Well, looks like Oklahoma and KU are both in the great 8. It took some awesome defense for KU to stay in there last night but at this point in the season, they have the experience and talent to hang with about anyone. Iowa State plays tonight to show the rest of the College teams that the BIGXII was not overrated. Another great evening of basketball.
What is on your Easter plans? I for one will eat some ham for our friends in Morocco who can't. I am not sure what they will eat but I'll bet they do it in good company. I will probably do some cooking outside but mostly on the stove inside.
Yesterday, I went to Pizza Hut to pick up some pizza for us as we went to Dave's to select the sites for some new fruit trees. The clerk said it would be about 20 minutes. After what turned out to be 40 minutes, I went to the counter to ask about my Pizza. The clerk called out the manager when she couldn't find my order. The manager said he saw the pizza but thinks it went out with a delivery driver. Wonder where the heck it went. They made a new order and it will be a cold day in hell before I will go back to Pizza Hut. My last trip there was a disaster. I ordered boneless wings and the cost was about $7.00 and I could have ordered chicken McNuggets from McDonald's for $2.99 and had more meat. The manager assured me that that was the way they get them and I assured her that I won't be back there for wings. Now I won't go back for Pizza either.
Oh well, gonna dig some holes today for fruit trees and we will wait until it is at least 60 outside before going to Dave's.
Last weekend, 60 minutes had a segment on Medical Marijuana. I am going to look it up on the net to see if there is any research on Fibro Myalgia. Our Daughter-in-law has it pretty bad and it is a real hard disease to feel so bad all the time. I don't want her to have to go to Colorado to live but if that is what it takes to make their life better, so be it.
Better get rolling.
MUD
3/25/2016
3/22/2016
Spring is Springing!
If the weather would settle down, we might get our garden planted early. The problem is that we just might have one of those spring snows come rolling in and kill anything planted early. We have a sunny room that is full of plants and need to be outside. Oh well, I also need to get the garden ready.
I am mad at the Lawyers in Oklahoma. They think we can just schedule things and then change at the drop of a dime. The lawyer for the other side is again stalling and we can't seem to get ours to drop the dime on him. Crap...
April is the month of singing for me. The first weekend I will be in Dallas for the Harmony Brigade show. I will practice the 12 songs and when I get there be assigned to sing with three other Barbershoppers to make up a quartet. This will all end with a show on Saturday night and I am looking forward to hearing the Very Large Quartets all sing together. The weekend of the 16th our local chorus will hold their 70th annual show. Can't wait. We sang our asses off at last night's practice. The funny thing is that we are much better on the new songs than we were on the old one's.
Today I have to start the spring cleaning. Barb is talking about the Easter dinner and we need to get ready for company. I notice there are still dog nose prints on the windows from our last doggy visitors. It will be nice enough to also clean the windows on the outside.
Better get started if I am going to get anything done. Rock Chalk!
MUD
I am mad at the Lawyers in Oklahoma. They think we can just schedule things and then change at the drop of a dime. The lawyer for the other side is again stalling and we can't seem to get ours to drop the dime on him. Crap...
April is the month of singing for me. The first weekend I will be in Dallas for the Harmony Brigade show. I will practice the 12 songs and when I get there be assigned to sing with three other Barbershoppers to make up a quartet. This will all end with a show on Saturday night and I am looking forward to hearing the Very Large Quartets all sing together. The weekend of the 16th our local chorus will hold their 70th annual show. Can't wait. We sang our asses off at last night's practice. The funny thing is that we are much better on the new songs than we were on the old one's.
Today I have to start the spring cleaning. Barb is talking about the Easter dinner and we need to get ready for company. I notice there are still dog nose prints on the windows from our last doggy visitors. It will be nice enough to also clean the windows on the outside.
Better get started if I am going to get anything done. Rock Chalk!
MUD
3/21/2016
Bleary Eyed
I think I suffer from too many basketball games over the weekend. It has been a fun ride and I have really enjoyed all the excitement. I am very glad to see KU, Oklahoma and Iowa State still dancing as we enter the "Sweet 16." There has been a game or two that didn't end the way I thought it would. Most notably is the Texas A&M game that if it had been 30 seconds shorter would have ended differently.
Da barbs are out and about right now and I am here at Che' Rabbit Run all alone. I am watching the baseball game between a couple of Major League Teams from the USA held there in Cuba. This is a good start to having a normal relationship with Cuba. I don't agree with the President on many things but this is one that has been needed fixed for about 50 years. I hope to go to Cuba someday and I will just love to see the old cars there. I own a 53 Chevy Pickup and a 57 Chevy Belair 2 dr. On my "If I win the Lottery" list is to return these two to pristine condition. Actually, I really plan to put disc brakes and an LT1 engine in the 57. Did I say anything about A/C yet?
I have been put on notice that the Easter Bunny has been feeling left out on treats for Easter. She spends a lot of time putting baskets and treats together for us and no one has been bringing her anything. She really loves those pecan/caramel apples from Hazel Hill. They are downtown here in Topeka and have great treats. I will probably throw in one of their specialty popcorn treats also.
I have been sending out e-mail notices for people that attended last year's Barbershop Chorus Show. After a year, not all that many addresses have changed. Most of the returns have been typing errors and trouble reading the writing. When I got the right address on the messages they went away. At least I didn't get a message that the address was invalid. Here is what I sent:
"Across the Pond"
Saturday, April 16, 2016 One Show Only at 3:00 PM
Featuring Special Guests "Harmonium"
Many other Quartets Including our own "Young at Heart"
Adults are $14 in Advance and $16 at the door
Seniors and Students are $12 in advance and $14 at the door
Fairlawn Church of the Nazarene, 730 SW Fairlawn, Topeka KS 66606
For Tickets or show info call 785) 273-9514 or 785) 286-0619
Well it is time to get cleaned up for the day ahead.
MUD
Da barbs are out and about right now and I am here at Che' Rabbit Run all alone. I am watching the baseball game between a couple of Major League Teams from the USA held there in Cuba. This is a good start to having a normal relationship with Cuba. I don't agree with the President on many things but this is one that has been needed fixed for about 50 years. I hope to go to Cuba someday and I will just love to see the old cars there. I own a 53 Chevy Pickup and a 57 Chevy Belair 2 dr. On my "If I win the Lottery" list is to return these two to pristine condition. Actually, I really plan to put disc brakes and an LT1 engine in the 57. Did I say anything about A/C yet?
I have been put on notice that the Easter Bunny has been feeling left out on treats for Easter. She spends a lot of time putting baskets and treats together for us and no one has been bringing her anything. She really loves those pecan/caramel apples from Hazel Hill. They are downtown here in Topeka and have great treats. I will probably throw in one of their specialty popcorn treats also.
I have been sending out e-mail notices for people that attended last year's Barbershop Chorus Show. After a year, not all that many addresses have changed. Most of the returns have been typing errors and trouble reading the writing. When I got the right address on the messages they went away. At least I didn't get a message that the address was invalid. Here is what I sent:
When
you attended our show, you requested that we send you an e-mail notice of the
next show. Hope to see you there.
70th Annual Capital City Barbershop
Chorus Show"Across the Pond"
Saturday, April 16, 2016 One Show Only at 3:00 PM
Featuring Special Guests "Harmonium"
Many other Quartets Including our own "Young at Heart"
Adults are $14 in Advance and $16 at the door
Seniors and Students are $12 in advance and $14 at the door
Fairlawn Church of the Nazarene, 730 SW Fairlawn, Topeka KS 66606
For Tickets or show info call 785) 273-9514 or 785) 286-0619
Well it is time to get cleaned up for the day ahead.
