No More trips to Stillwater

MUD & Brother Rick

Three KU Fans

Un Still Water Fans on Floor

Let me say that no matter what the outcome of the game, we have had good experiences at almost all of the BIG XII venues so far. This is a critique of the Oklahoma State experience in Stillwater.

First, the tickets in Stillwater were $75 @ and we were way up in the nosebleed section. We bought early and asked for the best seats available. Again, the arena was less than 100% full and we really could have moved had we cared to. These tickets were by far the most expensive.

The parking there is set for the football field and at least three times as many cars could have parked within 1/4 mile of the arena. They blocked off the nearby parking for the "Donors", the next lot for the "Posse" and we were almost a mile away from the arena. There were places to park much closer. If they charged the non donors $10.00 to park closer, I'll bet most would.

We got to the door of the arena and a lady came up to Barb and said she could have no lens longer than 3 inches on the camera. Where the hell did anything say that other than we had our KU shirts on. We walked away from her entrance and walked through another entrance with the big lens in a case and no one even noticed. The really bad thing was there was no place to check the lens if it wasn't allowed so it would have been a two mile walk back. BS on that. Everyone in the damned arena had a cell phone with a camera and there were a lot of regular cameras.

OSU played their butts off and KU played pretty lackadaisical in the first half. the got down so far that there was no catching up.

The referee team there was one of the worst I've seen. They stopped the game twice for at least 5 minutes each time to review a play. make the call and let it go. Cole had a foul that never got posted and Number 0 was on the scoreboard for most of the first half even though he only played two or three minutes.

The last time KU lost at Stillwater, they won the national Title. I can hope this was a wake up call for the Hawks and they will play on. It just might let the Cowboys into the Big dance and the hawks will be there.

MUD

Tulsa!

We are in Tulsa this morning and will head over to Stillwater to see OK-State and KU play. We will get to spend the afternoon with my brother and it is always a good time when we get together.

Tonight it will be some time in the hotel hot tub.

Have a great day out there.

MUD

Legislators Gone Wild

As someone who watches late night TV, I see the "Girls Gone Wild" advertisements as I surf through the channels for something worth watching. With DirecTV, that often means over 100 channels up or down the dial to get something more entertaining than get skinny in 90 days or offers to see young girls jumping up and down on a bed is more or less clothes. I am currently at a point in my life where I see the national and State Congress look like they want to try to appeal to my desires by promising to give us everything we need and most of what we want.

A couple of years ago during one of the hottest streaks in our economy, the Supreme Court here in Kansas hog tie the State Congress and make them promise to give the schools more State Aid for Education. Did it matter that we were 38th in funding and about 38th in Population? Nope, give them the money, honey. Now that the shoe's on the other foot and things have slowed down, the Supreme Court of Kansas is not touching the entire mess with a 10 foot pole.

The latest move that makes little sense is the Statewide ban on smoking. For some reason the have exempted their State Run casino's from the ban. If it isn't fodder for the Goose, then why are we making the gander go outside to smoke? Surely someone out there in the great wide world can come up with an air handling system that provides an area inside the casino for smokers and and a separate area for non smokers. To me it is simple if the problem is addressed at the building level. Have a bar in a closed off area and allow people go there to drink coffee or mixed drinks with their cigarettes. The same applies to break rooms with a separate air handling unit that exhausts smoke outside. I know that paint booths that use toxic paint vent outside and some welding areas do in businesses.

I am aware that there are a lot of people that for a wide assortment of reasons don't have coverage for medical care. One of the ads indicated that we need to pass a bill so grandma can get new teeth. Hell, I don't have dental or glasses covered by my medical insurance. I do them the old fashion way, I pay for it. Those people in Kansas that can't are eligible for Medicaid and the State pays for most of it.

Let me aim this ending at the real problem as I see it. Too many people think that we will be given everything we can ever need by the Government and jump up and down on the bed shouting how great it will all be. The Government was never intended to fix our personal problems and in the history of the world, no government has ever achieved that utopia. To provide us with more and more, they will grow the bureaucracy and the taxes to do so. At some time we will all work for the Government and it will be so big that the Government will be forced to take what it needs from those of us that worked so hard to build up what we have so we can live like we planned.

