Musings

Lets Talk Trash

2012-01-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

As we pulled off I-75 today we were behind a very large garbage truck, the ones that empty large trash cans with a mechanical assist. On the back of the truck was the Company's motto: "Lets talk trash". What an appropriate and comical way to advertise, I thought.

These specialized trucks are able to carry a great load of trash because they are able to compact it before a trip to the dump. Further, it is a two man operation, one driver and one loader with the driver helping out from time-to-time.

Abut five years ago, in GCS, it was common to see two loaders and one driver. The loaders ran from one house to the other while the truck rarely stopped. My belief then was that the truck was more efficient (getting to more houses in the least possible time) and there was a cost saving. Recently, in GCS the truck was using only one loader because the trip to a dump was increased to a much further destination. It now made sense to me that three people taking the ride was more expensive than two people riding, even if it did take longer to fully load the truck.

In a book I read some time ago, a statement was made that all civilizations have been bothered with what to do with the produced trash. Our dumps are monitored, are scientifically engineered, and eventually closed. Even then, there is still monitoring for contents of leaking fluids, especially if anywhere near ground water. We see the small mountains from the road, nicely shaped and well manicured. If it is still operational the flocks of birds let us know.

As a civilization, we still need to resolve what to do about our nuclear trash.

Smells

2012-01-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

During the "Laverne and Shirley Show", Shirley received a bouquet of fresh flowers. She thanked the giver with: "Oh thank you so much they smell just wonderful...like air freshener." The fragrance industry has made great strides with their offerings of perfume, home fragrance, auto fragrance, soaps, lotions, hair spray, even bug spray. Some of them I like a great deal and they are like a breath of fresh air...so to speak.

Some stores have a unique smell and I just love Bed, Bath & Beyond. Yankee Candle is another favorite as are: Kirkland's and Bath & Body. Today, Pat and I walked through each and it was a pleasure. When I told her my feelings about these stores and how each has a distinct smell, she agreed and said other stores have distinct smells. After a while I inquired which ones? She said Pet Smart and offered to immediately go there to get that experience, I declined.

However, there are some fragrances that I detest. Eucalyptus for example is offensive, and the Yankee Candle "Christmas" is just bad. Working with plastics, I enjoyed the sweet smells of polyethylene and polypropylene, but, Celcon was offensive and gave me a headache.

As a kid my favorite store was Western Auto. I would tour the U shaped isle each time I passed the store. That rubber smell of tires was enough to swoon for and it is not present in the auto stores of today. Auto stores should make every effort to get that "new car smell."

Gun Purchases

2012-01-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

For those who may not know, last year gun purchases went up much higher than previous years. Why was that? The government has signaled that they are anti-gun and do what they can to discourage gun ownership. Exactly why does this government lean toward restriction of gun ownership? And, does that restriction drive up gun sales?

To truly understand what is happening it is necessary to have a good understanding of the history of the 20th Century. During the 20th Century we were able to see what happens to a disarmed citizenry. Russia passed a law making it a crime to own a gun, guns were subsequently turned in to the authorities. Shortly after that millions of citizens were exterminated. Mussolini had a similar law passed in Italy and the Fascists took over the government. Hitler had a similar law passed in Germany, again, millions of citizens were exterminated. China passed the same laws and millions of Chineese were exterminated. Cambodia did the same, North Vietnam did the same for South Vietnam and people were rounded up for re-education camps in which it was necessary to learn that the State controlled everything and religion was worthless, or else. Castro outlawed guns and turned Cuba into a communist state, many died. Hugo Chavez has outlawed guns in Venezuela to ensure there is no threat to his regime. Everywhere the Socialists and Communists take power they move to outlaw guns.

Not everyone reads or understands history. Those who do read and understand apply the lessons they learned from it. The citizenry is in peril if it disarms. Those who read the writing on the wall are the ones buying guns, along with as much ammunition as they can get. Yes, ammunition is scarce.

I have never owned a gun and do not plan to do so. However, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 as "no interest" and 10 as "I am buying one" I have moved up to about a 3.

Queuing Up

2011-12-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

The concept of queuing, in our society, is taught early in elementary schools. If you walk into an elementary school during class changes you will see long lines of children all in rows. Teachers teach them to keep a line "tight" and the times a gap opens up the other children are quick to tell them to move forward. It is the same in the military, lines for everything: eating, classes, rifle range, swimming, fighting, etc.This queuing behavior is pervasive in our interactions with others.

The best examples of our adherence to queuing rules is while driving. Our roads are marked with lanes in which drivers attempt to stay. The concept of "folding" is well followed when two lines must become one, each car taking their turn during the melding into one line.

The worst examples are seen when a person attempts to jump a line, or when a person cuts a line. When this happens many people are outraged and stressed because the rules have been ignored. A special case of this behavior is during rush hour when all lanes are tight. If a person attempts to keep too great a distance from the preceding car another car will pull into that gap. A mature driver does not consider this reprehensible because there are times when they have done the same thing, lines should be kept tight.

QUEUING PATHOLOGIES

1. Upon entering a fast food restaraunt with people looking up at the wall menu, there is no apparent line to get into. Further, you do not know the order in which people arrived. In short, you do not know where you stand. The situation is in disorder. I have been known to announce, in a loud voice: "Who am I behind?"

2. Checkout lines in the supermarket are troublesome. How much space is given to the person in front of you, how much space do you need behind you. If your cart bumps the ankle of the person in front that has obviously been too close. If you get an ankle bump then the "sufficient gap" rule has obviously been violated, I remember how offended I felt when a male in front of me put his hand on my cart to ensure what he perceived as a proper space. How dare he! I felt a mild violation on my person.

3. The meat counter at a supermarket attempts to bring order by using a numbered tag system. This works well when only a few persons are there. When many are waiting some people wander away to shop instead of having dead space in shopping. Invariably, a person comes up that has missed their turn and here is where stress builds up. If that person gets waited on next there is the appearance of line jumping. The proper thing to do is get another ticket and wait some more.

4. Bathrooms do not appear to be a male problem but females are often queuing for the opportunity to relive themselves. I am skating on thin ice here so cut me some slack. If a person comes up and begs someone to let her in because of extreme distress, and a loving heart lets her in, it this true line jumping? Is empathy universal in the line? Does the situation cause grumbling in the line?

Perhaps we all need a class that will advise us on proper etiquette for these life situations.

George Walker

2011-12-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

George was the Chief Stylist for the Ford Motor Company in the late 1950's. He presided over the very large, curved building known as The Ford Styling Studios. He had an article written abut him in Time Magazine in which he was drubbed the Celini of Chrome. He drove an all white Lincoln convertible, white paint, white leather, white instrument panel, white sidewall tires. He had an all white, large dog which he ferried around in the front seat. He liked attention. He looked like Santa Claus without the beard and white hair. His face was ruddy and his belly did shake like jelly. He was fond of walking down the very wide center isle in the Styling Building and greeting everybody that he passed by. His greeting was mostly the same: "Hi,ya fella" and he would extend his hand for a handshake. His smile was infectious and everyone around him usually was smiling. Everybody in that building knew him and his penchant for shaking hands.

One day, while walking with another designer, we were closing in on George coming our way. After shaking hands my partner said to George: "How about buying us a drink." I could not believe he said that and found it an imposition on him. However, George quickly put his hand in his pocket while saying: "of course, take what you need." My partner took some coins out of his hand and George offered it to me. At this point I looked into George's hand. It was puffy with fat fingers and it held many coins of all denominations, including a St. Christopher medal. As I reached into his hand a strange feeling came over me. I felt like a beggar with shabby clothes and appearing hungry. I remember thinking: "Why am I doing this, I can buy my own drink." It felt like I was grovelling for his largess. I played the part of the good employee, took out some coins and thanked him. He was soon on his down the isle.

I never forgot that feeling. It was not the first time that I reached into a persons hand for a coin because it happened often when selling papers on the corner of Lawndale and Vernor. But this was significantly different from the transaction of getting money for a paper while giving the paper in return. This was downright demeaning and I was shamed by doing it. I resolved then to never put myself in that kind of position again.

The Roof

2011-12-07T03:28:00.000-08:00

A tip of my hat to Kathy who understands only too well what I went through.

The real estate agent told me the roof would be a problem because it was 20 years old. I did not want to replace it because two estimates were in excess of $12,000. Two roofers had told me that the roof had another two to five years in it. I had made repairs a few times and that was what I wanted to believe. The agent explained that any FHA mortgage would require a new roof, our only hope was a cash deal. OK with me, lets do a cash deal. Only those buyers are hard to come by.

Over the years the price of the house kept being lowered, following just slightly more than maret value. When a buyer was found he insisted on a home inspection. Of course the inspector found some defects in the roof but they could all be easily fixed. The costs for a fix would be about $1,500. However, the buyer insisted on a new roof before he would buy. Auurrgg!! A potential $12,000 cost that would not be recovered, an additional out of pocket expense. I was told about an over-roof that would be less expensive (shingle over shingle) and got the buyer to agree to this. Further, the mortgage companies recognized this as a new roof. I could save myself $5,000 going this route. Yep, this is for me.

Two roofers said they would not do it. "It does not look good." they explained. I found a roofer that would do the job for $6,400 and engaged him. The buyer wanted to move in on November 29 and we had plenty of time. The roofer, Emmitt, said he had a job to finish before he could start. When he was ready, I showed him the inspectors report and he said he had to look at the roof once more. That additional look cost an additional $750 because of some wood rot. Rain coused a delay, Getting a permit pulled caused a delay. His workers doing another job caused a delay. The slack was gone, the roof had to go on now!

He started on November 26 and said it would be done on the 29th. Some rain caused a half-day loss. The 29th came and the roof was not finished. Pat and I moved to Georgia on the 29th. My agent got a new close date, December 3, and Emmitt continued to work on the house. He found additional wood rot and increased the price an additional $150 to do it. A building inspector (hired by the buyer) found spots where water would pool, Emmitt was notified. When he finished the roof I reminded him that his contract called for gutters to be cleaned, realigned, and all leaks fixed. December 3 came and went, Emmitt was still working. We did close on December 6 and the City inspector had not yet approved the new roof. Well, it is now up to the new owners to get all the nitty-gritty done. Emmitt got his $7,300 which was $900 more than his original estimate.

Another success for personal destruction

2011-12-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

On November 8, I wrote about the politics of personal destruction. Today, another target for personal destruction was achieved by the democrats. Herman Cain, like Sarah Palin, was attacked by lies and smears. Once the attack starts there is no relenting, if one lie does not work another is tried until the person is worn down. The idea is, when multiple lies are repeated over and over again the people lose confidence and become uncertain. This uncertainty tends to dry the flow of money into the campaign. A candidate is forced to cut back on expenditures and the campaign slows to a halt.

Herman Cain is a good, decent man, a strong conservative, and is good for this Country. He believes in smaller government and this makes him a threat to liberals. With this success the liberals will focus on another target. Watch for it.

Staged Accidents

2011-11-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

Florida has an epidemic of staged accidents that take advantage of insurance companies lose rules. As a result insurance rates for Florida drivers are increasing alarmingly. It is happening in all large metropolitan areas in the State. Why is this happening?

The desire to get something for nothing seems to be sweeping over this State. Of course, the OWS people are marching also for this same thing - getting something which was not personally earned. Why is this such a pervasive movement now in our society? Every right thinking person knows that it is necessary to earn ones sustenance and works to obtain it. Yet, there appears to be a growing number of people that do not agree with working for their daily bread. Years ago Christian principles were taught and learned so that society had many, many people that were self regulating. What has happened to all those people during these times?

The Tenth Commandment appears to be unknown to a greater percentage of our population. Unknown and unsought as a means of improving our society. Thomas Jefferson, after being president, worried about this condition developing in the people and warned against it.

Our State legislature must now come up with laws that will diminish the amount of staged accidents. The something for nothing crowd is fighting against these changes. Yet, if we cannot control ourselves, the State must come in and do for us what the people used to do honorably.

Solyndra

2011-11-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

The Solindra problem the democrats now have exposes the lie that the government is capable of running businesses. True capitalists would not touch this Company because the risks were not acceptable. A capitalist looks at the facts to ascertain whether to put money into a project. A bureaucrat looks at a policy (green jobs) to ascertain the disbursement of funds. Even when advised by risk capitalists not to spend the money, the policy overrides and money is spent.

Another reason government cannot run corporations is that cronies are listened to, and the cronies carry a lot of weight because they contribute money to campaigns. There are sometimes cronies in private companies but they must deliver or else the company goes bankrupt. The real world is dominant in private companies and when somebody makes a major mistake he is fired. When the government operative makes a major mistake he is transferred, never fired, certainly he never resigns. His mistake is miraculously turned into a resume enhancement. He lives to screw-up again.

The head of the Department Of Energy, Mr Chu, now says he regrets giving 500 million to Solindra. He does not go to jail for handling the public's money so cavalierly, mentions nothing about resigning, but puts up his head and proceeds to his next task. Private capitalism is far better than government for running corporations.

Mississippi Turns Republican

2011-11-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

As a citizen of Mississippi for five years, I am amazed at the change in the State's politics. When I left the State in 1995 it was very solidly democrat. Blacks voted democrat in spite of the abuse they received from the whites in power. All the while I was there blacks were increasingly gaining victories in businesses, education, courts, police forces, prison guards, and elective offices. They were doing this through the democrat party. The governor at that time was Maybus, a white, who was at that time pushing for black inclusion into full participation in all State affairs. More than once I heard whites state "save us from Maybus."

It has been 16 years since I left and now they have elected republicans as the majority in their legislatures. How did this happen? Did the blacks turn into republicans? Did the whites turn into republicans? The State has not been republican since the end of the Civil War, during reconstruction. At that time, a black republican (supported by the residual, republican Lincoln administration and the desire of Johnson, the new President, to punish the white southerners) served in the US Senate. Eventually the democrat whites regained political power and passed laws that held down black voting.

I would like to see a story written on how this transformation from a democrat polity to a republican polity was accomplished. Somebody did a lot of work.

Politics of Personal Destruction

2011-11-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

Sexual misconduct claims are raining heavily on Herman Cain, five in just a few days. I am reminded of a football game (this really happened) where a team near the end of the game, and requiring just a little more time, had three of it's players on the ground with an injury. Time is called when an injury if discovered and these players had all determined to do what was necessary to get that extra time. The democrat party , alarmed at how well Cain is doing, has decided to go after him with all guns firing, just as they did with Sarah Palin.

Make no mistake, this is something that is regularly done in the democrat party. It was done to all the claimants against Bill Clinton. The main-stream-media, at that time, gave all the health and comfort to their champion needed to survive accusations against him. The women charging Clinton were vilified through the politics of personal destruction. It was done to Judge Bork and to Justice Thomas when they were nominated to the Supreme Court. They succeeded with Bork and almost succeeded with Anita Hill claiming sexual harassment against Thomas.

We shall see how Cain holds up against the attack dogs, and more importantly, how well the republican voters can ascertain the truth about these allegations.

Catholic Liturgy Is Changing

2011-11-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

It has been almost 50 years since the last, large liturgical change for Catholics. That was when the Mass, said in Latin,was changed to the language of the parishioners. Also, the priest turned to face the people instead of having his back to the congregation. The "Kiss Of Peace" was introduced and it became a great point of contention. I recall one parishioner calling out, while leaving the Church in a huff: "When I want to hold hands with someone I will go to the movies."

The changes now being installed are minor (at least to me) and should not cause the same kind of disruption it did back in the 60's. For the main part, the prayers are being changed to more accurately reflect the Latin from back in the third and sixth centuries. Even the words for the Elevation are slightly altered. The word "chalice" is substituted for "cup" and the words "....shall be shed for all," will now change to "....shall be shed for many." For the last few weeks the priest has been reading to the congregation some minor changes in the words of some prayers. I have not noticed any objections to any announced change. Perhaps there will be an uproar after the changes start being used in the next few weeks.

Entreprananural Fatigue

2011-10-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

While conversing with the owner of the McDonald's I frequent, he revealed he used to own eight McDonald's stores but was now down to one. He said he sold the others because he could no longer stand the business climate in Jacksonville. (His other seven stores were in Jacksonville proper.) I was surprised at this and asked exactly why he got rid of them. He said it was the people that the stores served, they did not respect his property, they stole food and drinks, they left the tables dirty all the time, spilled drinks on the floor, emptied napkin holders and were very demanding and abusive to the help.

The available help in those areas required excessive training and retraining. They would give food and drinks away to their friends. Often he was short handed because the help would not report to work every scheduled day. The workforce was constantly changing and there were always trainees serving customers. Equipment was not maintained as required and when it was the work was shoddy.

Gangs were set up in the parking lot and there were always trouble makers around the cars. It was difficult to get employees to go out into the lot to clean it up, they were frightened. He would go into the lot to clean it up and was never bothered. But his employees were harassed when they went out. He said he could not personally spend all his time cleaning his lots.

He is very happy with his decision to only own the one store in Green Cove Springs. I commented that we have our share of blacks in this store and, to my way of thinking, they are unruly. He just smiled and said it is a whole different culture here in Green Cove Springs.

