Wondering about nothing in particular.

Ever have one of those mornings? You know, the one when you get up and you feel like your brain went on strike. Not only did mine go on strike but it is also picketing. It is carrying around this sign that says “Too much work, want more time off”.

Well now, I can’t stand for that, can I? But how do you fight back against your own brain? Doesn’t it control all you do? Well now, the devious part of me found a part, the brain stem, that does things without the main brain knowing about it. So now I got a plan (He He Snicker Snicker).

We are going to threaten the brain by letting it know that the brain stem controls the heart and blood flow and will shut off the supply of blood to the brain if it doesn’t shape up immediately.

Not a good idea. Now, as you know, the brain stem acts on its own, and now I have it fighting with the brain. What if it goes through with its threat to shut the blood supply off to the brain? Oh my, I am starting to get dizzy (not because it is part of my name).

By the way, my cousin sent me an email asking if I had ever heard of Dizzy-Dick Beer? I had not. He said it was a beer from Yorkshire, England. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this:

OK, where was I?? OH Yeah, starting to get dizzy. Now what the heck have I started? “Hay Brain Stem, I didn’t mean it. Stop fighting with my brain.” OK, that didn’t work, things are going black, it is getting harder tooooo typeeee. . . I . . . I . . . I . . . . . th i i i i n k . . . . . . . . I . . . . . will . . . . . . . . s a y g………………

Just some Wonderings and Ramblings

The comments to yesterday’s post by The Old Fool included some culinary treats that were anything but common. Things like peanut butter and mustard sandwiches, peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches, and Old Fool talked about peanut butter and jelly with garlic.

Some things sound strange but when tried, we find out that they are really good tasting. When I was a kid, my favorite sandwich was peanut butter and sweet pickles, especially candied dill strips. I suppose the strangest combination that I ate (learned it from my Dad) was prepared horseradish (horseradish with vinegar) on chocolate cake. Yum, Yum. No icing, just horseradish.

I may have mentioned in some past posts that my wife has been making cards and I have been writing the rhymes to go with them and we send them to my Aunt who broke her hip. We feel it gives her something to look forward to and may help keep her spirits up.

Well, I decided to make a few. I made one that was hilarious, it least I thought so. Didn’t scan it or take a picture of it so can not show it to you. I made up a couple over this weekend to send to her this week. Now, don’t you tell her about them, you hear?

The first thing I did was to alter some pictures of my Aunt and her family (and me), resize them to fit, cut them out, and paste them on play money where a presidents picture is suppose to be. Already sent them to her.

Found some pictures of old cars, so scanned a couple of them and resized them to fit on our blank card stock that fits into the envelopes that came with it. Then I found appropriate pictures of my Aunt and her family, selected and clipped the part I wanted from the original, resized them to be proportional to the car size, and placed them in and on the car. Then I scanned it and pasted it on the blank card. Wrote a poem and put it on the front of the card. This first one was simple and fairly easy to make. Here, see for yourselves:

Then I decided to get fancy. I put pictures of my Aunt and Uncle (before he passed away) in the front seat of an old car and pictures of them when they were young in the back seat. My wife suggested that I use a background. Now that sounded easy to me, right? WRONG!!

I found what I thought to be the perfect background, since it had a road in the foreground to put my car on. It was a picture that I took of Canyon Lake, Arizona. Now came the hard part. I had to cut out everything, even between the spokes of the wheels, to let the background show through and look as natural as possible. This was turned out to be a time consuming job, but when it came off the scanner, the work and time was worth it. What do you think?

Well, you see what takes up some of my time. My wife is so much better at coming up with unique and beautiful cards than I am. But maybe my cards will be such a shock that my Aunt that she will appreciate my wife’s cards even more.

Note: I decreased the picture sizes for this blog, so they may not enlarge very much.

Wondering about the contents of an email.

I don’t usually copy anything from emails and put in my blog, but I received one from an old and dear friend the other day that I would like to share with those of you who haven’t received it yet. I figure that it is probably spread to a large percentage of people who have email accounts by now.

And oh yes, when I said my friend was an old friend, I didn’t mean to imply that he was old, since he is actually a little younger than I am. He has been a dear friend for a long time.

Anyway, here is the email:

This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!!
Make sure you read to the end!!!!!!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio ."To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come...
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Now, those lessons make a lot of sense to me. I always try to see the beauty and the comedy in everything that life throws at me. Some times it is hard, but during those times you just have to look harder and closer and maybe just a little past the present problem. Just think, if you didn’t have any problems to solve, wouldn’t life be really boring?

