Thursday

It appears that the youngest will actually move into his new place Friday instead of Saturday.  He is also able to get enough help and vehicles to get it done even a day earlier.  Some that would not have been available Saturday will be able to on Friday, so there my actually be more help then originally expected.  It makes me feel less guilty not helping.

While I survived the things we moved Wednesday, I did have some issues that night.  I was awakened by sharp pains in the area where my surgical incisions were made.  Not sure why that was as I had none of that from moving my parents a year ago.  By the time morning rolled around it had subsided and was back to normal.  I don't know.  Maybe it was the Russians!  My back actually feels a bit better than it had before the move.  So my idea that it might help was partially correct.

The wife has been over at his new place a couple times doing some cleaning for him.  She says a bunch of folks from his office turned out and really pitched in with the cleaning.  She was duly impressed by their attitude and actions.  This also reflects well on the boy, that they would take their personal time and pitch in for him.

Since we won't be anything but in the way Friday I am cooking some pork for tacos today to feed the bunch of workers that will be there to help move.  Think spicy pulled pork in a flour tortilla with my own home made pico de gallo (beak of the rooster).  A standard side to be used on the taco.  Home grown tomatoes and jalapenos, some onion and cilantro, a little salt and lime juice all diced up and mixed together.  Pretty simple but very tasty and adds to the taco.

Happy Trails

I Survived

My youngest son's move that is.  Actually we just did some preliminary stuff.  Boxes (a lot of boxes) and a few pieces of furniture.  They were moved into his garage only.  He has some things that need to be done to the place he is moving to before he moves everything in.  Some painting and carpets cleaned etc.  The big move happens this Saturday and he will have more capable help than me then.  I will sit that one out. 

I have been trying to deal with our wireless phone provider.  It appears that they were going to bill me for an extra 6G of data when I upgraded to my new smartphone.  Nope, we didn't sign up for anything other than the new phone.  It has taken 3 tries to verify that the bill has been corrected.  Only a certain person, the account manager, can inquire about billing.  For that you have to have a PIN that I have no idea what it is.  Oh it gets much more complicated and you get different answers from different people that all work at the same place.  It is a hair pulling nightmare.  Most times I don't let things like that bother me as I know what it's like to deal with the public as that was part of what I did for a living.  They are just trying to do their job and I realize that and have a ton of patience in that regard.  But when I get conflicting information and no straight answers I start to get tight in the jaws.  It's good they have an online chat method of dealing with them, they would have heard me shouting in a not so nice tone otherwise.  Incompetence I have very little patience for.  I finally had to have the wife get it straightened out after I gave her all the details (and she is the account manager that also doesn't remember the PIN).  It finally got resolved with little issue for her when she got through.

As for the new smartphone, it's OK.  I don't use it much so I don't use any data.  The app for my hearing aids works well and is really the main reason I got it.  When folks call once in a blue moon,  the call comes right into my hearing aids via Bluetooth.  Even the ringer is only in my ears, no one else hears it.  I have used the camera once or twice.  There are some things the camera does that I haven't figured out yet, but I haven't tried to do that either.  No, no pokemon thing for me despite my Granddaughter saying I should have it.  She was flabbergasted that I didn't want to play pokemon with her.  Everyone plays pokemon is what it seems like, at least to her.  Found out they called my youngest son, their Uncle, to ask him to play with them.  He couldn't say no, the pansy lol.

Happy Trails

Ugh

Moving day.  My youngest is moving from his apartment to a town home his Uncle has offered him.  Unfortunately due to vagaries of the Uncle's move he doesn't have much choice on when it happens.  Not to mention since he has given notice to the apartment complex he has to be out by July 1st.  He was hoping for more help than what he is getting.  Unfortunately for him, today is the first day he is able to move anything at all.  Being a week day, most of his help is working and can't be available to help.  Not to mention the heat of July.  So the wife and I are going to do what we can.  I am not looking forward to this with the heat and my back has been a mess for a month.  I am hoping that the work will snap my back into shape.  It's the heat and my sensitivity to it that I am most worried about.  Heat stress/stroke comes on without warning.  Fortunately today is supposed to be about 10 degrees cooler due to some showers that moved into the area last night.  No, we didn't get much/enough at all, just 0.10 of an inch.  So it will be cooler but the humidity will make up for that.

