Bound to happen

Our run of good luck just came to screeching halt. Yesterday
was our youngest sons’ birthday and when he tried to call us he
couldn’t get through on our landline. He called the wifes’ cell
phone and told her, then got hold of me online.

I checked said landline only to discover there was no dial
tone. A call to Mediacom had them rebooting our modem twice
which didn’t fix the problem. So we were told there is a wide
spread outage that runs for Indiana to our little haven on the
east coast of Iowa.

This has been an ongoing problem and we were told they would
keep us in the loop by cell phone, but they had no idea how
long this outage would be. Here’s a novel idea; fix the damn
problem. At least we have access to our computers.

The last time this happened a friend tried to call then died
the next day and I never found out what he wanted. I don’t want
that to happen again. I’ve always been a man of my word and
when somebody tries to reach me for help, and can’t, I am not
a happy camper.

We’re happy with cable, the wife likes the TiVo, our internet
is faster than ever, but we keep having problems with the
phone. Not many people have my cell phone number as I can’t
hear it ring half the time and putting on vibrate doesn’t help
as I can’t feel it vibrate against my leg.

Hope this doesn’t last as long as the last time, and thanks
for letting me vent. Enjoy our Thursday, it’s one step closer
to the weekend. Now I need some coffee and need to look for a
bigger mug.
Comments are always welcome.

What a week

Just got back from visiting Dad, getting some Christmas
decorations out of his attic, and checking the breaker box in
the basement. Didn’t find everything he wanted but found enough
to make him happy.

Monday as I went outside to watch the sunset I noticed a huge
bird in a neighbors tree that turned out to be a full grown
hawk, and yesterday I got pictures of 12 different cardinals
who were spread around our yard.

Both nights had great sunsets and clear skies to view the
moon. The wife goes back to 3rd shift next week, and I have
enough pizza and Snickers to last a while. Even heard the
bugle on the Arsenal at lights out last night.

I don’t know why there were so many cardinals around but am
glad they chose our yard to party in. The ones in the pine tree
made for some great seasonal shots. The red birds in the green
tree were almost like Christmas, all that was missing was the
snow on the branches.

Also read that when one sees 12 of anything in mature,
according to Native American lore, it means good luck will find
you in 12 hours, 12 days, or 12 months. I’m waiting for me pot
of gold as you read this.

It’s a fine day when the good in ones life far outweighs the
bad and if this is a streak, I’m running with it. Enjoy our
Wednesday as that means we’re halfway to the weekend. Now, I
need more coffee and a Snickers to complete the morning.
Comments are always welcome.

Think people

After witnessing the beauty of last nights sunset my calm was
shattered with the news that our juvenile car theft epidemic
is still going strong. And according to the talking heads, most
can be prevented.

Seems people still leave their cars running with the car
unlocked or leave a key hidden in the vehicle. While this may
make things easier for the owner it is an opportunity for the
thieves among us.

Take all the keys out of your vehicle and lock it. Don’t
unlock it unless you are ready to use it. For the kids running
around trying door handles, and open one is an invitation to
jump in and see what they can find.

As someone who always locks the car and takes the key I cannot
understand those who don’t. One has to remember that the vast
majority of the kids who steal the cars aren’t even old enough
to drive. They’ll probably wreck it and you will be the one to
pay the bill.

I feel the laws giving more loopholes in favor of the
juveniles is going in the wrong direction. The politically
correct bull we’ve been hearing has to stop. Yes, there are
bad kids out there. And no, more love and compassion won’t
fix the problem.

It is time for some tough love. Put the fear of God into them
and let them know they won’t be getting a free ride for their
crimes. What’s the attitude going to be when these thrill
seeking idiots kill a pedestrian? Or an innocent driver is
severely injured due to the inability of these kids to drive
responsibly?

We need to take the cuffs off the police and put them on
the judges who won’t follow the rule of law but instead
listen to the politically correct interpretation of the law.

