JD

The death of a dog may not compare to the death of a human and I will not minimize your human loss in the least but, as I told someone today, I learned more about love and loss from JD than from most any person I've ever known. He has been gone five years today and I still hope to someday be the man of character that he was.

Would you rather have this or Easter bunny boy?

There's gotta be a caption in there somewhere...

My Santa is better than my Easter Bunny.

Does this cottontail make my butt look big?

I'm unwanted.

Good news from the forsaken desert of Mormon delight that is Utah! I called the court today to check on the status of my arrest warrant and evidently my letter to the judge worked. I am officially no longer a fugitive. My bandit days of glory are over and now I have to readjust to normal life no longer in fear of every siren or flashing light. Hopefully, I can continue this life on the straight and narrow but there are no guarantees. The illicit high of living on the edge of right and wrong is calling me back to the life I was born to lead. Danger and scandal are in my blood. I'm a highwayman with a black Shadow and I'm born to run. Just not to Utah.

I need a scam.

Years and years ago I worked for a guy who was a pretty good business man. In fact, his business continues to grow and thrive even today. I remember talking to him one time about how it seemed to me that everybody had some kind of scam going on. Everybody seemed to have something shady but lucrative going on and I was thinking out loud to him one day about how crazy it seemed to me that people worked so hard to try to make a few extra bucks by trying to rip somebody else off.

He heartily agreed with me that if people would just put as much effort into legitimate ventures that everybody would be so much better off. We seemed to be of the exact same mind about the detriment to everybody involved when it came to illegal, immoral or even under-handed dealings with people and that we could hardly stand people who were "scammers". In the next breath he went on to tell me that the "only thing" he had going on was this complicated scheme he had been doing with his federal taxes and maybe a few minor kickbacks to some local movers and shakers. You know. That's all.

I look back and realize that was my first step into Crazytown. It is the ultimate naivete to think you are not naive. I have at last come to the realization that I am the only one left in the world not trying to pull something over on somebody else and I'm tired of it. I want in! I hope all the good scams aren't gone yet. I am actually a big fan of a good scam. In fact, I hate to admit it but evidently Al Gore is a smoking genius! I mean look at this whole climate change deal. We first heard it called "global warming" and when that title failed to fit he just called it something else and said it was now even worse. Now the only way I can prevent polar bears from drowning and kids in Somalia from starving is to pay money. Genius!

Hitler once said that if you tell a big enough lie enough times that pretty soon people will believe you. So I'm working on my scam but don't worry, it's going to be big. Well, maybe not "climate change" big or "Obamacare" big but still pretty big. I need something, though, that will be as big or bigger than my previous boss or even the boss I have now, who's scam is to make everybody feel bad so she feels good. It's even working out pretty well for her and she's no smarter than I am. So, this is just a warning. Be careful around me because I could be using you in some way for my profit. It could happen! Oh, wait...maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Dangit! I already messed up! Nevermind.

A great addition to a classic!

I rarely even add any comments to the comments about anything I post much less post a comment as a post. Make sense? But I have to make an exception here with a comment from my last post about being a lonesome fugitive. I enjoy reading any comment a reader has to make but this anonymous reader evidently had enough time on his hands to write a few new verses to a good old Merle Haggard / Willie Nelson tune and, I have to admit, would make them proud with it. Now, if you don't know the tune to "Pancho and Lefty" then get off my blog! Go read that Daily Kos guy or Perez Hilton or something, you communist, puppy-killing, scumbag! Anyhow, it's too bad, DR, that it will have to stay anonymous and nobody will ever know what geezy riding, cb-talking, Shakespeare-referencing, Latin-speaking, long story-telling loyal reader ever wrote this. Yep, too bad. Oh, well. So...just in case you missed it go back to the comments section of the last post. Merle and Willie and I recommend it.

I'm a lonesome fugitive.

I knew this double life would catch up to me sooner or later. I just hate for it to end like this. I'm a wanted man now. An outlaw. A desperado with a checkered past and now I'm on the run. Don't try to stop me and I can't take you with me. It's too dangerous for you and you would only slow me down. It has to be like this so be strong.

