11-22-2007

I ran across a list of the 10 longest running TV shows and wanted to share them with you. I have placed an asterisk beside the ones I was fond of:

10. Knotts Landing* (1979 -93) 9. Dallas * (1978-91) 8. My Three Sons (1960 -72) 7. Law & Order (1990 - ?) 6. The Simpsons (1989 - ?) 5. Bonanza * (1959 -73) 4. Ozzie & Harriet (1952 – 66) 3. Death Valley* days (1952 – 1970) 2. Lassie (1954 – 72) 1. Gunsmoke * (1955 -75)

As a young lad growing up in the mountains of Virginia during the ‘50’s, our selection of TV programs to watch were very limited. We received one station out of Huntington, West Virginia. That was all we had. There was never an argument over what program we would watch. If you didn’t like it, you did something besides watch TV. I had a vast collection of comic books and, if it was still daylight outside, there were many options. It was always easy to round up some friends and play “Kick The Can”, or, “Tag” or, some other game we had played a gazillion times. Sometimes, less is more I think.

That darn garage door opener is still giving me problems. The opener has been installed and works quite well with me using the switch mounted on the wall, but the two remotes refuse to work. After getting my son to look at it, and then calling over my next door neighbor, I gave up and called the Sears Guy. He arrives here next Wednesday to solve the problem. If it is my fault I pay, if not, there is no charge. Guess I’d better get my wallet out.

I went to NC to visit my brother Jerry the other day. He and his wife, Patty, are doing ok. His health is about the same. He has been in a wheelchair for close to 5 years. It is always good to visit him. Our connection goes back so far that when we visit each other old memories start flowing. Both of us have changed a lot since we were kids, but in a lot of ways we are still the same. Both of us have had our ups and downs, but life has treated him more severely than me to this point. Hey, if you add up the good times and subtract the bad times we still come out winners. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

My next project will be overhauling the carburetor on my lawn tractor, affectionately known around here as “Big Red”. Big Red is a 1974 Wheel Horse. I have owned it about 10 years and, up to this point, has never given me a minute of trouble. But now, it is having trouble breathing properly. It continually wants to stop and rest and, on close inspection, has revealed that its throat is sore and needs attention. If I am unable to fix it, out comes the old wallet again and a new carburetor will probably be the cure. Can’t complain, everything wears out sooner or later, heck, look at me.

Our local high school football team (Poquoson) made it to the post season playoffs. They defeated the #1 seed last week and advance to play a team about two hours away (Brunswick). I am seriously considering heading off to the game, scheduled to start at 1:30 pm on Saturday. It has been a very long time since I attended a high school football game. I’m looking forward to it. Heck, I think I’m going !

Tomorrow, Jerilyn and I will be eating Thanksgiving Dinner with her youngest son (Mark) and his family. Her other son, Dean and his family, are spending their TG weekend visiting relatives in NC. Mark & Rachel invited my son (Rusty) and my daughter (Debby) for dinner, but they had other plans. I’m hoping to get up with them this weekend and spend some time together. Before I retired I used to look forward to the 4 day weekend during TG. Now, I have a 7 day weekend. Ain’t life great!

I had the opportunity to visit a friend the other day that I have not seen in 35 years. She is 70 now. I would not have recognized her and she did not recognize me. I walked into her home, escorted by her son, and say “Bea, do you know who I am?”. With a puzzled look, she says “no”. Now, I see my mug in the mirror every morning. I think my face is the same as it has always been, just with more etching(character lines I like to call it). Bea clearly had no clue as to my identity. “I’m Tommy Hale”, says I. She quickly corrects me, “Tommy Joe, is that you?” Unknown to her I dropped the “Joe” years ago. Seems, only mountaineers use their middle name. Folks around here never use their middle name, so I dropped mine. If someone calls me Tommy Joe, I immediately know where they are from. I also know they know more about me then they should. Anyway, Bea and I had a wonderful reunion. It is always good to see an old friend.

