Thanks to my friends Glen and LaRue Standley for sending me this in an email. I thought it was too great to not share.

Have a nice day everyone.

Well, the New Year is just about to descend upon us. Have you ever wondered what this year will be like? Will you have prosperity or disaster, health or sickness, happiness or sorrow? If you are single will you meet the man of your dreams or the girl of your dreams?

New Years Eve, what memories it brings to me. I must say I agree with UKBob. It is just another day to me and if it wasn't for this crazy woman I am married to I would be in bed at 10:00pm like any other day. For some insane reason Cheryl thinks we must welcome each new year in at the stroke of midnight.

When we first got married her family almost insisted we get together on New Years day to just visit, play games or sleep. YUCK!!! New Years day is for football, football, and more football. I had to do some attitude adjusting over that one. There is the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl and various others. Of course whomever is in charge of all these bowl games has screwed them up so bad that now days one doesn't know what is what.

I remember one New Years eve very well. (Aleaha, you don't need to read any further) I was a senior in high school and like most seniors we were looking forward to getting out of high school and becoming independent by being on our own. Our school had a rule that if you got caught smoking or drinking you would not only lose the school letters you had earned, but you were banned from participating in all sports the rest of the year.

This particular evening we, as athletes, had decided to heck with the school rules and we planned a party that would top all parties. One person's parents were out of town for a while so that was the place to hold the shindig.

That night there was beer, there was wine, there was whiskey of various flavors. Oh what a party. We were all so inebriated that I doubt any of us could tell someone our names. Fuzzily I remembered my Father coming to the door on New Years day and telling me to get home and milk the cows. Oh, how could he ask that? Somehow I managed to get home and stagger out to the barn where the cows were patiently waiting. I tried my best but all I can faintly remember is setting down to the same cow about three times to milk her. Finally she kicked me clean across the barn and I gave up. To this day I don't know if I milked all of them or not. I would guess probably not.

Now my family did not drink and being Mormons they didn't think any of their kids should be drinking either. Me, I was the black sheep of the family. What lesson did I learn from that party? Well, one thing I know is that I cannot stand the smell or appearance of whiskey to this day. I was so sick for the next few days that I thought I was going to die. Wine is the same way. I want to start barfing when I see or smell it.

When we were finally sober enough to see what we had done we found the washing machine plumb full of empty bottles, the house had suffered some damage and the whole town knew what we had done, who had done it and we were in trouble. Needless to say the whole bunch of us were removed from all athletics and all letters earned were taken away... but, oh what a party.:)

One of these times I will have to write about my softball experience in Jackson, Wyoming. Another of Tim's tales.

Don't think ill of me. These were follies of youth and I have since straightened out and no longer do such things. Now I am as pure as the driven snow.:)

Have a nice day everyone.

Okay, the Christmas holiday is over and now we face the New Year's Eve with its wild parties, inebriated drivers, people doing silly things and the list goes on. Please, everyone, be safe, responsible and out of mischief. (Luce are you reading this?):)

Christmas was great here. Cheryl was down with her surgery, which she is doing very nicely from, I have had a dose of the flu but am recovering. Santa was kind and luckily he won't be sending any bills to me later. I like that part.

Not much to report today. Still not feeling a 100% so my brain is not clicking like it normally would. Snowed for Christmas and that was good. I like a Christmas snow. It makes the world seem so fresh.

Think I will close for now. Stomach is complaining... sorry.

Have a nice day everyone.

Well, if any of you don't get a visit from Santa this year maybe this is why.

Just taking a moment to wish all a very Merry Christmas and I mean that sincerely.

Today is Sunday, the sabbath, and I have to give a talk to the senior citizen center. This has really been a hard one for me to come up with the appropriate subject but I strongly feel I should read the Christmas story from the Bible. I am sure it has been a while since some of them have heard it.

Do I believe the Christmas story? With all my heart and soul. Putting all the kidding aside, all the presents, all the Grinch groaning, I must let everyone know I believe wholeheartedly in Jesus Christ. There are many who claim this is just a fictional story which never really happened. Sorry, but I am not one of them. My life would be so empty without my knowledge of Christ and his mission to the earth. Is He the son of God? Yep, without a doubt.

If he is the son of God then maybe we should find out just what is so important about his life and teachings. I have had some people tell me that if I didn't change some of my habits that I would die. My answer, "What is the problem?" If I die I know what happens to me and, other than being separated from Cherl, I does not bother me. Of course I don't want to be a burden to her if I should become ill.

One doctor told me that I was a walking dead man. I thanked him for his compassion and went on my way. I am living life as well as I can and I enjoy life right now. I have good friends, some of you I have never met but hope to some day maybe.

Got to run. Am singing in the choir today (they love me, hah!!!)

Have a very Merry Christmas and be safe. Will post again on Tuesday or Wednesday.

That's right Santa baby. I even signed the note so you will know who has your number. Forget the bike I want more, more MORE!!!

Well we got our Christmas snow last night and more coming. Sure glad I am not driving anywhere. I can just set back, watch TV, pester Cheryl, eat goodies and sleep, sleep, sleep. Ah, the advantages of being in the retirement stage, sort of.

Alice I would hate to have you and my daughter, Katie, get together. You sound too much like her. She is the one who has the Olson Dozen blog. Rotten kid anyway.

Schaumi, Schaumi, Schaumi what kind of attitude are you displaying. Barring the doors and etc.

Well, one daughter has left and wouldn't even say goodbye to her Father and wouldn't let her children say goodbye to their Grandfather. What kind of children did I raise? Couldn't be that I was on the computer and away from everyone. The cat and I hide when all those women come to our house. The other daughter is in the kitchen baking banana bread so she can stay for a little while longer.

Actually I am glad she is here. My feet started hurting me really bad and when I had them checked we found large cracks on the bottom. Don't know why that happened. Too much love in me I guess and it was trying to find a way out.

Got to run. Have a nice day everyone.

Ho,Ho,Ho,Ho... Only four more days until the jolly, fat man comes. (No, smarties, I am not talking about myself.) I keep hoping he will bring me something 'cause, like Garfield, I have been really good the last few weeks.

Update on Cheryl. She is doing fine. The surgery was a complete success and it was good she had it done since it was a little more serious than the x-rays had indicated. Oh that woman takes advantage of the situation. Tim do this, and, Tim do that. Going to hit her on the head with her crutch. I was NEVER like that when I had surgery. She expected me to be up and going the very next day.

She was hungry when we got home last night and she wanted hamburgers and eggs. I had to put my foot down since Burger King doesn't cook eggs at night. What did she expect? Me to cook them? Then this morning it was an order of fried potatoes, (she tried to placate me by saying I always do the best job of cooking them), bacon (that almost caused a divorce on the spot. The bacon is mine, mine MINE), eggs again, why, because,(as she put it) my scrambled eggs are soooo good.) Then she wanted hot apple cider. Oh, the things I do for that woman. I would never expect to be pampered like that.

