Monday Chuckle For Men:

 

Antlion-Socialism/Communism

 

The antlion is a most interesting insect. As you can see from the photo above the larvae are not handsome or pretty in any respect but they are consistent in the way they behave.  They survive by trapping their victims in sandy soil where the gravity and loose soil slip down the side. They dig a cone by digging around backwards forming a conical gravity trap where unsuspecting prey slips to the bottom where the antlion is waiting.  

Regretfully we have human people who have the same characteristics as the antlion. They are consistent in their behavior; they smile and articulate well but they are predators and trick unsuspecting prey. Gullible people are persuaded by their glib talk, their promise of free things and promises that the future will be happy and that they may live trouble free lives and everything they may need will be provided. 

What people fail to realize is that there is a price to pay and by the time they figure it out they find that they have lost their freedom. To get it back they will be subjects or fight to get it back. I once had the police chief of a large city I was working in come to speak to some of my contemporaries. He said something I have remembered all these years later. He said that people don't have their freedoms taken away from them; they give them up.

Talk to people who have fled socialism/communism and they will tell you why they fled it - then maybe you will gain some understanding why it is a trap that has been tried other places and failed leaving people far worse off. My suggestion is that you not fall victim to this claptrap that is being made to look so good for mankind. Exercise your rights and vote for what our country has stood for the last 250 years and how your present freedoms have won. Vote with your head not your feelings. 

Friday Funny:

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis:

 Several year ago before I retired our company insured a lady and her home. Her maid had fallen in her home and broken her arm and I ended up with the medical claim. I liked Elizabeth from the first time I called on her. Her maid had been with her for more years than they could count due to the crippling arthritis that plagued  Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth had hands that actually looked worse than those in the photo above. Normally a claim like this would be handled by mail but I made it a point to go by to pick up the medical bills to see Elisabeth as I learned she did not have many visitors. She had a daughter who lived across town but she never came to see Elizabeth. 

The final bills came just around Christmas and I went by to pay them. Elizabeth ask her maid to get me some of the Christmas cookies they made and a glass of milk. She then invited me to come into her parlor and have a seat. Elizabeth had a baby grand piano in her parlor and she sat down at the piano and with those crippled fingers played me a medley of Christmas carol's. 

She played them without a I flaw and it had to be painful to play carol after carol with those fingers which she struggled to control. I sat there for about 20 minutes listening to her play flawlessly some of the best Christmas music I had ever hear.  Elizabeth gave me a gift that has lasted me a lifetime and I don't think I have ever had a more precious or wonderful gift.

Bicycle Races:

 

Watching the Tour de France bicycle race and it reminds me of the USA Pro Challenge that was in Colorado many years ago. We were camping at Arkansas River Camp Ground and the race went right by the campground. Several of us took our lawn chairs out to the road and watched the riders go by. I had never paid any attention to bicycle racing before but it was actually quite exciting to witness. I enjoyed watching it.

When we were camping this campground owned by Jeff and Margo Huff was the best spot to spend a couple weeks. We made friends there that we are still in touch with today. It was one of the very best places in Colorado to spend time and have fun. Jeff and Margo were the best of hosts and they even put on a music night which was quite professional. I miss those good times. Buena Vista, Colorado is a super great place to spend time. 

Not How To Spend Friday Night:

We have in my opinion a deer problem in our community. We have  a herd of at least 17 deer and they have become a nuisance because people feed them and thus they hang around their free food source.  It wouldn't be so bad if they would stay where they are fed but they wander all over the neighborhood including our property which is roughly in the center of the community. 

I have researched if it is illegal to feed them in N. Carolina and it is legal to feed them. One neighbor lost his entire crop of okra to them along with other vegetables he was growing. Carol planted some bushes along our fence and they like to eat them. But that is not the worse. Our fur family members can't stand them and they have no real fear of our dogs either. Last night one came up and looked in the kitchen window and of course our dogs went crazy over their brazen taunt. 

When they moved off Carol let the dogs out into the back yard but one lingered and Rex went wild and when the deer moved off to the front of the house he immediately ran on the deck, jumped the fence that keeps them off the front of our deck, ran down the deck and climbed the hand rail/wire fence barrier and launched himself over the rail before we could get to him. 

He went airborne off the end of the deck to fall about 15/16 feet to the gravel driveway. Suffice to say that he hurt himself and we were in emergency care until just before midnight. He had no broken bones but did suffer a rather nasty cut on his left rear leg. He had numerous Xrays and we still don't know if any of his heartworms broke off and got to his bloodstream. 

Today he is on pain meds and limping around but nothing else seems to be surfacing. So 4 hours in a small room while they were treating and checking him out and $900.00 later plus little sleep last night, the whole family is suffering for his impetuous act of running the deer off.  

It had to be a pretty bad impact for an 82 pound German Shepherd dog to hit the ground from that height.  

This is the end he jumped off. He jumped from the top rail and the deer are in the photo.

