Individualism....To My Amiga Shirley...

We had a good little exchange discussing "Big Oil"... and in that string of posts you asked that I dig up my "Individualism" post... so I've done just that. I actually wrote the original hastily and somewhat in anger, so I took the liberty of editing / cleaning up my thoughts a tad. This post was aimed at none other than Stephanie. We had a pretty "hot" exchange on Casa Herrera. Casa Herrera , as a blog , has since Died (Sorry Adrian or Leah if you happen to read this) but that original string of posts is still there.
To read the entire context, go to http://casaherrera.blogspot.com. Select "June" under past episodes and select the post called "Livin the Dream" posted on Wednesday June 13, 2007. There were a total of 23 comments and of course I tried to back up my assertions with as much fact as possible. I just went back and read it, its really good. LaDawn even chimed in, this was before she actually liked me as much as she does today...

START

... My original post, when I stated “Individualism is what made this country great” was in reference to the fact that there are blatant attempts to level the playing field and basically ban people from being competitive. Now most people’s first reaction is, I agree. Everything should be fair. But that rule applies to everyone but “you”. Whoever “You” is.

Let’s take Max for example [Joe's God Son], Leah and Adrian are going to do everything they can to give Max every advantage in life they possibly can. Love, Shelter, Educate him. Get him into the best school they can possibly get him into. (and hopefully avoid boulder High School), get him into the best college he can . All along the way, there will be people that will try to marginalize him or will be simply going after the same things he is [Updated Example: Tell people who fail, they haven't failed, telling everyone on the losing team they won as well, the elimination of honor roll's, etc]

Fortunately for Max...the US’s Capitalistic economy and culture does not make jobs and life in general a zero sum game. In other words, if Max or Baby Joe lands a good job, it doesn’t mean someone else won’t. If Max gets a great raise, it doesn’t mean someone else gets nothing. Everyone has the power to create their own happiness and its NOT at the expense of someone else’s (generally). If you got nothing, you probably deserved it. If you don’t like it, find a country that will provide better opportunities.

My point on individualism in America, is this. It is average, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The average, anonymous individuals among us (myself included) pursue the best lives for ourselves and our families as best we can. However we describe that “best life” and for whatever reason. We want to take care of our families and pursue excellence or Self Actualism (Mazlo reference). [I am not only referring to Financial Happiness, this is why I said "however we describe that best life].

Self interest, is far different than selfishness. Self interest, simply provides the foundations for America’s greatness [I know it has its drawbacks]. Self Interest and Individualism vs. Common good, I don’t see these as opposing values. I am contributing to the common good of Society, by being the best I can be or being better than what I imagined possible.

“Rugged individualism” is what made the US great, and Rugged individualism does not imply or does not mean selfishness, it doesn’t mean not caring or being concerned for others or the common good of the country.

The more people who are not conditioned NOT to seek the best in themselves, who are not challenged to meet or exceed expectations, the more people who won’t push themselves to do what they are capable of doing, then this country won’t continue to be what it has been.

Individualism won WWII, there was no plan in Normandy or Iwo Jima, other than get on the beach. We improvised. Individualism, in this country, seems to produce the right person at the right time who will make a tough decision for the common good and not “conform” to the consensus or pressures. (“Consensus, is the absence of leadership”… Leah hates that quote). Individualism will produce people that will face the “hard cold facts” (Got that one from Good to Great, Jim Collins – Excellent Book) and to the best for everyone. But it takes individualism [and someone trying to be the best they can be]to get there [in order to position themselves to make that decision for the common good]

As you can see Steph, we were on two different wave lengths. I was thinking about the common good and you were (at least from my perspective) referring to franchising and bashing capitalism. Is the Camp Bow Wow a franchise by the way? I guess Leah and Adrian are simply conforming.

END

Ben Stein

If you are only gong to see one movie this year, go and see Ben Stein’s “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” Absolutely wonderful. Ben interviews several top scientists all over the world – the cream of the crop in evolutionary studies in biology, chemistry, geology and so on – and he asks all the questions that I have been wanting answers for since 1972. I’m sure you will find the answers as fascinating as I did.

