Me

This is a stickup

2015-11-09T19:46:00.001-08:00

I was watching an episode of 48 Hours the other night. This particular episode was about an inmate in a New Mexico state prison that was tried and convicted of a murder when he was 18. He had been in prison for 19 years and his conviction was based solely on a confession he signed after being grilled for 9 hours. The confession contained facts that did not match the actual facts of the crime. He was innocent of the crime.

I might have been in his shoes, even though the crime was robbery and not murder. I was a student at Texas, and Austin in the 60’s was much different than the Austin of today. There were only two sources of good employment, The State of Texas government and The University of Texas. I had landed a job for the summer at a Jack Ritters service station as the night attendant working from 7:00 PM until 7:00 AM. The job paid 50 cents an hour. My duties were to pump gas, this was before self service, soap, scrub and rinse off the driveway. I did the driveway chores after midnight because there were almost no customers after 11:00 pm. The gas station was on Ben White Boulevard about a mile or so east of I-35. There were no other buildings between the station and I-35 and probably nothing going East until Bastrop.

I had been on the job for several weeks and was into the driveway washing duties when a man. a pillow case with eye slit cutouts over his head, stepped out from behind the Jack Ritters’ billboard, pointing a shot gun at men. I was petrified but was determined to offer no resistance in order to survive the holdup. I readily gave him all the money from the cash register and when he asked me for my billfold, I readily complied. I volunteered to disable the only phone at the station by ripping the phone away from the main unit attached to the wall. I did this so I would not be a threat by calling the police. However, much to my horror, He told me to start walking through the weeds behind the station. He was pressing the shot gun into my back. I though he was going to kill me when we got away from the station. We had gone about a hundred yards when he told me to take off to the West and I started running through the weeds as fast as I could go, zig zagging. I expected him to shoot at any moment.

I finally came to the Austin IRS office located on the corner of I-35 and Ben White Boulevard. I called the sheriff, we were outside of the Austin city limits. The sheriff called for dogs to try and track the holdup man but they were unable to track anything, I do not know why. There was nothing the dogs could use as an example of the scent they were to track. A road dead ended into Ben White just west of the station. I guess the man had parked there and walked through the weeds to the billboard. I never found out those details.

I tried to continue working the gave yard shift at the gas station, but after a couple of more nights, I had to quit, I was just scared of a repeat of the holdup, especially when the sheriff told me that there were other holdups in the area and some of the attendants did not survive. I was taking 6 hours in summer school and did find another job working in a liquor store from 2:00 pm until 10:00 PM. My ordeal from the holdup at the gas station was far from over, the events coming were how I related to New Mexico prison inmate. The worst was yet to come.

Two detectives started showing up about every other day at my apartment with photos of possible suspects. I told them each time that he had a pillow case over his head and I had no idea what he looked like. They kept asking me if he had any distinguishing scars or what rings he had on. I repeatedly told them the only thing I could tell them was that he was black and he had this shot gun pointed at my chest. I could not tell them anything else about the man. After a week or so of these photo identification sessions another detective came by and asked me to come down to the station. This new detective read the details of what I had relayed about the night of the holdup and asked me if there was anything not right or needed to add anything. I could not offer any additional details so he typed it out and asked me to read and sign the document. After I had signed it, he told me that they were going to check out each detail and if anything was not exactly as described, “the monkey was going to be on my back”, his words. I realized that I was in the same situation as the kid that has signed the false confession in New Mexico. He had just signed the confession to stop the grilling from his detective.

After a couple of more days, the detective came by my apartment and asked me to take a lie detector test. He did not give me any choices, so in effect, he told me to come down at a specific day and time and take a lie detector test. No options were offered. I now realized that they were trying to pin the robbery on me to clear the case. I was alone 20 years old, alone and without any idea about what to do. I went to the Catholic Church and talked to a priest about my situation. I guess out of desperation, I thought about my early days at the Catholic school in Kingsport, Tennessee. The priest was the ultimate authority at the school. He told me that he was sure the police would do the right thing and dismissed me, I was not Catholic. The only other person I could think of was my Business Law professor, Sidney Purser. I relayed everything that had happened, and my coming lie detector test, to him. He said he wanted to go with me when I took the test.

The detective was visibly annoyed when at Mr. Purser’s presence. When I was through, the test was interrupted as I was guilty. However, Mr. Purser then told the detective that he did not want me being questioned or sign anything else unless he was present. The daily visits by the sheriff stopped. The phone calls stopped. I knew that despite this, I was their one and only suspect. The stress was almost unbearable.

I was surprised when my monthly Texaco credit card bill with evidence that would totally cleared me of any crime. I had totally forgotten I had the card because I did not use the, it was only to be used in case of an emergency. I did not usually get a monthly bill. The Texaco bill contained more charges than I would make in years. Tires, battery and many gas station fill ups. In those days, your bill also had carbon copies of each charge on the monthly statement, this is what made it so thick. One copy had a license plate number for $1.50 gas purchase, the smallest charge in the bill. The tires, battery, car repairs did not have this critical bit of information. I took the bill down to sheriff’s office and gave it to the detective that was trying to rail road me for the robbery. I did not hear from him so I called in a week or two and he told me that they found the guy using the one purchase copy with the license number. He had confessed to the robbery. No I’m sorry for all the harassment. No I should have called you.

There was also collateral damage from the ordeal. I was taking Intermediate Accounting, and my major was Accounting. I had an “A” on the first quiz. My grade on the second quiz was 40, or an “F”. I went to see the professor, who also happened to be my advisor. I explained to him what had happened and the mental anguish I was experiencing at the time of. I even showed him a newspaper clipping about the robbery as proof that my story was true. He told me not to worry about that test. I made an “A” on the third quiz and the final. The final test score and the overall course grade were posted on the professor’s door, with your initial for identification. I could not believe he had given me a “B” as my grade. In all fairness, he probably didn’t process the grades, he had a grader for that task. He probably not told his grader. I did not go back and ask him why he had given me a “B”. I realized this later because I was a grader for two professors after that summer.

I have one regret about the ordeal, I did not go back and tell Sidney Purser that I indeed was innocent and that his assessment of my character was correct. I am sure he is gone now or that would be on my bucket list.

Super Cat

2011-09-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

Petie was home from school and decided that we needed a cat so she and Sharon went down to the SPCA to look at the kittens. The favorite was, of course, a little female calico. They asked me to go before they made the final adoption. I was never that fond of cats, but agreed. We all went down to the SPCA and we were allowed to be in a room with the three kittens they had left from a litter. The female calico, a male grey tabby with a white chest and white paws, and a male yellow tabby. Don't really know why, but I told them that they really should get two so the transition would be a easier. The calico was, of course, the main player and I chose the grey tabby over the yellow tabby. The two cats would always stay at our house.

The decision was made so the SPCA neutered the two before releasing them for adoption. That is their policy. Sharon brought the two little balls of fluff home in a box with air holes. We didn't know they already had names so I got to choose the names. I wanted to call the calico "Buttons" and the gray tabby "Beau"...you know, Buttons and Beau. Buttons name got changed to Missy over the years. They made the transition remarkable well. Kittens are really a joy to watch. Chasing a ball and falling all over their self to try to get a grasp. They get such joy from a scarp piece of paper on the floor. The SPCA sent along some antibiotics in case they got kennel cough from the neutering surgery, which of course both came down with. Both kittens were OK after a couple of days.

Sharon and I were laying in the bed, probably watching a ball game, maybe a week or two later. Kittens exert so much energy playing and then crash to sleep. Both little guys were playing hard. Buttons would lay in ambush at the foot of the bed waiting for Beau to come looking for her. I couldn't see them, but could tell they both launched a mock attack and would see both popped above the bed. When both had exhausted their reserve of energy, Beau jumped up on the bed. I didn't know what he was staring at, but it appeared to be my shoulders. He walked over to where he was looking and curled up in the crook of my arm next to my chest and went to sleep. That was it. The little guy completely stole my heart. He chose me and he would be my cat. I had several pet names for "Beau", "Little Guy", "Beauby". "Beau Kitty"and "Mr Bo-Jangles", but mostly just "Beau".

Beau recognized his name when I said it. I think that is unusual for a cat to know their name, but Beau did. I know that to be true because I could be talking and he paid no attention but when I said Beau he looked at me. Beau would sleep in my bed and if I was watching TV he would lay between my knees and ankles putting his head in the crook of the back of my knees with his paws on the other leg. He would put pressure with his paws on my right leg, forcing his heard deeper under my leg and I would pet his bunny soft fur. That would never change over the fourteen years we had together.

The plan was to keep both cats as house cats only. That would have been fine with Buttons, now called Missy, but not Beau. He saw there was a whole world outside and he wanted to explore it. He insisted. So I let them out into our enclosed atrium. One gate had enough room for them to slip under so I stuffed some carpet under it to keep them in the atrium. However, there is a large crape Myrtle growing over the roof in the atrium. Beaus discovered by climbing it, he could get on the roof. Missy took a lot longer to do this. She got really mad at Beau for going up there and swatted as well as scolded him when he came down. She was taking on a role as his mother rather than his sister. She was probably a little jealous that she was, as of then, unable to climb the Crape Myrtle, a skill she too would soon learn. When they were on the roof, I would go out and call Beau. He would stick his little head over the side of the roof looking at me, but not come down. He was observing what was going on in the outside world. Beau quickly found out there was another tree close to the roof on the outside of the house. Beau was loose and Missy would soon follow. I removed the carpet so they could go in and out as they pleased. The atrium because their sanctuary.

