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 |   On a daily basis... things that bump around in my head and make me go... hummm! |
My new blog:
This is not just a collections of personal musing but it is a place where I can vent. Talking about daily events on the local, state, and national scene is my way of letting off steam so I don't come home and kick the dog! We are all the Captain of our own "Ship of Fools." We go where the current of the times take us and we do what we must to be able to sleep at night. Now this Captain will speak his mind about that current and about the ocean on which we each sail....... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** {image: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** PLEASE MAIL ME YOUR VOTE FOR BLOGGER OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST. This is a shot of Me and Mel at our wedding. We were married in a simple ceremony on a deck overlooking Lake Livingston. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I am so proud of my new Siggy which was made by the very talented vivacious   . Thank you so very much for all the effort that went into this.** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** This was taken from the wall in the Blogville Post Office. If you see this fugitive, please do not approach, he is armed and stupid. Contact the Blogville sheriff's office at once, then take cover! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** } ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Okay, most everyone who bothers to read my blog is familiar with ccstring. You all get a big laugh on almost a daily basis from reading, not only his blog entries, but his comments to other blogs. The man is a genius...in a sort of "Rainman" way. I don't care how bad a mood you are in, CC can make you smile. Or, in my case...throw up. Anyway, the other day I left a little hint to the bone head. I told him I had a project for him. I'm not sure what happened but for once he didn't come charging in wanting to know what it was...he must be getting smarter...NAAAW, that can't be it. Well since he hasn't asked what the "project" is, then I will just put it out here and get your thoughts on it. Show of hands: How many of you, out there who are closet CC fans and of the way he flings his flappage, would like to see the Master Flinger "rewrite" a scene from a Shakespere play? How about having CC write the Love scene from Romeo and Juliet....IN CCnese!! WOULDN'T THAT BE A HOOT!! If you have another scene you would rather he tackle, just mention it here. Now all you got to do is leave a comment and tell me what you think of the idea and if you have a different scene you would like to see him do, mention that too. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS LEADS!!! |
Good afternoon my friends. It is now 3:01 pm here in Texas and I just got off the phone with PlannerDan  's wife, Linda.She told me that Dan came out of surgery okay and the doctors had to do a quadruple bypass! Dan is now in ICU and resting, though still out of it. Ms. Planner told me that Dan would be in the hospital for about a week but the doctors seemed to think he should have no trouble having a complete recovery. I have to tell you that I was quite worried about Dan and I really believe that the good thoughts and prayers of all of you here in Blogville helped Dan. Now we just gotta keep up the prayers and thoughts until he is back on his feet. I told Mrs. Planner about all the well wishes from all of you around the world and she was touched and told me to say: "Thank you so much". Well that's it for now...if anything else comes up I will let you all know. Oh, I DID have a request of Mrs. Planner. I told her that as soon as Dan starts to awaken, I wanted her lean down close to his ear and whisper: "I have a message for you from Tor". Then I told her to yell at the top of her voice: "I TOLD YOU SO!" LOL! That ought to get his blood boiling! |
| It was after eleven at night when I got home from work and I had a disturbing message waiting for me on my answering machine.... Linda, the sweet wife of our own PlannerDan had called to say that this morning Dan went in for an angeogram (sp) and instead of doing the test, the doctor quickly admitted him to the hospital and tomorrow morning they are going to perform bypass surgery on Dan.Please, please, keep our buddy in your prayers. I will give more information as I get it. Linda said that she would be out of touch most of the day tomorrow so tomorrow evening I will try calling her to check on Dan. Now it is after mid-night and I am headed to bed. I will try to come up with another entry when I wake up...Good night folks and take care. |
| Are you a hoarder or do you throw things away when they have outlived their usefullness? Sadly, I am a hoarder; I find it extremely difficult to throw anything away. Old clothes that no longer fit, old books that have been read and reread, widgets and gadgets that I have even forgotten what I needed them for in the first place...all have a place in my home. Like most men, my wallet is full of scraps of paper and business cards with numbers on them, none of which I have used in years...why do I hold onto all this stuff? Like many hoarders, I also hold onto dreams long after their time has passed. I seem to be unable or unwilling to turn loose of those yearnings and hopes. I can not bring myself to toss them into the trash bin of my past and walk away from them. So here I sit, at the age of 57, with all these pesky dreams cluttering up the limited space of my mind. From time to time one will come floating up to the surface and I will latch onto it like a long lost friend. I will embrace it....for a time. This causes me no end of unrest when it happens. I really wish I could just shrug them off and toss them away then move on. What kind of dreams do I have laying around? Well there is a really old one which entails me writing the Great American Novel...that is one of my favorites. Then there is another one of moving to Hollywood and becoming a successful comedy writer. At my age I should just be able to put this stuff to one side and move on with my life. I should be able to convince myself that those times have passed