A Few Odds and Ends

In my daily email from MEMRI, they reported that:

Lebanese Shi'ite Cleric Sheik Hassan Ghandour: Singing Is Prohibited in Islam

Fatwa Permits Mujahideen to Kidnap, Imprison, and Have Sexual Intercourse with Infidel Women

Senior Lebanese Jihadi Calls on Syrian Rebels to Wage Jihad against Assad's Regime, Urges Mujahideen to Kill and Replace Him

And they call Islam the religion of peace.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I am currently about 1/4 of the way through this book. It was a little difficult getting into the book, but I stuck with it because I wanted to read the book before the movie comes out. The movie starring Daniel Craig is due out soon and the previews indicate it will be a fast-moving work. Now that I’m a ways into the book, the reading is much faster – a page-turner if you will.

Happy Feet Two

Today, I went to see this movie. It was not worth my time or money, but the popcorn was good. Oh, some parts were kind of cute, but I wish I had saved my money.

Until next time…

Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

Yeah, baby, it is cold outside, but I didn’t let the weather stop me. I donned my jeans, scarf, hooded jacket, and gloves and braved the very cold drizzle to go to Kohl’s and Wal*Mart. Of course, as soon as I entered Kohl’s, I was immediately too warm. I undid my jacket and finally, took it right off. When I got to Wal*Mart, I took it off and laid it in the cart. After I was done shopping, I went home to my brother’s and didn’t go out again. I’m debating going to the movies tomorrow. I still have some Christmas shopping to do and Books-A-Million is right around the corner from the AMC theater at Discover Mills.

Tonight’s a great TV night, but I’ve heard it’s re-run time for at least NCIS. Oh well, most NCIS re-runs are better than normal first-time programming.

In preparation for seeing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I bought the paperback today. It is an extremely long book and the print is very small. I’d forgotten how heavy print books are, but I expect I’ll muddle through. I’ve read a bit of the book and it’s okay. I wouldn’t exactly call it a page-turner, but it may get better later.

Well, hope you are all keeping warm.

Until next time…

Fifteen Bean Soup

Today, my brother Jeff treated us to some fifteen bean soup filled with ham, potatoes, celery carrots and tons of great flavor. Since it is a little chilly here, it was a welcome meal.

I spent a lot of the day working on crossword puzzles. It takes me a lot longer than it used to to do a puzzle since many clues require a certain amount of contemplation time before I can fill in the answer.

It rained most of the day and rain mixed with snow is expected tomorrow. I’ll probably stay in all day tomorrow also.

Two more days and December will be upon us. Time sure does fly.

Until next time…

A Sad Day

Today was a sad day: my cousin Elwyn's sister Alice (better known as Tinkie) passed away from cancer. She was in terrible pain and is now in a better place. She was a great person whom IHave known all ofmy life. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

I think I've watched more football in the last few days than in my whole life.

As of now, it's just mybrother, my sister-in-law and me. Everyone else left.

Until. Next tome...

Wonderful Dinner

We just finished dinner: perfectly grilled NY strip steak, baked potatoes, broccoli (Not for ME), and a tossed salad. Both of my nephews were here, Chris's girlfriend Sabrina and Kathy's mother Grace, Kathy, Jeff, and I ate our fill.

Today, I finished GlennBeck's latest book Being George Washington. It is terrific. What a guy Washington was!

I'm having a great time here.

Until next time...

Not Much Happening

Having a great time with my family, though not much is happening. My brother Ray left at 4:15 this morning. I got up to bid him goodbye. So sad to see him go.

I’ve been reading Glenn Beck’s new book Being George Washington. It’s really hard to put it down. It is well-written, informative and extremely interesting. I’ve learned so much about the Revolutionary War and about James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton, Benedict Arnold. Baron von Steuben, and others, and not just about George Washington.

We’ve been playing cards after dinnerand it’s alot of fun.

Until next time…

Black Friday

I'm trying to use my.new Kindle Fire to compose this blogpost, but I can't get the normal compose screen to bring up the keyboard. Instead, I'm using the html editor. This is s test.

Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving

Had a great Thanksgiving Day. Wonderful food! A Great Family! Fun Card Games After!

Sad, though, since my brother Ray leaves first thing tomorrow morning – like 4 am. I don’t get to see him very often and the couple of days we spend at Thanksgiving isn’t very long.

Off to bed.

Until next time…

What do you think?

This idea just may work! 

