Now comes the hard part!

Now comes the hard part!!!  The Northeast, especially New York City and the New Jersey shore, will be trying to clean up the mess left by Sandy and get things back to normal, if that is possible.  It will take a long time to asses the loss of lives and even longer to get things back to normal, if that is even possible.  Winter is coming on and that will greatly increase the problem.  Somethings can never be replaced, some building will never be rebuilt, some people will never return; Sandy was a life changing disaster.  It seemed very strange to me to have such a huge storm this time of year and form and travel that far north.  I would like to see a scientific study of the mechanisms that caused this storm to do what it did.  Maybe weatherunderground.com will have some additional information.  My wife discovered that site a long time ago and we have found that as far as weather is concerned, it seems to be the best spot to get accurate and up to date information.

The excitement and terror has faded and now depression will set in for many.  The extreme amount of work needed to clean up and restore things is mind boggling.  Where does one begin and when?  Like I said above, now comes the hard part!!!  You all have the best day that you can today, you hear?

Wondering about Halloween

The modern celebration of Halloween (coming up tomorrow) can be a lot of fun, especially for the children.  They dress up in costumes and go "trick or treating" around their neighborhoods to get a loot of candy and fruit.  People have Halloween parties and bob for apples or try to bite hold of them tied to the ceiling by string.  This all seems to be innocent fun until you look at the what a holiday to honer Saints (All Hallows Day) turned into.  The original "Holy Evening" was observed on the evening before All Hallow's Day.  Although it was named as a Christian feast, the traditions owe more to the ancient Celtic festival Samhain.

It was suppose to be a dangerous and magical time when supernatural influences were at a peak, pagan gods walked among mortals, the spirits of the dead returned, and spirits of all kinds were at their most mischievous and destructive.  Large bonfires were lit to keep the spirits away along with sacrifices to appease them.  Sort of sounds like "trick or treat", right?  It seems even in modern times that we have forgotten to honer the Saints but rather to honer the devil and all that is evil and scary.  I am not going to go on, but even the bobbing for apples has it links back to the ancient times.  Seems it was a way to determine marriages.  We do not celebrate the holiday and since I live way back off the road and keep our outside lights off, we never get very many, if any, knocks on the door.  I do not open my gate, but the drive way divides and the other one will come to my house.  So, who knows, we may get tricked or treated.  Now, you all have a great day stock up for tomorrow night, you hear?

Wondering about Sandy

I sure hope that all you who live in the east and north east part of the U.S. will be able to safely weather hurricane Sandy without any problems.  Since it is so chilly up that way this time of year, the wind and the rain will feel even worse.  It seems that flooding will be the biggest problem, and throughout history, the cause of the most casualties during hurricanes was drowning.  Not only because of the huge storm surge at the coast but also because of all the rain that a hurricane dumps around it.  The power grid will go down in many locations which means that if you get caught out in the wind and the rain, most of you will not have a warm place to dry out in.  Those of you who have wood burning stoves or fireplaces, make sure you bring in plenty of dry firewood.  Draw enough water to store and last through the duration of the storm and the clean-up and repairs that will follow.  Public utilities may be down for many days, depending where you live.

Please, all of you who are now or will be affected by this storm, please be safe and keep us all informed on the conditions if you can.  It is another cold morning here and a really nice day is expected.  Hurricanes cause very serious severe bad weather in some areas and really nice weather in other areas.  Like the old real estate agents' saying goes, "location, location, location."  Now you all have a great day, you hear, or at least try to make the best of it by staying safe.

Wondering why it is so cold.

Dang, it is 38 degrees here where I live and I am not very far from the Texas Gulf Coast.  For here, that is cold even for the middle of the winter but not for this time of year.  Yes, it is suppose to warm up to the upper 70's later today, but it is rather cool here right now.  I am blaming it on hurricane Sandy that is now approaching the North East Coast.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining and actually kind of like it for a change.  It would really be terrible of me to complain about a little cool weather when the North East is about to get hammered by wind, rain, and probably flooding.  I have lots of relatives and friends that live in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states.

This is a really bad time of year to get such a bad storm.  I don't know how cold it will get up that way, but with homes damaged and power outages, it will, in some cases, that people will  have to go into a survival situation mode, trying to stay warm and dry.  I heard it may drop 8 inches or more of rain.  If it would turn cold enough to make that turn to snow it sure would be really bad.  One inch of rain is equal to ten inches of snow so if they were to get the predicted amount but turned to snow it could dump up to eighty inches of snow.  That would be demise of a lot of people.  Either way, it will not be a good situation in that area and I feel really bad for the people living there and hope they all are able to survive and actually stay fairly comfortable.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you all up that way, so if possible, have a great day now, you hear?

Wandering home yesterday.

