Debates-Bah Humbug

Today's Link
The Divine Democrat

Saying for the Day
We'd all like to vote for the best man, but he's never a candidate. ~Frank McKinney

Picture of the day
(from the archives-My three kids with rug I made for Grandma)

Debates-Bah Humbug

Well the first debate is over.
When it looked like it might not go on there was hand wringing and crying that the American people deserved to hear both sides in a free and open debate. It was the highest form of patriotism.
Well it was held.
What did it prove?
Absolutely nothing.
The true believers felt their candidate won.
Two different polls had two different winners ( if you cam imagine that).
One national newscaster said he thought it was a tie.
I didn’t watch but I can tell you who lost.
The American people lost.
The illusion that these two represented the only and the best way to govern America was maintained.
Where were the other four Presidential candidates?
Why they weren’t invited, of course.
America doesn’t need to hear their views in a free an open debate.
America doesn’t need to hear them at all.
Like crazy relatives we don’t even talk about them.
There was no outcry in the media
The media represents the same interests as the two parties.
Only Democrats and Republicans count. So only they can debate.
If debates really are the way for truth to come out then we , the American people, lost.
The sad thing is most people don’t even know we lost.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Things are ready for the start of October Fest on Wednesday. The pile of pumpkins by the gazebo has reached gigantic proportions. They are for the big pumpkin throw that kicks off the festivities. This year the entry fee is only a $1.00 since most of the costs are being paid by the profits from the Mary Maxim Movie Day. There are already fifty seven contestants.
Over at the Fly Inn the new drink, the Driblet is selling very well but nobody claims to have had a vision yet because of it. Petrovich is said to be consulting a lawyer to see if there is something he can do about it.
The Methodist ladies plan on selling pasties on Saturday morning. Some of the pasties will be traditional and some will have some new ingredients. They will see how well the new one’s sell.

Wrap Up

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More About Me Monday

Today's Link
Alas My Dear

Saying for the Day
A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs - jolted by every pebble in the road.
~Henry Ward Beecher

Picture of the Day
(Our roses -Taken Saturday)

More About Me

Melli is back. To celebrate I borrowed her Friday fill in for my Monday share the me.
The light black is the original and the dark black my fill in.

1. Finishing the second part of the layout, reading three books, and visiting Pete and Lori are some of the things I'm most looking forward to in October.

2. Sometimes my oxygen is up and sometimes it is down.!!!

3. Everything fails sooner or later and that's why there is a saying, "never say never"!

4. When I'm down, I pray.

5. Reading, working on the layout, or blogging is where you'll find me most often.

6. A rainy day is good for the flowers in the back yard.

7. And as for the week, tonight I’m looking forward to a breathing treatment, tomorrow my plans include working on the train layout , and Wednesday, I want to finish my book.

Now you know a little more about me ( very little more)

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Eino got his first report from his friend in New York . It seems that Bob Koivinen’s great uncle got the piano in an auction. Some of his neighbors said they used to hear him playing it at 6:30 every morning, always the same song. That was until he had the soundproof room constructed and put the piano in it. His other relatives said that he never went in to the room. When asked about the piano he would get a funny look on his face and say “I’m giving that to Bob when I die”. They all thought that was strange because he hated Bob. Bob had told him that he was a self centered bag of wind and after that he never talked to Bob again. Eino’s detective saw the will an Bob was the only one he left a specific item. Everything else was to be sold and the money shared equally among all the relatives except Bob. It was really weird.
Now the detective was going to check with the auction house and try to get more information on the piano.
Tommy UK is looking forward to Saturday and Mary Maxim day. He has to keep the secret just a few more days. At the last meeting of the Tommy Club when the subject of Mary Maxim came up he almost let it slip but he didn’t. He hasn’t even told Tammy. He alone knows what Mrs. Trumble has planned for that day.

Wrap Up

It was a good day. After blogging I got some reading in. But the afternoon was all layout. We have the trolley barn about half finished. Then I visited some links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Yes and No

Today's Link
Thinking Allowed

Saying for the Day

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.Acts 2:42

Picture of the Day
(Our Roses taken yesterday)

It’s Sunday and today I think I am well enough to go to Church.
Last Sunday I was sick and didn’t go and it impacted my week.
Not that I felt guilty. There is no guilt attached to being sick.
No I just missed the infusion of power that comes from being in fellowship with people filled with the Holy Spirit. I missed praising God with them, singing with them, and even having my sins forgiven even as their sins were. I even gain from having coffee with some of them after the service.
Church does so much for me I really hate to miss it.
And today is a special day. Six young people will have a chance to affirm the faith of their Baptism and in the ceremony we can all affirm our faith.
I look forward to it.
I just can’t imagine loving God and skipping worship.
I just can’t.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
It is early Sunday morning in Pigeon Falls and Pastor Joan is going over the notes for her sermon. She tries parts of it out loud to see how they sound. She wishes she had more time.
Later that morning when she has delivered it once she runs it back through her mind looking for areas that need changing to make them clearer before she preaches it again at the second service.
Here is an excerpt from that sermon:
This morning I want to tell you a story. It’s a story of two men. One by community standards is a bad man and the other a very good man. The bad man, we’ll call him Alf has been involved in numerous petty crimes and every time he gets out of jail he does something to get himself thrown back in. As our story begins he is hiding in the attic of a house he was going to rob but the owners came home too early.
The other we’ll call him Zed is a rich powerful man. Most of the people in town work in his factory . He is highly respected and looked up to. As our story opens he is being asked for a donation to help save a little town whose dam needs to be reinforced before the rains come. He agrees to give them $100, 000 , the total amount they need. He says he’ll have a check drawn in the morning.
One man says no to life the other yes.
But the story gores on. The man in the attic finds an old faded letter, only a line or two. It is a letter from a mother to her son telling him he is loved she and his father have forgiven him. God loves him and has always been ready to forgive him. Our thief's heart breaks and he begins to cry. He goes downstairs and tells the surprised owners that he was there to rob them but he changed his mind. They should call the police and turn him in. But they don’t. Instead they make him some coffee and talk with him about his change. He tells of the letter and the man begins to cry. “God has touched you” as he did me. You will never be the same again.
Zed , on the other hand thinks over what he decided to do and sends a check for only $10,000. They had no right to ask him for more. His yes became a no. The project failed to raise enough. The dam broke and people drowned.
One man’s no to life became a yes and the other’s yes became a no. What made the difference?
One got caught up in the grace of God the other in his own selfishness. Grace turns our no to yes. Grace lets us stop living selfishly and live for the Father.
It is grace that separates the two boys in Jesus' story this morning. One remembers the love of the father and decides to change his no to ayes . The other really doesn’t care.
It is when we discover how much God loves us that we are free to say YES to what God wants of us.

