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Not Regis and Kelly But We Try |
| [Introduction]
This campfire is Hooves mooing and Chuckster  opining about things that interest us. This is Hoovsie's original description: We might not always answer each other or listen to each other, just like talking heads on TV, but we will be polite (that makes us different and sets us apart from the herd) So I am Hoovis Philbin and he is Chuckie Lee Gifford, or he is Charles Philbin and I am Hoovsie Lee Gifford. Or Kelly. It doesn't matter. As long as I get to wear nice clothes and sing now and then, I don't care who I am. I only hope he accepts this invitation to this campfire. Respectfully, Hooves |
| Good morning, Chuckie! What has me in a lather today is none other than Martha Stewart. Why are they picking on her? I watched a biography and an American Justice thing on her last night and I still don't get it. Who will tell me how to arrange my barn if she goes to prison? Why are those ENRON guys who cheated all their employees walking around all relaxed while Martha is sweating it out. Even assuming arguendo (what ever the heck that means) that she did what they said - and told a fib to stay out of trouble - I think the greater good (me having guidance on cooking and decorating) needs to be factored in. Taking a sip of my sparkling cider while I take a breath and wait for your thoughts about this, Mars or the world in general. I wish they would send that prosecutor to Mars that is prosecuting her. I think ANY prosecutors who have press conferences BEFORE THEY PRESENT THEIR CASE should be sent to Mars. All of them. Ok, now it's your turn.  |
| May I start of the day by saying, my bovine hostess you just look marvelous, simply marvelous this morning! Doesn't she look wonderful? And what an splendid topic you have chosen to embrace the attention of our audience. My goodness, such an opening statement! I can feel your wrath and I'm sure the audience can also. What I think you may have neglected to mix with your oats this morning, is the fact that Martha Stewart is the epitome of an egotisical and pompous ass. Now being a man rather well versed in the culinary arts myself, I find it hard to believe that the average stay at home wife with three bratty little kids under her feet kids would have on hand in her kitchen imported glazed troufles and a spice rack the size of Britney's Spears bedroom closet. With that pasted on phoney smirk on her face each time she gets a close up, I have a sudden urge to squirt Norweigen sturgeon eggs up my nose. As far as her lawsuit goes, greeting the judge during the prelimiary hearing with her remark of "Judge, you ignorant slut, did nothing to strengthen her image in the public eye needless to say at the judicial level either. In any event if her magazine gets put out to pasture (excuse the expression), well I'm sure she can become very influential inside the joint and who knows maybe she'll meet someone in there and they can find new things to create with urinal pads. Ever stop and think why she can't land another man after her first decided she wasn't worth the aggrevation of competing with artichoke hearts with lemon and orange rind stuffing? |
| Chuckie, I see we lock horns on my personal icon M.S. To each his own, but I need Martha's guidance and am a happy subscriber to Martha Stewart Living and in the latest issue they taught me COWligraphy if I can only get my hooves to quit shaking. That's another story. You mentioned, Brittany STEERS. What is the deal with her? She kisses MOO-donna and then throws her over and marries some guy from the south in the chapel where other sacred unions took place, such as Dennis Rodman marrying Carmen MOO-lectra. What is this world coming to?  |
| Well I think the sexually imbalanced Britney is growing weary of portraying that skanky pig image on many of her videos and poster pictures. Let's face it upon seeing those revealing poses from a male point of view, most of us would entertain the thought of doing the naughty with her. However, her image is definitely not the kind I would be proud of and say "Mom Dad, this is the woman I want to live with for the rest of my life." With that baby oil smeared anatomy she falls into the same subset of women least likely to take home to meet your parents like Anna Nicloe Smith and Pamela Anderson. I blame her agents and entourage because the more $$ they make by using her, they insure their own employment as well. In reality I don't think she's all the sex kitten she is air brushed to be and pretends she is. After all, what would Walt Disney say if he were alive today and see one of his former mousketeers making suggestive gyrating pelvic moves on stage rather than a simple tap dance with Goofy? As far as Carmen and Dennis go, I think they should both be on the next mission to Mars for they both are from one of those other solar systems out there. Now how about this Michael Jackson deal? He says he'll never go back to his Neverland or whatever his ranch is because he has been violated...What do you think? |
| Good morning Chuckie. I am not fully awake yet. Michael Jackson should quit whining and get some new advisers or handlers. That is what I think. He can afford to live anywhere so it isn't exactly a tragedy that he might choose not to return to Neverland. Those advisers should tell him no more sleepovers with any kids. Unless and until proven otherwise in a court, I do not believe the allegations because I have to ask what sort of parent would allow their kid to do a sleepover with this guy? The sort of parent who needs MOOla and doesn't care how they get it is my opinion. I feel sorry for the kid. Michael Jackson, for some reason, likes to paint a big target on himself and say "Come get me." He is like a Peter Pan with no judgement. I think he needs to get some nice cows and talk to them. That is what I think. Cows would tell him the truth and that you don't have sleepovers with other people's kids anymore. Just say no to him. Cows would level with him because they don't care how much money he has. Speaking of money, what do you think about this Lotto winner and the woman who wants to sue her because she claims she "dropped" the winning ticket? |
| Good Morning to you also. So nice of you to drop in so early before the start of your day. A refreshing change of pace wouldn't you agree? Enjoying your breakfast this morning? I am just settling in with an English Muffin and some coffee. Now this lottery winner, didn't they have a movie with John Stayin' Alive Travalta? I'm afraid I am not quite up on this particular incident so if you'd be so kind as to give me and the audience a little insight as to what the parameters are, we'd appreciate it. Seems I can recall something I seen in a movie or a Fox Special that mentioned something about splitting earnings if they won or someone bought the ticket for someone else and then forgot to check the numbers and it won. Seems there has been a lot of these little "scams" going aorund with someone trying once again to beat the system and get the quick cash and the ambulance chasers are right there with their hand out should they be lucky enough to get a judge to rule in their favor. So please continue.. |
| Chuckie, you hit the nail on the head. Pass the English Muffin please. Well, in this mega millions lotto they announced that the winning ticket was sold at "x" store and there was only one winner. So this woman (with her ever present legal mouthpiece) comes forward and says she dropped the ticket and somone must have swiped it. So everyone is looking for the ticket. This lady (with the lawyer) looks kind of...well...like this isn't the first time she's needed legal assistance. All these folks (I think it's in Pennsylvania but I'm not positive) start combing this parking lot for the ticket with no luck. Then a couple of days later a nice looking lady (without a lawyer by her side) comes forward and says she bought the ticket. The ticket is in nice condition and she has a receipt for her purchase at the store at the same time the ticket was sold and she has her previous lotto tickets with the same number. So then this other woman (with the lawyer) starts suing and going on talk shows. Only one talk show looked into her back ground and surprise - she has some sort of record with a fraud charge. They confront her and her lawyer with it on the air. She is suing the lotto and the other lady I believe and wants to accuse her of stealing and prevent the payout. Now they are trying to decide what to do and this lady reminds me of your "Let's Sue Everyone" articles. Did you make these English Muffins from scratch? They are delicious. |
| Always the way isn't it that somebody constant is looking for the easy way out. The guy that gets me is Robert Vaughn and his plug for lawyers. Remember him from the TV show The Man From UNCLE? He comes out with a pissy-ass, grouchy and grumpy facial expression and points his index finger at you at home emphatically and says "YOU TELL THE INSURANCE COMPANY YOU MEAN BUSINESS!" Well Bobby baby, I got a better idea. If you're that concerned about my welfare, why don't you pick up the phone and call the insurance company and tell them yourself because I dont think they care a hill of beans about a guy making minimum wage. These scams about lottery winners and lawsuits sounds like something you'd see on a Seinfeld episode where Kramer is involved. I'm afraid I can't take the praise for the breakfast goodies... The English Muffins were store bought, three packages for a dollar..one of those promotional items for a grand opening store..you know, to lure you into their store and then expect you to spend another $20.00 bucks while you're there. However, I have been complimented on my from scratch corn bread and muffins which I'll make soon. You know just to get off the subject of these headlines momentarily, but staying with scam atrists I must tell you about the toaster I bought a while ago. The one I was using had a mind of it's own and would "pop up" at various times regardless of the setting you placed it on. You could place it on ONE and it would come out looking like the much used bottom of newspaper in a birdcage. If you put it on the highest setting, you couldn't make it to the refrigerator to get the butter before it popped up. IN any event, to the local department store I drove and selected a Protor Silex 4 slice job. Upon returning home, I cut the top open and inside the box was a USED OLD BEAT UP TOASTER! Hoovsie, this toaster was so old and worn out it had a frayed cloth electrical cord! I was livid to say the least that someone had the gall and audacity to buy a new toaster then slip in their old one, reseal it and then take it back for their mney back...Probably giving the excuse like it was suppose to be a wedding gift but the loving couple already had one. Anyway, the store now thinks I am trying to pull a fast one on them! After a heated debate and telling them it was their fault for Not checking the contents and they just restocked the toaster, they finally agreed to make a switch for a new toaster. I was angry and told the manager if he hired people that were more readily concerned about doing their job rather than looking to see if they can secure a date for Friday night with the well endowed female clerk in ladies intimate apparel, they may avoid such complaints as mine. Also, I reminded them if they pay peanuts to their employees expect to get monkeys to do the work. Did you have any return problems as far as returning presents and exchanges after the holidays Hoovsie? |
| Chuckie, you must be psychic or we are on the same wavelength. I didn't return but I had an experience in the small electrics dept. of my local dept. store. I needed to get a toaster oven. Chuckie, when I roast a turkey, I have a dilemma. I can't serve any oven cooked h'orsdoerves or pop my rolls in because they smell like turkey and interfere with the cooking of the bird. So I decided a toaster oven was the answer. So, thinking to take advantage of the after xmas sales I made the mistake of clipping a coupon for 20% off and meandering into the local Dept. Store. I didn't bother anyone as I trotted around inspecting the toaster ovens and I finally found one may by Krups that looked sleek, but wasn't too costly. With my coupons in my mouth and my toaster oven balanced on my back I approached the register. The clerk sneered at me and snapped, "You can't use the coupon in small electrics!" as if he was talking to an idiot. I mooed, "Okay, then how much?" He sneered at me again and scanned the box on my back and said an amount that was what I thought it might be after the 20% off so I nodded. He was so rude that he wouldn't even give me a bag, thinking I would carry that big box on my back all the way home instead of hanging the shopping bag on my horns like any well dressed shopping bovine. I mooed, "could I have a bag please?" And he answered, "I guess so." Chuckie, we just didn't like each other. He threw the bag at me. Well I snorted and kicked the dirt and charged into Customer Service and asked for the Dept. Mgr, a Mrs. Dull (I swear to God, that was her real name). Mrs Dull was in a meeting and couldn't be bothered with the likes of me I guess. I have been mad about it and am still mad about it, but I feel better knowing that I am not alone in being treated badly this holiday season. But the best revenge is not shopping there and I am taking my business elsewhere and they can put their 20% off coupons where the sun don't shine as far as I'm concerned. |
| Oh I agree Hoovsie, and may I wish you another pleasant good morning. Frigid temperatures here again as the sun rays breaks over the marina. The covered boats in their drydock slips resemble tombstone markers in a secluded cemetery. Anyway, as I look out my study window watching the squirrels scurry along looking for their breakfast, may I invite you so have some freshly made banana bread with butter or cream cheese I just baked as you have your morning coffee? I'll tell you, it is so nice to see so many emails from members out there telling us how much they enjoy our little talk forum Hoovsie. Maybe we could entertain the idea of having a guest join us from time to time to get their input on what is new and exciting in their lives, or want to just give an opinion on the issues of the day as well. Just to add another spice to the shopping topic, have you ever noticed that the personaity of a person changes as soon as he or she places their hands on the push bar of a shopping cart? Immediately like some Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde potion takes effect and a Clearance Sale sign in the middle of a display counter acts as a catalyst to stimulate the transformation from "pleasant good natuired kindly old senior citizen to "Rambo Multifacted Weapons and Tactical Ninja Specialist". When browsing through a store recently for Christmas Items, the PA announcer announced one of the "blue light specials" where the sale is only on for like 30 seconds. A first come first served winner take all of all the PLUS Sizes in ladies full length housecoats that look more like a table cloth for KIng Richard's Feast & Faire. Anyway, I had selected a few small items and then as I approached the cash out area, a blue haired little woman perhaps in her late 70's eyed me suspiciously. With a verbal HUMMPH escaping over her pruney like thin lips, she mumbled that I appeared to be an "unemployed trouble making motorcycle outlaw." I am not kidding. Now perhaps because I had on my full length leather coat, black Healey Davidson chain boots and my black Garth Brooks hat, I may have given her the impression I was looking for Wyatt Earp and his deputies, but I just chuckled at her remark and let it be. She, on the other hand now decided I had met my high noon and we were going to race our shopping carts to the check out line to see who could get there first. She RAMS the front of my cart sending it into one of those candy display units and Snicker bars, and gum, and the Rolaids go flying into the next check out line. "PLease wait your turn," she yells. "You had all week to shop and now you have just ruined my day." She starts to carry on a conversation with the cashier about their policy of letting riff-raff like myself into their store. In the meantime, my blood pressure has now reached the point where little old lady or not, she needs a reality "slap". There is within reach a cabinet display shelf for those wishing to perform safe sex. A light bulb goes off in my head as I quickly peruse the cardboard boxes and my eyes rest on the.... MAXIM Heavy Duty Multi-Colored Ribbed Condoms for Maximum his and her pleasure. Without hestitation, I select a box of the LARGE size and toss the box of condoms into the old bags shopping cart. As she continues to complain and ramble on and on to the cashier who could really care less and is just snapping her gim and watching the clock to see when her break is, she is selecting the items from her cart and placing them on the rotating conveyor belt. In her haste, she picks up the condoms and I watch them journey down the belt where the cashier starts to laugh and then the old lady notices what they are. She goes ballistic and points to me but she is tongue tied with rage. She starts fumbling with the box turning it over and over in her hands. She is stuttering and mumbling and pointing and well I thought she was trying to do the Locomotion dance for a moment. Well, I just backed out the aisle and left my basket there while the "Rambo-ette" tried to explain what she was buying condoms for. Of course, I couldn't let it go yet, what would any good outlaw do? Well I was telling the shoppers coming into the store that the old lady in check out line Number five just caught caught shoplifting a box of condoms...Of course their eyes all went directly to that area. So, what's new and exciting and what's on your mind today Hoovsie? |
| ROFLOL, Chuckie, you sure got even with that mean old lady. But I think you made mistake. I'm sure you meant you were wearing a "faux" leather coat, right? I like nuts with my banana bread so I am all set, but I have to confess that I'm not a coffee drinker. I'm a Diet Pepsi drinker, morning, noon and night, which probably explains why I suffer from acid reflux and have to take the purple pill, but that's another story. Do you ever have trouble with car repair places? I went to one yesterday and everything was fine with the people who work there. But this strange man kept trying to peek at what I was writing in my journal and then he said mean things about Oprah (one of my idols) so you know what I did? I wrote about him in my journal. Note to Hooves: Write about this nut in the campfire. That's exactly what I wrote and it made me feel so much better. Have you ever had a weird experience in a car repair place, Chuckie? |
