Attacked during morning walk 04.30.15

 

                I am here today to tell you in fact, I was attacked during my early morning walk, in my own neighborhood.

          The Attack occurred on April 22^nd, a Wednesday morning about 8:15am. I had been walking for about 10 minutes and I had a walking stick in hand.

          Allow me to answer three questions, before I proceed to impart this factual, and somewhat alarming account to you.

The walking stick was one that I had made, yes in theory, it could be used as a defensive weapon.

I was totally surprised by the attack, I did not see or hear it coming!

        I am providing as much information as possible in order to be, “Totally transparent”.

 

The word transparent means that one can see through something.

          Politicians use the word a lot, in hopes that, “we the people”, will be stupid enough, to think that what they are doing, is out in the open for all to see.

          In fact, politicians used the word transparent to mean, “I will do what I want” and, “You the People” are not smart enough to stop me!

 

          The morning was warm and very humid with a totally cloudy sky. It had sprinkled at some point through the night which cause the streets to be slightly damp.

          My spouse of 46 years has over the last few months lost 40 pounds. She has been working out each morning which has caused me to see the need for a little exercise.

          There are basically two criteria in determining whether I will go for a walk or not and they are;

Do I have plans to work in the yard that day, which I would consider as exercise?

Am I too tired from whatever I have done the day before, (like work in the yard) to go and exercise?

          So Wednesday morning I had no plans to work in the yard and I was not tired from the activities of the day before.

          All seemed well that morning as I started the walk. Now that I have time to reflect, I did wear the wrong shoes for the walk. I noticed right away that those shoes did not have as much bounce in the heel as my other walking shoes. I guess I was too lazy to stop and change the shoes.

          Toward the end of my walk I realized that I had a blister on the big toe of my Left foot. Even though those shoes are comfortable to wear during normal activities, they will not be worn again during an exercise walk.

          As I have stated in other articles, I have basically two goals during my walk.

First, I want to get my heart rate up and my breathing rate to a point that I could not easily hold a conversation. That is my indication that I am walking at a good pace. If I find that I am having to breathe through my mouth I slow the pace.

          Second, I want to focus on some subject, possibly a topic that I will use in one of my postings.

 

          My pace was fairly quick for a senior citizen, and I was focused on an upcoming event at Do it Best Corp.

Staff at the Waco facility will have gone 5 years without a time lost injury, which is a major accomplishment for any work group.

          I had made the corner of Oklahoma Ave. and Arkansas Street (Arkansas Street is only one block long, it is basically a connecting street for Texas Ave. to Oklahoma Ave.) when I focused on an object at the other end of the block.

          Arkansas Street is lined on one side with large bushes that are possibly 15 foot tall, which cover the entire area from the curb to a wooden fence (about 9 feet). If one looked inside these bushes, you could see litter that has gathered there over the years, and it would be very easy for someone to hide.

          As I said I was focused, unaware of anything around me and I was in the middle of the block when the attack occurred.

          Seemingly, out of nowhere, and from behind me, the attack occurred with no warning. Just missing the right side of my head, a male grackle flew past me with surprising speed (a grackle is a black bird). 

          Surprised, I first took an evasive action, I ducked. Then I stopped and looked around. It was a little like the old 1963 movie “The Birds”, by Alfred Hitchcock.

          As I looked around there were black birds on the tops of most of the bushes and they all appeared to be watching me. I now believe the bird that buzzed my head was warning me to stay away from the bushes as they have nests in them.

          I have seen birds dive bomb cats, but never a human. I got the message, and began to walk on the other side of the street.

 

Lesson learned, stay away from the birds nest!

 

Don Ford  

Ride of 04.25.15

 

                This day started off as so many Saturdays do, me sitting in my recliner after having my second cup of coffee, wondering what I should do with the rest of the day.

                There are always many choices one could make, which would make the Saturday experience seem worthwhile. I could decide to weed eat and mow the grass or I could watch TCM, you know, the old black and white movies. They have had Bat Man movies on for the last few Saturdays, but I am not a bat man fan. If it were one of the old Tarzan movies I would be interested.

                We could go to town and let my first wife shop while I sit in the truck then, we could have lunch, or I could just take a nap and decide later what I should do.

                My choice was none of the above for this Saturday. I asked my spouse of 46 years if she wanted to go somewhere on the motorcycle, to which she replied, “where”. I had not thought this out and was now being pressed for a possible destination.

As I am sure you are aware, I do have a quick mind! We could go to Ohio I said. My first wife had a somewhat puzzled look on her face as she questioned, “where?” I knew immediately I was about to be criticized. 

                I confidently replied, “You know out there close to where the original formula, Dr. Pepper bottler use to be”. She thought for a moment and asked, “Do you mean Hico, Texas”, to which I replied, “Yes”. (Hico is pronounced with a long I, Hi Co)

                As you can see Hico and Ohio have the same number of letters and most are the same just located differently in the word. (As a side note, we did pass close to the real Ohio on the way home, Ohio Texas is just off county road 932.)

