When I was Young the exciting thing to do during the summer school vacation was to sleep outside between the houses or in the back yard. Two or three of the neighborhood kids would have a campout. It was spooky and scary staying outside with no parents nearby. Of course, this was before your parents had to be concerned about rampant crime and many things could be done without that fear.
My next camping experience was after I started work full time and some co-workers were campers and they would invite me to go with them to camp up in the mountains. Fishing and camping over the weekend. What an experience. I never did like sitting around the campfire though. It seemed like the smoke from the fire always followed me and my eyes would burn, and my clothes would retain that smell of smoke for a long period.
My next camping experience was during basic training. You received a shelter half and you had to find a buddy so the shelter half could be combined to make a pup tent. The army didn’t call it camping though, they had their own name, it was called bivouac. Then In Germany they had maneuvers and had these large tents that held eight or ten troops. I can’t remember what kind of tent they called them.
My final tale was after I was married and had two sons. We had friends that had a van, and I became enthused about a camping van. I bought a delivery van from the company I worked for and converted it to a camping van. The kids would sleep outside in a tent and the adults slept in the van. It was a fun time of my life. Unfortunately, I became divorced, and the budget could not afford a van and camping.
After my life became more stabilized, we occasionally went camping. I would rent a RV for the weekend or the week. It was fun, but I did not enjoy driving the wide RV and the length of the RV. I learned to take a tranquilizer before I started the trip. It was fun and enjoyable though and it gave me many good memories.
I think of the past more than the future. I am in my senior years and have over seventy-five years of memories, experiences, and good times. I am sure this is obvious in my articles I post. If it wasn’t for my past, I would have nothing to write about.
I am just a mere mortal. I don’t jump over tall buildings or stop speeding bullets. I have not done or accomplished anything spectacular in my life. I love my country and I am experiencing the American dream. I am praying that the American dream continues for many generations to come. I have been retired for over fifteen years and my American dream is close to being over. If you have read previous postings, you see that most are about memories or past experiences.
Friends and relatives have said I should print out my articles so they would not be lost. I said, “that is the purpose of TomT2.0 on WordPress.” However, that did make me think and that is when I came up with this Ramblings Magazine idea. Where this ends up only time will tell. I started with the WordPress postings and the next resource will be articles from a writing group I was a member in and then articles from Yourhub.com published in the Rocky Mountain Newspaper that was closed around 2012. I estimate that I have enough articles for over fifteen issues. What happens after that who knows?
Therefore, if the people who said that they would be interested in having a printed copy they have the facilities to order a copy of the magazine and it will be mailed to them. Talk is cheap and will see how many put down money for a printed copy.
As I reconcile my life, I have come to the conclusion that my biggest regret is that I could have been friendlier than what I was and kept in touch with friends throughout my life.
In my young years I was scared. Life scared me. I was afraid to try things and go places. The first day of kindergarten was traumatic. All those strange kids and a new environment really scared me. For safety reasons my mother walked me to school and would be waiting for me when school was out. Telling me to “don’t talk to strangers” didn’t help me either. I survived and went to junior high and high school next. During that time, I made many friends and did what was normal for the period. Unfortunately, high school was a difficult time in my life. I guess it was the hormonal change and just the period of growing up. But, during that time I was angry and mad. I was mad at myself, my parents and everyone around me. I do not know why. I graduated from high school, and I never attended one high school reunion. I never kept track of any high school friends.
On to full time employment and a period of army time and making friends. On to married life and raising children, making more friends. Life continues and retirement happens and a move to a new home. More friends.
I have had many friends throughout my life. However, my biggest regret is I never kept in touch with the friends. Once a period of life is over, I would lose contact with the friends. My wife Dee has kept contact with friends throughout her life. If fact she is having lunch with three from her grade school tomorrow.
Therefore, my biggest regret is that I never kept in contact with friends out of my past and I could have been friendlier than what I was.
Daily writing prompt
Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently?
What kind of animals make the best pet? All I can do is go by memories of pets I have had. We lived in a small home with Grandma, a brother and I. Naturally Mom and Dad were there. It was only a two-bedroom house. My folks slept in one bedroom and Grandma in the other. When I was young, I slept with Grandma until I became older. I would say maybe until fifth or sixth grade. They had a roll away bed that was put in the living room at night and my brother would sleep on the roll away. They did make another bedroom out of the attached garage sometime in my young life. That made sleeping arrangements much better.