| Good Morning Hoovsie! Another frigid morning here. Only 3 degrees. Candy didn't want to stay outside long this morning. She usually "frolicks" with a handsome male Golden Retriever that stops by and they trot over to "Dirty Nick's" Breakfast Place where they can usually get a half eaten apple danish pastry or a pinch of someones coconut jelly stick after a bit of begging before they do their AM sniffing down by the shore line. Hot Chocloate morning with those little inflatable marshmallows that seem to take forever to dissolve. Don't know exactly what they are made of, but sugar coated syrofoam is a good guess. Now mechanically speaking at one point I couldn't tell you the difference between an air filter and an oil filter, however, being a "hot rodding" teenager at the time of this incident, I had to play the role like I knew all there was to know about turbo charged engines and what the heck a "hemi" was. I was having an over heating problem with my Buick Sylark. Seems I couldn't drive it more than a few miles and the dash board light TEMP would come on. Being just a pimple faced young kid, all I knew was you put water in the radiator and it was suppose to work but the radiator was full. Thusly, being without a car meant that any roaming the streets for horney sex crazed girls was out of the question! Well I started to ask some of the kids in the neighborhood that took shop courses instead of those classes involving preparation for college. To tell you the truth Hoovsie, some of these "kids" at least knew how to change a battery and replace belts and hoses. Well I asked Lars Larson ( I swear that was his name) as to a solution to my problem and he chuckled at my ignorance. He told me for a noiminal fee to bring it to him and he'd just take out the thermostat and I wouldn't have an over heating problem any longer. That's all I cared about because after all I only had sex crazed horney girls on my mind. Well Lars did the job and I watched him in sheer awe of his mechanical ability. When he closed the hood and said my problem was over, I felt as if Santa Claus had made an early trip. I paid him for his effort with some well earned $$ I made from playing guitar in a small R&R band. We called ourselves the Black Satin. Well Hoovsie, off I go and I am about five miles down the highway and not only does the red temperature overheating lamp come on but there is this BOOMING NOISE coming from under the hood and the car is shaking! I continue to drive the vehicle looking for the nearest garage and I pull in and the BOOMING NOISE is getting louder and the shaking of the car is almost like the scenes you see on those bouncing cars on MTV videos. Well all the mechanics in the garage ( 3 of them) see and HEAR this Buick Skylark and this booming, shaking car rumble into the driveway and they are all staring in disbelief like they are almost afraid to touch this car because it looks like its alive and about to give birth to a Yugo. One of them says can you pop the hood and I pull the lever and another one apprehensively opens it. Everyone of them gasped and jumped back. The hoses were throbbing, pulsating nearly jumping out of the engine compartment. Well, now the Chuckster has to play the role as champion teenage mechanic and I brag about how I personally removed the thermostat because of an overheating problem. Repeatedly, the mechanics ask me "Are you sure you didn;t put a new one in?" Of course now I raise my voice as any other lying, bragging pimple face teen would do and I say No. Finally after 30 minutes, the true mechanic says: Well there is something blocking the flow of water to run through the engine." He gets an open end wrench and undoes the two bolts and removes the cover housing where Lars Larson was just a short while ago. I say "See I told you I took the thermotstat out!" As soon as the three mechanics observe something, they start laughing hysterically and I of course am in limbo wondering. And the three of them keep pointing to the "spot" and I keep saying What? What is so funny? As one finally regains his composure through a flurry of tears he says "YOU FORGOT TO CUT THE HOLE FOR THE NEW GASKET!" So red faced and ashamed and still no idea what he was taking about, he explained there has to be a hole in the thermostat gasket for the water to flow. The booming noise was water bouncing back and forth in the hoses wanting to circulate through the engine and the thermostat gasket which Lars made and forgot to cut a hole in was blocking it. I couldn't wait to catch up with Lars Larson again but I never could seem to find him! So Lars Larson if you're out there reading this, and you worked on my Buick Skylark, I want a refund!! As a matter of fact I have to take my truck today for an oil change at an authorized repair station. Last time I trried to change the oil, I stripped the nut and had to use a rubber plug in the oil pan! Its just my luck. I may be Irish, but like the song says if it weren;t for bad luck I'd have no luck at all! So what's on your agenda this weekend Hoovsie? |
| Chuckie, it is a cold weekend and this is the weekend that my human looked in the mirror with the lights on, and realized exercise is needed. So she is logging in after 100 situps. She has to do 100 situps in order to reward herself by logging into Writing.Com. So I of course have to do some too. Misery loves company. I get tired just watching this. She did 20 last night and 60 this morning and the moaning and groaning, you would think she was lifting me with one hand. But this is what too many biscuits and too much banana bread can do to a human. Where is that perky Richard Simmons when we need him? |
| Good Morning Hoovsie! It's a balmy 23 global warming degrees here along the polluted brown waters of upper Narragansett Bay. The gray and white seagulls are huddled together while standing on a thin layer of ice which separates them from the hepetitis disease causing shellfish lying buried deep in the oil slickened muck and sludge caused from inconsiderate Captains flushing their bilges on countless barges which pass their way to the power plants and factories in downtown Providence. Well now that the holidays have concluded, many of us dessert eaters now have to face the reality that weight gain is a consequence of the frivolity and family get togethers where consumption of food and berverages are done in huge quanitities. Now Richard Simmons as you know was voted most like NOT to become a father for the next few years. I think NBC sent him away somewhere, but wherever it was, it wasn't far enough because he came back with those video tapes. Although he is surrounded by loving advocates who endorse his every sentence, I for one would prefer maybe to watch Christie Brinkley demonstrate Bow Flex and even when desperate, Suzanne Sommers show me how powerful her thighs can be by employing Thigh Master. I was employed with a person who was metabolically challenged and although he could never walk with more one envelope in his hand, he could jog and dodge obstructions through six corridors and down four flights of stairs balancing a king size sandwich platter heaped with mountains of pork fried rice and a quart of Moo Goo Gai Pan and never spill a single kernel. I keep a can of Slim Fast on my shelf in the event I get the urge to get back into my size 32 blue jeans. I know I'll regret having these M&M's about June when I go to put on my swim trunks! |
| Hey there Chuckie! It's cold here on the banks of the Potomac, but not as cold as it was this weekend. It was so cold that my face hurt! I couldn't graze my normal grazing time - I had to trot right back in to my barn almost as soon as I went outside. Chuckie, it is different for women than men. I think there was a law passed in my jurisdiction that my human is not allowed to wear a bathing suit anymore. Or there should be one. That is just way to sad to contemplate. Yikes. Shorts are bad enough. Put down those M&Ms and my human will put down her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. What do you think about this Iowa COWcus stuff and then the New Hampshire Primary? Why New Hampshire? Why not Rhode Island. I think you should start the Rhode Island COWcus and beat them all to the punch. Have it on New Years Eve at your place, when all the other primary states are partying. Rhode Island has Providence and what the heck does New Hampshire have? Manchester? They copied that from England. New Hampshire got to be a state first, so I think it's only fair that Rhode Island be the first COWcus and your Dog, Candy should be in charge of hanging chads. I think she'd be better than those bozos in Florida in 2000. Plus I think that Suzanne Somers should run for President with that Thigh Master of hers. I would watch that if she were at the COWcus. I think I froze my brain over the weekend.  |
| This political cowcus stuff really can be suffocating. I am so tied of seeing some smiling face intern wannbe's face like Dan Rather coming on the TV and saying something like: "Sources close to Dean have refused comment on his choice of a blue neck tie with the grey Searsucker pants he wore for the debate, but inside sources have indicated that the superstitious Dean wore those pants the very first time he was elected Class President back in 84." I would like to just get a folder like they send to you for selecting your health insurance coverage saying this is how much it is gonna cost me when this candidate gets elected. You know you're gonna pay outta your pocket no matter who gets elected so regardless if they have a "dress rehearsal" cowcus in New Hampshire, New Guinea, or New Zealand, the Chuckster is going to be swamped with a moon tide of meaningless information to wade though. As far as selecting a winning candidate, if you ask me, put your house on the person running against him. I haven't voted for the winning one yet, but write in candidates like Charlton Heston rarely get elected. |
| Chuckie, I would like to know if you can name a politician who has kept a promise that he or she made during their campaign. I cannot think of one who has kept a promise that benefitted me and my human has been voting a long long long time. What about Hilary Clinton? Do you think she will swoop in at the last minute? What about Health Care reform. I am still waiting for the Health Care card she said she would send me for the National Health Care System. I'm not getting any younger. |
| Hi Hoovsie! You have to be joking! A ethical politican in Rhode Island? Don't forget, we hold the record of having the only Governor to serve time after being convicted of a felony and also we have the mayor of Providence, presently doing jail time in the Federal pen for bribery and kickbacks! He was also elected as a mayor after he was convicted of assault! We have had dead beat dads as Governors and Speakers accused of having sexual encounters with interns. Wanna typical case? There was a huge tract of land which according to the City Council was not and never would be commercially buildable. In addition, the property would never be approved to be divided into residental property. The owner although paying taxes on this deemed worthless piece of property decided to put the parcel of land on the market. Most construction builders and real estate agents gave the area wide berth except for ONE..Can you guess? It seems the Governors SON was interested and bought the property for mere pennies on the dollar. In turn, THE VERY NEXT DAY, the Governor's son now went before the town City Council (where he and his son just happened to reside) and had the ZONING ORDINANCE changed to be prime buildable commercial property!! In one hearing, the son of the Governor made the proverbial million dollars overnight. As you would imagine the former owner of the property was outraged and went directly to the media for this unethical behavior and to expose the Governor and his corrupt son for what they were. The camera caught up with the Governor just as he was walking out of the State House and when asked about this shady deal the Governor looked into the camera and said "Do you deny my son the right to make a living?" Well the son got off from doing time, but the Gov. Well he did a year in mimimum security working as a real estate agent on a work release program which happened to be his own..What a joke! We got a State Representative guy right now under investiagtion because he works for CVS and he wants it to be a crime to order drugs from Canada,,,,HUMMMM have you ever heard the phrase conflict of interest ? They are all in it for themselves. It's a paycheck and they won;t do anything to jeopardize it. Smiling faces tell lies. |
| Hey Chuckie and good morning. We have a dusting of snow in the nation's capital so it is virtually shut down. I guess you have had your share of corruption. Well, I live in Maryland, where we have our proud son, the late Spiro Agnew, our former governor and the only Vice President to resign because of corruption when he was governor. Currently the head of the Maryland State Police is under investigation for spending taxpayer money to have getaways at local hotels with his mistresses. This police chief always smiles too. Chuckie have you ever bought anything you saw in an infomercial? Those infomercial guys remind me of politicians. Pass the blueberry muffins please. And how are things in Rhode Island? Would your area shut down because of a dusting of snow? |
| Hi Hoovsie, It's cold here in RI minus 2 degrees and about three inches of powdery snow on the ground. Those infomercials get me..Why in the world would the guy on there want to share a secret with me? I may be selfish, but Hoovsie, if I found a way to make millions of dollars by sitting on my bum bum sipping banana sombreros, I'd have to be blind drunk to want to tell anyone else about it...especially a stranger. Millionaires didn't get all that cash in their pockets from being Mr. Nice Guy. They usually had to step on some toes along the way. My question of he day is Girl Scout Cookies. They want $3.50 a box now! I can go to the market and get two pounds of imitation vanilla creme sandwich cookies for 99 cents. I think these charitable things where they peddle things from door to door are getting a bit out of hand and the cookies are not as good as they use to be. I have like three of four of the neighbors kids all selling them. I hate to turn them away but Hoovsie, enough is enough. How about yourself? |
| Chuckie, I hear you. But those Thin Mint cookies they sell. My human can scarf down a box of those in one sitting. And now we must do our situps. The Girl Scouts are very cute and I hate to turn them away too, but I do not want to have my human make herself do 200 situps before logging in here. Girl Scout Cookies = 200 Situps for Us so we say Just Say No. Or just give them a donation. Split the difference and give them $1.75. Maybe even 2$ for no cookies and tell a fib that you are a diabetic. I bet the people who run Girl Scouts drive Mercedes. I know the guy who ran The United Way in Virginia drove a Mercedes and had a big salary, plus he took lavish first class trips all because of The United Way. This has made me and my human suspicious of all charities. Look at the girl scouts as front people for some guy driving a Mercedes and it will be easier to say no. |
| That's a good idea. I know one time we were under an emergency condition cleaning up after a major hurricane hit the coast. We worked around the clock and a RED CROSS van was parked outside the State Office Bldg. Every business was closed and we were tired, cold and hungry. We stopped our fully loaded with brush and debris dump trucks and the driver of the Red Cross truck welcomed us to free coffee.,,As we each took a cup of the coffee, he was hurrying up, tossing around styrofoam boxes and wrapped sandwiches in a shopping bag. When we asked if we could have a sandwich, he laughed and empathically said "NO! These are for the head ones in the State Office Building." One of my cohorts actually threw the cup of steaming coffee at the "volunteer" and told him to stick his coffee where the sun don't shine. We had worked around the clock but only the "bosses" received the hot food and sandwiches..Well to make a long story short, after a few letters and phone calls, we got a letter of apology from the head of the Red Cross..but you can bet on one thing, that charity is not one of my deductions for Federal Income Tax purposes. My primary charitable contribuitions go to those that are war veteran related and cancer research..I use to always give to Jerry Lewis but since he made the statement to a woman "Just give me the two bucks I don't have time to play cock with you lady," on a telethon , that ended my endorsement for his belligerent pompous attitude. Every day in the US mail I am being asked for a donation from some place and I'm sure they are all needy causes, but faces like Sally Struthers coming on TV and saying through a tidal wave of tears and quivering voice, "Won;t Please somebody feed this child?" I say "Come on Sally, you could afford to lose a few pounds. Forget about that large pizza you were gonna have for lunch and give the child a calzone. It will make ya feel warm and fuzzy inside. So, what's on your agendum for the weekend? |
Chuckie, that is a scary story about The Red Cross. My human once gave blood to them (at a blood drive at work) and they gave her a hematoma because the technician didn't know how to properly stop the bleeding. What an ugly bruise that was. I was even more ashamed than usual to be seen with her for a while.  Speaking of medical issues, Chuckie have you ever gotten a bad result from flu shot? I keep hearing from people (some related, some not) who got the shot this year, then got the flu the next day, then a few days later pneumonia. I'm not so sure I'd risk getting one again. What do you think about these shots? |
| Hi Hoovsie, Now I don't claim to have any plaques on the wall or a diversified background in the field of medicine, however from what I understand from some of these "Discovery and the Learning Channel" these flu shots, they actually inject a virus into your system and then your system develops an immunity to the actual flu bug. That's why you feel like "ca-ca" after they give you the shot because you got a "bug" in your body flowing thru your veins and arteries. In the mean time, while you are feeling sick as heck, the white cells gather an army to fight off the invading germs. Once your body fights off the bad germs, you are "protected" against the flu bug. I think that's the way it works. My folks are both in their 80's. Although their MD has advised them to get the shot for a few yrs. now, neither one of them did and neither one has been bed ridden with the flu..I stand by the saying "If it ain;t broke, don;t fix it." Leave well enough alone. They feel ok and if they get a sniffle, ain't nothing better than a hot cup of lemon and tea and the home ready of chicken soup. Personally I don't like taking any medication either it be over the counter or prescription..I take a blood pressure pill once a day because it was recommended, but I don't go running to the medicine cabinet each time I have a upset stomach or a headache. Is anyone in the pasture planning a Super Bowl Party? |
| Chuckie, as a matter of fact, some members of the herd are quietly planning a party. It is quiet because The Ravens were eliminated in the playoffs when one of their players made a sad mistake at the end of the game and got them a BIG PENALTY. So the whole season down the tubes because one member of the herd, I mean team, couldn't control his temper. I am bringing the Con Queso dip, which I am making from scratch. I am rooting for New England, at the moment. Why? Because I know more cows from New England than from any of the other places. The Colts are on our bad list because they stampeded out of Baltimore in the middle of the night, like a bunch of rodents, not horses. I guess after the Patriots, I like the Panthers. What are your Super Bowl Festivities going to be like or does it depend on whipping the Colts' butts today? Good luck with that. |
| Good Morning Hoovsie, Well it appears to be an East Coast battle for Suer Bowl honors huh? Being an New Englander, I'll support the Pat's. However, I am die hard NY Giant fan which dodesn't boast too much but I also picked the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series. As far as Super Bowl festivities, I alternate house parties with my best friend and this year it will be at his domain. Years ago, the parties were quite load and bositerous but over the years, the "herd" has been thinned out considerably and the "old bulls" just mellow out with their Diet Pepsi's or ginger ales. A large Pepperoni Pizza here and there and an array of snack food adorn the coffee table and by the end of the third quarter, I'll be looking for a place to take a nap. We got time to watch a rerun of Seinfeld & Everybody Loves Raymond at the half time show. So whatever happens in the next weeek after every sports announcer on TV and radio makes his prediction and I expect ESPN will seek out the Dali Llama and give us his insight as to the Panthers strategy, I'll just watch college basketball and wait till the ice begins to thaw so I can once again do something less stressful....and that is to go fishing. Anthing new and exciting planned for this week? |
| GOod morning, Chuckie! It is a cold Monday and my hooves are shivering! Of course I will be checking with my Iowa cousins about their COWcus this week. I know that the herd is ready for the campaign to moove along. I am hearing that Edwards will win. Why? Because he looks energetic and stopped to pet a bull, and the herd likes that. That is what my sources (unnamed of course) tell me. Other than that I will be trying to stay warm and stay on my diet. Those are my modest goals for the week. So it is North Carolina vs. New England. Since they are playing in Houston, that gives the southerners an advantage, but I am rooting for the Patriots also. Those Charlotte Cows are so snotty - I don't want to root for their team. I'm also getting ready to watch the new season of American Idol tonight with Simon COWl. He's what I call a brutally honest remooer and most people don't know this, but his mother is a Holstein, which accounts for his foul expressions. What's cookin in Rhode Island? |
| Well it's the same old story, we got four inches of partly cloudy with the chance of an occasional passing snow shower. Of course, this has paralyzed the town of East Providence once again and I have yet to see a sand truck venture down the roadway. Gotta save those tax dollars for the school budget you understand to pay for the kiddies to get a good education although half of them could care less what the American Revolution was all about. Just for the heck of it try going up into your local supermarket deli and ask for a third of a pound of your favorite meat. Watch what you get besides a puzzled expression. You know, I was wondering who termed the name of "Mad Cow". I don't think that's politically correct to address a bovine, which is in distress in that manner. After all, years ago, if a person name was spelled JORGE, it was pronounced George. But today, it is not acceptable to call him George. He must be addressed as HOR-HEY, to respect that persons ethnic roots. Now back to the mentally challenged bovine, perhaps a more suitable name would be "cranial imbalanced bovine disease". After all, if Clinton were still President, he would want to be apprised of what we meant by the word "mad" just as he want us to define the word sex. I believe anyone who is actually under surveillance and medical supervision for being "mad" should be quite upset by the media's total disregard for the term and it;s only labeling of one animal. So my question is , Why can't there be mad peacock disease, or mad musk ox disease? This sort of reminds me of the scare the government put into many of us when they said that Swordfish contained high levels of mercury...Well, if the swordfish swims in the same salt water with a variety of other species of fish as well as tuna, seals, the walrus and polar bear, why is only the swordfish got this mercury that is so bad for us? Maybe McDonalds wasn't selling enough filet o' fish sandwiches and they wanted to get the swordfish eaters to get scared and come to the drive thru window where that special sauce just about kills everything between two slices of bread. How about some sliced cantaloupe with vanilla ice cream? |
