Parenting again. Pretty easy right now, the chillins are at a neighbor kids birthday party consisting of cake, ice cream and a slip n' slide.
Hmm, possibilities there after the kids go to bed- I swear, you guys are a bad influence on me, thinkin like that! Cut it out!
The guys went fishing, without me obviously. I will attempt to drown my sorrows. Mmmm, cold beer.
I engaged in a heated battle with weeds today in the flowerbeds. It would be easier if there were more flowers. There is this clover type stuff that is quite tenacious. The mint and garlic are doing well. The lilys have small sickly buds again, I think they suck. I could be doing something wrong, but I prefer to blame it on them. Probably because I bought them at Home Depot. The Bachelor Buttons grow and reproduce quite well, but insist on falling over, they are completely spineless, like a politician at a campaign fundraiser.
Does anyone know, will the garlic be done after a year, or is this like a long term investment? One of the few things I have never grown before. They are similar to little onion bulbs right now. I know this thanks to the cats from the 'hood, who keep digging in my flower beds. I need the boys pellet gun.
Weeding the dirt in the oak barrel planter out front and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but violets, they came up from last year! Don't mess with them, saves me from planting new stuff! I should mow the lawn, but I heard mowing in the evening isn't good for it.

So after several fishing trips I have managed not to get a sunburn. I usually scorch myself pretty good by this time of the year. But I have been being careful, got a stash of 45SPF in the boat. Out on a job yesterday I burned my shoulders pretty good. Good thing I didn't wear shorts.

We went over to Barnes & Nobel last night. I love bookstores, I think I have mentioned that. But I never buy books there. I'm poor. I can buy the same paperback book at Kmart for a couple dollars less, and the hardbacks? That is a major investment! I had to keep my hands in my pockets tho, a new John Sanford and two Robert B. Parkers I have not read.

Well, it is a beautiful day. I'm off to the shop. Don't be holdin' your collective breaths for any more river pics, takes to long to upload. Though I do appreciate the interest in them.

Bikini blogging

Between the times I had my kids I didn't own one. Of course I had one in high school. Remember Broadwater Bay when it was cool? I spent alot of time there.
But just last year I was going to take my boy to Mitchell Pool, so I figured, might as well get one. Course I ended up in the kiddie pool with the daughter.
Well, I went to the store to find a suit. I just wanted a plain old two peice. Have you seen some of the ugly stuff on those racks? It is horrible! No way am I prancing around in hot pink and lime green flowers! They didn't even have any in just plain old solid colors! And the cut of some of them would make any girl look bad. It took forever for me to find something I could tolerate wearing in public. And then I get to the pool, and oh my lord, some people should not show that much skin. Sorry if anybody gets insulted, but come on now, you can only stuff so much in spandex before it starts rollin over, and around and just yuck.

Anyway, I found one. It's black.

Didja notice...

...it was kinda windy on Saturday... and we were at the lake. Sat on shore waiting for the wind to go down. It didn't. Fuckit, we can fish in this. Unload boat. Progress out of the sheltered bay... Hit the mouth where the lake necks down, squeezing waves from all over into a smaller area. The conversation went something like this.

Me: Are you sure we can take these waves?
Him: Yes dear, this is why we got a bigger boat.

Me: Oh lord, that's a big one.
Him: It's O.K. we'll be fine

Me: Oh crap, I don't think I want to do this
Him:It's Ok, hold on this is a big one

Me: Oh dear God, I have had enough, take me back to shore
Him: We just need to get through here then it will be better

Me:FuckthattakemebackIdon'twannagofishingtodayholyshit
LordsavemeTAKEMEBACKTOSHORE!!!
Him: Yeah, it's pretty bad, I'll take us back in.

It was pretty windy.

Is there a labor shortage? I don't really think so. I think there is a shortage of people who are willing to work. People that take easy jobs, and then complain about the money they make, and the people they work with, etc. People that get the easy college degree, and end up selling cell phones.
I know lots of building contractors, and similar trades, that are desperate for help. They pay well, treat employees well, and are always hiring. Because people are not willing to put in the time and hard work needed to get very far in construction. The state could support several hundred more plumbers, but the aprenticeship program requires four years of work and college level courses. You will not get offered an aprenticeship until you have proven that you are willing to work for it.
I look at the Job service web page all the time, and there are plenty of jobs. Many of them are readvertised every couple months, which tells me whoever was hired didn't work out. Alot of them are entry level jobs, you have to work at it to get anywhere. People just don't seem willing to take a low wage and actually learn something for a while.

