Makes me wonder who is the old guy that thinks he has all the answers. At least I have hair under the hat.
MUD

Fun Times in Lawrence

The young man on this ticket is the future of KU basketball. He is Conner Teahan and he loves to shoot the ball. I'm sure that his points per minute rival anyone on the team.
Barb's friend in Lecompton has season tickets to see the Jay Hawks. He also has a sister in Phoenix that he visits during the month of January. The solution is he sells us the tickets for the home games in January. What a great time we had to last night as KU hosted the visiting Loyola Greyhounds. If you have never seen a basketball game at the stadium, you miss the pageantry surrounding the game. Heck, I cried as they played the National Anthem, follow that with the Alma Mater song and a few chants of Rock Chalk and it was worth the trip.
The Loyola team perplexed the hawks for about 10 minutes of the first half. They ran, weaved and made cuts that were true to their name, the greyhounds. They had one or two shooters and kept themselves in the game for a while. Then the Coach, Bill Self, said a few choice words to the Hawks and they snapped out of their fog and brought on the War. It was 42 to 26 at Half Time and KU won 90 to 60.
It was neat that a very nice couple from Loyola sat right behind us and every time Loyola scored she cheered. It reminded me of the time my brother and I went to Kemper to see one of the holiday tournaments. A team from Louisiana who were the Bulldogs played in one of the early games and we were in the stands. One poor guy from way up top would yell, "Go Bulldogs" every time they made a good play. Rick and I started hollering with him and pretty soon a bunch of people were shouting to inspire the Bulldogs. One of the other school bands showed up early and they added to the sounds. It turned into a great game and I'm sure that everyone got their money's worth.
I hope my brother Rick can come up the 14th and go see KU host the Sooners. Barb has agreed to stay home and let him attend the game if he can get off work. We'll see.
Rock Chalk JayHawk fans. May all your days be winners and your balls be round, orange and score a lot. The hawks are now 15-0.
MUD

Going to the game!

I know that it is silly to want to see the J-Hawks beat up on a hapless Maryland team (Loyola) but Barb and I have tickets and are going. It should be one of those games where everyone gets to play some and it should be fun to watch the subs come off the bench and out play the other team.
I can hardly wait to be back in Allen Field house and be a part of the excitement.
When I went out to get the paper this AM it was wet but no snow and just now about an hour later Barb opened the downstairs curtains and it is snowing. We aren't excepting much of an accumulation but we have a light dusting. It was warmer here yesterday and the day before than it was in Vegas or LA. Today it should be about 40 for a high so any dusting we get will be long gone by this evening.
We went to Walmart the other day and bought a recumbent exercise bicycle. It was a really cheap version but I could not see spending almost $400 for the Schwinn model. This one was less than $99.00. I told Barb that with Tax and snacks it came to $119.00. If you can't stock up on snacks why exercise?
Have a great day out there.

Animal Farm

We have a bunch of birds that come here to Rabbit Run to eat. In fact I would estimate that our pet food bill at over $50.00 per month between yard birds, cockatiels, cat and dogs.

The deer are frequent visitors and this day there was a herd of at least five. I did not see a buck with horns.

This is another picture of stupid "the cat" aka Tiger. He demands to eat every time I go out and would take up residence in the garage but uses the floor to pee and cat urine stinks.

Probably the most pesky bunch are the squirrels. This is just one of as many as five that regularly haunt the ground near the feeders. In fact one found that he could climb the "squirrel proof" feeder and jump to the porch railing. The violent up and down bobbing of the feeder often jars a couple of seeds free. They also have taken to eating some of the "ground feeder" food I put out for the junkos and finches. Oh well, something to look at. Must go to the old Valleybrook house and clean. MUD

KU

The stars must be in alignment. First the KU Football team went 12-1 and finished by winning a great game in the Orange Bowl. The KU Women Basketball team is 13-2 and the men are a perfect 14-0. That is a combined record of 39-3. Barb and I will be at the game on Tuesday evening in Lawrence. AND, it is still a darned good school with a great academic reputation. MUD

Pride Post for KU

KU, A Football legend since September!
Our Coach can eat your Coach!

Kansas Football, 12-1
We aren't a one dimensional School anymore!
KU 24, VT 21 Orange Bowl 2008

Can you tell that Barb and I are smiling this morning after watching one of the best Bowl games so far this season. It was a well played, heart stopping contest that kept the fans in their seats.