Lyme Disease:

 

It has been several years ago since I got this tick bite on my arm but I remember with clarity the incident. I will not know for sure but my knees and ankles are pretty crippled up. I remember that the doctors did not want to call it Lyme Disease and did all kinds of tiptoeing around using that diagnosis. I finally went to one doctor that said it was probably Lyme and prescribed a strong antibiotic.  By then it had been well over a week since I got the bite. 

I had gone from the urgent care to Walgreens Rx just across the road to fill the Rx and as I was waiting for the prescription to be filled the other customers started a conversation about why they were there. When I told why I was there a man said his neighbor had Lyme and it progressed so badly that she could no longer walk to the end of her driveway to get her mail. 

I am not sure why doctors were reluctant to call it what it actually was but they said Colorado did not have Lyme Disease. It could have been the same as when we had a grey wolf come up and look in our house from the back door. There was no doubt that it was a wolf and others had seen it also. When I reported it to the game warden for our area he said that Colorado did not have any wolves. 

I later found out that if grey wolves were in our state that the state would have to adopt a very expensive program to monitor and control them, so they denied they were in our state. It may have been the same for Lyme Disease. This seems to be normal conduct for some government agencies - denial, denial. 

One thing I did learn besides our government lying to us is: when prescribed a strong antibiotic that I need to take a probiotic along with it as the antibiotic kills the healthy gut bacteria and you easily end up constipated.  

Thinking back my leg joints started to go bad shortly after the diagnosis of Lyme Disease. As soon as you see that bullseye mark, seek treatment

HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning)

 

Our HVAC system stopped working during the latest heat wave that lasted for several days. It was stifling in the house and our ceiling fans and table top fans couldn't help much. We called the service people and they said a new compressor was needed and it came with a one year warrantee and was only guaranteed tor one year. 

They said due to the age of our system we really needed a new system. We checked the probable age of systems and found they only lasted 20-25 years. Ours was within that time frame so we bit the bullet as they say and opted for a new system. It was put in yesterday and took almost the entire day to take the old system out and install the new system that comes with a 10 year warranty.  

The new system is more energy efficient and and it does feel more comfortable. It is made by a well known HVAC company so it should be fine for the rest of our lives and longer. Our real problem while the old unit was out was the humidity and this one has removed much of the humidity and will keep it down to a tolerable level. 

Our HAVC people are well established and should we need service in the future we know they will be there to carry out that service. We could have had a new unit installed cheaper by hiring a repairman but they seem to come and go and we want someone to be there if we need them in the future. The ones who do it as individuals also don't return your calls or come back when needed so we feel we made the right decision. 

Eye To Eye With A Hammerhead Shark:

  

Seeing the advertisements for shark week reminded me of the time I lived in Cape Coral, FL and I was fishing snook under a bridge. To catch the snook I would wade out into the river and cast my lure under the bridge at night. This was a popular way to fish snook at that time. There were pilings out there and we knew we couldn't go any farther than those pilings or it would be too deep. There was generally several of us lined up but that night I was alone.

The lights on the bridge left a line in the water and the snook would bite just as my lure came out of the dark into that light line. There were some old pilings there and I was up to my neck in the water casting with my arms above my head. I felt a bump a couple times and figured it was tarpon rubbing up against me. A 6" Rebel silver minnow was the bait of choice.

Then this huge head came up to bump me in the chest and it was this huge hammerhead shark up close not 12" from my face. It then just turned aside and swam off and I got out of the water quick but not frantic. I could not have reached my arms wide enough to touch each of its eyes, it was huge but fortunately not hungry. . My fishing was over for that night besides I needed to change my shorts. I never went back to fish there again after that.

First two tomato''s:

 

You Can Run But You Can't Hide:

 

New Meal:

Above is the harvest of potatoes this year.. Below is a meal that Carol made with some of those potatoes.
 

We have been contributing to a Catholic organization that schools and houses Indian children for more years than I can recall. They recently sent us a cookbook and Carol told me to pick a recipe so I chose this one. It is spicy but very tasty. 

250 YEARS:

 

Happy Birthday America !!!!!!!  America may not be perfect but it is the best country - bar none. As an 8 year U.S. Air Force veteran this country holds special honor for me.

Having served during those 8 years in an elite unit and special operations unit if I were more mobile today I would still fight for our values. I can voice my opinion about how great this country is. To the naysayers I say one of the good things about living in our country is the freedom. If you love communism so much exercise that freedom and go live in a communist country and quit downgrading our superior country. 

wildfire:

 

Even though we are no longer living in Colorado I keep up on what is happening out there. Currently they are plagued with wildfires that are destroying thousands of acres. We were evacuated in 2018 around this time of year for the Spring wildfire. It burned 107,000, acres and we were out of our home for 15 days. We were blessed because after the evacuation time we had a home to return to.  Others were not as fortunate as it burned 141 structures and left only ash.

