Happiness vs. Contentment

Are you a half full or half empty glass kind of person?   Are the voters that didn't bother content with the fact they didn't change the Government or unhappy because they don't think they can change things with their vote?  Are you chasing money in your job because of the things you think you want or happy in the idea that the money you make you able to have the things you love?   Do you love your job?  If so, you won't have to work a day in your life.  I won't tell you that I loved every job I had in my life, but I attacked them with as much vigor as I could stand to help me advance.

I was able to seek and reach advancement in my profession up to a point where I was making a darned good living.  I always felt there was a way I could make things better and sought positions of increasing responsibility up to the number two position in the agency.  I wanted to be the Chief of Staff and through two successive selections, I was not the person selected.  I was able to accept the choice they made secure in the knowledge that I could continue to have a darned good job in the end of my career. 

Once upon a time I had a talk with my dad and about the length of time he remained married to my mother.  He was sure that it was a lot of work to find a new person and have them love you.  For a little less work you could keep and love the wife you have.  After 46 years, I can attest to the goodness in his advice.

My wish for you this Holiday Season is to do your best to find happiness in what you have and not in what you get.  Sharing and caring for others is probably a lot better than trying to make things better for yourself.  Works for Me!

Even with a shiner, you can always find a way to wink

MUD, aka glass is half full kind of guy.

Thanksgiving

In my 67 years, I have had many memorable Thanksgivings.  A lot of them center around the Holiday meals we had in the Military.   I always tried to wear my red apron and my Santa Hat and serve pie to everyone that came through the line.   My favorite was to get to ask the small one's if they wanted "Pumpkin?"   Add a dollop of whipped cream and everyone went away with a smile on their face.

One Thanksgiving that I won't forget was the one in 1968.  I was sent out with a Montagnard unit for a three week operation  in the Plei Trap Valley.  When the mission first came down, it was a three day operation and in translation it turned into a three week operation.  I showed up with 9 C-ration meals and though I would be all good.  When we were told that it would be a three week operation, I had to go to the Special Forces camp and get the remainder of the meals in Freeze dried rice.   Basically it was a 2 oz. portion of some meat and a bag of rice for each day.  I saved the C-Ration meals to fill out the rest of the days.   Cheese and crackers became a meal rather than a snack.  One of the meals was boned turkey and I knew that Thanksgiving was right in the middle of the operation.  I saved that lone can of boned turkey out as special for that day.   When the day broke, we were ordered to make about a 5 mile move and it took almost all day.   That evening, I sat down to my bag of rice and can of turkey.  I smiled and gave thanks for living another day and that I had anything at all to eat.  From then forward, I always was glad to have anything served.  I am an easy guy to please.  In fact I love to pitch in and help get the meal ready.  I don't know if my smashed potatoes are really that good or if the wife has just convinced me that so I would fix them. 

One of the best ways for the meat is to smoke or grill the turkey. On Wednesday, it was cold and a 30 MPH wind was blowing.  I knew I didn't have to sit out there and be with the bird so I got everything ready and smoked it.  It sat in the Fridge overnight and I deboned it and put it in a pan to re-heat for lunch.   I also will make the dressing and the potatoes in a little while.   Barb will do the pies and rolls and the veggies.  Barb Jr. is going to make baked Brussel sprouts and help set it all up. 

I am glad to have the life I have and the friends and family to share it all with.  I hope you all have a great day and get to share it with them.  I will.

MUD

Do Something Different

My Challenge to everyone and especially those people that are doing their best to burn and loot Ferguson, MO and the surrounding towns is.   Do What you Did, and you will get what you Got.  Raise your children with the idea that because they are black they don't get a fair chance in life and guess what, they will burn your town down when things don't go their way.  Instead of empowering them to go figure out how they can be a part of change and how our Government gives them power like few other countries, do tell them they are inferior. 

The other day I listened to a commentator talk about how the problems in Ferguson are just stacked against the Government in charge.  If they react to the lawlessness, they are racist and adding to the burden of the black people.  If they don't, they are leaving the law abiding business owners to the mercy of a mob.  It is a no win situation.   Someone said that the police are spending too much time in the poor communities and it is unfair.  Hell Yes, it is unfair that the majority of the crime occurs where the poor people live.  When we change the culture of our society and help everyone know what a great place this is to live can we ever hope to have people do their best to achieve their best.

The other day I watched a program about crime in the fair city of Colorado Springs, CO.   There was a moving truck getting ready to make a pickup in a housing development the next day.  There were four ex-felons that decided to break into the truck and steal what they could.   The first problem was that four ex-felons were living in this one housing complex.  The second problem was there was nothing but a sleeping guy in the truck so instead of not taking anything, they took his life by beating him with a tire jack.  If they had opened the door and when they saw nothing inside just left, probably no one would have called the police.  But these thugs thought they might get caught so they killed a man.  Say What?  Are we so blind as a society that our children grow up thinking that any life, including theirs is disposable?   Three of the four guys got four years in prison and one guy with the jack got life in prison.  Where did we go wrong?

If you live in Detroit, and your city is falling down around you, don't re-elect the Government of the same party that got you to where you are.  I don't know for sure but from what I have read, the Democrats have been in charge there so long that there probably aren't any Republicans left in the city.  Notice that I haven't said anything about race?  I don't care if a person is pink, white, black or indifferent, they have a mind and can vote to make changes.  If the elections don't make the needed changes, vote with your feet and get the hell out of Dodge or Detroit as the case may be.

This is our country and we need to stand up and tell people what we think and what need to be done to make it change.  If you think that rioting and burning your town down, you don't understand.  Why did the black owned businesses leave Watts in California?   The citizens burned down their businesses down.  No Bank would loan them money to rebuild and even if they did have financing, the insurance rates there would have been way too high to make a profit.  Now everyone is standing around and yelling there are no black laundries, barbershops or small business owners in the black communities.   Gee, wonder why?

Don't tell me that you can't get a leg up on life if you don't first stand up and say here is my plan and I'm going to make it work.  We will pay for your education through High School and if you are willing to work for it, you can go to college.   I did and so can you.  But, do what you did and you will get what you got.

MUD, and Mad as hell

Are You a Geek?

Many years back, I thought I was a Geek and headed for faster and better things in my electronic life.   I sat in a Staff meeting for my boss when he was out of town and the Chief of Staff cam into the meeting.  He asked us who owned a computer and I was the only person that raised my hand.  I had purchased an Apple 2C for our son and I was basically a user.  That meant that I could do word processing, had a rough idea of spreadsheets and I was many levels into a game called Load Runner.

The chief knew that I was about to get promoted to GS11 and he told me that I was now the new GS-11 Director of Information Management for the Kansas Army National Guard.   What did that entail?  He had no clue but he told me that I needed to pack my bags and be ready to attend a meeting that week in Washington, D.C.   I loved to travel on the Government's dime so I did what I was told and showed up at the meeting.  

