Ever get into a battle with someone, verbally? Of course you have!
What idiot has never argued with someone?
When I was a lot younger, maybe 4 or 5, I didn't know how to argue---but I was pretty good at screaming a lot, so I could get my way! I could scream so loud, it made glasses break and windows shake!
It also used to roust my 6 foot, 200 pound, gorilla daddy off his chair and cause him to suspend me by my heels, while he whacked my butt.
Needless to say, I learned, early on, that screaming brought on pain, rather than reward.
So I stopped screaming---but I hoped I could find a way of making him pay for his misdeeds!
Time passed--slowly as it usually does when you're a little twerp! By the time I was 8, I still hadn't figured out a way of payback! However, I was slowly gaining "word power", as my teacher put it. My vocabulary was increasing by leaps and bounds. I started reading classics--Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and Robinson Crusoe. I also learned new words at school.
One day, when I was instructed by my pappy to stop doing something he didn't want me to do, I decided I'd experiment by trying out some of the words on him that I'd learned at school, to see if I could change his attitude towards me. You know, make him treat me more like an adult?
As I hung by my heels, getting another sore butt, I vowed to get even with Leonard, my friend, for teaching me in an argument to say, "F*** you" which, in sheer shock value alone, stopped several arguments I had engaged in, but only caused my grunting gorilla of a father to exercise his palm again.
It took several days for my butt to return to normal, during which time I thought and thought of ways to get even with Leonard! Nothing! I couldn't think of any way of getting even. By now, I had postponed getting even with my father. At my young age, I had figured out he was just to much for me to handle and, until I was big enough, I'd just lull him into thinking I was a good little kid, to keep him from massaging my butt any more!
Now, Leonard and I were great white hunters.
We spent many a Saturday in the Durant woods behind our house, hunting rabbits, sparrows, rats---anything that crossed our path---with our BB guns! My pride and joy was my 500 shot Daisy Red Ryder BB gun.
Leonard had a nice looking gun, too, but it only fired one BB at a time. Every time he wanted to shoot something, he had to hand load it, first!
Well, here we were out in the woods and suddenly we came upon a wonderful target. Leonard asked me, "what is that?"
"Uhh," I said, thinking fast. "Darned if I know", which was a damned lie, because I'd had an experience with those critturs on my front porch just last week!
"It looks like a mud football," he said, musingly!
"Maybe it is," I agreed.
"We could use it for a football anyway, couldn't we?"
"Sure we could. All we have to do is get it down!"
"Well," says Leonard. "I can get it down!"
Laying his BB gun gently against a fallen log, Leonard picked up two of the biggest rocks he could find. Taking careful aim, he chunked the first rock at the hanging mud football. He missed!
I turned and started walking quickly away from Leonard.
He chunked another rock. THWACK! The rock hit the mud football and sixteen gazillion wasps came diving out of their home, motors going full blast. Leonard, assuming from their aggressive behavior they meant him harm, turned and started running towards me as fast as his little legs would carry him.
He didn't make it.
You could almost hear the ricochets off his head as the wasps nailed one ear, a cheek and several shots to the back of Leonard's head.
Worse yet, he was gaining on me and bringing that mob with him!
Now, wasps will chase you a considerable distance, but even they have their limits. Apparently, when they thought they had done enough damage to the intruder, they turned for home to inspect the damage he had wrought.
Gasping for air, I fell where I had stopped and, as Leonard approached, I couldn't stop laughing at the look on his face.
"F*** you," was Leonard's parting shot, as he headed for home.
It took Leonard two weeks before he'd even speak to me, which was OK, 'cause it took nearly that long before I could stop laughing about it!
We stayed good friends, though---but Leonard never taught me any more nasty words!
Monday, July 25, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Will America be Hit With Nukes?
I read a story, recently, about the possibility of nukes in America and it seems to me that Americans refuse to accept the possibility that a holocaust could occur on our soil, simply because it's "unthinkable"!
(The twin towers disaster was unthinkable enough for them, I guess!)
Worse yet, we have one party so intent on regaining political power lost, they ignore the safety of the country; the Constitutional rights lost by citizens and the degradation of the Constitution itself!
