Understanding "A hill of beans"........

Awhile back....... oh, forty pounds or so... hella wrinkles ago...  I was a wet behind the ears punk, briefcase totin' dude with fancy resume' in hand.  Thankfully, landed a job at a nice, family owned company, largely in part to having gone to the same college as the President of the company.

Day 1.  All well and good.  Observation. Notes taken. Actually got to do some hands on diddies....

Day 2.  Meet with owner (actually, owner's son, who by now had taken over).. a direct boss.. and a coworker.  Conversation was going along ok, then, somehow I (ears still wet back there) related, "well.. I don't think this (this and this) is gonna work... we needta do this (this and this)."  Echoing in the background, me thinks I heard the song "All of me... why not take all of me."  Then....

Boss... owner dude... not quite as impressed with my take as was I, maybe some disagreement in me rearranging the procedures he'd setup........... looked me in the eye, conversed, and somewhere along the way I heard......."I don't need you."

That.  That's how I learned about 'A hill of beans'... as in, you ain't, it ain't, worth a hill of beans." 

Pride is hard to swallow, but, remember... I was job huntin' prior, which, means "Feed me Seymour, I ain't had a paycheck in a minute"... so.. I swallowed, made note." 

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As life, the World, turns... we 'cipher' quickly with our brains... "time is precious at any age.. but now, we measure... .yay/nay, do I need this? Want this?  Does this interest me?" 

The beloved local paper (The KC Star) this morning...  four articles on a hunnerd and sixty eight possibilities of who the Chiefs might draft tomorrow night.  Reading all about the 168? Not no's but hells no's, a hill of beans.. I DON'T NEED YOU.  Perspective.  It's kinda like prematurely picking your lifetime honey... you know, like, in 3rd grade. Although I will admit, I thought it was love at first playgound chase. (TBC)

Come time where, "The Chiefs are on the clock" Thursday night.. .well.. that's more akin to....   Senior Prom, you and eight buddies just pooled hard earned dollars from stackin' hay bales the previous summer so you can rent a limo for the night........ NOW, we're talking.  Closer.  Closer anyways to, "Is this the real life... is this just fantasy?....."   Good, important beans, regardless.

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And, I'll end with (OH, you're welcome) one final story where I ended up with bean syrup on my face.

I talk, and love, my grandkids.  I mean, who doesn't?  Most times, I walk the walk.  NOT SUNDAY.  Color me an idiot.  I worked 9a to 3p.  Tired, yet, no excuse. Right after work, my duty was to pickup my grands at ex's house.. fetch them back to Topeka, almost 3 hours round trip.  I'd texted, "Get off at 3, be there shortly thereafter."

3:14pm, I pull into the driveway.  I honk.  Nuthin, not a creature is stirring. 3:18pm, I text.  Nuthin'.  3:22pm, grandson finally comes out.. "It's gonna be a bit.."  I ain't had blood pressure meds in a few years (my excuse for semi-irritated answer) "HOW COME?"  They're eatin'.  Pretend this -> is larger type "GEEZ".....  My selfish brain switched to "They KNEW I was coming shortly after 3, couldn't they have eatin earlier?"  Absolute, on purpose, quiet set in.

3:34pm, all three grandkids in tow. A silent, idiotic grandfather pulls out.

What little wisdom that is left in this 73 year old brain, talked to me.. "Victor.. you don't see them often... today, when you finally DO get to see them.. you demonstrate being an ass by allowing 20 minutes of your day to paint you "You ain't worth a hill of beans." (TBC)

"And I'm talking, you ain't CLOSE to bein' Bush's Best beans.. or Hunt's Beans.. you ain't even Best Choice Beans... you MAY BE "Always Save Beans".. you know, them are the ones everyone buys and takes to homeless shelters.. .and them dudes won't even eat 'em." 

I feel worse than a Royal's 8 game losing streak.  Worse than hearing, many years ago, "I don't need you."

Forgive me Father........... and, grandkids.  I am human, hear me snore.. and I promise, I'll be better, happier, funner............... next time.