I am truly perplexed that so many of my friends are against a mosque being built at Ground Zero. I think it should be the goal of every American to be tolerant. Thus the Mosque should be allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance.
That is why I also propose that two nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque, thereby promoting tolerance from within the mosque.
...
We could call one of the clubs, "The Turban Cowboy", which would be gay, and the other a topless bar called " You Mecca Me Hot."
Next door should be a butcher shop that specializes in pork, and adjacent to that an open-pit barbeque pork restaurant, called
" Iraq o' Ribs."
Across the street there could be a lingerie store called " Victoria Keeps Nothing Secret", with sexy mannequins in the window modeling the goods. Next door to the lingerie shop, a liquor store called "Morehammered."
All of this would encourage the Muslims to demonstrate the tolerance they demand of us, so the mosque problem would be solved.
If you agree with promoting tolerance, and you think this is a good plan, please pass it on...for the sake of tolerance!

A Quiet Day

Today was kind of quiet. We all slept in late since we stayed up late (it was after 1 am when we went to bed) talking. I never left the house today except to retrieve something from the back of the truck.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and I hope everyone has a blessed holiday. We all have so much to be thankful for, but we shouldn’t restrict giving thanks to one day a year. I want to practice continual thankfulness.

Until next time…

Some Neat Pictures

I promised I would post some pictures of our time at the Marietta Diner last night. Here they are:

My nephew Bob, my sister-in-law Rose, and my brother-in-law Don. In the foreground is a “small” piece of some kind of strawberry cake.

 

In this picture are my brother-in-law Don, our waiter (in the white shirt), my niece Donna, my great nice Sara and my great niece Marissa.

 

Speaking of great nieces, here is another of Sarah, Marissa and their sister Krysta. Aren’t they beautiful and they are just as nice as they look. It was a real treat to get to see them. I hadn’t seen them since last May when I attended their sister Melody’s wedding.

By the way, speaking of pictures, the following is labeled: Last Picture of An Idiot.

Isn’t life full of wonderful surprises? My brother Ray arrived a day early for Thanksgiving. He usually doesn’t get here until Wednesday, but he arrived at a little after noon today.

I’m posting this early so I can take care of my computer.

Until next time…

I Didn’t Know That

A friend sent me this in an email:

   You're gonna  say "I didn't know that!" at least 5  times.

  Alaska

More than  half of the coastline of the entire United States is in  Alaska .

Amazon

The Amazon  rainforest produces more than 20% of the world's oxygen  supply.

The  Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean  that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of  the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean.   The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than  the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States  .

Antarctica

Antarctica  is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country..

Ninety percent of the world's ice covers  Antarctica .

This ice also represents seventy percent  of all the fresh water in the world.

As strange as it  sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a  desert;

the average yearly total precipitation is about  two inches.

Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of  it, ice.), Antarctica is the driest place on the  planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi  desert.

Brazil

Brazil got  its name from the nut, not the other way  around.

Canada

Canada has  more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is  an Indian word meaning ' Big Village '.

Chicago

Next to  Warsaw , Chicago has the largest Polish population in  the world.

Detroit

Woodward  Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation  M-1, so named because it was the first paved road  anywhere.

Damascus  , Syria

Damascus,  Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand  years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it  the oldest continuously inhabited city in  existence.

Istanbul  , Turkey

Istanbul,  Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two  continents.

Los  Angeles

Los Angeles  ' full name is:

El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de  Los Angeles de Porciuncula

-- and can be abbreviated to  3.63% of its size: L.A.

New  York City

The term  'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of  the 1930s who used the slang expression 'apple' for any  town or city.

Therefore, to play New York City is to  play the big time - The Big Apple.

There are more  Irish in New York City than in Dublin , Ireland  ;

more Italians in New York City than in Rome ,  Italy ;

and more Jews in New York City than in Tel  Aviv , Israel ..

Ohio

There are  no natural lakes in the state of Ohio , every one is  manmade.

Pitcairn  Island

The  smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in  Polynesia , at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq.  km.

Rome

The first  city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome  , Italy in 133 B.C.

There is a city called Rome on  every continent.

Siberia

Siberia  contains more than 25% of the world's  forests.

S.M.O.M.

The actual  smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign  Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M). It is

located in the  city of Rome , Italy ,

has an area of two tennis  courts

and, as of 2001, has a population of 80 -- 20  less people than the Vatican ..

It is a sovereign  entity under international law, just as the Vatican  is.

Sahara    Desert

In the  Sahara Desert , there is a town named Tidikelt , Algeria, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten  years.

Technically though, the driest place on  Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross  Island .. There has been no rainfall there for two  million years.

Spain

Spain  literally means 'the land of rabbits'.

St.  Paul , Minnesota

St. Paul ,  Minnesota , was originally called Pig's Eye after a man  named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first  business there.

Roads

Chances  that a road is unpaved:

in the U.S.A. . = 1%;

in  Canada = ...75%

Russia

The deepest  hole ever drilled by man is the Kola Superdeep  Borehole, in Russia .

It reached a depth of 12,261  meters (about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles).

