With the elections coming up I felt this picture from Maxine was appropriate. It is so hard to chose anymore. Politicians have dirtied their names so bad that now no one trusts any of them and I am sure there has to be a few good ones out there.

I promised Dana that I would tell the story about my son and his ability to take medicine and if I have told this story before, I apologize.

Cheryl and I lived in Madison, Ohio for a couple of years (that is where she is from) and while there we got to be real good friends with another couple who had a boat. Often we would go to Lake Erie to water ski and just have fun with our young families. Our oldest son, Kip, was about 1 1/2 years old, just getting around on his own quite well.

One weekend while at the lake we were having a great time skiing and roasting wieners and marshmallows when we noticed Kip was off by himself, on the beach, and was eating something. Upon investigating we found that he had discovered a dead fish and proceeded to start eating eat. As new parents we, of course, freaked out. Thoughts of all kinds of poisoning or diseases entered our minds. We grabbed that kid and off to the house we went to call the doctor.

Call number one: "Doctor this is what happened, what do we do? What do we do?"
He said, "Calm down and I want you to put your finger down his throat and make him upchuck."

"Okay, okay we can do that." Cheryl stuck her finger down his throat and he bit her so hard that her finger was bleeding.

Call the doctor again. "Doctor, doctor what do we do? He won't upchuck and my finger is bleeding."

This time the doctor said, "Give him a raw egg and that will make him upchuck. You might put a bandaid on your finger."

"Okay, okay we can do that." I held him and Cheryl got the egg, broke it and put it in his mouth. Slurp!! He thought that was so good he wanted another one.

Call the doctor once more. "Doctor, doctor what do we do? He took the egg and wanted another one." This time I think the doctor was laughing 'cause this is the advice he gave us.

"If that kid has survived the finger, the egg and the parents, just give him a glass of milk and put him to bed. He will be fine."

That was our first experience of many to come with that kid. He has a scar running down the full length of his back from when he slid off a well house and hooked a nail as he did so. He has several scars on his front from a tree falling on him and several different operations of some sort. He is the one in our family that we always said, "If it is going to happen it will happen to him."

So Dana taking bottled medicine is a piece of cake compared to raw eggs and fingers down the throat.:) Brandon should be grateful.

Schaumi I can sure tell you are either busy or just burned out with blogging. I check several times to see what mischief you have been up to but no new stuff. By the way the German students I picked up were very nice and polite. I almost thought they were Irish at first.

Have a nice day everyone.

I had to think long and hard before posting this picture. I sense a little discomfort in it.

What the heck is going on in this country anymore? Killing Amish people who are some of the most gentle, peace loving people there are. Where are all of these sickos coming from. No wonder so many are turning to home schooling for educating their children. The school environment is getting so dangerous that I am glad none of my kids attend anymore although I worry about my grandchildren.

The worst thing that I can remember happening in my high school was when someone put a skunk in the heating system of the school. Whew, that will always be remembered. Later one of those boys turned out to be sheriff in our community. Go figure.

Picked up the German exchange students last night and they were a very well groomed, well mannered group of young people. One of the chaperones was good looking also. Now some might ask, what is an old fart like you doing checking out the younger ladies? I am old, not dead although Cheryl will debate that issue quite vigorously.

Going to Ririe, ID tomorrow and wished the team had to play all day and half the night. I would take my waders, fishing pole and gear and head for the Snake River.

Guess this is all for today. UK John I will get to visit your blog soon (I hope). I did like the looks of your greenhouse and wished I had one here. I would try and raise tomatoes all year round.

Have a nice day everyone.

I get the craziest pictures sent to me and I just have to pass them on or post them.

I had a chance to glance at Schaumi's blog with the egg picture and a comment by K-9 reminded me of a situation I had when I was about 4 or 5 years old and I remember it very well.

I had just started living with my adopted family and for some reason I could not get enough to eat. Morning time especially found me starving for more breakfast. Often the other kids would not finish their meals and the remains were given to the dog. It would be oatmeal or eggs or whatever. I would wait until the dish for the dog was placed outside and then I would go and eat all of it.

The dog, Old Tip, would stand there and watch but I guess he was plotting his revenge 'cause one day as I was dining in his dish he walked up to me, grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and drug me away. Then he proceeded to finish the meal without as much as a backward glance. Needless to say it startled me so bad that I never bothered Old Tip's food anymore.

