I have not yet seen new action at the Wren House but life goes on elsewhere. A new nest appeared in a hanging pot on the back porch and despite the cats has persisted. Gaping hungry mouths in that nest and some very aggressive parents when it comes to cats.
My Princess :love:on her last visit (last weekend) graduated from her 20 inch bike to her grandmas 24 inch. The bike is a 1979 Lady's Schwinn Breeze that I have been restoring little by little. Everything on it is original except for the front wheel and the seat. The original Schwinn seat is a crotch killer so it will never be put back. I have been having a little trouble locating tires and tubes.:o I have a rusty but strong original front wheel but need a tire and tube. I also have fenders. It's going to be sweet.
Her grandma, who doesn't care for bikes and never has, told the Princess "that's my bike". The reply was "too bad". How cruel. Grandma just smiled. Grandma didn't want to ride the damn thing anyway. She thinks bikes are a cursed abomination.
Her Highness will be spending a good part of the summer with us and I plan for us to have some high adventure on this bike with me on its big sister a 1976 Lady's Schwinn26 inch that I ride.:)
If anyone is interested I have a new post to www.oldfool.org (http://www.oldfool.org) about other aspects of life.
oldfool
05-16-08, 08:50 PM
If it makes you feel better, if this universe is a predestiny rule universe, as in all events are according to a creators plan, you only fulfilled that plan.
If a Quantum multiverse, then there is an analog universe where the egg didn't break.
Other than that....sorry it happened, and I'm absolutely sure there was no intent.....
Believe it or not Tom, I understand that. I am just over developed in the empathy department. A flaw I'm sure. I'm for the analog universe.
donnamb
05-16-08, 09:50 PM
My Princess :love:on her last visit (last weekend) graduated from her 20 inch bike to her grandmas 24 inch. The bike is a 1979 Lady's Schwinn Breeze that I have been restoring little by little. Everything on it is original except for the front wheel and the seat. The original Schwinn seat is a crotch killer so it will never be put back. I have been having a little trouble locating tires and tubes.:o I have a rusty but strong original front wheel but need a tire and tube. I also have fenders. It's going to be sweet.
Her grandma, who doesn't care for bikes and never has, told the Princess "that's my bike". The reply was "too bad". How cruel. Grandma just smiled. Grandma didn't want to ride the damn thing anyway. She thinks bikes are a cursed abomination.
Her Highness will be spending a good part of the summer with us and I plan for us to have some high adventure on this bike with me on its big sister a 1976 Lady's Schwinn26 inch that I ride.:)
Adorable bikes for an adorable girl. :)
oldfool
05-23-08, 06:16 PM
May 23, 2008
National Bike Month and other stuff
May is national bike to work month and I really don't know what to say about that. Someone I suppose thought it would be a good idea to pander to the bike crowd. I don't see government support of biking as a mode of transportation or for that matter support by the general population. Maybe it's going on somewhere else but it sure is not here. I for one did not bike to work on “bike to work day”. Since my work was in the garden I just walked to work.
I do see a lot more people on bicycles these days (and on foot as well) but I do not see any governmental policy supporting that. The best part is I have seen only two roadies in the last 6 months but I have seen at least a half a dozen bike bums like me upgrading their utility bikes to carry a load. At least two of these have the mentality of a toad but they are getting the job done and without gasoline. Also I have been getting comments within the last week or so about “having the right idea” from people that I think had crossed me off as an eccentric old man that rides a bike. Since I retired I only come in contact with the lower economic strata and these people are hurting. They are the ones that man the stores and do clean up work and when they no longer can afford gas just won't go to work. There is already a shortage of people to take these jobs.
One of the indicators of the economy is how clean the ditches are. Usually there are aluminum cans everywhere from all the kids that go to the snack shop and before they are half way home just toss their cans in the street or ditch without a thought. It hardly hits the ground now before someone picks it up. They are not picking it up for beautification. If they where doing that they would pick up the candy wrappers also. I get to do that.
No one I talk to thinks they are better off now than they were eight years ago.
This is Memorial Day Weekend. Be Memorial.:)
Slicker version at www.oldfool.org
oldfool
05-24-08, 03:27 PM
May 24, 2008
Towel Day Notification
Tomorrow is “Towel Day”. An event that comes around every year in remembrance of Douglas Adams the author of “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”. He wrote in the Hitchhiker's Guide this.
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very, very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
I try to keep a towel handy at all times and tomorrow is the only day that I can justify that. I intend to wear a towel all day.:o:p
Now for some Good news.
Wrens have returned to the Wren House. That made “She Who Must Be Obeyed” and myself very happy. I asked “SWMBO” if she would like to take it down again and check (see earlier post) and all I got was #$%^&@! and a dirty look. Nevermind:innocent:
The new story is that House Sparrows built a really nifty nest in a hanging planter basket on the back porch. They tolerated SWMBO watering the plant and the constant roaming around of cats and produced four hungry chicks. Yesterday morning I told her that the parents were calling for the chicks to fly but I had to go to the store on my bike before the coming thunderstorm hit.:giver: So she stood watch. She got to see all four fly. One didn't make it and became trapped behind one of the other plants. She plucked it out of there and put it into another plant higher up. After it got over that trauma it took its second shot and was a success. They are still around here and a constant joy. Those tiny birds can sure make a lot of noise and in the words of the peasantry “they don't take no crap off nobody”. While trying to entice the young'uns out the adults cleared the area on the back porch of all other birds and that includes around the feeder.
When I was a kid with a BB gun my grandmother ask me to never shoot her songbirds. I promised and I have never done so. Throughout my life I have forbid anyone, on or around property I had some control over, to not either. As a flier it just goes against my grain to shoot anything that flies. Come to think of it I don't want to shoot anything else either.
Something that brings me to despair is a big shiny gas guzzling new pickup truck with a sign in the back window that says “If it flies it dies”. Ah, bird hunters are a brave lot.
One of the things about being a senior citizen is that no one ever ask me these questions. :50:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you do?
When I was younger my answer to the first question would be that I want to be a rock and roll superstar. Unlikely of course but in the past it stopped all other inquiry's. One look at me and they knew I was nuts. The answer then was really “I don't know” and it still is. For a while I thought it was astronaut but realized that I was already a space and time traveler so what was the point of pursuing that.:twitchy:
As for the second; in the early '70's there was a TV series by the title “Kung Fu”. When Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine) is asked “what do you do” he replied “I live”. That reply impressed me very much and I have used that answer for more than 35 years. It also gave me the resolve to “do” instead of “watch”. And I have.
Master Po, I am ready for another lesson.:)
oldfool
06-04-08, 07:07 PM
June 4, 2008
School of Rock
How cool is it that an old man in his 70th trip around el sol can get so stoked on the third watching of a rock and roll movie. The “School of Rock” does that for me. It's not the movie and it's not the music it's the inspiration. Watching kids get inspired by an adult that's still has childlike inspiration is wonderful. It's sad that it is not happening in my real world. The fairytale part is the inspiration. Adults don't inspire the young at least as far as I have seen lately. We leave them to their own devices and that would be OK because they could work with their on imagination. The problem is that adults are constantly working to kill that. In large part there is not much effort to inspire them in public school.