I see that DNC was in total chaos yesterday.  More lies coming home to roost for hildabeast.  I don't for second believe that the Russians are behind the leak of more damning emails.  The FBI claims also they think it's Russian hackers.  I call BS.  After the debacle of letting hildabeast off the hook I challenge the integrity of any finding when it comes to politics.

I am totally disgusted by the whole mess.  So I have been trying to just worry about what I can control in my own little sphere and not get caught up in all the other garbage that goes on in the world.  Then Sunday our preacher had a great sermon, and reminded me about letting my light shine as a christian as we are taught in the book of Matthew.  That doesn't work to well with my idea of withdrawing from most of society.  I will have to work on that and my attitude.  But, I will stay locked and loaded at all times to protect my loved ones.

Happy Trails

Bits and Pieces

The last couple days the Grandkids have been here while their Mom has been at a Home School convention in another city.  It is a welcome event and tends to keep me from becoming to engrossed in the depressing news of the day.  The Granddaughter seems to have grown quite bit since the last time they were here.  She seems to have matured a little more than I expected.  She steals my heart.  The Grandson is his goofy self as usual, but he is 3 years younger.  All smiles and happy go lucky.

The garden is about done.  I only see four tomatoes left on the vines and no blooms.  It's too hot to set any more fruit now.  Last year the plants were so big and lush I left them in through a second growing in the fall.  I don't think that will happen this year.  One reason I did it last year was that there were still quite a few tomatoes on the vines.  I will probably pull up the plants that don't have the green tomatoes on them in the next couple days.  Then the black plastic will come back out and cover the garden soil to kill off the Bermuda grass that has invaded.  I tried to keep it pulled up but I lost that battle a month ago.  I will try to plant some more onions this fall, they should then be ready to pick in June.  That is if I can find some to buy.

Next year we hope to learn how to 'can' tomatoes.  We give so many away and then they are gone in such a short time.  We would be able to use then the rest of the year for cooking if we learn to can them.  I have done a little reading about that and it seems that with certain vegetables/foods you don't need a pressure cooker (which we don't have) to can.  Depends on the acidity of the food.  That should keep the initial cost down, plus since we know nothing about pressure cookers, we are a bit leery of using one.  I have seen pictures of what can go wrong with one of those things if you aren't diligent. 

The wife has been working three days a week over at the resort.  She has done better than expected.  The plan was for her to do that just in July and then back to just Saturdays.  But they have since asked her to continue up to Labor Day.  September is so slow they usually ask her not to come.  So she is worried about $$ for that month.  We will be OK.  So August will be very busy for her this year and then she has a big convention to provide a craft class for at the old resort that let her go.  I think it will be kinda weird for her to go over there again but they have no say in this convention as the convention planners hired her for just that one event.  Since she will be so tied up in that we won't really have time for any fun day trips, besides it's too hot anyway in August.  It gets even hotter here then.

It's Almost Over

The end of the RNC is finally in sight.  I have had a passing interest in a little of it.  Have seen a few moments is all.  I did see a recording of Ted Cruz' speech, the one that seemed to upset a lot of folks.  I thought the speech itself was what I have come to expect from him, heavy on conservative principles.  I was surprised at the rancor his speech seems to have caused among the Trump 'faithful.'

It seems they were expecting an endorsement of Trump and when they didn't get what they wanted they acted just like Trump does.  Would his endorsement make any difference in how this will turn out anyway?

Look, I get it, we can't as a nation afford to have hildabeast win this election.  We are pretty much left with no alternative.  Voting Libertarian is a vote for the beast since they have no chance.  I understand where Cruz is coming from.  He has more principles than any politician I have ever seen and stands on them.  How can you expect a man to endorse someone that has repeatedly attacked his family, his wife and father (linking him to JFK's assassination).  No apology has ever been offered, it seems to be considered politics as usual.  The Trump supporters think he should just 'get over it.' He didn't attack Trump at all.  Trump knew beforehand there would be no endorsement.  I don't really understand the outrage....at all.  Without expecting an endorsement, it was a brilliant speech.  

I have said here before what I think about Trump, so I won't repeat that, my feelings haven't changed.  I doubt they ever will.  You can't change the horses spots.  Yes I think we will be safer under Trump the Hillary, but that doesn't make it much easier for me.

