What Would Jimmy Do?

I thought today would be a good time to site yet another example that our grandkids are probably the smartest kids in the world — I think they take after me….

A few days ago we were at Dave and Chassie’s house and I was playing with Locke. I just watched as he put together a wooden train track all by himself. (The track had straight and curved pieces and he was able to put it together with lots of curves and it all hooked together in one big loop.)

After he pushed the train around it a few times, he wanted to build an overpass (actually, I guess it was an underpass for the train to go through. I helped him a little bit and we made one out of legos. He liked that a lot and wanted another one — again, we made another out of legos. Of course that wasn’t enough, so instead of asking for another, he said, “let’s make a third one.” Now, I’m not easily impressed, but the fact that a 3-year old knew that adding one more to the two we’d already made, was referred to as the third — not “three” or “another one,” but third… I thought was pretty cool.

I told myself that this blog wouldn’t turn into a granddad “brag book” but I’m old — you guys should indulge me occasionally. I promise I won’t do this often, but sometimes I just feel the need to make everyone marvel….
— 30 —

Well, here we are again — the year is nearing the end and a new year is in sight. And of course you know what’s on my mind — new year resolutions. (Actually, that’s not what’s on my mind, but every year I seem to, for some reason, think I should make some.) Probably in the next few days, I’ll make some resolutions because that seems to be what I always do.
It’s become a fairly common practice that before I make my new resolutions, I look back and see how I did with my old ones — so here’s how I fared in 2017….

• I resolve to not send a text to someone sitting in the same room… or even in the same house. I have to admit that I’ve actually done that — I realize its harder and harder to communicate with people these days, but no more texting for me if they’re within a quarter of a mile.
I almost got through the year without breaking this one, but I have to confess… I violated the same house and quarter mile rule.

• I will take a selfie this year. I may be the only person younger than 95 that has never taken a selfie. Didn’t know how until recently when I found out that my phone had a camera in the front so I didn’t have to bend my neck around to the back… so stand by — I might include the results in the blog.
Failed — I can’t say I expended a lot of effort trying to get this one accomplished, but with only a few days left in the year, I still haven’t taken a selfie.

• I will not save my fortune cookie messages in my wallet. I’m not sure why I’ve done this in the past, but I usually find them months later… maybe I think the message is so meaningful that its going to guide me through some trouble or something… but no more — if I think it’s that important, I’ll take a picture of it on my phone.
Nailed this one! I have not saved one fortune cookie message in my wallet!!

• I will not come up with any new cool social media acronyms. First of all I don’t like social media acronyms like lol or omg or… whatever — no abbreviations for me — I know how to spell (with the help of spell checkers.)
Once again, I’m doing really good with this one — haven’t created any new acronyms, although I do have to admit I did use an emoji.

I resolve to be accepting. Things are changing… marijuana is becoming legal, gay marriage is legal — people are gay, people smoke pot… I’m not and I don’t but I won’t get in the way of anyone’s lifestyle and I won’t judge. I will accept people, and things, for what they are — guess what, I can’t change them anyway.
I did pretty good here too… I don’t think I’m quite so quick to judge, and for sure when I do, I’m better able to keep quite about it.

I will not buy bright colored sneakers or tennis shoes or golf shoes — or those with some psychedelic pattern. Sneakers should be white, or black, or maybe gray….
I get an excellent on this one — I actually got two new pairs of sneakers this year — one pair is white and the other is black.

I resolve, every day, to (try) to be better than I was yesterday…. and today.
I think I get full credit for this one — I really did try.

Overall, I think I did better than usual in keeping my resolutions for 2017. So I’ll probably come up with some more for 2018, but as I’ve mentioned before, resolutions are only goals… we should all concentrate on values. But — since it’s a tradition, I’ll probably come up with another list of resolutions for next year, so you can check back here for my resolutions — 2018 edition.
Happy 2018 to everyone.
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I’ve been hearing a lot lately about something called “bitcoin.” I’m almost embarrassed to acknowledge that I really don’t understand bitcoins. A few years ago, I tried to keep up with most technical topics. Part of the reason, was because it was almost necessary for my job, but technology has always been of interest to me. It still is, but I guess not enough for me to make the effort to keep up with it. Technological advances are spewing up at an alarming pace and I’m slowing down at almost the same alarming pace.

