Comments would be nice but otherwise I'm happy!

While the numerical count for this blog isn't out of this world, the span of it's readers is. Here is a list of the countries of my readers...

US
UK
Hong Kong
Yemen
Australia
Mexico
United Arab Emirates
Canada
Saudi Arabia

The US visitors have been from 19 different states so far.

Since I have the counter set up for unique visitors only (first timers in other words) I am almost satisfied.

Is that a pot of gold or am I about to fall off this rainbow?

As I sit here mulling over the next few months, the reality of the world sinks in. I have always been the type to not get too much involved in friends lives. If my opinion was asked for, I gave it. Otherwise I kept my mouth shut for the most part. I never liked getting caught up in-between 2 friends and whatever problems they were having that particular day.

Today a friend of mine showed up with a black eye and it totally ruined my whole day. It seems that she and her roommate/lover/adversary had finally come to blows last night to end their relationship. I know that relationships end and lovers part ways most of the time these days but I thought these two gals would find a way to make it work out. IMO, the downfall was as I said awhile ago, neither had the ability to let the other one have the last word.

I wonder how often this is the case in any failed relationship?

The other thing that has been on my mind these past couple of days is an old friend of mine that was in a car wreck . He was already in poor physical shape and it looks like this has done him in. He's gone through cancer, emphysema and various other ailments but always rebounded with a smile on his face. This time the rebounding may be more difficult,

It seems he has a broken nose, collar bone, hip and back. Since surgery has been ruled out because of his previous conditions, he'll probably never walk again. I'd just about bet though that sometime in the near future that a beep from a hoverround will get my attention and sitting there will be Frank... smiling away!

So while I sit here some days grumbling about turning 50 in fairly good health, it humbles me to know that it could be worse.

Not sure if my prayers mean anything but they go out for these friends.

Bloggernessbullshit

Since starting this madness I've had a curiousity about the blogging of others. Truth be known the only reason any of us read or write any of this crap is to feel superior to others. We write because we know that we can do better than the 4 blogs we just finished reading. We read in the knowledge that our moronic everyday lives are at least a little better than someone else's.

I did come across a cute blog title today, "In the End You're alone in the coffin". Didn't really care for the blog but the title was catchy.

I have several bookmarked and read them daily. Strangely enough most of the ones I've marked are written by young folks. I read these not to feel superior but to keep the finger on the pulse so to speak.

More later... suddenly I'm in not so good a mood.

The News... 6-2-05

A section... I kinda feel sorry for the folks in Laguna Beach. But then again how sorry can you feel for folks that can afford that kind of view of the Pacific!

Another child killer... A 7 yo boy beat his 7 month old half-sister to death with his fists and a 2x4 because she was receiving to much attention and she cried to much. Authorities are deciding whether to file charges.

What the hell is there to decide????????

It seems a lot of states are supercedeing the federal government on minimum wage law. Several states have raised the MW to a point of it hitting $7.00 an hour over time.

I say about damn time. I wish the detractors would try to live on $5.15 and see how much gas they can put in their friggin' BMW's then.

B section... Google closed yesterday at $288 a share! All you assholes that laughed when I bought it at $90 are choking on it now. I do love it when a plan comes together!

C section... The Braves are in first place and all's right with the world. What's amazing is they have a better home record than on the road.

D section... I do hate Lynn Lempel's puzzles. I'm going to assume Lynn is female. The puzzles are just to far off the wall to be of male design. I was getting better at finishing her's but today's just threw me for a loop. Maybe it's still possible that my mind is still wandering to another female of late... hmmmm food for thought.

Some interesting articles in the life section today. A review of a new book on Clinton. A full page article on country music that mentions Toby Keith ( who ought to thank god every night for 9/11, the war in Iraq and Natalie Maynes). The weekly TV ratings. Cold Case didn't even hit the top 20 this week. Get with it people! It's a great show.

Enough rambling for now. The Eagles are finishing up and got a lot more to transfer before my DVR explodes from all I've recorded.

The Eagles have landed...

Sitting here this afternoon transferring last night's Eagles concert over to DVD. Very few of the rock bands from my semi-youth have morphed well into my semi-adulthood.

The Eagles have made the transformation very well. Joe Walsh, since getting clean 10 years ago, is as good now as he ever was. The voice is still there. The guitar playing is magnificent.

My favorite song of his with the Eagles is "Life's Been Good". The all time favorite of his though has to be "I.L.B.T." I'll never forget the look on my bosses face when I cued it up in the booth one night in Panama City Beach! I guess he didn't consider it a 50's or 60's classic.

Oh for the days (and nights on the beach!)

Deep Throat remembered.,..

Forget that part I said about not disparaging the dead. The ancient joke goes like this...

"Richard Nixon finally understands Deep Throat. But it took him an hour to get it down Pat."

In 1974, several months before Nixon's resignation, I was marooned at a small (no longer open) military reservation in Massachusetts. Our weekend jaunts were to Boston. I don't know if it still exists but back then all the "seedy" establishments were in the "Combat Zone"

Topless bars, hooker hotels, XXX rated movie houses were all bunched together in a tidy little group of city blocks. It was in one of the movies houses that I saw my first ever X rated film. Two of them actually. Back to back 24/7 showings of 'Deep Throat' and 'The Devil in Miss Jones'. I don't remember much of either actually. It was $8.50 to see both and no one ever kicked you out. I used the joint as a place to crash.