Their aims appear more and more socialistic, as witness the recent decision of the Supreme Court to destroy your rights to private property, or their citing of "world opinion" as a basis for their decisions, regardless of what the constitution says.
The dangers facing our country have never been greater, both from within and without, and our politicians continue to be concerned only with their own powers and a hatred of the opposition.
It's time for Americans to realize the powers of Congress come from the PEOPLE, not a political party.
Let's hope the country survives the inevitable holocaust and shows the courage to kick the political bums out of office!
Here's the story I read:
World Net Daily
FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
Al-Qaida nukes already in U.S.
Terrorists, bombs smuggled across Mexico border by MS-13 gangsters
Posted: July 11, 2005
12:22 p.m. Eastern
WASHINGTON – As London recovers from the latest deadly al-Qaida
attack that killed at least 50, top U.S. government officials are
contemplating what they consider to be an inevitable and much bigger
assault on America – one likely to kill millions, destroy the economy and
fundamentally alter the course of history, reports Joseph Farah's G2
Bulletin. Sounds like preparations for a "worst case scenario",
doesn't it?
According to captured al-Qaida leaders and documents, the plan is
called the "American Hiroshima" and involves the multiple detonation of
nuclear weapons already smuggled into the U.S. over the Mexican
border with the help of the MS-13 street gang and other organized crime
groups.
Al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet
Union – including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even
some missile warheads. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan
show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile
material it purchased on the black market.
In addition to detonating its own nuclear weapons already planted in the
U.S., military sources also say there is evidence to suggest al-Qaida is
paying former Russian special forces Spetznaz to assist the terrorist group
in locating nuclear weapons formerly concealed inside the U.S. by the
Soviet Union during the Cold War. Osama bin Laden's group is also
paying nuclear scientists from Russia and Pakistan to maintain its existing
nuclear arsenal and assemble additional weapons with the materials it has
invested hundreds of millions in procuring over a period of 10 years.
The plans for the devastating nuclear attack on the U.S. have been under
development for more than a decade. It is designed as a final deadly blow
of defeat to the U.S., which is seen by al-Qaida and its allies as "the
Great Satan."
At least half the nuclear weapons in the al-Qaida arsenal were obtained
for cash from the Chechen terrorist allies.
But the most disturbing news is that high level U.S. officials now believe at
least some of those weapons have been smuggled into the U.S. for use in
the near future in major cities as part of this "American Hiroshima" plan,
according to an upcoming book, "The al-Qaida Connection: International
Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," by Paul L.
Williams, a former FBI consultant.
According to Williams, former CIA Director George Tenet informed
President Bush one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that at least
two suitcase nukes had reached al-Qaida operatives in the U.S.
"Each suitcase weighed between 50 and 80 kilograms (approximately 110
to 176 pounds) and contained enough fissionable plutonium and uranium
to produce an explosive yield in excess of two kilotons," wrote Williams.
"One suitcase bore the serial number 9999 and the Russian manufacturing
date of 1988. The design of the weapons, Tenet told the president, is
simple. The plutonium and uranium are kept in separate compartments
that are linked to a triggering mechanism that can be activated by a clock
or a call from the cell phone."
According to the author, the news sent Bush "through the roof,"
prompting him to order his national security team to give nuclear
terrorism priority over every other threat to America.
However, it is worth noting that Bush failed to translate this policy into
securing the U.S.-Mexico border through which the nuclear weapons and
al-Qaida operatives are believed to have passed with the help of the
MS-13 smugglers. He did, however, order the building of underground
bunkers away from major metropolitan areas for use by federal
government managers following an attack. Well, now! THAT was 'thoughty' of him,
wasn't it? As far as I am concerned, all the pols who suggested illegal aliens should
be given amnesty and driver's licenses, should be hanged in the event of a
holocaust!
Bin Laden, according to Williams, has nearly unlimited funds to spend on
his nuclear terrorism plan because he has remained in control of the
Afghanistan-produced heroin industry. Poppy production has greatly
increased even while U.S. troops are occupying the country, he writes.
Al-Qaida has developed close relations with the Albanian Mafia, which
assists in the smuggling and sale of heroin throughout Europe and the
U.S.
