When We Moved to Texas.

It has been many years since I moved here to Texas.  Well, I didn't move "here", I first moved to an apartment in Baytown.  It didn't take me long at all to know I wanted to get back out in the country, so I started looking and found some vacant property.  Moved out on it and stayed in my pop-up tent camper.  It didn't take long for my wife to want to move, especially after she got snake bit.  To make a long story short, we got our first double-wide and put it on that property.  So, as you can see, we were not really very rich or we would have bought a nice house in the Woodlands or some other fancy place.

When I traveled for business or pleasure, people would always ask where I was from.  When I said Texas, they would then ask how many oil wells did I have and how big was my herd of longhorn cattle.  Back then, people who have never been to Texas, thought all Texans' were rich.

Of course, things were different back then.  There were two classes of people, the rich and the not rich.  Around the time I first came here, there was no middle class and therefore very few middle class homes to buy.  That eventually changed with the influx of more non-Texans moving to Texas.  But back then, the easiest thing I could do was to buy a parcel of land and put a double-wide factory built home (trailer) on it.  That first double-wide moved to the Dallas area with me.  It also came back to the Houston area with me, and after I upgraded to a 32x80, it turned into a storage area.  So, as you can see, I don't have a dozen or so oil wells and neither do I have any cattle, but I do wear cowboy boots, blue jeans, western shirts, and a cowboy hats.  So, yes, I have a wonderful wife and family, so I am truly a rich Texan.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

It's a Long Way To....

I got thinking of an old World War One song.  It kept going through my head.  NO!!!  I am not old enough to remember WW1, I wasn't born until near the end of WW2.  So, you may ask, how did I know about that song?  Well, I'll tell you.

When I was a kid, I used to go to a church related summer camp.  It was a great place nestled in the green mountains of Pennsylvania and staffed by young adults who were our counselors and who kept us entertained.  They took us on hikes, watched over us as we went swimming, and took great care of all of us.  But sometimes, they came up with skits to entertain us at supper time.  That was many years ago and I may not get the story just right, but maybe you will get the idea.

Once, they told a long, boring, drawn-out story about a fellow who lived years ago and owned a large, dirty, and loud bird called a "Rary", and it may have been the last of its kind.  The other citizens in his fine community couldn't stand the noise, smell, and sight of it and therefore, they decided to get rid of it.  They waited until the owner of this Rary bird left to visit friends in another town.  The towns people snuck over snatched that bird, dragged it over to the cliff, and tossed it over.  One of the bystanders said, "Dang, that is a long way to tip a Rary".  And that is how this WW1 song got its inspiration.  And you thought it was the town of Tipperary, Ireland, didn't you?


Instead of a large, ugly bird like this, or


like this:


Just in case you don't think there was such a song, here is a link to it:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipperary
Or this one, where I got the first picture above:  http://firstworldwar.com/audio/itsalongwaytotipperary.htm

OK, do any of you out there remember that song?  Yes, I know very few of you are that much over a hundred years old, but maybe you heard a parent or grandparent or uncle or some other older family member sing this song.  The tune keeps going through my head and I only got it second or third or fourth hand.  Now, have a great day, you hear?

Just Browsing.

I was browsing around the internet this morning and stumbled across some pictures that tickled my funny bone.  I am not sure if any of you have the same sense of humor as I do but just maybe you will get a little chuckle out of these pictures.

This first one is quit explicit:

OK, if you already read that sign, you did just what the sign said not to do.  I guess you can't be trusted to do what you are told (grin).

Suspicions confirmed!!

This U.S. Air Force Aircraft Identification Chart tells it like it is, right?  Anything that flies and isn't a conventional type aircraft can only be a weather balloon.  Like I said, my suspicions were just confirmed in this chart below:

Well, once I decided to write the fabulous story of my life and, well, as you can see how that turned out: 

I guess that I will leave you with a prehistoric animal exposing himself to all the kids in the toy shop.  Now that is really bad!! 

I hope I at least put a little smile on your face and hope that most of you got a big laugh out of it.  So I will leave you with the flashing toy etched into your minds. . . have a great day, if you can, you hear?

Try To Make a Personal Rhyme.

I was laying in bed last night and started wondering if I could make a one sentence poem that started with my name.  My name (the first word) had to rhyme with the middle word and the last word.  Now, that sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?  Well let's see. . . I will try a couple right now.

I will start with my nickname, Dizzy.

"Dizzy is so Busy he's in a Tizzy"

Yes, I know "Busy" has an "U" instead of an "I", but it is pronounced the same.

OK, now let's try Dick.

"Dick sure can be "Quick" when doing a "Trick".


Now, using my real first name, Richard.

Richard is a wizard in a blizzard.

Now, it is your turn.  I want you to try it using your own names and post your short rhymes along with your comments.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

Bad Weather On The Way.

We sure could use some rain, but would prefer just some nice easy rains, which it is doing right now.  But this IS Texas, and Texas is known for everything being BIG!!!  They are predicting some heavy rain (possibly up to nine inches), hail, and possible tornadoes.  That is what they said on the news last night.  This morning we are getting that badly needed rain, not heavy and not stormy, just steady drizzle.  This morning, there is no mention of severe weather.  Could it be that they got the weather forecast wrong?  NO!!  That could never happen (grin).

We got all our shopping done yesterday.  The sun was hot but the breeze was cool enough that I could open the car windows and sit in Hobby Lobby's and Micheale's parking lots while my wife shopped at those two places.  Then we went and got our groceries.  Glad we got that all done before the bad weather hit.  It may stay rainy here for a few days.  That is OK, because my wife and my pups bring lots of sunshine into my life.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear? 

Is There Life Out There?

If you were going to search for life somewhere other than on Earth, where would you start?  Think about it for awhile before you read any further.

I couldn't see how there could not be some form of life some where in this humongous universe.  There are billions and billions of stars and I would think that there would be at least a few planets revolving around most of those stars and a percentage of them would be in the "Goldilocks" area.  And where is this area?  It is different for different size stars, but the main thing that describes it is that the Goldilocks area is the area where planets can have liquid water.  Now it doesn't say that they have to have it all the time at the surface, but if the water is frozen on the surface, there can still be liquid water under it.  So, if one was to search for life in some form or another, you must follow the water trail.  Water is essential to all life as we know it.

Some organisms can get the water that they need out of the air, but most need liquid water.  So the possibility of liquid water is what astronomers search for on planets and planetesimals when in search of extra-terrestrial life.  You did notice that I said "life as we know it".  There is speculation that other forms of life may have evolved and live off of methane or something entirely different than what we do.  Now, you all have a great day and watch out for all those other life forms, you hear?

Wondering About George Pullman.

Today is March 3rd.  Yep, you say, so it is.  Well that may not mean anything to you but it affected my life quite a lot.  Well, sort of.  Maybe I should explain.  It was way back on this day in 1831 when a man was born that affected my life.  Who was that man?

It was George Pullman.

And a picture of him in his younger days:

No, I never met the man, he was born a hundred and twelve years before I was born, 1831 and died in 1897.  But he was the one who started the Pullman Company which later evolved into Pullman-Standard.  My first real job was with Pullman-Standard, located in Butler, PA.  Worked there for over seventeen years.  So I salute you, George, for giving me such a good start in adult life.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?