I bet everyone has done ‘crazy’ things!

I have a friend, Von Dale (the name alone is neat), but he wasn’t afraid of anything. He was proud of scaling a wall in a rock quarry. He took me over there when they weren’t operating, probably a Saturday. The wall was probably about 20’ high, but to me it looked like a 100’. But I followed him up. Now I still get scared watching rock climbers.

Just across Long Creek from the rock quarry was a big pasture with ponies and horses. Von Dale knew horses, he had a horse, for riding and plowing. So he took me into some strangers field and taught me how to hold onto the mane and swing up on the horses back. That was fun. I am sure the owners didn’t mind, the horses didn’t, thank goodness.

We ate a lot of greens growing up, turnip, cabbage and collards. I am a quizzical person. At ten years old I could not see any difference in good green grass and greens mama cooked. After all cows liked it. I got some of mama’s bacon grease and went out in the back yard near  a fence and gathered me a mess of grass and weeds. I made a fire and using a big tin can (playing like I was a hobo) added some water and I cooked them. It was terrible. (probably not enough salt! LOL)

(I could tell you some really crazy things my parents have done)

Once in Key West I ran our boat aground in Calder Channel, it is a tricky Channel to run and I had done it many times, but this time I made a mistake, I practically beached the boat. This is a 24’ fiberglass Cuddy cabin. A heavy sucker.

Two big boats stopped and offered to tow me off the reef and stubborn me said, “I got it”. (That should have been ‘crazy me’ what said: I got it.)

I did, but it was work.

I just answered an e-mail from my sister, who is about as stubborn as I. She told me something she had done without asking for help, and I told her, “You know something, you and I are 2 stubborn cusses.”

It is honestly crazy to turn down help when you can use it.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

MA of ‘What is new at my House’ used the word ‘Discover’, and got me to thinking. I discover sometimes I am actually ‘crazy’, in a wonderful way. (Well, I wanted to come out smelling like a rose, after stepping in it!)

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That must be the Rockies in the background. This station was in the 30’s. Still had the glass topped pumps.

Mirror image

WE humans are very familiar with the mirror image. I remember the Fairy Tale of the (?) saying “Mirror Mirror on the Wall who is fairest of them all”.

There are some very expensive mirrors that do not give a mirror image, but the actual image other people see.  As you look in a mirror your left ear appears to be your right ear. No, I am not explaining it.  Just write your name on a piece of paper and look at it in the mirror as you look at yourself. It’s backwards, you are too, but you do not notice it, because it is a learned response.

Now that I have completely confused the issue, the reason I brought it up is my back up camera or rear view camera on the coach. On the monitor there is a switch a little bitty thing, that says, “True or Mirror Image”.  Once when installing it, I flipped it to true image. DO NOT EVER DO THAT, WE ARE NOT conditioned TO A TRUE IMAGE, IT IS CONFUSING!

SOOO I am DRIVING  down the road looking at my monitor, I see a car coming up on my right. Okay, then I glance in the mirror it is on the opposite side. Dangerous.

So next stop I took time to pull the unit (no easy task) and find that stinking little switch and put it on Mirror, like God created things.

Being bald, I don’t have a problem of course, but I would bet the average person could not comb their hair in a true image presentation.

Okay, this subject wasn’t a great idea. I am sick of it, but when I write a blog entry it goes. good or bad… LOL

Thanks for coming this way, and think about it, I hate to waste your time.(Yeah I know I did anyway, I’m sorry).

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Sometimes we think.

(I remember a sign once that read:

THIMK!)

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At one time, there was a service station on every corner, now it is a drug store!

People I remember, that were different

My daddy was a wise man. I once made the mistake of calling someone a bum. Dad knew the man. “Son, Dugan is not a bum, he is a way-faring man. He sells razor blades,potions and hair pins.  He also does odd jobs to earn money to go on down the road. A bum does not work.” So in 1944 I learned that Dugan was really a modern Gypsy.

In Burlington, NC in the second grade I met a man who daddy said was a Blue Baby. I remembered his name for years, but that was in 1946/47. He was a very nice man but tired easily. His finger nails were bluish and he had a bluish tint. He was a studious man. His walls were lined with books. He was in his thirties. He died later that year and dad preached his funeral, a sad time, I was about 7.

The scariest man I ever met I was nine years old. We lived in Albemarle, NC. One day Shirl and I were riding with dad  and he said, “Children I see a friend ahead, we are going to give him a ride, he is a nice man, don’t be scared of him. I call him Wooly, he has never told me his name.” Dad pulled up beside him. All the windows were down in the car, and dad called across the car to him, “Want a ride Wooly?”

