SOME DAY ---

Just down the road or around the corner.

Some day my life's journey will be ended but it's up to my Lord when that will be. Faith in Him will make the traveling easier, till He lifts up my burdens and sets me free.

Maybe all the news lately hasn't been bad but it seems to me that too much of it has been. Record snowfall in the northeast, crops freezing in Florida and flooding in the west. Of course it has all been blamed on global warming. I don't know how long they have been keeping records on global temperatures but I can remember when our temperature here in Tennessee would be over a hundred degrees on several days every year. Remember 1980 when it was almost 110 degrees for over a week? According to some (experts), whatever happens now is caused by "Global Warming".

Then, because of global warming, we are having below normal temperatures which, in turn, is causing our heating bills to sky rocket and oil prices to rise. Some, so called, experts are now predicting gasoline prices to go over $4.00 a gallon in 2011 and near $5.00 by the end of 2012.

I just don't know how much more of this global warming I can stand. I guess we just didn't save enough of our money when we were working at little more than minimum wages and paying for educating two sons.

The trouble is, as bad as that sounds, it is just the tip of the iceberg. Our National Debt is now threatening to destroy, if nor our country, then certainly our way of living. It has been said, again on television, that every person's share of the national debt grew more than ten thousand dollars this year and is still growing.

A few days ago Congress passed a bill that was to provide healthcare for the volunteers who rushed into the aftermath of the collapse of the Twin Towers, which was about 9 years after the fact. Better late than never but being late is what usually defines the actions of our Federal Government in such situations.

More than sixty years ago that same Government (different players) began experiments to determinme the effects of radiation from atomic (nuclear) bombs on humans. These experiments, using mostly military service members as human guinea pigs, began shortly after World War Two and extended through the most of the Nineteen - sixties. At this time very little has been done to help those guinea pigs through their sicknesses (cancer, etc.) and early deaths. Maybe a simple "Thank You" would have been a help but even that hasn't happened.

If you don't really want to know, then don't ask and if you detect a note of bitterness, just let it pass. My country right or wrong, I must love it for only God and family goes above it.

On that note I will end this before too much disappointment shows through. Thanks for your time and input. Stay tuned - William

Christmas Passed

Just in time too

Christmas Time

When it's all over and everyone's gone but me / and there's not one single thing left under the Christmas Tree / I sit down and think it over and now Lord I'm asking Thee / is Christmas Time the Holy Time that it was meant to be.

From neccessity, this will be a shorter post than usual. Come to think of it, my postings have been getting shorter each week, running out of things to say, I guess. Christmas was yesterday and we didn't see anyone buy talked to most of the family by phone. North Carolina is expecting snow but not for Christmas. As the ex Governor of Arkansaw, Mike Huckabee, said I probably didn't get as much as I wanted but more than I deserved. I probably got enough books to last me through the winter.

There is still a lot in the news about Wal-Mart wanting to build in New York City and create thousands of good paying jobs. If they can do that why haven't they done it in Small Town, U.S.A. instead of bringing in cheap (inferior) merchandise from China and forcing our small businesses out? When they no longer have competiition they raise their prices. But, on the other hand, maybe New York deserves them.

It's still too close to Christmas to get too riled up so I'll let it go for today and get back on it later. I don't know when that will be but until then, thanks for listeninhg and your input. Stay tuned - William

Christmas in Tennessee

About 1937 - 1940

Having been born during the Herbert Hoover Presidency and growing up in what is known as the "Great Depression" I now know that we were poor but at that time everyone we knew must have been poor too. There was no "trying to keep up with the Joneses" because they didn't have much either. My earliest memories of Christmas are expressed in the following poem and, I dare say, many others about my age can relate to it.

"Our Christmas Tree

It was a scrawny little thing that Papa brought in to us / but it was the very best that he could find / we didn't have the money to buy them like the rich folks / in fact we were broke most of the time / so we set it in the corner and we put some things upon it / mostly they were all the homemade kind / we knew that when we'd finished it wouldn't look much better / but how the tree would look wasn't what was on our mind .

We used some strings of popcorn and tinsel covered gumballs / with little bits of ribbon to give it a different hue / how we hurried to get finished for we had so much to do / and in a few more hours old Santa would be due / on the top we put an Angel that was made of cardboard / and colored with a water color set / we knew it wasn't much but when you don't have any money / you learn to get along on whatever you can get.

