Work Place harresment

Sometimes co-workers harrass a fellow worker just because he is a jerk and it has nothing to do with the fact he may be of a different color. Even so, that should not be allowed.

I do see racism at work but it isn't white on black but the other way around. Two black co-workers greet each other loudly and friendly and yet neither speak to their white co-workers. I see black males become very courteous and helpful and witty to a good-looking young white shopper and yet won't even look up when a pretty black woman walks by.

What this tells me is that this particular person is trying to raise their status in life by ignoring those they threaten their status and seeking after the ones who tell feel can improve their status.

It's all just normal human behaviour, some of which we should learn to live with and some we would be better off living without. But not all tensions between blacks and whites can be viewed as racial. Maybe it's just personallity clashes, or differences in values or opinions, or directions one wants to go or lead others too.

Which came first?

She was only seven when the two males took under under a bridge and raped her. They coulod have been grown ups or maybe just curious teenagers themselves but that day they took more than a little girls virginity. They took her innosense.

The first time she had sex for money was when she was fifteen. she lives in a run down apartment complex somewhere in Greensboro, now a women approaching middle age with a husband serving time for murder and no idea what to do with her life. "i should do something-I just don't know what?" she states.

She is stuck in a life she doesn't like and has no idea how to get out. She thinks her beautiful figure is a curse and does her best not to display it when she walks the streets. she is sad, lonely, confused and has little hope but much dispair.

Now which came first?: drug use to cover the pain of what had happened to her and the prostitution to pay for the drugs or prostitution to deal with the pain and feelings of worthlessness and drugs to cover the shame of being a prostitute.

c ustomer Service

Sometimes even when one pays a company to be nice to them, one doesn't get one's money wort6h. Like what happened with AARP. Then, out of the blue, one finds a company with good customer service.

My wife bought me a new processor and I wanted two opitcal drives which she said she ordered but it came with only one. I wasn't happy so I called HP and we went over my packing slip and order form and it seemed obvious it wasn't ordered. I thought HP had made the mistake so when the tech offered to sell me a part for $59.99 that I should have had installed for $20.00 I wasn't happy. I indicated that during the satisfaction survey and asked for a higher up to call.

Today one did. I explained to him that my wife ordered the part for me because it had been her mistake. The picture showed two optical drive doors so she assumed it came with two but it only comes with one. I exp0lained to the supervisor that I was initially upset to have to pay $60.00 and install the part myself when it could have been installed at the factory for twenty bucks but I trealized it was our fault.

He said he would split the cost with me and issue me a $30.00 credit. "But it was our mistake. You don't need to do that," I protested.

"No, we want to do that You have been issued a thirty dollar credit."

I appreciate good customer service Thatks HP.

habit or addiction?

I like my computer but not so much my cell phone. I don't mind talking on a phone as long as some one calls me. Just make it brief and to the point. But to actually make a phone call takes some nerve. Some times it takes days or even weeks for me to get up the courage. Sometimes, even if it is an important call, I back away from making it. like the recent I-40 incident I blogged about. I was upset the man was not arrested and e-mailed the police. All I have to do know is to drive up there or call to have a warrent issued for the man. It is too far to drive and I just can't get up enough courage to make that phone call.

A habit is something we do because we are used to doing it but there usually are no real consequences to not doing it. An addiction, on the other hand, is something we suffer from if we don't do it. Smaoking is an addiction. Trying quitting. The head gets tight and feels like it will explode. Breathing sometimes gets difficult, one gets nervous and short tempered, it gets hard to think, and the sensations seemed to get worse as the day grows long, day after day after day.

I get bored easily and I don't like regular TV. I can watch the history channel, or crime TV, or occasionalloy a good movie but most nights, I just don't want to sit and watch a glass tube in a plastic box. The computer gives the the opportunity to read, to explore, to research, to express my self, and to withdraw and relax.

No, it doesn't hurt my social life because I'm not really a social person. It's not my fault though. I'd love to have a friend to go fishing with or get together at ball games or backyard cookouts or whatever friends do. I used to have one many years ago.

No, the computer is a substitute for nothing better to do and far better than a TV but it is not addictive, nor is it a mindless habit.

For some though, a cell phone seems to have taken over their life. I would say a person has a serious problem when they say they would rather give up sex than their cell phone. But listening to their conversations (can't help it-they talk loude and they take everywhere) they really don't have anything worth talking about.

I actually did use my cell phone while shopping last week. I was shopping for my Mom and one item she wanted cane with too many choices so I called to confirm which one she wanted. That call was easy. I don't know why others are so difficult.

One man wants to write a book about his going four months without getting on a computer. I wonder if he lost weight too?

computer

Yes, my new computer is pretty, and fast too. Tested its upload speed at 1486, almost twice as fast as the average computer. But I am finding some short comings though. For one, I tried to create a backup disk and a standard disk doesn't have enough room and a memory stick has to be formatted, which the computer can't do. I tried to play some of my old games and the computer doesn't have free cell or spider so I tried to load a card game CD and the computer isn't set up to play games created when XP and such came out.

Also Windows 7 doesn't come with Outlook Express (I suppose one has to purchase Word to get that) but I perfer Open Office. The only thing I don't like about Open Office is one can't number pages on a document unless you number them one at a time.

Other than that, I am more than happy with the computer. I set my old one up in the storage shed. I can play my old games there and also write notes and etc but i have to come inside to look up any info. I'm gettin my wife a laptop and we hooked her old one to the TV.

ne thing nice about this computer is i can use a security software without dragging my computer to a standstill. I wonder how fast it would be if I testred it with security installed? Doesn't matter. It is fast enough.


Well, I'll be. After this post i was looking around playing with different buttons and I found free cell and spider.

Grandma Tolbert

I have no idea how old I was when I first meet her. It could have been the day I was born but I'm sure it wasn't long after that but my earliest memories of her began when I was in elementary school. She lived in the country in Burke County near Rhodhiss, North Carolina. Back then it seemed like a long drive from our house to Grandma's and once one passed the airport there just didn't seem to be life on earth until one reached her house. Actually there were a few houses along the way but they were few and far apart.

My Mom drove a '52 Ford, black of course, on our visits there and that is the route she took me on back when she taught me to drive. Narrow roads, one lane bridges and no traffic. Once I had managed to maneuver the car between the two trees in the driveway I had a great sense of accomplishment, although turning the car around presented its own challenges.

Grandma's house was small and was something she built along with Junior, her youngest son, right after her husband died. Junior was ten and I believe the other children had already moved out, married and were raising families by that time. The house had a living room, pot bellied stove, a couch, and a rocker. The kitchen was the largest room in the house and held a double sink, a wood cooking stove, and the kitchen table. The pendulum clock on the wall always seemed to keep perfect time and its tick-tock echoed through the house There were two bedrooms, a front porch at ground level and a back porch that required four or five steps to get into from outside; a wood shed, a storage building, a work shop,
and an outhouse outside.

Of course the house came with the requisite tin roof and had pale green tile for siding. The house was well built but had no insulation. Water was provided via a pump in the backyard and laundry was down in an old black pot which set near the old apple tree. When Junior would catch a opossum, Grandma Tolbert would skin it and drop it into boiling water. Once all the fat was boiled off the bones, lye was added to the water, stirred thoroughly, and allowed to cool then cut into bars, or cakes of lye soap. Bath time was done in a tin tub on the back porch until the late sixties when Junior and his wife Marie added onto the house and had running water and indoor plumbing installed.

Although Mrs Tolbert had little formal education she could read and write quite well and worked a regular job at Burlington Mills in Rhodiss. She and her family lived in the big white house at the bottom of the hill until her husband died. That is when she and her youngest son built the house she lived in for the rest of her life. she had a big garden, about an acre or so and raised a pig and some chickens. By then she was no longer holding a job so she earned money by doing work for others like picking blackberries. for which she earned a dollar for a tub full. She crocheted and made quilts and worked her garden, canning what she could to insure her family had food year around.

