Yard Sales...

Over the weekend the King and
a friend ran a yard sale for the two of
them.

The grandson made a pretty neat eye
catching sign for downtown, at the yard
sale sign board. They had the where, when,
in the sign. Top row, date and time.
Which was Sat. 9 to noon or sold out.

So tell me why did the first customer come
at 6:42?? The second one at 7am? The friend
had not got there yet. So the King sent them
away. The 6:42 one was quite miffed. He yelled
back, well you put your signs out! And the King
said, yes... and it says 9am. You are over 2
hours early.. the guy mumbled something under
his breathe...but he did show up at 9. And bought
some things.

Funny the things people buy. Stuff you wonder if
anyone is interested in... sells like hot cakes. The
stuff that is 1% of the original cost, and they walk
right by. So it isn't price. Also you asked a quarter
for something and they want to know, will you take
a nickel.. If it is a $5 item, and you ask a quarter, is
it not a reasonable price? A nickel.. geesh. And no,
the King wouldn't lower it, just out of principle.

Well, the long and short of it, the sale went well.
When I got back at noon, the King got rid of all
but 5 items. The friend got rid of over 50% of his.
They decided to try one more time on Sunday.
Changed the signs.. but only 3 customers in
3 hours and they folded.

As they folded, there was a lady who came by
with her young son. She was disappointed they
were closing.. The two of them told her anything
except one item, she could have for the taking.

The boy was looking at the fishing poles. The King
asked him if he would like to have one. The boy
smiled and said yes. So the King told him.. well,
in that case I will give you all 6.. that way you have
one for each day. The boy gathered them up and
had the smile on his face, from ear to ear.

The two guys loaded up her car with everything she
wanted. The King said it didn't look like they had
much, so he was happy to help her out. Her back
seat was loaded to the windows.. They were
going to take it all to Goodwill anyway. Except for
the one item. Bunkbed/futon couch. $50. firm.

A Woman President

No matter who becomes our first
woman President, will she be taken
seriously?

How will the foreign leaders react
to her? Will they be flattered with
her charm?

Or will they think of her as weak?
And will they treat her like they do
the women in their own countries.
Especially in the Arab countries.

Will she have to rule like Theodore
Roosevelt's idea? With a soft glove
on an iron hand?

I am not a Hillary fan, but I think she
of all the women who have had an
interest in being President, can
pull it off. She certainly knows the
ropes after seeing Bill with the foreign
powers.

How will a woman be treated, no
matter who, if and when, we elect
one?

In The Land That Made Me Me !!

it is sad when poems are passed around and the
author's name is removed... or lost... as I like to give
credit where credit is due.... this one came to me as
an email... and it is sounds true to my life as a child
of the 40's and 50's....



In The Land That Made Me Me!!
Long ago and far away,
In a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan
And the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents,
And they were you and me,
Long ago and far away
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Oh, there was truth and goodness
In that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges,
And Peyton Place was porn.

For Ike was in the White House,
And Hoss was on TV,
And God was in His heaven
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We learned to gut a muffler,
We washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry
In circles on the lawn.

And they could hear us coming
All the way to Tennessee ,
All starched and sprayed and rumbling
in the Land That Made Me Me.

We longed for love and romance
And waited for the prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz,
And no one's seen him since.

We danced to "Little Darlin'",
And Sang to "Stagger Lee"
And cried for Buddy Holly
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Only girls wore earrings then
and three was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts,
Except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams
Did we expect to see,
A boy named George, with Lipstick?
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon,
Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie,
They never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five,
Or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold,
And Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat
Whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr Wizard,
But not a Mr T,
And Oprah couldn't talk, yet
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We had our share of heroes,
We never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin,
Or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal,
And life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever,
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We'd never seen the rock band
That was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson ,

And Zeppelins weren't Led.
And Beatles lived in gardens then,
And Monkees in a tree,
Madonna was a virgin
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We'd never heard of Microwaves,
Or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed,
But they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out,
And "gay" meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-ed
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets
To talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left
At the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails,
And bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Buicks came with portholes,
And side show came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough
To cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles,
And skirts came to the knee,
And Castro came to power
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride,
We had no Hill Street Blues
We all wore superstructure bras
Designed by Howard Hughes.

We had no patterned pantyhose
Or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms
In the Land That Made Me Me.

