Category: Friends and/or family

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A Good Friend Gone Bad

I got a phone call last night from an old friend who called to tell me that a good friend of ours from back in the good old days had just passed away behind bars in the prison that he was serving time in for kidnapping. I had no idea that this guy was doing time and I certainly didn’t know that he was into kidnapping. I did know that he had done some time in the 90’s for robbing a bank, but I had thought that he had turned his life around, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

As much as this guy turned into a total waste of a human being, I still hate the thought that he died in prison. Plus his two children, who are adults at this point, will have to live not only with the thought of their father spending so much of their life doing time but his life ending alone and behind bars.

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Family Favorites

From what I am hearing through the family grapevine my second cousin, Matt, is attempting to build a recording studio in his basement. He needed everything new and found the best Ibanez electric guitars online for the money.  It sounds like he will be up and running in no time at all. And there is talk of him getting as many family members together during the 4th of July, as he can and have them come and record some of the old family favorites (songs) that have been sung during the holiday seasons for generations by so many of our family members.

That would be awesome and I am going to let him know that I am willing to help out in any way possible in order to get this accomplished. I’m just tickled about the whole idea and would love to see it really happen.

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Dad’s Old Harley Davidson

I guess if you really want the best quality Motorcycle Boots that can be found for purchasing, a good place to find them would be a company that makes and sells footwear for our law enforcement personnel. Since my one brother is a motorcycle riding police officer and has been for most of his adult life, he would certainly know about such things.

You see, I located my father’s old Harley Davidson, a 1932 VL Flathead, in the back area of one of the out buildings, a basket case at this point, but still an exciting prospect. I’m pretty good with a wrench and my brother has a good amount of knowledge concerning Harley’s and has a lot of contacts that will come into play for parts and questions, I’m sure, in putting Dad’s old scooter back together and back on the road once again.

If and when she is back together and running I’ll need the appropriate clothing and accessories to keep me warm and safe while riding this wonderful piece of machinery that my Dad so enjoyed in his younger years. So I have been taking some time looking online to find the various items that I will be needing in the near future for my use.

One particular good site for good quality motorcycle boots, per my brother, can be found at Cop Shoes website, he has used them in the past and has always been happy with his purchases and the customer service that he has received, with their toll free number which is manned Monday through Friday, 8:30  to 5, for questions or concerns about their high quality footwear and your particular orders.

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Good Quality Tarps

I could have sworn that there were plenty of tarps in the back shed that I was counting on using in a month or so, but I’ve looked time and time again and they are no where in sight, so I’m counting on using the Internet to find the best deals possible on a few good quality canvas tarps. I can’t stand those cheap cheesy looking blue tarps that we all see in a lot of folks drive ways and yards, they just stand out like a sore thumb, when I really think they should be blending in instead of being an eye sore to their neighbors.

Running this farm along with the house and all, it is always good to have plenty of tarps on hand. My father always bought good quality tarps, he refused to buy them from Home Depot or Walmart because he said they were not worth their salt in weight and so I would like to continue with his ways and wishes as much as I can. So I am going to take advantage of some of the promotions that are out there for online shoppers like myself and see what I can come up with, soon like.

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Being Single

I love my sister, all of them actually, but my one sister, who lives in New Jersey has it in her head big time, and she is trying very hard to get me hooked up and married off. She has made this one of her lives missions and is constantly trying to get into my business.

It’s not that I wouldn’t like to meet a young lady, but right now the farm is my priority and is taking up all of my time, effort, blood, sweat, tears, money and love. There just isn’t enough of me to go around the place.

Sis found someone in her hometown that has been utilizing an online Dating Site with over 30 years of experience by the name of Great Expectations. Her new friend had many positive things to say about how this company goes the extra mile for their clients and she has made many new friends, online and at local functions that they host frequently. Sis then found out that there is one of their offices in Richmond, VA, which isn’t far from the farm and she immediately sent me an email with all of their information and the link for the site.

I’ll take a look around, might as well, just can’t promise anything, but it wouldn’t hurt to look since I spend what little extra time that I have online anyway.

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Pea Coats

I should have known that Pea Coats and other military outer wear would be making a come back. They say that all that is old becomes new again and that usually holds true all though I’m not sure when we will be seeing the roaring twenty dresses that the Can Can and Black Bottom dancers used to wear. That would be a sight to see on the streets in this day and age!

I remember back in the 70’s when I just had to have a Pea Coat and my mother searched high and low trying to find me one and she ended up having to go to an Army/Navy surplus store to find one, but she found one and I wore it proudly for years and years. I’m not sure where it ended up at, most likely it got donated to a thrift store, since my mother never tossed anything out.

