Robot revelation 10.31.17

                The title is Robot Revelation and not Revolution. I am here to reveal only one aspect of the coming Robot Revolution, which for some it will seem as if it is a very good thing, while others will consider it as, very dangerous. This is a very short story and it is all true, even though it has not all yet happened.

                                                                In the near Future

                There will be a business man who has a small business, his name is Henry, although his name is not important, he will be married and have a couple children. They will be a typical family doing normal things. Henry’s small business is doing well, Henry enjoys arriving at work each day, and parking in his reserved spot that now has his name on it. Henry enjoys his work and having his name on his reserved parking spot says to him, “I am doing well”!

                Unfortunately there will be an accident and Henry will be blinded. It will be difficult for Henry to adjust to being totally blind. He does get a Seeing Eye Dog which helps him get around but he is relegated to having his wife and others drive him where ever he goes.

                Two years pass, and Henry is adjusting to his blindness. His business is growing and he is prospering. Although Henry’s business has nothing to do with robotics, he is very interested in the advancements. After much research into many types of robotics, Henry embraces several of these systems. One system Henry uses is in his computer. The computer reads any and all emails and other text to him. The computer listens to Henry’s voice and converts everything he says in to text which he can send as messages or print out hard copies.

                The most significant robotics item that Henry will purchase, is a “Self-driving vehicle”, he has it programed to drive him from his home to his work, and park in his parking spot. Even though he can’t see anything, he is excited to be able to once again get into his vehicle, and be taken to and from work. The excitement of this vehicle is short lived when he realizes, the self-driving vehicle is doing nothing more than what his wife would do when she drove him to work.

                As I stated earlier, this will happen! Does it make you feel happy and safe or just the opposite knowing that self-driving vehicles are, and will be, on the road with you?

 

May your day be filled with goblins!

 

Don Ford

PS,   daylight saving time reverts this coming Sunday morning. Set your clocks back an hour or so when you go to bed Saturday night!

Hot house full 10.30.17

                With the advent of colder temperatures, we had the Grounds manager moved the flowers into the hot house. We haven’t had a frost yet, but the temps have reduced dramatically. After a discussion with staff, it was decided to move the flowers prior to a frost. The grounds manager felt as if we could wait, but we decided since he was actually here for a change, we wanted the flowers moved. He had to trim some of the flowers and some had stickers so he complained that he had stickers in his hands.

                It took him twice as long as it would a normal person, but he did get them into the hot house. He then complained when he was asked to water all the plants.

                There is a lizard in the hot house, it was on one of the ornaments that was in a flower pot when it was put in the house. The grounds manager reported a grass hopper in the house also.  

                Our grounds manager complained that it was hot working in the house, he noted that it was near 90 degrees with the door open. He complained that Tres would go in the house with him, and then stand in the door way so he could not get out. We were unable to determine why Tres was going into the house with the manager. Do you think the manager smelled good? Two photos to follow, one left and one right.

     

                The manager did a good job of placing the flower pots, he said he had room for one more small flower pot. I think he is going on vacation next week, so he can rest up after all the work today.

May your flowers survive the cold!

Don Ford

 

Irritated with the old buzzard 10.27.17

                I like the title too! The old buzzard in this setting isn’t me, but I am very irritated with the old buzzard. As some of you know, I am not the only retired senior person in this neighborhood. There are plenty of the old buzzards to go around.

                My story begins on one of the coldest days we have had in a while. The temp this morning when I got up was in the 60s, it is now in the low 50s. The weather lady informed us that the temp would drop all day.  About 10:00am I decided to make a run to the cleaners to get a couple items that we had cleaned. I left the house in winds that were 25 to 30 mph. The Ford’s Chevy was bouncing around as if I were on a rough road, but I had not left the drive way!

                I proceeded east on Arkansas street, turned left going north on Texas street. The Waco Cop that lives on the corner of Arkansas and Texas streets, was taking his German Sheppard for a walk. Nice looking dog. I had driven maybe 100 feet when I became upset! I could not believe what I was seeing there in the road ahead.

