NO POST

 Sorry folks, no post tonight.

AUNT JEAN WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PULMONARY HYPERTENSION

 A SNOWY DAY HERE AT TIMES

A snowy cold morning left me with little desire to even go out the door so Pheebs and I skipped our morning car ride.  With below-freezing overnight temperatures upon us again and more on the way, I slipped down under our front deck and turned the outside water off.  First time in over 22 years I've had to do that.  Well, at least I got all the mud hosed off the Subaru yesterday afternoon and it looks like a car again, instead of a muddy mud bucket going down the road......Talked to Aunt Jean Friday night and she is doing much better.  She only has to have the oxygen tubes in at night while sleeping, and only if she feels the need to do so during the day.  Her doctor has diagnosed her with Pulmonary Hypertension.  We didn't stay on the phone for as long as we usually do because I could tell she was tired........A quiet day here.  Worked away at clearing some cupboards in the kitchen.  Oh, and the reason Woodsy was briefly walking on that side of the road yesterday was to wait until I had passed with the car before crossing over to the other side of the road.  

Al's Music Box The Great Pretender is a popular song recorded by the Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single in November 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and management. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top 100.  Sam Cooke's cover of the song is believed to have inspired Chrissie Hynede to name her band the Pretenders.  Buck Ram, the manager of the Platters, said that he wrote the song in about 20 minutes in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in order to have a follow-up to the success of "Only You."  Ram had boasted to Bob Shad that he had an even better song than "Only You", and when pressed by Shad on the name of the song, Ram quickly replied "The Great Pretender".  He said the song would be a hit even before he had written the song to go with the title. The song was recorded by the Platters and released in November 1955. Plas Johnson played tenor saxophone on the recording. It became the best-selling R&B song in January 1956, and reached No. 2 on the Top 100 chart on Billboard in February 1956. It was also the 12th best-selling single of 1956.  The Platters performed "The Great Pretender" and "Only You" in the 1956 musical film Rock Around the Clock, and was also in the film American Graffiti.  In 2002, "The Great Pretender" by the Platters on Mercury RecondsGrammy Hall of Fame was inducted into the, which lists the date as 1956.  In 2004, the song was ranked 360th in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

 A ROBIN LISTENING FOR SOME CHILLY DEW WORMS UNDER THE SNOW

GROANER'S CORNER:(( It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this should help get you started.  During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the director what the criterion was that defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.  "Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."  "Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."  "No," said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a room with or without a view?"

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God: "Whew! I just created a 24-hour period of alternating light and darkness of Earth."  Angel: "What are you going to do now?"  God: "Call it a day."

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-"I believe in dragons, good men and other fantasy creatures."

- If someone with multiple personalities threatens to commit suicide, is that considered a hostage crisis?

- Last night, my wife and I watched two movies back to back.
Fortunately for me, I was the one who was facing the television.

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Twenty-one reasons why English is hard to learn.
1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there was no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen on how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

 AT OUR RANCH SITTING JOB NEAR McNEAL, ARIZONA

 MORNING WALK WITH RV SUE AND HER CANINE CREW, SPIKE AND BRIDGETT

KELLY IN BISSBEE ARIZONA WITH BAYFIELD'S DIANE MERO....BOTH THESE FINE LADIES ARE GONE NOW

Al's Art Gallery

AND MAKE MYSELF A PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH

 CRUISING ALONG STIRLING'S LINE THIS MORNING WHERE PHEEBS AND I USUALLY WALK ON NICE MORNINGS AND WHERE I COME TO SIT UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

On this clear and sunny but cold windy morning, Pheebs and I made it out for a couple country blocks.  Roads hadn't thawed out from the overnight freeze so mud wasn't an issue.  Later in the morning, Woodsy and I slipped into Clinton for some gas and a couple of coffees to go along with a few eats at Tim Hortons.  A stop at Elliots Liquidation and then it was over to Jerry Raders in Zurich to stock up on some things for the freezer.  Almost back to the Park, and being an avid walker, Woodsy had me drop her off to walk the rest of the way. (about three-quarters of a mile)  I was quite happy to simply drive the rest of the way, get into the warm house, and make myself a peanut butter sandwich:))

