Gary's BLOG

Time to Say it

2011-10-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well I guess eventually I was going to have to comment, so here goes.....

For a couple of weeks now I, like so many of you have for the most part quietly sat back and watched the "Occupy Wallstreet", Occupy Atlanta", or "Occupy Where Ever" groups. Initially I actually sort of applauded them. I was impressed that a group of young Americans was deciding to get engaged in the process that we call our way of life. And then, the more I observered, the more I realized, as Coach Danny Cronic use to say.......that they hadn't seen the ball since kickoff. I have to believe that somebody in that group had some idea of what it is exactly that they are protesting, but over and over having listened to interview after interview, it became sadly obvious that these young people really didn't know. They just know that they are mad, but they're not sure who it is that they are mad it.

They all like to use catch phrases like "the fat cats" on wallstreet; or "them". Who exactly is "them"? When pressed for details, most of them could not give any details.

I believe that I can tell you what it is that they are mad at and about. These kids were raised where everyone that participated got a trophy. They were taught from the earliest childhood there are no loosers nor are they're any winners. In many places throughout the US, team sports don't even exist anymore as those of you that are my age knew team sports. Yes, they have teams, and they play. But they don't keep score. And at the end of the season.......everyone wins first place. They have come to the place where they think that all they have to do is show up and at the end of the day, we will all be rich. They believe it doesn't require any work on their part, only participation.

These sad young people are falling victim to President Barrack Obama and his near continuous assault on people of success and his engaging in simple class warfare. I'm sure all of you are tired of hearing that the rich need to pay their fair share. Well, considering that the bottom 50% of income earners in the US pay zero income taxes collected; and the top 5% of income earners pay almost 80% of income taxes collected that leaves 45% of income earners paying 20% of income taxes collected, then my question is just what is their fair share?

If you listen to the rhectoric of these young people, and you are a student of history at all, you just might recognize that the things that they are saying come directly from The Communist Manifesto; to each as they have need, from each as they have ability. Hard work, preparation, dedication, is not valued any more than mediocrity in the work place. You are expected to give as you have ability, and take only as you have need. A dedicated, hard working employee does not deserve any more than someone that gives minimum required. It was suggested by either Lennon or Stallin one that they would not nor could not ever take the United States by force, but in time they would take the US simply with their ideas. Is this simply prophecy coming to fruition?

Over my last few off days I have watched with some interest various prorams on T.V. What I see and notice more and more are the various hosts with guests that are otherwise young and intelligent. Well, that is until they really start talking. If you listen to these young people it is so obvious that they wish to bless the masses with their infinate wisdom. They speak with apparent authority and suggest things that at best are half baked and ultimately would only contribute to the true demise of this great nation. My thought is this.........they need to sit down, shut up, and learn.

Yes, I am a conservative. And proud of it too. Yes, I listen to talk radio. And maybe you should too. If you do, almost every week, maybe a couple of times each week, someone will call in to any of a number of radio shows. Soon they will tell that they are from Soviet Georgia, Russia, or the old Yugoslavia. And over and over and over, you can hear them speak with pride that they escaped the socialist government of their homeland and finally arrived here in the United States; a place that still stands as a becon of hope for those that wish to pursue dreams of independence and self sufficicency. They will speak with almost fear in their voice as they warn listeners to do everything that they can to avoid what they can so easily see as an onslaught from those that would turn this great nation into what they escaped from.

My friends, it is not too late. This great nation can still be saved. But it will not happen without you. What is required from you is that you, like the uninformed idiots that are the "Occupy" groups, is that you educate yourself, that you engage in the process, and that you hold accountable those that we elect. You start simply by becoming informed.

I would ask you to not believe anything that I say. Hey, just because I say it, does not make it so. But once you have confirmed it, they you will knwo first hand. And, once you know first hand, you are in a much better position to be able to act accordingly to combat those things that are bad for you, bad for us, and bad for the US.

I would not be so bold as to tell you how to vote. But I would be bold enough to suggest that if you truly educate yourself knowing how to vote will become so easy that there will not even be a thought process, you will just know what to do.

I apologize that this post is not one of my normal "feel good" sort of posts. But it can be. If you engage, I promise, you will feel good in the long run with the outcome.

Our future is up to you. And me. And all of us that wish to see this great nation continue on.

"One Nation, under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

Until next time..............

Gary

Goin' Home

2011-03-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

I was off work today and badly in need of a haircut. I needed as well to go to my sisters house and pick up something, so I decided to leave the big city this morning and drive up to Canton. For those that don't know me well, Canton is my hometown, the place where I grew up.

I don't know why, but somehow, driving up there this morning seemed somewhat different from normal. I mean, I go to Canton several times each year. I wouldn't put a number on how many times, but I would say very often. I may skip a few weeks, but then two weeks will go by where I'll be up there 3 or 4 times. But still, today it seemed somehow nostalgic. I went and got my haircut, then went to my sisters house. On the way to her house I drove though Old Canton. My how things have changed. As I passed Academy Street I remembered the the old hotel that stood where a bank stands now. Kinda funny, I don't even know the name of the bank, but it was Etowah Bank at one time. As I passed The Chamberhouse, I remembered the car dealership that was there on the right. Then of course, before Etowah moved across the street, they were there on the corner just passed the old Townhouse Restaurant, now home of R & M. Then on through the intersection on the left was the Jones Building. Sometimes I'll find myself thinking about the days when as a teenage boy getting dressed for a date on a Friday or Saturday night and would leave my house without a shirt on because I didn't have one that I could or wanted to wear. I would drive to Jones, go inside, shirtless, and Bobby Mullinax would help me find and purchase a shirt. Funny to think about it now, but I really did do that.

