G,B, & U

GOOD: Minnesota now has two senators-maybe
BAD: After yesterday's Supreme Court decision, it appears Prez Obama's staff has done another poor job running checks on nominees. His nominee is a loser in my opinion. He should do as Reagan did and surround himself with good people. Reagan had a great cabinet except for the Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, who is from Wyoming and was at UW about the same time I was. Maybe he and Cheney hooked up there. It doesn't matter as the Obama folks are doing a terrible job nominating people who can stand on their public and private merits.
UGLY: A Pokeism: "Behind every silver lining is another black cloud." The Twins, Rockies and Ghosts (1-5) all lost yesterday. Just when I thought there was hope.
GOOD: Tonight is opening night for the Ghosts. It's cloudy outside, however.

The baseball stars were aligned

For you astrologers, something almost unheard of happened yesterday:
GREAT: The Rockies, Twins, and the Casper Ghosts (1-4) all won. Will that ever happen again.
GOOD: Went to see the movie The Proposal yesterday. Loved it-a definite 5/5.

Brief thoughts on MJ & FF

I liked most of Michael Jackson's music as well as the Jackson Five's. I do consider him and his life style "different." No-I never learned to moonwalk.
I don't think I ever watched an episode of Charley's Angels" which made Farrah Fawcett famous. I didn't own one of the 5 million posters of her in the red bathing suit although I admit to admiring those of my friends who had invested in said poster. I just hate to see anyone suffer from any form of cancer.

Last night on TV I watched my first Warren Miller ski movie during the summer. I'll probably watch two or three more in the next couple of months. They inspire me to work harder at the athletic club (aka the Fat Farm) and eat a little less so on a weekday seven or eight months from now I can enjoy a couple of hours skiing down the mountain. The film also reminds me that I bought next year's ski pass in May.

The Casper Ghosts are now 0-3.

From my favorite calendar:
June 24 "You might be a redneck if.......you think 'surround sound' is when you get caught between your wife and her mother on the sofa."

I forgot

Happy anniversary (yesterday) Keri & Eric. Keri, it seems like yesterday when you and I made the big trip down the middle aisle. The card is in the mail.
Five days until the Casper Ghosts open their baseball season. They are 0-2 on the road so far.

Misc.

ANOTHER PLACE FOR THE IRANIAN OFFICIAL TO VISIT (see previous blog): He should visit a coed college or university where students of both genders are educated together. I would avoid both Bob Jones Univ. and BYU whose dress and conduct codes resemble those in Iran.

BAD: the Supreme Court decision that school districts must pay for handicapped students to attend private schools without consulting the public schools first. The cost will be prohibitive.
GOOD: Once the above students leave the district, test scores should rise but it's an expensive way to raise scores.
UNCERTAIN: other than meeting a gender and race requirement, Prez Obama's Supreme Court nominee appears to offer little else.
RIDICULOUS: Fox News reported today that cocaine production in Columbia is down 28%. How would they know something like that? Who keeps the stats?
HYPOCRISY: another Conservative admits to having an affair. Of course he won't resign. They probably criticized Clinton.
GOOD: I paid $2.36.9/ gallon for gas today. That's down 8 cents from last week.
GREAT: both kids called for both Father's Day and their mother's birthday. They have become so mature and responsible and, of course, they both stay in the will.

I got a haircut today. Every time it becomes less tonsorial and more chatter to justify the cost. There are no senior discounts here.

BUMPER STICKER OF THE DAY seen on the back of a battered, beat-up car:
"Trust your instincts: people really DON'T like you"

8 places I would take an Iranian

With all the upheaval, the day will come when a government (whether we like it or not) is seated. In a show of diplomacy I would suggest the following itinerary to show any Iranian official who visits:
The 8 places I would take an Iranian diplomat to improve our relations (I would assume, given current dogma that the official would be a man so I'll use masculine pronouns):
1. Start him with a visit to Fenway Park in Boston. Let him witness an American crowd when it gets riled up over something-especially if the Yankees are in town. Let him sing Sweet Caroline-Ho,Ho,Ho with the crowd rather than shouting "Death to (fill in the blank)!"
2. Follow with a visit to Washington, D.C., the seat of the government his country professes to hate. Make sure he visits the Holocaust Museum.
3. The next stop should be EPCOT at DisneyWorld in Orlando. Show him examples of technology being a positive on the planet of the future and what could lie ahead rather than heading back to the stone age.
4. Let him view American commercialism at its best at the Mall of America in the Twin Cities. Ironically I believe it was financed and constructed by Canadians of Mideastern descent. A stop at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland would be optional.
5. He should a visit a midwest farm to experience agriculture at its finest. However, with all the swine operations maybe a stop at a dude ranch would be more diplomatic.
6. Noone should miss Yellowstone Park in Wyoming. This is where nature and man appear to coexist with forests and geysers. No snow mobiles, please. Take him along the valley into Jackson Hole with the Grand Tetons west of the Snake River. Plan to stop for pictures. If it's ski season, let him ogle the ski bunnies at the Mangy Moose.
7. Since his country accuses us of being a land of decadents, let's take him to Las Vegas (Sin City). Remind him that what happens in Vegas, etc., give him a $100 in chips, get him hooked, and maybe we'll get some of our oil money back.
8. Finish the tour with a stop at the Space Needle in Seattle, where he can see where people, mountains, and ocean meld to consitute one of the most beautiful cities anywhere.
At all costs avoid California!
1. All the good will and information could be lost or
2. he'll refuse to go back to Iran and all this time and effort will have been wasted. This is too great a risk to take.

