Last Saturday

There is a move afoot to change the date of Halloween from October 31st to the last Saturday of October.  

As of yesterday, the on-line petition - sponsored by Change.Org and the Halloween and Costume Association - had 63,000 signatures, and once they reach 75,000 the petition will be sent to President Trump.

My first reaction to this was "These people have way too much time on their hands." and then I wondered why involve the President in something that isn't a national holiday.  

They do point out safety concerns - unaccompanied children wandering around the streets on weeknights, etc. - so I guess there is some validity to their effort.

Here at the Boggy Thicket, there is a neighborhood party and hayride that has become a tradition.  It has typically been held on the Saturday before Halloween, and we have not had a trick-or-treater come to our door on October 31 in at least 15 years. 

Laundramat

I'll admit I never saw that sign, but in our travels over the past few years, we've seen things at definitely qualify as odd - including some stuff that makes you glad you own a washer and dryer at home.

The sign did remind me of something I'd forgotten, and the statute of limitations must have run out years ago, so....

A college friend -I'll call him Larry - landed a job as the attendant at a washeteria.  He kept the filters emptied and the change machine and soap dispensers filled.  For that, he got a very small salary and an apartment on the second floor above the laundromat.

One night, after a night on the town, we decided to stop by and see him.  I honestly don't remember whose idea it was (probably John Stuckey, but it might have been me) but we put a six pack of empty beer cans in a dryer put in some coins and turned it on.

It was remarkable how quick Larry made it out of bed and down the stairs.  He didn't think it was a darn bit funny, but we were laughing too hard to care.

Apollo Eleven

Today is the 50th anniversary of Man's first landing on the moon, and I can still remember how excited we were watching the event on television.  
It is sort of sad that my girls, and every generation since, has never known a time when we hadn't been to the moon.  To them it is no big deal - they'll never really understand what a truly momentous accomplishment it was.

In A Rut

Finally got our 5th wheel home Tuesday, and getting it back into the yard was, to put it nicely, a real comedy of errors.

The trailer is too long, the turn radius on our truck is too small and the road is too narrow to make it into the driveway without running off the road.  I typically have the front wheels in the grass across the street as I complete the turn, and if it is the least bit muddy, it's a recipe for disaster.

After several unsuccessful attempts, and some deep ruts in our yard, Honey called Ronnie Warman. our neighbor who used to run hotshot deliveries with a 42 foot gooseneck and he put it in like it was on rails - one try - smooth as silk.

I am now into the second day of filling in the ruts.  It is amazing how much dirt it is taking.

Morning Surprise

Just before sunrise, Honey was sitting out under the pergola enjoying her first cigarette and first cup of coffee of the day.
She heard a  noise behind her, and turned around to see that a pair of raccoons had joined her on the deck.

She admits to being a little frightened, but more surprised than anything.  When she scooted her chair back, they jumped off the deck, and by the time she got to the house, they were back over the fence and out of sight.

I Feel Lucky

Honey had her semiannual checkup at the Dermatologist yesterday.  Her doctor is one of the most delightful people I've ever met, we had a most enjoyable visit, and the checkup went without a hitch. 
Once we got home, Honey said "We're up and dressed with nothing to do.  Want to go to the casino?"
Well, you don't have to tell me twice, so just before  noon we were on our way to Livingston.
Twelve hours later, we were back home with the same amount of money we left with.  That qualifies as a very successful trip.
We were lucky, but the casino not so much.  
They were installing a whole bunch of new slot machines, and somehow took down the network that controls stuff.  Some slots would not issue pay stubs, and for about half the casino, the stubs that were issued could not be read in the machines that convert them to cash.
That led to a mob of about a hundred people at the pay window waiting (in some cases, two hours or more) for their cash.
They eventually got the problem fixed, but not before having to delay three buses waiting to return folks to Houston.

Orchid

One of the orchids in our kitchen window box is blooming, but it's kind of sad.  It only has three blossoms, and instead of having a tall straight shaft it is a sort of a raggedy spiral.

I've named it Quasimodo.

That One Bird

They call them Cattle Egrets for a reason.  They are attracted to cattle, and the cows (or in this case, bulls) tolerate them because they pick bugs off their backs.

You could probably just as easily call them Mower Egrets because it is almost impossible in this part of the world to see a tractor mowing a field without a flock of Egrets in its wake.  

Today, while mowing my yard here at the Boggy Thicket, I attracted a couple dozen.  They cover the newly  mown area grabbing up the bounty (bugs, frogs, snakes, etc.) uncovered by the mower.  It's a great example of symbiosis between man and bird.