When I was young, my parents allowed us to have cats, no dogs though, there was just no room. The yard did not have a fence and that was the main reason they gave us the reason for no dogs. The cat was sent outside to sleep at night. I remember the cat’s names. There was Jughead, Sandy, Boots, Tiger and Lucy. My parents said male cats only, female cats have kittens. The only way we got a female cat was one day Lucy was at our backdoor as a kitten. She stayed around for a couple of days, and I became attached to that loving cat. Finally, they relented and said OK we can keep her. This was in my later teenage years and yes, she did finally get pregnant. At this time, I was then drafted into the army. I was in basic training when the kittens were born. My mother played midwife and by the look on her face when the subject came up. I think she really enjoyed helping to raise her midlife family. They didn’t have much difficulty finding new homes for the kittens.
I also had other pets in my younger days. One summer I won a baby duck at a bazaar. I was able to keep it until the fall. I built a cage for her and in the evening, I would lay down papers on the garage floor and take the cage into the garage and the duck would follow right along and stand on the newspapers and let me put the cage over her. She knew the routine. She became Thanksgiving dinner to a needy family we knew from church.
I loved my duck. Never gave it a name though, it was just duck.
I also had other living creatures also. I had a goldfish. It just swam around in the fishbowl and came to the top of the water for food. I also had a turtle. It was just as boring as a fish. We used to keep it on top of the hot water heater. Well, it was forgotten about for a couple of days and the water all evaporated and so much for a turtle. In junior high they had hamsters and guinea pigs. We used to let the hamsters crawl in our sleeves and shirts. They were fun. My son had a ferret. Those animals had a weird smell. I had a rental property for a while and the renter had a boa constrictor about six feet long. No thanks!
In my marriage I finally was able to have a dog. Ginger was some kind of mix. Had her for a long time. I also remember other dogs. There was Gypsy, Cuddles and Missy. Missy was a peekapoo, she weighed less than five pounds. Had her for over thirteen years.
After months of cold, snow and being shut in more than what I like, I am ready for spring. The days are getting longer, and I am getting excited about the warmer days of spring. I like the spring. I enjoy watching the trees and bushes preparing to green up. Since we have moved, I do not have much space for gardening, but I still get the many seed and flower catalogs for me to thumb through and think of flowers and vegetables. I enjoy watching things grow and many days I just go out to see how things progress. Last year I did not have very good luck growing tomatoes but that did not stop me to attempt growing tomatoes again. The other day Dee and I went to Dollar Tree, and I happened to notice some seed packets. I had to buy some. I am not sure where I am even going to plant them, but I just could not pass up the good deal.
Spring is just a happier time for me. Winters are hard for me to stay in. I am glad when I am able to get out and enjoy the outside without freezing my tail off. My attitude changes and it is just a better time in my life. That is one thing I really like about the Colorado weather and that is the many days of sunshine this area has. I remember when I was in the army in Nurenburg Germany for about 8 months. In those eight months I do not think the sun was out more than 2 weeks for the entire period I was there. This was from December to July but even the springtime was cloudy and overcast. The Nurenburg weather was not my favorite. I guess I will be a Denverite the rest of my time.
I am sure there are other things that happen in spring, but I just can’t think of anything at the time. I guess I am stuck on the weather. Dee has asked me if I am writing about my duck. So, I will write about my duck. I won a duck at a bazaar when I was young. This was a recently hatched duckling and I enjoyed watching this duck grow up that summer. I made a cage and the duck stayed in the cage during the day and at night I would pick up the cage and the duck would follow me into the garage. The duck would stand on the paper. The duck waited for me to put the cage over her. This duck knew the drill. Also, I dug a small pond and would fill it with water and watch the duck swim around and have a ball. This duck gave me many fond memories.
Sorry, I did not have a favorite shoe. To me a shoe is a necessity not a luxury. Life would be tough without shoes. Looking at scenes during Jesus’s era and seeing those open sandals and bare feet. No Thank You!
I remember when going to grade school high top tennis shoes were the type to have. You just didn’t fit in if you did not have high top tennis shoes. My mother would shop at Thom McAnn’s shoe store, and we always got our shoes there. Are they even around anymore? A new pair of shoes always gave you a blister somewhere on your foot. When I started in corporate management Florsheim shoes were the brand to have. I had one pair, and they were the worse shoes in my life. After a short period of time, they were not comfortable and lasted less than six months. That was the last Florsheim I bought.
