Semi-tough

The following bumper sticker attempts to give the impression that all persons (particularly males) in Wyoming are mentally strong:
"Cowboy up or go stay in the pick-up"
Notice the type of vehicle.

HOUSE has now tied THE CLOSER as my favorite TV series. I like to outguess the writers and figure the plot outcome but these two always fool me.

From the Calendar:
"You might be a Redneck if.....You've ever had a riding mower repossessed."

It's getting feisty already

I saw an interesting T-shirt on a kid at the Casper Ghosts game last night. It was a Minnesota Vikings shirt in the Vikings' purple and yellow. On the front was a caricature of a boy clad in a Vikings' jersey with the name Farve on the front taking a whiz on a piece of cheese-representing the Packer cheeseheads.
That Monday night game in October should bring out some nasty feelings in both states. Go Vikes! We've got too many pseudo-Packer fans here already.

St. O is a clandestine aggie school

I have to give credit to my wife, a former Ole herself, for finding this article in relish, a some time supplement to the local CS-T. The article title-"The New School Lunch."
It's about STOGRO (St. Olaf Garden Research and Organic Works), which is a student-run, on-campus farm that supplies local organic ingredients to the college cafeteria.One student is described as a St. Olaf student-farmer. Founded in 2005 STOGROW is a self-sustaining business that rents farmland from the college. Bon Appetit, which provides meals to students, buys all produce the farm can provide. It's all organic. Some students say they can tell the difference. The only livestock are the rabbits and other varmints, who sample the crops.
The boy and the daughter-in-law never mentioned it when they were there through 2006 and 2007 respectively. At least niece Julie, an incoming freshman and Iowa farm lass, will benefit from STOGRO. I suppose there are other farm kids at St. O so there should be plenty of applicants for any student work-studies programs at the farm. On the other hand, maybe some are trying to get away from the farm.
Anyway, it's an interesting article especially for folks with St. O connections.
The relish email is relishmag.com. Bon appetit!

Good stock tip

I ran into a high school classmate yesterday. She was with her husband who graduated a couple year before us from the same high school. We were talking about our 50 year HS reunion next summer. They has gone to his 50th last summer and were talking about all the people with hearing problems. They changed their reunion site from a more formal site to a picnic area with shelters just as we had done for our kids' rehearsal dinners. They said it made it so much easier to move around and visit.
I bring this up as the number of people who are retired or nearing retirement and who often suffer hearing losses to differing degrees is growing at a terrific pace.
The point of all this-Buy Hearing Aid stock! As the boomers retire, the demand will be incredible. We now have digital hearing aids. The next great leap in hearing aids will make its investors rich. You heard it hear (intentional misspelling) first-pun intended.

Eyes and ears

I renewed my driver's license this morning. I aced the eye test as I was able to read the smallest line on the eye chart on three different charts. At my age a person always has doubts.

Stopped at a Taco Bell afterwards to celebrate. I received a senior discount without asking. I arrived just as the high school students were coming in for lunch. I listened to several groups talk about the classes and teachers (several of whom I know) and which ones are tough and which ones are easy. I guess after 38 years in the business I still like hearing students' perspectives on life, etc., and best of all I could hear them.

From the calendar:
You might be a Redneck if....you have more "kills" with your truck than with your gun.

My Kennedy memories

The first and only time I ever saw Ted Kennedy was at the State Democratic Convention held in my hometown of Thermopolis, Wyoming. It was April 1960, my senior year of high school, and my senior Social Studies was let out for the afternoon to go to the convention. Ted Kennedy was there working the delegates for his brother, Senator John Kennedy. Hubert Humphrey, along with several other prominent Democrats, was there also campaigning for delegate votes. Ted Kennedy must have done a pretty good job because at the National Democratic Convention Wyoming delegates put John Kennedy over the top and he won the Presidential election that fall.
I don't know if it was a payback to the 1960 delegates but President John Kennedy spoke at the Field House on the University of Wyoming campus, which ironically was my senior year of college, before a crowd estimated to be 12,000-15,000 of us in attendance. Another irony-Dick Cheney was a student at UW at that time. The date was October, 1963 and President Kennedy was assassinated approximately one month later.