Perhaps a few days in jail now would work better than a safe
space. Why aren’t these juveniles financially responsible when
they wreck someone else s car? It’s time for the adults in the
room to say ENOUGH! 600 vehicles since the start of the year
have been stolen which makes me wonder how high the number
has to be for people to be demanding answers.

Enjoy our Monday, it’s looking to be a good one. Now I need
more coffee and a leftover pizza is calling to me.
Comments are always welcome.

Couldn’t believe it

We’ve been busy since celebrating Thanksgiving trying to eat
all the leftover goodies and have put a dent in them. I’ve been
working overtime since our grocery store Friday where I
discovered “A Yard of Snickers” at said store.

Now that things have calmed down a little, I spent a lot of
time yesterday outside taking a few pictures of whatever caught
my eye. There were the regular birds, critters, and even a few
of the sky.

As the sunset was fading and darkness approached I noticed a
large bird in a neighbors tree. The pictures were more
silhouettes than portraits, but this critter had to be about
2 foot long from head to tail.

I kept moving around trying to get a shot and hoping the bird
wouldn’t fly off before I got a clear shot. Yet this bird
stayed in shadow.

Running out of ideas, and light, I decided to get even closer
and stood at the base of the tree. The hawk just looked down
at me but didn’t fly off. I’m just glad he didn’t think I was
on the menu.

After about 30 minutes the bird flew off into the night and
hasn’t been around this morning. I have found out I need a lot
of work of my low light photography but thought I’d share a
few pictures anyway.

Enjoy our Monday, before we know it December will be here.
Now I need more coffee and a Snickers.
Comments are always welcome

Sunday snicker

The new minister stood at the church door greeting the members as they left the Sunday moring service. Most of the people were very generous telling the new minister how much they liked his message, except for one man who said, “That was a very dull and boring sermon, pastor.”

A few minutes later, the same man again appeared in line and said, “I don’t think you did much preparation for your message.”

Once again, the man appeared, this time muttering, “You really blew it. You didn’t have a thing to say, pastor.”

Finally, the minister could stand it no longer. He went to one of the deacons and inquired about the man.

“Oh, don’t let that guy bother you,” said the deacon. “He’s a little slow. All he does is go around repeating whatever he hears other people saying.”

Lets be careful

Cyber Monday is just around the corner and if you plan on
buying online during this crazy day you should be aware of a
few basics to keep yourself, and your money, safe.

First, make sure you have a secure connection and don’t use
public wifi for shopping. Those who want to separate us from
our money will be working overtime Monday. Always check to see
that the site you’re ordering from has a URL that begins with
“https” and not “http”.

You shouldn’t use debit cards to shop online. If hacked using
your debit card gives the criminals direct access to your bank
account. Use a credit card.

Be wary of the scams on social media. Fake offers jump this
time of year so remember to be careful. If you see something
advertised on social media and feel you need to have it, at
least check to ensure the deal is real.

Avoid the pop up ads that may expose you to cross-site
scripting attacks, or malicious sites.

If you use a search engine in your quest for the best deal,
verify the deal by doing a search with the name of the deal in
quotes. If it’s a scam a warning may be issued and that will
show up in the search results.

Delete you Cyber Monday emails that have attachments, this
goes double if the attachment is in the form of a zip file.

There are malicious QR codes out there. These are the codes
you scan with you smartphone camera that may contain coupons,
or marketing materials, but hackers created codes that will
link you to a phishing or malware site.

Finally, if a site asks for too much personal information you
should leave the site. A legitimate business will not ask for
for social security number or anything about your passwords.

We don’t do Cyber Monday so it’s a case of not my circus, not
my monkeys. All we ask is that you be careful while ordering
online. Enjoy our Saturday and will have a snicker later.
Comments are always welcome.

The gold cross

I’ve taken pictures of the steeple three blocks from our back
door for some time and noticed after the steeple was re-roofed
the cross was missing when the scaffolding came down. It just
didn’t seem like a real church without the cross.

So imagine my surprise when I stepped outside late Wednesday
morning and noticed a cross once again on the steeple. When I
uploaded the picture the cross looked golden. It has to be
polished brass I thought, and I was wrong.

