Hurried post

because it's Wednesday

For want of a topic

Daily bloggers sometimes have to stretch their imaginations to come up with something.
Or, post a re-run.
We could accept the challenges posted by other bloggers.
But that's not nearly so much fun.
I sometimes like to go back and see what I wrote a year ago.
Last year I took my inspiration from a couple of regulars and posted about Chinese food.
I really don't have much and by now you've probably already reread that post and gone off to see what the others wrote to inspire it.
About the only thing I can add now is a little something about those third floor walk-up restaurants in Chinatown.
Almost every one had what we called a duck walk.

About the only difference between those times and the picture above is the feathers.

and the birds were hung by their feet

Into the hills (cont'd)

There's not much to report and, even worse, I have no pictures.

I picked up my rider early and we stopped at a Starbucks for a couple of to go coffees.
The traffic was light and there were few Highway Patrol, so we made really good time.

As we proceeded north, though, the air got a little thicker with each mile.
There is a peculiarity of wind patterns which is allowing a drift of smoke from a couple of big wildfires in Oregon to infiltrate the far northern parts of California.
But the "Delta Breeze" is keeping most of the smoke from getting to the North Valley.
Long range visibility was not to be.
Even Mt Shasta was barely visible until we were up close.
On the plus side, it was cooler "up north" than at home.

It was great seeing all of the Lions Club member I know from all over the district.
A few I hadn't seen for a couple of year were astonished to hear of GS's health issues.
At the end of the official district reports the District Governor called on me to give a "Monday Update" so I wouldn't have to repeat myself in every conversation throughout the day.
That gave me the opportunity to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers and let them know that Grandma Skip feels the love they are sending her way.

It was a pretty good day overall.

Wait for it...

It doesn't need any accompaniment.

Cuz and Mrs. Cuz are in Switzerland.
They took a train ride to go see the Matterhorn.
The visibility was even worse there.

such is life

Into the hills

This morning I get to drive north through the Sacramento Canyon, past Mt Shasta, through the Shasta Valley, to turn left at Yreka and into the Scott Valley.

Today is the new cabinet officers for the Lions district are to be installed after the cabinet meeting.
The Anderson Lions Club president in riding along so I have to "get it in gear" so I am not lat picking him up.
I have the privilege of installing the incoming 2nd Vice District Governor.

Everybody's posting music now

it was in the inbox this morning

He said what?

Once more inspired by something I read elsewhere [haven't' had an original thought since I stopped drinking], I will challenge myself to write a post up to the standards of the individuals who amended the original document.
I could have, of course, saved some time an energy by just linking to this post.
However, that could be construed as an endorsement of the language in that post.
While I am truly in full support of free speech and will defend that right, I am also a proponent of restraint and inventiveness when it comes to the usage of expletives (also known as sometimes less is more).

In the case of the activities of certain of our public servants and their overseers, less is more would be a fairly good start.
As I look at the situation, the Bill of Rights isn't the only thing in peril.
The legislative branch of the government has become so polarized as to be paralyzed.
The executive branch has usurped a goodly part of the role of the legislators.
The judicial branch seems out of sorts as well.

Then there's that bit about how the federal government has pretty much become so colossal that they preempt the states, and the states have preempted local government.
All that's left for the locals is fixing potholes, fire protection and law enforcement.
They can't even do that unless the feds send money.
That is so bass-ackward.
It's created an expectation among the ignorant that they might have the same services at the end of a road in an unpopulated area of the country that they'd have in the city center.
I call bullshit.
The pursuit of happiness does not require any government to provide all services ...unless it is socialist.

Anyhow I've  kinda gotten off track here.
What this really is about is snooping ...the wholesale gathering of information about every man, woman, and child in this country by agencies of the federal government, under the guise of national security.
They are answerable to no one, least of all to the folks paying the bill.

Worse yet, the one entity, outside of government, who call them to account is the media.
They're more interested in stirring the pot.

So in your quest to understand how our government is really supposed to work, pay particular attention to I and IV below.
Then look to the original document.
Then read X.
It looks pretty simple to me.
Some idiots just came along and dumped sand in the gears.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Read Sully's post.
Comment there.

Wherein we don't know any more than we did yesterday (which was not Monday)

Nope!
Wait!
That's not exactly true.
We do know that Grandma Skip actually gained some weight.
Even that's a bit off.
GS gained back some of the weight she dropped last week.
We are into measuring things in terms of relativity.