Beaus was still young, but it wasn't long before he marked and claimed the territory of our yard, the yards on either side of us as well as the two yards across the street. That was his to control as a male and would later fight to defend it. Hard to believe that skinny little male, never weighing over 15 pounds, was actually a silent, fierce warrior. He controlled his territory until the end and won most battles. Beau was small, but very quick and very fast. He developed a tactic that served him well and allowed him to inflict damage on his larger, more powerful challengers. Beau would never make a sound when he was getting ready for a cat fight or while in combat. He had a move that dazzled his opponents. He could jump straight up, very high. He used this tactic after initial contact and would come down on his opponents back, dig in all four sets of claws on the opponents back and bit them around the neck. I saw him use this tactic twice, and before I could get there to break it up, his opponent had already taken flight. The other cats would growl and cry trying to intimidate Beau, but he would never made a sound. When Beau was an aging pride male of 13, a very large, dirty white Tom from a couple of blocks away was testing the perimeter of Beau's marked territory. Beau would watch the Tom test his boundary from our front yard, watching his every move. Beau didn't move or make a sound. The next morning, there was white fur all over our front yard. I pick up Beau and checked out his white chest very carefully looking for wounds, claw cuts or punctures. Didn't see a thing. I guess that Old Guy won another one. I have never saw that big, dirty white Tom again.

Early this spring, Beau was really feeling bad. He still wanted to go out but just slept in the bushes in the front yard. I was setting in the swing with Beau sleeping in the bushes. My next door neighbor was walking his dog on a leash and he stopped with the dog to talk to me for a minute. He had a large, boxer mix dog. I told him to hold tight on to leash because Beau was in the bushes about 10 yard behind me, and was sick. In a couple of minutes, I heard this loud, deep throat growl from behind me.
Beau never made a sound before or during his cat fights. The neighbor said we, meaning he and his dog, needed to get out of there. I looked around and the noise was coming from Beau. I had never heard that sound in fourteen years. Beau had come out of the bushes and was slowly but steadily walking straight at that dog. He was not bluffing and was not going to stop. The growl was not meant to intimidate but rather to show his intention. I am going to tear you a new one if you don't get out of my yard. He was totally fearless. When they quickly walked away, Beau ran to the edge of our lot and watched until the dog was two house away before returning to his sleeping spot in the bushes. That big dog could have snapped Beau in half. The Little Guy was the ultimate warrior. I don't know whether he wanted that dog out of his front yard or he was protecting me. I had never seen him do this when other dogs came through our front yard. I occasionally walk down a couple of houses to talk to some neighbors. I would be walking, and you know that sense you have that someone is behind you. I would stop and look back and there would be Ol' Beau slow trailing me. I guess he was hiding in the bushes and wanted to know where I was going.

I always went out late before I went to bed to call Beau to see if he wanted in for the night. Some nights he would and some he wanted to stay out. Many times after I called his name, I would see his little white paws and chest in the distance as he came running at full speed to me. It was night and his mostly gray coat would make it almost impossible to see him without the white markings. Even though Beau was a fighter, he never once put out his claws when I picked him up, put him in the pet taxi or took him out of the cage at the vet's office. He never bit me. He hated going to the vet. It traumatized him and he would be mad at me for a couple of days. Even the last day when I picked him up to put him in the cage and took him out in the execution chamber, he would not put out his claws or claw me.

Like I said, Beau had not been feeling well for about six months. He still went out at night and often during the day, but he mostly just slept. A neighbor looked after the cats when we went on vacation in July. He had looked after the cats other times when we would be gone for more than 3 days, but we had never been gone for more than a week. When we came home the other times, Beau would scold me for about 5 minutes when we came in. This time was different. He just looked at me and then went over to eat the tuna that had been left for him that morning. I couldn't believe how bad he looked. I don't think he ate the entire 3 weeks we were gone. I picked him up to pet him and he was nothing but bones. He now wanted to eat every 2 to 3 hours. I feed him about 6 times a day. He would wake me up at night wanting food. I was hoping he would add some weight by eating so much, but he didn't. He no longer wanted to go outside.

I took Beau to the vet dreading what he was going to tell me. I was told Beau had a growth on his thyroid, a heart murmur and and had serious renal problems. The vet said he though that Beau probably had very high blood pressure forcing blood through his kidneys and that was the only thing helping him make urine. Beau only weighed a little over 5 pounds despite being fed 6 times a day for a month.I packed up the little guy to take him home dreading what I was going to have to do.

The last six months when Beau was sick, he still jumped in my chair while I was watching TV. However, he did not stretch and look totally relaxed as he had the rest of his life. He would just lay there for a little while before jumping down and crouching on the rug. He would jump in bed with me, but again jumped out after a short time. The last night I had my little buddy, Beau lay between my knees and ankles completely relaxed, just like he used to when I was watching TV. He jumped into bed with me and lay by my side all night. I put my arm around what was left of his tiny body. Taking Beau down to be put to sleep is one of the hardest thing I have ever done. I wanted to take him home so bad but knew I couldn't. Beau is gone now and I miss that little guy so much. I hope that time will ease the tears and waves of sadness, but it is not happening very fast. I still look out in the atrium when I pass, looking for my kitty's face knowing it will not ever be there again. His sister has also not stopped looking for her life long companion. She too still misses him. I also feel a lot of guilt. Beau completely trusted me and I killed him. The only difference between me and Judas is thirty pieces of silver. I wanted so desperately to carry Beau back home. I had made a appointment days earlier and had canceled. Did I do the right thing? That haunts me.

I really miss you little guy. I play this in endless loops sometimes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAkhyks0uRs

The Good Ol' Days!

2011-04-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

The latest AARP newspaper had a short piece telling it's readers not to act old, even though they are. The following points were what AARP considered most typical of a senior acting old. (1) Do not always talk about any chronic illness you have or any aches and pains. (2). Do not talk about the "good old days" as a main topic of a lot of your conversations. (3). Do not talk, or act depressed, about the death of a loved one or friend after 3 months.

I do not understand number 3 and do not see how you cannot talk about your deceased spouse if you survive them. When you are old and lose a spouse, the survivor, more often than not, also passes away within a year. I am writing this one off as pure bull. I can see number one. While a health problem YOU have is very important to you, it is not to anyone you are talking to and they cannot do anything about it. That leaves number 2, so I got to thinking, were the good old days better than today, and if so how?

I WOULD much rather grow up when I did rather than today. The pace of living was much slower and there were a lot fewer people. The population in 1950 was 150 million. I don't understand one major change in the national dialog about world population. There was a lot of discussion in the 50's and 60's about the need to control the world's population. Now, when the population has doubled, there is not any discussion about the problem. There is little doubt that we are stressing the planet's resources to feed the people now on earth. Crowding makes people edgy and angry, especially while driving. I don't think it was as dangerous for a child as it is today. Were there fewer child predators, percentage wise, in the good ol' days? I don't know. Maybe it wasn't as common because the occurrences were not covered by the media. I know I had a lot more freedom then the children do today. When I was Joelle's age, I was wondering off by myself down the railroad track picking up stray dogs. I doubt if Mom even knew where I was half the time. Now, Joelle is closely watched when she just crosses the street to play at a neighbor's house. I panic if either girl is ever out of my sight line. Drugs were not a problem through the mid 60's. I was never ever exposed to illegal prescription drugs and never knew anyone who ever took them. The Viet Nam war brought the drugs home with the returning soldiers. I guess it was bound to happen anyway. Another major change is the ethics of conducting business. There were always some crooks, but deceitful business practice is the norm today. You shouldn't conduct any business transaction, like cell phone service or cable TV service without a lawyer. The deceit is intentional and widespread.

We didn't have TV or electronic games, I cannot say I missed it. Food was a lot different. Meals were mostly prepared from what was grown seasonal and and grown nearby with the exception of citrus. We didn't use any pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers in our gardens. Vegetables were canned in the summer and eaten in the winter. There were no shopping malls and you went downtown to buy everything. Parking was not a problem. My Texas drivers' license number was less that 275,000 when I got it at 14. I had a commerical license when I was 16. There are now two zeros in front of my number. Erwin didn't even have a grocery super market, but we did have one in Kingsport and in Longview. The biggest negative I can think of was the war in Viet Nam. I was not very aware of the Korean war because I was too young and not effected. We did have the cold war. I cannot ever remember being very worried about it even though there were several buildings downtown that were designated as atomic fallout shelters. We had drills in school to get under our desk in case of atomic attack. Air raid warning test were conducted every Friday at noon. I often wondered, what if they attacked at noon? No one ever paid any attention to those siren blast that lasted a couple of minutes. It became white noise. We had a saying, better red than dead.

I do not think that the 40's, 50's and 60's were a great time to grow if you were female or Afro American. The only jobs for women were school teachers, nurses, secretaries or store clerks. The education and job opportunities for an Afro American were even more limited in the south. I cannot say about the rest of the country. Medical Science has been the area of biggest improvement. Penicillin was discovered during the second world war. Before the discovery of antibiotics, I believe that pneumonia was the biggest killer, not heart attacks or cancer. No joint replacement for arthritics, no drugs for high blood pressure or cholesterol. I believe that insulin shots were the only thing available for diabetics. Medical technology has come a long way, now if we could just decide that it should be available for all people regardless of income, age or existing medical conditions. In other words, health care is a requirement, not a privilege. This brings me to another big change from the "good Ol' Days" and the present. For the most part, people had empathy for other people that needed help. I believe that almost every county in East Tennessee had a "poor farm". That's the origin of the phrase of "I am going to end up on the poor farm". People who had nothing could move to a community farm, work as much as they were able and would be provided with meals and a place to sleep. I guess the reason people had more empathy was we had just come out of the great depression that destroyed the lives of about 25% of the population. Everyone knew some family that needed help to just survive. I believe that this country lost empathy starting with the post war baby boomers....the "Me" generation.

