AND THE WINNER IS---

Serena Williams won her 10th singles major today. I saw the results posted 48 seconds after she won---damn it---I could have watched the match but forgot about the time difference with Australia---she won at 6:42 a.m. Guess that shows the folks that say she hasn't had enough focus on tennis lately. She's way below the record 21 of others but I think she's as good as they get.

Serena/Venus Williams won their 8th major doubles today too---way to go---the most ever by anyone is 14---they plan to play 4 more this year---lack of focus---I don't think so.

Utah Jazz and for a change looked good doing it. Though they have suffered some major injuries this year they are still playing their hearts out in every game. It may not be this year but the challenges they have faced this year will pay off down the road. GO JAZZ

NOT OBAMA---He is picking the Steelers in the Super Bowl - even in simple things we can't agree---sorry NM---he ain't the savior. Cardinals by 3.

NOT TEXAS STADIUM---I read an article this morning that was titled Cowboys get rid of star - I read it because I wondered if they were finally going to clean house---nope the star they were talking about was on the fifty yard line of Texas Stadium. They rolled it up and put it up for sale on e-bay. Guess they really are going to Arlington to the new retractable roof stadium---too bad they always did good in Texas Stadium - even when they lost.

NOT THE STOCK MARKET---HOLY SHIT---the S&P continues to lose---it has lost 19 percent since October.

IRAQ---It was great to see that they completed their election with very little violence. Three mortars were shot at one of the polling places (can't remember which city) but no one was injured. The Iraqi police handled all of the security with backup available from the US Military if needed. It wasn't needed. Maybe we are getting into a position where we can leave Iraq without leaving them to a blood bath.

MORE RANDOM THINKING

Super Bowl Sunday is only a day away---by this time Sunday we will have a new Champion football team....and it will be....THE CARDINALS....by 3 perhaps in overtime and I'm not predicting the score---I will predict that it will be a hard fought game and no easy win---no matter who wins.

Kurt Warner deserves to be the winning quarterback---before he was a great football player he was a bag boy in a grocery store. He married a clerk from the grocery store that is older than he is---she had two kids---if you haven't read their story let me know and I'll post the highlights here---he has to be a great guy to do what he did.

The broken down snowmobile was repaired today and taken for a test run---it is probably OK to go---now who has the guts to take it without a mechanic on board!!!!

I checked the horses (from my work) in the pasture today to see if the winter is getting at them. Two of the seven came to see me and they got two bales of hay...the others thought I was going to catch them and take them out for a ride so they didn't come---oh well---they looked good and can get by for a few more days where they are. The snow is also getting shallower so they are able to get at the grass easier. They never---nope not ever---look this good in a corral where we are feeding hay every day.

On the way back to the interstate we saw a flock of wild turkeys walking along the river bottom---eating Russian olive seeds---lots of turkeys. Why didn't I buy a turkey permit this year---I knew they were there---over a hundred were in the same spot last year and the numbers today would probably have been that high had we flushed them out.

Inklings threatened me with bodily harm the other day---something about kicking me until my cheeks swelled up but I can't remember the rest right now---Inklings is sitting right beside me and says she has a blog too---and she knows how to use it---ouch my cheeks are starting to swell.

I'll probably blog the rest of this story some day. In the meantime have a great day---or night whichever it is for you......

WOW-WHAT IS NEXT?

OK so Obama has been in office for 9 full days and has managed to convince Congress to spend and additional $850 Billion dollars to bail us out of a depression. Guess what? You cannot borrow yourself out of financial difficulty - no matter what anyone tells you it can't be done. So far in the bailout we are pretty close to two trillion dollars---I am not sure I even know how many zeroes to put on that number. Oh well - I'm old and won't live to see the repayment - maybe the beginning but not the repayment....sorry kids....I tried to be frugal but it didn't buy us much and you'll get to pay this back even after you had to live through it.

Serena is gonna win the Australian Open - AGAIN - she is an awesome athlete. I am impressed that she hasn't gone down the road that everyone wanted her to go down and lose sight of everything for the sake of her game. YA DONE GOOD GAL!!!! I'll be watching Saturday when she wins her tenth major and I really don't like tennis.

Blogojavich is no longer Governor of Illinois - 100% voted to IMPEACH him - that has got to be a record for anything coming out of a Senate---ANYWHERE---100%?