MUD

Thought for the Day

I received an E-mail message that said we need to kick the asses of people who do not honor our flag, stand up for the National Anthem and wear old worn out Military items. It went on to give the following thoughts:

'It's the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.
It's the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.
It's the Veteran, not the community organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate.
It's the Military who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.'

It is for these reasons, that I know that old vets like me will give their lives to protect the freedom of people to say, print or believe as they may. When we stop standing up for the rights of stupid people that I want someone to start kicking our asses.

I love my country, it is the Government that I'm keeping my eyes on.

MUD

COL (Ret)

Yesterday

Roy, Dreaming of the good old days in Kansas

First of all, I had to call AAA to pull the ford out of the yard at Dave's house. I took out the ballast for snow driving and the Crown Vic turned into a "Hog on Ice". Some day I need to get me one of those electric winches so I can extract myself from stupid places.

Last evening, we went to the "Mad Greek" in Lawrence. No trip there does not include a trip to the bakery around the corner for Macaroons and a trip to "Dunkin Doughnuts" for doughnut holes. At the MG, I had leg of Lamb (Actually slices of lamb) on a bed of rice and the Greek green beans. It was an excellent meal and I told the kids about the "STAR" in Elko, NV. I love the lamb chops there. The STAR is a combination boarding house and restaurant there in Elko. The BASQUE sheep herders spend the winter months there in Elko and the rest of the year out with the sheep. The meals are served in the family style and if you go home hungry, it is your own damn fault. The meals are good but simple fares with sides of a salad, soup, beans, spaghetti and french fries. Makes me wish there was a good basque restaurant nearby. The guests that over winter there eat together and Barb has always wanted to sit with them for dinner. They all speak Spanish/French combination that is the Basque dialect so I doubt she would understand them but hey, sometimes I don't understand her.

I told the kids about the time my dad gave me some Tallow to soften up an old first baseman's mitt. Once treated with that stinky sheep grease, the other guys would not let me bring it into the dugout on hot days when we were at bat. On the way to Vietnam, I was on a boat (USNS Geiger) and they served mutton. I put a big old chunk of that meat in my mouth and all I could taste was that damned stinky ball glove. The more I chewed, the worst it tasted and the bigger the chunk got until I had to spit it out in my napkin. Mutton does not taste like lamb. Note to self, never order mutton. Not sure why, veal is good, Steak is better. lamb is good, Mutton is terrible. Oh well.

We are going to Tulsa tomorrow to see mother and then on to Stillwater on Saturday to see the hawks play the OK State Cowboys. Got to see them get beat by Texas last night. Not a really exciting game. Texas has more talent than KU but doesn't seem to have the ability to play like the all-star team they should be. Has anyone else besides me noticed that Roy William's Tar heels suck this year? No, I mean the really suck and may not make the NCAA Playoffs for the first time in many years. "Roy Who?"

Better run.

MUD

6 Degrees and Sunshine

Early mornings will usually find me headed out to the end of the driveway to get the morning paper. I usually stop by the bag of cat food and grab a handful of food for the front porch kitty. He jumps up on a table there on the patio and gets a meal and a little petting. Normally I am back inside with the door closed by the time he has eaten. This morning with the temperature at 6 degrees, he was back in the garage waiting for me to close the door by the time I got back with the paper. There is a tool bag with a work coat in it that he camps out in when he is in the garage. I normally try to get him to go back outside but this morning after fetching the paper I understand that any warm place beats the heck out of outside. I say Curse you to anyone that tries to feed me that AGW crap. One of our friends posted that her child made his first snowman in Dallas, Texas. If you want to believe conditions rather than Climate, I hope you get frost bite on your butt.

Last night I drove over to Dave's and tried to back over by his porch to unload the shop Vac. I have removed the ballast from the trunk and that Crown Vic just slid all over the place in about 4 inches of snow and she's still in the field by his driveway. Crap. Sometime this morning I'll load up the sackrete sacks in the Buick and see if I can coax the Ford out of the snow.

The paper is full of the Hawks and their 13-0 run in the BIG XII. They have clinched at least a tie for the conference championship and are trying to run out the win streak. They have Oklahoma State, K-State and Missouri left to play. Any one of those teams are capable of winning especially the two games on the road. Does anyone out there want to bet on Cole Aldrich's return for his senior year next year? As an academic All American he just might come back.