Another big change I can see is religion and religious values. I think just as many, maybe more, people were religious then, but they didn't get in your face about it, be judgemental, and use it as a politically tool. There was a little in the early 60's when they tried to use Kennedy's Catholic religion against him during the presidential race. Today, religious issues are a wedge issues used to determine elections. I wish someone would explain to me how recognizing civil unions is a threat to my marriage of 44 years. I don't see it. I do see the injustice of denying people of the sane sex who have lived together the legal rights needed for medical decisions.

I believe that the extended families were much closer back in the good ol' days. They were closer because they all lived near one another. I guess we started the trend in the 50's when we moved to Texas. In some ways, I regret that we moved away. We had no family in Texas and I am sure I could have used some help after my Dad died in 1956.

I maintain that I would rather grow up when I did that grown up in today's environment. The reasons are my childhood memories of roaming the railroad tracks, spending all summer at Uncle Ober's and Aunt Mary's farm and the cool summer nights and holidays in Erwin with all my Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents. I also think we like to think of the good old days because we were young, nothing hurt and when you got sick, you got well. So, I think that youth and health is what makes the old days good.

I am sure that when my grandchildren grow old, they will think of the early 2000's as the good old days. Your youth is what I think makes those long lost days good.

Precious moments

2010-11-16T22:14:00.000-08:00

I guess that when you get older, you learn to appreciate little moments that you might never have again. I think I had one of those moments today.

Sharon fell and broke her foot...technically her toe, but the bone is actually in her foot. I have been trying to cut down on her walking, much to her very vocal disagreement, so she can heal. I have really enjoyed the little things....very little, that I have been able to pitch in and do. Today, I told Sharon that I would walk into the school to pick up Lil' Lisie and Sharon could wait in the car. She, of course, disagreed. She countered with Elise is a funny child, she may have a fit if it is not Nanna that picks her up. She said she didn't think Petie had told Elise that Poppa, not Nanna, would get her today. I told her that she would be in the car, 15 yards away, if the situation got out of hand. I know that Lisie would prefer Sharon to me, but come on, she knows who I am. This went back and forth for about thirty minutes, but I wore her down and she agreed.

We pulled up to the school and parked, about 15 yard to 20 yards from Lisie's classroom. I got out and went into the school. Amazingly, I was able to successfully check out Lisie on the computer....I had checked her in the day before. I had repeated instructions from Sharon how to accomplish this very difficult three step procedure. Successful completion of step one, enter her number code, now on to step two. Enter the password, step 2 completed, I clicked "finish" and I was through. I went to the door of the classroom and looked through the window to make sure I had the right classroom. Lil' Lisie saw me through the window in the door and then, with the biggest smile, pointed at me and told her teacher, "that's my Poppa". The teacher smiled at me through the window before I went in. She knew me from the day before when I had dropped Lil' Lisie off in the same classroom and released her to the same teacher. Lil' Lisie excitedly wanted her backpack, which I retrieved from the same shelf I had put it in the day before. She then proceeded to put in ten, counted them off, leaves into her backpack relaying the story behind her precious cache. I noticed three boys still seated at a table toward the back of the room and heard one of them say, "that's her grandpa".

We walked hand in hand to the car where we greeted a relieved Nanna that I had accomplished this very difficult task. I wouldn't have traded that smile and "That's my Poppa" greeting for the world.

These are the precious moments you learn to appreciate. They may never happen again.

Of anvils and coke bottles

2010-02-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

I am sure you have heard the old joke about locking a person in a room with an anvil and a coke bottle. When the door was unlocked, the coke bottle was fine but the anvil was torn to bits. That person was me today.

Joelle's school was having a day where the children brought a loved one to their school to show them around. Petie had to look after Lil' Lisie, Chris had to work and Sharon could not get up and function at 7:30 in the morning. So Joelle called in the "B" team. I was going to get to go with her. Got a haircut, shaved put on some decent pants and was at Petie's house at 7:10. We got to the school at about 7:30 and Joelle showed me around her room. I was really impressed with the neat set up with three student desk set arrangement and a reading room.Then Joelle took me to the cafeteria. I thought she wanted a muffin and a cup of water so I got a cup of coffee. Turns out she didn't want a muffin and neither did I so I was stuck with the cup of coffee and we left to go back to her room. The cafeteria exit door was a heavy steel door with the wind blowing against it. Two boys were there first and were having a hard time opening the door I had a Valentine card Joelle had drawn for her Mother and Daddy, my cane, and the cup of coffee in my right hand and I leaned over to open the door with my left hand. Bad choice. I spilled some coffee on my hand and one of the boys. Luckily the coffee was hot, but not scalding. Joelle told me I spilled coffee on him. I was mortified. I had some napkins so I dabbed it off as quickly as possible.

When we got back to the room, Joelle told me I should go, it was time for school to start. I messed up my big chance. There is no room on the "A" team for bumbling old fool. I tore the heck out of that anvil.

Wish upon a star!

2009-12-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

Today is December 10, 2009. I picked up Elise from tumbling and as I put her in the car I noticed an eyelash on her cheek. Not knowing if she had ever made an eyelash wish, I decided to give it a go; I told her I had her eyelash between my fingers and if she made a wish and chose the correct finger her wish would come true. I held my fingers before her and said, "which one my thumb or my finger", she pointed to the finger and that is exactly where the lash was. Then I said, "what did you wish for". She thought long and hard and then with a big smile she said, "a train". The remarkable thing to me is that is what she asked for from Santa or at least from her Mom for Christmas. (Chris and Petie this is for later use. I mean, brilliant #2, she must really want a train asking and wishing.) Love Nana

RIP Jack

2009-08-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

I was driving home yesterday and something in the curb gutter in front of my house caught my attention. I had a sinking feeling when I saw it. When I got out and went over for a closer look, my suspicions were confirmed. It was my antenna Ball. I have had that Jack In The Box antenna ball for over 10 years. The mouth, eyes and nose were long gone so the only thing left was the round Styrofoam ball and the yellow hat. It was like an old friend and I could always spot my truck by the antenna ball that no one else would ever have.

I told Sharon about my tragedy. She said "poor little fellow, we should bury him". The ball was on longer round because someone had run over it. I tenderly put it back on my antenna but he was a goner. It no longer looked like a Jack In The Box antenna ball missing a couple of parts. It looked like a piece of Styrofoam just jammed on the antenna.

Sharon loves Jack In The Box antenna balls. I believe she has all the special edition balls in a collection. She looked in her collection and found she had two "Party On Jacks", I believe from 2002 New Years time period. She gave one to me. The new ball is very fancy and I am sure he will lose details much faster that my old tradition Jack In The Box. So Far, my truck has not rejected the transplant ball. The next couple of days are critical as to whether my truck accepts or rejects the transplant. I will just have to get used to the "Party On Jack". I doubt it will last 150,000 miles like my old Jack In The Box ball.

I do not accept change very well.

Bad week for utilities

2009-08-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

I am really down on corporations in the electric business. Their money, in my opinion, is chiefly responsible for the deregulation of electricity. I know it was not the consumer who wanted electric rates that were 40% higher than than the neighboring states. I do not understand why Democrats running for state office do not make this an issue. I know that I can no longer votes for a Republican for any state office.

But I regress. Earlier this week, Sharon came home and said there was a group of door to door salesmen in the neighborhood. It was almost time to go to Lubys, which would make it about 4:30. We were almost ready to go when the doorbell rang. I saw this group of four or five people standing on the front porch. I open the door and went outside closing the door behind me. I saw a "Reliant Energy" patch on their shirt. The hair on the back of my neck immediately bristled. The head guy started his rehearsed spill when I stopped him by saying there was no way I was ever going to do business with Reliant Energy if I had a choice. He asked me why and I told him. I thought I was pretty clear but he came back with "we have a 12 cent rate". I could have told him I could get a 10 cent rate by just going on the Internet but I wanted to end the conversation and go to Lubys, so I said "I don't care if you have a 3 cent rate, I will never again do business with Reliant if I have a choice". I walked in the house without giving them a chance to reply and shut the door. Off to Lubys.

I received my gas bill today, Center Point Energy. I knew it was incorrect by 100 cubic feet. Went out to make sure, sure enough, too high by 100 CF. So I called and got customer service. After about 10 minutes of answering questions, you know, phone number, address etc. The person than told me my personal information was incomplete and would I like her to record my social security number and date of birth. In my best imitation of "The Band" in their song "The Weight" all I said was "NO".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmRDM7GyJXE

It could always be worse!

2009-08-09T00:02:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my old friend tonight and we somehow wandered back to our college days at Texas. He was talking about how bad a student he was and how he just barely graduated with a 1.01 on a 3 point system. He was talking about how he had bombed a couple of courses and it made me think about the most extreme insult I have ever heard of from a professor on an exam.

