Day Light Savings

Many years ago, I was in the Kansas National Guard and the 69th Brigade would almost always schedule their Spring Command Post exercise (CPX) over the weekend that day Light Savings happened.  We would be up a lot of hours to complete the CPX and then lose an additional hour of sleep in that shortened schedule.  I hated day Light Savings then and I don't care now.  The only real thing it changes for us is that I have to reset the clocks and life moves on.  Such is the life of retired people.

I went outside yesterday and tried to rake some of the accumulated leaves away from the patio.  It kind of sets in a funny place and the wind from the north and south just cause the leaves to swirl there and pile up.  As I moved piles of leaves, I kept hitting all these plastic plant containers.  Barb will start seeds in the house and move them to the shelves on the deck and then to the garden.  I often wonder if growing garden vegetables  is kind of like Pheasant hunting.  The birds are wonderful to eat but when you combine the cost of the license, the gas, the meals and the motel, those birds probably cost about $100 a pound.  Start with seeds, potting soil, electricity to heat the green house, water and time, those tomatoes are probably in the same neighborhood as those damned birds.   Combine that with the factor that we are trapped at home during the growing season who knows the true value.  The only advantage is I love me some red ripe home grown tomatoes.

Speaking of value,  I want to buy a medium size tractor to take care of my driveways and farm chores.  I thought that they would be like cars and  a five or ten year old tractor would be about half of the price of a new one.  Not so grasshopper!  A used tractor will cost $15,000 and a new one will run about $18,000.  The new one will have a guarantee and a dealer that kinda cares what happens to you.  Used, what you get is what you get.    Barb didn't get us to where we are by buying things way more expensive than we need.  The only good thing in this is she is a master gardener and wants me to have a good vehicle to till her garden.  We'll see how this boils out.    I have a friend that does driveways but he too is making tractor payments and he knows what the time and effort is worth.

There is a lot of discussion about the number one seed for the NCAA Tournament.  No matter who is number one or number two, KU will start their first two games in Omaha.  If you have watched the games over the years, where you start is not nearly as important as winning when you are there.   This morning I read that seldom does it happen that the final four teams are all number one seeds.  And, in the real light of day, it is a bunch of kids playing a game that unless the stars go on to be Michael Jordan few will remember. 

In the last month our family has been blessed with two new and cute babies.  The Kirklands have a new baby boy and the Johnsons a new baby girl.    Put those new babies and their older siblings together and it is enough cute and sweet enough to set a Diabetic into a coma.   I took my sisters over to see the new Johnson baby and we discussed the fact that it is a good thing that we have in with the new and out with the old.   We would soon be up to our armpits with people that wear diapers if we didn't.  Do you know what a nursing home smells like?  Depends.    

Oh well, better get on with things,  it is raining outside here so there is not a lot to draw me out.  

MUD

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