More businesses from my past

Here are some more places you may remember... Gone, but not forgotten.

The Record Theater in Norwood. This state-of-the-art record store was like no other I had ever seen. Entire walls of 8 track tapes were behind plexiglass with holes cut in it. The holes were large enough for your hand to fit through, but too small for the 8 track (shoplifting prevention technology of the 80's!). The concept was simple. Find a tape you were interested in buying, reach through the plexiglass, grab it and look at it. If you didn't want it, it was returned to its place on the shelf. If you did want to buy the tape, drop it onto a continually running conveyor belt that transported it to the cash register. Walk over and pay for it. (and yes, this is where I bought my Michael Jackson and Pink Floyd 8 tracks). Now we simply download everything from iTunes.

Godfather's Pizza (right next door to the Record Theater). Big, thick, Chicago-style pizza. I didn't think the pizza was that great, but dad liked it because they served beer. I liked it because they had a cool pinball machine. We usually went to Godfather's for dinner and then to the Record Theater... Family entertainment at its finest!

Germantown Pizza (you only remember this if you were from St. Bernard)--- Local pizza joint that smelled musty and garlic-y. For a few bucks you could order a pizza bread and play video games. We thought we were big stuff!

Showbiz Pizza Place--- This was the forerunner to Chuck E. Cheese. Never before could you get pizza, be entertained by an animatronic band and play in one of the coolest arcades in the city. This place was "Da bomb!" when it first came out. In the beginning Showbiz wasn't just for little kids. It was designed for people of all ages... even my grandma liked it.

Malibu Race Track (right next to I-75 in Sharonville). This place was a huge go-kart track, but the karts were made to look like race cars. It was realistic car racing (for its day) and it also had a huge arcade.

And speaking of arcades... My brother and I recently had a conversation about our time spent in video arcades. We decided that if we could get back every quarter we ever put in a video game slot, we could retire comfortably.

Putt-Putt Golf and Games in Evendale--- I spent so much time here that it warrants its own post (stay tuned). Remember the huge fiberglass golf ball on a gigantic tee that sat out in the middle of the driving range field? If you ever drove on Reading Road you couldn't miss it.

Farrell's Ice Cream (Tri-County Mall area). This place was built in the style of an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. I remember they had a gift shop with lots of trinkets, but most of all I remember what they were best known for. An ice cream creation simply called a "Zoo". A Zoo was intended for many people to share. It was a large bowl with about a thousand scoops of ice cream, several sauces, nuts, whipped cream and cherries. The Zoo was ordered for parties and was gaudily decorated. I remember they used to delver the Zoo to the table amid a whole lot of hoopla. Servers yelling and cheering, people playing kazoos, somebody pounding a bass drum and people playing other crazy instruments. It was a really noisy and wild place (as far as ice cream shops go, that is).

It's amazing to think of the number of places that used to be around, but have long since disappeared.

The top photo shows a Zoo sundae. The middle photo shows the famous bass drum. The bottom photo is not the Cincinnati location, but does look similar (minus the blue canopy) to the one I remember.

Zantigo!

In my previous post a mentioned a now defunct Mexican restaurant called Zantigo. When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, Mexican foods were not a part of the American diet. Today nachos, tacos, burritos, tortillas, quesadillas, queso dip, chips and salsa are so commonplace that we almost don't consider them foreign foods. There was a time you could have mentioned any of those foods and I would have had no idea what they were. My kids have never known a world without those foods.

Here's a funny story...

When Zantigo and Taco Bell first came on the scene, nobody really knew what the food was or what it was all about. My dad was no exception. One evening he got adventurous and decided to take the family to this new place called Zantigo. Nobody knew what to expect and I remember the fun we had just trying to figure out what the menu items were. After we had bumbled our way through the ordering process, we got our food. I vividly remember my dad unwrapping his unusual dinner from a foil wrapper and then wondering out loud why his meal was also wrapped in a wet paper towel. In reality his meal was wrapped in a soft tortilla. He had never seen one and neither had the rest of us. He peeled back the tortilla shell to reveal the meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato. It was then he realized the covering was not a paper towel, but some sort of edible wrap. That was my family's first experience with Mexican food and having no idea what a tortilla was. We all had a good laugh and I assume we enjoyed the food (although I don't remember).

Times sure have changed. Now entire grocery store aisles are dedicated to Mexican foods.