                My present spouse agreed to the ride. I than stated that it has been a long time since we were there and I wasn’t sure of the best way to get there. Being somewhat of a smarty pants, my spouse said, “Go out highway 6”. Now I knew that was wrong, since when does a female know directions? I tactfully, but in a manly way stated, “No that is not how to get there, I will check the map”!

I reached for my tablet and went to the maps. The app loaded and I didn’t even need to type in the name, I just said, “Hico Texas”. A few seconds later Hico was displayed on the screen. 

                It would take 1 hour and 14 minutes to get there from, “The Ford Homestead”. I must say I was somewhat surprised that we would need to ride out highway 6, as my spouse had stated. (Nobody likes a know it all).

                The bike was very dusty but we didn’t take the time to clean it up, assuming that some of the dust would possibly blow off when riding at highway speeds. The dust did not blow off and we added several bugs to the windshield during the ride.

                I found it interesting that the odometer indicated the miles on my Gold Wing was 77,777 miles, prior to the start of the ride. I pointed that out to my spouse who commented, “that’s better than 66,666.  Before you ask, the odometer does not display tenths of a mile but the trip odometers do.

                The weather was just perfect for riding, the temp was 78 when we left the house, there was no chance of rain and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky during the entire ride.

In this selfie we see the Ford husband and wife team traveling at highway speeds. Please note that there is not a cloud in the sky.

                And now the questions start. Why can’t you just let me tell the story and stop these interruptions? You always have a question, and your questions are always in an effort to embarrass me.

Ok smarty, I will answer this one question! No, it is not distracted driving when I, take a selfie at 60 mph, riding double on a two lane highway, with oncoming traffic! That only applies to other idiots!

Back to my story after that uncalled for interruption!

We arrived at Hico about noon o’clock and surprise surprise, it was antiques day. Finding a suitable parking space, (suitable for a car is not always suitable for a bike) we parked and secured the helmets along with the long sleeved shirts. Before you ask about the parking space let me say, most bikes do not have a reverse, and if you park with the front of the bike downhill it may be difficult to back out of the space. It is double difficult when riding double.

Yes my bike has a reverse and before you ask, yes we have an intercom between the helmets so we can talk while riding. We are on a fixed income but we can’t scrimp on everything.

My spouse of 46 years decided to do some shopping and I was able to find a shady spot to sit and wait. About an hour later she had completed her shopping and only purchased a cacti, type plant.

We had discussed where to eat and decided to go to the restaurant with the easiest parking which turned out to be, “Fire House BBQ”. Possibly next time we will go to the restaurant with the crowded parking lot. The food was ok but nothing special, the service was less than desirable.

Having eaten and drink our fill, we were ready to begin the trip home. I decided to take a different route home which would take us to Hamilton Texas. I hoped to find a back road that I had ridden in years past that would take us to highway 84 and then home.

About two miles out of Hico we ran into road work. We sat patiently behind a line of vehicles in the early afternoon sun on a fresh asphalt road. I checked the temperature and it was now 90 degrees. Eventually the line of cars began to move. 

There was only the one area where the road work cause congestion. About 20 minutes later we were in Hamilton, Texas. I made the turn at the court house and started out of town. I saw a sign indicating 932 this way, so I turned.

I explained to my present spouse that I thought this was the correct road, but wasn’t sure. County road 932 is definitely a back road with many curves but not much traffic. We may have seen 2 vehicles on this 30 minute ride on county road 932.

As we cruised through the countryside enjoying the peaceful scenery, I noticed something that I found unusual. I thought I had seen a shadow on the road ahead of me, from something flying overhead. There it was again and I looked up. There were buzzards, possibly 6 or 8 of them circling overhead. Just for a moment I thought, they must be hungry looking for some road kill, or, have they decided to kill something, and are we the target.

As we neared the end of the road I observed a rock fireplace standing in a field, the old house was completely gone leaving only the fireplace. I recognized the fire place and at that point I knew we were on the correct road. (The fire place is not in the photo)

It was about this time when we saw the Ohio, Texas this way sign.

Two minutes later we were on highway 84 heading for home.

It was another 45 miles on HWY 84 before we were again back in Hewitt, Texas.

We stopped for gas putting 4.6 gallons of fuel in the tank. We both noted that our behinds were getting tired. 180 mile round trip ride, 39.6 mpg.

All in all it was a good day for a nice ride.

 

Spending the day with your spouse or friend can be fun.

 

Don Ford  

 

Stalking 04.27.15

 

                “Stalking”, the word is kinda odd when you think about it.

                In a recent study done at, “The Ford Homestead, Institute of Wordology”, many things were revealed about the word Stalking.  