Upward Mobility

2011-10-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

For the most part, people understand that it is necessary to start at the bottom when entering the work force. It goes without saying that that is the level in which the lowest remuneration is to be had. As the trainee becomes more knowledgeable, adept, productive he becomes more valuable either to his present employer or another potential employer. This enables the employer to increase the amount paid or the benefits awarded. The progress is from trainee, to competence, to superior ability. It is expected that employees will progress in this manner.

When such progress is not achieved it is often times the individuals fault through the following: lack of interest. lack of application, lack of understanding, poor work habits, or unsuitability for the work, inability to do the work at the next level. It can also be the company's fault through: stagnation, lack of growth, lack of innovation, inability to compete, failure to automate, failure to understand the market. In such a case it is necessary to leave such a company in order to continue rising.

Obtaining an education enabled people to start at a higher position with slightly higher pay. This person was more valuable to an organization. Early on a high school diploma was sufficient but was sometimes superseded by a college degree. The more you know, the better the job and the better the pay.

The minimum wage law has had an important effect on upward mobility at the low end. Where a person could be hired for very little and tolerated for not producing much until skills could be developed, which enabled the earning of a higher wage. Now the wage is so high that a person must be productive very early on or the business can be put in distress. Hiring now is similar to the biblical saying: "Many are called but few are chosen." It is the low level jobs that have a high turnover. This is why there are not as many low level jobs as there used to be.

Today, there is a problem because so many of our young people have been told that they are special and the world should yield to their desires. Many want to start at the top because that is where they feel they should be. It is cruel to keep them ignorant of the real world.

Romney RINO

2011-10-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Republican candidates for president are all good but one thing stands out in the field. Romney is not a conservative even though he has many talents for governing. His leadership stand in Massachusetts for Romneycare screams out that he is a large government guy. He worked hand in glove with liberal Democrats to craft that piece of legislation. The main stream media is constantly telling us that he is the one that should be chosen. Just as they chose McCain in the last election, they seek to choose Romney for us in this election.

He also believes in man-made global warming. The danger here is that, followed to its logical conclusion, it can be ruinous trying to take action on reducing man's effects on climate. This says nothing of his inability to see the whole hoax about global warming and the efforts that were made to show proof of global warming. This means he cannot yet see the attempt made by United Nations to control this complete issue and bring all other countries under the laws of the United Nations, including taxation.

His state, Massachusetts, is starting to reel under the costs of Romneycare, yet, he continues to defend that program. It is troubling that such a good manager will not admit that there are flaws in the program.

The main stream media are already trying to influence each debate and will continue with each primary. They point out that Romney's record is far and away the best of the candidates. Also, he has executive experience gained as a state Governor. This is said as if nobody in the field of candidates can come close to being as acceptable.

Conservatives have cause to be wary. They fooled us with McCain last time but it will be hard to fool us again.

House Slippers

2011-10-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is there a direct link from the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd to the statement Obama made to the Congressional Black Caucus: "Get out of your house slippers and put on your marching shoes." Shortly after he had made that statement the occupation began.

Now the usual suspects are joining in: SEIU, the Teachers Unions, AFL-CIO. When the unions get in their demonstrators are usually paid. That they want to be recognized as being similar to the Tea Parties is absurd. Tea Party people did not make a nuisance of themselves, obeyed all laws, respected public and private property, respected the police and went home after their lawful protest.

That they are trying to duplicate "Arab Spring" is surprising because those demonstrations ending up very violent. Also, they were trying to depose their tyrants. Here, we do indeed have a tyrant in training and he is doing his community organizing best fulfill his destiny.

Atlanta Braves

2011-10-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

I have seen many of the baseball games played by the Braves this season. They mostly were exciting games, many of them were won by only one run and some were lost by one run. It was amazing to see many of the games won in the last inning with two outs. It is called a walkoff-win and when witnessed at a night game it makes going to bed late entirely worthwhile.

The team did astonishingly poorly during the month of September. The hitting stars forgot how to hit, the starting pitchers could not last more than five innings. We were all pleased when a starting pitcher lasted into the sixth inning and the bullpen of: O' Flarity, Venters and Kimbrel were called to finish the remaining innings. It meant the the opposing team would not get any runs during the last three innings. But in September the opposing teams got their runs during the first six innings and our hitters did not do their job.

It was heartbreaking to see the Braves win only one of their last ten games. In the middle of September it appeared the Braves would easily win a Wild Card slot. But we watched as the wheels came off the wagon and winning became a thing of the past. The last series of games were against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Braves needed only one win out of the last three games to be played - they lost them all.

Coattails

2011-09-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

At every presidential election politicians are concerned about the coattails of their presidential candidate. It is a fact that if a president wins by a large plurality, in many of the districts the congressman running in that election will get extra votes from the fact that people will vote a straight ticket. Another way to look at it, a presidential election draws more voters to it. A strong presidential candidate will help to get more votes for a congressman or senator.

We recently had two elections (New York and Nevada) that went to Republicans. There were no presidential candidates on these ballots. The contests were decided on what those candidates stood for and how well they got their message out to the voters. Moreover, these districts had previously been won by a Democrat. This may be a bellwether on the next presidential election.

Obama has a declining approval rate, at present it is well under fifty percent. If it stays there, or goes any lower, the odds are that he will lose the election. If he loses the election the question becomes, how large are his coattails? If they are large, many Democrat congressmen and senators are in danger of losing their elections.

Democrat realists are already determining what what will happen in the upcoming presidential election. Some are quite worried that Obama is doing nothing to improve the economy, just making it worse. They are concerned that the Obama name on the ticket cannot help them. This is particularly true in swing districts and swing states.

The Obama machine just continues to put out more of the same and it is not enough to improve the economy. That is why Hillary is becoming more important to Democrats, and why we are hearing more about her at this time. Liberals want to win the next election and will do whatever it takes to win. They have made fantastic strides in their agenda under Obama. However, politics is politics, and liberals may decide that Obama cannot win (putting their control of the senate in jeopardy) then it is time to get a candidate that can win. We will be hearing more about Hillary as we get closer to the election.

Bonhoeffer II

2011-09-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Other interesting things I learned in reading the book Bonhoeffer. The Lutheran Church in Germany was State sponsored. Church ministers get a stipend from the State. When Hitler came into power he appointed as Dr. Muller as Reichbishop. Muller took the oath to be subservient to him and wanted all Lutheran ministers to take that same oath stating loyalty to the Reichfuhrer. Hitler wanted the Church to be supportive of his treatment of the Jews. Dr. Muller did support Hitler and encouraged all ministers to preach against the Jews.

Bonhoeffer realized that the Christan message was being ignored by Reichbishop Muller and started a movement called the "Confessing Church". This group was confessing that Jesus Christ was paramount in their lives and would teach about Jesus instead of the glories of the Third Reich. Only about 20% of Germans went to Church so Hitler was not greatly concerned except that he was irritated that everyone did not accept him. When Hitler began to exterminate the infirm, imbeciles, cripples and deformed there were more ministers that joined the Confessing Church. Even more joined after "Crystal Night" in which the Nazis broke store windows and beat-up Jews that resisted in any way. It was Muller's task to keep these ministers in line and not directly oppose the Reichfuhrer. Muller attempted to get all minister to sign a solemn oath to Hitler. Any new ministers were absolutely required to take this oath or ordination would be refused.

At first, Muller would send representatives to the churches to ensure the preaching was proper. Later it was the SS that monitored the sermons. Any sermon that went counter to Hitler's speeches was cause for being sent to a concentration camp.

Abortion was forbidden (a crime against the State) to all Aryan women. Abortion. was encouraged for Jews as was sterilization. If a Jew had sexual relations with an Aryan woman he was subject to prison and even the death penalty.

Children in school were encouraged by their teachers to tell about any activity in the home that went contrary to the teaching of the Reichfuhrer. Praise was given to any child that turned in their parents. This caused parents to be very cautious in what they said in the home.

Jobs

2011-09-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

Young black people in the inner cities have a 50% unemployment rate. This is weighing upon those in the Congressional Black Caucus and they accuse Obama of not responding to the needs of the black communities. This is Obama's great challenge and I am sure he suffers personally as he ponders: "What can I do to get all those unemployed kids to work?" "How can it ever be done?" The Congressional Black Caucus should realize that there is nothing the President can do to put them all to work. They place their trust in the wrong place to get jobs.

Unemployment is the default condition of all mankind. Nobody hiring? Default to unemployment, start searching for another job. Graduate from college and no jobs available, default to unemployment. Lose a job due to your company's loss of work, your not getting to work on time, your not following the company rules, your company moving to another location; default to unemployment. If working is dependent on the weather and there is flood, lack of rain, excessive cold, excessive heat: default to unemployment.

It takes money to hire somebody. It would be a remarkable condition for a poor person to hire another. The up coming payday may require some real talking and flim-flaming and how long would that condition last. Not every person with money has the inclination to hire somebody. They may not have the entrepreneurial spirit, or an idea that can be productive, or the building, or the land, or the knowledge, or the health.

Yet, today, there are entrepreneurs that do have money and are willing to invest. Suppose we could find one-hundred of these peculiar people that already have an idea, a product, enthusiasm, a can-do spirit. Suppose also that, as a group, they can locate anyplace in this country that they want. What are the chances that they could be persuaded to locate to an inner-city neighborhood so that inner-city youth can get jobs?

Can you see the problem here? It takes a very robust economy to discover the work force available in the inner-cities and to take advantage of that workforce. It does not help if that workforce has unrealistic ideas about the worth of their labor, or the desire of benefits, or limitations on hours of work, or air conditioned work space, or proximity to home, or (dare I say it) a chip on their shoulder against working at all. For many, the government for their whole lives, has provided their basic necessities. This is one of the major failures of "The Great Society" proposed by President Johnson.

Our hearts ache for those persons that are caught in that culture.

Overtime

2011-09-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

When I worked at Ford as an Automotive Body Designer, there was a period where designers were leaving to go to General Motors. The reason for their leaving was that GM had embarked on an overtime program. They left Ford, working forty hours per week, to go to GM to work fifty-eight hours per week. Of great significance is the fact that the additional eighteen hours were rated at time-and-a-half. GM was very picky and hired only the very best designers.

When I worked at Interlock we had periods when overtime was required. The larger part of our workforce desired overtime. The smaller group were those that had children or relatives to care for and just could not manage it. While many times we needed all the workforce to work, we were tolerant and understanding when some could not make it. Sometimes an injection molding machine would be shutdown for a Saturday. Our overtime was always Saturday work because the plant worked around the clock.

When I was at United Technologies the overtime was controlled by union rules. This plant also worked around the clock. So, when overtime was necessary, the people with the most seniority had first call on it. It was necessary for the supervisor to have a seniority list and go down the list to see who wanted to work. If a person was asked by a jump in the list then all persons before that jump had to be paid for that day. This was watched very closely by the union and employees began to believe it was the union that was getting them overtime rather than the company. They were overjoyed when they received pay for a day they did not work.

At FCI, a French company with no union, we had people that hungered for overtime. The management from France were astonished at this, it was so antithetical to how French workers behaved. In France, it was like pulling teeth to get employees to work overtime. In France they wanted fewer hours of work and were down to a thirty-two hour work week. In addition, they had six weeks of paid vacation and would not work during that time.

The American worker is not like the French, they have a more vigorus work ethic. This is only one way in which we are not like the French, yet, the American liberals, socialists and communists want us to be more like France.

Bonhoffer

2011-09-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

While reading the biography of "Bonhoffer" I came across one of his teachings that opened up, for me, a whole new way of looking at the Bible. He said: "When you read the Bible, you must think that here and now God is speaking to me. We must understand that God has directed this at us. Not somethng generally applicable but rather with a personl relationship to us."

I think that my understanding, from way back in grade school, was just as he was saying, I read it as as something generally applicable. I am very used to practical prose and tend in my reading to read and discard what is not immediately useful to me. I now think I have been carrying those reading habits over to Bible reading, which I now see as allowing the full message elude me.

This book is also giving me a history lesson about how German citizens reacted to their public events from 1919 to 1945. I was amazed to learn that the National Socialists used Luther's own words to turn the German people against the Jews.

The Roundup

2011-08-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

About twelve months ago Green Cove Springs experienced a Roundup. It was done on Vermont Street near the black area. White buses came and took away 172 illegal aliens. This has made a difference in this small city. We see very few Hispanics at McDonald's, or in the neighborhoods.

Tom, who works near Vermont Street, told me about this event: Shortly before the Roundup, he had been approached by a large Mexican who threatened him with "kicking his ass". Tom claims he was merely doing some welding, looked up and there he was yelling at him. Tom yelled back and said he would get a hammer in the head if he came closer. Tom was using this hammer to remove flux from the welded area. This hammer has a sharp edge for chipping the flux. Once re-challenged, the Mexican went away.

I asked Tom if he called the police and he said no. As far as he was concerned that confrontation was over. It was a few days later when the Roundup happened. Tom himself did not witness the Roundup, he was told about it by people who live nearby and counted those who boarded the buses.

Now that the Eric Holder has announced that only criminal illegal aliens will be sent back, will the white buses stop rolling?

Work Ethic

2011-08-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

Because of recently observing the anti-work ethic a few times this past month, I have decided to write about a work ethic. When we had children in the house, I cannot remember one time when I came home from work and Pat was lying down resting. As I look back into my memory I don't even remember when she was sitting down and doing nothing. Dinner was usually in the making when I came home. When dinner was ready, she served it. When dinner was over she participated with the girls in cleaning up and putting things away.

Morning for her always started early with making lunches for the kids before they got up. Then she started with making breakfast for the kids, sometimes for me also. After everybody left she cleaned up and put everything in an orderly place. She did all the shopping for the family, deciding what the meals would be. I cannot remember her asking me what she should make for dinner, it was always her decision. She brought it home, cooked it, served it and saved left-overs, if any.

Clothing was always her responsibility. She always had the proper clothing for the kids. She determined what they needed, what sizes, what color, what style. How did she know? She just knew because I was never in on those decisions. As a matter of fact, she also determined what I needed and bought clothes for me at Christmas or my birthday. Only recently have I purchased my own underwear. She did the wash, nearly every day, and ironed what needed ironing, hanging it up in the closets for when they were needed. Clothes always went back into dresser drawers.

She vacuumed and cleaned the house, passing this chore over to the older kids as they were able to handle it. Many times, after they were able to handle it, she still was required to do some of it. If the walls needed painting, she chose the colors, brushes, rollers and did the painting. (There were times when I helped in the painting, but it was rare.) She decorated the house to make it look nice. If there was something that did not get put away, she got to it and put it where it belonged.

It was Pat that always registered the kids for school, got their supplies, and drove them to special school events. She ran Cub Scouts and Brownies when other mothers would not, or could not, do it. She was not discouraging in anything she did. If something had to be done she did it. She has a work ethic that can be matched by very few people.

Lately, when I have a task to do, she is impatient with me because I want to think it over. I want to look into it, study it, muse about what is best to do before making a decision. She on the other hand, if it was her decision, would already have the task done.

lingerie Football

2011-08-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

There are a series of photos on AOL that show some of the players that play Lingerie Football. Apparently this is tackle football and those costumes, or uniforms, are skimpy. Everybody wears shoulder pads, helmet and spike-shoes. The ladies shown in the photos are all well built, muscled and well endowed. It is difficult to believe that the tops or even the bottoms can stay on during the scrimmages.
All that being said, I can't wait too actually see one of the games. The take-downs must be spectacular. And, what happens when the inevitable occurs, a bare chested girl or a depantsed girl. Does play stop or does it continue to the end of the play?

I am looking forward to it.

American Jewish Loyalty

2011-08-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

American Jews overwhelmingly voted for Obama because they are basically liberals and vote for the Democrat Party. Recently we have seen Obama deride the Jewish State of Israel, embarrass it's leader Netenyahu, support Hammas and Hezbollah, insist on the removal of Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and call for a return to borders back in 1948. For all this against the Jews, American Jews still overwhelmingly support Obama. Why?

When Israel was being created American Jews were split between Zionists, who supported a Jewish homeland, and those that were disinterested. The Zionists gave time and treasure to support the new state of Israel, the others while not giving active support, were indifferent and at least did not oppose the new State. In essence, many Jews are not too committed to Israel. (If you know your Bible you will recall that the Israelites many times fell out of God's favor because they did not follow His Commandments.) They are enthralled with easy living in this Country. They are back to the worship of the Golden Calf.

American Jews are imbedded in the intellectual establishment of the East coast universities and colleges. They are also imbedded into the Ruling Class as liberals. Their liberalism comes first in their lives. Who supports Israel? It is left to the Christian American right to support the only true democracy in the Middle East. Why do they do this?

1. Because Christians recognize that this Country was founded on the Mosiac Law.
2. Through Harry Truman, Americans helped to create the state of Israel.
3. Israel is our friend and supports us in the U.N.

England Riots

2011-08-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

The England riots have been going on for a few days and they seem to be getting worse. Recently, a man died by gunshot while he was in his car. Some are asking if it can happen here. Of course it can happen here. The loony left is ripe for rioting and many can't wait for it to happen here. When it starts here it will be different than London.

Think back to the L.A. riots some years back. The Koreans and the Vietnamesese defended their property with GUNS. This Nation is an armed Nation and when rioters stop destroying their own neighborhoods and turn to other neighborhoods they know they will be met with bullets. This stops any such nonsense as what we see in England

We are different than other countries, we have a Constitution that says we have gun rights. London does not have this right and counts on the police to control rioters. The same can be said for the "Arab Spring" and those protesters. The protesters do not have guns, merely their bare bodies.