She grew strawberries, and beans, and potatoes, and corn, okra, squash, beets, tomatoes, peanuts, and about anything else that one can imagine. She worked that garden space, by hand, until she was around ninety. It was around that time that I discovered that she had never had her hair cut. Not even once, her entire life. She could stand on the end of it when she let it hang down. Mostly she wore it up in a tight bun.

In those long ago days, family and friends used to gather at her house on Sundays after church and they would be fed in shifts, men first, then the women and children. It was a good day for me when I was invited to eat with the men. I felt grown-up. Unfortunately, that was the last of the Sunday get-togethers that I ever had the pleasure to attend.

Ralph was the oldest boy and the biggest man that any of us ever saw back then. Mary was the oldest girl, then my Mom, then Nina, and finally Junior. He had an odd name, Oie, but he was always called either Junior or Tolbert.

Grandma Tolbert was a Keller at birth and the Keller clan was famous for having more digits than most people. I think I heard once that Grandma Tolbert had an extra finger but had it removed but I can't trust my memory on that. I do remember in my pre-teen days, I didn't like sitting around the pot bellied stove with the grown-ups because they just talked about the ones that were not there and I usually didn't know the people they were talking about. But when I got older, I began to appreciate the things Grandma had to endure in order to survive and make a life for her family.

Ralph was a truck driver, Nina was a seamstress and loved by people who thought they knew her but mean to the point of almost being evil to family, Margaret was a retail store clerk, Mary worked in a hosiery mill, and Junior worked as a parts manager for Ford where he celebrated his fiftieth wedding anniversary and his fiftieth year on the job at the same time. For the most part, they were good people, attending church faithfully and taking care of one another.

Grandma and I grew close and it was told that her desire to see me safe home from the war kept her alive when the doctors had almost given up hope. When I was in college, she wanted to give me a present so she bought a shirt for a dollar and wrapped it up for me. It was really special for Grandma never spent her money on presents for people--money was just to hard to come by.

The shirt was a short sleeve paisley print that was perhaps the ugliest piece of clothing I have ever owned and it shrank to the size for a two year old the first time I washed it. Even so, I kept that shirt for years because it came from her.

I knew something was wrong with her when I went to visit one Sunday after church and she was upset with Junior for leaving her at home for a whole week with nothing to eat. "He went to get some chicken and just never came back." she said. "I'm going to wop him upside the head with a broom when he gets back."

She did too. "What's the matter with you, old woman?" Junior scowled after she had hit him.

I explained to him what she had told me and he told me what really happened. One of the neighbor ladies told me she caught Grandma trying to chop down a climbing rose bush, thinking it was a honeysuckle vine climbing one of her trees.

It wasn't long after that when she was put into a nursing home where she quickly seemed to forget who people were. She stayed there for about two years before she passed at 94.

I visited relatives and made a video tape out of some pictures with the family telling stores about her in the background as a present for my Mom. I keep a picture of her close by for myself. Whenever I feel discouraged or tired, I can glance at her and think back on what she endured and hear her laugh and then I am encouraged to go on. I come from good people, the type of people we should all strive to be.

I-40 incident

The Morganton police contacted me today and said that I told the cops that I didn't want to prosecute. The truth is I was never asked. hell yea I wanted to prosecute. Some mad man chases me down jumps out of his car and tries to rip my door off, tries to break my window and then starts beating on the top of my car trying to get to me and scaring me badly deserves to be disciplined for such bad behaviour.

As a result of that incident I locked my keys in my car and called AARP motor club for help. At first I was told a locksmith was on the way and later I was told I was on my own as the locksmith was in a wreck and I would have to find my own help.

AARP later admitted they handled the situation badly and told me to send them the bill for the damaged window I had to break to get into my car.

Now they are telling me they won't pay for the window because I didn't have the tire repair option.

Like what the hell does tires have to do with this incident?

Cops lying and companies acting like morons. I guess everything in back to normal.

Ballot change

I had a thought that would make me feel better and I'm sure some other people would feel better too. In the next presidential election (way to far away to suit me) I would like to see another category added. On ballots we can either vote for candidate A or Candidate B or not vote. I would like to see another line added that would allow us to vote against a candidate.

In the last election I didn't want either Obama or McCain to be President and there was no way to "write-in' a candidate. I would have loved the option to have just voted against the one I least wanted to win. Somehow I feel it unfair that I am forced to vote for someone I don't like in order to defeat someone I like even less. Give me the change to express my displeasure and I will feel a whole lot better about the election process.

two for one

The strangers who pursued Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock appear to have been unable to separate them from the characters they played. Jacob Bernstein on the condition called "erotomania."

A writer who mentions Jennifer Aniston and Sandra bullock in the same sentence is, in my opinion, a great writer.

Investigated backwards

Army sergeant guilty of sex trafficking in Wash.
Published - Jul 24 2010 02:53AM EST


TACOMA, Wash. — A 27-year-old Army sergeant from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state has pleaded guilty in federal court to sex trafficking of a child and attempted sex trafficking of a child.

Prosecutors say Sterling Hospedales set up one juvenile in a Lakewood apartment to work as a prostitute and had a second juvenile flown in from Wyoming to do the same.

Prosecutors agreed to seek a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison, but he could get life.

The Army is dishonorably discharging him.

Lakewood police began the investigation in April 2009, when officers found out about a juvenile runaway from Seattle who was posting Craigslist ads that said she was a prostitute. The federal Innocence Lost Task Force then found that juvenile and a second girl.



Normally what happens is that word gets out that a woamn or girl is prostituting herself and the police arrest her and she is prosecuted. maybe jailed, and turned back out into the streets, only to be faced with little options but to live in the streets and become a repeat offender in order to survive.

These two girls were lucky that the cops knew what was going on before the cops knew where they were.

This is why I fight against the present system but no one cares or listens, it seems.

Mooresville woman 'blessed' after surviving lightning strike

The biggest area news is a Mooresville woman who was struck by lightning. She says she feels blessed.

One would think that someone who had lived fifty years woulod have learned that holding onto a metal pole with one hand and another metal objecxt in the other hand during a thunder storm is a recipoe for disaster. I believe the truth is some people don't have fifty years of living but one years worth of leasrning fifty times.

Explain to me: how does surving doing something stupid make one blessed. It's like God slapped her upside the head and said "Wake up stupid." That does not make her blessed or lucky. If she were blessed or lucky she would not have been struck at all.. If she had been smart, she would have had the clog fixed before the storm if she knew about it, or after the storm if she just found out about it.

Now the woman is not only in the news but in a news video. It is rare for a person to be struck by lightning but unless it happened to me during a situation over which I had little or no control, I certainly wouldn't be proadcasting by facing claiming I'm blessed after committing an act of stupidity. And she claimed she learned something. Still thinks she's special. But she not.

AARP Motor Club

I'm still a member and will probably stay a member as what I have read of other clubs, they don't seem to care any more than AARP does. I just believe they were wrong in my case. Not only that, but the marganton Police Department keeps telling me they are going to get back in touch with me and yet they haven't either.


Once a man's handshake and word was all one needed. Now, having it in writting seems like it isn't worth the paper it is written on.

Sherrod gets biggest 'I'm sorry' - from Obama

No conspiracy theory here but this is a made to order situation that makes whites, especially, conservative whites look really bad. I'm not going to start a discourse
about pride or prejudice. If you want to know my views on the subject, they have been posted before so you will have to look it up yourself.

All I am going to say is that no all white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) conservative southern in dependant fundamental pre-millennial country Baptists are anything like what we are portrayed to be. I understand the point the guy was trying to make: there are racists among those you live to expose and fight racism but with the lady getting fired and apologized to and all the media attention on this mans supposedly manipulation of the truth to suit his own agenda, it looks like things have backfired on him and whites again are portrayed as the purveyors of hate.

White people are just black people with less pigmant or different pigment, whatever the case may be, thae the sooner we all recognize that in reality, we are all the same, the better off we will be.

free Cell

After winning 267 straight games, I finnaly lost one. Too cocky, I guess.