Last night, K-State played in Lubbock at Texas Tech's home. It did not surprise me that there were a lot of empty seats in their beautiful stadium for that game. There were empty seats last year when KU showed up. I will never stop being amazed that a school can coax 40,000 to 80,000 people out to watch football and not be able to fill a 16,000 seat basketball arena. KU has had a sell out for the last 145 games at home and have won almost 60 in a row. At least ESPN didn't have Bobby Knight call the game at his old school. I wonder how how many times he would have given the game to Texas Tech en route to their playing poorly and losing?

I am watching the bushy tailed rats eat food on the back porch this morning. Instead of everyone just eating, at least one is chasing the others in a vain attempt to get it all. The two little guys just rush back in and eat while the big Momma chases one of them away. I am pretty sure that it is a Momma squirrel and her two babies from last year. I see the sharing a hole in the tree up by the dinning room. We have gray squirrels and some red one's. The red's are bigger but the Gray's are faster and feistier.

Stay Warm out there

MUD

14 Degrees and Tuesday Morning

The weathermen are all saying this has been one of the coldest months on the record. For almost three weeks we had snow on the ground from before Christmas. Right after that snow melted we had a deep snow that piled up with a wind that drifted. Over the weekend we had 4 to 6 inches of new snow and now we have cold that didn't quite get to single digits. Most of the facebook comments are directed at the need for warm days and sun.

KU beat a pretty good Oklahoma team last night and have three games to go. We will be in Stillwater to see the OSU game next Saturday. We will be home here to senior night against K-State. Sounds like a good night to cut down the nets to me. KU doesn't lose too many opening games at home or senior nights. The team currently playing hasn't lost a game at home for almost 60 games. It sure is nice for Barb to come down and watch the Hawks with me on the new 40 Inch Samsung. You could sure tell it wasn't HD when the FOX network carried the game the other night.

Is the Olympics over yet? Instead of the competition between athletes, the focus lately has been on the US vs the rest of the World. Other than the opening ceremony, the games should have an individual focus. I'll bet there are skiers that don't know the Bobsledders or speed skaters on the US team. There isn't an I in team but there is an Ono.

I am going over to Dave's this morning to hook up the fittings for a new dryer. I think he is getting one of those steam dryers and it needs it's own water source. I also need to check the outside vent hookup. If it gets plugged things don't work well.

Better get my act together and get on the road.

MUD

Politics - Warning, I don't know where this is going!

Somewhere in the beginning of this nation, several people got together and wrote a Declaration of Independence and later on a Constitution. When looked at in the light of day, the Constitution was found wanting and there was a Bill of Rights passed to address the failings of the original document. Let no man or woman say that everything that needed covered was written in any of the Documents. In fact, we had a War between the States because of the things that needed said and weren't.

As we moved forward, many issues that needed discussed were added. Yes, we needed some form of an Income Tax, yes we needed to address the rights of Blacks and women to fully participate in our Government. We needed to have FDR's myriad of programs step in to help make our country not fail. There have been a bunch of other programs that failed and have been pushed to the way side.

We are currently standing at a point where there are many that fear that we have gone way too far, way too fast. First the Bail out, then the stimulus. Only History will finally call these programs what they are. We as a nation are too divided right now to make that call. The President and the Democrats in our Congress are standing firm on the need to revamp the National Health Care. I think there are a lot of us out here that think we have a great system that could use a little help but not a complete revamping. At least we need to wait until the economics of our country improve

Most of us want to see if the President and Congress mean what they say about any new initiative standing on its own and anything that requires a new dollar will have to tell us where that dollar will come from. Half truths or cover ups of the real source will be seen for what it is. If the Congress expects to look like it does after the elections of 2010, they had better come awake to the fact that we are watching. I have a saying that children are like snakes, they watch our feet not our words. What we do is a lot more important than what we say. Congress had better understand that the American people are getting more and more like that. Eloquence in our speeches won't have any weight if it isn't what we do.

I won't say we need more Conservatives or Liberals. We need more people that hold our Government accountable for what it does and un-elect those that screw things up. Telling a State that they don't have to pay or will get more in a bill to get a vote is wrong!