“Yes sir Reverend, I would appreciate it,” came a quiet voice that did not match his looks.

Wooly was a tall slender man, you could hardly see his face for hair and beard, I had never seen a man with long hair but Wooly’s was. He wore dark clothes and it looked like homemade sandals. He got in the back seat WITH ME. He smiled at me and I got as close to the other door as I could. Dad and Wooly talked for a few miles then he got out.

Dad told us that Wooly belonged to a religious group called Israelites, they did not cut their hair nor drive cars, among other ‘odd’ things.  And I thought, I sure am glad I don’t go to his church, ours is bad enough!!!

The most infamous was Steve Chambers. We knew him when he was about 5 years old. He lived in our little wooden house that we rented out when I was sent to GITMO. He lived  with his mama and siblings. His mama was bad enough, she would not pay the rent. Finally while I was overseas Sherry had to have them evicted.(That is a story in itself).  Steve grew up to mastermind the largest bank robbery in North Carolina. Stealing $17.3 million from Loomis Fargo. The third largest heist in the USA. Of course he was caught later. His mom also went to jail.

All of us have met “That person who is different.” AND SOME OF US ARE THAT PERSON WHO IS DIFFERENT!

There are a lot of ‘different/odd’ folks in the world, but those are some of the ones I have met.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Who ever said, “Never judge a book by its cover”, said a wise thing.

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Methinks I see a Nomad in the middle.

Things I did like or love (before old age)

Roller skating on concrete side walks.

Target practicing with Rifles, BB’s to 30/30.

Shooting a slingshot and trying to use a ‘sling’.

Climbing trees and swimming in a creek.

Playing in a sawdust pile at a saw mill.

Horse-back riding and riding a dirt-bike.

Flying kites, making play boats in a stream, swimming and diving.

(Cloud pics from the net)

Making things, people, animals out of clouds, as they were slowly moved by the upper air streams.

Creating a tent out of any flat fabric, sheets, blankets or tarps.

Playing ‘cars’ with wooden blocks and good ‘car shaped rocks’.

I even liked hop-scotch, never could do jump rope well.

I liked to gather eggs and fill the mysterious half gallon watering jars for the chickens. (Why didn’t all that water run out?)

Many years ago I liked to chew rabbit tobacco, and smoke it in a corn cob pipe.

Coming home from the sea and standing on the flight deck, straining to find my girl in the crowd on the pier.

The ‘rewards’ after returning home from the sea. (YEAH!)

Seeing the flying fish sailing over the sea, following the curvatures of the waves.

The anticipation of a date and the memories afterward.

KK Doughnuts and also country ham (Of course still love them, but don’t eat them)

I was a little odd, I loved to march. I loved the monkey-drill, where you marched intricate patterns.

I must have liked re-capped tires, that was all we bought!

I never paid to see a stock car race in my life, but I loved to hear about them and see them in folks yards, I wanted one.

Curb Hops, drive in restaurants and movies.

I loved math class (wish I had been as crazy about English).

I loved about every job I have held.

If you can love an occupation, I loved building!

I have loved life, sometimes I like to think I could have done more, but all in all I think I reached as far as my education and abilities would allow.  I seldom look back and wish to change history.

I hope this causes you to think. There are things we all have done, but seldom do anymore. Thanks for coming by the log.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

(Things I like) I think the only thing that raised some eye brows was a slice of cheese on my banana sandwich.

(BUT now I must try tomato on my grilled cheese.)

 

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I want to think this is a Ford hot rod but those look like Chevy wheels.

Funny the Pure Oil sign had a circular sign with jagged edges, sorta matching the teeth on the hot rod.

What do I like?

Butter pecan Ice Cream

Tomato sandwiches with Duke’s mayonnaise.

Stew beef and rice and also Chicken and rice.

Any kind of soup, I love spoon food.

I like grilled cheese sandwiches with a slice on onion inside but also I like a banana sandwich with cheese and Duke’s mayonnaise.

I LOVE apples (with salt)

I LOVE saltines crackers and milk.

I Love Cornbread and milk (sweet or butter milk) (Sweet milk is pasteurized milk, mama called it sweet)

I LOVE OLD CARS.

I like a Gypsy life (but with family connections)

I love walking in the woods with a back pack.

I like seeing old friends and I love the ocean.

I love my family.

I like to remember mom & dad and my siblings, they were all wonderful.

I love having Shirl left to share life and talks with.

I love knowing I have friends, even ones I have never seen and I love seeing new places and then, seeing places again.