Our two girls just arrived and that was my chance to escape from caregiver to computer operator and that is why I am blogging right now. They claim they are here to help their mother. Yeah, right. First thing out their mouths was, I'm hungry so whats to eat Dad. I showed them the kitchen and said to have at it. Kids, what can I say. Doesn't matter what the age they still expect to be waited upon.

Have you read that the polar cap is melting? I know the reason why. Canadians are full of hot air... right Alice?

Well, guess I will go and start a fire since no one can light a match and put it to the tinder. What would women do without men? (Keep it nice ladies)

Have a nice day.

Oh man, now Santa won't come to my house. Must have happened in Australia.

I finally put a counter on my blog and am surprised at the hits it gets. Sure wish I knew who all was reading my dribble but am grateful for your visit.

I was thinking about different athletics and how to compare them to the animal world. Why was I thinking this??? I don't know it is just how my mind works. Take basketball players for example. Tall, graceful and a little on the deceiving side. They look awkward until they get into action and then it is something else. I compare them to a giraffe.

Volleyball players are like a bunch of monkeys. So much activity going on and it all serves a purpose.

Wrestlers are the ones that got me thinking in these terms. Wrestlers are like orangutans, and I hope I spelled that right. You ever watch a wrestler. They walk around with their arms hanging down, slightly bent at the waist, shuffling not walking and they ooze grunting and groaning.

I have decided that wrestlers are young men who have not decided their gender preference. They enjoy grappling and groping other young men until they find out that , hey, girls are more fun to do this with. Me, I was never a wrestler. We Irish may have our faults but knowing who is more fun to wrestle with is not one of them. Drinking, well that is another problem. Not my problem but a general Irish problem.

I just read where the Christmas tree tradition started in Germany. What a great thing for the Germans to produce. I love looking at our Christmas tree with its lights glowing. Now if Mrs. Claus would place some presents under the tree with Mr. Claus' name on them it would be much better.

Won't be posting a blog tomorrow. My sweetheart goes in for knee surgery and needs all the TLC I can give. I sure hope I can get back in time for the ball game. A one legged woman should still be able to fix a meal don't you think?

It is cold here. I would be willing to bet it was close to zero last night if not colder. Lazy Cheryl would not keep the fire going and she refuses to let me start the furnace. Thank goodness the cat is warm and is snuggled in against me. Women, I tell you if it weren't for sex I would hate them. Oops, I meant if it weren'f for their good cooking since the other doesn't matter anymore. (Liar)

Enough for today. Breakfast is waiting.

Have a nice day everyone.

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but my love is sooooooo delightful... Merry Christmas to one and all.

I have completed my first tour of duty and now have a month off to do nothing but pester Cheryl, pester the cat, pester, pester, pester. Oh the joys of life.

Today's subject is WOMEN and I know I will be in the hot seat for what I am about to say. First though I must say something else. If I have offended anyone through my blog I sincerely apologize. Sometimes my sense of humor, or lack of it, can get me in serious trouble without me being aware of it.

Case in point: For quite some time I have had a lady in Texas (no not you Luce,)who commented on my blog quite frequently and even sent an email or two. Suddenly she has stopped, will not respond to any kind of writing and I am wondering why. I truly am a sensitive person who worries about offending others... most of the time. I just hope this is a rare case and for some reason I think it might have something to do with religion, although I certainly don't look at it that way. Okay enough of this and on to today's subject... women.

Being a man I get confused by women which is quite normal. I have a question to all of you of the female persuasion. How in the world do you guys wear such tight levi's or other pants and feel comfortable? As I attend the various sports activities I see women in the tightest levi pants and I wonder how they do it. It has to be uncomfortable trying to set down let alone walk very much in them. I know when I wear levi's if they are too tight I can hardly move and they chafe my body something terrible.

Then there are those women who wear clothes that they should never wear. I knew a woman in my home town that was quite heavy and she would wear the tightest stretch material and called them pants. Quite frankly watching her from behind she looked like she had two fat hogs in a sack that were fighting with each other. Truly disgusting.

Have you ever met someone that looked very attractive and then when they opened their mouths to speak it was like Satan himself entered the room. YUCK!!

Yes, you ladies are nice to look at I will admit that but... Next on the list. What is with all this cleavage? I get the biggest kick out of watching women wear cleavage showing blouses and then constantly tugging at them to cover themselves up so no one will look at their chest. If they didn't want to be looked at then why wear that type of clothing? It is natural for a man's eyes to drop instantly when cleavage is showing so why get mad at him for looking? There was a young woman in her twenties at the game the other day and I thought she was going to fall out everytime she bent over. I also noticed she got upset if someone was looking and every male in the house had to be looking. Women, sheesh.

What I consider truly beautiful is a woman with a tasteful dress that comes to her knees and a somewhat modest top. There are so many appealing clothes out there that cover up yet leave that feminine allure that can drive a man crazy. Maybe I am old fashioned, well, old anyway. I hope I have not offended in any way with my comments. No matter what I still find you attractive and those that I do generally have great personalities no matter how they look.

Guess I had better quit while I am still alive and kicking. Got to go and catch up on my blog reading and see what you'all have been up to.

Have a nice day everyone.

Now this picture is me on Christmas morning although I am not outside in the snow. I will be inside assuming the same position.

Got home about 1:00am and woke up at my usual 6:00am. Been visiting with Cheryl and teasing her as usual but she still loves me. My trip was a good one althought the storm caused some concern. Mostly it was the wind. When I get a crosswind hitting the bus it moves it around quite smartly at times.

I wanted to do this Christmas meme that I saw on Claire's Garden. What the heck is a "meme"? I never heard this word (or saw it) until I started blogging. Anyway here is my Christmas meme.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both. I love egg nog but I also love hot chocolate.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? He wraps them just to irritate me. He knows of my impatience.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Combination of both although I prefer colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes, but a fat lot of good it does me. When an attractive lady comes to my house I pucker up but she thinks I am kidding.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Generally the first week of December.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Hmmmmm, tough one. I like ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and white gravy, hot rolls, sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, oh, and an occasional hot dog. Yup, all this is my favorite holiday dish.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Mercy that is a tough one. I do remember getting some Maine style snowshoes that I truly enjoyed.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth? Is there something wrong with Santa? I guess I don't understand the question cause he still visits me.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope, never.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I hang the lights and Cheryl puts on the ornaments. I have no patience for the ornament hanging. I sit in the chair and direct her when she does it wrong.:)

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Christmas snow... love it. Driving snow... hate it.

