I thought it was over 02.29.16

            Yes, I thought February was over, then I hear we are in a leap year. Is a leap year like leap frog, does it jump over other years. Can you believe, many years ago someone decided to make a calendar where most years have 365 days, but once in a while, we have one with, “366 days”. How dumb is that.

            Everyone should write their calendar makers and demand that this be fixed!

I may have been a:

            How did this story start, I haven’t a clue! It was an unusually quite Friday evening about 7:00pm, I was sitting at my desk thinking about nothing in particular, I guess you could say my gargantuan brain, was in neutral.

I, for some unknown reason, maybe I had a senior moment, looked in a drawer next to my desk for an item, and before you ask, I do not remember what the item was, but it has nothing to do with this story.

Slowly I pulled the drawer open, more or less as if I were expecting something to jump out at me. As usual, I was surprised at all the junk, I mean interesting paraphernalia that I had saved over the years.

            There were many wonderful items from the past resting in the drawer. My focus locked onto a blue vinyl pouch. I wasn’t sure what was inside this blue pouch, I carefully extricated it from the drawer. What was the item that has been residing in the drawer for several years? Would it be some forgotten artifact that will bring me fortune and happiness? Will it bring back memories, of an almost forgotten happy time, when I was younger and more hansom? Could I have really been more hansom than I am now?

            I carefully opened the container and there they were, “binoculars”, which I just had to have, many years ago. These binoculars have a camera built in, so one could view things at a distance and also take a photo. That sounded like a good idea before everyone had a camera in their phones.  After a couple hours of searching for the USB wire to connect the binoculars to the computer, I found it. Yes, I have many wires from many devices from the past and present.

            I was able to connect the camera to the computer. The computer would not recognize the camera, so I looked through my vast software library, but to no avail, I do not have the software. I went on line but could not find any software for this unit. There were manuals to be down loaded but not software.

The following photo is of the binoculars / camera.

            I now wonder if I was a nerd, or possibly a pre-nerd, back many years ago. It seems as if I use to buy all the new electronic items. I had one of the early digital cameras. Heck, I had a computer in my office at work several years before the company issued computers to the managers.

            Can you believe it, I may have been a pre-nerd, or nerd, without knowing it!

            Changing the topic somewhat, as I was sitting in my vehicle Sunday morning listening to the XM radio, waiting on my spouse of 46 years to get ready to go for brunch, Molly decided to get in with me and look around.  Yes, she is on the dash in this photo. She later investigated the entire cab of the truck, then she went out the back window to check out the exterior of the truck, eventually sliding down the windshield onto the hood. Crazy cats do crazy things.

 

            Changing the channel (aka subject), I have picked up all the limbs that I had cut down yesterday. You probably need to know that I, was practicing being a wood butcher in the back 40 yesterday. I was removing limbs that were over the fence and I did not want to damage the fence. Being a fair wood butcher, the fence did not get damaged. I had planned to put the tarp over the trailer but can’t now, until the limbs are hauled away.

            Now that the work is done, I am here on the front porch, with my computer on my lap, typing away, preparing this wonderful article for your consumption. By the way, this entire article has 0 calories, so you may consume it, without any weight gain, but you may have just gained some knowledge.

Have a wonderful week!

Don Ford

Photostat 02.27.16

            Everyone knows how busy senior citizens are, heck we almost never have any free time for relaxing and goofing off. That factoid (an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print) being stated, I happened to be working my way through the house passed the TV when I heard the word, “Photostat”, used on the TV show Perry Mason.

            What? You want to know why the old time program, “Perry Mason” was on the TV.            Darn it, I have asked you to hold your questions until I am finished, then I will accept questions.           *#^*#@%!           

OK, I will answer this one question. The reason Perry Mason was on the TV is because senior citizens on a fixed income like me, can’t afford a new TV. The old TV only gets old TV shows.  Are you happy now, after embarrassing a senior on a fixed income!

Back to my thought, what was that thought? Ok, I read the title and I now have the thought in my senior brain. I, being an aged veteran of many years working around office areas, remember the term Photostat, which was just a copy of something.

I find it interesting how words like Photostat, which meant something at one time, mean nothing now. I also find it interesting that words that use to mean one thing, like Mouse, now have additional meanings. I have more than one computer mouse, is the plural, “mice”?

If I say, “I have mice in my office” would there be a misunderstanding of what I mean?

            

May your mice all be, of the computer variety!

Don Ford        

Poor service? 02.25.16

            Poor service, No it wasn’t poor service, to consider it as poor service it would need to improve 200%. 