Wrap Up

I made it to Church. Betty and I were greeters. They lost our name tags but everybody seemed to know us. The Confirmation service was awesome. The sermon was great. Pastor Steve is beginning to share a bit of his vision for worship with the congregation. It was just a wonderful morning. In the afternoon I updated the website. I wanted to highlight the video of the laying on of hands in the confirmation service but I couldn't get it to work on the web page. I wasted a lot of time playing with html trying to get it to work. Finally I settled for buttons that take you to the videos. Then I did a little reading. Betty and Pennie were upset by the Packer loss. I did some link visiting.
Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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The adventures of Agent 012

Today's Link
Words of a Wolfe

Saying for the Day
Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned. ~Peter Marshall

Picture of the Day

From the Archieves ( My sister Dawn)

It is Saturday and time for Raven's Wordzzle Challenge.

The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

We begin with the next exciting chapter in the ongoing story of Agent 012:
Agent 012 stared at the three lions coming through the door at the far end of the room. He had no shoes with his marvelous equipment and to further exacerbate the problem they had taken his high tech belt.All he had to defend himself was a tomato or to be more exact a box of tomatoes left from when somebody had used the room as a storage area. But agent 012 was nothing if not limber so he began throwing tomatoes at the lions. The lions decided to take the path of least resistance and attack the dead woman in the leotard. At that point agent 012 turned his back on the parade of lions and ran for the door through which they had entered. He found himself in a room filled with old movie posters including one of Earl Flynn as The Vagabond Lover. But 012 had little time to read posters. He needed to get back to the car before the Purple Rose of Cario blew up the cruise ship Lily and destroyed the Maharajah of Bombay and his Sacred Jungle Book.
He really needed to sleep but his special training allowed him to just turn around and go on. He raced out the end door only to find himself facing a large pond on his way to freedom. A large sign said” Droll Pond Beware”. “ What in the world is a droll pond” , he asked himself. “Why should I beware?” I can swim and it looks like I could wade across. So he started into the water. That’s when he saw the crocodile coming toward him.
This really wasn’t his day.

And now for something completely different

Ordinarily the Maharajah of Cork, the only Irish Maharajah, put on his Tarzan like leotard and in order to limber up did hand stands on the Jungle Book in the storage room.. But not today. Yesterday he had slid on the tomato dropped by the vagabond he had treated to lunch. Then trying to appear brave he had run up the path to the house which did nothing but exacerbate the problem. So now he was in such pain that he was afraid he wouldn’t make it to the parade being given in his honor. That’s when he came up with the idea. He would attach two poles to his chair and be carried by four strong men. It would look regal. If the body won’t work then the mind has to.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Its time to look back over the week and share a few of the things that happened in Pigeon Falls that didn’t get reported before.
On Monday the Maki Crocodile got loose. Somehow while everybody was in deep sleep it managed to turn around in the special tub they kept it in and flip itself out. When they brought it back from Florida it was just a little thing but now it’s two feet long. When they got up it was in the living room. Little Timmy said it’s face was covered with droll and his mother corrected him in that it wasn’t droll it was drool. They somehow got it back into the tub but it’s obvious the tub won’t hold it. Mrs. Maki is looking for crocodile recipes on the internet.
On Tuesday Karlo Heikinen made what he thought was a droll remark about one of the Presidential candidates looking like a crocodile. Mrs. Pemberthy told him to hold a view like that he must be sleep deprived and he should just turn around and go home. This upset Karlo and he asked her how she got so special that she could tell him what to do. Just at that point Nancy’s poltergeist decided to pour them another cup of coffee and they both settled down..
On Wednesday Alicia Heikinen, wife of Karlo, got all upset. She ordered a pair of shoes from the Droll Crocodile Shoe Company because of an add she saw on TV. The add said these were special shoes made in Florida and when you wear them people would turn around to look at you. But they turned out to be cheap plastic imitation crocodile shoes. She was so angry she didn’t sleep that night.
When she calmed down Karlo asked her what she expected for $15.00 , real crocodile skin?
On Thursday Tammy was late for school. She looked like she didn’t sleep at all the night before. In truth she hadn’t. She had been up all night playing “Special Droll” the new addictive PC game , not to be confused with Drool ,last week’s addictive game. She just couldn’t quit while her character was being chased by the crocodile and didn’t even have room to turn around. Her mother has decided to not let her use the computer again until Saturday.

