Way past time

 The UN just put Iran on the nuclear arms committee. Enough.

It is long past time we got a divorce. The UN should get out of the US and the US should get out of the UN. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. 

The Great Food Pyramid of Giza

 I’m not sure coffee and barbecue chips for breakfast is on any government nutrition list. 

I’ve always been a very mild daredevil.

Much ado about nothing

Yesterday afternoon I turned off the computer a little early and called the workday complete. I moseyed downstairs, grabbed a handful of cashews and picked up a book. Soddenly, my phone squawked and squealed and announced a severe thunderstorm warning. The tornado siren began to howl in the distance. The phone alerted again for a tornado warning. 

I looked out to see the trees calm and the sky slightly overcast. Puzzled, I turned on the TV to see the weather guy detailing a fast moving storm ripping through downtown Indy and pointing right at Mudsock. 

 Unconcerned geese were eating weeds in the neighbor’s yard. 

The TV broke down the storm’s progress as it moved relentlessly northeast. As the front came closer the tornado warning was dropped. Then the storm moved up to the juncture of I465 and I69 and  it just kind of looked at the normal snarl of traffic and construction and said “nah, I ain’t doing that” and faded away to a moderate rainstorm that lasted a few minutes and moved away. 

Even the TV weather watchers sent programming to commercials. It was a big nothing burger here in the burbs when just a few minutes and miles away winds hit 80 and trees toppled. 

You never know. 

Suburbia Woes

 I have been up since 5:30 or so. I doesn’t really bother me, but I think firing up your mower to cut the grass at 7:30 in the morning is not too neighborly 

And The Starland Vocal Band

 I’m not sure which band is the most overrated, The Velvet Underground or the Sex Pistols. 

I might throw in anything by Steve Miller too. 

I thought it was obvious

 The Constitution does not give you a single Right. 

The Right to practice your religion, bear arms to protect your family and person, to say your opinion, no matter who it offends, among others, are protected by the document. 

These Natural Rights already existed. The Constitution merely enumerates SOME of those rights and vows protection of those rights from an overreaching government. 

Looking back

 Five years ago today we got a couple of inches of snow. 

Also on this date one of my best friends died from complications from surgery. He went in about a week prior for an appendectomy and never came home.

Grab life and enjoy it. You never know what tomorrow may bring. 

Black Cats and Stuff

 Hundley, Banks, Beckert, Kessinger, Santo. 

But the Cubs swept the Mets this weekend. 

I should write about Lexington Green

I don’t want to 

I will admit  I dig the Andy Hardy movies.

Remembering a time I never knew

There can be little argument the Beatles are the most influential artists in the history of Rock. Their history is fascinating from teens meeting in Liverpool to four lads playing 12 hour sets 6 days a week in the Hamburg red light district as 18 and 19 year-olds. Finding the right manager and ultimately the perfect drummer to unimaginable popularity and success. 

I go through phases listening to the Fab Four and then periods of skipping them when my phone plays my music library on shuffle. I have to be honest, I like the early music much better - up to the Rubber Soul album. The White Album and Sgt. Pepoer are crap for the most part. You likely disagree. You are likely wrong. 

When I was younger I preferred Paul’s sweet positive tunes. These days I prefer John’s more stringent songwriting. Of course, George's talent overrides it all in my opinion. 

One thing I’m sure we can agree on, whether you like The Beatles or not, the quality and quantity of music they put out in one single decade is unfathomable. 

Handyman

 I’m up early, the time stamp is real, but that doesn’t mean I have anything to write about. 

I went to the doctor for a routine visit yesterday. My blood sugar is way too high, he adjusted my meds. I need to adjust my eating habits. 

He thinks the pain in my hand is Trigger Finger. My right ring finger has been bent at a 45 degree angle at the end joint for a couple of years. In the past month or so I can’t bend the finger all of the way, it occasionally locks when I do get it partially bent, and I’m having increased pain. I thought arthritis, he has a medical degree, so it is off to the orthopedic hand specialist. 

I erased a two thousand word rant about my high deductible insurance. You are welcome. 

