Here is one of the final destinations on our trip in April of this year. Since my great-grandmother was a Shawnee squaw I have a definite interest in native american culture and history. In some ways I value that part of my heritage more than the European parts. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian is in Cherokee, NC. Of course one of the most remembered events about the Cherokees was their “Trail of Tears” forced on them by Andrew Jackson when he was president. This was when they were basically rounded up with nothing but what was on their backs … Continue reading Museum of the Cherokee Indian

This looked like a working farm but I couldn’t figure out the white fence. Continue reading Northern Wisconsin – October 2010

I’m going to do a restaurant review here. No I am not Tony Bourdain but then again I didn’t need any reservations to get in.  The restaurant is called Salsa in  down town Asheville North Carolina. We ate there during our recent trip through West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. I know this is NC and not on the list. We didn’t actually know we were going to go there. It just kind of happened. Salsa is not just Mexican but instead a combination of Mexican/Caribbean.  The food was excellent; I had a Cuban dish but can’t remember the exact name now. It was … Continue reading Salsas….

OK, here is another shot at trying to decide what we in the U.S. are true experts about and therefore export more of than any other country. I don’t claim to be a sage about this sort of thing but I think I am on to something with this one. Is there a commodity that the U.S. exports much more of than any other country? Could our number one export be our Consumerism? Maybe its our Marketing? Maybe it is both: Consumerism/Marketing. This it kind of like the chicken/egg type thing. I don’t know which spurred the other but the result is the … Continue reading America's Number One Export? – Part 3

This is a continuation of the search for the U.S. number one export. Is there a commodity that the U.S. exports much more of than any other country? Could our number one export be Bravado (some call it Machismo)? We certainly like to strut around and show the world how “manly” we are. I wished it didn’t but this even seems to apply to some who used to be referred to as the “fairer sex”. Here are some examples: Take a look at all the celebrations around the death of Bin Laden. We can’t seem to get enough of the … Continue reading America's Number One Export? – Part 2

Here is one from North Carolina. We only skirted the State so it is the only barn we saw there. Continue reading North Carolina – April 2011

This post will start a series on the search for the U.S. Number one export. It is widely known that the U.S. has a mammoth trade deficit. We import much more than we export. I can’t understand why this isn’t considered a factor in our current government deficit talks. Sending all those $billions to foreign makers seems just as, or maybe more detrimental, than the government borrowing money much of it from themselves via the S.S. trust fund and other somewhat devious, or at least contrived, methods. Is there a commodity that the U.S. exports much more of than any other country? Could our number … Continue reading America's Number One Export?

The picture above is of the Battleship Wisconsin. Running around on the decks gave me an eerie feeling remembering all the massive shells fired from those huge guns. There was much collateral damage in those days. Continue reading Norfolk VA – April 2011

When I was in the corporate world I flew to different parts of the country and Mexico on at least a monthly basis. When I started flying business more than forty years ago it was a somewhat luxurious thing. Often I would get a pretty good meal returning home from business trips. And when we happened to end a meeting a couple of hours early we could always get an earlier flight home. But that all ended in the 1980s when Reagan deregulated the airlines. After that flying became a burden to be suffered not enjoyed. I ended my corporate career dreading … Continue reading I Don't Fly Anymore….

Am I the only one who is annoyed by those guys that have commercials on TV about helping you get out of your tax troubles? They sit there so stern-faced and say if you owe thousands of dollars in back taxes come see us and we will help you only pay pennies on the dollar. They seem to assume that they are somehow contributing to the public good by providing this service. In reality they are probably taking a pretty good percentage of the money legally owed in taxes. All of us have a duty to pay our fair share … Continue reading About These Professional Tax Dodgers….

Bin Laden mission was big risk for Obama – World news – Death of bin Laden – msnbc.com. This is a quick companion post to the one this morning. If you are not plagued with the “don’t bother me with the facts” syndrome you might want to read the article above. Yes, a soldier killed Bin Laden but it took the courage of a U.S. president to make that happen. But what do I know…. Continue reading Bin Laden mission was big risk for Obama – World news – Death of bin Laden – msnbc.com

Since I put the traditional pictures of Monticello on my InTheSlowLane blog I decided to use one from the kitchen area in the basement at the back of the house for this posting. Since all the cooking was done by Jefferson’s slaves it was not a fancy place like the rest of the house but it was very utilitarian. This was the third time I have been to Monticello. Of course, it hasn’t changed much since the first time I was there in 1965. One thing that has changed is they now put more emphasis on the slaves and their lives … Continue reading Monticello VA – April 2011

I got to wondering the other day as to why Great Britain seems to align itself more with U.S. policies than any other European nation. When it came to us invading Iraq the Brits were right there while the French and many others were screaming no. What conclusions have I reached about this observation. The answer is, at least in my twisted mind, super power mentality. Those of us who are history buffs know that before 1950 or so Great Britain was the dominant super power in the world. The Great British Empire was spread across much of the world. … Continue reading The U.S. & Great Britain…

I couldn’t leave Monticello without a picture of the life size bronze of Thomas Jefferson to go along with the one of Madison at Montpelier. I don’t know how those guys wore all those clothes during the hot Virginia summers ;) Continue reading Monticello VA – April 2011

One thing that might keep some of the old barns up is making them “dual purposed”. This one is in Virginia somewhere around Monticello. Continue reading Virginia – April 2011

Monticello which was Thomas Jefferson’s home is just down the road, at least by today’s standards, from James Madison’s home shown in the previous post. I have been to Monticello a couple of times before but it is always a somewhat spiritual experience. Continue reading Monticello VA — April 2011

As I get older I find that my muscles and bones just don’t always align with my chores at hand so I have to find ways to cope. A good part of that lately is to find tools to enable me to complete my many yard and garden tasks. What was relatively easy a few years ago is becoming more of a real chore today. For that reason I am starting to assemble a seemingly barn full of tools to cope. Of course at the front of that is my garden tractor with its 56″ mower deck. I can’t imagine … Continue reading As I Get Older….