The star of this movie is inspired. He is not inspired for the kids HE is inspired and that is what inspires them. I don't know many inspired adults. In fact I don't personally know any at this time. I have always had dreams and goals. In my 30's and 40's I had people to share them with but not now except for that beautiful old lady I married (She Who Must Be Obeyed). Although our goal seems to be to carve a home out of this intellectual and cultural wasteland we are like a wagon that has a horse hitched to each end pulling in opposite directions. :love:
This is not my last word on the subject as I have a lot of thinking to do about that.
oldfool
06-12-08, 04:19 PM
June 12, 2008
For Fathers Day
Now that I am officially an old man I am happy to say that I never stopped hugging my mom. Oh there were times when I stiffened up and pulled away when she was in the hug attack mode. Believe me I feel guilty about that. My real regret however is that I never really touched my dad. He was my adopted dad but he took the job seriously. He loved me and my sister deeply. Since I did not know him before I was about eight years old there was never any physical affection displayed. The real sin is I didn't touch him when he was on his death bed and needed it more than ever. Shame on me. Just the touch of my hand would have comforted him on his journey to meet the Great Spirit. It was mine to give and in my on petty stiffness I withheld it. The touch of a loved ones hand is a happy healing thing that cannot be surpassed. The healing power of a loving hand on the shoulder or taking the hand in a display of love and affection is very much underestimated. Now I pay for not doing that with guilt and the knowledge that I am getting pretty much the same and I deserve it.
The only person that ever voluntarily comes to me with a hug and a kiss is my granddaughter. She sits on my lap or leans on me and sometimes just wallows on me. She is not disgusted with my looks or smells. I dread the day when that is over. There are family members that respond when I make an advance but stiffly. Mostly no others take the initiative. I try to touch my bride as often as possible. It may be a hug, a brush of the arm in passing, fingers on the back of her hand or a kiss. It is always accepted with grace and warmth but never returned in kind.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/pop3dec98.jpg
Meet Pop. No finer man has ever lived. I think of him often and especially on fathers day.
I guess I am lucky as I could be in an old folks home where the only touch is the needle giving another injection to keep me from being a nuisance.
Why do we make life so cruel?
Turn a bunch of kids loose in an old folks home and those people become alive again. Notice that I said people. Just because they are old doesn't make them not people. To bad we can't turn the old age homes into day care centers. Seems that could solve two problems.
oldfool
06-22-08, 10:31 AM
June 22, 2008
Fathers Day revisited,
After reading my Fathers Day post A wise friend that saw fit to lend me comfort sent me this and it so sums up how I feel that I have to include it here
“You are not getting what you deserve. You are getting what there is. I figure deserve has nothing to do with it. You will get what you get regardless of your past actions. Someone does not hold back a touch because you held one back in the past. They hold back a touch for the lack of wherewithal to offer it. They don't think to offer it most likely for the lack of touches over time offered them. More about their past than yours I think. It is not a good thing, bad thing, or evil intent. It just is what it is. If the ones you love do not reach out a touch to you, touch them twice. They need it more. A touch accepted, is a touch returned.
Keep no score cards, pass no judgments, spend no time mourning what you don't have. “ Terry Miller
I wish that I had said something that profound.
I was not aware that I needed comforting but since I found this statement to be so comforting apparently I did. I intend to apply this wisdom.
Wado
oldfool
06-23-08, 06:25 PM
June23, 2008
George Carlin the King Of Language is dead. Long live the King.
oldfool
06-29-08, 09:09 PM
June 29, 2008
Back to Pioneer days
In the 1800's if you wanted to go across country you walked,rode an animal or rode in a wagon pulled by an animal. When the railroads came you could make your way to a railroad then ride behind the Iron horse. When mass production of the horseless carriage came you could drive yourself. If wasn't necessarily faster. When the network of highways came it was faster. When I was born that was on its way up. In 1939 there were roads and highways to everywhere. They weren't great but you could get there. In the 50's when I started driving there were gas stations everywhere and gas was cheap. They gave away free road maps and they were accurate. Even a boy that made 35 cents an hour could buy a car. I know because I did.
Things change. After a lifetime of knowing that I can leave here and go anywhere in the world I now feel that I am becoming a prisoner. Not a regular locked up prisoner because I can leave but maybe I can't come back. I got a hint of this when I was traveling to and from Mexico in the '80's and '90's. It became more and more difficult to get back into the country and while out of the country the protection of being an American citizen became less and less. The last time I traveled outside United States I said would be my last. The Americans just became too difficult. In the late 80's a friend of mind and I were locked up in a cage at the crossing at Tiajauna for an hour because we were suspicious characters I suppose. There were cameras and microphones to observe us. It deteriorated from there. But America was safely protected from these two middle aged over weight men.
I understand now that you must have a passport to travel anywhere even to our neighbors to the north and south. No spontaneous trips there as it takes time an money to get the “proper papers”. Sounds like a line from a WW2 movie.
That pretty much stops out of country travel by the those of us on a budget.
When I was in high school in Ysleta, Texas we took our dates to the night clubs in Jaurez. I occasionally went to lunch in Zaragoza as well. I suppose that is out now.
When I was 18 I could get in my car on Friday and drive 400 miles to Phoenix to see my girl friend and be back to go to work on Monday. I have traveled about this part of the world without a care because it was so cheap. It ain't cheap anymore.
For me it's back to the 1800's. I can still go but it will have to be on my Bike or on foot. It's been done before and I can do that. There are people doing it now. We must not become prisoners because of the cost of transportation. I personally know people that are self made prisoners under house arrest if their car is broken. I remind them that beans are fuel for the feet.
As far as International travel goes that is doable as well. If citizens of other countries can walk into this country then so can we. Around 1980 I had a work relationship with a wetback. No insult intended, that is what he called himself only he said “mojado”. He was quite an intelligent young man with a fat American wife and a couple of kids. He told me the story of his first trip to the USA and it was amazing. He tried seven times. He was caught six times and sent back, the seventh was charm. Every year that I was associated with him he flew on Western Airlines back to Mexico to visit his family there. After about a month he would bus north to once again walk into the promise land. He was a free man. I was free because I had the money to do and go where I wanted. I also had the arrogance of an American male believing that I was entitled, that I could go anywhere and do anything because after all I was an American. He was free because he new he was free and just went where he wanted and he didn't have to steal to do it.
Repressive governments control their subjects by restricting travel. Let us not repress ourselves. For that matter let us not be subjects either.
Garzon!(throwing pieces of eight on the table)
More wine for my horses and more water for my men.:50::)
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/b-w_living.jpg
Party on dudes!
Abraham Lincoln
pueblonative
07-01-08, 06:03 AM
Just to post up my own blog: http://www.pueblonative.com/blog
oldfool
07-03-08, 09:26 PM
July 4, 2008
Declaration of Independence Day
In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Sounds pretty dry doesn't it but it is the document that defines who we are as a people. In my opinion it is the most important document in the history of the human race. It basically says we don't need a king and that we are entitled to govern ourselves. A concept that went over the heads of many then and still does today. What is missed by most and especially by our present government is that it says that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Emphasis on “ALL”. Not just just citizens of the U.S.A. And not just white men. All men. I don't know how they felt about space aliens but they were probably included too.:50:
Random thoughts of an old man while sober.