There were no golden arches,
No Perriers to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda,
And cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was thirty-five
And old was forty-three,
And ancient was our parents
In the Land That Made Me Me.

But all things have a season,
Or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline
We swear by Retin-A.

And they send us invitations
To join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby,
From the Land That Made Me Me.

So now we face a brave new world
In slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using
Smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children
of the way it used to be,
Long ago, and far away
In the Land That Made Me..... Me.

Nothing

Maybe I have simplified my life too much.
Because today, I can't think of anything
to write about. I am about as blank as
this page was before I started...

Nothing nationally is getting to me.
Maybe that is from cutting my
newspapers and television down
to almost nothing.

Tomorrow we are having a yard sale.
so been busy with that. Nothing funny,
nothing serious... just letting the time
tick away the day...
So enjoy your weekend..hopefully
I have more on my simple mind
by Monday.

Fuel Storage Plants

On Tuesday night as I watched the news on
channel 4 (the only one we can get) we saw
an interruption of the national news.

It seems that a fuel storage plant had caught
fire. The black smoke reach for the sky at about
7 story block building size and still growing...
There were flames from time to time.

It took many hours of fighting it. They brought in
the Air Force or the airport crash fighting team.
Which seem to do what the 6 fire trucks could
not. Mainly because the Crash fighting team
had a foam throwing truck. Which is far better
than water.

Long and short of it, is the fact that the
surrounding homes and the river nearby could
and probably are affected by it. The air was thick.
People were warn to stay in their houses or go
to another area. It still kicked up flames from time
to time the next day as they tried to clean it up.
They suspect arson.

Then on the national news on Wednesday we watched
another fuel storage plant go up in flames. Far more
flames than the Spokane one. The people were warn
to say away and to stay in their house or vacate the
area. That the air was full of smoke and etc. There
were also projectiles from it. This one is in Dallas, Texas.

Makes one wonder. One thing is, should these plants be
in residential areas.. Which my best guess they weren't
when the plants were put there. Both look like they had
been there quite some time. So to me the question should
be... should they let people build homes with in a mile of
them.

Second, maybe it is the news that makes one paranoid
with the warnings of more trouble from abroad... but two
fuel plants, in residential area...with in 12 hours or less. In
two different states... is this just by chance? or a plan to
test the waters of the alertness of our fire dept. by foreign
terrorist.

Electric Cars

I watched a movie called
"Who killed the Electric Car"
It was very interesting and if
you get a chance to watch it,
do so.

I know the movie was slanted,
just as the Michael Moore movies
are. But where there is smoke, there
is fire. Meaning, there is truth behind
the stories. Just slanted their way.

It was interesting how the government,
oil companies and the car makers them
selves all had a hand in killing the electric
car.

I was surprised that none of the cars were
sold, just leased to the people. Which gave
the companies the right to recall each and
every single one of them and destroyed them.

Even with people wanting to buy the cars.
A waiting list for them. And then when the
cars were recalled and stored... there were
thousands of people who wanted to buy them.

The car makers said they weren't profitable.
Say what? People were waiting to buy them.
What they really meant was, they couldn't make
a profit off of them after they were bought.
The oil, filters and repairs of cars is a big
business. These cars didn't need those.

Also of interest was the fact GMC bought into
a battery company. Having 50 or 51 percent
stock. Which they used the weaker batteries
so the car would fail. They would only go 60
miles on one charge. But when using the best
battery it could go 300 miles. Interesting.
Even more interesting was that GMC sold
their shares in the battery company to the
oil company. Why? This was after they had
recalled all the cars and shredded them, for
scrap iron.

But I think the thing that stuck with me most,
was my question of why didn't some one else
come up with it. Workers leave car maker companies
like any other company. Did they have to sign a
paper to never make the electric car? And what
about Japan, Korean, and the other foreign car
makers? Surely this would be one heck of a
way to stick it to the Americans. The market
would be there, and especially now, that gas
has gone over the $3.00 a gallon. So why not
one of them bring back the electric car? And
these were normal size cars, not a match box
car, like the Smart Car.

Anyway if you get a chance to watch it, it
is worth the view.

Dogs or Cats???

Labradoodle, Peagle, Chiweenie
and the list goes on. What are these?
In my days, as a kid, we called them ...
mutts. Very affectionally, we call them mutts.

Now days they are called Designer Mutts.
Who would have figured? Guess one can
spin a special name and you can charge
for what use to be free.