                As you may know, retired persons don’t have a lot of money, and when we have a chance to get a free meal, we take it! I could not believe what I saw ahead of me. There in the road, what could have been supper at the Ford’s Homestead, was a dead squirrel.

                It appeared to be a fresh kill, possibly only having been ran over once or twice.

                My mouth watered as I was thinking about, “Road Kill Soup” for supper, while at the same time my eyes teared up, knowing we would not have Road Kill Soup for supper tonight. I decided to not tell my present spouse about this wonderful squirrel, as it would be too traumatic, and she would likely cry more than I have, over what could have been, a delicious supper of Road Kill Soup!

                Now you should understand why I am irritated with the old buzzard, or in the case the old buzzards. There should be boundaries, lines that are not crossed without severe consequences for these old buzzards. In truth, after reviewing the photo below, I don’t think they were old buzzards, but possibly young buzzards. They were not afraid of the Fords Chevy and weren’t afraid of the U S mail carrier either.

                I guess it is possible that some other retired person has trained these buzzards to find good road kill, and either carry it back to them, or bring the retired person to the road kill. That may be why these buzzards were not afraid of humans.

                Anyway, I did go get the clothes from the cleaners and when I made it home, I found that my spouse had gone to town. It was lunch time and I had some scraps that we were saving for Tres and a couple crackers for my lunch.

                After my meager lunch, I attempted to take a nap. My first wife phoned me from Penny’s, which woke me up, she said, I found them! I said great, where were they. She replied right where I had been on Wednesday. That made us both happy, as we would not need to try and find money to replace them.

What?    You want to know what she found.              It was her sun glasses that she had lost a couple days ago while shopping at Penny’s. I guess that should tell Penny’s that their cleaning crew, if they have one, are not doing a very good job if a pair of sun glasses can lay on the floor for two days.

May your day be filled with Road Kill Soup!

Don Ford

The fall of who 10.26.17

 

                As with some of my stories, this story is true, or most of it is true. I had been forced into labor here in the Fords old garage. I was working on the angel, trying to attach those lights. I know, it sounds easy. But it isn’t easy. I had been at this forced labor for about 3 hours. Something caught my attention at the house that is on the corner. It was the lady who lives there carrying a short step ladder around to the front porch. I can’t see their front porch so I was unable to see what she was doing.

                I continued my mine numbing labors. A few minutes passed when I heard a sound that I knew was not a good thing. The sound was that of a wooden step ladder hitting the ground. I looked up and there on the ground was the neighbor lady with the step ladder lying beside her. The lady began to get up as I started walking her way. As I walked I called out to her asking if she was ok. She was now up on her feet. She said, I fell face down, and I have dirt in my mouth.

                She seemed to be ok so I asked what she was trying to do. She was trying to hang a wind chime on a limb. I asked which limb and she pointed it out. I could reach the limb without the ladder. I installed the chime and suggested that she call me if she has any other ladder work.

                Chime hung, and she seemed ok, I returned to the homestead and decided to rest for a few minutes before going to get, “The Alex”, at school.

                What?    How old is this lady?         I don’t know, I guess she is mid 60’s.

 

Ask for help, it may keep you from being hurt!

 

Don Ford

            PS  this all happened yesterday, I did not post it until I saw her out and about walking. She seems to be doing just find now, so decided I could post.

Guard Dog 10.25.17

                The question is, can Tres be a guard dog? I will state that Tres will bark at all strangers and most people he knows. I will attach a photo of the 7 month old pot hound, showing an image of what could be a guard dog.

                Now there is a problem with this pot hound, being a guard dog. He has a tendency to sleep a lot, and when he sleeps, little noises don’t seem to disturb him.