I now have a perfect figure. 42-42-42-42. Perfect but still too big. I'm looking for 38-38-38-38. I doubt that I will achieve that but it is something to aim for. 42 is of course the answer to the question so has specific significance.
My weight is 198.5 (averaging my two scales). It was 219 at the end of February.
It may appear that I am a perfect tubular shape but be advised that it is not so. There are a lot of bumps, swellings and sticky outies in that tube. “She Who Must Be Obeyed” says I have some square parts as well. One of my stepdaughters (Danette) years ago labeled me as “the Fireplug” and it was so obviously appropriate that it stuck. I don't mind. I just want to get down to where I look good in a kilt and so far I'm getting down. I already taken about 4 inches up on my work kilt by hand sewing but now it's to the point that I am going to have to rip out some seams and do some serious cutting. I have been eyeing the cursed sewing machine. But it just sits there, snarling, with blood dripping from its needle.
I'm fairly certain hell has frozen over as the government repaved the bomb cratered street in front of my house this week. You should have seen the bicycles come out of the woodwork. I am, in general, not in favor of paving the world but for where there has to be wheeled transport it sure is nice and much more efficient. Hopefully the increase in efficiency makes up for the loss of bare earth because the wheels are going to roll regardless.
The paving is still going on and when it is finished I should be able to ride four to five miles without retracing my steps all here in Trollville. That will be nice on those days that I need to loosen up but just can't face the homicidal maniacs on the main road.
Speaking of homicidal maniacs I was just out the other day observing and trying to understand those who seemingly don't care about killing or maiming someone. The percentage of those who try to get as close to you as they can goes way up when it's the going home from work drones. It's mostly pickups and vans that are trying to teach you a lesson. It is the rare persons that try to let you know that they are aware of you and paying attention but it happens and it is appreciated. I am seeing a significant increase in numbers of bicycles and scooters.
My bride and I are truly celebrating Independence Day this weekend. I just delivered the “Princess” to her mother and the “Crown Prince” has taken his birthday guitar and gone off camping with his girlfriend and her family. Hope no one gets pregnant. He will be 15 the twelfth of the month. There is a term that apply's to 45 autoloader handguns called “cocked and locked”. That apply's to him but I'm not so sure about the locked part.
I'm thinking “honeymoon” but I think my bride is thinking “honey do”. :love:
My Box Of Dreams
One of the things in my “Box of Dreams” is to write poetry that is not offensive to the ear. I don't care if it offends people as long as it doesn't offend the ear. I have heard plenty of that. The content was good but the delivery was offensive. Some people should just not read poetry not even their own. That's probably the reason I don't often share the petty poetry that I have written. Much of that poetry was on a hard drive that died so at least the world is safe from those words. I do make an exception for limericks. I try to make them as offensive as possible. Limericks are like puns in that I am trying top get a groan not a laugh. The louder and more pronounced the groan the better.
There was an old man in a kilt
who drank so much wine he would tilt
He tilted one day
and showed us the way
to find out just how he was built.
Oldfool
I can do worse.:p
Please don't take Freedom for granted. It ain't free.
oldfool
07-04-08, 07:41 PM
July4, 2008
I have a new post on KILTS in my blog at WWW.oldfool.org I anyone is interested.
Titled "Observations of a Kilted Gardener" however it does mention bicycles.
Bicycles are not my life but they are very much a part of my life just like any other tool that I have.:)
oldfool
07-12-08, 06:33 PM
July12, 2008
Slow bicycle movement
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/Bicycle/slowbicycle_gents_websitebadge_blac.jpg
I think I have found a movement that has enough variety to keep my short attention span focused. I have been a advocate and registered in the Slow Movement since I first heard of it. I could say how long in real time units if I knew but it seems as I get older that I get more like a child in my concept and estimation of time in that a minute is an eternity and eternity is only a minute.
I made my first commitment after reading about a town in Italy and their Slow Food Movement (sorry but I can't seem to find that article). I stopped eating fast food when I read of the Slow Food Movement and vowed to take time in food preparation and consumption. If I can't do that then it is better to not eat at all. My record of slowness so far is 30 minutes to prepare 4 cheese and crackers and 20 minutes to eat them. I haven't used drive ins (drive through) in years but now it's not from weight control or not wanting to use a car but is something more fundamental. Fast food drive ins have, like cigarette and candy machines, become invisible and all the food stains on my shirts from eating in my car have disappeared as well.
When I found http://www.slowdownnow.org/ I immediately signed on. Now there is a new one called the Slow Bicycle Movement and of course I, already being a practitioner, have signed on to that. I have a gang of one in my part of the movement so it will swell membership by that many. http://theslowbicycle.blogspot.com/
I am not sure what kind of style I have over speed but it is certainly style and not speed that I am after.:love:
Competition
I have rarely been competitive. I don't care to be in competition or to watch others in competition. I don't like losing anymore than anyone else but I don't like winning either if another creature has to lose. Their losing embarrasses me. My first understanding of this part of my nature came in grade school so I have had a good while to think it over. Now I think I would like to start a new competition and I will call it “Competitive Cooperation”. I don't think there will be many competitors as winning does not depend on someone else loosing. There is no embarrassment in loosing as even the looser wins. There is no final score as the competition is not over until you pass to a condition that is truly non-competitive as in dead.:twitchy:
As I travel around on my bicycle I see great evidence of both competition and cooperation among vehicle operators. I am sorry to say that the only reason I can say that cooperation prevails is because there is near one hundred percent cooperation of staying on your side of the road. So the scale is heavily weighted to cooperation. This is something that most drivers are totally unaware of. On occasion a driver becomes aware of it and decides to not cooperate and slams head on into another car in an act of defiance. Those acts of non-cooperation are so minor in the grand scheme of things that they hardly affect the total unless you happen to be the one who gets slammed into and of course the defiant ones will no longer have to worry about cooperating.
Everyone is involved in the cooperation without being aware of it. The competition is usually small, momentary, childish and silly. I believe it is done without thinking but occupies the entire being. I have never seen any competition on the street that was not degrading, dishonorable and in some cases disastrous except for the rare occasion when someone tries to out polite someone else. That is so very rare but I have seen it.
American condition
Now I come to the American drivers condition. I am not a psychologist but I am an observer. I think that Henry David Thoreau's "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them" may be in play here. I think that the vast majority of Americans are leading lives of “quiet desperation” and that any change in their life is welcome even if it is an immature act of stupidity. As in....
“I'll just get as close to that bicycle as I can and show them my contempt. After all if I hit them it's just an accident. No one will be killed. That only happens on TV and that's not so bad. I won't have to go to work/home and I'll get sympathy.”