Wrap up

My oxygen was up for the third day in a row. I didn't gt much reading done. We went shopping for much of the day. Before we went I visited the links that indicated they had done the wordzzle. We ate at the I Hop. They are always so nice. They get us a table and move the chair away so I can drive my scooter into its place. Then we went to Michael s and I got some molds for making rock castings. Finally we went to Menard's and got what we needed there for the layout. Of course the two women were buying other things. They can't enter a store without spending money.We came hiome and I I did some more visiting . No reading today. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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It's Here- Brisingr

Today's Link
Jenny on the Spot

Saying for the day

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~Author Unknown

Picture for the Day

It's Here- Brisingr

It’s here!
It’s here!
The new Paolini book, . Brisingr is here.
The last of the trilogy.
I have waited for this book.
Now! It is here!
It is a huge book, over 600 pages. Twice the size of most science fiction books.
It is a heavy book.
In it the story of a dragon and her rider will unfold.
In it good will fight evil and it will be clear which is which.
I was afraid he wouldn‘t finish it while I was well enough to enjoy it.
But he did!
It‘s here! I hold it in my hand.
Today I will begin reading it.
If .I don’t visit my links today forgive me. I will be lost in another world. If this is like the other two volumes I won’t be able to put it down.
It is here!
Life is good.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Tommy UK spent part of last evening trying to convince Eino to use his contacts in new York to get information on the piano. Tommy UK can’t do it himself because he is in school and can’t take the time. Besides he doesn’t think his father would pay for a trip to New York. But Eino has friends and even family in New York .
At first Eino resisted. He didn’t think the history would help much. But Tommy UK has as way of wearing people down. Since Eino doesn’t believe in ghosts Tommy Uk suggested that the great uncle might have been some kind of scientist and did something to the piano. Before the evening was over Eino gave in as he always does. So Eino called his cousin Max and arranged for him to hire a private detective to get information on the great uncle and the piano.
Next week is Octoberfest and all over Pigeon Falls arrangements are being made. Pumpkins are being gathered for the traditional opening pumpkin toss. The temporary stage is being set up next to the gazebo. The theater is being cleaned and the projectors checked. The Mary Maxim movies should arrive on Tuesday. Even the Fly Inn is being spruced up. Everything is about ready.
Petrovich is upset. It seems that one of the mixed drinks now being served at the Fly Inn has been named “The Driblet”, three glasses and you have visions of your own. According to Petrovich this dishonors the memory of the great seer who drank because of the visions not to have them. He has threatened to sue the owner of the Fly Inn.

Wrap Up

Well I spent most of the day reading but not as much as I would have liked. Betty decided it was time to go through the three feet of catalogues and throw out those that we would never used. She insisted I be part so I wouldn't complain later. Then she dragged me downstairs to measure for the things we have to buy at Menard';s tomorrow. Then my sister called. But I did get some reading in and the book is as good as I expected it to be. But I did visit a few links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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A last Sad Song

Today's Link
The Flames of Eden


Saying for the Day

Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water. ~Antoine Rivarol

Picture of the Day



A Last Sad Song

So far I have shared with you two of the sad songs my Grandmother used to sing. This is the last of those songs. She used to crank up the old Victrola , put on this record, and sing along. I used to feel so sad.

WILL THE ANGELS LET ME PLAY
(Fred E. Gladdish / W.L. Werden)

In the yard where children
Were playing games one day
A little boy on crutches
Was watching wistfully
It seemed so hard he couldn't play
Like other children do
They said that he would spoil their games
And was a baby too

When I go to heaven momma
Will the angels let me play
Because I'm just a cripple
Will they say I'm in the way

Here the children never want me
I'm a bother they all say
When I go to heaven mommy
Will the angels let me play

Now this little fellows heart was breaking in two
Just because the rest of the kids
Wouldn't let him play

And as he hobbled to his mom on his crutches
With his eyes full of tears
She heard her little cripple boy say
Gosh mommy I'm so awfully tired

And then he bowed his little head
Won't you rock me just a little bit mom
Before I have to go to bed
And gee how I wish daddy would come home
Before I go to sleep
Will you tell him how I waited and waited
For so long mom
For his kiss on my little cheek

And then that night
When all was still and silent
A band of angels came that way
And they took this little fellow up to heaven
Where he'll never never have to say
Mom when I go up to heaven
Won't the angels let me play

Or maybe because I'm just a kid on crutches
They'll say I'm in the way
You know Mom here the rest kids never want me
I'm a bother they all say

So when I go up to heaven mom
Don't you think that maybe
Just maybe
The angels will let me play

When I go to heaven momma
Will the angels let me play

Songs just seemed sadder then.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Last night Tommy UK started trying to gather the history of the piano and the dancing sneakers. The piano was given to the Museum by the Koivenen family. It seemed they inherited it from a great uncle in new York. He specified it was to go to them in his will and even left money to pay to have it transported to Pigeon Falls. They couldn’t understand why because this Great Uncle didn’t even like them. Nobody in the family played piano and it was large for their little living room so they donated it to the museum. The museum board thought it would be a perfect addition to the room in which it now stood. They even hired a piano tuner to tune it up. That’s when they found the sneakers inside the piano. They were going to throw them out when somebody called attention to how old they were. They were an example of sneakers before Adidas so they decided to keep them.
That was all Tommy UK could find out in Pigeon Falls. Further information required either a trip to New York or help from somebody in New York.
Nancy says that with the posting of the latest driblet October Fest has become more important in the minds of people. Not just October Fest but Mary Maxim day. A lot of people have come to the conclusion that the moving pictures on the wall have to do with the Mary Maxim movies. There is all kinds of speculation as to the secret or secrets. In any case every ticket for the event is sold out. That one event is going to pay for all of October Fest.
Over at the Fly Inn Bar and hotel one of the regular patrons suggested the best part of the driblet was the end. “ I need a drink”. Everybody in the bar laughed.

