Profits are up 05/31/2019

            The other day I decided to check the air filter on the window air conditioner in the Fords ole office. I can’t remember when I had checked it in the past. The filter is a foam filter and it was a little dirty, so I decided to wash it in the kitchen sink. I laid the filter in the bottom of the sink and added some water. I walked away and when I came back, it had discentragated.

            I went on line and found where I could purchase two filters for $12.95 plus about $5.00 shipping. I then decided that the company I use to work for, might have them at a better price. They had them for $1.25 each, nice!

            If you had read a previous post, you would know I had purchased a new TV to be used as a computer monitor. I found that I need a shelf to set the monitor on, which would be set on my desk. I wanted to be able to slip the desktop computer under the shelf, making a lot of room on the desk.

            I decided to purchase a 1x8x72 board and make the shelf. I found that it would cost almost $10.00 for one board. Being on a fixed income, I decided to go out to the fords ole shed and see if there was a couple pieces of scrap wood that I could use for the shelf. There was some scraps, and I grabbed a couple pieces and then made my way back to the ole garage. Using the old scrap wood I would need to modify my plans.

            I sawed some, and then glued a little, and painted a lot. Photo to follow.

                                                                     

            In the photo below, you can see the shelf on the table, kind of like it will be when I get the desk back in here. Scrap wood serving me as well as new wood could.                         Rhyme? 

                                   

            Yes the lap top is under the new shelf and the computer will work with the top closed. That makes a lot more room on my desk. Below photo is almost like the above photo, except the key board is in a position where one could use it.

                                   

            Who knew, an old retired senior, on a fixed income, could have such a nice shelf made from scrap wood. Now if the desk were just back!

            We have a person who is supposed to be here today to give us a bid on replacing the floor for the office. With a new floor we could return my desk and other things back in the office.

            Before you ask, yes, having a dirt floor is very inconvenient and hard to sweep.

No desk, no floor, no money, don’t get ole!

Senior teller if the almost truth; Don Ford

I didn’t say we had a dirt floor, I just said a dirt floor is hard to sweep and clean.

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Ford got a new 05/29/2019

            Here at the Ford homestead, I decided I wanted a bigger monitor for my computer. I checked the prices of monitors and decided I would purchase a TV instead. I purchased a 24 inch TV for less than half the price of a monitor the same size. It works fine but I may need some help in the final set up.

            I did attach an antenna and I get 9 channels free. I want to get a better antenna so I can have more free TV channels, for when the cable is out.

            I have a photo of the 24 inch Computer monitor. Enjoy.

                                  

            I do not have my desk back in the so-called office yet, my spouse wants to have the floor replaced so I am waiting. The new monitor (aka TV) is a smart TV and it does things I have no idea how to use. It even had a voice controller. I may be too old to learn these new things.

            My spouse of half a century and I went to the Alex’s award ceremony today. It was fun and the 3^rd graders all received some type of awards.

            Tomorrow is the last day of school for this school system. The kids go to school at the normal time and we have to get them at 12:00 am.

            I mowed the front yard after going to the awards ceremony, it rained on me as I mowed, I should say it sprinkled on me. I did not melt!

            I needed a foam filter for the window unit in the Fords so-called office. I checked prices on line and I could get 2 for $12.95 plus $5.95 shipping. I decided to check with my previous employer and found, I could purchase the same filters for $1.25 each. Wow, some business like to make a big profit.

            Well I need to go and eat supper. Hope you have a good day or evening!

Black Berry wizard Donnie Ford!

Senior all-knowing and hardworking; Don Ford

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Rest day over 05/28/2019

            My day of rest is over and I now must return to work. I went out and picked some Black Berries. There are some extra-large berries down under a group of leafs. Photo to follow.                    

                                      

Those berries are at least 1.5 inches long. Photo is not very good as I was on my knees when I took it.

            Today I need to determine a way to paint the door to this so-called office. I know how to take it down, and I will probably put a sheet over the open door to keep the skeaters, (a Missouri word for mosquitos) and flies out. The problem is, how do I keep the Tres from going through the sheet and bringing it down.

There is no rest for the retired seniors!

Poor ole retired senior; Don Ford

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Day of rest 05/27/2019

            I had decided to take it easy today. Tres and I drove up to the coffee shop and I got a cup of real coffee. Returning home we went to the Ford’s ole computer to get a rebate for something that my spouse of half a century bought. When I finished that, I went out back with a big broom and swept the cement pad off, you know, where the grill and outside table sets.