From the first minute of the meeting, it was clear that most of the people there had been working in the Computer Processing Center in each state.  I was so far behind them that I had to sit and study a thesaurus to understand most of what they said.  The new DOIM from Arkansas, Carol Johnson took pity on me and spent a lot of time helping me just keep up.  I was really good at taking notes but that didn't help if I didn't understand the enormity of the job.   Basically, what we learned was that in a month, we would attend a class that showed us how to write the Automation Architecture for each State.  I was to go back home and have the Chief of Staff pick 4 or 5 other people to assist in the process.  That was done.

We went to Camp Ripley Minnesota for a week long class and our team learned what we needed to do.  Somewhere in the bowels of the documents stored for prosperity is the original copy of the automation Architecture we wrote.  It was a current diagram of the locations of our units, the State Staff and how we needed to link it all together.  Somehow we acquired a part of another State's plan and it helped us quantify the amount of computer processing files we needed to automate.  It was a colossal amount of work and I don't have a clue if it ever really did anything for Kansas.  I think the plans were somehow averaged and that helped some contractor in Washington write a giant plan and build a budget. 

From there, I stumbled on for about a year in the computer business until a job in Operations and Plans opened up and I moved back into my comfort zone.  I could write plans until the cows came home and loved solving problems in a language I knew.  "Geek Dom" was not for me and I just simply have remained a power user.   Now enter today's modern mysteries and I am reduced to the kind of guy that relies on others to solve the computer problems.

Do you remember that I said that the Apple 2C was for our son?  The good news is that once that seed was planted, he stayed in touch with the business and even worked on the Geek Squad at Best Buy for a while.  He keeps me up and running.

I guess where I am heading with this is that I am going to raise the flag of "Help" soon and see if I can get Dave to sow me how this monster I have to type on works.  I want to know what the hell I have all this terra bites of information for and why things are going out to the cloud?  What the hell is a cloud and will it one day bite me on the butt and make me pay for the storage?  

MUD aka working faster than my brain can process.

Singing

My family was always musical and I had no idea that it wasn't just a God Given talent that came natural to everyone.  My grandmother Erma and my mother both played the piano loud and well.  The rest of us just joined in and made music.  We were fairly poor so we didn't have a chance to travel for vacations, we would mostly go to grandma's.  They tended to live in fairly remote places and we would gather around and sing in the evenings.   My sister Carol went on to be a music major and taught music throughout her teaching career.

My first organized singing came at Minneha Elementary in Wichita, KS.  Mrs. Holloway just like my family made it so much fun to sing that we did so every chance we could.  Those guys and gals that weren't as musically talented were given percussion instruments to make noise with.   I was a part of the choir through most of my elementary years.  Our Christmas songs were always great.   Oh Holy Night was the knock out because we had Margaret Mulligan singing the first stanza and she had the voice of an angel.  When the entire choir joined her, it was just pure beautiful music.  I am pretty sure having that choir was a like the basketball team winning the National Championship.  We never sang when we didn't get a standing ovation.  I have always wondered where Margaret went to as we lost touch with her as we went to High School.

For some reason, I started in the band in Junior high and one music elective was all I could fit in and graduate.  I played the Sousaphone and we were fortunate enough to have two so I could leave one at home and have one at school.  It was way too hard to carry back and forth and when I learned that the band director had passed my name on to the High school band director, as fodder for the marching band, I dropped out of band.  There was just no way I wanted to carry that cold hunk of brass around on the football field. 

In my first year of High School, I started in Spanish 101 and found the language fun but the teacher made it such a piece of work that I soon left that behind.  To this day, I love the Spanish speaking people and love their food. Their language was just more than I wanted to accomplish.   When I dropped out of Spanish class, there was only one class that I could join mid semester and that was Chorus.  Back singing with a group for me. 

 I started as a baritone with the chorus and loved it.  The highlight of that first year was the mass singing of the Messiah at the Forum Downtown.  I think each school sent a group there and we put on what to me was the best performance I had ever been in. They brought in professional singers for the solo parts and we filled that arena with music.

 The vocal music Director asked me to join his choir the next year and from a student body of 7,000, I went to the Chorus of 200 to the choir of about 75.  I also sang with the "Choraleers" a very select group of 20.  The day they had the quartet tryouts, I had a cold and was not selected.  I sang with them as the replacement if one of them was sick and could not go to a sing out.   It didn't hurt that I had my own car and could drive them when they needed to go. 

During my Senior year, the choir had an abundance of Bass and baritones.  One day as we did our warm ups, the Director watched as I went from Bass to Tenor in singing the scales.  I became a tenor midway through my senior year and stuck with that for a long time.  If you remember there were a lot of songs back in the 60's that had tenor voices singing high and loud.  I could do that.

After High school came the Army,  followed by college and then a career with the National Guard.  I sang all the time but mostly for my own pleasure.   In 1998, I had a case of bronchitis and I thought I was going to cough up my lungs. I was given that pack of meds that started with five pills, then four, then three and down to one. I was so cold for a week that even my wife's feet were warmer. 

I found that after that, I was better off at Baritone or Bass.   I found the Barbershop Chorus through Wayne Cline and I was off to the running.  I sang baritone for about three years and loved the music but hated the director.  I stopped singing for a couple of years and rejoined them and now am a part of the bass section.  We have four or five of the best guys I have ever sung with.  The rest of the chorus isn't bad.  Our new Director is one of the best I have ever sung with.  He manages to make the Monday night practices just fly by. His musical talent is just great.

I hope that you all find a way to make music a part of your life and draw much fun from that experience.   I do and hope to sing till I can't sing no more. 


MUD

Out of Body Experience

If you are as old or older than I am, you realize that while you are able to motivate yourself to do things, there just isn't the ability any more.  There was a time I could run a six minute mile in combat boots but now I am lucky if I can find my keys fast enough to drive that far that fast. 

I had the eyes of an eagle and could read line 15 at 20 feet and if it moved, I could see it no matter how far off in the distance.  Now even with reading glasses I struggle to read the morning paper.  I have almost given up reading books and like my mother, watch old movies on TV.

I hurt my back years ago and the arthritis has me taking Naproxen Sodium twice a day.  I can tell if I miss my dose because of the lack of mobility.  If I forget my evening dose, sleep comes very hard. 

I swear that having that kitten here is like having a heard of Buffalo.  I didn't realize how much noise a kitten can make running on the floor upstairs.  If he see's a squirrel   go over the edge of the deck, he will run full steam downstairs to catch him on the ground.  No, he will not probably be an outside cat - ever.  We have coyotes, owls and varmints that would love to make short work of that tasty tender kitten.

We have friends in Morocco and she wrote about a mist or fog that contained so much dust that it left a layer on everything.   Here in the heartland if the north wind kicks up, it will pick up parts of Nebraska and leave it deposited on the cars.  Many times I have to run the windshield washer as I drive out of the driveway to see clearly where I am going.  For those of us that studied Meteorology at the Cannon Cocker College at Fort Sill, we know that it is caused by the fact the wind sucks in Oklahoma. 