Why did I do that?

I joined Facebook a couple of days ago. I almost felt like a predator shopping for young girls until I saw the sign-up page and my birth year was far from the bottom. So far it's immediate family and I don't know how soon I will try to branch out. Why did I do it-did I spot a trend or am I just a common lemming?

Saw a great bumper sticker but if I could ever get it-which I probably can't-to whom would I give it. Here's the problem: Here is the sticker found on the back of a pic-up (what else is there in Wyoming?) Real women don't date Yankee fans. If I could ever obtain one would I give it to Neighbor Brad, a strong Yankee fan or to Neighbor Dave, staunch Red Sox supporter? I guess it would look better on Dave's SUV.

Every village has one

This is a letter to the editor in today's paper. The title: Don't ban lead bullets".
A couple of small portions: (The bold comments are mine.)"....Your paper sided with evironmentalists that (sic) are seeking to ban lead bullets from the Jackson area."
We have spent more than three decades getting the lead out of gasoline and paint.
"This is another biased, emotional attempt to ban hunting water fowl steel-shot years ago, the controversial release of wolves and the protection of preditors (switching topics).
"There are good, manufactured bullets that are lead-free but they are more expensive. (Wallet over Environment) You can bet, liberal scientists subjected waterfowl and raptors to excessive amounts of lead to get the emotional, hazardous effect of lead poisoning (This guy wouldn't trust Einstein).And finally: "The majority population of Teton County (Jackson Hole and the area below Yellowstone Park) would be happy if everyone was a vegetarian, rode stylish bicycles, and believe the real world should resemble 'Narnia'".(This is location profiling-interesting because that area of the state contains one of the largest minority populations in Wyoming in order to serve the tourist industry-but why confuse the writer with facts.)
Every village has one-meet CJD, Cheyenne's village idiot.

Enlightenment

After reading about the tornado that went through south Minneapolis, I admitted to my ignorance of and insensitivity to tornadoes and, therefore, I watched the movie Twister last night. In doing so I may become a bit paranoid whenever the wind comes up which is quite often in Wyoming. Maybe I would be better off knowing less.

My daughter writes that this fall is the tenth anniversary of her student teaching in New Zealand. To celebrate the occasion I wore my Sydney Olympics 2000 T-shirt which she brought me as a souvenir of her South Pacific adventures.

Letters to the CS-T today:
4 on Universal Health Care
1 on Special Olympics
1 on religion

Letters to the editor

After sports my favorite section in newspapers and magazines is the Letters to the Editor. In the CS-T the writers continually write about hunting and gun issues. Right now "Universal Health Care" is drawing a lot of ink but the most heavily debated topic is organized religion. It's a case of the "nonbelievers against the conservative Christians" or the "agnostics vs the bible thumpers."
Here's a letter to the editor in the latest U.S. News & World Report. The main idea of the letter is there is dignity with the folks who get their hands dirty at their jobs.
Title: Mud, Sweat and Fields "....I remember a football game between an upper-class, private school and a university with a large agricultural department. Some had a sign that read:"Culture over agriculture." A letter to the editor came out shortly after the incident that said, "Without agriculture, there is no culture.".......
I truly enjoy differing viewpoints the letters provide.
PS I also check the obituary column to make sure my name isn't there (bad joke).

Wise shopper

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and picked up five items. Four were on sale and the fifth was free. The Colorado Comet will be so proud of me.

I don't need my Redneck calendar for this one. I can't make this stuff up. If Jeff Foxworthy is looking for more material, he just needs to spend a little time here.
BUMPER STICKER seen on a pick-up parked in front of a gun shop in Casper:
Republican please-We can't all be on be on welfare.

How do they do it?

