Well, I Guess Fred's Out; So Huckabee's In!...

Well, (I say that a lot) I posted this on my other blog, Tell It Like It Is, and I think I'll let it run for a day or so on this one, too. I believe it's that important.

"I sure hope Huckabee won't be as easy for the lib's to beat as they seem to think he will be. I sure wanted Thompson but I guess that was not to be.

I looked things over pretty closely before I made my choice. This article from AFA came in my e-mail and it locked up my choice. It tells about the do's and don'ts of the candidates, both Republicans and Dem's.

The only thing I am a bit iffy about is his wanting to have a federal sales tax instead of the present, Infernal Revenue Service debacle(?). That could be not too great for us seniors who are on fixed and limited incomes. It ain't like I could just work another day for the overtime to afford to buy a new vacuum cleaner (plus thirty percent tax) for mi espousa! (A little Mex lingo there) And, of course, there'd still be a state income and sales tax to consider.

Some of the candidates answers (yes or no) to the questions they were asked might just surprise you. I'd suggest you go to the above mentioned site and check things out.

Oh, and HERE is a link to Mike's web page. You can learn a lot about him there."

Later...

The Northern Lights…

I was over at Tweetys’ site enjoying the outstanding photos of the Aurora Borealis and remembered when I first saw the Northern Lights. (and the only time, I hasten to add) I may have posted about this sometime in the past but I’m gonna do it again!

It was in the year of our Lord, 1957, and I was living and working out of pueblo, Colorado, driving truck and hauling pipe from the steel mill there (Colorado Fuel and Iron Co –CFI) to all points mostly south into Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico to assorted oil well drilling rigs and pipe yards.
On this particular trip, a big one-eyed Irishman named Don Ferguson was making the trip with me in his truck. Don was from Vega, Texas, and his family still lived there.

Don was a country boy, a bit on the shy side and in no way worldly wise. As an example; on this trip we went to Houston to take two loads of drill pipe to a pipe yard there. (Or a steel mill, I don’t remember for sure which) Anyhoo, when we got there, it was too late to unload that day and we were hungry so we parked in the large parking lot (which was where we would sleep on a pallet or sleeping bag under the load of pipe to keep the morning dew off, since there were no hotels available) and looked around for a café. Down the street about a block or so away was a Danny’s restaurant. It was new and would later change it’s name to the now popular moniker of, “Dennys.”

Anyhow, when Don saw it, he was reluctant to go in because he thought it looked too fancy. I assured him we would be welcomed with open arms since we closely resembled working men with appetites and money. We did go in and eat and were treated royally.

Now for the important part. We unloaded the next day and headed back to Pueblo. On the way, we went through Vega and visited some with Don’s folks. They wanted us to spend the night but as we were wont to drive great distances without sleep, we decided to go on.

Now, to make a short story shorter, going back northward, we had to drive through the Canadian River basin. It dropped probably six or seven hundred feet from level to the river and up. It was a moonless night and very dark. As we drove along, all of a sudden I saw Don’s truck brake lights come on and he pulled to the right and stopped. I stopped behind him and walked up to where he was, by now, standing. He appeared excited, as was I.

He was looking north, pointing at something in the sky. He asked me if I saw a flash of light and I assured him I had seen it. He wondered aloud if the Russians had dropped an atomic bomb on our houses in Pueblo. (or anywhere else north of us) In those days, worrying about the Soviet Union and the “A” bomb was an everyday thing. I agreed it could be the scenario creating the tremendous flash of light.

Then we saw it again and I realized what it was. I asked Don if he knew what the Aurora Borealis was and he said he did. Then I assured him, the Northern Lights were, indeed, what we were seeing and we wondered that we could see them this far south of the border. (of Alaska)

Anyhoo, that’s the first and only time I have espied the Northern Lights. I remembered Don in the year, about 1993 or so (I’m a big reminiscer) and called him at his home in Vega, Texas (He’s still married to Sally) and axed him if he remembered much about us in those days and the first thing he said was, “Yeah, mostly the time we saw the Northern Lights.”

Boy, them was the good old days!

Later…

A Promise is a Promise...

Just like I promised, here are a few recipes from the new cook book, "The Cook, Not Mad Or Rational Cookery." I think you'll get a kick out of them.



Later...

Old Timey Cooking and Dictionating...

I was perusing an old timey cookbook that I bought at the Salvation Army Store for Mi Espousa (a little Mex lingo here) for a buck and I ran across a recipe that called for a 'little pearlash.' Now what the hey is 'pearlash,' I axed myself. Well, (I say that a lot)of course I didn't know so I thought I might google it, and so I did.
As it turned out, it is, more or less, potash. (ashes to you)

But during my ramblings, I came across this very interesting web site called, "http://1828.mshaffer.com." It's an old 1800s dictionary and, being the curious type person I am, I decided to look up a modern and very widely used word, "Boot." (you know; boot up or reboot, etc) I was, and I pray you will be, fascinated with the entire definition. Here it is below:

boot

BOOT, v.t. [Eng. but. The primary sense of the root is to advance, or carry forward.]

1. To profit; to advantage

It shall not boot them.

2. To enrich; to benefit.

I will boot thee.

