Where Should We go to Eat?

     When I was a child eating in a restaurant only happened when we went to a distant town (30 mi) for a day's shopping. Sometimes we took sandwiches and ate in the car. So it was a big treat to eat in a restaurant.

     As a young person I had a few bucks of extra money. You know how teen agers can eat. So it didn't matter what time of day you could always tuck away a hamburger. I remember eating in mid afternoon and later in the evenings. In those days most places were closed by 10:00 PM.

    As a young broke couple we rarely ate out. By that time the chains had been established. We had fast food such as A&W. 

    With young kids there was another challenge. It was easier to eat at home.

    With older children we ate out once a week and everybody had a week for their choice of restaurant.

    Now my kids are gone many years ago. We didn't eat out much.

    Now that we're older we,ve got tired of cooking and so eat out more often. However, I still prefer home cooked meals even if they are very simple.

    So this post has got to where I planned. We have an awful time to decide where to go to eat. One of will say I like Chinese food. The other doesn't like Chinese food. One of us likes Mexican. The other doesn't . So for starters we agree on very little as far as food is concerned. 

    So the discussion goes on and then out come the coupons and that complicates things again. In our town there is a shortage of good restaurants. There are a couple of fancy places. These days most other restaurants are chains. There are a few Vietnamese that are private. 

    So sometimes we find a place that will have enough choices that we both find something we like. For example, one place has a great soup and salad bar and also great steak sandwiches. Sometimes we can make a compromise. 

   So for eating out there's more pleasure than just the eating out. There's lots of fun to decide where you will eat.

    How about you? Is it easy to find a place to eat?

At the Ranch House with the eboys.

    

Territorial Squirrels

    This morning I was looking out my front window to check on  feeder. I got more than I bargained for.

    Two squirrels were chasing each other around and around the trunk of a large green ash. They continued this torrid pace for at least two minutes. I was expecting them to quit from exhaustion. I found out that they had a very high level of fitness.

    Now my interest in watching the chase was to see how it ended. Was there going to be  big squirrel dust up? Was one squirrel going to escape? Would it end up in a draw?

    Well it ended in a draw. One squirrel ran into the upper branches and the other squirrel did not pursue. 
   
     Red squirrels are very territorial. Usually they just chatter at one another. You hear the chattering going on and again you wonder when they will be out of breath. 

     So the territorial squirrels can get very physical in claiming their territory.

     I wish these characters would chase each other far away. They are a nuisance at my bird feeders.

    How about you? Have you seen squirrel fights? How do you control squirrels at you bird feeders?
    

     

Quotes

     Today I noticed a quote that would have fit my previous post. In my last post I got on the topic of

unity rather than division. My example was that it's easy to ignore skateboarders but at what cost.

     I was doing the cryptoquote yesterday, and this was the quote. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they're stones that don't matter. -Maya Angelou

    After Angelou's quote, I feel guilty. A friend has been very ill. He shares his facebook page with his wife. I was telling his wife to keep us posted on Willis's condition. Then I thought, Willis is reading this and I'm talking about him not to him. Embarrassing?

    I thought , why didn't I think of finding a quote to go along with my post?

    Now there are many excellent blogs that use quotes to great effect. One photography blog The Smitten Image, has a very suitable post with each photo. Some blogs, Button's Thoughts, Just another Day on the Prairie, start with a good quote.

   So now I've talked myself into thinking about quotes for my posts. That's going to be a challenge because some of my posts are so odd it may be hard to find a good quote.

    Do you use quotes? What blogs do you read that make excellent use of posts?

I Talk to Skateboarders

    Whenever I get an opportunity to talk to skateboarders I take advantage of it. I know some people will say , " What does he think he's doing?" 

     I think most people think skateboarders have extreme attitude so stay away from them. Skateboarders are sometimes intimidating as they can be loud, rough and unruly. It's easy to see that an out of control skater or board may hit you. 

    By ignoring skaters we tend to isolate them

. Two groups of people ignore each other and do not know what the other is about. Without communication, misunderstandings can develop and then it's downhill from there.

   So anytime I have an opportunity to talk to skaters I jump at it. You can't just barge into a group of skaters. The opportunity has to be there. Not an invitation, but an opportunity.

   Last night I had an opportunity and used it. Three skaters were stopped on a small footbridge. A couple of little skaters cut me off and I had to stop. There I was with the three boarders. I made some comment about an awkward move and that got things going. Skaters love to talk if you show that you are the least bit interested in their activity. These three were very late teens and one maybe early twenties. They were well spoken and knew about their equipment and activity. 

    These three skaters had long boards and used them for travelling. In other words they went from place to place on skate boards. They think that skate boards would be great for commuting to work. They told me about the structure of the boards and how they were laminated with special glues to make them strong. Two of these guys weighed over 200 lbs. They talked about the smaller skateboards used for tricks. 

