Green Grass and Hot Spots

Usually we get started mowing around the first week in April in west central Ohio, this year it's getting started a little later. Rain and cold weather throughout March and now into early April has slowed things, in fact I can't recall seeing a farmer tilling the soil so far, and usually the corn planting and other activities have started. With the future forecasts the way they are at this point, things are gonna be a little late.

Yesterday's games, mine at Hicksville, and Sam's at Sherwood Fairview, were both washed out....mine early before I left, Sam's took awhile longer, to his advantage. Hicksville and Sherwood are only about 10 miles apart, the former being farther to the west and close to the Indiana state line. So the AD(Athletic Director) called me about 2pm cancelling that game. Sam called Fairview High School, and they said they would be a go.....Sam arrives at 4 O'Clock, and it promply starts to pour, so his game gets rained out....difference being, if you get there and they cancel you get paid, if they call in advance to cancel, you don't....ADVANTAGE SAM!

Anyway back to the grass....my back yard has finally "greened" up and is about ready to mow....of course this is where Reagan helps fertilize it all winter, and the grass comes in uneven, but quicker....the rest of the yard is a couple more days of rain, some snow, and a day or two of sunshine away....middle of next week is my guess.

Speaking of Reagan, she being the Airedale, who turns the ripe old age of 10 in July, she was slow getting around yesterday morning, I was concerned, and checked her out....the dog has a variety of skin aliments, and her alergeies kicked in and and a nice collection of "Hot Spots"(those nasty open skin problems dog's sometimes get) had appeared, and she was feeling worse for it.

So out to the Vet's this morning, and nice shave of backside parts, a shot of a cortisone steroid, and a bottle of pills, and the check book $70+ lighter and she's on the road to recovery. We have raised or had Airedales for over 3 1/2 decades and I am beginning to believe the medical bills have two fold outpaced the kids....maybe I should have looked into Canine Medical Insurance years ago?

OK, so it's getting up to 73 today, with storms this afternoon, my game at St. Marys, a Western Buckeye League affair with Elida, is in doubt because of the overnight rain, and the approaching storms, so in the meantime, out to the garage to begin my spring sweeping and cleaning of that mess...

more later>>>>>>>>>

Photos-The grass is always greener in the back yard, boy does this need a makeover in the next few weeks. And Reagan's "Hot Spots"...hurts just to look at them, but she is on the mend.

Red Door a Final Look...For Now!

Sam and I got home from Delphos last night about 8 O'Clock...I was sitting down with a beer, resting my back and backside, watching the Reds come from behind to defeat the Brewers(yep, I know I said earlier I didn't watch much MLB anymore, but too tired and too cool out to sit out on the porch, smoke a cigar and listen to it on radio, like I did the previous evening). About 10:15 or so I see a vehicle pull up in our drive way, then the phone rings and a voice on the other end asks.."Is this Pat Houseworth?"...ok, who the Hell is calling this late, and who is sitting in my drive way? Turns out both answers were the same, my old post high school buddy Knap, along with Jack M. Turns out they had one of the "group" photos for me from the Saturday night "Red Door 40th Anniversary Union"...so I sauntered outside in PJs and a sweatshirt and talked with them for about 15 minutes.

Seems the crowd Saturday was even better than I thought....I had figured at least 500 folks and maybe more, since the crowd was coming and going, but as it turns out, management had a total of 1100 paid participants, with others getting in on VIP, sneaking in, etc....now that kind of crowd was what I used to have paid on a Friday and Saturday night during the Celina Lake Festival Days back in 74 and 75.....I hope the owners were pleased with the size and behavior of the pack.....something back in my days would never happen, if you got a thousand young pups and pup-ettes at The Door on any given night, there was going to be a fight or two. Great thing about getting older and more "refined"...can't move fast, so we gave up fighting...why waste the time and energy?

So it turns out, a great crowd, a good time, and some good memories....with the success, hopefully the owners can do this on occasion, like maybe this year's Lake Festival. I think some folks stayed away not knowing what to expect, I believe next time, it would only get bigger and better. Not that folks in their 50s and 60s can do this often, but once in a Blue Moon would be a good thing.

