thoughts for you

"Go placidly amid the noise & haste & remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain & bitter; for always there will be greater & lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not fein affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a Child of the Universe, no less than the trees & the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

-Max Ehrmann ["Desiderata"]

my mechanic in training

kailani learns the basics assisting with putting brothers 4wheeler together for christmas

for dolly

Spent this weekend pulling & re installing the transmission in my
boys truck. Seems there was an overlooked problem with the replacement
motor as we left an alignment bearing in the end of the crankshaft
intended for a manual transmission and not an automatic. It had to come
out for the torque converter to slide into the end of the crankshaft.
If we did this for a living, we would have known it couldn't stay. I
saw it before installing the motor and wrongly deduced it could stay.
Big mistake as it made for plenty of work once the motor was in the
truck. Had to pull the transmission and chisel the bearing out while
laying on the ground all the while transmission fluid and rain running
everywhere. We are not done hooking everything back up as it gets dark
earlier now, at 5PM instead of the 8PM we can usually depend on in the
summer months, but we are way ahead of where we were.
It is difficult and frustrating to work in these conditions but as usual,
I managed to inject a little humor to let these young men (Curtis and
Darrell) know that we can do this in spite of these circumstances. I
tell them that I once had to do almost the same thing many years ago,
that is, pull a transmission, change a cracked flywheel, and put it
back, only that time all I had for a side kick was my sister Dolly, and
she managed quite well. She was instrumental in replacing the heavy
Plymouth transmission and bolting it up to the 383 cid engine that was
in Mamma's 1969 Plymouth Fury III that we boys treated like a race
car**. Of course, transmissions seem to gain weight over the span of 29
years and there is a difference between the nimble strength of 19 and
the determined brute force of 47. Of course, I only think we get better
at not banging our knuckles, and difficulty is no longer any excuse
anymore. Some people may call it hard headed, but I call it valor.

**In 1969, Plymouth claimed to have a "completely new Fury." The four door
sedans wheelbase was 120 inches, 1.5 inches longer than in 1968, and
there was more shoulder room in both front and rear. The 383 Commando 2
barrel, or the 383 Super Commando 4 barrel (i don't remember which) and
"special cam", the transmission was a heavy 3 speed A-727 Torqueflite
automatic.

A belated thanks Dolly for your help, you should do
well dealing with your present situations, you've always been a very
present strength in time of trouble.

The one resolution,
which was in my mind long before it took the form of a resolution, is
the key-note of my life. It is this, always to regard as mere
impertinences of fate the handicaps which were placed upon my life
almost at the beginning. I resolved that they should not crush or dwarf
my soul, but rather be made to blossom, like Aaron's rod, with flowers.
- Helen Keller

Kailani Heart Throb

Cody little man

Cody & Kailani

Photo Op

images

uploaded archive

How to have a very Pagan Christmas

Jeremiah 10:2-4:

"....For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (KJV). more

Natural Pest Control

Mosquito Dunks
An over-the-counter product called "Mosquito Dunks" is recommended as a least-toxic material for outdoor mosquito control by Erik Kiviat, Science Director of Hudsonia, ...
WHERE TO USE IT: Anywhere. This bacteria will not hurt
pets, children, birds or wildlife. Great for use in bird baths,
ponds, lakes, swamps, rain barrels, clogged gutters, sewers which
hold water, retention ponds, drainage ditches, slow moving
streams, bottoms of planters and anywhere water is able to
accumulate and provide mosquitoes a place to reproduce.
url
This biological pest control product kills mosquito larvae but is completely non-toxic to animals such as fish, birds, wildlife and pets. Each individual dunk will last up to 30 days in standing water and will cover 100 square feet of surface. Safe to use in pet watering bowls, horse troughs, lakes, bird baths, fish ponds, flower pots, aquatic gardens, flood control basins, unused swimming pools and other areas where standing water is a possible breeding ground for mosquitoes. Can be used with Mosquito Bits.
granules
amazon
nature safe control

Thanksgiving 2004

We give thanks this day for all that we have and for those we hold dear

Cowboy Up!

Cowboy Curtis' progress is remarkable for only having this horse for a little over 1 month (34 days) and with no prior horse breaking experience

Did you Know?