MUD
3/18/2016
What a Day
The hawks and the Shocks are both still dancing and things are good here in Basketball Land at Rabbit Run. Our local Newspaper columnist said the hawks will need to be better if the expect to beat UConn. If you saw yesterday's game, I am not sure what else anyone would want. The starters got plenty of rest and the bench played their butts off. If you saw any of the game you would recognize that when Evan Manning and Tyler Self get to play the game is over. The hawks had a great time and UConn had better be ready to play their asses off, the hawks are!
This morning when I went out to fetch the paper, I didn't wear a coat. Guess what, it was snowing. It has been so warm that none of it is sticking but snow is falling and we need the moisture. Good Stuff for the Master Gardeners.
The other day I was working on Dave's car and when I was cutting some tape off, I stabbed myself with a razor blade. It is on my thumb and about every time I do something I cause it to bleed. The only way I can keep that from happening I need to have a band aid on and then when I get it wet, I have to replace the band aid. Crap it is such a nuisance.
One of these days, I hope that the congress really hauls the drug companies in and makes them answer some tough questions. When on Blue Cross and BS, Selevilla costs $45.00. When she lost that insurance they want over $600 a month. It is highway robbery.
Well, I had better get running and see if there is further mischief I can avoid (Or get into)
MUD
This morning when I went out to fetch the paper, I didn't wear a coat. Guess what, it was snowing. It has been so warm that none of it is sticking but snow is falling and we need the moisture. Good Stuff for the Master Gardeners.
The other day I was working on Dave's car and when I was cutting some tape off, I stabbed myself with a razor blade. It is on my thumb and about every time I do something I cause it to bleed. The only way I can keep that from happening I need to have a band aid on and then when I get it wet, I have to replace the band aid. Crap it is such a nuisance.
One of these days, I hope that the congress really hauls the drug companies in and makes them answer some tough questions. When on Blue Cross and BS, Selevilla costs $45.00. When she lost that insurance they want over $600 a month. It is highway robbery.
Well, I had better get running and see if there is further mischief I can avoid (Or get into)
MUD
3/17/2016
Roundball Part Deux
Now that the real NCAA Men's basketball tournament games start, I hope everyone out there has as much fun watching as I will. There is a lot of hopes that will get dashed today but each round will eliminate 50% of the team playing. Start with 68, play down to 64, then 32, then 16, then 8 then 4 and finally the winner of it all. Cheer for you team, wear their colors and be happy if you get to see the game at all.
One of my friends said he was going to a bar and will be there all day and watch the games until the end of the day. My problem is that I would probably bee to drunk to watch if I started drinking when the first game started. I really love beer and I have had to give it up for the sake of my liver.
We bought a car from a private person on Craig's List and yesterday he put an e-mail up and asked me to take a picture of the title and sent it to him. Only problem with that is that the County takes the title away when I applied for Tags and a new title. Did I mention how much the sales tax was?
Oh well, better get things rolling here at Rabbitrun.
MUD
One of my friends said he was going to a bar and will be there all day and watch the games until the end of the day. My problem is that I would probably bee to drunk to watch if I started drinking when the first game started. I really love beer and I have had to give it up for the sake of my liver.
We bought a car from a private person on Craig's List and yesterday he put an e-mail up and asked me to take a picture of the title and sent it to him. Only problem with that is that the County takes the title away when I applied for Tags and a new title. Did I mention how much the sales tax was?
Oh well, better get things rolling here at Rabbitrun.
MUD
3/16/2016
Oh No, It Has Started!
I am sure there are women all over America that are glad the NCAA Men's basketball playoffs have started as it will keep the men busy and out of their way for hours at a time. Then again, my wife, the Master Gardener, will spend her share of time watching both KU and Wichita State play. She graduated from WSU with her degree in Education and from KU with a Masters in Special Education. I think this qualifies her with a dual citizenship for both KU and WSU Nations. "Rock Chalk Woo Shock."
Yesterday I went down to get the TAG and the license for the Toyota and man did I ever get a sticker shock over the sales tax. The tax was over $600 and with tags and all it was closer to $800. I can't imagine buying a new(er) car. No wonder it seems like making house payment to us old dudes. The car is firmly in the hands of our son who's car was on it's last legs. I have his car and will play with it some today but not long or hard. Last night I pulled the dipstick and found that it was at least a quart low on oil in the two weeks since I filled it up. I am going to throw in some oil and a can of an additive and see if I can get the bad cylinder to work better. I will probably just get the title and turn it over to the junk yard.
This daylight savings thing has my system all out of whack. I don't know if I need an afternoon or late morning nap? I guess I'll just keep taking them both until fall.
Are you up for a couple of Political jokes? Well here goes. A prominent Republican was campaigning in rural Arkansas. He stopped to talk to a farmer and told the farmer who he was. The farmer said he would like to go get his wife, she had never met a Republican. While the farmer was in the house, the politician looked for a podium to stand on. All he could find was a very large pile of dried cow manure. The wife came out and the politician gave them the best stump speech he had in his bag of lies. The farmer and his wife were both impressed. They allowed that it was the best speech they had ever heard. The Politician said that "This was the first time I ever delivered a speech on a Democratic Platform."
There was a Democratic candidate running for office in a rural area and it was scheduled for the local grange building. He arrived early and saw that the only heat in the place was an old coal stove. He built a fire and when the allotted time for his speech arrived there was only one farmer and his wife in the audience. He asked the farmer what should he do. "Well, I recon that if I went out to the field to feed the cattle and only one came, I'd feed him." The politician agreed and gave that farmer the full hour speech. He again asked the farmer what he thought? "Well, if I went out to feed the cows and only one came, I sure as hell wouldn't give him the full load."
One Prominent politician went out to the Indian reservation to give one of his stump speeches. When he got to one the high points in his speech, the crown shouted "BOHICA!" Thinking he had really struck gold, he exaggerated his promises again to the shouts of "BOHICA!" Just before the Politician got back in his car to leave, he had to cross a farm yard. The Chief said, be careful and don't step in the bohica.
I am not sure if my nerves are up to the time between now and the election. I am pretty sure there is enough hate and division out there to fill any campaign cart of promises. Lets start with some of the promises - If elected there are people that will want to cut the Military budget to pay for some increased social programs. Now, if you cut the budget, what is the largest part of the cost? Yep, Pay and Allowances. If you cut them, you will have to cut the number of people in uniform. The people n uniform pay taxes and if you make them unemployed, the income to the Government goes down and the unemployment rate goes up. Isn't that exactly the wrong thing to do in a recession? Instead of giving kids a free education through college, How about we have them join the Military and ear the payments through the GI Bill? Oh no, we are going to cut the size of the military to pay for that idea. Your guess is as good as mine what we will do but that seems like a stupid idea.
I had better get moving if I am going to get all the good ideas done today. "BOHICA!"
MUD
Yesterday I went down to get the TAG and the license for the Toyota and man did I ever get a sticker shock over the sales tax. The tax was over $600 and with tags and all it was closer to $800. I can't imagine buying a new(er) car. No wonder it seems like making house payment to us old dudes. The car is firmly in the hands of our son who's car was on it's last legs. I have his car and will play with it some today but not long or hard. Last night I pulled the dipstick and found that it was at least a quart low on oil in the two weeks since I filled it up. I am going to throw in some oil and a can of an additive and see if I can get the bad cylinder to work better. I will probably just get the title and turn it over to the junk yard.
This daylight savings thing has my system all out of whack. I don't know if I need an afternoon or late morning nap? I guess I'll just keep taking them both until fall.
