Full

I just came back from my friends house. They made dinner for me. I had steak and this wonderful concoction of garlic, carrots, peppers and other veggies. Man it was the best dinner I had since, well the last time I visited them. Have you been to a friends house for dinner? I hope you have.

Dinner

Going out with a few friends for dinner tonight. Well actually more than a few. A group of people that graduated with me are getting together. I am really bored and looking for company. We may even go dancing after the dinner. I am not that great a dancer anymore but it is good to get out. Do you get out with friends once in awhile? I hope you do.

New Car

I finally found a good used car. Actually my friend Clinton found it. It is a 2000 Yellow VW Bug. It only has 23000 miles on it and a little scratch on the side. I paid less than $4500 and I am as thrilled as a Jack Rabbit in a Playboy club. I will donate my Chevy Blazer to the Veteran Donate a Car people. It has over 200000 miles on it. The strange part was that the VW was being sold by an 87 year old lady that liked to hit curbs. Any car deals in your future?

Hell Ride

I am looking for a new used car. Nothing special just something to get me to my Dr. appointments and go for an occasional ice cream and BBQ. I found this car on ebay a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am. So I called up the owner and he came over my house to give me a test ride. He took off and was going near and over 100 mph. He went on the local highway and we were going so fast we passed ourselves when we were coming back just like the movie Back to the Future. I feel like I just drank 12 cups of coffee. I did not buy the car, but I do know the brakes work fantastically. Have you been on a test ride in a car you are about to purchase lately?

Gambling

My two sisters like to gamble. One gambles in Atlantic City because she lives in New Jersey and my other sister gambles in Pennsylvania in the new Casinos that have popped up around were we live. Me I am a lottery person. They, my sisters, seem to do pretty good but I am not a big winner. I win enough to keep me playing. Well that is about it. I wrote an email to my daughter and then wrote this because I am pretty bored. I am reading a Kurt Vonnegut book and that helps pass the time also. Do you gamble? I hope you win more than I.

Ground hog.

I ground a groundhog today with my car. I would have missed the furry creature but he did a u-turn and ran under my tire. I felt bad but he must have been a suicidal groundhog to u-turn like that and run under my tire. Critters do that on the roads now and then. The last time that happened to me I was on my motorcycle and a deer did a u-turn on me. I bent my fender a bit and had some deer hair in my headlight. The deer was ok. He ran off into the woods and seemed unhurt. I hit him in the flank part of his body so he might have been a bit sore later on. Animals tend to scare me when stuff like this happens. Have you ever been part of a road kill?

Frozen Watermelon.

Summertime and the weather can be hot, humid and not pretty. I have found a nice treat to cool myself off and quench my thirst. It is called frozen stuff. I like frozen grapes and frozen watermelon. The grapes I leave in the freezer but the watermelon I only put it in the freezer for an hour. That way the watermelon is just frozen enough. So when I put it in my mouth it truly melts into a nice icy treat. What summertime treats do you have?

Aarrgghh twas a good rafting trip.

We had a good day and a good trip on our rafting ship. We were pirates, drifting down the Amazon. We saw eagles, elephants, hippos, and other strange and wondrous wildlife. It was about a 4 hour trip and I enjoyed every second of it. Now I am going to sit back eat some ice cream and dream of the wonderful day experienced by me and my 3 crew members. I hope you can enjoy a day like today and if you already have you know what I am drifting on about.

River Rides

I am going to try something called, "Rafting." I am going on a river in a rubber raft. It is not suppose to be a river with a lot of rapids. It is suppose to be a nice calm river. I am going with other people so I will not be alone in the raft. I have been wanting to do this for awhile and I will have the opportunity tomorrow, or not. It depends if everyone shows up. If not, I will be going for a nice lunch in a restaurant by the river. That I know I can handle. The last time I tried a river trip was in a canoe. I fell out of the canoe and people thought I drowned and they had cops and rangers and helicopters looking for me. I am hoping to avoid that this time. Needless to say I am a little anxious about this trip. So if you don't see me write anymore here then the trip did not go well. I think everything will be OK. Have you ever gone on a river trip?

