To All a Good Night

The frantic rush is over and Christmas 2009 is in the history books. How well did your budget enjoy Christmas? Now the days of returns and exchanges are here. Remember as you exchange and/or return your gifts that there are only 358 more shopping day till Christmas.

With end of Christmas for this year the return to the craziness of normalcy begins with an attempt to blow up an airplane in Detroit, to health care reform, the national debt and other frivolities & falderal that is all but common on this the third rock from the sun....oh the humanity of it. So go forth, be fruitful & multiply and enjoy what is to be.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Today is the big day to be with family and friends to give thanks for everything....God, family, friends and this great country. I give thanks to God for my family, now 15 strong, all healthy & happy. My friends, some I have known for 50 years, are all honorable, honest & patriotic men and women. This great country, which is a beacon of freedom to the world shows what can happen when a group of people are free and stand as one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

We saw a movie the other night called "Taking Chances" starring Kevin Bacon as a Lt Col in the Marine Corps who volunteers to escort the body of a Marine private home who was KIA in Iraq to a small town south of Billings, MT. It was based on a true story and very moving for as he made the trip everyone treated him and especially the fallen Marine with great respect. When I see a movie like this based on a true story it is Thanksgiving everyday, not just once a year. For regardless of where we come from we are Americans from sea to shinning sea.

Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving and pray for our troops.

The State of the Nation

As I travel around North Texas, Southern Arkansas & Louisiana I hear more and more how much people are dissatisfied with the way the country is going under the Democrat majority and the Republican minority. To paraphrase Churchill---never has so few done so much to so many. Congress has the lowest approval rating in history, yet everyone like his or her Congressman and/or Senator. This lowest approval rating doesn't stop them from doing whatever they please...giving themselves a raise, working 3 days a week and at least 2 months a year off to name a few. From what I understand they are in the process of ramming through a national health care bill that no one really understands, doesn't know how we are going to pay for it and the very Senators & Representatives that are pushing it through have add an amendment exempting themselves from the plan. What does that mean?

The founders of our nation wrote the Constitution with safe guards to prevent government oppression and to maintain the rights of the individual. Yet one hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine
Supreme Court justices, which equates to 545 human beings out of the 300
million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible
for the domestic problems that plague this country. Do we the people vote for higher taxes? Are we the people allowed to correct our income tax mistakes without penalties? Are we the people allowed to take a year off with pay to run for office? Are we the people allowed to give ourselves a raise? Do we the people even have a voice in government any more?

We have all but abandoned God and moral high ground, and justifiably so God and moral high ground as all but abandoned us. Given all this we must never give up. Keep voicing you opinion and maybe someday we will be heard.

Arizona Visit with Comments

I am writing this from my motel room in Phoenix, AZ while on vacation. I brought my Mother (who is 81) and my Father (who is 90). Before World War II my Father was in the CCC working around the Grand Canyon & up into Colorado building roads, fighting fires etc. He always wanted to see the Grand Canyon one more time, so here we are. I'm amazed as to how well he gets around for his age, but he does tire easily. They haven't flown in 30 some years so it has been interesting getting them through security etc and changing planes in Albuquerque. We also lived in Casa Grande, a small town about an hour south of Phoenix, moving back to Oklahoma when I was 10. We plan on going there also, almost 50 years to the day since we moved back to Oklahoma.

Arizona is a nice state for the most part. One thing I didn't know is that they stay on standard time year round, which makes them 2 hours behind Dallas. Ah civilization, where is thy sting?

Anyone amazed as to who got the Nobel Peace Prize? Maybe they meant the Nobel Piece Prize for taking a larger piece of the American economy for who knows what. I treat all politicians of either party the same--none are worth a bucket of warm spit-- to paraphrase Wallace, FDR's first Vice President.

Everyone have a good day and pray for our troops.