Anyhow, my extensive research uncovered the fact that in 2009 some guy (person) created a new currency called Bitcoin. I don’t think anyone really knows who the person is because he/she used an alias — Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoins can supposedly be used to book hotels on sites like Expedia and shop at online sites like Overstock. All transactions are made directly between the buyer and seller — no banks, or credit card companies are involved.
People (or businesses) can send bitcoins to each other using mobile apps on their phones or via their computers. I think this is kind of like sending cash digitally. Bitcoins are stored in a digital wallet — that wallet can be on your phone/computer or in the “cloud.”

I’m not sure how this works, but apparently each bitcoin transaction is recorded in a public log — only using a “wallet ID.” Names of buyers and sellers are never revealed. Maybe I’m missing something here, but this seems like a haven for terrorists, drug dealers or other unscrupulous activities.

A lot remains unclear to me, but the one that thing that is most unclear is… how do you get bitcoins? It seems that people compete to “mine” bitcoins using computers to solve complex math puzzles — that’s how they are created. Marketplaces called “bitcoin exchanges” allow people to buy or sell bitcoins using “regular” currency.

After all my extensive research, I still don’t “get” the bitcoin phenomenon. But according to the news the past few weeks, it seems that a lot of people believe they can get rich by trading it — the price of bitcoin has skyrocketed — and — plummeted in the last week or so.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but I kind of like my credit cards… and I can even still deal with cash.
— 30 —

It goes without saying that things were different when I was growing up — with Christmas almost here, I was thinking about toys. When I was young, I had a lot of toys, but not compared to what the average kid has today. There were a number of reasons, but if you went to a toy store (I never remember being In a toy (only) store until I was an adult — toys were sold in other stores… some of the bigger ones had separate “toy” departments) there wasn’t the infinite variety of toys available today. There were dolls for girls and a few trucks/cars for boys, although none of them looked “real” the way they do today. I also remember Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and a few other building sets. After the war, Erector Sets became available, because all the metal wasn’t being used for the war effort. And of course, there were games — not anywhere near the number available today and none were “electronic” — most were played on a board of some kind or with cards. We also often built our own toys, something that doesn’t happen much today. I remember making little “tractors” out of empty thread spools and “rubber” guns, that shot strips of rubber cut from old tire inner tubes…we made these “guns” out of wood that usually came from the grocery store when they threw out the wooden boxes that apples and oranges came in.

As far as “bigger” toys went, there were no skateboards or rollerblades, or battery powered vehicles. If you were lucky, you probably had a bike, maybe a scooter and (boys especially) maybe had a wagon — which brings me to the real topic for today. I don’t remember too much from my very early years, but I remember that when I was about 2 or 3 years old (I’m guessing at the age based on a couple of old pictures I’ve seen) my granddad made me a wagon. I think I remember him giving it to me and I remember playing with it. My granddad was a carpenter, not a “woodworker.” I’m sure the wagon wasn’t a “polished” product, but at 2 or 3 I don’t think that made a difference to me.

Well, here it is a lot of years later and I’m the grandad and my grandson just turned 3. I don’t know if modern kids play with wagons or even have wagons anymore… I don’t remember seeing a kid with a wagon for a long time. Most things that kids seem to like today require batteries, have motors, talk, light up, fly or something cool like that. Wagons don’t do much — they just kind of sit there, until you pull them… of course you can put “stuff” in them and haul it around — I think that’s what I did, and I remember it being a lot of fun — today? Maybe not so much.

But all that aside, I decided to build my grandson a wagon. Not because he asked for one, but because I wanted to. A lot of years from now will he remember and want to build his grandson a wagon? Maybe, maybe not… but it doesn’t matter. As long as he loves his grandson and does something with him — that’s what its all about.
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I mentioned the last time I was here that there were a few events that I needed to catch up on…
Both the faithful readers probably noticed that I didn’t include my annual Thanksgiving blog this year. There were a number of reasons for that — none of them good enough to fall into the “excuse” category, but we were in Leesburg dog sitting for Riot and Rebel over Thanksgiving while Kelly, Chris and Emily visited the Giffords in California. We actually spent Thanksgiving day at Dave and Chassie’s new house and celebrated with Dave, Chassie, Locke and part of Chassie’s family. It was really nice to spend the day with family and there was a bit (probably a lot) of excitement anticipating the arrival of the twins….

