Black History Month

The year was 1966, the year after I graduated from the last all-white high school in my home town.  I was home from college and I saw an article in the newspaper about busing.  The writer, a local parent, was objecting to busing because, the writer claimed, that busing the black kids across town to attend the formerly all white school was a dangerous thing to do.  The kids got less sleep, might not have time for breakfast, and all the miles spent on the road in a bus increased the changes of them being in an accident.  In response I wrote the following article which was read on WBTV Charlotte.

   "I don't know if busing is a good thing or a bad thing and I'm not for nor against it.  I do know that the writer of the article against busing is blowing smoke.  While on the surface it may seem like he has legitimate concerns, the truth is he isn't concerned with the safety and welfare of the black students.  He just doesn't want his white kids to go to school with them.  If the writer and his friends were really concerned about the safety of the children then where were they six years ago?  I lived just a few blocks from the black high school yet I had to walk almost two miles to school every day for three years then walk the same two miles for another three years to catch a bus to the white high school yet no one was concerned about me.  Is the writer now claiming he cares more about the black kids then he did the white kids that had to be bused across town so they didn't have to go to school with the black children?  I think he needs to be honest about the real reason he objects to busing.

Profession of faith

A lady at the church had been praying for her grand daughter when she heard a TV preacher say something that upset her, indicating that her prayer's were not getting through to God.  She called me really upset about what this man had said.  I assured her what she heard was just a Haggiism and not biblical truth.  Last night her grand daughter came to church and midway through the service this lady's prayers were answered.  Be careful who you listen to.  If it isn't scriptural the man may be a servant of the devil. 

Back in town

    I made my weekly trek to Hickory.  Tuesday was more of a visitation day with Mom although I did do some remodeling to the new out building.  The building came with shelves  along each side from front to back but with a full run of shelves there wasn't a place to hang rakes, and shovels and other long tools so I took out half of the shelves on one side and hung those shelves above the other shelf on that side giving me a place to stack cans and bottles and also allowing me to hang the long tools.
   I also put a tamper proof hasp  on the door .  I was going to secure the hasp with carriage bolts but the ones I purchased were to short.  I also bought a can of window glaze to frost the windows so one cannot see into the shed but can see out. 
    Mom was feeling somewhat better after a bought with some kind of virus that severely effective ones digestive system.  I took her laundry home to do while she enjoyed lunch and we had a nice visit in the evening.  I decided to spend the night in Hickory because I needed to do some studying and with the impending bad weather I thought it to be much safer to stay as I had to be in Hickory for the inspector. 
   After breakfast Wednesday morning I refinished the bathtub (2nd coat) leveled the stove and dryer, washed all the dirty dishes, vacuumed, and cleaned the rug in the den.  After lunch I went to visit Mom for an hour or two.  I left there at two and headed to the house to pack up, load the car and head for Hickory.  I needed time to prepare for Wednesday night so the inspection would just have to wait for another day. 
   I got my car loaded up and then I noticed two cans of paint I had forgot to take to the out building so I did that and as I turned to walk to the car to leave I saw a man standing in  my yard.  It was the inspector.  If he was 30 later or if I had not put away the paint cans we would have missed each other.  I was glad to get the inspection over with. 
   Winds were rough and blew a big pine tree in Mom's neighbors yard across the street not only blocking the toad but taking down the power lines. 
  The trip home was safe and uneventful.

If this is our best, we really suck.

“I hear the phrase, ‘Make America great again,’” said Jackson, reciting Trump’s campaign slogan with a tone of disbelief. “This is the best America’s ever been!”

   Jesse Jackson claims America is at it's best at this very moment. 

  There is a bill in Charlotte that proposes that all public bathrooms in the city can be used by anyone claiming to be of whatever gender they choose.  In other words, a man can claim he is a woman and use the women's bathroom.  One might assume that men would not mind if women used their restroom but not so.  I'm not about to expose myself in front of a female even if she claims she is a man trapped in a man's body.  Is allowing our wives and daughters to subject themselves to possible lewd behavior the best of America?  I think not.
    Our country allows women the right to kill their unborn children by allowing the women to claim that whatever is growing inside of them is just tissue and is not human at all.  Jesse Jackson says this is the best we have ever been. 
   We have interpreted the constitution as saying we have freedom from religion and not freedom of religion and yet Jackson says this is the best America has ever been. 
  While it is true that America has never been without problems and even at our best we had glaring deficiencies, this is not the best America has every been  It may be the best America will ever be but it is not the best America has ever been.

