A little rant

I’ve been confused the last few days and haven’t been doing what I
should be doing, including this post. Nothing has been written here
about the impeachment process but that was on purpose. Today I will
get into politics and mention a few things that have been bothering
me.

Be forewarned that you may not like what is here if you are of a
certain political persuasion but it is still my opinion, laced with
a few facts, and not meant to be agreeable to all. If that thought
offends you it may be best if you stop by another day.

The kangaroo court impeachment process hasn’t been mentioned as I firmly believe it it isn’t going any further and will get voted down it the full Senate. The Democrats will keep looking for anything they feel will be worth trying it again away.

Now on the current batch of candidates running for president. If you
watch any television at all you have seen the commercials of those
who wish to be our next president. The majority of these drive me
crazy with the claims made.

Healthcare is not a right, free college is not a right, and we do
not live in a Democracy so nobody can harm it. And since when did it
become a crime to be a billionaire? Especially when it’s millionaires
running for office pointing it out. We don’t need more government or
silly laws, we need people in office who do what they swore they
would.

The latest mistake made was the laws against vaping products to
protect our kids against the dangers of using the product. Laws that
were passed banned flavored vaping oils that the younger generation
seem to like.

Then comes news vaping use among our younger citizens is higher than ever and they choose marijuana based based products to vape. Excuse me, isn’t that the product the laws were supposed to stop?

I could go on but will end it there. Enjoy our Thursday as it means
we’re only dream away from Friday and the weekend. No I need more
coffee and a piece of leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

Pretty good day

A few days ago we got some white fluffy love from above and later the
snowplows made their noisy appearance. It ended up we only got
about an inch of the dry fluffy stuff yet it was still enough to make our little part of the world look fantastic.

This morning I cruised over to Dads with a bag of fresh donuts
riding shotgun and saw a male cardinal in his bushes. The bird flew
right in front of the car before I managed to get out.

So as I walked up his sidewalk to the house an annoying racket came
from one of his cedar trees. When I glanced up a blue jay was raising
holy hell about something. As I got closer to the door there was
movement in his other cedar tree and a cedar waxwing was pecking
away at the tree.

After breakfast we went to the living room to continue our chat and
his caregiver called me from the basement to come down. Down the
stairs and around the corner she stood in front of the washer with
a perplexed look on her face. She claimed when the start button was
pushed a red light came on and nothing happened while it usually
turns green and the washer starts.

After checking a few things I glanced over to where the plug went
into the receptacle. It wasn’t all the way in so I pushed it in and
she asked me to push the button. I pushed it, the green light came
on, and the washer started.

Then I went back upstairs to finish the chat with Dad and later
went on my way. As I was walking back to the car I spotted a male
cardinal in one of his bushes. About that time I wished I’d have
brought the camera but it’s a little bulky to tote around when your
hands are already full.

It still made for a great day, a good chat, and another visit with
Dad as Christmas draws near. Add in seeing the birds and a few lazy
snow flakes drifting down and it was a perfect day.

Enjoy what’s left of our Tuesday. Now for some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

An old nun who was living in a convent next to a construction site noticed the coarse language of the workers and decided to spend some time with them to correct their ways.

She decided she would take her lunch, sit with the workers and talk with them.

She put her sandwich in a brown bag and walked over to the spot where the men were eating. Sporting a big smile, she walked up to the group and asked: “And do you men know Jesus Christ?

They shook their heads and looked at each other… somewhat confused.

Then one of the workers looked up into the steelworks and yelled out, “Anybody up there know Jesus Christ?”

One of the steelworkers yelled down, “Why?”

The worker yelled back, “’Cause his wife’s here with his lunch.”

A few pictures

It was a clear night when the full moon showed up a couple days ago
so here’s a picture in case you didn’t, or couldn’t, see it. The
moon was as bright as the sky was dark and that made a interesting
contrast.

When I went outside the same day a pair of cardinals were sitting
on the branches of a nearby tree. Without camera I quickly ran back
into the office, grabbed the camera, and got back out in time to find
that only the female hung around for a Kodak moment.

The same day the snow was removed from the end of alley and I had
started on the front walk when the plow came by again to leave a
nice row of snow at the end of the alley. So after finishing the
sidewalk and steps the end of the alley got cleared again. I still
can’t see how when there is little snow on the street the plow can
leave a pile a foot high and two foot wide.

Finally I noticed the sun gleaming off the icicle to the right in
the picture and thought it looked neat so got a shot. Even though
it’s not officially winter yet, nobody told Mother Nature. Today
the icicles are gone and I’m glad we took the picture.

Enjoy our Saturday as we will here. Now I need some coffee and
perhaps some potato chips.
Comments are always welcome.

Something different

Since I couldn’t decide between two posts today I picked one and
looked at the other. The winner is a little winter and Christmas
folklore. Some you may know but we hope some you don’t.

We’ll start with winter lore:

If snow begins at mid of day, expect a foot of it to lay.

When snow melts off the roof, the next storm will be rain. When
snow blows off, reckon on snow.

Heavy frosts are generally followed by fine, clear weather.

When snow falls in the mud, it remains all winter.

Now the Christmas lore:

Green Christmas, white Easter.

If ice will bear a man before Christmas, it will not bear a mouse
afterward.

A windy christmas is a sign of a good year to come.

If at Christmas ice hangs on the willow, clover may cut at Easter.

