Existing In BFE

This is a re-post of about 4 years ago. One of our favorite sayings in the editorial halls of Existing In BFE is, "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."   Frankly, I don't know if this is one of our Thanksgiving Day feasts at home or not.  But there is every indication that it is.  Note that it is Fall since both Phil and Herb are wearing sweaters.  We never cooked out for Christmas, so we can eliminate that holiday.  Looks like we have chicken on the grill so that conforms to "Cooking Most Foul" for Thanksgiving.  It is also raining which necessitates indoor grilling.   Phil looks to be enjoying a cigar which Herb probably offered as he did often.  He preferred Dutch Master's Presidents.  I'm not sure what kind of ventilation we had in the garage but cooking on the grill is fairly common throughout the year in Northlandia regardless of the weather.   Meeting in Seaton for the major holidays was ...

My father used to rattle off an etymological little ditty about flatulence.  Sinfully, I have forgotten how it went.  It started out:  "Fizz-fuzz, a fizz fuzz" and then it would happily go on to describe the various ways intestinal gas escape our bodies. It ended with, "...and a rattler don't count."   Since I am a educated man, or think I am, I try to tell my refined sophisticated self that I am not much into bathroom humor.  But I have another side, less polished, childlike, that believes, firmly and fancifully, that farts are funny.  Yep, squeeze one off in public and it is sure to be the highlight of the day. I have mentioned before, perhaps many times, that Bill Seaton, a kid our age, and whose family always sat in front of ours in church made one of the most memorable memories of that dreaded almost weekly experience.  Bill ripped one during a moment of silent prayer one Sunday, and his mother, Doris, tapped him on the shoulder in a ...

Night shot at OVCC.

T hey are starting a new smartphone ap news service called SmartNews.  This app provides both the right and left side of the news, or if you prefer: Fox and then all the other objective news outlets.  My prediction is that it will fail.  It will fail because we don't want to hear all sides of an issue.  We want only that which conforms to our personal views.   ++++++++++ ++++++++++ As loyal readers know, I rise early to get a head start on the day.  It takes till noon for everyone else to catch up and by 5 I'm lost in their dust.  It suits me.  Anyway, I take a nice 3 mile walk and lately I have been stopping at the Melrose By the Bay apartment complex to sneak into their unlocked fitness room and treadmill a few extra steps.  Melrose is currently the home of Atilla the Hen and I don't want to say they are a bit seedy but their kids walk across the street to Sinkhole Estates and rip off stuff that isn't nailed dow...

Frankly, if you've seen one car show you've seen them all.  They are the same cars that travel from town to town in search of new hardware to put on their mantel or in a box sitting out in the garage. Things have changed little since I started doing them back when I had a sweet '62 Plymouth Belvedere.  I had given up golf for a lawn chair in the park.  I added more cars, then sold them when it looked like Kitschland was going to be my new home.  But Kitschland never gelled so I got another old car for visits up North.  There will be no more cars other than the one I have.  This event, the Aledo Antique Days Car Show is an obvious must-go and there are always a lot of nice cars to see.   And, of course, by virtue of its being kind of a hometown show, attendance is required.    She is a somewhat rare 4-door Dodge Custom 800.  It was pretty much turnkey.  Unlike my other cars I have not done a thing to her....

The following post was first written in 2012 and is reprinted here because it pretty much expresses what I think is important today, and because I'm too lazy to come up with something new.    There can be a case made for Thanksgiving being the best holiday.  Oh sure, there is nothing quite like Christmas morning, the lights, the smell of pine (does anyone get real trees anymore?),  family, the beautifully wrapped packages and the overflowing goodies in the kitchen.   Hollywood has done Christmas to death and it seems the American economy, or at least those economies on the ropes, depend on it for survival.   A case can be made, and a darn good one, that Thanksgiving surpasses Christmas as the time of year that is best for the American soul.  Firstly, no presents are bought, nor are they encouraged.  Nope, Thanksgiving is the anti-business holiday where the only obligation is to show up.  And short of that, to sim...

Carl Sagan ++++++++++ Top picture is the Cameron Highlanders in 1914 going off to war.  The bottom pic is in 1918 after they came home. ++++++++++ Tomorrow's will be the last post this week.  It's Thanksgiving.  You have other things to occupy your time than this unworthy blog.  I wish you all a great time filled with family, football and food.  I'll be back on Monday the 26th. ++++++++++ PayPal, once the best way to send money to friends and family free has begun charging 10% for each transaction. I will be looking for ways to continue this practice: I don't want to go back to writing checks. I'm trying Google Pay and will be checking other platforms. ++++++++++ ++++++++++ An iPhone picture of an area on my early morning walk.  Black and white night pics are so much fun. ++++++++++ Whizzbang is just a little lapdog. ...