1960s Class Reunions

I graduated from high school in 1966, when Johnson was President, the Viet Nam war was at its height and three years before the first moon walk. That was 43 plus years ago. Now there is a reunion planned next month for those who graduated from Ninnekah High School. Almost all of us are grandparents and some are great grandparents. The time of youth flies by so fast taken up by marriage, jobs, kids and the everyday struggle of life. In my 60th year I tend to look back on my life and think about all that has happened, both good and bad. At 20 years of age I felt like the world was my oyster and that 60 was a number shrouded in the mist of the future. Life was on the tips of my fingers at 20 and now the sands of time is all to quickly slipping through my hands. I enjoy everyday as best I can whether it be sitting at home quietly with my wonderful wife or enjoying my parents, kids, grandkids and great granddaughter at family get togethers. Celebrate each day and thank God for this country, family, friends and the joy of life.

That's How the Fight Started

One year, a husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift..
The next year, he didn't buy her a gift.
When she asked him why, he replied, "Well, you still haven't used the
gift I bought you last year!"
And that's how the fight started......
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I asked my wife, 'Where do you want to go for our anniversary?'
It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation.
'Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!' she said.
So I suggested, 'How about the kitchen?'
And that's when the fight started....
************************************************************************
My wife and I are watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were
in bed. I turned to her and said, 'Do you want to have sex?'
'No,' she answered.
I then said, 'Is that your final answer?'
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying 'Yes.'
So I said, 'Then I'd like to phone a friend.'
And that's when the fight started....
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I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95.
Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer
would make her look better at night than the cold cream.
And that's when the fight started......
*********************************************************************

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my
order first.. 'I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please.'
He said, 'Aren't you worried about the mad cow?'
'Nah, she can order for herself.'
And that's when the fight started.....
************************************************************************

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping the channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?' I said, 'Dust.' And then the fight started... ====================================================================== My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 200 in about 3 seconds..' I bought her a scale. And then the fight started... ==================================================================== My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' 'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend... I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.' 'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?' And then the fight started... =========================================================== I rear-ended a car this morning.. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it... he was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!' So, I looked down at him and said, 'Well, then which one are you?' And then the fight started... ============================================================================ THE BROKEN LAWN MOWER When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the truck, the car, playing golf ' Always something more important to me. Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, 'When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway.' The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp

Avertising Icons and the World

The the ring circus we call our government is working hard to do what??? Obama, the Ringmaster, introduces a new act almost daily and expects us, the rubes from the sticks who have never seen a circus, to accept it without question. What would George, Thomas, Ben and the boys have to say if they were alive today?

But as important as the above is something else over shadows all this...the death of Bridget the Taco Bell Chihuahua. Another advertising icon is no more and goes to join the Frito Bandito, the Nestles dog, Mister Whipple and others to that great advertising studio in the sky. N E S T L E S, Nestles makes the very best...CHOCOLATE (moth snaps shut) will echo through the years as well as don't squeeze the Charmin. A more innocent time when kids could play outside without fear of be kidnapped, families consisted of a Mother & Father, a man's word was his bond, kids didn't have to hold their pants up with one hand while walking, the audience gasp when damn or hell was heard in a movie to name a few. Has things like 24 hour news, cable, the internet, computers and other forms of modern communication helped to fuel all the above? The mind of man has brought forth a staggering array of inventions, innovations, yes even famous advertising icons which gives us a more comfortable life but it seems like the side effects are almost not worth it.I thank God everyday for everything and hope that he has enough patience to allow we imperfect humans to work it all out.

The Wilds of Louisiana

I just finished a week of making sales calls in the wilds of southern Louisiana....lots of heat & humidity. I recently subscribed to satellite radio and have become somewhat spoiled to the choices such a Blue Collar comedy, NPR, Bluegrass, classic country and the Sinatra channel to name a few. My rental car radio could only pick up AM & FM and in some areas (shades of dueling banjos) very few of those stations. Choices were sports, religion, country music and talk radio. I got quite a cross section of views on current issues such as Cap & Trade ranging from Rush Limbaugh to local somewhat liberal talk shows hosts. I was amazed that almost all these talk show hosts agreed that Cap & Trade is not good and neither is government sponsored health care...especially when a tax will be levied on the health care plans of small businesses and corporation to pay for the government plan. I understand that the proposed government health care plan (socialized medicine) excludes all members of Congress & the President. WOW!!! these plans are good enough to be forced on us but not good enough for our elected officials. To paraphrase FDR's first Vice President, "None of them is worth a bucket of warm spit".

