The Grandson and Wacky Weather...

The title just about describes the weekend just passed, in full.

Friday afternoon I slipped and slid my way north to Columbus Grove, up highway 66, US 30, and Ohio 65, the 54 miles to Putnam County, arriving about a half hour before the JV game between Grove and Spencerville....the visiting Bearcats led most of the way, before falling by four points to the host Bulldogs, the varsity game went much the same...Spencerville leading early only to fall behind and lose...but by that time I was on my way home.  The roads had not cleared off, and a nasty layer of ice was beneath the 4 inches of snow that was deposited.  The trip usually takes between 55 minutes and an hour...both trips, to Grove and back took about 1 hour and 15 minutes each way, a testament to the roads and there lack of treatment.   I'm not sure what's with the road crews this winter, not enough practice I guess?  It seems that the few snows, albeit not a heavy one in the bunch, they have not be able to keep the roads safe...that goes for in-town and out in the boon docks.

By the time I arrived home I was ready for a beer....youngest son Hal and grandson Kasyn had arrived earlier in the afternoon, so Hal and I had a beer and I sat down to watch more basketball on the tube....shortly after I sat down, the cell phone rang, and it was Jim the Wayne Trace Athletic Director, telling me the 7th grade tournament games at WT for Saturday morning had been cancelled, and could I work them the following weekend?   It happened to be I had next Saturday the 28th off, so I told him I could, cracked open another Black Lager, and knew that Saturday would bring no basketball, just a chance to get out the snow blowers and work on the drive-ways and sidewalks.

The walks and drive was passable, so I figured I would get mom's Toro out and do my place then load it up and head over to her place and take care of business....Foiled Again!  For some reason, her machine just wouldn't start.....in retrospect, I have to believe the gas/oil mix for that 2-stroke had settled and I poured a amount that the mix had jelled into it.....so, I gave that up, and pulled out my Big Machine and took care of my place...loaded her Toro up and took it over there, where while it still wouldn't fire, I noted that not much snow had piled up....so took out the snow shovel and made short order of the carport and sidewalks....I will have to drain the fuel in her machine and probably change the plug....at least before the next snow, which isn't yet in the forecast....meanwhile Mother Nature took care of the rest of the snow on her own....early today.

The temperatures rose to 54 overnight, the wind picked up, and a batch of heavy thunderstorms rolled through about 3 this morning, taking care of all the snow, except the few amounts that had been piled up by the plows in town.

The K-man spends the weekend____

With Hal's wife Lisa out of town in Tennessee with friends to prepare for one of those friends wedding, they decided to give the Houseworth grandparents a chance to spend our first long term quality time with the newest member of the Houseworth family.....

Hal, Kasyn, and the two dogs, Kam and Avery, arrived just before I left for Columbus Grove on Friday afternoon, and stayed for almost 48 hours, heading back to Centerville about 1pm yesterday.  While Patricia and Hal took turns getting up with Kasyn during the night, and changing the diapers, I had the opportunity to hold him when I wanted, while spending much of the weekend watching  roundball and playing the racing game on Hal's IPad....a pretty easy and enjoyable weekend, once the Saturday basketball was cancelled, and the snow blowing finished.....

By the time they packed up and left, Patricia seemed just a depressed for a few hours, missing her grandson, after getting to spend quality time with him...truth be told, I missed him as well....but quickly fell back into my routine, as I spent the remainder of Sunday, sipping on a couple of cold brews, and watching two pretty good football games, which both went my way, as the Giants and Patriots move on to the Super Bowl in two weeks.  Not that I'm a big Giants or New England fan, frankly I could care less...except I never have like San Fran or Baltimore, and their two coaches, the brothers Harbaugh, rub me the wrong way.....just something about those two that I don't like.