So Schaumi you reminded me of something I had forgotten, thank you. I don't know if my kids know about this story or not.

Have a nice day everyone.

I have often wondered what makes baby diapers smell so bad and after seeing this picture I now know what it is. Mercy!!!

A very, very short blog tonight. I just got my schedule for next week and the first run I have to make is to Salt Lake City to pick up a group of ..................................................................................Germans from the airport. I have yet to find out who, what and why. All I know is the school superintendant is the one who asked for the bus. I sure hope they can speak English 'cause my German consists of Guten Tag, Danke, Bitte. Where is that Schaumi when you need her? Will have updates on this run at a later date.

Have a nice day everyone.

I know I have posted this picture before and the reason I post it again is to show who I am talking about with the medical problems that have cropped up. Rylie, on the left, is the most serious and is being treated by the doctors at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. We should know by Friday just how serious a problem she has. It has the doctors in a buzz I do know that.

Amber, we found out, has similar problems but not as serious and since it was caught at an earlier stage she should be all right with theraputic treatment.

Both girls have some sort of neck development problems. Don't ask me to tell what cause I can't pronounce the word. Rylie did not get caught soon enough and is undergoing professional treatment while Amber is being taken care of at home.

Rylie also has another undeveloped spot on her head (not the normal soft spot) and that is where the real serious concern comes from. There is a possiblity of brain damage, although she shows no indication of it right now, and if the worst case senario was to develop it could lead to death. Needless to say her parents are quite distraught and asking themselves what did they do wrong. We keep telling them they did nothing wrong and it is just one of those things we don't expect, but they still have to come to terms with it all.

I was thinking about this blogging thing. I started writing so my kids would have something about their parents but they never read my blogs. I have gained some friends whom I probably will never meet but even they get bored after a while. I am beginning to wonder if anyone (other than Schaumi) reads these things and is it worth continuing. There are just days that there is nothing to write about. Oh, by the way, did I ever tell the story about some idiot jumping on my truck in LA when I was going about 60 mph? Probably did and don't remember it.

For someone with nothing to say I sure have a long blog.

Have a nice day everyone.

I don't drink but sometimes I find these kind of pictures funny.

Does anyone know what "blogger beta" is? Is it any better than "blogger"? It wouldn't take a great deal to accomplish that but I am curious.

We are back to being boring, as if we ever left it. The only concern we are dealing with (major concern that is) is our granddaughter Rylie. Apparently she has a soft spot on her head that could cause some extremely serious consequences. She has been to the Children's hospital for tests and everyone is waiting for the results. It is not good, we know that and she is such a cutie.

Going to the Red Lobster tonight. Each year Cheryl and I watch for the shrimp feast and we go and piiiiiiiig out. Another couple wants to go with us so it should be fun.

Pulled the tomato, bean, and pepper plants today. Now to see if the tomatos will turn ripe in the bag with newspaper and an apple. Cheryl made the best apple butter the other day. No wonder I fight the battle of the bulge with a good cook like that.

Well, got to close and do some name extraction.

Have a nice day everyone.

I don't have to leave until later this afternoon so thought I would blog.

Yes, Tiger Sue, name extraction is a lot of fun and very rewarding. I find it interesting to do death certificates especially. The listed reasons for death can be quite shocking at times. I came across a family who had burned in a fire, several murders, a suicide or two, and various other reasons for passing on. It is very sobering to see how many children suffered from the plague, abuse or whatever. Right now I am doing the Pittsburg, PA census and marriage from Norfolk, England. Are you doing the new church program on the Internet? It is the greatest. I just got called to be the assistant stake director for name extraction.

Okay, I am in a griping mood today. Must be caused by my several trips and the
*&^%$#@!!! drivers out there on the road. When I drove truck it was a common thing that most of the time you could spot a Utah or New York driver without seeing their license plates. Mind you all states have these problems but these two states always stood out the most.

Can anyone out there tell me what the official designation of a left lane on a freeway is? Not guessing, but the legal definition.

How I wish there was an invention that could truly dim headlights when a car was within 500 feet of you whether from the front or from behind. I know they have tried but so far nothing very successful has happened. Where is this excellent German engineering when you need it?

