Maybe I should

Then again . . .

Oh, heck!
I will try to keep y'all posted over the next few days.
But there're no guarantees I'll have a connection, other than the cell phone,
It does not play well with Blooger [nor do I].

There may be pictures   . . . and maybe not.
We'll see.

nah, not wishy-washy here

So . . . Maybe it is forgettable

The anniversary of the start of this blog.
It's today.
I don't always remember to notify y'all.

Note:

Yesterday's post did not portend anything.
It's all fun and games here.

Credit

are we having fun yet?

Monday update

Yesterday* was an anniversary of sorts.
So was Thursday**.

Sometimes I forget to mention those things here.

I am doing my best to live in the moment.

What does live in the moment mean?
It means don't repeat past mistakes.
It means keep it simple.

I saw this yesterday . . .

I'm fairly certain I'm not part of the 80%.
I'm also aware that any original thoughts I've had were the source of trouble challenges, some good, others not so good.

One thing I learned for sure:
I'm not responsible for that thought unless I act on it.

*stopped smoking eight years ago
**joined the Navy 55 years ago

Last Saturday in June

Just like clockwork, the Anderson Lions made their way up Highway 44, through Shingletown, to the shores of Lake McCumber.
(Why is it that spell check thinks that should be cucumber?)

I have written about this before, many times.

You can find those posts here, here, here, here, and here.

"A pox on politics"

Not an original line.
But in my thoughts for a crap ton of time.

Sadly it's like wiping your but with a hoop.
There's no end to it.

the media loves it

Normal Friday

Nah!
I checked emails again . . .

Mother Goose Calls 911

Here is a little respite from all the politics.  I hope this will make your day.

Officer Givens serves Cincinnati Police Department for over 26 years, but in all that time he's never had an experience that compares to this one.
On Monday, Givens was sitting in his patrol car in a parking lot when he was accosted by one very unexpected visitor who seemed dead set on getting his attention.
"This goose came up and started pecking on the side of the car," Givens told The Dodo. "I threw some food out for her, but she didn't take it. She just kept pecking and quacking. Then she walked away, stopped and looked back. Then came over again and pecked some more."
When the goose walked away a second time, and again looked back, Givens decided to follow her. And it's a good thing that he did.
"She led me about 100 yards away to this grassy area near a creek. That's when I saw one of her babies all tangled up in some string from a balloon. His little feet were kicking," said Givens. "She led me straight to him."
Though stunned by what just happened, Givens was wary of approaching the trapped gosling, fearing that the goose might attack if he did. So instead he radioed the SPCA, but no wildlife rescuers were immediately available.
Givens' colleague, Officer Cecilia Charron, heard the call and volunteered to help.
"She showed up on her own," he said. "I told her to be careful, but she just walked over and untangled the baby. The mother goose just watched, like she knew. It was amazing."
Once the baby was untangled, Givens and Charron looked on as he rejoined his mom and swam away safely. Not surprisingly, the officers were in disbelief about how it all played out from start to finish.
Charron even started to tear up, telling Givens it was the highlight of her 24 years on the force.
"It seems like something made up. It was just incredible," said Givens. "I honestly don't know why I decided to follow her, but I did. It makes me wonder — do they know to turn to humans when they need help?"
Though we'll never be sure if the desperate mother goose did indeed approach the officer knowing he would help, what is certain is that he did — and that's what made the difference.
"I don't know what it all means," Givens said, "but I hope it might inspire more compassion in other people."

I didn't check this against Snopes or any of the other fact checking sites because I don't care if it's true.

About that trip III

Graduation was scheduled for 7pm.
The doors to the event opened at 6pm, preceded by a security screen where everyone had to hand carry everything in their pockets and ladies had to submit their purses for a search.

This was the line.

it went all the way to the corner, turned left. . .

. . .and proceeded as far again before turning left into the single entry gate.


Despite being at what seemed like the very end of the line, we managed to find seats in the fourth row of the audience [about 1/4 mile from the stage].

These were the folks behind us.

 Not quite all 5000+ of them.
(yeah, I see the look from the little kid)


Binoculars would've been some help.

After the ceremony, which took a little over two hours, the graduates marched backstage and then were turned loose to find their families.

That's all of the pictures.

We went home, after driving over most of the streets of Tacoma to find our way out of the city, and had cake and ice cream.