Better get moving for the day.

MUD

Out of My Mind

This is a short blog about what happens to my mind as I age.  Tomorrow I will do one about my body if I can remember because of what's happening to my mind. 

To tell the truth, I have always had trouble with attention deficit disorder.  What I really missed was the Hyper Activity that seems to go along with it.  I did have a tendency to go all out and then fall asleep where I stopped but it is the attention deficit that always caused me the most trouble.

I am not sure if I filter the events in my life into piles and a lot of the things I deem unimportant seem to never get done.   I had to carry a day runner when I worked to keep me on track.  I would spend an extra 15 minutes at the end of the day building my tomorrow's "To Do" list and then I would refer to it to stay on track. There were things that stayed undone but that was because of the priority I put on them.  I always wanted to be in charge and for the most part that entails getting things done on time and to have them done well.  I was the opposite of my friend that said he would do things just well enough to not get fired but not so well that he would be assigned that task again. 

 If I did something, it was pretty well done.  Let me see, I was the security guy for several Inaugural dinners for the Governor.  I was the "Big Bunny" at the Easter egg roll,  I was always the guy that made sure the cannons were in place when they were needed and the right hand man for my boss for many events.   One thing I did was to write the script for the Annual Convention of the National Guard Association's meeting for two presidents and then mine.  I held the record of having the fastest Business meeting when I was in charge.  I would have the Sergeant of Arms get the presenters ready and have them up on stage when it was their turn.   In the past, they would come to the back door of the hall and be announced and take many minutes to get to the podium.  I knocked all that out and finished by 2:30 what was seldom over until almost 4.  By that time, the crowd would have thinned as people would escape.

As I age, I find that I can't always remember to get the things I am going to the store for. At one time I could brainstorm ideas and seldom left things off the list.  In the past I could make a mental list and then think of extra things I needed as I shopped.  Heck, I even went to Wall*Mart hungry the other day.  That is almost a fatal mistake and thank god not a budget buster.

I have always had a flaw that caused me to not always consider the feelings of others.  I am not sure if it would be called unfeeling or just too busy with other things so I don't notice.  I have many people tell me that I tend to be too direct when I write.   Direct hell, I can't even spell obtuse.  (Spell checker keeps me straight) 

Everything I have written above is slowly fading away and I am even having enough trouble with my eyes that I am not reading nearly as much as I once did.  I could pick up a book and by reading the first page remember if I had read it or not.  Now I have to get into the book a chapter to even remember the plots.  I really wonder how long it will be before I can hide my own Easter eggs and wrap my own presents.  Such is the revenges of old age.   Now if I can remember to remain happy in spite of it all.

MUD, aka drifting away in my own mind

Friday, Already?

Yesterday I loaded my pill case and by last night, I couldn't remember if it was Wednesday or Thursday.  You would think that after starting the tractor and taking the recycle container out to the court I might be fairly sure, but doubt lingered.  I think the football games on Thursday evening confused this old man some.  Both KC and K-State played and it was clear that they both had to play hard to make it a game.  It was unfortunate that KC couldn't pull it out and K-State hung on for the win.

It is kind of a funny year here at Rabbit Run.  We have the Grand Kitties here to liven up the place and it is clear that dogs can be trained and cats train their caregivers.  Throw in the antics of a young male kitten and things just are funny in the morning.  He likes to be where Barb is and she is not a cat person.  He has been known to attack her toes as she sits in the chair and reads.  I think the most interesting thing is when they watch the birds and squirrels out on the lower steps.  They watch intently but don't react to the birds nearly as much as when one of those bushy tailed rats show up.  Pixel just let out a loud mew and ran up stairs.  No telling what was on his mind. 

I think it is time for Barb and I to take a short road trip.  I really don't mind her commenting on stupid political actions highlighted in the paper, but when she turned it on me, we both need to get away.  Perhaps even to the same place.

We are on a slight warming trend and perhaps by Thanksgiving day it will be fairly normal outside.  We will be here and feed the group (troop) a Turkey Feast.  I am not sure if I want to smoke the bird if it does warm up enough.   I will watch the weather and see if Wednesday will be nice enough to be outside from time to time.  If not, we will just do one in the oven like the rest of the world.   I am just redneck enough to like mine brined and smoked.  I am still working on how to make smoke and keep the temperature low enough.  I have an extension for the lid that lifts it up so it is not right on the bird.   It is the support system for the rotisserie but it does work fine for lifting the lid away from the bird. 

What will you serve on Thanksgiving?  We will have the bird, some ham, smashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pies.  Oops, I left out the wonderful rolls the wife always makes.  I will also make dressing and gravy.   Dang, I can't even remember what I will be making.  I sure hope the day of the event I can keep it all straight.  I will try to claim the duty of chief cook so I can avoid the KP duty at the end.  Thank god for dishwashers.  If I had to do them by hand, I would go get a part time job to buy one.  The good news is that one of these days we will have to replace the one we have and have enough to pay for it.   With my collection of tools and a truck, I would probably fetch one and put it in myself. 

Oh well, I'd better get on the road and see what needs done before I get nailed for shirking my duties.

MUD, aka chief cook but not the bottle washer.

Watch Out, The Law of Unintended Consequences is about to get us.

In past posts, I have tried to point out that in many cases, there are Unintended Consequences that follow from actions that Politicians don't fully understand.  For example, raising the standards for Medical Insurance without measuring the impact of the higher rates will raise the rates for all.  We were promised lower rates and that we could keep the Doctor we had.  The longer this goes on, the less likely the trust in our Government will survive. 

Now we face having another 12 Million undocumented people from Central and Middle America be given a path to citizenship without regard to their ability to provide to the common benefit.  In fact, they are likely to cost us way more than we will benefit in a lot of areas.

The first area is that the Government has no plan or intention to force the new people to pay taxes on their income.  Many will continue to work as day laborers and "Off the grid earners."  There will be many added to the Social Security rolls that have not paid into the system like the majority of us.  There is a projected timeline that the system will run out of money and add 10 or 12 million more won't help.

The new undocumented workers will rely on the Hospital emergency rooms for their medical needs.  Have you been to the Emergency room lately?  They are crowded, slow and full of sick children that should see a primary care physician not the emergency room.  

I   am not entirely convinced that addition of 12 million people will be the death knell to our system but I do want the Government to be truthful when they do things that have massive implications on our systems. 

One final note is that today our local people said that only 42% of the people voted in our last election.  It is a shame that our friends and neighbors care so little about the direction our Government is headed.  When it really gets smelly and things get crispy, don't blame it all on the people that voted. 

They Did What?

MUD

It could be Worse.

This morning I walked out to get the paper and it is a typical 20 degree day with a light breeze from the north.  I came inside and saw the news from Buffalo, NY.   5 feet of snow on the ground and 4 inches and hour falling down and here I was concerned that my tootsies might be cool.  It Could Be worse. 

