COUGH, COUGH

Well, you don't need to buy a pack of smokes here in Colorado. We've got smoke. . . lots of smoke. AND lots of fires. The smoke is bad enough that it even bothers me. I have not had a cigarette in over 10 years. We have fires north of us in Boulder, and south of us in Colorado Springs.

Boulder is about 1/2 a hour from our house. Colorado Springs is about a hour away. There are other fires burning in our state. We have had at least five days of over 100 degrees in most areas. We may get some rain sometime this afternoon. There is a flood watch for parts of Colorado Springs. If they get some rain to help with the fire that's a good thing, but then they have to worry about all of the ash and debris from the fire washing down. That's a bad thing. As if the fire is not enough.

It's hazy everywhere you go. At times, it is hard to breathe. What about all of the people who have to evacuate? Right now, there are close to 40,000 in Colorado Springs alone. That's not counting pets and animals. It is hard to watch on the TV. People, including Kathi and me, have watched with tears in their eyes -- not because of the smoke, but because of the loss of a home, the loss of a way of life, that has been worked so hard for. For the loss of a dream. For the loss of a community. For the loss of the beauty that  once was covered by trees.

The community will return and rebuild. Colorado Springs will have the scar of this fire for years to come. The trees will one day grow again. Thanks for the people who have given their time and energy to work towards keeping people safe and putting out this fire, as well as the other fires that burn around our country.

We seem to come together more when we have a need or a cause. Isn't it sad that we don't come together just to be together? We have people here who want to help by feeding the firefighters or by opening their ranches for animals and to supply feed for those animals. Or, some who open their churches for people to have a place to rest or sleep and be fed, and daycare for the little ones.

Yep, the fires are burning here in Colorado. And there is a burning in the people as we come together to help or lend a hand. A burning, to not give up.

It must be the smoke in my eyes. . . things are a bit blurry at the moment.

OPEN CARRY

WOW! After taking my son to the doctor on Monday we were stopped at a traffic light and we saw a gentleman walking his dog. My son saw it first. He said, "Dad, that guy has a gun!"

My first thought was, "What!? Where?!" The guy had what looked to be a full sized 1911, cocked and locked, on his hip. It threw me for a second. Because of the way Bryan had said it, I thought the guy had a gun in his hand ready to shoot.

Not the case.

Bryan wanted to know if the police needed to be called. I told him, "No, the guy is just walking his dog and he isn't doing anything wrong." Nobody else at the light seemed to notice. hat was the end of that. I'm sure I'll hear more when he tells his mom.

That is the third person I have seen in several weeks with open carry, two men and one woman. I think some people just haven't noticed it yet. It does not bother me or Kathi, of course. More people should open carry -- or carry concealed if it bothers you to open carry. It seems that people around these folks just are not that observant of the fact or it does not faze them at all. No police have been called.

Maybe, just maybe, people are more ready for more people to carry, open or concealed. It's a neat thought. I'm sure I will see more open carry here in my neighborhood. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 6/25/12

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn."

--John Cotten Dana, Librarian and Museum Director

WHAT IS THE MATTER?!

I'm on my box, and I'm going to rant some here. When I was a kid, if you did something wrong, you were sent to your room and told, "Wait 'til your father gets home!" You knew that you were in for it big time. Sometimes, you got a spanking. Other times maybe a whipping. No TV, no games, no playing with friends. You were grounded. Period. And, if you got a spanking, nine times out of ten, you didn't do again whatever it was that got you in trouble in the first place.

Parents use to be more authoritative with their kids. Now, parents are more like a child's "friend." They all are, for the most part, not doing the kid any good. I never had a parent buy me a car, new or otherwise. If I wanted to go to college, they would help me get started, but I was expected to get a job and pay my own way after that.

I know a lot of adults from my generation who were spanked, grounded (some more than others), had privileges taken from them now and then to get them back after they had finished up their punishment of being grounded. We turned out okay.

Now, we see little kids who whine and cry in stores and restaurants and nothing is done. Back in the day, we got a swat on the butt, and a stern reprimand. If you didn't settle down from that, you were taken out to the car.

Now if people see you discipline your child and they call the cops and the county on you, and you are made out to be a bad parent. And NO ONE wants to be a bad parent. So, parents are afraid to parent. Now we have whole generations who think and do things because they think it is right and they are entitled. The government passes more laws, adding things to these laws to protect us from us.

Just because you don't spank your kids does not mean that you can tell me I can't spank mine. Just because you give your kids whatever they want does not mean I have to do the same. Discipline is lacking in this country. We don't need government to tell us how to live or how to make our money. If you have a business that fails, you fail. End of story. You move on or have a way to make a come back. You don't "outsource," you make it work here. Not some other damn country. My great great grandparents didn't get a bailout from the government, and neither did my great grandparents, or my grandparents. They never collected welfare or government hand outs and they survived.

