The Post Christmas Blahs.....

Another Christmas has come and gone...64 of em' for me, and frankly, they all seem to blur or morph into just a few....

We spent last weekend with son Hal, Lisa, and Grandson Kasyn, along with most of Lisa's family in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area...visited the Newport Aquarium, ate a meal along the banks of the Ohio River on the Kentucky side, then spent the next 20 hours at the Sharonville(Ohio) Radisson and Co Co Key indoor Water Park....a nice time, the motel and water park were our Christmas gifts from Lisa and Hal, and Patricia and I had a great time, she did especially with the K-Man at the water park....she hit big tube slides on a handful of occasions, I limited mine to one backward slide down, on the back side of the double inter tube with her.  In this case, once was indeed enough.

On the negative side{and there were several}....my neck seemed to get out of whack.  Not sure if it was from the side, the unfamiliar bed, or what?...but 5 days later, it is still out of whack...as is my
weight.  Here I spend from the Kokomo Vietnam Reunion until Christmas week, losing 13 pounds in 3 months, and {no shit} I gained half of it, a full 7 pounds, back in 4 days....and frankly, although I did eat more, and less healthy, than normal...no way I should have packed it back up to 195.

I have been doing well over the past 4 plus years....dropping down from my post {heavy} weight lifting days of 225 pounds, down to 180 in May of 2010...most of those lost in the period from September 2009, when I was discovered to have Pre-Diabetes 2 until May of the next year...nearly 45 pounds.  Back to weight lifting I went...then in 2012 on my 63rd Birthday, I was put under the knife and had Carotid Artery surgery on my neck's right side...eventually I went back to weight lifting and have been pretty steady with that...my weight popped up a bit, back to near 200 by the time Mid-September and Kokomo came around...determined to get back to 180, I began a not-so-radical return to a sane diet{perhaps too much dark ale and beer, but......

what the Hell?}, and was within my goal of hitting the 180 mark by the time I called my first pitch in late to middle March and the beginning of baseball season....this week's set back and next week's New Years Day get together at Rick's place in Indiana, has bumped me back a bit....but I am determined to make that goal....and see no reason not to do just that.

Christmas Eve was held at sister Marty's House....all those family members that were not in Florida, were there....Sam was home from Chicago, neice Mikki in from California, and the rest drove lesser distances from Michigan and locally....Hal, Lisa, and Kasyn, the 95 miles from Centerville...prior to heading across town, we had our gift opening at our house, with Anissa, Sam, Hal, Lisa, and K-Man....we then ate, drank, played cards, and watched the 3 youngest{mom's Great Grandkids} open presents and wear themselves out...before heading home.

Christmas Day we never left the house....and ate some more and watched the annual rite of passes "The Christmas Story" 24 hour marathon on WTBS....Sam headed back to Chicago land at 3pm{had to work yesterday} and Anissa was picked up about 8pm...the only other excitement was a young female cat ran in the house as Anissa was heading out....despite having a flea collar, nobody has yet

claimed her, and she remains in the garage area....another pet I don't want or need, but I won't let it starve either....that is not my way.

Today it's back to basketball for one day...working a Holiday JV Double Header up at Elida...game this afternoon, the 3rd place and championship games in the Junior Varsity division, a nice payday and early home....meanwhile Patricia headed to Centerville and is watching K-man for the day...and part of this evening, as Hal and Lisa will go out to dinner, with the gift that Sam got them for Christmas...

As for me....back on the diet, rest the neck and left shoulder, and see if by tomorrow I can get back in the workout room and do some lifting....but I won't rush it.

back later>>>>

Photos-Various from the Aquarium at Newport, Kentucky, the view from our Ohio Riverside Restaurant, the Co Co Key Water Park, Kasyn with his gifts and the water park with Hal, Grandma Patricia, his golf clubs, snowball the albino crocodile, cousin Luke, trying to out scream each other on Christmas Eve....

The Hawk Makes a Hit.....

Temperature has risen to the low 40s today....first time since Thanksgiving we have been that warm, and with the rain forecast to start tonight...the 10 inches or so of snow on the ground will turn into a muddy, flooded mess...then by Monday we start the road back to winter weather....I would just have rather seen it stay "Winter-Like"....

About 5 or six years ago, a Red Tail Hawk of the Marsh Variety decided to spend it's winters hanging around the neighborhood....every winter the same one{least the markings are the same} comes back around until Spring.  I have seen it feasting on Sparrows, and an occasional Pigeon...while eyeballing the local Squirrels, I have yet to see it make a move on one of them....after all, it's a fight the Hawk would most likely win, but at what cost?  The fuzzy tailed tree rodents, that feed off the birdseed in my backyard, are fat, healthy, and have claws and teeth of their own.

