Rehasing the Weekend

The unusually cool October continues...must be Global Warming at it's Zenith...right Al Gore?

The weekend was wet on Friday night, cool, and sunny for the remainer....

Friday_____

Friday afternoon with a steady rain I headed north on the 70 mile drive to Edgerton to meet up with the crew I was filling in at Umpire for in the Green Meadows Conference game between the home standing Bulldogs at 6 wins 0 loses, and league rival Fairview Apaches(4-2) out of Sherwood. I arrived early at 5:30 in a steady rain, and found the Athletic Director and was seated in the locker room waiting for the rest of the crew, driving from various parts around the state...the rain continued.

We finally hit the field at 7PM in time for the coin toss so we could get that over before the Homecoming Night events took place....the rains slowed at we approached kick off time at 7:30.

The game was intense and the crew caught their share of Hell from fans and coaches alike....the field however held up well, and the final was Fairview 41-25 in a high scoring shootout, thus handing the home team it's first loss....after our post game meeting, where I was asked to fill in this Friday at Vinton County{some 185 miles south of Celina, which I turned down...that would be some drive, and hardly worth the time and quick turnaround I would need}, I then headed south for the 90 minute drive back through Hicksville, Antwerp, Payne, and Van Wert, smoking a nice mild 1876 hand rolled cigar on the way home....the smoke lasted almost until I hit Celina...the best part of the evening, without a doubt.

Saturday____

Sam had returned to Celina Friday night, just after I arrived home at 12:30am. We would work the JV game at Paulding on Saturday morning. When we arrived around 9:30am, the field there was pretty muddy around the middle of the field, and it got worse as the game progressed...at least it was sunny, albeit cool...that game ended with a 30-6 Allen East win over the home team....after getting home at 12:30, I spent the rest of the day, sitting in my lawn chair, out back smoking a couple of cigars and downing a 6 pack plus of Miller Lite...the lack of sleep and 2 ball games in less than 18 hours was going to prevent me from doing much else....so I sat outside in the sun, with shades on, listening to the Ohio State win over Wisconsin, and chilling out!

Sunday____

I decided to forego Church on Sunday morning....no good excuse, besides being tired and facing a Rec League double header, once again with Sam on Sunday afternoon....Those game went smooth between a Celina team and one from Randolph, Indiana....Sam and I finished up aroudn 5pm, and headed home.

Sam headed back to Columbus about nightfall....I continue to rest my 60 year old body from the effects of rain, cold, and 4 football games officiated in less than 48 hours....

Tonight I once again head north for a JV contest, this one in Antwerp....they are not calling for rain, but at this hour the radar says different...

Those are the highlights from my exciting weekend life...M>R>S> Board meeting at noon, so I'll cut this one off...back later>>>>

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AKA: Self Promotion....this ugly mug shot will soon be gone, but being the weekend, I'm working on something...back Monday, enjoy the rest of the weekend:

Obama wins the Noble Peace Prize/Friday Views

I almost laughed out loud when I saw the news that our beloved Kenyan-in-Chief had won the Nobel Peace Prize awarded by 5 Norwegian leftists....joining the likes of Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and sitting Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson{the other fascist Presidents before Obummer}. My old friend Bill e-mailed me and asked "What the Hell?" or something like that, when he heard the Ebony Messiah was awarded this "prestigious" award...joining the likes of Henry Kissinger and his North Vietnamese counterpart. That right before the North murdered and exterminated their South Vietnam cousins, after we cut and ran from the Vietnam War in 1975....

Folks The Nobel Peace Prize, like our half asses President is a joke....nothing to get upset about....like water off a duck's back, this, like the Obummer, too shall pass. What next? "Queen of the World" honors for Michelle?

Even the lap dog Associated Press questions this so-called "award":

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_nobel_peace

Speaking of Water on a Duck____

Garry and I headed for St Henry last night to do a Junior High double header between the home standing Redskins and rival Coldwater.....it was wet, windy, and growing colder by the minute, when we got started at 5pm....but the time we finished at 7:45, the feet and hands were pretty frozen. I will have to say my "under armour" kept my legs and body pretty dry, so it could have been worse. Tonight I drive the 70 miles north to Edgerton{near the Ohio Turnpike}, for a game with the 6-0 Bulldogs and their Green Meadows Conference rival Sherwood Fairview at 4-2....I originally posted that the game was at Fairview, but the crew chief informed me that he had the wrong location, so Edgerton on Route 49, north of Antwerp and Hicksville it is....it's still raining, hopefully things will dry off somewhat by game time....gonna be a long night, a long drive home, then tomorrow morning, Sam and I head back north, this time to Paulding, for a JV contest.

