Too many clothes

I was just looking in my closet and was hit by one big fact. I have too many clothes. I have exactly 32 inches of hanging space. The height is about 44 inches. In other words I cannot hang a dress in my closet. Just shirts and pants. (translate: Sherry can't borrow my space for a dress)Not much you probably say, but I don’t even wear all that is in there. So I must have too many clothes. Some of my clothes come from Roses and Walmart ‘NEW”. But he most of my good clothes come from yard sales. Now it is hard to find good men’s clothes at yard sales, we tend to wear our stuff out. I gain some clothes from deaths

I think I now have about five or six pairs of shoes, I am set up for three. So I also have too many shoes.

I understand society demands that ladies have a lot of clothes. They cannot wear the same outfit twice in a row. (Do folks actually check this? Is there a secret police group that photographs and checks what you wore last?)

It has hit me lately how I get away with this. I have shirts that are twenty years old. I have suits that are older. Shoes the same. The reason those secret police can’t keep up with the fact I have 'A' Sunday Shirt , 'A' pair of Khaki trousers and a pair of brown loafers. They can’t keep up with it because I make it a habit of moving around. Many times in the year I am around folks who will only see me once. So as far as they are concerned I may have just bought this ‘new outfit’ just to impress them.

I still contend, dressing to suit everyone else is not a mentally enriching experience. I personally don’t care, I have a certain shirt and pants that feel just great on me. I will wear them until they are thread bare. I will feel bad when they go in the trash.

Sherry has a little more closet than I, maybe twice the amount of hanging space, but she does not wear all she has either.

I read somewhere that a person put a date on every bit of clothes they had. If they weren’t worn in a year, they gave them to the Salvation Army. I should try that.

Now Shirl? She has clothes in her closets that still have the price tags on them. If you were small you could shop in her closet.

Thanks for coming this way.
NIte Shipslog
PS: *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
War does not
Determine who is right,
war determines who is
Left.

Pleasant surprises

Today after work, Mark was surprised by Joe Carver. Joe was down from Conn. with his family. The family was in the pool cooling off and Joe in the shade. They had many a tale to tale. They were kids together. And once in their adult life, shared a trailer together.
This is the GArage apartment up the street, Mark is finishing up. It is hard to tell by the picture but the siding is angled like the roof.

***********

Well we will soon know if the locals can repair one of our house jacks. I removed the front jack. Don and Evelyn took us to the place that we hope can do the work in Charlotte. The jack is necessary on our house to keep it level when we park in an unlevel area. It was less expensive to pour this slab on an angle so we did. So this slab is not level. The one behind Shirl is level.

But traveling across and around the country you never know if you are assigned a site that is in dire need of jacks to make walking comfortable.

This coach is set on heavy rubber air bags, so when we stop it is Sherry’s job to release the air and let the coach settle down. Then my job to level it. We have a leveling bulb, but we do not use them. We use her mirrors in the hall. The ones she does her hair in. if they stay open and at the right angle so she can do her hair, we declare the coach level. Our problem has been the front jack leaks down and the coach continually gets unlevel if we must use the front jack. SOOO, I hope we can get it fixed.

Sherry just brought home a wonder. She attended church tonight and Ann sent one of my chalk pictures, that she had framed home with her to give to Mark and his family. The picture is the one I have done of late, “HOME”. Using the two poems “The House by the Side Of the Road” by Sam Walter Foss and augmented by “HOME”, written by Edgar Guest.


(The only problem with this drawing is the stars and moon. They were drawn with flourescent chalk to glow under black light)
The story is on the back of the picture along with both poems. I think this is one of the nicest things that has been done for us. Ann is a long time friend and sharp as a tack. She can do about anything. She wanted Mark to have something I had done. Thanks Ann (OF course she won’t read this!)
Is it nice when friends surprise you or what?
Thanks for coming this way,
Nite Shipslog
PS:
Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time, hence multi-tasking was invented.

