Sunday snicker

A Jewish couple has a son who is a holy terror. When he gets to be of age, he’s kicked out of every school they put him in. Finally desperate, the father goes to the Rabbi for advice and the Rabbi says put him in the Catholic school. Shocked, the father asks if the Rabbi sure. “Yes” is the reply, so the father takes him to the nuns and leaves.

An hour goes by, then two hours, lunch time and finally at three the son comes in says “Good afternoon Papa, good afternoon Mama,” goes to the table and starts on his homework. The father is amazed and finally ask why he stayed in school all day and why he is behaving so well. His son looks up and says “Papa when you left, the Mother Superior told me that they did not allow rowdy boys, then she took me to my room. Papa they mean business! They’ve got a Jew nailed on a Cross in every room!”

While some were sleeping

We’re not going to comment on the current workings of our
lawmakers in Washington, D.C. Instead we wish to focus on an
event that took place during another administration. So let’s
see if we can make sense of something that makes no sense to us.

In September of 2013 the worlds largest hog farm and pork
processor in the world, Virginia based Smithfield Foods was
bought by Shuanghui International Holdings. Shuanghui is the
biggest meat processor in China. And the Obama administration
condoned the sale.

At the time concern about a Chinese company controlling a major
U.S. meat supplier was voiced and the administration downplayed
said concerns. If you haven’t heard of Smithfield perhaps you’ve
heard of Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Kretschmar, Curly’s,
Carando, Cook’s, Margherita, Gwaltney or Healthy Ones.

The above mentioned firms are the brands Smithfield products
are sold as. The meat stays here and is processed here yet the
profits go to the Chinese company. Said foreign company now
controls nearly all the bacon, sausage, and ham sold in our
country and owns 25% of all pigs in America.

So here’s what bothers us. In 2005 the United States Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) was $13 trillion and was six times bigger
than China’s GDP that year. If we fast forward to 2017 our GDP is
only 1.6 times larger than China. At this rate China is expected
to beat our numbers by 2029.

And if we look at purchasing Power Parity (PPP), China is
already ahead of us as of 2015. For the last 140 years America
has had the biggest economy but that may not last much longer.
There is more to the story and we’ll finish it next week. This
is one segment of a growing problem for us and the future of our
country.

We’ll leave it at that and you can draw your own conclusions.
For now, enjoy our Friday as here on the east coast of Iowa it’s
going to get chilly tonight.
Comments are always welcome.

Changing the rules

Out and about yesterday some birds in the old gnarled oak tree
caught my attention and a few of the pictures turned out ok.
This was just before sunset and lent a reddish tint to the birds
and tree.

A little lower in the tree a woodpecker sat enjoying the sunset
much as I was doing. This critter just sat there without making
a racket, or sawdust, out of the tree. Since it was about sun
down I figured Woody must have pecked the trees earlier in the
day.

Then the almost full moon came out and with a clear sky it was
natures night-light. Not bright enough to read by yet shedding
enough light to ensure not tripping over unseen obstacles. Even
had a short talk with Monte (the man in the moon).

It got down in the 40s last night so after driving the neighbor
crazy waltzing around the block looking for a good angle I came
back inside and finished some chores that didn’t get done when
I had my camera outside.

Then I tried playing by the rules. I thought if I stayed awake
longer it would mean a later awakening in the morning so the
news would be over before I got up. Wrong. Went to bed at 1:30
am and woke up refreshed at 5 am.

Just goes to show when you think you know all the rules there’s
always someone who changes the rules without informing you. I
guess sleep is overrated anyway. Enjoy our Thursday as we will
as soon as my brain starts working and wife gets home. I need
more coffee to help that process.
Comments are always welcome.

No what?

We were told we’d have no internet, phone, and cable tv from
midnight last night to six this morning. No big deal as I could
still watch Perry Mason then sleep through some of the outage.
It is now nine a.m. and we are still without internet, phone,
and cable tv. When the services are working again we’ll get this
on the blog.

On another note, we mentioned a large bird was perched in the
old oak tree across the alley and here is some of the pictures.
Looks to be a hawk looking at me as I was focusing the camera.
As mentioned the bird sat there quite a while and must have been
looking for an early lunch.

