Never been any reason

Back to work, it is Monday. Friday’s forecasted “dusting” of snow ended up being over 2”. Since a big storm is supposed to hit later this week, I expect the SnowTeam ScareTeam to be in high panic starting with newscasts this evening. They will,  provided  the newscast can find time between the endless “verify this” segments and human interest garbage, to bother actually reporting news and weather. 

It seems we will get anywhere from no snow at all to perhaps a foot or more. In other words, the weather people don’t know. But it might snow, so panic! Go buy out all of the bread, milk, and eggs at the store. You must make french toast when it snows, I guess. But make sure you panic by all means, since the last time we were actually snowed in for a day or two was back in the blizzard of ‘78. 

That anniversary passed last week. The dates is easy to remember for my wife. Her father passed away during the first night of the blizzard. He died from long terminal illness, not weather-related. 

Anyway have a good Monday. 

Here is some music from Head East I haven’t posted for a while. No, it isn’t from our featured year of 1972, but rules are fluid around here. 

I actually saw Head East live sometime in the early ‘80s. 

No Reason

 From our field trip to Colorado last fall.

Not bad for a cell phone picture taken by an old man photographer with no artistic ability at all. A case of blind squirrel and nuts, etc.

Righting the wrongs by doubling down on the wrongs

Hold on a minute. I thought cheating Merrick Garland out of his seat on the Supreme Court was the most egregious thing EVER? That is all we heard about from the lefties when Trump was pushing his nominees. 

Now Biden can right that wrong. 

Nope. We are going to choose based on skin color and sex. Discrimination is always OK, right? 

Don’t think so? If Biden pledged to only nominate a Caucasian Male would that be discriminatory? Explain the difference. 

I prefer we find the best candidate. I’m not sure what the color of a person’s skin has to do with the rule of law, but I didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. 

At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender

We find ourselves on a chilly and snowy Friday. Fret not, the precipitation is just flurries, nothing but a dusting expected as the winter without snow continues. Alas, this Friday is not pay day. That comes Monday. I’m always in a better mood come an infusion of funds in the old checking account. 

I’ve been reading a book about Napoleon’s One Hundred Days. That would be the time after his first abdication after the Emperor was exiled to Elba. It was 100 days between his return to France and the end at Waterloo.  I have learned a few things I didn’t know. The Treaty of Versailles sent Napoleon to Elba, but allowed him a certain number of troops and expenses. The Allies promised him a stipulated sum of money every year. The re-installed French Monarchy promptly refused to pay and seized Napoleon’s assets in France, leaving Napoleon broke. 

Napoleon likely would never have been satisfied ruling the little island, but Louis XVIII is responsible for Napoleon’s return in great part. 

According to the book (I don’t have the title/author at hand just now), Wellington was furious the treaty allowed the vast amount of art France had acquired in the conquest of Europe and Egypt to remain in Paris where Napoleon had stashed it in —- The Louvre Palace. And now, to quote an old famous radio show, you know the rest of the story.

The grandgirls will be spending the night with us. I anticipate a lot of fun. I am a lucky man.

Why not?

Borders. Not the Bookstore Kind

Apparently Biden has decided protecting borders is now important. As long as the borders in question are in the Ukraine.

He is not so keen for protecting our own borders.

OTOH, Ukraine put a few million into the Biden family coffers. They want something for all that money.

I’m so ashamed

 I bought a new jacket in camouflage pattern 

I don’t see it anywhere 

Truth

 

The Chiefs Bills game last night just might be the best football game I have ever watched. And it again shows the utter stupidity of the NFL overtime rule. A game that magnificent should not be decided on the fate of a coin toss.

Put in my place

The 2 year-old granddaughter was counting for me Friday morning. She navigated one through ten perfectly. When she was done I clapped and yelled out “woohoo”. 

She looked at me and said “You no say woohoo, Paw.” 

“I was just cheering for you”

She pointed a stern finger. “You no say woohoo, it not a number”. 

OK. 

In other news, I’ve been watching the Joe Montana mini series on Peacock. I never realized how badly Bill Walsh treated Montana. Of course it is told from Joe’s point of view mostly, but the legendary coach really seemed to believe it was all him and Joe just reaped the benefits by playing in his system. 

