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.

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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.

A Week Gone By...or is it Bye?

Looked and saw that I had not posted a blog since last Monday....one full week, really had not planned on going that long on the "New Me and My Blog"...but **it happens at times, and this was one.  Here is what has happened in the last week:

Politics:

Our Pole Smoking Ass Clown in the White House, and his henchman, are still holding America Hostage...the so-called Government shutdown drones on...and really, does anybody{except for the leaches known as Federal Government Employees} really give a shit?

Will the GOP Cave and when?  Tick, Tick, Tick....

Sports:

Baseball enters the AL and NL finals...Boston and Detroit{after a massive Tiger Choke last night} are tied at 1 game each in the American League, while in the NL the Cards lead the Dodgers 2 games to none....game #3 being played as I type in LA...but really, I just don't have an interest.

In College Football, Alabama, Oregon, Clemson{a joke of a team}, Ohio State, and Florida State are undefeated and ranked one through five....Michigan lost in 4 Overtimes at Penn State...my High Light for the weekend...

Meanwhile in the NFL, the Bengals now lead the AFC North with a 4-2 record...how long that will last....??  Time will tell....

The NHL Season has began...my team the Philly Flyers suck...my other team, Columbus is so-so...but being in the East along with Philadelphia....who will I root for in the end?

More games and observations coming up later in the week....I will post about....probably.

Blast from the Past:

1960 Halloween in Venice, Florida....over 50 years later I remember it O' So Well....my buddies Mike Graff, and Barry Young{both deceased} and Jackie Dye{not sure what happened to him} and I, did our "Trick or Treat" on the {then} Small Town of Venice...our Trick was to slap Nixon/Lodge bumper stickers on businesses along Venice Avenue, only to have them covered up by those with Kennedy/Johnson stickers...or vice versa...little Juvenile JDs we were...but at 11 years old, we really were not trying to cause harm....God Rest Fellows!

back later>>>>

Wet Weekend....

Starting out Friday Night...

Homecoming Night at Lima Perry the site of our game on Friday...with the Corvette Convertibles out in force, the rain, for the most part stayed north of Lima, and we got the game in with just a few sprinkles and a minimum of muddy field conditions.  The same cannot be said for the rest of the weekend.

On to Convoy for a JV game Saturday, it poured for the 30 mile trip, then rain, steady for the first half of the game...although most of the afternoon was dry, the rains returned for Sunday and it rained on and off for the first weekend of the Youth Football Double Header...winds, along with the rains make for less than an enjoyable 3 1/2 hours on the muddy track football field at the High School....so much that tonight's Freshman game between Celina and St. Marys, which I was scheduled for, had been cancelled, with not want to tear up the main field at the Stadium, and the track field, already a mess of mud....so I get a rare Monday off, although I do have a Dart Ball organization meeting tonight at Mt Carmel...a sure sign of fall and winter approaching...Dart Ball begins in less than a month.

In Other Sports....

Celina Defeated St. Marys 49-23 on Friday, the second straight Bulldog win in that series, and the second year in a row that the Bulldogs have bested their all time high score in the series.  The win at home was the first in Celina for the Bulldogs against their cross Grand Lake rivals since 1997...a sign of how lopsided the series has been in recent years.  Celina moves to 5-1

while the Roughriders have now ran a losing string back to 2011, changes are coming in that once proud program.

Ohio State had to come from behind to defeat Northwestern 40-30 in Illinois....they are now 2-0 in the Big Ten and 6-0 overall....the next 5 games look pretty easy,  and it's likely, unless they stumble to Indiana, that they will be undefeated heading to Ann Arbor for the Michigan Game in late  November.

The Bengals pulled off a shocker, knocking off Little Tommy Brady and New England in Cincy by a low score of 13-6....Cincinnati is now 3-2 tied for first with Baltimore and Cleveland in the AFC North, while the Pats fall to 5-1 with their first loss.

The MLB Playoffs move on......and frankly I don't have much interest.  Was rooting for Tampa Bay once the Reds and Tribe were knocked out....but they trail Boston's Red Sox 2 games to zilch in the best of five and won't likely be around long.

Politics.....

Our half wit, half breed, racist Prez, Barry Soetoro continues to play games{mostly golf} and keeps the Government "shut down"....now really, except for a few parks being closed, nothing has changed....time to move on.  Hopefully John "I'll have a double" Boehner and the GOP will stand fast and let the stinking Government fail....who really gives a shit, except the freeloaders and fools who can't imagine living without the Nanny State and the goodies Barack and

Company hand out to the modern day slaves?


Who knows what the week ahead promises....time will tell.  I'm down 8 pounds since Kokomo and my goal to get back down to 180, as well as lowering my Sugar levels is well insight....sometimes it is much easier than you think....I would make it quicker, if not for my love of good tasting craft beers, but giving that up is not likely to happen, so the November 15th goal date is good enough for now.

back later>>>>

Dusty Baker is Shown the Door....