Some of that money is used to pay off the notorious MS-13 street gang
between $30,000 and $50,000 for each sleeper agent smuggled into the
U.S. from Mexico. The sleepers are also provided with phony
identification, most often bogus matricula consular ID cards
indistinguishable from Mexico's official ID, now accepted in the U.S. to
open bank accounts and obtain driver's licenses.
The Bush administration's unwillingness to secure the U.S.-Mexico border
has puzzled and dismayed a growing number of activists and ordinary
citizens who see it as the No. 1 security threat to the nation. The
Minuteman organization is planning a major mobilization of thousands of
Americans this fall designed to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border as
it did in April with a 23-mile stretch in Arizona.
According to Williams' sources, thousands of al-Qaida sleeper agents have
now been forward deployed into the U.S. to carry out their individual
roles in the coming "American Hiroshima" plan.
Bin Laden's goal, according to the book, is to kill at least 4 million
Americans, 2 million of whom must be children. Only then, bin Laden has
said, would the crimes committed by America on the Arab and Muslim
world be avenged.
There is virtually no doubt among intelligence analysts al-Qaida has
obtained fully assembled nuclear weapons, according to Williams. The
only question is how many. Estimates range between a dozen and 70. The
breathtaking news is that an undetermined number of these weapons,
including suitcase bombs, mines and crude tactical nuclear weapons, have
already been smuggled into the U.S. – at least some across the
U.S.-Mexico border.
The future plan, according to captured al-Qaida agents and documents,
suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities
throughout the country – including New York, Boston, Washington, Las
Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.
In response to the G2 Bulletin revelations, Chris Simcox, founder of the
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a citizen action group demanding the U.S.
government take control of its borders, said an immediate military
presence on the borders is now imperative "to stop the overwhelming
influx of unidentified, potentially hostile and seditious persons coming
across at an alarming rate."
"Terrorists have carte blanche to carry practically anything they want
across our national line at this time," he said. "As ordinary citizens have
warned this government for years, the only surprising part about the new
information reported here is that nothing apocalyptic from Mexican-border
weapons trafficking has yet happened. Terrorism has reared its ugly
head in London again these past few days, and as we know all too well we
are not immune in this country. At this point, the next attempt to attack
America at home is just a matter of 'when,' not 'if.' And our unsecured
borders have surely contributed to this threat – yet our government
officials continue to fiddle while our nation's margin of security and safety
burns away. The president and Congress had better wake up before they
have to answer for another devastating terrorist incursion on our own
soil."
(The twin towers disaster was unthinkable enough for them, I guess!)
Worse yet, we have one party so intent on regaining political power lost, they ignore the safety of the country; the Constitutional rights lost by citizens and the degradation of the Constitution itself!
Their aims appear more and more socialistic, as witness the recent decision of the Supreme Court to destroy your rights to private property, or their citing of "world opinion" as a basis for their decisions, regardless of what the constitution says.
The dangers facing our country have never been greater, both from within and without, and our politicians continue to be concerned only with their own powers and a hatred of the opposition.
It's time for Americans to realize the powers of Congress come from the PEOPLE, not a political party.
Let's hope the country survives the inevitable holocaust and shows the courage to kick the political bums out of office!
Here's the story I read:
World Net Daily
FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
Al-Qaida nukes already in U.S.
Terrorists, bombs smuggled across Mexico border by MS-13 gangsters
Posted: July 11, 2005
12:22 p.m. Eastern
WASHINGTON – As London recovers from the latest deadly al-Qaida
attack that killed at least 50, top U.S. government officials are
contemplating what they consider to be an inevitable and much bigger
assault on America – one likely to kill millions, destroy the economy and
fundamentally alter the course of history, reports Joseph Farah's G2
Bulletin. Sounds like preparations for a "worst case scenario",
doesn't it?
According to captured al-Qaida leaders and documents, the plan is
called the "American Hiroshima" and involves the multiple detonation of
nuclear weapons already smuggled into the U.S. over the Mexican
border with the help of the MS-13 street gang and other organized crime
groups.
Al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet
Union – including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even
some missile warheads. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan
show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile
material it purchased on the black market.
