Not much new

Want to give a hello to our Air Force grandson serving a tour overseas for a few months.  We appreciate what you do.     I hope that the caring citizens of this country will take a moment to thank those who are serving or have served.  Get an email address and send a few words of encouragement.  Send a care package to someone.  Doesn't matter if you know them or not.  Those of you who have been there know the importance of knowing that there is somebody back here that cares.   I know there are some who don't, but **** them!!  (Pardon my French!)

I am not pointing any fingers at anyone.   It is just that sometimes we are a little negligent in doing some things that we should do.  It only takes a minute.  In my book they are all heroes.  In doesn't take an act of valor to be a hero.  In my book, anyone who is doing the job there are trained to do, and I mean actually do something, is a hero.  The men of the United States Military fit in that category.

This also pertains to the private sector.  The problem is that too many do not want to work.  They want a paycheck for standing around sending text messages when they should be working. 

Enough of this.  I get just a little testy when I think of the state of our work force. 

God Bless--johnnyb

Tales from the Whogonkies

Catchy title isn't it!  Once I heard someone say they were from the Whogonkies.  I always took that as being somewhere between here and the other side of nowhere.  I am sure that I have been to the Whogonkies at one time or another as I am sure most people have been.  It might only been in our imaginary minds as a child battling the forces of evil, (i.e. cowboys and Indians in my day), or just driving through an area of desolate country that you cannot imagine anyone ever living in.  Then again it could be that area just over the next hill that I tell the grandson is the middle of nowhere.  It is always over the next hill. So here goes my story of that area known as the Whogonkies.

Uncle Jake Holenhammer  from chokecherry draw was in town yesterday.  Said he really wasn't planning on coming to town, but when he hitched up the mules to go a neighbors, they got a little frisky and got a little out of control.  He figured they must have wanted to come to town when they took the left fork in the road instead of the right one.  Anyway he was making the best of it.  He was headed for Mz. Betsy's House of Feel Better Quick.  Said he thought it was soon enough to spring for nice all over bath, shave, and haircut,etc.  I think that there is something else going over there, but being the fine upstanding citizen that I am, I have not frequented the place.  I have seen some mighty pretty ladies going in the back door.  I just figured it was some kinfolk of Mz. Betsy, but maybe not.  I may have to check into that a little more.  Interesting project for next week.

There was a box supper and barn dance over at the Shimwater place Saturday nite.  Good time was had by all.  I was there bidding on Miss Annie Whizzlestones, box supper.  I was able to outlast the other guys and we sat in a corner and enjoyed what ever it was she had prepared.  I am not sure what the sandwich was, but I ate it to be polite.  It was worth the "backyard trots" that I got just to spend some time with her.  I may have to go courting some evening, without the sandwich this time.   Anyway we enjoyed dancing to the music of the Schnagglenathy family from up creek a few miles.  All seventeen of them.   The refreshments were provided by Uncle Ned and his boys from up Rattlesnake Canyon. I'm not sure what it was, but it was tasty.  Kind of had a little kick to it.  Wasn't to many fights this time.  Once in a while it gets a little wild.

Grandpa Smith passed on last week.  Some say he was just a little on the other side of a hundred years old.  Others said he wasn't all that old.  Just was the life he led.  I guess he had an ample supply of "shine" and tobacco every day.  Some say they didn't need to embalm him, just put him away.  Anyway he will be missed by all, especially the "shine" producers!

Speaking of the "shine" producers, been a few strangers in the area lately.  Always a little suspicious when there is strangers about.  Haven't heard of anything happening yet, but we will see.

I have to go.  the sandwich is still working a little bit.  Until next time--God Bless

It is like an early spring morning here today.  Temps in the upper 30's and misty.  Had a little rain last night.  Nothing major, but it all helps.  I heard  some patrons at the bar say that we would need 18 inches of moisture just to start back even again.  We don't get that all year sometimes, so it could be a long year ahead.  Since I heard it at the bar, it has to be true!! 

Helped out at the bar last nite.  They served 120, 18-20 ounce, rib-eye steaks last night.. Was a fun evening.  Lots of good people out for wild night on the town.  Of course, with a population of less than 100 people,  it don't take long to do the town.  We draw from a fairly large area, or the bar and grill couldn't exist. 

The rest of our seeds arrived yesterday.  The pony express man slowed long enough to get them in the mail box.  I am only kidding, of course.  The pony express stopped coming here last year.  Not that we can tell much difference in delivery time.  I could tell some horror stories on that subject, but I imagine everyone has experiences on that subject.