I had a snowmobile break down this afternoon about twenty miles from the truck - thank God they went in pairs and were able to tow the damn thing back to the truck. They got home safe and the machine is back at the shop to get re-repaired - this was the maiden voyage to see if it would run after a recent tune up and major carburetor rebuild.

One of my cooperators raised hell with my boss about me today - I told my boss that was fine I would go talk to the guys boss (one of my really good friends) about what is going on and resolve it at the State level. I got convinced by my boss that maybe that wasn't the best way to resolve this but guess it is OK for everyone to talk to my boss - I just have to make sure that they get at least part of what they want and make sure I don't talk to their boss.

We finished an EIS, an EA, and a CE this week for three projects---not bad for one half a week. By all rights I should call the rest of the week off before I do something I will regret for a long time - NOPE - I ain't a gonna do that. Not when there is a battle to be fought. Reminds me a little of Braveheart AND HIS BATTLE FOR LIBERTY!!!!!

I wrote about going to one of my friends Father's funeral a couple of weeks ago. In that funeral one of the speakers started to reminisce about the people on main street in the little town I grew up in and how they influenced his life. I came home and made a list 67 people that have had a very real impact on my values and how I turned out - FINALLY - none of them would have bet on me getting to where I am. NOPE - NOT ONE.

The stock market is going up and down at the rate of about 3% a day--up one day down the next. If you are playing in the market here is some advice from a very conservative investor. If you are going to be in it for three or more years go ahead and continue to play - if not - GET OUT YOU ARE JUST GAMBLING - and there isn't much hope of being able to second guess it right now with all the ups and downs. Long term you'll be OK. EVEN WITHOUT THE BAIL OUT.

As you can see from the above my mind can't focus on a single thing longer than two minutes right now and I can't remember the rest of the things I was going to add to this list---I MAY BE BACK WITH THE REST ON ANOTHER BLOG TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow how is that for random thinking?????

HO-HUM

Our lives of late fit those two words perfectly. Since our grand children went back to live with their parents things have slowed up at our house. A. LOT. We spent five weekends running all over the state trying to get everything fixed up and yesterday we stayed home. It is really the first weekend we have stayed completely at home since the kids left. We have been eating a lot of left overs because it is hard to cook for two---and food tastes better when it is made in a bigger pot. JUST A FACT.

Yesterday our oldest son and his boss were coming back from a painting job north of us and called to see if he needed to pick up anything the kids had left. No we had finally got all of that back to them. About 20 minutes later they came to the house. Quite a surprise but it was good to see them. I coached his boss in wrestling a few years ago so it was good to see him too.

We visited for quite a long time---way longer than I had expected them to stay---but it was a good visit. We laughed about a few things and talked about sports dynasties a lot. We debated who was the best athletic class to graduate from the high school they went to but opinions are like a _ _ holes - everyone has one. We never solved the question and we'll each have our own opinion for years to come. It was fun to talk about it though.

But that isn't what I really started to blog about so back to the first. We have a couch and love seat that is covered with micro fiber cloth. I love them and they are so comfortable to sit on---problem is I sit on them when I am in my dirty clothes and they get looking pretty dirty. Yesterday I dreamed about it. In the dream I was concerned about how dirty I have made them - SO - as soon as I got out of bed (way early because of the dream) I washed them and cleaned them up - I even used a little windex on the dirtiest spots - although you aren't supposed to use any solvents on the cloth. Why windex? I heard a story that Inklings Dad sprayed windex on a huge oily stain when they were cleaning a carpet somewhere. It completely took the oil out of the carpet. It also took the oil or dirt or whatever it was out of our furniture. Both pieces of furniture look really nice and clean. I won't soon forget that and it didn't hurt the cloth as far as I can tell.

I finished that up about 9:00 and we spent the rest of the day wondering what we should do--I got to see quite a bit of the County yesterday afternoon.

INAUGURATION DAY 2009

20JAN09 Inauguration Day.

This is an amazing day. I was just watching the news about today and decided I would rather be blogging my memories. Today they swore in the 44th President of the United States. I have been alive for 12 Presidents. I remember 11 of them. That's 91% recollection---why don't I remember the other one? I'll say it was because I was too young to remember him. I was five years old when Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in the first time. I probably don't remember that election but I do remember a campaign button with I LIKE IKE on it. I believe that was the slogan of the 1956 campaign.

