Pick me pick me!!!!

I went to a community meeting today. I learned that community meetings are kind of crazy especially if most of the people that show up are over 70. Not that being 70 is bad as much as entertaining. When one person talks or makes a suggestion the whole 70+ crowd gets into the action. At first I thought the 70 and older people were talking to the community then I finally realized they were talking to themselves. Like making comments to themselves, agreeing or not agreeing with what other people said and so on. Most of the people came dressed pretty casually but there were these two guys in suits. Wanna be politicians. They were pretty good at talking about nothing but satisfied that they got to talk and hear their own voices. The meeting only got out of hand a few times and some people left because of it. Well. Not really out of hand the one person that left said she was having brain problems and decided to leave. I was wondering what the brain problem was but was happy she wasn't packing a weapon. All in all after everybody heard themselves and were pleased with what they said most people were happy with the meeting. Basically nothing changed but complaints were complained then made to look like they were listened to and would be solved. What are your community meetings like?

There but somewhere else.

Sometimes my mind is not in the same place my body is in. Like today my body was in church but my mind was not present. I was home making a steak dinner and having some ice cream. Then there are times when I wish I were somewhere else and my mind flies off into another fantasy while my body is stuck where it is. Reading a book is special because I get into it and forget where I am physically as I get into the story. Watching football on TV takes my mind into the game and next thing I know I am sitting in the bleachers. Mind travel is sometimes a good thing. I do get frustrated when I want to concentrate on something but my mind is in its nomad state and wandering around aimlessly while I try to get something done. Well what can I say that is the way my mind works sometimes. How about you do you get to leave your body in some places while your mind is gone out to a party?

Barrett-Jackson Auction and ghosts.

My friend went to Arizona for the Barrett-Jackson Auction. They auction off all these classic old cars and some just strange cars. They auction some for charity but not all cars are auctioned off for charity. If you have a dream car check out this auction I am sure they will have it. I am also watching ghost stories on TV. I don't think I ever heard of a haunted car? If you have let me know I like ghost stories.

Cabin Fever

Staying indoors can really play havoc in my mind. I was so bored I went on eBay and bid on on PlayStation PSP 3000. I won. I had to buy games and other things to get it to work properly. It was little complicated for me but I did get it working to my satisfaction. I got a spelling game and I am amazed on how bad my spelling became over the past decades. I also have been following the Haiti situation and I have donated twice. Cabin fever seems pretty good compared to having no cabin at all. Hope you are holding up this winter and I hope earthquakes stay out of your neighborhood too.

Swimming in 2010

I am still swimming along. I went back to the YMCA this year and continued my swimming. I am getting lazy with the machine that makes me feel like a rodent stuck in a wheel. I still like the swimming though. The thing I must remember is to dry my hair before going out. It seems the cold kind of freezes it and it breaks off. Plus it makes my head really cold. I am not much of a hat wearer although I have a hat with "Chumly" sewed into it. I think everyone should have their own personal hat. A hat, shopping cart and big oversize coat, and of course gloves with the fingers cut in half. Everybody always notices that guy or gal. So if you want to be popular this winter those are the things you need. Any ideas of your own. Let me know I like people who wave and stare at me. I think I make them happy. What do you think?

Visiting

The one thing that is a lot of fun is visiting other people over the holidays. I get to see their Christmas trees, decorated homes, pets, children and have a nice hot cup of coffee or chocolate. The best thing for me is also getting to eat all those great cookies, breads, cheeses, and other snacks I usually do not get except during the holidays. The warmth of good friends and family is always the best treat I hope you and all your loved ones have a great and happy New Year and get lots of cookies and snacks too!

Holiday surfing.

I have been visiting all the blogs I can for the Holidays. I like to read about those great holiday recipes. I got some good ones too. Anyway hope you all have a good holiday and get lots and lots of cookies. I know I did.

Terror Prison

I think it might be OK to have a prison for terrorists in a small town in America. It would help the economy, as some people have said. This made me ponder. I can just imagine that the terrorists would flock to this small town. They might even move in and buy some houses that were foreclosed. Open bank accounts, buy a car, maybe start a business and hire some local people to employ. They would have to eat so the food vendors and restaurants would increase their business. As long as they are not hired as guards to the prison it might be OK. I am sure they would be easy to spot because of the I love terrorism T-shirts they wear. One small town resident said he has a gun and knows how to use it to protect his family so gun and ammunition sales should skyrocket. All in all it might be a good thing. What do you think? Most of the people I talked to say it is a good thing as long as it is not being done in their town. So I guess you can say the majority of Americans are for it.

The Play is the thing.

I was fortunate to go see an off off off really off Broadway play. It was in Scranton, Pa. home of "The Office." They play was the musical version of Sweeney Todd. The actors did the play like it was opening night on Broadway. There was an audience of about 50 people but these actors and actresses played for an audience of 50,000. Their voices and acting were awe inspiring and surpassed my expectations beyond anything I could have imagined. Local Theater is a wonderful thing to have in any community. I hope you can see a local play and experience what I did tonight. It could have been a NY play and it was professionally done like one. That is it. Another few hours of life spent and rewarded. Like the man said to get a standing ovation all one has to do is stand up. I am standing and loving every minute of it. Hats off to the Scranton cast of Sweeney Todd.

Feeling Lucky

I was thinking about the number I did not play in the lottery that came in. This has happened countless times to countless people. It is also a time that helps me count my blessings. Nah! I am really bummed about not playing that number. In fact it is doing a number on me. Sure there are plenty of blessings that I can count and there a lot of good things that have happened in my life. That lousy number is frustrating to me though. So what I did is call someone I know that really has problems. I can usually call this person and get cheered up hearing about all the disasters that she is having and then count my blessings. I do not wish this person to have bad times it is just that a lot of things happen to her. As it happened she was having a great day. Her daughter on the other hand had some problems which kind of made me feel better. What the heck am I talking about. Good times bad times what does it matter. At least I am not Tiger Woods. Like his problems are kinda bad for him right now. Although I would not mind being Tiger Woods either. Anyway I realized that it is better to hear about friends experiencing good things and being there for them for the bad experiences as well. That is life. Are you feeling lucky today? Then buy that lottery ticket.

Turkey Dinner

It always makes me feel good that I can donate some food so poor people could eat on Thanksgiving day. It is a wonder that this time of year it is important that on Thanksgiving day there will be a dinner for the people who do not have enough food. Then I wonder. What about the rest of the year. If they survive a whole year without food then what the heck are they eating all year? Then I realized that on Christmas some places have meals for the poor and hungry. Is this enough? Maybe we should have Thanksgiving every three months or so just to be sure people are getting fed. If this is too much turkey we could have Thanksgiving Chicken day, Thanksgiving Pizza day and BBQ Thanksgiving day. This way people will only have to starve a few months in between meals. The more I think about this the better I like it. What do you think?

Lost

I just got lost in my own confusion. I was talking to someone and forgot what I was talking about and got confused. So I began to ask a question but because I did not remember what the conversation was about the question seemed unconnected to whatever I was thinking. Then I tried to recoup my thoughts by thinking about what answer I would get to the question that I now forgot. So by this time I was pretty lost in my own confusion. Did this ever happen to you? This will be a short post tonight because.....there I go again getting lost.

Y me.

I was at the YMCA today. I was on the treadmill and doing my workout like a good little hamster when someone came in and put the TV on. It turned out to be the news about those poor soldiers at the army base. A picture of the person that did the shooting came on the TV and the story about what happened. Just then another person walks into the workout area where I am at. The person that walks in looks exactly like the person that did the shooting at the army base. I mean exactly like him. Same hair cut, eyes, nose, and build. I was freaked and my little hamster legs began walking a little faster on the treadmill. This person that looked like the guy on the TV began talking to himself and looking out the window. He just stood there talking to himself for about 2 or 3 minutes then he turned around and left. I was like a little freaked. It would not have been so bad if the man was not talking to himself. I finished my workout and then went and took a long relaxing swim. I did not see the man again. Did you ever have a weird or strange experience like this? It is something I will not forget for awhile.

Free Candy

I remember when I was a Halloween kid. One year I could not go collect candy on Halloween Day because I had a family thing going on. So I decided I would get my free candy on October 30th the day before. I was thinking like it was Christmas Eve or Halloween Eve so it seemed cool for me to get my free candy. I went and knocked on the usual doors and many of the neighbors recognized me and asked why I was early? I explained my reasoning and they kind of shook their heads, rolled their eyes, some smiled some looked irritated. Whatever the reaction I got my candy. It was not the best Halloween but the good thing was there were no lines at the doors. How about you did you ever have a Halloween problem? How did you solve it?

Gas Cap

It does not pay to be in a hurry. I went to the gas station today and was in a rush. I really did not have to be in a hurry but in my mind I did. So at the gas station I took off the gas cap and put it on the roof of my car. Yep! I forgot I put the gas cap up there because I was in a hurry. I drove off and heard the gas cap roll over the hood and fall to the ground. I went back and saw the gas cap sitting in the road. Unfortunately before I could get to it another car ran over it and crushed it. There was a lady sitting in her car watching this. I picked up the crushed gas cap and went to her car and showed her it. I said, "Can you believe that guy just ran over my gas cap?" She looked a little frightened and nodded her head in a yes gesture. I saw the. "Who is this guy and why is he doing this to me?" look in her eye. I thew the broken gas cap in the garbage then left the shaken lady. It cost me $10 for a new gas cap. I do not know what was worse getting my gas cap crushed or scaring that poor lady. What do you think was worse?

