Archive for the ‘Looking Back’ Category

11-23-2014 Things I Once Hated!   Leave a comment

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Four years ago in a galaxy far far away on my first blog I posted a list of 100 Things I Hate.  At the time I challenged myself to compile that list in under ten minutes to make it as spontaneous as possible. I completed it easily and was really proud of my accomplishment.  It was a fun exercise that I found interesting and one I want to revisit today.

I’ll be addressing the first ten items from that list and fully intend to cover the remaining ninety over the next month.  "An unexamined life is not worth living." or so I’ve been told over and over again.  That being said there are certain inevitabilities in life such as the much overused "death and taxes" but there are many others that are just as important.  "Change" effects us all in a myriad of ways and many times we aren’t even aware that it’s happening. I hope this silly little exercise will give me a better understanding of the many changes that are taking place within me and the effect it has on my endless supply of opinions on just about everything.  Here we go.

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#1 STUPID PEOPLE – Unfortunately this one hasn’t changed much at all.  Although now I recognize and admit that a large percentage of these people are harmless-stupid which makes them more annoying than anything else. The remainder are bad-stupid and remain on my hate list.  It appears I’m not hating on this as much as I once did and I see a 50% Improvement.

#2 ROSIE O’DONNELL – No change here. No improvement whatsoever. She sucks.

#3 UNIBROW WOMEN – I’ve always had the ability to identify one or two things about any woman I’ve become involved with or thought about getting involved with. I consider them all lovely and fun to be with in their own right. I’m again forced to reconsider this item because I’m sure there are some women out there with unibrows that I’d like to spend a little time with.  50% Improvement.

#4 BUMS – This term along with the term hobo is no longer politically correct and I promise to slap myself on the wrist really hard each and every time I use them.  Again I find myself hating those aggressive and arrogant homeless people who insist on getting in my face and wanting my money.  Some of these others who are mentally challenged are just pitiful but because of all the politically-correct thinking in this country they’ve been dumped onto the streets. 50% Improvement.

#5 DIRTY FINGERNAILS – No change here and no improvement.

#6 CRIMINALS – No change here either. No improvement.

#7 CANADIANS – I’ve moved this item into the annoyance category.  Canadians are are just a mild form of a parasite that continually criticizes it’s host but continues to enjoy the benefits it provides. 100% Improvement.

#8 ROCK STACKERS – Once again, more an annoyance than anything else. It’s something I see no useful purpose in doing but if you feel compelled to do it then just do it.  I can feel myself changing already and I’m getting all tingly with my 100% Improvement.

#9 FUNERALS – I hate them.  I would like to spend the remainder of my life never attending another regardless of who it is.  They freak me out and hopefully the only other one I ever attend will be my own. No improvement here.

#10 BACKWARD BASEBALL CAPS -  This is something I’ve hated since it all started. Grown men and women teaching their children to look as stupid and ridiculous as they do.  This goes hand in hand with saggy pants with underwear sticking out. I’d like to find the person who started these ridiculous trends and just kick their ass. No improvement.

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By my calculations on these ten items I’m showing a 35% improvement overall.  I find that amazing, disturbing, and annoying, all at the same time.  I wish I could get that kind of improvement for my 2014 New Years resolutions but they’ll be reviewed and discussed at a later date.

11-19-2014 Journal–Chili Day!   1 comment

This stretch of cold and rainy weather has pretty much kept me in the house for the last few days.  I was starting to climb the walls a bit when I received a call from my better-half from work to discuss arrangements for dinner. I assumed from the call that she wasn’t interested in cooking and needed me to help out a little.  She suggested that maybe just maybe I could make a batch of my chili. 

After agreeing I checked my latest recipe for the necessary ingredients and I was out the door and on my way to get them.  You need to understand something important, when I make a batch of chili I make a huge batch.  My normal recipes result in upwards of ten quarts and sometime even more.  It was a quick shopping trip and I returned home and got to work.