| Chuckie, I will tell you the truth. The disease is very bad. But it was a member of the herd that named it. There is nothing mad or aggressive about cows that have this - they can't walk. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), eats holes in the brains of cattle and is incurable. It makes the brains spongey. This is never good in any animal. What causes it is the bad thing - eathing beef products in the first place. Cows are for dairy production - milk and it's byproducts. Bulls are for stud service and to keep the cows company when they graze. Male bovines are good companions and good at breeding. Let us do our thing and quit killing and eating us and everyone will be happy. They (some members of the herd in England, not me) called it mad cow to make it sound like rabies. I agree with not eating beef ever again. Cows and Bulls are mad because people kill us to eat us. We want to be beloved and nurtured. Cows don't cause wars or steal or sell things that are fraudulent on the TV. Mankind could learn a lot from the behavior of cows. So what's new in the Rhode Island pasture this morning? Still 20 below with a windchill? Did you watch The State of the Union last night? I didn't watch it because it makes me too nervous. What did you make for our breakfast this morning Chuckie? |
| Good MOrning Hoovsie, It's an ineffective bright sunny morning and the temp is about 11 degrees. I was gathering many of my tax documents together last evening and didnt get a chance to view the Union addy on TV but caught pieces of it one the radio, but I have to come to realize one thing. Always believe the opposite of what they tell you. If you look back at the Vietnam war and add up the number of slain Viet Gong military personnel they told us we killed, well, not only did we completely eradicate their military forces, but we also wiped out the entire population of the country twice. When they say there is no cause for alarm..Be scared. Be very scared. I was flipping through one of the magazine publications at the super market check out line and saw the 2004 predictions. You know the ones Dionne Warwick supports with her Psychic Friends..Well, as far fetched as many of them, I started to put together my own list of predictions. Just to give you a taste of my psychic powers, the planets alignment this morning inform me that before her TV show is cancelled Jessica Simpson makes the startling discovery that you cannot cook bacon in a pop up toaster. For more of insight of my top twenty predictions, watch for them to to be published in my portfolio shortly. Want some raisin toast this morning with your Diet Pepsi? |
| Chuckie, I would love some raisin toast as long as it has cinnamon on it. Yummy. My human has the flu (at least I suspect she does) and I hope I don't get it. I had my shot, but then again, so did she. I will check out your predictions later. I am sure you are better than the psychic hotline. Did you hear that J. Lo and Ben Affleck broke up. I'm devasted. (kidding) What the heck was with them anyway? Why does anyone care? I saw this on a news show this morning. Did Dionne Warwicke predict this breakup? Inquiring bovines want to know. |
| Hi Hoovsie, Sorry to hear about the flu bug. It's like five degrees below zero today with the wind chill factor. I took Candy for a brief walk because she kept going to the stairwell and bringing me her leash. I finally relented and bundled up under five layers of clothes and I was numb by the time I got back to the house. She decided it was time for a nice nap on the couch with the comforter while I still had to boil a chicken to make a nice stock for soup. Now as far as the break up of Hi Ho and Benny Bo, well all I can say is I could care less. I mean let's face it, she has been around the pasture a few times and grazed on more than a few varieties of shrubbery in the field of wildflowers out there to choose from. From Kentucky Blue Grass to the Loco Weed of Texas, she has tried just about everything and I guess her little experiment with Benny, didn't shake her hemi as much as she would have liked. Money changes everything as Cyndi Lauper once sang about and I guess the same holds true here. When you have got just about everything materialistic that $$ can buy, you get kinda bored and spoiled rotten. Because you get frustrated you begin to look for something better and more exciting to get your "kicks" from. When your always in the limelight and you can't get your privacy to even break wind in peace without it becoming front page news, I can appreciate it may get quite annoying. I imagine with both of these people and the expectant eyes wanting all the info they can digest, it took a strain on the relationship and nerves get frayed and edgy etc. The finger pointing begins and then each walks away as soothsayers from around the world gloat in their forecasts that it would never last. My prediction is Jo Lo will seek emotional support and end up being seen in public with an unemployed Mexican Melon picker who has a striking resemblance to Ricky Ricardo. She will buy him a used Cordorba with genuine Corinthian leather for his birthday. |
| Chuckie, still down with the flu, but am fighting back. It is cold here too, but not as cold as there. We are supposed to get a lot of snow tonight and tomorrow so we'll see. Went to the grocery store and it was mobbed and the people weren't nice so I was glad I could go in and exhale my germiness. (Not feeling nice) Got some tax stuff in the mail. What do you think about sales tax on vehicles? And what do you think about states that tax your vehicle every year? And also what about when you move to a new state and still have the same vehicle and have to pay tax again to register? This stuff bugs me, but it could be my coughing and fever making me cranky. |
| Hi Hoovsie! Only thing worse than a grumpy bovine is a dog that sucks eggs. I have learned to give a Moo cow that doesn't feel quite up to par a wide berth and to stay out of the stall. Sales Tax on a car has always been an aggrevating stone in my walking shoes. To begin with, Mr. Ronald Reagen during his Presidency decided to take away that particular deduction from our income tax return. Thanks Ronny, I guess with your income at the time, and your cohorts with the Republican party, you really didn't need that small peanut of a deduction to rely on. Now the State of Rhode Island has a sales tax on cars. Oh it doesn't matter what year the car is or how many times the vehicle has changed hands, the buyer is going to pay a new sales tax. Conceiveably, I could pay $2500 tax on a new car, turn around and sell to you the following year and that buyer pays another $2000 in sales tax, and the following year a new owner could pay another $1500, until the car finally goes to the "crusher" where it is permanently taken off the road. I think it should be a one shot deal. One sales tax to the inital owner and that's it. The State of Rhode Isalnd also wanted to "seek out and demand" any resident purchasing items outside of the state and make them pay a RI Sales tax for NOT BUYING the item in the STate. So for instance, if I should purchase a TV from a store in Harrisburg, PA. The State of RI wants that store to inform them of my name and addy so they can come to my door and demand me to pay them a sales tax for buying am item out of State! Yes Hoovsie, so beware the eyes of the Government are on you so be careful the next time you buy a bale of hay out of state that was on sale due to overstocking or overharvesting. It may not actually be a sale after all and a clandestine "sting" operation to catch bovines watching their budget! Would you like a slice of hot apple pie and Cool Whip during the evening news? |
| Hi Chuckie! Did you get this snow? I have about 4 more inches on top of the 4 already here. But it's the powdery type. Tonight we get the ice supposedly. In addition to all that sales tax you talked about, in NC and Virginia they also have a yearly property tax on the blue book value of the car. Like you'll ever get the blue book value if you try and sell the thing. Chuckie, my human has over 200,000 miles on her car and it's still going strong. And now she lives in a state with no property tax. If you get your oil changed every 4,000 miles and rotate your tires faithfully, maybe you won't have to get a new one for a long time. This is the way that my human protests these taxes - by keeping the car forever! Chuckie, do you really think it was Ronald Reagan and not that sneaky Newt Gingrich? I think Newt Gingrich snuck a lot of stuff in. Those politicians all do stuff that they don't have to live with. All Congress has health care for life, which is why they don't care about the people in the country who don't have it. Health care in this country bites and that is why I would never in a million years vote for a Doctor or a Veterinarian. You know what I look at? I look at how their spouses look. If they look happy then I figure the candidate is nice. If they look bad then I have suspicions. Who will win New Hampshire tomorrow? The cows are telling me Edwards again, but I think that's because they like his hair. lol Please pass the blueberry muffins, Chuckie! |
| MOrning Hoovsie! Well as Rhode Islanders franctically start their road salt covered privately owned conveyances to rush to the store to buy milk and bread for another impending snow storm that would challenge the survival skills of Nanook of the North, the Chuckster is toasting a sweetly frosted Danish pastry roll on a warm griddle. The TV is on low volume and I am partially listening to the forecast and/or predictions of the winner of the primary and I have to agree with you, it appears that Edwards will sweak by , but only by the narrowest of margins. This is because, the Weather Channel has predicted that the East Coast, from Atlanta Georgia to St. JOhn's Newfoundland, could be effected by this highly potential storm but only if it merges with a low pressure area just to the south of the Bermuda Triangle and runs into a back door cold front expected to pass through the southern tip of Havana, Cuba. Upon hearing this weather alert, CSNBC dispatched a filming crew to show us live footage of state sponsored four wheel drive caravans first hand carrying many senior citizens of the state of NH and are presently standing in line at the 10 items or less check out line, and by the time the gum snapping clerk re-checks the weekly sales flyer to determine if coupons can be doubled on Tuesday, their voting poll station will be closed. Further, updates wiill be brought to you as quickly as they learn of any changes in the polling stations. I don't know if I can totally concur with the smiling wife theory though Hoovsie. I get a few terrifying vibrations. What if Dennis Rodman decides to run for President and Carmen Electra agrees to marry him again? Kid Rock and Pam Anderson?...Nick and Jessica Simpson..Oh Gosh, I don't think I am hungry for this Danish Pastry now..*smile* |
| lol, Chuckie. I think I mean a different kind of smile on their face. Definitely one that's more ...dignified. Good morning! I am in the MOOd for some Cheese Danish. Yummy. You know that Dennis Rodman is on Celebrity Mole and he's pretty smart and funny. He's got a lot of face piercing going on, but he definitely could be the mole. There is about 1/4 inch of ice on top of our snow and more freezing drizzle is falling. It is a good day to stay in with the cheese danishes and watch the weather channel. I hope you don't get a bad ice storm up there. Regards to Candy. |
| Hi Hoovsie, First let me apologise for my tardiness. I didn't receive a notification for "my turn" thru the normal channels. I thought it was your turn and seeing you were feeling a bit ill the last days, I didn't bother to check figuring you were resting comfortably.. We didn't get too much of a storm here along the coast..about 4-5 inches but it's gonna be here for a while because the temps are just well below average. Whoever made the prediction in the Farmers Almanac about the Northeast having an ABOVE AVERAGE temperature for this winter should have their phychic paycheck rescinded. Our "Chief" meterologist announced that this winter is the sixth coldest in 100 years..so that really supports the Global Warming theory//Choke choke//. I wonder if meterologists have like a chain of rank they have to follow before they make Chief...You know like the military..To be Chief in the Navy or Coast Guard you have to be a First Class Petty Officer...so maybe if you're a weather person you work hard forcasting until you get a reputation of being a First Class...(something or other) then you get promoted to be Chief..Sort of like being at work or your place of employment, you can get to be a "Chief" something or even a "Royal" something with a title..Although some titles may not be considered as prestgious as others. Well here it is February 1, Super Bowl Sunday and I am so glad January is over with. It's such a long and depressing month. At least in February, Pitchers and Catchers meet for Spring Baseball training and young hearts get to give flowers to their special someone. Remember back in grade school , you had a Valentine's Day box in the back of the classroom and everyone would deposit a Valentine to someone in the class? Gee I wonder if you did that at the office or Democratic Headquarters, would that suggest improper conduct? After all, I can't see Kerry getting too many Valentines. |
| Chuckie, Chuckie Chuckie, no worries my friend. I have been away my own self with my human having this high blood pressure (184/102) issue. So we were resting and then exercising. We are so casual we're practially asleep at the keyboard so never worry - your entries are well worth waiting for. I apologize for my tardiness also and for any future tardiness I will undoubtedly exhibit as we realign our priorities and get more exercise. Chuckie, congratMOOlations on the Patriots winning the superbowl! What about that Tom Brady? Reminded me of Joe Montana the way he buckled down and got the job done. So what did you think of the halftime show? I was a little shocked that the world is so shocked that Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake want to be the center of attention. Why is that news to anyone? I have rarely seen a commercial I enjoyed as much as that little donkey becomming a clydesdale. And the one with Jerry Jones and Parcels singing tomorrow brought tears (of ear pain - lol) to my eyes. What do you think of all that COW-motion? Hope all in Rhode Island is well and that you two (you and Candy) remember to get your exercise. |
| Hi Hoovsie! Great to see you have once again conquered the virus which put a dampner on your festive mOOd's and health. Its nice to see you and back in good spirits and ready to get back to the controversy which surrounds the pasture land. The religious fanatics say that the Great Spirit loves you and will make you feel better but like I always say, if he loved me that much why did he give me the virus in the first place to make me feel sick? Anyway enough of trying to solve the Trinity. Now tell me Hoovsie, am I like the only person on the planet that is getting so sick and tired of seeing or hearing something related to the Jackson family every time I turn on the news. Either it's Michael seen engaged in conversing with a down filled plush tiger and a crib toy Dumbo Disney stuffed elephant for legal stategy in his upcoming trial. And, on the other hand, if I see another instant replay of Justin Timberlake reaching across Janet Jacksons bosom and freeing her breast from her restrictive leather bondage, I think I'll get the dry heaves. Whether this was a weak form of chichanery or an accident, it did get Janet a lot of publicity which just so happened to fall at the same time she is releasing her latest alblum. Justin on the other hand just reinforces my belief that he never caught a beating when he was a kid grwoing up and continues to be a spoiled punk that has had the world gold gift wraped and handed to him. Granted the kid is talented, but he pushes the envelope in my eyes too many times. If there was ever a kid that needed a time out and sit in the corner until he knew the word respect, its him. As far as the reaction of embarrassment and outrage of the people and the executives all pointing fingers as who is to blame for something so immorally wrong, I invite them to turn into some of the Soap Operas sometime and view some of the "passionate scenes of deep kisses and grinding hips and semi-nudity". How about the TV cameras on the side line with ZOOM lenses showing nearly naked cheerleaders with voluptuous breast quivering and bouncing everytime they shake a pom pom on every football play. The naked breast incident was unfortunate and lasted for a few seconds. Some even missed seeing it. Some upcoming previews of a romantic soap opera scene last longer than the breast incident. But, enough is enough. Every radio talk show and TV late night host has hammered this thing until they can't think of another joke. But it's over and done with. An apology was made not only by Janet if it offended anyone, now let's move on. Instead of MTV advocating sexually suggestive rap music for its half time show, maybe we can just show College and High School marching bands and baton twirlers like a usual football half time show. I can't seem to recall a streaker or anyone stripping off their clothes to the music of Oh When the Saints Go Marching In. |
| Morning Chuckie. It's a cold one here with a wind chill. But I will walk again today because I now walk every day rain or shine. People are used to seeing me (a big bull) mall walking and walking in Home Depot and Lowe's not to mention Sam's CLub and BJ's. These hooves are made for walkin. What about that Ground Hog? Why did they boo him on ground hog day? What's with that? I know there will be about five more weeks of winter no matter what he does. I don't understand why they Boo him. I think they took some of their superbowl frustration out on Paxitawney Phil. Poor little guy. I want him to go mall walk with me and walk off the stress. It is no fun to come out of your hole and be booed. Are you going to watch the grammys tonight, Chuckie? And what kind of pastry have you made for us this morning? |
| Good Morning Hoovsie! I have made some blueberry waffles (not those frozen Aunt Pajama's ones you get for like 10 cents a piece for and stick in a toaster like a Pop Tarp. They taste more like wet cardboard soaked in Mrs. Butterworth's syrup.) Granted it takes a bit longer to prepare and you have to buy the small plastic boxes of blueberries which are a bit expensive, but on a day when it is 17 degrees outside with a wind chill of minus five, hot blueberry pancakes with HOT maple syrup does the heart good. It makes a big difference if you heat up the plate and the syrup before serving. I have always wondered about that Ground Hog and it's psychic ability to predict with just his shadow mind you, (no tarrot card or crystal ball, or phone line here), how much longer we will endure a winter. On the other hand, the ground hog cannot do much worse than the other soothsayers who have also made some "questionable" predictions and even missed a few. The only diffrerence is, they were monetarily compensated for their foolishness. Maybe ground hogs should be paid for their effort after all, they do seem to get quite a bit of media attention at no pay. Does it matter if it is a male or female ground hog? Suppose the ground hog is under the weather and can't come out of its little burrow, can a hedgehog be relied upon to do the job?..You know like an understudy? Well when I was gainfully employed and pushed snow and involved in winter storm operations to make the roads safe for the motoring public, I really didn't rely on the results of groundhog day. The hoopla and hand clapping of the suit and tie people seemed to be an excuse to show their smiling faces on the camera to the voters of America. Winter was deemed over, when I took the plow off the truck and I removed the bin sander from the body and placed it on a rack to be sandblasted, painted and serviced over the summer months. So let the little fellow stay in the ground and hibernate. Maybe we should try and convince some of theose people on the Pyschic Network to join them. As far as the Grammy's go, I'll just read the results and catch some of the Highlights on "E". I think I have seen enough this past week of a barely covered breast for now and I don't require a second dosage of more silicone induced breasts popping out of expensive gowns for a while. I think a nice soft pillow and posturepedic mattress is much more inviting than to viewing a close up of an aging starlet's Botox treated laugh lines. Do you know what got me this morning? Now I go to the sore to get the Sunday Paper and I needed the blueberries so I got to the express line of 10 items or less. Now this at 6 AM. There is an elderly woman in front of me and she has about 30 cans of Fancy Feast Cat food. Naturally I go ballistic and tell her to go to the other open register which has NO ONE in line. NOw, she gives me the HUMMMPPPH! sound and says the Fancy Feast is on sale at 3 for a dollar and thusly it constitutes ONE ITEM. HOovsie, I wanted to just sweep all the cans into a bag and give the cashier 10 bucks just to get rid of her! So my day didn't exactly get off to the greatest start, Hopefully your will be better. Well the waffle is just about done, only trouble is I have to make ONE at a time..old skillet..LOL. |
