Affair With A Truck Driver

Back when I was still working, the company gave me two breaks per day in addition to my lunch hour, 10am and 3pm were my assigned times, and in an attempt to keep close control on my Diabetes, Cindy would meet me at these times, we would check my blood sugars, have a snack or a shot, you know all the good stuff that goes along with it, as with everything else in life we got ourselves into a routine, almost every day we would meet at the same convenience store, heck it got to where the workers even began to have our snacks ready before we got there.

Across the street from this particular store is it’s main office, next door is the computer/high tech division where all the secret computer type stuff is dreamed up, built, tweaked and distributed amongst their stores, our good friend and neighbor Mr. Bill works in this office, not really sure exactly what they do behind those blacked out windows, I have asked him before but the answer is always, “It’s a secret, if I told you I’d have to kill you” I suppose I’d rather not know than to be killed so I just never asked again, I do know that the high tech efficiency of the Toot n Scoot lies in the capable hands of Mr. Bill and his trusty sidekick, who has asked to remain anonymous.

Cindy always had this thing with Mr. Bill, when he came home from work in the evening she would yell across the street as he was walking to his house, “Hey Honey, I Love You and I Missed You Today!!” then blow him a few kisses, he would sheepishly look across and wave, sometimes he would yell back I Missed You Too and blow her a kiss, this went on up until the time we moved and the joke was that they were having an affair, she always blew him a kiss, and with a sheepish grin he would return the favor almost every day, good thing his wife wasn’t watching..Right?

Some of the people from the convenience store office would walk across the street at the same time we were there for break each day, and Mr. Bill would take his break about the same time also, for a long time none of the guys would talk to us, but you could see them whispering amongst themselves and pointing in our direction, after hearing a Hey Honey, Mr. Bill would stop by and talk to us briefly and then be back off to his secret missions behind the blacked out glass.

It came to our attention one day that we should be more careful sitting in the parking lot because the store didn’t want any problems, the word was out that Cindy and I were having an affair, the guys from the office had been wondering why we were showing up each day at the same time, and rather than ask us, they decided we must be up to something seedy, the rumor spread like wildfire about the people having an affair meeting in the parking lot, the clerks knew us but only from coming in so they couldn’t confirm or deny the rumor.

By the time it got around to Mr. Bill, he helped us out by confirming that we were having an affair, he told a fine story about how Cindy lived across the street from him and that her husband was a truck driver who was on the road a lot, and that she even flirted with him to which her Hey Honey greeting just played right into the story, when they finally approached us about it, we just played along and asked for them to give us a sign if anyone saw a big truck coming down the road.

I’m not sure if we ever told them any better or not, I do know that we continued our affair up to the day I retired; Cindy would still yell at Mr. Bill and he would blow her a kiss with that famous sheepish grin, we got a lot of mileage out of this Truck Driver story, I wonder if the office guys still look for us and I also wonder if Mr. Bill ever drove a truck.

What If I Usta Could

What if? We have discussed this one before; you know like “What if I had done it this way instead where would I be today” this is one that really can’t be answered because if you had done it differently then, the whole path of your life would have changed, taking you to any place but where you are right now, my best answer to a What if is Why ask Why, because you are right where you are supposed to be.

And why do we ask why when in most cases you already know the answer, I have no problem with someone asking a question to something they don’t know, but when you ask something like “Why did this happen to me” you really may not have the complete answer but in my opinion this happened to you because you can handle it, a little self pity comes along for all of us, but never let it overtake your life.

Play with the hand the Good Lord deals you, because if you couldn’t handle it he wouldn’t have given it to you, we all have hardships and troubles, a lot of us are at our wits end so to say and wonder just how much lower it is to “Rock Bottom”, some of us have hit rock bottom and are on the way back up, but no matter how hard life is treating you, isn’t it true that you are getting closer to your loved ones, hardships cause you to bond with your loved ones, in one way or another.

I remember times when we were out of money and groceries were scarce, Cindy would take whatever we had left in the cupboards and refrigerator and combine the ingredients into a goulash or stew, this was always the best tasting meal and it was always filling and just enough to get us by for a few days, knowing we had nothing and pulling together what we had made us a lot closer, we would sit around the table with the kids, listening to them complain on how we didn’t have any meat in the meatless spaghetti, or how the goulash would be better with this or that, but the funny thing is they never went hungry and they always asked for seconds.

Remember when you used to do things like this? Heck some of us still are and that is OK, think back on the things you used to do and pick them back up, I used to read a lot but have not in quite a few years, after being blessed with a Kindle for Christmas I am now reading (in addition to your blogs), at least an hour per day, and I am enjoying this as much as I did when I was younger.

I used to do a bit of artwork, watercolors, pencil drawings and such, I made the comment to Cindy that I should get myself a drawing pad and see if I could still draw, heck it’s been nearly twenty five years since I have done any artwork, and I remember a time when I usta could draw, she passed this comment to Tim and Elisa who surprised me with a drawing pad and charcoal pencils, they even threw in some willow sticks and a couple erasers because they just knew I would need them, and they were so right.

My first attempt at a charcoal drawing resulted in a picture titled Papa’s Hat, what do you think, do you recognize the person?

In the times we are all going through now, we have to appreciate what we have and make do because better times are coming if we have faith, don’t ask Why am I going through this and What if things were different, if things were different then I would be doing things I usta could. Seriously do the best with what you have, enjoy your friends and family, pull together and pool your resources if that is what it takes to get by, there is no shame in that, read a book and relax and if the notion strikes do something you enjoy like picking up a pencil and sketching a memory that will last a lifetime.

Blind Date

But Sis, I really don’t need you fixing me up with anyone; I can find my own dates he said, but Brother this is not a date, she is just looking for a friend, someone to hang out with while she is in town, heck we can all get together and go out on a “double date” if you want to call it that, he laughed and agreed to meet her.

What do you think of a blind date situation, now I am not talking about someone who can’t see you but rather someone you have not met before you arrive on the date? What does she look like he asked, she is a very nice person, she is funny and has a good sense of humor, I even showed her pictures of you and she said that you are a nice looking man, OK but you still haven’t told me what she looks like, she just laughed and assured him that he would like her.

I have already told you that I don’t need for you to fix me up with anyone, I can find my own dates he again told his Sister, and again she said this is not a date, you are just meeting a friend of mine, she is moving out of town before long and has no friends here, I suggested that we all get together so we could all get out of the house and have a good time, no pressure Brother I am not trying to fix you up.

