No picture today. Blogger is giving me fits this morning. I have tried to post comments on a couple of blogs but it will not let me. GRRRRRRRRR. Luce my sympathies go out to the driver's family and to the students that ride the bus. I know it is a thought that is in the minds of all drivers whether something like that will happen to them. We all hope we can get stopped safely before it gets worse. She was so valiant to get the bus stopped.

Lowa, I tried to post something on your blog also. Would like to know what the final verdict is on the accident. As Paul Harvey would say," Now for the rest of the story." It is sad to say but we still have not tried the cookie recipe but will get around to it some day.

Insane Mind, glad things are working out at the job. I try to get my wife to feed me everyday but to no avail. She wants me to retain my independence also. I have a son who tells his mother and I that he is going to find the meanest home in America to put us in. Kids... ya gotta love em.

Tiger Sue, glad you got the FSI working. I have been doing arbitration work lately and it is interesting to see how people interpret hand writing. I love indexing, I really do.

Schaumi, my friend, my day is not complete unless I get a comment from you. I get a kick out of you blog writing.

Jen, Gwen, Merle, Little Jen, my crazy Australian bloggers, you keep me laughing and that is soooooooo needed at times. G'day, G'day, How ya doing. Song keeps running through my head.

To all the rest of my blogging friends sorry I didn't get to read your today. Cheryl just came home from her water arobics and is crying about no breakfast being ready. No rest for the wicked and the righteous don't need any.

Have a nice day everyone.

I guess that kind of perfume is better than the one we men like to wear called "Sweat" for the manly scent.

Hope everyone is having a great day. Not much to talk about here so will post this story which I found quite inspiring.

57 CENTS

A little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was "too crowded." "I can't go to Sunday School," she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by.

Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. The child was so happy that they found room for her, and she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.

Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings. Her parents called for the kindhearted pastor who had befriended their daughter to handle the final arrangements.

As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled red purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump. Inside was found 57 cents and a note, scribbled in childish handwriting, which read: "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School."

For two years she had saved for this offering of love. When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion. He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building. But the story does not end there...

A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a wealthy realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands of dollars. When told that the church could not pay so much, he offered to sell it to the little church for 57 cents.

Church members made large donations. Checks came from far and wide. Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00--a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.

When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300. And be sure to visit Temple University, where thousands of students are educated. Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday school building which houses hundreds of beautiful children, built so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday school time.

In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history. Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russell H. Conwell, author of the book, "Acres of Diamonds".

This is a true story, which goes to show WHAT GOD CAN DO WITH 57 CENTS.

Have a nice day everyone.

Whew, what a week. I was so tired when I got home that on Sunday I slept most of the afternoon away. Looks like this week will be much the same although some of the trips won't be quite so long. (I am still tired so my english doesn't make sense.)

One night as we were coming back from an activity we met some deer on the road which caused me to slam on the brakes quite hard. No accident, just a nervous call. Reminded me of another time when I was working in the oil fields.

We would go out and set up our equipment on one day and then go back the next to do whatever we were going to do to the well. We could not work at night due to the danger level so we traveled back to town in the pickup. My boss was one who never drove slow. It didn't matter whether it was a freeway or a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, we always drove about 80 mph.

This one morning, in Wyoming, we were headed back to the rig. As he drove most of us would sleep or pretend to be asleep so we couldn't watch his driving. I was setting by the passenger door and was nodding off when all of a sudden I heard him yell and cuss in the same breath as he slammed on his brakes. I opened my eyes and all I could see was two big hairy cheeks and a black tail coming right at me. Now I want to tell you that wakes you up in a hurry.

In Wyoming there are herds of wild horses and we happened to come across a herd that was standing on the road. I must tell you I had visions of my head so far up a horse's posterier that even I had to laugh. My boss had the wheels locked up but it was to no avail. Not only did I have my lovely picture rapidly approaching me but he had, on his side, another horse who's head was headed for him. All told there were seven horses he was trying to avoid.

