The Weekend...Where Did It Go?

Although I often mention my age, and sometimes complain about getting older, I still sometimes am amazed how much one can spend doing in a realitivly short time span...the last few days, and next few weeks, it appears, will be as busy as it gets for this old timer.

Thursday____

In the rain I headed for St. Henry and officiated in a 3 man crew for a Junior High Football double header between league rivals Parkway and St. Henry....it rained off and on during the contests, and as I headed for home I realized the old bones were going to need a hot bath.   Now as a person who takes showers two or three times a day during the Summer months, I had not taken a sit down soaking bath in about a decade.  Patricia added some magic soap to the water and I relaxed for about a half hour soaking with a cold beer by the tub.  Wet fields and weather are not good on the knees, back, butt, and legs for sure.  Afterward I grabbed another beer and sat down and watched the Packers/Saints shoot-out, won by Green Bay in a high scoring close one.
 
Friday_____

Mowed our lawn, then about 5:30 I packed up my varsity gear and headed for Parkway High School, where I would fill in as Head Linesman in a game between the same two schools at Rockford. Parkway would host St. Henry in a Midwest Athletic Conference game....

By this time the rain was gone and the weather, albeit somewhat humid, was fine for football....St Henry took down the Panthers and won their opening MAC game by a 42-19 count.  

I sometimes wonder what the Hell I'm doing officiating football at this age...then I checked out the combined ages of the crew I was filling in on....281 years old!!!!  And that's with a 27 year old line judge, who was also filling in....73, 62, 62, and 57 were the rest of us....time for some new blood in the Ohio Football Officials world.  But when you have a few clueless jerkoffs coaching who blame their own failings on officials and umpires, you get what you get.  Young guys, for the most part, just don't want to put up with the BS...and I don't blame them.  I couldn't have done it at 25 or even 30, and don't fault the young guys for not putting up with it.  at the pay scale, it's not for the money, so unless you love the game, and some don't mind some conflicts, why would you officiate?  I just happen to love the games and the workouts, and don't mind some good old fashion heat...especially from guys who were not even hatched when I got started, playing, coaching, and umpiring/officiating.  Sometimes you just kick back and laugh.....don't get me wrong, there are some good people coaching, and like officiating there are some stinkers, neither side has a contract for greatness. signed and sealed.

Saturday_____

Still sore and more than a little tired, I headed for Convoy, to work the Junior Varsity contest between host Crestview and Wayne Trace, two old rivals....Wayne Trace won a 2+ hour marathon and I was headed back to Celina...where I would grab a bite to eat, a shower, and then head to New Knoxville, where I would work the plate in two-6 inning games with the area youth fall baseball league.  These kids are in Junior High and Freshman High School....I worked the plate for about 4 1/2 hours, and headed home for a few beers.

The fall baseball thing came up when an umpire canceled, and they called me...I had put away the gear for the season, but told them I could help out...so Saturday 3 games, one football and two baseball...now they are asking me to help out a few more weeks..??  Glutton for punishment, just call me.

So the glutton I am looked forward to Sunday.....

Patricia, Anissa, and I, with sister Marty and mom following us. headed for Centerville....a dozen or more women would have a baby shower for Hal's wife Lisa, and the guys, 9 of us would head for Springboro and golf 18 holes....our four hour golf outing ended up being over 5 1/2 and we sat out a rain/lightning delay as we got called off the course on the green of the 9th hole.  I should have stayed in the clubhouse and watched football, as my back nine was a shoddy 63....after shooting a 53 on the front.  Now mind you I had not touched a club until Hal and my outing in July, in over 8 years....so yep, I stink...but did hit a few good shots.

By the time Patricia and I dropped Anissa off at her place, it was 10pm....and I was wondering where the Hell had the last 72 hours or so gone?