It’s never too late to be thankful, and I am. Some years I make a list of all the things I’m thankful for, but this year the list would be far too long…. Most of all I’m thankful for all our families, especially Claire, Kelly, Chris, Dave, Chassie, Emily, Locke, Loralai (Rory) and Leighton (Ellie). Don’t feel bad if your name didn’t make the list, I’m still thankful for you.
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to everyone!!
— 30 —

This has been a really busy week and a half around our house… this blog should have been updated much sooner for a number of reasons, but that didn’t happen. I’ll try to cover all the important events over the next couple of entries.

The big news that must be taken care of first is that we now have double the number of grandchildren that we had when I last updated this site. Loralai (Lori Rory) and Leighton (Ellie) were born on the 28th and, as predicted, they are identical twins. We went to see them and I’ll readily admit that all little babies look pretty much the same to me, but if you put these two behind your back and shuffled them up, I couldn’t tell which was which. I’m pretty sure they were born labeled “A” and “B” — at least that’s what they were labeled in the first picture we saw of them shortly after they were born. I think if they were mine, I’d just be sure they never took off their hats (that are labeled A & B) so I could tell them apart, but I’m pretty sure Dave and Chassie will be able to figure out which one is which without the hats — but I think even they are having trouble keeping them straight so far.

Locke visited them last evening and apparently was pretty impressed with “his babies.” He talked about them all the way home, even referring to them by their names (Not A & B.)

Having a baby(s) these days is a lot different than it used to be. I think when Dave and Kelly we’re born, they just checked that all the parts appeared to be there and slapped their hands together to see if they jumped…. then we took them home. Lori and Ellie have been taking tests from the time they were born – I guess they must be pretty smart — they seem to have passed them all. After all the testing, they had to enter a “car seat challenge.” I didn’t (and still don’t) have any idea what this is, but I assumed it was some sort of competition like American Ninja Warrior. But once again, I was wrong… all I know is that it took about an hour and a half and involved car seats. But they both obviously did well — they each got a certificate that says, “I passed the car seat challenge.” I guess that’s a good thing, because I just heard they were going home today. As you can see from the picture below, they seem ready.

Needless to say, we’re just as proud of Lori Rory and Ellie as we are of Locke and Emily. Even though they look pretty much exactly alike, I know they’re completely different individuals and will have their very own likes, dislikes, dreams and achievements. And I’m positive that each one will amaze us in her own unique way that we can’t even imagine!!
— 30 —
CORRECTION: I know it’s hard to believe, but I made a mistake — again. “Lori” will be called Rory. So if you read this posting before, read it again and do it right this time!

We were having a discussion, pretty much about nothing, a few days ago and for some reason that I can’t remember, the term “beatnik” came up. We all agreed that we hadn’t heard the term in a long time… Everyone thought it was popular in the late 50s or maybe early 60s, but it seems to have just faded away. I’m pretty sure it became popular in 1957 — now how could I be so sure about something like that? Well, I’ll tell you — I’m pretty sure that in the 50s there was a “Beat Generation” because I remember my parents and relatives calling this new generation thugs, among some of the kinder terms they used. I’m pretty sure the term beatnik was created by adding the Russian suffix ‘nik’ to the word beat. A lot of terms had the suffix nik added to them about then because the Russians had just launched the first artificial Earth satellite — named Sputnik 1. The US and Russia were in a race; it wasn’t really a satellite race, it was a race to design missiles with enough power to deliver nuclear bombs at each other from long distances. It turns out that Russia actually “won” the race with the launch of the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile (the R-7) in the summer of 1957. Not much later, in the fall (October, I think) Sputnik 1 was launched into orbit. The literal translation of ‘Sputnik” is “something that is traveling with a traveler.” In this case, the traveler is the Earth, traveling through space, and the companion traveling with it is the satellite. Very descriptive and thought provoking. My interest was very much oriented toward space in 1957 and I remember hearing the beep-beep-beep sound of Sputnik shortly after it was launched. The frequency of the beeps was easily received by amateur (ham) radio operators — I’m sure that frequency was chosen for propaganda purposes. Actually, the Soviets planned on launching a much larger satellite, but it had fallen behind schedule due to technical difficulties. So, in order to be “first,” they launched Sputnik 1 — it weighed about 180 pounds and wasn’t much more than a radio transmitter with batteries — it didn’t do anything (except beep.) But it did get people’s (and the government’s) attention — it convinced the government, including President Eisenhower, that we had underestimated the effect a Soviet satellite would have on the public and it created a defensive posture by the government and the public called for a revamp to the nation’s science curriculum. And of course it gave a lot of people reason to stare up in the sky… and wonder.
So I’m not sure how or why the subject of beatnik led me to remember my first interest in satellites… but it did.
— 30 —