Some delays, some success, and a tie.

   They cabinets I ordered back in December finally came in (the second time) but no laminate tops so they will be a three week delay.  Window World had problems with the large window so their installation date (scheduled for February 1 has been pushed back to the second week in March. 
   The out building has been delivered and set up.  To be honest, the hasps and hinges are designed to keep the doors on the building  but will have to be changed in order for the building to ne secure.  I am having it tied into the home alarm as well.  The front door and new storm door were delivered and installed.  I didn't notice until after the man left that the bracket for the deadbolt on the main door was set too high so the deadbolt wouldn't set so I fixed the problem myself.  The refinishing job I did on her 58 year old bathtub turned out good so I'm pleased with that.
   The success is I finally got Mom qualified for Medicaid.  It was really stressful combining all her accounts into one account, spending money  fixing up the house, trying to get the money in the annuity released, scheduling the workers, painting, moving stuff over and over, doing minor repair work and so much cleaning.  The most stressful part was that I had no idea how much money I had in the bank account plus I had no power of attorney to even write a check let alone obtain the information in order to balance the check book.  I finally had to take Mom to the bank.  But now everything is done as far as qualifying   Mom and in three weeks the house should be completed.
  There were a few minor problems I have to deal with on my own.  The truck delivering the shed got stuck so I had to hire the wrecker to pull him out of the mud and pay a walking fee, ($180.00 total)  I had to pay $89.00  for the laminate countertops and I will have to pay for the alarm system upgrades ($250.00) plus I'll have to change the hasp and hinges and paint the building out of my own pocket. 
  Now all the expense of running the roads between Randleman and Hickory will be out of my own pocket but you know, a man only has one Mom and he needs to do right by her.  After all she has always been there for me. 

I didn't know that but wish I did.

Fun Fact: After the first season, Davy Jones received a draft notice -- and starved himself for three weeks in order to fail the physical.

  That's Davy Jones of the Monkees.  I thought the TV show was stupid back then and I still think it is dumb.  I also knew that some, if not all, the band members were anti-Vietnam War.  So was I.  But I served two tours in Vietnam anyway and as a volunteer.  There are certain things one is called to do in life:  serve in the military, pull jury duty, and salute the American flag during the playing of the national anthem.  No, I had no wish to die and I certainly don't look forward to taking my own time to sit in judgement of my fellow man.  
   To intentionally jeopardize one's own health in an effort to subvert ones duty to ones country and put another woman's child in danger (someone had to take his place) is a criminal act punishable as cowardice would be punished by the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  You probably disagree but then you probably didn't have to fight in Vietnam because someone else wimped out. 

Obama says "Trump will not be President"

This is one case in which I hope Obama is correct.  Trump has ran for that office for many elections and is like celebrity divorces 5 decades ago: a mere publicity stunt and ego booster.  The people I'm most afraid of are the people who think Trump is Presidential material. 
   Many years ago George Wallace ran for President and the Prime Minister of England made the statement that American is such a great country that even a person like George Wallace could run for President but also such a scary place that a man like George Wallace might actually get elected.  Well, I feel the same about Trump.  He's a loose cannon.  Yea, he's cocky and thinks he has all the answers but all he does is spew the uninformed opinion  of the man on the street. 
   Obama claimed that all America needed to do was sit down with our enemies and talk out our problems and the Democrats ate that up.  Most blacks voted for him because he was black and Democratic regardless of what he claimed.  Well Obama found out what everyone else already knew.  One cannot sit down and reason with radical Islam nor can one negotiate with the likes of the leader of North Korea.  In other words, talk is cheap.  Reality is where we ought to live.   Much of what Trump says is based on our feelings and our frustrations.  Yea, building a fence   to keep the illegals out sounds good but who is going to pay for all that wire? 
   Half my neighborhood is made up of illegals.  Their yards are messy, they mistreat their pets, and they disregard local laws which, I suppose was okay in their homeland. but it really isn't here.  But Americans kill so many babies that if it wasn't for the illegals who would do the jobs they do?  The truth is the illegals are no more of a ban to our existence than the   Jews were to Hitler's Germany.    
Trump is using them to stir our emotions and cloud our judgement is much the same manner as Hitler did the Jews.  He is not the thinking mans candidate.