In the army I received two pairs of combat boots and one pair of class A shoes. Since I have a small foot, size eight, I received combat boots made for WWII They had a date of 1944 in the boot, and this was twenty years after the war. The boots received the most attention in my entire life. They always needed to be shined and one pair had to be spit shined for guard duty. They lasted many years after I got out of the army. Probably the reason they lasted was because I did not wear them that often.
I never did get into all these designer shoes or sport shoes like Nike, New Balance, Adidas or others. After I married, I accepted shoes from Target, K-Mart, or Walmart. Cared less about brand name but how they feel and wear. I am still in that position now.
In conclusion, I never had a favorite pair of shoes and never walked “The Yellow Brick Road” in them.
Daily writing prompt
Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.
A patriot is a person who loves their country. It is generally seen as a positive. Many have ancestry from a foreign country. They have seen or heard how their life has improved in this country compared to where their ancestors came from. They have realized they can believe a religion they may have been restricted from. The world is full of controlling countries and that may be the reason they immigrated. Whatever the reason, a love for a country is starting to materialize when they come to this country and feel the opportunities. Have you ever heard of anyone immigrating to Russia, North Korea for the opportunities?
Defending a country against its enemies, and a desire to see it succeed is very important. There are national cemeteries across the nation that are full of patriots that stepped up and fought and defended the country. Millions are in these cemeteries that made the supreme sacrifice in battle defending this love of country.
Most countries aim to instill patriotism in their youths from a young age, often through education and exposure to patriotic symbols and events. I remember in grade school they would raise the flag when the students were entering. When they were raising the flag, you would stop and wait until the flag was raised. We were taught about the many symbols and history of this country. Unfortunately, I have heard that this has diminished in the last years. If this is true, I am afraid that this will affect this country in the future.
Patriots believe it’s their duty to vote in elections. This is based on their sincere desire for their country to succeed. Patriots pay attention to the events that are happening in the country and vote accordingly. Way too many do not vote and do not have a clue what is going on in the country. I am concerned that this lack of interest could affect the future of this country.
Yes, I consider myself to be a patriot. I vote consistently and follow local and national news and events. I served in the military and was willing to give my life for this country. I respect the flag and symbols of the country. I love this country and have no desire to go to any other country. This country has been very good to me, and I have lived the American Dream.
Daily writing prompt
Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?
I can’t jump tall buildings, not as fast as a speeding bullet. I haven’t received any heroic metals or certificates. Not a high paying singer, actor or businessman. Not an elected official or important in a religious order. I am just a mere mortal.
Born during World War II. Raised in Denver Metro area. Spent two years in the army. Went to Germany during that time. Got married a while later. Fathered two great sons. Had to experience a divorce and the heartbreaks associated with that. Remarried again after I met the woman, I should have met twenty years sooner. She blessed me with two great stepdaughters and two stepsons. After working forty-five years, retired and now have enjoyed over seventeen years of retirement life. I have experienced the “American Dream!”
Just a mere Mortal.
Daily writing prompt
If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?
What were your parents doing at your age? Unfortunately, my parent’s journey was over before they reached my age. My mother passed on from bone cancer when she was seventy-five. This was in 1982. Three years later, my father passed on from a heart attack when he was seventy-five. This was in 1985. Since I am over eighty, they both are watching me from heaven then and now.
I have many good memories of mom and dad. They gave me a strong base to live my life. What I am and what I have done is because of them and the values and lessons they taught me. Sure, we had disagreements and differences, but I will always remember and love them for what they gave me and the love they showed for me. I am confident somewhere in the future we will meet again.
Back in 2016 my dream came true. For about two years prior we have been looking for a new home. A medical emergency prompted us to do a home search since the EMT’s was not able to get their gurney down the hallway. We looked at many building sites in the Denver Metro area and was not having much luck finding our dream home. We were about to give up the search and started to accept that the home would not be found.
One night around eight PM we were driving down this street we have been down many times in the past. I was going east and happened to see this for sale sign in a residential neighborhood. I asked my wife, “would you like to tour a home I just saw a for sale sign?” She said, “might as well, it doesn’t look like we will find a new home.” When we got home, I made an internet search and got the address and listing. It was just put on the market Thursday one day ago. Contacted our agent and she made an appointment for Saturday afternoon. We went Saturday and signed a contract the following Sunday.