This is a most amazing day---not only because Barack Obama is the first black President, but because today the power of this nation changed hands---peacefully---and with much ADO. One statement I will never forget that Obama made was "thank you to all of those that voted for me, and for all of you that didn't vote for me I'll be your President too." That is a pretty powerful statement. And like it or not, vote for him or not, he is our President.

Of the 12 Presidents I have lived through I have participated in the voting for eight of them. Of those eight I voted for four that got elected--50%--and that brings me to a profound saying I heard somewhere a few years ago. "This is the only country in the world that was set up on the principle that 51% of the people will be right more than 51% of the time." That is an amazing thing.

The other amazing thing is that today with the power shift there was no bloodshed. We have been very fortunate that there has not been more bloodshed in our politics. Martin Luther King, Jr. died just under forty-one years ago (I believe it was in March 1968---nope April 4, 1968---I know it was in Memphis 'cause I was sent there with the military) the result of an assassin's bullet. THAT IS A SAD DAY IN AMERICA'S HISTORY. It is a sad and scary and amazing memory for me. I was sent as part of the military riot control group to restore order to Memphis. Was it tough---nope we showed up and people walked away. Was I scared---you betcha I can define terror because of that assignment. What is amazing about that?---there were no other deaths resulting from the murder of Dr. King.

I should have titled this blog ramble on....so what is the point of this blog? If you live in the United States of America or it's territories then you have a new President. He has a right to all of the power and respect of the office. Whether you voted for him or not, whether you are Democrat, Republican, Independant or whatever. Whether you like it or not. HE IS YOUR PRESIDENT. He deserves your support and 2012 is coming. It is amazing that Presidents serve only four years then run for re-election but can serve no more than eight years total. I have been in my job seven years and still do not feel like I have mastered it---can't imagine what it is like as President.

But I can tell you one thing for sure. THE WEIGHT OF THE PRESIDENCY WILL TAKE IT'S TOLL ON OBAMA---JUST LIKE IT DID ON ALL THE OTHERS. It appears to be a weighty job.

ANNUAL RABBIT HUNT

Today we did the annual rabbit hunt. Everyone is invited but it never changes that there are just four of us that show up. We go anyway and hope for the best. It was a really fun day---lots of rabbits---lots of shooting and more laughing than anything else.


I hunted as long as I could and started getting charlie horses (cramps) so told the guys I was going to hunt up a ridge to the highway and then walk back to the truck. I wanted them to kow that I wasn't going to be with them when they finished going south. I couldn't believe how bad my legs got and when I got to the highway I was just moseying along carrying my rifle in plain sight.


Several cars passed me but never slowed down so when I heard a car coming behind me I didn't look around to see what they were doing. It was a woman and her son coming back from ice fishing and they stopped and asked me if I had broken down on the road. I told them no we were just hunting rabbits and I got cramps in my legs and had to quit. They asked me if I wanted a ride to our truck---it was over a mile to it so I said thanks and got in their car---when we got to the truck they stopped and let me out. I told them thanks a lot and laughed when I said it was pretty hard to believe anyone would stop and pick up someone carrying a rifle down the road. They both laughed too and said "We don't do that a lot but could tell from the way you were walking you were hurting pretty badly. We thought you had been in a car accident and were walking for help."


DAMN I HATE GETTING OLD---A CAR ACCIDENT---I KNEW I WAS LIMPING ALONG BUT DIDN'T know it was bad enough someone would think I had been in a car accident.

When I got to the truck I didn't have the keys so put the end gate down to sit on. After sitting there a few minutes I laid my jacket across the tail gate and laid down with my head on the jacket. I heard the others coming (about an hour later) and sat up quickly. I thought I had gotten away with the nap---but no---one of the guys had to notice that I had been asleep because he saw me sit up quickly. They had a lot of fun razzing me about sleeping while everyone else was hunting. A.LOT.OF.FUN.

You want to know the amazing thing about that---IT IS JANUARY 19---THE MIDDLE OF WINTER---AND I'M TAKING A NAP IN MY SHIRT SLEEVES. It was a very nice day---55 degrees and the sun shining. I had a great time. I'll pay in the legs for the walk tomorrow but the nap was great.