We came back home yesterday making the round trip to be 465 miles.  Had to fight a very strong crosswind and light rain the whole way home.  That is a long way to go just for two nights.  Someday, maybe, we will head back out there but will do it on a Monday.  That park is too busy on the weekends and then they also require reservations for weekends well in advance.  Tried to make a reservation when we pulled in Wednesday, but everything was full.  Was also sorry that we couldn't meet up with Trouble.  May not get back that way for a few years, but who knows.


OK, a few more pictures.  This is a side view of where I was parked:

And one of me driving out of the park:

This is a picture of the park road.  About a half dozen deer went across the road in front of us on our way out but didn't give us a chance to get pictures:

Did you notice the rain drops on the windshield on both pictures?

After we got out of the park and into civilization, I noticed some neat sayings on the back of some vehicles.

Here is a close up view:

And a little further along:

And a close up:

OK, sorry I am so late but I didn't get this all done before it was time to go to the flea market.  OH Yes, my wife had to go to the flea market.  So, that was our quick couple of day trip.  The RV got a good workout and so did I.  Now, you all enjoy the weekend, you hear?

Wandering around Inks Lake State Park

Since we will be heading for home today, we did a lot of wandering around the park.  There is way too much to see when only staying for two nights.  Yesterday's blog showed where I was parked and as you could see, it is only a few paces to the water so I just couldn't resist taking a fishing rod down there and tossing a lure or two.  I put on a plastic worm, and cast several times and got a bump on about the fifth or sixth cast.  OK!!!  This is the way it is done and what it is all about.  On the next cast I hooked him (or her).  Snapped a picture and released it.  Now Billy Bob and Barney, who is the fisherman???  OK, it was not a huge hog bass, but hey, it was a bass and I had not thrown a lure for years.  I was happy.

Looking back from the lake side, You can see that my parking spot was not level at all.  In fact, I had to pile up some wood for an extra step to get into and out of the RV.  I put some boards under the front leveling jacks to help keep them from over extending.  It kind of looks like it is about to take off and fly away. . .

Took lots of walks (we have three dogs you know) plus a few walks without the dogs.  Here is one picture we took on a walk looking back at our motor-home:

This park is not too crowded during the week, but they told me I would have to make a reservation well in advance to spend the weekend here and that they are all filled up this weekend starting Friday night.  That is the main reason we are starting for home today.  I also took a picture from the other side of the cove.

The weather got very windy last evening.  I tried to fight the 20 to 30 mph winds and fish for awhile anyway, but you guessed it, not even a hint of a strike.  Yep, I got to get back to this park for sure.  Wish it were not so far away.

It sure doesn't look very promising weather wise this morning.  Still windy but not as bad as last night and it is spitting rain.  Maybe after I post this I will search for some weather reports.  Doesn't matter, still have to be out of here.  Would have liked to have stayed another day or two, but they said it will be filled up starting this afternoon.  Ms. Trouble didn't show up yesterday and my email to her came back undelivered.  OH well, I know she is busy with her son and I am sure we will be back when we can stay longer.  It is just too far to come for a two days; over three hundred miles one way.  That is the maximum I will drive in one day in a RV.

OK, got to run, lots to do.  I would like to take another long walk before I fold this thing up for the trip home.  You all have a great day today, you hear?

Wandering to Inks Lake State Park.

Got a wild hair and decided to take off for a couple of days.  Let's see, where should we go.  I know, how about Inks Lake, the place that Billy Bob, The Old Fatman, and Trouble all talk about.  In fact Trouble lives very close to here.

Well, like an idiot, I went to the "web" and planned the route.  After a day or two of loading stuff (we got lots of stuff), off we went Tuesday morning.  Well, almost 200 miles I had to admit I was not going to our planned destination and got a little mad and turned around and came home.  The RV needed some road time work out and it got it.  That part of the mission was accomplished.  I checked a real map and wrote down the route to take with a little help from the internet.  So on Wednesday, we decided to try it again.  Wow, I drove and drove and drove and finally we were about half way.  Too far to turn around so drove some more.  Now I realize that I went the long way around and am going to try a different route home.  It took all day to get here, but made it.  Here is picture looking out the front window where we are parked on spot 44:

Nice spot!!  How about a couple more pictures:

Tried to get an extra day but found out that this place is packed on weekends.  So, will head on home in the morning.

Tried to contact Trouble via email, using the one on her site, but have not heard anything back.  Would like to meet her in person, but I know that she is really busy right now with her son going in for back surgery.  My Verizon "Hot Spot" thingy I bought for traveling is working well here but my cell phone is not.  Don't understand that, I thought they both used the same towers since they are both Verizon.  Trouble, if you read this, leave a comment.  Now you all have a great day today, you hear?  I am sure going to try.

My Son's Deer

My Son, stopped by on Monday and showed us the antlers of the last deer that he shot.  I think that it is a nice looking rack and one to be proud of.  Here are a couple of pictures:

That buck had a wide spread for sure.  Not bad, not bad at all.

I also noticed this frog sitting inside the center mounting hole in an old tire.  He seemed so contended and happy.  I bet he didn't need to move at all to keep himself well fed.

