Unusual People 11.29.15

        As my numerous followers well understand, my present spouse and I usually enjoy brunch together on Sunday mornings. This morning was somewhat different from others as there was a parking space right close to the entrance.
        This morning I did not attempt to procure a rocker on the front porch of the restaurant in hopes of having a conversation with, an interesting stranger. You may be wondering, why did he skip this part of his Sunday morning ritual? The answer is very simple, which leads me to believe, most of my following will be able to understand the answer. The weather was rainy and the temp was 40 degrees. When it is that cold I do not loiter outside. Also, there was no one, not one person on the porch to talk with!
        Inside the building, there is a shopping area conveniently located to allow the customer to shop while they wait to be seated in the eating area. I do not enjoy shopping, in fact, I usually try to stay out of the shoppers (female of the species) way!
        We were seated near the windows but not in front of the windows, on the south side of the restaurant. Experience has taught us to avoid the windows on cold days. Last year we complained about the cold air that was coming from the windows and we were told they were going to be sealed that very evening. I somehow doubt that the windows were ever sealed, as the people sitting in front of them were complaining about the cold air.
        Donna and I ordered our drinks and then waited for a while for the wait staff to return to our table, to take our food order.
        Now we know why they are referred to as wait staff. They occasionally make the customer “Wait” to be served. I observed our wait staff talking to the manager about someone’s bill. I assume there was a problem which kept us from ordering.
            Another little known factoid, all wait staff are trained to stop at your table and ask, “How is everything”, just after you have taken a bite of food. They know all you can do is to nod your head, and they assume you will not attempt to make a comment with your mouth full. This is the “Wait Staff’s” way, of doing no more than absolutely necessary.
        At some point another wait staff person (a male of the species) stopped at our table and asked if we had been helped. I explained that we would like to be visited again, by our wait staff person, if he could find her.
        He returned after a short period and explained that our wait staff person was busy with the manager, and he ask if he could help us. I noticed that his name was David, so I explained that we had a son named David. I asked if he was related to our son. He looked at me as if I had two heads! I guess he didn’t know whether he was related or not.
        We placed our orders and it wasn’t too long until the food arrived.
        As we were partaking in the brunch repast, I noticed an odd group of people enter the eating area. This group was seated at a round table in the corner of the room. I don’t think they were seated there because they were different from others in the room, there were several of them and the table, large enough to accommodate the group, was located in the corner.
        My present spouse was unable to see them, they were seated a distance behind her, so I had to try and explain what I was observing. Their clothing was not unusual and to the untrained eye, they would have appeared to be normal people.
        I, being trained to understand body language, found it interesting that this group of people which consisted of three adults and three young people, were not following accepted protocol in the dining area. I don’t want to say they were freakish in their actions, they just did not seem to be from this century.

Before you ask, no they were not Amish, I have previously stated, they did not look different from others in the room to the untrained eye. If you try to focus on what I am writing, you may be able to learn something from this well-conceived article. 

At the same time all this was transpiring, there was a couple (one male and one female of the species) who were escorted to their table. I signaled my first wife to look at the way this female of the species was dressed. She had multi colored, striped yoga pants on and they were ugly, while they were drawing attention to the body that did not need to be inside said pants. Please understand, as a male of the species, I am totally in favor of yoga pants, when they are a solid color and when they are worn by the properly sized female of the species. 

I also find it a little disheartening, that I would need to explain that the couple consisted of a male and female.

Please excuse my deviation from the original story line.

The group of six sitting at the table in the corner may have been a family unit. They were not only looking at each other but they were also engaging in conversation, you know, “talking to each other”. That was odd enough that I thought the manager might go to their table and ask them to leave. The icing on the cake, so to speak, the young fellow, who appeared to be a teenager, had an unusual item in his hand, and he wasn’t attempting to hide it!  This young man had a book in his hand.

Do you remember what a book looks like? This one was a hard back copy with paper pages inside. No one at the table appeared to have a tablet or a smart phone.

        Wow, it was somewhat of a shock, but I was impressed to see a family who sat at the same table and were making eye contact with each other. There was conversation between those at the table, you know, they talked to each other!

After giving this situation careful thought, I have arrived at the conclusion, “they may have been time travelers from the past, who had come to the future”.