New Book

You might think that after 30 years (+) I would not want to read a Military Tale well told. Well, buckaroo, you would be wrong! On New Year's Day I managed to get a copy of W.E.B. Griffin's new book "The Shooters". After a couple of days of watching College Football Bowl games and reading I find myself sadly wishing I had more to read. Griffin is also known as William E. Butterworth and has a bunch of books out there I love to read. I was afraid that his son was going to ghost write books with him as the quality of the last couple were kinda thin. This one is back to the old standards and the good guy gets the girl and gets shot but lives on with more money than good judgment. He gets to rush around the world killing bad guys and spending money like it was free. There might be a moral or two in these stories but mostly they are grand escapism and fun.
Get a good book and read, it is hard on the eyes but in this cold weather what the heck isn't. MUD

Man its Cold Out There!

The temperature here is near single digits this morning and the birds are hitting the feeders like it was free! Well, Duh Dennis! It is free. Based on the amount they eat it must be fairly good also.
After the Obligatory comment on the weather, I will also wish you all a new year. You make it whatever you want out of that. Make it happy, prosperous, joyous or whatever, because it will happen no matter what you want. Yesterday Barb and I were putting up a new calendar and when I took the 2007 one down Barb told me to put up the 2006 one. I reminded her that just because she was no longer teaching she should not put her mid in neutral steer and count down. You must count up sweety. (Neutral Steer is the condition of driving a tank and you aren't telling it go right or left, just letting it go where it wants)
Some of my New Year Plans are:

• Work on Dave's old house and get it rented or sold. In the depressed market it will probably go on the rental list until at least spring. It will join the other two on the list.
• Get the truck back in good shape. I have a new fender to put on and the door must be centered and finished. Right now it is held shut with a bungee cord and it leaks air big time.
  
• Not to forget the four home games that I have tickets to this year. Our good friend Paul Bahnmeier and his friends in Kansas City buy a pair of season tickets and this year they all are going to be out of town in January. They weren't free but I'm sure they are worth face value. Heck, to be able to buy them from the University I would have had to donate to the Williams Fund.
  
• Work on including some solar features on both houses. I think Dave's home has a lot of potential for solar collectors and the big house here at Rabbit Run needs to be a lot more energy efficient.
  
• This is probably the year we will need to invest in newer transportation. Barb"s Buick is approaching 90,000 miles and it will probably become the near the house transportation with some form of good over the road, high efficiency model for travel. Heck, I would like to buy a big old truck/camper but I'm pretty sure that Barb thinks Motels are much better/cheaper/easier.
  
• This is the year that I think I will start to diversify my investments a little. I am worried that the dollar is falling in value and most of my investments are in dollars. I like the idea of gold but am not sure that in a really bad market you can eat gold. Come tax time I am already land rich and cash poor.

I'm going to go to the west side of town this AM and buy the new W.E.B. Griffin book the shooters. I will buy it a Sam's Club for about $17.00. I could break down and buy one of those Book Club memberships at Barnes and Nobles but even then the book is over $20.00 after spending $10.00 on a membership. Oh well, the football and basketball games will be fun for a couple of days. MUD

Global Warming

If both sides of the argument line up their experts and debate the issue all you have is a bunch of educated assholes with fancy degrees lined up. I am sure that having lived outside for most of a year (1968) and having lived close to nature and its obvious vagaries here in Kansas I am able to speculate as well as the next guy. Every Asshole should have an opinion and here are mine;

• First, I think the average temperature goes up in the summer and down in the winter. Cows put as much carbon in the air as do cars (Look up the chemical components of Methane). As for the polar caps melting and causing rain, go out in the next rain storm and tell me it is warmer when it is raining than when it is not. The clouds block the sunlight and while it does hold in what heat is available the blocking of the sun cools the earth, not to mention the evaporation of water cooling effects. The coolest time on record was when an asteroid hit the earth and covered the earth in a cloud cover. Go to Southeast Asia during the monsoon season and see what it is like. I will promise you that without all the clouds summertime in SE Asia would roast your butt off. (Not that it didn't give me prickly heat a time or two). If it is melting the polar ice caps and we are getting more rain, how do you explain the fact that all over the west the forests are burning hotter because they forests are drier? How can Hotlanta (Atlanta, GA) be so dry that Lake Lanier, home of the 1997 Olympics rowing is damn near dry?
  