and I should just consentrate on living out my life....but I just can't drop them in the trash can so easily. Instead, I sit here at this computer, day after day, pounding out little gems of wit and humor that will never see the light of day. In all honesty the world probably just heaved a sigh of relief at that last statement! There are other dreams laying around here, cluttering up the place....way too many to list here but the answer is the same for all of them...their time is past. Now don't get me wrong. I just reread what I had written and it sounds like I'm whinning...I'm not. I am merely stating fact and wondering at this particularily human condition that causes us to fly in the face of reality and hold onto past dreams. Sometimes, like today, I am able to stand back and coolly examine myself with a detached and clinical eye and wonder why I hold onto this stuff. When I look at myself in this manner and take inventory of my life I have to admit that I am so much better off than some others. I have a roof over my head, food on the table, two cars in the driveway and, most importantly, a wife who loves me beyond all reason...I am one lucky guy. So why can't I discard those pesky dreams? Maybe its like that old saying: Man's reach should exceed his grasp. Maybe I hold onto those dreams in order to have a reason to keep striving. Maybe those old dreams are the whip that keeps me moving forward.....I really don't know. How about the rest of you? Are you hoarders or do you clean house of the old dreams in a timely manner? |
| I read a lot of blogs and comments to those blogs. Everyday I usually average reading about 30 or more blogs and their comments and sometimes I run across a sentance that just makes me scratch my head and wonder: "Okay, what the hell were they thinking?" I ran across one such comment to a blog today. The sentance that had me scratching my head: "i can't stand the police- they just messing with people for no reason" Yeah, don't you just hate that about policemen. They go to work every day and just can't wait to get out on the street and randomly pick out a civilian to hassle and maybe even charge with a crime. Nevermind that theirs is the only profession(besides the military) where wearing a bullet proof vest is a requirement. Nevermind that the police and firemen are the only two professions that require their members to run toward whatever trouble everyone else is running AWAY from... those guys are just a nuisance! I had a friend once who was hassled by the police. He was minding his own business, driving to work, when some idiot ran a red light and T-boned his car. My friend was knocked senseless for a few moments and when he came around he noticed that his car was on fire. Try as he might, he was unable to get the door open to exit the car. The next thing you know there was some dang busy-body cop who had nothing better to do than run up and interfere in my friends car crash. The cop busted the window of the wrecked car with his baton and dragged my friend out of a perfectly good seat in his burning Ford. You can just imagine how pissed off my friend was. Yeah, those cops are always "messing" with people arn't they. The question begs to be asked though...Would you do the job? Would you place yourself in harm's way to protect the property and safty of complete strangers? For what they get paid? I didn't think so. Neither would I. Maybe the person who wrote that would prefer we just did away with policemen altogether. Oh yeah, that would work out real well wouldn't it. If that happens I hope to God that you don't have anything someone else might want to take and if you do, I hope your gun is bigger than theirs. Then there is the whole question of who's gonna clean up the mess after the shoot out. Seriously though, the police departments around the country arn't perfect. Yes, there are bad cops. That just means we need to be diligent in oversight and try to keep the bad ones weeded out. I can't imagine the world without them though. Maybe before we make blanket statements like: "I hate the cops" we should think about what it would be like without them and the good that they do every day. Okay, my rant is done. Since I was kidded about being "wordy" I tried to keep this one as short as possible...  LOL! |
| Twenty-Six more entries to go before I close the Book on Random Thoughts. Believe it or not I am beginning to have a bit of anxiety about these last entries. Maybe its some kind of performance anxiety, I wonder if I can keep people reading my stuff. Will I be able to keep the thing even vaguely interesting to readers? My views, as of today, stand at 24,210. I would love to reach 25,000 before the end. At least that is my goal, who knows. I need to start advertising this month's edition of The Blogville News. August will be a great month for the newsletter. I was lucky enough to convince (nag)emmyloo into contributing an article for the "My Little Corner of Blogville" column....this should be great! Oh and who say's begging don't pay off? I did some big time begging and stuff and guess who has agreed to be our guest editor this month? WE GOT...Voxxylady AS OUR GUEST EDITOR!! You guys are in for a real treat this month.These two ladies will join our regular columnist: Nada, Forever, Vivacious, Scarlett and CC Da Buckethead to bring you a great newsletter. All columnist...please remember that the deadline for sending me your articles is Aug. 20th. It is also time to start the voting again. EVERYONE NEEDS TO VOTE FOR THEIR FAVORITE BLOGGER FOR BLOGGER OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST. Just send your vote to me via e-mail and I will tally them and post the results in this month's issue. Well, I guess that's about it...now I got 25 more entries to go...geeze. |
