Father’s Day 2013

One hundred and ten years ago my daddy was born. He was #1 of  or 12 children. He was christened Frank Benjamin Darnell.  His dad admired the James Brothers, to many southerners on farms, the James Boys were heroes. So dad was named after Frank James. The next son was named Jesse .

Over the years my dad changed his name (Unofficially) to B.F. or Benjamin Franklin Darnell. He was known to say my name is Benjamin Franklin Thomas Jefferson Roosevelt Darnell. It was odd that a man named after Frank James would  become a fundamentalist Preacher, but he did. Dad was a good man. Honest to a fault and  was always successful as a minister/pastor but NEVER took credit for the successes. His mantra was, “You can accomplish much, if you care not who gets the credit.” He practiced that. There are at least a million good things I could say about him, but suffice to say he was to be admired and emulated.

I wish he could have lived to see me settle down and ‘amount to something’, as he would have put it.

Then there was Wiley Aaron Harris, Sherry’s dad. Also a good man, and very handsome. He was born the year before my daddy. Along with his wife Susie worked in cotton mills all their lives and raised a good family. Wiley was also an honest man.  Wiley was somewhat different from most cotton mill workers in the mid 1900’s, Wiley was a Republican when 95% of his peers were Democrats, however he admired FDR, a Democrat.  He lived to see a change in the workers as many more felt the Democrat party had left them and switched parties.

He was working in a Cotton mill when he was 10-12 years old.

I never heard either Wiley or Susie complain about working in the mills as kids. They knew from experience, that the farm kids were working in the barns and fields to help the family survive also.

These men lived to see the Automobile, air plane, and see us reach the moon. Life has changed even more since these men lived, but the morals of these men should still be admired.

Happy Father’s Day Dad, I miss you.  I miss you too, Wiley Aaron.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

There will always be a need for true men and honest.

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Wiley’s family never had a family car, they walked or took the bus. As long as I can remember my dad had a car. The first I remember was this 1941 Chevrolet.

Oldest brother Odis and Me. Shirl and I were sort of a second brood.

Some days are harder than others

I have submitted a blog 1706 times on Blogger with 196442 page views. Most of the time a subject comes to me before I get to this point. Tonight, I am a blank. Some of you get ideas and use themes, or one subject. I haven’t been able to accomplish that yet, but I keep thinking.

 

I have been busy, and I don’t know exactly what I have been busy doing. I did cut the grass and added a gate to the steps where Sherry broke her arm last year.

When GGDaughter Stella drops by, why is it she heads directly to the area where Sherry fell? It is the most dangerous spot for a kid.  So I decided to make a gate to close off the danger off the deck.

We have two sons. Because we had planned to go into Mexico they were required to get passports. They have them now. It is funny that the fall out of having the passports has increased their income. They are both couriers. Now with the passports they can travel internationally.  Yesterday Mark came back from Mexico City and tonight Sherry called Jack jr. to invite him to dinner and he was headed for Canada. They are both excited about the prospects.

We have two more days before we head to Mexico ourselves (with the boys) we are excited about that.

Now, the boys will only go with us to San Antonio. Then after seeing the Alamo, experiencing the River Walk and maybe a trip to Brackettville, they will fly back to NC. Us?  We hope to see our friend Paula and maybe John. Then we will go on to Mexico.

Thanks for stopping by the log.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

I guess I can make a post about nothing, huh?

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I cannot remember what this is nor who is with the car. I do not recognize the car. My first thought was this is the guy who built “The house on the Rock” in Minnesota.

Remembering (from a post by Rose of ‘Roses are Read’)

 

I am old of course, so my thinking is dated and hard to fit in with the new generational thinking.  I honestly do not know Generation X or Y or Z.  I just know what I like. I know I like Butter Pecan/Walnut Ice Cream.  Now when I was a child I am not sure if those flavors existed, so I chose Vanilla.  See, I guess I can change A LITTLE BIT! I LIKED THIS WHEN I READ IT ON ROSE’S BLOG.(Edited to shorten, things added for me)

I liked the old paths, when
Moms were at home.
Dads were at work.
Brothers went into the army.
And sisters got married BEFORE having children!
Crime did not pay;
Hard work did;
And people knew the difference.
Moms could cook & work;
Dads would work & cook;
Children could behave.
Husbands were loving;
Wives were supportive; 
Children were polite,
and looked decent.

