February 6, 1977/Obama as Mussolini

Do you have one of those dates that sticks in your mind...forever? I have several, and we are not talking about the usual, Christmas, a certain birthday, etc. One of those days was February 6, 1977...32 years ago today. It was nothing special...just a day I jotted down for no reason.

We were in the middle of a winter, much like this one, a cold, long winter that had finally reached it's halfway point. I piled the Airedales, Rag and Max, into the new Jeep Cherokee, which we had just purchased, and decided to drive around and look at the frozen Grand Lake. Those first two Airedales of ours loved to ride, more than any we have had since....I could take them to the market or anywhere, and they would sit in the bucket seats as soon as I wold exit the car....the 100 pound Max in the driver's seat, and his partner, Rag, would sit in the passenger side until I(or we if Patricia was with me) returned....then they would hop in the back. Those two dogs just loved to travel, and until the kids came along, midway through their lives, they went everywhere with us.

On this day in 1977, the weather dawned clear and cold, and the lake, much like today, was completely frozen over...I had just finished going to school in southeast Ohio, and had transferred back to Wright State Lake Campus...I had time on my hands, at least during the morning hours...I worked at Fat's Stag Bar as a bartender in Celina during the afternoon, and went to classes at WSU-Lake during the evenings....the morning hours were mine and the dogs. Patricia was working at Celina Insurance during the day hours, so I had time to kill.

I yelled at the dogs to jump in the Jeep and off we headed, just to look at the lake, ice, and dream that winter would soon be done....I did the same thing this morning, Reagan our old Airedale didn't go along...she is not a big fan of long drives...so alone I went. Driving from West Bank Road to Windy Point....today(with the exception of the growing population around the lake) felt much like it did 32 years ago..except Rag and Max, our first "kids" are long gone.

A bittersweet memory to be sure, but it's one of those days, the exact date, that I will remember for the rest of my life....Nothing special as days go, just one that is etched in the recesses of my mind.

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Winter is about half way done...6 weeks, 42 days, until March 20th...47 days by the boards...it cannot come soon enough for me....I look forward to baseball as opposed to basketball, a chance to sit on the steps or porch to fire up a Cigar and down a few cold ones..OUTSIDE...don't smoke cigars inside, and beer drinking is not as enjoyable unless you've got some sunshine and 70+ degree temps.

In other musings...I was watching Bill O'Reilly last night, and all of a sudden, they break for "breaking news"...the breaking news was our asshole-in-chief, Barack Barry Obama, talking to his fellow Socialists(Democrats) at tax payer expense, about his so called stimulus package....a $Trillion$ dollar boondoggle which will not only help to bankrupt the country, it will lead us to Socialism or worse yet, Marxism...call me paranoid, call me crazy...but this sonofabitch is killing the country. In only 2 weeks, with the help of Harry Reid and Rubber Face Nancy Pelosi, Obama has put us on the verge of economic collapse. Bank on it happening, on second thought don't "bank" on it...they will soon be owned by our corrupt Government.

Glenn Beck says, this guy is another Benito Mussolini...I say somewhere between Mussolini and Woodrow Wilson...2 popular men who became dictators in their respective countries, Italy and the USA.....

The downfall is happening much sooner than even I could imagine, and I despised this clown before he even became the Presidential front runner...he is evil in a suit.

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back later>>>>>

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Photos-Grand Lake, it's 13,000 acres, still frozen solid this morning. Max(left) and Rag romping in the snow during the March 1979 blizzard in northern Wisconsin. Rag and me at our Brandon Avenue home in 1975...just a block from where the family resides today, and Max as a pup in 1976.

The Weather Breaks

1:18PM

You know when you resort to posting or talking about the weather, you don't have much going on.....but am glad to see the humid 90 degree days gone for the foreseeable future...today 77 sunny and less humid, tomorrow only 58...and then staying in the 60s with a slight chance of rain for the rest of the week.

With the back still acting up, I don't have much going on. Went to Greenville and did my hour or so at the Honda satellite plant, and back, the goal is resting my back on a hard chair until 3:45 or so when I leave to pick up Anissa....one of the deals is when I have the time off I can act as taxi, which doesn't happen often, but I help out when I can.

Last night instead of sleeping like I should have, I stayed up and watched the playoffs and Monday Night Football....the games ended almost at the same time, with the Indians victory over the Yankees finishing up about 10 minutes before the football game.

Baseball has always been my favorite sports, because I grew up playing it every chance I got in southwest Florida, I enjoyed coaching it more, and enjoy the umpire work more than I do football, but both have their place with me.

