Posts

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Fog and Fine Mists

About a half dozen times every year we have a morning with fog or a mist that makes visibility a challenge. For some reason people driving on the interstate don’t want to slow down. Without fail, when one of those fools hits the patch of highway in front of the dam, they slam on the brakes because they can’t see and then they slide into the guardrail. All I can say is, they are lucky the state put guardrails up, because without the guardrails those vehicles would slide right off the road and end up in the river.

Fog is nature’s way of telling us to slow down, look a little harder at what is in front of you. Sometimes you let your mind take over in autopilot and you don’t take enough care. I welcome the fog and the mist – and I respect the message.

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Espresso

This morning I learned how to make espresso. It was pretty cool and I feel like I could work at Starbucks and turn out hundreds of cups of espresso or coffee!

Actually, I would not like that job very much. People who go to Starbucks have very high expectations and are extremely particular about what their drink tastes like. I would think that good customer service would be very hard to deliver to those customers.

The espresso is a finer grind of the coffee, and you have to tap it down into the drip cup. Then you have make use of the steam from the hot water forced through the coffee grounds and use that steam to make the milk or cream hot and frothy. It is not that hard to learn, but it is good to have someone who knows what they are doing show you each step instead of trying to read it in an instruction manual.

Next thing for me is to start experimenting with adding different flavors, such as chocolate or caramel. And then on to latte, cappuccino and iced coffees. The world of delicious coffee is at my fingertips!

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Thanking the Pilgrims and Indians Today

pilgrim bear

Our ancestors were very brave, coming to the New World with nothing but what they could carry onto a boat and high hopes. It is amazing that they survived and had a Thanksgiving feast with the Indians. I’m not that adventurous or brave, but i am glad they did it.

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Dog Toys

My dogs love to play with toys that I buy for them with squeakers inside them. I guess the squeak sounds like a baby animal that brings out their hunting instincts. If the toys is plastic, they tear open the plastic pretty quickly to get to the squeaker. The ones that are fabric get torn open quickly, too, and all the stuffing gets pulled out. I like the new ones with no stuffing – there is no mess to clean up.

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A Peek into Our Police State

Have you seen the show, Person of Interest”? I think the story premise is frightening. When I watched the previews it was creepy, but I forced myself to watch it. And it was pretty much exactly what I thought it was, which is disturbing. It is pure, subtle propaganda for a police state. The idea is that two guys who care about the world are going after people before they commit a crime because they have special access to data. They are making it look ok and cool because they put their Hollywood spin on it. But imagine being intercepted by law enforcement because they think or assume that you are going to be involved in a crime – no evidence, no proof – just their personal assumption and some computer data from a questionable source. That is frightening to me.

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Phone Freedom

Cell phones have been a huge part of my life for over 12 years now. But I am always having problems with not being able to buy the phone I want because I am stuck with a carrier who doesn’t have that phone, or I can’t get the phone I want because they want to stick me with a big, expensive plan.

So now, you supposedly can choose any phone carrier, any service plan and any phone at Best Buy. They say in their commercial that they will match you up with whatever you want from all three choices of carrier, plan and phone. Their plan is called the “Phone Freedom” plan. It might be worth checking out if you want a new phone.

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Pumpkins Fresh From His Farm

My friend Spencer called this morning and asked if I want some free pumpkins. Of course I said yes. He has a little garden patch in the back of his house and he grew about a quarter acre of pumpkins and gourds this year.

I’m going over there this weekend to pick out my free pumpkin and visit with Spencer for a little while. It was nice of him to think of me.

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Computer Guts

My computer quit working. I have not idea what’s wrong with it. I try to push the power button and nothing happens. Of course I checked to see if it was plugged in.

It was just a cheap $300 computer so I took a screwdriver to it. I opened it up and looked inside. Nothing looks blackened or weird. It was pretty interesting looking at the computer guts.

It might be something as simple as a fan that quit working. So off to the PC repair shop we go next week when I get paid.

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Charity Walk

They are having a walk-a-thon downtown this weekend and I am torn about participating. The charity that will benefit is all about helping the victims of sexual abuse. I would like to support an organization that helps primarily women and children. Walking in a walk-a-thon is something that I do three or four times a year. But the organizers are calling this a “Slut Walk.” Well, that offends me deeply. I don’t want a teeshirt that says I walked in a “Slut Walk.” I can’t understand why they picked such an offensive name. I want to help, but not with a name like that.

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New Movies

I love the way Redbox sends me an email every week with a list of all the new movies that are coming out. I read over the email and decide which movie I want, then I reserve it online. It works like a charm! I’m so glad my girlfriend Robin told me about Redbox last year. I had no idea it was so easy!