Businesses from my past

Time for a trip down Memory Lane! Remember these places?

You know you're getting old if you recognize these signs. It's amazing how we forget about places that used to be in business, but have long since disappeared.

Swallen's was a department store. They had furniture, electronics and home furnishings. Probably went out of business in the late 70's or early 80's.

Gold Circle was a precursor to Wal-Mart. GC sold just about everything (and it was cheap). I'm guessing they went out of business in the mid 80's.

Rink's was another precursor to Wal-Mart. Kind of a one stop shop with cheap merchandise.

Levitz was a huge furniture store. I remember as a kid walking with my parents up and down HUGE aisles with displays of furniture set up. There was plenty of room to run around, but we weren't allowed. That was back in the days when parents expected their children to behave in public (and they usually did).

Van Leunens was yet another department store similar to Gold Circle and Rink's. They generally sold low quality, cheap merchandise. Fun fact: Van Leunens was called Chinatown before becoming Van Leunens.

Thriftway was a grocery store. Similar to Kroger, but a little smaller. Probably on the level of IGA or Remke/Bigg's. Probably went out of business in the early 90's.

SOHIO was a gas station. They were all over the place and were bought out by BP. Many BP stations today are on the sites of former SOHIO stations. Not sure of the year the stations changed to BP,  but I remember when it happened. It was so strange at the time.

Burger Chef was a fast food restaurant similar to McDonald's and Burger King. Burger Chef was a little smaller than the big chain restaurants and I'm pretty sure BC was around before Wendy's came about. Remember their mascots, Burger Chef and Jeff?

Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips was a forerunner of Long John Silver's. It seems Arthur Tracher's  Fish and Chips was prepared more in the British style. Long John's seemed to "Americanize" the traditional English fare. I don't remember Treacher's too well. There must have been few locations locally or they went out of business further back than I can remember.

Here are some bonus entries (signs not shown below).

Zayre's department store. Much the same ilk as Swallen's, Gold Circle, Rink's and Van Leunens. My educated guess is that the dawn of the age of Wal-Mart put all these other stores out of business.

Meijer used to be called Meijer Square. Meijer Square was smaller than the Meijer we know today.

Zantigo was a Mexican fast food restaurant that used to compete with Taco Bell. I'm not sure if Taco Bell bought them out or forced them out of business.

Ponderosa Steak House--- Long before Outback and Longhorn this was the working man's steakhouse. One of the first places with an all-you-can-eat salad bar (at least that I can remember). As a kid, if we went to Ponderosa, it was a BIG DEAL! The kids always got the chopped steak. We were told it was a steak... it was really just a big hamburger with no bun. Oh the lies we were told!

All About Sports (owned by Van Leunens possibly?). This was the first super store for sporting goods. It was a lot like Dick's sporting goods. There were always small sporting goods stores, but All About Sports was the first big one.

What places do you remember? I will probably think of more and make another post at a later time.

You can't always...

The Rolling Stones sing, "You can't always get what you want".  This came to mind today when I got a sudden craving for rye bread. Tami doesn't like rye bread and therefore doesn't buy it. Actually to be fair, it's not just because she doesn't like it. It's more because it doesn't make sense to buy a whole loaf of bread when I'm the only one who eats it.  This brought to mind a thought... what foods do you or your spouse not get very often that  is considered a special treat when you get it? A few for me are rye bread, seafood, White Castles and Chinese food. Honestly Tami will eat Chinese food, but prefers lots of other things instead. I also know there are things Tami doesn't get to eat very often because I don't prefer them. As is the case with so many things in marriage, it's a give and take. So this begs the question... What foods that you enjoy and rarely get to eat because your spouse doesn't care for them?

Break out the sweatshirts!

Tuesday, July 29th... Woke up this morning to temperatures in the low 50's. I'm shivering in my own house and the air conditioner is off. You heard me correctly, folks. This is July. Normally we are sweating in sweltering heat and oppressive humidity. Today I feel like I need to break out the sweatshirts and jeans. Is this July or October?

Meanwhile my pool sits idle. I'm definitely not complaining, but this weather is not conducive for swimming.

You know you're getting old...

Last weekend at the estate sale Tami was running, there was an 8 track tape player for sale. Many people looked at it for nostalgic reasons and more than a few laughed when they saw it. One serious browser even went home, retrieved an 8 track tape and tested the player out. In the end, it turns out the 8 track player was broken (it probably hadn't been used in 30 years), but it sure created quite a buzz.