To this day none of us know how we made it through unscathed but we did. I could count the fleas on that horse's butt and all up it's side as it passed me. My boss was still shaking his head later that day wondering how in the world he missed the horse on his side. Needless to say I am a little jumpy when I see animals on the road.

One other time he and I were headed to a rig site near Elk Mountain, Wyoming when we encountered a herd of elk on the highway. We weren't going so fast this time cause the black ice was so bad. Those poor elk were trying so desparately to get out our way that all they could accomplished was to slip and fall down. We let them get out of the road but it was a funny kind of experience.

Have missed my blogging friends this week. I don't know if I can do much better this coming week but will try. If I don't get to read your blogs and make some comments don't think I have forgotten you, just busy.

Here are some thoughts that many of you probably have already read but what the heck... read them again...you have nothing else to do.

16 THINGS THAT IT TOOK ME OVER 50 YEARS TO LEARN:

By Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 21.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic back-ground, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person.

(This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Men are like fine wine . . . they start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Have a nice day everyone.

I am not sure if I have posted this picture before or not, but this is what I have to put up with everyday. My wife is so much fun to be around. She is still part kid and that is definitely good.

Boy when I said I wanted to get back to work I should be more careful what I ask for. I will be making runs everyday this week so this might be the only blog I will be doing or reading for a while. Not only will I be taking some of the athletic teams to their games but I am also taking the choir on an overnight trip and the academic society is having a competition as well. Hmmmm, I might learn something on that one.

I am not much of a political person, in fact I really do shun politics buttttttttt, I see where Hilary is making her bid for another term as President of the United States. Will I vote for her...NO!!!

Congratulations to the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts. I truly thought Indy had lost their game so I turned it off and watched "The DaVinci Code". Now that movie has some wild conceptions about religion. Anyway I missed a good game.

Well it is below zero again. Sure will be glad when February is gone cause that is a sign of warming up... usually. That crazy woman I am married to is out to the hot pool doing her arobics. Mind you this is an outdoor pool. They wear ear warmers to keep their ears warm. Bunch of crazy people anyway. Me, I am in the house where it is warm and I don't intend to change either.

In an effort to keep up with those Australians with their jokes and stories I will post the following....

3 Women in Mexico

Three women go down to Mexico one night to celebrate college graduation, get drunk, and wake up in jail, only to find that they are to be executed in the morning, though none of them can remember what they did the night before.

The first one, a redhead, is strapped in the electric chair, and is asked if she has any last words. She says, I just graduated from Brigham Young University and believe in the almighty power of God to intervene on the behalf of the innocent."

They throw the switch and nothing happens. They all immediately prostrate themselves; beg for her forgiveness, and release her.

The second one, a brunette, is strapped in and gives her last words, "I just graduated from the Harvard School of Law and I believe in the power of justice to intervene on the part of the innocent."

They throw the switch and, again, nothing happens. Again, they all immediately prostrate themselves; beg for her forgiveness, and release her.

The last one, a blonde, is strapped in and says, "Well, I'm from the University of Michigan and just graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and I'll tell ya right now, y'all ain't gonna electrocute nobody if you don't plug this thing in."

Have a nice day everyone.

I just read my friend Alice's blog and the comments she made about the USA. Here I thought the Canadians were our buddies but just like everyone else they blame the USA for their problems. What am I talking about? Welllllllllllll, she made the comment that cold air comes from Alaska,USA so therefore it is our fault everyone is so cold. What nerve. (Just kidding Alice)

By the way, I refer to myself as an Irishman even though I was born and raised in the USA for one reason only... I am proud of my Irish heritage but it will never replace Old Glory and the USA. As John Wayne said, "I am proud to be an American so why in the hell should I have to push 1 for English." Okay enough of this stuff and back to insulting the Canadians, er, I mean blogging.

Cheryl is out to the hot springs doing her arobics. I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind wanting to go to an outdoor pool when the temperature is below zero. I keep telling her she is a crazy old woman but she didn't need to prove it.