Cell phones

There is young mother who regularly comes through my checkout line and I’ve never once seen her without her head cocked to one side, holding a cell phone between her ear and shoulder. She has a toddler at her side, usually tugging at her shirt tail saying, “Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?” steadily turning up the volume with each repetition. There is a baby in the cart’s baby seat, who needs help with her bottle, so Mommy is using one hand to hold it for her. She talks into the phone while she unloads her groceries with the other hand. She finishes one conversation and speed dials the next person while saying to the toddler, “Just a minute, Miranda.” She swipes her debit card and enters her PIN while leaving a message for someone who didn’t pick up. While I scan, bag and load her groceries back into her cart, she sends a text message. As soon as she’s done with that, she takes an incoming call. I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but I can’t help overhearing her say, “Can I call you right back? I’m getting another call.” She continues her cell phone conversations as she pushes her loaded grocery cart toward the door, with Miranda still imploring, “Mommy? Mommy?...” She’s never once looked up at me, or had any semblance of a conversation with me. I guess she’s in close communications with everyone she needs to be, except the people right in front of her. I try not to be offended by it, though I do feel a little sorry for Miranda. I sure can’t see how she and her family benefit from owning a cell phone.

I'm so embarrassed.

I forgot to point out that Smitty, the jockey in the picture below, is LaDawn's dad.
Please forgive me.

LaDawn is my cousin-in-law once removed and has a great blog at the Clare-Panton Family Adventures - link at left.

See post below for the story behind this photo.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa.

Thornton W. Gatewood

(This essay about my Grandpa was written by my cousin, Paul D. Smith in March 2000. I’ve inserted a few notes.)

Thornton William Gatewood trained Thoroughbred race horses beginning about 1938 through 1969 after he left the farm in Decatur, Nebraska. He had been a farmer all his life and also a 4-H leader and breeder of Duroc hogs. He also raised and bred draft horses that he entered in horse pulls at county fairs. He was a baseball pitcher and a mentor for youth, including several nieces, nephews and grandchildren. The Depression was too harsh and he left the farm and began working at the race tracks. He worked for a couple of years for other trainers, usually in Chicago, Ohio and Florida.

The first horse he owned was Merry Bid. A lady owned the horse and gave him away saying, “If he ever wins a race, you can give me $100.” Merry Bid was a reclamation project as he had a bad cut on a front leg from running into a barbed wire fence. The horse recuperated at the farm of Thornton’s son, Jack Gatewood (Janell’s Dad) near Lyons, Nebraska. Merry Bid healed up and went on to win several races, some of them in Omaha at Ak-Sar-Ben and even in Canada.

Thornton was affectionately known as “Thornt” or “Tom” by people at the race tracks. One of the trainers who started training about the same time was M. H. Van Berg pf Columbus, Nebraska who went on to national fame. “Tom” owned and trained over 40 of his own horses and trained many for other clients. Jim and Min Pokorny of Omaha were clients for many years. Mr. Gatewood won over 170 races through the years and always had a small stable of 3 to 7 horses.

Among Thornt’s favorite horses was Extra Dividend, who was a black gelding he claimed in Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas about 1961. He went on to win 29 races for Thornt, racing and winning at age 12. (Note: Janell’s husband’s cousin, Gayland “Smitty” Smith rode Extra Dividend to a win for Grandpa at Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska April 2, 1964. I have a wonderful picture of them all together in the Winner’s Circle, which I’ll try to get posted.) Another horse he claimed in 1953 at Oaklawn was Taos Cross, another black gelding who won 2 or 3 races every year in Omaha, St. Louis and Chicago, primarily. He was a front runner who liked to run one mile and 70 yards and usually was in front at least for a while. Other horses included Master Bird, Oklahoma Ted, Dark Search, Bonzar, Sirita’s Gal, Gracie Ann, Dark Powder, Jimmy Dee, Miss Woodchuck and her son, Splinter, Peggy’s Pic, Gramp’s Boots, Buzoots, Twelve Bells, Oil Prince, Kamalux, Hazlett, Batajax, Roble, Canpan, Hoss’s Pick, Red Mahoney, Don Rivers, Chet’s Column, Whirlango, Texas Beran, Beacon’s Beauty, and Bee Line Jet.