Aren’t friends of the opposite sex you go out with, people whom you really like but don’t want to date, and do these friends have to be your type to hang out with them? Now Sis you know my type, and I want to know is she my type? She laughed, what does it matter if she is your type if this is not a date.

They all went out together and had a big meal, a lot of laughs, and the promise to do this again real soon, sometimes that promise is never kept and other times a good friendship is made if only for a short time, you know the old saying about two ships that pass in the night, sometimes they just pass and wave a lantern at one another, other times they pass without ever seeing each other, and on rare occasions they run into each other head on.

Looking back I remember a good friend who I dated once, we ended up married and I suppose you can say we were the two ships that ran into each other head on, we were never set up on a blind date and the blind date I have talked about here is not our story, but I do know the ending of this one already, we may go out a time or two more with them, and one day when they are living on opposite ends of the country they will wave their lanterns so to say and remember a few laughs and good times they shared with Cindy and I back then.

Keeping It To Myself

Cindy and I drove to town today and made a stop by the post office, we got a notice in the mail yesterday that we had something to pick up, now why the mail lady didn’t just hand Cindy the box instead of stopping and writing up a notice to hand to her is beyond my train of thought, just glad our regular mailman will be back soon.

Waiting until the next day to pick up something that you have no idea what it could be can be nerve rattling, neither of us had ordered anything so it couldn’t be that, nor had we ticked anyone off so there shouldn’t be any papers requesting that we give up our first born, so I figured the kids were safe, you know I actually lost sleep last night worrying about what could be at the post office, well maybe not but I was excited to find out.

To our surprise there was no envelope from Nigeria with the big check from Mrs. Nigerian Widowed Queen, you know the one who was supposed to deposit money in our account out of the goodness of her heart, there was however a box filled with friendship, kindness and the best tasting White Trash to come out of Georgia, I was so surprised to get this package from a dear friend and Blogging buddy, yes you know who you are, and I actually prefer the White Trash and friendship over a check.

I think I will sit out front and eat some of it tomorrow while the mail is being delivered, if it is our regular mail man I just may share, but if it’s the other I will just have to keep it to myself.

No Answers

They loaded everything they owned into the back of the car and drove off into the sunset, leaving the town they had raised the kids in and moving across country, this was both an exciting and sad thing at the same time, it’s easy to jump up and go help out when a loved one cries for help, and it is also easy to be brought to tears at the realization of leaving life as you know it behind.

We are going to make new friends and get a chance to spend some time with people we have not seen in a while she reassured him, yes I know he said, this is going to be a good change, a day and a half later they pulled into the driveway of the house they would call home now.

Moving into someone’s home to help them out looks good on the surface, and with the state of the economy it is a smart thing combining two households..Right? Medical bills and chronic conditions keep them tied to the house, and a couple years later those new friends have still not been found, we will find a good church and start going on Sunday he told her, she smiled because it sounded like a good idea, but getting away is easier said than done.

Anger and tension directed toward them makes the days seem endless, she cries and blames herself for leaving the kids behind, even though they are all grown, and with new additions to the family she feels that moving may have not been such a good idea after all, he sits back and stares blankly at the mountains because words unsaid are better sometimes than the ones he may be thinking, because in the back of his mind he knows there is no answer.

Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease and it affects more than just the person diagnosed, the one diagnosed will lash out at the loved ones who are there to help, accusing them of only being there to take everything away, and the spouse will stand right there and do everything in their power to keep the memory from slipping away from the one they love, even if it includes lashing out at the ones there to help also.

He’s trying to kill me, I hate you, you SOB, you ain’t no good, look at what you have done to me, why are they here, make them move out, It’s my GD house not yours, are common phrases that lead them to lock their bedroom door at night, waking in the morning light is not filled with a warm hug and a kiss good morning, but a glance into each others faces waiting for the sound coming from the kitchen, will it be laughter or a hissy fit this morning?

As I said before I have no answer, once you pack up and dispose of everything you own there is no going back, sitting in a place where you have nowhere to go, kind of sets the mood for a bit of depression, but you chose this road and the question is, do you continue fighting the fight and help out where you promised, in spite of the accusations and frustration, or do you pack everything into the car and drive into the direction you came only to wish you hadn’t.

Pulling Weeds

Pulling weeds seems to be a never ending project, we always have them popping up in our yards or gardens, we dig at them, spray them, and for the pretty ones we wait until the yellow flower becomes a white globe and blow the seeds into the wind, you know you have done this before.

Life is like a garden; you cultivate the soil and plant flowers that will beautify your home and make everything smell nice, you plant vegetables and fruits that will nourish your body and feed your family, but in the midst there always seems to be a yellow flower that comes along and even though it may add some color to your life for a while, it soon turns into a white globe which explodes and covers all your hard work with more weeds than you can imagine.

We all have problems and there is nothing that can be done about that fact, other than to deal with each one as it comes along, take one problem at a time and deal with it accordingly, place it into a bag so to say so that it will not explode and make a bigger mess, there are no set solutions to life’s problems other than to face them head on, nothing is ever accomplished by turning your back on it.

Like a dandelion patch that you ignore will cover your yard and produce many yellow flowers, they may add some color but you really have a problem now, a problem which you ignore will continue to grow also, turning your back does not fix it, worrying about things from your past and trying to hold on to something in your rear view mirror is like grasping for the dandelion seeds blowing in the wind, catching them is almost impossible and if you do catch them will only grow into more problems than you want.

Treat your problems like a dandelion, take one at a time and dispose of it in the proper manner, because you know as well as I, if you blow it there will only be more weeds to pull.

Accosted By A Goat

During a trip to Oak Glen, Ca with the kids we happened upon the Zoo, now you just can’t go wrong with the zoo…Right? Benjamin was truly enjoying the zoo, being his first time amongst animals other than the family dogs, and right in the middle we found the petting zoo, live animals up close and personal, what could be better.

There were Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my! Well maybe not, but there were Sheep, and piggies, and goats! Oh, my! And the little black piggy that continued running around from person to person, really made a pig out of himself stealing all the food from all the other animals, I could actually see why he was bigger than all the rest, Benjamin really had a ball here, laughing and touching all the animals.