Coffee

I like coffee. The problem is I drink too much and I get jittery. Today it was about 98 degrees outside and I have been drinking iced coffee all day. Iced coffee I have found gets me as jittery as warm coffee. Yep! I am definitely Jitterizing pretty good. My mind has reached the over 100 thoughts per second speed and I am jumping around like a cricket on a hot plate. Good coffee. There is another side effect that is not so great. Lots of coffee equals a lot of trips to the rest areas in and outside the home. Another bad side effect is that time seems to be standing still but I am anything but still, physically or mentally. I may be repeating my self and that is another effect of my iced coffee consumption. How about you do you have a coffee intolerance or can you drink it and still be stable?

Flushed

I had a problem with my toilet or loo. It kept on flushing and running water. It has been doing this for a month but today it got worse. So I called my handy dandy maintenance team and they came over and fixed it right up. If I had known they would have been that fast I would have called sooner. Maintenance people are cool. Especially for me because I am a bad plumber. I was just amazed on how fast they responded and fixed everything up. So hats off to plumbers day is today.

Hornets

A friend of mine got bit by a hornet. She is OK and recovering nicely from the bite. It reminded me of when I was about 12. My friend and his brother and I went for a walk in the woods. His brother stepped in a hornets nest. Not knowing what to do we let him follow us at 10 or 12 arms length away so the hornets around him would not get us. We walked a few blocks and finally got him home. Opened the door to his kitchen then pushed him in. We called his mother and she was confronted with a son with hornets on him and in his shirt. She screamed. He screamed. We screamed. The hornets screamed and flew all around the kitchen. We felt like hero's we got him, Jimmy, home safely. His mother never saw it that way but she recovered, Jimmy recovered and the hornets flew out the window she opened. Have you ever done a heroic thing for your friends?

Wright, right, wrong.

Sometimes I feel I am right and sometimes I feel I am wrong. Lately I feel I am wrong about everything. I like to be right once in awhile but not when it offends or hurts the other person that has to be right. Right and wrong seems to cause a lot of fights in a relationship, especially marriage. I am single so if I argue a right or wrong issue to myself it does not matter if I win or not. Just so I make sure I do not go to bed mad at myself. I am only writing this now because I need something to do before my show "RESCUE ME" comes on. I like the show because I think we all need rescuing once in awhile. What do you do to fill in the time?

Sleepy

I have been very sleepy lately. I blame it on my air conditioner. It is summer again and the weather is warmer. I put on my little AC unit and seem to drift away. I did get to go to a few car shows. Those old and some of the newer cars are fun to look at. Especially if the trip ends in getting some ice cream. Are you keeping cool this summer?

All fall down.

I did something I have not done in awhile. I fell down. Fell down, scraped my knee, two knuckles on my right hand and ripped my pants. It was a good fall. I was at a gas station and almost fell in front of a car. I had a few witnesses that asked me if I was all right and the car I fell in front of slammed on the brakes and hit his horn. Not really, but I thought I'd throw that in to make it a little more dramatic fall. I did scrape myself as I had mentioned. I was lucky because it usually is a pretty busy gas station and was relieved there was not too many cars filling up with gas. Did you ever have a close call and a fall?

Journey ends.

This chapter of my life is over. I did not get picked for the game show "Millionaire." It was a great day though. I got to use the bus and the bus driver was an excellent help. I saw the actor who plays, "MONK." I was on time for everything and so it was not a rushed day. Did you ever go to NY? How was your day there?

A NY Minute

Tomorrow is my big trip to the Big Apple. I think my trip will go well if I can avoid car bombs, planes, or muggings. Not that NY is that bad but I am not the luckiest of people. I have my bus schedule, tickets, cell phone, directions, cab fare and clean underwear, OK mom. So I think I am ready. What would you bring to NY if you were going to spend a day there?

Prepare.

I really do not know how to prepare for my audition. I have been reading trivia books and playing the online, "Millionaire," game. I also been watching the game on TV to see how everything works. I am beginning to get a little nervous too. Oh well. How would you prepare for this game show?

Now what?

I was watching "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," and they said they were opening auditions. So I sent in my email request to be on the show and believe it or not I got an audition. I have to go to NY, pass a test, then pass an interview and then hopefully if my name is pulled from the pool; I can be on the show! I guess it doesn't hurt to try. I'll keep you informed as much as I can and you can share the journey with me. You ever think of trying out to be on a game show? Try it you never know what will happen next if you do.