Ray Criscoe's Follies

I had a good laugh at Ray Criscoe's column this morning, his wanting to blame the cops because he got a ticket for not wearing a seat belt, and wanting to exerpt that it is his right to not wear one.

That is a really good article and attitude to put on display for the citizens to emulate. We have the right to pick and choose which laws to obey, what the cops have to do to enforce the laws is far worse than what the law breakers did, the cops should have caught someone else because I'm not the only lawbreaker out here, bad things happen to other folks, and maybe the cops should be out catching the real crooks.

Well, the cops can't catch everyone so they started with you. Yes, you can have an accident on Dixie Drive even if you haven't had one in thirty-seven years, the cops were using thier blue lights--people should have more respect for the cops and just get out of the way like they are supposed too, and as a feature writer and leading citizen, you should be setting an example, not critizing others for doing their job.

i lost a friend when a minor fender bender at less than twnty miles an hour near her home caused her head to strick the rear view mirror on the temple. she died 8 hours later after attending school that day appartntly feeling fine the whole day. it's too bad they didn't have seat belts back then.

No, I'm not sorry the cops gave you a ticket and i hope you get caught every time you drive without one. it's your duty to obey the law and if the law if wrong then petition to have it changed. Until then grow up, be responsible, and place the blame squarly on the shoulders of whom the blame lies. A policeman's job is hard enough without being critized for doing their job by everyone who gets a ticket.

I believe everyone reading this blog (I'm talking to both of you) should cut out and mail to Ray Criscoe every article in which someone is killed or injured in an accidnet in which the article states "he wasn't wearing his seat belts." maybe one day Ray Criscoe will thank the policeman who gave him a ticket. Until then, I hope he starts acting more like a responsible citizen and exercise more care about the attitudes and opinions he shares with the easily influenced through his views in the paper.

Old Age

I get mail from funeral homes wanting me to invest in my burial, from hearing aid companies wanting to help me hear better, and now from the scooter store wanting to help me get around better. I'm not ready to die and i move just fine. my hearing needs help (I do wear hearing aids but that is due to my having been a ditty chaser in the service and to loud jet engines and gun fire from Vietnam, not my age.

True, my body hurts more and things don't work as good as they once did but the truth is, I can keep up with just about anyone over thirty and many under that age.

So please, don't anyone fel sorry for me because I'm getting old. A guy at work used to make off hand comments about my age until I asked him who would die first, a young man or an old man. He said the older man woud. I asked if he was going to die when he was young or old and he said he didn't know. "Well", I said ' if you died before i do, then that would mean you are older than I am. And i intend to outlive everyone here."

That was the last I heard from him about my age.

Page 2

Did you realize this blog has two pages? "Home" and "Look it up" are the page names and can be accessed by clicking on the words on the left hand colunm. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I dont have a counter on that page so I really don;t know if anyone has used it or not.

All-Star game

Because of my work schedule and my age I just can't stay up and watch the ball game even though I really want to see the national League win one. But really this post isn't about the game but the National Anthem, or rather what it means and how it is sung.

I doubt that little fat girl from Glee has any clue what happened the night Francis Scott Key was on that British War ship. He was there to obtain the freedom of captured Americans. The British pointed out the flag over the American fort and told Mr. Key that they were about to start a bombardment against the fort. "Now if that flag is still there in the morning you and the prisoners can go free. If not, you will become one of our prisoners and will be taken back to England"

Well the flotilla of British Warships opened fire on that little fort and shelled that place all night long. Mr. Key kept watch and in the darkness he couldn't tell if the flag was still there until a bomb burst over where the flag flew. In the morning after the British quit their bombardment, Francis Scott Key looked out at the flag and it was, still flying. torn, ragged, and burned but it was still there.

Freedom was won for the prisoners.

When they went into the fort, Mr. key was curious to how that flag had managed to not be knocked down. What he saw gave him the answer and testified to the bravery of the men there and their dedication to the new republic. As one man holding the flag was killed by a British shell, another would run over to hold the flag pole to keep the flag flying high. Francis Scott Key saw a stack of American bodies, each man with their hand on that flag.

Now when that song is sung it should be sung as a testament to those men and this country. This nonsense of putting a fancy twist on the last note is a call to self glory and disrespectful to what happened during that battle. There is nothing wrong (and everything right) with singing that song as written,

I fought my war for this country gladly and as a volunteer when people were running to Canada and protesting and shaming the men and women in the Armed Forces. Once I learned what that song means, I would stand proud and salute the flag when ever I heard it played.

I firmly believe if that fat little girl and others like her that want to personalize that song had to don a military uniform and wear it into battle for this country and when all seemed lost, hearing that song played and knowing that the battle is won, would never again even think about singing the Star Spangled Banner is such a way as was done to open the All-Star game.

Fish Pond surprise

I had a problem in my upper pond so I took my goldfish and her baby out of the pond and put them into the lower pond so I could locate and fix the problem Today, while grilling some burgers, I thought I would check the pond to see if I could glimpse the little goldfish. To my surprise, I spied several bsaby koi. These are the first koi to have been born in one of my ponds.

Not to say fish haven't been born in my ponds. Two years ago I had 11 goldfish and they gave birth to over three hundred. But these are the first koi. Now I just have to figure out which is mommy.

lawmaker responsibiities

I have a question and I would like for it to generate a lot of discussion because I believe it is one that should be discussed. I vote for people to represent me at local, state, and federal levels. We have this system in place because it is too difficult if every issue was voted on with public participation.

Our system in American has evolved into mainly a two party system mainly so a voter can choose a party that more closely represents how they feel or think about an issue or set of issues.

On the national level, we actually don't vote of President but we bote for members to the elctroal college who in turn for for the President. We expect that if our state voted Democratic that the electoral college representative will vote for the Democractic candidate but by law he doesn't have to. While not legally obligated to vote for the winner, if he didn't on a consistant bases, there would be an unrising and that system would be overturned.

For argument sake, say Candidate a was elected to represent us. She is a member of the Smile party which happens to be the party you like. An issue come before the branch of congress she serves in and is an important and controversial issue.

You have strong feelings on the issue and you let a know how you feel. Most Smile
members feel as you do. However, the majority of voters from your area are not Smile members but belong to the Frown Party.

The Smile party will approve the legislation if certain changes are made to it but you are opposed to the legislation on any grounds while Frown members want the proposal passed into law as is.

Now should a vote against the legislation because, as your representative, that is what you elected her to do, should she vote along party lines, or should she vote for it because the majority of people in her district favor passage or should she ignore everyone and just vote how she personally feels about the proposal?

What, exactly, is her responibility her and what do we really expect from or representatives?

With Friends like this, who needs enemies: A perfect example

NM man set on fire after losing drinking bet
Published - Jul 10 2010 05:05PM EST


LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A 47-year-old man's friends set his prosthetic leg on fire after he lost a drinking bet, causing him to suffer severe burns to his buttocks and lower back. Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies found the man naked on the side of U.S. Route 70 with his prosthetic leg in flames. Deputies learned that the man and his friends were drinking Monday and bet that whoever drank the least would be set on fire.

The man told investigators that at six beers, he drank the least, and agreed to let his friends set him on fire.

He said his friends ignited his prosthetic leg, and the flames spread to his body.

The sheriff's office said the man took his clothes off because of the pain and his friends decided to take him to the hospital. But they got nervous and instead dropped him off on the side of the highway.

The man was taken to a Texas burn treatment center.

___

Debbie's passion

As one can tell from my blog's, my passion is things that grow, especially vegatation, and I prefer fish to other kinds of animals. Debbie's passion is things that fly, in particular, song birds and butterflies.

The blue flame

My water ponds have hatched thousands of tadpoles from eggs to frogs but everyone I have seen have been brown, except one.

Click on pictures to enlarge

Water hyacynth multiple rapidly (I started with only three and now they cover almost the entire surface of the pond. (14' x 14').

A closeup of a hyacuth bloom. The blue in the middle looks like a blue flame.

A rare picture of myself. I don't know if I have ever posted one of myself before and I may never again.

it's Hot.

