Guilt

  Honestly…..If you insist on calling vegetables “veggies”, I will no longer take you seriously about pretty much anything. And now I hear that at Disney resorts, there is no longer a welcoming phrase of “Ladies and Gentlemen…..Boys and Girls”--It’s been replaced with the gender-neutral term “Dreamers of All Ages”. What a Bunch-O-Hooey. No more “Boys and Girls”…..Don’t even say those words at a Disney resort, I guess. Look, I have grand-daughters and grand-sons. They are, in fact, “boys and girls”. And I’d like to think that they’re also welcome at Disneyland in the off-chance that their parents can afford the entry fee. You’ve just gotta wonder where Disney stands on Mickey and Minnie Mouse these days. Or Daisy and Donald Duck. I was watching some MST 3K—Something about 50’s era spaceships and such. An old serial made into a movie, I think. What I wonder about is why did capes go out of fashion with aliens? They look right snappy. The cherry trees here in Ca...

  Up here in bucolic Castle Rock, we had 2 consecutive non-rainy days. So I cut the grass. Made me feel like I live in the ‘burbs again. I actually like taking care of a lawn.   Even with all of the hoop-la about climate change/global warming the rabbits on our hill and the squirrels and all the birds seem to think it’s Spring. The cherry and apple trees and tulips agree. We have neighbors who have turkeys and ducks. Other neighbors have chickens. Maybe I could build an aviary and we could have squab. Tasty little critters. There’s also doves and American robins the size of barnyard fowl here. I bet they’d taste pretty good too.  I bring this up because the price of gasoline is causing my food budget to shrink. Commercials on TV are always louder than the programming. I have a TV that compensates, but it’s still overwhelming. I was just wondering if the advertisers know that I have a “mute” button. I also wonder if advertisers (and the programming staff of ...

  My Bride makes a dish that I really like. She has always called it Mexican Meat. I call it Messkin Meat, but I mean no disrespect by that. It’s a name for the meat dish, not the people who are now and have always been my friends. They understand that I’m actually harmless. At least they THINK that I’m harmless. You might find disagreement if you look hard enough. I like all sorts of Mexican food, and when I’ve got a cold or the flu or otherwise just don’t feel quite right, I medicate myself with Jalapenos. It’s something that works. But….Mexican Meat. Our little Terrier-Dog, Lil, gets meat scraps all the time. Parts of steaks, chops, chicken skin…..She’s a lucky dog. But she does draw the line at rancid and “sorta” rancid hamburger meat. Back to Mexican Meat. Today, I did a regrettable thing and happened by while the Bride was cooking up a Mess-O-Messkin Meat at the same time that she was preparing Lil a meat plate. Lil got some trimmings from a pot roa...

  It tickles me to watch the “weather” reports on news programs. Tickles me even MORE to watch The Weather Channel. I’ve been living in the Pacific Northwest for about 6 or 7 years now, and I’m here to tell you that we have wide deep rivers and massive lakes that are just chock full of fresh clean sweet water. It never really quits the rainy season here. The standing joke (based, of course, in truth) is that we have two seasons—Winter and August. Typically, we usually have about 3 months of decent weather—middle of July into sometime in September. That’s it. Then it rains. A smattering of snow, and that’s always a treat, but it’s rain. And, frankly, it takes the gas right out of me after a month or so. Boredom and depression in the winter are very real things up in these parts. True, we’re not as hammered as, say, North Dakota, but it’s still pretty grim. Which brings me to the weathermen (this included weatherwomen, just to make sure you know I’m not a sexi...

Looks like we will, after all, have a baseball season this year. The millionaires and billionaires buried the hatchet and agreed to disagree for another 5 or so years. Best I can tell, the biggest thing they agreed to was having a designated hitter in the National League. Shit. I don’t even like divisional play, much less this clap-trap. Pitchers are no longer baseball players. They’re just chuckers of orbs. They shouldn’t be allowed to even call themselves baseball players. Or qualify for MVP voting—that really should be reserved for players. Same goes for career designated hitters. They are not baseball players. They simply bat-swingers, and nothing more. Even though the season is starting late, they have also agreed on a full 162 game slate. This means, of course, that there’s going to be a crap-load of 7 inning double headers. More heresy, you ask me. 7 innings does not a baseball game make. They did this nonsense because the owners only pay their employees for g...

  With all the talk up here in the greater Pacific Northwest about the never-ending drought (regardless of the flooding, I guess) and global warming, and protests against fossil fuel, and that idiot Greta Thurnberg…….The sky is falling crowd….. Well, the Dogwoods here in Castle Rock are blooming, the birds are nesting and, from what I can tell, making little birds. So, counting the crises (not the Wuhan Flu, but the other ones), we got Fossil Fuel, Global Warming, Climate Change, Flooding, Drought, War, Gun Violence, Police Brutality…..I’m certain that there’s more. But in these parts, it just looks like Spring is right around the corner. At least the Dogwoods and the birds think so. Soon as it warms up a little (it was 22 degrees American this morning), and dries out some, my big crisis will be mowing the grass. Another big Springtime event is re-setting the clocks for Daylight Savings Time, which happens this weekend. Really looking forward to that. We ...

  I don’t live an expensive life. My house in bucolic Castle Rock was built in 1935. I drive a 21 year old VW Beetle. I’m a retired Law Enforcement Officer and my medical benefits are supplied by MediCare. That’s not an extravagant life. I’m on a fixed income. I have Social Security and some retirement benefits from the two agencies I worked for (for 32 years). I’m a U.S. Army veteran. I’ve always done my part. Paid my taxes. Voted. Respected the elected officials. Always carried my own water, you could say. I felt sorry for Joe Biden. He seemed (and seems) befuddled. He lurches when he walks. His wife has to hold his hand on steps to prevent him from stumbling. I felt sorry for him. I really did. When Donald Trump was president, the gas station here in Castle Rock sold gasoline for $2.75 a gallon, more or less. Today, I filled up the VW at the gas station and paid a heart-stopping $4.99 and 9/10ths a gallon. In Castle Rock, for Chris...