| Tor opens the gate to the chicken coop and yells at the top of his lungs "SCATTER, COL. SANDERS IS HERE!" The insuing stampede of panicked poultry, heading out the gate and into his blog was a sight to behold. "Well", he mused. "This should prove to be interesting". Did you ever have one of those weeks? You know what I mean, a week when you just felt like hammered poo but could not justify calling in sick. Well, welcome to my world. For the past week I have had this annoying little Gnome attached to the side of my head while he conducted mining operations over my left ear. The resultant headache has been horrible and unrelenting. Nothing I take seems to make any dent in the pain either. WOOOSH! The first chicken runs through the blog. You know they're missing the boat with all the medications on the market for headaches. Not one of them are made to counter-act a drilling Gnome. You would think that some smart scientist, somewhere would come up with a pill you could take that would poison a Gnome with a drill. Something they could name: "Gnome-be-Gone" or "Tylognome"..... something. Tor boots the Gnome Chicken out of the blog. Where was I? Oh yeah... I've had a headace for a week. Anyway, today everything came to a head (excuse the intentional play on words). The pain was just about to get the better of me and I was forced to resort to drastic measures as I stood at the door of Wal-Mart, in pain, trying gamely to do my job. I had to use my only defense against unremitting pain....ZEN! "Cluck, cluck, cluck". The Gnome chicken is followed close behind by the Zen Chicken Traditionally, Zen traces its roots back to Indian Buddhism; it takes its name from the Sanskrit term, dhyāna, which means meditative concentration (zen is short for the rarely-used form zenna). According to traditional accounts, Chinese Zen was established in approximately 500 CE by an Indian monk named Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma is said to have been the twenty-eighth patriarch of Zen and the last Indian successor in a line begun by the Buddha's disciple Mahakaśyapa. His school was also known as the Buddha Heart School Boy, I bet that impressed the hell out of ya didn't it. Anyway, I was lucky in that I learned a bit of the old Zen at an early age. I once studied at the feet of one of the most famous Zen masters in East Texas. His name was Jim Bob Bodhidharma and he claimed direct linage back to that other Bodhidharma fellow. Jim Bob ran a Zen school and combined it with a dance studio where he also taught square-dancing and Clogging. I wonder why Zen Clogging never caught on? Tor plants a boot in the backside of the dang Zen Chicken and watches the bird sail through the air, out of the blog...all the while comtemplating its own belly button (YES, chickens have belly buttons, so shaddup and read). As I was saying.... I used the art of Zen to become one with the pain, to blend with the agony, to swim in the moment. AND IT WORKED! Actually what happened was the little guy who lives in my head and watchs the control booth with all the gauges and levers and stuff, was jolted out of a soud sleep by the sound of the klaxon horn sounding the "Red Alert". This alarm always sounds right before I collapse in a puddle of self-pitying, whimpering, thumb-sucking, agony from pain or stress. Tor shakes his head. "Gawd, now the "Little-guy-in-the-Head chicken is running loose. You know we all have the little guy in the head who controls everything we do and say...you knew that right? Well we do...SO THERE! He is the one we can blame every time something goes wrong...."IT'S HIS FAULT!" HE is always the one that twists the joy-stick and causes my head to turn 180 degrees (very painful) and gawk at the babe in the mini-skirt. I DIDN'T WANT TO LOOK but HE has MAKE me look just so he can see it through my eyes! Well this time, when the alarm went off, the little guy jumped up, looked around and figured out that I was about to reach critical mass with the headache. So, he quickly hit the red button, located just above the inside of my right eye (Yeah, we all have them). This released a large dose of endorphines into my blood stream. Ahhh....NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! Suddenly, the pain was gone. I was standing there at the door with this loopy grin on my face and this warm fuzzy feeling coursing through my body. It was kinda like the very first time you take a couple of loooong drags off a big, fat, doober of Maui-Wowy...the premium stuff. This feeling of well-being lasted the rest of my shift and the pain did not come back until I was halfway home. Endorphines, Zin, whatever.....it worked. Tor grabs the Little-Guy-who-lives-in-the-Head Chicken by his neck: "Since they ain't gonna ever believe that crap, you are going to the pot, my friend," He told the unfortunate bird. Well, that's how I made it through the day, today. After I clocked out, I headed back toward the front door. I was still feeling all warm, fuzzy, and just chock full of witty retorts which I had not used during my shift. I was still wearing my blue vest and name tag as I walked up the main isle. I had gotten half way through the store when I was stopped by the call of a shopper...the sunken-chested idiot by the sound of him (I am an expert on shopper calls..not unlike bird calls). "PARDON ME SIR," The irratating call started to bring me down from my endorphine high...didn't the jerk know I was off? "What?" I replied, giving him my door-greeter, deathray, stare which seemed not to deter him in the least. "Do you work here?" I closed my eyes and let the sheer stupidity of that inquiry sink through every pore of my body...Why don't they let me carry a gun? "No sir," I finally answered him. "I just wear this blue vest and name tag to attract the chicks." AHHHHHHHH....GOD THAT FELT GOOD! On that note I made my way, finally, to my car and like I said before, the headache didn't reappear until I was half-way home. So, if you will pardon me, I really must go sit in the Lotus position, repeat my mantra and wait for the little guy in my head to PUSH THE DAMN BUTTON AGAIN! Tor looks around at the mess of chickens and feathers and wonders if he can con his good buddy CC into coming over and cleaning up the dang mess. |