Wrap Up

It was a wonderful day today. My stomach is considerably better but my blood oxygen is the highest its been in over a year. I wish I knew why so I could keep it there. In the morning I read until I finished the book. Tomorrow I start a new one. In the afternoon we went to the basement and continued working on the layout. We ran the new streetcar and the the train. It was fun. Then we started work on the trolley barn. We need to go to Menard's for some supplies. So we tested some of the new animations and they all worked well. It was just a fun day. I visited some of my links. Now I need a breathing treatment (but not as badly as some days).
GBYA

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Buy American

Today's Link
Big White Hat

Saying for the Day

Patriotism is easy to understand in America - it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country. ~Calvin Coolidge

Picture of the day



















Buy American

It is a good thing to buy American, It is patriotic. It keeps American working. It is a really good idea.
Like most good ideas , however, it is not so easy to live with.
American products tend to be expensive.
We pay our workers way more than China or Mexico. So their products cost less.
A lot of Americans don’t have much money so as much as they want to buy American they would have to sacrifice. Sacrifice comes hard.
Then there is the problem of finding something to buy.
Buying from a good old American company may not be buying American.
For example Lionel trains were invented in the United States. The company is still an American company. But the product isn’t. All Lionel electric trains are made in China. In fact you can’t buy an electric train made in this country. That’s just the way it is.
Well how about a Hershey bar. Hershey bars were created in the United States. They are as American as apple pie. But now they are made in Mexico. Now that’s sad.
You can’t even be sure if you buy a Ford. More and more of their cars will now be built in the super automated plant in Brazil.
How then does one buy American?
I’m here to help.
I am looking in every newspaper , watching every TV add. Looking for those American products.
I will leave no stone unturned.
Today I can recommend to you the Van Ness Plastic Company of Clinton, New Jersey.
They make, in the United States, poop bags.
If you’re a responsible dog owner that cleans up after your dog you have to have one of these. It allows you to pick up and seal your doggies poop in a black plastic bag. Well you don’t want to pick it up and put it in your pocket by itself. That’s just too messy. So an American company has stepped in and solved the problem for you.
The really good news is they are available at Pet Store’s everywhere.
Now you can be both a responsible pet owner and be Patriotic.
Can’t beat that.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Petrovich posted driblet 206 this morning. It reads as follows.
In the city of the birds I see things that can not be.
In a building
Many people
Pictures move upon the wall
Secrets are there long kept
There are two
But they are one
But yet they are two
A secret is revealed
She has another
Pictures move on the wall.
I see sadness
A secret told
A secret kept
Pictures move on the wall.
People laugh.
She does not.
I weep for her.
I can take no more.
I need a drink.
Make these pictures go away.
Now they move upon my mind

Wrap Up

Those of you who get up early may have4 noticed that I'm posting later. Sinc I was so sick over the weekend I have been sleeping longer in the morning.I spent most of the day reading. Little by little my strength is coming back. I visited some of my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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End of Elf Tale

Today's Link
A Little Joy for Today

Saying for the Day
We'd all like to vote for the best man, but he's never a candidate. ~Frank McKinney

Picture of the day

End of Elf Tale

It’s Tuesday and we continue the Elf Tale from last Friday.
Political chaos continued. All across the great country politicians continued to lie and go mute. The office didn’t matter. Candidates for Mayor, Governor, Dog Warden, President all lied. All went mute.
Ear, Nose, and Throat doctors were consulted. but they couldn’t find a physical cause. Even Psychiatrists were called in but despite multiple fancy theories they were of no help.
Candidates even tried praying but it didn’t help.
They had lied for so long it never occurred to them that this could be the problem.
There was one place where the lies continued untouched. It was the internet. Of course, the websites of the candidates disappeared. But the blogs and the websites of the true believers continued. They continued to tell and retell the lies the politicians couldn’t. This was possible because they weren’t politicians and in their heart of hearts they believed they were telling the truth. They knew their candidate was good and the other candidate evil. They were just ordinary people, housewives , workers, caring people caught up in the lies and believing them to be true driven to tell and retell them.
Three weeks before the election the PPP candidate figured out what the problem was. He cancelled all public appearances and put out a new commercial. He stood and said to the audience I’m the PPP candidate for President and I care about what happens to this Great Country. That was it. The entire commercial. But it ran because it was the truth. He did care.
The election came and went. Despite all the mute candidates people were elected to all the offices. The PPP candidate became President.
The PPP President elect sat in his office and wondered how he could govern. He would have to give the real reason for picking the people to be appointed to the various positions. That was not good. He would not be able to hide the fact that he though the Majority Party Leader in the Senate, a man of his own party, was an idiot. How would he conduct foreign policy if he had to tell the truth ? How could he govern?
He called for the Senate Majority Leader to come for a chat. He started by saying.” You know I have always thought highly of you”. He did not go mute. He had told a lie and he didn’t go mute. That’s when he understod. He was no longer a politician fighting for a position he was THE PRESIDENT covered by his office. He could govern after all.
All across the Great Country life went on as usual.
It would do so until the next election.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Late yesterday Eino’s friend from the FBI called and said that he couldn’t help . He had been ordered to stop asking questions about secret installations since they had no relevance to the case he was working on.
Over at the museum the haunting or whatever continued. Every morning at 6:30 the piano played, the same old song, and the shoes danced. They tried locking the shoes in a closet but they got out and danced anyway.
Orvile Maki said he would put an end to it. He took the shoes home and in the morning at 5:30 he put them on and went for his morning run. At 6:00 he found himself moving toward t he museum. He couldn’t stop though he tried as hard as he could. When they arrived at the museum the door flew open and in he went. He sat in the piano room at 6:25 and took off the shoes. At 6:30 the piano started playing and the shoes started dancing. He was glad he got them off. He tried to leave but couldn’t get out of the chair. He had to watch and listen until 7:00 when he was free to go.
Tommy UK suggested to Eino that if it really was a ghost or ghosts they needed to get the history of the room, the song, the piano, and the shoes. It might tell them why these ghosts were there.

