BRING IT ON:))

With heavily clouded skies threatening to bust loose with a deluge of rain at any minute Pheebs and I, with a few sprinkles on the windshield, rolled on past our morning walking spot.  Cruising slowly through the countryside with our front windows down the best part of our short drive was hearing all the roadside crickets along the way.  I love the sound of crickets, especially this time of year when it signifies the very early start to the change of seasons and the coming of Autumn's cooler temperatures.  Bring it on:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A minister had all of his remaining teeth pulled out. New dentures were being made.  On the first Sunday, he only preached for 10 minutes. On the second Sunday, he preached for only 20 minutes. On the third Sunday, he preached for 1 hour 25 minutes.  When asked about this by some of the congregation, he responded this way.  “The first Sunday, my gums were so sore it hurt to talk. The second Sunday, my new dentures were hurting me a lot. The third Sunday, I accidentally grabbed my wife's dentures...and I couldn't shut up.”

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A friend of mine got kidnapped by a group of mimes...They did unspeakable things to him!

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I'M STILL WORKING ON REBUILDING MY NEW 'FELLOW BLOGGERS' LIST

 EVEN SOME OF THE BIRDS WERE TOO POOPED TO FLY IN TODAY'S HUMIDITY

Not even a breeze stirring earlier this morning.  Not even enough moving air to remotely alter a lazy mosquito's menacing flight path.  Not wanting any part of the humid stickiness Pheebs and I again skipped our walk and instead took a windows-down drive into and around Bayfield.  After a few photos we were home again and of course the rest of the day was simply another repeat performance of too many other repeat performances.

 SIDEWALKS AND CURBS GOING IN ON THE NORTH SIDE OF BAYFIELD'S NEW BRIDGE

 THIS NEW SIDEWALK WILL LEAD ACROSS THE BRIDGE HEADING FOR BAYFIELD

 'ALL ABOARD' THE PONTOON BOAT AS THE WHITE TRUCK BACKS IT TOWARDS THE RAMP AND THE WATER'S EDGE

 NO FISHING TODAY FOR THE NOSKCA-J FISHING BOAT

 A FEW $$$$ TIED UP THERE

 SOME KIND OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT GOING ON AT THE FISH WHARF ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RIVER

Thanks to the folks who sent in their blog addys enabling me to reinstate them back on my new blogger's list. It was nice to hear from a few folks I hadn't heard from in years, and others I had never heard from before.  That's always a welcome boost for me:))

 OUR PARK'S NEW ENTRANCE FLOWERBED BESIDE OUR MAILROOM IS ABOUT READY FOR PLANTING

 THE PARK'S NEW LANDSCAPING CONTINUES

Seeking a temporary change in direction from my last book Being Mortal by Atul Gawande I once again took to the skies for my next two books.  Dead Men Flying, A Remembrance: by navy pilot Michael Mullane and Return To Saigon by navy pilot Larry Duthie.  Both these young pilots flew off aircraft carriers in the same squadron, in the same war, at the same time, and in the same place.  Riveting down-to-earth Vietnam remembrances and how it changed their lives for years to come.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( During his physical, the doctor asked the patient about his daily activity level.  He described a typical day this way: 'Well, yesterday afternoon, I waded along the edge of a lake, drank eight beers, escaped from wild dogs in the heavy brush, jumped away from an aggressive rattlesnake, marched up and down several rocky hills, stood in a patch of poison ivy, crawled out of quicksand and took four leaks behind big trees.' Inspired by the story, the doctor said, 'You must be one hell of an outdoors man!' 'NAH,' he replied, 'I'm just a really rotten golfer.'

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Life can be so confusing. It was only after purchasing a dolphin made of glass that I had any clarity of porpoise.

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MY BIG BLOG BLUNDER

You can well imagine how upset I was with myself early Friday evening when I accidentally deleted my 'Blog Followers' list.  I had been trying to remove a site from the list when I (true to form) clicked a wrong button in my blogger layout section and 'poof' my whole list was instantly deleted.  Kelly worked very hard at trying to get it back Friday night and Saturday morning but, alas it was gone.  Despite that, she still worked away at it Saturday afternoon and also found out that there are problems at Blogger's end as well.  Had it not been for Kelly's calm in trying to correct my stupid mistake I would have gone right outside and repeatedly jumped up and down in the driveway!! 