I don't think anyone actually thinks that but I believe that is the mindset. Americans seemingly have scabbed over their sense of responsibility when in their vehicles. They are apparently willing to toy with the health and welfare of others to the own ends whatever that may be. The thought of hurting someone accidentally or on purpose physically upsets my stomach and I am a callous old man.
There is an apparent lack of of empathy as well. When I was young a pain feeling mammal that was hurt, whether it be a human or not, was given a great deal of genuine concern. The more sensitive would weep and even the macho men would remove their hats and dip their heads. Children would be devastated. Now it just ho-hum.
I don't mean to imply that we are mean and uncaring but after too long a day, too long a week, in traffic, starting my period, impotence, in a divorce, caught with the bosses wife(daughter)(boyfriend?), in deep debt, foreclosure and no one understands me we are mean and uncaring.
"That bicycle rider up ahead needs a lesson and I, without considering the consequences, will give it to him. If it goes wrong it won't be my fault it will be an accident."
Lives are ruined or lost everyday because of this kind of redirected aggression.
Children like to use “it was an accident” as an acceptable reason for unfortunate events. By the time we are old enough to vote we should know that accident or not there is still a responsible party and that a “accident” you cause can be a very unpleasant lifetime event. I find an alarming number of adults using the “it was an accident” reason. “It was Gods will” is another scary “reason”. I don't buy that one either.
I by no means think that this is just a American thing but my only other experience was in Mexico and drivers there are just suicidal for the fun of it. It didn't seem to matter if someone was killed as long as you looked good doing it.:eek:
In conclusion
We have pills for everything else so why isn't there a pill for concentration. If I were an mp3 player I'd send myself out for repair. My brain seems to be stuck in the “Random Play” mode. Several weeks ago I took a coaster brake apart and in the “Random Play” mode I went on to something else. When the “put the coaster brake back together” tune came up the next time I just simply could not remember how. I have probably taken a dozen of these things apart over the years and put them back together too and I have never had a problem. Fortunately “Random Play” kicked in again before I got frustrated. Now I think I'll just wait for long term memory to kick in.
I received this from a friend several years ago and I sort of related to it then and thought it funny. Now I see it as explanatory.:p
Diagnosis: A. A. A. D. D. (Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder)
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
... As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.
.... As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the
porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
... I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
... I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the
garbage can under the table and notice that the can is full
.... So I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
... But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table and see that there is only 1 check left.
... My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the
house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.
.. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke
aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
... As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.
... I set the Coke down on the counter and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
... I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
... I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with
water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
... I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
... Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
.... At the end of the day:
* the car isn't washed
* the bills aren't paid
* there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
* the flowers don't have enough water,
* there is still only 1 check in my check book,
* I can't find the remote,
* I can't find my glasses,
* and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
... Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm
really baffled because I know I was busy all day long and I'm really
tired.
.. I realize this is a serious problem and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
I am going to post this now but first I'll check my email then it's time for my nap.
oldfool
07-22-08, 06:42 PM
Immersed in oil
I feel as if I have been immersed in oil like a candle wick in wax since birth. Everything I eat, wear, feel or interact with in any way is connected somehow to the black gooey stuff. If my hair were torched I would burn for a week like a 1940's road flare.
Could we live without oil? Probably but life would not be as we know it now. Many would die, and all would be severely affected if there were suddenly no oil. There would be no surpluses as we know them now. Before the world was turned into a bunch of oil junkies wagons rolled, farms were farmed, wars were waged and life went on.
Life will go on. Outside of a cosmic catastrophic event that vaporizes this little corner of the universe it will go on but I still don't like thinking of myself as a oil smudge pot.
Gasoline
Gasoline is wonderful stuff. A compact, fairly light weight energy storage. It made airplanes possible. It made automobiles practical. Outboard motors, weed eaters, lawnmowers, model airplanes, electric generators you can carry with one hand, chain saws, tractors and any number of machines we take for granted were all made possible because of gasoline. It was this light weight power source and the light weight engine that burns it that made it all possible. Like whale oil gasoline will go its way but in the mean time it's what we have and if we pay attention it will help us progress beyond it.
Energy
We don't think much about it we just take it for granted that it is there. Consider that if we had a catastrophic sudden world wide failure of electrical systems that within hours thousands would die. Within days millions would die and within months billions would die. Just the failure of sterilization machines would kill millions. In the western world we overcome everything with power. Without it we would be like the Sudan and it would not take long.
There is nothing we can do about it except be aware, try to conserve it, try to get others to conserve it and be thankful for the genius that brought it to us and for the genius that will continue to supply it.
War
If you are young get use to it. If you are old you should be use to it as there has not been a day in your life that there has not been war somewhere. It's mans way. Apparently man needs war and even gives it to his made up gods. There are references through out religions that refer to war, soldiers and fighting for god. We even carry it into our domestic lives such as “war on poverty”, “war on drugs”and “war on (fill in you favorite here)”. How about “war on war”or “war on ignorance”. Not likely to happen. Get use to war, it's here to stay. Man will always think that his case is special and war is justified and as long as there are suckers to fight them there will be wars.
Sex
I'm sorry to say that not only is the United States the most hung up on religion but tops the list of the most sexually repressed as well. Not much I can say about that. Ignorance and the constant pressure to stay ignorant is probably the reason but what do I know.
Body parts
What is this obsession with Americans about not seeing certain body parts. I mean to say, in this enlightened age why is every part of a womans breast showable except the nipple but on a man even the nipple is OK. What is the difference? I once had a girl tell me that if someone saw her breast they would turn to stone. If she had been joking I would have thought she was just embarrassed by her body but she wasn't kidding The idea that some body parts are OK and some are not baffles me no end. I know that there are societies such as Moslem's that even the sight of a bare ankle drives men to murder. That is not repression that is insanity.
Ihardly think that we are shielding our children so that they won't go crazy with lust. They do that at about age 13 automatically with or without seeing body parts. Besides if we really wanted to shield our children then they would not see a dozen or so graphic killings on TV everyday. Heads being chopped off, stakes through the heart, bloody machine gunnings and torture are all available on a daily basis and we do nothing however just show certain body parts and the righteous public is all upset.
It's a mystery to me.
Bicycles
Bicycles can save us. I know this seems simplistic but I believe that this simple machine is the way to harness the enormous amount of power that is going to fat in the American public. There is nothing undignified or degrading about a human as a beast of burden or providing power to get a job done. Humans went along just fine for millions of years before the bicycle and did just fine. Bicycles are so much more efficient so we will have surpluses. How nice. That means a day off. Use a bicycle. Don't just buy one. Park you car. Can't maintain you lifestyle without it? Change you life style. In nature if you don't adapt you die. Have a problem with your commitment then throw you car keys on the roof of your house. They will still be available but the effort may be more than using the bike.
This is not what I wanted to talk about today but it will have to do. I needed to get it out. I know I am preaching to the choir here as the people that read these words are not average by any means but if my words just makes one new person more aware or to question the status quo then it is a good thing for me.
Be careful who you take advice from some are just oldfools:o
oldfool
07-26-08, 09:17 PM
July26, 2008
“There is a sacred simplicity in not doing something—and not doing it well.”
Robert Fulghum
Being a fool
Don't lie.