Games in Celina tonight and tomorrow.....a MRSI Board meeting at 11:30 today, and the Kokomo Howard County Vietnam Veterans encampment coming up on Wednesday....it's going to be another busy week.

back later>>>>


Photos-Golf is not my game, here I am from earlier this summer the first time playing since the turn of the century or so...but even then it was better than I fared on the water filled course yesterday....The 72 hour period from Thursday afternoon until last night was filled with 5 football games officiated, 2 baseball games umpired and 18 holes of fun but bad golf by me.....color me bushed.  The final photo is youngest son Hal teeing off in July.  Although rough around the greens and close iron play, he can hammer the ball 325-350 yards, sometimes straight....and that can make up for some bad play near the greens....but he's not in his Grandpa Callies league just yet.

September 11th~Ten Years After

The stalled low pressure area continues to play havoc with our weather....the cool, wet, and unpleasant conditions prevail....but I have to admit, it's better than the near 100 with high humidity to match that we endured late last week and into the Labor Day weekend.  They call for things to improve, but so far, I'm not buying it.  It has that late October early November feel to it.  It will not be pleasant tonight at St Henry working a Junior High double header, but as before, still better than triple digits.

9/11 approaching 10 years....

The conditions are in stark contrast to that day nearly 10 years ago, September 11, 2001, when the world changed.  On that day, both here in western Ohio and the east coast of the United States, dawned almost cloudless, with 70 and 80 degree temperatures under those bright blue skies.  

Where were you on 9/11/01?  

When I first got word of  the massacre in New York, I was sitting at my desk at the Van Wert County Health Department.   I had the early days of Glenn Beck's national radio show on in the background on WOWO Radio.  We only had the Internet at work for maybe 2 or 3 years at the time, and I was working on inspection reports, when I looked at the computer screen, which was on it's Yahoo Page...I noticed an Aerial shot of the World Trade Center and saw a fire and gaping whole in the side of one of the towers...about that time WOWO broke in with a bulletin.  I don't remember what the reports said exactly, but it was something like "A small plane has crashed into the World Trade Center in New York".  Within the hour we would know it wasn't a small plane at all, but the first of multiple terrorist flown hijacked passenger jets to make the world as we knew it stand still.


In those days I didn't blog or still know much about the Internet, but I did keep a written diary...for some reason that day I didn't write anything, but did make note the next day, Wednesday September 12th....stating simply :                    


                                      "Arab Terrorists Bomb World Trade Center with Hijacked Planes...
                                         Pentagon hit as well...KAOS!"


Naive and simple to be sure...by Thursday the 13th I would pen "Looks like upwards of 20,000 dead--Rescue efforts continue...Still not sure what our response is going to be-----"


By the end of the week we all knew the death toll, while horrific, was not going to approach the 20 thousand mark, or even the 5,000 that I was writing about in my daily diary on the following Monday September 17th....the days and weeks ahead would bring the war in Iraq, and bombing in Afghanistan....it would also bring our "Americans Unite" mode to an end.

We as a country and both left and right "united" for but a few short months...after that the left and the press changed course, and nutjobs like Ron Paul on the right and the usual suspect on the left, decided it was time to take up for Islam and blame America, American Policy, and Conservative Americans for the attacks.  And the hate between the left and right continues to this day.  No longer is America united as it was for a few weeks after 9/11/01.  We are at each others throats...you can lay the blame squarely on the main stream press and Democrat politicians like our current asshole-in-chief, and his lap dogs Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and NBC News, among many.


Yes, 10 years after the attack on America, we are still fighting wars against terrorism and radical Islam...but the greatest threat to the American Republic is the American Left and the American Press.  They continue to claim that the attacks were an "inside job" and that 90% of Muslims want to live in peace....I say Bullshit!  You might want to reverse that 90%...I've yet to meet even a handful of the worshipers of Allah that will condemn the 9/11 attacks.  And I've never met a left wing nut that will condemn them either...they are either too PC, to batshit crazy, or just plain Chicken Shit to say what they really believe, or to simply tell the truth.