                Before we get too deep into the study, we would like to pose a couple questions.

When is it ok, or even lawful to stalk? 

Do the laws against stalking always apply or, are there exceptions.

We will attempt to answer these and other questions in this well written, fact filled and informative commentary.

                The study which was completed in recent weeks, involved several professors from other institutes (names of those professors and their institutes will not be listed as full credit for this study will be given to our in house lecturer, me). 

                As stated in the opening statement; the word stalking is kinda odd when you think about it. If you have a stalk of something, you could have a root, branch, stem or a twig. So, knowing that the word stalk refers to part of a plant, how did the word evolve into watching or following someone? 

                Now days the word stalking is most often used to explain that someone was observing another, due to some perceived or real infatuation.

                Our study identified that there are times when stalking is accomplished and considered as completely legal. One example cited in the published paper, “Stalking, Identified and explained”, would be; a detective private or law enforcement, observes, follows, records and photographs a subject.

                The difference between lawful stalking or not, is often the fact that law enforcement detectives or, private detectives, do not want to be known to the stalkee. The illegal stalker most often wants the stalkee to not only know them but also be a part of their life.

                Our published paper, “Stalking, Identified and explained”, also notes that the root word of stalk, is talk.  
             

       When we take the word talk or talking, then add an “S” to the front, it changes the meaning totally.  “The Ford Homestead, Institute of Wordology”, was unable to determine who put the “S” in front of the word talk, but there is a theory. The theory is that a person who was attempting to describe that someone had been following and observing them, to law enforcement, stuttered. While attempting to explain that the person who had been watching them attempted to, “talk”, to the “stalkee”, but when they attempted to say the word, “talk”, it came out as, “stalk”, due to the stutter. Theoretically, that is how the words Stalk and Stalking came into being.
 

       I believe the above may have been the long way of getting to the subject matter of this article. There has been a case of stalking here in the neighborhood and it was not reported to the local authorities. I personally observed the stalking and determined I should not get involved.
 

       Sir Charles was attempting to make friends with a young fox squirrel (red). I watched for about twenty minutes as “The Charles” carefully observed the foxy squirrel all the while attempting to get closer to it. At some point the squirrel, who obviously did not want to be friends with Charlie, climbed the tree.
 

       Charlie not wanting to give up, ascended the tree all the while hoping to get closer to and become friends with the foxy squirrel. The uppity squirrel then jumped from one tree to another and Charlie was heartbroken.

 It is almost impossible for the untrained eye to see “Sir Charles”, hiding in the leaves as he stalks tries to make friends with a squirrel. There was a red arrow to indicates Charles' location. it would not transfer from word to the blog.

In the above photo, “Sir Charles” is coming out of concealment, having completed his observations.

In this photo we see, “Sir Charles”, the stalker friendly, in the open and resting. He no longer needs to be concealed.
 

                These photos were taken with my $5.00 cell phone. If you would like to see better photos you may donate toward the purchase of a new Smart Phone. Donations should be identified as, “for Don’s new Smart phone”.
 

                It should be noted, after the above stalking event, “Crazy Charlie” was at it again. My neighbor and I were enjoying an almost perfect Sunday early evening (7:30 pm) when Charlie was again observed in the stalking mode. He, surreptitiously crept across the front yard at, “The Ford Homestead”, all the while observing a squirrel across the street. Charlie entered the street and he, with reckless abandon, did not look both ways. My neighbor and I were concerned that a vehicle might drive down the Avenue and run over, “The Charlie”.
 

                The squirrel was an unusually dark colored squirrel, not black but not red either. The squirrel seemed to be aware of the approaching stalker but he continued searching the grass for things to eat. At one point the squirrel, being on the ground about ten feet from a tree, went behind the tree out of sight of Sir Charles. At that moment killer Charles made his move sprinting toward the tree. My neighbor and I were cheering “The Charles” on.
 

                Charlie rounded the tree catching the squirrel off guard. The chase was on as the squirrel ran first away from the safety of the tree, then turning attempting to get back to the tree. Charles was close behind the squirrel executing quick turns as he pursued the perceived victim. The squirrel narrowly missed death as he made it to, and ascended the tree. Charlie went up the tree but stopped about 12 feet above the ground.
 

                Sadly, Sorry Charlie returned home and lay in the drive way as he consider what he could have done to have made that chase turn out in his favor. I couldn’t be certain but I thought I saw a small tear in his eyes. 

 

                For a complete copy of the paper, “Stalking, Identified and explained”, please send $28.00 plus $7.00 shipping and handling to the Ford Foundation. Allow nine years for delivery.

 

I hope you enjoy the fine spring weather! 

   

Don Ford

It turned out ok 04.23.15

 

                It was a lazy Saturday in the small but well-kept town of Hewitt Texas. The weather was humid and there were a lot of clouds with a temperature of about 70 degrees.