High School Graduation 2009

A very proud day for my family and I was June 8, 2009, when my oldest granddaughter & her husband graduated high school. It was a nice ceremony held at the Univ of North Texas Colosseum. There were almost 900 graduates and it started at 8pm. I thought we would be finished at midnight if we were lucky and my granddaughter's last name (her maiden name) starts with a W and she was 7th from the last. To my amazement they were finished by 10pm and we had very little trouble getting out the parking lot. We had five generations of our family attending the ceremony...my parents, my wife & I, my daughter & son, my granddaughters & grandson and great granddaughter. Memories....October, 1990 my granddaughter was so small I could hold her in my hand. Eighteen years later she is a grown woman graduating high school...but regardless she is still and always will be my little girl.

GM...Mark of Extravagance

General Motor declared bankruptcy a few days ago after Chrysler did a few weeks ago. Its amazing that these companies have gone from the premier car companies in the world to this. I can remember when GM was the number one company in the world. I have owned 10 cars----one Dodge, two Fords, one Volkswagen, one Subaru and the rest GM products. My wife has a Saturn with 110,000 plus miles. Fords have been my least favorite (I will never buy another Ford) yet they are in the best financial shape. As the above drama unfolds who would have thought that Fiat from Italy would be buying Chrysler and the Chinese would by the Hummer...they must have got a humdinger of a deal. Lord, Mr Ford what have you done?

Organizations Then & Now

Last weekend my grandson graduated to the rank of Tiger in Cub Scouts. A small irony was that he wore the cub scout hat I wore 53 years ago. My wonderful Mother kept my cub scout uniform all these years along with my Army uniform I wore home when I was discharged and my High School FFA jacket. All of them have good memories and I guess that is what organizations are for, whether it be the US Army or the cub scouts. For many years my father was member of the BPOE (Benevolent Protective Order of Elks) and the CCC before World War II and he often shares his memories of being a part of those organizations. Organizations like this are good because they teach you how to get along with a group and thus how to be a better member of society. The Army really teaches you how to get along in a group and I think a little time spent in the military makes one appreciate things better. Most everyone belongs to some organization from a family to an organization such as the ones mentioned above and most everyone has a need to belong. I guess this goes back to ancient history where there was safety in numbers. So cherish what you belong to such as family and treasure the emeory of those organizations you have belonged to in the past and thank God we have the freedom, right and privilege to do so.

Reflections on 1966

Tuesday night my wife and I flew into Oklahoma City after a week visiting relatives in Southern California. We were getting our luggage about 10pm when I saw a group of young army recruits being hustled to buses waiting to take them to Ft Sill for basic training. Young eager recruits going for training to fight Mr Bush's & now Mr Obama unnecessary war in Iraq. As I watched them go by my mind drifted back to August, 1966 and another group of new recruits, including me, boarding an aircraft for a flight to El Paso and basic training at Ft Bliss to fight in Mr Johnson's' unnecessary war in Viet Nam. A big difference was that we were a mix of about a third National Guard, about a third volunteers and about a third draftees. These young people going to Ft Sill were all volunteers..amazing how things have changed. My memories were made even more poignant by the fact that my wife and I had visited the Murrah Federal Building that was bombed on April 19, 1995 that previous Thursday. I was inducted into the army in August, 1966 in that same building and I stood in about the same place where I took the oath of alegience to preserve, protect & defend the United States almost 43 years earlier, WOW!! May God bless and keep those young recruits as they are transformed into and become part of the US Army...one of the greatest group of soldiers in history.

