Waiting on Kasyn....part 1

After the rain moved out yesterday, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees from the afternoon high of 60, by nightfall...it was  cool and windy, with a spit or two of snow as I drove back from Van Wert, where I attended another local rules meeting for Basketball officials...just five days away from my first scrimmage of the season on November 15th.  The long regular{lasting until late February} begins over Thanksgiving Weekend.

Waitin' On Kasyn____

Our youngest son Hal and his wife Lisa are expecting our first Grandchild this month...Kasyn Timothy is his name, and like his dad, it appears he will be a big one....3 weeks away from the due date, Kasyn is already 7 pounds 12 oz...meaning if he went full term, he will weigh about 9 pounds at birth!!  The parents-to-be were back at the doctors yesterday to make sure all was well....in addition to being in the high percentile for size, they told the couple that the boy has a big head and waist...I don't know about the waist part, but if any of you know the Houseworth men...we all have pretty good sized melons on top of our shoulders.  None of us can fit a "normal" size ball cap on our heads.  In addition to having a heavy head, Hal himself is hardly on the small size...about 6' 4" and some 250 pounds...so my guess is, there is a good chance that young Kasyn will be a big baby, size wise, and eventually a pretty good size adult.  After all, even though I'm average height at 5' 11'(or I used to, I may have shrunk an inch or so}, the boys, both Hal and Kasyn's "Uncle Sam" are pretty big guys...Lisa's dad and brothers, are more like me...average height and weights, so anything is possible, but for now, I predict our first Grandson to be a "biggie".

Anyway, Lisa is ready for child #1 to be here....and Hal and some of his Celina and College Buds posted videos on facebook, all in fun, to encourage Kasyn to "Hurry Up"...here is future father Hal: {click on links below}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXpm1NvJQE 

At least 5 more friends have posted as well including Stu "rapping" Kasyn to come out:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaKok5suF6k&feature=feedu

You can find more, just type in "Kasyn Hurry Up" on you tube and quite a few videos should pop up....

So we are all ready for the grandson to be here....I'm sure Lisa more than anybody...her first child is going to be a big boy...and it appears by all signs he is ready to join us before Thanksgiving....

back later>>>> 

Photos-{top} Hal and Lisa, when Kasyn was about 5 months along, in late July at his cousins wedding in Wisconsin....and me and Hal, back in 1986, when Hal was 2, and I was a lot younger, sitting on the Suzuki MC, when living on the farm on the banks of the Coldwater Creek.

Mixed Bag Election/Mixed Bag Weather....

The Election is over, and the results are a mixed bag, especially here in Ohio.

As predicted Issue 2 failed, or the public unions/teachers unions won, keeping their rights to bankrupt and blackmail the populace of the Buckeye State....it may not matter in the long run,  the law is being reworded and reworked and those unions will still have to play by the rules....the taxpayers in this over taxed, dying state will win in the end.  Liberal Freeloaders be Damned!  Issue 2 was poorly written, and with NO meaning YES, I'm sure many were confused.....either way, it's not as bad as it could be.

Meanwhile Issue 3, the vote to abolish Obama Care passed with flying colors....2 of 3 voters in Ohio told The Kenyan Marxist to shove his Health Care up his largest orifice...and we are not talking Moo~Shell's big butt.  The US Supreme Court will have the final say, but Ohio is on record...."No Obama Mandated Health Scare Here".

Locally in Celina, the Democrat Auditor who butchered the books and "found" and extra $1 Million after the City Council used scare tactics to get an extra 1/2% income tax increase, was shown the door...she was defeated easily by her Republican challenger.  However, the voters rejected a roll back of the tax???? What the Hell were they thinking?   And the City Council, who has guided us into this train wreck will remain the same....not a lot of difference in the lone challenger and the 3 incumbents, so we will continue down this track....for now!

Walking Weather____

Yesterday was just about perfect for an early to mid November day...I don't think it reached 70, but mid to upper 60s with a southern breeze was pretty nice.  I got out and did my 45 minute walk over to and around the County Fairgrounds....snapping some photos and taking in the stench of the large dairy farm on the southwest side of the city.  That was the lone fly in the ointment...cleaning those barns and depositing the dung is necessary, but when it happens, and the breeze is from the south and southwest, the smell takes away for the outdoor delights.