I believe the course was Biology...not a course you would normally take to improve your grade point average. I was going for a beer with this person who was a little upset. I didn't ask her why, but then she showed me her graded exam. The grade was a 7. How do you come up with a 7 out of a possible 100? I do not know how the professor arrived at that grade, but she showed me some of his comments on her answers. Words like "ridiculous" and "is this even relevant to the question". Every answer had some comment like the ones I remember. Needless to say she failed the course. The professor must have been making some kind of statement. I know that I got my share of "F's" in my second semester of my freshman year. That was because I did not go to class after the first week. I also got a "F" which is anything below a 60. I never received a numerical grade in single digits. That fact makes you wonder why.

I think everyone show be aware of this story. No matter how badly you do in any course, just remember the girl that received a 7 on a quiz. I guess it could have been worse, she could have been graded with a 5 or 6. I don't know if this made my friend feel better about his college career, but it could have been worse. I also wonder how he came so close to not even graduating, he was never on ScoPro like I was after my freshman year. If he had not made two "B's" and a "C" in his last semester...he just took 9 hours, he could not have graduated. I guess the early shock of being on ScoPro made an impact on me.

2009-05-25T22:33:00.001-07:00

Sharon and I watched "Changling" this weekend. Pretty good movie about a rough subject matter. I thought the performance by the bad guy was outstanding and I hope he got nominated for an award as a supporting actor. I also thought the older kid from Canada also deserved acknowledgement for his performance.

There was a line in the movie by Christine Collins where she told the shrink "F**k you and the horse you rode in on". The movie setting was in the late 20's and early 30's. That was a line that was popular when I was in High school. The expression made it for at least 30 years, I don't know if Petie or Joey were aware of the saying or not. I just shorted it and simply said "And the horse you rode in on". Every one knew the full expression. I am sure I always used in it jokingly, probably just on my friends. I have only been in one fight in my life...I believe I have stated this in an earlier blog.

The only other saying that apparently has survived the test of time is "cool". Or at least I have heard Joey use it. Probably a few of the others have survived, but I would not know it.

Lisie knows!

2009-02-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

I came back from the MACAC today and Joelle was watching TV. I realized that we were out of cashew nuts that I try and keep for Joelle and Lisie. My latest disease has stopped my daily, almost, trips to the grocery store. I started thinking about Lisie's last couple of trips.

The first was a couple of weeks ago when I had plenty of cashews on hand. When I heard her coming to the front door I went to get her some cashews and gave them to her in a small cup. She polished those off and stated she wanted "more". I was happy to give them to her. She noticed that the mother lode was not in her cup, but rather in the can that was on the kitchen counter. When Petie was ready to go, and getting Lisie ready to go, Lisie ran into the kitchen and came back to get her shoes on, clutching the can of cashews tightly to her chest. She was taking them home.

This week, I was out of nuts, again, because I have not been to the store. Sharon put some Teddy Grahams in a small cup for Lisie's snack. This is after I made Lisie mad when I said no when I saw her put something in her mouth. Turned out it was an old cashew that was on the window next to Sharon's Chair. I am not sure she has forgiven me yet. After Sharon put Lisie's shoes on to go home, she again ran into the kitchen and came back with the box of Teddy Grahams. Both times there were still a few in her snack cup, but she knows where the mother lode is and she is claiming it as her prize.

25 boring things

2009-02-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't think I can come up with 25 things about myself that would not put everyone to sleep, but here goes.

1. My Favorite book from an entrainment perspective is probably "Catcher in the Rye" from my formative years and Jurassic Park in my "golden years". One of the most informative books I have read is "The Great War for Civilization". I highly recommend it for people who have only seen the middle east from the view point of American journalism.

2. I love trees! I don't see how anyone could doubt that there is a God if they have ever seen a giant redwood or a sequoia. The greatest tragedy in American forestry was the extinction of the American Chestnut. The last one died out in the 30's.

3. I must not be a person that easily makes close associations with people. I have not made any friends since college, I have acquaintances, but not close friends. My two best friends have passed away. Hap died of lung cancer in his early forties and Danny died in 1999. I still miss Danny terribly. I used to call him at least 5 times a w eek and the conversations would go on for hours. We laughed, talked about the 'Horns and discussed what was going on, both the good and the bad. I think AT&T dropped three points the day Danny died. Interestingly, Hap and Danny were my best friends but I was not their best friend.

4. Sharon was my first love at the ripe old age of 25. I was lucky enough to have met and married the only girl who would have put up with my sorry butt for over 40 years.

5. The most relaxing sound to me are cows baying and a train whistle, both at night. Earlier blogs explain why.

6. I have always been a conservationist or environmentalist. Not to the extent of Joey and Petie, but extreme in my age group. I was writing letters, with little or no response, in my early twenties. I guess that some of that rubbed off on Petie and Joey. I am sure that the yearly camping trips during their early years also helped form their views.

7. I loved to play sports when I was younger. I now say, you know, I played a lot of sports when I was younger, but I wasn't very good. I hated organized football. Those two a days before school started were terrible. I am amazed more high school football player do not die in Texas. Back in my day, you were not allowed to drink water, even in the extreme heat. The coaches were making us tough.

8. One of the things I miss most is the wind in your face after you have been running for more than a hour. I wish track had been more of a sport when I was in high school. I believe I could have been a good middle distance runner if I had worked at it and didn't smoke.

9. I never could dance a lick. I didn't understand why. I guess I just did not have any rhythm.

10. I like a wide variety of music. I used to really like county music but I do not like what it has evolved into. Give me Hank Williams, Ray Price and Patsy Cline. You can have these new guys, they suck.

11. My childhood heroes were Ted Williams and Don Drysdale. I could tell you the line up of every major league team and come within 3 or 4 points of their batting average when I was younger. Now, I couldn't even tell you who plays for the Houston Astros. I completely lost interest in major league baseball in the 70's when utility infielders made over $100,000 dollars. The last pro basketball game I watched from tip off to buzzer had Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain as opposing centers. However, I still like pro football, but not as much as college football.

12. I was a computer programmer for 35 years and never learned to type. That is the main reason for so many typos and it is embarrassing.

13. Hate the phrases "How fun is that?" and "How are we doing". "How are we doing" is a phrase used by a lot of nurses. I take it like they are talking down to me as a child. I'll bet my IQ is a least 20 points higher than theirs and they are talking down to me. I usually respond by saying "I cannot speak for you". I also do not like it when a doctor introduces himself as "I am Doctor Smith". I have on several occasions replied " I am computer programmer Stultz".

14. The dumbest thing I have ever done happened while I was in high school. One weekend during the summer, I went with Glenn King to visit his girl friend, Robbin. We drove from Longview to Queen City, or something like that, Arkansas. Glenn, Robbin, another girl and I dove out of town to where a bridge crossed a river. There was a board, like a two by twelve on a very high cliff overlooking the river. The girls dared Glenn and me to dive off. Glenn refused but I had to be "macho". I climbed the cliff and dove off the board into the river. I now shudder to think of what might have happened.

15. The longest, loneliest night I have ever spent was in the CICS unit of the LDS hospital in Salt Lake City. As Homer Simpson said, "The longest, loneliest night, so far".

16. I am not a lucky person. That does not mean I am unlucky. Lucky people win the lottery, win free stuff, get that big break by sheer chance. Unlucky people just get dumped on financially, medically and politically. There is a 1 in 100,00 chance you will die during open heart surgery. That 1 in 100,000 is unlucky. I used to play the weekly football pools. It didn't cost a lot, usually just a buck, After 10 years of never winning a pot, I just quit. When I was in college, I went to a bingo game at the country club with Danny and Emily. Dollar a card. The last game was blackout worth $1,000. With 5 numbers to go, I needed one number to win. It went from 5 numbers to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1. No winners They kept calling 5 more numbers before someone won the vastly reduced pot. I really could have used that grand. I was working three different jobs in Austin trying to hang on.

17. I consider myself a failure in the game of life. In my high school class, there is a CEO of a major corporation, a law graduate who has been featured in Newsweek as the most influential American in Taiwan, many very successful and wealthy lawyers, many PHDs. I was on a peer with the most successful grade wise and better than most of the others that have gather a lot of wealth. I do not feel I am a failure from my standpoint....I have everything I want. I have a beautiful, loving wife, two children with a wonderful value system and are generally good, intelligent honest citizens. I don't even worry anymore about Joey now that he is 40. I quit worrying about Petie after her 16th year was over. I am lucky to have three healthy, beautiful intelligent grandchildren. I have everything I want and would live same if I had 20 times my current net worth. I feel that I have let Sharon, Joey and Petie down though by not being able to guarantee their financial future.

18. I have a trait that I keep trying to change. I expect everyone I have a financial dealings with to treat me the same as I would treat them. Hasn't worked out very well.

19, My Favorite Sitcon is WKRP. It was short lived and I watch any reruns if I find them. I do not re watch movies.

20. I changed political parties after 2003. I had voted Republican all my life but George W. Busk changed all that. I started looking into the issues instead of listening to slogans and platitudes, I studied executive orders and legislation and figured out that the republican base consisted of Corporate executive management, wall street movers and shakers, the wealthy, radical religious right, the ignorant and the uniformed. I hope I was uninformed and not ignorant. I am now yellow dog democrat and consider my self very educated on the real issues.

21. I am a lot more religious that my church attendance and language would indicate.

22. I talk very pessimistically but deep down I am really an optimist.

23. One of my favorite things is to do something with my children and grandchildren. It just doesn't get any better than that.

