MyTwilight Zone Moment

As Many Of You Are Aware I Am President Of The Senior Citizen Bowling League. My Position Sometimes Require Me To Contact Members On Occasion.
I Was Doing That Tonight When I Wanted To Discuss An Issue With A Current Bowler. I Got Out My Membership Roster And Looked Up His Number. The Phone Was Answered By His Wife Martha. The Conversation Goes Like This; Hi Martha, This Is Greg Miller How Are You? She Said Hi Greg How Are You? I Then Asked To Speak With Joe. There Was This Long Pause.....Then Martha Said There Is No Joe Here. Another Long Pause By Myself....When I Finally Said Huh? Finally Martha Told Me She Was Martha Howard. Martha Is A Dear Friend Of My Mother And The Widow Of Ralph, Who Use To Bowl On My Team. The Joe I Was Trying To Reach Has A Wife Named Martha. The Bowling Leagues Secretary Inadvertently Placed Ralph Howard's Telephone Number With Joe's Information.
After It All Played Out It Left Me With One Of Those Feelings. You Know What I Mean.
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone

Happy Bithday Tuck

Today Is My Brother Tuck's 56th Birthday. It Is His Last Birthday Celebrated In San Diego. Tuck And His Wife Evelyn Will Be Moving Back To Danville After He Retires As A Trolley Car Operator.
Tuck Has Been Counting His Days Until Retirement For About As Long As I Can Remember.
His Love For His Hometown Of Danville Is Astounding.
His Wife Evelyn Has Never Lived Anywhere But California. They Presently Reside Where It Never Rains. I Was Thinking About Evelyn The Other Day When It Was So Blasted Hot. The Heat Index Reached 105 Degrees. I Realize It Gets Hot In Southern California But It's A Different Hot. We In Illinois Experience Every Season Of The Year. I Heard That Evelyn Said She Wanted To Make A Snow Angel In Danville's First Snowfall. Hahaha, I Think She May Do That Once But She Will Soon Hate Winter Like Most Of Us. Our Rainfalls? I Bet We Get More Rainfall From One Storm Than They Get In A Years Time.
It's Going To Be Good To Have Tuck Living Back Here In Danville Again. He's A Good Brother As Well As A Good Person.
So Tuck, Continue Your Countdown To November, Your Month Of Retirement.
Your Next Birthday Celebration Will Be In Danville. Your Home.
Happy Birthday Bro.

Danville Has Lost A Very Good Family In Aya Eneli And Her Husband Ken, A Doctor Have Moved To Texas.
Aya Authored A Weekly Column In The Commercial News. Her Words Were An Inspiration And Wise Beyond Her Years. Aya Is A Motivation Speaker Of Life With All The Many Challenges We Face In Society Today.
From The Lesson Of The Ant And The Grasshopper Or How We Should Be A Good Neighbor, Some Have Become Better People By The Teachings Of Aya Eneli. Their Departure Will Be Danville's Loss.
She Feared Not On Addressing The Sensitive Issues Of Poverty, Equal Rights And Human Kindness Toward Others.
I'm A Believer That Everything Happens For A Reason. We May Not Know What It Is At The Moment But Their Mission Here In Danville Has Left An Everlasting Effect On This Community. That Reason Could Have Been The Eneli's Family Or Someone Whose Life Has Been Touched By Them.
Whatever The Reason, The Finality Of It All Is Her Words And Her Teaching Should Not Be Spoken In Vain. Let's Set The Example And Be A Good Neighbor, A Better Teacher, A Better Communicator. The Character Of Our Soul Was Molded By The Sincerity And Morals She Has Passed On Through Her Writings.
I Will Miss Her Weekly Column. I Hope She Will Continue To Deliver Her Message To The Good People Of Texas.
I Believe God Has Placed Individuals In Their Current Environment For A Reason.
Her Mission Here In Danville Has Been Completed.
Here's Wishing You Your Abundant Life Aya Eneli.