                I was getting tired of doing nothing so I enquired of my present spouse if she was interested in going to Clifton, Texas, to the Bunkhouse for lunch. I noted that we had the option to take the Gold Wing, the truck or the van.

                She looked at me as if she was thinking but did not respond. Receiving no response, I returned to doing nothing at my desk other than watching something on the history channel about aliens from space.

                Before you ask, yes I believe space travelers have visited the earth many times and probably still do.                 Where do you think Velcro came from?

                About 15 minutes later my spouse walked into the room and asked if she would need a long sleeved shirt for the ride. I now knew that we were going to the bunk house and that we were taking the bike.

                Now, I needed to get ready to go.

                We left, “The Ford Homestead” about 11:00. The cloudy humid weather made riding at highway speeds feel somewhat cooler than the true air temperature. Other than being cloudy, it wasn’t a bad day for riding. There was no wind at all. When I say no wind, the leaves on the trees were totally still.

                Our ride took us through McGregor, Crawford, and Valley Mills with the final destination of Clifton, TX.

                We arrived at the Bunkhouse about 12:00 noon and were happy to see that there wasn’t a large crowd. We ordered our lunch and enjoyed the food and time together talking about many things.

                The photo below was taken inside the Bunk house. My $5.00 phone doesn’t have the best camera so the photo is somewhat grainy. Donations will be accepted for the purchase of a new Smart Phone, all donations should be identified, “for Don’s new Smart phone”.

                I had suggested to my spouse of 46 years that we could stop at some Junk Antique stores if she wanted. Fortunately, Clifton has a few Antique stores so we didn’t need to ride too far from the Bunkhouse.

                Donna went shopping and I sat on a bench in front of the store.

In the photo above, we see the Ford’s means of transportation. The white stone building has a café in the bottom. There is an eight foot tall fence, which is difficult to see, just to the left of the building. I assume that area could be used for parties. I thought of the white house fence and wondered if anyone had tried to jump over this fence.

The building obviously has an upstairs and I imagined it as being the residence of the café owners, but it is probably just a party and or meeting area.

There is a silo just across the street from the café, which appeared to be about 80 feet tall. What interested me was the birds that were building their nests around and under the overhang of the roofs.  There were literally hundreds of Barn Swallows flying around the top of the silo.

                These swallows build their nest from mud and there were nests against nest all around the silo. I wondered if it was ever confusing to the birds, as to which nest was theirs. 

                Something else I noticed in this small country town, there were very few cars. It seemed as if everyone was driving either a pickup, which is not unusual in the country, or an SUV. I guess the SUV has taken the place of the family car.

                We took the long scenic route home. The sun had come out making the ride somewhat more enjoyable. We were surprised that we saw less blue bonnets out in the country than we had seen in and around the city of Waco.

                As the title line stated, “It turned out ok”,            that is, our ride turned out ok.  

 

I hope your phone takes better photos than mine.

 

Don Ford

 

Ford's Gardener 04.21.15

 

                This professionally written and expertly edited article about, “The Ford Homestead’s” gardener, is due in part to questions and comments from readers that have nothing better to do than to critique a comment made by yours truly (me) in the 04/17/15 posting, Voice of Thunder.

                You might remember (if not, go back and read the article) that I commented to the effect, our gardener had been doing an excellent job. That is all it took to start a couple of you asking, how, being on a fixed income, could “The Ford Homestead”, afford a gardener.

                First of all, I think the person asking this question was being somewhat rude and nosey. Whether my present spouse has to spend an extra day picking up aluminum cans from the side of the interstate or not, isn’t any of that person’s business.

                No, I have not hired an illegal alien that I will pay less than minimum wage.

                Is our gardener a professional? No, he isn’t a pro, but that does not mean he isn’t good at what he does.

                Let’s change the subject and give me some time to cool down.

 

                On a somewhat lighter subject, Alex, my grandson of five years and I, had walked to the front porch in an effort to sit down and discuss world events. We were only there for a minute or so when Alex decided that, “we should sweep the porch and walkway”.

I must admit, there was lots of those brown hanging things, from the Red Oak trees that are full of pollen, on the porch and walkway. 

Alex went to the garage and secured two brooms (darn it, he brought me one) allowing us both to enjoy sweeping the porch and side walk. If you know Alex, there is almost always an ongoing conversation. He often surprises me with his thoughts and today was no exception.

We had completed the porch and were working on the walkway when Alex said, “If we were the boss, we would tell Granny to do all the work.” Surprised at that comment, I began to listen closely to this wise young man. He continued, “If we were boss, I would tell her to get you a cup of coffee, and she would do all the work!”

Wise beyond his years, this young man must learn to keep some thoughts to himself, as it is Granny that gets him and ice cream cone in the afternoon, and that could come to an abrupt end with comments of that nature.