By now everyone visiting here is aware that GS in getting chemotherapy every Wednesday.
There's also a pill she takes daily as part of her regimen.
Her weight is so low that the are giving her a low dose of the drugs.
Before they can even do that there's a battery of blood tests that are done, the blood pressure cannot be too low and there is a minimum weight.
Then there is the doctor's gut feeling.
I'm pretty sure that if GS didn't project confidence, strength, and her positive upbeat attitude, the doc wouldn't proceed with the treatment.
It helps, too, that each week, GS stays awake the entire time she's sitting in the recliner receiving the chemo.
The blood tests, so far, all give positive indications.
The exception being the time early on when the hemoglobin count was down.
The two early treatments for that seem to have turned things around.

The title of this post refers to the results of the visit to the imaging center, where it was determined not to perform a biopsy because there was no indication of breast cancer.
You can't biopsy what you can't find.

What's going on is the pill GS is taking is a hormone inhibitor which prevents the cancer from spreading [this is my interpretation of what we've been told] by starving it.
Since the cancer is already a stage four the treatment is, necessarily, fairly aggressive.
We're guessing it had already spread when GS first visited the doctor and the aneurism was found.
The six plus months that ensued gave the cancer much more time to perform its insidious damage.
That's not to say we'd have done anything differently.
Did I say we.
What I mean is I'm in total support of whatever decisions GS has made.
Heck, I'm even in agreement.

In a couple of weeks there will be some more extensive tests.
We're guessing CT scans and maybe and MRI.
Then the docs will evaluate where things are compared to the tests before treatment started.
Maybe we'll know something then.

What has made this so adventuresome is the combination of two entirely different diagnoses that were totally exclusive and independent of one another.
Then the finding of a cancer with which so many doctors are even unfamiliar.

The bottom line here is that the situation remains serious and there are still about a million questions to be answered with more than an, "I don't know."
On the other hand, if we were going to put things on a scale of one to ten, I would venture that we've progressed from a three or four to a five or six.
That's progress.

Note: If you're relatively new here you can find out more about what we're talking about by clicking on the Monday label below.

Another Monday update

Yesterday morning Grandma Skip had an appointment at the imaging center.
We'd been told it was for a CT scan and breast biopsy.
Actually it was for an ultrasound and biopsy (if warranted).

The previous scans had shown something of an indeterminate nature.
Whatever it is... or was... is still indeterminate.
The ultrasound showed there is nothing to biopsy.
GS was told she does not have breast cancer.

A major question still remains.
It starts out with those famous words, "What the...!"
We'll be asking the oncologist this morning when GS goes for the weekly visit.

yeah, yeah, WTF?

Huh?

So...
Here I am just checking the email this morning.
I was maybe going to slip in a brief mention about the humidity and clouds created by the creeping monsoon.
But, no, it was not to be.
This was in the Inbox

(click this to enlarge)

That's right.
It says,

Just about the time I thought I could start backing off a little, too.
Thank goodness it doesn't set me up with any expectations.
Now, I'm sure if I go over to LinkedIn there will be multiple opportunities to endorse others for their various areas of accomplishment.
It's almost like one of those awards.
Once you receive one, you have to pass it along.
Then you get another.
My dad had an expression he repeated often.

"It's like wiping your ass with a hula hoop.
There's no end to it."

There are a lot of things like that.

I think I will post the small one in the sidebar.
It's kinda like an award.
The best part is you don't have to do anything to accept it.
And you know it's true.

until it stops

Monday update... sort of

The first day of the week is Monday.
The last day of the week is Friday.
Saturday and Sunday are on the weekend, thus, they are not part of the week.
They are only part of the month and are there to connect one week to the next.
Sometimes they are not even part of the same month.

The Old AF Sarge gave me a duck.

I made it bigger.
I can just hear the BP saying, "Oh no! Don't encourage him."

Grandma Skip gets to have another biopsy tomorrow, along with another CT scan.
I don't imagine we'll be seeing the biopsy results at the next visit to the oncologist on Wednesday.
The real question is, what will it tell us?
Today is the weekly blood draw.
We're on a first name basis with the phlebotomist.
I knew what a phlebotomist was even before all this crap started.
You don't even know the really good ones have stuck you until they say, "Okay, thank you."

And because I can, here us another gratuitous weather post, albeit from yesterday afternoon.

The digested version

really like the duck

Untitled

The Clan departed just in time.