I remember the days as a kid when mom and dad would take us on vacation in our (then) state-of-the art conversion van. It had a lot of cool features, but I think dad's favorite was his 8 track tape player. We would cruise down the road listening to music only dad liked. It's funny to think back about that stuff. The 8 track tape player was such a part of our lives and now most people under thirty have no idea what it even was.

You know you're getting old if you know what THIS is:

Dad had a case for his 8 tracks very similar to this one:

You know you're getting old if...

You know you're getting old if you remember these...

It's hard to remember a time when hotels didn't use key cards. However, if you're old enough, you'll remember the days when doors to your hotel/motel room were opened with an actual key (usually with your room number on it). Not very secure I must say! Heaven help you if you lost your room key and a person with ill intent found it!

Anyway, I'll probably be posting a series of objects that fall under the category of: You know you're getting old if you remember ____________.

My brother the chief

Tomorrow my little brother will be officially sworn in as Fire Chief of the St. Bernard Fire Department. I'm really having trouble wrapping my mind around that idea. The same little brother who used to pester me to death is now going to be running an entire fire department. I am very proud of him, but I know my dad would be much more proud than me. In fact, dad probably would have been so proud he would have been ready to burst.

How does this happen?

There are a lot of people out there smarter than me. Many of those smart people have used their brains to make a lot more money than me.

The business of professional sports is a multi billion dollar industry (Probably trillions if you combine all the sports). There are tons of smart people in sports who have come up with some very creative ways to make money. If you've been to a sporting event lately, you know it's more like going to the circus than going to a ballgame. They shoot free t-shirts into the stands, offer specials on concessions, have every possible activity on the Jumbotron scoreboard (Kiss Cam, guessing games etc...), give out bobbleheads and other collectibles etc...

Why all this talk about brains and sports? Because I can't imagine how a recent promotion in Denver went so horribly wrong. The Colorado Rockies have a star shortstop named Troy Tulowitzki. The team decided to give out 15,000 free jerseys with this guys name on the back. You can probably guess what happened. Yep, they misspelled his name. Granted, Tulowitzki is a tough name to spell, but you've got to be kidding me. How does a professional team hire a professional sporting goods company to make 15,000 jerseys for the team's most famous player and spell the name wrong? Furthermore, how is it that nobody noticed the mistake until it was too late? In the end the team handed out the jerseys anyway and offered the fans a chance to exchange them for corrected ones in September. I'm guessing most people will keep the originals as collectors items. This whole fiasco begs only one question. HOW IN THE WORLD DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN? Can you imagine being the person in charge of this promotion? I would love to have been a fly on the wall when that person was called onto the carpet. Yikes!

Here are the jerseys. Notice the glaring error of the second "T" missing in Tulowitzki.

Productive!

It was a long weekend, but it was a productive one as well. Tami completed another estate sale and had another satisfied customer. These sales are a tremendous amount of work for her, but there is definitely a sense of accomplishment when she finishes one. Congratulations, Honey! Job well done! I am proud of what you are doing!

An "A-Salt" Weapon

I am not a gun owner, although I fully support second amendment constitutional rights of a citizen's right to bear arms. In light of my political views, I think I may be ready to purchase my first firearm (at least it's a firearm of sorts). Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, "Bug-A-Salt". This is a toy shotgun that harmlessly shoots a pinch of table salt every time you fire it. Well, when I say it's harmless, I mean harmless for humans. The same can't be said for bugs. Watch this short video to see the effects of a blast of salt on a housefly. Talk about a 21st century shooting gallery! Honestly, I probably won't buy one, but you know what they say about men... they never really grow up. I can picture myself sitting on my deck listening to the Reds game while blasting pesky flies in mid-air.

You may think this is a joke, but this thing is for real, folks. Granted, the sound effects in the video are fake, but this gun really does fire a small blast of salt. SIGN... ME... UP!!!!!!

Business continues!

And the beat goes on!

Tami is in the midst of conducting another estate sale. Today was a successful beginning and hopefully tomorrow will bring about a successful conclusion. As usual, she put a lot of time and effort into displaying the client's merchandise for optimal sales. This is not easy work and I am so proud of what she is doing. You really can't believe it until you've seen it for yourself. Stop by one of her sales sometime. There's always plenty of stuff to look at and you can get some real bargains.