Sometimes You Just Have To Play Doctor

If The Bowling Season Were To Begin Tomorrow There Is No Way I Could Hold A 14 Pound Ball No Less Than Roll It 60 Feet. Rewind Two Years Ago This Month. I Was Experiencing Piercing Pain In The Upper Shoulder Area. Since My Father Had Heart Related Issues In His Early 50's I Figured It Would Make Sense To Have It Checked Out. His Pain Was In The Upper Shoulder Area As Well So There Was Reason Enough To Be Concerned. My Brother Just A Year Earlier Had A Heart Attack And Had Stints Placed Inside Him To Keep His Blood Flowing.
Long Story Short, They Kept Me Overnight For Observation. I Was Released The Following Morning Showing No Signs Of Heart Related Problems. Yet I Still Had This Pain That Would Not Go Away. What About That I Asked? They Knew It Wasn't Life Threatening So It Seemed They Weren't Too Concerned. I Could Only Stand The Pain For An Additional Day Or Two So I Decided To Travel To Champaign And Go To Carle Hospital.
Please Don't Get Me Wrong, The VA Hospital Is Very Good To Me. If It Weren't For Them I Would Not Be Alive Today. I Hold No Grudges But I Had To Find The Source Of This Pain. I Consider Myself To Have A High Tolerance For Pain But This Was Becoming Unbearable. When I Arrived At Carle They Eliminated Any Kind Of Heart Related Problems. They However XRayed Where The Pain Was Located. It Wasn't But An Hour Later When They Found The Problem. In The Cervical Area Of My Spine The Cartilage That Separates The Disk Were Breaking Down. It's All A Part Of The Aging Process And There Was Nothing They Could Do. They Prescribed IB Profen And Told Me That Should Help. Ofcourse I Gave Them A Rather Odd Look Because That's What I Take For My Daily Headaches And I Thought They Could Prescribe Something A Little More Stronger.
They Informed Me The IB Profen Was Not For The Pain But For The Swelling. The Past Couple Of Weeks Before Finally Going To See A Doctor I Had To Raise My Arm In The Air To Get Some Comfort From The Pain. They Explained That Just The Weight Of My Arm Was Causing The Pain And It Would Be Relieved Once I Raised My Arm. That Made Sense To Me. Since The Swelling Was The Source Of My Pain The Main Objective Was To Get It Reduced So I Could Go On With My Everyday Activities. After About A Month Of Taking The IB Profen All My Pain Was Gone And It Hasn't Returned Yet.
For The Past Couple Of Weeks I Have Been Experiencing The Same Type Of Pain But This Time On My Right Side. Yes, My Bowling Arm!
This Pain Appeared Just A Couple Days From A Scheduled Doctors Appointment So I Tuffed It Out Until I Saw The Doc. She Agreed With My Assumption That The Pain Was Associated With What I Was Experiencing Just Two Years Prior. However This Time She Gave Me Something A Little Stronger For The Pain But Told Me To Continue With The IB Profen. It's Been More Than A Week Since I Saw The Doctor And The Pain Is Still There. A Friend Of Mine Was Having Some Of The Same Type Of Problems And He Told Me To Try Naproxen. I Told This To My Doctor A Couple Years Ago And She Agreed That It May Help. It Did Help But They Wouldn't Let Me Have Both IB Profen And Naproxen. After The Swelling And The Pain Went Away I Switched Back To IB Profen Because The Naproxen Was Not Relieving My Headaches. I Still Have Some Naproxen Left So This Morning I Decided To Begin Taking It. At This Point I Have Nothing To Lose. I Decided If The Pain Doesn't Go Away In A Couple Of Weeks I Will Have To Return To The Doctor To See If They Can Take Some XRays To See Exactly What The Problem Is. We Both Assumed It Was Related To What Happened Just Two Years Ago. You Know What They Say About Assumptions.
Bowling Is Another Couple Months From Now And It Is My Hopes This Will Be All Healed By Then. I Am President Of The League And I Would Have To Resign If I Am Unable To Bowl. Being President Is Not As Important To Me As Bowling Is. My Brother Is Returning To Illinois To Live Off His Pension And He Will Be Joining My Father And Myself And Bowl On Our Team. I'm Not Sure How Much Longer My Father Will Be Able To Continue To Bowl. He Has Been Having Hip And Back Problems And Every Week Is Different For Him. He Briefly Quit Last Season Because Of The Pain He Was Experiencing. It Is My Hopes His Condition Improves And He Will Continue To Bowl.
So In The Meantime I Have Two Months To Heal Or Otherwise Quit Bowling.
Let's Hope For The Best!

