Crazy times

Yesterday I went out to get some air and saw this kitten attacking
the back tire of the wifes car. Not sure what the tire did to get the
attention of said kitten, but it spent about 5 minutes waging war with
it.

I have been following the political news yet not in the conventional
way of watching the big media outlets. No, I’ve been looking at the
memes posted all over the internet. Some are getting really creative
in expressing their angst.

These have covered the impeachment fiasco, the vaping nonsense, and Beto O’Rourkes melt down among other things. The circus is in our nations capital again and seems to be run by one political party. While it is entertaining at times it does make one wonder why these legends in the their minds are even needed.

What little I’ve heard lately doesn’t sound like rational adults
having a discussion about important issues. It sounds more like the
babbling of per-pubescent children having a temper tantrum. Trump is
dividing the country?

And why do the Democrats who are running for president keep bringing up how bad health car is? It’s their baby. They voted in the Affordable Care Act, Republicans didn’t. They knew it was a pile of manure when they voted it in.

The TV commercials are no better. Seen Trump called a failure,
a racist, and just about everything else except what he is. Our
President. Are the Democrats that afraid that Trump might actually
drain the swamp if he gets re-elected? After all, he has proven that
you don’t have to be a career politician to get things done.

I’m getting worked up again so wish you a great Monday and hope you enjoy it. Now for some coffee to calm my nerves.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

“There will be a meeting of the Church Board immediately after the service,” announced the pastor.

After the close of the service, the Church Board gathered at the back of the sanctuary for the announced meeting. But there was a stranger in their midst — a visitor who had never attended their church before.

“My friend,” said the pastor, “Didn’t you understand that this is a meeting of the Board?”

“Yes,” said the visitor, “and after today’s sermon, I suppose I’m just about as bored as anyone else who came to this meeting.”

The storm

We did have a sunrise yesterday but it wasn’t the most colorful as
too many clouds got in the way. At least it stayed light enough to see
where you were going for a while.

As mentioned yesterday we got soaked unloading the groceries from the car so as soon as we got them put away I grabbed the camera and went outside. It looked like the shot above. Didn’t get any pictures of the lightening as the camera and myself would have gotten wetter if I did.

The day wasn’t a total loss and I got a few more pictures after the
rain stopped. Not the clearest put I think they show how much power
is in the birds wings. It was certainly fun to watch the critter take
flight.

And I got this one just after sunrise that looked to have an evil
face in it lit up like a jack-o-lantern. Freely admit to standing there
and watching the clouds make the face change for longer than I should
have.

The storm of the century seemed to cut us some slack here on the east coast of Iowa, but it did have its moments. When I woke up at zero dark thirty this morning and after my first cup of coffee it was time to check the basement. It was dry!

Of course another cup of coffee was needed to celebrate that fact and
a Twix ice cream bar for breakfast. The wife thought that a strange
choice for breakfast and couldn’t understand the need for a treat.
But, being the trooper she is, she had one with me.

Enjoy our Saturday as we will.
Comments are always welcome.

What a difference

Yesterday looked like the picture above with clouds and enough blue
to let light trickle down from above. Today I went out early, before
sunrise, and knew today was not going to be as nice. A short time
later the sun was trying to peek out through the small slots between
the clouds.

When we got to the grocery store there was still some light filtering
down, but when we went to put the bags in the trunk it looked like
night had fallen. Lightening was flashing to the north and south and
the rain had just started falling.

By the time we got back home the liquid love from above had us soaked before we got the groceries in the house. And it’s supposed to be this way all day. That’s alright as we need some liquid love from above from time to time to keep the weeds growing.

A good day to stay inside with a cup of coffee and think about
the things that need to get done. When it’s too nice out it’s
hard to stay inside and get the little job done.

I have a feeling the sump pump will be working overtime later at the
rate it’s coming down. But we need rain and the feeling one gets when
you step outside after the rain stops and smell the freshness. Almost
like rain is Mother Natures washing machine for our planet.

What a difference a day makes. We liked yesterday and are going to
relax and watch the liquid love fall. Should be an interesting day.
Comments are always welcome.

The experiment

Something came up that needed immediate attention and made this post later than usual. I am happy to report that the situation is over and everything is done to my satisfaction. Some days technology is a pain.

Now, the reason for this post. I did an experiment and picked four
pictures at random, showed them around, and wanted to see if what I
thought people would think was the reaction I got. It was not.

I honestly thought this picture would produce the most comments.
What’s not to like, a kitten wedged into an empty flower pot enjoying
the day. It actually had the least interest.

This one with the cotton candy clouds and color was sure to be
a close second to the kitten. No dice, it came in second to last. I
began to realize my thought process was all wrong.

A feather floating through a clear blue sky I believed would be next
to last as a favorite. It was the second most popular of the four I
showed. Personally, I liked the colors and contrasts but wasn’t
ready for the results.

This shot of the moon got the most comments and some even asked if I would send them a copy. Comments were all favorable and the picture what I was sure would be dead last was the hands down winner.

It seems that while I like taking pictures, figuring out which one
will be popular is a trait that passed me by.