Anyway, that was the weekend past....now back to the usual routine.  Tonight I stick around Celina, and will work a boys Junior High double as they take on Fort Recovery....tomorrow girls at Crestview, before a final day off for the week on Wednesday.   The rest of the week will be busy, including running up to Van Wert on Thursday after another Celina JH double to attend a Baseball Association organizational meeting....another sign that spring cannot be far off.

back later>>>

Photos-Kasyn, who turns 2 months tomorrow, spent the weekend with the grandparents...while not have a snow filled winter, like last year{pictured here}, the Snow Machine, now about a dozen years old it working fine...while the newer Toro leaves something to be desired....lightning/thunderstorms in January are a rare sight, but for a couple of hours the winds howled, the rains came, and we got a mid winter show overnight....and Grandpa and the "K-man" relax in the leather recliner yesterday before the boys headed back to the Dayton area....

Double Murder in Mercer County (Ohio)

The snow remained on the ground, despite bright sunshine, and temperatures in the upper 30s...this morning a hard freeze made sure the white ground would stay just that for awhile.


Last night I made the trek across town to the north shore of Grand Lake and worked the last half hour of the WKKI Sports show with "Wulfie" from the Celina Moose....following the Celina head basketball coach, Chris Bihn, my little buddy and I talked Ohio State Football, OSU/Duke Basketball, High School football finals, and the Bengals and Browns.  We also did some trivia and gave away two sets of Browns tickets for this coming Sunday's Ravens game in Cleveland....finishing up, I had a single beer, and talked with some of the old Racquet Club tennis crowd, then headed home. Tonight, it's back to basketball officiating, with a JH Girls double header at Elida.

Murder in Mercer County____

Waking up yesterday and starting on this blog, news slowly crept out about a double homicide near Fort Recovery, Ohio....
http://www.dailystandard.com/archive/story_single.php?rec_id=16638 

"The Fort" located some 20 miles southwest of Celina is directly on the Indiana~Ohio State Line.  The murder of a 70 year old man and his mid 40 year old daughter took place a few miles east of Fort Recovery, between that town and St. Henry in a rural farm house.  Here it is over 24 hours later and news and details are slow coming out....was this a domestic issue{doesn't seem to be at this hour}, or likely related to the increase in drug crimes that have infested this mostly rural setting in the past several years?

The problem is...our Sheriff is suddenly silent.  Jeff Grey is always quick to have a story in the local media about his conquests of drug dealers in the country...but nary a word or details, sans the victims names, of what went on here...and that leaves a problem for local residents.  If this was a domestic murder, why not just come clean, and give the area residents a chance to breath easy?  If not, why not come out and say it?  After all, local residents have the right, and need I say Law Enforcement has the responsibility, to inform them that danger might be near....and they should be prepared to defend their property and families?  

So Mr Grey...should we be prepared to lock, load, and shoot to kill, if someone, unknown, decides to come on our property or through our doors or windows?  After all...we have had no information as to the rhyme or reason for these crimes...so let it be known at this hour, until I know some details, if some traveling salesman, or some urban lad comes to my door trying to "pay his way through college"...they better be quick on their feet.  Because this is on you....

Mercer County has had but a handful of homicides over the last century...this religious based, 99% white,  farm belt county of some 45,000, is just not where you find these types of crimes...sure on occasion a domestic murder, but home invasion?  Not hardly....too many hard working gun toting patriots...and if the scum from the cities, that increasing have began to infiltrate the area think they can set the agenda....I think they will find out, it won't be easy  While hardworking, honest, and Obama despising we might be....not to many cowards who are going to duck, and hide....more like, "What do you want, Sucker"?  And if you give the wrong answer, you may find your ass filled with buckshot.

I was a Military Cop for 4 years, I passed my Civil Service Test on my discharge, and was offered jobs as a postal agent in both Dayton and Cincinnati{turned them down because I didn't buy their politically correct rules, even back in 1973}...I know a little about Law Enforcement, and I know the number one job is to "Protect and Serve"...I might add, " at least inform the public so they can protect themselves", so far you, Mr Sheriff, are failing this time around.

