YEAH, It's The END

     I really need a picture here but can't find one, Yet.

      I came down stairs this morning to write a final Post and too close this BLOG down and send it to Print. Just when I think there is nothing more for me to write about, "wham-o" the universe begins to down load and here I am. My brain has been turning and churning, and what pushed it. Jason Aldean and "Small Town". I really don't know how to start this and really don't know how it will end. Will I gain friends or lose friends. I do know one thing forsure, it's time for me to stop being a sheep. I've always let people speak there mind and express their opinons while I just sat there and listened. My opinon is just as valid as theres. Maybe more. Enough of this philisofical crap, lets get down to why I'm setting here.

   My grandchildren are truly my hope for the future. Their smart (just book and teacher smart right now, real smarts comes with time and experence), good lookng, Kind, well manered, polite, and just a joy to talk to. 

A little time has passed since I wrote the above and it is now March 31st 2024

   Where to start. First of all the dialog above was written on July 26, 2023, today is Easter Sunday Mar. 31st 2024. For sure this is the last entry into the BLOG. Writing this blog was really kind of fun. But for sure the Starship is gone and I have settled into a different life. Scenery and people all stay the same now, when in the past it could all change in a day or two. In the next few days I will have circled the sun 77 times. The 13 years on the road in the Starship was truly amazing, the sights, the people, the experiences, what a ride that was. So, was it expensive? Yes. Any vacation or life style change is expensive, but what isn't these days.

   So as you know we have setteled in Sandy Utah. Salt lake city and Sandy are like San Diego and La Mesa, just one big city with a bunch of little towns connected. I'm sure everyone is wondering how the transition was.  Well, the largest change I have had to deal with is Climate Change. I have normally lived in a pretty level climate like San Diego, and then came the Starship where we chased the warm weather. Now, we have 4 seasons. Spring, which we are now in is tough, cold, cool, rain, snow, sleet, warm, and back to snow, wind, rain, so as you can see this climate thing is for real. Ok, so experienceing 4 seasons has been big, Then we have moving from the starship to a stick built house with a yard. Haven't had a yard to take care of in a long time, but I'm learning. The transmission has gone really smothly and really all is well. I get to see my grandchildren a lot and my oldest son and his wife also,
wish I could see my youngest and his wife more, I do miss them.

   Well for sure this is the last entry to the Blog, it has been fun. So for the old Captain and his lovely gypsy, Happy trails, See Ya.

THE END

          

This just may be the End

  

          It has been a while since I last posted to this blog and it may be my last. I just got through writing an entry to this blog and for some reason poof it's gone, where did it go? I pushed no buttons it just went poof. So let me try again.

         Yes, this may be my last entry to the blog. As you all know the Starship has been sold and we have started a new life. The new home site is in Sandy Utah. There are a few changes to this new life, like, 4 seasons. Who knew, 4 seasons. There is warm, cool, cold, cool. The warm season is the one we have been chasing for the last few years. I kinda like that warm season. On the other hand there are some good points about living here, Carston and Miss Lorali and of course their parents. Jason and Terra live in Phoenix and we get to see them occasonally. Do miss them though. Well, thats it, the blog has been great fun, thanks for listening. The Captain and his Gypsy.

warning --- warning --- warning---

The following is for my grandkids to read in the future just to know what their grampa was thinking  and what he was concerned about. The world, not just the United States but the whole world is in deep trouble. For the last 2 years we have been in a socalled Pandemic over COVID-19 was it serious, yes, did people die, yes. On the other hand I'm not convince that the government was turly honest with us about it. Political?, at least some, I think, who knows, we're suppose to be a free country with an open and transparent government. I'm not sure of any of that either. I don't like to think that I am a conspiraty type person, but I have a lot of questions as to what is going on.

Then there is the Ukraine war. I have so many thought on this that there is no way I could write down all that is on my mind. There is one thing I will say governments, not just the U.S. government but the whole world governments. As of right now, I have no respect for governments. The people of these countries are people just wanting to help each other inspite of governments. I wish I could really express my feelings, but its just to frusterating, Watching the news is just heart breaking. The thing that bothers be the most is to see the government of Russia threating to use nucular weapons if anyone interfears with his conquest of Ukraine. No one wants war, especially a nucular war, no one wins with that. However, if the threat of nucular war will stop everone from stopping a tyrant then the tyrant has the ace card he can play at any time. In this situation nucular war is comming for sure, at some point you must stand up. I am concerened, and I don't know if concerened is a strong enough word, but it's all I have. Who knows about tomorrow? I know the comment is I know its bad for those in Ukraine but that could never happen to us. Thats exactly what those in Ukraine thought, especially the young. I've got to quite, this is to depressing. See ya, Grandpa.

          

 To conform or Not to conform

         So, to conform or not to conform, that is the question. I am not writing this entry for anyone but myself and my grand children. 

