Catching Up!

8 days without a post?  Yep, that's the longest string I have taken away from this blog since I began 6 years ago {next week}..frankly a combination of boredom and realizing that everyday blogs are going by the wayside has reduced my contributions to the genre...my "stop by" followers and visitors and views have dropped by over 50% since the Spring of 2012...blogs indeed are becoming a thing of the past on the Internet, as our sounding boards on different subjects...facebook ant Twitter are the latest ways of "communications" in the social media.

I am trying to figure out how to move forward on this blog, whether it be by posting everyday photos or some such.  Looking back over the six years I have pretty well exhausted the exploits of my past life and politics and sports commentary have been moved over to facebook and to a lesser extent, Twitter...although frankly, those bore the Hell out of me at times as well...and I don't trust{especially facebook} the leadership and owners...not with the criminal Kenyan Bastard Obama in office and his  trolling little Monkey, Eric Holder, in charge of "Justice".  See last weekend's Zimmerman verdict, which the DOJ will no doubt try a double jeopardy play on.  While that side show is going on, the real issues, Benghazi, the IRS, and other criminal activities of the Obama Administration go ignored or under reported by the Lame Stream Media.

Summer, the Midway Point......

Down to a couple of games left on the baseball side of life.  Working the Junior ACME South Regional, last weekend, leaves me with just a few games left...and while I have not been given the fnal assignments for this coming weeks Senior ACME State games at Coldwater, I have no doubt I will get at least 2, maybe 3, of those...and the 8 mile drive to Coldwater is much more in line with my wishes that last years 60 miles each way trip to Bryan...

A 7 on 7 passing tournament here in Celina will being my football work on July 26th, and then nearly a month off before the "real" football season begins on August 20th...no hurry for that to begin...I'm beat!

After rain and much cooler weather than last year, the Summer heat and humidity has began in the Midwest...90s all week with heat index in the 100 range, in the sun the humidity are something else.  Yesterday we had Grandson Kasyn here, which it appears will be a welcome happening on Mondays for the rest of the Summer, with his mom opening up a new office in Wapak, and working there on that first day of the week, at least through September.

I'll continue to check back in with photos and a short line of BS as I get time....but don't expect much else until Summer cools into fall.

back later>>>>

Photos-The first of the Sunflowers has bloomed, despite last weeks major wind storm, most of my flowers have survived....and grandson Kasyn and I sat outback last week for a couple hours and rotated between the backsteps and his wading pool.

Baseball Marathon

After spending a rainy July 4th in Centerville with Hal and family...Friday it was back to Mercer County and the remaining weekend spent on the Baseball Diamonds.  With the recent weather it was in doubt if or how many games we would get in.

My single game in the ACME Sectional on Friday Night turned into a double header starting at 6pm...my young partner Damon worked the Parkway/Celina game behind the plate a 3-0 win for the Panthers in the first elimination contest....I handled the duties in the second as St. Henry eliminated Parkway with a 5-1 win....I was home at 11pm, time for a couple of cold ones and then some sleep before heading to Van Wert for the finals of that Van Wert County District Tournament.

It was raining mostly a drizzle throughout the morning and early afternoon....I worked the plate in the opener as Crestview forced a second game with a 10-2 win over Jefferson out of Delphos....in the second game, with Todd from out association working the dish, Jefferson took a 5-3 lead into the fifth when the skies opened up and filled the Smiley Park Diamond with enough water to cancel the game until yesterday...I headed home and rested up for another double header scheduled for Sunday at Rockford...and that double would basically turn into a triple!

Arriving at the Parkway Diamond in Rockford, I hooked up with my old buddy Jim and agreed I would work the Junior ACME winners bracket final between Coldwater and Van Wert....that turned into a long day for me...13 innings, with both teams making enough base running blunders to fill a score card up...finally, Coldwater put 4 runs across the plate in the top of the 13th and held on to end the 3 hour 50 minute marathon with a 6-2 win.  Over the years I have worked a couple of 14 inning games behind the plate, including a Spring Sectional game, but neither lasted as long, time wise, as yesterday's encounter.  Exhausted we took a half hour off, and then proceeded to work the losers bracket elimination final between Crestview and St. Henry...the Knights from Convoy Crestview held on for a 8-4 win to oust the Redskins as the thunder could be heard in the background....then as we headed for the parking lot, the rains came, once again, marking the 12 straight day we have had precipitation in the area.

