As mentioned on a previous post we are getting ready to head off on a Spring Vacation through Maryland, Virginia, and probably a few other States.  So that means loading up our HHR with all the “necessities”. We bought the HHR for our Westerly trip in 2009 and have used it for several others since then. Pulling down the back seat makes more than enough room for even my wife’s luggage. She says she doesn’t know what the weather will be so she must take a little of everything. Our little HHR is just perfect for us at this time … Continue reading We Still Love our HHR….

This is definitely a place where a picture, in this case a poster, is worth a thousand words so I don’t have much to add. Someday we will join the rest of the industrialized nations and provide universal healthcare for all our citizens. We could very easily do that if we only brought our military budgets in line with every other country in the world. Sadly but what do I know… Continue reading Don’t Be Silly

What is considered to be old is, of course, a matter of perspective. I have always been a dreamer in that throughout my life, although not so much lately, I have thought about where I would be and what I would be doing in the future. As a teenager I spent many a night staring up at a seemingly endless star field and dreaming out where I would be in the distant future. In those days the distant future was around the year 2000 or so! When we are young being old is about when we are forties. When we … Continue reading It’s a Matter of Perspective…

This picture was taken during our month-long trip to the west coast. We didn’t discover many barns in the west. This was on of the few we even managed to snap during that trip. Continue reading Kansas City, MO -2009

What a sad day when one religious organization burns a copy of another’s holy documents. This supposedly Christian Reverend did a huge disservice to all of Christiandom. Where is the outrage among the mainline Christian denominations? Do we really want to start a round of totally “dissing” each others views of God?  Sad, sad, sad. Quran burned at Rev. Terry Jones’ tiny church – Faith & Reason. Continue reading Quran burned at Rev. Terry Jones’ tiny church – Faith & Reason

I have spent most of my life in the Midwest but did finish out my professional career in the NYC area. Before I moved to the Northeast I had frequent business trips there. It seems that many people I interacted with in that area, they call it the tri-state area (NY, Conn, NJ), had a definite opinion of us in the hinterland. They tend to look at our cities and towns as “cornfield with lights”.  They say what is there to do there? They think life is much slower when you get away from the tri-state area. They proudly say … Continue reading Life in the Fast Lane?

It warms my heart that two European countries have taken the lead in keeping the dictator of Libya from destroying his own people. Maybe humanity does mean something to political powers. I am also relieved that the U.S. has finally agreed to help them in that effort.  This goes a long way to proving that we don’t have to be the policemen of the world. While President Obama has dissappointed me in so many areas this is  not one of them.  He let others closer to the conflict take responsibility for stopping the innocent killing. Good for him. But, I … Continue reading Way to Go, Britain and France….

Those of us who are older remember many barns with the Rock City ads on them. They are quickly disappearing from the countryside. Continue reading Rock City Ads (Indiana) – 2010

The title of the post is directly from the title of the article I am going to discus.  Basically what the Republicans seem to be saying is that banks should have all the control on how to foreclose on a loan and the government should get out of that and other financial transactions that are best left to private industry hands! In other words let the free market rule. The symbol of the Republican party is an elephant. Of course the thing most remember about elephants besides the fact that they are huge and have very tough skin is that … Continue reading Republicans: Consumer bureau too powerful

When President Obama was campaigning in 2008 he made it a point to say that there were some circumstance where he would use the military might of the U.S. to right something that was morally wrong. See the article referenced by the link below. It seems that Libya forces who are backing Gadhafi are rounding up dissidents in the middle of the night and making them “disappear”. This seems very similar to the killing fields of Cambodia, Sudan, and several other countries where George W Bush and some of his professors basically sat on their hands. When President Obama was … Continue reading Moral Duties….

It was interesting to see this mural that was being painted on the side of the Walnut Tavern in Yankton SD. The town had a lot of history relative to Missouri River commerce in the 1800s. Continue reading Yankton SD – 2009

The above sculpture was on the front of one of the government office buildings in Omaha NE. I’m not sure what the underlying meaning of the sculpture is? But it certainly got my attention! Continue reading Omaha NE – 2009

That is a question being address by a group of young people who descended on Capital Hill challenging lawmakers to address the bloated defense spending that imperils their schools, communities, and futures. American Friends Service Committee (A Quaker organization) is proud to be associated with this group of young people.  See the article about these young people at http://afsc.org/story/1-trillion-contest-winners-visit-capitol-hill The basic question being asked is what could we have done with the money we spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?  As a result of all this spending many in the U.S. congress today are stripping aid to towns and … Continue reading What Could We Do with $1 Trillion Dollars???

Our 25th wedding anniversary is coming up soon and it looks like we will be heading for Virginia and the journey through hallowed ground. I wanted to go to Disney World but my wife vetoed that idea. I guess I just have to work harder to convince her that Disney World is not just for kinds. Anyway getting back to the trip she didn’t veto. Virginia, for those you you who are U.S. history buffs know, is very rich with early American history. Most of the first six or more presidents were from Virginia. It was also the scene of … Continue reading Journey through hallowed ground…

  Screen glare is one of my pet peeves. My laptop computer is aging and I would really like to get a replacement. But it seems all laptops now for sale have the mirror like screens! I guess they are handy if you want to continuously check to make sure your hair is combed or maybe to keep anyone from sneaking up on you from behind but as far as reading what is on the screen they are the dumps.  You almost have to be in a completely dark room to be able to use them.  I know the colors … Continue reading Screen Glare!!!