It was  drilled for scientific research and gave up some  unexpected discoveries, one of which was a huge deposit  of hydrogen - so massive that the mud coming from the  hole was boiling with it.

United  States

The  Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in  every five must be straight. These straight sections  are usable as airstrips in times of war or other  emergencies.

Waterfalls

The water  of Angel Falls (the world's highest)  in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). They are 15  times higher than Niagara Falls .

I  have always said, you should learn something new  every day. Unfortunately, many of us are  at that age where what we learn today, we forget  tomorrow.

But,  give it a shot anyway.

-----

Today, Kathy’s mother and I went to see Jack and Jill. I know, I’ve already seen it, but it was great and I enjoyed it even more this time. We then went to Publix for some groceries, where I lost Grace for a few minutes – not really, she was in Publix, but I couldn’t find her.

I met my sister-in-law Rose, my brother-in-law Don, my nephew Bob, my niece Donn and three of my great nieces (Marisa, Sarah and Krysta) at the famous Marietta Diner. If you remember, Esther and I and I alone at there last summer. What a great (and too huge) meal they serve. I’ll try to get some pictures downloaded tomorrow.

My brother Ray comes tomorrow. I’m really lookihng forward to that.

Until next time…

Fun with Grace

Today, my sister-in-law’s mother (Grace) and I went to Discover Mills and shopped our way through Burlington Coat Factory. After shopping we went to Mimi’s Cafe for lunch. I’m not reporting the various troubles we had finding where we were to go, because it would not reflect well on my navigational abilities. We did find where we needed to go.

Anyone who knows me at all knows I am not a shopper – it’s not my favorite thing. (cue Julie Andrews “Favorite Things”) Grace is my complete opposite. She looked through so many things I can’t even count. But we had a good time. She’s got a great sense of humor and finally took pity on my poor feet and back and we sat outside the store for a few moments.

At Mimi’s I had the Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad and a Pom Berry Smoothie. Grace made her way through most of the tomato and basil bisque and half of a tuna salad. She got to take a muffin home.

Tomorrow we’re going to have another adventure.

A friend sent the following report card to me in an e-mail.

Barack Obama's 32 Month Report Card

by Rich Carroll

Mr. Hope and Change wants to create a nation humbled; humiliated, casting-aside capitalism and individual freedoms for one where “we the people” are government controlled. This would be a system that genuflects mediocrity, steals personal aspiration and opportunity, and punishes those who strive to succeed.

A gallon of regular gasoline the day Obama was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering “hope and change” isn't it?

American citizens living in poverty have risen 9.5% from 39,800,000 to 43,600,000, and the number of unemployed has jumped almost 25% from 11,616,000 to 14,485,000 as of August 31, 2011. The number of unemployed blacks has risen from 12.6% at the end of George Bush's term to 15.8% today, a 25.4% increase, and finally, our national debt is up 34.4% from 10.627 trillion to 14,278 trillion *

Keep these figures in mind as we recount the number of “firsts” for this presidency:

First President to refuse to show a valid birth certificate.

First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.

First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.

First President to preside over a cut to the credit rating of the United States.

First President to violate the War Powers Act.

First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

First President to defy a Federal Judges court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.

First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.

First President to spend a trillion dollars on shovel-ready jobs and later admit there was no such thing as shovel-ready jobs.

First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.

First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.

First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S., including those with criminal convictions.

First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.

First President to terminate Americas ability to put a man in space.

First President to encourage racial discrimination and intimidation at polling places.

First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.

First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.

First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly speak-out on the reasons for their rate increases.

First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state they are allowed to locate a factory.

First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (Az, WI, OH, IN)

First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.

First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.

First President to appoint 45 Czars to replace elected officials in his office.

First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office.

First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.

First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.

First President to coddle American enemies while alienating Americas allies.

First President to publicly bow to Americas enemies while refusing to salute the U.S. Flag.

First President to go on multiple global apology tours.

First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends, paid for by the taxpayer.

First President to refuse to wear the U.S. Flag lapel pin.

First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.

First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000.00 a year at taxpayer expense.

First President to repeat “the Holy Qur'an tells us,” and openly admit “the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.”

Remember that 32 months of Obama White House we the people have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our nation's entire history, as the Obama's plan their next extravagant vacation to the Indonesian Island nation of Bali.

* sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Wall Street Journal, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dept of Labor, Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller, Federal Reserve, US Treasury, Heritage Foundation.

Until next time…

Arrived safely - more tomorrow - til next time

A Productive Day

Today, I did my laundry and it only took about 4 hours, but at least it’s done and packed in my suitcase and packed in my truck, ready to go to my brother’s.

My cousin and I went to Carrabba’s for dinner tonight so I didn’t even have to cook or do dishes. Instead of my usual spaghetti with meat sauce and sausage, I had pizza. It was really good.