Jokes

Know any good jokes? Life seems to be a little better when a joke or two is told. Sometimes funny things just happen too. My friend told me he was dreaming of mufflers and pipes. He woke up and he was exhausted. Another guy said he had a friend whose last name was Odd. Well Mr. Odd died and at the funeral everyone noticed that on his tombstone nothing was written. Finally someone said, "Now that is Odd." then it all made sense. Children say funny things, adults and senior citizens can always put on a show without realizing it. Funny happens. I hope you heard a joke or something funny happened to you today. If it did pass it on because laughter truly is the best medicine.

Friend in Japan

According to some of my emails I have a friend in Japan. I also have a lot of people trying to leave me money or I have won a big lottery in the UK. It is good to know I have all these friends. I went swimming today and it was one of the best swims I had in awhile. Usually when I do the backstroke I get into it and forget the pool ends. I end up hitting my head a lot. Today that did not happen once. Maybe my email friends and that friend in Japan was looking out for me. My real friends I try to see during the week and on weekends. They help me fix my bike when I crash it and I try to get them coffee as much as I can. They like coffee. My one friend was feeling a little poorly this week but his wife said he is better now. He had to have some medical test done and it is over now and he is good. I visited another friend that owns a garage. He is going to check out a problem I am having with my car. He said he makes really good ribs and I should try them. I bought him an ice tea. I hope you have friends. If not drop me a line and if you like I could hook you up with that friend in Japan.

Just Posting.

Not much going on. It is almost October. I just paid my rent and went to dinner with a friend. She said she was going to win the lottery and buy me a house. She advised me that she does not gamble so I should buy the lottery ticket for her. My back is sore from the bike accident still. I got to watch my friends dog while they went to the beach. I had a good time doing that. Except the dog picked up a few bad habits which my friends had to deal with when they came home. I did not know about the dog sitting on the couch. Anyway it turned out not to be a big thing. I hope anyway. I know this is not really interesting to anyone but I needed to post so there it is. Hope your life is a bit more exciting. Have a hug and some ice cream that is what I do when not much is going on.

Crash Duce

Well I did it again. I crashed my bike. This time I did not get hurt but did some damage. The front fender, the left headlight, the left turn signal and the crash bar. It was tough getting home because I could only make right turns. Seriously wide right turns. The guy I hit had an old truck that looked like it was made out of plywood or cardboard. I think he was a legal alien; he had a post office box for an address. He had all kinds of lawn stuff in the back of his truck and was coming from a outdoor sales place or big yard sale. I tore out his rear light and put a dent in the cardboard or plywood. It could have been five or six layers of bondo, I am just not sure. It looked like it was painted with a paint brush. He and his passengers were fine even though he went from a bad back to a heart attack in about 10 seconds. The accident was right in front of a prison and the inmates were all out there in the yard. The guard was nervous and I guess he thought it was a ploy for a prison break. Like as soon as the accident happened it would create a diversion and all the inmates would hop over the fence or something. So the guard wanted us to settle up and get out of there. Well the alien guy was OK and we settled on fixing the tail light and some other damage money. He did not want to turn it into his insurance. It was either expired or going to expire anyway. So my friends helped me get back on the road and I got the bike back to a garage. The same garage it was just in getting fixed for an electrical short which took weeks to find but we finally did. How is your driving lately? Hope it is better than mine.

email

I get a lot of junk email. Usually it is 1 email I want to read out of 10. Everyday I wake up, turn on my computer and check up to 100 emails I was sent during the night. I always wonder who is up that late at night but they are there every morning. Summer is coming to an end and I am sorry to see it go. This has nothing to do with emails but my mind has been drifting lately. I always wondered if I had Attention Deficit Disorder but I cannot concentrate long enough to figure out if I do or do not have it. That is all I got for now. I am suffering from writers block again. I hope you are having a good day. Let me know if you are or are not. Just to let you know there is someone out there to listen if you want to talk or write.

Breakage.

It seems when one thing gets fixed another thing breaks down. This is what technology has brought us. Endless searches for people that fix technological things. Included in this never ending quest for things to break and be fixed are cars, computers, boats, motorcycles, toasters, and an array of household appliances. When I look back on the days before technological breakthroughs I wonder about the simple life people had. Of course if the horse thew a shoe then the blacksmith would work his wonders. If not they shot the horse which was not a good solution if you were a horse. I almost forgot. Instead of a fireplace we now have gas, electric, oil and other kinds of heat producing things. We even got air conditioners how about that. I am not complaining just feel lost because I cannot seem to be able to fix anything. I am what you call a consumer. Boy can I consume too. Well. So much for that. Are you a person that can fix things? If you are then be prepared to have lots of work ahead of you.

Mind Movie

I got into this Mind Movie thing. You make a movie about things you like or would like to have in your life. So I did. It is on You Tube just search for Chumly's Mind Movie. I think you might be better off just having your favorite chocolate treat. You will get more pleasure from that. I was surprised I was motivated to do this. I wonder why certain things excite me into action? Like going to a friends home or going to a movie or whatever. I guess it is good to get excited about things once in awhile. That is what gets us art, books, movies and discoveries. Discovering ourselves could be fun sometimes. Have you experimented with anything new lately?

Break Down

I am having one of these days. My motorcycle is not working and we are having a fun time trying to fix it. My friend can fix anything so that is helpful. My computer broke down. I bought it 2 years and 1 month ago. The warranty went out and they are telling me it will be a $400 to $500 dollar fix. I found a back up computer and it was not cheap but it saved me money I was out because I was able to back up my files. My car started to tremble and make backfiring noises and wanted to stall all of a sudden. I stopped to surprise my friend with some lunch and he took the day off. I got caught in a rain storm. I have not slept in over 24 hours. I got home safe and was able to still share with some other friends. So all in all my bad day is kind of not so bad. Yep! Bad things are happening but I am finding solutions too. Ever have one of these days? I hope not. Oh yeah. I found a four leaf clover yesterday. They are not as lucky as you might think.

Reunions

I am going to a class reunion dinner. I graduated High School way back in 1970 right after the Civil War ended. I was a little shy in High School but a strange thing happened to me today. The girls I were afraid to talk to are saying hello to me now. It seems after 55 women lower their expectations. Which is really good for me. I am kind of loving this aging thing all of a sudden. Sure we look a little different now but boy I remember them when they were young and they still look that good to me. Who knows if things keep going as good as they are I may even get lucky at my 50th reunion. Life is good. I hope you have a reunion coming up and a little loving comes back into your life. If it does let me know, heck shout it out life is getting shorter.

Cat stuff.

I was sent an email by one of my friends that showed a cat flushing a toilet. The cat learned to put pressure on the handle setting off the toilet. The flushing sound and the rushing water swirling around amused the cat. This video lasted a few minutes and the cat kept repeating the process until it was bored then it moved on. I had a cat that liked to set off an electric cat pan I had. The cat realized that if it put its paw in front of the cleaning mechanism it would set off the cleaning part and move the length of the cat pan then return. This cat would do this for about one half to an hour at times watching this thing go back and forth. Always it was late at night to keep me amused while I tried to sleep. Cats do silly thing like that. If you have a cat or dog I am sure you have a great story to tell too. I'd be glad to hear it but not at 2 or 3 in the morning.

Diet

I am trying to lose a little weight. I do this every now and then for some reason. I might see a pretty girl in church and do a little lusting in the middle of a prayer. Then I feel guilty and light a candle; go home and start a diet. I did not start off too good this time. I went diet food shopping and ended up with these great cup cakes. I have not had cup cakes in a long long time. They looked better than the girl in church. So much for romance. All the cup cakes are gone now. What was interesting was that there was this one big cup cakes in the middle. That is still there but is intensely on my mind. I am trying to plan to eat a little of it at a time and maybe have it a day or two. Then again there were 10 cup cakes surrounding it and my plan was to have one cup cake a day for 10 days. The cup cakes lasted 3 days. Did you ever have a diet plan that just went off the scale, so to speak? Well I hate to see that final cup cake get all stale and stuff so I guess I have some snacking to do.

Battery Acid

It happened like this. I was on my way to a funeral. I was all dressed up and my car would not start. I needed a new battery. The only battery the store had was one that had to be filled with acid and then charged for about an hour. I got the battery and rushed home then filled the battery and put it on the charge. An hour later I still had time to do a quick viewing at the funeral. On the way there it started to rain and I could not find a space near the funeral home so I got wet walking from the car to the funeral home. There I stood in front of the casket all prayerful and solemn like. I noticed people staring at me and looking kind of shocked. I thought they were mourning pretty good. After I paid my respects I went out to walk back to my car. It was then that I noticed that my jacket, pants and shirt were shredding away. I must have gotten battery acid on me and the rain mixed with the acid just ate away my clothes. I then realized that this happened while I was standing in front of the casket and the people were not mourning but in shock watching my clothes melt off my body. I later learned that there is a small hose with the battery that is used to fill the battery with acid. I did not know this and was pouring the acid into those little tiny holes right from the acid container. I must have missed the holes and made a battery acid mess that got on my clothes. Did you ever have this happen to you?

Life in a vacuum.