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This was a new recipe I created after tasting the chili pictured below during one of our luncheon forays to Kennebunkport, Maine. That chili contained a lot of cheese and a healthy number of calories due to the ground beef and oils used in preparation. As you can see it looks incredible and tasted even better.

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‘Thanks Federal Jack’

I substituted a mixture of ground chicken and turkey to replace the beef, then eliminated the oil by browning the meat in Smart Balance.  It was then a simple matter of adding the remaining ingredients and spices and cooking it for a few minutes.

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Most of the state of Texas would string me up by my heels for ever calling my chili, Chili.  Fortunately I cook and flavor foods so they taste good to me.  I like my chili super hot and use a mixture of Cayenne and Habanero peppers that bring it to life in a big way.  I also use a selection of beans with different flavors and textures which apparently is a big NO NO in chili cooking circles. Just to add insult to injury I always, regardless of the ingredients, add diced potatoes.  Strikes two and three as far as Texas is concerned.

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A short time later I had my finished product, a batch of Black Bean & Corn chili, and to hell with all of you chili purists. It tastes exactly the way I wanted, hot as blazes, with no red meat or oil used.  It looks a little like the restaurant version but certainly has more flavor and an increased level of heat.  As is usually the case most restaurants serve a medium heat chili unless it happens to be a Mexican restaurant.  Here it is.

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We had a couple of bowls each for dinner that night and loved it.  We then packaged up the rest for freezing which should supply us with five or six hearty meals this winter.  Life is good.

11-07-2014 Journal Entry–DST BS!   1 comment

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‘From the time when we believed the government knew what the hell it was doing.’

Gray, cloudy, cold, wet, Maine, Fall, Daylight Savings Time, and OMFG. The last few days have kinda sucked in so many ways.  It’s too crappy to go out to do much of anything because of the weather which left me no choice but to find things to do in and around the house. The best that I could come up was to sit and look out the picture window at 5:30 am waiting for the town workers to come by and paint the new lines on the recently paved road. I actually found myself getting a little excited.

I’m firmly of the opinion that it’s long overdue for the powers-that-be to once and for all eliminate the insanity that is Daylight Savings Time. I’ve never really heard a reasonable explanation as to why it is necessary and for every explanation put forth there are two reasons given explaining why it’s all so much BS.

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‘From the time when hoe actually meant hoe.’

I’ve been hearing my whole life those famous words, "spring forward, fall back".  It’s time to dispel all of the misinformation that’s been shoveled our way by a government that probably has no clue as to why it’s doing this foolishness at all.  Here are a few uninteresting facts about DST that you’ve probably never heard before and might just help convince you it’s time to scrap this stupid old idea once and for all.

  • Germany was the first country to implement DST on April 30, 1916 when the clocks were set forward at 11:00 pm (23:00). (When have the Germans ever been right about anything?)
  • US inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin first proposed the concept of DST in 1784, but modern Daylight Saving Time first saw the light of day, in 1895 in New Zealand.  (Even Ben could be wrong once in a while.)
  • Some studies show that DST could lead to fewer road accidents and injuries by supplying more daylight during the hours when more people are on the roads. (Total  BS)
  • Other studies claim that people’s health might suffer due to DST changes. (I sure agree about this one.)
  • It is claimed that DST is also used to reduce the amount of energy needed for artificial lighting during the evening hours. However, many other studies totally disagree and dispute any DST energy savings capabilities. (Again, no agreement on the possible benefits which might just mean they’re really aren’t any.)
  • Today clocks are almost always set one hour back or ahead, but throughout history there have been several variations, like half adjustment (30 minutes) or double adjustment (two hours), and adjustments of 20 and 40 minutes have also been used. (More confusing answers with no agreements on any one point.)

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‘Everyone seems to agree that Native Americans have the ability to understand things we don’t. This is a perfect example.’

I’ve had it explained to me my entire life that when improvements are introduced, technological or otherwise, we should fight our instincts not to change and just DO IT.  There’s absolutely no consensus that DST is accomplishing anything but we still keep doing it. I realize for some of you it may seem to be fun to have your sleep cycles, bodily functions, and general well being screwed with by the government but I do not.  By the time I’ve finally adjusted to this stupid hour change it’s time to switch back.  Utter and complete government sponsored insanity.