Safelite Auto Glass Repair

I prefer to give Mom and Pop locals my business whenever I can but sometimes they are so way over priced I have to do business where ever I can. Recently I needed a hole nail and I checked at Lowes and they wanted $31.00. I checked a local dealer and he wanted $51.00. I lucked out and got one for free from my mother in law.

More recently, I needed a side vent replaced on my car so I checked with some local dealers. I prefer to do business via e-mail because I am hard of hearing and I can't wear my hearing aids when using a phone. i depend a great deal on seeing a person talk to determine what they are saying. Safelite was the only company that would give me a quote over the internet. Everyone else either called me or wanted me to call them. I don't amswer the phone unless i know who is calling because it is difficult for me unless i know someones speech patterns.

i did ask my wife to call some of them back yo get an estimate of the repair costs. As it turned out, Safelite ewas the least expensive plus they came to where I worked, fixed the car there, cleaned all my windows and vacuumed my car.

"Grandma" may give you a free windshield, but sure as hell can't beat great service.

Surprise.

I had no idea the Greensboro Police monitored blogs but they do. Wow!

News shorts

At Senator Byrd's funeral, one speaker, a female, told the story of the health care legislation vote when Senator Byrd said "This one is for Ted Kennedy," then she started to cry like what Senator Byrd did was so noble. Actually I might have been moved if he had said. "This vote is for the American people," but that would have meant he was voting agaisnt the bill.

One question that has been debated is how much of the oil spill has been siphoned off each day?

Actually, there isn't an oil spill in the gulf, and no oil has ever been siphoned off. "How can you say such a stupid thing?" you may ask.

Simple. It isn't a spill, it is a leak. To siphon, the discharge end of the hose, tube, pipe, whatever has to be lower than the source. That isn't the case here.

Ranking of Presidents

A list of Presidents from the best to the worst just came out and to illustrate how lame it is, two Presidents who were assassinated in office and one who died were ranked higher than Bush. It doesn't surprise me that he was ranked low on the list but in my opinion he was much perferred to Jimmy Carter. Obama was ranked 15th which is a big joke to me.

I assume that the rankings have more to do with a President's ability to get done what they set out to do than the wise decisions they made because as far as saving America or making this a better place to live, Obama falls way short of a quality President.

I saw a 1 minute poll asking who would make a better presdident, Hillary or Sarah, is a joke. Hillary win never be a candidate for President and I dout that Palin will be either.

After

(click on picture to enlarge)



This is our new shower. It is 60" x 60" or large enough for me to sneak in and steal the soap and not be caught.

If the Bates Motel had showers this large, the famous shower scene might have not happened because the lady in the shower would have had room to run away and hide.

For bargin hunters

Two web sites you need to check out if you are a bargin hunter, Ibe is Woot(the original) and the other is DODtracker.

Woot is an advertiser which offers one bargin everyday and each day the bargin is different. DODtracker is a site that lists the deal of the day from a goodly number of Woot offshoots so one doesn't have to check out fifty websites.

Be cautious and don't buy something just because its a good deal but one never knows when you will find that item you need at a great price or that perfect gift for someone on your gift giving list.

Bathfitters update

Bathfitters arrived this morning at 8:00 to begin work on our bathroom remodel. They immendiated started working to remove the old fixtures, took an hour for lunch, finished the job by just a little after five, cleaned up inside and out and were gone by 5:30.

They spread tarps over the carpet, did their cutting outside, and di an exellent job. The only things missed were two pieces of plastic about the size of a gallon freezer bag, that the wind had blown away and they didn't fasten the basement door.

I lack the time but I will send a picture of the finished work soon.

If anyone wants a bathfitter job, please give them my name.

Bees in the yard

It seems that Bumblebees have been busy this year, taking over the jobs that honeybees once did. Besides the obvious differences in size and color between the two bees, there are some similarities. Both bees build hives and produce honey. However, their lifestyle is totally different.

Honey bees build larger and larger hives and tend to stay with one hive for years. Sometimes a group of honeybees will swarm, breaking away from the hive and starting a second one in another location. Bumblebees, on the other hand, only stay in groups of around fifty bees and build new hives every year.

Both bees do pollinate fruit and vegatables. which is good for people like me wwho have gardens. I have three kinds: flower, water, and vegatable.

Before

Tomorrow is the big day for the bathroom remodel. We are having the garden tub (pictured) taken out and a shower stall installed. If not the largest, it will be close to the biggest shower stall put in by bathfitters. It will come equiped with a built-in seat.

Spies are more common than you think

One is left with the feeling that it isn't believed that this woman can be a spy because she is so pretty. Exactly how ugly does one have to be to spy? Seems James Bond and all the beautiful women and transexuals weren't too pretty to be spies in the movies?

Jack Kennedy dated a spy, from Russia no less, and I'm sure she was very attractive.

Spying isn't all cloak and dagger stuff.
And it isn't limited to people with certain looks.

Did the police actually see this?

Man, 81, accused of machete chase near taco stand
Published - Jun 29 2010 03:20PM EST



SALEM, Ore. — Police said an 81-year-old man was arrested after he chased another man around a Salem taco stand while armed with a machete. Salem police said Monday the man accused the taco stand owner of stealing a drill from his nearby business. When the taco stand owner denied it, the suspect left and returned with a machete.

Lt. Dave Okada said the suspect chased the unidentified man around the stand several times before officers arrested him on accusations of menacing and attempted assault. He was booked into the Marion County Jail.

There were no injuries in Sunday's incident.


I was attacked by a mad motorist two weeks ago and the police could not make an arrest because they didn't actually witness the attack on me. Made me feel real safe.
___

An idea

Back in the day when i was running the streets of Greensboro gatering information for my book "Queen of Southgate" I had observed actions by several Greensboro Police officers that didn't seem to be part of their job. I also heard rumors about other cops, particularly one cop who was a central figure in "Cops in black and white" a series of articles written by Jerry Bledsoe that appreared in the Rhino times and covered his investigation into the firing of the Poice Chief of Greensbor, David Wray.

During that investigation I was interviewed by a reporter for the Greensboro news and Record and i gave her the names of two policemen I suspected were involved in shady dealings and that information was rwisted and used to trick David Wray.

It appeared to be apparent that there were some shady goings-on within the Greensboro police department yet with the exception of questionable violations and cover-ups of some minor department policies, nothings substantial was investigated with vigor.

I was reading a story I had read several times before and never really thought there was a connerction but now I'm not so sure. An excerpt from this TruTV story is as follows:

"The connections both Bryant and Vance had made would prove useful in the formation of "Executive Protection, Ltd.," a private security service that they started with Thornton. The business, nicknamed "The Company," was in actuality a front for a large-scale drugs and weapons smuggling enterprise. Bryant, the brains of the outfit, used his connections to obtain and manage the capital they needed to run the operation. Thornton, the logistics coordinator and pilot, arranged the transportation of the goods, mostly marijuana, cocaine and guns, flown from as far away as South America back to Lexington, where the cargo would be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars to dealers throughout the region. Finally, Vance would serve as the inside man, tipping his colleagues to any official investigations into The Company's activities, for which he would receive a significant cut of the profits. To assist in their expanding operations, the men also "recruited operatives, drawing from a pool of former police officers and drug agents from various state, local and federal agencies," Sally Denton wrote in her book The Bluegrass Conspiracy: The Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs and Murder."

Thorton was a former narcotics officer and Vance was an investigator for the state
police.

Could it be possibel that there is a more organized group involving some Greensboro cops as there were in this story about "The Company" and not just a small group of unrelated rogue cops as suggested by all the stories that came out during this time.

I suppose without legal proof of concusion, one dare not even hint as such stuff and dare not to even think of names of possible suspects.

Such thoughts would make for an interesting story, if one had the talent to write such things.

Smart Ass

Hey Joe, I'm a smart ass too: and proud of it.

rors weigh Chicago cop's word against 5 felons

These accusations have persisted for years and the tales are consistant over time. Looks, walks, talks, and smells like a duck.

