Thots from the BToS

Bella Boxer Snorer

2012-01-23T06:53:00.002-05:00

Bella Boxer is still raising hell on my 43 year old carpet. But that's not what this post is about. Bella Boxer lays close by in the evenings when we gather to watch a movie or a TV show that everyone enjoys. The other evening, I heard someone snoring.

There are two known snorers in the house, both male. I admit it, I snore and very loudly at times. As you know, until my daughter and family started staying here with me while between houses, I lived alone. I have been able to snore all I wanted the past 11 years with no one to complain about it. My daughter reminded me a couple of weeks ago that I can be a pretty loud snorer.

Son-in-law is also a snorer. So when we were watching TV and I heard snoring I just assumed it was because son-in-law had dropped off to sleep in the chair, but his eyes were glued on 'Body of Proof'. I listened a little more and realized Bella Boxer had become Bella Boxer Snorer!

There you have it, we now have 3 snorers in the house, 2 male and one female.

JD, snoring loudly here in the BToS

PS - Carpet is giving up quickly to Bella Boxer's strong thighs and sharp claws. Maybe it time to take her to the local nail clipping joint.

It's Another "Ally McBeal Monday"

2012-01-16T11:14:00.013-05:00

Santa displayed his kindness this year by delivering Ally McBeal to me...well not really Ally herself, but the DVD set "Ally McBeal - The Complete Series," all five seasons of Ally McBeal on a 31-disc DVD set.

You're right, Ally was a long time ago starting in fall of 1997 and running through 2002, 112 episodes. Man, that really was a long time ago...I was still working, had just entered my 60s and still feeling a bit spirited; unlike being an old retard today.

I thought about other DVD sets I have and how difficult I found it to watch all the episodes, even of shows I loved like Northern Exposure. In the case of Ally, I decided to make Monday evening "Ally McBeal Monday."

If you were an Ally McBeal fan, I don't have to tell you how great it was to watch the pilot last Monday night and how much I enjoyed it. Tonite the journey continues. Let's see 112 episodes spread over 112 Mondays. If I don't get carried away and rush it, I should get to the finale around February 24, 2014.

Don't poo poo me, I know I can hold schedule and succeed in this journey. If you've read many of my blog posts, you know just how much I luv road trips and this one is great on the BIG SCREEN TV...luv it!!!

JD, feeling young again here in the BToS

PS - You're right, I was the Santa that arranged for the DVD set from Costco. Whatchagonnado when others just don't know what to get you for Christmas. :-)

PPS - I'm even subjecting my daughter's family and Bella Boxer to Ally McBeal as long as they live here with me. So far they're enjoying it, altho Bella Boxer seems more excited about gnawing on her chewy bone and wearing out my 43 year old carpet.

PPPS - Ally McBeal Monday was a mix last evening. Episode 2 had a glitch about 2/3 way thru on the DVD. Fooled with it for about 10 minutes and ended up watching episode 3 too. Man I'm already ahead of myself here and cut a week off my schedule, new finish date is February 17, 2014.

Ron Paul Bumper Sticker

2012-01-13T08:59:00.006-05:00

I made a small contribution to Ron Paul by purchasing 10 bumper stickers. Well made and simple to install with no bubbles. They're much nicer than the Build a Sign stickers I had made during the 2010 Maryland election.

JD, literally chilling here in cold and windy BToS

Maryland Legislative Session 2012 Begins Today

2012-01-11T22:06:00.008-05:00

Maryland Governor is a Democrat.
Maryland Senate is run by Democrat majority.
Maryland House of Delegates is run by Democrat majority.

Hence; Maryland will cut little, if any, in the way of spending. Maryland will raise taxes and usage fees significantly to provide funds to cover current expenses plus added spending on Democrat supported upgrades, enhancements, etc. for the State of Maryland.

We all know this is fact with the only question being "Just how much can we wring from Maryland tax payers and still sound like we're improving life for residents of Martin O'Malley's Diverse State of Maryland."

He runs the state just like he does his band; smiling all the while he's picking your pocket.
JD, checking what remains in my bank account here in the BToS in the central portion of the Diverse State of Maryland.

PS - After posting this I read news of the opening session. O'Malley is already looking to raise the Maryland sales tax by almost 17% this legislative session (increase from $.06 to $.07 tax per dollar spent). Maryland's sales tax just went up 20% in 2008. And they wonder why so many folks shop the internet to bypass Maryland sales tax. Wonder how long we'll be able to take advantage of that???

Get There Quick or Enjoy The Roadtrip

2012-01-02T08:16:00.007-05:00

Are you one of those folks who always hurries to your destination when driving your vehicle; or are you the type that just lays back and enjoys the sights and the ride?

I tend to be the latter. I've always been that way. For most of my working career, my work was only 3 miles from my house. Now that's an easy commute. No need to be in a hurry, just roll into the parking lot and stroll in to work.

I did have a period back in the late '80s and early '90s when I worked closer to BWI airport, which was more like a 12 mile trip on what I call the 'Big Roads', better known as interstates. With normal traffic, it was about a 12 mile/20 minute trip.

I'm not a Big Road kinda guy if I can help it, so I would typically allow 30-35 minutes and take a more leisurely route along older local roads both to and from work. The distance was about 1 mile shorter with much more to look at and fewer 'In a Hurry' drivers. It was kind of a laidback trip each way.

Yesterday I took a short run to a rental property that my daughter and I own down in the Fenwick Island, DE area. The drive is around 250 miles round-trip. I was cruising along at a comfortable road speed and it occurred to me that when I was a kid back in the late '40s/early '50s, our family had just gotten our first post-war automobile and that we always seemed to be taking quiet Sunday afternoon drives to get some ice cream.

I think those laidback Sunday afternoon drives to someplace different each time were what laid out the pattern for my driving habits. I'm seldom in a hurry when I'm driving, especially on a road trip. When I actively rode my motorcycle, I did the same thing; hence the 'laidback' pattern personalized license tag on the bike.

Road trips should be fun; why rush, enjoy life every minute of every day. Make all your local journeys a road trip.

JD, here in the BToS resting up from Monday's road trip to the beach house.

PS - Might end up selling the ol' Valk come spring...just don't ride it enough to keep all six carbs clean any more. I bought it new just over 10 years ago and have only ridden it about 800 miles in the last 2 years. Talk about high cost per mile for insurance!!!

Is Shampoo Wasted on a Buzz Cut

2011-12-29T15:25:00.005-05:00

I don't recall that I've ever had my hair cut quite this short, but I do enjoy having what used to be known as crew cut, only mine is usually a bit shorter. At my age one of the things I like about short hair is getting out of the shower, toweling off and forgetting it. No muss; no fuss. For an old guy, that's good.

I've found that another benefit of really short hair is that I no longer need to purchase shampoo and hair conditioner. I figure there's hardly any hair up there anyway and my scalp has the same skin that's on my face. If Dove soap is good for my face and body, including private parts, then it's likely good for my scalp also.

Plus Dove doesn't dry my skin; thus it also doesn't dry my scalp. One bar of soap does it all and shortens the time required for a complete shower. What more can an old guy ask, not much.

I'm also the kind of guy that doesn't like low-flow shower heads, so I have a normal flow model; it's quick and efficient and if I'm cold, it quickly warms me up. All in all, short hair, soap and a lot of water make for a fine shower.

JD, clean with no dandruff here in the BToS

PS - This post was prompted by my son-in-law whose hair is almost as short as that in the foto and still likes shampoo...whatchagonnado with these young kids today!

Do you work between Christmas and New Year?

2011-12-27T07:46:00.009-05:00

Click image for original credit

I ran across this foto earlier today while pondering my old habit of working during the Christmas/New Year holiday. It reminded me of the way things can be for some folks during those typically quiet days.

I worked for the federal government that provides annual leave (vacation time) by the hour, a given number of hours being accrued each bi-weekly pay period. The federal government's leave year usually ends at the end of the first pay period that falls into the new calendar year. They also have a cap on the number of vacation hours you can carry into the new leave year. If you have too many, you lose the excess.

The typical government employee wants to carry over as many hours of leave as possible into the new leave year for many reasons which I won't explore here. The basic behavior pattern is for the government employee to save much of their leave until the final pay period of the leave year and schedule days off around the holiday break; thus gaining maximum annual leave carryover. It also provides a leave cushion should emergency leave use be needed late in the year.

Typically little high-priority effort is scheduled during the holiday break, so it becomes a good time to go to work and have the flexibility to "do things you want to do". Some folks need some quiet time for completion of tasks while others just like to come to work to lay back and enjoy the peace and quiet.

I was the type that liked to work during the holidays for that very reason. Life was kind of laidback for a week. If an extended lunch was needed, it was easy to schedule. With flexible working hours a person could tune the day to fit their needs. Being in a laidback environment also allows folks more time to get acquainted with others in the work area.

While I truly enjoy retirement, I must admit that I do miss certain periods at work and the quiet holiday stretch is one of those.

JD, enjoying retirement here in the BToS

PS - I may have gotten into the holiday work habit when the kids were small and accompanied their mom and grandma on mall trips to shop and return 'stuff'. :-)

JD's Christmas Pup - Originally posted 12/17/08

2011-12-24T13:27:00.002-05:00

This foto, taken in the very early 1950s, is of a happy time for me. I was an innocent youth and Cookie and I were ready for Christmas, a happy time of the year. Cookie had no idea what Christmas was, she only knew that she was getting an awful lot of attention. She was even inside the house, probably because it was too cold for her to stay outside on Washington Street in the BToS (Big Town of Savage).

As a kid, Cookie was our sole pet. She was a blessing for an only child with two working parents; she wasn't a sibling, but she certainly was a pal. It was really nice to have someone waiting with anticipation each day when I came home from school. Cookie was all excited and would run with me three houses up the street to visit grandma, all the while sniffing and chasing anything that moved, including those noisy automobiles. There weren't very many cars in the BToS back in those days, but Cookie just knew if she could bite that thing it would stop all that noise and smoke around town.

In those post war years before development, the BToS was enclosed by woods and the Little Patuxent River, and Cookie loved to go off to the woods with me. She wore herself out chasing critters and loved nothing better than cooling off by lapping up some water from the river. She'd watch those little sun perch swimming in there. I don't think she ever caught one, but it wasn't because she didn't try like the dickens. She was a persistent little pup. Those fish would flitter off as fast as she could bite the water.

I don't think Cookie knew what dog food was; if she did it was later in life. It's my belief that she ate whatever we ate, only she got her's after dinner. Table scraps were the mainstay of her diet. Wait, I do recall an occasional can of really bad looking dog food that daddy got at Storch's store up on Baltimore Street. I don't know how Cookie could eat that horrible smelling stuff, but she definitely woofed it down. I wonder if today's pups are more picky about what they eat since we've upgraded their lifestyles from outdoor dogs to indoor family members?

As I mentioned, Cookie loved to chase cars. One day she got a little too close to one of those doggone things and the rear wheel ran over her. She couldn't survive the blow and died shortly after. Cookie was about eight years old at the time. My father dug a grave down back behind the garden and Cookie was quietly laid to rest with no marker. I can't remember, but given the 'girly boy' I can be at times, I probably shed some tears. Cookie was a treasure. I loved that pup. Our little family never got another one.

There have been two other dogs in my life, Bridgette and Kipper. But I'll save their stories for another day.

JD

PS - When the foto was taken, Cookie had been with us for a couple of years and wasn't really a Christmas present for me that year. I post the foto and tell my story about Cookie for a couple of my email friends that question whether I ever really had a pet, given my current reluctance to get another. To those 'Internet Buddies', I am working toward a new pup, but it's different owning a pup today than it was 55 years ago.

No Politics until Jan 2, 2012

2011-12-21T22:08:00.004-05:00

I am officially not following any politics for the remainder of 2011 and Jan 1, 2012.

If The Senate can bail on outstanding issues after sending The House a bill knowing it would fail, then it's obvious that the Dems and our President don't really care and only want to blame the GOP.

Then it's OK if I bail on politics for a while. I'll review the situation in January and decide if I really want to waste any more time on politics or not. I think all I do is support the organizations and media companies that relish politics. Without fools like me buying in, they'd all fail.

I'm outta here...

JD, here in the Big Town of Savage

Ron Smith - Lives on in our memories

2011-12-20T07:39:00.011-05:00

I visited the WBAL website last nite just before going to bed around 11:30 and saw he'd died. I turned the radio on after getting into the bed and listened to others talk about Ron. I seldom, if ever, listen to radio while here on computer (too distracting), but I am listening to WBAL this morning as they discuss Ron's work and character.

I've really missed his weekday 9-12 AM presence for the past couple of months and his phone-in gigs to his Ron Smith Show just weren't the same. I have to acknowledge that my interest in politics has dropped significantly during that period. Ron provided me with much needed 'reason' after listening to Rush Limbaugh during the early 90's. I think Ron Smith was the guy that got me reviewing Libertarian doctrine. His comments just made so much sense and in many cases were opposite mainstream party politics of the day.

I support Ron Paul's basic doctrine and much of that is due to Ron Smith's influence. It 's natural that knowledge gained during the course of one's life forms the basis for late life decisions. Ron Smith's work on the radio has affected my later life political opinions and I certainly appreciate it.

JD, missing Ron here in the BToS

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun wrote an excellent review of Ron's life story which can be found at the York Daily Record.

PS - Yes, I am an AM radio kinda guy. From here in the BToS I can enjoy 630, 680, 980, 1090, 1280 and 1430. Younger readers likely have no idea what I'm talking about, but older folks like myself recall AM radio affectionately.

Bella Boxer and 43 Year Carpet - Vertical Blind Incident

2011-12-18T08:13:00.007-05:00

Bella Boxer is winning the battle with the 43 year-old carpet. As I detailed in an earlier Bella Boxer/Carpet Report, Bella Boxer has become an indoor exerciser up and down the hallway between the bedrooms and the living room.

Worn, high wear spots on the carpet are now becoming tattered with holes beginning to open where Bella Boxer gets her best grip. Her claws digging into the bare carpet netting gives her superb grip and she tries her damnedest to go faster each time.

Bella Boxer also enjoys charging up and down the stairs that connect the entrance foyer to the upper and lower floors of my split-foyer style house. About 2 weeks ago, Bella Boxer was feeling particularly zippy. She zoomed down the stairs and toward the sliding doors in the back of the rec room.

The rec room floor also has 43 year old cover, in this case tile. Bella Boxer tried to change direction before hitting the sliding door, but it was not to be. Her feet tried for traction but came upon a scatter rug, which immediately folded up as she slid into the metal vertical blinds on the door.

I heard the crash all the way upstairs in the kitchen. Bella Boxer isn't a light-weight dog and the vertical blinds now display the effect of Bella Boxer crushing them. Bella Boxer ran back up the stairs as though she was terrified of a Grizzly Bear and hid in granddaughter's room.