This is definitely a case of voting for the lesser of two HUGE evils.  I don't think it has ever been more clear.  But voting for evil is still evil.  I will do just a Cruz suggested, vote my conscience.  How can anyone not do the same?

On another vein, I saw where Matt Lauer asked Trump if he would ask the speakers at the RNC to tone down the rhetoric.  It seems he is shocked at what he is hearing from them and thinks it's hateful.  How do you expect Trump to tone down anything?  It seems the left is not used to hearing from Republicans the same thing they spout every day.  Get used to it, that's all you will hear from Trump this campaign.  A little dose of the medicine they have been dishing as long as I can remember.  What an idiot.

I am also surprised there hasn't been more violence in the streets of Cleveland.  I expected a blood bath.  It's hard to find any reporting on it, it's there but not the usual coverage with the left leaning media.  Not sure why as they tend to feed of that sort of 'news.'  I have some ideas why but they aren't real clear in my head at the moment.  Maybe they are embarrassed by what they see from the left leaning protestors.  Nah, they always spin that to their benefit.  Maybe it's not bloody enough to waste their time with.

The World Has Gone Insane

The events world wide over the last few days have convinced me that most people are now insane.  I read about the trouble in France and it seems to me that their ignoring of the muslim immigration swarm is coming home to roost.  One pundit even thinks they are on the verge of a civil war since many of the French people are now very angry at all the terrorism.  There have been multiple other attacks with loss of life that hasn't made the news here at all.  That and what they see as a tepid response by their government.  He also vaguely alludes that guns are part of the impetus for this coming civil war since they are not banned from owning guns like in the UK.  He is a UK native, now living in France for the past 15 years.  He claims to have a great feel for the pulse of the French people.  Who knows if he is right, but I couldn't blame them.

Although he makes it seem the French people are unhappy with Hollande's response to terror on his home soil.  Another writer extols his stance on declaring war on ISIS while an ally for the past 250 years has remained on the sidelines, not supporting the French president with an equal declaration of war.  Guess who that is.  Obama is content to let the French go it alone despite what he may have said about supporting them.  Yet Trump already has claimed he will ask congress for that declaration of war, while hildabeast claims Christians will have to give up their faith and just accept it when it comes to obeying laws of the country their faith opposes, i.e. abortion, gay marriage etc.  A committed Christian will NEVER do that.  I have no doubt there is a not so subtle war on Christianity in the country that was founded to allow religious freedom.  And yet they bend over backwards to appease islam while the muzzies plan our demise, the appeasers included.

Then there is the crap in Turkey.  I don't even begin to understand what is going on there.  But it seems to me that there are a few folks there that don't take to the current president and his hard line muslim approach to governing.  He has even said he favors ISIS and yet our administration has come out in support of the current 'democratically' elected government.  Then there are reports that this wack job president of Turkey is holding American servicemen hostage on the base at Incirlik.  Yet we see or hear almost nothing that he has surrounded the base and cut power to it.  We have nukes over there, I don't think we need those getting into the wrong hands.  I pray for the safety of our servicemen and women there and everywhere.

Admittedly I am sure I don't have the whole picture as I tend to avoid the network news and the slanted views plus the fact that there is so much crap the media wants you to swallow, I can't be sure of anything I read, watch or hear.

Then there is the crap here at home with the attacks on the police and the divisive rhetoric that comes from the black jesus.  He has blood on his hands along with the media.  The media plays up any police shooting of a black man, every time, yet NEVER gives the same coverage to any other police shooting.  They make it seem like only black men are being shot yet ignore the details of why.  I don't understand what those of the BLM hope to accomplish by inciting the race war they seem to want.  No good could come to them in something like that. If I was a police officer I would probably be thinking of a new line of work.  I could go on and on about this but you have probably heard as much as I have or more so I will just leave it at that.

I see things (protests) being planned for the GOP convention in Cleveland this week.  Why is the media reporting that?  Are they setting the stage? It ratchets up the hate on both sides, making a tinder box, more big news for them to cover.  No doubt they will spin that to try to get voters away from the GOP and either not vote or vote how they want them to.  That will work on the low info voters and the weal minded.  No good can come of this.  If it is peaceful, I will be more than surprised.  