Speaking of Sam...he was taping the Ohio State Hockey opener last evening, the Buckeyes blew a lead, and fell to visiting Quinapac 4-2...this afternoon he works a OSU Women's Soccer game, then heads home...he's got a long weekend in store, hopefully he's keeping at his studies.

Double Header Rec league games with Sam here in Celina on Sunday, will finish off the weekend. The weather looks to stay cooler than normal, but should dry off after the rain ends this evening....Cool and dry is doable...cool and wet sucks.

Enjoy the Weekend...back later>>>>

Sunflower Harvest!

Rained lightly off and on last night during the Celina 7th grade game with visiting Kenton...the locals pulled out a 12-8 win in one of the better contests this season I have done...regardless of level of play. Off tonight, too bad, it would be a great night for football, sunshine and the high 50s...not many Wednesday games in this area, it is the one night they leave open for religion classes, especially given the strong Catholic make-up of the west central Ohio area Tomorrow afternoon a Junior High double header at St. Henry.

I got a call this morning from a crew chief located in the Toledo area, they need a varsity replacement for a Green Meadows Conference game at Fairview in Sherwood Friday night....I on occasion do a varsity baseball game up that way, this will be my first time doing varsity football there however. Seems the crew's umpire{the guy who stands behind the defense and checks for holding and other violations}, is out with a case of the swine flu, so I said "what the hey", I'll do it. The forecast is for thunder and possible heavy rain. Saturday, Sam will be home from Ohio State, we have a JV contest together at Paulding, and a double header Rec League get together in Celina on Sunday, before he heads back to Columbus.

Harvesting the Sunflowers and "Topping" the Jeep___

Since I retired from Environmental Health work back in 2002 at the age of 53, the one thing I have noticed, especially since I no longer deliver RVs either, it that the simple things in life are pretty satisfying.

Take today for example....after dropping Anissa off at Adult Day Care, I headed out, with coffee in hand, to the western part of Mercer County, towards the Indiana State Line....just wanted to see how the leaves were changing. They appear to be a week or so away in this part of Ohio. Meaning that the old Houseworth family hometown of Waldo, north of Columbus, will be another week or so after that...I always try to time my yearly genealogy visit to coincide with the leaf color change, that makes the day that much more enjoyable. With camera in hand, and the stop at G&R Tavern on my mind...

I also checked on the Internet to see if my Mammoth Sunflowers should be Harvested...going by the color of the backs and the middle of the flowers, it was a good time to gather most of them in, before the birds and squirrels took care of them for me....no doubt I will feed the critters these seeds{I really have no interest in salting or eating them myself}, but first I want to see how my harvesting and drying process goes...then I'll parcel them out over the winter months.

As you can see from the photos, the ones I have picked so far are pretty large, with the biggest being about 16 inches across and the same in height....others are close, and the smaller ones are those that were shaded out by the faster growing large ones....I claim a "Successful Harvest" for 2009, and plan on growing more of these 14 footers next May.

Taking a look at the weather forecast for the next 10 days, cooler, as in 20 or more degrees below average, and plenty of needed rain...I figured this October would not be the warm one like 2008, so I decided to put the top back on the old Jeep...took about 25 minutes, and went much smoother than I thought it would, which is always a plus....

Like I said, simple things, are more enjoyable when you have the time....Which I would be remiss if I didn't mention that youngest son Hal's Masters in Education came in the mail today...Gotta admit, that he struggled in his first couple of years at WSU in Dayton, the party life suited him. But when it came down to crunch time, he breezed through his bachelors program, and then scored a perfect 4.0 in his Masters program. He is now working with Autistic youth, and still looking forward to teaching High School History down the road.