Those are my thoughts and remembrances of 9/11/01.....the war against radical Islamics continues, the war between right and left is going full throttle as well.

back later>>>>

Photos-I saved two complete newspapers of that day....the September 11, 2001, local paper, The Celina Daily Standard, and the USA Today from the next morning September 12, 2001.   The 3rd page headline "Unite" was a fools gold wish, it didn't last.






















                                   
 

Gloomy September Weather...

The Heat of Early Labor Day Weekend has turned into the Cool, and Damp, of the post Holiday Week....

Again today, temperatures struggling to make it out of the 50s, with a drizzle of rain, after some heavy overnight showers, throughout the day....

No game tonight, and this will be my last free day until I head for the Vietnam Veterans/Howard County Reunion in outside Kokomo, Indiana, next week.....

back later>>>>

Photos-The Heat of last week has ended, and turned cooler than normal...highs will not get out of the 70s for the foreseeable future...

Pear Canning and Sci Fi Classics....

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, what a difference a short time can make in weather conditions, especially in Ohio and the upper Midwest....Friday and Saturday were brutally hot and dangerous, and by Sunday evening, and since, I'm almost tempted to turn on the furnace....but have held off on that for now.

Pear Canning____

 Friday after, in the heat and humidity, Patricia and I headed to a friends backyard orchard to pick pears....the fruit was falling off the trees at an alarming rate, and we needed to get those remaining off the limbs and in our baskets, in order to save them for canning...and we did, or at least I should say, my wife did.  She did most of the picking, while I held ladders.  It turns out she spent much of her final Holiday Weekend before November, working in the kitchen, peeling, cooking, and canning.  I admit to being no help except to toss out the skins and cores into the backyard compost pile.   By yesterday afternoon, she had canned 58 pints of Pears and another dozen quarts of Pear Preserves a massive 70 pints of goodness in all....I am set, Pear wise, for the next year or so.....I'm sure she wants no part of looking at anymore canning items until sometime next Summer.

It has been a strange year for gardens, and canning....the wet and cold spring, combined with the brutal hot July, has made for smaller numbers and size in some items, such as my Sunflowers, green beans, etc, and later harvest of sweet corn, and pears....it has been a wild year...and our personal harvest, still not complete(at least at Nick's place), but nearing the end.

Sci Fi Classics on Turner____

This morning I have been cruising the Internet, and catching some of my favorite 1950 Science Fiction Movies on Turner Movie Classic TV....right now they are in the middle of a great triple header, which takes me back to my childhood days.

"The Thing from Another World", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" and "Them" are running now, with the campy schlock classic "Attack of the 50 foot Women" to come later in the day....great stuff.

The Thing has always been my personal favorite, while The Beast from 1953 is the first movie I remember seeing as a child.  We lived for a short while in mom's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, and I recall seeing this movie in 1953 or so at a local Drive-In Theater back then.  I remember most vivid the Beast picking up a local cop by the head, as the hapless officer kicked and screamed...I'm not sure how if affected me back then, but I have always found that scene amusing in the nearly 60 years since it's release, I was but 4 when I first saw it, but I still remember that particular scene like it was just a week ago.

The Week Ahead____

The remainder of the week will be busy with football officiating, and then next week, the Kokomo/Howard County Vietnam Veterans reunion kicks off some 90 miles west of here in Indiana...I plan on hooking up with my VSPA buddies, Tom and Sam again this year, and hopefully spending a bit more time, at least 48 to 60 hours there...maybe more.  The weather ahead looks "promising" at this point, and that is always a plus.

 back later>>>>

Photos-Patricia spent most of the Labor Day Weekend, "Laboring" over a hot stove, Canning Pear and Pear Preserves for the next year.....and some of the greatest Sci Fi Classics are running today on Turner Movie Classics..."The Thing", The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", and "Them" are three of my personal favorites./

Labor Day Weekend, the Hot and Cold of It...