Right across the street from Jones was The Bank of Canton. I do miss that bank. Of course right beside the Bank was the old Canton Theatre. I saw Jungle Book when it was first released in that theatre. Almost across the street from the theatre was The Greenrail. My buddy Greg Henderson had a thread over on Facebook recently where we all reminisced about our favorite restaurants when we were growing up. Lots of people mentioned The Greenrail. Then there was Mid-city Pharmacy, Key's Jewelry, Kesslers, Rosenblums, and how many people remember Fambros I wonder? Across the street from Kesslers was Worley's Shoes. I had many pairs of shoes that came from Worley's as a boy growing up in Canton.

I passed the Old Library, and cruised on out East Main Street and finally came to my sisters street, and went on to her house.

When I left her house I drove back through the old town square area and as I passed what was the library and started down the back street of Canton, I laughed a little because suddenly I remembered when the street that drives around the old square area was not one way. I ended up making the complete circle again, but this time after I passed Darby (Huey) Funeral Home, I turned right and headed down the hill. For those that really know Canton, you know that I drove down through Happy Hollar......

At the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, I turned left and headed south. I drove all the way up to the top, turning right on the backside of the "V". At the intersection that crosses old highway 5, I went straight onto 205, Bells Ferry. Not sure how many will remember, but at that intersection there once was Fowler's Grocery Store. That place was owned by my Uncle Alonzo Fowler. As a kid, that is where we bought our groceries. And almost every time that we went there, I would go thru the door begging Momma to let me get a "dimes worth". A dimes worth would be a small paper bag with penny candy. Alonzo sold penny candy up by the cash register. I know that memory tends to change some facts, even if it is just a little bit, but I have distinct memories of getting that paper bag and filling it almost completely with candy. Alonzo would empty the bag and count it out. It was always a dime.

I drove on down to the old 4-way stop and turned right on Butteworth Road. I went out to see my old friend Randall Page. It's always good to see Randall. Randall's Dad and my Dad were buddies, and Randall was one of the Paul Bearers at my Dad's funeral. He's kinda like another older brother to me. It was good to see him. Like you might imagine, we talked about old times. After about 30 minutes I knew I had to go.

I left Randall's and made my way back out Butterworth, then right on Old 5, and on down the road to 575 south. Forty Five minutes later I was coming up on Northside/Howell Mill Road. I made my way on into downtown, but traffic was not good. So I used the home field advantage, and took Williams Street Exit and winded my way thru until I finally was back at what I call home. Well, it's where I sleep anyways............

I want to believe someday that I'll come back to Canton to stay. You know the old saying, you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. I guess that's true. And I do love the peacefulness of the country. But if I'm honest, I have to call myself a city boy too. You get use to it I guess. I have my Breeze card (for MARTA), and I use the train often. Twenty five dollars worth of gas will last me about three weeks. I enjoy the city. Lots of conveniences. But someday, whenever someday is, I believe I'll come back.

Anyway, that's my walk down memory lane. It was good to be home. And as crazy as it sounds, I get a better haircut in Canton.............

Until next time......

G

So Long to a Hero

2011-02-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the death of Royal Marshall. It was one of those things that was so shocking that it just made me stop and reminisce. And I'm glad that I did. I've talked to some old friends, almost all of my family, and I've re-established some relationships that simply put are important to me. No, I haven't been able to talk to everyone that I want to, but even now, I'm no less determined.

But today brought the sad news of yet another death.

As I sit back and look at my own life, I can easily see it in various stages.

Stage one.....The Childhood stage
You know, there's not a whole lot you can say about childhood. I think that with little exception most people experience a childhood very similar to anyone. After all, you're a child. True, some children are raised in the city, some in the country. But childhood being what it is, basically, most are the same or at least very similar.

Stage two.....The Teenager stage
Teenage years like childhood are similar among lots of people. Teenage years though do have variances. A teenager raised in the city may be a little more independent than a teenager raised in the country. But on the other hand a teenager raised in the county usually knows how to drive a vehicle long before city teens. Us country kids grew up driving our tractors, moving our trucks in the pasture, etc. But still, basically otherwise, similar experiences. I know my teen years were not remarkable. I started working when I was about 13, working with my Dad at his service station, except when he needed me to help move cattle, sit with a cow about to give birth, or things like that.

Stage three.....The I just turned 19 and I know everything stage.
Now in my case, I did believe that I knew everything, but I also knew when to express this belief and when to keep my mouth shut. If Daddy was around, it was time to keep my mouth shut.

And finally, Stage four..... The I just realized that I don't know jack stage.

At about age 22 or 23 I really did realize that I didn't really know anything at all, and that at best, I will ill prepared to face life. I decided then and there that even though I didn't know anything at all, that I was going to try to figure it out. I've been working on that every since. Still don't know much, but I know enough to know that I'm still working on it.

At about age 23 I met the three people, in my case three men, that has by and large helped to shape the man that I have become. That is, outside of the influence of my parents and my family, these three men have influenced me greatly.

