Creative Endeavors, The Home of BoxcarOkie.com

April 16, 2009

Mis-Communicated

Filed under: Oklahoma,Recent — ldsrr91 @ 3:37 AM
Tags: , ,

Lost a friend awhile back over some ridiculous dispute over email.  This of course is sad, it is always sad to lose a friend, and over something as trivial as email, only makes it worse.  He was upset because I blind copied him as a receiver of mail, and did not name him personally as “addressed to” then he wrote back and got nasty about it.

Push came to shove, and the rest of it is now history I am sad to report.

It is funny how people place so much emphasis on friendship in this day and age; they actively promote it, encourage it, seek it out in all manner of diverse places, but are so quick to throw it away.  This friend went to all the trouble to capitalize his complaints by prefacing his message with “I want a message sent to ME by YOU not some generic message to the world.”

Ironic as it may seem, this has happened over and over countless times.

Now in the past I have sent this person messages, plenty of them, only to be ignored and never answered.  U.S. Mail on numerous dates, cards and letters on birthdays and special occasions, telephone messages left and not answered, all manner of communication specifically targeted towards him and all brushed off or just flat out ignored. Such is life, those who receive the most are it seems, the first to complain.

Then he receives one lousy email and goes postal on me and rags me about it with a vengeance.  Well, that dog isn’t gonna hunt as Dr. Phil would say, so I gave him a taste of his own medicine. (Reference note:  People will treat you in the manner that you allow them to do so. I am a lot of things in this world to a great many people, but I am not willing to be just pushed around by some, friends or otherwise.)

Might be worth mentioning here that rude and nasty is never appealing on anyone, in an Email or otherwise.

I quickly responded and of course he did not like this manner of reproach … Now today I find myself with one less friend in this world, and that is never a good thing.  It certainly isn’t an insurmountable hurdle in life and I am sure I will get over it, but no one, not even myself, deliberately sets out to destroy a relationship.  Especially a well seasoned and long relationship as this was (since high school).  Email always causes a lot of problems in life.

Grabbing my saw and venturing one more time out on the proverbial limb I am going to state that I believe Email is possibly the “worst invention of the twentieth-century” and I am almost sure that a lot of us could live quite well without it.

Might even say that Email is the bane of society, that it not only wreaks havoc with people, but destroys business (Take this blog for instance, a full 44% of the readers of this daily page, read it while at work.) and it has in all probability never helped governments succeed in this day and age.

Email is impersonal and try as you may, you can dress it up with cute little animations, flowers, animals and sentiments, but it will never replace the one on one encounter that the telephone has to offer.  It has a profound tendency to be mis-read by countless people, and has caused more problems than it is worth.

At one time in my life I considered “junk mail” the biggest intrusion in my little corner of the world which was quickly followed by “telephone solicitors.”  But I am quickly reaching a point in time now where Email is slamming its way to the forefront of all those unsavory things in life that seem to steal your joy.

In my case I find it is not worthy of my attention to it.  It robs me of my time, steals from valued relationships in life and often is the “thorn in my side” as the Apostle Paul would lament.

There is an old axiom that says “for every encounter in life, regardless of it being good or bad, you take something away from it.” And I suppose that is true, from this I have learned that it is best that I do not answer Email correspondence when I am irritated or bent out of shape, nothing good will come of it.

I suppose my friend could have learned that “a man wrapped up in himself, is truly a rather small package.”  But I kind of doubt it.  Anywho, the damage is done, and with time it will heal.

This morning my thoughts are going back to Rodney King when he so eloquently put it all in one simple sentence a long, long time ago.  He said “Can’t we all just get along?”

Email is a pimple on the rear of mankind, pure and simple.

Pass it on.

OOO

April 15, 2009

Male Enhancement

Filed under: humor,Oklahoma,Recent — ldsrr91 @ 2:59 AM
Tags: , , , , , ,

I am strolling thru the Mall, a slow day, mostly elderly people walking to stay fit are in attendance.  Kind of strange, they make lap after lap around the place and then at the conclusion of the exercise period they all gather in front of Chicken Fillet take a table and eat.

A funny bunch, this geriatric posse of exercise lap-taking aficionados’.

I am walking along, peering into the windows of the stores, and I find nothing all that exciting to tell you the truth, it is no small wonder that sales are off.  It is no small wonder that Mall’s much like the dinosaur are on the way out.