A $1.25 here, $1.90 there, adds up

It is not just the airlines that are padding the bottom line with fees, charges, and upgrades. As I paid my electric bill this morning it dawned on me the “convenience fee” I was assessed could equal real money to the utility. A quick internet search says Duke Energy has 8.6 million customers. If half of those households pay their bill online (and that’s probably conservative) the monopoly takes in an easy $5 million every month. So does the water company and the gas company and every other utility you pay. 

Now I could avoid this fee by writing a check and mailing it in, but given the state of mail service -at least around here- I’m not sure I could trust it to arrive in a timely manner. 

I suppose paying $1.25 to avoid writing a check, stuffing an envelope, finding a stamp, and worrying just how long it will take the postman to deliver said payment, is more convenient. It still seems like legalized theft. 

Thumbing through my rule book

 I guess we should believe all women until they accuse a Democrat . 

50 years was a long time ago

 Here is an excerpt from my First novel, Suburban Moon, Welcome to small town life in the 1970's:

It was Saturday Night, a few weeks later. The weather was more like early August; hot and muggy. The air was punctuated by the deep rumble of engines and glass pack mufflers. The shouts and whistles of teens mixed with an occasional car horn and racing engines. Some cars were parked, most were cruising at idle speed around Mary’s Drive-In. The cars were of various varieties and vintages. Dave Otto had a Dodge Charger jacked up in the back to accommodate wide tires. Next to him Bobby Bell revved the engine in the new Trans Am his daddy bought him and the Pontiac V8 rumbled with power under the firebird painted on the hood. An old Plymouth Fury station wagon had a different colored fender on the driver’s side. Jerry Schwartz drove past in his old ’66 Chevy C10. I swear it was held together by rust alone. Each vehicle blasted music, no matter the type of car or number of occupants. The music played a cacophonous soundtrack; radios and eight tracks turned to various volumes -- loud and very loud. Nearly all were playing rock and roll. The air smelled of French fries and sweat and Marlboros.

Or this...

Stuff you never asked for

 Geronimo and his band of Apaches surrendered in 1886. The US fought various wars with the plains tribes throughout the latter part of the 19th Century, culminating in the Great Sioux Uprising of 1890. Prior Indian wars raged through the East and Midwest in the early days of the nation. Those skirmishes and wars are the lore of American history texts. 

Somehow, the longest and most expensive Indian war is rarely mentioned. That would be the Seminole Wars fought over three decades and during seven presidential administrations. The Presidents, commanders and leaders of US troops in the Seminole Wars is a basic Who’s Who of 19th Century politicians and military leaders including Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison,  John Tyler, Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, and more. 

Thursday Deep Thought

One could make the argument that Skittles are merely semi-crunchy jelly beans. 

I’m not surprised at all

Imagine hating the president so much you actually wish for bad things to befall the US military. 

It is not really hard to imagine, the Democrats have taken this stance every time a Republican is in office since 1968. 

*spit*

A good time was had

 I’m back from a great week in sunny (most of the time) Florida. Sunny and 85 is replaced with cloudy, windy, and freeze warnings. Sigh.

I have about 100 emails to deal with along with my normal Monday reports. Sigh, sigh. And I even worked during the holiday. 

I know, I have no right to complain after taking a vacation. I would show you a picture, but Google will not let me post pictures or music on my phone. So it goes. 

Life Choices

 I went to grab some lunch yesterday. As I was coming down a long exit ramp from the interstate I saw a panhandler in a wheelchair by the left turn lane. He looked around, stood, and stretched. He walked around the chair, saw me coming and scrambled back to his seat like he was a finalist in high stakes professional musical chairs. 

I laughed and turned right. That is why I never give money to those clowns. 

Somewhere in the archives is the story of the panhandler in some place who set up camp with a “Will work for Food” sign across from a Wendy’s. Wendy’s was advertising “help wanted “. 

Liftoff

As a kid it was always a big deal when we sent intrepid astronauts into space. If it happened during school hours a TV was wheeled into the classroom so we could watch the launch or the splashdown. 

On a beautiful July day in 1969 I was in the house sitting at apt attention watching the fuzzy image of man walking the moon. 

I watched in shock as Challenger’s pieces arced across the sky. 

Yesterday I watched brave souls strapped to a rocket once again, after nearly a lifetime, head into space. 

This is a great thing. I cannot tell you why, but it is. 

I may have find The Right Stuff and watch it again. 

May God keep them safe.