            It started out innocently enough, I asked my lovely spouse of 46 years what she had planned for supper. She replied, “Chili”. Although I like chili, I have seen several ads on TV of late, for Long John Silvers. I had not gone to a Long John Silvers in possibly 3 to 4 years.

            My memory of their fish was good so I offered to take my spouse there for fish, which means she would not need to cook. She agreed and we headed into town.

            We arrived and walked in, there was one couple standing at the cash register in front of us. The dining area was empty, possibly that should have been a sign that we ignored. It took a couple minutes for the couple to place their order.

The young lady taking the orders was friendly, I joked with her and she seemed to enjoy my antics. We placed the order and paid way more than the fish was worth.

            Proceeding to the drink fountain, my first wife and I got our drinks and proceeded to pick a table by the window. We then went to the condiment bar and got our catchup, cocktail sauce, and tartar sauce, then returned to the table.

After a few minutes my present spouse noted that they were slow. At this point in time I saw the slow service as kind of funny. After about 15 minutes both Donna and I was less than happy. I went up to the counter and asked for our food. The girl called out to the cooks and in a minute or so the food came out.

            I took the tray and started to the table when I noticed one of the plates was missing a piece of fish. I returned to the counter and the young lady asked if I was missing anything, I said fish. She looked at the plate and I asked if she would bring it to the table.

            As you well know, I never criticize unnecessarily, so any criticisms I make, are necessary. 

            My observations of 4 employees revealed a lack of training. From what I could see, they were not organized. I do not mean organized as in a union, I mean organized as in working as a team.

There is an old saying that seemed appropriate in this situation, “the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing”. It did not seem to me that any of the employees were working toward the same goal.

They may have had an employee with the title of manager, but the title of manager doesn’t mean a person is a manager. If I were manager at that location they would need to shut down for a while, as I would have fired the entire group and started over. 

Any workplace is only as good as the people that work there.

On the drive home my present spouse and I enumerated the other food establishments that we could and should have visited, where we would have received better food, better prices, and real service. 

I truly wanted to make other comments about this worse than bad service but I decided to be kind and shut up!

May all your service be better than expected!

Don Ford 

Normal Day 02.21.16

            It was a Saturday in February, much like many other Saturdays that I have experienced in my astonishing life. I awoke about 6:00am which is a little later than normal for me, and as usual, I vaulted out of bed. Awake, alert and ready for the day I visited the privy. (For that one low information reader, I will explain the word privy, has more than one meaning, but in this setting it means outhouse, even though my out house is inside, most of the time.)  

            Paper work completed, I then proceeded to the kitchen area for a cup of coffee. I couldn’t find anything challenging to do so I watched the so-called TV news. As usual, every story they presented started with, “Breaking News”. I saw nothing breaking about the so-called news as I enjoyed my coffee.

            My wonderful first wife awoke and upon her entry into the great room where I was reclining, she asked, have you already taken the limbs to the city. It was at that moment that I realized I had a task to preform, also known as forced labor or no lunch.

            I bounced out of the recliner and dashed outside to the Ford’s Chevy, which was attached to the trailer. I, being safety minded did an equipment check walking around the vehicle and trailer observing such things as tires being inflated properly and proper operation of all lights.

            The equipment was in proper and safe working condition, so I headed for the location designated by the city for limb disposal. After a brief conversation with a city employee at the gate, I drove to the site and waited my turn. After only a short wait, a city worker motioned to me to pull up to the chipper.

            It is my belief that these city employees do not want to be there, unloading these limbs and placing them in the chippers. Heck, it is a lot of continuous work, no one would want to do this type of work on Saturday.

I also believe, the city employees intentionally place their chipping equipment in a manner that requires the citizen in their POVs, whether it is a pickup or a truck with a trailer, to be in the area where all the excess debris is deposited. The chippers blow most of the chopped particles into the back of a dump truck, but some of this trash misses the dump truck and with the help of a little wind, it blows onto the citizens POVs.

            In truth, if I were doing the work of the city personnel, I would have placed the equipment in the same manner. If they would have placed the chippers to benefit the citizens, then all the debris would have blown on them.

            Yes, the Ford’s Chevy needs to be washed. Believing the prognosticators, I have not washed the Ford’s Chevy, as they have predicted rain for today. Everyone knows that nature will do an excellent job of washing vehicles with no minerals in the rain water!

            Returning home, I parked the trailer near one of the many out buildings on the back 40, at The Ford’s Homestead. I then placed the wooden braces that I had built years ago, on the trailer. These braces are there to support a tarp which helps keep rain off the trailer and provides shelter for animals of all sorts during cold and rainy weather.

