The War Horse

I think that one of the greatest things to happen with candy has been the arrival of the Altoids tin. I keep pennies in mine in my car. That way the little brown pests do not bounce around and make rattling noises that I can confuse with some obscure part of my auto going bad. I actually like the tin better than the candy---maybe that's what the company had in mind!

Have you ever thought about the amount of time that you spend stopped at red lights? I figure that if you started driving at sixteen and drive until you are eighty, you will have spent approximately forty days of your life just waiting for a light to turn green! My God- if I am close, just think about how many other relatively non-productive stuff we spend our time doing. The list is endless. Hey- wake up, honey, we have to get on with the rest of our lives.

I did an interesting thing in the library today. I walked down several different aisles, and with my eyes closed(after I stopped walking of course) I pointed at a shelf and wrote down the selected random title. Here are the titles and subject matter---
One Small Candle- an account of the Pilgrim's first year in America
Never Forget- an oral history of September11
Disaster 1906- the San Francisco earthquake and fire
Life Under the Pharaohs- self explanatory
Dreadnought- Britain, Germany, and the coming of WWI
The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Letters of a Nation- collection of famous American letters
The Ultimate Dog Care Guide
About Modern Art
Through the Lens- National Geographics Greatest Photographs
Just think of all the new things I could learn by reading those ten! Aren't libraries wonderful places in a democratic society?

I had the privilege of visiting a close friend today who recently retired. Everyone told him that he would be miserable within a short time. He told me, to the contrary, that every day was a new adventure.Here are a few of the things that I saw when he took me on a tour of his home-
- He has a room full of Civil War artifacts that he has collected over many years on display in a manner that would make a museum curator jealous.
- He refinishes furniture and has several projects lined up to do.
- Just this week he reuphoulstered an ottoman which he had never done before.(It looked professional to me)
- He toured me through his brand new house trailer which he says he will hit the road in when the weather gets better.
- He has built a number of grandfather clocks that are dispersed throughout his house.
- He has just completed refurbishing an old barn on his property where he stores all of his lawn and garden paraphenalia.
- He just started reading Bishop's The Day Lincoln Was Shot
- He just sold his old boat on ebay and bought a new one.
The list goes on, but we only visited for lunch. Enjoy your retirement!

I plan to begin writing down all of the bumper stickers that I see. The ones that blow my mind are the variety that run the risk of stimulating the "nuttos" to commit road rage. I'll comment more after my collection gets larger.

Today, we had our kitchen floor checked for asbestos since the plan is to tear it out and replace it. This reminded me of my thoughts about Radon testing in houses. Scientists say that Radon is colorless, odorless, and deadly. My theory is that everybody who dies from "natural causes" has really succumbed to the deadly ravages of the mysterious Radon that is apparently everywhere. Since I don't have a job, I plan to come up with a new deadly something to terrify people about, and make millions selling a device that will detect it. Watch out in your local hardware store for the Darth Vaderon Gas Detector Kit coming soon.

My pastor is now teaching a Sunday school class on a book called God's Politics. I can't wait to find out whether God is a Republican or Democrat. I guess I'll just ask George. See you later-----

Tim