Quotes

You can't tax the rich and give it to the poor and produce a fair economic system. Brent Littlefield

Ramblings

OK...I've tried to lay off President Obama.....But I can't help myself. He just keeps giving me ammunition. I listened to his "News Conference" last night. I takes him forever to answer a question and even then he really dances around it. When he was asked at the end "as President, what has surprised him, humbled him" etc., he was all over the place with his answer yet not really answering. And then he tried to make a joke about it....."How busy I am! I'd be happy if all I had to worry about were two wars, the worst economy since the Great Depression (why do Democrats always forget about the Carter years? Those years, by any standard, where worse than now!), universal health care, border security, unemployment and bailouts". (I'm paraphrasing) He'd be happy???? That's exactly all he should be working on (except universal health care). Instead he is flying all over the country for "Town Hall meetings", which are completely choreographed, looking for photo ops, yet doing one of the dumbest things a President could do......An Air Force One, low level, fly over "ground zero", in New York city for a photo trailed by two fighter jets and not tell anyone in New York, not even the Mayor, it's going to happen? He's outraged and claims he wasn't aware of it and wants an investigation on what happened and to report back to him in two weeks. Hum...let's see...if you were a CEO and wanted an answer on what happened, you'd have an answer in couple of hours, at the most. Seriously, do you think some one can take Air Force One on a Photo shoot and the President NOT know. If he really didn't know, it proves he is in over his head and his "Handlers" are making all the decisions. Back to the press conference. He didn't take one question from Fox News, which is watched by more people than any other cable news channel. Did he think no one would question why he called on the other major networks and not Fox?? In his mind he is only the President to those who swoon over him or agree with him. You can tell he is lost without the TelePrompter because he rambles, searching for the right thing to say. Did you see on Glenn Beck, a few days ago, where Obama was giving a speech and the teleprompter was evidently out of sequence. He stopped speaking, told someone the teleprompter was showing something he had already said and then waited.....didn't say anything, until it was corrected. It was embarrassing to watch because he is our President and yet he was stumped as to what to say. Unlike Sara Palin, during the Republican Convention, when her teleprompter went out.......she didn't miss a beat....remember the "Hockey Mom" joke? No one even knew her teleprompter went out until later. One Obama advisor is quoted as saying that Mr. Obama is looking at installing a computer screen in White House podiums so "it would make it easier for the comms (communications) guys to pass along information without being obvious about it." The notion that a computer technician is queuing up the president's answers to questions is disturbing. One can easily imagine a Saturday Night Live skit where a technician waits with a canned set of answers to possible questions and from time to time cues up the wrong one. The major news outlets call him "Brilliant, smart, engaging, refreshing"! I'd call him something else but he's my President also.

RAMBLINGS

I haven’t Blogged for a while and some have asked why. I have writers block. Don’t know what to blog about. Should I stick to basically one theme and write/rant about President Obama and the Democrats….should I keep it light and not too serious and find things that are humorous…..should I showcase the Grand Kids or trips we’ve taken……or all of the above? I blog when a notion strikes me….when I have something to say or have something others may find interesting or amusing. It seemed that over the last few months I always had something to say. Now I’m blank!
Right now there are no good golf stories as my hand has not completely healed from my fall. Still can’t grip a club. Can’t golf now anyway…..too cold and rainy. The weather likes to tease us…..Friday was a gorgeous day…..mid 70’s, sunny, light wind,….. Perfect!! Saturday it stared raining, got cold and now, Sunday morning, we’re having thunderstorms. It’s cold, 49 , and will be raining until Tuesday. I know, I know, you are waiting for my snide little comment about “Global Warming”. A ha, there is something I can write about. “Global Warming”.
I feel the “Global Warming” crowd is losing steam and credibility because they are merging with "Clean Environment" but still using the “Global Warming” mantra. Scientific evidence has proven that the oceans have actually cooled 1 degree over the last 10 years. Their side really only has consensus not facts. They know that if they say "Global Warming" enough, people will believe it and they will not have to prove it. The Antarctica ice is increasing and the Arctic Ice is decreasing. If the whole Earth is warming wouldn’t the Antarctica is be melting also. The Antarctic ice increasing is a fact that the “Global Warming” crowd fails to mention in their literature. They use to say the “Ice Caps” are melting ….now they just say the Arctic Ice is melting. In the mid 1930’s the United States was the warmest it has been in 100 years….that’s a fact. We are NOT smart enough to actually affect the weather temperature. If we were, why do we have floods, blizzards, heat waves, cold spells….couldn't we just eliminate those problems? Why do temperatures vary all over the world……..vary between Florida and Minnesota? This is the earth that God has given us. He and only he can change it. Should we be good stewards of the land….of course! We must strive to keep our rivers and streams clean, our air unpolluted, replenish our forests, drive cleaner cars, be enthusiastic about conserving our energy resources, keep trash in the landfill not on the roadways….keep Mother Earth clean. Do not lump that in with “Global Warming”. Our government should spend it’s time working with China, Korea and other countries that couldn't care less about pollution and worry less about our environment “problems”…..we do not have a problem and we do “get It”…..just stay our of our pockets. Trying to “BUY” our way out of a problem that doesn’t exist is just another Liberal policy that will fail but cost taxpayers dearly!

