Saturday, February 27, 2010

How NOT to do Key West....(216)

Going to Key West is always fun, but getting there can be a nightmare if
you do like we did and take the boat from either Marco Island or Ft.
Myers. The Marco Island boat kept getting cancelled everyday because of
weather, which for people of intellect would have figured it out that it
maybe is not the thing to do. But for the hard nose,stubborn and just
plain not the smartest bear in the woods, this became a challenge to be
met and conquered….Well we did that alright by driving all the way to Ft.
Myers and taking the bigger boat that was advertized to be able to take
rough water much better so it is hardly ever cancelled. It was four hours
of wave bouncing hell with sweet pea getting a tad sick going down. I
burped a few times because of the mixing I guess happening in the old tum
tum but kept it all down.
Bottom line is I would not recommend this way of getting to key west
anymore, it just was not fun and the trip back was just as rough and just
as long…Probably the best thing would be to drive down maybe stay
overnight or just make a long day out of it and drive back that evening
after sundown. …For us if we ever want to go again would be to take the
motor home to Blue water Key just 40 miles from Key West and stay a few
days there going back and forth each day and avoid the high lodging rates
of that town…Maybe the place is best enjoyed by the young and dum…older
and dum just don’t have that much fun there anymore I guess.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Funny stuff from the internet and wasting away in Margarittaville(215)

Well before you go any further do this...click on the title here which will take you to a very very funny video about an arangatang and a coon hound....it by itself is worth the price of admission for today's blog....ha

We were going to go to Key West today on the boat but we screwed up...the boat was full and we were thinking we did not need to make reservations...boy were we dum and asleep now that I think back on this...one yesterday was cold and rainy, two,  tomorrow is going to be cold and rainy...today was perfect....Hello when would people want to take the boat to Key West....if you answered TODAY, THE DAY OF GOLDEN SUNSHINE, then by golly you get a gold star.... and we get the dunce cap for not being very smart....

But that is the beauty of living here in Florida, we kind of hang loose like they do in Hawaii....yes siree, and we will brave the cooler temps of tomorrow and take the boat to key west then....and by golly we have a reservation too...we ain't pulling stupid two days in a row......Well maybe we are...they just called and said the trip for tomorrow was cancelled because of "incliment weather"...so now we be going thursday instead...
So I guess we will just see...interesting as a lot of folks I would say half of them got on the boat today with luggage intending to spend a night in key west and come back on Wednesday.. so these lucky folk will be stuck there another day...boy Margarettaville is fun.....

Today sweet pea relaxed with a good book and a couple good drinks...you will see the results of that to the right here....she's had a tough winter and needs some relaxing time...she is getting it....

Friday, February 19, 2010

Six toed Cats.... and lots of wild life here in Florida (214)......

Well as you can see by the pictures to the right side here, my camera has been busy of late....S.P. is coming to town tomorrow and that is good, real good...We will be heading down to Key West probably Monday on this boat, the Whale Watcher...I think it takes 2 hours and then by 10:30 we will be taking in the many sites of Key West...Will take her up to Hemmingways' place and check out the six toed cats that own his house there...If you click on the title here it will take you to the link and tell you all about the cats that he let kind of run his home there and when he died he left the place to the cats...yep they own the joint and lay around on the beds and do just about anything they want to do....then the museum that have all the pirate gold they have found on sunken ships in the area..And then there is the Truman White House also that is interesting....lots and lots to see in old Key West and sure we will have fun....

I enjoy a camera club that I am in down here...I need a wild life entry for next weeks contest...so will be on the lookout down there but may enter one of these shots to the right side here if I don't find anything better...I like the blue herron I think the best...but the other goofy bird whatever he is looks cool and of course the cute little coons may get entered just not sure...I have to decide can only enter one picture so maybe will let sweet pea help me decide which one to use....OK its bed time here as I got to get up early clean this place up an then head on up to the airport.....later....

Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Coons and what we gotta do...(213)

It was a great day on the back water south of Marco Island...Did not see these coons today but last week they talked me into throwing them some junk catfish and oh my how they loved fresh fish...we are freinds for life...hopefully mine longer than theirs but ya never know...But today the "honey hole" that is there where the coons are yielded 4 nice sheephead over the 12 inch size limit..Three for me and one for Bud Lampkin and our Captain Ernie Maier caught fish but they were among the many we had to throw back to grow up.....there is no better fishing than the backwater of the Gulf of Mexico which lies west of Florida....We fished, we listened to Limbal on the radio and we injoyed the sunshine...Just being out there is what makes it so good, the catch is always a plus but just being there in that beautiful water and clean air, wow...And we are glad that the guy who chose to end his life in the airplane in Texas only claimed two lives, that could have been so much worse...Will be interesting when the full story comes out on this man and his hatred of the IRS....I suspect that possible the paying of taxes in general was the route of his hatred....we will see...

An insurance add on TV states will this be the great recession or the recession that make our country great?
I like this commercial because it will all depend on us as to which way this sucker goes...But we do have it in our power to make it the recession that will make our country great...But, we have to do it, not the fregin government...they screw things up big time...people have to step up to the plate here and do the job...they screwed up the bail out which should have never happened and they will continue to screw things up especially with the democrats in charge...but we the people must do it from the ground up not from the idiots's down to us...and don't forget about our duty as voters to research in depth the candidates and send the ones to hold down and conserve on money we just don't have to spend...when your upside down you knock off the frills.....

Jobs is the answer to our problems and until we all get a grip on this it is going to continue...But when we spend our dollars we MUST start from here on to make sure that it builds jobs for America and not China or Japan or anywhere else outside the USA....Look at labels people and make sure what you spend your dollars on is made here in this country...it is the only way we will build jobs...and you may be called upon as Americans to spend just a little extra to buy a product made in the USA... I hope you are up to it if you not and you always go for the lowest cost and don't look at labels then my friend you and I may be part of the problem and not the solution.

Another thing we can do is support the tea party movement in this country....We have to stop this spending in congress that is money we don't have...we got to tighten our belts for sure and we need to support reform...for get about party lines we need to do what is good for our nation....

:Lots of work ahead for us it is not going to be easy and quick, we are in for a long effort but we can make this the recession that made America great...let get started.....

Monday, February 15, 2010

Politics getting very interesting...Tis good......Huckabees Book (212)

Boy what a day...Evan Bayh Indiana's junior but good democratic senator announcing he will not run for office...No way is Evan afraid of getting beat in a coming election...And even if he were to get beat, it would not be the reason he is not running...My opionion on this is but one reason, Evan will challenge Obama for the Democratic Presidential nomination....Mark my word he will do it...Why? because he would be twice the President that Obama is...I think he has a chance, I know the country would be better off...Would I vote for him? Well not if Mike Huckabee was on the other ticket for sure...Or Mike Pence...But if McCain was running against Bayh, believe it or not this guy would go for Bayh, yes I would....Obama will come to regret not bending a little and making Bayh his VP candidate...But Bayh would have overshaddowed Obama so he chose instead the not to swift Joe Biden...

And today I hear that McCain is being challenged by some guy called JD....Don't know who he is but he says he is more conservative than McCain....no doubt that sucker turned liberal during the debates for the election against Obama...Still a better choice than Obama but not by much....I say Go JD, kick the liberal out of the Senate and end his career...

But for the ultimate candidates we have got to get Huckabee and Pence 'hooked up' and there we will have it...A President and Vice thinking alike...And thinking alike on good conservative governnment...A friend of mine today told me that Huckabee told her that Pence is his very favorite congressman...so I think this all could happen...God willing and I sure hope so....it could at least start to save our nation...