| History was made today in Livingston, Texas. Well, it was history to us anyway. Today shoppers in Livingston were able to go into their favorite grocery store and purchase a six-pack of beer. I know... In the great scheme of things this isn't all that earth shaking is it. Well if you look at the history of the town and the county you can understand what a moment this was. Back in 1902 Livingston was a sleepy little cattle/logging/farming town and the country seat of Polk County, Texas. Like most Texas towns, we had more saloons than anything else. There was almost one on every corner and Saturday nights were wild and racous. Cowboys, loggers and farmers would flock to the saloons, walk through their swinging doors and lay down their hard earned cash for a little liquid libation and some female compaionship, not to mention the chance to lose their money at the poker tables. This was the year that the understandable split between the church folks and the saloon keepers came to a violent head. No one is quite certain how it all started but somehow some of the local saloon keepers had a run-in with the local Baptist....blows were struck, knifes were drawn, along with not a few guns. In the insuing carnage a fire was started in the rear of the largest saloon. That fire soon spread unabated since most of the volunteer Fire Brigade were members of the Baptist Church and refused to answer the alarm. Besides they were involved in the riot that was going on and were understandably busy. The upshot of this is that not only did that saloon burn to the ground, but a full three fourths of the town along with it. A week later, amid the ashes of the town, an election was held and the whole county voted to ban the sell of alcohol. Almost at once the push started to get that right back again. Every year, almost without fail, this subject would come up for a vote again and each and every year it was defeated....Polk County remained DRY. Fast forward to two months ago....the referendum came up for vote once more and THIS TIME THEY ACTUALLY WON! It only took 104 years but they did it. I do believe that the folks who backed the referendum to bring alcohol back to Polk County were the most surprised people in the county that they had actually won. I expected there to be a sh*t storm of response from the folks who fought the vote and a lot of crowing and celebrating from the ones who won. There was nothing, no angry letters to the editor, no pickets...nothing. I believe both sides were in shock. Well it has taken a couple of months for all the stores to get the needed licenses and stuff, but today, at Wal-Mart beer finally went on sale. Again...nothing. Just business as usual. Maybe its because these people who live around here are such staunch believers in the Democratic process. The vote has been counted and the outcome is now law....okay, time to move on. This is the perfect example of how democracy works. If there is a law you don't like and you are willing to work against it for 104 years.....you have a chance of winning. Try that in North Korea! |
| Like many of you out there I am in awe of the talent I witness every day on this site. Sometimes I am left to scratch my head in bewilderment over the fact that these talented folks have not found fame and fortune or have even been published. I would like to point out one such member today. Almost everyone who reads this blog, I am sure, knows partyof5dj. Party just happens to be one of the most talented writers on this site, in my humble opinion. He writes every bit as good as Dave Barry. For those of you who might not know who Dave Barry is, he has been a syndicated columnist for over 25 years who now writes for the Miami Herald newspaper. Mr. Barry has written and published 25 books, his column has appeared in over 500 newspapers and in 1988 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Comentary. The man is good at what he does, which is to make us laugh. The thing is....partyof5dj is just as good at writing humor as Mr. Barry. I do not say this lightly because Dave Barry is my all-time favorite columnist. Here is a link to one of Dave Barry's columns. I hope it works in this format. Read his stuff for yourself and then tell me if Party isn't just as good. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/14959463.htm In case this don't work, just google Dave Barry...you will get there I promise and the trip will be worth it. So, now if there is anyone out there who has not yet sampled Party's blog and his humor....WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? Go read a real writer's funny, funny, take on life...read Party's blog. |
| Tor walks in, mumbling: "This has to be the shortest dang war in history, dang wussy-boy caved in quicker than a democrat hooked to a lie-detector" Tor begins to clear away the now deserted barracades and to turn loose the free-range chickens he had planned on using as ammo to bombard Party and CC. Well, that's it. I guess the war is over because everyone is over at Nada 's place swimming nekkid and smoking a controlled substance in a Native American, Tobacco related item.partyof5dj has promised to limit his megalomaniac plans for world domination to the Black Cases, thus we have an uneasy peace and things are getting back to what passes for normal in Blogville. I only hope that Party got the word out to his dippy cohort, ccstring about the cessation of hostilities. If he didn't let the dip-stick know then we may be in for more flingage and flappage. I wonder if we might have to call in UN troops to enforce the cease-fire? Naw...we would probably need a force with more authority and back-bone.... maybe the Girl Scouts. Okay, well since the war is over, what else has been going on in WDC and Blogville? Well, to begin with, I am happy to report that gypsy4evermore is back in Blogville after a whole week's absence. It was really good to see her blog this morning. Now all we have to is get zwisis back, safe and sound from her journeys.Oh I do have something a bit strange to relate this morning. WARNING: STAT INFORMATION TO FOLLOW! Well as you know, I am a stat-ninja and I love all things stat so of course this morning, after I got out of bed, one of the first things I checked was the stats from the night before. Well was I surprised. It seems that sometime between midnight(Eastern time)and seven this morning someone had gone into my port and viewed EVERYTHING IN THERE! I had over a hundred items listed on the stat page with at least one view....now that's just weird..LOL! Well none of them were rated or reviewed so my stuff probably just scared the heck out of them and they ran off with their eyes bleeding...GAWD! That's about it for me today. I think I will spend the remainder of the day keeping a close eye on Party and his side-kick, CC just to make sure that whole pool scene wasn't a ruse to make me lower my guard...You folks have a great day while I man the watchtower here. |