Ramblings

What a country we live in. School officials can strip search a young teen age girl because she might have some Ibuprofen on her. The last time I checked, you can buy Ibuprofen at any Walmart without a prescription, in any quantity. However, the U.S military can not embarrass, slap, scare or harass a captured terrorist, even though the terrorist is known to have information about future attacks against the U.S., which puts American Citizens at risk. The American President's first and foremost job is to keep the United States safe from her enemies. How safe do you feel under President Obama? If it wasn't so serious you would have to laugh at the stupidity and recklessness of Liberals!

Quotes

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani

GRANDCHILDREN

My Grand Daughter in her "Hip Hop" outfit

One of the great things about living in a small town is the sense of community. You seem to know so many more people than if you were living in a larger town. In a large town or city you basically are familiar with people in your neighborhood, church or at work. You go to school functions but know very few other people other than your children’s friends. Where we live, my wife knows everyone! Me? I getting better.
My grand daughter had a dance recital the other night. It was at the High School auditorium and the place was packed. They had two shows, one at 4:00 p.m. and one at 7:00p.m. Between the two shows, I think at least ½ the town came to see it whether they had kids in it or not. Her dance teacher teaches each class, Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, and Tap and had 4 different classes based on age. Going to the recital, all I really wanted to see was my grand daughter. I wasn’t too enthused about sitting thru all the other classes. I figured it was going to be a long night. It was so enjoyable! 22 routines, all ages, all skill levels. It was so well planned, it only took 54 minutes. All the kids did an awesome job! Seeing the smiles on their faces and sensing their pride of accomplishment was beautiful. The community had come together to celebrated the result of their children’s hard work through out the year. This was my first dance recital and I can’t wait for next year. My grand daughter can’t either!

Ramblings

Listening to Rush today, he brought up a good point. President Obama during the campaign stated that the United States should have a dialog with our enemies..Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, etc. Why is it the the President does not want to have a dialog with his U.S. "Enemies"....Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Mark Levin, etc. Why not sit down with them, have a summit and "Clear the Air"?? Just maybe there may be some common ground. Instead he sends out his surrogates to vilify them because, although they are U.S. citizens, they disagree with his agenda and policies. It's beneath him to talk to U.S. citizens with a differing view point but he will meet with countries that profess hatred for the United States. 55 million U.S. citizens did not vote for him but he is ignoring them instead of listening to their viewpoint. There is a feeling, a movement, something is going on in the U.S.....Democrates, Republicans, Independents. He is not the "Breath of Fresh Air" everyone was hoping for. Instead he is scarring people and they have no reason to believe him anymore. He policies are radically different than what he was promoting during the campaign. We may have to wait four years to vote him out but we can reclaim the Senate and House in two years and that should slow him down and maybe reverse some of the damage he is doing. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Quotes