MUD

Monday Morning Sunshine!

A Deer in the woods

A snow frosted Tree

Critter tracks in the snow

I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful the snow is this morning. It is only 17 degrees right now but the sun is shinning brightly and the frosting of snow just adds to the beauty. When the snow falls and there isn't a lot of wind, it tends to coat the trees and covers the ground with a clean white blanket. The tracks of the critters in the fresh snow make for interesting trails to and from snow caves and food. On the way out to get the paper, I saw fresh deer tracks and judging from the distance between hoof marks he was either running or a pretty big deer.

This weekend Barb and I went over to breakfast in Lawrence at the HiVee Store. I think it was mostly an escape from cabin fever for me and Barb came along for the ride. We listened to a financial planner on talk radio and agree that the road to financial prosperity is filled with land mines for those of us that spent any time saving for our retirement. Who would have thought when we purchased our "Tax free" IRA's and 401(k)'s that there would be so many road blocks to pure enjoyment of their benefits. In fact, we have put them in the "On Hold" status rather than deal with the problems. Who would have thought that Social Security would be in any part taxable? If we put all of our Social Security into with holdings, we might not have to pay any additional taxes on April 15th. As many of us are concerned, the Government is looking for ways to pay off the debt burden and the money we have squirreled away looks like a bag of nuts to a hungry critter.

Dang, I was going to try to keep his post light and pretty and it turned off political. I guess that it just shows you how much we need to get out and go where we can ride in the sunshine.

MUD

Did I say SNOW?

Final Snoiw Depth 4 inches

Cardinal at feeder
Junkos in snow

Yesterday all the weather men could talk about was the snow that was coming. We got about an inch of light fluffy stuff and everyone went to bed with a smile that we had been missed. Well, this morning we aren't being missed, we are being seriously snowed on. Big old fluffy snow flakes are falling on that one inch base and it is piling up fast. The wife is supposed to go to the Lawn and Garden show about 10:30 and I'm not sure I want her to go at it alone. If I am lucky, she will let me take her in the front wheel drive Buick. Or, she will stay home.

Things are heading towards the end of the basketball season and it is fun to see where the predictions of greatness landed. I guess the biggest loser so far is Texas. That team has more talent than KU but just can't get it together. Yes, the one thing they focused on was big men and they are suffering from lack of a point guard. KU is so deep that the number 26 player in the nation last year as a high school senior is sitting on the bench trying to get some playing time. Collins, Morningstar, Taylor, Reed and Johnson all could start for Texas and they would be better for it. At Colorado, the Buffs gave the Hawks a run for their money. Yesterday, the hawks gave them a good old fashioned butt whipping and could have easily run the score up over 100 but the coach is well aware that Oklahoma will be here Monday night ready to play so the subs got into the game. One announcer mentioned to Bill Self that they have a three game lead with 4 games to play. He mentioned that we only need to win one more to tie for the BIG XII league play championship. Bill commented that KU is not in the mindset that they want a tie. They are in it to win it.

Looking at the snow on top of the bird feeder, we have a serious two inches now and no sign of a let up. There is very little wind right now but by this evening the north wind can drift everything shut.

Stay warm people.

MUD

Je's Say'in

Over the years, have been blessed to work with a bunch of great people. I have managed to accumulate a ton of sayings that might even be good advice. Here are a few:

With snow on the way tonight, Don't eat the yellow snow.

In the long run, income must be greater than or equal to outgo.

If you have choice in what you must do, always try to do the hardest first.

When you screw up, always admit it. Most people get fired for covering up with lies and not for being able to do the job or mistakes.

Work will flow to the competent person until it buries him. The only answer is to go to your boss and ask him what he really wants done. Or, what the system will let us not get done.

I have almost always been able to do a good job if I remembered that the most important part of the job is to get the work done. Most of the time, working hard is enough.

If in doubt about what to wear at work, look at the bosses and see what they wear. You may not be able to afford a trip to Hong Kong for hand made suits, but you can tell what they think is appropriate. And, for god sakes, polish your shoes now and then.

Work is a lot like the race with a bear. If you can outrun the other camper, that's fast enough.

Don't crap where you eat, put your pecker in the payroll, or take home anything that isn't yours.

