Must be getting old

People don’t seem to believe me when I say I don’t watch much
television. Not game shows, talent shows, talk shows, or news
programs. I do watch Perry Mason reruns regularly.

So imagine my surprise when I’m sent a video of someone who
performs as ‘Puddles Pity Party’. Heard he was on a talent show
but didn’t win and that he’s performing in Des Moines in
August.

After listening to the video the realization came that I like
it. As an oldfart it entered my mind that I haven’t kept up on
the music scene since The Outlaws broke up and while this guy is
different it won’t get me back into it.

At least you can understand the words and we haven’t heard any
cuss words like some use on stage. I don’t know, there’s just
something about a tall clown singing old hit songs with a retro
background. I’ll listen to some more.

Enjoy our Thursday as that means we’re only a dream away from
grocery day. Now I need more coffee and a Snicker’s.
Comments are always welcome.

Just an average day

I woke up feeling pretty good for a man my age, made some
coffee and had it quickly squirt out my nose when I read a post
on the wifes facebook page. Here are the first two sentences

Please pray for my hubby…

He got stung by a bee in the forehead and he’s in the ER. Now his
face is all swollen and bruised and he almost died.

Well that woke me up! I thought I was having the most
realistic dream ever. Then I read the last line-

Luckily I was close enough to hit the bee with my shovel.

Ok, that’s when I got it. I knew it was a joke because the wife
doesn’t own a shovel.

So went outside to do a critter check and ran into this little
squirrel giving me the look. I had just put out more cracked
corn, what more does he want.

I heard this noise that sounded like a pissed off eagle
was ready to pounce on my back that turned out to be a blue jay
barreling toward me. He stopped where I had set the cracked
corn and proceeded to dine.

Then this cardinal flew down, the blue jay and squirrel ran off
for parts unknown, and said cardinal strutted around like a
rooster. But he did get his cracked corn.

So I’m not in the hospital but am allergic to bee stings and
don’t like getting hit with a shovel. I can’t mow yet as
the lawn isn’t dry from last nights rain yet. Guess I’ll just
have to keep taking pictures.

Enjoy our Wednesday as nothing unusual is happening around here
today. Now I need more coffee and a couple pieces of leftover
pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

A little recap

Don’t know about everyone else but the long weekend took a toll
on us. To begin with we are in our 5th straight day with a high
temperature of at least 90 degrees and yesterday the thermometer
reached 99 with 93% humidity. We hope those who wanted it warmer
just a month ago are happy now.

Stopped over to visit the Antique Farmer this morning to find
in him good spirits. When I asked him about his upcoming 93rd
birthday he informed he liked being 92 and isn’t going to get
any older. Be nice if it worked that way.

Went out to see what was going on and almost stepped on the
little guy above. Although he has a mean face, his wingspan was
only an inch.

When I looked up it was cloudy and this is what I saw instead
of blue skies. With the sun almost hidden and the strange cloud
formation it resembles a big fire.

In another direction there was some blue to see yet the clouds
looked just as strange to me. A little to the right a the plane
was heard and seen against a bright white sky.

Even spied a European starling dancing on the hot roof of an
abandoned house nearby. He kept moving at any rate. All that and
watched 2 races over this weekend. No wonder I’m tired.
Enjoy our Tuesday and keep cool. Now for some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Remembering

Here’s the deal

Tonight if you have a clear sky and look to the southeast at
dusk you will see the planet Jupiter near the moon. It won’t be
hard to spot as it appears as a bright star, but it is Jupiter.

We’ll have an even better event in a few months. Around July 7
to September 7 Mars will be brighter than Jupiter and it is
supposed to glow red.

And the full moon officially occurs on May 29th yet in the
Western U.S. it will be closer to full on the 28th. As happens
some times those of us on the mainland won’t be able to see the
moon at the exact moment when it turns full. But we can get
close enough we won’t be able to tell the difference.

Watched the sun go down last night with temperatures in the
middle 90s and heat indexes we don’t even want to think about.
I’m not complaining either, just moving a little slower when
outside.

I don’t think the feral cats like the heat. This one just
plopped down and took a nap. The others were hiding somewhere as
they didn’t even come out to eat.

Enjoy our Sunday as tomorrow is a day of remembrance. Memorial
Day is when we remember and honor those who gave all.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

Two Jewish guys are walking when one notices a sign on a Catholic church that says “Convert to Christianity, and we’ll give you $100.” The one says to the other, “should we do it?”

The other says “NO!! Are you crazy?” The first guy replies “Hey, a hundred dollars is a hundred dollars… I’m gonna do it.”

So he walks in to the church, and little while later, he walks back out. The friend says “well, did you get the money?” He replies “Oh that’s all you people think about, isn’t it?”

Moms day

Went out yesterday to get some pictures on Moms birthday and I
think she’d be happy. The sky was as blue as her eyes and the
moon reminded me of her gold hair that turned silver. The moon
was out most of the day in celebration of her birthday.