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.........Winston Churchill

Giving

I read the Wit and Wisdom for the Aged blog this morning about charitable giving. I couldn’t agree more that you should know how your charitable money is being spent. I attended a Mission meeting, at our church last night, and the whole meeting was about whom we can feasibly support with our limited recourses. We have identified 9 programs that have asked for or would like our help. The mission for our Mission Group is to figure out how to help all, in a meaningful way. Our small church helps support 2 Missions, one in Nigeria and the other in Guatemala, flood relief, tornado relief, food shelves, etc. and the requests just keep coming.
As we go through life, every year, we are asked to contribute to many causes: Red Cross, March of Dimes, Cancer Research, Salvation Army, United Way, Homeless Shelters, Food Shelves, Operation Santa Claus..….the list goes on. On top of this there are the youth program fund raisers for various sports, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Band….you get the picture. Someone is always asking for some sort of donation from your hard earned money. As Americans we are extremely generous and normally do not hesitate to help our youth, help the needy or to give someone assistance. But when we do give money we do have a right to know or ask how it is spent. Too often those in charge of “Charities” abuse our trust. One of the International Charities our church sends money to, spends close to 25% for administration costs. Looking at their organization chart it seems to me they are top heavy in salaried employees. Some say 25% is normal….I disagree…..10-12% is a little more typical. When we send our churches money to Nigeria we send it directly to the Mission, not to the ELCA regional office in Chicago. That way we know 100% of the money reaches the Mission. The American taxpayer is cynical of the way Congress spends their tax money. They have had enough! Let’s hope that anger does not spill over to charitable giving because there are certainly those who can use our help and would really struggle without it.

Say What?

For high blood pressure suffers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

Injury

When ever you travel on vacation, one of your concerns is:”What happens if you are injured and need a doctor?” You always have the comfort of your own doctor and hospital when around home. Dateline: April 9, 2009, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee……Klutzy man falls in the street. On the way home from the Masters we decided to do some sightseeing. Our friends had never been to a Civil War Battlefield so we decided to go to Lookout Mountain, the site of the “Battle above the Clouds”. After visiting the Battlefield, we were coming out of the visitor’s center, I was reading a brochure, stepped off a curb wrong, and fell to the street. I remember thinking “Oh boy, this is going to hurt”. It did. Now I know why Pro Wrestlers make small cuts above their eyes to promote bleeding. I had a small scrape above my eye but looking at the amount of blood you’d swear I had a massive head wound. My right pinky finger was bent completely back against the back of my hand. I was sure I broke it. I actually moved it and it popped back to the correct position. There was a large gash at the last joint, next to the palm, of that pinky. Our friend who was with, an ex EMTI, said it definitely needed stitches. There were other bumps and scraps but the eye and finger were the concerns. Here is where the fun begins. After getting directions, at the visitor’s center, where the nearest hospital was, we headed over to it…..about 20 minutes away. As I checked in at the receptionist desk, I said I had heard horror stories of waiting for hours to be seen. I wasn’t in real pain so if it was going to take a while we’d go elsewhere……not sure where, maybe up to Nashville, but we weren’t going to sit around. She said “It shouldn’t take long…things are moving rather quickly”. “Shouldn’t take long” was approx. 45 minutes before I got called. A nurse got all my pertinent information and said “our rooms are full and it might take awhile”. Of course this was after he had put my ID bracelet on and I was now under their care. I told him we were from out of town, on our way home, and wanted to get going. He left, came back 10 minutes later and took me to a room. Within 15 minutes a Doctor came in. He looked at the eye, took the bandage off, left it off and said it would be fine. It had stopped bleeding. Didn’t even bother to clean it. He took the little finger bent it forward and asked if it hurt…it didn’t. He then bend it backward and asked if it hurt….*#!&*#.....YES…..&%^$#@!!! He had opened the gash so you could see the bone and tendons. He said “yep it needs stitches; I’ll get my nurse to clean it up. We’ll also need to schedule x-rays to make sure the bone isn’t chipped or cracked.” 15 minutes later, enter Goober Pyle. Gomer Pyle would have been an upgrade. This “Nurse” must have been on OJT. He first started cleaning the around wound with alcohol which was OK, however he was holding the injured finger while doing it, instead of the whole hand, which was not comfortable to say the least! He just did a half a--ed job of cleaning and then left to scheduled an x-ray. Over the course of the next hour Goober came in and set up the cart with everything needed for stitches. He was pouring alcohol into a pan when he spilled it all over the cart. He didn’t even attempt to clean it up. He mentioned that he couldn’t understand why it was taking so long for the x-rays. After 60-75 minutes. the doctor came in and said he is going to sew it up before the x-rays but I couldn’t check out until he had a chance to see them. He then produced a needle that was at least 3” long and was going to “numb” up the finger. Did that hurt???? %$#*&%^…. YES….. *&^$%#@*..... Novocain at a Dentist office is a piece of cake. After washing the wound out, he stitched it up. 15 minutes later another Nurse came and took me for x-rays. That took 30 minutes. Enter Goober to bandage me up with a splint. My granddaughter could do a better job of bandaging. He was completely un-coordinated and made a huge mess of the bandaging. He was not gentle or concerned about the injury and I was glad the novicane was still working. Otherwise, Goober and I would have had words!! It would have made a great comedy sketch. (we re-bandaged at the hotel that night). The doctor looked at the x-rays and found the finger wasn’t cracked or had any chips, so I was discharged. The doctor gave me a prescription for pain killers and said it could be filled at the hospital pharmacy. After 10-15 minutes, the Pharmacy said it didn’t have a contract with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Iowa so we would have to pay cash. After over 4 hours at the Hospital we were finally back on the road. My conclusions are: do not believe them when they say “It shouldn’t take too long”, avoid all injuries in or around Chattanooga, make sure your insurance is acceptable when traveling the southern states, and finally before anything else, ask if Goober is on duty.

