When will I ever learn?

 Photo from the Past:

 

The one time we KNOW that the news folks got things wrong. WE know Dewey LOST!

Take a note here, I had never noted this. The three buttons on Mr. Truman's suit indicate he was not a wealthy man. AT that time and it is still mostly true today. Men's better grade suits show 4 buttons. No man of standing would have worn a common suit. That has been a SOLID standard until the last few years in our world.

 

So for today:

Really, I am glad we have good news sources.  Strange today we know instantly when a tornado hits three states over. We know days in advance that a hurricane is going to hit Houston or Miami. There was a time the soonest you would know would be on the 6 o’clock news. Or two days later.

I do not know if it is RIGHT to assist the folks in Ukraine in their war or not. I truly feel sorry for the folks in apartment buildings that have been killed. I KNOW as a (former) military man it is WRONG for an Army to intentionally kill civilians.  I do support sending aid over there. But is it the right thing to do? Shucks, how does an old man know anything about such international events and troubles.  OUR NEWS people think we should know about it, we hear what is right and wrong 24/7 as the cliché goes.

I am glad to see a transition of Gov’t power going fairly smooth as it should.  That is our form of Democracy, and it has worked for many years. My vote does not always go for the winner, but Who ever wins the presidency, is MY President. In this country the vote determines the leader. My vote will go the other way if this one does not work out.

I am just saying our airwaves and internet are full of predictions of ‘heaven is coming’ and then contrarywise, ‘the sky is falling down.’  I predict it will be neither, but we will go along and hopefully congress will get a handle on our national debt, ‘NO’ administration in the past 20+ years has done ANYTHING to curb that (Clinton was the last who did in 2000 methinks, and I did not vote for him) and both parties have had their chance & did basically NOTHING toward solving the debt problem.

So I am tired of predictions so I will, like the rest of the country, wait and see if things go down, who is blamed; if heaven comes down, who will get the credit. LOL

What I started off to say is, WHEN WILL I LEARN THAT  we must wait and see, the POLITICAL BALL  has already started ROLLING; you nor I, will change its direction, even  if we want that, until next voting period.

Thanks for stopping by to read this ssss,,,,stuff!

Nite Shipslog

PS.

 Thank all of you that read here. I enjoy comments and appreciate it as I read them. Y’all are the BEST!

My experience and thinking

 Pictures from the past

Pictures of formations in Southern UTAH, Amazing, as you look you have to ask, how did this happen?

     For today:

I didn’t mean to sound so negative yesterday, but just thinking.  No I have not heard of the soon crash of Blogger, I am just thinking of past history..

I was happy with AOL Journals, the first time I had gotten involved in this type of correspondence. I was happily traveling along, even was selected at AOL’s Journal of the month once.

Then out of the Blue AOL: announced they were dropping Journals. They advised every Journalist to save their entire Journals even told how. Did I do it? Nah, BUT I do wish I had.

I do know this, if in fact Blogger does bite the dust, I will definitely make acopy of this STUFF!  And will advise others to do that also.

In saying that, If you were to copy your journal to save it, how would you  do that?  What media would you chose? I have so many CD’s and Actually I do not have a good CD reader.  Then technology chances, I know folks who waited to late to save the old 8mm and Super8mm movies. My son Mark and his wife Corinne took all our 8mm stuff one year and had them put on CDs for Christmas, what a great Christmas present.  

BUT how do we keep up with all the changes?

You see, I remember Granny’s shoe box of pictures that her family divided up at her death.

Now that shoe box would not compare to our 36,000 hard copy pics. Now, familys have digital movies of their children from birth to their 20th birthday and beyond.

Have you stored anything on the small cards?

And I do know some Bloggers us their blog as a personal life journal;  downloading your blog by the year and put it book form, what a great idea.

Sorry, I just got carried away. But I am open to advise… on saving all this digital wonderment.

Thanks for reading and yes I will appreciate your advice.

Nite Shipslog

PS 

Always Good to see you. We look forward to  seeing you, you do make our Day, THANKS!  

 

The END is near

 From the past:

"Computers?  They were BIG, Andy," to quote  Barney Fife.

For today:

Every blogger knows that blogging as this is, is becoming a thing of the past. Many years ago, mine and your blogs were viewed or opened over a 500 times a day (at times thousands). Back in 2021 the Shipslog was opened viewed over 100 times a day. Now it is unusual to be over 50 times.

