Teachers

A Facebook friend of mine posted an article that asked, "Are you tired of teachers being overpaid?"  I jumped up and without reading the article told him that anyone that has not taught just doesn't understand.  He told me to open the article and read it.  The article said almost exactly what I said.  Barbara had been a teacher for almost 40 years and in the end she made about what a GS-9 worker would make.  Add to that all the hours she had to perform to get ready and then all the extra money she had to pay to remain certified, she darned sure wasn't the most highly paid person. The salvation of all of this is that she saved and invested our money wisely and we are living a life I never thought possible.

There is a sign that says, "If you can read this, Thank a teacher."  Just when I want to thank all the teachers that made a difference in my life, I find I don't remember their names.  The two teachers that really did make a difference in my life were my sisters who taught me to read.  From there, I have traveled the world stage and loved it.  This blog is just and extension of my life and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Well Boys and Girls, we are ending another great season of basketball.  The conference championships are almost fixed and the tournaments are about to start.  It never ceases to amaze me how it all turns out.  Teams that could not hit the rim two shots out of three play their hearts out and come out a winner.  Just when we thought Syracuse would win out, they have melted down.  Just when WSU looked like another mid-major, they play team ball and go 31-0.   The BIG XII is still beating each other up and KU slipped in another Conference Championship.  It is unfortunate that KSU hasn't played up to their potential on the road.   A few more road wins and they too could have been in the top instead of being in a giant tie for third place. 

The weatherman was wrong about the snow here in the Heartland.  It just got too cold too quick to snow and this AM we just have an inch or so of snow and Zero degrees being wind blown to a -15 or so wind chill.  I went out to get the paper this AM and even with a sweatshirt and a coat wasn't prepared to be out very long.  I am sure glad that I don't have to fire up the tractor and drive over to clear driveways.  Add 15 to 20 MPH to the wind of 15 MPH and the wind chill gets very extreme.

Oh well, on to better things.  Barbara started our day out with the smell of cooking bacon.  Man, a cuppa coffee and French toast with a side of bacon sure hit the spot. 

MUD

195,000 Hits

I wonder how long it will take to get that last few hits to get to 200,000? 

MUD

Body Image

This morning on TV one of the spokeswomen for Dove soap spoke about their campaign to get more people to accept their body image.  Their question was, "When was the last time you smiled at yourself in a mirror?"   Well, I guess if when I first walk into the bathroom I didn't first see my dad looking back, I might be more likely to smile.  It is not the fact I see so much of my dad, but the fact that my mental image of me is much younger.

Just how young do you feel?  I am damned glad to be alive at any age, but if there was just some way to physically look like I feel it would just make my day.  About a month ago I shaved my chin whiskers off and Barbara said it made me look 10 years younger.  If I would break down and go with her to her hair dresser, I could look another 10 years younger.  Lets see, I now spend about $12.00 a month for a hair cut vs. the $75.00 (+Tip) just how much younger and at what cost do I want?  I think a smile just subtracts years from my age.  Hanging around with the nieces and nephews also helps.

The other day, on of the TV shows showed what Photoshop could do to make their stars look younger.  Heck, I know that Barbara can make anyone be anyplace and doing anything with Photoshop.  It is clear that we should no longer believe anything we see or read.  I am still blown away that many people believe that if it is on the Internet it is fact.  They watch CNN and Fox news and thing they are getting the straight facts.  Time and time again a lead in of a few facts cause people to sit there and listen to opinions about the shoulda, coulda, woulda.   In the good old days we got the straight who, what, when, where and on occasion the why.  With the reliance on the number of viewers watching at any given time it is no wonder that a lot of hype is put out there as fact.

This weekend, one of those February (soon to be March) winter storms will blow in here and start with rain, followed by sleet and then snow.  The only good thing is there will be some darned good basketball games on TV.  I think WSU has one more conference game then they start the "Arch Madness"  That's the Missouri Valley Tournament in St Louis.  KU has a couple of games left and need only one win to win their 10th BIGXII conference title in a row outright.  It matters little what happens for the next week or so.  I'm not sure it matters what happens in the BIGXII tournament starting Mid March.  They both will get to play in the Post season tournament and winning there is the name of that game.  One win and go home.  Just remember that 64 teams will play down to 16 teams in one weekend.  It is pretty clear that a bunch of someone's will go home unhappy.  I love this time of year and the process is just as important as the outcome. 

Oh well, better get moving or my butt will become my body image right here in front of the screen.

MUD

Planning, Conducting or Just Letting, " It All Hang Out"

There are a lot of people out there in the real world that feel abandoned by our current business culture.  When the baby boomers started out, most of us were looking for a career that would help us make a living and have at the end some form of retirement that would help us continue our lifestyles as we aged.  What can I say about the businesses today?  They use people as short term workers and do not feel that they need to protect them day to day let alone for a career.  I am not sure of the exact details, but I think there is generally a three to five year turn around in most industries for their employees. 

Incase you are wondering about where the hell I am taking this in this blog, strap yourself in and see. I think that a lot of people are afraid to plan where they want to go because they fear that the failure of those plans could reflect badly on them.  I would say to them, try to plan on a future but remain flexible just in case.  Kind of the sentiment that Ron Reagan said when he said, "Trust but verify." Plan but be prepared to remain vigilant and watch the future trends. 

One of the fine examples I like to use is me.  Barbara wanted me to finish my degree when I got out of the Army.  I thought that my natural talents would lead me to a management job somewhere. OK, it probably would have been a shift leader at a McDonald's, but I had high aspirations.  I did chose to graduate with a business degree because I knew that it was flexible enough to apply to a lot of career fields.  In 1966, I was drafted into the Army and because of the plans to expand the "Boots on the ground" to 500,000 in 1968, they let me go to OCS without a degree.  I knew that it was a good thing to have on my resume but without a degree, when the war slowed down I would find myself on the outside again.  We planned as soon as my obligation ended to return to school.  I did and I moved on to where I thought I would be for a career.  General Motors called and I went there for 17 of the worst months of my life.  Remember, I spent a year in a combat zone and GM was worse by a factor of two. 

While I swore to never wear green again as I drove out of the main gate at Fort Carson, I did join the National Guard to help pay the bills as I went back to school.  I found the stability of the Guard to be great and there wasn't the annual move the Regular Army had.  I met and served with a bunch of great people in the Guard. It was so great, that when I left GM, and a final touch up on my degree from KU I found a full time job with the Guard.  I changed my plans and moved down that path to retirement.

I could have asked myself if not loving  GM was a failure or move on smartly.  I took the Guard job and added the military career steps in my plan.

The second person I love to include is my brother Rick.  Rick had worked himself up to a good position in an aircraft parts mfg. company and decided that the wear and tear on his body was not what he could do for the rest of working life.  He stopped, lifted and shifted his career plans to get a degree and then Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy.  Was he a failure in the old career path?  Nope, he changed his plans and is working his new career.  I know all of his sisters and I could not be more proud of his efforts. 
I guess I want to say in closing that a good plan to achieve your plans is important but not to the point that you can't change if things don't work out. 

The corollary to all of this is that my wife, Barbara, had her plans from the first time we met and she stayed the course almost to the exact end she envisioned.  She takes a while to get totally committed to a path, but when she does, don't get in her way. 