It used to be that if you served in office, it was a privilege to do so. Then once your term was over you went back to what you were doing before. You didn't get to keep on getting paid. Can you phantom this thought: what if YOU could be paid, still, for YOUR last job? What if you are one of those who have had several jobs in your lifetime, and they all still have to pay you? And if you had medical at those jobs, they still have to pay that also?

Wouldn't that be great? And when the business closes it's doors, THEN the government still has to pay you your social security? Plus all of those other places you worked, have to keep paying you also. Our congresspersons get paid like that when they are no longer in office. Meanwhile, our kids have their hands out and their kids will probably do the same.

I've gotten off track. It just makes me so mad. Bring back some of our morals from the past. Let's get our country back from big government. It does us no good if we prep until the cows come home. We need to start in our own homes, towns, cities, and counties. It is time for us, as a nation of free people, to take back our country. Our forefathers started this nation. It would be nice if we could keep it. No more being quiet. It's time. I'm going to do what I can, to change our country, for the better.

I'm not against Obama as a man. But his politics just are not what this country needs, in my opinion. He pushes his own agenda, and pushes too hard. Let's hope the people will push back.

So, I'm done. My fingers are getting sore. It's late and I'm tired. Time for a little shot of Jack, and then to bed. Yeah, I wrote this last night. And yeah, I rambled all over in this blog. It's mine, I can do that.  

North Platte, Nebraska

I know it's not Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, or Fourth of July. But have any of you heard of North Platte, Nebraska? This is worth watching.

MY LITTLE VACATION

Well, as you know, I had some time to myself. Kathi was out of town for work for a couple of days. You all will be glad to know the house is still standing. I might need to re-paint a room or two. The paint seems to have started to peel. (Maybe from my eating Dinty Moore Stew with chil, and the ranch style beans.) Plus, some of the curtains, seemed to have started to curl a little also.

I had a good time. I ate when I wanted and ate what I wanted. I drank straight from the milk jug, the juice bottle, the ice tea jug, and straight from the chocolate syrup bottle. Nugget, our dog, seemed to be a little standoffish after I ate the stew and beans, but bounced right back after getting to lick the cheese from the floor after I dropped a slice of pizza. I had only one can of beer explode when I opened it. Nugget licked that up also.

The next morning we had cold pizza and some Girl Scout cookies for breakfast, with a big glass of cold milk. Lunch was the rest of the stew. I also opened up some windows, as it seemed kind of stuffy in the house. I lounged, I ate, I slept, I even did some reading. I caught up on Gold Prospector magazine. I was behind by two issues. I watched the Superman series of CD's that Kathi got me.

I had only two things that didn't really work out: the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner problem I solved by using my shop vac. It sucked up everything. The washing machine problem was a little harder. Did you know that when you do your washing, that you are not supposed to do everything in one load? And if you put too much in you don't get enough water to wash your clothes right? I had to call my sister and have her walk me through the process. I also used the shop vac to suck up the excess water from the floor.

And when doing the dishes, Nugget got to lick ALL the plates, pots, and pans before I put them in the dishwasher. They came out really clean. Nugget seemed really happy with the way our time went. Except, there was a day there that I had to keep letting him out about every 20 minutes or so. And man, it's good I did. Maybe I shouldn't have let him lick the stew pan. He let off some, that I thought for sure was going to blow up his bed.

Kathi called one night and we talked for awhile. I told her all was well and that Nugget and I were doing fine. She said that she would be home on Friday, sometime in the afternoon. I told her I missed her, and would see her soon. A friend called and we went to Hooter's for wings, oysters, and a few beers. The beer was cold, the wings and oysters were good. My friend let me take home the leftovers.

Have you ever had oysters with your eggs for breakfast? They were quite good. I also found out that Nugget likes oysters. I dropped one on the floor while getting breakfast ready. If he is around, you can forget the five second rule.

All in all it was a nice change for a day or two. Nugget is back to his old self. And I'm doing better. I had the worse case of heartburn there for a while. Kathi said that she was glad to be home. But she kept looking around and sniffing. she was so excited to be home, that she had tears in her eyes for the first ten minutes.

Today, our house smells like vanilla. It's kinda nice.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK : 6/18/12

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

Judy Garland -- American actress and singer

SSSSHH! Don't tell. . .

The wife is leaving town for a few days, so I get to be on my own until Friday afternoon. But don't tell on me. I've got things figured out with lots to do in the next couple days. Like, I can use the bathroom and not have to put the seat down. I can eat ice cream while just wearing my underwear. I can have that extra piece of pie after dinner. I can fix some Hamburger Helper, and eat it all.