                Today as we were returning from dropping Gabi off at school, there was a male person with a dog walking toward us. As this person and I approached the intersection, the male person stop allowing me to turn the corner. This person had a look of disgust on his face, I assume he thought I should stop and allow him to cross the intersection first.

                As we made the turn, Tres had his head out the window and when he saw the male subject with a dog he growled and began to bark. I said, “Good puppy”.

                He does have a look of importance.

May your guard be awake and alert!

Don Ford

Sitting outside 10.20.17

                As my neighbors know, I do like to sit outside in the afternoons and wave at neighbors and others as they drive by. I believe my neighbors may consider me as the crazy senior citizen in the neighborhood. I know, they all know, that I do have a tendency to watch what is happening in the neighborhood and I will occasionally,                 what?                Ok.                I got to go!

            It is now 3 hours later and I am back at the key board. My present wife informed me earlier that there was a leak under the sink in the kitchen. The good part is there was a plastic container with some candles in it that caught the water. I, being a master at many things, including plumbing, dashed to the kitchen and crawled in under the sink. Yep, there was a leak. I then went to the fords supply room to see if I had enough repair parts to replace the sink strainer. I did not, so I went back to the sink and removed the strainer. I placed all the parts in a bag to take with me.

            I headed off to the nearest hardware store (Ace)L. I carried the parts with me just so I would not forget anything.                    $22.00 poorer, I returned home. I reviewed all the new parts, read the instructions, went to the sink, and then called my neighbor to see if he had any plumber’s putty. He did not.

            I jumped back into the Ford’s Chevy and headed back to the store, were I addressed a young employee by saying, “why didn’t you tell me I needed plumber’s putty. He stuttered for a moment and I told him I was kidding. I then asked if I needed anything else for the job. He replied, nope. I then said, you should ask if I have the proper wrench to put this strainer in. He then asked if I had the wrench and I said yes, we both laughed and I paid another $3.00 for putty.

            Arriving back home I put everything together and had my wife stand and observe. As I lay there I asked her to put water in the sink. She did, no leak!  I then asked for more water in the sink, which she did and it leaked! L

            I ate lunch.

            I then went back and removed all the parts, cleaned them, and then made a new paper gasket. I assume the paper gasket is there to keep the metal locking ring from moving the rubber gasket during installation.

            It is back together and I again ask my lovely present wife, if she would once again assist me by running some water into the sink. No leak! J      I asked for more water, no leak! J

        We left the water standing in the sink to see if it would hold for a while and it did! J

                   

As I was saying, I like to sit outside, weather permitting. I think this may run in the family as both of my sisters and my brother have a tendency to sit outside, weather permitting. I will include a photo of one of my sisters sitting outside. Click to enlarge.

   

This is my sister, “Wilda”, sitting on her front porch up in Missouri. Yes she has the phone on the shelf behind her, just in case I call.

May your day be without leaks!

Don Ford

One of a kind 10.18.17

                Thank you! Yes the title could refer to me, as I am, “One of a kind”, but in today’s lesson I will be referring to something other than me. I am sure you will want to review this entire article, and you may even want to get involved in the bidding war that will ensue. I will provide photos which will enlighten and amaze.

                As you should know, we here at the Ford Homestead have a dog. Note I did not say puppy as he is 6 months old and 55 pounds of crazy enthusiasm. I should provide a recent photo, but I haven’t taken any of this pot hound. This dog is a pain in the back side, but there are times when he is a lot of fun. Creative is another way to describe this hound, although he is very messy when he is creating.

                The other day I had ventured into the back yard, my goal was to pick up any sticks that had been blown out of the tree during the last couple windy days. As I began this process my companion, “Tres”, was trying to take them away from me. He seems to think that anything in the yard is his, and he for sure chews on everything in the back yard. There was a couple pieces of wood from the pile out by the shed that he had chewed all the bark off. I had to pick up the bark that he had chewed off.

                Anyway, to make a short story longer, I have a couple one of a kind items that were started by Tres (chewing the bark off) and finished by me. These will be auctioned starting the day of this posting.