The Tax Man Cometh

April 15th is fast approaching when good ole Uncle Sam takes his unfair share of our hard earned money. After all illegal immigrants, foreign countries and most of all our wonderful representatives & senators need the money for their pork barrel projects. Per Wickipedia:

On June 16, 1909, President Taft proposed a constitutional amendment in an address to Congress to allow federal income taxes on individuals and an excise tax "upon the privilege of doing business as an artificial entity and of freedom from a general partnership liability enjoyed by those who own the stock."[16][17]
On July 12, 1909, the resolution proposing the Sixteenth Amendment was passed by the Sixty-first Congress and submitted to the state legislatures. Support for the income tax was strongest in the western states and opposition was strongest in the northeastern states.[18] The governor of New York, Charles Evans Hughes, who a few years later became a Supreme Court justice, opposed the income tax amendment because he believed "from whatever source derived" implied that passage would confer the federal government with the power to tax state and municipal bonds and thus excessively centralize government power.[19]
The presidential election of 1912 was contested between three advocates of an income tax.[20] On February 25, 1913, the Secretary of State Philander Knox proclaimed that the amendment had been ratified by the necessary three-fourths of the states, and thus had become part of the Constitution. An income tax, the Revenue Act of 1913, was shortly passed by the Congress.

The naive people of 1913 let the demon of unregulated taxing almost without representation out of the bottle. Today no one really understands the tax laws, but woe unto a hard working citizen who violates one of these laws that statistics show the IRS doesn't understand either. The exception is for our so called representatives who get a slap on the wrist if they do not pay their taxes when due. I understand some taxes are needed to maintain our government and our way of life, but it shouldn't take almost 5 months of wages per year to pay all the taxes imposed on us.

Home Owner's Association

Our housing addition has a Home Owner's Association. Being part of a Home Owner's Association is both good and bad. It is good because they can prevent some one from painting their house purple or putting a car up on blocks in the front you while they repair it. That being said a home owner must get permission for a project ranging from realigning a flower bed to adding solar screens and storm doors. A few weeks age we connected the two trees in the front yard with edging and added mulch for a flower bed. A simple project that got compliments from people walking by and enhanced the look of our front yard. Lo and behold we got a letter from the good ole Home Owner's Association saying this is a "Friendly Reminder" which will be followed by warnings and fines if we do not submit paperwork to have this project approved. Amazing...a simple project has to be approved by a bunch of storm troopers that I pay a yearly due to so they can tell me what I can do with the outside of my house. Yet when I complain about barking dogs, too many cars parked at the curb, kids playing basketball on front driveways with portable baskets (all in violation of the HOA rules) I am told we cannot do anything about that and am referred to some worthless city or country agency that either doesn't answer the phone or will not return my calls. If had know then what I know now I would not have bought a house in an HOA housing addition, and never will again.

In all my years on the planet one of the most beautiful things I've heard is the sound of "Amazing Grace" played on the bagpipes and sung acappella, but most of all played on the bagpipes. Maybe its because my ancestors are from that area and it stirs the ole celtic blood. Bagpipes have led brave men into battle and then plyed the haunting refrain of "Amazing Grace" as the heros of the battle were laid to rest. For no one is more brave than he or she who lays down thier life for God, country and their fellow man.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid271552717?bctid=1913313052

Sports Team Names

This past week I was in Southwest Arkansas. As I travel I take note of high school and college team names. I am amazed as to the variety of names and some of the unusual names. According to a website the top 2 names for high school teams are the eagles and tigers. Owls are number 51 and number 100 is the Blue Jays. Some of the names I have seen that are not on the list: Nashville, AR Scrappers, Hereford, TX Hostile Herd - the girls basketball team is the Lady Whiteface, Topeka Ichabods, Lewisville Fightin' Farmers, VA Tech Hokies, Macon Whoopee hockey team, UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, Lansing Lugnuts, Montgomery Biscuits, Modesto Nuts, Cedar Rapids Kernals, Savannah San Gnats, Greensboro Grasshoppers, Delta State Univ Fighting Okra, Artie the Fighting Artichoke (Scottsdale CC), The Fightin' Whities (U Northern Colorado), The Pretzels (New Berlin, IL High School), The Midgets (Freeburg, IL High School), The Billiken (St. Louis U), South Arkansas University Muleriders, ChickashaFightin' Chicks and my alumini the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos. I wonder how long sports team have had those names and who came up with them. The answer my friend is probably blowing in the wind.