Wrap Up

I'm still queasy , whatever that means. In the morning I blogged then I read. Then I napped. In the afternoon I watched my soap. Visited all the wpordzzle blogs. Then I read. Now I have visited most of my links. I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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More About Me

Today's Link
Silver Donald on Sunday

Saying for the day-

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. ~Ben Williams

Picture of the day
(From the Archieves)

It is Monday and I usually borrow a meme from Melli to tell you something about me. But Melli is still playing on the beach so again I am going to use Raven’s ten words as a kind of verbal Rorschach test. I will tell you what I think of when I seethe word and then all those of you who have taken Psychology 101 can decide how crazy I really am.

Budget– I have tried and failed to live with one. My procrastination wrecks them.

New– I hate news because most of it is bad. Who died, who got shot, what iceberg just melted, you listen to and watch enough of that your going to end up depressed.

Outer Space– Once I wanted to be an astronaut and fly there in a rocket. Now outer space is anything outside the house and I go there on my electric scooter.

Gargantuan-That’s how big my new train layout is. Which is why it isn’t done.

Brass Band– I love brass bands and parades. They belong together.

Purple Rose of Cairo– For some reason this reminds me of a song I used to know, “ The Yellow Rose of Texas”. Weird isn’t it?

Polar bears– I feel guilty that driving my car is taking away their ice and I’ve never met one.

Insight-Something I really wish I had more of.

Innovations– New stuff to replace old stuff that really didn’t need replacing.

Mute-A polite word for “ shut up” as in “ mute it”.

There you have it. Put it with last week’s and your on your way to a Master’s thesis in Psychology.

Have fun.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Well they found a home for Mrs. Fowler’s cat The Heikenens who live three houses down the road took it in. They have a mouse problem and hope the cat can do something about it. That may have been an easier task than convincing Mrs. Fowler that she needs to go into a nursing home. She is bound and determined to go back to her own home. Her children don’t know what to do. They are sure that she can’t live alone in that big house but they don’t want to force her into a nursing home. She is learning to walk with her new hip and should be out of the hospital in a day or so.
As of this morning Eino hasn’t heard from his friend at the FBI. But he is convinced there has to be a rational, scientific answer to everything that has gone on in Pigeon Falls. He just has to find it.
Tommy UK is still keeping the secret he has with Mrs. Trumble. Though yesterday when he was acolyting with Tammy he got very bored and almost told her. The only thing that stopped him was that just as he was going to Pastor Joan gave them that look that said “ If you kids are talking your in trouble” so he didn’t.

Wrap Up

Well I'm back. I got very sick on Saturday after I blogged. I spent the day and most of Sunday either in bed or in the bathroom. I think I'm on the mend now. It took most of the day to catch up with my website duties for St. Mark's. I posted Sunday's sermon and the pictures Betty took. I posted the Bible study for the week. I sent pictures for Sunday's bulletin to the secretary. I still have the choir number to convert. Then I visited all my links. I wanted to visit all the wordzzle blogs but I am just to worn out. Perhaps tomorrow. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Raven's Wordzzle

Today's Link
Cheaper than Therapy

Saying for the Day
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us. ~Bill Watterson

Picture of the day
(Archives-Pennie week)

It is Saturday and time for Raven's Wordzzle Challenge. The red words are from the ten word list. The green one's from the five.

Slamming the door agent 012 jumped back. He heard the huge horse crash into the door but it held. “Thank God”, he muttered, “ It was old and solid not like those modern innovations that pass as doors. This brought back to his mind the time he went through a door and found himself in a room full of gargantuan polar bears. That door hadn’t held. Just once he would like to go through a door and find a brass band on the other side. Of course now he carried polar bear knock out spray, even though it put him over budget, but it was in his missing shoes. As was his cell phone so he couldn’t call headquarters and get the latest news on the movement of his arch enemy, The Purple Rose of Cario. He was sure she was behind all that had just happened but why hadn’t she killed him? This was one problem that his vaunted insight just was not helping to solve. Without those shoes he couldn’t contact his outer space station and have them warn the Lilly of its impending doom. With no shoes he was deaf, blind, and mute.
That’s when he heard the purring of the big cats, lions to be exact, killer lions. His life flashed before his eyes , just as it had in the convalescent home when they tried to pour mercury down his throat. He thought his disguise and old man was perfect but she had seen through it. His shoes saved him that day. She had foiled so many of his investments of time and energy and over and over left him facing a death penalty. Now it was lions coming to rip him arm from arm.
This really wasn’t his day.

A Good Old Song Revisited

On top of Old Smokey,
Not in deep outer space
I lost my true lover
Where polar bears race.

For Brass bands play music
Though some horns are mute
But a shredded lover
Is not very cute.

Innovations will help you
To handle the news
But nothing could help him
Not medical crews.

With a gargantuan budget
Despite money to burn
The bears they did rip him
Each one in its turn

The Purple Rose of Cario.
sings with insight
Of what happened on Smokey
That terrible night.

On top of old Smokey
I’m going with a gun
Those dang polar bears
Had just better run.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Its time to look back over the week and share a few of the things that happened in Pigeon Falls that didn’t get reported before.
On Tuesday Old Mrs. Fowler fell and broke her hip. They took her to Iron Mountain by railroad ambulance. She had her hip replaced and is doing well but her children say that they think she should go into a convalescent home rather than back to her big house. In going through the big house to get some things for her they heard the cat purring. Now they have to find a new home for the cat . If they can’t and turn it over to the animal shelter it will end up being put to sleep. That’s like an automatic death penalty. Perhaps one of her neighbors will take it. It is a really nice cat.
On Thursday-Irvin Gaylord asked his wife if he could buy a new Mercury outboard for his row boat, now that it had an official name and all. He said that it would be one of the best investments they ever made. He could take her riding on Loon Lake every evening. She turned him down. Grace controls all the money in that family. She told him a Mercury outboard was too expensive and besides she wasn’t even sure that the boat would float.
On Friday– Petrovich announced he was working at translating another driblet that might apply to Pigeon Falls. That did not make people very happy since things were going so well and those driblets usually precede some kind of trouble.
Also on Friday– Eino contacted his friend on the FBI and asked him to try to find out if the government had some kind of secret science base near Pigeon Falls. That would explain the weird creatures and all.