I’m learning how to use my Kindle Fire. Got to go through the User Guide today while watching TV and doing laundry. It’s not quite what I expected, but I really like it and think I will learn to like it even more once I know what I’m doing.

I’m not exactly looking forward to my long ride tomorrow, but always enjoy listening to my books on tape.I think I’ll listen to Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline.

Well, time to take care of a last few things so I’ll be ready to leave whenever I get up in the morning.

Until next time…

Kindle Fire

Had breakfast this morning with Joan, Joyce, Don, Sandy, and John. We had a great time. It was wonderful to see everyone again. It had been way too long. Breakfast was really good, as well.

Today, I got my new Kindle Fire, but haven’t got the cover I ordered yet. I’m just learning to use it, but so far, so good.

Just saw a segment on Bill O’Reilly about wild turkeys terrorizing people on Staten Island. They probably don’t have any natural enemies except man and being part of NYC, probably can’t use guns to get rid of them.

Until next time…

The Poor in America

Today, our national debt exceeded FIFTEEN TRILLION DOLLARS. If our Congress and President don’t wake up and start balancing our budget, we are headed for certain economic collapse.

In view of this, you might find this well-documented article on the poor in America interesting:

http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2011/11/16/poverty_in_america/page/full/

I’m almost finished with V Is For Vengeance, so you can guess what I did for a good part of the day. I’ll probably finish it before I go to sleep tonight.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be joining some friends for breakfast at the NY Bagel Diner in Valrico.

Until next time…

V Is For Vengeance

I finally started Sue Grafton’s 22n Kinsey Milhone book, V Is For Vengeance. It didn’t take long to pull me into the story. I spent a good deal of my day reading and still have 3/4 of the book to read, buecause I did do a few other things today, including going to my storage space and bringing back a couple of more things.

It’ll be hard to read tonight since Tues is my main TV night: NCIS, NCIS-LA and Unforgettable. I also tape Last Man Standing, Raising Hope, and Body of Proof. I’ll watch the taped stuff later.

Well, I guess I’ll get a little more reading in before I start watching TV.

Until next time…

Food Storage

A terrific article on food storage and keeping it safe that you might want to read can be found at:

http://www.personalliberty.com/survival-and-self-sufficiency/keep-food-reserves-safe-in-a-crisis/?eiid=&rmid=2011_11_14_PLA_[P11518455]&rrid=387307631

It also briefly touches on why we should store food reserves and what we are planning for.

Also, from Off the Grid News

Quote of the Week (www.offthegridnews.com)

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."
-Elmer Davis

My Day

Well, today started when I got up at 5:30, stopped at Waffle House for a great breakfast and then went to Jarrett-Scott Ford to have my truck checked over before my trip to my brother’s. I was out of the Ford garage by 8:30am then back home for an hour and a half nap.

I re-organized my coin collection and took care of some more stuff, but I still am in the middle of a big mess: stuff I don’t know where to stow and stuff waiting to go in the truck for my trip. I have to take Christmas presents with me since I’m not coming back before Christmas.

I guess I won’t be leaving until Saturday since the stuff I’ve been waiting to be delivered won’t be here until Friday. Hopefully, I won’t run into too much traffic.

Well, time to go to bed and read for a while.

Until next time…

Litlle Boxes

Today, I wore myself out going through the rest of the boxes I brought home from my storage area. I’ve emptied and organized so that I now have only one I need to work on. In the course of this work, I found it necessary to inventory my TV cabinet.  It has 3 shelves and actually looked full until I pulled everything out. I logged everything in a spreadsheet and filled the cabinet back up.  I also inventoried my batteries and tried to put them back in their storage boxes.

I also have a box of books for the library and a box for my niece Jane and her kids.

My house is still a wreck, but first thing tomorrow, I have to take my truck to the Jarret-Scott Ford dealer in Plant City. After that, it’s back home to finish taking care of the stuff scattered about my home.

Well, I’m going to rest for a while and then go to bed.

Until next time…

Never Thought About Porcupine Babies, Did You?

The parable is worth sharing…. But have you ever seen a baby porcupine?! I would pass it along just for this!

Fable of the porcupine
It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the warmth that came from the others. This way they were able to survive. Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

The real moral of the story......LEARN TO LIVE WITH THE PRICKS IN YOUR LIFE.

Christmas is coming.  Think about these....

As you open your pockets for the next natural disaster, please keep these facts in mind:
· The American Red Cross President and CEO Marsha J. Evans salary for the year was $651,957 plus expenses
· The United Way President Brian Gallagher receives a $375,000 base salary along with numerous expense benefits.
· UNICEF CEO Caryl M. Stern receives $1,200,000 per year (100k per month) plus all expenses including a ROLLS ROYCE . Less than 5 cents of your donated dollar goes to the cause.

