Still Rainy

There has been over an inch of rain through the last few days and now they are on the plus side. This has to really help the drought conditions. Now, if the farmers could get into the fields and all the planting be done, then some more gentle rain in the summer, it could be a decent year!

I talked to my son in Anchorage last night. His birthday is tomorrow and it is so hard to catch him with the hours he works and all the sports events he attends that his girls participate in, that I catch him when I can. Usually I have a warm fuzzy feeling after we get to chat but not yesterday. I feel that I have been here to long and gotten to hard. Must be that old RA feeling still working. But that is OK.

Going to try to get Mom to ride to Lincoln with me today. Wonder if she will. She needs to get out of the house but who knows. It will be OK if she does, but if she doesn't, I will go anyway and do a few more things.

Bummer

Went to an auction that had a goodie, albeit, damaged but would have brough in a few bucks. There was one other person there who had driven further than I had and who had deeper pockets that me! Anyway, the lies that fell out of his mouth, trying to get me off the piece were something else. He had parts of it at home and needed these to complete his set, and, oh, see how bad the damage is here..yada yada yada. Had I not been there he would have walked off with it to the tune of about $50/60. But, he had to write a check for $425.00. He was still telling lies when he left. About getting it home to his wife. By the time I got back, he already had it up on ebay for sale.

The Waiting Room

I was reading an article late last night that described the waiting process. The good and the bad. Such as waiting for a fish to bite, (they don't that day) venison to walk by, (nary a glimpse) and so on. The good things that happen while you are waiting. Relaxing, loving being out in nature, a soft shower. The bad things of which waiting for a friend who doesn't show up and you never see them again because death got in the way is a big one. And so on. We all can fill in the blanks but the line that struck a deep cord was the time spent "in the waiting room of my imagination." Being physically here has meant I spend way too much time there and I know the reality of my life will never match that waiting room time.

Pretty Morning

Thunder storms rolled through earlier on and now, ruffled, dark clouds speeding by to the south. The greens of the grass in the newly mowed back 40 just pop out at you. Trees are in various degrees of leafing out, creating a visual feast for the eyes. The wind is gusting, the cherry tree in full bloom, rabbits out grazing, all in all, a great morning. The rain is to continue for a while. I just planted some peppers, hope they don't get flooded.

And the coffee was really good!

Well, third time to try and get this blog to publish. I know they may be boring as hell but are my blogs and I want them to publish!!

Grrrrrrr. Going to try for the fourth time.

Smokin'

Did a combo today on the 7 & 1. Started off set up as a grill but put the chicken on the highest level and after it browned, added a piece of apple wood and smoked it. Put a very light coating of BBQ sauce at the end. Sure is good. Also baked a couple of DO's full of bisquits. Made potato salad so dinner almost done.

Sent my nephew an early morning invite but think he sleeps in late so don't expect him to make it.

Once more

mowed the back 40 and hauled brush to the dump. Going to have a chocolate chip cookie, shower and a cold beer in that order.

Mow?

Looks as thought the back 40 needs mowing again but the darned wind has been so strong the last few days I hate to get all that dust etc. in my face so will wait another day.

Today I will probably make a trip to York and get Mom signed up on a drug prescription program. She did not want to but I can get it pretty cheap so think I will exercise my DPOA.

As usual, not much happening around here. The usual small town stuff and gossip that annoys me and I don't get much of it, thank goodness.

Problems trying to drop the few pounds I gained on my trip to Texas. Want to make a trip in July but with the price of gas, just don't know.

Must be something good I can put in here. Oh, yeah, I know. When I fell on the stairs the other day, only got bruises and aches, no broken bones..Yeah !!!!!!! And the piece of glass I found at a little shop did make me a few $$. OK..that's enough good stuff.

A cautious WooHoo

Have switched over to DSL and so far, so good. Had to call them to do the finish up installation over the phone as my CD player (internal) does not work worth a darn and will eat a CD in no time. While on a looooooong hold they keep saying they were having server issues in this area, so who knows but anyway, getting online and moving around is a lot faster. An ebay chat room I use was down to about 30 seconds or so (sometimes ebay is having issues so that can mess you up) as compared to a normal 2 minutes to get it loaded up. The other deal is, the cost is about $7.00 less than what I was paying, so lets hope it works good!!