Wrap Up

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An Elf Tale

Today's Link
All a Dither

Saying for the Day

If you cannot answer a man's argument, all it not lost; you can still call him vile names. ~Elbert Hubbard

Picture of the day
(Archives-Pennie week)
Bible Camp Counselor

It’s time for another elf tale. I just know you have been asking yourself, “ Is he ever going to tell us another Elf Tale?” Well your waiting is over. Here as a warm up for Raven’s Saturday Wordzzle Challenge is a new Elf Tale. And it begins as all Elf Tales should:

Once upon a time long ago on a far away earth there lived an honest, loving, kind young man. His parents had taught him to place a high value on truth and to help people whenever he could.
But now that he was old enough to vote he began to learn, by listening to the evening news, that politicians did not share his love for truth. In fact they often lied. It was as disturbing an insight as he had ever had. When the election was over he discovered that none of the innovations they had promised had come to pass, no great new programs to help the poor , no new scholarships for needy students, and no new health program.. The president pointed to the tight budget and gave excuses,. but there seemed to be plenty of money for the military.
For four years he waited for something to happen but nothing did.
During that time he worked at helping as many poor people as he could but the task was gargantuan. And he was miniscule.
Then it was political season again. There were the new candidates promising to do everything he wanted. If only they were telling the truth.
One really horrible day, when he had watched a woman die because the drug she needed was just too expensive for her to get , he sat in his room crying. That’s when the little man in the green suit with the shoes that curled up at the toe appeared. He was, of course, an elf and he was there to give our young man a wish.
Without thinking the young man said, “ I wish that every time a politician tells a lie he or she would be struck dumb and would be mute for a day.
“ As you wish so shall it be” said the elf and vanished.
That afternoon the candidate of the PPP ( Perfect People’s Party) was addressing the Society for Outer Space Exploration when in the middle of his promise to get more money for space research he lost his voice. At about the same time the candidate of the PRC ( Party of Real Change) was promising the wildlife preservation group that if elected he would do everything he could to save the polar bears when he went mute. That was weird enough but suddenly all speaking vanished from their television adds leaving only the music of a brass band on one and the melody of the Purple Rose of Cario on the other. All across the country politicians were losing their voices. Candidates for Congress, for Governor, for Mayor, even for School Board suddenly could not speak. The medical profession was unable to find a cause for what was now being called the politicians disease.
The next day, candidate by candidate, their voices returned. Doctors said it must have been a one day virus. The PPP’s candidates voice came back while he was visiting a convalescent home. His handlers figured it would be a good photo op even if he couldn’t talk. When his voice returned he started to say how hard he had worked to get aid for people in homes like this when he went mute again. At the same time the PRC candidates voice returned. He had an interview scheduled with Belly Waters on the FGA network, she‘s the one that holds that purring cat while she asks questions.. He had agreed to give his views on the death penalty, mercury levels in fish, and falling investments. He got as far as “I am happy” when he was struck mute again.
And so it went for the next week. Politicians would lose their voice get it back the next day only to lose it again, over and over.
The be continued next Week Tuesday.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Eino sat in his office early this morning and tried to pull his life together. His entire world view had been shattered. From the time he was a little boy he had believed in a rational universe where everything could be explained. There was no magic. There were no monsters. There were no ghosts or dragons. Everything could be explained. When he was a kid a magic show came to Pigeon Falls and he spent the week after it left figuring out how each trick was done. There was no magic. He had lived by that philosophy and it had served him well.
But now dragons flew down his main street, invisible beings danced in empty shoes, and poured coffee at Nancy’s. A whale popped in out of the Lake of the Loon’s. He had seen it all with his own eyes. If anybody else had told him he would have been sure they were fooled or hallucinating.
But he had seen all these things himself. He had examined the shoes and the piano. He had looked for strings or wires at Nancy’s. In the end unlike the magic show he had no explanation. And yet he knew in his heart there had to be one. He could either give up what he had always believed or he could work harder to find the explanation. He decided to work harder.
Tommy UK was feeling better. He knew he only had to keep his secret until Mary Maxim day and then all would be revealed. He hadn’t even hinted to Eino or Tammy that he had a secret. He was doing very well and soon it would be over.

Wrap Up

Really rough day. Oxygen was down 8 points below normal and I had stomach cramps. Spent most of the day sitting on the bed watching television because that's where the oxygen concentrator is. Whatever this is it usually lasts two or three days then passes over. Now I am going to try to visit my links. Then I really will need a breathing treatment.
GBYA
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But I Procrastinate

Today's Link
An Accident of Hope

Saying for the Day

If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. ~Olin Miller

Picture of the day
(Archives-Pennie week)