| Chuckie, I enjoy your hard fought one at a time blueberry waffles. Some of those old ladies in grocery stores are lethal with their carts too. They don't yield the right of way - even to a bull like me. I always feel like it's roller derby at the grocery store. Three for one is one. That must be the new old math or something. So yesterday is 40 years ago for the Beatles. Did you notice that the actual living Beatles didn't go to the Grammys? Good reason for that since grammy snubbed a lot of their best work in favor of stellar performers whose work has lasted so well. NOT. I like that Paul and Ringo made the grammys come to them. John Lennon would have given us something really shocking to talk about. Remember when they did (he and Yoko) their press conference in bed? And when he said the Beatles were bigger than a certain savior? I don't remember that stuff either - my human is way too young. (LOL) |
| Oh I can remember the Beatles alright. I can remember trying to play some of their music at the time when they first came out and the chords they played were almost impossible to learn, mixing minors and sevenths with sharps and flats. Of course with their singing accent, they were one of a kind. I mean I was only 13 when I played in my first band and we were the simple basic major chord progression rock and roll kinda band. We made a lot of noise in the garage and that was about the extent of our donation to the music industry. What is so ironic is the Rolling Stones and the Beatles were into the mind altering drugs as were many other rock groups and singers and yet, Mick and Paul have been knighted by the Queen! I mean what's up with that? All I can picture is Mick Jagger dressed in armor and a jousting pole made of cannibus and Keith Richards trying to fire it up before the horse runs down the track. Did you see Shaq O'Neil that human Godzilla on the basketball court trying to do rap and that hip hop music? I mean intimidating on the court as he is, I think he should leave the music alone and stay on the court. But how do you convince a 6'10, 360 pound man he stinks and to keep shooting free throws and leave the dancing to those a bit more suitable? Did you see the Country and Western singers now want to try their hand at HIP HOP. They are moving and a groovng in Nashville. I have a word of advice to any southern cowboy wanting to display his Hip Hop Talents and heading to tour in some hot spots in Detroit. Make sure you say goodbye to everyone you know, because you may not be coming back. Just getting back to the Beatles for a moment here, it has always been argued that who was the better band,,,the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. The Stones were like the antipathy of the Beatles. Whereas the Beatles gave off that neat, clean cut, well dressed appearance..the boy next door image that didn't smoke, swear or stick gun under the desk..IN contrast you had the Stones who looked like they just came out of a subway tunnel and slept in a pile of disposed fish and chip newpapers. Personally, I liked the Stones better. |
| Chuckie, I like the stones too. You have to admire their longevity. How do those guys do it year after year? My favorite song of theirs is Beast of Burden which of course is my life story. The burdens I must bear being saddled with such a goofy human. In that same vein, how come my human ages and Dick Clark and Mick Jagger always look the same. What's with that? My human and I are more Beatles than Stones, but that has to do with her admiration for John Lennon from the first time she heard him sing. Plus we think his songwriting is pretty special. Chuckie, you got big plans for your Valentines? I hope the weather is nice in your pasture and maybe you get to go out for some Krispy Kreme donuts. If you go to a drive thru Krispy Kreme you can get them right out of the oven. What's new in your neck of the pasture? |
| Good MOrning Hoovsie, Rather nice here this morning as far as bright sunshine and a SW wind off the Bay. Not too much going on here. I'm just making some soup stock (chicken) for my folks. They absolutely love the soups I prepare for some reason. I really don't think I do anything special as far as the basic ingredients to make it. I've bought nice romantic card for my honey for Valentines Day. I know she peeked into my desk to see if I did. She gets very ornary if I don't get her a card for those special occasion things. My truck passed inspection for another two years and I had to pay the corrupt state of RI another 46.00 for permisson to have a little sticker in the corner of my windshield. What gets me is that I see vehicles without them or expired ones and they never seem to get stopped, towed or get a ticket. Let it be me go one day over a due date and there would be 10 policemen stepping over one another trying to write the violation ticket to place under the wiper blade. Oh and did I tell you I went to have a hair cut? I do this once a year because I just can't seem to be bothered sitting with a bib around my neck and some one standing over me smiling with a sharp object. Anyway, I was in dire need of one. NOw the place I go is an old fashioned striped pole place with one swivel chair. There are five plain plastic vinyl chairs against a paint peeling wall and magazines that are a year old on a scratched and coffee stained end table. The barber is three days older than God and is an old fat bald guy with a moustache and his family has been barbers since the 1800's. Anyway, I pul the truck into the lot and lo and behold my place is now longer called a barber shop...it is now called De Jour le Salon. Well anyway, when I walked into the place, there is some kinda soft music playing and the lights on flashing were different colors. I thought I was going into a brothel or a house of ill repute. I mean there were these plastic imitation flowers hanging all over the place and lattice dividers and there are these picture paintings on the wall of poses of people. I am greeted by a man who has a David Niven kind of moustache and he asks, name and do I have an appointment. Of course I say "Hell No, I ain't got no appointment. Where is Rocco, the usual barber. I just want my regular annual trim." Well Hoovsie, he looked at me and closed his eyes and gave me about 10 No's at once. " Monsuier, No, No, No, No, No, No, I am afraid you are mistaken. The establishment has been sold. Richardo now operates the business. Now would you like your hair styled?" he says. "Styled?" I said creasing my forehead. "Pal, I am an overweight cranky over 50 years old man. What the heck do I want to style my hair for? Just give me a plain old hair cut." He says, something to the effect of Our Salon does not just engage in haircuts. Well Hoovsie, I said well when can I get an appointment to have one of these style cuts. Are you ready for this? He says well I have an opening the first week of March. a Tuesday at 1:45." Well I said, I'll let you know. Looks like I'm gonna have to find a new old fashioned barber. This Salon place wants 30 bucks..LOL, I wonder if they show a movie and serve popcorn too. |
| Chuckie, Enjoy your chicken soup. I'm sure it will be delicious and so much better than beef. Wow, that sounds like gouging to me. I think you can walk in to most places around here and get your hair cut for $15 if it is a walk in place. Maybe the once a year thing is making them charge extra. Chuckie, if I were you, I'd find a walk in place where they aren't so snotty and you don't have to make an appt. so far in advance. I can see a Dr. quicker than that and we all know how arrogant they can be. Imagine a hair "stylist" who is more arrogant than a Dr. and it sounds like your guy. Maybe we should have socialized hair cutting. With a co-payment, but it would probably go to the State and they would just waste it like they do the inspection fees and all the other fees. I need my own hide trimmed up a little though now that you mention it. Are you doing anything special for President's Day? It's coming soon! |
| Happy Valentines Day Hovsie to you and your human counterpart. Thank you very much for the V-gram. It was very kind and thoughtful of both of you to do. As far as President's Day goes, it is just another excuse for most people to be given a day off so they can go out and buy more stuff. I don't have anything planned that is special because I really don't like to shop or venture out of my domicile when most of the entire population of my city is in the same vicinity of a place where I want to be. As you can see, I have aged considerably over time and I a really don't care for the crowd scene anymore. It's a wonder to me how they have those dance places where people are packed in like sardines and everyone is spilling drinks on one another or throwing up in some dark corner or just stepping on everyone elses feet. Forget about using the restroom. May as well just a Depends diaper and give it to one of the bouncers on the way out. Did you happen to see the video footage of the bully kids on some school bus in Florida beating the heck of of some other student for the heck of it and no one stopped it? Maybe if the bully kids were to walk to school from now on, maybe they would appreciate the opportunity to be transported for free to school as well as they various others little quirks I have to provide for them with my tax dollars. I always had a perfect answer for the convicted criminal. It would cut down on taxes, free up huge parcels of land space, give the elderly new housing with multiple apartments, and use the prison guards to monitor the school buses in Florida. Let's do what England did years ago to all the people they found to be undesirable. Put them all on a ship and take them 3000 miles away and drop them off on a deserted island. GIve them a legal library of books to read and if you swim back, baby, you're a free man. So what's your plans for today? |
| Happy Valentines Weekend, Chuckie! I saw the video of that kid. The difference between now and when my human was in school is that now they have video. There were always bullies on the bus and in the school who were mean and no one did anything. My wish for the bullies and bad criminals is that they come back in the next life in their victims shoes and see how it feels. But I hear you on that. Went to a wedding yesterday actually. Pretty cool. The governor of the state I live in attended with his wife. He shook my hoof so I was pretty excited. It was nice to see a politician and his wife who were normal and nice in person. Very refreshing, also, to see a politician who didn't seem arrogant. I was very impressed to see that on President's Day Eve Eve too. Chuckie, would you like a bran muffin? Baked them myself. |
| Hi Hoovsie! Yes, I would love a bran muffin. Thank you for offering. Speaking of "the afterlife" for a moment here, I think I would like to come back as a BIGFOOT. He kinda lives in the wilderness by himself and doesn't have to pay taxes or worry about medical insurance. NOw as far as the "bullies" go, when they come back they should come back as minnows in a small farm pond. They would be the lowest on the food chain and have to fear everything from fish to frogs to birds to turtles. There would be no place to safely hide for long as something would always be around there waiting and watching to gobble them up. A church wedding with the Governor in attendance! Now that brings back a memory. When I was married to wife number 1, the Governor of RI arived by helicopter at the reception hall and came inside to wish us well. Her father was quite a popular figure within the rank and file of State Government and strong supporter of the Democratic Party at the time. I was from Massachusetts so I could care less if some RI politician came. I didn't have much use for the phoney handshakes, backroom deals and fake smiles of politics of RI. The funny thing about this event was the Governor presented us with a wedding gift that was a silver leaf. Now don't think I am being ungrateful for the thought of the present, but anyway my wife at the time was so thrilled about it. She actually believed that there were like only three of these silver leafs in the entire world. Of course, for me to go against anything she said always led to a bitter battle. I just said it was a dust collector and placed it on the mantle with some of the other useless junk that seems to get in the way. It was one of those objects that you really don;t know what to do with. Too small to be a candy dish and too large for an ashtray. She loved this stupid thing so much believing it was a priceless item, she actually listed it as an item she wanted in the divorce decree. I used it to hold pistachio nut shells and she use to go ballistic! Anyway, I'm glad you had a good time at the wedding. I hope the couple that were bonded together have a happy and prosperous life together. The last wedding I went to I was doing the Marcarena and knocked an entire tray of stuffed chicken breasts on the lap of a guest. I never could do those Marcerna line dances, especially after a glass of wine. LOL..Do you dance? |
| LOL, Chuckie. To tell you the truth I have two left hooves. Invariably when I try to dance, I attract attention by knocking something over. At home I can grip the rose in my teeth and tango just fine, but as soon as I'm around cows I freeze up. In my mind I can dance like Michael Jackson, but only in my mind. It is good that I have a vivid imagination and spend a lot of time in an open field because there I can prance and do no harm. Have you ever had carrot cake in the morning? It's delicious but so rich. By the way, Happy President's Day! |
| Morning Hoovsie, Thank you for the carrot cake. It has been such a long time since I've had the opportunity to relish the taste! I trust your holiday was a memorable one? It was rather chilly here and I spent a good part of the day down in the work shop working on fishing tackle plugs and some rod repairs. Have you prepared your income tax return as of yet? I have planned to do mine tomorrow. My accountant is coming over for a nice evening meal and after he has indulged in a couple of Sam Adams, he will tackle the challenge of finding exactly how much I owe to the Government. I usually have to pay every year in view of the fact I don't have many deductions. Well there certainly is a lot in the news to talk about today isn't there?. Rhode Island has made the national news with its all-white scholorship application for one of the colleges. I thought these people who published this thing went to college for an education? This should really do wonders to ease the racial tension around our cities. Jeesh! Of course I am being facetious here. I think it's just plain stupid and the people behind it should apologise for their jealous arrogance...period. Then we also have the A Rod baseball trade that New York pulled off that the boys in Bean Town couldn't quite seem to put together. That's why the Red Sox when they put that uniform on instead of it saying Red Sox or Boston, it should say Second Place Bound. It;s time to pop the cork on the champagne because of the dreaded Ruth curse that Boston will always be behind those "Damn" Yankees. |
| Morning Chuckie! Glad you liked the carrot cake. That application thing sounds like a big scandal but it wasn't in the news here because one of our local school systems (BALTIMORE CITY TO NAME IT) accidentally lost so many millions of dollars that it can't even pay its teachers. So they vote on whether to investigate themselves and voted no, but the Governor is bailing them out and investigating them. Somebody had their hand in the cookie jar methinks. I heard about Alex Rodriguez and the curse of The Bambino. He was born in Baltimore. The Bambino I mean. I don't know where Rodriguez was born, but I bet Texas is sad to lose him also. What bothers me the most is all the money takes away from the idea of a team. This is why I don't enjoy pro sports as much as I used to. Then, all those years, I believed Pete Rose and he let me down. The Yankees have a great Manager and lots of money behind them, but someday Boston will win and put that curse to bed. Probably not in my lifetime, but it is nice to dream. I dream about The Mets actually getting to The World Series and playing like they mean it for a change when they get there. As far as I know it there isn't a curse on the Mets, only a lot of big egos who can't pull it together. What did Tug McGraw say? "You gotta believe!" Sometimes, it ain't so easy. |
| Hi Hoovsie, Sports has changed drmatically since I was a kid for sure. It was Al Kaline, the Hall of Famer from the Detroit Tigers who once said no player in the world is worth 100,000 dollars. Imagine he rejected a contract that offered to pay him that kinda money? He accepted a considerably less amount to play the game he loved. Gordie Howe, a legend hockey player made a statement to the press that if the owners of the hockey clubs stood up and paid attention, they';d realize that the players would play for nothing because of their love for the game! But today, it is a cut throat business. Players are merely figures on a chess board and can be bought and sold like ...um flocks of chickens at auction and the highest bidder or the one with the most money gets the pick of the best. Even that 7 foot basketball player from some third world nation who holds a degree in medicine asks this question: Why he should return to his native land and cure one patient with his medical skills,, when the American people are so generous to pay him more money than he could ever dream of making as a doctor and this way he can build hospitals and buy medicine to treat his people. Of course Mr. Mutumbo may be an exception by this utilizing of $$$ resources. We have read of many instant superstars who have crossed the line and couldn't handle the fame, publicity, and the money. The money can buy them just about anything they ever dreamed of. The kicks get harder to find, the all night party get more out of control. Some end up on drugs facing a jail sentence or have done time in a penial institution. What bothers me now is that some talented high schoolers are foregoing college altogether and entering the professional ranks where the lure of big $$ far outweighs reading Charles Dickens or learning who once ruled the world. Like Cyndi Lauper sang about many years ago..Money...Money Changes Everything. |
| Chuckie, When you are right, you are right. But I see the trend also that people are losing interest in the pro sports. Gradually, but it's happening and some of us get more enjoyment in watching the college players. You asked about the IRS before. Chuckie, I hate doing taxes and this year is going to be a nightmare because all of 2003 I threw things in a box. Well, my friend, that box is so full and unorganized, but I have to take an organized group of papers to the accountant next week. I threw every single piece of paper, recipt and anything I didn't want to deal with at the moment it came, in this box. It is a big unruly box. I think there may even be a rodent living in it by now, it is so big and messy. It scares me. It is a Stephen King type box now - it scares me that much. I hear voices coming from it and haunting moos. I get stringy horns and my human gets stringy hair when we even think about tax time. We wish we had dealt with the pieces of paper one by one and not waited. But, you know what? We even started another box for 2004 so we doubt if we will ever change. Do you ever procrastinate and then say you will change and procrastinate again? We do. We thought we might work on it last weekend, but we decided to go see the movie, Fifty First Dates instead. We loved the movie, but the box still sits here waiting and lurking. |