History will show that Joe Montana was one of the top two or three greatest of all time. Having Jerry Rice helped, but Rice also had Montana. Does Rice have the same career if he was catching passes from Jack Trudeau or Jack Thompson, both contemporaries? 

Anyway, interesting stuff. To me at least.

Have a great Sunday.

Oh Momma, I’m in Fear for My Life

 I was in the thicket behind my grandmother’s house. I had wandered down past where the alley cut through and into the small meadow beside Prairie Creek, near where the old interurban bridge footings were. 

It was summer and as was the case most of the time in those days, I was barefoot. I suppose I was eight or so. I had skulked through the trees, stopped to eat some black raspberries from the secret patch where grandma gathered them to make pie, and was heading down toward the creek to watch the water.

I don’t know why, but something made me look down and there, sunning on the path, was a snake. It was about three inches from my big toe. The serpent’s body was a thick cable of muscle, black with yellow stripes. This cobra black mamba copperhead cottonmouth rattler was rearing up to sink its fangs deep into my foot. Or not. I didn’t stick around to find out. I sprinted away as fast as my skinny legs could carry me.

I am sure I set some Olympic running records that summer afternoon as I burst into my grandma’s back door, out of breath and in near panic. That poisonous snake might have killed me. I’m not sure it didn’t chase me most of the way. 

I eventually got over it. Later I decided I had come across a Plains Garter Snake or maybe an Eastern Garter Snake. Despite my faulty, terrified memory, it was probably only about three foot long. But given I was probably only just over four foot tall, it seemed pretty big to me.  

So yes, at the time I feared for my life. Snakes do that to me.

It is again that time of year

I’m generally a live and let live kind of guy. One topic bugs the crap out of me however. It  has been nearly a month. Turn off your damn Christmas lights. Look, it’s cold, you don’t have to take them down. You can unplug them. 

There are at least six houses within three blocks of me that are still burning their lights. Enough already.

My late mother-in-law kept her Christmas lights around the edge of the carport year round. At one point, when they burnt out, she added new ones. She didn’t take down the old set. She just hung them over the old set. BUT SHE DID NOT TURN THEM ON AFTER CHRISTMAS. 

Yes, I’m shouting.

Enough. Just turn off.

Don’t tell anyone.

I’m sitting through my first monthly sales meeting this morning. I’m bored to tears. 

On the good news front I got paid my December commission from the old gig today. I was paid by the new job last week. I’ll get paid again next week. I could get used to getting paid decent bucks every week. I won’t though. That was my last comission check. It was also the largest for any of the four months I worked there. But overall I’m still way better off at the new gig. 

Things are becoming less confusing at the new job. I’m starting to grasp the systems. I’m starting to understand the programs and part numbers. I sat through a conference call with a customer yesterday. I didn’t say anything, but I took a note five minutes in, questioning the impact on the bearing at the other end of the motor shaft. One of the engineers finally asked about that an hour later. I felt good about that. 

In other news, I have nothing.

I hope you have a great day.

Recapping the unmemorable

It’s cold this morning. I’m not surprised by that climatic development. Nor should you be. It is usually this cold or colder in mid-January. Unless you live in a temperate clime or the Southern Hemisphere. Then frigid temps would be a surprise. 

I baked up a meatloaf for supper last night. As I ate I was again reminded that I don’t really like meatloaf all that much. It wasn’t that it wasn’t good, it was. The wife ate a second helping. It is more that I don’t care for any meatloaf. I don’t hate it like I do sweet potatoes. It just isn’t one of my favorites. If I came over for dinner and you served up a slice of meatloaf I would easily join the clean plate club. But I would tell the wife on the way home “I didn’t much care for that meatloaf”. 

A jihadi terrorist took over a synagogue Saturday. Law enforcement sent him to room temperature and now he is now burning in Hell. Good riddance, I say. 

I’m still pouting, so I ignored football all weekend. 

To be honest, I’m not sure I can point to single accomplishment all weekend. 

I wish I felt bad about that.

Have a great Monday.

