Never Fear Public Speaking Again!

After Attending This Years Bowling Hall Of Fame Awards Night I Returned Home With A Humbling Experience. With Each Inductee Came A Short Biography Of Their Years On The Bowling Alley. Reading Their Achievements Throughout The Years While Family Is Present And Listening. Most Were Rather Shy In Response But Did Acknowledge And Were Humbled By Their Selection.
This Rather Slim Older Looking Gentleman Slowly Approached The Podium. Expecting About As Much The Same As Those Who Spoke Before Him. For Those In The Audience Who Knew Him Expected What Was Forthcoming. As He Stood There Desperately Trying To Get That First Syllable Out He Awkwardly Tried To Give His Acceptance Speech. I Found Myself Silently Trying To Help This Poor Soul Through This Ordeal. With Each Word Spoken It Came More Clear To Me After All These Years And My Fear Of Speaking To Large Audiences, I Had Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself.(Familiar Words, eh?)
If That Man Had The Courage To Get Up In Front Of That Large Crowd With His Speech Impediment I Knew My Worries Were Behind Me Forever.
I Don't Think That Man Has Any Idea Of The Impact His Speech Had On People That Saturday Night. I Have Wondered How Many Times That Man Wanted To Back Out Of Attending This Event That Night.
Not Only Did This Man Have A Wonderful Bowling Career, He Had To Be One Of The Most Courageous People I Have Met In My Life.
Never Again Will I Shy Away From Public Speaking. If I Do, I Will Think Of This Great Man Who Showed Me Courage.

Getting Old

Tick, Tick, Tick. Enough Of Those Makes The World Go Around And Time Goes Marching On. Time Is Measured.
As A Young Child, Anyone As Old As My Mother Was Old. My Grandson Who Is Ten, Is About The Same Age As I Was When I Began Measuring Time. I Was Fascinated With The Elderly. I Enjoyed Listening About Their Younger Years And How They Survived The Great Depression. Their Memory Of Life Without Television. How Their Winters Were Far Worse Than What We Have Ever Seen Or Imagined. How Far They Had To Walk To School Each Day. How They Never Closed School Down Just Because It Snows.
Today I Am As Old As My Grandmother Was When I Was That Age Of Ten. I Don't Have The Same Stories As The Elderly Folks Shared With Me Those Many Years Ago.
Actually It's Time That Intrigues Me The Most. If I Could Travel Through Time My First Stop Would Be The Lincoln Years In Illinois And Washington. Living Life During Those Years Would Be Much Different Than I Could Imagine. Sure I Could Pick Up A History Book And Read About The Civil War Days. However, Living It Through Your Own Eyes Is Far Better Than Hearing From Another.
I Think Once You Have Reached The Age You Are Older Than The President Of America You Must Be Old.
Old Hank As I Knew Him When I Was Just A Snot Nosed Kid On Franklin Street Told Me More Stories Than Any Other. Maybe He Decided To Share His Life With Me Because I Was A Willing Listener.
His Sight Wasn't All That Great Because Of His Cataracts. Back In Those Days You Had To Live With Them. He Had Told Me He Had Hardening Of The Arteries. Today Known As Cholesterol Buildup. What Once Was A Life Threatening Disorder Can Be Corrected In An Out Patient Surgery.
So How Old Is Old? Age Is It Just A Number. You Are As Old As You Feel.
As For Now I Would Just Like To Cruise Through The Days We Are In Right Now. Can We Freeze This Moment? Someday I Will Be Looking Back At The Days I Bowled With My Parents On The Senior League. Our Euchre Lessons And How Much I Have Learned From Them As Far As Strategic Manoeuvres. Knowing When And How Big To Lead Trump And Know How To Count And Memorize Cards Out And Cards Played. Sitting Next To Dad At The Danville Stadium In The Month Of June Watching The Danville Dans. Listening To Him As He Describes The Game Before You Arrived.
My Grandson Is A Boy Scout. My Granddaughter Is A Girl Scout. Both My Grandsons Share Interest In What I Do In The Warmer Months. I Think That's When I Love Them The Best. I Can Teach Them Values And What It Means To Be Poor. Through My Eyes Maybe I Can Leave An Impression For Their Memories. I Know Someday My Grandson Will Be Writing About His Life With His Grandpa. I Hope Whatever He Remembers Of What I Shared With Him Will Give Him Self Worth And Gratitude. If Anything I Hope He Remembers How I Tried To Teach Him About Giving. Give To Those Less Fortunate. Give Of Yourself In The Time You Donate To Help Another Human Being.
You Know, I Believe I Am Living In The Prime Time Of My Life Right Now. Less Than A Year Ago I Lost My Grandmother. I Then Had 53 Years Of Memories Of Her. Now I Make The Memories In The Days I Spend With My Parents, My Children, And My Grand Children.
One Day I May Wake Up And Find Myself Elderly. Even Though The Clock Will Continue To Tick, Time Will Always March On.
We Are All Just A Speckle Of Time.