            I then went to the shed and retrieved a lopper and a small cutter, then I went to the roses and began to trim some of them. After the trimming I picked up all the pieces and took them to the trash container where I cut them into smaller pieces that would fit in the container.

            I then took a couple bougainvillea plants that had given up the ghost, (died) and took them to the trash container. I took the container out to the street for pick up.

            I then used the ford’s ole red wagon to take two 5 gallon gas cans from the garage out to the shed. I then added some gas stabilizer to the gas in each can.

            While I was in the mood to rest, I retrieved a 40 pound bag of dirt from the hot house and filled in a couple holes in the yard. Having a little dirt left, I removed 4 stepping stones, and I added the dirt which raised the stepping stones. I then put all my tools away and came in here to enter this info.

 

A day of rest and it is only half over!

 

Senior rest-ologist, Don Ford

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Change in the office 05/25/2019

            I have not been on the computer for a couple days, I have been painting the so-called office, and the following photos show some of the work. 

Photo 1, shows a two tone blue cabinet with a brown door installed. Photo 2, shows the same cabinet with all doors removed and it is painted white. Why did we need a new door? My desk sits against the old door allowing no access. The new door allows access! Photo 3, Cabinet with doors and drawer installed. Photo 4, my ne desk, the old desk has been removed. It is difficult when you are on a fixed income. Tres noted that it is easier to sleep under this desk. I have wires everywhere, I hope that I will be able to remember what goes where.

            I am not done, there is more work ahead. L

Change can be good, and it can be difficult!

Senior painter and door maker; Don Ford

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Stop complaining 05/21/2019

            It hasn’t been too long ago when someone commented about all the work that went into receiving, unloading, checking, stocking, updating inventory, receiving orders, filling, and packing, shipping, and again adjusting inventory.

            Now days, most of this is done via computer, or a computer type device. The orders are sent in from the customer via computer, then processed through the business via computers and scanners. Companies now days don’t send a printed packing list with the orders, it is done via computer. The business who will receive the product in a day or two, will be able to see the packing list on their computers immediately, and know what is, or is not, on its way.

 

            I worked for GESCO, “General Electric Supply Company”, about 100 years ago. It was not a huge business even though we provided the local utilities with transformers and some overhead wire. Most of our business was with Electricians, both local and within about a 75 mile radius of Cape. There were three people who worked at GESCO, the manager, a sales person, and a warehouse person, me. 

            The manager sat around and went through papers acting as if he was working. The sales man, when in the office would often be on the phone acting as if he was trying to get orders. The warehouseman me, did all the work.

            A truck would show up and I would unload it. I did not mind a load of light bulbs, or a load of tools, they were easy to work with. Everything was done manually as we did not have a fork lift. We did have something that was used like a fork lift, but it was all manual. You could push it to the back of the truck, then crank up the platform to be level with the truck and then you could slide a transformer from the truck to the platform. Manually you could push this very heavy device to the location where you want to sit the transformer and slide the transformer off the plate into its location.  

            When the truck was unloaded I would sign the bill and go to the office and get the paper purchase order (aka PO). I would check the product in against the PO. When everything was checked in I then put each item in its location. 

            After everything was put away I would then take the PO and packing lists to the card file. In this set of files we manually kept our inventory. Each item had a card with the item identification. I would record the amount received on the proper card and then go to the next item. All receipts were recorded this way.

            The salesman would give me hand written orders to be filled. I would fill these orders, pack them, fill out a shipping document, call the truck line for a pick up, load the product on the truck and then head back to the card files to deduct the items from inventory.

            During the day I had other responsibilities such as counter sales. Counter sales were at times interesting. Often an electrician would come in with a list of things he needed. I would get the list, and fill the order while the sales man would go to get coffee with the electrician.

            That wasn’t so bad until, you got the electrician with a piece of cardboard that had some drawings on it, and a few words. I learned to ask questions about the cardboard orders. They may have wanted an electrical panel, the breakers, a couple boxes of 12/2 with ground, 30 outlets, 15 switches, a few three-way switches and so on.

            When they returned they expected you to have it ready and waiting. I was pretty good at filling those orders.

            Did I mention that my other responsibility was too keep the office and warehouse swept and clean. At the time, I didn’t understand that I was preparing myself for the future.

 

            One day there was an ad in the paper that HWI was accepting applications. I took off work and applied. I interviewed with three HWI people. The last person I interviewed with seemed to be impressed that I had experience in this type work, was married, was buying a home, I had a vehicle which was paid for. Even though they did not say it, when I left the interview I knew I had the job.

            Several weeks later I received the call with an offer to work for HWI. I had to explain that I was in the National Guards and we were going on a two week training. I could not start on the first, I could start on the 14^th.