Fatherhood

Despite my advanced age fatherhood is still a recent adventure. I was 36 when Keri was born and 38 when David arrived 22 months later. When the doctor came to tell me I had a daughter, I choked up and all I could say was "thank you." When David was born, I later that day got a call from the doctor asking which surgeon I wanted to use. He explained that David had a hole in a lung and they need to insert a tube so the lung could expand. He spent 12 days (I think) in the hospital. We had him baptized there. The minister used distilled water and a syringe to get the job done. David seemed to get better after that.
Both kids did well in school. A counselee once asked how many rules we had at our house. I couldn't think of any. I finally remembered that the kids had to call and let us know where they were. Other than that they were pretty responsible.
As a family we traveled. We made several trips to DisneyWorld and other parts of the country. David and I went to regional soccer tournaments in Idaho and California where we saw the USA play a World Cup game at the Rose Bowl. Both kids likes to watch sports which made me happy. When the kids were in junior high, both parents were on the faculty. I don't know how much this cramped their style but they didn't complain.
Both did well in high school and we received compliments on how well we raised our kids and and were asked how we had done it. My feeling is parenting is for amateurs and what works for one kid won't always work the the next. Treat them as individuals. They chose colleges that were a good fit for them and graduated. I remember helping Keri look for her first apartment in Littleton. I think she made a good choice. We helped her move to her Condo two or three years later and I wondered how one person could accumulate so much stuff in such a short time as I hauled stuff up the stairs. I don't know how many trips we made. We were also there when she and Eric moved to their new house-in January-in a snow storm. This time she hired movers as I claimed old age and a bad back. I remember moving David from Beaver Creek back to Casper so he could graduate and start a job in Minnesota. No wonder we've been in the same house over 30 years.
Both have married wonderful spouses whom we love. Although neither has returned to Wyoming, I didn't particularly encourage it.
I do have to give credit to my bride of 40 years for doing more than 99% of the work in making me a father. I love you all.

I couldn't resist not including this-from my favorite calendar:
JUNE 20/21 "You might be a Redneck if....."your daddy is still giving wedgies."

Too muddy to plow

It rained Thursday night so when I got up yesterday I decided it was to0 wet to mow (I don't like mowing wet grass). It reminded me of my late teens and early 20's. When the weather was bad or too cold several of the farmers and ranchers after feeding would head to town to allegedly shop. What many of them did was head for the pool hall next to my folk's hardware store to play cards. In the summers and on college breaks I enjoyed playing 50 cent gin rummy with the retirees and farmers who came in to "shop." After I went to college, I think some of them didn't like playing with a "college kid" but several of them owed my folks money at the hardware store so I guess I was OK. The smartest player of the bunch was a farmer named Louie. One of Louie's daughters was the Salutatorian of my HS class and one of his sons is the current governor of the state of Wyoming. Dave's one of the better governors we had. I never beat Louie very often.
I mowed the lawn this morning. I couldn't think of any other excuse.

Do Minnesotans really talk like that?

Watched a DVD movie recently titled New in Town. It was supposedly taking place in New Ulm, Minnesota (the wife tells me it was filmed in Canada). What I remember most about New Ulm is they have a polka station, KNUJ which is junk spelled backwards. I used to listen it to around Mankato when I would drive up to the Twin Cities to watch the Twins. The plot was interesting although they didn't follow through on some potentially interesting subplots and the editing left a lot to be desired. But the most memorable thing about New in Town is the overuse of the most awful Norwegian brogue since Fargo and anyone who listened to the characters in Fargo still has to be chuckling. After at least 50 "youbetcha's" and "ya sure's", it took an effort to not snicker at their characterization of the speech patterns of the Noregians in New Ulm. I knew they weren't Swedes because they told a couple of Swedish jokes. They use every phrase except "uff da" and "um ya ya" although St. Olaf probably has a copyright on the latter. I give it a 3.5/5 for poor portrayal of Norwegian oratory. Garrison Keiller, who wrote How to Speak Minnesotan must be mortified. Uff da!