It peaked at 111

They headed for the coast before turning north.
They made their getaway early.
It's sure quiet around here.

I don't know what the Internet was doing yesterday.
But the connection was intermittent.
Then the TV signal, which we receive via satellite, had a kerfuffle, too.
 It must've been Sun spots?
There wasn't anything good, except for reruns of Roseanne, on anyway.
The baseball game didn't start until after 6.

Speaking of the baseball game [the one played in San Francisco], it seemed strange to see folks bundled up because it was chilly, while I was debating about turning on the A/C because the swamp coolers were having trouble handling the situation.

Having the family visit is nice.
We really need to have that break in our routine.
I would, however, opt for a shorter break.
Of course, if I had my druthers, there's be another bathroom in the house, too.

...and they'd all be larger

A good weekend to stay indoors

A quick peak at the graphic here tells me to take it easy.
We topped out at 107 yesterday.
It was already 72 at 6am this morning.

Now the Internet is going nuts again.

This crap's getting old

...and it's still climbing.

Oh well... at least it's a dry heat

The perfect food

Every Thursday I pick up takeout at the local Burrito Bandito [actually they're all local, but this one's more local]... well every Thursday except two weeks ago because it was the fourth of July and they closed early... to bring home for dinner.

This has been a tradition in our house for over two years now... maybe even longer than that.
There are any number of really good reasons for it.
Number one is the location is convenient.
It is right across the street and through the parking lot from the meeting I attend at 6pm almost every week.
Now that's not number one because of importance.
It's number one because it was a complete thought.
I'm still working on that most important reason.
Part of the challenge is I wrote the post title first again.
So... burritos've got all of the food groups and you can add or subtract pretty much to your hearts desire.
They are constructed built assembled right in front of the purchaser as they're ordered.
Our preference is for the burrito bowl.
That would be a burrito sans tortilla.
Wrapped in the tortilla it looks formidable.
In the bowl it can be attacked from any direction.
It is easily enough food for three persons of normal appetite... really!
Like I said all of the food groups.
There's rice, either black beans or refried beans [or both if you're a glutton], cabbage, cheese, choice of meat [click on the link and read the menu], salsa fresca, sour cream, cilantro, avocados, and, if desired, hot sauce and jalapeños.
They're generous with all of those items and will add more for a reasonable fee.
In addition to the burrito bowl we always get a bag of tortilla chips and the salsa to go with them.
On a couple of occasions there have been leftovers.
Those leftovers make a perfect ingredient for an omelet.

I should add that our preference is for the chili verde burrito bowl.

[there should be a picture here

but it never occurred to me

to shoot one before and I couldn't

find one on the web that can do

justice to what we get]

Last night there was a slight change to our regular order.
Because we have extra mouths in the house we ordered three more burritos and two quesadillas.
There are leftovers!

thanks to world famous professional writer Jim, (Jimmy, Sully, Suldog, Laroooooo, or Your Prescription Is Ready) Sullivan for inspiring this post by commenting on a post I made on Facebook

the jalapeños are on the side

And we're back

Whatever was wrong with the Internet connection has been fixed.

I have to find out why I can't post comments on blogs from my iPhone.
The dialog box opens, I click on Google Account, and everything disappears.
That tiny print doesn't help much, either.

Sad day

It could be worse.

GS and I returned from a slightly longer stint at the oncologist.

"Hey, Skip, is there some reason why we can't connect to the wi-fi?"

I was puzzled.

A quick check showed the wi-fi's just fine, but there is no Internet connection. 

So here I am this morning, making excuses for a post I am making from my phone.

I really dislike not having access to all of Blogger's so-called bells & whistles.

Adjusting to change

So it's 6am and I looked up to find the Sun already up.
It was still dark when I arose.
I tried to go back to sleep.
I gave up after about a half hour.
Normally I would go into the family room or the living room and read.
Current conditions preclude that.

I was thinking I write a lot of daily stuff that happens in this blog.
Then I thought some more.
Actually I don't.
I only hint at much of what is happening... snapshots if you will.
Regulars probably know today GS and I will go to Redding for her chemo.
Then I will probably go to Costco and TJ's.
But those same folks will only make observations regarding that from their own perspective.
Just as I will use my own experience when reading about others activities.
All I can say is it will be some time before I judge the posted activity of another as routine.
Our little trip to Redding starts on Monday when we go to the lab across town for a blood draw.
It may end as early as just before noon today, but could require another trek tomorrow if a "hemo" shot is needed.
None of that even begins to cover any other logistics, which are a lot like getting ready to take a short vacation trip.