I had no choice but to start the list all over again from scratch today.  No easy feat for someone with a compromised memory like mine. Downloading the 'gadget feature' again I was pleasantly surprised to see a long list of blogs of which some had been on my sidebar.  I was able to retrieve a number of them but most were older blogs which of course I was very happy for.  A lot of those older blogs are people we knew or know who no longer blog.  Although some of these people have passed away I like to keep them on my blog list because it is our way of remembering them and keeping their blogs alive.  Retired Rod, Tioga George, Bird Lady Emma, and Awesome George come to mind.

Now, here's where I need my fellow Blogger's help.  If you were on my Blogger's list and do not see yourself there now, I'm asking that you send me your URL site so I can reinstate you on my new list.  If you are a reader and don't see one of your favorite Bloggers on the list, let me know and I will do my best to find them and get them back on.  My email address is stargeezerguy@gmail.com or you can also let me know on Facebook.

The day was already too hot and humid for me at 8:30 this morning so Pheebs and I skipped our walk and instead took a short drive into and around Bayfield.  Home again, I stayed in the coolness of our house for the rest of the day.  I am so much looking forward to the coming of Autumn and cooler days.  The extremes of winter are still the worst time of the year for me but the extremes of summer are not far behind.

Update:: I spent most of this afternoon scrabbling back through a few of my previous blog comments and have been able to find a number of people's blog sites that way and from there I was able to find more blogger's sites on other blogger's sites.  You will notice the 'Blog Followers' section is now at the top of the right-hand column and that is because I have not been able to shuffle it down to where it used to be under the Shout Box.  This Blogger format I use is not always helpful!!  Oh, and if you see your site and notice that I maybe have spelled something wrong or didn't get your title right, be sure to let me know so that I can correct it.

GROANER'S CORNER:((   A pastor who was badly overworked went to the local medical center and was able to have a clone made. The clone was like the pastor in every respect--except that the clone used extraordinarily foul language. The cloned pastor was exceptionally gifted in many other areas of pastoral work, but finally, the complaints about the dirty language were too much.  The pastor was not too sure how to get rid of the clone so that it wouldn't look like murder. The best thing, he decided, was to make the clone's death look like an accident. So the pastor lured the clone onto a bridge in the middle of the night and pushed the clone off the bridge.  Unfortunately, there was a police officer who happened by at that very moment and arrested the pastor for making an obscene clone fall.

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ANOTHER WRETCHEDLY HOT AND HUMID DAY:((

SCRATCHING A MORNING ITCH ON THE FARM'S OLD SCRATCHING POST

Aside from taking Scooter for a 20-minute maintenance drive this morning, it was another do nothing wretchedly hot and humid day.  And we have a heat advisory for Saturday and Sunday too.  I think it's about time we pack up and move to Wawa.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Prison vs Work::

IN PRISON...you spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell.  AT WORK...you spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle.

IN PRISON...you get three meals a day.
AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it.

IN PRISON...you get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK...you get rewarded for good behavior with more work.

IN PRISON...a guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK...you must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.

IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON...you get your own toilet.
AT WORK...you have to share.

IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK...you cannot even speak to your family and friends.

IN PRISON...all expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required.
AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON...you spend most of your life looking through bars from the inside wanting to get out.
AT WORK...you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON...there are wardens who are often sadistic.
AT WORK...they are called managers.

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ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE DAYS

Another one of those days folks so I spent the majority of my time reading.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Walking through Chinatown, a tourist is fascinated with all the Chinese restaurants, shops, signs, and banners. He turns a corner and sees a building with the sign, "Hans Olaffsen's Laundry."  "Hans Olaffsen?", he muses. "How the heck does that fit in here?"  So he walks into the shop and sees an old Chinese gentleman behind the counter.  The tourist asks, "How did this place get a name like "Hans Olaffsen's Laundry?"  The old man answers, "Is name of owner."  The tourist asks, "Well, who and where is the owner?"  "Me, is right here," replies the old man.  "You? How did you ever get a name like Hans Olaffsen?"  "Is simple," says the old man. "Many, many year ago when come to this country, was stand in line at Documentation Center. Man in front was big blonde Swede. Lady look at him and go, "What your name?" He say, "Hans Olaffsen." Then she look at me and go, 'What your name?'"  "I say, Sem Ting."

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OH THE WONDERFUL MEMORIES WE ALL HAVE

MORNING WALK IN GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE

This morning reminded me of a day in late October as Pheebs and I skipped our walk due to a cold rainy drizzle.  Under cloudy skies and intermittent showers with a touch of heat on in the Jeep, we made our way to Goderich, grabbed a McDs coffee, and headed down to the harbor.  Two large ships in port with the Algoma Intrepid loading salt and the ocean-going bulk carrier Whistler taking on a load of soybeans for Belgium.