Anyway about the left lane on a freeway. I have never seen two states so bad about driving in the left lane all the time. I mean these guys never leave it. It don't matter whether the speed limit is 45 or 95 that is where they drive, most of the time going slower than anyone else, and everyone can kiss their royal behinds. Last night I watched the license plates of those who were in the "wrong" lane and I swear 95% of them were from Utah. I feel somewhat uncomfortable about passing on the right side of someone because they might wake up and suddenly swing to the right and cause a fender bender. Aaaagggghhhh, Utahns!!!!! Of course there were a "few" Idahoans doing the same thing but they were from the Blackfoot reservation.

I have this saying from my earlier years, "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way."

Aleaha thank you for the last update on A.J. Sounds like things are getting back to normal and it will just take time for the old geezer to get back to his crotchity old ways.:)

Here is a story I thought you might enjoy.

Mother-in-law killed

A newlywed farmer and his wife were visited by her mother, who immediately demanded an inspection of the place. The farmer had genuinely tried to be friendly to his new mother-in-law, hoping that it could be a friendly, non-antagonistic relationship. All to no avail though, as she kept nagging them at every opportunity, demanding changes, offering unwanted advice, and generally making life unbearable to the farmer and his new bride.

While they were walking through the barn, during the forced inspection, the farmer's mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law in the head, killing her instantly. It was a shock to all no matter their feelings toward her demanding ways.

At the funeral service a few days later, the farmer stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by. The pastor noticed that whenever a woman would whisper something to the farmer, he would nod his head yes and say something. Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer, however, he would shake his head no, and mumble a reply.

Very curious as to this bizarre behavior, the pastor later asked the farmer what that was all about.

The farmer replied, "The women would say, 'What a terrible tragedy' and I would nod my head and say, 'Yes, it was.' The men would then ask, 'Can I borrow that mule?' and I would shake my head and say, 'Can't. It's all booked up for a year.'"

Have a nice day everyone.

Being one who fights the battle of the bulge I was quite shocked to find that after all these years the weighing procedure has been done wrong. I don't remember who sent me this picture but I got quite a kick out of it. Maybe it was Dana that sent it to me and now we know how she lost so much weight.:)

We got our first snow the other day. It never made it to the valley floor but it was mighty close on the foothills. The wind was blowing and very cold. I loved it. I felt sorry for the kids playing soccor though. Those uniforms are not made for keeping them warm. At least the ones running up and down the field were somewhat warm but the goalies had nothing else to do but stand there and freeze. Lots of goals scored in the game.

Cheryl has been quite good lately. No mischief to report. She has been canning pears and apples so that keeps her fairly busy. Still lippy though. I keep singing the song to her about an attitude adjustment but she ignores me. I wanted to do something special last night (heh, heh, heh), but she said she had a headache and didn't want to. Not too often I want to drive 35 miles to eat at Red Lobster. (I hope that is what all of you understood me to mean.)

Another busy week staring me in the face but not like last week. The school even put me up in a motel one night so I wouldn't have to drive home and then return withing a couple of hours. Someone asked me how I could drive bus since I have been on disability, I forget who it was that asked. Welllllllll, quite frankly I was a little surprised myself. I went to the doctor and he approved it so here I be. I truly expected him to deny me but he felt after two operations and etc, etc I was good for this. I will be honest in saying my disability does not affect my driving for short distances (200 miles tops) but longer than that it would be a problem. I don't have to lift anything, which I could not do, so it works out.

Last week I took a bunch of girls to a volleyball game and on the way home they got to be quite noisy. I got their attention and motioned for them to hold it down. From the back came this voice saying, "We're sorry Mr. Bus Driver. You know you love us anyway." I couldn't help but start laughing and told them I was still thinking about that one. The kids have treated me very well.

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for not getting to your blogs or posting like I want to. When I am not driving I am doing name extractions from old documents so they can be put in an electronic format and put out for the genealogical world. It is truly rewarding to do this.

Have a nice day everyone.

I want you to know I do read different blogs but lately I just have not had time to make too many comments. Schaumi I tried several times one day to post a comment but the system just would not let me in. Must have put an Irish block on it.

I found out how to bring total silence to a bus full of kids (girls actually). On the way home from a game the other night the volleyball team was a singing and expending lots of energy. I waited for a pause in between songs and then started howling like a dog who's ears were hurting. I think I shocked them because no driver has ever acted that way before. Once the shock wore off the laughter started and the songs grew louder. I love hauling kids like that. They keep me young at heart.