| Sad times are upon us all here in Blogville. There is a black cloud on our horizon and it is moving rapidly toward all of us here in our happy land. We have lived too long, I fear, with peace and harmony and now that a threat looms we are not equiped to fight it. Of course, the threat I refer to is partyof5dj and his avowed bid to take over all of WDC. What are we to do? Appeasment does not work. We have ignored him for too long. We laughed at his open boasts of taking over WDC and making himself the ruler of this cyberland. We are guilty of not taking him serious and you see what it got us... Now he is making his overt move on our own beloved town of Blogville! I was shocked, yes and dismayed yesterday when I read his blog...or should I call it his Manifesto of Domination...where he came right out and declared his intention of attacking our revered "Stats Page". He boldly outlined his intentions of "knocking off" the leaders and thereby installing himself in a position of power. Well I am here to tell you, I will not go quietly into that good night! I plan on mounting a suitable defence against this upstart from the North. The first thing I did yesterday, after reading his blog, was to do a little investigating on my own and you will be surprised at what I found. It seems that Partydude did not come up with this idea on his own. No siree, he had help. It seems that the power behind the threat is none other than that dastardly (I know, I used a "D" instead of a "B", sorry)ccstring. I discovered, by hacking into CC's private e-mail account, that he has been trading letters with Party, urging him onward in his quest for domination. It seems the two of them have signed a secret pact. Yes, we have a NEW Axis of Evil to contend with now! So, please, if you read this, do not despair. I am issuing a call-to-arms and we will mount a formatable defence to thewart this most evil pair since Natasha and Boris (think Bullwinke here). I'm not sure which is Natasha though. I urge you all to take up your keyboards now and join me in Defending Blogville. I am sure that in the upcoming days the violence and mayhem will become rampant but if we present a united front I believe we can overcome these evil upstarts! WHAT? A guy can't have a little fun in here? Stop your grumbling and start throwing nouns and adjectives about. This could get interesting....well at least it might get funny and we could use that about now. |
| Peace. What an elusive ideal that is. Man has yearned for peace ever since the days of cave-dwellers but it has always remained just out of reach. Iraq and Afganastan are now offically on page two of the news, pushed there by the violence in Lebonon and Israel. We move seemlessly from one conflict to another and always further from what we all want: Peace. Over the past years I have read countless blogs online, both here at WDC and on other sites, by writers expounding upon their beliefs both pro and con on the different conflicts. Everyone has an opinion but no one really has any answers. Why? Well maybe its because there is no real answer to violence in this world. There shall always be war and rumor of war, that is a given. If there were only two people left on earth and one had something the other wanted....you would have war. I have read blogs where the writer, usually a younger person who has never heard a shot fired in anger, is passionately calling for "Us" to go in and "kill em all", "Nuke the bastards", and other firey rhetoric. I always shake my head when I read that stuff. I have to wonder; have they ever actually killed another human? Have they plunged in a knife and stood up close and watched the life drain from the eyes of their victim? I doubt it. Most who have done this are hesitant to unleash the dogs of war, they know the price you pay. Then I read other blogs, some by so-called "experts" who call for appeasement ...give them what they want, don't resist..Peace at any cost. I can't agree with these folks either. There always comes a time and a place when you have to stand firm. You have to resist those who would come against you. So, today, who is right and who is wrong? I don't have a clue. What I do have is an overwhelming sense of sadness when I see what is happening in the world today. I can see, down the road, to where this is all leading and I can see the storm clouds that are gathering which will soon cover us all. What you see happening in the Middle East will one day be at your own door-step. What will we do then? Of what use will all the rhetoric, both for and against war be then? So please, don't read this blog and expect to see pithy words of wisdom as to how we should deal with the turmoil and strife for I don't have any answers. Personally I can tell you that if war comes to my very door-step I will do exactly what those people in the Middle East, Iraq and Afganastan are doing....I will go down fighting to defend what is mine and those I love...the same way I should have gone down thirty-some-odd years ago. That is the only real truth that matters. |