12. Do you ice skate? Never have.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Oops, I think I answered that in question 8 although Cheryl has surprised me with some very nice gifts over the years.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? I should say family, love, and all that but in actuality it is the lights. I love going around and viewing the lights. It is also the time to reflect on the birth of my Savior although I don't need a special time to do that.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Hmmmmmm again. Cheryl's homemade chocolate fudge. I also love fruitcake. I guess it takes one to appreciate one.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Putting something in the tree for Cheryl and watching her try to find it on Christmas morning.

17. What tops your tree? It used to be what we called our "drunken angel". That stupid thing never could set straight. Now we have a star.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Wellllllllllllll, I guess the correct answer would be giving so I will go with that. I do enjoy finding items that I know others will truly enjoy and seeing the happiness it brings them.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Good grief there are so many. Rockin Around The Christmas Tree, Have A Holly Jolly Christmas, All I Want For Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth. (In my case a new set of dentures). What Child Is This.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yuck to just eat them. Yum to put them in hot chocolate and get the minty taste.

So there you have the Grinch's Christmas meme. All you Who's in Whooville better watch out cause my night is coming. heh, heh, heh. Come on Max, we got work to do.

How about some of you doing this Christmas meme so I can find out more about you?

Have a nice day everyone.

I know this is not a Christmas photo but it is an awesome photo. Taken in the middle east in a country that we are helping yet they are not so grateful for. This is a rescue mission of a wounded soldier. Who says military pilots are not good.

I probably won't get to post anymore this week since my schedule is similar to last weeks. I am not complaining though cause I actually like being busy, busy, busy. The time will come when I won't be doing anything and then I will be moping around the house bothering Cheryl, teasing the cat and just making a nuisance of myself.

Snowed again last night but not much. Starting next week I have a month off so it can snow all it wants for that month. Cheryl goes in for knee surgery on the 20th but should be home that same day. It is the a...scopy type of surgery. Christmas will be spent at home just relaxing, watching movies and maybe a little bit of football. We have been so busy this past week we never even turned on the Christmas lights we put up outside.

Still trying to figure out how to put a counter on my blog. I thought I had it down but it didn't work. So I am slow about some things but I will keep trying. It is hard for an old brain to do new things.

Have a nice day everyone.

A friend sent this picture to me and I found it awesome. Just once I would love to be there in person to see the shuttle take off.

Well, the week ended on a good note, in fact the whole week was good, just busy. Looks like this week will be about the same so I won't be posting too much. However, starting next week I have to take a month off so the school district will not have to consider me a full time employee.

The tournament I mentioned going to had 30 schools wrestling and our school placed 8th which is not bad considering we were going up against some much larger schools. The coming weekend is another tournament in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Should be interesting.

I will admit I am still tired enough to be a little rummy so please forgive me. I have not had a chance to read any other blogs but will catch up next week.

You know I had some stories I was going to tell but right now I can't think of a darned thing. (A sure sign of tiredness).

I cannot believe how I have gotten away from the rat race of city living. All the years in California with it's hustle and bustle I just accepted as part of life. Now that I am living in Downey (one horse town USA) I have really slowed down. As I drove through Salt Lake City with it's bumper to bumper traffic, people all around yet you are still very much alone, the whole scene made me appreciate my small, quiet town, one horse and all.

Coming back Saturday night it was nothing but bumper to bumper all the way and I kept asking myself, "Where are all these people going? Don't they like being at home?"

I am falling asleep while writing this so I am going to go and take a nap. Sorry gang.

Have a nice day.

Well Ho, Ho, Ho to all of you. This is the Grinch playing like the good guy.

This will be my one and only posting this week. I will be driving bus quite a bit for the rest of the week. Thursday I don't even come home. I am being put up in a motel because I have to be up and driving by 5:30 am to take the wrestling team to a tournament in Utah. I love this kind of schedule.

I have been extremely busy as of late, which is good, but does not allow me to visit blogs, children, or my wife very much. Hope this finds you all happy and doing well. Schaumi it is good to see you are still with me and I am still waiting for that picture.:) Take care everyone and I will post more next week, I hope.

Have a nice day everyone.

I know just how this boy feels. Who said Santa Claus was dead? Cruel, just cruel.

First to my Australian friends.... Blogger has been a real pain as of late. I have tried to post comments to Jen and Cazz but was rejected each time. I want you to know I listened to "G'Day, G'Day" in its entirety. Interesting, most interesting. I also liked the "Monkey" video clip and found it hilarious.

Pamela I have tried to post a comment to you as well but again Blogger would not let me. There have been others but at this moment I don't remember who. I sure miss Schaumi though.

Not much to report here today. It was colder than he... well, let's just say it was very cold last night. I took a bus load of girl basketball players to a school that is out in the boondocks and talk about a cold wind blowing. The temp had to have been around 5 or 6 degrees but the wind was blowing about 20 mph and the wind chill factor was just plain miserable. Wah, wah, wah. It looks like snow today.

I have managed to piddle away this day. I am supposed to be making calendars for my kids and their families (something I do each year)so we can keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, as well as telephone numbers and addresses. My heart just isn't into it today so will go and take a nap to see if that will help.:)

Hope you are all having a good day or G'day. Luce hope your day is better. I can't believe I, a Mormon, gave you advice to pour yourself a cold one, eat chocolate and just relax in front of a nice fire. We don't drink and shouldn't encourage others to do so but what the heck, if it makes you feel better go for it. Anyone who lives in Texas deserves something to make them feel better.

Hey, how do you put a counter on your blog so you can see how many hits it has?

Blogger is giving me fits this morning. This is mainly for UKBob and Claires Garden or anyone else who would like to comment about my predicument.

When I moved into this house the yard was in sad shape and had not been taken care of in a long, long time. The lilac bushes had gone wild so I took a saw and leveled them to shoulder height. My wife thinks I have ruined thema and they will not produce leaves or flowers. I need to know if this is true or are they okay and just need time to look nice again.

Thanks to anyone and everyone.

This Christmas picture didn't turn out as good as I wanted but the thought is still there.

Yesterday I asked for responses about Christmas traditions. I thought I would tell a couple of ours that we have done for many years. What Cheryl and I are finding that as we get older and the kids are no longer around we have to change some of the things we do. Bummer in a way.

One tradition I started when we first got married was putting a small gift for Cheryl in the tree. The kids would all know about it and it was as much fun to watch them trying to keep a secret as it was for Cheryl to find it. She was a pretty good sport about not looking until Christmas morning. The kids would all watch and do the warm, cold, hot thing as she looked. Some years it would be earrings, another was a ring, one was a watch. I have not kept this tradition up too well so maybe this year there will be another item in the tree.

Each Christmas eve we would all gather around and I would read the Christmas story from the Bible, we would sing some songs and have goodies to eat, then we would get in the car and drive around looking at Christmas light displays. Being a young father I never realized at the time how much fun it was. Now that I am older and the kids are gone I kind of miss it. Cheryl and I still go around looking at lights.