Shame but it's a false honor. Not the first time. There was a recent case in which a high ranking police officer, a female cop, was arrested and convicted of murder. She had killed in a rivalry for a mans affection. Just didn't like to lose.

News Shorts

A young mother took her two year old with her when she went to visit relatives in Henderson (located in Vance County, about 40 miles north of Raleigh). The two year old accidentally shot himself when he picked up a loaded gun left on the kitchen counter.

That's why I don't allow children in the house. I believe they should be outlawed but if we can't do that, maybe we can kept them locked up and under control so they don't hurt anyone or anything. It seems they are always in to something that they shouldn't be. it's a shame a man just can't kept a loaded gun anywhere in the house without some brat trying to play with it.

In other stories, some about the President, Barrack Obama (in case you aren't sure who it is), has suffered some set-backs. A judge ruled against his ban on off-shore drilling in one case and in another, a provision for the government to control the auto industry was stricken.

Not to worry, these are just a few minor bumps in the road to the governments take over of the American economy. I know some of you just don't believe that and he's counting on that. Even though he hasn't made it a secret many of his followers just haven't recognized the truth yet.

The changing of the seasons

June 20th is the last day of spring and the first day of summer. June 21st will be the first full day of summer but the 20th is the first day.

This spring has brought much rain, plenty of vines on cucumbers, watermelons, cataloupes, pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes. In my garden, I have been picking tomatoes for 2 weeks, cucumbers for over a week, and have cataloupes the size of, well, cataloupes. My first watermelons appeared on the vines today even though the vines strength like forever.

Blackberries, one of my favorite things to eat, are plentiful this year and early. I've already picked three quarts and the crop hasn't really began to turn from red to black yet.

I always thought that a blackberyy was a blackberry was a blackberry except, of clourse, for the blackberry that is a dew berry but it turns out there are more than one kind of blackberry just like there are more than one variety of just about everything else, including people.

The Ice plant

A great ground cover plant that spreads quickly, growns to only two inches high, needs little if any attention, and is easy to transplant; just stick a piece in the soil and it will root itself in a couple of weeks.

Comes in three colors, white, yellow and the most popular purple.

Feature Story

http://www.storyhouse.org


A short story I wrote many years ago is the feature story on the home page of storyhouse.org. The owner of the site says it is one of his favorite. The story is labeled as fiction but it is more truth than not.

Am I crazy?

If I pay a company to provide a service and they fail to do so, am I crazy to expect them to pay for the consequences of their fraud?

Bold face Lie

"Friendly, Knowledgeable Customer Service

Our friendly and knowledgeable auto glass technicians and customer service staff are dedicated to providing you with fast, quality service - at your convenience. Right from the start - our customer service representatives will answer your questions, handle the details with insurance and get your vehicle scheduled for in-shop replacement or mobile in a manner that is easiest for you.

You can rest assured when a Kimble Auto Glass technician begins work on your vehicle:"



They won't even respond to a request for a quote via e-mail or by phone. Sucky way of doing business. AARP auto club is about to get on my last nerve too.

Want to do business with a good company, try Ames Tru-temper tools. My Mom has a 2-prong hoe (strawberry rack) that is at least twenty years old and works as good as a brand new one. I bought one a few years ago but the head came loose. Ames is sending me a brand new one and all I did was ask how to fix the one I have. That a good way to win a customer for life.

Miley Cyrus: 'I'm not trying to be slutty'

It just comes natural.

Teetering

That is my new word meaning to go grocery shopping particularly at Harris-Teeter.

Excerpt

"The report includes the story of an American girl named Harriet who ran away from home at 11 and was pimped out by a man in his thirties. "The police arrested Harriet when she was 13 and charged her with committing prostitution," it says. "They made no efforts to find her pimp." She was sentenced to 18 months' probation, even though she wasn't old enough to legally consent to sex.

That story is one of many horrors recounted in this mammoth document, a compendium of the trafficking situation in just about every country in the world. According to the report, which measures trafficking for both sex bondage and forced labor, 12.3 million people are trapped in modern slavery worldwide. Yet across the globe, only 4,166 trafficking prosecutions were successful in 2009, suggesting that the vast majority of perpetrators are operating with impunity."


In many cases street prostitutes are criminals but in many cases thet are victims.

The justice system has a two-fold purpose and that is to punish and correct. Too often the emphasis is placed on the punish part without any effort to correct the errarnt behaviour. We need a better system.

I-40 incident, follow-up part 1

I did receive a response from the captain of the police department in Morganton in which he said

" I can imagine that the incident you described was a very harrowing experience for you. I don’t know all of the facts of the incident but for most misdemeanor offenses an officer cannot make an arrest unless the crime occurred in their presence. It may very well have been that the officers were unable to make an arrest. I will pass your email on to the watch commander that was on duty yesterday so that he may look into the facts and respond back to you. Thank you for taking the time to make us aware of your concerns."

A response

Putting a bow tie on a pig doesn't change the pig into a cow and neither does putting gloves on an unsanitary worker make that worker clean. The health department does not require food handlers to wear gloves. What the health department does require is that a food handler wash their hands before beginning work and after all breaks, after smoking, coughing, sneezing, or eating, after all bathroom visits, and that the food handlers wash their hands or change their gloves after handling uncooked foodsand before handling ready to eat products, and when changing from working with one species to another. Following that procedure will eliminate cross-contaimination.

The biggest concern in the food industry for illness prevention is temperature control and proper storage. There isn't anything a person can do with an ungloved hand that he can't do with a gloved one.
Some employers require their workers to wear gloves but that is a company policy and not one required by law.


Dale E. Sperling

talk about poor English

"The kitten known as Two Face brought the animal to the vet shortly after it was born on Wednesday because its mother refused to"

That is a real sentence from a MS MBC story. I think there is an opportunity for some recent college graduate.

June 12, 2010: the I-40 incident

June 14th is Mom's 85th birthday but I have to work so I decided to pay her a surprise visit on the 12th. When I was just a wee lad I used to picked swwet pea blooms for her and on this day I saw some growing beside the road so I picked her a nice bouquet of sweet pea blooms.

I had purchased her a pineapple cupcake from "Cupcakes to go" in Randleman (they were nice enough to put it in a sturdy brown box to protect it during the long trip). Honestly, the girls there are just as sweet as the cupcakes are. I took along with me her birthday card and a pack of party favors, the little horns that unroll and toot when one blows into them.

I sang Happy Birthday to her, she blew out her candle, and she just laughed with joy over our little party. She was happy.

I needed to go to Old Fort and hang a "For Sale" sign on my property (anyone interested?) and just as I was approaching Morganton a vehicle overtaking me to my left threw a can at my car, hitting it. I Called the highway patrol and gave them a description of the incident and the vehicle involved and while on the phone the van exited at exit 104 which is the exit that leads to the highway patrol station.

"My good fortune" I thought. Not so. When the van stopped at the traffic sign, a passenger, a big burly man, got out of the van and walked back to my car and started pounding on it. After five or six hits, he walked back to the van which took off across the intersection back to I-40.

The van then took the next exit (103) and then my call was transferred to the Morganton police. The van then pulled into a service station and I pulled in too but kept my distance. The burly man got out of the van and walked back to my car and tried to pull my door open. He then struck my door glass with his fist three or four times and then attacked my roof. He walked off just as two police cars pulled in.

One officer spoke to me and then spoke to the passenger. As the officer was walking back to me, the passenger got back into the van and they left. The officer told me that he told the man he needed to find a better way to handle his problems and that there was nothing he could do about the incident.

Throwing an object at a moving vehicle (called launching a missile) is illegal as is littering. Since the object throw was a large empty can of beer he could have been charged with carrying an open container. Certainly putting me in fear of my life and limb is an assualt. And I believe the dent on the top of my car is damage to personal property.


I had a taste of what it is like to be a minority as the attacker was Hispanic and the clerk at the service station was Hispanic and was hostile towards me. Excuse me for being an American!

To add insult to injury, I locked my keys in the car along with my wallet which contains my spare key in case I lock myself out of my car. My car was running.