High School

College Graduate School


But I Procrastinate

If you asked me what one of my worse traits was I would say without hesitation “ Procrastination”.
I procrastinate a lot.
For example three weeks ago I was going to write about my procrastination but I put it off until today.
A nice lady offered to send me a book with history of the old Sumoi Synod and I really wanted it. I was going to send her back an e-mail with my address but I still haven’t.
I procrastinate.
Another nice lady offered to clear up one of my pictures and I thought that would be a good thing but I still haven’t sent her a response.
I procrastinate.
If I’m going to vote this November I need to get a Wisconsin Driver’s licensee .I’ve known that since last April but I still haven’t done it.
I procrastinate.
There is a kit that I intend to buy so I can run a G scale train around the flower barrel. I have been intending to order it since I bought the barrel ( half barrel to be exact). But I still haven’t done it.
I procrastinate.
I have a long list of things I have put off. But I’ll tell you about those another time.
I procrastinate.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Poor Eino , his belief in a rational universe is beginning to collapse. He can’t find a rational explanation for a piano that plays itself and shoes that dance with nobody in them. Yesterday, when he went back to his office, that tune kept running through his head.” On Top of Old Smokey”. It had been his Aunt’s favorite song. She sang it at every family gathering that he could remember. She always cried when she sang it. But the ghost couldn’t be his aunt ( if there was a ghost) because she couldn’t play the piano or sing either if you came right down to it. Then he began to wonder if ghosts could develop new talents. It was her favorite song after all.
Today Eino is thinking a little clearer and he has begun to wonder why was Petrovich there art that time in the morning with a telephoto lens on his camera? Could Petrovich have set this all up? Did he know about Eino’s Aunt? Perhaps there was no ghost at all, just Petrovich up to something.
Nancy’s poltergeist is back. It has taken to refilling people’s coffee cups. If their cup is almost empty the coffee pot just floats over and refills it. How weird is that? Even weirder people don’t seem bothered or surprised by it. In Pigeon Falls Nancy’s poltergeist is like an old friend. The only one’s who get flustered are tourists. The look on their faces when it happens is priceless. In the end , though, it has been good for business. The tourist tells his friends or her friends and they have to come and see for themselves. Nancy’s poltergeist has sold a lot of coffee and saffron buns.

Wrap Up

Rough day. My stomach was upset when I got up and remained so for most of the day. Charge card called to tell us somebody charged $130 pair of shoes to us on the internet and they declined the charge. Which I suppose was good news. They then canceled the card and are issuing us a new one.It wasn't even the card I use for internet orders. In the afternoon Betty went to Bible study and I took a nap. My sister called. Then I visited all my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Potrait of Words

Today's Link
Bumbershoot Casserole

Saying for the Day

When somebody tells you nothing is impossible, ask him to dribble a football. ~Author Unknown

Picture of the day
(Archives-Pennie week)
Her Confirmation

Potrait of Words

Came across the challenge called “ Potrait of Words” on Dirt’s blog yesterday.
If you think you’re a writer it’s an opportunity to write.
If like me you know your not a writer but have a blog to fill its an opportunity to fill the blog.
This one is based on pictures instead of a word list. You will find the pictures at : A Word in Edgewise”.
Here is my blog filling contribution:

Agent 012 awoke with a horrible headache to find himself on the bed next to a dead woman. Something had obviously gone wrong with his plan. He had spent nine hours yesterday watching the old mansion with its monastery like halls through the telephoto lens of his camera. He had been sure that everybody had left. There was no movement anywhere.
So he broke in. He was looking for the fake old music sheets that were really secret plans to blow up the cruise ship Lilly. He figured the music room , a good place to find music sheets, was at the end of the long corridor . He had moved as rapidly as possible to the door and then everything went black.
Now he was in bed with a dead woman , his black and white tennis shoes loaded with gadgets were missing, and he had this horrible headache. What else could go wrong?
He staggered from the bed, opened the door to the long hall and there charging at him was the biggest horse he had ever seen
This was not going to be his day.
To be continued on Saturday.

You have to admit it filled some space.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Eino left the house early this morning on his way to the garage. He wanted to get an early start and put some time in on the books before the customers started to come. He left his wife sleeping soundly. They had had a wild night last night and at his age you don’t get many of those.
Before he got to the garage his cell phone rang. It was Petrovich and he wanted him to come to the museum now. It could not wait. The last place Eino wanted to be at that time of the morning was the museum and the last person he wanted to be with was Petrovich but he went.
Petrovich was standing outside looking through the music room window through the telephoto lens of his camera. “ Look!Look!” he said to Eino.
Eino looked and there was the piano complete with the old music sheets and it was playing. The only problem is there was no one there to play it and it wasn’t a player piano.
“Now look down”, Petrovich said.
Eino looked and there was a set of running shoes dancing with nobody in them.
“ The ghosts are back” Petrovich said.
That was when Eino knew that this was not going to be his day.
Is Eino dreaming? Will he now begin to believe in ghosts? Why was Petrovich there at that time in the morning? What song were the ghosts playing? And of course is Tommy UK really the undertaker’s son. There is a fifty fifty chance that one of these questions will be answered tomorrow in News From Pigeon Falls.

Wrap Up

After blogging I spent part of the morning reading. Then I visited some of the blogs that told stories based on the same pictures as my blog was today. The difference is they wrote long stories with fleshed out stories. It made me feel so incompetent. But then I remembered I'm not a writer. I just do this for fun. I'm a story teller. A short story teller. In the afternoon Betty and I went to the basement. We installed the street that the trolley will run on after I figured out how to get electricity to it. Then we tested it with a truck because the trolley hasn't come yet. It worked fine. We also ran the train , just for the fun of it. Then we started putting out the buildings so we can see where we need power for lights etc. It is coming together. But there is much to do. Then I visited all my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Up on My Soapbox

Today's Link

The Mental Pause Chronicles

Saying for the Day

Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country - and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians. ~Charles Krauthammer

Picture of the day
(Archives-Pennie week)

Up On My Soapbox

What I’m about to say in this blog may make some of you angry.
Some of you may never read my blog again.
I feel bad about that.
But I feel a need to say it anyway.

Obama is not the American Messiah . He is a politician. Face up to it.

McCane is not the American Messiah . He is a politician. Face up to it.

Politicians do what they have to do to get elected. They lie. They mislead. They make promises they know they can’t keep. That’s what politicians do.

Obama is not the devil. He is not evil. He is a politician. Face up to it.

McCane is not the devil. He is not evil. He is a politician. Face up to it.

Politicians do what they have to do to get elected. They lie. They mislead. They make promises they know they can’t keep. That’s what politicians do.

Whichever one gets elected has to face a congress full of politicians. Politicians who have sought to get elected by convincing us the other party’s candidates are evil in the flesh.

We have been taught that the Republican party is a people hating, business loving, bunch of hypocrites.
We have been taught that the Democratic party is made up of raving liberals who will tax and spend and destroy the America we love.