MUD

Ther Daily Show

Just for the record, there is a program on the Comedy Channel called "The Daily Show."   It is not a source of information without commentary but a collection of odd events that becomes satire.  It is not intended to be a fair and balanced medium, just funny commentary on what the Star thinks is funny.  OK, I think that Kansas deserves to be the butt of some of the jokes this week.  Someone decided that parents need the right to spank their children.  "Ten whacks with your palm up to the point of bruising."  I think to help this measure go away the right of schools to impose the same punishment was thrown in.  Instead of killing the matter, it floated to the top of the legislative pile this week.  (Like the proverbial turd in the punch bowl) 

There is also legislation in both Kansas and Arizona that will make it legal for businessmen to reserve the right to not serve people based on religion or  sexual orientation.  Can we be far from making the old race card fit in that deck.  Surely the Legislators have been watching that for 50 years we have been fighting discrimination?  I for one will make sure that I for one will do my best to never shop or pray in any place that makes any group, second class citizens.   While I think the Catholic church moved in the right direction with the selection of this pope, they should be on the way of becoming taxed for their discrimination against women being priests.  Don't even get me started on the subject of paying 720 million to settle claims for sexual exploitation against women and children.  If any organizations did that, the leadership would go to jail and they would be shut down.  I am pretty sure that they can't prove that their "Religious Freedom" could be included in that conduct.

I am reminded that a few years back, the infamous Westboro Church bought a new truck and tried to exempt it from property taxes as belonging to the church.  Rightfully the County assessor told them that they use the truck to haul the picket signs from corner to corner and that is political not religious. When the prohibition crosses the free speech line, all political groups and churches should be scrutinized. 

Let me ensure to you that I for one realize that there is a fine line between free speech and stupid speech.  The problem is that a lot of people want the government to step in and prohibit stupid speech.  That slippery slope is one that I don't want to go down.  Especially when the congress is guilty of making stupid decisions in the past.  I am sure that the government would love to shut down this kind of blog. 

 

Well, I had better get going and finish putting fill around the base of my new building.  It is probably going to turn colder and rain Tuesday.  The fill I am using will turn into concrete if left out in the rain.  As fill that's a good thing.  Out in a pile in the front yard is not.  Barb told me that hills od concrete are not in her landscape plan.

MUD

Final Inspection on Building

All finished and paid for. 

MUD

Law of Unintended Consequences

In a lot of cases, it is not the change in the laws enacted by the congress of the US and Kansas that upsets me.  It is what happens after the laws are changed that no one (with a health dose of "but me") saw coming.   The thing that upsets me the most is that while the Kansas House and the Senate are trying to do social engineering by changing the law, their main job is on the back burner and they will probably again go into overtime to get their main business done.  They will again ask us to pay them more of a wage as they spent their time doing what my Grandma Bessie would call "Piddling around."  (I call it social engineering but Bessie was right)

I think Nebraska has the right idea.  To keep this from happening, they have a Unicameral system that is just one body in their State congress and it only meets every two years.  They don't have time to do much else but the main business of the budget and major legislation.  At least their Laws of Unintended Consequences (LUC) doesn't get them on the National news as the least progressive State.  OK, Fred Phelps has been doing that for years.

I was reminded the other day by a couple of the Mexican workers pouring concrete for my new building that California and at least one State in the east banned undocumented workers and found their crops rotting in the field because there was no one to pick them.  We are spending millions on stopping drugs from crossing the southern border when the real problem is the demand for drugs here in America.  We could increase our employment by a million people if we spent only 5% more one American made products.  Our businesses will respond if we increase demand.  I for one don't think our government is capable of fixing what is just a straight forward problem.

Every time I hear that another country is falling apart, I see that our Government wants to send millions of dollars to help them.  What are we to our Government?  Detroit could use a little hand up to keep their infrastructure from falling in.  I don't think there isn't a city in the US that couldn't use a few more dollars to make our schools safer.    How about our State Department telling the oil rich Arab nations that they need to step up and help.  In my humble opinion, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan don't have one thing that is worth spilling the blood of even one US serviceman or woman.  Back in the day, had we spent the money we wasted on the Vietnam war, we could have helped the entire country be a great place then instead of the 50 years it has taken them to join the early 19th century. That war cost us 50,00 lives to direct combat losses and an addition al 50,000 to indirect losses of life. 

So, in closing, I ask you to think about the next time you want to post one of those here is the only way to fix our problems think about the Unintended Consequences of what you ask.  But, turning our focus entirely inside the US borders could will create those dreaded words,  "I am from the Government and I'm here to help you."

MUD

Morning After

Last night the Capital City Chorus sang the national anthem for both the men's and women's Basketball game at Washburn's Lee Arena.  Great crowd and good games.  It is always fun to see a different mix of singers and how well they do.  The National Anthem for the first game we sang without a Tenor and it sounded pretty darned good.  The second game we had a tenor and the audience seemed to be almost more pleased if that is possible. 

I finally drug home about 8:20 and Barb said the last two concrete finishers had just left.  I don't know why but the concrete just took an extra 4 hours to finally get done.   Looks pretty good this morning but I have no idea what it really will look like in the end.  I wonder if the Cement Plant did add the Calcium Chloride to help it set up, or not.  It was a damp and cool evening but with the extra CC it should have gone off faster not 4 hours slower.  Who knows?

Today I am going to meet my Niece Amy and several family members at Free State Brewery in Lawrence.  She brought he son with her and he's such a cute guy.  I may try to sneak in a visit to Wal*Mart and see if they have a truck or tractor as a gift.  Even better, perhaps they will have a book about trucks and tractors. 

Last night between games, the subject of Churches, Discrimination and the pending legislation to allow churches to not marry gays or Lesbians.  I think Churches should be allowed to discriminate if they will give up their Tax Exempt status.  I told the guys that this kind of law opens the door to allow discrimination of my black friends next.  I for one don't want to go back 50 years for any reason.  The quickest way for the Catholic church to realize that we mean business is to have them pay taxes on the 720 million they paid to settle claims for sexual abuse.  I wonder why the Cardinal in California didn't go to jail for hindering the prosecution of priests in this case.  I would round them all up and put them in a work farm for years and see how that trend dies there.  If the church would let women be priests and let priests marry, this kind of nonsense would go away. 

Yesterday as the concrete was trying to dry, I talked to a couple of the Mexican workers about their desires and what they really want.  They said that in Mexico they would be lucky to be paid $10 a day let alone an hour.  They almost all are sending money to their families back home.  Most of them want to go home at the end of their working life.  They just hope they have enough money saved to live long and well.  The one guy that has a girlfriend here said that he was not sure he would get married to gain citizenship. Even if it was a dual citizenship.  What they want is a return to the days where they could get a green card to work here and someday go home.  They want to be legally here.  They all recognize that it is difficult to get across the border if they go home for a visit and their normal annual visits just aren't happening.   On the issue of stronger borders, they said that the people here would stop using drugs, there would be a lot less crossings of the border to just import drugs.  It is those drug mules that give the entire population a bad name.  It has been my pleasure to spend time with many different "Brown Brothers" and share ideas with them.  Those haters that say bad things against them should have to do the menial jobs they do for the poor wages they get. 

Oh well, as you can tell, I was on a roll yesterday and just wish I had a small pad and pencil to write down all the things everyone said.  It was like a comedy mixed with a tragedy and a little romance thrown in.  After all, guys will be boys when it comes to the matter of girls.

MUD

Pourin' Concrete

Yesterday the Concrete guy said they would be here this morning and pour the floor.  I had about half of the fill inside the building and he said they would make it level and pour it by noon.  At 11:30 the biggest part of the crew went on to another job and left two guys here to put the finishing touches on the floor.  They say they will leave by 4 PM.  

I wish you could have been here to see that crew work.   They hustled their butts off and even had to wait for the concrete truck to get here.  I have enough fill to put around the building and fill the ruts from the concrete truck.  10 Yards inside of the truck puts a lot of weight on the ground and the ground was just between frozen and a mud bog. 

This afternoon the Barbershop Chorus will go to Lee Arena and sing the National Anthem for the women's and then the Men's Basketball games.   I love to sing with the guys and we'll have a lot of fun.  I'll even try to get the camera set up and film the event.