Just before Noon today, I was walking out of the kitchen, and noticed the Hawk in the driveway,
standing in the melting snow, and feeding on "something"...I got out the point and shoot and snapped off a few photos from the landing window, and then pulled down up portion of the window down and asked the Hawk..."Hey, what you got there"?  Mr/Ms Red Tail took a look, sunk it's claws firmly into the carcass, and flew off....I walked out and snapped what was left...some blood, lots of Pigeon feathers, and some undigested corn, not doubt the last feeding the Pigeon was ever going to do.

Wet for the next few days, and temperatures will stick around in the low to mid 40s through Sunday....I've got a Girls game at Wapak tonight, then Boys  JV tomorrow, Junior High Saturday morning, and then Saturday Night, I'm at Cory-Rawson for a boys Varsity game....with the trip to Cincy, Sam coming home, and the family Christmas Eve get together, the next week will indeed be
busy.

Photos-The Hawk and his "victim" the Pigeon and what was left when the Hawk took flight!

and below:  The Full Moon in the Vapors{Jet Trails} above Celina last night..

37 Years...well actually 40 Years Ago...

December 18th in 1973...Patricia and I first met, and were married 3 years to the day later, 12/18/76....yesterday oldest son, Sam, turned 32....time flies indeed!  Nothing special planned, she is working, I have no game tonight, will get with Nick as we measure up the Kitchen floor, in hopes of fixing the mess that the water leak created 18 months ago...???  Yea, I know, what the Hell is with that?

Patricia and I will go out to eat, probably next week....this weekend, on Sunday, we will head to Cincinnati, and spend a couple days on a mini vacation, with Hal, Lisa, and grandson, Kasyn...Sam will be heading in from Chicago, and arrive Friday night...he then will head to Columbus to stay with old Ohio State day friends and his old roomate, we will all be back in Celina for the Family Christmas Eve bash at sister Marty's house...the rest of this week remains busy with basketball.  I worked my first Varsity game of the year last night,  some 60 miles north at Cory-Rawson HS, a game won easily by the home girls over visiting Lima Perry...I thought the 3 of us did a good job, although I do admit to making one real weak call early on that put the Perry center on the bench with 2 fouls....she came back soon after and played the rest of the game foul free, so that call by me, as bad as I think it was, didn't affect the game at all.

Tomorrow WBL JV Girls at Wapak, then boys same at Lima Bath on Friday...on Saturday I drive 35 miles to Versailles for a boys Junior High game at 10am...come home, quick shower and a bite, then drive the 60 miles back north to Cory-Rawson for a boys Varsity game, thus completing a busy week...things will then back off with only a double header Holiday Girls Tournament at Elida on December 27th, to finish out the 2013 sports year....January however, will be my busy month in roundball....with no less than 22 games on the schedule.

Merry Christmas....If I don't post before then!

Honoring a Murdering Marxist...

The Media and Political Hacks, left and right, are all over each other since the death of Nelson Mandela last week...from the usual suspects, Obama, NY Times, MSNBC, to the so called conservatives from George Bush II, Ted Cruz, Allen West, and Fox News...the praise heaped upon the dead 95 years old South African Communist Dictator is something to behold....in fact if I watch much more of it, I would be forced to hold a Air Sickness Bag.

To top it off, our own Communist Dictator Wannabee, in the White House, has ordered the American Flags flown at half, in honor of the Dead Communist...who, by the way, last I looked was not even American{of course, neither is Obama}.  So here we  are...honoring a dead Racist and self proclaimed Communist in an effort to be politically correct and appease the unappeasable among us?  How low have we sunk?   To answer my own question....pretty Gawd Damn low.

Happening over the weekend....

We headed south to the town of Lebabon on Saturday and took the Christmas Train with grandson Kasyn this weekend....now two years old, he really started to figure out what was happening...and despite the frigid weather, we had a great time, topped off by supper at Max and Erma's in Springboro, after the train excursion.

On the way home I listed to the Ohio State/Michigan State Big Ten Championship game, and got home in time to watch OSU battle back from a 17 point hole to take a 24-17 lead, only to blow that in the 4th quarter and lose their shot at the National Championship, by a 34-24 score.  MSU will go to the Rose Bowl, meanwhile the Buckeyes will take on Clemson in the Orange Bowl on January 3rd....at 12-1 the season is none the less, a major disappointment.

Better news for a couple of local football teams...both Marion Local and Coldwater added to their state championship hardware...The Flyers took the D7 crown, winning their 3rd straight title(after winning in D6 the previous two seasons} and the Cavaliers won their 2nd straight Division 5 title...in Basketball, Celina got a big early season win, knocking off the usually powerful Lima Senior Spartans 84-68 on the road at Lima.  Celina moves to 2-0 on the young season, while Lima falls to 1 win 2 loses.