This year I would like another Pea Coat and have found several at Zappos.com. Zappos.com has always had wonderful selections from various well known manufacturers. Right now I have my eyes on a nice looking French Connection Dawson Coat and I plan on sending the link to several people that have been asking me for gift suggestions for my birthday.

Check out the looks of this Pea Coat. It is a classic double-breasted look with an extended length for warmth with full button front closure. It sports front hand pockets and long sleeves with banded cuffs. Dry cleaned only but that is to be expected with a nice coat such as this, so I’ll just have to be careful when and where I wear it. Certainly not outside around the farm and all the animals!

Zappos offers free shipping, both ways and 24/7 customer service along with a 365 day return policy. They accept Pay Pal which is something that I always look for when ordering online. They are still accepting orders and guaranteeing delivery before Christmas. So if you are still looking for good gift ideas you can count on Zappos!

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Gonzalez Reeds And Other Family Dinner Chit Chat

Since I’ve never even had the opportunity to actually see or place in my hands any type of Clarinet, much less the Gonzalez reeds that my sister’s middle son was trying to explain to me at dinner at their place over the weekend. It felt good to get away from the house and the farm, with no major holiday or family events being celebrated, just a night away from all the critters and chores that keep me pretty chained to the old homestead the majority of the time.

A nice home cooked meal is always a welcomed change. One that wasn’t placed into some type of Tupperware and brought over for me to re heat by one person or another, usually my sister. I was able to sit and watch TV with my nieces and nephews, while smelling all the wonderful aromas that were floating out of the kitchen. It’s the small things like that which people that are suddenly on their own and secluded from most of the world.

Dinner was awesome, sis is a wonderful cook, something that my mother spend a lot of her time teaching her to do. So most of the dishes are from our mother and they taste just like home!

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Looking Into Health Insurance

Now that Brandon is turning twenty four he has started looking for health insurance in nc. As most of us know, the health care system has turned into a huge nightmare all across the country. It seems like every month we are being told that there are cliches in the Affordable Heath Care act and their website, which isn’t helping the general population one bit.

One has to wonder when this will all be straightened out. As hard as it is on people looking for health insurance, I have to imagine how hard it is to be in the health insurance business. I have a good friend that is in the life/home/auto and health insurance business that I just might have to call and see how he is fairing throughout this whole mess.

He is a good guy, who opened his agency in 2008, right when the economy went south. He has two young kids, a new house with a mortgage and a business that he sunk everything he had into, that is just barely hanging on. It would be good to hear his voice again.

 

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Summer Vacations

A few close friends and I were talking a few months back about taking a summer vacation together, to spend a week or so relaxing, having fun and bonding. The idea got me so excited considering I haven’t actually taken a vacation in about four years now.

We never really talked about the subject too much afterwards until I had brought it up at a backyard cookout we all attended together about month later. I’m very happy that it was brought up at the time because our friend’s mother that was hosting the cookout had over heard our conversation about our interest in a much needed get a way for the summer. She recommended a site that she told us offers some unforgettable summer experience options.

I took a look at it on my iPad that I had brought with me, and found that planning this vacation that we wanted so ever badly, was going to be easier then we all had thought. Not only was it easy but the site had found the absolute cheapest prices compared to others. I’m looking forward to our time together doing something we never thought we would do in our lifetime and am eager to treat myself to an awesome time with my closest friends. You can bet that we will be taking a boatload of pictures to share with friends and family.

vacationing in the summer months
Summer Time Vacations
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Hands-On CPR

Did you know that a victim of a cardiac arrest could die within four – six minutes if they are not treated the right way and in a timely fashion? And that today’s studies show that by providing CPR to an adult that has collapsed due to a sudden cardiac arrest can more than double or triple a person’s chance of coming out of  type of arrest alive. What really bites is that less than 1/3 of these people, that are not in the hospital at that precise moment, don’t even receive CPR.

I know that way too many people are not comfortable performing CPR on anyone – especially on some one that they don’t know for a various reasons. Since the 1980’s what with the AIDS/HIV epidemic people are really scared about getting that close to anyone and have really shied away from the whole CPR idea, big time and not just because they are afraid of doing something wrong. It is such a shame.

I’m so glad that there is a big new ad campaign going on right now with the American Heart Association and the Ad Council that is introducing the Hands-Only CPR technique that hopefully will have a positive impact on people and get people to start saving lives and reducing the number of people that are dying each day because of heart failure. This Hands-Only CPR is a simple 2 step process, the first thing you do is call 911 and the second being to push hard and fast on the chest, right in the center of it, until help arrives.