Saturday 31 Jan 09

It is finally going to be a nice day in Dallas after almost a week of ice and cold. The ice was the real problem as Dallas does not have enough sand trucks to cover all the problem areas. I stayed home most of Tuesday and Wednesday. We also ha freezing fog.....I have never experienced that until this winter. Quite a phenomenon.

Business is terrible right now. This is the longest I've gone without a sale in my almost 30 year selling career. Even Frito Lay (one of my biggest customers) is not buying anything unless they have no choice. The North Texas area doesn't have it as bad as the rest of the country for the most part but it is not that much fun. The company I work for employees about 1000 in the USA and for the first time in their 73 plus year history they have had to lay people off, which was 55 people at HQ.I'm sure glad 2008 was a banner year.

The three ring circus known as the Congress, President and Supreme Court as hard at it trying to solve this financial mess along with trying their best to give the terrorist at Guantanamo the same rights as American citizens, never mind that they are barbarians that cut people's heads off on TV and ram planes into office buildings just because we don't worship Allah. The stimulus package is the biggest farce in this circus. Its like mating elephants...lots of screaming and hollering, takes place in high places and you have to wait 3 years for results. V peace my brothers and sisters.

2009 is starting out to be an interesting year from the aspect that my daughter will turn 40, my son in law (her husband) will turn 50, I will turn 60 and my father will turn 90. Kind of amazing that 4 people in the same family has their birth year end in 9. Guess 9 is our lucky number and just for fun I will buy some lottery tickets incorporating our birthday years.

January 20th we will have a new President. Lord knows we need one...and especially someone to provide leadership in the right direction. Obama was not my choice, neither was McCain because we need someone who will do the job and damn the torpedoes. Maybe Obama will turn out to be that person. After all Eisenhower was lost in the background of a cadre of officers directing World War II in Europe and when the need arose became one of our greatest Generals. When the country's need is the greatest is when the great ones step forward from the background of the everyday citizen to do what needs to be done. Let us hope and pray that Obama is that person.

Another fun day brewing, but a little colder than the last few days. But I will take this over the flooding, ice, snow and cold happening in the north country. I think that is why Utah, Arizona and Texas are the top three destinations for people fleeing the northern winter, oppressive taxes and no jobs. New York is talking about taxing the sugar in soft drinks....amazing. Is the fat in food next? I'm very glad I live in Texas where taxes are low, the economy is good and the weather is reasonable.

A few weeks ago I was playing the slots in Shreveport and what I won was above the amount set by the IRS and the casino took out federal tax and Louisiana state tax. I now have to show this on my federal return. But in order to get the $112 held out by Louisiana I have to file a state tax form. Their website did not have the current forms so I had to call and ask that they be mailed,,,which they will on 19 Jan 09. What was amazing to me is the state of Louisiana requiring its citizens to declare what they purchased out of state and then pay Louisiana sales tax on those items. No wonder Louisiana ranks close to the bottom on everything but political corruption. I would rather be celibate that live there. I have filed state income forms in Oklahoma, Kansas, Massachusetts (I didn't live there, just a mistake made by the account of a company I worked for based in Montreal) and now Louisiana. I'm sure glad I live in a sensible state where state income tax is not collected. It is very true that the only thing certain is death and taxes...and one can cause the other.

English Words

More English!

No wonder the English language is so very difficult to learn.  I
sometimes wonder how we manage to communicate at all!

There was a row among the oarsmen about to row.

They were too close to the door to close it.

The buck does funny things when the does are present.

To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

After a number of injections my jaw got number.

Upon seeing the tear in my clothes I shed a tear.

I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

This singer had to record the record.