BOOT, n. Profit; gain; advantage; that which is given to make the exchange equal, or to supply the deficiency of value in one of the things exchanged.

1. To boot, in addition to; over and above; besides; a compensation for the difference of value between things bartered; as, I will give my house for yours,with one hundred dollars to boot.

2. Spoil; plunder. [See Booty.]

BOOT, n.

1. A covering for the leg, made of leather, and united with a shoe. This garment was originally intended for horsemen, but is now generally worn by gentlemen on foot. The different sorts are fishing-boots, worn in water; hunting-boots, a thinner kind for sportsmen; jack-boots, a strong kind for horsemen; and half-boots.

2. A kind or rack for the leg, formerly used to torture criminals. This was made of boards bound fast to the legs by cords; or a boot or buskin, made wet and drawn upon the legs and then dried by the fire, so as to contract and squeeze the legs.

3. A box covered with leather in the fore part of a coach. Also, an apron or leathern cover for a gig or chair, to defend persons from rain and mud. This latter application is local and improper.

Now, I ax you, ain't that neat? And you ought to see Donnas' new cook book. It's named, "The Cook, Not Mad or Rational, Cookery."It has some dandy recipes in it. Maybe I'll post some of them later. Enjoy!

Later...

What Do I Do Now?...

"My Hero!!" is what my granddaughter on the right was thinking about her Grandpa! Ain't she cute?

I got my copy of National Geographic yesterday and there is an article in it about the life and times of General Robert E Lee. What an eventful life he had! What a hero he was and still is!

When I read about things that have happened in the past,-great things that are now parts of our history, I ask myself, "Self, what do I do now?"
George Washington forded the Delaware River in the dead of winter to defeat the enemy;

Davy Crockett fought and died at the Alamo defending Texas from the Mexicans;

Patrick Henry chose death rather than a life of British bondage;

Ulysses S Grant and Robert E Lee fought to preserve different ways of life in the United and Confederate States of America and hundreds of thousands of brave Americans died defending the cause each of them espoused;

Teddy Roosevelt lead the Charge on San Juan Hill in Cuba;

George Washington Carver, against great odds, spoke up and revolutionized the peanut industry;

Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross;

Geronimo was a great warrior and leader of the Apache Nation in early America;

Ronald Reagan was instrumental in the demise of the Soviet Union and the downing of the Berlin Wall...

I could go on and on, almost forever and name famous people who made history and were heroes. Can it be that history has already produced adequate heroes and now we can only observe but not add to the heroic historic events of this nation?

Has everything already been done? Are we condemned to limp along in life, to only observe past heroes and read about past heroic deeds? 'eeeh'..Maybe not.

It's nice to have historical heroes,-people we can admire and 'ooh' and 'ahh' at their escapades. How about that Superman? Neato, huh? At our stations in life, most of us see only backward when searching for a hero. Most of us could never make any history or be a hero; how could we?

Well, think about it. When Davy Crockett left Tennessee, did he say to himself, "I'm bored. I think I'll go to Texas and make history and become a hero!"

Or George Washington, or Abe Lincoln; I don't think they did what they did with the express purpose of making history and becoming heroes.
And the rest of them; when they walked out of the house, headed down the road to do whatever it was they did, I doubt any of them had,"I'm gonna be a hero right quick and make some history," on his mind.

Hey, you know what, maybe if each of us just goes ahead on and does whatever it is we're called to do, some of us might be heroes, too, someday, and make some history!
We may not be heroes to everybody in the world but, surely we could be heroes to someone; maybe even make a bit of history! You just never know!

Now that's something to think about! Yeah, that's something to sleep on!!

Later...

Dumb Question...

This is really cute. I got it in an e-mail from a friend and just had to post it!

The next time someone asks you a dumb question
wouldn't you like to respond like this...

Yesterday, I was buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for Athena the wonder dog at Wal-Mart and was about to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think I had, an elephant?

So since I had little else to do, on impulse, I told her
that no, I didn't have a dog, and that I was starting the Purina Diet again
although, I probably shouldn't, because I'd ended up in the hospital last
time.
On the bright side though, I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an
intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and

IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one
or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally
complete so I was going to try it again.
(I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no; I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's ass and a car hit us both!

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard!
P.S.--WAL-MART won't let me shop there anymore.

Later...

Thank Goodness I'm Retired!...

It's raining and the wind is gusting up to 55 miles per hour here in Red Bluff. Our mobile home is rocking on it's foundation! An awning at one of the front windows got loose and I had to go outside and take some slats out of it so they wouldn't blow away and maybe damage the front of our trailer. I got soaked but got the job done. 'Hurrah!'

Now for the good news; I'm retired! If I weren't retired, this is where I'd be right now, probably putting these(tire chains)on this!

But, 'Huzzah!' instead of putting snow chains on both sides of both trailer axles and a set on the con gear and a set on the tractor (all duals) I'm here,-doing this! 'BWYACCCKKKK!

So, I guess all is well in Retireland, at least 'til another big blow (not necessarily referring to myself) comes along!

Now I have to go and help mi Espousa (a little Mex lingo there) vacuum the carpet. I just heard a crash, a tinkle and a word that even I ofttimes hesitate to use coming from the great room. Next time, she will know what, "I'll do it in just a minute," means.

Later...