RAMBLING

This title comes from the changes in simple thoughts today and this blog. I love those statements. They help me to focus on what I can do.

Last night I got a call from my health insurance nurses regarding my diagnosis as having COPD---not a good thing---but I am getting better slowly. My coughing has decreased significantly but I still cough more than I should. Anyway they call once a month and take me through all of these questions relating to my health. I have gained a significant amount of weight since I quit smoking a couple of years ago and so she went into depth questioning that. She said something like what do you attribute the weight to. I told her it was to the see food diet I am on. She was pretty confused and said why? I said because now when I see food I eat it---especially chocolate---then we laughed.....

Last night I got another call from a polling place. They went through a big speel and then said I need to interview an adult from your house. I responded "no adults live here" and hung up the phone......

HAVE A NICE DAY

ALZHEIMER'S - PROBABLY

Last night as I sat on the couch watching TV, Inklings commented that I used to talk to one of my retired friends all the time before he retired and that I haven't talked to him for a long time. (damn those shortcut keys---oh well I am not going to retype it). I said yeah I ought to call him and see how he's doing. She said call information for his number. I said I'll just call him. She laughed and said I'm sure you remember his number you haven't talked to him in over ten years.

I dialed a number with one prefix and got a non-working number then dialed another number with another prefix and he answered and said "What are you doing you little shit." We had a great visit and he is doing well---we talked about his horses and he is no longer racing but still raises them. We talked about when we worked together and the things he remembers the most and the things I remember the most---they aren't the same but we laughed a lot.

After I hung up I told Inklings I remembered the number because the night my oldest daughter's son was born (in the town he lives in) I looked him up in the hospital phone book to tell him. I can still remember doing that as if it were yesterday---I can remember what the phone booth looked like, where in the phone book his name was found, how far down the page it was and the last four digits of the number---so you see you can remember yesterday better than you can remember the last hour when you get older. So was it luck that I got the number right trying two prefixes? NOPE--that town only has two working prefixes so there was absolutely no luck involved and it didn't cost me $0.75 to call information either.

This post is simply to let y'all know that my memory hasn't completely gone---and I do have a great memory of the stuff my kids pulled when they were little---it may in fact be enhanced by time. But even at that mine is nowhere near as sharp as Inkling's is.

MORE ON YESTERDAYS

I wanted to add a few things to yesterdays blog but knew none of you would read it if I just edited the other one so here is some more information. The eight geese referred to were shot with 10 shots from a Ruger .22.

The man whose funeral we went to Friday was a Pharmacist and trained race horses for a hobby--or a living--depending how you define it. All of his boys jockeyed for him. He always had tough horses and he always had horses at the big tracks like Phoenix, Las Vegas (when they had the track), Finger Lakes (in New York) and Shreveport (in Louisiana) and they always ran pretty well.

Some of you know and some of you don't but I rode race horses both as an exercise boy and as a jockey in 1970 and again from 1973 through 1975. I rode one of his horses a lot---we called him BIG-N-UGLY because he was over 17 hands tall and had a head that was way way way big. This was a funny horse---he could run a little (that means he was pretty damned fast) and was always at the front---but---he wouldn't finish passing the leader. He would just run eye to eye with him no matter how much you tried to bat (whip) him or hustle him to pass. There was a simple solution---tap him on the chin with the bat near the finish line---he'd reach his nose out there and pass most horses---I won a lot of races with him that way and they were all photo finishes that were won by a nose (and half a head). I really felt bad when that horse died---really. really. really. bad. I made a lot of money riding him and I really loved that horse.

In the church I belong to young men (19 year olds preferred) are expected to go on missions for the church and the parents are expected to pay for them to be out there. One of the things said at the funeral is one of his boys was talking and said it was a funny thing that when two of the brothers were on missions at the same time that they never had a string of horses win so many races and the winning continued for the entire two years. The Dad once asked one of his friends that if he was winning at the betting window if he needed to pay tithing on the winnings. His friend told him he thought so. At which he asked "Can I get some back when I lose?" I nearly died laughing.

