the 30 MPH wind picks up those small ice crystals and pelts your face.   Not a good day to be out.  Good day for cookies, hot chocolate and a good book.  It might be hard to tell from the picture, but every branch on the trees have about a 1/2 inch of snow coating them.  Pretty, as in pretty cold.  By this afternoon, the roads will be melted clear and we might finish our one or two things left on our Christmas shopping list.

About 5 PM on the 19th

About 10 AM on the 20th.

 Deep down inside, I know there is a food chain and when I add food to the critters up from the bottom, the varmints higher up the chain will come in to eat also.  The porch was covered with small birds eating some black oil sunflower seeds and all of a sudden they scattered like mad.  One of the birds flew into the window and just as he did, a small hawk grabbed him and flew off.  We have what we found out was a sharp shinned Hawk that lives here in our woods.   There are a lot of Red tailed Hawks nearby but the small sharp shinned Hawk is the main small bird predator. 

MUD