I just got a letter in the mail from Justice Court of Uintah County, State of Utah. It is a warrant for my arrest commanding all peace officers in the state of Utah to attach my body (whatever that means) before the court asap. To be served day or night, Sunday or holidays. Evidently, that terminology is only used for the really hardened criminals like myself who are convicted of the crime of...wait for it...you'll love it...wait for it..."improper lane travel w/ crash". Yep! They gave me a ticket for crashing my motorcycle in their state.

My last memory was riding down the road, no alcohol or excessive speed involved, and then waking up in the hospital. I still don't know who found me as I was unconcious for several hours and when I woke up in the hospital there was a traffic ticket literally stuck in my pocket! So, evidently, the state trooper who was first on the scene took my gun from my possesion and replaced it with a ticket for not signaling that I was about to crash. He crammed a ticket into the front pocket of my lifeless body and then drove home with my pistol!

So, let this be a lesson to you, kids. Make sure your lane travel w/ crash is proper or at least don't do it improperly in Uintah County Utah because now I must be moving on. They'll never catch me alive because I can't go back to the Mormon Big House, you hear me?! I can't. It's a life of the bandit wanderer for me now, always one step ahead of the law. I looked for trouble and I found it, son, straight down the barrel of a lawman's gun... oh, wait, that's my gun!

Santa 09

My second year to be Santa for some special needs kids and I had a blast! Look at all the candy canes in her hand. This was the second time she came to see me and said she had six more siblings that needed candy canes. I would have given her the whole bag of candy canes if she wanted!

The Symphony

I saw both ends of the spectrum today. I had to go to the Walmarts (my wife says I should quit calling it that) and I saw a perfect mullet, a woman in total camo from her pants to her shirt to her cap, and one of the fattest people I have ever seen. In the time it took me to get some medicine and get out of there I felt I lost about 50 IQ points. This evening, though, was just the opposite. My sister invited some of the family to go to the symphony and we had a great time. We all got dressed up and I acted like I was not a brain-dead redneck long enough to feel some brain cells almost come back to life. I'm sorry the picture is not better but it shows how close we were to the orchestra. I could have read the music, well...if I could read music. Wow! The sound was incredible! The musicians were incredibly talented and we had front-row seats to see and hear as well or better than the conductor himself. I went to their website and the first chair violinist plays a 1710 Stradivari worth millions of dollars. I can't even comprehend that! Do you know how much camo you could buy with that kinda money?

I guess this makes me a climate change "denier"

Just more evidence...

Interesting but never gonna happen...


h/t Landshark

Could it be?

It's very rare that I even try to predict anything and even rarer when I'm right about something . Ok, this is the first time but I would say it's a pretty big deal! I don't want to...actually, I do want to tell you that I told you so. Global warming is a complete and total hoax.

To Bob

Dear Sideshow Bob, I thought you would appreciate the next few posts. Enjoy. I did.

Homer and Joe

Who doesn't love unicorns?

Marge and Sarah

Hutz and Putz

Lenny and Barack

You asked...

Separated at birth

Awww...

You'd have sad eyes too if a sasquatch died of old age on your face.

Timely (from 1953)

"A gun is a tool, Marion. No better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that."

Thank you!

When I went to the State Fair last month I walked through the Texas Vietnam Veterans Memorial set up just inside Fair Park. I was looking at all the names etched into the granite walls and found a couple with my last name. I don't think we are related but I stood there thinking about all those names and the men they represent. Evidently, during the fair, they have a couple men there to answer questions and help people find certain names. As I was standing at the wall staring at the names a man in a "Vietnam Veteran" hat came up and quietly asked if I had any names on the wall.

"Excuse me?", I asked.

"Do you have loved ones on the wall?"

"No, sir", was all I managed to get out.

He then simply said, "Thank you for coming by."

I shook his hand with both of mine but wasn't able to say anything for the huge lump in my throat and that lump comes back as I write this. I wanted to tell him how much I appreciated his service. I wanted to say some grand "Thank You!" with a long speech about how we all owe him and all veterans a huge debt but all I could do was shake his hand. I think he understood.