I did my best to straighten the blind, but it still harbors a significant bruise as testimony to Bella Boxer's destructive collision. Bella Boxer, a skitterish dog to begin with, is now even more skitterish to unknown situations, and maybe it's just my imagination, but she seems to keep her distance from the blind on the sliding door.

My list of needed house upgrades continues to grow from the wear and tear of Bella Boxer. Carpet and vertical blinds have also moved up a bit in priority.

JD, here in the Big Town of Savage wondering how the Christmas tree will survive Bella Boxer on Christmas morning.

PS - I prefer 'skitterish' to 'skittish' even tho the on-board dictionary continues to highlight it as needing change. Just my old fart ways showing again.

Forever Stamps - Price going up in 2012

2011-12-09T09:17:00.005-05:00

January 22, 2012 USPS first class, 1 oz, letter postage to increase approximately two and a quarter percent, or one cent, from $0.44 to $0.45 each.

I don't know about you, but I know a bargain when I see it. I went down to the local BToS Post Office yesterday and bought a pocket-full of 'Forever' stamps at $0.44 ea. I'll tellya right now that doggone price hike ain't gonna bite me in the butt come 2012.

These 'Forever' first class stamps can be used forever for mailing letters. I am set for a long, long time when it comes to stamps. Shoot in 2011 alone, I must have mailed at least 8-10 letters.

I'll tellya, you just can't be too careful when it comes to stocking up on 'Forever' items. Maybe I can stock up on Jiff Peanut Butter too before the price goes crazy, or am I too late on that one???

JD, looking good for stamps, here in the BToS

PS - What's this Food Stamp deal that a lot of locals get anyway, I might have to look into that too. I mean, heck, a penny here and a penny there, pretty soon you're a millionaire.

Thick Soup - Daughter says it's Stoup

2011-12-06T09:07:00.005-05:00

Mine resembles this pot

Every once in a while I get the urge to make a pot of beef tomato vegetable soup. My soup tends to end up being a bit on the thick side rather than watery.

My elderly neighbor, who's around 93 now, likes vegetable soup and will occasionally eat a bit of mine when I share with her. Only problem is that neighbor lady is 'old school' and a watery soup kinda gal. Hence; when preparing soup to share with her I try to include more of the 'juice' than would be typical of my normal ladled bowl of soup.

My daughter's family is living here with me while between houses. Saturday afternoon things were kinda quiet and I had the urge for soup. I rooted thru the freezer and found a large portion of fresh chuck roast. My 11 year old grand daughter came into the kitchen and asked what I was doing.

I enlisted her in the soup making process. As I browned the cubed chuck, I had her drag a chair up to the pot so she could see the process and watch my excellent browning technique. I let the browned beef cool while sauteing the onions, celery and carrots and asked her if she'd like a taste of the beef. She's kind of a picky eater, surprisingly, she said it was good.

I had her help while I assembled the rest of the soup ingredients and after it had cooked I let her have a taste of it. She actually said she liked it. I figured that she likely felt vested in that pot of soup since she had helped make it. At least that's my theory and I'm sticking with it.

This batch was typical of my soup and kind of thick. My daughter came into the kitchen and advised me that Rachael Ray's name for thick soup was Stoup, cross between 'stew' and 'soup'. Indeed, Google confirmed her Rachel Ray Stoup story.

By the time Sunday nite came around the stoup had matured after a day in the fridge, so I heated it up and cooked a frozen Kirkland cheese pizza with my 'thick cut' pepperoni slices for dinner. So there you have it, Sunday dinner was stoup and pizza.

JD, eatin' leftover stoup here in the BToS

PS - No way could I share this batch of JD's Stoup with neighbor lady! :-)

Nuclear Stress Test - Scary Sounding

2011-11-29T07:54:00.006-05:00

A recent visit to my cardiologist found him suggesting that I get an echo cardiogram and a nuclear stress test. He mentioned that it had been over 5 years since I last had them and that he wanted to renew the data.

It occurred to me that just the term "nuclear" is intimidating enough without adding the term "stress" to the name. If you hadn't had a "nuclear stress test" before and were not familiar with the term, it might just scare the hell out of you.

There has to be a better term than nuclear to use as a name for the test. I have no idea what one might be, but come on now, "NUCLEAR", you gotta be kidding. It's stressing enough just having to take a test with nuclear in the name. Maybe the doctors could use the correct name and call it the 'Feel Good' test for us patients.

Gearing up for tomorrow's NUCLEAR STRESS test,
JD, here in the BToS

PS - Did I mention no caffeine for 24 hours prior to the test. That means no coffee, iced tea or, heaven forbid, chocolate. What else is there in life???

PPS - I survived, but it was, indeed, a long day and caffeine didn't show up until I got home around 3 PM.

Bella Boxer and 43 Year Carpet - Incompatible

2011-11-21T07:22:00.011-05:00

Bella Boxer in quiet mode

Forty-three years ago (well it will be 43 in 2 more months) we decided to carpet over the hardwood floors in our new house. After living with the hardwood for 3 months including a Christmas holiday, my wife and I concluded that carpet might be less work to maintain compared to the labor-intensive hardwood (remember this was 1969).

At the time I thought we paid quite a bit for the carpet and padding, but it held up really well until we separated almost 20 years ago. It outlived 3 kids, 2 dogs and lord only knows what else. The carpet has held up for another 20 years since with adult kids living at home, the occasional grandchild running around and my daily use. The last 11 years it has only had to endure me and for the past 4 years regular visits from the cleaning lady's 'wear it out' vacuum cleaner.

Granted it has holes worn in spots, but I learned that some spots can be covered with throw rugs and other stuff. I ain't one to spend money on things I don't really need. Granted I get new computers regularly and like my DVR and big screen TV, but carpet is a whole other world. More like a female thing rather than my 'old man' thing.

At least that was true until about 10 days ago when my daughter and her family, including 18 month-old Bella Boxer, began a temporary stay while awaiting their relocation to a new home. The carpet adjusted well to the mother, father and 11 year old daughter, but Bella Boxer is a different story.

This dog seems to have tremendous muscles in her legs and finds the traction of the carpet just what she needs for a spirited sprint down the hall into the living room, a quick turn-around and sprint back down the hall. I can hear and almost feel her claws digging into the carpet and scattering my 'cover up the holes' rugs.

Bella Boxer also loves to CHEW. She's discovered that holes in the carpet provide "Bella Boxer Chewies." I have no idea how she can go down and up the stairs with the rush she has, but she seems to make it each time.

I had planned to remove the carpet and expose the original hardwood floors and have someone replace the baseboard trim, but I didn't really want to do that until I had the walls painted, given the mess painting can be. So my plan was to have that happen this spring/summer.

You're probably aware that us old folks like to settle on a plan and go with it, but Bella Boxer appears to be "the fly in the ointment." She may be causing a complete revamp of the repair/replace schedule.

JD, still shaking my head here in the BToS

PS - The added people in the house seem to cause little, if any, problems to the carpet.

2012 Obama/Not Biden - Will Joe be replaced as VP?

2011-11-09T06:53:00.008-05:00

Most people I know are not fans of President Obama and would like to see someone else take over the office after the 2012 election. Most of my friends are basically fiscal conservatives and can't relate to the President's overwhelming urge to build the Government and spend taxpayer dollars.

At present Obama isn't looking too good in the research polls and unless there is a major ratings change prior to the Democrat convention next summer he will likely have to make a change to bring in voting factions he doesn't have now.

One such change would be to replace the Vice President, possibly with a female or with a male that can relate to people better via the media.

Click image for some history

I'd like to offer President Obama the use of our Governor of the Diverse State of Maryland, Martin (Pretty Boy) O'Malley. O'Malley talks so smooth and uses such metaphors that you never really know what he's saying, however the female population relates to him very well, probably much better than Biden. And of course my main reason for offering Pretty Boy is that I'd like to see him disappear as Governor of Maryland.
The other option that occurs to me is to remove Hillary Clinton from her position as Secretary of State and have her run as the VP candidate. Hillary would bring in the masses of moderate female supporters that will likely abandon Obama in 2012 with Biden running. Hillary is around 64 as I recall and probably doesn't want to devote 4 more years to her current position.

So, I'm thinking it should be one of these

Obama/Clinton
Obama/O'Malley

JD, pondering politics here in the BToS

PS - Actually, a more exciting scenario would be for Hillary to challenge Obama in the primaries for the Presidential nomination of the Democrat party. She's the right age, has great international experience and would just luv to whup Obama's ass this time.

Beautiful Autumn - No NBA

2011-11-08T06:39:00.009-05:00

I have to admit that it has been a beautiful autumn to date here in the Big Town of Savage. The combination of rain and sun have produced the most vibrant colors I've seen recently in the area.

Leaves are falling dramatically now and it's likely that by the weekend most trees will be bare and it'll be time to take the mulching mower to the lawn and the accumulated leaves. If weather cooperates, two more mowings will suffice as preparation for winter.
The absence of the NBA has seemingly made the autumn even more enjoyable. The DC area is a pretty big NBA town and between the Redskins and Wizards, there's usually little time on sports shows for lower profile sports coverage.

I for one am not at all sorry that the NBA season is on hold. I don't really expect it to be cancelled, mainly because money drives all and the NBA players make huge sums of money (spelled $$). They won't let the season be cancelled.

It's likely that NBA players are part of the 1% that the Occupy movement is protesting! However, I'm sure NBA players association would say the owners are the only ones that fit into the 1%.

But then that's the way contract negotiations go, isn't it.

JD, enjoying autumn here in the BToS

PS - November has 3 more days yet to go and news is that the NBA and Players are feeling the $$ pinch (especially from the TV contract) and are planning to begin play around Christmas and still get in a 66 game season followed by an interminable playoff series. It's been nice seeing other sports on DC TV sports coverage and newspapers. No NBA in Baltimore, possibly I'll have to begin ignoring DC sports. Heck, I could even cancel my subscription to the Washington Post.

NASCAR Texas - No Kyle Busch - What will JGR do?

2011-11-06T15:21:00.005-05:00

Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs in a happier moment.

If you're a NASCAR fan you're aware that NASCAR decided to suspend Kyle Busch for the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at Texas following his actions during the truck race when he completely wiped out Ron Hornaday's truck under caution; thus killing any chance Hornaday had of winning the 2011 Camping World Truck championship.

Kyle has shown considerable temperament improvement this season compared with the past, some of which I've discussed in previous blog posts; one was after Kyle killed the Nashville guitar trophy and another when I provided my take on Kyle Busch.

I stated after the 2009 guitar trophy incident that Joe Gibbs had to show some responsibility for Kyle Busch's actions. We already know what NASCAR has done this weekend to punish Kyle Busch, more may follow after the racing weekend is over when they review possible infractions and announce their penalties on Tuesday.

I wonder if Joe Gibbs and Joe Gibbs Racing will take a step up to the plate and provide some in-house punishment for Kyle Busch, possibly sitting out the remainder of the season. Certainly his sponsors can't be too happy about the incident.

As we all know, money (spelled $$) drives sports, including NASCAR racing teams. Will there be any pressure on Joe Gibbs to take a bolder step on Kyle Busch, or will Joe Gibbs actually determine that action needs to be taken on his own to correct Kyle's behavior on the track.

I suspect little more will occur, but I've certainly been wrong in my assessment of NASCAR and NASCAR racing teams' behavior in this type situation in the past. Following the weekend, we will know for sure.

JD, keeping an eye on things here in the BToS

PS - Kyle is a great driver, now if he will only get his head out of his butt he might be a true NASCAR role model as well.

Granddaughter Turns 11 on 11/11/11

2011-11-05T19:50:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 11 years since my granddaughter was born on Veteran's Day 2000. She's a wonderful young girl and I'm looking forward to her spending some time here in the BToS while her parents are searching for their next house to purchase.

She has always had the 11/11 thing going with her birth date being November 11, but this is a first and last. She will turn 11 on November 11, 2011. I'm not one of those folks that places a lot of stock in numbers, their arrangement or appearance. But, I do think it's really cool that she's turning 11 on 11/11/11.

Feeling cool here in the BToS,
JD

PS - I'm not sure it'll be the best birthday present for her, but her and family will be moving in with me on her birthday, while searching for that house. Since my house is usually right quiet, it'll be a big change for me having three more people and a young dog sharing my quiet time. Not only that, but being the hoarder kinda guy I am, I'll actually have to make some space for 'em too. :-)

Martinsville still has what Bristol lost - EXCITEMENT

2011-11-01T10:33:00.004-04:00

The beatin' n bangin' and rubbin' n racin' we saw at Martinsville Sunday is a sample of the racing we lost at Bristol when they redid the track surface and went to variable banking.

Prior to the new track, racers would have to boot someone out of the way to pass them, mainly because like Martinsville the fastest way around the track was on the bottom. With variable banking now at Bristol cars can actually run side by side in a monotonous parade that will likely put you to sleep.

Basically, variable banking sucks for providing exciting racing. More details in my earlier post on Bristol Variable Banking.

Track owners are caught up in variable banking, the flavor of the day, and unfortunately we'll likely see more of it rather than less. Side by side racing on variable banking generally SUCKS!

JD, here in the BToS lamenting the old days of rubbin' n racin'.

PS - Practically no snow here in the BToS Saturday...just a wet, rainy day with a little snow/rain mix late in the afternoon.

Monday Halloween Sunrise - Chilly

2011-10-31T07:34:00.005-04:00

Sunrise on Halloween Day here in the Big Town of Savage. We no longer have to watch for our first frost.

Saturday was just a complete loss with cold temps, rain and rain/snow mix in the afternoon and evening. Sunday was sunny, dry and chilly. It's not winter yet, but certainly time to find a bit of warmer clothing to wear outside.

As the week progresses, temps are to moderate with sunny skies and temps in the upper 60s. Halloween evening, however, will be chilly. I've become one of those hermit type folks that kind of hide from Halloween. I'll douse the lights and retreat to my lower level and play on the internet and possibly catch up on some recorded TV shows.

And that's Halloween excitement from here in the BToS.

JD

PS - My yearly checkup with dermatologist, Dr Damm, this morning. He may be the fastest doctor in the world. He's never late for an appointment and he never fails to find a lot of little thingies on my body that need to be removed. Just another day at the office for him and a bit of mid-morning excitement for me.

PPS - Excellent race at the PAPERCLIP yesterday. Shame ESPN had to once again display their techno-glitz and completely miss the flow and major action of the race. It's hard to enjoy even a great race when ESPN TVs it.

Chilly Friday Morning in the BToS

2011-10-28T07:43:00.012-04:00

Friday morning here in the BToS. Morning temperature was only 37 degrees, which felt kind of cold for these old bones of mine. One of the things I notice about this aging business since I've turned 70 is that my body typically wants to be a bit warmer than it used to.