When I work out on a treadmill at the athletic club each morning, there are four TVs going at the same time. The irony is most ads are always so similar. I also watch the news over the lunch hour. I realize that the people most likely to be watching TV at these times of day are the elderly, the retired (not necessarily the same), and the unemployed. These ads are mostly quick fixes for back taxes, reducing debts to creditors and credit card companies, home loans that are too good to pass up, and devices and medications for senior citizens at almost unbelievable prices, and finally reverse home mortgages. They also push buying gold. One of their spokesman is, I think, a convicted Watergate criminal. How can they deliver all these promises and goods? Are they for real or do advertisers have no shame? Do the networks investigate what they put on their channels? It just makes me wonder. I guess I have too much time on my hands.

BUMPER STICKER
Yes, it's my truck.
No, I won't help you move.

Just wondering

I wonder what President Obama's grade is for the second 100 days. I think I gave him a B- for the first 100 but I couldn't go that high now.

Broom follow-up
Earlier Neighbor Dave gave Neighbor Brad a broom after Dave's Red Sox swept Brad's Yankees. A couple weeks ago Brad's Yankees swept Dave's Red Sox. Did Brad give Dave a broom in celebration/retaliation? You bet your sweet behind he did. Dave says it's not all bad though. The broom he gave Brad was an old crummy one; the broom Brad gave Dave was brand new. Dave figures he came out better in the long run. It all depends on one's perspective.

G,B, & U.

BAD-Plan A After having dug out some ski clothing as preparation for a Ghost double header on a very cool Sunday afternoon, I received a phone call informing me that the games had been cancelled due to wet fields.
GOOD-Plan B I read, did a couple chores, watched TV and played on the computer.
GOOD-My new favorite TV show is The Closer.
EVEN BETTER-This is the 5th season for The Closer so I have episodes from the first 4 seasons to watch on Netflix.

From the calendar
August 15-16 "You might be a Redneck if... It takes more than a minute to read the bumper stickers on your truck.

Old soldiers never die

Back in my fraternity days old soldiers was a nickname for bottles/cans of beer. It was said that no beer would grow so old that one would not drink it. Yesterday I poured out a few bottles of Bud Light to recycle the bottles. The born-on date was May 2, 2008. I guess some old soldiers do die.

The Ghosts were rained out yesterday so they will be playing a double header beginning at 2:00. It appears I will be spending quite a bit of time at the old ball park today. A fan's gotta do what a fan's gotta do.

Odds & ends

At times a young lady comes and sits with the people who have the seats in front of me at the Ghosts' game. She's very cute and very pleasant. I found out last night that she is "Miss Wyoming" and won "Miss Congeniality at the pageant.
The Obamas chose one of the coldest days this summer to visit Yellowstone. It was also the last of three free weekends in the park.
Part of the CNN news this morning was from the Iowa State Fair. I didn't see any of the relatives.
Also off the ark: Newsweek Magazine for sneaking in a double issue in August.

You're off the ark

With the threat of rain this weekend, I felt the need to revise the ark's passenger list.
The following will be denied passage:
1. The two doves or pigeons who coo @ 6:00 every morning.
2. The two dogs that start barking round 7:00 each morning.
3. Dick and Liz Cheney, father and daughter, who won't shut up and go away.
4. The NY Yankees for trying to buy a pennant every year.
5. The clown who shoots off fireworks most nights around 10:00.
6. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for horrific leadership.
7. The Congress for trying to pass a half-rectal health bill to meet the President's deadline rather than writing a bill that is more for the common good than the political good.
8. Rush, Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glen Beck and Dr. Laura-can you imagine this bunch breeding?
9. Birthers
Welcome aboard!
1. G.W. Bush for staying out of sight since 1-20-09.
2. The Colorado Rockies