Cold and some icy weather continue....most of the schools, including Celina, have cancelled for today, not so much from snow, but the lite mixed precipition has left the streets and roads slippery....not much of a warm up is in sight for the next week or so....

Dartball tonight, then basketball on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday(morning} will keep me busy for the remainder of the week.

back later>>>>

Photos-Mandela, no doubt roasting in Hell together with his fellow dictator smelly Yes Sir Your a Fart....and the Midwest Athletic Conference{Ohio High School} hoists two more Football Championship....

Enter December 2013....

Below Normal it has been this last half of the Fall of 2013.....so much for the Global Warming alarmists{fake science beliving fools they are}...but the photos from our 13,000 acre swap called Grand Lake {St Marys} are still pretty nice, despite the lake's problems of the last few year....snapped about 40 sunset photos along Windy Point Sunday afternoon....and will post them as I get the chance:

December 2013....a new month begins

 Survived hosting the family Thanksgiving get together, of course Patricia and the other women folk fixed the meal, I just played with the camera, and grandson and grand nephew and niece...Then started off the Basketball Officiating Season with Boy HS games on Friday and Saturday Night, despite a bit of bitching from fans{when don't the idiots complain?}, I'm glad to be back on the floor and getting a workout.

Patricia and I, after Anissa left to head back to her house, took a 4 mile trip to my old hang out from my high school days, as I caught a few Sunset Photos along Windy Point on the south side of Grand Lake near Montezuma, Ohio:

Thanksgiving 2022...The Sad Shape of Things to Come:

As we arrive at Thanksgiving Week 2013, I look at what has happened to America over the years since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock....the changes came slowly at first, as the young nation struggled...we were the pride of envy of the world, post WWII.  America had a good run, sadly, beginning with FDR, even before the victory over the Japs and Nazi trash of the war, things began to unravel...first slowly, then with LBJ so called "Great Society" the nation began to head towards Hell on a rail.  With the election of a Racist Marxist Fool name Barack Obama{not his real name of course}, the final nails are being hammered into this Republic's Coffin.

With that we look forward nearly a decade to Thanksgiving 2022:

Thanksgiving 2022

"Winston, come into the dining room, it's time to eat," Julia yelled to her husband.
"In a minute, honey, it's a tie score," he answered.
Actually Winston wasn't very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington. Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its "unseemly violence" and the "bad" example it sets for the rest of the world", Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be. Two-hand touch wasn't nearly as exciting. Yet it wasn't the game that Winston was uninterested in. It was more the thought of eating another Tofu Turkey. Even though it was the best type of VeggieMeat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce, and mincemeat pie), it wasn't anything like real turkey.
And ever since the government officially changed the name of "Thanksgiving Day" to "A National Day of Atonement" in 2020, to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims' historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.
Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting. The unearthly gleam of government-mandated fluorescent light bulbs made the Tofu Turkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold. Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats - which were monitored and controlled by the electric company - be kept at 68 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.
Still, it was good getting together with family. Or at least most of the family.
Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of life-saving medical treatment. He had had many heated conversations with the Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program. And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort. "The RHC's resources are limited," explained the government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. "Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled. I'm sorry for your loss."
Ed couldn't make it either. He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2021 outlawed the use of the combustion engines - for everyone but government officials. The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn't want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.
Thankfully, Winston's brother, John, and his wife were flying in.
Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion. No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government-mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids. Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added "inconvenience" was an "absolute necessity" in order to stay "one step behind the terrorists."
Winston's own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via Anti-Profiling Act of 2022. That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for "unequal scrutiny," even when probable cause was involved. Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine. Almost.
The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact. "A living Constitution is extremely flexible", said the Court's eldest member, Elena Kagan. "Europe has had laws like this one for years. We should learn from their example," she added.
Winston's thoughts turned to his own children. He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him. Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner. Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford. She whined for a week, but got over it.
His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism, or any of a number of other calamities were "just around the corner", but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility. It didn't help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking anywhere within 500 feet of another human being. Winston paid the $5,000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13.
The latest round of quantitative easing the federal government initiated was, once again, to "spur economic growth." This time, they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.
Yet the family had a lot for which to be thankful, Winston thought, before remembering it was a Day of Atonement.
At least, he had his memories. He felt a twinge of sadness when he realized his children would never know what life was like in the Good Old Days, long before government promises to make life "fair for everyone" realized their full potential. Winston, like so many of his fellow Americans, never realized how much things could change when they didn't happen all at once, but little by little, so people could get used to them. He wondered what might have happened if the public had stood up while there was still time, maybe back around 2012, when all the real nonsense began.
"Maybe we wouldn't be where we are today if we'd just said 'enough is enough' when we had the chance," he thought.
Maybe so, Winston. Maybe so.