Today I finished the Huckabee book "A Simple Christmas"...get a copy and read it and then dare tell me that this man is not qualified to be one of our best presidents ever....this man has it together....I love what he stands for and his ethics and ideas on government and his ideals on life in general....His moving into TV and Radio is no accident, he has worked in Radio since he was 14.. He is a communicator much like Mr. Reagan...Go Huck, Go all the way and take Mike Pence with you as your VP.....

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Neat Church/ Randy Kington and good ole Fishin (211)

You know what is neat about this ole blog?  It's neat cause I can write about anything I want to...And today, I will write about something similar to what I wrote about a year ago...my buddy, a well decorated Viet Nam Vet Randy Kington...author of the best war story book on Nam I have ever read "What a Life"....
And I will write about a church that also impresses me, The Celebration Community Beach Church of Naples Florida and I will also finish by writing a little about what else empresses me down here, Fishin.....

Ok, lets get on with it all....Today Randy was invited to give the sermon or "his story which is a sermon" for the, he said 6th year in a row here at this church...And Randy always tells basically the same story but always in a different way, which I guess is why I keep going to hear him...I guess I just want to see how many ways he can tell this story...His story is basically a story about a horrific battle in Nam in which he recieved a severe life changing wound to the spinal cord with a bullet from a very brave Viet Nam soldier's rifle...And how that moment then affected the rest of this man's life....actually it all turns out OK because he met a great women who then became his wife in a VA hospital and the two of them with his darling wife's leading the way turned life's biggest lemon into lemonade.....if you know of anybody who is down and out because of a bad turn of events you should buy Randy's book and give it to them...it is a great beacon of hope.....

As per usual today Randy did a great job and Randy invited me to go to breakfast with them and some of his other friends after the service...Met a guy who actually fought on Iwo Jima at that breakfast today...sat right beside him.... he is 92 and looks like 80....plays golf and tennis, a very nice, very funny gentlemen....he tells me that he also was invited to and attended the dedication of the Marine Museum back in 2006 that my wife and I attended, and he also shares my position that the two of us have contributed enough money to that museum and are now waiting on some other good Marines to pitch in and finish the job....I was glad to hear him say that as I did not want to be the only one feeling that way...but like many good causes once they get your name man they just don't want to let up...I have given good sums about four different times the last of which was in August last year while at the Museum...I know there are lots of good Marines out there who have not even been asked so General Ron Christmas that is who you need to contact, the rest of them...

The Celebration Beach Church needs a plug here also there motto is "go to church, get a tan and change your life......it is a large church and has no building..they meet in city parks like the one today in downtown Naples...Next week there is an art fair there so they move to another park even closer to me, and if she will go I plan to take a guest there, sweet pea is coming down and I want her to experience this church, where we will meet on a beach and there will be hundreds of people there and the money they raise then goes to the poor and underpriviledged of Naples, Haiti or anyplace out that needs help...no building to maintain what a novel idea....

The fishin, my favorite topic while here in Florida, went twice last week with a good friend Ernie Maier who live here in the park also and owns a little pontoon boat...but we found a honey hole, and jerked 9 really nice Sheep head out of that hole in two trips into the backwater...They look like Convicts these Sheep head but that is just the way God made them...with stipes...actually come to think of it convicts, of old wore suits with stipes running horizonal on them...Sheep head God made with Vertical stripes...They are gorgeous fish and they are delicious to eat....I ate both sides of a 16 inch Sheephead last night...he can be seen to the right here posing with me....Its a shame it has to be that way but, I bet if he has been a 16 foot Sheep head and given half a change he would have eatin me instead, if I had fallen out of the boat....

The weather is horrible these days, even in SW Florida it has been of late 15 degrees below normal...Al Gore, the Drum Major of the Global Warming Craze and winner of the NO Bell peice prize for his efforts, could have not been further from the truth....This is a really cold winter and if anything is going on we may be getting colder as we go not warmer....The whole thing is a "joke"....to think that we have had anything to do with it and an even bigger joke is to believe we could do anything about it....Government is oversized, over extended and overdosed on addictive ideas that they can fix anything and everything, even problems that do not exist....