Thanks to Knap and Jack for the photo and the update.

Photos-The Bartending Gang, some had left the building, but this was a good representation from the 1966-1975 era. And me April 1975 and April 2008, don't think I've aged at all....:)

Back later---------------

Baseball/Red Door & Old Time Rock N Roll

Drove the 60 miles each way to Hicksville yesterday and working with Sam(again) we did a varsity game between the Aces and Bryan, with gas jumping another 25 cents a gallon, guess it's good we have a few more games together this season....again tonight back at Delphos. Then more rain and even some snow for Sunday is in the forecast. I'm on my own, depending on rain, Thursday for a GMC league game at Hicksville, Friday a WBL game at St Marys, and Saturday a 2pm double header at Lincolnview(moved back because of SAT or ACT testing)...those games are in real jeopardy, at least looking at the forecast, but will take them one at a time. Sam will have other partners as well in various locations....I think we work together a couple of times next week.

As we sat in the bar at the Red Door Reunion last Saturday night, I had a chance to take in the music they were playing....some of it was from our years at the Door(67 through 75), but some was not exactly from that era or if it was, it was not stuff we were spinning....but I really didn't expect those younger DJs to know exactly what us old farts were rocking to back we could hit the bars all weekend, and be ready for a day shift come Monday morning....all-in-all, they did a great job selecting music, and most was enjoyable....although some of the stuff folks were trying to slow dance to, was pretty far fetched.

Guess I'm going to go back and attach 'labels' to these posts, I started out doing that, but lost interest(or got lazy), and have not been doing it of recent months like I should. Meaning, I have posted videos of my favorite type music, especially from the mid to late 60s and early and mid 70s, but forget what dates they were posted.....Bob Seger, CCR, and the Eagles have always been among my top groups, and individuals...added later on were Jimmy Buffet and Alan Jackson.

I really feel sorry for kids and young adults today...for the most part, the stuff they listen to is either total garbage, racist crap from rappers, or mindless maneusha for political active clowns.....a sad state of affairs. Now don't get me wrong, we had our own share of junk...left wing political dung from the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, "Bubble Gum" from many groups of one hit wonders...but we had good stuff as well, Motown, and southern rock were as good as it gets.

Here are some Videos off YouTube of a few of my favorites......

Seger with "Old Time Rock and Roll"(and video from Risky Business)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6UJZtCz1-c

Lynrd Skynard and "Gimme 3 Steps"-live in concert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GyOgVFDocs

B.T.O. with "Takin Care of Business"(Keith Moon doing the intro)

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

and finally Creedence and "Lookin out my Back Door"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqZhM75aGMg

Enjoy if you please, and then go out and enjoy the day..........

Later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mersman's Last Stand

Driving around yesterday with 5 photos left on the disposal camera from the Saturday Red Door Reunion, I headed over to Mersman to get a couple final shots of the now nearly total destruction. As luck would have it, I stuck the Polaroid out the car window and took a couple of the water tower, which was the last of the building lot to be leveled.

It worked out well, when I returned last evening from Lima Shawnee from the Shawnee 10-0 victory over Delphos St. Johns, the tower was down and is now scrap...the last piece of the 100 year old factory is now rubble, bricks, trash, and solid oak beams are the value items left....items to be sold by the contractors.

Got up to 71 yesterday with sun, the first(and last for awhile) 70 degree day, rain moves in later today and a possible snow and rain mix by the weekend.

Sam and I work together again tonight at Hicksville(yep, real name), where the Aces play perennial power Bryan in a non-league varsity game. The round trip is close to 60 miles, so with the price of fuel, guess it's better to work together on these long runs....tomorrow we are back at Delphos Jefferson, and then Thursday I head back to Hicksville, with a different partner, and a league game with Ayresville....of course the rest of the week is going to require dodging rain, if we can.

More later................

Photos-Mersmans, for the first time in over 100 years, West Livingston Steets can view the neighbors on West Wayne.....and the final photo of the original water tower, the top photos show it is no more.