Horses that he trained for the Pokornys included Mr. Tops, Our Mistake, Glenbar, Sea Charm, Gentle Wind, and High Flame. He also trained for a Mr. Herbert Miller from Iowa and his horses included General Café, Busze, and Stormy Wan.

Thornt raced in at least 12 states and Canada, His travels took him and his constant companion, his wife, Agnes Connealy Gatewood, through 40 of the 50 states. Several of his grandsons helped out at the race track and at the home base near Lyons, Nebraska on the farm of his son-in-law and daughter John and Grace Smith (Paul D.’s parents) Some of the horses raced were born on the farm. John and Grace were partners with him in racing beginning when Taos Cross was claimed in 1953. They helped raise and board horses over the winter months.

Oldest son, Francis Gatewood, worked for Thornt at the race tracks after serving in World War II until 1949. Thornt’s daughter Kathryn and her husband Roland Nelson were also involved with horses and they traveled and raced together for a few years in the 40s. Harry Gatewood, Thornt’s brother, worked with him at the tracks for a time in the 40s and 50s. Some of the memorable tracks were in Omaha, Phoenix, Denver, Hot Springs, and St. Louis. His favorite place to run for the money was in Chicago. They also raced at the Nebraska tracks in Grand Island, Madison, Columbus, Lincoln and South Sioux City. Son Jack Gatewood also helped him at the tracks and at time wintered horses on his farm near Lyons.

Thornton Gatewood died in the early morning April 13, 1971 at the age of 83 at Evista, a retirement center in Lyons. He was buried on his 84th birthday. He and Agnes had celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. What was he doing when he arose in the predawn hours of April 13th? He was getting ready to go to Grand Island to watch the horse Splinter run. He was the last horse raise on the farm and was being trained by grandson, James Thornton Smith. The horse finished 8th.

Grounded

Hello, Friends. Have you missed me? I'm missing you.

My computer is at the Wizard's getting fixed, so I'm on the one at the Public Library. I'm hoping to be back online within a few days.

Welcome, new OSM visitors.... (Holly, Jim, Keven, Nettie and other friends of Joe B)..This my first post in about two months. Let's call it..

Big Oil, Energy and Liberalism - what the hell...

On Tuesday of this week, congress held hearings on capital hill. The "victims" of this inquiry, Oil Executives. Yes, congress is pressing "big oil" on why gas prices are so high and why they are not investing in alternative energy? To most Americans, the initial emotional reaction is "YEAH! You get those evil oil companies!" Not sure where you stand on this, but to me this is nothing more than a ridiculous dog and pony show. If anything, Big oil should be conducting hearings and question congress on why they are standing in the way of progress. Let's practically analyze this.

Energy prices, and subsequently oil prices, are driven by the free market. Specifically to factors in the US. 1. The commodities / speculation market and 2. Summer driving season. The first has nothing to do with consumption, however the ladder does. Our oil supply is roughly the same, in other words, regardless of the season we import roughly 14 million barrels a day. With our supply staying roughly the same, demand generally increases in the spring and summer. Common sense would dictate that when your supply remains constant and demand increases what happens to price? It goes up. This law of economics prevails in energy all the way down to your local fruit stand and grocery store! In other words, Big oil doesn't set the price of gasoline anymore than your local grocery store (Hy Vee for example) sets the price of tomatoes. The price is set to what the market will bear. Gas, also has close to zero price elasticity. In other words, price has very little effect on consumption. Sort of like milk, bread and water. The price of this could triple tomorrow and you would still buy it. You'll probably buy less donuts or potato chips, but your milk, bread and water consumption will not decrease significantly.