Then I spot her.

She is young, she is vibrant, she is drop-dead gorgeous.  My mind races and I try and think back to a time when I have experienced a woman such as this, and I am at a definite loss.  She is so beautiful that it secretly makes me wish that I could borrow the money from Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, just so that I could establish my own foreign country.  There I would publish this girl’s likeness on the official postage stamp of our new country, so that I could lick the back of her head each day.

Everyday.

She is working in an ear ring store, so I stop to chat and browse the different piercings she has for sale.  I am thinking to myself, “I have always wanted an ear ring.  Knowing full well that I am of course, not going to get one.”  She bends over several times in the course of events, showing me the wares of her store, among other things.  We strike up a conversation, we laugh, we smile, things are going well.  Her perfume fills my senses; I am almost paralyzed by her scent.

I am also acutely aware of this old familiar feeling coming over me, silently thinking to myself, “this is nuts, I should be on leash or a chain, staked out in some backyard somewhere.”  It is not easy being a randy old dawg such as I am.

Perhaps it is the smell of her perfume, the light touch of her hand on my skin, it could be the elevator musak softly playing in the background.

don-smithFirst thing I know, I am sitting in the chair and I am getting my ear pierced and I have an ear ring!  Call me the helpless romantic, the middle-aged fool, whatever, but I walk out of the place sporting a brand new diamond stud in my left lobe.  I am also considerably “lighter in the wallet” because of it.

It is important that we now interject into all this that the ownership of an ear ring is not a new thing with me.  Having what most men consider a “progressive marriage” it was talked about, never granted, but it did come up from time to time over the years.  I must emphasize that this is not a spur of the moment encounter; it has been a secret goal of mine for years.

And it has been from time to time, discussed.  Men have this right, it is on page #54 of Dr. Phils’ Marriage Enrichment Series with footnotes inserted by Robin.  I also believe there was an episode of it on The View where it was discussed briefly in eighty-nine.

Now the wife has told me previous to this, “If you get an ear ring, I am NOT going anywhere with you. To the store, the movies, WalMart … Nowhere are we to be seen together if you get an ear ring.”

Then as she always does, she prefaced it with … “You understand?”

And I am thinking, “I roll it over and over in my mind, might be a little pain involved, but all in all, it sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”  It might be worth it, I could come out on top of this thing, if I play my cards right, this could be a winning hand.

So I am “all in” as they say in The World Series of Poker … I am not waiting for the River Card, it is now or never.

Today I do the deed! This also my toxic day of reckoning.  Today I will have to face the music.  My bride is not going to understand this at all.

She is standing at the sink doing dishes, softly humming to herself and I walk in to the kitchen to get me a cup of coffee.  Out of the corner of my eye, I see her peer at me and then she says, “What is that in your ear?” to which I reply, “What?” and then she again says, not to be deterred.

“What is THAT in your ear?”  This time pointing to the offending object and wiggling her finger in order to emphasis.

So I reply, “it’s an ear ring.”

“Lord, what have you went out and done now you old fool?”

Nothing like a little kindness and understanding, with your cup of lukewarm half-day old Coffee.

“What in the world possessed you to do this; why in the world did you get your ear pierced?”

“Cause I wanted to, that’s why, b’sides lots of bikers have ear rings.”  She smiles and says “Yeah, and they have something that you do not have.”  So I inquire of her what that might be, because you see, the monkey never learns, the monkey always goes back for more.

She opens up the cabinet door, places the clean plate in there with the rest, and looks at me and says … “Motorcycles, bikers have ear rings, beards, snot rag hats and MOTORCYCLES!  You gonna buy a motorcycle?”

“Maybe.” I meekly mumble, and then I grab my cup of Joe out of the Microwave and head for the TV room.  Funny how things work out, people who do not learn from their mistakes are prone to repeat them, that is the way I had it presented to me if I am remembering it right.  I sip on the coffee, it is warm, it nourishes my tired old soul and I think about it all … Silently I am thinking to myself, “A Harley Sportster, big tractor seat, a ONE SEATER that would be nice.”

The last time something like this occurred in my life was about the same, back in the seventies, except it was Sears, a well endowed brunette, deep green eyes a guy could lose himself in,  and it was a totally new vacuum cleaner …  but that was just one hundred-eighty-five dollars and some change.