When Christmas Eve is clear, our Lord will give us an abundance of
wine and corn.

And on a different note, something found out about a certain
Christmas tree ornament. I hadn’t heard of the Christmas pickle or
known anything about it until today. I know, I’ve lived a sheltered
live.

The tradition of putting a gerkin shaped ornament on the tree with
the others is said to date back to the 19th century here in the
U.S. of A. Folklore has it that the first person to find said
Christmas pickle got to open the first present or good fortune in
the following year.

Some say the idea originated in a Civil War prison camp when a
prisoner asked a guard for pickle as he was starving. The guard
gave the prisoner the pickle and saved his life. When he returned
to his family after the war he began a tradition of hiding a pickle
on their Christmas tree every year.

That’s so crazy it may just be true. Enjoy our Friday. Now for some
more coffee and for some reason I’m hungry for a pickle.
Comments are always welcome.

The trip

I got distracted and took a long walk down memory lane to a trip
from many years ago. The interstate highways weren’t done and the
best way to get from here to most places west was Route 66. So the
family took the mother road to California.

One afternoon we stopped in Flagstaff, Arizona for the night and I
remember it being warm enough we were shorts and t-shirts yet the
guy behind the counter handed out blankets and explained how to
turn the heaters on in the rooms.

Being a young lad I thought he was crazy and saw no need to pay
attention to his speech. My mind changed after dark when it got
colder than well diggers butt and I couldn’t remember how to turn
the gas powered heater on.

We finally got the heater going, and used the blankets he handed
out earlier. When we got to California my Grandpa suggested us guys
all go fishing. We were all for that so he hitched up his boat and
took us out on the ocean to fish.

Ran into a school of halibut and before we knew it had a boat full
of the strange looking fishes. Later that day we had a cookout and
I haven’t eaten so much fish before or after. It was quite a trip
and now, 55 years later, I still remember how much fun we had.

Enjoy our Thursday as that means Friday is just a dream away. And
since somebody drained my coffee cup, I need a refill.
Comments are always welcome.

Bound to happen

We know, this is late and we didn’t post anything yesterday. Don’t
have an excuse but have a few reasons as to why this happened. As
it turned out I couldn’t find my butt with both hands yesterday. It
was one of those days where the lights were on but nobody was home.

And earlier today I had to clear the white fluffy love from above
off the car, driveway, and walks. Not being as young as I once was,
this turned out to be a bigger chore than expected.

With my usual luck when I went out a male cardinal was perched in a
nearby bush so I went back inside to grab the camera and get a shot. Of course by the time I got back out the cardinal was gone. Later I did manage to get a few pictures, just not of bright red cardinals. I’ll upload later and if they turn out will share a few
here tomorrow.

So it snowed last night and today it’s almost 40 degrees out on the
east coast of Iowa. The weather people on TV claim tomorrow and
Friday will be even warmer. I guess the Old Farmer’s Almanac wasn’t
kidding when it said this year would end with a ‘polar coaster’.

I don’t blame global climate change for that as I believe climate
change is a hoax to squeeze more tax monies out of those of us who
feel guilty about supposedly ruining our weather. It is what it is,
the weather.

Enjoy our Wednesday and watch out for rogue camels. Now I need
more coffee and some lunch.
Comments are always welcome.

Phone confusion

So my old flip phone isn’t staying charged like it used to I’ve been
looking for a new one. Last night when our youngest called he said
something about a new phone that has a 64 mega pixel camera in it
so I had to check that out.

Turns out the phone has a 64 mega pixel sensor that quads something
which results in 16 mega pixel pictures. Not near as earth shattering
as first thought. I just thought that a phone would be easier to tote
around than my dslr camera for an occasional photo. The camera can
get bulky when paired with the zoom lens I prefer to use.

But I’m also partial to the flip phone as I’ve had it so long it can
no longer get updates and needs charging more frequently than when I bought it. Have to figure something out before it gives up and quits on me.

For an old fart like me a trip to the cell phone store is akin to
torture. Seems like the sales staff are pushing the high dollar, able
to do everything except cook your dinner and do your wash, while I
like to keep things simple.

Last time we went the sales rep was pushing the fact I could check
my emails and surf in the internet on a fancy phone. So I told him
that I had a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and a tablet and
didn’t need anymore access to the internet.

Evidently the guy had never such a notion and asked what I used my
flip phone for. I replied that when it rings I answer it and will
occasionally make a phone call with it. I don’t need to be able to
check my email or play games on the thing. I’m one of those that will
not answer the phone while I’m driving also.

So we’ll see how it goes when we make a trip out to see what they
have that they think I can’t live without. Until then I have my old
flip phone.

Enjoy our Monday as we will. Now for some coffee and more
research on the latest phones.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

The wife shared this oldie and it put a smile on my face so we’ll share it again.
—————————————————————————-

A priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them.

‘Come with me’, said St. Peter to the taxi driver.
The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St. Peter to a mansion. It had anything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an olympic size pool.

‘Wow, thank you’, said the taxi driver.

Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rugged old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set.

‘Wait, I think you are a little mixed up’, said the priest. ‘Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the mansion? After all I was a priest, went to church every day, and preached God’s word.’

‘Yes, that’s true. But during your sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.

Take a moment

78 years ago today we were attacked at Pearl Harbor and over 2,000
lost their lives. We must never forget.