In addition to detonating its own nuclear weapons already planted in the
U.S., military sources also say there is evidence to suggest al-Qaida is
paying former Russian special forces Spetznaz to assist the terrorist group
in locating nuclear weapons formerly concealed inside the U.S. by the
Soviet Union during the Cold War. Osama bin Laden's group is also
paying nuclear scientists from Russia and Pakistan to maintain its existing
nuclear arsenal and assemble additional weapons with the materials it has
invested hundreds of millions in procuring over a period of 10 years.
The plans for the devastating nuclear attack on the U.S. have been under
development for more than a decade. It is designed as a final deadly blow
of defeat to the U.S., which is seen by al-Qaida and its allies as "the
Great Satan."
At least half the nuclear weapons in the al-Qaida arsenal were obtained
for cash from the Chechen terrorist allies.
But the most disturbing news is that high level U.S. officials now believe at
least some of those weapons have been smuggled into the U.S. for use in
the near future in major cities as part of this "American Hiroshima" plan,
according to an upcoming book, "The al-Qaida Connection: International
Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," by Paul L.
Williams, a former FBI consultant.
According to Williams, former CIA Director George Tenet informed
President Bush one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that at least
two suitcase nukes had reached al-Qaida operatives in the U.S.
"Each suitcase weighed between 50 and 80 kilograms (approximately 110
to 176 pounds) and contained enough fissionable plutonium and uranium
to produce an explosive yield in excess of two kilotons," wrote Williams.
"One suitcase bore the serial number 9999 and the Russian manufacturing
date of 1988. The design of the weapons, Tenet told the president, is
simple. The plutonium and uranium are kept in separate compartments
that are linked to a triggering mechanism that can be activated by a clock
or a call from the cell phone."
According to the author, the news sent Bush "through the roof,"
prompting him to order his national security team to give nuclear
terrorism priority over every other threat to America.
However, it is worth noting that Bush failed to translate this policy into
securing the U.S.-Mexico border through which the nuclear weapons and
al-Qaida operatives are believed to have passed with the help of the
MS-13 smugglers. He did, however, order the building of underground
bunkers away from major metropolitan areas for use by federal
government managers following an attack. Well, now! THAT was 'thoughty' of him,
wasn't it? As far as I am concerned, all the pols who suggested illegal aliens should
be given amnesty and driver's licenses, should be hanged in the event of a
holocaust!
Bin Laden, according to Williams, has nearly unlimited funds to spend on
his nuclear terrorism plan because he has remained in control of the
Afghanistan-produced heroin industry. Poppy production has greatly
increased even while U.S. troops are occupying the country, he writes.
Al-Qaida has developed close relations with the Albanian Mafia, which
assists in the smuggling and sale of heroin throughout Europe and the
U.S.
Some of that money is used to pay off the notorious MS-13 street gang
between $30,000 and $50,000 for each sleeper agent smuggled into the
U.S. from Mexico. The sleepers are also provided with phony
identification, most often bogus matricula consular ID cards
indistinguishable from Mexico's official ID, now accepted in the U.S. to
open bank accounts and obtain driver's licenses.
The Bush administration's unwillingness to secure the U.S.-Mexico border
has puzzled and dismayed a growing number of activists and ordinary
citizens who see it as the No. 1 security threat to the nation. The
Minuteman organization is planning a major mobilization of thousands of
Americans this fall designed to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border as
it did in April with a 23-mile stretch in Arizona.
According to Williams' sources, thousands of al-Qaida sleeper agents have
now been forward deployed into the U.S. to carry out their individual
roles in the coming "American Hiroshima" plan.
Bin Laden's goal, according to the book, is to kill at least 4 million
Americans, 2 million of whom must be children. Only then, bin Laden has
said, would the crimes committed by America on the Arab and Muslim
world be avenged.
There is virtually no doubt among intelligence analysts al-Qaida has
obtained fully assembled nuclear weapons, according to Williams. The
only question is how many. Estimates range between a dozen and 70. The
breathtaking news is that an undetermined number of these weapons,
including suitcase bombs, mines and crude tactical nuclear weapons, have
already been smuggled into the U.S. – at least some across the
U.S.-Mexico border.
The future plan, according to captured al-Qaida agents and documents,
suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities
throughout the country – including New York, Boston, Washington, Las
Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.