In this war of electronics, I was in on the ground floor. At a time when a decision was made, more possibilities out there, we MUST leave the IBM CARD (at the time the CARD was the biggest mass used business tool in the world) I handled multi-millions of those cards..

 MOST pay checks, timecards, bonds, IRS and military intelligence were on IBM cards.  Yes, even voting was done by IBM Cards, YOU might remember the big case in Florida, challenging the vote, "DUE TO HANGING CHADS" (an incomplete card punch).

I was trained and repaired the first Analog computers. There was a race between the Analog and Digital computers. The digital won out, so then I was trained in repairing the Digital computers. GIANT MONSTERS. The computer I last repaired occupied about a 1200 sqft room. Now if you have a digital watch it will do more than that old monster.

Remember the race between the cassette and the 8-tract. the cassette won. 8-track investors lost money Etc.

Due to my hearing, I became very involved in the e-mail and texting methods, If you use e-mails you know their use has been diminished due to SPAM. I still get 70-100 emails daily and slowly waste my time to delete all but 2 or 3, I mean it, only 2 or 3 are personal to me.

For me, now texting works better than verbal communications. Sooo I am saying, ,,,,, asking…

There will always be that NEW thing.  I know about Facebook, Sherry scans that daily and seldom comments.

Yes the end of Blogging is in sight, I think most of us know that.  Is there a personal media carrier(?) still going good on the internet. You see I do not really know what, AOL, Internet Explorer, Browser, Server,  etc.. are, not really!  I feel pretty stupid since the artificial intelligence thing came around and I am very much backwoodsie, if that is a word. I hated to see AOL Journals bite the dust, that is when I switched to Blogger. Now sadly I see the WRITING ON THE WALL, I CANNOT interpret it yet,,,,,, Where is Daniel when you need him? Victor?

Nite Shipslog

PS 

Always Good to see you. We look forward to seeing you and you do make our Day, THANKS!  Of course, this blog will disappear, and I will miss you.  Maybe there will be another media for us artifacts.

Children’s Christmas Gifts, Remember them?

 

A picture from the Past.   For Today: In my childhood you could about predict what Santa would bring. The next day you were out enjoying your TOY or showing it off.  If you got more than one toy from your parents, you were in the ‘upper’ lower class. LOL  I say that because I never got to see what ‘Rich Kids’ got for Christmas and as far as I know, NEVER thought about it, I was too proud of my skates, ball glove, or air rifle. There were at times Kitty Cars and Scooters.  Girls I remember, it was more dolls or skates. Our kids usually got more because we wanted them to have more than we did.  Good idea? Nah,  It was the fact that Santa brought it that made it SWEET! Christmas gifts were always SPECIAL.  I was never taught there was or was not a Santa.  I guess in my dad and mama’s thoughts it was better to let that ‘osmose’ into my thinking. Kids' special days. Now that I look back my dad as a minister, never made a big deal of Halloween. It was always just a fun time for kids. NO KID I KNEW thought they were worshipping nor promoting Satan.  I worry about some men of the cloth making a big deal of being anti- Halloween.  Bringing it to the fore front, WHY? I have never known of ANYONE who even associated it with the Devil!   Well except some tried to look mean or as  or evil as they could to scare their friends.  The next day we were all kids again. Yeah, I am simple minded and cannot change it.   Nite Shipslog PS:  AGAIN THANKS to y’all for stopping by the Shipslog. It is nice to know some folks will read this stuff, if it is crazy.  I hope you got at least a pair of skates for Christmas.  I was an adult before I learned you guys up north got Ice skates instead of roller skates. LOL

I disappointed my Parents

 Picture from the past

                                                    Mama, Mark, Jack Jr and Dad

For today:

Dads make the mistake often of seeing in their minds what is best for grown children. Because of course, “Father Knows Best!” You probably cannot remember a program by that name. LOL

I was living child #5, neither mom nor dad had much formal education. They both were self educated and did a woderful job of it. Jr. Odis, and Kat quit school, Shirley thrilled them by graduating High School. Then I come along. I was expected to go to grad HS and go to college and make something of myself, and of course I should have. They would have paid for my schooling.

Dad and mom were nice and bought me a $450 Chevrolet. A lot of money in 1955.  I rewarded them by wrecking the car losing my license, quitting school and joining the military at 16. Of course I was caught at the swearing in and sent home. Dad ordered me back to school. The principal laughed at me and added 100 hours to my already high detention list.