Just for the record, they are
Labradoodle,
Labrador and Poodle (that one was easy)

Peagle,
Pekingese and Beagle

Chiweenie
Chihuahua and Dachshund

Everyone has had, or most anyway...
a dog in their lives. Some more memorable
than others. In our lives as kids, the family
started out with Boston Terriers and then
changed when I was about 5 to Dalmatians.
Mom kept Dalmatians until she passed away.

My own family of my kids and us.. we have had
many breeds. Mostly Shepard's. Few Labs, a
Collie-Shepard mix (would that be a Colliard?)
and if we bred any, it was the usual way, by
accident. Our dog and one male from a good
neighborhood. We rarely went to the vet. We
went for the shots only. We took good care of
them until they died in what ever fashion. And
we cried when they did.

Now it is specialty dogs, designer mutts. And
Vets, well, they even have health insurance for
your animals now. And it is a good idea to get
it, because owning a pet, isn't cheap anymore.
There are double, at least, the shots they need.
The Vet sends you a cutesy card to remind you
that your pet is due to the office. It comes in the
pets name.

Me, I am a cat person. Cats are cool. You just
make sure they have an automatic water feeder,
an automatic food feeder, and a clean litter box.
You can leave for a week. Cat doesn't care. He/she
has control of the house, can walk on the table and
counters while you are gone, just like your teen, the
cat lives a life of Riley.

Now a dog. You can have the automatic feeder
and water deal, but you still have to have some one
come over at least twice a day to let them out to
toilet. And you need them to be there twice a day
to see if they behaved themselves. Otherwise there
is toilet paper strung thru the house, all the things
on the table next to your chair is strung around
the house and chewed on. Dogs get bored, and
are like a 12 year old.

Yep, there is a difference alright.

Where is Everyone???

I read Slight Detour blog Sunday morning
knowing Marianne would have great things
to say about the 100th Celebrations of Bonner
County show.

Sadly I was disappointed. I didn't go yesterday,
as I thought it would be a packed house. Packed
parking lot. After all this is the county history. And
it was FREE!!!! Great way for parents to show their
kids about the county they live in, no matter how long
they have lived here. I guess I was wrong. According
to Slight Detour, it was a dismay of input of people on
Saturday.

I had decided to go Sunday to beat the crowd. I knew
my Pastor was going to be there for the church services.
And figured I would do both on Sunday. So we went
to the church service. In the crowd (?), I would say
half of them were from our church. And there was only
6 families from our church.

After taking care of some important business,
I returned alone at 11:30am. The King was
helping the grandson get his engine out of
the pickup he had bought.

I drove up to, 4 cars in the parking lot. I decided
to take a picture later as there would be more
people. As you can see there are about 10
cars including my own. And the 4 before?
Well, they belonged to the people who were
there for the manning of two booths and to help
with one other one. The crew in other words.

I found 10 booths and 2 tables by the door.
I don't know what the one was on the right.
The one on the left was the library, which
had some town pictures too, in a time line.

Then off to the booths. Sheriff, Ponderay, which
started out as the town of Boyer. And then
the town of Kootenai, Which had so many business
in it. Now I understand why Main Street is called that,
as it was a main street of businesses. Also an area
called Hog Haven... which is the area where my house
is now. I will have to ask my neighbor why that name.
It took me about 15 minutes for each town, to read and look at the pictures..

And there were some other organization booths.
Like Northern Lights and the Cattlemen Assoc.
and Granges. There was a lady setting up her booth,
that said items were for sale, but only saw 4 items. They
look like stain glass items.

What I didn't see was ... where was the city of Sandpoint?
Only small patches of it there. Where was the mayors
over the years? Fire Dept. Pictures of the old stores?
Where was Priest River? Where was Priest Lake?
Where was Idaho Hills? Where was the Vay area,
and several other area's out there? Harlem, etc.
Where was Dover? Where was Sagle, Where was
Laclede? Elmira? wasn't there a town called
Samuels at one time? Where was Clark Fork,
and Hope. Small amount of mention of them thru
the railroad articles. All of these places where and
are in Bonner County. I have to give credit due for
Ponderay and Kootenai as they did the best and
even the sheriff had a few interesting pictures.

I left at 12:44. I took a picture of the parking lot
close and far, so you can see how big the parking
lot is.. and how few cars were there. What happen?