One funny thing about the crew was this one guy that spoke very little English asked only two questions.  When he saw the 53 pickup he said "How Much?"  When he saw the 57 Chevy he repeated that question. 

One of these days, I am going to get Dave over to help me with a couple of computer questions.  This operating system just has me confused.  I am pretty sure he can dummy down his answers and I'll finally figure out how to do a couple of things I cannot do right now. 

Thanks to Iowa State who knocked off Texas last night.   That leaves us a couple of games up on Texas in the Conference Title hunt.  We'll get to see how well they do on our court on Saturday.  I am completely amazed at the change in the referees this season.  They started calling ticky tack fouls at the start and I have seen teams body slam Joel Imbid in two different games with no call made.  Barb hates those close games and those are the one's I like to watch the most.  Watching KU beat up on TCU didn't thrill me but the Texas Tech game went right down to the wire and I loved it. 

Oh well, better get cracking.

MUD
  

65 Degrees in february?

After a couple of those Arctic Swirls that brought us zero degrees and snow up to rear end deep on a tall Indian, it is finally going to thaw out for a couple of days.  So much so, the concrete guy is coming tomorrow to do a pour the floor in the new steel building.  Can't wait to see it in all it's glory.

At the barbershop chorus practice last night, it seemed like the entire group just started on pitch and went flat all night.  There is one song that only two of the Basses can hit the low notes and they went so flat that I was the only one that could hit the bottom note.   Not bragging, only the facts, Mam.  I think everyone has just a touch of something and many of the guys stayed home because the couldn't talk let alone sing.  I practiced early in the day and then took a nap. 

What would you do if you all of a sudden started having balance problems?  Last night I dropped a sheet of music and when I picked it up I simply went ass hole over teakettle and the only thing that saved me is that the risers have a railing on the back side.   Oh well, another disaster survived.  I think it is related to my hearing damage and I don't have any high hopes that it will get better as I get older. 

During our Valentines singing, I had a lady write down the name and address of one of the ladies we were going to sing to.  As I posted the pictures and sent pictures of the ladies and the quartet, I couldn't find a picture of one lady.  Last night that mystery was solved when I was reminded that Ann was home sick that day so we didn't sing to her.  Duh Dennis.  I had such a good plan and it all fell apart on that one person near the front of the list.  Oh well.

MUD

Is Basketball Season Over Yet?

Last weekend I saw that all three Major Basketball teams won.  Unfortunately, K-State carried that over to Tuesday night and beat KU.  This weekend K-State lost to Baylor in Overtime and KU and WSU both won.  We are getting down to the end of the season and will soon have the conference Tournaments.  The Missouri Valley Tournament in St Louis looks like a fun trip some where out in the future. (I love the name- Arch Madness)  For now, I will just stay home and watch the BIGXII when it happens. 

I sure wish I had some insight on who was going to win or lose.  If I really did, I would go buy Lottery Tickets.  (or not if I was sure no one could win)    To me, Basketball is a game played by a bunch of kids and I do my best to enjoy the ride.   I am sure there are a bunch of OSU fans that didn't see their melt down happening with Smart having a bad meeting engagement with a fan.  There are a lot of people that saw WSU in the final 4 but 27-0 this near to the end of the season?   Who saw KU playing more like a team with Imbid on the bench?   Not me...


I played driver to one of the quartets when they delivered singing valentines all over town last Friday.  It was a blast to meet so many nice people and see how appreciative they were.  Next time I will do a better job of getting the names, e-mail and pictures all lined up.  There is only a couple of pictures I don't have sent today.  I am hoping that the Scheduler will have some of the missing information tonight. 

I am convinced that everyone that has an opinion is at least partially wrong.  If anyone thinks the "War on Terror" fixed all of our problems, they need to stop and think.  The congress throwing Trillions on the stimulus was just as wrong.  Just when the rest of the USA was coming to terms with the question of equal right for all people, the Kansas House tries to run an end around as set us back at least 50 years.  If you can discriminate against the gays and Lesbians, how about the Jews and blacks?  Are they next?   How about the Catholic Church telling women they can be Priests?   Should they be applauded of have their tax exempt status revoked? 

A couple of years ago, I asked the question - What if we find out that only Saddam Hussein or the Taliban are the only people ruthless enough to make the country of Iraq work?   I further asked how many countries have taken a punch at the Tar Baby we call Afghanistan?   Didn't England, the USSR and now the USA all find this place to be less fun than a fart in a space suit?  

If you can't tell, I have a lot more questions than answers.  In fact I feel like I have been stirring the pot with a motor boat paddle because I don't have a paddle for this boat.  I'll write more later when I have more answers - or Not!

MUD 

Singing Valentines

On Friday I drove one of the quartets as they sang Valentines songs to women all over Topeka.  The gave the ladies a box of chocolates and a rose.  What a great day.  I knew Barbara would be at the Lawn and Garden show so I had them drop in and sing to her.

The Love of my Life and Young at Heart Quartet

Just finished watching Kansas dismantle TCU.  They moved the ball, scored at will, played a little defense and looked like they were having fun.   I even saw Perry Ellis Smile after setting a new career record by shooting a 3 point basket.  Instead of going for a 100 point game, Bill put the walk- on players into the game.  It was a fun game to watch. 

Last week I said that WSU could probably beat KU or K-State.  Now I am not sure who is the best.  I saw a KU team that was energize and having fun.  One thing I don't want to do is to wish WSU any ill will.  They are a great team and made up of the kind of young men that any coach would love to have.

Sometime next week I hope to have a floor poured in the building.  It looks pretty good right now but needs that solid floor.  I guess I also need to start working on a plan for storage and work benches.

The other day, my sister called me about her taxes.  She admitted that she will (like me) have to pay this year.  I will have my taxes done here in a couple of weeks but I will not mail them in until the last day I can without penalty.  In fact, I haven't even loaded the Turbo Tax information yet.

Better run and get something done.

MUD

46 Years, Really?

On February 11th, 1968, Barbara Jean Schmoe took my right hand and promised to walk with me until death do us part.  It was the best day of my life and for over 2/3rds of my life she has made it one wonderful trip.  We have enjoyed making plans and making them work until we have reached a point in life where I can truly say we have everything we ever needed and most of what we want.  The great thing is that at the end of the month we have money left over when the month ends. 

I think she enjoys watching and wondering what I'll do next

The other day, one of the sportscasters asked one of the male skiers how he managed to get safely down the hill at 70 MPH.  He said he watched way down the hill and see's where he is going not just watching the ground right in front of his skis.  How can we give this gift to our children? (Not just my son, but all our children)  When we do that, we will achieve the status of a truly great Nation. 

I think that is a lesson we have forgotten in a lot of areas.  Instead of trying to give people hope and a positive vision, we talk about all the problems people are having.   Do you think there was a time when I was unemployed?  Hell Yes! but I didn't let that stop talking about our future plans and the realization that we had a course in life and keeping going forward was the path we needed to follow.

I feel it is important that you understand that I started poor and through the luck of the Irish, got to my end goals.  Throw in a lot of hard work and a good education and you will understand me better.  I want you to know that I spent a year living apart from my new wife and in a place where people were seriously trying to take my life.  I slept on the ground a lot of nights and ate food that just nourished my body not my soul.  Everything else since those days has been a journey way below the level that would make me want to quit. 

I also want to mention that right now, my other passion is music. I hope you can find the music that makes your heart soar.  The best I can do is Barbershop Chorus but that's fine.

If hear that one day, I am no longer alive, don't cry, just tell a Denny Petty story, sing a song and move on. 

MUD

Went to Texas

We drove down to see the KU-Texas wrasling match.  It was supposed to be a basketball game but the first thing Cam threw Joel on the floor and it never got better.  The only fouls called in the game were those patty cake fouls on the perimeter.  They could (an did) draw bold underneath but none of those fouls got called.  For some reason our million dollar baby just stayed out on the perimeter and didn't make an impact. 