Neal Boortz. For those of you that don't know who he is.......well, if you know me, you know who he is............ but Neal is the host of the Neal Boortz Radio Show, airs locally on WSB Radio. Neal has been on WSB for close to 20 years now, I'm not sure exactly how long, but close to that I am sure. Before WSB, Neal was on another Atlanta station, but as I write this, for the life of me, I can't think of what that station was. Maybe it was WGST??? I don't know. Anyway, Neal is a straight shooter, of that you can say for certain. He is known as The High Priest of The Church of The Painful Truth. I was listening that day when a caller called him this. What he said as I recall was that his show was like the church of the painful truth, and that Neal was the high priest. Well, that stuck with him. If you listen to Neal whatever you hear him say you can know is the truth, even though he will tell you not to believe him until you can verify it independently of his word. I have taken that philosophy to my own life. Whenever I tell someone something, what I am telling them is the truth, but I always tell them to check it out themselves, don't take my word for it. Neal remains a strong influence in my life. I listen to him almost daily.

Lewis Grizzard. Lewis at the time that I learned of him, wrote for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He had also written several books; Don't Sit Under The Grits Tree With Anyone Else But me; Shoot Low Boys, They're Ridding Shetland Ponies; They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat just to mention a few. And one of his last, if not his last, my favorite, Don't Bend Over In The Garden Momma, You know Them Taters Got Eyes. Lewis wrote about growing up in the south. I thought the very first time that I read one of his books that he was describing my life. The things he wrote about, his experiences, his family, all of it sounded like me. Lewis passed away several years ago, succumbing to a life long battle with his heart. Lewis taught me to cherish the memories of your youth, because it is from those memories that you will reach back for and draw back to you the most valuable lessons of your life. Lewis Grizzard taught me simply the wonderfulness of memories.

Ludlow Porch. Ludlow did a radio show on WSB am radio. It was called simply enough, The Ludlow Porch Show. Ludlow was one of those people that found humor in almost everything. And he could make you laugh without any effort at all. He was a kind man with a very gentle spirit. I believe that Ludlow continued to do a show somewhere on a smaller radio station for a few years after leaving WSB but I never did hear him again after his days on WSB. Ludlow though taught me the value being gracious when dealing with people, no matter how absurd that they may be treating you, if you simply treat them with respect you will make a far deeper and longer lasting impression on them than any negative response could ever leave. Just be kind, and laugh as often as you can.

Ludlow Porch passed away this morning around 6:15. I smiled when I learned the news. I know that he graciously greeted death as he came knocking on his door. He probably paused just a second and then opened the door to death and calmly said to him, "well, I guess we better get on our way, I don't want to hold you up." Ludlow Porch was a great and gentle man.

I'm still in that I just realized that I don't know jack stage, and I expect that I will never escape it. But with truthfulness I've learned from Neal Boortz, the memories that Lewis Grizzard taught me to hold on to, the gentleness and kindness that I learned from Ludlow Porch, along with the love of my family, and the encouragement of so many friends, I may make it out of here some day myself without causing too much damage to those around me. And if I can do that, nothing else really matters, I will have lived a successful life.

To God goes all the glory. It is his wisdom that guides me to success, his strength that holds me up in my failures, and his belief in me when I'm not even sure I believe in myself.

God Bless you all..........and so long Ludlow, I'll see you 'round the corner.

Gary

Hello to All and Farewell to a Friend

2011-01-23T06:59:00.000-08:00

Each day that we live, we rise in the morning, we retire in the evening. And everyone does this excepting perhaps those that are grave yarders, and work at night and sleep during the day. But those too, rise and retire every day. This is the cycle of our days. During our waking hours we do things that we take so much for granted. We walk. We talk. We see. We hear. We touch. We smell. We taste. We do all of these things without thought. We take for granted that tomorrow we will do these things again. And most of the time, indeed tomorrow we will again repeat each of those things, and again we will repeat them without thought. But for each and everyone of us, there is coming a day that on tomorrow we will not do those things. Because for each of us is coming that day that we won't retire, but instead expire.

Last week, late on Friday night/early Saturday morning we lost a friend. Did I know him well? Well, yes, I did. Did he know me well? Well, no, he really didn't. We lost a friend that for so many of us brightened many of our days. A man that made the phrase "keeping it real" mean so much. And when everything was said and done, and I absorbed the immediate reality of his death, the only thing I could say was "Just Damn".

Royal Marshall, Engineer and Associate Producer of The Neal Boortz Show was stricken with a massive heart attack and at the age of 43 died.

I met Royal a couple of times over my years at The Georgia World Congress Center. He was there on each occasion for some event being hosted at The GWCC. If you were to take all of the time I spent talking with him on both occasions and added it together, you might have a total of about 5 minutes. So for me to say that he knew me would be a stretch, even if you used the most liberal imagination. He did not know me. But I knew him. I knew him from 17 years on The Neal Boortz Show. I knew him from his own couple of years with his show "The Royal Treatment". I can make the same statement about Neal Boortz, or Belinda Skelton. I've listened to Clark Howard now for many, many years and feel like I know him too. Scott Slade is someone that I spend almost every morning with, so I feel I know him as well. But I have to say that over the years I had grown to really respect Royal and so much looked forward to whatever he would add to Neal's' show each day.....and over the years he added so very much.

I am 53 years old. I have in my lifetime known death on many levels. Over the last few years not only have I lost my Mother to Cancer, but my older Brother as well. My Dad passed away when I was 19 years old. My oldest sister had two sons that was born with problems that prevented them from living lives beyond just a couple of years. I've lost friends that I was close to and that did know me well. Almost all of my aunts and uncles are passed away. And there has been numerous acquaintances over the years. Yes, I can honestly say that I know what it is like to experience the death of someone close to me. But with Royals' death I have to say that somehow it has affected me somewhat differently.