I had the windows open throughout the house, but had to light the fragrant candles to get rid of the Cow Pie Oder.  By late afternoon, Reagan the aging Airedale, and I went to the back yard, I took some photographs of the flowers and Ivy, as they make one last colorful stand... then I poured a couple of Dark Abby Ale brews, and lite a Cigar...that pretty much ended my day...damn, retirement is pretty nice.  No money, no problem!
 
Today began with rain, another dousing came overnight and appears to be letting up as I type.  Cooler weather is on the horizon for the rest of the week.

Tonight I head to Van Wert for another basketball rules meeting....other than that, not much on the agenda...except dropping a few pounds.  I've gained about 10 back of the 30 I lost over the past 2 years...I know why, despite the increased workouts, you can't fool Ma Nature and age....some cutting back is on the docket, I've just got to figure what to cut back on...that is the hardest part.   Beer?  Not a chance....

back later>>

Photos-From the Backyard and Fairgrounds.....A late season Honey Bee takes pollen off the backyard Marigolds yesterday afternoon, meanwhile on the back of the garage, the climbing Ivy has turned a bright burnt Red.  On my daily walk at the Fairgrounds, these are the views of November...most of the large maple and other trees have shed their leaves, but some of the smaller young healthy ones are holding on as long as they can.

Election Day and Dartball "Kick Off"

"WOW"~That is about the best way to describe this Election Day weather in Western Ohio....no excuse not to get out and vote, unless of course you have nothing to vote on but a~holes and jerkwads.  The high today may reach 70 under most sunny to partly sunny skies.   Frankly even though there is rain to our west and northwest, the temperatures, while scheduled to drop, will not be cold...things look normal to above for the foreseeable future, at least looking out 10 days.

Election Day 2012_____

Locally we have city council, mayor, and others to vote on who it appears more than willing to tax and spend us into oblivion, all for their own ego and glory....I won't say who I voted for, only because, I had to hold my nose when casting my ballots this morning.  On our one local issue, the city of Celina got a 1/2% tax increase a year or so ago...saying the city was in desperate need, once we suckers passed that approval to increase income taxes from 1% to 1 and 1/2%...lo and behold the City Auditor "discovered" a windfall of over 1 Million bucks.   And soon as that happened, the Fire and other departments already had dreams of spending that money on new equipment.  Others wanted to buy buildings, to be torn down for unneeded and unwanted public parking.  Meanwhile the streets and allies continue to go to Hell.   So thanks to some concerned citizens, the issue to roll back that tax to 1% is on the ballot....do we as a city need that extra 1/2%??  Probably, but the lies coming out of City Hall have made even the most gung-ho city supporters jaundiced to what is going on.

I'm guessing the repeal is going to win, and I'm guessing the City Auditor, a Democrat{now there's a surprise}, is going to be shown the door today by the voters....


Meanwhile to the State level, we have Issues 2 and 3....Issue 2 if it fails, will undo the work that Gov Kasich and the GOP has done to gut the utterly corrupt public teachers union and other public unions power....that power needs to be gutted.  Gawd Damn It...these clowns are using our taxes, especially property taxes, to fund their BS and Obama's BS....the NO votes sadly probably will win, mainly because of an ignorant voting block, and the wording of the ballot...where a NO means YES....go figure?

Issue 3 a yes vote will confirm Ohio's hate of Obama Care....not sure if it really means much, but if passed with a YES, it will send a message to our Marxist Kenyan to "Shove It'...and hopefully the US Supreme Court will do the right thing and put Obama Care out of our misery.  The Results Tomorrow!