The old cross was taken down and a new one made in Kentucky
complete with scroll work and balls on the ends. And it turns
out the cross is gold, sort of. The cross is covered with
24-karat gold leaf. Of course since the cross is now gold,
lights will be installed to let everyone see it at night.

As mentioned, the steeple is 3 blocks away so I couldn’t
get a really detailed picture but the ones I got made me
laugh. Who else but a Catholic church would put a gold
cross on top and then have to light it up at night to show it
off 24/7?

All part of multi-million dollar project that saw the
steeple re-roofed, the old school torn down, a 15,000 square
foot reception hall built, new bells in the steeple, and the
gold bird perch called a cross. We may just have to get a
little closer for some better shots.

Enjoy our Friday and if you participate in Black Friday you
have our sympathy. Now I need more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are thankful for those who sacrifice their Thanksgiving so
we may enjoy ours.

What happened?

Since we’ve had an explosion in the number of car thefts here
on the east coast of Iowa, and because almost all are being
committed by juveniles and none of them see jail time, we have
to wonder what happened.

Back in the day we had juvenile homes, repeat offender laws,
and in the worst cases banishment from the city. Now we have
politicians and others telling us the culprits brains aren’t
fully developed and they’re not responsible for the crimes
they commit. This always breaks the needle on my Bull meter.

The owners of the stolen, often wrecked and trashed
vehicles are left holding the bag for damages. So we would like
to know what the hell happened that people are no longer
responsible for the crimes they commit?

And aren’t you tired of hearing about our overcrowded prison
system too? Perhaps the reason for said overcrowding is that
the current policies aren’t working. When convicted aren’t the
guilty supposed to serve a sentence and not be on vacation?

Now that I’ve said that, I don’t want a 12 year old kid to go
to prison for stealing a car. I have a novel idea. Make the
criminals responsible for their actions and not the victims!
Put the offending kids in pastel coveralls, hand them a trash
bag, and make them pick up litter if not in school and after
school if they are.

Make the parents liable for the damages and I bet things would
change. There has to be a way for this to work as the current
polices are not. Don’t know what the answers are, but until we
make the criminals responsible for their crimes I fear nothing
will change.

Enjoy our Wednesday as it means Thanksgiving is tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving! Now I need more coffee and another
doughnut.
Comments are always welcome.

You ever wondered?

Yes, this post is late again. But a thought stuck in my head
and a little research is sometimes necessary for me to truly
understand a situation.

I got to thinking about pictures of the earliest cars and how
they all had that tall flat glass. Reasoning that this era was
not known for a population of giants why was the top so high?

from the Model T Ford Club of America

Looking into photographs of the era one notices that if people
are in the shot they are wearing hats. In particular, the men
wore top hats. So I wondered if that had anything to do with
the design of the automobile.

from IFCAR

In the thirties the windshields shrunk as top hats were no
longer in fashion. Fedoras, derby’s, and straw hats were the
rage. These hats didn’t need the extra clearance of the top
hats so windshield height lessened.

unkown

by sicnag

Around the 1950s hats were starting to be phased out as a
daily part of ones wardrobe. And the tops again got lower. Some
of the 1960s vehicles appeared to have taller roofs as the
body height of cars was shortened.

U.S. News

Today there are cars around that I honestly don’t know how
anyone over the age of 20 can even get into. Tne new Camaros
come to mind. While the lower body has gotten taller it looks
like a designer chopped the top.

You may have noticed that the most popular hat today is the
baseball cap. That doesn’t need a lot of clearance, and there
are many who don’t wear any type of hat when it’s warmer out.
And in the winter, a basic stocking cap doesn’t add height.

I haven’t found confirmation of this yet but do believe our
cars were designed around our fashion trends at the time they
were built. If I’m wrong I’ll admit and if I’m right it was
worth the time trying to figure it out.

Enjoy our Tuesday. It means Thanksgiving is only 2 days away.
Now I need some coffee and a couple chocolate doughnuts.
Comments are always welcome.