If you do what you did, you will probably get what you got.

Learn as much about your job as you can. It is hard to read all the rules, but it pays to know what they are. On a couple of occasions, I had to make sure that the boss knew what the regulations said. A boss with a lot of employees may not always know the rules. Only once did I tell a boss that he would have to put something in writing if he ordered me to do it. He didn't and the next day we brought him a solution that worked and everyone was at least satisfied.

When the job I had to do with a team was tough, I would have them put together three solutions and rank order them to take to the boss.

Know who your potential blockers are to your plans and have a strategy to work with them or to by-pass them if they won't move.

Know your strengths and weaknesses and try to fill out any team with people who have the opposite strengths. You may not like them, but you can often find a way to have them complete a plan or solution to a problem that will work.

Love, laugh and enjoy life, that's what you get, don't expect a whole lot more.

Oh, and always save for a rainy day.

MUD

Told Ya' So

If you are hiding in a dungeon, you probably haven't been plastered with the hours and hours of talk about Tiger Wood's written speech. I swear that it is sickening that they have had experts talking about the way Tiger's Mom body language showed during the speech. Guess what, she is pissed off. I wonder how many times my Mom would smack me if I screwed the pooch. I don't have nearly as much to lose financially. The person Mom Woods needs to be mad at is Tiger's Dad for not giving him the Milk Cow Speech. Once you own the cow, you have to milk it and feed it and be there to support it at all times. Take a part time job on a neighboring farm, and your cow will stop giving milk. Or something like that.

We are under a weather threat again. That means that depending on exactly where the fronts meet, we might get anything from rain, freezing rain, sleet or snow. It is possible to have a combination of all of them like Oklahoma has for the last two storms. We are hoping for just more rain.

Time to thin out the squirrel population some. One of the squirrels has been eating on the hanging feeders. He chewed off the bottom of the thistle feeder and emptied the suet block. I guess they have to eat some but a little too much is a lot too much. I may try to get the live catch trap out and see if I can do any good with that. They are pretty smart critters so it might be tough.

Oh well, things to do and people to see.

MUD

I Don't Care!

This Lady is going to get the Gold Mine

Tiger will get the shaft, I Hope!

At 11 AM today a disgraced golfer is scheduled to read a statement about his missteps over the last few months. I will not watch, I Don't Care! The news has been filled with speculation about what he will say, how he is going to say it and then we will have hours of discussion about what he said. I Don't Care! I have spent most of my life working with guys that hit on every woman they meet and don't give any thought about the promise they made to their wife. They all suck as bad as the golfer at being honest and now to all of them, I can say no matter what you do now, I don't care!

Sure glad I got that off my chest. Now the only big thing in my life right now is finishing the Valley Brook house and getting it off my hands. A couple more days and that will be done. I have to paint the kitchen and the one bedroom and then clean up the whole mess.

We went to a meeting with the City/County planning guys and FEMA last night. Based on what I saw, they are dang near clueless what their maps say. Our flood information was downgraded from no threat to the highest threat. I showed them the Map from 1982 and it showed the flood plain in the same place and I'm pretty sure the house didn't move. I am at least 25 feet higher than the highest water line and feel pretty confident that we'll manage to live another 20 some years here at Rabbit Run without going feet wet from a flood. We showed them the information from our other property and they admitted that the 29th street house was a lot closer to what had been a lake and we didn't have any change on that property classification. The house on Valley Brook is just across the street from a flood plain and it didn't get a bad rating. I just expect people to tell the truth and admit they made a mistake when it is as obvious as the nose on their face. Stupid me!

Oh well, What the hell, work to do and places to go.

MUD

Funny Day

Yesterday the Son had wisdom teeth removed at an Oral Surgeon's office. They put him under and he came home with me to have someone there while he recovered from the gassing. He snores, I wonder where he gets that? After my Barb went to pick up his Barb from work they stayed for supper. Barb Jr was all full of sympathy and Dave was just starting to feel normal. It was fun to watch. Come to think of it, it was fun to watch Dave under the influence. He was very passive aggressive and way over confident of his ability. I think it is a good thing that he chooses to not drink.

