75th BIRTHDAY for BToS JD

Today, May 28, 2016, is BToS JD's 75th birthday.  Born in 1941 a little over 6 months prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into WW II.

Fortunately, I was too young to understand anything about the war until it was actually over and I was four years old.  All I knew was that my Uncle Bennie was back in town.  Here's a foto of us with me sitting on the hood of his new car.

It's been a wonderful 75 years and looking back I pretty much enjoyed every moment of it.  All but the first year of my life has been lived right here in the Big Town of Savage.

JD

PS - Oops, I forgot about those 6 months at Fort Knox, KY Oct 63 - Apr 64 for basic and advanced training.  Picture taken over '63 Christmas-New Year holiday.  I was 22 then.

T0Y VAN Personalized License Plate

T0Y VAN official tag

May 17 here in the Big Town of Savage in Central Maryland should be a month away from Summer.  Instead, today's high temperature was around 58 with rain.  Most days this month have been chilly and improvement is a slow go according to forecast.

Only bright spot this month was the arrival of the official MD Personalized License Plate for the T0Y VAN.

JD, waiting for spring or summer-like weather here in the BToS

PS - Now 6 months into ownership of the T0Y VAN.  Seems I'm driving it about as much as I did my '05 GMC before I sold it, about 5k per year.  Fuel mileage is about 10% less than I was getting with the GMC extended cab, long bed.  Engine is also a bit larger in the van, being a 6.0 vs the GMC 5.3.

Miracle Whip - 60 oz -- Spare Change Jar

 

Miracle Whip - 60oz - My Change Jar

I'm one of those strange folks that can't warm up to using a credit card in stores and still use cash for most of my purchases; hence I also get a lot of coins in change.  I'll also root through my pocket to find the correct change when I get that bill for $12.64 to use some of my coins.

Even though I spend change when possible, I still end up with a pocket full of coins once in a while.  Typically, in the morning I'll lay the coins from my pocket on to the top of the dresser.  I'll pick out about 4 quarters, 3 dimes, 2 nickels and 4 pennies to put in my pocket.  That way I usually have correct change when needed at a store.

The remaining coins on the dresser are scooped off and into my change jar.  The image above shows my change jar.  Once the change jar gets full over the top of the label, I think about taking it to the credit union coin counter.  That happened this morning and typically happens once a year.

Receipt from the coin counter this morning came back with a total of $144.60, a new high for me and the coin jar.  I deposited the money from the receipt into my credit union account and came away with a smile on my face and an empty, much lighter coin jar.

JD, here in the BToS with an empty jar.

December Weight Control Negligence - Plus 3 lbs

Dec 1, 2015 - 238 lbs  --  Jan 1, 2016 - 241 lbs = 3 lb weight gain

Three pound weight gain during the month of December 2015. I ain't a January dieter kinda guy, matter of fact, I'm not really a dieter kinda guy. Basically, I pretty much eat what I want and try to use portion control as an effective tool and also keep track of daily calorie intake in my spreadsheet, which I've been doing since 2008 or so.  So far it's gotten me from around 270 when I retired in Jan 2004 down to current weight.

Given that all the December GOODIES and BIG meals are about gone, it'll be much simpler to stay in my normal eating mode and continue on my goal of getting into the 220s in another year or so. Or I could just wait until I die and it'll all burn away to ashes in the crematory.

Basically, I'm saying that it's time to get back on my normal eating schedule vice the Thanksgiving to Christmas over indulgence.  I'll let you know next month if I'm successful; and yes, I am honest in these blog posts.

JD, back to normal eating in the Big Town of Savage

PS - Back to normal also means putting up with the 'back to school' traffic for the 3 schools within 1/2 mile of my house here on Savage Guilford Rd.  Bethel Christian Academy, a private school, is directly across the street and it's 'dropoff/pickup' 7:00-8:30 am and 2:30-6:00 pm each school day.