I was very humbled today to welcome home a plane-load of troops at the airport this morning. Again, I was unable to thank each one or give them all gifts or make any speeches but I was able to cheer some and clap until my hands hurt as did a huge group of others. The troops were obviously very glad to be back and very appreciative of our presence there and while I can't say to each one how much I appreciate their sacrifice, I think, I hope they too understand.

Yeah, we should be pro people-who-kill-us.

Ok, at this point why should I not be anti-Muslim? And why would my government want me to pro-Muslim? The hijackers on 9/11 were Muslim. The people blowing us up in Iraq and Afghanistan are Muslim. The wacko who just shot up Fort Hood was...wait for it, Muslim. And yet our President sucks up to them like they are his future father-in-law and now Janet Napolitano wants to make sure we don't get upset with them and their religion of peace. What's going on here?

Edit: Lagniappe wonders something similar.

I'm a 10

Just got my 10 gallon pin from Carter Bloodcare tonight. Do you know how many t-shirts that is?

Whatever floats your boat...

She ain't pretty but she can dance!

You should see those legs!

Cycle Sunday

Sorry the pics aren't any clearer but this was from last Sunday's big country ride with some friends. It was a perfect day for a ride. We started right after church and headed south into some beautiful country toward Acton. We had lunch at some hole in the wall Ed knew of and then took off again. Check out Ed's website to prove he believes that life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all! Kevin had to prove he could ride in the mud but that hardly slowed us down and everybody got home in one piece. Thanks, y'all for a great way to spend a Sunday.

We don't trust you

There is an old hymn entitled "There's Just Something About That Name". One of the all-time greats, it, of course, references Jesus Christ but I thought about that song as I pondered some recent events. Hopefully steering well clear of anything blasphemous I propose that there is also something, though not near divine, about the name of my state. Say the name "Texas" to almost anyone in the world and certain things come to mind. Certain stereotypes - good, bad, or even wrong - conjure quickly when one mentions the Lone Star state. Cowboy hats, boots, cattle, oil, America's team. They say "everything is bigger in Texas" and maybe some of that is true. Every stereotype has roots in truth.



One perception that consistently runs true is that Texas is a leader. What happens in Texas usually spills over later into the other states and sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes not. Texas consistently leads the nation in home-building, job availability, health care and finding alternative energy sources. Unfortunately we also lead the nation in alcohol-related car wrecks, repeat teen pregnancies, and the number of incarcerated residents. Perhaps some of this could be attributed to the sheer size of the state and we all agree we have areas that need attention but there is little dispute that whatever Texas does it does big. I used to have a football coach that encouraged us to do it 100% even if it's wrong. Texas seems to have that attitude.



A few days ago I heard a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host say that he was surprised that Texas had not taken more of a lead in the right-wing revolt against out liberal national politicians. Now, whether that is true or not one could debate but it made me think about why he would have such an impression. Why would Texas not lead out in expressing the conservative values that are so predominate here in the South? Why would we let other states be the "tip of the spear" in demanding real conservative change in our country? I believe it is at least in part due to our distrustful nature.



For many years I rejected becoming a member of the National Rifle Association. I am always careful about what organizations I support and have never before felt that joining such a group was necessary or even in my best interests. I guess I have always wanted to live in a perfect world where it was not necessary to fight for the right to own grenade-launching military weapons as a civilian. Do we really need to petition Congress for belt-fed automatics and high capacity, high caliber hunting rifles? Do we really need to battle so far to the right just to keep the other side from taking us too far to the left? I finally realized that the answer is a resounding "yes"! We may not need to take our gun rights to that extreme but if we do not push hard then our very basic gun rights are in danger.

I remember my first day of second grade. I walked onto the school ground and a fourth grade boy came up to me right away and said he was going to take my lunch. I started to explain to him that my mother had packed this lunch and that he should get his own lunch but before I could explain this to him he grabbed my lunch and pushed me down. The next day the same boy came to me and again told me he was going to take my lunch. I knew that we could work this out if we could just talk about it but before I could finish my sentence about rightful ownership the boy grabbed my lunch, pushed me down and kicked me in the ribs. The third day of school was different. Again the bully approached me as I walked onto campus but before he could even make his demand I punched him as hard as I could right in the mouth and broke one of his teeth. He never bothered me again.