Seniors were Sir and M’am.
People loved the truth,
And hated a lie.
Hymns sounded Godly;
Sermons sounded helpful;
Rejoicing sounded normal;
And crying sounded sincere.
Cursing was wicked;
Drugs were for illness.
The flag was honored;
America was beautiful;
And God was welcome!

To be called an American was worth dying for;
To be called an American was worth living for;
To be called a traitor was a shame!

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Most folk have heard, our youth are headed to Hell in a hand basket (What ever that means) and America is headed down the tubes.

You see, I refuse to believe that, I have faith in America. We have been in dire straits before and survived. We will do it again.

Yes, I do think the nation has dropped a few notches in moral values, but I meet wonderful solid citizens all the time and it makes me proud.

To make sure you understand me, I have NO FAITH in politicians of any stripe nor political parties, to get us out of our financial and moral dilemma.  My faith is in my fellow man.  There are more honest people in the USA than dishonest.  We have more good than bad. WE WILL MAKE IT (especially if you will just vote for me! LOL).

Okay I am off my soap box. Thanks for coming this way.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

In the 1950’s my parents and old folk thought the youth will never amount to much, all this Rock & Roll trash. (Okay Okay, not a good example they were right about me. LOL)

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The 50’s produced Elvis & the Beatles they also produced:

I love a beautiful car!

I Fell for you!

That is a line from a 50’s song. Yeah teen agers existed then. Some danced to the music played on the TV program with Dick Clark, American Bandstand. Many kids had great times dancing to the rock and roll music of the 50’s. Sherry and I could not dance (that was a sin) but we could smooch to the music of Buddy Holly and:

Why Do Fools Fall In Love
Teenagers

The Great Pretender
Platters

Ain't It A Shame
Fats Domino

“Only You!” by the Platters.

But My girl was an “Earth Angel” sang by the Penquins.

Earth angel, earth angel
Will you be mine
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you

Earth angel, earth angel
The one I adore
Love you forever and ever more
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you

I fell for you and I knew
The vision of your love-loveliness
I hoped and I pray that someday
I'll be the vision of your hap-happiness
(Oh-oh-oh-oh)

Earth angel, earth angel
Please be mine
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you

I fell for you and I knew
The vision of your loveliness
I hope and pray that someday
That I'll be the vision of your happiness

(oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Earth angel, earth angel
Please be mine
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you-ou
(You-you-you)

Okay I will admit, I just tucked my girl of 57 years, in bed and came back to the computer. Yeah, I still tuck her in. She is, and has been my dream. Still the  beautiful teen ager I fell in love with.

Remember when you were a teenager? Gonna live forever!

I do not know why I was so lucky, but as I tell her, I am the luckiest man in the world, and I am enjoying it. Yeah, I am in my mid 70’s and she rings my bells.

I dreamed of my sons being as happy as we are in marriage, but it wasn’t to be. So I have to ask myself, is life-long happiness a thing of the past? Has the time past when a boy and girl meet, fall in love, marry, have children, and live happily ever after?

Some folk hear that and think there were no problems. Of course there were problems, Mostly my fault (I know that, not being modest). But we worked thru the problems because SHE WAS THE ONE!

Sorry folk, I am writing this the night before posting and it is one of those nights. I saw her beauty, and I knew the secret of our happiness. The secret is her loveliness. Body and character. My girl is the best.

Thanks for stopping by, I am one happy guy. Just sayin’.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

We meet happy couples and it makes me feel good inside. I could name you but you know who I mean. Stay in love. Growing old together is such a pleasure. Some do not get to grow old together, life isn’t always fair, but you can remember how good it would have been.

PS2: I didn’t mean to be so long, but it was one of those mental nights of nostalgia.