STOP THE MADNESS!!!

11-05-2014 Journal Entry– Furry Birthday Greetings!   2 comments

This is my week for celebrating.  There aren’t many days during the year that I choose to remember fondly but this is one of them.  Today is my cat Stormy’s fourteenth birthday.  Don’t worry, this posting will not be some crazy-ass cat lovers gushy and sentimental rant.  I’m not some over-the-top PETA idiot who thinks animals are more important than people but I do have a soft spot for certain ones.

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I’m what most people would consider a cat person.  Over the years I’ve had a number of dogs, a snake, a ferret or two, hamsters, and a few cats.  For some reason I like having a friend who keeps his or her opinions to themselves, who is that perfect listener we all seem to be looking for, and is somewhat self-sufficient.  A friend whose who offers a fair amount of unconditional love and will listen to whatever nonsense I decide to spew.  If he doesn’t like it he just walks away without snide remarks or any rolling of the eyes.

Of all of my pets two stand out from the others.  They’re both cats and both lived to be more than fourteen years old.  I started out as a dog person due to my father’s decision to raise and sell hunting beagles.  We always had dogs and puppies running around the yard and I shoveled my fair share of excrement as part of my chores.  I really do prefer shoveling it from a litter box instead of scraping it up from different areas of the house.

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Once I returned from the Army and started my working life, dogs became more responsibility than I could handle.  My jobs required that I move around from apartment to apartment, state to state, and having a dog would have been impossible.  Dogs for me are much like small children who never grow up and remain needy as long as they live.

Stormy came into my life for a number of reasons.  I found him in a local shelter the week after 9/11.  One of my ferrets had just died and her bonded mate was grieving terribly.  I brought Stormy home and that cat and ferret eventually became inseparable.  Years later when the second ferret passed on Stormy was inconsolable and slept on top of the empty ferret cage for months.  We’ve been together every since, thirteen years and counting.

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He’s makes friends easily, had his own Twitter page for a while, and even had a children’s book written about him.  Now that he’s reached middle age he’s slowed down some but still the best mouser I’ve ever seen.  Just last night he was on patrol all night because he saw one of those annoying field mice that decided to take shelter in his house.  It’s only a matter of time before that stupid mouse makes a fatal misstep and I’ll find his corpse in the kitchen next to Stormy’s food bowl some morning.  That’s where he leaves his trophies so I can see and appreciate them.

He’s also attached himself to my better-half and slowly over time has become her official bed buddy.  So a big Happy Birthday to Stormy and hopefully he’ll have many more years with us.  I might even spring for a can of Fancy Feast for dinner tonight, after all it is a special occasion.

10-26-2014 Journal Entry-Leaves & Chickens!   Leave a comment

I’m still waiting . . . . for what you might ask . . . . for dryness. This last week here in Maine was like the monsoon season in India except for the bone chilling icy cold nights.  I mentioned in a recent post about all the effing leaves I’ve been dealing with and I’m here to tell you it hasn’t gotten any better.  Not only do we have more leaves than before but they’re now soaking wet. There’s nothing harder than trying to rake giant piles of wet leaves because they refuse to cooperate.  I’m only bringing it up again because it’s my one and only chore for today and I just don’t want to do it.

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‘Dumb Birds’

As I write this post I’m tightly wrapped in my red dragon blanket, still in bed, sipping my coffee, and looking out the window at another gray and damp day. Most of the trees have dropped their leaves except for a few of the more stubborn oaks.  They always seem to hang on a little longer than the others before giving it up for the Winter.  As usual I can just make out a few squirrels romping through the nearby tree branches enjoying the last days of Fall. I won’t see much of them again until we have a few warmer than normal days later in the Winter.  They’ll sneak out, look around, smell the air, and try to find an acorn or two. Then it’ll be back to their nests to await Spring’s arrival.  I guess those squirrels have the right idea.  I’m trying to do much the same thing if you think about it.  If it’s good enough for a bunch of furry little squirrels then it should work for me as well, right?