Reunion

Went to my 40Th, count em, 40Th class reunion. It had everything a class reunion should have. The high light for me was talking to a guy for 5 minutes thinking he was in my class. Turned out he was there with his wife that graduated with our class. I felt pretty embarrassed so I picked myself up and got in there and talked to another guy in my class. Unfortunately for me he was a twin and I got him mixed up too. Man. I decided it was time to quite trying to converse and just went to the dance floor and danced. I was having a hard time doing that. I have been sober 20 years and it did something to my dancing skills. So I decided to just sit it out and talk to Charlie's wife who was from one of the Asian countries and only talked broken English in a very very low voice. It was the best conversation I had all night. Oh well. How was your class reunion?

Oil

Oil oil everywhere but not a drop of fresh water to drink. I was hoping not to comment on the oil in the Gulf but how can I not. I mean...................................
wait a minute. That guy was out on first base. What the heck kind of call was that.
Is America fickle or what? What? What?

Good friends.

I had a good friend day today. My one friend invited me over for leftovers after the Memorial Day Cookout. The food was great the second time around and man did I fill up. My other friend inspected my car and gave me new break pads because I bought him lunch a few times. I got to pet my friends dogs and had a ball playing with them. It was a good friend day. Have you good friends you spend time with? I hope you do because they are special people. Maybe that is why we call them friends.

Aquaman

I had a great time swimming today. I was doing the backstroke and really got into it. I could see out the windows and the day was beautiful and I could even see the sky and some clouds. I was floating along so nice it was almost like flying. The water was perfect; just the right temperature. I began daydreaming good thoughts and was going a nice pace while doing this backstroke. I was at the zenith of my pleasure when wham. I hit the end of the pool with my head. It seems that the pool is only so long. Lucky I did not break or crack my head but only stunned myself because I was not really thinking about the pool ending. I realized doing the backstroke could be dangerous. How about you when you swim what is your favorite stroke? Did you ever get carried away and hit your head?

Changing winds.

It seems there is a lot of change taking place in the political world. Tea Party wins and Specter vanishing away. Change happens from time to time in history. Sometimes it is good like the American Revolution. Sometimes it could lead to disaster like the Nazi Party. Whatever, change does happen. What changes would you like to experience in your lifetime? What changes would you wish will not happen in your lifetime?

Pass the word.

Passwords drive me crazy. I have tons of them because I do tons of things on the Internet. I buy things, sell things, write about things, read about things and I thing things. OK that may not make sense but I use a lot of passwords. I have that auto-fill but it doesn't always work. Just too many passwords out there. How many passwords do you have and how do you remember them?

Old Records on the Shelf.

I am in the mood to slide across a waxed wooden floor in my stocking feet. I did not really care for that movie that Tom Cruise was in but I do like to slide across the floor once in awhile. That's about it. Plus the fact that I haven't written anything in awhile and I wanted to do that too. Do you ever get in the mood to slide across a floor?

Middle of the Night Blues

It is about 1 AM and I can hear my neighbors having an argument. I think it is funny because they are both kind of old and the lady has a Monty Python type of voice. You know that high pitched voice that the Monty Python fellows used when they imitated womankind. The argument has to something to do about a female dog and the lady wanted to know why the man brought it to her attention. She keeps referring to the dog and he is coughing a lot. It seems like a short argument. It lasted about as long as it took me to write this stuff down. All is pretty quiet now so I think I will try to go back to sleep. I hope they are all right and that they came to terms with that female dog they had argued about. How are your neighbors?

Call Waiting

I am waiting for a phone call. The person said that they would call back. It never happened. So I am a little sad. The person that was to call me will never know if I am sad, happy, or content that the call they were suppose to make to me happened or did not happen. That is the way it is sometimes. Someone will say to you they will call and they do not. It is a wave that comes over you but there is no sound to it. The call was about something I am selling but no one is buying, at least not today. I am listening to mellow music and my mood is like that silent wave. It comes and flows and if the person that is suppose to call me calls now it will ruin my mood. So it is good they do not call. I am left with this wonderful imaginative ocean and waves that are calming me. How do you deal with a phone that calls you or not?

Going Going Gone

I sold my Harley. It rained all day even though the sun was out. I hated to do it but after a winter of thought I decided the pros outweighted the cons and therefore made my decision to sell. I will miss the rides with my friends and the breakfasts we had toghether. I don't think my one friends will be sad he won't be fixing my bike all the time. I appreciated all the work he did on my bike. In fact I have this feeling he is part owner he put so much work into it. I do realize though that a bike is more than just a ride. It pulls together people and gets them to share their lives here on this old dirt planet. I therefore will cherish those times I had but must move on to the times I will have in the future. True I will not be riding but I can still hang around and probably be the same old pain in the butt I usually am. Some things will never change. Will I ever ride again? My body tells me not in the near future. Unless I buy a Smart Car or one seater quad. Oh well! Have you made any major changes in your life? Hope your decision goes well for you and may we both move on.