Well, if I were out for hits on my site I would post more pictures.
And I am not really as conceited as I sound some times.

Golf, again.

Went over to the Trib forum "thingy" and did some reading on the city golf crisis. There are some interesting opinions.
When I ran cross country in high school, all the meets were at golf courses. I believe they still are. Here in Great Falls I know we ran on city owned courses. I had not thought about it before, but there are several references to closing one or more of the courses. Which makes me wonder, what benefits are there to others (non-golfers) in having golf courses?

The other thing I noticed was the blame being thrown around. I think it has been established that there is a problem with golf course management. What to do, what to do. Maybe fix it? There have been some changes, but without good management, they can do as much harm as good. Who is minding the store?

"If Jovick-Kuntz doesn’t like the heat for this decision she should blame Lawton who has been asleep at the wheel." (quote swiped from the trib forum)
Whatever. I'm going to mow the lawn, because it is my responsibility, and I have no one to blame if it doesn't get done.

O.K. now....

I had been trying to put that picture in my profile thingy, but it kept telling me the picture was to big.
After looking at the picture, I considered not posting it all, but took pity on all of you. Yes, I have more rescue pictures. No I will not post them.

On to other things. Whatcha think of haloscan? It was easy to install, automatically put the code in the template so I couldn't screw it up. And when blogger is down, you can still read and leave comments. Lotsa different templates, you can edit comments, which I havn't got to do yet. Lots of different settings.

Well, they had a good day fishing. Caught a limit of nice 'eyes, with the largest about 6 pounds.
Dinner tonight will be:

Walleye fillets
Brocolli with cheese sauce
Some kinda spuds.

I'm goin' next time.

Concerning a monkey and a football....

I consider myself fairly mechanically handy. I have changed starters, alternators, tires, assorted filters and hoses when needed. It is nice to have a man to do it, but I don't need one. However, I have never before changed the tube in a bike tire. Of course there are no instructions. How hard can it be? Kids do it. I double check the size, yep right one, then why is there like 3" extra? And how the heck do you get it in there? Are ya supposed to take the whole tire off or just kinda cram it in? I did prevail over the damn thing, With the help of a wrench,my technique may not have been perfect, but the tube was all in there, and it held air, did not explode or anything and I celebrated by riding the boys bike around the block a few times, just to prove I was the damn boss.
Now my thumb hurts. Don't ask.

Well, It stopped raining, and started to dry out. So I went out to mow the lawn. (You see, the lawn needs to be mowed while the boat is gone, since it is parked on the back lawn. Well, actually there are three boats back there, but.....)
The lawn did not get mowed while the boat was out last weekend, since my fine ass was IN the boat. Where it should have been today, but I have kids who do not like to spend 12 hours in the boat, and cannot fend for themselves to the extent that they can be abandoned for said 12 hours. So I blog, and bitch, and mow the lawn, and if anyone is very lucky, I may cook, and clean and such like. Not so far, but it is possible.
But back to the lawn. Put gas in the mower. Two pulls, it starts, I push the lever off the turtle to the hare, And it starts raining! I was relentless. That lawn got mowed. Parked the mower, came inside, rain stopped, sun came out. Figures.
However, Fix a flat did not fix the flat on the boys bike, so I think a trip to the store for a new tube is in the cards. Damn, that means I won't be able to start on the laundry. Or dishes. Etc. Bummer.

Through his eyes...

Just finished reading a book by James Lee Burke, titled Bitterroot. Burke has a home(?) in the Bitterroot Valley, and that is where the events in this book take place.
He does fairly well, for the most part, with places and such but there are a couple places that quivered my reality meter.
In one scene, they drove to Lincoln for dinner and got in a fight with bikers. Hmm. If I lived in Missoula, I can think of better places to go for a drink and a steak. But back to the fight. The ambulance and sherriff arrived "momentarily". In Lincoln Montana?
Another discrepancy-It is June (in the book) and a herd of elk runs through a meadow with the sun glinting "off the bony surfaces of their racks". Not in June, methinks. But on the whole I think he did fairly well. It is a decent enough book.