Movies

Kathy and I went to see UP in 3-D this afternoon. We almost had a private showing but as the actual movie was starting a women and two kids came in. It was different with the 3-D but the plot is kinda hokey for adults and scary for kids. The best parts were the little details such as the tennis balls on the guy's walker. Unless you have been around seniors lately, you wouldn't appreciate that. I give it a 3/5 for artistic merit. They charged us $2.50 each to rent the 3-D glasses so that negated the senior discount.

With the crummy weather I have been watching movies on TV. Some I watched the last 3 or 4 days are Space Odyssey 2010, which is a poor sequel to the original Space Odyssey 2001, which I watch in Cinerama in Denver in 1966. I also saw The Chamber, which is a John Grisham novel about a man on death row. I hadn't see this one and enjoyed it. The last one worth mentioning is The Princess Diaries, which I really liked for some reason.

Twins and Rockies both lost this week but I'm getting more into my baseball mindset. I wore my Rockies 2007 World Series T-shirt. I thinking purple more and more.

College Rodeo Week

The National Collegiate Rodeo Finals are back in town this week. One can always tell due to a substantial increase in horse trailer traffic and more people are attired in stetsons and boots-the real cowboys, pseudos, and wannabes begin to look somewhat alike. The big controversy was whether the smokeless tobacco companies would advertise and give out free samples at the Events Center as they have done in the past. It was decided: no advertising and no free samples. What nobody talks about is the number of college rodeo contestants will be arrested for underage drinking at the Beacon Club, a favorite cowperson hangout.

Murphy's Law applied to washing the car: I had planned to multitask by going to the bank and then a nearby carwash. As I backed out of the garage, it started sprinkling-no problem. As I got closer to the bank, it was actually raining and I had to use the wipers-should be short and the streets aren't too wet. I leave the bank and it is still sprinkling hard enough that I don't want to vacuum the car while it is sprinkling so I head for home. Pull in the garage, it quits raining, and the sun comes out. Maybe tomorrow.

Weather 1 Football Game 35

Went to the 36th Annual Shrine Football Game last night. Although there had been tornado watches all day, being a typical Wyomingite, I almost totally ignored them (this isn't Kansas or Iowa, Pilgrim). The weather beating a football game is like the Washington Generals beating the Harlem Globetrotters. To make a long story short they had to cancel the football game at end of the first quarter with the game tied 3-3. The alert siren had gone off twice but it was pretty much put out of mind. When the local police showed up and told them to empty the stands because of severe lightning, possible hail storms and tornadoes in the area, some of us became believers. As I was driving home, I noticed the typical Wyoming tornado response, people weren't in their basements, they were in their yards with their cameras looking straight up for tornadoes. We did get a downpour for less than an hour but our rain gauge showed slightly more than half an inch which will be more than we usually get in either July or August.

The wife reminded me of something that took place at the play Friday night. They had passed out bingo cards as we walked in the door. Just before intermission, they played a for real bingo game. At the end of the show, the winner was presented a frozen turkey. You don't see that on Broadway.

Yesterday both the Rockies and Twins won. I may have to get my purple wardrobe out.

Saw a cute rabbit in the yard this morning. If he/she can find a proper mate, consideration will be given for passage on the ark.
Sump pump intervals yesterday-45-50 minutes; will continue to monitor the situation and pray the power doesn't go out.

A play and other stuff

Last night we went to a play at Stage III, which is our local amateur acting group. The title is The Queen of Bingo and the setting is the gymnasium at St. Joseph School. The main actors are a couple post 50 female bingo players. It reminded me so much of my early years at St. Jude's in Havre, Montana. Bingo was the financial lifeblood of St. Jude's and Havre Central, the Catholic high school. It was almost a moral obligation for the congregation to play bingo. Sometimes the nuns would have us play bingo when we were having a "special treat" or it was just too cold to go out for recess. I now realize they were trying to get us "hooked" on bingo at an early age so we would return as adults to keep the schools open. Apparently not all the parishioners heeded the call as Havre Central closed a few years later.

A miracle of sorts: The Rockies and Twins both won on the same day
Strange Happenings: The weatherman on MSNBC reported that Seattle has now gone 24 days without rain. We now have gone 24 hours and counting without moisture. I'll monitor the sump pump later. The neighbors are all out mowing their lawns.