Red Door Reunion Revisited

It only takes a few days in your life to make you realize, "Hey Pat, your not getting any younger, and never will". Saturday was one such day, and I'm still not fully recovered. After Sam and I had a moved back baseball game in Celina on late Saturday afternoon, I came home and showered, dressed and had to decide to either sit home, drink a couple beers, and watch hated North Carolina lose, or head up town and partake in the Red Door 40th Reunion(written about in several other posts earlier this month).

I had bar tended and managed the Door in it's final productive years, and before my Air Force days I was one of many hundreds(thousands) of young Mercer County folks who called the place our second home. I almost stayed home, but received a few calls making sure I would attend, so about 9:15 I had Sam take me uptown and drop me off....I don't drink and drive, and if I was going to spend an hour or two there, I would have to have a few beers...Sam said to give him a call and he would pick me up, but with only 12 blocks or so to home, I would walk when the time came.

Anyway, 1 or 2 hours turned into 5, and I, along with my old bar tending and life long friends closed the place down. I have to say, nearly 25 former employees showed up, and a group photo was taken, I don't have a copy of those, but hopefully the newspaper will print it or I can get a copy of that motley crew.....The place and the adjoining bar the Club 21 were packed until the old geezers began to slow down and thin out....some of us hung on(so we could be hung over) until the bitter end. At 59, I couldn't do this activity more than once in a Blue Moon, unlike my days of running the joint nearly 35 years ago.

I tried to take 25 or so photos with a Polaroid Disposal....didn't want to take a chance with my digital's...a few came out good, most however are not worth posting, blurred, dark, etc....photography, beer, and shots, don't always mix.....however I have posted a few of the better ones. To those old friends of mine, who I took photos of that aren't posted, trust me....they were not internet quality.

I had a blast through it all, stayed almost sober, walked the 20 minutes home, weaving some of the way no doubt....got home at 3AM, got up Sunday morning at 8:30, crashed hard at 7 last night and back up at 4 this morning. Not sure what this will do to my sleep cycle....but it was worth it.

To those not shown in photos that read these postings, It was good to see you all, and hopefully in another year or two, it can happen again. I gotta believe the owners of the Fuse(former Red Door), had to be pleased with the turn out and behavior of those of us 33 years older and most of us at least 33 pounds heavier. Wink, Knap and his wife Rita, Bobenmeyer, The Boeckmans, Kenny Hole, and the rest...thanks for the memories:

Now for the shots that came out half way decent.....Take note of Rick's classy T-Shirt...heck Ponzie's shirt was of such, even I had to crop that, this being a semi-family site.

PHOTOS-For some strange reason all most all the photos that came out, had Rick Tester's(my old bar tending, 6 AM getting home Red Door cohort) mug in them....so her we go from top to bottom, left to right: Rick and our barmaid and my Class of 67 classmate "Twig" Brown, Rick and the original Iron Horse John Ponzuric, who I swapped coon hunts and hounds with 30 some years ago...still kicking and getting near 70. "Rino" back on the drums after 40 years. Tester and "Big Lou", she was a Red Door mainstay and has lived more lives that your average house cat. Bob and Bonnie Jones, just hours after he got out of the hospital, so he could be there for at least a little while....and finally Me and Tester....I'm older, but Hell, I think I aged better....lol!!

Day after the attack of the worm/Red Door Reunion

Games all around the area were rained out yesterday. The main rain left us about 9AM, but a miserable drizzle, mist, stuck around until after midnight, and then turned to fog, which has lifted as we approach the noon hour....sun has finally broken through, but for how long? Rain is predicted for Monday again.....the mid-day games were cancelled today due to wet fields...so Celina asked Sam and me if we could do a JV double header at 5 this afternoon on the Artificial Infield at Eastview Park.....took the gig, should get done around 9pm, which will still give me time to walk up to the Red Door Reunion.

Amazed how many people have contacted me about whether I was going to show...I had actually though of blowing the thing off, 35 years is a long time, although I still did hang out at "Bumpkins", the later day Red Door, back in the early and mid 80s...I have not been in the building since it closed when I was working inspections at the Mercer County Health Department, in 84 or 85.