4AM

It is four in the morning. I have a head cold and cannot sleep. So I felt like a little writing might help. Unfortunately I am drawing a blank. Chocolate is sounding good and it is after Easter so I have lots of it. (Sigh) After some thought chocolate it is. You ever have a restless night? I hope they are few and far between for you, unless you have a lot of chocolate too.

Holiday Greetings.

As my father would say, "Don't Passover Easter." He was not a great comedy person but he meant well. So have a great Holiday everyone no matter what you are celebrating. Oh yeah. No chocolate crosses, they give me the creeps. Chocolate bunnies OK.

Southern Smiles

My daughter lives in North Carolina and she went to the local Home Depot to see if she could rent a rug cleaner. Seems her son spilled some stuff on her rug and she decided it was time to clean all the rugs during her Spring Cleaning. She wanted something good because they have 4 children, two dogs and two cats. So she explained this to the Home Depot person and he told her of a great rug cleaner he had. He said, "I got a dandy rug cleaner. I went to the junk yard to get a new seat for my car. I found one that had grease on it and blood from the guy bleeding out from the shootout. It took the blood and grease right out." The salesman was pretty excited that it took out that blood and grease. So my daughter decided that that is the rug cleaner for her. She said you only might hear stories like this down South but how else would you know how good the rug cleaner is. That rug cleaner sounded pretty good. What kind of rug cleaner would you use?

The Leg.

I am helping with our 40Th class reunion and came across Walter. He recently lost his leg because of an infection that happened after an operation he had to go through. He was a star athlete in High School. When I first talked to him he was a little down. So I asked him if I could keep "in touch" and call him from time to time. He seemed to like that idea. I called him today and he was in a great mood. Seems he talked to his old coach and his old team was remembered in a recent article in the local newspaper. I felt great after the phone call because his happiness was infectious and uplifting. Sometimes it is good to keep "in touch". Plus I realized a true coach keeps on coaching years after his team graduates. That is pretty special.

Rah Rah Rah!!!

I am not sure how I did it but I am getting a Cheerleading magazine delivered right to my mailbox. I also ended up getting a service for $25 a month attached to my phone bill. The magazine turned out to be free for 12 months and the $25 fee for a shopping club has been removed from my phone bill. I have to be more careful when I reply to junk email I get or pop ups when I am fooling around on the Internet. I know I can block the pop ups but once in a great while I let them filter Thur. I do mess around with a free stuff on line I visit once in awhile so that might explain the Cheerleading Magazine. That must have been one of those days my back was in a lot of pain and I was using those stupid pain killers. Those pain killers do strange things to me so I try to avoid them except in extreme pain days. Oh well! How are you with pop ups and free stuff on the Internet? I hope you a little wiser then I. Anyway have a hug.

PSP

I bought a PlayStation Portable to help me get through the winter blahs. Well I had it for about a month and it broke already. I am the opposite of Fonzie. He use to just whack the jukebox and fix it. I look at it and it breaks. So far this year I broke a computer, a copy machine and now the PSP. I give up. Do you fix or break things?

email

My friend cheers me up by sending me these funny emails. I look forward to them because they always make me laugh. It is good to have emails being sent to you. My sisters are good email people and it helps keep the family informed. My daughter is good even though she is a full time school teacher and raising four wonderful grandchildren. Unfortunately my nephews wife needs a new kidney. She had a transplant 10 years ago and needs a new one. Makes one think. Please keep her in your prayers her name is Eileen. Do you get a lot of emails?

Olympics

Everybody is complaining about snow but the Olympic athletes. We see snow and think of snow shovels. They see snow as a challenge and medals. I like most of the sports but those pretty girls ice skating are the best. The snow boarding was pretty exciting; for some reason I got into that this year. Watching the Olympics and all the countries being together is pretty awesome to me especially because of the wars we are in. I hope someday all that will end and all the countries will be in the Olympics and peace will reign. Sigh! Anyway what is your favorite Winter Olympic Sport?

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?