Good Stuff

My nephew did good! I will admit liked the pulled pork better than the brisket. He doesn't have that down yet. I am not sure just what the problem is. I've been wanting to do a brisket here but not just for the two of us. Maybe when the crew come up next month from OK City.

The jalapenos I fixed on the grill were appreciated by the chili heads.

Caught Again

But_Have_to_Go_to_Page2

Forget

what I just wrote about small towns!!! Went uptown to get an inline telephone filter, two places to check, neither one had them. Next bet, Radio Shack in a small town about 18 miles away. Called. Yes, they had them but were closing for a funeral BUT would be open tomorrow until 2 p.m.

Stopped at the Library, whoops, closed for Good Friday... give me a break..

An Advantage

to small town living (I know, I know, still don't like it) was getting the phone folks to finally re-do some lines. I was losing the ISP connection every few minutes when the wind would blow more than 10 mpr. They ran a new drop line from the pole at the house to a connection across the street. THEN, ran a new line from there back to their box about a half a block away and supposedly gave me a dedicated connection at that junction. The fellow who was suppose to be by sometime yesterday after this work was done to do a connection at the box on the side of the house did not show, though. Maybe today.

Staying online seems much easier now but the wind has not been whipping around. Time will tell.

ABC makes a "correction"?

but not over the air..

UPDATE: The Associated Press piles on with a story titled "Report Raises New Questions on Bush, WMDs." If you read far enough, though, you can figure out that there actually isn't any story at all. The only real news in the AP's account relates to the mis-reporting on ABC's "Good Morning America":

The Post did not say that Bush knew what he was saying was false. But ABC News did during a report on "Good Morning America," and McClellan demanded an apology and an on-air retraction. ABC News said later in a clarification on its Web site that Charles Gibson had erred. McClellan said he had received an apology.

Well, maybe. I couldn't find the "clarification" on either the main ABC News site or the Good Morning America site. In any event, what is needed is an on-air correction and apology, not an on-line "clarification."

from Powerline update.

She's At It Again

I thought Mom was over this but guess a leopard really does NOT change it's spots. My son called me late last night and he was happy to report some things going right at work for a change. That is a big change and it was nice to hear the difference in his voice. We were on the phone for a good hour or so and upon hanging up, I was wide awake so got on the internet. Mom has a lifeline set up and the unit blinks with a green light when the phone is being used. This unit is downstair on a desk. At around 1:30 a.m. I thought I heard a noise and walked out to the stairs and leaned over the railing. Now, it was dark and I could not see anything but I just stood there listening. Just below my feet she said "yes"...so I flipped on the stairwell light and there she stood, about halfway up the first flight of stairs. She had gone to the bathroom and had seen the light blinking so was "sneaking" up to see what I was doing. I have tried to tell her that it blinks when I am online but she doesn't understand what that means. I really had thought she would not try to climb the stairs in the dark anymore but once again, the ol' gal proves me wrong! Geesh!!

The Reasons Why

I don't believe what I hear on the Talk/New shows

or read in the newspapers. These fellows are pretty sharp!

A_Better_Chance_of_Truth

It Has Started

I had cranked up both mowers the other day to see if they would start and today was actually get out and mow. It was pretty windy and close to 80. Ran out of gas on the next to last pass. Thought I would make it but didn't. We are suppose to have a chance for showers and I decided that I better get the mowing done before it got waaaay to tall.

The cherry tree has some big ugly globs of sap (resin ?) on the truck. Think I need to call the county extension agent and see what it might be. That late snow/freeze stopped the budding process on the two fruit trees. If they are going to bloom this year they should start soon.

Mom back to her spying again. She gets flustered when I catch her. Today it did not make me angry. Must be the Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer Tea I've been consuming by the tons lately.

Beer Butt

MVC-030S
Originally uploaded by sfinds2003.