The other shoe finally dropped on Reds Manager Dusty "toothpick" Baker......

Firing was announced early today in the press....

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20131004&content_id=62452940&vkey=news_cin&c_id=cin&forwardUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fcincinnati.reds.mlb.com%2Fnews%2Farticle.jsp%3Fymd%3D20131004%26content_id%3D62452940%26vkey%3Dnews_cin%26c_id%3Dcin&flowId=registration.dynaindex#disqus_thread

No word yet from ownership or management.

The handwriting was on the wall when the owner Bullet Bob Castalini walked out of the Reds Room before the final out on Tuesday.

Won't say anything bad about him....never thought of his as a good hire, and won't miss him, but somebody needs to wake those high priced underachievers up...Dusty wasn't the man.

Varsity Football tonight with the "Old Crew"....307 years old between the five of us, game in Lima at Perry vs Waynesfield ....7pm start...JV game at Crestview tomorrow morning.

back later>>>>

The Cincinnati Reds....1 and Done! Time for Dusty Baker to Go?

Barely got home from officiating JH game at Antwerp last night, grabbed a shower and a beer and the Reds were already behind the Pirates in the National League "Wild Card" game...it was over before it got started.  Cincinnati loses 6-2 and are eliminated from playoffs again this season in short order.  Not as heartbreaking or dramatic as last seasons melt down against the Giants, and not as pitiful as the sweeping at the hands of the Phillies in 2010, but the season leaves you scratching your head.

How can a team with this much potential, and outstanding pitching, look the way the did the last week of the season?  It was as though they were sleep walking through the last days.  Not much to say, except, it is probably time for Dusty Baker to be shown the door as Reds manager....he might win during the regular season, but has proven multiple times over the past decade or so, when it comes to the playoffs, his teams, Giants, Cubs, and now the Reds, come up short.

Will he be fired?  Not likely...after all, once you hire a minority in a high place, it becomes that much more hard to fire them without the old Race Card being pulled out....IMO Black, White, Brown, or Green, Dusty, while player friendly, has not done much with the players and tools that ownership has handed him....

Time for him to go.....

back later>>>>

The Government Shut Down{Partial} Should I Give a Rat's Ass?

 So, my former Congressman, John "Leaky Cheeks" Boehner hasn't blinked....yet, and the government has shut down{well not really}....at least the "non-essential" parts.  My question is..."If they are non-essential, why the Hell do we have them"?

Glad to see the GOP standing up{so far, how long will it last} to our outlaw Kenyan President, and that hopeless Nevada moron, Hairy Weed, nice move Nevada, voting that sorry son of a bitch back in...nice freaking move, you assholes.

This is much ado about nothing....Obama trying to save his flawed "Obama Care", a disaster before it even begins....so they shut it down.  GOOD!  I for one don't give a rat's ass if they never open the stupid park system...really, Who Cares, except for the Euro Tourists, and people who never get off the Black Top...aren't those Gawd Damn parks on our, the American People's, land?

In short, BIG Deal....this will eventually be much ado about nothing, the GOP will cave, and our Government will continue to screw us over....until somebody steps up and says "Stop, Enough"

nothing will change...and by that time, it will be far too late for future generations.

Meanwhile in Important News...that would be Sports!

The Playoffs began last night...well at least the "Play-In Game" between Tampa Bay and Texas....The Rays went on the road to Dallas and knocked off the Rangers to move into tomorrow night's Wild Card game in Cleveland...both Ohio teams are in the WC Games, The Reds, after a disastrous home stand, take on Pittsburgh tonight on the road, and the Tribe will face Tampa Bay here in Ohio on Wednesday night...the winners will move on to the Division Series best of 5, in their respective leagues.

In other news in Sports...and related..

I survived my Varsity game at Ada last week, and saw a fireball come across the sky on our way home...pretty neat:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/30/did-you-see-a-fireball-streak-across-the-sky-this-weekend-youre-not-alone/#

Worked a full schedule of fall baseball and JV football at Spencerville on Saturday, then watched the Buckeyes top Wisconsin 31-24 at Columbus on Saturday Night....game was not as close as the final score might indicate.

On a rainy Sunday I watched a pathetic Browns victory over Cincinnati...17-6 and as boring as they come...gland I am working youth football the next two Sundays, at least....I cannot stand watching the NFL...boring as Hell to me.

Tonight I head north to Antwerp, a long drive to work a Junior High game, but I do at least one football and basketball lower level game there each year, and then get a couple of varsity Baseball contests there in Spring...so scratch their backs, they scratch mine.

Doc visit tomorrow...now on the VA plan, but not yet ready for Medicare{next March} this will be my one and {hopefully} only visit that I actually have to pay full price for...I could opt out, but the heart doctor has been good to me, with the Carotid, etc, so will pay him this visit, then see what shakes out next spring.

Blast from the Past Photo:
Hard to believe it's been 40 years since the Classic "American Graffiti" was relesed in the fall of 1973....one of the great ones:

back later>>>>