Even a low flying jet didn’t seem to bother the bird when I
was ready to cover my ears to cut down on the noise. This plane
appeared to fly right over the tree where said hawk was sitting
and our yard where I was standing with my mouth open.

After the jet passed and things settled down the hawk decided
a higher perch was in order and reached a branch with a better
view. He sat there looking for lunch as I thought, what a
majestic looking creature.

Then he took off like his tail was on fire as I tried to keep
this feathered rocket in the the picture and the picture in
focus. The bird flew south and I lost track of the critter when
trees got in the way. But it was a sight to see.

And now it seems our services are up and running again so I’ll
post this and let you see the hawk. Enjoy our Wednesday as we
will now we’re back in the right century. Now for some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Luck

While out taking pictures yesterday it looked like we might get
a good sunset. Not a great one, but a good one. So I ventured
down the block to the lot behind us and got the shot above.

About that time a guy came rushing out of house to the west and
started screaming about me taking pictures of his house. I just
couldn’t figure out what got him worked up so explained that I
was taking pictures of the sunset.

He came out into his yard to see what I was looking at and his
jaw dropped. Then it turned comical when he asked me it this
sunset thing happened very often. He was actually amazed when I
told him it happened almost every night there isn’t heavy cloud
cover.

He looked on as I snapped a few more shots then when back into
his house. The funny thing is the front of his house faces west
and has a picture window! Guess he never paid attention or was
too busy playing video games.

Today I went over to visit Dad and had a good visit then came
back home to see the biggest bird I’ve seen up close sitting on
a branch of the oak tree across the alley. Running into our
house I grabbed the camera and got lucky again.

I haven’t uploaded those pictures yet but may share some of
this majestic looking hawk. The bird stayed in the tree for
almost a half hour and some of the pictures should be great.

Yeah, some people say it doesn’t take much to make me happy, but
I have to admit I’m still grinning like a fool. If this keeps up
a lady luck tattoo will go on my bucket list. That way luck would
always be with me.

Enjoy our Tuesday as I have things to do before the rain is
supposed to start and more coffee to drink.
Comments are always welcome.

Critters and the full moon

With the recent remodeling going on next door the critters have
been keeping a low profile. The birds have moved to quieter
surroundings and the 4-legged critters are laying low. While we
believe they’ll return once the hammering and other noises stop,
picture taking has been a task.

The lady who follows me around is a day sleeper and she has
adjusted yet it seems the wildlife has run for the hills. Before
we know it our daylight will be a lot shorter and outside chores
will have to get done quicker. If we’re blessed we may even see
some white fluffy love from above.

And we have a full moon tonight, the harvest moon. Much has
been written and said about this moon but I believe Stephen
Henry Thayer said it best:

The red light from the harvest moon
Illumes the stilly places;
The fleecy islands cast their shapes
Above the forest spaces.

There were even songs written about it like this one.

It has been a little hazy at night making pictures of the moon
hard to come by at our little portion of the east coast of Iowa,
but we’ll see what happens tonight. I may get lucky and get a
few good ones.

Enjoy our Monday as it’s the first day of a new week. Now I
have to get mama cat fed and some coffee for myself.
Comments are always welcome.

Been a while

It just so happens I remembered we haven’t shared pictures
recently and now is as good a time as any. The bird above was in
the Oklahoma City Zoo and looked to be one of the oldest,
saddest, wisest in the world. At least to me.

This one, also at the zoo, looked to be lost in his thoughts.
Not sure what he was thinking about but he was giving it 100%
of his attention.

Closer to home mama cat seemed to be angry about something the
other day and attempted to stare me down. It didn’t work and she
got friendly as soon as I scratched behind her ears.

Yesterday was a picture perfect fall day with blue skies,
fluffy white clouds, and a little breeze along with the cooler
temperatures.

We saw him and a female cardinal but the female was a lot more
elusive. This guy hung around one general area almost as if he
was guarding it. He didn’t have much of attitude yet didn’t fly
off when I got closer.

So all in all we had a great weekend. Funny how with the 15
degree temperature drop I’m comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans
while the wife claims she’s cold with a sweater on. Fall’s here
and we may as well embrace as it isn’t going away any time soon.