Here is what happened. My water heater broke and flooded my apartment. It soaked the rug and the rug stunk to high heaven. I got the maintenance dept. to Shop-vac the water up but the smell was still there and the rug was still a little damp. I had to put fans on the floor and ran them for two days straight. That dried the rugs. Then I got carpet cleaner and used that. Just for extra smell protection I bought some smell fresh stuff and put that around to help the smell. Every thing worked pretty well. The carpet is now clean and the smell is gone. The problem is I am not too good with a vacuum cleaner it turns out. I got my throw rug caught in it. Two electrical plugs and a radio antennae which pulled down the radio and smashed it. I also learned there is a rug setting and a floor setting to the vacuum. I kind of made a mess out of the kitchen floor. If you empty out the vacuum cleaner, when it is full, you have to be careful or you will have to clean it up again, twice. The last time I did this I had cats; they are still in therapy. Thats it. How are you at cleaning?

Summer time and the writing is skimpy.

I have been not writing as much as I use to. I have been learning things though. Did you know crows have brains that can compare to a monkeys brain. I watched a video in which a crow thought out how to pick up a small bucket of food by bending a piece of wire into a hook. I saw a cat get a bag stuck on its head and walk around the room acting like there was no bag on its head and the cat was playing it cool. I am waiting to find out if the Michael Jackson imitators will surpass the Elvis ones now that Michael has passed. I watched a friend of mine, she is over 55, explain to her teenage son why she should buy a motorcycle and her son argue back why she should not. I think this was amusing because it is usually the other way around. Every time my bike backfires I notice people run for cover like they are being shot at. Then I wonder how paranoid are we becoming that a backfiring bike freaks people out. So as you can see I have been sort of busy. How about you anything pop up to make you want to write something down?

Tired

If you are sitting in front of a computer in a tire store waiting to buy a tire or your car is being serviced and you are reading this. Then hello and welcome. I left my blog on this computer so everyone could see this. Then tell me what have you done lately to let people know you exist and are you having fun reading this?

Circle of living

Today my friends had a baby boy and at the same time their mother, grandmother, mother-in-law and friend died. With all the talk about celebrates passing I think we have to stop and remember our own personal famous persons. They had an impact on our lives and were more important to us than recording or film stars. We will morn and celebrate their births and enjoy their lives and morn their passing. That is the way it should be. How about you. Did you have any losses or births lately?

Back on-line.

If anyone noticed I have not blogged in awhile. That is because my computer was down. I finally got it fixed after 2 weeks. It cost $240. $75.00 for the part and the rest was labor and taxes. So much for the Geek Squad. I would not recommend them unless you have a warranty still active. I hooked up my computer and I had 1,900 emails, plus 500 junk mails. It took me about 2 hours but I am all caught up. Have you ever had a computer repaired? Let me know I would like to hear your story.

Mechanical.

I am not a mechanical person but I like to watch my friend work on cars and trucks. I am in wonder on how buckets of nuts, bolts, rods, pistons, metal, rubber, gaskets, plastic, hoses and an array of other things, all work together to make a machine run. All I have to do is put gas in it and turn the key. My main job when I work on something is let someone else do it and if I am helping stay out of the way. I once replaced a spark plug in my motorcycle and it fell out. Something about turning it wrong and stripping grooved things. I have watched the whole inside of a car and truck motor, engine, muffler, brakes, transmission and other stuff be taken apart and put back together. How does my friend remember putting all those parts back in their proper spot and work is beyond me. I usually buy coffee for the people that do the real work while I watch. Sometimes they let me get tools for them when they work. Sometimes I actually get the right tool they need. That is only after they tell me a few times. So to all my mechanical friends I salute you. I hope you have some mechanical friends that way you will know what I mean. Especially if something breaks down after us non-mechanical friends get mechanical.

A Good Day.

Today on the local news they tried out a new microwave pasta cooker. Sherman, the man who tests the products, gave it a thumbs up. The pasta cooker costs about $14.00at a local store. I happen to get 3 numbers in the lottery and won $16.00. So I can get my pasta cooker and have some money left over. It gets better. My clip on my motorcycle that holds my saddle bags broke. To replace it only cost $1.75 so that still leaves me with a whole twenty five cents. I think that makes for a pretty good day. Did you have a good day today? I hope you did.

TV Outage

For some reason my cable is down and I cannot get any TV Channels. At first I was annoyed then I thought it would be a good time to do a little writing, reading and check my email. I remember one time in my life when I did not have TV at all. I use to make television picture tubes and was sick of looking at the darn things. So for about a year I rebelled and had no TV. I had to admit it was a good year. I lost weight because I began to get out and exercise more. I took some classes and expanded my mind a bit and furthered my education. I went out with my friends more and I had more time to spend with my cat. I still had my computer but I did not increase my time on it as much as I thought I would. I think it is good to be without the TV once in awhile. As I have grown older I find myself more interested in the news and recording shows that I choose to watch on my own time. How about you as you grow older do you watch TV more or less?

100 Days

The President has been around 100 days now. In those 100 days I have maintained my weight, well kind of a few pounds here and there. My daughter's children are now 100 days older and my daughter had a birthday during those 100 days. The weather has gotten so good I have taken my motorcycle out of my friends garage and I have been riding it. Spring has come and the ice cream places that were closed are now open; if I buy 4 more ice cream treats I get a free one. My daughters husband is still active in the National Guard and is still safe. Two VW Things have come up for sale but I still cannot afford to buy any of them. One is yellow and one is red. My YMCA membership ran out and I renewed but the cost of the membership went up. I am still a fan of Lost and Law and Order on TV. I like the new show The Unusuals. I am still single and very happy with that. So all in all my life has not had quite the ups and downs President Obamas' has had. The thing I have in common with him is that I have been around 100 days just like him and just like you. What has happened to you in the last 100 days?

Dream days.

What if you could get your secret hearts desire? What if you could fly like Superman or have a loving affair with the person of your fantastical fantasies? Just think of something that could make your life so different than it usually is. Think for a moment what would you like to do that really is impossible for you to do? Enjoy this thought for awhile. Simply let your imagination and thoughts soar and go to places that you would like to be for just a moment. Try to do this sober and free of drugs. Hopefully do this in a quiet room by yourself with no witnesses to put you away when you do it. Or what the heck in front of thousands of witnesses so after they see what you have just done it can be an inspiration for them to do it themselves. I think this should be done once in awhile just to keep life interesting. If you do it what would you think of? Why do it at all? I guess because it is good to get funky and positive about life once in awhile. Thats all!

The last second before the first one.

Things move very fast today. Take for instance recipes. Way back before the Internet, books, phones and cave writings. If a person found a new way to cook something the only way to pass it on was to give it to a tribe member or relative. Now, to make a long story short, we have the Internet. Someone finds a new idea for frying Oreo Cookies and bam. The idea goes on the Internet and within a matter of minutes thousands of people now know how to fry an Oreo Cookie. Which is pretty good for the people that make Oreo Cookies. It is the knowledge that is on the Internet that overwhelms me. There is almost nothing one cannot find on the Internet. If you have a question about anything you do not have to wait for mom or dad to come home, all you have to do is google. Which is kind of depressing because moms and dads should be asked all kinds of silly questions about stuff that they know nothing about. Grandparents use to be the pillars of knowledge but now they are being replaced by Wickiedia. Hopefully I am wrong about all this and silly questions between parents, grandparents and their children will always exist. How about you. How do you get all your information?

Profound.

Sometimes I wish I could write or say something profound. I like to read quotes from famous people then reflect on their profound sayings. I like profound video's, movies, books, art work and just profound stuff in general. Generally profound stuff is not general. Profound stuff stands out all alone. I wonder if that makes profound stuff lonely? Maybe it is not so much the profound stuff but the feeling I get when I read or see profound stuff. Like watching fireworks and going ooohhhh and aaaaaaahhhhhhh when the fireworks are profound. Pro is a word that reminds me of a professional or something I have a positive outlook for. Found like finding something that is lost. Profound. I find a lot of bland and blah stuff. That is unprofound stuff. I wonder what people notice more? Do they notice more profound stuff or more unprofound stuff? Does that mean their life is profound or unprofound?
Is there a problem if there is too much profound in ones life? Is there a problem if there is not enough profound in ones life? Is your life profoundly balanced? Just being alive is pretty profound don't you think?

Half Baked.

I like a frozen pizza once in awhile but I usually heat it in the oven before I eat it. I just wanted to make sure you did not think I ate frozen pizza. No I really bake it up first. The problem is that I get a half burned pizza and a half good pizza. I cannot explain this. It does not happen with all the pizzas I buy only the DiGiorno ones. It does not happen with the DiGiorno self rising ones, just the regular ones. I have a lot of other half baked stuff in my life. Like half baked ideas, and half baked laundry. For some reason I have to dry my clothes twice because after the first dry they are damp. The other day I pored milk into my cereal bowl and got half of it in the bowl and the other half out of the bowl. This happens when I drink sometimes. I seem to have leaky lips and I end up with half of the drink in me and the other half on my chin and shirt. I get half thoughts once in awhile. I will be thinking about something then forget what I was thinking about half way through the thought. Life is half baked sometimes. Do you ever have half baked things happen to you? Let me know so I will feel less baked.

Dog dreams.

I was having coffee at my friends house and we were talking about dreams about dogs. I have had a few of them in my time. Mostly I am playing with them or they are peeing on my leg. I have had a few cat dreams too. Those dreams usually have them dragging me around the yard like a rabbit or bird they just caught. Don't get me wrong I love dogs and cats but sometimes I have strange dreams when they are involved. How about you do you ever dream about your pets?

Lack of Sleep again.