Don't follow a liar.
Don't be a fool.
Don't follow a fool.
That is good advice and should be followed by all of us but in the matters of love other rules apply. If you chance to fall in love then you will at some point be a fool. If you are not then you did not fall in love (fall is a good choice of a word, as in no control). To be in love is to give yourself up, meaning total unconditional surrender. If that does not happen then you are not in love. If you have children then you will be a fool for them at some point and probably happily so and sometimes unhappily so. As it should be.
I have been a fool many times over and I still am. Happily. Even the ones that took advantage of me when I was blindly foolish I am not unhappy about. There was so much happiness. The pain of finding that I had been a fool lasted only a very short time and then was forgotten. What I was foolishly happy about has endured.
Thus you have an Old Fool.
There is more to this. Now that you have become a fool what happens next.
Next is “Fools in Love that turn into Long Lasting Love”. It can happen and has happened many times but it is not easy. You are very much blessed if it happens to you.
I have to write about this but not tonight.:love:
Why is there no research in how the force field around trash cans work? If this repulsing field were to be understood or it's use were to be discovered humans could go to the stars. The least that could happen is maybe we would have trash cans that suck in trash instead of repel it.
I understand that a lot of my problem of putting the trash in the can is due to my genetic sticky skin. Everything sticks to me. An example that applies to everyone is a fresh booger on your finger. It will not just drop off. It will stick to another finger thus the booger measuring system. If it will stick to one other finger then it is a 2 finger booger, if it first has to roll onto yet another finger then it is a 3 finger booger and so on. Multiple passes of a five finger booger is an amazing thing to behold. Otherwise you can wait for it to drop off but its more likely that your finger will drop off first and the last option is to wipe it off. You know, on the bottom of a chair, under a table or some other hidden spot.
When I get up from the toilet the seat gets up with me. If I sit on a plastic chair and get up the chair gets up with me if my skin touches it. No amount of washing and scrubbing solves this dilemma. But that is another problem that requires another solution the problem here is to solve the trash can dilemma. So now that you have an understanding of sticky skin on to the problem of trash cans and their ability to repel trash.
If I have something in my hand I want to drop it in the trash it will unstick from my fingers a fraction of a second after I release it (sticky skin) and fall on the floor next to the trash can. If I hold it directly over the center of the trash can it will take that beautiful curve akin to the curve ball in baseball to fall on the floor next to the trash can (trash can force field). If I toss it in and it happens to make it into the can it will invariably bounce off something in the can and land many feet away(delayed trash can force field). If it hits the rim it never bounces in but completely reverses direction picks up speed and sometimes lands in the next room under some piece of furniture (trash can force field with a vengeance). The only way I can put something in the trash at the first shot is to bend over and put it down in the can and scrape it off my finger.
I know that there is a force field around trash cans. Look at any trash can and the trash around it and there is proof enough.
I can just see it now.
Secret of trash can force field solved.
Trash cans are set to repel all trash into space.
Within weeks Earth is completely surrounded by trash.
With no sunshine Earth begins to die.
Trashcan force field is reversed.
All trash in space now returns burying all life in a mile of trash.
Moon arrives like a cherry on a sundae.
Garbage trucks are quickly fitted with trash cans set to repel and aimed at the Earth
Humanity sets out to trash Mars.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/sym_metal_trash_can_cartoon_charact.jpg
Trash can propulsion:lol:
oldfool
08-14-08, 07:42 AM
Posted to my website yesterday.
www.oldfool.org Subject: Kilts
I tried to post here as well but the server must have been hammered as I could not get anything to work.:)
oldfool
08-17-08, 12:16 PM
August 17, 2008
I've really been getting around on my bike lately in spite of all the rain. I feel guilty of course because I'm having a good time and all the other chores that I can only do in good weather are going undone. It only rained half the day yesterday so I did mark a few things off the list. At least enough to salve my conscience.
It seems to me that casual traffic is a little less these days except during the morning and evening when work time traffic is on the move. This may be wishful thinking on my part. There are more bikes on the road and when I was downtown Houma a couple of days ago I saw several small “town scooters” in use and I had never seen that before. Isaw 11 pedestrians downtown and two of them were in the music store. They only walked about 12 feet from their parking in front of the store. I was looked at as a freak because I had ridden a bicycle 6 miles to exchange one electric bass string.
I think that gasoline is becoming more important than water or air for some and for sure more important than the mortgage payment. It didn't seem so until all
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/BikeRide/phto0001.jpg
Bayou Blue looking south. I don't know why it's called that. It looks like Bayou Brown to me. It has been reduced to nothing but a drainage ditch.
that money started disappearing into that little hole in the back of cars and trucks. For many less driving is just not acceptable until they look into the money bucket and there ain't any. Drive offs at gas stations is on the rise here as is gas theft but there are more new cars and more pickups than ever. Dealers are making what some seem to think are very good deals especially on the larger high price pickups and SUV gas hogs. Not as many clunkers though as the people that drive those have either curtailed their driving or have run out of money. Maybe that got one of those good deals and are now driving a new pickup.
Since the repaving of most of the streets in my neighborhood there is much more bike traffic. People have actually taken their bikes out and are using them regularly for exercise. The kids are really enjoying the smooth streets. Because this is a poor neighborhood the government feels no obligation to keep the streets up so they deteriorate to a nearly unusable level before they are repaired or repaved. Like most things here they did a half ass job and stopped when nearly done. When I lived in Mexico I noticed that same mindset of never finishing anything. There was a reason there as new construction wasn't taxed until finished so it was just never finished. I don't know why things aren't finished here. Maybe they just run out of money. We did end up with about 3 miles of smooth streets on which to ride here in Trollville. My prediction of a big increase in auto speed did not come to pass I am happy to say.
There is still the problem of getting to other neighborhoods and to the store with about a ¼ mile of suicide riding to get some breathing room. All traffic is routed from every neighborhood to a 2 lane feeder with no shoulder. It's heavily traveled by big trucks as well. Poor planning is the rule here and since life is cheaper than fixing that problem it will not be fixed. Only if someone with clout or someone who knows someone with clout has a problem will anything be done. It's the Louisiana way. The problem is largely ignored because people reproduce faster than they are killed off.
Houma, LA is an old town (1834) and I find it interesting. Access from Bayou Blue is along New Orleans Blvd (highway 182) which has a wide shoulder and it's a good thing as about every tenth car is using all the road and part of the shoulder. Sometimes they use the ditch as well which is full of water and slows a car to a stop really fast then tests the drivers swimming skills.
I have not taken time to poke around downtown in the 15 years I have lived here but I have started doing that. This last trip into town I visited the Downtown Marina. It's a nice marina for guest boats with water, electricity and pump outs. Lots of trees and benches and a few gazebos for shelter from the rain showers. I have been there several times but this is the first time I have seen any boats. The grounds are in minor disrepair with vandalism to the benches and lamp poles and some graffiti but it is still a pleasant place to be.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/BikeRide/phto0002-1.jpg
This picture is taken from the part of the park across Terrebone Bayou from the Marina looking toward the Inter coastal Canal. My trusty steed awaits.