Enjoy our Sunday as we will with our great weather. Now I need
more coffee and a doctored up burrito.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

A guy dies and is sent to hell. Extremely frightened because of that, he is very surprised when he arrives; beach, palm trees, sun is shining, happy people around in shorts and bikinis.
Behind the next corner there are people eating great food and there’s some cool music playing. After some time of wondering, a man in an expensive suit approaches him and says: “Hi, you must be the new one. Welcome to hell, I’m the devil. As you’re gonna spend eternity here, make yourself comfortable and have a drink. If anything bothers you, always feel free to ask me.”

The guy still doesn’t really understand what’s going on, this is not what he expected. But finally he decides to inspect the area. Everywhere he goes, there are people laughing and having a great time, there’s games, party and fun all around.

Then he arrives at a steep cliff that divides the paradise hell from an area underneath, and there is hell as we know it: demons torturing the doomed, there’s fire and the smell of brimstone.

Shocked, he runs to the devil and says “Devil, how can that be? Here, we have the sweet eternity and down there people are tortured and burned! How can that be?!”

The devil laughs and says “Oh, that. That’s the Catholics – they want it that way.”

Living large

Just got back from the grocery store to find the house next to
us is getting a new roof. Nobody was around when we left to find
our weekly food supply yet when we returned the roofing on our
side was almost completely torn off.

We got a late start this morning as after I fell asleep on the
couch a four legged banshee attacked my belly and legs several
times while I was trying to enjoy some pleasant dreams. I don’t
believe the kitten knows her claws are sharp but we have made
sure we have plenty of iodine on hand.

We have also had a dramatic temperature change here on the east
coast of Iowa. Yesterday the high was 94 and was still 85 at 10
pm. When I woke up it was 70 and when we got back from the store
it was 66 degrees. I’m not complaining but the lady who follows
me around claims she’s cold.

If we remember correctly tomorrow is the first day of fall.
That means Halloween, the elections, and Thanksgiving will be
here soon before we see any white fluffy love from above. And
depending on which long range forecast we look at we’ll either
have a lot of precipitation and be cool or have little to no
snow and be warmer.

From what I’ve seen with the critters when we’re out and about
it looks to be a cold one. We’ll have to wait and see. For those
who have always wondered, a small kitten can push a mans house
slipper with rubber soles all the way across the floor of a kitchen
faster then you think.

Enjoy our Friday as it marks the beginning of the weekend. Now
I need some more coffee and a box of Cracker Jack’s.
Comments are always welcome.

The circus is in Washington….

and the Ringmaster is Pelosi.

Ever since she mentioned her ‘anonymous’ source politicians
and the media have gone crazy. I don’t care if it’s a delaying
tactic or not. Someone will be named to the open seat on the
Supreme Court during Trumps term in office.

The biggest hurdle the accusations face is that there are no
witnesses to the alleged incident. Without a witness it is a
case of she said he said. Either it happened as the woman
claims, she’s exaggerating what happened 30 years ago, or it just
didn’t happen.

I still fail to see the relevance to the nomination. The
accused has obviously straightened out his act and earned the
right to be nominated on his merits, or he got very good at
hiding his mistakes.

Isn’t it odd that said woman came forward and now a lady on the
media coverage of the non-event stated the accuser wasn’t given
enough time to prepare to talk to Senators? If you’re telling
the truth what do have to prepare? If you feel as strongly as
she claims the truth should make it easy.

Another piece of this puzzle has me muttering ‘Lord love a
duck!’. The accuser, from California, is now claiming she has
received death threats. I thought nobody liked Trump so who
would be making these threats?

It’s time to put up or shut up. Either you have proof beyond a
shadow of a doubt or you don’t. Looks like we’ll know soon
enough but this spending millions of dollars chasing down things
the can’t be proven is getting old.

With the mid-term elections coming up we’ll be hearing more on
this in campaigns regardless of how things turn out. It is sad
to see a group of adults who are supposed to enact our laws
acting like a bunch of spoiled school children.

Enjoy our Thursday as it is the first of a three-day run of ‘r’
days. Since I got up at zero dark thirty more coffee is in order.
Comments are always welcome.