HOW FAR ?

                             How many remember those long drives we use to make with our families when we were children . The question we use to drive our parents with " ARE THERE YET? ". Or how about the "I'M NOT TOUCHING YOU " that use to torture Our siblings with . Then there was every twenty minutes with the "I GOTTA GO TO THE BATHROOM " . Last but least is the " IS IT TIME TO EAT YET ? " .

                                  Now that we are adults we are probably  getting same from our children and grandchildren . We are realizing how annoying we were to our parents then . We do do get irritated with it though , but in the back of our minds we can't help but laugh at it . All the time remembering I did that .
                                   Here's another thing that we use to to do to our elders when where very young . " IN THE OLD DAYS DID YOU HAVE __________ ? " . Nothing can be more true now than ever now a days . Kids now a days can not even imagine not having all the technology at their finger tips , which we didn't have . All we had was our imagination as we grew up . Shoot when I was in school hi-tech was a Texas instrument calculator , which in most cases we were not allowed to have in school .
                                   We actually went outside to play with the neighborhood kids and found things to do . Yes at times we did get into trouble at times . This was also a time when every looked out for each other . You also had people actually calling our parents telling where they seen us and what we were doing .
                               Now a days  kids can not get along with out their hi-tech devises . I believe most children are missing out on an important part of growing up . Also this gave us our exercise we needed growing up . The pick baseball ,football ,kick ball ,basketball games . Or how about the games of tag or hide and go seek . We always found a way to entertain our self's .
                             We had so much fun growing up , doing things that seem so simple now .

JUST SOME QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS

• Tell me am I fooling my self ? 
• Are people really reading my blog ?
• Do I really have something to say ,that people are willing to read ?
• Is my idea for a Great American Novel a pipe dream ?
• Do I really have it in me to do this ?
• Is this just another project I get started on and don't follow through on ?
• When will I know and realize that I can complete this project ? 
• These are just some of the many questions I have been asking myself . I started doing searches on Roman history and Culture . I am finding it a interesting read . I have written about many things and have had a lot of people clicking on my blog and few response's . Most were encouraging and positive . The plus ones even gave me some motive to go on . I do know that when I always start on a some thing new in my life I always run into a period of questioning as to is it really worth me trying . Am I wasting my time and money . Is this normal behavior , I have no idea . Right now all I am doing is just venting to get it of my chest . I do find that doing this in some way even no one reads it kinda helps . I am sitting drinking my coffee and listening to the news this early mourning . Its chilly outside as to be expected with this time of year . I am still tempted to open my door to let some air in . Cool crisp air can be refreshing and I find it helps give me some newly found energy ,even helps in clearing my mind giving me a new sense in direction . Am wrong wanting to question myself ? I just need to know that I am not traveling down a road to nowhere . What good is doing something if no good comes of it . I know that the road to success is paved with failure .Its not the the failure that bothers me , its the not following through that gets me . I have started many things and never followed through .This may be the main reason that I am where I at in life . I am facing the fact that I am ultimately responsible for my successes and failures and not following through . Writing this down just makes more concrete . Maybe by seeing it print may give me the motivation to continue . I know my project may take a lot of my time and effort . It also may take a lot of time to see results . 
• When do you know when you have done enough preparation ? I know I have only been working on this a couple of weeks . It will take some time for me to know the subject . You can study a subject a life time ;there will always something knew to learn about it . There always be new coming out about any given subject discovered everyday . So it becomes a constant learning experience . Please excuse my going of in a tangent , this just an exercise in discovering what i know about what needs to be done  . This is just a effort in self realization . A way to figure out do I really have what it takes to complete this .
• And so its time for me to end this exercise . I believe I have asked my self all the relevant questions that I can think of at the moment . So leave this blog to what is . Only time can tell . So I will see you again as continue writing this blog and keep reading and looking for more resources . May even look for some college classes on the topics involved .
• I thank you ,who are reading this for listening to meaningless meanderings .