Is that a lucky shamrock plant beside him?  Maybe he turns into a Leprechaun at night.  Maybe he is protecting his pot of gold.  Maybe I just have too big of an imagination. . .  So you all find your pot of gold and have a great day, you hear?

Answers to yesterday's quiz plus other stuff.

Here are the correct answers to yesterday's TV show location quiz:

1-M
2-B
3-F
4-G
5-H
6-L
7-E
8-D
9-J
10-A
11-K
12-I
13-C
14-O
15-N

So, how did you all do on the quiz?

As I was watching "Marshal Dillon" (the older half hour version of Gunsmoke), I noticed Chester's Uncle drink coffee from a saucer.  That got me remembering back when I was a kid.  That seemed to be common practice for a way of cooling the coffee down enough to drink it right a way.  I saw lots of people do that back in the 1950's or so.  I guess it was considered to be proper etiquette at that time.  I noticed lots of things on that old show that reminded me of some of the sayings around my area where I grew up in western Pennsylvania.  I told you about some of them a few blogs ago. Got things to do, so you all have a great day, you hear, and sip coffee from your saucer if you want to.

Wondering about old cowboy shows.

I am sure I told you before that the two most watched channels on my TV are RFDTV and The Western Channel.  I like the old cowboy shows.  This weekend, when I was at the flea market, I found a cowboy cookbook.  This cook book has a long title: The All American Cowboy Cookbook - Home Cooking on the Range by Ken Beck & Jim Clark.  And by "range" it doesn't mean the kitchen appliance.  I have not had time to even scratch the surface of what all is in this book, but so far, I must say that I am glad I purchased it.  It is more than just a cook book.  It has pictures of famous cowboys and actors and lots of trivia about old TV westerns and movies.

The first trivia test was a list of 15 locations and 15 TV western series.  I missed a couple but did fairly good.  In a test like that you can't miss just one, if you miss one you have to miss another one because in your first miss you used an answer to some other question.  Now since this book has a copywrite date from back in 1975, I don't think they would mind me quoting some of it, since I did give them all the credit.  Here is their list of "Where In The West?", so let's see how you do.  I will give you the answers later, maybe (grin).  Just match up the first column with the second:

1.  Fort Apache                              A.  Gene Autry  
2.  Virginia City                              B.  Bonanza
3.  Fort Courage, Kansas                C.  Zorro
4.  Dodge City                                D.  The Rifleman
5.  San Francisco                            E.  Wyatt Earp
6.  Laramie, Wyoming                     F.  F-Troup
7.  Tombstone                                 G.  Gunsmoke
8.  North Fork, New Mexico            H.  Have Gun Will Travel
9.  The Double R Bar Ranch             I.  Yancy Derringer
10. The Melody Ranch                     J.  Roy Rodgers
11. Medicine Bow, Wyoming           K.  The Virginian
12. New Orleans                              L.  The Lawman
13. Monterey, California                   M.  Rin Tin Tin
14. Langtry, Texas                            N.  Bret Maveric
15. Sweetwater                                 O.  Judge Roy Bean

Now we will see which of you are old west show watchers like me. You don't have to list your answers in the comments unless you want to.  We all would like to see what you think is correct, though.  I will, this evening, give the answers in a comment.  So say good bye to the girl, kiss your horse, and ride off into the sunset, you hear?

Wondering if you were wondering about my wife's shoes.

I am sure none of you guys out there gave my wife's shoe shopping therapy outing a second thought but I bet some of my female readers wondered what the boots she bought looked like.  She also got a new purse but I don't have any pictures of it.  So, just for those who are interested, I took a couple of pictures of her with the new boots on as we were heading out to the flea market yesterday morning.  Actually, I think that they are really nice.  Here are a couple of pictures for you to look at.  You can decided if they are nice or not:

This morning, she has already got Super Glue on her fingers.  If it is not new shoes it is super glue.  She is always getting into something.  Now, if she goes to the flea market this morning, they can call her "sticky fingers". (grin)  You all have a great day and be careful with that Super Glue, you hear?

Wondering about stories from my childhood, part 1

Now don't get worried, just because I said in the title that this is part one doesn't mean that I will ever get around to doing a part two.  I just put it in the title so that I could do a part 2 and 3 or so and not get them mixed up.

I got thinking last night about one time after we moved to the country and I started school.  I don't remember my exact age when this happened, but I can narrow it down to at least six and less than eight.  My parents had bought me a toy bow and arrow.  The arrows had suction cups on the end and it came with a target that was a picture of a life size tiger charging you.  I would set the target up leaning on a big bush near the edge of the yard.  My mother would always tell me to pick my things up before it got dark and I would usually do so, except for this one evening.

