Last dance

Since today is last day and last month of the year and soon
people will be celebrating a new year with a new dance, it felt
fitting to do this now.

The February edition of Motor Trend magazine arrived in the
mail yesterday and was set aside until a short while ago when
there was time to peruse it properly. You may notice the text at
the bottom of the picture which says “Supersized Subaru
3 rows 19 cupholders.

Naturally I assumed it referenced a 19 passenger SUV type
vehicle that looked like a station wagon on steroids. After a
quick read of article inside it was discovered the 2019 Subaru
Ascent would carry 7 or 8 passengers. Which made me wonder if it
had so many cupholders because it didn’t have any other options.

Turns out it will be the biggest vehicle Subaru ever made and
will be powered by a 2.4 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine
with a variable speed transmission about the size of a Toyota
Highlander, Ford Explorer, or Nissan Pathfinder. Prices will
start around $30,000 and the American version will be made in
Lafayette, Indiana.

It can tow 5,000 pounds, has Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive, and
has a smart rearview mirror that gives the option of camera
views. It has power outlets, Wi-Fi, and 8 USB ports to reduce
the need for seat mounted DVD screens. The vehicle also has
ledges in the front for phones, Starlink for connectivity, Apple
Car Play, Android Auto, a Harman Kardon stereo, and the earlier
mentioned 19 cupholders.

All this leaves me with a couple questions. Do all those
features allow for any time to drive the thing? And; what in
the hell do 8 people need 19 cupholders for?

Enjoy our Sunday for tomorrow is a new day of a new month in
a new year.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

Two old friends met one day after many years. One attended college, and now was very successful. The other had not attended college and never had much ambition.

The successful one said, “How has everything been going with you?”

“Well, one day I opened the Bible at random, and dropped my finger on a word and it was oil. So, I invested in oil, and boy, did the oil wells gush. Then another day I dropped my finger on another word and it was gold. So, I invested in gold and those mines really produced. Now, I’m as rich as Rockefeller.”

The successful friend was so impressed that he rushed to his hotel, grabbed a Gideon Bible, flipped it open, and dropped his finger on a page.

He opened his eyes and his finger rested on the words, “Chapter Eleven.”

It’s here

Winter has arrived on the east coast of Iowa with 3 inches of
snow on the ground and at least that falling today. The white
fluffy love from above will accumulate at the rate of 1 inch per
hour later today while the temperature goes into the basement.

The lady who follows me around is grumbling about it and I
don’t help matters as I dance around the house. What can I say,
I like winter. If we choose to live here we can’t change it, and
even if we did move winter would follow.

It was 11 degrees earlier and we were told by the weather
estimators on local news that was as warm as it would get for a
week. That’s fine with me. My only regret is that I didn’t put a
heat run into the office. But that’s ok too.

The cooler temperature of the office puts a rosy glow on ones
cheeks. Plus, when you walk out of the office and into the
heated part of the house it seems much warmer.

Now all we have to do is wait and see how much fluffy love we
get and if the snowblower can handle it. As I tell the wife, at
least we don’t have 4 foot of snow on the ground like some
places.

Enjoy our Friday even if it is snowing. Now I need coffee as I
know there is enough pizza to last a week.
Comments are always welcome.

Distracted again

I was outside observing the critters and the white fluffy love
falling from above when I decided a morning post was in order.
Since the white fluffy love from above was falling out of the sky
a flake at a time it is a perfect time to do so.

It’s no big secret I’m easily distracted yet the lady who
follows me around continues to follow me around after all these
years. This goes way beyond having to check out shiny things
seen out of the corner of my vision.

I’m been told others believe my lights are on but nobodys home.
Like this morning, the wife was watching the talking heads on
her favorite ‘news’ program when I asked if it was 10 to 3
today. She thought I was referring to whatever the talking heads
were talking about when I meant if that was the hours she
worked today.

We have a TV over our refrigerator and an erasable calendar on
the refrigerator. Said calender never has the month filled in
and I assumed she updated for January but she had not. Good
thing too as I’m not ready for New Year’s Eve yet.

She has to come find me when we go to the big box stores as I’m
always staring at something. There are as many distractions in
those places as Disneyland. Like yogurt. I’d don’t eat the stuff
but I’d guess there has to be at least 266 different flavors of
yogurt displayed at the grocery store.

Or baked beans in a can. Did you know that a part of the
label on one brand would be the perfect color to paint a 40′
Chevy coupe? And last night I tried to figure out what the
world would be like if dogs walked backwards. Haven’t figured
that one out yet other than people who walk their dogs would
have to find a new place to put the collar.

We’ll keep you updated. Enjoy our Thursday. Now I need more
coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Better late than never

Welcome to another afternoon addition of my wandering mind. I
got up early enough to do a morning version and got distracted,
again. It got so bright in the kitchen from the sunny day that
awaited outside I had to go out and savor the moment.