Just a funny thing to end for today:

 Top 10 Polite Ways To Say Your Zipper Is Down

10. The cucumber has left the salad.
9. Quasimodo needs to go back in the tower and tend to his bells.
8. You need to bring your tray table to the upright and locked position.
7. Paging Mr. Johnson .. Paging Mr. Johnson.
6. Elvis has left the building.
5. The Buick is not all the way in the garage.
4. Our next guest is someone who needs no introduction.
3. You've got a security breach at Los Pantalones.
2. Men may be From Mars ... but I can see something that rhymes with Venus.

And the #1 way to tell someone his zipper is unzipped ..
1. You've got your fly set for "Monica" instead of "Hillary."

God Bless All--johnnyb

Day #1 of the rest of my life

 I always try to start each day with a prayer and the thought that "Today is the first day of the rest of my life".  I would hope that any mistakes I made yesterday,  I would have learned something from, and will not make them again.  You would think that after 66+ years, I would have made all the major ones, but stupidity prevails now and then, and I fall off the common sense wagon.  I guess if it wasn't for mistakes we would never learn anything.   The first boss I had when I got out of the Navy told me that there was a reason pencils had erasers.  Just don't get in the habit of using it.  And that is very true.

Called the tire shop and ordered a set of tires for the Jeep.  Had a blow-out on the way to sling beer Saturday night.  Then the jack cratered before I could get the spare on.  I had to call a friend who brought out a floor jack to get it off the ground.  Just really made my day!  The tires were needing replaced.  Kind of beyond the need actually.  It is just the point that I would have rather picked when to get the new ones.  Just a small detail like having money set aside for it.  Oh well,  TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF MY LIFE. Deal with it!!  Anyway they didn't have 4 of the ones I needed, so they are ordered, and will be in tomorrow.  The Jeep is a 1996 Gran Cherokee.  It has been a good vehicle for us.  Almost 200,000 miles on it.  Just the usual problems and up keep that go along with a full-time 4WD vehicle.  We try to keep it on good condition.  It is paid for and we really don't want to be saddled with a car payment!

I hope everyone has a good week.  I plan on it.  Nothing will ruin my week.  I have decided and proclaimed this as a good week!!  Regardless of how each day goes, I plan on making the best of it!
God bless all--johnnyb

Sunday over a cup of coffee

After reading the comments, and I do appreciate and enjoy them, I got to thinking again.  (Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous!)  Why don't I always post on a regular basis?  That is one of those "To be or not to be" (thieved from somewhere or something I read in high school literature class)  questions.  Sometimes I feel like I do not have anything worth-while to say.  But then I ask myself, "Self, whose idea is it that it is not important, or worth-while, or interesting to anyone else?"  If it is my idea, then it is a very opinionated idea.  Just because I think one way is no reason to think somebody else might think the same way.  All of you that are on my side board and a lot that aren't on the list, I value as very good friends.  Friends that I have never met in person, and will probably never meet in person.  Maybe that is some of the intrigue of the blogging world.  I wish I could meet you all in person, but maybe that would ruin the mental picture that we develop in our minds of each other.  I guess where this headed, if it is headed anywhere, that even if you don't have anything to say, just a good hello.

So here goes---HELLO, HELLO, HELLO.   Now that wasn't so bad, and I did it.  I really do appreciate your comments, and I will try to be more regular.  Let me rephrase that.  It didn't sound right.  I will try to post more of our doings on a regular basis.

 I did a stint as beer-tender at the local establishment of fine dining and imbibing of only the best spirits available. (Budweiser, Coors, Miller,  Corona, Busch(Yuk), Keystone (double yuk),, and a couple of others that don't deserve mentioning.  Always an entertaining evening.  Saturday nite is Rib-eye steak nite.  18-22 ounce steaks cooked to perfection.  Maybe next week I will get pictures that will get the juices flowing, so to speak.   This community is a very conservative,  most are very far right, so we fit in well . So you can guess where a lot of the conversation goes these days.  We don't encourage political conversations at the bar, but sometimes wanders that way.  Especially with the gun issue.  Most people own guns and are buying more. One person I talked to had been to a gun auction yesterday and was very happy with his acquisition.  We love this area, and feel very comfortable here. Wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  People are very friendly unless you piss them off.  Then they will never forget.

My thought or question of the day is:  Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?

