JUST SOME POSTS

OK, the second in one day - something is going on! I wanted to do a blog on perspective. Life and our evaluation of it is based a LOT on perspective. I got a great example of this yesterday. My wife is disabled!! Officially. Perspective - - - On face value, that would not appear to be a good thing. Disability is not to be cheered. Ah, official disability is (or can be). My seventeen year old was here yesterday when my wife opened the letter and we were cheering for disability. She made a comment that is was weird that we were happy with Mom being disabled. I explained we weren't, but... My wife's condition is affected not one bit by what the doctors, bureaucrats, or anyone else labels it. She is no more nor no less disabled or ill than prior to getting the letter. However, getting the letter signifies official legal acceptance of her disability. That will hopefully lead to a lessening of the financial burdens of her condition and let us deal exclusively with the physical ...

"Does your monkey bite?" I heard that thousands of times over the years. My Uncle Lou owned a farm where he "saved" old circus animals. I used to go and work there summers. He couldn't pay me (or anyone else most of the time) but he did offer me a pet one year. "Pick what you want" he bellowed. Lou was a little hard of hearing, so he yelled most of the time. Now I, being a sensible type, picked a monkey. He was retired from a life with an organ grinder. Really, he used to wear the little hat and coat and beg while his owner played. His name was Mickey, but I called him Steve. Steve was awesome. He was about as smart as most of my friends. Hey, he flung some poo occasionally, but we all have to let off steam. He learned to interact with most of our family activities. I remember him cleaning up on weekend mornings. We usually let him vacuum and sweep. I had sawed the handle off of a broom to make it easier, and he loved the Hoover. He would try to vacu...

I got a FEW comments and suggestions on my request from my last blog, but NOT ENOUGH!! Come on everyone, give it up! This is a good time to ask for any and all of you to start spreading this around. Anyone that you feel would enjoy and/or profit from this blog - let them know about it. I want to start getting comments from a BUNCH of people. As for the additional family names here they are - (edited by me, I did not take them all - hey I rule here!) The Godfather of Soul (I thought I did that one, but I did not go look), Father of Soul (not sure who that is!), Shaq Daddy, Big Daddy Kane (rapper for those of you not in the know), the Osmond Brothers, Grandfather of Poker (I did not know who this was either), boys of summer (another I thought I did), Son of Sam, Daughters of the American Revolution, City of Brotherly Love, Mother Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear. I have the Sons of the Confederacy. And, I have a thought. I just saw one of those sappy emails with the quotes and the beautifu...

I was laying there trying to go to sleep last night (without much success, as I have a toothache), and my mind was wandering. I don't know about your mind, but when mine wanders....whoa! (just look at some earlier posts) So, I was thinking about George Washington (what...you don't think about our founding fathers when you are lying there trying to go to sleep?) and how he was called "the Father of our Country". I further thought that there is not a "Mother of our Country" (unless Martha gets it by default, but I don't think so). Then I started thinking about "family" or relationship nicknames. This is to be a participatory blog. I want you all to write back with the ones you think of that I missed. Here are the ones I thought of (I was up quite a while with my tooth!): Father of our Country, the Founding Fathers, Uncle Sam, Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Mother of all battles (or bombs), a priest is called - Father, a Mother Superior runs a conv...

"How about three of dem links?" That question popped up at every meal. My formative years were spent on the road. We followed the pageant trail. Up north in the winter months - Ice Queen, Snow Princess, Jill Frost, etc. The late summer and early fall ones were my favorites though; Corn Queen, Harvest Queen, even Kumquat Cutie. We didn't have much luck in the pageants until my Uncle Francis adopted the diminutive Lithuanian girl - Ausra (means "dawn" in Lithuanian). Ausra was a beauty, alabaster skin, deep blue eyes, golden hair. If it hadn't been for the growth on her right ankle, she could have been a serious contender for Ms. America or a "real" pageant. She carried herself regally even though she had to allow about six extra inches on her right for what we all just called the "lump". Did you ever wonder what life would be like if you never wondered what life would be like? I had another uncle that was an owner of a salt mine. Y...

Hide the wimmen an' chilren - I'm rantin' again.... I just heard ANOTHER news story that contained the word recession. I am sick of the media trying to make the financial situation sound worse than it is! Does the economy face some issues - both short-term and long-term - ? Yes. It always does and always will. This latest "crisis" however is almost totally (IMHO) media based. The employment rate and number (not UN-employment, but the number working) is at an all-time high. (The unemployment is at or near historic lows, however, so don't panic about that one either) Our economy has more people working than at any time in history. The stock market, even with the recent drops, is STILL near all-time record highs. You hear reports that "the stock market took a 112 point PLUNGE today!" , and you feel we are headed for a depression. A PLUNGE - OH MY!! The problem is, a one hundred plus PLUNGE is less than ONE PERCENT! Yeah, a 100 point drop when t...

I just got back from taking Bailey to school. I was looking at the kids and was wondering some things. When (and WHY??) did it become fashionable or "in" to wear pants that are big enough for three people and a small animal? I do not understand. I am smart enough to realize that every generation has to do something to "distinguish" itself and irritate it's parents generation, but....huge clothes? Most of the guys have to keep one hand on the pants to keep them from falling down. How tough is that? In my day, a lot of skirmishes would occur. How much of a fight can one put up with his pants at his ankles? Oh well, another sign of aging.