            It was then that I began to look around, noticing that there was weeds and dead leaves that could be trimmed and picked up. I was relieved when my thoughts turned from more forced labor to, I normally take my wonderful present spouse to lunch on Saturday. Excellent, no weed eating or mowing for me, we need to go to lunch.

            Prior to the drive to the deli, I was investigating some of the controls on the Ford’s Chevy, when I came across an item that I had not previously known existed. This vehicle had an adjustable warning device, that when activated, will alert you to the fact that you are exceeding a previously determined speed, set by the owner.

            I decided to set the alert and see if it worked on our drive to the deli. I set the speed to 50 mph as I knew I would exceed that speed.

            I was listening to an old time detective radio show, when I exceeded 50 mph, there was three audible beeps and that was it. There was no flashing lights, no sirens and no shock coming through the steering wheel. Yes it worked but not as dramatically as I would have preferred.

            The rest of the trip to the deli was uneventful. I did enjoy the conversation between my first wife and me, as we commented on some of the articles of clothing that others were wearing. The food was good also.

            Returning home, I was challenged with either taking a well-deserved nap, or working in the yard. My spouse of 46 years decided that she needed to go to town for a while, leaving me, “Home Alone”. Being lonely is not fun for a retired person, so I decided to be lonely while I was doing something worthwhile in the yard. Yep, I decided to get the string trimmer out and weed eat. This is not an easy task due to all the obstructions there are in the yard, but being the industrious person I am, I decided I would do it.

            During my weed trimming adventure I was attacked repeatedly by the neighbor’s dog. This dog runs up to the fence and jumps up with over half of her body above the fence. I am sure if I were to get too close she would bite me. I am also sure if she were to get into my yard she would definitely attack me, thus I have decided that if she ever gets in my back yard I will do my best to permanently shut her up!

            I not only trimmed, I got the riding mower out and mowed / mulched the leaves. I did my best to use the rider to blow the clippings and leaves into four central areas. Then I got the walk behind mower out and using the grass catcher vacuumed those four areas.

            The back yard does look pretty good, for now.

            On a slightly different subject, it has been said that I occasionally take a cat nap and that I could nap almost anywhere. It is true I have napped on a table at a road side park in the past.

            I will attach a photo of a cat nap but it is in a location that I find undesirable, even for me! Charlie has napped in many different places but this one was a surprise to both Donna and me.

Charles Lee, as he is sometimes refereed too, was found sleeping in the sink in the bath room. He has done this several times lately. It must be comfortable, he doesn’t seem to want to get up. Before that one person asks, no I did not teach him how to do that!

Forced labor and all, Saturday was a nice day.

May all your forced labor be rewarding!

Don Ford

Supper 02.19.16

            Thursday night supper with a couple friends was enjoyable. I received an email asking if anyone wanted to go to a greasy spoon for supper, to which I answered yep.

            It had been very windy and warm all day, and I assumed, wrongly, that the wind would die down around sun set, the time we would ride to the greasy spoon. The wind continued to blow making the 30 minute ride less than fun.

            I arrived at the destination, found a parking space, and waited to see if anyone else was coming. A few minutes passed as I stood outside in the gusty wind, my allergies increasing due to the wind, as I waited for another biker to show up. It wasn’t long until Wayne arrived. I asked if anyone else was coming and he said Sam was supposed to be on his way.

            Sam was supposed to ride to Wayne’s house and the two of them ride together to the restaurant. Sam never arrived at Wayne’s house and after Wayne tried to call him but received no answer, Wayne started for the greasy spoon alone. Part way there, Wayne received a call from Sam. Wayne would have taken the call while continuing to ride the motorcycle, much like the drivers of cars due, but it would be difficult to hear the phone through the helmet. Wayne pulled over in a safe parking area and answered his phone.

Somehow they had gotten the times to meet wrong. Sam was forced to start the lonely ride to the spoon filled with grease, all by himself. Sam finally arrived at the restaurant and after proper greetings we went inside to partake in the food and lively conversation.

This was the first time I had seen Sam in probably 5 years. We enjoyed the food and catching up on what has been happening. I learned that Sam had recently retired and he seemed busier than when he worked. I very much enjoyed the fellowship.

The ride home however, was something else. It was dark, and it seemed to be even windier than the ride out. The ride home took me through a lot of country side, along a river, and around the lake. There were several signs warning drivers to watch for deer. There seemed to be a lot of traffic, and the head lights of the oncoming traffic made it difficult to see if there is anything like a dog or deer in the road in front of me.