Another tradition that I started (and sometimes wish I had not)was one where I would tell or read The Night Before Christmas but... I would insert songs throughout the story. Personally I thought it was rather dumb and the kids would tire of it quite easily, such was not the case however. One year I had no intentions of reading and singing but the kids put up such a squawk that I continued with that tradition. Now they think I should do it for the grandkids but so far grandpa has vetoed such actions.

So those are some of our traditions. I do hope some of you will respond. Last night we had a group over to our house and we discussed this very item. It was interesting what their parents did when they were children and what they did with their own families.

Go to go. It is supposed to snow more today and I need to rest up for all that shoveling Cheryl will have to do.

Hot dog it worked. Thank you Tiger Sue and Schaumi for helping me.

I know all of you have seen this picture before but this is the one I want on my profile if I can now figure out how to do it. Handsome pair aren't we.

It is cold and wintry today. Snow has been coming down off and on and the wind bites right through you. I was out putting up some Christmas lights and decided we have enough for this year. Cheryl has the house looking really nice. It is amazing how the Christmas season brings out a warm comfortable feeling. I can't help but feel for those who are in the war zones and having their families destroyed by evil forces.

Went to Preston, ID over the weekend and watched the light parade and the bed races. It was fun to say the least although a bit on the cold side. Cheryl and I finished up our shopping for the holidays and then went to our daughter's place for her husbands birthday. He is an OLD 29 years. How would it be to complain about being 29. Actually I am very happy with my age. I can flirt all I want and no one takes me serious, foolish females anyway. heh,heh,heh.

Tonight our little town is having its lighting ceremony (whoopteedoo) and then a bunch of us are coming back here for hot chocolate and cookies. Should be fun. Hey, I was wondering what the Australians do for Christmas. It is not the time for snow down there so do you pray for a Christmas rain? Santa has to put on his speedo's when he goes down there.

Does anyone have any Christmas traditions you would like to share? I might have asked this before but I find it interesting what others do that is special for the holidays. (No, Luce and Schaumi, wild office parties do not count as tradition). hee, hee.

Guess I will close and go take a nap. I mean I have vacuumed, put up lights, had to fix my own lunch and the list goes on. I am pooped.

Have a nice day everyone.

After these many years of telling us that wearing seatbelts will prevent us from being hurt in an accident, officials have figured out that not only will they prevent us from being too seriously hurt but... they will prevent accidents also.

For some reason I got to thinking of snakes. Now why in the name of common sense I would think of snakes is beyond me because I hate them with a passion and am scared to death of them. I have always maintained that a snake could not kill me because I would have a heart attack from fear first.

When I was 17 or 18 years old I was logging for a man in Island Park, Idaho. This is where I had the encounter with the bear and I wrote about it about a year ago. I was working with another young man and we stayed up there in the woods for a week at a time. The boss, Lee Kaufman was his name, put up with us two knotheads and was very patient. Each night when we would leave the work area we would ride in Lee's pickup down to where we were camped. Garl, my friend and co-worker, and I would always get in an argument, friendly of course, about who was going to set by the window in the pickup.

One day we were going especially strong as we descended the hill to get in the truck and we noticed Lee stop and was doing something with his shoe. We just figured he was re-tying his shoelace. He stood up and growled, "I am sick and tired of hearing you two argue now get in the truck and let's go." Well, okay Mr. Huffy.

Garl jumped in the middle and I got the door. I had no sooner shut the door when Lee opened his door and threw a snake onto us and said, "Now let's see how fast you can get out!" The snake landed across both of Garl's arms and he just kept it coming my way. I about tore the door of the truck off trying to get out. Poor old snake landed on the floor and slithered out onto the ground. I wouldn't even ride in the cab that night I was so shaken up. Danged onery Lee anyway.

I don't know if you have read the story from Reader's Digest about Snakes in the House. Made me shiver for a long time just to think of what those poor people went through. This fall there have been two instances of the same thing happening near the small town of Sugar Salem, Idaho. In the first story the people discovered them in the basement and in the ceiling. The second story they were found in the laundry basket curled up in the laundry. There many others discovered in other places as well. Can you imagine that poor lady when she flipped her laundry and there lay several snakes? Holy Moly I would have screamed like a little (kid) and would have refused to sleep in that house again.

Mw wife likes to tell the story of me and the snake while we were living in Riggins, Idaho. I had gone out to the garden, we had a beautiful garden, to check something and my oldest son, Kip, had toddled along after me. I seen that snake slithering in the grass, screamed and then told Kip to go get the gun. He ran screaming to his Mother and she brought the gun thinking I had been attacked by an anaconda. I blasted that snake to smitherines while my wife walked back to the house in disgust. Listen, a 12 inch snake can be deadly 'cause size doesn't matter. Turned out to be a harmless garden snake but it looked like an anaconda to me.

Okay, enough of the snake stories. I have the shivers just thinking about them.

Hi everyone,
A very quick and short blog today. I appreciate Tiger Sue and Schaumi for telling me how to put a picture on my blog. Right now I am so tired that I can't think straight so will try later. I took the varsity girls basketball team to play a game and it consisted of a 300 mile trip. I got home at 2:00a.m. and needless to say I am tired. At 5:00 a.m. a certain female whose initials are Cheryl Delaney awoke and just had to tell me about her day yesterday. Groan... I think I will go back to be right now. Have a great Thanksgiving.




MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY, MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP,
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS,
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER
STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.
Happy Thanksgiving

Okay, will someone please help this poor stupid man? I want to put a picture in my profile. I have the picture in my computer and on Yahoo pictures. How do I get it from one of those to Blogger so it shows up each time someone reads my blog? I think the Irish want to disown me over this.

I know I posted this picture last year but it still rings true.

I never have claimed to be a smart person and sometimes my actions prove me right beyond all words. Last Friday Cheryl and I went to the LDS temple in Logan, UT. Afterward we were kind of hungry so we went to Wal-Mart where a Subway sandwich shop is located. They have pastrami and we both love pastrami so we ordered that meal. For a drink they had Vault energy drink in their fountain and having never had Vault I ordered a 64 oz. cup. Tasted real good so I had another as we shopped Wal-Mart. We were both in a gazing mood, which is highly unusual for me, and we took over an hour just putzing around. Time to leave so we went back to Subway and refilled our drink; #3 cup of Vault energy drink.

We returned home, put things away and settled down to watch Ghost Whisperer, Close To Home and Numbers. Time for bed so we said our prayers, turned off the lights and prepared for a good nights sleep. Right? Wrong!!

That lucky Cheryl went to sleep immediately but me, oh no, it was more like this:

Me: "Close eyes and let's get some sleep."
Eyes: Blink, blink.