The other kind of Meatloaf:

Missing you

Today would have marked my Dad’s 84th birthday. It was on this date just one year ago he learned his body was filled with deadly and inoperable cancer. In just over a month he would be gone. I sit here a little sad. On this day I want to remember the life, not the passing. 

I miss the jokes he emailed almost daily. I miss his steady support, his advice, his sly smile. He was always there, cheering me in my pathetic efforts in sports, leading in Scouts, helping me drywall a ceiling, or lending me that particular tool I didn’t have, knowing it may never come back to his own tool box. We traded the same axe multiple times over the decades. He always asked “Joe, can I borrow your axe?”  Knowing full well it was his to start with. Of course he then kept it until I needed it again. That is what Dads do. 

He was a good one.

My dad was a very good baseball and softball (fast pitch) player. In a different age it might have brought him the college education he never got.

I know I disappointed him in many ways. He was so proud when I earned my Eagle Scout badge and did not understand why I cared so little for the achievement I refused a ceremony. Frankly, I don’t understand it either, but it is how I’m built. He supported my wishes anyway. My constant financial missteps bothered him a lot. He was disappointed I did not become a lawyer, his dream for me. He still told me that dream again the day before he died. He tried to teach me golf and failed. He was so thrilled when I became the first in the family to earn a college diploma (I didn’t want to do that ceremony either, but did it for my family).

He treated my wife like a daughter. He doted on my kids. He loved my mom with a life-long devotion. 

He loved me despite my many faults.

I miss you, Dad. Happy Birthday.

A quarter after

 This is our new quarter. To reflect current reality, since it represents a woman, it will only be worth $0.17. 

Arrived

 Fresh off the truck:

This could become my favorite company vehicle from a list that includes at least 6 Ford Taurus’, 2 Dodge Intrepids, one Dodge Durango, one Ford Fushion, one VW Passat, and one Ford F-150. Time will tell. You learn a lot about a car spending 10-12 hours at a time in it. In any case it is my “mobile work desk” for the next three years or so.

They stab it with their steely knives

Blah. Boring. Ennui. Soporific. My life is without thrills these days. I have nothing to report. Do you have any interest in the minutiae of learning my new job? Of course not. Some of it bores me to tears. 

Do you care that I had biscuits and sausage gravy for supper last night or leftover noodles for lunch? I hope not.

It is warmer today, but cloudy. So what? You have weather too. 

Politics? From my perspective power-hungry leftists are doing everything to force their agenda upon me to the detriment of my country and my freedom. You might believe righties are standing directly in the. way of progress.  

What else? My new company car arrives on the morrow. I’m excited about that. You would be too to get a mostly free car. In this case, a new Jeep Grand Cherokee*. I’m sure not complaining. 

The local NFL team figuratively crapped the bed and local sports talk is in high outrage. Baseball is on hold until the millionaires quit arguing with the billionaires. The start of Spring Training seems to be speculative at best. And no, I just can’t get excited about the Winter Olympics.

But guess what? You got a post. 

Don’t you feel better?

* black

Don’t look Ethel

Two elderly women were eating breakfast in a restaurant one morning. Ethel noticed something funny about Mable’s ear and said, “Mable, did you know you’ve got a suppository in your left ear?”

Mable answered, “I have? A suppository?” She pulled it out and stared at it. Then she said, “Ethel, I’m glad you saw this thing. Now I think I know where my hearing aid is.”

Meandering through Monday Morning

WTH, Colts? 

I had my first laser on the retina today. I been through worse, but I wouldn’t call the experience enjoyable.left eye done. Right to follow in a couple of weeks. 

Not a good day to be a manager or coach on an underperforming NFL team. Of course, from the day you take any coaching job you on course to be fired. It is the nature of the beast. 

I have to get to work. Maybe updates later.

Chained Memories

I grabbed a half dozen squares of saltine crackers to munch for lunch yesterday. I like saltines. I don’t love them, but for an occasional bland snack they will do. It reminded me suddenly of my grandma. Born in 1909 on a farm where her daddy still plowed with a horse, her life experience was far different from mine.  She was only twenty when the Great Depression wracked the economy in ways most of us alive can only imagine. She never complained, but I know life was hard. Hard in ways today’s poor me, give me stuff, I deserve it, could never understand. No one was giving her free or reduced anything.