I learned a huge lesson in second grade and it has stuck with me and benefitted me many times. Sometimes you have to strike harder than the other guy just to keep things even. You cannot trust people to be reasonable just because you are reasonable and sometimes people will not listen to what you say unless you back it up with action. We cannot expect everybody to think the same way we do and it would be nice if we could just explain our different views calmly and expect that the other person would come to respect our side even if they do not agree but you cannot trust them to do that. You cannot always trust that other people have your best interest at heart.

This is a lesson that Texans have learned over the years but it is a two-way street. We have to realize that while in the past we may not have trusted the far right-wing groups to understand our political and religious views and for it to be necessary to align ourselves with such groups but now the far left is going to take our country and even our state to places that we cannot allow. It is time to stand up for our basic rights. Without violence and not in anger but through vigorous and passionate, purposeful and even prayerful protests we need to join the others in showing President Obama and our representatives in Washington that Texans again lead the way in demanding reform and responsibility. It is time to get involved. It is time to put on our hats and boots and tell the kids to feed the cows because we have work to do. There is something about the name "Texas" and we can change our country. It can be done. Trust me.

In the back yard

It's been a good year for the roses!

Written in 1719

...they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent; not ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are ashamed of the returning, which only can make them esteemed wise men.

--Daniel Defoe

"Robinson Crusoe"

Picnic

Great day for a picnic at church! 4-7 pm. Just show up.

Storytime in parts

--Part XIII--

Officer Walter Blunt was looking forward to getting away for a few hours. The last several days had seen his caseload increase dramatically and everybody seemed to have an emergency, real or imagined. The small Pennsylvania town where he was a police officer rarely saw much action and he usually spent his shifts babysitting the townspeople in a small matrix of semi-serious confrontations typically stemming from one generation to the other or from one sex to the other. Officer Blunt had received formal training in everything from riot control to public relations but the past couple of years his sole focus had been much closer to the latter.

He had not voted for Eisenhower for president since Eisenhower was a Republican and Blunt came from a long line of Democrats and yet Blunt felt that the man was honest and well-intentioned and probably idealistically correct. It was all a moot point at the moment because Officer Blunt had a job to do and he would do that job no matter his personal feelings about the man. Blunt was to be a part of a joint task force comprised mostly of local police officers who were to provide crowd control while the president made a stop in a neighboring town as part of his effort to drum up support for an interstate highway system.

Blunt checked in and got instructions. He was to keep well-wishers and gaukers off of the roadway so the president's limo could pass by without anybody getting hurt. When he got to his station he saw several people had already lined up along the curb and some were already copping a squat right next to where President Eisenhower would be entering the hotel. The scene was chaotic with local police running into federal police and being screamed at all the while by Secret Service. Local police had the black cotton uniform, the federal agents would be in suits and ties and the Secret Service would be in nice suits and ties and wearing sunglasses.

News crews in awkward looking panel vans were setting up right in front of Blunt and he first asked them nicely to leave and then when he was ignored he and two others gave the crew a stiff warning about where that van would wind up if it was not moved promptly. Promptly it was moved and another immediately took it's place. Blunt and the others skipped the nice part and proceeded to threaten which worked pretty well after some moaning and question-asking. Another officer from another city smiled at Blunt and said,"Say what you want as long as you do what I say! Right, officer?" Walter smiled. It beats breaking up a family squabble about who drank who's beer. Blunt felt like he was doing important duty here and he was glad to help.

President Eisenhower's car pulled up in front of the hotel accompanied by various other vehicles doing various other duties. Red velour ropes cordoned off the pathway from the car to the hotel entrance. The car had Presidential Seal flags flying on both front fenders. The 1953 Cadillac Fleetwood Limo was black with a soft vinyl top and tons of chrome that enjoyed it's long journey from the collection at the front bumper and streaked down the side to the back door and accentuated the sexy curve of the cars hips and down to the sultry fins on the back.