The house was built in 1998 and the original owner was moving to Phoenix and was selling his home. It was all I ever wanted in a home. A two-car garage that didn’t need to be used for storage space. A large master bedroom larger than the 10 x 12 one we are used to. The laundry room is on the first floor, one of the requirements since we are becoming seasoned citizens. The HOA takes care of the lawn, trash pickup, snow removal, gutter cleaning, and other items. The basement is finished, and it has a workshop. something I have always been dreaming about. This was the final straw. I wanted this house.
To this day I still do not know how I saw the for-sale sign. It was dark and four houses down the side street. My wife says, “it was the Holy Spirit at work and this home was meant for us”. One will never know. We have been here for eight years and will more than likely spend the rest of our lives here.
I guess this all depends on a person’s definition of amazing, fantastic news. My definition is some news that affects the entire world not just my small piece of the world. For example, the fall of the Berlin Wall to me was fantastic news. Since I was born during WWII. Communism was a great threat while growing up. I had to spend two years in the army in Germany because of the Iron Curtain. In 1975 I took a trip and crossed the Iron Curtain from Budapest to Vienna Austria. The border was very depressing, 100 yards of defoliated land and machine gun towers 100 yards apart along the border. Fifty miles from the border the tour guide got off the bus. We asked why, she replied, “I am not allowed to get any closer to the border.” We have many freedoms we just take for granted. The Iron Curtain was to keep people in, not stopping people from immigrating in. The Apollo moon landing and return was fantastic news also.
On a closer note, I cannot think of something that was amazingly fantastic. A year ago, I thought I took my last breath. When I awoke from passing out and heard that the survival rate was three to five percent for this kind of procedure, I thought that was great and thanked the Lord for giving me a second chance. I had a good feeling but that is all I could do because I had to stay flat on my back for three days. So, I couldn’t get up start dancing and celebrate. The medical personnel acted like just another day saving lives. Link
I have not experienced a loved one near me survive a serious illness or accident and then survived. I do not know how I would react. I don’t play the lottery so I will never experience winning millions. I kind of doubt that I will ever experience a “great, amazingly fantastic news event”! Time will tell.
Daily writing prompt
You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?
Throughout my many years I have had many interests. In my teenage years, cars and hotrods captivated my interest. After I got my driver’s license, I bought a 1940 Ford two door sedan. It was a refugee from the junk yard. I paid $125.00 for it. My dream was to make it a car show item. I didn’t have a garage and spent many hours in the back yard sanding, cleaning up and learning about engine repair and modifications. This was before all of these emission requirements, and they were not as sophisticated as they are today. I quickly learned that those hot rod items were expensive, and my budget did not have room for those expenses. A couple of years after high school this hobby was over.
After I got married, we bought a home where the basement was partially finished. This was my next interest, to upgrade the basement. Hanging drywall and paneling was one of the jobs. Putting drywall on a ceiling is a task you never forget. Everyone wanted a bar, so I had to have a bar. All of these projects were a learning experience. you learn to appreciate craftsmen that do this for a living. You could easily see that my projects were done by a “do it yourselfer”.
The most recent hobby I had was building birdhouses. We moved into a new home for us in 2016. This new home had a workshop and I started building birdhouses. One had to put this new workshop to use, right? I built many birdhouses. I gave birdhouses to neighbors. I sold birdhouses in garage sales. But after a while I had an overabundance of birdhouses. I finally thought enough is enough. In the end I gave the remaining birdhouses to a thrift store.
There have been other interests and hobbies that I enjoyed. Fishing, hunting, RV’s, computer repairs and others. As I aged and matured my interests have changed. The longest interest I have retained is writing. Computers and the internet have helped this interest. I remember that you had to retype many manuscripts before you had an acceptable piece. I have had this site since 2009. It was a little dormant for a period. Now, “I’m Back.”
Not much to remember on February 7th. In 1940 the movie Pinocchio premiered. General MacArthur returned to Manila in 1945. President Kennedy blockaded Cuba in 1962. Not much has happened throughout history on February 7th. However, February 7, 2023, is a day I will never forget.