Happy Valentines Day

I Want To Wish All My Readers A Happy Valentines Day. The Day To Celebrate Love For Another. Love Comes In All Shapes And Sizes. Yes, Also Different Flavors Too!
Whether You Give Love Or Get Love As Long As You Have Love. If Your Valentine Is Your Mate Be Sure To Tell Them You Love Them.
Your Valentine Can Be Anyone Who Is Willing To Be Loved.
Don't Forget Your Pet On Valentines Day. That Love Is A Wonderful Kind Of Love.

Eat Crow

Tonight Brian And I Were Treated Out By The Girls After Declaring A Euchre Win For The Year 2009. It's Not The Dinner We Like Most. It's The Bragging Rights! Dinner Tonight Was The Third Year In A Row. The Girls Declared 2010 Was Their Year And "They" Would Be Choosing The Beef House. That's ok, I Like The Beef House. There Is No Doubt In My Mind We Will Be Eating At The Beef House This Time Next Year.
Their Announcement Guaranteed That!
And Yes I Was Strong Willed Enough To Ask The Waiter If They Served Crow. He Smiled And Denied It Was On The Menu.
What Makes Matters Worse Is When We Rub Their Noses In It. Normally I Can Achieve Victory In A Humble Manner. However, We Just Enjoy The Teasing.
They Just May Beat Us This Year. Stranger Things Have Happened.

1911 Danville High School Medley (Yearbook)

My Hopes When I Went Into The Danville Public Library Was That The 1911 Edition Of The Danville High School Yearbook Was Non Existent. They Must Have It Where The Public Cannot Sift Through Them Without Assistance From Library Personnel. The Lady Returned To Me With It In Her Hand. I Told Her I Didn't Need To Check It Out. I Was Just There To Witness That There Was One.
I May Have Mentioned My Collection Of DHS Yearbooks In My Blogs. Anyway The Last 5 Years My Collection Is Near Complete. I Was Missing 1909 And 1911. A Couple Years Ago I Located A 1909. My Chances Of Locating A 1911 Is Rather Slim. Ofcourse I Am Missing Some Years In The 2000's And Maybe A Year Or Two In The 90's. I'm Not Worried About Those Because I Can Obtain Those Either On EBay Or At Danville High School.
I Had Always Hoped That Someday I Could Say My Collection Was Complete. Somebody Told Me Once That Maybe It Was A Possibility They Didn't Put An Edition Out That Year. Could I Be That Lucky? No...
Maybe Over The Next Couple Of Years I Will Buy More Of The Newer Editions Until I Reach Where I Would Have To Buy A New One Each Year To Make It (Almost) Complete.
I Can Only Pray That Someday I Will Find A 1911.
I Think I Would Pay Almost Anything For It. The First One That Was Printed Was 1904.
The Most Unfortunate Thing Is The Prices Of High School Year Books. It May Be Worth That Price For Someone That Is In It Plus All Their Friends. I'm A Thrifty Kind Of Person And I Would Have A Problem Paying Any Where Close To 100.00 For A Yearbook.
I Just Hope That Once I Am Gone From This Earth My Yearbooks Stay Together. It Took Me Many Years To Bring Them All Together.

Ten Pin

Shut Up!