The local rag, The Daily Standard,( or as I called it back in my radio days, The Daily Worker/Slander...for a lily white conservative county, we had the farthest left wing newspaper you could find west of the New York Times, some real left leaning ass clowns were in charge of the editorials, and believe me, those SOBs were American haters in the nt degree, it was so bad if you wrapped fish in it, that would improve the smell) put together a nice story on the reunion this past week.

So, I will see how things work out tonight, and if I can still walk after a double header on fake grass....details later.

Meanwhile, Patricia is working on the post worm infected computer, some stuff lost, but for the most part, nothing that can't be replaced, and much of the material that takes forever to load up was saved. Things for me, will take longer, I'm no Edison, or is it Einstein, when it comes to computer savvy.

photos-Topo map of Celina, Ohio, just in case you never knew....and do you recognize this mug? Billy Mumy from "Lost in Space" as a kid and a more recent shot....Billy was/is among the most famous of child actors of the 60s...the only reasons I bring him up, I need to redo my photo files, and am out of "hands ready old photos" and the fact Bill is a 2nd cousin or so....when doing my genealogy work I came across many Mumys' in the family gene pool, and it turns out Bill's grandfather was married to my grandfather's sister, many a Mumy buried in the same cemetery, Blue Creek Township, in Paulding County, Ohio, as my Houseworth line.....his family left Ohio around the turn of the century, last century that is, headed for Kansas, and his dad eventually ended up in southern California.....we claim him, as well as the late Burt Lahr, the Cowardly Lion from Oz, who is on mom's side as 'family', from back east.

The $100 Worm

Guess we got away lucky, at $96.30 for the virus cleaning....the winworm32 or some such crap was what it said.....the files lost can probably be replaced, but recovering all will not happen.

A VSPA buddy works with computers on a full time basis and recommended Panda virus protection....we have Norton, but still have no idea how the Hell this virus came up....I never open any mail, attachments, etc, even if Norton says the chance of infection is even 'small"...just not worth it...live and learn. I will be even more careful about downloading email attachments, photos etc....but as sophisticated as these things are nowadays, that my still be a shot in the dark.

Sam and I both got our games in last night before another round of rain hit....both doing the plate, him at St. Marys 5 vs St. Henry 6, while I was back at Delphos for a game between the 2 hometown rivals, where Delphos Jefferson got a no-hitter from their starter to subdue the city rivals St. Johns Blue Jays 5-0...Jefferson moves to 2-0 on the season, DSJ slips to 0-2.

Tonight's games are in serious doubt, Sam is at Minster and I'm 60 miles north at Ottawa-Glandorf against Miller City.....the Minster field has to be wet and it's not clearing anytime soon I suspect, not sure about the field at Glandorf, but even tomorrows double headers, me, here in Celina, and Sam at Marion Local, do not look good, because the amount of rain was heavy, and the clouds are expected to stick around until tonight, at least.

Guess that will give me a chance to watch Patricia bring the computer back to life, because, let's face it, I am clueless when it comes to the workings.

The Worm/Oconomowoc Explosion

Last night after returning from McGuffey, Ohio, from the varsity baseball contest....I settled in, had a beer and watched the end of the Reds 3 run bottom of the 9th inning victory over Arizona....I jumped on the computer to look at the story of the Oconomowoc gas explosion that destroyed the baptist church in that Wisconsin city. The city where my wife was born and raised, and where we were married 31+ years ago. The city, located some 30 miles west of Milwaukee is in the process of redoing the entire downtown area, streets, gutters, etc. The original downtown is being left behind for the more modern and expensive area out by I-94...and the city leaders were intent on taking care of downtown for the hordes of yuppies and suburbanites that have moved in(i.e. taken over, ruined) the historic lake city.

Yesterday that all took a turn in another direction:

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/17230289.html

Looks like the explosion, which injured 7 and completely destroyed the 100 year old Baptist Church, will put a delay in the renovation....my father-in-law sounded pretty put out by the whole mess.

ANYWAY.........................After I started looking up stories on the explosion, my computer when nuts and began a full blown melt down....the Norton didn't help, and by midnight I hit the sack and let Sam run a few programs....this morning, it was still in full blown mess mode. Seems we have been hacked by the infamous Worm.win32 virus.....what to do?