I can also stay up all night if I want. I can watch all of the Three Stooges that I want. I can eat a can of chocolate icing that is hidden up where Kathi can't see it. In fact, I can mix up some Dinty Moore Stew with chili and ranch style beans. I will just have to make sure I air out the house before she gets home. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.

I'm sure that I can come up with some other things. I'm just too excited. 'Course, I will miss her while she is gone. And I'll talk to her every night on the phone. (I'm whooped. . . so what!) Wow! I can even wear my favorite pair of cutoff's.

So, if you don't hear from me for the next couple of days, I'm probably in a Dinty Moore Stew and chocolate chip cookie coma. Or, I'm at some bar-b-q joint, pigging out on ribs and beer.

SSSHH! Don't tell.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 6/11/12

"Poetry is life distilled."

Gwendolyn Brooks, American writer

CATCHING UP

Tornado season has hit Colorado. The other night I guess we had about seven tornado's here. We had gone to bed and lighting was going off like flash bulbs. It rained, it hailed, the wind blew, then the emergency sirens went off. We both got up and got dressed. Nugget was panting like a dying donkey in the desert. We had a tornado about five miles south of us. We had flashlights, Kathi's purse, and I was ready to grab some water. We were ready to all jump in the bathtub.

This photo is from an emergency drill we had with Nugget a couple years ago. Now he is trained that we get into the tub in case of that kind of emergency. He does look concerned, doesn't he!

The wind shifted just enough that we all didn't have to get in the tub. The weather finally blew away from us and we were able to go back to bed after about two hours.

This storm made us realize that we need to do more prepping. What I thought would get us through a tornado? Not enough. So, more prepping is in our future.

On another note, it's grilling time. We have cooked several meals already on one of our grills. I have two grills, one is propane, the other is electric and burns wood pellets. Then I have two other smokers and a fire pit. I need to stock up on more firewood. Plus, I'm dying to go fishing so I can smoke us some fish.

Also, I've been busy with the Colorado Patriot Guard Riders. You know, they do more than just escorting our fallen heroes. We did a pizza and ping pong social at the VA hospital here for those in the PTSD unit. WOW! What a great group of people. It was fun, and neat, to be able to talk to them and share some time together. I'm looking forward to more of these.

My son, Bryan, starts softball tonight, so we are looking forward to going to the game. He plays on an integrated league, where half the players have special needs and half don't. The half with special needs, which can be either physical or mental/emotional, are referred to as the athletes. The others are called partners.

Since he has been going to Pristine Health for brain neurointegration therapy (say that three times real fast) we have seen a change in him. He is more talkative, and has come up with several things that no one would have expected of him.

Like, at Christmas, just after my Dad had passed, he said -- out of the blue -- "You know? My Grandpa and my cousin Grant are up in heaven with Jesus celebrating Christmas." THAT is something that is totally new for him to come up with.

When he visited Grandpa at the cemetary for Memorial Day this year, he said, "Grandpa! We took your trailer to Moab. Did you see us?!"

We will see how much more improvement he has in the next month or so of treatments.

Yep, there has been a lot going on. There is just not enough time in the day to get all that needs to be done, done. Plus, it's about time for me to sneak off with a metal detector, fishing pole, and gold pan and see what I can find or catch. It would be nice to find a honey hole, with big fish, and bigger nuggets of gold. Then I can trade some gold, and our '67 Dodge Charger and get a new Harley. Kathi wants a road trip.

'Course, so do I.

And your little dog, too

Jim has been really busy volunteering with the Colorado Patriot Guard Riders. Last night, they played ping pong with some of the PTSD guys at the VA hospital. He asked if I could take a moment to write a post so you would all have something to look at. I said yes, but I had no idea what to write.


There is one topic that is always on my mind: dogs. I love dogs. They are simply the best. 


When some cruel person mistreats one, it just breaks my heart. Jim is quick with the remote to change the channel when one of the dog welfare commercials comes on the TV. I know why they show images of abused animals, but I can NOT stand to watch. In addition, I do not want to give them money. It's not because I don't feel for those dogs, but because the agencies are manipulating my emotions in order to get that money.


My feeling is that the best thing any of us can do for doggies is to be the best to and do the best for any of the dogs we have in our lives.


Take time to watch out for their welfare AND treat them with the most love, attention, and care possible. Play with them in the ways they like best. Hug their furry little necks. Give them treats that are good for them. Feed them high quality food. Get them regular vaccinations and veterinary care. Keep clean, fresh water for them all the time.


Mostly, love them with all your heart. That's how they love you, right?

Jim, I love you and your little dog, too. 
Kathi

QUOTE OF THE WEEK : 6/4/12

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Co.