        One doesn’t expect to see people acting so unusual (unusual in this situation is defined as, “what use to be normal”) in public.
        After the adventure at the restaurant, my first wife and I headed to Atwood’s Farm Supply. They had an item on sale that I do not need but I have wanted one for some time now. It was still raining when we arrived at the store. I went one way and my spouse of 46 years went the other way.
        I found the item, but the sign on the product indicated regular price. I should have asked but I assumed it was on sale only on Green Friday. Green Friday means the same as Black Friday, you know, when the stores take our hard earned money.  
        I cried all the way home, I felt so let down. I had the $7.99 in my pocket. Do you know how long it took my present wife to pick up enough cans to give me $7.99? Well it took her a whole day, and in the rain too!
       
       December is almost here and my present spouse is erecting Christmas trees in the house. No, I am not allowed to participate in this venture (thank goodness).

        I have noticed no one has asked about the next chapter in the, “Understanding Time Travel” saga.

Again my feelings are trampled on (I started to say my feelings were hurt, but trampled on sounded more severe).

May all the sale items be priced properly for you!
Don Ford

Do you believe in magic? 11.27.15

            Is it magic, or is it just plane ole good luck?

            In the beginning there was Don and Donna, married and happy. That is when we both became aware of a thing that offered us, “the possibility of good things to come”.

            It is true, each time this happened, something good occurred in our life. It could have been just good luck, or possibly positive thinking on our part. If we needed something and didn’t seem to have enough money, when this event happened, we would soon find the money needed. What was this mysterious event, it was finding a penny heads up.

            What caused me to start thinking about this phenomenon was an event that happened on Thanksgiving Day. Before that one person makes a comment about what I am going to say, I am not going to respond to your comment! 

            My normal morning routine was being followed and part of the routine is to kick back in my recliner with a cup of coffee and watch the so called news. I turn my cell phone on and then I check the cell phone for emails.

            I seldom get email from someone I know, most of my email is spam, even though I have opted out of many spam mailers, some keep coming.

            As I sat there with my cell phone in my left hand, I was using my right hand to manipulate the screen. That is when it happened unexpectedly! Magically, a penny appeared in the palm of my left hand and it was heads up. 

            Now, a non-believer might want to believe, that the penny was somehow, unknown to me, stuck to the back of my cell phone and it just happened to fall off the back of my phone, into the palm of my hand, a couple minutes after I had picked up the phone. Believe what you want, I believe the heads up penny, magically appeared in my hand, and it is the omen of something nice in the future!

            I don’t know what the magically appearing penny is for, but it will be something very nice. Could it be a new German Sheppard puppy? I don’t know, maybe, or something else nice!

(I have tried to make that same penny, stick to the back of my phone several times, and I can’t make it happen.)

May all the pennies you find, be heads up!

Don Ford

Is getting high bad for you? 11.24.15

 

            What a silly question, everyone knows there is no right answer to this question!

If you are a senior citizen or even a senior non-citizen, getting too high on a ladder and then falling off is bad for you.

If you are a senior citizen, and you get on an airplane that flies 30,000 feet above the earth, it is not bad for you (unless it falls out of the sky).

I began to consider this subject a couple days ago, when I saw Charlie getting high. Then the next day there was Molly, she was just as high as Charlie, what is this world coming to?

            Charlie likes the high and lows of using a slide from the kids fort.

Different subject:

In an effort to respond to questions from my multitudes of bookworms, I have chosen this frequently ask question to answer, in this exciting postication (postication, is a new word that I take credit for, meaning something I wrote and posted, kind of like publication). 

                        “Why do I walk in the dark, and why do I walk just along our street?”

            Those are good questions, thanks for asking! I learned to make a positive statement, or what seems to be a positive statement, in my first response to any question, by watching career politicians. They lie so easily, it would be fun to watch if it weren’t for the fact that they are being paid to lie to you and me. So again I say, “Those are good questions, thanks for asking!”

            Your first thought might be that I walk before the sun comes up, because I am walking in the nude. That is only a true statement when the weather is warm.

            Walking in the predawn hours makes it difficult for me to see the yards and properties of others, and walking the same path may be somewhat boring but, it keeps me from judging others. 

            I know, it is difficult for you to even think, that I might be judgmental, and in truth I am not. I do however examine what others have done, or have not done, in their yards, trees, flowers and shrubbery. Then after careful thought, I determine what they should have done to meet my expectations. Then I realize that these people will probably never live up to my high standards, and I have wasted all that thought processing time, when I could have been meditating on more interesting hypothesis.

            Now you know why I walk in the dark, I do not want to be distracted by others inabilities to manage their properties according to my rigid and precise requirements. 

 

            I guess I need to stop my journalistic endeavors and go outside to work on the outhouse and a few more lighting chores, that my present spouse is forcing allowing me to do. The outhouse is where we put the flowers to keep them from freezing during the winter, some people refer to them as a hot house but ours is not very hot.