DID YOU KNOW?
As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view .... it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!
DID YOU KNOW?
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.
DID YOU KNOW?
As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall,
right above where the Supreme Court judges sit,
a display of the Ten Commandments!
DID YOU KNOW?
There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.
DID YOU KNOW?
James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement:
"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
DID YOU KNOW?
Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".
DID YOU KNOW?
Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.
DID YOU KNOW?
Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law an oligarchy ...
the rule of few over many.
How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?
DID YOU KNOW?
The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said:
"Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."
DID YOU KNOW?
Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.
It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, it is very hard to understand why there is such a mess about having the Ten Commandments on display or "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance.

stupid computers

alas, the old hard drive screwup again, all data, , online bills, inaccessible.
borrowing curts, the one me and kailani was fixing in the photos.
roxios go-back and MS sys restore in a tug of war over the last month or so, no help there. hate to re-format until i check on a data recovery service somewhere.
UBD finally changed the partition info to non-dos so i cant see it, nor will winme assign it a drive letter. cmos sees it and device manager, but not me. boo-hoo.
going to try this: if its any good, i'll pass it on. ver3.0 freeware http://www.pcinspector.de/download.htm#file_recovery

play of lights

note the red & green color and the white stars being pulled into the vortex

my roof light tree

Merry Christmas!

Members of the city's Emergency Services Hercules unit stand guard in front of a nine-ton, 71-foot high, 40-foot wide Norway spruce from Suffern, N.Y., in Rockefeller Center after it was raised into position for the Christmas season.

Who will watch over me

I keep a copy of this by my desk at work. It is the anti-thesis of what my lawyer once told me about sticking my neck out for others.

Not my article but thought I would share it anyway.

mamabird

Oh, that this were not so late.

Our Mother's voice and laughter so clear.

I wish we could hear her, that melodious tone,
that was our Mothers, when we were at home.
We miss you and love you and don't quite know,
why aging is heartache, and what more can you hold?
Is there a universe that we can't quite see?
Is my Mamabird in there, does she recognize me?
I will love my Mama till the day that I die,
and in passing o'er, I hear my Mothers sweet cry.
It is warm as the sky on a bright summers day,
It is just like honey, in a heavenly way.
There is my Mama, she is saying so clear,
I love you my babies, you are precious, you hear?

I know some words are garbled sometimes, but I never for a moment think that we are not communicating, I can feel and hear my Mama talking, and, we understand one another. Hugs and Kisses to Mamabird. XOXOXO

just visiting

Hi Jie, how are you doing. You are very busy or very quiet.

I Will Follow

I have just passed another milestone, my ninth year anniversary on my
present job. There was no fanfare, no bells, whistles, or confetti, not
even an acknowledgment of a goal seldom reached in the notoriously
revolving door of the hospitality business.
In my young and restless days, I would have strongly considered moving on
after five, so, how did this happen? Maturity, you say? Complacency?
Losing sight of a vision of always moving up and onward? I can tell you
now, those restless feelings are still there, but somehow, somewhere,
they are reshuffled to the back of the deck, to make room for the
different hand that has, more recently, been dealt. Impulse gives way
to reason, and desire yields to necessity.
If there is one bit of advice I have for the new generation, it is to make the most of the
spontaneity and vigor with which you envision life's challenges and
crossroads, for these are the moments that will define you as you
approach that "oh, so far off middle age".
Seldom is life so generous as to give you that second chance, which is in us all, to
start anew, and if by circumstance we do, we are not the same. There is
no fearless desire to run naked through the woods (although I've done
it a time or two at far, far, too old), there is no expediency to being
number one in the crowd. There is no longer "Me" and "Now". There is
however a different kind of boldness. I am not afraid of things that go
bump in the night. No longer do I fear hunger, or illness, or
unemployment, nor despair, because I have been visited by all these
things, and I have endured, and I know there will be tomorrow.
With our increasing age comes our greatest strength, and this is experience,
and the wisdom to pass it along to our children, and to theirs. In this
day and age there are many who may contemplate that there is no God,
or, there must be many Gods, but now, more than ever, I can fervently
say, and without a doubt, God bless my children, and keep them from
harms way, for where I lead them, they will follow.


The
direst foe of courage is the fear itself, not the object of it, and the
man who can overcome his own terror is a hero and more.
- -- George MacDonald

Hillary's Family

Movie Star