I finally set it up and got it to work! Of course this picture was taken with the smoker body and the domed lid removed. Right after the photo ripped, I mean, gently removed a wing to check it out..mmmm good.
The beer was a Bud, by the way.

Not Much

at the two auctions I went to today..If you had a shop probably could have done OK. The few nice items had chips. Did get to spend some time with the gal I met earlier at these auction so it was nice to have someone to visit with.

Stopped at a little shop on the way back and picked up a piece. Hopefully it will do OK.

Yuk

Something happened to the coffee pot this morning. Coffee and grounds everywhere. I cleaned it up and reset...coffee everywhere. Sitting here I think I figured it out but have to clean things up once again. Aaaaaargh May just walk to the convenience store for some coffee.

The wild ride in spring weather. Tornadoes in neighboring counties with some damage but no loss of life. Just some wind and rain here that did not last to long. Wind continues today.

Of course that means continued loss of my ISP. Just got kicked off again. Second time today. Lots of it yesterday. Very very frustrating.

Interesting Point

of view Right Here.

No Beer Butt Chicken

I had planned on fixin' a beer butt chicken tomorrow so went out to the garage to straighten things up and get the smoker set up. Well, wouldn't you just know it...don't have anything tall enough to do the chicken in. Even checked out the Weber grill. Just double damn. So, I've rubbed a tiny pork roast down with some Jamacian Jerk seasoning and will either smoke it or cook it off in a dutch oven tomorrow. I guess the good side is someday will buy something to do one in, downside is don't want to do it here and maybe have to drag it back to Texas. Will put some more thought into this and see if there isn't something I can rig up to work. "sigh"

This and That

A nice breeze from the south this morning. Coffee is good as usual. I see the black and white scourge of the neighborhood returning back from his morning forage and hopefully the rabbits are still safe. Of course my plans are to put a couple of pepper plants and maybe a tomato plant in the old yard urns later this week so my thoughts may not be quite so kindly towards the bunny population in the future.

I hear Mom getting the papers in and putting the tea kettle on. I wonder if my days will ever be so scheduled. She pretty much runs by the clock. I remember when Dad finally retired from farming and she was lamenting her lack of being able to "retire". Still cooking, cleaning, shopping and gardening. She finally settled on getting rid of the alarm clock that had governed their lives all those years. She said she might not be able to retire but would start her day "whenever". I think we all take victories where ever we can.

Spring Rain

The scent of spring rain
touches deep into some
primative psyche

A memory old as man
jogging the core so
briefly, softly

Evoking the pleasure center as
calmness and peace flood
all cells

And just for the moment
joy reigns here, now
ever eternal

The PJ Caper

Well, not really a caper but it sounds good.

I have a love/hate relationship with nightwear. I usually just say P.J.s or if I am really maudlin, Nap-Nap's from when the kids were little. As in, time to put your Nap-Naps on. I found the hate relationship early on and since the time when I could buy my own, the hate part has been gone. But it was hate when as a child I had to wear flannel nightgowns. Now, I know it was cold as hades (what an oxymoron that is) in the old farm house we lived in as a kid, but those damn gowns would twist around creating a hot spot around your waist while the rest of you froze.

I have gone from the frilly teddies, back in the days when there was a s.o. in my life to strictly comfort and mood. Comfort now can be a loose tank top with a pair of men's boxers (which are cheaper than the boxer style for women) to baggy T-shirts with equally baggy, well washed, soft athletic pants. Once again the male version that Puritan use to make. Have not found any for quite a while. Then the ever comfy scrubs. Think I have at least three pair.

The few times I want to check in with self, as in "self, are ya still sexy?" I choose a crop top over silk bottoms. Now to find a neat fella to appreciate all of this. Oh, well, such is life.

Number 48

Nebraska weighs in as the 48th state to have a right to carry a concealed weapon.

I have always meant to take the class in Texas over the past several years to get licensed but never got it done. It is still on my list of things to do. When I use to be on the road late at night returning to San Antonio I carried. Had an older van and always worried about breaking down.

I want to do it legally now but there is always the chance by the time I get back I may be too decrepit, shaky, and unable to hold a weapon much less fire one accurately. Hmmmm, back to the barbells.