I have a frame made of PVC and I will move it to it’s out of the wind location then cover it with a clear plastic. I install a shelf area which allows more flower pots to be stored for the cold months.

You may recognize the frame from being on top of the original part of the kid’s fort. I took it off and it has been in the way all summer. Now it is being put to good use.

 

We hope your Thanksgiving is filled with family, friends and plenty of food. If you are driving please take your time and watch for the other guy, “he is a nut”.

 

Don Ford

 

Forced Labor 11.23.15

            Sunday before Thanksgiving was the day that I was forced in to labor.

            You have probably guessed that the culprit in this story is my present wife of 46 years. She had previously “allowed” me to bring all the Christmas decorations and affiliated items to the garage. Then she went to work putting the trees and rain dear together.

            Her plan, unknown to me, was to get me in a good mood by going to brunch, then returning home and forcing me to help install decorations, without so much as a nap!

            If only you knew the cruelty this person is capable of dispensing. 

            I tried to be positive and upbeat, I even put on my Christmas tie with my blue denim shirt. I then rolled the windows down on my first wife’s vehicle and turned on Christmas music.

            The work started. I was required to get a ladder and attempt to install the lights along the roof (icicles). My spouse had disposed of all the previously used icicles lights and purchased new lights. Do you know how hard it is to properly put up the new lights? If you have never been forced into this type labor, you have no idea of the inherent difficulties involved.

            The new lights will not unfold properly, in other words they do not hang down as icicles should.  Also the old lights were numbered so I knew which one went where. The process took hours and I had to move the ladder many times which meant I had to climb up and down from this ladder.

            Retired seniors should not be forced into this type situation.

The sun had gone down and it was getting even colder (45 degrees) as I finished the last string of lights. Well, almost finished, there is about a foot that hasn’t been fastened to the house. That short piece will need a nail and I will also need to attach an electrical cord, so I decided I would attempt that maneuver during the day light hours.

As darkness set in and the cruel cold night descended on The Ford Homestead, I was forced to continue working without a break. I covered the faucets as it was predicted to be a frost during the night hours. I then walked all the way to the back shed and retrieved the big red wagon.

This wagon has served me well, in my many years of forced labors in the yard. I strained my frail and tired body to pull the empty wagon back to the front of the estate, where I made repeated trips moving flowers into the safety of the garage.

What? You want to know how many repeated trips? Let me think, there were two trips with potted plants in the large red wagon.

Finally, I was allowed back in the house, cold and tired I had to fix my own supper, a cup of soup and a sandwich. When I completed the well-deserved but light meal, I was then forced into washing my dish and glass.

Finally, I made my way to the old chair in the corner of the room where I covered my frail body with a hand me down blanket. This old blanket covered my legs but not the rest of my body. It was nice to be able to rest and be somewhat covered with the blanket.

After an hour or so I had enough strength to get out of the chair and make my way to the bed. Tired from the forced labors, my body was hurting. I finally found a somewhat comfortable spot on the bed and I drifted off.

Don’t worry about me, I will probably be ok?

Don Ford

Parts of this most excellent story, may have been exaggerated somewhat.

Government employees 11.20.15

            I wanted to say government workers in my heading, but that might be a misnomer. As I was motivating into the city this morning I observed one of many time wasters provided by the City.

            Imagine, if you will, there is a City owned pickup truck, parked on the side of the highway with its flashing lights on. I assume the pickup cost between 30 and 40 K.

            Inside this pickup, there was a person who appeared to be a city (AKA Government) employee. I could be wrong, this person might have stolen the pickup.

            About 100 foot in front of the pickup with the government person inside, there was another person. This person appeared to be picking up litter from the grass medium between the highway and the service road.

            Let’s review, there is a pickup purchased with tax money, there is a person sitting in the pickup paid by tax payers, and there is another person walking in the grass medium also paid by tax payers.

            It is my opinion that a government supervisor has no ability to plan for an efficient work process and probably is not required to plan an efficient work process. Possibly, those who work for the government, are not qualified to work in the real world. Someone said, those that can, do, those that can’t are government people.

            I would suggest that the city could instruct their litter picker-uppers to both get out of the pickup and they could get done in half the time or do twice the work.

            You ask how, it is simple. The pickup with two personnel in it, would drive to the starting point. One person would get out with his litter picking up tools (a sack and a stick with a nail in the end) and start picking up litter.