24. I have said that if a doc ever says, "sorry pete, your terminal", I am going out a buy a pack of Salem Longs and a six pack of Coors light and finish them both in one setting.

25. I love my life.

26. Sharon insisted that I include one more "dumbest things" I bought a motorcycle in my early 30's. It was a Yamaha 350. Not too much on the top end but could get from 0 to 50 in a screaming heartbeat. Sharon and I took a weekend trip one spring....went to Fulshear, on to Orchard and back. Not too much traffic back then so it was pleseant. There was one problem. You don't turn the wheel when you want to turn left or right at speed, you lean in the direction you want to go. Therein was the problem, I would lean right to turn right but sharon leaned left trying to stay straight up. We were all over the road. That was our one and only trip. I dropped the bike in the neighborhood, hit some gravel during a turn, which is biker slang for I had a wreck. The muffler came down across my calf and fried it. I still have a back mark on my left knee where I ground some gravel into my leg on impact. I just prayed that my son or daughter would never get on one of those things...they are very dangerous. I hope Petie and Joey forbid their children to ever get on one of those death traps.

I wanted it here rather than facebook....I have my reasons.

They do hear you!

2009-01-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

The "experts" say that you need to be careful what you say around children. They are right. When you are talking and they are playing, it appears that children are locked into their world and not really paying attention to the muffled conversations going on in the room. They do hear everything and are paying attention.

As most folks know, Petie and Chris have a remodeling project going on that has tried their patience and sanity. The various people coming in, carpenters, tile setters, plumbers, electricians and painters come and go and have had their house torn up for a couple of months. These "workers" come and go on a daily basis, but not everyday. I have heard Petie talk about which "workers" were there today and which "workers" would be there tomorrow, if they were lucky. I imagine that this has also been a frequent topic of conversation between Petie and Chris every evening during their routine of dinner and bedtime for the girls.

I dropped by yesterday to check on the progress and see my granddaughters. A couple of painters were painting the new shelves located near the doorway separating the den from the hall that leads to the bedrooms and the playroom. Lil’ Lisie was supposed to be taking her afternoon nap but was fretting. Probably because of the noise in the den. Finally Petie said it was OK for Sharon to go in and let her get up. So, Lisie comes into the den and I receive my usual greeting. When she sees me for the first time, she silently looks at me, gives me a big smile and points her finger at me. Kinda like her way of saying, "I see you, glad you’re here". I am not high enough on the pecking order to receive her best greeting. Lisie’s best greeting is loudly saying your name while running full speed toward you to give you a big hug. Truthfully, I have not earned that high degree of respect from her.

She then used her hand trick on Sharon and led he off to the toy room. Lisie’s hand trick is to reach out and get you to hold her little hand. Then she leads you off to do what she wants you to do. Nobody can resist the hand trick. How could you possibly refuse that little hand and that big smile? I believe that Petie has previously bogged about the hand trick. Anyway, as she led Sharon off to the toy room, they had to pass by the two painters working near the hall door. Lisie uttered something as she approached the painters before she and Sharon disappeared into the hall. Lisie has to check the entire house every 10 minutes or so to keep track of everyone. She came back to make sure Petie and I were still at out stations and to bring me a toy to play with, I heard her again utter something as she approach the painters. This time I was sure she said "watch out workies" as she approached the painters. Sure enough, every time she left the room or came back into the room, she said "watch out workies" as she approached the painters.

Children do hear everything you say.

Men with guns

2008-08-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I am lonely and bored. All my girls are gone, so I should try to document another of my "top 10 stories". I guess I should consolidate all three of my dealing with people who have guns.

(1).

I don't remember what year it was, probably the summer of 1962. I was in Austin going to summer school and trying to earn enough money to survive. I found a job working the graveyard shift at a Jack Ritter service station. I had two day jobs, one grading papers and another cleaning tables and washing dishes at the Steak and Stein. The only problem was, it was pretty far away from the campus. The service station was on Ben White blvd, east of I-35. Most of you know it as highway 71 now. Back then, there was not another structure around. I ran the graveyard shift alone, and after about 10:00 PM, there was very little business, sometime hours between customers. Part of my job was to mop down the driveway to keep the oil drippings washed off. I usually started the process about 2:00 AM. I had just mopped down the driveway with a very soapy mixture when a man came out from behind the station. He had a pillow case over his head with eye holes cut out and a shotgun trained on me. The shotgun looked as big as a bazooka. He force me inside the station with the shotgun pressed into the small of my back. I gave him the contents of the cash register, probably about $30.00 and he took my billfold which had, at the most, $2.00. I was trying to function even though I was gripped with fear. I volunteered to rip the phone off the wall so I couldn't phone the police when he left. I did it, but it didn't work.

He then forced me out of the station and across the field behind the station. I just knew he was going to shoot me when we got away from the station and the highway. However, when we we several hundred yards away from the station, he told me to take off running. I started running and had the presence of mind to run in a zigzag expecting to be shot any minute. I kept running west to I-35 until I came to the IRS building, where I called the Sheriff's department. This area was not in the Austin City limits in 1962. The sheriff came, picked me up and took me back to the station. They took down my statement about what happened and took me back to my apartment.

Several days later, someone from the sheriff's department started coming by daily to ask me more questions and brought pictures of a lot of black men. I repeated, he had a pillow case over his head, how can I identify anyone without seeing his face. Then, someone came by to get me and took me to the sheriff's office for more questions. He told me he wanted me to again tell him what had happened; he typed it and told me he wanted me to sign it. I did. He then said he was going to check out every detail, and if anything in my statement did not check out exactly, "the monkey was going to be on my back"...his exact words. He then told me wanted me to take a lie detector test. I finally realized what was happening. I was now really scared. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know anyone in town, I couldn't call Mom, she had just recovered from a nervous breakdown. I went to a Catholic Church near the campus....I don't know why, maybe because I had gone to a Catholic school in Kingsport until the fourth grade. I talked to a priest and related my story asking what I should do. He told me that he was sure everything would be OK and dismissed me. I guess I should not have expected anything more based on my horrible experience with the Catholic school in Kingsport.

I then had an idea, I had taken Business Law the previous year and went to talk to my professor, Mr. Purser. He listened to my story and told me he wanted to go with me when I took the lie dictator test. When he showed up with me to take the test, I could see the Sheriff, who was giving me a hard time, didn't like it. I took the lie dictator test, and failed...according to the test result analysis. Mr. Purser told me not to sign anything or talk to them anymore without him. I could tell he believed me even faced with the results of the lie dictator test. The sheriff got off my back. I did not have anymore contact or harassment after Mr. Purser was on my side. A couple of weeks later, I got a bill from Texaco. I had a Texaco credit card in my billfold. I had canceled the credit card, but got a bill for over $200.00, a LOT of money in those days. There were charges for car repairs, a set of tires, a new battery and a lot of gas. All in all, about 30 or more credit charges. The statements came with credit slips in those days. Of the more than 30 charges, one had a license plate recorded in the place where the station attendant was supposed to put the car license number. It was for $1.58 worth of gas. The tires, battery and car repairs did not have the license number recorded. I took the credit card charges to the sheriff and gave them to him. I called about a couple of weeks later and asked what was happening. He informed me they picked up the guy the day after I gave him the credit slips and the guy confessed almost immediately. No apology for what they had put me though, not even the courtesy of letting me know that I had been completely cleared of any wrongdoing..

The injustice of the events even spilled over into my academics. I was taken an accounting course, my major, and my academic advisor was teaching the course. I made the highest grade in the class on the 1st quiz, the 3rd quiz and the final. I made a 37 on the 2nd quiz, which was right in the middle of this mess. I went to talk to my professor/advisor. I even had a newspaper clipping backing up my story about why I had bombed the 2nd quiz. He told me not to worry about that test grade. However, when the final grades were posted, he gave me a B.

(2).

The year was 1957, my first year of high school. I was selected to become a member of the Key Club, which was a honor in Longview High. All new member were subject to initiation in the spring. It was kinda brutal, although nothing compared to Hell Week fraternity initiation in College. The were neat things, like having to hold the two leads of a "telephone" to get repeated electrical shocks. Another of the neat things they did was to get you to spread atom bomb in your shorts. Atom bomb was the very strong ointment used to treat muscle strains. It was very strong and very painful in your shorts. At the completion of the initiation, four of us, who had just completed the ordeal, jumped into a car and drove to the lake. The lake was out of town and no one lived in the area we went to. We went to a place where a bridge crossed a narrow part of the lake. We all jumped off the bridge into the water, buck naked, to wash off the atom bomb It was late spring. After a refreshing dip, we all got out, got dressed and got back into the car. I was in the back seat behind the driver. Suddenly, a car pulled up right behind us and the next thing I knew, there was a cocked pistol pressed against my temple though the open window.. It completely froze me, the first time I had ever had a gun pointed at me. We were told to get out of the car, get on the ground, face down. I don't know how long we were forced to be in this position, but we all told him what we were doing there and why. We were not on private property, we were on on a public road. Sure it was late, probably about midnight, but I now realize what a complete abuse of power that was. The guy was an off duty police officer. There was no mistaken that we were all very young, not drunk and not a danger to anyone or anything.