Then whatever drive by media talking heads program the wife was
watching on TV distracted me. One of the talking heads stated
that 40% of all returns the stores receive end up in the trash.
Said talking head further stated that this was due to open
packaging or broken merchandise returned.

I always thought if a store took back broken items it was a
warranty issue. No wonder I think everything costs too much. It
was then I tuned the program out and noticed our goody box still
had goodies inside. That was more temptation than I could bear
with my sweet tooth.

Later I went over to visit with Dad and had a good chat. I hung
around until he wanted a nap to get ready for his noon nap. So,
I got the critters fed, greeted the day, spoke with Dad, and
everything else fell by the wayside.

It’s looking like we’ll be dealing with snow for a few days
here on the east coast of Iowa and I’m hoping that will cut down
on the distractions. I figure there’s a 50/50 chance of that
happening. If they are dull dreary days, nothing shiny catches
my eye, the critters aren’t out searching for food, and I don’t
oversleep.

Enjoy our first post Christmas Wednesday.
Comments are always welcome.

Post Christmas thoughts

I know this post is late, but it’s a beautiful day and I’ve
been outside enjoying it. White fluffy love from above covers
the landscape and the temperature just hit a balmy 5 degrees.
The only downside is I have a song stuck in my head.

I’ll try the ‘Happy Birthday’ trick and that should fix the fly
in the ointment. We hope your Christmas was a special as ours
turned out to be and we heard at some stores the Valentine’s
Day displays are up. But we still have the spirit.

We even took a trip down memory lane to past winters and the
things we did in our youth. My stroll involved ice skating for
miles on frozen cricks (creeks to the city folk), and sledding
down the steep hills in the area. One particularly snowy winter
we even built and igloo in the back yard and spent hours inside
amazed that it didn’t crumble down on us.

The lady who follows me around still calls me crazy, but who
doesn’t go outside when the wind chill is below zero to take
pictures of icecicles dangling from the eaves? If that makes me
crazy I thank God he’s allowed to be me. And Him and myself
have no problem with that.

I just don’t see the sense in trying to be someone I’m not. So
enjoy our first post Christmas Tuesday as I know we are. Now, I
need more coffee as I am a quart low.
Comments are always welcome.

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas Eve

As you can see in the picture, we got almost 2 inches of white
fluffy love from above ensuring a white Christmas. Iowa averages
six white holidays out of seven and we are glad this isn’t one
without snow.

We’d like to thank Ronnie for dropping off a brightly decorated
box of goodies for Christmas. I don’t know how she finds the
time to make them up and deliver them but we really appreciate
the effort. Thank you for the perfect gift.

When the wife doesn’t work on Christmas Eve we try to make it
to midnight mass. Since she works tonight we won’t make it but
I will watch ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ while she’s gone. She does
have tomorrow off so we’ll see how that goes.

So enjoy the rest of our Christmas Eve, we all know what
tomorrow is. Since we finished the pizza from the pizza joint
I may have to heat up a frozen one later. I hear it goes good
with coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

A Sunday School teacher of pre-schoolers was concerned that his students might be a little confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth. He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred a long time ago, that He grew up, etc. So he asked his class, “Where is Jesus today?”

Steven raised his hand and said, “He’s in heaven.”

Mary was called on and answered, “He’s in my heart.”

Little Davie waving his hand furiously, blurted out, “I know! I know! He’s in our bathroom!”

The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds. Finally, he gathered his wits and asked Little Davie how he knew this.

Little Davie said, “Well… every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells, “Jesus Christ, are you still in there?!”

After thoughts

Our anniversaries are over and we’ve have enough celebrating
to last us until Christmas. My gift arrived today and I’d like
to thank the wife. Tomorrow should be a good day to try out my
new lens. This caused my mind to wander and I thought about a
few things.

It seems our city leaders think it would be a good idea for
those of us who live here to recycle food products now. I
haven’t really been paying much attention to this latest gimmick
but if understood correctly we could soon have a bin to throw
watermelon rinds into.

Of course, a new fee would have to be added for this new
service. I just wonder if passed, and if used, are these new
food bins going to add a new aroma to our fair city? If pickup
is every two weeks, like recycle, these things could get pretty
ripe between dumping and I don’t feel like crawling into one to
scrub it out.

Finally, Christmas is getting close. If you haven’t wrapped up
your shopping yet there are a few more days to do it in. As for
me, I do better under pressure and am up to the task. After all,
it does take time to come up with the perfect gift.

Enjoy our Friday or as I like to think of it, Christmas Eve
Eve almost. Now I’ve got a bag of Christmas cookies that were on
sale and just have to add coffee for a healthy snack.
Comments are always welcome.