Are you up for a couple of Political jokes? Well here goes. A prominent Republican was campaigning in rural Arkansas. He stopped to talk to a farmer and told the farmer who he was. The farmer said he would like to go get his wife, she had never met a Republican. While the farmer was in the house, the politician looked for a podium to stand on. All he could find was a very large pile of dried cow manure. The wife came out and the politician gave them the best stump speech he had in his bag of lies. The farmer and his wife were both impressed. They allowed that it was the best speech they had ever heard. The Politician said that "This was the first time I ever delivered a speech on a Democratic Platform."
There was a Democratic candidate running for office in a rural area and it was scheduled for the local grange building. He arrived early and saw that the only heat in the place was an old coal stove. He built a fire and when the allotted time for his speech arrived there was only one farmer and his wife in the audience. He asked the farmer what should he do. "Well, I recon that if I went out to the field to feed the cattle and only one came, I'd feed him." The politician agreed and gave that farmer the full hour speech. He again asked the farmer what he thought? "Well, if I went out to feed the cows and only one came, I sure as hell wouldn't give him the full load."
One Prominent politician went out to the Indian reservation to give one of his stump speeches. When he got to one the high points in his speech, the crown shouted "BOHICA!" Thinking he had really struck gold, he exaggerated his promises again to the shouts of "BOHICA!" Just before the Politician got back in his car to leave, he had to cross a farm yard. The Chief said, be careful and don't step in the bohica.
I am not sure if my nerves are up to the time between now and the election. I am pretty sure there is enough hate and division out there to fill any campaign cart of promises. Lets start with some of the promises - If elected there are people that will want to cut the Military budget to pay for some increased social programs. Now, if you cut the budget, what is the largest part of the cost? Yep, Pay and Allowances. If you cut them, you will have to cut the number of people in uniform. The people n uniform pay taxes and if you make them unemployed, the income to the Government goes down and the unemployment rate goes up. Isn't that exactly the wrong thing to do in a recession? Instead of giving kids a free education through college, How about we have them join the Military and ear the payments through the GI Bill? Oh no, we are going to cut the size of the military to pay for that idea. Your guess is as good as mine what we will do but that seems like a stupid idea.
I had better get moving if I am going to get all the good ideas done today. "BOHICA!"
MUD
3/14/2016
That's not silly, It's Crazy
This morning there was an editorial that started out that the writer thought that at one time he thought 100% of the people we in favor of the United States being a Republic. This guy has a master's Degree and is working on his Doctorate and he gets away with writing that in the opening line of an editorial? The Editorial Board should have balled up that paper and thrown it away. Any one that thinks you can get 100% of the people to think any thing is so far out of touch as to need to be in a rubber room.
In a letter to the editor, one person is real harsh on Donald Trump about his not telling the truth. Well, how do you tell when a Politician is Lying? "His Lips are Moving." I am sure that he must believe Hillary's every word and that Bernie can redistribute the wealth and fix all our problems.
This morning there was and article in the paper abut a car that was driven all over town and responsible for five or six accidents and the death of his passenger. My first reaction was to wonder, wait for it - WHY? I stooped to the age old question of what causes people to do unreasonable things. By my own actions I am not silly, I am crazy!
I hear from a lot of TV shows that people do not just want to know who did very violent things, they want to know WHY? Time and time again, I hear that the very act of the death penalty will give them some kind of closure. Then, the show tells us that that is not the case. In our family, we had a niece raped and killed by another family member. I call him not an in-law, but an outlaw. That cretin has been sitting on death's row in Arkansas longer than our beloved Andi was alive. There are times that I again stoop to the stupid question of WHY? Why did he do it? Why did it take us so long to pursue the death penalty and Why is the review process taking over 15 years? Thinking like that is not silly, It is Crazy!
By asking the question WHY, I am not being silly, I am being Crazy. Oh well, it does appear that I am in good company.
Here is my really crazy question of the day? Why would anyone want to have the worst job in the USA? Why would anyone freely think that they are powerful enough to be the target of all the hate and derision that goes along with the job of the president? There are lists of people that not only ran for the job but a list of those that ran for re-election. I am amazed that the history books are not filled with people like Lyndon Johnson that said - I will not seek the re-election to the office of the Presidency.
The world is not silly, It is Crazy!
MUD
In a letter to the editor, one person is real harsh on Donald Trump about his not telling the truth. Well, how do you tell when a Politician is Lying? "His Lips are Moving." I am sure that he must believe Hillary's every word and that Bernie can redistribute the wealth and fix all our problems.
This morning there was and article in the paper abut a car that was driven all over town and responsible for five or six accidents and the death of his passenger. My first reaction was to wonder, wait for it - WHY? I stooped to the age old question of what causes people to do unreasonable things. By my own actions I am not silly, I am crazy!
I hear from a lot of TV shows that people do not just want to know who did very violent things, they want to know WHY? Time and time again, I hear that the very act of the death penalty will give them some kind of closure. Then, the show tells us that that is not the case. In our family, we had a niece raped and killed by another family member. I call him not an in-law, but an outlaw. That cretin has been sitting on death's row in Arkansas longer than our beloved Andi was alive. There are times that I again stoop to the stupid question of WHY? Why did he do it? Why did it take us so long to pursue the death penalty and Why is the review process taking over 15 years? Thinking like that is not silly, It is Crazy!
By asking the question WHY, I am not being silly, I am being Crazy. Oh well, it does appear that I am in good company.
Here is my really crazy question of the day? Why would anyone want to have the worst job in the USA? Why would anyone freely think that they are powerful enough to be the target of all the hate and derision that goes along with the job of the president? There are lists of people that not only ran for the job but a list of those that ran for re-election. I am amazed that the history books are not filled with people like Lyndon Johnson that said - I will not seek the re-election to the office of the Presidency.
The world is not silly, It is Crazy!
MUD
3/13/2016
West Virginia Who?
The Jayhawks beat a good West Virginia team in Kansas City last night. They should be proud of their accomplishments as will the hawks be proud. I hope the smile on Devonte's face will be there at the end of the Big Dance. He earned the title of Most Valuable Player. Had Buddy been there at the end and thrown in the game high points in a victory he might have ben the winner of the award. Devonte earned it.
During the TV coverage of NC and Virginia, Roy Williams had one of those spells where he lost his balance and almost fell down. I too suffer from the vertigo and episodes of falling down. It generally involves darkness and periods of inactivity not the bright lights of an arena and all the hype and madness. I wish him well. If I had his money, I would go somewhere and live out the rest of my life in quiet solitude. Oh Hell No! I would watch as much basketball and I could no matter what.
Did anyone else hear that Oklahoma State is in the process of firing their coach? That is a real shame when they are the victim of injury to key players not bad coaching. I wonder how much money they are willing to throw at Bill Self to try to lure him there? I hope he is immune to that kind of talk. I am pretty sure that right now he is not even considering anything but the dance before him and his current team.
Looks like Barbara has finally closed the deal on a newer car for Dave. It is a Toyota with not that many miles on it and should be a good car for years to come. Now I need to work on her to upgrade her car. My mechanic friend a few years back said we needed to lift up the steering wheel and drive a new car under it. Oh well it will be only an errands car and the one we need to worry about is the Crown Vic with 140,000 miles.
It has finally decided to start the spring rains here in the heartland. Not hard ones, but gentle and small rains that will help enrich the ground water in our fields. Barb's garden will need some attention this next week. I have a tiller that will need to be tuned up and refueled.