I'm Hungry

Right Now I Am Hungry. Yesterday I Was Hungry. I Have Been Hungry For Days On End. Since I Have Never Been On A Formal"Diet", It Never Occurred To Me That I Would Be Hungry. I Say The Worse Is First. Get On The Scale. It May Get Ugly But The Truth Is What It Is. Maybe My Thoughts Were The Pounds Would Just Jump Off My Body Once I Used The Word Diet. What Was I Thinking?
I Am 54 Years Old And I Never Considered Going On A Diet. Maybe Most Refer To It As "Watching Your Weight".
The Ugly Truth Of It Is You Are STARVING Yourself! Considering When Hunger Enters Into Your Mind Your Brain Guides You To The Refrigerator. It's Will Power That Throws You Back And Forbids You To Partake.
Food Must Be Addictive. I Can Remember The Days I smoked. When My Brain Told Me My Body Needs A Cigarette I Would Light One Up. Was It The Physical Addiction My Mind Was Craving Or Was It All Mental?
This Diet Thing. Will The Hunger Pain Always Be With Me? Will It Get Better In Time As Did My Addiction To Cigarettes? If It's A Battle That Can Be Concored Then I Must Ask Myself If This Is Worth It. Would The End Result Bring Me The Inner Happiness I Crave For?
I See It This Way. I Can Diet For Whatever Reason That Is Important To Me. Just Like It Was When I Quit Smoking. I Quit Because Of The Expense. It Wasn't Because Of All The Dangers Associated With It Or What It May Do To My Health. My Reasons For Quitting Were Important Enough For Me To Stare Down My Enemy And Rule That I Refuse To Allow This Addiction To Control My Life. I'm Not Sure I Am Ready To Say I'm On A Diet. I Can Remember All Of My Failed Attempts Of Trying To Quit Smoking. So If I Gain A Pound When I Step On The Scale On Wednesday, Does That Mean I Failed Again?
I Don't Want To Live Out The Rest Of My Life Hungry. I Want To Be Happy. I'm Not Happy When I'm Hungry.
The Bottom Line With Me And This Diet Thing Is Why I Am Doing It. I Am Dieting Because I Need To Be In Good Shape To Work In The Truck This Coming April. I Must Be Able To Get My Lard Ass In The Back Lifting Bags And Boxes Of Items That Must Be Delivered. I'm Not Getting Any Younger. It's Important To Me That I Am Healthy To Continue My Mission.
So All In All This Diet Thing Will Rule My Life Until The Day I Concor The Battle.
Stay Tuned For Further Updates To My Diet Ramblings.....

Why Do I Capitalize My Words?

It's Not The First Time I Had Been Asked. The Other Day My Brother Tuck Had Asked Me Why I Capitalize All Of My Words. I Simply Told Him I Liked The Appearance Better Than If They Were Not Capitalized. It's Just A Matter Of Appearance With Me. I Find Myself Being Very Picky About The Layout Of My Blogspace. Not That I Get Alot Of People Who Visit Here But When They Do I Would Like To Have Them Enjoy The Complete Layout Of My Page.
I Recently Halted My E-Mail Notifications Because I Wanted My Readers To Come Directly To My Page Instead Of Receiving It As An E-Mail.
So, My Brother Tuck Said Capitalizing Must Take Me A Very Long Time. I Said No I Didn't Think So. He Then Said There Must Be A Feature That Allows Each Word To Be Capitalized. If There Is Such A Thing Out There Would Someone So Kindly Show Me Where It Is? I Know This Must Be Rather Trivial To Many But Just A Simple Explanation In Case Anyone Else Was Curious.
Stay Tuned For More Worthless Information Forthcoming On This Page.
You Never Know What You Will Read About Here.