Despite that, let's carry forward the premise of these hearings. Congressman Ed Markey, who chaired these hearings, was quoted as saying "These unjustifiable profits are reflected in how little some of these companies put into renewable energy resources to find an alternative to oil, and the incredible profits which the companies report and it's time for them to come to explain to the Congress, but more importantly to the American people, what they plan on doing on alleviating this enormous attack upon consumers and upon the American economy, which oil prices represent." Barack and Hillary, both pretty much socialist, are jumping on the band wagon and are proposing windfall profit taxes. How do you determine how much profit is too much? Who determines that? Where does the money go?

I don't know about you, but this is disturbing to me. First of all, the US oil companies are collectively investing more money into alternative energy. There are a couple of dirty little secrets here. 1. Most alternative energy's either don't work for mass consumption, have a worse impact on the environment than fossil fuel or have adverse impact on other industries. 2. Congress and the environmentalist will not allow us to build refineries or nuclear power plants. We haven't built a refinery in 30 years. Doing so, would have a huge impact on oil prices. A new refinery would allow for significantly higher efficiencies and outputs which would reduce our price. Part of our price is drive by capacity constraints not DEMAND. Nuclear power would allow us to use all the oil we use for electricity to be shifted to gasoline. (Did you know that France is 100% powered by nuclear energy?) 3. Approximately, .50 cents of every gallon of gas you consume is a tax. 4. Ethanol fuel drives up the cost of food - Ever hear of the tortilla riots? The basis for ethanol is corn and other crops, by switching to those fuels what do we do? Drive up demand on a constant supply. Well, guess what that does to prices? Corn goes up, subsequently our export price of corn goes up. The price of tortilla's tripled in the last 14 months in MX (and other Latin American countries we export to). We are causing more poverty as a result. Where is the compassionate liberalism now? Not to mention, increased production and demand on crops actually add to fossil fuel consumption. How? Well, we need tractors and other machine devices to farm, pick, pack and ship this stuff don't we? Maybe we should use illegal labor for that, specifically the ones rioting in MX (Just kidding).

My point, the very people holding these hearings are the ones preventing us from lowering energy prices. Alternative, we need to be able to drill in Anwar and North Dakota. Get the environmentalists out of our way. Now, does that make me a evil person? Oil, is what fuels this economy. American's are not desperate for Healthcare as lower energy prices. Imagine if you gas bill suddenly dropped by $100 per month and suddenly you have $2 gas again. Want to talk about an economic boom, LOOK OUT!!

Anyone remember when Microwave's first came out? They were $1500 weren't they? Well, if we found the break through fuel today we would need to build the infrastructure to harvest it, refine, store it and ship it and get it in your tank. This new alternative fuel would probably be around $15 per gallon, and very few people would initially (only the "evil rich") until we get economies of scale to drop the price. I own stock in Conoco Philips (NYSE: COP). Guess what, if you invested in about 25 shares of Exxon Mobile or Conoco about 10 years ago, you would have made enough money to pay for free gas for about 1 year (or any oil company).

That's almost all I have to say to say about that.

This is a good one:

A pair of Classic Rednecks came through my checkout line today. I mean, EVERYTHING about them screamed “hick”: overalls, denim jackets over hooded sweatshirts totally stained with oil & grease, dirty fingernails, tattered seed corn baseball style caps. Right down to the food they bought: meat tenderizer, seasoning salt, two steaks, two baking potatoes and a case of beer among a few other things. They split the grocery bill right down the middle. I counted out the money the second one handed me and I came up 4 cents short. I said, “I need four more cents. Can you find me 4 more pennies?”

The first guy said, “Hell, yes, he’s got pennies. He’s always loaded with pennies.”

“Yeah,” the second man agreed, “But you ain’t never had no cents.”

Everyone within earshot burst out laughing.

Especially me.