Emily was out visiting a few days ago and even though she’s always talked a lot, the older she gets, it seems that she talks more… actually I think that she probably doesn’t talk any more, she just covers a lot more subjects in a shorter period of time.

I asked her how school was going, and she reeled off a list that I couldn’t keep track of, but one thing I did get was that her class was learning a new song — called “Yankee Doodle Dandy” _  and they were going to sing it on Veterinarians Day,

I think that might be today — so to all you veterinarians (or veterans)… have a nice day!!!
— 30 —

I watched a bit of the Country Music Awards (CMA) show on TV the other night. I didn’t even know a lot of the people, but I found it interesting anyway. It occurred to me we use the word country a lot — and in a lot of different places and ways. Last weekend I was watching a football game and a pass was tipped way up in the air and finally almost intercepted. The announcer said, “boy that ball stayed up for a country minute and should have been intercepted.” I had never heard that term, “country minute,” before… I’ve heard of a “New York minute” and have never been sure what that meant exactly. I assume that it refers to the fast pace of New York and maybe even the minutes go by faster, or at least seem like it.

Anyhow, I got to thinking about how often we use the word country in our conversations. I’ve heard country used in politics a lot lately. Politicians talk about uniting the country, or tearing the country apart, or what’s good (or bad) for the country. I’ve heard terms like Mother country, it’s a free country, God’s country, the old country, big country and Southwest Airlines (I think) even has a slogan that says you are now free to move about the country.

Of course, country is where I grew up — if you didn’t live in the city, you lived in the country. I grew up hearing the term country cousin. Again I’m not sure what it meant, but I think it referred to the fact that “country” people tend to be more friendly and treat everyone more like family than just acquaintances.

But we really use the word a lot in our daily lives…we have country stores, country dancing, country codes, some people have a country house, I grew up in Indian country and there’s a type of music called bluegrass country. Some people are members of a country club and in and around Maysville, we had a country doctor. In high school we ran “cross country,” and often listened to country music. Some of the more sophisticated men where I grew up were known as country gentlemen and most of the roads around Maysville were country roads.

There is an old patriotic song from the 1940s titled, “This is My Country.” We should all be grateful that this is our country — it beats any other place…. by a country mile.
— 30 —

I’ve heard it said that it’s not particularly hard to run a mile… just set an easy pace and jog along until you’ve gone a mile. If you want to run a fast, or competitive, mile — that’s a different story.
That kind of sums up the way I’ve felt lately — I think I can still run a mile, but I sure as heck can’t run it as “fast” as I once did. I guess it’s a fact that when you get older, the body slows down and even some of the simplest movements hurt. Your spirit or mentality doesn’t age, but I think the mental part becomes wiser and kind of alters itself to accommodate the body.
By now I’ve learned that some battles aren’t worth my energy and I’ve resolved that there’s no need for pushing so hard it hurts.

Lately, for me, it seems to be like running that mile — it’s all about the pace. The word pace comes from the Latin “passus” that means a step, or literally “the stretching out of the feet.” And my pace is becoming more like the turtle than the hare.
Gandhi once said, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” I agree with that and I think the older we grow, the more we should try to solve our problems by wisdom rather than muscle
— 30 —