The marina is built under the bridge across the inter coastal canal. Walking distance to the hospital, a number of restaurants and the center of downtown. I did not see any marine or fishing store. I didn't see any no fishing signs. Hmmmm I have to check that out.
There are no big box stores, department store or grocery stores downtown. They are several miles away on the north side of town and that area has all the class and quality of a cheap plastic trash can. There is a nearby convenience store and a motel with a 24 hour coffee shop. The restaurants seem to be geared to the government office workers and numerous lawyers lunch crowd. I've never seen so many lawyers offices in such a small downtown before. Some of the restaurants have outside sidewalk tables and it is picturesque however they are so close to the parallel parking that you can feel the heat from the parked cars and the food taste like exhaust fumes.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/BikeRide/phto0003.jpg
Bronze sculpture of a Native American fishing at the end of the marina next to the Inter coastal. I have never seen a native American that looked like that here. Come to think of it I haven't seen anyone else that looked like that either.
I haven't passed over the big bridge on a bicycle yet and I am a little apprehensive. I have passed in an armored vehicle (car) but that is a whole nother thing. I think there are dragons over there and that they shoot people and eat them. I know the edge of the world is over there as I have seen it from the air. Your perspective is entirely different on foot or on a bike.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/BikeRide/phto0006.jpg
Inter coastal Canal looking west. Those pillars are the bridge supports. Its pretty quite here with only the clicking of the joints on the bridge to disturb the silence. It's pleasant and I almost never see anyone here. The is the first time that I have seen the Inter coastal with no traffic. There is a seaplane landing area about ¼ mile down there.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/BikeRide/phto0007.jpg
Inter coastal looking east. It looks calm but there is a tidal current that appeared to be 2 to 3 knots running east. If you fall in, good luck finding a place to crawl out. I have seen some big multiple barge tows pass through here going both ways. It doesn't look like there is room to pass but they always do. There is a lot of skill demonstrated on this Canal especially when it is windy.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/BikeRide/phto0004-1.jpg
New Orleans from the edge of the world. Looks insignificant from 25 miles south out near the edge of the world. I am sorry to say that I have misplaced the photos of the waterspots that I took while flying pipeline inspection patrol along the edge of the world. They appeared to be columns holding up the cloud deck and they couldn't have been more ominous if they had been sporting a sign saying "There be dragons beyond here". If I ever find them I'll post them.
Not a very exciting ride but it was informative and profitable. I brought home a bass string, new strings for my Gibson acoustic, a loaf of rye bread, some Pizzelle and about $15.00 worth of fastenings found on the shoulder of the road. I got about 3 hours of healthy exercise, met and made a new friend, was filled with awe when a lady stopped and held up traffic so I could cross (a first) and did not have any death defying close calls. No one yelled at me or threw anything so all in all a good day.
No ride today. My gouty left ankle hurts so bad I can't stand on it.:o
Oh well. I have books to read and two kilts to work on not to mention staring out the window lost in thought (lost because it is unfamiliar territory. :)
oldfool
08-28-08, 08:36 PM
Well here we are three years after Katrina (anniversary is tomorrow) once again anticipating the arrival of doom. This time there are two storms, same as last time, that seem to have us bore sighted only this time their timing is closer. All the talk of leaving is just so much blathering about something that looks good on paper but in realty is very difficult to implement. Too many people scattered over too large an area. In any event most can't afford to go. This area where I live estimated over a 100,000 people prior to the influx of population during and after Katrina and Rita. There is also a huge oil boom going on. Not one new road or highway and no public transport. Leaving here on a normal day is a hassle don't even think of it in an emergency.
Leave now... and go where? Many have but they are those who have the time and money to take a vacation anyway. Motels and hotels within 100 miles of here are booked so I am told. Forty miles makes a big difference in a hurricane but which direction would you go now. Go now and guess wrong and you are dead meat. Wait until you know which way to go and the storm hits you on the highway stuck in traffic.
I think I'll stay here with my animals and tomato plants and hope for no high water, that my trees have deep roots and that this old house can stand up to one more storm.
No matter where the storm hits we know we will be without electricity and communication. That stuff dies here in a heavy rain storm so this time we have some hedges. Unless we are blasted off the face of the planet (it could happen) we will survive it will just be uncomfortable.
oldfool
08-30-08, 07:05 PM
08-30-2008
Is this the Last Great Adventure?
Mostly it's considered stupid and reckless but that is the opinion of government officials, law enforcement and media people some of whom are doing the same stupid reckless thing. There was no end of opinion and advice when I was sailing on the pacific in a 21 foot boat with no radio and no way to indicate an emergency or need of help other than frantically waving my arms. I didn't want to be rescued. I sailed with the assurance that however it turned out it would be my fault or glory and so it was.
This adventure I did not seek and I don't know if I really want it but here it comes much as war comes to the innocent and unknowing. I have dealt with the fringes of hurricanes and typhoons over the years and mostly it was ho hum. I have a feeling this is not going to be ho hum. I have never seen the eye of a hurricane but always wanted to and live to tell about it however you have to survive the eye wall to do that. There lies the difficulty.
It's a beautiful evening with a temperature of 86*F, humidity about 30% and an occasional light breeze from the east at 6:00PM. We are bathed in hazy sunshine as the sun prepares to set. The difference between now and 50 years ago is TV and the Internet to remind you that you have squandered your natural resources and now you better get the hell out or you are going to die. If you choose to stay you are under house arrest. I have a feeling that those who choose to stay will be equalized by the great god of hurricanes.
I feel like a fly on a white kitchen table in a room full of cooks with fly swatters.
In other news
Whilst going through my lumber pile this afternoon trying to uncover some old plywood to board up my windows I discovered a large snake. Now we have a lot of snakes and usually I just send them on their way but this one looked different and dangerous. I called in my resident snake expert and she said I was right and that it was a rattle snake. I have seen a lot of rattle snakes but never one like this. I said “lets just send it on its way” she said “no they are territorial and it will be here forever. Go get me the axe”. Now I want you to know that I can blow a hole in your forehead in a heartbeat and without regret or guilt if you threaten me or my family but killing critters that are just hanging out makes me sick. She said “your grand daughter plays right here”.
I got the axe.
It struck the axe twice but little did it know that an axe has a heart of steel and does not care. Fangs and venom squirting and a fight to the death but there is nothing equal to a 98 lb woman with an axe that is protecting her young.
Remind me not to threaten her young.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/phto0001.jpg
The snake is hung on the fence with respect to display its grandeur. The fence is four foot high. The killer is sitting in the background. Excuse the mess we are cleaning up for our own doom.
The Snake was trying to live in a place that was threatening to its life and paid the price.
We are living in a place that is threatening to our lives and will pay the price. It may be in installments or in one lump sum but we will pay.
I am fearful tonight.
oldfool
08-31-08, 09:55 PM
Waiting for Gustav
We who are about to die are going to get hammered first. The rain has started and I expect the next rain bands to arrive momentarily with wind. By morning I expect to be without electricity and the Internet. So I must hurry.