Hey Bob thanks for your answer on Scotland. I don't know much about the political climate over there and our papers are prone to not tell the whole story, as are all papers.

Sure will be glad to get back to work. I miss the kids and driving. Next year, if they hire me back, I will have to negotiate this time off thing. All the projects Cheryl has for me to do is driving me crazy..er. I'm even baking bread now. Of course it is in the bread maker and not from scratch. My sister, Rosemary, gave us a bread recipe that is simply delicious.

I'm off to visit your blogs.

Have a nice day everyone.

Just received some new "redneck" pictures from my niece Hollyberry (thank you) and just had to share some of them. This one reminds me of what I seen in Canada and I have heard Australia is the same way. Ha, ha.

Well, what to talk about today. Tigersue is having problems with her indexing and if I can help I would be happy to. I have left a message on her blog as well as on my comments.
Alice has been awful quiet lately. My Australian friends are crackups to say the least. Pamela can tell a good story and that is the truth. Schaumi... well what can be said. Actually I firmly believe Schaumi is a very good person who has rubbed shoulders with a few Irish people to be so good.

Lowa wanted me to post 5 or 6 wierd things about myself and I keep putting it off since I just can't think of anything wierd about me. (Keep the comments to yourself, especially Amber.)

Wierd thing #1. If I am tired I can get up in the middle of a real good movie and go to bed. Drives Cheryl crazy.

Wierd thing #2. I talk to my bacon. Bacon, bacon, bacon. Yum, yum, yum.

Wierd thing #3. I wear the same pair of pants for at least three days in a row. They are just getting broken in good.

Wierd thing #4. Sometimes I wear a moose turd for a tie tack. (Compliments of Amber the space alien baby.)

Wierd thing #5. I turn up the heat in the house, wrap up in a blanket and set by the fireplace, yet I go outside without a jacket, no socks, wearing a thin shirt and feel comfortable.

Wierd thing #6. Actually I am not wierd. The rest of the world is out of sinc.

So there you have it. Cheryl thinks its wierd that I like to sleep with lights on and she likes it as dark as she can get it. What she doesn't realize is that I can see the devil when he comes to get me if the lights are on, otherwise he sneaks up on me.

Well, that is enough for today. Oh, Bob, I wanted to ask your opinion about Scotland wanting to break away from the British Empire and become an independent country of their own. I know they have wanted that for a long, long time but in todays world do they have the economic and military means to sustain themselves?

Have a nice day everyone.

This is my granddaughter Isabelle. Isn't she a cutie?

Welcome Sharon of the United Kingdom. At first I thought it was my sister Sharon writing to me about my blog but then I know she never reads it. My other sister, Aleaha, now she reads them quite frequently so I can never tell any family secrets or stories 'cause she knows better. Anyway it is good to have you visiting my blog.

Another cold day here. I figure we must be living a good life or else hell has frozen. We will be glad to see temperatures above freezing. If you want to read about warm temps then you must visit Merle and Jen's blogs. (I don't know how to hyperlink to them) Where do you folks find all those cute cartoon figures you put on your blogs?

I was thinking about my oldest son, Kip, last night for some reason. At times I feel I was a hard parent on him but I am pleased with the way he has turned out. I took him hunting for antelope one time and got so mad at him that I threw the rifle at him. Sure glad he was a good catch cause I would have been mighty upset damaging my $700 rifle. Yes, it has been rumoured but never proven that I had a slight temper when I was younger.

I feel for you folks over in the United Kingdom, Germany, and other places over there. What do you do for entertainment if you don't have fishing and hunting? I have gotten away from the hunting part of life (no big thrill to kill something) but I do like to fish. I can't stand to eat them as a rule but I do like to catch them. I am what you might call a novice fisherman. Most of the time I don't know what I am doing but I have fun doing it.

