February...in like a Lamb

Yesterday the high approached 60 on a record setting day in the land of Global Warming.  Sure, any thinking person with an ounce of scientific knowledge knows that the Global Warming Hoax is just that....a dodge, shake down, power control bid, whatever you want to call it, foisted on us and pushed by fake experts like limp dick Al Gore, and paid off "scientists" from around the world....but if this winter really has been a sign of  things to come...I'm all for it! 

As I walked out this morning to give the tree rodents {Squirrels} and invading Sparrows, their morning ration of seed and corn to do battle over, I was docked out in jeans and a t-shirt...February freaking 1st!  Tomorrow we will see if Puxatony Phil predicts six more weeks of winter...?  Give me a break, it appears, other than the record cold in Alaska, we have virtually had NO WINTER, so why would six more weeks like this be a problem?  However there is reason for concern, because there is a big chunk of cold air up north, that is just waiting to dive south....and with my luck, that will probably be at the beginning of baseball season, which for some reason is always cold in Ohio...at least the spring High School season has been that way in recent years.

The next few days look to be warm as well...no sixty degree temps in the forecast, but through Friday, the forecast says near 50 for highs, before some more rain(which we had overnight)moves into the forecast...until then I plan on getting out and enjoying a walk in the park or fairgrounds....

Thoughts of "Spring" Cleaning____

Getting the critter food out of the garage this morning, I looked around the two and one half car size storage area, and thought to myself...."What a freaking mess"!  The 1977 Buick surrounded by boxes of baseball cards from the boys childhood, along with boxes of antiques and collectibles left over from my Grandma Houseworth's place, which have been stored in the garage, along with dressers and bed frames since 1996 when Aunt Eva made her final trip to the Van Wert nursing home....and then there is the basement!!!  Amazing how much "stuff" humans can collect over a lifetime....

Now, no hoarders are we....and there are things that need to go.  The boys things I will keep for now, until Hal and Lisa get a bigger home, and until Sam decides where and what he will do after graduation for Ohio State this spring...but there are other things that I need to say good-bye to.  After all, I turn 63 next month...what the Hell am I saving these things for?  So this spring, after the local Celina Spring Pick-Up...I have to get to work on the rest of the garage and basement, and either have a garage sale{which I hate the thought of} or get a large roll off or dumpster, and clean house.....

I guess the warmer weather has brought these these thoughts and issues to mind.  I'm sure once colder weather moves back in...I will push them out of my memory banks until April...but this is the Spring that I have to make a dent in the garage, so I can take back my space.

No basketball or meetings tonight, my medical appointment was canceled by the office until next Wednesday, because of an emergency....so today, with 50 as a high, I will do some walking.  I was thinking of gettning back into the basement weight room, but the back and legs are still a question mark, so I will push that back another day or two, and see if things improve....after all, why force the issue and screw things up?, it's not like I'm in competition or preparing for a 15 round Championship Fight....

back later>>>>

Photos-Walking out back and looking north from the driveway this morning, things seemed and looked more like Spring than February 1st....and that gave thoughts to "taking back my garage" from the clutter and years of collecting family heirlooms and kids stuff....I am sure when Winter returns those thoughts will fade until warm weather arrives for good around May.

June 30, 1969......and a Global Warming Update!

The weather forecast is looking fine, if you are thinking October in West Central Ohio. 50% chance of rain today, and 40% tomorrow...71 today, and 65 predicted for tomorrow, July 1st. Global Warming my ass!

Cap and trade, the phony climate bill championed by the far left is being ramrodded through by our illegal Kenyan born Prez, and we are all getting bent over to receive the benefits of sky high utility bills...."Beautiful, just stinking beautiful"! Not to worry, Barry will have us all worshipping his sorry ass, and we should be thankful so he thinks.

In other News, Michael Jackson is still dead, so are Billy Mays, Farrah, and Ed.

Sam and I traveled to Van Wert to umpire an American Legion game last night...the host team taking on Troy, Ohio. In a 3 hour 15 minute marathon{with Sam behind the plate}, the visitors scored 6 runs late, and came across with a 10-6 victory. Tonight I'm back at Crestview for the double header which will decide the 2 Junior ACME teams moving on to Parkway for the District. Sam is with Garry at Van Wert for a second round ACME Sectional game.

June 30, 1969, Vietnam Send Off_____

40 years ago today____

I remember Monday June 30th in the summer of 69 as a cloudy, humid day....my flight out of the Dayton, Ohio, Airport, at Vandalia, Ohio, was scheduled for early afternoon. I had been in the Air Force for 53 weeks on the day of my flight over to the "conflict" zone called South Vietnam.

We arrived at the Airport, and back in the days before increased Airport Security, I had a chance to grab a early flight, or sit around for 2 1/2 hours looking at the faces of mom and dad, and their thoughts on me heading to Vietnam, just get this over I though, little time for tears and worry...I opted to grab the early fight, and the old man and I had to haul ass to get to the gate in time for me to get on the 707 to Chicago. I was 20 years old, not really mature in any stretch of the imagination, and here I was heading overseas to play Air Force Cop in a war zone.

As luck would have it, the flight from Dayton to O'Hare would fly right over Grand Lake, and low enough(since the Airport was only 60 miles from my house) so I could see our place sitting next to the Montezuma Airport...a view of the home, I would not live in again, by the time I returned, the folks would sell that house and move into Celina.