Now as with any petting zoo you have signs stating things like, “These animals are on a special diet, feed only food bought from here”, “Do not harm animals, they are living creatures too”, “Do not approach a wild bear if you happen upon one, lay down and cover your head while playing dead”, maybe this sign was somewhere else but you get the idea, I have no problem with these rules but where are the signs for the animals to read? I mean there should be limits on what they can do to the visitors too.

While leaning down attempting to feed the piggy who was stealing all the food from Cindy, his accomplice approached from behind, a small goat actually crept up behind Cindy and began rifling through her pocketbook, I snapped a picture but didn’t actually catch him red handed…or hoofed, I just know at the end of the day Cindy was missing just enough money to buy one more cup of food, I bet he and Mr. Piggy shared the extra cup.

While getting up close to another, Cindy almost lost her shirt as this goat accosted her, not really sure that he would have looked good with Cindy’s shirt, he could have at least offered her a petting zoo tee in trade rather than just yanking on her shirt, I wonder if maybe he was in cahoots with the other two and was pulling her shirt up to look into her pocket?

Then there was the goat with the itchy head, just walked right up behind me and began scratching his head on my crutches, this was funny until he almost pushed it away from me, I politely asked him to stop and he gruffed then walked away, no more than he had left that another started scratching his head.

A bit further up the trail we got heckled by a bigger goat who was not so nice, he rammed the cage door with his horns and made some sounds that I shouldn’t repeat here, Elisa had to step in and explain to him that he shouldn’t be saying Baaddd words in front of the baby, I got a laugh when she told him to straighten up because if the chickens started using fowl language then it would be his fault, glad I didn’t get the blame for this one.

At the end of the day Benjamin was pooped, he used Granny’s shoulder to recharge his batteries so to say as we walked back to the van, we had fun taking Benjamin to his first ever zoo visit, animals up close and personal and he enjoyed every one, well almost every one anyway, the Baaddd one did startle him a bit, we never saw any wild bears and we all kept our shirts.

Benjamin and I had a little talk while everyone else was getting into the van, he should be able to come visit Granny and Papa more often he was telling me and he also said that he thought he would look good in a hat just like Papa’s.

This Is Your Fault

Going through some pictures with Tim he reminded me of a vacation trip we made to South Carolina when he was younger, at the time he was into skateboards and actually had brought one along, his skateboard reminded me of a time when I also rode one, I told him a tale of a time I rode one all the way down a mountain, yes this sounds a bit far fetched but all of you know I wouldn’t make something like this up.

When I was in high school a friend of mine Robby, my Brother Norman, and I drove up to the top of Paris Mountain, this was a regular occurrence for us, going to “The Rock” as we called it, this was a place to hang out and meet up with friends who also made the drive regularly, but rather than go out onto the Rocky side of the mountain that overlooked our town, we pondered the idea of going back down the mountain on skateboards, I had two boards in the trunk and Norman did the wise thing and volunteered to drive the car.

Robby and I jumped on the boards and started down the road, it wasn’t too bad to begin with as we had to push the boards a bit to gather any speed, then the road began to get a bit steep, there I was with my long hair blowing in the wind, the tears in my eyes flowed uncontrollably around my face and dangled from my earlobes, not sure if the tears were from sheer joy, fear, or the fact that I had left my sunglasses in the car. About halfway down the mountain I know we were breaking the speed limit and the curves were getting harder to negotiate, the back of the boards began to break loose midway through the curves and a couple times we ended up in the brush on the side of the road, no bones were broken but I do remember picking up a sticker or two from the crash landings, at the bottom we were going so fast that I knew we were not going to be able to stop without eating asphalt, we looked at each other and made a hard left turn into a convenience store parking lot, after about three revolutions around the gas pumps we slowed to a stop, Norman caught up and we high fived the fact that we conquered Paris Mountain on skateboards.

Tim naturally wanted to go to Paris Mountain after hearing this story, we made the trip but Cindy just wouldn’t let us get out of the car to take a ride on the board Tim had brought, “If he gets hurt, you know it will be your fault” she told me, so we headed down the mountain with everyone inside the car, we stopped by my Dads house and Tim was still a bit bummed out because he didn’t get to ride the mountain road, I grinned and pointed up the hill in front of my Dad’s, “Look Tim, this road is as steep as the mountain”, Tim’s eyes lit up and he yelled, “I bet it’s even steeper, you think you can ride this one” I looked up and down the hill which measures about three city blocks long and grinned.

I walked to the top and took a deep breath, I jumped on Tim’s board and the feeling I had on Paris Mountain as a kid was back, as I gathered speed I could hear Tim yelling in excitement as I passed the house and hit the steepest part of the road, the wheels were screaming when I hit the dead end and leaped into the grass and ran it out without ever falling, I walked back to meet Tim who was picking the board up from where it was stuck into the grass, the look of admiration on his face showed me that I had most likely just created a monster.

Walking back up the hill Cindy met us and asked, “What are you two up to” Tim told her that I had just ridden down the hill and that he was going next, “That’s a steep hill Jimmy, if he gets hurt it’s going to be your fault you know”, he won’t get hurt I told her, he is much better than me, heck I had just ridden it and I was still walking, Just saying she said.

Tim jumped on the board and was gaining speed, everything was looking good as he got to the driveway, and the one thing we didn’t see jumped out to bite us in the butt so to say, do you know what a small stick laying in the road will do to a speeding skateboard, all of a sudden it looked like Tim’s board hit a glue trap, it just stopped right in front of the driveway and Tim didn’t, it looked like Tim went straight up into the air, heck all he needed was a cape to look like a superhero flying past the house, everything was in slow motion as he took a face plant right into the asphalt, he didn’t stop there either he just kept going, as he was sliding down the road I hear Cindy’s voice over my shoulder; You know this is your fault!!

The Children Are Here

I have mentioned more than once that our children are the leaders of the future, it is our job to raise them to the best of our ability, teach them right from wrong, and to believe in themselves and God, if we do this then the torch is passed and we have to sit back and trust them to do the right thing.

Spending time with Tim and Elisa last week we were blessed with their company, and also were allowed a chance to spoil Benjamin to the point that Elisa pondered on how long it would take for her to undo some of the spoiling we gave him, I stated that all the spoiling was allowed under the Grandparents Rights act, she laughed and agreed that she already knew this and actually had no problem with what we were doing.