I do not believe in the word “boring”. I do not believe that a person has the right to be bored, since there is so much that can be done or thought through. Even if the body can’t do something, the mind can.

Have a good day now, you hear?!?!

Another new day in another new year.

I tried to go to bed before mid-night again, knowing better. It sounded like world war three around here last night. Actually it was going on all day, but kept building up till mid-night when it sounded like the whole earth exploded. Then it took almost an hour for it all to taper off.

One of my dogs is so very scared of anything that goes “bang” or “boom”. She must have lost a large percentage of her weight yesterday from shaking. I could not comfort her. She feels better this morning, but that is because all the neighbors are sleeping in. They will probably start up again, but not with as much gusto. It will taper off in a week or so.

The local news took a poll last night asking its viewers to call, email, or text whether they were afraid to go out on the roads on New Year’s Eve. I told my wife that the only ones watching this news cast are the ones staying at home and it would not be an accurate poll. Sure enough, it was 97 percent afraid to go out and 3 percent not afraid. What did I tell you?

Of course they may be right. How many humans got killed or injured in alcohol related traffic accidents last night? While I was talking to my Aunt on the phone last night, I noticed flashing red lights across the field in front of a neighbor’s house. I couldn’t tell from my house (even with binoculars) exactly where the emergency vehicles where parked nor what type they where. Was hoping that nothing happened to the neighbor or his home.

My wife and I decided to walk down to our front lot that gave us access to the road. This road is a narrow two lane paved road that for the first half mile or so has a 20 mph speed limit. There is a day care center across from my place and a lot of children live next to the road. We still couldn’t tell what was going on, but the road was blocked and there were lots of emergency vehicles with all kinds of lights going; red, yellow, and very bright spot lights, which made it hard to see what happened.

The neighbor next to my front lot was trying to catch his big dog that got loose in the confusion. I asked him what had happened and he said that there was a head on crash. I said at 20 mph it couldn’t have been too bad. He said it was more like 70 mph. There has been a young fellow in a Chevy pick-up truck that always speeds up and down this road. My neighbor said that it was that guy who hit another car head on and a few people were hurt bad. They had to cut the fellow out of the truck. I don’t know who all was involved. Maybe today I can find out some details. Hope no one died.

That was not a good way to end an old year nor to start a new one. I wonder how many more did the same? We don’t drink and do not go to New Year’s Eve parties, so usually stay at home. Am I scared to go out on that night? Scared ain’t the word, but I sure do feel safer here at home trying to keep my one dog from shaking to death. The other two dogs didn’t even seem to notice the noise. All three are the same breed and have had them all since they were puppies. All have been exposed to shooting, just the one is afraid of it.

I sure hope all of you out there and your friends and loved ones survived the night and woke up this morning bright eyed and bushy tailed. . . Happy New Year and may God bless us all.

Wondering where the year went. . .

OK, where did the year go??? I didn’t get to do a lot of the things that I wanted to this past year. What!!, you say maybe I am getting old? Well, right, not sure if I would like the alternative. I have too many obligations that I need to take care of.

Only got to take one trip with the motorhome, other than just taking it in for inspection or driving it around to make sure everything still works. But the trip I did take was great, although it was not that far away, only a little over 650 miles one way, still in the State of Texas. We went to Terlingua and both my wife and I really enjoyed that area. The desert was in bloom in April and we also got to meet Billy-Bob and John Wells but just missed Ole Ben by less than an hour. Click here to see my blog about it. I want to go back again. Have to put that on my “want to do” list for 2011.

The other thing that stands out looking back over 2010 is that I had both my cataracts removed. Had a problem with the one, got inflamed and caused a lot of discomfort and additional medication, etc. It was well worth it and now I can see so much better, especially colors. An additional advantage is that I do not need to wear glasses while driving.

There were also a few sad things. My wife’s mother passed away and I lost my best friend and secretary, Buttons.

Also, my Aunt, who is in her 90’s, fell and broke her hip. She had an operation that screwed the bones together. Not too long afterwards, the screws broke and now she needs a full hip replacement. Since she has a breathing problem, the doctors do not want to take the risk of the hip replacement surgery at this time. Will reconsider after the first of the year. We hope her all the best.

The only other major event or one that comes close to being major was that we got a new roof installed. After hurricane Ike and a couple of bad hail storms, it done went and bit the dust. Actually there was no dust, just leaks. Glad that got fixed.