A half hour goes by:

Me: "Come on eyes, I am tired and I have to get up early."
Eyes: Blink, blink.... blink, blink.

An hour goes by and Cheryl is snoring with the best of them but me...
"Please eyes, close and go to sleep."
Eyes: Blink, blink, blink.

Two more hours go by and I have tossed and turned while Cheryl continues her snoring.
"Eyes will you PLEASE close and let me sleep."
Eyes: Looking around in the dark counting the white spots that float by, blink, blink, blink.

Finally about 4:00 am they close a little and then flutter finally letting me get some needed sleep. 5:00 am Cheryl rolls over, "Hey, are you awake?" I almost made her eyes go blink, blink from something poking them. "Boy", she said, "I sure slept good, how about you?" Once again I had to hold my hand back from poking her in the eye with my finger.

Energy drinks and me just don't get along.

Well Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The forgotten holiday. I guess everyone can think about the PS3 they didn't get or the Wii. Me, I don't play those games so it didn't matter to me. Looks like Cheryl and I are staying home and having dinner for just the two of us. We bought the DaVinci Code and will watch that. All of our kids are going somewhere else. This is the first year we have faced not having them around and I don't think we like it too much. The price we pay when they grow up and parents from the other side of their marriage want them to come and visit, or they live too far away. Hope everyone and anyone who reads this dribble has a very nice Thanksgiving day.

Do they celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia, Scotland, England, Canada or Texas? Sometimes we Americans get to thinking the world does just like we do.

Time to close.

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike

English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer,
the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female,
and asked them to decide for themselves whether
"computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer"
should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"),
because:

1. No one but their creator
understands their internal logic;

2. The native language
they use to communicate
with other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes
are stored in long term memory
for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make
a commitment to one,
you find yourself spending
half your paycheck
on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group,
however, concluded
that computers should be Masculine
("el computador"),
because:

1. In order to do anything
with them,
you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data
but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed
to help you solve problems,
but half the time
they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one,
you realize that if you
had waited a little longer,
you could have gotten
a better model.

The women won.

I was going to say this reminded me of my daughter in law Audra but after much more consideration I could see the resemblance of my daughter Katherine when she comes home from the hospital. If you look closely you will see the steam coming from the nostrils much the same as a puffer billy would do. Ha, ha, ha, ha. I am so funny I crack myself up.

Not much to say today. It is cold and I am cuddling up to the heater until the house gets warm. Cheryl just called me for breakfast. Only food will drag me away from the heater.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Have a nice day.

I think I have mentioned that my wife belongs to the Red Hat Society and I thought this picture depicted what they are all about. Are any of you ladies a part of the Red Hat Society?

I have this tune which keeps running through my mind so I guess if I write it down it will leave so I can listen to something else.

"Down by the station early in the morning. See the little Huff and Puff all in a row. See the station master blow his whistle. Huff, puff off they go." Now I know this is not exactly how the words go but for my purposes this is how I sing it. Why do I do this? Well....

I have this daughter named Katherine although she goes by Kate all the time. Now Katherine is an unusual girl. She sometimes gets upset over the most trivial things and she really does start to huff and puff like a locomotive. The only person in her life who can control her huffing and puffing is her Father. I must give her credit though, because at times she can get even quite well.

I used to play pranks on her by calling where she worked and saying I was from the police department and we had a warrant out for her arrest. I would tell her employer that she was considered dangerous and to not let on that we were looking for her. I never did have an employer not say something to her. Once she heard that someone called and asked about "Katherine" she instantly knew it was her Dad. I have never been one to call her Kate. I named her Katherine and that is how it should be with the middle name of Huff and Puff. So her name is really Katherine Huff and Puff Delaney.

One of my other daughters named Kimberly got me good in church one day. She was visiting and I was introducing those who were visitors. When I came to her she stood up and told her name and that her parents were Mom and the "Old Fart" harassing everyone. I thought everone was going to split from laughing.

Well, Cheryl is telling me to do something constructive so I better close for this day.

Woke up this morning and started humming a tune. "Looked out my window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree." However I had to change some of the words to this, "Looked out my window and what did I see? Snow a sagging from my apricot tree." Yup, it snowed last night oh lucky us. Actually I am glad it did. This has been a dry summer and we need moisture in the mountains to supply needed water for the coming year. I just don't like to drive, work, walk, shovel or any other chores I can think of that would require me to be in the snow. To think that at one time in my life I loved the snow for the snowmobiling, skiing, snowballs and other great fun times. I used to go out in the shed where the cattle were bedded down from the storm. I would snuggle up against one of the cows and be toasty warm and just watch the blizzard rage.

Just got back from a trip to Boise, Idaho. I took student body officers from three high schools to a convention that included all schools throughout the state. I must admit these kids that I had were ladies and gentlemen. Not a problem of any sort. Coming back my bus developed an oil leak and I put in 11 gallons of oil just to get us home. Cheryl did not go with me since she had to work one of the days I was gone. She also felt she should be here for her Red Hat meeting. Probably just as well that she didn't go since she would have made me take her shopping. As it was I got to watch tv for a little bit.

Yesterday was church and I had to speak on a subject that is definitely not my strong point. Home teaching and missionary work. I don't like to do either one.

Oh, Gwen if you read this please make a comment so I can get your blog site again. Same with "little Jen". For those of you who do not know, both of these ladies are from Australia and are a couple of hoots. Schaumi I really enjoyed your blog about your mother. Let's have some more stories. Luce are you behaving yourself?

I have got to remember to write some stories about Huff and Puff.

Have a nice day everyone.

Those darned aliens struck again only this time with my daughter Kim. Amber are you loose and tormenting people? It is a good thing they don't know where my daughter Katie lives. Even that picture would scare me. She WAS abducted and they did strange things to her 'cause she sure is strange. I keep asking her mother who the real father is.:)

It is football season and it reminded me of another story from my past. My home town and community was quite small. Our graduating class from high school was a total of 54 and it was considered quite large. Most of the students were involved in some kind of activity whether it be sports or music or whatever. I wanted to play football but my freshman year I had an operation which removed about six inches of bone marrow from my left leg. It was used for my sister, who had polio, and had lost the use of her left arm. They placed the bone marrow in her arm hoping it would restore some use to it and it worked. Of course it worked!! Consider who the marrow came from. Irish people don't do things that don't work. Anyway that shot down my football playing that year.

My sophomore year I played but was not very good due to being behind so much.