This will bring my remaining games down to a handful....tonight at Miller City where Bullet Bob and I will work a Putnam County Semi Final...already got Bob doing the plate....yesterday did me in.   Then I will wait for my State ACME and Junior ACME assignments as I finally finish off the baseball season, with a full month to relax, do some weeding, shrub cutting, and garage painting at my own pace before football season arrives about the 20th of August for out first scrimmage games.....I have already pretty well decided that this season and next will be my last two years working football.  Baseball, I am in for the long haul, until I cannot see or stand, basketball is the wild car, I enjoy the winter exercises, but it is a wear and tear on the body...so roundball, and how long I decide to work it remains up in the air...for now I will enjoy what time I have working out at a pretty high level, at the ripe old age of 64....70 Anyone?

With the game tonight, if the rain stays away, I will likely have at least 10 days off before the State....today Patricia and I have the Grandson K~Man, while his mom opens up a new Autism Treatment office in Wapak and Hal is traveling to Toledo for some consultation for his Autism Behavior Group....I will head out for Miller City, some 55 miles north and east about 4:15....

back later>>>>

Bailey Tosses another "No-No" and No end in sight for the Wet Weather

After a cloudy morning yesterday, the sun and humidity came out....only 66 for a high on July 1st, it bloomed to about 80 with humidity to match yesterday by the time I left for Lima for our scheduled umpire gig at Lima Senior where the Lima Legion was poised to take on the team from Prospect, Ohio...Prospect is near Marion and Waldo, and there are quite a few Houseworth's buried there...another of my ancestors hometowns.  As I arrived on the west side of Lima, some lite showers began....and it was sprinkling at the ball diamond when I got there....but the rain held off, and we would have gotten the game in...problem was, a scheduling snafu and Prospect didn't show.  I got paid regardless and headed home. 

By this time I had talked to Patricia and all Hell had broken loose in a large path from the Indiana State Line, east to Lima and Celina and other towns in the path got another soaking, unwelcome that it was....Not sure how many ACME Tournament games were washed out...but I suspect most.  Mine for tonight has been moved from Van Wert to Delphos Jefferson....if it doesn't rain!  I know the Van Wert ACME and Crestview Junior ACME, along with Coldwater and Lima ACME Tournaments are backed up Big Time....not sure how that is going to play out....I have Saturday Open for Rain Make

Ups and that is about it...tomorrow we head to Centerville for the Parade and Cook Out/hopefully the rain, which is predicted, holds off.

The rain had ended as I headed home...when I arrived, I noticed my wild Sunflowers which had been sprouting next to the inside fence and hose bracket were on the ground or leaning that way....the rain was so heavy they took a beating as did some of the others on the south side of the outside fence...Patricia got some tie string and we propped them back up....hopefully it holds and they come out of it...the rain, which is on the agenda for another 8 days or so, can stop anytime...for a month!!! At least....

After getting that done, I opened a Guinness Extra Stout, put some ice cubes into the glass and poured, sat down to watch the Reds take on defending Champions The San Fran Giants, who knocked them out of the playoffs last year....Homer Bailey was on the mound for Cincy.  The Reds took a quick 1-0 lead and Bailey was mowing down the Giants....15 in a row and I'm thinking, "Naw, he can't pitch a perfect game, can he"?  Then in the 7th he walked a batter with no outs and the

"perfect game" was gone...that came on a 3-2 pitch and it indeed was inside/the perfect game gone, but Bailey, who pitched the last no hitter in the MLB last September still had his "No-No" going into the 9th....a ground ball back to the mound, a strike out, and a grounder to Frazier at 3rd base and Homer had his second career no hitter...a gem at that, only one batter reaching base:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/homer-bailey-throws-no-hitter-cincinnati-reds-beat-san-francisco-giants-070213

With the Cards and Pirates{finally} losing, Cincinnati moves back to within 2 and 4 game respectively of each team and still firmly in control of one of the Wild Card spots at this point...still plenty of time to catch both, if they play better on the road and vs good teams.

Busy next few days....probably nothing to post or "blog" about...maybe Friday with some photos...otherwise..

Back Later>>>>


Photos-Homer Bailey celebrates his 2nd no hitter in the past 9 months a 3-0 win over San Francisco/The Sunflowers next to the house and inside fence need some help to stay up after the Heavy Rains...again/and the Zinnas are hanging in there despite the heavy showers...

Let it Rain/2013 Half Way Gone

July 1st....the year 2013 is already half gone, and the old adage "Time Flies" comes into play...especially as you get older....I remember as a kid, and even when I was suffering through four years in the Air Force, how time sometimes dragged....now, four and even five years goes by in the blink of an eye.

June, up until late last week, was dry and not overly hot....a few showers here and there, but no rain outs of the Summer Baseball season...that all began to change a few days ago.   Despite the rains, I got my games Wednesday, Thursday, and even Friday Nights 9 inning American Legion game in at Lima....but the weekend was a baseball and Mother Nature disaster.