Take it downtown to American Computer I guess, and go from there.......we could be offline for awhile, with Sam's uninfected laptop as back up.....guess I will have time to get back to some outdoor activity if the back and weather hold out.....in the meantime....be wary of e-mails and attachments you're not sure of....I would tell you what our problem might be, but truthfully, I have no clue.

Back ASPA____________prh

Opening Day...out of the way!

After the rains came, passed, and came back, Opening Day got done yesterday, both for the Cincinnati Reds and the Houseworth umpire guys.

Kalida and Delphos Jefferson moved their varsity game from Kalida to Delphos due to the Kalida field being soaked, Sam and I took the Varsity game.....by the time we arrived in Delphos the radar had cleared, and the winds were whipping out of the southwest at 35-40 Miles Per Hour.

It's been a long cold winter, and cold and wet spring, talked with Coach O'Brien from Kalida before the game...no outdoor field practices or any scrimmage games for them, all because of the weather. Kalida is usually a pretty good program that makes nice tournament runs, but with no scrimmage or practice on their field, they looked rusty...Jefferson(an up and coming program with good pitching) jumped out to a 7-0 lead early, and held on for a 9-4 opening day win. No controversial calls in the works, Sam worked the plate, while I did the bases....the game ended about 7:20pm, and not 10 minutes later the skies opened up and it poured....it rained all night after we returned to Celina.

Sam's game at Fort Recovery is iffy this afternoon, and even though they played at Parkway last night....the rains were heavy enough to put my contest in serious doubt as well....should know by noon or so.

Meanwhile at Cincinnati for the traditional opener with the Diamondbacks, the Reds were delayed an hour, before taking the field.....pitching was king, and the Reds dropped a 4-2 decision to Arizona in the rain delayed contest......they are off today, and resume tomorrow, with the D-Backs.

Baseball is now in full steam ahead mode, and the only thing that will stop it is the WEATHER!

--------------------------------------

photos-Sam(with his, I am a hard ass look) and me in the little bit of sunshine(which soon left us) at Delphos Jefferson.

Opening Day 2008

For many years I would attend the traditional Reds opener in Cincinnati, sometimes sitting in the Press Box, others, drinking beer in the stands at Riverfront. I stopped doing that about a dozen or so years ago, basically I was sick of what has become Major League Baseball...traditions be damned.

The Cincinnati Reds, the oldest professional baseball team used to have the opening day National League game to themselves, with the Washington Senators having the AL game, so the President could toss out the first pitch. MLB in all is wisdom has sent the freaking teams off to Japan, a country that tried to destroy us in WW2 for the first game, and a few years back tossed the Reds over so they no longer even have the regular season opener...that game now is on ESPN on Sunday night. The Reds still get their first game at home with all the pomp and ceremony, but it is no longer the same. MLB is just so much bullshit these days, from steroids, the Yankees, and the corrupt players union.

The Reds open with Arizona this afternoon.....and I won't be watching, either on TV or in the stands....the final insult to true Reds fans was the hiring of the most incompetent manager in many years, Dusty Baker to run the show.....this guy is a cancer to young players, especially young pitchers, I don't believe anybody has ruined as many arms as this guy.

Sam and I also are scheduled to have our opener this afternoon at Delphos, a JV game(one of my few this season) that has Delphos Jefferson against Kalida. The rain has made most fields wet, so with more possible today and tomorrow, the first couple of games are in doubt.

Baseball__________

Growing up in Venice, Florida, we really didn't have a team to root for that was close by, back in the 1950s.....so I grabbed on to the New York Yankees, for obvious reasons, they were the best, and had the most glamorous lineup, including my childhood hero, Mickey Mantle!

I remained a Yankee fan until the family moved back to Ohio in 1963....I eventually gave up the Yanks, when "The Mick" retired and started rooting for the Cincinnati Reds, a team I covered as a broadcaster and followed in the stands as well. I feel bad for the kids today, baseball just isn't the same, MLB is basically a joke, players that have no relation except money with their current teams, and owners that toss hometown heroes over like yesterday's garbage. It's a sad state of affairs...I'd rather take in a college or minor league game any day, rather than waste my money to support Major League Baseball.....of course I'd rather be out on a warm sunny day umpiring a high school or American Legion game than being anywhere near one of the modern day major parks......