Life is in fact very fragile. I know, I know. This is not an original thought. This is not the first time that anyone of us has read or heard that comment. But the reality of the comment seems to have hit me hard. I have come to the very real knowledge that at least I take so much for granted.

When was the last time that you stood and gazed with absolute wonder and awe at the glory of a sunrise? How about a sunset?

When did you last stand and listen to the stillness of the night? Or maybe looked upon a stream or river and find yourself in amazement when you realized that all of those sounds that you heard.......the water flowing, the birds chirping, the many sounds of nature as they were lifting their voices praising our creator. I'm reminded of an old song that has the line in it "if I don't praise him the rocks are gonna cry out, glory and honor, glory and honor". Yes all of those sounds that we hear in nature I do believe is nature singing loudly to the Glory of God. It is nature having a praise service. And sadly, while I can't answer for you, I know that most of the time, I don't even notice the wonderful sound of praise going on around me; I just take for granted that tomorrow I will stop and listen, after all, the river is going to flow tomorrow, the birds are going to sing tomorrow. Right?

And I have to ask myself this question.... When was the last time that I picked up the phone and just called an old friend, someone that perhaps I just haven't talked to in a while and asked them how are they doing? I'll admit that very often I think to myself that I need to call so and so, that I haven't talked to them in a while. But of course, I'm busy when I think of it, but I tell myself that tonight, once I'm home, I'm gonna call. Then a few days later, they cross my mind again. I realize that I never did call.

You know, you probably do have tomorrow. You probably can call then. Even better, you'll just go see them. You can always do it tomorrow. Or can you?

We have right now. That's all. We are not promised tomorrow, or even an hour from now. We just have right now. Of course, we can't call everyone right now. We can't go see everyone right now. We can't stop and watch the river flow every time we pass over one. We can't stand each morning or each evening and watch the sun rise or set. We can't always stand outside and listen to the sounds of the night. But............ we do have opportunity from time to time to do these things and I would encourage you as I also encourage myself, that when we have those opportunities that we should take them; latch on to them as though that very opportunity may never be given to us again. Because even thought it might. It just might not.

And to my friend Royal............. Thank you. Thank you for 17 years of The Royal Treatment. Thank you for allowing me to know you. Thank you my friend, thank you.

And to my other friends and family. You need to expect to hear from me.

I'll be calling....................

Gary

It's Time for Somebody to Say it

2011-01-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've heard enough, I've seen enough. It's time for somebody to say it. It's time for somebody to point out simple common sense. And I'm thinking I've got the mouth big enough, and the constitution strong enough to just say it.

Folks, it snowed. It snowed hard. Then, after it was finished snowing, freezing rain, and ice pellets (what we once called sleet here in the south) came falling out of the sky. It was a nightmare. And now........ the crap is still on the ground. Why? Because it's cold. Real cold. Real, real damn cold. It's freaking cold !!!

And we live in the south. Did you forget that? The south. Sometimes we even still call it the sunny south. But the point here is, it doesn't do this very often here. Never mind that just 18 days ago we experienced the first white Christmas that anyone breathing and living here has ever seen in these parts.. It's been well over 100 years since this area has seen a white Christmas. That's how often it DOESN'T snow around here.

Let me say it again. We live in the south. I typed that real slow for those that can't read so fast. I hope it helped.

I'm just about sick and tired of seeing idiots on the local news complaining about how poor a job the local leaders are doing in clearing the roads. Hey, the local leaders can't give birth to snow moving equipment that they don't have at their disposal. And why you might wonder does our local governments not have more snow moving equipment? I will refer you at this point to the previous two paragraphs. And if you don't understand that, I'll even say it again here: We live in the south. (Hey, I typed it even slower this time, I know it's difficult for some of you if I type too fast).

I saw a fellow on the news a few moments ago, a trucker. Now before I go any further, for those of you that don't know.........I'm a trucker, I can talk about "us" if i want to. He made the comment something along the lines that he was just in Minnesota last week and they had even worse than this, and had no problems.

Okay, I know it should be obvious here, but it wasn't to him, so I'm thinking it won't be to others. He said he was in Minnesota.

ummm............ummmm

Clearing my throat, tyring to keep my composure.

He said MINNESOTA.

If you don't know where that is check your map. If you don't happen to have a map just right there beside you......... Minnesota is just north of Wisconsin. If you go west from Minnesota, you'll end up in either North Dakota or South Dakota. If you go east, you'll be in the chilly waters of Lake Superior. If you go further north from Minnesota, the Canadian authorities will greet you at the boarder. Minnesota - - - - part of the frozen tundra that makes up the northern United States. I wonder why they would not have any problem with even worse than this? Oh I don't know, maybe because they expect this, many times each winter. Could that be it???? No, what was I thinking, probably not. It's just that they are not from here, so they are obviously inherently smarter than we are. I'm sure that's it.

Come on folks. Go back up a little bit and read that second paragraph again.

I'm sitting here watching the local news, but you may have figured that out already. And this woman they just interviewed, I believe at the Atlanta Bus Terminal, she's just whining and crying, I mean like a child crying, sobbing, "I can't believe they let this happen, and just leave us here like this, and do nothing....." OH MY GOD..... where did they find this looser?

Hey lady, it's all a conspiracy. There was a group of us, we heard you were coming to town, and we arranged it all; the snow, the ice, all of it. We did it because we heard you were coming to town, and just thought we would mess with you. Yep, you figured it out.

Needless to say, I was not moved by her whining.

I feel like I need to say it again. WE are in the south.