I predict, if riots start in this country more people will carry their guns in their cars. Nothing stops a rioter like knowing he could be shot by the next innocent person he attempts to molest. And that, boys and girls, is why the second amendment is so important.

A Wet Nose

2011-08-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

Cheryl recently mentioned that her dog, Magnum, gets close to her face and leaves a wet imprint on her cheek. Strange to say, but that has been happening to Pat whenever I kiss her. A kiss will leave a small amount of fluid on her cheek, which I see her wipe off with the back of her hand. Curiously, she does not complain, even smiles at the awkward exchange. It has gotten to the stage that I will wipe my nose before I kiss her, though I will sometimes forget.

My nose leaks when I am eating and I am forced to wipe my nose often while eating. When served food in a restaurant, seeing and smelling the delicious food, my mouth starts to water. There have been times, when my mouth is slightly open, a small squirt of saliva will fall on my food. (I now produce saliva like a baseball player.) This was not always the case, it has happened in the recent past.

Also, my eyes water much more than they ever did. When I laugh there are always tears, when I hear moving music there are tears, of course, when something is sad there are tears. Yes, I have contemplated carrying some Kleenex in my pocket but it is so easy to wipe on a sleeve.

A recent cold revealed copious amounts of fluid flowing, something that was unusual for me. I was amazed at how much could be brought up with one blowing. In the past, this did not happen. Obviously, something has happened to the chemistry in my head. As I look back, I believe it can be traced to the time I took one trial pill ---- a Cialis.

Daisy

2011-07-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

She was one of my employees at Cordis, a small, delicate, black lady who did average work with good quality and good quantity. I had hired her when the department expanded, she always had a sitting job. The employees in manufacturing are required to wear safety glasses and most wore them. An OSHA officer had inspected one of our plants and we were fined because some employees were not wearing safety glasses. The directive went out to the other plants, all employees in manufacturing must wear their safety glasses at all times. Daisy never wore safety glasses. I assembled those that had the habit of eye wear neglect and told them the era of self policing was over, they must wear the safety glasses to enable this Company to abide by OSHA rules. The next day all were wearing safety glasses except Daisy.

When in my office, she told me glasses gave her a headache. The glasses are Plano, I told her, and there is no obscuring of normal vision and I expected her to wear the glasses. Next day, she did not wear glasses. Two of my leaders took it upon themselves to try to talk Daisy into wearing glasses, they were unsuccessful. As I observed her (she was becoming a thorn) I saw she had a very stubborn streak. She never smiled and seldom interacted with other folks. Everyone in the department was aware of her refusal to wear the glasses. In my office once more, I told her that she would be fired if she did not wear the glasses. This company was not going to endure another fine. She said nothing, just looked straight ahead. Still she would not wear the glasses. I called her in again to fire her. Told her to turn her tools over to her leader and clock out. She did not say anything, just walked out put a pair of glasses on her head and went back to work.

The next day I saw Daisy wearing the glasses, but they were worn at the extreme end of her nose. In this position the eyes are still exposed to damage, the glasses should be covering the eyes. Looking out at all the employees everybody seemed to be wearing glasses. I said nothing. Shortly thereafter we had the OSHA inspection and we did pass. I was concerned that others would follow Daisy's example but none ever did.

Daisy proved to be one of the most stubborn people I have ever met. She never wore those glasses as intended. I left the company for another job but was able to return about seven years later to visit. Daisy was there still wearing the glasses on the end of her nose after almost ten years.

"Don't Call My Bluff"

2011-07-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

The President used some amazing words in yesterday's meeting with congressional leaders. Referring to his statement "I am not sure I can guarantee Social Security payments if we cannot agree to an increase in the debt limit." he looked at Erik Cantor and said: "Erik don't call my bluff, I am willing to risk my presidency on this."

Does this mean the President will not allow Social Security checks to go out? Did he just play the Social Security card? Did he dare Cantor to stick to his position and he would then show him not to ever anger a president? This is all very perplexing.

Many Tea Party people (not all) feel that the debt limit should not be increased at this time. They are tired of seeing this senario played out from time-to-time and the debt limit increased each time. The whole reson for the Tea Party existance is to halt taxes on the American taxpayer. Many in congress are there because of Tea Party votes. We still have some days to go before August 2 and the exceeding of the debt limit. This is getting to be like the movie "High Noon" with the comming shoot out. Stay tuned.

Thankful for .......

2011-07-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Every day I find that there are things about which I am thankful. For the most part they recently have been invented. All have made my life simpler and better.

1. Zip-lock sandwich bags. I do not like to throw food away and I stop eating before I am full. Putting a small amount of food in a bag and refrigerating it is perfect for me.

2. Cross-Trainer Tennis Shoes. These shoes are very comfortable and it is a rare time when I will wear a regular oxford shoe.

3. A Credit Card. I no longer carry bills or change in my pocket. The card is accepted everywhere I go. At McDonald's I find it so much easier to merely swipe my card. I will admit to a slight irritation when a person in front of me takes some time to count out the correct change for the cashier and the cashier must also take time to count. When the server puts the lid on the top of my coffee I try not to think what when I sip the coffee it is like licking that servers fingers. Lets all use a card.

4. Small radio with ear-buds. It is my desire not to disturb others, especially Pat. My radio is very quiet and she is able to carry on her life without hearing a radio station in which she is not interested.

5. Magnifier glasses. These glasses cost only one dollar and I usually buy them three at a time. I have worked my way from 1.5 diopmeres all the way to 3.5 diopmeres.

6. Remote TV control. This is perfect in bed or when there are more desirable shows on other channels.

7. Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper, 2-ply. This is perfect for me, four individual sheets nearly always does it. It is an improvement over the method of some of my grandchildren who use either the wrap around the fingers technique, or the wadded ball.

8. Shirts with a left pocket. These are excellent for carrying my glasses. Fortunately, Pat was able to buy me about eight of these shirts.

9. Remote car lock. The added feature of being able to have the car beep when looking for it is a great help. An even greater help, when living in the North, was the automatic starter so that the car would be warm when getting into it.

10. Floss picks. Using floss was devastating to my fingers as I had to painfully wind that thin thread around my fingers.

11. Fingernail clippers. I have found an excellent clipper after using other makes that were not satisfactory. I use them for hand and foot. What did they ever use in the Middle Ages?

12. Bic razors. These very inexpensive razors do a good job, one will last me for about three weeks.

13. Traffic light auto sensors. When there is no traffic from either direction, I get a feeling that everything is under control in the universe when the light immediately changes for me.

14. Foam soap dispenser. Never having to deal with a bar of soap that has hair on it, or the soap is extremely soft from soaking in a puddle is a benefit. Besides, exactly the right amount can be dispensed.

15. A morning pastoral scene. Living on the golf course yields a very nice view when I get up in the morning. I do not close the blinds so I can look out on that scene. The English Pastoralist School of painting went out of their way to create beautiful scenery in their paintings and I have it every morning.

A Capitalist

2011-07-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Karl Marx hated capitalists and believed their money should be taken from them and redistributed to the masses. What is a capitalist? Where do they come from? Why are they so hated?

When I got my first paper route Pappa took me to the National Bank of Detroit on the corner of Vernor and Springwells. He helped me open a bank account. He said I should save some money every time I got some. I followed his advice. When I got to Henry Ford Trade School they had the same philosophy as Pappa, save some of your pay every week. I already had the habit so nothing changed. I had a savings account and it continued to grow. Savings are only postponed consumption, sometime in the future it is spent on something. I did spend some of it when I bought my first used car.

After a few years the savings grew, I was able to buy a new car and get married. Savings declined but the saving habit continued, consumption postponed for another day. The savings came in handy when the kids started to arrive. Eventually, they grew up and left to manage their own lives. The savings began to grow as I worked long hours, six days a week and sometimes on Sunday.

Now comes the interesting part, investing the savings. What to do with this money in the bank? Interest in a savings account is very low. Buying bonds that yield a higher interest rate is a good alternative. However, their is greater risk that the money might not be returned. Buying stock that pays a dividend gives a greater yield but the risk is greater. Buying growth stocks has even higher risk but the potential for a higher return is greater. I went through them all and got comfortable with various risks and returns. My savings are otherwise known as capital. Sometimes I totally lost the capital I had put into an investment. Sometimes the payoff was large, sometimes even doubled. Eventually, I learned what to avoid and what to support. Some capitalist are small in in the size of their accounts, some are very large, some are very, very large.

It is possible to say that I am a capitalist, just as it is possible to say that to everyone that has savings that wants his money to earn a return is a capitalist. Some capitalists are small in the size of their accounts, some are very large, some are very, very large. Capitalism is an economic system that uses the capital of individuals to the benefit of the individuals. The capitalist develops large companies, which in turn hire many people to accomplish a benefit to society. As the companies get larger they hire more people who themselves, if they postpone consumption and save, may also become capitalists.

Karl Marx wrote about his desire to take away capital from the capitalists and redistribute it. Hilary Clinton and Obama want to actually take capital away from capitalists and redistribute it. It is amazing to me that there are people who do not understand that this is simply stealing. Instead, they actively promote that distribution and call it fairness. How is it fair? What gives them the right to do this deed?

Continuous Decline

2011-06-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

A recent study has revealed that 39% of Americans believe that the economy is on a decline that will not be reversed. I have been through many declines and have always believed that a recovery would manifest itself in the future. Now, here is a study in which people do not believe it will recover.Of course, before there were some people that feared the end of our Country was near - but nowhere near 39%.

When I graduated from Wayne State University in 1962 some of my classmates were looking forward to recruiters that would come on campus and interview graduates for openings they had. In late 1961 we had an economic pullback and the recruiters cancelled all interviews much to the chagrin of the graduates. I had a secure job at Ford and did not suffer from that pullback. When I asked some of my classmates what they were going to do some said they would continue on and get a Masters Degree, no need to try for a job.

In 1968, the last year I was working on my MBA from the University of Miami the same thing happened, all recruiters cancelled their appointments. Once again I had a secure job this time with 3M Company. I recall the day everyone was informed that job openings were non-existent, the long faces were everywhere and some were most depressed. In neither case do I know when the recruiters returned to the campus but it could not have been too long because the economy always came back.

While I do not know for sure, there must be some depressed people in the graduate ranks of our universities. Very few companies are hiring in this economy, most are concerned with the uncertainty in the future and will marshall their resources. Perhaps Erika could comment on this post and let us know how things are going as she sees them.

The continuous decline seen by many comes from the knowledge that the Obama administration has done nothing to improve the private economy and create jobs. Three times, in the last two years, Obama has said he would focus on jobs like a lazer but has done nothing but create government jobs. He has gone out of his way to destroy industries like oil, coal, private airplanes, pleasure boats and others. (The recreational vehicle industry in northern Indiana has been greatly diminished. I used to call on them for business but many of the compaines I used to call on are no longer in business.) The business community does not know when this will all end. When I was with United Technologies I helped to make business plans for any possible upturn in demand, we wanted to have equipment and materials ready to order, space available and people already interviewed ready to go. I am not aware of any companies that are doing planning of this kind at this time.

Huntsman

2011-06-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today, Mr. Huntsman announced his candidacy for President. The "Main Stream Media" are estatic with joy over this man. They have finally found a republican like Bob Dole or John McCain, RINO's all who are not able to win. He has started off like McCain who early announced that his campaign would not attack his opponent ... even refused to use that candidates middle name, Husein. McCain was saying he was above doing everything he could to get votes. His staff intentionally stifled Palin, controlling all that she said.

Huntsman never used the name of the person he was running against, only saying he was a good man and that he respected him. For me, I don't believe Obama is a good man and I don't respect him. He walked to the other side of the gorge when he announced: "We live in the greatest Country in the world and I want you to join me in fundamentally changing this Country". Why did he not tell everybody exactly what changes he was going to make? Even his hints; "Under my plan the price of electricity will necessarily skyrocket", "I want to redistribute everybody's wealth" were not clear. How strange that he should say these things when neither of these statements are powers given to the President in our Constitution.

Honor and Virtue

2011-06-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

Our founding fathers stated in the Federalist Papers the we should elect honorable and virtuous men as our representatives. We are seeing examples of people we have elected that do not meet those standards. Even worse, some citizens openly support and defend representatives without honor or virtue because those representatives vote the way they like. The founding fathers knew that our system of government could not be sustained if weak men were put into positions of power. They were very suspicious of people that held onto power for it's own sake.

We have recently been treated, in the main stream media, to the actions of an immoral man. His actions were so odious that the unthinking population cannot get enough of this salacious story. Let us think about what it means if he is continued in office and is held as an example of how our system can be manipulated to accept almost anything, as was attempted with Bill Clinton. If Mr. Weiner does not resign he should be expelled from the House. His constituents should take a lesson and try to elect a better man.

Week 23 - 2011

2011-06-13T02:51:00.000-07:00

Pat and I drove to the Sarasota Airport last Saturday to to pick-up Rita and drive her to her Timeshare on Longboat Key. We stayed the week with her and on the following Saturday dropped her off at the Airport for her return trip to Detroit. It was a most relaxing week visiting with the various families that make that trek every year. The accommodations have been upgraded with granite counter-tops, new pots and pans, large flat screen television in the living room, and new linnens and towels. Next year, we were told, the living room furniture will be replaced. Rita received the deed for Unit 201 on this trip and plans to bring Kelly on her next trip.

There were twenty of us playing on "Nickles Night" and, as many of you know, it was a fun evening. I won the first game and the nextt two games were a draw. Liz, Mitchel's new girlfriend, won the three ensuing pots. We used three tables to accommodate everybody, using only two sets of dice. Yes, sometimes a die would fall to the floor during a throw or transfer but it added to the hilarity. The kids become very serious when it is their time to throw and give themselves up to the excitement of the game. I claimed to have won because of a lucky nickle and the kids got really involved when that nickle started to travel toward them. Once, Sarah got it and it took some pleading to her fairness to get her to let it go. Eventually it was lost into the "pot" and could no longer be tracked much to the chagrin of the kids.

Doughnut-day brought us all together and we spent most of the morning over coffee and a doughnut. Of course, the doughnuts were all eaten and we did fall back to eating the large cakes that were provided. It was here that John brought us up to date on the plans for a ceremony in honor of Kim and Monica. It had been decided that a floral-wreath would be sent out into the Gulf waters late one evening. When that evening arrived: John, Krista, Mitchell and Colton swam out quite a ways, at high tide, to release the wreath. Everyone gathered on the beach to watch this ceremony.

On Monday, the first day the fishermen went out, they caught nothing. Doug had brought his boat and he wanted to go deep-sea fishing so that is what they did with disappointing results. Mitch had brought his boat and the next day they went to where Mitch knew they would catch fish, and he was right. Liz caught a large red fish which, according to Florida law, required it be thrown back. Mitch follows the fishing rules exactly and is not going to lose his boat for any kind of violation. On Wednesday, Liz requested she be dropped off on an island so that she could catch blue crab. She was there for two hours before Mitch came back to get her. She had netted a large amount of crabs which were used for bait and our annual fish dinner.

Thursday night was the fish dinner. Liz had cooked two large pots of fish gumbo and one large pot of chicken gumbo (for those who do not eat fish.) She had also made a large pot of stuffed crab using crab meat and shrimp. There were two kinds of hush-puppies: with onion and without. A large cauldron of oil was used to fry the fish, they fried all they had. The drink of the evening was "Beerballs", very tasty. All together, about forty-five were fed, having invited all around the pool to join us. Still there was some left over, but all the fish was eaten. There were various kinds of fish and I know I had different varieties but it made no difference, all of it was so fresh and it was all delicious.

Mike Koscianski

2011-06-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to Mike's funeral at St. Luke's Catholic Church. Mike has been in my AOA class for about nine years. He recently contacted pancreatic cancer and within seven months he died. Seven months ago he weighed 260 pounds and he died at 165 pounds. He had been a smoker all his life and he was smoking at his last Bar-B-Q outing last year. He was a great host and had lots of drinks available along with the varied smoked meats. He was very competent with his huge outdoor smoker and liked to show it off.

Mike was the third male to die out of my class in two years. The other two merely fell over and died on the spot, not at the Y. Five females from the class have had cancer in the past two years and three are survivors. I have no information on how much smoking they did, I am not nosey.

Pat saw Harold chance at Church last Sunday and reported he looked to be very ill. Harold dropped out of my class about three years ago, he could not keep up. Bill McGrane is undergoing Chemo Therapy at this time and has recently returned to the classes on a limited basis.

All the above might lead you to believe we are all a sickly lot. You will have to take my word for it that the class participants lead active and contented lives. Se La Vie.

How Scared Are They?

2011-06-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

From the day that Sarah Palin came on the scene the liberals have bent completely out of shape. They can't stand her success and want to bring her down. The day she became the Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate the democrats sent a bus load of lawyers and researchers to Alaska to ferret out any dirt they could find in order to smear her. That there was so little to exploit made them even madder. With teeth gnashing they made up stories and scenarios to portray her in a bad light to the American people. The democrats are very, very good at the politics of personal destruction and their sights are set on her. Because she is capable of raising a lot of money for the Republicans they do whatever they can to frustrate her appearances. She, on the other hand, merely continues on her merry way and lets they stew.