Yet when we had finished it was still a little scrawny / and bare spots showed through despite our loving care / Yes, I still remember as though it was only yesterday / how love was the only thing that we had to share / but I still have fond memories of the days of my youth / and still in my mind I can see / my Father and my Mother with my sisters and my brothers / as we all gathered around that scrawny little tree."

It's almost Christmas time so I'll quit with that. Thanks for your time and input. Stay tuned, - William

Did Someone Blink?

Or was the heat turned up?

Did Harry Reid blink, could he not stand the heat so he got out of the kitchen? I'll admit that I was wrong this time. I really thought that Reid and the Democratic Party cared so little about the opinion of the majority of voters that they would force a vote on the "Omnibus Spending Bill" (substitute budget) so that if it failed they could cause a government shut down, as was done in 1995, and blame it on the Republicans again.

The extending of the Bush era tax cuts has also been in the news lately with practically everyone saying it will mean borrowing almost a trillion dollars to cover revenue lost by extending them. Again, I think that New York and Washington crowd is unusually stupid or think the rest of us are. Except for the cut in the payroll tax, which is okay if they will stop blaming Social Security and Medicare for all the budget problems, there will be no less money collected by the IRS unless the recession worsens. In fact, there will be more money collected in Estate Taxes and if, as some predict, the extension of the Bush tax cuts strenghtens the economy and creates more jobs there will be an increase in taxes collected.

What too many people fail to see or don't want to see is that the bill that was passed, extending the Bush era tax cuts, is not a cut in taxes for the rich. The rich, whoever they are, will pay as much or more to the IRS next year as they will this year. Any extra money borrowed by our national treasury next year will be for extra spending, not from the loss of revenue caused by, what some want to call, a tax cut for the super rich. To me, this borders on President Obama's call for the redistribution of wealth. Are we ready for socialism?

A few days ago there was a discussion, by a group of people, on television centering around Wal-Mart and their negotiation with the construction unions to build stores in New York City but the argument almost always came back to praising the Waltons for providing all of us with an outlet for Chinese goods as opposed to United States made. It is my opinion, apparently mine alone, that Wal-Mart has done more to cause the exportation of Americn jobs than any other single entity. When Sam Walton was alive he bought local made merchandise whenever possible but now his super rich descendants have turned his beloved "Wal-Mart" into a waystation for China and other Asian countries. I still don't believe in boycotts but why can't we all make a New Year's resolution to buy at least a few things labeled "American Made"? Just try it - you might like it.

Have you noticed that I havent mentioned "Wildblue Satelitte" today? That's because I try not to think about it. It's still not working. Maybe next time but for now thanks for listening. Stay tuned, - William

Back to Earth

Back to Netzero

That Wildblue Internet hookup (from last posting) lasted about two hours, then it was gone again. Worked good while it lasted though, maybe it will wake up and let me back on line again in a few days or weeks but meantime I'll plug along on Netzero, which is slower but surer.

Most of the news on television and in the papers has to do with extending the tax cuts put into place by ex-president Bush, the passing of a budget, two months or more late, and the Virginia judge ruling that parts of the Obamacare law is not constitutional. Our Democrat Congress, (Senate and House), in their infinite wisdom, spent so much time behind closed doors while using every trick in their book (of trickery) so as to pass a healthcare law that the majority of us didn't want, that they didnt have time for regular business such as passing a budget.

In my blog posting dated November 21, 2010 and titled "Better Times Ahead" I wrote; "Remember when a Republican Congress passed a budget which didn't contain everything President Clinton wanted, he vetoed it, they passed a continuing resolution, he vetoed it, shut the government down, blamed the Republicans and they caved in, gave him what he wanted even though they had already been branded as the villans? Watch out it may happen again." Keep watching, it is getting closer.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard the words entrepreneur or entrepreneurship in conjunction with small bussiness owners when explaining how their taxes would be raised if the, so-called, Bush era tax cuts were allowed to lapse on January 1, 2011. My dictionary defines an entrepreneur as; "One who organizes a business undertaking, assuming the risk for the sake of profit." Wouldn't that mean that an entrepreneur would probably be a small business owner?