This is the day I dodged death. I was standing in front of deaths door and Doctor Death was holding the door open for me to enter. Here I was laying on the operating table with a massive blood clot between my lungs. The doctors said they had better results if the patient stayed awake, so I went with that option. About 30 minutes after the start, I was really feeling horrible. I was having trouble getting a breath and there was the time I thought, “this is it, life is over”. I must have passed out, but a while later I woke up and slowly started to feel better. I survived and spent the next three days in ICU.
Many times, while lying flat on my back, in ICU I thought many times, “Why was I given a second chance?” It has been a year now and I am still searching for the reason I dodged death on February 7, 2023. Until the reason reveals itself, I will just do what I do best, and this is just be me and enjoy these bonus days and hopefully bonus years.
I have been retired over sixteen years and all my time is leisure time. After sixty years of working earning a living, raising and providing for a family I am entitled to leisure time. Since I retired every day is Saturday! I wake up and think what will today bring just like I did when working but just one day of the week then. Now it is every day.
With that I have enjoyed doing many different things at different times. Before I retired, I had passion for model trains and this passion went through its course. Since I have retired and moved into our new home the workshop, I have in my basement. I spent a lot of time. However, that interest has decreased lately. Of course, I am aging like everyone else, and this is affecting what I can do and not do.
Lately I have been spending a lot of time writing and reminiscing about things that happened to me. I have become active in WordPress again. I had this account since 2010 but became active in it since August of last year. I have dabbled in podcasts and videos. Maybe someday I can say they are pretty good.
In conclusion, it will be close to a year since I experienced a life-threatening blood clot. I was standing in front of Death’s door and Doctor Death was holding the door open. I surprised everyone and beat the odds. What I enjoy the most since that event is living! https://tomt2.com/2023/08/10/my-blood-clot/
Bloganuary writing prompt
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
I am beyond a dream job. I have been retired for over seventeen years. Now I dream of staying healthy and hoping my financial situation out lasts me.
A long time ago I had a dream job in mind. When I entered junior high school, now they call middle school, I was put in what they called an accelerated class. This was composed of kids that was in the top ranking of the proficiency tests they gave us. At that time, I loved science class, especially chemistry. My friend and I stayed after school and helped the science teacher around the lab and classroom. My dream job then was chemistry or engineering. Towards the end of ninth grade, they gave us a standardized test that was supposed to inform us what kind of career to pursue. The results came back, and chemistry or engineering was not on my list of careers. This shattered me, my dream was destroyed! I continued to high school, and I barely graduated from high school.
For the next forty-five years I had a job. Some jobs were good high paying jobs and others were just to survive jobs. 1987 to 1991 were the most difficult financial times. I was laid off from my high paying job and unemployment was at seven and a half percent. It took over four years to find a good job. None of the jobs were my dream job. However, I am retired and satisfied with my current situation.
I do have a new dream though, that is to have many subscribers and followers that read and enjoy my ramblings. https://tomt2.com/about-2tts/
It will be Veterans Day in a couple of days, Saturday November eleventh. A day to dedicate veterans, all veterans from all wars, peace time veterans, living or dead. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities. It was called Armistice Day and became a federal holiday in 1938. After World War II it became known as Veterans Day. When I was young, I remember the little red paper poppies many wore to commemorate the day. You do not see them very often these days.
There are many traditions that take place for Veterans Day. One is the official wreath-laying ceremony held each Veterans Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. Many cities have parades on this day for veterans. Denver has a parade Saturday at 9:00 am at City Park. Veterans Day can be confused with Memorial Day celebrated in May. That day is in memory of military members who lost their lives in the service of their country. Veterans Day is for all veterans, living and dead.
Since I am a Viet Nam Era veteran, I have military memories. I was drafted in 1964. Therefore, my service experience was a duty not of my choice. At that time around forty percent of the military were draftees. The day I was inducted there were seven others. We took a night train trip to St. Louis Missouri and then a bus to Fort Leonard Missouri for basic training. That train trip was a milk, mail run and it stopped at every small town to pick up the mail and milk. I didn’t get much sleep that night. During the eight weeks of eye-opening basic training, we were told that we would all be going to Viet Nam.
After basic training I received orders for Fort Huachuca Arizona for advanced individual training. The training is a twenty-six-week course in drone electronic control systems. Yes, this was one of the first generations of drones you hear so much about these days. I immediately thought the training would take eight months to finish and my tour is only twenty-four months. What a waste of time and money. The training was interesting and challenging though and I do not regret the opportunity. When the training is near being completed, we are told that we are going to South Korea or Germany. I lucked out and received orders for 2nd Armored Cavalry, Nurenburg Germany.
