I've Got Another Think Coming

I haven't posted anything in awhile. Don't seem to be able to think of subjects interesting enough to post. I don't think it's because I've got writer's block. I haven't vegged out or anything, at least not full time. I have my moments when the view from inside my head is more or less blank but I usually snap out of it in time to avoid walking into the wall or driving the Sorento into a ditch. Usually. Yesterday I stopped off at the post office to mail a letter and in maneuvering the Sorento down an incline and simultaneously turning right I drove over a curb. And I think of myself being an excellent driver! But this wasn't because of a lapse of consciousness or anything...it was just lousy driving.  I was thoroughly ashamed of myself.  I don't accept lightly any thoughts that I may be turning into one of those "senior drivers" we all like to curse at and complain that they're "too damn old to be driving and should get off the road." I realize that publishing this mishap could result in branding myself for life but if anyone reading this is so inclined to judge me as incorrigibly deficient as a driver, I submit the following:

1) No damage was done to curb or Sorento
2) No other persons were involved or disturbed in any way.
3) I berated myself verbally with cursing and insults.
4) I was embarrassed enough that had I had one of those hand-held chain whips I would have flagellated my back. Thankfully, I don't have one.
5) After I confessed my driving transgressions to my wife later in the day, she confessed that she had done the exact same thing (although not at the same location) and, get this...she had a flat tire this morning! I'm not gloating. Just trying to put all this into perspective; obviously her driving error was more severe than mine.
6) I rest my case

Back to the writing drought. I don't know why I've slacked off on posting my blogs. Either of them. On my genealogy blog, MY SEARCH GOES ON, I posted one a few weeks ago, April 23rd to be exact, about my search for my maternal grandmother's brother who lived in Allentown, PA. I finished about as much as I could find well over a week ago, found some interesting relatives and expanded my source info on that branch and generation of the family and have moved on to other branches. I feel obligated to post again with my findings but just haven't gotten around to it. Lazy I guess. One reason I might feel obligated is due to the fact that I now have a calling card that sort of advertises that blog and my personal info. I had calling cards as an officer in the Army. I had calling cards the entire time I was employed in trucking. They were a traditional and official tool used to identify oneself and clarify one's title. Well, I'm not official anything anymore now that I'm retired, but there is a good reason why I have some now. I had ordered something online a month or so ago (I can't even remember what I ordered) but it included a free set of calling cards (box of 250) that I could design with their templates and, get this, a free T-shirt with the same design! How cool is that?! My wife thinks I'm nuts. Maybe I am, but you know what? I've got calling cards, I've got a matching T-shirt, and they were freeeee!  Cost = zero!

I've got 248 cards left if anybody wants one. I really don't have much use for them but they're kind of neat so I've put some into my old and now unused calling card holder. Just in case.  I used to keep my calling cards in the holder in my suit jacket pocket. Now I don't wear a suit jacket anymore.


So I've got more things to think up that are worthy of posting but I'm never sure when that will happen. I do a lot of thinking when I'm out on my walks. A lot of times I lock onto a thought that I think would be interesting to post on my blog(s). But a lot more times I forget about whatever fantastic subject matter had come to mind because I don't stay on one subject for very long. Scatter-brained describes me perfectly. Lately I've been thinking about our upcoming Alaska tour and trying to strategize how to pack for it. We're trying to condense our baggage into as few pieces as possible to save on airline fees. We're taking a 15 day tour combining 8 days on land and 7 days on a cruise. Attire required for both does not necessarily overlap so condensing is a challenge. Now we're not saying exactly when the tour takes place because security of our home and property when we're gone, I'm told, should not be broadcast publicly on forums like blogs and Facebook.  All I can say about that is that if anyone thinks they know when we're going and think about breaking into our home, I hope they'll have the decency to not step on my pet snakes, especially the poisonous ones, because we'll be letting them out of the cages to roam free inside the house while we're gone. And if you think they won't want to come and greet you with a nice big kiss, then you've got another think coming!




                                                                     

Nothing I Can Say

It feels like I've been holding myself back from making political comments on this blog.  Perhaps my instincts to muffle my political opinions are the best instincts I have.  Best, in the sense that I've always tried to maintain the policy that the more you keep your mouth shut, the less chance there is of sticking your foot into it. I don't know who originated that thought but it has always seemed like a good policy to embrace. Probably more so because my opinions expressed in a public forum like Google Blogs are impossible to take back. I don't have the time, the energy, or the staff of assistants ready and willing to put the right spin on something I might say that I didn't think about before I said it. And I don't spend a lot of time editing any of the blogs I post for anything other than spelling.  Yes, it's true, I don't like misspellings in published writing, especially when the writer is me.  What can I say?  I was raised on phonics so I'm eternally hooked on proper spelling.

Donald Trump's recent verbal vomiting,  first about Obama's "missing" birth certificate,  and subsequently about the president's "questionable" qualifications for entries into Columbia and Harvard Law School, is one of the issues I've been straining to withhold from my blahs.  What a freaking bird-brain platform from which to start an exploration into national politics! If that's what it is. I'm not so sure. It may be just his efforts at self promotion and even a dummy like me knows he is a master at promoting himself. But anybody who thinks that The Donald  has even one ounce of the qualifications required to be President is missing a screw somewhere. Which leads me to my point and my political agenda in this blog...nothing I can say is going to change your mind. No matter how many screws in your head are loose.

I myself am a master at something too. A master of jumping on the bandwagon of ideas that sound good to me when I hear them. I thought Obama's comment about "circus barkers" was very close to the mark in describing his most recent critic. Before he used that description I had read an editorial that put the label of "clown" on The Donald.  I thought that was the more accurate of the two but they both worked in my mind and I embraced them in my pool of opinions about the Trumpmeister (that tag is mine but anyone is welcome to use it). But again, if you've already hooked your wagon to DaDon's circus train, nothing I can say is going to change your mind.  Mr. Trump is a great entertainer. I am a fan who watches Celebrity Apprentice like clockwork. I even stayed in one of his hotels once. So I've got nothing against the guy other than to say I think he should stick to those things he knows best...TV entertainment, family nepotism, and real estate.

Conspiracies are alluring.  I don't know why but I know one when I see one.  I never had any doubt that the "birthers" were ignorant of the facts but I recognize how intriguing it can be to see a few clues, some true, others not so true,  all fall into place and blend together into a juicy, radical, gossipy-sort of theory that would perk up the ears of any of us. The point where conspiracies can become mean spirited is, in my opinion, where most of us disconnect our wagons and recognize the conspiracy for what it is...bullshit.  But there are some who cannot disconnect.  There will be people who go to their graves believing that Obama was born outside the United States.  Nothing I can say or anyone can say will change their minds. Same with any whose curiosity has been aroused about The Trumpster's shots across the stern regarding Obama's scholastic performance. The implication seems to be that a guy who graduated from Harvard Law magna cum laude (that means he done good) perhaps wasn't qualified to go there! It makes me wonder if the same "team of investigators" that TheTrumplator sent to Hawaii for the certificate search are the same buffoons investigating Obama's scholastic records.  Someone needs to tell TheHairHead that he can call off the investigators. Not because it's bullshit. This investigation, if there is one, falls into the category of who gives a shit!?!  Wonder what class at the Wharton School Trumplestiltskin missed when they explained what magna cum laude meant?  The truth is, again, nothing I can say will change anybody from believing what they want to believe. Even if it's BS. So that's enough said.