People Watching

One of my favorite things to do is go to a public place or an event and simply watch the people around me.  Sometimes they amaze me but most of the time, I find that the gene pool is slowly turning into a cesspool.

Okay, so maybe it’s not the gene pool that’s turning bad, but rather what our society is turning in to.  We are raising kids to not respect authority, to not really care about their behavior because they know that nothing can be done to them, and quite frankly, we are teaching them that they are entitled to receive anything that they want without that pesky little inconvenience of earning it.

Allow me to explain.  Thursday night, I went to a high school football game to watch my daughter perform her duties as an athletic trainer.  While I was there, the kids in the stands were shouting and chanting things like, “Kick their Ass, Kick their Ass” and other obscenities that when I was in school, the Principles or Assistant Principles would have been all over us for doing.  There are countless other examples that I have seen through the years as a volunteer parent at my kids’ high school.

One of the parents in the stands commented on the chanting going on and said, “When I was in school, we didn’t dare say those things like that, at least not chanting it at a school function, the Principles would have been all over us!”

I said, “Yes well, back in the day, the Principles would have pulled you from the stands and either, suspended you from school, or gave you a good paddling.  These kids aren’t afraid of getting in trouble anymore because they know that nothing really bad can happen to them.”

Gone are the days that you could get suspended from school and not be allowed to make up your work.  Now, instead of students getting suspended (they lose funding if a student is absent) they put them in On Campus Suspension, which is no fun, so that one is not too bad.

Gone are the days that a really bad kid, like a BULLY, would get kicked out of school.  They just get sent to an alternative school, with other bad kids and after they’ve done their time, they come back meaner than before.

Gone are the days of corporeal punishment.  While I’m not a fan of this method of punishment, I do have to admit that it does tend to keep the kids in line if it’s absolutely necessary.  It is a great deterrent for the average kid to actually be afraid of their teacher paddling them.

Now what we have are kids who know that there are no real consequences for their actions.  More and more parents aren’t taking the time to parent their children, so kids are coming home to houses with little or no supervision.  Kids aren’t being taught to respect their elders, in fact, they are taught that they have a right to rebel, or that they have a right to be heard.

Try explaining to a kid that there is no right to be heard.  Sure you can speak, but our constitution does not guarantee anyone the right to be heard.

Any way you look at it, I see many kids that are disrespectful and unaware that they are spoiled and pampered and if left to fend for themselves, well, they will get nowhere.  I guess my point is that by and large, kids today don’t realize that they have it good, they take, take, take but give little back.

Sometimes, I look at the up and coming generation and I think, “God help us”.  I guess that means that I’m getting old because I'm sure my parents said the same exact thing.

Until next time.

Busy Busy Busy

It's been crazy busy this week, then last night I went to one of the best weddings that I've ever attended.  Then, this morning, I played in a company golf tournament and made one of the best shots of my life.  It was beautiful and of course the weather was beautiful as well...........

What a day!

Wow............

Okay, this blog thing is pretty cool.  I don't know why I'm getting readers across the globe but so far here is a list of places that are reading or viewing my blog:

United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia, Russia, South Korea, The Netherlands, Brazil and Mexico.  The only thing that I can think of is maybe some of Borepatch's readers are finding me.  I know that one did (The Big Guy) and made a comment.

I have a feeling that a lot of these hits are from US Soldiers stationed overseas who might read Borepatch.  If that's the case, I have to say that I'm honored and thank you so much for serving!

At any rate, it's nice to know that folks are out there reading.  I'll keep posting!

Thanks for reading.

Another Romeo??

I got home from the gym this evening and there, in my flower bed, is yet another peeping Tom...  literally, a different tom cat hanging around.

Would somebody please inform the neighborhood cats that Miss Kitty is not available for romance?  She's spayed!

Of course, it doesn't help that the little tart will sit in the windowsill and prance around like something straight out of the red light district!

But then with a face like this, the boys can't help but dream!

If they only knew that she was not very much a lady, she's a big bully (and I mean big, she's 15 pounds), truth be known.  She torments my poor little (5 pound) Poodle, Penny.

 


Until next time......

Gotta love a good party

Last night I went to a costume party, which was fun.  Here are some photos that I took....

This is me....   bad hair, but oh well.

Me up close......  now THAT's scary stuff!

My friends Becky (left) and Tara (right).

Me getting staked by my buddy and future dart teammate Lee....

If you look closely, there's a dancer in the cage!

By far my favorite costume...   pay no attention to the passed out dude in the left hand corner..

.  The Mad Hatter won in my book, hands down!

Butch up, dude!