• Second, The sun is expanding each year a minute amount and will continue to do so until it eventually goes super-nova and explodes somewhere way, waaaay out in the future. The good news boys and girls is that it is a long time until that will happen and by that time most of us will be so long gone that it won't matter.

Talking about the weather is almost a futile effort as I'm sure that as I sit here there are enough people with lots of education and perhaps more common sense that will take the other side. For every example there are hundreds of examples of things just the opposite. Have an opinion, and have a great day. I will wear my coat when I go out because Global Warming hasn't warmed it up here enough to notice. MUD

What are you doing Jan 3rd?

I apologize if the scary old man in this picture scares you as much as it did me. I wore this shirt the next day and when I looked in the mirror it said that KU was playing TV. (Virginia Tech backwards)
MUD

Holy Snow Batman!

Did I mention that we are at 16.5 inches of snow for the month of December of 2007? That just happens to be 2 inches shy of an all time record. I'll bet it is related to global warming bringing the cold and moisture to Kansas. Someone call Al and tell him to send $ from his Nobel Prize. There are light flurries predicted between now and midnight Monday but the record will probably hold for another, more snowy time.
Even the outside cat tricked his way into the garage this morning so it cold, cold and more cold. With the sunshinning it is not predicted to get much above freezing today. I noticed thast when we were in Tulsa it was going to be about 40 today and almost 50 Sunday. What that means is that the warm air from the gulf is going to come here and colide with a cold front Monday. We'll see what those light flurries do to the record.
MUD

Mom is Home in Skiatook

We heard about the snow that was to arrive overnight and slipped down to Oklahoma yesterday and came back today. Mom is by the door there with a green tea on her left and a cat in her lap.
Had we been here with at least 4 new inches of snow this morning we probably wouldn't have gone. We left there about noon and the roads were clear (mostly) by the time we got back up here in Tecumseh, KS.
I have appreciated all the pictures and messages posted on the net and sent in e-mails. I wish you all a Happy New Year. MUD

Kansas Hat Travels

During the White Elephant Gift Exchange it is normal for someone to smuggle in a gift that has not been recycled and many people want. When it is their turn to select a gift each person ahs the choice of an earlier already opened gift or a new wrapped package. This year I think Asas Bob or Bob as he is now known brought a hat in a Walmart Sack. It went around the room several times like the bottle of wine and a silly cat picture. The first person to select the hat was my sister Myrna.I'm not sure these pictures are in order but somewhere in the process, Joe wore it for a while

Our KU Graduate Jennifer could not pass up a chance to wear it for a while.


It finally went home with Chris or Josh (?) He is a new member of the family and I have trouble remembering his name. He is Sue's son. (Not Myrna Sue but the other Sue)

I think we tried to draw names at one time but soon realized that as far apart as we are if is hard to know what someone else likes. This White elephant gift exchange is always good for a laugh. After this exchange there is always a pile of paperbacks that gets exchanged. Being last of the list from Barbara's family to get the books from out west we always have a nice little selection of books with the names of her family members written in the overleaf.
I hope your Christmas was a much fun as ours was this year. I further hope that these pictures brought a little joy as Barb tried to capture to fun. This is as close to Merry as we can get in the term Merry Christmas!
MUD

More Christmas Pics

This is our son Dave and his wife's best Friend Mel as they open their gift from Barbara N. They are both from the Star Wars generation and got little stuffed Yota's.

This is Mel with her singing dog. He was a one hit wonder as he only knew one song. Hey, for 10 bucks what do you expect?

Barbara asked for a hubcap for her car and I put this cookie dish in a sack and was she surprised when it wasn't a hub cap. The hub cap is on her car.

This is Dave's Wife Barbara N. Petty and her frogger socks. She loves frogs and Dave got her a nice cute pair of foggy socks. OK, I didn't pay attention enough and the socks were from my wife Barb and not Dave. She expects me to tell the truth when I am making stuff up to tell you.