The truck with the second person in it, would drive about 100 yards and stop safely on the medium. The second person would get out leaving the truck sit and start picking up litter. When the first person gets to the truck, he would dump his litter, get in and drive it past the second person about 100 yards. He would then park it and pick up litter.

When the second person gets to the truck he dumps his litter and then drives the truck past the first person and parks it. This process would be repeated until the road side was cleaned. 

            You now see, an old retired person can see how to improve the process. Maybe, they need to allow old retired persons, to evaluate all the Government employees’ jobs, and then show them how to be more efficient. 

On a different subject, my present spouse who has left me home alone, is allowing me to get the Christmas decorations out today. She said I could also bring in all the delicate plants as the temperature is supposed to get close to freezing this weekend.

Different subject, the people with the German Sheppard puppies sent me a text offering me first choice of puppies. I explained that I was on a fixed income and since it is so close to Christmas I could not pay their price for a puppy.

They said they understood what it is like to, “not have a job” and “be on a fixed government income”.  I offered them less for one of the male pups, but they could not help an “old retired person living on road kill and a government check”. 

Have a happy and productive day,               even though I am so sad, mistreated and over worked!

Don Ford

Chapter 7 Time Travel Understood 11.19.15

What the heck?

Monday morning had finally arrived after the long holiday weekend, the scientists and technicians were all arriving at work. Everyone seemed very rested and ready for the big test of the time machine.

You may be able to imagine the excitement that seemed to fill the air, as this would be a historic event. The first person to travel in time, would be from their group. Everyone knew this would be an earthshaking event, with the probability of many awards and much recognition. The names of each person involved would be written in the history books.

With all the team members present in the lab, it was decided that they would go to the conference room and review the entire procedure one last time before execution.

Coffee and donuts were served as each member of this, possibly over confident team, explained their portion of the process. Everyone knew what they were to do, during what would be a 30 minute time travel event. They were going to turn the cameras on at 10:00am and there would be continuous video of the event.

At this point Dr. Stanton said, “We should soon see another Dr. Owen, other than the one sitting here, come into this conference room, from the past”. All eyes were on the door. No one entered.

They waited for several minutes but the only Dr. Owen in the room was the present day Dr. Owen.

Something must have gone wrong, said Dr. Stanton. If the experiment would have worked, we would have seen Dr. Owen come back in time 2 hours, and he would have come from the time machine to this conference room to prove that he had travelled back in time. 

The team, somewhat deflated, returned to the laboratory to attempt to learn what had gone wrong.

They opened the door to the laboratory containing the time machine. Each person began double checking their part of the project. Dr. Owen went to the time machine to power up the computer. He opened the door and exclaimed in a loud voice, “What the heck!”

All eyes turned to Dr. Owen. “Who put these clothes in here”? Everyone gathered around to see what was in the capsule. There was a jacket, shirt, pants underwear, shoes and socks and under the clothes was an ID.

They removed the clothing from the machine and Dr. Stanton called the security supervisor to the lab.

“Is this the ID of the maintenance person that you couldn’t find the other day”?

“Yes it is”, replied the supervisor, “where did you find it”. “It was inside a machine in the other room with these clothes”. Even though everyone kind of knew this department was working on a time machine, they did not like to refer to it as such. 

“Why were the clothes and ID in the machine”, asked the supervisor? “We want to know that too”, was the response from the doctor. “Get this Freddy person up here immediately, I want to talk to him”, Dr. Stanton demanded.

He didn’t come to work today and we haven’t been able to contact him,” said the supervisor. “As soon as you find him I want to see him”, was Dr. Stanton’s response!

“Do you want me to take the clothes and ID”, asked the security supervisor? “NO, leave them here, they may be used as evidence of vandalism”, said Dr. Stanton.

That is when someone noticed what appeared to be blood, on the sleeve of the shirt. “That can’t be good”, said the doctor, “now we will need to get the police involved”.

It was decided to get the campus police involved rather than call the local authorities. The security supervisor called the lieutenant of the campus police.

The police arrived a few minutes later and reviewed the clothing and the scene where it was found. There were no signs of struggle and nothing was missing. All they had was a shirt with a little blood on the sleeve and the possibility of a nude maintenance worker.

Using the driver’s license from Freddys wallet that was in his pants pocket and the ID card, it was decided to run a check to see what they could find on this subject.

Later; the lieutenant reported to Dr. Stanton that the person Freddy, had died more than two years earlier, from a gunshot wound. It appeared that Freddy had possibly been shot by a clerk at a quick shop and then turned the gun on the clerk and killed her.