I have known of bikers who have hit deer, and it wasn’t something that I wanted to experience.

As I rode across the twin bridges, actually I was only on one of the twin bridges, the other bridge was for traffic going the other direction, the wind seemed extremely strong, and it was pushing my motorcycle around.

I arrived home safely. All in all it was a nice evening with old good friends. 

Take time to enjoy your friends!  

Don Ford

It started this way 02.18.16

            As usual I was being silly as we drove to school the other morning and for some reason the grand kids cause me to recall the olden days. When I say olden days, I mean like 59 years ago!

            Before you ask, yes I can remember that far back, even though I was almost a baby (actually 10 years old). This story will provide some info about me, after one of the numerous moves that our family made during my life at home.

Our family moved every year or two. Why did they move so much? I believe it was mostly due to my mother. I can remember living in town and hearing my mom say to dad, we can’t even go out and work in the garden without the neighbors watching. After several of those type conversations my parents would begin looking for a different home out of town.

They would find the home and move in, everything would be fine. No prying neighbors to watch Mon’s every move. (It may have been that mom watched the neighbor’s every move, and then believe that they also watched her.)

After some time in the new house in the country, my mother would begin to make comments like, we have to drive all the way in town to go to the store or, it is a long way to drive to go to church. Usually those comments were my Dad’s key to knowing, they would be looking for a house back in town soon.

This little story is not about the move from town to the country, instead it is about me! I had been going to a town school and although I was not an Einstein, I was passing my classes. 

The school I had transferred to was a big change for me. It was a two room country school name, “Juden School”. The two rooms consisted of a basement room which housed the first, second, third and fourth grades and the room above the basement which housed the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

Being in the fifth grade I sat in the first row of chairs on the left side of the room. All the fifth graders were in this one row. Then the sixth grade was in the next row, each grade had a row of chairs.

The process of eating lunch was much different from the town school. First it would be helpful to know the teacher for the 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades was a preacher. His name was Mr. Hurt. Nope I did not make that up, his name was Hurt, and he didn’t mind hurting your butt with a paddle.

There were plywood tables attached to the walls with hinges, all around the room. These tables could be pulled open and they had a leg under them that held them up. At lunch time the eighth grade boys would go around the room and open the tables, then they would place folding chairs at the tables.

Everyone would go through the line to get their lunch and then sit down which I had done on my first day. Sitting down I grabbed a spoon and took a bite. The kid sitting next to me said, “Don’t do that, Mr. Hurt has not prayed yet”. Yep, everyone had to be seated and be quite before our teacher would pray and then we could eat.  

Although the above was interesting, that was not the most astounding thing to happen the first day at the country school. It was nearing the end of the day when Mr. Hurt went to the chalk board and said copy these math problems down, they are home work.

I began copying the math problems that were fractions and I think there may have been 15 or 20 of them.  I remember thinking these are easy problems and I was answering them as I wrote them down. I thought, wow, I am doing these now and I will not have any homework tonight!

All the math problems answered, and no homework, how much better can it be for one’s first day at the country school?  I then learned that the math problems were not for everyone in the room, they were home work for the eighth graders! I had just completed the eighth grade homework, without taking it home. 

I finished the fifth and sixth grades in the country and did not learn anything during that time. We moved back in town and I was in the 7^th grade, I was so far behind that it wasn’t funny.

The two room country school is why I am, still today, two years behind!  Do you understand when the angel of death comes for me he will have to wait two more years for me to catch up! (I hope)

From the memory of someone who is behind!

Don Ford

Shed it... 02.15.16

            Ok, everyone knows that I, your non-political reporter, is one of the hardest working people in the state of Confusion! I may have noted in a previous posting, that I have been helping David build a shed in his backyard. I will include photos in an effort to help you, the reader, to understand what might be very technical jargon.

            In the first photo we see where the shed will ultimately be located. We have marked off the area and have decided where the corner blocks will be. After this photo was taken we also placed the other blocks used as the footing for the soon to be shed. I was amazed that the earth was easy to dig, it wasn’t too dry or wet. Here in the state of extremes, it is unusual that the dirt is just right. (Approx. 3 hours digging, setting, and leveling these footer blocks.)

            The next photo, taken with my almost smart phone camera, one can see the frame upon which the floor will be placed and later the building on top of that. Leveling and squaring the base frame is very important to the final assembly of the building.