Enjoy our Thursday as that means the weekend is but a dream away.
Now I need more coffee and a donut.
Comments are always welcome.

NCVS

The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, released the
results from the 2018 National Crime Victimization Survery earlier
this month. The survey collects data on nonfatal crimes.

The link above is to a breifing on the survey and has a link to the
survey for those interested. The survey is a PDF file. According to
the survey, after a decline of over a decade the number of violent
crimes rose by 604,000 victims since 2015 among residents 12 and
older.

In that time the portion of the U.S. population age 12 and over who
were victims of nonfatal violent crimes increased from 0.98% to 1.18%.
There are more percentages listed in the link.

According to the survey the offender was the same race as the victim.
That breaks down as follows: 70% of violent incidences involving
black victims, 62% involving white victims, 45% involving Hispanic
victims, and 24% involving Asian victims.

I don’t know where they came up with those numbers as they add to
about 200% doing the math in my head.

Some good news, while violent crime is up slightly property crimes are down. Property crimes fell from 7.99% in 2014 to 7.27% in 2018. Over the same time frame, the percentage of households that fell victim to burglary fell from 1.27% to 1.07%.

Finally, in 2018 the rate of violent victimizations against U.S.
citizens was 23.9 victims per 1,000 U.S. citizens. The rate for non-
citizens was lower at 12.5 victimizations per 1,000 non- U.S. citizens.

Now we know. for more information go the link and look for the link
to the survey. Enjoy our Wednesday as we will.
Comments are always welcome.

Odd sights

Last Friday I heard a commotion outside and noticed the house across
the alley had a crew unloading ladders. This is the same house that
has old oak tree in it that I sometimes get pictures of birds in.

Yesterday morning the noise started again so I grabbed the camera
with the intent of getting some pictures of the guys putting their
ladders and beginning work. Instead, about 50 feet over their heads
was this hawk just checking things out from his perch in the old
oak tree.

I thought for sure the hawk would fly away with all the people and
noise so close but this one just didn’t give up. He must have sat
there for a half hour ignoring the noise and people and I figured
the hawk must have had a great view from up there.

When the bird got tired of not finding what he was looking for he
fly away. The guys kept on working without even realizing this
predator bird was so close above them. Figured it must have been a
citified bird and used to seeing people around.

In the wild I don’t believe they would have gotten as close as they
did without the bird taking wing. Could be wrong though. And today I
go over to visit Dad, see how he’s doing, and have one of our chats.
So enjoy our Tuesday as we will. Now I need a caffeine infusion.
Comments are always welcome.

Monday mirth

It was election time and the politician decided to go out to the local reservation and try to get the Native American vote.They were all assembled in the Council Hall to hear the speech.The politician had worked up to his finale, and the crowd was getting more and more excited.

“I promise better education opportunities for Native Americans!”
The crowd went wild, shouting “Hoya! Hoya!”.

The politician was a bit puzzled by the native word, but was encouraged by their enthusiasm.
“I promise gambling reforms to allow a Casino on the Reservation!”
“Hoya! Hoya!” cried the crowd, stomping their feet.

“I promise more social reforms and job opportunities for Native Americans!” The crowd reached a frenzied pitch shouting “Hoya! Hoya! Hoya!”

After the speech, the Politician was touring the Reservation, and saw a tremendous herd of cattle. Since he was raised on a ranch,and knew a bit about cattle, he asked the Chief if he could get closer to take a look at the cattle.
“Sure,” the Chief said, “but be careful not to step in the hoya…”

Sunday snicker

Timmy didn’t want to put his money in the offering plate Sunday morning, so his mother decided to use some hurried creative reasoning with him.

“You don’t want that money, honey,” she whispered in his ear. “Quick! Drop it in the plate. It’s tainted!”

Horrified, the little boy obeyed.

After a few seconds he whispered, “But, mommy, why was the money tainted? Was it dirty?

“Oh, no dear,” she replied. “It’s not really dirty. It just ‘taint yours, and it ‘taint mine,” she replied. “It’s God’s.”

Getting wet

There are people who make a living telling what the weather is going
to be like in our neighborhood. They just can’t tell us when. These
same people are saying that between now and Sunday night we’re
going to get 2-3 inches of liquid love from above.

We do need it to end this dry spell we’ve been in and we’re sure the
weeds would appreciate it also. The small trees and bushes are
drooping a bit. Even the local wildlife seems to have taken a hit with
our dry spell.

This time I decided to help those TV people who give us their opinion
of what the weather is going to be like. Yes, we went out and bought
some more car wash soap and I washed the wife’s car yesterday. If
that doesn’t cause one hell of a rainstorm I don’t know what will.

I remember a time when people hung their clothes out on clotheslines
to dry them and that was another good way to ensure rain. But those
days went the way of the wringer washer.

It’s almost like the reaction we get when we tell people we don’t have an automatic dishwasher. Some think doing dishes by hand is beneath them. But what we’ve seen of people with dishwashers, they do almost as much work getting the dishes ready for the machine as washing them is. But I digress.

If you live in Iowa you may want to get ready for a soaking today.
Enjoy our Saturday as the weekend will be over before we know it.
Now for some coffee and cheap bacon.
Comments are always welcome.