It’s been kind of a hectic week this week so I haven’t made any posts.  That will happen from time to time because, well, life is just that way sometimes.

This week, the City of Houston hosted what they called an Anti-Bullying Summit, where they addressed the age old problem of bullying.  It’s not that I have a problem with addressing the issue, but what I want to know is why the parents haven’t taught their kids to stand up for themselves?

I realize that there is a bully in every school and also, not every personality is capable or willing to fight back, but sometimes, the kind, gentle kid just needs to hear from his/her parents, “It’s okay to fight back, I will stand by you no matter what.”

There is a ‘no tolerance’ policy in schools now days, so even when a kid is defending his/herself they will also not only get suspended from school; in some cases they will also get arrested.  I think, while this policy means well, it sometimes puts good kids in harm’s way by making them afraid to stand up for themselves.

My step-son was in a situation when he lived with his mother, where he was being bullied by the kids in his class.  It was really becoming a big problem for him, he didn’t want to go to school, he wasn’t eating, and he wasn’t sleeping.

My husband finally told him that it was okay to defend himself.  The boy child expressed that he was afraid to do anything because he didn’t want to get into trouble.  My husband assured him that while he might get into trouble at school, we would all stand by him and he would not be in trouble at home.  Picking fights gets him in trouble, self defense does not.

So about a week later, the kids (who are in general cruel by the way) all decided to play a little game of “Let’s kick my son in the nuts repeatedly” while they were on the play ground.  My son, who had enough of this, decided to bloody the ring-leader’s nose.

My son got in trouble, my husband had to go to the school and talk to the principle.  The principle was shamed into admitting that his teachers were not keeping close enough watch on the kids at recess and the best result of it all was that after that moment, my son was pretty much left alone.

So with all of these anti- bullying summits going on, I hate to say it, but it’s a waste of time to try and stop bullying.  Bullying is just something that is always going to happen.  There will always be cowards who pick on the weak, what we need is to teach kids how to stand up for themselves and fight back, and we need a little common sense in the schoolyard, not an across the board ‘no tolerance’ policy.

If we don’t teach our kids how to stand up and fight for their rights as children, they will never do it as adults.  That, my friends, can be bad for us all.

Until next time…………

Big Girls Don't Cry......

As promised in the comments section of Motor Rasslin, here is the story of how I cracked my heel at the creek house.  A big thanks to that tattling husband of mine for ratting me out.

We were dating at the time and I guess I was still trying to impress him, though I had, by this time won his heart.  Once again, those pesky adult beverages were involved and for whatever reason, I decided to attempt, at the age of 30, a forward hand spring in the front yard.  When I was younger, I could do them no problem, but at the time, my mind thought I was still young, my body; however, disagreed.

So, I took off running across the yard and completed my handspring, quite nicely, I landed on my heels though (I was barefoot) and ended up falling on my behind.  I got up, a little embarrassed and decided to try and save face and do it again, you know, to prove that I could really stick a landing.

I'm walking up through the yard, towards the house and I feel this slight pain in my right heel.  I decided to ignore that pain in my heel and try it again anyway.  So, once again I take off running, this time faster than before and I sprung myself forward, landing on my hands, then catapulting myself over onto........  that's right.. my heels again....   this time, the pain shot up through my heel, and up through my leg.

Of course, I landed on my backside again, but I was on my feet long enough for it to be considered a landing that stuck.  Lucky me ended up with a limp for years while my heel was healing.  A couple years after this happened we started playing softball, and when I ran, I favored that heel by running on the ball of my feet...  I ended up with shin splints.

My gymnastics days, are thankfully over.  My youngest daughter, who was 4 at the time, asked me "Mommy did that hurt?"  I said, "Well yes it did, but big girls don't cry."

It's amazing what we will do to try and impress our significant other.

Until next time...........

Robin Hood, Thief or Hero?

Last night while I was enjoying my wonderful meal of what was left of our live bait, cleaned and boiled, cocktail sauce and side veggies, my husband and I were watching Shrek.  Yes, I know, but it was the only thing that was on the tube that was worth watching.  In the movie there is a reference made about Robin Hood and how he robbed the rich and gave to the poor.

Quite frankly, it appalls me how so many people get the general concept of Robin Hood so confused.  I’ve even heard the concept of the heroic Robin Hood who took from the rich and gave to the poor referred to in defense of a socialist agenda.  Had Robin Hood simply been robbing the rich, I would call him a thief, not a hero. 

