FOR ME, ANYTIME SNOW IS MELTING IS A GOOD DAY:))

A slightly foggy morning but Pheebs and I made our way around a few country roads anyway.  Some were snow-covered and some were muddy.  My friend brought a Dyson vacuum cleaner today and I was absolutely amazed at how much doggy fur that Dyson got out of our living and sunroom carpets.  Way more than our Hoover ever did and if I hadn't have seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.  I am now definitely a Dyson fan.  Other than an afternoon of deep cleaning, (yup, even behind the TV) there wasn't too much going on.  It was a dull gray day after all, but at least we bested the freezing mark with 34F.  Maybe not a fast snowmelt, but at least our heaping piles of snow were slowing melting, and for me, anytime snow is melting.......is a good day:))

A FOGGY MORNING

 A LOT OF WHITENESS OUT HERE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

Al's Music Box:)) Abilene is a song written by Bob Gibson, Lester Brown and John D. Loudermilk, and recorded by American country music artist George Hamilton IV. The song reached number one on the U.S. country music chart for four weeks, and peaked at number 15 on the pop music charts. George Hamilton IV performed "Abilene" in the 1963 movie Hootenanny Hoot.  Bob Gibson was inspired to write the song after watching the Randolph Scott film Abilene Town. The setting for the film is Abilene, Kansas, the railhead town at the end of the Chisholm Trail. Gibson said the song had often been erroneously thought to be about Abilene, Texas named for the Kansas cowtown that had been established 24 years earlier but a much larger city.

 IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO SEE HIGHWAYS FREE OF ICE AND SNOW 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A minister has just died and is standing on line waiting to be judges and admitted to Heaven. While waiting he asks the man in front of him about himself. "I'm a taxi driver from Noo Youk Cidy"  Suddenly the angel standing at the gate calls out next, and the taxi driver steps up. The angel hands him a golden staff and a cornucopia of fruits, cheeses, and wine and lets him pass. The taxi driver is quite pleased and proceeds through the gates.  Next, the minister steps up to the angel and the angel hands him a wooden staff and some bread and water. The minister is very concerned and asks the angel, "That guy is a taxi driver and gets a golden staff and a cornucopia! I spend my entire life as a minister and get nothing! How can that be?"  The angel replies, "Up here we judge on results, all of your people sleep through your sermons, in his taxi, they pray."

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- The Marx Bros seldom spoke of their embarrassing cousin...Skid Marx.

- I told my boss that three companies were after me, so I needed a raise in pay to stay with my current job.  He asked which companies?
I told him gas, electric, and cable.

A young banker decided to get his first tailor-made suit. So he went to the finest tailor in town and got measured for a suit. A week later he went in for his first fitting. He put on the suit and he looked fabulous, he felt that in this suit he could do business.  As he was preening himself in front of the mirror he reached down to put his hands in the pockets and to his surprise he noticed that there were no pockets. He mentioned this to the tailor who asked him, "Didn't you tell me you were a banker?"  The young man answered, "Yes, I did."  To this, the tailor said, "Whoever heard of a banker with his hands in his own pockets?"

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

 JUST ROLLIN' DOWN THE ROAD

 JUST ANOTHER RELAXING DAY IN THE DESERT

 KELLY AND CHECKERS CHAT WITH WANDERING WILLY AT THE CLARK DRY LAKE BED NEAR BORREGO SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

Al's Art Gallery

AT THIS TIME OF YEAR WE'LL TAKE IT

Amazingly, we had another fiery sunrise and the thermometer was already trying to push itself above the freezing mark.  Although not a clear blue sky like yesterday, the sun did its best to make its presence known through the scattered cloud cover.  Pheebs and I slipped out around a few country roads, took a few pics, and headed home.  Not as good a melting day as yesterday but at this time of year we'll take it.  A drive down to Grand Bend and back this afternoon rounded out the day.   