| Hi! I think I am the illutration of the word human procrastinator. I have that tendency to put off things till seemingly the last moment. It's not that I think it through and analyze the data to make a decision, its just that, like most men, I am basically lazy to just get all my tax stuff together and sit down and do it. I stuff everything into an accordian kinda file and hand it to the accountant and tell him to let me know how much the check is I gotta write. In the interim, I am engage in watching MAD TV.LOL I just can't be bothered siting down chewing on a pencil doing taxes. I have had my fill of it! Case in point. I have successfully completed three semesters which consisted of 16 weeks each on Federal Taxes and Corporate Taxes..I hold two degrees in Business Administration with a 3.85 final grade point average for six years of college. Now you'd figure it would be a snap for me to breeze through a tax return right? In addition I've been offered a job with H&R Block to do other returns and proof check completed ones..But Nooooooooooo! CHuckie is too lazy and independent to sit at a computer terminal and figure out adjusted gross incomes and earned income credits..LOL. Just touching on the sports topic for a moment. I think the price tag to actually go see a pro event is getting outta hand and the average Wal-Mart shopping family of four cannot afford to go see Peyton Manning throw the football in a stadium. If you ever watch Pro Basketball, you rarely see "Joe Average" or a bib overall wearing man and his three of four younguns there..Most of the "fans" are upper-middle class and many well dressed affluent members of society and movie celebrities also grace the sidelines to watch their favorite players. The folks around me are fisherman who work the water from before sunrise till late in the day. It;s hard work and the pickings are competively tough. They can't swing the $$ to go see the Patriots because they have bills and mortgages like anyone else. They are not fancy suit and tie people who get paid by the minute for talking to them like lawyers do. Imagine lawyers who charge per minute to talk to a client over the phone. I guess they got that idea from one of those Live Girl 1-900 numbers. I wonder if I should charge by the minute the next time someone says "Hey Chuckie, what's your recipe for Old Fashioned Boston Baked Beans." Speaking of indulging in fine cuisine, what would you hurry out of the pasture for to tantilize your tastebuds? |
| Well, Chuckie there is gleaming golden hay in the distance. Then there is crab cakes or any kind of crab dish. I love crab cakes, but I wouldn't rush out of the pasture for them. I would rush out for cookies or yummy bakery stuff, since I have a sweet tooth. I would also rush out for movie popcorn or a big bag of those delicious orange fried cheetos. Then there are Three Musketeers Bars, which are in a league all their own. What about you? What would you run away from the computer keyboard for? What about Candy? What does she like? Remember, this is a beef-free zone though. |
| Good MOrning Hoovsie, Well, I do love a New England Clam Bake. Especially the fresh steamers and quohogs. Now I have never had an actual "crab cake" but I can imagine they must be something parallel to a clam cake? When I indulged in the pleasures of the beer and ale and threw caution to the wind as to the health ramifications involved with such, I truly enjoyed boiled rock crab. However, there was a lot of work involved for the amount of meat that you get. A lobster once in a great while because the price is way too high and the price far outweighed the pleasure. A home made Italian pizza from scratch with different cheeses, I would shut the 'puter completely off. I can't stand frozen dough pizza's and those other corporate zoned fast food places like Dominos. I love Hershey's chocolate and of course nothing beats a peppermint candy cane., I can be spotted fishing along the bank of a fresh water pond with a candy cane stuck permanently in my mouth in mid JUly. A sliced apple with sprinkled sugar or a sliced red pepper are among my snack foods although I have an urge once in awhile for those cheese puff things. Twirls or curls? ..cheese fluffed air is actually what they are I think LOL..Jeesh! But they got me! What's the strangest food you have ever tried? |
| Chuckie, I am very cautious when it comes to food. But one time, I had a craving for sweet peppers and someone gave me some colorful ones and told me they were sweet. This is probably what destroyed my trusting nature. That and politicians promises pretty much gave me a skeptical look in my eye that is still with me today. Only they weren't sweet peppers. They were habeneros, which popped the roof off my head and made me want my mama. My mouth and tongue burned and my cud didn't taste the same for days. Not to mention my stomachs which were not good. I couldn't moo because my mouth was too sore, so all my moos were silent cries to the wilderness. Tears ran down my face. I do not understand how some folks can eat those peppers and still function. What is the strangest food you ever tried? |
| Hi Hoovsie! Ouch! I enjoy just a bit of the hot spice added to certain foods that call for it, but not anywhere near what I have observed some of these people can consume and not perish. I would like to enjoy the food, not be scrambling looking for a container of water. If you stick with Bell Peppers, Red Yellow or Orange, I think you'll be safe Hoovsie, as they are primarily what I store in the house...On occasion I'll get some Italian Finger Peppers from a neighborhood garden but they also are sweet. The strangest food I have ever had would have to be Octopus. The Italians have a celebration night on Christmas Eve and I guess they celebrate by having seven different sea food prepared or offerings for the guests. I was invited once on this night to try it. I was fine with the scallops and shrimp and the quohogs, but when the hostess brought out the octopus I felt my stomach do a flip flop on it's own. I was "prodded" to sample a tentacle. It tasted like a cross between an elastic band and a toilet plunger. I chewed and chewed and smiled, doing my best to display my pleasure with the delicacy. Of course, when no one was looking, I withdrew it into a small tissue and deposited into one of her hanging ivy plants. It snowed last evening and we got about an inch outside. Just enough to make the roadways trecherous. I am watching my neighbor through my study window shovel off his driveway. Do you remember Jacques Cousteau that famous explorer who went underwater and searched for strange things? I swear, this dude looks just like him with the woolen French little beret and white beard. I can picture him in the kitchen preparing the crepes suzettes as his wife goes outside to gather meterorgical information on the weather. Did you know I use to put Jacques Cousteau's name on my reference page for my resume when I was seeking employment?. Yes, I figured if and when by the time they tracked Jacques down and asked him what kinda person I was, I'd already have the job for a year or two. I use to list the Pope as a good reference on the resume too but, the priest down the street from me advised me that that may not sit well with the "Big Guy" when the Judgement Day comes. Anyone famous looking around your home? |
| Chuckie, I do remember Jacques Cousteau and his underwater stuff. I wish I had someone famous looking around my pasture, but no dice. A couple of the heifers say they had bit parts in The Simple Life on TV, but I think they made it up. My human looks like Lucy from the Peanuts comics when she is angry, but that doesn't count. Her brother looks like Stephen King sometimes when he's being scary. That's about the best I can do. I once saw Arnold The Pig from Green Acres from a distance, but that was when I was away from my normal pasture. Does that count? Chuckie, remember I said the Baltimore City School system can't find some money? Well it's 58 million dollars. If I couldn't account for fifty eight dollars, I'd be in trouble, much less a million times that. And they say it might be a clerical error. I just don't understand the way the world works. Plus I hear all this about we are spending so much money in Iraq. But aren't we spending it on American Companies who supply the troops? Why don't they give a discount? I bet Wal*Mart would give a discount if they gave them the chance, but no, they have to go with Halliburton and those guys. We aren't handing moola out on street corners are we? Maybe this is where we should look for Baltimore City's 58 Million. On street corners in Iraq. |
| Good Morning Hoovsie! Boy you hit the name on the head when you said something key here. "It may be a clerical error". Notice they place the blame on the rank and file employee and never on a Department Manager, Politicl Appointee or a Director? As far as Iraq goes I am still waiting for all those guys to come clean to tell us or allied forces to find the the thermo nuclear reactors loaded with plutonium and missle silos armed and aimed at both our coasts with hydrogen warheads. After all Mr. Bush said it was imminent that we clean those bastards out once in for all. Or maybe his Daddy told him to just finish sweeping up the job that he couldn't finish when he slept in Washington? The school system leaves a very bad taste in my mouth with Mr. Brush's statement "No Child Left Behind". In a Junior High School not far away, they just brought in a young student who is wheelchair confined and all he can do is BLINK HIS EYES. He is in a normal classroom environment and has by his side for the full school day a PRIVATE NURSE. Guess who is paying for this?. You got it.. ME! The child with his disability should NOT be mainstreamed with the regular students. No Child Left Behind. What a Joke. Enjoy your last days in the White House Mr. Bush, You'll be pulling the lever on the Death Row inmates before you know it ..maybe you should tweak that saying for your prisons in Texas to say "No Inmate Left Alive". |
| Chuckie, Here is my dilemma. I am an independent voter so I don't vote in the primary in my state. I want a candidate to tell me something about health care, jobs and education and to keep their promises. In the past, I was really bothered when we had terrorists do stuff like Pan Am 103/Lockerbee and we threatened but did virtually nothing. I don't agree with some of the stuff George W. does, but one thing I liked is that he didn't just threaten to go after the terrorists, he did it. I want to see Osama Bin Laden captured. I want the terrorists to know that if they mess with the U.S., they had better hide in a hole. What has Kerry done for Massachusetts? What has Edwards done for North Carolina? North Carolina is one of the hardest hit states with regard to loss of manufacturing jobs, since it has so much in the way of textiles. Why should I believe those two will keep their promises? I need to read up more on Kerry. George W. at least keeps promises. But, I want him to tell me what he will do with health care and the economy. What kind of person would want that job? That is a mystery to me. But I want to know where that 58 milllion missing is. If I find out, I'll let you know. Chuckie, I made some scones and tea. Hope you like scones. |
| Morning Hoovsie, These are light and quite flakey. Thank You. I am conservative when it comes to politics. I prefer the slogan walk softly and carry a big stick. I like to keep my issues in my own yard sort of speak. The last thing I would do is lend out $$ to other countries because you are never gonna get it back. Take care of Number One first. What does the saying mean..:Never loan $$ to friends and the quickest way to make enemies is to lend $ I'm am weary of the southern Presidents. They have a tendecny to take of souther business interests. The Jimmy Carter, the BUsh years, the Clinton years. Lets see if a Northerner can do something. Do you know the last time we had a balanced budget was during the Nixon Administration? But enough about depressing issues. Tell me a bit about the trip if you can elaborate a bit. |
| Morning Chuckie! I am glad you like the scones - today I made them with raisins. The trip will be flying into Shannon then going up the west coast to Galway and one other place, but all on the west coast. No Dublin visit this time out. I am nervous about the flying part but I hope it will be ok. I hope to bring back lots of pictures of cows and animals for my port. And then I will post them before St. Patrick's Day, hopefully. I will take my journal and write in it on the plane to take my mind off the flying part. It is not easy for a bovine to fly, but it will be worth it to go to a place that I love to visit. On this budget stuff, what happened to the big surplus that they said they had a while back. I don't understand how any of this works to tell you the truth, which is why I could never be President. Since they can't balance the budgets, maybe they don't understand how it works either. Scary thought. Enjoy your scones and butter and I hope it is warm there. It is warming up here a lot. I may even be able to graze a little today and not stand in snow. |
| Hi Hoovsie.. There are several methods that businesses use to evaluate the net worth of a corporation. Some can be very misleading as we witnessed by the good old boys at Enron. The quick and most reliable way to see if a business is doing well is called an "acid ratio test"..Take the current assets and compare them to the current liabilities..There should be at least a 2 to one margin in favor of the assets. Now look at our liabilities here ( which includes outstanding debts)....you can see why buying US Savings Bonds is not the smartest or most economically feasible way to put your $$. When I was on the icebreaker we sailed through the English Channel and we did catch sight of GB from afar. We chose to make safe harbor in Denmark before continuing on a journey to the Polar Ice Cap. I've seen video of Ireland and naturally with a name like FINN, how much more Irish can you get..LOL I would love to visit there someday! Now flying is another subject. I recall the first time I flew from Philly to Warwick RI. I flew AGONY AIRLINES which was Allegany at the time which went on to be known as US AIR. Well it was a propellor job and as the props rumbled and thundered to life, a bolt overhead that secured a plate fell into my lap. We were not even off the ground and not taxied as yet and the plane was already coming apart. LOL Well, as you can see we made it safely although my heart was in my throat for the hour I was in the sky. There is no breakdown lane there and I really wondered if I should have opted for a scenic bus ride instead! LOL. I really could have gone for a few gin and tonics to make me relax..LOL It;s about 40 degrees today and sunny so I am about ready for my three mile walking venture down the polluted shore of the Bay so take care and I'll cacth up with ya soon. Looks like a nice day for a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of Tomato soup. |
| Chuckie, If the plane part fell on my head, I would stampede for the door. I am taking Aer Lingus - the Irish Airlines. Hopefully they will find a place for me to stand and look out the window - it's a long flight. I hope the plane is a new one and is nice and that they give me some Diet Pepsi. Even Diet Coke would be ok. I will try not to moo or do anything to offend the other passengers. There is nothing better than grilled cheese and tomato soup on a chilly day, so enjoy! I will let you know when I hear about the $58 million and where it went. They are supposed to give a report on that today on the news so I'll be eagerly awaiting that. Chuckie, why were you on an ice breaker? Isn't that a cold place to be? |
| Good MOrning Hoovsie! I was stationed aboard an icebreaker when I was a member of the US Coast Guard. Before I enlisted, they showed me a lot of brochures of young men smiling on a sunny day sitting on cute pretty white boats going out in small harbors and bays. Remember what I told you about my luck? Well, when I finished basic training, instead of smiling and dancing the night away and lovely young gals flocking to a man in uniform, I found myself with thick heavy gloves and a big fur parka on standing on a flying bridge with binoculars in the Norweigen Sea for the next six months. I made three trips similar to this during my tour of duty before finally being transferred to a Search and Rescue Station where I finished out my enlistment. It is quite cold in the Arctic but not the kinda cold you have here with the dampness..It a very dry, numbing cold, like a freezer, no wind. We broke ice up to 12 feet thick, got stuck hundreds of times. Remember, the weight of the ship breaks the ice, not the point of the ship. An icebreaker slides up on top of the ice until the ice flow breaks and then the ship falls through into clear water. If you look at a world map, look to the north-west of Ireland in the Barents Sea, you will see a Russian Island called Novaya Zemlya. It is just off the coast of that island where we became stuck almost permanently and we had to call the mission off..We just couldn't go any further, the ice was too thick. That is a mighty long way from Boston, Mass! The only thing I regret about seeing all the places I had a chance to visit during this breaking ice thing, is taking pictures. I really wish I had taken photographs. Especially Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. But I was only a kid and more interested in drinking and partying on with women who seemed to be quite captivated by American sailors..LOL Gee what a reputation! Ever do "battle" with a Wells Fargo truck? Well yesterday was a big day. I had to use the ATM outside a food market and when I went to use it the screen flashes "Temporarily Out of Order". Well I see the armored car and I figure okay they're doing a drop off but I can't wait. I'm in a hurry. So, thinking quickly that there is another ATM just up the road, I jump into the truck and head for that one. HOWEVER, I see a freind of mine in the parking lot and he has to wave and ask a question. Anyway, I head to the second place and VOILA, There's the Wells Fargo Truck at that ATM!. Well now my blood pressure starts to rise. So, I may as well go to the ATM next to my house but I look on the visor and OH Goodness, my registration letter. I forgot to mail. So I stop for two minutes at the Post office and drop it in the slot. There are two lanes of traffic heading in the opposite direction. One has a delay and arrow to the shopping center where the ATM is. I look straight ahead and THERE's THE WELLS FARGO TRUCK AGAIN and he's got his BLINKER ON. He;'s heading into the shopping center! I grip the wheel tightly, I know he's gonna get the green before me! I scream in the truck .I figure maybe I can weave my way through a maze of cars and beat him to the ATM. A little old lady is pushing her cart SLOWLY across my path as I watch the Wells Fargo truck go by me in the next lane & pull & right up to the ATM! Hoovsie, I banged the wheel about 80 times, people must have thought I was having a seizure. What are the chances of running into the Wells Fargo truck three times at three different locations. It was as if God let this Wells Fargo run long enough just to make me have a troubling day! This one had to rank in the top 20 of my worst experiences wanting to actually take my truck and ram it into a stone wall! Ever have days when you wished your cow horns worked so you could blow off steam? |
| Chuckie, did you ever beat the Wells Fargo truck to an ATM or did you give up? I have had days like that when things seemed like they were not meant to be. My biggest pet peeve lately is when I try to do my mall walking and people stand in the middle of where I am trying to walk, blabbing on their cell phones. I have to slow down my brisk pace when what I really want to do is lower my horns and go for it. Or if I go out to do something not looking my best, invariably I run into everyone I don't want to see. Chuckie, why do people with cell phones feel that the whole world has to stop for their conversations. I have one that I only use for emergencies, so I hope I never have to use it. Would you like a cinnamon roll? |