At the laundromat

Yesterday I took some rugs to the laundromat. We ruined a washing machine washing them at home. If the laundromat could speak, it could tell some interesting stories. One side of the area is cooler than the other due to the placement of the air con vent. On the cool side (the temp was in the high 80's-low 90's outside) someone, in absencia had tied up about 7 or 8 of the large washing machine and disappeared. Two ladies were there with small children and they were loud and running around. What else can kids do at a laundromat? One kid ran out the door and was moving in front and around vehicles while his mother was chasing him all over the parking lot. I saw myself as a witness if a car struck him as he ran from behind a vehicle. Luckily she finally caught up to him. After washing the rugs on the warm side, I found the last open drier on the cool side. This was a mistake. A woman came back with two of the most obnoxious girls, probably aged 3 & 5. She was sorting clothes from about 5 or 6 driers. The younger girl pushed a laundry cart around running into machines and patrons. The mother yelled at her constantly while she just kept sorting, however. Finally she finished but she was still yelling at the girls and talking on her cell phone as she left the building. If there had been champagne on the premise, a lot would have been consumed by the remainder of us. The rugs finally dried and I had survived another visit to the laundromat. I prefer going there after school starts. Actually, it's not bad and usually it's older folks and college students studying. During my bachelor days I would read and correct papers but now it's an adventure. I'm glad we have a washer and drier at home. I'm too old to go more than two or three times a year.

From the calendar:
August 6-"You might be a Redneck if..... You wash your Chevy and discover it's a Ford."
August 10-"You might be a Redneck if.......There's at least one cuss word on your answering machine greeting."

The road to ol' Cheyenne

Yesterday I drove by myself to Cheyenne to visit my mother. Unusually when the wife and I travel, we either talk or listen to CDs. Today I listened to ESPN on 3 different stations-Casper, some place in So. Dakota, and Laramie. I also discover that Guernsey, WY (pop. 1147 has a limited range "Golden Oldies" FM station. I even listened to Rush Limbaugh-for five minutes. Saw a lot of Harleys and trailers loaded with Harleys going home from Sturgis. Followed an oversized load (an understatement) through a construction zone. He took out several cones and the trail pilot car and I dodged orange objects for a mile or so until it pulled off at the next exit. Just wished I'd had Stooey with me and we could have done an abbreviated version of Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley."
PS My mother is doing well for someone her age.

From the calendar-I don't know why I like this one so well.
August 7: "You might be a Redneck if...... You've tried to convert a DVD movie to Betamax."

Bumper sticker follow-up

This morning there was a van from another county in northwestern Wyoming parked in front of the same house as yesterday's sticker. This car's bumper sticker read "Write In Ron Paul." Paul ran as a libertarian.
The neighborhood is going backwards.

Welcome to Wyoming?

BUMPER STICKER on the back of an American-made pick-up (what else) registered in Park County Wyoming, which borders Yellowstone Park. The reintroduction of wolves was a very unpopular move with folks in this part of the world-especially ranchers who graze their livestock on federal land which makes up a good chunk of southern Montana and most of Wyoming.
"Welcome to Wyoming
Now take a wolf and go home"
Not exactly a friendly greeting especially with the Obamas visiting Yellowstone at the end of the week.

Revenge

I stopped by as I was driving home this morning to visit Neighbor Brad. He was wearing his NY Yankees shirt. He's a ardent Yankee fan (putting it mildly) and the two of us flew to Baltimore two or three years ago for a Yankees-Orioles series. His back still isn't doing too well but he was excited that the Yankees had won two straight from the Boston Red Sox, the favorite team of Neighbor Dave. He wants the Yankees to win today (which they did) and tomorrow to sweep the series so he can return the broom (indicating sweep) which Dave had given him when the Red Sox won the first 8 games of the season against the Yankees. Funny-neither of us has seen Dave the last couple of days. Nah, there couldn't be a connection.