Now, the most important thing (yea right) was that I started my world famous blog. Now don’t hurt yourselves doubled over laughing like that. Writing the blog gives an old man something to look forward to doing. I have had almost no paying work to do this year, but hoping next year will be . . . now wait a minute. I almost said that I wanted more work. Dang, it must be the first signs of dementia. . .

Waking up to an owl.

I was reading some blogs this morning and Sixbears was talking about chimneys and chimney fires. That got me thinking back over all the wood burning methods that I have used to heat my homes and warm our hearts. Have had different fireplaces and wood burning stoves. The stoves are more efficient but the fireplaces are more aesthetic.

The last home I owned in Pennsylvania was a seven room ranch house with a huge living room with a huge fireplace made from native stone and a cast iron fire box as part of the heatolator. The living room was large, over 15 by 30 feet and the fireplace would take up to four foot long logs. I mostly burned Wild Cherry and Apple wood when available. Sometimes, had to supplement the wood pile with Oak. Wild Cherry was by far the best and safest wood to burn.

The hearth was about 18 inches above the floor, allowing room below and off to the side for the cold air heatolator vents. This gave the air flowing through the heatolator a longer contact path with the hot cast iron fire box. The stone chimney had three flues. The largest one for the fireplace and the other two smaller ones for the gas furnace and water heater that were in the basement. The top of the chimney had a stone slab across it, held up by six stones to allow the smoke and gas to escape, but prevented rain and snow from getting into the chimney.

One morning I was just starting to get dressed for work and my wife usually brought me in a glass of orange juice. She started in with it and I heard her scream and start running down the hall toward the bedroom. I opened the door just in time to get the glass of cold orange juice spilled all over me. All my wife could do was point to the living room. I ran out there with nothing on except my under pants, not knowing what the heck I was going to find. And there it was, an owl sitting on the back of the love seat. My wife had seen it flying around the room and it scared her half to death.

I walked slowly over to it, got it watching my one hand. I slowly moved the hand it was watching to the opposite side and then I grabbed it with the other hand. That was a mistake!! Within the few seconds it took me to throw it out the front door, it had my hand and arm bleeding pretty good.

I assumed what had happened was this. Fire was not quite out when we went to bed so left the flue opened. Furnace was running so it would put heat up the chimney and the owl probably sat up there to get warm and the gas fumes from the furnace or hot water tank got to it and it passed out and fell down the chimney. By then the fire was out, so it flew around the room looking for a way out when my wife spotted it.

Has anything like that ever happened to you?

Wondering what to do today

A cool, damp morning here in Cut & Shoot. It was 56 degrees this morning before the sun came up, not too cold for the end of December. Suppose to get some rain but so far it has only sprinkled a little. We really need rain; some of the areas around Houston are a foot below normal rainfall. Now I wouldn’t want to put a damper on your end of the year celebrations, but I do hope it rains a lot. That would lower the chances of all the neighbors’ fire works from stating fires.

OK, let’s see. . . what is on the “to do” list for today? OH yeah, it is lotto day and the estimated pay out is about ten million. I think that would be enough to get me through until the end of the year (grin). I made (what I think is a very funny card) to send to my Aunt, so will have to go to the Post Office to mail it, and while out I will get my lotto tickets. Sorry Ben, unless you have the same numbers as mine, you will not win today.

While out and about, may just run to town. Always need something, or think we do. Middle of the week, maybe things have slowed down a little and the crowds have thinned out. Only thing I think I need is an adaptor for my hard-drive so that I can use it in the hard-drive reader I purchased the last time I was in town. Where is town, you may be asking? The closest one is Conroe. It is located at the intersection of I-45 and TX 105.

If I have time, I had started a painting a week or so ago and should get back to it so that I can get it finished. I made a couple of sketches of some of the old adobe ruins at Terlingua that I saw when I was there last Spring. The one is exact and also shows the ravine next to the buildings. The other sketch I took liberties with, drawing in some close mountains that were not actually there. I am painting the latter. If it turns out, maybe I will do the accurate one, and maybe not, depends.

Got to get everything done by 15:30 so that I can watch “The Virginian” TV show. It is on every day on the Western Channel and both my wife and I like that show. After that is “Cheyenne”, then “Have Gun – Will Travel”, and then “Gunsmoke”. Usually eat supper while watching Gunsmoke. We like the old westerns. Also watch Maverick, the Magnificent Seven, and sometimes even watch Gene Autry.

Ben brought back some memories yesterday when he talked about old TV shows. But I used to listen to shows on radio, like “Straight Arrow”, Sergeant Preston, etc. That was back when there was only a half hour of music on the radio. I bet not too many of you remember back that far.

You all have a good day now, you hear?