OK enough of that rant....baseball starts today for the Reds, maybe for Sam and me(tomorrow he has a varsity game in Fort Recovery and me at Rockford Parkway, Parkway varsity vs Spencerville)as well, but the weather, like it always does, will factor in the early high school season...here is hoping the rains don't happen too often, and the back holds out.....

PLAY BALL! PLAY BALL! PLAY BALL!

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photo-top, left to right---me and the late Reds owner Marge Schott in 1994...always liked Marge, because liberals and the press hated her. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle on a Mick special baseball card from 1962. Brother Mike and me getting ready for the Venice Elks little league season in 1957...he was on the varsity at 11, I was 9 and on the JV team. 1991 me with Reds Manager(now Cubs) sweet Lou Pinella, the winter after he led the Reds to their last World Series Championship. The late great Joe Nuxhall, the youngest player in MLB history at 15, and long time Reds announcer, who passed away this winter, and finally a video clip shot of me interviewing Pete Rose, the season after he broke Ty Cobb's hit record....don't necessarily like Rose as a person, but he sure the Hell should be in the Hall of Fame as a player....if the druggies and steroid freaks get in, this guy should be there as well, and far ahead of the likes of "melon head" Barry Bonds.

Weekend/March Wrap-Up

Since I took the weekend off, think I'll try to get 2 posts in this morning.....

Saturday__________3/29/08

Patricia, Anissa, and I headed the 30 miles to Lima(pronounced Ly' Ma' not Lee' Ma') Saturday afternoon....we were heading for MC Sports to get Anissa a quality treadmill, along with various other problems, Ness tends to walk on the outside of her feet at times, and the "foot doctor" says working a few minutes a day on the treadmill will help with that. Now I've bought treadmills in the past, and used them(although I prefer walking outside when possible), but the $2 or $3 hundred ones just don't last, so we went looking for a quality piece of equipment that would last many years....we ended up purchasing a BLADEZ 7.9 with a 2.5 HP motor, 15 years warranty and a few whistles and bells....rather large in the second living room corner, but it folds up nicely and out of the way when needed.....the old man has not tried it out yet, but I will get around to that this week(especially if it continues to rain).

After leaving MC we headed off to Applebees for a afternoon meal....I had a couple of miller lites and a small steak, the women decided on battered fish. At that time Patricia(now the bread winner, and thus the one that makes the purchasing decisions, which is fine with me, that way I can't get blamed for spending too much), asks if we could go across Elida Road and check out Ashley Furniture, she had a couple of items she wanted me to see....What the heck I say?

Walked in, and a typical Saturday when the weather is nice, a good crowd, plus some folks I knew from Celina, so we looked and BSed, and tried out a few recliners. Now our Lazy Boys are about 12 years old and looking every bit of that...but comfortable. Anyway long story short, after looking at love seats, gliders, and a few recliners, the "just looking" turned into a full blown purchase of a couple of Lazy Boy Recliners that are a little different...that have solid wood frames and will go in the TV area and match up well with the antique desks and built-in wall computer area woodwork. So, needless to say those purchases just about tripled our original goal for cash outlay for Saturday....now the boss(wife) is looking at a couple of other items to go with the new recliners, which we put on lay away till May....with only one in stock we wanted them to come at the same time.

here is a photo of the Monarch Recliner:

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/owlbehome_1972_75624167

It was back home, Patrica with a little help from Sam and me, put up the treadmill, I settled down with another Miller Lite and watched what is perhaps the most boring "Sweet 16" in NCAA Tournament history....the only good game was the Davidson-Kansas game where David(son) barley lost to Goliath(Kansas).

The NCAA Hockey Tournament has been much better on ESPN-U...both the Boston College win over Miami of Ohio, and the North Dakota win over Wisconsin went to Overtime....those two will join a couple of Buck Pennington's favorites, Notre Dame and Michigan in the "Frozen Four".

All in all a pretty good albeit expensive weekend.....

A couple of shots of the new treadmill, hopefully to get plenty of use in the next few years...