After reaching near triple digits on Friday and Saturday, for record highs in West Central Ohio, the cool down began yesterday, and today it is in full swing, with temperatures, predicted for the mid 60s, but as of 3pm unlikely to make it out of the upper 50s....it is 58 as I type.

Friday was brutal...after she was done at school, Patricia and I headed to some friends house north of Celina and spent a couple of hours picking pears...and working up a sweat.  She has spent most of the weekend canning pears and pear preserves for the winter...more on that with tomorrow's blog.

On Saturday morning, by the time I headed for the stadium, the air was hardly moving...so despite a 10am start...the conditions were not good for football.  As it turned out, we got the Freshman game between Celina and O-G out of the way, although a couple of kids had heat exhaustion and were dismissed to the shady areas of Celina Stadium...we finished the 22-16 Ottawa win before Noon, and we were glad it was done. 

Meanwhile Sam was working the Ohio State vs Akron game...but was doing video directing and managed to stay out of the on field heat, as he worked the press box in the Buckeye 42-0 season opening win.  During the early part of that game, I saw the head Referee go down with heat exhaustion and never come back in...the conditions were indeed brutal.  The places that didn't get rain were steamy, while many locations in the Midwest, like the Notre Dame and Michigan games were either delayed or stopped/ended by heavy rain storms and strong lightning.

Saturday night some storms came through our area, and with it the cooler weather arrived....and both the rain and downturn in temperatures was welcome....

Our old buddy Tom is staying at Nick's place, after work at the horse farm in Deshler slowed....so Tom will take some time off before heading to Florida later this fall.  Yesterday Tom and I headed over to Nick's, downed a few beers and grilled fresh sweet corn picked from Nick's garden....I'm not a great sweet corn fan, but this is the way I like it when I do partake...Tom meanwhile downed at least 10 ears....can't imagine what that would do to my system, especially washing it down with multiple beers.

So Tom will be around for awhile hanging out on the south side of Grand Lake....

After we were done grilling the corn and picking melons, etc in the garden, I called Patricia to pick me up.  After months of getting up and taking Sunrise photos at Windy Point, this time I had the camera and talked her into driving down Windy Point Road, where I could get some Sunsets photos from the same area....the cool breeze parted the clouds just enough for some decent Sunset photos looking west across the lake.

This promises to be a busy football week....

Tomorrow I have a youth league game here in Celina, Thursday a Junior High Double header at St Henry, then Friday I will be filling in for a MAC Varsity game as St Henry travels to Parkway.  Frankly though, I am not sure even what position I will be working, although my guess is it will be one of the "wing" positions on the sidelines.  On Saturday I head for Convoy Crestview for a JV game at 10am.  Sunday Patricia and I head to Centerville....the women will be having a baby shower for Hal's wife Lisa, while the guys, 8 or so friends of Hal's and men from both families will be golfing...I should be the worst of those participating...but what the Hell?  I'll give it another shot...since I played fairly well back in July.

That's the Holiday weekend and a look ahead in a nutshell....

back later>>>>

Photos-A couple of "Sunset" photos from Windy Point on Grand Lake...a change of pace from my usual morning shots....and Tom downing probably his 10th ear of sweet corn out of Nick's garden, and when done there Left to Right, Tom, Nick, and PRH, enjoy a couple of Great Lake Brews...

Welcome to my Heat Wave.....