I quit school again a couple months later, then mom and dad willingly signed for me to join the USMC, hoping the Corps could straighten out this foolish son of theirs, I am sure.

Yep, and Sherry still married me, One understanding young lady.

While dating, I promised her lots of things if she would marry me. We passed a nice home once driving in the mountains and I told her, I will build us one nicer than that. LOL

It took 7 states plus Cuba and  over 20 years living in apartments, trailers and yes even a converted chicken coop with no level floors, to produce what I promised, but I did. LOL I finally could build what she wanted and did.

I still feel badly about disappointing Dad and Mom.  They never lived to see me successful, but they knew we were making headway and had a good work ethic. Oh yes and they did love the two Grandsons we gave them; then too, we were able to help our parents in their ends.

WE all live the life laid out before us.  We have choices and do not always make the right ones.

I remember reading a quote attributed to Minnie Pearl:

“If you want to make God smile, tell him your plans!”

Nite Shipslog

PS 

Glad you came by the Shipslog.! Always Good to see you. We look forward to  seeing you, you do make our Day, THANKS!  

Follow up with my Sweetheart!

 A picture from the Past.

 

Susie Harris, one tough lady, and a wonderful Mother in law.

What that lady accomplished in her short 61 years is amazing. My Sweetheart inherited much of that lady's capabilities.

For Today:

Yesterday my ‘FORMER FRIEND’s  Chatty and HappyK commented:

I am sure proud of Sherry saying no and sticking to her guns! LOL  ;-)

Yeah, y’all are right ( I still Love YOU ANYWAY), she has always stuck to her guns, even if it did hurt my feelings.  LOL

She is and has been since the time we first dated, my sweetestheart.

We have never asked much of each other, but it is a fact, she has never thrown rocks nor made snide comments. SHE is the glue that has held us together.

Her family (mother’s side) were from eastern NC working in the tobacco fields. Her mother’s dad left her mother and children to fend for themselves in the tobacco fields and disappeared. The family lived in a tobacco barn until hearing of work in the Belmont Textile mills, Sherry’s Grandma moved her family, Susie and siblings on a bus to Belmont in 1916. They went to work in the mills, Susie went to work in the mill when she was about 10 yrs old. Not unusual for the time.  But that stick-ability of mama and grandma are a part of my girl. So she is a lot like her mama one tough sweetie.

My dad’s family moved to NC in the 1920s. Dad had been a peanut farmer and sharecropper in North Georgia. Most of that big family moved to Lowell, NC after hearing of steady work in NC.  Dad and mama moved to the Art Cloth mills in Lowell which is about 10 miles from Belmont. They became weavers.

Strange how time works things out. Sherry was born and raised in Belmont. While I was moved from town to town until in 1954 Dad became the pastor of a church in Belmont.  That is where IT happened, I actually asked a girl for a date. Yep, I had never ‘asked for a date and I was one nervous puppy!  She said YES, BUT. how could she say 'NO' to a nervous 16 year old kid?

That was about 70 years ago. Life has been a crazy BALL!.

I am smiling, remembering a phone call just yesterday, from our firstborn, JJ,  who is 66 years old. He asked, “Mom how old was I when we lived in that chicken coop in Missouri?”

Yeah, once I moved this family of 4 from a trailer to a converted chicken coop. OH BUT, We had a nice radio. That was the year my man, champion, Sonny Liston fought that loudmouth Cassius Clay (Later Muhammed Ali). I had the radio on station. It was freezing and I went out to hang the diapers on the line that Sherry had washed. I came back inside 2 minutes later and THE FIGHT WAS OVER! That sorry Clay had knocked out my man in the first round. IMPOSSIBLE!  I never liked Clay after that, but I finally had to admit the dude was a great Heavy Weight Fighter. LOL

I excelled my words, hope it was understandable. THANKS

Nite Shipslog

PS: 

AGAIN THANKS to y’all for stopping by the Shipslog. It is nice to know some folks will read this stuff, if it is crazy. If you ever bet on a sure thing, make sure it is a sure thing. ;-)

All my Sweethearts

 A picture from the Past.

 

This is Margaret on the left and Martha on the right

For Today:

I was gonna tell you all about all my sweethearts, but then realized I had only three Sweethearts and one of them never knew it.