SOME LESSONS ARE LEARNED THE HARD WAY

                    Yes, when I joined the Air Force I was young but I thought I knew it all . Man I was in for an awaking . I made it through basic alright ;probably barely , The fact is I made with thew help and guidance of my drill instructor . During basic I disliked so much because he was always on our case . He would sit us down and lecture us on our responsibilities as adults in life . Now that I am very much older I know now I should have listened a little closer . But as they say hind sight is 20/20 ; but that is all gone now . I blogged earlier about my D.J.ing and some Friends of mine . I never mentioned the girl that was to become my first wife .
                   I met her on Sunday , a buddy of mine dragged me to the woman's barracks to watch some football games in one of the pods day room . This where I met her . Sonja . I pretty much just set at the end of the sofa ,staying to my self and watching the game .She by the end of the afternoon was kinda mad at me because I did not notice her . After the games were over all of went to the chow hall for some dinner .While there we all decided to go to the N.C.O. club for drinks . This is where  Sonja informed me she was upset at me for not giving her the time of day . This where we just started talking and ended up talking all night .Come to find out we were in the same unit . She had been watching for some time ,cause her shop was across the street from mine .Well we hung out together from then on , I even introduced her to the gang I had been hanging out with when I disc jockeyed on most nights . As time we come to the conclusion we should get married . One day the first Sargent had told her that I wasn't going to marry her . Well I did any way . Shortly afterward we got orders to go to Germany . After a year or so there was some strain on our marriage and she wanted to ended it .
                  Now that am much older I do not blame her for our troubles , I now realize that a lot of it rested on my shoulders . Another reason is we got married for all the wrong reasons and we were definitely to young . The happiness that we had together was all an illusion ,we were just kids playing house . Doing the things we thought would make each other happy . She let get my toys , a four wheel drive which we both enjoyed going mudding and hill climbing . Then there was the sound system that I had put together .All the albums that we bought . We just were enjoying our selves not  realizing there was something missing . But it all came to an end . I often wonder where she ended up and how she is doing . But I know the odds of that happening are slim to none . It would nice to able to tell her I hold no ill feelings toward her . In fact I remember her fondly and only wish that she has lived the best life possible .

LAST NIGHTS FULL MOON

             I live and work in the Charlotte NC area and I work a third shift . We have this super storm affecting the east coast . Well last night while at work at around 4:30 am I stepped outside a moment just to see what the weather was like . I looked up at the sky I saw nothing but dark clouds covered the and the breeze was kicking up making it a little chilly .  There was just this little window in the clouds and the full moon was peeping through the opening .
             I thought it looked cool so took a picture of it with the only camera I had available at the time . Which the camera on my android phone .This is the photo I came up with . As with any weather system there are those moments you just got have a camera to take those photo's of the opportunity's that mother nature provides us with . Yes I know the quality is not that great but I did the beat with what I had .
              I now know that I need to get a better camera and carry it with me at all times for those moments that catch you by surprise .
             All being said I still think I did a pretty good job with what I had .

THE HARDEST PART OF THE DAY

                          What I consider the hardest part of the day when at work is getting there . I am often being heard saying that the hardest part is over getting here . There is actually really a lot of work involved in doing this . First you have to make sure your alarm clock set to wake you up. That alone is not enough to get you to work . You have to get it in your mind and heart that you will get out of the bed when that clock goes off . If you are like me my favorite part on the alarm clock is the snooze button .
                          Okay now that your are awake your mind may be willing to get out of that ever so comfy bed , but your body may fighting all the way . This what call the wrestling match with the mattress , there are times that it seems that the mattress seems like its going to win. Now that you won that fight probably because you smelled that wonderful brew called coffee . That aroma some finds it way to your room .
                   Your on your feet and go through your daily ritual to get ready for work . You get cleaned up , find your cloths and get dressed .make sure you have your phone ,keys ,wallet ,all the things you will need when you walk out the door .You check the news so you can hear the weather report and traffic report so that you can have an informed commute to work . All this you have done to get out that door .
                     Now your ready for the trip to work ,be whether you drive , walk , or ride the bus . Now comes all that you have to go through to get to where you are going . Remember you joining thousands on the road who are trying to the same . So there will be accidents that will occur . Then the traffic back ups because of the rubber neck and lookie loo's . So there will be some loss in time hopefully you left early enough to where it will not make much difference , if not your late .
                    Here we are at the parking lot . Your thinking mm its not to late no one has seen me I still can go home . You work through this and walk through the front door to get started with your work day . Now do  you see why I say getting there is the hardest part the day . Look at all you just went through to get there . Now realize you do this five days a week , 52 weeks a year then multiply this by the number of years you already have worked . Once you get past all this and hit the time clock ; it's all down hill from there . Do not feel guilty over that doughnut and coffee you got on the way , this is your reward to yourself for a job well done .