 

Back to the subject of this article.

Even though I do not feel obligated to explain how we can afford a gardener here at, “The Ford Homestead”, and even though we are on a fixed income, I will provide the information in an effort to be totally transparent.

How do you like my, politically correct lie comment about being, “totally transparent”? I am learning to use some of those lies that politicians use all the time.

The gardener at, “The Ford Homestead” is a relative. He works because he enjoys it. He does not charge anything for his labor, and he does excellent work.

In the photos above and below we see Alex trimming some of the large shrubs on the north end of the property.

 

                Let’s hope he has this same work ethic when he becomes a teenager.

 

Enjoy what you are doing… 

 

Don Ford

 

Assume not 04.20.15

 

                I believe it was Yoda that said, “Try not, do or do not”. I think if he had thought about it he would have also said, “Assume not, know”.

                I remember in a management meeting the instructor wrote assume in big letters then he added a couple slashes to indicate what we do when we assume.

                                                Ass/u/me

                For some time now I have had a faucet in the master bath, which was dripping. Over time it had gotten worse and since I was not too busy today, I decided to attempt a repair.

                It is a little known fact that my first full time job was working for a plumber. I got this job right out of high school. I got to do a lot of the digging and other dirty work, I did learn a lot about what to do and what not to do.

                Back to my story:

                Which faucet was it, hot or cold? Now the proper thing to do is to turn the water off from under the sink to either the cold or hot water and if it stopped dripping then that was the faucet that needs to be repaired. 

                I got down on my knees which is no easy feat, and removed all the items that are kept under the sink. I then skillfully reached in to turn off the cold water. The valve would not operate. It has been years since this valve was activated and it was frozen in place.

                Not a problem, I thought, being a true optimist, I will turn off the hot water and see if the leak stops. Failing to activate either of the valves under the sink, I decided to take a different approach.

I knew that the cold water faucet leaked a little around the handle occasionally when activated, so I ASSUMED, it was the cold faucet that was causing the drip.

I proceeded to the local ACE hardware store (as much as I hated too) to purchase the faucet repair kit. $9.99 plus tax, title and license, it came to $10.81. There went our supper, you got it right, there will be no supper at the Ford Homestead tonight.

Returning to the house, I carefully read the instructions for installation. I then proceeded to turn off the water at the meter. Water off, I began by removing the handle, the lock nut, the stem along with the rubber seal and a spring. I then installed the new spring, rubber seal, stem, lock nut and handle.

The work seemed to have gone as expected. Could that be a sign that something is wrong? Was it too easy?

I then sprinted out of the house to the water meter, and turned the water back on to the house. All the way back into the master bath, I was wondering if it was leaking and had I completed the work properly.

As I stepped through the door into the bathroom, I immediately fixed my gaze on the faucet. Was it now repaired?                            No!        It was still dripping!

“Assume not, Know!”

I now had choices to make. I could sit down and cry, I could get mad and break something, or I could repair the other faucet which was now obviously the one dripping.

I decided to repair the other faucet rather than break something. I went to look in one of my supply drawers (supply drawer sounds better than junk drawers) to see if I might have the necessary repair parts.

Surprise, surprise, there was exactly what I needed to replace the other water faucet.

I then repeated all the above steps in the process of repairing the second faucet.                           

The mission was a success, no more dripping faucet.  I started to say, “No more drip” but then I knew someone would comment, “That I was a drip”.

When you get down to it, both faucets needed to be repaired, so I am now happy and contented.  It must be nap time.

 

May all your naps be perfect!

 

Don Ford

 

Voice of Thunder 04.17.15

 

                As I was meandering through the vast properties at, “The Ford Homestead of Hewitt, Texas”, I was enthralled with the beauty and peacefulness of my surroundings. The grass has been manicured by our gardener, the flowers are blooming and roses are not equaled anywhere else in this fine state. The garden, which will (for this couple living on a fixed income) be a main part of our food supply, is beginning to produce much growth.  

As I was viewing, “The Yellow Rose of Texas”, (which just happens to be growing in the base of one of the antenna towers) my mind was at peace with the world.

  

While thinking of peaceful thoughts, I remember the bird’s nest that is located in the rose bushes, I decided to get a photo. It is difficult to see the bird which is located just behind the rose in the center of the photo. Yes the bird is on the nest, but one can’t distinguish the bird due to the growth. 

While enjoying all this beauty I was suddenly struck by an ultra-loud thunder sound, and just for a second I thought it may be getting ready to storm.  When the sound continued and grew even louder, I knew it was Space-X testing another rocket. Their facility is about 10 miles from The Homestead.

                For those of you that do not live in this area and who have never heard a rocket test, you can’t imagine how loud and disrupting this sound can be. There are times when it seems to shake the ground. These rocket tests do, “have the voice of thunder”!