I find that I need more covers on the bed and that I keep the thermostat set a bit higher at night too. I'm sure there's medical info that explains what I'm experiencing, but for me it's just happening.

Weather forecast for Saturday is for a chance of an inch of wet snow. Now if we have to have snow, that's the kind of snowfall that I can enjoy. When it's finished the grass will be white and the driveway will still be black. No driving hassles.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I relish the autumnal season with the wonderful colors, the warm days followed by cool evenings. What troubles me is the occasional little days of excitement when the temperature is down in the 30s and the precipitation is the white flaky stuff.

Being the NASCAR fan that I am, one of my favorite tracks is scheduled for a 500 lapper Sunday afternoon; that would be Martinsville. It's just great "rubbin' n racin'" and "beatin' n bangin'" for 500 laps around the half-mile track. Let's just hope they don't get snow on the paperclip shaped track that is Martinsville Speedway

If it's too chilly in your neck of the woods Sunday afternoon, check out the Martinsville race on ESPN. As you know, the NFL ain't for everybody, some of us ol' rednecks jes natchuly luv NASCAR.

JD, here in the BToS

Martinsville Speedway (home of "rubbin' n racin'" and "beatin' n bangin'")

The End Of An Error - Jan 20, 2013

2011-10-27T15:10:00.000-04:00

Click above and get a batch of stickers to share with your friends.

Didja Ever Get The Lunchtime Blues?

2011-10-22T13:09:00.007-04:00

Didja ever get the lunchtime blues. You've had one of those mornings where things just don't go the right way; not that you did anything wrong...things beyond your control just didn't happen the way you'd have preferred.

I suffer the lunchtime blues today. Disagreements can occur in the wrong place or with the wrong people; even if you're trying to guard against it and accomplish a much more important goal than the disagreement pertained to. I'll just let you think about your own small disagreements that may have had a negative effect on your larger, more important goals.

Maybe it was at work, maybe it was among your family or maybe it was just something that happened when you walked across the street. No matter what caused it, the important thing is not to dwell on the issue.

It's good to be that way at work and within family and friends. Carrying a grudge accomplishes nothing and just raises your blood pressure. And if you're an old fart like me, you don't need your blood pressure peaking higher than it should.

In my case I'm venting my anguish right here in this blog post. I'm also sitting here at the computer eating a tasty sandwich made from a leftover fried chicken thigh. The chicken has just a little of that fried chicken flavor in it and is going well with my small portion of Doritos Cool Ranch tortilla chips and a large glass of sweet tea.

The lunchtime blues will be gone and my blood pressure back to normal by the time I finish this blog post and my lunch.

Here's hoping you don't suffer the lunchtime blues any time soon.

JD, here in the BToS

Valk Registration Renewed

2011-10-12T11:41:00.008-04:00

The odometer on the Ol'Valk ('01 Honda Valkyrie) shows 14319.5 miles in this foto that was taken at the completion of my last autumnal bike tour with my son in October '07. This blog post describes the Ol'Valk turning over 15000 miles in November 2009. I looked at the odometer earlier this week when I had it out for a short ride and it read 15179 miles.

By my calculations, I rode around 680 miles in the two years from October '07 to November '09. Then over the next two years from November '09 until this week, I rode approximately 179 miles.

Any one can see that I'm just not giving the Ol'Valk her due attention. The last couple of times I had her out she was a bit irritable which cleared up pretty much with the Sta-Bil fuel additive I've been using, but she's still not running really clean. I think it'll take a couple of tanks of gas to come close to cleaning the fuel system out, including all 6 carburetors.

You're probably thinking, "Why doesn't this fool sell that thing while it still runs instead of letting it languish in the garage." Well, I asked myself the same question in September after receiving the 2-year license tag renewal form from the Maryland MVA. I decided I'd spend a little time on her and make a decision whether to sell before the tags expire or to renew the tags.

I finally took action this morning after checking my email. I noticed the tag renewal form on the shelf above the monitor. Maryland MVA has a neat website where you can perform renewals online with a credit card. So I provided the necessary credit card info and the new sticker for the tags should soon be in the mail to keep the Ol'Valk on the road past the October 31 tag expiration date.

The long-term question is; "Will I renew my interest in riding this wonderful 10-year old road warrior?"

Finally made a decision here in The BToS,

JD

PS - Central Maryland is a beautiful area and a fine location with all things good in close proximity. The problem with that is that everybody wants to live and work here; thus increasing tremendously the traffic volume and congestion. Motorcycle riding here in central Maryland has become extremely dangerous and being an old fart of 70, my skills definitely aren't what they were 10 years ago. I'm gonna give it another shot tho and hopefully when the next renewal comes up in two years, I can report the Ol'Valk odometer having a few thousand more miles on her.

PPS - The typical autumnal tour that my son and I used to take was a week and usually was 1500 to 2000 miles. He married in spring 2008 and hasn't been available for tours since and now has a child and a new house that keep him and his wife very busy. The great thing is all the time we spent together on those autumnal bike tours.

Autumn Creeping Into The BToS

2011-10-08T10:29:00.005-04:00

The temperature was in the low 50s when I got up around 7 this morning. It's been that way for a few days now and forecast to be similar through the middle of the week. The Autumnal Equinox occurred two weeks ago yesterday, so daylight hours are shortening every day and are already in a minority compared with the hours when the sun is hiding from us.

Humans notice that in a lot of different ways and plants understand it even better. Trees are showing fall colors in their foliage, grasses are slowing their growth and sprouting seeds and flowers are beginning to say farewell for the winter.

As I've mentioned previously on this blog, autumn is my favorite time of the year. In general, life seems a bit more laid back and personally, if possible, I am even more laid back. Of course I do have to take time to insure my snow blower will start on the first pull since we're only a couple of months away from possible snow accumulations here in the BToS.

When I walked out back the early morning sun was at a good angle to show some color in the leaves. I managed to snap a few fotos from the back of my house that I've included with this post.

Enjoying autumn here in the BToS,
JD

Fall Carlisle - This weekend - 28Sep-02Oct

2011-09-28T11:00:00.006-04:00

It's been a few years since I visited Carlisle for the spring or fall Carlisle swap meet and car corral show. There's a good chance I may exit the Big Town of Savage for the better part of this Friday and visit the Fall Carlisle.

Makes for an enjoyable day when you leave home around 6AM and wander up the roads and maybe splurge at a McDonald's for some fast-food breakfast. Having grown up when McDonald's was thought to serve real food I tend to still enjoy some of their menu items, especially the ones that have been around for a while. Wonder if the Sausage McMuffin w/Egg at 450 calories is still on the menu...

It'll be about 8:30 or so by the time we make it to the grounds and pay our way in. We'll spend the day wandering around the huge fair ground and ogling wonderful old restored cars and spare parts. I suspect we'll complete the tour by around 2PM at the latest, leaving time to get back home before the rush hour blossoms.

I don't recall seeing much about it in this video, but my recollection is that Carlisle has some very good Pennsylvania food from the on site vendors. Seems no matter where you go on the grounds, you have the aroma of good food stuffs that will make you super hungry before it's time to eat, especially those cheese-steak subs with the sauteed onions and peppers.

I doubt if I'll buy anything significant, probably just some junk like in this earlier Garage Wall Stuff blog post. Likely I'll take some pictures since I can store about a million of them on my digital camera. If I'm lucky I might put some of 'em on a blog post next week, or as a PS on this one.

If you're bored today, take a few minutes and watch the Carlisle promo video below. If you're an old fella like me it's likely you'll enjoy it. If you're a young whippersnapper check it out and maybe you'll get an urge to watch some folks haul some old car parts around the grounds. If you're lucky, maybe you'll run into me Friday while we're wandering around the show saying things like, "Man, I haven't seen one of those in 30 years!"

JD, here in the BToS

2012 Election Already! Why Am I Bored?

2011-09-07T10:35:00.009-04:00

I found this image here:

Can you believe that election day 2012 is still 14 months away???? If you read the papers, watch TV or just read your email, you'd think the 2012 election day is next week.

I don't know about you but I'm almost ready to take a political hiatus until summer 2012. Recently I've taken on an NPF (No Politics Friday) lead in to politics-free weekends. I must say that having 3-day weekends with no politics has been wonderful over the past month.

I've finally realized that I'm worn out on President Obama's continuous electioneering posturing and his failure to be President of the United States. Never in my life have I seen such a pretentious man in the White House. All campaign all the time. I've come to the conclusion he's just the figurehead for the Socialist Democrat Party.

The Republicans are little better. They have no idea where the party is going nor who will lead the way. While the President is all politics all the time, the Republicans are floundering in the morass proffered by the Liberal Mass Media.

I am officially taking a political hiatus. I will not contribute any funds nor waste my time thinking about politics. I've already abolished TV electioneering by our President and others from my TiVo and I don't watch live TV.

I plan to ignore Political Crapola even more over the next year. Maybe I'll think about things again when the election comes around.

Here in the Diverse State of Maryland, a fiscal conservative has no way to be politically active, so I plan to use my time more effectively by doing nothing and saving any money I would normally contribute to campaigns.

Seeing the light here in the BToS,
JD

PS - Is this No Politics Hiatus set in stone. Of course not. It's the way I feel this Wednesday morning. Hopefully, it'll last until next summer. We'll see. Possibly I'll give an update from time to time on my success, or lack of.

Absence Makes The Heart Glow Flounder

2011-09-06T08:07:00.010-04:00

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is a phrase we probably all use occasionally when it applies to a separation of beings that love each other. Typically it's applied to loving couples but can also apply to animals or more and more every day to people and animals.

"Absence makes the heart glow flounder" is a phrase that tends to apply to couples whose love for each other may not be so strong. We can all think of situations where folks are separated for various reasons for relatively short periods of time thus providing freedom not available in regular life.

These phrases can also apply to general activities or items we enjoy, especially sports and sports teams. We grew up as fans of the local sports team, maybe the Baltimore Orioles and for the past 30 years have lived in Cleveland and are now devoted fans of the Indians. We still have fond memories of the Orioles, but not the love that previously existed. Same goes for our possessions, like automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, etc.

I have only myself to look at. I grew up as a Cleveland Indians fan, probably because of the exceptional year they had in 1954, with 111 wins and only 43 losses. They didn't win the World Series, losing in 4 to the NY Giants, but they were my team. I was also a fan of the winning Cleveland Browns.

I grew up here in the Big Town of Savage, but the Washington/Baltimore area had no winning sports franchises in the early 50s, so I gravitated to other winning teams. As kids we all gravitate to winners. I still have fond memories of the '50s Indians and Browns, but in this case absence has made the "heart glow flounder" rather than making the heart grow fonder.

JD, now a NASCAR fan here in the BToS...

PS - Found the image on another blog, click image to visit.
PPS - In contrast, I find that with Dale Earnhardt, the 10 years since his death has caused absence to make my heart grow fonder.

Listening to WHVR AM on the back road to PA

2011-09-03T07:54:00.006-04:00

About a week ago I visited my daughter's home in Pennsylvania to tailor her computer to her preferences. They just upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7. That's not a smooth transition for most computer users, I know it wasn't for me.

Most of us find a subset of system tools/capabilities that we use for our every day activities and seldom stray far from our preferred user paradigm. A change from Win XP to Win 7 is quite a jump considering it skips the intermediate generation operating system, Windows Vista.

The adjustments were relatively simple and included setting up backups, which we all need but seldom perform. Today's available external drives make life a lot simpler for temporary storage compared to 5 years ago.

The straight shot route to daughter's house from here in the Big Town of Savage is up I95, around the west side of the Baltimore Beltway and up I83 to the York, PA area. That route is around 80 miles and can be quite hectic depending on traffic in the Baltimore region, which generally is no fun.

A much more enjoyable trip for me is to take a more rural route via Rt 32 to Westminster, MD, on up to Glen Rock, PA and over to the York area. It's just a nice scenic drive and although it's a bit longer and takes an additional 35-40 minutes it's quite relaxing and offers a view of some beautiful farms, hilly open country and neat towns. Being retired with no set schedule, the added travel time is an enjoyable escape.

I also find it relaxing to listen to Real Country WHVR AM 1280, a local Hanover, PA radio station. Typically they seem to play a lot of traditional country, which I tend to enjoy much more than the more modern formulaic country music of today.

This day they played one I hadn't heard in a long, long time and it reminded me of just how much I used to enjoy the music of John Denver. The song was "Thank God I'm A Country Boy". That evening I looked for a youtube video and found this one. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when going through Lineboro, MD, which is right on the Mason-Dixon Line.

Not in the BToS this time, but from on the road,
JD

Goodnight Irene - I won't miss Hurricane Irene

2011-08-29T13:02:00.006-04:00

Didja ever spend a Sunday without any electric power? Hurricane Irene dropped around 5" of rain on her visit to the Big Town of Savage over the weekend. She also brought some relatively strong winds to the area.

The combination of rain water soaking the ground and the winds caused quite a few trees in the area to crash down from the roots and limbs to break from others; in many cases doing damage to buildings and electrical and communications infrastructure cables.

Sitting in front of the TV watching the race from Bristol Saturday nite, I thot sure the power would go off before the race finished. However, I made it thru the excellent Bristol Night Race with no problems and celebrated Kez's win in the Blue Deuce. Then I unwound a bit on the computer before heading to bed.

All the excitement started around 1:45 AM when I was awakened by the beeping of my battery backup systems on the computer and TiVo. All I could do was disable the alarm and hope the power wasn't off too long; then I headed back to bed.

To make a really long powerless day short, I'll tell you that power came back on after I went to bed for the evening around 11:45 PM. My only suffering was making my way thru the day without my best friends, computer, internet & TiVo/TV.

I did not open the freezer and only opened the fridge one quick time all day. I ate a lot of junk food, but didn't succumb to the temptation to visit a restaurant (I'm sure some were open for business altho a lot were closed). I even made a pot of coffee by heating the water on the stove and pouring it down thru the filter on the ol' 'lectric coffee maker (must be redneck creativity).

I did get bored late in the day and jumped in the truck for a ride around the area. Sun was bright and temps had cooled so I enjoyed the ride with the windows down. I wasn't singing "Goodnight Irene" when I went to bed, but the song occurred to me while listening to Bluegrass Country on WAMU-2 this morning.

I say "Goodnight Irene" and I can assure you I won't miss her.

JD here in rain-soaked BToS.

PS - Neighbor Lady's battery-powered backup for the sump pump failed allowing the basement to flood and possibly requiring new furnace and water heater. Wonder if she can sue the backup installer.

PPS - When power came on last nite, the pump fired up and cleared the water out of Neighbor Lady's basement. Ain't it wonderful having POWER, and I ain't talking about Obama Power either.