Took the varsity volleyball team to Idaho Falls yesterday, (they got their behinders kicked quite badly) but on the way home I could not believe how many vehicles were on the highway. This is Idaho for crying out loud. Half the states population had to have been driving last night and half of the half had their bright lights on. We are farmers in this country. What happened to the good old farmer who went to bed at 10:00pm right after the news and was up at the crack of dawn? I am talking about midnight last night and it was bumper to bumper traffic. California yes, but Idaho no, no, no.

I had a guy flip me off the other day. It shocked the girls that he would do it. I was trying to make a turn off a busy street and this guy and the female he was with had me blocked. I pointed to where I was trying to go and motioned to them that if they would just back up a little I could get out of the way. "SALUTE!!" Now, I don't take salutes very well. I have been known to break fingers over things like that. I invited him to come over to the bus and we would discuss the situation like gentlemen but he didn't want no part of that. Oh well, it is water under the bridge now. I felt bad that I reacted like I did and wanted to discuss his "salute" in person. People can be so ignorant at times.

Cheryl is having a Red Hat meeting here today. I cannot figure out women. (DUH) As if they don't have enough to do but then they go and start up these clubs or whatever because they need a social life. What better social life can you have than with your husband? Why get married? We husbands can take care of all your needs! Sorry Dana but I just had to say this. Luce will probably tear me apart and what Schaumi will say... well you know Germans. Oh, I have a story to tell. Looks like this is a long blog but when I look at next weeks schedule this will probably be my last blog for a week.

A soldier was in the middle of a firefight when he ran out of bullets. Surrounded by the enemy he frantically looked around for some means to defend himself. Nothing. As a final desparate gesture to the advancing enemy he pointed his finger and went, "Bang, bang, bang." To his surprise three of the enemy fell down dead in their tracks. "Hmmmm," he said, "What caused that?" Pointing his finger again he went, "Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang," and several more of the enemy fell dead. Finally all that was left of the enemy was one lone soldier. Smiling to himself the man pointed his finger at the enemy and went "BANG." Nothing happened. The enemy soldier just kept marching toward him. "Bang, bang, bang," Nothing and the enemy was gettin uncomfortably close. "Rat ta tat,tat,tat; Bang, bang, bang", but the finger failed him this time. The enemy soldier marched up to the man, stomped him in the ground and continued on his way. The man drug his poor torn up body to the rim of his foxhole wondering what kind of enemy he just encountered. As he watched his enemy's back he could hear him say, "Tanka, tanka, tanka."

Have a nice day everyone.

For some reason I got to thinking the other day about some of the situations Cheryl and I have encountered and I remembered the one where she got a speeding ticket which I thought was funny but she sure didn't.

I was pulling mobile homes for a living and had picked one up in Caldwell, then headed for Idaho Falls, ID. Along the way I became horribly sick and had to stop in the small town of American Falls, ID. I called Cheryl and she came and got me. Five days later when I was finally able to raise my head up we headed back to American Falls so I could bring the trailer on to Idaho Falls.

Just out of American Falls there is a radar tower that sets off the radar detector in the car or truck. We were traveling along, Cheryl following me in the car, when the radar detector started beeping. Since we both had CB's I told Cheryl not to worry about anything that I was sure it was not a state trooper. How wrong I was. We were both going about 10 miles over the speed limit when he passed us on the other side of the freeway. Immediately his lights came on and over to our side he came.

Cheryl grabbed the CB mike and called me to tell me a highway patrolman was coming up behind her with his lights on. Well now what was I supposed to do, stop and say hi? I don't think so. I wished her well and told her I would see her at home. When the patrolman asked her what the hurry was she told him she was just following me. His reply was that I was going too fast but she was the one getting the ticket. I laughed until my sides hurt when she told me all about it. To this day she has not forgiven me. No sense of humour in that woman.

Of course the sad part of the whole story is that I had to pay the fine no matter what although it did not show up on my driving record. Lost a little bit of my sense of humour then.

Have a nice day everyone.

Have you ever seen the movie, "Invaders From Mars"? I watched that movie as a child and it scared the living dickens out of me. We would sleep outside on the lawn, look at the stars and just know the "Invaders From Mars" were coming to get us. People would get sucked down in the sand and later appear out of nowhere with marks on their necks and then they would do strange things.