Moving from the local news to the national news, this same storm is going to hit New York City and the northeast tonight. I noticed with great interest that Mayor Bloomberg has announced that their 365 sand trucks and their 1700 snow plows are on the ready. No, that is not a typo, he said that their 365, that's three hundred sixty five sand trucks, and their 1700, that's seventeen hundred snow plows are on the ready.

Now lets compare that to Atlanta, Mayor Reed announced today that they are bringing in an additional 50 trucks to assist the city in clearing more streets. Now they will have 60.

You see folks, the economics of having millions of dollars of equipment setting around so that we can handle these once a decade snow/ice events just doesn't make sense. I'm no economist. Certainly, not a financial wizard. But even me, a country boy from Canton., Georgia can figure that one out.

So for goodness sakes, just relax. Sit back and enjoy these days, because as certain as the sun rises and sets, this snow and ice will melt. And you will get back to work, your kids will return to school. And if you have to get out, please, please, please drive slow. Real slow. I had to work today, and it is slick. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not complaining, I'm just telling you it is slick out there. So if you don't have to get out.......DON'T. If you do have to get out, take it real easy, drive slow, watch out for everything, and arrive alive.

And when you hear those blankety-blank cry babies whining about how poor a job our government officials are doing, and how much better that the cities up north handle this sort of thing, I suggest you quote the late great Lewis Grizzard......."We don't care how they do it in Cleveland, if you don't like it here, Delta is ready when you are." One less loud mouthed, complaining yankee around here would not be missed. Not even for a minute.

Okay, I'll quit now, I figure I've insulted enough people for one day.

Hope your day is wonderful, your tomorrow even better. God Bless You All............

..........Gary

Everything That goes around.............

2010-08-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

I remember when..............

When I was a boy we had a phone. My kids have never seen a phone like the one that we had. First, it is important to remember that in our house we had ONE phone. The phone was black. As I recall, at that time, black was the only color available for phones. But maybe not, maybe ours was just black. To use this phone you had to "DIAL" the number. Yes, you placed your finger into the correct hole, and you "dialed" or turned the dial all the way to the right until you hit the stop and then you released it. You had to dial seven numbers in order to connect with anyone. If the number you were dialing was not a local number, then you simply dialed "zero" for the operator.

Well, time brings progress. When I was an older teen, our phone changed. Now we still had the same phone number, but now our phone had buttons that you pressed. Our phone system was not very up-to-date, so you had to move a switch on it from "tone" to "pulse". When you pressed a number, if you were holding the handset to your ear you could hear it dialing. Within time however, even our phone system updated and we too had tone dialing. Man, as soon as you finished pressing the last number of the person you were calling, you were immediately connected.............just like that. Ahh, the miracles of modern technology.

When I was around age 20, I made this huge purchase. I bought a cordless phone. That's right. A totally new concept. A phone without a chord. I could place a call and walk around all over the house. Heck, I could even go outside, as long as I didn't walk too far, and still stay connected on the phone. I couldn't imagine at that time that technology could ever improve on this.... a phone that worked seeminly by magic. You just had to remember to place the phone on its craddle when you wasn't using it to keep the batteries charged. But all in all, this was absolutely amazing.

Then again, over time, technology just got better and better. Soon there was these very cool things called beepers. Someone could dail a number and your beeper, a little thing about the size of a pack of cigarettes would beep. But these were only for the very wealthy; people like doctors. Because you had to have someone that you had to call to find out who you needed to call. That wasn't a problem though, pay phones were plentiful, and it only cost a dime to call your paging service. I never had a beeper. I'm not a doctor. It wasn't long though until technology improved yet again, and along came digital papers. Someone could call your pager number, however now on your beeper there was this tiny little screen. And on the screen would be displayed the number to which you needed to call once you found a pay phone.

After this was voice pagers. Someone could call your number and leave a message. Your pager would beep, and you would press a button, and BAM, the next thing you heard was the message of the person that had left you a message. You could actually hear their message. WOW !!! This was waaay cool. I still wasn't a doctor, but I had a voice pager. My wife was the biggest user of my voice pager................. There I would be, working with someone on something really important and suddenly my pager would go off. I would reach down, press the button, and hear the crucial message that she just had to leave......................."Honey, we are out of bread. Please stop and get some on your way home.....and oh yeah, I need some pantyhose." As I remember, the service was around $30 per month, and each message cost an additional 2 cents or something like that. Yep, I had arrived, I had a pager.

Time of course has a way of making current technology look archaic. Somewhere around 1987 or 1988 I joined the ranks of those that had a mobile phone. That's right, a phone that you could have in your car. Except, I was way to cool to be limited to having to be in my home or in my car to make a call, oh no, I had to have a portable mobile phone. It was beauty. Phone, battery, and case combined was about the size of a medium ladies purse. But boy was I cool !!! All that I had to do to make a call was open it up, place the antenna pointing up, press the numbers, then press send, and BAM, I was talking..............just like that ! Again, my memory is somewhat clouded, but I think I paid $28.00 per month plus something like 35 cents per minute for that service.

Time again replaced what seemed to be space age in concept and design, and it was not long before cell phones were the size of a credit card, and everyone and their brother had one. Then came smart phones. Cell phones that also had the internet (we haven't even talked about that). A cell phone that you could not only talk on, but also connect to the internet on.

Heck, I haven't even mentioned texting...................

Now here I sit in my apartment. Beside me are my landline phone, my personal cell phone, my work cell phone, and on my lap is my laptop. I am one connected man.

Technology has taken an amazing concept, the phone, and it has developed into a marval of modern technology. Our phones are miniture computers, word processors, mini-televisions; they seem to do it all. And you know what I just did?