The lieutenant asked, if all that is true, then who was the Freddy that worked here as a maintenance person, and how did the clothes and ID get in that machine? 

Dr. Stanton said, we know from computer records that the maintenance person came into these two labs, we can only assume he changed clothes, tossing his old clothes into the machine, and has assumed another identity.

Even though it seemed like something from a movie, the lieutenant accepted that theory and considered the case closed.

Dr. Stanton had another theory that only he and one of the computer techs knew.

One of the techs was running a test of the computer in the time machine when he discovered that it had apparently been programed to go back in time a little over two years. He also found that it had come back to present time, the day and time that the maintenance worker went missing. It appeared the maintenance man had somehow used the time machine.

Dr. Stanton’s theory was as follows, and is correct, although they could not tell anyone. Freddy from the past had died of a gunshot wound. 

Freddy from the future, no longer had a past because Freddy from the past was dead.  Freddy got into the time machine to return to the future?  The time machine, working properly, disintegrated the machine and all that was in it.  That is when all went black for Freddy.  The time machine then reintegrated everything except the being of Freddy, since he no longer existed in the past, he cannot exist in the future.  His clothes and other objects could exist and they were left in the time machine. 

Could the above story be true, but not yet happened?

How does this time movement interfere with past and present events?

Will there be more?

Stay tuned and be enlightened!

Christmas present ideas 11.17.15

                For that one reader who is about to make some type of comment that will show their inability to consider my feelings, yes I know it is not yet Christmas!

                In today’s well written and properly composed article, I will attempt to help you through one of the year’s most difficult, sometimes depressing, always stressful and may I say, Fun Times. You may be wondering what I am describing? Well, it is my attempt to help you fine the proper Christmas present, for yours truly, me! 

                I understand that it is always stressful when searching for just the right present.

Is it nice enough for, “The Don”?

Should I get the more expensive version, so “The Don” knows how much he is appreciated?

Would a $500.00 gift card show “The Don” how much he is liked?

                All are very viable questions.

                It was suggested by one of my daughter-in-law’s, that I need new floor mats for the new Ford’s Chevy. She suggested the nice ones that cost almost as much as the pickup did. She also had the nerve to suggest that I could help my present spouse pick up cans in order to get enough money to purchase said floor mats.

I explained to the daughter-in-law, that I have this back problem and it makes it difficult for me to do any type of manual labor. I went on to explain, “If I offered to help, my present wife would probably want me to take the pickup. Then she would try to toss the cans in the back of the truck. That would present the possibility of scratches, and it would for sure, get the truck dirty”.

          Now you see why I can’t have the floor mats, it would mean work for me and my truck might get dirty.

                I offered the following suggestion to my daughter-in-law, and I offer it to you also:

“Perhaps you would like to help my present wife in her, “Canning project” (picking up the cans)!

Possibly you could make a weekend of, “Canning” with my present spouse.                     

               

                Another possibility for a Christmas present, would be something that cost even more than the floor mats! See below photo. When observing the photo the proper response would be, “OH, aren’t they cute”!

I had text a person asking about the puppies that were in the paper, and this is what they texted me back!         You can say it again, “Oh, aren’t they cute!”

                I have one additional suggestion for a Christmas present for, “The Don”, which I present to you now, and it is a new coin holder. I started to call it a coin purse, but realized I would get comments from that one person! Please see the photo below, my old coin holder is cracked and will soon be useless.

            This item is difficult to find, so I am presenting this suggested Christmas present, 6 weeks prior to Christmas, which should allow enough time for you to find it, wrap it, and send it to, “Yours Truly”, Me!

Don’t be a scrooge, get me a present!

Don Ford

Chapter 6 Time Travel Understood 11.16.15

Now that he is dead, Freddy must returned to his own present time. Freddy looked around the apartment trying to find and eliminate any evidence that he was ever there. As he thought of it, what could the authorities find? Anything that was from one Freddy was the same as being from the other.

Confident that he was now free, he left the apartment and walked to the bus stop. Freddy was careful not to walk past the quick shop assuming the police were there investigating.

An unusual event occurred when Freddy arrived at the bus stop. Freddy actually said, “Good morning”, to the other person waiting on the bus, and Freddy had a smile on his face. He thought, it feels so good not having murdered those three people, this must be what happy and not worried feels like!

On the bus ride back to the campus where the lab was located, Freddy was relaxed, happy and looking forward to the future. As he mentally reviewed all that has happened of late, it occurred to him that he is not only free of worry, he also has those wonderful memories of slowly torturing and finally killing those three people! Could it get any better?

