Be prepared

The 4th of July is right around the corner so we have to be
ready for the extra nocturnal noise and possibilities of fire.
Here in our little river city on the east coast of Iowa things
are already sounding like a war zone after dark.

We haven’t noticed a big difference since consumer fireworks
were legalized this year but time will tell. What we do find
laughable is the state actually thinks it can tell citizens
when then can shoot them off.

Around our neighborhood fireworks don’t start going off until
after the legal hours have ended. We would ask those who wish
to set off the late night fireworks to be considerate of their
neighbors and pets, but then we’d have to take the time to
explain what considerate means.

Police, Fire, and Medics will be probably be just as busy this
year as they were last year and we wish them well. Back in the
day we’d cruise down to Missouri where fireworks were legal and
get some black cats and lady fingers to shoot off.

After a few bangs from the firecrackers we’d go back to
whatever it was we were doing. Today it sounds like some enemy
army is carpet bombing the neighborhood and it goes on for
hours. Times change.

Enjoy our Tuesday, I know we will.
Comments are always welcome.

Pizza test drive

A friend recommended I try a Lotzza Motzza pizza and assured
me they had a bacon cheeseburger pizza. So while getting
groceries friday we picked one up. The first thing we noticed
is these pizzas had a lot more cheese on them compared to the
ones we usually buy. A half pound of cheese.

The other thing we noticed is these pizzas are 3 times more
expensive than my stand by pizza. But I was drooling just
looking at them in the freezer so we brought one home. Last
night we tried the pizza while I was again drooling with the
delicious aromas wafting from our pizza oven.

The pizza was very good and we will be buying more next week.
It won’t replace my go to pizza because of cost, but we’ll keep
a few in freezer for future reference. We got the biggest size
they had at our usual haunt and it fed the wife and myself. I
wasn’t looking for a snack for at least 3 hours.

While the pizza was good, and quite flavorful, I couldn’t
taste the bacon in the bacon cheeseburger pizza. Not a game
changer but perhaps they should call it a cheeseburger pizza,
put mor bacon on it, or I need my taste buds overhauled.

We like it better than DiGiorno frozen pizza which cost about
the same. Thanks for the suggestion Dale, we’ll be buying more
soon. I have enough Jack’s pizza to last me until then.

Enjoy our Sunday.
Comments are always welcome.

A little birdie told me

Trump was in Iowa yesterday in a city close to us and the
righteous indignation has begun. Iowa gets around 36% of its
energy from wind turbines and during his speech the president
said “I don’t want to just hope the wind blows to light up your
homes and your factories as the birds fall to the ground.”

These few words caused one of our Senators to proclaim “Trump
would succeed in ending the production tax credit in Congress
over me dead body.” Supporters of green energy spoke out and
gloom and doom was predicted over a simple sentence. Yet the
consensus is that those who attended the event cheered the
remark.

Wind energy is like ethanol in Iowa and considered by many to
be the only answer to our many problems. Both have been around
longer than people think. I am one Iowan who believes both are
over rated. Wind energy is still more expensive and ethanol is
just a stepping stone until something better comes along.

It is fun to read, and hear, all the people forecast the end of
the world as we know it if changes are made. We lived before
these fads came along and will continue breathing when they are
gone as long as the good Lord is willing. Too many people take
this stuff too seriously.

We, on the other hand, have a life. And since the wife has a
few days off in a row we are going to cruise the two lane
blacktop to somewhere, spend the night in a motel, and cruise
back when we’re ready. Until then I will have no internet
access but will post upon our return.

So enjoy our Friday, it’s the last one we get this week.
Comments are always welcome.

Strange things

I went and had my chest x-ray today in an older hospital that
had just been remodeled. At one time I could find anything in
that hospital with my eyes closed. Now they added curved walls,
meandering halls, and confusing signage. I guess the updates
were needed but still saw nothing wrong with old straight
walls.

I read in the newspaper that people were surprised at the
small turn out in the 3rd Ward election to narrow the field
from 6 candidates to 2. Perhaps it had something to do with
the fact that the issue was more important to the politicians
than the voters.

