tao1776

I've been found out! Some time ago, a family member from California goggling for P.O.W. pix and information on my Dad's P.O.W. experience came upon my blog posts. So, for over a year many of them have been coming on to read my rants and raves. There is a good deal of information on my general distaste for them as a whole. There is a lot of self examination and bearing of my soul. It is kind of like your brother and sisters and your extended family seeing you naked. So have a little consideration, huh? Go read something else.

My neighbor believes in freedom. He is free to have the biggest eyesore in the neighborhood. He is free to destroy the sidewalk and make it his own private driveway. He is free to have a forty foot flagpole in his front yard that is illuminated from atop his house. He is free to have his light shine on my house. He is free to alienate his children due to his beliefs and attitude. He is free to have the loudest voice in a crowd. He is free to tell people that he was in Vietnam when he was not. He is free to think that he is a good American. The "real" America. He is free to camouflage his boat, his bike, his truck. He is free to have dogs that lived their lives at the end of a six foot chain. I always thought of freedom as being, "Do what you will but harm ye none." And I guess that he does too. After all, he has not shot at me with one of his many guns. Perhaps I am influenced by such as my ex-P.O.W. Dad, who was not impressed in the least by my neighbor's milit...

By the time that you reach your fifties you find that you have made many friends and hopefully very few enemies. I often think of the Beatles lyrics; There are places I'll remember All my life, though some have changed Some forever, not for better Some have gone and some remain All this places have their moments With lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living In my life, I've loved them all . Today is my Granddaughter's birthday. She is four. I received a call from my high school buddy tonight and after much conversation it came up that today would have been his 35th wedding anniversary. I never put the two dates together. I could hear the break in his voice. His wife and my friend, passed away last November. We made plans to go out tomorrow night. I cried when I got off the phone. I know that he was reaching out and I was glad that he felt that he could call me and talk about it. This is one of the few friendships that I try and maintain....and...

In my fridge I h ave an assortment of mustard, a bottle of ketchup, hot sauce, soy sauce and three sticks of butter. There is also a half empty bottle of Sunny-D and a half bag of catnip. The freezer contains ice of course, and a bag of hot peppers. Quite a contrast; ice and hot peppers. But thats it. Thats all you will find in there. In my cupboard and kitchen cabinets you will find spices and four cans of cheddar cheese soup. There is a box of pasta and two cans of tuna. So there is hope for the week. My mortgage is due in three days and I'm fifty dollars short. I'll borrow that and repay from my next pay check in two weeks. My low fuel/no fuel light has been on for several days so I will need to borrow a few bucks there too! I'm not whining. I am echoing the experience of many people. Its not coming people! For many of us it's already here. And it has been for quite a while. While we have felt the pain of losing high paying jobs, we consider ourselves fortunate to fi...