Meanwhile, oldest son, Sam seems to be adjusting to life in Columbus. The grades will tell the tale, but he seems to be continuing his success from OSU-Lima at the main campus, while working with the OSU Athletic Department and the Big Ten Network, and still officiating football, with basketball coming up over the Christmas break. Gotta admit I am pretty proud of both...it's not easy having to listen to the predominate left wing Bull crap that is spewed out in colleges these days, especially when you are raised Christian and Conservative....my thumbs up to both of the boys.

back later>>>>

Photos-The old picnic table is full of the first harvest....will now put them in the garage to dry out for the critter food. One of the largest, 16" x 16"...I did have to battle the Bees to get these guys harvested, they were not too happy that I was taking their pollen producing goodies. Western Mercer County, the trees are beginning to change, but the colors need another week or 2....The Jeep with top back on, and Hal's Masters is now ready for his wall, to go with his BA in High School History Education.

More Blasts from the Past!

Finished off the Celina JV game against Lima Shawnee last night around 7...the Bulldogs continue to struggle at just about every level{with the exception of the 8th grade team}...last night's 29-6 Indian win was no exception, the varsity game on Friday was worse...a 52-0 blowout. Tough to see your old Alma Mater struggle, especially with kids I coached years ago, including my back yard neighbor's youngest son{graduated with Hal} on the staff and head coaching the JV team. The once perennial state ranked Dogs have been down for a decade. When the old coach retired, they brought in a guy who was successful at the lower division levels, but was clueless how to run a large school, platoon football team..Division 2 is not Division 6. He was a disaster, and got the axe and headed back to a small school where he is again successful...bring back in the old coach, that seldom works out, and the next 3 years with him have set the tone for what Celina has today.

Hopefully they will give the young guys a couple of more years to turn the program around...it won't be easy...but I wish them luck.

After going 2 weeks with no weight loss{after losing 9 pounds the first 2 weeks of my modified 2000 calorie/250 carb Diabetes 2 Diet}, I have dropped 3 pounds in the few days...bringing me down to 196 pounds, this is the lowest weight on my frame since just before Thanksgiving 2005. My top weight ever was 224 back in 1998 when I was into weight lifting the heavy stuff, then "curling" a six pack or more of Miller Lite after every workout....the last time I weighted in at 180 was probably 1990 or so, before I began weight lifting with a passion at age 40...the heavy weight days of lifting and the heavy weight of my body are hopefully gone. The bones and joints are not up to bench pressing 300 pounds in multiple reps these days, and those same joints need not carry around the plus 200 pounds.

In a related note, the blood pressure is good as well...133/64 with a pulse rate of 64 last I looked, another few months of this, and hopefully I can avoid any meds for the Diabetes and maybe get off the BP Medication I've been on for the past 22 months...Time will tell, and although the legs and back ache at times from the running up and down the fields and courts, at 60 years old, I'm not gonna complain...I see too many folks my age and younger, who have let themselves get past the point on no return....and Hell I see down a few beers most days, and smoke a good hand rolled cigar now and then!

Projects____

I titled this thread "More Blasts from the Past" but forgot why? :D The mind is the first thing to go they say.....

I did walk out and checked out my Sunflowers this morning...they are drying on the vines, and I guess it's time to "Google" and figure out just how to store the heads and seeds...I'm not a Sunflower Seed eater, but I figured I had this much time invested in the damn things, I'm gonna dry them out, and at least see if I can batch up my own....who knows, maybe the squirrels and back yard Doves will enjoy them....if I don't?

I also uncovered my Buick Landau...I've pictured it before but it looked real good in the early sun this morning. The 1977 2 door powder blue Buick has just 61,896 original miles on it...one spot on the hood needs some "bondo" replaced and a dent in the drivers side behind the door, compliments of Sam, when he owned it, need repaired...new exhaust system from top to bottom, a heavy duty battery, and it should be ready for the open road....maybe next year. I've been putting off the project, but figure I better get it done...I don't think Patricia is real happy with it taking up half the garage during the winter, while my 2 other cars set outside....speaking of which: The Jeep is still topless, but looking at the future forecast, I guess it's time to give up the ghost, and put the rag top back on for the rest of fall and winter...it will come off sometime around Memorial Day 2010....unless I decide to sell it, and use the profits for the reclamation project on the Buick.