Dartball Season Begins_____

Most Monday nights between now and mid March, I will be at St Johns or one of the other area churches tossing darts at a board that looks like the one pictured here.   Last night I began my 17th year of tossing underhand darts at the big board, as we traveled north to Mount Tabor Church....our mix of  guys as young as 11, and old farts as old as 93, took two of three games in the series to kick off the season.  Gotta give a thumbs up to Martin Fancke...he turned 93 years young on Sunday, and has been playing in the Wabash Valley Dartball League since it's inception in 1937.  Martin was still batting above .300 in 2009, and although he slipped down into the .260 range last season, he continues to be someone who can collect a hit when we need him.

As for me....I took a one dart out on the first pitch I threw to begin the season, and the proceeded to collect 6 straight hits, including 2 triples and a couple of RBIs....I cooled off somewhat but still finished the night 7 of 12 for a .636 batting average, with 3 RBIs to go with it....next week we kick off the home schedule.  I will be working basketball on some nights and will arrive late, but for the most part, my Mondays will be pretty well taken up with darts and basketball for the next 4 months.

Off to walk...gotta get out and enjoy this Indian Summer weather, for as long as it lasts....

back later>>>>

"Where Are You At 62?" part 2..the basement

 November weather has come in like a lamb....any bets that it doesn't go out that way?



It was pretty much a perfect weekend weather-wise for early November.  Sunshine with afternoon highs reaching the low 60s on Saturday and into the mid 60s yesterday with southerly breezes.  A bit of rain is back today, but temperatures for the next couple of days will remain in the 60s, before cooling off for midweek and the coming weekend.

Today will be busy enough...MRSI Board meeting at Noon, and the opening of Dartball season tonight, as we travel north a few miles north to Mount Tabor to kick off the season.  How about those Bengals?  A team that many were predicting to go 0-16, came back from a 17-7 deficit at Tennessee yesterday and defeated the Titans 24-17,  to move to 6 wins and just 2 loses on the year, and a 5 game winning streak has Cincinnati sitting with the best record in the AFC....things get tougher from here however, as they host Pittsburgh next week, then after Cleveland comes to town, they play at Baltimore and Pittsburgh back to back.  The next four weeks might tell Cinderella's story.

"62" part 2___

Friday I wrote about getting back into weight training on a good scale, after several years of starts and stops, mainly due to back problems, and frankly getting old....

I've been back at it for 5 months, lifting 2 or 3 times per week to go with my daily walks in good weather around town or the Fairgrounds, and if it's lousy outside, I climb on the treadmill for 30 or more minutes.  So far the results have even surprised me.  I'm not back to where I was in my weight training days of yesteryear, but for 62, 63 in a few months, I'm doing alright.  Now the old adage is, that muscle weighs more than fat...must be true, because since I started lifting again full bore, I've gained back about 8 pounds of the 30 I lost over the previous two years...but still fit into the 36 inch waist jeans and khaki pants.  I'd like to drop the 8 or even 12 pounds, but, not by giving up the weight lifting or beer....that's just the way it is going to be.

The Basement___

I do my workouts in the ancient basement....the house, the former First Church of God Parsonage, was built during the winter of 1923, the basement, according to newspapers I found in the cracks and crevices of the dungeon like rooms.  These days in newer and even some older homes, people fix up the basement areas, and make a den like setting...not with ours, it's pretty old, with the cost, and frankly the lack of use as a den it would get, tends me to keep it as it is....spiders and their webs are down there, along with the washer, dryer, my cigars, food storage, clothes, weight center, a TV with cable access, my officiating/umpiring equipment and uniforms, along with many old antiques from Grandma's Scott, Ohio, home...yep the basement is what they were meant for...the furnace sits along side the weight bench in one room, and my old shower, installed by Patricia when we first moved in, sits in the corner under the stair well....that shower, which needs replaced soon, has seen me and the boys, when they were living here, take 99% of our bathing needs....I've used it at least twice per day over the 16+ years...I can think of no more than a handful of times I have used the main bath upstairs.

The basement was a "full" one when the house was constructed some 88 years ago....in 1945 the south end of the house saw a kitchen, dinning room, and utility room, along with extra half bath installed...instead of the full basement continued under that portion, they added a 4 foot deep crawl space adjoining the basement area.  Anyway, that basement portion is where I spend some time each day, winter, and summer...and I like the "dungeon" just the way it is.