I am not complaining ...really!
I just won't take for granted that one can just jump in the car and go.

speaking of which

Thank God

So we've been in triple digits ...or relatively close to them ...for a week.
Tomorrow we head back that way and they arrive with a vengeance on the weekend.
But today, the day we had no electricity to assist in cooling us down, it was coincidentally one of the coolest days in some time.
Even the breeze cooperated.

I have a sign in my den that expresses kinda how I feel right now.

Amen

Tuesday's post is early because we're powerless

Some time ago we had some solar panels installed.
Naturally that required a building permit from the city.
It never occurred to me that they hadn't done a final inspection because I wasn't the one who pulled the permit.
Someone at city hall finally got around to calling the contractor.
He called me.
It seems that from the time the permit was pulled to when it was determined the final hadn't been done there was a change to the uniform building code in California.
Now it seems we need to expand the electrical panel to 200 amps because we are using all 100 amps of circuits.
Then it turns out that the overhead clearance for the power lines coming from the pole are no longer at the correct height.
So anyway the electrician is installing a new service panel and the power company is coming to disconnect the power so it can be reconnected to the new service panel and the lines can be raised to the proper height.

That means I won't be posting from the PC.
That won't preclude a post from the iPhone or the laptop [provided I can get a connection].

We've been informed the weather will be a cool 93º instead of the three digit stuff we've seen for the past few days.

I'll save the story about the spare refrigerator for another time.

when I want to rant

Wait... there's more

Add three more to the five who arrived on Friday.
GS's #1 grandson arrives with the great grandson and his momma.

so Buck was right

Full House

In case I haven't mentioned it, the Clan* from Washington arrived on Friday to get some Sunshine visit GS.
They came prepared to stay for a week.
I wasn't prepared at all.

no wonder old men get cranky

*Son, Daughterinlaw, threekidsandthedog

A little musical break

I had something else in mind for today.
It can wait.



I really like the bass bit toward the end (around 7:50).

sometimes F/B can be your friend

Guess...

Yep!
It's on a Saturday this month

I don't always celebrate Friday the thirteenth.
But when I remember...

not a real priority

Yesterday I left a wrong impression

If you misunderstood what I was trying to convey yesterday, I apologize.
I did not mean to give the impression it was the inside of Costco and TJ's that give me fits ...even though they do.
It's the parking lot.
The local [relatively local] TJ's has an excuse.
There's a Dick's Sporting Goods under construction immediately next door.
So the parking lot has been disrupted, to say the least.
That does not necessarily excuse the behavior of some of the maroons in the parking lot ...like the assclown in the SUV who almost T-boned a Kia sedan because he was in a hurry to find a spot in the shade.
The fool didn't even look.

I should explain that this time of year we have more shoppers in the area, over a longer period of time, than at any other time of the year.
Yes, probably even Christmas.
It's already back to school shopping time here.
So moms are already dragging the little weasels to the big box store for some school stuff.
The rugrats are running around the parking lot oblivious to any danger because they're on vacation.
There's another factor, too.
This part of the North State is a destination for a lot of folks on vacation.
They come for all of the outdoors activities, many of which involve setting up temporary housekeeping for large numbers of people.
It seems like all of those people shop at the same time and bring their own vehicles.
And they bring trailers with boats, tent trailers, or large industrial barbecues, so they can use up to 6 parking spots for each vehicle.
About the only folks more rude are the ones with diesel trucks, who park at a building entrance and leave the engine running.
Then there's the guy ...it's always a guy ...who sits in the car at the end of the parking row nearest the entrance and waits for a space to open up so he doesn't have to walk a few extra feet.
Never mind there are others who might want to get past him to leave.

Yep, another time we can enter the store and I may have something to say about shoppers.
But that's not necessarily specific to any one store and there are others who've covered the topic pretty well.
So it may be a long wait.

until there's an incident

Thursday's Monday update

It's silly to wait until Monday when just about everything we're gonna know is presented on Wednesday when GS visits the oncologist for her chemo.
So we haven't found out anything new.
Grandma Skip's weight remains stable, which, if weighed about 15 pounds more, would be good news.
Otherwise the signs [results from the weekly blood draw lab tests] are good.
There are further tests in the works, including another biopsy.
Maybe those will present us with more information regarding progress.