Mark Twain once said: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

 

I'm not sure who penned this, but give credit to a guy that calls himself BB on a sports site I frequent...it was put in the "Joke" section...but sadly, the truth is closer than we may think.

 

Celebrate Thanksgiving this week, in the age of Obama and the PC Police, who knows how many more we will be allowed?

 

back later>>>> 

November 22, 1963

Here it is a Friday, November 22nd, and we have had a cold rain for the past 36 hours...it seems to be dissipating, but  the day ahead promises plenty of clouds, and the temperatures will slowly begin to fall as the weekend approaches...by Sunday the high will be but 26, so the Weather Channel says.

So, if you are old enough to remember, where were you on Friday, November 22nd, 1963....50 years ago this day....?

Friday 11/22/63 in Celina, Ohio, was much like today, rain, rather cold, and pretty miserable, weather wise....it would be the day that would change America forever.

Now don't get me wrong, as a 14 year old, zit faced Freshman, politics was a interest to me, but not a life involved pursuit.  When Kennedy ran against Nixon in 1960, I was growing up in Venice, Florida, and supported Tricky Dick.  Dad's side of the family were Republicans, mom's Democrats, although I don't recall at that early age of 11, either one was all that interested in politics....I was, and supported Nixon.  By the time Kennedy took that trip to Dallas Texas, 50 years ago, I was still a supporter of the GOP, and did not particularly like JFK, but despised his running mate, LBJ, even more....he was a despicable asshole, I still feel that way today, although my feelings towards John Kennedy have changed.

JFK, it turns out, was, in retrospect, a Conservative in fiscal matters, not the starry eyed leftist that the media would have you believe...sure he was a womanizing jerk, much like Bill Clinton...the big differences between Clinton and Kennedy were that JFK had a better taste in women, and unlike Clinton,  JFK was not a Marxist toad from the get-go....Kennedy, unlike the draft dodging Arkansas hick, was a real war hero. 

Looking back, Kennedy was a mediocre President, but did not spend enough time in office to really do much....LBJ, on the other hand, began the slide that continues today...Vietnam, The Great Society, and other disasters....his legacy on Civil Rights is what turned the Black Community from post 1860  freed slaves, into the Welfare and Bastard Children slaves much of that so-called "community" is today.  Slaves they are, of the Jackson's, Obama, and Nanny State.....but that discussion can wait for another time and place...I will turn back to 11/22/63.

I had just entered my Freshman Algebra class in the basement of the old Celina Insurance Building, a one year temporary site for the Freshman Class only, as Celina High School was ready to begin transition from the old High School on East Livingston Street{where the varsity basketball field house and administration is housed still today} to the new school on East Wayne Street....that building, now nearing 50 years old, is still in use today as the "new" Celina High School.

Our Algebra Teacher, Mr. Chapman, waiting for the restless 7th period class to settle, began his speech...."President Kennedy was shot today in Dallas, it is presumed he is dead"!  I don't recall my exact emotions, but I do recall thinking to myself..."That means that asshole, LBJ, is going to be President"...Asshole was mild, compared to what that son of a bitch inflicted on America, as bad of President as this republic has seen...now residing right in the bowels of Hell along with Woodrow Wilson and FDR, and where Carter and the current resident of the White House will surely join them.

The weekend would turn cloudy, dry, and cold.  College and NFL games would be cancelled, and the family would set in front of the tube...watching it all, including Lee Harvey Oswald getting gunned down by Jack Ruby.  50 years...it has flown by in the blink of an eye, the age of innocents is long gone...mom still believes LBJ had a hand in the murder...me?  I'm not so sure, although it would not surprise me a bit.

Looking back, the age of "Camelot" was a fraud, JFK was nothing special, the Kennedy Clan in general, nothing more than a bunch of inbred children of privilege of a Boston Rum Runner.  Drugs, insanity, murder, and topped off by The Swimmer, Ted Kennedy, are the real legacy of the Kennedy's, but the events of November 22, 1963, have led many Americans to wrongly think differently.

back later>>>>

Sliding into Winter....

Looked and here it is, 9 days past my last post...my longest dry spell since I begin that journey back in July 2007...I lay it on being bored as Hell, and having laid out much of my past life{that part worth telling} over the years....but I will move ahead and forward with this.

Last weekend, we celebrated grandson Kasyn's, 2nd birthday{he actually turns 2 this coming Sunday} this past Saturday in Centerville....we, Patricia, Anissa, and me, joined about 35 other friends and family members at the guest house at the pool clubhouse they rented...Trains was the theme, and it was a "hit", including the younger kids getting to smack the Train Pinata.