Misplaced Dust Pan

2011-08-25T12:01:00.006-04:00

I ain't the kinda guy that spends time cleaning up. Fortunately, the cleaning lady is kind enough to come around every couple of weeks to shine up the kitchen and bathroom, dust and vacuum up the floor.

We had some gully washer storms come thru the BToS over the weekend and I noticed that the 3' deep walk and stair area outside the sliding doors of my basement rec room accumulated quite a bit of water in it. Granted, we had about 3" of rain over the spell, but over the years the drain for that well has always worked its magic.

I noticed quite a bit of dirt and floating debris had accumulated around and on top of the drain, so I found something I could scrape it off with. Fortunately, the water never got high enough to find its way into the basement that is about 4" above the bottom of the well.

With rain showers forecast for this afternoon, I figured that since the cleaning lady doesn't do stuff outside the house walls I might want to clean out the well and drain. I'm not going to mention all the clutter I had out there, but will say that there was quite a bit of dried tree leaves, broken pieces of ornamental grasses and just STUFF.

I found my broom and started sweeping and collecting everything into a pile when it dawned on me that I would need my trusty dust pan. Now where did I store that handy dandy dust pan last time I used it eons ago????

It was nowhere to be found. However, there propped up against the outside basement wall waiting for the first snowfall of winter was my trusty snow shovel!!!

That ol' snow shovel had no idea it wasn't a dust pan and before I knew it, all the trash was out of the well. I collected the dirt in a pile and the trusty 'snow shovel dust pan' worked its magic once again.

I won't go into detail about all the bugs and critters that ran off when I started sweeping nor will I detail the fun I had with the hose while squirting down the well afterward. Suffice to say that my trusty ol' snow shovel sits on a much higher pedestal today than it did even after those humongous snowfalls a couple of winters ago.

JD, keeping things clean here in the BToS...

PS - Sure hope the cleaning lady doesn't look out into the well on her visit next week. If she sees how clean things are...she might think I can do similar in the bathroom and kitchen every day...that would sure be a bummer!!!!!

Earthquake Excitement in the BToS

2011-08-24T13:37:00.009-04:00

I never heard of Mineral, Virginia until yesterday afternoon. Even though I was born in Danville, Virginia and have driven through most of the state over the years, Mineral was a town I'd never visited.

I got a surprise around 1:51 PM yesterday when greetings from Mineral came knocking on my front door and shaking the whole house in the process. I had just finished mowing the lawn and taken off my sweaty clothes. I was standing under the bedroom ceiling fan that was set on high to cool off a bit and my legs began to feel a bit wobbly.

It took me a few seconds to realize the whole house was shaking. My house shaking isn't too unusual here in the Big Town of Savage. BToS is close to valuable rock deposits and occasionally there'll be an explosion where they're digging and I'll get a quick shudder of the house.

Typically that type house movement is quick and I might hear the noise and things are normal again. In this case there was no noise just the house shaking, which seemed to go on for an interminable length of time. I understand it was only 10-15 seconds, but it sure seemed more drawn out to me.

Other than the floor moving around beneath my feet, the only thing I noticed was the 32" flat screen TV on my dresser shaking back and forth. About the time I thought it might fall to the floor the whole event was over and the bedroom went back to normal.

I put on some dry clothes and checked out the house for any damage...none that I could find. Then I got a phone call from neighbor lady wanting to know what happened and if all was ok. And that was the end of the episode for me.

I must say that the most excitement I've had after the whole experience was this morning in the checkout line at Sysco Discount Food Center. Checkout gal and I were talking about it, then the ladies behind me got involved and I walked out with my two bags, still laughing at their comments.

Hope you weathered the visit from Mineral, VA as well as I have,
JD

Newspaper Thrown in the Wet Grass

2011-08-23T05:59:00.004-04:00

Do ya think it's true that the older you get the more you complain? Of course it's true. The older we get the more we know (or think we know).

I complain about things at 70 that wouldn't have even tickled my interest when younger. With tall grass from all the rain, I'm gonna pick on the newspaper delivery fella again. Why does he insist on throwing the newspaper in the yard instead of throwing it in the driveway.

I have to traipse thru the early morning wet grass to fetch the thing. Even with my trusty Birks on, it ain't no fun to get your feet wet and covered with who knows what kind of little critters.

In honesty I have 2 newspaper delivery folks. One delivers the Baltimore Sun daily the other delivers the Washington Post and the Washington Times daily. I'm not gonna say who throws it in the grass, but the Washington Post guy leaves it in the driveway 99% of the time. Maybe you can figger it out.

You're probably thinking, "Who the hell reads newspapers in today's online media world!!!" I do...I read 3 papers each day and 2 on Sundays. It's just an old habit I have had since I was first old enough to read. I'll sit in front of a bright window and read the paper in the sunny morning light.

If you haven't fetched your paper this morning, I hope it's not over in the high wet grass!

Another rant from here in the Big Town of Savage,
JD

No Politics Friday - I'm in the habit now

2011-08-18T22:48:00.004-04:00

I just want to remind you that it's time for NPF (No Politics Friday) again. I must say that I am definitely enjoying the breaks from the daily need to filter Main Stream Media brainwashing of the public about Obama's electioneering trip paid for by Government funds.

NASCAR's in Michigan this weekend. Not the best racing on that easy driving 2 miler, but it's better than having to watch the NFL. Monday's Watkins Glen race was excellent. I love to see CUP cars road racing and the show at the Glen was great.

Thots from the BToS,
JD

10 oz Pound Cake

2011-08-11T08:13:00.004-04:00

I've decided that I am truly out of touch with the real world. Yesterday was just one more example of me ignoring today's realities.

As stores are wont to do, Shoppers Food Warehouse in Maryland City routes you thru the produce and baked goods department first. If you've read this blog over the years, you know that I definitely have a sweet tooth and find it difficult to pass thru the baked goods section without seriously thinking about buying...donuts anyone!!!

I came across this lemon flavored pound cake for $1.00...sounded good to me, so I bought one to go with the huge apple fritter I also fell in love with.

When I got home I was storing the few items I bought and noticed the pound cake inside the box appeared to be kind of puny, certainly less than I expected. I perused the box and found that my 'pound cake' was actually a 10 oz cake.

It's probably my own ignorance that caused me to expect a pound cake to weight 16 oz, but as I've said before I'm kinda 'old school' and not up with today's terminologies in many cases. I have to assume that 'pound cake' refers to a type of cake rather than the weight of the cake.

Even at 70, I learn something every day here in the Big Town of Savage,
JD

PS - Lemon pound cake was really good...even better with some strawberries and whipped cream over it.

Doorbell Video - Dramatizes Federal Debt

2011-08-08T12:24:00.003-04:00

This was a slow morning and I had some spare time on my hands, so I clicked the email link that Bill had shared for this video expecting the usual political crappola. It grabbed my attention in a way no other Federal Debt presentation did before.

Take a minute of your time and view "Doorbell".
JD

Honor Our 44th President

2011-08-06T17:13:00.004-04:00

Click image for full-size.

Evidently there is a movement underway to provide a special Honor for our current, the 44th, President of The United States.

I only know about this because I received it in an email this morning. I'm posting it here today since it's not political and doesn't break my NPF long weekend promise.

Maybe if you check google you might find a website to support this movement.

Thots from the BToS,
JD

No Politics Friday - Another long weekend awaits

2011-08-05T00:01:00.001-04:00

As a reminder, it's No Politics Friday and I'm ready for another No Politics long weekend. Why don't you join me!!!

JD

No Politics Friday - First Weekend A Success

2011-08-01T17:12:00.003-04:00

I must say that it was a completely laidback, enjoyable long weekend with No Politics. I read nothing, watched nothing on TV and didn't read any political emails. By Sunday nite I was ready to lay back and watch my latest Netflix movie.

I must now have the No Politics habit ingrained...I couldn't bring myself to get serious about all the posturing I saw today in the few newspaper articles and internet sites. No, I think I'll be laidback on politics this week until NPF arrives for the weekend.

That's the latest NPF info from the Big Town of Savage in the Diverse State of Maryland (O'Malley's words, not mine).

Do good stuff; have some fun,
JD

PS - Netflix movie got only a rating of 2 from me. I'll have to spend more time reviewing these things before I add them to my queue. But you know how things can be when friends recommend something to you!

No Politics Friday - Starts Friday, July 29, 2011

2011-07-29T00:10:00.000-04:00

Today marks the beginning of No Politics Friday for Thots from the BToS. Henceforth; I will post nothing political on this blog on Friday; nor will I read political posts on other blogs.

I will use Fridays to wind down for the weekend. Political crappola can resume come Monday each week.

Ponder it,
JD

PS - I also will not read nor send political emails. Nor will I read or post political items on facebook.

Obama TV Has Worn Me Out

2011-07-26T06:04:00.005-04:00

For the first time in my life I've reached a point where a Presidential speech or news conference on TV is cause for me to fast forward the TiVo or change the channel.

I have seen our President on TV for so many hours daily since early 2008 that I think he's worn me out. He can talk for hours and hours and say nothing. I've become immune to his posturing pronouncements that are no more than constant politicizing of national and world events.

There was a point in 2008 where I was like much of the electorate in being convinced that his Presidency would be a good change for the United States. Now I realize that we were sold a political bill of goods.

I have nothing breathtaking in this blog post, I'm just ranting a bit in an attempt to vent some of my frustration with my President.

I'm off to a Terrific Tuesday in which I've already vowed to not see my President on TV, even once today.

Do good stuff; have some fun and don't watch our President on TV,
JD

Pastor Joe Nelms for your Sunday Pleasure

2011-07-24T12:11:00.012-04:00

In case you missed your Sunday morning visit to the local Southern Baptist gathering, here's Pastor Joe Nelms giving the Invocation for last evening's NASCAR Nationwide Race from Nashville.

I don't recall Rev Neimiller being quite so fired up back in the '50s at the Savage Baptist Church.

JD

PS - A Google Image search on "pastor joe nelms wife" will show images of his wife and family. I found this one. Click image for larger version.

NFL Contract -- Sports Media Want It Most

2011-07-22T17:18:00.006-04:00

It has been a wonderful summer when it comes to sports on TV, especially during the evening news sports segments. There is no daily local NFL team trivia for the Redskins and Ravens that I'm normally bludgeoned with each evening and the next morning in the sports section of the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun.

The evening news sports segments are actually showing coverage of sports teams that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I never heard of Team Tennis until this summer. There's a team called the Washington Kastles (I think I got that right) that I never knew existed. Evidently, they've gone undefeated for 14 regular season games heading into the playoffs.

I found that out early in the sports report and didn't even have to listen to someone from Redskins Park talk about NFL crappola and the newest/greatest first year player. I haven't heard anything about the Ravens since back in the spring. Nope the Kastles just bubbled up to the top since there's no NFL right now.

The NFL and the Players Union don't need an agreement as bad as the sports media folks need them to come to an agreement. These sports reporters/writers are going crazy during a slow summer without the NFL. For me it's wonderful...for them it's sickening. They may as well be downneocean lying on the beach, cause nothing's happening for them to report on.

Personally, I'd like to see the Players Union tell the NFL to go to hell and sit out the whole season. I certainly don't need the NFL. I haven't watched a complete Redskins/Ravens game in the last 5 years. It would drive me crazy to spend 3+ hours of my time watching that nonsense.

It also just goes to show that other sports don't really mean much in NFL cities. There's the NFL then there are the rest of the sports teams in the world all bundled together as fillers for reporters and writers.

Just another observation from here in the BToS,
JD

Weatherman Scares Me with "Feels Like"

2011-07-21T11:39:00.005-04:00

We're into about the second day of high humidity levels and temps in upper 90s and forecast is for another 3-4 days of it here in the Big Town of Savage.

I don't know about you, but the local TV weather reporters have almost scared the life out of me! I'm all geared up for hot, humid days with temps close to 100 and the weather reporter tells me that it's gonna 'feel like' 115 degrees!

It's almost like the weather folks have become our keepers and are forced to watch over us and suggest ways to battle the heat, like don't go outside unless you have to, keep hydrated, etc. The rascals scare the crap out of us, then tell us how to live.

I guess they mean well, but I am definitely worn out with the 'Heat Index'. If you're an adult, you should already know how to cope with the heat without them taking 20% of the weather report to tell you how to live your life in these oppressive conditions. There's other stuff I'd rather know.

I do know one thing. If your AC is working inside; then, you don't know and don't care what the humidity level and 'feels like' is outside and furthermore, you probably don't wanna know...

Just another mini-rant from here in the BToS,
JD

PS - Really good thing about this summer is the NFL lockout and contract negotiations. I've gone the whole spring and summer without daily reports of the local Ravens and Redskins. Life's wunnerful on the evening news when it comes to sports, they're even covering local teams that I didn't know existed.

UPS vs USPS - No Contest

2011-07-17T10:59:00.007-04:00

We all know about the United States Postal Service and how ineffective their service can be, even in the middle of summer when everyone's on vacation and the world is quiet. The USPS service for the Big Town of Savage seems to be very poor indeed.

I don't know the route that mail takes to get to Savage, but I think most of it comes in through a distribution center over in Prince George's County near the Washington Beltway. Given the delivery dates of my weekly magazine (Aviation Week and Space Technology) that's due at the post office on Monday and on the best weeks arrives on Thursday or Friday and often times is several weeks late, lower class mail seems to be handled in a batch process mode.

A whole batch of items that aren't high class postage get shoved aside to be processed on a 'time available' basis. Batch processing in this mode often works well, however it is definitely dependent on the quality of your employees and their willingness to perform work duties and not sit around with their finger up their nose or shooting the breeze with co-workers. We all know workers with those traits, don't we. Batch processing does NOT work for USPS mail coming to the BToS post office.

I ordered a small 32" TV with free shipping from an online company Tuesday morning around 8:30. Thing was shipped via UPS and I had the tracking number that same evening. The TV was delivered at 1:30 in the afternoon the next day, Wednesday.

Imagine that, free delivery of a TV, not a letter, 30 hours after I ordered it on the internet. It's no wonder the US Post Office is going out of business, no one wants to do IMPORTANT business with them...responsible shippers go with private, for profit, companies...companies that perform as advertised. If the USPS can't perform the most basic tasks in a timely fashion, how can one expect them to take care of important items efficiently.

Just a short Sunday morning thot from here in the BToS,
JD

PS - Post Office workers at the Savage Post Office seem to perform their duties admirably. As far as I am aware I have no complaints with their service. I don't like paying the Post Office Box rent each year, but that's another story.

Post Office Mail Boxes - Pedestrian Hazard

2011-07-09T11:24:00.007-04:00

Things aren't always the way I think they should be here in The Big Town of Savage. These mail boxes don't meet post office suggested setback rules, nor do they meet county code. They've been this way for at least a couple of years.