My junior year I was really looking forward to football but.... I was finishing helping a friend put up his hay. We were bringing in the equipment and my cousin and I were riding on one of the tractors. Actually he was driving and I was riding. It was one of those tractors that did not have fenders over the wheels and I was standing on the axle next to the wheel. Being knotheads and such we of course had the throttle wide open and were barreling along when we hit a bump in the road. It knocked me into the wheel which caused me to lose my balance and I fell right in front of the wheel when I hit the ground. Instantly I rolled because if I had not my head would have be squished and I would be new road kill. However my feet had caught on part of the tractor and I was bent in a backward position where my feet were coming over my head backwards. You know that hurts just a tad.

Luckily my cousin had quick reflexes and stopped the tractor before it had a chance to break my back. I do remember yelling at him to get that *&^%$#@!!! tractor off of me. He backed up, called the ambulance and they hauled me off to the hospital. I was very fortunate. The flesh from my ribs had been scraped off, my back had been traumatized (for lack of a better word) and I hurt, oh did I hurt. The worst part of the whole ordeal was the nurse taking alcohol and cleaning my ribs. They had dirt and gravel imbedded quite badly. Needless to say I did not play football that year either.

I was so far behind the other kids that by my senior year I was like a freshman starting out. So that is my story and I am sticking to it.

There Katie are you happy?

Have a nice day everyone.

This is a picture of my son in law. Proof that aliens DO exist.



Of course his wife (my daughter) was abducted and they did wierd things to her and this is the result.



But look what they did to my pretty little granddaughter Rylie.

Have a nice day everyone.

These are hats that I make for the fun of it. Most of them are toddler hats but I have made them for youth and adults. What do you think? I make white hats and Cheryl makes booties for newborns for their blessing outfits if the parents wish.

I am in love with a man. I guess I lived in California too long. Believe it or not it is a Black man I am in love with. Maybe I should enlighten everyone more. I am actually in love with the product he endorses. The George Forman Grill. I have never found anything that cooks bacon as well as the George Forman Grill. It comes out just perfect and crunchy and yum, yum, yum. Even Gus, our cat, likes bacon cooked in the George Forman Grill.

The other day I took some chicken breasts, fondled them for a while for a cheap thrill, (I can't believe I just said that), cut them into strips and deep fried them in the deep fryer (hence the term deep fried) but only after I had coated them with onion ring batter. Talk about good. The meat was so moist and delicious plus the batter tasted better than anything the Colonel has produced.

Cheryl has been gone for a week that is why I am cooking.

This has been the week for me to leave computers alone. A lady asked me to install a program on her computer and it would not accept the program. In the process of trying to figure out why I managed to blank out her monitor and cause the Windows operating system to repeat itself over and over and over. Hmmmm, to the repair shop we went. Turned out to be a corrupted file on her computer but I just had to be the lucky one who it turned on. Oh lucky me.

Then I went to the local Family History Center to help a man understand the name extraction program. While helping him I noticed that the fonts on the computer were very small and hard to read. Well, I knew how to fix that... I thought. In that process I managed to get the monitor to read upside down and I didn't know how I did it. Called the help desk and I think they are still laughing over this one. Turns out that if you hit CTRL, ALT and the arrow keys at the same time you can turn your monitor screen sideways, upside down and etc. Now this is not good since part of the extraction program calls for those commands CTRL, ALT and the arrows to move a highlighter around in the program. Oh lucky me again, but at least it is fixed. I think I am banned for life from the local Family History Center.

The whole problem is that I have not been working that much this week. I am in the lull while athletic teams are going from football to basketball. I expect in the next couple of weeks I will be running hard and fast again. Too much time on my hands to think about why a computer will not do this or that. Many times I have been told, leave it alone. Hmmmmm. Oh well. Guess I should go rake leaves.

Have a nice day everyone.

This says it all!

So here we are ready for the big Halloween day in the United States. What am I going to do? I am locking my doors, turning off my lights and hoping the little witches and goblins and other kinds of monsters leave me alone. Cheryl is the one who gets into this trick or treating thing. Me, I am using my Halloween attitude to prepare for Christmas; BAH HUMBUG!! For some reason I never have enjoyed Christmas like a lot of others do. Besides, NCIS is on and I don't want to miss one minute of it.

Some have asked how Leslie's surgery went. Not well. They opened her up, took one look at the tumors and how bad they were and closed her back up. The tumors are attached to her female reproductive organs and all would have to be taken out. To remove them would cancel all hope of having more children and the doctors felt she and her husband should talk about what they want to do. She is still in her twenties and wants to have more children soooooooo we wait. Other than that she is doing fine.

Brrrrrrr it is cold here. Last night it was down to about 10 or lower. I turned on the furnace for the first time this year. Now I am spoiled and want to be warm all the time.

I don't know why I thought of this last night, but I will tell the story of how I got run over by a tractor when I was a senior in high school. Maybe I have told the story before and just don't remember. If I have then please forgive me or don't read it or something.

Hope everyone has a nice Halloween day and all are safe. I worry about Luce and the mischief she can get into.:) Merle I had time to just glance at your blog last night and went to bed laughing. You and Jen are quite the characters. Lowa your husband does a great job in pumpkin carving; he is to be complimented. I am surprised that Dana did not do the Halloween meme whatever "meme" means. I still have that scary dream that I actually met Schaumi. Ha, ha, ha just kidding Schaumi.
Tiger Sue do you guys do the trunk and treat down there? Here we do nothing. Nothing at all. Go figure. Life in a small town I guess.

Aleaha write and tell me how the gathering was last Saturday. How is A.J. doing? Did you all have a good time?

Guess that is it for today.

Have a nice Halloween everyone.

This was the scariest picture I could find for Halloween. Scared me anyway.


Tiger Sue did this on her website and tagged me so I will post it on my blog today.

Halloween Meme

1. What's the scariest movie you've ever seen?
"Invaders From Mars" and "The Blob". That "Mars" movie kept me awake for many nights and when we slept outside on the lawn I just knew they were coming to get me. Every time I see red jello I think of the blob. The there was a movie called "Snake Woman" or something like that. I am so afraid of snakes that I had the heeby jeebies for many, many days.

2. What was your favorite Halloween Costume from childhood, and adulthood?
I don't really remember dressing up for Halloween. Our community had a great big social and the 3,4,5th grades all went on a treasure hunt set up by the high school students. It was a riot.

3. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your Fantasy Costume be for this Halloween?
Hmmmmmm, since I am a bit of a dud I am not sure. Frankenstein's monster perhaps, or Homer the hillbilly.

4. When was the last time you went Trick Or Treating?
Never did. Always went to the community programs.

5. What's your favorite Halloween Candy?
Chocolate... any kind of chocolate.

6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.
I dreamt I met Schaumi... ha, ha just kidding Schaumi. It might have been the time Amber, the space alien, came and stayed. I guess the nightmares that scare me the most is when snakes come to get me. Cheryl says I start kicking like crazy in my sleep. I HATE SNAKES!!!