GO "GREEN" INSTEAD AND PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE IT WILL DO SOME GOOD:
· The Salvation Army's Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a small salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization. 96 percent of donated dollars go to the cause.
· The American Legion National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
· The Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their
families and youth!
· The Disabled American Veterans National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
· The Military Order of Purple Hearts National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
· The Vietnam Veterans Association National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
Please share this with everyone you can.

Chicken Wings

Tonight, Karen and I went to Kazbor’s and had chicken wings and chips with salsa. It’s been a long time since I’ve had wings, especially Kazbor’s. They sure tasted good.

What A Mess!

You should see the mess my camper is in: boxes all over the place, but at least, I’ve emptied three of them. Tomorrow, I hope to make more progress.

Until next time…

Jack and Jill (Friday’s Blogpost)

This morning, I spent a full hour and a half laughing right out loud at Jack and Jill, the new Adam Sandler movie. What a riot!! And you could easily take your kids to the movie.

Besides Al Pacino playing himself and Katie Holmes, who plays Jack’s wife, a lot of stars made cameo appearances: Johnny Depp, Shaq, Bruce Jenner, Regis Philbin, Dana Carvey, John McEnroe, and Billy Blanks. There were a lot of people in the theater and everyone seemed to enjoy the movie as much as I did.

After I got home, I visited my cousin Richard for a while then went home where I unloaded my truck. Whew! I didn’t start going through them today, but will probably do so tomorrow, unless I can find something more fun to do.

Well Said

Sally Mullihan of Coral Springs , Florida decided to take one of the jobs that most Americans are not willing to do. The woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon grove seemed to be far too qualified for the job. She had a liberal arts degree from the University of Michigan and had worked as a social worker and school teacher. The foreman frowned and said, "I have to ask you, have you had any actual experience in picking lemons?" "Well, as a matter of fact, I have! I've been divorced three times, owned 2 Chryslers and voted for Obama."

Until next time…

What Can We Do?

My cousin sent me the following:

What can we do as Americans --- Anyone with an answer?

Subject: OIL

This is an eye opener. Read it or don’t complain as the price of fuel goes up and up and we continue to pay billions to overseas providers.

OIL!

As you may know, Cruz Construction started a division in North Dakota...just 6 months ago.

They sent every Kenworth (9 trucks) we had here (in

Alaska) to North Dakota, and several drivers.

They just bought two new Kenworth's to add to that fleet; one being a Tri Drive tractor, and a new 65 ton lowboy to go with it.

They also bought two new cranes (one crawler & one rubber

tired) for that division.

Dave Cruz said they have moved more rigs in the last 6 months in ND, than Cruz Construction moved in Alaska in the last 6 years!

Williston, ND is like a gold rush town; they moved one of our 40-man camps down there...since there are no rooms available.

Unemployment in ND is the lowest in the nation...at 3.4 percent, last I checked.

See anything in the national news about how the oil industry is fueling North Dakota's economy?

Here's an astonishing read. Important and verifiable

information:

About 6 months ago, the writer was watching a news program on oil, and one of the Forbes Bros. was the guest.

The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question, and I would like a direct answer;

How much oil does the U.S. Have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more thanall the Middle East put together."

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April 2008, that only scientists and oil men knew was coming...but man, was it big!!

It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since 1995) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota, Western SouthDakota, and extreme eastern Montana.

Check THIS out:

The Bakken...is the largest domestic oil discoverysince Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, and...has the potential to eliminate ALL American dependence onforeign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at...503 billionbarrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable (5 billion barrels). At $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base...worth more than $5.3 trillion.

"When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor.

"They had no idea." says Terry Johnson...the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.

"This sizable find is now the highest-producingonshore oil field found in the past 56 years"... reports The Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

It's a formation...known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as...the 'Bakken.'

It stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada.

For years, U. S. Oil exploration has been considered a dead end.

Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells...decades ago.

However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves,

and we now have access of up to 500 billionbarrels.

And...because this is light, sweet oil,

those billions of barrels will cost Americans...just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for

2041 years straight !!!!

And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from 2006 !

U.S. Oil Discovery - Largest Reserve in the World

Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006

Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains, lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLIONbarrels. On August 8, 2005...President Bush mandated its extraction.

In three and a half years of high oil prices, none has been extracted.

With this mother load of oil, why are we still fighting over off- shore drilling???

They reported this stunning news:

We have more oil inside our borders...than all the other proven reserves on earth.

Here are the officialestimates:

8 timesas much oil as Saudi Arabia

18 timesas much oil as Iraq

21 timesas much oil as Kuwait

22 timesas much oil as Iran

500 timesas much oil as Yemen

And it's all right here...in the Western UnitedStates! HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because...the environmentalists(and others) have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil !!!!!!! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy. WHY?