If more details arise I will post them...until then, you can bet your ass, I am locked and loaded....

back later, updates, if I get them added below>>>>

Finally an update:  Both victims the 70 year old and his 47 year old daughter were bound with Duct Tape and shot to death...no sign of forced entry....Sheriff Grey at a Press Conference this morning:
http://www.wcsmradio.com/uploads/audio/PRESS%20CONFERENCE.mp3

Appears it's time to lock, load, and aim.......Hell has come to usually quite Mercer County, Ohio. 

My question to the Sheriff is...."Why did it take you 24 hours or more to inform the public that this was indeed an appearent invasion and execution style murder?  The public has a right to know, if dangerous felons are running around your jurisdiction....a right to protect themselves in any and all means..." 

Photos-Mercer County Ohio, nestled on the Indiana border in the west central part of the state...farming and light manufacturing is the name of the game....and from the Hometown Stations in Lima, the house on Burrville Road near Fort Recovery where the double homicide occurred.

One More Time....Another Snow "Event"

As I headed off the bed last night, the Internet Radar showed it was snowing...it wasn't.  I think to myself, "Well maybe the 6 to 10 inches of white stuff they had upped their predictions too, wasn't going to happen after all".  By the time I woke up a 1:30am to "relieve" myself(a couple of times a night habit when you reach my age), I knew, looking out the window, that indeed we were going to get a good cover, especially with the winds blowing like they were.  At the time things settled down this morning, the fast moving storm had dropped 6 or 7 inches of windblown heavy snow on this part of western Ohio.

Schools, games, and just about everything else was canceled for today and tonight...so Patricia, home from school (they have no days to cover those already missed, so it appears the school year will be extended, by how many days, will be determined by the late winter snow and ice, along with the usual collection of spring "fog days"), and I put on the winter clothes and headed out to battle the driveway drifts, the city snow plows who dumped more slushy crap into our driveway, and the sidewalk ice....once done there, I headed over to mom's place to dig Mike out...the entire process took about 2 hours, not bad considering how much was dumped in a short time.

Shortly after I finished up at mom's location, the sun made an appearance....and the walks were soon visible, but wet.  Great thing about snow this late in the season, it usually doesn't stay around long, especially if the sun comes out.  The rest of the weekend looks to be cloudy, with rain and mid 50s arriving by early next week...the snow should melt in a hurry if those conditions come to pass.

My game at Allen East, a Northwest Conference match up with visiting Paulding, was postponed until tomorrow, with the JV game beginning at Noon.  The final weekend of league action needs completed, as the Boys Tournaments start Tuesday...the Girls post season has already began.  Dartball semi finals are Sunday afternoon, if we defeat the team from Bethany, we will stick around for the Championship round...it's been a few years since we won the post season tournament...a couple of second place trophies, but no championships with the new younger players involved,  We do however have a decent shot this year, especially with the way we have been playing of late.

back, with more, later>>>>

Photos-This morning, at the height of the storm, looking out the front porch across to the tool and dye operation across the street...the tree in front of the dining room window is covered with the fresh snow fall...the driveway awaits the snow machine, and the backyard evergreen and fence after the snow ended about 9am.

Here We Go Again!~~ Mo Snow!!

As I mentioned yesterday, Ohio and the Midwest's short flirtation with Spring, was just that...now back to our Winter of reality:
http://www.weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/45822:4?phenomena=WS&significance=W&areaid=OHZ034&office=KILN&etn=0004

Of course you never know, but this one appears to be headed straight for Mercer County...the proverbial Snow/Rain Line...rain to the south, ice and snow to the north.  We will see how it all shakes out.  The one thing I am glad about is the fact that we found a decent, lightweight, easy to use, snow blower for mom.  She's in Florida, but the walks and drive still need to be taken care of.   It's been a winter, snow wise, like we haven't seen in a couple of decades.  Not so much accumulation wise, but in the number of storms, snow events, and how long it has stayed around.  It's been on the ground since early December, except for the few warm days near New Year's Day, and the pre-spring warm up we had last week  So with the two snow blowers, my old Snow Machine, and the Toro at mom's place...it hasn't been as bad as it could have been.