He was a Scout Master---not mine though---and worked hard with the boys to make sure they got their Eagle Scout rank. After he quit being the scout master he continued pushing kids to get their Eagle---he pushed me along with my mom and dad but I didn't do it while I was in High School (yeah I was a brat and wasn't going to be pushed to do ahything---AND I STILL AM). I went to college when I was 17 and my roommate was also 17. You had to complete your Eagle requirements before you turned 18 at that time and I think you still have that long to finish. We were talking in the room one night and realized we would feel like quitters if we didn't get our Eagles so we went to work and finished them up. I will never forget him getting up in my court of honor and saying "You will never be sorry you completed this. You are among the elite young men of your generation. Less than one percent of the youth complete this requirement and you will always be able to say I DIDN'T QUIT. You can use it forever on your job applications and when ever people ask about your qualifications." He was right---I have used it---I still use it---and---IT HAS MADE A DIFFERENCE.

One other thing and then I'll let this go---a man came into his store one day and told him he had broken his leg in two places---he responded "Then stay out of those places!" The funeral went on like that for almost two hours. If you didn't at least smile at that comment you need to see a Doctor who will give you a prescription that will be filled by a pharmacist and you can only hope he has a sense of humor like this guy did.

YESTERDAY'S GONE

Yesterday Inklings and I went to a funeral for the father of one of my high school friends. He was also the father of the girl I dated all through high school so it was somewhat unsettling to me as to whether I should go or not. I am sooooooo glad I went.

The friend I went to see was on the wrestling team with me all through high school (I also saw my wrestling coach). We did a lot of things together associated with wrestling, horse racing and hunting and just screwing around. He was a tremendous friend and a really good kid. Today he is the Emergency Room Doctor in a town a couple of hours south of us. In addition to that he is still racing horses (takes after his dad there).

While I was standing in the line waiting to talk to the family I was thinking about when we took the wrestling coaches car from Park City to American Fork during the State Tournament to see a couple of girls. Going home was the worst snow storm I have ever driven in---I got behind a semi and just followed the red lights---good thing he didn't run into the ditch.

On the way home I showed Inklings where he had shot eight geese one time out the window of my car at 70 miles per hour with a .22 caliber rifle---now my friends they weren't sitting on the water but were flying along beside us---he is without a doubt the best shot I ever associated with. Problem with that is that none of the rest of us got to shoot at anything that day because our limits were filled.

I thought about Scout Camp where our Scout Master had a great big German Shepard that would retrieve anything from anywhere. We got in a little trouble for fishing too much and had to do some camp clean-up. I can't remember which one of did this but all of the junior counselors went into a big wall tent while we were cleaning up. One of us threw a stick onto the roof of the tent and the dog went after it---right to the top--- the tent collapsed with all of the leaders inside and they struggled a few minutes to get out. We knew nothing about what happened though when they asked us.

I assure you I thought about a lot of other things too but thought the ones above were enough to share about our friendship. I could have talked for hours reminiscing about things we did yesterday and today all I can think of is just a few. Oh well those are the days that made us who we are---ALL MY YESTERDAYS ARE GONE but I have had a bunch and most have been good.

HEART FAILURE

A couple of weeks ago Inklings got the results of some tests she had done at the hospital. Among a few other things like hypertension and diabetes there was a line that simply said HEART FAILURE. At the end of the results there was a note to make an appointment to discuss the tests with her Doctor within the next two weeks---yeah right---he has been out of the office that long.


Today she finally got in to see him---the diagnosis today is GREAT---everything is OK. Her Colessterol is a little high but her HDL is pretty high so not to worry there. Hypertension diagnosis was from discussion with technician who put it down because she talked about the grand kids and what they were doing. Diabetes because of the same discussion where Inklings told her she had been diagnosed but was always borderline. HEART FAILURE came from Tech noticing Inklings had swollen ankles.


I believe that all of these were put on the mailer to assure Inklings made an appointment with the Doctor.

HOW DO I FEEL ABOUT THIS????? I ought to be really pissed at the Doctor but can't hardly quit smiling knowing it was not a Doctor's diagnosis of the tests. Guess I could be pissed at the Lab Tech but that wouldn't do anything. I am just thankful that it isn't as it appeared---GLAD YOU ARE OK INKLINGS---you can buy all the fish oil vitamins the Doctor wants you to take---