Most of the birds have headed south and at times I envy them.  The woodpeckers, the blue jays, and chickadees are back in large numbers and will be around for the entire winter.  We supply them with plenty of food and suet to help them through the worst of it.  It always amazes me that any of them ever survive the Winter.  This morning I found our backyard filled with black birds and I’m not sure what they were looking for but they working hard at it.

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‘Stupid Birds’

For the first time in a week I can actually see blue skies and the sun. I can remember as a kid how much my friends and I loved climbing onto and under the piles of leaves.  My Dad found it amusing for as long as it took him to realize we were making more work for him.  Maybe today I’ll revert to an earlier version of myself, pile up some leaves, and dive right in.  The smell of those wet leaves should take me right back to age seven for a few minutes. Then reality will set back in and I’ll realize I’m sitting in a pile of wet leaves  in the middle of my yard and giving the neighbors a reason to question my sanity.

As I stepped out my back door I received another big surprise.  From out of nowhere two chickens arrived at my door and are refusing to leave.  Now I’ll be forced to spend time today polling my neighbors to see who they belong to.  I’ll never again feel guilty about eating chickens . . . they’re too stupid to live.

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“Dumb and Stupid Birds’

Anyone out there interested in a few chicken wings?

10-09-2014 (Sarcasm On) Merry Christmas!   Leave a comment

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We’ve reached mid-October and I’m starting to see indications of that holiday freight train that is rumbling full speed towards us. I was tasked with an errand last night that required me to pickup my better-half who was attending a wedding of a co-worked in a town north of here.  Darkness had fallen and our trip home took us through a number of neighborhoods and small towns. We were within a quarter mile of home when I spotted something that sent a cold shiver down my spine . . .  a lighted Christmas tree in front of a neighbor’s home. These neighbors are the newest members of our little community and are folks who love to celebrate each and every holiday with decorations of all sorts hanging from trees, shrubs, and anything else that doesn’t move too much.  It can be cute but also it’s also more than a little annoying just like that tree was last night.

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During some of my shopping  forays in recent weeks I’ve observed the expected Halloween and Thanksgiving craziness but Christmas rearing it’s ugly head this early in October is ridiculous. Having worked for many rears for retail companies I understand the management mentality in getting the jump on competitors.  It just seems they’ve all picked up some of the more bothersome bad habits of the king of all retailers, Walmart.  They seem to think that anything that Walmart does automatically become the final word in making money.  Having spent six months in a Walmart management training program allows me to proclaim that Walmart is just as screwed up as any other company.  Their saving grace secret is their size.  When you’re as big as Walmart it’s much easier to  hide your screw ups and bad decisions.

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I have a sneaking suspicion that Sam Walton is probably spinning in his grave after watching what has gone on with his company.  On my first day at Sam’s Club I was handed a paperback book on the life and times of their founder Sam Walton.  I was ordered to read that book immediately and was questioned heavily on it’s contents throughout the training period.  Almost all of the training tapes that were in use were tapes made by Walton himself who at the time had been dead for more than ten years.  I was being trained by a dead guy in Walmart’s lame attempt to brainwash me into their world of retail. Just before my graduation from that training program I was on my way to work and wishing I wasn’t. Ten minutes after I arrived I walked into the General Manger’s office and resigned. I walked away and never looked back. They only succeeded in making me unhappy, miserable, and just a little crazy. I’ve never regretted my decision.

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This isn’t a rant just about Walmart but a general disappointment with the cynical approach taken by almost every retailer. I think we can thank Wall Street and the Harvard Business School for a lot of these issues. The stock market virtually requires companies to meet expectations regardless of the methods used.  The Harvard MBA’s that I’ve been involved with over the years were all young bean-counters of the worst sort.  They’d gut a company, fire any number of employees, cut benefits, just about anything to help meet those Wall Street projections.  People are just numbers to them and are treated accordingly.  Is it any wonder things are the way they are.