Other than that I have stayed busy with basketball scrimmage work, rotating between Celina, St. Marys, and south to Versailles....after a Junior High boys scrimmage in St. Marys last night, I have three left...Celina tomorrow night and Saturday Morning, and a JV/Freshman Boys roundup at Versailles on Friday night...then a week off for Thanksgiving, before opening my regular season on the 30th at Paulding.

Thanks about it, except for the cooler than normal, along with windy weather of the past week...

back later>>>

Photos-Kasyn at 2nd birthday.....playing slugger on the Train Pinata, and getting ready to blow out the candles...

Veterans Day 2013/Why is Obama Destroying the Military?

Took a quick trip to Wisconsin...up on Friday morning, back by last night.  Spend our "Thanksgiving" with Patricia's folks, as to avoid the colder and more likely snow filled late Thanksgiving up that that this year.  Ate too much, drank too much Brandy, and a few beers, before we heading back south after breakfast out early yesterday.

On the way home we tripped around O'Hare and met with oldest son Sam at a place called "Egg Harbor" and had another breakfast with him and a Ohio State friend of his, Sean, who now lives in Iowa, but was sent to Chicago this week on business....I had the Very Berry Oatmeal, with muffin...pretty interesting, and since I had an egg omelet earlier back in Oconomowoc, I was "egged" out.

We had a nice hour or so meet, and meandered our way, avoiding the multiple lanes for as much of the trip as possible...finally arriving back in Celina well after dark, at 6:45pm....but the dark still doesn't match southeast Wisconsin, where the sun sets at 4:30 and it is pitch black by 5:15....along

with the cold two reasons I despise winter.

Dartball at Mendon tonight, followed by a rules meeting in Van Wert Wednesday, then 3 days of scrimmages....Saturday morning a early scrimmage in Celina, then off to celebrate grandson Kasyn's 2nd Birthday in Centerville.  His actual birthday is November 24{born on Thanksgiving evening in 2011}.

Obama's Military Madness....

Today is Veterans Day, largely ignored in today's America.  Sure there are those that give faked salutes to Veterans past and present, and some actually care, usually parents of those currently serving or vets themselves.  Others truly honor what some have sacrificed, but the large majority could give a rat's ass less, especially a gay bladed Kenyan in the White House, the Commander and Chief of today's new and not improved military.

My two sons are now 31 and 29, and I never encouraged them to join the service...in fact, I told them it was their individual choice, but that in today's atmosphere there would be no way in Hell, given the fact that we are fighting to save a gaggle of Middle Eastern Morons that despise us and would kill us in a heartbeat, why would one serve?  The other reason....is a country of freeloaders that elect Bill Clinton, a draft dodging asshole, worth serving?  Then you get a illegal Kenyan in office, who despises this country making it worse....the only reason to serve would be to rid ourselves of this asshole....one who has turned the military into a jumble of anti-
Christian, pro pervert, weeding out the leaders, who don't walk lockstep with the Fuhrer Obama, military.  Obama is trying to make the members of the military look, act, and think, like him....and he is succeeding.

While I still salute those that I served with, those who served before me, and those true Patriots who serve now....I cannot stand what is happening under this evil fool who is destroying the very foundation of the fighting forces....once our Military is doomed, the Republic will fall like

a deck of cards, and that dear readers, is exactly Obama's plan.

Something to think about on this Veterans Day 2013...

back later>>>

Photos-The Berry Oat Meal Breakfast at "Egg Harbor"....the 4:30 sunset at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and me at 19  in Sky Cop Schoo, and less than a year later at Nha Trang, South Vietnam.  And I have no idea why I can't elimintate the duplicate photos....Blogger is taking a crap, as usual....

Roundball Time!

Just a few days{4} after my final Football Game, a Varsity encounter at Spencerville....I headed south to Versailles yesterday afternoon.  The occasion was my first basketball work of the season, a combined Girls Varsity/JV threeway with the home team, St. Marys and Troy.  Working a few 3 man crews on the Varsity side and a 2 man on the JV side, we finished up in about 2 hours...Pizza and Gatorade was waiting on players, coaches, and officials when we ended our work, I opted out of the Pizza, despite it looking tasty, grabbed a Gatorade and headed home....the dark roads made one realize that winter was approaching...Daylight Savings Time had ended this past weekend, and it now is pitch black before 6pm, but the time Christmas comes and the days start once again getting longer, it will be pitch black by 5pm,,,,not nearly as early as some locations however, I remember delivering a RV to Maine a decade or so ago, and I pulled into the dealership on a Friday Afternoon at 3:15 to unload the merchandise, it was already dark, now those are short days, even compared to western Ohio.