What part of the rich person’s profits did I earn exactly?  While they took the chance and invested or had a talent, or the ingenuity and entrepreneurship to build a multi-million dollar business and I did nothing, how is it that I earned a piece of that?  I didn’t.  Socialists will argue that it doesn’t matter, that it’s social justice, that for someone to become wealthy, they MUST have done something dishonest to obtain it.

The story of Robin Hood isn’t about taking from the rich to give to the poor; it’s about returning extorted tax dollars back to the people so that they can thrive on their own.  Remember, in the story, the people are dirt poor and taxed so heavily that they are desperate.  The people are enslaved by a greedy stand in King and a corrupt sheriff.

Robin was stealing tax dollars from the government and returning it to the hands of the people who earned it.  In that scenario, the true scenario, Robin Hood is my kind of guy.  In fact, we could use another Robin Hood in this day and age.

Until next time……….

You know it's really bad...

...when you go fishing and you end up eating your bait.  Look at the size of these shrimp!  I guess the bait-guy thought we were fishing for Moby Dick.  At any rate, dinner will be yummy!

Silly Falls and Motor Rasslin’

That’s motor wrestling for those of you who aren’t versed in redneck-speak.

My husband and I are down at the coast at the family house on the creek for a little weekend R&R and some fishing.  We hope that it’s a catching trip, not just a fishing trip, but either way, there’s nothing better.  We try to get down here at least once a month.  This house is very special to us since it’s the place where we spent the better part of our courtship.

This morning, I took the dog (Penny) outside to do her morning business.  The house is built on 12 foot pilings in case of flooding and so taking the dog out, requires a trip down the stairs.  This morning, that ‘trip down stairs’ changed from a travel type trip to a stumbling type trip and I’m lucky that I didn’t break my ankle considering that I missed the last step and stumbled to the ground, my ankle rolling forward.

Naturally, I had to stand up real quick and look around as if to say, “I meant to do that!” just in case anyone happened to be looking.  I dusted myself off and when Penny accomplished her mission, I went back upstairs and was reminded of another fall that I had about 12 years ago.

As I mentioned earlier, my husband and I spent most of our weekends at the creekhouse while we were dating.  The reason for that is that he has two kids and I have two kids and it was a good way for all of us to be together, and let the kids run and play and wear themselves out.

One weekend in particular, we didn’t have the kids with us so we decided to take the johnboat out on a fishing trip.  When we got back, we, of course had to clean up the boat and flush the motor and take the motor off the back of the boat (it was only a 14 HP motor with a tiller attached to it) and store the motor in the storage closet under the house.

Naturally, adult beverages were involved in this whole process, but I was really feeling the love that day and wanted to show my man that his woman can take care of herself.

So we flushed the motor with fresh water and washed out the boat so it was as pretty as a johnboat can be and my man goes to the storeroom to get the stand (or dolly, it had wheels) that the motor rested on.  At this point in time, KX59 (my man) was trying to hurry because he had a feeling what was going to happen next.

I don’t know what came over me, but I decided that I would lift the motor off the transom and walk it to the dolly, meeting KX59 half way.  Well back then, that portion of the driveway was made of limestone rock so there were a lot of large, loose rocks.  The motor wasn’t heavy, it only weighed 60 pounds, that was about half of my weight at the time.  The trouble was not just the terrain I was walking on, but mostly it was the fact that the motor had a long shaft so it was very awkward to carry.

So, I’m holding this motor, walking like a Geisha because that’s all that the long shaft will allow my feet to move; and suddenly I step on a large rock and all hell breaks loose.

First, I shout out KX’s name and then as creative and very skilled cuss words pass my lips, I begin to fall forward.  Not wanting to drop the motor, I pull it close to my chest as both my feet slide in an unnatural direction (skyward).  At this point, all I see is the ground coming at me and all I can think of is that I’m going to break the motor and I can’t afford to buy a new one! 

The motor hits the ground and I land on it.  It’s really more like I body slammed it and managed to knock every bit of wind out of my lungs and quite possibly crack a rib or two.  Meanwhile, KX59 has returned from the shed in time to see me falling down and immediately rushes to my side.

At this point, not only can I not breathe, my pride is crushed.  I rolled over onto the ground and I see KX’s face over me and I barely croaked out three words, “Don’t touch me!”  The pain that I was feeling felt like nothing that I had felt since I was a kid and fell out of a tree (a whole other story).  I felt like my lungs were on fire and I was all scraped up.

Eventually, the air came back to my lungs and we went upstairs.  I was fine, though my pride was not.  The motor was just fine as well, if not a little scratched up.

Love makes us do crazy things sometimes, doesn’t it?

Romeo, Romeo where for art thou, Romeo?