            The third photo shows the floor installed on the frame, and we see Alex teaching his dad how to use a drill to attach the floor to the frame. Alex was very helpful throughout the construction process. (Approx. 2 hours construction and squaring the frame / floor.)

In the next professionally composed photograph we see, Dave pretending to be working on the partially constructed shed, ok he was really working and I was taking a photo. It was decided that we would start at 9:00am on that fateful Saturday morn, and work until we had finished.

            The task of putting the unit together seemed to be easy enough when we read the instructions. I should explain that we had built a similar shed at Dave and Claire’s home, when they lived in Dallas. The shed we built in Dallas was on mostly level ground, big difference.

We put in 9.5 hours Saturday. I must say we did stop one time for about 20 minutes to eat a, “What-a-burger, fries and a large cold drink”.  Food was purchased by my present wife. Other than that, we did not stop working and or reading the instructions until we finished.

            The last part of this project was to install the two sliding doors. We put the doors together and then entered the shed to hang them on the sliding hardware. If you can imagine, at 6:30 pm it was getting dark and we were inside the shed in the dark trying to work. That is when I remembered that my kinda smart phone was also a flash light. Finding the right app on the inexpensive windows phone, my light, “flashed to life”.  (Get it, Flashed to life and Flash light) We were then able to see what we were doing and completed the project. I should say, I did most of the holding and handing, while David did most of the physical labor.

 

Saturday 02/13/16, Dave and I completed the project (Thank goodness we are done).

We then put all the tools back in their proper location, and I headed for home. Being on my old feet for most of the 9.5 hours is tough. I was one tired puppy, ready for a night of rest and relaxation.

May all your projects be fun and complete!

Don Ford               

Found them 02.12.16

I wanted to share this with you.  I did find my glasses.

I went to the tool chest in my garage, about 15 minutes ago, looking for an item.

What, you are interrupting me again! It is none of your business, what I was looking for!

I pulled out the top drawer in the tool chest, and there the glasses were, laying there, waiting to be found.

I must have taken something from this drawer in the past and needing to see something up close, removed my glasses and laid them in the drawer. I must remove my glasses to read anything.

Luke 15:32        It was lost but now is found! That is not a direct quote but you get the idea.

Now my wife will not need to work OT, picking up cans to buy me another pair.

Have faith, and things will work out!

Don Ford

Bikers ride again 02.12.16

            Two hard core bikers, Wayne and me, went for a ride this past Wednesday. I had washed my bike the day before in hopes it would slip through the air more easily.

            I left The Homestead at 10:30am heading for the secret rendezvous location. We must have a safe location for our meetings, being in Waco Texas, as rival bikers might want to infiltrate our rides. We had invited other “hard core bikers” to ride with us but one had a doctor’s appointment, and the other had to trim some tree limbs. 

            It was 52 degrees according to my bikes thermometer at the beginning of this ride. I was unaware of the fact that there was going to be some wind on our ride. I thought the prognosticators had indicated only light winds but either they were wrong or I misunderstood. There were a few times, that we were riding leaning to the side, due to the strong southern winds, but most of the ride was, “most excellent”.

            We arrived in Glen Rose about 12:30 pm and rode directly to Hammons BBQ. Their parking lot was almost full of cars and pickup trucks. The lot had some pavement along with gravel. Gravel is bad enough when riding a bike, but the pavement with gravel on it is even worse. This lot had both and was not fun riding on the lot. We found an open parking spot next to the front door, it was as if they had saved it for us.

            We dismounted and proceeded into the building. It was soon obvious that there was one person in each vehicle as the restaurant was not close to being full.

            We found a table, in a non-obvious location, were we could see all the clientele and also observe the front door. Bikers like to see who is in the building and who is coming through the front door, just in case someone who wants to do harm were to be there, or enter.

            We ordered our food and engaged in lively conversation. I even took a little time to criticize two female customers who had a small child with them. These subjects were sitting at a table with their back to us.

The younger of the two females (I assumed mom and daughter) had numerous tattoos on her body, displayed for the publics review.

Personally I do not like tattoos, especially on an otherwise average looking female. As I was judging the younger of the two, (yes I know the bible states in Matthew 7, “Judge not lest Ye be judged”) my eyes moved to the older female subject, who may have been either over weight, or she had jeans on that were two sizes too small. Regardless, a portion of her posterior was exposed between her shirt and her jeans.

In that exposed area of possibly 6 inches top to bottom and all the way across her posterior, there was a tattoo! No I could not determine what it was, but it was red in color.

Being the good person that I am, I stopped looking at, and talking about these two female subjects. Had I have continued observing the two, I might have thrown up my lunch.

