Hello Wife....

Hi Honey, Just wanted to take a few minutes and say Thank you for all the years that we have had together, I am, without a doubt, one of the happiest men on earth... Well, at least happier then the president and/or leader of Egypt right now... What with the riots and the police being unable to stop them and now the Army is in the streets with their U.S. Vietnam war era left over M-60 tanks and M113, etc...  Sorry, back to you my beautiful wife... Thank you for always being there and letting me be there for you... I am very Happy you caught me, after I chased after you for so long.  I wonder just how long it will be before your sister returns your calls, too bad she lives so close, yet keeps herself so far away from those who Love her...   I guess being in Law enforcement causes walls, even between sisters...  Thank God none of those walls will ever come between us... 

My thought for the day: Tanks will win the battle but never the war.   (countless hippies)

Half dome at Yosemite National Park California

                                      

            

If or when you ever get a chance to go to Yosemite National Park in California... Please do stop to see the Half dome... it is by far one of the most beautiful sights to see in the park, along with countless sights, rivers, woods to wonder through, etc... and  the best time for the water fails are April to June... But be careful of the bears and try a night at there local hotel....

My thought for the day:  Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but foot prints.  (Unknown)

No post for the last few days....

Hello and Sorry I wasn't able to post anything for the last few days, took a few days off and spend time with my family... Just started thinking about what happen in Arizona and felt the need to spend time with the ones I loved... Saw that our President used the sad issue to have us all come together and heal as a Nation... Wonder which one of his aides came up with that ideal or was it just social pressure...  Regardless, I wonder how the families of those who died and were shot felt about it... Well, I guess its just like the song from the 1980's Dirty laundry said.... kick'em when there up.. kickem when there down....   I wonder who is wrong here... the forth estate or us for needing to see it... Than again it is just my point of view.


My thought for the day:  Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.  (H.L.Mencken).

Arizona funeral for little girl killed by gunman...

Like many right now, I feel very sad by what has happen in Tucson, Arizona... One lone man,( and I use the term man loosely here), with a hand gun turned the lives of so many around, in killing six people and wounding many more... its sad enough that countless T.V. and political persons are using this to bring up gun control and so on and so forth, to their own needs... Even Barbara Boxer jumped on the band wagon, using it for her need to get a few more minutes of camera time... This is all sad enough, But now I have heard that a group of Church folk wanted to picket the little girl's funeral, again for their own needs... I believe this to be the same group that goes to military women and men's funerals and pickets them as well, and once again for their own need... Well, I have a need, I need people to remember that while you have the right in our Great Nation to speak out on your point of view, regardless of what that is... You must also remember to respect the rights of others to have a funeral in peace... I know the reason why these Good Church Folk picket the funerals they do, but I will not gave the reason voice here, it would some how to me, just be wrong... Isn't that odd in this day and age, someone who doesn't do something, not because he can or can't, but just because it would just not be the right thing to do... Then again that is just my point of view... My heart goes out to all of the people dealing with the pain they are going through right now and No parent should ever have to bury their children, this is a pain beyond compare... and to all those who have taken this sad moment and used it to their own ends... I say please stop and leave these people in peace...


 My thought for the day:  If, as the News media, etc... would have us believe... Everyone in Arizona has a gun with them, if this were true... Then why didn't anyone shoot the guy, who was shooting at all those people.... maybe the News media, etc... just didn't get it right... does that mean the forth estate got it wrong ? I wonder what else they may have gotten wrong over the years...

Hitler's car lives.... and John Wayne has it.

Hitler's car is alive and well in the O.C. I went to an Air museum over the Christmas Holiday and along with several planes, such as a B-17, B-25 and a B-26, and an Army Air Corp Transport plane, I believe it was a DC-3... was Hitler's Car, it had been captured by the French at the end of World War Two and then some how found its way to the Museum at the John Wayne Airport... The Duke has Hitlers car on display, along side of a few other military vehicles, motorcycles with side cars, etc... It was in great condition and well displayed... and it was very popular with the guest there as well... although I liked the B-17 a little more and was surprised at just how small they were and how few of them are left, in flying condition. So if you ever find yourself in the O.C.,(California) and your near the John Wayne Airport with some time to kill, stop by the Museum and see some of the planes that won World War Two and a Hitler's car, although I liken looking at Hitler's car to that of driving by an auto accident, you don't really want to look, but you do anyway.