I called my travel club and got a lady with a heavy accent which makes it doubly tough for a person who is hearing impaired. One has to remove ones hearing aid to talk on a telephone or cell phone. She couldn't find the Citgo station on her GPS locator although she did find the Exxon across the street. I finally convinced her to send the guy to the Exxon station and then tell him to cross the street to where I was.

That call took about thirty minutes. Forty minutes later help had still not arrived and I was getting hot, tired and annoyed. I couldn't buy a drink because my wallet was in the car. Ten minutes later she called back to inform me that the help was involved in an auto accident and would not be coming. She had no one else to send but I could hire my own lock smith, pay out of my own pocket, and send them the bill.

That's not what I pay dues to an auto club for.

I had twenty dollars, a cell phone with a low battery caused by trying to give her my location and the aforementioned incident. I do not carry a credit card and I only had a $100.00 in my checking account, probably not enough to get a locksmith out on a Saturday evening to unlock the door of a stupid motorist.

I decided to find me a big rock. Seems like an easy thing to do but it really isn't. Ten or so mighty whacks later, I gave up. Finally a man came over and he offered to break the glass. He grabbed my big rock and it didn't work for him either. So he went to get his hammer. After five whacks he looked dumbfounded at the still shinning piece of glass before him.

"It might be easier to just push it out" he suggested and he placed the hammer head up against the glass and pushed. The glass shattered.

I thanked the man, opened my car door (at least the car was cool) and took off to finish my mission.

After hanging my signs, I stopped for a bite to eat and noticed the lady behind me had a fresh dressing on her hand.

"Just come from the doctor"? I asked.

"Why yes, how did you know?"

"The dressing is perfectly clean and professionally done and by the way you are holding your hand I can tell it is a recent injury. Operation or accident?"

"Accident. I cut it on a piece of glass"

"I thought I was having a bad day" I said "but I wouldn't trade mine for yours."

I sent an e-mail to the captain of the police department in Morganton, NC to protest the way the incident was handled but i have a feeling I'm cursed with whatever malady Dr. J has when dealing with our legal system. I have a long list of horror stories but you don't want to hear them and I don't want to tell them anymore. It's kind of like asking a soldier just home from the war what it was like. He just doesn't want to relive the nightmares.

It happens to be a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy I can relate to.

I arrived back home safe and sound at a quarter to midnight. All and all, it was a good day. I sent the morning with my wife, made my mom happy and got my signs hung, and it wasn't me who had nine stitches from a nasty cut to the main hand.

Life is good and my grass seed finally sprouted and it rained.

Things could be worse: Ask a soldier or a homeless person.

Memorial Day

It wasn't love of country or a call to arms that caused to to enlist in the US Navy in 1968, a year this country was bogged down in Vietnam. The Vietnamese War was a time that changed America while giving birth to the drug culture. No, my enlistment was the result of a disagreement with my father. My girlfriend at the time was a Texas beauty from a small town named Yokum near the Mexican border who was Catholic. I doubt that the problems this relationship caused could have been worse if one of us had been of a different race or if we had been of the same sex. Her family was just as opposed to us being together as was my family--perhaps more so.

It wasn't as if my parents would have tried to keep us apart even though they did make their displeasure known. What brought about the rift with my dad was my refusal to attend the same church we had gone to that Sunday morning. It seemed the pastor there believed the Pope was the Anti-Christ and shared that view in that mornings sermon. That view didn't set well with Sandra and embarrassed me.

I was given the ultimatum to drop out of school and come home right then or I would be drafted. It was only a few weeks later when I received a latter instructing me to report for duty on December 30. 1968. The draft ended two days later. Rather that go into the Army, I "volunteered" for the Navy, a fact constantly thrown into my face whenever I objected to some action of my "superiors".

I was good at my job and quickly rose in rank to an E-5 but I was never military. I once held hands with another sailor and skipped down the middle of the hanger bay while aboard the USS Midway (A WWII aircraft carrier, USS 41), argued with an officer about whether being under a covered walkway was inside or outside, called for a meeting to protest treatment of minorities in my division aboard ship, was hauled before a commission of the Admiral, the Captain, and six other officers to determine if I was a subversive for requesting additional work, and earned more awards for my work that I ever could figure out how to arrange the medals for.

I hated being herded about like cattle to the slaughter, being stuck in a system that was more evil than those of the governments we were opposing, and watching as others were mistreated for the enjoyment of others.

I hated even more the day the plane crashed on board the ship killing some friends of mine and injuring scores of others. I'm sure their experience in the military was far different than mine, there reasons for joining more noble, and the satisfaction of their job much greater than mine, but I'm also positive they didn't want to die.

Vietnam was a difficult war, not only because America didn't fight to win but because of the attitude of the American people. I can't say if my friends joined the service because they were drafted, because they volunteered to avoid the Army, or because they believed in American, or just because they were not cowards who fled to Canada, but I do know they were good men with lives and hopes and dreams and plans that did not include dieing that day.

Each one of us had our own reasons for being there. Decisions that seemed the right ones at the moment or were forced upon us without us having a viable alternative. but it was our own decsion to be where we were on that fateful day. We all did our jobs and did them the best we could. There were no slackers for each of us knew that every job was important and ever detail needed to be attended to, for the lives of many, including our own, depended on every thing being done right. It didn't matter if it was flying the jet, frying the eggs, or cleaning the bathroom, we had to keep each other safe and healthy for our own survival.

Were the men who died heroes or in anyway special? No, not among their peers for they were all just doing their job. In many ways. all men and women in the service are heroes and special, and especially those who served in Vietnam because it took a lot of guts to volunteer for such an unpopular war and how soldiers and sailors were treated by the american public.

For those who died, I hope it was painless and quick and for those who survived, thanks, for neither will ever be forgotten.

That day, with the flight deck littered with carnage, the ship, with its seven thousand sailors and marines, and all our escorts and supply vessels, were at grave risk. Without our ability to launch a plane in defense we were an easy target for the enemy. Without the dedication and training of the men on board, many more lives could have been lost.

Thanks to all service men and women in every branch of service, in peace and in war, for what you do and for what you risk.

4167

Free Cell game 4167 is a toughy, and the moves needed to clear the first row are gutsy but once that is done, it is clear sailing to victory.

First of the Year

June 10, 2010, was the day I had my first tomato sandwich of the year from my own garden. I believe the tomato was a Celebrity which I have found to be a really good tomato: round, about the size of a tennis ball or baseball, with a pinkish-orange skin and lots of flavor.

The sandwich was excellent.

First Tomato

My garden looks good this year what with the warm weather and recent rainfalls but this is still early June and I've never expected a ripe tomato before July but there is a nice big one that is turning already. Three or four more days and it will be ripe enough to pick. That first tomato sandwich of the season is coming soon. Wow!

Another believe it or not garden story is blackberries. I actually picked a dozen or so Monday. They were nice big sweet jet black blackberries. I love blackberries and they make the best homemade ice cream. I have dozens of little cantaloupes on the vine as well as some nice size green peppers already.

It's been two years since I've eaten out of a garden (with the exception of a few small scraggly tomatoes I planted last year) due to my move last year. I miss my peach trees. The store bought peach trees don't seem to grow very fast nor have they produced any fruit yet. The tree I purchased last year doesn't look any more like a peach tree than when I planted it and is no bigger than that either.

The ones I planted from seed at the apartment reached six feet tall and produced a bounty crop after only a year. Even though I have grapes on three out of four vines, there are probable only a dozen or so grapes total. The vines are growing fast this year so maybe in 2011 I'll have vines big enough to provide me with some tasty treats.

But for whatever bounty my crops provide me and my family, nothings is more anticipated nor appreciated more than that first ripe tomato for the year's first tomato sandwich.

Bumper stickers and electricians

Yes, I can connect the two. i recently purchased a storage shed and had it wired for electricity. I hired Interlandi Electrical, LLC from Browns summit, NC to do the work. Nick seemed like a nice guy and was punctually, Informative, and competent to do the job.