Now this?  Man-Man, a new Harley Sportster, this could get really expensive.

The monkey never learns.

OOO

RELATED:  Ready To Go

April 14, 2009

Off The Hook

Filed under: Oklahoma,Recent — ldsrr91 @ 4:41 AM
Tags: , , , , ,

OPEN ROUNDAnother spring time day is heading our way, that is good, soon, the dog days of summer.  Believe me I am ready, this is the time of the year when you feel like whistling even though’ your shoes are full of slush.

I see where officials in Denver have arrested a Mormon Cardinal on charges of running a Ponzi scheme for the past twenty years.  He is alleged to have bilked 20 people out of $40 million and has admitted to “never actually investing one penny of it” in any fund anywhere, ever.

More than likely he will say that Satan had a lot to do with it, we are so quick in this country, to shift the blame elsewhere.

On the legitimate side of all this, Bernie Madoff the King of Losers, has found a buyer for his investment business (which he claims is “profitable”), proving that even in hard times like this, you are still able to ring up a sale.  Now as I weigh in on this issue this morning, I am quite aware that I am going to come off as cynical and I suppose uncaring about all this, so be it.

The truth is, “If these victims had put their money where the rest of America put their money, the majority of them would still have it.  They lost it because they wanted MORE because they were GREEDY and put it out to a crook.”  As the old axiom states, “If it is too good to be true, then it probably is.”  Now here is the part that really sticks in my craw.

Now the I.R.S. is going to give them a write off on their losses, hard to believe, especially to those of us who pay thru the nose.  Wage earners who invest in mortgage payments and college tuition for our kids.  But it should not come as a big surprise to anyone; this is after all a country that routinely rewards the malfeasance of big-biz, the rich, the bogus, the corrupt, the inept with bonus payments and special incentives.

The next time you turn on the TV and hear some expose’ on this crap or pick up a paper and read about another scheme and its victims.  Stop and consider this.  Of the 400 richest taxpayers in the U.S., 31 of them paid taxes at an effective rate of less than 10% last year.  Thanks to tax deductions, tax-free earning credits and other maneuvers, according to the IRS.  No telling what the other 369 pulled down.

Is this a Great Country or what?

It has apparently got so lucrative that the baseball card people are getting in on the action too.  Baseball card company Topps this year will release a set of cards devoted to the worlds biggest hoaxes, hoodwinks, and bamboozlers.  Among the people and companies featured are Bernard Madoff, Charles Ponzi, and Enron to name a few.  We not only celebrate the evil in our midst, we seem to adore and worship them.

If all this wasn’t so tragic and pathetic, it would make a good skit for Monty Python.

So before you reach down for the crying’ towel, and decidedly do your part to fill it with tears, for all these so-called victims, the elite of Palm Beach, the A List of Hollywood.  Think about it.  They had plentiful evidence that Madoff was running a scam.  Anyone who actually took the time to “kick the tires of this thing” could surely see it for what it was.  In a way it is sad, they were seduced by the mystique or so flattered to join in the group of followers that they gladly forked over the cash.

The SEC should have been on the ball, everyone will scream, and to a point, that is correct.

But that doesn’t mean the investors themselves are off the hook.  Blaming your woes on the government (SEC) is like asking a child why he blames his mother for letting him start a fight while she was not looking.  Now everyone is here in place, ready to sign up for the last dance of the evening, but no one it seems wants to pay for the band.  There are two kinds of failures presented here for our perusal.

“Those who thought and never did and those who did and never thought.”

And now the I.R.S. is going to reward them for their stupidity.  It is almost laughable, if it were not so sad.  As much as things change in the twenty-first century, remarkably they often stay the same.  When you lie down with a dog, you end up smelling like a dog after awhile, so it is with these so-called victims.  The heroes of finance are like beads on a string … when one slips off, the rest soon are to follow.

Surely there is a place reserved in hell for people like Madoff and the Mormon in Denver.

My definition of hell would be a place where the Muslims are the police, the Iranians are the comedians, Mexicans are the defense force, the common language is English and the American’s handle …  ALL THE MONEY …. Yeah, that could get pretty lame awfully fast.

OOO

April 13, 2009

Bikini Review

Filed under: humor,Oklahoma,Recent — ldsrr91 @ 8:30 AM
Tags: , , , , , ,

I am back, didya miss me? (Okie Talk)  I would like to thank everyone for the email and the encouragement, the kind words, they went a long ways towards my recovery and general well being.