We have been taught the election is a contest between good and evil.

Because of that whoever wins will have a hard time uniting us.
He will face a country half of which believes he is the devil and the other half expects him to wave a magic wand and make everything right.
In addition he faces a congress made up of people who see their primary job not as your welfare but as getting reelected . They are politicians.

Some how you and I need to decide that whoever is elected we will support.
We will expect him to do his best but expect no miracles.
We will pray for him and speak well of him.
We will unite behind him.
The time for politics will be over.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Irvin Gaylord who is known for his sense of humor decided to tackle the latest rumor head on. He went and brought his old row boat, the one he has had for years, to Jack down at the Marina, and had him paint the word Rumor in great big letters on the back . He then towed it downtown Pigeon Falls
And parked it in front of Joan’s Beauty Parlor. Joan’s face was so red. While it sat there Irvin went and had coffee at Nancy’s. “ Sometimes”, he told Nancy, “Life can be so good.”
The October Fest Committee has decided to hold a day of Mary Maxim movies in the old theater . It will be called Mary Maxim Day and be held on the Saturday of the week of October Fest. They hope to take advantage of the rumors that Mrs. Trumble is Mary Maxim. People can see the movies and judge for themselves the head of the Committee said. Tickets will run $5.00 apiece and the money raised will go to help pay for the rest of the October Fest celebration.
They asked Mrs. Trumble what she thought of the idea. She laughed and said “ It sounds like a great idea to me. I’m getting tired of all the rumors”.
She called Tommy UK and asked him to stop for tea. She then laid out for him her plan for Mary Maxim Day. She asked him to help her and he readily agreed.

Wrap Up

Betty went to Bible Study this morning. After blogging I tried to use a new program that contains a data base of Finnish births and marriages but it wouldn't load under Vista. So I went to the old computer and it loaded fine. But then I couldn't find my relatives. None of the names or dates matched. In the end I wasted a morning. In the afternoon we went to the basement . We did some more work on wiring the layout. We then covered the part where the village will be with Styrofoam which we had to cut to fit. After that we opened the city streets box . It contained the special street the trolley will run on. We couldn't figure out how to wire it. So we quit for the day and I sent an e-mail to Lionel asking for help. Then I visited all my links.Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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A Look Inside my Head

Today's Link
Kookaburra's Place

Saying for the Day

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. ~Ben Williams

Picture of the day
(Archives-Pennie week-click on picture for larger picture)

A Look Inside my Head

Usually on Monday I steal a meme, that is I borrow a meme, from Melli. But she is out on a beach somewhere with Ella so I have nothing to borrow from. I decided therefore to use the nine words plus one from Raven’s challenge to tell you something about me. Those of you who have taken psychology 101 or 202 can think of this as a verbal Rorschach test. I will try to respond to each word in terms of something about me or my life.

spam – When we weren’t eating illegal beef during the period of World War II rationing we ate Spam. It was horrible. I hated it. Now I Get spam in my e-mail it is also horrible and I hate it.

Problematic-How fast my lungs will deteriorate is problematic.My lung expert really doesn’t know.

Flower Girl– I was never a flower girl but my high school yearbook for my senior year lists me as a “Hoop Girl”. I had a hard time forgiving the kid that caused that listing to happen. In addition my youngest sister was the flower girl at our wedding.

Splurge– At a train show I felt the need to splurge and bought an expensive G scale Lionel train. I could never bring myself to run it. I didn’t want to hurt it. It was my Lionel.

Milk– To be honest I never really liked it.

Orphange– The last orphanage in Upper Michigan closed when I was little and Michigan went to a foster care system. My mother took in foster babies. Sometimes four at a time. Since they left my sister and I with the kids when they went to town I was ready to be a father when I got married.

Lyrics-There are lyrics of Bible Camp songs that I still remember. I used to sing them in the car when we went on trips. My kids were not impressed.

Politics-All I can say is politics upset me.

Ice Cream Cone– One of my best memories from my youth is riding my bike from my grandmother’s down to the Dairy Queen. You got a big cone for a dime in those days.

Cactus-I tried to raise some cactus I bought at WalMart but they all died.

There you have it. Enough material for a small paper on my mental health or lack of it.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal. The people of Pigeon Falls are beginning to feel pretty good. For well over a month things have been going pretty much the way they wood in any small tow. Well that is if you ignore the whale and the dragons and must people have learned to do just that. They simply accept them as part of everyday life.
But there have been no new stone people, strange creatures, men in black or things like that. Not a single building has vanished and all the trees are just trees and aren’t moving to surround the town. There has been no communal dream in which everybody dreams the same thing and no soldiers marching down main street. There hasn’t even been a write up in a tabloid in the last two weeks. No! Life is back to normal.
So Pigeon Falls people are back to doing what people do in normal little towns. They are looking to see who is doing what and talking about it.
Nancy has pretty well squelched the rumor about Russel McGregor. She did it with the truth. But the ladies at the beauty parlor have moved on to other rumors. The latest one being that Irvin Gaylord bought a new fishing boat! A 42 footer. This is a weird rumor because there just aren’t any local lakes to use a boat that big on. He would have to go to Marquette. But with gas at $4.50 a gallon Grace would never allow it. You know how frugal Grace is. Come to think of it she wouldn’t let him purchase the boat in the first place. She controls the money in that house. How do these rumors get started? Next they’ll be saying that Irvin and Grace are headed for a divorce because she wouldn’t let him have the boat. As far as as Nancy knows he doesn’t even fish.

Wrap Up

After I finished blogging this morning I went to Oshkosh with Betty. She needed a followup mammogram. I spent the morning reading in the waiting room. She was fine. In the afternoon I added this week's Bible study to the St. Mark's website. Went to add the sermon but had some problems converting it to make it web ready. Then I visited all my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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