A few weeks ago I mentioned and posted a photo of me and my childhood buddies Bob Jones and Don "Rat" Boyce....Bob and I were next door neighbors throughout High School and entered the military the same time, back in the summer of 1968...here are a couple of photos compare, last month Pat, Don, and Bob at 60 something, and Bob Jones{left} and Me, on June 23, 1968, the night before I flew off to Amarillo AFB, for Air Force Basic Training... I don't think we have change all that much, do you?

Off to mow Mom's yard, got mine done yesterday, and another Celina based football game tonight, this one a Junior High 7th grade contest...back later>>>>

Top-the 77 Buick 61 thousand original miles/Celina Bulldog logo hasn't changed much since I graduated in 1967...not sure the same can be said for me, The new 196 pound me, with some of my drying Sunflowers, 30 heads, and what to do with all of the Sunflower Seeds?...bottom left, last month, Houseworth, Boyce, and Jones, then 6/23/68 Jones and Houseworth...double click to see the full glory!

American Heroes vs American Zeros

Really not a Hell of a lot to talk/blog/write about this Monday morning{what else in new?}

I did do 4 games of Jr High Girls basketball fall league variety yesterday, my first games of round ball since I blew out my calf back in February...went almost 4 hours with 10 minute breaks in between games....the legs are sore, as are the feet, but I survived. Basketball on a hard wood floor is totally different than baseball or football on the grass/turf....and more stress is put on the body....gotta say though I enjoyed the change, the scrimmage season is only a month away.

Tonight(JV) and tomorrow(JH) football at Celina.....

For lack of anything to rant or dwell about...I will just post a few "mug shots" of people I consider American Heroes...and follow it up with their counterparts, American Zeros....

These folks from entertainment non traditional politics, and and the academia.....tell it like it like it is....

Living American Heroes_____{had to add Ronald Reagan at the top, RIP Mr President!

Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Ron Paul, Rocker Ted Nugent, Country Singer Toby Keith, Sarah Palin, writer Thomas Sowell, Michael Savage, Former Governor Sarah Palin, and some of us old Vietnam Security Police guys from last winter's in Dayton, Ohio.

American Zeros___{These assclowns are out to destroy the republic through perversion, lies, and Marxism}





Just a small sample of American Traitors and Asshats...From Obama, the Clintons, Joe Biden, non funnyman Chevy Chase, useless Jimmy Carter, John McCain{tool of the media}, Nazi Bill Mahar, Letterman, Keith Oldblowaman, and Fat Albert Dimwit Sharpton...a really collection of Tool Bags of the American Left!

Back Later>>>>

Sunday Morning in West Central Ohio

Clouds and cool here in west central Ohio again this morning....no Rec Football today, but I do have a 4pm gig doing some girls middle school basketball games...reminding me that, at the high school level, football is winding down, and basketball isn't that far off.

Another sign that winter isn't far off..the NHL season began this week...so far, so good....the Philly Flyers won their first 2 games and Ohio's team, the Columbus Blue Jackets won their opener last night, before heading west....would love to see those teams meet in the Stanley Cup Finals next May, but that's along shot{especially for Columbus} and a long way off....

I traveled north to Delphos Friday night to fill in on one of our Van Wert Association crews in the varsity contest between home standing Jefferson and NWC rival Crestview...Delphos came away with a 21-0 shutout of the visiting Knights....no major gaffs on my or the regular crews part, and the game went without incident. Got to bed late, crawled back out early Saturday and headed to Convoy to do a JV game between the same 2 schools...the score was the same, but this time Crestview came away with a 21-0 whitewash over the visiting Wildcats.

More football on tap this week, beginning with a JV game between Celina and Lima Shawnee tomorrow afternoon...in that varsity contest on Friday, Shawnee pounded the winless Bulldogs 52-0...not sure if Celina will win a game this season, hopefully the young team and young coaches will turn it around soon.

Another Project____

Being the semi-retired guy I am...my major concerns are keeping the blood pressure in check, which I have been doing, 134/64 with a pulse of 64, when I last checked on Thursday...also keeping the diagnosed Diabetes 2 in check, meaning no meds if I can help it...so far I'm down about 10 pounds in the past 5 weeks, falling below 200 for the first time since the summer of 2007...still the goal is 180, which means another 18 or 19 pounds to go. Also need to keep myself in shape while losing the weight, so I can get up and down the football fields and basketball courts. I'm guessing I will need to buy some new officiating gear, in the form of pants, before this basketball season begins. Walking the incline on the treadmill, and the Weider Weight Center in the basement will get a workout this fall and winter....no more heavy lifting however, reps and moderate weights are about all this 60 year old is willing to these days.