I love to hear different accents.

I love animals in the wild. Large animals in the wild impress me, more than frighten.

I like a sun shiny day but I also like a crisp morning.

I like writing, this blog, some comments, letters, books and notes.

I love to dream.  I like to buy lottery tickets.

I like the smell of pipe tobacco and an oak log on a fire, of course I love to smell beef on a grill.

I like casual and sharing coffee with friends.

I LOVE tools and the smell of sawn lumber.

I guess us humans can like and love many things, but one I cannot miss is Sherry. I love my wife of 56+ years. But that is a secret, I have told no one. HAHA!!!

I had an Epiphany once (that is a moment when you suddenly realize or understand something important).

Late one night as now, me typing and Sherry  in the bed reading. I  always knew she was important to me. But sitting here I REALLY realized and understood, I would have nothing, be nothing if not for her.

She is my best friend and lover.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

There is much in this life that you know. Some things are left of you to wonder about.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You gotta like this car. The 1953 MG

The power of social media, For good and Evil!

FB has caused a lot of problems in families lives and that of friends. I read of divorces, lovers break up, old friends cut each other. Even physical attacks, murders and suicides. WE MUST REMEMBER WHAT IS WRITTEN, IS READ BY  FAMILY AND  FRIENDS, AS WELL AS HUNDREDS OF OTHER FOLK WHO ARE GONNA JUDGE YOUR RESPONSE AND STATEMENTS.

(A friend, David Luke, I learned about his BD on FB. GOOD STUFF!)

The blood letting is because folks cannot accept other ideas or they are nasty to folks who try to be themselves. That is a funny statement in itself (not haha) . We all think we are being ourselves. I laugh when a young person thinks they are being ‘themselves’ and actually they are just reflecting their peers.

(We get to see Great Grand kids on FB, this is Stella)

But back to face book. I am there very seldom but I often am embarrassed about friends who CUT each other.  My friends mean more to me than that. I have friends who are Democrats, I mean died in the wool democrats. I would never hurt their feelings. They Know my stand, if they exhibit an opinion opposite mine, Okay, that is their opinion. (THEY ARE WRONG OF COURSE, BUT ONLY IGNORANT, NOT MEAN, LOL)

I hate it when I see personal vendettas start. One of my family or friends cutting another. NOTHING GOOD can come from it. That brings to mind my buddy Sonny.  He and I disagreed on a couple major things but it never got in the way of a GREAT friendship. We both agreed, ONCE words are said, all the apologizes in the world will not erase them.  You can forgive someone, but you cannot erase your memories.

(We get to see Elsie from Utah, Her grandma puts movies on FB also, FB can be great! (Of course that is BEN her Dad!))

I have never understood MEAN SPIRITED  people. Most mean spirited people don’t even know they are MEAN!  They are just being themselves.  Me? I have opinions on Gun Control, abortion, National Debt, welfare, SS, Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare, EVEN LOVE! You might not like them, but I do have them.

(ON FB /Sherry can keep up with this beautiful niece  & her family up in the cold country, that is Candy & she is a grandma??)

I know something that I am comfortable with, and that is, my opinions are mine, of course they could be wrong, but I own them. Most come from up bringing, some come from honest study and logic of my own. I have apologized. Most times it isn’t even hard. I love my friends, and I would do nothing intentionally to hurt them. I have been misunderstood, but I tried not to get MAD.

(This is not an apology: I’m Sorry, but if you had not………… That is throwing another insult.)

(This IS an apology: I’m Sorry, I was wrong!!)

Anyway if I am ever stupid on FB, feel free to tell me.(In an e-mail, LOL)

Nite shipslog

PS:

A good friend, any friend deserves, at the least,  the benefit of a doubt.

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I love seeing these old cars and service stations, they are like old friends, solid and real.

Go fly a kite!

I don’t know why, but it was so much fun to fly a kite.  I flew kites every March, growing up. I enjoyed it when the wind would take it on up without me having to run. I have ran until I came to wires and threw the ball of string over the wire and kept on going until the kite got high enough to get a ‘lift’. I have spent hours just lying on the ground watching that kite. I loved to fill the tug. Every once in awhile I would send a message up to the kite. That always amazed me watching the note climb the string.

At times the tug said let me go I want to soar! Of course I knew if I let it go, it would make a tail spin to the earth. String was 5¢ for 250 feet. I have tied several balls together. I don’t know the highest I ever flew a kite, but I have sent them out of sight. Coming from cotton mill country sometimes there would be cones of string rejected and thrown away. You could get a ‘cone’ of 2,000 ft. I don’t think I ever emptied one.

