We're home......

Got in yesterday afternoon, well, about 4:30. Carol was done in. Today has been spent resting. Last night , I went to bed early. Woke up this morning about 8:30. I've played at emptying the car, but haven't put body and soul into it. I'll have to do that tomorrow.
More later.....

We're on the road......

We saw Ramonia , an old friend at Firestone who lives in a nursing home not far from Marion , Illinios, that is where we are now. This will make our second night here. It is a great Motel, Comfort Inn.
After visiting with Ramonia, Carol and I were just beat, we were to go back today, but Carol could not do it, she has spent most of the day in bed.
Yesterday, we went to the Mall. Naturally, we parked on the wrong side of where Carol wanted to be, she wanted a Lane Bryant, and a Fashion Bug, and getting there took forever. I had her in the wheel chair, and i had to push her.
When she was done, I thought about what i would have to do. And, I decided that it would be best to leave her at Target, and i would walk to the car. Big mistake. I should have done it inside the Mall. I was tuckered by the time I found the car. i thought i might not even find it.
So, today , we have rested. I even slept in. i needed the rest too.
The itinerary , we spend the night here, we move on to Metropolis, and mess around there, because there is a statue of Superman. I have learned that this is the only town with that name.

I do not know if we will o out to eat supper, frankly I am not hungry. i went to Cracker Barrel this morning, an got breakfast, and I could not eat it all. My sugars have been really good.
My plans are to get a throw away camera, and take pictures, and add them here, and perhaps onto my other group in Yuku.

The General Jackson riverboat

The General Jackson Riverboat sails on the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennesee. She is a big boat. And once when traveling to Nashville, Carol and I boarded her for one of their lunch cruises.
Going up the gangway, I met a kid who had a shirt which said,"I know Bo," meaning Bo Jackson. At the time, Jackson was playing for the Royals in Kansas City. So, I had to tease the kid by saying, that I was the one who should be wearing that shirt, because I really knew Bo. We bantered back and forth until we reached the place where we were to be seated in the main dining room.
We were seated at a long table, and I noticed that the woman I was sitting next too, had a cigarette, and she was smoking. This is something I will not tolerate, smoking. You can kill yourself if you like, but please keep your smoke away from me.
Whenever I am faced with a smoker, I look for a way of escape. While I am frantically looking about, because asking someone who has to have a fix to refrain from smoking is like putting out a forest fire with a squirt gun. I see my little buddy sitting with his family. They were all alone.
They were set apart from the rest of us, but best of all,nne of them were smoking. I get up, and I ask if we may sit at their table.
We had no more seated ourselves when a waiter came over to tell me that this table was reserved. By this time, we were well under way, and I quipped,"How are they coming by speed boat?" It never dawned on me that we were sitting at a VIP table, as it turns out we were. This nice family was the family of the new General Manager of the Opry Hotel. The Manager told the waiter to go on, that it was all right, and we got to stay. I was glad that I had kidded that kid about knowing Bo, I am sure that is what helped me in being able to stay.

Water , water every where.......

The weather has been the topic; rain, floods, tornados, and draught. In the corn belt, so much rain that it does not look as if there will be a corn crop this year. In the south, draught, not enough wate for crops. In the East just plain old heat; heat with higher than normal temps. And in other parts of the world earthquakes. I once saw a cartoon where another planet was talking to Earth, we were referred to as the fleas of this world. It does seem as if the Earth is trying to rid itself of its inhabitance.
We got the car ready. It cost us, but it had to be done. It has a lot of miles on it and wear and tear is normal. We had the oil changed, we had to realign the tires, and get new tires.
We needed to change the transmision fluid, and filter, so it was costly. When we get back, we have to look at the brakes.

I may have found a better lawn man. At least, someone who will do the work cheaper. I still like the idea of having James plow out the driveway in the winter. But, if i can get someone to do the work for less, and perhaps do a better job...... We'll see. James did not take it well that we replaced him on the empty lot. We got an interesting call this afternoon. A Real Estate agent called about the empty lot. We told him wht we knew. he has promised to get back with us.

Spook Beckman

I got to thinking about radio personalities. Spook Beckman worked out of Columbus, Ohio. He could be seen on television, and heard in the afternoon on his radio show. Twenty years ago or more, who is counting, Carol and I went to a "Taste of Kansas City". It was a food fair where foods from differeent dives were offered to people to taste. If you were going to make all the rounds, you did not want to eat too much at any given place. The speaker, or entertainer was from Columbus, Ohio, and I casually asked;" Is Beckman still on the radio?" The guy's eyes sparkled. " Yeah,the old guy just can't quit working." This was in the late '70's, and I listened to Beckman in the '60's, he had been around longer than that. And, once on a trip through Ohio, and close to Columbus, I flipped through some radio stations until I heard his familiar voice. Beckman was always chewing gum. He kept his mouth wrapped around I don't know how many sticks of gum. On the radio, you could hear him pop his gum.
Well, Beckman is n longer with us. I don't know how he died, probably old age, but his voice is stilled.

The life of a writer....

If you can enlarge the strip, you will get the joke. I was listening to a man, don't recall who he was . He was a progressive. One of the points he made was that the media has been hi-jacked

by Capitalist. And, as he pointed out, Capitalism will eventually eat its young. He didn't put it exactly like that, but that is in essence what he meant. I think Carl Marx put it this way,"Capitalism will hang itself by the very rope it sold to the perpertrators." That too is not an exact quote, but it is close enough. Consummerism is going to be the downfall of Democracy. Every time you buy something at Wall-Mart, you help put a Mom and Pop store out of business.

And Wall-Mart cares little if they sell you merchandixe painted with lead paint, or if they sell you toothpaste made with anti-freeze.

I can tell you that Rush Limbaugh is not really all that entertaining. Nor are any of his clones. Right Wing rhetoric is about as boring as it can get.

How often have I yearned for the good old days when huksters were really on the air; Long John Nebel, Jean Shepherd, Arthur Godfrey. These men knew how to sell and how to be entertaining. Of course, you knew they were huksters. It was no secret. They did not wrap their ideas around an ideology and try to push their thinking off on you. How I long for those days.