We had some things that needed worked on around the house and Tim asked about them, I told him that I was waiting for everyone to leave before I decided how I was going to get these things done, Tim smiled and next thing I know he has rolled up his sleeves and began taking care of a few jobs I just couldn’t get done, Cindy’s Dad was watching him and questioned some of his techniques, “How do you know how to fix this” he asked, Tim looked at him and said “Because Jimmy taught me when I was younger”, I was impressed at how professional and confident he looked, and really felt blessed that he gave me credit for teaching him.

We went up to Oak Glen, CA and took the kids to the zoo, coming back we were talking about local history and which stars had lived in the area, we listened to music that I knew well but Elisa didn’t recognize some of the words, we had a good laugh when I had to correct her on what was actually said when Hank Sr. was singing, and she now has a better appreciation for him rather than thinking him a bad guy due to misunderstanding a few words. Stars of our day they didn’t know, TV shows of our day they have not seen, and conversations about these things turned into a history lesson for them, rather than reminiscing about the past as I was trying to do, I remember smiling at my parents when they talked about things from their past when I was younger too.

I watched our youngest child take care of his son and watch lovingly while his wife talked, I watched our youngest child make repairs and talk about the proper way to fix things, I listened to him recollect on how young he was when he started helping me make repairs around the house, I also saw how well his wife handled their baby, and how happy Benjamin is, this shows me that they have a happy home and their plans will someday come true.

I remember both of these kids being very young, it seems like yesterday that they were both playing in our yard never knowing that one day they would be married, these little ones have made me really proud to see that they are up to the challenges that life will throw into their laps, I mentioned that our children are the leaders of the future, well folks I am proud to say The Children Are Here.

Fish And Family

They say that Fish and Family both stink after three days, well sometimes this is not always true, for family anyway, fish that is another story as they sometimes stink right away, and sad to say this can be true for family at times too.

We all have had family drop in unannounced at one time or another and just seem to get on every last nerve you have, you really don’t have room for them to stay at your place, and they can’t afford to stay in a motel so being the good host you make arrangements for them, you bunk the kids together moving them all into one room and wish you had just said no, not to having kids but to moving them into one room, you know this is just the tip of the iceberg, because someone is going to have a problem and in the end it will all be your fault.

Family is having such a good time at your place the time for them to go home comes right away, but they decide to stay for a few more days, this turns into a full blown vacation trip at your expense because they all of a sudden have no money, especially when it comes to buying little things like food, heck it is your house and they are only visiting so why should they buy groceries, you all of a sudden run out of beer before you ever got to the first one, but they can find it in their heart to remind you to restock but it would be nice if you bought another brand than the one you usually buy, trying to keep the peace you hold your tongue hoping the week will come to an end and the time for them to leave will arrive, you know this is still your fault..Right?

I have been a little out of pocket so to say this last week with family, and have missed visiting a lot of you fine folks, I hope to drop in and catch up with you all in the next few days and I do plan to fill you in on our little adventures with the kids, I hope to not overstay my welcome and whatever brand of beer you buy is just fine with me since you bought it, I am sure proud to have had you all drop in at our place in my absence and feel blessed that you didn’t give up on me for reaching back into the archives in lieu of actually posting something new a couple of times.

I am sad to report that the kids’ visit came and went way too fast, we were actually sad to see them leave, they made it home just fine and I am proud to say there is no fishy smell of a visit gone bad left behind. We did offer to keep Benjamin, but as good parents Tim and Elisa respectfully declined our offer.

Heads Carolina, Tails California-Repost

I was born and raised in South Carolina, and Cindy was born and raised in California, now just how in the world did these two people from opposite ends of the States ever get together you ask, fate has to be the answer the answer is simply that it was just meant to be.

Both of us ended up living in New Mexico and became friends for nearly ten years before fate came about and sent us on our first date which ended up bringing our lives together in marriage, we had both told one another after we were divorced from our first spouses that we would never marry again, you know what they say about saying never, well the Good Lord killed two birds with one stone so to say by just having us marry each other since we had said the N word to one another.

While I was still working we planned a vacation trip with the kids each summer and where to go started out as a joke after listening to Jo Dee Messina sing Heads Carolina, Tails, California so with the flip of a coin we began going to Carolina one summer and California the next, it was like this year it’s heads so off to Carolina we went and it’s tails for this year, this worked well for a good while until I retired and we began making plans whether to move or stay in New Mexico.

Let’s flip a quarter, it’s heads so the plan was to move to South Carolina, as soon as all the kids were out of the house we had tentative plans to relocate to South Carolina and we were so happy with our plans because after our move, vacation would now always be tails California.

You know what they say, If you want to make God laugh, tell him what YOUR plans are, we got the call that Cindy’s parents needed our help and our plan to move to SC turned into exactly that, we moved to SC but now SC stood for Southern California rather than South Carolina and one day soon the flip of the coin will now be heads for vacation.

♪ Heads, Carolina Tails, California.

Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.

Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.

Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'

Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.

Heads, Carolina Tails, California. ♫

Where you are, really doesn’t matter as long as you are happy and you are the only one that can make yourself happy, with this said let me explain where I am coming from, some thirty something years ago I took a little road trip leaving my home state of South Carolina in my rear view mirror, I always had plans of moving back home but living life takes you directions you never planned on before, I told myself that I hated New Mexico and couldn’t wait to get out of there and back to SC, but while I was there Cindy and I found each other and have made a good life for ourselves with each other.

Cindy said that she would never move back to California and I agreed with her after a visit here and seeing how busy it was, I too said I would never live in California; living life moved us to California and the question if I am unhappy with where I am is answered simply by saying, Not at all, I am really happy here because she and I are still together and doing good, we are out in the country and God’s beauty is all around us in the view that surrounds our home, life is what you make it and if you are unhappy with your surroundings then it is up to you to find something positive about your area or make changes that will make you more comfortable.

Follow the Good Lords lead because sometimes if you follow then you will be exactly where you are supposed to be, it can be as hard as months and months or even years of discussion, prayer, and planning or as simple as a flip of a quarter:

♫ O---oh, California! Carolina! California! ♪

The Plane Has Landed

The little man has arrived and actually brought his Mom and Dad along, it has been a long few months since we have had our hands on him and seeing the look on the face of your Grandbaby when he recognizes you is such a blessing.

Thinking about making a run around SoCal today to show the kids around a bit but during the trip we will be concentrating mostly on spoiling Benjamin.

Happy Friday to you all.

