In the old days, I’m talking about pre-Reagan, a company’s workers were considered an asset but it seems like today they have turned into a liability.  I read an article recently (I don’t remember the source right now so I can’t give it to you here ;) ) that basically said that many companies can’t find adequately trained people to fill their jobs and won’t hire someone and then train them for that job. It seems they would rather complain about not having skilled workers than actually training someone to do the job. I can almost remember when I was … Continue reading Workers as Liabilities….

I thought I would look back at our homestead ten years ago and now. It is amazing how things have grown so much but still stayed pretty much the same. Continue reading Then and Now

A couple of posts ago I talked about how I chose to spend my fixed income in my senior years. One thing that has a huge effect on how I would spend my money was where I was going to live. When we chose to come back to Indiana for our final years this had a huge effect on our finances. Compared to California and many places within fifty mile of an ocean the hinterland is very affordable in deed. The house we have now is a renovated 1925 farm house that has been expanded to more than 2400 square … Continue reading Where To Live in My Senior Years…

I have been getting hit by some because I don’t quote the Bible often enough for them.  As I have stated many times before I am just not a “chapter and verse” Christian. I do read the Bible frequently but instead of memorizing the words I try to learn the lessons behind the words and then attempt to make those lessons a part of my daily life. As far as I am concerned there are just too many “bible thumpers” around today.  I will not be one of those.  When I was in my godless years the bible thumpers constantly … Continue reading Lessons Learned….

I must admit that during my semi-required down time each day I am a sucker for the TV show entitled House Hunters on HGTV. I’m also not one to shy away from technology so I have a digital video recorder (DVR to those of us who are tech savvy). So, I have House Hunters episodes just about any time I want to see them. The basic structure of each episode is as follows. For one reason or another a family (loosely defined) wants to get a new house We get a brief look at their backgrounds, occupations, etc. They look at three … Continue reading House Hunters??

The Old Testament has always been a struggle for me. I find far too many places where God’s wrath is brutally shown. This is in such a total contrast with Jesus Christ I know in the New Testament. It is almost like the good cop/bad cop scenarios that play out so much on the TV cop shows. I tend to refer to it as the all powerful God vs. the all loving God. Can the two really co-exist or did God basically change his management style between the Old Testament and the New Testament or you could say between the … Continue reading Contemplating the All Powerful God and the All Loving God…

I have been away from quotes by my hero Will Rogers for a while. I am bringing them back starting now. There ain’t any finer folks living than a Republican that votes the Democratic ticket. –Will Rogers — Continue reading Will Rogers Quote

A recent post about the post office got me to thinking about the Internet and how it is not available, at least at a reasonable speed, to those of us in more rural areas. I am the last person on our county road who is allowed to have a DSL connection from the phone company. And even my connection is spotty at best. My router deems it necessary to reset itself at least a dozen time a day. Even when it is working it frequently freezes. There are at least two hundred homes beyond me where even having the luxury of freezing … Continue reading Internet RFD….(Chasing the Web)

I have a favorite place at our homestead where I tend to spend hours at a time in the Spring and Summer months. Since it is the highest place on our property I call it “Up on the mountain”. I go up there to lay on my glider/swing and read the latest book or magazine. And of course I take an occasional nap there; OK if you insist on knowing the truth I take frequent naps there. :) My wife knows when I say “I am going up on the mountain” that she probably won’t see me for a couple of hours. Even my Basset … Continue reading Up On The Mountain…..

Ok, I have had enough; I just can’t take it any more.  Whoever invented the glossy computer/tablet/netbook screens must live in a windowless, unlit world.  I am a techie person; I always have been. I bought my first TRS-80 about 30 years ago and spent hours and hours on it.  I even changed my occupation from an electric engineer to information technology a few years after that. I am no stranger to this techie stuff. The first thing I bought that had a glossy screen was a laptop. I innocently didn’t really think of the consequences of my action. But I soon … Continue reading I Hate Glossy Screens!!!!

This is a picture of Indianapolis taken outside of the Indiana Historical Society building there. Continue reading Indianapolis – 2003

The Mayowood mansion was the home of the founders of the Mayo Clinic. Continue reading Mayowood Mansion – MN 2003

Am I biased about anything?  Of course I am. I, like everyone else have life experiences that have taught me certain lessons. And of course growing up I picked up many opinions from my parents and others around me. South Carolina is one of those biases that runs in me. This goes back to my high school history class days and learning that SC was the first to jump out of the Union because of the slavery issue. Then of course a hundred years later there was Senator Strom Thurmond who was consistently voted into office, even many years after senility had … Continue reading Am I Biased??…. Of Course I Am..