So after saying all of that I hope you’re prepared for the avalanche of Christmas nonsense headed your way.  Ten glorious weeks of Santa Clause, presents, endless TV commercials, and a hit to your wallet that will be larger than ever before.  Oh yeah, I recently heard a nasty rumor that once upon a time Christmas had something to do with religion.  How stupid am I?

08-08-2014 Journal Entry – Boring, Strange & Weird!   Leave a comment

It’s been one of those typical summer days.  A little boring, a little strange, and a whole lotta weird.  The weird occurred this morning when I received a “Friend Request” on Facebook from a person I haven’t seen or spoken to in almost twenty years.  I immediately recognized his name, remembered his face, and then remembered more. 

This guy I’m discussing worked for me when I was managing criminal investigations for a national corporation that will remain nameless. Part of my duties involved training the newbies in criminal interrogation and the handling of potential suspects.  He was tagging along with me on a case involving the theft of thousands of dollars by some of our more nefarious associates.  I’d completed a number of preliminary interviews with persons of interest and had narrowed the suspect list to three possible’s.  My politically correct boss advised me by telephone to give the "new guy" a shot at the final interviews. I wasn’t too happy with that decision but there was nothing much I could do but sit in the room with him and watch. The main suspect was a female department manager who was known to be confrontational and extremely belligerent.  As she entered the interrogation room she snarled at me and just stood there staring at him. You should also know she was a somewhat large woman.

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It’s always important for an interrogator to quickly build a rapport with the interviewee before getting into the more difficult questions. This guy was trying to be so cool and suave that he began schmoozing the woman by asking her how many months pregnant she was. Unfortunately while she did look pregnant, she wasn’t. She jumped to her feet,  screamed a dozen obscenities at him and then slammed the door as she stormed out of the interview room. It was all I could do to remain professional and not laugh out loud. He was utterly mortified and totally speechless. He violated the cardinal rule for doing a successful interrogation. Never, never, never, ask a question unless you already know the answer. 

Fortunately I reinterviewed her the next day and managed to use his screw-up to get a full confession out of her. She stated after a few minutes of questioning that she’d tell me anything I wanted to know as long as I kept that no good SOB away from her.  While she was at it she ratted out three of her alleged friends as well. It was a thing of beauty and something I’ll never forget.

Needless to say, I denied his friend request immediately.

I then made my daily trip to look in on my two new best friends. It was my last day of dog sitting before the better-half and her daughter return from their Maryland vacation.  These first photos are of Jasper.  He’s the elder statesman of the two who isn’t quite as peppy as he once was.  He seemed pretty damn happy to get out of the house for a while and who wouldn’t be.  He was locked in the house with two cats and a second spastic dog named Rihanna.

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‘Jasper Showing His Good Side’

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‘Jasper Being an Idiot’

This is Rihanna his nutso step-sister who’s half pit-bull and half lunatic.  She has more energy than three dogs and will play fetch with you until you drop. She loves to jump up and greet people when she meets them and I have a scar on my forehead to prove it. Crazy freaking dog.

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“A Rare Shot of Her Actually Standing Still’

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I returned home and ended my day with two hours on the riding mower trying to cut this wet grass before the next thunder storm arrives.  I really will be glad to have my better-half home on Saturday. At least she’s housebroken.

07-11-2014 My Relationship Rules for Women!   Leave a comment

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Every guy loves ogling beautiful women and that includes me.   It’s been that way forever and I don’t see it changing any time soon.  Woman claim to dislike being stared at but do they really mean it?  Victoria Secret’s success has made that claim a little less believable. I’ve had them try to tell me that they wear makeup, revealing clothing, and expensive hair styling just to look good for other women.  Do you buy that? Not a chance.  They want to be stared at, whistled at, and ogled just as much as the men enjoy doing it.  It’s that famous “dance” that the sexes do in a age old mating ritual.  If you look good then your choice of mates increases exponentially.