At the same time as a Secret Service officer stepped forward to open the limo door for Eisenhower, Officer Blunt stepped forward to encourage a few stragglers to move away from the velour rope.

"Move away, please. Thank you... Move away from the rope, please...Step to the curb, please...Thank you..."

Seeing a young girl holding the rope, Officer Blunt put his hand gently but firmly on her shoulder to demand that she move back.

"Move away from the ro..."

The president stepped out of the car and took a few steps smiling broadly and waving to the crowd. He was almost actually glad to be there and his smile was less artificial than at other times. He was willing to shake a few hands and make a show of enjoying his small-town stops and this seemed like a good time and place with plenty of reporters, cameras and security. Seeing the local police officer with his hand on the young girl's shoulder would be a good place to start so President Dwight David Eisenhower moved rapidly to the pair. In spite of what seemed like an odd exchange of glances between the two, Ike held out his hand to the pretty little girl and gave his standard greeting.

"Dwight Eisenhower", he said with a nod.

I'm rockin'!

So, I've started going back to the gym now. (I know. It's so obvious.) Tonight I was really getting in to it. Pumping some iron. Shocking my abs. Rocking out to some Aerosmith on my mp3 player. Blasting through the pain as AC/DC blasted through the ear buds. Now I'm going. Head bobbing. Biceps aching. Back in the groove and Back in Black. Nothing but me and the iron and ...Moon River? Who put Andy Williams on my playlist?! Something about "my huckleberry friend" zapped all the fire outta me. Not exactly "eye of the tiger" after that. So, is there anything else you think I should avoid listening to in the gym?

Makes him more of a hero...

I get choked up looking at this pic. Here's the story. It's hard to say "Thank you" enough to them. I hate war but I sure am grateful for warriors.

Multi-faceted question

But does there have to be so much rain?

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matt 5:45

My biker babe

Dori's first bike ride and she loved it.

I knew it!

I knew this was going to be problem! I just knew it. This Facebook thing is a pain in my neck. Number one, I don't really understand how it all works and really don't care to waste brain cells finding out. The problems are that all these people I haven't seen in years are coming out of the woodwork asking to be my Facebook friend. Now, this is ok for some of them but all you freaks I went to high school with, I probably lost touch with you on purpose. It is remotely interesting to see what you look like after all these years but I don't want to rekindle 147 lost friendships. Who has the time or emotional slack to do all that?

Also, all you dorks who only play games on Facebook, quit hogging up my page with pictures of farm animals and fish and then giving me "gifts" of fences or fish hooks. I thought you really wanted to give me a gift, not invite me to join your aquarium watching or whatever that is.

So, again, I don't understand how this works. Can I delete some of these people who I don't want and can I ignore new requests without people thinking bad about me? Is that mean? Because I don't want to be friends with the grandmother of some guy I knew vaguely in 1984, am I a bad guy? Stupid Facebook. I knew this would happen.

What's the NRA's strategy?

I mentioned awhile back that I joined the NRA and they immediately started asking for a renewal. I don't mean "immediately" as in "waited an appropriate length of time", or "soon thereafter". I mean, the incessant begging nearly beat me home from the gun show where I signed up! Then it literally (you might think I'm exaggerating but I'm not) kept on every two weeks for exactly one year. At the end of the year, I went online and renewed. That was 2 months ago and I've not heard a peep from them. No "Welcome back, Todd" or "Thanks again, Todd" or "Kiss my AR-15, Todd". Nothing... I'm starting to miss them... Maybe I should send them more money.

It wasn't me this time!

Wrong Lake Worth, different dog, different gun and I'm not quite that old. And when a cop says "Drop the gun", you can set it down slowly...and no warning shots! And who needs clothes?



h/t
Lagniappe

Bill's a fan.

Mr. President, how many times a day do you read "Blog I thought you said Dog"?

"Just once a day, but I follow him on Facebook".

Habit or convenience?

