Living large

Last night I went to take some pictures of the stars, hoping
to get one of a fast spinning pumpkin star. These are stars
that spin so fast they appear squashed into the shape of said
pumpkin.

The claim is that the biggest one, KSw 71, is 10 times bigger
than the sun and rotates the Earth every 5.5 days. With an
object that big I figured it be a planet. Didn’t see any but had
fun trying.

Then, after I’d had some coffee, I went to catch the sun rise
if it looked interesting. Turns out it did so I snapped off a
shot.

Later I ventured out again and noticed the clouds. After I
took a few photos I sat down and marveled at the sight. God
must be happy in Heaven because he sure put on a show for us.

I ventured out one more time with camera in hand to see what
caught my eye and was again amazed. A bird was circling over
head that could have been a hawk. And I got more pictures.

Which brought me to the conclusion that God does have a sense
of humor and forgave me for my Sunday snicker. All that and I
never left the back yard! Enjoy your day. If you haven’t voted
already it’s one day closer to election day.
Comments are always welcome.

Got sidetracked

I thought this picture just screamed Halloween so decided to
share it. Have a happy Halloween! It’s sad that like so many
other things, when kids go trick or treating they have to have
the goodies inspected before eating.

Many things we remember from our childhood are not being
experienced by our children and grandchildren. Part of the
problem is we now have too many nuts and not enough trees,
a broken legal system plays into it, and technology also has
a part.

What? you say. When we were kids technology was a sharp
pencil and pack of paper, an AM transistor radio, and a TV
that had 3 channels and went off the air at midnight. Today
we have cell phones, smart phones, tablets, digital recorders,
and much more.

Yet with all these marvels at their disposal, today’s kids
seem to get bored a lot. They are certainly more distracted.
Digital devices appear to be welded to their hands a good
portion of the day.

Work is a dirty word akin to cruelty to a minor. If one
disciplines their child they are suddenly monsters, and a thing
called “time out” has replaced a trip to the woodshed. But
some of us adults are distracted too. Who would have thought
back in the day that texting while driving would become a
problem?

Not sure where all this is going to end, but I hope it isn’t
kids emailing their neighbors “trick or treat” and said
neighbors send back online gift certificates. If thoughts like
these make me an old fart, so be it. I still believe in the
adage “just because you can change something doesn’t mean you
should”.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

I’m going to hell for this one. Enjoy!
—————————————-

There was once this guy and a girl in a car, parked neatly on Makeout Ridge, and they were, well, doing the obvious. So, here they were, naked as jay birds, when the guy suddenly says: “I need a cigarette.”

“But honey,” his lover says. “The store closes in two minutes. You’ll never have time to get to the store, and get dressed.”

“That’s okay,” He quipps. “I’ll just run down there naked, and if anyone sees me, I’ll pretend I’m a statue.”

So the young man ran down to the store, got two packs of cigaretts (this store was obviously in a heavy nudist area or something), and starts to run back. The car is in sight, and he has a few more yards to go, when all of the sudden three nuns round the corner. He panics, and freezes like a statue, his beloved cigarettes in one hand.

The first nun walks over to the young man. “Oh! What a beautiful cigarette dispenser!” She exclaimed. She sticks a quarter up his ass, pulls on his dong, and he drops a pack of cigarettes in utter disbelief.

The second nun strolls over. “What an interesting cigarette dispenser! I must try it, too.” She sticks a quarter up the young man’s ass, chokes his chicken, and he drops the other pack of cigarettes.

The third nun was the unimpressed sort. She strode up, stuck a quarter up the young man’s ass, and yanked his monkey. Nothing happened. She pulled on his Element of Adam again. Nothing happened. She tried a third time, and her eyes widened with sudden realization and suprise. “Oh, I get it! A lotion dispenser!”

Full day

Being a lifelong insomniac I got up in time to get a picture
of the moon and planet Jupiter before sunrise this morning.
What a sight.

Things just got better from there. Before we left to get our
groceries I found out it was National Chocolate Day and bought
accordingly. Different candy bars and something called Sir
Bananas banana chocolate milk!

After we put away said groceries I ventured out to see if any
critters wanted a picture. Sure enough, there were a few. This
bird was atop the pine tree and wouldn’t be quiet until I got
his picture.