Wayne, you don’t need to bid!

From top to bottom we see, a two pen paper weight, then a single pen paper weight and finally a magic wand. All three items were created by Tres and then I applied the coat of sealer. Yes the magic wand does work. Please do not embarrass yourself with a low bid. Click to enlarge.

                On a slightly different subject, I was outside the Ford Homestead when I observed a vehicle stop at the corner. At first I assumed this person was looking for garage sales. When the vehicle sat there for more than two minutes (I could not see the driver) I began to become suspicious. The vehicle then drove slowly down the street. I decided to get a photo of this vehicle just in case there were any problems with theft. I walked out to the curb waiting for the vehicle to return but it didn’t. A neighbor came driving up the street and stopped for some interesting conversation.  During the conversation, I unknowingly took a photo in which the suspicious vehicle was seen.

                Even accidently, I do good work! 

Minimum bid of $200.00, start bidding now!

Don Ford

Dove 10.16.17

            I can already see, that one person, who actually read the title of this wonderfully informative article, is thinking about soap. You should not try to think, as it requires mental abilities, and by attempting to use a mental ability, you might strain your brain, assuming there is something there to strain. Oh my, I may have just upset that one person. Wait, I just remembered, that one person can’t read and only looks at the photos, so I did not offend anyone!

            My article, titled Dove, is about me during a rest period, after working my old senior retired body to a point of exhaustion. This all occurred on a Sunday afternoon. A little history before we get into the meat of this story, I had a short nap after lunch and being rested, I decided to work a little. I quickly moved to the Ford’s garage, where I moved the van out and set up my new miter saw stand. It is a folding stand with wheels. I then place my old miter saw on the stand, it looks very nice.

            After admiring the unit for a while, I then turned my attention to the angel standing in the back corner of the garage. I had previously removed 200 lights from the angel and still had another 500 to go. Removing lights sounds easy, but one should know each of these lights has a wire tie holding either the light or wire in place. First I removed these wire ties using a pair of pliers. Then I had to remove each light, and you should know each light is clamped in, so I had to get the light out of the clamp, but leaving the clamp in place. This took about 2 hours.

            Completing that project, I took the dry dog food from the bag (30 pound bag, heavy for a senior) and placed the food in the plastic tote. This took about 3 minutes.

            It was about then, that a female subject approached the garage pushing a bicycle. She presented the bike to the Ford Homestead, allowing that Gabi might like to have the bike. I then filled the tires with air and checked the bike for anything that needed to be tightened, finding only the kick stand that was loose. I then took a test ride down the block and back just to see if it was safe for the Gabi, it was. This took about 13.5 minutes.

            I then went to the Ford’s old shed and removed several 8 foot bundles of cedar lining, bringing them to the garage, where I use the old miter saw, on the new miter saw stand to cut the cedar in half, allowing for better storage. This took 17 minutes.

            I then put all the tools back in their place including moving the miter saw and stand to the shed. I then swept the garage floor removing saw dust and the plastic wire ties that I had dropped during the removal process. This took 12 minutes.

            Finally I returned the van into its position in the garage.

            It was time that I could take a break from this continuous work load, 5:30pm, Happy Time for me.

            Happy time and or Happy hour, has many different meanings for different people. To me it means sitting in the Ford’s old rocker near the garage door and resting after a stressful day. History lesson over, let’s get to the story of the day.

           

            I was sitting on the rocker, relaxing this senior body, listening to 60s music. It was somewhat windy, as the cold front had come through and dropped the temperatures into the low 70s. Other than the wind, it was a quiet afternoon as I sipped my diet coke and munched on a handful of peanuts. Suddenly and without any notice, the dove population from the neighbor’s trees took flight. A conservative estimate would be 50 to 75 doves taking flight at the same time. Do you know how noisy that many doves can be?