One of my grandmother’s favorite snacks in the evening was crumbled saltine crackers in a glass of milk. I know. I’ve never tried it either. But imagine a life where store bought crackers and milk was a treat. I remember stopping by of an evening to visit and she would just be sitting down to this mushy concoction. She always offered to make me me a glass. I always politely declined. 

Last evening we stopped by the grocery to grab something for dinner today. We always like to have a nice dinner on Sunday. I voted for beef and noodles. The wife wanted a chuck roast. Yes, thought I, a roast sounds good. We stopped by the grocery. The meat shelves were pretty much bare, except a few rolls of hamburger and some chicken parts.  I thought that strange. Maybe the days’ meat delivery didn’t show. 

We bought a few canned goods and some juice for the granddaughter and motored down the highway to a big box grocery. Their meat selection was even more decimated. I was becoming concerned. I started a mental inventory of the meat out in the garage freezer. I decided I had the stuff to make lasagna in a pinch. I drove across the street to WalMart. This time the wife said to just let her out and she would see what was available. 

She came out with a pack of stew beef. I guess we are having beef and noodles after all. She said the meat shelves were bare, so were the frozen food freezers. Produce was scarce. One store, OK. Two maybe. Three, we have a problem. 

Are we heading for shortages and scarcity we haven’t seen in this country for a century? Is it a coincidence that planned meatless days and breadlines always seem to accompany leftist economic policies? I hope this was just a supply chain glitch. I don’t think I can develop a taste for crackers crumbled in milk.

Here’s one from back in ‘72

 I finally got a good night’s sleep last night, snoozing in very late, for me. 

I’m sitting here on the couch in front of the leaky window feeling the frigid air from outside. Maybe next year we can see about new windows. 

The first week of the new gig passed with out any major issues. My office is all set up. I’m starting to slowly learn my responsibilities and about the company. In addition to other accounts I will mainly be global key account manager for the division’s largest customer. And when I say biggest, I mean this one customer is larger by double than the rest of the customers combined. It will be similar to when I was placed in a similar responsibility at my old job — “Don’t screw it up, Joe”. In fact, this customer is the largest in the company by volume (not total sales dollars — some of the widgets are inexpensive).

In other news, nada. 

Have a great Saturday. If it is cold where you are, keep warm. If it is sunny and warm — I don’t want to hear about it.

Yes, loyal readers, we will be diving into the music of ‘72 in a fifty year retrospective. 

Unless I want to post something else. I’m in charge that way. 

Feel free to offer up suggestions, requests, “don’t even think of posting that” in the comments. I may or may not regard your input.

Just a bit of hyperbole

If you watched the news yesterday one would think January 6 was the anniversary of the worst thing ever.  I mean seriously, the riots at the Capitol were painted as worse than Pearl Harbor, more terrible than 9/11. 

You would think the jackasses who had the temerity to fart in Nancy’s chair did more damage than the British in the August 24, 1814 burning of Washington. 

Funny, not a word was uttered about actual leftist insurrectionists who tried to create their own country in Seattle. 

The case for electric cars

 It is cold this morning. Temps are in the Fahrenheit teens with wind chills near zero. In other words, January. I’m just glad I’m not stuck on some highway like those poor schlubs earlier this week in Virginia.

Of course things would have been far worse if Biden and the Democrats get their way. Just imagine  being stuck in sub-freezing weather for 24 hours or so in an electric vehicle. Once you drain the power from the batteries you are screwed. With a gas powered car you can prepare for the worst by bringing an extra can of fuel. You can’t lug an extra battery. And once the road was cleared it was possible to get gas to the cars that ran out. If you buy an electric car you will need to be towed so you can spend the next four to eight hours getting your car recharged. Is a car battery damaged if it completely discharges in an electric vehicle? I don’t know, but I would ask before I plunked down my hard earned cash.

People might just die because of electric cars but the pouty Scandinavian teenager won’t scold you. Seems like a good trade off. 