            Experience at another employer is why I was picked for HWI.

            I was one of the few people that understood working in a warehouse setting. I quickly became the person that the staff would go to with questions.  

 

I know this wasn’t interesting to you, but I enjoyed the walk down memory lane!

 

 

We don’t know what the future holds for us!

 

Don Ford         

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Third part 05/20/2019

            For that one person who actually reads my posts, I have been painting the Fords so-called office. I had decided to basically divide it in to three parts and the first two have been completed. I have planned the third part, and believe I will begin on it today or tomorrow.

            This portion will require removal of the Ford’s ole desk, removal of a couple shelves on the east wall, some repair to a sheetrock problem in a corner, cutting a new door in a cabinet, (yes that sounds crazy but it is necessary) and a lot of painting.

            Removal of the desk will be difficult as the security camera system is located there. I haven’t decided if I should relocate it or not.

            This work will require me to move a bunch of this junk, I mean a bunch of items into the garage during this process.

            With this third part completed, there will be only one or two more thirds to go. I am not sure what Tres is going to do as he will not have the desk to lay under, unless he goes to the garage and lays under it there.

            What? You say the math don’t work? Sure it does. Didn’t you have fractions in school? Five thirds is totally possible! Five thirds is equal to one and two thirds.       Why do I even try?

            I have a photo, my first wife purchased me a shirt with the extra money she was able to procure this weekend. She went to the park and was able to get a bunch of aluminum cans out of the trash cans.

                               

            The shirt has my name on it. My spouse of half a century explained that if I were to forget my name all I had to do was look down. She is always thinking of me!

Three thirds equal 1, two more thirds equal 1 and two thirds!

Senior math-ologist; Don Ford

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6 inch rain 05/18/2019

            The day started too early for me. It was a Saturday, and I should be allowed to stay in bed until 6:00am. It didn’t happen! Now you are probably trying to get ahead of me thinking, he is going to say the cat and or dog woke him. Nope, I am not going to say that, so please allow me to tell the story without any additional interruptions.

            I awoke early, as I had business which I needed to address. This Saturday is the day to hall off your limbs and other trash. I got dressed and had a cup of coffee. As I sat there thinking about hauling the limbs it came to mind, that I would need to tie down the limbs. Finishing the cup of coffee, I found my way out to the Ford’s ole trailer, which was attached to the Ford’s ole Chevy. I secured the limbs, check the lights and made sure the trailer was properly attached to the truck.

            I made another cup of coffee to accompany me on the 5 minute trip. I decided to leave the homestead at 6:45 hoping to be one of the first in line. When I arrived there were about ten trucks, some with trailers, in front of me.

            At 7:00 they started accepting the vehicles. The dumping process was uncoordinated, I could have come up with a better plan. When I left, the line of vehicles wanting to dump items was so long, I could not see the end of the line. I would guess easily 50 vehicles in line.

            When I arrived home, I decided to sweep the trailer and get it parked in the back yard before it rained. As I was sweeping the trailer it began to rain, this rain turned out to be a 6 inch rain. The drops of rain when they hit the driveway, were 6 inches apart, thus a 6 inch rain!

            I am proud to say, the trailer is parked in its normal spot, the drive way is swept, and the rain has not yet begun. What a nice beginning to a Saturday.

            My Spouse of half a century and I had lunch and then she went to a grocery store. We returned home and I was forced to take a nap. After an appropriate amount of time with my eyes closed, I wondered out back to look at the blackberries. A bird had one of my small ripe berries and there are several half ripe that should be ready tomorrow. As I wondered around the back forty, it began to sprinkle rain on this senior’s body. Knowing how sweet I am, and that I would melt if I got too wet, I headed back inside.

            The thunder is almost continuous but it doesn’t seem too close, and the rain is very hard. We have received a little over half an inch of rain in the last half hour, it had let up some, but is raining hard again. Do we need the rain, that is not important, we get it, needed or not.

 

A rainy afternoon at the Fords!

Senior sweetie: Don Ford

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Friday activities 05/17/2019

            Today was an odd day. Now I know several of you are thinking, “Mr. Don”, has an odd day almost every day, and that is kind of true. This Friday was even odder. It all started like this.

            Friday morning at 7:50am, that is when Gabi arrived here and I was going to take her to school. That is normal and not considered as unusual. Upon her arrival, we were informed that we could go to her school and observe the, “Fun in the sun day”. We were told Gabi’s group would be at field 5. We had no idea where field #5 was at.