Well, the menfolk are off for the day in the quest for The Elusive Walleye. I am left to tend the homefires. Oops, they just went out. Laundry is sitting there, mocking me. ...you must wash us sometime.....why put it off..... No! I can't hear you! breakfast dishes in the sink ....screw the laundry....do us, it will only take a minute....toys scattered through the house......you get the picture. I block them, to blog, for all of you.

I see you come here, and I have posted nothing new, and you leave, disapointed, unsatisfied. You come from all over the world, and make me wonder who are you? Why do you return, when there are so many other better blogs out there? And how many more would come if I was a better, more prolific writer, with important, interesting things to say?

I guess we shall never know, because though I love you all, this blog is at the near to last on my Important Things List. I would have stood you up in a heartbeat to go fishing. And then I would have blogged about how I left you hanging, and spent my day on the water, catching fish, while you came here, hoping I had not abandoned you. Ha Ha Ha!!!

Why do people seem to think I am OBLIGATED to answer the phone?

"Hi, I called yesterday, you must have been out."
"No, I just didn't want to talk to you."
"Whaaat?"

We have an answering machine, so if it is important, and you leave a message, we'll get back to you. If you think it is important and we don't, it might take longer. And call waiting? Never gonna happen. If the phone is busy I must be on it.
If your a telemarketer and we actually answer, speak the language or we will make fun of you.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Power blogging the local paper.

1st item (not in the paper)
I see our worthy Sign Inspector is leaving. Remember, signs must be Grandfathered by July! I for see a paperwork backlog at Community Development.

The curator is leaving PGS. This is too bad for our community. She has done a great job and is a very good person, with a genuine love of art and deep commitment to her job.

Primaries yesterday, politics, blah blah blah.

Vandals ruin garden. What the heck is wrong with people? A juvenile was arrested and is facing felony and misdemeanor charges. He’ll probably get some kind of probation, and by the time he turns 18 and it gets wiped off his record not only will he be a little criminal but he will haved learned how to work the system. I say he should be in that garden with a shovel until every trace of gas is gone and every plant is replaced and doing well. Summer vacation? No, you’re the garden bitch for every sick old lady in Great Falls. Start digging.

More casino robberies. I have seen a little discussion around and about on this. I have no ideas on what to do, but I wonder, why casino's? They don't keep that much money out of the safe, they have cameras, etc. Maybe it's the signs. Or they are just trying to get those welfare checks back.

Oh Shucks!!

So I installed sitemeter, and I was messing around and I see it says my location is in California. Stupid ISP. I just want to say:


I AM NOT FROM CALIFORNIA!!!


Just so you all got that.

This is strange. Yesterday I had 308 profile views. I just looked and I have over 350. Now I have been blogging for a while, and I do not think I have ever seen the number jump like that before. I am getting a bit curious about who is reading my mad malarky, since I only have 2 new comments. I'll probably get over that long before I attempt to install sitemeter though. Arn' t y'all glad I shared that?

Well, I was just over at TSJ and he has a post up about a religious subject. Some of his commenters got me thinking. I was going to comment, but decided not to, went and did other stuff. But my little mind kept returning to the subject. So I said to myself, Self, you have a blog, so write about this. And here we are.

A couple years ago, one of the most important people in my life had some very sudden and serious heart problems. Less than two weeks after she was diagnosed , she was in the hospital in Billings, having open heart surgery. This was extremely traumatic. To say the least I was very stressed. We got to the hospital at 6:00 in the morning, checked in, tried to keep ourselves from getting to emotional, and soon off she went on the little bed, to be cut open and hopefully repaired.
Six hours in surgery and recovery before we would get to see her, if everything went well. Now this is a religious hospital, so the nice volunteers who try to keep family and friends from going crazy while sitting in the waiting room waiting and waiting and waiting..... make sure you know where the chapel is in case you would like to address your concerns to those higher up while waiting and waiting and waiting..... Well time passed, and I could not sit any longer. Already full of nervous energy, I decided to go smoke and walk about outside for a few. Hit the coffe shop on the way down, and wandered about outside ingesting caffeine and nicotine, to calm down a bit you know.
Worked great. Yeah.
Any how I took the long way back to the waiting room, kinda checking out the place as I went, and I ran across the chapel. I actually went in to look at the etched glass. But it was quiet, and peaceful, and I ended up sitting in there, crying, talking to God. It did not matter what religious order had built the chapel, what religion payed the power bill, what religion I was. I prayed for my sister, and expressed my fears and my jumbled emotions, and finally just sat, relaxed and at peace for the first time in weeks.