 

Enjoy this spring, summer will be here soon.

 

Don Ford            

 

 

 

What I saw 04.16.15

                It was one of those days when nothing much was happening. I had taken a nap, or at least I think I did. My naps are kind of unusual, in that they can be from 5 to 20 minutes in length and when I wake up I am not sure I have been asleep.

                That being said, I have developed a method of knowing whether I have napped or not. When I find myself in the reclined position and becoming relaxed to a point of possible sleep, I look at the clock. After viewing the clock, I am occasionally aware that I have closed my eyes before the nap begins, but not always.

                I suddenly become aware that I am in the reclining position with my eyes closed and I wonder if I have been asleep. I again look at the clock and if it is later than it was when I previously looked, then I have been asleep.

                The amount of nap time doesn’t seem to matter, I am refreshed and ready for the rest of the day whether it was 5 or 20 minutes.

                Exception: If I am woken from my nap by an outside source, I am not refreshed and ready to meet the rest of the day. It may be hard to believe but if I am woken by an outside source I may be a little cranky. 

                Back to my story; I had decided to go outside for some fresh air. It had sprinkled and my rocking chair was damp, so I dried it with an old towel. I then positioned myself in the chair and listened to oldies rock and roll on my tablet.

                It was a cloudy day with predictions of rain off and on all day. I have decided to expect the opposite of what the weather people say, as they have been wrong more than right, lately.

                The sun was starting to shine through the clouds so I procured my sun glasses and continued relaxing in the rocker. A few minutes passed and I noticed that the sky was almost completely blue. The clouds were gone and the sun was shining brightly. I then noticed two small puffs of cloud moving from the south to the north at what seemed to be a very quick pace.

                Thinking the small puffs of clouds that were moving at a quick pace was unusual, I continued to observe. The two puffs joined and formed what I saw as a rough looking horse, possibly an old time war horse. The cloud then morphed into what appeared to me as a person with a sword, then it changed into a person without the sword, finally the cloud again divided into two and moved quickly out of sight. 

                Within just a few more minutes the sky was again cloudy and the sun was hidden.

                I continued to rock and observe the neighborhood.

 

We probably see, what we want to see, in the clouds!

 

Don Ford

 

North end of a... 04.15.15

                The title for this well written and definitely opinionated article, came to me as I was driving on Thursday afternoon. I observed things that made me wonder why some drivers had a license or, if they had a license.

                The entire title is,

North end of a south bound horse.

Yes, that makes them a horse’s butt.

The first thing I noticed was a truck (eighteen wheeler without the trailer) that pulled up behind a car at a stop light. This tractor was just a few inches away from the back of the car. I questioned why he is that close to the car. Then I observed the car driver was looking into his rear view mirrors as if he was wondering what the truck driver was doing.

This truck was one of those that had a huge living area, not just a sleeper cab. Looking at the truck it appeared to be one that was used only as an over the road vehicle and it popped into my head that this driver has probably not lived in a house for years.

I don’t know if the car driver had cut the truck off or it the truck drive was just a, “north end of a south bound horse”. 

At the next stop light, where I was stopped, I observed a car with a female driver coming from my right and turning to drive down the street that I had just came up. This driver had her cell phone (which had a pink case on it) in her hand looking at the phone as she made the turn. That is distracted driving and she is, “the north end of a south bound horse”.

I was on my way home driving in the right hand lane when a car driving along side of me pulled ahead of me, a little. This female driver then pulled in front of me almost hitting the front end of my car. She did not indicate that she was coming into my lane “no turn signal”. I assume that she either didn’t care that I was there, or she had no idea that I was there. I think she had her head up, “the south end of that north bound horse”.

I may be somewhat like my mother. I remember when she would drive she was always pointing out the errors that other drivers were making.

 

When driving;

“One should only be distracted by good looking people!”

 

Don Ford  

 

Light bill 04.13.15

 

                While I was laying in my bed watching the old black and white TV shows, there was a comment that caught my attention.

                What? What does it make any difference which TV show I was watching, my story has nothing to do with the show, it has to do with the comment made by one of the people on the show!

I am telling you, I am getting tired of these constant interruptions.

                Now I have lost my train of thought. I know I was thinking about the olden days and prices of things. It had nothing to do with a candy bar that today costs $1.49 which use to cost a nickel.

                OK, I looked at the title line and I now remember, I was thinking about the, “Light Bill”. If you are old enough, or a student of American history, you may remember when the electric bill was called the light bill.

                Why was it called the light bill, you asked? It was due to the fact that for most homes, the only thing that was powered by electric was the lights. There were no electric stove, furnaces, food processors, 4 TVs, computers and all the other devices that we now have that are all powered by electricity.  

