Wednesday, August 23, 2023

BE IT RESOLVED THAT...

        Be it resolved that speeding tickets are not given and that drivers are given credits for driving the speed limit. 

       Okay,  I'll fess up and admit my bias. Since I've been 75 I've received 3 speeding tickets. They are the only speeding tickets I've ever had. So at least 90 % of my driving has been at or below speed limit and yes some just a little over speed limit. 

    So I don't think speeding tickets do much to make drivers quit speeding. Sometimes speeders are caught again a few miles down the road. Yes, a speeding ticket will alter some drivers. There would have to be a speed limit that would be classified as criminal and they should be punished accordingly. 

   Now I do think that rewards for driving the speed limit will encourage people to stay within the speed limit. I would like to think that speeders will slow down so that they will get a reward. So speed traps can be set up to catch those who are driving within the speed limit. Rewards? There could be many ideas. Take a few bucks off your income tax? Would you go for that? How about businesses giving something like free hamburgers or meals? Tickets to football or hockey. This could get creative and fun. 

     Now here's one you can argue against. I was a middle school teacher and I used rewards often. Some of these things were really silly but the kids went for it. How about if you get 100 % in your spelling three times you get a free week and don't have to do spelling. They went nuts over that one.

     I think that turning the speeding issue around would do more than the program we have now.

     What do you think? 


Friday, August 18, 2023

ONION SANDWICHES

     My sweet Spanish white onions have just matured enough to make excellent sandwiches. Now I know some people when they hear onion sandwiches will turn up their nose. I know the micro manager is not fond of onion sandwiches. 

     On the other hand there are many recipes for a great onion sandwich. I just have two slices of bread spread lightly with mayonnase. I slice the onion in 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. A little salt and pepper and I have one of my favorite sandwiches.

     Onion sandwiches have a history in our family. Our Dad was an obsessed fisherman. He loved to fish and have people with him. So when Dad called for a fishing day it meant that you would have to have an extremely good excuse not to go. Dad would always say, "I'll bring the lunch!" And you guessed it. The lunch was always onion sandwiches. 

    Dad loved fishing but he also liked eating fish. His favorite was to have a fish fry right on the beach after the fish had been caught.

    His favorite fish to eat was the sucker and again many people will sneer. He loved fried suckers and had Mom can many quarts. These fish have many bones so many people don't like them. 

    Here's the last time I went fishing with Dad going after his favorite fish. You caught the suckers when they went up the creeks to spawn. Now this was illegal but Dad loved those fish enough to break the law. 

                My youngest brother and I enjoying spring while Dad fished
                                 Fishing in the creek for suckers
                                                  Look! I caught one!

                                The hard work was scaling. 

Thursday, August 17, 2023

LOVE THOSE COMMENTS

      In my last post I left you with a question that brought many great comments. Since the question was on blogging , many people were very interested. People who  blog think about things. 

     Writers think about what topics they will deal with. Bloggers have a purpose. I started out just wanting to do a little writing to keep some skills. I've ended up with a hobby that is very interesting. 

     I was blown away with the quality of comments.   Thanks. 

    So I hope the person I had a discussion with is reading comments. So commenters say that we should be correct and after that you can write the way you want. You own the blog so you have the choices. Most blogs I follow have their own style of writing.

    The poor photo bloggers were left out in my post . However, photos tell a great story. 

     So the last blast from Smarty Pants was , "Anything worth doing, is worth doing well." I can live with that. 

Monday, August 14, 2023

JUST CURIOUS

     Recently I had a conversation about writing and in particular blogging. The person I was talking to insisted that all spelling, punctuation, sentence structure should be precise and accurate. In fact, this was a two against one conversation. 

    Now I think we should know as much as possible about good writing. There is a place for  formal writing. 

    So I think blog writing should be about your audience. You want to converse with as many people as you can. You adopt a style that your readers find interesting. You try and find material that people will like to read. 

    A couple of years ago I had someone read every blog post I wrote. The person was from Chicago and read about twenty posts a day. I was very pleased that someone would go back and read all my posts. I am curious as to who this nice person is. 

    So I think bloggers have control over what and how they write.

    What about you? What's your view on how blogs should be written? Do you think about your writing or just write the way you speak?

    So let's see whatyou think and please help me out in the two against one conversation I had. 

Saturday, August 12, 2023

DON'T FORGET THE IN -LAWS

     In my last post I left out a very important part of the family...in-laws. So before somebody takes offense to their omission I will show pots of them. 

    It's interesting that in-laws are an important part of any family but sometimes the relationship can be difficult. There's only one thing wrong with my in-laws. They're too far away. 






Thursday, August 10, 2023

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

       I know the dog days of summer are over tomorrow. Dog days of summer refer to the hot part of summer from July 1 to Aug 11. It's an ancient term .

      I always think of the dog days of summer as a part of summer that isn't pleasant anymore. It's hot and dry. Most plants have reached maturity and are not developing any more.

      This last while dog days of summer seems to be a good description of my blogging activity. Things are at a standstill. New topics are not coming to my brain. 

      I have been busy. People have visited me. I've got behind in my projects because of the heat. I find it difficult to work in the heat. 

     Well, these are my excuses lately. 

      So here are two of my visitors. My son visited in early July and my daughter visited in later July. 




Sunday, August 6, 2023

A FIRST

      You'd think that when you get to my age that you have seen everything and done everything. Not so! 

      So I had a first yesterday and for a little old boy from the boonies there will be more. I remember going to Chicago and getting a neck ache from looking up at the tall buildings. 

     However, yesterday was the first time I used live streaming. I know live streaming is common and there are things I could find interesting using live streaming but I'd never had occasion to explore.

     However, my sister in law passed away last week and her celebration of life was yesterday. Since there were many people who could not attend they live streamed the service. I did not attend so the streaming was good for me. 

     My sister in law was a salt of the earth kind of person. She was calm, cool and collected. If stuff had to be done it just got done and no whining about it. My sister in law was one of the last of  snail mail letter writers. Every Christmas we got a long hand written letter. We always looked forward to her letters. Many other friends and relatives got a long letter. 

    I was disappointed with the quality of camera and sound . The camera was set up focused on the stage and was not changed. You couldn't see any people Not even mourners. The sound was also poor. 

   Though limited , we had some participation of the celebration of life service.