MUSIC ; DANCING ; AND GOOD FRIENDS

             Back when I was stationed at Castle A.F.B. near Atwater Calif. When I first got there I was A rather quite person . In short time I would eventually find my way to the Airman's club . I would sit in the corner have my beer and just watch much like I did at the bars back home . After a couple nights like this , Jeff Van Etten ; whom turned out to be the D.J. . He asked me one night to help him set up his equipment for the show . Which I did , before I knew it he had me running the light show .The next thing I knew I was doing the light show every night . Soon I was turning the disc's ,keeping the dance floor full. 
               I found this was a great why to wind down . We played both Disco and Rock and Roll but not in the same night though .Soon after this my circle of friends began to grow . There was Edward ,the Jersey boy , Trouble the dancer from Lima Ohio and the local girls Evelyn and Jackie everyone' dance partners . Those are just a few of the gang . 
             Every Friday and Saturday night we would meet a the club and dance all night long . I would be have a blast on stage with the show . We would have puppets , sound effects and so many  different lighting effects .All this was before computers .I would have make all the lighting changes by hand . Which would keep me busy . This is when I really learned to really listen to the music .
            Sometimes the gang would meet at lake Yosemite just outside Merced . We would cook out ,swim enjoy ,the sun and pull out the tape player and work on our dance moves right there on the grass. These were memorable times . Everything in our lives at that time seemed to center around the music and the lake . Always laughing and having a good time . It was with this group of friends that broke out my shell and gained a serious interested in music . Shoot I even thought about becoming a full time disc jockey , Off course this never came to be . Except when I pull out my records and jam when I am alone in my home . When doing this I burn off a lot of stress , one side effect is that I have a good time doing this .I often wondered what has happened to these people whom I lost track when got transferred to West Germany . 

A MOMENT

              Our life's are full of millions of moments . Just what is it that makes one moment more memorable than others . Why do we remember some more than others including the bad ones . Why are there some we never recall even when we are reminded of them by others . Then there are those that we get completely wrong altogether .Over the past seventy or so I have recalled many moments in time in my life .
             But this is the purpose of my my blog any way . In one of my first blogs I stated that we now live in a time that we are fortunate enough to leave behind more than just a few photos , a birth certificate and maybe a few documents of our accomplishments . We can through our endeavors in life leave a lot more about our selves . We got Facebook ; Twitter ; Google + ; and many other outlets that we can leave something behind about we we are what we like or even blog about our experiences .
             So hundreds of years from if some one went digging in to their family history the can find a wealth of information about who we are ,what we thought and a lot of health information and so forth . We can not go through a day with out leaving some kind of information about what we did ,where we went or even what we ate . Just about every thing is logged on a computer in some way .
              That's the main reason that I go through this exercise , its that I want to leave a little more about my self so my decedents can find a little more about me . So that they can have an idea of what I believe ,how lived , what kind of work I did . So I say blog on, Leave more than a picture .

HOPES AND DREAMS

                         When my father moved us to Michigan ; before he went to Vietnam in 1968 I was only 13 . I just moved up from Cub Scouts to a regular Boy Scout troop ; ; it had been maybe six months after that we had went Michigan . This was a culture shock for me , after living in military housing near a large Navy base in Rhode Island . We where living in Middletown there . On Saturday afternoons we could go for a walk on base to look at all the large ships at dock . I remember once seeing a large air craft carrier come to dock . It was no small sight to see for a young boy .

