Ah Jeez.....

Now this is some where you would really want to live isn't it.

Dumbass needs a little adjustment I think.

Knot Knockers

In one of my occasional forays into the jungle of the local flea market a couple of weeks ago I happened upon a table of these useful items.



Bobby Brantly and his wife were trying to sell these beautiful Baton Rouges ... Cajun for Red Sticks. (look it up)

Eighteen inches of attitude adjustment potential made from one of my favorite woods, Eastern Red Cedar.

They were trying to start a new business by showcasing his wood turning skills, since they had both lost their jobs recently. I gave him a little advice about not using his brother-in-law the lawyer to incorporate at the cost of about $2500.00 when he could do the same for about $300.00 at Legalzoom.com in about 30 minutes.
In appreciation he gave me this little bat which I then proceeded to carry all over the flea market telling everyone who would listen where to get one. I did get a few strange looks from some of the undocumented workers milling around there.

If you would like your own little Knot Knocker (individually numbered and sure to be the fashion accessory of the 2010 election season) you can give him a call at 706 601 8452. In today's economic climate we need to support those who are trying to support themselves.

Sea Breezes

No...I'm not at the shore...although I wish I was. Maybe down around Cancun or Puerto Vallarta. Anywhere that I could ignore the insanity coming out of TAP (The Asylum on the Potomac). I might even break the habit of 34 years of sobriety and have me one of those rum drinks with the little umbrella sticking out of it. Maybe then I could begin to unravel all the contradictory garbage that the dumbmass media is feeding us these days.

I notice that when the Honduran Military acted to keep the president of that country from attempting to pervert the law down there by trying to stay in office longer than legally allowed under their laws...our great democratic leaders in this country say that it is illegal.

Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object


At least the Wall Street Journal has the balls to call them on it.

See what I mean. Are the winds beginning to blow in a different direction just a little??

No wonder people all over the world hate us. What arrogance that we would attempt to tell them how to run their own country. Of course what would you expect from the Communists in charge of our government today.

Fidel, Hugo and Barrack. Marxists to the core.

Catching up

It seems a little odd to be putting fingertips to keyboard after a hiatus of over two weeks, but it feels like it might be time to do a little catching up.

First of all: Thanks to those who drop by here from time to time, and especially Thanks to those who have e-mailed with words of encourgagement.

Second: a few housekeeping chores. I've written before of my BIL (actually the wife's, but then I can never figure the nuances of in-law-hood out) who has had cancer for a while. Well, now he has been in a hospice care home for about 3 weeks and will likely not see many more weeks, if any. His wife (The SIL) is staying there with him full time as well as the two little dogs who were his constant companions. Thanks to the Doctors and Nurses and the drugs, he is in very little pain but also has very little apparent awareness of what is going on around him. I say apparent because I'm not sure how much his brain might sense but because of the drugs he can't respond to. I've said my good-byes to him and will hopefully meet his spirit again one day.

Third: The damn feet are still giving me some pain, especially in the heels. I'll be making another trip to the VA before too long and will try to get them to prescribe me some good insoles. I've talked to quite a few people who have had similar problems who now have gotten over it, although looking back and knowing now that I've had this problem for twenty five years or so may mean that I'll always have the problem.
People.....if you are not keeping limber by stretching or exercising.....I can testify to the importance of that.

Forth: I missed posting on Fathers Day. To make up for that I'm of a mind to tell you the story of a Father I know.

As sometimes happens hormones can overrule common sense sometimes and a child is born with out what used to be referred to as 'the benefit of marriage'. Some (more so in the past than now that it's become more common) would refer to the child as illegitimate. Personally, I think that if a mother makes the commitment to bear to term and deliver the child, that removes any negative label you might chose to place on either the mother or the child. Because that is a HUGE commitment right there. Not one to be sneered at, but rather encouraged.

Anyway a boy child was born. Quite an ordeal getting pushed out of the only home you'd ever known out into the world of light, noise and confusion. A beautiful child..
.....dark hair with the most beautiful eyes and lashes you'd ever see. And he was loved...by his mother, grandparents, babysitters and even the mothers old gray cat.
Well.....fire ants didn't love him. When he was big enough to walk out in the yard, he'd occasionally wander in to a bed of those pests and not realizing what was going on would hop up and down going OW! until someone would run over and snatch him up and brush them off his feet and legs.

Eventually the mother entered a relationship with a young man who cared for the boy as much as for his mother. One day.....maybe around the time the boy was three or four years old the boy went up to the young man and asked "Van W****, will you be my dad?"

What would you answer in a situation like that? Not married to the mother...the relationship sometimes a rocky one...some men would start running for the hills. Not Van......with a catch in his throat and maybe some dust in his eyes, he replied, "yes Cody, I'll be your dad".