I hope you're enjoying whatever season it is in your part of the world. Happy Thanksgiving!

11-16-2007

Several weeks ago, we were at the Poquoson Seafood Festival and I spotted a guy in his 30’s, wearing a T-shirt, and sporting tattoos all over his body. By his side was a female companion with just as many. Years ago, the only people with tattoos were those in the military, mostly GI’s and sailors. Today, it seems as if everyone under 30 has one. Some are tastefully done, a small design around the ankles, or one on the shoulder blade. Most of these are worn by females. Our males seem to be more aggressive with theirs, almost always, wearing them in a prominent place, to be seen by all. Girls, it seems to me, wear them as body decoration. Guys, on the other hand, are making a statement. Personally, I see no harm in them, but, like anything done excessively, tattoos all over your body seems to be over the edge. Years ago I hired a young black fellow. By the end of his second week he was sporting an earring. “Randy”, I say to him, “when I hired you, you weren’t wearing an earring”. He looked at me and smiled, “I knew you wouldn’t hire me” he says. Today earrings are worn by many men and we think nothing of it. My, how times have changed.

Well, the saga of the garage door opener continues. I am almost finished with the installation that was started more than a week ago. Last week I had the Opener in place, plugged it in and pushed the button to raise the door. Nothing! Several pushes later I realized this thing wasn’t working. After a lot of analyzing, I determined the unit was not processing the electricity it received. A call was made to Sears and in a few days one of their installers came out to assess the situation. “Well”, says she, “it looks like it has been dropped, one of the boards inside is crushed”. This is when I pointed to the box and showed her that it had been returned to the store by someone else. I think that when she glanced around the garage and noticed all the Craftsman/Sears tools, she decided they did not want to lose a good customer by accusing me of dropping the unit. Plus, she could not deny the unit had been returned by someone else. The new unit is now installed and working properly. I still have to figure out how to get the two remotes working properly.

I just finished spreading lime and fertilizer on our yard. The grass seed I sowed in early September has not done well due to very little rain. We received a good dose of rain yesterday (almost an inch), so everything should be soaked in and doing what it is suppose to do (make the grass grow and be very green). It is also approaching the time of the year when I should take the boat out of the water and store it for the winter. I noticed that my friend Dick, who lives down the channel from us, removed his the other day. Whenever he removes his, I know it is time for me to do the same. I used my boat 3 times this past summer. Not much, but I plan on using it more next summer.

My Washington Redskins have not been doing well as of late and this Sunday they play the Dallas Cowboys (Dallas is my 2^nd favorite team). My son is a Cowboy fan, having been born in Dallas, and so Sunday will be an exciting day for both of us, more for him then me, I suspect. Jerilyn’s daughter-in-law, Kathy, is a Cowboy fan also. If my ‘Skins lose I am in for a lot of harassment. If they win, my strut will be very pronounced. Sports can add a lot of flavor to our lives. It gives us something we can share with friends & family. We all need, in my opinion, something or someone to “root” for. It takes us away from our daily lives and entertains us. Humans have been entertained by sporting events for hundreds of years. That is even more so today. We can watch a sporting event 24 hours a day. Athletes are some of the best paid people in America. Some of the salaries they receive are outrageous. I have to locate my envy button and turn it off.

Our local newspaper has been carrying the flap about a $12 million donation to William & Mary University being revoked by a high school chum of mine (Jim McGlothin). Seems, Jim is upset because a cross was moved from its long held position to one less conspicuous. I knew Jim quite well as a high school student and although he went to church regularly, he was not overly religious. With a little research, I was able to discern that he is probably worth in excess of $800 million. I may be wrong here, but I suspect you cannot accumulate that much moolah without doing a lot of unchristian things. So, why be concerned about a cross placement at your alma mater? I suspect it has more to do about power than the placement of the cross. I believe that once you make a commitment, you should follow through with it. If you are unhappy with something, express your disappointment, but follow through with your commitment. It is a shame that all the good that could be accomplished by a donation that size to W&M University is lost. I have seen Jim once since our high school days. He has attended a few of our reunions, but, I was always absent at those (unintentionally). Were he to ask my advice, I would suggest he renew his pledge and work with the school board to resolve his concerns, all the while understanding that his will may not prevail. But, $12 million is a big club and entitles you to be a bully I guess.