In response to the G2 Bulletin revelations, Chris Simcox, founder of the
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a citizen action group demanding the U.S.
government take control of its borders, said an immediate military
presence on the borders is now imperative "to stop the overwhelming
influx of unidentified, potentially hostile and seditious persons coming
across at an alarming rate."
"Terrorists have carte blanche to carry practically anything they want
across our national line at this time," he said. "As ordinary citizens have
warned this government for years, the only surprising part about the new
information reported here is that nothing apocalyptic from Mexican-border
weapons trafficking has yet happened. Terrorism has reared its ugly
head in London again these past few days, and as we know all too well we
are not immune in this country. At this point, the next attempt to attack
America at home is just a matter of 'when,' not 'if.' And our unsecured
borders have surely contributed to this threat – yet our government
officials continue to fiddle while our nation's margin of security and safety
burns away. The president and Congress had better wake up before they
have to answer for another devastating terrorist incursion on our own
soil."
Thursday, July 07, 2005
--On Becoming 76 Years Old!
Well, it’s finally here and gone--The magic age of 76—and I’m staring 77 in the face, in just 5 months! I never thought I’d see the day when I would be “one of them”.
When I look back over the years, I can understand why some wise person once said, “Every 7 years, you change completely.” If that’s true, I must be very handsome, because from where I started, I certainly couldn’t have gotten any uglier. —And if they’re talking psychologically, well, it’s true I don’t remember things as well as I once did.
It’s true that everything changes, also.
I can remember, as a boy, I was always somewhat in awe of older people. They seemed to be so infi-nitely wise and much more highly educated than I. They knew everything. After all, some had finished high school!
When I finally finished high school, I wondered what had happened to my share of wisdom, because somehow the teachers hadn’t given me a whit of the stuff! Instead, I learned that it’s ex-perience that provides sagacity and I had none to speak of. So, unable to find work, I joined the military for my first taste of ‘experience’. Boy! Did I ever get ex-perience!
I suppose that’s one reason why older persons are re-ferred to as ‘sages’, because they’ve survived their experiences. Survivors are not really the examples for us. Those who don’t survive are the best examples.
Now that I have attained ‘my age’, I am actually amazed at how much I can re-member and just how wise I seem to be. For example:
How to stop a faucet from leaking, at least for a few minutes.
How to use a computer—more or less.
How to be kind—occasionally.
How to open a jar with a hammer.
How to tie my shoes, by asking my wife to do it.
How to ignore bald jokes by remarking on the jokester’s lineage.
How to keep my balance while putting on my pants, or, what walls are for!
How to find my way around town, by being persistent with your map and compass.
And now that I’ve slowed down:
How the air smells after it rains, when it’s full of exhaust fumes.
How the trees and river look, winter and summer—-brown.
How stupidly optimistic my grandchildren are.
How much you can enjoy hitting a little white ball into the rough.
--And yet, too many times, I can’t remember what it was I was just talking about, or remember where I put the Wet Wipes!
Old age sneaks up on you. The first inkling I had was when people in their 20’s began to patronize me. Youthful strangers started calling me ‘Sir’—, at least clerks did, and my own sons began to be a little more concerned about my well being. Other young strangers just yelled at me, or tried to run over me.
It was really annoying. Every time I tried to make a serious statement to younger people, I got answers back like, “Sure, sure pop!” It made me angry, but there was no way I could argue! I wanted to grab something and shake the daylights out of it, but there was nothing you could really come to grips with. I mean, if they’re not listening, how can you make your point? --And I couldn’t really shake the life out of them, because it could have been injurious to my physical being.
So I had to stop making serious statements to younger people. I started just sitting back and watching them fall into pits of their own making, -- pits I had climbed out of, long ago.
The world is full of sayings, like, “patience is a virtue”, and somebody is always making references to “wise old men”. One of the most intelligent old men, Albert Einstein, once said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
I don't think he was old enough at the time, or he'd have known which was really true!
My physical condition, of course, has deteriorated, which bothers younger people no end. They contend that all I need is exercise. Just pump iron! It tires me just thinking about it.
My wrist is smaller; I had to take up my watchband to make it fit. My biceps are smaller and wrinkling, because I don’t do heavy lifting anymore. I don’t care what any of the ‘fitness freaks’ say, a muscle as old as mine, is never going to perform as well as it did when it was 20! I don't care how much you work it!