Halftime show

Seems like there is a lot of controversy about Beyoncé's halftime performance.  Things like that are one of the reasons I never watch the Super Bowl. 

Valentine's on the 7th.

    Have you ever tried to take your sweetie out to a restaurant on Valentines Day?  Long lines and impossible waits are the rule.  My wife and I stay home on that day.  Since her aneurysm she doesn't do well in crowds so it is best we not venture out that day anyway. 
  We usually go out to dinner after church on Sunday morning a couple of times a month.  Roadhouse express and a local Mexican Food restaurant are our usual places to dine but we had decided we would like a steak.  The best steak I've eaten was at the Texas Roadhouse in Hickory but that's too far to go.  There are some good places in Greensboro like the Outback or Longhorn but the trouble with most steakhouses today is that slap a piece of meat on a plate and call it a meal.  I'm sorry but I'm southern.  I like a potato and a salad with my meat. 
   I know there is a descent steakhouse in Randleman but for my money I'd rather drive to Archdale to the Pioneer.  I know most people think of the pioneer as a buffet place and it is and a second rate one at that.  Golden Coral has the best selection but Snyder Farms has the best food, by far.  The truth be told though, the Pioneer serves a good steak.  One gets your choice of baked potato or fries, roll or toast and a trip to the salad bar and the desert bar.   Most steak places give you a piece of meat and a hunk of hard bread and a sampling of butter.  The steak should be the center piece of the meal but  not the whole thing.   

starting the big push

   February is the big push to get the house completed.  What seems funny in a retrospective way is the fact that the thing I wanted most and that planted the idea for remodeling the house will be the last item to be installed. 
  Weather permitting, the driveway will be poured sometime this week and hopefully the windows and doors will be placed in the house.  The out building is scheduled to be delivered on the 18th and the cabinets are scheduled to be installed on the 23rd.  After this I have to call to have the range hood installed. 
  There are a few items I suppose I will have to fix at my own expense, like the sheetrock from the wiring but it will be totally worth it. 

All you can eat

  I still have tickets to the Pinto Bean supper.  Did I mentioned it is all one can eat?  Well, it is.  If you don't want to buy a ticket you can make a donation to the church. 
   You are welcomed to join us for our Valentine Dinner (couples only).  Spaghetti dinner with garlic toast and salad.  February 15th at 5. 

close call

I went to Hickory Tuesday with the need to spend $1901.42 to get the account down to the $2000.00 max but I only had one job left scheduled.  An electrician was supposed to move the stove plug 4 feet, a relatively simple job.     I know back in December I had the fuse box converted to a breaker box but the electrician doing that was not licensed and he told me that the box would not pass an inspection but he did wire everything back just like it was.  I never really thought any more about it until this job.  The electrician did mention it and would not move the stove plug if the whole job would not pass a building code inspection so I told him to go ahead. 
 So instead of a simple hour and a half job the electrician was there from 9 until 7.  He did rewire the outlets in the kitchen making sure one outlet was a GFI plug.  The bill came to $1900.00 so all that was left for me to do was go buy Mom the bag of Cuties she wanted  and I was done.  Just have to pull the bank statements and Mom can get her Medicaid.

Back to Hickory

Believe it or not, I haven't heard from the man I hired to pour the driveway.  It needs to be done this week.  I was finally able to get the checkbook balanced and I has more money than I thought so I'm going to purchase a storage building, pay for Mom's medicine and the driveway and I'm done.  Then I can notify David to get Mom's bank statements from October, pick up a form from the Bryan Center and deliver to the VA and my part is done as far as the money is concerned. 
  I'll still have to rewire the stove plug, be there when the windows are installed, the shed delivered, and the cabinets installed and hopefully the driveway poured.  Pray that the man does he job this week.