Years ago, Barb and I were on a trip through California and went through Gilroy California. That's where the annual Garlic festival is held. For Christmas I got a gift package of Garlic products from an outfit called Garlic Festival located there in Gilroy, CA. If you like a good Garlic flavor, I would recommend you go on line to http://www.garlicfestival.com and order some of their Garlic Garni. They have one garni that has 80% less salt and one that has cheese added for a sprinkle on spaghetti. I am going to try a new one with lemon with the garlic to sprinkle on fish. Can't wait until my order gets here. No, it is not cheap, but man is it good.
I even ordered some for the kids.

I have a big Bissel Rug Cleaner that I didn't use for a few months. For some reason it didn't work when I started to use it at the Valley Brook house. I brought it home and took it apart last night. After some cleaning it mysteriously started working. I don't understand but I am glad that it works.

I am listening to CNN this morning and it appears that some cities are now charging for emergency services that they can't pay for with depleted budgets. I understand but I feel there are some levels of service that our taxes must cover. If you have a medical emergency and don't buy their $50 policy, it will cost you $400. That's OK for me but I'm sure there are people that don't have the extra $50 let alone the $400.

If you read yesterday's post and it caused you to think. It worked. Oh well, better get a jump on the day.

MUD

Beware of Unintended Consequences!

I have said for years that one big problem in the World is making changes to major things and not watching the results for unintended consequences.

We banned DDT because someone said the eagle eggs were getting too thin and now Malaria is back on the raise killing a lot of people.

We started to produce Ethanol with our grain crops and people are being hit by the largest increase in food prices in a century.

Someone started telling tales about the weather getting warmer as if it were a Global Warming trend and now we will be taxed with some scheme called Carbon tax credits. If these credits really would do anything but fuel the expansion of our Government, it might make sense.

I was in a Military organization that implemented Total Quality Management and it became an excuse to throw out the rules that kept discipline in check. I wonder how long it took them to overcome the unintended consequences of that bad action?

In Haiti, lawlessness and hunger fueled the poor living conditions. Now they had a Natural Disaster and what infrastructure they had was destroyed. We will rush in and feed them now but who will feed all the children born because now that they have food more children will be born? Feed them now and starve them later? Is starvation mother nature's way of telling us there are too damn many people in a given place?

Someone needs to sit at the right hand of every leader that projects the Law of Unintended Consequences. For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Did I mention that Al Gore was given a Nobel Prize for the postulation about Global Warming now found to be based on figures made up and reported as facts?

MUD

New Blue Ray Player

For Valentines day and our anniversary, the master Gardener bought me one of those big old 40 inch High Def TV's. Best Buy had a special the day after I bought our TV that included a Blue Ray DVD Player for the same money and I wound up with a new player. Guess what? I didn't own any Blue Ray DVD's so I stopped by Wally World to pick up one. Yes, the Dark Night about Batman was about the only thing that appealed to me. I went to see it right when it opened and like a dummy forgot to take off my clip on sunglasses. I thought the Dark Night was the darkest movie I'd ever seen. Yes the movie had a dark theme but without the shades and on a 40 inch screen here at Rabbit Run it was viewable. If the Joker in this movie isn't the best one, I don't know any better. No, I won't go see Broke Back Mountain just to see the rest of Heath ledger's body of work.

I even watched a little of the Olympics last night. I can't believe the male skaters. In the past, they looked a little effeminate but poofy sleeves and a tassel for god's sake? I told Barb that if a guy has a bare chest in his costume he should at least have a little hair on it. The best spinner couldn't jump and most of the jumpers can't spin well. There was even one guy that skated to the William tell Overture. Hi, Ho, Silver, Away.... There is one snowboarding event that I just don't get. four people going down a course at the same time trying to get to the bottom of the hill at the same time. It looked like some weird form of full contact motocross on a skateboard.

The sports writers are just full of the fact that KU just keeps winning in a conference that is one of the best in the nation. I tried to tell you that only one BIG XII team lost a game at home on their home court in preseason or non league play. Why is it so hard to understand that winning all your home games might be almost enough in such a tough league. Having a team come into your home and stealing a game is tough. Do that on ESPN's Big Monday after playing a Saturday game and it gets really tough. There are only five more games left in the regular season. We will be in Stillwater in a couple of weeks.

Oh well, might even warm up above freezing today.