Now when it comes to pro sports I used to be a big fan, but not so much anymore...baseball you have overpaid under achieving guys that for the most part, move from team to team, hired hands is what they have become....no such thing in 1955, when the guys had to work in the off season and basically played baseball for peanuts and fun....Pro football, well they don't make as much, but those guys are basically freaks of nature...I've spent enough time on the sidelines at pro games, and trust me, you wouldn't want the violence there coming down on you...high speed, big guys, hitting each other at laser light speeds.....if you played High School football, forget it, this isn't the same.

Growing up in Florida I was a Yankee fan(simple, they won, why root for losers?) in baseball with The Mick, Mickey Mantle, my hero, football, the Browns were good, Ohio was my birth state, so why not root for Cleveland?....no Bengals back then. After moving back to Ohio in the 60s I in time became a Reds fan and once George Steinbrunner took over NY, I began to despise the Yanks...loved it when Cincy swept them 4-0 in 1976. As for the Browns, I rooted for them through the 60s.....but when the Bengals moved into the NFL, you had to make a choice, couldn't root for both of them, so I changed my stripes and became a Cincinnati fan in both sports....still am today, but I do not take pro sports to heart....I'd much rather watch the Buckeyes play football, or be out umpiring or officiating a contest myself.

Still I was glad to see Cleveland knock off New York, that way I don't have to listen to the ESPN idiots talk up the Yankees.....the football game between Dallas and Buffalo, don't really care for either team, it was a classic, how Buffalo managed to choke that one is a mystery....must be the Cowboy hold over the Bills(a team they owned in a couple of Super Bowls)...Romo stunk up the joint last night, almost costing one of my fantasy teams a contest...my undefeated Grand Lake Slugs went into last night carrying a 4-0 record, but thanks to Romo as my QB, we were held to a 57 all tie by one of the leagues bottom feeders...but still with a 4-0-1 record, I am the last of the undefeateds and lead my division by one and 1/2 games.

Despite the back, Reagan and I headed outside to kick her basketball around the back yard, hunt for enemy squirrels stealing from the bird feeders(she still hasn't caught one, but is coming closer all the time, despite her advanced age), and discover a big time fungus growth, which has had to come up since Sunday, when the wife mowed the yard(me being out with the bad back and all).

Photos show our outdoor activity for the late morning/early afternoon....with the cooler less humid weather, I may even get out and smoke a cigar tonight......

{Last of the fall flowers....the large fungus, can't be more than 45 hours old, but it does grow...and Reagan wanting me to kick her worn out basketball, guess she doesn't realize that the leg is willing, but the back ain't.}

Airedales I have known

With the passing of Jack Drambuie(see previous post below) I look back on our Airedales since 1974.

Reagan then on the right Duke

1978-below-
Patricia and Rags with pups

Hal and Reagan 1999

Jose @ Farm 1987

Sam/Hal and pups 1985

Right Rag and Max tree a squirrel Dodge City, KS 1980

Rag and Max's Pups 1978

(Right) Anissa checks out Rags 1980





Max as a pup

Rag and me mug for the camera...well Rags was...I was half asleep..

prh

In Between

11:10 PM

One trip to Hershey, PA, down, one to go.....The upcoming RV show is at the Amusement Park in Chocolate City....and traffic was a bear....got the RV dropped off around 12:30 this afternoon then made the 500 mile trip home in about 9 hours. Will do the same tomorrow, drive 120 miles to Nappanee, then head east to Pennsylvania....should be done with this run by Tuesday night.

That will end my RVing until after football season...unless I help out with some Ohio or Indiana runs in a pinch

Other news.....Ohio State with local kid Todd Boeckman(from St Henry where the wife teaches) the new starting QB(Coached against Todd in baseball and also umpired some of his games, he was an all state baseball player, as well as football, and all league basketball)..Ohio State handled Youngstown State, which is more that Michigan could do against App State....anytime Michigan loses is sweet for Ohio State Buckeye fans.

My old Airedale Jack Drambuie(see August 21st post) does not look good....he appears not in pain, but the he has lost interest in most food...and I am afraid his days are numbered...he turned 11 last month, which is about all you can expect for large Oorang Airedales....I will keep an eye on him for the next couple days(after my return) and make any decisions then...always tough.....

OK, that's all....I am gonna sit down, have a beer(or two), get some sleep, and head back to Indiana in the AM...better than son Sam who has a rush job to San Benardino....2500 hundred miles in 3 days....Hey is DOT watching?

photo...House's Jack Drambuie...born August 16, 1996

prh