Used to be that Cheryl and I would ride snow machines into the mountains and have a blast but now I am so crippled up with arthritis that those days are gone. I also miss being able to saddle up a horse and take a ride into the mountains. As a kid I would take the horse and dog, go up into the canyon and just lay in the meadow, let the horse graze while the dog and I ate a nice lunch. Amazing the animals we would see.

Now I am just an old fart (my daughters words) who lives to tease his wife. She loves it so I keep doing it. (Sure glad she is not able to respond to these comments or you might get a different version of what I am like.) Can I help it if I am so loveable?

Have a nice day everyone.

Well... since the last picture I posted generated such interest I decided to not post one today.

Regarding the comments produced about the last picture posted I have only this to say. I would have posted a picture of me back in my Chippendale days but I knew too many of you women would swoon or pass out completely from seeing such an incredible body so I decided to take it easy on you.

Oops, Cheryl seen what I just wrote and is down on the floor laughing. The woman is soooooooooo rotten.

Mercy it has been cold here. I guess I could be in Colorado where all the snow is but I would complain about that too. At least we have good roads to drive on once we get our cars started.

Took Cheryl to the doctor today for another look at her knee and all he said was, "Start spoiling your husband more!" or as Maria Sansone says on "The 9" "Get back to work!" (She is cute)

Time for supper so will close. How about those football playoffs. Go Broncos!!!

Have a nice day everyone.

Okay, I am a rotten old man... so sue me.

Not much to say today. Very, very cold here. My daughter called from Provo, UT which is about 3 hrs from here and they are having snow, snow, snow. Crazy weather anyway. Cheryl and I fire up the fireplace each night and just relax to a warm fire.

Just finished watching the X-Men series. It always amazes me that people have such vivid imaginations. I am listening to an audio book called "Fablehaven" which is about mystical creatures, young children and older people trying to tell them to behave or else. Actually it is a very good book and I would love to see it made into a movie.

I must say I get a little envious of you folks who are so creative with your blog sites. I just visited the site of a man in Oregon which was quite neat. I can't start naming sites that I really like cause I would leave someone out and that would not be good but some of you are so creative.

Then there are the sites of the Australian ladies which are full of jokes that make me laugh. I will say that Gwen posted an Irish joke that just couldn't have truly been Irish.:)

Schaumi when are you going to post some more stories about your Mom while she was living in WWII Germany? I found those very interesting.

Pamela mentioned Genealogy, aka Family History, and now I feel quite guilty. I have been very lax in doing my Family History for several years now. I used to be very active in it but got side tracked and out of the groove. Kind of like going to church. If you don't go each Sunday it becomes easier to just stay home and watch FOOTBALL, although I would NEVER do that. I have been doing a lot of indexing from the 1900 Federal Census so it can be put in electronic form for all genealogists to use. I truly enjoy doing that kind of work.

There is one nice thing about calling myself the Ramblin Irishman. I can ramble all I want on my blog and not make a lick of sense but my name has forewarned everyone. Guess I will shut up for now.

Have a nice day everyone.

This time of year makes you feel this way.

I was just reading some blogs and Pamela had a list of things to comment on so I will do mine. Gwen cracked me up with her jokes. All in all it sounds like everyone is suffering from blogging blues. Maybe it is just winter and we don't function as well in the winter.

Here is the list of items from Pamela who lives in Washington.

As a child, what did you always say you wanted to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be an air force pilot and fly jet fighters. I lived for that but when I got all my teeth pulled out the day after my high school graduation I could no longer pass the physical. I was devastated.

If you had to choose one thing that you've always dreamed of doing, what would it be? What is stopping you?
I would like to be a public speaker. I like getting up in front of audiences and talking (assuming I am well versed on the subject). The thing that stops me is lack of knowledge, lack of knowing how to find that line of work and lack of self confidence that someone would actually want me to speak.

Who is your biggest fan? Who is always encouraging you to be all that you can be?
This is an easy one. My wife is my biggest fan and she constantly tells me I can do anything I want. Without her I would be a bum.