Barb just reminded me that I need to reset my watch and wall clock. At least the computer is right. Spring Forward means I lost an hour somewhere but it really is not important.
MUD
During the TV coverage of NC and Virginia, Roy Williams had one of those spells where he lost his balance and almost fell down. I too suffer from the vertigo and episodes of falling down. It generally involves darkness and periods of inactivity not the bright lights of an arena and all the hype and madness. I wish him well. If I had his money, I would go somewhere and live out the rest of my life in quiet solitude. Oh Hell No! I would watch as much basketball and I could no matter what.
Did anyone else hear that Oklahoma State is in the process of firing their coach? That is a real shame when they are the victim of injury to key players not bad coaching. I wonder how much money they are willing to throw at Bill Self to try to lure him there? I hope he is immune to that kind of talk. I am pretty sure that right now he is not even considering anything but the dance before him and his current team.
Looks like Barbara has finally closed the deal on a newer car for Dave. It is a Toyota with not that many miles on it and should be a good car for years to come. Now I need to work on her to upgrade her car. My mechanic friend a few years back said we needed to lift up the steering wheel and drive a new car under it. Oh well it will be only an errands car and the one we need to worry about is the Crown Vic with 140,000 miles.
It has finally decided to start the spring rains here in the heartland. Not hard ones, but gentle and small rains that will help enrich the ground water in our fields. Barb's garden will need some attention this next week. I have a tiller that will need to be tuned up and refueled.
Barb just reminded me that I need to reset my watch and wall clock. At least the computer is right. Spring Forward means I lost an hour somewhere but it really is not important.
MUD
3/12/2016
Heart Attack City
With the hawks ahead by 16 points, Bill Self put in dang near all the subs to give them some playing time in last night's Conference game against Baylor. I am pretty sure that Baylor took it as a snub and played their butts off. The result was that Coach Self had to reinsert his starters to preserve the win. I put the following note on Facebook: NOTE TO COACH BILL SELF - Most teams will replace their starters throughout the game one or two at a time. Replacing them all at once is deleterious to the health of your fans. I almost had a heart attack!
The game with Oklahoma against Iowa State was one of the best games I have seen all year. The Buddy Hield show was one of greatness. Watching the counterpoint by Georges Niang was so much fun. Watching the West Virginia shut down of Buddy last night was a total downer. Great coaching by West Virginia but a lousy game to watch. I wonder what WV will have in store for the Hawks this afternoon. Makes me wonder what the selection committee will do with the WV and OK teams on Sunday? I think WV played themselves into a number two seed. OK should fall to a three. One thing sure is that there are coaches all over the nation hoping that West Virginia doesn't show up in their bracket.
We have been talking to a guy about buying his Toyota. He doesn't seem to be very savvy of ways to do business. He shot us a high bid and we low balled him. He didn't even look for a bid in the middle, he just went away. Then he has been in touch with us on e-mail and we re-bid right in the middle. He responded by asking where I bank. I told him that I will be able to bring a certified check when and if we buy the car. He sent an e-mail that he will sell the car on Saturday and wanted to know if we banked downtown. I am not sure if the language barrier is getting in the way of doing this job. If he would set up a visit about 10 or 11 AM, we can go to my bank and get a certified check and have the bill of sale and title notarized. Oh well.
This darned conference tournament has my days all mixed up this week. I guess it is Saturday. We did get a little moisture last night but nothing like what is going on east and south of here. We will take all the light rain mother nature wants to give us.
Better get rolling.
MUD
The game with Oklahoma against Iowa State was one of the best games I have seen all year. The Buddy Hield show was one of greatness. Watching the counterpoint by Georges Niang was so much fun. Watching the West Virginia shut down of Buddy last night was a total downer. Great coaching by West Virginia but a lousy game to watch. I wonder what WV will have in store for the Hawks this afternoon. Makes me wonder what the selection committee will do with the WV and OK teams on Sunday? I think WV played themselves into a number two seed. OK should fall to a three. One thing sure is that there are coaches all over the nation hoping that West Virginia doesn't show up in their bracket.
We have been talking to a guy about buying his Toyota. He doesn't seem to be very savvy of ways to do business. He shot us a high bid and we low balled him. He didn't even look for a bid in the middle, he just went away. Then he has been in touch with us on e-mail and we re-bid right in the middle. He responded by asking where I bank. I told him that I will be able to bring a certified check when and if we buy the car. He sent an e-mail that he will sell the car on Saturday and wanted to know if we banked downtown. I am not sure if the language barrier is getting in the way of doing this job. If he would set up a visit about 10 or 11 AM, we can go to my bank and get a certified check and have the bill of sale and title notarized. Oh well.
This darned conference tournament has my days all mixed up this week. I guess it is Saturday. We did get a little moisture last night but nothing like what is going on east and south of here. We will take all the light rain mother nature wants to give us.
Better get rolling.
MUD
3/11/2016
What Did You Expect?
Looking at the BIG XII Tournament the semi finals are the top four teams. Kansas will play Baylor tonight and that will pit West Virginia against Oklahoma. If this were a shot group on a target on a rifle range you could say you could put a quarter on the shot group at 100 yards. The only difference is that KU has been on a roll on the second half of the season and should/could probably win out. Either way, I won't bet the farm on the outcome.
What are the dreaded words you don't want to hear at the breakfast table? "What's on your agenda today?" I hated to admit that my agenda sounds kind of like I'm just planning on goofing off. I really will update my blog, catch up on Facebook, answer my E-Mails and listen my way through the music for the upcoming events. I will sing in Dallas on the 1st and then our program will be on the 16th. Both have different song so it will be a challenge to get all the words and music right. It was once no big deal but now days it is a lot more challenging.
The weather here in the heartland is about 20 degrees above the normal for this time of year. Normally I wouldn't have any problems with that but I am afraid that all the trees will bloom out and we will be a second year without any fruit on the trees in the orchard. Last year a wind storm came through right about the time the fruit began to set on. The deer had a feast as they cleaned up the fallen fruit about the day it all hit the ground. It all worked out as they would probably would have been eating it until Thanksgiving. The had it early last year,
This morning the papers had an article about the coached in the BIG XII and how some of them might be on the way out. I think that kind of thinking is way short of reality. KU has been able to attract the top recruits and then Bell Self has been able to get the best out of the players. Why other schools think that is a knock on their coach is not understandable.
Have I told you lately just how frustrated I am with the Presidential campaign? We seem to be able to put Donald and Hillary on the top line when I am hard pressed to find many redeeming values in either one. There are several people out there that I think could do the job well and that are well qualified. The other day I saw Colin Powel on TV and I have always thought he was very smart and I know he knows what goes on in the White House. Throw in Condalesa Rice and that is two people who could get the job done. If you ask the people here in the Midwest they would want Bill Self to go to Washington. Many of us think he is well qualified and others would want him to go away from the BIG XII.
I for one am really tired of people say they want the big money taken out of the political races. Just how cheap would you sell your vote? As for me, no amount of money would influence me to change my vote. Speaking of that, what will it take for the young crowd to get out and vote? I think that the estimate was that less than 11% of the young people got out and voted in the Caucus. Based on my experience, there were a few very young kids there but the majority of the caucus voters here in Topeka were 40+. In my perfect world, that would be a National Holiday and everyone would be given a time to vote based on their last name. I am not sure how I would enforce this but it should be a requirement.
Oh well, better run and see what I need to do outside. Great day here in the Heartland.