After about an hour of a combination of eating and talking we were finished and ready to ride again, that is, after a potty break.  

The weather was exceptional, with a cloudless blue sky and a temp of 74 degrees the ride could not have been any better. There was almost no traffic on the country roads.

            We took a different route back to our home destinations, and if I had not made a mistake on highway numbers, we would have had a more scenic route home.

            Arriving at the home address, the odometer on my bike indicated 197.4 miles round trip from the homestead and back. A nice sweet ride in anyone’s book!

May all your lunches be tattoo less!

Today is Friday and I have decided to extend this journalistic endeavor with two photos and a couple notes.

            The first photo show a different use for my Gold Wing. Charlie and Molly both have taken their place ready for a ride.

 

Charlie took the top seat and it has a towel provided as a bed, poor molly was forced into the lower seat and she has no towel. Noticed the look of disgust on her face. Now that I think of it, female cats can give you, “The Look”!

            In the following photo we see the flowers my wife received for a valentine’s gift. I thought the yellow roses were prettier than red and that is why I got them! 

Have a safe and nice weekend!

Don Ford

Eye Doctor 02.10.16

                I have an appointment to see the eye doctor tomorrow. Nope, I have not found my glasses. I am beginning to believe they were either somehow deposited in the garbage or, Wayne may have been correct and I may have tilled them in the garden.

                This eye doctor appointment is a 6 month checkup, but it is happening on Thursday, a day that is predicted to be in the high 70s to low 80s.

Sometimes they dilate my eyes, which makes me very sensitive to most light for much of the day. If they do not expand the pupils of my bedroom blue eyes, I will probably get on the bike and ride out to the Bunkhouse for lunch. I need to try out the new master cylinder that was installed last week under a recall by Honda. 

Other than not knowing where my glasses are, I have not missed them. Everything has been clear even at a distance. I will inquire as to whether I should have glasses or not during my visit.

Do you know how nice it is to go riding in temperatures of uppers 70s and low 80s? To me, those are the ideal temps for riding. Anything below 75 for me, is jacket weather.

If I get to ride in that nice weather this Thursday, I might make a day of it, riding until my butt gets tired. Ok I mean until I need a nap. I have taken naps at a road side park in days past. Find a park with a table and I can take a nap.

Yes it has been a nice winter thus far, heck, I have thought about planting tomatoes. I think I may have planted them early last year and I did not lose any plants to a frost.

Possible change of plans, a friend has suggested we go riding today instead of tomorrow. I have received permission from the wife to ride today so it is on. Not sure yet were we will go for lunch, possible Glen Rose and have BBQ.

I did wash the bike yesterday, so I am ready to ride!

Got to go, hope you have a fun, safe and warm day!

Don Ford

Olden days photo 02.09.16

The first photo has less equipment than the second photo, but is taken from the same prospective. The second photo shows a growing interest in Ham radio.

These photos are of my old ham radio station back in 1991. The photos are in order. I find it interesting that I had an old commodore computer and a 5.25 inch disk drive, and an old CRT monitor. There is also, what was at the time, a modern desk top computer which had the 5.25 drive and a 3 inch drive. And another CRT monitor, Wow!

The dot matrix printer is on the top shelf and below is the paper for the printer. In those days the paper was continuous, in other words it fed from below into the back of the printer, and after printing you would tear off the printed sheet/s leaving the blank paper loaded and ready for the next printing.

            There is a scanner so I could listen to lots of stations like the police.

            Did you notice the shelves that were man made, by me, for all my equipment. I basically made the shelf for the item that was going to be placed on it. I still use some of that same shelving today.

            Hidden between the blue shelf and the desk top computer there is a wall hung phone.

In the third photo there is more equipment including an HF radio and a new microphone. My wife at that time purchased the microphone for me, it was a birthday present. Do not look at the messy wires and cables.

            The fourth photo is of my first antenna system, located on a push up pole. There is a 2 meter antenna at the top and an inverted V wire antenna for HF radio, covering 10, 20, 40 and 80 meters. When speaking of a ham radio, one often describes the frequency he is working in (talking or other method of communication) as meters. 10 meters means the wave length of the radio signal is 10 meters long. 

            It has been fun looking through my old Ham folders and finding these photos of what was my radio room, later to become my office.

            Being on a fixed income, if I get active in the hobby of ham radio, I may need to get a job so I can purchase equipment, all my equipment is old.

WHAT?!         Who said I was older than my radio equipment?                     Someday I will find out who keeps interrupting my journalistic endeavors.  