Many believe that those who control the wealth and/or power in this country are pretty much above the law. That is at least compared to us slobs in the trenches. A case in point is Clarence Thomas who broke federal laws and will get away with it because of the power he holds. It seems the Supreme Court justice was “unaware” that he needed to report his wife’s $700,000 stipend from a radical right lobbying group on his annual disclosure forms for the past several years! Here is an excerpt from that article (the source can be found via the … Continue reading Above the Law??

The Republicans in congress seem hell-bent on eliminating the healthcare bill passed by Congress in 2009. They say they want to start over again but don’t really say just what it is that they hate so much. Is it: giving those who can’t afford even basic healthcare a change to get it? preventing the insurance companies from declaring “pre-existing conditions” for wherever they don’t want to have to cover? requiring everyone to have at least a minimum level of healthcare insurance the same way most States currently require auto insurance? requiring that most of the money collected for insurance actually … Continue reading A Healthcare Alternative to Obamacare….

Let’s take a closer look at one of the murals from the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.  They really are made of corn and are changed every couple of years.   Continue reading Corn Palace Mural – June 2009

I am going to jump on my soapbox here for some ranting so be forewarned. But it is not that serious of stuff. I live in a pretty rural area so I can’t get any channels with an antenna or even get cable TV out here in the hinterland. I am pretty much only have one choice and that is satellite TV. Sat TV works out pretty good most of the time. It even gives me an instant weather forecast by going out right before storms hit. But the thing I have the most grip about is how they package … Continue reading The thing about Cable and Satellite TV….

I was at the Corn Palace in Mitchell S.D. when I was a kid in the 1960s. It was nice to visit it again and to see that it is still around. Continue reading Corn Palace – June 2009

I’m sure most of you seniors out there know the source of the title of this post but I’m also sure many of the younger generation don’t’.  It was a favorite quote of Popeye The Sailor Man. It goes something like this “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.. I’m Popeye the sailor man”  This saying has become somewhat of a mantel in my life lately. It seems that even after twenty five years of marriage my wife is still not done trying to change me into someone more to her liking. I guess that is … Continue reading I am what I am…..

There is an article in the Christian Science Monitor (see the link at the bottom of the post)  about how the Republicans want to cut spending on the federal budget. When Mr. Bush was in office and borrowing hundreds of billions of off budget dollars to fund his wars there was not a squeak from any of them. They suddenly got religion after the fact I guess. I wonder if it has anything to do with a Democrat now holding the White House???   Anyway, here is an excerpt from the article. One of the plans is the measure passed by House Republicans, which cuts … Continue reading Cutting Spending (Republican Style)…..

  Here in Indiana where I live there are two things that are almost certain about the month of March. The first one is March Madness and that is the high school and college basketball playoffs. The second thing is the final snowstorm of the season. Basketball, and other amateur sports, seems to be in the blood of many Hoosiers. I must admit I am not one of those however. In earlier years I did follow the playoffs but didn’t really watch many of them. Now I have no idea who would be even playing in any of the games. … Continue reading The Thing about March….

This like the other posts in the category is from the book entitled “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all small stuff” by Richard Carlson. It has many items that are particularly useful to us seniors. Our retirement years should be sweat free so to speak. Making peace with imperfection is something that I don’t have much of a problem with but I know several other seniors who still have a problem with things that are not perfect. My wife is one of them. Perfectionist seem to go through life fretting almost everything they encounter. Things like: dirty cars, … Continue reading No 2. Make Peace with Imperfection

One of the most depressing things to me is that some seniors seem to spend their lives just waiting to die. They have no ambitions or goals for their senior years. They spend their days do little or nothing. In other words they are very passive seniors; they say they gain their joy from inactivity but is that really true or just a cop out for not doing anything? I must admit that I am probably more adventurous than many seniors.  I enjoy constant stimulation. I enjoy planning and doing things that I have never done before. To sit around … Continue reading Waiting to Die….

  I must admit that I am a Internet junkie. I pay most of my bills on-line. I get most of my news on-line.  I purchase a lot of goods and services on-line. I follow friends on Facebook I get and receive many emails daily As a result of all this activity I have a lot of logins and passwords strewn across the Internet. I also must admit that until recently I had not really taken my many account passwords very seriously. That changed about a month ago when I discovered that someone had gained access to one of my … Continue reading About Passwords and the Internet….

This is just too sad to take lightheartedly. There is a global food crisis in much of the third world. Part of that is due to us using so much corn for ethanol. We have so much in the country and so much of the world is starving. Something is wrong with that! Continue reading Global Food Crisis…..

It is a rainy day here in Indiana but considering that it is not snow it doesn’t get me down. And the fact that between July and September of last year we had less than an inch of rain total, I welcome a rainy day now and then.  The picture above is one of my favorite ones of my hubby. It was taken about 25 years ago during our visit to the Wisconsin Dell.  I love her more now than I did even then. Continue reading Rainy days don’t always get me down….

I just changed the word “Satirical” to “Lighthearted” for this blog title. It seems that the word “Satirical” has come to mean something quite different than in Will Rogers’ day. Looking at what Wikipedia says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire some might get the wrong opinion of what I am trying to do here. According to Wiki there is now a definite dark side to satire that is more predominant today than the more light hearted approach that Will Rogers used. I am definitely not on the dark side and neither was Will! :) Its funny how some words change at time goes by. In … Continue reading What is Satire?