When I think about ways to get a good return on my investments, I realize that I have to have money to be concerned about return on my investments.  It could be worse. 

My son and his wife are here for a couple more weeks while their house is getting a new bathroom after a small fire.  I listened to a program on the Today show and they were talking about the one in thirty children that have no home.  It could be worse. 

When I think about al the small jobs I have to do, I realize that there are many people my age that have to still be working to live.  It could be worse.

There are times when I think about how unexciting my day has been and then I hear about the rifleman that shot up a University in Florida.  It could be a hell of a lot worse. 

I guess the recurring theme I want to share with you is that we all have it pretty darned good and "It Could Be Worse."  Aren't we glad it isn't.

MUD,  aka the man with a smile on his face

Can Kentucky Play Basketball?

Last night, the KU Men's basketball team met Kentucky on a neutral court and got killed.  They were out rebounded, out shot and out coached.  Bad day in bedrock for the Rock Chalk.  They missed 45 shots that while were a little contested, they were hurried and their shots were not finessed at all.  Perhaps losing a shooter from the outside may prove to be a loss they can't get over. (Conner Frankcamp)  After 10 seasons of owning the Big XII perhaps this is their year to just grow as a team.  Kentucky will feed the Professional Basketball draft and we'll see them again.  

OK, enough of the pity party from Petty.  I hope my slightly negative outlook is due to the headache I have.  I want to blame it on dust from the renovation but I think it is probably the first slight head cold of the season.    I had stopped taking my allergy pill a week back but I went out and renewed them yesterday.  The dust in the air is on full move and having the cat dander hasn't helped. 

The manager in me wants to start a spreadsheet on the renovation at Dave's.  At one time I had a program that did that but it was a long time back and several system changes.  Probably not even alive today.   I will just use the spreadsheet program and color code the timelines.

I have an appointment with the designer from the cabinet company today and amazed that she doesn't understand that the bathroom is completely gutted and she can put them anywhere she wants.  Even the stub out for the toilet was removed and capped.  It can be put about any place needed.  That was a problem earlier but not now.  I know the company does a great job as they did both our kitchen cabinets and the bookshelf/desk downstairs. 

I finally found a copy of Pentatonix's new album PTX III.  The store I went to didn't have any of their new Christmas albums on hand.  They sold out quickly.  Their mellow blending and unique music just makes the Christmas sound rock.   I first found them through their singing "Little Drummer Boy" last year.  

This weekend our Chorus is going to sing at 4 Older Adult facilities and I was kind of blown away that we are not going to focus on Christmas.  I guess the experience of fitting our winter sing outs so near Christmas just didn't set well with some people.  We are still working on some good Christmas songs.  The best to me is our version of "Do You Hear What I hear."  "May There Be Peace On Earth" isn't bad.  I think some simple songs well sung are worth their weight in gold. 

The kitten Pixel sleeps all night and wakes up in the morning with a full schedule of kitty play.  He also likes to sit by the window downstairs and stare at the birds that come into the feeder.  He also loves to attack Barb's feet as she sits on her chair reading.  I think it is sheer boredom that brings out that in him.  Yes, I will probably miss the little bugger when he moves back home.

Oh well, better move on.   Have a great day.

MUD

Monster

Twice this week, a Facebook friend has sent out a warning that the energy drink Monster is anti Christian and in one case did severe harm to the child of a friend.  A few years back there was a push to do the same to Procter and Gamble and it was all made up stuff about the symbols  on the package.  I personally don't drink the stuff, but I think people have better things to do than to go around making stuff up about a Company.   Get a life. If it happens again, I will lose a Facebook friend if my notifying her of my objection to the post didn't solve that for me.

Last night our Barbershop chorus had one of the best practices we have had in a long time.  We took pictures of the chorus and worked on the four or five songs we will sing this weekend.  We are going to four "Older Adult Facilities" and do performances there.  I was blown away by the quality of the singing we did to get ready.  Can't wait to see if this carries over to the performances. 

It is cold and sunny here in the Heartland and it is going to get a little better by Thursday.  I think our daytime high will reach all the way up into the 40's.  Will seem like a heat wave.   I still won't be wearing shorts but at least I will have to wear a couple less layers. 

I am sure that in the world of Geek Dom, the designers of the new software and systems think they are doing everyone a favor when they release a new system/software update.   What it really does is make the old guys like me unfamiliar on making things work.   There are things I knew how to do that elude me on the newer systems.  Don't even get me started about the fact that I purchased enough memory storage to keep me into the next 20 years and I find my stuff out on the cloud.  What the heck is the cloud.  If I can't touch it, access it and make it user friendly, what value is it to me.  Will I wake up one of these days and find that I will have to pay to download my "stuff" or pay to keep it where I didn't want it to go in the first place.  What happens when I am off net somewhere and I want to see my pictures?    Yep, I'll bet they will be unavailable.  Oh well, ain't progress great? 

This morning the local paper was just full of all kinds of gloom and doom.   Our first Gay couple was married here in Kansas and that wasn't a negative thing.  There was the happy note that Charles Manson is getting Married.   He is probably not going to be paroled ever and doesn't have conjugal rights so at least there won't be any little chuck's running around. 

Tonight Kentucky and KU will play and it will be the number 1team vs. the number 5 team.  I am sure that there will be enough McDonald's All Americans to earn both teams a Big Mac or two.  Throw in the trans fat from the fries and in a couple of weeks from now no one will remember what's the big deal.  Oh well.

Better run.

MUD

KU Seniors

The KU Football team sure played a great game against TCU yesterday.   They led a lot of the game and if the ref's hadn't overturned an interception they might even have won.  Yes, I do know that TCU could probably have scored there again at the end of the game and didn't.  Either way, the seniors should go away with a god feeling.  Those Texans are just pussies about cold weather.

When I was a kid, we would go to Arkansas a lot.  My grandparents had a place over where the little Buffalo and Buffalo rivers met.   It was pretty much uninhabited most of the year.  There were enough lizards to keep kids busy chasing them.   When I was a kid, there were Horny Toads that are now called horned frogs.  Wonder why?

It is hard to generate a lot of interesting things to write about when it is in the middle of the first cold snap.  Between westerns and football, I had one of those days when it was easy to take a nap and no one notices.  I even listened to our 2015 Barbershop CD from one end to the other. 

Our local paper has started carrying two pages out of the Wall Street Journal in their Sunday Business section.  Some times I agree with what is said but it varies.  I am in agreement that it is difficult for seniors to find a good investment right now.  I think the stock market is in for at least a 25% price correction in the coming year.  I am tempted to get a big jar and bury some money n the back yard.  Perhaps a bigger mattress would do the trick. 