Wasn't there enough people to get involved? Didn't those
towns I mention want to participate? No one cared?
I really feel bad for those who did. They worked hard.
But I am sure it is like most things, only the few stand
up to be counted. The rest just gritch at how badly it was
done. The few that showed up that is. Looks most of
the people decided not to come to see anyway.

I can not throw stones. I was asked to help. But I
only lived here for 12 years. I gave them names of
4 people who stand at the post office and talk about
the good old days when they were kids in Kootenai
over 50 years ago.
But maybe they are the ones who don't want to get
involved. And I do give a lot of credit to those who
tried. At least they tried.

Doesn't seem like most cared, in town.
As you can see from my pictures... there
was a heck of a lot more at Wal-Mart than at the
fairgrounds.

This is how many cars at almost 1pm Sunday



Where is everyone???

Oh, here they are.....

Summer Flowers

Remember Me Rose


Tropicana
Tiger Lily up close
A CandyCane Rose peeking thru the leaves

The Birds????

It looks like the movie...but it is just the birds waiting

for me to leave the front yard after I fill the feeder and

put water in the fountain where they love to bath.

Road Rage???

I don't think it is road rage.

I take my grandson to work 4 days
out of the week. At 4 p.m., the start
of work traffic. Usually it isn't bad as
we are heading in, and they are heading
out.

It takes about 12 minutes from my door
to his job. Lately with the work on the
bridge and summer traffic, I have been
giving it a half an hour, so he won't be
late.

Tuesday, I don't know what the foul
up was, but it took me 15 minutes to
get just from the Chamber of Commerce
building to the first light in town. To those
of you who don't live here, that is about
2 and half blocks. I have used up 21 minutes
to get to that light. That is when I decided,
to jump down one street. Cut across 3 or 4
more streets to one of the main streets that
will take me back to the 5th Avenue, that I was
on. There is a light there but the traffic has
plugged most of the intersection.

After the light changed to my favor and every
one is still sitting where they were, I was
able to squeeze between two cars, and
go in the lane on the far side, and drop
down another street. Going 3 blocks, cut
across to the next street, dropping him off
within a block and half of his job. It is now
4:30 p.m. I usually have him there by 4:20
at the latest, in the worse of traffic.

Then I have to figure out how to get out
of town. So zigging and zagging thru
the streets that aren't popular, I make
it back to 5th Avenue heading out of
town. As I head out I see the semi that
was in front of me as I was heading in
town, on the other side still. He has gone
one and half blocks since I left behind him.

All thru this, my mind went to the self
righteous people who keep blocking the
bypass. I wish them 4 hours every morning
and every evening in the middle of such
messes. I wish them missing their appt.
because of it. I wish them to sit in their
car with windows open, to smell the diesel
of the truck in front of them.

I wish that the people of the town, the long
time locals, who want this bypass
to get a class suit against these people for
endangering our health by breathing diesel
fuel even if it is filtered thru an air conditioner.

I wish them.... well this is a family blog, so
use your imagation of some of my unsavory
remarks and thoughts. That isn't road rage is
it?

Small Town, USA

We live in a small town attitude in
Bonner county. It can be a curse,
and it can be a joy.

Yesterday it was a joy.

We were at the hospital in the
morning to see the galpal. The
therapist was there and telling about
what equipment that was needed before
she went home. For the home. The King
and I said... will do.. we will find it.
And find it we did.

Her cousin had one piece. There was
a second hand store that when we said
what was needed, the gal went to her
pickup which hadn't been unloaded yet,
pulled out a walker. 2 down and 2 to go.

And this is where small town USA comes
in. We went to another second hand store
in Sagle. Mrs. Robertson told us about a
program that is in effect. She told us when
they get in health care equipment they send
it to a place. That place makes it available
for those of need. Only string attached is
when you are finished with it, you return it.
No cash needed.

So the King went off at 1pm.. and sure
enough the story was true, and they had
the 2 remaining items. Plus they had a
fold up walker.

That place that loans out health care
equipment, at no charge.... is Lifecare.
So in 3 hours or less, we had all of the
equipment for galpal to head home.
With any luck that will be tomorrow.

Small town USA, working together,
everyone was on board to make it
happen. Thanks everyone.

Miss Cannonball

You all know I have a galpal. She is the
best. She has a big heart. She is a nurses
aide. She is a very caring person. And she is
my friend.

Miss Cannonball is the name she has
gotten or Sister Lorraine. You will know
why, when you hear the rest of the story.