I'm thinking about taking up smoking. Some people at work smoke and it seems like every few minutes they're standing outside taking a break while I'm inside (pretty much) working. How do they get away with that? I heard somewhere that you lose ten minutes of life for every cigarette you smoke but these people are getting out of work for ten minutes every time so I figure they are breaking even. So, I'm gonna start. Maybe cigars. Or even a pipe! A pipe would be cool! I know! I'll start cigarettes, cigars and a pipe. And dipping snuff. I can stand outside in the heat, cold and wind a long time if I do that and get time off for being sick and cancerous and stuff. Yea, that's it! Now, I wonder what I can do if I smoke crack...

Stupid Facebook

I broke down and got a Facebook page like every other bozo in the world. I did it because our Sunday School Class (Bible Fellowship) has a page and I wanted to comment on it. So, go over there and sample my biting wit in gems like these:

I didn't even know I had a Flickr account much less that these 3 photos would be the only thing there: My nephew True, some dog I don't know, and Sadie telling me not to take that picture.

Storytime in parts

--Part XIII--

Officer Walter Blunt was looking forward to getting away for a few hours. The last several days had seen his caseload increase dramatically and everybody seemed to have an emergency, real or imagined. The small Pennsylvania town where he was a police officer rarely saw much action and he usually spent his shifts babysitting the townspeople in a small matrix of semi-serious confrontations typically stemming from one generation to the other or from one sex to the other. Officer Blunt had received formal training in everything from riot control to public relations but the past couple of years his sole focus had been much closer to the latter.

He had not voted for Eisenhower for president since Eisenhower was a Republican and Blunt came from a long line of Democrats and yet Blunt felt that the man was honest and well-intentioned and probably idealistically correct. It was all a moot point at the moment because Officer Blunt had a job to do and he would do that job no matter his personal feelings about the man. Blunt was to be a part of a joint task force comprised mostly of local police officers who were to provide crowd control while the president made a stop in a neighboring town as part of his effort to drum up support for an interstate highway system.


Blunt checked in and got instructions. He was to keep well-wishers and gaukers off of the roadway so the president's limo could pass by without anybody getting hurt. When he got to his station he saw several people had already lined up along the curb and some were already copping a squat right next to where President Eisenhower would be entering the hotel. The scene was chaotic with local police running into federal police and being screamed at all the while by Secret Servive. Local police had the black cotton uniform, the federal agents would be in suits and ties and the secret service would be in nice suits and ties and wearing sunglasses.

News crews in awkward looking panel vans were setting up right in front of Blunt and he first asked them nicely to leave and then when he was ignored he and two others gave the crew a stiff warning about where that van would wind up if it was not moved promptly. Promptly it was moved and another immediately took it's place. Blunt and the others skipped the nice part and proceeded to threaten which worked pretty well after some moaning and question-asking. Another officer from another city smiled at Blunt and said,"Say what you want as long as you do what I say! Right, officer?" Walter smiled. It beats breaking up a family squabble about who drank who's beer. Blunt felt like he was doing important duty here and he was glad to help.

President Eisenhower's car pulled up in front of the hotel accompanied by various other vehicles doing various other duties. Red velour ropes cordoned off the pathway from the car to the hotel entrance. The car had Presidential Seal flags flying on both front fenders. The 1953 Cadillac Fleetwood Limo was black with a soft vinyl top and tons of chrome that enjoyed it's long journey from the collection at the front bumper and streaked down the side to the back door and accentuated the sexy curve of the cars hips and down to the sultry fins on the back.

At the same time as a Secret Service officer stepped forward to open the limo door for Eisenhower, Officer Blunt stepped forward to encourage a few stragglers to move away from the velour rope.

"Move away, please. Thank you... Move away from the rope, please...Step to the curb, please...Thank you..."

Seeing a young girl holding the rope, Officer Blunt put his hand gently but firmly on her shoulder to demand that she move back.

"Move away from the ro..."

The president stepped out of the car and took a few steps smiling broadly and waving to the crowd. He was almost actually glad to be there and his smile was less artificial than at other times. He was willing to shake a few hands and make a show of enjoying his small-town stops and this seemed like a good time and place with plenty of reporters, cameras and security. Seeing the local police officer with his hand on the young girl's shoulder would be a good place to start so President Dwight David Eisenhower moved rapidly to the pair. In spite of what seemed like an odd exchange of glances between the two, Ike held out his hand to the pretty little girl and gave his standard greeting.