I'm not complaining

I'm not complaining, but...

Lawrenceburg Community Schools begin on July 31st. Abby goes back to school on August 7th. Does anybody else have a problem with kids going back to school this early? I go back to school on August 20th and I thought THAT was early. Don't get me wrong. I have had a more than adequate vacation, but it sure seems like school is getting back in session during the summer.

Love the heat

My love of summer is well documented. My disdain for winter is equally documented.

With summer comes heat and humidity... you will not hear me complaining about either. I spend a lot time waiting for summer weather and I'll be doggoned if I am going to whine about something I spent all winter waiting for. For those of you who are longing for cold temperatures, I offer this...

Pregnancy

Nobody in my family is pregnant, but I found the following Q&A mildly amusing.

As I slow down...

As I slow down, the world speeds up. This is not a favorable combination. With each passing day technology is advancing, but I am not. I am set in my ways and resistant to any new fangled ideas. It reminds me of the time back in the mid 90's when I tried to introduce e-mail to my grandma. Something that was seemingly so simple to me, was completely incomprehensible to her. She never did learn to use it (and I doubt she ever really tried). At the time I was frustrated that she wouldn't join the progression of the times. Why wouldn't somebody want to use this wonderful and efficient mode of communication? Probably for the same reason people many years ago didn't learn to use a telephone or telegraph... they had gotten along fine before the new technology came along and they would get along fine without it now. I feel the same way about Skype, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Flickr, iPhones, Smartphones and a thousand other technological doohickeys. My life was fine before all that stuff came along and I will likely survive without learning how to use any of that stuff. The sun will set tonight and will rise again tomorrow even if I don't learn the technology of the 21st century. My kids laugh at me all the time and shake their heads in disbelief when I can't grasp even the simplest technological advance. The reason I write this is I have been feeling old lately. The world is passing me by and I am well aware of it. It's a scary thing, but I am strangely okay with it. I am simply experiencing what my father experienced, what his father before him experienced and his father before him... It's been that way since the dawn of time.

Not to be outdone

Not to be outdone... Here is my sweet Sveta with her mom. This photo was taken at our lake picnic a few weeks ago.

Pretty girls!

Our little walker

Just an example of things to come. With much mobility come great deeds of mischief!

Life as we know it

Life as we know it... has changed forever. Well, at least that's the case for Elliott's mommy and daddy. Recently our little guy has been taking a few steps here and there. Today he really took off. We saw a video where he took 6-8 steps. Within a short amount of time he will be walking all over the place and there will be no stopping him. I can't wait!

In my RIGHT mind

I've heard it said that left handed people are the only ones in their right mind. If that's true, I'm either half sane or half crazy. Take your pick.

When it comes to being right handed or left handed, I've always been a bit mixed up. I'm neither and I'm both at the same time. I don't do all things right handed or all things left handed. For example, I throw a ball, bat, bowl, use power tools, use most hand tools and shoot a gun right handed. On the other hand (Ha Ha! Pun fully intended!), I eat, write, shave, brush my teeth and perform other fine motor skills left handed. So, as you can see, I am not right handed or left handed and I am definitely not ambidextrous (i.e. I cannot eat or write right handed and I cannot throw a ball or bat left handed). In other words I am nothing but mixed up! I'm guessing that explains a lot about me.

This mixed up right/left handedness has always caused some issues in my life, but has also had some benefits. For example, when using a hammer, if my right hand gets tired, I can switch to my left hand to rest my right. However, in school most desks are made for right handed people. Over the years I learned to adapt, but it would have been so much easier to use a desk made for left handers. And speaking of writing, what left handed person doesn't know the frustration of smearing ink all over your hand and the paper when the ink doesn't dry instantly? Every handwritten document I ever produced had smudges and smears all over it. It doesn't make me sloppy, it makes me left handed. And don't even get me started on trying to write on the right side page of a spiral notebook. As a teacher, writing on blackboards and dry erase boards is always an adventure... UGH! It has been a life long struggle.

So which is it? Am I right handed or left handed? Yes, I am and no, I'm not. Both. Neither. It just depends on the situation.