That one evening, just after the sun set when no one was out side, I hid behind the tiger target.  I was very quiet and tried not to move or make any commotion at all.  When it started to get dark, my mom came outside and started calling me.  She wanted me to pick my stuff up so the dampness of the night would not harm them.  She yelled a few more times but must have thought that I took a walk in the woods or the other side of the house, so she decided to pick all my stuff up.  The first thing she did was pick up my bow and arrows laying next to a lawn chair.  Then she folded the lawn chair and took it in.  She came back out and walked over to the tiger target and was reaching to get it when I growled and holding on to the target, leaped forward.  I thought my mom was going to die.  It scared her a lot more than I had anticipated and I was lucky she didn't have a heart attack or stroke right there on the spot.  I actually felt sorry I did that nasty trick but actually it was worth the long, long, silent wait crouched behind that target.  We both laughed about it after she cooled off, but she never, ever went out and picked up my tiger target again.  That job was always left for me.  I wonder why?

It is unseasonably cool this morning (in the high 40's) but will climb into the 80's by afternoon.  My wife is feeling so much better that she wants to go to the flea market this morning.  I am so glad she is doing so well.  I guess that the shopping therapy she did at the shoe stores really worked (grin).  Yes, she has her new boots on today.  Now you all have a great day today, you hear?

Wondering about solving problems and puzzles.

Almost all problems can be solved using similar methods for solving puzzles.  The most important thing is to have all the pieces (puzzle parts or information) needed to complete the puzzle.  There are many different ways of going about solving things.  Some focus on a small part at a time while others try to see the complete picture.  I believe a combination of the two are important.

For example, lets look at a few kinds of fun puzzles, like jigsaw puzzles, cross-word puzzles, and sudoku; the latter being my favorite.  In jigsaw puzzles it is important to have all the pieces, but where do you start.  Most people start with the corners and edges first and then maybe a part of the the picture with unique colors and or shapes.  Cross-words can be worked different ways but I usually skim down the clues from the first and put in the ones I really know then go back and try to match some existing letters to some other clues.  Now sudoku is my favorite.  I carry a book in the Jeep so if I have to wait anywhere (like in doctors' offices) I have something to do that I enjoy.  Sudoku is groupings of nines; nine squares containing nine boxes, and from left to right and from top to bottom there are nine spaces for the numbers 1 through 9.  Sounds simple but sometimes it gets very hard, but I really enjoy working them.  But what I am trying to say is that what ever your puzzle in life is, it is important to have all the pieces, a plan to start and solve the puzzle, and the patients to work it out.  Now you all have a great day with no problems or puzzles that can't be easily worked out, you hear?

Wondering about my wife's therapeutics.

Tuesday, I took my wife back to see the eye surgeon for her post opp check-up.  He said she is doing great and this coming Friday to cut back by one the number of times she gets her drops, and do that every Friday until they are either all gone or the number of times she gets them each day drops to zero.  That was good news for her, but the ride home was terrible.  There was a double fatality accident and they had the road shut down.  After waiting for an hour or so, I finally decided to turn around and find another way around the jam. So yesterday, to recuperate, my wife wanted to go shoe shopping.  Since she said it would make her feel much better, I agreed to take her.  She decided to go to the outlet mall north of town first:

She looked in this store but didn't find anything that was just right:

Then we went to another strip mall next to I-45 and we went into this store.  They had some nice stuff and everything was half off.  She found a nice pair of boots that she liked and we all went home happy and she did seem a little better after her "therapy".

I am not much of a shoe shopper.  I haven't bought a new pair of shoes or boots for quite a few years.  I prefer to shop for other more practical things, like sporting goods, hunting and fishing stuff, RV stuff, and other really practical and usefull things.  Now you all have a great day, you hear?

Wondering about wandering black holes.

Sometimes real life and real science can be scarier than in fiction.  Let's take black holes for example.  Most of the Sci-Fi movies about black holes are so inaccurate and far fetched that little truth seems to show itself anywhere in the show.  We have a huge giant of a black hole in the center of our galaxy.  I am sure it helps hold our galaxy together and without it, we may have never had the chance to be here.

True to their name, we can not see them unless they are feeding or from the affect they have on their surroundings.  Not all black holes are in the center of galaxies and not all are huge giants, but they all are heavyweights, for sure.  In fact they are so heavy and dense that even light can not escape their gravity, that is why they are called "black holes".  I saw a show on one of the science channels about them and it said that there were a lot of lone black holes wandering through the universe.  They are invisible to us unless they get close enough to something for their gravity to affect them.  One of these lone wanders could sneak quietly into our solar system and since most of our solar system is empty space, the chance of it interacting with something is rather slim.  But, it would surely find itself to the center where our sun lives.  If that happens, that black hole would find a real feast and would feed off our sun for many, many years.  This would not be a good thing, for sure, as our sun would grow smaller as the black hole grows larger.  I will leave the rest of this story to your imagination, but I would think it would not have a happy ending.  Astronomers believe that there are a lot of these small wandering black holes out there that were created by large dying stars.  If the star is not big enough to form a black hole it would create a neutron star and I wouldn't want one of those getting too close to our solar system, either.  The night sky is beautiful but there are dangers out there also.  Now, if you can, have a good day, you hear?