The bus stopped at the corner near the campus and Freddy got off. He walked briskly to the employee entrance where he found that his ID was missing. Without the ID he can’t get back into the building, without being seen.

He searched all his pockets but no ID. He thought for a moment then pushed the button that rang the for the security person. In just a few minutes the security man opened the door and asked. “What are you doing here on a holiday, and where is your ID card”?

Freddy replied, “I didn’t want you to be alone so I came down to keep you company”. The guard said, “thanks, now tell me the real reason you are here”.

Freddy said, “I left my ID in a book in one of the labs and I wanted to get it before someone else finds it”.

The guard has known Freddy for some time so he gave him a temporary pass and said, bring that back to me before you leave.

Freddy headed for the lab and the time machine. At the door to the lab Freddy entered his security code and the first door opened. He looked around and no one was there, the lights were off but there was enough light to see where he was going. He walked straight to the second door and again entered his code, the door opened.

There it is he thought, my ticket back to present day, and no police looking for me. He carefully opened the time machine door and crawled inside. He didn’t notice his ID laying on the floor of the time machine, he was too excited and wanted to get back to present time. He started the computer, it took a couple minutes and then he had the options, set time and date or return.

Freddy typed in return, he looked at the word to be sure it wasn’t misspelled. He placed his finger on the enter button and pressed it.

Everything went Black…………...

Some time passed since the guard has seen Freddy and since he had not returned to the guard station the security guard check the terminal and saw that Freddy had opened only two doors. Believing something must be wrong the guard called his supervisor and explained the situation. They walked together to the lab. The lights were off inside but they knew that Freddy had entered the rooms.

Carefully they entered the first lab. The scientists did not like anyone in their labs looking at their work. They could see through the windows into the other room where that machine was, but they could not see Freddy.

The security supervisor said, “Let’s go back out into the hallway so we are not accused of interfering with anything and call Dr. Stanton”. Dr. Stanton is the person in charge of this project area. They took one last quick look around, and walked out of the lab.

The security supervisor told the guard to stay at the door and allow no one in until Dr. Stanton arrives. The supervisor went to the guard’s desk, called Dr. Stanton and waited there for the Doctor.

Dr. Stanton arrived about 30 minutes later. He had been advised by phone of what little they knew. The doctor and the supervisor walked quickly to the lab. They entered the lab and turned on the lights. Everything seemed to be in place in the first room. They walked to the second door, opened it and turned on the lights. Everything was in place. They did not see any sign of Freddy, nothing seemed to be missing, and nothing was out of place.

“You say one of the cleaning crew entered these labs,” asked Dr. Stanton. “Yes, the computer shows that both doors were opened,” replied the guard”. “Why was the cleaning guy here”, ask Dr. Stanton? “He said he had left his ID in a book and wanted to get it,” replied the guard.

Dr. Stanton asked, “Do you think he found it and left the building”? “Maybe, but he was supposed to return the temporary pass to me,” said the guard.

“Gentleman”, said Dr. Stanton, “it is a holiday and I am going home. We can discuss this more on Monday.”

The lights were turned off and the doors were locked.

The security supervisor went to the computer terminal and removed Freddy’s ID number. “If he tries to go through another door it will not work. I want to see Freddy Monday as soon as he arrives at work”, said the supervisor!

To be continued

Could I have been wrong? 11.13.15

                It wasn’t my fault, it was due to Friday 13^th!

            I presented you with a photo of a reflection of the sun in a cloud. It appeared to be the sun shining through the cloud when in fact it was a reflection of the sun. I took the photo because it was a reflection in the cloud along with a rainbow effect.

            When I looked at the photo this morning I thought I was wrong and it was the sun shining through the cloud. So I mistakenly indicated that it was the sun shining through a cloud.

            This afternoon as I sat on my rocker, I looked toward the sunset and the sun was in a totally different location, so the photo was in reality a reflection in the cloud and not the direct sun shining through.

            The sun is off the photo to the right and it is a reflection in the cloud.

My first mistake, again.

Don Ford

Not a Bow 11.13.15

            As you may know, today is Friday 13^th. I have been looking through some of my old notes in an attempt to help a friend find his work notes on a particular subject from a few years back. 

            I looked through some notes and old power points that were created by me for my employer. It was kind of a trip down memory lane. I noticed that there was several safety related items that I had pointed out which needed attention. Then I thought, was I totally negative during my visits and reviews? Possibly, the management team thought I was too negative, but I also found notes that were complimentary of the Centers. No I was not too negative. 

            Anyway, I was able to help a little.