Thanks.

Been awhile, I am at a loss as to where to start this morning.  A quick update for the occasional visitor.  This past week, last Wednesday I sat down for a meal of Chinese Food and half way home, the ominous grumbling deep down in the pit of the stomach started, and by the third stop light, I KNEW I was in trouble.

I will spare you all the gory details, but I have been down in the mount for five or six days, I have lost eight pounds, and today is my first day back. Just because “it tastes just like chicken doesn’t really mean it is going to be good for you” remember that.

Somewhat lost, I am adrift or awash in a sea of my own making, not having watched any television for the past five or six days, having not ventured out of the abode but one time for medicine and the majority of my time was spent in bed.  So coming in here, sitting down to an empty CPU a blank screen and having “nothing” is a bit daunting or downright challenging.

This is one of those mornings that you dread, a time where it is that you have nothing but the raw talent God gave you, the insight, imagination, to possibly pull it off, to make it all work, it is all up to you.  Often you go to the proverbial well and there isn’t anything for you.

No television, no news, no paper, all I have is what I have, and that isn’t much.

I did hear of a woman who had a pet pig, and the town in which she lived told her that she would have to get rid of the pig, so she moved.  Instead of giving up the pig, which is really stooopid it is not news.  From what I gather it is the same old stuff anywho.  All the adults in the country are worried about Lindsay Lohann and her breakup and the eleven year olds’ are discussing global warming and the end of the world, what does that tell you.

We don’t need an update on the news.

So you can see where we are headed this morning, can’t you?  This is not one of those mornings when you reach past the first two or three slices of bread, to get deeper into the loaf for the “fresh stuff” this is when you tap into something that you didn’t have yesterday and hope there is something there today, when you do make it there.

Often I refer to this process (if it could be called a process) as “shooting from the hip.”

little bunny girl

Easter now behind us, I guess we can say we are officially into the Spring Season here in Oklahoma.  That is a time of the year, of new life, renewal is what a lot of us call it, a time when a man’s thoughts turn to love and his ideas change.

Men on this site, those that do come here, come looking for “Bikini’s” for some reason?  I don’t know why, there are not a lot of Bikini’s on this site, nor are there a lot of men.  The majority of the readers of this site are women, most of them in the California, Texas and Virginia areas of the country.

We have a lot of ladies that read this that live outside of Atlanta, and most of them are for the better part, rather well educated, I have had the privilege of seeing some of them, and we have our fair share of “lookers” in our midst.

Creative Endeavors has the best of both worlds, we have the lookers and the very smart … And as an added bonus … We has Me!

Can’t beat that.

This morning I am looking at the stat’s and I see that Barack’s House is again replaced and relegated to the #2 spot.  I have this little post, “Bikinis (The reason men are pigs) that I wrote last summer (July 26th) and it has held down the #1 spot rather well for five or six weeks now, ever since a couple days after the election.  It has had some 9,231 views this year alone, and is quite popular for some reason.

When I do check the stat’s I find this curious thing.  Everyday, not just every now and then, but almost everyday I find search engine terms like:  Bikini girls, girls in bikinis, girls bikinis, men bikinis, big girls bikinis, and of course, Charlie Daniels for President.

And it is not just spring, when a man’s fancy turns to forbidden fruit.  Where lanes are bight with cherry young men ran to dazzle and kiss the rose lipped girls, springs first budding often bears a bitter fruit, and when the dusk is humming, and the girls come out to play    ..  ah spring.

But we were talking about Bikini’s I digress (a common habit of mine).

When a man and a woman think about Bikini’s, they tend to think differently, much differently, I would say.  A woman will think about items like “mid drift” areas, which kind of sounds like a section of the continental shelf out in the Atlantic where tuna fish boat captains sit idly for hours staring a small sonar screen waiting on the mid drift shelf tuna schools to appear.  Women think about cellulite and excess pubic hair in areas that are not supposed to have excess pubic anything.

They think size, shape, color.  Check it out here.

Men on the other hand, they think about sun glasses.  Because men KNOW that women can HEAR the sound of a muscle being flexed in your neck when the head turns to check out something that just walked by that was shapely, young, and wearing a dental floss thong, and they know YOU are looking.  Women know things like that.