Cliff has a good post about the grocery checkout line from the customer's point of view.

http://cliffmorrow.blogspot.com/2006/03/jinxed.html

A man came to my register a few days ago and he had The Look. Ladies, you know what I mean. The Look is the half-smile, half-sneer of a man who has finally decided to stop procrastinating. He has concluded that he has been nagged enough and he’s going to do what the significant female in his life has been asking him to do over and over again for the past several days… weeks… perhaps months. He bought a dozen or so cans of dog food, a bag of kibble and several bags of rawhide dog treats. Not a morsel of people food, just canine supplies. I commented, “It looks like you’re going to be greeted by a wagging tail when you get home.”
He just nodded and with a sigh of resignation, said, “Yeah. She called to remind me,” then he added. “Never give a dog a cell phone.”

A glimpse from the front line

Busy busy busy in my own little world, I almost didn’t notice the young woman as she unloaded her groceries onto my belt. It’s towards the end of my day and I’m a little tired, but I’ve decided to make the effort to make meaningful eye contact with each person I take money from. It seems only fair. When I looked up at her, I almost cried. One eye was swollen shut. She had a deep scratch on the side of her nose that should probably have been stitched and bruises on her neck and upper arm. And she had two of the most beautiful little girls I’ve ever seen with her; a toddler in the baby seat and a little one at her side. Both had thick, dark curly hair and sweet blue eyes.
“Dear Jesus,” I prayed silently, “Let me minister to this woman.”
I put on my friendliest smile and asked, “How are you doing today?”
“Fine,” she nearly whispered her answer.
“Did you find everything you were looking for today?”
“Yes,” she muttered, keeping her eyes and head turned down. Her emotions were as swollen shut as her bruised eye.
Any further efforts on my part to make conversation were thwarted with one-syllable answers and downcast, angry eyes.
She paid for her groceries with WIC checks and food stamps.
Still thinking I might start weeping for her right there in the store, I turned my attention to the toddler as I paced her groceries in the cart. “Hi, Sweetie,” I said. “Those little overalls sure look pretty on you.” The tot answered me with a cute little grin and when I turned around, her mama was smiling.
When I handed her the receipt, she finally looked up and said, “Thank you.”
I don’t know her name, but if you are a praying person, please ask God to get this family away from who ever did this to this precious mother.

Duh.

Wednesday at Hy Vee is Senior Citizen's Discount Day. We are not allowed to give them discounts on cigarettes or liquor, so we enter the discount before scanning either of these items.
Now here's the "duh." After I hit the discount key and the Senior Discount is calculated, I pick up the liquor and scan it. The computer then prompts me to check their id.

Here's another one. A couple came into my line with a cart load of prepackaged, frozen, fully prepared heat & eat boxed dinners and entrees. Absolutely nothing fresh; not even cereal. I asked them if they wanted paper or plastic. They produced 4or 5 reusabe canvas bags and replied, "Use these. We don't approve of plastic."
Apparantly they have nothing against cardboard.

More stories strolling through my ine every day. I'll check back in with you on the weekend!

QUICK!

Somebody, ask me how the Toastmasters competition went!

Well, thanks for asking!

I can’t wait to tell you!

I brought home a First place trophy and the opportunity to compete in the Regional contest on March 29.

But wait, there’s more.
The best part – my dear friend, Iris, from good old Lyons High who happens to live in the Norfolk neighborhood came to sit through the whole thing and give me moral support.

But wait! There’s more!

My sister, Sue, (of The Back Nine) who lives in N. also came AND willingly and cheerfully assisted the Chief Judge as a timer.

Do I have good friends and family or WHAT!?

So now all we need is good driving weather so I can make it to Columbus on the 29th.

Life is good.

But wait, there’s more!

My friend Renee and I sang at Church (Country Bible) this morning. We did the Selah version of “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and our good friend Juli played piano for us. It went very well. We’ve decided to call our little singing group ‘The Redneck Angels’ and we are working on several more songs to do for Juli’s church and for CBC. We lovingly refer to Juli as “The Music Nazi”, but that’s another post.

But wait, there’s more!