            I am not superstitious about Friday 13^th, but I will be cautious today, and I will tell you why.

            This morning as I was in my walking while meditating exercise program, I noticed a female subject walking on my street at this early hour. I recognized the person and wondered why she was walking alone, as she usually walked with her mother and father.

She walked up to her parents’ home, and opened the garage door, got in the car and drove away. I then began to thing, were they all three walking and someone had gotten hurt?

About 10 minutes later the vehicle returned with three people inside. Two of the occupants got out of the vehicle but the third had to be helped out. It was the female subject’s mother that needed the help. She was hopping on one foot, apparently having hurt her leg or foot.

Remember it is Friday 13^th, was this injury due to Friday the 13^th?

I will leave the answer to that question, up to you.

Different subject:

            I was talking with a friend yesterday afternoon. Yes, I do have a friend, don’t start asking those silly questions. As we were discussing world events, I noticed a phenomenon and quickly retrieved my cell phone to get a photo.

            Did you know you can also make phone calls on today’s smart phones? I don’t think I have seen anyone make a call lately, they mostly text, read email, and take photos with these devices.

            Anyway, I took this amazing photo that I want to share with you.

    

            At first glance one would think it was just a photo of the sun shining through a cloud. What was neat, but hard to see in this photo, there was a rainbow effect just to the right side of the sun. Bright and pretty but no bow in this view.

            Different subject:

Gabi went on a field trip to a museum were she was the news person (above photo, she is sitting at the table).

In the photo above, she is blowing a large bubble.

They had a lot of fun, photos by Granny and her smart phone.

I hope your Friday (the 13^th) is good!

Don Ford

Ford's Chevy 11.11.15

            This is a follow-up to the 11.03.15 post.

Although we have not yet received our new license plate we have received the new step for the pickup. As expected, the step is just the right height for Alex to use when entering the vehicle. He usually jumps out, so the step is not important for his egress.

            Chevy sales person calls them steps, I call them nerf bars.

            Chevy gave us a full tank of Gas, and it is now down to ¼ tank. When it gets to empty we will need to stop driving the vehicle unless we get some donations. Being on a fixed income makes it difficult to purchase additional supplies.

 The Chevy on the right is a full sized Silverado, the one on the left is the Ford’s new pickup. Even though our truck is smaller, it isn’t too much smaller.

I hope your day is outstanding!

Don Ford

Chapter 5 Time Travel Understood 11.10.15

Day two for Freddy, still visiting with himself back in the past.

Today is Thanksgiving and the Freddys decided to go out for lunch then come back to the apartment to play some video games. During lunch Freddy one was attempting to sell the idea to Freddy two that he should not kill anyone. He was pointing out how much nicer his life would be if he did not have to worry all the time about the police finding him.

All the time that Freddy one was preaching how good it would be to never have killed someone, Freddy two was thinking, it isn’t fair that Freddy one got to kill 3 people, but he doesn’t want me to kill anyone!

Back at the apartment they got the game box out and were ready to play the game. Both Freddys were wondering who might win since they both thought just alike. Will they make the same moves, will they have the same defenses, only time would tell.

It didn’t take too long for them to find the answer. It wasn’t any fun at all. It was like someone playing checkers alone, he knew all the moves and it wasn’t any fun!

After some more preaching from Freddy one, it was decided that they would watch TV. At least they could agree on what to watch as they both were of the same mind.

The day passed slowly and there were repeated conversations about why it would be good to not kill anyone.

           

            Freddy one was beginning to realize that Freddy two was not responding to his repeated requests to agree to never kill anyone. What can I do to convince him to my way of thinking, thought Freddy one.

            What if I can’t convince him to never kill anyone, what do I do then? 

Could I take him back to the future with me, which would guarantee that he hasn’t killed, but not guarantee that he wouldn’t! 

Is it possible to take him with me?

Is there room in the time machine for both of us?

            If I take him to the future, will he kill someone in the future?

If he did the police might come after me thinking it was me. What do I do?

            If I can’t get him to agree, I could kill him and make it look like suicide. The DNA and finger prints would be the same. Freddy one did not like the idea of killing himself, but, it was a possible solution to his problem.

           

            Night had finally came and it was nearing 8:00pm. Two decided he would go get his supper at the quick shop. One gave him some money and asked him to bring his supper also.  

 Two went to get their supper of hot dogs, chips and grape soda. Arriving at the quick shop the clerk asked, where is your brother? Two, not thinking said, “He isn’t my brother he is me from the future”.

The old lady knew she had a real nut case on her hand and she reached for her gun. She didn’t show the gun but it was ready if she needed it.