Love, Victurd 

Life...... Libra....... Scales... It's all a perfect balance ain't it?

 

Yes, I am that, Libra'n born.  Wiki done learned me "The symbol of the scales is based upon the Scales of Justice held by Themis, the Greek personification of divine law and custom. She became the inspiration for modern depictions of Lady Justice."

SHE? Well all KNOW I'm a misogynist.. that's what Jimmy in Arkansas calls me..  VICTOR, git ridda your dirty laundry. (Don't say laundry, I JUST DID five loads...... hate it.)

Back to Libra... we all know the Clifton Keith Hilligass version.. VICTOR?  Whothehell is that? That's Cliff.. the orginal CliffsNotes guy.. he actually grew up in GBR Country, ifn's you know your athletic abbreviations.

The CliffsNotes version of Libra is basically balance and justice.  Just like life eh?  Yes? No? You have the right to remain silent? (Why don'tya then Victor.) Bite me.

Tastes great... less filling.. we need equal parts, votes of each. And, they can't fist fight, then justice would have to step in.

Life is weird.  "911 what's your emergency?"  "Well... there's a basket with 15 people in it in my backyard... and... it's attached to a hella big hot air balloon."  Nuh uh.  "Uh huh."                   versus, cops pull into lemonade stand, buy two glasses from the kid, hand him a ten dolla' bill.

Newton, Grundy I think it was, says "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." That's all about Libra.

Pennies from Heaven. Not no more.  Did you know they quit makin' em?  So, the opposite reaction is, "we will round to the nearest five cent increment."  Yeah but... the hell do we do with Penny Lane...... JC Pennys...  Penny Marshall (I mean hell, without no Laverne ya can't have no Shirley...  don't call me Shirley.)  Penny slots...  Penny for your thoughts?  Sorry, we tariff'ed that, it's a nickel now.

That's all well and good Victor, and we get the balance, equal and opposite but, that ain't got nuttin' to do with justice.  Seen any copper thieves of late?

Speakinowhich......... the NFL Draft.

Huh?

Yeah, always interesting.  This guy is can't miss... an assured Pro Bowler for years... No he ain't, he's got alligator arms.  (Oh whatthehell, I'll keep my misogynist rap.. and, there was worry about Miss America in a swim suit?)

Back to balance......

Little turds... fresh outta the belly.  Them bones ain't hardened yet, and, there's built in padding (baby fat) for slips and falls. Oh, might get an occasional bump on their noggin', and, anything smaller'n a teacup better be at least 6' off the ground or it'll be in their mouths once they get upright............ versus.......

Old turds. We take Tim Conway steps.  The 3 inch 'partition' tween the bathroom floor and the shower is a sonofagun. Should be a geezer Olympic Sport, I mean, hell, Curling? London and Lloyd Bridges falling down will in all likelihood result in a 911 call (or a tug on whatever that bracelet is we geezers wear) and, a new hip.

Victor, two paragraphs, not one damn word about justice.   Wills, Probate, relatives never speaking to relatives again. Funk, Wagnalls, line and sinker.

Recent, Facebook Swap and Shops ads.......  PRICE FIRM. (Smokefree, petfree home.).......  MAKE OFFER.. (4 cats, 3 dogs, we smoke like fiends)

All things being equal.....................  are they ever?

Dr. Seuss say, "Life's a great balancing act."

Einstein say "To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

Actual video below... Liberty High School Class of 1970 fifty year reunion, Football team on a seesaw.  Them, and the Pep Club, had flipped a penny (someone still had one) for the right to go last... Football team lost, had to go first.  Those of us that could still walk a tad after, gathered around John C (our class lawyer) and discussed possible litigation agin' the Pep Club.  Stay tuned.

Be sure to mind your P's and Q's...  Dot your I's and cross your T's.  Oh hell, who am I kidding.  I wish I were an Aquarius or a Gemini... they're known to come outta leftfield, ie, behave in unpredictable ways.