Some areas have had 10 inches or rain in the past 4 days....and we are getting hammered again this morning, as this stupid front continues to bring heavy storms from southeast to northwest...hardly a Summer-like pattern,  Celina has been mostly lucky, I'm guessing maybe 3 or 4 inches thus far....and hopefully it will end by tomorrow, with dry weather through the coming weekend...next week looks wet again, but since when can you believe the hacks at NBC owned Weather Channel{which still promotes the fake science of "Global Warming"}?

Saturday dawned cool, but somewhat humid and sunny as I headed to Lima for a ACME Tournament double header...I worked the LCC lost to Lima Shawnee by  a 5-3 count, and no sooner did we finish that game, and the storm clouds moved into southwest Lima and washed out game #2...yesterday we had no chance of getting the Junior ACME Tournament in at Convoy....both games washed out. 
Today?  I'm doubting if there is a snow balls chance in south Florida of playing.  No sun, leaving no time to dry the fields out...even if they don't get rain in Convoy.  Tomorrow night I am back at Lima for another American Legion game, and by that time the weather is looking better....only a 40% chance of rain{sic}....

Found out last night that the State ACME Tournament will be at Coldwater beginning on the 20th of July...I will likely get a couple of those games as well as the Regional{Semi State} Junior ACME games at Wapak the week prior....then a full month off to rest my aging bones and joints, before football begins....I have pretty well decided that this season and next will be my last two years doing football.  That would be a 10 year run and quite enough.  I love fall weather, and but that time I will be 65 and a half years old.  Basketball is next on the list to start backing off, but for now I have not plans on dropping off the baseball gigs...I figure, if I stay healthy and can still move, I will do baseball until 2020 when I reach 71.  Now I realize that is a BIG IF...but that is the plan for now.

For now, despite the beatings I have taken behind the plate this Summer, I will begin to lift weights
again today....once again, after 4 weeks off, I will have to drop the weight plates down a notch...and start out slowly.   The Cardio workouts is another thing on the health agenda.....

For now I will watch the rain fall, and wait for the call cancelling tonight's game....

back later>>>>

Rope, Noose, Tree....

Humid weather, with plenty of rain around the area...somehow Jim and I got our game in at Spencerville last night, the field was sticky wet, but the Varsity Spring Coaches father does a great job taking care of the field and we got it done.  Today, weather permitting, I run over to Convoy for a 3pm start, then back to Celina for a 6:30 game....a single American Legion game at Lima tomorrow night, then ACME Tournament Double Headers on both Saturday and Sunday, at Lima Central Catholic and Convoy respectively...of course the weather could have something to say about that.  The week of the 4th of July is busy, and I have games everyday, except the Holiday, before the baseball season begins to wind down...and I will be happy for the month or so break.  I still have plenty of house chores to complete before fall sets in...Fall?  I'm not sure I am ready to see that come into play......

Rope, Noose, Tree....?

The reason for the headline?  Just because...just because looking at the major "headlines" in the news of the world, I'm thinking we might just be better off going back to old fashion "Justice":

Here we have an illegal outlaw President taking the first beast and kids on another $100 million vacation back to the homeland, Africa, on the backs of the American Taxpayer...

We have same, doing nothing with Snowden the NSA Hacker....because?  Well frankly Obammy is afraid of old Rubber Pants Putin of Russia....

Queer Marriage...the US Supreme Court, now having given it's blessings to fags and dyke's getting hitched on eligible for Federal Bennies, on, once again, the backs of the Taxpayers might next say Abdul can marry his Pet Goat, and Joe Dirt his Redbone Coon Hound...or perhaps take a cue for the Mormons and allow LeRoy the Pimp to marry all of his hookers so he can keep them in line, and eligible for Obama Care?

Aaron Hernandez....a punk from the get go, now in jail, charged with murdering his buddy, because he didn't like the people he was hanging with.   Oh, he's guilty all right, the video doesn't lie....Rope, Noose, Tree, and let's save the Taxpayers some money.

Or how about the slimy state Senator in Texas, who stood on her feet for 13 hours so she could "filibuster" Life.  Thus allowing the continued murder in the womb of thousands of babies, for the fake issue of "Women's Health"...this bitch and those that think like her are no better than John Wayne Gacy, who delighted in murdering the young....they are in a word "Ghouls" ...a very Special place in Hell awaits her and them.

And then there is the George Zimmerman trial in Florida, for killing the punk known as

Treyvon Martin in self defense....or the Paula Deen "racist" rants....really, is any of this BS worth our time?

Meanwhile the real problems of America, and the Republics destruction at the hands of Obama go unreported...the IRS Scandals, The murder of 4 Americans in Libya at he hands of the friends of Obama and Hillary, etc, etc, go unreported by most of the press....the open border mess, as Anti American Democrats and their Moderate RINO brethren, go about dismantling America as we know it, and the vast majority of Americas sit on their collective asses and stew or ignore.