I have mentioned a few times about my problem with not being able to get to sleep. I am having this problem again. I am just sitting here and my mind is racing around and around. I am thinking about a neat time in India called Holi and during this time the people in India get to play with colors. They throw color around, paint each other with it and have one great heck of a time. I think I would have enjoyed that celebration. I was thinking about getting a bunch of colors and throwing them on my friends but I don't like pain much. Then I was thinking what it would be like to talk to God. Like, "Hey God what's up?" Create anyone or anything new today?" I would keep it light and not ask him anything profound because I am just not into profound today. I might ask him if he wanted to go to India with me and have a color celebration. Then I thought better not be talking to God. If he talks back to me then I will probably be put on new and different kinds of mind medication. So I am just sitting here and writing silly things and hoping I will get tired. Do you have a hard time sleeping at times? Let me know I am not doing anything right now and I would like to hear from you. If not maybe I will try throwing colors at God.

Bargains!!!!!!!!!

I like getting a good bargain. My friend just bought a new computer and he went surfing on the Internet looking at motorcycles. He found a 1988 Harley 1200 Sportster with a trailer. So he told a friend of his that was looking to buy a bike and they went and checked it out. They ended up getting the bike and trailer for a mere one thousand dollars. The bike had brand new tires on it, no rust, needed a little chrome polishing and the speedometer needs to be replaced. The trailer had new tires on it and also no rust. All in all the bike runs great and he even got a battery charger with it. Oh yeah! He was also lucky to get a brand new spare tire for the trailer. Another thing the previous owner did was swap the chain drive for a brand new belt drive system. Maybe this would not excite someone else but for me and my friends this was a great deal. My latest deal for my self was a sale on Ben & Jerry Ice Cream. Have you found any deals lately?

Excuse me please!

I went and got my 6 month hair cut today. I get one every six months or so weather I need one or not. Mostly I need one. I was feeling good after my hair cut so I thought I would go to Walmart to get some shirts. I was in Walmart and got a basket to put my "stuff" in. I usually get a basket because my legs are not 100% and leaning on the basket helps me walk. Anyway. I got the basket and started pushing it. Then this sweet little ol lady grabs the handle on the basket I am pushing, gives me a little push, and says thank you. Then she takes off with my basket. I was standing there watching her walk away with my basket and yes I had a shocked look on my face and my mouth was wide open. I gasped lady that is my basket. She turned around smiled and as she was walking away she said over her shoulder, "Oh! Thanks. Oh do you want it back?" I stammered out, "No no forget it just take it okay!" She smiled and without slowing down a bit kept on going and disappeared down the aisle. There was a man standing there and witnessed the whole thing and he was bent over laughing. He worked there and kept saying and laughing, "Wow I never saw that happen before!" Then I started thinking and wondering how bad my hair cut may have looked. Maybe she thought I was mentally unsound or something and with my new hair cut that is how I looked. Anything like this ever happen to you? I talked about it to a few of my friends and they said it never happened to them.

Growth.

It is nice to see someone I know doing good. I spent some time with a person today that really turned his life around. He went through some bad times and now his career is taking off and he is doing great things with his life. I also happen to know his father and his father is in a profession that helps people. I know his father is very proud of him as his entire family is also proud . It is just great to see something like this happening to someone I know. I like celebrating when good things happen to good people. Sometimes I get too involved in my own ego-ness and lose sight of what is going on around me. It is nice to get to stop, look around and enjoy the beauty of what good is happening around my friends. I hope you have friends that are doing good and I hope you are part of their celebration. If someone you know and love is doing good, feel free let me know then we both can enjoy some shared life victories.

Annnnd Action!

I think I can cross off something on my "bucket" list. You know that list Jack Nickelson had in that movie of things to do before he died. I was in a movie. Yep! I was an extra in a movie. I was a prisoner in the movie and I was an extra that was in the scene with the major actors. I had no lines but had a great time. The funny thing was I knew some of the real guards in the prison and they were busting me about how good I looked as a prisoner. Some of the guards joked they thought it was about time I was caught and put in prison. The movie is called, "Forged," and it should come out late this year or early next year. Then to add more to my ego. They had a local show on the local TV public access station and I was interviewed right there on TV. They asked me about my part and how I felt about being in the film. I was glowing. I think I just had my 15 minutes of fame. It felt fantastic. Did you have your 15 minutes of fame yet? If you did feel free to share. If you did not, you will and you are going to soar.

Food Appreciation.

I had to go on a fast the other day. I was getting a procedure done and the doctor said no food. I never realized how much I liked food until I went on this fast. All I could think about was food. Usually it doesn't bother me but for some reason I could not stop thinking about all kinds of food. The funny thing is now that the procedure is over, I am not really that hungry. Maybe I am one of those people that when I cannot have something I want it. Now that I can eat, my food craving has diminished. Sure, I am hungry, but I am not thinking about food as I did before the fast. Does this stuff happen to you? Are you ok until someone says you cannot have something, then all of a sudden that is the thing you want?

Test Day

As I get older I am learning new things. Like Gastroscope and Colonoscopy. These new and wonderful tests that the Doctor does as one ages. These tests make sure cancer does not become a problem and before the tests a person has to fast and sometimes take terrible things to "cleanse." What evil thing did I do to doctors that they feel they have to torture me with these things. I wonder if water boarding is as bad? Well, I guess I should not complain these doctors are looking after my health. The bright side was after testing a bunch of kids rang my doorbell and they were selling candy. After a day of fasting they became my hero's. Are you lucky enough to have had one of these tests?

email chains.

I love checking my email. I get about 100 emails a day. 80 of the emails are advertisements or letters from Nigeria telling me I have a relative or won a lottery or whatever and they have millions of dollars for me. Then I get those chain emails. You know the ones that say if you send this email to 10 people a horde of angels will bring you good luck and if you don't your nose will fall off and never stop running. These chain emails drive me bonkers. I must admit some are cute and a little funny but the thought of sending them to my friends makes my stomach feel a little funny. I like my friends and would like to keep them. I do not want to hold them hostages to chain emails. Before the INTERNET these chain letters, as we called them, were even worse because you had to buy envelopes, address them and then put stamps on them. It could cost a little money to keep those hordes of angels in circulation. Today it does not cost anything really. Plus you just hit forward and your contact list is automatically putting in the addresses to forward these chain emails. The only thing it costs is time deleting and reading this stuff. I really hate the chain emails that demand you forward them or else something bad will happen because I like my nose and don't want to lose it. Maybe I am a little silly and should just have a sense of humor and forward them just because angels are pretty good no matter what. What do you think. Do chain emails bother you?

Carp Conversion Conversations

I read a story that a carp decided to talk to a couple of Jewish fish people before they decided to club the carp to death then eat it. The carp said, "Tzaruch shemirah," and "Hasof bah." These Jewish words mean something like, "everyone needs to account for themselves because the end is near." The carp then instructed the fish people to pray and study Judaism. Then the Gentile of the group clubbed the carp to death and they ate him. I learned from this a few things. Carp speak only in the Jewish language especially before being clubbed to death. The carp know when they will be clubbed to death and then get a little philosophical. If a carp tells a non-Jewish person to study Judaism the Gentile will then clubbed the carp to death then probably eat the carp. If you ever heard of this story I would be glad to hear from you. I read this in a book called, "Muses, Madmen, and Carp Prophets." I recommend it especially if you hear voices. Thanks for letting me share this little story.

Inauguration

I was wondering what to write about today. There seemed to be not much going on except this one thing called Inauguration Day. It has something to do with one President leaving and another one taking his place. There is a ceremony, a big Lunch, a parade and some Balls that have dancing and singing and stuff like celebration things happening. People are smiling again. I guess that is what struck me the most. People smiling. Not much more to say. I seemed to be glued to the TV and watching all this strange merriment unfold. It is a good thing. This only happens about every 4 years or so in America. I do understand that there are a few grumpy people out there but not enough to really bring anybody down. It is a such a good party. Tomorrow may not be so happy because there is a lot of work to be done I am hearing. Today. Today is one of those different happy days that do not come along that often. I think I will just enjoy it. How about you?

Hello!

I went to the Doctors office today for an appointment. While I was sitting there an older woman came out using a walker and being helped by a younger woman. The older woman went from the walker to a wheel chair with the help of the other younger woman. After getting settled in the wheel chair. I heard the younger woman say to the lady in the wheel chair. "I do not know why you are crying, you need help and you have to be here". The younger woman then went to the nurse to do some business. This left the lady in the wheel chair alone. I felt bad and patted the shoulder of the lady in the wheel chair and asked what was wrong. It seems she is going blind and cannot stay at home to take care of her husband anymore. She was a little frightened at being left in the hospital and was feeling a bit down. I listened to her and let her talk about what was going on. Then I told her I was in a motorcycle accident and almost lost my vision because of it and I knew how frightened it could be to lose sight. I shared with her how I was helped and explained to her that I knew where she was going, I went to the same place myself, and tried to reassure her there were good people there. She felt better and after a little while got her smile back and she stopped crying. She was also a veteran and she seemed glad to be able to talk to me. The younger woman came and wheeled her away and the older woman looked a bit calmer. I felt good. Did you ever have an experience like mine? I hope you did and would be happy to hear about it.

Snow food.