Meanwhile, the PHG and I find imaginative ways to get GS eating more often.
GS is cooperating... mostly.

Yesterday wasn't nearly as stressful as some most recent Wednesday's have been.
It finally occurred to me why.
I didn't go to Costco yesterday.
So I didn't have to deal with clowns, nitwits, and assweasels.
I probably could have lowered my blood pressure even more if I'd avoided TJ's (Trader Joe's).
I'm really at my best when I don't go out in public where others are required to think for themselves.

Sometimes I wonder if I have become invisible.
That's because any number of times I find myself having to stop short because somebody else [I'm talkin' about so-called adults] has moved directly into my path without any concern for how close we are.
It's probably a good thing I'm paying attention.
A collision would not be pretty.

About the only thing worse than supermarkets and their ilk are airport concourses.
What ever happened to the rules of the road.
You know... staying to the right [unless you're driving in Britain].

I think I'll stop here before I get on about drivers*.

*another pet peeve about Wednesdays

Today is Wednesday

That's about all I can tell you for certain right now.
GS is at chemo.
I went shopping for a few items and drove home.
I got an email that read:

Jesus is Coming!.... look busy

That's my goal at the moment.

Think good thoughts

Today it is 20 years... well, more like some time this evening... since GS and I were married.

It is about 30 years since we were first introduced.
I don't think either one of us remembers exactly when that was.

Neither of us were particularly interested in starting any long term relationships.
I'm not even certain we were prepared to start a friendship.
Both of our personal lives were in turmoil.

But we did become friends... really, really good friends.
Then we started dating.
We love each other... a lot.
When we are not together, we really miss each other.

So we married.
That was not the number one priority.
I can think of at least two times where we put it off because there was something else we decided we wanted to do.

Grandma Skip is still my best friend.
We still love each other... a lot!
We don't miss one another so much.
Because we're almost always together.

In front of the house there's a new sight.

 It is almost as if the daylily has burst forth.

 I didn't notice it yesterday.

They don't exactly hide from view.

wish it was rain

Monday *changeup

Because it's not an update.
But it is Monday.
Buck posted this on Saturday.

It reminded me just how much I am afraid of high places.
It also reminded me of Las Vegas, except for that pyramid in the foreground.

High places without some kind of restraint spook the daylights outta me.
My first experience was in NYC atop the Empire State Building in 1948.
I was too short to see over the rail to observe what was going on in the Hudson River.
I was also too big for my mother to lift for more than a few seconds.
Someone else, a man, offered to lift me.
He only made one error.
He lifted me from behind, without considering there was what I perceived as nothing between me and a long fall.
It virtually scared the living crap out of me.
I have since been back to the Empire State Building and have even flown paper airplanes from the observation platform.
They disappeared from view long before they reached the ground.
I was almost 14 years old on that occasion.

I now gingerly approach anything with a big drop-off [somewhere between 18 & 30 inches] potentially life threatening.
That attitude has not prevented me from doing many reckless stupid things where height is involved.
It has also put me in positions where, at times, I said a short prayer, "Lord, get me off here and I won't do this again."
I have no issues with going up.
It's getting back down...

That reminds me of a joke:

Q:  How do you get down from an elephant?
A:  You don't.
      You get down from a duck.

*A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball.
You might assume, rightly so, that it is different from what is expected.
If you've been visiting here long enough, you know there's no such thing as a changeup where we're concerned.

you've also learned 

what assume really means

I wonder

It appears those posts associated with or having Monday in the name are the most popular ones on this blog.
As mentioned last month we've been here ever since we quit smoking for five years.
Of the top ten post in the life of this blog, only one, this one, has nothing to do with Mondays.
The real irony is the first "real" update was on a Tuesday.
It is, by far, the most viewed, by a 7:1 margin over #2, post on this blog.
The other eight, in the top ten, are somehow related to that post, even if it is a bit of a stretch.
I should probably go back and relabel a bunch of posts Phase I and Phase II to differentiate the aneurysm from the current situation cancer.

They are related.
Not directly related.
More like step-cousins.
It was because of the initial symptoms of the cancer that the aneurysm was discovered.
It was because of the aneurysm potential risks that the diagnosis of cancer was delayed.

I could go on.
Actually I did go on... and on... and on some more.
Then I deleted because it was a morose stream of consciousness that benefits no one but me, not even me.
And while this blog is all about me, we're trying to keep that a secret.