I can’t run the 440-yard dash, either. The best I can do is the 5-yard dash to the dinner table. Oh, sure! I can walk one-and-a-half miles around the tract when I put my mind to it, which varies from about twice, to three times a week, but my left heel has a calcium buildup in it and it hurts, and my right hip aches for an hour afterwards, and my legs-, well, let’s just say they’re glad when I get home!
But I enjoy the walk, usually. I can see, despite the floaters in my eyes, the blurry, green gracious trees and manicured lawns and some geese that make the sidewalk a very slippery place and, despite my high frequency loss of hearing, I can hear the sound of the jet engines; wind in the trees and birds overhead.
I hate complaining about my infirmities, because we’re constantly reminded that there are homeless people, AIDS victims, paralyzed vets and ‘Special’ people, who are always worse off.
Still, my aches are my own.
Of course my stomach, despite the ulcer, is healthy. Look at its size!
And I just can’t get used to the way younger people treat older people, now. The worst of them are abnormally cruel; robbing and beating them, while the everyday garden variety of younger person simply ignores them.
Advertising continues to reinforce the idea that old age is something to be avoided at all cost; that old age means your not ‘cool’; that you’re somehow less than human, if you’re old. If you’ll just drink/wash/use/buy this stuff, you’ll stay young forever!
I don’t remember thinking like that, so I know the world has changed a lot since I was younger.
I never could afford to do some of the things the younger people do today, like listen to the cacophonous, screaming noise now called music, buy new cars, or fancy bicycles, complete with special riding clothes that make you look like an animated neon sign. I can understand women wearing tight pants, but if you want to show off your butt crack, why bother dressing at all? --And, I won’t even mention the front crack that shows. At the same time, I wonder how men stand such tight clothes? No wonder we hear stories about “low sperm counts”!
Everything about the young seems too loud, nowadays, doesn’t it--and I’m partially deaf—and maybe that’s why!
They tell us “the young are our future!” Wrong! The young are going to be old, someday—that’s the future!
I can’t stand the smoky lounges anymore, even without the smoke! The noisy music, the smells and the perfumes combine to upset my stomach, and I wonder how the younger people can stand it and why is it necessary, before I remember that, when I was younger, I used to want to show off, too, but I believe I did it in a quieter way, of course.
I guess I’m luckier than a lot of people. I retired early, with everything I need--a modest income, a good wife, relatively good health and good spirits.
Well, you, being young, might ask, “Now that you’re old, what do you have to look forward too?”
Quite simple! Among my other hobbies, I’m going to continue to frustrate the younger set by living to age 95, at least.
When I look back over the years, I can understand why some wise person once said, “Every 7 years, you change completely.” If that’s true, I must be very handsome, because from where I started, I certainly couldn’t have gotten any uglier. —And if they’re talking psychologically, well, it’s true I don’t remember things as well as I once did.
It’s true that everything changes, also.
I can remember, as a boy, I was always somewhat in awe of older people. They seemed to be so infi-nitely wise and much more highly educated than I. They knew everything. After all, some had finished high school!
When I finally finished high school, I wondered what had happened to my share of wisdom, because somehow the teachers hadn’t given me a whit of the stuff! Instead, I learned that it’s ex-perience that provides sagacity and I had none to speak of. So, unable to find work, I joined the military for my first taste of ‘experience’. Boy! Did I ever get ex-perience!
I suppose that’s one reason why older persons are re-ferred to as ‘sages’, because they’ve survived their experiences. Survivors are not really the examples for us. Those who don’t survive are the best examples.
Now that I have attained ‘my age’, I am actually amazed at how much I can re-member and just how wise I seem to be. For example:
How to stop a faucet from leaking, at least for a few minutes.
How to use a computer—more or less.
How to be kind—occasionally.
How to open a jar with a hammer.
How to tie my shoes, by asking my wife to do it.
How to ignore bald jokes by remarking on the jokester’s lineage.
How to keep my balance while putting on my pants, or, what walls are for!
How to find my way around town, by being persistent with your map and compass.