Top Secret Info Disclosed

Anyone Who Has Ever Served In The Armed Forces Will Tell You That There Are Times When You Must Keep A Secret. No Matter What Happens, You Must Not Disclose Something That Is Told To You That Is Top Secret. Not Even Your Mother.
The Only Top Secret Information That I Was Informed Of Was Disclosed This Week In The Nantucket Island Newspaper.
A Bunker Was Built Back In The Early 1960's On The Naval Base On Nantucket For Then President John F Kennedy After The Cuban Missile Crisis As Well As The Early Days Of The Cold War With Russia.
It Was Referred As The "Kennedy Bunker" And We All Knew The Purpose. It Was For The Then President And His Family In Case Of Nuclear Attack Of The U.S.
When I Was Stationed There I Was Told The Current President Which Was Nixon And Then Ford Could Possibly Be Ushered There To Safety. There Are More Bunkers Built In Various Places Throughout The Country. I Have No Knowledge Of Their Whereabouts.
The Island Newspaper Has Disclosed This Information To The Public This Week and This Is Why I Have Disclosed This Information In This Blog.
Now I Take No Top Secrets With Me To My Grave Other Than Where I Have Buried All My Worldly Fortunes. Haha!!
To Read More On This Subject You Can Copy And Paste To Get There.
http://ack.net/kennedybunker052809.html

I Love Thunderstorms

We Know Them And Expect Them From Time To Time. I Am Referring To Thunderstorms And Tornado's. Danville Illinois Is Located In The Midwest Of The United States. I'm Not Sure If Illinois Is Included In The Tornado Alley Of The Midwest But This Part Of The Country Can Be Downright Unpredictable. I Won't Even Mention The Winter Months. I Will Blog About That Another Day.
April Through June Can Bring Some Rather Heavy Thunderstorms Here In The Midwest. This Spring Of 2009 Has Been Rather Odd. We Would Have A Couple Days Of Nice Temperatures, Then We Would Have A Cold Snap. This Type Of Weather Has Been Going On The Past Couple Of Months. Tonight We Had A Storm System Roll Through And Came With It Were Tons Of Memories Of Storms Past.
I Have Always Been Fascinated With Storms. Yes Lighting, Thunder, Hail, Wind & Rain! On Occasion There Will Be A Tornado Touch Down In The Area. With Each Storm I Stay Tuned To The Police Scanner Listening To Storm Reports.
My Grandson Called Tonight. He Too Is Fascinated With Storms. He Will Be 10 Years Old In A Week Or So. He Is Always Full Of Questions About Storms Or Tornado's.
Billie And I Were Sitting On The Front Porch Waiting For The Storm To Reach Us. It Was Dark With The Exception Of Lightning Strikes In The Distance.
I Then Wondered About My Sister-In law In Southern California. Ever Hear The Song That Says It Never Rains In Southern California? Well I'm Sure It Does Rain In Southern California But Nothing Like It Does In Illinois. Her And My Brother Tuck Will Be Moving To Danville This Coming November. Just In Time For Winter! Hahaha!!
The Most Obvious Is Wanting To See Her Reaction To The First Cold Spell Or The First Real Snowstorm. However Being From Southern California I Would Like To Sit With Her During Her First Midwest Thunderstorm. Will She Be Fascinated Or Scared Out Of Her Wits? I Have No Idea How She Will React. We Are Accustomed To These Storms And We Grow Into The Experience Of Them. Put An Adult In A Situation That Is Out Of Their Zone, Expect Anything.
I Will Most Likely Always Enjoy Storms And Everything That Comes Along With It.
I Think I Will Go Out And Sit On The Front Porch And Watch The Lightning.