I talked to the local post office 'in-charge' guy a couple of months ago, but evidently it isn't their responsibility to address this type issue. I notified the local county folks last week and provided some images.

As you can see they are a pedestrian hazard, causing folks to walk an additional 1-2 feet out into the road. The street sweeper can't access the curb due to their positioning. I guess the thing that bothers me most is that if I owned the property, I wouldn't want something looking like that in my front yard. Unfortunately, the mail boxes belong to a house across the street from their location.

Just another of JD's observations here in the BToS,
JD

Revisit - Bob Evans For Lunch

2011-07-05T14:09:00.010-04:00

I visited Bob Evan's for lunch today. It's bad enough they removed the Belgian Waffle from the menu; but now you can't even get a ham and cheese sandwich on rye bread. No HAM on the menu.

Why do I even go back to Bob Evan's any way. If you don't want a salad, a burger or a chicken sandwich for lunch, you're outta luck. Neighbor lady had to settle for a bowl of hearty beef vegetable soup. Soup's good, but what about the ham sandwich!!!

What's the world coming to anyway, all sausages in the stores seem to be CHICKEN, not pork. The world is changing too fast and I can't keep up with it. Here's an excerpt from an earlier post:

"My world is the same as it’s always been, nothing’s changed! It’s as if my world is encapsulated and riding along on a train that’s traveling from the city of my birth to the city of my death. I’m riding that train and have all my belongings and friends along with me and things are great, we’re having a ball.

My train has completed at least 80% of its journey and we seem to be riding through territory that becomes more alien with each passing mile. When I look out the train windows things look different; everything from swoopy vehicles and people not paying their bills to the local church running out of members and money and being taken over by alien religious groups. I can’t find any prime time TV shows that I like, all my favorite shows are over on some obscure cable channel and I’ve seen ‘em all before. I guess the TV antenna on my train just can’t get good reception of the new shows; they look kind of fuzzy and alien. Maybe it's the new digital TV deal, who knows!

The closer I get to my destination the more alien the outside world appears, nothing looks familiar. Most of the people are nice and accommodating, but many times I can't communicate with them and for some reason they just don’t understand me the first time I speak. We stopped at a train station once and I decided to get out and get a hamburger. I tried giving my order to the gal, but she wanted me to use a number off the menu board. I had to order a number 3 instead of asking for a burger, fries and coke. She didn't understand that lingo, but the number provided an accurate order. I wonder what she would have done if I hadn't wanted ketchup on the burger?

I become more and more irritated that the world outside my train is so unfamiliar. I find myself complaining to my friends all the time to the point where I'm sure they think I'm going crazy; “This just isn’t right, what happened? Why can’t I buy that green shirt like I had before? Why are these new utility vehicles so swoopy? Why didn’t the fast-food checker speak English?"

I don’t really know or understand this new country we’re passing through. I don’t know if my train will make it to my resting spot or not. I hope so, but somehow I need something to comfort me. I think I’ll go to my room, cover up and take a short nap. Maybe things’ll be better when I wake up."

So Bob Evans not having a ham and cheese sandwich available is just another example of the world changing so quickly that I can't keep up with it.

Struggling to get along on the old train here in the Big Town of Savage,
JD

Trash Litters BToS

2011-06-29T11:23:00.004-04:00

I was reminded of an earlier post to 'Thots from the BToS' this morning while on my walk to the BToS Post Office and picking up trash along the way. Bet those folks at the BToS PO get their trash bins filled pretty quickly.
Hope your roads are a bit cleaner,
JD

Sleep Schedule Change Tires Me Out

2011-06-28T12:47:00.004-04:00

Didja ever take one of those airplane flights that takes you east through maybe 5 time zones? You fly all night and arrive the next morning someplace in Europe. You struggle through the day and make like you're really enjoying yourself to make life easier on the folks you have to interact with and to be a good guy.

Than you hit the sack that night and before you know it, it's time to get up for your day of action in the remote work location. You're arising at 6 AM local time, which might only be 1 AM back home. Essentially, you're useless until your body adjusts to the time change; oh, gee whiz, now it's time to go home again and you adjust back to your normal time.

I've mentioned on this blog before that every couple of weeks my son-in-law spends a few nights with me. My normal sleeping schedule is 11-11:30 PM until maybe 7-7:30 in the morning, a good 7.5 - 8 hours sleep each night. When he stays with me, I change my schedule to be up at 5 AM for reasons I won't detail here.

Today is the first day of the schedule change for this week. I had two meals before 10 AM this morning and usually it's around 1 PM before I eat lunch. My mind's a bit on the fuzzy side and I kinda feel stiff too. At my age, 70 now, it's difficult for me to adjust to schedule change.

Maybe I'll just shift full-time to the 5 AM schedule, especially since it's getting daylight at 5 AM in the summer...but then I'd have to go to bed around 9-9:30...bummer!!! We'll just see how it goes for the next couple of weeks.

Don't let my son-in-law know about this as I don't want him to start feeling guilty or something like that. :-)

Do good stuff; have some fun,
JD

No Belgian Waffle at Bob Evans in Columbia

2011-06-15T11:54:00.005-04:00

A couple of times each month I have the privilege of accompanying the neighbor lady, who's 92 now, to the local Columbia Bob Evans for a breakfast outing. It's always good to share her conversation for a couple of hours.

The one nice thing about visiting Bob Evans is that you can be pretty sure that the food will be good with no surprises. Neighbor lady usually has something very light and I typically have their Belgian Waffle and some sausage links. I don't make waffles at home, so it's nice to have one when I go out to eat breakfast.

After ordering the Belgian Waffle and sausage links this morning, our favorite waitress notified me that the Belgian Waffle was no longer on the Bob Evans Breakfast Menu. Talk about being shocked. When you get to be an old fart like I am, you tend to become a bit set in your ways and don't like unexpected change.

Needless to say, I was bummed out and didn't really enjoy the substitute pancakes. Neighbor lady was able to enjoy her normal Bob Evans breakfast meal and all in all with the conversation breakfast was an enjoyable event.

Considering the main reason I went to Bob Evans was for the waffle, I'm going to have to seriously consider finding a different breakfast location. I've already complained to the restaurant and to Bob Evans on their website.

Still bummed out three hours later here in the BToS,
JD

PS - While studying the menu this morning, it occurred to me just how much the prices had risen. Maybe it's time to take that ol' waffle machine out of the box and make 'em here for breakfast or dinner. Those frozen toaster waffles just aren't the same for me.

Heat Index and Wind Chill - Making it feel worse

2011-06-09T17:07:00.005-04:00

Here in the Big Town of Savage we are suffering from an early June heat wave with max temps in the upper 90s. Definitely not fun, especially if your AC quits on the job.

I watch the local weather folks and they spend most of the time talking about the "feels like" Heat Index and not the true temperature. According to them the Heat Index is calculated by using the actual temperature and the humidity reading. It's not bad enough they tell you that it's 96 degrees, then they pile on with, "But it feels like 104." They seem to relish in hyping the situation.

In the winter they do the same thing by telling you that it's 19 degrees, but it feels like 9 with the Wind Chill Index. Once again they hype the report to make you feel even worse. Of course if you're outside but not in the wind, it only feels like 19.

The thing I really wonder about is this. The Wind Chill uses the temperature/wind speed combination while the Heat Index uses the temperature/humidity combination. Why doesn't the wind have an effect on the heat index? Why doesn't the humidity have an effect on the wind chill?

I guess it's just too much for me to understand. All I know is that I either feel hot or cold and don't need either index to make it worse. Maybe we ought to just go back to reporting/forecasting temperatures and forget the dratted indexes.

Right now the temperature is about 96 here in the BToS,
JD

I sell the morning paper, Sir - Bluegrass

2011-06-04T11:27:00.009-04:00

Didja ever get a song lyric in your head and it won't go away? I drove on a few errands this nice morning with the windows open in the ol' truck and I didn't have the radio playing. After a while, I found myself singing this ol' lyric "I sell the morning paper sir". That was all I could remember, so I kept repeating it until I finally had to turn on the CD player and listen to my current CD of The Secret Sisters.

I knew it was a bluegrass song, so when I got home a few minutes ago, I cranked up the ol' Google-meister and plugged in the lyric along with the term 'bluegrass'. Sure enough, up popped the title of the song, "Jimmy Brown The Newsboy", and a link to a YouTube video featuring Flatt and Scruggs performing.

In case I've piqued your curiosity, take a listen.

JD

PS - Lotta folks and noise in the Big Town of Savage today, something about a Savage Fest. Might be a good day for me to stay here on the place and not venture out too far.

Sitting on top of the world for 70 years

2011-05-28T15:37:00.006-04:00

About a month ago it dawned on me that I would turn the big Seven - Oh, 70, the end of May. As of today it's here and I am 70. When I was this little urchin sitting on top of the telephone pole most people didn't make it to their 70th birthday.

Today it's a different world and folks seemingly live forever, not that I expect to, but it is kind of nice to keep on having birthdays...as someone mentioned to me, "It's much better than the alternative."

Over the past 2 weeks, I've had two people that were very close to me during my childhood die. Cousin Betty was 82 and Aunt Drucille was 91. Betty was still extremely young and vibrant and just a pleasure to be around. Unfortunately, Dru was a victim of something like Alzheimer's for the past few years. I didn't get to see either of them very frequently lately, maybe once a year. But they will be missed.

I've never been the type to obsess about age or getting old. My approach has always been to enjoy today as much as possible while at the same time maintaining some moderation in my life style. That approach has gotten me this far, so I plan to stick with it as long as I can and of course continue my daily meds. :-)

I sure hope you've enjoyed your life as much as I've enjoyed the ups and downs of mine during these first 70 years.

Still alive and kicking here in the Big Town of Savage,
JD

PS - You're right, my daddy put me up on that pole and if he did it today he'd be in the county lockup!!!

It's The Mars/Venus Deal Again

2011-05-20T14:36:00.007-04:00

Click image for larger, readable version.

This is another bit of humor that arrived in an email this morning. It brought to mind something that I never realized until it was too late. Men and women do not normally think alike.

A Most Excellent Pen Pal email friend put me on to a little book that provided me with much insight that I didn't previously have. It arrived too late to save my marriage, however I do believe it has helped me significantly in understanding past events.

It's not a cure all, but certainly a starting point for folks that are ignorant of the subject as I was then. I have since passed it on to other folks that I thought could use a bit of insight on the subject too.

JD, here in the BToS

PS - I realize I have ignored at least one other aspect of the humor item.

ENDEAVOUR Launch - Watching live - old school

2011-05-16T13:37:00.004-04:00

I took some time this morning to watch the launch of Space Shuttle ENDEAVOUR. Rocket launches have become old hat to most of the world today. But, I recall back in the old days when space travel was first being planned.

I sat in front of the TV and watched live launches when they were shown. It was all so new and so amazing to this young man at the time. I was a computer software guy who always harbored the idea that I should be the one in that capsule, or that I should be the one walking on the moon.

This morning's ENDEAVOUR launch wakened a bit of that in this ol' rascal who'll be 70 later this month. Excitement was the name of the game and rockets and space travel provided it, even if it was only via TV!!!

JD; here in the Big Town of Savage

Word Definition - Boobs

2011-05-12T07:57:00.002-04:00

After checking my blog and realizing I've provided nothing recently that would enlighten you, I decided to share this bit of humor that, Bill, another BToS fella shared this morning. This may not enlighten you, but hopefully it will provide a smile and brighten your day.

JD

Debit Card, Credit Card or Cash - Which?

2011-04-28T11:00:00.010-04:00

I'm sure you know by now that I'm a retired old fart here in the Big Town of Savage in the middle of the Diverse State of Maryland (Governor O'Malley's term). Typically, older folks are slow to change in almost any area of their life.

I still wear old style clothes and continue to drive my GMC trucks and use recipes that I've had in the ol' cookbook since my married days. I'm also a cash kinda guy at stores.

One of my old habits was to write checks for significant purchases of consumables when I purchased most of them at grocery stores. I always used a credit card to purchase fuel for the vehicles (typically it was similar bill from month to month). If I was going to make a major purchase (appliance, etc.) I would charge it on my other credit card to simplify possible return of the item.

Then along came Costco and Sam's Club where I now purchase all major consumables. They are always pretty quick at processing checks, but when there is a significant amount to be paid, often a manager would have to sign off on the check. That didn't happen too often, but it did happen.

I noticed these nice people in front of me just swiped a card thru the reader, poked in a number and the clerk poked a button, and it was over. They had their receipt and headed out the door. I found out that it was a debit card. As I mentioned, I'm slow to change. But, after watching this for a year or so, I decided to give it a shot. A couple of years ago I had my favorite credit union provide me a debit card.

I gotta say, I'm outta Sam's and Costco before I know what hit me now. I'm also one of those guys that visits his bank account each day via the internet banking. So I'm always up on balances and it's my nature to not overdo withdrawals.

Since having the debit card my shopping paradigm has changed to the extent that I use the debit card at Sam's and Costco vice writing checks. I've not gotten to the point where I'm comfortable using the thing for all my minor purchases or grocery store visits. So, the cash and credit card portions of my spending paradigm are still intact.

I was reminded of this earlier today when I made my end of month visit to the credit union to replenish my supply of wallet cash. I was kidding the young teller about needing cash to do some shopping. I suggested that he probably uses his debit card for everything. He quickly indicated that he seldom carries any cash at all.

Once again I'm the guy that holds up the line at the grocery store while I count out the correct bills and change to pay my tab. The person behind is just shaking his head wondering why I don't just use my debit card!!!

And how do you pay for all your purchases? Ponder it,
JD

PS - I've noticed that using cash for minor purchases also helps me keep an eye on my spending total for small items...that's a handy thing to know and helps me refrain from running over budget each month. You probably realize that most of us retired folks only get paid once a month...

I just discovered a secret, The Secret Sisters

2011-04-24T16:41:00.006-04:00

I was scanning the Dec 2010/Jan 2011 issue of Garden and Gun magazine and ran across an article on The Secret Sisters. I was captured by the image included and truly enamored after I heard their sound.
I tend to like what I consider older music and these gals (a term from my youth) first album sure hit home with me. See what you think of them in this video.

JD

Savage Elementary - 1947 - First Grade

2011-04-19T13:14:00.015-04:00

I'm one of those kind of guys that keeps to himself and I'm typically not a joiner. After I retired, a fella here in the BToS was telling me about the Savage Historic Society (SHS) and some of the neat things he was doing as a member. At his invitation, I attended their next Monday nite meeting, which consisted of a presentation followed by the business portion.

I have to admit that it was rather enjoyable. I signed up to join and paid my membership fee. I don't recall exactly, but that may have been about 7 years ago. I've attended very few, maybe 3, meetings since joining, but I do maintain email contact with the secretary. She lets me know when to pay my dues and sends the monthly meeting notes.