This was my first scrimmage, and my next will be a week from tomorrow, which will be followed by 7 more over a 10 day stretch, then a week's break before my regular season begins on November 30th...same day at the Ohio State/Michigan Football Clash....hopefully the football game is early, so I can catch it before heading to Paulding to toss the ball up.

The things that separate baseball, football, and basketball officiating are many...from fan and coach interactions, to the work out you get are as varied as the sports involved.  Basketball, especially the 2 man crew working Boys JV, is the most physical....that's why I took less of those this year and replaced them with Junior High, and a handful of 3 man varsity games, in both girls and boys hoops.  Not sure how many more years I will work basketball and football...but despite pushing that decision back, I will know when it's time...Baseball, on the other hand, I will likely continue to work until I can't walk or see....or until I drop...I can think of worse ways to go.

Light rain falling this morning, and tonight I will head to Van Wert for my 3rd Association Meeting on the rules and changes in this years High School Roundball scene.

back later>>>>

Small Memories of the Past Life....

I decided to drive around a bit on this Halloween Morning....Trick or Treat was held Sunday Afternoon for the Kiddies, and this All Hallows' Eve is not going to be nice, weather wise, for those yet to observe/celebrate the occasion.

Blast From the Past.....

Most of us, when we reach a certain age, remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when famous or infamous events occur in our lives, or in the world in general.  For example, anybody my age and older certainly remembers where they were and probably what they were doing when JFK was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald, nearly 50 years ago...and yes he was murdered by Oswald, despite the bullshit conspiracy theorists telling you different at every turn.  Those events, same for 9/11/01, are easy to remember where and what.

But the mundane everyday lives we lead, it becomes harder to recall events from...especially difficult to remember everyday events that seem to have no real significant meaning....I have several of those, that spring into my memory banks on occasion...today reminded me of one.

It was the late fall on 1966...I don't remember the exact date, probably late October or early November as I recall, much like today, a lite rain was falling, and leaves covered the streets and roadways....

I had not had my drivers license long, but I do recall it was a Saturday afternoon, late in the day, and I was driving my first vehicle(at least first I ever put on the streets} a 1960 Ford Falcon, the first of my two Falcons, another, a Red 1962, was a much nicer ride, and always been one of my favorite rides.  Anyway not sure why I remember this day, but I had driven from our place in Montezuma to Celina, and had crossed the railroad tracks on South Sugar Street...I stopped a a stop sign and Johnny Rivers was playing on the AM Station in the car..."Poor Side of Town" was the song...and I remember thinking to myself,  "I am putting this day and time down in my memory banks, I will remember this minute forever"  and I have.

I don't know why...there was nothing special about that day or time...I was 17, working enough hours at Marsh Supermarket in Celina, and had been driving maybe 4 or 5 months, the Falcon was a two door, dingy white 6 cylinder, but it got me to work and back, until I blew the engine up a few months later...I would get a rolling death trap Renault sports car, and quickly got rid of that thing before it killed me, and picked up the 62 "Coon" the next spring....but there was something about that day that caused me to remember it as clear as a bell, some 47 falls later.

Today reminded me of that fall day...this Halloween days is much like it weather wise...rain

falling on the streets and the leaves that have collected in them.

Sports...The Red Sox take the World Series...

I didn't watch much of the series, except to evaluate the umpires as I compared them to me and those I work High School Varsity with....It turns out the Boston Red Sox, after finishing below .500 and last in the AL East a season previous, wins the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals.   Being a Cincinnati Reds fan, and having no love for St. Louis or their fans, I didn't mind the Cards losing...albeit the Red Sox and their Obama Voting fan base, and no favorite of mine either.

So after nearly 90 years without a MLB Championship, Boston wins the crown for the 3rd time in the past decade....looks like that jinx is long gone....no doubt giving hope to the Cubs fans around the globe.  

The baseballs are put away until late next winter in Arizona and Florida for Spring Training....my first rules meeting is in February...meanwhile I finish off my Football schedule at Spencerville tomorrow night, with an important game for them and visiting Delphos Jefferson.  Last night I picked up my second local rules meeting in Basketball, and as quick as a bat of the eye, my first scrimmage, a Girls Varsity at Versailles comes along scheduled for next Thursday, November 5th....glutton for punishment I am.

back later>>>>>

Photos:  Taken this morning, looking south towards Coldwater via the Celina/Coldwater Bike/Job Path...

One More Game!