Liberals. It is always about the intentions, never the consequences.

Electric cars won’t work if you are stranded. Can’t charge them if the power is out. The grid won’t handle an influx of millions of cars being charged. How do we dispose of the batteries? The rare metals for the batteries  are mined in countries that are not our allies and friends. But we all have to drive one because save the planet. 

Yep. Sign me up a week from never.

More! You want more!

 One day a blind man goes to a restaurant. The server asked him if he’d like to see the menu.

The blind man says: “no, I am blind, just bring me a dirty fork and I will smell it and order”.

The server, confused, goes to the kitchen, and brings back a dirty fork.

The blind man smells it and says: “I’ll have the beef steak with mash potatoes and gravy and some chocolate brownies for dessert.”

The server brings him his food and the blind man enjoys his meal, pays the bill and leaves.

Next week, the blind man goes back to the same restaurant.

The server recognizes him and wanting to see how good the blind man’s sense of smell is, he goes to the kitchen and asks his wife, Brenda, for a spoon.

He instructs his wife, Brenda, to rub the spoon all over her private parts and so she does.’

The server hands the dirty spoon to the blind man.

The blind man takes a whiff and says:“I didn’t know Brenda worked here.”

Mitigating Circumstances

A husband comes home and tells his wife he’s been fired.

His wife asks him “So what happened?”

The husband explains “I often get bored at work and today my mind was wandering and I thought to myself ‘what would happen if I stuck my manhood inside the pickle slicer?’”

The wife is clearly blind-sided by this confession and doesn’t know what to say next. Eventually she says to him “That was an incredibly stupid and unsafe thing to do but at least you’re all in one piece.”

The husband appreciates his wife’s response and says “I suppose you’re right.”

To lighten the mood the wife asks cheerfully “So what happened to the pickle slicer?”

The husband takes a moment and says “Oh, she was fired too.”

Things and stuff

 Happy Monday, mes amis. It is a chilly one here in God’s favorite state. The big tree and sundry decorations came down yesterday. The outside decorations will come down and sent off to hibernate in the attic until they are called upon to bring joy next Christmas. The house always looks so blah when the decorations are gone.

If I miss Christmas lights too much I can always look down the street. That guy will burn his until April or they burn out, whichever comes first. 

I need to get the office back into working shape today. I have to get my new computer gear unboxed and hooked up in anticipation of Day One on the morrow. One thing I know before I even get started, I’m gonna need a new bigger desk. That creates several problems. Space is foremost. The office doubles as a guest room. Even though the bed is a small twin it takes up room. Add in a couple of file cabinets, a recliner, and small TV (36”) and stand and things are pretty full. The space is just a typical bedroom after all.

My old employer didn’t take it well when I gave my notice — almost three weeks — and sent me home at the end of the first week. Therefore, it will be almost a month between paychecks so buying a new desk is in line behind food and gas. We will be fine. Things have been far leaner over past couple of years, but spending on furniture is a low priority. I’ll get by hooking up a single monitor for the short term. I’ve worked remotely for nearly three decades with nothing more than a little laptop. I think I will be fine. 

I have a busy day planned and sitting here writing about it doesn’t get stuff done. 

Have a great day.

I’m starting the New Year the same way I ended the old — on the toilet

 I hope you had a great New Year. Now we are back at it. Yesterday saw temperatures reach into the low fifties accompanied by rain. As I peek out the window we have a thin layer of snow and according to my phone it is a chilly twenty-eight outside. January decided to come back from vacation. By the weekend they are forecasting single digit lows. 

The Christmas stuff is coming down today. Were  I a smart boy, I would have climbed into the attic over the garage to fetch the boxes yesterday while it was warm. Now I will have to bundle up for the task. In my defense I was busy yesterday binge watching the new season of Cobra Kai and doing, uh, other stuff. I don’t know. I was busy, OK?

You only criticize me because I am like AOC’s critics— you want to sleep with me. You will just have to fantasize about someone else or get over it. 

There you are all caught up. Now I have to get busy. Well, maybe I’ll just watch a couple of episodes of Cobra Kai while I finish my coffee…