Blue Moon

Visiting youngest son and family in South Carolina when I tried to tease my daughter in law.

Me:    "Seems I only visit once in a blue moon".

                       pause

FDIL:  "We can only put up with you once in a blue moon".

We had good roads and few traffic hold ups coming from Colorado. Hope the same is true going back.

I drive in Illinois only when I can't avoid it. Bad roads, 65 mph and revenue generating police every ten miles isn't my idea of a good trip. I have a route via Sikeston, MO to Wickliffe, KY and then Padauch and back on the Interstate. Unfortunately the Hwy60/62 bridge was closed. We ended up going into Illinois and Cairo, ILL. My oldest granddaughter freaked. Such a depressing place. I'm certain she won't enjoy it tomorrow either. Still, 15 minutes going via Cairo is better than two hours  via St. Louis proper.

Our rental Nissan SUV is comfortable and it is nice sitting up where you can see ahead easier. Not too happy with the 22 mpg but renting in a smaller city limits your choices.

My grand daughter is 22 and tech savvy. Amazing the things she can do with her smart phone and the electronics in the rental. Makes me regret, just a smidgen, being a Latter Day Luddite.

One shocking moment was seeing all these tall kids masquerading as my grand kids. Need to visit more often.

Repeal the 2nd Amendment

Retired Supreme Court John Paul Stevens wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times. On that single point, he is correct. 

He goes on the regurgitate most of the (P)regressive gun grabbing talking points. Of course, the NRA takes a shot. For me, this takes him from a scholarly student of the law to a hack and besmirches whatever legacy he had heretofore.

There is a mechanism in the Constitution to repeal amendments. It has been used once, to repeal prohibition.  The bar, as it should be, is high.

To those who want to restrict or eliminate firearms, go for repeal. Convince the majority of the citizens your cause is just. Let the rule of law prevail. This is the honest approach, rather than your current efforts of death by a thousand cuts.

You will be vigorously fought but your opponents will respect your honest approach. In the unlikely event you prevail, the firearm owners, who are on the whole peaceable and respecters of the law, will grudgingly accept the outcome, IMO.

YMMV

Rust Free Studebaker Survivor

Think it is a 56 or 57 President. The 58's had twin headlights. Located in a storage area where I have a locker. Cell phone photos, sorry for the size.

Colorado once required safety inspections every six months. The one near the driver side A pillar reads 1992. The car probably spent most of it's life inside. I didn't notice it last month when I was there.

All original and unmolested, as near as I can tell.

Dumb Shits

The on-site property manager is one of the hardest working people I know and I appreciate her efforts in keeping the place attractive. She does have a huge temper and sometimes goes over the top as is the case with the community BBQ grill.

She has been divorced three times. Is that the result of her temper? 

Is her temper the result of being divorced three times?  I’m not brave enough to find out.  That said, she is nice to see in the summer with her shorts and skimpy tops!

Yeah, I’m a dirty old man.

Lemons to Lemonade

Taking some time off working. I have an adult granddaughter in Denver. Will pick her up Thursday and we will drive to Spartanburg, S.C. to spend Easter with her mother, my youngest son, and all the kids still living at home.

Looking forward to the drive. She is a feisty, opinionated,  take no prisoners young woman. She is her mother’s daughter. As I understand, her savage Chihuahua will accompany us. Plus, she is an excellent driver. 

On the downer side, another first cousin is fighting cancer. At one time I had 50+ first cousins. One was killed by a drunk driver. All the other deaths have been cancer related. I don’t keep score but maybe 50% have come down with it, predominately female, and about half of those are gone. Ghastly plague!

Pain Dulls But Never Goes Away

My father, Robert T (Bob) White died this day in 1985 in his sleep. Over the years the pain has dulled but never gone completely away. Probable cause of death? We believe congestive heart failure brought on by untreated sleep apenia.

He was born in his grandmother's home in Sunbeam, Moffat County, CO. That caused him some good nature teasing when he was in the Army/Army Air Corps in WWII, especially when his home of record was Skull Creek, CO.

Flat out the best horseman I've ever seen, his only competition was his elder brother.

My biggest regret, or loss, is my sons weren't able to grow up around him.

He sent me a letter when I was in Germany in the Army threatening to disown me if I volunteered for Vietnam. His point, "I fought in a damned Asian war. I didn't raise a son to fight in one". As it was, the Army only accepted USAREUR volunteers if they were fluent in French. I wasn't.

Speaking of languages he had a gift. He was completely fluent in Hindustani as spoken in the Assam area and was passable in Mexican and Dine (Navajo).


His shooting skills were outstanding. I was a good shot, won several competitions as a Junior NRA member, and came within two rounds of maxing qualification at Ft. Leonard Wood. At the range killing paper I beat him every time (which pissed him off - he was not a gracious loser). Hunting, putting meat on the table, I was wasting ammo while he didn't miss. That is when he got his back (and I'm not a gracious loser either).

We went in together on a Piper J4 which we both learned to fly. Later he owned a C-182. The man could fly but was damn careless and I called him on it. Those times weren't especially pleasant.

His death was especially hard on my sister who is much younger.

He gave me a good example of what a man should be and it has served me well. I hope my sons will say the same when I pass.

Furloughed

Elephants stomp and ants tremble or so it seems. The courier biz is going through some changes and clients are lost and gained. My employer is losing some routes including the bulk of mine. I'm offered other routes but don't like them. Hence, I'm taking a self imposed furlough. 

Financially I'm fine other than facing some large dental bills. Then again, I'm kind of liking the Kentucky meth head look.

This weekend I worked because they didn't have anyone. Flu has hit the company hard. Sort of riding for the brand. The route involves driving to Estes Park, home of badly driven Subarus and SUVs, plus Boulder and Denver. Not something I enjoy.

  "Give me room, lots of room and starry skies above...."

One thing I've learned in life is this. The only constant is change.

So we'll see how this plays out.