Having recently changed jobs for the umpteenth time in my life, I began to question myself about that. As in, “What’s up with that?”
I started at the age of fourteen at a local dairy queen (not a real dairy queen franchise, but a reasonable facsimile thereof.) And now, nearly 40 years and 20 or so jobs later {including waitress, Nurse’s Aide, factory line worker, Chiropractor’s assistant, newspaper reporter, Darkroom technician (my personal favorite), PR publications, retail sales, magazine columnist, administrative assistant, office manager, cashier and the list goes on…} I have to wonder why I haven’t found my ‘niche’ within the world of gainful employment.
I’m coming to the conclusion that I’m only here for the stories. Every job I’ve had has given me unique, irreplaceable memoirs. My next self-assigned task is to get them recorded for posterity.

Wish me luck.

Okay, that’s all for this time.

Well, hello friends.

Here is my report regarding my new job as Hy Vee cashier.

Having gone from sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day to standing at a cash register for 8 hours a day, my back has had some adjusting to do. After my first day, my lower back was so sore, it hurt to cough. Ouch. The second day hurt a little less and the third a little less than that and so on. Just had to build up some unused muscles, I’m sure.

My main supervisor’s name is Dolly. I think in the weeks to come you are going to be hearing a lot about Dolly. She’s a character. (And I mean that in a good way.)

I’m busy all the time. Very rarely did more than a minute go by before the next customer stepped into my line to get checked out. Wednesday is Sr. Citizen discount day, so it was extra busy all day.

I was glad when the weekend got here and then disappointed when the weather stayed cold. I managed to take Bubba out for a short ride on Saturday. Sunday was too cold and windy, so I spent the day inside after church reading and trying to get my feet to warm up. Emily was hogging the computer for a mid term paper so I didn’t even get to go to Blog Church!

And now it’s Monday. With the time change, Cody and I had to go for our morning walk in the DARK. I get so irritated with Daylight Savings Time. If you want an extra hour of daylight, people, get up an hour earlier. Bah humbug.

So there you have it – lots of schedule adjusting to do and so on.

I hope you all have a good Monday.

Hello!

While some of you are vacationing in interesting and WARM places I am getting ready to leave for my second day on the new job at Hy Vee. So far, so good. I really like my managers.

More time and more words on the weekend.

Happy blogging, Blogospherians!

Hey, Everyone!

Nora is taking us to Ireland and we get to go to the American Southwest with Cliff!
Links over at left on the blogroll.

Woohoo!

Three cheers for Jack!

He won an Honorable Mention for his entry in our church's chili cookoff. He called it "7 kind of heat" because he put in 7 peppers: 2 jalopenos, 1 serrano, 1 habenero, 2 poblanos and 1 can of green chilies.
Yes it was hot.
Yes it was DELICIOUS! He shoud have won first. Maybe next year.

Glad you asked!

Here is some info on Toastmasters.

“The mission of Toastmasters International is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.”

A typical Toastmasters meeting at my club goes something like this:
The Toastmaster opens the meeting with an invocation and is responsible for keeping the meeting running smoothly. He or she invites each participant to the podium. The participants are the Reader, Jokemaster, Table Topics Master and one or two speakers. Next, the evaluators take the floor and share their thoughts on each participant’s contribution, pointing out what went well and offering suggestions as to what could be better next time. The whole group votes on the best Table Topics speaker and the best Speaker of the day.

The Reader: offers a reading of 2-4 minutes in length. This can be anything; poetry, humor, contemplative. The “Chicken Soup for the Soul" books are a popular source for this section.

Jokemaster: Tells jokes for 2-4 minutes.

Table Topics Master: The TTM takes the podium and invites three members to practice their extemporaneous speaking skills by calling on them one at a time with a different question for each one. The questions usually are drawn from current events. The respondents speak on the table topic for 1 ½ - 2 ½ minutes.

The speakers: Members work their way through Toastmasters International manuals of speaking assignments. The first book of 10 speeches is formatted to emphasize the development of 10 different aspects of communications skills (research, speaking to inspire, speaking to inform, using visual aids, etc.). After completing Book 1, members can choose from a wide variety of offerings from the Toastmasters International publications. After my first ten, the next ten I worked on were Storytelling and Interpretive Reading. Most of the speeches are from 5-10 minutes; getting longer as you move through the assignments. I am now working my way through a Leadership Manual. Following the completion of every ten projects, members are awarded certificates of achievement.