My thought for the day: Those who do not remember there history, are doomed to repeat it.

(I don't remember who wrote that, but well written it was)

Robo dog lives....

More of a personal note today, our little dog got his new set of legs, he had an issue late last year and is now learning to walk all over again, with the help of a doggy wheel chair, for lack of a better word.  It helps him balance his legs as he walks and over all as made him a good deal more mobile...  he is slowly getting use to his new set of wheels, but Loves being able to go back outside and move around like he use to... although corners still present a little bit of an issue and stairs are out of the questions... he is moving and getting better every day.


Thought for the day: Even man's best friend needs a little help one in a while.

Empowerment...

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.

Empowerment, just what does that the word mean, I have seen it used by countless people on T.V., Radio, etc... People trying to get you to believe in and/or buy into their point of view or product, which they are selling on some late night program, and all you have to do is buy their stuff and your life will improve beyond compare. I think the worst use of the term is when people mis-use it to imply anything other then an education, rather you read a book, look something up on line, or go to school, college, etc... a teacher once told me all the secrets of the world are hidden in books, even if that book you read is on line or via a nok. It just seems to me that we are some how trying to hide the part that Education equals Empowerment, and you don't need to buy someones three part plan or attend a special class held at that local Holiday Inn, just to come to terms with fact, that if there is something in your life you wish to change, you have the power within yourself to do it, without spending your money on something of little value to give you the confidence to change.
    Because that's the real empowering word here, it is to change, you have the ability to do it alone, but its like when you go to your friend and ask their opinion on what ever the issue may be, you don't really want their opinion, you really just want them to re-confirm your opinion, thusly make you feel better about the course of auction you have already laid out for yourself... and if your friend does give you their real opinion and it doesn't match yours... well just what kind of friend are they... perhaps the best you may ever have,
someone who believes in you has much as you should believe in yourself.  I am sure that are many out there that my have a different point of view on the word empowerment, and I empower you to have it... just please remember one little thing, sometimes in life the hardest thing to hear is an opinion that is different from yours, nationals have and are still at war, over such opinions... just think of it as a coin, all coins have two sides, and you can not have heads without tales... because if you did, how would we start football games...

My thought for the day: Rather you life gives you heads or tails on the toss, it really just great to be part of the game and regardless of which side you land on, with a little help from your friends, you can make a change... Get it... coins... change...

Toilet paper

When I was single, I would buy a twelve pack of toilet paper and it would last me up to, if not a whole month. Now that I am married with children, it has been brought to my attention that will just not due, between my wife and our daughter, they go through a twelve pack quicker then our son goes through a bag of jelly beans, and that is by no means slow... I understand that there are certain physical differences between the lads and the ladies, and that some of our bathroom needs don't require the use of as much toilet paper as theres does... and I remember all the old jokes about the amount of paper needs between the two sexes... But, dam if they aren't right... between my wife and the daughter, a twelve pack just does make... that might last two weeks at best, but no more... and at let us not forget....  the kind of paper I buy, it must be of certain brand or level of quality, for no other will do... because if you buy a sub standard type of paper, they just use it twice as fast and you than have to go buy more, which I am doing already as it is.  I have now been forced, well that may not be the best word to use, let us go with compelled to buy those twenty four packs of extra thick toilet paper, and if  I am lucky, that might just make it to the end of the month...

This all reminds me of a story of when I was dating a lady, many, many, many years ago... and I had bought some toilet paper at a certain discount store, of which all items within same were only $0.99 cents... anyway, I though it was fine paper, taking in to fact what I was going to be using it for... but she advised me that while she didn't like the color, and her being such a fan of gone with the wind, she really didn't care for the tiny and I do mean tiny bits of wood you could see in the paper, she went on and on about getting a splinter, etc... and my joke of being more than willing to help with removal of any said splinters did not go over well...  anyway, rather it be a woman from my past or my lovely wife, a man point of view regarding toilet paper just doesn't matter.


My thought for the day: You can never have enough toilet paper, its like condoms, when you need it, you need it now, so its better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it.

Kids Menus...