MUD

What Do You Want?

OUR VISITORS AT RABBIT RUN

If you are a big Basketball fan, you would want every game to be a hard fought battle where right up to the end of the game the lead changed hands until the best team won. You would want a game full of emotion, great defense and the fans filling the seats until the game ends. The outcome should not be the deciding factor of your loyalty. You cheer for the teams and the coaches and know that a guy like Mark Turgeon will still be the guy from Topeka who played as hard as he now coaches. If that was your desire, you got your money's worth with KU at Texas A&M. I cheered, shouted, got mad, sad and happy in that battle and got my money's worth. In the end, KU walked out of that arena after winning against a great team. 16 teams have gone into the A&M arena and walked out with a loss.

Last night during the game, they profiled Mark Turgeon and Danny Manning. Two great players and great coaches. Mark will continue to grow as a coach and will have a winning team in a league where winning is tough. ESPN showed Mark delivering Pizza's to the kids standing in line overnight to get into the stands. The kid from Topeka is such a winner. At halftime Mark was asked about the referees. Instead of ranting, he said all he wants is for the game to be called fair. Danny, from what I hear is staying where he is in Lawrence to let his kids complete High School and when he moves, will move up fast in the coaching ranks. No matter what else happens, they are two great guys that could come to KU and be loved as the coach, when KU comes to its senses and moves Bill Self up to Athletic Director.

Three previous games have been covered by former Coach Bobby Knight. In those three games he was fair and complemented both teams. He added color to the game and insight where a guy like Brent Musberger clearly should be calling ballroom dancing or figure skating. Last night, he was very pro A&M and against KU. Several times he declared that A&M would win because of their play. Only a man blinded by favoritism could overlook the fact that the lead changed hands faster than a quarter in a candy store and the end was in doubt right up to the last three minutes. The only thing I can say is that at least we didn't have to listen to Dick Vitale shout "OH Baby" and talk about anything but the game. Someone on the staff at ESPN should remind the Coach that he needs to not call the end of the game until the end of the game.

Sunny and cold here today. There is a pretty cold wind blowing and it will be a good day to be indoors. I think I'll go over to the Valley Brook house and paint. After that, I need to start cleaning the rugs in the bedrooms and the "almost Great Room" A few hard days and I'll be ready for it to go on the market.

The other day, we got a notice from the County that our properties was found to be in the flood plain and we needed to get Federal Flood Insurance. At least Barb narrowed the fact down that it was two notices about the property here at Rabbit Run. We need to take the original Flood Plain map down and argue with them from their own records. Did they lie then or now?

Have a great day out there.

MUD

Cold Dose of Winter!

For those lulled by the warmer days last week, we are having a cold dose of the reality of winter this morning. 14 degrees with a 20 MPH wind does that too a guy. At least I didn't fall down going out after the paper. As I look out the door to the south, the sun is trying to shine but a fine snow is falling and it is probably blowing in from somewhere way up north. It is still so cold that the birds aren't coming in like they normally do. One poor little wren is here.

Is anyone else suffering from a low degree of "Give a Shit" about the Olympics? I will admit that I loved the opening ceremony but the rest is about cold weather sports at a time when I have dreams of being some place warmer not standing out in the cold rainy weather cheering people doing things I really don't want to and never did do. It about matches the low intensity of the NBA All Star game in my opinion. I'm not sure if I would go to that game if someone gave me tickets. I actually listened to an argument about who was the Player of the Decade. They didn't give it to Lebron James because he wasn't a player the whole decade. Hell no, at the start of this decade he was in middle school. He skipped college and went right to the Pros and is one of the best players right now. What was he in 2000? 13 or 14? Who cares?

Yesterday my son and his wife came over to dinner. I made a Thai dish and a Beef Stroganoff dish. As usual, I made too much and we all ate too much. Barb made a wonderful chocolate dessert and we all had some of that. Dave works at Best Buy and when he arrived, he was carrying a Blue Ray DVD Player. Evidently they put the TV we bought on special and because it now included a player for the same price he got one. I played the Aviator, about Howard Hughes, and was it ever spectacular. Greatness coupled with insanity marked the life of what was once a man that took great big chances. At least twice he crashed planes that should have killed him. I guess the concept of test pilot was lost on a man with an ego bigger than his flying skills. At least they didn't show the pathetic way he lived out the end of his life.

