Went to the Athletic Club to work out this morning. After not having been there for eight days, my body paid a terrible price. With skiing coming up, however, I have to make an effort to get into decent shape so I don't have a heart attack or hurt myself falling down.
We had a wonderful week in Cheyenne with my mother, Denver with our daughter, and finally in Jackson Hole with the son, daughter-in-law and her family. No regrets.

From the calendar:
"You might be a Redneck if...Half of your phone bill is American Idol votes."

The son and I went shopping at the ski shops at Teton Village at Jackson Hole yesterday morning. He put it best when he said he was suffering from sticker shock. Skis starting around $1,000 and up while new ski jackets went all the way up to $1,500 for what seemed like a ski shell. It's becoming the new Aspen.
We didn't stop by the Dick Cheney resident in near-by Wilson to see if the Cheneys were spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Jackson Hole. The rest of the group went to town to shop and see the lighting of the antlers at the town square. I stayed at the hotel and watched FB and slept.
Ate at Bubba's last night. If a person eats at only one restaurant in Jackson Hole, it has to be Bubba's. Second choice would be the Mangy Moose in the Village.

Thankful that I'm such a good law-abiding citizen when it comes to the speed limit. I've seen more HP this weekend with speeders pulled over to the side. Just lucky I guess.
Also thankful it was so clear when we drove into the valley at Jackson Hole and the view of the Tetons was incredible. The valley at Jackson Hole and the Tetons provide a beautiful panorama second to none.
D and K's flight from the Twin Cities was on time and Kelsey's folks and brother made it from Green River. Michelle and Bob prepared (the word doesn't do credit to the meal) a Thanksgiving feast. I probably gained 5 pounds but enjoyed it. The accommodations at our hotel are nice. Plan to do some shopping and just looking around.
Happy Black Friday!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING,everyone!

From the calendar:
"You might be a Redneck if....You've ever served Thanksgiving dinner on a Ping-Pong table."

Thankful my daughter who is expecting twins in April is doing well and her pregnancy is apparently progressing well.

Thankful I was near a Verizon store when my cell phone started doing strange things. It took the lady less a minute to fix it.

BUMPER STICKER promoting the 10K BolderBoulder run in Boulder, Colorado (almost 6,000 feet in elevation:
"Sea Level is for sissies"

Thankful I'm not in Congress and have to listen to phony debates until Christmas. It's politics at its ugliest. A pox on both their houses. Does any of them on either side of the aisle care about the best interests of their constituents. NOT-it's all for the party and 2010 elections.

Thankful I didn't bet on the Denver Broncos and Wyoming Cowboys last weekend.

Thanksgiving week:
Thanks for Hi Def TV.
Thanks for having more than one TV so I can watch football when the wife wants to watch a quilting show on PBS.

This is the end of American Education Week. I am proud to have been a teacher, married to another teacher, the father of a teacher. I also am the father of a son who has taken advantage of his education at the higher level. I am also proud to have a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law who are products of public education and have both graduated from college.
Despite all our challenges, problems and intrusions the USA successfully provides more educational opportunities and options than any other country of which I am aware.
Great job, educators.

School Daze

This morning (about 7:40) I was driving through a residential area at the 30 mph speed limit. All of a sudden a red Explorer zoomed up behind and tailgated me for a block. I finally pulled over and she went zooming by. A girl of what looked like junior high age was in the passenger seat. I assume it was a mother taking her daughter to a junior high (they start at 8:00) and then going to work.
Around 8:50 I was coming back on the belt road on a portion that is only two lane and I doing about 60 which is the posted speed limit. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a red SUV from the right coming to an intersection at a high rate of speed. For some reason I decided to slow down and put on the brakes. The lady driving the SUV didn't look at me, didn't slow down, ran a stop sign and pulled in front of me. Fortunately we missed each other. There were two cars behind me and I think they had also slowed down or we could have had a four car wreck. She sped up and pulled away from me but a mile or so down the highway where the belt road is now four lane, she had to stop for a red light. As I pulled up next to her, I could see two small children is car seats and another child in the passenger seat who appeared to be elementary school age. I can only assume the lady was running late for school (most of the elementary schools start at 9:00) and wanted to get her child to school on time. She almost didn't make it and almost took several of us with her. No, she wasn't on a cell phone.
I can just see and hear the feedback if I had hit the car of the poor lady just trying to get her child to school on time.

I watched the last 20 minutes of Sarah Palin's interview with Oprah. SP came across as being defensive and not really Presidential material. When Oprah asked if SP were getting a talk show, she changed the topic. Don't worry about old Caribou Barbie, however; she is going to make millions on her book, speaking engagements, and who knows, a talk show.

From the calendar:
"You might be a Redneck if...You think you're a fashion designer because you cut the arms off your T-shirt."