23 years

Happy anniversary to my beautiful wife of 23 years. I can't believe it has been that long. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were saying, "I do", and moving into our first little one bedroom apartment. Now we are grandparents and bearing down hard on the empty nest. The passage of time just boggles my mind.

The last 23 years have had their ups and downs (as all marriages do), but mostly ups. We've been through so much together and I am looking forward to the next 23 years and beyond.

Happy anniversary, Honey!

Bienvenido a casa

Bienvenido a casa, Abby! In Spanish that means Welcome Home, Abby!

Abby returned from Mexico today. She arrived at CVG late this afternoon. She had lots of pictures to show us, tons of stories to tell and brought home a lifetime of memories. It was a good trip for her, but we are so happy she's home. Anytime your child travels to another country it's always a relief to get him/her back home safely. We praise the Lord for that.

I'm sure we haven't heard all the stories yet. There will be more to come in the near future. If you're interested in how her trip went, just ask her... she'll be happy to tell you.

For now, Buenos Noches, Amigos!

More Bacon!

A while back I posted something about the fad of bacon. You know, bacon this, bacon that... A comedian once quipped that bacon would be the ultimate player in the game of "Survivor" because nobody would EVER vote bacon off the island. It's hard to argue with that logic.

Need more evidence that the bacon fad is becoming ridiculous? I present to you: Bacon Shaving Cream. I love bacon, but I think I'd have to say no thanks to this personal hygiene item.

Lesourdesville Lake/Americana

Yesterday Tami and I travelled to Germantown, Ohio to bid an estate sale job. On the way home we passed the old Lesourdesville Lake/Americana amusement park that has been abandoned for over a decade. There's was no way I was going to drive by without at least a short stop to take a peek. And that's exactly what I did...

I don't believe in ghosts, but looking through the locked gates this dilapidated park looked eerily haunted. Buildings are falling down. Weeds are overgrowing everything. Paint is peeling. Rust is everywhere. Yet if I listened closely enough, I could almost hear carnival music playing, children squealing on rides, midway workers barking out their pitch to get unsuspecting players to try their luck at the rigged games and the sounds of people enjoying a summer day at an amusement park. It was so strange to see a place that was once bustling and teeming with life, sitting silent, abandoned and decaying. In 20 years there will probably be nothing but a grass field on that property. For now, I can find beauty in what is probably viewed as an eyesore in that area. I'm probably a little weird, but I find places like this old park fascinating. I can look past the complete disrepair of this place and see what used to be. A place that holds a handful of childhood memories for me. I didn't go to this park a lot, but I remember going at least twice. The older I get, the more I like to relive things from my past while trying to not think about today. That's precisely what I did yesterday.

Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday, Elliott!

One

My grandson, Elliott Morton is one year old today. One year ago we got the word that our little bundle of joy had arrived. My goodness, how time flies. Happy Birthday, Elliott!

Not to be forgotten, my daughter Jessi and Elliott's mama turns the big 3-0 today. It's hard to believe she's that old... haha! Happy Birthday, Miss Poosley!

The Old Days

We finished our day of antiquing and boy, are we tired! We went to a HUGE antique mall in Columbus, Indiana. We spent the better part of five hours there and still only saw about 75% of the merchandise. Tami and I both commented that it was more like a museum than a place to buy antiques. In addition to the items listed in my last post, there were hundreds of thousands of other things to choose from. There was lots and lots of glassware (glasses, pitches, teacups, bowls, platters, dishes, vases etc...). There were old signs, sports memorabilia, old farm tools, old chairs, furniture and house furnishings of every kind, war memorabilia, old fishing equipment and pretty much anything else you can think of. It was a fun day and we didn't spend a dime. Now THAT'S entertainment!

A couple of antiques

A couple of antiques. No, not Tami and me. It's what we'll be shopping for today at a few antique malls. Tami and I have really gotten into antiquing lately. It's amazing some of the stuff you see. Many people think it's just old furniture. There is so much more to it than that. The possibilities are endless and the things people used to use are fascinating. There are old kitchen items, toys, decorative items, books, coins, jewelry, tools, furniture and a multitude of other interesting items.

We probably won't buy anything, but it sure is fun to look.