The last meeting notice I received indicated that Anne-Marie from my first grade class at the Savage Elementary School back in 1947 was going to make a presentation. The title of her presentation was "FROM THE HALLS OF SAVAGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI".

When I got to the meeting, Anne-Marie was there as was Donald, who was also in the same class. I hadn't seen either of them since our high school days. Quite a few other members of the SHS were there. Needless to say since I wasn't a regular, a few of us were unacquainted. Nice bunch of folks though.

I have to admit that while I was interested in hearing about Anne-Marie's tour in Libya for the State Department, I was much more interested in her stories from the Savage Elementary School days. Her presentation was very good and prompted a spirited discussion of the current Libyan situation. I'm not gonna kid you here, I pay little attention to the world outside the BToS and couldn't contribute.

Anne-Marie was kind to augment her presentation with some neat fotos and other memorabilia from the ol' Savage Elementary School. In all, it was a fun evening and nice to revisit a bit of my youth and catch up with a couple of classmates.

One of the photographs Anne-Marie shared was our first grade class foto. Fortunately I had scanned the same foto and cropped the images of Anne-Marie, Donald and myself from it. They are displayed here.

This is our first grade photograph at Savage Elementary School.
Anne-Marie from class foto.
Donald from class foto.
Dewey (BToS JD) from class foto.

Those old fotos sure are cute!!!

Ponder your old days fondly too,
JD

PS - The first comment is from Anne-Marie, which I posted for her.
PPS - Additional fotos of my 3rd and 5th grade Savage Elementary School.
PPPS - Anne-Marie's displays:

SAM'S COSTCO - Members Only - Safe Haven Shopping

2011-04-13T07:10:00.008-04:00

I don't recall anyone really talking about it, but paying to shop at COSTCO and SAM'S does have advantages beyond having access to some really good deals on excellent quality products.

Requiring membership to shop keeps out the riffraff. You don't run into weird folks at Costco and Sams nor do you typically run into folks trying to rob you in the parking lot. Generally speaking, folks who don't belong aren't around. It's kind of like having your own private shopping area; your own safe haven for shopping.

Look around and ponder it next time you visit a dollar store... ...
JD

PS - I didn't include BJ's as I don't have a BJ's membership, but suspect same would be true for shopping there.

Martinsville NASCAR - Rubbin' n Racin'

2011-04-05T05:53:00.003-04:00

NASCAR racing at Martinsville is today's incarnation of what old timers call 'real racing'. As you can see from the foto above cars get scraped, bruised and banged up for 500 laps on this half-mile paperclip shaped oval.

Drivers are forced to work extremely hard just to get a decent finish at this track. The drivers that come out on top know they've performed at the top of their game with a well set up car.

NASCAR should take a really hard look at the racing product from Martinsville and use that as a contrast with other less interesting forms of race tracks that they've migrated short track races to over the past 25 years.

Any new tracks should be less than a mile in length and somewhat flat, like Martinsville. Bristol used to have similarly good racing until they reconfigured the track to variable banking a few years ago.

No, Martinsville is a small town with BIG TIME racin' the way it ought to be.

Obviously, this is just my opinion,
JD

PS - Virginia has two of the best tracks in NASCAR, Martinsville and Richmond.

Jubilation Day - Make the best of your breakup

2011-04-01T13:21:00.004-04:00

Breakups are seldom happy affairs. Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers provide an uplifting perspective in this "Jubilation Day" performance.

Ponder it if you're going thru, went thru or might go thru a breakup; or better yet, just enjoy the music and relax,
JD

Steep Canyon Rangers

Liz Taylor at Martinsville for some NASCAR

2011-03-29T16:02:00.001-04:00

Ran across this earlier and thot you racin' fans might enjoy it a bit.
JD

Spring snuck up on me...and my yard

2011-03-28T15:06:00.007-04:00

Remember those nice pretty grasses of autumn. I haven't trimmed them back yet for spring and I must say they are looking a bit daunting. I'll try to attack 'em tomorrow and make room for new sprouts.
The warm spring sunshine is here in the Big Town of Savage, but the temps and wind are still not favorable for a lot of yard work. Also calling for rain Wednesday thru Saturday. We'll see how much progress I can make tomorrow.

Enjoy your weather,
JD

PS - It's Wednesday, 2 days later, and still no progress on the grasses, nor lawn.

Variable Banking Kills Bristol NASCAR TV

2011-03-22T16:54:00.003-04:00

I'm an old time NASCAR CUP Racing fan. After a few years of watching races at the newly paved and reconfigured Bristol Motor Speedway, I've come to the conclusion that the variable banking that exists there now has taken the RACIN' SHOW out of Bristol.

I say that because today's racing at Bristol features two cars racing side by side for multiple laps and neither car is able to pass..."B-O-R-I-N-G". It was thought that side by side racing would be good for competition. It's not if one car can't pass the other. Continuous side by side racing is "B-O-R-I-N-G".

The old Bristol banking featured the fastest line right around the bottom of the track. The faster car overtook a slower one in the bottom lane and would nudge him out of the way to pass. That 'nudging' usually caused the lead car to suffer a momentary loss of grip and it would slide up the track in the corner and the 'nudger' would pass the rascal.

This always led to good TV that was much fun to watch. it also led to scrapes on the track between cars and sometimes in the pits between drivers and crews. Bristol was all about 'doing what you need to do' to win.

Today it's all HAPPY all the time. Drivers ride around for 500 laps, collect their money and go home. Terrible TV. Terrible racing.

Get the grinders out on that track and make the variable banking go away. Bristol is suffering in attendance and the TV ratings are down (of course part of that could be from FOX's 'tight shot' never show more than 2 cars coverage). Bristol track needs to go RETRO BRISTOL to AMP UP the FUN FOR THE FANS.

Sadly, next week's race at Fontana, CA will be even more BORING. Fortunately, the Fontana race has been reduced to only 400 miles and is the sole race at Fontana for the year; vice the previous 2 races each season.

Bored with Bristol,
JD

IRS Free Gift

2011-03-16T09:45:00.006-04:00

Life was getting a bit boring here in the Big Town of Savage, so last week I got friendly with my TurboTax tool and filed my income tax with Obama and O'Malley. I haven't heard from the Diverse State of Maryland (O'Malley) yet, but I did hear from the IRS (Obama).

I received an email this morning with a foto of my free IRS Pencil Sharpener. Hope you have better luck...

JD

PS (Update - 17Mar11) - Heard from the Diverse State of Maryland (O'Malley). Guess I wasn't on the high side of the diversity equation as they debited my checking account this week. Normally, I give 'em too much money during the year, but this year I didn't give 'em enough. Back to the withholding tables to get closer to reality.

Talk Radio vs Commercials - Which way to go?

2011-03-11T11:49:00.022-05:00

I'm an old guy here in the Big Town of Savage and prefer AM radio, especially some of the Talk Radio stations where I don't have to listen to annoying music setting a tone for every word that's spoken as I have to on most up scale FM news and music stations.
I usually listen to WBAL 1090 from Baltimore and while I'm no longer a stick and ball sports fan, I do enjoy listening to Mr. Tony's World on WTEM 980 from the DC area. BToS is located midway between Baltimore and DC, both stations are strong and clear. Most of the time I'm running errands in the Toy Truck, listening to the morning shows between 9 AM and noon.
This morning I was returning from a visit to Target and wasn't too interested in Ron Smith's political topic on WBAL so I flicked over to Mr. Tony's World on WTEM. Tony Kornheiser, like most of us, lives in his own world and has fashioned a weekday talk radio show that accommodates Mr. Tony and no one else. To make it simple, if you don't want to visit Mr. Tony's world, then don't listen!

I like Mr. Tony's eclectic mix of topics, that goes beyond sports. After listening for many years, my perspective is that Mr. Tony relishes the entertainment scene and likes to talk about and be seen with upper crust folks. He loves movies, music of his youth, free stuff and, of course, Mr. Tony; and bombshell babes.

This morning as I was driving home he had one of his regular guests on discussing this week's new movies. About half way home I was kind of tired of listening to Mr. Tony and his guest's opinions. So, I pushed the radio button for the Ron Smith show and figured I'd give his take on politics another shot. Turns out WBAL was taking a commercial break for 'Traffic and Weather, Together on the Fives'.

I found the WBAL commercials more interesting than Mr. Tony's movie talk, so I figured I'd hang around for the traffic and weather. Before I knew it I was home and still listening to WBAL and commercials.

Peculiar as it seems, this morning the WBAL commercials were more interesting than Mr. Tony's movie talk.

JD

Rainy Day - Late Hour NASCAR

2011-03-05T22:27:00.011-05:00

I've always thought that NASCAR races should start early Sunday afternoon, preferably 12:30. Las Vegas is evidently in a later time zone than the Big Town of Savage here on the east coast.

Tomorrow's race from Las Vegas is set for around 3:15 here in the BToS; about 3 hours later than I think it should start. Tomorrow is forecast to be a rainy day for the BToS with moderate temps.

So the real question becomes, "What do I do until I begin to watch the TiVo'd race around 4:15?" I can busy myself until noontime with daily crappola, but 4:15 is a long, long time and very late in the afternoon.

Personally I think west coast races should begin around 12:30 eastern time...what's that, maybe 9:30 out there. That's good, they can all get up early, go to the race and still get home in time for a leisurely dinner. I could still watch it at my normal time, 12:30.

I don't think I'm being selfish here. If you live on the west coast, you could finish watching the race by 1:00 in the afternoon and still have the rest of the day to have a second batch of fun.

I think I'm on to something good here, is NASCAR listening? I doubt it!!!

Ponder it and enjoy the race late, late tomorrow afternoon,
JD

Update - Sunday nite. It's amazing how quickly a good book can get you thru a rainy afternoon. I managed to read from 1 until almost 4, then started watching the race on my TiVo. Fine book, good race. I kinda like that Cousin Carl won at Vegas for Ford.
PS - Rubbin' n Racin' next. After taking a week off, Bristol is on the calendar Sunday afternoon Mar 20. Rubbin' n Racin' is 'old school' racin'. Bristol isn't as much fun to watch as it was before they installed variable banking a few years ago, but it's just so much better than most other NASCAR tracks over a mile.

Blast From The Past - WWII Sniper Shoots Again

2011-02-28T21:05:00.003-05:00

Best I could do was Sharpshooter in basic training. These guys take it serious...sometime it's great to look back with today's perspective.

JD

NASCAR Daytona 500 - Writers Saved by Bayne

2011-02-21T10:57:00.012-05:00

Think of all those NASCAR beat writers as they were watching yesterday's Daytona 500. I'm sure they were thinking about what to lead their stories with. A record million caution flags, two restarts at the end, and most major name-value drivers were out of contention; but what's the lead.

They had almost finished their basic story line. Then it happened -Trevor Bayne, driving the Wood Brothers Ford with the iconic '21' paint job won in a close finish. They likely sat in amazement for a few minutes relishing in the fresh face of Trevor Bayne and the excited delight of everyone from the fans to the members of all the teams. They were all excited for the Wood Brothers and the Rookie, Trevor Bayne.

Most stories today are about Bayne and the Wood Brothers and their history. The writers didn't have to belabor the million cautions and obvious safety issues raised by the new paired-up racing paradigm; nor the fact that typical major NASCAR drivers were out of contention. Nope, 20-year old Trevor Bayne, driving for Wood Brothers Racing, was and is the story.

All the cautions caused it to be a long, drawn out race, and not at all typical of Daytona rolling-parking lot races. It actually became a bit boring at times for me. Even 200 mph tandem, paired-up teams became boring after they got strung out.

What does NASCAR do about RP (restrictor plate) races at Daytona and Talladega after this last week of racing at Daytona? Talk about being torn between euphoria brought on by the excitement of Bayne's 21 winning and the more serious issues concerning safety of bumpers tied up at 200 mph, I'm sure NASCAR will let the good feelings roll on for a while.

NASCAR competition leaders might be debating the tandem racing teams at 200 mph during their conferences the next couple of weeks, but they definitely will NOT look a gift horse in the mouth after the excitement of the 2011 NASCAR Daytona 500 finish.

Nope, the NASCAR writers had a fine day...

JD

PS - Trevor Bayne video below
PPS - I hope you don't think you can save gas with that bumper-bumper deal out on the road; the other driver just may not understand!!!

Income Tax Time - Not Excited

2011-02-19T08:55:00.013-05:00

When income tax time comes around beginning early February, I'm normally ready to sit down at the desk and get cranked up on 'em. Here it is, already the 19th of February and I've done nothing other than gather papers.

I used to know all the Fed and State tax rules that applied to me and wasted no time plugging the info into the right place on the proper forms, making a copy for myself and sending 'em off. I felt like I actually had the tax knowledge that I needed to make proper decisions during the coming year on expenditures and future planning to maximize my tax situation.
Then along came TurboTax. As the logo states, 'Choose Easy'. In the many years I've used TurboTax, I feel as though I've been dumbed down on tax regulations and laws, possibly too much.

TurboTax takes you by the hand and leads you through the tax maze, assuming you know nothing about where you're attempting to go. You just answer queries, plug in numbers and move on to the next screen until you run out of places to go; and then you're finished and electronically filed, both Federal and State.

TurboTax provides a running balance of your account at the top of the screen to let you know that you owe $5210 or that you're due a refund of $5012. Every time you enter more data, you find yourself checking the balance to determine if your status changed. If it's still red, you keep looking for ways to make it green. It's kind of like a computer game, only with real consequences and no REPLAY.

I usually get curious and switch over to the 'View Forms' option along the way just to see what TurboTax is doing with all that stuff I put into the boxes. The government must make a lot of changes to tax regulations as the forms don't look too much like they did when I filled them in with a pen in the old days. I'm not sure I could do manual taxes effectively today. Plus, that electronic filing and quick refund deposit in the bank account is really nice!

It's obvious that I only wrote this blog post so I could put off working on my taxes for a while longer. Doggone, is it time to watch the NASCAR race from Daytona?

Ponder Procrastination,
JD

PS - Maybe that's why I'm procrastinating this year. I don't expect a refund!!!

PPS - Filed my taxes electronically today for both Federal and State. TTax tells me the Feds have already accepted my return and I'm still waiting to hear from the Pretty Boy O'Malley State of Maryland (oops, hope he didn't read this)...BTW, today is March 11, 2011...even tho I procrastinated, I'm still a month before the due date, April 15. Looks like I procrastinated almost 3 weeks after this post is dated before I finally filed. That's what owing money to the Feds and O'Malley will do to ya.

NASCAR Daytona - Two Man Racing - Twin Trophies?