Busy day...so I'll be back later>>>>

Photos-The basement isn't finished or like most 88 year old things, isn't pretty, but it gets used daily...weather for weight lifting, food storage, washing, drying of clothes, and my daily showers.  The Bengals, along with Buffalo and San Francisco, are the surprise teams of the first half of the NFL season. Food Storage in the age of Obammy is important...you never know when the Kenyan bastard is going to declare Marshall Law....and when not walking outside, due to inclement weather, this is the view I get from the indoor treadmill....

"Where Are You At 62?" or "Where Will You Be"? part 1

Rained last night, that seems to happen every few days....but the sun, albeit in cool conditions, is back this morning.  The coming weekend looks seasonably cool but sunny, then rain returns for early next week.

"62"

Sixty-Two...not some home run record to be broken, but an age barrier, that I reached last March...frankly, given the family history of the Houseworth men, I am somewhat surprised that I reached that goal...perhaps that is one of the reasons{besides being sick of being a Government paid Bureau-rat} that I retired at 53...or at least semi-retired, in order to do things I really wanted to do.  I managed to travel the US in RVs for more than five years, delivering them to various dealers and locations throughout the country.  I also had gotten back into baseball umpiring before I retired, then I decided to try my hand at football back in 2005, and added basketball a couple of years later.  Retired?  Sure, but I figure I'm busier now than I ever was riding around Mercer and Van Wert Counties, inspecting and ruling on all things Environmental for those two Health Departments over the years.

I also worked in broadcasting for 25 years, the last 20 on a part time basis, after working as a broadcast news hound full time back in the late 1970s.  Yes, I managed to work, without really working at all over the years...sure I tried my hand at factory work early on, then bartending, and of course I've written about my four year Air Force stint as a Security Police guy both stateside and in Vietnam....all-in-all, I've been there, done that, and seldom look back with regrets.  I don't know how long I have left on this earth, but I plan on living them out on my terms...arrogance?  ego?  Perhaps, I've always been a smart ass, who usually says what he believes and thinks...thus sometimes getting me in trouble...when I was 17, even in my 20s, I would be concerned about what people would think of me and my lifestyle...no more.  Other than my wife, and perhaps my kids, that is something I don't concern myself with.

Weight Lifting____

 When I joined the Air Force in 1968, I was a lean{i.e skinny} 5'9" 135 pounds...by the time those four years were over, I was 5' 11" and about 185.  Over the next 25 years I stayed about at that level...finally gravity started to catch up, so I figured if I was to eat and drink like had been doing, I better get back to the gym.  In the 1970s I used to run about 3 miles a night...usually around town and through the Fairgrounds which was close to my Brandon Street home in Celina{just a block from where I live now}...however I had gotten away from that, and along with the back problems{from a couple of motorcycle mishaps}, it put me in a sedentary lifestyle.   Determined to get out of that rut, I decided to take up weight lifting at the ripe old age of 44 and pick my treadmill workouts up as well.   And I did.....over the next 10 years I was workout hound.

However, the extra workouts also increased my appetite for fatty foods, and beer...sure I might have increased my biceps and triceps, but my waist line grew from 34 to 38.  The weight went from 185 to 225... and after retiring from the health department in 2002, along with the RV travel, the weight stayed, the workouts slowed to a crawl.  It became a battle....

Finally in the fall of 2009, with the weight at 214 and the BP up, and the cholesterol and pre-diabetes setting in, I figured it was time to being the workouts anew...sure I was getting a good workout with my officiating, especially during basketball season, but I felt I needed more....after several starts, stops, a couple bouts of back problems, things seem to have come full circle.  The weight lifting is back as part of my life, and in addition to my officiating and umpiring, I walk the fairgrounds or hit the treadmill at least 5 days a week.

 Things are looking up...except the weight, which dropped from 214 to 185...it now is hovering around the 190 mark...and I could lose 10 or 15 if needed.  More on the basement routine on the next installment.