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I wrecked this beauty just after taking Sherry home after a double date. I am sure glad it did not happen with her in the car. My buddy Tucker had a harder head when it rolled over. We had minor injuries.l

Catches your eye (No not the joke)

(This is a replacement entry, don’t you hate it when you lose a WHOLE entry!  you just cannot remember all the brilliant things you have said and lost. LOL)

I have said may times I love our screen saver. We use the pictures on the hard drives as our screen savers. Both computers are displaying our lives past and present. (Along with hundreds of old cars, ha)

I forget them many times when we have company. So the subject came up rather quickly when we sold the Camaro. I had a Notary do a house call to witness the sale. So we were here at our Motorhome table, when the buyer suddenly says, “That is the biggest tree I have ever seen, where is it?”

I looked at the picture and said:

“That is a Live Oak on the banks of Lake Griffin in Florida.”

I forget it at times that our lives pass before all our visitors. When the family is here many time we just watch as they scroll and randomly pick up pictures.  Comments abound. “That is me when I was 5”, “I remember that!” or “Where were you when that was taken Grandma?”

So this morning when I saw this one pass by I couldn’t help remembering the day, a day or two after my 17th birthday:

(Me second from the right, front row)

I guess I do at times wish I was 17 again, back when I ‘thought’ I was grown. I was leaving HOME here, gonna spread my wings. I had no idea how homesick I would get only a couple hundred miles away on Parris Island. LOL

That picture was followed by this one:

Me in my ‘overhauls’ in mama’s chicken lot. Yeah that is Shirl on the left and Kat in the middle (my sweet sisters).

This was about the time Shirl taught me to ride a bicycle, we had one.

Just thinking back. The older I get the more I do that.

Thanks for coming by the log.

PS:

Yeah, we sold the Camaro.  I buy high and sell lo. We are planning to get rich on VOLUME sales. LOL

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Alleged

There are times I get a little frustrated about out system. There is a time to call a spade a spade. I don’t know what rule would need to be made but take the case of the Army major who yelled Allah Akbar then wounded and killed many of his comrades.  He is NOT THE ALLEGED KILLER, he is the KILLER.  ALSO: The man who stands and shoots people in a theater, with his picture being taken is NOT THE ALLEGED SHOOTER, he is THE SHOOTER!

Yes before you get upset, I do know about the rule innocent until proven guilty.  Let’s say set the limit to 10 eye witnesses and 3 videos, that should ‘prove him guilty’.  maybe I watched too many Westerns, where the Judge says of a known Killer. Okay let’s give him a fair trial them hang him.

No I don’t want to circumvent the law, I just want to see some common sense. The

Location
Fort Hood, Texas,
United States

November 5, 2009
Mass murder

Deaths=13

Injured (non-fatal)-30

Suspected perpetrator
Major Nidal Malik Hasan

The Murders happened Nov 5, 2009. He is now asking for 3 months to prepare his defense. He is being paid the salary of a Major, Over $90,000 a year plus other benefits. Over about 3.5 years of pay. BECAUSE HE IS NOT GUILTY until the court says he is guilty. and as long as he can put it off, the government is paying him.

Our president and the government will not list this as a terrorist attack. From the Christian Science Monitor:

As recently as May 23, President Obama said no "large-scale" terrorism attacks on the homeland have occurred on his watch.

Officials at the US Department of Defense have said there isn't enough evidence to put Hasan on trial for an act of terrorism, and they have worried that such a claim could undermine the Army major's right to a fair trial.

The Major has listed himself as a Jihadist.

Anyway I am sick of the whole mess of hearing ALLEGED!

It just doesn’t seem fair to those killed and wounded, the wounded are not even eligible for a purple heart, WOW, is this upside down or what?

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Sometimes things just get on my nerves. When I think of folks who are just getting by to live and my government pays this KILLER $278,000 because he is ALLEGED!

PS2:

Did you know you are Guilty until proven innocent when charged by the IRS?

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A SHADOW OF ONE OF MY LIVES!I was a good roach coach driver!

The ‘51 Hudson Hornet, Now I feel better!

Who is listening and WHO is reading?

Common sense tell me most government programs are started with purely honest and true purposes. I worked for NSA for a few years on a much lower level than the level of the ‘snooping’ we are reading about. I know programs that are used to scan the e-mails and conversations. My expertise was military intelligence gathering, not domestic and terrorism  research and verification. But the same principals were incorporated. No one is going to look into my past or present. Any information I was privy to (S-TS-SIOP) would only confuse the modern researchers. LOL.