            I, being the consonant observer, knew there must be a hawk in the area. Again, I was surprised, as the hawk was actually an eagle, a huge eagle, flying at tree top level. I can’t be sure, but this may have been the same large eagle I saw the other afternoon as I was going to get Alex from school.

            I would love to have a camera ready when this majestic bird flew over.

            After that excitement, I went back to the diet coke and peanuts while listening to the oldies (60s music) on XM radio.

 

What a nice end, to a work filled day!

 

Don Ford

Friday 13th who cares 10.13.17

                Today is Friday 13^th, and we all should be happy. I did see on the so called TV news, that Friday 13^th is a safer day due to millions of people staying home. Consider, less vehicles on the road which means less accidents on, Friday 13^th! They also said, there are less burglary’s, again due to people staying at home.

                Enjoy the 13^th day of October, which just happens to be on a Friday!

                Changing the subject, yesterday I went with my present spouse to the doctor’s office. She was going for her final checkup on the eye that had the cataract removed. We arrived and she checked in at 9:25 and they called her back to the exam room in just a few minutes. I was surprised as this doctor has never been one to stay on schedule. It was 2 hours later when she came out of the exam room. As I sat there waiting, almost going to sleep, I canceled a motorcycle ride with a friend, as I would not be able to get back from the ride in time to get the Alex at school.

                Donna’s eye is ok, 20/25 vision in the repaired eye!

                Changing the subject, I have been told, by my first wife, that I will be with the angel in a few days.

                You think being with the angel sounds good, not at all. There is nothing but work when I am with the angel. Today I need to leave the Ford Homestead and purchase some gas for the Ford’s Chevy. Then I will stop at the Star place (that is not their real name, I don’t want to advertise for them, because in my opinion they charge too much and probably make too much money without my advertisement) for a cup of coffee. Then I go to the hardware freight store (name changed to protect the innocent) and get 700 each, 6 inch long, black wire ties. These wire ties are used to secure each light to the angel. There are hundreds of white lights on the 7 foot tall angel. I have tried to count the lights on this angel and I got different counts each time.

                First I must remove all the old lights and wire, I estimate 3 to 4 hours work. Then, after a good night’s sleep start to replace said lights. I estimate at a minimum 8 hours of forced labor to replace the lights. It is no easy task carrying this angel, as it is 7 foot tall and heavy.

                My angel, makes me work on her angel!

 

May I survive the tedious work load!

 

Don Ford

The Shadow knows 10.12.17

                It was a nice Wednesday afternoon, I was in the Ford’s Chevy heading south on Oklahoma Ave, as I approached a stop sign. It was a warm sunny afternoon, 78 degrees with a light breeze. I had the windows down in the Chevy, as I enjoyed the nice weather.

                As I pulled up to a stop sign, I looked left and then right checking for traffic, and then it happened! I observed The Shadow! This huge shadow, passed over my vehicle, and then crossed the road disappearing over a fence. What was this a shadow of? I looked up but being in the Ford’s Chevy I could not see anything in the sky.

                I again looked left and right, seeing no traffic, I proceeded cautiously through the intersection. I drove one block arriving at Hewitt drive. Again, checking for traffic and seeing none, I pulled onto the road and headed south. I again checked the sky for the flying bird whose shadow I had previously seen. There it was, a large bird that was circling slowly over the road. This bird appeared to be larger than a buzzard, but it circled like a buzzard.

                As I drove I could see the white feathers on the underside of this eagle. This eagle was flying slow as it circled looking for something to have as a meal. Unfortunately, I could not pull over and take photos, or enjoy watching this eagle fly as I needed to get to the school and secure my spot in line to pick up The Alex.

                For that one senior person who reads this excellent posting, you know the title to this well written article, was also the title to and old time radio show, “The Shadow Knows”. Yes I still listen to these old radio shows on the satellite radio.