         Almost every morning I take a walk down to the coffee shop to get my day started. The walk takes me about 1/2 an hour. This small amount of times gives me some alone time and a chance to just ponder and ask questions. Lately as we all know the conversations has been about the impeachment of a former president and, the vaccination for the Covid virus. I'm going to leave the discussion of the impeachment for a later time, today, we will consider taking the vaccination or not to take the vaccination. So, the pandemic is upon us and everyone is running scared. The Mask is suppose to protect us or so they say and I have some real questions about that too. Everyone is anxious to get this shot, but give this some thought. This vaccination was developed in record time and I'm sure some FDA standards were more than likely waived to achieve this. Normally the process takes much much more time. Remember, taking this vaccine does not ensure you against getting the virus but it does help. The thing I worry about the most is side effects. Not nearly enough time has been taken to explore the possible side effects. Some side effects may be immediate and some may be down the road. We have no idea or assurance of what lies ahead. Remember the FDA has procedures to help with this and they are not always right. If getting the vaccine helps you feel better, like you are doing your part to solve the immediate problem go ahead, but remember to consider tomorrow. 

       We the people need to be more aware of what is not said than what is said. Don't be a surface thinker where you don't consider deeper issues. Be careful to whom you trust and believe without asking questions.

       Ok, it's time to take my morning nap. See Ya , the Captain.

 RED and BLUE

A nation divided in every way

     I have been around a long time, seen a lot of things, changed my mind on a lot of things. A few of my buddies and I used to sit around with a beer and cigar and talk about how to solve the problems of the world, and now, we still sit around but now its just to identify the problems of the world. Todays problems are not yesterdays problems. I'm not sure if todays problems can be solved, at least not yet. Our country is more divided now then I've ever seen, the divisions are so deep and so hardened that I really don't know where we go from here. When I was growing up divisions were over simple stuff, like 'Fords and Chevys, foreign verses domestic, who's sporting team was the best, best colleges to attend, and Catholic versus Protestant. Now, it's gun rights and the 2nd amendment, the so called women's rights (which is really about abortion), conservatives versus liberals and now a new addition, Socialism. Black lives matter, Antifa, peaceful demonstrations as laid out by the constitution, and then there's the Constitution it's self, is it a living document or a loosely constructed document,  Emigration policy, and the list goes on and on. So, why are we so divided?  Well I guess there are many reasons, Take the News for instance, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley use to give the news straight up, no leaning right or left you got to make the call. Today all the news is slanted left or right and you can believe what ever you want. Miss information or incomplete information has let to the term "fake news", the internet and social media, everybody's right and everybody's got an opinion. Then there is terms we all toss around with out knowing the real definition, such as "racist and a bigot", take a little time and read the definitions for those 2 words. How about " Narcists " I heard that term used just the other day describing  some one like it was bad and unusual. Read the definition, the world is full of Narcists and it's not unusual. People talk all the time about subjects and conditions that they know very little or nothing about. Take the term Democracy, so many people thank we have a Democracy in our country, we don't, we have a Constitutional Republic. Look it up folks, there's a big difference. Hey, I need to put this down and get off my soapbox, I could go on and on, wait there's one more thing I'm going to get off my chest before I hit send. Changing my mind. As many of you know or have figured out I am a bright red conservative,  I use to be a brilliant blue liberal, we use to call it Republican or Democrat. white collar or blue collar, management or labor. I was a Democrat. So much of a Democrat that I was a shop Stewart for the IAM, International Association of Machinist. I was very much a union man. The IAM was dedicated to the welfare and future of Machinist. Then things began to change, now the IAM wanted to represent additional groups and pretty soon machinist was a minor part of the union. Did they now represent me as a machinist, not so much. I quit the union because the union didn't represent the machinist much anymore. Same with the Democratic Party, they use to represent me as a blue collar worker. The party left me, more than I left them. The democratic party wanted to represent any body that would vote for them, and I do mean everbody. There values and goals were changing. All of a sudden I realized that the only reason I was a registered Democrat was my family was all democrats and it was a tradition. I have a lot of friends and family that are still registered democrats even though their party doesn't represent their values anymore, Tradition

Well, that's enough for right now, I'm starting to get frustrated. Peace out. 

Wait, one more thing. I hear the Democratic Party is saying it is now time for all of America to unite and pull together now.  The time to unite and pull together was a few years ago.

See Ya,   How about this, 2 blog entries in a row. I'm on a roll now, watch out.

IN THE YEAR 2020

And Man is Still Alive

     Just what can you say about this year?   A highly contested political election, A world wide pandemic Virus, a milestone birthday (73), the selling of the Star Ship (ESCAPE) and the selection of a permanent land base in Sandy, Utah. Throw all of this into a period of 1 year and that my friend is the year 2020.

     My hope is for the year 2021, and my fear is the continuation of 2020.  So much has happened this past year, and I could spend a blog entry on each. So lets start with the easy ones, not that it wasn't tough, but it's the least of the group. The selling of the Star Ship Escape. The Gypsy and I lived in the Star Ship for 13 years, and, they were good years. The Star Ship was a 36 foot Beaver Montrey 2001. The coach provided us with all we need and even more. Travel, friends, new sights, and no yard work. But the time for all that good has come to an end.  Got to admit, when the Star Ship pulled away a lot of memories came to the the surface, and the good, really out weighed the bad. A lot of people wondered just how we did it, well it wasn't very hard. I would recommend  it for anyone. This was a period of life I won't forget.