While most of the barns in our portfolio were taken on one of our many road trips this one is just a few miles from our home. We pass it several times a week.  The backside of the barn sustained considerable damage in the Spring storms. I hope it stay up. Continue reading Indiana – 2011

GOP pivots on ‘birther’ questions, blames Obama for media attention Ok, here it is. Now that President Obama finally tried to put the birther issue to rest the radical right in the Republican party are hitting on him for wasting time with providing his birth certificate! They say he should be producing more jobs instead of settling this issue. It is just totally amazing to me how they will spin anything the President does to make him wrong. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is what I think of this: This is so hilarious that I … Continue reading What's Obama Doing Wasting Time….

We visited Montpelier in Virginia a few weeks ago. James Madison is one of my heroes so it was good to make this connection with him. Continue reading My Hero – James Madison (and Dolly too)

I want to continue on with my report of our vacation through West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia last month. This post will be about another of the five presidential homes we visited on that trip. I admit that one of my heroes in life is the fourth president of the U.S. James Madison. There are a number of reasons for that admiration not the least of which are the similarity between Madison and me. Compared to many of the other Founders Madison was a little guy. He was 5′ 7″ and small stature while most of the other famous people during … Continue reading My Hero.. James Madison

I have been getting more questions lately from some in our old church asking why we haven’t been there for such a long time. I got a very heartfelt note in the snail mail today from one of those friends.  She said that she really misses my wife and me on Sundays especially in the Bible classes. She mentioned that when I had a disagreement with the pastor on a biblical issue she and her husband tended to agree with me more than the pastor on that issue. She was wondering where we have gone and hoping that we would … Continue reading Where Have You Gone??

One of my regular rituals is to go to McDonald once every month or two and get a steak & egg bagel for breakfast. I did that this morning.  I found a picture of one and included it here but it really didn’t resemble the one I got at the counter. Mine had the steak hanging out the right side of the begal while the egg and cheese were clinging to the left edge. :) It has been a few months since the last time I did this. I always sit at a table where I can watch all the people ordering … Continue reading Being Deaf Is Lonely…

Let’s finish up this journey through our tax code in the U.S. and its reform. I know many people out there think that taxes are just government shaking them down.  But I don’t see it that way.  I enjoy going to the store to get a gallon of milk and be assured that drinking it will not make me sick. I also enjoy driving down some reasonably good roads to get there. We all need to pitch in to make these types of things possible. Ok, let’s get on to fixing this tax mess we are currently in. The one … Continue reading More About Taxes….

The title question came to me from a fellow blogger of the Quaker persuasion. The premise around the question is at the end time will there be more people in heaven or hell? If you answer hell then it appears like satan wins. From an evangelical Christian perspective I’m sure the answer is satan will win.  By their very nature evangelicals believe that if you are not a Christian you are going to hell. This, like many things is a very black and white issue for them. Since it is widely known that the majority of people are not  Christian then that … Continue reading Is God a Winner or a Loser??

One of the things I have regrets about now that I am in my senior years is not having kept up with friends from my past. I guess that mistake is mainly a “man” thing as my wife has regular communications with friends she made over 50 years ago. The girl she shared an apartment with in Milwaukee in the 1960s is among several others still on her contact list. I have some very casual friends from my high school days but that seems to be about all. I just don’t seem to be able to maintain long-term friendships. I’m pretty sure … Continue reading The Depth of Friendships??

Remember being a Christian is all about Jesus Christ. Everything else is small stuff. Continue reading Happy Easter Everyone

The picture shown above is of President Woodrow Wilson’s car from 1913 which is currently housed in his Presidential Library and Museum in Staunton Virginia. The library was somewhat spartan by today’s presidential libraries but it was well worth the visit. The reason I chose the his car to represent this visit is that it languished in oblivion for nearly 50 years before it finally found and restored. It’s nice that this little piece of history was not lost. Continue reading Woodrow's Car… Staunton VA 2011

We now move on with our recent vacation trip through Virginia. I must admit that I have been to this State several times and even to a couple of the sites we visited. But one city I had not been to was Staunton, Virginia. Among other things with was the birthplace of one of my heroes Woodrow Wilson. I’m sure not too many people put Wilson on such a pedestal but I admire him for his wisdom and foresight. Wilson spent the majority of his adult life in New Jersey as president of Princeton University and as Governor. He was … Continue reading Oh Virginia… Here’s To You Woodrow

Keeping in line with a few other of my blogs here is a barn picture taken in Virginia during our recent trip there. There didn’t seem to be as many of these types of barns there as I had anticipated. Continue reading Virginia – April 2011

One of our first stops in Virginia during our recent vacation was at Luray Caverns. I must admit that being deaf I have a fear of caves. If the lights went out I would totally panic for lack of sensory perception. It was neat but I don’t really care to see any more caves.  That is me on the left. The dark area in the middle bottom of the picture is my wife’s thumb :) Continue reading Luray Caverns – Virginia 2011