We have gone off the rails.  I have some inclination to believe we are paying price for getting so far from our Christian roots in this country.  If that's the case, this is only the beginning.  As they say, 'you ain't seen nothing yet.' 

Sorry for the disjointed thoughts, there is a lot of crap running through my head and this keyboard is paying the price.

Buster's Vet Visit

The visit to the Vet went as well as we could have hoped.  They did a needle 'biopsy' of the lumps and it turns out they are a lipoma, fatty tumor as I suspected and hoped.  So no treatment is necessary other than to take off a little more weight, that will help with those.  He also took a look at the inflation he has been having on his belly causing him to scratch.  We suspected an allergy of some sort.  He said it was an allergic reaction.  We discussed what it may be from.  He suggested that it could be from the fleas he had a while back.  While he found no fleas he could see evidence of them having been there.  Flea poop basically, even after repeated baths.  So we got an antibiotic for the inflammation and an oral med for any possible fleas.  That was just one pill that will kill any fleas as soon as they bite and lasts 3 months.  It was extremely expensive for just one pill.  We helped with his car payment this month with everything.  Peace of mind does have a price.

Buster was more nervous than I have ever seen  him at the Vet.  Poor guy was trembling and hiding under the bench 'Mom' was sitting on and was extremely drooly.  That was a first.  Maybe since it hadn't been as long since the last visit he remembered better than before.  As soon as the exam was over you could see the change in his demeanor.  He was much more relaxed.  It just amazes me how perceptive dogs are.  Most times we don't pick up on it.  It's our failing to figure it out, not there's when something is going on.  So we will work on more weight loss and enjoy the time we have with him and give thanks.

We made a trip into town to see my folks.  As it turns out I crashed a 'girls day out' the wife had planned with my Mom and Sister-in-law.  My brother showed up also which was a nice surprise.  We hadn't seen them since December.  We had a great lunch at my favorite little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant.  Enjoyed some great enchiladas and carne guisada and some of the best homemade flour tortillas I have ever eaten.  I have eaten a lot of those in my lifetime.  It turned out to be a fun trip even having to go into town.

The garden is starting to show signs of heat stress but I am still picking tomatoes, anywhere from 2-3 a day to the dozen I picked the day before.  I am amazed at the length of time these things are producing even with the heat.  It was like that last year also but I thought it was fluke.  No idea why I am getting such production.  Now if it would transfer to other plants.  The two bell pepper plants have been pulled up after '0' production.  They won't be replanted along with the strawberries.  So I need to figure out what I will plant in their place next year.  I am hoping to figure a way to get a few watermelons without overwhelming the garden.  I may try anyway.

Happy Trails

Piddlin' Around

Not a lot going on around here yet I seem pretty busy.  A few small leather thing Kim wanted made has been most of the time consumed.  So if you were to ask me what I've been doing, i would tell you 'just piddlin' or 'piddlin' around.  Phrases you don't hear much anymore.  I know most of my family on my mother's side always used it.  I'm sure it is a purely Southern thing.

See, I told you they were small projects, an Iphone belt pouch (a custom order), a few leather bracelets/cuffs and some deer antler pendants.  Not much, but it kept me busy and it was fun

Buster (my dog-Australian Shepherd) has been having some issues with itching.  No, not fleas this time.  It appears that he has gotten into something or is allergic to something.  He has some scabs and red spots on his belly.  We have been trying to treat them with some over the counter stuff and several baths.  During all of this we discovered some lumps on his ribs that is a cause for concern at his age (13).  As we checked him each day we would find another one.  We have an appointment at the Vet's this Thursday.  Hopefully we can get him some relief and find out about the lumps.  I suspect (and hope) they are only fatty tumors and I can ease my mind on that front.

Happy Trails

I Watched

I watched the FBI Director's Testimony yesterday.  At least until I lost the stream.  Couldn't get it back either.  If I was a conspiracy theorist, I might think that I was disconnected because there was something they didn't want me to see/hear.  I found the feed on the book of faces by accident.  If the comments are any indication, a LOT of folks are pissed off about this whole hildabeast/FBI investigation.  A lot of the comments were just plain stupid too.  They had no relation to what was actually going on.