As Rush Limbaugh says: "The left will always tell you who they fear because it is the ones they attack."

The Ruling Class

2011-05-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

When de Tocqueville toured the United States about 1840 he was impressed with the manner the citizens took matters into their own hands. He was from an old French family that had been in the Ruling Class for many generations. He himself had been named a judge in a small district in France based wholly on his connections in the ruling class. His family temporarily fell out of favor and he lost the post. He was intimately familiar with how things were accomplished in France. For example: If a bridge needed repair, a letter was written to a minister in the local area and hearings were held. It was then forwarded to a larger district and again hearings were held. It went all the way up to the King's ministers (or Napoleon's ministers) who made the final determination, disbursed the funds, found an engineer, supported a work crew, and had everything inspected. At every level, he reported, there were excess payments to bribe all involved. As he looked at the United States, he was awed by the initiative taken by the citizens. Here, if a bridge needed repair, the local citizens got together in a meeting, decided what to do, went out and did the repairs and completion was achieved without resort to others.

Today, we have a Ruling Class that stops progress at every level of our society. Our judges are used to stop programs that do not comply with the niceties of the environmentalists. Our educators state that only when they issue a degree is a person able to work in a certain field. Our school administrators respond to central control to determine what is to be taught in the schools. Our main stream media determine what events or information the citizens will be allowed to know. Our politicians determine the laws by which we will live, how much we will pay for them, and who will pay.

Our Ruling Class is alive and thriving.

Herman Cain

2011-05-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

With Herman Cain running for president it will cause many blacks some extreme conflicts. The Congressional Black Caucus has constantly called republican critics of Obama racists. If Cain wins what will they say if democrats criticize him, will they still say racist? Or will they then say the critics are now ideological. After all, Cain is 100% black unlike Obama who is only 50% black. Further, Cain has slave blood and Obama has none. The race card is often played by Representatives: Clyburn, Lewis, Waters, Jackson Lee and Brown and they will really squirm if there is a black republican president. Can't wait for all the fun.

They Are Getting Funny

2011-05-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

The Democrats have a new video portraying a person wheeling an old lady over a cliff and into the water. I found it funny in that she did not suspect until the end that she was going to her disposal. The look on her face gave her a SNL skit appearance.

There will be more of these skits in the future, more fun coming.

The Tenth Commandment

2011-05-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

While growing up I liked everything about living in my neighborhood. While I knew there were people that had more money than I (we) did, it did not occur to me that I wanted to have what they had. In due course I learned the Ten Commandments while going to St. Gabriel's and it was more an exercise in memorization than life changing. There were many Commandments about which I just did not have a concern. The Seventh Commandment gave me pause when I took a toy out of Woolworth's. My Mother asked me where it came from and I told her. She told me to take it back, and I did.

I could recite all the Commandments and was only slightly amazed when I found out the Protestant list was slightly different than the Catholic. To my mind the difference was minuscule. One day I heard Hillary Clinton state to a crowd: "I want to take all those profits from the oil companies and redistribute them to those that are in need." Wow, she had designs on other people's money. How does that square up with the Tenth Ccommandment? This is coveting the goods of other people. Later, Obama had a similar view when he talked with Joe The Plumber. He said he wanted to spread the wealth around because it was good for everybody. There seems to be no concern with property rights, let alone personal moral concerns.

Socialists have always desired to spread the wealth, while the wealthy have sternly resisted. The religious see this for what it is, a violation of God's law. Socialist's make every effort to eliminate religion. The Soviet Union closed all the Churches, they did not want to contend with the conscience of the people. If there is no religion there are no Ten Commandments. The ruling class can then do as they pleased.

The effort for class warfare was advanced by Karl Marx who wanted the people to rise up against those that had more than they did. He was counting on a basic greed instinct in people and we see that effort to put people into different classes even today. The amazing thing is that so many are buying into this line of thinking. So many want something for nothing. One wag put it this way: "We are being split into two groups, those that work and those that do not. What in essence is: you work and I'll eat." And, many are falling into this line of reasoning. They want what the other person has.

This society has been successful in redistribution. We have the richest poor people on the planet, the fattest poor people, the best dressed poor people, the best housed with air conditioning and heat, the most poor with a car, television, phone, cell phone and electronic gadgets, free education, free mass transit, free lawyers, free psychological help, free condoms, free medicaid, free Head-Start and I believe this list can be improved by others.

In spite of all the above there is still much dissatisfaction, anger, angst, rage and lawlessness. Why is that? Why is there not a feeling of gratitude toward those that produce their lifestyles? I believe they are trapped in believing they should be against the other class, just as Karl Marx said. Our ruling class tells them that they are due more of what others have merely because they are human beings with dignity.

The answer may lie in something as simple as preaching the Tenth Commandment.

A Touching Ceremony

2011-05-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

At the end of today's Mass the priest conducted a ceremony for Mother's Day. He asked the mothers to remain seated and for husbands and children to stand. He asked for husbands and children to place their hand on the mothers head. He then read a short prayer about the importance of the mothers role in our society. He praised how mothers give their love and their life for the family. By touching her head it is acknowledged that she is recognized that she is working God' plan and it is appreciated by all in her family. I was by myself and continued sitting. As I watched this ceremony I realized that it was a fitting prayer, well done.

McDonald's Is Hiring

2011-04-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

Recently, McDonald's had a nation-wide hiring campaign with which it garnered much publicity. The day of the hiring I witnessed three people being interviewed. The manager used a table next to us to do the interviewing. Our table continued our usual, very important, conversations in which we solve the world problems. The interview table was directly in my line of sight and I got a good look at the candidates. I could not hear what was said but I recognised the manager's body language as doing her duty in interviewing all candidates that show up. She was very patient and her dedication to the interviewing was commendable.

The first candidate was a young, overweight, black girl who had dressed for the interview. She appeared nervous, and kept wringing her hands. I could not tell what the manager thought. The second candidate was a white, overweight, unkept, snarly haired girl. She smiled with enthusiam at all through her interview. The third candidate was a skinny, black man with an unusual haircut. He never looked at the manager, always looked down at the table. To me, his clothes were dirty but they were neat.

The next time I was in McDonald's I asked the manager how many people she had hired from the interviewing day.....her answer: None. That was all she would say and went back to work. I don't know if there was an opening, or if it was all a publicity trick.

I told the others at the table that getting a job at McDonald's would be easy and I could get a person a job if they would follow my instructions. There was more than somewhat sceptisism. To present my case, I told them I had a surefire method to getting a job at McDonald's even if there were no openings. There were a few gafaws at this statement. I said I was serious and offered to tell how it could be done - they wanted to know. So I told them. Every work crew has somebody that is a problem to the manager. Either they come in late, will not work the hours the manager wants, will not come in on Saturdays or Sundays, do the work grudgingly, work slow, have sanitary problems, do only a part of the whole job, require an inordinate amount of time away from work, require excess supervision, etc. etc. Knowing this give an in to help a manager succeed in the job. All managers want to succeed and need workers that truly want a job. Every manager has a few favorites and they are the ones that help the manager succeed.

Knowing all the above is key to getting a job. It is necessary to let a manager know you are the kind of person that they want on their crew. How to do that? I can get a job for someone that truly wants to work. But, the candidate must be motivated to get the job. Here is how it is done: Target a manager for whom you want to work. Show up every day on that manages shift. Walk outside to see if there is anything that needs to be picked up, if so make the outside clean. Keep track of everything that is done and write it down on a 3 x 5 card, i.e. 1) picked up three cups 2) picked up five napkins 3) picked up spilled french fries 4) picked up two empty bags. Put your name on the back of the card. Print on the back of the card: I am looking for a job. Return every day and do the same. Fill out the card even even if the lot is clean. Say on the card: Lot found clean today, nothing to be done. Turn in that card also. Before the manager has ten cards the person will be hired.

A tip of the hat to Mark twain.

Why Libya? II

2011-04-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

The Libya mystery continues, now John McCain is urging support for the rebels. Why? In my first blog on Libya I postulated that it was Obama's war and now McCain is getting into it??? It does not make any sense for him to jump in.

We do not know who the rebels are.

We do not know who their leader is. Further, McCain's statement that they are not al-quida is not convincing. How could he know that when he has been there only a few days?

What is accomplished by removing Qaddafi? Will the next strongman be better? How much money will we spend to aid in his removal? Will we get a better deal on oil? If not, why not?

We got no better deal on oil when we saved Kuait. No better deal on oil when we supplied freedom to Iraq. We are paying in money, goods, armaments and blood. Why do we not get a better deal?
Where is the exit strategy for ceasing to help the rebels in Libya? Our drones are being sent to Libya, are merely arming al-quida to have better weapons to use against us? I want to know these things and the media seems only interested in sending people to review the fighting, even if a few of them get killed. I need a full report on why we are there. It is Obama's job to tell us this.

Holy Thursday

2011-04-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

Back in Miami when we were going to St Timothy's, I received a call from someone at the Church asking me if I would be one of the twelve people whose feet Father would wash. It was to be done at an early evening prayer service. I agreed to be one of the twelve. It was held at five o-clock and Pat said she would not go, she was fixing dinner. All the kids had something to do at Miller Park so I went alone. We twelve were seated in straight back chairs in the front of the pews. There was a short prayer service after which Father Gigante came to wash our feet. Father Gigante was a rather gruff person, not what you would call "warm". He seemed always serious and this caused many young people to form a dislike for him. We were asked to remove one shoe and sock. Then father Gigante, using a pillow on which to kneel, came by with a pitcher and basin, kneeled down and washed our feet. This was done by pouring water on the top of the foot and catching the water in the basin. He was given individual paper towels by the server, and then wiped and dried the foot. The towel was given to the person whose foot he had washed. I noted that he made no effort to dry between the toes, merely drying what was easy to get at. When he was finished with one person, he was helped up by a server, another server would move the cushion to the next person, and father Gigante would kneel down before that person and wash a foot. He was in his sixties and needed all the help he could get. The person next to me whispered: "Hey, I thought he was going to wash our feet, one is not enough." I remember thinking: this is all symbolic, don't get so technical, but I said nothing. I was impressed that the stern image that father Gigante projected to the parishioners, at this ceremony, was laid aside and he became merely a humble parish priest doing his duty.

"Fight Like A Girl"

2011-04-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

During a recent Tea Party gathering, Sarah Palin was exhorting republican congressman and senators to do more than compromise, she wanted them to fight. She used the line: "If you won't fight like men, then fight like a girl." I liked that line and found it amusing. After thinking about it for awhile, I realized I did not really know what that meant. What does it mean to fight like a girl? Exactly how did she mean it? I still like the line but admit I do not truly know what it means.

Downer Music

2011-04-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

It is a nice sunny day today and the drive to Church was pleasant. I usually get there early so I can go over the readings at the mass. There were noticeably more people in Church today and I wondered why. Near the start of the mass, a voice came over the sound system that requested all persons to leave the Church for the start of the mass and procession into the Church. Arggg, this is Palm Sunday and the congregation is expected to start the procession outside, emulating the people that followed Jesus to Jerusalem. Near me are a few people, over seventy, that have a good deal of trouble walking and kneeling. Once in place it is an imposition on them to get up and enter the procession. I stayed in place in sympathy with those old people. (Yes, really.) While entering the Church all the people were singing "Hosanna," using four syllables. This was sung about thirty times - it gets old. Once in, the music used for this mass consisted of flute and clarinet, no piano, no organ. I am used, at this point, to feel uplifted and joyful; but this brought me down. Being down is the point, we are sorrowful that Jesus has begun his Passion toward death on the cross. During the mass we had more hosannas (meaning: pray, save us) and the music never got better. The kids nearby were hitting one another with the palms they were given. A girl of about sixteen sat weaving crosses out of her palms. A young couple nearby, in a playful way, kept prodding one another with their palms. The entire story of the Passion is read while the congregation is standing, an imposition on the older adults because it is long. The effect of mournful music did get to me and I began to feel bad. Yes, remembering Jesus died on the cross for me is important, but feeling bad goes against my nature.

Speaker Boehner

2011-04-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

The tea party people are dismayed at the performance of Boehner in this last budget extension. He caved like the old days showing he is more like Denny Hastert than a Tip O'Neil. He does not get the idea that elites (of which he is one) are no longer going to be tolerated as making the decisions to increase spending. The media is already patting him on back and saying what a great Speaker he is. They are trying to convince the tea party that they have a great leader. They of course did that when they wanted John McCain to be our presidential candidate, praising him as often as they could. It is time to can Boehner and get a new speaker that does understand what moves are necessary to get us out of this huge fiscal problem the U.S. has. The pussyfooting has to stop, this is serious, the country is going down the drain. We need true leadership and not what the media points out is good for the Republican Party. Today, I received a request for a donation to the Republican Party and I wrote them that I would not give until Boehner is gone. I am sending my first donation to the Tea Party instead.

The Racist

2011-04-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday at McDonald's, a couple was passing through that we seldom see. She is a republican and he is a liberal, I do not know their names. He was fond of coming over and expostulate about what our horrible president George Bush was doing. He was able to run off a long list of his inadequate governing (some of which I agreed) and stupid remarks. He said he would wish for his being shot except that Chaney would be president and that would only be worse. When I asked his wife if they argued often, she answered: "Oh, I just don't listen to him and we get along great." This Sunday he came over with a smile of his face and said: "How about that health care bill, isn't that something?" When I said it was unconstitutional he replied that Obama was going to get whatever he wanted. When I pointed out that the present conflict in the House right now was to pare away some of the things Obama wanted. He immediately said: "Yes, but the Senate will give him what he wants. I then mentioned, in support of his argument, Senator Schummer's statement: "Never, never, never defund Planned Parenthood." I was surprised by his next statement. "Margaret Sanger was right, we need to get rid of all the blacks through eugenics." (He did not say blacks and I did not know he knew the word eugenics.) He was pleased to relate that fifty percent of black women get abortions. He wanted the number to go up and that is why we need to keep all funding for Planned Parenthood. When I said the real issue is government spending, he responded that we have all the money we need because republicans have been hoarding the money for years.

Averting A Shutdown

2011-04-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last night a government shutdown was averted by the Republicans giving in. This is not what the majority of the congress was sent to do. It is a great disappointment to all people that voted for tea party candidates. This setback will now require a reassessment of the candidates that won, were they really going to reduce the size of government? If not, then a new crop of representatives will be needed, incumbents will be questioned more closely this time around. Senator Schummer was quoted as saying: "Never, never, never defund Planned Parenthood." He has no concern about the size of government. Tea Party people are concerned about the size of government and it's intrusion into the lives of people. Never, never, never will they stop trying to reduce it's size.

A New Art Form

2011-04-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

The capitols of state house's are witnessing events that used to be extremely rare, flocks of people there to protest. The recent filming of the protests at the Wisconsin state house showed that protesting has ratcheted up from what we used to see. Protests used to be peaceful with persons demonstrating with their presence that some remedy was needed to pacify them. Once they had made the protest, sometimes only taking an hour, the protesters soon dissipated and everyone went home. Recent events have shown that we have learned something from Europe and the Mid-east - unruliness and boorish behavior. European demonstrations are increasing because those countries must reduce the programs the Socialists installed. If the countries do nothing they may cease to exist due to economic failure. People in those programs do not accept that they must change their lifestyles in order to keep their Country solvent. The Socialists had simply promised too much. Demonstrations in Europe last longer, are more violent, have larger crowds and destroy private property at will. In our state houses the protesters are now staying longer, shout down any attempt to pacify them, engage in inane slogan shouting and attempt to convince authorities that they will stay there until their grievance is remedied. They now stay all night and show their displeasure by spreading trash and refuse, leave toilets unclean, sleep on the premises and do what they can to inconvenience the authorities there. One state learns from the other and now it is a failed protest if it does not exceed the one held at Wisconsin. The planners of the protests are union bosses who are used to getting their way. It is they who will lose power it the protest is unsuccessful. They are masters at riling up their members. If not enough members join the protest they go out and rent some, even going to other states to get them. Nearly all states have run out of money and expenses must be cut. The unions will resist at every stage. There will be many opportunities for one union to outdo the others, and they will try. What new forms of protest will we see?

Why Libya?

2011-03-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

As an interested student of world events, I am mystified at what the USA has done in Libya. Libya did not, at present, constitute a threat to this country. Qaddafi had voluntary ended his pursuit of nuclear weapons when he saw us take action against Saddam Hussein. Since then he has mostly kept a low profile, with the minor exception of welcoming back the Lockerbie bomber back home. The demonstrators in Egypt did make significant gains and eventually got Mubarak to leave with our approval. The subsequent uprisings in Iran, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Arab Emirates and Libya were mostly surprising and destabilizing. The next thing of which I am aware, we are calling for Qaddafi to leave, and subsequently are launching cruise-missiles at him, utilizing a no fly zone and warning him not to fire at his people. He posed no threat to this country, yet we are hostile toward Libya. There were other areas that were more in our interest, Iran for one. Iran threatens us, has supported fighters in Iraq, continues to ignore the UN request to stop it's nuclear program, targets us as the "Great Satan", keeps hostages and has fired on it's people during the uprising. Iran would be an understandable target. Why Libya?

How Did He Know?