Next...The Basement Workout Routine.....or how I learned to love my dungeon....back later>>>>

Photos-At 62 I've finally gotten back into a weight lifting routine, my ego is not enough to believe I can do what I did at 50, but I'm please with my results over the past couple of months...so far.  My 88 year old basement looks much like it did when the original church parsonage was built in late 1923....and I like it that way.  Food and Ammo storage, furnace, central Air, my shower, antique rooms, TV, junk, washer, dryer, and my "Jake" Bench and Weider Workout Center....no frills, just my personal clutter, which can be moved to suit my needs.  The basement needs to impress nobody....

Earl Brown{1901-1920} of Scott, Ohio, Revisited

Yesterday ended up 65 with a southern breeze and plenty of sunshine mixed with a few high white clouds....today dawned mostly cloudy, temps in the mid to upper 50s with rain arriving from the southwest by nightfall, or earlier...pretty seasonable from here on out for the rest of the week.....

Our friends Rick and his wife Toni dropped by for a few minutes yesterday, after their visit with Rick's mom, who stills lives in Celina at the old homestead, where Rick lived when he and I met, while working at Marsh Supermarket, back in our high school days.  I was on the phone when they arrived and Rick was looking at my large photo of "Earl Brown" hanging on my wall....I was going to retell the story of "Earl" when I got off the phone, but we got into other things...Antique Desks and Snow Blowers, and I forgot about it until after they had left....so the morning, I sent him a link to the blog I did about Earl and the photo, and how I came into it's possession....this retold blog post is from January 1969:  {Click Link Below}

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2009/01/story-of-earl-brown1901-1920.html

Just shows that sometimes, even long after you have passed, there is a chance, weather by accident or by design that someone will dig up information and a story about you....the truth of the Russell Earl Brown photo/portrait is that it was one of the things that awakened me to my own roots, and was a big factor in me getting started on my Genealogy Research of the Houseworth Clan, that research began in 1998, about the time I hung "Earl" on my living room wall.

My Genealogy Research is in blog form itself.....and can be found at this site:

http://israelhouseworth.blogspot.com/

I got my first local basketball rules meeting in at Van Wert last night....that season is just around the corner....back later>>>>

Photos-Earl Brown posed for this photo/portrait with his toy Steam Engine Train at the age of 5 in 1906...and his death certificate from drowning at the Scott Quarry in 1920 at the age of 19.{not the date of birth says 1920 but is wrong, that was his death year, his birth was 1901}

Native American Summer.....got cha!/Political Correctness gone Amuck!

Thought I'd start out today's blog with my first Political Correct headline of November....

Anyway, today is supposed to be somewhat like "Indian Summer"...65 for a high, under sunny skies, light winds and dry conditions...tomorrow will see things cool off and maybe rain in the afternoon, however the weekend ahead looks sunny and pleasant.

I did get up fairly early{for me} this morning, and drove out to the lake to get some sunrise photos...nothing special, but with the clear skies, the fall sunrise was, while not spectacular, pretty decent...some of those photos are included on today's blog with descriptions at the end of same.

The yapping left and the paranoid right______

If you've been reading this blog long, you pretty well know I despise Liberals, especially left wing political types, but for the most part, Liberals in general are not worth my time.  They do have one thing going for them however, that being the ability to stifle free speech from their opponents.  Whether it is calling the right side racists, bigots, homophobes, hate mongers, members of the Nazi Party, etc...they know how to shut much of the other side up....of course with the willing help of the media, it becomes easier to shut down your opponents freedom of speech.  That is unless you are some old horse's ass like me, who really doesn't give a rat's ass what you think or what those to gutless to speak out think.

Witness the latest little gem from the left....and the cowering in the corner from the so-called Right.  A branch of the Virginia GOP sent out a brochure with the likeness of our Kenyan asshole of a President on it...well sort of a likeness.  It was Obammy looking much like a Zombie on the TV show, "The Walking Dead"  complete with skin falling off, and bullet hole, or a ass hole on his forehead, where his brains seeped out long ago.  The left jumped on that like stink on a Monkey.....crying foul {and what could be more "fowl" than the Kenyan and his supporters?}  Saying this was like wishing Obammy dead....well Hell, after all, the clown is already brain dead, as are his supporters, so what's the problem?  Anyway, here is the little fun with Obammy likeness that is causing all the stir:  


Again, what's the big deal?  Unless we want to destroy free speech and expression, like the have in Canada and Europe.