Follow the money:A lot of so-called "environmentalists"...are paid by big business. If the price of oil drops, the oil companies stand to loose a lot of money...who is paying for those protesters?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says...we've got more oil in this very compact area, than the entire Middle East, more than 2TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than...all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the worldtoday... reports The Denver Post.

Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace...it has to!!

Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?

Got your attention yet? Now, while you're thinking about it...do this:

Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you complain about gas prices, by doing NOTHING...you forfeit your right to complain.

Now, I just wonder what would happen in this country, if everyone of you sent this to every one in your address book.

By the way, this can be verified. Check it out at the link

below !

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

Curz Construction

http://www.cruzconstruct.com/services..php

Today, I went to my storage space and brought back several boxes. At this point, the boxes are still in the truck. Tomorrow, I’ll start bringing them in and sorting through them, i.e., if my back will take it. I’m sort of planning to see Adam Sandler’s new movie Jack and Jill where he plays both Jack and Jill (Jack’s twin). I imagine it will be funny.

Well, time to get to bed. It’s already dark.

Until next time…

A Kick in the Fannie

I can’t believe that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are asking for another multi-billion dollar bailout, especially after awarding millions of dollars in bonuses to their executives. I’ve come to the conclusion there is not ONE ounce of common sense anywhere in Washington, D.C.

I tried for 1/2 hour to light my oven this morning and finally had to resort to taking some stuff to my cousin’s house to bake in his oven.

That half hour was quite painful too since I had to kneel on the floor to try to light the pilot. Next time I get it lit, I might just leave the pilot on after I’m done with the oven. Of course, this isn’t going to happen until next year.

A gorgeous day here in Florida. Mild temps, gentle breezes and sun shining.

Today, I finished the book Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles. It was a great book. If you’ve been wondering what might happen if we have an economic collapse, you might want to read this book. I think it was Rawles who wrote the book upon which the TV show Jericho was based. He has also written How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It and Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse.

Until next time…

Moneyball

Today, I spoke with my insurance agent and signed papers for my Medicare supplement.

I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and had absolutely no success finding anything to put my multi-sized spices in. I may have to construct something.

After going to Bed, Bath and Beyond, I went to AMC Regency and saw the movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. What a great story and it’s true. Pitt plays Billy Beane, manager of the Oakland Athletics, who seeks to create a good team with very little money. I can’t imagine anyone, including people who don’t like baseball, not liking the movie.

I was so excited to see a poster for One for the Money, the movie starring Catherine Heigl that is based on Janet Evanovich’s first Stephanie Plum book. She’s up to eighteen books as of 11/22/2011/

I talked with my cousin Ethelyn a couple of times today. They made it home safely.

Well, tonight is a great tv night.

Until next time…

No Go

Last night, a few hours after posting my blog, I had a call from Esther telling me she had what she thought was the flu. This meant no trip to Epcot today. Instead, we’re going to try to go on Friday. It’s probably just as well we didn’t go since I didn’t sleep very well last night. In fact, I’ve been up since about 3:55 am.

Today, I made some Spanish Rice. It’s quite spicy since I used 1 10-oz can of RoTel, 2 10-oz cans of diced tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of water. I gave some to my cousin, but he’s been away all day. I don’t know if it will be too hot for him to eat or not.

I spent some more time taking care of stuff. I’m trying to figure out what to do with all of my spice. I also have a bunch of extracts and flavorings and food colors the store somewhere. The size of all of these things makes it impossible to just put them loose in a cabinet. Maybe I’ll go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to see if they have something I can use. It has to handle a number of different sized bottles.

Well, I just talked with my cousin Ethelyn. She and Elwyn were already near Winchester, VA and were planning to stay in PA tonight. I jsut realized today that I’ve been a little gloomy since they’ve been gone.

Until next time…

Tower Heist

This morning, I went to AMC Regency to see Tower Heist with Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and Alan Alda. It was a great movie. The audience loved it. I don’t want to give away the story, but it was filled with twists. See it if you’d like to enjoy a couple of hours of fun.

When I ordered my popcorn and drink today, I expected it to be $11.50 as usual, but they’ve raised the prices; it’s now $11.75. The movie price stayed the same.

I changed the time on my microwave today, checking my watch to make sure I had it right, not realizing I hadn’t yet changed the time on my watch. What a doofus!. I finally got them both right.

Tomorrow, I’m off to Walt Disney World and the Epcot International Food and Wine Tasting event with my sister-in-law Esther and our friend Patti. I’ll try not to eat too much and I definitely won’t drink too much. I love Epcot and am really looking forward to it. The weather looks lie it will be perfect: High of 80 and Low of 64. I guess I’ll have to drag along my jacket for the night (fireworks are supposed to be beautiful).