2011-03-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Last January 31st Glenn Beck predicted that the middle-east and North Africa would start to emulate Egypt with disruptions in the street and call for the overthrow of the existing leader. He used a map and checked off each country that would have trouble. It is uncanny that he was so correct. I remember thinking at the time, "that is pretty wild stuff." He is an amazing person, using video of of the people about whom he has chosen as a subject. He never adds more to what they say, merely takes their words and actions and tells the world about it all, and puts it all into perspective. He is a voracious reader and is constantly recommending books for viewers to read. Media Matters has just put on 51 people to help destroy him and Fox. They see him as a threat and seek his silence. He is always entertaining and informative - I don't want to miss a single show.

Sleeping

2011-03-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

An air traffic controller was sleeping while on duty and two flights had to land without instructions. That controller has been suspended. A suspension is far too light for such an offense. In the military it is death to sleep while on duty in a combat zone. This person should be summarily fired. His supervisor should be suspended without pay for two weeks and have a reprimand put into his file. The manager should be fined two weeks pay and have a reprimand put into his file. The air traffic controller's instruction manual should be rewritten to include how serious this offense is. Also, that the public has the right to sue and the union has no right to defend with their money. We spend much money to insure the public's safety, here is an opportunity to dissuade such an offense from happening again.

A Blessing - A Curse

2011-03-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

In one of the readings this past Sunday there was a portion of the Old Testament read that took me back to St. Gabriel's in Detroit. It was something that I heard a nun talking about when I was in the sixth grade. She talked about "A Blessing - A Curse." It was in reference to the Ten Commandments. Moses told the Israelites: "I bring a blessing and a curse. These ten commandments, if you follow them, will be a blessing to you. Those that do not follow them receive a curse." As I look back on my life, I find that those words are true. The people that I have known that do not observe the ten commandments are indeed cursed, they always have trouble in one way of another. Those that are observant of the ten commandments seem to have happy families and good things happen to them in their lives. I am pained that some of my grandchildren are ignorant of the ten commandments, or ignore them because they do not want to obey them. To follow the ten commandments takes some fortitude, but it is not impossible. Each person recieves the strength necessary to obey along with the ability to resolve to do what is right. It does require self discipline, the ability to postpone gratification to a later time. After that, it is all a piece of cake.

She does not like the stick

2011-03-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

After all these years of marriage, I am informed she does not like the stick. I told her if she does not like the stick she should not lick it. She says she doesn't like the taste, yet, she cannot stop licking it. It is the ice cream that is her undoing, there is always a little left and she must lick it off. I do what I can to put her at ease, I discard the paper and even the stick.

Socialism

2011-03-05T11:41:00.000-08:00

When I was much younger I was aware that there were socialists, communists and anarchists. The Hearst newspapers were always railing against them, after all, I was a Times carrier. They were so far out of my personal view of life that I gave them no serious thought. Now that a socialist is President it behoves me to be aware. Norman Thomas could never be elected President, there were not enough socialists to get him past a few percent of the total amount of electors. Now, with a black socialist, the assured support of the black electors, the outright lies during the campaign, the money from the unions, the spade work done by college professors and the apathy of many voters, Obama was elected President. He is running the executive part of our government differently than any president before him. His Tsars are quasi-legal, he fights against state governors, he ignores any laws that he does not like, ignores the courts, harms our friends, lavishes praise to our enemies and desires, like a good socialist, to "spread-the-wealth", uses the executive branch to make laws that are the purview of the legislature. He is a threat to our Constitution. I pray that the American people, at the next election, will rid us of this socialist.

Sprinkler Repair

2011-03-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

Last year the grass near the driveway began to look very bad. I made an extra effort to water more in order to improve that area. I suspected my neighbor, who shares some of the space with me, (overlap) was not watering enough. The company that does the fertilizing for my lawn recently did it and requested a watering within 24 hours. I did not do it because it was supposed to rain. It did not rain and I was forced to water in the daytime. When I turned the sprinklers on, surprise!, one of the sprinklers was broken, the one that would have protected the poor area. I turned that zone off and watered the other three zones. Now for the repair. It is quite easy to get to a sprinkler head, merely dig around it until the main line is reached. The head, about five inches long, had broken from being run over. Riding on the grass on the left side of the driveway does no damage, no sprinklers on that side. Obviously, Pat or I rode onto the right side and broke it. The head easily screws out and I am off to ACE Hardware for a replacement. They do not have one, I must go to Home Depot. Yep, even though the sprinkler system is eleven years old, they have what I need. Some Teflon tape on the threads, screw the head in, test for integrity, and I am back in business. Cost, $4.76 not counting the driving expense.

Unsustainable

2011-02-21T17:53:00.000-08:00

This word, unsustainable, is the new word for the year 2011. This is the word that many must learn and it is not a palatable word. I learned this word while in the fourth grade. I bought a small bag of fish oil potato chips for two cents, they were delicious. The next day I bought another bag, followed by another bag the following day. I was left with a nickle and realized that I would run out of pennies in a few days. Yes, the chips were good but the rate the money was going down was not sustainable, I would soon be out of money. That was not acceptable to me and I stopped purchases of chips. Many of our cities have run out of money, many of our states have run out of money, this Country has run out of money. Borrowing and bailouts have become the fall-back of choice for many people but this is unsustainable. If a nine year old can learn so can all thinking people. Unfortunately, we have many people that do not want to learn but, like an addict, want things to remain the same. Taking it from those that have it is not just, or fair. It would not have been just or fair for me to look for others to buy me chips. It was up to me to solve the problem I had brought on myself. How many will be able to learn this word - unsustainable?

Cutting Expenditures

2011-02-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well we finally got a budget out of Obama and, proving he is no dummy, he has punted on cutting the budget, tantamount to placing the ball on the one yard line. His budget has a huge deficit which he knows the Republicans will try to pare, after all, the Tea Party has forced them to get our fiscal house in order. The liberals have conservatives right where they want them. Any cuts made from now on will be fodder for the Democrats in the next election. The mantra, "the Republicans want to take your social security away from you" will be screamed at every polling place.There are enough non-thinking voters that will believe those shouts. We must stop spending beyond our means. The Democrats know this and are quite wiling to see the Republicans punished for doing what they are obligated to do. A major political trick will have been accomplished if the Republicans are able to actually cut expenditures and not pay for it at the polls.

Memorial Service

2011-02-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I attended a Memorial Service for Margo, one of my students. She had died suddenly after receiving one event of chemo-therapy. She was in her late fifties and her husband survives her. Upon entering the Church I was greeted by an individual with a beard and long scraggly hair. He said his name was Jack, I shook his hand, introduced myself then walked to sit in one of the pews. As I looked to the front I found a strange sight. In the center there was a pair of skies, to the right of the skies was a board with purses hanging from it, to the right of the purses was a picture of a beautiful catamaran sailboat. To the left of the skies was a display of crocheted items, to the left of that was a picture of a beautiful Corvette Convertible, to the left of that was a book with which to sign your presence. The service started with Jack walking to the podium and talking about Margo: how he met her, liked her, what a nice person she was, what she had accomplished in her life, what she had owned in her life, her knitting and felting skills, how she had taught first grade at many military bases around the world, where she had sailed with the sailboat she loved (picture on the right), how she came to appreciate Corvette cars and bought one (picture on the left) how she liked to ski and where she went to ski (skis in the center), what a fun loving, quick witted person she was. He then talked about how she met Howard and how they married soon after. They had three children and that two were not there. By this time I realized Jack was the Minister of this Church. He finished by asking anyone who wanted to say something to come up. He then sat down. A woman came up and began to talk about how wonderful Margo was and how she had learned to knit from Margo. She then pulled out a scarf about 12 feet long, the Minister got up and helped her display the length. She was proud of her skill and told how Margo had helped her with the colors and type of yarn. She said she would miss the discussions they had while knitting. Another lady got up and talked about how she enjoyed the group discussions with Margo present and how funny she was and laughed often. She said they were all liberal democrats and had much in common. She became very emotional and said how much she would miss Margo. Three other persons got up with similar comments on her life. One told how he had gotten Howard interested in Corvettes and Margo fell into line with them. She finally bought a Corvette of her own, picture on the left. Then the Minister got up summarized the talks, announced that some piano music would play some of Margo's favorite music. After the music was over, so was the service. Most of the people got up to leave, I went to sign the book. This was very new to me, a service covering: accomplishments, things owned, places visited, conversations had. There was no mention of God, Christ, or an after life. The name of the Church: The Unitarian Universalist Church.

Global Warming

2011-02-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

All this cold weather is really God's way of saying to the scientists: "You are all wrong, ha ha ha." But all those scientists should not take it badly, eventually the earth will warm, we just don't know when. Al Gore should refund the admission for everbody that paid to see his movie "An Inconvienet Truth." Of course he has made so much money with the "carbon scheme" he can afford those admissions.

Tom

2011-02-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

Tom hangs out at McDonald's. He normally stays outside sitting on a low wall, facing the parking lot. He is very dirty, clothes and skin. Hair is wild and matted, a stubble beard and mustache. He always wears a baseball cap that has never been cleaned. The first thought an observer has; this guy is a bum, keep him at a distance. His eyes are dull and he always looks down to the ground as he is passed. I suspect he partakes of drugs that may be stashed nearby.

In the summer he will from time-to-time enter and cool off for awhile. I have never seen him buy anything. In the winter he will enter to get warmed-up then resume his stand outside. One day I was surprised when he had a cup of coffee outside to keep warm.

The other night, Pat and I went to McDonald's for a Hot Fudge Sundae. The temperature was about 35 degrees, very cold for us in Green Cove Springs. Tom was outside shivering against the cold. I had only seen him in the mornings never in the evening. As I passed I asked him how he was. He replied: "My sister kicked me out." We were both shocked - realizing he had no place to go and the temperature being so low. Inside, we had a short discussion about his plight and that is was a bad situation for him.

Upon leaving, I asked him where he was going to sleep, and he said he did not know. I think I said: "Good luck on a night like this". Pat and I drove home to a warm house and said no more about Tom. The next day I pondered Tom's situation: Should I have done more? Should I have contacted some shelter for him? Should I have brought him home? Can I really just turn away and do nothing? What I did do was nothing.

The next time we saw Tom he had clean clothes, was shaved, had a smile on his face - in short, looked normal. Pat asked him what happened to him, he said he had reconciled with his sister. He was still standing outside McDonald's but the change was pleasing. Sometimes it is difficult to know when you should be a good Samaritan. Help may be offered too soon. A person may change when his situation becomes too difficult to endure.

Get A Gun

2011-02-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Back in 1957 a work associate, Clarence Widmayer, advised me to get a gun. He was a member of the John Birch Society and to their believers there was a revolution coming. Clarence often told me to get a gun for self protection. He felt the socialists and communists were going to start a revolution and we all needed protection. The Weather Underground group was doing it's best to start that revolution with their bombing of police stations and shooting of police (pigs). Alas, it did not take. Charles Manson also tried to start a revolution with his "Helter Skelter", again, it did not take. I never did buy a gun, could not see a need for one. Clarence was an extremist and I was not. It is against the law for Egyptians to own guns and they are having demonstrations to overthrow their government. How much different would those demonstrations be if everybody had a gun? Would it be slaughter or would it be more peaceful? Would their government have behaved differently if all their citizens had guns. In Switzerland, by law, all households must have a gun. Those entering military service are given a gun to keep in their homes. They are subject to call-up if their is any trouble. There are no uprisings in Switzerland. There is a story told about the Japanese Military discussing an invasion of California at the beginning of WW II. They finally decided that it could not work because many citizens were armed and therefore the population could not be controlled. They had invaded Manchuria, China, Burma, The Philippines but hesitated at an invasion of the United States. Guns can be good.

Skin Problem

2011-02-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

I have had a sore on my ankle for over a year. I believe it started with an insect bite. So, ten days ago, I went to see my doctor about it. He found it interesting enough to take a biopsy. Last Monday, a dermatologist called to say that it was a basil cell cancer and it had to be taken out. My appointment was today at 12:30 PM. I got there at 11:45 AM, checked in and was advised to take a seat in the waiting room. There were two waiting rooms to choose from, each had 12 chairs in them. Nearly all the chairs were full. A number of people had bandages on their face or nose. I was called at 12:45 and told to go upstairs to another waiting room where the surgery rooms were. After 15 minutes I was taken to a surgery room (there are eight of them on this floor.) and when the doctor came in he looked at my ankle, nodded his head, and told the surgery nurse to start preparation. Then the doctor took a closer look, with high magnification, at some thick and scaly skin on my lower leg, just under the knee, and said he wanted to get a biopsy. The nurse had already numbed my ankle and now proceeded to numb my leg. She said that they always work on the largest one first. The one on my leg was about the size of a quarter, on my ankle the size of the fingernail on the little finger. When the doctor came back he got a razor blade and slid off some of the skin on the leg. He left with the sample. There is a lab on the premises and a reading would be done right away. The nurse put a bandage over the wound and sent me downstairs to that waiting room. At 1:45 I was called upstairs and placed in a different surgery room, different nurse. The doctor came in, said he needed to remove more and proceeded to do it. This time he used a scalpel and was taking one level down, but, I could not tell how far down. He left with the cutting, and the nurse put a bandage on the wound. She explained to me that their method was to take as little flesh as possible while still getting all the problem cells out. Back to the downstairs waiting room again. At 2:30 I was called upstairs again and informed that more had to be removed. I was placed in a surgery room, again different than the two I had previously occupied, different nurse again. We played this merry-go-round two more times, a total of four cuts. On the fifth time, at 5 o-clock, it was all out. Each time I was in a different room. In the last room I was stitched up by the stitching doctor. She was a small lady and did her work just as any other seamstress does. She discovered the elasticity in my skin and said it made her job easier. She did a lot of stitching but for closing up she used staples, I think I counted eight. I have an appointment for next Monday to do the ankle.

Egypt

2011-02-01T16:33:00.000-08:00

Does history repeat itself as we often hear? In 1979 Carter revealed to the world that he would be a weak president on the world stage. He moved to drastically cut the Dept. of Defense, let it be known that he did not support the Shah of Iran, admitted there was a malaise in the land and felt helpless to do anything about it. It did not take long for radical Islamists to demonstrate in the streets, depose the Shah and set up a repressive regime based upon Sharia Law. The Iranians took 52 Americans hostage and thumbed their noses at Carter. Obama is reducing our military, let the world know that the U.S. can no longer be a strong man in the affairs of other nations, apologized for what we had done in the world. He said that no nation should have influence in another nations internal affairs. Egyptians have heard him loud and clear and, like the Iranians before them, are demonstrating in the streets. Like the Shah, Mubarak will be deposed and we will have another country with Sharia Law.

Poll Tax

2011-01-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

When we moved to Virginia in 1952 I had the option, as a serviceman, of becoming a Virginia citizen. I contemplated doing so even though the only party that had a chance at the polls was the Democrat party. I believed that I was a Republican and hesitated about declaring as a Republican since it would be all so futile. Later on I was advised to register and vote because, as a first time voter, I would not be required to pay the Poll Tax. It was explained to me that if I did not vote in the coming election I would be required to pay the Poll Tax in the next election. It was not much but the longer voting was put off all the taxes were cumulative. For many Virginians paying their Poll Tax was out of the question, it was so high. The Poll Tax had been instituted shortly after the Civil War to keep blacks from voting. In those days, very few blacks were able to come up with the money, effectively barring them from voting. Coming from Detroit, I was amazed at this custom so different than Michigan. In order to become a voter, I was informed, it would be necessary to pass an administered eligibility test. Further, I was informed I would be able to pass the test easily, while very few blacks ever passed. Since I would be getting out of the Navy in a year and a half I gave no further thought to becoming a Virginia voter. The law became obsolete during the Johnson administration with Voting Rights Act of 1965. One other strange law in Virginia was that no black could ride in the front seat of a car when it had a white driver. Pat and I had run afoul of this law when we offered to give a black man a ride in our car. We motioned for him to get in beside Pat in the front seat, but he would not do it. He made an effort to get in the back but that required Pat to get out of the car and move the seat forward. We both insisted he get in the front seat. Eventually he did get in but he was obviously very nervous about it. Later, in talking to friends, I was told about this law and our inadvertent violation.

Tuscon Memorial

2011-01-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

Did you see this? It was astounding how it started, an Indian diatribe by someone nobody knew. He was forced to give his life history, forgetting that the service was not about him. As he continued on I was so offended that I wanted to walk out of the room. The atmosphere in that auditorium was like a basketball game, not a memorial service. Those in the front rows had mournful expressions and appeared surprised when cheering broke out. Even Barack and Michelle seemed embarrassed by it all. The scripture readings, to me, appeared to be forced and slightly askew. The parts chosen did not conform to the murder of six people. The president of the University took time to push his school and their accomplishments. Why? Interrupting the President, as if he were giving a State-Of-The-Union address, giving him standing ovations, clapping, cheering and yelling out, was beyond any memorial service I had ever seen. I am familiar with how the Wellstone Memorial Service went down, how it turned into a campaign rally. This had some of the same overtones. It was obvious that the students in attendance were partisan. Did they never go to a funeral service before? Will they act that way when their loved ones pass away? All in all, quite disturbing.