My plans, when done here, are to lift some weights, take my daily walk, a half hour or 40 minutes uptown via the post office and back....then?  Who knows?  I might just sit outback with the dog, and relax in the sun....who says retirement has to be boring?  Tonight I will take in my first local basketball meeting of the year at Van Wert....the scrimmage season for me, is just 13 days away, and I plan on enjoying those 13 days.

back later>>>> 

Photos-A Gull flies over the shoreline of Grand Lake this morning, just as the Sun begins it's ascent about the eastern shore, so 10 miles away...The second photo showing that the usually smooth waters on the west side of the lake, where a bit choppy as the sun was rising.  The offending Obammy portrait...which really isn't at all....and finally from the state park down West Bank Road, the before sunrise travels of various commercial jets left their marks.

And Then Came November....

The days certainly breeze by as you get older....seems like we just turned the calendar to 2011...and here it is, just two months to go, and 2012 will arrive...and if the Mayan Calendar is correct, that will be the end of times.....:).  Despite the world's problems, and with our own Kenyan Idiot ruining the Republic, I hardly think we are seeing the last of times....although I'm thinking that things will get much worse, before they get better.

After the early rain yesterday, things, weather~wise, turned around...some sun, a little wind, and temps rose to near 55...today and tomorrow look to be sunny and in the low to mid 60s, we will take that as November kicks off.

Dartball practice and organizational meeting last night at St. Johns....the season starts next Monday at Mt. Tabor.  It looks like we will have 10 players, with 7 or 8 able to show up on most nights...We will see if we can top the success we had at the end of last season.  After a miserable start, and a bad first half, we made a run at the South Title in the second half, and even though we fell short, we did secure the Runner Up Trophy in the post season Tournament.  The old guys, as old as 92, and the young "kids" seem to be going in different directions.  Some of the older guy's averages were down, but the younger ones, from 12 to 19, are playing better each season...so things are looking up.   Not sure how much Sam will play, perhaps over the holidays break, he will get enough at bats to qualify for the post season.

Not much going on, but I will drive to Van Wert to attend the first of my four required local basketball rules meetings.  Having already done the State of Ohio meeting on line....I should be able to get the local meetings out of the way before Christmas.

That's about it for today....

back later>>>>>>

Photos-The Vines on the Garage are turning a solid purple....Dartball got underway last night with practice, and begins next week for real....and not many Sunflower seeds to pass out to the varmits in the backyard.  Seems the Squirrels, planning on a long winter, have already secured all but a few....the others I put in the garage to dry, and will hand them out come the cold weather in January.

Out with October and Football and in with November, Basketball, and Dartball

More rain rolled through overnight, after a dry weekend, at least in Western Ohio:

Friday I left Celina about 11:45 headed for Columbus to meet up with the rest of the officiating crew...we would head south another 120 miles down US 23 from there.  First off however, I had planned a stop at Flemings Sporting Goods, to look for things to spend money on before the upcoming basketball campaign, for 2011-12.  I needed a new pair of shoes, smaller Sansabelt(without needing a belt) pants, and some other supplies.  Last year I wore belted pants, because I had lost enough weight that the 38 size of the Sansabelts would not stay up.  I wanted to make sure I kept the weight off however, before investing another $50 on a smaller waist size (36).  Since I kept most of it off, I figured time for a new look for the season...and with me planning on doing basketball only for another 3 or 4 seasons, this should be the last I would have to spent on gear for that sport.  Anyway, pants, shirt, permanent shine court shoes, socks, whistle, etc, I managed to get in a package, and it only set me back $150 or so....a few preseason scrimmages and I will have that paid for.

