My opinion on War

I have been reading several different opinions on the war in the middle east. As a veteran of the Viet Nam era I must have a few things to say. While I do not like war and think during a war all sides are losers I feel that I have to report on a few of the things I have seen. When you see a young child run up to the back of a truck and throw a live gernade into the truck that has a lot of your buddies in it and several are killed or injured that may or may not result in loss of a limb or eyesight, or something else. Or you see a woman walking down the street and see her bend over and see that she has a machine gun strapped to her back and someone run up and start firing bullets at your friends you wonder where the justice is. Or maybe when you go to sleep at night and wake up and the person sleeping next to you and their throat cut and just by some chance it was not your throat you again wonder where the justice is. I personally feel that one of the biggest problems with this present war in Iraq and Afganistan is there are too many reporters covering the problems and they report on the war but they only report their view of the war. They do not cover the things the the enemy does in the detail that they report what the side of the war they see. Yes there are things that go on that probably shouldn't go on but the other side does not always comply with the Geneva Convention on treatment of POW's. If they did we wouldn't have the killings of captives that there are. We would not have mistreatment of POW's there are. We would not still be looking for missing POW's from the Viet Nam era. Yes there are many things that happen that should not happen but it happens on both sides and like I said before. There are no winners in a war situation. However we are involved and whether or not we like it we must support our troops that are involved. We must support the decisions of our ELECTED Leaders. After all we elected them. If you don't like what is happening in the next election sellect someone else. But until that time support their decisions. Do you feel that you could do better? I wouldn't want that job no matter how much it pays. This is my opinion and that is how I feel about it. Thank you for reading my feelings on this subject.

The weekend that was really a challange

This last weekend I visited my daughter in Maryland. This is usually a nice time but this last weekend was the weekend from H***. My daughter lives in an old farmhouse (80 Years old or older) and now don't get me wrong. It is a beautiful house and has a lot of nice qualities about it. But when something goes wrong it is a real hassle to fix. This last week the upstairs bathroom sink would not drain. Little did I realized what would be involved in trying to fix this problem. After I took the drain from the sink the pipe was so corroded that it fell apart in my hands. I knew at this time I was in for a real time fixing the problem. The first thing that had to be done is the ceiling in the room below the bathroom had to be taken out to expose the old pipes. After gaining access to the old pipes I discovered that they were Galvanized pipe and had to be taken apart. This normally would not have been a problem except for the age of the pipes and the fact that they were rusted together. As it turned out I had to cut the pipe out to replace it. However getting to the pipe was such an ordeal that I had to go buy the tools to cut the pipe out. After cutting the pipe out I discovered this old 1 1/2 pipe only had an opening of about 1/4 inch for the water to drain through. There was that much corrosion in the pipe. I had to cut back almost to the main drainage pipe. Then I ran a snake through the pipe and removed a big quantity of hair in the pipe. After getting that out I cleaned the opening of the pipe back to the main drain back to its original opening of 1 1/2 inch. I then ran new PVC Pipe to the sink and gave the sink an all new plumbing for draining. When I turned on the water it drained as fast as I could run the water. This was all well and good except for the big 4ft by 8ft area in the ceiling that I had to remove to replace the plumbing. Since the house was so old the ceiling was plaster so how was I going to replace that. Fortunately My father taught me how to do most everything that is associated with the building of a house I figured out how to close this big opening. I used plywood (1/4 inch) to replace the slats that had to be removed to gain access to the pipes. Then I used 1/2 moisture and mold resistant dry wall to close the hole. The process of taping and reapplying the dry wall covering I am leaving to my daughter. I taught her how to do this kind of repairs a long time ago. Besides I think she needs to do a little in the house after all it is her house. I probably will have to do all this at some other time when I go down. After two days of climbing the ladder and doing everything in my power to get totally filthy in fixing the plumbing I figured that I had my fill of getting dirty at this time. The hole was covered and the plumbing was fixed. The rest is all cosmetic. It might not look all finished at this time but at least everything is working at this time. I just wanted to get home for a couple of days to relax. So I came home pulling a trailer full of stuff that we had taken to her house a few months ago when we thought we were selling the house. However that is another story for some other time.

Sunday Evening

Well here it is sunday evening after a fruitful day. Started off with church this morning and then out to do a little shopping. Stopped to get some toliet paper and ended up spending almost $100.00 on little things. After getting home I decided to do a little work outside to the area where I have the entrance to the back of the house. I have been working on this area for a while now and just about have it finished. I have to put a door on the outer entrance way and then It will be done. Have to do something to keep the flies out. If I don't do something I will be over run with the flying insects. After seeing the movie the Fly I think I want to keep them out. It is a covered area and I think they migrate there to get out of the hot sun. Who can blame them. I look for ways to get out of the hot sun also. I just have to figure how to keep them out and me inside but then I want a way to get out when I get ready to go out. Hopefully I have it all planned out now and all it will take is just a little more building and it will be finished. But I will say this. When it is time to come inside how thankful I am for air conditioning. It makes coming inside pleasurable. But after coming inside I had to go back outside because I had to grill some pork ribs on the BBQ outside. They were delicious. Sorry I didn't have enough to invite everyone over but maybe next time. Now I have to go out ang get Mel's puppy and bring him inside and settled down for the night and it will be time to go to bed for the night. I find myself going to bed earlier and earlier the older I get. It I live to be very many years older I just won't have to get out of bed. Save time that way. We will have to wait and see. Well that is about all for now so I will post again in a few days. Until then Have a good day. God Bless.