There is that one bird, though - not the sharpest blade in the drawer - that consistently lands in the unmown grass about 30 feet in front of the mower.  He has just enough time to land, react to the mower moving toward him and take off again.  Then, on the next pass, he does it again.  I can't decide if he is playing a game or just that dumb.

Ouch

 In yesterday's game between the Astros and Angels, there was a collision at home between Jake Marisnick and Angels catcher Jonothan Lucroy.  
Astros fans celebrated a go-ahead run, convinced that Jake was safe - Lucroy obviously leaned into Jakes path, and never had possession of the ball - but Jake was ruled out based on a no collision rule adopted by baseball in 2014.
Lucroy was taken to the hospital, and his manager (former Astros catcher, Brad Ausmus) is calling for an investigation and possible suspension. 
Here's a link to the whole thing - Collision

It Is Our Fault

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy.  

This was originally said  in the early 1800s, and the quote has been attributed both to Alexander Tytler, a Scottish Lord, and to Alexis de Toqueville, the French historian. Whoever said it first, it is undeniably correct, and comes dangerously close to the condition America finds itself in today.

Something for nothing is never a good idea.  Only later do we learn that anything "free" comes with a terrible cost. One look at modern society with all its ills, and if we are honest, we have to admit we brought it on ourselves.

Our parents, and even more so, our own generation and those that have followed, created this situation.  Each wanted their kids to have it better than they did, and each gave their kids everything they could.  

In a sad example of the law of unintended consequences, we created a Participation Trophy Society that doesn't appreciate what they have been given - it is basic human nature to equate free with worthless.  Those things we got without ay effort are never held in high esteem. Even so, today's generation takes what we have given as a God-given right and only clamors for more.

What is true for individual families is even more starkly true on a national level. 

We first proved it was true when we rounded up the Indians and stuck them on reservations.  It only took a generation for once proud nations to degenerate into despondency, alcoholism and disease.  

Not learning our lesson there, we tried the New Deal and the Great Society, and they gave us inner city Hell holes like Detroit, Chicago and Baltimore.

Today's political candidates are in a contest to see who can offer the most "free" stuff - health care, tuition, etc. I can't decide if they just don't understand or if they are willing to sacrifice the country for personal gain.

I'm not sure if there is a formula out there that would stop this downward spiral toward oblivion, but I do know that it will require hard work. 

Ax Scent

Yesterday, a Canadian friend tagged me on Facebook in a post.  He was writing about a friend of his who commented that someone had a strong “American accent.”  He went on to discuss the fact that the various regional accents around the US disproved the idea that an American accent could even exist.

I strongly agree, and would point out that there are at least a half dozen different accents specific to regions of Texas – in fact, there may be at least that many specific to areas of Houston.  There are still pockets of white, East Texas speakers in the Channelview area, Spanish speakers in Denver Harbor, Blacks with a hint of South Louisiana in Fifth Ward, Vietnamese accents in Southwest Houston, etc.  Add to that the influx of refugees from places like California and the Rust Belt, and the more affluent sections of the North and West sides have blended their accents into something that is homogenized – almost generic.

I am reminded of Richard I Fu Ho, my college roommate.  He already had an engineering degree from Tung Hai University on Taiwan, and had come to Austin College to work on his English before entering grad school.  He had an older sister who was a professor at M.I.T.  When he called her on the phone, they would try to converse in English, but she spoke Boston (with a Chinese accent) and he was leaning East Texas (with a Chinese accent) and it soon became clear that they could not communicate without switching to Mandarin.

Farewell Dusty

Dusty, our miniature dachshund, died yesterday.  She was one month short of her fifteenth birthday. 

When her constant companion, Tinker, passed seven months ago, I knew she wouldn't last another year, but she had been doing surprisingly well until yesterday when she suffered a series of seizures, or stokes.  The vet suspects they were the result of a brain tumor.

People always talk about dogs giving unconditional love  - Dusty didn't necessarily give it, but she demanded it.  She always considered herself the Alpha, and we were just members of her pack.  

God, we will miss her.

Fair Warning

My darling always wears her Glock

On her daily walks around the block

So if anybody shady

Tries to mess with my lady

They’re in for a Hell of a shock

In-Box

My email inbox is crammed full every morning with junk from a variety of places, most of it unsolicited. A lot of it I'm scared to open because it just looks like it has to contain malware.
Today, along with the ads for Old Navy and Home Depot, male enhancement products and brides from Uzbekistan, I got an email offering great deals on Luxury Yacht Rentals.
Much as I might like to, I'm just about as likely to follow up on that as I am to the letter from that Liberian banker saying I've inherited six million bucks.