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?