For the last few days I have had a pain in the center of my heel on my left foot. The pain last for about 30 seconds, goes away completely for 3-4 minutes and then returns. It started Wednesday morning and finally subsided this morning. It hurt whether I was standing, sitting, or sleeping. The pain was not severe, but I definitely knew it was there. I just hope it does not return. I have no idea what caused it. Maybe, I’m being punished for unspecified wrongs. If so, I hope the punishment is over.

I hope you're enjoying whatever season it is in your part of the world

11-08-2007

Last week was the first time in a long time that I failed to prepare my weekly WOW. I kept putting it off and the next things I knew the week was gone. Oh well, time to pick up and move on. My next big project is to install an automatic door opener on one of our garage doors. The door that already has an opener has been uninhabited by a vehicle for several years. Jerilyn’s Toyota Corolla was sold several years ago and our other two vehicles (Buick Riviera & Dodge Ram) are too long to fit because the steps leading into the garage from the house protrude too far. The book that came with the opener looks like a small encyclopedia. I must say, I am a little intimidated by the size of the task before me. I will keep you posted on my travails.

November is the month that I normally use to get my yearly physical and semiannual dental checkup. I always dread this month because of those two details. In addition this year my prostrate test required me to get a biopsy. To further complicate my life, my dentist found a small cavity that he insisted he could take care of without Novocain. During my checkup last year I received a flu/pneumonia shot, this year it will be flu/tetanus. Now, I know that as I get older, doctors become an important part of my life. I know they are key to the likelihood that I will live much longer and in good health. I also know that I am blessed, that others cannot afford the luxury of having annual checkups and necessary dental care. It makes me feel so small to bemoan the blessings bestowed upon me when others do without. I’ve got to work on that.

I have started converting my home videos to a digital format. Three of my oldest are in Beta Max format, so up in the attic I went to fetch my Beta Max machine, dust it off, and hook it up to my digital recorder (DVR). Lo and behold, there in front of me were my parents (both passed away almost 20 years ago). Tears streamed down my face as I watched them. I had given up on ever seeing them again (I had forgotten about the tapes). Mom’s familiar laugh, Dad’s grumblings, all brought back wonderful memories of them. There, on those tapes, were so many cherished relatives that have passed on to the other side. I think, regardless of age, we all enjoy reminiscing. My stroll down memory lane always leaves me feeling good. Our memories help sustain us and encourage us to create more memorable moments. It is strange the things we remember. The video taken of Dad a few months before he died brought back the memory of me asking him to let me take the pictures of him. He acquiesced and did whatever I asked him to do even though he wasn’t feeling very well on that particular day. I remember thinking “he knows he doesn’t have long and he is doing this so Jerry and I will have this when he passes”. I hope to do the same for my children.

My Uncle KD’s cancer has gotten worse. The chemo he has taken for the past 3 months had no effect and the size of the cancer in different places in his body has increased. His doctor has gone to a conference in New York City and hopes to come back with a new battle plan. My Cousin Jesse’s cancer battle continues and he seems to be making some progress. He has placed his battle in the hands of The Lord. I pray for both of them every day. Jerilyn’s mother (Gladys) is making some progress in her recovery from a fractured vertebra. She is still in the Health Care unit of her retirement community. We are hoping she will be able to go back to her apartment in the Independed section in 3-4 weeks. I am looking forward to visiting my brother (Jerry) and his wife (Patty) next week.

Well, I need to close this and start installing the garage door opener mentioned above. I hope you're enjoying your autumn, or whatever season it is in your part of the world