            I took the Gabi to school and returned home to get dressed properly, “Clean jeans and shirt”. We were in a big hurry to get there not having any pre-warning, I did not take any folding chairs, and I did not take any sun block. All the kids were playing soft ball so we watched two games, all the while our old senior bodies had to standup. It was a long walk from the car to the ball fields.

            We returned home and rested a while before getting dressed again to go to a graduation at Baylor. With clean clothes on we headed out. We were about ¾ of a mile away from Baylor’s stadium when we ran into stop, and sometime go traffic. It took about 20 minutes for us to get close to the stadium, still in mostly stopped traffic. We were seeing young people with their caps and gowns on, getting out of cars both in front and behind us, and either walking or running to the stadium.

            I decided to get into a different lane and not go to the graduation! We drove past the stadium and traffic was backed up on every road and the parking lots appeared to be full. We did not go, but we plan to go to the party this afternoon.

 

Unbelievable traffic, not good for senior persons!

 

Don Ford

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In the beginning 05/16/2019

            In the beginning there was a single Black Berry, it was all alone. The property owner, an old and feeble man, was able to limp out to the berry vines. As he surveyed the ole tired vines, he found a single little berry. This renewed his hope, and gave him new found energy. The old man skipped and hopped back to the house knowing, “There will be a bunch more Black Berries!”

                                                           

            Yesterday I reviewed the Black berry crop and I found one small berry that was black, see photo above. There are some red berries which means, I will be checking the berries twice a day until all are harvested. If I fail to check the berries, the birds will harvest them.

            Our son David checked his berries and there were four black berries of which the birds had been eating on one, for that one person who is not good at math, David had three good black berries. 

            Before anyone comments, yes that first berry is very small, most of the green berries on the vines are as big as your thumb.

            While reviewing the berries I came upon a blooming flower. I found this to be a little odd, as those flowers had bloomed in the past, and usually only bloom once a year. Photo to follow.

                                                           

            Changing the subject; yesterday I began to work at the second third of the ford’s ole office project, painting. First I removed several items from around and above the Ford’s ole desk, and then removed the doors from the cabinet. The painting followed the same process as previous painting, three coats of white paint to cover the blue paint.

            After the third coat of paint was applied, I allowed it all too dry overnight, and then replaced the doors and one shelf this morning. The next third of the project requires me to remove the ford’s ole desk. Removal of the desk will allow access to a drawer and door to a cabinet that hasn’t been opened since I began to work at home. I believe that was about 12 years ago. My spouse of half a century believes there are some old records not 45s but probably LP records in that area.

            We have discussed the possibility of cutting a hole in the side of that cabinet and installing a door, which would then allow access to the cabinet while the desk is in place. Not sure how I would do that until I remove the desk and see what I have to work with.

            As they say, “A Seniors work is never done”!

Did you notice, if you were to add an “e” to the end of my name, “Don”, you get, “Done”?

That is my way of saying this posting is finished!

Senior author of wonderful postings; Don Ford

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Early morning 05/15/2019

            It was early morning and the sun was rising in the east, or was it rising in the west, who knows. I thought I should get a photo with the sun shining on the front of the Homestead. The sun shining through the windows and doors make the rainbow colors on the wall.

                                   

            Allow me to answer a question. Someone wanted to know why I would transplant a six foot tall blackberry. I transplanted a blackberry bush that was about one foot tall last winter, and it is now growing very tall.

            I went to town yesterday to get some oil, air filter and gas stabilizer. The oil and air filter was for the walk behind mower.

            After returning from town I was able to mow the back forty. I then ate lunch and took a nap. When I awoke from the nap I looked at the weather and saw that they were saying rain was almost on us. I went out and grabbed the ole string trimmer and began trimming the grass along the fence and around everything. It took about an hour to get it all trimmed, and as I finished it began to rain. Perfect timing!

            I saw something yesterday afternoon and I thought I would tell you about it. Last year there was a black bird, also known as a Grackle, which was seen in and around our yard. This particular bird had one leg, and he hopped around on the one leg almost as good as the birds with two legs. That was last year. 

            Yesterday afternoon I saw another bird on one leg. I wondered if this happened to be the same bird that I saw last year. If so, then a disability in a wild animal or a bird can be overcome. The one legged bird can fly as good as any other bird. I hope it is the same bird and he/she has adapted to his/her disability.

            There are 10.5 days of school here in Hewitt before summer vacation begins. Summer vacation makes most of the kids happy, but are they necessary now days? A hundred years ago the kids were needed to work on the farms in the summer. That is not the case now days.