When I awoke at 5am or so it was still at 75 degrees and it was not going to drop, as west central Ohio heads for 98 today....breaking any records for this late in the year....tomorrow won't be much better.  Not going to be a good night for Varsity Football either, especially teams that have many players going both ways, on both offense and defense.  Probably going to be a night where the subs get some playing time at many schools.  Tomorrow morning, I luck out, our Freshman game at Celina begins at 10am, so we should be done before the real skin cooker weather begins.  Meanwhile Sam is working the Ohio State/Akron game, and even on the natural field, it's gonna be hot in Columbus by the time that one ends....98 today, 96 tomorrow, and then storms and cooler for the end of the Holiday week ahead, including Labor Day, which they say will barley reach about 70....that's more like it

This morning I was up early again, not sure if it's the Zocor, or just one of those nights that I couldn't stay asleep...but I took the opportunity to go on another early rise photo shoot.   With the haze it did not appear that I would get anything worthwhile while trying to get the sun coming up over the lighthouse at the intersection of 127 and Lakeshore Drive in Celina.   So after a few photos and a walk, I decided to just head towards Montezuma and Windy Point and enjoy the morning, before the heat got to be too much.

As I turned on 219 towards the point, I looked and the Sun was coming up a huge orange ball..."Damn" I think to myself, a wasted opportunity, as I could have taken a few shots of the lighthouse with the sun in the background....as it was I continued towards Windy Point, where I got some decent photos, but most I have seen before, I missed the opportunity to get what I wanted, The lighthouse in the rising sun...maybe next week sometime.

Despite the heat on tap for today, I have a few things I need to get done....the back yard needs mowed, that will take just 15 minutes, the rest of the yard is good to go for the weekend.  The van, which I am back driving since the Nitro is fixed(we hope), needs an oil change...heading for Wolfe's Tire for than at 11am....and then a wash and vaccum for the Montana.  Hope to lift some weights and do the treadmill....then kick back in the A/C and relax.

No big plans coming up for the Labor Day weekend, but remainder of the month and October, I do have a full plate on the table....

back later>>>>

Photos-A couple more Sunrise shots from Windy Point on Grand Lake this morning...I had hoped to get the sun coming up over the Lighthouse in Celina, but misjudged the effect of the haze, and missed out on that opportunity....and Norman Rockwell salute to Amateur Football is almost as old as me...from the Cover of the Saturday Evening Post on October 21, 1950....celebrating the "Kickoff" of a the three major football draws coming together this week...High School, College, and the NFL....

Summer Reruns...

It looks as if we will have at least a few more days of Summer...not normal summer weather, but the Florida like hot and humid stuff....lower to mid 90s for the next couple of days, with things getting better as the weekend progresses....that will make things a bit uncomfortable for football players and officials alike.

Speaking of uncomfortable/uncontrolled football...check out this story from Sarasota, Florida:

http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/story/Youth-football-referee-attacked-on-camera-in/No2et0n5CE6tQdbqGJInsQ.cspx

I grew up about 20 miles south of Sarasota, in Venice, and never did like that county seat, it appears it has only gotten worse in the past 50 years...the offenders appear to be the usual suspects....out of shape coaches/fathers, and uncontrolled punks playing....why the Hell any official would officiate that level in those circumstances is beyond me.

As for me, I have been challenged, but so far never had a punch thrown at me, let alone being assaulted...although there have been a few cases where I was forced to be vigilant.  Nothing like the above mess however.

The heat and humidity were already on the rise by the time I walked out to give the birds and backyard squirrels their allotment of feed for the day...the bees had already started their days work on the Sunflowers, as the summer winds down, but not before a few more very warm days...

back later>>>>

Photos-My backyard Sunflowers are attacked by the backyard bees, as Summer winds down.

And so it begins....Zocor joins the family

After yesterday's bright, breezy, and cool morning ....this morning dawned with a spot of rain on the streets.  It's humid, but cool, under dark leaden skies.  No need for a photo shoot this morning, plus I was too damn tired to get up before 8 anyway.  A longer than usual football rules meeting in Van Wert last night, and after the meeting Garry and I downed a couple of long necks from the Sam Adams Autumn Selection I had stashed away...we made a pretty good dent in that.

No football, mowing, or much else going on today...I'll get some weight lifting in, and maybe a half hour or 40 minutes on the treadmill, but other than that, not a lot on the agenda.