| I know a parent is not supposed to love or even like one child more than another one. I learned this ages ago when I read the Owner's Manual which came stapled to the butt of my first-born. Of course the second thing it taught me was how to remove staples from a baby's butt, but that's another story. No, we are not supposed to be partial to one of our children at the expense of the others but, damnit, I just can't help it. I love and adore one of my kids twice as much as all the others put together. Wait.... What the heck is all that growling I hear? Oh, didn't I mention..... I MEAN MY FOUR LEGGED KIDS, not the two-legged, rug-rats of the human variety. I raised five of those and loved every blessed one of them equally. I also threatened to kill each one of them at one time or another as they were struggling to reach adulthood. We are raising three four-legged children and you have read my blogs on different ones from time to time. I list only three because I count only the dogs, not the cats. Cats are nobody's "kids". They are furry terrorist who toy with you and only keep you alive so that you can feed them. Our three kids are Mollie, the oldest and a black Lab, Sherman, our adopted waif who is five months old, part Yellow Lab and part Bloodhound and Rocky who is our pure-bred little German Shepard prince and who is almost four months old now. There, are you all caught up now? Like I was saying...I love one above all the rest. I just can't help it, I love Sherman the best. I tried not to but, damn he is just too damn loveable. I mean he is the perfect Bubba dog. He is barely smart enough to get in out of the rain. If he was human he would attend school on the "short bus" and he would be labeled "special". He is just a big, lovable galloot. The dog is, like I said, five months old and he already weighs a good fifty pounds. His body is too big for his spindly legs and he is continually trying to run and managing to fall on his head. The thing is, we weren't even supposed to have Sherman. He was a rescue dog Mel saved when it was only about a month old. At the time she came dragging Sherman into the house, we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little Prince, Rocky...the one with the pedigree as long as your arm...the one who was just supposed to steal my heart after the loss of my beloved Crockett, the Rotty. Now don't get me wrong...I love Rocky. He is cute and lovable and all that. Its just that there is this air of aristocracy about Rocky....he is spoiled and he DEMANDS your attention. Sherman, on the other hand, stands quietly in the background, ready at a moment's notice to lick your face or fetch a ball or just lay with his head in your lap when you've had a bad day. I guess what it boils down to is that I am a country boy at heart...a bubba...and Sherman is just my kind of dog: Lovable and Stupid. He is never going to win ribbons and awards like Rocky could. He is just going to spend his life loving me unconditionally. What more could a Bubba like me ask for. Sherman when we first got him: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** This is Sherman two months ago... He is a lot bigger now! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** See, how can I not love him the best? |
Another short entry this morning. I got up about 4:30 a.m. and finished editing the newsletter...It is now ready for your enjoyment. PLease drop all the contributors an email and tell them what a great job they all did. I think it came out great. "Invalid Entry"  Let me know what you think. |
| No real blog entry for me today. Sorry, but I have spent all my time since I got home from work putting the finishing touches on the latest edition of The Blogville News. It will be published tomorrow after I get home so there is still time for any last minute voting for Blogger of the Month. Everything else is pretty much set...just waiting for some last minute contributions then I can post it. |
| Emperors and Senators of ancient Rome were the most powerful men in the world, leaders of the most powerful nation on Earth... at that time. This succession of men feared only one thing: The Mob. This was the term used to describe the common citizen of Rome and the rulers were keenly aware of the fact that this Mob was capable of bringing them down in a blink of an eye. The Mob, the poorly educated, poverty-stricken, common man and woman whose numbers teemed the streets of Rome was an untapped force for change which frightened the ruling class more than any barbarian army which might march to their gates. The Roman Senate and the Emperors went to great lengths to appease the people of Rome, giving them free food, mass entertainment in the form of The Circus Maximus and other state run programs to make their life as easy as possible. All of this to keep the people from becoming restive and taking power from those who ruled. Does any of that sound familiar to you? Sounds a lot like America today doesn't it. The government constantly throws us social programs to keep us content and we have our own version of The Circus Maximus.. Television. Why? Because the people of this country have the power to make any changes they decide they want, bad enough and that scares the people in charge. Yes, we have power, the only trouble is that we have become too spoiled by our easy life to institute the changes needed. We don't like paying such a high price for gas? What do you think would happen if the people of this country decided to take matters in their own hands and seriously curtail the use of gas? What would happen if we had the force of will to STOP taking vacations which entailed travel? What if we had the self-discipline to carpool to work and only make once weekly trips to the store? What if gas consumption in this country dropped by 50%? Yeah, the price would drop like a rock. The thing is this whole scenario is unworkable because we lack the courage to step out of our comfort zone and take action. What if we didn't like the laws being passed and the direction our government was taking the country? What if we actually mobilized our vote and used it as a weapon against bad representation in Washington? Yeah, that's right, things would definitely change and probably for the better. But, of course, the same rule applies: We lack the will to pull this feat off. You know, it's funny but sometimes I feel a real affinity to members of that long ago Roman citizen and member of The Mob. I know we could make changes but..... Oh well, it's almost time for my favorite Reality show on T.V. so let's just forget about this line of thought, shall we.... Maybe tomorrow. Besides, I need to get busy planning my vacation across country in an RV. Dang, I hope gas don't go up again...but what can I do? |