 'OK, SO OUR BREAKFAST NOW COMES IN A NET??'  'SO HOW'S THAT GONNA WORK!!'

"STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT LADIES'

 A VERY CREATIVE BIRDHOUSE HIGH ATOP AN OLD TREE STUMP

 TO ME THIS LOOKED LIKE A VERY ILL-THOUGHT-OUT AND DANGEROUS IDEA!!

Al's Music Box:)) Wonderful World is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Released on April 14, 1960, by Keen Records, it had been recorded during an impromptu session the previous year in March 1959, at Sam Cooke's last recording session at Keen. He signed with RCA in 1960 and "Wonderful World", then unreleased, was issued as a single in competition. The song was mainly composed by songwriting team Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, but Cooke revised the lyrics to mention the subject of education more.  "Wonderful World" ended up doing substantially better on the charts than several of his early RCA singles, becoming his biggest hit single since "You Send Me" (1957). The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number two on Billboard's Hot R&B Sides chart.  Lou Adler and Herb Alpert composed the song with the theme that neither knowledge nor education can dictate feelings, but that love "could make the world a wonderful place".  Adler did not take the song very seriously but Cooke appeared to be taken with it. "He’d say, ‘What about that song, you know?’ And then he'd start on it again," recalled Adler.  Cooke wanted to steer the song toward the subject of schooling, revised the song and decided to cut it at a recording session on March 2, 1959, five days after completing his Billie Holiday tribute album, Tribute to the Lady. The writing credit for the song was put under Cooke's wife's maiden name, Barbara Campbell.  Campbell was also listed on the record labels for two other Cooke hits: "Only Sixteen" and "Everbody Loves to Cha Cha Cha".  The session's main goal was to record three songs Cooke had composed. There was no arranger or orchestra and the personnel consisted of Cooke, guitarist Cliff White, bassist Adolphus Alsbrook, teenage drummer Ronnie Selico and a quartet of singers that Cooke biographer Peter Guralnick believes may have been the Pilgrim Travelers – J.W. Alexander, Lou Rawls, and George McCurn (nicknamed Oopie).  There is no known footage of Cooke performing the song, even though, in ABKCO1986, president Allen Klein offered a $10,000 reward for anyone obtaining such footage.  Cooke signed to RCA Victor in 1960 but his first two singles on the major label – "Teenage Sonata" and "You Understand Me" – failed to register on the charts.  Meanwhile, John Siamas, co-founder of Keen Records, discovered the "demo" recording of "Wonderful World" among unreleased Cooke recordings.  Keen released "Wonderful World" in competition with RCA's issue of "You Understand Me" in the same week.  "Wonderful World" quickly became Cooke's best-performing single.  Billboard reviewed the single upon its release, giving it four stars and writing, "Moderate rocker gets a smooth belt from Sam Cooke in his usual, salable style."

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.  Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.  Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.  Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,then hired two people.  Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, an Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.  Then Congress said, "We have had this operating for one year and we are $18,000 over budget. We must cut back overall cost."  So they laid off the night watchman.

- I'm beginning to think my five-year-old grandson is a genius...I can't tell his paintings from that of Picasso!

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At the airport for a business trip, I settled down to wait for the boarding announcement at Gate 35. Then I heard the voice on the public address system saying, "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Delta Flight 570 will board from Gate 41."
So my family picked up our luggage and carried it over to Gate 41. Not ten minutes later the public address voice told us that Flight 570 would in fact be boarding from Gate 35.  So, again, we gathered our carry-on luggage and returned to the original gate. Just as we were settling down, the public address voice spoke again: "Thank you for participating in Delta's physical fitness program.

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

 KELLY AT THE OLD BORREGO SPRINGS LIBRARY WITH HER LAPTOP COMPUTER

 BOONDOCKING SOUTH OF CONGRESS, ARIZONA

 SOMEWHERE ON A MORNING WALK

Al's Art Gallery