THERE GOES WOODSY WALKING HER WAY BACK TO THE PARK

Al's Music Box Careless Whisper is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from'Wham's second studio album Make It Big (1984), it was written by Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, with Michael producing the song. Although the song was released as part of Make It Big, the single release is credited to either Wham! featuring George Michael (in the United States and several other countries) or solely to George Michael (in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and some nations in Europe).  A contemporary pop song with R&B and soul influences, it features a prominent saxophone riff composed by Michael and played by Steve Gregory. It became a commercial success, topping record charts in at least ten countries and selling about 6 million copies worldwide—2 million of them in the United States.  The song later achieved popularity on social media, mainly due to the saxophone riff being used in many movies and as a popular internet meme.  With sales of over 11 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best selling songs of all time.  In 1981, Michael (age 18) was working as a DJ at the Bel Air Restaurant in Northwood London near Blushey, Hertfordshire.  Michael explained in his autobiography, Bare, that he conceptualised "Careless Whisper" based on events from his childhood. Michael wrote, "I was on my way to DJ at the Bel Air when I wrote 'Careless Whisper'. I have always written on buses, trains and in cars. It always happens on journeys... With 'Careless Whisper' I remember exactly where it first came to me, where I came up with the sax line... I remember I was handing the money over to the guy on the bus and I got this line, the sax line... I wrote it totally in my head. I worked on it for about three months in my head." Sheet music for "Careless Whisper" sets the key of D minor.  "When I was twelve, thirteen, I used to have to chaperone my sister, who was two years older, to an ice rink at Queensway in London," he explained. "There was a girl there with long blonde hair whose name was Jane. I was a fat boy in glasses and I had a big crush on her—though I didn't stand a chance. My sister used to go and do what she wanted when we got to the skating rink and I would spend the afternoon swooning over this girl Jane."  "A few years later, when I was sixteen, I had my first relationship with a girl called Helen," Michael continued.  It had just started to cool off a bit when I discovered that the blonde girl from Queensway had moved in just around the corner from my school. She had moved in right next to where I used to stand and wait for my next-door neighbour, who used to give me a lift home from school. And one day I saw her walk down the path next to me and I thought – now where did SHE come from? She didn't know it was me. It was a few years later and I looked a lot different. Then we played a school disco with the Executive and she saw me singing and decided she fancied me. By this time she was that much older and a big buxom thing – and eventually, I started seeing her. She invited me in one day when I was waiting for my lift and I was... in heaven.  Michael observed that after he stopped wearing glasses, he began getting invited to parties. "And the girl who didn't even see me when I was twelve invited me in," he noted.  So I went out with her for a couple of months but I didn't stop seeing Helen. I thought I was being smart – I had gone from being a total loser to being a two-timer. And I remember my sisters used to give me a hard time because they found out and they really liked the first girl. The whole idea of "Careless Whisper" was the first girl finding out about the second – which she never did. But I started another relationship with a girl called Alexis without finishing the one with Jane. It all got a bit complicated. Jane found out about her and got rid of me... The whole time I thought I was being cool, being this two-timer, but there really wasn't that much emotion involved. I did feel guilty about the first girl – and I have seen her since – and the idea of the song was about her. "Careless Whisper" was us dancing, because we danced a lot, and the idea was – we are dancing... but she knows... and it's finished.  Andrew Ridgeley came up with the chord sequence on his Fender Telecaster he had received for his 18th birthday. They continued to work together on the music and lyrics both at Michael's house in Radlett, and Shirlie Holliman's aunt's basement flat in Peckham, where Ridgeley was living.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop.  The surgeon was there, waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike.  The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?"  The surgeon a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take the valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?"  The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic, "Try doing it with the engine running."

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A fellow nurse at my hospital received a call from an anxious patient.  "I'm diabetic and I'm afraid I've had too much sugar today." the caller said.  "Are you light-headed?" my colleague asked.  "No," the caller answered, "I'm a brunette."

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- A genie granted me one wish, so I said, "I just want to be happy."  Now I'm living in a cottage with 6 dwarves and working in a mine.

- My childhood crush and I are finally getting married this year!  Me in August, and her in November.

- Why are orphans so bad at poker?
They don’t know what a full house is.

- This is America. It is my God given right to be loudly opinionated about something I am completely ignorant of.

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Little Johnny's new baby brother was screaming up a storm.  Johnny asked his mom, Where did he come from?  He came from heaven, Johnny.  I can see why they threw him out!

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

DRIVING AUNT JEAN BACK TO THE RANCH FROM THE TUCSON ARIZONA AIRPORT WITH KELLY AND THE LUGGAGE STUFFED INTO THE BACK OF OUR LITTLE JEEP WRANGLER

THIS WAS THE COLD MORNING IN AJO ARIZONA WHEN WE MET THE LEGENDARY RV BLOGGER GUY,  TIOGA GEORGE

Al's Art Gallery