And now that I’ve slowed down:
How the air smells after it rains, when it’s full of exhaust fumes.
How the trees and river look, winter and summer—-brown.
How stupidly optimistic my grandchildren are.
How much you can enjoy hitting a little white ball into the rough.
--And yet, too many times, I can’t remember what it was I was just talking about, or remember where I put the Wet Wipes!
Old age sneaks up on you. The first inkling I had was when people in their 20’s began to patronize me. Youthful strangers started calling me ‘Sir’—, at least clerks did, and my own sons began to be a little more concerned about my well being. Other young strangers just yelled at me, or tried to run over me.
It was really annoying. Every time I tried to make a serious statement to younger people, I got answers back like, “Sure, sure pop!” It made me angry, but there was no way I could argue! I wanted to grab something and shake the daylights out of it, but there was nothing you could really come to grips with. I mean, if they’re not listening, how can you make your point? --And I couldn’t really shake the life out of them, because it could have been injurious to my physical being.
So I had to stop making serious statements to younger people. I started just sitting back and watching them fall into pits of their own making, -- pits I had climbed out of, long ago.
The world is full of sayings, like, “patience is a virtue”, and somebody is always making references to “wise old men”. One of the most intelligent old men, Albert Einstein, once said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
I don't think he was old enough at the time, or he'd have known which was really true!
My physical condition, of course, has deteriorated, which bothers younger people no end. They contend that all I need is exercise. Just pump iron! It tires me just thinking about it.
My wrist is smaller; I had to take up my watchband to make it fit. My biceps are smaller and wrinkling, because I don’t do heavy lifting anymore. I don’t care what any of the ‘fitness freaks’ say, a muscle as old as mine, is never going to perform as well as it did when it was 20! I don't care how much you work it!
I can’t run the 440-yard dash, either. The best I can do is the 5-yard dash to the dinner table. Oh, sure! I can walk one-and-a-half miles around the tract when I put my mind to it, which varies from about twice, to three times a week, but my left heel has a calcium buildup in it and it hurts, and my right hip aches for an hour afterwards, and my legs-, well, let’s just say they’re glad when I get home!
But I enjoy the walk, usually. I can see, despite the floaters in my eyes, the blurry, green gracious trees and manicured lawns and some geese that make the sidewalk a very slippery place and, despite my high frequency loss of hearing, I can hear the sound of the jet engines; wind in the trees and birds overhead.
I hate complaining about my infirmities, because we’re constantly reminded that there are homeless people, AIDS victims, paralyzed vets and ‘Special’ people, who are always worse off.
Still, my aches are my own.
Of course my stomach, despite the ulcer, is healthy. Look at its size!
And I just can’t get used to the way younger people treat older people, now. The worst of them are abnormally cruel; robbing and beating them, while the everyday garden variety of younger person simply ignores them.
Advertising continues to reinforce the idea that old age is something to be avoided at all cost; that old age means your not ‘cool’; that you’re somehow less than human, if you’re old. If you’ll just drink/wash/use/buy this stuff, you’ll stay young forever!
I don’t remember thinking like that, so I know the world has changed a lot since I was younger.
I never could afford to do some of the things the younger people do today, like listen to the cacophonous, screaming noise now called music, buy new cars, or fancy bicycles, complete with special riding clothes that make you look like an animated neon sign. I can understand women wearing tight pants, but if you want to show off your butt crack, why bother dressing at all? --And, I won’t even mention the front crack that shows. At the same time, I wonder how men stand such tight clothes? No wonder we hear stories about “low sperm counts”!
Everything about the young seems too loud, nowadays, doesn’t it--and I’m partially deaf—and maybe that’s why!
They tell us “the young are our future!” Wrong! The young are going to be old, someday—that’s the future!
I can’t stand the smoky lounges anymore, even without the smoke! The noisy music, the smells and the perfumes combine to upset my stomach, and I wonder how the younger people can stand it and why is it necessary, before I remember that, when I was younger, I used to want to show off, too, but I believe I did it in a quieter way, of course.
I guess I’m luckier than a lot of people. I retired early, with everything I need--a modest income, a good wife, relatively good health and good spirits.
Well, you, being young, might ask, “Now that you’re old, what do you have to look forward too?”