                Think about this for a minute, unless the home owner was rich, there was no vacuum cleaner in the house. People used the broom to sweep the big things up in a pile, then they swept the pile into a dust pan. As a final attempt to clean, they used the dust mop to get the dust out of the house. 

                I remember the sun shining in through the window, (the window shade, which was attached at the top of the window, could be pulled down to cover the entire window) allowing some sun light into the room. This sun light not only provided light in the house, it also would show the amount of dust that was floating around in the air, after the broom and dust mop were used.

                *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *            

                Speaking of lights, I now have the proper amount of light in my so called office area. As I had afore mentioned, my old florescent light fixture had burned out and I had replaced it with a two light incandescent fixture. The two light incandescent fixture may have provided one third of the light that the old four foot florescent fixture did.

                The first time my grandson Alex walked in after the incandescent fixture had been installed, he commented, “papaw, your light is burning out, you need to get a new one”. It was obvious to me, Alex and everyone who had entered the room, there needed to be more light.

                I ordered a four foot fixture from my previous employer and with the help of my son David it was installed yesterday.

                I knew it, more questions!

Ok, I will explain why I needed help to install a simple four foot light fixture. I needed someone to hold the fixture up to the ceiling while I connected the wires and screwed the screws into the ceiling. Any more questions?

 

Yes I still have allergy symptoms! You asked about everything else, but you didn’t asked how I was doing (hurt feelings). The rain we had yesterday may have helped a little bit by cleaning the air somewhat.

Thinking about the rain yesterday, I was relaxing on the front porch, tablet in hand when it first started raining. The rain was a study but light rain. As I surveyed the neighborhood I noticed the street was wet but there was dry areas on the roof of the neighbor’s house. These dry areas were due to the tree limbs that now have a full complement of leaves sheltering his roof.

As I sat there listening to the old 60s channel on XM radio, I was aware of a sound coming from down the street, possibly at the end of the block. It was the sound of very heavy rain. As I listened, I could hear the heavy rain moving up the street. Then I could both hear and see the heavy rain coming. The rain enveloped the entire area, it was not a blowing rain, it was one of those straight down rains.

The heavy rain was short lived and within a few minutes we were back to the light steady rain. I then noticed that the neighbor’s roof no longer had dry spots on it.

I was enjoying the oldies music, as I sat there playing solitaire on the tablet, when I again heard the sound of heavy rain. This time the rain passed to the east of where I was, possibly a football field distance from me. I could both hear and see the rain and I found it interesting that the rain would be very heavy just 100 yards away while it was very light where I was. One would think the rain would be consistently heavy or light without such a distinct dividing line. 

 

I must stop now, as my spouse of 46 years has informed me, I will be allowed to go to town and procure a new filter for the refrigerator.

 

I am back now and I was lucky to first go on line to see who might have the filter that fits our refrigerator. The home center that we purchased the refrigerator from had the filter for $54.00. The other home center with the word Home in its name, had a package of two filters for $49.99, two for less than the price of one.

Filter installed, all is well at, “The Ford Homestead”.

 

Have a happy April day!

 

Don Ford

 

What happened to the Alley 04.09.15

 

In the photo below, you will see the trash containers placed on the street in front of the homes on our block. In years past, at least where I lived in Missouri, there were alley ways behind the houses. On trash day the trash cans were placed at the alley and the trash truck would come down the alley to pick up the trash. I think that was a good arrangement.

As one can see the trash containers are now placed in front of the homes, and that big old garbage truck is allowed to drive on our street.

When one considers the old alley way system there were some good and not so good points. A good point was that garages could be located on the alley which left more room for the yard.

A bad point of the alley was people could and did use the alley as walk ways, even though there were sidewalks in front of the homes. Walking in the alley meant one was not seen by the home owners. If one was going to steal or break into your home, they would likely come from the alley.

Also, in the olden days the trash cans were made of metal and were usually ugly.

As I sat outside this morning without the face mask on, pollen flying all around me, I was considering the difference between a gas fueled internal combustion engines and a diesel engine.

As we all know, gas fueled engines have spark plugs but most diesel engines do not.

The spark plug in the gas engine fires (sparks) which ignites the gas (fuel) causing a combustion which pushes the piston down. As I understand it, the spark in the gas engine occurs a degree or two before T D C, top dead center (that is before the piston reaches the top of the stroke). 

The diesel engine fires due to the compression of the fuel in the cylinder, without a spark.

My quandary is, are diesel engines noisy due to the early ignition of the compressed fuel and if so, how early does the combustion occur.

 

Another question would be, why are there 2 cycle and four cycle diesel engines?

Two cycle gas engines are usually small and the oil is mixed in and burnt with the gas but two cycle diesel engines do not have oil mixed with the fuel.

If you know the answers to my quandaries, please inform me.

 

 

Thanks

 

Don Ford 

True story 04.08.15

 

                I was being considered for nomination to be on the school board. There were four openings and my nephew Paul was working with me. I expected to be one of the nominees that were going to be announced in just a few minutes.