I went to a Dr. Appointment today and it was great. It was late in the afternoon and it was snowing. The Dr. lived in the next town and he was worried about the roads getting icy so the appointment went fast. I was pretty happy about that. As it turned out I had to stop by the grocery store. It was snowing pretty good and the weather report said maybe we would get an inch or two but later it may turn icy. What I had forgotten was that a lot of people make a rush to the grocery store when it snows. I also forgot that they usually buy tons of food and supplies like we were going to get 24 feet of snow and be stuck in our homes for the duration of the winter or at least 6 or more months. I do not know why this happens but it does. Something about snow makes people panic and think they are going to starve to death when it snows. I was amused at the long lines and the panic and anxiety these people had. When it was my turn to check out I smugly made a comment to the checkout girl about how the snow brings people out. She sighed at me and said wearily,"Yeah! Like the people that always buy milk, bread, and toilet paper." "Yeah!" I agreed with her. Then it hit me. I had just bought those three items. I looked at her and stuttered out, "I actually needed this stuff, no kidding, the snow had nothing to do with it!" She looked at me, nodded sadly and repeated what she was saying all day, "Will that be cash or charge?" I was stuck. I really did need this stuff. She would not believe me no matter what. It was snowing and I was buying milk, bread and toilet paper. Oh! The embarrassment and frustration washed over me like a tsunami. There was nothing to do but pay and move on. Things happen. This or something similar ever happen to you?

Old New Year.

In a few days a New Year. My old year memories are kind of few. My daughter had a son so a new grandson for me. I went swimming at the YMCA and a little kid dropped a floater or two in the pool and it had to be closed. My friends dog got really hyper and ended up on puppy Prozac. I got a new radiator for my car. Had some great rides on my motorcycle and kept up my little blog for another year. All my friends remained healthy and so did my family. So it was a pretty good year. How was your year? If you have any interesting comments or stories feel free to leave them. Have a good and safe New Year and thanks for stopping by. What the heck, have a hug too!

Tis the Season!

There are a lot of holidays this time of year. I am a Christmas guy. What holiday are you? Just be sure to have a safe and happy one!!!!

How a pet chooses you.

I noticed a few people talking about getting a pet for Christmas. I was just wondering do we choose pets or do they choose us? A friend of mine was in her yard in the country. She noticed a bird that was near her. They made friends with each other and now the bird goes for drives with her in her car. Another friend of mine went outside one day and found a cat on her porch. Now the cat comes by every day and sometimes goes into her house checks it out. The cat stays until it gets bored goes back out and comes back around when it feels like. Sure many people go to pet stores and browse around until they find the pet that fancies them. I just wonder who sees who first and just what is it about the pet that makes the bond. I hear many stories that the pet does something that attracts the pet seekers attention and then bam, instant love and the pet is on the way to a new home. Do you have any pet stories?

Just wondering.

Why do you think what you think when you think it? I was lying in bed and my mind was like a rock skipping on the water of a pond. I kept switching from thought to thought and had no real reason why or how. I was just random thinking and letting my mind go freely where it wanted. I thought of my grandchildren, about a friend I just emailed, about animals and pets I encountered. I had ambient music playing while I was resting. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. My mind did feel like it was flowing with the music. Yet. I was very relaxed. Then at the height of my mental channel switching, I had an urge to relieve myself of some water that had gathered in my body and needed to be voided. I am getting older and that need to pee can get very irksome and frequent. So I had to stop my free flowing thoughts and let flow a body function. I then decided to turn on my computer, check my emails, surf a little and ended up writing this stuff down. I am looking forward to thinking of thinking what I was thinking and think about it some more. Have you ever had an enjoyable thought wandering experience?

Deck the Porch with burned out light bulbs.

I was hand picked to help my neighbor put up his Christmas lights. That wonderful idea that someone thought up years ago. We did all the traditional light hanging things. We had the traditional cursing of the tangled lights. The plugging in of the numerous extension cords. We had the falling out of decorations from the old box they were packed in. His wife participated in the, "It still looks crooked to me." chant." His dog was full of the, "lets chew on and drag around whatever I can get my teeth into festivities". It was fun playing the replacing the burned out light bulb game and the removing of old tape and tinsel tradition. The end result was, after the swapping of the bitch and bastard arguments, some heart warming gushing aaahhhhs and oooohhhs, and some hot chocolate and coffee. Plus the warmth of the Christmas spirit beginning to take shape. Do you get to enjoy this wonderful yearly event?

New Beginnings Again!

My daughter was looking for something to do on Saturday Nov. 22. so she decided to have a 9 lb. plus baby boy and name him Alexander. His two sisters and one brother were happy about the birth and so was the new dad. I also got an email from my sister stating that everyone was well and that, "Jane, not her real name, was in the shower and everything was A-OK down there". I thought that was some strange information and still cannot figure exactly what it is she was trying to say. It is important to recheck what you write in those emails before you hit that send button. Did you ever send an email and wish you had rechecked it first?

Its been awhile.

I have not been blogging for awhile. I have been a little lazy and was involved in the Presidential election. Now that it is over I can hopefully go back to a little blog once or so a week. I have had a little winter writers bock, to tell the truth. What has gotten my attention is that new babies are being born and are being named Barack or Obama or Barack Obama. Not too many went for the Hussane, Hussine, Hussyaine, Hussaine, or however you spell it part. I also learned that some women in their sixties, my sister, have gone and have had their hair done to look like Hillary Clinton. The Sarah Palin glasses are still big I hear and the Joe Biden hair plugs are big but not as big as I had originally thought. Nobody is mimicking McCain at all but that seems to be no surprise. It is amazing how things and people effect our country after an election. Has the election effected you at all?

Happy Halloween

This has been a bummer year in my neighborhood for Halloween. I talked to a few of my neighbors and they said that they only got one or two trick or treaters. Myself I got one knock on my door. It was a drunk person looking for the guy next door. He was so out of it he thought I was visiting his friend. There was not one trick played on my block. No toilet paper was strung and that was OK, but a little sad. The most action I saw were the grocery store guys collecting all the grocery baskets, that were stolen from the store, that were used by the older people to bring home their groceries. Is it because people are afraid to go to houses? I noticed a lot of parties on the local news where kids went. It just seems that this trick or treat thing is losing popularity. How about your area did you have a lot of little visitors in strange costumes?

Norman Rockwell what have you done?

I was watching the "Daily Show" and found out that if you are from a small town then that is the only way you can be considered American. "Real America" is a Norman Rockwell painting and larger cities like NY, Los Angeles or even Philadelphia are too big to be considered American. Which is pretty sad because most of these larger cities have baseball and football teams that I enjoy watching. Philadelphia for example will even be in the World Series which may now be considered as a Communist thing. Things change. Before this presidential election we had Republicans and Democrats. Now our country is divided into American and Un-American parts. Maybe we should not have these elections if it tears the country so apart. I think we should just have the Republicans have a president for four years then the Democrats have their four years the next term. Keep doing that and everybody should be happy. Of course there are the other political parties and to make it fairer they could be the vice-presidents. I just do not like all this negative stuff that goes on during these elections. What about you? Any ideas?

Just another day

It was my birthday on the 11th. I could not get excited on becoming 56. I like the every ten year birthdays. My friends and family remembered and I got cards and presents and stuff. It just was not an exciting day. What was special was having coffee with my friends and having a visit and sharing some laughs. That was the best present. My daughter lives in NC so having her so far away way was kind of sad but she is expecting a baby in November and that has me pretty excited. Grandchild number 4. That is something to celebrate. My favorite College football team, Penn State won their game on my birthday. That was pretty neat. I like it when my grandchildren and daughter have their birthdays. I seem to enjoy that more. It must have something to do with age. Becoming 18 then 21 was something to celebrate. As I become older I still enjoy the cake and ice cream but the actual aging just is not as much fun. What birthdays do you look forward to?

Spinning Pennies.

When I was young I use to spin pennies. I liked they way they moved around and looked orb and planet like when they spun. Sometimes they would stay in one place and other times they would travel away and make erratic journeys as they spun. Today pennies are not worth much but still spin pretty good. Rich people spin bigger things like quarters, half dollars, dollars, stocks and bonds and now billions and billions of dollars all at once. Trouble is when they stop spinning and fall down, they fall down pretty hard. I don't mind spinning my own pennies but I am a little skeptical when other people spin my money. How about you?

No Trespassing without permission.

Sometimes things are not what they seem and what they seem is far from what they really are. I am reading a book on how to improve my thinking. It is called. "The Feeling Good Handbook," by David D. Burns MD. The book kind of reminds me of a Rodney Dangerfield story. Rodney went to a psychiatrist and told him, "Doc everybody hates me." The doctor in turn told Rodney that that was impossible because not everybody had met Rodney. What I am learning is that I have a lot of those all or nothing thoughts too. I also found out that I procrastinate because I put things off. The book says to write down why you put things off and write down specific examples like, cleaning my apartment. So I did. My apartment is still not clean but I have a great list written down why it isn't. Changing one's thinking from negative to positive thoughts is harder than it sounds. I once was a positive person but as I am older I became more negative. This book did help and I do feel better and my bad moods do not last as long. It amazes me that with a little common sense life can be good. How is your thinking? How has it changed as you became older and what experiences changed it?

Books for all!

My friends granddaughter came home from school and was very excited. She went to the library for the first time in her life and was all happy that she got "free" books to take home. My friend tried to explain to her that she would have to "return" the books after she read them. "But they just gave them to me for free," she insisted. "They came up in a big bus and we got on it and got to pick out these free books," she explained. I like the way children think sometimes. Why can't we keep books from the library? Why do we have to have money at all? Why aren't things just free? How come Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny give out free stuff? What is wrong with those Librarians that they can't? That is all I got. It is just one of those precious moments that I experienced which brought a little smile and wonderment into my life. If you have children I am sure you have many stories like this. Feel free to share if you have them.