MUD
What are the dreaded words you don't want to hear at the breakfast table? "What's on your agenda today?" I hated to admit that my agenda sounds kind of like I'm just planning on goofing off. I really will update my blog, catch up on Facebook, answer my E-Mails and listen my way through the music for the upcoming events. I will sing in Dallas on the 1st and then our program will be on the 16th. Both have different song so it will be a challenge to get all the words and music right. It was once no big deal but now days it is a lot more challenging.
The weather here in the heartland is about 20 degrees above the normal for this time of year. Normally I wouldn't have any problems with that but I am afraid that all the trees will bloom out and we will be a second year without any fruit on the trees in the orchard. Last year a wind storm came through right about the time the fruit began to set on. The deer had a feast as they cleaned up the fallen fruit about the day it all hit the ground. It all worked out as they would probably would have been eating it until Thanksgiving. The had it early last year,
This morning the papers had an article about the coached in the BIG XII and how some of them might be on the way out. I think that kind of thinking is way short of reality. KU has been able to attract the top recruits and then Bell Self has been able to get the best out of the players. Why other schools think that is a knock on their coach is not understandable.
Have I told you lately just how frustrated I am with the Presidential campaign? We seem to be able to put Donald and Hillary on the top line when I am hard pressed to find many redeeming values in either one. There are several people out there that I think could do the job well and that are well qualified. The other day I saw Colin Powel on TV and I have always thought he was very smart and I know he knows what goes on in the White House. Throw in Condalesa Rice and that is two people who could get the job done. If you ask the people here in the Midwest they would want Bill Self to go to Washington. Many of us think he is well qualified and others would want him to go away from the BIG XII.
I for one am really tired of people say they want the big money taken out of the political races. Just how cheap would you sell your vote? As for me, no amount of money would influence me to change my vote. Speaking of that, what will it take for the young crowd to get out and vote? I think that the estimate was that less than 11% of the young people got out and voted in the Caucus. Based on my experience, there were a few very young kids there but the majority of the caucus voters here in Topeka were 40+. In my perfect world, that would be a National Holiday and everyone would be given a time to vote based on their last name. I am not sure how I would enforce this but it should be a requirement.
Oh well, better run and see what I need to do outside. Great day here in the Heartland.
MUD
3/09/2016
The Dance has Started
Up to now, the games have been played to start the shake out to the top 66 teams in the nation. The BIG XII tournament starts tonight with the bottom four teams trying to get another win. It is win or go home for two of the teams. They will not be in the Big Dance for sure. I can not pick the winner as they al have played tough games and won in the talented conference. We'll see. I do hear rumblings from the west that the K-State coach has only one more year to produce a better team or he too will go home. someone posted a picture of a T-shirt I want. It said "I love Bird watching" with a picture of a Jay hawk.
I am listening and singing along with the music for our show in April and the Bde sin out in Dallas on the first. It is kind of hard to sing with all the dust and pollen in the air. Oh well, I'll do my best to learn the words and I'm sure my voice will be OK by the time I need it. How would you tell a guy that he needs to stop singing with the baritone section? He is a Lead and just ruins the unity of our sound. The Director stopped us and asked what was wrong because we sounded so bad? I guess I should have told him that it was Jason that made it tough but I didn't want to do that in front of the entire group. I guess I will need to send a private e-mail to them and make my point.
How many times have I told you that I hate to get old? Several times a week things happen that just show me how old I am getting. The other day I needed to put some diesel fuel in the tractor. I could not climb up on the front scoop and manage to lift my leg high enough to get it where I needed. It is the kind of thing that would have been a snap not all that long ago. The thing that is really worry some is that my balance is getting a lot worse. I told Barb that when and if we get season tickets next year I will need to be on the aisle. After sitting during a game I just stagger going down the stairs. The bad part is the lack of hand rails in the Phog. Oh well, those tickets are very expensive but cheap compared to a stay in the hospital if I fall.
The other day we looked at a Toyota and it was a nice little car with few miles. Barb low balled the owner and he put us on hold while his wife looked for another car. They need a larger car and I am sure that their car would make a nice little trade-in at the dealership. We'll see.
Better get moving of I might find myself glued to this chair.
MUD
I am listening and singing along with the music for our show in April and the Bde sin out in Dallas on the first. It is kind of hard to sing with all the dust and pollen in the air. Oh well, I'll do my best to learn the words and I'm sure my voice will be OK by the time I need it. How would you tell a guy that he needs to stop singing with the baritone section? He is a Lead and just ruins the unity of our sound. The Director stopped us and asked what was wrong because we sounded so bad? I guess I should have told him that it was Jason that made it tough but I didn't want to do that in front of the entire group. I guess I will need to send a private e-mail to them and make my point.
How many times have I told you that I hate to get old? Several times a week things happen that just show me how old I am getting. The other day I needed to put some diesel fuel in the tractor. I could not climb up on the front scoop and manage to lift my leg high enough to get it where I needed. It is the kind of thing that would have been a snap not all that long ago. The thing that is really worry some is that my balance is getting a lot worse. I told Barb that when and if we get season tickets next year I will need to be on the aisle. After sitting during a game I just stagger going down the stairs. The bad part is the lack of hand rails in the Phog. Oh well, those tickets are very expensive but cheap compared to a stay in the hospital if I fall.
The other day we looked at a Toyota and it was a nice little car with few miles. Barb low balled the owner and he put us on hold while his wife looked for another car. They need a larger car and I am sure that their car would make a nice little trade-in at the dealership. We'll see.
Better get moving of I might find myself glued to this chair.
MUD
3/08/2016
Are Blogs Passe?
Am I just wasting my time writing this Blog? At one time I had many hundreds of readers each day and I was well over 900,000 hits on this blog. Many others in my family wrote blogs and now my readership is down to a couple of hundred and almost no one else is writing a blog. I wonder what is changing about society that is causing this lapse. (Other than the ceaseless news cycle about the election)
If you are on my blog, at the top of the page there is a box you can click and it takes you to the next blog. Look at the dates and see how many are several years out of date. Don't these old blogs go somewhere and die? Do they live in the electronic world out there without deleting or just going away bit by bit? As I warned many of you very early in the life of this blog, I don't write this for you but for the therapeutic effect on my life. I write, therefore I am. Or at least so I think.
Now moving on the funny things in life. The republican party is facing such a dilemma that I just have to laugh at how we got here. If the Republicans can find a way to throw "The Donald " out of the race, he would probably just splinter off into a third party and split the Republican vote that would lead to the election of Hillary. If they don't get him to go away, that too will probably lead to the election of Hillary. Seems there was another Clinton that wanted a woman in the White House.
Bernie has a real following with a lot of the very people that won't turn out to vote. Our Political parties would have to run and hide if the 20 somethings got out and voted. It is unfortunate that they are the people that will be around the longest and have the most to lose. Sure Bernie will see that they have a free education through college. What will he do to make sure there is a job when they all graduate. If it is free, a College Degree will so glut the market that it will be like the High School Diploma. We will all be able to tell you about the Theory of Relativity but no one will be able to fix a car. That's OK, because the kids will be in debt so much that they won't have the money to buy a car. At least the crushing debt they will have will not be student loans but the debt of the Government trying to give everything to everyone. Perhaps if they were forced to take a few classes in economics, they might understand the theory of Other People's Money went away with the Soviet Union.
Oh well, such is life and I close this with the reality it doesn't matter what I write. There will be people that read and some that don't.
MUD
If you are on my blog, at the top of the page there is a box you can click and it takes you to the next blog. Look at the dates and see how many are several years out of date. Don't these old blogs go somewhere and die? Do they live in the electronic world out there without deleting or just going away bit by bit? As I warned many of you very early in the life of this blog, I don't write this for you but for the therapeutic effect on my life. I write, therefore I am. Or at least so I think.