 UNSETTLED SKIES THIS MORNING

 THE OCEAN-GOING BULK CARRIER 'WHISTLER' IS IN PORT LOADING SOYBEANS

 THE WHISTLER SITS HIGH OUT OF THE WATER SUGGESTING IT HAS NOT TAKEN ON ITS LOAD OF SOYBEANS YET

 LOOKS LIKE WHISTLER HAS HAD A FEW SCRAPES ALONG THE WAY

With a quick stop at the Walmart Pharmacy, Pheebs and I were soon on our way home again.  The light showers had stopped and the sky was working hard to clear itself of the overnight cloud cover.  By early afternoon we were under sunny blue skies with 70F temps ramping up the humidity factor under a hot sun.  Our weather site says Wednesday's predicted 84F temperature will feel like 102F:((

WORK IS ONGOING IN THE CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND AREA AT ST, CHRISTOPHER'S BEACH

 A NEW WALKWAY LEADS OUT TO THE END OF THE HARBOR'S SOUTH PIER

 ALTHOUGH DRESSED FOR THE COOLER WEATHER THESE FELLAS FORGOT TO PUT THEIR LONG PANTS ON

 I HAVE THE HEATER GOING IN THE JEEP WHILE THIS FELLOW CONTEMPLATES THE WILLOW TREE IN SHORT SLEEVES AND SHORTS

 THE DRIVE OUT TO ROTARY COVE IS OFTEN FRAUGHT WITH FEATHERY JAYWALKERS

With the Park's first community garage sale coming up on August 20th, Kelly has been busy gathering things together for the sale.  It's a good thing she is doing it because I see many things I would like to keep.  But, I know she is right and there is no point in hanging on to so much stuff.  A lot of the things she will be entering in the sale are from our travels to the southwest years ago and things that we brought home from our Arizona house when we sold it.  

 SKIES WERE STILL GRUMPY ALL THE WAY HOME

My television time each day usually takes place between the hours of 10 p.m. and midnight.  I generally look for documentaries, things on the Smithsonian channel, musical groups, history, etc.  Monday night I came across a documentary entitled, Elvis Presley, Charlie Hodge 1970.  A film crew follows a short period of time when Elvis played at the International Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.  It's a behind-the-scenes look at Elvis as the public never saw him.  It shows him rehearsing with his band and singers and the horsing around and kibbitzing that went on.  Of particular interest to me was the realization that this documentary had been filmed in the very same hotel and casino I had once stayed in.  One time in the mid 80's I had the opportunity to fly to Las Vegas and attend a large photography convention there.  As it turns out, the Hotel I stayed at was the very one Elvis had lived and played at back in 1970.  I remember the first or second morning I was there I had gone down early to the lobby and casino area to walk around and look at everything.  All the carpeting, the golden chandeliers, the sounds of the casino, the grand opulence, glitter, and glam.  I'd never seen anything like this in my little hometown village of Tavistock located in the rural farmlands of southern Ontario, Canada.  Walking around like a bug-eyed tourist (which I was) looking at everything, I noticed a door with a sign saying auditorium or something.  I opened the door, looked inside, and instantly recognized the large room from the many pictures I had seen over the years of Elvis Presley on stage in this very same large auditorium.  It was the unique burgundy and white seating I recognized right away, the booths where many famous people had come to see Elvis perform.  And there at the far side of this large spacious auditorium was the stage where not only Elvis, but many well-known performers had once entertained.  I stood there for a minute, lost in my imagination, gazing into this now quiet darkened room with all its memories.  I then closed the door and continued on my way wallowing in thought.  I had all but forgotten this memory until I watched the Elvis documentary for a while tonight.  Of course, it spurred other memories from my few days in Vegas at that time.  I walked the whole Vegas strip all the way to 'old Vegas' itself one evening taking photos of all the bright lights and casinos along the way.  I still have all those photos but haven't looked at them in about 40 years.  They were taken with my 35mm Pentax camera on slide film at the time.  Oh, the wonderful memories we all have.

GROANER'S CORNER:((    This woman, who believed in natural birth, was having these abnormal contractions, went to see her Doctor.  "Doc", she said, "I'm feeling these abnormal contractions".  The Doctor took a listen, and said, "My dear lady, you're going to be having triplets!"  Baffled, the woman asked: "How can you tell?"  The Doctor responded saying, "I'm hearing inside: 'No, you go first!', 'No, you go first!', 'No, you go first!'

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