Yep, today would be a great day to just sting a few of these bastards up.....starting with you-know-who  Rope, Noose, Tree.....

Photos-Umpire work will have completed 3 months this week...a couple of weeks to go, and it will be done until next March...cant' say I'm saddened.  The Queers have it...look at these Manly Men celebrating the downfall of the Republc...and sweet little Treyvon Martin...he was a punk and died like a punk...good riddence!

Another Friday...and the First Day of Summer

Been a week since I lasted posted....as I approach 6 years of writing this blog, the posts, especially this Summer, will be fewer.  The week between posts is the longest span between posts since I began in July 2007...

Over the last few days, I have had a number of games in, contacted a mild case of Poison Ivy, and yesterday we had another chance to watch grandson Kasyn for a few hours while Lisa began work on her company's new operation in Wapak.  We ended out two weeks of sitting with their dogs, who for the most part, a couple of "accidents" not withstanding, were not bad to watch...however, after losing the Airedale Reagan, a year ago in April...our 40 years of having a dog or two, or more, has ended...and I doubt is we will get another, although you can never say never.

Last Weekend, we attended Rick and Toni Pearson's son Clay's wedding in Auburn, Indiana, and the following reception in Fort Wayne....saw folks that I have not seen in quite awhile....a good time to be sure.

The back yard flowers are blooming, the Sun Flower plants are growing, and the Amish finally came yesterday and fixed and painted a couple of spots on the upper floor, outside, that were damaged last June by the wind storm that roared through....

The Kitchen Floor, damaged by the water leak, while we were at Sam's Ohio State Graduation, remains the same....still a couple of options to putting that back to "normal"...and with Patricia's Retirement from St. Henry Schools, we will get around to that...meanwhile she is still looking at wanting to do with the rest of her life...she, like me when I retired from the Health Department, is not ready to sit around, and she has a few other options and has a couple of months to decide what she wants to do...in fact she has all the time she needs.

Tonight a game at Spencerville tomorrow a 9 inning contest at LCC, then Sunday I will relax and probably mow mom's lawn....I've still got a garage to paint, shrubs to trim, and likewise to do the porch Ivy...but Hell, I've got all Summer to finish it up.

back later>>>>

Photos-The Back Yard is alive....and from last Saturday, Rick, Clint Thompson, and me...away from the woods but still with a beer in our hands.

A Paltry Sum of Days Gone Bye-Bye...

For those regular visitors to this humble blog over the past Six Years(in July), you will without a doubt notice that I don't post as much these days...down to two or three times a week at best, for the Monday through Friday routine of the past....the reasons are twofold...or perhaps many folds...

Past Life Stories: 

I've told the majority of them since 2007...sure, once in awhile I come up with some new tidbit from years gone by, but lots of those are repeats....

Blogger Boredom:

We all get it, some give up blogging altogether, some slow down to a crawl...I'm nearing the latter...

Nobody Stopping By:

From the peaks of 2011/12 when I was getting nearly 5000 hits and close to 7000 page views per month, I am down to nearly half that total...warm weather always sends the numbers down, but this year, it started in the winter months...

Ending the Controversy:

I seldom talk politics on the "Rant" these days...haven't for quite awhile, that always brought out those that think alike and even more so, the left wing fools, haters, and Obama Worshipping turds...these days most of my political rants are reserved for facebook and to a lesser extent, Twitter....anybody wanting to know what I think and feel about left wing assholes, can join me on one of those sites...I recommend facebook, until such a time as I get booted off for my anti Obama, anti Islam, and anti Government rants...twitter is less frequent in my visits.

So, there you have it....I have no intention in quitting this blog, but time is slipping away, and I just don't have it to waste more than a couple of hours a week on this site...but for now, I plan on sticking around, and posting when I have something worthwhile to say...

Friday Night Veterans Celebration at Coldwater tonight...I will work the games with my old friend Jim, while he's not a Vet, his brother is....I will work both games, and the second Varsity game, behind the plate, as Coldwater Celebrates Veterans of all years...

back later>>>>

Photo-Grand Lake Celina, Ohio, Red Sky in Morning....

Remembering Jim Olson part #4.....and other ramblings...

 

Sitting here with the sun streaming through the living room{s} windows, Hal and Lisa's dogs, Avery and Kameron, a couple of Schnauzer mixes, laying on my leather chairs, I have them for another week or so, with the young family and Kasyn off on a beach vacation.  Meanwhile Patricia is in Wisconsin with her folks, and I am keeping busy with summer baseball and taking care of the house and mutts.  Back is bothering me today and I continue to rest on my left arm, where I took two hits last week in a double header at Lima Central Catholic.  I had not been hit on bare skin/bone all season, then last Wednesday I take two off the arm in a span of two innings, while working the plate.  The left arm has a nice bump{don't think it's broken} on top and a massive bruise, still there after six days, on the underside...a full week of baseball again this week, including double headers tonight at Celina and the Honoring Veterans annual game at Coldwater on Friday. 