Done at Flemings and I headed to the I-70/I-270 Waffle House on the west side of Columbus, where I grabbed a bite to eat, and waited for the rest of crew to show ...  we headed out in the rental Impala about 3pm for the 2 1/2 hour trip to the Ohio River town of Ironton.  As (bad) luck would have it, they were calling for partly cloudy skies and 45 degrees at game time...someone forgot to tell mother nature however about the front moving across the river from the southeast....by the time we drove within 40 miles of the game site, the rains began...they would last through most of the game, and then a spit or two of snow would begin to fall.


The game conditions, especially early on, were pretty miserable.  {click here to see the crew checking out the field before the game...I'm 4th from left pointing out something on the field}:

http://southernohiosportsphotos.smugmug.com/Football2011/10-28-11-Portsmouth-Ironton/19791857_7PnbvT#1555667205_CHkCTwm-XL-LB

The above link takes you to southernohiosportsphotos.com and you can view photos of the entire game there...photographer Tony Shotsky gets credit for the entire 48 pages of photos.

   A steady rain continued to fall on the ancient stadium field, it was a sea of mud and water.  Although the rain lessened, the field was not going to improve....a muddy mess throughout the Ironton 30-14 win over rival Portsmouth....the win sent the home team on to the playoffs which begin next week.  After grabbing a shower in the excellent locker room, and a bite of snack bar chili dogs, chips, and drinks, we headed out, and back towards the state capitol, listening to the Cards clinch the World Series over Texas in the deciding 7th game....Damn!

We arrived back at the Waffle House at 12:30, and I fired up the Nitro, arriving home, after hitting a hawk, and just missing a buck deer, on the way, at 2:30 Saturday morning....I downed a couple of beers and hit the sack at 4, sleeping in until 10am.  Saturday afternoon, I finished my portion of the football season, working the Youth League Super Bowl double header....I have now packed the football stuff away, and will try to rest up my back, legs, and aging 62 year old body, for a few weeks....my first basketball scrimmage is set for November 15th.


The rest of the weekend was spent, not officiating, but watching football....and cutting down the last of the seasons Sunflowers.

Saturday night, I arrived home just before half time of the Ohio State/Wisconsin game...down 7-3 at the half, The Buckeyes survived 2 late Badger touchdowns, by scoring one of their own with 20 seconds left to pull off the 33-29 upset....a nice touch to a so far dismal {at least in Buckeye terms} season.   Winning over Wisconsin is a plus....despite living there, having a wife from there, and and Annissa born there, I dislike the Wisconsin Badgers with a passion.  A far left wing university, with some of the worst fans in the Big Ten(right down there with Penn State)...not much to like about UW-Madison.

Sunday the Bengals continued their surprising season...knocking off Seattle on the road by a 34-12 score....Cincinnati, who some thought would win zero games this season, the Bengals now sit at 5 wins 2 loses, and are tied with Baltimore, just a half game behind the 6-2 Steelers.

So that was it....out with my football schedule, a rest before basketball.  Dartball practice does begin tonight, with the regular season set for next Monday night....frankly I'm looking forward to the 2 week rest....but not forward to the long winter ahead.

back later>>>>

Photos and links:

Top, the view about 90 minutes before game time....and a shot of my shoes at half time...they would only get worse...  The new permanent shoes I purchased from Flemings for basketball...no need to worry about mud and the outside elements for these.  A view of the Ironton Stadium, on a much nicer day.   Originally "Tank" Stadium, used by the Semi-Professional Ironton Tanks, the stands were built in 1926:

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

The Longest Day!?

I was all set to post the logo of the Texas Rangers on here, congradulating them and their fans on winning the World Series....no such luck!  The hated Cardinals twice came off the mat with 2 outs and one strike away from Texas claiming the crown, to tie the game, before winning it with a walk off home run in the 11th inning.  So tonight will decide it....it has all the feel of the 1975 WS when the Reds blew game 6, losing in extra innings, but still pulled out a hard fought victory in game 7...hopefully Texas can do the same, but regardless, it's been an interesting series.....I will miss game 7 however....