The Weather Service measured the temperature 1/4 mile from our house at 4,200, degrees. We were right in the heart of the burn area and our home and property were the only one in the vicinity spared. I remember the horrors of that fire like it was today. We tried to evacuate the day before when it was safer to do so but one of our dogs couldn't get in the truck due to a disability and when we finally got him in the truck the message we got was it was then to dangerous to evacuate. 

Noon the following day the sheriff told us it was safe to evacuate and we loaded up and headed out. We were driving through embers and sounded like hail hitting the truck and we could not see through the thick smoke where the road was. About half way we encounter a fire fighter who told us the fire had closed the road behind us and it left us no choice but to go forward. 

Everything on both sides of the road was burning and the drivers door was so hot I had to move away from it. Our dogs had large saucer eyes and stayed in the center of the truck. Carol was in the Jeep a few feet behind me and couldn't see the emergency flashers on the truck, but we both managed to get out safely. As I see the photos of the current wildfires those memories are vivid and I feel for those going through it today. 

Those fighting the wildfires are some very brave people and God Bless them for what they do. Some of our neighbors we did not see again. rather than rebuild they simply left leaving their dream behind. Thanks to the Red Cross as they fed us, gave us necessary clothes and toiletries and kept us safe. I saw and felt the anguish on my neighbors faces and as they silently moved on. Wildfires can seriously change or destroy lives. Please pray for those going through the experience right now.

Heat Index:

 

Now with the heat index around 117, through Friday it was not a good time for the HVAC to go out. Called the repairman and he said that it was the compressor and the unit was 20 years old. He said it was the practical thing to replace the entire system as to replace a compressor on an old system is not worth it. It will take some time to get AC so we are relying on ceiling fans presently. 

Seems to replace an entire unit is going to be a pretty big job. Looking into options but as we evaluate our satiation it looks more and more like the practical solution is to replace the entire unit.  

Dangerous Wild Animals:

 

We lived remotely for over 26 years and we saw on a regular basis bears, mountain lions, Lynx, bobcat, coyotes, and occasionally a wolf. We learned to live with them without incident - however that did not make them any less a wild animal. Mostly when we came in close proximity to them they would evaluate us to see if we were dangerous. If not they would still maintain a reasonable distance but for the most part were non aggressive. 

I have been seeing these human/wild animal encounters constructed through AI, on various internet sites. In reality they are far fetched and totally unrealistic. Mother bears are extremely powerful and if a cub were trapped under a tree the mother could get that tree off the cub. I have seen a bear with one paw lift a huge rock to look under it. Same with mountain lion strength. I have seen a mule deer carcass draped over a limb of a tree that a lion hauled up there with its jaws.  

What they would not do is stand calmly by and let a human do what they are more than capable of themselves. If they came back to deliver the human a flower or fish, that is just ridiculous. Same with bringing a wild animal into your house. They would not lay down on a rug and go to sleep. I have seen what a bear is capable of in houses they broke into. 

My complaint over these human/wild animal AI posts is that most people haven't the slightest concept what wild animal behavior is like and believe some of these posts and that wild animals are friendly and will let them come near their babies or them. These are very realistic posts that could easily fool people. 

That would add strength to the concept of natural selection but it would be fatal. These posts are so well done that young people, or those who have not learned to live among wild animals would not know the difference. Someone could be so swayed by these gentle wild animals they would get close for a selfie or to pet them. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would know better. Sadly common sense is not so common anymore. 

Garden Status:

 
The eggplant at the top of the photo above is getting a little larger each day. 

Wax beans are still producing and before long we will have another mess. Something I didn't know was the bean forms as a small circle and as it grows it straightens out and fills out from the stem to the end of the bean.

Tomato's are growing fast and we have around 20 of them on the vine.

Rhubarb is going well and in a container. Last year I put out three rhubarb root stock and something ate all three. This year I put a root stock in a large container and next year I will cut the bottom out of the container and bury the container half way into the ground to keep the critters away from it. 

Container gardens can produce a good amount of vegetables. 

Eggplant:

 

I have never grown an eggplant before but one was given to us and it has grown greatly and now has a small eggplant on it. So far - so good. 

Perspective:

 

When people have specific agenda's they often get so polarized in same that they can't or won't listen or hear opposing facts. Such people are going to find it hard in life because of their myopic and dogmatic opinions. Most find it very hard to adjust or alter their opinion. 

Harvest:

 

This is the second harvest of wax beans from our 12 plants. There will be more to come. First time I have ever planted wax beans but when we went to buy them last year and they were $5.00, a can. I  thought why not give it a try. Next will be the egg plant which is also something I have not tried before. I have been unsuccessful growing tomato's in the past but our 16 tomato plants are loaded so they will need to be harvested soon. I should have staggered the harvest planting of the tomato plants as they may all be ready at the same time. NOTE:  "remember for  next year".