On Sunday night, the King and I and my gal
pal decided to cool off from this hot weather,
with a swim in the lake.

We have our favorite place, but as we got
to it, some other people already had it. So
we decided to go around the point (as we call
it) of Sunnyside to the public dock. It is a combo
of boat ramp, and dock.

There wasn't anyone there but the waiting
trucks and trailers. The water was wonderful.
Refreshing cool. We were swimming and laughing.
Wonderful time... The King did a semi dive/
belly flop, which we gave him a bad time.

My galpal says to me, as the King is starting
to swim back to us... I think I will cannonball him.
I said, yea, right. As I slipped into the water to
swim to the left of the King.

As we met, I stood up and so did he.
We were to our waist in water.
Of which he saw my galpal start to run,
and he said "what the heck" which by
that time, she yelled CANNONBALL!!
And the water splashed up over us.
We all laughed...

She then stood up, and said to us....
"I think I broke my leg." I thought she
was joking, about how the sting of the
water felt like she broke her leg. But
then I heard the King said....." I think you
are right". All of our hearts sank.

I got out of the water after getting her
to hang on to the dock and stand on
the good foot. I took all of our stuff and
thru it in the back seat. Then laid a
blanket and towel across it. The King
got the car as close as he could to
the water.

We got on each side and had her hop
closer to the edge of the water. Had her
sit on the dock. She spotted a driftwood,
as we were trying to find something for a
splint. Put the driftwood on her leg, wrapped
it in a towel. The King found some white rags
and we tied it all together.

Had her hop with her arms around our necks
to the car. A man and wife came. So he held
her leg up.She sat in the car, the King went to the
other side and grabbed the blanket to slide
her across the seat. And off we rushed to
the ER.

Long and short of it, she broke both bones.
On Monday later afternoon, she was in surgery.
Came thru with flying colors. We waited for
her, and then got to see her. All bundled up
in blankets and warming sheets. One of which
is around her head. Looking like a nun's cap.
That was Sister Lorraine.

I put up a picture of a wet cat, and a caption of
Gal Pal, bad hair day?? makeup kit is in the
closet. As I knew she would not remember any
thing I told her. Which was sad. You see the 4 of
us.... She, her friend, the King and I .. have wicked
sense of humor. So for an half hour we kept her
awake and laughing. The crew was laughing. Which
was good as we thought we might get kicked out.
Told her it was a shame as we didn't video tape it
so she could see it later... as she won't remember
anything tomorrow, about tonight. She laughed.
We found out that the hospital crew calls her ......
the rest of the story..... Miss Cannonball...

We have the driftwood. Which the King is going
to paint a picture of a dock and a gal cannonballing
with the title.....Miss Cannonball on it.

Personal Days

I am taking two personal days off....
I am fine... I have a friend who isn't quite.
I want to spend some time with her.
She will be ok. And I might write about it.
As it does have a funny side...
But for now... I need these two days.

Project # 3 Done

This is what it looked like after I finished day one... I should have taken a picture of it before. As the floor was completely cover. So for this day, I got the floor all cleaned.



This is after day 2 and 3.... This is what is left to do....

This is what 2/3's of the bench looks like. after day 2 and 3. With new organizing of paints, and plumbing on the left.

This is after 4 and I am done... with new organizing of wiring and wood on shelves below.

You can't see the right really well, but it is as clean as the middle.

But boy, oh, boy, you should see what I moved to the big garage for the King to take care of.

after all he should have something to do too, don't you think?

Saturday Horse Show

North Idaho Appaloosa Club's
All Breed Open Horse Show
at the fairgrounds on Saturday......

Our famous annoucer, Marianne from Slight Detour blog.
She did it well.


There were all kinds and shades of horses there...and all ages of riders and horse people....

Marianne's Easy Dream Design better known as Lily on her blog.
And ah, the memories.... While I showed over 50 years ago, I didn't do the jumping class. I did a lot of it at home as practice. Got dumped many times when my horse decide I was going over and he wasn't. My mother entered and won many jumpers and hunter classes over the years.

A great way to spend a day...

Coots, Geezers and Codgers

An old friend and ex-boss came visiting yesterday from New Mexico, with his beautiful wife Lucille.

He said you write a blog right?
I said I was guilty of such things.
He said well, how about doing one
on OLD GEEZER, OLD COOTS,
AND OLD CODGERS. And if you
can, find out when do you become one of these things.