The Zocor Arrives____

I was in no hurry for the mail yesterday, I knew that the latest in a short list of prescription meds would arrive in the mail...and arrive they did.  The Zocor generic Cholesterol medicine that Doc had prescribed last week was in the box when I checked mail about 4pm.  I knew that there was no way I was starting to take it last night, I wanted a few beers after the football meeting, and wasn't going to start it off that way....so today, this evening to be exact, would be the start of this new arrival.

So this morning I took my usual,...Lisinop/HCTZ for the Blood Pressure, the Terbinafine-Hydrochloride tables for the toe nails and Dermatitis, and a low dose of Aspirin for the heart...meanwhile the Zocor will wait until this evening, they say it works best at night, because your body produces more of the "Bad Cholesterol" while you are sleeping.  So I'll begin this, not happy about it, but I will give it a try....and hopefully will not imagine or wish on any possible side effects...because if real side effects do occur, you can bet I will dump this prescription in a New York Minute.  At 62 1/2 and feeling pretty damn good for my age, and much better than I was 30 years, or even 4 years ago....I will not become a slave to any medicine, regardless of what may occur if I stop taking it....meanwhile I will continue to workout, weight train, and officiate/umpire like I have been for years.  This new distraction, for better or worse, is unwelcome, but we will see how it shakes out...and I will let this blog know.

Football this week at Waynesfield, that is a Junior High game tomorrow afternoon, then on Saturday, a Freshman contest here in Celina between the Bulldogs and Ottawa-Glandorf....with no Varsity game to fill in for on Friday, I may take in the Celina/O-G game Friday night....The Titans are one of the league favorites(along with Kenton), and should be a heavy favorite, but Celina has improved over the past couple of years, so maybe it will be a good game.

Waiting for the rain to end....back later>>>>

Photos-My Moderate Collection of Daily Meds grows   :{

But I will continue my workout program, and see how it shakes out...and finally 3 more photos from my morning Grand Lake photo shoot yesterday....(1) Me looking east towards St. Marys and the rising Sun, a lone loon(and aren't most loons lonely?) swims off the western rocks of Windy Point, as the Sun rises at 7:05 in the morning over the eastern end of Grand Lake.

Another Grand, Grand Lake Morning

Woke up about 6:15 this morning, Patricia was already out at the fitness center working out....getting up at 4:45 in the morning, she then heads for an hour workout before heading off to teach at St. Henry...gotta give her credit.  I work out, but morning has never been my workout time.  I tried it for awhile about 20 years ago, at the old Lake Front Racquet Club, but quickly figured out, that was not my time of the day to pump iron, or hit the treadmill.  The fact is, since I got into a regular workout routine, some 35 years ago...most of my workouts, whether running, walking, or weight training, were at night.  I remember when I was a student at Wright State University-Lake Campus, I was making ends meet by bartending at "Fats Stag Bar" in downtown Celina.   I would close up the place at 10 at night, and head out towards home on Brandon Avenue(only 3 doors from where we live now), and then run/jog around the Fairgrounds for 3 miles, before settling in front of our small black and white TV, and downing a few Mountain Dews....that's been 35 years ago, but those images are still strong in my mind.

Regardless, I am not a morning workout person....and these days, most of my weight lifting and treadmill work are done in the early afternoon hours....yesterday the weights got done, but the treadmill was replaced by mowing mom's yard...a good 45 minutes walking behind the Toro.

This morning, as I said, I did manage to get up....Patricia was pulling into the drive from her workout as I was pulling out of the garage, in her Nitro.  The Dodge got the factory replacement module put in yesterday, and seems to be driving without the worry of the alarm system going haywire...but Patricia is still a little apprehensive about driving it to school, so she is using the van and I get the Nitro for at least this week.

With camera and coffee in hand, I headed out to the lake for the first morning photo session in over a month....the morning was crisp, cool(about 52 degrees), with a breeze, and clear as a bell.   The sun would rise almost an hour later(about 7:05) than in my early July photo shoots, and it would also rise some 40 degrees to the east, rather that the northeast rise that was the norm earlier in the summer.  The southeast breeze brought thoughts of the coming autumn in my mind, until I looked at the extended forecast...93 for a high Thursday, with 92 on Friday.  It's gonna be hot for football this week!