| Eureka! I've got it. I have just come up with a fool-proof plan to make the entire world stop the madness, pause and say: "What the Hell?" Bear with me here, this will take some explaining. Do you remember, after 9/11 when we invaded Afghanistan and started whupping up on the Taliban? Remember how the attention of the entire world was focused on that sand pile. All the world's journalist flocked to Kabul to report the story and people everywhere hung on every word they sent back. Almost instantly critics came out of the woodwork the world over, intent on telling us what we were doing wrong and how we really needed to go about the business of sending terrorist to collect their seventy-two virgins in heaven. Then, just as they were really getting into the story, we turned around and decided to play "cowboys and Iraqis" and forced Saddam to take up residence in his palatial, one-room mansion hidden under a piece of tin in some poor guy's back yard. Afghanistan was forgotten as the world scrambled to move their journalist from there over to Iraq so that they might report on our Army, Marine, Navy and Air Force roll in there and rearrange the country's statues, not to mention the skyline, of Baghdad. Now, just about the time the world's press and the "Experts" were all in place and busy reporting this new war... Not to mention telling us how to do it better or whether we should have done it at all, Israel gets slapped by the Hezbollah and they slap back....HARD. Now Afghanistan AND Iraq is forgotten as everyone scrambles once again to bring their full attention upon these combatants. The world press is stretched to the breaking point, trying to cover everything. There is mass confusion in news rooms everywhere as they try to figure out who to slant their news toward. The population of the rest of the world now needs score cards to keep up with the teams. It is chaos out there! So, what is my brilliant plan, you ask. Well its simple really. I personally think that America should now begin to marshal troops and tanks on the border of Canada, maybe lob a few artillery shells across the border and into the North Woods then kidnap a couple of Mounties. Then, when the Canadians say: "WHAT THE HELL!" We will INVADE CANADA! Can you imagine the consternation this would cause around the world....Everybody just stops and then you will hear a great, collective: UH? "Where the heck did that come from?" Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Israel would be instantly forgotten in the face of this totally surprise move. Can you imagine Muslims throughout the Arab world turning to each other and saying: "Hey, what's up with that? This is our dang Holy War, who invited the Canadians?" This will be followed by a half-hearted attempt to hijack an jetliner to demand the release of their brother Canadian Mounties. NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and FOX NEWS would be in a panic. They would demand the reinstatement of the draft, not for more soldiers but a draft to swell the ranks of reporters so they don't fall behind in their "reporting". At the same time North Korea's wacky leader would be jumping up and down, waving his arms in the air and yelling: "HEY, YOU GUYS! WHAT ABOUT US? IT WAS OUR TURN NEXT!" Yes, it would mean cheating the long suffering North Koreans out of their turn as the highlighted victim of the "Running-Dog, Imperialist, Americans". In fact everyone would have to stop, take a breath and reshuffle their position on the world's stage as oppressed victims of America. When everything else in the world stopped and we had their attention, then we could give Canada back their Mounties, pay them for trees killed by our artillery shells and give them Favored Nation status in trade relations. We can then pull back our troops out of their country. Then we can look around at all the other countries and say: "WHOSE NEXT? Do you really want to play this game or can we just talk this crap out? Your choice, but if this don't work, MEXICO BETTER WATCH OUT!" So there you have it... One bubba's simple way to make the world stop and look at what kind of road we are traveling down. Of course it won't happen, but you gotta admit: It would really make an impression now wouldn't it. |
| I love doors. Have you ever stopped and wondered about doors, how they came to be so important to us and what we use them for? Doors come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny and narrow to great, arching, mammoth double doors through which great numbers can pass at once. The thing I particularly find intriguing about doors is that, even though they are the entrance way into someone's domain, you can not tell by looking at the door what lies behind it. They rarely give a clue as to what you will find behind them. A door is a sort of boundary marker. It gives silent declaration that you are leaving the public sphere and entering someone's private space and along with that transition comes a certain obligation not only to the one entering the door, but also for the host who is accepting the traveler's presence. For example, when we pass through a door into the domain of a stranger it is incumbent upon us to practice some modicum of manners. While in the stranger's home we try to abide by his or hers house rules and show them common courtesy and respect. If we find that we have nothing in common with this person and we dislike what they do in their home, we respectfully back out and leave quietly. We pass back through the door and we move along in search of another, more interesting door. Life in Blogville is much the same. When you open the Blog Page you are confronted with a long list of "doors"... 