| Morning Hoovsie! Thank you for the cinammon roll. I imagine Hot Cross Buns will soon cross the pastry shelves and instinctively, I'll be reaching across the glass counter top! Do you know I think I was one of the last people in RI to get a cell phone? I just didn't see the need for one as I rarely am on the phone. And what's up with these minute things?. I have a plan that says I get 300 minutes a month but I have know idea how many minutes I have left to use during the course of a months service. In addition, if I don't use them, I lose them. Like you, I have it for "emergency" conditions should they arise. With owning a pickup truck that was born in 1987, I would say having a cell phone for emergencies is a good idea especially once I start pounding the beach fishing the beginning of April. One of the most dreaded things I have to do is shopping, so Malls are a place where I tend to avoid except when I really have to go. No matter what direction I walk in, it seeems I am going in the wrong direction as people are going the opposite way. Oh the cell phone users are there alright. I don't know what they are discussing but they sure as heck look like they are making a decision of ultimate importance! I guess what gets under my skin more than anything else are school busses. Why do they have to stop at every street corner? Especially when I am behind them on my way fishing? I think the driver of the school bus does it on purpose just to aggrevate other motorists because they have power once that STOP sign swings out. Boy oh boy, they have more power than the CEO at Ford Motor Company! Speaking of walking here for a minute, we have a wonderful picturesque bike path around the corner from my home. It snakes it's way along the shoreline and over small wooden bridges and trees galore. Now nearly everyday, I take a lesiure walk and it never fails that the asphalt path is littered with broken beer bottles, McDonalds bags broken tree branches and other refuse from inconsiderate people. Here is a "resource" that my tax dollars constructed that provides the citizens of RI a place to enjoy themselves and yet, it always takes someone to abuse it and innocently punish those who find pleasure in utilizing it. Remember the Seinfeld episode when Kramer "stole" the lobsters from pulling commercial lobster pots. Well they had him out on the road picking litter?....Well I say, if these people who punish me by taking away my privleges of riding the path by their blatant and careless act of throwing their trash there, let them pick litter out on Route 95 where the average speed of a moving vehicle is 65 mph. ONE DAY out there on the Interstate highway dodging traffic and crazy drivers and I guarantee they will never throw another bottle onto a road. When I was working on the highways of Route 95 as a State employee, I lost FIVE YOUNG friends out there who were struck and killed by motorists who were cleaning up after other people throwing junk out of their car windows. I have no use for people who throw their junk away in places where someone else has to clean it up. In this case, five wives and several young kids are growing up without their father. |
| Chuckie, I am sorry about your friends. That is a lot of friends to lose and a lot of families to be sad. I wish they didn't speed like they do on 95. 95 comes down here too and it is almost as scary to me as The Beltway. Then when you add these idiots who drive so fast and blab on their cell phones at the same time, well it is nothing but trouble. I don't meander on the highway or anywhere near it if I can help it. But then on the back roads you have people out of their lanes and head on collisions. I have to be very careful when I venture out anyplace at all. The safest place to walk is a shopping Mall or a museum, but even there you have the cell phone talking aisle blockers. And these phone talkers take their phones to movies too so nothing is sacred to these jokers I guess. Would you like a cream puff? I had one for lunch and it was delicious! |
| Hi Hoovsie! Oh Thank You! Haven't had a cream puff in some time. However, I believe I better pass on the cream puff. I have a medical exam coming up soon and my doctor kinda raises his eyebrows and looks over the rims of his glasses each time he weighs me and sees I add a few more pounds on. LOL I do enjoy the walks though especially now that the "kids" are preoccupied with the text books. Trying to secure a safe place to stroll along the bike path when school is out is like running a medieval gaunlet with the "kids" swarming like bees looking for adventure along the way. Sometimes there is more traffic on the bike path than there is on neighboring main thoroughfares LOL. What is on your agendum for today? |
| Hi Chuckie, I think there is some snow coming this way, so my agenda is to work some more on my dreaded taxes. So, naturally, I am on the computer on Writing.Com (procrastinating). I think this morning I will have some wheat toast and Diet Pepsi, since I too have to step on the scale for the Vet. Chuckie, this 58 million dollar thing is still brewing. First the Governor was going to bail out the school system. All that had to happen was a report by this independent guy. He delivered the report last week, but the School Board changed it (they are the ones who lost the 58 million to begin with) so he quit and now the Governor says no money. This is after a holding hands press conference love fest saying they were fixing it last week. Only the same school board tried to do bad stuff at the last minute and now the Governor says no dice. But I must do my taxes so it can go to the state to bail out these wise guys, which is why I am procrastinating right now. lol Sounds good to me. What's shakin' in Rhode Island this fine morning? |
| Good Morning Hoovsie, Well I think I got the solution for your 58 million dollars shortage. Didn't some dude in Virginia just hit 220 million? Well I would get on the phone with this guy if I was the Gov and see if he would make me a loan. Let;s face it, the dude is gonna have a heck of a time trying to spend that much $$ on himself without giving a lot of it away. I mean how much stuff can you actually use personally? As compensation, the Gov could give him a State Job as a political appointee and he could be like the Director of Restroom Utilities where he keeps track of all the broken commodes and leaky faucets in the State House restrooms. Of course all his family members and down to his "cousins twice removed" would have State jobs also somewhere in the State. Even if they had to create a job like "Carnival Barker" for all those public events to raise money to offset the deficit. Well with money comes power and then after you get the power it fosters corruption. There's just no getting around it. Corruption also finds a way to seep in and go hand in hand with power. Sooner or later it;s gonna spring up like a dandelion in a well manicured lawn. I seen it right in my own department where really diligent hard working people just got so much power they thought they were untouchable and infallable...And then they make one slip up and bingo, their reputation goes down the tubes as they get arrested, humilated, and they are remembered as convicted thiefs or felons. Well, it;s just overcast here in RI today but yesterday I went down the beach and I came over the ridge and I seen two guys surf casting! I was shocked to say the least. I had to see what the heck they were fishing for. Well come to find out they were testing out some plugs they made over the winter but they sure as heck scared me because I am usually one of the first guys out there fishing! I thought somebody knew something I didn;t know and a school of pollock or fluke came into the upper bay two months early! Hopefully it doesn't snow here, it's not in the forecast, so I am about set to head out for my walk again. Good Luck with those taxes. I still haven't mailed mine yet but I owe them 2,000 so they can wait a while longer..LOL. |
| Chuckie, I go to do the taxes and of course I reread the accountant's newsletter and this is part of it: "Treat everyone else's reputation as though it was your own. Speak up when you don't agree with incivility and prejudice. Silence is always heard as agreement. You don't have to yell. A whisper of truth has trumpets in the background." So then I stopped and wrote a poem. So my procrastination continues unabated since my accountant has to give such good prompts for poems. lol At this rate I will never get anything done. If you owe, I'd wait until the 15th of April, but then you have to face the mob all doing the same thing. I don't know if I owe or I don't owe. To owe or not to owe, that is the question. Geez, I feel another poem coming on here. |
| Hi Hoovsie, Well with all this talk about taxes, I just had to go downstairs to the rec room and dig out an ancient moldy oldie tape of "The Taxman" by the Beatles. It ain't worth a beat to dance to but it sure as heck spells out the protesting revolution that they didn't want to pay an enormous tax on their income. Good song, It's in my head now and it will be there all day I'll be singing or humming it! You know what I get in the mail a lot is those letters asking for money for some worthy cause like to feed the homeless people in Cogden, Utah. I got three such requests from various organizations today. I write them back and tell them to put me on their NEEDY list as I am on a fixed income and sure would like them to give me some of the wealth they receive from generous people. Funny though, they never seem to send me any coupons for free food at the local super market. Their list must be very long huh?..*smile* The bigger ones, I also apprise them I am on a fixed income and haven't had a pay increase in four years and as soon as food & gasoline prices are reduced overall, I would be happy to contribute. They have a problem answering and responding or reacting for some reason. But I can bet you a nickel they would haven't any trouble jumping up and cashing and spending a personal check from me..LOL .. Hoovsie, I went so far as one time, they sent me a picture of a needy child who looked like he hadn't eaten in a week. Well, I wrote them and said I would love to make him a nice fruit cake where do I mail it too...Again, no one answered. I mean if they were starving, I figured they'd be thrilled to get a home make fruit cake right? But it just must be me., they want money instead. Maybe they think they can buy better ingredients or have Emerill waiting in their kitchen to kick it up a notch. |
| Chuckie, I think all the money that those charities solicit goes to administrative expenses. So they can get paid for sending the letters. Then there is the expensive car that the guy who runs The United Way used to drive. I think it was a BMW or a Mercedes. I don't think very much money trickles down to anyone who needs it. The sad pictures of kids are the same kids they've been using for 20 years. I bet those kids are still waiting to see some dough out of this. And don't get me started on telemarketers for charities. They pretend to be from The Firemen and Police around here, only you know what? Neither the police or the firefighters solicit by phone call. So it's somebody lying right off the bat. They usually say they are for the firefighters and I say no you aren't, quit lying and I argue with them until I hang up on them. My human's father used to pretend he was deaf when he'd get those calls and he'd say "What?" about a hundred times. That was pretty amusing and I am considering using the technique me own self. If I hand money to someone I know they get it, otherwise it's trusting a lot of administrative people to get it there. I ain't that trusting. I like Toys for Tots because I delude myself that the Marine Corps wouldn't mess with the money. |
| Good Morning Hoovsie, The ones that call the house and indentify themselves with the police and fire departments, I tell them to tell my son who is working the 11-7 shift at the Station to get his butt over the house this weekend and fix the stairs for his father like he promised me. This always gets the "pregnant pause" on the other end of the line. In addition, sometimes, I'll ask them if the TV show RENO 911 is really inspired by true incidents and are the people in it actors. Speaking of law enforcement for a moment here, yesterday we had "caught on film" a high speed chase of a hit and run driver. Yes, via helicopter, like a TV sports announcer bring you the action on a third down and 15 yards, the newscaster from the chopper in the sky zoomed in and gave us exactly how this car swerved, dodged, and faked left, then right turns and eluded police down several high traffic areas along RI's highways and biways before finally being corraled onto the shoulder. Now as I sat there and watched the "police officer" manhandle the alleged perpetrator and physically throw him across the hood of a hot hood while his partner handcuffed him, I looked toward my partner and said.. "HOney, I guarantee that this driver will say that unesseary force and abuse was used against him while making the arrest." Hoovsie, it was as of I had a crystal ball. I could have gotten a job at the pyschic hotline. Well as the 6 PM news came on and everyone but the Governor himself came on Tv praising the efforts of several law enforcement agencies in apprehending this dangerous hit and run driver who caused minor damage to a parked car in a shopping Mall parking lot. Oh they corrected thmeselves later saying the speeds exceeded 110 mph during the "live scene" but on the news broadcast ay 6 PM, the speeds dropped to considerably less...In fact it dropped to barely over the posted speed limit. And finally, as they gave us the candid shot of the State Police HDQTRS in the background, the news broadcaster barely whispered as a footnote closing that the alleged perpetrator had to be taken to RI Hospital after complaining of neck and back injuries he sustained during his arrest. I nearly jumped off the couch as I could hear the nearly 5,000 registered lawyers in RI scrambling to jump over one another with their business cards in hand trying to get to the victim! Each one seeking to sue the State, the officer involved, the police union for this Rodney King like incident! Now this big news item that filled the airways most of the day yersterday, will suddenly be placed on a back burner somewhere in the files of a news station, but guaranteed, money will exchange hands to drop the racial profiling and the use of unnessary force to get this hit and run driver. Only in America! |
| Chuckie, was this on every station? So the hit and run thing was minor and it all led to all this? I wonder how much the news helicopter escalated the situation, creating news. Chuckie, I know I have written about the Baltimore City Schools here before but the saga continues. Apparently they didn't lose 58 million. Now, it appears that the amount is actually SEVENTY FIVE MILLION. The Governor is CONSIDERING removing the School Board and appointing a Receiver to receive the big bailout that is going to have to flow their way. I guess he had second thoughts about giving more money to these clowns. CONSIDERING, my bovine behind. I would have lowered my horns and charged at them maybe SEVENTY FOUR MILLION dollars ago. A million would have captured my attention. Think of all the hay, not to mention money for actual EDUCATION was wasted. I hope you don't mind me reporting on this. It is a local issue of mismanagement, but I guess it could happen anywhere. Apparently the OTHER Maryland School systems have all managed somehow to balance their budges and manage the MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars they received. Would you like a muffin? I'm feeling like a bran muffin this morning. |
| Hi Hoovsie! Why thank you, Hoovsie. A lightly toasted bran muffin would do wonders this AM. Wow, that fiasco with missing funds seem to be escalating more and more.What gets me is nothing serious ever happens to the "culprits" who are at the root of the problem. When RI experienced the banking crisis and the Gov declared a "bank holiday", all financial institutions which were not FDIC insured were closed. They had NO $$$. They gave it away via loans to companies who went belly up and couldn't repay. THusly when you went to the bank to withdraw your savings to buy a house or a car or a big appliance, the loan officers of the bank said "Too Bad, So Sad, we gave your money to the Son=in=Law of the President of the bank who is with XYZ Construction and they went bankrupt. We are so sorry but YOUR MONEY is no longer here. IN essense, we stole it and there's nothing you can do. Remember what the bank emphatically tells you that a CASHIER"s CHECK from them is as good as CASH?..Don't you believe them for a moment! A woman purchased a house in Maine for 120,000. She gave a bank 120,000 in cash because she didn't want to carry that amount of cash on her on the drive to Maine. She had the bank draw up three certified cashier checks and when she presented them at the house closing, the bank couldn't honor them because the $$ was gone! She lost her cash and the house. They got one guy who was like the first Domino in the collapse of the financial institutions. He;s out of jail now and he has to repay so many millions of dollars. GUess where he's working? At a furniture store making munimum wage. He could live 100 lifetimes and never repay the $$$ that was stolen...KNow what he said? He lived the lifestyle of the Rich and Famous eating the best of everything and a life of pure elegance and luxury for like ten years...and it was all worth it! AGGGHHH!! Stop the World I want to get off! |
| Chuckie, did this just happen? Because I am wondering why I haven't heard about it here and why you haven't heard about Baltimore City losing 75 MILLION Dollars there. Doesn't it seem like something unusual - in both cases? I wonder how much of this stuff goes on that never gets reported. The media likes to tell us all about Janet Jackson's right mammary but when it comes to big stealing corruption and hurt to the little people and cows, where are they? Or is this just so common now that it isn't news anymore. And we go to straighten out other countries. Can you imagine the money we give to Iraq? How do we know what they are doing with it if the financial institutions of Rhode Island and the Baltimore City School System can't be monitored. I'm alarmed, which means it's time for serious pastry so I'll trot off and get a Napoleon. Care to join me? |
| MOrning Hoovsie, A cream filled Napolean with strawberry jam! Now that sounds wonderful!The banking crisis happened years ago and it made the national news for a few days and then it became back page news because there was nothing anyone could do about it. THe $$ was gone and it was time to tighten the belt and push forward. I see that 74 yr old Greenspan said he wants to cut the Social Security Benefits for the Baby Boomers in four years..Well he don't care, he's 70 something yrs old..LOL. SOmetimes I think, JUlio and Ramon who hang out on the corner have the right answer. They pick up what some people throw away and sell it out of the back of a 1967 station wagon. No overhead, no taxes, no labor cost. |
Chuckie, have a biscuit. I am having a biscuit this morning in honor of Biscuitville in the south, where they got a lot of snow yesterday. When my human lived in the south she frequented biscuitville so much that she owes about 15 pounds to their good eatin. Alan Greenspan is so smart. When he talks everyone listens. At least he doesn't lose 75 million dollars and then ask for a bailout from the state and he didn't take anyone's hard earned banked money and live the high life. Chuckie, if you or I didn't come up with the dough, we would have stuff seized and money garnished. The Baltimore City Schools will be insolvent after Monday. And you know what? The same people who led them to this point are arguing that they want to have some say so and control over all the additional money that has to be lent from US STATE TAXPAYERS to keep them afloat. I need another biscuit to assuage my resentment as a taxpayer. |
| Morning Hoovsie! Well it's just a good thing they gave you a cow bell instead of venom like a spitting cobra otherwise there would be a lot more blind people in the world. Is that politically correct or will the feathers of those afflicted with a disability be offended to be associated with cobras and venom? You know the song "I was Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places?" Well, Maybe these people with these deficit disorders of monetary income are "Looking for MOney in all the Wrong Places," because I witnessed last night on the E! channel P. Diddy, that rap artist or hip hopper or whatever he want to be called, throw a party for himself for his birthday..He had a private jet fly 300 of his closest friends ( I don't even know 300 people) to Morroco somewhere in Africa (I think),where they were greeted in the burning sand by lovely scantly clad pom pom twirling cheerleaders, and humpty back camels. Yes, a gala celebration for himself because he has a surplus of $$ to burn. Staying at a fancy hotel where the price tag for all this was ONE MILLION DOLLARS a day. So, my advice for these people who can't seem to control a simple school department budget is to hook up with P. Diddy and his friends and watch closely. Imagine what the school department could save if they hired a few camels and scantly clad cafeteria workers. Could you share a bit of that Diet Pepsi? This is what you call trickle down economics where the little guy ends up with..well you know. |
Chuckie, help yourself to a Diet Pepsi on me. As I scarf down my tenth Biscuit of the morning. You know, you may be on to something. They should take all the money for P.Diddy's party and for the Oscars outfits that the stars wear and save Baltimore's schools. Speaking of The Oscars. I saw Pirates of the Caribbean this week and LOVED it. I hope Johnny Depp wins best actor. He usually doesn't dress up for that stuff, so I'm sure he'd donate his wardrobe money. Have you seen the nom-MOO-nated movies this year? I'm going with Depp for best actor and Diane Keaton for best actress. Then Tim Robbins and Rene Zelweiger for supporting. I'm a little upset Cold Mountain didn't get nom-MOO-nated for Best Movie, but I'm glad Seabiscuit is in there. However, I want Mystic River to win the Best one Award and also Clint Eastwood for being Best Director. OK, I'll eat another biscuit. What are your Oscar Pics? What is E saying this morning, Chuckie? |
