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Tuesday Tidbits

After 2,200 posts, we are announcing a new Existing In BFE  format for 2016.  After several years of Monday thru Friday posting,  I have decided to post when I have something to post.  Tuesday Tidbits and Flashback Friday's will remain as weekly constants.  Not so constant will be the remaining day's posts.  Sometimes I don't do anything, so why struggle to fill a day with inferior posts?  Don't worry, loyal readers, it's not the end, just a revision. 
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More people have died in the streets and homes of America from guns since 2012 than all the people who died in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq or Afghanistan. 

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Spotted at Publix grocery store in Clearwater.  I don't know where to begin.  A school bus with a shed attached, as well as a porch area in the back.  Hard to imagine this thing is even roadworthy, let alone street legal but there it was.  I would have liked to get a little closer, but with dark hooded guys walking around, I decided to stay out of the way, except for my little iPhone.  

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I remain a free agent, politically speaking.  At this point it is easier to point to candidates I would NOT vote for.  
  • Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz attended a "religious freedom" gathering put on by a Colorado pastor who preaches that homosexuals should be punished by death. No way. 
  • Rand Paul has some strange notions he learned from his perennial loser daddy's lap. No way. 
  • Donald Trump is entertaining and all that. I get it. He speaks from the hip and says things that appeal to our lesser angels, but behind the desk in the Oval Office made from the HMS Resolute, I don't think so.  Bluster. Buffoon.  Bully.
  • Ben Carson, neurosurgeon, motivational speaker and inveterate fibber, no. 
  • Rick Santorum. Google his name. No, don't Google his name. Just read his ideas. 
  • George Pataki. He looks like he is constantly constipated. That would drive me crazy for 4/8 years. I'm not interested in his ideas.
  • Just this week six Republican candidate endorsed legislation in their first 100 days that would give individuals and businesses the right to openly discriminate against gays.  Under the guise of "religious liberty", Cruz, Rubio, Carson, Fiorina, Huckabee and Santorum would allow the singling out of a group to be discriminated against.  In clear violation of the Supreme Court.  Why stop there?  Why not make them wear pink rainbows on their clothes so we can more easily direct our scorn.  Its not without historical precedent. Wow.  This is progress? 

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Cubs fans are understandably thrilled with their team for 2016 and for stealing Hayward from their arch rivals the Cardinals. Just be aware that seasons are littered with teams that were purchased.  Just ask Theo.

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Star Wars. Ugh. Is it all over yet? I didn't get it then, I don't get it now.

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Mark and Holly rang the Salvation Army Red Kettle bell at Wal-Mart last week.  I'm proud of them.  

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My reunion with Norah was just as heartwarming as you can imagine.  I am loved.

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On December 8th, four days before my flight back to Florida, I mailed a package to my Clearwater address. Inside the box was some Christmas gifts, my camera and two lenses, and my blood pressure and cholesterol medications. I mailed it that early so I could take some Geminid meteor shower shots that peaked two weekends ago on the 13-14th. I was a bit disappointed that i noticed walking out of post office that estimated delivery date was Monday, the 14th.

I recall telling Mark that I probably screwed up - I wouldn't have my camera in time.   He told me I should have shipped UPS - they are cheaper and faster.  

As I write this on Wednesday the 16th I have not received the package and was informed through my tracking that after sitting in a St. Pete post office for 2 days it is en route to original post office and arrived in Des Moines.  The post office has also informed us that the address was correct so any error is theirs.

So after it arrives back in Emerald City, will it cost an additional $35.00 to re-send it to me?  Hmmm.  USPS - never again.

 ADDENDUM: As I add this on Tuesday, the 22nd, there may be a break in the case.  The package has left the Des Moines area and has returned to the state of Florida.  Updates on my 15 day   missing package on nest week's Tidbits.


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I might be willing to consign my soul to everlasting Hell if I could have this baby sitting in my garage. Forever is an awful long time but it may cool me to remember the first time I'd pull that gorgeous piece of art into the Railroad Days car show runway and the looks from the crowd.

By the way it is a 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K. 
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Just tonight as I write this (6 days before Christmas) I just got an unexpected and whopping bill from my anesthesiologist for my nose surgery.  This is an unbelievable bill.  Frankly, the cabin in the woods purchase was predicated on two things: 1) a reasonably smooth financial year, and 2) the Henderson place subsidizing the venture.  Unfortunately neither has it been a smooth year and I no longer have Henderson for support.  Frankly, the whole thing looks creaky at this point.  This may have been a one-and-out deal.
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Ending on a lighter note. Norah had her first Christmas show at her VPK school last Friday. The moment she saw us in the back of the room and she is about to start waving to us is captured in this blurry iPhone picture.










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