I’m staying in it in order to disguise the fact that I am actually extremely introverted. Toastmasters gives me a chance to pretend that I’m not!

I hope this answers your questions.

Announcements

I’m changing jobs.
Feb, 29th will be my last day at TST and I will be starting at the HyVee in Fremont on March 3. This will be a good change for everyone.

In my local Toastmasters club, I qualified to participate in an Area competition, which will be in Norfolk March 15th. The speech is entitled “20th Century American Athletes.” It’s about the 11 Triple Crown winners in TB Horseracing. I posted all about it awhile back – June 8, 2007. I tried to insert a link, but it didn't work. I don't know what I'm doing.

Walkin’ around in town

Yesterday morning it was just to flippin’ cold to take my morning walk and I had a 2:00 appointment to get my oil changed in Fremont, so rather than sit in the waiting room at the car dealer for an hour, I decided to bundle up and go for my walk. For those of you who know Fremont, I headed south on Luther Road and walked from Highway 30 over to Military, went west a little and started back on William St. William doesn’t go all the way back to 30, so I got a little sidetracked through some winding avenues and cul de sacs before I found my way beck to Luther Road. I had used up the entire hour by the time I made it back to Steffey’s.
Walking in town is sure a lot different than going down my gravel road. There is a lot more exhaust in the air, for one thing. On my gravel road, the traffic is considered heavy if I encounter one vehicle in the 40 or so minutes I spend on the road. On Luther Road, I think a car went by every 30 seconds or so.
On my road, the only dog I see is mine. In town, I passed by several, who announced my presence with much barking and hopping on the other side of the privacy fences. And speaking of fences, at home the only fences I pass are barbed wire. Luther Road is flanked on both sides almost all the way to Military with privacy fences. Yes, I peeked over the top of some of them, at places where I wasn’t getting barked at. Very nice houses in there.
When I got back to get my pickup at the appointed time, the service guy took one look at the paperwork and said, “Oh no! They haven’t even started it yet!” So I wound up sitting in the waiting room for an hour, anyway. He was very apologetic that it wasn’t ready when he’d said it would be, and I ended up getting my oil change for free.

I’ve just discovered that for reasons known only to the internet/blogger demons, I can come around and read all my favorite blogs, but I can’t open the comment box. So please don’t cross me off your lists. I’ll get back into the swing of things as soon as I can.

Redneck Valentine Q & A

Where did you meet your wife? At the family reunion, just like ever’body else.

What first attracted you to each other? She liked my truck and my dog liked her.

Was it ‘love at first sight’”? It was fer me. I thought she was outta my league, tho, cuz she bowls on a different night than I do.

What do you and your wife like to do for a romantic evening out? Well, we used to go over to Footstompers and line dance and ride the mechanical bull, but now she likes me to take her to Sam’s Club fer groceries and I like her to buy me a new gun. Or at least some ammo. Unless it’s Saturday. Then she wants me to take her to the laundrymat. I don’t mind, though. They got cable TV there.

What’s your wife’s favorite thing about you? She likes how I smell, ‘cuz I take a bath once a week whether I need one or not.

Have you ever been divorced, separated or widowed? Why? What have you heard?

Do you have any children? She’s got two boys and one of mine on the way. And I don’t care what Widow Wilson says, her kid AIN’T mine!

What song did you dance to at your wedding? We ain’t had our weddin’ yet. We’re waitin’ til after her mama’s.

Do you two have a special song? She likes it when I recite all the vowels in one burp.

Is she a good cook? She does purty good with the fresh stuuf, but what that woman can do with roadkill is absolutely meraculuss!

Now it’s your turn! Add your own Redneck Valentine Q & A in the comments! And have a Happy Valentine’s Day, whether you’re a Redneck or not.