I just finished looking and reading Pamela's blog, http://thedustwillwait.blogspot.com/ and seeing the old sled in her picture reminded me of a happening a long, long time ago. (I don't know how to make a link to Pam's blog.) ( Pam, I did it, I think)

I was either 4 or 5 years old and had not been living with the people who adopted me very long. In the Teton Basin of Idaho there is plenty of snow to sled on and sledding was a favorite thing to do with the new friends I had made who lived just down the lane. At that time in history it was not uncommon to have snow anywhere from 6 to 10 feet deep. Down the road was an abandoned rock quarry that had been used to make gravel for the roads in the area. The sides were quite deep but there was one spot that provided great sledding.

One afternoon with my friends Dan and Irvin, we decided that all of us should take our sleds and have some fun at the rock quarry, and boy were we having fun. I had a sled similar to the one in Pam's picture however on one side of the steering bar the wood had been broken off leaving a rather pointed end. I took off on my sled for a fun run when all of a sudden it veered off the path and went down one of the steep sides of the quarry. Needless to say the bottom brought me to a very abrupt stop and a very painful one.

I knew my leg hurt quite badly but the pants weren't torn and all seemed well until I notice blood seeping through my pants and making quite a mess. Naturally that scared three little boys but thank goodness Irvin had enough presence of mind to remain calm. I couldn't walk due to pain so he laid me on the sled and drug me home.

My "new" parents first thought I had peed my pants and were furious with me. Then they realized it was blood and due to the pain I was in they couldn't get my overboots off nor my pants to see how bad things really were. Down to the local town to the doctor we went where the medical staff had to cut my boots off as well as my pants.

I had just barely missed the artery in my right leg but had torn a large chunk of meat out of my inner thigh. It took some doing for the doctor to patch me up and to this day I have a large scar on my right inner thigh about 4 inches long and about 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide. ( Sorry but no pictures allowed!)

It never stopped me from sledding when I healed and I managed to do many interesting things to my body in future years.

So there you have it. My story of sledding on a sled with metal runners, wooden slats for the hind end, and the mind impressing wooden steering bar. Thanks Pam for the picture and the memory.

Have a nice day everyone.

This will be short and to the point. Every day lately I kneel down and pray to God that he will nudge my boss so I can go back to work. Morning and night I do this and the reason why? That darned Cheryl has more honey do projects than a man can do in a lifetime let alone in a few days. Now she is stripping the wallpaper from the kitchen walls so she can paint them. Of course that means I have to be nearby so she can pester me with questions, get items for her, come and remove objects from the wall and the list goes on. Darla if I don't get to your genealogy as soon as I suspected I would... you now know the reason why. A phone call telling her to leave me alone would help.

Cheryl and I had a "Narnia" day last Sunday. We watched the "Prince Caspian" and had to go back and watch the "Witch, The Lion and The Wardrobe" so we could figure out some of the things in Prince Caspian. Needless to say we had a very enjoyable day. Following those two excellent movies we watched "Chainsaw Massacre" so we could top the day off on a good note. (Just kidding) I don't watch any horror movies at all. Now westerns are a different thing all together. Why am I mentioning this? Darned if I know.

I have decided the people in Washington and Canada are extremely jealous of Idahoans. Why, you ask? Well, they keep sending us the crappiest weather. First we have freezing rain, then we have snow, now we have bitter cold. It is their fault and that is my story.

Got to close. A friend of ours (yes, I have one or two friends... I think.) is taking us out to supper and we are having steak. Yum, yum.

Have a nice day everyone. (Yes, that includes those in North Carolina too. What has happened to those Tarheels anyway?)

Okay, today is truly a bull day. Enjoy.

LAGOS (Reuters) – Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.

Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.

"The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat," Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed told Reuters by telephone.

"We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat," he said.

Belief in witchcraft is widespread in parts of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Residents came to the police station to see the goat, photographed in one national newspaper on its knees next to a pile of straw.

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

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INDEPENDENCE, Iowa – An Iowa woman has been arrested because she failed to return a library book.

Thirty-nine-year-old Shelly Koontz was arrested Thursday night on a fifth-degree theft charge. She is accused of keeping "The Freedom Writers Diary," which she checked out from the public library in nearby Jesup in April.

Police say the book — which is about a high school teacher's effort to inspire students to write — is valued at $13.95.

Court records show library employees tried repeatedly to contact Koontz by phone and mail. A police officer even visited her home last September.