One interesting thing in the paper was the advice they gave on how you should distribute your assets when you die.  Lots of good advice there about taking the first step of talking about it with your heirs. I for one never had a problem in talking about her assets with my mother.  She set up a few items that she designated a specific person as the recipient.  My sister Carol got the Roosevelt election poster (Thank God), Myrna got a drop leaf table that had belonged to Grandma.  Rick got the arrow head collection and I got a lamp that Dad made in High School.  In fact it illuminates my computer desk as I am writing this.  The rest of the estate we did our best to liquidate so it was money in Mom's account.  I think it gave each of us about $5,000.  The rest was stuff and we had a get together where we got to choose from the left overs.  We went from the oldest to youngest and chose what we wanted.  The rest got donated to Good Will.  I for one will not have that problem as Dave will inherit anything left when Barb dies.  I will be cold and gone and Barb's long lived genes will last a lot longer than I will.  In Kansas, the life expectancy is about right in the middle of the pack.  I think 78.4 years is not a bad goal.  Based on the past 15 years,  I should last that long but one never knows.

One thing I thought interesting is the recommendation that you outline what you want in your Obituary.  There are a few details that are needed like when and where you died, were born, and your parents names.  The name of your spouse and children is generally here and to aid in the research listing your brothers and sisters is a good thing.  Beyond that is just a lot of information that is not needed.  The researchers say to list and Military Service and major Awards and Decorations and you major employment.  For me, that's the same thing.   I hope you don't find this too morbid. 

Do you love to laugh and listen to good music?  Those are two of my favorite things.  Throw in a good meal and you have it nailed on how to keep an old dog happy.  If I could find a way to watch Western's, get a hair cut and shine my shoes at the same time, I would be satisfied.  I know a combination Comedy club and pizza parlor with an area you can watch western, get a hair cut and have Pentatonix music playing.  At one time I wanted to live between a library and a liquor store.  Now that I have stopped drinking and my eyesight is not as good as it was, I will settle on being here at Rabbit Run. 

Have a great day.

MUD

Women Soldiers

When I started out in the Military, there were few women soldiers in the Army.  They were relegated to jobs like nurses and clerks.  The kind of jobs that the stereotypical males thought they could do.  In the field units, you seldom saw woman down range except for the days we went to the rifle ranges for annual qualification.   Only the areas regularly used had latrines.  Most of the rest of the time you went where you were and most of us had entrenching tools to dig small cat holes.  With the advent of Women's Rights, that all changed.  Life got a lot more interesting and in some ways fun.  I remember the first time I had to assign the Porta Potty detail to a young officer.  Keeping track of them became almost a full time job.

There are several women that I grew to respect for their job as soldiers.   Most of them made it all the way to Sergeant Major and rightfully so.   Jana Harrison, Becky McCrory and Sallie Easily were soldiers that did their job and did it well.  Sallie went to OCS and when she had trouble finding a field slot reverted to Warrant Officer and was a darn fine one.  I for one think it was a good idea to have women in most of the Army.

I am still a little torn over the idea of women in Special Operation Units but if they want to go there, more power to them.  It is mostly the idea that I would hate to see them in the direct line of fire.   It is bad enough to lose our young men  but the idea that we would lose the very people capable of reproducing for the next generation just leaves me with mixed feelings.

When I was a supervisor of women, one of the first things I would do is give them my "Dutch Uncle Denny" speech.  I didn't fool around and I would not let anyone pressure the soldiers to do anything they didn't want to do.  Sexual Harassment was just verboten in my sections and units. 

One day I met another old retired Warrant Officer while at Wal*Mart.  I said hi and he did stop to talk but didn't have the usual smile we shared.  He told me that he was mad at me.  I asked why.  He said that I had tried to get him fired.  I asked him how?   He said that at one time a female had accused him of sexual harassment and I had it investigated.  I had been overheard to say that he was guilty of it, he would be fired.   I asked him what he would have done if he was the supervisor and a female put a complaint in writing?    I asked him if he knew that it would have been dereliction of my duty if I had not assigned an investigating officer?  Further, what would have he done if it was found to be true?  Firing a person is the only answer I could find in my heart if it was true.  I asked him what happened as the outcome of the investigation?  It was not true and he did not get fired.  My only sin was that I shared the punishment for such an offense with another subordinate.  He then understood and we shook hands and I hope he went on his way with a better understanding of where I had come from in that ordeal.  The other sin for me was that that I would think that he would do anything as stupid as to sexually harass a female with an old curmudgeon like me as his boss.  I guess I had worked with Recruiters too long and lost my trust in people.

Oh well, move on smartly.  Or in my case as well as I can.

MUD - Leaning slightly to the right because of my back, and other reasons.

1st Real Test

Tonight the KU Men's basketball team will have their first real test of the season.  No more DII guys doing their best.  Tonight UC Santa Barbara will show up with a team od seniors that will play hard and show off the KU teams strengths and weaknesses.  Can't wait to see how they do. 

I hurt my back lifting a couple of days ago and I am still paying for it.  It is a lot better today but it was trash day and lifting those cans was almost too much.  Oh well, I have the rest of the day to sit back and see if I can get better.  I will go to the game even if I have to walk funny (ier).   I think this would be a good night to tell the kids there is pizza in the freezer and go out to dinner.  Lawrence has a plethora of great places to eat.  One new one is in a gas station on the west side of Lawrence.  It is simple called "Eats".  Can't wait to try it. 

I do need to go up to Dave's and see if the demolition guys are going to get a truck in and get the mess on the back porch cleared off prior to it snowing.  We are predicted to have 4-5" this Saturday.  It wouldn't hurt to have the bags of insulation removed from the dinning room either.  I'm sure that just getting them out will greatly improve the smoke smell.  I got rid of the mildew so they need to get back in there and go to work. 

I wonder what the life of my Grandkitties will be like when the move back into their house.  There will be no one to keep the entertained during the day.  Pixel still doesn't like to be held but he does hang around me a lot.  I am going to do something about his nails as they are sharp little pins and I have several small scabs from his accidentally poking me.  Not scrapes but minor pin pricks.   Little bugger.

I am going to see if there is a way to help Dave defrost his windscreen in the morning.  His defroster switch doesn't divert the warm air to his windshield well.    There needs to be a small electric heater that he can use.  I have a full size heater but that would be a pain.   I could move the wife's car outside but then she would probably not drive it at all.   Oh well.... We'll see.

Life here at Rabbit Run is slowing down with the arrival of cold weather.  It went from hot to cold, not cool, COLD almost overnight.   Oh well, gotta go and see what's happening.

MUD

MIldew

A couple of years ago, there was a failure in the PEX pipe that hooked up the shower at Dave's.  I went over and replaced the fitting that failed.  I guess the fact that I didn't leave a fan running in that space until it dried let mildew or mold grow.  When the restoration guys were removing the tub to start the replacement, the wall had some mold on it.  One of the guys is allergic to mold and they immediately left.  I was left to remove the sheetrock that was moldy.   No big deal for me but I did try to overload the trash sacks and as a result hurt my back.   I was able to finish that job but have not been worth shooting since. 