Left Lane

2011-01-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

On the Interstates, to move as speedily as possible, I drive in the left lane. It is my habit to drive slightly over the speed limit. If the limit is 70 I will do 76 in the left lane, if the limit is 75 I will do 81 in the left lane. It pleases me very much to have a car come up swiftly with the intention of letting me know to move over, and I gladly comply. Nothing better than to have a leader car with a speed of 90 sweeping the police off the road with their speed. On I10 the maximum speed in 70 because it is a two lane road. On I75 the maximum speed is 75 because it is three lanes both directions, sometimes four lanes. These are the roads I use for driving between Atlanta and Jacksonville. The trip usually takes 5.5 hours. I did receive a ticket once when I failed to notice repair cones. Fortunately, I was not going excessively fast at that time, but, it did result in my need to take an Internet driving test. John surprised me with the statement that he did not know me to drive in the left lane. Off the Interstates, I am content in driving in the right lane except when there are cars continually turning right. Then, I want to be in the left lane. In the local roads and neighborhoods I am content with driving slowly. It frustrates Pat when she is with me, often saying: "Why are you driving so slow?"

Defensive Driving

2011-01-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

While waiting at a traffic light the other day, I glanced into my rear-view mirror and saw the driver of the truck behind me looking down and to the side. It seemed strange and I continued to watch. When the light changed I pulled away and noticed he was looking straight ahead. When a steady rate of speed was achieved I looked back and he was again looking down and to the right. Hmmn, is he texting or reading something? He was right on my back and I became concerned - if I have to stop fast will he be able to stop? I moved slowly into the right lane, slowed my speed and allowed him to pass. I put a few cars between his and my vehicle. Gradually, I lost sight of him and continued to drive smoothly and listen to my soothing music.

Mama II - History

2010-12-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

Mama was more astute than Papa when it came to school. They had both enrolled in night classes to get their citizenship papers. The classes were in English and she had the edge on him when it came to reading English. Of course, she helped him study to get through the necessary examination. When they were awarded their certificates she got a big laugh out of the certificate that Papa received. The name on the certificate read Meji (wrong certificate) and she often told the story that the state said "You want a certificate? My eye!) It is funnier in the telling. There were times when she wanted to get away from the kids. One day she took me to the new Hollywood Theater on Fort Street, just the two of us. The movie was a Shirley Temple with her dancing and singing. I was four years old and Shirley was only slightly older than I was, yet, I saw her as larger than real life. Nobody I knew could do those things. I was pleased that Mama did not say she wanted me to try to that stuff. After we moved to Navy Street she once again took me to the movies. It was at the Capital Theatre on Vernor and Sargent York was showing. I remember being impressed with his religious conviction, not wanting to be swayed by others and always listening to his mama. When I saw the movie many years later I was impressed with his heroism and awards. Mama did like me best and I think all the others felt it. After all, I was her first born. When I was six she took me to Cunningham's Drugstore and bought me a Banana Split, my first one, and I ate it all, delicious. She had a Sundae which I noted cost less than a Banana Split. I was impressed that she gave me more than she had. While I am on me, for many years she made sure that I got a large piece of yellow cake with the chocolate icing. She knew it was my favorite and baked it often. To friends and relatives she was known as "Bete", a name we kids never called her. When we had company over for dinner that is the name that was most often heard. She always received compliments on her cooking and I could tell she enjoyed hearing them. A contrary incident I remember was when Ti Blanc was over and he proclaimed that he did not like carrots. He further stated that he was going to eat them "for penance." After the company had left, I overheard Mama talking to Papa and she was furious. She felt very insulted that her cooking was used for penance. At this time, we kids were eating with the adults ,but as the family got bigger, we kids were fed in the kitchen while the adults ate in the dining room. We ate after the adults. When they entertained my parents were not big on drinks. During the meal it was always water for adults and milk for the kids. Mama did not drink beer or liquor, her drink was tea. During the party portion of the evening Papa would serve Highballs to those that wanted one. It was a rare person that wanted a beer, but he had it if it was requested. Nobody we knew ever drank so much that they were incapicated. Maybe it was the paucity of the offerings. The lack of strong spirits did not in anyway diminish the enthausiam in laughing, singing and story telling. Papa was a good singer but it took a lot of cajoling to get Mama to sing. She would rather tell a story, she liked to make people laugh. She was good at risque stories but despised outright dirty ones. When it came to makeup Mama was enamored with face-powder and she used it heavily. One day she was talking to the priest at St. Gabriel's and she said something about not having enough time to take care of the kids. His answer: "Well if you would stay out of the bars maybe you would have enough time." He took her for a street walker because of the heavy makeup. I found it peculiar that she would tell this story on herself, yet, it did not change her face-powder applications. The Nuns at the school had explained to her that I was not doing as well as I could in school. One compliant was my poor spelling. For the next few days she sat with me and went over a spelling list. She never did receive a negative comment about me after that. Bernie was another story. He played with Donald Hood when he was in class and got many bad report cards. One Sunday, mama reported that the priest, from the pulpit, remarked to the congregation that he had seen one card with seven "U's". Mama said he was looking directly at her. She was angry at Bernie for all the playing around he was doing. She told him to stop hanging around with that "hood" because he was a true hood. Monday was wash day. I do not know how many loads of wash she did but it was enough to keep her busy for most of the day. (How much could it be when we changed our long underwear only once a week.) When we came home from school for lunch she was in the basement working on it. The wash was dried on lines set up in the basement. On wash day it was excruciatingly humid down there. I was never asked to help hang up clothes or take them down. Maybe the girls did that but Bernie and I escaped that task. Another task from which we escaped was clearing the table and doing the dishes, the girls did that. They did it but not without a struggle, they fought about it all the time. When two were clearing the table it was divided by a line in the middle. Nither girl would pick up what was on the line. Mama, to keep the peace, would clear what was on the line. One task I had was to put dishware up on a top shelf after the dishes were dried. She would always say: "Marcel, you are tall, put these up in the top shelf." I always did it when asked, yet, I do not recall ever anticipating that it was needed and positioning myself to that task. I don't think Bernie was ever asked to it, I was the tall one. She was a good card player, beter that Papa, but she did not flaunt it. She learned to play Bridge and could play well. Papa's game was Pinochle though he also learned to play Bridge. To him, it was always "playing carts." As stated earlier, Mama was a tea drinker. One day Papa offered to read her tea leaves. What she heard pleased her and Papa sensed this which prompted him to offer more often. She never asked him to read them, he had to offer. We kids sat spellbound while the cup was turned over in the saucer for proper drainage. He would turn the cup from side to side and talk about what he saw. One time Mama found something he said unbelievable and challenged him. He took it in stride and tilted the cup for her to see, pointed to some clustered leaves and said it was indisputable. I remember thinking then: where did he see this done, how did he learn to do it? There were other relatives that requested to have him tell their fortune by the tea leaves. It was my observation that Mama placed zero credence in it.

Mama - History

2010-12-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

Alberta Beauregard nee Dalphe, or an alternate spelling, Dalpe, was born in 1900. Her village church was in Ruxton Falls, Quebec, Canada. Her father was the postmaster, had a country store, ran a farm, and at one time was the mayor of Ruxton Falls. Her mother was an American from Boston and spoke English as well as French. Alberta was one of fourteen children, ten boys and four girls. She was the second youngest, the youngest was her sister Irene. I can remember only two of these uncles: Arthur and Euclid, both of whom, in my recollection, laughed a lot. Most of the uncles died young though I do not know what they died of or what sicknesses may have affected their lives. Only four of her siblings were alive in the year 1939. She had a much older sister and one only slightly older than she. The later died early in life of consumption and the older, Emma, had gotten married and moved away to Maine. I do not know when her mother died but it fell to Alberta to cook for the family and oversee most of the household chores. It was she who took care of the store when her father was away. My father first met her when he stopped at the store and she waited on him. He liked her right away but she was not enamored of him. She had a boyfriend and ignored my father. (Throughout his life my father was jealous of this person.) At one point she she had a falling out with the boyfriend and sent a letter to my father and asked if he wanted to take her out. The relationship blossomed into marriage in 1924, she was twenty-four years old and he was twenty-three. Right after marriage they moved to Detroit. She did not want to remain in the local area having seen how the marriage of my uncle Eldage was controlled by my grandmother, Louisa. She was used to running her own household and was not going to have a domineering and controlling mother-in-law. This shows an unusual strength of will to be able to leave the country she was born in, to a country with a different language, and move to a city neither had ever seen. Once in Detroit, she ran a boarding house for other Canadian expatriates, many of them bachelors from the same part of Quebec. She had been used to cooking for a large group and taking care of a large house and it just came natural. She went five years with no children and feared she would not have any. Then at the end of 1929 she had me. After that, children came quickly, she had six more in a short period of time. One died, Teresa, shortly after childbirth. One of my uncles told me I had the distinction of uncorking the bottle. It was during the depression that the family moved to a house on the west side of Detroit, 8364 Navy Street. The house had a piano and many Saturdays there was a soiree until the early hours of the morning. Many French relatives came over for the food and stayed for entertainment. Bernie and I would be put to bed and then bawdy French songs would be sung to the amusement of all. Mama was a closet eater, having to hide from the kids what she truly desired. She liked candy and potato chips and ate them when she thought nobody was around. (Bernie was the family sleuth and would partake whenever he found a cache.) She was a finicky eater and never ate cheese, fish, hot dogs or bologna. When she put on weight my father was delighted, he liked weight on a woman. (He felt skinny females were not healthy.) She was a good cook and all relatives raved about her cooking. We children did not truly appreciate it until we had grown up and tasted other cooking. (Like in the Navy.) She liked to eat and when she was told by a doctor to refrain from some foods she liked, she ignored the advice. Her credo was: If I am not able to eat what I want, life is not worth living. She raised three girls that were also finicky eaters, all stubborn enough to sit at the table long after the meal was through, not being able to leave until they had eaten what had been put onto their plates. Eventually, they won and left the table without eating what they did not like. My mother had pity on them since she knew what they were going through. She went to night school to improve her English skills and got an eigth grade certificate. My father also went but had to drop out because of work and not catching on as fast as she did. The literature she most enjoyed was joke books. She liked to tell jokes to the relatives and laughed as hard as anybody at them. She was an encore teller, repeating the punch line over again to get another laugh.

History - On The Road Again

2010-11-20T16:04:00.000-08:00

Our grandchildren do not know what their grandmother went through in her marriage. This should be instructive for those that cannot move from home, or their city. Here is what Pat did. After getting married, she moved with her Navy husband to Boston, Massachusetts. While in Boston she lived at three different address: Beachmont, Massachusetts Ave. and Beacon St. We did not have much in goods to move and rented furnished each time. When I got transferred to Norfolk, Virginia she moved back to Detroit. When I bought a trailer on the outskirts of Norfolk she moved there. She got a job in the U.S. Civil Service and stayed until I was discharged from the Navy. After that we moved to Detroit and lived with her parents until we bought our new, threee-bedroom, one-bath house in Allen Park, Michigan. Five of our children were born at that house. We did not have money for furniture so we did without for nearly two years. After Tim was born we knew we needed a larger house. We built a five-bedroom, three-bath, four story house in Redford Township. Our family of eight fit in it just fine, plenty of room for everybody. Pat got everybody settled into new schools. We decided to move to Florida for two reasons: Colleen was always coughing, Pat and I got tired of the cold weather. I quit my job at Ford and went to Miami to find a job in the sun. By this time we had furniture to move and my new employer agreed to pay for the move. I was working in Miami and Pat was the person that handled the move. She had to pack everything for everybody and let me know when to come up and we would all drive down together. We only had one car at this time. I had rented a house in Miami for the furniture destination. Pat and the kids lived in a motel until the furniture would arrive. She and the six kids stayed at that motel for almost two weeks because the truck carrying the furniture had a fire. All our stuff was either burnt or had smoke dammage. Pat had to drive me to work each morning and return to get me each evening. The house I had rented went to someone else and Pat spent some time house hunting with all the kids. She found a three-bedroom, one-bath house in South Miami and we moved in when the furniture was available. I lost nearly all my college books in that fire. We soon found we were too crowded and Pat found a house with three-bedrooms, two-baths and a swimming pool. Again, she packed everybody up and we moved. After four years I lost my job, could not find one in Miami, and went back to Detroit for a job. I found a job in Roseville, MI. and a house in Fraser, MI. Once more, Pat packed everything, got all the school transcripts, and drove up with the kids in the station wagon. The house I had rented was a three-level, three-bedroom, two-bath home. The boys had to sleep in a hide-a-bed couch and make that bed into a couch every day because they slept in the family room. After three years, I left my job for more money and we had to move to Van Wert, Ohio. I rented two side-by-side apartments, had a doorway put between them, and it gave us four bedrooms, two baths, two front rooms and two kitchens. I was only ten minutes to work. I had a company car to drive so Pat did not have to get up as early in the morning to drive me to work. Pat, once more, packed everything up in Fraser and I drove up to get the family and drive down with them. I was in Van Wert for less than a year and lost the job. I went back to Detroit to get a job and lived with my parents for a while. Pat stayed in Van Wert until our fates were decided. I got a job in my trade, Automotive Body Designer, but Pat kept saying: "Get us back to Miami," she had had it with Van Wert. I quit my job in Detroit and went to Miami looking for a job. When I found one, Pat was anxious to move down and I found a house with a pool. Again, she packed everything, got in the station wagon and drove down to Miami. We were not pleased with this house, the pool had a leak and the owner would not fix it. Pat searched for another house. She found one in the same neighborhood we had been in before, but no pool. It soon became clear that we needed a pool and Pat found one not too far from where we had lived before. This house had a pool, four-bedrooms and two-bathrooms. After a few years here our situation seemed settled and Pat looked for a place to buy. She found one close by and we bought it, no pool. (I was getting tired of caring for a pool and the kids were not using it much.) I left my job and got more money in Pompano Beach, FL. I commuted there each day, ninety-five miiles round trip. The money was worth it, we also had two cars by now. Eventually, I got a very good job offer in Westland, MI. In a discussion we had, Pat said: "I will stay here and wait for you to get another job in Miami." Sure enough, I was back in Miami in a year, she had dodged another round trip move. After four years, I recieved another good offer in Westland, MI. Once more, Pat said I will wait for you here. I lost that job and found one in Misshawaka, Indiana. Pat passed on that one also. Later, I found a job in Gainsville, Georgia. At this time, all the kids had left home and were living on their own. She was left only with her Mother, Rose. She was working at Eastern Airlines at the time and this time she said, hmmmmm. I can transfer to the Atlanta airport, we could get a house between the places we work, "I'll do it." She sold the house in Miami and moved to a rented house in Norcross, GA. After one year, my company downsized and I was out of a job. I found one in Columbus, Mississippi but Pat said, "You commute, I am not moving to a small town again. I lived in Columbus during the week and drove to Norcross on the weekends. Later, the unions took Eastern airlines to bankruptcy and Pat was out of a job. When Rose died Pat was alone in Norcross. I left my job in Columbus and took a better one in Westland, MI. By this time Pat was not a cold weather girl and said I want to be back in south Florida. She decided to build a retirement home in Naples Florida. She lived there more than a year and decided she wanted to be near some of our kids. She sold the house in Naples and moved to a place in Green Cove Springs, Florida to be near Dawn who lived in Orange Park. When I retired I moved to Green Cove Springs. Dawn and all three of her children, individually, moved to Chicago or Millwalkee. We were now alone in Green Cove Springs and Pat still had a desire to be near some of the kids. She decided to move to McDonough, Georgia to be near Duane and Cheryl. She had a condominium built, three-bedrooms, two-baths, gated community and moved there three years ago. Is it any wonder that when she hears of relatives that will not leave a location they are in to get a job, she looks down on them? Or those that must stay near Mom because they would not know how to run their own lives. Where is the sense of adventure? Where is the taking a chance on your own adaptability? Why the shirking of hard work? Is comfort placed so high that it removes the ability to live a full and rewarding life? She hears of discontent, dropping hopes and obsenities yet, it is she who knows what it is to venture out into the unknown, solve the problems of a new location, work all day to make a home, all while taking care of six kids. She is a hero. She is not like other moms. She is an accomplished worker, care giver, gifted artisan, home maker and lives life to the fullest. It takes life to love life. And, she is beautiful.

Electioneering Overload

2010-11-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

Will they ever stop! No sooner has one election been decided, we are now treated to what the media loves to do, talk about candidates for the next election. Give me a break! Find something else I may be interested in. Already, I am using the mute button for it's intended purpose, shutting off what is not wanted. I may wear out my mute button during the next year and a half. Four years ago we were treated to the possibility that Condalezza Rice would definitely be running against Hillary Clinton, we saw how that worked out. The media is more than likely getting it wrong now. Why should I be interested in their prognostications.

Overheard

2010-11-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

After my class at the "Y", while sitting in the lobby, there were four of us talking. I was conversing with Victor about his business, auto repair for foreign vehicles. We became silent as we overheard the other two talking. Jeff is an Obama supporter and Fred is non-partisan. They were talking about how poorly Obama is doing. Jeff thought he was doing great and Fred was rebutting. Since I was only overhearing their conversation I cannot be certain of all that I think I understood. Fred was talking about government waste and Jeff had asked for an example. Fred said food cards are a good example because many people that have them do not really need them. Jeff thought that was a crock. Then Fred said, "Even I get some benefit from them because my neighbor has a card and I get $100 worth of food by only giving her $50 for using her card." Jeff asked what she does with the $50 and why doesn't she buy food. Fred said, "She buys cigarettes and other things, she really does not need the card." I was aghast at what I heard because I thought highly of Fred. This caused me to change my opinion of him, lowering it. Victor and I did not look at one another. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was, this is not right.

