Happy New Year and Trying to Fly.

Sure hope 2014 turns out to be a wonderful year for all of you out there in Blogger Land.  A new year is supposed to bring new hope for the future.  Let us hope this coming year will do just that.  But, I always remember what my ole Dad always told me when I was feeling depressed.  He would say, "Son, nothing is ever so bad. . . that it can't get worse!!".  I will always remember that, then when things get better, I am pleasantly surprised (grin).

Last Friday I went out to load the two full garbage cans into the back of the Jeep to take them down to the road for pick-up and I had a little unexpected flight.  When will I ever learn that man was never made to fly on his own (well, maybe Superman could)?  You see, I was carrying two full plastic garbage cans, one in each hand, and when I took the first step to go down the porch stairs, something happened and I found myself and the cans flying through the air heading for the ground below.  Here is a couple of pictures of the porch stairs:

And of course, this picture is looking down them.  I fell right down the middle of them:

Thank goodness I was carrying those cans because I landed on them and they broke my fall.  Even though the whole experience was traumatic to my old body, it sure could have been a lot worse.

After what seemed to me to be forever, I finally seemed to have shaken my cold and cough.  Oops, I just coughed.  Oh well,  I guess I have almost shaken off my cough.  Now, you all have a great day today, you hear?

Wondering about taking some time off.

Don't have anything to say today.  I think I will take today off and tomorrow and maybe even the next day.  So don't worry if you don't see my post for a couple of days.  Now, you all have a couple of great days, you hear?

Wondering about State Parks.

I live in Texas.  Texas has about a hundred state parks.  Some full service and some not.  I have been to a few and would like to visit others.  If I am going to stay somewhere for a few days, I would much prefer a state park to an RV resort.  Don't get me wrong, I like RV parks and have stayed at a lot of them.  Some for just overnight stops and some I have stayed awhile because they were close to where I wanted to visit.  It seems to me that the state parks have a lot more space between camp sites than RV parks do.  RV parks are there only to make money whereas state parks are there for the use of the citizens.  And yes, there is an entrance fee and or a site fee.  I buy a Texas State Park Pass every year which does away with the entry fee.

Texas is divided into four unique areas.  They are the Gulf Coastal Plains, the Interior Lowlands, the Great Plains, and the Basin and Mountain Range areas.  There is a lot of nothing in parts of Texas.  You can drive for hours and not see any signs of civilizations.  I live in the Coastal Plains area but drive through the great plains area to get to the Davis Mountains, which I do like.  I do need to get back out there soon.  There are more trails to explore.  My short stay there last March was not enough time to walk all the trails.  The wild life is also impressive.  OK, I guess you can tell I have cabin fever and still trying to get rid of this dang cough.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

The Day After Christmas.

OK, it is now the day after Christmas.  It is a let-down day for a lot of people who make a big fuss about the commercial side of the Holiday.  So, like I have wondered in the past, I wonder what all happened in history on this date.  As I discovered, a lot more than I would have thought.  How about I start with some of the newest and work back in time.

2002 - The first cloned human baby was born.

1998 - Iraq announced that it would fire on U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the skies over Iraq. (Go ahead, make my day!)

1996 - Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered.

1986 - "Search for Tomorrow" (a show that I and my Mom watched) was seen for the last time on CBS-TV after a run of 35 years.

1982 - The Man of the Year in "TIME" magazine was a computer.

1974 - Comedian Jack Benny died at age 80.

1954 - "The Shadow" aired on radio for the last time.  (Another show I listened too)

1917 - During World War I, the U.S. government took over operation of the nation's railroads.  (This scares me, if it was done in the past and they got away with it, where could it have gone from there.)

1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium.

1865 - The coffee percolator was patented by James H. Mason.

1620 - The Pilgrim Fathers landed at New Plymouth, MA, to found Plymouth Colony, with John Carver as Governor.

This list of things done on this day over the years is my Christmas gift to you.  Hope you all had a great and merry Christmas.  Now, you all have a great day today, you hear?

Merry Christmas.

Hope you all had a great Christmas morning and the rest of the day will just keep on getting better.  We had a great time this morning.  My wife bought a bunch of toys for our three pups and put them in paper bags with their names on them.  Of course our oldest (the one who is so intelligent it is scary) had hers opened first and then moved on and helped the other two open theirs.  They had such an exciting morning that they are all now just laying around sleeping.  Me?  I got my present yesterday when I got the new battery for my laptop, and by the way, it is working just fine.  My wife?  Well, she has me and the dogs to love her, what else could she possibly want??

OK, I am going to get one more present.  My wife has some Louisiana white boudin sausage on cooking and I will feast on it with a couple of fried eggs on the side.  Now that is a feast for anytime.  Just love that stuff!!!  Now, have a great Christmas day and share the love, you hear? 

I want to get something and get rid of something.

Just wanted you all to know that I am alive, but not kicking very high.  I seem to cough most all the time.  That makes it hard to get a good night's sleep.  I will try to get a battery for my laptop today, typing with one finger on this tablet doesn't get it for me.  I want a full size keyboard.  So, I will venture out this Christmas eve and see what I can find.  Got to go out,anyway to get a refill of my thyroid medication.  A new computer battery, if I can find one, will be my Christmas present to myself.

Don't get me wrong, I love my tablet and it is great for searching the internet and reading blogs, but not so great for typing more than a few words.  A tablet has its place and is easy to carry around, but as far as I am cocerned, will never replace the computer.

Miss Belinda had the flu and says she is feeling some better.  That gives me hope for a recovery, soon.  Now you all have a wonderful and blesses Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, yo hear?

Wondering why my computer died

Went to turn my computer on this morning and nothing, nadda, not even a blink.  So, I plugged it into the commercial power, and again, nothing.  I believe this time my battery bit the dust.  OK, I remember last time I thought that I needed a battery and went to the battery selling place only to find out that I hadn't put the battery in correctly.  So, remembering that, I removed the battery and replaced it.  Even after multiple tries, it still is deader than a door nail.  OK, how dead is a door nail?  A good subject for a future blog.

There is a strange illness affecting our county.  Of all the cofirmed cases in the local hospital, only two have survived. I wonder if my lap-top caught that flu?  I wonder if that is what my wife and 
I have?  I am feeling a lot better today.  It just takes time.  Hope all of you are feelin fine and, please, you all have a great day, you hear?