Maybe I should take up a different hobby. I could make a hobby out of occasionally helping my first wife with her collection of aluminum cans, that is if it did not interfere with my nap time.

I hope your hobby is not too expensive,

but if it is, I hope you can afford, I mean, enjoy it!

Don Ford

Third Generation 02.08.16

            This is a tale of a third generation wood butcher in the Ford Family. It is true that my father was always taking a wall out, putting in a door or remodeling something. I never wanted to be involved in any of Dad’s projects, but in later life I have done some of the same things dad would do.

            As anyone who has been reading my postings should know, David and I have been working on a shed project at their home. Well, yesterday we were installing the floor on the frame, and we had help from the third generation Ford, Alex. Photo below.

            Alex was showing his dad how to use a drill to make holes for the screws that would secure the plywood to the frame. You may notice that Alex was putting safety first, as he had a pair of safety glasses on, even though they were too large for him and he had to hold them in place.

            Shed project should take one more day to complete.  

            Different subject: I have not found my glasses, I will ask for a new prescription this week when I go to the eye doctor. Thanks to everyone who donated, what? We didn’t get any donations? I mean thanks to no-one for the donations for my new glasses. I would have thought that someone would have a little charity in their heart and help a senior on a fixed income who needs a new pair of glasses.

You would feel good, if you were charitable!

Don Ford

Nope 02.05.16

            Nope, is in reference to the fact that my glasses have not magically reappeared. I appreciate all the suggestions and I have tried them all.

It was suggested that I feel the top of my head to see if they were there, they aren’t.

There was a suggestion to check around the recliner where I take naps, I have, nothing found.

A suggestion was to recheck all the usual places where I normally place them, I have and nothing found.

There was even a suggestion that I check around the top of the shower or in the window at the shower. I did, and again, nothing.

It was suggested I check in the waste paper basket next to my desk, I have checked it several times and you know what I found, waste paper, but no glasses. 

I have even followed the suggestion to check the garden that I have recently tilled. No I did not re-till it, I just looked around it, nothing found.

I did walk our back yard and also part of the neighbor’s yard, you know the part I walk through when I go over to Glen’s man cave for Happy hour. Yes Glen checked the man cave and nothing found.

It was suggested that I re-read my past few postings and then check those areas, nothing found!

One suggestion was to ask my present wife, which I did, she hasn’t seen them.

I have taken the garbage out and I have thought about checking the garbage can but…

Donations will be accepted for the purchase of glasses, for The Donald. Send all non-tax deductible donations to my web site and mark them as donation for, “four eyes”.

One person told me a story that is supposed to be true, and I doubt if they wanted it repeated, but it is so good I must tell the story. This person had gone to town, arriving at the store parking lot, this person looked for their cell phone. It wasn’t in the holder where it is normally kept. This person then looked in the adjoining seat, on the floor, on the dash and other places. I did not mention that she looked in her purse as I did not want you to know this person was a woman. This person then said out loud, “Dang it, where can my phone be?” that is when the voice on the other end of the phone (her husband) said, “Are you serious?”  He was on the phone, they had been talking and she was now looking for an item that she had in her hand.

Losing my glasses don’t sound so bad now, does it?

Don Ford

Lost and not found 02.04.16

            I have prolifically explained that lost items are always in the last place you look. I have also explained that continuing to look for a lost item after you find it would indicate a mental problem.

            I have lost something and have not found it. I have tried to stop looking but the search begins almost automatically. What is this thing that I can no longer find? My glasses.

I being retired, and on a fixed income, have, or I mean had, only one pair of glasses. If I could afford two pair, I would not be continually looking for my glasses. I could again use this wonderful brain of mine, to compose a literary jewel, for your edification, if I were not looking for those darn glasses.

            No, I am not writing this wonderful article in braille. My glasses are a single vision and for distance only. I have had the same pair since I had the cataracts removed, possibly 3 years ago. I do have to remove the glasses to read.

            If I am required to get new glasses, I would need an eye exam and who knows how much that would cost. My wife would be working overtime collecting the aluminum cans from the highways. I have thought about asking the grand kids to stay at our house over the weekend, they could help my wife pick up cans! We would tell them it is a game and they might win a prize for finding the most cans. 

            Being on a fixed income, if I don’t fine them, I may need to go to Good Will and see if I can get another pair. Do you think Good Will has used glasses?

            I don’t seem to be able to stop thinking about when I last saw the glasses, and that would be day before yesterday. Who knows, the glasses may be anywhere.

            Do you think it is legal for me to walk on the streets without my glasses? I assume it is ok for me to drive without them if I don’t text while driving.