Just finished reading the 16th book in paperback of the Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. Scarpetta is a forensic pathology who uses her training to solve crimes. I'm learning more than I ever wanted to know about pathology but I find the stories enjoyable. I like mystery novels because I always try to outguess the authors but don't succeed too often. I more or less read the Scarpetta series in chronological order which was good because the author often refers back to old cases and plots and keeps the same characters. There's a new Scarpetta novel out in hardback but I'm too cheap to pay that price so I'll wait for the paperback.
I'm finding that there are several good female mystery writers. I think I subconsciously avoided mysteries if the author was female. Now that I've had an attitude adjustment, I've found a new source of books I enjoy reading for fun.

When I got up around 6:30 yesterday morning, the temperature was 54 degrees. I wore sandals and a short sleeved T-shirt and no coat all day. Last night it snowed 2 inches. Be prepared-it's fall.

From the calendar:
"You might be a Redneck if... You keep a can of Raid on your kitchen table."

The execution of John Allen Muhammad had a small personal connection to me. The victim of his random sniper spree on the golf course in Arizona was a high school classmate of mine. Jerry was one of the nicest kids in our class. I looked up his picture in our senior annual. It was right below mine. Muhammad did what he did for extortion-not for any cause. I'm not a vengeful person but I hope John Allen Muhammad's soul rots in hell.

Did battle again this morning with the gas company. It took about 45 minutes and calls to the gas company and my bank that had already paid the bill electronically to get the thing settled-I hope. They gave every customer a new account number which left my payment in cyberspace. I hope it's settled. I've already complained about them once to the Public Service Commission in Cheyenne. Neighbor Dave has already forced two meetings with the gas company and the PSC and has invited me to attend a third if he doesn't get a satisfactory settlement. I hate doing business with utilities. All they do is screw up your credit rating. The gas company's billing and accounts receivable address is in Dallas, Texas. Do you suppose that means anything?

From the calendar:
"You might be a Redneck if... your TV is on 24/7."

Now that the House has passed their Health Reform Bill of 2000 pages, maybe some genius could condense it down to a page or two so most of us can understand it. That should be worth a Nobel Peace Prize or at least the one for Economics. I don't think it has a chance in the Senate, however.

From the calendar:
"You might be a Redneck if.... All your daughters have appeared in a 'Girls Gone Wild' video."

Yesterday I went to my dentist to have a filling replaced. When I'm in the chair with my mouth wide open while he's drilling or putting in the new filling, he wants to talk politics-at least his view on things some of which were much different from mine. With a drill in my mouth I really didn't want to express our differences even if I could. Old Wyoming saying-"Never argue with a man who has a drill in your mouth." I escaped with a new filling and a sense of relief that I kept my cool (and a sore jaw and a headache).

Questionable bumper sticker
GOD BLESS JOHN WAYNE
My question is what did John Wayne do to merit blessings from above? In his roles he played a cowboy who killed a million Indians or a GI who killed a million Japanese. I think there's a commandment somewhere in there about killing.

I'm happy the World Series is over. After the Twins and Rockies were eliminated I never watched another inning. I'm tired of the Yankees just buying players.
In my younger days I would have listened to or watched every inning I could-no more.
No wonder FB is the new National Pastime.

I think I encountered something as dangerous as talking on a cell phone or texting while driving. I had an approaching female driver in a big SUV start to swerve into my lane as she was using an emery board on and looking down at her finger nails. It's dangerous out there I tell you.
MIXED SIGNALS: In yesterday's blog I wrote about kid at Arby's saying grace while wearing a HOOTERS T-shirt. I keep wondering what was that kid really praying for?
I took a couple of vacuum cleaners and some toys down to Poverty Resistance which is supposed to be a store for the poor and/or low income. As I was leaving a lady in a brand new Jeep parked in front of me. In her rear window was a caricature of the kid whizzing on OBAMA. Below the window was a metal cross attached to the back. She then went shopping at Poverty Resistance, a shop which I don't believe was intended for someone of her income. She should have been donating not buying.

You can tell when the fall weather is nice (as it is today) by the number of cars at the car wash. I was lucky to get in and out quickly because cars and trucks were backed up almost to the street waiting to get in as I left.
On the way home, since it was almost noon, I decided to stop at Arby's. As I was sitting eating, two high school kids came in and sat near me. Before they ate they bowed their heads, folded their hands and said grace. The irony of it is one of the boys was wearing a HOOTERS T-shirt.

We almost had a "typical" Halloween of trick or treaters which in the last three years means no one shows up a our door. Then at 8:30 we had a carload of 7 or 8 kids show up at the door. I had been conducting numerous samplings of "treats" to insure their quality (all good and tasty) so it was a good thing we didn't get any more or we would had to buy some treats from them.