Same ole same ole.. .toodles with doodles.......

Love, Victurd

(Ya might have to copy and paste in a new tab) 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KPKjS_6QtUg

  

 

 

 

 

My broker is EF Hutton and.....................

DANG! You haven't paid attention here haveya! i ain't gotno broker..... while you, and you, and you, and you over thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... were busy, facepaced young pups dumping buckaroos into 401K's (YOU CAN'T TOUCH THIS.. DON'T TOUCH IT.. DON'T TOUCH IT.. Ya mean no second mortgage? NO!.. We can't take no funds out and buy a real nice camper? NO!  YOU CAN'T TOUCH THIS.. DON'T TOUCH IT.. )

I was...............................  60 when i thought about being 60.

Pardon my French........... merde.  (AI or Google, I forget which, tells me that's 'sh*t' in French... or, an exclamation of frustration, similar to 'damn', or 'shoot', or that other one.

ie, IB Po', and that's ok.   It's not the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, but, it is what it is...... I've got my cardboard sign/idea all ready...... Later, I'm heading out to the intersection of The Corner Cafe (just down the road apiece from Aldi's).. a bit past where are the regular beggars like me line up (usually they're at the entrance to Wally... this is the next light)... 

And the sign says you got to have a membership card to get inside.................. no damnit, that ain't it...................... the sign says 

"Forgot my quarter for Aldi's, can you help?"  (I know, I ain't gonna stack George's, but hey, mebbe they won't gimme mean stares.)

On a serious note........ I do get uncomfy at those intersections...  the deep stares into the car...   I'm torn between "Damnit Victor, throw a buck out, true, probably not a real need, but, ya just never know, maybe you would be helping"....  and, the other part of being torn, "HEY! I BE PO' TOO!"

But this blog is really about namedropping today.

Victor, I give up.  You are one messed up dude.

Eh, oh well, mebbe. Prolly.  Sticks and stones........ hurt.

George Brett and I went to different schools together.  That's my #1 namedrop.  What celebs have you seen in 'real life'?  When I worked for an airline........ Lucille Ball (you don't wanna know, she tweren't especially pleasing to work with).. Dom DeLuise...  he was FUN..... FUNNY.  Ferguson Jenkins....... BIG MAN. Wowzer.

I can jump in my car............. ok, you're right....... cripple my way to my car........ ease, grump, groan whilst I get in.  Drive, and in 20 minutes, go past Eric Stonestreet, Bobby Witt Jr, and, he done moved Whit Merrifield's old house.  Rumor afloat, Vinnie, as in Sasquach Pasquantino's house is being built, nearby his shortstop.

NAMEDROP NAMEDROP.

TAG. You're it. TELL US YOUR NAME DROP STORIES!

FOR LIBERTY EYES ONLY!   Huh?  Yeah.  July 21st, our 4th annual Liberty Townie Golf Invitational...  it's a prestigious (HA!) golf tourney I put on............ for.............. fun.  It's mostly guys who played in Billy Barne's Sunday Night beer softball league for 30, 40 years (beer, softball, prolly in that order).. or.. for those who worked, lived, went to school, in LIBERTY. It's by invite only (Hey, color us cliquish, we don't care.) Victor? Wouldn't that be "YOU don't care?"  Correct........... I don't care. Friends. It's for friends.   BUT TOO.. .we are raising money for Liberty's Shop With A Cop... kinda proud of that.  Last year we asked everyone for ten bucks... raised $640, not much, but HEY, helped some kids.

This year, we're yanking 20 bucks outta everyone's pocket... so..  with fitty or sixty of us, we hope to get $1200 - $1300 or so for, a Merrier Christmas for kids in our town.

Soooooooooooooooooooo...  you Liberty folks........ my goal is a seven minute speech about Liberty.......general crap...  year founded... them big buildings.. you know.. the Arsenal (it ain't there no more, was by the river, which, don't bend thru there any more.. No merde, they moved it, cut out the bend......... other big buildings..  The Liberty Ladies College (which, burnt down, now, the old High School stands there..   WJC College... Odd Fellows Home... The Courthouse........... WHEN, WHAT YEAR for each? I hopeta have answers.