7. What is your Supernatural Fear?
That the devil comes to visit me and I can't get away from him.

8. What is your Creepy-Crawlie Fear?
SNAKES, SNAKES, SNAKES.

9. Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost, or heard something go Bump in the night.
While living here where we do we would hear bumps in the night and wonder what the heck it was. We even thought maybe our house had ghosts. Come to find out that it was the apples and pears dropping from the trees and rolling down our roof. When I was young I listened to the radio show, "Inersactum" (not sure I spelled that right) and it would play on your imagination like crazy. I just knew someone was down in the basement and would come up and kill me. I would have the hunting rifles close by, knives under my pillow and they would have a fight on their hands. Sure glad no one spooked me unintentionally.

10. Would you ever stay in a real Haunted House overnight?
It would be interesting since I don't believe in Haunted Houses. Yes, Cheryl would be there to hold my hand while I shook and quivered.

11. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern Carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?
Probably traditionalist but keep hoping some year I will break the mold.

12. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?
Not as much as I would like. Halloween and Christmas are the two times a year that I like to see decorations. We put up some light for Halloween but it is the inside that receives the most attention.

13. What do you want on your Tombstone?
"Here he lies completely dead. The doctors said it was all in his head."

Now I tag Schaumi, Sunshine, Luce, Lowa, Amber, or anyone who feels this would be a fun way to share their Halloween thoughts with the rest of us.

Have a nice day everyone.

Don't you just have a tug on your heart strings for this poor mother duck? How sad.

Okay, since I now have a small world wide gathering I want to ask a question of you all. Is it just the United States that celebrates Halloween or do other countries celebrate it as well? It would be interesting to know what is done in your countries. For those in the United States my question is: what are you dressing up as for the Halloween night? (Please excuse the poor grammar)

This Halloween won't be much for us. Our daughter Leslie is having two tumors removed from her female organs and Cheryl is going there to be of assistance with Rylie. Leslie will lose at least 5 pounds when they are removed since each of them are approximately 2 to 2 1/2 pounds each. She will feel sooooo much better when this is all done. I wish her the best and will be praying for her. I pray for her anyway cause she is a knothead.:)

Guess that is all for today. Snowed last night although not that much. Today is cold and clear. Great day to make a run with the wrestling team again. I want to thank those of you who never make comments on my blog yet I know you are reading them. Some of you have sent me some cool pictures that I like to post and I thank you for that. Merle I am definitely going to post some of Jeanette and your jokes and stories. You Aussie ladies crack me up on your blogs. Schaumi it was nice to hear from you again. I thought maybe you had got picked up for loitering and couldn't find a get out of jail card. hee, hee. Tiger Sue I do print these blogs for my kids to read later although I am about 150 pages behind right now. Too much name extraction, bus driving, napping, napping, napping I guess.

Aleaha sorry we won't make it Saturday. I thought about driving the bus out to your place but I think the school will frown on that. Tell everyone hi.

Have a nice day everyone.

Yup, you DO reach that age!!

A good Monday morning to all of you who read this dribble. I guess the ladies in Australia are into Tuesday morning; talk about fast women.

It is cool and crisp here with snow topping the mountains. The fishing is better than in the summer and football is winding down in the highschools. Now everyone is turning to wrestling, basketball and music.

I am fighting a wee cold but so far it has not got me down. I have been trimming trees, raking leaves and getting the place ready as possible for the winter winds. I like to be like the young man in the story of "Sleeping While The Wind Blows." or something like that.

Not much to tell this day so will tell a story from my past.

I like horses and we had a horse when I was a young lad that I considered my best friend. He and I went everywhere together especially in the mountains. The first deer I ever shot I was trying to load him on the horse when one of the antlers poked him in the ribs. He showed his displeasure by kicking me halfway down the mountainside.

When I was about 15 or 16 one of the sheep ranchers in the area asked me to help drive the sheep from the winter range to the mountains where the summer range was. They gave me an old buckskin horse to ride telling me it was one of the boss's horse and tame as a kitten.

I climbed aboard and went about 100 yards when suddenly that horse's head went down, his feet went up in the rear and I was airborne. "Don't let that horse get away with that. Climb back on and show him who is boss.", came to laughing comment from those who were with me. "Why you dirty, miserable excuse for an animal, I will show who is who around here," was my comment as I picked up my pride.

I got back on and this time I was ready for war. Nothing happened and we proceeded on our way. Just as I began to relax and think all was well, down went that head again and up went those back feet again and I was airborne once more only this time I went a little higher and a little farther.

Why that miserable plug. It had met it's master but just didn't know it. Everyone was laughing at me by this time and all kinds of advice was coming which I did not appreciate.

Back on that horse I went and I had a death grip on those reins and no way was I being thrown again. That nag didn't even wait until I was settled when down went that head again, even though I was trying to keep it up, and up went those feet again. I managed to stay on for about 3 or 4 good bucks and then I went flying higher than ever and farther than ever. This time I landed on a rock and it hurt.

I bowed to the horse who was indeed my master that day. Of course I can't repeat the words I had to say to that miserable creation. I walked 10 miles that day leading that stupid horse behind me. No way was I getting thrown again.

Along came the boss who owned the horse and he crawls aboard and away they went happy as could be. Good thing I didn't have my trusty 30-30 that day.

That is my story for today.

Have a nice day everyone.

Doesn't this state what we all are probably thinking. Goodness for the good old days when gas was 25 cents a gallon. We would scour the countryside looking for soda bottles to return to the grocery store so we could get the deposit and have gas money.

Brrrrrrrr it is cold here and the mountains are capped with snow. Shucks, I guess winter is truly coming again. Fishing is better when it is cold though. Hot weather drives them to the bottom.

My story for today: I started driving truck many, many years ago and one of my first jobs was to pull mobile homes from the Boise, Idaho area to Idaho Falls. One morning I took off about 1:00 am headed for Boise and the weather was wet and cold. As I was driving I never noticed that black ice was forming on the road so I wasn't as careful as I should have been. Near Jerome, Idaho suddenly my truck spun out of control and I went off the road backwards doing about 55 mph. Luckily it was the center of the freeway that it headed for but unluckily that particular part had a razorback ridge right in the middle of the medium.

My truck hit one side of the razorback, spun around and slid up and over to the other side then spun again and slid back to the original side. All I could do is say, "Oh s--t" and hang on. I just knew I was going to roll and I ducked down as low as I could. Surprisingly the truck never rolled. I had such a death grip on the steering wheel that it couldn't move and that probably stopped the front wheels from turning into a roll.

When the snow settled and I looked around I realized my door had come open during all the excitement even though it was closed when I came to a stop. I found all my stuff from inside the cab about 20 yards behind me; pencils, papers and etc. The only damage to the truck was a bent bumper which had pushed up against the wheel. The highway patrolman who came along couldn't believe that the truck never rolled and I was not seriously hurt.

