I am home again. My flight got in around 3:00 pm Saturday, just in time to go to a wedding. After some relatives were here for the night I am finally rested and ready to have a fun weekend. OH!   The weekend is over, darn. Lol 

 

It was a hot drive out to Los Angeles.   Spent the first night in Grants, New Mexico.  At least it was somewhat cool there.  Very hot driving across the Mojave Desert.  Each time I drive the desert I hope my van does not break down here. Lol The highest priced gas I saw was $3.85 just east of Barstow, Ca.   I spent the second night in Ontario, Ca (a suburb of Los Angeles).  Dropped the van off in Downey, Ca early Saturday morning and my company was supposed to pick me up and take me to LAX for my flight home.  Well, they forgot to get me.  I had to find a cab at the last minute and just made my flight home in time.  The best of plans sometimes can go wrong I guess.

 

My son is in the process of buying a new car.  We have been looking for about a week now and he has finally narrowed it down between a Scion TC or a Honda Civic EX.  I think he is leaning toward the Honda at this point.  We will be out on Monday trying to make a deal. Both of these cars are hard to find. 

 

I must tell you about an incident we had last Wednesday while shopping for cars. We were out on a test drive in a Nissan Altima.  The salesman was in the back seat, my son was driving and I was in the passenger seat.  We pull out onto the interstate and a policeman pulls us over. He comes up to my son and is all belligerent about us driving a car with expired plates. The salesman tries to explain that he thought the plates were good, that they had just gotten the car in on trade.  The officer yelled at us saying it was illegal to be driving this car with someone else’s plates, expired or not. (He is right by the way).  Anyway, he takes all of our driver’s licenses and goes back to his police car. Soon, another policeman comes up for backup. The salesman in the back now is getting very nervous. The cop comes up and wants the salesman’s social security number.  We continue to sit there for almost a half hour while the officers are back at their cars talking on the radio and to each other.  Then the officer comes up to the car and asks the salesman to step out of the car.  He asks why.  The officer tells him he is under arrest for some outstanding warrants on bond violations.  So, there is my son and I, watching our car salesman getting handcuffed and hauled back to the officer’s car.  We set there for another 10 minutes. Finally the cop comes up to me and says he is going to let us go and for us to drive the car back to the car dealer.  You can only imagine the stunned look on the GM’s face back at the dealership when we detailed what has just happened.  After asking us some questions about the incident the GM asks, “Are you interested in this car?”  I tell him I think we will just move on. Lol He said that if we were to decide on a car there that we were to deal with him directly and he would certainly make up for all of this.  Darn, I wish my son were interested in one of their cars, I think we would get a REAL GOOD DEAL .lol

 

You might be asking, what kind of “fly by night” car dealership was this?  Let me tell you, it is one of the largest in the Midwest. They have a chain of stores that cover about every make of car known.  It was a very interesting day to say the least.

 

Hope your weekend has gone well.  Perhaps I will be in town now for more than a day or two.  I never know when I wake up in the morning where I may be that night.  Makes for an interesting life.

 

Enjoy,

Ed

I arrived home late Tuesday night from Texas.  After facing some serious family issues it has been a very long week.  Just a quick note to let you all know that I am still alive and kicking. .lol  Off again Thursday morning for a trip to Los Angeles.  No rest for the wicked, oh my, I must REALLY be wicked. lol 

 

I will try to respond tonight to past comments but if not, I will get to them when I return. 

 

Enjoy,

 

Ed

A Time for Everything

 

A time for sorrow

A time for joy

For joy is nothing

If not sorrow has meaning

 

A time for health

A time for sickness

 

A time for success

A time for failure

Is not success

Built on Failure?

 

A time for love

A time for hate

I choose love

To be my fate

 

A time to lay blame

A time to forgive

 

A time to cry

A time to laugh

Sometimes the meaning

Of both are the same

 

A time for peace

A time for war

Why war you ask?

Because it is time.

 

A time for respect

A time for disdain

 

A time to remember

A time to forget

 

A time to begin

A time to end

Life is a cycle

The time we are in

 

 

Enjoy

 

Ed

Why Do I Do It?

 

I have often asked myself, “Why do I get up early each day and read the local newspaper”?   You might say, hey, he is retired (sort of) what else does he have to do?   Very funny!!!   Actually when I was working full time I would get up an hour earlier than need be just so I could sit in the solitude of my family room and go over the morning news.  There is something to be said about sitting next to one lamp, the rest of the room still dark from the night, relaxing with a cup of coffee and unfolding the happenings of the day and night before.  My grandfather would always sit next to one lit lamp and read his newspaper; maybe that is where I get it. 