I've also decided to go through a slew of disks from my Sony Camera and run them through the Lexmark Photo Shop....thousands of photos on disks that I need to look at and see if I can "clean them up". Many are too dark, blurred, etc, and I would like to see how many I can save, that really don't add up...a winter long project will I plan on spending 8 or 10 hours a week working on.

One such photo is at the top...the original is at the bottom of Thursday's post about Nick and my upcoming trip back to the Au Sable River/Lake Huron for some Salmon fishing...the top is after I cropped and did some work on it....

Off to Church, back later>>>>

Photos-Me at the Au Sable last October/this photo was cropped and brightened from the one that appeared on Thursday's post...and the Old{1998} Sony Digital Mavica Camera...I have this one and the larger Sony Mavica 900..I continue to use them even though they are not as "handy" ..because they use the floppy disks, and it makes it so damn easy to upload to the blog.....I've had the 88 since 1998, why switch now?

Olympics to Chicago "NO"/Blame it on Rio?

I have to admit when I heard the news on Glenn Beck this morning that the Barry Soetoro Obama/Michelle Antoinette Obama/Oprah WinsomefriedChicken tour of Denmark failed to secure the Olympics 2016 bid for Chicago and the USA, I had a big smile on my face....

A few million(American Tax Payer) dollars jetting 3 large plane to the north country in a failed effort by the King and Queen of America and the World to bring the bloated, over-hyped games to the USA has went down in flames...

THANK YOU OLYMPIC COMMITTEE!

Most Americans didn't want it, and the tax payers have enough on their plate....

This news has made my weekend...of course anytime The Obummer loses, it makes my weekend.

"Blame it on Rio Indeed"....Rio De janeiro wins the games, good luck with that Brazil...you'll need it.

Have a Great Weekend...back later

October 2009...The Month Ahead.

Well here it is...October. You can count on summer being pretty much finished for good...O' sure we will get a shot or two of "Indian Summer" here in western Ohio, and maybe a stray thunderstorm or two, but for the most part any semblance of Hot weather will wait until May of 2010 or maybe even later...the long winter awaits, but I'm not ready to pack it in for the duration, not yet anyway.

The Plans for the month____

First off, football will be the focus of the entire month...doing an 8th grade contest at Celina tonight, then for Varsity Friday, I've been picked up by another "Crew" to fill in at Delphos Jefferson vs Crestview...Jefferson is undefeated at 5-0 while I believe the Knights come into the Northwest Conference game at 1 up and 4 down...on paper it looks like a mismatch, but being a rival and league contest, you can bet it will be a competitive game...I'll fill in at line judge on the Delphos side of the field....Saturday morning I return to these 2 team's JV game, this will be played at Convoy, where Crestview calls home at 10AM....quick turnaround. I'll finish out the weekend by doing some early girls basketball at Celina Middle School on Sunday afternoon. The Rec Football League has the weekend off. The remainder of October will see an additional 2 dozen or so games, before I shut it down for upcoming basketball Season.

The OHSAA has cancelled the State Basketball Meetings for this season, seems there are only 2 rules changes and feel time and money will best be saved by forgoing the state meetings....the local rules meetings begin in late October, and scrimmages will begin about the 10th of November.

Once football is done, Nick and I will head for Michigan, for some serious, or not-so-serious Salmon Fishing about October 29th. We were pretty successful last year, the weather, while cool, was good for fishing. This year we may add the area near Traverse City on the Lake Michigan coast to our agenda, but we plan on starting out at Tawas City like last year, with Cigars and Beer in hand. Hopefully the mostly dry weather we have had{although the drought has eased somewhat in the past week} will continue through the Salmon Catch.

I also plan on a trip to the Houseworth Family's old haunts for some genealogy research....Waldo and Millwood, Ohio, await.....as do the great baloney sandwiches at G & R Tavern in Waldo....I can taste them now.....