We spent the day securing the ship as we call it. We started out together as “Blue Water Sailors” so we use a lot of those terms. It was a hard day as we have become a little untidy in our aging process. Most things have been put away and the windows on the weather side of the house are boarded up.
We did not get the dogs washed so they are going to smell up the house but I did get myself washed because I was smelling up the house. From past experience it's probable that it will be the last hot bath for a while. We buy our power from a coop (SLECA) and they are really fast about getting power back. They however can only do what they can do.
If the property doesn't submerge we are prepared. If we are under water then that will be another kind of experience.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/phto0002-1.jpg
Our little house all boarded up
We are not from here so have no real ties to this place. We are here because of inertia but this place is a target and it may be time to move on once again. The stress of staying is getting to be to uncomfortable.
We are essentially under house arrest. There is a curfew from six pm to six am but even outside of that time wandering around is not allowed. Even with that we noticed a number of strange vehicles driving around in the neighborhood. One full of males really checking out everything. Her Highness discussed it with the Deputy that is patrolling here (a neighbor who's son comes and goes without knocking) and he had already heard about them and was on the look out.
One more thing before I go to bed to get a little sleep before the wind really starts.
-The officials keep telling us to get out but there is no fuel.-
-It has been predicted that more deaths will be counted because of the evacuation than from the storm.-
-Three deaths have already been counted evacuating patients.-RIP-
-In conversation here Axed = Ask. Do not be alarmed if someone axed you sumting.
If I still have Internet in the morning I will report but I doubt I will have power or phone lines.:notamused:
Goodnight.
oldfool
09-07-08, 08:01 PM
Gustav's Aftermath
Well we weren't wiped out but we were severely wiped. In other words we got the crapped beat out of us. 30 minutes more with 100mph winds the roof would have been gone and everything inside would have been sucked out. Details to follow.
September 1
0600 – light to moderate winds. Just a normal windy day.
0800 – watching the progress of Gustav on TV, Plenty of wind.
0815 – power dies, phone goes with it, more wind,. All that hype about having a hard wired phone is just that, hype. When the power goes the phone goes. The cell phone hung on for a few more hours. No reason now to hang on to ATT's land line except for DSL.
0930?? - called my daughter (on the cell phone) and gave her an update. Cell phone died right as I hung up.
1000 – 1200 – parts of the house are leaving, trees are shedding limbs, trees in the back (8 to 9 inch trunks) snapping like toothpicks. Roof is bucking like a bronco. It is nailed on so it is trying to put its nails into orbit. Not a good time to be outdoors.
It is the eye wall so it is a good time to hide. Even from a protected spot rain feels like buckshot.
1230 – wind reduced some but still more than 70mph with rain, roof panels curled and one is in the yard (tin roof)
1400 – wind much reduced and we can go out in it now. So probably less that 40mph. Rain.
1700 – raining
The dogs are still on the back porch and seemed happy there. We were prepared to bring them in but I think that would have caused them more problems than we or they needed. They were sheltered, dry and in a familiar place so to them it was just another crappy rainy day. They don't have TV and the media to get them all hyped up and all they wanted was their snacks.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/phto0014.jpg
Sounded like a cannon going off in the attic when this panel left
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/Oldfoolphotos/phto0007.jpg
These two don't look like much but this is the side of house that was hit by 100mph wind and I imagine the pressure build up in the attic is what blew the panel off on the other side.
September 2
It rained steadily until midmorning. It was not heavy rain but it was steady.
When it lightened up a little and the wind that was associated with it subsided I manage to get some of the holes plugged in the roof but the damage is done. The insulation has puddles and the ceiling is coming down in the house.
No phone. No power. We do have water.
24 hour curfew. Where would I go. Maybe I won't have to shoot any looters.
The yard is trashed and there are lots of heavy dead branches in my beautiful Oak trees. They will have to be cleared professionally.
Removed window coverings. The destruction is depressing enough without being in a house with no windows.
September 3
The steady rain has stopped all together but still having showers. Light wind
It's my brides birthday. Happy birthday.
Dug out the generator that I haven't started since just after hurricane Rita in 2005. Hard to start. I had to pull it once. We are trying to save 300 dollars worth of food by burning 600 dollars worth of gasoline. Crazy. But the beer is cold and it is nice to have lights and a FAN. Its 90*F and 85% humidity. It does cool off at night.
More of getting things organized and picked up.
Cell phone came back but weakly. I have ATT and it isn't worth a crap. The only phone that works here consistently is Alltel and as oppose as I am to having a two year contract for a phone I am tempted.
Rode my bike around the neighborhood and there is lots of damage. Lots of compelling reasons not to live in a house trailer. An upside down house trailer looks like a dead bug. An exploded one is just obscene.
September 4
More work on the roof.
More clean up
Fixed the flat on my car. Seems that one of the missing roof nails is in my tire.
The difference between here and the fishing villages I visited and the fishing town where I lived in Mexico is that they had telephones, TV and electricity.
Not much news on the radio about the parishes (counties) the hurricane went through but plenty of stuff about New Orleans where they are still pissing and moaning about Katrina. Three years later it is time to get over it.
Baton Rouge is in the limelight as well. After all that is where the politicos live.
They sure do talk a lot.
September 5
People are coming back and seeing all the fun they missed. It appeared to me that more than 25% of the people in my neighborhood stayed. Probably because they didn't have the ability or money to go. Oh sure the government would take them but no one here trust the government to do anything much less do it right.
We do not have vehicles reliable enough to leave and even though we are in pretty good shape being on the road 18 hours to go 125 miles is more than we can bear. Depending on the government to take care of us was not an option. I would literally rather die. The storm was easier.
One of the complaints by one of the government evacuees “they ain't got no entertainment for us”. Give me a break.
The highlight of my day was that my friend Mickey and his wife returned to take care of their business and home. The did not come to stay, just to take care of things. They cleaned out their freezer and refrigerator and brought it to us. We have enough food as we were as prepared as we could afford to be but you have to understand that she is an eat coach and when she brings her food you are in for a treat. I had two outstanding meals today that were way better than I deserve.
To top it off they brought their generator and 25 gallons of gas. That is twice the size of mine so tonight I am composing as you can see. Three refrigerator/freezers are once again cold, there are lots of electric lights, our grandson and his friend are playing video games and there are multiple fans.
Those people increased the quality of our lives by at least 500 percent. I am in their debt. I'd kiss'm both right on the mouth but I am sure it would be more than they could deal with.
The phone came back on and the cell phone went to full bars at the same time. Hmmm
We have been inundated with mosquitoes and every other kind of bug tonight. I sprayed and withing a couple of minutes I counted over 50 dead mosquitoes. I am estimating that I just killed over 100 mosquitoes in my little space and another 100 other assorted bugs. That is not all however as they are still attacking my face. What is it with my face? All of this comes under the heading of cheap entertainment.
Now if I can just solve the wine and beer shortage
September 6, 2008
We solved the wine and beer shortage.
We went out into the world today and found some. We also found bread, a pretty important commodity if you want to make a sandwich. In our area ice and MRE's are plentiful. Two trucks have set up selling generators in central Bayou Blue.