Then, I'll try to Liberty name drop...... like..... Bob Barker took Navy pilot training at WJC during WWII...   Carry Nation, ironically, lived catacorner to The Corner Bar way back in the day.... Pavorotti and his voice graced our town (WJC)...  Reagan rode thru.. I dunno... prolly more...

And, no promises, but, I'm gonna try to get up to the Clay County Archives, peek thru old yearbooks, see if I can come up with pics of when the golf participants were actually young.  If I do, I might have to get my "Forgot my Quarter for Aldi's" sign out again 'case them critters charge 25 cents per copy... and, scroll to IB PO'.

That's all.

Glad, ain'tya?

Love, Victurd 

"Does he want anymore beans?"

This, this came from my beloved mother inlaw as I was indoctrinated into the family.  Her way, I think (hope) of officially welcoming, liking me.

As I awakened, and wiped, warshed, 'yesterday' from my face... thoughts raced (does anything really race when one is retired?).. .thoughts raced to Nothing.  Full. Relatives.

So, from the first sentence... "No thanks" (I'm full.  Didn't want nuthin more.  Relative. All three).

How are you and YOUR relatives?  Bright bright bright spots in our lives - and it's my hope you still have many still with us... that you communicate with good frequency.. there is something special, lifelong - about blood. (Inlaws too... in divorce, you NEVER lose your love for inlaws... just the legal relationship to.)

Full. Dunno where you live.....Storms, rain, wind, repeat repeat have made our creeks, rivers, lakes and ponds FULL.

Hail (Hail, the gang's all here), hail and more hail, got folks outta their easy chairs to clear out garages so they could keep the SUV from getting pelted.  There was a pic on Facebook of a car in a driveway (either the garage already had the max of cars in it, or, too lazy, too late to clean a spot for it) and it had a mattress cover AND two mattresses atop - no hail damage for it.

Nothing, is my usual daily retirement plan.  I'm pretty good at it. You?  Ya got any trips lined up?  I'd love to hear.  I've had buddies recently travel to London, Thailand/VietNam, Mehico, Jamaica-man, Vegas, Maui, yum to all. Me?  I'm lucky to make it to the Mall.  Am going to Field of Dreams sometime this Summer, that's a big'n for me.

Full.  Went to Sam's Club, cheapest gas in three counties..  watched, (gulp) with one hand over one eye as the dollars added up... lo and behold, the car infronta me, he was washing windshield, pump RAN OVER... precious 'gold' ($6 at least) spewed out before he could run, stop the pump.  Sucked.

Victor?  Is this the best you can do?

I know, what I thought to. So, I'll scoot.  You're correct.  I'm full of nothing and, that's relative to me bootscooting. 

Please, share any, all tidbits about beloved relatives..... specific gatherings you miss.. where, what town, who's house were they at?  Did you, do you have cousins close in age?  I think back to Christmas... grandparents, their 3 daughters, families, gathered, small living room (but perfect).. FULL... of love, presents, memories. Nothing to forget, and we don't.

Happy Saturday............. us retired folks getta go to bed tonight, awaken tomorrow.. anudder Saturday........ rinse, repeat.  This nothing life is quite full.

It's relative to a good life..........

Love, Victurd 

Here to there........

Life, kinda.... is like GPS any more.  Ya enter a "whereya goin'? point, and then ya gotta define/enter, your starting point.  (Initially, I placed my fingers on the keyboard HERE (incorrectly, one key off)... then, started typing about all that... and it didn't take long to realize my dayum fingers were not in the correct starting position and my typing looked like: kujwm jubs.. ua kujw,,, 

Which, translates to life, some of us have trouble with any, everything from the get go.

Every so often, I drive across the great State of Kansas  (said no one ever, sorry, that was to get Schwabby all grumpy, he's a transplanted Jayhawk.. .forgets his roots)... 