The contractors came by with a chemical to wipe the studs down with to keep the mold from coming back with the new sheetrock.  It was a very interesting product that smelled like oranges.  I didn't have any rubber gloves when I mixed the chemical in a spray bottle and man does that stuff remove the oil out of my hands.  I try to eat a hamburger now and then so dry skin is not a big problem for me but I did sneak a little of the wife's hand cream when I finished.   

You would think that I would realize that I am no longer young and leave the heavy lifting to the young guys.  I am not sure where the memory failure comes from but I know where it can go.  I hate it when that happens.

Have I told you that I am married to a person who loves Kansas but hates winter?  This morning it was below freezing and she would not go out to get the paper.   I can not start my day without checking the Obits to see if I am in there.  I would hate to waste a day doing things that I really don't do.  I don't want to be like that guy who died and didn't know it. 

I am glad to see that our paper finally published Barb's letter to the Editor.   She is totally supportive of the teachers and with the budget cuts pending next year she fears that this is just another chance for the Legislature and our knucklehead Governor to take it out on the schools.  We are projected to be about 14 million by the end of this year but some where about 350 million by the end of the next year.  The test was to see if cutting taxes this year could stimulate the economy enough to overcome the cuts.  Someone needs to tell our Government that it is not their jobs to play with the economy.  I think that it is clear that it is way wrong to try to spend with stimulus or cut taxes to build.  I am not sure what the entire answer is but I do wish they would keep out of our business.

In a couple of days, the first big round of new rates caused by the Affordable Health Care  Act will start hitting home.  Did you notice that the Government waited until after the election to start passing gout the bad news.   Christmas is going to be a real bummer when people have to start paying for this bad news.   If you think Ferguson caused bad feelings, wait a couple of weeks. 

Oh well, better get back on the heating pad. 

MUD - The over lifter.

Who Left The Door Open?

Yesterday Barb and I went out and cleaned up the garden.  She pulled the dead plants and I took the drip irrigation out.  It was breezy but still in the 60's.  About 5 PM Barb went to pick up our Daughter-in-law and wished she had taken her coat.  By the time I got to the Barbershop Chorus Practice, it was 33 degrees.  To make it worse, the wind was blowing about 30 MPH.  Sheesh. 

Today is Veteran's day.   It started on the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month and the close of WWI.  It was called Decoration day and I can remember going to Eldorado and putting flowers on the grave of my Grandfathers.  They both survived WWI but passed away during WWII.  I didn't get to know either of them and I always thought that it was interesting that you could see their graves there near each other.  That recognition soon became what we call Veteran's day and we use this day to recognize those that have served both living and dead. 

I am proud that many members of my family served is several different wars.  We have a long tradition of serving when our country called.   I am especially proud that it allowed me to use the GI Bill and get an education.  I used it to get my degree and never looked back.  With that, I served 30 years and 10 months.   I would have served longer but they had this rule that 30 years commissioned service was all that they would let me serve.  Oh well.

I tried to never loose that smile.



 

Well, I tried to never loose it.

Going to watch KU Men play basketball tonight.  You have a great day.

MUD

What'cha Goin' to Do

If there are any of you that are approaching that magic time you are going to be forced to take mandatory withdrawals out of your 401(k), IRAs and 503 (b)s what is your plan?   I hate the idea that I will be forced to start spending that money and being charged tax on it.   I could take it all out at one time and pay tax on it all at once but I hate that idea too.  Sounded like a good idea when we did it but now not so much.  I would appreciate any ideas.

MUD

I hate Getting Old

Just as I was reading about a friend's death this week, the phone rang and my niece told us that my sister is in the hospital.  I am not sure if it is because they are old, or that I am old but a lot of my friends are surrounded with medical issues or listed in the obituaries.   The friend I read about was the brother of a boss I had.  The brother was a kind and gentle man and worked well with others.  My boss did not.  SGM Fox was having lunch at a plane on Wanamaker last month when I stopped by to get a bite to eat.   He looked good and we talked a while.  He was a good man and I'm sure his family will miss him.

One of Barb's friends went into the hospital with a hiatal hernia  a couple of weeks back.  She somehow got a drug resistant infection and what was going to be a short stay kept her there for 2 1/2 weeks.  Sure glad she was healthy enough to fight that infection off.  Skinny people don't have enough fight in them to make it past such a tough infection.  Those of us that are Horizontally gifted have good enough reserves to make it in the long run.   How many people tell you that they lost 10-20 pounds fighting through a hospital stay.  Skinny people don't have that to loose.  I stand prepared.

This past week Barb and I went to her Doctor's office to get a flu shot.  This young cute medical assistant told us that because we were over 65, we would be given the enhanced version of the shot.  I didn't have a clue what that meant until I read it in the paper.  It had about 25% more active ingredient so our bodies make more antibodies.  My arm was a little sore for a day or two but other than that no big problems.   It is the fall season and there are more things in the air with the wind blowing all the dead leaves about.  If I didn't have a little bit of a headache it would not be normal.

After I put a roast in the crock pot, we will probably got to Lawrence to see my sister in the Hospital.  We will also use it as an excuse to have lunch at McAlister's Deli.  Barb likes their salads and I eat almost anything else on the menu.  They even have an item called the big ugly (Open faced roast beef sandwich) that I have been know to order.  Knowing I will probably have roast beef for supper I will probably have a Turkey Club sandwich.  If I share one quarter of it with Barb, she will share a part of her salad with me.  Yummy.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that one Kansas team won it's football game yesterday and one didn't.  Admittedly the Iowa State and KU game was the toilet bowl (Game between the bottom dwellers) and the other was for the BIG XII Lead.  I sure think a lot of people have been fooled by Baylor and TCU in the conference.  A couple of years back, we went to Waco to watch a basketball game at Baylor.  The people there treated us nice and we had a good time trooping around on that campus even though we were wearing KU gear.  There was something about the water when we were there and it had to do with the cold air causing their water supply lake turning over.  For three days we could not drink the water for the smell. 

One upon a time, my family was on a trip to Arkansas.   It was a pretty warm day and we were running the air conditioner.  I had just given everyone a piece of gum and we were blasting down a country road.  Just as we cleared the top of a hill, I saw a cute farm with metal buildings.  Right about that time, I smelled hogs.  Three windows went down and we had to spit out that gum.  You could not chew gum and smell a hog farm at the same time. 

Pixel, the young cat has about decided to let me be his friend.  He was a shy kitty  for a while.  His curiosity has him sitting by people a lot and watching.

Just Watching

 

 

Do you wonder what cat's think?

 

MUD

Is it really Friday?

This week has shot by like few do.  Not sure why, but I'll take it.  We opened the week with record high temps and it is headed to a possible snow by Tuesday.   Today will be one of those day when I wore a coat to get the morning paper and will be in shirt sleeves by late afternoon. 