                The announcement was made and I was not one of the candidates. In case you are interested, it did hurt my feelings, no one wants to be rejected especially where everyone knows what happened.

                I, took my hurt feelings and left, wanting nothing to do with those people. I walked for a while, trying to rationalize why I had been rejected.

                I found a place to sit and rest and there was a TV. The news person was reporting that one of the nominees had turned down the nomination.

                My nephew was trying to locate me to let me know that I was going to be the nominee replacing the fellow who rejected the offering.

                When I learned of the offering to be the nominee, I became a little irritated. I had decided that I would publicly reject the offer stating that I was not going to play second place to anyone!

                The dream ended, I crawled out of bed and strolled toward the toilet. 

 

                You ask how this could be a true story. It is true because the dream happened to me and I remember it.

 

 

                My allergies are killing me today. My nose will not stop running, I have been sneezing and I have been wearing a face mask all morning but I am not getting the relief. 

 

 

 

May all your dreams be positive and happy, may you have no allergies!

 

Don Ford

 

 

 

 

Questions and answers 04.07.15

 

                I thought I should answer some questions that I have received from the millions of readers out there.

                Did we have family to the house for Easter?  Yes, family were all here and the Easter Bunny brought Alex a tablet. He immediately began taking photos of everyone and at one point requested that everyone go into the back yard and pile up (he meant stand together) so he could take a photo of us.  Yes, it turned out good.

                Many of you have asked how the garden is doing.  It is coming along nicely, between the light rains and my watering it has begun to grow.

                One of the most asked questions was, “did anyone play an April Fool joke on me”? There was one joke played on me and it wasn’t very nice. I had decided to wash the truck for several reasons.

First it was dirty and needed to be washed.

Second, it had not been washed for about six months, (I try to wash the pick up at least twice a year).

Third, it was covered with pollen.  You should know that my truck is a dark gray and with the pollen it was a light greenish yellow.

                After washing the truck and drying all the glass, I moved it part way into the garage. This allowed me to be close to my wall mounted shop vac. While inside the truck attempting to remove some of the dirt and dust, I happened to look out the recently washed, front windshield which was now covered with pollen. I was surprised to say the least, and that is when I looked at the hood, it was also covered with that greenish yellow pollen.

                I had just washed the truck and it was already covered again with pollen. After several minutes of crying and asking, “why me”, I gathered my composure and continued the process of removing dirt and dust from inside the truck. Mother Nature had played a cruel April fool’s joke on me!

 

                Another question is, how is the yard looking this year? It looks fairly good considering all the weeds and acorns that are in it. I have mowed a couple times and it looks good following a mowing. I mowed on April first after washing the truck and as usual I follow up the mowing with the leaf blower to clean off the drive way and walkway. This time I looked at the recently washed truck and decided to turn the leaf blower on the truck. Wow, there was a yellow cloud of pollen that arose from the vehicle as the air from the leaf blower did its job.

                I was asked if I found where the smell was coming from. The other night my spouse of 46 years was sitting at my desk, using my computer looking at photos that she wanted to have printed. I had walked in to see how she was progressing when the aroma of something that smelled as if it was getting hot, hit me in the face. I began to touch everything in the room attempting to locate the overheated item. I found nothing so I decided to walk out into the garage to see if the aroma was coming from there. It wasn’t!

                I returned to the office and was again struck by the odor of something getting hot. I again touched everything that could potentially become hot and nothing. I then walked from the office to the laundry room and the smell was not there.

                I was now sure what ever was causing the odor was coming from the office. I, not being one to give up easily, again surveyed the room for potentially hot items.

Looking up possibly for, “divine intervention”, I observed the fluorescent light that has served me for many years. Could it be this faithful servant, “the light?”

I carefully removed the plastic cover, and touched the metal fixture. I found the source of the hot smell, it was the ballast in the light.

I removed the entire fixture (a four foot two light fixture) from the ceiling and my present spouse brought a lamp into the office. The ballast in the fixture was leaking hot tar (or some type of black substance that looks like tar).  

What?  You want to know if I replace the fixture. The next day I went to the local home center and purchased a two light incandescent fixture. I installed it in a professional manner and I must say, it sucks! I now have about half the amount of light as before.

My 5 year old grandson walked in the office and said, “Your light is burning out, you need to get a new one, I didn’t tell him it was a new one.

Being totally unsatisfied with the new fixture, I have ordered another 4 foot fluorescent fixture which I will install later this week.

 

There are other questions but I am tired and will stop for now. If you have questions just go to my web site and click on the button marked, Questions.

 

I hope you are having a marvelous day.

 

Don Ford

          No I don’t have a web site. Being on a fixed income I can’t afford one. If enough donations come in I will get one, thanks for asking.