I Google, and I ran thru different
sites and this is what I found.

This is what THE FREE DICTIONARY by farlex
said... for old geezer and old coot...

old geezer - an elderly man
antique, gaffer, old-timer, old-timer
graybeard, greybeard, old man,
Methuselah - a man who is very old

I even found this old geezer... which I think Dean
will like. After all he use to be in the Air Force.


THE OLD GEEZER
(Seasoned Air Force Pilot)
Lithograph of the Original 8x10 Black and
White photograph of the famous 'Old Geezer',
circa 1957. Featured in the September 1982
AIR FORCE Magazine article Nick Allen and the Old Geezer.

Sleep tonight!Your Air Force is Awake






You can even buy a figurine of an old coot
Coots Buddha Belly Figurine $15.99


old Coot

The truth revealed about the once thought to be
mythical North American Coot:Can grow hair on
most parts of his body with the exception
of the top of his head. Repeats the same story of winning
the junior high 100 yard dash. Forgets the simplest things or
has what he calls "Senior Moments." Once fabled to be
six feet tall, but now only 3 feet 8 inches with slippers.
Most of his communication consists of hacking, burping,
passing gas and yelling out obscenities, often in the context
of a family wedding or funeral.


old codger - used affectionately to refer to an eccentric but amusing old man
codger
graybeard, greybeard, old man, Methuselah - a man who is very old

Glossaries of various dialects in Britain give a slightly different
meaning: "a miser; a stingy old fellow" (Sussex, 1875,
and South Warwickshire, 1876); "a dirty, mean old man"
(Lincolnshire, 1877); "a tramp; a mean pedlar; a term
of contempt" (Cornwall, 1880).


Any ideas on the origin of codger when referring to an old
person, particularly an old man? Something was said by a
friend the other day concerning his summer softball team,
and he commented, "I feel older every season. Maybe next year
I should try out for the old codgers' team."

this explanation came from

The Maven's WORDof theDAY site

But all the way thru, I could not find a place
that would put an age on any of these men.
So I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder.

I do know that both Dean and Lucille aren't old enough
to be call such names. Dean is 3 months older than I,
and Lucille is a mere child... lol... (she ought to love that
one).

So does anyone know how old you have to be, to qualify?

What happen to Common Sense???

Nebraska Judge bans the word rape
and a few others in a court case about rape.

Now how does this woman testify that the
man who can't be called assailant and she
can't say he raped her? So is it ok to say the
bad man sitting over there, had sexually
intercourse with me, without my permission.
Is that acceptable. The Judge thought it might
put the man in a bad light and sway the jury.

A 12 year old girl who lives in Katy, Texas,
who was bored while waiting in a gym, took
a sharpie and wrote in a heart shape...
I love Alex. She was arrested and will be
prosecuted as a Level 4 infraction - the same
as for threats, drug possession and assault.
Has been removed from the school and sent
to an alternative school for 4 months this fall.
The parents said the school district is treating
this as the same as what a gang member does
with a can of black spray pain or same
punishment as if she had made terrorist threats.

What happen to making the kid scrub it off and
repaint the wall, and maybe kicked out of school
for a day?

School's sure have changed since I was a kid
or when my kids were kids.

Now they arrest a little boy because he kissed
one the girls. They have him for sexual harassment
abuse. They were 5 years old. Thankfully that
wasn't they case in the 1970's as one of my boys
did the same. All he got was teasing and
embarrassment.

Another was arrested and kicked out of
school for possession of a gun. The fact
that the gun was a 2 inch G.I. Joe plastic
gun, didn't faze the school district. A no
weapons policy is a no weapons policy.
I wonder........how many people have been
killed with a 2 inch plastic G.I. Joe gun? Or
even beaten with one.

What ever happen to common sense?

Whom Would You Pick???

I was reading my AARP magazine the
other day. One of the articles was about
how women who are sharing housing.

First of all I found it interesting that there
aren't any men type house sharing. Or maybe
they just wanted to talk about the women.

These women have become widows, divorcee,
or other similar types of sudden singleness.
They do it mostly for the financial side of it.
But also for companionship. They mostly
don't want to give up their independence.

After I got finish reading the article, and
was doing some chores, I got to thinking.
Would I do that if I were in their position,
and if I did, who would I share with?