There is gasoline.
We passed a half a mile of downed high tension power lines.
The Internet came back but if someone doesn't take care of this 1000 pound limb laying on the telephone line less than 20 feet from where I'm sitting it won't last long. So far they have looked at it and taken notes.
September 7, 2008
Friends saw to it the the roof was covered in plastic sheets today so at least the leaks will be stopped. Our first shower came just as the roof covering job was finished. How nice.
Power came back on. I have had a hot shower (first in a week) and I am posting this in air conditioned comfort.
I'll take some pictures of our new plastic roof tomorrow.
Ike is coming.:twitchy::eek:
oldfool
09-12-08, 07:59 PM
September 12, 2008
Hurricane IKE
I am so glad I am not in Galveston tonight. I have a story about Galveston but I can not tell it now. Having just gone through a direct hit by Gustav I find that I can not look away while this is going on but I want to. I will probably get drunk tonight trying to escape and that won't work either.
We are experiencing high winds and rain here in Bayou Blue so we are part of it. Trees stressed by Gustav are giving it up so it is not a good idea to stand under or downwind from one. The tree I live under had to be decapitated today. It still lives but for how long I don't know. It is probably about 70 years old and so am I. :(
My favorite niece is in direct line of this storm so I am especially concerned.
For those of you who think that it is stupid to stay just be aware that not all poor people are stupid. They just can not leave. Some older people just no longer wish to fight it anymore. I fall in that category.
If you are on tonight go here: http://www.khou.com/video/?nvid=178826&live=yes&noad=yes
I am in my old (1951) Greyhound Bus and it feels like its going down the road.
oldfool
10-06-08, 09:08 AM
Post hurricane's funk
September 22, 2008
I have fallen into post disaster depression. I am out of adrenalin, energy and desire to fight so here I sit today amongst my hurricane generated trash in despair. I have no right as there are so many others who have lost so much more but I am weak. There is so much work staring me in the face that it is just overwhelming. It would be better if I had lost everything so I could just walk away.
Of course it would be easier if I had lost my life. No worries. No facing rebuilding.
That's just the depression talking of course. A few dry sunny days and something to make me laugh and like a worker ant I'll be right back to rebuilding the ant hill.
Even in this funk I am always aware that so many lost so much.
Time to stop dragging my butt and get busy.
October 6
The above was written a couple of weeks ago but sitting here with a weeks worth of clear, dry, 80 degree days I wonder why I felt that way. Enough debris has been picked up so I can get around on my bike and that hasn't hurt my attitude.
Autumn has arrived and my hurricane Gustave tomatoes are doing great even the ones I put in this crap they call soil here.
(see tomatoes)
Fall spinach and radishes are coming up but what is really amazing is that the plants that stood out in the full force of the wind are doing great. That includes some mustard, a bunch of tomatoes and 30 inch tall asparagus. The asparagus really took a beating. The stalks went around in a circle and formed a funnel at the base of the stalk about 3 inches across and 3 inches deep perfectly formed with smooth sides. Its growing like crazy now and appears to have no damage to the stalk. The oak trees are leafing out but its only about 50 percent of what it was. The trees that broke off (She Who Must Be Obeyed calls them money trees) at about 10 feet think its spring and are blooming. Like me with a morning after hangover they are trying to reproduce themselves because they think they are dying. When I can get some help I'm going to trim them only enough for safety and see if they survive. I was trimmed almost 40 years ago and I survived. I'm safer too.
Talking to some dear friends on the telephone for hours has not hurt my attitude either. I sometimes forget that talking to or seeing those people that make your chest feel good is the best therapy. Way better than drugs. Just thinking about them and our conversations lightens the load.
I know it's Autumn because the St Augustine weed we call grass that needed mowing every 4 or 5 days stopped growing. You could hear the screeching of the brakes as it put them on.
I spent the last day of September taking the trampoline off the shed roof. I wanted to leave it up there as a reminder but I need to repair the little bit of damage before it rains again. I built that shed and I guess I did all right because its still there even after being slammed into by a 10 foot trampoline. It was blowing hard enough to stress a couple of the springs on the trampoline beyond their ability to return. SWMBO is making noises about putting it back together but I think the trampoline is history.
(See trampoline pic)
The Parish(county) is picking up the rubble, we are stacking firewood for this winters weeny roasts and I'm even going to get some usefully items out of these oak pieces.
(See the pot stands)
I have at least one blank for a hand carved slingshot. Something to do with my hands besides scratching at cocktail hour.
Working mostly at night I have finished sewing a new very light summer kilt for working in the garden just when it's getting too cool for such a thing. Its in camouflage so that it camouflages the dirt and it is so thin you can see through it but Kilts are double and triple layers so modesty is preserved, as if I had any, and it remains light. I may put some pockets in this one but since I wear a shop apron most of the time it hardly seems necessary. Which reminds me A Steam Punk killer shop apron is next on the things to sew list. Now if I just had a steam powered sewing machine. I have plenty of firewood for the firebox.
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I sent this to my cousin recently and I would like to submit it here as something that you might come to realize after a close encounter with natures indifference.
“Gustav
If Gustav had have been a Cat 5 we would not be here. If I had thought it would have been a Cat 5 I would not have stayed. It came on as was predicted and it worked out.
We are insured thanks to my daughter. We'll see how well that works out as I think insurance company's rank right up there with lawyers and televangelist.
We are doing OK and on the grand scale of things we are only inconvenienced. We lost nothing of importance, we always had enough food to feed half of Ethiopia, we burnt enough gasoline to power a small village in Mexico, drank as much alcoholic beverages as we wanted and in general lived better than 99 percent of the world population. I have to say that I am ashamed.
Actually I do believe in prayer just not the same way you do. All prayers are good. Gods and religion have nothing to do with it. Thank you for your prayers. All prayers work.
Do not worry about your financial condition. It will make you unhappy. Do not worry about about your foundation or your sewer line. If crap stills falls out of your butt everything else is a luxury."
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My bike has been working well with the trailer carrying some pretty heavy loads. This one probably only weighs about 85 pounds and was intended to be an anvil stand. I ended up using a larger diameter heavier one.
(see bike and trailer and anvil stand)
I could lift it but I couldn't move. Other loads were in excess of 100 pounds. This trailer was a find and I'm sure it was a kiddy trailer originally. When I got it the bed was a deteriorating irregular piece of plywood. It currently has a bed made of 1x6 pine made up to carry these loads. I have some aluminum that closed off the air conditioning ducting in my old GMC bus (retired Greyhound) that is intended for the trailer and maybe someday I'll get around to it. Right now there are more pressing issues such as a new roof on my hovel besides the pine is about the same weight.
My bicycle is a useful multi-tool.
I have not been posting as often as I like due to time constraints even though I have a bit of stuff already written. Things such as sitting around feeling sorry for myself, drinking wine, taking naps, playing in the dirt and just generally screwing off take up a lot of time. Not to mention that my eyes are going south on me and reading is really a chore much of the time. I hope to be back to writing lies, fabrications, half truths and general drivel more often soon. :)