Then I heard “me, me!” and looked over to this critter just
begging for a photo so I obliged.

When I finished with that I heard a commotion across the
alley and found these two in a half dead old oak.

Deciding it was time to eat and the wife and I dined on beef
tacos. She’s always riding me, and today was no exception. She
couldn’t believe I ate 8 tacos so I explained I had run out of
meat. Tacos aren’t that filling after all.

Oh yeah, the candy bars are good too. So enjoy National
Chocolate Day. It’s a great way to start the weekend. Which
reminds me, my inner voice is telling me it’s time for a
pizza and another candy bar.
Comments are always welcome.

A rare rant

The old adage “When cardinals appear angels are near”, meaning
a deceased loved one is making their presence known, occurred to
me today. I immediately thought of Mom and asked if I could take
a picture.

This bird sat until I took a picture and flew off before I
could take another. Mom was one of strongest women I have ever
met in my life yet I wondered why she chose now to let me know
I was in her thoughts.

Back when I was the one your mother warned you about she had
an uncanny knack of calling when I was up to something. I took
it as a sign something was heading my way I wasn’t going to
like. Sure enough when I received news later I was ready to
deliver justice.

But a calming inner voice told me to look into matters and
not make any rash decisions. If I find out what I heard is
true someone had better give their soul to Jesus because their
ass in mine.

I won’t get into specifics but suffice it to say I won’t do
anything until such a time I am convinced the rumor is true.
People who know me remember the old me and believe him to be
a thing of the past but this just isn’t so.

Many years were spent changing my temper and my actions yet
that doesn’t mean they won’t resurface for the right cause.
There are some that say nothing is written in stone, but those
people have never met me.

And while I remember this I also remember a promise I made to
Mom on her death bed. That promise is still kept, and will be,
as long as I am able. I don’t want to go down that path again,
but I do not fear it. Things happen for a reason and this just
may be a test. I pray it is.

Now I need a pizza as my gut is telling me it knows where one
is. Sorry for the rant and please enjoy the weekend.
Comments are always welcome.

Strange day

I awoke feeling more tired than I when I went to sleep to a
steely grey sky full of rain. The weather people said the rain
would go away and yield to mostly cloudy skies later in the
day. And that didn’t happen.

We have received several robo-calls from politicians wanting
our vote or wanting us to attend a rally. Since we have voted
early said calls to our robomatic answering machine. Seems
fair to us.

I tried to go out in the rain and get some pictures but found
nothing that interested me enough to get soaked for. Tomorrow
is another day. I can say no news programs were watched by
yours truely so we can only hope the world’s still out there
tomorrow to get a picture of.

If you tried to call or contact me by email you may have
noticed I didn’t answer. The great outdoors was calling even
though there is no photographic proof. In a few hours of being
one with nature I only saw one bird. The creatures weren’t
stirring.

After copious amounts of coffee and too many cigarettes I
came to the conclusion I should have cancelled today due to
lack of interest and went back to bed. But I have a plan.

Early to bed, get a good nights sleep, and when I make sound
effects getting up tomorrow I will feel like a new person. Or
I’ll stay up later, get up every couple of hours, and give up
trying to sleep altogether. At least I have a plan.

So enjoy your Thursday, its’ one step closer to the weekend
and election day. With that I need to find a lonely pizza and
make a new friend.
Comments are always welcome.

We did it

This morning we early voted and I’m not sure what I was
expecting but things went different than I had imagined. I
thought early voting actually involved voting with the
results being compiled daily. Not quite.

After filling out required form we headed to the table to
have volunteers verify we were who we said we were then were
handed two envelopes and a ballot. One volunteer recited
“once you complete the ballot, place it in the secrecy sleeve
and place it in the manila envelope. Then take the glue stick
in the voting booth, seal the envelope, bring it back here
and put it in the slot in that box.”

That was not how I thought things were going to go but we
followed the instructions anyway. It did not feel the same as
loading the ballot into the machine. There were the requisite
“I voted” stickers atop the box but we didn’t take one. We
have enough of those to cover the bumper of a Mack truck if we
owned one.

After completing our civic duty we visited Dad for a while
and when we were leaving he said he might go early vote
tomorrow. We explained to him that he could not go to his
regular polling place to early vote. So I told him where he
could go to early vote and he changed his mind.