As I'm driving with the grandkid's house as the destination punched in... I have some "Well ahlll be dammmned" moments when the GPS lady with the sexy voice warns "There's debris in the road ahead."  Saved me  a fender or two by slowing down... then, it pops up "Still there?" You can input 'yes' or 'no'.

Same with cops.  "There are police ahead." I'm glad for that and don't slow down because we old people drive slow anyways. "Still there?"  I ain't a fan of driving fast so I always white lie "Yes" when they ain't there any more.

When my brain was exploring the blog possibilities of "Here to there" (skeery, I know) I Googled it too......... it brought up a board game, something along the line of "Even old people can play it."  My first thought was....  well you little piss ant...ya done think "it's over" for us don'tya? Then, I looked at the clock, realized it was prolly about time for whoever wrote that to get up and go to work... so, I farted, took a nap, had a bowl of cereal (sliced bananas atop)... THERE.  That's my Here to There today... touche' whippersnappers, I don't wish debris in the road for your commute.. but mebbe cops hidden on the side of the road.....

Here to there.  I believe most of us are 'in the camp' of......... had someone sat down beside us in our youth... and told us "Now this is exactly how your life is gonna go..." and they visualized an exact Xerox of how our lives here to there actually panned out.. we might retort "There's NO FRIGGIN' WAY!".........

Way. 

Age, I've noticed, rearranges "here to there."  Bedtime.  Movement (lack thereof). Our bods and wrinkles, which, have transended from baby fat wrinks, to taut, flatbelly six packs,  to belly dunlapped over, to grandma's hands (MISOGYNIST VICTOR!) NO, them's Bill Wither's words, not mine. Grandpa's hands be that way too!

I loooooooooooooooooooooove me some wrinkles. Hours, days, months, YEARS of outside play.  Wiffle ball.. recess... sports junk... pic-a-nics, work.. pleasure, gardening.. walks..   much, compliments of Sol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  and.........

Laughter, smiles.  We are dayum lucky........the more 'pictures', memories, moments, shared love, wunnerful stuff we accumulate day in, day out... we laugh MORE.. and smile MORE!  Thus, them wrinkles are like trophies of Here to there.

Lordy....  I seen me some pics of 'the 50th Reunion of Charlie's Angels'..  my, my my.  I know too, many men get Botox.. 'help'...   to me, that's kind of a sad "Here to there'....  Sure, looking in the mirror ain't as appealing as it usedta be, but, the lines, the wrinkles.. .represent a whole lotta love. good times... .yes, some sadness too... but, a tribute, to Here to There.  I vote, be proud. 

Here to there memories over the years..... yabba dabba Barney and Fred...  Wile E. Coyote.. the Roadrunner... Mighty Mouse..  Superman... Bo Jackson up the wall...  OJ's 'joy ride'... Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.. Pong, Pac-Man, SANTA CLAUS!..   teeballers everywhere on their very first path to first base.. . Evel Knievel..  Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III...  the greatness of Tiger Woods on course driving, but, on road driving not so much... 

"Sarah, get me Helen Crump please" to, texting your buddy in Mehico.

At the risk of sounding like I'm preaching (I promise I ain't... if anything, I'm talking to myself)... as we age, oft times when we consider going Here to There we lean more and more to "Nah... I'll just stay home."  If we don't move, we die.

Where are you thinking about going next?

 Love, Victurd 

Prophetic? The glass is neither half empty, or, half full.

Long ago, a screw fell out of the cabinet door that holds every plate, glass, bowl, I own.  Most, would search high/low for the screw.  Nomme.  I cheered, maybe (probably) even downed a beer.

From that day forward, I now use, solely, Solo cups, paper plates and bowls.

A very kind friend, happens to have an English background, recently discussing a blog, mighta been mine, ain't sure... I mentioned using self deprication quite frequently... she laughed... then, told me "Some is good, sure, but (and then she raised her hand up as high as she could) it gets to a point..........." hinting, stop, don't do that, change your ways, that.