Fruit Of The Spirit

2010-11-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

In the sixth grade at St. Gabriel's, I remember a Religion class in which we were being told about the Holy Spirit. We were being taught from the Catechism and had just finished the seven deadly sins of the flesh. Sister read off the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; all these came from the Spirit. One of the kids asked what longsuffering was and Sister answered. I recall thinking I still did not know what it was, but I was not going to ask for further clarification. I was the kind of student that sat back and listened to all that was being said, not one that created controversy. It is curious that the list of the fruit of the Spirit has this one that implies some form of discomfort or even pain. The others all seem to be beneficial or desirable, but longsuffering appears to be something that is not desirable, too be avoided if at all possible. Yet, it is a fruit. Today, I believe I know what longsuffering is and how it applies to the human condition. For instance: when a person realizes that their marriage was a mistake and decides to stay in it for whatever reason, it is longsuffering that enables the person to continue living a normal life. The other fruit of the Spirit still remains to be savored and life can still be happy. Another example: when a person has an accident and is maimed in some way, it is the fruit of the Spirit, longsuffering, that enables them to live a normal life. I have met people that do not have an understanding of the Spirit that is in them. They live lives that are less than optimal, yet, are unaware of the power that they might call upon. These are unhappy people and I can only wish them well in their life journey.

John Oliver

2010-11-07T14:08:00.000-08:00

Back in 1938, 39, and 40 the bikes that kids used in our neighborhood were mostly made up from junked parts. They included a frame, handlebars, pedals, seat and two wheels. Most bikes had missing parts such as: chain guard, fenders, handle grips and baskets. All bikes had parts that were in poor condition, such as: tires and their tubes, worn seats, rusty handlebars, cut up handle grips, greasy chains, missing or bent spokes. Bikes were basically transportation for nearby places, nobody went far on his bike. It was not unusual to go over to a gang members house and see him working on his bike. The most usual repair was for a flat tire. When I was young I never saw a bicycle tube that did not have patches. Every kid knew how to patch a tube. A tube patch kit cost nine cents and included a tube of adhesive, some pre-cut patches, a sheet of patching material for larger problems. The cap had a rasp punched into it for scoring up the tube prior to patching. All bike owners had a wrench for removing a wheel in order to extract the tube for repair. The tricky part came when it was a rear wheel that was flat and the chain had to be removed to get at the tube. I was most impressed when I first witnessed a chain removed and later put on using the removable link. Bike culture included the swapping of handlebars, painting the frame, affixing a basket to the front, adding a bell, straightening out handlebars or fenders after a bike had fallen, replacing spokes that were broken, even applying the correct amount of oil or grease to a chain. Nobody had the money for a new bike and all kids were in the same boat trying to get more life out of their bike. Older brothers that moved away or went into the Army handed down their bikes to their younger brothers. Nothing went to waste. While playing football in Bennett school ground one day a new kid appeared and asked to play. As we played I noticed his shoes, they were very good shoes and they stood out in comparison to the sneakers and old shoes everyone else was wearing. This was my first meeting with John Oliver. As we played, I became aware of some kids exclaiming about a nice bike leaning along the brick wall. A small group had gathered around the bike which caused the game to halt and all went to investigate. John Oliver had come on this bike and it was a beauty. It looked freshly new with everything that could be added to it. The stir it caused can be likened to what would happen if a Lamborghini car had appeared at a Ford and Chevy rally. It even had a speedometer, something I did not know existed. It also had: a front light, two-tone painted fenders, large reflector in the rear, reflectors on the pedals, exquisite handle grips, a luggage carrier over the rear tire, a horn, wide seat with springs, two springs for a front wheel suspension, Xanadu. I think the game ended there as we kept admiring this bike. I noted an emblem on the bike, it was a Schwinn. I looked closer at John and noticed he had a collared shirt and his pants were pressed. He was playing in his good clothes. I always had to go home from school in order to change out of school clothes, and other kids did too. Yet, every time that we saw John he was wearing good clothes that always seemed pressed, as if he had no play clothes. He was a cool kid. He lived on the other side of Verner and I never saw his house but I felt it must be made of brick. He always had money for a drink after playing, which many of us did not. John Oliver always rode his bike when he came to play and every time he came we always admired his bike, it was a beauty. He only lived in the neighborhood for about a year and then moved away. He opened a window that I had never seen through before. Through that window I saw my first view of a different kind of life, affluence.

Counting Chickens Before They Are Hatched

2010-10-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed lately that the Republicans are going out of their way to maximize what they believe will be historic gains this election. They have forgotten the maxim: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Pollsters have been working overtime to supply polls that will sell. In today's world polls are used to make news and not necessarily to reflect the true state of the electorate. The Democrats, even as I write, are taking steps to minimize their losses by spending additional money of close races. Make no mistake, the amount of money spent does make a difference. On another note, Democrats have been saying that the Tea Party people are only a flash in the pan and will disappear once this election is over. They fail to understand how deep seated this movement is to reduce the size of government and reduce spending. The Tea Party people will be a very long lived movement because of the resolve they have for the change they want. The people that have the biggest surprise coming are the Republicans. There will be Tea Party people that will be elected this time around and they will be marginalized. Their strength will come in the elections of 2012 where the primary fights will be furious.

Cornucopia Kids

2010-10-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

It is apparent to me that this generation is raising kids that get everything they desire. These kids are regarded as foremost in the family. They come before the parents, relatives and grandparents. Affection for these kids goes beyond normal parental instincts where the parents are charged with the role of teacher, advisor, disciplinarian, needs provider and love giver. They help the child to mature and eventually take their place as productive members of society. To fit a person into society means that they must know themselves and where they stand in the universe, by this I mean a religious background. They must be taught about God, what God wants, how to please God and the parents. They must be taught respect for other members of the family (even if they are crazy) and the rituals that are important to the family. They must be taught how to relate to neighbors and their children. They must be told that education is important and they must strive to learn all they can. They must learn that there is pain in this world and that everyone has some in life, along with the understanding that this society runs on money and it is good to have some. All this is done before they attend their first day of school. Today's parents have abandoned much of the above changing themselves into suppliers of children's desires instead of suppliers of children's needs. A child needs shelter, food, clothing and love. The parental response today is to give excessive and sometimes non-nourishing food, provide shelter large enough to give each child their own room, clothe in the latest fashion, transport in an SUV for sports participation, electronic equipment to satisfy every audio or visual whim, and allow the child to pick and maintain their friends and what they do together. All this makes the parents the slaves of the children.

Norman Troshack

2010-10-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

At St. Gabriel's, Norman Troshack was one grade in front of me. He was an altar bay and he was in the choir. I first met Norman in the Bennett school ground while playing softball. We were not close, he was just one of the kids that played there. He played ball well but nothing outstanding. He had some older brothers that sometimes came to play softball. When the older kids came to play we younger kids sat out and watched. If there were not enough players when the older kids played some of the watchers were invited to play, none refused such an invitation. Norman was always asked before I was because he was better. This skill hierarchy was accepted by all. Norman lived on Whittaker near Springwells and his brothers started to play at Wilson school ground because it was bigger. Soon all the older kids went there and we younger kids had free reign at Bennett school ground. Norman continued to play at Bennett, he was just one of the usual kids that showed up to play. Eventually, he left us and went to Wilson with his brothers. In 1940 and 1941 there were a few of the older guys in the neighborhood that joined the Army. Older ball players were becoming scarce and my group got to play all the time. One day after Choir practice, Norman and I began to talk and he walked along with me. I started down Mullane and when we got to Whitaker his route was to turn left to home. He asked me to walk him half way, and I did. We were deeply into a kid conversation, the subject of which I have no recollection. He then said he wnated to buy me a Coke at Cunningham's Drugstore on Springwells. I was shocked at this invitation and we continued to walk past his house and onward to Springwells. When we got Cunningham's we climbed up on the stools and he said he liked cherry Cokes, and bought two. I had never had a cherry Coke and found it delicious. Regular Cokes were five cents but cherry Cokes were six cents. Shortly after we drank the Cokes I said goodbye and went home. I remember thinking at the time how this seemed so strange. None of us kids ever had extra money to treat somebody, why did he do it? Did he learn it from his brothers? I was aware that his father had a good income and his home was better than mine (his house was brick) did he get an allowance? Summer came and I went to Canada for the vacation period. When I came back I no longer went to choir practice and instead got a paper route. I did not see Norman very often and he soon went to Holy Redeemer High School. While I continued to play ball at Bennett he did not come back to play there. I knew it was more fun to play in that larger playground at Wilson. So our lives drifted apart until I never saw him again. I don't know if his family moved away or if it stayed there. A number of families moved for higher wages elsewhere and perhaps that is what happened. Over the years I have remembered his kindness of a cherry Coke and puzzled over why he did it. It was the first time that an associate had ever done that for me. If I could see him today, I would ask him why he did it and how he learned to do that type of kindness.

A Hawk

2010-10-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

While having lunch today, I became aware of a hawk that was circling over the fairway. It was only his shadow that I could see and he appeared to be going in a large ellipse. I got up to see what his target might be and could see nothing on the ground. At times he would swoop low and then rise for altitude. My view was obstructed by my trees and some bushes, but I knew he was not there to while away his time. I have only seen one squirrel in the last week and that was yesterday, could he have spotted mine. The hawks have been doing a great job for the last two years, nearly eliminating our screen damage from them. Pat would become angry when squirrels would run up and down our screens, rush out onto the back porch and yell. Most of the time they moved off but if they did not get all the way off Pat would run at them to make them move off. Dawn's dog, Bonnie, always ran after squirrels and they would jump on the fence and scamper off. Bonnie threw her hip out chasing after a squirrel, cost Dawn some real expense to get her whole again. I'm lucky, not only do the hawks eliminate the squirrels, but if a hawk gets hurt he is on his own. I am aware that the environmentalists are working hard to save the polar bears and their food is seals. What exactly is it that the environmentalists have against seals. On a similar note: on Fleming Island nearby there is a Golden Eagle nest. There are large signs near the bottom of the tree that warn of high fines and jail time if a nest is disturbed. At the street there is even a larger sign giving the same warning. When a Golden Eagle egg is broken - jail time. When a human embryo is disturbed no jail time. Is an eagle worth more than a human?

Dance Of The Lemons

2010-10-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Are you familiar with the term "dance of the lemons"? School administration leaders are. It comes out this way: A poor teacher in a school is reported to the school athorities and parents are upset. The school cannot dismiss a teacher because of the teachers union. In order to take the heat off of themselves, the school administration transfers the teacher to an inner-city school where parents are not as severe or vigilant about the learning of their kids. Do you think this is possible in your school system?

Shovel Ready

2010-10-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today we witnessed the President openly admitting that he does not know what he is talking about. It was an amazing admission and must diminish his stature in many eyes. Many months ago he said he was going to immediately improve the job situation by giving the go ahead for shovel ready jobs. Supremely confidant, he stated that there are many, many shovel ready jobs just waiting to start. Today, he stated that there are no such things as shovel ready jobs. Why would he say that? Why not just continue trying to fool the people that he is all knowing and will get us out of our problems. For me, this is earth shattering. How can he ever be trusted by his supporters again. Those who understand business realize that he is woefully ignorant about how jobs are created and how to expand the economy. As a Marxist, he assumes that the economy is a static entity. Economists know that economies are dynamic and are extremely complex. He may be receiving his first important economics lesson.

8:00 Mass

2010-10-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

It is my custom to attend the 8:00 mass on Sunday. I like to get there early, about 7:35, for quiet praying (this week for Kim) and then to sit back and read the day's readings. After the readings it is pleasant to ponder the thread that connects the three readings. Today that thread was about "thanking" for what we have received. The first reading covered the leper who was cleansed and then went back to Elisha to thank him. The Gospel reading was about the ten lepers that were cleansed but only one went back to Jesus to thank Him. Of course these same readings are read during the mass. After that, today, the Priest's homily was on thankfulness. Therefore, the same message is presented to me three times, through reading, through listening and through instructing. Also pleasing is the four person choir that sings just before the mass starts. Later they sang "Amazing Grace" and it emotionally affected me. There are times when I join in and sing (remember, the person who sings prays twice) but my voice, disappointingly, does not have the range it did in the past. Today, the psalm was sung with unusual clarity, every syllable could be distinguished, I like that. It disrupts me when the psalm is nasally sung to hit every note without attention to the words. Today, John Daigle, a past tennis partner, was sitting on my left, there were three of us in our row. During the "Kiss Of Peace" I reached out to my right but the lady did not take my hand. (It brought to mind the time when the same thing happened with an old man. He later apologized and explained that his immune system was very low and he should not touch anything that might affect it. In fact, his doctor had advised him not to leave the house because of his condition.) She later did shake my hand giving me a big smile. We have four retarded men who live together with a care giving couple. They are usually all at the 8:00 mass. Today, I was amazed at the quantity of wine that one of them drank during communion. That was one gigantic sip. It amused me to think of him draining the cup leaving nothing for those following. I wondered if one of his care givers had seen it and if he would be re instructed in the correct procedure. After mass is over the priest will come forward and conduct what I most detest. He asks if there are any birthdays and inquires the age, whereupon all the people clap for each one. After this comes the inquiry, any wedding anniversaries. A person will call out the number of years and again all clap. Next, any visitors, and they will call out where they are from, again all clap. While it is inane to me, the people seem to like it. When the priest exists walking down the isle, small children come forward to hold his hand and walk with him. Sometimes there will be ten children surrounding him each holding one of his fingers. Yes, a peculiar sight, and it is not easy for him to walk without stepping on them. The kids love it.

What To Make Of It?

2010-10-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

Scenes of the 10/2/10 rally have just been shown and I was shocked with the condition of the mall and some of the monuments. There was trash everywhere, particularly discarded signs and literature. The memorials, at almost any other time, are treated with reverence, every scrap of paper is picked up by whoever sees it. Why did this happen? Did these people truly represent the environmentalists in their party? Aren't they the ones that lecture others about a clean planet? I am disgusted when someone at McDonald's does not clean their trash and throw it in the bins provided. Very, very few people will leave trash on their tables, it is just natural to pick up and discard. I am confident that many of the people at the 10/2/10 rally have eaten at McDonald's and have discarded their trash in an appropriate manner. Why not at the rally? The group on 8/27/10 cleaned up after themselves and left the mall without any paper on it. Why did that happen?

Kim's Funeral

2010-10-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

Pat and I have just returned from Kim's funeral in Clermont, FL. Kim died from a massive heart attack while at home. John was there right after she fell to the floor. They called 911 for an ambulance but John believes she was dead before they took her away, she was 54 years old. Of course, it was a surprise to everyone. Monica is so frail that we all thought she would be dying soon. I wondered how Monica would take this news but, as far as I could tell, she handled everything fine. Her memory is so bad that I joked with Pat that each day she is told it will be news to her. Todd was there with Angie and Linda, having come up from Fort Lauderdale. They were there on Wednesday night during the evening showing, the funeral mass the next morning and the lunch after that. Todd and Angie look great, they have started on an exercise regimen with a personal trainer. Linda is still on her diet and has such a sweet disposition and so easy to talk with. A curious thing happened during the funeral mass. There was a ray of sunlight that played onto the casket from time to time during the service. John had his nine year old grandson, Austin, at his side who asked him what was happening. John told him the angels were doing it. He accepted that explanation. Krista was the most distraught person during the whole episode. She had periods of crying and loud statements. I understand she was given some Xanex but it did not seem to help. She did rally enough on Wednesday evening to recite a statement about her sister. It was well done. In the funeral home, about ten feet from the casket, there was a TV screen that played picture-slides of Kim's life. Music was added to it that made the experience of waiting in that room rather comforting. It was set to continually cycle. The funeral home was filled with people and many had to stand. There were many people from Disney and Martin that came; they also came to the Church, Blessed Sacrament, for the funeral mass. The Church was full. There was a lunch provided after the funeral mass attended by about 120 people. It was all managed by a friend of John's, she was very thorough. All the flowers from the funeral home were there and it was most colorful. Todd mentioned that he was close in age to Kim and it had him worried. Pat told him that Lori, Monica and she were all pregnant at the same time. All three were born within a few months of one another. When Pat talked to Duane on the phone he also said he was worried. The priest gave a homily about always being prepared for death, "because we know not the hour or the day when we shall be called to make an accounting." He called her a young person and said her life was cut short in the eyes of many people, yet, she had lived as full a life as she could. Lori and Bernie were not there, they were out of the country. Todd said he had no idea how to get in touch with them. He was even concerned about how he would tell them because he was supposed to pick them up at the airport. I told him he should know how to do it, he was the one that told them that their house had burned. He laughed and said:"Yeah, and my Mom said which one?" Mitchel and Danny, Kim's son, were pall bearers; Ryan, Debbie's son, and Bob, Debbie's husband, were also pall bearers; the others I did not know. We got to talk to Mitch's ex-wife, Robin, who is a most impressive conversationalist. She is a strong person and I can see why she did not get along with Mitch. She has remarried and now has a subservient husband. She had custody of their child, Colton, for a number of years. She said that when Colton wanted to play baseball she realized that he now needed his Father more than her and let him move in with Mitch. Colton is now living and going to school in Jacksonville. He attends North Florida University. Kim was to be cremated and when Pat asked John what would happen to her ashes he said he would keep them at the house. We got to see John's house after the lunch. The house is situated on a hill with lots of land around it. We saw the two horses that are no longer ridden, just living out their lives. John says he will have them until they die. This is the house that John and Kim designed and they have since added a pool. Kim wanted one so that the grandkids would be able to learn to swim there. Kim enjoyed her life as a child and wanted her grandkids to enjoy theirs as well.