What I really wonder is if a lot of people are using that Monday Update from December as a portal to access the blog.

the things we think on

 quiet Sunday mornings

Because I can

I'm doing things kinda backward today.
Usually (heh... normally) I post early and then check back a couple of times.
This time I just checked posts a read comments this morning.

Later I got an email from Mrs Cuz.
She was concerned because I hadn't posted any GS updates lately.
I could have sworn I posted a Monday Update last Monday.
So I looked.
Yep... it's there, without a single word about Grandma Skip.

That can only mean one thing.
There is nothing new and I like to post happy stuff.
What could have been happier than a visit from grandchildren?

On another note, we're having a cool spell.
It was only 100 degrees yesterday and we may not reach 95 today.

PHG took a long weekend to visit friends in Sac so it's just GS and I for the past few days.

I read a humorous blog post about a serious subject here...
...thought it was well written and worth passing along.

Something's going on

Blogger's spam algorythmn gone haywire.
It's dumping perfectly innocous comments from frequent visitors into the spam folder.
It caught Buck and Sandee recently.
I was just a little slow to pick up on it... sorry.

On an entirely different, totally unrelated topic...
It appears two local communities, Anderson and, the much larger, Redding, have determined to make observing the Independence Day fireworks as inconvenient as possible for the citizenry.
They have located the venues such that there is only one way in and out.
The real problem doesn't develop until after the show.

Traffic in and out is only a part of the issue.
The other part is the folks who don't go to the venues, but, instead, find a convenient spot (for them) and camp out without consideriration for anyone else (like, for example, the people who live where they've camped out).

I wonder if anyone's asked law enforcement what they think?
Then I wonder if they actually listened.

duh!

Today is

National Bikini Day

Celebrate!

I didn't know

100 Things I Love About America...again redux

The first time I posted this was HERE.
It was then I pretty much decided it must be a permanent Independence Day post.
I may just go ahead and schedule next year's post now.
That's why it happened again last year when I posted again it HERE.

The sentiment I expressed at the beginning of the post last year still holds true.
If you've read this post before, you may want to do so again.
There are some updates.

First, let me thank Jim "Suldog" Sullivan for planting this in my head. I'd put a link to his blog here, but there's one on the sidebar to the left and I've already promoted his blog this week anyway, along with that of the Brighton Pensioner, also on the sidebar as Pebbles, who beat this post with his own by a good 24 hours. That may be because he is already eight hours ahead. Gee, now that I think about it, Sully's four hours ahead. So if this was a race I'd be behind from the start.


Enough foolishness [sic]. Let's get underway.


I thought about this for a long time. Then I decided not to number them because some of you might think it was a ranking. Oh, and there are some places where I've listed more than one. Those are bonuses.

Then I thought further and decided I am not required to list them all at one time. I can milk this for a bunch of blog posts... a whole bunch. In fact, if push comes to shove, I can do a series of lists and make this last until next year.

That said, I begin the list in no particular order:

I can do any darn thing I want as long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of others... and I don't get caught.



It is next to Canada, where they turn everything they say into a question by saying, "Eh?" at the end. They also only do a fair job of keeping Winter where it belongs.

There are two oceans... big ones.

Aircraft carriers... they're so freakin' awesome

Cigars

Photoshop!

ESPN

The Food Network

Copy and Paste

Snopes

Bacon... no, not Kevin.

Political Correctness... it gives us something to bitch about

Places we can laugh at when we hear the name... like Cucamonga.

Alviso... see the previous line.

Pulled pork

That the history is only about 500 years, so there aren't so many dates to remember.

Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, John D Rockefeller, John Jacob Astor, Alexander Graham Bell, et al.

Immigration, emigration and migration, or we'd all still be on the East Coast.

Homonyms.

The Grand Canyon.

Hot dogs.

Peach pie.

So many zoos and wild animal parks.

That the buffalo isn't extinct.

Baseball

Creme brulee

Osso bucco

Memphis dry rub

Bluegrass

Jazz

Kazoos

Soft rainfall

San Francisco... warts and all

The Declaration of Independence

Bloggers... well, most of them anyway.

Delicatessens

Basque restaurants

Harry S. Truman

Costco

Libraries

Chinese food

Satire

Mountains

Ol' Glory

Diversity

Rednecks... no, I mean the real rednecks

Choice

Grape, pomegranate and jalapeno jelly

Oreos

Rubber Ducks

Convertibles

Wikipedia, Google and Bing

Open Office... 'cause it's free

Gimp... 'cause it's free

Free stuff

Chocolate

Hartford, Connecticut

Springfield, Massachusetts

Madison, NC

Lists

The Three Stooges... all six

Who's on First

The NFL

Home

600 count cotton sheets

Mexico's cultural influence... and the food!