Now moving on the funny things in life. The republican party is facing such a dilemma that I just have to laugh at how we got here. If the Republicans can find a way to throw "The Donald " out of the race, he would probably just splinter off into a third party and split the Republican vote that would lead to the election of Hillary. If they don't get him to go away, that too will probably lead to the election of Hillary. Seems there was another Clinton that wanted a woman in the White House.
Bernie has a real following with a lot of the very people that won't turn out to vote. Our Political parties would have to run and hide if the 20 somethings got out and voted. It is unfortunate that they are the people that will be around the longest and have the most to lose. Sure Bernie will see that they have a free education through college. What will he do to make sure there is a job when they all graduate. If it is free, a College Degree will so glut the market that it will be like the High School Diploma. We will all be able to tell you about the Theory of Relativity but no one will be able to fix a car. That's OK, because the kids will be in debt so much that they won't have the money to buy a car. At least the crushing debt they will have will not be student loans but the debt of the Government trying to give everything to everyone. Perhaps if they were forced to take a few classes in economics, they might understand the theory of Other People's Money went away with the Soviet Union.
Oh well, such is life and I close this with the reality it doesn't matter what I write. There will be people that read and some that don't.
MUD
3/05/2016
Finished Dave's Car
A while back, Dave's car had a failure to charge and we diagnosed it as a problem with the security system. Well, we were wrong! Dave was over and pulled up a video on how to replace the alternator and yesterday was such a nice day that I pulled the alternator off. Took it to the Auto Parts store and sure enough, it was a shot puppy. $218 later, I had the new one and put it on in short order. I would have taken the old one off much faster had I thought about the ground wire on the bottom of the alternator. After struggling with it for about 30 minutes, It came right out once the wire was undone. DUH Dennis. His car still has a problem with the motor having a bad cylinder but hey, it runs and will last until it dies.
If some of the spelling looks wonky, the blog site just told me there is a problem with the spell checker. Must be the computer making all those errors. Well, perhaps it is these big fat fingers hitting two or more keys at the same time. I am positive it is not my spelling ability.
Did I mention just how much I hate getting old? This morning after a few hours in the garage yesterday, my back really aches. I just scratched an itch on the back of my hand and I may soon have to go get a bandage for bleeding. Oh well, every day above the ground has to be better than the alternative.
This morning I told the wife that I was going to the Caucus but I couldn't remember the name of one of the Republicans. I could remember Trump and Cruise but Rubio just remained nameless. I was face blind and name blind at the same time. I have a niece that one time was hit by lightning and she described her memory loss as there are big holes where she had memory stored. Heck, I can't even remember what green the holes were on let alone the holes. In our Chorus practice, the director will stop us to work on a small thing and then start from the nearest place that makes sense to him. I sing with the CD and from front to back not somewhere in the middle. I would sing the way he wants if I could but alas, I lack that ability.
Barbara is about to undergo cataract surgery the end of the month. I have plans to go to Dallas and she was going to drive Barb Jr to Austin. I have many doubts that she will be able to drive that soon. She might not even have her new glasses yet. I know that one eye will remain bad until that surgery is completed. Oh well, half of her vision will be good.
I reset all the mouse traps in the garage for my defense in depth and this morning there were no dead mouse's anywhere. I hope I have eliminated all the interlopers. I am sure there will be more somewhere but not sure where or when.
Oh well, better get ready to go caucus, what ever that means.
Dennis
If some of the spelling looks wonky, the blog site just told me there is a problem with the spell checker. Must be the computer making all those errors. Well, perhaps it is these big fat fingers hitting two or more keys at the same time. I am positive it is not my spelling ability.
Did I mention just how much I hate getting old? This morning after a few hours in the garage yesterday, my back really aches. I just scratched an itch on the back of my hand and I may soon have to go get a bandage for bleeding. Oh well, every day above the ground has to be better than the alternative.
This morning I told the wife that I was going to the Caucus but I couldn't remember the name of one of the Republicans. I could remember Trump and Cruise but Rubio just remained nameless. I was face blind and name blind at the same time. I have a niece that one time was hit by lightning and she described her memory loss as there are big holes where she had memory stored. Heck, I can't even remember what green the holes were on let alone the holes. In our Chorus practice, the director will stop us to work on a small thing and then start from the nearest place that makes sense to him. I sing with the CD and from front to back not somewhere in the middle. I would sing the way he wants if I could but alas, I lack that ability.
Barbara is about to undergo cataract surgery the end of the month. I have plans to go to Dallas and she was going to drive Barb Jr to Austin. I have many doubts that she will be able to drive that soon. She might not even have her new glasses yet. I know that one eye will remain bad until that surgery is completed. Oh well, half of her vision will be good.
I reset all the mouse traps in the garage for my defense in depth and this morning there were no dead mouse's anywhere. I hope I have eliminated all the interlopers. I am sure there will be more somewhere but not sure where or when.
Oh well, better get ready to go caucus, what ever that means.
Dennis
3/04/2016
Am I Just Getting Old or What?
In all my years of voting, I do not remember Kansas having a Caucus. I guess I will go downtown Saturday morning and find out what all this is about. No, I don't have any idea of what I am going to do there but I will vote for somebody. I refuse to vote for a person that tries to find a scapegoat for all of our problems and makes faces like a Junior High student. Damn, that about eliminates everyone in the Republican field. Oh well.
When that madness is over, I am going to Lawrence to be there for Senior Day in the Phog. They have to beat Iowa State and that will be no small task. That will make 40 in a row in the Phog and it won't change the standings in the BIGXII for KU. Can't wait.
The other day, Barbara saw a mouse in the kitchen so I went to the hardware store to buy some new mouse traps. I really like the victor traps with the big yellow paddles. I put a little peanut butter in the holes and the mice just can't seem to help themselves. In fact, I caught two mice last night. I guess I need to go out in the garage and step up my defense in depth. I thought the mice would be moving out but evidentially there is not enough food out there yet.
Life has been pretty good to us here at Rabbit Run. I do need to get out and do some clean up of the brush piles when the days warm up and the wind dies down. I don't think I will ever reach the level of clean of the German forests, but it sure could be a lot cleaner. I really need to have a good place to burn the downed trees and not burn up the rest of them.
One of these days I will return to working on cars also. They all need some maintenance and have minor problems. Well, Dave's car is in my garage and it has some really major problems. In addition to the need of an alternator, it has one cylinder that does not have any compression to speak of. Probably once I get the alternator fixed, the darned thing will die ugly somewhere between Lawrence and here. Dave has Prius Taste and a used Chevy budget. We'll see.
Better run
MUD
When that madness is over, I am going to Lawrence to be there for Senior Day in the Phog. They have to beat Iowa State and that will be no small task. That will make 40 in a row in the Phog and it won't change the standings in the BIGXII for KU. Can't wait.
The other day, Barbara saw a mouse in the kitchen so I went to the hardware store to buy some new mouse traps. I really like the victor traps with the big yellow paddles. I put a little peanut butter in the holes and the mice just can't seem to help themselves. In fact, I caught two mice last night. I guess I need to go out in the garage and step up my defense in depth. I thought the mice would be moving out but evidentially there is not enough food out there yet.
Life has been pretty good to us here at Rabbit Run. I do need to get out and do some clean up of the brush piles when the days warm up and the wind dies down. I don't think I will ever reach the level of clean of the German forests, but it sure could be a lot cleaner. I really need to have a good place to burn the downed trees and not burn up the rest of them.