We drove to Hillsboro, Texas on Saturday night and only went just north of the Oklahoma state line the next day.  It got icy and there were wrecks everywhere.  We assumed that overnight, the road crews would get out and scrape and salt with some sand thrown in for traction.  Looked like all they did was bring in the wreckers overnight and drag cars out of the ditch.  It took us 5 hours to go 120 miles to OK City.  It only took us 6 hours to go the rest of the way home. 

We arrived home with the prediction of a heavy snow to start Monday night and go on through Tuesday.    Well, we have somewhere between 6 and 8 inches on the ground.  I haven't seen hide nor hair of a snow plow yet.  I can only assume they are waiting for it to slow down and they will work the roads tonight.  As an old retiree, it doesn't really matter what they do so long as we have some  bread and milk.  I did get out early and get 5 gallons of diesel for the tractor.  I know Barbara and Dave worry I'll get out and get too cold moving snow.  It is a blast for me and I wear layers over layers of warm clothes.

Barbara is making chili for dinner tonight and that's what the doctor ordered after an hour or so out in the cold.  We also have the Jay Hawks and Baylor on ESPN at 6 PM.  Two fine teams that will do battle in Waco.  I hope Ben McLemore puts his big girl pants on and shows up to play.  Oh well, I have said before, it is only college students playing ball.

Better go see how soon that wonderful smell can fit in a bowl.

MUD

Rockin' the Place

On Thursday, I put probably about 40 tons of screenings in the new building as back fill.  I didn't want to put too much rock in side so there is about 16 ton of rock still in the pile outside.  I love to drive my tractor with a front loader and I did most of the moving in about 2 1/2 hours.  Now all I need is a door and a floor. 

The next project is to decide what kind of shelving and interior items top put in the shed.  At least one or two will be lockers with a lock.  I think I will put most of my electric tools there.  I think most of my automotive tools will be in the garage.  

Does anyone else feel that the Superbowl is just irrelevant?  I know that a lot of advertisers just are using the event to hype their product.  I really like the Budweiser Ads but their product - Not so much.  This morning on TV there was a group of former players in New Jersey serving drinks and singing gospel music.   It was about 7 AM and way too early for  Bloody Mary's.  Oh well.

I guess I'd better run and catch up tomorrow.

MUD

Freedom Isn't Free

I just watched a program about the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.  The wall wasn't built to celebrate war, but those young men and women that were willing to fight for our country.  This was even when the war wasn't understood and the soldiers underappreciated  at the time.  The other day one of my fellow Vietnam Vets said that a guy told him, "Its a shame we lost that war."   He said that the country gave up, not the soldiers.  Had we played by the rules of WWII, we could have won but the cost could have been more than we were willing to pay.   It could have easily turned into a nuclear war and no one wanted that.

In retrospect, few wars are fought that don't cost us and other countries a dear price.  When the war in Iraq started, I asked just how much is that sand covered country worth in terms of the lives of our young men and women.  What would be the outcome when we realize that it takes a person like Saddam Hussein to keep the country together.  What would be the cost?

I say all this because there is a generation out there that has not had to pay the price for our freedoms.  There is a lot of the people that are willing to give up the basic tenets of our freedom and not stand up and protest.  I understand that the president is going to tell us tonight in the State of the Union that he is going to change the fundamental rules in Washington and expand the way he gets things done.  I think we already have given up too much of our freedoms and wonder when the backlash will begin?  

Have you noticed that the News Media focuses our attention on a few rogue shooters and ignore the hundreds of crimes done in the cities?  I will bet you that there are more gun related deaths in Chicago on a weekend than occur in 6 months in Kansas.  Where is the outrage about the failed policies that takes away the success the young men there should feel.   Where is the protest about the way things are done there?  Yep, they think they can solve the problem in Kansas by making it harder for me to own a gun and ignore the problem that we have a generation of people that are rapidly losing hope.  It is not the Mexican coming here to look for work that is the problem.  It is the border that allows drugs to flow in like water over the dam.  In fact it is not the drugs, but the conditions that makes our people use them to avoid looking at the conditions they live in. 

Don't tell me that we need to throw away the rules and laws to make it better.  Tell me what are the solutions you are going to attempt to apply to our problems?   We live in the most powerful country in the world and can't figure out how to build jobs where they are needed?  Shame on us.  Shame on us for re-electing the very people that are responsible for the conditions that got us where we are today.

I wish it were on record who said it first, but If you find yourself in a hole, Stop Digging.

MUD  

What Obituary's Don't Say

Today, I read that a good friend of mine passed away this week and his Obit was glowing on his accomplishments in life.  Now, let me tell you what it didn't say.   My friend was so poor at map reading that he would get lost on the way to the restroom in the Armory.  When I joined the unit, he was the Executive Officer of our battery and he would have me ride in his jeep to make sure we went the right way on our way to Fort Riley.  From where we were, you go west and south and you about have to hit it somewhere.  Great salesman for his company, poor map reader.   This guy was about the friendliest guy I knew but only once did I make the mistake of sleeping in the same metal building with him at at Camp Ripley, Minnesota.  He would start to snore and then stop abruptly.  At first you worried that he would die and about after 15 minutes or so, you would hope he would.    It only took one night to find out why they called him Thunder.  I swear that after a night in one of those metal hooch's at Camp Ripley they needed to take a hammer and re-drive the nails so the siding wouldn't fall off.  Again, he was one of the nicest guys I served with but ....  You get the story.

Another friend of mine passed away this last year and what his obituary didn't say about him that he too could not orient himself on the ground with a compass and a map.  There is a point at Camp Guernsey where four roads meet.  From base camp to the field, you had to pass there every time.  On one trip to the field, the commander asked George where they were.  He didn't have a clue.  The Colonel showed him on the map where they were and had his driver go up the road and circle around this one hill and return to the same spot.  Where are we Captain?  "It looks familiar but I don't know where we are."   Another one of my favorite stories is the time he went to a meeting at the Field Artillery Group headquarters and when the meeting was over, George took off in the Group commander's jeep instead of his own.  Hqs 6 was the bumper marking on both jeeps but on the other side of the bumper 127 FA BN is not 130FA GP.  I think most of us got a pretty big laugh out of that.  Especially when the Colonel came to get his jeep back.

Every once in a while my friend would make a mistake that would cause me to throw my helmet.  One year I put together all the training data and comments for the Annual Training Report (1-R's) When I finished, I put the report on George's desk and went to the field with the Battalion.  I told George that all the reports needed was the in Camp arrival strength data and then forward the reports to the FA Group Hqs.  The second day in the field, George went to the Battalion Commander and told him that I had to get the 1-R's finished.  The Lt Col came to me with the intention of chewing my butt over the missing report.  That's when I threw the helmet.  Shit, do I have to do everything around here?  George, where is the report right now?  He didn't know.  I repeated what I had told him and that the report is sitting on his desk waiting for the in-camp strength to be added and the report was ready to go forward.   I told the Colonel that I was ready to go back and do George's job if he would stay here and do mine. ( I was sure that I was capable to his job and he wasn't capable of doing mine. )   

So, the next time you read an obituary, just remember that they are at best a collection of the finer things done in life and don't have a grain of truth about the stupid things the person said or did.  Oh well,  I am still looking forward to meeting my two friends at Fiddler's Green and drinking a canteen of grog when I pass through there somewhere in the future.  I just hope it will be a while yet.  I think I will review my Obit and see if I too have forgot the funny short comings I have.