I believe whom ever made the first kids menus must have been a parent, they were not around when I was a kid, at best you would get a place mate to color on, with some of the most used crayons you have ever seen and maybe a small section in the back of the menu, next to the diet meals and Seniors meal section... Now, I can't think of a restaurant that does not have some special little menu with coloring  areas and games, and you always get a new box of crayons to use... gone are the days of children being over looked.  Now, they not only have there own special menus, but they can mix or match the food choices, to their own taste or desire that day. These kids menus are a great thing for the parents as well, it removes the issue of trying to explain to the child why the don't want their meat cooked rare or that smoked fish is not the best choice for them, and I have never seen a salad listed on only kid's menu, just fried and baked, and lots of Carmel dip, for the apple slices... My little guy Loves the apple slices with the Carmel dip... that is of course, after he is finished checking out the bathroom... I guess somethings never change.


My thought for the day:  "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation".     (Oscar Wilde).

T.V. Remotes.... Thank God.

They didn't have T.V. Remotes when I was young... for that matter color T.V. was just starting to make it big when I was a child... In fact, I was the very first remote in our home... I had to stand by the T.V. clicking to each and every channel, until they... being the parents saw something of interest... and God help you if you turned the plastic dial too fast or it would just come off in your hand... and then you had to get out the pliers and clip them onto the inner metal knob and rubber band the handles, so they would stay on and that was how you would change the channel, until they brought a new switch... funny how the weakest part of the knob was the section that went onto the the channel changer... We went through a lot of plastic channel changer knobs at my house... until the remote control came about.  The very first ones only turned the T.V. on and off and changed the channel... volume control didn't come until much later... so you still had to be ready to get off the sofa and lower or raise the volume as needed.
    So now I have three remote controls and each one as a slightly different function then its mate and if you want to watch a DVD you need all three to adjust the channel and then the volume and the last one works the DVD player... when I try to tell the kids how it was back in my day... their little eyes just glaze over as they stick there ear buds back into their ears and look back at there computer or d.s., etc... and then I remember how I use to just listen to my parents, as the told their story of listening to the radio and only seeing the pictures in their minds... and how I couldn't wait until they were done, so I could go back to watching the T.V. I guess somethings never do change, and only as you get older do you come to understand how much nicer it would have been to just turn off the T.V. and really listen to your Father or Mother telling there stories about how things were back when... it would give you so many more memories to remember when they are gone.


My thought for the day:  Family, you don't know what your missing, until its gone...

Single vs. Married life style.... Valentine's Day

I have seen both sides of the track now, and while there are some out there who have had more time on either side than I will ever know... I have come to understand just a few things about one side over the other.... to wit: When I was single and had a date, I just got ready and went out for the evening and spent the evening enjoying what ever with who ever.   But, Now that I am married with children... plans must be made and events made ready for... to wit: When my wife and I went out to celebrate Valentine's day last year... First we had to make sure that we both had the night free and then we had to set up dinner for the kids, so they wouldn't go without food that night.. plus just the getting ready, with a ten year old boy hanging around wanting to know why he couldn't go out to dinner with us, and that he wouldn't get in the way or anything...  you see, our son Loves to go out to eat, he likes to investigate the location and check out the restrooms and go over the menu like a mother cow looking over her new born calf, so he can find just the right food, he likes to eat... by the way... Thank God for kids menus !!!  Anyway, back to my point, after all is made ready and my wife has put on her best dress and I'm in a suit, we still have to get out the door and get past all the good byes and are you sure you don't want me to go with you, etc... its out the door and off to our evening of low lights and a table in the corner... that's right, a real table and not a booth, where once you are seated, a special young man needs to go and check out the restroom.   So you ask your self, what's my point... don't you enjoy having kids and being married... and my answer is yes to both. My point is, now I understand what my mother meant, when she said "some day, when you have kids... you will understand"   Because, you see many years ago, I was that little boy who needed to check out the restrooms and was sure he wouldn't get in the way... when mom and dad went out to dinner....


My thought for the day:  "Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength"   E.Hoffer.

Time is running out....

What is it about time... We never seem to have enough of it, yet there is no real way to contain it, you can't really save it, because if you could, that would mean you would have time left over.... but left over from what !!!    Time... it is present without being felt, it flies by without being seen, it ends without a warning... unless its the last two minutes of a football game... You can quarter it or half it... we have countless machines in our lives to help us save it... (point) there are never enough outlets on most Kitchen counters, for all these time saving items. You lose or gain time, when you fly over the international date line... if I travel from the state of California to Arizona I gain an hour, only to lose it when I return... and all of that just because I go over the Colorado river, and half of the year both states are on the same time... (NOTE) all of my family lives on the Arizona side of the Colorado river, and don't come to California... I am unsure if its because they don't like me or the state... or they just don't know theres a bridge... By the way, I am not insulting any or all of my family members in the Great State of Arizona...  or anyone else that lives there... they past a law last year that lets them carry pistols without a licence... a concealed pistol without a licence... My... How times have changed.