They say cardinals are a sign that someone in Heaven is
thinking of you and this fellow posed for a few pictures as if
to prove a point. Not sure if it really is a sign or just an old
tale nor do I care.

One of the feral cats figured he got lucky when the cardinal
posed and thought he had lunch. The cat was wrong and the bird
just flew away after I got a few shots.

This isn’t the clearest shot but just as I was turning off the
camera to head back inside this bird just shot out of the tree
tops and headed straight for the Heavens. I took that as an omen
that the celebration was over and Mom enjoyed her day.

Of course with temperatures hitting 90 degrees we took things
in small steps and took several trips outside to snap a few
pictures then return to the air conditioning. I’m still grinning.

Enjoy our Friday as soon some will have a 3 day weekend to
unwind. Now I need some coffee so I can take the lady who
follows me around out to lunch later.
Comments are always welcome.

A few things

Today is Moms birthday and I’d like to wish her a Happy
Birthday! She died on June 18, 2010, and would have been 89 had
she lived. I’ll be looking for some cardinals this morning and
at the Heavens later.

And since she couldn’t believe she raised a Republican I’d like
to present the following. Let’s pretend for just a moment that
I’m a Liberal/Progressive politician and I’ve just heard of the
rise is car thefts and shots fired calls here in our little part
of Iowa. What would I do?

Since we’ve heard the campaign slogans of some Liberals running
for Governor we have a pretty good idea. As the pretend
politician I would jet off to Washington, D.C., and give a
command performance before Congress on the evils of cars, and
guns, that can be stolen.

Then I would lobby for a retinal scanner to be put in the barrel
of all weapons so the gun wouldn’t work until you did a scan of
your retina. What could go wrong? And as a Progressive, far left
leaning politician I would also have a fix for the car theft
problem.

I am a pretend politician so these two separate problems
could not be solved in one day so I would have to return to
address the Congress on the solution for the car thefts. Since
gun control advocates believe the gun is the problem then the
car and not the thief has to be the problem.

Thumb print recognition technology would have to be installed
on all vehicles to recognize up to 3 prints of authorized
drivers of said vehicle. Even with the key in the car it would
not start until the sensor recognizes a thumb print. And of
course the vehicle would automatically shut off when the
shifter is placed in park.

This should only add about $10,000 to the price of new
vehicles but would soon pay for itself as there would be no more
vehicle thefts. Either that or we could just build all vehicles
with manual transmissions and the juvenile offenders who steal
them couldn’t drive them.

Saying all that, enjoy our Thursday as it looks to be a hot one
here on the east coast of Iowa. Now for some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Here we go

It looks like we have a crime problem here on the east coast of
Iowa and it has gotten so bad the mayor of Davenport has set up
a public meeting to see what can be done. Things have changed
since I was school age but I do remember we were more afraid of
Dad then we were th police.

We’ve had an uptick in the number of car thefts, accidents
involving these stolen vehicles, shots fired calls, some with
fatalities, and 73 guns have been stolen out of unlocked cars.
Yeah, that’s a problem alright.

It’s time to stop blaming society and bring back judicial and
personal responsibility. The police are doing a good job of
catching the culprits and our laws let them walk. Let’s get
back to blaming the criminals. These kids who steal cars and
shoot at each other fear neither the police or the court system.

A while back such a kid was arrested over 60 times, the last
time getting sentenced to attend church. Now he is in a state
prison because things got out of hand. Quit letting them go.

Forget being politically correct. It’s time for some tough
love. And the public can do their part by taking the keys out
of their cars and locking them. Turn the car off and take the
keys while you go in to get a loaf of bread. At least that has
an easy fix.

These kids are too young to legally drive yet are stealing cars
and too young to legally own a handgun but have them. We don’t
know the answers we just know the current system isn’t working.

Enjoy our Wednesday as it means we’re halfway through another
week.
Comments are always welcome.

Lucky days

Yesterday once the rain stopped I ventured outside with the
camera a got a few pictures. The rose bush in the picture and
the other plants got a good drink from the rain.

I also noticed we had some vultures circling overhead for a
while so it looked like they didn’t find what they were looking
for and moved on. For big birds they sure look graceful in
flight.

Some feathered friends were still wet from the rains and found
whatever perch was available to dry off in the sun. Guess they
needed a shower.

Even a couple of the feral cats came out to pose for the camera
and get a little sun. I have to remind myself they’re not house
cats. Some let us get nearer than others and we’re not pushing
our luck to get closer.

And the crows were making enough racket so I waited until they
found a place to gather and keep making their noise. Not sure
what the pow wow was about but it lasted quite a while.

Today I visit Dad and see what’s going on over there. I know
my brother mowed his lawn so I don’t have to load ours and will
check his bushes again to see if they need trimmed yet. With all
the rain lately things are growing fast.

Enjoy the pictures and our Tuesday as Hump Day is just a dream
away. Now I need some coffee so I can get ready to be a pain in
somebody’s side.
Comments are always welcome.