Yesterday morning, I stumbled out of bed and headed downstairs for my morning cuppa.  I hear this noise of scrambling and shuffling going on, and then I hear the pet door open and close.  I hurry to the back door and turn on the light to catch Miss Kitty’s boyfriend (who for purposes of storytelling, I have named Romeo) running quickly away from the house.

This tells me one of two things.  The first, that Romeo was inside the house and made a quick escape when he heard me on the stairs.  The second, Miss Kitty was outside and Romeo decided to try romancing her up close and personal and she hauled-butt in the house to get away.  Truth be known, it’s probably the latter, though the former would be much more of an interesting story.

With that in mind, I will convey how I think that it would have happened in each instance.

Scenario 1:  Miss Kitty waits on the back porch for her Romeo, who has braved the cruel world and brought 

her offerings of tidbits such as dead rats out of sheer devotion of his never ending love.  He makes it over the fence and meets her face to face, for the first time, no window between them.  His heart pounds as he sees his beauty; he follows her inside and they share a nice meal of kibble and fresh water.  Life is good, life is grand, he is in love.

Suddenly, he hears footsteps.  It must be that human monster-thing approaching!  He must leave his lady-love who is obviously held captive by these humans!  He tries to entice her out the door, but there is no time, the footsteps are growing louder, faster!  He makes it out the door just as the light comes on, he rushes off into the night, saddened that he could not steal his lady away.  Oh he will wait, yes!  He will bide his time and wait until he can see his love once more.

Scenario 2:  Miss Kitty is lounging about on the back porch taking in the early morning air.  It’s nice and cool outside and she really likes the faint scent of jasmine in the breeze.  Her tiny mind wonders about that other cat that keeps annoying her afternoon slumbers by peeking in the windows at her and then making a fool of himself by rolling around in the dirt!  Dirt!  The Horror of it!  Then of all embarrassing things, she has to hear her humans complain about picking up a rat that he left for her, obviously a temptation to get her out to the front yard.

Suddenly she hears a noise in the distance, an intruder but who?  It’s Romeo, the crazy feline!  What does he want?  Romance?  Love?  Fat chance, he’ll get the sharp end of her claws if he gets too close.  She watches as he sneaks around the side of the house, slinking across the yard.  He sees her, his heart is all pitter-patter as he rushes towards her, knowing in his heart of hearts that she appreciates his flirting and his gifts.  She hears her humans moving about the house, thankfully, and rushes in the house.  “Mommy save me!”

Romeo attempts to follow but doesn’t like strange doors.  He sits and studies it, but suddenly the light comes on and he runs into the night, fleeing for safety.  He bides his time, waiting for a chance to explore the house when it’s empty.  Maybe they’ll go on vacation soon……….

That story reminds me to be sure that we close off the pet door when happen to go on vacation.  At any rate, I hope that you’ve enjoyed my little scenarios, with obvious embellishment (though the basics are true).  Sometimes it’s fun to just be silly and creative.

Until next time.

Here Kitty Kitty

My cat, Miss Kitty has this boyfriend that comes to the window in the front of the house and peeks in.  He will try to get her attention and win her heart by rolling around in the flowerbed, striking the 'sexy kitty pose' and on occasion, he and Miss Kitty will have cute little boxing matches through the window.

The other day, his cute little Pepe' LePeu crush went a bit too far.  He decided to leave a gift for Miss Kitty in our yard right by the walkway, a dead rat.

Isn't love grand?

Your Efficient Government At Work.........

I just have to laugh.  Our wonderful government sent 72,000 stimulus checks to dead people.  About half of the checks were returned but there’s still about $12 million unaccounted for and probably sitting in the bank accounts of dead people.

Cheer up, soon this whirlwind of efficiency will be running your healthcare.  Now don’t you feel better?

Until Next Time

Naïve or Just Plain Stupid?

The latest buzz in the news has been about the UN appointing an ambassador to extra-terrestrials (I’ve also read they deny that claim).  No, I’m not kidding.  If the story is true, what this tells me is that there is such self loathing going on within our own fellow human beings that they think that if we are visited by ETs who want to contact us that they will be so advanced ideologically, that they will come in peace.  They assume that other intelligent beings out there will not look at us like we are cattle and consider us food, but will want to hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

So, with this new appointment, I say it’s a good idea.  If the loonies at the UN assume that other intelligent species are naturally so advanced they want to make love not war, why not appoint some of our libs in Washington to the job?  They can meet the aliens and greet them when they first arrive.  If they get eaten, no harm no foul, at least we’ll know to load up and prepare defend ourselves, right?

Until next time.