My thought for the day is: Sorry, don't have time to write one today.

When an orange isn't an orange

Hello, This blog will be more of a question than a blog. To wit: why is the fruit the orange, the only fruit named for its color... I mean you have bananas which are yellow in color, but you don't call yellows bananas, unless you are my wife talking about the new color she wants the bathroom to be... My point of view is there are three kinds of yellow... There is light yellow, then yellow, which is followed by dark yellow and regardless of the shade of yellow one might like the bathroom to be... I still say its not a place to be painted yellow at all... how will we tell when our young son misses the toilet again and hits the wall, if it is painted yellow, it will all kind of just run together... now I am not saying he goes to the bathroom like a sprinkler set on high, but at his young age, his aim is not there just yet... but he is trying and getting better day by day....   So I will leave this entry open to comments from the readers... Anyone out there have a different point of view ?

My thought for the day is: No man ever stands taller, then when he is bend down helping his fellow man.

A memory of Yosemite at Christmas time

Has my wife and I took down the Christmas tree decorations today, we came across one from Yosemite National Park, in California. It looked like one of the many we have picked up during our travels, my wife needs only two things from our trips, a Christmas decoration and a magnet, so every day we see little reminders of where we have been and every year, we have a Christmas tree covered with special little memories... But this decoration brought back a little memory my wife remembers in a some what different way, it was when she and her former husband had gone to Yosemite and when they got there at two in the morning, she had to set up the gear at Camp Curry alone, because he was too tired again... Now, let me set the picture here, its two in the morning, so its darker then the bottom of a well and Camp Curry is a tent city area, which have wood frames and canvas sides and tops and are always dusty, spring, summer, and fall... and the only furniture within them are old army cots and blankets, you bring the rest....
    Now, back to the real story, my wife needed to nurse her new born child and still had to deal with another little six year old, which her husband agreed to watch, went to the public wash rooms to set up for the nursing of the new born, etc... but being the person who had just spent the last seven hours keeping the children quite, so her former husband wouldn't get upset and not be disturbed by the children, etc... was only half awake and is now walking through the tents towards the wash room area and slightly hears someone coming up behind her shining a flash light back and forth, and yelling something that which she could not make out... for she was half asleep, had just finish setting up tent alone, and just wanted to clean up and feed her child... anyone wondering why he is now her former husband.  Just before she reached the wash area, a large black dog and her puppy walked right in front of her, so close, she could have reached out and touched them...  after they had passed, she went on to the wash area.
    It was only after she was inside the wash room, that she started thinking about what had just happen to her... and she then realized it hadn't been a big black dog and her puppy, but a large black bear and her cub, out looking for food among the camp site and  the man with flash light, had been a Park Ranger, trying to keep her from running into the bear and her cub.... I guess he had bear duty that night, don't laugh, its a real job.  So to bring this story to an end, I hope you and yours had a Great Holiday together... and I wish one and all a Happy New Year.

My thought for the day: Being married is the best thing that has ever happen to me...  so my wife keeps telling me.

A husband's Point of View on being married and life in General...

Hello, It's the first day of the New Year and I am at home with my Wife and the Daughter and both of them have their little friend visiting... ie: Aunt flow is in town and I'm getting a double dose... But such is the life of a married man with kids... I am not sure this blog will always be about my family, but I am sure that I will most likely write about them from time to time, as I will about my point of view on our daily life together as a blended family... ie: its me against them and I'm not going down without a fight... for saying that, my wife just hit me, I'm not sure if it was because of what I wrote or that aunt flow is here... See what I mean... and you guessed it, she just hit me again. Don't get me wrong, I Love my wife and the kids, but sometimes, I have just the slightest different point of view than them, but I am learning... like having the right kind of bread for a grilled cheese... I know what you are saying guys, bread is bread right... like I said, I'm still just learning.

My thought for the day: Even the dimmest bulb shins bright on the darkest of nights.