The weekend with Patricia at home, we will head to northern Indiana for our friend Rick and Toni's son Clay's wedding in Auburn and following reception back in Fort Wayne....then it's three more full weeks of baseball, before things begin winding down...by that time summer will be in full swing, and
I am sure the heat will be likewise.

Jim Olson part 4...

After the 1981 trip to the Twin Cities for the wind blown Vikings/Eagles game at the old outdoor Metropolitan Stadium, I had little contact with my old buddy Jim Olson for nearly 20 years.  It was obvious to me that Jim was heading in a bad direction, and was hanging around with some idiots that were not of a like mind of mine...we talked on the phone a few times, but I was busy helping Patricia raise the family, get her through college, and changing careers from radio to Environmental Health.  I had straighted out and sobered up...sure I still downed beers, and enjoyed raising Hell, but that lifestyle that I enjoyed from the early 1970s through 1980 or so was gone....and with Olson back in North Dakota, living now in Minot, we lost touch.

I'm not a big premonition type of guy, but in early 2000 I had a thought or two about Olson and wondered what had happened to my old partying friend...with a common name like Jim Olson, especially in the frozen north like North Dakota, or the Minnesota area, even with the newly found Internet, I couldn't find him....then one night at the Racquet Club, I get a call from Patricia, and she says "You'll never guess who just called"?  "Jim Olson?" was my

comeback...the silence on the other end was not surprising.  I told her that I had a premonition about Jim, and when she asked, that was the first name that came to mind.

Jim and I talked and he came to stay with us for a few days when oldest son Sam graduated from High School...by this time Jim had switched from smoking a couple packs of Marlborough Lites to some cheap ass cigars, he had some other issues with his health both physical and mental, but regardless, he was still the same old Jim Olson...the prescription meds keep his issues under control, and over the next near dozen years, Jim would come here  and we would take in the Reds in Cincy, or Nick and I would meet him in Minnesota for a Twins weekend, a couple of MLB Playoff series with the hated Yankees or to see the Vikings against a NFL rival....we had not seen each other for a couple of years, but continued to talk fantasy baseball on Sunday nights, and then early this year Jim came up with the wild idea for Nick, me, and him, to head to the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota, and recreate the 1978 trip to that Island on Wind Lake.  Sure we were 35 years older, and not in the same shape...one thing for sure I was more sober, and really believed I could handle it with no problems...Nick felt the same way, and we could 'carry' Olson in his diminished physical condition...Hell we figured, maybe he would actually work out and prepare for the trip?

I contacted several local outfitters that served the Park Waters, and we set mid July for out trip...I talked to Jim when he called to discuss the baseball wars{fantasy of course} on the evening of Sunday May 5th...he also told me to start making the final plans on which outfitter to use, and see what the final cost and deposit would be...told him I would get it done.  Nick and I made final plans on which days we would take, and how much equipment and size canoe we would need to rent...I waited to hear from Olson, and when I didn't get a call for a couple of weeks, I figured I would give him a call on the following Sunday if he didn't ring me....It never came.

A couple of weeks ago, when she couldn't sleep, Patricia got on my facebook page and saw a link/photo to Jim Olson's fb page...after seeing the information on Jim's passing she walked up the steps to our bedroom and gave me the news.  Saddened I was....but not really surprised.  Jim's lifestyle without a doubt helped cut his life short....but he did live 61 years, more than many, less than most...I can say he was a friend for nearly 40 years, but I can also say I was never sure what made him tick....hopefully he had his spiritual house in order when his time was up...but then again, I hope for the same for me.

RIP Jim Olson, the crazy times will be remembered by me, with a smile on my face, until my time comes...

back later>>>>

Photos-The visiting dogs relaxing on my leather chairs...so far they have been pretty good house guests.  (2) The bruise on the under side of my left arm, after two baseballs off it within a matter of 2 innings  (3) After 20 years Jim Olson joined me, Nick, and my youngest son Hal(16 at the time) in May of 2000 at Riverfront Stadium and a Reds Weekend  (4) And our Island in Wind Lake...we won't be making it back this Summer, perhaps Nick and I can visit there some day down the road....RIP Jim, "It's been one Hell of a Party"

Remembering Jim Olson ... part 3 ...