Do the who does what, and where, and when really matter that much when it comes down to the bottom line? Do we spend to much time making sure things are socially correct, not stepping on any toes, and end up losing sight of the big picture?

The men and women in the military have religious beliefs. Whatever they are, religion is present in their lives. Doesn't it make sense for the military to have support for that part of the person the same as everything else? If my tax-payer dollars have funded access to that peace for a soldier that needed it, I am glad. It's only money. There are more important things in life.

Jerry, a highlander from Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, was an older, single gentleman who was born and raised a Baptist, living in South Louisiana. Each Friday night after work, he would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak. Now, all of Jerry's neighbors were Catholic...and since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Fridays. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest. The priest came to visit Jerry, and suggested that Jerry convert to Catholicism. After several classes and much study, Jerry attendedMass...and as the priest sprinkled Holy Water over Jerry, he said, "You were born a Baptist and raised a Baptist, but now you are Catholic." Jerry's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood.The priest was called immediately by the neighbors and, as he rushed into Jerry's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold Jerry, he stopped inamazement and watched. There stood Jerry, clutching a small bottle of water which he carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat, chanting:"You were born a deer, and raised a deer, but now you are a catfish."

Me and the Boy, driving down the street by the courthouse.
"Hey, Lady Liberty is back up, cool."
"Yeah, they put her up last week."
(stop at red light)
"Hey, that Lady sherriff right there took my beer away one night!"
"Were you drinking and driving Mom?"
"No, but we were too young to drink. Don't do that, I don't want you to get in trouble."
"Did you get in trouble Mom?"
"Not for drinking, but I kinda smarted off to the cop, and she did not care for it much. I was a real smart ass when I was younger. Good thing I'm not like that anymore."
Hysterical laughter from the 11 year old boy.

"This is no longer a Rescue Operation, we are focusing on Recovery...."

I have never really learned to swim. I know the basic premis, but I have two problems. One, I am claustrophobic. Water over my face is not good. However, I can control it to an extent, I have stuck my head in the water and blown bubbles. Didn’t particularly enjoy it but I can do it. But I do not float. I have tried everything, do this people say, and try that, but to no avail. I sink every time. Low body fat? High bone density? A combination? I do not know. But I sink, every time. Paddle and kick? I can maintain, but upon cessation of movement, down I go, blub, blub, blub.
This is why I wear a life jacket virtually every time we go out in the boat. There are a couple lakes whose depth I know, characteristics I am comfy with, etc. Holter? 90’ of water? Life jacket. Lake Francis with unpredictable winds, and fairly deep water? Life Jacket. Francis has a relatively high accident/mortality rate for lakes in this area, although many of them are drunken morons driving on the ice.
Tiber you never know what the winds will do, often you cannot see storms coming in, and there is so much water, I would not get on a boat with out my life jacket.
The river? Are you insane. At least on lakes if you go under you don’t have a lot of current to deal with. Rivers have current, and rocks and backwaters and logs and eddies and swirls and stuff. A life jacket will help, but has less chance of saving your ass if you are in the water long. Jump off a bridge? Possibly terminally insane. Do you know how deep the water is? So you can swim. Can you swim after you bounce your head off a rock you didn’t know was three feet under the surface? Can you swim when you hit 55 degree water from thirty feet up and knock the air out of your body, the current catches you, and that first gasp of air is irrigation runoff from every farm between here and Gibson Dam?

Every year people die in our rivers and lakes, and I feel deep sorrow for them and their families. It is even worse when common sense and a little prevention could make such a difference to so many lives. Alcohol is a common denominator in many instances, but lack of good judgment and being unprepared for an accident is virtually always the culprit. Know your water, wear a life jacket, don’t drink and dive. Stay safe.