"Dwight Eisenhower", he said with a nod.

Waste of time

So, I just spent about a minute and a half watching the Cowboy game tonight. That's a minute and a half longer than I intended to but it was just enough time to see the Boys throw an interception for a touchdown, Jerry Jones was picking his nose and then they fumbled the return kick. Good stuff.

Storytime in parts

--Part XIII--Officer Walter Blunt was looking forward to getting away for a few hours. The last several days had seen his caseload increase dramatically and everybody seemed to have an emergency, real or imagined. The small Pennsylvania town where he was a police officer rarely saw much action and he usually spent his shifts babysitting the townspeople in a small matrix of semi-serious confrontations typically stemming from one generation to the other or from one sex to the other. Officer Blunt had received formal training in everything from riot control to public relations but the past couple of years his sole focus had been much closer to the latter.

He had not voted for Eisenhower for president since Eisenhower was a Republican and Blunt came from a long line of Democrats and yet Blunt felt that the man was honest and well-intentioned and probably idealistically correct. It was all a moot point at the moment because Officer Blunt had a job to do and he would do that job no matter his personal feelings about the man. Blunt was to be a part of a joint task force comprised mostly of local police officers who were to provide crowd control while the president made a stop in a neighboring town as part of his effort to drum up support for an interstate highway system.

Blunt checked in and got instructions. He was to keep well-wishers and gaukers off of the roadway so the president's limo could pass by without anybody getting hurt. When he got to his station he saw several people had already lined up along the curb and some were already copping a squat right next to where President Eisenhower would be entering the hotel. The scene was chaotic with local police running into federal police and being screamed at all the while by Secret Servive. Local police had the black cotton uniform, the federal agents would be in suits and ties and the secret service would be in nice suits and ties and wearing sunglasses.

News crews in awkward looking panel vans were setting up right in front of Blunt and he first asked them nicely to leave and then when he was ignored he and two others gave the crew a stiff warning about where that van would wind up if it was not moved promptly. Promptly it was moved and another immediately took it's place. Blunt and the others skipped the nice part and proceeded to threaten which worked pretty well after some moaning and question-asking. Another officer from another city smiled at Blunt and said,"Say what you want as long as you do what I say! Right, officer?" Walter smiled. It beats breaking up a family squabble about who drank who's beer. Blunt felt like he was doing important duty here and he was glad to help.

President Eisenhower's car pulled up in front of the hotel accompanied by various other vehicles doing various other duties. Red velour ropes cordoned off the pathway from the car to the hotel entrance. The car had Presidential Seal flags flying on both front fenders. The 1953 Cadillac Fleetwood Limo was black with a soft vinyl top and tons of chrome that enjoyed it's long journey from the collection at the front bumper and streaked down the side to the back door and accentuated the sexy curve of the cars hips and down to the sultry fins on the back.

At the same time as a Secret Service officer stepped forward to open the limo door for Eisenhower, Officer Blunt stepped forward to encourage a few stragglers to move away from the velour rope.

"Move away, please. Thank you... Move away from the rope, please...Step to the curb, please...Thank you..."

Seeing a young girl holding the rope, Officer Blunt put his hand gently but firmly on her shoulder to demand that she move back.

"Move away from the ro..."

The president stepped out of the car and took a few steps smiling broadly and waving to the crowd. He was almost actually glad to be there and his smile was less artificial than at other times. He was willing to shake a few hands and make a show of enjoying his small-town stops and this seemed like a good time and place with plenty of reporters, cameras and security.

Seeing the local police officer with his hand on the young girl's shoulder would be a good place to start so President Dwight David Eisenhower moved rapidly to the pair. In spite of what seemed like an odd exchange of glances between the two, Ike held out his hand to the pretty little girl and gave his standard greeting.

"Dwight Eisenhower", he said with a nod.

Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was temporarily diverted to NAS JRB and flew what seemed like 5 feet over my house today. I took this with my camera phone. You can't see the shuttle, though. So, ya gotta believe me.