2 hours 40 minutes ...that was the first Summer game of the season's length.  Unbeknown to my umpiring partner Mark and I, it was a Junior ACME game...and those tend to last longer.  Working the plate, my legs feel it...tonight back to Lima Central Catholic for a double header at  4pm...this one will be regular varsity ACME, so it should go a bit smoother, but it will still be near 9 before we finish.  The weather however will remain close to perfect...mostly sunny with 70s for daytime highs, and cool enough at night to keep the windows open and the A/C off.

Jim Olson part 3 ...

My old friend Jim Olson passed away on May 6th, less than a month after his 61st birthday .... a Marlboro smoker much of his life, Jim switched to cigars sometime during the 2 decades will had little contact, between 1981 and 2000....problem for Jim, he inhaled the damn cheap things, nasty stuff....now we are not talking the quality hand rolled cigars that I partake in on occasion, these were domestic cheap ass machine made garbage...he finally gave them up a few years back, but I suspect by that time the damage was done ....

After Olson left WCSM, he stayed with Patricia and me for a few months before heading back to his native North Dakota...he finished up school at NDSU or was it ND?  Anyway he got his Masters and worked various occupations, some professional, some not so much...last he was working was a delivery driver for a Chinese Restaurant, and a ID Checker at a Minot bar... in between his was a professional, but Jim was Jim...while I turned one way to a life that stabilized, Jim continued down his own path....

In the Spring of 1976 he was living in Fargo and working as a manager of Musicland, in a Fargo Mall....Musicland, a chain of music related stuff store, I doubt even is still around these days...at that time Olson decided to make a solo "Road Trip" to Athens, Ohio, to see me, Nick,

Rick Pearson, and the other Celina and old Red Door Alumni.  As he also did, he brought along some "goodies" including smoking material and a fresh unopened bottle of Everclear....the 100 proof tasteless ass kicker, a domestic version of "Moonshine"...we all partied at the College Inn and Bars of downtown Athens...the next year, March 1977, when I was on break from my studies at Hocking Tech, I returned the favor and dragged my new Airedale pup "Mas" with me in the Jeep to Fargo and spent a few days there .... I'm not sure if there was ever a time that when we got together that in addition to the beer and booze, there was something illegal involved, it was the way it was in the 1970s.... we were party people at the time...Jim, for better or worse would remain that way for life....

In the fall of 1977 Patricia and I, who had been married in Wisconsin in December 1976 moved to Wausau, Wisconsin, in the far north....we packed up the Airedales, a U~Haul full of "stuff" and just took off....no jobs, no bills, no problem....we found a little farm house to rent between Wausau and the small, Celina sized town of Merrill to the north, and would call that "home" for the next two years...it is where we started a family, Anissa was born there in February

1979....Olson came to visit on a couple of occasions, and we would get together in the midway point of the Twin Cities at other times...Gopher Basketball, Twins Baseball, and North Stars Ice Hockey...Patricia and I always made it a weekend and had a great time .... I had pretty much slowed down to just drinking beer by this time...not so much for Jim..

In the spring of 1978, nearly a year before Anissa arrived, Jim called and wanted me to join him and a handful of his Mohall, ND, buddies in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, for a week of canoeing, fishing, beer drinking, ...Jim and I over packed, over drank on the way up, but still had one Hell of a time....a trip we planned on recreating this coming July, with our old friend Nick from the Red Door days....

Jim and I hooked up at Duluth, and made our way north to Ely, stopping at the US Hockey

Hall of Fame on the way...but the time we reached the Canoe Trip outfitters, we were pretty well inebriated....so much so, we jumped in the packed canoe the wrong way...the young worked gave us proper directions, and just shook his head as we made our way towards the portage area which would take us to Wind Lake and the Island where we were to camp....

Over packed, did I mention that? We were, and we paid the price...it took us three trips across to finally put the canoe back in the water....somehow the rest of the North Dakota folks saw us in the fast coming twilight and gave us verbal directions where to dock at the island...

In retrospect it was amazing in itself we didn't drown, get eaten by a bear, or just plain lost and never heard from again....if you are young enough and never been to the Boundary Waters...you owe it to yourself, just to visit, if even for a day or two.... If I was to pick a place to just fade away from this world that would be it.....looking now, I can't imagine what we would have done next month if Jim had waited until or trip to pass away....I'm sure that is something if he knew what was coming, he would not have minded it....it was a great week, we didn't catch much, but we did have a great time.

I, along with Patricia, Anissa, and the Airedales, would move around the heartland, Kokomo, Dodge City, and back to Celina, over the next few years....I would not see Jim Olson again until 1981 at a windy day in Minnesota, where we watched the Vikings take on the Philadelphia Eagles...I would get my coat set on fire by a drunk women behind me....no damage to me, and her husband overpaid to replace my coat, Jim and a couple of young friends of his were pretty much stoned, and I had no use for that life anymore...I stayed another day, then headed back to Park Falls, Wisconsin, to see another old Radio friend, the late Mike Rockwell, who was working at a radio station there, and home....I would not see Jim Olson for another 19 years or so....we were moving in different directions, I was trying to grow up....Jim was living his perpetual 20 something life style.   But like all old friends, we would make contact again...in the next Century, the year 2000...that story is next.