| HI Hoovsie! Gee, I really wanted the award for Best Director to the guy that did "Freddy vs. Jason." Of course, I am trying to be funny here..but as long as Opie Taylor (Ron Howard) stays off the stage with that bald head and red hair sticking out that makes him look like Clarabell the Clown and doesn't read the nominee ballots, I'll be content. GIve the Best Director to Clint Eastwood. Period. Johnny Depp is one of my favorites since I seen him in BLOW, and I think he is very versatile actor. Yes, I agree with you with your choices. Rather than try to pick the winners, I tend to go the opposite way on those who I don't want to see get recognized...like Adam Sandler, Pauly Shore, Kevin Bacon, Kenua Reeves, Whineoma Ryder, Sandra Buttocks, I mean Bullock, and Chris Rock and Antonio Bandaidress. (I saw him in Desperado and would rather pass a kidney stone than see it again.) If you could have dinner with any male movie star and spend an entire evening together, who would be in your top ten? Of course age and marital status not relevant at this point in time..LOL |
Chuckie, that is an interesting question. With me it would be who would I share a bale of hay with and not head butt them out of the barn. Of course since I am a bull and spoken for, this will be purely on the basis of interesting conversation: But I'm going to say female or male just to be contrary. Here are my top ten living or dead, in the order I would like to meet them as best I can think of them: 1. Drew Barrymore 2. Jimmy Stewart 3. Jack Nicholson if he will wear those shades that make me laugh every time I see them on him 4. Harrison Ford 5. Johnny Depp with his pirate costume and he has to say "It's a pirate's life for me, Yo ho!" 6. Jean Harlow 7. Jack Lemmon 8. Elvis (He did movies and I want to know what the story was about Viva Las Vegas and him and Ann Margaret) 9. Bill Murray 10. Cary Grant Now, Chuckie, please give me your list of your top ten male or female or both like I did, living or dead. |
| Good Morning Hoovsie! Well you did a marvelous job with your list. I would/or would have been be thrilled to sit across the table from these lovely ladies #1. Catherine Zeta Jones #2. Kirstie Alley #3. Halle Berry #4. Rene Russo #5. Linda Day George #6. Susan Sarandon #7. Jaclyn Smith #8. Barbara Eden #9. Kelly LeBrock #10. Juliette Lewis The ten ladies I would prefer having a root canal treatment or submit to a proctology examination rather than to be seated across from them are: #1. Madonna #2. Britney Spears #3. Florence Henderson #4. Mary Hart #5. Kathy Lee Gifford #6. Oprah #7. Minnie Driver #8. Cameron Dias #9. Pink #10. Charo Now in order to be perfectly fair, I guess I should also list ten male celebrities that I would enoy sipping a few cold ones down with and drip soggy tomato pizza over my chin while watching a sporting event. #1. Gary Busey #2. Val Kilmer #3. Sly Stallone #4. Brad Pitt #5. Johnny Depp #6. Al Pacino #7. Jack Nickelson #8. Robert Mitchum #9. Snoop Dog #10.Tommy Lee Jones I use to make a fantasy football team with celebrities and put them at a position..you know like..At left tackle : Drew Carey At Quarterback: Cosmo Kramer...( LOL) Well anyway, that's my choices although there are many which deserve honorable mention and I hope they are not offended by their ommitance here..LOL What's on your agendum for today? |
Hey Chuckie, I'm getting geared up for the Oscars and to fly Monday, plus doing a little cleaning of my barn. Ok, I have another list for you. Top ten Non Writing.Com writers, male or female living or dead, that you would like to share a muffin with over some nice Diet Pepsi. This is mine: 1. Ernest Hemingway 2. John Irving 3. William ShakesSTEER 4. Jane Austen 5. Edith Wharton 6. Nicholas Sparks 7. Danielle Steele 8. F. Scott Fitzgerald 9. Fyodor Dostoyevsky 10. Nicolai Gogol Have a muffin and please do your list while I continue to freshen up my stall. |
| Thank You! Yes, I am a bit pooped after cleaning these three floors of this chalet that no one really uses...HOw they get dusty is beyond me. Ok Favorite Writers.. #1. Dan Simmons #2. John Saul #3. Robert McCammon #4. STephen King #5. Dean Koontz #6. Michael Crichton #7. Robin Cook #8. John Gresham #9. Lawrence Sanders #10. Madonna ( no only kidding of couse...gag, gag, gag.) #10. James Patterson As you know I am a big fan of short stories and anthologies..so many books I read are more or less a collection of "spooky" stories by a variety of writers..The one hit wonder variety LOL. Well I do hope you have a safe and wonderful trip and if you have access to a modem, please send a photo or two and drop a note to let me know how the trip is going... I know of a family that will be heading to the Carribean next week. Her new hubby who is unemployed decided to give his new wife a break from the grueling pace of working a 11-8 shift , yes, all on the compliments of her ex-husbands child support money that her new hubby has decided to relieve her of and he would balance the budget..So he added the figures up and announced to her that they should throw education out the window and take the kids out of school for a week and say to the principal, " I don;t care about your school activities or final exams, we deserve a vacation and we will bringing the really stressed out kids with us to meet Goofy." Isn't life wonderful? I wonder if a question on their SAT exams will ask to name all the Disney characters? |
Chuckie, why do I get the feeling you might know this family pretty well? Goofy is in the Caribbean? Are they going by way of Orlando? Do any of these people work for the Baltimore City School Board? I'm not leaving until Monday but I am nervous as a cat. I will bring back pictures and post them since I will only be gone a week and a day. If I get near a modem, I'll shoot you a moo. OK, here's another list for you. Well known people I would like to InterMOO, living or dead. So, celebrities, but not actors or writers. Top Ten: 1. David Letterman 2. Jacqueline Kennedy 3. F. Lee Bailey 4. Thomas Jefferson 5. Princess Diana 6. Queen Elizabeth I 7. Charles Limburgh 8. Lincoln 9. Robert E. Lee 10. Walt Disney Now moo me your list when you get a break from tidying up. |
| Hi Hoovsie! Loved the photos you sent to me! For some reason, the post I placed a while back never took..Good thing I checked!! Let's see, seeing it's later afternoon, I can only offer you some cheese puffs and Pepsi. I am making chicken stock however to make some chicken pies for next weeks lunches. Let's see, I am not too great on interviews but if I were to have an opportunity to sit down and talk about life in general I guess my list would look like this... The Pope Stephen King The Desert Fox Edgar Allen Poe Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy Frank Sinatra Janis Joplin Bill Russell Mickey Lolich Johnny Cash I was stationed in Curtis Bay, Maryland for a while but I use to love the city of Baltimore..It was a wonderful city especially to meet the opposite sex..There was a night club on East Baltimore Street called JUDGES..I never forgot the place because there was a group that played in there and the bands name was called "The Taste"..They had a girl singer that looked so much and sounded so much like Janis Joplin, you;d swear they were sisters...Anyway, it was muy first exposure to a rotating bar and the band played in the center and you were like on a carousel as you swiveled around the band...The dance floor was eight ot 10 feet in the air and you climed sytairs to get to it..but you took a playground slide to get down!! Yes you sat on your bum bum and slid down theis slide and just help out your arm and grabbed hold of the bar stool as you went by..LOL..It was the coolest thing back then...Oh and of course they had the trapese suspended from the ceiling where two scantly clad younf girls would swing back and forth over the dance floor. Anyway, with all the nightclubs I played in over the years, that one in Baltimore was the best. It was packed with screaming kids havinf fun but never once was there a brawl inside..It use to close at 2 AM and sometimes I would barely have cab fare to make it back to Curtis Bay..LOL Any nightclub that stands out in your mind? |
| As long as they are fried cheetos and it's Diet Pepsi, I'll join you. Hmm, well it's way way back in time, but my human used to travel a lot for work so there were places like New Orleans and Atlanta where she went to happy hour now and then, but she cannot recall the names, except one place in DC called The Godfather I think. She actually once upon a time went to Newport Rhode Island and Providence, but is fuzzy about the details. The places she went were many and far flung - they included, Bangor, Maine, Boston, Portland, Lewiston/Auburn Maine, Albany Georgia and a few others. Also there was a place called Deja Vu in DC where they played oldies music. This was in the early 80s I think. It's all a blur. lol Chuckie, the last two days in Baltimore County, there was a water main break so no water. This convinced my human to finally stock up on bottled water, but it was all sold out, so she had to drive 40 miles before she could get it and bring it back. So be sure you have bottled water in case of water main breaks! Back to your question, she has never been to a nightclub in Baltimore, strangely enough. DC, yes, but not Baltimore. But Chuckie, was that on something called The BLock? Because we have heard of that, but never actually been there. |
| Hi Hoovsie! It's another snowy morning here in RI with a temp of 27 global warming Springtime degrees. Yes, I can almost visualize the thong wearing young rollerbladers making thei way past the hot dog stands on the bicycle path that runs just on the other side of the inlet. Now I know I must be just conjecturing this image of white stuff falling from the sky in my mind because according to the "Chief" Meterologist who went to school for a good number of years to study high and low pressure areas of weather systems, insisted that when I rose this morning from my slumber I would NOT see any white stuff on the roads. However, the paint fairy must have ridden through the streets and not spoken to the weather soothsayer. Well I am having some raisin bran with warm milk and a fruit cup for breakfast if you'd like to join..Perhaps some wheat toast? Not here's a point of interest. Did you know humans are the only mammal to drink milk well after its infancy stages? We drink it for conceivably our entire lives whereby most animals after they past the suckling stages, forego their mothers milk in choice of a more fiberistic diet. As far as a water crisis goes, we had ecoli bacteria contamenation of of water system back a few years and they warned the general public not to drink water. However, at my place of employment, only the "TIE PEOPLE" were supplied with Poland Spring bottled water while the rank and file members were left to fend for themselves. THose who held the title of Chief and below were not allowed to drink from the water jug in the hallways ..Jeesh! Thank goodness they got rid of that Director..(Always a liittle perk that comes with being politically connected that you get clean water where we have to drink water with swan ca-ca in it.) People were lined up at fire stations and the national guard was called in to disburse water to the affected communities..The water there was trucked in and was donated by Poland Spring so I must say they have my vote for doing their best to make a difficult situation much easier to deal with. Hooray for Poland Spring! Anyway after the chemical people got done with testing and adding and subtracting their elements, they determined we all could use it again for cooking, cleaning and whatever..but for a while there, some communities were finding it tough...RI about ten years ago bragged the rights of having the cleanest water in the USA for drinking...now we are down to about number 10 or so...The big shots blame it on bird ca-ca..like the ducks and swans etc always in the water...well the enviromentalists don;t want't them hurt or disturbed and moved to another area..so it;s a constant battle over what's in the best interest..ours or the animals. I think we should have like a debate forum here ..you know like that show Point-Counter Point..and see who can make the better claim...LIke if I asked you the question... "Who is a more valuable member of our society...a Farmer or a Doctor?"..which one would you pick? |
| Chuckie good morning. I would pick the farmer because the farmer feeds a lot of people, which is his/her job that they do no matter what. They stick with it. A farmer deals so much with the elements, that it is hard to find an arrogant farmer. Not true with Doctors. Doctors practice medicine, but some of them think they are God. They are not God, which is why there is a need for malpractice insurance. It is difficult to find a Doctor who isn't arrogant. Many times, I have seen doctors do more harm than good. The farmer works hard all his/her life. I am getting the snow they didn't predict too. Chuckie have you heard this morning they have surrounded an Al Qaeda guy? I hope they get him and he tells them all their plans. |
| Hi Hoovsie.. With running the risk of being called a racist here for a moment, would I be unfair as to say many of those people who are runing away from the authorities for some reason pretty much dress in the attire and sport the same facial hair etc over there in the mountains where these Ali-Guida characters seem to practice their terrorist skills, so from these photos I see on the TV I really can't say for sure I can tell too much of a difference in their appearance... So under that premise, I'll believe the claim they have Bin's main squeeze when I see it and they can prove it to me that this is the dude they have been hunting for... They can do wonders with plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery to make Rosie O'Donnel look like Cher if they really wanted to and there was enough of $$ involved..I don;t think $$ is a problem and a cosmetic make over has probably already been done...It could be another ploy to just throw the bloodhounds off the scent and detour the efforts. Remember this is an election year too!..Look at the Saddam guy, they had so many guys that looked like him, he looked like a product endorsement for a clone-a-like factory. But to support your statement, yes, I hope they do have the scoundrel and maybe we should employ some of those talk tactics that are not endorsed by the Geneva Convention..after all, we seem to be the only country that obeys it anyway.. |
| Hey Chuckie, Sorry for my delay, have you baked muffins this morning? I thought it was supposed to be spring but it's winter again or so it seems. I think we are the only ones who follow the Geneva Convention or the rules of war. And I guess they didn't get that guy they thought they had cornered. I wish the press wouldn't report that stuff until they are sure about it. What is new in Rhode Island this morning? Do you have snow on the ground? |
| Hi Hoovsie! Yes as matter of fact, I did bake some corn muffins this morning and we still have some pockets of snow on the ground. It rained most of the over night hours so a lot of it has been washed away into the sotrem drains. Quite windy though..Looks like a day I'll be watching some of the NCAA basketball games from the comfort of the corner of my sofa with a Pepsi and a bag of Cheese Puffs..I think they are baked..( not really sure) whatever is on sale, that's what I get...I purchased my pots and soil tostart my flowers and vegies so this afternoon I may go a bit of "gardening" in the work room..LOL I never have too much luck starting seeds from scratch but it is something to do ..I'll end up buying fully grown plants at some flower shop on the road about mid May..LOL...If you ever put down weed killer in my back yard, it would be transformed it would be transformed into the Sahara Desert... I wrote another "romantic" story after another person kinda trashed my original entry into La Belle's Contest..Heck, I don't proclaim to be anything like a Danielle Steele and writing stories with romantic themes are not my main forte. However, by evidenced by her criticism with such a knowledge of proper writing technique in romance novels, I would like to know what magazine she writes for. |
| Chuckie, I enjoyed your original story and I don't understand that sort of remoo that you reference. A long time ago my human went into a forum and read a whole bunch of people talking about her work sucked. She thought it was a little odd that she never got a remoo from any of them. These were people that later admitted they never read her work. Go sort authors by most viewed and look on the front page. There is Chuckster. Now look for your critic. I bet you a nickel Ms. Danielle NotSteele isn't there. I also bet you everyone else on that front page gets trashed now and then for obvious reasons. That doesn't make it hurt any less, but that's my opinion. I once also saw in a forum that the writers were talking on and on about how bad and awful and not good a famous author with the initials S.K. is. I bet any of them would give anything to be the same author that they were trashing. Something to think about when I'm chewing my cud and for you to think on whilst you enjoy NCAA B-Ball. Jealousy causes a lot of things that don't make sense at first glance but upon further study become pretty pathetically obvious. |
| Morning Hoovsie, It's another brisk morning here along the shores of Narragansett Bay. Unreasonably cold like 15 degrees below what it should be normally at this time of year. It's ont of those two cups of coffee and one hot chocolate kinda days...Well I think today I am gonna start the pepper seeds once again in the rec room and see what happens. Ever have them roasted out on the grill? Super with a bit of oil, basil and black pepper! Do you have an abundane of gray squirrels in your area? They seem to be everywhere around me. Although I did see a hawk swoop down and capture one the other day..I have this bird feeder out in the back and I stuff it full of old crackers and stale bread etc..well, the squirrels just have a banquet on top of this thing trying to get inside..They make a mess! My neighbor had some get in his house and he had a heck of a job trying to get them out. Had to call in one of those exterminator companies. They shreaded wiring and studs etc to make little beds for themselves..I just wondered if there was a hunting season on them...DEM shakes the swan eggs so they can hold down the population of those big things. They are a nuisance also..I have had "battles" with them out in the boat and they don't back down when you go around their nests. Now don;lt get me wrong, swans are lovely in flight and they look pretty swimming out on a pond etc...but they have a tendency to dominate the water and chase anything and everything else out of their territory..In this one pond where I will be fishing next month, there has to be at least 50 swans all competing for the most scenic and picturesque piece of real estate along the shoreline..They mae such a racket and commotion across the water splashing and thrashing they chase a lot of my fish away! Grrrrr!! I use to raise pigeons as a kid but my neighbor complained my birds were eating the stones on his roof shingles and I had to get rid of them..Yes, birds eat the stones to make their shells harder..But I use to love those hioming pigeons,,I would take them 30 or 40 miles away from the coop and let them go. I use to lose a bird or two once in a while wither to a hawk or they'd go with another flock..But hte same held true with mine, sometimes, I'd go ito the coop and find two or three birds that didn't belong to me..LOL So what ya got planned for today? |
| Hey Chuckie, Well first thing I will have an english muffin and some jelly and my morning Diet Pepsi. The breakfast of champions. lol Care to join me? I have a lot of squirrels wherever I go, gray and black and brown, to answer your question. They taunt me. One even came down my human's chimney once and ran around her house tearing things up and this is the source of her terrible fear of squirrels. I am not afraid of them myself because of my size. I know that one hoof carefully placed will mean adios squirrel. I harness my power but I know it is there with this girth. Birds scare me a little because they fly. I don't know any swans, but I am sure like any big group there are always a few trouble makers, even among birds. Today I have a busy day planned of grazing. Then I will meander for a while and then graze again. It is a tough job but someone's got to do it. What's on your agenda? |