One thing Barb, aka the Master Gardener and I have each morning is "What's on your Agenda?"  This morning neither could find even a hint of anything but rest up from resting up.  I will probably go to Dave's sometime today and see if there is any demolition I can speed up.  There are about a million sheet rock screws in the walls that need removed so that might not be a bad place to start.  Might even find a couple of places that might need a little of my help.  We'll see.

Yesterday I realized that I have not been very good about singing to my Barbershop Music.  If I go to Dave's, I'll take a CD as there is a player there I can listen to.  It is either that or Rush Limbaugh.  He is still promoting the part line that America has spoken in the election.  I think that the majority of the voters held their noses and gave the other side the chance to rule for a while.  That will change next election if the Republicans don't get things rolling and soon.  Not sure what they think they can do but there is always a big Veto out there that can put the big Kibosh on stray items.

Out Daughter-in-Law said she has lost about 15 pounds since they have been here.  I hope is that they are really cutting down on Fast Food and not that my food has made her so sick she can't eat.   With my Iron constitution, it could be the latter. 

The cats just love to sit by the window here downstairs and watch the birds.  I am sure that in his younger days the old guy was a real birder but now they just get to watch.   Kind of like when my mother said that I could have a BB gun but couldn't shoot birds.  At least not in our yard.  What Mom didn't see was just, "Out of Sight, out of mind."  She had to be out of her mind to think I wouldn't shoot about everything I could see.  I got pretty good at it also.

Have I shared with you that my Niece in Arkansas has been elected to the House of Representatives.  Rebecca Petty was a fairly liberal in Kansas but that equates to a conservative in Arkansas.  You know a State who's largest paper is the Arkansas Democrat Gazette would have a long Democrat history.  It was hard to read the paper there as a life long conservative.  Oh well, I read the comics not the editorial pages.  The only change in the latest few years is the moving of older people to Arkansas when they retire.  That had to change things a lot like Florida.   Salute Beck..

What are you going to do to help celebrate Veteran's Day?  I will at least read how the 11th Hour or the 11th Day of the 11th Month was the end of WWI.  It started out as a tribute to the decoration of those that valiantly gave up their lives in that horrible war.  We have now turned it into a celebration of all those that have served their country.  I am sure that a lot of us served and are darned glad to be alive to celebrate.  There was the possibility that we might have a sing out that day but it came in so late that I'm not sure we will have numbers to make it happen. 

Oh well, better get on with the day.  Have a great weekend.

MUD,  aka the singing fool.

A New Day

I for one am optimistic about the next two years.  I have high hopes that the election energized the congress to stop the gridlock and see if there are some problems that we can truly fix.  At least the House and the Senate have one party to answer to.   It will be interesting to see if they tackle the tough problems and really get things done. 

This morning CNN was talking about the differences in the approach of the Democratic Party from the time of the Presidency of Bill Clinton to the times facing Hillary when and if she runs.  I might even vote for Hillary if she would throw Bill out and face the fact he is a philandering scallywag.  He is well beyond the reformation that should be a member of a President's family.   One of the headlines was that the GOP want Hillary to run because she has so many skeleton's in her closet.  I think that might backfire because the people have such a short memory. 

An interesting discussion today was the part of the problems sponsored by the press.  I don't blame them as much as I blame the people that listen to crap and think they are getting the full picture.  As I say that, I saw a small segment of CNN's competition that did a piece on John Cleese of Monty Python fame.  He is out there hyping his new book and the people gushed over the Department of Silly Walks that was just barely funny 25 years ago. 

I wonder who is the mastermind behind the Muslim Revolution?  How can they think that sponsoring a war is more effective that some of the good ways they could spend money.  How about Ebola Clinics and Hospitals?  How about instead of kidnapping young girls, they start schools to help bring the countries up to modern standards?   If I wanted to have people believe in my religion, I would bring about better lives for the people not kill them if they believe the way I do.  Don't tell me that it is Mohammed and his radical belief in Allah.  We could all benefit from looking at today's realities and the message of how to live and reach some form of afterlife.  I am a person that believes that you get what you earn and don't shout let god do his will (Inshallah) as an excuse when bad guys do bad things. 

The weatherman is saying that next Tuesday we might even get a little snow if the predictions of a massive cold front comes true.  It might even be kind of fun to see a little snow and then it warm up to 45 degrees in the afternoon.   Is it those heavy and deep snows in January and February  coupled with minus degrees overnight that I really don't like. 

Oh well, I hope you all have a great day out there in the real world and live you life like it is yours.  If only  I had the energy of the kitten living with us.  He just ran from the living room down to the window down here by my computer.  He is fascinated by the birds I attract by throwing a few sunflower seeds on the porch.

Can't you see the wheels turning?

MUD

I'll Be Damned

I thought that because Tuesday was election day, the Robo calls would stop.  About the time we got home from voting, I got a call that wanted to remind me to go vote for the Republican of my choice.  Then, about 6 PM, I got a call from a pollster wanting me to answer questions about who I voted for.  Crap, I hate it when that happens.  The next kind of call like that will get an ear full.

For some reason, my name got on the sucker call list and my cell phone has been on the ring for the last few days over a daily offer from a couple of places.   I finally had to come in to my computer and figure out how to get off the list.  I think they call it un-subscribe even though I never subscribed.  One of these days, I will completely shut down the whole mess. 

Now on to the important thoughts of the day.  The Republicans are running around and shouting that they won.   What people will remember in two years is what they do between now and the next election.  I want to see a list from the Congress of the things they are going to fix.  I want a regular report on how they are doing and to be kept in the loop.  Here is my list of things that need fixed;

   The Economy.  First and foremost I want to see how the Congress can stimulate job growth and cut taxes.   I seem to remember that Jimmy Carter's tried to fix this and was labeled the second worst President.   I am reminded that if you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!

    Immigration.  We need to stop letting people in to our country until we get some of our problems fixed.  Stop the flow of drugs along with the people.  I want the illegals that are here have a way to work and then go home without Social Security benefits.  The only way this will really work is to annex Mexico and shut the flow of people down about the Panama Canal.   Nah, they will just figure out a way to go to Canada and walk across.

    The Military.   Just how big a Military do we need?    How many stealth bombers do we need to defend our borders?   I would make sure that all the young men and women had the chance to do some form of national service and a chance to attend school - year for year for their service.  For those not interested in College, I would send them to a trade school to learn how to do some of the vital tasks we need done.  Just this week I got a bill for $600.00 for two guys who spent about 2 1/2 hours doing plumbing work.  Don't tell me there isn't enough work or workers.

    Our Government has a bunch of houses from the last housing balloon bust.   I would start a program that teaches young men and women how to rehab these houses and make them a good place to live.  I would remove most or all of the Government Housing Complexes and  put people in these houses with a least to own basis.  I would have an annual inspection /repair to these homes by teams of the people I have trained.   I think this is really a workfare not welfare program but in the end it would have to be fully evaluated.