Oh that day again.

It's the end of the world as we know it. Rain upon my window pane. The little white cloud that cried. The beat goes on. It's a small world. Where have all the flowers gone. Sometimes there are those days that come around that remind me of sadness. Reaching out my arms and pulling in great hugs help. Listening to the Grateful Dead and remembering there really is still lots of love in the world. Breathing my next breath slowly. Letting breezes softly caress me then pass me by. It is all there still living. Music. Laughing. Some people swim in tears. I was not going to write about this day again. I did. Ghosts of dead relatives, friends and strangers swirl about and linger for awhile. They do not stay as long as they once did. I lost no one but died with many. Some days skipping rocks on the water can be soothing. What do you do on these sad days?

Up Up to the Sky

My friend is learning to fly and she asked me if I wanted to come along for the ride. I said sure. We went to the airport and before we took off I noticed an airplane I saw on the news the day before. This plane had crashed and was sitting there all bent; looking crashed and next to the plane we were to fly in. I kept looking at it as we passed it when we were taking off. We flew around for an hour and it seemed fine to me. I found out later there was a headset I was suppose to wear but I did not put it on. I did notice that she was talking quite a bit to the co-pilot on the headsets they were wearing but did not think much of it. We landed and on the way home she turned to me and said, "Boy did you see how close we came to that mountain?" I drank a lot of coffee when I got home which is a bad thing to do to try to calm oneself down. So now I am sitting here drinking a big milkshake. I feel better and am not shaking as much.

Ice Creamed

It is the end of summer and my favorite ice cream places are closing for the season. I love getting on my motorcycle and going riding with my friends. What we always end up doing is going to get some ice cream before the ride ends. As I was sitting here I began to think, "If I were an ice cream flavor what flavor would I be?" That opened a lot of doors for me because I love a lot of flavors. I decided that I would be a berry ice cream because I like strawberry, rasberry or any kind of berry ice cream. If I went with my personality I would make sure there would be lots and lots of nuts with my ice cream because people say that I am a little nuts in real life. What flavor ice cream would you be?

Big Stuff

I belong to Sam's Club. What that means is I can buy large quantities of food stuff all in one shopping trip. I live alone and this is not a good thing for me to do because I have been watching my waistline. Grow. I was going to the YMCA to swim, but the day before a little child decided to potty in the pool. I have not been able to bring myself to get back into the pool. So, off I went to Sam's. I think I did pretty good. I bought a bunch of steaks and took them home and wrapped the 24 of them up individually and put them in the freezer. The 3 for one pizza, not so good; because it added up to a dozen. The cookies, well 12 out of 36 of them were oatmeal and I think oatmeal is good. The Hot Pockets should be good for breakfast from now until October. Then I ended this little shopping spree by getting Gatorade. That was OK but it was a little tight putting all 52 bottles in my refrigerator. Do you belong to one of those wholesale food clubs? I guess they are good for a large family but for me, well I may have to rethink my membership.

Insight to incite

How much insight is one suppose to have? I know if a woman has a handsome man in her sights or a man has a beautiful woman in his sight sex can happen. Or take a hunter for instance. He is out hunting and gets an animal in his sights. Death can be pretty insightful for the unlucky animal or the lucky hunter. Then there is the insight that can incite. An athlete has a gold medal in his or her sight and this could incite a race that breaks a record. A politician or just any Ole person has an idea and incites the people with that insight and a law is made or a riot can occur. Now if you are reading this and you sit back and say to yourself, " Oh! I see". That is some kind of insight that incited your imagination, brain, synapses or just gave you a headache. Science has a lot of insight and changes occur. An artist has an insight and a picture or an artsy thing is birthed. Religion has insight and we usually end up with prayer or a war. Insight to incite or incite to insight what is it? So here I sit at the insight crossroad. Do I keep on thinking or do I have an alcoholic beverage and just call it a day? Have you had any insightful insights that incited you lately?

Onward memories!

Where do memories go after one dies? I guess they go to the living. When someone dies we remember them and the things they did when they were alive. I guess the deceased have memories because ghosts are reported being all over the place doing all kind of dead things. History is a bunch of memories that people remember and write down. Blogs and stuff on the Internet are written down and if someone reads them they become memories and add to the history of the Internet. Then there are the memories we just cannot get rid of. Like the time I walked into my 80 year old aunts house and she was standing in the kitchen topless with nothing on but her apron. I got sick on the tree outside her home. That memory still haunts me in a different historical way. That is one memory that can die with me, no problem. I am watching the Olympics on television. I was enjoying it until that memory of my aunt popped up. So I decided to write this blog but that did not help either. Ever have a haunting historical memory in your life?

Old Song Memories

What is in a song? Words, music, a beat. Memories also come to mind. Do you have a favorite song? I seem to have many of them. Love songs that remind me of past relationships. Songs that remind me of certain events in my life like a graduation, or a friendship song or just a tune that mellows me and brings good memories of past stuff. Sometimes I make up songs and sing them to myself. They will never be top ten hits or make the charts but; I have fun singing them. Do you ever make up songs and sing to yourself or is this just a Chumly thing? If you are a song writer then I can understand that. Just to be a person walking around singing to yourself and being happy that is something different. Now if you are on medication and do this what kind of medication are you on and can I buy some? Then there are those songs that remain in my head for days and I keep singing them over and over. We all have music in us it seems. It is a good thing I think. Life is good with music in it. What do you think?

Friendship

I think friendships are a little different when they are between men, then friendships that are between women. Men tend to make fun of or "bust" each other. Like today I am a wuss. My friends wanted me to go motorcycling with them but I had to refuse. I had a few reasons; all of which were not good enough but I did not go for the ride with my friends. Well, they went and it rained on them. So now I am a wuss. A dry wuss, but a wuss nevertheless because I did not go and get rained on. It is taken in a comical light and we all are having a good laugh at my expense. Now women on the other hand, I do not know how they "bust" each other or if they make fun of each other at all. I hear women are "catty" and I am not sure what exactly that means. I have 5 older sisters and I can not really recall how they made fun of each other or if they did at all. So they question is do women make fun of each other and poke fun at each other at certain times? Let me know. That way if I do make fun of a woman I will do it correctly and not get punched, which come to think of it, my sisters did punch me from time to time when I tried to be funny.

Sometimes

Did you ever want to go left and end up going right? Sometimes I go straight or forward and end up going backward. Then there are the times I have to make a decision and make the wrong one. Once in awhile I do get it right and go left when I am suppose to; and go forward to win. Life is funny like that.

I am sitting here trying to write something profound but all I keep doing is getting into the dance music I am listening to. I want to dance. Why do I think I should write something of importance anyway? Who the heck do I think I am? I guess I am looking for attention and a few comments on my blog here. But why?

Maybe I am going right when I should be going left right now. Who really cares where I end up anyway? Sometimes I care and sometimes I do not. I guess we are all like that once in awhile. Sometimes we want to be profound and sometimes we just want to dance. How about you? Do you feel profound or would you be better off profoundly dancing? Whatever! Have a hug and a twirl.

Laundry

At one time in my life I looked forward to doing my laundry. I was married and would try to help my wife do the laundry. She did not like the way I did it. Something about separating special clothes for special washing. After my daughter graduated high school my wife went South and I stayed North. I got my own home and my own washer and drier. I was in heaven. I liked using those machines that were previously banned to me. Now I am older and because of my health I had to get a small efficiency apartment that is not efficient in the laundry department. My apartment is too small for laundry facilities. I forgot how spoiled I was with my own stuff. Going out to do laundry really sucks. When I was in the military I was on a ship and we put all our laundry in these bags and hoped we got them back with all the same clothes we sent out to be cleaned. That was interesting and made me appreciate my own cleaning machines. My friends just got a new washer and drier and made a special room for them and call it a "laundry room". I was at their home when they did their first laundry tryout. They have the Whirlpool Duet ones and they are big, really run quiet and are just awesome.

I am just laundry rambling now. It is true you do not know what you got until it's gone. In this case it is called laundry facilities. So if you hate doing laundry give me a call I'll be happy to help. Heck, I'll even bring coffee or refreshments while we wait for the drier to do its thing.

Holiday

Just what is a holiday? Why do humans need them? Why don't squirrels or dogs or cats or any other animals have holidays? What makes a holiday? Is there pressure for people to have the perfect BBQ or party on a holiday? What happens when it rains, or the fireworks fizzle or your husband or wife is acting grumpy? Does you family get together and have fun or is there a holiday fight that occurs? America has the 4Th of July, Canada has the 1st of July and all countries have their holiday day. I like holidays. I get the day off. Not all people get the holiday off. Which is kind of unfair. Then again not all people celebrate holidays and just see these days as just another day. Yet! For some reason we humans have to have them. Holidays happen in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Some are more popular than others and some are more important than others. It depends on your holiday mood, I guess. That is all I have. I hope you have at least one holiday a year you enjoy. What is your favorite one and what one could you do without? Do we have enough or could we use more? What do you think?

Roominations or Ruminations

I was just sitting here listening to some really really really mellow music and just thinking. I was thinking that being special isn't so bad. Then I thought about being in a special classroom; full of special students is kind of something especially different. Yet. We, most of us, want to be special. Loved and respected. I like sitting next to a certain special child in church. He has Downs Syndrome but sings great and has a great smile when we come to the, "offer each other a sign of peace," moment in church. So being special is special in a special sort of way, I guess. Being special is especially strange when someone is special in a crowd of normal people that want to be special in a different way. Of course if you get caught driving drunk and the policeman tells you that drinking and driving will bring you a special trip to a special cell. That is one special experience you may not desire. Then there is special stuff like, special food, special feelings, special gifts, and special days. Which makes me wonder. What is special to you?