Ark temporarily on hold!

Seven tenth of an inch of rain last night.
Still raining at 9:00 am
10:00 am-rain stops, sun comes out.
Sump pump intervals-forty minutes; will continue to monitor
plans for city building permit put on hold for the weekend

Making a list of whom to take:
1. Nice couple in Littleton requested tickets-OK
2. A pair of squirrels that have lived in our back yard for a couple of years-I'm kinda of fond of them. However, I'm not sure of their genders and they do tease the neighboring dogs. Status-undecided.
3. No barking dogs-Stooey's OK-there may be hope for him.
4. A pair of doves who have been waking me up the last two summers-no way!

Talked to neighbor Brad yesterday. Back operation didn't cure his problems. Also his Yankees were in danger of being swept by neighbor Dave's Red Sox. Brad says he doesn't want any more brooms. Dave is out of town and Brad hoped the Yankees would win last night. They lost so there may be another broom in his future. Neighbor Dave is not the kind to forget.

Things I wonder about

My experience will telephones started with phones (always black) where one gave a number to an operator and she (almost always a female) connected you with your number. From there it went to dial phones (almost always black) to touch tone phones (pick your color). Long distance was a luxury limited to birthdays, etc., or emergencies. Now I have unlimited long distance minutes. Ten years or so ago I became a cell phone user.
Reading an article, Going Wireless, in the AARP Bulletin (It's an organization for people over 50 for those of you who aren't near that age) I was interested in some statistics they included. They claim that, for example, 17.4% of households in Minnesota, 16.7% in Colorado, and 11.4% in Wyoming are now wireless only. Farm states like Nebraska and Iowa seem to have a high percentage. The New England states are the lowest. Does this mean that it is easier to get a land line in New England and more difficult in Utah (25.5%)?
The only reason I think about this is because I wonder if the telephone directory will go the way of many daily newspapers-will there be only Yellow Pages? Will retailers go to strictly cell phones? Will there be a cell phone directory with Yellow (pick a color) pages?
Today while I was getting my car serviced, I talked to an old friend in Oklahoma. I didn't worry about long distance minutes; it was just a good way to catch up on things with my friend and made the time waiting for the car seem shorter.
Sometimes I think too much about nothing-however.

Another half inch of rain last night, rained off and on today, the sump pump is running, and I'm getting more serious about the ark.

GLEE Review

This is a follow-up to my May 20th blog.
I don't watch programs about idols, dancers, or bachelorettes. I do watch programs about education. This is how I happened to watch Glee, a show about a teacher trying to revitalize a high school glee club. As you have already guessed, he was once a member of a glee club.
On the following Saturday the CS-T had a review on Glee. Here it is:
"Glee gets what's funny about high school.
The only problem with Glee, Fox's new musical comedy, is that viewers will have to wait four months for the next episode.
........... is the first show in a long time that's just plain full-throttle, no guilty-pleasure-rationalization-necessary fun." The review goes on for half a page but you get the main idea.
The reviewer liked it for the same reasons I did-the music, the dance, the relationships between characters. Funny-it's a show with an actual plot which combines "idols," "dancers," and "bachelors and bachelorettes" into one program. FWIW Glee finished 14th in the ratings that week-well behind "idols, etc."

Celebrating the 40th

We broke out of our routine. Actually it was a short routine because until Kathy retired, she was always at the state vocational conference on June 7th. Anyway we happened to go to Arby's a couple of years in a row and our kids picked up on it and started giving us a bad time-so we kept going back to Arby's.
This year, however, we started with a matinee movie, Angels and Demons. I had read the book a year or two earlier and this is a case of the book being better than the movie. I give it a 3.5/5. There were some kids sitting a couple rows in front of us. They kept pulling out their cell phones, checking for calls, messages, or texting. About 3/4 of the way through I told them to put their cell phones away-didn't see them again. It was the rebirth of my authoritative teaching voice (it was kinda wimpy compared to when I was in my prime). I going to add "checking cell phones" to my list of pet peeves.
Then we forsook Arby's and went to the restaurant at the new Hilton Garden Inn. The surroundings are nice but the room was cold and they didn't have their complete menu available (never go out for a nice dinner on Sunday nights). The service was slow. I give it a 2.5/5.
We concluded by having dessert at Dairy Queen. I give it a 5/5. A person just can't go wrong at DQ.
We missed two calls while we were out. Marita, Kathy's sister and maid of honor at our wedding, called as did Keri, the first-born child. We did talk to Keri later.
Looking forward to the 50th.
Talk about behind times, I just discovered that "texting" is not in the spellchecker.