Rain

We got some much needed rain today. I don't mind rain, especially when it has been so dry. I like looking outside as the the earth gets a much needed drink of fresh water. I like listening to it patter gently on the roof. However, I don't like driving in it... not because of myself, but because of other drivers. Why do people freak out when driving in the rain? I understand the need to slow down and exercise caution on wet roads, but I will never comprehend why traffic needs to come to a grinding halt just because of a little bit of rain. Not that much changes... slow down by 5-10 MPH, give a little extra distance to the car ahead of you and you should be fine. As we all know, that's not what happens... the rain falls and traffic stops. Sheesh!

Lost in the shuffle

Also lost in the shuffle of my brother-in-law's visit was Abby's birthday.

My baby girl turned 17 on Friday. She's a senior this year and it boggles my mind to think she will graduate next spring.

Happy 17th birthday, Abby!

Mexico Bound

In all the busy-ness of Tami's brother visiting, I failed to mention Abby left for Mexico yesterday. She will be there for a week doing missions work at the Mexican Indian Training Center. She made the same trip last year and was very excited about this year's trip.

The trip down to Mexico was not without its snags though. Actually, the trip from Cincinnati to Houston went smoothly. After a 6 hour layover un in Houston, the flight to Mexico was delayed for several hours. I'm not sure of the reason, but they finally arrived in Mexico about 2 A.M. Then they had a 2 hour bus ride to their final destination. Can you imagine that? After a long day of traveling getting on a rickety old bus in the middle of the night and riding to a remote area of Mexico... YIKES!

Please pray for Abby and the other members of the team for a profitable time in Mexico.

She gets home next Saturday.

The end of the busy-ness

My brother-in-law's visit came to an end today. We had a big blow out pool party at my house today. It was a wonderful time with swimming, grilling, visiting and general jocularity and frivolity all around.

It was sad to say goodbye, but all good things must come to an end.

Starting tomorrow our lives fully return to normal and that's not all bad. I am looking forward to getting back to my blog in full force.

Ultra Busy

Have you missed me lately, folks? I'm sorry the blog has been neglected the last few days. Tami's brother is in town visiting from Phoenix and our world stops when he is here. We've had family functions/parties/gatherings every day since Tuesday. We host a huge pool party at our house on Saturday. Mix in the big Reds game and you see how crazy our lives have been.

Also... Abby flies to Mexico at 11:00 this morning for her mission trip.

Life is just busy, busy, busy right now. Stick with me. Things will settle down in a few days. There will be more good posts in the coming days.

Thanks for understanding everybody.

Hey Guy!

It was a great day at the ballpark in the Diamond Seats. More details about that another day.

For now, let's just say the Reds lost, but we had a blast anyway.

And guess what... Guy Fieri threw out the first pitch.

Diamond Seats

I received a very pleasant surprise this evening. My brother-in-law called and asked if I wanted to sit in the Diamond Seats at the Reds game tomorrow. My reply was simple... "Oh yeah!".

We will sit in Carl Lindner's seats (first and second row directly behind home plate). If you watch the game on TV, you may see me feeding my face. The ticket includes a free prime rib buffet before the game and in-seat service during the game (also free). Actually all the stuff isn't free (Mr. Lindner and his family paid for it when the ticket was purchased), but it's free to me.

All the free food aside, it will be the first game I've attended in a year and a half. It's going to be a fun time.

Go Reds!

I made dinner!

I was just trying to help...

Me: "Honey, I made dinner for you!".

Tami: Stunned silence

Bacon

Who doesn't like bacon? It's one of the most delicious foods on the planet... it's also horrible for you. Fried pork fat? Ummmm... yeah!

There has been a huge bacon fad going on the last few years. You know things are getting out of hand when you see bacon flavored toothpaste, bacon flavored beer and bacon flavored cupcakes (yes, all these things really do exist). It seems that things today are "all bacon, all the time". Restaurants are actually competing to see who can get the most bacon on a sandwich (and this is being measured in pounds, not ounces). Look, I like bacon as much as the next guy, but I don't need a pound of bacon on my cheeseburger. There really is too much of a good thing.

Elliott has a shirt that says, "My Daddy loves me more than bacon". That's a lot of love, folks! I love bacon too, but I say it's enough already with the bacon fad. Enough has already been too much.

Bible Humor

You all know I believe God has a sense of humor. I just love Bible humor.

I found the following comic very amusing.