Wednesday morning I left at 7am. 
There were rain showers just about everywhere along the way and it was raining hard as I passed through Redding.
I started raining in Anderson as I finished unpacking the car.
I was home in time to feed Sebastian.
It seems he is perfectly capable of spending a day or so on his own and  will eat the dry cat food if there is nothing else.
Yes, I left him plenty of water.

~finis

About that trip II

Did I mention that it rained on this roadtrip.
It was sporadic and never very much.
There was Sunshine, too.

But I digress.

Nobody went to work on Tuesday.
Kids went to school, except for the graduate.
He had only one task left.

There was some visiting and lounging.

 There were some pre-graduation pictures

A little clowning

Mostly it was a fairly laid back day, with the idea in mind that there was about a 30 mile drive to the graduation ceremony at the Tacoma Dome.

more tomorrow

About that trip

There isn't much to report, honest.

It takes roughly ten hours to drive there.
Had I flown, it would have meant driving to Sacramento for about two and a half hours; another one and a half or more hours to depart; about two hours or so on a plane and then however long to get from SeaTac to Port Orchard.
Figure about eight hours.
Then throw in the cost of the flight.

Yep. . .  my preference is to drive.
The car knows the way.
Both cars know the way.

Yes, driving through Portland can be a chore, even more so when there is rain.
But it is survivable.

I stopped to eat something in Salem.
The meal was forgettable.
On the other hand Costco was across the street from the restaurant and had a gas station.
It is Oregon so they pumped the fuel for me.
How cool is that?
Oh, and the fuel was about 30 cents per gallon cheaper than at home.
HOW COOL IS THAT ! ! !

I was greeted in Port Orchard by folks who were actually happy to see me.
And it was almost time for dinner, some really good build your own pulled pork sandwiches and cole slaw.

Then it seemed like it was time for bed.

There were cats, Gilbert and Malcom, who sort of thought I was encroaching on their space

dragging it out for effect

Ooooh, ooh, and this! ! !

From here

Double click it to blow that sucker up.
 

Solstice.

Where were we?

Oh. . .   Yeah!
I was gonna post about my little road trip last week.

It seems that by this time last Monday I had already passed Moodonna and her calf, and the dragon, named Priscilla, sometimes called Myassis.

Maybe I will get it done tomorrow.

gratuitous picture of Tacoma

not lazy, just busy

Happy Fathers Day

Sarge and Suldog have each written about their fathers today.
Sully's is actually in a Boston newspaper, but the link is at his blog.

This is my contribution, HERE!  [it kinda rambles and digression is the watchword]

I can say that I am blessed to have a stepson and two sons-in-law who are grand fathers to my grandkids.

So. . .

Here it is Saturday morning and I almost post the same photo that I posted on Thursday.
Must be the rain, inch and a half.

The cat's going nuts.
Wants me to make it stop.

I told him to be happy he doesn't live up in Washington.

Eventually I will post some pictures.
That is, after I download them from the camera.

Meanwhile, my daughter sent this.

She went to school with him on the last day.

Normal Friday

maybe next week

Until there's more time

This is what I observed at 8pm last night

Episode VI

Wherein he joins his friends.

Obviously he's a babe magnet

Then there's the guys from the basketball team.
They're all moving on.

Episode V

The realization that someone is actually taking his picture. . .

. . .with a camera!

Then there's the more formal stuff.
You know. . ?
The obligatory family pics.

Episode IV

Lighting issues, and distance, prevented some awesome photos [that's my story and I'm sticking to it].

I'm gonna say it's the fault of auto-focus and auto-exposure combined with the fact that I was on the next to the top row all the way across the gym. . .
                        . . .and that one side of the room was lit and the side that wasn't had doors with windows exposed to bright sunlight.

Episode III

Because I may not even be home right now.

She sees the kid everyday  . . .a couple of time, yet insists on running across the lawn to greet him like he's been away.
You can tell because he has the "Aw, Mom!" look on his face.

The photo is from when the kids were just starting to line up for the entrance.

He relaxed a little more, never realizing the camera was focused on him some 30 yards away.

Yeah. . . that's what it is

. . .a serial post.
Because it gets me out of having to come up with something original when I have other things to do.*
That post yesterday was the start of the day for the kid in the tie.
The completion of a goal for all four boys in the picture. . .
                    . . .and, obviously, for one of their dads, a reason to really celebrate and reward his son.