As I got older I realized this was all fiction and the fear left me... until the other day. I have told you about the young woman I know that lives in Colorado and how she was abducted by space aliens. I have always suspected they did strange things to her by some of the things she would do. Now I have undisputable proof that they did something to her and she has just cause for her actions. This is a picture of a mark they put on her neck while she was in the mother ship. Now my fear has rekindled and I am afraid to go to sleep at night because I know she will send her space buddies to do bad things to me.



We just had a minnie family reunion. The occastion was Amber Nicole being blessed and named in our church. Our daughter Katherine, from California, surprised us all by showing up with her husband and children. We haven't seen them for several years and it was a great surprise. Those grandchildren have grown so much. We had a good time but I have reached that stage in life where I enjoy seeing the tail lights as they round the corner headed for their home. Sure makes you feel good when those grandchildren make a beeline for you and just hug you to pieces.

Here is a picture of all the women (biological) in my life. I have another granddaughter from another marriage but I consider her my granddaughter just as much as I do the biological ones.



Of course we still claim Amber (the space abductee) as one of our family but as you can tell from her picture we wonder why. (She would be disappointed if I said something nice)



She was trying to be a pirate and accidently poked herself in the eye with her sword.

Guess that is all for now. My brother in law is doing very well now and is out of intensive care and should be out of the hospital in a week or so. Still some healing to be done but at least he is acting more normal.

Have a nice day everyone.

I have a few minutes so will post something.

I will admit something about hauling kids, teenagers, around the area. They do keep you young feeling. All that chatter and enthusiasm can be contagious at times, irritating at others.

There is a rule that I am sure is nationwide and I emphasize it everytime I start a trip, no moving around the bus while it is in motion. All it would take is a sharp stop or swerve and someone could get hurt. Trust kids to come up with an alternative solution for their needs. Last night I am driving along interstate 84 when a movement caught my eye in the mirror. A girl had decided she needed to move from the back to the front where some of her friends were so she was on her hands and knees crawling up the aisle. Just at the time I looked up she looked up and seen me watching her. Talk about a silly grin. I couldn't help but start laughing.

I know in some of my previous posts I have been somewhat critical of soccor. Having taken the time to watch a couple of games I now find I do enjoy watching the kids play 'cause they play with such intensity. Yesterday, however, I found the perfect sport to truly call "BORING". I took the cross-country team to one of its meets. I repeat "BORING". Even watching paint dry is more exciting.

I now know why Schaumi and others like her do enjoy teaching even with the bad days. Kids can do the funniest things. Cheryl comes home and tells me some of the most interesting stories from second graders.

Oops, the breakfast call has sounded. Gotta go.

Have a nice day everyone.

Whew, what a week. Fun, but what a week. Cheryl even went with me to Cokeville, WY and she seemed to enjoy herself. Mercy, some of those volleyball players are tall for high school. However, the ones that caught my eye were the short ones who were so full of energy they could run circles around the taller girls. Coming back the bus was soooooo quiet cause the girls were plumb wore out.

Not much to say since I spent the time off doing a lot of sleeping and going to church. Even did a little sleeping in church. I think I was tired also.

Well, today is another beginning of another week. Lots of exciting things will be happening. I already got up and fixed the car that has been broken down for about three weeks. Mercy, I am on a roll.

Have a nice day everyone. Chery just called for breakfast and I must keep my priorities straight.:)

WOMEN!!! It used to be that I would say, "If it weren't for sex I would hate women." Now, I have to say, "If they didn't turn out to be such good cooks I would hate women." (Just kidding gals)

It doesn't matter the age, they don't listen. Take yesterday for example. Part of my pre-trip instructions, which come from the school district, is to make all passengers aware of safety issues such as remaining in your seat when the vehicle is in motion. Do not open safety hatches unless it is an emergency. On my particular bus it is, don't open the windows, they are all emergency exits. Did they comprehend? No!! Did they listen? No!! Did I repeat myself several times? Yes!!

This is the girls soccor team that I am talking about. Soccor. It is a game that makes paint drying look exciting. (Just kidding again) Back to my issues. I no sooner got the words out of my mouth about the windows when almost every window in that bus was opened. The coach and I just shook our heads in disbelief. Remain seated... oh how I wish. There must have been a large pile of ants in one section of the bus cause that particular group could not stay seated if their lives depended on it.

I worry about it somewhat. All it takes is one quick stomp on the brakes and someone could be seriously injured.