     Now that the Starship is gone, where do I go? Should not even have to answer that question, I have many advisors on where to go. So we ended up in Utah, who could have guessed that. I now have a nice house with plenty of room and to comfort the old man, I was allowed to build a Man Cave, which, gets used a lot. The man cave displays a variety of things that meant something to me in life. The house sits on way too much property which equates to responsibility. So that means lawn, flowers, and garden. Now here we go, remember, I am a southern ca. boy who knows sand and sun. What pray tell is this white stuff falling out of the sky, at first I thought ash from a fire maybe, but no, It is snow. Not only does if fall from the sky, you have to pick it up. If you don't, it will turn into ICE, and that is not a good thing.

     Now for the Pandemic. Got a lot of questions about this COVID-19 Virus. The only real information is coming from our Politicians, and Scientist. You can't believe a politician on anything and I don't care if he's red or blue. And then there is the so called Scientist, their constantly changing there minds and one scientist doesn't believe the other. Science is suppose to be cut and dry. Don't get me wrong the Gypsy and I wear our mask when we are out and I think it doesn't do much good other than make you feel good. I also think a lot of this Covid-19 is Political and economical. The government, federal, state, and local, and here is my option, is trying to tear down a once thriving economy. Why, I don't know. 

     Now here is a big one, 73. I turned 73 this year of 2020, and it hasn't been good. A friend sent me a list of all that have passed that I worked with, not a good thing to read, but, reality is reality. I have much more aches and pains this year than at 72, and I think more at 73. Look this up, November 13 2015 Blog entry "Rounding turn 4", this was one of my more insightful blogs about growing older. So, with all these pains I have decided to start going to the gym and get a personal trainer. I tell her all about these aches and pains and she thinks that's good. Been going there now a few months, and the pain, yes, I sill have them, but now it's in different places, and yeh I pay for this. Another thing about 73, I'm starting to get rid of things instead of collecting things. Seen a cartoon the other day showing an old man and his son standing in front of a packed garage, with a caption saying, "just think son, some day this will all be yours." I'm having a hard time getting rid of a lot of this stuff, and I can't imagine what it would be like for them.

     The last thing to deal with is the Politlics of 2020. What a mess, friend against friend, divided families, and nobody knows the truth, but we all have our opinions. Opinions that you would never say face to face, but on the Internet, well, let it fly. I choose to blog on the politics in the next issue, not today. For today it is 2021.

     So for now, See Ya

                                                       The Captain

      

     

I'm back and I have stores

And Life Moves On

  

       How do I start this conversation  I want to be honest, and yet also sensitive.  The Gypsy, her brother and I have spent the last few days preparing her moms house to be sold.  I say house, because it's empty,  the lives that use to inhabit this house and made it a home are now gone.  They Gypsy's dad passed away at the end of last year and the place was just to big for her mom to manage.  We're talking a large house with 2.5 acres of land.  So, the only viable option was for her mom to move into a retirement facility.  Got to tell you though, not a bad place to live, you got NO responsibilities except to get out of the way of the cleaning staff.  So, back to the house that at one time was a home.  The Gypsy, her brother and I have gone through the entire house dismantling the details of everyday life.  A drawer full of spices, a cabinet full of glass ware and dinner service for 8.  Papers that were one time thought to be so important, little trinkets to remind of a special time, and clothes that don't fit anymore, but "maybe I will use them again if I lose a little weight".  Shoes for that special occasion, Books, books, and more books, and we haven't even opened the garage yet.  All of the above was her life, now the mans life was in the garage.  Tools, tools, tools and more tools.  chemicals for every gardeners needs, and stuff to repair almost anything.  Then there was just stuff that a man just has to have, and I do mean just stuff.  Now there was a lot of things that the family split up.  Mom and Dad had decided a long time ago where they wanted certain items to go, so that mostly happened.  Furniture and unique things went to each child.  So there, that took care of the big items.  For every big item there was twenty little items, and this is where the dismantling turns to work, the items left were the glue that held the everyday functions of this family together.  This glue was unique to this family and probably wouldn't have worked for another.  We're talking about things such as partial sets of kitchen knives, dish drainers, various mismatched silverware, worn out fly swatters, partial rolls of toilet paper, linens, and the list goes on and on and on.  So, what do you do with these items?  Some things go to the donation centers and the rest, well it all goes in big black bags and is set in the middle of the garage to be hauled away.  This morning I sat outside in the garage surrounded by large black bags and other glue things that were just not usable or valued by anyone else, waiting on the trash man to come and take it all away.  A life style was being dismantled and discarded as useless.  It was rather sad, you see every item I looked at had a purpose, it had value, money was spent to obtain these items and then it was brought home to use.  This family had touched every item in this pile and each item was valued, and now you pay a trash man, to come, clean and haul away all that represented a life in this house.  As sad as this all may sound, there is a bright spot.  This house will now start over and provide the foundation for a new life and a new family, they will now recreate and glue together another family story,  And Life Moves On.