What book has most impacted your life to date?
The most obvious is the scriptures. Other books would be, dumb as it sounds, all Louis L'Amour books since the hero is honest, hard working, faithful to a fault and likes not only his horse but the girl as well. Honestly I have never thought about any one book influencing me.

5. When are you the happiest?
Generally when Cheryl and I are doing things together. Other times are when "true" friends are around and we just enjoy each others company. That does not happen very often.

So there you have another insight to the Ramblin Irishman. Kind of a dud really. Boring, very boring.


Anyone care to answer these 5 questions on their blog? Let me know if you do so I can be sure and visit.

Have a nice day everyone.

Yep, this is Cheryl and I in a few years.

I have not blogged for a few days due to being very busy. It seems like the hurrieder I go the behinder I get. I have been doing a lot of indexing from the 1900 Census plus helping other people get started.

One more week and I get to go back to work. I can hardly wait 'cause Cheryl has too many things for me to do. I don't know why that woman can't relax like I can. Tim do this and Tim do that. My life is not my own. Wah, wah, wah.

Not too much exciting going on around here. Good to hear from Dana, Little Jen, Jeanette, and all the rest of the gang from blogging. Sorry for not being more responsive myself but I am sure you can appreciate how we get into a funk about blogging for a while. Please bear with me and I will get back to my old self.

Cheryl is doing very, very well with her knee. She is going out to the local hot springs for water arobics which is even better for her. She wanted me to go but I have mercy for those who would see me in a bathing suit. They would all scream and run for the doors thinking they had seen the great white whale emerge in the pool. Nope, no swimming for this kid.

Supposed to snow again today. I don't mind if it puts it all in the mountains and I just hope it gets the worst of it out of its system before I have to go back to driving. The only time I ever had a wreck was on slick roads and now I am traumatized for life.

Oh, Jeanette, the movie "The Lake House" is a good one and very mild. It is the audio book called "The Lake House" that is rough.

Got to run. Have a nice day everyone.

Well hopefully we can all get back to a normal routine now. The holidays are over for another year, football is getting close to being over (that is not a good thing), we can start looking forward to spring and the Irishman is still as goofy as always.

How about those Boise (Idaho) State Broncos. How dare they beat the mighty Oklahoma Sooners? I have only watched a couple of games this year, Boise being one of them, but I got so sick of the TV commentators making constant comments about how one team should just pack up and go home cause there is no way they were going to win. (Paraphrasing of course) Not only did they do this with Boise and Oklahoma but the Louisville and Wake Forest game as well. I finally turned the TV to mute just so I could not hear them. I guess it would be something like USA beating Australia in soccor, can't happen, US go home and learn how to play, oops, they won, how did that happen. Okay, Tim, enough already.

Mercy it has been cold here lately. Cold and very dry. Static electricity is a constant problem. I even shocked the cat on his nose this morning. He was not happy.

A word about authors of books. I just finished listening to the audio book by James Patterson called "The Lake House". No it is not the same as the movie starring Sandra Bullock. The book had a good story line but the language, especially near the end, was horrible and completely unnecessary. Quite frankly if I had not wanted to know how it ended I would have shut the tape off and tossed it. Why do authors think they have to use crude and rude language to describe something? They are educated people for crying out loud and should have a much better control of the English language than the common gutter level they use. Cheryl and I have watched movies, seen scenes and heard language that caused us to turn to one another and ask why that had to be in there since it had no relation to the plot.

Schaumi it is a good thing I don't have better access to you. I have been indexing German names for genealogical purposes and sure needed an interpreter for some of them. I did find a web site that helped a little. By the way is there anyone out there in blog land that does genealogy? Let me know.

Alice I will post a picture of my tree as soon as I get my lazy behind to download the pictures from the camera.

Lowa I will post the 6 weird things as soon as I get the time. Naps take priority.

Alice I will check out your tag hopefully today. Again it is the nap thing.

Sure been quiet from Australia. Maybe the US did beat them in soccor.

Aleaha how old are you now? Was Adam and Eve that old? Did you know them personally?

Have a nice day everyone.