This is why when me hear the word “Bikini” they naturally think of something else, men think about sunglasses, the deep dark one’s or the ones like The Boss in Cool Hand Luke wore, the mirrored type.

Just as well I stay away from the subject of skimpy bathing attire and the beach in general.  The last time we did head out to Florida and the beach, the grand babies kept trying to grab me by my ankles and drag me into the ocean.


dsc00217

The oldest would scream something like “Get him in the ocean before he dies! Or something like that.”  At least that is what they told their grandmother.

I would like to hang around and feed you some more of the loaf, but a slice at a time is all I have today, check back in with me tomorrow and hopefully I will have discovered something of interest for all you by then.

See You In The Funny Papers.

OOO

April 10, 2009

Eye Candy

Filed under: Uncategorized — ldsrr91 @ 2:37 PM

eye-candy

April 9, 2009

Down for the count

Filed under: Uncategorized — ldsrr91 @ 7:02 AM

I have contacted a bad case of the flu, we will be back on Monday hopefully.

DS

April 8, 2009

Blandish Thoughts

Filed under: Oklahoma,Recent — ldsrr91 @ 2:08 AM

Look out!  I got the headphones on and I am cranking out another one!  No one knows where it is headed, and as for content, well, that one is up in the air too.  I am watching this television commentator on the tube last night, and he gives total new meaning to the expression, “television is the vast American Wasteland.”

He says, “So, you’ve won the Avant-Garde Hairdresser of the year award.  What does that mean.”  And this hairdresser, who incidentally appears to be a little lite in the loafers replies, “Well, it means I’m the Avant-Garde Hairdresser of the year.”

Duh.

Here is your Urban Word for the day:  Ya Smell Me?  This is a derivative of “You know what I am saying?” which is short for “Do you understand what I am trying to explain?”

Had my taxes figured yesterday, looks like the government is going to buy that new submarine after all, what can I say.  There was a guy in there and he and I got to talking and he told me that he was “eighty-one years old” and that just blew me away.  First off, he didn’t look eighty-one years old and secondly, “why in the hell should someone eighty-one years old have to pay taxes” that just doesn’t seem right.  There ought to be a cut off in here somewhere, say seventy-five and you are out, no more taxes.

Did you ever stop to think about it?

If you take the 2 words “the” and “IRS” and put them together it spells “theirs.”

Been a pretty boring week, nothing absolutely nothing (so far) has gone wrong.  I bore quickly and going out to the backyard and whistling softly and watching the neighbors dog hit the end of the chain is no longer amusing.  I did do something kind of kinky this week, I snuck over to my neighbor’s house; he is sitting in his living room watching basketball.  This is the #1 sports fan of the neighborhood, and we both have Cox Cable.

So I take my Cox remote, the great big silvery thing that looks like something out of Star Wars, walk over to his porch and slip it up to the window facing his television and start changing the channels on him!  Now this is a hoot!  Unfortunately it was really upsetting my seventy-four year old neighbor and I had to stop.

Even in suburbia there are apparently limits to good clean fun.

This is nothing new, I first got the idea last year when I took our other remote, the programmable one to the VA and sat in the waiting room and changed the volume levels and channels on all the Agent Orange Boys with the short fuses.  But you have to be careful with them, unlike the neighbor across the street, they have been trained in highly skilled measures of American Diplomacy and they could possibly kill you.

Had this dream last night, we were headed to the mall to purchase a book on the “Secrets of life.”  And it was only $14.99, now in this day and age, that is a bargain.  I know that strikes you as funny (perhaps not) but it is like they say, “Laughter is the best medicine.”  But of course, we all know that laughter is NOT the best medicine, at best, it might be fourth or fifth or somewhere around there.  According to a double blind study in Finland for instance, laughter comes in a strong fifth, behind aspirin, penicillin, placebos and Vicks Vapor Rub.

While I am in a medical mood.  How about “Beauty is only skin deep.”  Actually, in a comparison of the spleens, gallbladders, livers, pituitary glands and pancreases of 500 cadavers, a panel of judges found the internal organs of attractive humans to be 32% prettier.  So this adage should be adjusted to “Beauty is only internal-organ deep” … By the way, how is your breakfast this morning?

I seem to be on a roll here …… unfortunately it appears to be headed downhill.