MaGoo, We Will Miss You

His Name May Have Been Ralph Howard, But I Fondly Named Him Mr Magoo A Few Years Back. We Lost Our Dear Friend Ralph This Past Thursday Morning(5-7-09).
I Met Ralph Many Years Ago When I Started Going To His Church When I Was A Teenager.
Ralph And I Bowled On The Same Team, The Keenagers. Ralph And I Had Something In Common Besides Bowling. He Called Me A Partime Left Hander. Actually I Am Ambidextrous. He Noticed It Right Off When He First Seen Me Bowl. He Said, Greg, I Thought You Told Me You Were Left Handed. I Explained I Did Some Things Left Handed And Other Things Right Handed. A Left Handed Bowler Is A Rarity. I Have Tried To Bowl Left Handed And It Just Did Not Work Out.
So Anyway One Day I Went Up To Ralph And Put My Arm Around Him. I Said Ralph, You Remind Me Of Somebody. I Told Him He Resembled Mr Magoo. He Got A Kick Out Of That And Another Bowler Had Lots Of Fun With Him As Well As Rubbing His Head And Calling Him Magoo.
I Spoke To A Fellow Bowler Today And She Said She Just Loved Ralph. Well Who Didn't?
What An Honor To Know Such A Happy Go Lucky Type Of Guy. That Was Ralph X Howard Jr, Husband, Father, & Grandfather And Friend To Many!
You Left Your Mark On Mankind And Will Always Be Fondly Remembered.

May Day!

No, Don't Get Excited, There Is No Emergency! It's The First Day Of May!
This Day Has Never Been Celebrated With As Much Enthusiasm In The United States As In Great Britain. The Tradition Of Celebrating May Day By Dancing And Singing Around A Maypole, Tied With Colorful Streamers Or Ribbons, Survived As A Part Of The English Tradition. The Kids Celebrating The Day By Moving Back And Forth Around The Pole With The Streamers, Choosing Of A May Queen, And Hanging Of May Baskets On The Doorknobs Of Folks, All The Leftovers Of The Old European Traditions.
This Brings Back Memories For Me When I Was A Child Growing Up On Franklin Street. I Had Prepared With Loving Care Baskets Made From Construction Paper. Inside These Baskets Were Carefully Assorted Flowers Of May From A Small Area In Our Yard. There Were Two Elderly Women Near Our Home That I Had Planned As Recipients Of These May Flower Baskets. Shortly After I Returned Home One Of These Elderly Women Called My Mother To Tell Her I Was Picking Her Flowers. After My Mother Explained To Her What I Had Done For Her She Felt Awful For The Accusations. I Think It Was Then When We Became Friends For Life. God Bless Goldie Jacobs And Happy May Day Everybody!

Quarter Of A Million Miles!

This Weekend The Odometer On My Truck Will Reach 225,000 Miles! That's Alot Of Miles!
Even Though The Majority Of Those Miles Were Put On It Long Before I Purchased It. The 93 Chevy Box Truck Runs As Good As The Day It Was Born. It Was A Budget Rental Truck At One Time So I Imagine That's Where The Miles Were Racked Up.
It Had Been Sitting Behind A Church Prior To Me Buying It. It Was Rarely Used And It's Exactly What I Was Looking For. This Will Be My Third Season Working With It.
I Can't Imagine Doing What I Do In A Regular Size Pickup Truck!
I Didn't Want To Celebrate This Special Mile Mark Cruising Down The Road When The Odometer Announced This Special Number Alone. I Take Good Care Of This Truck And In Return It Takes Care Of Me.
I Consider Myself Working A Special Mission In Life And Cannot Imagine Life Without This Truck.
So If You Are Traveling Down The Road And See A Nut Waving His Arms As He Is Driving Down The Road, Just Ignore Him. I've Got My Own Little Celebration Going On!

Thanx Cuzzzz

A Big Thank You Goes To My Cousin Kim For The Banner She Created For My Blog Site. I Think She Did A Wonderful Job!
Thanks Again Kim!