James Fenimore Cooper, Kenneth Roberts, Richard Haliburton, Shel Silverstein and John Grisham... bet you don't see them lumped together very often

July 4th... just a wee bit more than most other days

Cheddar cheese... yeah I know it's not really from Cheddar

The Rockie Mountains

Mount Shasta... both the mountain and the town

That there are so many things I can't finish this list because I keep Googling them

Harleys

Texas isn't anywhere near California and L.A. is almost in a corner by itself

It is big... but not too big

Chocolate Ice cream

Adirondack chairs

The Coast Daylight

Trains

Golden Gate Park

Bacon! [Yeah, twice]

Zoos... rank right up there with bacon and are even more fun

Iced tea

The National Parks... I can't just pick one

Custer's Last Stand... the indians won that one

Hamburgers

Cheeseburgers

Double cheeseburgers

In-n-Out

French fries... no ketchup [or catsup], thank you

Cioppino

- U.S. Highway 50 (aka The Loneliest Road in America)

Interstate 80... so we don't have to take Highway 50

Jack Benny

Lake perch

Fish and chips (see previous entry)

Real chili [has no beans]

White corn, roasted in the husk

Escargot

The Blue Angels

Calamari

Boston

The tiny heads on my sidebar

- and the lovely lady who occasionally comments (aka Grandma Skip)




That's gotta be at least a hundred. Now if I were nefarious, I would post these one at a time. That would carry carry me through to the end of the year because I would have to interject other posts occasionally.

Unnumbered for
the benefit of those
who want to see if
I may have cheated

Face fur (1963 - 2013)

My first attempt at growing a beard.

My first beard

1963 the ship had a beard growing contest on our return from WestPac to raise funds for Navy Relief.
After two weeks this was how it looked.
I was 20 years old.

It wasn't until I was 26 or 27 that some of those, to quote Bill Cosby, "little tiny hairs" grew out.
Unfortunately, there are no surviving photos.
But from that time, in the late, late sixties, until September of 2006 I wasn't without a mustache, which I kept trimmed most of the time.
There was an early beard.
A full set, if you will, in the mid eighties, grown to show I didn't much care about what other may have thought.
It was uncomfortable and came off after about eight months.
The mustache stayed and was just a little fuller.
It grew and grew, drawing some attention.
I  even managed to get a photograph.

In the late summer of 2005 a district meeting for the Lions Clubs was scheduled to be held at rustic Camp McCumber.
The District Governor proclaimed the theme as "woodsy."
I thought a beard was "woodsy."

The District Governor was a little annoyed by the beard.
It remained for the balance of his term.
In fact, it was still around irritating him for a year after.
I had decided to shave it in the spring of '06 when the incoming District Governor and I had a brainchild.
A challenge was issued to the clubs in the district to raise $2500 to kick off the Campaign Sightfirst II being held by Lions Clubs International.
If it was raised by September 1, then members would be given opportunities to shave the beard.
Somehow the proviso was slipped in that if it reached $3000, the beard would go, too.
I was not really too happy about that... I'd had the mustache for the previous 38 years...
...but I went along and the end result was $3700 for the kickoff fundraiser.

I remained clean shaven for the next six years, like the photo below.

Two years ago I heard about No Shave November to raise awareness of prostate cancer.
Talk about easy.
So I didn't shave for three months.
When I did, the mustache stayed.
This last November I did it again.
It came in much lighter.

When GS came home in January, after her surgery, the beard was shaved again.
The mustache remains.
It's getting a pretty good spread...

...and, unlike a tatoo, can be removed easily.

It is ironic to grow one to raise funds and shave another to raise funds.

it's really hot here

Stop already

That's just so wrong!

There is no way it should be this warm in the dead of night.
 It's way too difficult to sleep properly.

didn't sign up for this

Monday... and this is late

Yes...
We did have visitors yesterday.
GS, PHG and I got to spend a couple of hours with Li'l Teeny and her Big Brother.
Dad and Mom (my daughter) came along, too.

 There's almost a smile on her face.

 Big Brother is never far away.

Though, it is hard to get him to look at the camera.

took forever to get

 up from the floor

but, it was worth it