Wondering about plastic.

Plastic has become such a large part of our lives it is hard to think of a time when people didn't have plastic.  Back then they would have had to wear clothes made from plant or animal parts and use things that were designed to last for use after use after use and not throw-a-way things.  Actually, plastic has been with us for a long time, way before I was born.  A simple plastic was first created back in the 1850's and since then almost everything has been made from it.  In 1907 an American scientist came up with Bakelite, a "material of a thousand uses".  It was used to make at least a "thousand" items, that is for sure.

The next year cellophane was invented.  I suppose the most thought of product it was used for is cellophane (Scotch) tape.  No, it wasn't invented in Scotland; so why was it called "Scotch" tape?  Well, one day a frustrated company tester yelled, "Take this tape back to those Scotch [miserly] bosses...and tell them to put more adhesive on it".

Bacterial and fungi can not consume plastic because the plastic molecule is too large for the microbes to digest.  So, I guess someday when they take a picture of Earth from space it will look like a ball of plastic (grin).  I have heard that there are floating islands of plastic in the oceans.  Sunlight can break down plastic but it takes time and can't possibly keep up with the production rate.  Remember back when most things were able to be recycled and used over and over again?  We need to come up with better ways of reusing plastic.  Oh well, maybe someday the favorite vacation destination will be to a floating plastic island.  I always try to look on the bright side of everything.  So, go get dressed in your synthetic plastic clothes, drink your juice poured from a plastic container into a plastic "glass", put it back into a partly plastic refrigerator, and get into the beautiful plastic interior of your car, and have a great day and if things start falling apart, hold them together with cellophane tape, you hear?

Wondering about a tool chest.

Last Friday, when my wife was in the preparation room before she went to surgery, I noticed a big red Craftsman tool box sitting out in the hall.  It was on wheels so could be moved around.  I pointed it out to my wife and told her it was where they kept the wrenches, claw hammers, screw drivers, chisels, files, drills, etc. that they wheel to the operating room with you so they have a choice of what tools they will use on her eye.  Of course they will use the rubber mallet first, right?  It just looked so out of place in such a perfectly clean environment.

I know you are tired of hearing about this subject so will only update if there is any change, but for now you must either bear with me or skip to another blog.  My wife changed into a hospital gown which must have been a "one size fits all" because she only weighs 92 pounds and stands 5'-2" tall.  She wrapped it around her a few times.  Then she got to sit in this very comfortable looking reclining chair and the suit was plugged into a unit that blew warm air into the suit blowing it up so much I though I may have to tie her down so she wouldn't float away.  She had a temperature control in her hand, so had control over the heat blowing in.  Even with the heat turned off, it still blew the air in.  Now tell me, doesn't she look comfortable:

That surgical center was really great.  They made sure that she was comfortable at all times and the personnel were really friendly.  It made her short stay there as easy and comfortable as possible.  She was treated just as great after she got out of the operating room.  Our highest praise for the people at Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Red Oak, located just north of 1960 and west of I-45 north of Houston, TX.

Tomorrow, she goes to see the doctor for her post surgical check-up.  She is doing just great, but it will take some time for her to adjust.  Now you all have a great day, you hear?

Wondering how much and when it will rain

I woke up this morning hearing lots and lots of thunder out to the west of us.  The seven o'clock weather report on the TV said that there was a line of very strong storms with lots of lightning going to slowly move through our area.  The heavy storms are trailing in a line from southwest to northeast and that line is now to the northwest of us and moving slowly to the south.  My oldest dog is so afraid of thunder and most everything that goes "bang".  I worry about her when she starts shaking real bad.  If I notice her starting to shake, I may give her some "Rescue Remedy" that seems to help calm her.

I bought a rain/wind gauge at the flea market last Spring and have been meaning to put it up since then.  I only seem to think about it when it is raining.  Oh well, I just now hear the first drops of rain on the roof, and the thunder is getting louder and louder and even before I got halfway through this sentence it is coming down in bucket fulls.  Of course the satellite TV went off the air.  The TV just came back on.  That is one problem with satellite TV, very thick thunder storm clouds can and do block the signal.  But it does surprise me how well it does work even in bad weather.  Now, you all have a great day today whether the weather is sunny or stormy, you hear?

No flea-marketing this morning.

Don't think we will go to the flea market this weekend.  Not that my wife couldn't go, it is just safer to stay home until she gets completely healed.  She sure doesn't need to be exposed to any flying dust or dirt at this time, so the prudent thing is just to stay home.  She goes back for a post surgical check up this coming Tuesday.  The main thing is that she is in good spirits and is feeling a lot better.  In fact, she just got through watching a half hour of "Marshal Dillon" on the Western Channel.  My son just called and she is now talking to him on the phone.  She says that she is having some difficulty adapting to aligned eyes but the doctor says that it will take her about two to four weeks to completely adjust.  So far, everything is working out just fine for us, so we hope today will be great for all of you.  So have a great day, you hear?