This old fart is me sideways. I can't go straight from the card to my blog site if the pictures are sideways and I'm always too much in a hurry to go out and straighten them right side up.
This is my sister Myrna Sue and the KU hat that went around at least once. I think there is a picture of 4 or 5 people wearing it while they owned it during the white elephant gift exchange.
I hope your Christmas was as fun as ours and that you got to share a lot with all the members of your family. I actually picked out a present when we were shopping earlier and forgot it by the time we opened presents. It is one of those palm sized STODUKU electronic machines that has a million games stored in it. I got a jar of Hershey's kisses and Pistachios and a KU Orange Bowl Shirt. Oh, I also got a pair of new blue jeans because it embarasses Barb to go with me when all my jeans look so dirty. Merry Christmas to you.
MUD

Some of the People we Love

This is my sister Carol. We had our annual bash at her house this year. Anyone that didn't have a good time was just grumpy. You should have been there when Alan (Carol's Husband) showed up with a Bullshit Detector. I was deaf most of the rest of the day.

This is My mother with Jennifer, Carol's oldest daughter. Can you see the love in the eyes of these two?

This great couple is my cousin Robin and her husband Greg. Can you tell she's in love with that big ole' Okie? He is a great guy with almost as many funny stories as I have.

This lovely pair is my niece Becky and her co-writer friend Laurie. If they are slightly out of focus, they were in a hurry to leave and go shopping. I'm sure there is a pair of shoes out there saying "Buy me Beck, Buy me!"

If your picture isn't here, it is because we did get to see you lately. I will try to steal one or two more from a Blog site but most of these are taken with our D-70 Nikon by Barbara. I am out of time this time so I'll cut it off here and do more later.
MUD

Merry Christmas!

Things here at Rabbit Run Farm are fairly typical of most Christmases. My mother is here from Tulsa and we have a 10:15 appointment with the heart doctor. Barb is having a problem with her eye and she has a 9:15 appointment with her Optometrist. Me, I'm just going to hell in a hand basket and there isn't anything a Doctor could do.
The other day a 30 year old woman called into one of the radio financial talk programs and wondered why anyone would want to retire. All she had to do was ask anyone over 60 why they would want to avoid high stress jobs and the aggravation of getting out in traffic in bad weather and she would have her answer.
I hear thumping overhead so I'd better go see what help Mom needs to get her ready.
Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all...
MUD

This is stolen from a Blog!

Christmas Songs for the Unfortunate

1. Schizophrenia - Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder - We Three Kings Disoriented Are.

3. Dementia - I Think I'll be Home For Christmas.

4. Narcissistic - Hark The Herald Angels Sing About Me.

5. Manic - Deck The Halls And Walls And House And Lawn And Stores And Office And Town And Cars And Buses And Trucks And Trees And...

6. Paranoid - Santa Clause Is Coming To Town To Get Me.

7. Borderline Personality Disorder - Thoughts Of Roasting On An Open Fire.

8. Personality Disorder - You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why.

9. Attention Deficit Disorder - Silent Night, Holy Oooh Look At The Froggy, Can I Have A Chocolate, Why Is France So Far Away.

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells........

Merry Damn Christmas - MUD

Christmas Family Tradition

This is my niece Carrie and her son's Joe on the left and Owen on the right. This is the first picture on the 2008 Petty Calendar that Barb is making for my mother. I think Owen is the January birthday.

This handsome young man is Kieth, the husband and gonna be father (Aug 08). He is a southern gentleman and his white elephant gift was the gorilla until someone rudely took it and I'm not sure what he went home with.

This is my niece Janet and her two daughters Amanda and Amy. Amy is the new bride of the gorilla holder above.

This is my niece Kim and her family. From left to right, Kim, Austin, Kenny and AJ or Andrew.