It is being forcast that the world economy, which is now controlled by the United States, Europe and Japan will continue to shift to China and India and by 2050 those two countries will control, at least, fifty percent of it. It should have been apparent to anyone, who cared enough to take a good hard look, that we have been on that road for years when we allow stores, like Wal-Mart, to buy most everything from China or other Asian countries and then go to those stores and buy, buy, buy. I am not now, nor have I ever, advocated a boycott of those stores but I will suggest that we hold our future in our own hands. We might try making our New Year's Resolution to buy everything we can that is made in America. That would be a small first step to taking back our economy by creating more jobs here. We can never have a strong economy here if we won't buy our own products even when imports are a few cents cheaper. We can not rely solely on exporting out merchandise to countries which have a much lower standard of living, that is, having less money to live on. Think about it, start small and work up to the point that can and will bring jobs back to America.

Thanks for taking time out of yor busy schedule to read this and give your opinion. I may take a few days off after Christmas but until then, thanks and stay tuned. -William

Right Priorities

Or the right to be wrong

On a previous posting I mentioned the song which contained the line "Some days are diamonds and some days are stones" and how it related to my journey, at least, trying to use this world wide web. I haven't seen many diamonds lately but the stones keep piling up. But on the other hand, I read an article in the paper yesterday as to how a major league baseball pitcher had been offered over $i40 million to sign a seven year contract with the New York Yankees. I know times are bad but I didn't know it had gotten that bad. How can any self-respecting ball player accept such a paltry sum of money? What are their priorities?

On various occasions over the past several months, I have, seen on television or read in the newspapers, stories about a person or an organization instituting programs to benefit our wounded warriors from either one of our current wars. Being a veteran of the "Korean Conflict" era, knowing what it was like for veterans at that time and how it got really bad during the war in Virtnam, it certainly surprises me, to the point of amazement, how so many organizations have taken it upon themselves to make sure our disabled veterans are taken care of. In my opinion, the men and women in our armed forces deserve a lot more than they are getting. After all, they are risking their lives for us.

I guess the real question today is whether or not principles and priorities can co-exist? At this time, I can't see much evidence that it is happening. Could it be that our principles have been sacrificed on the altar of success, that success becoming the priorities? It is far past time for us all to re-evaluate both our principles and our priorities. The first thing, in my opinion, we should do is go back to following the "Golden Rule" and do unto others as we would have them do unto us. You know, that just might work.

It is very cold here today (about 14 degrees at 7:00 AM) so I'll leave you with this short jingle, "Come Spring".

"Sometimes there doesn't seem to be enough love to go around / when winter is approaching and the leaves are turning brown / but then the snow is melting and the sun will warm the ground / and life will go on as usual or it does in my home town".

I started this posting on my laptop computer and now am finishing it up on wildblue. It wouldn't work when I started and hasn't worked in about 16 days but apparently decided it was about to become obselete and had better get back to work. Must have been on vacation. Thanks for your time, stay tuned. - William

Another Day With NetZero

Down on the Farm

I'm sure many people who have Wildblue satellite internet service must be satisfied with it and that must mean that they get better service than we do or rather we did here. For us, it was great when it was working the way it should have but as the weeks passed that time became less and less frequent. We would still, very much, like to keep using Wildblue and there is no doubt that we will continue to pay for it over the next eight months but it has become so undependable that today it is virtually useless.

At this point in time, after struggling to get on line and stay there, I have given up and resigned myself to the use of a dial-up internet service. The only real drawback is the tying up the telephone while on line but I don't sleep much and I can do what I need to do early in the morning or late at night. As the old saying goes, "there's no need to cry over spilt milk" (or something like that) so we'll just have to get over it and get used to it.

The last sixteen months has been a journey, in and of itself, and I wish I could truthfully say that I have enjoyed it but I can't because I didn't. There is an old song with lines something like this; "Some days are diamonds and some days are stones, some days the bad times won't leave me alone." That just about describes my relationship with Wildblue over those months.

I don't really know how to go from today's subject to the following story so I'll just jump right into it. The title is "The Sound of Distant Thunder".

"I can feel my heart beating in my chest / and I sit in silent wonder / as lightening lights up this old sinful world / there's the sound of distant thunder.

The moon was rushing to get behind the clouds / the stars were running too / lightening was flashing off in the northwest / a storm was beginning to brew / I sat at my window which faced to the west / and listened as the thunder rolled / and wondered could it be what I've often heard / the sound God makes when He bowls.

It often sounds violent and that worries me some / could God be angry with us all / as the pins in His ally come crashing down / could this world be the next one to fall.