Update and wondering where my blog went.

I tried to update today's blog, but I messed up and lost the whole thing.  Oh well, just wanted to let you know that I got my wife home and put in bed.  I don't think she is quite woke up yet.  By the way, Trouble, she didn't need cataract surgery, this was the kind where they went in beside the eye and cut some muscles so her eyes will work together.  This was a lot worse than the cataract surgery I had done, for sure.  She was told it would take four or more weeks to heal completely.  For a little while now I will be chief cook and bottle washer.  Glad the surgery is over.

Wondering about high dollar auction items.

Do you like auctions?  I do, but I rarely buy anything.  I sure wouldn't be in the bidding at some of the high dollar auctions I have heard about.  I like things that have to do with science but some people do not.  So, what if we compared some high dollar auctions, one for science related items and one for the rest of the things that went to auction in the past.  In science, a writing (Codex Leicester) by Leonardo de Vinci sold for $30.8 million where as artwork (The Scream) went for $119.9 million.  OK, let us try again.  In science, John James Audubon's first edition book, The Birds of America, sold for $11.5 million where as a Stradivarius violin went for a lot more, $15.9 million.  Large fossil skeletons (Allosaurus and Stegosaurus) went for $2.7 million but  Babe Ruth's jersey from 1920 went for $4.4 million and Ulysses S. Grant's sword even brought $1.7 million.  An Egyptian sarcophagus from around 1000 B.C. brought $120,000 but a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles early drawing demanded $72,000.  Now since we all like candy, a single brown M&M flown on SpaceShipOne brought in $1400.  Now I just want you to know that none of the above are in either my nor my wife's colletions.  I like auctions but not at those prices!!  How about you.  Now go collect some great stuff and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering about cars.

Most everyone now-a-days has at least one car.  It hasn't been that awful long since they were first seen on the roads.  Mr. Ford had a lot to do with that.  Ever hear the old saying that back then you could order any color model-T as long as it was black?  Well that is not exactly true.  When they first came out, you could order almost any color and black was not one of them!  Later (in 1913), to simplify production, Henry Ford started painting them all black.  He was the father of the production line and kept trying out new innovations to speed up production and lower costs.

Every vehicle designed to travel on the roads rolls on tires.  The modern tire is another fantastic thing that most of us take for granted.  Normally, the average car has only about 100 sq. inches of tire touching the road at any given time.  100 sq. inches is equal to 10" by 10".  Not much contact area to accelerate, brake to a stop, corner, etc.  The modern tire is quite the engineering feat.  Ever watch a top fuel drag race car reach over three hundred miles per hour in less than a thousand feet?  The tires are one of the most import parts of the process.  If you can't get that 8 to 10 thousand horsepower hooked up to the ground, you don't go anywhere.

It seems anymore that cars are getting so automated with warning devices and cruise control and some even have auto-braking, that they could drive themselves.  Oh yes, did you know that the state of Nevada is the first state to issue a license for self driving cars?  Yep, they did.  So where are we headed?  I, for one, do not want to give up control over what I am driving, how about you?  You all have a great day today and be safe if you go out on the roads, you hear?

Wondering about fishing worms and trout streams.

Back when I was young and still lived at home, I spent a lot of time fishing on the closest crick.  Yes I mean crick, not a creek.  Do you know the difference?  A creek is beautiful, crystal clear, cascading water over rocks creating waterfalls and quite pools.  A crick is a stream that usually has cows wading in it and old refrigerators and junked cars and who knows what hiding in the depths.  OK, the stream that I fished was somewhere between the two.  Now, I have fished some beautiful mountain creeks and even caught cut-throat trout out of the Yellowstone River back when I was 16.  When at Yellowstone, a bear tried to steal my stringer of trout tied to the shore.  I waded in as fast I could and swatted it with my fly rod and it ran away.  A fellow saw that and said never do that again that I was lucky I got away with it.  He said the week before someone did that and got mauled.

OK, back to Pennsylvania when I was a boy.  There was never enough room on most of the cricks I fished to use flies, so the good old night crawler or earth worm was the bait of choice.  Part of fishing was getting the bait.  There used to be a pile of old hay at the edge of the woods a little ways from our house where worms could be found around the bottom edges.  I also would go out at night and catch night crawlers.  Sometimes that didn't provide enough and it took a lot of time.  So, I found me a steel rod and bent the end in a vice to form a handle.  The other end I sharpened to a point.  Then I found an old extension cord and taped the hot wire to the rod.  The electricians tape was the insulation.  It worked great, especially in wet ground.  You see, you just plug it in and stick it in the ground and if there are any worms around they just come popping out of the ground.  I learned real quick not to grab the worms that were too close to the rod!!  But this gadget worked well and I always had a quick source of worms to use as bait.  I could collect a days worth of bait in a couple of minutes.  You did have to be careful with it, or you could fry yourself (grin), but I was young and indestructible, or so I thought.  Now you all go fishing if you can or want to, but what ever you do just enjoy yourselves, you hear?