I just added Google Talk to my laptop. Yep, now I can make phone calls to any phone in the world right from my laptop............. What was I thinking? Maybe I needed to call someone and just to make sure it would not be a problem, I added the capability on my laptop to make phone calls. Oh yeah, I needed that !!!

When I was 19, my Daddy passed away. The year was 1977. He never even saw a cell phone. If he needed to talk to someone he would go and see them. Of course, he did use the phone too, but my point is that he used the best form of communication possible. He looked at them while he talked to them. Imagine that.

...................Anyway

My phone has the internet, and my computer can make phone calls. Technology marches on.

Hey, if you get bored, just give me a call.............

Later.

It's A Great Day To Whoop Somebody's Ass

2010-05-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

Time

2010-04-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 18, 2010; 8:00 pm

Time.

Time is measured in its smallest unit as seconds. Then comes minutes, hours, days, weeks……. We all pretty much know this. Something else we are all intimately familiar with is that time cannot be stopped. No matter what we might try, time moves on with or without us. To borrow a very over-used statement, time is what it is, and we cannot change it.

One of my favorite, if not my very favorite singer/songwriters is James Taylor. He wrote and recorded some great songs back in my high school and college days. One of his songs begins with the line “The Secret of Life is enjoying the passage of time”….. Never has there been a truer statement. Have you ever wondered why it is that we get so caught up in the everyday details of what we do? Yes, yes, I know that we must pay attention to details when we are at work. I know that we must pay attention to details when we are driving. When we are preparing our dinner, we really need to pay attention to what we are doing, or we might add a tablespoon of salt when what we wanted was a tablespoon of sugar. Trust me you don’t want to make that mistake. But what I am talking about is that we sometimes allow our self to become so engrossed in the details of what we are doing that we fail to really see what it is that we are doing. You know, the “can’t see the forest for the tress” syndrome.

Today I did something so simple. I had lunch with my daughter. So many times in the past we have enjoyed a meal together just her and me. Sometimes it has been something I would make, and other times, as today, a nice meal in a restaurant. No, she’s not a ‘little girl’ anymore. But at the same time, she remains my little girl. She’s 18 years old now. But we drove together up to one of our favorite restaurants in the entire world. Yes, really, in the entire world. We drove up to McCaysville, Georgia; or maybe it is Copperhill, Tennessee, but we went up there. It’s about an hour and fifteen minute drive from Canton where she lives.

We talked about dogs. We talked about boyfriends. We talked about Mom and Dad. We talked about Grandma and Grandpa, Granny and Papa. We talked about things that have absolutely no relevance at all. We just talked. We laughed some. I don’t think we cried any, but there may have been a moment or two that both of us fought back some tears, and most definitely, there were a couple of moments that voices became shaky and words did not come out so easy. But we just talked.

She had her ‘Tropical Chicken’, and I had my ‘Enchiladas Especial’. We ate too many chips and salsa. We thoroughly enjoyed our self. And then when we left, we each blamed the other for making us eat all that food. Yeah, it was all real good. We had lunch at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, El Rio. And yes, we really did drive all the way up to McCaysville to do it. Now, could we have enjoyed some good Mexican food somewhere closer to Canton? Most definitely. Could we have enjoyed Mexican food as good as that somewhere closer to Canton? Probably not, at least not in our opinion, El Rio is simply the best. You have to ask yourself this though, did we intend to have lunch up there in order to spend the extra time together driving, talking, and enjoying each others’ company? Actually, no we didn’t. We wanted El Rio. So that’s where we went. But here is the thing.

We made the TIME to do what we wanted. We didn’t settle for less than what we wanted because I needed to do this, or she needed to do that. We just did what we wanted, and a very good side affect of doing that was the time it took to do it. When I left her house, I wondered to myself how many times in the past I had been guilty of running to Applebee’s or Dos Margaritas because they are so close and after all, we could save all that time by going there versus somewhere else that we both really liked. I don’t know the answer to that question, but sadly, I am certain that I have done it.

But today anyway, we did what we wanted. I got to spend about 4 hours with my little girl, and it was good. I left my apartment in Atlanta at 10 this morning. I got back at about 5 this afternoon. Could I have better used that time in some other way? Actually, I don’t think that is even remotely possible. It was time well spent in the best possible manner.

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time………………….

Time.

A Heart Felt Thank-you

2010-03-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

I can be guilty of failing to tell someone thank you when a thank you is definately due.

The other day, on Thursday March 11th, I was flying into Atlanta. It had been a very bad day from the get-go. We had seen delay after delay after delay. I was not well. But finally, thank goodness, we were back in Atlanta, and in my case, I was only about 15 minutes from where I live. Well, 15 minutes that is after I get to baggage return, ground transportation, and then back to my truck which was parked 'off-site'.

So I finally get off the plane, and since I had checked my luggage, I didn't need to wait on the baggage guys to dig out the plane-side checked luggage. I could go on to regular baggage pick up. I suddenly realize that I am in an unfamiliar gate. I mean..............I work there at the airport. I work on Concourses C and D. Now I know my gates very well. But I wasn't at one of my gates. as a matter of fact, I was on the opposite side of the gates from my gates, even though I was on one of my concourses. I work odd numbers, these were even numbers.

As I said, I was not well, the day had been very difficult, and suddenly I was somewhat beginning to suffer the onset of a real panic attack. WHAT did I say??? Panic Attack? Yeah, I think so. And I have no idea why. But I was suddenly having difficult breathing, for a moment I was not sure where I was at, and for a brief moment, I felt nothing but sheer terror. I had just stepped out into the terminal common area, and I stopped basically to compose myself.