Walking the Dog

Sherry and I haven’t walked a lot since being back in NC. When we are away we walk at least a couple miles or so every day. In the last couple days we have walked MJ, Mark & family’s dog. Sometimes thru the woods and sometimes up the paved road.

MJ gets a little excited over animals. We jumped a big doe and her fawn and he got excited. She also gets excited over squirrels, a little more excited over rabbits but she goes crazy over cats. She about pulled me into a yard where a bob-tailed black cat was lounging.

We passed this bush, no I don’t know what it is, but I did ask the elderly lady who lived there if I could take a picture of it. It has beautiful blue ball-like flowers on it, as you can see.



Hopefully we will keep up the walks. Walking MJ gives us a reason. We have always been able to walk and talk out our problems or perceived problems.


As we walk on the paved road we pass the beautiful garage apartment Mark is building. I hope by now I have a picture to put on here.


Our church is having what we used to call Vacation Bible School (VBS). They call it something else now. Anyway, Rusty and David are being featured. Rusty is David’s ‘dummy’ (Is that fair?), David is a great ventriloquist. He and Rusty sing a duet and are very good at it.

I love ventriloquists and magicians. I do both myself but I am far from polished as David. He is good at ‘throwing his voice’(as I used to refer to it.). I told Sherry I wish I could understand the monologue, she being observant corrected me, “It is a dialog”.


“ Hahahahahaha Not with a dummy,” I laughed.


Looking real serious my girl said, “You say WE have a dialogue!”


I think there was a ‘cut’ in that answer somewhere. I B thinking.


Thanks for coming this way,


NIte Shipslog






PS:


Do you know that 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals?






At least it makes Ronald happy!

Second opinions.

Ever hear the old joke. An old man concerned about the dr. diagnosis says, “I think I need a second opinion.”


The Doc says,” Okay you are ugly too!”


I have never had much faith in second opinions, when the one you ask second knows the first opinion and who gave it. And more especially if they are in the same area. I believe that Doctors tend to assume the first doctor looked at the facts and made the right decision, so they give it a cursory look and concur. Now you might prove me wrong, in a case of two, but it will still be my opinion.


You would have to be a little deceitful to do it my way, and also you may have to pay something. I suggest going to a different town and see a doctor giving him the same info you did the first Doctor. NOT INFORMING HIM OF THE FIRST DIAGNOSIS. That is my heart felt opinion.


One case in point, many years ago my dear friend Sonny was told by his doctor he had a cancerous kidney. It must be removed. And not only removed but in a unique way (I cannot explain it) but it was much more invasive. That had to be done to keep the cancer from spreading. Being a very careful person, Sonny said, that is pretty drastic, I think I need a second opinion.


I don’t know what procedure was used, but I do know the Drs. either knew each other, at least worked closely together. The Second Dr. concurred, so the kidney they removed was the suspect kidney, but it was healthy, no cancer. The remaining kidney was not a good one, and before his death he was on kidney dialysis three times a week.


I AM NOT SAYING that life would have been longer had the mistake not been made, but I do know it caused a lot of unnecessary pain. So I think my idea is correct.


How you evade the questions of the new doctor without lying? Be honest, tell him your name is Tom Jones or Betty Davis. That you have been to a Doctor and you think he is a quack. That he (the new doc) looks honest, so you want to know why you have this ache in your right arm pit and at the same time your little toe turns up. Quack says remove four toes on the other foot and all will be better. What do you think? Like I said, BE HONEST!


I hate giving free medical advice, hahahahahahahahaha!


Thanks for coming this way, I know your time is valuable.


Nite Shipslog

The second opinion! See a Lady!

PS:


A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top. (If I ever have a time when champagne is necessary, I am going to check that out.)

Catching Rabbits and Birds.

This is the idea of the bird trap!

This is a nice rabbit trap. mine was the same design,  just not quite this professional.


When I was six years old we moved to the town of Burlington, NC. The first impression I remember was seeing squirrels running on the electric wires down town.