MUD

Life in the Funny Papers

Does any of the Sunday Funnies remind you of your life?  For me, Pickles is almost a review of things as they are happening to me.  The other day I went out to the garage and picked up a box.  When I held it tight to my belly, my pants fell down.  This morning Grandpa in Pickles was unbalanced by his set of keys and to balance him, grandma put rocks in his other pocket.  His pants fell down.  I think of getting older is giving me a whole new bunch of unintended consequences that never would have occurred to me earlier in life.  Reading Red and Rover reminds me so much of Dave as a kid when he too could find a lot more fun in a cardboard box than anyone else could.  Anyone that has a teenager today can read Zits and see their non understanding of today's technology and how alien our own children seem.  Forget social rules, I am afraid that "No rules" is the rule today.

I am pretty fed up with News programs that are spending hours reporting on stories that should be on TV's Rich and Stupid.  How the hell can a 19 year old Canadian teenager rent a Lamborghini and think that he, in a bright yellow car can drag race at 4 in the morning without drawing the attention to himself.  He should be just sent back to Canada and told to nevermore return here.  Shame Justin Bieber can't be forced to take Smiley Cyrus and her magic Twerking butt with him.  In my day, if you were released from Jail, you sure as hell didn't crawl up on your SUV to waive at the crowd of paparazzi gathered to see you get out.    I fully understand Saturday Night Live doing a skit on Christy but then for CNN to run that skit every hour all day is just wrong. 

Seems like both Barb and I have our days and nights turned pretty much around.  We both woke up before 6 AM a couple of days in a row.  Those afternoon naps and falling asleep on the couch early in the evening just had our sleep patterns all shot full of holes.  It remind me of my mother.  I would go over and 90% of the time mom would be asleep in her chair in front of the TV.  Then she would tell me how poorly she slept that last night.  Well, I guess if you can and do nap all day, getting 8 hours of sleep at night is just not what your body needs.   While I highly recommend getting older, there are things that change that you never seem to understand.   Damned shame that I needed a flashlight to find the paper this morning.  Even if the Sunday paper looks like a log there in the middle of the driveway. 

I had to drive to Manhattan yesterday for a workshop that the Barbershop guys put on.  We had to be there at 8:30 so we all met at the local doughnut shop.  I knew that I could not drink coffee at home and with the doughnut when we stopped or I could not make it all the way to Manhattan without a potty halt.  I put in one cup of coffee and everything is fine.  Put in that second cup and it forces equilibrium and one has to be put out.  As it was, I made it to Manhattan without a halt but I did arrive looking for the restroom.  Dang I hate it when that happens.  Getting older is a bitch except when you consider the alternative.

It seems that my selection of a location for the new shed was just not as good as I hoped.  The site is very un-level and it will probably take two truck loads of rock fill to bring the fill up to grade in the middle.  I think I can use my own dirt to fill around the building.  At least it won't flood when it rains.   We'll see.  I think the company that is putting up the shed is going to blame tree roots and rocks for the delay in the digging the holes.  I am going to call their manager and have him come here and look at the hole drill they have.  It is missing teeth and "wallers" a hole not dig.  It was kind of fun to watch their skid loader dance around as it tried to dig.  Even one of the team said it needs to be fixed.  The good thing is it was broke long before it got here. 

Oh well, I will try to get a picture once it gets light enough outside..

MUD

Another Cold Day

While it started out this morning at yesterday's high, It was still pretty darned cold going out to get the paper.  I think the wind has turned to come more from the south west, a wind from any direction is not a good thing when the thermometer starts at 15.  Wonder if it will get better before it gets worse.  The really bad news is that it is normally after a warm up when the moist warm air get here that we have those really deep February snows.  February is just around the corner you know. 

This Saturday members of our Chorus will travel to a workshop in Manhattan, KS.   Yep, the little Apple will be our destination for a workshop to help us turn our vowels and smooth our sounds.  I am looking forward to the day with my friends.  I haven't a clue if the building crew will come today or perhaps tomorrow.  Heck at the rate they have been dependable, next spring just might be their arrival time.  I guess even with a hole digger the ground is going to be frozen pretty hard.   One of these days I hope my typing speed improves so that I type almost as fast as I am thinking.  I was typing the word going and thinking frozen and put the first letter of frozen on the end of going.  "Goinf"  looks like some word my Jewish friends might use to describe me.  Oh well.

The other day, a good friend put a Facebook post up about a woman getting a paper cut on her tongue  and having cockroaches hatch out from the wound.  There is a neat tool called Snopes.com that will debunk these myths fast.  While I think it is like something that Steven King would write, it and the one about cockroaches hatching from a mouth sore after eating Taco Bell burrito are both false.   Go to snopes.com to verify urban myths.

I am going to go out in a little while and mark where I want the shed put.  The salesman/engineer marked it out one time but my trying to pull a stump almost obliterated the marks.   The building team arrived here at 8:30 and I spent the day out with them.  The poles are all installed and tomorrow they will put the sides and some of the metal on.  I can see I need a lot of backfill to make it all work.

Frame of the new building
 

Better finish here and I will write more Sunday.

MUD

Polar Vortex is Nothing

In fact, it is minus 15 when you consider the wind chill here today.  Just a brisk walk out to get the paper at the end of  my 200 foot driveway was a chilling experience.  I don't know how long it would take you to have frost bite out there but the cold air made me cough.  I will tell you that the wind just blew through a pair of sweatpants like I was naked.  I will just use one word to describe the experience - "Shrinkage."  Guys will understand.

If you are easily offended, skip this paragraph.   During the Korean war, one female reporter asked a soldier what the hardest part of was in Koreas was.  He said, "Taking a piss through 4 inches of clothes with a 2 inch dick. 

I apologize to those of you that read that last statement and especially to those that didn't get it.   It did seem funny and appropriate to me.  But I have a warped sense of humor and sometimes inappropriate jokes just seem OK to me.

The other day, I listened to a part of a discussion by Rush Limbaugh about what is the role of Government in our lives.   Oddly enough there were a lot of good people that called in and the discussion went all over the board.  You know that many of the conservatives feel we are over regulated and many others thought that we need the laws to protect the liberties of the people.  In Business law, we studied that a lot of the laws stem from "Olde" English law and are just the rules of personal conduct that are codified from our mores as a society.  They stand the test of being a description of the minimum levels of behavior we say is acceptable.  Another way some people see the law it is the maximum level of behavior tolerated by a society.  In between whatever you think is minimum or maximum, there are the rules that our Government sets down on how we must behave or conduct our activities.

Being a conservative, I am more concerned with the regulations than the laws.  If I had my way, all laws and regulations would have a sunset and expire with time.  I know we have all seen the stupid rules about riding our horse on a main street after dark.  Look at any rule book and there will be hundreds of old laws that have really expired with the change in society.  I did hear an interesting description from Geraldo Rivera.  He said he is a social liberal in everything but the way young men treat his daughter.   I think that most of us have things we would have harsh rules about and other areas that we would liberalize.  Being a Democracy, we elect people to make the rules and must agree to obey those laws until they are changed within the law.  It is fortunate that it does take time to change things or we would get batted about like a toad in a hailstorm. 

As most of you that read this blog know, I have a metal building on order and earlier this week I was told that the crew got froze out one day earlier this week.  I am not going to sit by the window today and wonder if they are going to come.  I can't imagine anyone trying to work outside long today and I darned sure know that putting metal siding on a building in a 20 MPH (with gusts to 35) is almost impossible.  Way back in 1965, I was working for a construction company in Wichita.  We had built a high rise at 13th and Oliver.  In the summer that year, there was a tornado or at least a high gust of wind that crushed in the dog house over an elevator motor on the roof.  We had to go up there and remove the collapsed roof and then erect a temporary structure to cover the motor and mechanism.  They brought in a crane and it was used to haul down the debris and lift the new materials up.  I don't remember how many stories up in the air we were, but it took three or four of us to hold the plywood when we took it to the carpenters.  Normally I could carry a sheet by myself but I didn't think that kite was a word I wanted in my obituary. 