And last night while I was cruising the information highway
something strange happened. There I was rowing through the
gears and speed shifting the tabs when an IM noticed popped
up. That wasn’t unusual but what made it a Twilight Zone moment
for me was the message came from my cousin who recently died.
All the message said was “Thank you”.

Then we all know common sense has died as surely as we know
Elvis has left the building. The way things look today Mr.
Sense has company. Common courtesy is no longer with us if we
disagree and debate has turned into hate filled rhetoric aimed
toward those of us who haven’t drank the Kool-Aid. The sad
thing is that those who argue the loudest and protest the most
are the problem and don’t have the ability to figure it out.

Political parties have become opposing sides in a war against
imagined rights and innocent slights. Our lawmakers are once
again the butt of jokes while they imagine they actually doing
something that would help the average citizen. I think a lot of
people need a nap.

Enjoy our Thursday as the weekend is almost knocking on the
door. Now I need to get some mowing done or declare our yard
a tropical rain forrest.
Comments are always welcome.

Longest day?

Today we will experience the longest day, and shortest night,
of the year. It is now summer. I was leaning toward yesterday
being the longest day as I got distracted and that lasted all
day.

Yesterday after a busy morning the clouds and critters called
me outside and I hardly went back inside the whole day into the
night. There was something to see everywhere you looked.

The critters were really enjoying the day and everyone of them
from the common grackle to the house finch. Even the squirrels
were out and about enjoying the day.

So I was happily distracted. No cell phone, no TV, no
computer, not even a radio to bother me and the sound of nature
was all I heard. Sometimes you just have to tune out all the
commercials and nonsense what passes for news and get back to
basics. It recharges your soul and clears your mind.

And as I watched the sunset through all the power lines that
crisscross the alley it was a perfect ending to another great
day here on the east coast of Iowa.

So I am now ready for the longest day of the year and hope you
are too. Enjoy our Wednesday, we won’t have another until next
week.
Comments are always welcome.

Short note

For some odd reason I decided to attack some out of control
overgrowth yesterday when the temps were in the 90s. Progress
was made and today I remember why this isn’t done often. My
heart was in it, my mind was willing, yet at some point along
the way my body went AWOL.

Today the Hot Rod Power Tour will stop at the Mississippi
Valley Fairgrounds here in Davenport, Iowa. We are told there
is no spectator parking at the fairgrounds and that those who
want to see the cars should park at West High School and take
a shuttle bus to the event.

The event will run from noon to 6 pm and I don’t think we’ll
make it this year. The wife works tonight and will be sleeping
during this event while I look, and feel, like I was on the
losing end of a fight with porcupine. After chopping up one
small tree today, it will be done.

It’s amazing that as we get older, things we used to do all
day now take us all day to do. This is going to be a short one
as if I don’t get started things won’t get done.

Enjoy our Monday.
Comments are always welcome.

Dry heat?

I got up early this morning and after a shower and several
cups of coffee wondered where the wife was. Turned out it was a
problem at work that finally got straightened out so we began
our cruise to the grocery store about an hour later than usual.

That went well and my 5 pizzas didn’t get time to thaw so when
we got home they went straight into the freezer and everything
else was put away. Then I got the idea that it was only 10 am
and I should have plenty of time to mow the lawn before we hit
the 90s on the thermometer.

I goofed up again and listened to the weather estimator who
said it was going to be a ‘dry heat’. After mowing the lawn I
knew why they called it that, the heat was so dry it sucked all
the moisture out of me. I came in the house looking like I went
swimming and drank a whole lot of water.

As for my furry friend picture above, he kept an eye on me
while the moving got done. Not sure what his intentions were
but I wasn’t worried either. And tonight we should have a full
moon and the space station is going to fly over the east coast
of Iowa.

Enjoy our Friday, it’s the last one we get this week. Now I
need another cup of coffee before I look outside to make sure
I really the mowed the lawn and didn’t dream it.
Comments are always welcome.