The photo shoot session started out about 6:40 on West Bank Road, where I got some of the shots you see today, including the silhouette of me in the early morning dim.  I then climbed back into the 4WD and drove the 3 miles south to Windy Point, to catch the actual sunrise.

Windy Point is where I spent many hours during my high school days.  We would fish for panfish, mainly Crappies and Perch, from those 3/4 miles of stone and rocks as they jet out into Grand Lake.  We also swam at the beach, drank beer, and partook in a few more activities, whether they be in daylight or darkness.  These days, even in the summer, Windy Point is usually deserted, except for the waterfowl, and other birds that hang around...nary a soul as I arrived at 7am, some five minutes before the actual sunrise would occur.

Regardless of how many times I sit or walk Windy Point, it always takes me back to those high school days, when I first began to drive....me and the Jones boys spent a lot of our off hours at Windy Point, both in the Summer and the school year.  Later on, I would take our first two Airedales, Rag and Max, out there for a swim....life seems now more complicated than it did in those days, but I am guessing it's not, hindsight always looks better from afar, and our memories are softened by time.

No games tonight, nothing until Thursday on the field, but will head to Van Wert for another rules meeting tonight.

Made our motel reservation for the October VSPA Reunion at Fairborn/Dayton yesterday, but only set aside a room for that first Wednesday....we will take in most of the activities, but not sure how many days we will stay overnight at the actual meeting place, the I-675 Holiday Inn in Fairborn, still time to add a day or two later.

Will finish up this blog post, then decide what the rest of the day will bring, until Garry and I head to Van Wert about 6:15 tonight...back later>>>>

Photos{as always, double click for large view}-Some 20 minutes before Sunrise, I silhouetted myself looking out towards Safety Island a couple miles out into Grand Lake.  The Dodge Nitro complete with new electronic module, made in Mexico like the faulty one I am sure, sits in the morning sun at Windy Point.  The 7:05 sunrise looking out from Windy Point....looking south I head back to the parking lot, after walking most of the way out to the point....and a long dead log lays among the stones, rocks, and rip-rap, as a lone Mallard Duck swims away, thinking I was to close for comfort.  

 

Footballs were flying over the Weekend/Hurricane Irene Fizzles

High School and lower levels of football got off to it's regular season start over the past weekend....Varsity action took place on Friday and Saturday nights, and the lower levels got started over the weekend as well.

After Celina had been defeated at Versailles by a 31-28 score Friday night, in a game which saw the winning 40 yard field connected on the last play of the game, Sam and I joined Pastor Jim and Elida Ben to work the Celina/Versailles Junior Varsity game at Celina Stadium Saturday morning.   Versailles came out on top 36-8...it was good to get out on the field and actually do a meaningful game.  On Sunday Sam and I worked a 2-man crew in the beginning of the Cross Roads Youth Football League....with Celina's Green team taking on Monroe, Indiana...the local team came out on top in both the JV game 20-12, and the Varsity(5th-6th grades) 20-0...a good workout on a pleasant day....highs in the upper 70s with a good breeze.

Meanwhile locally, the Governors Cup Boat Races, after being canceled by the Blue-Green Alga scare last year, were back on Grand Lake this summer...I missed them, but from all accounts they were a success.

Hurricane Irene goes Bust!

You could almost see the disappointment in the eyes of the Weather Channel folks as they tried to make a mountain out of a mole hill.....Jim Cantore standing on the streets of New York, with very little wind, and just a drop or two of rain.  Hurricane Irene had done em' wrong.  Sure it may have flooded some streets, eroded some beaches, did in the Boardwalk at Atlantic City, and sadly a few unprepared people lost their lives....but the big blow that was going to destroy the NYC Subway System failed.  The only dangerous blows were to the egos of the News Media, which had over hyped this storm from the get-go, and the Federal Government Bureaucrats, thus destroying the chance for two Major League Assholes, name Barack Obama, and New York Mayor Bloomberg, to gain political traction from the event.  