As a basketball fan, I am proud of the college teams here in Kansas.  Any discussion needs to start with a discussion of Wichita State.  They have now won 20 games without a loss.  One of the Sport talk shows said they must be considered for one of the number one seeds if they continue at this pace.  They are darned good.  Right behind them is the KU team with 5 wins in the BIG XII.   This is especially significant when you realize they graduated five seniors from a good team last year.  They have one senior, one Junior, a couple of sophomores and a significant Freshman class.   The young players that have signed up for next year are looking like gold from here.  Two players on the current team are shifting places as the number one or two in the NBA draft this year.   K-State had a 4-2 record and are pretty darned good and a lock on being in the post season tournament.  It seems like there is a BIG XII game on almost every night on ESPN or the local channels. 

Better get cracking here.

MUD

The Other Side of the Coin

I read a lot about people feeling that the US Government is not supporting our Veterans the way it should.  I am offering a few words here to let you see the other side of the same argument.

In 1966, I was drafted into the Army with several thousand other guys a lot like me.  I could have run to Canada or tried to play games with the Draft Board or the Doctors at the Processing Station in Kansas City.  I think a whole bunch of us did not and we went to the service with the clear understanding that it was just the first step in going to War. I don't even begin to try to tell you that we knew what that meant, but we went willing. 

How can anyone tell me that a few less or more dollars in a retirement pay means more than a willingness to go to war and if somehow selected, to die?   How can people equate fairness over a few less dollars in our pay to guys and now gals, in that discussion.  The last thing most of us want is to have people think we are a bunch of cry babies that feel cheated.  I served for about 31 years and was paid well and often.  I was decorated for my service and promoted to Colonel.  Who would have ever thought that little Denny Petty could ever reach that grade?  Every Monday night I sing with two other retired Colonels and none of us are missing many meals because of a few dollars.

It is clear that our Government is facing a turning point that won't be easy for anyone.  We either need to raise taxes or pay out less.  I served proudly and compared to the threat of death, a few less dollars is just a small step for me to take.   I am proud to say that I live in a country that has not served under a monarchy, a Pope or a Military Dictatorship.  I love it here and if I didn't, I would hike my butt somewhere else.  I salute my flag, take what I get and move on.  I think that most of us veterans feel the same way deep down.  

To me, there is something to be said about our freedom.  If you don't want a religion, a gun, an abortion or a gay marriage don't get one.  

MUD, COL (Ret)

Another Round of the Polar Vortex

On Monday about noon, the temperature outside was wonderful.  It has been down hill since then.  Last night I went to my Barbershop Chorus practice about 7 PM and I swear I go blown into another lane by one of the 50 to 60 MPH gusts of wind.   This morning it isn't as windy but it was in the single digits with a 10 MPH wind making it probably below zero on the wind chill reading.  I went out and saw all sorts of things blown into the yard. One of the things was a big black plastic bag and I used it to pick up all the trash.  I guess that just makes us even for having my trash blow over, or visited by a dog.  I would have the trash company give me one of those plastic containers but the 30 gallon kind of container can fit in the trunk of the car to cart out to the court.  I will probably make some kind of a cart this spring or summer to get them all out to the court.  I use my tractor on recycle day to carry out the big container with the yellow lid.

 Has anyone else noticed that the news (especially CNN) has started to carry items that aren't news but something a TV channel or celebrity has done.  Saturday Night Live did a parody of Chris Christy and while I didn't see it, I know they are the parody channel.  CNN showed the clip almost in its entirety as if it were news.  Whatever happened to just plain old news.  I guess on slow news days they have to report something.  I am kind of glad that that's the worse that they have. 

The other day, I listened to a talk radio news account and they quoted Ronald Reagan when he asked, "After 30 years of Government helping the poor by spending money, when are they going to have an accounting to tell us what worked?"  Well, we are now closer to 50 years and still no one has been able to tell us how the Government has made us that much better.  My daughter-in-law said it best the other day.  No one can convince her that people just want a hand out.  She has been there and she knows that nothing can compare with the joy of having a job.  We want training programs, more employers and ways to give a hand up not a hand out.  We have a surplus of homes that are government owned.  How about teaching people to re-hab them and then let them buy the houses.  Even if it was at a reduced cost, it is better than to have the houses sit empty.

Why does the media and the political parties think they have to run down politicians in an election?  Isn't it enough to have people that are willing to run for office and serve?  I am not talking about those with felony arrests but people like Sarah Palin that was a mother and the Governor of Alaska.  Who was the lady that ran for the Vice Presidency a few years back that was pilloried over her husband?  I could probably go on for hours about the good people that have been driven out of races because of small things. 

A couple of years back, I drove several people to the KC Airport and one of the women said that she thought that Hillary Clinton was the best thing that happened to New York.  She said that most of her friends loved the response from her office when they had a problem.  I simple asked her what had Hillary done for the United States as a Senator?  No one in the van had an answer.  I said that Hillary is a Senator to the US Senate not the New York senate.  When she started to do more there, I would be on her band wagon.  It had been unfortunate that she has been pilloried for her service.  She isn't any worse than John Kerry.  Not that it is any good thing to say about her.  

Oh well, I guess I had better go see if there isn't something calling out my name upstairs.

MUD   

Sunday Football

I had just settled in for an afternoon nap when Denver's Quarterback started to call an audible.  Instead of falling to sleep, I heard, "Dennis,  Dennis, Omaha Hut."  That was like someone played a series of notes and didn't play the last one.  Somehow my mind paid attention and asked me why the hell someone thought I needed to have a hut in Omaha.  It did stop the process of falling asleep, or perhaps a better word is that it delayed the inevitable.   My mother said that as a kid I could put my butt against the wall and fall asleep before it hit the floor.  I did have two modes, full on pandemonium and asleep.  The really good news is that for me a short nap works wonders.

I am waiting for the builders to get here and start work on the storage shed.  I expected them to get here bright and early and put up the skeleton of the shed.  Wrong.  Here it is almost noon and no sign of them yet.  Oh well, how much do I care that it will be colder later on this week.  It is above 50 right now and won't be later this week.

Tonight is the Barbershop chorus practice and I'll miss another KU game.  This time I will have the DVR free to tape it and will get to watch it later on.  Baylor is one of those streaky teams and have been known to sneak out a win or two.  At least KU doesn't have any league losses and everyone else has two.  Rock Chalk.

I guess I'd better close this and move on.

MUD

Looing at the Stats

Have you ever looked at the stats for your blog?  There is a map of the places my blog is read from. (Yes, I could have worded that better)  As I expected, the majority of the hits are from the USA.  The one fact that was the most interesting is that 53% of the readers use Mac's.  I wonder if the use of the I-books and I pads are swaying this fact?   Oh well, all I can say is welcome to my blog and I hope I can continue to write something worthwhile to keep you coming back.   From time to time, I wonder why I don't get a lot of comments but then I remember that I am writing this as my outlet and move on.  My ADD lets me forget in a few short minutes anyway. 

MUD

Another Roundball Day

With a great deal of pride, I can say that Wichita State, Kansas State and KU all finished yesterday with a win.  I had my doubts that the KU game would end without the entire bench of both teams being fouled out.  As it was, Frank Mason went from Goat to hero with the last play of the game.  Had OK-State won the game with that last minute shot, I can't imagine the mayhem. Mason blocked the winning shot and saved us from the agony of defeat.   The announcer for the WSU game kept saying that WSU was playing angry.  He didn't get to see any of the game in Lawrence or he would have awarded WSU the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Every time someone gets into the box scores and wonders why a team wins with one or two of the starters not producing, I want to remind them that it is a team that wins.  All the pieces need to fit together in the end.  Perhaps back in the day when Wilt Chamberlin scored 100 points in one game, it could be said that he won the game but everyone does his part today. 