Golf

Well The Masters is over and my man didn’t win. Kenny Perry would have been a Great Masters Champion….someone every golfer could look up to. He’s a “lunch bag” type of player. Does his work, appreciates and is polite to the fans, then goes home to his family. He could live anywhere he wants but lives in the very small town, in Kentucky, where he grew up. He isn’t flashy, conceited, or emotional. When he loses he doesn’t blame the Course, or how the Course was set-up to favor certain players, the weather, bad breaks or lucky competitors, like Sergio did after this Masters. He takes full responsibility and gives full Kudos to the winner. During an interview several years ago he said “If a fan wants my autograph it is my responsibly to give him a signature he can read.” Of all the signatures I have gathered over the years, Kenny Perry’s is the most legible. Take a look at the Masters Flag picture above. Name any of the other players who have signed the flag. I could give you the names and you still wouldn’t be able to pick them out. He is truly the definition of “Class Act”! I look forward to rooting for him next year.

Golf

Augusta National Golf Club…..The Masters….. There are thousands of golf courses all over the world but none are quite like Augusta National or tournaments as unique as “The Masters”. It is the only Major Championship played at the same course every year. It is a “good old boys club” for men with 300 members. A cigar smoking….card playing….scotch drinking…… golf playing ….rich…... men’s club. There are no dues...they just add up all the expenses for the year, divide by 300 and send a bill. (The member with the least amount of money is worth over $30,000,000.... Gates & Buffett are members) There is not a tennis court or swimming pool. There are no social memberships. In fact, you can’t ask to join…there are no applications. You must be invited to join by a member. The Tournament was first played back in the 30’s, as a fun time for the friends of Bobby Jones and its members. Patrons were invited strictly for their enjoyment. It is not a PGA event. It was never held as a means to make money. This is still evident today. The tickets are very cheap. ($40.00 for the Par 3 Tournament) You can’t buy tickets (Badges) for the regular Tournament as they have been sold out since around ‘68 and the waiting list for tickets was closed around ‘78. A Badge for one day is being scalped for $1,200.00. You can still get a practice round ticket for Monday, Tuesday or the Par 3 on Wednesday but even those are determined by a lottery. Only 40,000 sold and over 125,00 applications. Parking is on premises and free, food is cheaper than an average food stand, (see Pic), and patrons are called patrons or guests not spectators or fans. One TV announcer was banned from the Tournament for calling the patrons a mob, in jest. That was over 20 years ago and he still is not forgiven. No hooting or hollering, no running…just polite cheering and clapping. There are no souvenir tents..…there are permanent merchandise buildings. Every worker is happy and friendly. Patron restrooms are similar to a school restroom.....permanent, large, bright and clean. The grounds are pristine. I have not found a weed anywhere on the course and I have been there 3 times. No kidding…If I found one I was going to take a picture of it! All other tournaments aspire to be like the Masters. As you can tell, I am pretty impressed with Augusta National. This year we got to go to the Par 3 Tournament. (Augusta National also has a Par 3 Course on the premises and it is just as nice as the big course) It is just a fun time for the players who use their kids, relatives or friends as caddies. We were sitting right next to the 6th green. Watched Greg Norman (Caddie Chris Evert) get a hole in one, watched Jack, Arnie and Gary play together, …..really got to see all the favorites up close and personal. If you are a golf nut like me, The Masters is like going to the Super Bowl, Final Four, and World Series all at once. It was worth driving down there in the rain, snow and cold, a total of 5 days on the road, and a trip to the hospital, in Chattanooga, for 4 stitches…..but more on that later.