Family Vacations-Repost

 You have to Love Family vacations and we have had several that we will remember from now on, several years back when all the kids were still living at home we left New Mexico way too early in the morning, because I just knew I could drive all the way to Jackson, Tennessee the first day, well needless to say by the time we got to Brinkley, Arkansas, Cindy and the Kids had tolerated just about enough of riding, not that far from the Tennessee border I was going to at least make it there since it was still daylight, the kids spotted a carnival set up just down the road and Cindy spotted a motel that had a pool so I was out voted and we stopped.

We got checked into a room that had three beds which worked out well for us, the boys Randy and Tim got one, Melissa got one, and there was one for us without having to get a roll away for anyone like we had in the past, Melissa was in the bathroom changing into her bathing suit soon after I got the door opened, Tim went next and then it was Randy’s turn, Cindy is getting the kids lined out and I am still unloading the station wagon, just as I reach the door with the last suitcase I hear “Seriously Mom there is a snake” I was nearly trampled with everyone running out of the room, I gather my family back up to get all the facts together, seems there is a snake in the bathroom Randy saw it while he was changing clothes Cindy tells me, OK I know Randy is a prankster (not sure where he got that from) so I have to go see if it is so and sure enough coiled up under the sink is a small snake just giving me the eye, I tell Cindy to call the desk and I’m going to keep an eye on the snake so we don’t lose him. Cindy is not happy when she gets off the phone, she tells me the answer she got when she told them about the snake was “at least you wont have mosquitoes in your room” Lucky for him the manager comes to the door about that time and she didn’t have to go after him.

I was still keeping an eye on the snake and here comes this man with a golf club and a small trash can, I can see this is going to work so I grab the camcorder to document what is going to be good, he goes into the bathroom and I hear clunking sounds followed by a scream, out comes the manager followed by the snake who makes a turn and disappears behind the dresser, Cindy is now carrying our suitcases out the door, the dresser was removed drawers pulled out and the snake was never found, we gladly moved to a room with the risk of mosquitoes and finally got to take the kids for a swim.

The carnival was set up down the road and we thought after all the excitement of the snake and the long ride we would take the kids to have some fun, can’t be that far so we decided to walk since we had been in the car all day. Carnivals are not near as close as they look when you are walking down the road from the motel, we finally got there and the kids were ready for some fun, Randy wanted to play games, Melissa and Timmy wanted to ride the rides, Cindy and I were trying to keep up with them, we get Tim and Melissa in line for the Zipper and walk Randy through the games, after a while we go to check on them and they are finally next to get on, the ride stops everyone unloads and Melissa steps forward to get on, instead she got a hand in her face from the Carney halting her to allow a group of people cut in front of her, this group fills the ride and our kids are told they needed to find something else to do because he was taking a break after this, we found out later this group was supposedly a local gang.

Miss Cindy says Oh Hell No and proceeds to inform the Carney that our kids would be riding, he says nope he was shutting it down for a break after this ride. Cindy is now looking for a manager, I ask How are you going to find a manager of a Carnival in a town we don’t even know, she turn and points and says “There he is” needless to say she is right, she walks up to him and sticks out her hand asking if he was the manager, he shakes her hand and confirms he is the manager, Cindy begins with introducing herself by Full Name, Where We Live, the full story of what had happened, and what she expected he would be doing about it and ending with “We don’t act like this where I come from”.

He offered to give our money back and give the kids a free ride, Cindy says I don’t want your money and he wont be giving my kids a ride but he will apologize to them, Melissa is tugging on Cindy’s shirt whispering “it’s OK Mom” Cindy says It’s not OK you will get an apology, here we are about halfway into a trip a days drive from our home and more than that from our destination in a town we don’t know and my wife is making the manager of a carnival force one of his carnies to apologize to our kids for allowing the local gang members cut in front of them, The Carney was not too happy but did apologize and apologized again when Cindy pointed out that he did not sound sincere, I was happy to see him attempt to sound like he meant it because my wife loves her kids and you know how a Momma Hen is when it comes to her chicks, I could see this man was about to be flogged.

Cindy was happy for a brief moment, then we turned around to see all eyes were on us, remember those old EF Hutton commercials well here we were and all I could hear were the crickets chirping, we are walking away when Cindy asks me “Oh God What did I just do”, I told her it’s not that you were wrong it’s just that your timing was wrong because we are a mile away from our car walking out of a carnival we are not welcome at anymore. It wasn’t a problem that she made a stand for the kids but how many cars were sporting a Yellow New Mexico license plate in that town? The answer is one and it’s on the white Taurus station wagon with the Jimmy and Cindy tag on front sitting at the motel just up the road, we are now walking back in the dark.

Next morning we went down to breakfast to see the only other customers at the restaurant was the Manager of the carnival and our favorite Carney, we left Arkansas soon after breakfast, and our trip home after going to South Carolina kind of put me in mind of lyrics in Charlie Daniels song Uneasy Rider;

♫ “I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped. If I went to LA via Omaha!” ♪

Nothing against you fine folks from Arkansas but we just had to take I-20, which misses Arkansas all together.

In The Wrong Line

Don’t you just love shopping at Wally World, yep me too that is the main reason I stay right here when Cindy goes, but yesterday she informed me that it was not going to be that easy for me this time around.

Going into the front door you always have the door greeter who is either overly friendly, “HELLO Welcome to Wally World, I sure hope your day is going so well that you can’t stand it, here let me stick a smiley face sticker on you” or the one who is there but would rather be anywhere else, “Welcome to Wally World, here’s your *$#% Basket” yesterday we got neither, just a glare and a mumble, I think he said “Welcome to Wally World” it was either that or a vulgar term that I don’t want to repeat.

You know how it is once you grab a basket, it will cost a minimum of one hundred bucks to get out the door, Cindy’s Dad asked if we would pick him up a roll of snuff while we were there, no problem adding one item to the basket..Right? There is only one register where you can pick up tobacco, this is a twenty items or less line, so with a hundred dollars or more in the basket we can’t check out here, and they wont allow you to carry the tobacco away to another register because you have to pay for it right there, so this leaves us going through the line twice at two different registers.

Rather than stand in line with a hundred dollars worth of goodies that they wont check out because there are more than twenty items, I chose to stand back and wait for Cindy, while waiting I am leaning on the basket next to a few TV’s that were for sale in the middle of the aisle, a woman comes up behind me and is looking over my shoulder, she just stands there for a while talking to her kids so I figured she was waiting for someone in line too, next thing I know she throws her hands into the air and starts yelling, “Come on kids, I’m not standing here no longer, we will find another line because this man hasn’t moved in fifteen minutes”, she storms off and gets in line at the register.