Here's where I mention that wunnerful tune by Phil Collins "I Don't Care Anymore"... which, will probably be closely followed by (once he gets over jet lag, just flew home from England) my buddy Pup who will say "Vic, wake up on the wrong side'a bed?"  There's a wall on that side, impossible.

When you're single, divorced (or, perhaps simply lazy) ya do that... ya don't care.

Already this am, I've waged battle with my  youngest niece in Wordle.  We both awaken too damn early, she, her hubby has a Frito route... me, I just always have.  We were discussing rain today... she texted me......."Yep, rain here too... life in 2026, me thinking I hear it raining instead of looking out the window, I Google it!"  Me too! Grease ain't the word, it's 'lazy', at least for me anyways.  Right Phil?

Phil didn't answer.  He don't care no more.

So.......... of course I Googled "things people do that are incredibly lazy."

The VERY FIRST ONE had me in the mirror!  "I bought new undies to avoid having to do laundry."

I'll only steal one or more from this blog - it was pretty good (This is where YOU, the blog reader says, "Victor, you tell it, WE'LL decide if it's good or not.") Fair enough.  There was a pic of a fancified push button light switch.  A gal, when turning in for the night, wrote "I've thrown everything within reach at my light switch and then just gone to bed with the light on cuz I missed everytime.'  As a rock-chucker from long ago, I could see me doing that.

"Sometimes I don't skip ads because I'm too lazy to move my hand.".... "I ate ice cream with a credit card."...  "When I'm selling something online and someone messages me for the measurements... I find someone selling the exact same thing and message them asking for measurements."

"People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy."  Bob Hope

It was 3am almost 40 years ago.  A month old baby upstairs.  His two parents, 3am mind you, sitting in the living room, each, with cig in hand.  Baby was colicky. When the 14th colic outburst happened minutes later, a very lazy (smart?) husband stared across the room at his wife......."My cigarette is longer."

Short blog today because.... well, I'm lazy.

Sorry, not sorry.. .tell 'em Phil:

Well you can tell everyone I'm a down disgrace
Drag my name all over the place
I don't care anymore

 

You can tell everybody 'bout the state I'm in
You won't catch me crying 'cause I just can't win
I don't care anymore
I don't care anymore, d'you hear?

 

Just a song before I go...  actually a story.  Do you think I, and other lazy people, Mona lot?  How about this fella?

 

The Mona Lisa is one of the greatest portraits in history.  It's so iconic, you don't even need a picture as you can imagine it already.  It's also kinda small.. 30" by 21", the size of  a smallish TV.   Given that it's a masterpiece, you'd probably expect it to have taken a while to paint.  How long do you think?  Six months?  A year?

 

Try 15 years.  For a decade and a half, da Vinci failed to finish his iconic portrait, not because it was so difficult, but, because he was so lazy.  That's not being judgmental. On his deathbed, the great man himself even admitted to his chronic procrastination when he apologized "to God and Man for leaving so much undone."  For comparison, it took Michelangelo a mere four years to paint the entire Sistine Chapel, around 1,100 square meters.

 

The Paul Harvey crap to ole da Vinci is that, in his times of laziness, he used to dabble filling notebooks with doodles and ideas.  Some of those doodles would later turn out to be inventions that have changed the course of history... ie, some actually 'took'.  A helicopter drawing... underwater diving suit..  triple barrel cannon.. parachute... catapult.

 

Hell yeah 'Vinc'! Tell 'em to leave  you alone, you don't care any more, you'll get done when you get done.

 

In closing, I raise my paper cup and say  "CHEERS!"....  I'm headed to WallyWorld for some boxer briefs.

 

Love, Victurd 

 

 

 

Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl

Sorry, and disregard - was just going thru my brain... I like that part.  1961, Gene Chandler, whoeverintheheck he is.  I was 9.  Pretty sure I couldn't hit those bass tones, but, a hunnerd percent sure I tried.

Good Morning. Is it?