Say What?

I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.

Travel

As you get older, the decisions you must make, change. Your decisions about your job, finances, your kids, your house and car, take second seat to: where are or what are we going to eat tonight, did your get a tee time, when does Walmart have their spring flowers on sale and what should we buy, should we wallpaper or paint, we need to change the look of our kitchen....you know, important things! Today our decision is should we leave early for our vacation to Georgia. We were planing on leaving early tomorrow morning but there is a storm going to hit this afternoon and won't be over til tomorrow morning. The storm is producing snow, sleet and ice. If it isn't over until tomorrow morning, will the roads be OK to travel on? Plus the Storm is heading southeast so we would probably be running into it tomorrow as well. However, the farther South we go, the less chance of snow. Rain is easier to drive in. Maybe we should just wait until later tomorrow morning and see what the roads are like . Problem with that is that will mean having to drive longer, on Monday and Tuesday, than we had planned. We have one traveler that doesn't do well on long trips in the car. Of course one of us says "let's leave today", the other "let's wait until tomorrow". We have a 3 hour window to make the decision. We'll probably wait until the last minute....no sense making a decision now.

Update: We're leaving in 1/2 hour. We'll talk to you when we get back on Friday. I'm not taking the computer along......no room.

Say What?

It isn't the jeans that make your butt look fat..............

Grandchildren

...................................................My lap will never be too small for my Grandchildren!........................

My wife and I double dated last night with our grandchildren. Went for pizza and then the movie "Monsters vs Aliens". Had a fun time, though the movie was for young children. I almost fell a sleep a couple of times. The evening cost $42.00 and that's with the Senior discount....pizza $22.00....movie $12.00 and....1 medium popcorn and a kids popcorn w/ small drink and a small bag of M&M's $8.00. I know, I know that's cheap compared to many cities. The cost that seemed out of line was the popcorn. If I were to buy that same amount anywhere other than a movie theater, it would have cost $1.25 maybe $1.50 tops. I suppose that the cost to rent the movie is so high they couldn't charge enough for the ticket to cover the cost and still make a profit. Attendance would drop off. The food is where they make their profit. When I was growing up in Nebraska, I would go to the "Pace Theater" on Saturday mornings and for $.15 buy a ticket for a couple of cartoons and a feature movie....Roy Rogers, Gene Audrey, Cisico Kid, etc. We'd get to take half of the ticket stub, leave the theater and go down the street to the "Newsie Nook". There we could buy a small bag full of penny candy for $.10 and take back to the theater. (one small candy bar at the theater was $.10 ) Total outlay $.25! To be fair, our theater has "free popcorn" night on Wednesdays and every now and then the town merchants buy the theater and have free movies for the kids. Another advantage of living in a small town.

Moles

He's done! After two more days of getting skunked, he finally caught the last one that was out back. As you can see by the picture, with all the white flags, he had it surrounded. I think he was more relieved of catching it than I was. He was beginning to doubt himself. As he was showing it to me, my granddaughter came out to look. (he didn't cut off a foot as it was the last one) She was very inquisitive and he gave her a lesson about moles....no eyes, sharp teeth, large feet for digging, etc. She felt the fur and stated how soft it was. Mole Man said the fur is sometimes used to line gloves and Korens use it to make flys for fishing. It is very soft! It is now going to be interesting to see if I have anymore moles this summer.

Say What?

Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

Moles

Well, two days ago he caught the one out front which was the object of my obsession however, there were still several "runs" in the back so he's started working on them. Last night he checked them. He was skunked again and one had actually tunneled around one of the traps. Mole Man is really upset now! The war has begun! My back yard now looks like a mine field with all his traps. If they tunnel around one, they'll run into another. It will be interesting when he checks them tonight. He is burning up all his profits in gas just coming out to my place. He is a little strange but very entertaining. He insists in showing you the moles he catches and then cutting off one foot, in front of you, so that you know he isn't showing you the same mole everyday he catches one. I can do without that.....I trust him! Evidently he takes the moles home and skins them.....not sure what he does with the skins....you'd sure need a lot of skins to make anything. He does earn his money. I think this is just a hobby but when it comes to catching moles, everyone around here say "He's the man!" So far my moles are winning the battles!