(3),

The year was 1958, my junior year in high school. There was not a lot to do in Longview in the 50's. One weekend, three car loads of us decided to drive to an old airport off highway 80, just east of Longview, The airport was closed and, we thought, deserted. You could easily get to the runway, there was no gate or anything to keep you off the airstrip. The three car loads of us drove onto the airstrip and started racing up and down, trying to do spins or anything else we had seen in the movies. I head a loud "bang" followed by several more bangs no one in the car I was in could indentify the sounds. Suddenly, one of the cars sped off the airstrip and almost had a wreck by pulling onto highway 80 in front of another car. We followed while still hearing "bangs". All three cars headed to the Malt Shop, which was the only hang out in Longview. When we got there, the driver of the car that had first sped off got out of his car and motioned us over to his car. He was visible shaken. He took us the rear of his car and showed us two bullet holes though his trunk. The bullets had penetrated his trunk but did not go though the back seat where two people were setting. Thank goodness the cars in those day had a very thick metal body. I am sure that today, the bullets would have gone though the car body as well as the back seat.

Well, those are my top ten stories about being held up, kidnapped, shot at and having a gun pressed to my temple. I laugh when I hear someone tell me what they would do if this or that happened. From my experience, you cannot tell what you will do when something unexpected happens in the flash of an eye. The only thing I know, is that extreme fear takes over. I hope I never see the business end of a loaded weapon again. I also understand the attempt to curtail the power of law enforcement using weapons. If I have had these experiences with law enforcement, how many others had had similar experiences and how many have not survived? How many people are in prison that have not done anything wrong? Some people should not be given absolute power over other people. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be black or hispanic in those days. The temptation to abuse this power is too great. This also applies to our countries abuse of military power. An example of this abuse of power is Haditha, Iraq. Of the 8 soldiers charged with the murder of 24 innocent people, 7 have so far been totally cleared of any wrongdoing. I'll bet there are literally thousand of Iraqis who have been killed for no reason. I know that 10's of thousand have been put in prison without charges are are only guilty of being Iraqi.

A top ten story

2008-07-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

Chris has referred to Sharon & my trip to New England as a top 10 story, or one that he has heard many times. So, I thought, why not repeat it.

I was at a week long conference in Boston during mid October in the early 80's. These "conferences" were really just a way of rewarding us rather than giving us a good salary increase. Our family vacations had always been to the rocky mountain region so this was my first trip to New England. I had always heard about the fall colors in New England, so I called Sharon and asked if she would like to come up Friday morning, we could rent a car and just drive for a couple of days.

The road trip didn't start out well, we were told to drive to chocolate factory, catch the freeway and drive north. We drove until we spotted the chocolate factory but couldn't seem to get it or the freeway...we kinda circled the factory several times before stopping and getting new directions. We finally made it to the Interstate and in a couple of hours we were in New Hampshire. The trees were beautiful. Sharon said it looked like a quilt. We kept driving and were soon in Vermont. Late afternoon, we started trying to find a motel or hotel for the night. This was before cell phones, so we reverted to the old method of stopping at a motel, asking for a room and if they didn't have one, where is the nearest motel where we could find a room. They all kinda laughed and told us we were in the middle of peak fall colors, every room had been booked for months. we kept driving wondering what we were going to do, sleep in the car?

We passed a building that had a sign, "Romey Inn Depot" We stopped and asked if they had a room...looking around we knew they probably didn't because the entire building was under construction. They were converting the Romey Depot into a bed and breakfast. We were delighted to hear that they had finished one room and they would rent it to us. They also told us the construction workers were staying in the other unfinished rooms because of the remote location. Relieved, we paid in advance and drove off to find some place to eat.

We returned just after dusk and went up to our room on the 2nd floor. It was not fancy, but clean and the bed was comfortable. We had just drowsed off when all hell broke loose. The workers were having a drunken brawl. We heard glass breaking, shouting, cursing and it even sounded as if furniture was being splintered. Periodically, we would hear people running up the stairs, past our room and on to the third floor. Then they would run back down the stairs to the party area on the first floor...always right past our door. I looked out our window for an escape route...there was none. I took the strap off my camera in case I needed some form of a weapon in case our door came crashing in. Then we heard "I'm going to kill you"...someone running up the stairs with someone chasing, then back down. Sometime later, we heard a car start and I looked out the window to see the car speed off. Another car than sped off after the first car. Thankfully, everything got quite, it was after 4:00 AM. At first light, Sharon and I crept down the stairs to get out of there. We went past what was to be the lobby and someone was sweeping up broken beer bottles. We didn't speak, just got out of there.

We had a very early start so we still headed north. We made it to southern Maine before turning back south toward Boston. We were still young enough that the two or three hours of sleep let us truly enjoy the coastal scenery of northern New England. We had a very good lobster roll in what was probably in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Because of the "No Vacancy" we had experienced the night before, we started looking for a room very early, just after noon. Same thing at motel after motel, this is the peak season, no rooms available. We got back to Boston around dusk. We thought that would be our best bet. Same thing in Boston. Several motel told us the best bet would be to drive several hundred miles west and hope to find something there. We were now very tired. Sharon said we might as well go to the airport and try to get on a "red eye" as standby. They still had "red eyes" in those days. If worse came to worse, we could always sleep at the airport and get a flight out the next day. That would be better than sleeping in the car.

We were the last two passengers called to board an Eastern flight for Houston. The route to Houston was not exactly "as the crow flies". We made a mail stop in Columbus, Ohio. We finally got to Houston around 4:00 or 5:00 AM, totally exhausted. We were so tired, we could not even make it home. We stayed at a Holiday Inn at the airport

All in all, it was worth it. We saw some beautiful fall colors, some very old New England structures, including the Romey Inn Depot.

Bruisednbleedin

2008-07-10T02:18:00.000-07:00

I guess most folks know that I love trains. My dream, since childhood, was to have a really nice model train layout. That dream will never happen. I used to have a lot of model train magazines with pictures of layouts from various hobby enthusiasts. I remember one that modeled a yard from the late 1880's. The name of the town in the layout was bruisednbleedin. I was reminded of that name today.

Sharon and I took Joelle for her usual Wednesday dinner at Lubys. When we got to Petie's and Chris's house, Petie and Lil' Lisie were outside to greet us. I open the gate to give Lisie a kiss and a hug when I gasped. Lisie looked like she had been in a fight with Leroy Brown. She had cuts and bruises all over, and I mean all over. Her face, arms and legs had cuts and bruises everywhere...hence bruisednbleedin. When we went inside it was clear why she had all this injuries. She was everywhere and everywhere fast. She narrowly missed running into the door, furniture and anything that wasn't padded. Petie said in one of her blogs that Lisie had no sense of proportions. That means a two inch step is the same as a 3 foot step to her. I hope she understands the difference soon.

I finally told Sharon we had to leave in hopes that Lisie would slow down a little. Lisie was blowing us kisses as we were leaving. I remember Chris and I laughing that in high school, Lisie would be the girl on the back of a motorcycle without a helment. I hope not. It is amazing how two girls with the same gene pool can be so different.

Sleep over

2008-06-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

I went to the MACAC a little after noon on Saturday. I saw something on the neighbors driveway as I came home. Then I saw Sharon watering our neighbors flowers, they are gone to Colombia for a couple of weeks. As I got out of the car, Joelle came running yelling "Poppy". It was Joelle's overnight bag and a swim noddle I had spotted on the driveway After I greeted Joelle and Sharon, I told Sharon I would hook up a water hose so she didn't have to water using a one gallon water pail. They went into the house, it was hot. I hooked up the water hose and water for about 15 minutes before going into the house. Joelle's bag was in the entryway. Joelle was "sleeping over" for the first time in a long while. She seemed so excited which I didn't fully understand, it is not unusual for Joelle to be over at our house, but I guess she doesn't spend the night anymore like she used to.

As I said, her bag was in the entry and she was busy taking one item at a time to the back. I asked her where she wanted to sleep. Her "room" is closed much of the time to keep the cats out so I have shut the air conditioner vent. She informed me that she was sleeping in the big bed with Nana. That was cool because now I didn't have to get a ladder to open the vent in "Joelle's Room". Dinner was the usual, Luby's with Joelle getting her usual fare. I told her that we were going to let her rent a movie since she has been intrigued by the movie rentals from a vending machine at McDonalds. We went to Krogers in the outskirts of a thunder shower. Third time this week we have just missed a good rain by a couple of miles. I got the movie vending machine started, looking longingly at the advertised movies "3:10 to Yuma" and "Rendition", I selected "Childrens" as the category of movies to rent. It didn't take long. Joelle spotted "Barbie, Mariposa". I couldn't wait.

We turned on the TV when we got home. I noticed the Olympic women gymnastics was on. Joelle decided she wanted to watch that Saturday evening and watch the Barbie movie as she ate break feast Sunday morning. She showed me the "Hello Kitty" waffle maker on the kitchen cabinet. So, We watched gymnastics. Sharon was going to bake a batch of cookies as a special treat for Joelle. I don't know why Sharon couldn't ready the package, but I heard her ask Joelle to read her the instructions. My 40 years plus wife was asking my five year old granddaughter to read her the baking instructions! I heard Joelle say, "1. Separate 2. Bake 3. Enjoy." I went into the kitchen laughing. However, those were exactly the instructions on the package. I found, in very small print the oven temperature and baking length instructions. Joelle started getting ready for bed about 8:30, Nana too. I, of course, stayed up front to watch TV. Joelle gave me a good night kiss and reminded me NOT to make noise and wake them up. I agreed not to.