Until next time…

A Very Long Day

I just looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:04 PM. I haven’t even had lunch or dinner yet, but I have made a lot of progress inventorying all of the stuff in my cabinets and under my dining room table benches. I still have a few things to take care of, but I still have 3 cabinets and half of one dining room table bench empty. Since it’s so late, I think I’ll eat and finish my project in the morning. It shouldn’t take much more than a couple more hours, but I’ve been going since early morning.

Congrats to my GREAT-nephew Johnny and the Sheffield football team for winning their play-off game last night 38-14 against Cordova. Go, Johnny, go!

Until next time…

Gone, Gone, Gone

This morning, my cousins left to go see their great-granddaughter.  I’ve enjoyed their company so much and will really miss them. It’s so hard to live so very far away. We’ve been playing cards almost every night and that has been fun, even though I lost most of the time.

Most of the day, I spent catching up on sleep. Tomorrow, I think I’ll remove everything from my cupboards, make sure the expiration date is clearly showing, and inventory my food supply. It’ll be a time-consuming job, but i need to get a good idea how many months of food I have on hand. It is supposed to be really cold in the morning, so some hard work will be welcome.

Well, I think I’ll probably go to sleep early.

Until next time…

11/1/11 Visit to Clearwater Marine Aquarium

On Tuesday, we went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, ho9me of the famous Winter the Dolphin. Following are some of the 81 pictures I took on that trip:

If you go to the left as you enter through the gift shop, you’ll find the Stingray Exhibit with a description of the Stingray Shuffle.

 

I got a pretty good shot of one of the stingrays. Just like at Sea World you can reach in and touch them as they go by.

 

 

All through the building you’ll find props from the film Dolphin Tale, just like this description of Green Seat Turltes.

 

At the aquarium, you’ll find an otter exhibit.

 

On the wall near where Winter swims around, there is a story of how she lost her tale.

 

 

In this tank, Winter and her friend sim around, showing off for the crowd. Winter is on the right.

 

Here’s another picture of Winter.

 

While there, we went on a boat ride. Here, Elwyn, Ethelyn and Richard wait for the boat to arrive.

The book in the middle backing in is the one we went on.

The boat seats were quite comfortable and the staff was very friendly and savvy about their work. Here are Elwyn and Ethelyn and a family visiting from Ontariou, Canada.

 

This is a picture of a cormorant with some monofilament line wrapped around him.

Pelicans gathered together on top of one of the buildings.

Lots more cormorants gathered on this sand bar.

 

During the course of the boat ride, they pulled a net behind the boat for awhile and brought it up filled with a bunch of sea creatures.

 

They popped the critters into containers like these and passed them around the boat.

This is a very bad picture of a Roseate Spoonbill, a rare and protected bird. 

We also stopped at an island with lots of shells for picking up. People were allowed out of the boat and could bring any shells they wanted back.

Here’s a sea squirt they brought up. That’s not the technical name, but it is what they called it. When they squeezed the squirt, he squired.

If you get a chance, please take the time to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Until next time…

Class Always Shows

A doctor had his TV on in his office when the news of the military base shootings at Ft. Hood, TX came on. The husband of one of his employees was stationed there.  He called her into his office and as he told her what had happened, she got a text message from her husband saying, "I am okay." Her cell phone rang right after she read the message. It was an ER nurse, "I'm the one who just sent you a text, not your husband. I thought it would be comforting but I was mistaken in doing so. I am sorry to tell you this, but your husband has been shot 4 times and he is in surgery." The soldier's wife left Southern Clinic in Dothan, AL and drove all night to Ft. Hood. When she arrived, she found out her husband was out of surgery and would be OK.  She rushed to his room and found that he already had two visitors there to comfort him.  He was just waking up and found his wife and the visitors by his side. The nurse took this picture: What? No news crews and cameras? This is how people with class respond and pay respect to those in uniform.

I sent my cousin in Fayetteville, N.C. (Retired from Special

Forces) that picture of George W. visiting the wounded at

Ft. Hood. I got this reply;

What is even better is the fact George W. Bush heard about Fort Hood, with Secret Service escort got in his car and drove to Fort Hood. He was stopped at the gate and the guard could not believe who he had just stopped. Bush only asks for directions to the hospital then drove on. The gate guard called that "The President is on Fort Hood and driving to the hospital." He stayed at Fort Hood for over six hours. President Obama flew in days later and held a "photo opportunity" session in a gym, and did not even go to the hospital. All this I picked up from two soldiers here who happened to be at Fort Hood when it happened. Did you even hear about former President & the First Lady visiting Ft. Hood? I didn't...

This Bush/Obama/Ft.Hood story is something that should be sent to every voter in the US. Those who wanted "change." You certainly got it.