Yep, October is one of my favorite months...the heat and humidity of summer is gone, and the brutal Ohio winter is a weeks away...I'm looking forward to it!

Photos-From the 2008 Version of the "Great Salmon Catch" in the "thumb/Au Sable River" area of Northern lower Michigan.

Thanks to my readers/visitors for another record month in September...over 2200 hits and just under 4000 pages were tagged for the month...beating out August the previous high water mark.

back later>>>>

Obama says "Screw America's Problems, I'm going to Denmark"

Fall is in the air in west central Ohio...Garry and I did a Rec League game last night, and I didn't break a sweat...of course we are talking about 3rd and 4th grade JV Rec League...so with a 30 mph wind and temps in the lower 50s, you would have to work to "sweat it out"....no game tonight, just our final rules meeting at Van Wert. After a short get together, we break for Pizza Hut for our final meeting beer and pizza. We finish off our final month of regular season football next month(the playoffs linger into early December)...the Basketball State Meetings get underway early October...my first scrimmage is set for November 10th.

The Olympics...Does Anybody Care?___

Seems our halfassed Kenyan-in-Chief, Barry Soetoro, has Chicago on his mind, he wants the Olympics to be held in his dump of a hometown in 2016...he may want to clean the gang infested streets from his home turf before letting "The World" get a view of the real Mistake-by-the-Lake{with apologies to Cleveland}:

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&from=&vid=e6061a6c-cb9b-4833-b618-b77f03cc2126

Well instead of asking the Chicago Goons to clean up their act, or better yet answering the question whether to put more troops on the ground in Afghanistan, our beloved Messiah-in-Waiting, is Jetting off to Denmark with Queen Michelle Antoinette in tow, to try to use his charm and power{since he doesn't have the balls to use real power, like Military Power against the Islamics} to coerce the Olympic Committee to give the 2016 games to Chi-Town.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ymxZYtmaLc

Way to go Barry...Iran with Nukes, Afghanistan burning, Chicago Murdering, and Health Scare, and Swine Flu waiting....you worry about your dump of a city getting the 2016 Olympic Bid.

You know, I'm kind of looking forward to 2016 myself...by that time your sorry ass will either be defeated, or your months in office will be growing short...unless you and your legion of lemmings can change the Constitution to allow you to be President of the World for life.

back later>>>>

{Bomb} Iran...Is It Time?

The nutjobs in Iran are thumbing their noses at two flaccid entities...The United Nations, and the Obama Administration. The Islamic camel strokers in Tehran know gutless when they see it...The UN is unwilling and/or unable to make a real move on the clowns in the middle east. The very clowns that our own peanut brained Jimmy Carter unleashed on the world back in 1979, when our "Georgia Peach" didn't have the nuts or guts to stand up to the Assahola. Barack Insane Obama appears to be a farther left, more tanned version of Carter. A "man"{in body make up only} without the stones to stand up to Radical Islam's inherent sickness.

Without a doubt the "Change" Obama promised the American left is coming...but that change will result in the destruction of the Republic as we know it....

Obama hasn't the guts or will to go against the weak kneed leftist in his own party. A party that is lead by a small minority of Americans, so far left that they make Castro and Mao pale in comparison...and who is to speak out against them? Certainly not the Republicans in Washington...a group of cowards the likes we have not seen since the French in everyday life.

So What to Do?____

Yes, just what can we do to Iran? Do we let the Israelis take them out, or at least try? Do we blockade the sea routes to shut off the gas and oil supplies to Iran? Or do we Nuke the Hell out of them ourselves before it's to late?

I of course being the right wing/libertarian flamers I am{libertarian except when it comes to abortion, which I am against and war which I am for if needed, and we need it in this case}, say Nuke the Hell out of them...

Can you imagine if Obama and his minions were in charge back during the days Harry Truman had to make the decision to bomb Japan to end WW2? We would still be holding our asses in our hands.....We know and knew Iran had a second Nuclear Weapons Plant when the people were rioting for freedom, Barack Obama sat on his hands....this incompetent rookie is a disaster for this country in the likes which we have never seen...even the aforementioned Carter was not this inept or this evil.

Just my rambling thoughts for this late night hour....but back later with more>>>>