He has been a great dad. From teaching the boy how to catch a ball to teaching him how to hunt and fish to committing to the mother and working to make them a family, working long hard hours which entails a lot of traveling, he'd call every night and always talk to Cody. They are as close or closer than a lot of natural Fathers and Sons. I know it hasn't always been easy. The commitment once made...has been kept. That's an honorable thing.

You've probably guessed by now that this is my grandson I'm talking about (he's 17 now and driving, will be in the 12th grade this fall).....and his Dad, Van. A man I'm proud to think of as my son.

He's earned the right to the title of Father.

Winding it down

Almost 10:30 pm.

Just about bed time.

Wow. Two posts in one day. The universe will be sucked into a Black Hole and we'll all live in Washington, D.C.

Up early this morning to make the trek down to Augusta, GA visiting the foot quack about my wheels.

Surprisingly, after a two hour drive down US 78 and I-20, the pause in the waiting room wasn't even long enough for me to turn to the article in the magazine I picked up. I'm serious.....how many of you ever arrived for a doctors appointment twenty minutes ahead of the scheduled time and then were ushered into the inner sanctum within a minute and a half.

Then the doctor actually comes into the room before I had my shoes and socks off and had time to lean back in the space chair.

Come on...this is the VA.

Even the nurse was bored.

Another two shots into the feet. Apparently if the pain level has receded from +10 to about 7 in a month or so...you get another set of shots. Can't hurt...well I did flinch a little.

I must confess that for about 3 hours I didn't have any pain at all in what my DDM (Dear Departed Mother) used to call my snow skies. Although she would now have to admit that I have more than grown into them.

A quick stop at the paymaster to garner funds for the requisite bag of Crunchy Cheetos's that will fuel the 2 hour trip back home and I'm on my way.

I'd spotted a sign for a rifle range down below Lexington as I went down and I stopped on the way back.

Owned and operated by a former Naval Chief Petty Officer it offers steel targets out to the 750 yard line plus a competition pistol and rifle range including tower. I will definitely be dropping a few dollars here in the near future.

After a stop by the bank and home I had to run out to make a buy of the shiny stuff and stop by the junk store and flea market my buddy runs.

Then home again to change into attire more suitable for a visit to the Funeral Home in Monroe to pay our respect to the Ol' Grumps younger sister recently relieved of the burden of the Big C. A relief I'm sure, both to her and her children. While the sorrow of her passing from their presence will take a while to get over they can feel gladness that her suffering is over and she died peacefully at home not long after awakening and being bathed and made comfortable by one of her daughters just after sunrise of day before last. They'll lay her beside her husband of over 50 years on Sunday. The wife and Ol' Grump will attend.

While I....

Well, I will be celebrating Family in another way. A gathering from far and wide of the Dunagan Clan at the Methodist Campground near Lawrenceville.

I'm really looking forward to seeing people I've not seen in many years as well as some I saw only recently at the service for my Aunt Margret. A joyous celebration of noise and food as we try to catch up on what everyone has been up to.

While everyone will not be able to attend, as we are flung to the winds, those who are absent will be fondly remembered and missed a great deal.

Life.....huh? Ain't it great.

Go and watch

Bill Whittle

Just damn.

This is why he has millions of visitors and I have 10 per day.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did

Evidence ??

There are those who say that we evolved from monkeys.

Perhaps here is evidence of that.

Either that or evidence that the Irish DE-volve when they get a few pints into 'um.

Another Month

Just Damn....

June already.

Payday has come and gone and I'm nearly back to square one again.

Ha! It was late last month when last we heard from the intrepid boy skyman.

The muse has certainly been quite of late... but then to those who have read much of this bit of shit and giggles you know that she doesn't speak very often in my presence anyway.

Truth be told.... I've been reading enough good bloggers to feel ashamed that anyone would waste the time to come here more than once.

That's why I have sisters......they come back often enough to prompt me to post something just to let them know that I'm still alive.

Speaking of Sisters...

I am blessed with nearly a half dozen of pretty good ones and I don't tell them often enough. Shush....I don't want them to get wind of it.

My northernmost sister was recently blessed to have her youngest return from Iraq after a year or so serving with the 10th_Mountain_Division.

As you might imagine that has put a pretty big smile on her face.



Now consider that this is her Third son to have returned safely from over there and you will see two things...

1st...She started having children in the first grade...

2nd...She is a Blue Star Mom who rates a Gold Medal IMHO.

Short pause while I blow my nose and wipe my eyes here.

There is hope for our country yet when we consider that we still have young men such as these.

I sometimes grow discouraged when considering the path that the land of liberty seems to be taking, but if you'll read some of the quotes at that last link you might be hopeful for the future at least.

The pendulum swings from extreme to extreme. I just need to remember.....This too shall pass.