                       Well back to my story . Here he moved us to this house out in the middle of nothing but cornfields .It was in this house that learnt about gardening and country living . Mom got me this dog whom became my best  ,her and I were inseparable . We would walk through the field after a fresh snow had just fallen and she would just run ahead ,just having a blast.Which would in turn rub of me .It was here that the idea came to my head that I wanted to build some thing . I had no idea what I wanted to build though .That was also the year I joined 4-H . It was in 4-H that I learnt about carpentry . There was this old one room school house down the road for the meetings . I will never forget that old wood stove that we had get fired up for heat . The first year there I did a woodworking project for this . It nothing but this simple toolbox . I remember our group leader had us working real hard on it . He would have us ever so carefully hand cut each piece , completely hand sand each piece before he would even let us think about putting it together . It seemed like it was taking us forever to build this thing . He turned this simple project in to a couple of months long . The day finally came when we drilled ,glued and finally drive the wood screws in . By hand of course . It turned out to be a fine toolbox which I treasured for years .
                    That's when I decided I wanted to build things when I grew up . I spent the rest of school days learning about the trades . Went in the Air Force to continue in the trade . For the many years afterward I had worked in trades in capacity or other . Concrete ; Boats ,; Signs ; Electrical;; Stone ; Metal Fabrication ; Under ground Utilities .Well I guess I can say I built something when I grew up .
                    Now that I work in food service I can look back and say I did follow my dream . Every day when I go to work I can still look at some of handy work . For I helped build the marble entry way at the hospital that I work at . I believe it gives me the feeling that I made a lasting personal investment in the place that I work . Some where on the back of one the marble slabs my name is chiseled in it . If your proud of what you have done ,you should be proud enough to put your name on it . So I guess I can say I fulfilled those dreams of that young boy those many years ago . Now its on to some new hopes and dreams ,what ever they may be .

ITS A SUNNY DAY

           Well I just got off work and it so nice out I am sitting with door open to air out the place .I have a little busy to post and kinda wanted to wait for Donald Trumps earth shattering announcement . Which turned out to be in my mind a bust . I though he might have something to say that might change things but it was the same ole ,same ole hot air .
   Can turn on the news without the handicapper's trying to show us where the votes are needed to come from for them to win the election as if its a horse race .Then there is the murders of ambassadors all over  the news and all the questions about how it was handled or mishandled . Every day there are new facts coming out about this everyday . All these couch potato quarterback's putting their two cent worth in . My question is why don't they call it what it is . this all smells of cover up . Did this get the way of the campaign because it got the way of their talking points .
         The election day is not that far away and we are bombarded with politics all over TV . I will be glad when this is all over and the results are in ; so that we will definitely will know what to expect the next four years  . The not knowing is the hard part .I can say this much ; I already put my vote in . It is my hope that when all the questions are answered , that things will improve and get a lot better no matter who wins . I just want to see who ever is there will do their job and lead the country and not tell us what they are going to give us . I want to see an open government . I do not want to see them to continue doing our business behind closed doors . The people should know how they are going to take care of our business .
             Enough of that because it is such a nice day , the sun is up ,blue skies and a cool breeze blowing . It feels to good to waste it on politics . Other that to say if you can vote early its a good day out if you have stand in line to do it . So go and vote if you can there are no excuses for you not to . Lets send a clear message we the people do care what happens in our country . VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE !!!!!!!!

WHY DO WE OFTEN ; PUT UP WITH THE THINGS THAT WE DO !

                       This is is a very deep topic ; just because of the varied area's of our life that it may cover . A lot of things we have no choice in the matter because of we may have no control over .
                      A lot of them we put up with because of our age and the wisdom that comes with it . Some of us have learned to pick our battles and have learned other ways of dealing with them .Lets just face it though there are those who never learned . Others learn when it's to late .
                  Me before I react I measure the drama that could result from it and make decision on weather the resulting drama is worth the risk . You could lose a lot as a result . Potential  losses ; friends , job , even the love of a close one . It all boils down to what you are willing to let go . By doing so we may even gain more than we thought . One thing I know is I will not lose my self respect because of a public display of misplaced emotion .Others may think less of me , but they do not have me staring back in the mirror at them ; I do .
                 Some times its a case of just being civil . There are ways we must act in given situations and places . One thing we must never act in anger but make deliberate steps to handle things .It does not matter what others think afterwards . they will not have to live with the results . People will always be full of " You should have advice " , but they they may need to take a closer look at their lives . The advice they give may be the reason they are where they are at or its some they would not even do them self . People generally give out that advice wouldn't follow it them self .
                 All in all How we live our life and respond in certain cases is all up to us and what we are willing to walk away from and live with . So I will continue being who I am and make my own decisions . I will be ultimately be the one who faces the music for what I do or don't do .