Graduation day

*like feed a cat [he's very demanding, y'know?]

Teaser

The photo is related to where I was yesterday

When I have time I will post more   . . .and an explanation.

'nuff said

I have been reading of a certain instance over the past few days and hesitate to use the word inspired where this post is concerned.
I am also at a loss for how to express just how to express the degree of anger regarding it from the very beginning.
Perhaps when I stop being angry.

Another untitled post

This is an old one I thought was worth regurgitating.

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.'
The florist was pleased and left the shop.
When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop.
The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank  you ' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.
Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money f rom you. I'm doing community service this week.'
The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

They send me texts, too

It's about the only way I can keep up with most of the members of my family.

Texts, that is.

I am challenged when it comes to using the keyboard on my phone. . .   on the tablet, too.
But I manage.
The nice thing about texts is that most phones allow the addition of images.
By images I mean pictures, not those emojis that everyone [even yours truly] seems to tack on to their messages.

This morning my daughter announced it was Li'l Teeny's first day of preschool.
She thought she'd included pictures.
Several hours later she was stunned to discover they hadn't been sent.

I'm really not sure what that's all about.

Front and center in the class.

This is more like the Li'l Teeny we know.

 With Daddy and Mommy

The mutual admiration society.

Next week may produce some more grandchild pics.

go ahead, guess which one's my favorite

Checking this morning's email

I found this:

One morning, on his way out to check on the cows, farmer John says to Carol, 'The insemination man is coming over to impregnate one of our cows today. I drove a nail into the rail above the cow's stall in the barn. You show him where the cow is when he gets here, OK?' 

So then the farmer leaves for the fields.

After a while, the insemination man arrives and knocks on the front door. Carol takes him down to the barn. They walk along the row of cows and when she sees the nail, she tells him, 'This is the one...right here.'

Terribly impressed by what he seemed to think just might be another ditzy blonde, the man asks, 'Tell me lady, how did you know this is the cow to be bred?'

'That's simple; by the nail over its stall', Carol explains very confidently.

Then the man asks, 'What's the nail for?'

She turns and starts to walk away and with complete confidence, says over her shoulder, ......

'I assume it's to hang your trousers on.'

About that plan

The photos I wanted to post yesterday arrived some time after I left yesterday morning.

What they're about is the Lions meeting held in Redding over the weekend.
I had very little to do with the event of the weekend, other than to make myself available if the need arose.
So I primarily remained in the background except to say hello to a number of folks I know, who were participants.
It was really nice to stay indoors and take advantage of the hotel's air conditioning.
The lowest temperature was 98 yesterday, when clouds helped keep the temperature well below the predicted 105.

But I digress.
Pictures have nothing to do with temperatures.
In fact I would,'t have even taken any pics, but I was really impressed with the centerpieces at the meals.
Speaking of which, I did not indulge in any of the meals because I am not really impressed with convention food and its prices.

I dress again.
The centerpieces were based on a theme which led into Saturday evening's costume event, a mystery dinner.
Redding has an old theater downtown which has been totally restored to its glory days.
It is used entirely for live performances since the renovation.

Anyway, back on topic, the basic centerpiece was used for all of the meals with some slight variations.
The pièce de résistance was for the 1929 mystery dinner.
You know, one where the lights go out, shots are fired, and there's a body afterward?

I'm almost sorry I missed that dinner.
I'm glad I saw the centerpieces.

a good time was had by all

Men plan

God laughs.

I had great plans for this morning's post.
There were a couple of photos, I emailed myself from my phone, that I was going to post.
For some reason they have not yet arrived and I don't have time to screw with it.

maybe tomorrow

Oh, cool!

I'm kinda busy this weekend. . .   Lions stuff, mostly social.

This you may find interesting.

So the predicted high, today, is 5 degrees cooler than yesterday.

Normal Friday

Somebody on f/b mentioned "kicking the black dog onto the street" in reference to pulling themselves out of a dark mood.

This might help. . .

Something came up yesterday

Ya really have to read the comments at other blogs to appreciate the big picture.

someone's saying, "huh?"

Food for thought

from the usual source

from the usual source

saw it on f/b

. . .deep thought