Off to get a haircut, do some weight lifting, and get ready for more baseball...back later>>>>

photos-Jim with the smoke billowing off his constant Cigar, me looking drunk or amused perhaps both from this photo from the year 2000...our Island on Wind Lake in Northern Minnesota...Me, Jim, and Nick at Riverfront Stadium in 2000...my share of our Over Packing for the Boundary Water trip...Jim and one of his Mohall Friends...forget the little guys name...me at the old campfire on the Island, and the Camp setup of same..is below.

Remembering Jim Olson....part 2

Today Patricia and I are blessed with watching Grandson, Kasyn...."The K~Man" is napping right now, and Patricia is uptown getting ready for her trip back to Wisconsin to spend five or six days with her family...she leaves on Saturday, while I will be preoccupied with baseball and watching Anissa on Sunday.  When wife returns from Cheeseland next week, we immediately turn around and head to Auburn, Indiana, and the wedding of my best friend Rick and his wife Toni's son, Clay.  Rick was my best man, and I returned the favor when he was married some 5 years or so later.

The years since the 1970s have rushed past us in the blink of an eye....and Jim Olson's unexpected death last month, while not completely shocking, brought back a rush of memories.

Remembering Jim Olson...part 2...

I met Olson in 1974 while working as the manager, bar tender, bouncer, and consumer of alcohol at Celina's infamous "Red Door"...Jim was a recent resident of Celina, coming from North Dakota and Brown Broadcasting Institute in the Twin Cites....

Jim was a couple of years, 3 and a 2 months to be exact, younger than me, and if I recall we met though Patricia, also an escapee of the cold northern tier of states along the Canada border...I gave Jim some additional income, by hiring him and another DJ from WCSM, Ray Arthur, gigs at the "Door" on weekend, so they could pick up a few extra bucks...anybody that has ever worked in small market radio knows they pay you starvation wages at best.  I know, I did that scene for a handful of years in the late 1970s and early 80s, before returning to my college roots of Environmental Health...I loved radio, but EH and a cushy Government job paid much better and was far, far, more secure.

Anyway, as I mentioned in part 1 last week, Jim and I became good friends...and on word of his

death via facebook, I began to really realize how many crazy ass "Road Trips" we did together, usually in cohorts with one of two others...sometimes Jim would just head out himself...it was a crazy run.  In part one I mentioned the beer run for Coors to Kansas, and posted a link of our

Florida June 1975 trip to my old home Venice, Disney World, Bush Gardens near Tampa, and Daytona Beach....that trip came to a end as we headed out of Florida towards Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.....

We had my little green Ford Econoline Van, 1960 or 61...Hell they all looked alike....it had a bed, two seats, and we left for Florida with it loaded down with 25 cases of beer that I

engineered from the Red Door, two dirt bikes, my Kawasaki 250 on/off road and Mike Schilling's 175 off road bike...after the final days in Florida at Daytona Beach, where I rode my bike on the sands{Schilling couldn't, his was not street legal and the local cops told him so}of Daytona Beach..we were about broke.  We had enough to afford a few more cases of beer, and gas to get home...so we headed north.  South Carolina was our destination...8 days in Florida's heat were enough, and with Jim in the back with the bikes and beer, Schilling driving, and me sun tanned and fried in the passenger seat we crossed the state line into Georgia...not five minutes in, Mike says.."Shit, a cop is behind us, with lights flashing"...over we pulled. 

The young Georgia State Trooper walked up to the van and asked how we were doing....I took one look in the back with probably a case or more of empty beer cans rolling around Olson in the back, and figured "We are screwed".  Turns out he tells us he is looking for two black guys with white women{girlfriends?} that just robbed a bank or convenience store or some such thing...and says to us "Guess you're not them"? He told us they were driving a van much like mine...and I retort..."We sure the Hell aren't Black, and thankfully we don't have any women that swing that way"...he sort of grinned and says..."Have a nice day guys, and enjoy your trip out of Georgia".  That was as much hint as we needed....one more night at the beach in Myrtle Beach, and we headed back to Ohio....

{It appears that this is going to take 4 or maybe 5 parts over the next few days and week(s)...the more I type about those days and Jim Olson, the more stories I remember}

We got back to Celina, and my days would be short at the Red Door, frankly I was sick of bartending and having to fight assholes almost every week...I was no bad ass, and although I could and did fight if I had to...doesn't mean I liked it...although on a few occasions, I and some of the regulars did enjoy a round or two, especially with the Hoosiers who would cross the state line just to see if they could raise a little Hell.....so I went from full time to part time, then off to college down in Athens. Ohio.  