If the predictions are even close, I suspect my final basketball game of the season tomorrow will be postponed....many will.  I am scheduled to be at Allen East as they host Paulding.  Meanwhile Celina, which has clinched a share of the WBL title, is slated to host Ottawa-Glandorf, with O-G, one game back, hoping to knock off the Bulldogs and share the title.  Being the final games of the regular season before tournaments begin next week, I suspect the games to be made up Saturday or Sunday, if they are indeed delayed.

Garry and I headed north to Van Wert for another local rules meeting for baseball last night...with helping to work a umpiring class at Parkway on March 19th, and a couple of meetings the next two weeks at my "other" association at Indian Lake, my requirements will soon be completed.  After that, I can pick and choose when and where I want to attend meetings.  I usually do a few more than required, because, frankly, I enjoy the meetings and discussing the rules of my favorite game with my fellow umpires...even if we don't always agree how the rules should be enforced or what they really mean.

In other news_____

The union mess in Wisconsin continues with the far left thugs still in control of the State Capitol at Madison...meanwhile the Democrat morons in the Wisconsin Legislature are still hiding out in Illinois.  Ohio and Indiana are also in the cross hairs of union thugery...led by the likes of AFL-CIO scum, whose leader is another slob fat slob, named Richard Trumka.  Do you ever wonder why union heads always look as though they have never missed a meal, or worked a day in their lives?  Probably because both counts are ture.  Trumka and his boyfriend Barack Obama, are out to destroy this country, one taxpayer, one state at a time.  They are getting plenty of help from lame stream media...especially MSNBC and the clowns like Jon Stewart on the so-called Comedy Channel.  It's a joke all right, as for the suckers that fall for these leftist bastards, the joke will soon be on them.

The Middle East Contines to burn, and the Libyan counter part of our own illegal Prez, Moammar Gadhafi...another thug, whom Barry refused to call out, until finally pressured to do so yesterday, is slaughtering his own people in the streets.  As Libya rages, and the oil prices soar, Obama and Company continue to still stick their noses in the business of the various state governments that they disagree with.  One day, they will get their noses cut off...if the 50% of the fools that still support this Kenyan Asshole, ever wake up.

Nothing going on tonight....so I will prepare to wait out the coming storm and tomorrow fire up the snow machines if needed...

back later>>>>

Photos-Baseball Season cannot come soon enough for me....Obamy and another one of his union thugs and probably another gay lover , AFL-CIO Thug, Richard Trumka...and Libyan soulmate Barry Soetoro, Moammar Gadhafi...handsome devil, ain't he?

Winter Sets In, College Football Bowl Season is here, and Happy Birthday "Endora"

Looking out some 2 weeks into the future, I can see no days above 35 degrees for highs, with most days slated to be in the 20s, with lows in the teens...pretty rare to be this cold for an extended period this early in the season...after all we are still technically in "Fall".  So much for Global Warming...one thing I've noticed of late, folks have tired of the lies of the left wing Marxists and media about Global Warming...most thinking folks know what many of us have known all along....there is no such thing as man made Global Climate Change...it is indeed a hoax!

Return of the Marsh Hawk____

I walked out back this morning to give the ration of seed and feed to the Sparrows, Cardinals, and Gray Squirrels...the pair of red birds along with the hoards of small pesky Sparrows came swooping in fast, and began their feast....I came back in, read some material on the Internet and began preparing for my morning writings.  Some 15 minutes later, I popped out of my chair for another, my third, cup of coffee....and lo and behold, the birds were gone.  It didn't take long to figure out why.  I looked above the feeders in the backyard and saw the looming form of our resident Marsh Hawk...killer of birds, and other small rodents and mammals, lurking above the vines and feeders by the back fence.