 

Are you the type of person that does not want anyone else reading your paper before you do?  Might be a male thing, I don’t know.  Well, I am like that.  Is that why I get up early to peruse the printed word?  Every once in awhile there will be a story that is so touching that I find myself crying like a baby over something I have read.  For sure, that is a good reason to be up early and by myself when reading the paper. Who would want to see a grown man crying while reading something?  Lol 

 

Why do I subject myself to so much bad news each day?  Today’s headlines:

 

          Executions raise ethics issues

          Boy shut in trunk dies

          Fireworks blaze destroys house

          Baby’s death ruled accidental

          Shooting victim still in hospital

 

But then again there are stories that are interesting too:

 

          Fundraiser at nudist camp halted!

          Have your steak and eat it too, KC

          Space walk a success

          Toddler survives long fall

 

I have written before about my reading of the comics each day. Probably the section of the paper I devour thoroughly is the sports section.

 

          Wimbledon: Frenchwoman overcomes nerves, beats Henin-Hardine

          Nextal Cup: The roar is missing in Chicago

          World Cup: At least it’s not the Olympics

          Hillbilly Joyce: Ozarks woman enjoys “the simple life”

 

Ok, so what is it? Why do I rise between 4 and 5 every morning to read the paper?  Do I want to be worldly informed?  Heck, I usually forget what I have read by the time lunchtime rolls around.  My memory is not the best you see.  I bought some memory pills once, but I forgot where I put them and have not taken one since. (I wonder where I put those pills??  )

 

 

All right, I have figured it out. Just saw it there in front of me. Why do I do it?  Why do I read the paper each day? Simple! It is so I can clip the $5.99 coupon for Papa John’s Pizza.  Gosh I can be so cheap sometimes. Lol

 

Enjoy

 

Ed

 

ps, the answer to the riddle from past blog::::  Sand

 

 

 

Sunday found us traveling to a small Kansas town to attend the funeral of the father of a friend of ours.  Dale, a small Kansas rancher, was known through out the Midwest for his championship Gelbvieh breed of cattle.  As we pulled into the cemetery there they were. Over 30 Gelbvieh cows were lined up along the fence watching the funeral procession proceed down the path to the gravesite.  The cows were all lined up along the fence as if to give a final salute to this man that had been such an innovator in this breed of cow.  Even the baby calves seemed to pause from their play to pay tribute to this rancher. 

 

Just behind the cemetery, about 200 yards from the burial sight, there was a horse track.  Being Sunday, a big day of racing was commencing.  As the casket was taken from the hearse to the burial plot the trumpets from the racetrack sounded the call to the gate.  We all just paused in amazement. Who was guiding this continuing tribute to a man that was a rancher, a cattle breeder and a horse track enthusiast.  They said that just 2 weeks before he died Dale had won $600 at this very track behind where he was being buried.

 

Dale served our country in WWII.  During the 21-gun salute at the gravesite, the horses from the track were rounding turn 3, as if to give a final charge of energy to this man.  His son in law said that he thought he could see Dale slip a $10 bet from out of his casket as the horses ran by.

 

 The events of the day brought many a tear to my eye.  As we left the cemetery, the cows were gone. 

 

Ed

 

I have returned again from a quick trip to Chicago. The people of  “the windy city” are awesome.   Let me tell you about my day on Friday.  I arrived at the shop where I was to drop off the van that I drove there.  This shop is a small family operation run by a man from Greece and his 3 sons.  The father, his name is John, came to America 33 years ago and has owned this small auto repair shop for 30 years.  It is a very old building in and older part of town right next to Midway Airport. John was to take me to the airport for my flight home.  I pulled into his shop at 10 in the morning but the first flight back home that I could get was not until 4:20pm.  When I told John this he said I should stick around there and they would have a feed at noon for me.  To my amazement, John cooked some of the best Rib Eye Steaks I think I have ever eaten.  All I could say was Wow!   He hardly knew me but wanted me to eat with him instead of hanging around the airport all day.  There are really some wonderful people in this world. Thank you John and your three boys for making my long wait for a flight most enjoyable. 

 

Hope your weekend has gotten off to a great start.  Be it a 2, 3, or 4 day weekend for you make the best of it and enjoy a bang or two on the 4^th. 

 

Enjoy

Ed

 

Oh, by the way. The survey said that 70% of women want to be told the truth when they ask about if an outfit makes them look fat.  Not sure men should always do that however. lol