I have always been cheap, I made my kites. The dry cleaners used to send daddy’s suits home in big brown paper covers. That was perfect for making kites. Scissors, mucilage, paper and some rags for tail. I preferred the three stick kite, most of the bought kites were two stick. Two or three guys could put their kites up, stake ‘em or tie to your wrist or ankle, sit and watch them and talk all day of what they were going to do when they got big. 

Nothing like flying a kite to solve problems, I think the President and congress should go fly a kite. Stake ‘em out above Arlington Cemetery and get some serious problems solved.

It couldn’t hurt!

Nite Shipslog

PS:

There is no road’s end for a Gypsy.

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I remember people talking about the changes in pumps. With the above tank your gas was first hand pumped into the glass viewer, 5 gals. at a time. Then drained by gravity into your cars tank.  You could see how much you were getting. Folks did not like the under ground tanks, they felt they could be cheated!

Some things Make you Laugh

I have a cousin who lives in Las Vegas. He is working on a system so when I go out there we can both get rich.  Anyway being kin to me you know he cannot be exactly ‘right’.  He sent me the following picture, captioned, “I thought of YOU”.

Of course I thought of ‘Louis’ and Joe.

(Do it yourself-er in a nursing home!)

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I have tried my best to quit,

But my  frustration bleep is: $hit.

(Hey, that rhymes)

--------------------------------------------

I received this from Friend  ‘Buddy’ in New Mexico.

… He said if I didn’t laugh at this to have a couple beers and take a few days off…. I didn’t have the beers nor take the time off, how do you fare:

CHALLENGE, THE RACE HOME:

 

I even laughed again. I bet Paula laughed, that is her turtle.

Once two of my nephews came to visit when I was a teenager. The oldest and I got into an argument. Later that day, Stoy (the older) told his younger brother about 3 or 4 years old, to go tell Jackie to “kiss my ‘B-U-T’!”

I was in the house with the rest of the family, Woody walks in and in a loud voice says:

“Jackie! Stoy said to kiss his ‘B-Y-C’!!”

Until my mama’s death she would tell that and crack-up laughing. That was the closest to ‘cussing’ that was ever in mama’s house.

We have noticed some of the worst moments of a journey, turn out to be the most told and remembered. They are usually funny after the fact.

---Like me getting back on an interstate going South instead of North.

---Going 100 miles on the wrong road.

---Losing all hydraulics (brakes & Steering) going down a mountain.

And many more.

Thanks for coming by the log,

Nite Shipslog

PS:
It is a waste of natures teachings, not to learn SOMETHING from our mistakes.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We bought a dollars worth of these going thru St. Louis and added mayo lettuce and tomato. DELICIOUS, it fed the family!!!

Blogs and SPAM

I have been hit with a great number of spams and it is increasing. These spams contain addresses.  I did get to a couple and asked that they contact ‘who ever’ and stop flooding my site.  I know that is a joke, but I had to try. I am assuming if I have  embedded tracking cookies and they have already sent my address back to the ‘hack’ so that is too late however I am going in and delete cookies if I can remember how. LOL

(Unhappy!)

I have some web sites that says I must allow cookies. So I go to ‘delete’ cookies and it says, if you delete cookies some web pages may not work properly. OKAY? so what do you do? So I deleted them. Of course I will forget what I did do, and when something does not work right, I will just say a bad word, I guess. LOL

I have always wanted an open blog. Any comments were left, good or bad. Sometimes even a negative (or nasty) comment can teach you something.

I am blogging because I enjoy it and it gives me an outlet. At one time I did not need an outlet, I was busy putting ‘ kids programs’ together, or looking at house plans. At times I found I could do more, the busier I was. I remember something my dad once said, “If you need something done, give it to one of the busiest people you have, but be careful with that simple advice, and do not over load the guy/gal.”

I have at times been a multi-tasker but no matter what the tasks, I ‘prefer’ to follow one thing thru to the end before starting another.
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(What do you think of this idea for the latest book cover. The lower cover will have the couple as silhouettes.  If I can photoshop it I want the silhouettes on the sunset, since it is a senior romance. These are my first shots at it.)

My latest hobby is  books. On an author’s forum yesterday one of the leading authors stated, “Writing a book is the hardest thing you will ever do. It takes more out of you than any physical labor.” 