My family has for years tried to get together sometime prior to Christmas on a Saturday for a family get together. That leaves the actual Christmas day for close family celebration. Today was such a day for us. In spite of a winter storm coating the outside with snow we all met at my sister's in Lawrence. Our special guests this year were my mother and our niece Amy and her husband Kieth. I went to Oklahoma Thursday to bring her up and she came in spite of the travails of travel. Amy and her husband are expecting their first child sometime in August. Her sister Mandy came back to Kansas earlier this year but this was the first time we were able to get to visit with her also.
The meal of our family gathering is every one's favorite soup. We all bring a pot of the best we can and today was no different. I made a sea food gumbo with a side of rice. There was also a white Chili, an Italian meatball and pasta (pasta fajoli?), a taco soup, a potato soup and lots of desserts and side appetizers. The first soup to disappear was the gumbo. It had lots of shrimp, crab meat, chicken, sausage and okra. Lots of people told me it was good so I guess it was pretty good I had a little of everything and it was all good.
Our activity is the white elephant gift exchange. Everyone brings a gift and we take turns selecting the gifts and opening them. This year we went by birth date. The person born the earliest in the year got to select one gift and open it. The next person could either select take that gift or chose their own. On and on the selecting their choice and opening goes on until everyone had a chance to choose/open a gift. The first person had one final chance to choose any gift and exchange it for the one they finally wound up with. It is a hoot, because while most of the gifts are re-gifted for year to year, some of people slip in a nice gift. There was a bottle of wine and someone bought a Santa style hat with KU on it. I brought an old pair of Cowboy boots and one of the kids opened it because it was in a pretty KU sack. On my turn I took back the boots and the kid got to select a sack with a toy truck in it. I think it was fun even though at least one other person took home the gift they brought. It is not the gift that is important, it is the laughs and comments we all share.
There is no doubt in my mind that getting together as a family is one of the nicest things I've done all year. I hope you all have a family tradition that brings you closer together as a family.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
MUD.
PS, the ice was all gone when the thunder snow storm hit. It started with a 15-30 MPH wind and then it started to snow. About a half an hour into the storm the visibility was about 1/8 to 1/4 mile and the wind kept the snow blowing south for the first hour or so. By about 2 PM we started home and the roads were just getting drifted in spots. Their is either no snow or a drift of about two feet. The porch rail has at least 8 inches stacked up on it. It is on the south side of the house and is generally a pretty good gauge of the amount of snow that falls.
MUD

Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker - Word of the Week

We have a lot of woodpeckers living in our trees. One of the most common one's we see is a small black and white Downey woodpecker. The average less than six inches long and have a pretty short bill. One day earlier this year a larger version of that woodpecker started showing up at the suet feeder. The only woodpecker we can find that is close is a "Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker". Even if It wasn't one, I love that name. "You yellow bellied sap sucker, you" Sounds like a name that Yosemite Sam would call his horse after it threw him into a brier bush. The photo is courtesy of Barbara's fine eye and my Nikon D70.
MUD

Middle of the Week Musings

Do you ever wish for return to earlier more simple times? I do wish that the independence of our grandparents could be somehow distilled into a simple remedy for society. My grandmother lived on a Widow's pension from Grandpa's WWI service and by giving piano lessons. If you lived in Eldorado, KS in the 40's and 50's as a kid, you probably took piano lessons from Bessie Petty on west Central Avenue. As much as she screeched at me, I don't remember her complaining about property taxes due. I know she didn't talk about the high cost of maintenance and gas for a car, she didn't have one.
On the other hand, the 50's were a time that we crawled under our desks and prepared for the big bang that was going to blow our mutually assured destruction ass holes away. We even took a day out of schools and went to Clearwater to get away from the target of Beech Aircraft there in East Wichita. It was a hoot. One of the guy's mother had a convertible and we rode top down all the way there and back. You wonder why the baby boomers are screwed up? Our message was no matter how bad the outcome was to be, you could go in style and have fun doing it. Work hard? hell, you could pick up pop bottles and got to Womack's grocery store and get enough candy to rot out your teeth. Little Denny, can use Rotterdam In a sentence? "My sister ate my Halloween candy and I hope it rot her dam teeth out.
What is the sound of a 250 lb guy falling on the ice. This is a trick question, as you can't hear the fall for the big guy hollering "OH SHIT" as I fell. I'm not sure if I am falling more or because I am older the falls seem harder on my old body. Hell, as a kid I fell all the time, got up dusted myself off and moved on. Now days I need and extra Aleve and an ice pack to go out and feed the dogs.
Of all the cars you have owned, what is your favorite? Was it the first piece of junk you owned? Was it the one and only new car you purchased? (I will leave out the Vega that we purchased new as it was a bad dollar for dollar investment by any standard) Was it the car you proposed to your wife in? The first car you had sex in? I'll admit that the 57 Chevy in the garage is pretty darned high on the list but I can't drive it in bad weather. My old 53 Chevy pick-up truck is getting higher on that list all the time and I'm pretty sure that when I get the new door and fender on it will be about there. It does have a new radio but still needs an air conditioner for true summer drivablity. (How can you spell check a word that the dictionary doesn't know?) There are a couple of old Volvo's I thought pretty highly of but I'm sure that my dad influenced that vote.
Oh well, another hour shot to H, E, double toothpicks. See you on the flip side.
MUD