All in all though, they were a good bunch of kids. Wound up tighter than most clocks, but a good bunch.

I didn't get home until 0130 and so I am going to go and take a little nappy pooh since I got to leave again at 1500 this afternoon. (That is 3:00pm for those from Germany and England)

Have a nice day everyone.

No pictures today. Looks like I need to replenish my supply of pictures when I get the chance.

How did my first trip go? Well, it went very nicely. I felt sorry for the kids though. It was one very hot day and they played their hearts out (won both games) but I kept expecting someone to drop from heat exhaustion. One girl got kicked so hard in the knee that I didn't think she would be able to walk but she just smiled and said it hurts a little. Me, I would have been yelping all over the place.

I don't know if Saturday was an exception but they were some of the nicest and most courteous kids I have been around. Maybe it was because I threatened to turn off the air conditioning if they mis-behaved.:)

Today I go in for some more training and a dinner. Tomorrow I drive to Rupert, Id, Wednesday I drive to Pocatello, ID, Thursday I drive to Burley, ID and Friday and Saturday I got to Cokeville, WY for an overnight trip. Yep, they are keeping me busy right now. I love it.

If my blog does not produce much this week it is because I am a little busy. My niece stopped by yesterday and surprised me by saying she reads my blogs quite often. It would be interesting to know who all reads them and why they don't comment. I have to be careful what I say about my relatives because several of them read the blog.:)

My brother in law is not doing good. What should have been a fairly routine operation has turned into a full fledged life and death movement. I highly doubt he knew I was in his room but I whispered in his ear that someone needs to get better so the snow can be shoveled this winter. I don't think he appreciated that kind of encouragement.

Good to see some of you are back blogging. We all have our dry and busy spells don't we. Since I don't have any pictures I will leave this thought....

Butt Surgery
A married couple was in a terrible accident where the
woman's face was severely burned. The doctor told the husband that
they couldn't graft any skin from her body because she was too skinny.
So the husband offered to donate some of his own skin.

However, the only skin on his body that the doctor felt was
suitable would have to come from his buttocks.

The husband and wife agreed that they would tell no one
about where the skin came from, and requested that the doctor also
honor their secret. After all, this was a very delicate matter.

After the surgery was completed, everyone was astounded
at the woman's new beauty. She looked more beautiful than she ever
had before! All her friends and relatives just went on and on about her
youthful beauty!

One day, she was alone with her husband, and she was
overcome with emotion at his sacrifice. She said, "Dear, I just
want to thank you for everything you did for me. How can I possibly
repay you?"

"My darling," he replied, "I get all the thanks I need
every time I see your mother kiss you on the cheek."

I can't remember if I included this before or not... oh well, I AM getting old you know.

Have a nice day everyone.

This picture reminds of me of how I feel when Cheryl is driving. hee, hee

What a week this has been. You educators have more meetings than most people. Cheryl interiviewed for a job at the elementary school on Monday morning, received the job on Monday afternoon, attended an all day orientation on Tuesday and then had a picnic on Wednesday. I, on the other hand had a meeting on Tuesday, picnic on Wednesday, training on Wednesday and I forget what else there was.

Yesterday we drove to Provo, UT to see our youngest daughter's new house. Well, new to them but an older home that is soooooooo much better than what they were living in. We had a good time but I sure have gotten away from rush hour traffic. After visiting her we then went to a hospital in SLC where my brother in law had open heart surgery and is not doing well at all. He has been in a medically induced coma for over a week and does not seem to respond to treatment. He sure looked bad when we seen him. We wish him all the best and keep him in our prayers.

Speaking of prayers one of our friends sent this following poem and I thought I should share it with all of you. I sure hope everyone is doing all right. The blogging sure takes a beating when all of us are having so much fun in life.


Jake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go.
The temperature had fallen, the wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn't start.

So Jake did what most of us would do if we had been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time, he softly cursed his luck.
They found him three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life and done his share of roaming.
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked -- it looked just like Wyoming!

Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.
(Now, this line ain't needed but it helps with rhyme and meter)

So they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keeping' score -- in Heaven time is free.

"I've always heard," Jake said to Pete, "that God will answer prayer,
But, one time I asked for help, well, he just plain wasn't there."

"Does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square -- I know all men are brothers."

"Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day, the weather or the season."

"Now I ain't trying to act smart, it's just the way I feel.
And I was wondering', could you tell me -- what the heck's the deal?!"