There was first Betty Carswell when I was in the 7^th grade. She never knew it because I never told her, nor even held her hand. 

When daddy told me we were moving to Belmont, I remembered I had flirted with a pretty girl named Martha once, she lived in Belmont. The first Sunday she wasn't at church, but a cute girl named Margaret was. Sooooo!

Then Margaret Woods was my sweetheart, she was such a sweet girl. I think that lasted about a year. Probably mostly my fault, but It didn’t work out; she was interested in my good friend Buddy anyway I think, cause Buddy was cool, he was our local Fonz in 1955.!

I never expected Sherry would be the one. She was out of my class, and a little older. BUT that one worked out with a little help from a couple of her old boyfriends.

It was a good choice, the best I have ever made. However, she almost blew it; she said I ALMOST BLEW IT, but I know I was right.

I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, and came home on the weekends. We had a great weekend planned. We were to be married. On the way home One of my Marine buddies was getting a ride home with me. He said he was gonna get married that weekend, I said, “Hey, I am too.”

He said, “Nah I bet you ain’t!”  I said put your money where your mouth is. If I get married and you don’t, you pay me $50.  If I don’t and you do, I will give you $50. He readily agreed. (Remember my salary was $73.00 a month)

Now it ain’t betting, if it is a sure thing. Is it?

Well, I opened my mouth and told Sherry I had a bet, and when we got married, I had our honeymoon paid for. I explained the agreement (bet). Suddenly, this beautiful, wonderful, sweet woman let me know with no doubt, “I will NOT marry you on a bet!”  And she didn’t.

I still think she was too narrow minded.

Thank goodness my friend didn’t get married either. LOL

I did a lot of begging, I don’t remember how long it was before I finally got her before a Justice of the Peace, but if I had made a bet that time, I guarantee you one thing, I sure would have kept my mouth shut!
But I was the winner here!

Remember my friends, there are times you should not tell all you know!

 

Nite Shipslog

PS: 

AGAIN THANKS to y’all for stopping by the Shipslog. It is nice to know some folks will read this stuff, if it is crazy. If you ever bet on a sure thing, make sure it is a sure thing. ;-)

 

Walking is Important

WE walked (climbed) Mt. Katahdin in Northern Maine one time. Of course, we walked over 2000 miles to get there (AND Yes, we skipped a few hundred miles due to an injury or two to get to the end of the AT.)

For today:

As I age, I pay attention to comments of the ‘oldest living person.’  They are always asked their thoughts on reasons for longivity. I declare the last three I remember say basically “Just keep moving!”  I keep telling folks I do not want to be the oldest person in the world, one doesn't hold that title long.

Down inside I want to KNOW or LEARN more than that, LOL. Naturally dead folks don’t move, so as long as I am moving, I'm OKAY.  Sherry says I move all night, I think that is to prove I am still breathing. LOL

Seriously I am of the belief that if we all move around more our bodies will be more inclined to keep operating better. Sherry and I have been walking at least a mile a day. My pedometer gives me a little more. HappyK, who comments here walks most days over 10,000 steps I believe. 

WE do not hike any longer but when Hiking, we counted 2000 steps as a mile. My Sherry is the walker, ONCE SHE STARTS!  She loves it.

(She is tough too, she once lifted this little rock so I could get by!)
Notice the white blaze on the tree in the background, that is the mark known worldwide ID'ing the Appalachian Trail.

I prefer walking in the woods or communities.  I have tried walking tracks, but that does not yank my chain. It is boring. Even when we walk the same roads down here it is not like a track. We have birds, squirrels, cats and dogs to see, along with other walkers or bikers.

In her later years my mama lost her legs due to sitting all day, reading and writing. No amount of encouragement could get her out. Dementia set in also complicating her life.  She lost both legs before she passed. Not due to sugar, but inactivity.

So, I keep her life in mind, she was the most giving, loving person I knew. Constantly arranging flowers to sell for missions or sewing and cooking for others; she was original in her thinking. In her sane life she was an encourager. BUT she gave up, I do not want you and me to give up or give in to inactivity.

So keep moving. Sherry keeps me moving by walking ahead of me. LOL

 She stays is nice shape, I gladly follow!

 

Nite Shipslog

PS 

Glad you came by the Shipslog.!  We appreciate it. We look forward to  seeing you  reading or commenting in 2025.!   ‘-)