   Ages of skaters were talked about and what each age was interested in. Some of the long boards are used for going downhill at the highest speed you can get. These skaters continually look for different hills. 

   After 10 - 15 minutes these guys were ready to continue their trip and politely took their leave. 

   I've also talked to individuals who try various tricks. I met a young guy numerous times last year when I was riding. He explained some of his moves. Just by watching I couldn't tell how he did things. I met this kid a half dozen times when we would stop and talk.

   I think it pays dividends all around to talk to skaters. I'm passionate about not creating exclusive groups. Make people feel as if they belong in this world and they will contribute positively to life.

The old cyclist from 2009

I Love Lightning and Thunder.

     I love a good old thunderstorm.  Now I know some people are terrified of lightning and thunder. They have a good reason to be afraid. I know that lightning is dangerous and causes many deaths, injuries and damage.

     Last night I was wakened shortly after midnight by thunder. The thunder was distant but it rolled on forever. Well, not forever, but for 20 - 30 seconds. Lightning lit up my room. Then I would wait for the thunder. Would the thunder be closer or further away? This storm was gentle. It moved slowly toward me. so there was lots of lightning and thunder. A little breeze picked up and helped to make my room cooler. After 20 - 25 minutes rain began falling. Not hard driving rain, but steady rain. Now the disappointing thing is that I went to sleep before the show ended. The Micro Manager never woke up until morning.

   There's something about the power and energy contained in a lightning event that fascinates me. I know it's static electricity. I'm amazed that so much electrical energy can be formed by wind and cloud. When you think that the lightning travels for miles, that's a lot of energy. When it' rapid fire lightning that's a lot of energy forming in a very short time.


   I was terrified by one lightning storm. I was on a mountain peak. We were watching a small thunder cell move through the valley below. It's cool to look down on a thunderstorm and see the lightning in the cell. All of a sudden there was static electricity all around us. We could hear the crackle. We left the mountain top at mach 1. The thunder cell was 1000 ft below us. There must have been enough energy that it spread far and wide from the cell.

   Hiking in the mountains, it was common to see trees that were damaged by lightning. The tree sticks up and the lightning follows the tree into the ground.

  In the  old days in the country, it was quite common to see a telephone pole that had been damaged by lightning.

  Now there are quite a few songs about thunder. I like Eddie Rabbit's Rainy Night.

    How about you? do you like thunderstorms? Have you got music about thunder and lightning?

    There's also a CD called Natural Blues that has some good thunder in it.

    This panorama taken from the internet shows lightning ove Bucharest.

 




 

I Wish You Wouldn't Share Some Things on Facebook

     Some Facebook people find it easy to share things with you that you would rather not have. Most of it's just junk but some of it leaves me with smoke coming out of my ears. Most inappropriate things I can ignore but some leave me fuming for days.

    So somebody shared this graphic with me the other day. The heading is "Problem not guns". There are three very prominent pistols pointing at you. Then it goes on to say(1) hearts without God, (2) Homes without discipline, (3)Schools without prayer, (4) courts without justice.There's a very small bible on the left and very small Jesus figure on the right. It concludes and asks you to say "Amen" if you agree with this.

    Now the reasoning is faulty. They are making some statements that are opinions not facts. They present an all or nothing choice! 

   Now for starters with me guns are a problem. I know some people will disagree with me and leave. However, people can have their opinions. So I cannot say Amen to guns. On (2) I wonder who says what's discipline and what's not? After 37 years of teaching , schools are no place for public and compulsory prayer. And (4) Our courts do a good job. It's not perfect but day in and day out they do what they are supposed to. They dispense the law as it's written.

   Now what really gets me is that they have put all five things in one and ask you to agree. If you don't agree with all things then you are  a dirty rotten fink. 

    This is a poorly disguised

 visual that is promoting guns and that guns are somehow or other related to issues that have nothing to do with guns. 

   So now I've got this off my chest and I feel better.

   Have any of you received this share?

National Sour Candy Day

    Can you believe it? Today is national sour candy day! Yes there must be national days for almost anything.

    A little bit is explained about sour candy. We are told how it's made and why it's enjoyable.

   We are also told how to enjoy national sour candy day. Yes, go out and buy some sour candy and eat it!

   Now at one time I liked candy as well as the next guy. Today I rarely eat any candy. I may eat the odd mint. I can even pass up on chocolates.

   Now when it comes to sour candy, I've never liked it so national sour candy day is a nonstarter with me.

   July 18 is also claimed by a few other ideas. (1) national caviar day, (2) national get out of the doghouse day, (3) National Hamilton day. I could pass on these three and not bother with any celebrations. Yes they tell you how to celebrate these days too.

    So once in awhile I check to see what national day it is. It's usually like July 18 where some   pretty dull things are celebrated.

    How about you? Do you make a habit of celebrating some of these odd

ball days?