Living in a small town means the county fair is probably the event of the year. That is certainly the case for our small town. Continue reading County Fair July 2006

Source:  Editorial Cartoons – USATODAY.com Photos. I wonder what an elephant would look like without its trunk? I think it would look like a very strange character. But that is indeed what the current crop of Republicans have done to their mascot.  They have cut off its nose to spite its face. :)   I realize it is very difficult to be against everything and maintain any kind of consistency. I kind of admire the Republicans for being as good at it as they are.  It is really hard to be against everything But what do I know….. Continue reading It Is Hard Being Against Everything….

Spend your fixed income on what is important to you, not today’s marketers. Ok so this is kind of bogus post in that I don’t know what the 76 retirement rules might be that precede this one. :) But that doesn’t make this one any less important. One of my blog buddies proudly states that he has given up cable TV. I salute him for that if that is important for him but I choose to do otherwise. But I do see his point in several aspects. It seems that much of what is on cable today is nothing but a giant … Continue reading Retirement Rule #77

For me this is one of the most perfectly composed pictures I have ever taken.  It is of the top storage area in the main community building for the Shaker village. I have been there on several occasions and never tire of going back.       Continue reading Pleasant Hill KY – 2003

    I just poked my picture directory to see what would come out for this post. What you see is the raw ingredient for tequila. I took these pictures when we were in Guadalajara Mexico in 1995. I spent a lot of time there during my life in the corporate world. I never found a more gracious people than the co-workers families I visited while there.         Continue reading Tequila Mexico – 1995

I have been in a rather melancholy mood lately thinking about life. I have concluded that life is what you make of it. Yeah I know this is one of those sayings that we tend to fall back on at times. I guess this is my time. I have come to realize that life is not some glorious dream to be lived sometime in the future. It is not about those days when you can finally say goodbye to a seeming never-ending job. It is about day-to-day living; each and every one of them. If you think otherwise you are wasting a … Continue reading About Life…

My conservative friend and I recently had a conversation about a judge who made an extreme ruling about praying at a public school graduation ceremony. This federal judge went so far as to make a list of what words could be said there. The source article is at the bottom of this post. Here are parts of our conversation: My Conservative Friend (MCF): Prayer is the new terrorist weapon. It can, according to one judge, cause “irreparable harm.”  RJ: Sadly this is becoming pretty common place during the months of May and June. But is having everyone sit through Christian, Muslim, Hindi, … Continue reading My Conservative Friend re:Prayer at Public Ceremonies

From all the cows it is obvious that this is a working dairy farm.     Continue reading Working Farm, Northern Wisconsin 2010

Here is a picture of the lobby of the Truman Presidential Library in Independence Mo. While the library was somewhat minimal compared to our recent presidents. This mural was outstanding. Continue reading Truman Library – Independence Mo. – 2003

I have been thinking of my Dad today so I thought I would dig up this picture of him and me that was taken twenty five years ago on the evening before my wedding. One of my anticipated joys in life was to be able to spend more time with him after I left the corporate world. Regrettably he passed away about four months before that event. Continue reading Thinking of Dad….

Source:  GOP presidential contenders drift to the right – Politics – Decision 2012 – msnbc.com. Mitt Romney is about to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination today. He seems to be the most creditable candidate in the Republican field but that is not saying much. Given his flip flops there is no way I would ever trust him as my president. Here is a quote from the above article: Romney, who leads in most polls, has rejected his earlier stands supporting abortion rights, gun control and gay rights. He says his 2006 law requiring Massachusetts residents to obtain health insurance was right … Continue reading And Then There is Mitt…..

The Source:  Bachmann on 2012: I’ll ‘stand up to Obamacare’ – Politics – Decision 2012 – msnbc.com. As the above article states apparently joining the already overcrowded Republican presidential contest is yet another Tea Party candidate Michele Bachmann. She has honed her message to everything that she doesn’t like and on top of that list is Obamacare! but in this article she  proclaims she  is a “rock-ribbed constitutional conservative anti-socialist. Call me a sexist if you want but I have always thought of women as the fairer sex. Being historically the primary care givers they haven’t seemed to suffer from … Continue reading A Female President??

One thing I definitely miss about New Jersey is all the diners that were there. We frequented many of them but this one was perhaps our favorite. If you notice from the picture that gas prices were considerably different in those years!! Continue reading Diners… Freehold NJ 1999