Just like this “Rome wasn’t built in a day” thing.  Whoever came up with that? Although this is technically accurate, the proverb is still misleading according to the Lowe’s Associate I met on Monday.  He told me that Rome was built in thirty-six hours, using prefabricated materials and a Lowe’s low interest credit card.

Duh.

A Michigan man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for “having sex with a car wash vacuum cleaner” he was 29 years old, and I assume, “pretty lonely.”  Can you imagine being caught in flagrante with a vacuum cleaner?  How embarrassing would that be?  So you are sitting in your cell, and this big dude next to you says, “What you in for?” and you reply, “sex with a huffy.”  Not a good thing, no sir, not a good thing at all.

One of my data generators for this site says that people come here for “news.”  Which kind of tickled me, because I hate the news.  Nothing like sitting down, opening up the paper and reading where some poor slob in Argentina isn’t able to withdraw his money, that businesses are making no sales, the stock market is closed tight, people don’t know what their money is worth and they can’t get it out of the banks, even if they wanted to.  Oh wait, that is not Argentina, that is America, what was I thinking.  I am sorry.

Things haven’t been this bad since George Bush Sr. upchucked on that Japanese official and then passed out.  Michelle Obama has planted a pumpkin patch in the rose garden backyard, but I hear the Republicans are going to pass a bill canceling Halloween.

Well once more Boys & Girls I see the old bottom of the page rolling up, it is time for me to depart.  I am going to go over to Pay Pal.com and order me one of those new fangled Sleeptracker Pro’s.  This is the one alarm clock that you will not want to smash every morning when you get up.  Worn like a wristwatch it “monitors” fluctuations in the sleep cycle.

Rousing you only during an “almost awake” moment (which for the most part is the better part of my days anyway) so that you’ll arise … sharp, cheery, and theoretically in a “good mood.”  That is until you get the bill on your credit card statement for $179 clams!

Hang in there, it is almost the weekend.  And remember:  “If you believe that there is some good in everybody, then most likely, you haven’t met everyone.”  When you come back to comment on this, please be nice … “I’m just trying to come up in da game.  Ya Smell Me?“

OOO

April 7, 2009

Refilling the Coffers

Filed under: Oklahoma,Recent — ldsrr91 @ 3:35 AM
Tags: , , , , ,

033009Figured on starting out with a article on terrorism this morning, but I lost the draft, and since I cannot produce the body of work that I desire.  I have to go to the old time stand-by that always seemed to fit the bill.

George Dubya Bush.

There is an old saying that goes something like, “Politicians are clearly out of touch with the working man and far removed from the norm of society.” I am pretty sure that this would apply to Ex-Presidents.  Mr. Bush, having just recently returned from a whirlwind tour of Canada to replenish the family coffers would come under this heading.

Last I heard, the media was reporting that he left Washington DC with an accumulated wealth of some $21 million dollars.

So for lack of something better, I find myself reading this article in the Dallas Daily that says Mr. Bush is replenishing the family stocks in this apparent time of need.  Feeling a “need to replenish” when you are sitting on a mountain of cash is somewhat out of touch.  Clearly this is out of sync with the rest of the country who at last count was suffering terribly just trying to put groceries on the table.

Mr. Bush started out in March in Calgary Canada on his first speaking engagement since leaving the presidency, most of his speeches were for small business groups.  His goal is ten speeches per year.  Which to most would seem achievable or a somewhat trivial goal.  But most have never seen Mr. Bush give a speech or a lecture.  This will be a formidable challenge for him, just lining up ten locations that are willing to sit thru one of these.

His presentations have the theme of a doorstop that could talk kind of feel to them.

Now for the poor working stiff, just imagining a life with $21 million in assets is a big stretch, unless you are a recent lottery winner.  I cannot imagine how it would feel to think “I was in need of cash, while sitting on a financial base as Mr. Bush apparently has.” Insecurity must be playing in this heavily and thus, the apparent need to hit the trail and get on the stumping path across North America.

Calgary today, Saskatchewan next, Bakersfield and Modesto … the family coffers are low … and the sky is the limit.

They say a wise man knows his limitations and I assume this is why the Ex-President is now back in Dallas and said to be writing some 1,500 words per day (now there is a spelling checker that is getting a workout).  He is writing this for his memoir, which will explain how he decided to send troops to Iraq.  His response to Hurricane Katrina, the formation of his stem-cell policy, and his relationship with his father.

