Politics & Religion

Totally enjoying the chaos that has just broadsided the DNC in the form of FBI Director Comey announcing he's reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails less than two weeks before the election.  On a Friday.  After 1pm.  She's not been able to distance herself from the emails since it was made public and now she's got the added bonus of having the emails connected with an underage sex story in the form of sleazy perv Anthony Weiner, the husband of Hillary's hand-maiden Huma Abedin.  Also, why don't they call her Huma Weiner?  Inquiring minds want to know!

What I'm going to ask now...involves 2 gallons of nitro glycerin, 3 pygmy fainting goats, an all-expense paid round-trip to the Quickie Mart for kerosene and coffee, around 4 dozen angry Hell's Angels, the Spanish Inquisition, the Lost Ark of the Covenant, Blackbeard's treasure and an angry sleep-deprived pregnant wife.  Are you with me?

Right now, a half-dozen people in the world are laughing at the paragraph above.  Those are people that have been employed or associated with one John Kuzmier over the years.  I could write a book on this one joker, 100% honest and true, and not one reader would believe the words on the pages.  Kuzmier came across to me as a little shady on our first meeting, but he offered me a job, so I had to set that aside.  Started on Monday, on Friday he writes me a paycheck for Monday through Wednesday my first week.  He sends me to HIS bank with other employees to cash our checks.  No problem on the first two, but when my turn came the teller shook her head and said "there's not enough in the account to cash your check, sorry!"  Yeah.  His wife bought that check from me that evening at their home for cash.  His wife.

Sorry.  I'm just not excited at all about either Halloween or the upcoming 40th anniversary high school reunion.  Haven't had a single visitor the last two Halloweens here, and never considered going to the reunion in the first place.  High school was an awkward situation I was glad to be done with and I was on the road within a few years travelling with a show band playing a six-state area 28 days out of the month.  When I came off of the road and ready to take roots again, I was a different animal in many ways from the kid that graduated high school and drove across town to college...

Nuts and Bolts

Had a wonderful 'guest' here today, a gentleman who I didn't even get his name.  He was born in Mexico and worked 15 years as a cook on a ship, he's seen the world and had GREAT stories.  He laughed when I commented that my cat, Pip, is a "yankee" cat (he's from MD, so technically not a 'yankee') and the word "gringo" came out of his mouth.  The two other Mexican folks with him froze until they realized the conversation we were having.

Classic TV was playing in the background, a black and white episode of Gunsmoke showing as he asked if I knew who Pancho Villa was.  Knowing him, he explains that the president of the US ordered the army to capture him.  At that point in time our army was wearing green uniforms, earlier versions of todays.  Villa instructed his people to form a line of sentries to be on the lookout for the green-clad army.  When you spot them, you rush to the next sentry station and report you've seen the 'green' and you need to 'go' to the next sentry station and so on.  So the phrase used by the exhausted sentries was actually "Green!  Go!"

So I'm told that's where the term "gringo" comes from, and it's not said to be any sort of slur or insult.  I guess if he wasn't such a likable guy, I could have whipped out my photos from CMLL in 2006 and tell him that me and Canek are besties, but I didn't.  Great guy, great worker, he leaves me with an apartment looking 100% better than it did when he arrived.  Pleasant surprise of the day, CHECK!

And yes, I AM getting evil with a CNN Don Lemon graphic, which I have altered to allow me to add photos and a CNN caption to.  I've made a handful already and I'm sure there will be more!

For the old schoolers, I did a half-baked series of photos of both Otto Schwanz and Playboy Tripp.  Found one that was never published.  Enjoy, ya'll!

Upside Down, Inside Out

Been a few since I 'remembered' to update this puppy, which is still mostly unknown of, so let me drop a few random thoughts here:

How "old school" do you have to be to actually get excited about buying a new flip-phone?  I'm there.  Battery in my Acutel TracFone started getting weird and I picked up a new LG today at Wallace World.  Still haven't bought minutes in 3 or 4 months, currently have 100 minutes in the account.  Yeah, I paid a whopping $15 for the new phone!  BTW, TracFone is the way to go if you don't want to pay for service you don't use.

I've personally had enough of these "athletes" using the National Anthem as a way to draw attention to themselves in "protest" of this injustice or that.  Professional athletes are VERY well paid for what they do and they can afford to make their point on numerous platforms without insulting those who died in service and defense of our country.  ECU's band actually had members kneeling and not playing the Anthem?  They'd be on their way home, each and every one of them.  The white kids raising their fists during the Anthem at the Carolina football game?  Remember, there are video cameras EVERYWHERE these days kids.  Keep it up.  When the blowback hits, you're going to want to pretend you're surprised, otherwise the whole victim act is a waste of time.

Notice I didn't mention the falling NFL ratings in the above paragraph?

This NFL season's first quarter came to an end with everything upside down and standings are turned inside out.  It's early in this marathon season and I'm not in a panic over the Carolina Panther's 1-3 start despite Cam being concussed and likely out on Monday night.  I laughed out loud on Sunday watching the Cowboys and 49ers.  Early in the 2nd quarter with the 49ers in front, Troy Aikman starts lamenting about "when will Tony Romo return?"  If Jerry Jones would quit getting facelifts long enough to use his brain, he'd send Romo packing for whatever he can get in return for him and use all of that freed up salary cap to build a monster around Dak Prescott.  And yeah, I am NOT a Cowboy fan.

Folks who have inadequate or even no insurance for their belongings and home are living a lie.  If you can't afford to protect what you have, you can't afford it.

Still having a blast with the Pip Rocket.  Fun, crazy cat that plays fetch and sleeps on my feet.  Most mornings around 5:30 he crawls up the bed to my elbow wanting to be petted.  He's went from silent kitty to very vocal kitty in the past few weeks and he's began selectively attacking rolls of paper towels, bananas, apples and assorted potatoes.  Yup, we have to hide the bananas.

Pip says "hi, ya'll."  Until next time, happy trails, partners!