Wondering about my wife's fleet of buses.

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The above picture is a big Greyhound loading passengers.  Greyhound has a whole fleet of buses.  Now, my wife is not one to be outdone, so she acquired a whole fleet of special buses, the ones that Country Singing Stars have.  Of course, she bought hers at the flea market yesterday and they are not quite as big as the real ones.  Here is a picture of her fleet of buses:

My wife did not want to be held down to the ground so she just had to also get a blimp.  Now just not any blimp will do, it had to be the Goodyear Blimp, because we know the guy that used to pilot it.  

 Now that she can go by air or land, we will have to work on the sea part.  Now what should it be, a motorized yacht or one that is powered by sails, or both?  Actually, I think my bus rates right up there with those shown above.  Now, you all have a very great Columbus Day today, you hear?

Wondering about an old saying.

I am sure that all of you have heard the saying "three sheets to the wind", but I wonder just how many of you really know where that saying originated.  Like a lot of old sayings, it came from nautical terms back in the days of the great sailing ships.  OK, Sixbears, tell us what it is, you are a sailor, I bet you know.

Since I want to get all this blog posted, I will go ahead and tell you and not wait for his answer.  First, what is a sheet in old nautical terms?  If any of you guessed that "sheets" were sails, you are wrong.  Sheets were the ropes at the bottom of the sails that tied the bottom of the sails down.   The old sailors used this nautical term to also describe the state of drunkenness that they or their buddies had got themselves into.  OK, you guessed it, there were three levels; one, two, or three sheets blowing in the wind.  The more sheets (or ties) that were blowing in the wind, the less control they had over the actions of the sail.  Kind of made sense and like Paul Harvey used to say, "now you know the rest of the story".  Now you all have a great day and keep all your sheets tied down, you hear?

Oh, by the way, it was really cool here this morning.  It got down to 52 and is not suppose to get out of the 60's today.  It was over 20 degrees warmer yesterday.  This is nice for a change.

Just some more trivia from when I was 16.

I have talked about 1959 before on my blog.  February of that year I turned 16.  That is a wonderful milestone in a boys life you know, it was the legal age to get a driver's license and it was the year I took that two two month trip with my Uncle, Aunt, and cousin in their Airstream trailer.  Anyway, I thought you might remember some of the music from that year.

How about a Broadway Play called "The Sound of Music"?  Can you remember who played the lead role?  No, it wasn't Julie Andrews.  It was Mary Martin.

Remember Neil Sedaka?  1959 was the year that he gave up his studies of classical concert music for the world of rock "n" roll.  That is the year he recorded "Oh! Carol".

There were other notable songs popular that year.  One was very unexpected when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's recording of "The Battle Hymn of The Republic" made the top ten charts as did George Jones's "White Lightning" which, by the way, took him 83 takes before "it's a wrap" was proclaimed.  It was rumored that he was sampling too much of that "white lightning".  (grin)  And last, Ringo Starr joins the group "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes".

OK, I am going to quit before I get too boring, but you haven't heard the last of 1959.  I liked that year, how about you?  Now, you all have a great day today, you hear?

The aftermath of a day's trimming.

Went out early this morning and took some pictures of the aftermath of yesterday's trimming.  They are suppose to come back and do some hand trimming around my power pole where my main breaker box is located.  The sun was just coming up so the lighting isn't very good, but it is the best I could do.

 That last pole way in the back is close to where my son's house is.  Before the power company did the trimming, I could not see his house from my house.

This next picture is the same as the first one except I tried to show the top of the trees which they trimmed back.

Just throwing in another picture of the same stuff, just because I took it.

And it is always nice to end the day with some blooming wild flowers.  I have shown pictures of these before, so now you know that their blooming time is almost all the time:

I hope they come back and finish the hand trimming today.  Would like to get it all done.  I do have to say that they did an exceptional job and spent a lot of time on my place.  They even came back and picked up and ground up all the stuff that they had cut.  Now you all have a great day today, you hear?

Wondering about right-of-way trimming.

Every few years the electric company comes around and trims its right-of-ways of brush and intruding tree limbs.  I have electric coming into my place and when my son moved in on the rear of my property, he had it continued on down to his house.  I had to give the power company a right-of-way to his house.  It was a busy and noisy place around here yesterday and this morning.  The last one of the mechanized machines just left and they said that in a day or so some people would come around and do the remaining hand work with chain saws.  Till then, I will leave my gate open.  Do you want to see one of their main units?  OK, here is a picture of the main trimmer:

The boom on this machine extends twice as far as you see it here.  It was unbelievable how far it could reach.  It cut the top branches out of huge oak trees.  It is a very versatile machine.  The other one was for grinding up what was cut up:

And of course there were people cutting things with a chain saw.  This is the part of my driveway that can be seen from the house and the tractor from the above picture is in this picture, also:

In the first picture above, that machine with the saw on the end of a telescoping boom was sitting where I usually park the RV.  So, I had to move it out to where my driveway goes through my front lot to get it out of the way.