The Director never got flustered to his credit.  However, I understand that he refused to answer any more questions at one point.  That supposedly happened after I lost the connection.  Hmmmm, coincidence?  I will have to try to find out what the questions were that he refused to answer.  However, regardless of the line of questioning, and Trey Gowdy had his usual tough questions, what will they do?  Did they expect him to say, 'yeah, I was coerced, I'm a clinton crony?'  It's just all grandstanding.  They won't do a freaking thing.  They are worthless, the lot of them.  

The dumocrats were their usual selves trying to prop up the director and claiming the GOP was attacking him personally, yet they never asked a meaningful question, ever.  A couple just droned on and on so I went and did a couple things in the other room before I continued.  They certainly don't care one iota about the rule of law or justice, at least as far as another dumocrat is concerned.

Our Governor, Gregg Abbott, officially called for a Convention of the States.  He proposed 9 amendments.  I liked them all but he was short by not adding a couple more about term limits and congress having to be subject to any/all laws they pass also.  Hopefully since Texas is such a large state and can get a lot of attention, that will draw more attention to that Convention of the States movement than previous calls.  I think 7-8 states have now done the same.  We need 34.  I think there are enough red states to fill that number.  I hope they get their heads out of the sand before too long.

We sang a song at church Wednesday night, Troublesome Times are Here.  It couldn't have been more appropriate.

I will be praying about these troublesome times more now than before.

Cynic

Oh there are a lot more of these I could put u about how I see things right now.

I Held Out Hope

Yes,I  really did.  I bought into something I read about the FBI being dedicated to their cause and would actually find a reason to indict hildabeast.  I think I knew way back in some dark corner that politics would win out over justice.  I have no doubt if she had been a white, southern, male, christian, the current administration would have done everything they could have to undermine her.  But since she seems to be the anointed one, there is nothing she can do that will stop her.  I have no doubt there will be some really dirty election tricks going on come November.  Some like we have never seen before, but we will never know, since the media will not report anything negative about her.

So can we rely on the American people to come to their senses after seeing how things have been for the last 8 years?  Not a chance.  It's the uninformed American people that got us in this mess.  It seems they aren't bright enough to even see the problems facing us.  

My hope for America is fading.

July 4

Sorry no patriotic post.  Not feeling overly patriotic these days with all the yahoo's we have running around this great land.  Nearly lost my lunch the other day when I sat down to watch a little TV and the first thing on was a Hildabeast commercial.  I thought they would at least wait until she got the actual nomination.  I got up and left the room before I actually puked.  It did remind me we will now have all these worthless political commercials from here until the election, oh yippee.

We will celebrate the 4th regardless, but for other more intimate reasons.  It will mark our 41st anniversary.  We will head into town and have a late lunch at a great steak house.  We won't stay out late at all.  We go early for a couple reasons.  One is to avoid any holiday crowds (actually we aren't even sure they will be open being a holiday), the other is our dog, Buster, has a horrible aversion to the fireworks noise.  He gets terrified if we aren't there to help him stay calm, and then he still is pretty nervous.  In a lot of ways, Buster dictates a lot of what, when and how we do things.  Yes it can be a burden at times, but we made a commitment when we got him.  I try to live up to commitments.  We don't consider him as 'just a dog.'  He is family.

The fireworks around here can be pretty loud.  I don't have a clue what they are but some of those things sound like artillery they are so loud.  They are not your usual firecrackers for sure.  They must spend a ton of cash on those things with as many as they set off.  At least the 4th isn't nearly as bad as New Year's.  Not even close.  They will still be going off at 4 AM then.  We live out in the county so there are no ordinances prohibiting setting off fireworks.  There are a lot of folks that take advantage of that.  I have done my share of doing the same, but it gets old after a while, especially at 4 AM.

So far the new smartphone is pretty cool, especially the Bluetooth hearing aid thing.  I can hear whoever is calling me in my hearing aids without anyone else hearing anything but my side of the conversation.  It's basically hands free, except for the microphone to speak to the caller.  Still have to hold the phone to pick up my words.  Haven't determined how far away it can be and still pick up my voice adequately.  One thing that was a bit disconcerting was the ringer goes off in my ear also and the phone itself.  I can fix that though.

Have a great 4th of July.