I reckon that all depends if we are Karen, Ebenezer Scrooge, you and or me at age 9, or mebbe even 9 year old John O'Leary.

Who's John O'Leary?

One sec..........

First, one more obit.

Victor, morbid. NO.

Sorry, gotta.

Lived until a couple weeks shy of her hundreth Birthday.  After HS, graduated college, then got her Master's in Speech Pathology.  Spent 20 years helping kids in school with their speech. THAT'S IMPORTANT!  Ya think not?  Howabout asking these folks who struggled as a child... Emily Blunt, Joe Biden, Samuel L Jackson, Tiger Woods, Nicole Kidman, Bo Jackson. Paycheck, but with purpose.

 Then, near and dear to my heart she voluntarily worked one on one with stroke victims to help them express themselves. No paycheck, with purpose. Then, she slid over to help Seniors with poems and short stories as they dealt with diminishing voice quality and volume.

She didn't do much besides that... well... she and her hubby did raise three of their own, and oh yeah, took in another... and..add to that, taught Sunday School, water-skied, tap danced, ballroom danced, played tennis, the gym, yoga, exercise classes. photography (had her own dark room), made sure and visited lifelong friends when they themselves could no longer get out...... and there's a lot, lot more.  SOME LADY!

Now, John O'Leary.

Who?

John O'Leary.  Remember?  The 9 year old? In a boys will be boys unintened accident at age 9, a gas can and a burning piece of paper got together and blew him across the room... semi conscious... burns over 100% of his body............ 1% chance to live.......

Live he did.  Thanks for a village.  A village that included, of course, his family... hospital workers, experts, Jack Buck........  WAIT?  Jack Buck?  THE Jack Buck?  Yes.

He was from the St. Louis area.  Jack had overheard Red Schoendienst talking about it (Red's relative lived nearby John).. That night, Jack went to the Hospital. And the next night. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many prodded, championed John on... including Jack who told him, "You WILL walk, and, when you do, we're gonna have a John O'Leary day at the ballpark."  Did.

Fast forward... years, tears, struggles later - rehabbed houses in STL (quite a feat considering his fingers were burned off).. got up the gumption to ask his lady friend out.. she said 'no'.  Tried again (three times) No. No. No. A bit later, she then asked if they could still go out.  Marriage, kids, love, amazing.

Now..........he's a motivational speaker.  A renowned one.

Everywhere he goes now they ask him about his movie.  MOVIE?  Uh huh. It came out last year.  Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 80. "Soul On Fire."  Was Jack Buck in it, if so, wonder who played him?  Uh huh, and, ever heard of a guy named William H. Macy?  Uh huh, what I thought.. .one'a my favs too. 

John whittles things down to three basics.........

Uno....  Our life is a sacred, awesome gift.

Dos..  We get to choose our mindset in every situation, no matter how bleak it seams.

Tres.. Together, we can change the world.  Starting with our own.

SO VICTOR?

Yes?

You don't always address it.. but, through the cracks, we done seen comments about your geezer scooter..  poor poor pitiful me jokes(?)...   there HAVE been some blogs, you gotta admit, you seem mad at the world..  why me kinda stuff.  Yeah?

Ahm.......

Mebbe.

But, now that I think of it, that's why I'm here.  After the smoke clears.. (Bad pun John, sorry).. Through it all.... even my whiney butt (we've all heard the story of the boy who felt bad and wanted new Nikes, and the one who had a hole in his sole, and, the one that only had one shoestring, and, the one that only had hard shoes, no tenni's.. and, the one who had NO shoes... and then the one who had no feet.

Takes awhile to sink in...........but......... LIFE IS PRETTY DAMN GOOD. Yeah?  

Yeah.

Soul of Fire is available online.. it's like 6 bucks (7 if you count Jack). Much, filmed in our neighboring STL.  I'm a tightwad, I'm gonna check the library first. If not, then I'll rent. Crap, if I can pay 6 bucks for the NCAA Championship game, I can pay for something like that.

Life is good, and every nowandthen, I needs me a reminder. 

Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl