Live By The Levee, July 24th, 2010

On July 24th, 2010, what started off as a friendship on Facebook became a highlight in my life when The Skyla Burrell Band performed live on stage at Riverside Park's Amphitheater in Rushville.

A little over a year ago, Skyla and I became friends on Facebook. After finding out that she and her band were going to be performing at the legendary Slippery Noodle in Indianapolis last October, I did some jockeying around with my work schedule and took off work and went to see the band perform.

To say I was rocked on my ass would be an understatement as this foursome absolutely OWNED the Noodle that night. Their four hours on the stage seemed like an hour. All original tunes, dynamic dual lead guitar playing and soulful, sultry voiced Skyla totally rocked the house.

We had been trying to book them for a show at Riverside and after seeing them perform that night, I absolutely became obsessed to seeing them perform on our stage at Riverside. I've been helping put on concerts with the Riverside Park Organizing Committee since 2007, and I believe I was anticipating this show more than any other I had ever helped with.

After their show last night, I can honestly tell you they provided some truly brave folks who faced temps in the 90s and some horribly high humidity some of the best rocking blues I have ever been witness to. It was only a two hour show, but they packed so much high energy and talent into that two hours it was an unforgettable night of blues.

After the show was over and during their teardown and our teardown of the stage, which I mostly took the night off from, they spent a good long while visiting and hanging out with us, making the evening even more memorable.

If you ever get a chance to see this amazing group of musicians perform, do it! They deliver 150% of themselves to their shows and they are totally great people to spend time with. I would call them a total class act, for sure.

They are not only great musicians and great people, but they are wonderful friends and I consider them a part of the "family."

As they got ready to on stage last night, I walked over to wish Skyla a great evening and when she got ready to hug me, I told her I was a pretty sweat mess, to which she replied,"I will be too very shortly. Besides, what's a little sweat amongst family?"

Indeed, what is?

Thanks to Skyla, Mark, EZ and Christine for a night of blues I will never, ever forget!

Prayers Answered

We got the phone call today, much earlier than we had anticipated, and we found out that Peggy's biopsy revealed NO SIGNS OF CANCER!!!!

For those of you who have been asking about her, praying for her and for all of your concern, I thank each and everyone of you.

When things like this happen, you truly learn to see what is most important in your life. I am so very, very blessed to have a wonderful soulmate like I have.

Again, just wanted to share the wonderful news with you all.

And now, life can continue on!

Another Hill Needs Climbing

There are times in our lives when several things of a detrimental nature seem to band together and attack us all at once.

I seem to be going thru a period like that right now.

Sometimes there are things we can handle and discuss. Other times there are things we wish not to discuss.

One thing that is going on with me right now is a deep concern for my wife.

She is the most unselfish person I have ever known, so when I discovered last night that she was having a biopsy done today and hadn't told me so she would save me the worry, I thought to myself how very much like her that is.

I did some talking and explaining at work today, and my boss and a couple of my co workers did some scheduling changes and covered five of my hours today so that I could take Peggy to the doctor to have this procedure done.

After it was over, I'm sure she was glad that I took that time off. She's in a great deal of pain tonight and has slept several hours in the living room, her body trying to recover from what it had to endure today.

Now, the waiting has started. Seven to ten days from now, hopefully we will receive good news and hear that all is benign. That is my hope and that is my prayer.

Right now, everything else that is going on in my life seems trivial. Those other things matter to me, but right now, the center of my life is finding out that Peggy is fine and is going to be fine.

So, I wait, and I worry.

Just like she knew I would.

Changing Plans

Sometimes things never work out quite the way you expected them to, and sometimes, that turns out to be a good thing.

I left for work this morning having every intention of coming home and mowing the yard in this humid mid 90's heat we are having right now. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I do care about my yard and how it looks, so this was my plan.

Got a call from my much better half this morning informing me that the guy from our lawn service came and sprayed and fertilized the yard and left instructions not to mow for at least 24 hours.

So, since I got the reprieve on the hot mowing job tonight, which normally takes between and hour and half and two hours, I decided to make it a special night at home and fire up the grill and cook a couple of steaks. I mean, fifteen minutes cooking on a hot grill in the heat is nothing compared to mowing for the better part of two hours in this heat.

To top it off, Peggy got busy before I got home tonight and made a huge garden salad and some fresh homemade spicy guacamole and some baked potatoes. We topped that off with a couple of margaritas on the rocks and now the evening looms ahead of us.

That hottub that is turned down to 92 degrees is looking pretty inviting right now, so without further adieu, I bid you all a good night.

I'm sure mine will be!

An Item To Share

Most of the time when I get forwards, if I have the time, I read them, if not, I'm sorry to say, I have to delete them because unfortunately I don't have the time to read everything that gets sent my way.

Luckily today, I had a few extra moments and got to read something a friend of mine shared with me, and it moved me so much as I read it, that I decided I needed to share it on here. It came on a day I needed to read something just like this. As luck would have it, there it was for me today.

I do not know who the author of this item is, and I can't really seek out the author's permission to share it, but I have a feeling since it is circulating in e mail, it's not going to be an issue if I publish it here on my blog.

I hope you will take a few moments and give this a read. It's a really moving story.



The Birdies

A DAD' S STORY

On July 22nd I was in route to Washington, DC, for a business trip. It was all so very ordinary, until we landed in Denver for a plane change. As I collected my belongings from the overhead bin, an announcement was made for Mr. Lloyd Glenn to see the United Customer Service Representative immediately.


I thought nothing of it until I reached the door to leave the plane and I heard a gentleman asking every male if he were Mr. Glenn. At this point I knew something was wrong and my heart sunk.


When I got off the plane, a solemn-faced young man came toward me and said, "Mr.Glenn, there is an emergency at your home. I do not know what the emergency is, or who is involved, but I will take you to the phone so you can call the hospital."


My heart was now pounding, but the will to be calm took over. Woodenly, I followed this stranger to the distant telephone where I called the number he gave me for the Mission Hospital. My call was put through to the trauma centre where I learned that my three-year-old son had been trapped underneath the automatic garage door for several minutes and that when my wife had found him he was dead. CPR had been performed by a neighbour, who is a doctor, and the paramedics had continued the treatment as Brian was transported to the hospital.

By the time of my call, Brian was revived and they believed he would live, but they did not know how much damage had been done to his brain, nor to his heart. They explained that the door had completely closed on his little sternum right over his heart. He had been severely crushed. After speaking with the medical staff, my wife sounded worried but not hysterical, and I took comfort in her calmness.


The return flight seemed to last forever, but finally I arrived at the hospital six hours after the garage door had come down. When I walked into the intensive care unit, nothing could have prepared me to see my little son laying so still on a great big bed with tubes and monitors everywhere. He was on a respirator. I glanced at my wife who stood and tried to give me a reassuring smile. It all seemed like a terrible dream. I was filled-in with the details and given a guarded prognosis. Brian was going to live and the preliminary tests indicated that his heart was OK, two miracles in and of themselves - but only time would tell if his brain received any damage.

Throughout the seemingly endless hours, my wife was calm. She felt that Brian would eventually be all right. I hung on to her words and faith like a lifeline. All that night and the next day Brian remained unconscious. It seemed like forever since I had left for my business trip the day before.

Finally at two o'clock that afternoon, our son regained consciousness and sat up uttering the most beautiful words I have ever heard spoken. He said, "Daddy, hold me" and he reached for me with his little arms.


By the next day he was pronounced as having no neurological or physical deficits, and the story of his miraculous survival spread throughout the hospital. You cannot imagine, when we took Brian home, we felt a unique reverence for the life and love of our Heavenly Father that comes to those who brush death so closely.

In the days that followed, there was a special spirit about our home. Our two older children were much closer to their little brother. My wife and I were much closer to each other, and all of us were very close as a whole family. Life took on a less stressful pace. Perspective seemed to be more focused and balance much easier to gain and maintain. We felt deeply blessed. Our gratitude was truly profound.

The story is not over (smile)!

Almost a month later to the day of the accident, Brian awoke from his afternoon nap and said, "Sit down Mommy. I have something to tell you." At this time in his life, Brian usually spoke in small phrases so to say a large sentence surprised my wife. She sat down with him on his bed, and he began his sacred and remarkable story.

"Do you remember when I got stuck under the garage door? Well, it was so heavy and it hurt really bad. I called to you but you couldn't hear me. I started to cry, but then it hurt too bad and then the ' birdies ' came."


"The birdies?" my wife asked puzzled.

"Yes," he replied. "The birdies made a whooshing sound and flew into the garage. They took care of me."

"They did?"

"Yes," he said. "One of the birdies came and got you. She came to tell you "I got stuck under the door." A sweet reverent feeling filled the room. The spirit was so strong and yet lighter than air. My wife realized that a three-year-old had no concept of death and spirits, so he was referring to the beings who came to him from beyond as "birdies" because they were up in the air like birds that fly.

"What did the birdies look like?" she asked.

Brian answered, "They were so beautiful. They were dressed in white, all white. Some of them had green and white. But some of them had on just white."

"Did they say anything?"

"Yes," he answered. "They told me the baby would be all right."

"The baby?" my wife asked confused.

Brian answered. "The baby laying on the garage floor." He went on, "You came out and opened the garage door and ran to the baby. You told the baby to stay and not leave."


My wife nearly collapsed upon hearing this, for she had indeed gone and knelt beside Brian's body and seeing his crushed chest whispered, "Don't leave us Brian, please stay if you can." As she listened to Brian telling her the words she had spoken, she realized that the spirit had left his body and was looking down from above on this little lifeless form. "Then what happened?" she asked.

"We went on a trip," he said, "far, far away." He grew agitated trying to say the things he didn't seem to have the words for. My wife tried to calm and comfort him, and let him know it would be okay. He struggled with wanting to tell something that obviously was very important to him, but finding the words was difficult..

"We flew so fast up in the air. They're so prettyMommy," he added. "And there are lots and lots of birdies." My wife was stunned. Into her mind the sweet comforting spirit enveloped her more soundly, but with an urgency she had never before known. Brian went on to tell her that the "birdies" had told him that he had to come back and tell everyone about the "birdies." He said they brought him back to the house and that a big fire truck and an ambulance were there. A man was bringing the baby out on a white bed and he tried to tell the man that the baby would be okay. The story went on for an hour.

He taught us that "birdies" were always with us, but we don't see them because we look with our eyes and we don't hear them because we listen with our ears. But they are always there, you can only see them in here (he put his hand over his heart). They whisper the things to help us to do what is right because they love us so much. Brian continued, stating, "I have a plan, Mommy. You have a plan. Daddy has a plan. Everyone has a plan. We must all live our plan and keep our promises. The birdies help us to do that cause they love us so much.."

In the weeks that followed, he often came to us and told all, or part of it, again and again. Always the story remained the same. The details were never changed or out of order. A few times he added further bits of information and clarified the message he had already delivered. It never ceased to amaze us how he could tell such detail and speak beyond his ability when he talked about his birdies.


Everywhere he went, he told strangers about the "birdies." Surprisingly, no one ever looked at him strangely when he did this. Rather, they always got a softened look on their face and smiled. Needless to say, we have not been the same ever since that day, and I pray we never will be.

You have just been sent an Angel to watch over you. Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people become friends and stay a while...leaving beautiful footprints on our hearts .. and we are never quite the same because we have made a good friend!!

Not Always Inside

Sometimes true inner strength comes not from inside, but from our outer environment. A comment, a touch, a smile. These items and others of a similar nature are sometimes all we need to trigger than mechanism within ourselves that gives us that adrenaline push we need.

When you feel that need to give someone that needed compliment or advice, that touch on the shoulder or simply a smile in their direction, you may have just given that person what they needed at that time to help them gain that "inner" strength.

NOPE!

One of the things you risk when you have a blog is comments. Some are good, some are not, some are kind, some are not, and sometimes you just have to scratch your head and wonder...

Such is the case recently with one of my Faithful Few, whose identity I do not know, nor do I ever expect to know, mainly because that is their wish.

Recently this one individual has been making some strange comments, almost like they are trying to either pick an argument with me or just simply hurt my feelings. Why they have chosen this path, I have no idea. But, this is their choosing, not mine, and my best response is to try and "guess" why they have taken this stance.

Our local newspaper has recently changed their web design. One of the things they did was remove the "leave a comment" application. Personally, I'm glad they did, because some of the comments that used to be left were an embarrassment and to me, they left a black eye on our community as a whole.

This same person I'm referring to asked me to "promote" myself thru the newspaper website, which I did not do. I don't "advertise" myself, I simply write because I like to write, and this seems to be a good outlet for that purpose. I'm glad for each and everyone of my Faithful Few, but I don't actively go out of my way and try and attract more of them. I'm glad when others do that for me, but I choose for it to be thru them, and not thru me.

Apparently this individual thought enough of my blog go ahead and promote me thru the paper, totally without my knowledge until the info appeared in "Rants, Raves and Random Thoughts." While I found it a bit embarrassing when folks mentioned it to me, I took in stride and thanked the person for giving me some unsolicited PR in a comment on one of my blogs.

Now, I have to wonder, since the local paper has taken the "leave a comment" capability away, does this person feel a need to vent and attack me on my own blogpage that they themselves have tried to promote, simply so they can see their attempt at an argument in print?

I can take criticism, when I feel that criticism is left constructively. But when someone takes the time to belittle people by name and basically try and tear down things that I hold near and dear to me, that, to me, is no longer commenting but intentionally trying to hurt, defame and otherwise and try to create an argument.

Number one, I publish ALL comments I feel are left with good intentions, whether I agree with them or not. However, I will not, in any way, shape or form publish any comment that names someone and tears them apart regarding their weight or their appearance, or if the comment tries and tears down who that person is and/or what they are doing.

I won't engage in a public "pissing contest" with someone who tries and pick an argument with me over any subject, when it appears to me they are simply trying to engage me in an argument so they can see it in print. If they miss reading their arguings with others on the newspaper's website, I don't think I should allow them the opportunity to use my blogpage as another source of "showing off."

That's not why I blog, and it never will be.

I write, I give my opinions, and I try and give folks something to read, to remember and to ponder. If you want to leave me a comment about what I've written, chances are it's going to get printed.

If I read it and you tear it or me down, guess what? DELETE!

I write about a lot of things, and a lot of those things are real people. I absolutely refuse to publish comments that tear this person down, especially when it's someone I know and care about.

Also, if you want to really engage me in conversation, don't hide behind an alias. I'm here, wide open, exposed, and you know who I am. Why don't you show me the same respect and get out from behind your alias, and if you want to get involved in some in depth discussion, hell, I'll meet you in person, have a drink with you and talk to you for hours. I'm open minded and I'm a damned good listener. Also, there is a link on my page to my e mail addy, which you can use as well.

However, I'm not your personal punching bag to use when you've had a bad day, a fight with the spouse or if it's your time of the month to be an asshole.

I've had enough of that in my life, I go out of my way NOT to hurt people or their feelings, and all I have ever asked in return from anyone in my life is to pay me the same courtesy.

I stand by my comments I have made in my blogs. No, they aren't all right, but they are how I feel. They are my perceptions, and I'm allowed to have those perceptions and for those of you I talk to and for those of you who tell me face to face how you feel, whether we have agreed or not, I thank each and everyone of you for doing that.

I don't do a lot political commenting, mainly because I'm not a politician. The few times that I have, yeah, I've heard about it, in both positive and negative ways.

I'm about as middle of the road as you can get when it comes to politics, and I have probably never voted a straight ticket, EVER, except when you have to in the primaries. I live in a very conservative community and I realize most people in my community can't see the middle of the road because they are so far over to the right side. Trust me, you have your side of the road, others have their side of the road, and I like to hang out here in the middle.

So quit trying to tell me that I'm WRONG when I'm NOT!

Quit trying to act like when I write something on my page that it is a personal attack on you.

It's not.

It's just how I feel, and quite honestly, the more you try and tell me how damned wrong I am is just going to reinforce in my mind just how damned RIGHT I am!

Again, if you want to talk, let's talk!

If you want to disagree, that's fine.

But if you expect me to engage in a pissing contest with you simply because you want to just argue, it's not going to happen, especially when you hide behind your alias.

Again, thanks to ALL of my Faithful Few, including that one of you who knows who I'm referring to.

I really do appreciate each and every one of you.

More than you will ever know.

Thanks, and please keep reading!!!

Assuming

So many things in our life that we are met with we don't take the time to research. We simply "assume."

You receive a well intended e-mail informing you that our president is a Muslim, but you never take a moment and research it. You assume it to be true, because, hell, someone e-mailed it to you so it's got to be true.

Since I started on the internet all those many moons ago, I have received one e mail over and over again. It's the one that tells me of a senator from Florida in a certain congressional district that has introduced legislation to start adding a charge on every e mail you send. I received it again last year, and each time I get it I have to laugh. The senator from Florida does NOT exist, never did exist and Florida doesn't even have a congressional district by the number listed in that e mail.

I recently received a notice in my e mail about President Obama CANCELLING the National Day of Prayer. Uh, excuse me, but last I noticed our country did indeed have a national day of prayer. I figure some disgruntled sore loser decided to concoct yet another story about our President and try and discredit him. Get over it, folks, he WON! Get a life and start worrying about who you plan to run in the next election, and please, dear Lord, don't let it be that book burning quitter from Alaska!

I was recently informed that someone I enjoy listening to musically is a cheap rip off. Actually, this individual who I know and who I have listened to on XM's channel BB King's Bluesville was interviewed on internet blues radio and was asked about the comparison between her and someone else. She explains that though there are similarities between them, it's simply just the way she sings and even though she is flattered by the comparison, it's not what she is trying to do. Anyone who listens to the blues regularly understands that there is a "feeling" you convey as you're singing this genre, and that feeling is what you bring out of yourself. If one would listen to ALL of the different songs this person sings, they would realize that only a portion of her songs could even be compared to this other individual. Do I think she is a cheap rip off of someone else? Absolutely not. Do I hear a resemblance in their styles? Of course I do, which is one of the reasons why I enjoy listening to her.

A word of advice is all I'm trying to get across here. Check out before you accuse or "assume" or share info. Research before you speak to soon and don't simply try to discredit because it makes you feel good to do so. When you are dealing with people you are dealing with someone's life and someone's feelings and it isn't your place to try and discredit or hurt someone with your words.

Before you pass on info you receive in e-mails, take the time to check out the info. A great places to do this is www.snopes.com

Thanks for reading.

Cee Cee James, Red House

Check out this video from this totally blazing gal from Washington state. So awesome, such a great voice and such a great individual. Remind you of anyone?

Indianapolis 500 2010 - Mike Conway final lap crash

This accident, if you haven't seen it, happening between turns three and four on the last lap of this year's Indy 500. I was sitting in turn three and just happened to see it when Conway's car hit the fence. Amazingly he escaped with only a broken leg.

Waiting

Waiting on my ride to go see the Indy Racing League's premier event, the Indianapolis 500. Hoping it's over in time to head back home and watch the majority of the Nascar Spring Cup Coca Cola 600 from Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte.

It has been 40 years since I last attended an Indy 500 and I'm really looking forward to seeing it live. I am NOT looking forward to the crowd, the unruly drunks and the near 90 degree temps sitting in the hot sun in turn 3, but hey, that is the price you sometimes have to pay.

Here's hoping for a safe and very competitive race!

Oh, and yeah, maybe a cold beer or two!

Two and A Half

Sometimes the voices from the past begin speaking again.

It's always good to know they still can!

Forever

Will you meet me on this side of Forever
Or shall we rendevous just south of Destiny?
Sometimes the things we want
Are the things that aren't meant to be,
Regardless how badly we both want them.
The physical part of me stands here,
In this world,
While another part of me continues
To hang out
Waiting,
Wishing,
Hoping
Yet never being fulfilled.

Just this side of Forever...

Never Enough Time

Sometimes life needs to slow down a bit. Other than the couple or three five mile walks I take each week, I haven't had a lot of time to myself lately.

Work responsibilities, the possibility of clerks being cut in our office(yes, I could be as well,) the alpaca farm work and my responsibilites with the concert series, I do have a bit of time tomorrow, although it will be hectic.

For the first time in 40 years, I get to go to the Indy 500, thanks to my brother in law Jerry who gave me two tickets. Jerry is in Atlanta and couldn't make it, but thanks to his generosity, my friend John and I are heading to the 500.

I do believe I'll be receiving a visit from Coors Light and if all works out and the traffic permits, John and I should be back here tomorrow evening with most of the Coca Cola 600 to watch on TV.

Apologies to my Faithful Few for not having written anything lately, but with all that's been going on, this part of my life has been shoved onto a back burner.

Hope to do better in the future.

Thanks for hanging in there.

Shearing Day, April 19th, 2010

Our annual alpaca shearing day was today at my sis's farm down in Franklin County. A total of 25 head were shorn today, and unbelievably in a relatively short amount of time.

In years past, this dreaded day has been spread out over two days and the past three years has become a nearly twelve hour event. Last year 21 head shorn in 11 hours and 40 minutes. Today, we sheared 25 in three hours.

This year we hired a crew of four young men who really know their way around the world of alpacas. Not only did the 25 get a much needed haircut, but toenails got trimmed, teeth got shortened and fighting teeth were removed.

The stress time on the animals was amazingly short this year, and we can only hope that this will now set a precedent for many, many years to come.

Remembering Summer Heat, Part Nine

After the fiasco at the Lincoln Center for Franklin College, we returned to our home turf, namely the Rush County Fairgrounds Community Building, and we continued with what we were most comfortable with, which was playing to our hometown fans. Although most of those next hometown shows proved to be fun but uneventful, we had a chance to return to Greensburg and play for the High School once again.

This time, the dance was without a theme, a different crowd seemed to be in attendance that night, and for some reason a large number of boring and show off types seemed to be there. Our buddy Val was nowhere to be seen this time around, which came as a forewarning to me that this was NOT going to be the same type of show we had played last time here.

I can't remember the reason why, but Jim was not going to be able to play this show. We decided that Bill would be a great fit, since he came to most of our hometown dances and pretty much knew our repetoire. Bill filling in for Jim would work out just fine and we were sure he would have no problem drumming to our music. This proved totally right and more than once that evening I recall Jay telling Bill how much BETTER a drummer he was than Jim.

I was without my fake long hair this particular night, even though I had showed up at Mike's with it on. A vote was taken by 3 fathers that I should leave the hair at home and not show up with it on that night. Ah, what the hell, at least we were going to be going back to where the crowd really loved us last time.

From the get go when we started setting up, we had a small group of "locals" who seemed intent on making us feel uncomfortable. Not a single one of these guys made an attempt to even ask if they could help us carry any of our equipment in. They stood back, watched us, made snide remarks quietly that they all laughed loudly at while we brought in our equipment and set it up.

Flip had left Rushville by this time, so we knew we would be minus our plate smasher that night, but we had no idea how lucky he was that he wouldn't be there for what lie ahead of us for the next three hours or so.

We actually started playing before a large crowd got there, more as a sound check for us than an actual start, but once we got to playing those first couple of songs, things just seemed to fall into place and we entertained the small group of students that had decided to forego going to the game.

Little by little the crowd started getting bigger, but it wasn't as large a crowd as the first time we had played there. The first time we had played there it was to an after basketball game crowd, and if memory serves me correctly, this time it was an after football game crowd. What difference that might have possibly made is beyond me, but it did indeed make a difference on this particular night.

We hadn't even gotten thru our first set when the first requests of the evening started coming in. Requests for top 40 tunes, bubble-gum music, and the dreaded request for something by the Cowsills.

People we yelling at us to play something off current radio, and I'm not talking rock radio, I'm talking off of AM rock stations, which mostly consisted of boring music that we simply didn't play.

We took our first break and a couple of the "locals" who had been there while we were setting up asked us if we knew any GOOD music, and could we stop playing that hard rock crap we were playing. It felt like someone was pouring acid on top of our heads, and no, not the LSD kind, either.

During break, Denny and I started trying to figure out just what the hell was going on with the crowd tonight. How could a crowd that had been so into our thing a few months ago mutate into something like a top 40 bubble gum crowd?

We started off set two with something by either Zeppelin or Hendrix, and the tension in the crowd grew. We could feel the resentment in the eyes of those in the crowd. It didn't feel like we had one person in that audience that was enjoying anything we were playing. During the last ten minutes of that second set, after we had delivered some killer rock songs, a lot of the crowd simply stood or sat down and quit dancing.

Denny walked over to mike and looked out at the crowd and asked them if anyone wanted to hear any Steppenwolf. A few mumbles came back at him, to which he turned and looked at us and said,"Let's give 'em The Pusher."

We did, but this time we added nothing extra, no smashing guitars, no attempt at crowd shocking, just a really damned good delivery of a great rock tune. As soon as it was over, we took our final break of the evening and started our plan of attack during our third and final set.

Bill had brought along with him a spiral notebook of poems he had written. I still don't know why he had brought it along, but I'm ever so glad to this day that he did. It would prove to be the accelerant we needed to push this group of "fans" over their collective edges.

We started our third set off with something totally bizarre, which I can't remember now, but it was more or less the type of song this crowd had been wanting all night. During the instrumental part of the song Denny once again walked over to his mic and looked over at me and asked me over the mic, "Charlie, did you know Greensburg had such a plastic group of people in it like the ones who are here tonight?"

I walked over to an open mic and answered him back." No, Denny, I didn't, but these folks seem to have a monopoly on the plastic industry tonight."

Jay walked back over to his mic and finished up the last verse of this really intensely rotten song and laughed most of the way thru it until the end.

As soon as that song was over, Denny grabbed Bill's book of poetry and started reading a poem to the crowd. No background music, no explanation as to what he was doing, just started reading a poem over the PA. Mouths dropped open in the audience, people started hollering for music, but Denny kept right on reading.

When he finished, Bill took the book and started reading a poem. That was followed by Jay reading one. Boos started coming up from the crowd, and despite the fact that this was a school sponsored dance, a barrage of cuss words came from the crowd and pretty much told us how much they loved our show and what we were doing. You could not only hear the anger and the hatred in those words, you could see it on the faces of a lot of those close to the stage.

We jumped into "Communication Breakdown" by Zeppelin and it was a totally rocking performance. It didn't seem to matter though, because most of our dancing audience had exited already. During the next 3 or 4 songs our crowd of over 200 had shrunk to probably about 30, and most of those were guys.

This didn't look pretty at this moment in time.

I can't remember what song we finished that final set with, but I do remember Jay telling the crowd that this would be our last song and he hoped if we ever came back to play there again that we had a totally different audience in attendance.

Thankfully for us, a number of teachers and chaperones remained after we finished. We carried our equipment out to the van, not taking our time, because a large number of the local jerks positioned themselves along the corridor to our exit. As we carried our equipment out, low spoken threats were made to us, pretty much assuring us that once we left the school we wouldn't make it out of Greensburg alive.

I'm not sure if any of the teachers or chaperones would have stopped any violence or not that night, because you could tell by the disgusted looks on their faces that they weren't Summer Heat fans either. They did come down to where the van was parked and more or less supervised us loading up, and when a couple of the "locals" stepped closer to the van, they were escorted on out of the building.

I watched as they left and watched as they got into automobiles in the parking lot and started them up, but a few of those vehicles stayed, appartently waiting on us.

As we finished loading up, one of the adults present shut the doors to the school behind us and locked them, leaving us outside to face whatever fate lie ahead for us.

I'm not sure if was merely by coincidence or if someone had made a call, but as we were getting into the van, a police car pulled into the parking lot and stopped. We started up the van and the car we had brought and slowly pulled out towards the exit to the street. Luckily, the police car followed us out of the parking lot.

The locals in their cars apparently decided not to follow us out and "take care" of us as we left Greensburg, probably because we had an officer of the law right behind us.

As we pulled out of town right before the SR3 and I74 interchange, the police car pulled into a business lot and headed back to town.

As great as our first show was in Greensburg a few months before, this one had been a total opposite.

Needless to say, we never played Greensburg High School again.

to be continued.....

Keep Mowin', Mowin', Mowin'...

My brother in law came out Thursday evening and replaced a $4.50 primer bulb on the John Deere push mower and it started on the very first crank.

Friday after work I was able to push mow my entire yard, including my "oh, hell!" hill. The yard looks great and it will probably need another trim by Tuesday.

The extra excercise I'm giving myself by NOT using the John Deere rider is probably doing me a world of good.

Spring had definitely sprung!

All Revved Up

I came home from work last night, had been talking all day about how excited I was that it's time to start mowing. I decided last night was the night.

I came home from work last night, changed clothes, opened up the garage, filled up the mower and headed out to the yard.

A half hour later the damned mower still wouldn't start.

Tonight, same scenario.

Tomorrow, my brother in law the lawnmower mechanic specialist.

"sigh!"

Poison

A few weeks ago I watched the most ridiculous display of disrespect I have ever witnessed when the Republican members of Congress sat like bumps on a log during President Obama's State Of The Union Address. To see these grown men act like elementary school kids who aren't getting their way embarrassed me to the point of anger.

Firstly, I'm not a politically motivated person. I always try and vote for the person I feel is best qualified for the job. I don't vote straight ticket, never have, can't say I never will, but I don't vote for any particular party.

I'm neither liberal nor conservative. I'm about as middle of the road as you can get.

To see elected officials act this way in public, and to have watched the recent fiasco on health care in the House, I can honestly wonder how any of these "jerks" got elected in the first place.

A Democrat could have one of the most wonderful ideas going right now, but the Republicans would shun it, tear it down and rip it apart, simply because it was the idea of a Democrat.

To hear John McCain talk about having the new healthcare bill repealed and using it as a political campaign tool reminds me of a little kid who doesn't get his way and picks up his toys and refuses to share and play.

The two party system of politics in our great nation has become a total sham and an embarrassment to our nation as a whole.

President Obama has been labelled as a Socialist, and I have to wonder how much of that has to do with the fact that he is a black man?

I would have hoped that prejudice had gone its way decades ago, but of course, it hasn't.

It's not just racial issues that create prejudice, but it's also politcal affiliation, whether you are of the same religion or not, whether you're fat, thin or normal, if you're Mexican, Puerto Rican, Indian, Caucasian or Middle Eastern.

The Bible teaches us that we are ALL created in the image of God, yet we fail to recognize this in our daily lives.

I listen to so-called holy men of God speak of "taking our nation back." Excuse me, but when did our nation go away? I read comments by so-called Christians about changing our world to better suit what they perceive to be their way of thinking, but they condemn other religions for attempting to do the same thing.

I thank God I was raised in a home where prejudice wasn't taught and that I was raised to recognize that all men are created equal.

I had hoped in my lifetime I would have lived to see an end to ALL types of prejudice, but that simply isn't going to happen, considering the age I am now and the current state of thinking in our country.

When the political leaders of our land act as they do, simply for the good of their party, it's a sure bet that they don't have the best interests of our nation at heart.

Will this archaic type of thinking ever truly come to an end?

Poll Results

For now, the poll remains as I had a total landslide of 100% to keep it. The hurtful problem was, the poll vote was the smallest vote yet. So, trying to keep my totally Faithful Few happy, the poll will remain, but it's taking a few days off until Spring Break is over.

We're Almost There, Folks!

Continuing to improve from the "sneezing" injury, and hoping that within the next day or two I will be able to come in here, sit down for a few minutes, and do some serious catching up.

Again, to those of you who have waited patiently, I thank you and hope we don't have a long spell between posts again unless it's for vacation reasons.

Peace!

And Things Are Like This Now

Continuing to heal from my sneezing injury, busy working on taxes and the death of a friends wife this week. Getting a little easier to sit in front of the computer, not comfortably yet, but getting there.

Obviously from the voting results either my readership is down this week or folks are deciding to not vote in this poll.

Hopefully in the next week things will be better all the way around.

For those of my Faithful Few who are hanging in there with me, I thank you.

For those of you who are also voting, I thank you as well.

Hopefully things will be back to normal very, very soon.

And, OH, to be able to get back in the bed again soon...I enjoy my recliner but it certainly does suck as a bed.

Oooops!

One week ago this past Thursday a really strange thing happened to me. I was up and out of bed, grabbing some meds out of the cabinet, and I sneezed.

Next thing I know, I'm on the floor, on my knees, holding my left side, seeing stars and unable to breathe of talk.

Yeah, it was one hell of a sneeze, gang!

After struggling thru the day at work on that Thursday and discovering that night that I was unable to lie down in bed to sleep, I went to see the doc on Friday morning and discovered I had either pulled a muscle in my ribcage or ruptured it. The doc gave me some meds to help with the pain and discomfort and put me off work that day which allowed me three days in a row to take care of myself.

I'm sad to report that we are now a week and two days past said incident and the pain is still present and I am still unable to lie down to sleep. I have spent the past nine nights sitting in the recliner in an effort to sleep.

It hurts to sit, it hurts to stand, but it's impossible to lie down without it feeling like I'm ripping my insides out. It's painful to sit here in front of the computer, which is why I have had but one brief update in the past week.

With a couple of days lying (pun intended) before me, I'm hoping a couple of more days of taking it easy will do the trick and I'll feel better by Monday morning. If not, I would imagine another trip to the doctor will be in order. This has been a very strange incident indeed caused by one stinking sneeze.

Anyway, please hang in there with me, I haven't given up writing, have some great ideas I'm ready to work with, just can't sit here long enough to get them done.

Just remember to be careful the next time you feel a sneeze coming on.

Old Friends

I've managed to make it past my 58th birthday, and when I stop and think about that, it truly boggles my mind. In my youth, I never believed I would have lived to see 30, but as the time grew closer, I decided I wouldn't live to see 40. Of course, as I got into my late 30's, I knew I would never live to see 50. I'm pretty sure that was when I got out of that mode of thinking altogether.

In the Stephen King short story "The Body," which became the basis of the movie "Stand By Me," it is summed up at the end of the movie that we never have any friends any truer than the ones we had when we were twelve years old. While I don't necessarily agree with that statement totally, it does indeed have a large basis of fact that one certainly can't disagree with.

I believe as we get older, we are exposed more to the insincerities of the world, we see the falsehoods people tend to learn to live with, and "true" friendship mutates away from those friends we have when we are younger.

A lot of friends I had when I was younger have moved on in their own lives as I have my own, and some of those folks I haven't seen in nearly forty years. Some of my classmates from the Class of 1970 that I spend all twelve years of school with, I haven't seen since graduation night. Agreed, some of them I'm glad I haven't seen since grad night, but that's only a couple. I hope some of those folks I do get to see again before it's too late.

I had friends my age, younger than me, older than me and some that were years older than me that to me were still very good friends. Some have passed on, others are still around, but we just don't see each other any more.

The sad thing is, the friends that I had all those years ago and that I spent so much of my time with are no longer a part of my life.

How did that happen?

Why did that happen?

As often as they cross my mind, I can't help but wonder, do I ever cross theirs?

I'll probably never know.

Coming Soon....

My apologies to those of you who frequent this page. I've not done any significant posting as of late. There have been several reasons which I won't go into right now, but I assure you, I've several things planned to add very soon.

I appreciate your loyalty and your patience and hope that what I will be publishing in the near future will more than make up for my recent inactivity.

Poll Results

Once again the latest poll results did not have a great deal of votes cast. Number of hits tells me either folks don't care to vote on some of the polls or else they don't see the poll on the right side. Whatever, here are the latest results of the past week's poll.


Do you believe our economy is improving as compared to one year ago.

Yes 40%
No 40%
Maybe 20%

Please take a moment and vote in this week's poll. It will only take a moment to do so. Thanks!

This week's poll results had no surprises and maybe one small one. No one at all picked winter as their favorite season, but autumn actually beat out summer, which did surprise me a bit, even though that is our favorite season as well.

In light of the recent weather and how it has affected everyone, what is YOUR favorite season of the year?

Spring 18%
Summer 31%
Autumn 50%
Winter 0%

Regarding Comments

I've been receiving some really nice comments lately, and if you don't see your comment posted, there's probably a reason I chose not to. Sometimes, there are things written that I will indeed try and address, but some of the comments tend to be of a more personal nature to me and some involve others. One thing I try and never do is tread on someone else's territory and put their feelings on the line. I never have been one to hurt someone, especially by name, so again, if you have left a comment for me and I've not printed it, that's probably why.

That doesn't mean I didn't get it or that I won't try and address the issue or issues you brought up, it's just my way of trying to spare someone else's feelings or trying not to invade their privacy.

I hope that has some semblance of sense.

And by all means, please continue to contact me either by leaving a comment or by hitting me up at my e-mail link.

Thanks!

Another Day Closer

Spring is one day closer now.

I keep telling myself that. Being someone who is "sunshine dependent" as I am, I'm glad to know that for each day that passes we get one day closer to Spring. I also keep hoping that maybe this year we might have a real Spring, instead of what we seem to have gotten accustomed to, which is a later Winter, taking forever to pass, and Spring showing up sometime around the end of April or the first part of May.

I know Winter serves its purposes, but again, when we get into the January and February "Dark Days" as I like to call them, the sun seems to either hide entirely or only come out a few minutes before sunset.

It's that sunshine that I miss and that takes its toll on me each year at this time.

Honestly, I would love to see early October weather year round. I love the coolness of the air in the morning and evenings, and I love the warmth we feel during the day. The Autumn colors add such a beautiful hue to life each day, and it's something that tends to make me wonder in awe at the process that it takes to produce those colors each year.

I'm a person who normally bypasses "Spring Fever" but tends to have "Fall Fever" instead.

This year, however, I do believe I'll be like so many others that I talk to and I have a feeling I'll be right there with them this year when my own case of "Spring Fever" hits me.

I also have a feeling I'll be smiling a lot more, too.

A Re-Welcoming, Of Sorts

If you're here for the first time, welcome!

And if you're a regular reader of my not so regular posts, welcome back!

Someone decided I needed a little publicity and mentioned this site in our local newspaper and gave the url so my readership would grow. I think I'm flattered, and also was caught a little off guard. I really wasn't prepared for that type of exposure, but I'm assuming one of my Faithful Few, namely RG, decided I needed a little promo for my site. To whoever it was, I think I thank you...and yes, I'm laughing as I type that.

I also thank Kevin Green at the Rushville Republican for going ahead and giving me a pitch from that submission to his column, Rants, Raves and Random Thoughts.

Obviously, I am getting some new readers, and I hope you like what you see here and I hope you'll come back from time to time. Most of what I write here is for my own benefit, but it's nice to know others are reading and that some of those readers and enjoying what they are reading.

If you want to leave a comment, please do so. If you want to leave me an e-mail, there's a link for that as well. I've been told it doesn't always work, but most of the time it seems like it does.

If you find something that offends you, let me know. If you see something you really like, let me know that as well. And please, take a moment from time to time and participate in my weekly poll. I'd love to see those votes increase each week, if possible.

Anyway, once again, thanks for stopping by and I hope you will become a part of my Faithful Few.

Poll Results

How much Olympic coverage do you think you'll be watching this year?

None 11%
Less than an hour 11%
Less than five hours 0%
More than five hours 77%


Very low vote this week, so hopefully next week we'll see a few more votes hitting the poll. Thanks to everyone who took a moment and voted.

Vacation Update

After a 3 1/2 drive to go 77 miles, Peggy and I succeeded in arriving at our destination at Clifty Falls and enjoyed four wonderful days at the Clifty Inn. We had some much needed rest time, some great meals and got to visit with our good friend Scott, who took us to dinner at a new pub called the Boneyard Grill.

I must admit the drive down had a few harrowing moments, once we got out of Decatur county and hit the Jennings county line and farther down into Jefferson county, the highways were really pretty nasty, and we drove thru a couple of white outs as well. All in all, though, after a slippery descent down Hanging Rock Hill, we did arrive safe and sound and only left the park once during our four days.

It was a truly nice relaxing visit, and we're looking forward to it again next year, just hoping for much better weather.

A Long Drive Into Daylight

Heading south to the Ohio River today for part of our vacation. With the snow coming down and the promise of winds increasing as the day goes on, I can only hope the Lord blesses us with a safe and uneventful trip. Could be interesting, however.

This is normally a two hour drive. I might be in for a marathon driving session today since they are saying the weather is worse down south than it is here at home, and here at this moment, it's downright horrible.

We shall see what we shall see.

Poll Results

Interesting poll results this week. A higher percentage are actually uncertain about watching than saying they won't be watching. Anyway, here's the results:

Will you be watching or otherwise be following the Daytona 500 on Valentine's Day?

Yes 68%
No 13%
Uncertain 18%
Huh? 0%

At least no one who read didn't know about the Daytona 500.

Time Is Healing

You disappeared without a word,
You've reappeared much the same.
I won't be the one to break this silence
I'm much too bored to play your game.
I've moved on and beyond all that we shared
Scattered words and smiles, such a sham.
My life has new direction and purpose, you see,
And about you, I don't give a damn.
I don't wish you bad, I won't wish you good
We'll both move on, and time will tell
That I really don't need your crap in my life
And you can simply, go straight to hell.

Vacation Looming

Each year as we pass thru the holidays and into the new year, things begin to pick up at work in different areas that have no resemblance to the holidays at all. That, Faitfhful Few, is the dreaded TAX SEASON!!! Christmas hits us for about 3 1/2 weeks, while taxes envelope(pun intended) 3 1/2 months. Luckily for me, during this time of year, I have a wedding anniversary my wife and I celebrate each year with a vacation. Thankfully that time is nearly here.

As football seasons draws to its end and as Nascar season begins, usually the weekend of the Daytona 500 signals that first vacation of the year. Being within just a few days of that vacation allows anticipation to grow.

The Duels at Daytona are Thursday, and I decided this year to take off Thursday for the Duels, and decided to just forego work altogether on Friday and take that day off as well, turning my week vacation into a week and a half one. The best part of that is that as of right now, that leaves me 16 hours of work between me and that first vacation of the year.

As much as I love my job, I do love vacation and I do love getting away with my lovely bride of nearly 32 years. I'm hoping the snow decides to be over in the next couple of days and that the inclement weather does nothing to impede us getting away for some much needed time alone.

Hopefully Mother Nature provides us with good weather in Florida for the Duels and great weather next week here in good old Indiana.

I not only want this vacation, I truly NEED this vacation.

I'm Back...Well, Sorta

To say this past week has not be a good one would be a total understatement. Something got hold of me over the weekend and put me out of action for the week.

Flu like symptoms, and I have to stress "flu-like," because I had my annual flu shot and an H1N1 shot, and still managed to get something that really knocked me on my ass.

A trip to the doc and four prescriptions later and I'm now experiencing all the fun drainage of the sinuses and the coughing up of all sorts of colorful corruption from my lungs. The chest and throat are sore from all the coughing and I'm ready for all this to be over.

I've not managed things well this week, haven't made out any checks to pay bills, haven't been able to work, haven't been online until around Friday, and am way behind of everything in general. Thankfully, this is going to be a short work week for me, as I start a vacation after Wednesday and can forget about work responsibilities for a week and a half.

Anyway, this hopefully explains my absence from here this past week and I am hoping to do better in the coming week or so.

Super Bowl Poll Results

Not a scientific poll, but the results are nice to see, especially when you figure the Saints are the sentimental favorites.

Colts 95%
Saints 4%

And with that being said: Go Colts!

Poll Results

The results for the second poll are in.

In your opinion, who contributed most to the development of rock and roll?

Jimi Hendrix 33%
Janis Joplin 33%
Jim Morrison 33%


I am glad to see a three way tie, personally, because I think they each one contributed an equal share to how rock and roll developed. Sad they were never around to see what their contributions effects were.

Winter Continues To Suck!!!

Winter continues to bring my mood down. The lack of sunshine, the cold, which I truly hate because it drives me inside so much this time of year.

Things seem to bother me more this time of year, and I get sick of all the drama people seem to thrive on when they try to push their own misery on you.

I hate feeling this way, because I'm really not the type of person who gets this far down, and believe me, I'm down right now.

Less than two weeks away from the first vacation of the year.

Hopefully I will get the mood enhancement I need when that vacation finally gets here, and hopefully, the weather will improve, the Colts will win the Superbowl, and Tony Stewart will win the Daytona 500.

That would be a great start!

Speed IQ (The Daytona 500)

I love this explanation about how the 43 positions are chosen for the Daytona 500. Someone had a very creative mind coming up with this(almost as creative as the geniuses that came up with the way the field is actually set for the Daytona 500.

First Poll Results

The results are in for the first poll I ran on my page.

What is your favorite type of music.

Classic Rock 42%
Country 0%
Alternative 0%
Blues 14%
Other 42%



Please check out the new poll and be sure to cast your vote.
Thanks!

Come Back Ole Sol

Where has the sun gone?

I know, living in Indiana, that the sun hiding in the dead of winter can sometimes go on for a few weeks at a time. And I know it really hasn't been THAT long since it last came out, but it sure seems like it to someone who is "sunshine dependent" like myself.

I have a hard time staying motivated. I have a hard time staying energized. I seem to lose interest in most things I normally enjoy. My mood becomes down, depressed and pretty much rotten most of the time.

From the sound of the weather forecast for the next week, it looks like more of the same. I suppose that means the barometer of my body is probably going to be much the same as well.

The good news, Nascar season is fast approaching. When the Daytona 500 arrives, so does my first vacation of the year, and it usually, not always, but usually is a nice week with lots of sunshine.

Hope it is sunny and warmer this year.

Sunny, anyhow.

Ch Ch Ch Changes

I've been trying to decide for the past few weeks if it was time for a change in design for my blog page, and as you can see, I decided it was indeed time. I hope you like the new look. I have had the other look for nearly 5 years now, and I decided I have changed appearance in the past five years, mostly not because I wanted to, but because Mother Nature decided I needed to. Therefore, it surely was time for a change to my page as well.

Other changes will be forthcoming, but for now, let's start here.

I've added a poll on the upper right, and would really appreciate you taking time and participating in it each week. If the response is good, it stays. If the response is not so good, I'll remove it in the near future.

Anyhow, Faithful Few, let me know what you think.

Why?

One of the things I have noticed most in my life about being a pacifist is that I try not to offend others or hurt their feelings. I have a tendency of keeping my opinions to myself sometimes and just sitting and nodding my head in agreement with someone, when in reality I don't agree with what they are saying. It avoids confrontation and it spares hurt feelings on their part.

It amazes me, though, and the number of people in my life that seem to enjoy tearing down what they know I believe in or support. If their political views are opposite of mine and they know it, they will run my views into the ground and wait for the reaction I try not to give them.

When it comes to sports and who I am a fan of, I have several family members that do their level best to tear down my favorites and try to engage me in a battle of words. Again, I try hard not to give them the satisfaction of letting the know they are truly pissing me off.

Is their life so uneventful that the only enjoyment they get out of it is trying desparately to tear others down and try to set up arguments with them? Do they enjoy hurting the feelings of others as a self serving means of satisfaction?

Am I just being overly sensitive? Probably, I do tend to wear my feelings on my shirt sleeves and expose them to all, but I still don't understand the enjoyment people get out of deliberately trying to hurt others.

Life continues to be a mystery.

I Can Do This

Four little words that are probably going to become a mantra.

Got my H1N1 shot today, and for some reason, I have been ravenously hungry ever since. I know the two are not related, believe me, I know. I've done the diet thing before and it seems like days 3 4 and 5 are really hard.

However, that doesn't change the fact that I am STARVING today.

So, four little words are being spoken, aloud today, most of the day.

I can do this.

I can do this.

And so far, folks, it's working.

But damn, am I hungry!

Realistic Expectations For 2010

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions, mainly because I think most of the time they are either broken or never even attempted once they are made. I do, however, like to try and set some goals for myself, because I would rather fail at meeting a goal than to break a resolution that I made to myself.

Popular ones that are made are quitting smoking, which I no longer do. I stopped smoking almost 26 years ago. Another one would be to give up caffeine, and no, I'm not doing that. I love my coffee but I don't abuse it. I'm not quitting alcohol because alcohol is not a problem of abuse either.

Then there is weight loss. Very popular, maybe number one, I'm not sure. This one I truly need to take a look at, and a serious look at that. I love eating, and I love eating lots of unhealthy foods. I'm not a sweet eater, but I love cheeses, red meat and I can't seem to live without potatoes of any kind.

I have therefore set a goal to lose weight this year, by controlling my diet and by becoming more active. I plan on starting this next week, about a month before my vacation starts, which could prove to be a real challenge, but we shall see. I've not particular diet in mind, it will be trial and error, no doubt, but I do plan on making some major changes in what I eat and how much. I also plan or developing an exercise program that not only will suit my needs immediately, but one that I can adjust and add onto without fear of overdoing it in the beginning.

I'll be weighing in, measuring and taking pictures, so I can track my progress. I owe this to myself more than I do to anyone else, but I do hope my wife will be happy with what I accomplish.

Yes, I have a target weight already in mind, a realistic time frame to achieve it in, and hopefully I can also develop a maintenance program to keep where I end up.

Will I succeed? I'd like to think so, but I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't see into the future and guarantee I'll meet my preset goal, but I have every intention of giving it my best shot.

And yes, I will be updating my progress within the pages of my blogsite as well.

The ball is truly in my court.

Let's see if I can run with it and score or if I'll fumble.

No Silver Lining

I'm usually one who can find something good in the worst of situations. You know, like we hate Mondays, but the good thing to look at is that we only have one a week.

With today's snow, cold and blowing winds, I've decided that there's a limit to everything, and I believe that did it for me.

More Of The Same Chit

Listening to the news this morning around 5:30AM and heard this little tidbit of news you might find strange.

Price of crude oil continues to fall.

Price of gasoline JUMPED again last night, is supposed to make a big jump before this weekend, and reports continue to say that gasoline prices should exceed the high we paid in 2009.

WHAT????

Winter, 2010

Winter sucks,
It awgs,
It bites.
It causes friends
To fuss and fight.
The snow
The ice
The damned cold wind
Makes me wish
For spring again.
Sniffles, chills
Fevers galore.
Brings dreams of warmth
And so much more.
Wind chill factors
Just kiss my ass
I just wish to hell
Winter would pass.

And With A New Year Having Begun

Several things have happened over the past year that seem to have taken me away from my postings to this site. I won't go into them, doesn't really seem to me to be important as to reveal these things to you all, it just seems that I let other things get in the way of my postings, and I hope I can rectify that this coming year.

I did lose a very important "friend" of mine this year, and because we shared a lot of our writings together, I think maybe that might have been one of the largest contributing factors in my absence from these pages. It's always nice to have someone to "connect" with when you are writing.

However, it wasn't just one thing or a couple of things, it was several, and most of them are totally unconnected to my love of writing. They were simply things that got in the way.

I'm hoping now that I can shake them all off and get on with the real reason I started this blogpage several years ago.

I ask you all to still bear with me, as getting back into this will not be a headlong venture but one with which I will take my time until I can get back into a somewhat regular routine.

Let's see where 2010 takes us and if I still have what it takes to plunder on!

Scary

For some reason this year, emotions are running so high and out of kilter that I sometimes feel like I'm ready to explode. I can't put a finger on it, I can't explain it any better than that.

I just wish to hell the feeling would go away.

Always and forever.

What's It Going To Take?

It used to sadden me to see someone with so much good going on in their life that they refuse to see it because of the condition they allow alcohol to put them in.

Now it only pisses me off.

When someone has family that loves and cares about them and they only want to stay trashed and wallow in self pity there is indeed a problem.

When legalities arise, this person can tow the line, stay on the straight and narrow and be pleasant to be around.

When there are no legalities, the same person drinks themselves into a never ending oblivion and not only stays mired down in that self pity but they try and make everyone else feel sorry for them too.

Is attention really that important when family is there and gives that person all the attention they really need?

When someone, day in, day out, starts the day off with a drink and spends every available moment drinking and continues to do that drinking along with driving, something needs to be done.

When someone no longer takes care of themselves hygenicaly, when they can no longer control their waste elimination habits and they no longer possess common sense or good judgement, enough is enough.

If they can stay off the drinking for fear of prison time for an entire year but falls right back into the same pattern the moment that year is up, it only proves to me it's a problem of choice, not a medical or addiction problem.

When you drink so much you can no longer put your sentences together and all you do is annoy people and stay mean all the time, the problem isn't the alcohol, the problem is YOU!

Why is it more fun to stay trashed, lose all your friends, alienate your family and put lives at risk each day when you climb behind the wheel of your car? Are you that damned starved for attention?

I've tried to tell you, your family has tried to tell you and your friends have tried to tell you.

Why do you enjoy being the drunken asshole?

Ahead I Am Going

Time changes things.

It changes opinions, it changes emotions, it changes interests and it changes perceptions.

Time moves on with or without us.

As time goes on, we can either decide to move with it or stay stuck behind in the mire that we call existence.

I'm not the same person I was 40 years ago, but in many ways I'm still the same.

I'm still a pacifist, I'm still a realist and not an idealist.

I am a very emotional individual and my emotions tend to drive me moreso than my thoughts do.

I have learned to accept things and I have learned over the years that life is not an "Ozzie and Harriet" existence.

It would be so much easier to live if it were.

I've made a mountain of mistakes over the years, more than I care to remember that I've made, but I admit that I made them.

I've been wrong in so many ways, but I've learned to accept the fact that you learn from being wrong and you move on.

And you move on sometimes by leaving others behind.

For now, I choose to move forward and not look back any more than I have to.

Tragic Semi-Loss

I learned a couple of weeks ago that someone I had known years ago but hadn't seen in quite a few years had passed away, and they passed away alone and were not found for several days. I found about their passing six months after it had happened.

No, we weren't close, we may not have even been considered friends anymore, but I still feel a loss here, and it has bothered me a lot since I learned of her passing.

She had had some personal problems over the years. She had some health issues, some mental issues, but she was still a human being and she had feelings and it bothers me that she died all alone and that it took three days for someone to realize something was wrong.

She was probably the first true love in my life, and was a very important part of my latter teenage years for the better part of a year and a half, and to know that she's gone, frankly bothers me in ways I can't begin to describe.

I probably hadn't crossed her mind in a lot of years, but I thought of her occasionally and wondered how she was, where she was and if she had ever found her happiness she was seeking.

I hope she has now.

Oh, You Again?

sandpapering my brain,
icepick thru my heart,
flood of tears held back,
burning and choking in my throat.

Yep, you crossed my mind today!

Identity

Empty emotions,
Meaningless words,
All in a tangle
Weaving the web of the game that you play.
Your heart turning cold
All without warning
Those spoken words of praise
Which meant absolutely
Nothing.

Create your world,
But do it without me
I no longer wish to play
A part in your game.

You are not the person I
Believed you to be.

You're someone else.

Entirely.

Over It

When you try to solve a situation involving someone else and they totally ignore your attempt, that should tell you that the problem doesn't lie within you but in the one you have tried to make amends with.

It's a total waste of time to worry about such trivialities and is in your best interest to move on and cast the so-called problem to the side. There are too many important things left in life that require your attention.

It's time to move on.

They Call Us Working Class, but we ain't working anymore

Check out the latest from a true modern blues legend, Walter Trout!

From The Bent Mind, Part Four

This was written the day before The Third Day Reckoning, or day number two post op. This poem pretty much sums up my fears of the worst and the terribly down state of mind I was at that time. Funny how cancer can do that to you.


Reflections November 7, 1982

Laying here a-thinkin' in my hospital bed
Knowin' I'd rather be here that I would be dead.
Friends and family visit, especially my wife,
And they help to make me know, that I've led a good life.

The fears that I've had, have been morbid and real
As I wait looking forward to yet another liquid meal.
The visits calm my nerves, the shots ease my pain,
Yet the fears and the worry keep invading my brain.

I'm afraid that this cancer might shorten my years,
And could my smoking have caused this, or was it just too many beers?
My life seems too valuable to just smoke it all away
And I believe I'll just kick this nasty habit someday.

Dear Lord, help me I ask, help me as you please
And rid my young body of this malignant disease.
All my life lies ahead and I'm going to grab it
And to hell with this cancer, 'cause the doctor done stabbed it!

From The Bent Mind, Part Three

Back in November of 1982 I had cancer surgery, actually I underwent surgery to remove testicular cancer. While in the hospital, I wrote the following poem to try and cope with the mental and physical pain I was going thru. Hope it got the point across.

The Third Day Reckoning

This horrid pain is killing me
And I wish to hell it'd stop.
I'm jump right off this stinking chair
And onto my bed I'd flop.

I've heard it said that day number three
Is the worst for post-operative pain.
This could be true, for day three is here
And the pain is driving me insane.

It feels like my guts want to rush forward
And burst right out of my skin.
And if that would happen, with all of this pain
I'd no doubt forget to shove them back in.

All I need is one more shot
To help me thru the day
And then tomorrow when I wake up
I'll try and face the fourth day.

Written November 8, 1982

No Answers

Unbridled confusion
Abounding,
Thoughtless answers to required
Questions
Seeking finality,
Finding none,
Becoming one with
Anonymity,
Useless apathy
Gaining strength
And like a spreading cancer,
Overtaking,
Devouring,
Winning.

MIA

I have a friend who is missing in action.

I don't know what has happened to her, where she has gone or even if she all right or not. I only know I haven't heard from her since October of last year.

She's a writer and a damned talented one at that. She writes some unbelievable poetry and she amazes me with her wit in her writing.

We met on blogger by chance, and we both became followers of the other ones writing. We commented back and forth on different entries that the two of us did and we occasinally e mailed each other.

She's a vibrant woman, a single mom, or the last I knew she was. She had gone thru a big move in her life and it was one that took away from writing for quite a while. When she finally came back I felt like a father feels when his daughter has been out of touch for quite some time and all of a sudden there she is again.

I've written her a few times but have heard nothing back. She's not posted, at least not on her usual page, and if she has another one, I don't know what it is or where it is.

I don't know if she's well. I don't know if things are going well in her life or not.

I only know I miss her, I miss hearing from her and I miss reading her poetry.

Not knowing how she is bothers me because she had become such a good friend to me and there is a loss in my life not knowing that she's okay.

If any of you who follow her know anything about her, please get in touch with me and let me know. For that matter, if she reads this, let me know you're okay. I just need to know that you are okay and I'll feel a lot better.

Hope to find out something good, hope to find out all is well, and I hope you start writing again, too. You far too talented not to keep it going.

I miss you, Autumn!

Pondering, Pondering

With all your infinite wisdom
How can you be so damned
Stupid?

Rest In Peace, Flatrock Grill

Not all friends that leave our lives much too early are people. Sometimes they can be places, such as businesses and such.

That's the case with the recently closed Flatrock Grill.

The Grill was my friend, my safe haven, my place to go and feel cared about and needed and appreciated.

Now it's gone, but will never, ever be forgotten.

Economic times and a lack of local support of this fine establishment contributed to its recent demise. Hard to imagine when a place such as this, with its fine food and awesome atmosphere, is gone now.

The owners, Brian and Alli Rodgers had a first class, top notch eatery here, folks. Great steaks, pasta and seafood, a really nice bar,a beautiful atrium which overlooked Riverside Park, plus a staff that was second to none were there all the time, each day they were open for business, but in these times, it unfortunately wasn't enough.

Bartender Walt, his wife Cassidy who was a server, Granny, as Alli's mom wished to be called, Megan, Greg, Rick, Shea, Christian(hope I spelled it right) and Ronnie, as well as others who had come and gone, were always ready with a smile to help make your visit a pleasant one.

In the past two years that my wife and I were regular customers, these folks all became an addition to our family. Whether we made reservations or just walked in off the street, whether they were moderately busy, slow, or packed in like sardines, we always received the best service and best food possible.

The Grill was a valuable sponsor to our Summer Concert Series at Riverside Park. They not only fed the daytime concert volunteers and sound technicians, but they always served a high class meal to both the opening bands and the headlining bands as well. They even fed the 85 member Carmel Symphony Orchestra two years ago, a mammoth undertaking, no doubt. They always wanted to do more for us, including providing us with ice backstage for our performers water and soft drinks.

Easter Sunday proved to be our final meal at the Grill, as Alli and Brian made the very hard decision to close that day. I can't imagine the emotions behind such a decision, and I can't imagine what it felt like to have your dream fall apart after trying so hard and investing so much time, emotion, hardwork and money into a business.

I'm going to miss going in for a cold beer, a nice steak or burger, and those awesome deep fried green beans that they served. I'm going to miss the visits and conversation with all those folks who worked there, and I'm going to miss celebrating our wedding anniversary and birthdays there, as well.

"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." The words from that song sing out to me each time I think of losing the Flatrock Grill, and I'm sure our community is going to feel the loss as well for a very long time to come.

Thanks to you all for the memories, the fun, the friendship and the great food.

I'm mourning the loss as well.

From The Bent Mind, Part Two

Political protest song I wrote from 1982. Had such a great tune worked out for this one, very reminscent of the 80's hair band type music and such, wish I could recall what it sounded like in my head. Anyway, doesn't matter, I loved the words when I wrote it then, and as I read them now, I still enjoy what I wrote over 27 years ago.


To Ronnie, While On Vacation

The winds of change are blowin',
We're tired of playin' their game
Stick to our battle, pick up your arms
'cause things can't stay the same.

We've taken the establishment shit for so long
They've blinded us so we can't see.
The rich man continues to rule this land
And they've stuck it up you and me.

Can't you see where it's headed?
Can't you see where we've been?
It's time to get down and boogie
This is one we've got to win.

They disguise their ruse so carefully
Enticing us with pleasures we taste
They take all our emotions to suit all their needs
And motivational resources become as waste.

Our money is spent on their wishes
They control us as we do what they please.
Wake up you damn fools, and get ready to fight,
We must wipe out this malignant disease.

Can't you see where we're headed?
Can't you see where we've been?
It's time to motivate in our direction,
Get down, we've got to win.

We need our soldiers to have perception
So they can see who we've got to fight.
It's the political disguise of the capitalist pigs
Making laws to their own delight.

If this cancerous condition keeps a movin'
In the direction we presently see,
There'll be no bill of rights, no constitution or declaration
And no longer a land of the free.

Can't you see how it's goin'?
Can't you see where it's been?
So tell me, motherfucker,
Don't you really want to win?

Stand up, take arms and be counted
Be ready to fight for a true cause.
This country of ours, is dying, my friends,
Let's fight troops and show them our balls.


Conceived January 2, 1982

Some Blasts From The Past/From The Bent Mind, Part One

During a recent spell of spring cleaning, my ever industrious and hard working better half happened upon a spiral notebook of mine from back in the early 1980's which was a collection of short stories and poems of mine cleverly entitled "Windy Feathers and Chicken Lips." Her finding this was like a reunion with an old friend you haven't seen in over twenty years. I thought it would be kind of fun to add a few of these ditties from years ago onto my page and let my Faithful Few see what I was up to all those many years ago. As luck would have it, I dated everything I wrote back then and I am really happy to be able to throw a few of these entries onto my page here from time to time. I used to sign everything at the end "from the bent mind of one...", then my name, and then the date. I will entitle each of these entries from time to time "From The Bent Mind" and add the date of the entry. Hope some of you will take the time and add some comments and let me know what you think of my bent mind from many, many years ago.

With that said, let's proceed with this first entry.


My "Good" Friend

You call yourself my good friend
A special one amongst the others
I placed so much of my trust in you
And then too late discovered.

As friends we should share good times and bad
The good outweighing the bad.
I've stood up for you, and too late I've found
That I've been cleverly had.

We laughed, we cried, we drank we smoked
And closer I felt we grew,
But your affection for deceit bore its fruit
And apparently our friendship is through.

I wasn't aware until too late
Of both the faces you wore.
And now that I know you, I can't help but say
That you're really one hell of a bore.

So take your lies on up the street
And go on deceiving someone else.
My advise to you, is direct, yet it's cool,
And that is simply, "Go fuck yourself!"

Conceived July 10, 1982

View Thru The Crown (Royal)

I've been so very pessimistic as of late. I try to find the positive, to remain upbeat, but pessimism keeps taking its reigns and leading me right back down the negative path.

Maybe I spend too much time watching the news or reading news or blogs that talk about the shape of our world today, but let's face it, our economic picture is affecting us all, each and everyday.

I talk to people while I'm working that are losing everything, their jobs, their life savings, their hope and their faith. Moods seem to be so down as lives take on new hardships never before encountered.

Businesses are closing, filing bankruptcy or simply disappearing at an alarming rate. The auto industry and all affliliated suppliers are in a quandry. The U S Postal Service is losing money at an alarming rate and talk of layoffs and eliminating one day of delivery a week is being discussed in front of Congress.

Businesses are relying on the government and the taxpayers to bail them out because of their dire financial straights and piss poor decisions, yet these same businesses that have taken bailout dollars to the tune of billions and billions are rewarding the idiots that ran their businesses down the tubes, stating they give them bonuses to keep them employed. Is it just me or is that the biggest crock of shit they've come up with yet?

I'm worried, I'm scared and I'm pissed! I stay with these same three day in, day out, and I wonder each day what the hell else is going to go wrong. Where is all this madness going to end?

I hear people already slandering our new president because he hasn't turned our economy around in the less than ninety days he's been in office. Amazing that it took years to get here but our new president is being judged because he hasn't solved this crisis in mere days.

Personally, I applaud the efforts President Obama has made so far and that I believe he will continue to make. I find it commendable that he is not hiding anything from the American people as did the president we had the previous eight years.

I applaud our nation for looking past race and electing a president based solely on his plans and his accomplishments and his ideals and for giving a man of his limited experience the chance to turn our nation back into the great and prosperous nation it was a decade ago.

I sit, I wait, I wonder, I worry and I get pissed, and I will for sometime to come and I hope very soon we see changes for the better occuring.

For now, another sip of Crown might make things look a little better.

And only for short time.

As Scarlet O'Hara once said, "After all, tomorrow is another day."

Syko

I would love to design a T shirt that says in large block letters:

I'm not schizophrenic
And neither am I!


OR:

Being schizophrenic isn't so bad.
Just ask me,
Or, if you'd like,
Ask me!

Joe

One of the hardest parts of life to me is having to say goodbye to those who you have grown close to and care for. Such a case has happened once again this week.

Ten days ago I received a phone call at work from a friend of mine, who was calling me in a business capacity. What the call was about is irrelevant but what this friend told me really shook me up.

Joe told me the reason I hadn't seen him the past couple of weeks was that he was in the hospital. I asked him if it was anything serious and he told me he had been diagnosed with cancer, pretty much throughout his body. I was in disbelief when I heard this, because for anyone who knew Joe, he was a very physically strong and active individual who had a very rough exterior but a heart as big as all outdoors. If you were a friend, there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for you. If you were an enemy, at least a recent one, you had best keep an eye behind you.

I met Joe nearly 40 years ago and I took an instant liking to him. I saw him frequently and we always had a great time together and we were good friends, to say the least.

If Joe knew someone had done you wrong, they best keep an eye out as well because he didn't take kindly to his friends being screwed over. More than once he came to my aid and as far as I know nothing ever got to the point of being physical; hell, it didn't need to. No one wanted to feel Joe's wrath.

Once I got my full time job I saw Joe even more frequently, and as the years went by his rough exterior and demeanor became a bit more subtle, but he tried to keep that same personna about him. The old saying of his bark is worse than his bite was certainly true. He had too kind of a nature about him and the number of people he helped out was a testimony to the realness of his actual self.

Joe truly cared about people and he helped a lot of them out.

I think a few might have taken advantage of him, but that didn't stop him from taking care of them anyway.

During all the years I knew Joe, his friendship with me never waivered one bit. He was the same friend throughout all the years. The past ten years or so he took to calling me Mr Charlie, and it never once failed to bring a smile to my face.

Some of our conversations revealed a lot about how he had changed over the years. People that he had feuded with in years past he now had buried those grudges, whether they knew it or not. He certainly wouldn't have told them directly, that wasn't Joe's style and it didn't fit the facade of the man. He had become a Christian man and had forgiven those of his past and had settled his score quietly with his savior. After all, who did he really need to settle the score with other than the good Lord above?

I learned day before yesterday while I was paying for gasoline I had just put in my truck that the Lord had called Joe home. Even though I knew he was bad, I guess I wasn't ready to hear that my friend had died the day before.

There will be those, I'm quite sure, who will feel a bit of revenge has now been settled. After all, like I said, Joe did have his enemies, or at least those enemies who didn't know that they were no longer his enemies. For them, I feel a bit of sorrow in my heart, because they never got to know the Joe he had become the past few years.

In his heart he had forgiven them, and I guess somehow I'll have to find that acceptance myself and forgive them for their feelings as well.

Eventually, that is. I won't be able to do that just yet, however.

For right now, I'm grieving for the loss of a friend of mine, a constant friend and one whom I will miss very much until I come to terms with the fact that he is gone for now.

Because of this grieving, my heart will tend to be cold to some degree as well.

Rest in peace, Joe! I know how you were years ago and how you had grown these past few years. I am honored beyond words, to have been your friend.

Thanks for remaining my constant friend all these years.

You'll be missed by far many more than you would have ever imagined.

I'll be one of them right there at the top.

Mired In Deep Winter Again

It would be an understatement to say that my new year started off not so great. Not that I like complaining about it, but it has to get better, trust me.

First of all, I hate winter tremendously. I tend to become a hermit of sorts, preferring not to get out in the inclement weather and cold winds of January. I don't like snow, I hate sleet and freezing rain, and I miss the sunshine which seems to evade us a lot during the winter.

This winter, however, I have been saddled with probably the second worst ear infection of my life. Not only has it been extremely painful and slow in healing, it has temporarily cost me most of the hearing out of my left ear.

My devoted wife and myself tried to doctor it on our own, but after a couple of weeks of no improvement, it took a trip to the family doctor and his prescribing antibiotics and steroids to get things on the road to improvement.

We also discovered during my visit to the doc that my ear canal is mostly blocked with ear wax, which sounds disgusting, but is actually not all that uncommon. The bad thing about it is that it has robbed me of a lot of my hearing, even without an infection. The infection just compounded the problem somewhat.

Anyway, now that the infection is pretty much gone, phase two will begin as we start softening up the wax blockage and prepare to flush it out, hopefully here at home and not at the doc's office.

Maybe then I'll start hearing better and start feeling like doing more outside the home. I can only imagine how much of a drag I have been to be around.

In two weeks we celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary with a trip away for a few days, and I'm looking forward to being with my wife, reading a couple of books or so, walking and sight seeing and of course the snuggling that goes along with any trip away from home.

Our suite we have reserved overlooks the Ohio River and the food at the restaurant at the inn is excellent. Five days away should be just what the doctor ordered to get out of the deep winter funk I've fallen into once again this year.

Hopefully within the next two weeks I can have all of my hearing back once again.

And one final note: In my humble opinion, winter SUCKS!!!

Thirty Years And Counting

Amazingly enough, yesterday, January 2nd, I completed thirty years of employment with the US Postal Service. I always said when that day arrived, I would hang it up, retire, and move on to something else.

However, now that the time has arrived and that day has passed, I'm still at my job, still going to work each and everyday, and at present, I can't seem to think of what date I might eventually hang it up.

I love my job, my customers are very important to me, and I know as sure as I'm sitting here, that when the day does come and I do decide to retire, there's a lot of those customers, who over the years are more than customers to me, I know that I'll probably never see a lot of them ever again.

I'm not ready for that to happen.

At least not yet.

Someone once told me that my life was pretty much a Mayberry sort of existence, and even though that was meant as a put down, I considered it one of the greatest compliments I have ever received. I think we all need a little bit of Mayberry in our lives, each and everyday. If that is what my life has been perceived to be by someone, so be it.

I'm happy here, I'm content here, and I don't ever plan on being anywhere else.

So for now, I'm staying with my job, I'm going to continue to try and give my customers the best service I possibly can each and everyday, and I'm going to continue to love clocking in and doing what I've been doing for the past three decades.

I'm going to continue being right here in Mayberry.

My Wish To You

Thanks to all who have hung by me this year. Sporadic postings, some quite grim have kind of been the norm for the past few months, but hopefully next year things will be a bit different when you come here. I appreciate each and everyone of you, my Faithful Few.
Merry Christmas and may you all be blessed with peace and happiness this holiday season.