            If the kids went year round, most working parents would likely be happy, they would not need to find ways to take care of the kids during summer months. Teachers would be like other employees working year round, would they look for other jobs.

               If the kids went to school year round, they would receive the equivalent of a 12^th grade education in 9 years. (Instead of going to school ¾ year, they would go 4/4 year.) One of the nice things would be, “High school kids would not be old enough to drive, in the 9^th grade”, so these schools would not need big parking lots for kids cars.

               Kids going to college, after being in school for 9 continuous years, would be 15 years old. Do you think their parents would make their kids go to college closer to home? Wow, College kids get their driver’s license while in college.

               If they graduate from a 2 year college at age 17, who would hire them?

               If they graduate from a 4 year college at age 19, who would hire them?

              

Keep your new idea to yourself, no one likes change!

Senior changeless person; Don Ford

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Colors 05/14/2019

            I have a photo of several colors on the wall at the Ford’s Homestead. It is the end of a rainbow, indicating that the Ford Homestead is like a pot of gold!           Fords are like Gold!

                                               

            In the following photo there is a lot of green. This is a part of a black berry plant that I have transplanted from the original berry patch. It is about 6 foot tall and will be covered with berries next year. It was so big I have a tomato ring holding it up.

                                                           

            We have another color that we will need to watch closely. A few of the black berries are turning red, which means they will be turning black very soon.

                                                          

            Can we say, “Black Berry Cobbler”! J

            Before that one person asks, I use material from old bed sheets to tie the black berries. If you let them go without tying them, you would get stuck every time you walked around them. They have a tendency to spread.

            What did I do yesterday? It was warm and sunny so I mowed, I mean I manicured, the front yard, leaving the grass one inch taller than usual. I did drain the oil from the ford’s walk behind mower, I then learned I did not have the correct oil to refill the mower, I also found I need an air cleaner. I was too lazy to go to town yesterday, or mow the back yard, I plan to do that today.

            Warm dry weather until Saturday!

Work, work, all the day, as big ole Donnie gets to play!

Senior player; Don Ford

             

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Olden days again 05/12/2019

            Yesterday, as I was watching something on TV, there was some type commercial that had a skull of a human with two red eyes. That Skull brought back some old memories. My first car was a used 57 Chevy. It was nothing special but did get me and some friends around town. There was a store in Cape Girardeau name Cousin Fred’s.

            The store had lots of everything in it, and in the very back corner there was accessories so to speak, for cars. They had a plastic skull and it had red lights in its eyes. I purchased a skull and installed it in the back window of the 57 Chevy, facing to the back of the car. I wired the skull into the brake lights, so when I put my breaks on, the eyes would light up at the same time the brake lights did.

                                                           

            I was cool, no one else had a skull in the back window. Probably no one else wanted one!

            I know what you are thinking, “Donnie was way ahead of his time”! You are right, I basically had the first break light in the back window, and now all the new vehicles have a break light in the back window area.

            I guess I am close to being a genius. I will try and not make the rest of you feel bad with all my great thoughts.

 

            Different subject;

            Yesterday I painted a shelf for my wife of half a century. I presented it to her this morning saying we can install it this afternoon. As she looked it over I waited patiently for a comment such as thank you, or nice job, but it did not come. I then asked, “What should you say?” she said we can put it up this afternoon. With tears in my eyes, I staggered out of the room dejected, knowing my work should have been appreciated, but no positive comment of appreciation was made.

 

Keep your expectations low, and disappointment isn’t so bad!

Deflated senior worker; Don Ford

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Partly completed 05/11/2019

            Being a senior citizen on a fixed income, finding enough funding to update the Ford’s ole so-called office area, is more than difficult. That being the situation, I must try to do all the updating work myself. Many years ago, I installed some cabinets and a counter. In past years I used the room as a radio room, my first wife used it to do some art work, when I worked from home it was my office. Now days, it is considered as the computer room and or and office area.

            First photo taken before the upper cabinets were painted white.

                                                                                  

            Second photo upper cabinets are white, shelve installed.

                                                                                               

            The shelves are filled with junk, I mean valuables.

Yes there are more blue cabinets to be painted. One third are done, I will do a third at a time. I also must paint the walls and door. I should be completed in less than 19 weeks.

          It would be good if we weren’t on a fixed income, we could have a contractor do the work, but since we have not received any donations for this project, I will plan, execute, and complete this project, using only my ole senior body.

         Tomorrow is Mother’s day, be nice to all mothers tomorrow!        

Mothers like big hugs, give them a big hug!

Enjoy the weekend!

Don Ford

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