Assassination

2010-09-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

The National Security Advisor, Brennan, indicated that the White House has an assassination list and that there are about 15 people on it. Further, he said they are Americans and are located all over the world. I was aware that belligerents in Afghanistan were being targeted by drones for assassination and Obama had to personally approve when they were to attack, and he has done so. The amazing thing about this new information is that there are Americans on that list. Americans have rights that cannot be taken without court action. Apparently, Obama can just give the word and an assassinating can take place. Can this really happen? We don't know because the White House does not give out this information. Glenn Beck wondered if his name was on the list and inquired of the CIA if he was on the list. They would not say, replied only that they could not search their files for this type of information. Glenn is still wondering if he is on the list.

Lindsey Lohan

2010-09-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

This morning the coffee group discussed Lindsey Lohan who is in the news once more. She was busted for drugs again and has now been released without jail time because she now will be wearing an ankle bracelet. We were all mystified as to how this prevents her from obtaining and taking drugs. John (the Baptist preacher) was of the opinion that payoffs are at the base of her ability to continually escape incarceration. Payoffs are illegal and it is hard to believe that so many would be doing illegal acts for her. I contended she has a support system that profits when she gets into trouble, all legal. For instance, her atourny does very well defending her, if he needs investigators they get on the payroll, protection (remember all those big black guys that are always around her) is necessary, court fees are always paid, does the baliff get anything? Does the judge get anything? Then there are the various people that suppply whatever she takes. Each city may require diffferent people. The car rentals for her and her bodyguards are also collecting. All these people are her support system, they all profit when she gets into trouble. Now is added the ankle bracelet people who supply the bracelet, attach it, monitor it and eventually remove it. It is in the interests of all these people that the drama continues. During our discussion someone asked what movies she did. As it turned out, none of us had ever seen any of her movies, nor could anyone think of the name of any movie in which she appeared. Yet, we had all heard of her and knew of her troubles with the law. Some remembered a picture that showed her getting out of a car and she was not wearing any panties. This prompted Bob to say that he once relieved himself in the woods without pants and no one made a big deal of it. We asked if he had a picture so we could judge whether it was a big deal or not. No, as it turns out there are no cameramen following Bob around. We can add cameramen to the Lohan support system.

Local News

2010-09-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

Recently, three restaurants in Green Cove Springs closed within one week. One was from a national chain, Huddle House. Yesterday, one of the smaller restaurants was being opened again under a new name. That location has already had three restaurants in it and all failed. The entrepreneurial spirit still exists as folks determine that they can make a go of it even though others have failed. Yesterday, the police department voted to get out of the Police Officers Union. Our sheriff, Rick Bessler, said it was a vote of confidence in his administration. The people around here have great respect for our sheriff, we are lucky to have him. Section eight housing in this town has a sign up on the highway stating that there are places to rent. It has been up for over two weeks. It is my belief that more Mexicans have moved away.

Cuba

2010-09-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Miami in the early sixties just as Cuba was expelling it's "gusanos", as Castro called them. These were the capitalists that realized there was no place for them in Communism. They were the hard working people who saved their money and invested it. Most had property and they did not want to share it with Communists. Castro and Che Guevara put pressure on them, executing many by firing squad. Those that could fled to Miami to save their lives. They were not allowed to take out their money and had to leave their property behind. Castro confiscated it all. While working in Miami I met many of these displaced Cubans. They were hard working, trust worthy in business, energetic for additional work, and it seemed they were everywhere. To begin, they lived in multiple family homes but soon earned enough money to get their own home. A Cuban home is well cared for, has a good appearance, often with a wrought iron fence on the perimeter of the property. As a whole, they were a credit to Miami. When they first arrived the U.S. government subsidized them, but they are a proud people and soon got off government welfare. In the U.S. they prospered. Recently, the Cuban government has announced that they are laying off 500,000 people, most of whom are a drain on the Cuban economy according to Raul Castro. They are being cut free and there are no jobs to be had in Cuba. There is no private sector in Cuba to give them jobs, the capitalists left long ago. These are the people who are not used to working and depended on the State to care for them. They did meaningless jobs and have few job skills. Castro had fifty years to show that Communism/Socialism works and this is an admission that it fails. Yet, in this Country, we have a leader that believes he can make socialism work.

Choir

2010-09-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

We did a lot of singing at St Gabriel's, in every grade. When I was in the third grade a Sister asked me to join the choir. She also asked two others in the class, Robert Letters and Danny Cristman. The choir sang at the Sunday High Mass and I cannot remember whether it was at eight or at ten. There was a practice every two weeks on Thursday at six in the evening. The twenty members were comprised from grades three to eight. The three of us were front and center in the choir loft, Danny to my left and Robert to my right. As far as the three of us were concerned it was no big deal, just something we were asked to do. From all the accolades we received we must have been pretty good. Sister mentioned that the collection was larger when we sang, it must have made Father Burke very happy. After about a year in the choir there came a day when Sister was cocking her head to hear the three of us sing. She would ask one of us to stop while the other two continued. We all had a turn at this, I had no idea what she was listening for. Liking to play in Bennett school ground I began to skip practice. It did not seem to be a big deal because others were often missing. It was after one of the practices that Danny asked me to go over to his house to play. He lived it the corner house on Whittaker next to the Bennett schoolyard. Danny was an only child and had lots of toys. It was he that introduced me to comic books. He also had Lincoln Logs and lead soldiers, it was fun to be with him. His Mother would come into the room to check on us. I was always struck at how thin she was and her skin was yellow. I later found out she had yellow jaundice. She died when we were in the fourth grade and the choir sang at her funeral. Shortly after that Danny and his father moved away. Robert and I became closer, he always had some funny stories to tell, and he made me laugh a lot. One day after school he taught me to shoot craps. I cleaned him out at first but after I loaned him some money so we could continue to play, he won all I had. A lesson learned. Sister, who was the choir director, announced that she had received a large donation for the choir. She decided to have a picnic at Belle Isle for the choir. We went out on a bus with four Nuns to oversee the picnic. Robert Letters did not go but a Nun had asked Robert Ingrum, who was in my class, (and to me he was a suck-up) and I did not like him. The whole thing was a disaster. The Nuns had brought a bat and softball but did not understand how to lay out a field. Only a few members could actually hold a bat, all very boring. The Bennett school ground players were pros compared to this group. There was a small rain shower and it broke everything up. We quickly ate the lunch that was brought while sitting on wet benches. Shortly after that it was over and we went home. The semester ended and the choir director did not come back next September. The choir did not meet again.

Eight, Twenty-Eight, Ten

2010-08-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about the event at the Lincoln Memorial, I thought that would be a great place to go. As events began to unfold I grew stronger in the interest of going. Why not go? I have the time, the interest, the car, and I know where it is at. Just like going to the Tea Party it was only a matter of getting up and going. The more I thought about how large the crowd would be and the scarcity of parking spaces I slowly leaned toward not going. Then, it was announced that buses were being rented and it was possible to ride on a bus, for a fee of course. The buses could be found on the Internet. When I opened that site there were flags all over the United States. There were many of them on the Jacksonville area but so many that they could not be distinguished. I gave up. However, the more I thought about it I realized that there must be some way to zero in on the area desired. Yep, it did have and I soon found three buses leaving from Jacksonville, none from Green Cove Springs or Orange Park. I checked all three sites and two of them were being run by the same woman. One was leaving from north Jacksonville and the other from south Jacksonville. It was obvious that if one bus filled another would be obtained. Opening her site was tricky, I had to fill out my credit card info. or other method of payment. All I had to do was sign-up. I held off. Some hard thinking had me looking seriously at my situation. The long bus ride would not be a problem. Standing in the hot sun for six hours gave me pause. I have trouble staying out for three hours in the sun. (Recent Braves baseball game taught me that.) The walks I could handle. Sitting down is a necessity, but sitting on the ground would leave my legs very stiff. In the end the physical demands overruled it all. I knew the event: "Restoring Honor" would be a historic gathering but I would reluctantly miss it. The event drew about 500,000 people and it is reported that it was like one huge prayer meeting. There was no politics, no signs, no confusion, no hostility - everybody was nice to one another. Dr. Alvedia King spoke, Glenn Beck spoke, Sara Palin spoke. Albert Pujols, the baseball player, received a medal for "Hope". Two hundred and twenty clergyman from all denominations intertwined arms and prayed together. When the crowd dispersed there was no trash, the area had a pristine look. Wish I had been there.

Quarks

2010-08-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

While strolling around a flea market I spotted a book by Stephan Hawking: "A Brief History Of Time." It was fifty cents and I believed I could not go wrong adding to my knowledge of Time. He mainly divides the book into two parts, the first covers the Cosmos. A great deal of it I have been exposed to, even enjoyed some of it on the Discovery Channel. Of course, in this book there is much detail and it pleased me that I was able to follow it. The second part of the book covered quantum mechanics. Now I am well versed in the Atomic Theory and knew from chemistry that there was something smaller than atoms. Indeed, electrons and protons forming an atom, valences, mass, spinning particles and electronic charges. When he introduced quarks things got very interesting. It was here I began to reread paragraphs and asking myself what is this stuff? I have concluded that in order to understand it all an engineering degree would be of great help. Struggling through the next two chapters brought me to the conclusion that I was not going to understand quantum mechanics. I skipped to his definition of black holes (Hawking's speciality and about which he wrote his thesis) and it was all too confusing, it was necessary to understand what was in the previous chapters. The description of how white dwarfs are created had my head spinning, I just did not understand. The book has been set aside without completion, I do not have enough time to study it all. My understanding will have to wait for when I enter the next world.

Keynes

2010-08-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

When I was attending Henry Ford Community College many years ago, I took an Economics class in which we discussed Keynesian theory. The professor presented his theory in a positive and supportive manner. I bought into it completely and felt myself in the know about Economics. The book by Keynes came out in 1936 and in it he stated that the government must step in and stimulate the economy when the private sector falters. He was pointing to the recent Great Depression, of which at time of the books publication, we were still in. This was support for the programs Roosevelt had tried when he became president. Roosevelt was a hero to my father, and not knowing anything on my own, Roosevelt was a hero to me. It was all so clear - if there was not enough money in the economy then the government would add money into it. Big government people loved this theory and they promoted it wherever they could. They took credit for ending the great depression and stated it was proof that the theory was correct. For me: "Yes, yes, my professor suports this and he is so smart, I support it too." (The typical response from the young with a skull full of mush.) After many years in various jobs in the private sector, I came to understand that the world is not that simple. The great depression did not end by government pump priming but by the needs of WWII through the private sector. If it were not for that war the depression would have continued. The Keynesians were taking credit that was not due them. This Keynesian theory continued to be taught and the academics loved it. What makes an economy function well? It is certainly not large government. Many countries have tried the Keynesian theory and all have failed. The socialists are the major supporters of big government and they try it gleefully, only to find they fail. Obama is a beliver in Keynesian theory and is attempting to use it in his "fundamental transformation" of this country. It is just too bad that he has not had experience in the private sector which might have opened his eyes to the truth.

Deuteronomy

2010-08-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

There are many quotes from Deuteronomy in the book "America's Prophet" and because of that I decided to reread that book in the Bible. I was amazed at the redundancy. It is as if it was written for a small child. Also, the number of times that there is a reference to: "because you were also aliens in a foerign land" it seems that it is on every page. The whole book is only 33 pages long, but a lot of instruction is in that space. A full reading also provides the answer to the question of: "Why did God call the Israelites a stiff-necked people?" It is amazing that they cannot follow what God wants them to do when they see what he does for them every day. It is possible to see where some of the laws of Islamic Sharia Law originated. Many of them are there in Deuteronomy for all to see. It makes me give a sigh of relief that we are Christians and are no longer subject to that Law.

Voting the Incumbent Out

2010-08-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

My Republican congressman has served this community for 22 years. He always votes with the party leaders and his record is highly conservative. This primary I am voting for his opponent who has come from the Tea Party movement. Starnes will try to stay in office for the rest of his life. This new person is for term limits, the Fair Tax, smaller government, closing the border and 2nd amendment rights. When we asked Starnes a question about the Fair Tax, his answer revealed he did not know it at all though he said he had read it and supported it. A startling thing has happened in the adjoining congressional district, Corrine Brown (D) has an opponent. He is black and has some tie with the Tea Party movement though I don't know what it is. That would be something if she would lose her seat.

Bell, California

2010-08-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

One of my hopes for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren is that they should be good citizens. They should understand the city, the state and the country in which they live. To do this it is necessary to be vigilant about those that serve them. Vigilance requires effort, study and staying informed. Why do I hope this? Because there are people who attempt to deceive the people that they say they serve. An excellent example has recently come about in Bell, California. In this city of 30,000 people the Mayor and the Police Chief have been taking salaries that are way out of line for the work they have been doing. The Mayor was drawing almost $800,000 and the Police Chief was drawing over $400,000 per year. How did this happen? Where were the people when salary increases were proposed? Why was there no published information on salaries and pensions? Where was the opposing party that might have made inquires? Who ran against them in elections that might have exposed the thievery? When the citizens did find out about their officials they asked for an accounting. The thieves, promptly resigned. Are there other cities that have this same type of people working for them? While this is an egregious, case we can be assured that there are more, they just have not been uncovered yet. To my progeny - do your due diligence as a citizen. Do not wait for someone else to do it. That is what people were doing in Bell, expecting others to do it. Be a credit to yourself and your community.

Cheese

2010-07-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

My first taste of cheese came from grilled cheese sandwiches made by Momma, American cheese as I recall. While she made these sandwiches for us kids she never ate cheese in her life. Papa ate cheese and relished it. The first taste of pizza, very delicious, had Mozzarella cheese. When Papa entered his first pizzeria he was overcome by the smell and could not breathe. In his young years he had shovelled cow manure, horse manure and had pigs whose manure exhibits a highly offensive odor. Yet, he could not abide the smell of a pizzeria. Later, I found that adding Parmesan to spaghetti sauce gave an extra tang to pasta. Pat used to sprinkle it on salads for that pleasant taste. Bernie and Lori introduced me to Brie which is very creamy and great on a cracker. If you like butter on a soda cracker you will love the taste of Brie on a soda cracker. When we lived in Van Wert, Pat and I would go to a Greek restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was there I learned about Feta cheese. A Greek salad, served with our steaks, had crumbled Feta cheese in it. The taste just jumped out of the salad and into the taste buds. The town of Van Wert is the only place that makes Lidercrantz cheese. I tasted it once and it was not to my taste. Lidercrantz cheese is served in most five star restaurants in the world, the cheese course comes after the desert. A restaurant in Canton, Michigan used to serve a hamburger that was stuffed with Blu Cheese. Everyone raved about it and I finally decided to try it. They were right, it was excellent. We went back often. I began to buy Blu cheese by itself and eat it with crackers, the green parts in it have never bothered me. I have tasted Limberger cheese but it was a little too strong for me. At a party, a tray of different cheeses was passed around. I sampled some Jarlsberg, Provolone, Monterrey Jack and Sharp Cheddar. Most I had tasted before but the Jarlsberg was very pleasant. Since then I have bought my share of Jarlsberg. Without exception, I always have New York Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese in the house. Recently I have been supplementing my cheese consumption with Asiago cheese, which has a strong smell and very tart taste on the tongue. And, Momma never tried cheese in her life.

The Aristocracy

2010-07-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Anyone that has read some European history is aware that there were ruling classes in all the countries. It began with the king and his attendants, then the nobles (counts, dukes, earls, knights, etc.) were the rulers of the kingdom. The king appointed judges over the people to make decisions over their problems. Relatives and friends of the nobles were given favored positions in the government and they were part of the aristocracy. They supported the king and the regime because it was their source of power. Like the game of chess they do what they can to support the king. In this Country we also have an aristocracy even though we like to pretend that we do not. Our aristocracy is composed of people that wield power over all the people. First come the families that we always see in power: Roosevelt, Bush, Kennedy, Rockefeller, Dodd, Gore, Daley, Dingle, etc. Others that support these families are the leaders in the administration, those that head up the FDA, EPA, DOA, DOJ and all sorts of additional acronyms, the political parties, the appointed judges, the congress, and the mainstream media. An extension of the aristocracy are college professors, high school teachers and even some grade school teachers. All these people look out for one another, promote their writings, sayings and appearances. These are members of the government or are receiving money from the government. In the United States our government is supposed to serve the people under the rule of law. No matter what political party, more and more we are seeing that the people are not being listened to and the government that affects them is getting bigger and bigger. Our freedom is getting smaller and smaller.