Hot Pockets

I have become addicted to Hot Pockets. They are these little food treats you throw into the micro wave and feast on. It was an accident. I went into the grocery store one day and when I was leaving I got a coupon for Hot Pockets with my receipt.
So the next time I went to the grocery store I used my coupon and got the Hot Pockets. When I got my next receipt, low and behold, I got another Hot Pocket coupon. Then again on my next grocery trip I got some more Hot Pockets and believe it or not, another Hot Pocket coupon. This has happened over 6 times now. I buy the Hot Pockets and wonder if it will happen again and I wonder, "Will I get that coupon". Will I continue to eat Hot Pockets or will I have to join Hot Pockets Anonymous to wean myself off of them. I anxiously wait for the receipt and beads of sweat appear on my forehead. Will I get another Hot Pocket coupon? Yessss! My Hot Pocket luck continues.

Well that is my Hot Pocket story. Do you use coupons? What is your favorite one?

Stop and Think

Sometimes I just stop and think. I started thinking about all my friends that had died due to heart attacks or cancer. I recently heard of a friend that was going to the doctors and felt sick to her stomach. She told her husband she was tired of feeling sick and decided to lay down and cancel the doctor's appointment. She died later that night. We recently saw on he news that Tim Russert passed away due to a heart attack. I guess we just never really know when our number will be up. I knew a person who was a millionaire. He owned his own factory, flew an airplane, loved his family and had lots of friends. Then after a lot of nagging he finally went to his doctor for checkup. He was always too busy for doctors and even though he was feeling not so good, he kept putting the doctors visit off. Well, unfortunately, he had cancer. If he had gone to see the doctor earlier he could have been saved. He died within six months. I am 55 now and it seems this is the beginning of the end of some of my friends, and one day me. I am reflecting on how much I aged and how closer I have come to that grim reaper.

Then I am shaken out of my thoughts. The number 73 has been called from the person behind the deli counter. I acknowledge I have that number and order my cold cuts, then continue shopping. My mind now is thinking about something else as I go on my way.

What do you think about when you are waiting for your number to be called while you are standing in the deli line?

OK

I was given this to read and I thought it was OK.

If you can accept that you are not OKAY.

Then, maybe, you can stop trying to prove that you are O.K.

If you can stop trying to prove that you are OKAY. Then,

you can get that it is O.K.,

Not to be OK.

If you can get that it is OKAY not to be O.K. Then,

You can get that you are OK just the way you are.

So you are OKAY. O.K.!

OK.

Just another day

It was a day to reach out, spread my arms and give the day a hug. I had a couple of chili hot dogs with a cool root beer ice cream soda. I got to help my friend rip out a wall and build a space to put in a washer and dryer for his wife. I climbed on my motorcycle and drove all the back country roads I could find. I waved to the cows and they swished their tails in reply. I heard a wonderful song on the INTERNET Jason Mraz-I'm Yours and played it a few times because it was so good. I got to write a email to my daughter just to tell her she was special and the grandchildren too. What the heck even her husband got a email hug. Yep! It has been one of those days. Ever have one? I hope you have bouquets of them.

Proud Parent

My daughter lives in NC and I live in Pennsylvania. She is an Art Teacher and was voted Teacher of the Year where she is at. I am a pretty proud parent. She has 3 children with a 4th on the way. To celebrate her award she is taking her kids and going for ice cream. That is the problem with living so far away. I do not get to go for those celebratory ice cream trips. With the way the economy is a lot of parents and their children have to put up with being long distance families. With the gas prices the way they are it will be difficult for travel also. I usually do a 2 week summer trip and she and her family come in for Christmas. It will be difficult to do this year. Still, there are those great phone calls and thank goodness for email. What I am thinking is that we enjoy family time when we can and we try always to be supportive no matter how many miles are between us. So love your family as much and as long as you can. Maybe I can't go for that ice cream trip but I can have a milkshake and toast her award just where I am. If you have any proud parent stories let me know I would love to hear them.

Depression

I met a man today that was a former Minister and he said he was depressed because his son was serving a life time sentence in Prison. I thought that was a good reason to be a little depressed. Then I thought about depression in general. Usually depression is something to be avoided but it does rear its ugly head from time to time. So I thought about things that make me depressed. I'd like to tell you what they are but it is depressing and why should I ruin your day. That is the one aspect of life I wish we could all avoid but there it is. How do we deal with it? Some people say to not dwell on the depression and try to turn your negative thoughts into positive ones. That is hard to do sometimes, unless ice cream is involved. Death and depression seem to be inter-related too. Not too many people say, "I heard that Jim just died, isn't that great. I feel so happy!" Usually it is a sad thing that happened to Jim. Depression depends on how severe the bad news is I guess. A little sad depression is like a bump in life. A really bad depression could be sort of a really deep cliff. Hopefully your depression periods are not so bad. If they are I have a hug for you. How do you deal with those depressive times in your life?

May I?

I noticed it was May today. I have not been watching the calender and I have not been blogging, as a matter of fact I have not been doing much but enjoying these beautiful May days. The sunshine has drawn me out and I have been riding my motorcycle, despite those bugs, and the little ice cream shops have reopened. This year I like coffee flavored ice cream for some reason. There is a great iced coffee with a swirl of vanilla ice cream that stands in the middle of this liquid delight. I am on my second buy 10 get one free card. It is nice to stand in line in the sunshine and meet other people that crave the ice cream cone. There were two little children at one spot that also enjoyed the outside coin operated kiddy rides. I smiled because they seemed to enjoy the motorcycle the most and I had arrived riding my little Harley. So what flavor ice cream do you like on these fine May days? Do you like the cones or do you like the milk shakes or sundaes or just any ice cream treat that happens to be your moment of ice cream dream.

Gnat-sty or Nasty

Went for a ride on my motorcycle with my friends today. There must have been a bug hatch or something because we filled our windshields, hair, faces, pants and any other exposed part of our bikes and bodies with gnats. Little black ones. Then the adult bugs started to attach themselves to our windshields too. I noticed other cars using their windshield washers/wipers and it was a clean sunny day with no rain. I wonder what they were cleaning off their windshields? Such are the simple pleasures of spring time Sunday rides.

I got home and washed and debugged my hair and stuff and now I am wallowing in that nice after bath/shower feeling. What did you do today?

Decades Past

I have lived thru a few decades. I was born in the 50's and the music was Elvis and Rock and Roll. Then I experienced the 60's as a teenager and the world was Beatles, and Death of American Hero's. I drifted thru the 70's and marched to military music and danced a few disco nights away. The 80's was my party decade and the 90's my hangover and recovery years. Then the decades became lost and drifted away from me. I watched terrorism seed itself then creep past me. I crossed the universe of my life and worried about how hair spray was good for my hair but troubling in the atmosphere. My life was always underlined by those damn wars. World War I and especially the World of War II. My parents faced a world of destruction and I faced a rebirth of ideas and what shall we do with the freedom just won? Today I enjoy a daughter and grandchildren and wonder how their decades will define them. Some children died in past decades, Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm and we are still left in shock and awe. Now Hillary the hippie, McCain the veteran and segregated Obama have risen up with me in these past decades. They represent my past in three different ways leading to one present road. So then, how did the decades shape you?

Visiting

Sometimes I like to sit down with a nice tea or coffee drink, maybe even a juice or something else. Anyway, I put on some music and just visit other blogs. I like the ones with pictures of nature and those family blogs with funny pictures of children in loving blogger families. I get frustrated when I hit a blog written in another language. I wish I could speak all languages. I seem to get most of them because of that strange universal language which I cannot explain but sometimes understand. What I mean is the pictures always tell a story no matter what the language. I also get opinions and learn a great deal about what people are doing, especially in the art world when pictures and crafts are displayed. So if you get a strange comment from someone named Chumly. It is just me visiting and saying hello.

Dancing

Dancing is a nice thing to do. Holding someone in a snuggly waltz. Prancing around in a Polka or fancy step dance. Even the funny dances they do at weddings can be a parcel of fun. I am not a dancing with the stars watcher. I just like to get out once in awhile and have fun with my feet. I am not the best, nor worst dancer in the world. I will get up and enjoy the moment, the music and the high I get from tripping the light fantastic. I can do other dances too. Like the dance I dance when trying to get out of a bid situation or the bathroom dance when the time and feeling hits. Sometimes my mind is full of dancing thoughts that jitterbug, fox trot and sometimes disco in my thinking self. Ah! The joy of twirling on the dance floor is the cloud nine I enjoy from time to time. Some people are self conscious and will not dance. I think that is a pity. Don't waste the waist of a dancing partner, I say. Sometimes I don't even need a partner and just dance by myself when the mood hits. When was the last time you danced?

Honestly!

What if the world was as honest as our children? What if adults crossed over to adulthood with the inability to be dishonest?

My friends very young granddaughter came to visit him and entered the house by telling us that her armpits smelled. Maybe it was a little too much information for us, but to her it was a very honest and straightforward statement; which was of great concern to her.

As adults we always tell children to be honest and tell the truth, so how could we respond to her honesty? Well, we laughed and acknowledged her concern by giving her comfort that she was still loved, smelly armpits and all.