                On a different subject, Tres has been riding in the Ford’s Chevy, with Gabi and me to school the last few mornings. Now when we go outside to get ready to go, Tres heads for the Chevy and gets in. He actually likes riding.

                Even though he is big enough to jump into the back seat, he doesn’t. He walks up and climbs in. when we return home he acts like he is afraid to jump out, but after some coaxing he does jump out. When we walk into the Ford’s old office area, Tres sits and looks at the container where the treats are kept. I have been giving him a couple treats when we get home, and he now expects it.

 

Does your shadow know?

 

Don Ford

Fall fell, winter is here 10.19.17

                Winter must be here today, it is 55 freezing degrees. It is so cold our 6 month old puppy, even though he has a fur coat on, don’t want to go outside. I am not sure but it might snow today. The ladies that I observed walking this morning were all wearing sweatshirts and long pants. Berrrrrr!

                We need rain in a bad way, but if we were to receive precipitation today, it would likely be in the form of sleet or freezing rain. 55 degrees is too cold, for a naturalized Texan.  

                Speaking of dogs. What? I wasn’t speaking of dogs. Are you sure? It seems to me as if I was speaking of dogs. You know as we get older our short term memory does have a tendency to fade out fairly quick.          

                Now let’s see, what was I writing about. Okay, I have my thoughts back, I was writing about mowing the yard. I will not need to mow this week, as we have not had enough rain. I did want to water the yard today, but with this tremendous amount of wind, that we are experiencing, if I tried to water, the wind would blow the water onto the neighbor’s yard.

                What? I didn’t tell you about the wind. The wind is exaggerating this extremely cold weather as it gusts at 30 mph. Anyone outside in this cold windy weather will be frozen in just a few minutes.

                I have been allowing the Tres to ride with Gabi and me to school. Before you ask, I don’t go to school, Gabi goes to school I just take her there.

                The problem is that Tres still thinks he is a little puppy! Yes he is still a puppy, a 6 month old puppy at about 55 pounds, but he wants to be treated as a little puppy. I open the door of the back seat to the Fords Chevy, and the Tres jumps his front feet up on the seat but he doesn’t attempt to totally jump in. He wants me to pick up his hind end and help him get in.

                Today I attempted several times to get him to run and jump in, but he did not. I, (being the Smarty I am) put a foot stool at the door and he used the stool to get into the back seat. Hopefully as time passes, he will learn to get in without the stool. He likes to ride, but has not developed the habit of putting his nose out the window.

Did you pick up on the fade out?

Don Ford

TV commercials 10.09.17

            There is a commercial about dogs or at least they have dogs in it. I really do not know what the commercial is about but today I heard these words, “If I were you, I would want to be me”!

           

I like it. There is something about the odd statement that caught my attention.

As I sit and ponder that statement, I believe it to be true, at least for me.

Knowing what you know, if you were suddenly someone else, would you want to be you?

Consider for a moment, if you were someone else, wouldn’t you still be you, even though you were someone else?

 Now, for the rest of the day, let’s take time to consider the statement!

 Your thoughts will be appreciated.          

If I were you, I would want to be me!

                              or

If I were you, would I want to be me!

Don Ford

Horses butts 10.06.17

                This informative article is about people (male and female) who are either definitely careless, possibly stupid, or they just like to do things to irritate me!

                As I have stated over four thousand times, we should be allowed to run over anyone who walks out in front of a vehicle without looking in both directions. Everyone should look both ways in an effort to be sure, that the citizen operating said vehicle, sees them.

                My story begins on a nice Thursday morning, as I was driving my favorite granddaughter to school. Yes, she is my only granddaughter but that don’t mean she can’t be my favorite granddaughter. I do have a favorite grandson too!

                We were in the drop off line near the school door, Gabi had just exited the vehicle and I had started moving forward when this male person, who appeared to be late 20s or early 30s, who had a tool belt on, loaded with tools, walked out in front of me without looking in either direction. Heck, even the kids know to look both directions before crossing a street.