When it came time to check out I pushed our loaded down cart up to the registers, I picked one that would allow more than twenty items, one where no one was just lingering, and also one that actually had a person ringing up the items, the self checkout lanes I avoid due to thinking that if I am going to be checking items out at Wally World then I should be on the payroll, we went over the hundred dollar limit so it was legal for us to leave the store.

On our way out I kept looking for the lady who stood behind me while I was waiting for Cindy, I really expected to see her sitting behind a parked car waiting for it to move, If it took her that long to realize she was standing in the wrong line, or actually not in one at all, I can just imagine the trouble she had getting out of the parking lot.

Don't you just hate getting into the wrong line?

Hello Saturday

It’s going to be a long couple of weeks for us, we have family coming in from all over for a surprise Anniversary party for Cindy’s folks..Shhh don’t give it away OK, Tim and Elisa will be here so we will have a few days to spoil Baby Benjamin a bit, and spend some quality time with the kids, Elisa has never been to Southern California so we are praying for a few nice days so we can show her around.

On Wednesday, Krissy over at Talkative Taurus gave me an award, she spread some strawberries on a plaque and declared us an Irresistibly Sweet Blog, you all know that I am not really good at following the award rules, but I do appreciate receiving each one so much because it shows what good friends you all are.

The rules are, that I am supposed to reveal five Guilty pleasures and pass the award along to three fellow bloggers, breaking the rules I will just list one; The smile I see on the faces of Friends and Family is the best thing I could ever wish for, this is a pleasure I receive each time I see them and get a comment from you.

Now for the hard part because I think each of you who follow me here deserve this award plus more.

1. Dawn at Puzzle Pieces is a friend who joined our little Family quite a while back, she has a lot of beautiful pictures of where she lives and always a kind word for everyone.

2. John at Full On Forward has been with us for a long time and although he may get off track in his posts once in a while it is well worth a visit to his place because he will make you feel at home.

3. Cocotte at Suburban Musings is another that I really appreciate, her kind words and from the heart posts make you wish you had found her sooner.

4. Now for another rule breaker, do you know how hard it is to pick just three when you have so many who deserve this, so anyone who is on my blogroll who wants this award it is yours, and I appreciate you being here in our Family.

As I said before it is getting crazy around here and that is why I am having a hard time getting around to visit you all, I am hoping to have time in the morning to do some catching up and pray you will not take my tardiness as forgetting you, because this is not the case.

Now to wind it up for today, if anyone would be interested in doing a Guest Post on Jimmy’s Opinion just Drop me an email and let me know what you think, I am not good at picking categories as I just wing it on mine, if you are interested write up something you would like to share and drop me a line, I’ll even make up a button you can add to your blog to let your readers know where you went that day, Krissy had me over to her place and it was a lot of fun, I figured we could try it here and spread the joy around for everyone else..What do you think?

I Don’t Do Windows

I have mentioned my Sister to you before, once in my last post and quite a while back in Looking Back, Friday is her Birthday so with this in mind let me go a bit further and tell you a little more about her, her name is Melissa and when she was born my Brother and I had a hard time pronouncing her name, so we just called her Sissy, pushing fifty, Ok I’ll say forty something years later she is still Sissy, heck all the nieces and nephews even call her Aunt Sissy, I don’t think her grandbabies call her Granny Sissy, but I could most likely convince them to do so.

Sissy has always been an animal lover, she would save any animal out there who was lost, and some that didn’t even know they needed saving, for example I remember a time when a whole litter of kittens followed her home from school, box and all with the Mama cat and a few toys to boot, I really don't think these were too lost and now that she is grown, I really think that opening an animal rescue facility would be something she could master, her kids have told me of times when Sissy would stop the car and go after a stray dog, she would be crossing a parking lot trying to coax this dog into her car, and when asked why she was doing this her answer would always be “Because he is hungry”, if I ever win the lottery this will be one of the things on my list, “Buy Sissy and animal rescue facility”

When we were teens, we went up on the mountain to go swimming, there was a place with a vine that hung out over the river, we would take turns swinging out and dropping into the river, Sissy was not a swimmer so I never expected for her to take a swing on the vine, but yet she did and rather than hold on and swing back in, she dropped down into the deep water, she was not coming to the top and a young man dove in and floated with her in tow back to the top, with her arms around his neck and his around her waist, everyone was clapping at the lifesaving routine we had just witnessed, then all of a sudden everyone noticed that her tube top was around her waist, yep she was now totally topless and exposing everything she had right into this young mans face, yep they were both red-faced and we still laugh about this from time to time.

After I moved to New Mexico and was working at the service station my Dad owned Sissy came for a visit, my Dad gave her a job helping wash the cars, now just to fill you in I want you to know how serious my Dad was about cleaning these cars, when he was finished you couldn’t even see the windows because they were so clean, and the cars smelled like a brand new one that had just rolled off the showroom floor.

Sissy was on her knees in the backseat of a customers car wiping the back glass, and as you have already figured this glass was just not coming clean enough to suit my Dad, Sissy cleaned it over and over a number of times, to have our Dad only come out and point to the streaks telling her to clean it again, he got a bit angry and started yelling so she suggested that he should do it himself.

By God I’ll show you how easy it is to clean these windows, you just have to pay attention and do it right, he is yelling at her as he is spraying the glass cleaner, all of a sudden you hear the fizz, splat, and sputter of the glass cleaner running out, he turns and throws the empty can across the bay and yells at Sissy to get him another can, she jerks around and reaches for the can sitting on the tire changer, right next to the new can of Sprayway Glass cleaner is a tall can of WD-40, the can is about the same height and the color is close, and yes she did.

Dad is on his knees spraying the back glass when I walked up, Sissy was going out the door rather fast, he is shaking the can and cussing because the cleaner is not foaming up, about that time he noticed the smell and looked at the label, also about that same time I suddenly found myself driving away from the station with Sissy laughing in the front seat, it was time to take her to lunch, and she never had to wash another window at the station.

Happy Birthday Sissy.

