Readin' and writin'

Historical Photo: 

              1940 Ford assembly line

 Notes for tonight!
I just finished Jeffery Deaver’s ‘Shallow Graves’.  It was a five star read. My book stash is dropping, I am starting David Baldacci’s ‘Deliver Us ‘From Evil’. He published this in 2010. I did not read seriously until I was in my late 50’s. Once I realized what I was ‘personally’ missing I started to devour books. At times 2 novels a week. 3 on a good week.

The advantage I had over habitual readers was my books were cheap or reasonable. Great authors had been writing and putting books on the shelves for years. They were now in yard sales, flea markets, exchange libraries, and the internet. I now have read thousands of great books.

It was 20 years before I would decide to write a book myself. I thought to myself, “Jack you have some audacity, a HS dropout with poor English, even thinking you can write and publish a book!”

At that time I thought back to that old uneducated Brick mason I hired in Shelby, NC that said, “Mr. Darnell, If you hire me, I will make you look good.” 

I am not gullible enough to think that proofers and editors could make me look good, but they do a danged good job of keeping me from looking too bad.  LOL

I remember smiling when I saw my books on sale on the internet as ‘used’. I smiled hoping to see more. LOL

Nite Shipslog
PS: Little known facts about the USA, from Cousin Tony: Oregon's Crater Lake is deep enough to cover six Statues of Liberty stacked on top of each other.
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 Cary Grant parked on the fender of his '41 Buick Century

Lost Photos and Blog entry assist programs.

Historical Photo:

 Above is one of the thousands of boys (kids) enlisted in the German army by the Nazi's as cannon fodder. This kid is scared at the sounds of actual battle. He is being berated.

So this is all I have:
I blogged for several years using ‘Windows Live Writer’ software. It was simple to use and you could place your pictures anywhere you liked as you typed.  There were lots of options but it was a great program. I had to open up a membership with one of the photo software groups to use it. I used a lot of pictures, and received a notice from the server than my photo storage was nearing capacity, I should ‘purchase’ more space (So much was free).

 A small ‘danger’ caveat stated I could make room for more photos by deleting photos already stored. warning:BUT when you delete in the photo storage you delete the same photos on your computer.

I did not take the warning serious. I deleted hundreds to make room for more. Over time I started noticing in ‘MY PICTURES’ some of my photos were missing. At one point in one block, 6 months of them were gone (still are).

 I didn’t worry too much when I read the warning, because ALL my old stuff was backed upon CD. I forgot about many of our travel photos for which I did not create a backup.  So I paid for being ignorant and cheap.  BUT I despise creating more pass words, giving my bank accnt # to deduct $4 a month, etc.

I am fussing I guess, because I do not know another program like Live Writer to create my blogs.  With live writer when ‘inspired I could do up to 8 blog entries ahead and when my head was empty, I could grab one of those ‘super inspired ones,’  and then Evelyn wouldn’t fuss at me for being late. LOL I am flattered when I learn that many folk read the Shipslog  but do not comment.

I tried putting several upcoming blogs on Blogger dashboard, but when uploaded the wrong date was there.


 Evelyn is a sweetie who was in Sherry’s class. She, Sherry, and friend JoAnn have been proofing my books and doing a great job of it. BUT let me be late or miss a day and I hear from Evelyn!

BTW do you use any blog programs other than Blogger itself when posting?
Nite Shipslog

PS: Cousin Tony sent these little known facts about the USA: Kansas produces enough wheat each year to feed everyone in the world for about two weeks.

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Rita Hayworth with her 1941 Lincoln Continental

WE need more education!

Historical Photo:

The USS Oklahoma 1943 Salvage operation. Some  human feats are amazing.

We started traveling long ago. We never seem to tire of seeing new places or return visits to special places. One thing we learned fairly quickly was each state and some counties have higher gasoline prices than others. We lived just a few miles north of the South Carolina border. SC always has had cheaper gas prices.

Once just on the NY/NJ border we saw a gasoline price 10 cents cheaper than we had seen in Roundout Valley, NY. Sooo I drove the ½ mile off the interstate. Got out, reset the pump and started to pump. STOP I heard in a nice voice, I will do that. The attendant pumped my gas. I was surprised, I haven’t had that happen since my youth. I didn’t realize I had crossed the NY/NJ line.
SEE FACTS USA FACTS BELOW!
Being southerners, something else we learned by traveling, everything above the Mason Dixon line ‘ain’t big buildings and concrete!’  I was even pleased to learn that NYC isn’t NY State. There is lots of farm land and country, rivers and mountains (not really big, but mountains) in the rest of the state.

I remember parking the RV in the Dakotas once in view of a huge field. One BIG lone tractor was making a round ‘turning the soil.’ I knew that was the first step to ready a field for planting. The old crop is ‘turned under’ leaving a field ready for a cultivator to smooth the rough field the turning leaves in its wake.
Now, I am not a farmer, but I did learn something from dad and friend Kenneth Conrad (Missouri farmer). I was familiar with farm fields from an acre to ten acres. I sat and watched this huge tractor plowing a TWENTY FOOT PATH! In one day he made only one pass plus a little around that GIANT field. It was way over 100 acres. WOW.

 At the end of the day he left the tractor in its tracks and rode a little 4 wheeler (that was on the tractor) off the field to go home.

My dad farmed with two mules was my thoughts. How in the world could someone farm BIG with a team of mules? Traveling is an education in itself.

Nite Shipslog

PS: Cousin Tony sent these little known facts about the USA: New Jersey is now the only state where it is illegal to pump your own gasoline.

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Bing Crosby giving rides around the studio in his '39 Olds convertible.

A boys playhouse

   The Historical picture of the day:

    Wagon Train in Colorado in 1880

From child hood I could not throw away a pair of shoes without cutting the tongue out for a sling-shot pocket.  Anything that I thought I could make something out of, I held on to.(I think old people recycled before it was popular)

As life progressed I became more grown up about it. Remembering that No buttons or zippers were ever thrown away by my mama She had a stash of 'swaths' of cloth (that is what she called them). Anything that could be reused she kept.


(We are back in our back yard for a couple weeks. I can play in my play house)

So I take many things apart that is being thrown away.

Screws, small metal parts, odd shaped metal I have a stash. Wheels off desks and roll around things, I have a bucket full. Nobs, handles, drawer pulls… I got ‘em.

Containers (above). Piles of them. I am a container hoarder!!! Cans, jars, heavy plastic jugs, flat, tall... I love ‘em all.  BUT I do need to cut back on those..  LOL

 Bags of plastic bags hanging and below wood scraps!

 
Nuts and bolts and I like washers, all sizes. Any electoral appliance or tool loses it cord. I have oodles of ‘em. I call them 'pig tails.'

Have I used any of this stuff? YES, I get satisfaction (and justification) out of my stash!  LOL  As a kid, all the boys knew I had a red and a black inner tube, when they needed Sling shot rubber. Mama finally gave me an old pair of scissors, she had to find hers so often.

Remember metal skate wheels? Any skates that I saw thrown away, they lost any good wheels they had. All the kids came to my house to get some. They were free and freshly oiled with mama’s 3-in-1 sewing machine oil. When I see those ‘fidgets’ Stella plays with, I remember how I used to spin skate wheels while holding them with my thumb and finger.

Most handy men do the same, many are more organized than I am.

Nite Shipslog

PS: Cousin Tony sent some little known facts about the USA:

There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America in one foot of liquid.

(Is Superior the fabled Gitchegoome?}

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Norwegian Olympic skating champion and 

Hollywood movie star Sonja Henie and 

her Cord 810.