I was watching TV, when at about 9:30, I heard giggling and laughter coming from the back bedroom. It sounded like a couple of teenage girls having a slumber party, not Joelle and Nana. They were both asleep by 10:00.

I awoke at my usual time on Sunday, the crack of noon. The girls had eaten their waffles and were ready to go to our pool. The pool wasn't crowded so we had plenty of room to splash. Joelle had a Disney Princess doll, a boggie board and a noodle. She would kick back and forth using either the noodle board or the boggie board while telling me to teach the doll to swim. Joelle could really make a lot of progress kicking and she could usually touch the bottom. She also would jump into the pool just a few inches from me so I could catch her, but again, she could touch the bottom. We were at the pool about an hour before it was time to go. Sharon got a call from Petie telling us that Lisie wanted Joelle so we packed up and left. Lisie really did want Joelle. Sharon and stayed for just a couple of minutes before leaving, Lisie and Joelle having their usual romp around the house.

That's life in the fast lane! However, I think I can speak for Sharon, Joelle and Myself, a good time was had by all!

Out of the mouths of babes

2008-06-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

Today was Thursday, Library day with Joelle. I rolled up to "Cheers" at 2:10 PM. I call Petie and Chris's house "Cheers" because of some lyrics from the old sitcom "Cheers". This is the part of the theme song I base it on:

Sometimes you want to go
where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be
where you can see, our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows Your name.

Today was special, Lil' Lisie Bear had finished her nap, so Petie and Lisie could go too. We arrived at the library, got two tickets to see the show (one for Joelle and one for Lisie) and had time for Joelle to read a couple of books, Petie was trying to read to Lisie, but she just wanted to motor. Joelle finished one book and most of another, despite being pestered by two girls who wanted her books.

The show was dumb, in my opinion, but Joelle said she liked it. It was some woman singing about an opera singing dog or something like that. Lisie was motoring the entire time. She always has the most beautiful smile. She came over to me several times and I was so proud that everyone noticed what beautiful grandchildren I have. Petie and Lisie were in and out of the room a couple of times and Joelle always looks around several times to make sure I am still there. She knows I am very protective of her, but she doesn't know I would not dare leave her in the room because there is more than one way out. She may check a couple of times to make sure I am still there, but I almost never take my eyes off of her so I know she is still in her place.

Joelle read two books after the show but still wanted to read more. Lisie was ready to go. Petie made the great suggestion of checking out the books so Joelle could read them at home. We would be back within two weeks to return the books. A thunder shower was in progress when we left and I almost dove on the curb in front of the library for a quick boarding because of the lightning.

Traffic was not bad yet, so we got back home fairly quickly. Joelle and Lisie were both snacking on Lisie's pop corn when Lisie climbed onto my lap for a short time. Joelle told me that Lisie wanted to go with us because she loves me. Wow, what a compliment! I told Joelle that I loved Lisie and her very much too. Joelle than told me I was the best Poppy she ever knew. I know I am the ONLY Poppy she has ever known, but I have never had a better gift than that. I also know that I am not at the same level as Nana, but she has earned her place in the lofty heights of admiration. However, she dearly loves what she has done to accomplish those metals.

I love it Cheers.

Summer is heating up!

2008-06-14T04:55:00.001-07:00

Well, summer is really here. This is probably going to be a bad one weather wise. I'll bet we haven't had an inch of rain since March. However, the good thing about summer is the weekly trip to the library with Joelle. I really had fun with her last year and an looking forward to this years weekly trips.

Thursday was the first library trip. I picked up Joelle and took off for the Spring Branch Library. However, I notice that this year, the journey to the library was different. Joelle read the entire way. We had such interesting talks last year and I am really going to miss that part of our outing. That had been one of the few times that we were together without anyone else involved. Oh well, there is always the library itself.

We got to the library, and Joelle grabbed two books from the shelf and we sat down. Last year, Joelle wanted me to read the books to her, even though she really knew every word. She just wasn't sure that she would know every word and she was afraid she would be embarrassed if she came across a word she didn't know. She read two books while we waited for the shirt painting class to open. The class was limited to twenty people, so we got our ticket before Joelle read her books. The lady in front of us got 7 tickets even though she only had one child with her. She told the ticket person the others were coming.

The shirt painting class finally opened and we went into the room. We brought a plain tee shirt with us as instructed. At least two thirds of the children didn't bring a blank tee shirt but were given one by the library. There were 3 children who had not arrived soon enough to get one of the 20 tickets, and were wait listed to see if all of the lady's group would arrive. They did not and all of the wait listed children we given a place in the class.

The class started and Joelle and I were seated at a table with a cup of water and about 6 different kinds of brushes. The class leader had jars of paint and each child stood in line to get colors of paint on a paper plate. Joelle got white, yellow, green, brown, blue and her favorite color, purple. There were stencils on a table so I picked up a frog, a horse, stars, and trees. Most of the children were using stencils. Joelle did not want to use them, instead she wanted to paint her own design on the tee shirt. She started out painting a house with white walls and a yellow roof. She then drew a chimney and put in a door. After adding a sidewalk, she painted grass. Then she really started getting creative. She added a variety of modern art designs around the house. When she finished, she had created, in my biased opinion, the best looking tee shirt in the room. Several of the other mothers also told her so. I was intrigued by what the boy across from Joelle drew on his shirt. He drew a tank with smoke coming out of the barrel, a man with a gun and another man, between the tank and the gunman, laying on his back face up. The face was colored brownish red. Looks like Blackwater has a future recruit.

I told Joelle we had time for her to read a couple of books before we had to head home. She selected three books. we sat down and she read all three books. She wanted to read another but I told her we had to leave. It was already 4:15 and I knew traffic would be getting bad soon. The trip home was mostly silent. Joelle was reading. I really miss the conversational part of our outing, but really enjoyed watching my Little Princess growth in her creative side.

We got back to Petie's house and went in. Lil' Lisie Bear was puttering about, she had been asleep when we left. You could tell Lisie made a mental note that Joelle had come in with me, which means that Joelle had been out with me and Lisie had not. Lisie immediately began bring me toys so I could play. Later, as she pass by, I picked her up to give her a big hug. To my surprise, she hugged me back and lingered for at least 30 seconds. She just put her little head on me and snuggled. That was so special.

I am so glad summer break is here.

Pete's Tattoo Parlor and Storm Door Company

2008-05-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

A neighbor 4 doors east of us has had signs in their yard for more than a week. The first sign appeared by their mailbox almost two weeks ago. It was hard to read driving by because it was yellow printing on a red background. However, they soon had two additional signs in their yard that clearly read "Massage Therapy, Call Tony (XXX) XXX-XXXX. I was discussing this with another neighbor, who like myself, has had more that his share of letters from the community association deed restrictions committee. His letters, like mine, had been for the most trivial things. A couple of weeds growing in our driveway, a tree branch hanging, in their opinion, too low, mailbox had some rust spots......etc.

I told Dan that when my yard swing broke, I had a letter in three days telling me to fix the swing or face legal proceedings. We looked up the street and saw the signs were still all over his yard. This was a clear violation on two counts. No yard signs except political signs, not more than 30 days before an election and not more than 1 day after an election. The second was you cannot run a business from your residence.

I had an idea. I was going to make me a yard sign at the risk of getting a deed restriction letter the next day. This morning I made a sign. "Tattoos and Storm Doors, Call Pete, (281) Tatoos". The phone number does not have enough digits so I would not be bothering anyone.

Sure enough, the "Massage Therapy" signs were down this afternoon. I just took my sign down. Pete's Tattoo Parlor and Storm Door Company is now closed.

Ode to Sarah

2008-05-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to call my Aunt Sarah for about a week. I usually call her about two times a year, but it's been over a year since I talked to her. She would be about 93 now, I recall she was about a year younger than Mom. The number didn't work, just a busy signal. Sarah didn't get or receive many calls. She had moved out of her house a little over a year ago and moved into an apartment....I didn't ask her if it was assisted living or not.

I sensed that something was wrong. I looked up my cousin Grant's wife, Erma, on the Internet. I have never called them before or after Grant's death. I asked Erma about Sarah. She said Sarah died about two weeks ago. She told me Sarah had moved to an apartment and that one of her nieces had moved into Sarah's house. I told her that was not right. Sarah had sold her house to her neighbor and that her neighbor's daughter's family had moved into the house. Erma then started asking me about the various things Sarah had in her house, pieces of furniture etc. I responded that I thought that Grant had taken those things years ago.

Sarah was the hardest working person I have ever know. On Sarah and Claude's farm, Sarah did all the work. I am talking totally running the dairy farm and getting the workers needed to plant and harvest the tobacco. You could see her every morning and evening going out to the barn to do the milking...first by hand than by machine. She wore high rubber wading boots for the cow manure. Sarah was a very nice loving person. Mom and the other Martin's, except Claude, never liked Sarah. Didn't think she was good enough to marry a Martin. If I had my say, there was not a Martin good enough to marry Sarah. Claude was like my old friend Hap, he never worked a day in his life. Claude was drafted into the Army in WW II. He was in North Africa when my Grandfather Martin got his congressman to get the Army to send Claude home to help on the farm. Think my Grandfather Martin didn't have some political pull in Greene county Tennessee.