You can tell

You can tell the Wyoming economy is starting to slow when someone is always trying to sell you something whether you need it or not. Try buying any appliance and you have to fight your way out the door if you refuse the extended warrenty contract.
Today we had a guy from the gas company come out to inspect our furnace. We got a flier in the mail advertising a special if done at this time of year so I called yesterday. After inspecting and making a few adjustments he remarked how well I had maintained it over the years and what good shape it is in. Since the furnace is between 15 and 20 years old he did try and sell us a new one. He also recommended central air conditioning attached to the new furnace, of course. This spring after telling me the swamp cooler was still in good shape, the company that services it twice a year tried to sell me a new one. The next guy (same company) who came out didn't mention it. More people must be working on commissions rather than straight salaries.

From the calendar:
July 23-"You might be a Redneck if ....You've ever used your only phone call in jail to check the status of a NASCAR event."
and
July 31 "....Neigbors stay indoors when you walk your dogs."

The perils of test results

The results of last spring's spring testing came back yesterday and of course the local media is trying to make a story out of it.
I spent 32 years in the testing game. What never get explained when interpreting results from each school is the demographics of each school. These questions need to be asked: What is the average income of the school population; two parent families, level of parents' education; individual rooms; Internet access, etc.? Our kids attended one of the school in the higher economic areas of Casper along with positive demographics. The school's results were good. The school I worked in was above the district average results because we also enjoyed very positive demographics. By themselves numbers are numbers. It's the influences that make the results meaningful. What to do with them becomes the challenge.
With federal education funding rewarding high test scores, a good share of the monies won't go where they could do the most good. We need remediation programs as well as enrichment activities to be funded but they shouldn't be tied to testing.

The Casper Ghosts are tied for first place in second half of the season with a record of 2-1. I know it's early but this the only time this season first place and the Ghosts could be used together.

Frost/Nixon

Watched the DVD of the movie Frost/Nixon . It was these interviews that did more to define the persona of President Nixon than any other medium. These were the days of David Susskind, Dick Cabot, William F. Buckley, Phil Donahue and of course, David Frost. This was before Oprah, Jerry Springer and other wannabe quality talk show hosts. Meet the Press and Face the Nation were strong network programs but the independents such as the five mentioned above were the epitome of quality talk shows.

Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll:
This is a quote I like from this week's Newsweek magazine:
"If you remember the 60's, you probably weren't there."

Nosing around

Yesterday I went for my annual visit to my dermatologist (my wife has nicknamed him "Doom & Gloom"). Several years ago I had a cancer removed from about half way up one of my nostrils.It's unusual to find cancer inside the nose and the odds are that the person likes to fish while on or in water. I don't fish and that threw him for a while. He finally decided that it was the reflection off the snow when I ski. He likes to have me come in when he has some residents from the UW Casper residency program making rounds with him. Yesterday there was only one resident but she acknowledged that it is a rare place to find a cancer. Everything was all right and I don't have to go in for another year. I guess my claim to fame is I sometimes have a group of doctors standing around to look up my nose. Hey, it could have been bowel cancer.
I finished off the day by watching Fever Pitch, which is one of my favorite baseball movies. It's about the year the Boston Red Sox finally win a World Series. My favorite scene is when Drew Barrymore is working on her laptop and gets hit with a foul ball and everyone goes after the foul and pays no attention to her although she has a concussion. They just make movies like that anymore-sigh.

It's already getting ugly

NASTIEST POLITICAL BUMPER STICKER OF THE DAY:
Spotted in the back window of a pick-up (what else?) registered in a mineral rich county in northeastern Wyoming where else?). This county has more wealth than most third-world countries. The background is in red, white, and blue with wavy stripes of the flag:
"Don't blame me. I voted for the American." It's a shame we have people in this country who either don't know or don't acknowledge that Hawaii is a state.

The Casper Ghosts won yesterday to finish 12-24 for the first half of the season. They had to have a big finish last week to do that well.

Give it a rest

If I never see or hear another story on Michael Jackson, it will be too soon. Let the man die.

From the calendar: One of my favorites
July 24-"You might be a Redneck if.... You've come back from the dump with more than you took."

I like this one too:
July 29-"You might be a Redneck if.....You've ever decorated a birthday cake with a caulk gun."