One of these days I will return to working on cars also. They all need some maintenance and have minor problems. Well, Dave's car is in my garage and it has some really major problems. In addition to the need of an alternator, it has one cylinder that does not have any compression to speak of. Probably once I get the alternator fixed, the darned thing will die ugly somewhere between Lawrence and here. Dave has Prius Taste and a used Chevy budget. We'll see.
Better run
MUD
3/03/2016
Bi-Polar, Manic Depressive or just nuts
When I was a kid, my father's Manic Depression reared it's ugly head. Life didn't make a lot of sense to me and Dad even made it harder to understand. When my father was on a high, he would come home of Friday after work, hand everyone a grocery sack and tell us to be in the car in 15 minutes because we were going to Arkansas. If you forgot your toothbrush or clean underwear, it was only the weekend so get you ass in the car. When he was on a low, he would spend most of his time in bed or asleep on the couch. When he would say "Come Here," you didn't know if he was going to hit or kiss you. I never thought he was sick, just nuts.
Probably the one time that sticks out in my mind was the year we went to Sear's to spend my birthday money. or some strange reason I discovered fishing at Beech lake as a thing to do that took me away from the rest of my life. I would take a couple of raisins with me and the Perch that gathered around the dock would bite on them and then I would use perch parts as bait. Hours would fly by and I had worn out my old fishing rod. I had been given a few dollars and I asked Dad if he could take me to Sears to get a new rod. After selecting a new rod, Dad picked up a reel and placed it on the counter. I protested that I didn't have enough money for the rod and reel, he paid for both of them. We put it in the trunk of the car and went home. In a couple of weeks, Dad was in the Hospital and I had forgot the new rod and reel. The next spring one day Dad asked me if I wanted to go fishing with him. As we unloaded the fishing tackle from the trunk, Dad looked at the new equipment and asked, "Where did you get that? Steal it." I was absolutely crushed.
Later on, Dad told us the stories of the electro shock therapy he was given in the Hospital. He said he would have to get out of bed and look at the chart to see who he was. Memory was fleeting and he really didn't know or remember where I got the reel. I really became aware that his illness wasn't a conscious thing. He said that when he was depressed, he just couldn't get over it. He asked me if when I had a cold and someone said get over it, could I. That was the reality of his depression.
Later on in life, I helped Mom get dad into Menninger's Clinic here
in Topeka. They diagnosed his disorder and put him on Lithium. He became the same dull person as the rest of us. So, as a kid, Manic depression, Bi-Polar didn't mean anything to me, He was just nuts.
MUD
Probably the one time that sticks out in my mind was the year we went to Sear's to spend my birthday money. or some strange reason I discovered fishing at Beech lake as a thing to do that took me away from the rest of my life. I would take a couple of raisins with me and the Perch that gathered around the dock would bite on them and then I would use perch parts as bait. Hours would fly by and I had worn out my old fishing rod. I had been given a few dollars and I asked Dad if he could take me to Sears to get a new rod. After selecting a new rod, Dad picked up a reel and placed it on the counter. I protested that I didn't have enough money for the rod and reel, he paid for both of them. We put it in the trunk of the car and went home. In a couple of weeks, Dad was in the Hospital and I had forgot the new rod and reel. The next spring one day Dad asked me if I wanted to go fishing with him. As we unloaded the fishing tackle from the trunk, Dad looked at the new equipment and asked, "Where did you get that? Steal it." I was absolutely crushed.
Later on, Dad told us the stories of the electro shock therapy he was given in the Hospital. He said he would have to get out of bed and look at the chart to see who he was. Memory was fleeting and he really didn't know or remember where I got the reel. I really became aware that his illness wasn't a conscious thing. He said that when he was depressed, he just couldn't get over it. He asked me if when I had a cold and someone said get over it, could I. That was the reality of his depression.
Later on in life, I helped Mom get dad into Menninger's Clinic here
in Topeka. They diagnosed his disorder and put him on Lithium. He became the same dull person as the rest of us. So, as a kid, Manic depression, Bi-Polar didn't mean anything to me, He was just nuts.
MUD
I Must Be Getting Old(er)
Yesterday I was in the car with the wife, and because of a vision problem she still lets me drive, and I looked at my watch to see what day of the month it was. At first I thought it said it was the 3rd. Wrong, it said it was the 31st. I guess I am so retired that the date really doesn't make all that much difference. My watch doesn't recognize that normally there isn't but 28 days in a normal February. Throw in an extra day for leap year and things really get weird. Oh well, At least I still know where my watch is. I can find it because I seldom take it off.
That reminds me of a story. Once my Dad was in the VA hospital and I went over to visit him. I had just bought a new Timex "Tin Man" watch and Dad noticed it. He said, "I have always wanted a watch like that." To me, the watch was just something to tell time with not something special. As I handed it to him, he wanted me to put the old rubber watch band from the old watch on the new one. Sure Dad, who wouldn't have given their Dad about anything. A couple of days later, I went up to visit and he said, "This watch tells me two more things than I needs to know." He didn't elaborate on what they were but I think he only needed to know the time so he didn't miss a meal. A few months later, I was over at Mom's after Dad had passed. I told her the watch story and she said that Dad had told her to give me an old watch he had to make up for the new one I gave him. It turned out to be the Beech Aircraft watch he was given for working there for 40 years. I feel that I was way ahead in that trade.
This morning as I went out to fetch the paper, I was hit in the face with a brisk wind and cool temperatures. After a couple of days of early spring, we are back to the normal March weather. If you think the wind blows in March in your State, you should live in Kansas. Actually the phenomenon of the wind is because Oklahoma Sucks... Combine that with there is nothing but a Barbed Wire fence between here and the North Pole and you might understand Kansas weather. There are 4 true seasons here in the heartland and it is what I think of as home. It might be fun to make a visit to the beach in February but I wouldn't want to live there.
A lot of older people watch TV for the company. I think I do to augment my trivia knowledge. For example Napoleon build the Arch de Triumph as a tribute to his soldiers. The thing most of us know is the Nazi troops marching underneath it during WWII. Now if I could just remember when Napoleon was in power. Normally I remember dates of Military engagements but nothing is stored there.
Well, things to do and places to go. Barb saw a mouse so it is time to put out the traps for my defense in depth. Live in the woods and in the spring and fall the mice try to move in. As long as they are suckers for peanut butter, I will remain the king of Mice hunters.
MUD
That reminds me of a story. Once my Dad was in the VA hospital and I went over to visit him. I had just bought a new Timex "Tin Man" watch and Dad noticed it. He said, "I have always wanted a watch like that." To me, the watch was just something to tell time with not something special. As I handed it to him, he wanted me to put the old rubber watch band from the old watch on the new one. Sure Dad, who wouldn't have given their Dad about anything. A couple of days later, I went up to visit and he said, "This watch tells me two more things than I needs to know." He didn't elaborate on what they were but I think he only needed to know the time so he didn't miss a meal. A few months later, I was over at Mom's after Dad had passed. I told her the watch story and she said that Dad had told her to give me an old watch he had to make up for the new one I gave him. It turned out to be the Beech Aircraft watch he was given for working there for 40 years. I feel that I was way ahead in that trade.
This morning as I went out to fetch the paper, I was hit in the face with a brisk wind and cool temperatures. After a couple of days of early spring, we are back to the normal March weather. If you think the wind blows in March in your State, you should live in Kansas. Actually the phenomenon of the wind is because Oklahoma Sucks... Combine that with there is nothing but a Barbed Wire fence between here and the North Pole and you might understand Kansas weather. There are 4 true seasons here in the heartland and it is what I think of as home. It might be fun to make a visit to the beach in February but I wouldn't want to live there.