Government Funding of stupid things.   I don't care how many frogs don't have a completely satisfying sex life.  I would not spend a dollar on anything that didn't directly benefit people. 

Private Sector Spending on the elections.  I would cut out the ability to take funds from PACs and individuals that leads to hundreds of advertisements.  I would give everyone a chance to have their programs and ideas put in a special edition of the paper.  I would then have a copy delivered to each house.  I would limit the exposure on TV to one debate for the primary and one for the  main election.  Yes, I know this flies in the face of my free speech agenda but what the heck.

I would personally cut down on the visas to students to come here to go to school.   I darn sure would have them register and be monitored for expiration dates.  If your visa expires, you get sent home. 

OK, that's enough for the first round.  You'll hear a lot more about this in the future.

MUD,  aka Man on a Mission

Yea, We Get to Vote Today

I will do my best to not turn this into a rant about the 42 Robo Calls this past week.   You can bet your sweet potato I will get out and vote to thank all the people that think they can sway my vote by annoying me.  We were out yesterday from 2 PM  until about 10 PM and there were 8 calls on the answering machine.  After a quick cross scheduling conference, Barb told me that she has a meeting at 10 AM.  I am welcome to go vote any time.  It is about 9 AM on election day and there was a Robo Call from the Republican party. 

We got to see the first game of the 2015 Jayhawks last night and they are pretty good.  They don't have the 7 foot player but they have a couple of almost 7 foot players that are darn good.  I am proud that our Washburn University team scheduled the Big XII into their schedule.  They will also play Oklahoma on Friday and K-State on Sunday.  The coach said this was scheduled so they could go to Hawaii in late November.  I think they will need a day or two on the beach after that tough schedule. 

We are waiting for the refurbishment at Dave's house to begin.  It looks like the Insurance Company is doing their best to make it all happen now it is up to the Tradesmen to get on the stick.  The kids have a great plan and are working with  a great cabinet company.  The first pole in the tent is getting the rest of the inside removed.  I took out some of the stupid things that were just in the way.  Now it will remain to be seen how many screws they can get out.  Instead of using a normal number of screws, the previous owner used a screw about every 4 inches.  Over kill. 

Better get my show on the road.

MUD

Thanks

Last month I had 83,000 visitors and today the mark crossed 605,000 hits. After 2,800 posts, I should expect that someone would stop by for a read.   Again I want to thank you all for visiting.  I sure hope it wasn't just some computer glitch that keeps hitting but what the heck, my ego can always use a stroke or two. 

MUD

We'll See

Washburn University, our Local University, has a real aggressive schedule this week.  They start with KU Tonight,  Oklahoma on Friday and K-State on Sunday.  If that doesn't rock their world, noting will.   My prediction is they will be 0-3 at the end but what a ride for that bunch of players.  It will be fun to read who they say is the toughest team.  The team with the best talent but the smallest amount of experience is KU.  They will play with wild abandon and make lots of mistakes.  I will be in the stands tonight and be cheering them on.   Rock Chalk, Go KU!

Things are pretty ready for the restoration guys to move in to Dave's and start the removal of the rest of the sheetrock.  I did some work last week but am pretty much ready to let the big boys handle it from here.  One mistake I made was to sit down right where the toilet had been.  They removed he toilet but not the wax ring.  I had a big glob of wax on my butt and transferred it to the truck seat.  In case you have never used it, WD-40 does a great job of cleaning things like that up.  The good news is the truck seats are vinyl and if anything WD-40 helps condition the vinyl and clean at the same time. 

We had a birthday dinner with Dave's in-laws last night at the Red Robin.  Larry and Sandy are always fun to visit with and they brought Sandy's mother and Kyler.  Lots of good discussions and the kids got some really neat cards.  Barb and I paid for our own meal and when I got home, I realized that the waitress didn't put the onion rings on our ticket.   I owe Larry on that one.

Have I mentioned that we have three cats here at Rabbit Run?   We went from none to three all in one fell swoop.  It is kind of fun to see the kitten grow and the female start getting slimmer running around chasing and being chased by Pixel.  The old male just goes from sunny spot to sunny spot and wanting petted.  The Kitten is just so wild that unless he is completely worn out, he doesn't want petted.  Most of the time he goes from full on to asleep. 

The first thing on my agenda today is to go out and figure out how to adjust the frame on the small door for the metal bldg.  It doesn't align well and a good south wind blows it open.  I'll get if figured out in no time and then I might even see if the tractor will start.  Most of the little tractors have the typical small batteries on them and I might even rotate the charger between them.   The bad thing about those small batteries is they will freeze if not fully charged and that will be the end of them.  I think both batteries are new this year so I would like to get one more season out of them.   I probably will tinker around in the shed for a while and then come in and put a good scrub on the kitchen floor.  I haven't been very good at doing my detail on that lately. 

Oh well, better get things rolling.   I wrote on the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) yesterday but it turned out that it was just a re-write of my life story and bored me to tears.   I might even start over and try to get out of my own beaten zone for a story line. 

MUD

Are You Ready?

I am ever so ready for this round of elections to be over.   The lies have been so exaggerated this year and the 4 Billion Dollars of advertising has filled my mailbox every day this week.   By this time, I am ready to vote and no amount of dollars will change my vote. 

I don't care what the Republicans say, I will not vote for another incumbent.  37 years of experience in Washington makes up way too much time spent there.  The surest test will be where will the old guys live when we pull the pin on the grenade of votes that un-elects them.  Did Bob Dole come home to Kansas?    Did Ike come home to Kansas?  Nope, and it is my impression that Roberts won't either.  

We are nearing the first Round ball contest for KU this Monday evening.  As much as I hate to miss a practice for the Barbershop Chorus, I think seeing the first game is important.  The paper did have one piece of bad news this morning.  A really great kid, Conner Frankcamp from Wichita is not going to play for KU after this semester.  He will transfer out to a smaller school, where he will be a bigger duck in a smaller puddle.   He was one of my highlights last year and while his scoring won't be missed much, having guys like that on the team just makes them a better bunch.   I wish him well and will watch for him to be a great scorer for teams next year. 

Oh well, better run.   Just so you know, I did not post an article I wrote about PTSD.   It was way personal and I didn't feel I had written things that I wanted to publish.   Yes, I know that is hard for me to do but I put it back on the shelf and may re-write it someday.  

 

MUD

Saturday Morning

After a fairly long week, Saturday opens cold and frosty.  I think this is the first of the killing frosts/freezes for the season.  No more vine ripened tomatoes for us.  The last of the BLT's with those sweet tomatoes is not far away.  In fact, I think I will go get some bacon so we can make the last of the tomatoes into BLT's.   Truth is I also have to go get a update for my cell phone monthly service cost. 

Yesterday, our sister-in-law sent Barbara a picture of her and her mother.  It is about as nice a picture as I have of them.

 

Love of my life and her mother





MUD