Now of course I cannot be sure it this is the same one that has been hanging around for the past 4 winters....they look pretty similar, and it wasn't around as much last year(a mild winter), as the brutal winter of 08 and 09, and the previous 07/08 winter.  But given the early signs of a long, cold, season, my guess is he(or she) will make more visits this season, as it progresses.

Bowl Season has Arrived_____

Ohio State's Buckeyes are once again in a BCS Bowl....Coach Jim "The Vest" Tressel has a 5-3 record in BCS games in his previous years...this season OSU takes on the Arkansas Razorbacks on January 4, 2011, in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.  Wisconsin the tri-champion(along with Ohio State and Mich State) of the Big Ten, will take on TCU in the Rose Bowl on 1/1/11...while the Spartans are left with the "Booby Prize" of the Capitol One Bowl against Alabama, also on New Years Day...despite the fact MSU defeated Wisconsin early in the season.  The tie breaker was not kind to Michigan State.  In the National Title Game, undefeated Auburn takes on the Oregon Ducks.  For the rest of the BCS and other bowl action, click on the link:

http://www.bcsfootball.org/ 

Happy 110th Birthday Agnes Moorehead___


To most folks my age or younger, Agnes Moorehead, will be always remembered as "Endora", the conniving mother witch of Elizabeth Montgomery, "Samantha", in the 1960s TV show "Bewitched".  Born in Massachusetts on this day in 1900, Moorehead was actually so much more as an actress.

Moorehead passed away on April 30, 1974, and is buried just down the road in Dayton, Ohio.  She was a college alumni of Muskingum College in Ohio, and owned a large tract of land near Rix Mills, in the hilly area of southeastern Ohio.  She was a devote Christian and conservative in her political leanings...she left her "Emmy" and papers to the College, and her land to Bob Jones University.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Moorehead

Outside of "Bewitched" I fist saw Moorehead in the Bogart and Bacall offering "Dark Passage".  After I got XM Radio a few years back and became a fan of "Old Time Radio Channel", I learned that Moorehead was one of the great Radio Actresses of that time, working between 1937 and 1954...then coming back for the first installment of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater.  She performed in two episodes before her death at the age of 73.  Moorehead's death of cancer, is one of the many that happened to actors and crew of the John Wayne/Howard Hughes bomb(no pun intended), "The Conqueror" from 1956.  To date, 90 of the 220 or so cast members, including Wayne, Moorehead, Susan Hayward, Director Dick Powell, and dozens of others have died from cancer.  The shooting site of the film was downwind from a Nuclear test site:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/374/did-john-wayne-die-of-cancer-caused-by-a-radioactive-movie-set

Agnes Moorehead began in Radio with her friend Orson Wells on the series "The Shadow", in 1937, where she was the voice of "the lovely Margo Lane"...she played in hundreds(if not thousands) of radio broadcasts and was a long time supporting actress in dozens of feature films long before she played "Endora".  She received four Oscar Nominations and 7 Emmy awards, but won only once, that for an episode of Robert Conrad's "Wild Wild West" in the late 1960s.

Roundball, Dartball, etc.....

Saturday I officiated three basketball games, giving me a total of 10 for the week.  I certainly used the time off yesterday to rest the back, legs, and knees.  9 more games scheduled for this week...including a boys Junior High double header tonight here in Celina.  Following that I will make the 20 minute drive to Rockford to toss darts, probably arriving near the end of the first of 3 games.

The week will be busy, and the weather will remain cold....winter is here early.

Back Later>>>>

Photos-The PRH backyard has that "Winter" look, and it's likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.  The Marsh Hawk is back, and perched, looking for a meal.  Ohio State faces Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl.  Agnes Moorehead as "Endora", and years before as "Margo Lane" in the "Shadow" Radio program which started in 1937.