He was right on time to begin work, took care of the building permit for me and completed the work on time. The only trouble is, he didn't do it right. He should have known the building codes before beginning a job but he ran the wire under the house sans conduit because he thought my brick foundation precluded him from having to do so. It didn't and he had to come out a second time and do the job right.

Now he wants me to cover the extra cost of the conduit.

It's only $50.00 and the man did work for 6 hours on a four hour job and I will cover that expense for him but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

I won't use him again just because he had to redo the job and wanted to to cover his a... I was the one inconvenienced: the inspector and I.

But I have light and outlets in my shed now that work. I'm glad about that.

Oh, yea, the bumper stickers. I've decided to decorate my out building with bumper stickers. Find a free one and want to donate it to me, I'd appreciate it.

Taps by Dr. J

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/

She has a tribute to service personal on her blog site. I served 36 moths over seas, including multiple tours of Vietnam. It was the only war in which service personal went as individuals and returned as individuals. Most of us have never been thanked or appreciated. Whenever I meet a Veteran, I always thak them profusely for their service. I know what they gave up and what they risked for their country.

On memorial day I put my flag out and I had my cook out, like most Americans did. But I remembered my friends who never lived long enough to have a wife or to see their children grow up, or even to come home one last time.

I didn't agree with Vietnam either but I did my duty as an American citizen. Never have heard anyone that the cowards who ran off to Canada. To tell the truth, the vast majority of Americans were opposed to the American Revoluntion. I don't hear many wishing we were still Bristish citizens.

If you are american, be strong, be proud, and above all, be thankful.

Bathfitters

Garden tubs look nice, especially6 on TV where one can view a beautiful woman taking a bubble bath in one with candles lining the tub and with a glass of champagne in her hand. The trouble is, almost half the time, that lady becomes a murder victim either while in the tub or shortly after she gets out.

I have one. I have never used it. Soon, I'll have the largest shower in Randolph County, maybe the country, in a private home. It will be the largest one installed by bath fitters, or at least they say it will be. They want a picture once it is installed.

It is surprisingly affordable, considering. If you ever get anything from them give them my name. I could use the $50.00 referral fee.

In a way I feel guilty. It seems that several of my neighbors have had to forsake their house because they could no longer afford to make the payments. One neighbor keeps their food in a cooler on the back porch until they collect some insurance. It's a shame they can't afford to go ahead and purchase a new refrigerator. One neighbor has to use an old push mower because he can't afford to get his riding mower fixed or replaced and another neighbor cut is grass with a weed eater. Times are tough.

In the last month I purcahsed a new mower, a new grill, and large out building which I just had wired for electricity and now I'm having my bathroom remodeled.
I feel fortunate to not only having a job but to be able to buy stuff as well and not go into debt doing so, especially after Debbies knee replacement surgery and both our expensive dental work.

Six years ago I lived in a one bedroom apartment with a park bench as a couch and two folding TV tray stands pused together as a dinning room table. My bed was a fold away and my dresser was the laundry basket.

I had seeing people struggle but I've been there, done that.

If you said no while kissing me, I wouldn't believe you either.

Gurney's attorney said the woman only recently said she had sex against her will, after making earlier sworn statements that didn't mention that allegation. Maj. Gwendolyn Beitz, who is leading Gurney's defense, repeatedly asked the woman whether Gurney had used any threat, force or restraint as they had sex.

She responded that he hadn't. She said the encounter last year began when she stopped by his office at lunchtime and they began kissing, which they had also done in earlier meetings. He took off his shirt and began taking off her blouse, she said.

"I just kept telling him no," she said, then testified she wasn't sure how her clothes were removed or how she wound up having sex with Gurney against a table.

"I didn't want to have sex with him," the woman said. The Associated Press is not naming the woman.

The Death Pond

I have two water ponds. The smaller one sits above the larger one and gives the appearance of flowing into the larger one. This spring I discovered only three of my five fish in the small pond made it through the winter and last week I discovered two of those were not doing well so I transferred them to the larger pond and bought 10 feeder goldfish to replace them with. All ten died within two days.

Last year three birds drowned in the pond along with several frogs, including one that tried to consume a bird, which frogs aren't supposed to do.

I am planning on having the water tested to determine if there is a water problem.

I put up a bluebird house a few weeks ago and a bluebird family quickly moved in and before long there were eggs, or maybe just one egg, I'm not sure but there was only one baby bluebird. Yesterday the parents kicked baby out but it was too scarred to fly so I picked it up and placed it back in the nest.

Today when the electricians came to wire my shed I discovered the baby bluebird in my trench so I put it back in the nest again and was promptly attacked by one of the parents. I hoped all would be well, at least until after the workmen were finished. But alas (yes I really used the word alas) the baby was again kicked out of the nest.

It was the lasted victim of the pond of death.

Patience

I have the bread, bacon, lettuce, and the Duke's. The recent rains have done wonders for my crops and now I can just wait patiently for nature to take its course, now that I know there is a good possibility there will be something to eat coming out of this garden this year.

I've lived in Guilford/Randolph Counties for the last 25 years and have never experienced weather conditions anywhere else like I have here. One year we have a drought, the next year it can rain so much that plants drown.

Who knows. This could be the last rain we see all summer. Then again, it may rain continuously for the next month or two.

Nevertheless, it does appear I'll get at least one sandwich out of the garden this year.

Ann Curry apologizes for mixing up her Wheatons

How much does this woman make per year? Mixing up institutions is an honest mistake but for some one who is actually going to a place to give a speech should have paid much closer attention to what she was talking about.

In case you didn't catch the story, Ann Curry was invited to give the graduation speech at Wheaton College in Mass. and she mentioned distinguished graduations from Wheaton College in Illinois.

If she can't get her facts straight when she is personally involved, how can we be sure she knows what she is talking about otherwise?

Maybe she should talk with Dan Rather about fact checking before speaking.

Ground Cover

In the first picture you can see a yellow flower on the right side of the picture. The leaves of this plant are thick, waxy looking circles and the flowers are a yellow star with a red border. The description on the tag of the slowly spreading ground cover plant says the flowers are supposed to be "star-shaped pink and white" flowers. The pink and white is one of the reasons I picked up this plant.

The bottom left photo is a shot of my bamboo plant. I have a rubber liner surrounding the plant so it's growth is confined to a certain area.

The upper right photo is of my purple ice. Last year when I planted it, it was the size of a 12-oz drink cup so it spreads quickly and is easy to plant in other places. Just grab a hand full and cut from the main plant, stick it in the ground where you want a new plant to be, throw some extra dirt around it and water. new this year is a yellow ice plant which hasn't bloomed yet and is still only as big as that 12-oz drink cup.

The last photo, the one on the bottom right, is Lamb's ear. It is a dull greenish gray in color but has tiny deep purple flowers on the tops which bumble bees seem to be attracted too. (As with all the pictures you can click on them to enlarge).

Next year will really be exciting after the plants finish filling in the water fall mound and my new plants get big enough to show themselves off. I've planted candy tuft, grape hyacinth, and lily of the valley on the pond bank just above the
bog garden.

I sure would like to see some pictures of what other folks have done in their yards. The plants in the front flower bed should be showing themselves off soon.

One neighbor and I swap plants from time to time. Maybe some of you would like to join in and share some of your favorite plants?

Vacation

One of my favorite ways of enjoying time off from work is to stay at home and do those things that you say you want to do but never have time. This year my wife and I went fishing in the new lake in Randleman, took in two baseball games, had some friends over for a cookout on my new grill, went to Raleigh for the pig picking and bluegrass festival (mighty good barbecue, mighty good) and plan on taking in a production at the barn dinner theater this afternoon.

I also got some work done. I'm having my new playhouse wired and I dug the trench. It's a narrow hole, eighteen inches deep and about thirty feet long. If I had to pay to have it dug, it would have cost me $400.00 or more whether it had been hand dug or a trencher used.

It's a good thing I look at digging as a good form of exercise. Really, it wasn't that bad except for the rain. I dug about half the trench on Thursday and finished the rest yesterday after having to pump the rainwater out of the trench. It seems that working in red clay for a two day job is a sure way to make it rain.