We have had a week of weird weather.  It has gone from very cold to warmer but the wind chill has been brutal.  Today it might get to 60 but I'll bet the wind chill will make it feel like low 40's.  I do have a few chores to finish but then I will do my best to be sure that Barb and I get out some to blow off the stink (My dad's old Navy saying)  I don't have a clue where we will go but I'm sure there is somewhere within 100 miles of Topeka that needs our presence. 

The metal building guy called me on Friday and said that his crew will probably be here on Monday.  I can't wait to watch how they put the building up.  I know it is really kind of a pole barn with siding on all four sides.  It is not intended to survive a tornado, only be a place where I can store things.  Perhaps I will be able to get the garage organized an have some room to work in there.  That will probably take some kind of a stove or I can just take the winter off.  We'll see.

At what age do you think a guy should really retire from hard work?  I seem to get more tired more quickly now days.  When the spring arrives, I have less energy at the start of the work and it takes me much longer to get into shape.  The thing that really troubles me is that I seem to fall down a lot more easy now than in the past.  So far, I have managed to not fall on the chain saw and the biggest amount of damage had been to my dignity.  I did take it a lot more easy this week to let my back heal after last weekend's fall. 

The other day, Barbara and I were talking and I pointed out that our personalities were different and we need different levels of interaction with people.  I have to get out about once a week or so and interact with people.  Barb can take a week off and read books and be happy.  It is that classic extrovert vs. introvert thing.   Oh well, better go do some needed work or the interaction with the building crew won't be a positive thing tomorrow.

MUD

Retired, What will I do to fill My Time?

The other day I met the wife of one of my retired military friends.  He has a job and drives to Fort Riley every day for a week and then flies to New jersey for a week.  She said he is afraid that he won't have enough to keep him busy.  I will go to his funeral when he dies because he didn't know what life was all about.  I would have understood if she had said that he was worried that he needed a little more money to do the things he wanted to do when he does retire.  Knowing what he made, That is a silly worry.   

One day, many years ago, one of my nephews told my mother that he was bored.  She told him, "No, you are boring if you can't find things to do."   That has kind of been my motto since I retired.  In fact, there are days that just staying home and reading a book is needed to get over all the business I have done.  Today is one of those days that while it is sunny, it is way too cold to get a lot done outside. 

I guess the thing I appreciate about being retired is being the lord and master (OK, Co-Master) of what I do.  There are things I want to do but they will wait until it is warmer later on.  Being married, I do understand having co-plans because we both worked hard to get here and what she wants to do is generally as fun as anything I want to do. 

One nice thing about my wife is that we both have activities that we can do without making the other person get involved.  I think we have discovered that while we can share things, the source of our happiness is internal.  I love to sing and Barb doesn't.  Barb loves to grow plants and I don't.  As an extrovert, going to weekly Barbershop Chorus meetings charges my batteries.  Barb is more of an introvert and charges her batteries by reading good books.   We each have a TV so we can watch what we want.  I hate to watch young people say stupid things about buying a house ad barb could care less about fixing up old cars.  I think the only time both TV's are on the same channel is when KU is playing basketball.  In fact I check on her when the KU games start because she sometimes loses track of time when she is reading a good book.

I love to read a good book but there are times when I have spent too much time on the computer and my eyes just tell me to sit back and enjoy the TV.  A lot of those times I find that a short nap really helps me with eye strain.   Even a few minutes just does the trick.

Oh well, I hope you all reach a point in your life that you can find the things you want to do in your retirement and can afford to do them.

MUD, ORF (Old Retired Fart)

Eye Test

Yesterday I was at Wal*Mart and thought about the fact I needed an eye test.  I have been to the Optometrist outside our Wal*Mart in the past so I decided to stop in there as see when I could get an exam.  There was this cute lady sitting at the reception table and I asked her when I could get an eye test.  She said there was an opening right then and did I have time.  Sure, Why not?  She took me into the first exam room and told me that her receptionist was at lunch and introduced herself as Dr. Kristina Semaan.  She bought the practice this year from the Old Guy. (I don't remember his name)  She is a recent graduate of Georgia Medical School and moved back to Lawrence to be near her family.  All of her undergraduate work was done at KU and she too is a Jayhawk fan. 
I can't remember having a more complete eye exam.  Prior to puffing air in my eye to examine the pressure, she had me look into a machine and she adjusted it to see if I could still see this little house on a hill.  I don't have a clue what that was for, but she did say it was last time's prescription and my eyes haven't changed that much.  She took me into the exam room and we went through the does this look better or worse routine until I and she were satisfied that she had the right prescription.  Only my left eye was any different. (She said minor 1/4 change -whatever that meant)  She said there was no record of my eyes being dilated and she needed to do that to really check out the retina and possible cataracts.  She said I had what she describes on a scale of 1 to 4, a level 1.  Slight cloudiness at the edge.  Probably good for another ten years prior to being bad enough for surgery. 

Each step of this process was explained and explained in detail.  We also talked about the fact she was Lebanese and  I laughed at the fact that as a White, Anglo Saxton Protestant of no clear and dangerous extraction I felt kind of left out that I didn't have any other place to claim or any holidays other than Cristian holidays to celebrate.  She said that she didn't fall back on her heritage for much other than about every time her family has a meal her mother served Tabouli.  She said that Lebanon was once known as the Paris of the Middle East but not so much anymore. I got a history lesson as well as an eye exam.

Sometime today I am going to go to Wal*Mart and order some new glasses.  They seem to do about the best job for the least cost.  The prices are about $100 cheaper than Lens crafters and  pretty much the same quality.  Oh well, moving on to newer things.

MUD

Have You Ever Eaten a Kumquat?

In today's paper (Wed, 15 Jan 14)  there was a citrus ad special from HiVee stores.  One of the things they listed was kumquats.   I searched my memory and I realized I don't have taste stored under kumquat.  I have a vague recollection of seeing them in the produce aisle but I can say I can't remember ever tasting one.  Kind of made me think about all the things I haven't tried.  I am more of a consumer than a gourmet, so I have eaten a lot of things.  Kumquats are just not on that list.

Have I ever told you how much I don't like catfish?  As a kid, I was over at a friend's house and his dad cleaned a monster catfish in their kitchen sink.  I watched in fascination as he took a pair of pliers and removed the skin.  I wasn't grossed out by the process, but I did not like the smell.  That bottom feeder imprinted a muddy pond smell in my mind and that the first thing I taste when I try to eat catfish.  I think I did eat a catfish Po'boy on one of my trips to Naw'lans that I liked but it had enough pepper, gah'lic vinegar and other things that I think you could have made it out of paper sacks and I would have loved it.  You can skip the shrimp Po'boy and just bring me boiled shrimp, cold or hot.  Never have developed a taste for mudpuppies, but that is another fish I was exposed to on a hot July day in Kansas and out of a pond near Wichita.  Our neighbor would send us boys up to a pond that is now on Beechcraft property.  We would seine crawdads out of that pond and take them home to be put in an old pop cooler that they would run water through.  After a sufficient time, they would go fishing,  Sufficient time to a fisherman has nothing to do with the bait, it is all about how much time they had to go fishing.