For a look at the over coverage, and over hype check out these links:

http://drudgereport.com/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/29/federal-family-learns-lesson-about-disaster-politics/

The devil is in the details, and these left wing clowns and their lamp dog media supporters will do anything to score political points for them.....even the Brits know a lie when they see one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8728567/Perfect-Storm-of-Hype-US-politicians-the-media-and-the-Hurricane-Irene-apocalypse-that-never-was.html

Photos-Football Kicked off on the High School and lower levels this weekend, the scrimmages done, and the games turned "real"...."Irene" turned to Bust despite the media and Obammy hoping it would turn into something bigger....meanwhile the sunshine and pleasant later summer weather brought out the backyard "Moon" Flowers in bigger numbers.

back later>>>

Just another Friday...

Spent much of yesterday researching Zocor, the Cholesterol lowering drug that I am supposed to start taking in the next week or so....then it was off to my final Football Scrimmage of the pre-season, I mistakenly thought it was a regular season game....but a scrimmage it was, regardless, we got about 2 hours of work in, and I headed home and cracked open a couple of cold ones....

I had e-mailed my buddy Andy, from Cleveland, who lives in the Louisville area these days.  I hired Andy back in 1981 to work the afternoon shift at WCSM back in our radio DJ days, and 30 years later we are still close friends, although we don't see each other as often as we would like....Andy, his wife Amy, and their two boys were at Hal and Lisa's reception in February, so we did get a chance for a long visit then.  Andy, after his radio days headed back to college and eventually worked for Pfizer, and knows as much as anybody about the pluses and minuses of prescription drugs....so I figured I would ask him about Zocor.  I returned his call as I sat on the back steps downing a beer.  Turns out he is on the same Zocor dose that my doc is prescribing for me.   With a history of heart attacks in his family, he has been on Zocor for about 4 years, after using Lipitor for the previous two.  He said it was a "clean" drug, and that the side effects, while serious in a few, were easy to spot when occurring.  He had no problems and recommended I go ahead and start the drug, and if I had problems I would know it pretty quick, as unlikely as they are.

Those views gave me some confidence to go ahead and start, however, I am certainly not in favor of medications that have possible side effects...so will keep a close watch for any problems.  My younger cousin Gary, the son of my late first cousin Gary Sr...said he has been on it as well, and has had no problems either...this got me wondering "Just how many freaking people are being medicated in this country"?

My friend Rick tells me that at least 25% of the population is being prescribed a statin, which is what Zocor is...as I told him, I will start the dosage when it comes, but I am not convinced that I want to be on anything long term....now with the BP meds, long term, and the anti fungal for the toe nails, short term, comes this....we will see how it goes.

Sam will be home tonight, and tomorrow we work a JV game, Versailles at Celina, to kick off our regular season...Varsity action begins tonight....I will fill in as needed, I am not interested in doing many varsity games either in football or basketball...those sports, unlike baseball, I would rather do lower levels, and use them for a good workout, and because I like the activity.  Baseball on the other hand, is MY sport, and the one I know the best....therefore I will continue to work almost strickly Varsity High School, and lower College levels for the foreseeable future, as long as my body and health hold out.

The last weekend before the unofficial end of Summer, Labor Day, is upon us.....the heat will soon wane, and before long Fall will begin to change the leaves...an my back yard flowers, shown here, will fade and fall with the leaves....Enjoy your weekend.

back later>>>>

Photos-The Moon Flowers, which are now blooming in droves, and the rest, including the towering 16 foot high Sunflowers in our backyard will soon began to wilt and fade away as Summer slowly but surely moves into fall in the next weeks.