What can I say... I was a good looking 18 yo kid from Tennessee horny and away from home in the big city. The girls ate up the accent. I got more pussy than one man should be allowed. Who needed X rated movies except for a place to crash?

Another day like many others...

I think I mentioned before that I read newspapers religiously. I catch news online and even read a few papers online but there's nothing like holding the real deal in your hands. USA Today is my first paper of choice for daily readings. For those of you that haven't caressed one lately, I'll let you know that it comes in 4 sections. They are, A... Headlines and news B... Money C... Sports and D... Lifestyle.
My normal sequence is BACD. The first 3 sometimes vary but D is always last. It has the crossword which I always do religiously (in pen).

There is always upsetting news but yesterday and today there were two stories of kids killing kids that especially upset me. Yesterday it was the 18yo in Ohio that killed his Mother, his grandparents, a female classmate and a family friend. His sister is in critical condition at the stories printing. He turned the gun on himself afterward. The alleged murder/suicide happened as he and the classmate were preparing to attend their High School graduation ceremony.

Today it was the New York 9yo that allegedly stabbed an 11yo playmate over a ball.

I don't have the answers. Apparantly no one else does either. The boy was described as a "clean cut" "farmer at heart". The girl as a "fighter". Something is infecting the minds of our children. TV? Movies? Malicious comic books? Barbie and Ken splitting up? Who the hell knows.

One additional thought... LOL

Since this blog is to share my feelings on turning 50 I'd better share this with you.

If any SOB out there 83 days from 50 feels like I do tonight.... pat yourself on your back. You deserve it!

My Home Town

I'm in a really, really good mood tonight. I'll share that with you in the next post. Right now, I gotta vent!


This is my town.
Where I was born, where I was raised.
Where I keep all my yesterdays.
Where I ran off 'cos I got mad,
No one missed me when I left town
But I came back to settle down,
It's where they'll put me in the ground:
This is my town.

(With apoligies to Montgomery Gentry)

Yep, Cleveland Tennessee.
My home town.

It's a sad little place really. Probably no different than the thousand of other places in this country the same size. Our most recent claim to fame is a few state representatives got caught taking bribes by the F(in)BeeEye last week.

I'd estimate that the last time we were anywhere close to news was 1996 when the Olympics held the Paddling (no not that kind!) events on the Ocoee River. Hell, even that is in the next county. But our motels got the overflow I guess.

Cleveland has more church headquarters located here than any other city in the U.S. I remember as a child the COGOP held their yearly convention/camp meeting/ circus here in Cleveland. It was held in the predominantly black section of town. All the white folks that would never have been caught dead there any other time of year would flock there to get cotton candy, fountain drinks and go to Dooley's Ice Cream Parlor. That was my favorite part. I had no idea for years that it was a church meeting at all. We were southern baptists so I wasn't used to any kind of organized religion.

Much later I would meet the girl that became my first wife who was the daughter of a COGOP church treasurer. He and his wife were fine people. The rest of the family, outside of one brother-in-law, pretty much sucked. She became what the preachers would describe as a wanton woman. At least that's the side I and her boyfriends saw. Her family (all except her Dad) branded me the asshole and she was their little angel. Hey guys, ask the little angel about the guy in the Pinto.

I found out years later why her Dad was pretty much on my side during everything. I won't go into it here since he's now not with us. I will not defame someone that can't defend themselves. But suffice it to say that we pretty much saw eye to eye on a lot of things.

I guess I hold all this against Cleveland although the majority of my problems with her were in Alabama. But she did bear me one son that I love dearly and think about daily. Regardless of the problems we had, she and her 2nd hubby did a good job raising him. For that I will always be thankful.

I'm going to end this now since it's way off track of the original subject but I promise to return to it later.

Keith and I at the Waffle House a few days before he left for Iraq. He's on the left. 

Memorial Day 2005

I can remember when the military related holidays didn't affect me. The last few years though that hasn't been the case. This one especially. My best friend is in Iraq and to tell ya the absolute truth, it scares me to death. Let me tell you about him.

Keith is a former Marine. After 9/11 he enlisted in the Army NG. I had a gut feeling then that he'd end up where he is now. I know the military is in his blood. Outside of the normal everyday shit, it's all he talked about. That and computers. That's how we met and started talking. I was the resident geekologist and he had some questions. He sat down at the counter one day and we got to talking and became friends. The rest as they say, is history.

He'd spend hours designing sim WWII planes and then flying them with fellow flyers from around the world on the net. We'd have coffee at the local hangout and he'd talk forever about attacks and botched landings (he had a lot of those!) He also loved and got me to liking first person shooters. I hope like hell he's a good now as he was in those. Just remember bud, the reset button is a little more complicated now. Shoot to kill!

Is him being there worth it? He and I have different feelings about that. Being a veteran myself, I had my share of people I didn't know wanting to shoot me. I had my share of losing good friends that forgot to duck.I hope and pray this Memorial Day that I don't lose another one. Pray for him and all the coalition soldiers. They deserve it because they are doing, without hesitation, what they were called to do.

Ron