In God We Trust! "I love this country, it's the government I'm afraid of"

 

RECENT VIRGINIA CHURCH SERVICE - STIMULUS SERMON, etc

I would love to give the Pastor of this predominantly black church in Virginia three cheers. This guy is obviously a leader. Perhaps we should each decide who our real leader is... It is amazing to see that very little has changed in 4,000 years.

Good morning, brothers and sisters; it's always a delight to see the pews crowded on Sunday morning, and so eager to get into God's Word. Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will, to the 47th chapter of Genesis. We'll begin our reading at verse 13, and go through verse 27.

Brother Ray, would you stand and read that great passage for us? ... (reading) ...

Thank you for that fine reading, Brother Ray. So we see that economic hard times fell upon Egypt , and the people turned to the government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them. And Pharaoh nationalized the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great storehouses that he had built. So the people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a great tax increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for grain. And this went on until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.

So when they went to Pharaoh after that, they brought their livestock - their cattle, their horses, their sheep, and their donkey - to barter for grain, and verse 17 says that only took them through the end of that year. But the famine wasn't over, was it? So the next year, the people came before Pharaoh and admitted they had nothing left, except their land and their own lives. "There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh." So they surrendered their homes, their land, and their real estate to Pharaoh's government, and then sold themselves into slavery to him, in return for grain.

What can we learn from this, brothers and sisters?

That turning to the government instead of to God to be our provider in hard times only leads to slavery? Yes... That the only reason government wants to be our provider is to also become our master?
Yes. But look how that passage ends, brothers and sisters! Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt , in the land of Goshen . And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly." God provided for His people, just as He always has! They didn't end up giving all their possessions to government, no, it says they gained possessions! But I also tell you a great truth today, and an ominous one.

We see the same thing happening today - the government today wants to "share the wealth" once again, to take it from us and redistribute it back to us. It wants to take control of healthcare, just as it has taken control of education, and ration it back to us, and when government rations it, then government decides who gets it, and how much, and what kind. And if we go along with it, and do it willingly, then we will wind up no differently than the people of Egypt did four thousand years ago - as slaves to the government, and as slaves to our leaders.

What Mr. Obama's government is doing now is no different from what Pharaoh's government did then, and it will end the same. And a lot of people like to call Mr. Obama a "Messiah," don't they? Is he a Messiah? A savior? Didn't the Egyptians say, after Pharaoh made them his slaves, "You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh"?

Well, I tell you this - I know the Messiah; the Messiah is a friend of mine; and Mr. OBAMA IS NO MESSIAH! No, brothers and sisters, if Mr. Obama is a character from the Bible, then he is Pharaoh.
Bow with me in prayer, if you will...

Lord, You alone are worthy to be served, and we rely on You, and You alone. We confess that the government is not our deliverer, and never rightly will be. We read in the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, when Samuel warned the people of what a ruler would do, where it says "And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day..."

And Lord, we acknowledge that day has come. We cry out to you because of the ruler that we have chosen for ourselves as a nation. Lord, we pray for this nation. We pray for revival, and we pray for deliverance from those who would be our masters. Give us hearts to seek You and hands to serve You, and protect Your people from the atrocities of Pharaoh's government. In God We Trust...

Those Who Voted Against Reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the National Motto

A Real Nanny State

Can you believe that the idiot Senator Richard Blumenthal wants to use federal block grants to pay for diapers?

Check out some of the comments:

“Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason.”
― Mark TwainBY SoquelCreek on 11/02/2011 at 14:38

And why is this a problem in the feminized US? BY Mike Alright on 11/02/2011 at 14:57

Somebody tell Condoleeza Rice to shut her yap. When's the last time you heard her say a word about the fraud in the Whitey House?BY Condomleeza Lice on 11/02/2011 at 14:58

So Democrats want to add diapers to the list of things Americans are entitled to? What has happened to this once great nation?BY Marie on 11/02/2011 at 14:59

Gee, when I had kids in daycare, I had to provide diapers for my kids. BY jb80538 on 11/02/2011 at 14:59

Senators using our money for SHlT.
Go figure.BY Mark on 11/02/2011 at 15:00

MANDATORY STERILIZATION for ALL PARTICIPANTS of the PROGRAM !!!!!
CAN'T FEED or CLOTHE THEM—-DON'T BREED THEM YOU RATS!!!!!BY Common Sense on 11/02/2011 at 15:00

This one even those with limited intelligence should be able to understand…if you have no money…don't have kids. If you have no education…don't have kids. If you can name all the Kardashians…don't have kids. The rest of us, who pay the taxes, are sick of taking care of you and your spawns.BY Jenny on 11/02/2011 at 15:00

How did we survive 220 years before?
Sick. BY JWH on 11/02/2011 at 15:01

DemocRATS need stimulus for diapers because they spend so much of their energy sticking up our rears.BY Paolo on 11/02/2011 at 15:01

Until next time…