| MOrning Hoovsie, Well mariners are just starting to stretch out their arms and the recreational boaters are coming out of their little burrows and looking at their water craft to see what needs to be done to them as far as maintenance goes for the upcoming year. I imagine I will be invited to participate in getting some of these boats into the water and checking them out as far as their seaworthiness. Plow and winter related equipment is about ready to be stored for yet another year so I know I'll be doing something for someone today in that respect...either taking off a sander or a plow frame ..wedling something to fix somewthing or even changing a plow blade to get ready for next year..There is alwasy something to keep me "entertained" and has a way of providing a source to income to pay the bills that seem to come every month regardless of whether I "work" or not.. Fishing season is arond the corner! Hooray! Oh and I have some pepper seeds planted ..never had much luck but we will try again...Ever grow tomatoes? The problem with growing tomatoes in your own garden is that they all come at once and you get this deluge of tomatoes at one time..In addition, you have friends and neighbors also trying to pan off their tomatoes on you beside! I don;t have much of a green thumb except for crab grass and dandelions..I am a champion at that and will give tips if asked. Looks like we have "moderating" temperatures today and light rain so it is a day to do the chores around the house day while listening to classic rock music...I always seem to dust better during a version of "What I like about you" by the Romantics..LOL Well we had quite a drama unfold yesterday not very far from me..Some guy beheaded a woman in Connecticut then came into Rhode Island and the police chased him through a few communities until they finally cornered him on Route 10...( which is adiaster of a road for traffic jams_and anyway, before they could get to him, he shot himself in the head and killed himself..All he had to do was drive a bit longer on Route 10 and the traffic would have given him a heart attack because it was rush hour. Ever open a can of Franco American Spaghetti and see all the knots and twists in the soggy pasta etc?..Well that's how Route 10 looks at 8 AM..LOL..I know a few times I was out on Route 10 at 8 AM and wanted to shoot myself in the head for being such an idiot for taking it in the first place. So that's the news on the waterfront in RI this AM...and then you wonder why they took the TV show Providence off the air..LOL. |
| Wow Chuckie. When I hear that someone "beheaded" anything, I want to run for the hills. Geez, that sounds scary. It didn't make our local news down here though - that is pretty incredible too. When I was in Ireland there was one murder on the other side of the country (in Dublin) where a guy shot another guy outside a bar. That made the national news for days even though they arrested a suspect right away. Can you imagine how many bad things happen in this country every day and we don't hear about them? Besides awful traffic I mean. Our brilliant legislature in Maryland is doing a sales tax increase on us because they can't reign in their spending and don't want to give the governor the slot machines he promised to give us when he was elected. So all that money continues to pour out to Delaware slots and West Virginia slots. When election time comes if it says incumbent in the Maryland legislature I know who not to vote for. Sheesh. Spring is here and my diet starts. Grapefruit and Diet Pepsi for me in the morning. lol No wonder I'm out of sorts. |
| Hey Hoovsie, Question of the day.. Now for your mid day meal..do you or the majority of people you know refer to it as "LUNCH" or DINNER?..and the evening meal..is it refered to as "SUPPER?" or dinner? I don;t want to influence your answer by telling you what I call it.. |
| Chuckie, That is an interesting qustion. It is lunch for me in the afternoon and dinner at night. What do you call them? My human's daddy who was from New York called the evening meal supper, but it didn't rub off on her or me. |
| Hi Hoovsie, Well taking into account where I was raised in a predominently blue collar town populated by Catholic Irish, French, and Polish descent, my neighborhood was menagerie of young kids who never had much or anything. Our parents were Factory mills workers, and sweat shop employees, mainly who worked for minimum wages as sewing machine operators and loom operators or labored on the docks. My folks always referred to the meal as "dinner" for the mid day meal...as it was accustomed to have Sunday "dinner' at noon time with many of the relatives...However, the Catholic school called it a "hot lunch" program where you could purchase a meal in the cafeteria instead of brown bagging..NOw at that time because $$ was tight, I use to actually bring home my brown lunch bag each day to use for the entire week. A lunch box was something you could only dream about...And of course when my dad arrived home every evening smelling of latex rubber and red eyed from the chemical exposure of mixing rubber for tires, we had supper at 4:30 each night. It was my job when I arrived home from school to peel potatos and do the veggies and put them on the stove. I was to wash /dry and put away the breakfast dishes and set the table for supper. We always were together for supper. There was none of the stuff they have today where this one grabs a bite here or someone has an appointment there and has things to do...No way. Supper with the family was priority. We discuss how our day was and what needed to be aired out at the time..After the meal and the table cleared and washed, then you did the other things no matter if it was a big scheduled basketball game or just hanging out with friends. So that's what we called it dinner and supper..but since I've been in RI, I have rarely come across anyone who refers to it that way..they all call it Lunch & Dinner. Linda (mothermouse) wrote to me and said her daffodils are up so Spring is not far away! I hung my empty pots out on the poles today..LOL |
| Chuckie, I think spring is here. But I cannot enjoy it today because I have to face the music and go to the dentist to get a tooth either filled or crowned. I even dreamt about it last night. I think I saw that movie Marathon Man too many times. To torture Dustin Hoffman in that movie they filled his tooth without novacaine when he didn't have a cavity. Yikes. I hope I'm not drooling too much because that never looks good for a bovine to do that. What is your worst dental experience? I hope I don't have one to share with you later on today or tomorrow. I hope you have a good day and don't have to get a filling, Chuckie. |
| Hi Hoovsie! I wrote "The Tooth Fairy Cometh" which refers to a dental experience I think you'll find kind of humorous...Dental procedures and I do not get along ....this stems from the fact that as a youngster my first dentist was an alcoholic and all he knew was the word pull and twist off..regardless if it was on a can of beer or your tooth...Of course the military didn't exactly have the cream of the crop dental personnel when you were on a ship for over two years..Anyway, with a mouthful of mercury fillings stemming from the alcoholic dentist I had as an adolescent and the "treatments" received while in the military, it was a matter of time before they started to fall out..Rather than go thru expensive and extensive dental work at my "mature" age, it was time to make the decision to have them all out and wear a plate...To tell you the truth, it was the best decision I made. I can eat just about anything and there are no more tooth aches, or worrying about gum disease and no more making appointments cleanings or drillings or exams..etc.....In the long run when you consider what it costs for one crown or a filling, to have a plate is actually cheaper...Of course the dentist loses money on this because you are no longer a patient who has to keep going to him...Dentists are not my favorite people and I use to argue with them and tell them right out there is no way their service for 15 minutes is worth what they charge. Of course I was never popular with them either. *smile*..I use to leave them with the thought that I hope they dropped off their BMW for me to fix someday..They didn't like that when I would chuckle and say Pay back is a bitch doctor.LOL Someday I will tell you about my hospital stay when I sustained a massive head injury and they box stapled me back together..I had Nurse Godzilla who had to put in for a weeks vacation after dealing with me!..*smile* |
| Chuckie, it wasn't too bad. I am still sore but all things considered it wasn't too bad for a dental visit. My human's father once kicked the same dentist for hurting him. He told him he wanted him to share his pain. lol I guess I am lucky this dentist still sees me after that and I'm lucky he has a sense of humor. Chuckie, do you have any nice soft muffins that I can gum? lol Still can't chew much but a blueberry or lemon poppyseed muffin would perk me up no end. What do you think about this guy who has this big book deal and apologized to the victims of 9/11 in front of Congress. I feel that he used them to sell his book and I doubt his sincerity but that just could be because I'm cranky this week. What do you think about all this stuff? |
| Hi Hoovsie, Sorry to hear that your still in discomfort from your office visit. I can appreciate why you'd be a bit grumpy. I don't think dentists are among America's favorite people to visit. You know Hoovsie, to answer your question, everyone has an angle and trys to earn a living in any way possible. From the Hollywood scandal tabloids and airing dirty laundry to the inside trade deals made behind back doors that we never really see close and up front. Publicity from the Hollywood Madams to the Jackie Collins to the Monica Lewinski's to the L Ron Hubbards and even to the get rich quick schemes you see in your AM emails or on TV..everyone has a system to separate you from your dollar...The dude with the book is just another snake oil salesman who wants to reap the $$ from book sales..Look at that Al Franken with his boook Lies and the Liars who made them or something like that. My goodness, he was on every talk show slipping and sliding through questions and promoting his book...We are an inquistive people...Myself on the other hand I ask myself, why does this person suddenly want to share all this "information" with the people of the country. What driving force has motivated him to write a book about things we really don;t know BUT only he does?..Is it because he is a Good American..or is it because of another reason?..And why now at this point in time does he decide to go public...on election year?..Just wondering why Congress?.. Oh I just have a vegetable soup today..no muffins ..It;s chilly, rainy, and raw outside and believe it or not, there is a chance of snow on MOnday...Is there no relief to paying these oil barons? And OPEC is cutting production by a million barrels a day..Didn't we just save some of their sandy soil assets by destroying a vilianous person? NOw see, maybe it;s just me but if some big guy with a bat came over to my neighborhood and beat the crap out of some bully that was threatening me, I would be giving the kid with the bat candy every day...Why do the OPEC countries sudden say, We got lots of candy here, but none for you? See that's why I could never be President because I would say to all the Opec countries, "See now I did you a favor by beating the crap out of one of your associates you didn't get along with. Now you see the freaking bat? Now give me all the freaking oil before you go take a nap with the fishes...Maybe my mom was right, I should have taken that mailman's job at the Post Office...*smile* |
| Chuckie, I hear you on the oil prices. I moo everytime I go to pump gas. My human's car has 204,000 miles on it and it has seen some fluctuation in gas prices. I do not understand why we turn our heads when Saudi Arabia manipulates the market like this. I have read a lot this past week about how our government continually turns our head about the Saudis. Bin Laden is a Saudi. We built them a lot to protect them militarily from Iraq over the years. Hopefully they will see things our way at some point, but I don't want them to manipulate the election and that is what I think they are trying to do. Could you please pass me a grilled cheese sandwich on this rainy day? |
| Hi Hoovsie, Would you like a slice of tomato on the grilled sandwich?..( Almost makes it like a "mini-pocket pizza")..We have intervals of cloud and sun and a shower here and there...the weather people call these "pop ups" if you happen to live "here or there"...like a pop tart in food or a pop up in baseball..In any event, I did get a chance to get a bit of yard work done and I made a delicious cinammon swirl quick bread this AM that is almost gone..My lady inquired as to what I was baking and then where she saw it cooling on the rack..well, it was two slices later, I finally had to arm wrestle the rest away! LOL I sent my last heating bill in with a nice message telling them the party is over! My heat is OFF! How about you? |
| Well, Chuckie the heat was off for two days. Then it got really really cold again - in the 20s and yesterday with 40 mph winds and temps in the high 30s. Today seems a bit better - in the high 50s I think is the forecast. Yesterday my human took her car to be repaired. It is a small area where she sits to wait. In walks a woman with a cell phone and she talked about everyone's business at the top of her lungs for an hour. Then her call waiting kicked in and someone else called and she said the same thing to someone else for another hour. It was too cold to meander outside and escape her voice. I think cell phones in the wrong hands are the downfall of humanity. The interesting thing was the woman had a problem with her car pulling to one side. I swear, Chuckie, she weighed in at a good 300 plus and I do not know how the service guy kept a straight face when he said he didn't know why that happened. |
| Hi Hoovsie! It's a bit chilly today here also..but a good sweater and a thermal shirt will be the order for the day. There will not be any refills for Mr. Oil Man's prosperity drink today from this residence...Car Service is always such a hassle..Years ago, I was able to do many of the minor repairs myself. However, since the advent of the computer chip and electronic stuff and diagnostic testing equipment, this is kind of left me at the mercy of Mr. Goodwrench. I brought my car in just for a routine service and an inspection sticker and I had to leave the car the entire day..You know one of those.."drop it off at 7AM and pick it up late afternoon" deals. So, I had to "hoof" it all day to any place I wanted or had to be. I am not a patient waiter standing in line...Banks, stores,etc..If there is more than three people in line, I walk out and go back another time..I have this "foresight" that one of these people in front of me is going to have a problem and cause me to wait longer...YOu know, someone hasn't signed a check, or they need a price check, or someone needs some validation or another credit card..There is going to be some sort of delay in the line that I picked to check out on. For the longest while I went without a cell phone until finally my lady bought one for me. I protested her decision as a waste of $$$. I didn;t see a need for one for me. No one has an immediate dire urge or need to call me that merits a disruption while I am away from my residence. IN addition, I don;t really have anyone to call that would like to hear from me while I am driving my truck or standing in line waiting to have my hair cut. It sits mostly in my desk drawer and I think I have used it, maybe at the most, six times in almost a year's time..I just carry it once in a blue moon if I am down in the swamp doing some fishing or by the ocean when I do my three miles. I guess some students in classrooms are "at a loss" without their cell phone and buddy list when they attend classes. I believe some states have a law where it is ilegal to chat on the phone while operating a vehicle...except in an emergency of course..LIke an traffic accident or medical emergency.... ..And of course spreading the news of Bethany and Jarrod's breakup and the big fight in the Chemistry Lab just couldn't wait!! |
| Chuckie, My human has a cell phone. But it is a Trac Phone that she prepays minutes on so she just has it in case of a car breakdown on a lonely road. She keeps it turned off at all times and would not dream of having a private conversation on it while she is driving or while she is in public. Why do some people think that others are interested in listening to their private conversations? This is why they invented phone "BOOTHS". lol I have been in more restaurants and now the car repair place where people scream into their cell phones things I don't even think their mamas would like to know. Chuckie, not to nag but you should listen to your lady and take that phone with you in case of emergencies. Turned off of course. But you know what happens to us? The battery runs down from not using it so on the rare occasion when we do need to use it the battery is low. I think I just argued against my own argument for carrying it. |
| Hi Hoovsie! The portable phone is a convenience, I agree. It has proven to be an invaluable resource in the event of an emergency. Now I would most likely carry mine more often if I could comprehend how to actually use the darn thing and get my $$ worth. There are so many buttons even to just cleick it to the Power On position, Then there are selections and menus to push this and that. One to buzz, one to vibrate, one to ring. Then it provides an exhausting amount of instructions on what to do to make a call...Now I know many argue the point that techonology has provided us with a virtual cornucopia of items we can now do with our cell phones at the touch of a finger or point of a pencil.This may be true and useful to Brittany & Tabitha in Room 612 at Marrimack High School in the Bronx...but to me, I am use to doing things the old fashioned way..Wait till I get home and call and most important, keep it simple for even my limited IQ can understand. The more complex and intricate an item can be, the more things that can go wrong or break down and the "operator" of the item has to be educated or schooled to operate it. It's like buying a convertable car and never putting the top down..why would you want to pay for something, you are not going to use except for the basic travelling from point A to point B. So, like my phone, I guess I can talk underwater and send Morse Code in seven languages and save voice mail and even do this walkie-talkie thing like I am Dick Tracy or Elliott Ness and the Gangbusters on the trail of illegal bootleggers. I guess we are a nation of people who just love to talk..LOL..In our case, we type our conversations..LOL while others enjoy the use of their phone...If I run into these "talkers" while I am in the swamp or down by the beach, they are welcome to talk all they want..... as long as they don't scare the fish away..*smile* BTW, The first of my pepper plants has broken the soil! A sure sign or rebirth and Spring! |
| Chuckie, I do think that Spring must be on it's way. I hope the Easter Bunny brings you and your lady something nice this weekend. Have you seen that Toys R Us commercial with all the bunnies and the giraffe? That is a lot of bunnies. I like bunnies though, especially when they wiggle their ears and their noses at the same time. Now that is some talent.What are your Easter plans? |
| Happy Easter to you Hoovsie! My folks will be visiting here and I'll be preparing the meal..Even Sandy ( their dog) will be coming to visit Candy..That should be really special..LOL. I'll be just cleaning up around the house today..and doing some shopping and I'll bake a cranberry bread for later on. It;s opening day of trout season so the ponds will be jammed packed with dads taking their kids to the fishin' holes..You heard of soccer Moms ??,..well today there are fishin' dads all over the State! Trout seaosn is like "THE" big event of the year for RI redidents..I myself, have stayed away from the shorelines on opening day because there are too many "rookies" out there and mishaps occur..I wait until all the one or two time fisherman get it out of their system and then I'll go..I prefer to fish where there isn;t much of a crowd..A few more days and the ponds which are elbow to elbow with people now, in a few days you won;t see anyone around..LOL. Did your place of employment allow you to go home yesterday early if you desired? |
| Hey Chuckie and I apologize for my lengthy departure from this site. I wish I had a good excuse but I don't. About five bad things happened all at once it seemed and then I went into a spell of feeling unappreciated and unwanted so I was basically feeling sorry for myself for a while. I am sorry I delayed our campfire and to answer your question, I mostly just have to get a certain amount of stuff done by a deadline. If I do that I am fine other than being a dumb ass sometimes. I am real guilty of that when I get all caught up with feeling sorry for myself. I will try to do better and not be such a dumbass about things. I guess I might want to change the rating of this to 18+ because I'll probably call myself a dumbass more than this before we are through. I am sorry and I don't think I deserve to have a biscuit but I sure would like one. What's new in your pasture? |
| Thanks for another great campfire, Chuckee! Love, Hoovsie The End! |
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