1500 widely varying doors greet you as you stroll down Blogville's main street. Of course you see the doors that lead to the domains of people you know and you always stop in for a short visit, exchange pleasantries and catch up on what’s happening in their world. But, you also see the doors of many strangers; people whom you have never visited before and you are intrigued. Out of curiosity you enter a door to a domain you have never visited and you walk into their home. Here is where the rules of common courtesy comes into play. As you enter their domain, you find yourself in a type of “foyer” which is the Intro to their blog. Here you can hopefully find out something about the person you are visiting and maybe discern whether or not you would even be welcome there. If there is little, or no information to guide you in that intro then maybe you forge ahead and move deeper into their domain... you read an entry. Now, at this point you are well into the stranger’s home, he has welcomed you and bid you to read. It is as this point you discover something more about the writer and whether or not the two of you have compatible ideas. If everything is good, you enjoy the writing and you had a good time visiting this person, then by all means leave a note. Let them know you were there and you enjoyed yourself. If, on the other hand, you find the writer objectionable and their words disturbing to you, then simply turn around and show yourself out through the same door by which you entered. Now this is not to say you can not express a difference of opinion. Behind ALMOST every door in Blogville there resides a person who is tolerant of points of view different from their own. The trick is to express that difference much the way you would while visiting in a home out in the real world; with courtesy and respect. Many times you will find that even though the two of you hold different beliefs it will not stop either of you from having a healthy dialogue. You might not like someone’s personal views on some things but it does not have to mean you can not respect the person. Behind the 1500 doors in the city of Blogville you will find widely varying and wildly divergent philosophies, beliefs, and morals. Be willing to learn about the person through reading their thoughts but be respectful while in their house. You will discover that the doors of Blogville can serve to widen your horizons and deepen the understanding of the world around you... and who knows, you might make a friend in the process. Oh, and about those doors... well my favorite door is the double swinging doors...easy to enter and just as easy to exit, so I hope you folks will come on in and find out if you like my home. |
| It has been a very interesting week at work, to say the least. I think everything started to go south on Sunday when we got a bomb threat at the store. Now this is not as uncommon as you might think, we normally get three or four of these a year. Some idiot either calls the store or calls the cops and says they have planted a bomb somewhere in the building. When this happens we have to get everyone out of the store and out into the parking lot while the police come in and investigate. Sunday was no different. You might think that clearing a store for a bomb threat would be easy...everyone wants out of there, right. Well obviously you have never seen Wal-Mart customers who are in full shopping mode. These people resent being interrupted. THEY WANT TO SHOP! Picture this: Four of us who drew the short straw and have to go throughout the store, herding people to the front door are struggling to empty the store while getting cursed at by little old ladies who are intent on buying their weekly supply of depends. It was not a pretty site. "WHADDA YA MEAN, I GOTTA LEAVE THE STORE?" One lady yelled at me. "Ma'am, we have a bomb threat, we have to clear the building". "WELL GO FIND THE BOMB AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" As she says this, she rams her shopping cart into my leg as she tried to get by me. So I gently take hold of the cart, turn it toward the front door and begin walking...she has to follow because she has a death-grip on the handle. The entire way to the front door she is yelling threats at me and threatening to sue the store. Once outside, I turn her over to a waiting cop (funny how they wait outside until the store is cleared). Once she sees the cop she calms right down. "Well, goodness sakes," she says. "Why didn't you tell me the police where here, now where do you want me to go?" I resisted the urge to tell her WHERE TO GO and went back in to grab another shopper. So, after everyone is cleared out, the police go inside to clear the building. Now this store is huge and to properly search it would take three hours or better. Well they do it in about 45 minutes. Two deputies enter with a pair of hounds... they are supposed to be bomb-sniffing dogs but I swear I had seen both those dogs, which belonged to one of the deputies, being used on a coon hunt a few weeks ago. Yeah, those dogs are gonna find a bomb alright...IF IT HAPPENS TO BE STRAPPED TO THE BACK OF A FULL GROWN BOAR COON!!! Well after about 45 minutes of the deputies and their coon dogs stumbling around the store (both dogs left their own "bombs" for us to clean up), the store manager figured, what the hell, the store hasn't blown up yet so we all went back to work! Okay, that was my Sunday. Monday comes and we figure it has to be a quieter day after all the excitment of the day before...WRONG. On Monday we had a man drop dead while shopping. "CLEAN UP ON ISLE 9 PLEASE!" As best as we can figure, the guy had a massive heart attack. There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that he actually died while standing in the express check-out lane and wasn't discovered until thirty minutes later, when the line actually moved. So there you have it...today is Wednesday and I go in late. I can't wait to see what is waiting for me today. I tell you, I'm getting too old for this crap. I need a nice quiet job like a security contractor for Haliburton in Iraq...wonder if they're hiring? |
| It is now 6:19 p.m. here in my little part of the Oven we call Earth and I have just finished reading blogs. Yup, I got home from work at 3:30 and I just now finished reading and doing some little commenting. Now I find that I am out of time to blog myself in any real manner. Today was an exceptional day for blogs of all types. I guess I read maybe twenty blogs and commented on just a few of them and every one of them was really interesting...even CC's...Gawd, that's scarry. So this is going to be a "nothing" entry today. I don't have the time nor the talent, I think, to come close to the really good ones I have read. Thank you all for entertaining and informing me so very well for almost three whole hours...Television can't come close to that. Now, if you will pardon me, I must go contemplate frozen syrup...you'll have to read gypsy4evermore 's blog.Good night folks and great blogging today by all of you. |
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Congrats on 500 entries, and we are all looking forward to the sequel.