PPS - Feb 8 and with all the snow I've gained another pound instead of losing some -- 242 this morning.  I might have to get the cardio doc to yank my chain again to get back into losing...

PPPS - Jun 4 2018 and my old age is catching up with me.  Body weight is only 218.  My taste buds now seem to hardly work at all; food I see as delicious has little or no flavor.  Think I've entered the EOL (End Of Life) downward spiral.  Altho, I do feel pretty good most of the time.

January 01 2016 -- How'd it get here so quickly from May 28 1941

Country Churches 2016 Calendar

When I was younger back in the mid-1900s, I couldn't even envision I'd be around when we moved into the 2000's, much less still be around after we've all gotten used to saying Twenty Sixteen.  Not that I thought I'd die young (none of us think that, right) but it just seemed to be so far down the road.

Even after the kids started popping up in 1970, 1972 and 1974.  Heck, they'd all be getting up to their 30s by 2000.  Now they're all into their mid-40s and one grandchild has a wedding scheduled for next Labor Day weekend and he'll be 23 at the time.  How long will it be before I have to add the prefix 'great' and become Great Grandad (I prefer using the short version of Granddad, not as many characters to remember), not that I'm not already a 'great' grandad anyway...aren't we all.  ;)

So, come May 28 2016, I'll turn the BIG 7-5.  Hopefully I'll be around to check it off on the superb Lang Country Churches Calendar hanging on the wall above my computers.

JD, moving into the new year here in the Big Town of Savage

PS - If you're gonna buy any Lang stuff, wait for sale prices, cause the normal prices are outrageously high.

NBC -- NASCAR on Saturday -- NO RACING SUNDAYS

NBC shows ONLY Chase Drivers

NBC NASCAR broadcasts are very good for their Saturday coverage of Xfinity Series races.  They actually feature most of the cars and drivers in the race and interview any driver that has a highlight/lowlight to cover.

NBC NASCAR Chase broadcasts of the Sprint Cup Series races on Sunday are basically terrible when it comes to showing the race action and participants.  Each Sprint Cup race has 43 participants of which at least 20 have very competitive cars/drivers.

This time of year the NASCAR season is working toward determining a champion for the season.  The new NASCAR Chase format for the Sprint Cup is an elimination process beginning with 16 cars.  Every 3 races causes the elimination of 4 cars.  After 9 races the field is down to 4 cars for the final race of the season to determine the Sprint Cup Champion.

The eliminator style Chase format puts a bit of spice into determining a champion and has shown to be very good for the NASCAR business model.

On Sundays NBC spends 90% of the air time showing the cars of Chase participants.  Today's race will have 8 Chase vehicles.  Today's NBC telecast from Texas Motor Speedway will feature 8 cars and drivers and the other 35 can go to hell because they will  not be visible on the NBC broadcast. 

Even if a non-Chase driver wins the race, NBC will spend a minimal amount of time showing Victory Lane and dote on Chase drivers that didn't win.

During the Chase NBC shows actual racing on Saturdays and CRAP on Sundays.

JD, feeling pissed at NBC here in The Big Town of Savage

FRY-day -- One word tells the whole story

 

Bacon on FRY-day

Since I've retired, Friday doesn't mean what it once did to me.  Friday was always something to relish as the final day of the work week and maybe even a good day to work the 6-2:30 shift and get outta Dodge before the traffic rush can clamp ya in.

I have to say that since retiring, Friday has become more of a FRY-day.  I've been around for 74 years now and one of the best things I recall from my youth is my mother's delicious fried country cured bacon.  Every time we visited the family down in Danville, she'd get more home cured bacon from Uncle John and Aunt Lucy.

Those days are gone, but some of my favorite things will stay with me until I die.  Personally, I make sure I always have some good cured bacon in the house.

On a morning like this I appreciate my new definition for Friday, or FRY-day as I like to call it.

JD, practicing FRY-day here in the Big Town of Savage