            Vision that is considered normal is 20 / 20 and when I was young I had an eye exam and my vision was 20 / 15. I remember asking what that meant and was told my vision was better than most people. Heck now that I think about it, I was above average even as a kid.

What? I knew it! I knew you were going to interrupt me again! You want to know what my vision is without glasses! The last few times they checked, and I get checked every 6 months, without the glasses I had 20 / 30 vision.

You may wonder why I wear the glasses. At a distance the glasses make things a little clearer and they have a tendency to provide me with a more intellectual look, or possibly I make the glasses look good!

            Good news, I just checked the calendar and I have an eye doctor appointment next week. That way Medicare will pay for the exam. They do a bunch of exams, so going to the eye doctor isn’t fun, but at least I will be able to get a prescription for glasses.  

Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel!

Don Ford

Tilling in the Winter 02.03.16

            Due to popular demand, and by that I mean many of the readers have asked for this posting. Ok, I feel that I should tell the truth, would you believe there was only one request for this particular posting. 

Would you believe no one asked? I was so disappointed that no one cared about my tilling, I cried for a couple hours with no comfort from anyone. It is so lonely here at the top, I cry myself to sleep more than one night per week.

So here is the information that no one requested.

I took the weed eater and cleared the grass from an area to be tilled. I found it much easier to remove the grass with a weed eater prior to tilling when compared to tilling the grass and later trying to rake the grass and weeds from the tilled soil.

I then tilled that area. My garden has expanded which will hopefully give us a little extra area for the tomato plants.

            When you are on a fixed income as I am, you have to do all you can to save money, such as make your own clothes, find the occasional road kill (no more skunks), and grow your own vegies.

Now we have to wait for the weather to get better, you know, no chance of freezing. Wait a minute, it has been mid 70s an up to 82 during the last few days. It is February, isn’t it supposed to be cold and nasty weather? Anyway, I have a head start on the garden work, so when the weather turns nice, I will be ready.

You didn’t ask for it, but you got it!

Don Ford  

Ground Hog Day BS 02.02.16

            Ground Hogs Day is a crock of BS. It is obviously something that started in the north because they had nothing to do during those cold snow filled winter months.

As I understand it, Grandpa decided that he would tell his grandkids a story because it was so cold and nasty outside, they couldn’t go out. The kids were complaining about not being able to go outside (this was back in the olden days when kids played outside) so Grandpa said, in a calm yet all-knowing voice, “today is a special day”! The grand kids stopped complaining for a moment and listen to their wise grandpa.

Grandpa had to think quickly, then it popped in his wise mind, today is special because it is ground hogs day. The grand kids had a look of disbelief on their faces as they asked, “What is ground hog day?” Grandpa, confidently stated, it is the day that all ground hogs come out of their burro to stretch their legs. If they don’t see their shadow they go back in the burro because there will be more winter weather. If they see their shadow then they can stay outside, because winter is ending.

Does that sound odd to you? Well, that is the way it started, but later when some career politicians got involved they changed it to, “if the ground hog sees a shadow it means more winter”.

            Ground Hog, who in their right mind would have named this animal, “a Hog of the Ground”. This thing don’t even look like a pig. Have you ever tried to eat one of those so called Ground Hogs? There is no ham and no bacon taste.

            The one and only, “Punxsutawney Phil”, who came up with that name? Punxsutawney is the name of a town in some foreign state, who would want to live in a town named, “Punxsutawney”, couldn’t they come up with a decent name like, Mexia, TX or Goldthwaite, TX. Good solid names that have a meaning to people.

            Phil is the animal’s nick name, which is short for Phillip, what animal wants to be name Phillip.

            Everyone knows that a soil pig, I mean ground hog can’t predict the future! If you want to predict the future weather, you go to the Armadillo. These friendly little guys can accurately predict the weather, but they do not like the publicity so they try to stay out of sight digging in your garden and yards for the occasional tasty root or grub worm.

            Yes the Armadillo helps rid your yard of grub worms, do you think a ground pig would do that?

            Have you ever eaten an Armadillo egg? They are made of a Jalapeno pepper, stuffed with good things like cheese and chicken and wrapped in bacon, I don’t know how they get out of the armadillo, but they are good. Do you think something that comes out of a ground hog would be good?

            I want to suggest that each of you write a letter to your congressmen or woman and ask them to cancel this ground hog day, and change it to Armadillo Day!

Enjoy an Armadillo egg today!

Don Ford

                        _{Some of the above information may be fictional.}