Sarah was the last of my kin on my mother's side of the family. She had a niece that I am sure handled her final affairs. I have never met her thanks to the Martin's attitude toward Sarah. I would like to call her and tell her just how much I though of Sarah. I loved Sarah. It was a love that developed after my first return visit to Tennessee after Joey was born. I wish that I had gotten to know her earlier and without prejudice.

Sarah, May you rest in peace with God.

Do these guys hear what they are saying?

2008-03-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

I cleaned a little in my messy garage Sunday. Besides a little junk, I had two old car batteries. You shouldn't keep old batteries, they really can explode. I don't know the science behind a battery, but I do know it has sulfuric acid, lead and copper plates. These are all very salvageable commodities, but could pose an explosive hazard. I put the batteries in the back of my truck to recycle today.

After a very tiring swim at the MACAC, I stopped by AutoZone on the way home. I asked the clerk if they took old batteries. I was told yes if you had a receipt showing you had bought a new battery at AutoZone. I asked why, don't you actually make money by recycling car batteries? He said they only took Auto Zone batteries. I wasn't buying his bull so I said that if my car had a Sears battery and I bought an Auto Zone battery they would take it rather than charging me a "core charge" or refund me the "core charge" when I brought back the Sears battery. He said it messed up their inventory of batteries on hand if they bought old batteries; however, they would do me a favor and take the old battery off my hands. Still not buying his bull, I said thanks and left for Walmart.

The bull got a lot deeper at Walmart. I asked if they bought old batteries to recycle. They said no, but they would refund me my "core charge" if I had a receipt. The last "core charge" I paid was $3.00 last year when copper was half the price it is today. I suspect the same is true for sulfuric acid and lead. He said that he would do me a favor and take the old battery off my hands. I said wouldn't that be screwing me twice if I lost my receipt and they took my old battery for nothing and made at least $3.00 on it? Frustrated, I left the batteries. I was on my way to the house, when I had an idea. I knew I was right about these stores selling old batteries to scrap yards, so I drove to Westheimer Recycling. I asked the guy there if they bought old car batteries. He said yes, we pay $3.00 each for old car batteries. Mad as hell, I drove back to Walmart and told the guy I wanted my two car batteries back.

I didn't tell him I could sell them up the street for $6.00, which I did after I left. He went on to tell me that they had to pay $1.50 each for someone to haul off their old batteries. Now I know Walmart is no fool. They are clever enough to cut off most of their employee hours at 39 per week so they can be classified as part time and thus, pay they no benefits. The guy then went on to say that Walmart was having to lock up all their old batteries because people we stealing them by the hundreds when they we just stacked outside. I asked him why Walmart cared if these old batteries were stolen, wasn't that saving WalMart $1.50 a battery? I also asked if they had to pay $1.50 to haul off the old batteries, why did they want a deposit until the old battery was returned?

He had no answer.

Hog Heaven

2008-02-25T22:51:00.000-08:00

I received a phone call from my neighbor in Wimberley last week. He told me that the feral pigs, that have become a major pest in the area, had paid me a visit. I was told that they hit my yard just below the cliff near his ramp. Sharon and would have to wait to go and look at the extent of the damage because of Meg and Danny's wedding. We were not in a hurry because we didn't want to see any damage to beautiful yard we had worked so hard on. Sharon and I had taken grass plugs to plant. It took us nearly a year of this labor intensive landscaping. I went up almost every week to water trying to get the grass established. It took almost 10 years before the total yard, down by the river, was completely covered. We have lost sections over the last 5 years due to both drought and debris left from flood that were not cleaned up in a timely manner, but it didn't look too bad and usually recovered within a year.

We got to Wimberley about 5:30 PM friday but didn't go directly to our property. We were not ready yet. We ate at Marco's and finally got to our property about dusk. I looked down at the yard below the cliff. I was horrified. It was not just a strip of yard near the neighbor's property, it went almost all the way across our entire property. I didn't want to go down at that point so we went into our apartment for the night. The next morning with full light, the damage was more than what we had seen in the fading light the evening before. Our yard looked as if it had been plowed. When I went down to look closely, it was still worse. The pigs usually skim off the sod to eat what is right under the mat, usually no more than a couple of inches. Not so in my case. What the pigs found good to eat was much deeper. They had rooted up at least 6 to 10 inches of soil. There were pecan tree roots sticking up. Dead pad of grass was everywhere. It was too rough to even drive my lawn tractor across. I worked all day, from 9:00 to 4:30, and had about a 10 foot by 10 foot section level, cleared of dead grass clumps, but without a single blade of live grass. It was too much for me to do. I literally cried a short bust after dinner. I was worn out, hurting all over and realized that my old butt just couldn't function anymore. I could not fix the yard without help.

I think I have found a neighbor that will bring in a piece of heavy equipment to level the yard as best he can. It will be full of dead sod so we cannot start the grass plugging process right away. It will take years to recover. On the way back to Houston, Sharon and I realized that losing our beautiful yard wasn't as devastating as we first though. That just wasn't as important as a lot of other things in our lives. We have fairly good health for our age, our daughter survived a very scary health crisis. I have finally stopped worrying about my son....I think he may have finally joined the real world...although I am still worried about his sugar consumption. We have three beautiful grandchildren,

Today, I went to the pool and exercised. When I was through at the MAC, I drove to Petie's house. I don't usually do that, but I needed a fix. I just walked in the back door....I have warned Petie to keep it locked. I was greeted with the three biggest smiles I could have possible received. Joelle asked her usual question, "Poppy, why did you come here?' It was not a question like I really don't want you here, she just wanted to know if there were any specifics. She was glad to see me, you could see it in her big beautiful smile. Lil' Lisie Bear was all smiles when she saw me and kept coming by my chair for hugs and kisses...she even gave me a kiss. Petie was content with her two happy girls and busy with the laundry...just being a good Mom. She had brought out her easter egg cup collection that had Joelle's total attention. She stopped her laundy chores to read Lil' Lisie Bear a book. Joelle was later singing in the play room, Lisie was now laughing and pulling DVD'd out of the cabinet and Petie and I were content. That's what is important, not a yard that you can show off as something beautiful you own. Anybody can buy and maintain a piece of property. A family that is happy and loves you cannot be bought. That is Hog Heaven.

What a line of bull

2008-02-21T00:34:00.000-08:00

I have started watching the grocery store ads to see if there are any bargains in fruits, fish or beef. I look for bargains in beef since I have started grilling using my cheap charcoal grill. I believe that meat cooked over charcoal has much better flavor than cooking with propane grills. I usually throw in a piece of pecan on the coals to give the meat some smoke flavor. The important point here is that Sharon agrees.

Last week, Kroger had Angus sirloin steaks, choice grade, advertised for $4.99 a pound. I thought that sounded like a pretty good price for choice beef. I have decided that select is too tough and that I shouldn't eat prime because of my cholesterol problem, so I look for choice. I stopped by Kroger's and went to the meat department. The regular butcher wasn't there but there was a guy in an apron behind the counter. I saw the sirloin in the meat case at the advertised price, but the label only said it was Angus beef. I asked him to help me pick out the best piece of meat since he should have a lot more knowledge that me in that area. He selected a piece and began wrapping it when I asked him, "now that is choice isn't it?". He replied "no, it's Angus." I said, I didn't ask you the breed of cow, I asked you about the grade of the meat. He went on to tell me that Angus was a grade and the federal meat inspectors in the packing plant would specific that cow as Angus and another cow a select, thus the grade. This is totally contrary to my understanding. I am pretty sure that the inspectors look at the beef AFTER it has been butchered and label it as select, choice or prime depending on the amount of marbling in the meat. The amount of marbling is the best indicator of how tender a piece of meat will be.

Well, I didn't want to tell him he was an idiot and should not be allowed behind the counter. I guess I could have softened it a bit by saying, " don't take this the wrong way, but your a moron". So after a minute of carefully selecting my words, I told him that I spent a lot of time on My Aunt and Uncle's farm as a child. We had both dairy and beef cattle. I have been with my Uncle to several cattle auctions. I never heard of one select cow being auctioned off, nor did I know of any farmer who had a herd of select cows.

I did, however, buy the steaks and leave.

You make me feel special!

2008-02-17T18:19:00.000-08:00

I picked up Joelle from Meg and Danny's wedding rehearsal. Her bedtime is about 7:30 so she couldn't stay for the rehearsal dinner and all the toasts. Joelle and I always have very interesting conversations when we are driving by ourselves. Interesting for me because I am amazed how a five year Princess can ask such deep questions. Somehow, I said something about Christianity, probably relating to Danny and Meg's wedding. She asked what Christian meant. I tried to explain how the Christian religions meant that we were taught to follow the examples set by Jesus Christ, thus the term Christian. I went on to say there were different denominations, like Methodist, Lutheran and Catholic, but they were all based on the teaching of Jesus Christ. I told her there were other religions like Muslims and Hindus that were not based on the teachings of Jesus, as well as the Jewish religion.

She was quite for a minute and than asked, "how old are you Poppy?". I told her that I was 66, soon to be 67. She was quite for another minute and then said, you will probably live to be a 101, and that's a long time. Joelle has a way of making me feel special. I cannot express just how good it make me fell when Joelle spots me when I and not with her. She yells "Poppy" and starts running toward me. It is the inflection in her voice when she yells "Poppy". It is not like "Poppy, what are you doing here?", or "Poppy, are you lost?". It is like "Poppy, I am sooooooo glad to see you!"

Grandchildren make you fell so special. There are not many benefits associated with getting old, but grandchildren is the best one I have found.