Speaking of fish bait, that leads me to one of the funniest stories.  Like I need inspiration.   In Ottawa, I was in a National Guard Artillery unit.  One year we were to get new guns and the Artillery School at Fort Sill offered to conduct a staff refresher to talk about the mission and conditions for using our new guns.  The Headquarters Battery commander, Ed Jukes, or easy Ed and we called him, was a fisherman.  He would use his off time fishing in the Mare de Cygne river north of town.  His fish of choice was catfish and he used a stink bait that was reportedly made up of rotted shad.  You would put a sponge on your hook and with a stick dip it in the jar of bait.  You would do this up wind of the jar and lord forbid you ever spill any of it on your clothes.  Ed had a pickup and it always had rods and reels in the bed along with an assortment of baits.  On the morning we left for Fort Sill, Ed had been fishing and drove his truck to the Armory.  Just as he came in the driveway faster than he should have, he hit a bump that broke one of the Stink bait jars.  His assigned parking space was next to the building and right under the window Air Conditioner that supplied my office and near to the shop front door.  After a day or so of that smell being sucked into the office and the shop, they took a wrecker and drug Ed's truck clear across the parking lot as far from the building as you could get.  My assistant didn't go with us to Fort Sill and he told us that not only did they move Ed's truck, they went out and moved the assigned parking space sign  to another part of the lot.  When we got home. Easy Ed took the truck to a car wash near the Armory and no matter how many quarters he used, that truck smelled like dead shad stink bait for as long as he owned it.  I sure hope he parked it outside his house. 

Smells brings up another fishing story.  As a kid, I did pretty much what I wanted and went a lot of places that I could have got in trouble going but in the 50's, life was simpler.  I can remember just sticking my head in the door and telling Mom where I was going and leaving before permission was given or withheld.  One day I was up at Womack grocery and one of the guys that worked at Beech stopped in as soon as he got off work.  3:30 PM was the end of the first shift. He bought some pop and told Mrs. Womack he was going to Beech lake to try out some new bait.  For some reason I asked if I could go and he said sure.  I ran the half a block home and grabbed my fishing rod.  Off we went north to the lake.  I normally fished on the east side of the lake by the docks but my new friend stopped by the west side of the lake along Webb Road.  He said that he was out to catch cat fish and produced a jar from his trunk.  It was in a wooden box that had some foam liner that kept the jar from breaking.  When he took out his rods, it was obvious that he wasn't fishing for perch.  He had treble hooks in a series on each pole.  He put a sponge on each hook and then unscrewed the jar.  SKUNK! SKUNK! that jar was full of Eau de SKUNK!  or ewe, the smelly part of a skunk.  He said that he had a friend that was a Veterinary that de-scented skunks.  I guess back then you could have them as pets.  There was no way I wanted anything to do with that smell on anything, including my rod and reel.  The guy carefully dipped the sponges in the jar and gently threw the sponge bait out in to the deeper water.  For the next hour and a half, he caught catfish after catfish on that stinky bait.  I was so grossed out by the smell that I didn't even want to handle the catfish.  I don't remember if he kept the fish or not.  I wouldn't.  The smell was so strong that I didn't even want a ride home after that fragrant experience.  To this day, the smell of a skunk at any distance brings back memories of that day at Beech Lake. 

Oh well, I had better get rolling.  It takes about an hour to have the Aleve to kick in so I can stand up straight and walk without pain.  My fall in the garage caused me to compress the sciatic nerve that hurts like hell if I hurt it.  I have three bags of cracked corn out in the car and I am bringing the corn in one bucket full at a time to feed the deer.  I know that lifting a 50 pound bag of corn would put me of the floor for a week recovering. 

The paper this morning said that beyond the age of 50 you loose approximately 5% of your muscle mass each year.  I can believe that I have lost some muscle mass as I seem to get tired a lot easier than I did in my younger years.  It also takes me a longer time each year to get back in shape to work on projects here in the yard.  Someone told me that Yoga or Pilates is a good way to stay in shape.  I just can't see me in a pair of tights in a room full of  sweaty women,  Well, let me think about that.

MUD

Finally

For several weeks, my blog site would tell me an error message and it seemed there was nothing I could do about it. Today I signed in and things are normal.  It won't help me generate any new or pithy things, but at least I am not worried that another blog will be lost. 

Yesterday after working outside for a couple of hours, I came in the garage.  My shoes were muddy so I attempted to take them off while standing up on the stairs of the garage.  Stupid mistake.  I should have sat down and gently taken them off.  Well, to make a short story longer, I fell down in the garage.  Thankfully I fell on that well cushioned butt of mine and mostly I injured my dignity.  There are all kinds of scenarios that could have played out but mostly an extra Aleve took care of the pain. If you were to see where I fell, you might wonder how I could have fallen and not have hit my head on something.  The freezer, the car bumper, the porch were all in that space. Throw (or let me fall) there and there wasn't much room for anything else.  I guess I will need to start Yoga or Pilates to  get my core strength back up. 

If there are any places in the BIG XII that are tougher to win in than Allen Field House, it is the Hilton Coliseum in Ames.  It was nice to see the Hawks come out of there with a win.   The parity in Basketball this year is pretty high and a win early will really help the young Hawks move on down the schedule.  After the poor officiating last season brought a BIG XII rep to the game.  I didn't think the referees did a good job this time but the flagrant fouls at the end of the game were somewhat minimized.

Our Barbershop Chorus sounded good last night.  I am really enjoying singing with them.  Earlier in the day I seemed congested and couldn't carry what I thought was a good tone.  By the time we warmed up last night and sang a couple of songs my pipes were in tune and on pitch, mostly.  I will continue to work on the music this week.  We have a couple of sing outs coming up and I really enjoy a good audience.  Heck, there is even talk of going to the District contest next year.  That will be the third year for our Director.  He is such a great guy and I enjoy his teaching and great ways of remaining positive.  Now if we can just find a few more members to help us swing out as we sing out.

Better get to doing something else more productive.  have a great day out there.

MUD

Monday?

What do you do when there are three things you want to see or do?  Tonight is the normal Chorus practice for the Barbershop Chorus and I would hate to miss that.   The second thing is the final episode of Major Crimes is tonight.  The good news is that I can DVR it and watch it later.  Finally, KU plays Iowa State at Hilton and games there are always fun to watch.  Win or lose, I have never seen a boring game there.  Oh well, I guess I'll go to the practice, DVR the final episode and find out what happened with KU on the way home.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time outside working on the tractor.  I charged the battery, fueled it up and put the snow blade on the tractor.  So far we haven't needed the snow blade but with some slightly warmer weather coming, February is almost always good for a snow that will force us to blade our way out.  I have three driveways I need to clear and one of them is a couple of miles away from the house.  It isn't the work, it is the wind from driving over there.  The worst time for me was the time it was freezing sleet/rain and I was an ice cycle coming home.  I haven't figured out how to tap the air cooled motor to stay warm.

Barbara got up early to take Barb to a dentist appointment.  She had some oral surgery done and today is the follow up.  I hope she fares well.  I hate to see her suffer.  Oh well, one of these days it will be all over. 

I am struggling with keeping my creative juices flowing and the ADD that lets my attention wander so even if I somehow do finish writing my book, I am letting the chapters sit and do nothing.  I know that no matter what I write, it won't be the epic like the "Tale of Two Cities" or the funny war novel like "Catch 22."  I need a catchy opening , a great closing and a bunch of words in between.  It won't hurt if I can find a good editor.  I am sure that Barbara could do that job well after teaching Learning Disabilities for over 25 years.  The sad part is she has listened to most of my war stories over the years and I'm not sure if I want to subject her to them in writing for the umpteenth time.  (Spell checker didn't reject umpteenth) 

A couple of years back, I bought some blank business cards so I could print my own.  They are 10 cards on each sheet and my biggest problem is finding a program that will let me build a card and then print them.  I thought I had it all worked out when an Avery format let me build a card but It somehow went away when I saved it per the instructions.  It didn't tell me where it wrote the format or what type of format it used.  I for the life of me can't figure out MS Word and the format there.  I'll give it a go shortly but the next time If I fail I will just give up and spend the $10 to have cards printed.

MUD