The Evil Twin

How many of you remember the My Buddy doll? This doll was introduced back in 85 for little boys, “to teach them about caring for their friends”, a lot of kids had one of these dolls including two of our boys, My Buddy has been given a bum rap, and the lessons taught have gotten him into more trouble and/or raised the eyebrows of unsuspecting victims/onlookers on more than one occasion, especially since his evil twin came onto the scene a few years later.

My nephew Kevin had one of the My Buddy dolls and took it everywhere with him, My Buddy had a way with teaching lessons and the lesson he taught my little sister was quite funny in my opinion, Sissy is Kevin’s Mom, on a trip to the grocery store she loaded My Buddy into the grocery basket with Kevin and his sister Felicia, and allowed him to help with the shopping, now with two young kids and a My Buddy doll, her hands and basket was overflowing really quick, but she made it through, paid for her purchase and was happy to have a bagger carry the groceries out to the car for her.

Groceries in the trunk, kids in the car, pocketbook on the seat, everything is good, what could go wrong so she drove away, she thought it funny that so many people were waving at her, so she waved back, then people started yelling, she smiled and yelled back “Hey”, they are now pointing so she looked around thinking there must be some trouble in the parking lot, so she turned to drive in the opposite direction, now cars were flashing their lights and honking their horns, she just knew something bad was happening so she sped up only to be blocked by a police car. Sissy had placed My Buddy on top of the car as she buckled the kids into their car seats, and everyone thought My Buddy was a real kid lying on top of the car. This was My Buddy’s last trip to the grocery store, because Sissy learned he could be a troublemaker.

My Buddy was a real friend to our boys until the movie Childs Play came out, introducing the world to a whole other doll, although not identical twins My Buddy was now mistaken for Chucky and the boys freaked out whenever they saw him, one of the dolls met an untimely demise to which I cannot get a straight answer about to this day, the boys are grown now and the secret remains between them, I actually found the other My Buddy doll in the trash dumpster, when I brought it back into the house, no one claimed him so I tenderly packed him away just waiting for the right day to come.

The right day came when Randy decided to give us a hard time for a while, little things like the racing incident with Scott I told you about in You Know I Was Winning, and just typical teenage mouth running, so just for fun Cindy and I unpacked My Buddy and took him down to the store where Randy was working, we went to the dark side of the store where his truck was parked, using the spare key we unlocked the door placing My Buddy into the drivers seat, My Buddy did survive, but I have to report he did lose an ear drum from the sounds of someone screaming like a girl, he suffered a severe beating, and I am sure Randy’s co workers got a good laugh watching him try to kill a doll in the store parking lot.

My Buddy did come back to live with Cindy and I, He survived the move to California and is patiently waiting for the right day when he surprises someone else, even though My Buddy is not possessed, he is getting that look in his eye, I think it’s getting close to being the right time for another boy to receive the gift he was promised a long time ago.

“Hi, I'm Chucky. Wanna play?”

At The Tone Press…

Don’t you just love filling out paperwork, especially when it comes down to insurance companies and doctors, either one by themselves can be confusing, but get them together and it’s a whole new ball game with no one knowing the score.

I get this little form once a year for my Doctor to fill out, saying that my condition is exactly the same and has not changed, the insurance company requires this form each year since I retired disabled, how long are we going to do this I asked? It appears that I get this pleasure for about twenty more years, as long as I am still retired and/or disabled, now since I retired disabled I don’t think the company is going to call up and say “Hey Jimmy why don’t you come back to work” and my Doctor says that I need to get used to this disability thing, so it appears he has gotten himself at least twenty more of these forms to fill out.

Back in November I received the form and filled out my part, took his part to him and it was placed into my file, the Doctor was going to fill it out and call me the next day to come and pick it up, next day we call and it wasn’t ready, so we call back later in the day and the nurse informs me that it had been filled out, but rather than wait for us to come and pick it up, she dropped it in the mail to us, and faxed a copy to the insurance company, a win/win I am thinking, but yet you know better…right.

Today I get a letter from the insurance company with the term “Third Request” written boldly across the top, good thing the nurse actually mailed me a copy, so I will place it in the mail as it should have been back in November, but first I will call the insurance company and explain my situation.

I dialed the 800 number and had Mrs. Computer answer, in a long drawn out monotone voice that shoots right through your head, a list of options are given and I miss everyone of them, half were in other languages and I do remember the first one had the word claim in it, at the end I was told by Mrs. Computer to either say or press the number I wanted so rather than listen again I just pressed one, now I got another menu sending me down another road, I don’t like lists of options I just want to talk to someone, I learned a long time ago, if in doubt just say “Operator” so I did.

The computer hesitates and the monotone voice came across a bit agitated saying “You are requesting to speak with Customer Service, say yes or no” I said that’s right, a bit louder the computer repeated the request, but I swear it slowed down when it said “Say Yeeeesssssss or Nooooo” so I said Yesssss, to speed up the process please either say or enter your social security number or claim number, now I may have been born on the weekend but it wasn’t last weekend so I repeated “Operator”, we must have either your Social Security Number or Claim number to speed up the process, this process was going on fifteen minutes now so I played along, I punched in my claim number which looks like an automobile VIN number, the agitated computer comes back and informs me that this was not a valid number and again asks for my Social, I simply repeated “Operator”, I thought I heard a disgusted sigh, and was told, please hold and I will connect you.

Good Afternoon “It’s A Bright Sunshiny Day” Insurance Company this is Susanna how may I help you, I said, you know something, I sure miss the day when a real person answered the phone, she laughed and confirmed she did also, and said let me have your claim number, I told her that the computer did not recognize the number and she laughed again and said she wasn’t surprised, I gave her my VIN/claim number, she hesitated, then said I see why your number wasn’t recognized, this is the disability department and you need to talk to the claim department, I said but I did call the phone number listed on my form, she said that is correct, we have the same number let me transfer you to that department, she rattled off a page of required disclaimer information that I have no idea what she was talking about and I heard a loud Beep Beep.

Good Afternoon this is “It’s A Bright Sunshiny Day” Insurance Company, our business hours are from 8:30AM to 5:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday, at the sound of the tone listen to the list of options required for you to reach the person you want to leave a voice mail for, please input your claim number…

I had been on the phone for what seemed forty-five minutes and the time now was about five minutes after five eastern. Did I input any numbers or listen to any options required to leave a voice mail, nope I am now sealing an envelope and snail mail will just have to do the job, it’ll most likely get there long before I get past the computer voice.