Officials at the Buchanan County jail say Koontz was released after posting $250 bond. No telephone listing for Koontz could be found in the Independence area.

Only in IOWA!!

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It seemed like an urban legend -- but it's confirmed by a 1979 article in the L.A. Times. A Pennsylvania banker punished more than 50 customers who were late on their loan payments by...spanking them in his office.

In the tiny town of Baden, Pennsylvania (population 4,377), bank manager David Rhodes admitted that he'd spanked all 50 of the delinquent customers, bragging that it was effective because "I never had any trouble with them afterward."

The best part of the story? He was later convicted for "misappropriating" $88,000 in bank money -- and was sent to prison for three years.

The reason? "[H]e was forced to make eight unrecorded loans totaling $88,268 when six of those who were spanked threatened to report him to his superiors."

Rhodes had worked at the bank for 14 years, averaging about 1,500 loans a year. But most of the customers he spanked were men -- not middle-aged men, but younger -- and one of them threatened to report it as a homosexual activity. At the trial, Rhodes' attorney defensively presented polygraph results and psychiatric tests, saying later that "all undertones of homosexuality were disproved." (Rhodes was married and had two teenaged children.)

"Although he was aware the loans were illegal," the AP reported, "Rhodes said he didn't turn himself in because he didn't think the authorities would believe his story."

Jet magazine called him the "Banker Spanker," and provided one more crucial detail about his case. "He said he was glad when bank auditors caught up to the scheme." And the L.A. Times' site provides the ultimate epitaph, offering the "all-time great headline" which appeared in another newspaper.

Ex-banker, Spanker, Winds Up in Tanker.

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Have a nice day everyone.

Catching Up

My gosh I did not realize it has been so long since I last posted. Not much has happened to make posting worthwhile. Both of us are fine although I am in trouble at church. Seems as though some of the members think I tease my wife too much. I cannot help it if they are a pack of duds who wouldn't know how to laugh at life's problems or at funny things in life. Cheryl and I do and she has her moments with me that are quite humorous.

Well, we now have a new president. I say the following without any prejudice or feelings one way or the other. I would not want to be Mr. Obama. He is a man with a very large target on his back and if he gets assassinated while in office there will be race riots that will beat all the others. Too many hate groups out there and too many fanaticals on the loose.

Has it been cold where you live? We have lovely days but very chilly and the nights are COLD!! Makes me think of those who live in Iowa. Gets up to zero degrees and it feels like a heat wave.

I am having a very bad case of the blues lately. Only one more football game until next fall. What am I going to do??????? Of course this years Superbowl will be a pushover and a lot of the interest has waned since Pittsburg is so much more dominant than Arizona.

Been doing quite a bit of genealogy lately. Unfortunately it has not been on my line. I love to do the indexing on line and a lady came to me and just knew she couldn't find any more information on one of her relatives. I just had to prove her wrong. (Yes, I am a showoff.) I hate it when people won't make an honest effort in their research and just write that relative off. I found a bunch of stuff for her but would not tell her how I did it. I told her she had to take the sites I gave her and find it herself and I would check back with her. The interesting part is that she and her husband work in the local Family History Library and need to learn how to do these things so they can help others.

I am having a new set of dentures made. I have worn dentures since the day I graduated from high school and the set I have now are over 30 years old. Needless to say they are worn down. The reason we chose now to get a new set is that my front tooth fell out and I looked like I just came from North Carolina or wherever those rednecks hang out.:) (Have you ever heard a redneck speak German?)

Best close and get back to doing nothing. It takes all my concentration to complete the task.

Have a nice day everyone.

I was thinking about my children the other day and am not sure if I told anyone about our miracle boy, or he was when he was younger. I told the story of my son Pat who died when he was 2 1/2. That is on an old blog wayyyyyyy back when. The story I tell today is about my son Michael who is living proof that miracles really do happen.

When Mike was born all seemed very normal. He had all his appendages, mentally was in great shape, normal in every way. However as Mike grew older we started noticing things that disturbed us greatly. At the age of two he demonstrated behavior that was not considered normal behavior but we just accepted it as part of growing up. By the time he was four he really demonstrated behavior that was not acceptable. We went to the doctors and got the same old answers, "He is just normal and will grow out of it." As time went by and he matured he did not grow out of it.

One day I was walking down the hallway and Mike was using the toilet. From within the confines of the bathroom I could hear the song, "Plop,plop, fizz, fizz. Oh what a relief it is." Not normal!!!!!