Meanwhile Jim was about spent at the radio life, and had decided to also head back to college...he waited for word from University of Dayton for the fall of 1975, and while he waited and while I waited to see what was in my future, Jim Olson moved in with Patricia and me at 303 North Brandon in Celina, and we did a little coon hunting with Blueticks and drank a lot of beer for a few months....Olson eventually moved back to North Dakota and I headed for

Hocking Technical College, and lived in the College Inn at Athens, Ohio,  with the old Celina gang, which included Pearson, Nick, Clint Thompson, and a few others....we had a pretty good run until 1977.  Meanwhile Olson would leave radio, not go to U of Dayton, return to North Dakota, and follow different pursuits.

He would however, visit the Celina gang in Athens in 1976 and bring along some Everclear on the trip....we would still make other road trips in the late 70s and early 80s, before he disappeared for nearly 2 decades....those stories are still to be told, in the next few chapters.

back later>>>>

Photos-Me and Grandson Kasyn, along with Patricia, Great Grandma Houseworth and others got some quality time together today....Jim Olson in 2000 as he looked for the  first time we had seen each other in almost 2 decades.  Our Camping Gig and my Old Econline Van in the Summer of 1975 on our Florida Trip,  Mike Schilling {who would later become a Celina City Cop for 20 years} and Olson at Disney World, June 1975...The Green Van in all it's glory, my 1974 Kawasaki 250 on/off road bike...I had bigger bikes and faster bikes, but no Motorcycle ever provided me more fun...and me and Jim on our "Reunion" of sorts at the Reds game at old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati...more on that and other stories still to come....

Catching Up, Kokomo, Jim Olson, Weather, etc....

Crazy Spring it has been....here it is June 3rd...and I just walked over and turned the freaking heat back on....June 3rd!!!!!  Damn strange...and the Weather Channel, with it's backing from the Obama Hacks at NBC and their Billions of bucks in equipment, still can't get the forecast right more than a day or so out....

Looks like cool and somewhat wet over the next week or so...cool I can handle, wet, with the beginning of the Summer Baseball season, not so much.  Actually tonight was my first
scheduled game, at Convoy, for the Crestview Knights Summer ACME opener...but that won't happen, the Knights won the Regional and will be playing for the State of Ohio Division 4 title this week in Columbus.  Two other teams I umpired this Spring will also make an appearance...Defiance in D2 and their north town city brethren, Defiance Tinora, will join Crestview and 2 other teams in D4.

Back from Kokomo.....

I headed out early Thursday the 85 mile backroad trip west to Howard County, for my first ever "Firebase Kokomo" mini Reunion.  I have been at the last three Kokomo Reunions in September, but this was my first spring fling.  Much smaller, about 30% of the crowd as the massive reunion in the early fall...but a fun time, with Tom McCandless none-the-less.  I

arrived just after Noon on Thursday and stayed for 48 hours before heading back to Celina on Saturday....

We did get some rain, and the temperatures that were supposed to be hot, never got near 80 degrees..the rain was mostly overnight, with some intermittent showers during the day on Friday and early Saturday.   The usual crowd that I have met and partied with over the last few years were there, just in less numbers....come September, we will have our full numbers, and I look forward to that, although I don't look forward to the end of Summer....it has barely been warm at all thus far this spring.

Patricia is down in Centerville this day, sitting with Grandson Kasyn...I was invited, but since he will be here tomorrow with us, I decided to do some "catch up" work...on this blog, and getting ready for the painting that needs done on the garage...something I have been putting off...I won't however paint when it's this damp and cold.  I also need to finish the work that I started last week , looking at the adventures I had with my departed friend Jim Olson, who passed away in early May in North Dakota...I only found out about it last week, and am still in shock.  Given Jim's life style for many

years, and am not shocked that he passed at 61, but I was shocked that he did so, just a day or so after I last talked with him about our plans to re-create our Minnesota Boundary Waters trip of 1978...that was scheduled for mid July...whether Nick and I will do that now, is up in the air.

For now I will grab another cup of coffee....go through some old slides of Olson, Nick, and Me, and others that lived those crazy times that began in the mid 1970s....and see what my old mind can recollect....

back later>>>>

Photos-The Large Flag waving above the "Healing Garden" at the Howard County Camp near Kokomo...my old buddy Tom and me on my first night, Thursday, at the H C V V Club House....feeling no pain at all....and Grandson Kasyn at the "Spray Station" last week, when Patricia and I were sitting with him....a bit warmer on this day last week.