2011-02-13T13:28:00.005-05:00

The Bud Shootout Saturday nite was a strange race, even for a restrictor plate track. Typically, in order to win at Daytona and Talladega you need another car that will get into a draft with you and help you get to the front.

Last nite's race was the first I've seen where late in the race, virtually every car was hooked up with a drafting mate. As the image above shows, the two-car draft with Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray won the race after the race-leading two-car draft of Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin broke apart when Hamlin split off the rear of Newman and attempted to pass him for the win.

As they split apart, thus slowing, the 22-1 express rolled on by, helped in part by the 11 dropping below the double yellow line, out of bounds, while passing the 39. The 11 of Hamlin appeared to cross the finish line first, but was black-flagged.

It's a complete change in the race car paradigm when it takes two to tango. Racin' is always ME against YOU, each in a different car. This two-car deal isn't real racing, but for one night it definitely put on a different show than we've seen in the past. It sure kept my attention and I had no reason to pause the TiVo to go pee pee!

NASCAR doesn't usually like for drivers to go beyond the NASCAR vision for competition. So, we'll have to see what happens between now and the two Daytona 500 qualifying races on Thursday and for the Daytona 500 next Sunday.

My perception is that the RP (restrictor plate) tracks of Daytona and Talladega privide a TV SHOW and typically do not constitute a true race. This two-car deal certainly makes it a race again, while at the same time causes NASCAR to pull what few hairs they have left out of their swelled heads.

My opinion is that the TV Shows will be done once NASCAR leaves Daytona and shows up at Bristol and Martinsville come spring. Then it'll be back to 'boys have at it' and some real rubbin' and racin' short track fun.

Just my opinion,
JD

PS - NASCAR did NOT award twin trophies to win!!!

Bagel w/Chicken Salad for Breakfast

2011-02-09T07:24:00.005-05:00

My son-in-law has a long, approximately 95 mile, commute to work with a portion including a circumferential tour of the Baltimore beltway on the almost always congested west side. He occasionally spends a few nights a week here with me to save some fuel and time.

He's gotten into having bagel sandwiches as a breakfast. I try to keep items in the fridge that aid his bagel building, typically packages of cream cheese, sliced cheeses, lunch meats, etc. I don't usually pay much attention to his finished sandwich, which he usually eats while reading the morning paper on my living room coffee table.

But this morning was a new one, chicken salad bagel. Fortunately he's good at holding his packed bagel over the plate while biting to catch any sandwich debris. After he finished the bagel and the paper he looked up and complimented me on the chicken salad, "I believe this was the best chicken salad you've made."

I'm one of those guys that makes all sandwich salads pretty much the same way, whether it's tuna salad, chicken salad, turkey salad, etc. Mayo, mustard, pickle, onion, celery, celery seed, and appropriate seasonings (salt, pepper and Old Bay). In this case, the chicken I used was some leftover roasted chicken breast and some dark meat fried chicken, the fried chicken flavor complementing the relatively bland breast meat.

I will say that the chicken salad sandwich I had for lunch yesterday was indeed pretty good. Chicken salad ain't my favorite sandwich food, but it'll do in a pinch as long as it has some enhanced flavor to it. Guess son-in-law appreciated the enhanced flavor of this batch.

And that's today's HumpDay bagel report,
JD

Super Bowl Weary

2011-02-06T08:01:00.013-05:00

I've become worn out on the NFL and on the Super Bowl. I'll have to find another outlet for my time this evening as I will definitely not be watching the NFL Super Bowl.

What happened???

30-40 years ago I was as big a sports fan as anyone I knew and never missed a Redskins game or a playoff game. Like most, I would park in front of the TV and actually become excited as the game unfolded.

Have I been spoiled by the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and the ease of skimming thru television programs? Yesterday I recorded a Maryland basketball game for the first time this season. I devoted every bit of 20 minutes to watching it last evening. I might watch the action between commercials making note of the score, then fast forward to the end of the 15 minute segment. Then watch a bit more. I probably devoted all of 20 minutes to the 2 hour TV show and watched maybe 30% of the actual game action.

Same happens with an NFL game. I can no more watch a whole game than I can watch an hour episode of Memphis Beat without skipping commercials. In the case of sports events, it matters little whether you watch the whole event or just check the score at various points of the game to get the flow and determine the eventual winner.

Why do I not have interest in sports today? Is it just because I'm an old fart and don't like to waste time on drivel (stuff in which I have no interest). I don't know the real answer, altho I did post some thots on the NFL a while back. The only sport I come close to watching live is NASCAR CUP racing. I do still have a strong interest in that competition.

So, what will I do tonite. Likely, I'll find a movie to watch and go to bed early so I can be well rested for Monday. You may or may not know that Monday thru Friday are days most retired folks look forward to. Everybody else heads out to work or school and from about 9 am till lunch time, things are relatively quiet on the roads and in the stores.

So this will just be a regular Sunday nite for this old fart from the BToS...

JD

PS - Maybe I'll record it and just watch the commercials!!!

PPS - NASCAR on track action at Daytona begins this Friday with the Bud Shootout Saturday evening followed by the Daytona 500 the next weekend on Sunday (Feb 20).

Miracle Whip or Mayo

2011-02-03T11:42:00.009-05:00

What is Miracle Whip (MW) and what is Mayonnaise (mayo). I have no idea, but I do know what each tastes like.

When it comes to sandwiches that need a spread on the bread, I usually prefer MW to mayo. I think MW on sandwiches provides a twangy (tangy) flavor that I don't get from mayo. I'm sure that I ill use the word 'twang' because I have no idea of its definition. Twang is a word I use to describe a taste that's kind of sweet and vinegary when compared to mayo. I also like a twang in my pulled-pork BBQ.

Mayo evidently has a lot of oil in it that MW doesn't have. In this respect mayo is good for sandwiches where the bread is exposed to moist ingredients, like a BLT. The juice from fresh tomatoes can soak into a slice of lite bread that's spread with MW; where the oil in a mayo spread will block much of the moisture; thus keeping the bread intact until you finish the sandwich.

MW is not at all good for salads and fresh made cold dishes that you plan to save for a meal tomorrow. Without the oil, the MW seems to break apart, thus killing the flavor and consistency of dishes kept in the fridge overnight. The same dish made with mayo holds up well in most cases. I normally add a combo of apple cider vinegar/sugar to get the MW twang flavor from mayo.

I'm a sandwich kinda guy and will go through a jar of Miracle Whip before a similar size jar of Mayonnaise is half empty. I almost never use mayo for a sandwich, but for things like cole slaw, broccoli salad, etc., it's preferable.

By the way, I just had a roast beef sandwich on rye with MW and lettuce for lunch. Just one more peculiarity of JD here in the BToS.

JD

PS - MW has less than half the calories of mayo...

It's Black History Month - January hiatus is done

2011-02-01T08:53:00.004-05:00

Did you know February has only 28 days. Every 4th year it gets 29 days for Leap Year. February is the SHORTEST month of the year! Looks to me like Black History Month (BHM) got short shrift; February being so short and cold too! Maybe Congress will address the issue this month and move it to a warmer month that has more days. Wiki says the UK celebrates BHM in October, which has 31 days.

Just an early February thot,
JD

PS - I apologize up front for the crude word usage at the end of the video.

"Thots from the BToS" - on Hiatus

2011-01-08T22:11:00.006-05:00

This blog is on hiatus thru the month of January 2011 (that's twenty-eleven; not two-thousand-eleven).

I sure hope it's warmer where you are than it is here in the BToS. If you're not sure check it out...

Take care,
JD

Taste of a Maple Nut Chocolate Easter Egg - 2 years later

2011-01-05T10:30:00.005-05:00

In an earlier post I noted that I am a terrible clutterer. Occasionally I find myself rooting thru clutter in my basic storage room. I tend to keep the door shut on that room during cold weather to save a few cents on the heating bill.

While rooting after the new year, I ran across a Maple Nut Chocolate Easter Egg in a decorative bag like those in the foto. My recollection was that Lana and Barb couldn't find those bags for the 2010 egg product and had to use decorated plastic bags.

So I concluded that this egg would be from Easter 2009, almost 2 years old. Being the kinda guy that will try almost anything once, I took it out of the decorative bag and the plastic wrapping. It felt HARD, but then they feel kinda hard when first made if they're chilled.

I sliced the end off and it sort of crunched a bit with small pieces breaking off the main slice. Being the 'taste it' kinda guy that I am, I immediately popped one of the small pieces in my mouth. As soon as the warm juices of my mouth enveloped that egg sliver, the wonderful flavors burst upon my taste buds.

Doggone thing still tasted awfully good, even tho it was a bit crunchy. I finished that small end slice and tried another. Every bit as good!

I sent it on to Lana. She said, "I'm not putting anything that old in my mouth." She wouldn't taste it. I have it back again and plan a small sliver after dinner tonite.

Just cause it's old; don't mean it ain't good!!!

Ponder and enjoy,
JD

PS - It's almost time for Lana and Barb to crank up the Chocolate Easter Egg machine for this Easter. I'll keep you updated on their progress.

Tired of Turkey Breast - Try Turkey Testicles

2010-12-31T06:32:00.002-05:00

With Thanksgiving long gone and Christmas dinner over the hill, are you getting a bit tired of eating turkey leftovers? If so, you might want to try this turkey treat.

Happy New Year

JD

ELVIS Blue Christmas

2010-12-24T07:35:00.001-05:00

May your Blue Christmas be also a Merry Christmas.
JD

Senior Texting Codes - From an Email

2010-12-23T08:31:00.006-05:00

The neatest things show up in emails...when we have time to read them. I ain't a texting kinda guy (yet), but as an old fart I can relate.

P&P (Peruse & Ponder)
JD

Since more and more Seniors are texting and tweeting, there appears to be a need for an STC (Senior Texting Code)

ATD: At The Doctor's
BFF: Best Friend Farted
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
ROFL…CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing...Can't Get Up
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
WTP: Where's The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil

Longer Days - Winter Solstice - Dec 21--6:38PM EST

2010-12-19T15:03:00.005-05:00

If 6:38 PM, December 21, 2010, is the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, what does that mean to my life? Does it mean winter's officially here? What else does it mean?

It has quite a few meanings or effects. Basically it is considered the first day of winter. We all know that winter is cold. Here in the Big Town of Savage (BToS) this December has been our coldest month in quite a while. It has felt like winter to me for the whole month. If you're anything like me, you wonder how it can get much worse...I know, I know, remember all that darn snow we had last winter!!!

What it really means, and this is true each yearly cycle, is that on the day of the winter solstice, we experience the shortest daily period of daylight (exposure to the sun) of the year, which some folks insist on calling the 'shortest day' of the year.

Obviously, all days are actually the same length in hours, they only vary in the amount of daylight we receive. So the 'shortest day' term is really a misnomer, as are many of the terms we use in today's English communication.

If the Winter Solstice indicates the day with the shortest daylight hours of the year, then the daily period of daylight can only get longer afterward. Indeed, the daily amount of daylight gradually begins to increase until the Summer Solstice when we have the most daily daylight hours of the year, which will be June 21 for 2011.

While you're bemoaning the lack of daylight and cold temperatures during the mid-Dec to mid-Feb depths of winter, take solace in knowing that the amount of daylight is gradually increasing each day; thus bringing us more sunshine and gradually moving us toward spring; which is a whole other subject.

As news reporters will be wont to say come Tuesday, "Winter's officially here, it's the shortest day of the year!" In reality, we will be slowly working our way toward those little green thingies popping out of the ground.

Enjoy your holidays, then enjoy the added sunshine each day as we go through winter and please do relish it when the sun is feeling so warm on those cold February days.

Ponder it,
JD

Atheists Don't Have No Songs - Steve Martin

2010-12-16T11:21:00.004-05:00

I'm a fan of stained glass bluegrass; Sunday morning gospel on WAMU-2 (Bluegrass Country). I received a link to this in an email this morning...being the Steve Martin fan that I am, the gospel music fan that I am and being raised as a Southern Baptist who's no longer a religious kinda guy, all this kind of hit home.

Have some fun gospel music,
JD

"The Farmer and The Lord" - Jimmy Dean

2010-12-12T15:34:00.003-05:00

Heard this on 1280AM, Hanover, PA this morning and thot I'd post it for your enjoyment.
JD

Beater GMC Safari Goes Binary

2010-12-07T13:53:00.004-05:00

I was heading to Costco the other day and the ol' beater van went binary on me. I looked down at the odometer and it read '101101'; first thing I thot of was binary encoding. To an old fart like me that learned to program computers back in the late 50s; it looked just right.

The '03 GMC Safari has AWD and I plan to keep 'er around till the spring thaw comes, then I'll probably sell it to someone who needs some basic, box hauling capability. It got me thru last winter's 36" snow here in the BToS with no problems; of course I stayed on plowed roads and didn't head for the boonies. She was great.

It had no problem bringing the new Toro mower home when I bought it at Home Depot last month. Nope it's just a handy little box that gets decent mileage and goes thru the snow and; she has an 'old fart' attitude spurred by going binary.

JD

Help You Make It To Your Flight - Buck Howdy

2010-11-30T11:45:00.003-05:00

Received this link in an email from Clarke this morning. Might perk ya up a bit...
JD

From an Email - Puns for Smarties

2010-11-27T08:04:00.005-05:00

There are times after I eat too much that I don't have a fresh thot in my head and I resort to posting other folks stuff on this blog. It ain't that I'm not trying, it's just that my mind slows after all the food prep and Thanksgiving dinner, and especially after desserts. :-)

Ponder these puns from Bob as you enjoy the extended weekend,
JD

Puns for Smarties

Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.
A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.
Practice safe eating - always use condiments.
Shotgun wedding - A case of wife or death.
A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.
A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired.
When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away.)
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes.
She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.
With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia - the LAN down under.
Every calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted - Taint yours and taint mine.
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.
Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall..
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Acupuncture is a jab well done.

Danny Deckchair - Flick Preview -

2010-11-21T09:43:00.003-05:00

I enjoy lighthearted, happy-ending flicks. This Australian flick is my latest from NetFlix and it's worth my monthly fee all by itself. If you want a few minutes of escapism and some neat scenery and country town living, give it a shot.

I'm still grinnin',
JD

HMS Equipment to blame; not Chad and Jimmie

2010-11-18T14:36:00.008-05:00

Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) CUP racing cars have gone from being superior the past few years to being just normal during this 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Everyone's blaming Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus for not rolling away with the 2010 NASCAR CUP championship. However, if we take a quick look at the performance of the other 3 HMS CUP teams, it becomes pretty clear what's really happening.

Chad and Jimmie are as dominant as ever within the Hendrick organization. They are head and shoulders above the second best performing HMS team, the 24 with Jeff Gordon. The 24 made the 12-team Chase field this year, and have performed admirably, but have shown no winning ways when it comes to performance.