At this stage of my life I cannot remember all the things Mike did to our family but believe me when I say it was plenty. One day I had all I could take so I looked at him and said, "Mike, if you don't stop what you are doing I am going to knock you into tomorrow so you can find out how the markets are doing." The little turd just laughed at me. That made me madder so I went to catch him and show him I meant business but he could run faster than me. Since that day I have referred to him as my miracle child since it is a miracle he lived from day to day.

Actually he is a real good son. He made me laugh so often when he was living with us. Now he has two sons just like him and I see justice in action when I visit them.

That is my story for today and I am sticking with it.

Have a nice day everyone.

I am so bad about reading other blogs, in fact I am bad about blogging that is why I go in spurts. Some days I just don't feel like blogging although I do read blogs once in a while. Now if any of that made sense maybe you can explain it to me.

Foamy, never, never, never will I like vegetables and only some fruits. Yechhhhhh.

Pam I just read your blogs and want to post my answers to the questions you had.
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"What's on your mind as we close out 2008 and begin
2009?
What is my health going to do to me this year? Actually 2008 was a good year and I hope 2009 will be also.

Large and small.
Hmmmmm, What to put on this one? Okay, what used to be large and fulfilling is now small and disappointing.:))

What are often your first thoughts the minute you wake up?
Get out of the road this boys gotta go..., well you get the idea.

When you're alone and unguarded?
Bring on the John Wayne movies, Cheryl is not here.

Working?
WORK!!! WORK!!!! Don't use bad language around me thank you very much.

Stuck in traffic?
Why did I come to this *&^%$#@!!! town in the first place. Hey dumbass move it or park it. Don't you give me the one fingered salute or I will break it off and you will eat it. (Years of driving a truck did this to me.)

Playing with the children?
I have a hard time with this one. I like children but I have a hard time getting down to their level. I know I miss so much in life because of this attitude.

Walking the dogs?
I used to have a lot of fun walking our little pooch. Now that he is gone I am having a hard time wanting another dog. We miss him but don't want to replace him.
When you can't sleep?

When you can't sleep.
At least I know the furnace is working. I think the walls are creaking from the seismic activity that has been going on in Yellowstone. I HAVE GOT TO QUIT DRINKING PEPSI so late in the evening. I wonder if Cheryl is awake?

I just read the blog of a "drunken" artist. Now there are many definitions of drunken so make what you will out of it. She seems like a nice person to me, drunk or sober!!

Have a nice day everyone.

Even though today is January 4 I must post that on January 3 my wife and I enjoyed our 43rd wedding anniversary. We did a little shopping, took in a movie (The Day The Earth Stood Still), and had dinner at the Sizzler. I still prefer McDonald's but I was trying to be romantic. I have been instructed that I am to live another 7 years and then I can die. Why 7 years? That is when we will celebrate out 50th anniversary so I promised her that I would try and make it.

Does that mean that I will quit salt? NO!!! Does it mean that I will quit my bacon? Absolutely NOT!!! Does it mean I will quit waffles, pancakes, potatoes, pizza, hamburgers or any other items of the staff of life? HEAVENS NO!!!!!!!!!!!! If I changed my diet I would die from my body rejecting vegetables, water, fresh fruit and all that stuff. So obeying my wife's wishes I will continue to be lazy, eat the so called wrong foods, and drink my milk by the gallons.

Mercy it has been cold here today. This morning the temp was a -15 degrees. The old pickup growled at me when I wanted to go to church. Guess that is it for today.

Have a nice day everyone.

No picture today, just a mental one. Happy New Year by the way. Yup, 2009 is officially here be that good or bad only time will tell. Now about the mental picture..

I couldn't sleep last night and, no, it was not because I was excited about the new year coming in. It was because I drank a Dr. Pepper late at night and the eyes just went "boink" in the open position and the rest is history. I finally got to sleep about 5 am which is about the time Cheryl decides to get up. When I awoke she was downstairs putting things away and I lay there wondering how I could make her day a jolly one. My thought, although I did not go through with it, was to get a sheet, wrap it around me like a diaper and jump out at her saying, "Happy New Year!!"

Why did I not go through with my plan? Wellllllllllll, I love my wife and even she can only take so much before it might have serious affects on her. I didn't want to start 2009 off with a funeral!!! So I saved her life today by behaving and all is well in the Delaney household.

Have a happy and fun day everyone.