                He assumed (ass/u/me) I had saw him, and that I was going to stop and allow him to cross, which I did, but it still irritates me that these idiots, assume a driver sees them.

                Now let’s get to another annoyance that occurred a couple times this week. A female person, pushing a baby stroller with an infant in the seat, and another child of school age walking with her, was observed walking on the sidewalk toward the grade school. That to me seemed proper. It was when I observed her on the return trip which tripped my trigger. This female was walking in the bike lane on the street, with all the heavy school traffic to her back, instead of walking safely on the side walk which was about 6 feet away. With her back to the traffic, she could not see if someone was getting too close to her and the baby.

                Think safety when crossing streets and drives, even if there is a cross walk, the person driving might be texting and run over you.

                I feel better now that I have unloaded this burdensome thought on to you.

 

Look both ways before crossing!    

Addendum:

                The same lady was walking on the side walk this morning pushing the baby stroller. I can only assume that somehow she learned that I was irritated and she did not want me to be upset, or, possibly she decided it was safer to walk on sidewalks!

Don Ford

                                                No, I don’t really think we should be able to run over idiots, I mean people who don’t look before crossing. 

Deputy Preacher 10.05.17

                I got that heading from an old radio show I was listening to this afternoon. The radio was originally aired in 1946, and that was before I was birthed. I like listening to the old shows and they usually have old time commercials too. This radio program was a western and the main guy said he was, “A deputy preacher”. I will not try to tell the entire story but a short blerp goes like this. A real preacher was trying to rescue someone and was killed so this fellow took up the rescue mission and referred to himself as a Deputy Preacher.

                That has nothing to do with this article, I just like the idea of being a Deputy Preacher!

                This story has to do with others not respecting an old senior retired person. I am sure this has never happened to you and you may not understand how hurtful it is to be totally disrespected in your own home. I must say, it was unexpected and I almost had tears in my eyes when the total disrespect occurred.

                Before you start trying to guess what had caused this disturbance, in the Ford’s Homestead, let me say, “It does not have anything to do with the grandees”. Since we are on the subject of Grandees, let me say, today was report card day and both of the grandees are passing in all subjects.

                Now I am sure some of you have guessed that this disrespect came from my first wife, and even though I can understand that guess, that is the wrong guess. This disrespect of an old retired person was flaunted in the front room of the homestead. I was in the old office at the computer when I heard the disturbance. At first I ignored it as there are minor disturbances that occur and some of the time they involve my spouse of 48 years. When she is involved I try to stay away from the room she is in.

                 I could not ignore this disturbance any longer, and even though my present wife was in the front room, I felt an obligation to go in and see what was happening. How did I know that what I would see would hurt me like driving a knife into my back? Yes it was as if someone had stabbed me in the back!

                Imagine if you will, I walked into the front room and there, in my chair, totally disregarding my feelings, and also my rule that no one was to use my chair except me, there they were, both of them in my chair, and they did not attempt to apologize, and they did not get up. See the photo below, and you will see how disrespectful these two can be! Click to enlarge!

                It’s not funny, why are you laughing? You would not think it was funny if it happened to you!

                I give up, I don’t even get respect from you! This is totally hurtful! Just wait until you are treated this way in your own home, and see how you feel!

May all disrespect be no worse that this!

Don Ford

Forced Labor again 10.03.17

                Yesterday, I again took the place of the Grounds Manager, who was again missing from the Ford Homestead, so I worked in the yard, most of the day. Yes, I started early morning just shortly after the sun came up, which was about 9:30. I forced this senior body to get the old Ford’s riding mower out and mow the back yard. It is strenuous for this retired person to sit on that seat and turn the steering wheel. If we were wealthy we could have a mower that has power steering.

                Luckily, due to the lack of rain over the last month, there were few weeds along the fence and elsewhere. That meant I only needed to be on my feet carrying that huge string trimmer about 45 minutes.