We were moving from the country where at six I had already trapped rabbits that mama fixed for supper. We were not too poor to purchase food, it was just the thing to teach boys as they grew up. Dad had made my first rabbit box and showed me how to find rabbit paths and place the box close to a path with a piece of apple in it. He explained that a quarter apple or an apple core was better than a whole apple, because cutting it released the smell. I wasn’t always lucky, sometime I went a week without catching a rabbit. Sometimes Dad released it because it was too small.


Now here we were in a ‘city’ and if squirrels were this plentiful, rabbits would be a synch. To a six year old disappoint doesn’t last long. I settled quickly that rabbits were not around BUT birds, yeah!


Then Mama knowing things I did not know, but knowing how to occupy two energetic kids (Shirl & I) showed us a trick of a card board box. Now I was gonna be a bird trapper. Tie a string to a stick, place bread crumbs under a box that is held up by your ‘prop stick’. Hide and wait for the millions of birds that were about to be trapped. Mama kept me busy with that. Shirl didn’t like the idea of trapping the pretty birds and left me to the manly task of catching supper. I don’t remember catching ONE bird, but I came close and it kept me replacing the stick saying I must be faster.


Watching my grand kids, I wonder how many would be patient enough to hide and hold that string just waiting for tweety bird to walk unsuspectingly under the box. Note to you that do not know, BIRDS ARE FAST!


Yesterday our grandson was nearly arrested in Belmont. The crime? Heading down town on his skate board. The cop used the lights and siren. No skate boarding in Belmont anymore, new law. So his bottom lip was dragging the ground. I suggested he and his buddies make an appointment with the city council. I hope they do it.


I believe Jen’s daughter was the one who got really bored when the power went out during a storm. No TV, computer etc. Probably not an isolated case.


Thanks for coming this way.


NIte Shipslog


PS:


The dot over the letter 'i' is called a 'tittle.' Just in case you did not know.

He asked, "Do you regret the life you have chosen?"

For the life of me I cannot get another book underway. Here there are too many distractions. On Monday mornings, here in Belmont, we drop by Hardees for awhile. Well, we go in around nine and stay until they start serving lunch. Jim and Dean (Of the ‘Loose Ends Band’) are usually there. Jim is a great guy. He is the one who told me his last CD was a million seller, ‘Well at least I think I have a million in the cellar!” He said.

The old folks talk and tell stories etc.It is a good group of course. I had quit going because I really don’t hear much of what is going on, but then Don & Evelyn come home from Florida so naturally I go.

Vernon Gomez Harris (Sherry’s brother) comes in around nine fifteen. Vernon is a self appointed ambassador to the old folk. He is an entertainer for any kids who happen to stop by. He has toys, yo-yo’s, tops, puzzles and candy. Sherry, Don & Evelyn were in school with many of the folks. I attended Belmont High for a year and a half. I quit, joining the Corps. Of course most all there, have stories to tell.

Not everyone is from Belmont. One guy ‘Bill’ whose dad was W.C Fields is quite the character. He is 90+ and a veteran of WWII and a charter member of the last-man club. Several folk know me from my building days, not from the couple years I lived here in the 50’s. Every once in awhile I see someone I built for, one couple who is there I completely remodeled their home inside and out.

A childhood friend and school mate of Sherry’s, Ed, is usually there. Ed has lost his wife and has just completed Chemo himself. He leaned over to make sure we heard him. “Have you guys ever regretted leaving and living the life-style you do?”


Together we said, “NO!”

Life for us is different of course, but we are not right there to try to fix everything and stick our noses into places where we cannot rightly do any good. Thus my entry of a couple days back about the serenity prayer. If I am here is it hard to distinguish between the things I can and cannot change, I cannot use the wisdom to know the difference.

So, it is off to follow the yellow line just as soon as possible. That is not until mid July when Josh and Brit tie the knot. I hope the knot is as tight as Sherry & mine, and never comes loose.

This is the life we love, ON THE ROAD

This is a back road of Tennessee. Lovely ride.

Here is my girl just outside her home, presently parked behind our son Mark's house.