Virtual Road Trip

You all know how much I love road trips, and today we are going on one, a virtual trip so to say all the way across the country, so I want you all to jump into our Virtual Mini Van, Sorry folks but we drive a mini van so the virtual ride should be in one too don’t you think. Where are we going you may ask, and are we there yet, you may repeat over and over, but to get there all you have to do is just play along.

Krissy over at Talkative Taurus invited me to her place, to Guest Blog, now you have to bear with me because this is my first guest blogging gig, and I am trying to be polite at someone else’s house, I told her I could do it but all of my friends would be coming with me, she told me that this was the idea, now I did say I was new at this..Right.

Click the link and follow me over to Talkative Taurus, read my post and leave a comment so I will know you were there, and while you are there scroll down and read some of Krissy’s writings, you will most likely want to hang around for a while, I know I did first time I dropped by.

 

 

Krissy's Talkative Taurus

Do You Remember

I have mentioned my Granddaddy to you before, Tracks In The Snow is where I mentioned him paying a visit to me when my son was a baby, today I thought about him and wanted to share a little bit about him with you.

Grady the son of a Civil War veteran Born in 1914, began his journey in this old world in Pickens County, SC, I see you have your calculator out trying to add the numbers up to see how his Daddy fought in the Civil War, it almost sounds like I am missing a generation you are thinking, how it works is Granddaddy was born when Wash (My Great Granddaddy) was about 64 years old and Wash served in the 4th Regiment South Carolina Calvary at the tender age of about fourteen years old, it appears young men could serve back in those days, and whether Wash’s parents had to sign a waiver or something I think is really not an issue today, but with these numbers there easily could have been another generation slipped in there.

Granddaddy also served in the military, he joined the Army Air Force and fought in both the Korean War and WW II, once he said that he was the oldest man to enlist at the time and all the other men called him Pop, he was a Staff Sergeant and a served as a cook during the Korean War, in December 1952 a radio interview with my Granddaddy was broadcast in his hometown of Easley, South Carolina, in the interview he mostly thanked everyone who had donated supplies for them to prepare Christmas dinner for the troops. A copy of this interview on LP record was sent to my Grandma by the radio station, this was a big thing in this little town for a local boy to be on the radio from overseas, this LP was later lost in a house fire, so this part of our family history is forever lost aside from the memory.

He loved to fish, and I remember driving with him up to Ute Lake in Logan, NM for a fishing trip, we fished from the bank and caught very little, not sure how serious we were about catching anything, but one thing he was serious about was the boat that continued to circle around and come in close to the shore making a huge wake that splashed everything in the water almost into our faces, Granddaddy waved to the man driving the boat and shouted that we were trying to fish, to only see him make a circle and laugh as he splashed the water upon us again, Granddaddy reeled in his line and took the hook off, I was thinking that this guy had just ran us off.

Granddaddy smiled and took the biggest lead sinker I have ever seen in my life out of his tackle box, he attached the sinker to his line and walked back toward the water, standing there pretending he was fishing he smiled and refused to move backwards as the boat came in close again, he got a splash of water all the way up the front of his pants and as the laughing idiot turned his boat away from the bank, this is when the idiot got a surprise he wasn’t expecting, the accuracy of Granddaddy’s cast put the sinker right into the back of this mans head, the sinker bounced off of his head and also from the back of the boat, we were laughing so hard Granddaddy could hardly reel his line back in, needless to say we never saw the boat again.

I listened to a lot of stories from him, everything from fighting battles during the War to the ones with his brother in law, tales of foreign places like Japan and the Philippines, the best Black Diamond watermelon and the best way to prune a fruit tree, if he ever said “Do you remember” you knew you were about to hear a long story and it was well worth your while if you took time to listen.

A lot of the memories I cherish about my Granddaddy are from his stories, but one of the funniest and most amazing was watching how accurate an elderly man can be with a fishing rod and a lead sinker, you don’t really need a deadly weapon to make a point he showed me, and if you are smart you will avoid messing with an old man who is minding his own business, I can still see him grinning.

Common Sense Isn’t

What is the best way to ring in a New Year? Did you watch the ball drop at midnight counting down the last ten seconds of the old year to ring in the new, Kiss your spouse or partner, and sing "Auld Lang Syne," Now your next step is to make a list of resolutions, tune in or go to The Tournament of Roses Parade depending on where you are, eat some turnip greens and black-eyed peas, and so on and on…Traditions are a blessing and we always follow them to the letter, because that is what we have learned, but what are you going to do tomorrow?

Tomorrow you will sit back and try your best to get over that hangover if you chose to indulge a bit too much, and you will rub your stomach because like everyone else, me included you ate way too many greens and black-eyed peas, and maybe some of that dessert too, the resolutions are already out the window because New Years Day is over, and you are getting back into the swing of things as they were before the holidays.

I was talking to my Mom a while back and we came to the conclusion that common sense isn’t common at all, for example the district she works for is laying off an un common number of employees in the school system, all the way from custodians to teachers, but at the same time the district is building something like six new schools, now this didn’t make sense to me, so my statement was “Why don’t they hold off on building for now and hold on to the employees?” my common sense tells me that the money should be used to save jobs, but this money is budgeted for construction and cannot be used for anything else, so six new facilities will be built, and there will be a lack of employees to staff them because there is not enough money to pay them, makes sense to me.

This is like a family who has a savings account set aside as a vacation fund, all the money going into this account is to be used for a road trip only, in the meantime both Mom and Dad lose their jobs and now they can’t pay the bills or buy food, sitting there with no power or groceries they have an obligation to go on vacation because they have the money set aside for this purpose, starving to death they pack their bags for a trip rather than use these funds to pay the bills, because this is how it is supposed to be.

Common Sense tells me that I don’t need to be on a ladder, but those Christmas lights are not coming down by themselves, common sense tells me that the next step down on the ladder is where my foot is supposed to go, and common sense tells me that if I don’t watch my feet there is no telling where they will go, I trusted that foot to go where it was supposed to without watching it, wonder why I am laying on the ground.

How about for the New Year we try to use our common sense when dealing with life, open our eyes and watch where we are stepping because if we don’t we will be flat on our faces, use your money where you need it because there are a lot out there who wish that they had done so when they had the chance, we still have a lot of people out of work and going hungry, there are a lot who need a helping hand so if you have anything extra reach out and help someone, Have a Happy New Year and remember to use your common sense because for most people Common Sense Isn’t, is it?