Peter listened very patiently and when Jake was done.
There were smiles of recognition, and he said, "So, you're the one!!"

"That day your truck, it wouldn't start, and you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us trying."

"A thousand angels rushed, to check the status of your file, But
you know, Jake, we hadn't heard from you in quite a long while."

"And though all prayers are answered, and God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice, and started a truck in Minnesota."

BETTER KEEP IN TOUCH


Have a nice day everyone.

This reminds me of Cheryl and her friend Donna. Couple of old farts in a convertible trying to relive their youth. They are trying to start a Red Hat Society chapter here in this area which is not a bad thing. Here it is the church and nothing else and sometimes that is just not enough.

Yesterday our teacher gave us some pointers on the importance of keeping a journal of your life activities. I will admit I am not very good at this but keep trying in my own simple way. So I will share an experience in my life that was humorous and yet serious.

I lived in the town of Driggs, Idaho where most people scratch out a living the best way they can. Of course the place has changed so much now that I don't know what they do. Anyway, I got a job helping my relative in the forest and we were spraying pine trees for beetles that were killing them. Our chemicals consisted of some kind of killing agent mixed with diesel fuel. Nasty job.

As we worked we would notice what we called red-topped trees which are pine trees completely dead but the needles are still there, but very dry. I don't know how the practice got started but it was great fun to light a match to the bottom of one of these red-topped trees just to watch it go up in flames.

Well, as luck would have it we come across one tree that was all by itself, the safest kind of red-top to burn. Close by were about six to eight green, healthy trees but we just knew they wouldn't be hurt. Mind you this is in the spring and there was still snow everywhere so dryness in the forest was not an issue.

I put the match to the bottom limb of the red-top and "whoosh" flames shot to the top. What my relative and I never took into consideration is the intense heat that comes from these trees. Even though the green ones were supposedly a safe distance away the nearest one caught on fire.

I don't know if you have heard the term of trees exploding but believe me when I say, they do just that. It is a very scary sound. Not only did the nearest one catch on fire and explode but so did about six others all in a row. By the time the sixth one caught and exploded this little boy was on his knees praying to God that He would stop things from going any further. I even promised to be a good boy for a while.

Luckily it stopped but we were both quite shaken by the events of the day. Needless to say I have NEVER performed that stupid trick again.

So there you have it... another tale from the Ramblin Irishman. Hope you enjoyed it.

Have a nice day everyone.

I can sure tell everyone is starting to think very seriously about school starting. Teachers are getting their classrooms ready, college students are already on the road and school districts are getting their transportation vehicles ready. Busy, busy, busy. On top of all that the county fairs are going like crazy. Kids are primping their animals, adults are showing off their creations and here in Idaho the rodeos are a dime a dozen. I still have not gone to one. Cheryl wants to but seems like she always has some other thing going when the rodeo is on. At our county fair they have an "antique" catagory so I thought that next year I would enter Cheryl. Never know she might bring first place.:) They don't have a catagory for me which would be the old, broken down pieces of junk.

Here the farmers are harvesting grain like there is no tomorrow. Each time the sky clouds up and looks like rain you can hear the anti-rain chanting going on.

What do I do when all of this is going on? Well, normally I would go fishing and enjoy myself but this year I lucked out and got a job with the Preston (Napoleon Dynamite) school district. I will be driving the activity bus to ball games, musical thingys, more ball games and etc. Actually I am looking forward to it very much.

Well so much for my boring life. Think I will take Cheryl and go check out a campground that people have been telling us about. Might even try a little fishing.

I cannot close without showing off a picture of my two new granddaughters. Everyone was trying to get Amber to quit putting her hands in front of her face while they photographed her so Rylie took matters into her own hands.




Have a nice day everyone.

I don't know why but this picture just made me think of some of my blogging friends. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Have a nice day everyone.

This is Rylie Ann who is all dressed up for her naming and blessing. We did not realize it at the time of purchase but the dress makes her look like she has angel wings. It was a great event and poor Rylie got passed around to so many relatives that she started becoming quite grumpy.



Who can resist those big blue eyes?



She finally said she had enough and goodnight.



This was her cousin Jeremy who looks like he lost the fight. Apparently he fell asleep on the floor and a spider decided to have lunch and this is the results. We all felt so bad for the little guy.

That is all for today.

Have a nice day everyone.