So I says to myself, I must not be a writer, because it is one of the most fun things I have done. I wrestle English,  the tense of verbs and their usage, etc but that is due to ignorance. Mrs. BK, who is proofing, takes care of that. So I says to myself, ‘this guy has never raised 40 foot trusses by himself and he definitely hasn’t carried 70# bundles of shingles up a ladder to the roof all day.’ LOL

I’ve griped and not styed on subject, Quote Paula Dean, “I do that because I can.” 

Nite Shipslog

PS:

YOU are a problem solver, or  YOU would not be here today.

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This strikes me as one of the scattered desert stations, that look so welcoming.

Life isn't a race

IT'S A JOURNEY -- TO BE SAVORED EACH STEP OF THE WAY

(I think I copied that off MA’s Blog)

It caused me to think of the small trips embedded in this long journey called life. When I was growing up our family was scattered. Some of Mom and Dad’s folks were in Georgia and South Carolina.  The older brothers and Sister lived in Shelby, NC.

(At least he gets to look out!)

Several times a year we made these trips. I tried to sleep during the trip, or mama would dream up games to keep me from saying the famous line, “Are We there  yet?” There were things that broke up a trip so it would not be so boring. If it was eating time  and we passed Dad’s favorite Place, “Red Pig BBQ” that was good. Daddy loved Krispy Kreme Donuts so some trips he would stop in Charlotte and buy a dozen Donuts for 40 cents.

I did not know it then but I learned later, I was a destination oriented person. The destination was the GOAL. Nothing in between mattered.

(I’m just about to get aggravated)

BUT, once I got older, I found so much in-between start & finish, that life became so much better. Now we aren’t bored.

The one thing that stands out to me was what a friend said just before we were heading across the Dakotas. He said, “You are going to be bored out of your skull.”

I said to myself, “Not us!” And we weren’t. When we are not on some deadline, we love to stay at some small town for a couple weeks and get to know the area. What a thrill.

(There is no telling what we will see on the trip!)

The only time we stay at a big destination place is Orlando. But that stay doesn’t cost us anything and we don’t have to get in the crowds, unless we want to.

(Looking forward to a trip)

Come Spring, we will be home (NC) for Luke’s graduation from HS, then we will head around the country. This time the southern route. I hope to get some teeth fixed in Mexico. Gotta see Buddy and Di once more(NM). A cousin in Lost Vegas. Kin folk and friends in Utah, did I mention Elsie Mae?

We hope to get back up to Oregon, Washington and a little more of Idaho. We gotta do this while Sherry can still read a map and get us back.

Thanks for reading this rambling.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

It is a good thing there are folks like you guys who read this trivia and to keep one straight. Robert is good at that.

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I don’t know, but I like the car. Has to be in the 30’s! (P.Arrow, Pack, LaSalle? I know that grille, dad gummit))

  Amazing all those attendants and gas was less than 25 cents a gallon.  How was it done?

I’ll never understand:

(The dogs have nothing at all to do with the entry, I just liked them)

Star watchers… Ones who live to know all about a movie star or music idol. Why would one care what they wear, what they eat or what their bed looks like?

(This is happy)

And what is it about photographers who want to get the person at the worst possible moment. I noticed someone had a picture of Goldie Hawn without make-up to point out ‘She must have had a bad day!’

I love it when some one is able to criticize a dress  when the person criticizing may not be able to afford the buttons on the dress.

(Yeah, I’m peeing)

One of my dad’s favorite statements was: You must not be too tall, if you must pull someone else down, to make yourself look good.

I used to hear folks talk about church being a fashion show. I understand there are folks who can tell you if a lady wore the same dress twice in a row, DO THEY EXPECT THROW AWAY CLOTHES?

(I tried to tell him!)

The President could wear the same suit every day and no one would notice, would they? But you let a first lady wear the same gown to two different balls and the nasty hits the fan.

I guess it is hard for us to let folks live their lives, without trying to help them along (After all we are much smarter) 

Every contractor can tell of at least one incident of a sidewalk supervisor. One who wouldn’t know a nail from a screw, but could tell him how to build a building.

(What a great pillow, so warm)

Now, I will have to admit (before Sherry gets on here to clarify some things) I do tell folks how to drive as we are going down the road.

I do comment on the terrible color of that house.

And every once in awhile I just might say, That traffic light is in a stupid place.

I might even say, Look at that stupid kid with his pants around his ankles.

But all in all I mind my business, don’t I?  OR Am I the pot, calling the kettle black?  Yeah, probably

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Keep your words soft and sweet, you might have to eat them. (My daddy )

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I know that is a ‘57 Chevy, that is an Olds at the other pump. WOW 5lbs of sugar with fill-up + Blue chip stamps…