Toys

I'm a simple guy and it doesn't take much to make me happy. A good meal,a good drink, a day with my family or toys. Today I got to play with one of my toys. I got my pressure washer out and cleaned my deck. It had not been done in a couple of years and it was in dire need. It was black and green with algae and gray with dirt and age. After a long day's work, the deck looks beautiful again. It feels so good to accomplish such a big job and I got to play with a powerful tool to boot. A good day began at church and ended with a beautiful refurbished deck.

Soli Deo Gloria!

A new convert

You all know of my love for metal detecting. It's a fun hobby that I really enjoy. Unfortunately I don't get to do it very often. Last week we babysat for the grandkids and I decided to show Sveta my metal detector. She loved it!

Before beginning, I planted two quarters in the ground to ensure she experienced quick success. I went to those spots first and she was thrilled to find big money in the ground. Later we found two dimes and a penny (these were legitimate finds, not planted coins). We also found some junk in the ground, but she didn't view it as junk. She thought it was treasure and she liked finding that stuff more than the money. It was a really fun day and I know Sveta will be up for another round of metal detecting as soon as possible.

Here's the new convert:

Typos

Typographical errors happen to the best of us. That last post was supposed to read, "Enjoy your day, folks!".

Thanks for understanding :-)

And once again, Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th!

We the People of the United States... So begins one of the most powerful, important documents in the history of mankind.

238 years ago, in 1776 our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. With a few strokes of their quill pens these brave men told King George III to take his tyranny, his taxes and everything else and to just shove it! Obviously the king did not take this declaration lightly and he sent the biggest, baddest fighting machine in the world (the red coats) to bring these traitors into line. The revolutionary war ensued. A small group of rag-tag rebels took on the highly trained British army and after years of bitter fighting, General Cornwallis finally surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown in 1781. If the British had won the war, the signers of the Declaration of Independence would certainly have been executed and the king would have maintained  control of the colonies in the west. But the British DID NOT win the war and a new nation was born. In one of the greatest upsets in the history of the world, that small group of rebels brought a powerful army to its knees. Today The United States of America is the greatest, most powerful nation in the world.

Happy Independence Day, everybody! As you grill with your family and friends and as you watch fireworks displays, think of the real reason we are celebrating. Some very courageous men made a very bold move and decided to separate (declare independence) from England. For that reason you live in the USA instead of a western colony of Great Britain.

Enjoy your day, folks!

Sagging

I don't know what you call it, but I call it sagging. Sagging is the practice of wearing one's pants below the waistline so that underwear is visible. Some cases are mild (in other words these guys wear their pants lower than normal and the elastic waistband of their boxer shorts is visible). That's bad enough in itself. However, some guys wear their pants completely below their rear ends. I don't know how they even walk. It looks utterly ridiculous and shows complete disrespect for everyone and everything. When you are walking down the street, I don't want to see your drawers and I definitely don't want to see your butt crack. This was a particular problem in my class this year. I had a group of sixth grade boys that I asked to pull up their pants more often than I care to even remember. You may be thinking I should have asked them to get a belt. It doesn't matter. They cinch their belt around their thighs instead of their waists. It was maddening and I really could do nothing to stop it. I would ask them to pull up their pants (which they would), but 30 seconds later their pants had sagged south again.

This trend has been around way too long. I hoped this practice would have gone out of style (like parachute pants, bell bottoms etc...), but it hasn't. It has withstood the test of time. The guy that wrote the sign below has things figured out. I don't know him, but I like him already!

Here's what it looks like:

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way. It's a big enough problem for signs to be posted and city ordinances and laws to be passed

Three cheers for this guy!

Grilling Out!

As the 4th of July approaches, I am filled with the usual feelings of patriotism. Proud to be an American, thankful to live in the greatest nation on the planet, grateful for the men and women who serve this nation to keep us free. This year we will combine some of the traditions with something a little different. We will have the obligatory grill out, pool party and fireworks display viewing. However, this year we will be having a group of friends from church over to have a Bible study lesson. It's the best of both worlds. God, burgers, swimming and watching fireworks. How's that for a party? It's going to be a fun day!

Fireworks

July is the month for fireworks. it's the American way. Tonight July came in with a natural fireworks show. We had one of the showiest lightning storms that I've seen in quite some time. I love thunderstorms, so watching the show tonight was a rare and special treat. Even in thunderstorms, God's creation is beautiful and amazing.

In a few days we'll watch some man-made fireworks... they'll be pretty, but will pale in comparison to the lightning.

Soli' Deo Gloria!