I receive my orders to report to Fort Dix New Jersey, for travel to Germany via a military troop ship. I arrive in Fort Dix about ten days before thanksgiving. Since it takes a couple of weeks to accumulate enough soldiers for the troop ship, I spend Thanksgiving on KP duty at Fort Dix New Jersey. Finally, around the sixth of December we were transported to a port and boarded the troop ship. It took around ten days to get to Bremerhaven Germany, depending on the weather. The north Atlantic is not a friendly voyage in December, what an experience! Finally, we dock at Bremerhaven Germany. Deboard the ship and get on a train for Nurenburg. The train trip was an overnight trip, and we did have a sleeper car so we could get some sleep. Arriving at Nurenburg someone from 2nd ACR was waiting for us and took us to Merrill Barracks. Assigned to a temporary location since 2nd ACR had three squadrons on the Czechoslovakia border and headquarters in Nurenburg. Christmas was near and I was not assigned to a permanent company yet and guess what? I got to spend Christmas on KP duties at Merrill Barracks. KP on Thanksgiving and now KP at Merrill Barracks. I am really starting to get homesick now.
I am finally assigned to Aviation Company located in Nurenburg. My stay in Nurenburg was very interesting. Merrill Barracks was a Kaserne that Hitlers SS troops were stationed in. Nearby was Zepplin field. If you have ever watch and WWII films Zepplin field was an area where the Nazis had large rallies and you can easily find videos of Hitler ranting and raving at Zepplin Field. The most depressing thing about Nurenburg was the weather. Many days it was cloudy and overcast. Being from Denver metro where maybe 250 days a year is sunshiny it was hard to get used to. In July of 1965 the army makes the decision to disband the drone system I was trained in. I was then classified as excess and received orders for F Battery 26th Artillery in Darmstadt Germany.
Took a train from Nurenburg to Darmstadt which is about thirty miles south of Frankfurt and started the second chapter of memories in Germany. As usual the unit I was assigned to did not have a clue that I was assigned to them. Therefore, they had to find a spot for me. They assigned me to the supply room. So much for those twenty-six weeks of training in electronics. F Battery was an aviation company, and they maintained a supply of replacement items that may be needed in case of a failure. The parts depot was located in Frankfurt, and we had to make parts run twice a week. That gave us a lot of time away from the airfield. This assignment lasted until March 1966 and that is when my two-year term is over. Received orders to Fort Hamilton New York.
Took another train trip to Bremerhaven Germany. This was a day trip and only took about four hours. When we got to Bremerhaven, we had a shakedown. The army wanted to make sure we had no contraband in our duffle bags. After that we went on the ship and stayed on the ship overnight and departed Bremerhaven the following morning. the Atlantic in March is not that much friendlier than the December Atlantic.
About ten days later we arrived at New York harbor. Stayed on the ship until the next morning. Then we are transported to Fort Hamilton for separation procedures. At that time all monetary disbursements were in cash. Before they let us go, they warned us that the bad guys know you are carrying cash, and they want your money. Try not to travel alone and get out of the city as soon as possible. Welcome to 1966 New York City!
In conclusion, I basically enjoyed army service. If it wasn’t for the potential of Viet Nam, I may have re-enlisted. After getting home I find out all the ones drafted with me ended up in Viet Nam. Why I was fortunate enough to go to Germany instead of Viet Nam is something I still wonder about today. Military service was good for me. You meet all kinds of people from all kinds of places, and I have concluded that people are basically good, and evil is a learned process. Knowing that the person next to you may die protecting you builds a bond between you and that is hard to explain that bond. My feelings about Veterans Day changed after I served.
We all have memories. Some have more memories than others. Good memories, bad memories belong to all. Are they worth sharing? Hard to say. It has been a few years since I posted on this site.
Is the crystal ball still working?
The formatting is quite different from the time I have used it the last time and it is going to get to some use to it.
I don’t even know what World of Warcraft is. Anyway, if they ask for my email password and secret question I am suspicious.