Thanks for reading this stuff.



Nite Shipslog






PS:


Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.

I have noticed when ‘dem cotton balls git rotten you can’t pick very much cotton in dem………

Thankful!

There is so much to be thankful for in this life and I must be careful, or I will forget it.



I am thankful for a warm place to sleep in the winter and a cool place to sleep in the summer.


And I am THANKFUL…..


1. that I am happy living in a small space. We own a nice home, but we chose lease it out. To be honest there is enough for us to keep clean in this 342 sqft on wheels.


2. for a wife who feels the same way.


3. we both have good health.


4. for the health of our children and grand children.


5. Ahhh, friends. Friends make the world go around smoothly. I never had a pen pal as a kid, but now with the advent of the internet, we have many ‘pen pals’,( 21st century style). And we don’t even have to use a stamp. OH YES, and thankful and happy to have met many of the ‘pen pals’ now in person, adding greatly to the thrills of living the good life.


6. I have some friendships that started in the 1950’s and last until today.


7. for a wonderful extended family. I am fortunate to still have my sister Shirl, we are the only siblings remaining. Every once in awhile we will say, “We are all that is left!”


8. That Life is good. Like everyone in this world there are some bad things that happen in our lives, but the good out weighs the bad.


9. That we have enough money to pay our bills and furnish us with food and even extra to eat out. I am thankful we can afford the diesel fuel to push our home across this beautiful country. I am extremely thankful we are fit to enjoy it.


And then there is Death, I am fortunate that of all the deaths I have known, none suffered a terrible agonizing death.


Then the date of June first,(Just past) that was the birthday of Josh & Steve. The only twins in our family, YEAH, I guess we are thankful for them. LOL


There are probably a million other things I am thankful for, but this is a few.


Thanks for reading this stuff.


Nite Shipslog






PS:


You can count sheep, or you can count blessings. If you are an insomniac you will run out of sheep and have to go to goats. BUT…… There was a song that said, “You will fall asleep counting your blessings.”

Slopping the Hogs

As a child we were encouraged to take all we wanted to eat, but to eat all we take. We have practiced that most of our lives. Even at a buffet (EAYC) we try to eat what we take. We eat out a lot now. I am amazed at seeing a half glass of orange juice thrown away! Sometimes a whole plate of food that some child just did not want. Yes I am amazed at the waste.

What I am more amazed with is in most cases farmers are not allowed to feed the leftovers to their hogs. We called it ‘slop’, when dad raised a hog. Mama had a slop bucket and ANY uneaten food (which was little) went into the slop bucket. Sometimes farmers made slop runs where the neighbors saved their scraps for him in a ‘slop’ bucket.

Our friend Judy said when she worked at a cafeteria and the state of Maine stopped the farmers from taking the scraps to be fed to the hogs. What? Are they afraid they will poison the hogs? I am a little slow sometimes, but for the life of me I can see nothing wrong with the food thrown away at school being fed to animals. There must be something I do not get.

Just to qualify my statements about 'Slop Bucket'. In our house this was a 'Slop Jar' or as Shirl & mama would call it a 'Chamber!' (My mama was classy, the out house was the 'pisserie').

This is a slop bucket, a real nice 'Slop Bucket'.

There was a statement, ‘Waste not, want not.’ We do a pretty good job of eating our left over’s, and when we eat at a restaurant, if there is enough left for take-out we do. Meals are costly, food is costly and for us to throw it away is not wise, mostly we do not.

Are your kids, grand kids picky about what they eat? We have a couple that are and more that aren’t. I believe over all, kids are much more picky than 30-60 years ago.


So QUIT WASTING FOOD, SNEAK IT OUT TO THE HOGS IF NOTHING ELSE.


Thanks for taking your valuable time to read this drivel.


Nite Shipslog






PS:


Now mama would say, the kids in Africa would love to have what you don’t want! (I never did say it, but I thought it, how are we gonna get it to them?)


*****


Man who live in Glass house should change clothes in Basement.