As Monday arrived I assumed that I would finish off my personal Football Officiating schedule in the afternoon, with a Freshman game here in Celina, against Kenton....that all changed however, when I received a call from the head of a crew south of here, who were in need of an umpire{the guy that stands behind the defense line, lining up with the linebackers, about 8 yards off the line of scrimmage} for their crew this coming Friday night.  Since the game was an important one, as far as league championship and playoffs, were concerned, I accepted the gig....and will work one more Friday Night.  Funny as it seems, I left the crew from last year, and was planning on having more Friday nights to relax...so much for that.  With this game, it will mark the 8th time in 11 weeks{counting the final scrimmage before the season begins} that I have filled in...which means I will have worked as many Varsity games as I did on a regular crew last season...so much for grand plans.

Yesterday I actually wore shorts while officiating the Freshman game...today looks to be pretty nice as well, after a bit of morning fog, it will reach into the 60 range, with plenty of sunshine....for the last days of October, I can handle that. 

Messin' Around with Photos.

Having several blogs, I started yesterday to clean some things out....beginning with my "Health Blog"....since my back problems have left, at least for now, and my Diabetes2, if I really had it, is under control via diet, exercise, and meds...I figured, why clutter up Cyber Space anymore than I have to....so I have began to turn that blog from my former health issues, to my attempts and posting my current photos and some of the blast from the past that I work on with the systems...trying to clean up some old images from the family and past years of my life....Stay tuned, I will link that out in due time....once I get the feel and set up the blog to showcase the photos.

Still thinking about Motorcycles....

I have been considering purchasing a motorcycle for some time now....and have pretty much picked out what kind of bike I want....now to the wheeling and dealing, and figuring out whether I want to purchase it soon, and stick it in the garage for the winter, or wait until Spring.   I have a couple of calls in, and in fact the phone just rang, with a guy calling himself "Super Dave" trying to sell me a bike that I have shown interest in.

Now we are not talking cruising bikes....I long ago lost interest in speed, and comfort, on two wheels...neither one gets my blood a pumping....as I have said before, I am mainly interested in a "Dual Sport" bike in the 250cc range.  And those have come down to two bikes....A Yamaha wr250 and a Kawasaki klx250S.

After studying both bikes{and having owned both brands in the past} there is little doubt that the Yamaha is a superior bike for off road duty...at least heavy terrain off road duty.  The Kawasaki however has several advantages of it's own. 

First off the Kaw is  $1500 less in price...about $5000 compared to $6500 for the Yamaha.  Other factors include the Kaw is a shorter in seat height bike....meaning for someone like me, with a long body but short, very short inseam, it will be easier to handle.  At 5' 10 1/2" or so, I have a upper body like someone in the 6 foot to 6 foo 2 inch range...however, my short legs

barly have a 29 inch inseam....being the freak I am, the Kawasaki, when you toss in the price, is a better ride for me, at least on paper.

Other factors in favor of the Kaw, include that I have found several 2012 models in Ohio, and have managed to talk, or have they talked me? into the $3900 price range...these 2012s are brand new, and with the 2014s coming out, and lots of 2013s in the windows, I can pick one up for a bargin....decisions, decisions....I'm still thinking!  And that is why I'm waiting to call "Super Dave" back. 

Time to head out and enjoy the nicer weather this end of October is providing....

back later>>>>

Photos-Me, this morning....wearing shorts for another day....hate the thought of long pants and long sleeve t-shirts, but that time is here....my first motorcycle was the 1974 Kawasaki On/Off Road Bike...they didn't call them "Dual Sports" back then.  and the 2012 California Red Kawasaki 250s...Red is available, so they say, in California only....but it appears that Mexifornians aren't buy bikes these days...poor bastard are taxed to death out that way, so they are shipping the left overs this way....so green or red?  If the price is right, and it appears to be, I don't give a damn what color it is...as long as it's not pink or yellow!

Changing of the Seasons

Worked a Middle School Football Game last night at Paulding and the raw conditions with strong winds made me glad that the season is about end for me.  Although the playoffs from Varsity High School Football will last until early December, my final game will be a JV Contest here in Celina on Monday....tomorrow I have a JV game at Wayne Trace in the morning, and then tomorrow night Pastor Jim, Terry K and I will work the finals of the Cross County Youth League at St Marys...the JV game will begin at 6:30 and I am guessing the Varsity Championship will end by 10:30 or so....should be dry, cold, and crispy, weather.....

With Football ending....the down time before Basketball Scrimmages begin will be short, with my first games at Versailles on November 5th...a half dozen or so scrimmages will lead up to the opening night back at Paulding on November 30th, that will be a JV contest, but this season will see me working more Varsity games than I have done in the past...when I began working roundball 7 years ago, I did not plan on working Varsity, just lower levels, but as usual my ego and the area Athletic Directors have talked me into working some Varsity, even though I will be 65 by the time the State Tournament finishes up in late March....just in time for my sport, Baseball, which I have already a full Varsity Schedule and Tournament games picked up.