A lot of older people watch TV for the company. I think I do to augment my trivia knowledge. For example Napoleon build the Arch de Triumph as a tribute to his soldiers. The thing most of us know is the Nazi troops marching underneath it during WWII. Now if I could just remember when Napoleon was in power. Normally I remember dates of Military engagements but nothing is stored there.
Well, things to do and places to go. Barb saw a mouse so it is time to put out the traps for my defense in depth. Live in the woods and in the spring and fall the mice try to move in. As long as they are suckers for peanut butter, I will remain the king of Mice hunters.
MUD
3/02/2016
In My Perfect World
First let me start with this disclaimer that I know I have no such thing as a perfect world. This is just my view of what would make a perfect world. Buckle up Boys and Girls, Here Goes...
We need a leader that believes that the power in politics flows from the people through the elected officials and from there into the laws and policies that guide us. I know that we are a hell of a long way from living in a perfect world. Just once I would like to hear that there is a great orator that can calm the storms in Washington and get all sides to even begin to recognize the real problems and from there solutions we can all agree on and afford. I really want this kind of leader at all levels, local State, nation and World...
Does Donald trump know that his rants just piss most of us off? I know there can't be a teacher out there that doesn't recognize his behavior is normal in Junior High but not on today's streets. Is his act just that to see how many people he can piss off so the Clinton's can once again live in the White House?
Speaking of Whack-a-doodles, (I'll bet some of you thought I was going to attack Bernie again) can the Governor of Kansas be more out of touch than to continue to cut tax breaks until the State runs out of money? Just how many millions of dollars can they continue to spend without doing something to increase revenues? I am not talking about turning our State into a complete socialist one. I think that we all want there to be a floor that catches the poor as they fall on really hard times. I just don't think we can afford to have a floor big enough if we let the entire State fail.
Just for a little while, I would like to have the legislature tell us the truth when they are busy telling us what they think we need to hear. I know that the Military tells all the Military writers to dumb down their manuals to the sixth grade reading level but do we really need speakers to dumb down every thing they report.
The other day, I told a friend that thanks to Photo Shop, you can never trust any picture to be the absolute truth. I am afraid that the same thing applies to all the written and spoken words. Some of that stems from the use of snippets on the internet. It was on Facebook, it just has to be true. Yeh, right! I know there are a bunch of kids out there that never watch the news on TV and when their car radios are on it blasts music from a CD.
I do not want us to reach the point where Stupid Speech gets to be illegal. I just would like to have disclaimers. "Warning, the following may be just made up and is suspected to be in the category of Stupid Speech. If you believe it, it may cause others to laugh at you when you repeat it." Sounds like a good warning label to me.
In the paper today, someone said that there was a guy in Italy that thought he could make the trains run on time. This is not true. Mussolini did in fact make the trains run on time, it was the rest of his ideas and ways of leading that made it bad for everyone else. Did Donald trump study some of Mussolini's facial expressions as he got his campaign ready?
OK, now that I have calmed down a little bit, I will just go back to my jobs here around rabbit run and see if I can improve things here. Yes, I know that I can not make it perfect but a little better isn't the worst thing.
MUD
3/01/2016
Well, the BIC XII Race is over
Monday nights are when the Barbershop Chorus has their practice I hate to miss a KU game. In spite of the game last night, I went to sing. As I came out of practice about 9:30, I heard the score was 74 to 42. They didn't say who was leading and I just assumed that KU had a let down after winning a tie in the conference race. After all, the Las Vegas line was KU by 2. Well, a few blocks later they talked about the complete shut off of Texas scoring for the first 5 minutes and the 30 point lead by KU. By the time I got home, Evan Manning and Tyler Self were both on the floor playing so I knew that the game was over. I really can't wait for the Senior Day activities on Saturday.
Does anyone know what the hell the Caucuses here in Kansas are all about? Our parties are awarded votes at the conventions based on our votes in the General Election. At 68, I don't ever remember hearing the word Caucus mentioned in Kansas. There are people complaining that our caucuses will be held at the same time as the KU game. I don't get it.
Yesterday the temperatures were in the 70's. Not so much today. The low temperature and the wind have signaled the return of winter here in Kansas. I have seen that in many yards, the surprise lilies and "Naked Ladies" are starting to grow out of the ground. They will get their little buds nipped off tonight.
In the military, we had a saying that you should train as you fight. Our director last night kept starting and stopping our songs and it made the process very hard to get started right. To make it worse, I was the only Baritone. At one point, someone said that could not hear the lead section because the Baritones were so loud. Five of them could not out sing one Baritone singing in a Falsetto voice. Sheesh, I raised my hand and told them I was their Huckleberry and the five leads should be ashamed of themselves. The director smiled and spent the next five minutes working on the leads part. I went over and sat down.
This morning I went out to get the paper and I saw a deer on the road between our houses. The next thing, I noticed that it was not a deer but 8 of them. I guess I need to go get some more chopped corn to feed the mob. It will be a lean month or two if we don't feed them. Things are pretty brown for a while. Once things green up, they will be OK but that won't be at least until April.
On Friday I will probably go over to Wamego and be there for the funeral of a good friend. CW5 (Ret) Mark Jensen and I go a long way back and I should go pay respects to him. I really want to see his family and how the kids are. They were so cute when they were little. Thankfully they looked like his wife. I know, that is rude but Mark would laugh cause of the truth involved.
Yesterday Dave called and asked if I could take him to a Dr's appointment. He has had an ear infection for a week and his eardrum burst. He said he was way too dizzy to drive. On top of that he was running a fever. I sure hate to see him like that.
Oh well, better get on with the day.
MUD
Does anyone know what the hell the Caucuses here in Kansas are all about? Our parties are awarded votes at the conventions based on our votes in the General Election. At 68, I don't ever remember hearing the word Caucus mentioned in Kansas. There are people complaining that our caucuses will be held at the same time as the KU game. I don't get it.
Yesterday the temperatures were in the 70's. Not so much today. The low temperature and the wind have signaled the return of winter here in Kansas. I have seen that in many yards, the surprise lilies and "Naked Ladies" are starting to grow out of the ground. They will get their little buds nipped off tonight.
In the military, we had a saying that you should train as you fight. Our director last night kept starting and stopping our songs and it made the process very hard to get started right. To make it worse, I was the only Baritone. At one point, someone said that could not hear the lead section because the Baritones were so loud. Five of them could not out sing one Baritone singing in a Falsetto voice. Sheesh, I raised my hand and told them I was their Huckleberry and the five leads should be ashamed of themselves. The director smiled and spent the next five minutes working on the leads part. I went over and sat down.
This morning I went out to get the paper and I saw a deer on the road between our houses. The next thing, I noticed that it was not a deer but 8 of them. I guess I need to go get some more chopped corn to feed the mob. It will be a lean month or two if we don't feed them. Things are pretty brown for a while. Once things green up, they will be OK but that won't be at least until April.
On Friday I will probably go over to Wamego and be there for the funeral of a good friend. CW5 (Ret) Mark Jensen and I go a long way back and I should go pay respects to him. I really want to see his family and how the kids are. They were so cute when they were little. Thankfully they looked like his wife. I know, that is rude but Mark would laugh cause of the truth involved.
Yesterday Dave called and asked if I could take him to a Dr's appointment. He has had an ear infection for a week and his eardrum burst. He said he was way too dizzy to drive. On top of that he was running a fever. I sure hate to see him like that.
Oh well, better get on with the day.
MUD
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