Now I can feel my heart beating in my chest / and I sit in silent wonder / as lightening lights up this old sinful world / there's the sound of distant thunder / the sound of distant thunder."

If you've got this far, thanks for your time and input, stay tuned. - William

On Line Choices

Wildblue or NetZero

On January 28th of this year I began my journey as a web surfer, the attempt at creating a blogspot and writing short postings on subjects which I may or may not know anything about. At that time I was using a computer (not mine) which was connected to a satellite on-line service called "Wildblue". Today I embark on another phase of that journey by changing my on-line service to "NetZro which is dial-up, as opposed to satellite.

It took about five minutes to get to the point of actually starting writing this posting which to some would be an eternity but when compared to the problems encountered with Wildblue it was like a walk in the park. On a good day Wildblue satellite service would be much faster but it has been several days since I have been able to even get it on line. Even that wouldn't have been as bad if we could get anykind of help with the problems but the best answer we could get was that they would come out and check it for a ninety-five dollar service charge. We thought that was excessive since it is their equiptment. They will still be taking more than fifty dollars a month for service we don't get.

Several years ago I knew a man who loved to hunt and fish. He thought nothing about missing dinner for a chance at either one. This could be the story of his life and is titled "Catfish Fishing Man."

"I work every day, make a living all right / then I head for the river on Friday night / I'd rather go fishing than to run around / so I'll be on that river before the sun goes down / for I'm a Tennessee River, catfish fishing man / yeah, I'm a Tennessee River catfish fishing man.

I can hardly wait for Friday, time passes so slow / I've got everything packed and ready to go / I break all the laws when I go through town / but the cops all know I'm river bound / for I'm a Tennessee River, catfish fishing man / yeah, I'm a Tennessee River catfish fishing man.

I don't have much time to get my fishing done / if I'm going to catch any fish then I've got to run / I don't use that artificial minnow with a treble hook / and what I know about fishing didn't come from a book / for I'm a Tennessee River, catfish fishing man / yeah, I'm a Tennessee River catfish fishing man.

Now I've fished that river from line to line / and I've never seen a no fishing sign / I don't know what I'll do when the summer is through / I can't sit at home with nothing to do / for I'm a Tennessee River, catfish fishing man / yeah, I'm a Tennessee River catfish fishing man."

But, of course, everyone who knew him also knew that he wouldn't be sitting around doing nothing in the winter time. There was always deer hunting,'coon hunting and rabbit hunting. That was enough to keep anyone busy after work. Thanks for your time and imput, stay tuned. - William

Cyber Monday

Record Sales.

Extra, extra, extra, read all about it! Today it was announced on television that sales on "Cyber Monday" were much larger than they ever have been before. They may not have been stupendous but probably helped the Chinese economy grow by a point or two. Our own economy, or lack there-of, dominates the news today just as it has for about a year but nobody seems to know what to do about it. In my opinion, for whatever it is worth, there are too many different opinions and while that is not necessarily a bad thing it does tend to slow thing down a bit.

Because everything that needs to be said about Black Friday and Cyber Monday has already been said, this posting will probably be shorter than usual. With unemployment so high and the economy so low it is amazing how much money was spent in the last four or five days. Too many people seems to have lost their way. Much of what was bought will probably turn out to be useless.

Speaking of something being useless reminds me of those little books of paper matches, used for advertising, that back in my younger days were called "Gofer Matches" because, when it was windy, you would strike one and go fer (for) another. Thus the title of this story is "Gofer Matches".

"I was all alone in the middle of the night / with not a single star in sight / and the wind was howling through the blackberry patches / and all I had to find my way / Lord I'll never forget that day / was my own two eyes and a book of gofer matches / well I'd strike one and try to look around / It'd go out and I'd throw it down / and start right in to cuss the day that it was made / now you may think that it's not right / to stand there cussing in the middle of the night / but I was taught to call a spade a spade.

Now you know gofer matches are a useless thing / just like a sponge out in the rain / neither one will do the job that it was meant to do / did you ever walk through briers at night / even when you had a light / and could see those thorns before they got to you / for those thorns are roughy I'm here to say / I've got the scars unto this day / to prove that I was out the whole night long / and when that sun came up on me / I was down upon my knees / prayin that those thorns would be gone.

Now you know gofer matches are a useless thing / just like a sponge out in the rain / neither one will do the job that it was meant to do ------."

With that I'll close these thought for the day. Thanks again for your time and imput. Stay tuned - William