In addition to the sports season changing, the area weather made a quick turn-around...from dry and above normal temps, we are now about 15 degrees below normal, and have had plenty of rain mixed with sleet and a spitting of snow already.  While I enjoy fall, especially the early days of lower temps and humidity, I do not look forward to the coming Winter months...but come they will, Mother
Nature won't be fooled.

That's the short of it for this week....perhaps something important will happen, on the good side that I can write about come early next week....but for now things just seem to be dragging along...slowly.

Blast from the Past:


Here I am in the fall of 1950{?)  At least that is the date mom says is correct and she would know better than me...after all I don't recall it.  I thought it might be 1952..but she says I was only about 18 months old.  I will take her word on it....this photo was taken in a Orchard in my original hometown of Scott, Ohio....a little berg of 250 that straddles the Van Wert and Paulding County Line.

I do recall one incident from that time frame....as hard as that might be to believe...It was about this time that I stuck a "Bobbie Pin" in an electrical outlet at our house....once I did that, I do remember getting knocked back from under the Kitchen Table...my hand ended up being black and blue for quite awhile...now that left quite an impression for a 18 month{or so} old, and that I do recall.

back later>>>>

Photos-Sleet Covered the Ground on Wednesday, but yesterday, at least early, the sun was shining aroud Grand Lake on my morning drive....and me from 1950 the Fall of that year, in Scott, Ohio.

The Week that Was and Wasn't....

The weeks seem to fly by these years...everybody that has reached the age of 25 or so surely must realize this...the fact as you get older, life in general becomes less exciting...it is just a fact, not something to be mad or sad about, it just is what it is, and times seems to zip by at an alarming rate.  The fact that if I survive another 5 months I will turn 65 as next Spring arrives, doesn't bother me, but it does astound me.  Hell, I was hopeful of making it to 50 with living until the turn of the new Century in 2000 as a bonus....it's all on the Gravy Train from here on out.  So what is the problem?

Politics:

My former Congressman John "Leaky Cheeks" Boehner and the central figures of the House GOP joined Juan McCain and the gutless Republican members of the Senate in caving to Obama and his illegal{despite what the gutless turncoat John Roberts and the US Supreme Court may say}Health Care as well as the Budget Cliff...wow, the bastards put two bullets between the American Taxpayer and working/contributing citizens eyes with one shot...nice going boys, bend over kids/grandkids and future generations, no amount of KY Jelly is going to sooth this screwing by the left wing ghouls, led by the Kenyan Born Half Breed/Half Wit, in the White House.

I had lost most hope for the Republican Party anyway, this week has put the last finishing nail in it's Coffin.   I will renounce my party affiliation and not participate in the GOP Primaries any more....they are as dead as Hillary Clinton's Brain.

Sports:

The MLB Playoffs move towards the World Series, it looks like Boston and St. Louis, both with 3-2 leads in their 7 game series, and both heading home for the final couple of shots, will meet in the World Series....I won't be watching, I despise the Cardinals{any good Reds fan does} and Boston?  Why would I root for a team from a town and state that supports idiots like John Kerry and Ted "I'll Have Another" Kennedy...I hear old Ted is Celebrating 50 months of Sobriety....hard to believe the bastard could lay off the bottle that long....

Locally I worked my first cold weather game of the football season last night....at St. Henry, a Junior High double header, glad the season is coming to an end....although I am looking forward to working as Back Judge tonight at Leipsic as the host Vikings take on Liberty-Benton out of Findlay.  6-1 vs 6-0 with both teams highly ranked and headed for the playoffs.  Then an early rise tomorrow for a JV game at Convoy.  Next week marks my last full week of football, then time to clean off the basketball shoes and change the outfit for Roundball...my first scrimmage is at Versailles on November 5th and I will slowly work my way towards the Regular Season, which begins November 30th at Paulding.

Weather:

After a nice dry and mostly warm spell through mid October, the weather is turning cooler, last nights rain, wind and temps in the upper 40s reminded me that Winter, the season I hate the most, is just around the corner...

A Blast from the Past:

<<< The Au Sable River Damn near Oscoda, Michigan....my old friend Nick and I Salmon Fished here for several years in late October, more beer and Drambuie was downed than fish caught, but it is a good get away, we won't be going this year, but perhaps in the future.

Out and about I go....Back Later>>>>

Photos-The Last of the Sunflowers have reached their  full  demise, now time to harvest the seeds for next season.  The Tanned and Fit John Boehner once again proves he was not up to the task of facing down a Kenyan Clown of a President....My Favorite Political Hack Ted Kennedy, now Celebrating 40 months of Sobriety....and Winter is on the way, hate snow and snow blowing, but I do enjoy a good Christmas Ale and Cigar during the Winter Months.....and the Au Sable River Damn in Northern Lower Michigan, near Oscoda.