Changing planes in Chicago, we would fly west towards San Francisco...The thing I remember about that portion of the trip was that we hit a hard air turbulence over Colorado, just as the stewardess's were serving out the in-flight meals....not good! We hit a couple of big ones and several folks were wearing their meals...they stopped the meal service for a half hour of so, until the plane cleared the rough ride portion of the trip. The rest of the flight went without problems, and we arrived in San Fran early in the California Afternoon. I deplaned and took an Air Force Blue Bus(just like the yellow school buses, except dark Air Force Blue in color), to Travis AFB outside the city.

After arriving at Travis from an interesting ride that took us past Candlestick Ball Park and the Hearst Castle, I began the processing part of my journey to "Nam"... then with that done, I was hearded on a commercial flight towards Hawaii where we ran towards the setting sun before landing at the Honolulu International Airport while it was still daylight. I thought to myself.."My first trip to the 50th State", that seemed a little exciting, but within a couple hours, after a beer in the lounge, I climbed aboard my final plane of the trip....a orange 707 jet from upstart Braniff International Airlines. Now, the trip got interesting...we soon headed across the International Dateline and it was July 1, 1969.

One notable difference between the Air Force and rest of the services when it came to being sent overseas, unlike the other services, we were sent as individuals and joined up with other individuals to form Squadrons, Flights, etc....much of the movement in the Army and Marines were as groups...I always arrived alone at my different stations....From Amarillo to Lackland, Dover, Nha Trang, Tan Son Nhut, and finally Griffiss AFB in Rome, New York. And for most of my 4 year tour, I served the same way. I did it my way....getting more hard headed and insulate as the time passed.

On the next post we will continue across the Pacific towards Vietnam____

back later>>>>

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photos-(1) June 30, 1969, me with mom in our front yard, as I was preparing to head for the Dayton, Ohio, Airport, on the first leg of my trip to Vietnam.(2)A view of the Hearst Castle outside San Francisco, the AF Bus passed this on the way to processing at Travis AFB.(3)Honolulu International Airport as it looked from the air in 1969(4)Orange was the color of my Braniff Airline plane that crossed the Pacific in the summer of 69...Braniff went under in 1984...but when it was in operation the made a name with their plane's loud colors, and the flight attendents bright outfits.

Global Warming my Rosie Red.....

Now don't get me wrong, I know it snows in Ohio in early April, heck it snows in early May, sometimes mid May...and when I lived in upstate New York and northern Wisconsin, we saw a few June snow days...so this flurry activity in western Ohio is not rare. But Global Warming, man made Global Warming is a sad, sick, joke. A comedy foisted upon us by Al Gore and other left wing idiots(yes including left wing 'scientists' looking for power), trying to get the world to fall for their bullshit.



No more proof is needed that to see temperatures have actually fallen over the past decade, and no amount of "climate change" lingo is going to change the fact that we are not warming up. You need to look no farther than the Florida Panhandle this morning...BELOW FREEZING! Florida, freezing in early April? Global Warming my Ass! I worked in the Environmental Health field for 20 years, most of my college years were spent majoring in Environmental Health and the Sciences....we knew/thought Global Warming was a hoax 20 years ago, I still believe it is today....you can disagree, but no way you can show me any real science that proves that the earth is warming because of the activity of man...end of story!

Anyway, I stuck the camera out the kitchen window this morning and out at the bird feeders, the Squirrels were doing battle with the Sparrows and Doves for their morning rations....they probably think winter has just arrived, and want to store up.
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Needless to say all area baseball on the High School level was cancelled yesterday, and looking at the ground, I see little prospects for getting in tonight's either...Garry and I are scheduled to do Parkway hosting Crestview at Rockford. That is usually a good match-up between 2 of the areas better programs, but it probably will be cancelled, if not, I will need my industrial strength long johns on behind the plate, because 39 is all the higher it is going to get.

Speaking of High School...I received a Regional Tournament assignment yesterday.....in late May I will get to participate in the Division IV Patrick Henry Regional at Hamler....PH has a real nice facility, and put on a good regional tourney. I'm looking forward to that one. Sam and I also got our contracts to do the Sectional Final Double Header in Bascom @Hopewell-Loudon High School on May 16th...we were there last tournament season and were treated very well, they asked us back, and we jumped on that.
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Started back lifting light weights in the basement weight center yesterday....feel the need to get back in shape as the long baseball season has begun, plus the treadmill has been set on INCLINE, as to get ready for the upcoming Mushroom Hunt in Mesick, Michigan, coming up over Memorial Day....there is no looking back age wise, but you do what you can to stay healthy/fit as possible.
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Sports finals
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The Reds started out as the "hit less wonders" yesterday for the home opener...losing 2-1 to the NY Mets. Once again Dusty Baker's boys proved they could neither hit or field, and wasted a good pitching effort by Aaron Harang in the rather boring opening loss.

Speaking of boring...how about that NCAA Championship game? Being a Duke basketball fan, I held my nose and rooted for Michigan State(Ohio State's Big Ten rival) to no avail last night...the game was over before it started, The Tar Heels of UNC dominated and toyed with the Spartans....the only good thing is, most of those guys will be gone, giving the Blue Devils a much better opportunity next season to get back on top.

That about wraps in up for this morning....

back later>>>>>>>>>>>>