A man, I would say about my age, was looking my way. He and I made eye contact. He was on the phone, but I heard him say, "I'll call you back, I think this guys in trouble.". He ended his call, stood, took a couple steps towards me, and asked "Are you okay?".. I answered honestly, "No, I'm not." He walked on over, took my by the arm, and guided me over to a chair. I told him was was going on, even showed him my airport ID, and told him that I was not sure what was going on, but i also very much felt better.

You know, the man never suggested anything. He never tried to get me to tell him anything. He just reacted to another human being that he saw was in trouble. I told him where I needed to go, what I needed to do, and he told me to sit and he would be right back. After only a few moments, he returned told me exactly where to go, asked me again if I was okay now, and then wished me good luck.

I can't say for certain, but I believe that I stood up from that moment, walked away, and never said a word of thanks. Upon relaizing this the next day I did feel very badly. I mean, a total stranger put themself out for me, and I failed thank him for it. I wish it was not so, but I'm almost certain it is.

So sir, for whatever it's worth to you, even though I know that chances are that you are not reading this, from the bottom of my heart, I offer to you my sincerest of thanks. You truly are a gentleman. My deepest apologies that I failed to say thank you then. But know that I do thank you now, and even then even moreso. I was just in a state.....................a state of "I don't know".

Please don't make the mistake that I made................say thank you. It is a so easy to do. But sadly, so easy to fail to do also.

So to you............thank you for reading my blog. I hope to hear from you too.

Gary

I remember when

2010-01-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

Thursday January 21, 2010

I remember when……………..

Food was something that you not only ate, but something from which memories were made.

When I was a little boy, I’m not sure of my age then, but I was small, no older than 5 or 6 I would guess, I saw Momma come from the house carrying a brown paper bag (what we called a poke), and head down towards the road behind the house. There was a weed, or what I thought was a weed that grew on the fence line down there, and she picked some of those weeds and put them in the poke. Early that same evening we ate some of the best something I can recall ever eating at that time in my life. There was some really tasty meat, some beans or maybe it was blackeye peas, and this other something that was dark green. I remember being told that I had to eat some of all of it, even the green stuff. The meat it turns out was chicken, however it was baked, and not fried. I thought then that the only way a person ate chicken was fried chicken. And the green stuff, (poke salad), turns out it was pretty doggone good. And the beans, or blackeyes, or field peas, or whatever it was also was very good. I’m sure that there was either biscuits or cornbread or maybe even both. But what I remember most was that all of it was just real good, I mean really good.

The next day I remember getting me a brown paper bag and off outside I went. I didn’t know what to get, so I just picked anything green and put it in that bag. I knew only one thing, I wanted another dinner like the one we had the day before. And if my Momma could pick green stuff from outside and come up with that dinner then she should be able to do the same thing with whatever I put in my poke right? Makes perfect sense to a 5 or
6 year old county bumpkin little boy. As it turns out, clover, tall grass, and broadleaf weeds can’t necessarily be eaten. Thus begin my learning of food. And at the same time, my understanding of how that food also makes memories. I’m 52 years old now, and I’ve never forgotten that meal or the laugh of my Momma when I handed her that bag of weeds and told her I wanted something like what we had the night before.

My daughter loves for her Dad to cook for her sometimes, and I do. She loves it when I fry chicken and make gravy and biscuits. There have been times that all I would cook is just the chicken, gravy and biscuits and call it a meal. I remember once her staying with me the entire time that I was cooking. When it came time to make the gravy I started sort of playing a little bit and acting like a cooking show host. I was explaining every step of the way what I was doing and how to do it. I had taken some of the grease from the chicken and I put flour in it. I started explaining that to make good cream gravy that you first had to make a good rue. I remember stirring the flour and grease together and pointing out how pasty it should get. When the rue was just right, I reached for the milk and slowly started pouring it in, holding back just slightly waiting to see how it would thicken up. If it is too thick of course, you just pour in a little more milk. Well the gravy turned out perfect, the biscuits came from the oven just as the last chicken was finished frying, and we plated our food up and gorged our self on fried chicken, gravy and biscuits.

Now she couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 years old at that time. But very recently (she’s 18 now), we were getting ready to eat a family dinner at my sisters’ house and something was said about gravy. I spoke up and said something about Ashley knowing how to make gravy, that I had showed her once. Then I looked at her and said “right?” She smiled and answered, “yes, I do, you have to make a good rue first”. And as simple a thing as that was, I smiled real big because I knew that those few minutes spent with her that day was also a memory that we had made together that she will keep all of her life. Turns out now that I know the gravy wasn’t the best thing we made that day, instead it was the memory of the time we spent making it.

So grab that kid or grandkid or your spouse or your best friend. And don’t go out to eat.
Instead run to the kitchen. Make something. Make anything. But remember that what you’re making more than anything else is a memory…………..

Chicken soup for the soul………….

More to come………

Gary

The People Speak

2010-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Tuesday January 19, 2010

I wish to call upon and quote directly from one of the single most important documents that are the very foundation of our country and remain today just as true and as pertinent as it was at its original inception. From The Declaration of Independence delivered in the Congress of the United States on July 4, 1776, I quote the following:

“......We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security……”

Today, WE THE PEOPLE have once again spoken. Their voice I hope is heard loud and clear. Their message, I hope delivered in a concise manner and understood by all elected officials that WE THE PEOPLE can and will exercise our right and obligation to replace those that do not best represent the people that ultimately put them into their honored position.