Two gathered up the 4 hot dogs, the bags of BBQ chips and the two grape sodas, then walked to the cash register. He lay everything on the counter and reached in his jacket pocket for his money. The old lady mistook his reaching for the money thinking he had a weapon and she pointed her gun at him.

Surprised, two grabbed at the gun and it went off. He was able to get the gun away from her and that is when he realized that he had been shot. She had shot him in the stomach.

As he stood there in shock, they both were looking at the blood coming from his belly. Two did not say anything. He turned the gun on the old lady and without saying a word shot her one time in the stomach. She doubled over and fell to the floor. He then walked around behind the counter and shot her again, this time in the head.

Two then put his food in a sack along with the gun and walked to his apartment.

“What is wrong with you”, asked one. “I got the hot dogs for free”, said two. “What, that old woman gave you the food for free”, asked one. “Not exactly”, said Two, “She don’t know she gave it to me for free, she is dead”, replied two!”

There was a moment of silence and then one screamed, “What? Say you didn’t kill that old woman, please”! I did and I have her gun. 

“You took her gun! Don’t you know the police can use the gun as evidence that you were at the scene?”

Two asked, “How will they know I have it”. One said, “Don’t you know all those quick shops have cameras, they probably have video of you killing the old woman”.

“I never thought of that” replied two. “Your right, you never thought”, said one as he took the gun from the food sack.

At that moment he noticed blood on the sack and looked at two saying, “you have the old woman’s blood on the sack”?

“Not exactly”, said two as he open his jacket. “The old lady shot me when I grabbed the gun from her”. Freddy one said, “Sit down here and let me look at the wound”. It was bad, two had lost a lot of blood and the bullet had gone through him and out his back.

One asked if it hurt, and two said, “Not really”. One knew the wound was bad and he believed that two saying it didn’t hurt, probably meant it was real bad.

One knew that two didn’t have a first aid kit, so he asked two to lie down and said he would go to the drug store and get some bandages.

One was gone about 25 minutes. When he returned, he found two, on the floor dead.

Although one would have preferred this to have turned out differently, the death of two was a solution to his problem.

The police would find two and know he had killed the old lady. With Two dead, he can’t kill anyone else, so one would be free to live a normal life in the future, all his problems were solved.

To be continued…

Don Ford

Bird, Butterfly and me 11.06.15

                The afternoon had come and I was outside sitting on the old rocker in a vegetative state meditative state. I had a cool refreshing beverage in hand, as I observed nature all around me.

            I had noticed over the last two days that our cat Molly had tried, but failed, to catch a small brown butterfly.  She would sneak up on this winged bug, but he would fly away quickly. Then she would jump up in the air several feet trying to get this member of the Lepidoptera family.  That is the scientific name for butterflies and moths of which there are said to be over 175,000 species.

            This same Lepidoptera would land on the neighbor’s home, then molly would sneak over to their house and jump up on their wall, always missing the bug. I thought she was just an inexperienced hunter, which caused her to miss the butterfly.

            Butterfly, who the heck named them butterfly? They do not look anything like butter or a fly, why weren’t they named something else?

            Back to my observations. Today Charlie, and experienced hunter, walked over to the edge of the driveway and lay down. All of a sudden he sprang into the air attempting to eradicate this little brown Lepidoptera.

            It was the same butterfly that Molly had been attempting to catch. This Lepidoptera was fast and Charlie kept missing. After a couple minutes I noticed something that I found very interesting.

            This little butter fly would fly away from Charlie usually going to the end of the drive way. Then the Lepidoptera would return to Charlie’s location. As with any good predator, Charlie would attempt to secure the target, but unsuccessfully I must report.

            Here is the interesting part, the butterfly would fly down at Charlie in what seemed to be an effort to get him to attack. This butterfly liked to play and would intentionally buzz the cat to get him to react. I found that interesting and odd!

            Different subject, but also a nature event.

As I was enjoying a second cup of coffee on the front veranda here at The Ford Homestead, I observed a single bird fly around several trees as he was making his way across the neighborhood. He went to the left then to the right back to the left and so forth.

Why did he dodge through the trees? I began to watch and most of the birds were flying around the trees rather than over.

It occurred to this highly stimulated brain that the darn birds could have flown over the trees and in a straight line saving time and energy. 

Then I thought, why would they need to save time or energy. Also it came to mind that flying around the trees instead of over may offer some protection from the Hawks in the neighborhood.

Well, that is all the nature I can stand for the day.

May nature be kind to you!

Don Ford