After this he is scheduled to open his “library of freedom” in Texas, where rumor has it, he will “rewrite history” (as Mr. Bush see’s it).  Might be a good idea, I hear that libraries are the only place in America that are still lending.

As for today, he seems to be content to sit in his little bungalow in Dallas, rewriting the past.  Waxing nostalgic is like a grammar lesson.  You find the present tense, but the past perfect.  Which will be right in character for this man.

I suppose there will be a lot of media hoopla about this library of freedom project to open in the near future, perhaps maybe even a contest of sorts.  The X numbered visitor will receive a prize or something like that.

Grand prize?

How about a foreclosed Condo in Florida with a repo’ed GM Hummer on the driveway … that would be appropriate don’t you think?

OOO

“The cartoon courtesy of Center for American Progress” (online)

April 6, 2009

Lucilles – Lunch With Whitey

Filed under: Oklahoma,Recent,Uncategorized — ldsrr91 @ 3:29 AM
Tags: , , , , , ,

dsc00203

Sitting on the westside of U.S. Highway #77 in Mulhall, Oklahoma, you will find Lucille’s.  Highway #77 starts a long ways south of Mulhall, deep in the Heart of Texas, on the U.S. – Mexican border and runs north all the way to Des Moines, Iowa, where it turns into another little two-lane that eventually ends up in Canada.

Mulhall being founded in the late 1800′s is a small farming community that was almost wiped out a while back by a tornado that was approximately one-mile wild.  As incredible as all this sounds, it is based in fact, and is very much true.  This is the stuff of movie fame out on the Left Coast of America (Hollywood).

Lucille’s is a steak house and watering hole for the locals, that was built in the remnants of the old bank building.  Lucille’s bar, has in the background, the bank safe that has reported bullet holes in it, from when the notorious Dalton Gang was alleged to have robbed the place way back when.

It sets right next to the railroad tracks, and for added atmosphere and charm, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) freight rattles by about every fifteen minutes or so, shaking the tables and vibrating the floor.

On Saturday night they move all the tables back after a certain hour, throw a little sawdust on the floor and the magic of the night turns the eatery into the local talent hot spot.  Bands of not much fame (and often very little real talent so I am told) provide the music.

A somewhat tame party mixer of 3.2 beer is served and a good time is often shared by all.  It seldom gets as rowdy as the “old days,” when they used to serve the “hard stuff” but the local “do-gooders” voted it down to cut down on the hooligans and drunk drivers.

Lucille’s is a neat laid-back kind of place.

A place where, if you wish, you can still order a “Red One” (tomato juice and beer) and no one will laugh at you.

WhiteyLast Thursday, I made the drive north, about 41 miles to have lunch with my last surviving uncle in the family.  Vern, who the locals affectionately refer to as “Ol Whitey.”  I believe this nickname originated as a kid, when he was reported to have white blond hair growing up outside Laramie, Wyoming.

Whitey will be 87 years old this December and is getting up in years.  He isn’t able to hear all that well and wears hearing aids in both ears, and even with them in, still has a noticeable hearing loss problem.

He is also starting to suffer from dementia, as age and time, take their respective toll.

So, with my appreciable hearing loss (a common curse associated with retired railroad workers in the United States) and his combined hearing deficit, we make a pretty amusing and interesting couple for lunch.

Whitey is quite the character and an interesting person to know.  A World War veteran he served as a waist gunner on B-17′s out of Saipan in the South Pacific Theater of action.  He is no longer the swaggering locomotive engineer on the Santa Fe Railroad.

On most days he remains fairly clear and lucid, is often full of sharp wit.  “Tells me all the time that he isn’t as good as he once was, and has a little hitch in his giddy-up, but I am doing what I love and loving what it is that I do.“

Which seems to work for him.

If you question him about all the junk in the barn, he will laugh and say …. “Hell, it is too valuable to get rid of, and aint worth enough to sell.” He coon hunts with an old mule named Rivers, takes his dog with him to town on trips to the bank and sings the praises of Viagra and all those round body Oklahoma women (which he affectionately refers to as “full figure” gals) and boasts a little too much in public.

As with all things in life, too many birthdays often create problems.

His dementia robs him of memory, he is prone to repeat himself from time to time, which with time seems to be getting worse.  So in order to keep the peace, we have reached an agreement of sorts.  So born out of necessity we came up with a plan.  He and I have a working arrangement where if he begins to tell me but another story and I have heard it before or repeats himself. I just give him our “code word” as he calls it.