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Reading great book and that horrendous Debt.....(210)

Reading a book titled a Simple Christmas by Mike Huckabee....Today in chapter 3 he writes about an uncle that came a couple times a year to visit and how he would beat him in checkers over and over until one day he was able to beat the uncle and how fulfilling that was...he writes this, "this might be hard to believe for those that are so afraid of hurting a childs self asteem, that they have created a society in which" everyone gets a trophy.....and no one loses, no matter how little they practiced, or how poorly they performed.   And goes on to state, "THIS IS THE RECIEPE FOR CREATING INCOMPETENT CEO'S who, when their companies fail miserable, rush to the government to rescue them, because they are "too big to fail".   It is also creating 'total idiots' in government, who feel they are doing these poor businesses, as well as the rest of us, a favor by bailing out the losers at the expense of the winners so everything will be fair....he goes on, "Call me crazy, but I believe there's something to be said for competition and for rewarding hard work, talent, and intelligence instead of laziness, incompetence and stupitidy.......

This book is a composite of stories about Christmas times in his early life time...I have laughed out loud so many times reading this book so far...but it gives insite into a man who really has it together in my opinion...I have watched him on his Huckabee show several times at 8 pm on Fox on Sat and Sunday evenings...Gosh the guy has so much wisdom and such a heart...Read the book if you get a chance, watch his show...I am thinking what a combo he as President and Mike Pence as VP would be together in 2012 to challenge the present set of "total idiots" we have trying to cram stuff down our throat that we can ill afford or even need..

I see that our national debt now has reached such a monumental status that if we divide all the people in our nation into the debt it would be over $40,000.00 per person....Can you imagine that if you are a family of 6 your share would be a quarter million dollars.  What the hell have our polititicions done to us over the years?

We have got to get a handle on this and soon, we I believe are moving very close to national bankruptcy and no one wants to talk much about it, nor address it...Only a few and we must seek their leadership and heed the warnings....Most nations in Europe are also bankrupt and at some point the dominoes could and someday will fall....Let us be about getting our house in order before it is too late....

 .

Monday, February 8, 2010

Da BREES 'dat' cooled da COLTS....(209)

Probably nothing could be more boring than a snap shot view of last nights Super Bowl,  than one done by a "Fair Weather" fan....But dat is just da way it gonna be here today.....

This may be the first time I ever watched both the commercials and da game totally...and I guess the reason I did is I really did want both teams to win, so I was at peace all through the game dat it would happen and dat probably sometime in da second half, warm in my bed I would as usual maybe "bore out" for lack of a better term and fall off to sleep, finding out in da morning who dat winner was....

When I heard early on in the broadcast dat the Saints had practiced "hard" all week long, I did figure dat was probably it for the Colts, who maybe had taken it a little easy, to save themselves for the game... My thoughts were dat maybe Drew the "little david" here, had carefully selected his rocks and was about to slay da giant being the mighty "Colts"....The colts looked good early on, but I think little david and his troops, did then sense that maybe some real good effort could take dat giant down....

And maybe just Drew on his own would not have pulled it off, but the whole team had their hearts in this game.  Dat kicker, wow he had 9 of the 16 points at one point...but the hard work of all, had gotten them to within range, and his slingshot foot put three long rocks dead on da target....

The second half, well dat 'onside kick' was a game changer for sure, and Peyton Manning had a somewhat worried look from then on...the interception dat went all da way downtown, was I think the nail in da coffin...It was an exciting game and no doubt about it da team that wanted it da most, won dat game.....
They are the Super Bowl champs and I wish both teams could have won, but dat don't happen, so dat is just the way it is....Great night for Purdue University with Len Dawson carrying the trophy onto the field and then Brees carrying it off, both good Boilermakers.....