Just A Bump In The Road

Recently, After Years Of Observing My Mother Losing Hundreds Of Pounds I Decided To Join TOPS. Take Off Pounds Sensibly Is A Wonderful Weight Losing Organization That Encourages People To Shed Their Weight In A Sensible Manner.
I Never Considered Myself To Be Obese. It Wasn't Until I Quit Smoking That I Saw The Weight Accumulate On My Body. I Was Always One Of Those Persons Who Ate To Live. My Weight Hovered Anywhere Around The 130-140 Pounds For Many Years. I Weighed 126 Pounds When I Joined The Navy.
After Years Of Coaxing From My Mother To Join I Didn't Think I Needed An Organized Group To Help Me Shed The Weight. Being 40 Pounds Overweight Has Not Been An Important Issue With Me Until Recently. My Mother Thought By My Joining Would Encourage My Brother To Lose Weight As Well. My Brother And I Have Competed In Alot Of Different Things Over The Years. This Is One Time I Hope To Lose To Him.
On June 6th 2006,(666)My Brother Became A Victim To A Heart Attack. He At That Time Was Living In California. All We Could Do As Family Was Sit At Home And Pray For God's Healing Hand To Be Placed Onto Him. After Inserting 6 Stints He Got Another Opportunity To Live. His Heart Is Better Yet The Weight That Contributed To His Attack Is Still There. If I As His Loving Brother Can Help In Any Way To Prolong His Life Then I Am Determined To Participate.
My Second Week Of Weighing In I Lost 4 Pounds. The Following Week I Gained Two Of Those Pounds Back. In The Meantime My Brother Tuck Has Seen A Loss In Two Straight Weeks. I Hope He Continues To Lose Each Week.
As For Me This Has Been An Every Winter Ordeal With Me. I Am Very Active In The Warmer Months With The Charitable Work That I Am Involved With. This Keeps Me Very Active From April Through October. Lifting, Loading And Unloading Trucks Is An Everyday Activity For Me. I Eventually Lose All Of The Weight That Had Gained Over The Previous Winter. However, I Decided To Join Tops This Year Because I Need To Rid Myself Of More Weight Than What I Had In Previous Years. Once I Have Accomplished This It Would Make My Life So Much Easier.
As I Get Older I Find Myself Unable To Be As Active In The Things That I Do. Instead Of Waiting Until After April 1st To Lose My Weight, Why Not Lose It Before I Put It On? That's My Plan. Now That The Holidays Are Behind Me I Can Focus More On What Matters Most. If I Were To Lose 25 Of The 40 Pounds I Feel I Am Overweight, Then That Makes Things More Simpler In The Warmer Months. Losing 15 Pounds Is Nothing For Me In The Summer Months. Because Of The Heat, I Sweat. I Continue To Mow Grass By Pushing The Lawnmower. Come April After A Long Winter Of Eating And Lounging I Find It Harder To Push That Lawmower The Distance Needed To Complete The Task. Walking The Woods And Hills For What I Call The White Man's Soul Food(Mushrooms). Simple Things As Getting In And Out Of The Back Of My Truck Has Been A Struggle.
So I Say To Myself, Self, It's Much Simpler To Lose The Weight When You Have The Support From People Who Are Fighting The Same Battle. People Who Encourages You To Lose And Continues To Support You When You Gain.
My Two Pound Gain Last Week Was Depressing. Instead Of Wallering In Self Pity I Must Be More Determined Than Ever Before If I Am To Lose The Weight. No Different Than The Time I Quit Smoking. After Years Of Trying I Failed. It Was So Difficult And People Just Did Not Understand The Addiction. Now That I Am On The Other Side Of That Addiction It Has Come Clear To Me That No Matter What, I Would Have To Make Some Life Changing Decisions. It's Not Important To Other People If I Weigh More Than I Would Like. It's Not Important To Other People If I Smoked Or Not. What Matters Most Is What's Best For Me. When I Stand In Front Of The Mirror I Want To Say I Like What I See. I No Longer View My Body In A Full Length Mirror Because I'm Ashamed To See What I Have Become.
From This Day Forward I Commit Myself To Lose More Weight Than I Ever Have Before. Not Because I Want To Compete With My Brother. I Want To Lose Weight So I Can Again Feel Good About My Body. So I Can Continue Helping Those Less Fortunate As I Have For The Past 24 Years. That's What Is Important To Me. I Was Told Years Ago By A Friend That I Would Never Quit Smoking Because Of The Price. He Had Told Me My Chances Were Better If I Were Told By A Doctor I Had Better Quit Or I Would Die If I Didn't.
Whatever Your Reason Is for Quitting Or Losing Weight, It Must Be Important Enough For You To Accomplish It. So, No Matter What Your Reasons Are For Setting Your Goal Always Remember You Can Do It. So You Gain A Pound Or Two In The Meantime. I Think That's Just To Remind Us We Are Human. It's Just A Bump In The Road. Move Forward!

Thank You Oliver!

I Want To Thank "Oliver" For Rescuing Me When My Computer Crashed. I Sent Out An E-Mail Telling Everybody I Correspond With On A Regular Basis That My Computer Was About To Crash. If They Haven't Heard From Me In Awhile It Was Because I No Longer Had A Computer. He Sent A Message To My Brother Tuck That He Had A Spare Computer He Would Gladly Give Me With No Guarantees. Well, It's An Older Computer And Not As Fast As The One I Had But That's Because It's An Older Computer. I Guess We All Get That Way As We Get Older.
You Can Never Have Too Many Good Friends. I Never Expected Anyone To Step Up And Help A Friend In Need. Oliver Without Hesitation Came To My Rescue And Did What Friends Do Best! I Can't Thank You Enough Oliver. You Are A Wonderful Friend And I Will Never Forget Your Kindness. You Can Bet On It.