Before our New Jersey years we lived in a house on the north side of Indianapolis. While we were there we “adopted” two of the neighborhood cats that came to our door about to have kittens. Big Red, as we named him also came to our door for his regular dinner. He was a scraggly cat and looking at his ears and belly it was obvious that he got into a fight now and again. When we moved to NJ the new owners promised to continue to feed him. Here is to you Big Red. I hope you had a … Continue reading Big Red…

It wasn’t the end of the world just the end of Oprah. Continue reading A Slight Miscalculation….

Here is one in Staunton Virginia near the Frontier Culture Museum. If you are ever in the area the museum is well worth the visit. Continue reading Staunton, VA – April 2011

It seems I am drawn by bronze statues of people lately :)  Anyway here is one of Minnie Pearl from the Grand Ole Opry. Her most famous line was  ”How-dee!!! I’m just so proud to be here!  I was not a regular viewer of the show so the name of the other person in the picture escapes me right now. Continue reading Grand Ole Opry, Nashville – April 2011

I must admit up front that I have never been much of a country music fan. The folk music of  Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary consumed my music tastes during my earlier hearing years. But I did occasionally watch for a few minutes of the Grand Ole Opry when it was on TV in the 1960s. Some of those characters were quite entertaining! So while we were in Nashville we visited the Ryman Auditorium that hosted the Grand Ole Opry for its first thirty some years. It was interesting to see all this history of the place. The stage … Continue reading The Grand Ole Opry…

I see where Indiana’s Governor just signed a law to take another layer of healthcare away from those who cannot afford to pay on their own.  He is de-funding Planned Parenthood because up to 3% of what they do is abortions. The other 97% are for completely other things. This brings up the title for this post.  It seems the Republicans insist on yielding a merciless meat cleaver where a compassionate scalpel would have done the job.  I know Republicans are seen to be against abortion (I have doubts about their real sincerity on that topic) but to take away all the services of that agency is merciless … Continue reading Merciless Meat Cleaver vs. Compassionate Scalpel..

Here is a pretty good place to eat that is just down the road from the USS Wisconsin in the previous post. It is pretty much “old school” but well maintained and seemed to have a pretty good following for at least the Sunday we were there. Continue reading Freemason Abby @ Norfolk VA – April 2011

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….