News from the home front

I have been rewarded thrice this year by my Iris. First, the flowers in the regular garden bloomed, then the Iris in my water garden. Now the Iris in the bog garden are blooming.

One thing that amazes me about that plant, besides the beauty of them, is the fact they have two ways of propagating. Below ground the plants have rhizomes which grow larger each year and the larger it gets, the more flowers that grow above ground. The Iris also have a bulb that appears just below where a flower bloomed. The first time I saw one I thought the plant was diseased but that growth is a seed pod.

Service magic

I needed some electrical work done so I sent my request via Service Magic. To my surprise my phone was ringing before I even logged off the site. I scheduled an appointment with three companies and they came out as scheduled, looked the job over and gave me their edtimates.

The first to arrive was a very nice man with a good personality. He checked things out and to ld me he would sent his estimate via e-mail later, which he did. He did the least amount of looking and checking, asked only a few questions and was gone.

The sencond one to arrive went over everything with a fine tooth come, asked lots of questions and I never thought he would leave.

The third was a Yankee and charmed my wife. He was a cross between the first two men. Tall, good looking with his yankee-Italian accent, he asked questions, checked everthing out, offered suggestions, and stayed and talked to us. He was entertaining. He called back shortly after he left with an idea he had.

The three estimates were close, within $25.00 of each other, which I was surprised about.

As far as the three men I would feel confident hiring either one of them.

Racial profiling?

A woman from Michagan is Miss USA. She may be deserving on her own merits but she is discribed as Arab American and it is the Arab part that seemed to be the emphasis of the story. I wonder how much her heritage played in her winning the crown?

While we are discussing political correctness how many of the leaders of unfriendly countries has Obama actually gone to visit and talk with? I suppose reality serves as a real check against campaign rhetoric.

Americaq has always been touted as the land of opportunity yet when someone who isn't white and of European background does something unusual their native country is added to the American part. Take Obama for instance. If he was born in america then he is american. If he was born in Africa and was naturilized then he would be Africn-American.

The Miss USA would be Arab American only is she was born in Arab (there really is no such place, is there?).

Spotlight

The spotlight case of trutv.com has a North Carolina connection: Mike Nifong.

Confusing

Samples of bad writing by professional journalists abound, like the following example:
"Northwest Flight 255 stalled after takeoff and crashed onto a highway just after takeoff from Detroit. All six crew and 148 of 149 passengers were killed, as were two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a 4-year old girl who was found strapped into an airplane seat by a volunteer firefighter."


The way the sentence is written indicates that the firefighter strapped the sole survivor into a seat which doesn't make for a whole lot of sense. More likely, the survivor was found, strapped in a seat, by a a firefighter.

Some of the more common samples of bad writing occurs in crime reporting. It's amazing what people were shot with and where they were shot. One story reported that the home owner shot the burglar in the kitchen. Exactly what part of the body is the kitchen?

Fortunately, in most cases, the reader can determine what the writer meant even though that isn't a good excuse not to write properly.

NC 5th out of fifty

The Most Corrupt StatesNo. 5 North Carolina (photo: Gerry Broome, AP)5 of 10Public Corruption: 36
Racketeering & Extortion: 22
Fraud Rank: 1
Forgery & Counterfeiting: 7
Embezzlement: 2

Recent Scandal: Kalu Kalu and Martin Ifeani Iroegbu of Raleigh netted more than $12 million in a Medicare fraud scheme, but they acted more like old-time grifters than seasoned criminals. The team, doing business with legitimate-sounding company names like Enuda Healthsource and Universal Medical Supply, would give presentations at homes and churches, obtain Medicare numbers of unsuspecting patients, and then send prescriptions for unnecessary medical equipment to patients' physicians for signature. The physicians would often nullify entire prescriptions, but the grifters charged Medicare for the medical equipment anyway. Kalu was sentenced in March to 90 days in jail and was ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution.

Source: The Daily Beast

Read Story: The Most Corrupt States

Computers are not private

The recent arrests of two local men in child porn cases should serve as notice that computers are not private. Every computer has a unique "address' just as a telephone has a number so a call can be directerd to that particular phone, a computers address allows information the user seeks to be directed to the particular computer being used.

Pleae also be aware that people lie alot on the internet. In one case a 48 year old man pretended to be a young man and used a picture of his friend. He corresponded with a young lady named jessica and was building a relationship with her. The man who climed the younger guy was his son and also a marine, would keep in touch with Jessica, relaying maeesages between her and his son. When the man's wife found out about the ruse she contacted Jessica. Jessica contacted a person Montgomery had mentioned in his emilas and discovered the other person was the person in the photograph that originally attracted her. She stareted a correspondence with him and when Montgomery discovered that he shot and killed the younger man.

In wasn't until his trial for murder did he discover that the beautiful jessica was actually a fat 45 year old woamn poseing as her daughter.

There really isn't a thing as anonomous on a computer.

That's how police tracked one serial killer. Tauting police, he sent a map to where they could find a victim's body. Tracing the map, police learned that only one had been down loaded by area resisdents in the time frame indicated and tracing that computer, an arrest was made and a conviction gained of a serial murderer.

And let's not forget the resent Craigslist killer. Sure, the internet lead him to his vicxtims but the internet also led police to his door and the jury to the conclusion he was guilty of robery and murder.

Dysfunctional families

I was unfortunate to grow up in a dysfunctional family although I am sure there are worse families than mine but that really doesn't make me feel any better.

My younger brother does quite well for himself but I have no idea what he makes but I'm sure it is enough to make most doctor's jealous. My older brother makes about 2 1/2 times what I do and he gets along fabulously with the younger one. Me? I never got along with any of them. Still don't even though I try.

My mom will turn 85 next month and although she only ate cottage cheese and tomato wedges since I started the seventh grade and she no longer eats anything since turning 82 she still looks like a little beach ball with a face. I drive 200 miles round trip once a month to take her grocery shopping. Although she usually spends between $300 and $400 each month the sweets she buys are for company. Strange because she claims no one ever comes to see her.

Anyway, foolish me became concerned because last year in fell in the yard and laid there for hours before she got help and two weeks ago she fell in the house and it took her three hours to pull herself unto the couch. I suggested that maybe she could move to Randleman and leave in a hoyse just a few houses away from me. Since she has always objected the tought of spending any money on an apartment I suggested she might purchse the house outright and bank the difference she would make from the sale of her house. 'Oh, that would be wonderful" she exclaimed and she shed a few tears of joy.

"Of course, I'd have to talk it over with your two brothers first."

That was Thursday May 6, 2010. I e-mailed my two brothers and sent them pictures and vitals on the house so they would know what Mom was talking about. On Saturday the eighth, I received a letter from Mom saying that she was going to stay in Hickory because she would miss all her friends and it was too far for them to come and visit and too costly for them to call long distance and she would miss the memories of the house she lives in now and her brother who ony visits her on holidays and her doctors, none of which does her any good, she claims.

On Sunday she talked to the older brother when he came for Mother's day but only because he brought it up just before he got ready to leave. I got an e-mail from my younger brother saying that he thought Mom should sell the house but move into an assisted living facility but in Hickory, not Randleman.

Today I received a letter from my Mom saying she had never intended to mention my idea to my brothers, she would never consider moving from a brick house into one with siding, and that she could just as easily get someone from the church to take her grocery shopping if it was too much bother for me.

My concern was trying to take better care of her and to see to it that she was not left alone for long periods of time.

Now i am being accused of trying to make things easier on myself and to enrich myself by having Mom sell her house.

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

Showa

Best shot yet of my fish "Showa". It's harder than one would think to get a good shot of a fish.

Iris garden

This Iris garden in on the left side of my home and less than half of the flowers have bloomed so far. I also have my water Iris, both in the water garden and the blog garden. Those are different colors, mostly a lavender to combinations of purples and yellows. Hopefully they will bloom soon.

Relaxing by the pond is so peaceful, especially since i have added a fountain to the pond as well as my waterfall. The waterfall mound is filling in with ground cover plants nicely.