When did adults stop acknowledging that their armpits were smelly? When does the truth become so dangerous that lying has become a more acceptable port in lifes storms? Politicians lie and we accept it. The ads on TV are so bizarre and fabricated we know they are mostly lies. Yet! We buy the products. Lovers lie about their affairs so much we amuse ourselves by watching soap operas.

I am not trying to change the world just acknowledge that from time to time my armpits smell too! How about yours?

Lotta stuff!

There is so much to write about and I know where to begin. I went out Easter shopping today. I have 3 grandchildren and three other little friends that are grandchildren of my friends. I was going to buy them candy. I went to the candy stores that make homemade candies and had a ball getting all those chocolate rabbits and eggs. When I got home with them I decided that maybe candy was not a good way to go. So I decided to do the right thing and keep the candy. I then went out and got them books and my grandson a game for his Nintendo DS. That was better and healthier. I know I will have to eat that candy myself but I love my grandchildren and don't want them getting bad teeth or getting sick by eating too much candy. It is one of those small sacrifices that grandparents have to make now and then.

When it comes to Easter, if you celebrate it, do you get your children candy or some other gifts in addition to the love and hugs they get around the holidays? If you don't celebrate Easter what spring holiday do you celebrate?

PS: If you need good leather stuff at a pretty good price try motorcycleleather.biz I don't usually write about merchandise but this business went out of it's way to make sure I got good bags for my bike. Thanks Bob

Alien type people from outer space.

I was watching a show on the History Channel about alien people that live in outer space. These people, called "Greys", like to visit us now and then and have a tendency to abduct earthy type people; experiment on them, then give them a tour of their space ship. I guess after a few experiments the least they could do is give a tour of the ship.

Then there was this other scientist that said that these earthy type people were not abducted after all but were suffering from a thing called sleep paralysis. I realized that I myself have had that sleep paralysis stuff happen to me. A few times I was drunk and the paralysis was of the alcohol inducement paralysis type. Then there was the waking up and feeling paralysis not necessarily after a night of drinking but on a real sober next day or middle of the night, feels like an alien is abducting me type of paralysis. This is a feeling like, "Hey, I am wide awake and cannot move, scary type of feeling. I instantly knew I was not being abducted though because after I was fully conscious I did not get a tour of a space ship. So not getting the tour is how I determine if I was abducted or not. How do you seperate your abductions from sleep paralysis?

Story Teller

She has a violin and plays the strings of ones heart to tell the stories involving lifes inhabitants. Animals come alive and brave warriors travel thru the forests while experiencing great adventures. Camp fires blaze away igniting the embers of imagination as wisps of smoke flit and dance thru sky and air.

I have been reading a little book full of American Indian tales. When I do my mind seems to enter this kind of space. This happens when I read. Sometimes the world just seems to melt away and cease to exist and surrender to the words and images my mind creates thanks to a creative author. It always amazes me how enthralled I can become and how time; space are condensed into the creation of a completely made up world thru words. It also amazes me that TV, the Internet, Ipods, radio, and other distractions for the young and old still take a back seat to reading. My grandchildren are always talking about their trips to the library and how much they enjoy discovering wonderful stories that fill the shelves in these buildings. Not only my grandchildren but I sit here and can think of dozens of other children that are experiencing the same feelings that reading can ignite in ones life.

Which leads me to ask you. Have you read any good books lately?

Winter day!

It is snowing. It is sleeting. The participating precipitation is pecking against my window pane. I am in pain. Winter blue pain. Get out the old guitar and strum the long dog winter blue blues. Or I can get a funny book, watch late night with those talk show hosts that spew funny stuff to tickle and make a smile. Then again I could write my little blog and hope to get a visitor with the winter blue blues and maybe I can cheer them up or not. I can just say hey! Hope you are OK, thanks for dropping by and Jesus loves you. Whatever, in case you are not religious, then Fred, Jane or Allen the Alien from Zipuptoplanet2 loves you too! Just kidding and writing nonsense to blow away the blues. What do you do? To turn away a winter day and make your day OK? Sing a song, dance to prance away those sadness days when it is snowing, and sleeting and you and you and you. Deal with those winter solstice blues.

Girl Scout Cookies

I believe that the Girl Scouts put something in those cookies that makes me want more. I bought a box the other day and now I am craving them at 1:00 AM.

I am also having a sleep problem. I could not sleep Sunday night so I went to the Drug Store and bought some sleep enhancers, to enhance my sleep, hence the word enhance and enhancer have enhanced my writings to date. I guess I am not making much sense. I took the pills and was wide awake until 7:00 AM Monday morning. Then I finally fell asleep and woke up 6:15 PM on Monday evening. Which makes me believe the pills worked after all, just a little too late. So now I am sitting here blogging away because I am wide awake and dare not take any more enhancers to enhance what I already enhanced and am back to square one.

My neighbor must have done the same thing. He was cleaning up his room because he enhanced himself with Red Bull, Coffee and a few beers. Then as he was taking out his garbage his cat escaped from his home. The cat was on catnip enhancers and enhanced herself all over the yard. She was finally entrapped and escorted back to her safe cat place in his home.

It was fun to watch. He was barefoot, with only pair of long pajama pants and it was snowing a little. The cold recharged him and I can still hear him cursing the cat and cleaning. Oh well!

What do you do when you cannot sleep?

Birthday stuff.

It was my friends birthday, so we went to dinner. My cousin opened up a good eats place called The Milestone Ranch. It is in Waverly, Pennsylvania and it turned out to be a great place. This cousin is the son of another cousin I have and it was the first time we met. Turns out one of my other friends that came was the cousin of my cousins mother. Man, cousins sprout up more than rabbits sometimes. Anyway. I treated, because these friends of mine stood by me during some bad storms in my life and also on good sunny days. This past summer they got me brand new pipes for my Harley and just gave them to me. No they did not steal them. Well, my friend Dave does tend to look like a homeless person, but believe me he is not. So it was kind of a friend appreciation dinner day for me. It is nice to have family and friends. Hope you do too! I liked this friend appreciation day. What do you think? Should we start a new holiday? I guess it was fun because the lousy winter weather was baiting us to get out and have a good time.

Bring it on!

The Super Bowl is over. My team was not in it, but it was a good game. During the game I thought that a Rugby Super bowl should also be played somewhere.

I love the Super Bowl parties. I was at my Friends house and he and his wife had one of those Hugh TV's that made me feel I was in a movie theater watching the game. We had pizza, iced coffee, and other snacks. Their pet dog ran around and kept jumping on and off our laps for a pet. But, now it is over. Tomorrow we can get back to watching crime on the daily news station. Get taxes ready for April 15th. Maybe do some laundry this week and clean around the house. I will work out at the YMCA and hopefully not get anything stolen while I work out. I leave my stuff in a locker. I lock it but they still stole my coat one year. I can get back to people yelling at me and giving me nasty looks because they do not like the way I drive. I probably will walk around for the rest of the Winter hoping I will not fall on the ice or snow. Lent is coming and I usually give up candy for the duration.

Not much to look forward to after a Super Bowl Game. Sure there is Easter and Spring, but that is not for awhile. Sad when football ends. Here I sit singing the football is over blues again. Sigh.

So what do you do for the rest of the Winter?

Hail Austria

I was bar hopping around the blogs looking for some inspiration and I came across a blog called, "My Everyday Glamor." This person, Chililady, had a little film about a prom and it brought me back about a 1,000 or so years ago when I went to mine. I know there are some out there that did not go to their prom and if you are one of them. Check out that film. I have a feeling the world will be hearing more from this prodigy. The worst thing about my prom was it was a one date thing. I never saw her again but for me I just wanted a night out. In fact I think she moved out of town shortly thereafter, changed her name and gender. Oh well. I tend to inspire my dates.

Open Door Policy

I just watched an independent film called "One Giant Leap." It was a multinational film with people talking about religion, death, sex, and life in general. I had my open door policy going on in my mind and I opened my doors to this film. I then realized that I open many doors in my open door policy thing. I open doors to my friends when they need me or I need them. I open my doors when I want to do new things or open old doors to spend some time with familiar safe things and thoughts I like to do and think. I realized I have a pretty good open door policy. I have to admit that at times I do have a closed door policy. If I am heading into a room with a person I feel uncomfortable with. Door closes. If a situation seems threatening to me. Door Closes. Sometimes though things happen before I can open or close that door. Like an accident on my motorcycle or an argument that takes me by surprise. Then it is like someone or something jams their foot in the door and the door cannot be closed or is forced opened. I like opening my door to hugs, kisses and romance and those nice things in life. I think most everyone does.

What is your open door policy like?

Working Out

Hello! I have been working out a lot of things in my life today. I was working out if I should work out at home or go to the YMCA today. I worked out at home. I got this video from the VA, Veterans Administration, and I finally reached the old old old peoples workout plateau. The Veterans were all over 70 and got to do workouts while sitting down in chairs. We did a lot of stretching and after that we did a lot more stretching. Finally we finished with some stretching exercises and then cooled down by stretching. I think I am a 1/4 of an inch longer since my arms and legs have stretched so.

Then I decided to work out being unable to work. I was thinking of getting an Agent to help me in my writing career, which is not really a career at all, or applying for a unpaid extra in movies and TV. I opted for the unpaid extra and applied at an agency. I want to get out of the house more. I don't know why but I described myself as 55, 280 lbs, with a full head of hair. I am sure that the acting parts will be flooding in.

Finally I worked out if I should have Yogurt or a steak for dinner. I had both.

So what have you been working out in your life?