I will be on my way back from Ironton...some 220+ miles south of here.  A final Friday night of regular season football.  If I choose to drive the entire way back(rather than stay at Sam's in Columbus) it will be around 3am when I make Celina...it will indeed be the "Longest Day".   Then after a few hours sleep, I head for Celina Stadium to work the 2 championship games of the Cross County Youth Football League, with the JVs(3rd and 4th grade) beginning at 5:30 followed by the Varsity(5th/6th grades) to follow....

So that's my plan for the weekend....that and resting and maybe drinking a few beers on Sunday...

back Monday with the details....>>>>

Photos-I will be seeing footballs in my sleep after this weekend....and driving the Dodge Nitro rather than the van tonight....with the Deer running wild this time of year, the headlights on the Nitro are at least 10 times stronger than the old van....at least giving me a chance to see any that may jump out on the way home tonight.

Back on Radio(for an hour), Growing Up in Venice, Florida the last chapter(from 2008)

Miserable cold, rain, falling this morning...the leaves are sticking to the walks, yards, and roadways....fortunately it is scheduled to end before nightfall, and tomorrow and the weekend, my final football weekend, looks cool, but dry.  Tomorrow the drive to Ironton, on the Ohio River, will take me to Columbus to meet with the rest of the Varsity crew...then another 2 1/2 hours down US 23 to the river town of Ironton as that school takes on it's rival from Portsmouth...it will be a late night, into the early hours of Saturday.  Saturday Night I finish things up for my football season with a Youth League Championship double header at Celina Stadium....then the welcome rest for a few weeks, before basketball starts.

Back on the Radio_____

I had not been behind a microphone since 2003, when I planted myself behind the sports mic with "Wulfie" and Dave last night at the Celina Moose Lodge, for their weekly sports show.  After being on radio and cable tv from 1978 through the next 25 years, both full time(for five years) and part time for the last 20...it's pretty much like riding a bike, or drinking a beer...once you learn, you don't easily forget.  I wasn't nervous once the show began, and the hour went flying by...we talked officiating, then the upcoming NFL games and predictions of same, and finally discussed Ohio State and High School games this coming weekend.  I even got asked by the boss, if I was interested in doing some play-by-play basketball this season....with my schedule pretty well full on Friday and Saturday nights, I'm not sure I can pull that off...but the off the cuff offer was appreciated.

In addition to the show, I saw my niece Megan, her husband Cory, and his grandpa Grinny Fox, a longtime baseball legend himself out of Rockford, Ohio.  I talked with them for a half hour or so, mostly sports and umpires.   I also sat down with some old friends from our Racquet Club days back in the late 90s and early 2000s...so I stuck around an extra 90 minutes and caught up on old times with friends I have not seen in some cases in nearly a decade.  A good time to say the least.... 


Growing up in Venice, Florida, a final look back_____

In late 1958, around this time of year, November, if I recall,  we moved from the Venice By-Way to the house on the Corner of School Street and Pineland Avenue in the Edgewood Section of Venice....it would be our last home in Florida, and a house that mom kept until the 1980s....before selling our last link to those great days of my childhood in the 1950s and early 60s.


Here are the final segments from my look back, written in 2008:  {Click Links Below}


http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/venice-florida-328-school-street.html


And here is the Epilogue....of a life lived long ago:


http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/growing-in-venice-florida-epilogue.html


So there it is....a life lived 5 decades ago, on the sunny shores of the Gulf of Mexico...no Air Conditioner, 2 TV stations, AM radio, one car, but plenty of dogs, cats, snakes, gators, gopher turtles(tortoises), and other critters, in that life that really doesn't seen that long ago.

back later>>>>

Photos-{top} A sunset at Venice Beach, Florida, taken by me in the waning days of Summer 2000...Back when I started in radio, you need a license to broadcast, and it always helped going to a short term broadcasting school...these days, small market radio really doesn't care about quality...the early days of my broadcasting career were fun, although the moving and the starvation wages were problematical....and me and sister Marty's old cat, sitting on Dad's Chrysler Wagon, in the driveway at 328 School Street, Venice, Florida, around 1960....