Quite simple! Among my other hobbies, I’m going to continue to frustrate the younger set by living to age 95, at least.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
JULY FOURTH and SUPREME COURT DECISIONS!
Two-hundred, twenty-nine years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, dedicated to liberty—
Two-hundred, twenty-nine years later, the liberals are doing their damndest to overturn that liberty.
First we have a United States Supreme Court who decided, by a vote of 5-4, that a 17 year old murderer should not get the death penalty, no matter how heinous his crime And just what was that decision based upon—the Constitution? No it was based on world opinion!
“World opinion”? How in the hell did the world get involved in American justice? Since when did we ever pay attention to what the world thought was “justice”. Haven’t we had enough of “world justice”? This sounds suspiciously like a sop to the United Nations, who wants to inflict Americans with a “world court”! That way, they can come into your home and arrest you for being a “world criminal”!
They’re working on that one, also. Even as we speak (or write) the UN is trying to have a “world law” passed (by treaty) taking away your handguns, your hunting rifles and your shotguns. To hell with the 2nd amendment!
As Charleton Heston said, “--From my cold, dead hands!”
As for the judges who voted based on “world opinion”--they should be impeached! These men were sworn to uphold the Constitution when they took office. There was nothing in their oath that said they could follow “world opinion”!
To top this off, the same judges have since decided that the rule of Eminent Domain, used by cities/counties for the better good of the public, may now be used to take a man’s home to give the property to a private developer who wants to build a mall! All he has to do is tell the city/county the mall will bring in more taxes!
Who’s the greedy one here? The developer? Yes! How about the city/county? Hell yes!
So you’ll lose your home so that some developer can build a Wal-mart! And, do you HONESTLY think you’ll get a fair price?
Well, you can BET it won’t be Market value. It will be a price set by the city/county—probably much lower than the going market price!
And you’ll have nothing to say about it. If you fight them, one morning the Sheriff will knock on your door and escort you out of your home!
Personally, I plan to wire my home to self-destruct whenever a uniform enters!
Then, standing safely on the sidewalk, I may ask the Sheriff in a shocked tone, “Are you sure you’re deputy wasn’t carrying C4?
(See also: 29 May, 2005 On the Supreme Court Decisions)
Two-hundred, twenty-nine years later, the liberals are doing their damndest to overturn that liberty.
First we have a United States Supreme Court who decided, by a vote of 5-4, that a 17 year old murderer should not get the death penalty, no matter how heinous his crime And just what was that decision based upon—the Constitution? No it was based on world opinion!
“World opinion”? How in the hell did the world get involved in American justice? Since when did we ever pay attention to what the world thought was “justice”. Haven’t we had enough of “world justice”? This sounds suspiciously like a sop to the United Nations, who wants to inflict Americans with a “world court”! That way, they can come into your home and arrest you for being a “world criminal”!
They’re working on that one, also. Even as we speak (or write) the UN is trying to have a “world law” passed (by treaty) taking away your handguns, your hunting rifles and your shotguns. To hell with the 2nd amendment!
As Charleton Heston said, “--From my cold, dead hands!”
As for the judges who voted based on “world opinion”--they should be impeached! These men were sworn to uphold the Constitution when they took office. There was nothing in their oath that said they could follow “world opinion”!
To top this off, the same judges have since decided that the rule of Eminent Domain, used by cities/counties for the better good of the public, may now be used to take a man’s home to give the property to a private developer who wants to build a mall! All he has to do is tell the city/county the mall will bring in more taxes!
Who’s the greedy one here? The developer? Yes! How about the city/county? Hell yes!
So you’ll lose your home so that some developer can build a Wal-mart! And, do you HONESTLY think you’ll get a fair price?
Well, you can BET it won’t be Market value. It will be a price set by the city/county—probably much lower than the going market price!
And you’ll have nothing to say about it. If you fight them, one morning the Sheriff will knock on your door and escort you out of your home!
Personally, I plan to wire my home to self-destruct whenever a uniform enters!
Then, standing safely on the sidewalk, I may ask the Sheriff in a shocked tone, “Are you sure you’re deputy wasn’t carrying C4?
(See also: 29 May, 2005 On the Supreme Court Decisions)
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