After all, this is different than the days
when you were in college and had a
roommate. Or shared an apt. when you
were young. These women are in their
50's, 60's, and 70's. Very active women.
But also set in their ways. At least I would
be. And that is where the rub comes in.

I could not think of one friend that I have, that
I would share a house with. Don't get me wrong,
I love my friends. They are the greatest. I would
do anything for these friends. Just not live with
them. To quote Seinfeld show... "it isn't you,
it is me".

I have friends who are neatniks. I am not a slob.
But I am relaxed about housekeeping. My house
is not a house, but a home. I have friends who are
wonderful, but I think if I lived with them, we would
get on each others nerves.

I really could not think of one of them that I
would share a house with on the long term.
Can you? Think about it hard. Do they go to
bed the same time as you? Do they love TV
on all the time, or do they like music and read.
Do they like lots of lights on? Do they keep the
shades closed all the time? I have to have sun
light.

So now,... can you? Can you really think of some
one you would share a house with for years and
years, that is NOT your spouse? Or would want to?

Why is That?

You know when you go to town and you
are at a crosswalk with a walker's light?
Do you know how long you have to get
across?

In the town of Sandpoint, you have exactly
7 seconds, from walk to flashing do not walk.
How long does it take you to walk across?
Well, I am a fast walker, and it takes me 10
seconds to get across. What is this, a marathon?
God forbid if you are elderly, and walk slowly.
Why are they so fast?

Why is it, on a country road, people think it
is ok to park in the middle of the road and talk
to someone else. And when you squeeze by
with your vehicle.. they glare at you as if you
are the intruder? What is up with that?

And Justice for All

You got to wonder about this phase.
What does it really mean. As lately
it doesn't seem to mean what we
thought it meant.

Actually I guess that isn't true either.
I guess it means... Justice for all rich
people. As it seems those with out
means have to fight awful hard to get
justice and ... still not get it.

As we saw last week, (and I have a
feeling we haven't heard the end of it)
a President can pardon anyone he
pleases. He isn't the first, we have
heard that Presidents have been doing
this for years. It isn't for the poor who
may have been over sentenced. But
for those with the most money, or
have friends with the most money.

Justice for All. Getting to be hollow
words.

Project # 2.... 3/4 done

Dancing as fast as I can...

I am not managing my time.. I was
going to say I didn't have enough time.
But that would not be true, as I have
more time, just too lazy to get up earlier.

This year I have been averaging 7am.
Last year I averaged 5:30 to 6am.
What is wrong with me? I have things
to do, places to go, and people to see.

When I get up, I am on the run. I do take
about 30 minutes to enjoy my coffee, and
look at one of the Time magazines. But the
rest of the time, I just am busy doing what
ever.

Next week, the King is going to his brother's
to help out on some house problems. That
leaves me alone with the cat and the dog.

Now if you have been reading this blog for
a great length of time, you know what that
means. It means I find a project to do. Depending
on how much time I have. This time I have a
whole week. Will I clean out the garage?

I have one project I would love to get into.
It means tearing down part of a wall. I have
looked at this for 2 years.. The King is just
starting to warm up to the idea. I didn't say
he would like it, but at least he is considering
it. He has kept me at bay for a year. And was
horrified last year when he found out I was
thisclose to doing it. But I know this would
be a doozy. And cost lots of $$$$$ which we
don't have. That and only that is keeping me
from cutting the back of the wall and seeing what
is inside. So I guess it will be the garage.

Today I heard the loveliest (is that a word?)
sound. My grandson has wanted this truck
that he has been looking at. It is definitely a
project truck. His mother has gave it great
thought, and decided to give the ok, as she
thinks it would be good for him. Today, all
the things came into line, and the truck is
his. I got to call him at work to let me know
it is in the back yard. I would say the employees
where he works, must have been raised off the
floor at least an inch as he yelled out...".YES,"
at the top of his lungs... "Thank you,thank you,
got to get back to work."
It is great when things come in line for
a dreaming kid. lol...

It is the Day After...

While 4th of July is my all time
favorite holiday, we sure low-keyed it.


A trip to Clark Fork early in the morning.
Got set up for the parade, with the crowd
on both sides, at 9am. Parade started on
time at 9:30am. I guess Clark Fork clocks
work better than Sandpoint's. As Sandpoint's
is always late.

The parade was really nice. Only thing lacking
was a band. I sure miss having marching bands.
I wonder what ever happen to those. Even
Sandpoint has cut their bands too. I remember
watching the high schoolers practicing out in
their field behind the Sandpoint Manor for the
parade, for months.