Greetings! It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell your personal World of Warcraft account(s). As you may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement. If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled. It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard Entertainment’s employees. If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account ownership. You can confirm that you are the original owner of the account to this secure website with:
Login to your account, In accordance following template to verify your account. * E-mail Address< br />* E-mail password * Secret Question and Answer Show * Please enter the correct information If you ignore this mail your account can and will be closed permanently. Once we verify your account, we will reply to your e-mail informing you that we have dropped the investigation. Regards, Account Administration Team World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment 2011
Martin Luther King’s Pledge of Nonviolence
1. As you prepare to march meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus
2. Remember the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation – not victory.
3. Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.
4. Pray daily to be used by God that all men and women might be free.
5. Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free.
6. Observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.
7. Perform regular service for others and the world.
8. Refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart.
9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
10. Follow the directions of the movement leaders and of the captains on demonstrations.
Not too long ago I happened to drive through the intersection of West 1st Ave. and Knox Court. After driving through the intersection I pulled over to the curb and reminisced for a while. I was remembering how this intersection looked like in the late forties and early fifties. On the southwest corner were a small drug store and few small shops. Today the buildings are still there but the drug store and original shops are long gone. On the northwest corner a filling station and a Piggly Wiggly grocery store filled that corner. I think there was a small hardware store on the northeast corner. I do remember the Saturday auctions held by a Japanese auctioneer dressed in a pair of coveralls. The building that had the most memories for me was on the southeast corner and that was the Comet Theatre.
The Saturday afternoon matinees were the big event through the summer months. The entire neighborhood kids would go to this weekly big event. We would try to get there an hour before the movie opened. The line became quite long before the theatre finally opened. Finally the movie opened and it was mass chaos rushing in and getting our favorite seats. Yes, the theatre would be jammed packed.
The concession room was jammed and full with all these kids trying to get their treats before the movie started. Screaming yelling and waving hands to get the attention of the concession attendant was the norm. No lines here, you just got up to the counter and hoped you could be served quickly.
It was finally movie time. There was always a cartoon and a serial before the movie. Oh, those serials they were the greatest. You had to be sure and come back the next Saturday and find out how the dramatic highlight ended. This was our first exposure to science fiction with Buster Crabb and his space adventures. The graphics in those times were really bad. You could actually see the string holding the space ship in front of the painted wall of outer space. The serials were the best attraction of these matinees. If the movie was bad we would leave early. We could not miss the serial though.
This brought memories of another theatre in our younger years. This was the Webber Theatre on Broadway just north of Alameda Ave a couple of blocks. Their attraction was a birthday club and a drawing every Saturday for a prize. When you had a birthday in the week the Webber Theatre would give you a cake from Volmer’s Bakery. They would call out your name, you would go up on the stage, receive your cake and the audience would sing happy birthday.
One time my brother won the Saturday drawing. It was a single shot BB gun. You would cock the gun and then drop a single BB down the barrel. If you happen to lower the barrel, the BB would roll out. Oh well, it was free and it was won. My parents were not too happy when this BB gun came home. They did not take it away from my brother though.
I don’t have any pictures of these enjoyable days. All I have are the memories stored in the back of my brain.
As time went by we grew up and our interests changed. The Comet Theatre closed and after a period of time being empty and unused the building blew up one night. The report was a natural gas leak. Today The Webber Theatre is now a porn theatre. I don’t know what happened to Vollmer’s Bakery.
Now is so much different than then. I am different now than what I was then. Memories of then continue to crop up now. However, memories bring back good and enjoyable times of the past.
It was a Christmas tree when I was five years old and it is still a Christmas tree now that I am over 65. It will always be a Christmas tree. I will never call it a holiday tree. I will never be political correct. I will never give into the trend that this country should be careful not to offend anybody at the expense of our own beliefs and traditions.
I was born and raised a Christian and I am still a Christian. Some may say that I am not a very good Christian but that is for another time. When I was young there were Jewish people, Hindus and Buddhist. Maybe there were even a few Muslims, I don’t remember because it was not that important to me. I did not become offended when I am exposed to Hanukkah, Ramadan or any other symbol of some other denomination.
When I greet people I say Merry Christmas, not happy holidays. That is my tradition and I am not giving it up. They can respond with Happy Hanukkah or holy Ramadan or happy holiday, whatever fits their tradition. I won’t be offended and I don’t understand why a simple merry Christmas may offend them. A simple greeting is not an attempt to convert them to my tradition. It is just a greeting of my tradition.
Therefore, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May we all enjoy peace and prosperity in the years to come.
TomT2.0 