WE THE PEOPLE have spoken loudly and clearly in the State of Massachusetts. They send a message to President Barrack Obama that his socialist agenda is not received well even in what is the most liberal state in the union behind only California. I hope that all of our elected leaders heed well the message being sent.

Recently, WE THE PEOPLE spoke similarly in New Jersey. Their voice was heard in Virginia, as well as in Pennsylvania. WE THE PEOPLE have spoken clearly and concisely and yet it seems that President Obama and his socialist regime does not hear the message being sent. I hope that with this victory today that he and the people in his administration sit up and take notice. We can and we will exercise our right and obligation to replace those that fail to represent the people that place them there.

More to come………

Gary

Home Is Where The Heart Is

2009-12-26T23:09:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 27, 2009

There’s something about the nighttime with me. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it seems at night my creative “juices” are just flowing. I can think more clearly; I can construct sentences in a manner that just seem to make more sense. I have no idea why this may be, but I know for certain that it is.

I promised a new BLOG recently, and well, I just keep putting it off. Again, I’m not sure why, I just seem to be avoiding it for some reason. Maybe it is because I knew from the beginning, even before the beginning, that when I started this new BLOG it would be more along the nostalgic themes; more along the lines of always talking about the past, always looking backward at what was instead of looking forward to what might be. And I think that scares me some. I believe that it is an indication of someone getting older, and face it; no one wants to get older. But then again, it’s better than the alternative.

Well recently I had one of those moments. You know, one of those moments when suddenly it hits you. Your sitting there thinking and BAM, suddenly you realize that you aren’t all that old, you just have a lot of experience. And when you think of it that way, well, it just doesn’t seem so bad.

A couple of days ago, at our family Christmas celebration I was talking to my favorite dark haired niece that is 21 years old. It’s funny really how the simplest things can cause you to just want to write. Well, with me, it causes me to just want to write. We briefly talked about a card that I gave her on the occasion of her graduation from high school. In that card I wrote on a piece of paper some very simple thoughts that I wanted to share with her. Well, just talking with her about that card, and the memories that it brought up has ultimately led me here. I’m ready to start writing again.

While I don’t remember everything that I wrote in that card, I do recall that in it I wrote about dreams and goals. I mentioned things I had wanted when I graduated high school, and things as they had actually turned out. I mentioned that I had traveled the world. I made comment of many of the wonderful places I had been, and even bragged a little about some of the things I had experienced. I talked about simple things like sunrises and sunsets. I told her how that I had come to appreciate my family and everything that they had really meant to me over the years. I recall that somewhere in that card I suggested to her that she dream big. But what I remember most from that card was this one line that I wrote, and if you will allow, I’d like to share that line here. I think it will set the tone for what I hope, for now anyway, that my new BLOG will mostly talk about. I believe that line read very much like this…………”But it seems that no matter where I went, no matter what I may have experienced, that what I wanted more than anything else, was just to come home……”

Home.

You know, there once was a time that I would have told you that “home” was a place. I know better than that now. Home is not a place at all. Home is a state of being. Home is a feeling of security. Home as the old saying goes, is where the heart is. You know, it is only recently that I have come to understand that old saying.

There is in fact a place; a structure that still exists that is the house that is where I grew up. Or at least, where we lived during the most part of my child hood years. It is the place that so many still call ‘Grandma’s House’. But Grandma doesn’t live there now. And neither do I. I am very happy however that my oldest brother and his wife do live there. I am very happy it is still ‘in the family’. But the simple truth is, it isn’t where I live anymore, and it certainly isn’t where Grandma lives. So that cannot be home. There is that house where we lived when my baby girl was born. But then again, we only lived there a few months after she was born. So that is not home. Then there is the house we bought and lived in for about 13 years. This would be the house that my daughter can say as an adult where she grew up or spent most of her child hood years. But that isn’t home either. I have mostly lived in Atlanta for the last several years. But neither of those places are home either.

Home.

On Thanksgiving this year, and last year too, our family held our Thanksgiving celebration at my sister Cheryl’s house. Most of my family was there. Now that is not the house where I live and have never lived, but while we were there and all together, I was at home. And then on Christmas of this year and of many of the years past we had our Christmas Celebration at the house of my older sister Joan. As was the case on Thanksgiving, most of my family was there. And yet again, this is not the place where I live, but once again when I was there with all my family, just like at Thanksgiving I felt like I was home.

Huh! Two different places where I have never lived yet I knew without doubt that I was home each place and each time.

Home.

Home it seems is just not a place. Instead, it is an environment. An environment that can be replicated apparently anywhere that you can surround yourself with those people that are closest to you. Home it seems is a place where you can draw upon the love and support of those people that helped define who you are and whom you have and will become. Home I know now is that place where you can finally sit back, relax, and just be who you are. No pretences necessary; just be who you are. There’s really only two words to describe that; home and nice.

Home.

A place where we laugh, a place where we cry, a place where we play, a place where we pray, and a place where we can remember for a while the past and at the same time talk about our hopes for the future.

I’m glad that I was blessed to go home this year for Christmas and hope to have many more trips home again. I’m hopeful that my own kids can come to this place where I have arrived and that is the knowledge of what and where home is.

I am most happy that I know the symptoms of being homesick and more importantly I know the exact prescription needed to bring about miraculous and immediate recovery from this illness…………….no matter where I may go, no matter what I may experience, what I want more than anything else, is just to go home……

And by the way Whitney; that song we just couldn’t think of…..”It’s So Peaceful”

More to come………

Gary