                I was allowed to have a lunch break, with a short nap, (thank goodness) before being forced back outside in the extreme heat, (about 90) to work on the front yard. The front yard, even though smaller, is very demanding on a senior citizen. The front yard is mowed with the walk behind mower which means, I have to walk over every inch of the yard, not once but twice. Yes, I mow the front yard twice, once in one direction then again, in a different direction.

                At 2:00 I stopped and tried to get my body ready to go get, “The Alex”, from school. Alex retrieved and brought to Homestead, I decided to get back to work knowing I wanted to be done before dark.

                It was about 5:00pm, “almost dark”, when I completed the forced labors. I put all the tools away and headed for the shower. Luckily, I did not have to take the shower in the back yard again, as my present spouse was not at home to keep my dirty body out of the house.

                After showering, I was able to stagger out to the Ford’s old rocker and sit my tired body down with a diet coke!

                There was an interesting cloud formation, so I took a photo to share with you. These clouds reminded me of ribs, many ribs! Do cloud ribs taste as good as the ribs one gets off the BBQ grill?

Work hard, rest easy!

Don Ford

On the wing of a... 10.02.17

                Well, when this article is published it will be October, even though I am writing it in September. It occurs to me that the people that decide on words and names, have again missed the chance to get the right word at the right time.

                When I was a children, my friend who’s dad was rich, (Owned Monroe glass), had a dog. They lived in a big house, had a Cadillac and they had two phones, one upstairs and one down stairs! If you had two phones, you had to be rich.  The dog’s name was Octember. Yes that is an unusual name for a dog, and I have remembered it for these 60 plus years.

                If you have half a brain you already know what I am about to say, but I will say it any way. Why did they name the 10^th month October? Common since would say that we should have the months named, “September, Octember, November, December!”  I don’t care who you are, you know I am right!

                Anyway back to my story. For those of you who are hopeless romantics, you would likely think, the title of this wonderful article would be, “On the wings of an angel”!  WRONG! The reference is to, “On the wing of a Honda”, my Gold wing!

                It was a Saturday afternoon and I had completed my after lunch nap. Being tired of laying in the Ford’s old recliner, I decided to see if the Ford’s old motorcycle would start, and if so I would go for a short ride. I explained to my spouse of 48 years that I would be gone for 30 minutes to an hour. It turned out to be 2.5 hours and 110 miles.

                I started the ride with a short trip in mind, and as I rode it occurred to me that I could ride out to the Bunk house and get a couple sandwiches for supper. There was a problem, I was riding away from the bunk house. I reviewed the maps stored in my head and established two routes to get me there. One route was scenic and much longer the other less scenery and shorter. I went with shorter. I estimated that I would arrive at the bunk house at 3:30 and I only missed it by a couple minutes.

                I bought a couple sandwiches and an ice tea, and headed for home. I estimated I would arrive at home about 4:30 and I hit it right on the nose. Before anyone asks, yes I have a cup holder on the wing for the ice tea!

                It was a safe and rather nice ride. Only one idiot in a car that made me a little upset. I had the cruise control set at 75, when this idiot pulled out of a side road in my lane of traffic. I was able to bring the wing down to his speed, which was about 40. Yep, I called him the north end of a south bound horse, or something like that!

                I did take a couple photos, and the view was more interesting to me than the photos will be to you, as the photos do not cause me to have the same reaction I had, when I was taking the photos.  

Above is a photo of one of the many wide open fields that one sees as they ride. When one thinks about what they are seeing, it is one large state! Although I do not have a photo, I noticed that many of the houses on the farms and ranches, had flags displayed. Most had both, American and Texas!

I saw this large old tree, with these very large limbs broken off. I had to stop and get a photo.

It somehow seemed sad that an old tree had to be broken like that.

                I don’t ride much, and have wanted to sell the bike, but I must say todays ride was real nice, in part due to the temperature being in the low 80s!

Enjoy it while you can!

Don Ford