That gave me an excuse to drive it a bit.  In fact instead of backing it back in, I took it for a ride around the block.  That was fun and I didn't forget how to drive it. . . yet.  Now you all have a great day and try to work in a little bit of fun, you hear?

Wandering in my imaginary space ship. . .

I got bored yesterday and since I didn't want to work on anything (lazy is the word you are looking for), I decided to take an imaginary trip in my imaginary space ship to the imaginary Planet-X which is in the same orbit as Earth but a hundred and eighty degrees apart.  This always puts it on the other side of the sun where it can not be seen by people on Earth.  Of course our satellites and probes have discovered it but they will not make it public information because it seems to be populated by (what else) X-men.  So, the only way to let the world know about this place is for me to blast off in my faithful old space ship and go there and take pictures from a high orbit.  Of course this is putting myself in peril, but I will go to any extreme to get a good subject for my blog. . .

After my warp speed trip of 10 minutes, I found my self in low Planet-X orbit after I came out of suspended animation (I fixed my suspenders so I didn't have to be so animated by grabbing my sagging pants all the time).  I then started to scan the surface and the first thing I spotted was a sand dune supposedly formed by the wind:

A little further along, I spotted this mountain range.  Those peaks must be thousands of feet tall:

I then flew over this young volcano.  You can tell it is fairly new since the color of it is different than the surrounding land:

Now here is an older volcano.  Notice the color is the same as its surroundings:

So far I had not seen any signs of life and then I saw them, radar domes.  Too late now, I am caught in their radar scopes.  They will be coming after me soon, so I may have to cut my trip short and turn my ship back toward Earth.  Here is a picture of the radar domes:

They came out in their all terrain vehicle to see what was flying around up here.  I am sorry to say that for my own protection and to give me a chance to get turned around and run for home, I had to shoot it with my stun gun beam which shoots a beam that looks just like a huge finger.  It worked!!  As you can tell, since I am posting this blog, I made it home.  Here is a video of the last few harrowing moments on that planet fighting my way off:

OK, I am back on Earth and it sure feels good to be home although short trips to the unknown are exciting as long as you make it back. Now, you all have a great day and keep your feet firmly planted on this world, you hear?

I have tried three times to upload my video.  It is not very big but it always seems to fail.  I will try to figure it out and maybe get it on latere.

Wondering about my knit-picking dog.

One of my wife's many hobbies is knit picking.  She has many knit picking looms of different shapes and sizes.  Last night she was using her big figure eight knit picking loom with her faithful dog at her side.  I walked up and he raised his head to see me and to make sure I knew he was protecting my wife and he got his head through a loom opening.  I thought it was cute and funny so took a couple of pictures.  This is the first one:

He is quite content to be in any position as long as it is beside his Momma and he will protect her with his life.  Don't ever get too close to her when he is there.  He does not allow that!!

In that first picture he was giving me one of his warning stares.  I backed off and he relaxed.  I got this second picture without him noticing what I was doing:

Maybe one of these days I will gather up all her different looms and take some pictures of them, but for today the figure eight loom and Mr. Chang Lee are the subjects.  Chang just hates to be alone.  My wife is his number one choice but if she leaves the room, even for just a few seconds, he is up beside me.  I guess that I am second choice.  I would rather be the second choice than never chosen.  Our three dogs are like children to us.  Now you all have great knit picking day, you hear?

Wondering about my wife's followers.

We bloggers wouldn't bother blogging if it were not for our followers.  If no one read our blogs nor commented on them, it would soon become a chore with no pleasure at all.  I love people and just love to talk, so blogging gives me a chance to chat with people that I would not otherwise have met.  Of course I met a few bloggers who were instrumental in getting me started.  I met John of "The Field Lab", and David of "Terlingua or Bust", and Billy Bob of "Billy Bob's Travels", and Penney of "pennys-tuppence" and since then many, many more.  Also, the late Ben Woods of "An Older Texan Remembers" had a lot to do with it, too.  I would like to meet all my blogging friends in person and hope to do that if possible.  Some I may never meet, like Keith of "The Flying Tortoise, who lives in New Zealand and many more. I now have 76 followers and hope I can please all of them and want to thank all who take the time to read my ramblings.  I have had 104550 page views and have posted 784 blog postings.  That is an average of over 133 views per post.  Yes, I know some are just automated search engines, but I am humbled by the numbers.

My wife has followers, also, even though she has never posted a blog nor even wants to.  Let me explain, every time she heads to the kitchen she has three dogs that follow her.  If they are all sleeping and she rattles a bag in the kitchen, they magically appear at her feet.  You see, she cooks for our four footed fuzzy members of our household.  They have never eaten store bought dog food except for Milkbone Dog Biscuits which they sparingly get as treats or bribes.  Our pups are a major part of our lives and are with us almost all the time.  So you see, you don't have to blog to have followers.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?