Well dat's it, this boring commentary is over....have a good one....boilerup!!!!!!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Mike Pence...Maybe Senator, Maybe President and then the Pelican (208)

I have listened to Mike Pence a congressman from Indiana for years now on WIBC an Indianapolis powerful radio station.  When he was interviewed you could just tell this guy had it together and had this nations best interest at heart.  In 9 years in the house he has risen now to the number 3 man in the House of Representatives on the Republican side of the isle.  I hope you will click on the links and listen to his philosopy on serving the nation.  I think he may run for the Senate this fall but not sure I want him too...Evan Bayh is still a popular man in Indiana...He has challanged Obama's policies on many occassions and that just may get him re-elected this fall, we will see..So not so sure I want Pence to challange him and then maybe loose...I would sooner see Pence stay in the House seat and win with a huge majority this fall and be setting in a position of maybe being a strong candidate for President in 2012....He would be a strong President for getting our fiscal house back on a track of less debt and lower spending which would sure make a lot of sence following the run away train of "Everything for Everybody" that we have seen attempted this past year since "the occupant" of the White House was sworn in....It looks as though the run away train may be slowing up as it proceeds up grade now since the people of Massachuttes spoke out...Those great people of that state finally seen the light and by thier votes applied the brake to the democrats careless ways.

So I guess I am proud of this man Mike Pense, proud of his ethics, his convictions and his commitments to stand his ground and just see how far this all takes him...I met another ground stander yesterday with the picture to the right here.  The little fella did not allow the sign to not feed the Pelicans in anyway keep him from giving it his all...When it came my turn to clean fish I stepped up there and he moved in even closer placing the end of his beak against my blue jeans...Worried me a bit but he never bit me but he did stand his ground and I surely would have liked to have given him the remains of the fish I cleaned...But a game warden who had just checked our fish was still in the area and sure would have enforced the sign that was posted.  But for sure this was the bravest Pelican I have ever seen in Florida and the only one with the back bone to stand there and at least let you know, he sure would like some fish....I know why they have the sign though as if the feeding was allowed then there would be 20 Pelicans standing close by or even setting on the fish cleaning table...But like Congressman Pence this Pelican was saying I got a right to be here and someday it may all pay off...Till then he at least meets a lot of good fisherman.....

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Movie "THE BOOK OF ELI......and Drew Brees (207)

Rainy Day today so after my daily chores I saddled up the Silverado and went to the Movies.  About a month ago sweet pea and I seen the previews of The Book of Eli and I remarked, "hey that one looks pretty good".
Well unlike the previews I saw today of a couple new ones coming in March that look like garbage, to me this movie was excellent.  Yep I am giving this movie my full two thumbs up equal you know to 6 stars....

This is a faith based movie, if you got faith you will like it, if you are without faith then you may, or may not like it.  My faith today told me this is a really good movie.  A war pretty much destroyed the earth and most of the people 30 years prior, but some of the lucky ones are still around barely surviving...Denzel Washington does great in the hero's part.  I like it a lot and I think most of you would also...See trailer to the right. Click on it or click on the title of this story either way you will get the trailer to the movie.

Also today comes a video of the New Orleans Saints Quarterback and former Purdue University quarterback, Drew Brees....it is also faith based and very good...
Looking forward to the Superbowl this year, it will be maybe the most interesting Super Bowl I have ever watched or tried to watch.  Not being a red hot fan of most sports or maybe any sports, I count myself as a Fair Weather Fan of sorts...I watch the World Series Final game, The NCAA Basketball Final game and of course I always try and watch the Super Bowl....Never really had a team I would really really like to see win..this year I have two teams I would really really like to see win...Being from Lafayette it would be good to see Brees and the Saints win..Being from Indiana it would be good to see Peyton Manning and the Colts win....Folks guess what I can not loose, I am gonna have a winner...
Click on the video to the right about Brees and watch the video...