I must say that it’s a fine line for a woman to walk.  If you get too revealing you look like a slut.  Most guys looking for a serious relationship wouldn’t be drawn to the slutty woman but also wouldn’t hesitate making the occasional booty call to one after a night of drinking and increasing horniness. What most women don’t seem to get is the desire by many men for an attractive, well behaved, and friendly woman who sheds those attributes upon entering the bedroom and turns into a sex crazed slut.  I know it isn’t rally fair to all of you women but unfortunately it remains true.

There’s a rule of thumb you’ve probably heard, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid”.  Over the years I’ve developed five simple and easy rules for women to help them have a modicum of success in attracting a possible long term mate.

Rule 1 – Look good but not too good. Just slutty enough to make his mouth water and to keep his fantasies percolating.

Rule 2 – Be flirty but not too dirty or off color.  Just a hint of the “bad girl” is usually enough to drive most men over the edge.

Rule 3 – Drink enough but don’t get sloppy drunk.  No one wants to have the woman they’re hoping to have sex with throwing up on them.  Don’t laugh, it’s happened to me.

Rule 4 – Lay off that constant stream of foul language except in the bedroom. Be coy at first and then turn into that bedroom slut he’s been hoping and searching and wishing for.

Rule 5 – You may be more sexually experienced than he is but don’t show off.  Save some of your better moves for later when he’ll thinks he’s the reason you’ve decided to do them.

I’ve always been partial to women who look good but not too good.  I love a woman who wears her hair long because I find long hair very sexy. It’s an old Victorian fantasy of mine where you spend a great deal of time peeling off layers of clothing and after all that work she  lets down her hair down and you’re good to go. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. 

“With the narrower silhouette, emphasis was placed on the bust, waist and hips. A corset was used to help mold the body to the desired shape.

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“Skirts were supported by a hybrid of the bustle and crinoline or hooped petticoat sometimes called a “crinolette”. The crinolette itself was quickly superseded by the true bustle, which was sufficient for supporting the drapery and train at the back of the skirt.”

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“The Victorian Version of the J-LO look.”

Well back to topic. I’ve had dealings with a few women in my life and they’ve fallen into any number of different categories.  Beautiful, fugly, and all points in between.  Each one was a totally different experience, some good and some really effing bad.  They can try and deny their innate desire to attract men but down deep in their hearts they know its the truth.  They want a good man in a good relationship with kids, a dog, and the white picket fence.  After all of that they also want to be the biggest slut they can be in the bedroom and have a man who’ll appreciate it.

SURPRISE LADIES . . . THAT’S WHAT WE WANT TOO

06-27-2014 Journal Entry–Retirement!   Leave a comment

I still find my life difficult after six years of being retired. First of all I never expected to ever be retired and honestly thought I would have died long before this. For a change it’s nice to be wrong about certain things.

Adjusting my day-to-day existence from being an over achieving workaholic to a gardening, bird watching, and laid back retiree has been interesting and at times distressing.  I now understand that my high blood pressure issues were probably responsible for my former fast paced life style and the workaholic obsession.

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“The garden is producing already. I just thought I’d brag a little.”

But with my slowed down and medicated lifestyle I’m now a much more calm and controlled person.  Yesterday I spent a good part of my day taking photographs. I was able to spend more than an hour taking pictures without ever leaving my yard.  I’ve never had the luxury of free time like this and it still makes me feel guilty as if I’m being lazy and unproductive.  I’ll show you a few of my photo’s and you can judge for yourself if it was worth my time.  After looking at them I found myself very happy with the results and felt the time had been well spent.  See what you think.

I’ve placed numerous bird houses on the property and this year we have a number of winged residents living with us.  I’ve come to find out that birds can be a vicious bunch.  They’re very territorial especially when they’re nesting and protecting newborns. This first photo is of a mother spending twelve hours a day coming and going to feed her recently hatched babies. 