BUT, and it is no small BUTT, don’t tell me someone is NOT listening to some private conversations, that is illogical and an untruth. With the thousands of operators required to monitor all these searches, along with the search words and combinations, one could add sex, love and listen in on a man calling his wife to tell her how great their sex was last night and how much he loves her, etc. that is about null for the juicy stuff, but it doesn’t take much imagination to see extreme abuse of such powers.

An executive of JC Penny wanting to know WALMARTS next moves, with the right amount of money, to the right operator,  could have all Wallyworld’s phone calls and e-mails sent to their offices.

If Mr. Obama had heard this in 2008 he would have been on the highest soap box, calling for heads to roll and with just cause. Mr. Obama ran on the promise of having the most open administration ever, I ask him, what happened? PLEASE not “I read it in Friday’s paper just like you!”

YES I AM MAD, HURT AND DISGUSTED. WHAT HAPPENED TO TRUTH, “Yes, we did it. I am sorry, it was stupid, but we really meant well. This will be halted ASAP.”

NO WE CITIZENS GET A TAP DANCE, “UH, AH IT WASN’T THAT BAD, NO ONE LISTENED TO  EH, YOU, ETC”.

So what if it happened under Bush?  It does no good to call the kettle black, if you want it clean, then you clean it up! A couple days ago I was disappointed in fellow Marines, today, I am so disappointed in my government officials. If this doesn’t make you mad, you don’t realize the depth of this insertion into OUR private lives.

REMEMBER ORWELL’S 1984, Big Brother has been born, albeit, at a late date.

Okay I’m outta here, but I am still mad.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

I always considered my phone calls private, after ‘Ms Number please?’ was replaced with a dial.

Way back then operators had to click into active lines to make sure someone was still there. And some operators stayed for a little while (accidentally on purpose), listening, in slow times. (I listened in on private conversations myself, when operating the switchboard at Our Radar station in Kirksville, MO.).

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Sherry and Shirl have picked the Vette they want.

Graduations and rules!

We went to Luke’s graduation. I went to the website to find out the times and I also saw the rules.  It was one of those iffy things. Rain forecast, if it was held outside we could go, if inside he only could have 4 tickets, which would be his family. No one told us where to find out the decision. The decision would be made two hours before. So said the website.

SO we decided to GO.  RULES SAID: no umbrellas would be allowed. No cell phones and you would be scanned for metal at the gate.

Another strongly stated rule, no clapping or acknowledgement until after all diplomas were awarded then everyone would give the standing round of applause.

I am rooted and founded in the moral guidelines, FOLLOW THE RULES! My military background yells that, so I play by and follow RULES!

OUTSIDE must be the decision, SINCE hundreds of folks are parked EVERYWHERE and inline for the Football stadium. WE parked and got in line: BEHIND HUNDREDS OF UMBRELLAS. We were carrying the little disposal ponchos just in case.. No Umbrellas were turned away. And there was regular scattered yelling and clapping for (their)‘SOMEONE SPECIAL’.

I HAVE DECIDED IN THIS CIVILIAN WORLD RULES ARE MADE JUST FOR FUN!  (just incase someone wants to enforce them) LOL  I am not against umbrellas, they are common sense if you might get rain. But why make a rule if you are not planning on enforcing it?  NO CELL PHONES!  are they nuts? This generation lives on the iphone or it’s clone. It is also the camera for heavens' sake. There is no way they are leaving them home!

Soooo, I am already planning Stella’s Graduation 2033. I am going to have my wheel chair pushed close to the stage. I want two air horns. and when they call her name, Imma going to blow everyone away. and keep on yelling and clapping as they tow me off the field.  I plan to join in, and enjoy BREAKING THE RULES! (I will fly out to Utah and practice at Elsie’s graduation, LOL)

Seriously, do you break the rules?  Or are you one who reads the sign and believes it means what it says?

This is my fun post,  well as close as I get to fun, LOL

Thanks for stopping here,

NIte Shipslog

PS:

I do try to follow all rules, brain washing from the USMC!  LOL

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This might be a 50’s Packard (Lincoln?), Louis will get me if I am wrong!