The 5 with Mark Martin made the Chase last year, but fell short this year. And the 88 with Dale Earnhardt, Jr, has shown little performance this season.

In my opinion, the whole Hendrick stable of CUP equipment has been deficient in performance this season when compared to the competition; which actually shows that the 48 team, with Jimmie and Chad, deserve a whole lot of kudos. Their performance has been enough to keep them in the championship hunt up until the final race at Homestead this weekend.

Should they win the NASCAR Sprint CUP this season, it may well be their best performance when compared with their other 4 consecutive championships. They will have come out on top with considerably less than 'top of the line' equipment each week.

Ponder it and enjoy Sunday's final race of the 2010 season,
JD

Ramblings of a Retired Mind - From Email

2010-11-14T09:37:00.003-05:00

This neat collection was in my morning email. I thot you might enjoy them too.
JD

PS - As I age, I find myself pondering strange issues also.

I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So, I'm wearing my garage door opener.

I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what they call blue teeth, I think.

You know, I spent a fortune on deodorant before I realized that people didn't like me anyway.

I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans!

I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is 'when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.'

I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age, and call it 'Pumping Rust'.

I've gotten that dreaded furniture disease. That's when your chest is falling into your drawers!

When people see a cat's litter box, they always say, 'Oh, have you got a cat?' Just once I want to say, 'No, it's for company!'

Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I think you should write, 'A Good Doctor'!

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then, it dawned on me. They were cramming for their finals.

Clutter, Hoarding and Newegg to the Rescue

2010-11-10T07:54:00.008-05:00

It's around 7PM Monday evening and I'm ready to do a few things on the ol' computer. First I need to call my daughter and check in on Tuesday's dinner plans. I pick up the phone and my Vonage VOIP gizmo is telling me that there's no connection.

I do the usual, checking my Vonage unit, modem and router. Computer still has connection to internet but the lights on the Linksys router are acting kind of funny, constantly blinking in unison.

TiVo tells me that its wireless connection to the internet isn't working either. I ain't a big computer nerd at my old age, but I can manage some of the basics. After also testing my wireless laptop connection and finding it non-existent, I decide I need to replace my wireless router.

By now it's around 7:15 and I figure I can make it to Staples before they shut the doors and be back on line pretty quickly. But, didn't I take advantage of a newegg.com deal on a new Cisco wireless router back in the spring?

With all the clutter in my computer area (and there is a LOT of clutter), I had no idea where it might be, if indeed I did buy one. It took me about 5 minutes to find the Cisco box hiding under the pile of STUFF in my extra desk chair.
Without going into details, I had the router up and running with wireless security in place in about 10 minutes. My TiVo and laptop were happy with the new security code and life is once again wonderful here in my cluttered computer area in the BToS.

Do good stuff; clutter; and have some fun,
JD

PS - My penpal Susan has attempted to coerce me into eliminating my clutter with slight success over the years we've been emailing. I got into de-cluttering a bit early in '08 when I was about to get a weekend visit from cousins Betty, Bobby and Katie from Danville and knew I'd have them here in the house for a few days. We had a nice visit and I even had the kids in for a Sunday nite dinner with them; but then they left...CLUTTER reigns supreme once again. I'm not bad enough to need a path to the bathroom yet, but that time will come I'm sure.

"THE CHASE" is killing NASCAR Racing

2010-11-05T08:32:00.010-04:00

Sounds a bit stupid to use that line as a subject, doesn't it. NASCAR made a decision a few years back that in order to give the NASCAR CUP racing season a bit of fizz, it would glamorize the points championship. Thus; they created a 10 race Chase.

Originally 10, and now 12, drivers qualified for the Chase based on their point standings at the close of the first 26 races. That group of Chase drivers are isolated on points from the other NASCAR race drivers for the remaining 10 races of the season and have their own points subset to determine the winner of the NASCAR (your favorite sponsor goes here) CUP Championship.

The goal in glamorizing the end of season Chase was to enhance TV ratings and NASCAR Inc. profit margins by focusing the public's interest on 'The Chase'.

NASCAR has been successful in directing TV coverage from weekly races on to The Chase. Any time you look for some NASCAR news, the focus is on 'The Chase' and remaining challengers for the NASCAR CUP trophy.

Now the opinion from the Big Town of Savage begins. Tailoring publicity to The Chase leaves little emphasis on the race of the week and the track that's hosting the event. It's 'ALL CHASE ALL THE TIME'.

Unfortunately, the NASCAR fan base wasn't built on 'racing for the chase'. The NASCAR fan base was built on weekly races and race venues. Any true NASCAR fan loves to visit their favorite track to be part of the race. NASCAR's inherent excitement is on the track on raceday; not TV hoopla about a contrived competition for points to win a points trophy at the end of the year.

There's a wonderful trophy and payoff for each of the 36 races on the NASCAR CUP schedule. There is nothing more exciting than the Winner's Circle after a grueling Sunday afternoon race with the driver, owner and team excited beyond belief at their victory. This is the ultimate NASCAR Race experience; winning this week's race at Richmond, Bristol or Charlotte in front of great fans.

If you're watching TV coverage of the race the first thing you hear out of the announcer's mouth isn't necessarily excitement over the race winner, who gets little TV time, it's the point standings for The Chase.

NASCAR needs to eliminate 'The Chase' and return weekly focus to the race and the race winner's family of team members. True NASCAR fans love racing; they don't love 'The Chase'.

Contrary to NASCAR's original intent of adding fizz to the NASCAR season, what NASCAR has actually done with The Chase is remove emphasis from weekly racing; thus diminishing the importance of their core product, RACING. The Chase is a loser...

Ponder it and let NASCAR know what you think of 'The Chase',
JD

PS - Weekly racing is the backbone of NASCAR. Over the many, many years I've followed auto racing of all types, it's always been the racing that was exciting. The reason I tune in each week is to see rubbin' and racin' and the post race excitement as the drivers get in each other's face to let 'em know they'll be the one wrecked next time...

Political signs gone - Life is once again normal in The BToS

2010-11-03T08:05:00.007-04:00

My Kyle Lorton and Dennis Schrader signs no longer adorn my front yard here in the Big Town of Savage in the O'Malley/Democrat run Diverse State of Maryland on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.

Both signs supported Rep candidates here in Dem controlled, liberal-minded central Maryland. Basically, I'm a realist when it comes to Maryland politics. It's all Dems all the time and that will not change in my lifetime.

All I can do is take some solace in the fact that the country has seen the light a bit and brought some division to the US Government with the Reps taking control of the House of Representatives. Hopefully, the Reps in the House will show some restraint on spending and slow the volcanic growth of Obama-nomics. Divided government is good government!

I'm also a realist and know the Reps love to spend just like the Dems, but hopefully they won't be quite so willing to jump on the Obama sales pitch as the Dem House was under Pelosi (is it true that she may resign to spend more time with her grandkids?).

It's a long ways away, but 2012 should be lots of fun, especially since Obama no longer seems to have God-like status among US Citizens. As President of the United States, he's shown himself to be more pompous than most and the most divisive President of all time.

Ponder it and work toward 2012, or possibly earlier,
JD

PS - Don't take politics too seriously if you can help it. It's just one of the things in your life that you have little/no control over. If you take it too seriously, it'll just drive you whacko and you may never recover; not to mention that you'll never be friends again with someone from the other party. :-)

Johnny Carson Lie Detector Politician - Vote 'em Out Tomorrow

2010-11-01T08:06:00.001-04:00

Johnny Carson was definitely 'in-tune' with politics.

Ponder it,
JD

Face up...Face down??? - TV Controller - redux

2010-10-29T08:41:00.002-04:00

Originally posted July '09.
JD

Are you a face-up kinda guy like most folks when it comes to laying your TV remote down? Do you lay that rascal down so you can see the neat buttons and have it ready for action when needed?

Or are you a face-down kinda guy (notice I say guy here, cause it is, after all, our controller)?

"Why would anyone lay that rascal down so you can't see the buttons and have to flip it before you can use it again?"

Simple. The back side is typically hard slippery plastic, while the buttons on the front side are kind of grippy for traction when you're working your finger magic with it. If you lay that rascal face up and your wife comes along and accidentally clips it...BANG, it's clanking on the floor with the battery cover off and batteries scattered, and you gotta big urge to pause the NASCAR race on the TiVo to take a piss.

If you lay it face down, those little grippy buttons grab the surface you lay it on and don't let it slide around when your wife clips it!!!

It's that simple...common sense comes out on top for some of us guys...there are other guys that I call 'girlie guys' that lay 'em down face up!!!

Friday Thot from JD here in the Big Town of Savage,
JD

PS - I neglected to mention that I'm a 'face-down' kinda guy!

Maryland Needs DIVIDED Government

2010-10-28T16:03:00.003-04:00

This is a repeat of a blog entry I posted right after the primary election in Maryland. I think it's worth a revisit, especially if you live here in Maryland and realize just how wasteful our Maryland Legislature and Governor are with YOUR money.

The first step to gaining a DIVIDED government here in Maryland is to oust Pretty Boy O'Malley!!!

Read and ponder and if you're really bored watch the video. I'd put a smiley here, but it just ain't funny.

JD

Revisit of post from September 21, 2010:

O'Malley's Hits

Today's primary election day in some of our states. Maryland had theirs earlier in the month. Now it's official, it'll be Gov O'Malley trying to hold on to his lease of the Big House in Annapolis; while previous Gov Ehrlich works to reclaim his lease of the same Annapolis Big House.

Maryland's Democrat constituency lives off the largess of the Democrat controlled Maryland Legislature and for the past 4 years has had O'Malley, the Democrat governor, to sign the big TAXATION and SPENDING bills passed by the legislature.

Maryland is extremely fortunate that it has a huge portion of US Government's budget being expended right here in Central Maryland. If it weren't for these central Maryland federal Agencies and their support contractors, the whole state would have gone down the tubes years ago, since there is practically nothing else in Maryland to generate non-government dependent revenue.

Over the past 4 years, Gov O'Malley and the Democrat-controlled Maryland Legislature have endeavored to take even more money from the pockets of Maryland companies, their employees and the residents of Maryland via new taxes.

The Democrats constantly sell these taxes as needed to run the state government. If the Democrats would exhibit a sense of fiscal responsibility, added taxes would not be needed. Maryland Democrats evidently do not know the definition of the term 'fiscal responsibility' and don't even understand the concept of a 'fiscal conservative'.

This video plays on O'Malley's music performance background to highlight his taxation hits of 2007, 2008, 2009 and this year 2010...

Spend a minute watching and ponder it when you go to vote in November. Replace the Democrat Maryland governor and let's have a divided Maryland government. A divided government breeds stalemates between the legislature and governor; and stalemates almost guarantee that only NEEDED laws will pass and that spending may be controlled a bit while reducing the need for future tax increases.

The alternative is a continuation of the O'Malley TAX and SPEND EXPRESS as depicted in this video through 2014.
JD

NASCAR - Martinsville - TV Ratings

2010-10-25T06:31:00.006-04:00

Main topic of discussion about NASCAR today is "What's happening to NASCAR's TV ratings?" No one really asked me, but as we all know, a blog is a place to voice your personal opinion about what's happening. In the case of NASCAR TV ratings, this is my take on it.

NASCAR itself has killed a large portion of the product. Somewhere along the way NASCAR forgot what got 'em the good ratings to begin with. NASCAR won fans with exciting, close racing that featured rubbin' and racin' on tight tracks that naturally breed excitement. The exciting racing produced each week on those tight tracks lured fans that naturally love to get high on action. They kept coming back race after race and watched on TV when they couldn't attend.

NASCAR's business plan today seems to be to award races to venues featuring BIG, WIDE, little or no contact race tracks. I've noticed that you can tell if you're going to have an exciting race by driver interviews before the race.You may get a Mark Martin description of the track such as, "I love racing at Michigan...the track has multiple grooves and there's plenty of room to race."

Basically, the driver's alluding to the fact that he's going to have a relatively easy day driving, he likely won't be involved in any altercations on the track and he can depend on his equipment to bring him home with a good finish. The driver will be able to display his ability at maneuvering a race car with little or no interference from other drivers.

What this tells me is that as a NASCAR fan I will see little/no action on the track today. I may as well record the race and skip to the end for the final result.

Sunday's race at Martinsville brought pre-race descriptions of the track mentioning that it's a short, narrow track with tight turns and track position is important. That tells me that I am going to have a fun day watching this race on TV. It tells me the drivers will be working their ass off all day just to gain/maintain position at the finish.

Places like Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond always provide exciting racing. There is action on the track with rubbin' and racin' for the full race. At the end of the race, drivers will be worn out from working so hard. Road racing venues are typically similar because drivers have to really work to finish well. In all cases there is constant action on the track and always a calamitous altercation brewing. Tempers flare and drivers are pissed at each other at the end of the race.

Yesterday's race at Martinsville is an excellent example of NASCAR's heritage, it displayed the type action that brought fans to the track and to their TVs every Sunday afternoon just after noon. That's the type action that NASCAR needs every weekend, not the drivel that's produced by Michigan, California, and all the new, wide medium length tracks.

If NASCAR produced racing like Martinsville on a weekly basis instead of the boring productions that are featured at over half their venues today, their fan base would grow as would their TV ratings.

As a fan of NASCAR racin' since the late '50s, I know racin' when I see it and Martinsville on Sunday October 24, 2010 was real racin'.

Ponder it,
JD

PS - Did you notice that ESPN didn't have time for fill-in, fluff pieces during the broadcast of the 500 lapper at Martinsville yesterday. There was so much action on the track they had no time. They knew beforehand that there would be no need for fluff...the ACTION was on the track.

Full Moon - Little Sleep

2010-10-24T05:07:00.006-04:00

What is it about a night with a full moon that limits my sleep. It seems that invariably any night with a full moon will be a night where I wake multiple times and have difficulty getting back to sleep.

All the blinds are closed and the shades are pulled, but still the light sneaks into the house and keeps me awake. I made it to my computer before 4 AM today because we're in the throes of a full moon.

Or is it just that as I age I tend to have more difficulty sleeping anyway and the added light from the full moon just exacerbates the situation. I don't know the answer, but me and full moons ain't all love like they were when I was younger.

I do know that there are times when your mind is focused on a particular life problem and that once you wake, your mind just gets to churning and you can't shut it down again. Maybe it's a combination of the two that inhibits sleep.

OK, we've solved it, the light from the full moon wakes you and your mind gets to churning; thus no more sleep tonite.

Ponder it,
JD

Milton Friedman - Greed - YouTube Video

2010-10-20T14:11:00.003-04:00

Received an email this morning with a link to this youtube video. Makes sense to me...

Watch for a couple of minutes, then ponder it,
JD

PS - Remember to vote Nov 2