The Big 4-0

Today Kathy and I celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary. We were married June 7, 1969 in Jackson, Minnesota.
Many good things have come from our marriage-especially two great kids.

Wyoming Tornado

The weather folks have been going nuts over a tornado that appeared in southeast Wyoming near the Nebraska border. The pictures are spectacular and apparently there were a number of science folks who specialize in tornadic conditions in the area. They feel they will get some valuable info from the photos and other instruments that were at the scene.
This morning the people at the Weather Channel were going on and on about how lucky it was that this tornado spawned in Wyoming with such a sparse population, etc. This area was less than 70 miles from Cheyenne where my mother, brother, sister-in-law, and 60,000 other people reside. Lucky ?

No gain, no pain

Let no good deed go unpunished-anonymous

My good deed-I was a "gracious guest." I ate everything put in front of me at the relatives; drank every beer that was offered; and tried to save the fast food industry with my orders and taking the offered drink refills. I was too gracious. My punishment-I now carry five more pounds than when I left town.
I postponed what I know I needed to do by mowing the lawn ( it could also qualify as a pasture if grass length counts) Wednesday morning. Thursday morning I couldn't postpone my pain much longer. I usually go to the Wyoming Athletic Club (known as the Fat Farm) each morning I am in town or not skiing. I extended my stretching as long as I could (stretching is good but it doesn't count as much exercise) and then decided it was time to go drink coffee with my homies (see May 7 blog) which seemed more important than getting all sweated up (I did shower just in case I did too much stretching). After coffee I ran a couple of errands. As long as I was close I decided it was important to satisfy my Taco Bell needs. This morning I faced my gain. I cowboyed up and went through my usual routine. I could feel the pain of gain but tomorrow will be easier (I hope).
I was just too gracious a guest.

More from my You might be a redneck if.......... calendar
May 25-"You've ever given livestock for a wedding present"
May 26-"You've used alien abduction as a courtroom alibi"
May 27-"There was a mechanical bull at your prom"

The aftermath of travel

The wife and I returned Tuesday from a 12 day, slightly over 3,000 mile trip. We had a good time but there are always ongoing things while people are gone.
1. There are several newspapers to read. (We subscribe to the Casper Star-Trib and USA Today and our motto is: an unread paper is a terrible thing to waste.) I finished the CS-T's this afternoon and start on the USA Today's tomorrow.
2. Mail: There are three major kinds-letters, magazines, etc. of interest; bills; junk mail. Guess which two we get the most of at the end of the month. Most of the bills are paid, however, there are several that can wait. We did hear from a few friends.
3. Uncut grass: ours was on average around 6 inches to higher in some spots due to rain while we were gone. I thought I needed a hay baler rather than a lawn mower. It took two tanks of gas and two hours versus 3/4 of a tank and 45 minutes. I had to raise the blade twice.
4. Unwashed clothes: We're slowly working on this one.
5. I'll get the car serviced next week or whenever.

However: However, it was worth it all.
We visited several friends and many relatives in the Midwest.
We saw our niece's HS graduation, senior piano recital and her soccer game. We saw her brothers and met one of bro's girlfriend.
We were able to visit both of our mothers (both in their 90's)
Our immediate family was able to spend time together (the first time since Christmas). This includes Stooey, the dog, who wasn't always happy to see us unless we were feeding him. The son reports Stooey gained weight while we were there.
A friend and I went to a Twins game.
We stopped in LaMars, Iowa, ("Ice Cream Capital of the World) and had ice cream sundaes at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor.
I had Runzas twice in Nebraska.
Defininitely worth it!

New drivers

Monday morning we pulled off I-80 at North Platte, Nebraska. We pulled up to a red light waiting to make a left turn. As we were waiting, a driver ed car approached from our left. As the light began to turn red in their direction, the student driver slammed on the brakes. She and the instructor would have both hit the windshield had they not been wearing seat belts. To make matters worse the student driver rolled another ten feet and slammed on the brakes again. Same result. Our daughter and I were in the front seats. We started laughing as we watched the instructor began to give instructions on sudden stops. As we turned left we did give her a thumbs up. It reminded both of us of when our kids were learning to drive (we joked that we had the body shops on speed dial). As we were leaving North Platte, we saw the same driver ed car but with a new driver.
Report card: needs to work on coming to stops at traffic lights

An anniversary

Today begins my eighth year of retirement. My last day in the school district was Friday, May 31, 2002. Our son graduated from college the Sunday before. The timing couldn't have been better.
As we say: retirement is the best job we ever had.