Its Hot outside

Well here it is after 7 PM and it is still over 90 degrees outside. It has been so hot outside today that I didn't even venture outside unless it was unavoidable. I did have to take my daughter to work and then go pick her up when she finished. I want to get a few things done in the house but part of that requires me to go outside I just decided to put it off until it cools down a little. Thank God for Air Conditioning. I did however get to spend a little time on the computer today and that was enjoyable. I didn't really do much of anything that was really special. I checked my E-Mail. Sent out my thought for the day and checked out a couple of newspapers. Maybe tomorrow it will cool off a little and I will then be able to do a couple of things in the house. Have to wait and see. This is about all I have to say for tonight so I will sign off and maybe pick up again tomorrow.

Father's day +1 or the day after

Today is Monday after Fathers day. My father's day consisted of going to Church twice yesterday and talking to my wife on the phone because she is in Florida getting sunburned and Letting me stay in NJ with my oldest daughter. My youngest daughter did call me and wish me a happy Father's Day. All in all it was a quiet day. I did manage to put a coat of paint on my sheds under the deck. It looks nice. I was surprised how well it looks considering the color. It is a very light brown or a beige. I had put two coats of white primer on the shed first. With this last coat it is an paint that resembles rubber after it dries. It makes the wood water resistant. The primer is Kilz and it is water and stain resistant also. Hopefully it will keep the wood from deterring quite so fast. In fact I like the color so much I think I will paint the inside passage way to the back door the same color. I think that the color compliments the white the house siding is. Will have to wait and see.
I have been cleaning up the property on the back of the property. There is a lot of brush and trees that have been growing for many years back there. The area has not been cleared since We have owned the house. We purchased the house and property in 1977. My trusty chain saw and I have been quite busy. The area is looking better but I still have a lot to do. Hopefully my daughter will get her car back soon and will be able to bring a trailer with a wood chipper so I will be able to chip up the tree limbs that I cut and the small trees that I cut. The larger wood I will cut into stuff that I can burn in a wood burning stove. Can't let it go to waste.
Well It is going to be hot today and I do want to get a few things done before it gets too hot. So if you are reading this. Keep cool and have a great day.

Another weekend

Well here it is Saturday and I am here checking things out on the computer. After having the grandkids all week and sending my wife to Florida and a quick trip to Maryland to take the grandkids home yesterday and then coming back I finally got a good nights sleep last night. Now to get up and around today. I brought s car load of stuff back from Maryland yesterday and now I have to go unpack the car and get things straightened out around the house. I have quite a fet things I would like to get done today so I will have to see what I can get done. It is still overcast and cool outside. What will the day be like, Have to wait and see. I have been trying quite hard to get the yard straightened out now that I am at home and trying to catch up on three years of not being able to keep up with the stuff around the house. I find however that this is a never ending job. With any luck I will just be able to keep up. I have found however a new found beauty in the outside. I the way God has of making things new again every spring. The green in the grass comes back and more alive than I remember it from the fall before. The renewing of the flowers. The renewing of the leaves on the trees. So much beauty all around us that quite often we just don't take the time to look, listen and experience the simple things that we should. All the fruit trees around are all starting to produce fruit. The vegatables are all starting to grow with a promise to produce later in the year. So much to see but then again I wonder just how much we fail to stop and take it all in. I always hear the phrase "stop and smell the roses", well the roses are there I just pray that everyone will take the time to stop, look, and take a good whiff of the beauty of the roses. Guess I had better close this blog and get dressed and go out and smell the roses.

Hectic week,

Well here it is the first day of the week if you can call monday the first day of the week. So far this week I have my 4 grandkids here to keep for the week at my house instead of in Maryland. It is a nice change. This way I will be able to do things here at the house instead of just letting them sit undone. I have to go get Gas for the lawn mower and the weed whacker. Just a minor thing but I must remember to get it. Everytime that I go out (alone or with my wife) I forget to take the gas can. I can't carry the gas in my pocket for some reason. My daughter brought up a little wading pool and the kids are after me to sit it up. I guess I will have to get that done before long. I also have to balance my daughters check book. I also want to build some shelves in my room downstairs to keep my tools. I have a lot to do. I guess I will get done sometime today. If not today then tomorrow. We will see what happens. I know this that on friday I have to take the kids back to MD but I have to wait and pick up my daughter first. I won't be able to leave until about 6 PM. That might make some people a little disappointed or mad but as my wife says. The mad will get glad again. I love that saying becaused it is so true. So on with my week.