Barb and I are going to have to do battle with the County. The house on Valley Brook and the one here on rabbit Run were found to be in the flood Plain of small streams. Neither have ever been under water in over 25 years and in the long run it just means we will have to purchase Flood Insurance but damn, why now? In fact, the water had been up several times and both houses were way above the water level. Crap, double crap.

Tonight will be a tough test of the hawks as they travel to A&M. Kinda tough trying to build up a lot of "Oh Poor Me" for them on the road as they have managed to get a three game lead on the rest of the BIG XII. Speaking of Basketball, there is a lot of talk in the paper about expanding the field for the NCAA Playoffs. I don't understand why if they can have a two team playoff for entry into the Championship series they have to limit it to two. Double the teams to 128 and have the first game at the home of the higher seeded team. I think it would give the fans one extra way to honor their team and the added revenue wouldn't hurt anybody.

have a warm day out there.

MUD

Once Upon a Time

Many years ago, I smoked a pipe. When I traveled, I carried spare pipes, pipe cleaners, extra tobacco and it seems like half of my brief case was filled with stuff to support that habit. When I stopped smoking, it was like a load got lifted and life got more simple.

Today, I tripped over the computer case and realized that those few items that I could carry in a small part of my brief case now are replaced by my computer bag and a camera bag. I'm sure that they weigh 30 or 40 lbs when I take them both. Ah, for the simple life when all I had to fear was cancer of the mouth and lung cancer.

MUD

Flowers, Chocolate and Such

I saw a lot of the Girls wearing Pink yesterday so I picked this heart

A couple of days back, you saw a picture of the cutest girl in Yermo, California and we got married just a couple of days after that picture was taken. Yes, I celebrate an anniversary and Valentines day both within a week of each other. Yes, they are treated as separate events and I do my level best to find appropriate cards and gifts for each. The good news is that in most cases a gift of chocolate and a card is a pretty good start. Cut flowers, not so much. For me, it was a 40 inch TV. Man are the Olympics spectacular on the big screen. The opening ceremony was almost scary when that person took off and flew over the ground flipping and spinning.

Oh yeah, Happy Valentines day out there to all of you. I think we need to start a tradition on Valentines Day, like the one in Brazil where the goal during carnival is to collect as many kisses as possible. I don't know if they are just the cheek kisses of Europe or real on the lips things. There is a rule that no other contact is involved. No embraces or hands anywhere. Dang, I hate it when that happens. Oh well, there are a lot of women out there that I would love to give a kiss even if it is on the cheek. Putting up with us guys and raising our children is pretty spectacular.

I don't get why football is such a big draw at some universities and round ball isn't. In Nebraska and Texas, they can fill a stadium with 70 to 80 thousand people and Nebraska doesn't sell out their 16,000 seat arena on very many occasions. The Drum (Erwin Arena in Austin) was pretty full at the start of the KU vs TX game but you can manage to buy tickets on line for most games. I think we paid only about $ 15 each for our tickets. Try that at KU. They will get closer to $100 and don't try to park anywhere near the stadium.

As I look out to the South, I can see blue skies and the sun but to the north there are clouds releasing snow flakes. I think Mother Nature is as mixed up as we are. Somewhere in 48 of the 50 States there was snow either falling or on the ground yesterday. I think most of us are ready for it to be spring even if the garden plot is covered with snow. I saw Barb looking at the seeds the other day. A great grilled steak does sound mighty good for dinner. Not one of those wimpy steaks grilled on a flat iron, but one with a smoke taste and flavor. Dave says if you need A-1 sauce, it isn't worth the effort.

The other day our front porch kitty came home looking like someone dipped him in a mud puddle. I would love to give him a bath but I'm pretty sure he would object to water and a brush. I did try to comb out some of the leaves that dried in his fur but his tail looks like a matted stick. I am at a loss how to clean him up in cold weather. I know he needs to come inside and get a bath but I have visions of a muddy pissed off cat running around the joint making a big old mess. I know he can bite and has his claws so I just don't know what to do.

Oh well, Have a great Sunday and Valentines day and "Year of the Tiger" (Lunar new year) out there.

MUD