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This second photo is that same mother protecting those young from an intruder.  Two years ago this same bird had two nestlings killed by a bird of the same species.  I found their little corpses in the nest after the birds left on their southern migration.  I finally had to replace the box because they refused to come near the old one even though I’d cleaned out the old nest and dead babies. The first year after replacing that box they returned and took possession of the new one once again.  They seem to be much more protective these days than in the past and rightly so.

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Hopefully within a few weeks we’ll have a few little ones making a racket as they mature and prepare to leave the nest.  That’s assuming no further catastrophes occur such as other birds or the neighbor’s cat.  I might be forced to put a few Be-Be’s in the ass of that damn cat to help them a little if necessary.

I then moved through the garden to an area with freshly blooming day lilies.  They are some of my favorite flowers for photographing.  The colors are just so vibrant and beautiful I can’t resist them.

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Lets get just a little closer to see more of Mother Nature’s finest work.

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It’s these things that help keep me sane.  I could easily roam for hours taking pictures of anything and everything and never be disappointed.

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After a day of doing this I’m not quite so discontented with retirement.  Doing things I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do is even cooler than I imagined. I  do miss working more than I thought I would but it’s all a matter of adjusting to change. I’m almost there.

06-25-2014 New Year’s Resolutions Mid-Year Update!   2 comments

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A few days I ago my better-half and I were sitting in a local restaurant chatting up one of her co-workers.  During that conversation her friend casually asked me if  I’d made any New Year’s Resolutions. I can’t remember exactly why she asked but I answered with a yes.  Obviously she’s never read this blog because I post them every January for all to see.

We returned home and during the ride I decided to check the archives and do a mid-year review of my resolutions for 2014 just to see how I’ve been doing.  Let’s start with this one:

1.  Read five books a month.

So far I’m on track with this resolution even though I lost my Kindle reader on my trip to Texas.  Now that I’m able to once again read my Kindle books from three additional devices I should have no trouble successfully completing this one.

2.  Teach the grandson  one curse word per month once he begins talking.

I think I jumped the gun on this one because he has yet to start speaking clearly enough to begin cursing.  I may have to wait for 2015 to get this one accomplished.  This one is a big FAIL so far.

3.  Keep the number of F-bombs below 100 a week.

So far I’m succeeding on this one but just barely. For the year it will be too close to call since it’s difficult not to use my  favorite word at every opportunity.  The question isn’t using it too much, it’s having too many reasons to use it at all.  If people aggravated me less this one would be a snap.

 

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4.  Drink less brandy than last year but more than next year.

I’m doing well on this one thanks to my weight loss program.  I’ve pretty much given up drinking the hard stuff and have returned to sipping the occasional glass of wine.  Boring but healthier.

5.  Spend less than $300.00 at Dunkin Donut for the entire year ($25.00 per month).

Since we purchased the K-Kup coffee maker I’ve cut my Dunkin Donut spending by two thirds.  I can make excellent coffee at home now and not be forced to spend two dollars a cup elsewhere.  Hooray for me.

6.  Stop dancing naked near the picture window in the living room. It scares the neighbors if their complaints mean anything at all.

I seem to be failing miserably on this one.  I just can’t seem to keep my clothes on and may have flashed my new and smaller ass to the neighbors and a few lucky passersby. I’m trying to behave but I suspect this will be a FAIL once again.  One of my better-half’s resolutions is  to buy and install window coverings this year but I haven’t seen them yet. I wonder how much the neighbors will complain if they never get to see my ass again.

7.  Fight to my last breath to keep chickens and goats from becoming part of my life.

I’m crossing my fingers on this one for now.  The better-half has been putting serious pressure on me to get chickens and goats. The negotiations have progressed to where she’s agreeing to no goats if we can just get a few chickens.  My negotiating position has remained the same from the beginning – NO FREAKING GOATS OR CHICKENS.  For this year I will accomplish this resolution but I’m losing the battle little by little.

If I counted correctly, I’m keeping up with five of my seven resolutions but I suspect I may lose some ground during the remainder of 2014.  The road to hell really is paved with good intentions.

How are you doing with yours?

Do you even care?

Probably not!