God Bless you all!  You are the best--johnnyb

Oh Hum

Gee, it has been a while since I have added any thing.  I guess time flies when you are having fun!  Hasn't too much going on around here.  Temperatures have been up and down.  we are going into a few days of nice weather and then the deep freeze opens again.  Most of the snow has melted off, so it is pretty sloppy when the temperature warms.   No new prospects for moisture in the near future.  What we have had has been good, but not near enough.

I was watching the mail for garden seeds that have been ordered, but then I remembered that I only ordered them yesterday!  (Just kidding.)   I am not that bad yet.  Close, but not yet!   We ordered only heirloom seeds or organic.  All non-GMO.  Especially for the things that we will keep seeds from.  Hope to get a small seed bank started, just in case.  I will start some things in the house in a month or so.

The events in the news daily are like a 3-ring circus.  There is no common sense at all in Washington, DC.   Let me rephrase that.  there is no sense, period, in Washington, DC!   The whole thing is like Comedy Central with POTUS as the headline act,  with the Nancy and Harry Extravaganza as the warm-up act.
No more on that subject, except we are in tune with Stephen's advice of last week.

That's about it for today.  I have a lot of things I would like to say, but would probably get in trouble with the guys in black suits that talk  to their wrists a lot.   I wonder, do the  Feds get bulk rates on sunglasses at Wally World ?  I am sure that they would buy them from a business in the states, wouldn't they?  O surely they would!!!

God Bless--johnnyb

Survival of the ???

A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo, and when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole keeps improving by the regular culling of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can operate only as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, we all know, kills off brain cells, but naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of wine and beer eliminates the weaker cells, constantly making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

The results of this in-depth epidemiological study verifies and validates the causal link between all-weekend parties and engineering performance. It also explains why, after a few short years of leaving university and getting married, most engineers cannot keep up with the performance of the new graduates. Only those few that stick to the strict regimen of voracious alcoholic consumption can maintain the intellectual levels that they achieved during their university years.

So, this is a call to arms. As our country is losing its technological edge we should not shudder in our homes. Get back into the bars! Quaff that beer! Drink that wine! Your company and country need you to be at your peak, and you shouldn't deny yourself the career that you could have.

 

Happy New Years Day

 You wake up to NewYears Morning suffering from a bad case of the 12 ounce, or 750ml flu this morning, RISE AND SHINE!!  The day is wasting.  There are empty beer cans, empty wine bottles, dirty dishes strung all over the house.  Clothes in places there shouldn't be clothes, like hanging from the ceiling fan in the bedroom.  The "unmentionables"  hanging there are nothing you have seen the , girlfriend wear or have ever seen in the laundry.  Oh my God, there is a big blank after the  third bottle of tequila was opened.  There was something about the person who got the last shot from the bottle had to catch the worm in his teeth!  Man what a party it must have been.  You go into another room where you remember there was a poker game going on.  Poker chips strung everywhere.  None on the table anymore.  Oh, this is scary.  There are clothes on the table!  Underneath those clothes is a poker hand, ace high-straight flush!  Hmm, must have been the winning hand.  Your next thought is--What in the hell did some of these people wear home!   Or, did they go home.  Or who did they go home with.  At least there weren't any married couples here. You haven't looked in all the rooms yet.  You carefully search the rest of the house, but find no one.  You look around at the mess and wish you had found someone so they could help you clean up the mess.  Other wise, the next thing is to try to get it declared a disaster area so funds will be available to cover the clean up expenses.   The clothes I will keep and see if anyone comes to claim them. HeHeHe.

This is not a story from my New Years Eve Party.  I can't say I haven't "heard" of parties like this.  Of course not any that I would have been involved in!  I think I better go onto another subject before I get myself in a situation that there is no escape from.

Actually it was  a nice evening.  I helped out at the nearby  fine dining and drinking establishment.  They were serving 18-20 ounce prime rib last nite.  Carol went along for the meal.  We were home by 11 for a quiet ringing in of the new year.  It was an enjoyable time.

It snowed for most of the day.  Nothing major, just a nice snow.

 I took these pictures early this morning.  What a beautiful way for the new year to start!   The fields are mostly covered with a little bit of snow. I just hope that everyone's morning is as cheery as it is here.  Good coffee,good company with my best friend and soul mate Carol, and dog bone treats with the girls.  Good enough for me.!

 For the best as can be possible in the coming year---God Bless all of you for being the greatest friends in the world--Carol and I love you all---johnnyb