As in my previous story I never experienced fear while all this was going on. However when I made the same trip the next day in a spare truck I was extremely nervous about black ice forming. Even today, many years later, I am overly cautious about road conditions.

So that is my tale for today. Tomorrow or when I blog again I will tell the story of when I got bucked off a horse. Stupid horse anyway.

I appreciate all your comments. It lets me know that someone actually does read my dribble. Darla I liked the pictures you sent as you can tell by what I post.

Have a nice day everyone.

Now I honestly don't know how many of you this sign would affect but...

I attended a safety meeting yesterday for school bus drivers and the sheriff was there to talk to us about school safety and bus driver responsibility. All these school shootings are causing a great deal of nervousness and concern. Here we have the tendency to say it will never happen to us but I am sure that is what the Amish school said also, as well as the others who had the problem. Scary, very scary indeed.

I also found out about a new law in Idaho (which other states have) that states a driver must slow down and proceed with caution when a police officer has a car pulled over to the side of the road. I have always done this due to the common sense rule but apparently others do not. They had a film that had some very graffic accidents on it.

I said I would tell of my experience in Los Angeles when I was driving truck so here goes.

I was driving for Frito-Lay and was pulling a set of doubles. I left the Frito-Lay plant in Bakersfield about 12:30 am or so. I joined up with about 5 other trucks from various companies and we traveled together until I had to leave I-5 and proceed to I-210 which goes past Pasadena. By the time I reached the 210 it was about 2:00 am and I was the only one on the road which is surprising considering LA traffic. I was traveling along about 60 mph when I noticed a car come slowly up behind me.

As I watched him from my mirrors he pulled up along my trailers and a guy leaned out of the car window and started to beat his fists on my trailer and screaming to high heaven. I thought, "Oh boy, I have a live one today." I continued driving and he continued beating and screaming. Of course my attention was riveted on him and what he was doing but finally I turned my head to look down the road ahead of me to make sure all was well. As I turned my head back to see what he was doing I found myself staring eyeball to eyeball with him through my window. He had literally crawled out of his car window and onto my fuel tanks while going 60 mph.

Well, I was not going to stop and of course there was no other traffic on the road to signal for help. Because I would not stop he proceeded to pull my airlines from the truck to the trailers. This, of course made it so I had to stop due to loss of air. I was not about to roll down my window so he took the air line and began beating on the glass while screaming at the top of his voice. I didn't want a broken window and glass flying in at me so I rolled the window down to see what was his problem.

He came right through that window and was laying on my steering wheel screaming all the time. I was quite strong back then and I grabbed his hands so he couldn't do any damage to me. He couldn't have moved if he wanted to considering the hold I had on him.

You have many people tell you this is what they would have done and I should have done this or that. Let me tell you when the situation occurs your instincts tell you what to do. All I could keep thinking was calm him down and get him out of the truck. I had not locked the passenger side door and his buddy came through that door at me as well. They both kept screaming, "You hit us, you hit us." Well I knew that was not possible and told them so. After a few minutes of listening to their screams I finally got them calmed down so I could talk to them.

A few minutes after that I got them out of the truck and onto the ground but they were still highly agitated. Once I got them to where they would talk to me I told them that if I had hit them they needed to show me the damage. Suddenly there was no damage to show. Okay, then my trailers would show some damage. No damage anywhere. After about 30 minutes I convinced them that if they had a beef they needed to contact Frito-Lay and tell their story. Finally they left and I proceeded on my way.

All this time this was happening I was not scared. I just kept thinking, calm them down, calm them down. However, to this day if a car comes up behind me and seems to be acting a little wierd I get extremely nervous. If I have a car pull along side of me and just stay there rather than pass me like he should I really get nervous.

Of course I had no radio to call for help, no cars on that freeway which is so strange, no police anywhere. You never know what is going to happen from one minute to the next. Those guys had to have been on drugs to act the way they were. I feel very fortunate that I was not injured or even killed especially when dealing with a suspected drug situation. I just hope I never encounter a situation like that again.

So that is my story for today. My next blog I will tell of my one and only wreck in a truck.

Have a nice day everyone.

Okay for those who claim they have the worst job in the world you might consider this picture.

Welcome ladies from down under. Glad to hear from you and hope you visit often.

Schaumi I don't know how to do the anonymous thing. I need a good teacher to instruct me. Believe me I am not above the 4th grade level.

Dana will you tell me one more time how you post those pictures. I like what you do.

Sarah may I post the pictures of the hummingbirds. Aw heck I am going to do it anyway.:):)

My daughter is here visiting so I must go and show her some pictues of her newest child when she was blessed in church.

Have a nice day everyone.

I don't know about Blogger anymore. Every time I want to do something there is always some kind of blockage. Hmmmmmmm.

I was driving through a town yesterday, in the bus, when I noticed a woman with a tin foil cap on her head. Cracked me up. I thought maybe some aliens were in town. Amber have you been up this way without telling me?

I am proposing a new law to be put in action. I mean some of the laws we have now are so stupid it makes you wonder what kind of idiots do we have in Washington DC. My law is that if you are driving and a car comes up behind you with his lights on bright you have permission to block the road, walk back to that car and bust the headlights out. How do you like that, Luce, for being a mild mannered citizen? I had a car follow me last night that kept his bright lights on for miles while he followed me at about 50 yards back. Grrrrrrrrrr.

I decided I am going fishing today. Haven't been for a long time and I am long over due. Cheryl (that is old what's her name Merle) is going with her Red Hat Society gang for a dinner outing so I am going to go play also. First I must take a nap since working these keys have tuckered me out.

Did I ever tell the story about two guys jumping on my 18 wheeled truck while I was going about 60 mph in Los Angeles? I can't remember what stories I have told so if I repeat please forgive me. I will make that the next blog I write.

Aleaha you have asked about Rylie so I will update for all to read. I am soooooo lazy.

Rylie is doing okay but the soft spot on the side of her head is not closing. They want her to wear a helmet for protection but the insurance refuses to cover it since it costs about $1800. (So why do we have to pay insurance premiums when they refuse to help out.) The doctors have said the spot probably will never fill in and an operation to place a plastic piece in her head is looming in her future. Leslie and Mike are very over-protective parents and who can blame them.

Cheryl is home today and is really throwing my routine off. I have breakfast, read the paper, check emails, check the bank balances, nap, eat lunch, nap, go to work if I have a run, or nap some more. When Cheryl is home she has all these stupid little projects for me to do like mow the lawn, do the dishes, put away the laundry,and it goes on and on. Notice there were no naps listed in her list.

Okay I have bored you long enough so will close with this profound, yet true, statement. God bless the Irish they are a most wonderful people.

Have a nice day everyone.