At least in our part of Iowa we use paper ballots so we
don’t worry about a machine switching votes. As is my
policy of not putting my business in the street I won’t say
who I voted for, but I hope he wins.

Here on the east coast of Iowa the sun hasn’t come out all
day and the rain is supposed to start tonight. Hope you have
enjoyed your Tuesday. Tomorrow we’re halfway to the weekend.
Comments are always welcome.

Remembering

We’re closing out another great day on the east coast of
Iowa and even though I did some thinking along the way I
still consider it great. Tomorrow we’re going to try our hand
at early voting and we’ll let you know how it goes.

Yet I can’t help but wonder about the state of our union.
We supposedly live in a kinder, gentler, better society than
we did when those of us old enough for Social Security were
growing up. I don’t see it.

Our schools taught more, had dress codes, and weren’t even
worried about guns in personal vehicles. Our government was
a lot smaller, we paid less taxes, and Congress actually
passed some meaningful legislation.

We had households with only the husband, or wife, in the
work force while the other took care of the home. We had
more home owners, less debt, and our dollars went a lot
farther. You could even survive on minimum wage.

Police weren’t the enemy, TV had three channels, the news
programs actually reported the news, and if racial tension
was rampant we knew nothing about it.

Today people get along only if they agree with each others
political ideologies. If not it turns ugly. Lying is now
expected, morals have no place in our society, everyone is
religious when it suits them, and some singers throw a free
strip tease in with their performances.

Men are allowed in women’s bathrooms, our colleges teach
remedial English, and people want safe spaces. Everything
offends somebody and if you don’t agree with the elite who
wish to run our country you are labeled a pariah.

My generation try to lead by example, don’t really care what
some think of us, yet are not too old to open up a can of
whoop ass when needed. And we choose when that’s needed.

Enjoy the rest of today, I know we will. Now I must go in
search of the pizza that is calling my name.
Comments are always welcome.

Two things

Once again I was outside most of the day and took a few
pictures. This time it was to calm the rage building over an
incident many may not remember.

On this date, October 23rd, in 1983 terrorists attacked the
Marine barracks in Beirut killing a total of 241 service members
including 220 Marines. This attack was carried out by two
suicide bombers driving two truck bombs.

Is was the largest loss of life in the Marine Corps in a
single day since Iwo Jima. And truth be told, I’m still mad
about it. We ask that you take a moment and remember.

Changing the subject, we have an election coming up soon
and those that ask us to re-elect them will not use the term
“terrorist”. Some prefer “workplace violence”. This election
may decide if we still have a country when our grand kids
are adults.

We don’t care who you vote for as long as you’ve been
responsible enough to know what that candidate stands for.
That being said if you live here on the east coast of Iowa
and in Scott County, our auditor has again set up an
Election Central website.

If you’re in Scott County this site has all the information you
need to find out where to go to vote early, register, a list
of candidates, and even the returns as they come in plus
much more. No need to thank us, we use it every election.

Now I’m going to make a ham sandwich and heat up some chili.
It’s not pizza but the chili sounds good and we have plenty
of ham and cheddar cheese. I think I can handle the change.
Tomorrow’s a work day, yet we hope you enjoy it anyway.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

A young priest gets up in the morning and goes to breakfast.
On his way there two nuns look at him and he says, “Good
morning sisters.”

And they reply in a sing song manner, “You got up on the wrong
side of the bed this morning.”

This stuns the priest who thought he had been very polite but
he just goes on. He encounters a Brother a little while later
along the way and he says,”Good morning Brother.”

The Brother replies in a sing song voice, “You got up on the
wrong side of the bed this morning.” The priest looks confused
at all this but goes on.

He gets a little farther and he comes across a fellow priest
and he says, “Good morning Father.”

The priest replies in a sing song manner, “You got up on the
wrong side of the bed this morning.”

Now the priest was mad. He continues his walk to the dinning
hall not saying a word to anyone. The Bishop sees him and says,
“Father …”

The young priest was not going to take any more even from the
Bishop. He looks at the Bishop and says, “No I did not get up
on the wrong side of the bed this morning!”

The Bishop looks at him stunned and says, “What?”

The priest realized his mistake and said “I am sorry your
Holiness, what is it you want?”

The Bishop looks at him and says, “All I was going to do was
ask you why the hell you have on Sister Mary’s shoes.”