I just say “Shaddup Whitey” and then he realizes he is doing it again, and he says, “Oh, okay.  And then he quiets back down.“

The other day while we are having our lunch at Lucille’s as he is prone to do, he would several times repeat himself.  Which at that time I would say “Shaddup Whitey” and he would say “Okay.”

Now during the course of our meal, four or five times, I would say this to him.

Then towards the end of the meal Whitey at some point informs me he has to use the restroom and excused himself from the table.  I am sitting there sippin’ on my glass of sweet tea and out of the corner of my eye, I notice this woman approaching the table, eying me suspiciously like a one-eyed cat in a fish market.

This cannot be good I am thinking.

She walks up to the table and rather bluntly says to me, “I think it is just disgusting the way you are treating your father and you should be ashamed of yourself!”

I stop and think about this.

(A)  Do I consider telling her what is really going on, or (B) do I just shrug it off and continue with my lunch?

I opt for option #2 and tell her “she is absolutely right” and then let it go.

dsc00205

Whitey returns from the Men’s Room, smiles his best toothy smile at the ladies, and then says to me, “You ready to go boy?” and I nod my head in agreement.  As we are walking out, I can feel the lady’s eyes boring a hole in the back of my head and I smile.

If you are ever up on Old #77 just a little north of Okie City and you want to do lunch, check out Lucille’s, you cannot go wrong. There you will find everything you need.  Good food, ambiance, a touch of America that is fast disappearing.

And as an added bonus …. Perhaps Whitey and I will be there to amuse and confuse you.

OOO

Lucille’s Resteraunt, Mulhall Oklahoma, 405-649-2100 … http://www.lucillesok.com/

April 2, 2009

This Dog Won’t Hunt

Filed under: Oklahoma,Recent — ldsrr91 @ 8:32 AM
Tags: , , , , ,


Recently I wrote to the CEO of Hewett Packard to voice my displeasure on their policy concerning printers they were selling (no ink and no printer cables) and this is the response I received.

If you missed the article, here is the link:  Another Mantic Interlude

The CEO of HP (or his appointed representative) has responded to my email.  It basically blows me off and it doesn’t offer anything other than lip service, sadly, there isn’t any big surprise here.

Dear Don Smith,

Thank you for your response.  We regret your issues with Vista (This was not the issue) and the Deskjet 722C which became obsolete for HP on 05/31/2000.  Additionally support ended for this printer on 05/31/2003. (The printer in question left the property in the innards of the Waste Management Truck on Friday with all the other trash of man.  It served me well, it was a good product.)

We also regret that you were not informed that most of HP’s consumer model printers do not come with USB cables. (This problem could be solved, by as suggested in the article, raising the print level of the instructions on the box.  Print it in REGULAR TYPE PRINT THAT IS CLEARLY VISIBLE.  Instead of burying it in smaller hard to read print somewhere on the box ) .This is to keep the cost of the printer competitive and to allow the customer to get the length of US cable that is appropriate for the customer’s environment and application.  (Which sounds nice, selling a product missing parts in order to assure the customer he is getting the best possible price and also allow the customer to get the chord of his/her choice or as a convenience to him/her, which is double talk.  Most of the printer cables I saw there were made by HP and they were all the SAME length, so that kind of negates the entire argument right there.)

Once again we appreciate your feedback.
Regards,

Hewlett-Packard Company
Executive Customer Relations
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304

Might be worth mentioning here, the issue of the missing print cartridges was not even addressed, this could be because that is also an embarrassment.

Bottom Line:  We were considering (before this) the new touch screen HP computer as this one here, is about 11 years old.  But after this, it is going to be a Macintosh for sure, you bozo’s are not getting any more of my dollars.

Your policies as stated suck, your product as sold, is junk.

“Offering a printer at the best positive competitive price, WITHOUT THE ITEMS REQUIRED FOR IT TO OPERATE OUT OF THE BOX, and devoid of required operating parts is fraud.”

Two ways to sell oats boys.

Before they have been thru the horse and after.

This is definitely “after.”

So unfortunately for you, here is my policy:  “I am buying something else next time, no more HP as stated in the original piece and I am telling everyone I know, to do the same.”

OOO

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Theme: Rubric. Blog at WordPress.com.