The parade started off in their usual fashion.
Flags first, guns blasting next. It was nice to
see the spirit of Clark Fork still in force.

After watching the parade, all the great people,
horses, cars, and a few equipment trucks, and
many many candies thrown, it was time to walk
thru the crowd that gathered at the school yard.

After a few moments of catching up with a few
friends we headed out of the parking lot, and up
two streets, and out on to the highway with no
problems at all.

We had a nice cookout, just the two of us.
Family was out of town this year, and grandson
was working. We watched a movie and headed
out side as it cooled off and watch the
neighborhood fireworks and listen to the big
booms of Sandpoint's fireworks. Trees have
grown across the highway, so we can see it
from the front porch anymore.

So this morning, with a cup of coffee in hand,
and a magazine, I stepped into the peacefulness
of the patio, and read while the birds sang. The
house is getting ready for the big heat wave.
Curtains, blinds and shades all closed. AC standing
by. And the King is waiting for the sun to dry the front
lawn so he can mow the grass.

So life is good, as we head down the other half of
the year. Still have half the summer to come. Lots
of heat I am sure. Next weekend we will mosey
down to another small town 4th of July on the
bay of Bayview.

Happy 4th of July

Taint like I remember...

I order the cd of Herb Alpert
called The Lonely Bull. I have
the record some where...but
because I rarely play records
anymore, I prefer to have cd's.
Not even sure I have a record player.

So when I saw that The Lonely Bull
was available in cd, I rushed off a
order for it. It came today. I was so
excited.

I could hardly wait for The Lonely Bull,
Never on Sunday, El Lobo, Mexico, and
the rest. I rushed to the cd player and put
it in.

Now don't get me wrong. I still like the songs.
I still like the music.. but it sure isn't as I
remember. I use to play this album so loud,
that it was lucky we lived out in the country.

I don't know if it is me, or my memory.. but it
just taint like I remember...

And they called the Wind Maria

I am sure the talk for the next couple
of weeks will be "where were you during
the wind storm".

It was like the Columbus Day storm of
the 1990's. That ran across thru the Vay
area, across the cemetery, across the
river and into Dover. Taking down trees
and ripping roofs as fast as it went thru.

I had read a minute by minute report on
HBO and then I closed down the computer.
Went outside, saw the dark clouds. grab
the camera. Now as I read HBO, I understood
a wind storm that knocked down trees and also
hail. We have had before, so wasn't too
worried.

I took the pictures you see on my Saturday
post, and then put the camera away and told
the King. Within 5 minutes the wind was here.
A box flew pass my face. The King was bar-b-qing
meat. He grab the meat off the the grill and shut
it off. Took it in the house. Stuff was flying
every where.

Two weeks ago we put up a temp. garage to
start cleaning out the wood garage. The tarp
started to blow. And then one end whipped loose.
Then the other corner... it made the wood garage
next to it look like a boat with a sail.

Our patio tent was blowing up and down, and
in and out. I ran over and unzipped the netting
and let the wind blow thru. That seem to save the
tent part.

The tarp by this time is blown loose in the
middle, and it is blowing straight up in the
air on one side. The King and I were finally
able to find an end each and grab it... undid
some of the bungees on one side. And
bungee the whole tarp to one leg of the tem
garage.

As we were doing this, the wind was whipping
us around, I could see brown dust every where
and little pieces of stuff flying, kind of like the
Wizard of Oz. And my thoughts as I am hanging
on to tarp?????

Why don't I have my camera so I can take
pictures for my blog....lol...

The rains came, and the wind left. We were all
wet, and looked around and the tarp was the
worse of the damage. No electricity..

We drove around the two towns to see the
damage. Some was worse than others. Later
we heard how bad it was in Sagle, and also
that Bonner's Ferry got the worse of it. For
many electricity didn't come on for over 30
hours. We were lucky, we had it back in 14
hours, at 7am.

But we did well thru the night. We got a
generator started. Plugged in the freezers,
and turn on a light and played cards.
Until 11 and went to bed, knowing
everything was ok.

Project # 2

First comes the hole...



Then comes the helper (maybe she thinks this is going to be her swimming pool)...

Then comes the water.... and the start of the rock placement. All of the black paper will have rocks and some plants.


Don't think Misty is going to like sharing the pool with the Hipp0...