Graveyards, Snow Blowers, and a little nonsense....

Running late today, and I'm 90 minutes or so away from heading over to the local middle school to officiate a Girls JH double header between Celina and Fort Recovery.  I spent the morning at a local engine repair, lawn mower, and snow blower, dealer in Coldwater.  With winter arriving ahead of schedule we figured it's time to get a snow blower for mom's place.  She doesn't have that much to take care of, but my machine is way too heavy to drag over to her place in the back of the Jeep...to heavy and too big.  As luck would have it, they were out of the smaller 5 HP types, but they did have a trade-in that they had just gotten in.

A local church had just traded in a nice 2 year old Toro, 2 cycle(the type you mix gas with oil, not my favorite, but....), 5HP machine, that I could lift in and out of the back of the Jeep...although it's better on the back, with some help.  The price new, $699...the price used, $279.  The things runs like new, and looks the same, with very little use.  So hopefully both houses are set for the coming cold winter...snowy as well?  Time will tell.

The way the birds and rodents(Squirrels) are packing away the seeds and food, I gotta believe they see a long, cold, winter in this age of that fake science, called Global Warming Bullshit!

Whistling Past another Graveyard_____

Graveyards are a great place to work on family genealogy, that's how I first "met" my Great-Grandfather, Nelson S. Houseworth(1837-1887) in the Blue Creek Cemetery in Paulding County, Ohio.  Also all the Houseworth men that served in and survived the Civil War, are found in various locations around central and western Ohio.  But there are other graveyards that have nothing to do with family genealogy...today I took a short trip to one of those, between runs to the Snow Blower dealer. This one to one from my early years living near Montezuma.

I first noticed the Long Cemetery while hunting in my teen age years...it hat several old trees and a passel of old stones that were lying around in no particular semblance or order.  Not knowing the history, I am assuming it was the Long Family plot...in the 45 years since I first came across it while Squirrel hunting, it has been taken over by the township and now the remaining stones are in order, the weeds cut, and most of the trees taken down...to where there is just a single walnut tree today.

Old cemeteries that were abandoned were prime targets for teenagers, such as myself, to play pranks in...today those pranks seem stupid, even though most of the perps meant no harm.

I remember one Friday or Saturday night in the fall of 1967,  around Halloween probably.  My brother Mike, who was off in the Air Force, best friend David "Kim" Deeter, and a couple of other guys I knew, were riding around with in my 1962 Ford Falcon, when we stopped by the Long plots.   Many of the stones, as I mentioned were laying loose on the ground of the neglected family bone orchard.  Kim, who was to become one of 58,000 victims of "my" war, was just a couple of months away from his draft date with destiny...he would be KIA, in Vietnam with the Army, in April of 1968.  Anyway with innocent mischief on our hands, Kim picked out an abandoned stone that had the words "Son of Rachael" in scripted on it...the dates and other things I don't recall, but it was old, as are all the graves in this bone orchard are.  We put the stone in the back window of the Falcon, turned on two flashlights to shine on the it, and drove around Grand Lake and the Montezuma/Celina area for a couple hours, showing it off during the Hallowen season...then we returned the stone to the spot on the ground where we found it.

Even 43 years or so later, I can remember that night like it was last evening....those old stones are still there, now in better shape, as is the graveyard, than ever before...Sadly, David "Kim" Deeter is inscribed in a tombstone of another variety...The Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC:
http://thewall-usa.com/search.asp

Tomorrow, if I can get up the energy...I'll comment on the traitorous workings of a sorry little Private in this new Politically Correct Army, and his dealings that have led to the Wikileaks fiasco.

back later>>>>

Photos-The Long Cemetery, one of my early discoveries...The little snow last night, was not enough to fire up the Snow Machines...and most was melted by the time I visited the cemetery this afternoon.  Some of the stones are very readable...some not so much, but the death dates as far back as the 1820s and none more recent than the 1870s....