I get knocked down........ so I'll nap again...

Up.  Down.

Yo Yo.

Ladder.  Teeter totter.

Elevator.  Escalator.

And she's buying a stairway, to Heaven.

Up against.   Up front.   Up in arms.   Up to no good.  Worked up.  Amped up.  Back me up.  Laid up.  Shape up.  Uptown girl, she's been living in her uptown world.

Down the hatch.  Down the drain.   Hands down.   Stop Victor, this is hard to read.  Pipe down.  Put down.  Take down.  Touchdown.  Down in the valley, the valley so low.

Ping. Pong.  Price of tea in China.  Conversion rate dolla' to peso, peso to dolla'.  Stock market.  Temperature.  Airplanes.  Helicopters.

"Thank you for life and all the little ups and downs that make it worth living."  Travis Barker

LOOOOOOOK!  A ROBIN!  Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy batta batta...   saaaaaawinnnnnnnnng batta batta.  "Well, I've been working on my (slurve, curve, two seam fastball, cutter, changeup, scewball) and I have a great feeling about this year."  "I spent the whole Winter on working to hit the ball to all fields." "Yeah, it's great to have all these veterans around.  It's different. This year won't be about getting youth experience,  we can and will compete for the division."

DAYAAAMNNNN IT'S HOT!  I know, them chickies over there, their swimsuits ain't got much material at all.  Here it is The All Star Break, and we (Royals, Rockies, Nationals, A's) are already mathmatically eliminated.  Yeah, I can't wait for training camp when the (Chiefs, Broncos, Commanders, Raiders) start.

˙ǝɯ oʇ dn ǝʞᴉl sʞool ʇᴉ ƃuol os uʍop uǝǝq

Emotions.  Moods.  Attitudes.  People.  Other people.  Congress.  (Patooey, swallered some tobacc'y juice, gotta upchuck)

Nyquil.  Red Bull.  Hand me a gummy honey, I can't sleep.  Did you make coffee?  Ya put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up.

I HATE golf, I ain't never playin' again.  Hey, I made two birdies, when's our next tee time?

Life is funny.  And it's not.

I'm cold.  Hot.  Hungry.  Stuffed.  Tired. Got any Xanax?  

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee doggies.........   NO.  It's cats.  Cats rule, dogs drool.

Humor me.  Leave me alone.  "Hi, it's Vic, please leave a message and I may check my voicemail sometime before 2027."

I need a break. PUT ME IN COACH.. I'M READY TO PLAY, TODAY.  LOOK! Our first round draft choice!  Hey, made the 40 man roster~!  CUP OF COFFEE IN THE BIGS!  WHAT?  TRADED?... DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT? HE'S DONE?.. "Hi, welcome to Arby's may I take your order?"

I soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo love life, I do.  Of course, moments.  We all have our moments.  There are hitches in getalongs, bumps in roads, no matta' what ya drive.  If it was all, always good - I think that'd be bad - if that makes a hill'a beans of sense. My own personal advice, ha, for whatever that is worth... I put electric tape over the checkenginelight so it doesn't hurt my eyes.

Humor me. (Humor helps, at least to me.)  The clip below is 5 minutes of perhaps my favorite take on life.  Five minutes, all I ask!  Enjoy! Or, I guess, not, but that's your call!

Parenthood - The rollercoaster (youtube.com)

Love you!  Victurd

Baseball cards, clothespins and the spokes of life.....

If you're like me, #1, boy do I feel sorry for you!  Ha.  Seriously, mebbe you can relate when I say, about halfa the time I'm in the "Victor, you're such an idiot" mode and then a chunka the time, "Hey, not too bad!"

Hi, I am Victor, and I am a (life, sports, wanna-be-psychologist) addict.  (OK, sure, I also admit to occasionally enjoying a Miller Lite, or, Dos Equis or two.)

As a 'pup', I 'devoured' any, everything, baseball.  I ain't so sure I ever hooked up a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card with a clothespin on my bike so it'd  rat-a-tat-tat on the spokes, sounding like a motor as I rode away.. But, (you can't start a sentence with 'But" Victor)..  But, since one recently sold for $12.6 million, I probably did.  Or, at least drew a mustache on him with magic marker.

As I aged (I didn't say matured..as I aged).. I expanded my love/addiction to other, additional sports. Loyal, fanatic, Royals, Chiefs, and, The University of Missouri.  I add this because, as  an MU fan, I've 'grown'(?) to abhor The University of Kansas. Well, I don't abhor the University, I abhor SOME of their fans. What I call 'arrogant', they call 'proud', then point the envy finger.  Yeah prolly both fit.  I got caught up in an online 'conversation' yesterday, I spoke my peace, thought "Not too bad", awakened today, reread, thought "Victor, you're such an idiot."

Victor.  Whereinthehell are you going with this?  I'm riding the bike of life around, rat-a-tat-tatting.. I thought about life, WHAT MATTERS.. then I thought about ole Mantle.. When life is said and done, WHAT'S ON THE BACK OF YOUR BASEBALL CARD?  Moreso, is it Home runs, RBI's, Stolen bases, Wins, Losses - or, none of the above.

I AM NOT ELOQUENT.  As I hit the 'new blog' button this morning, I really couldn't come up with exactly what I wanted to say about life... what should be important. Why are we here?  We are human, Si.  Baseball cards have a spot designated for errors, we do do that. (There's that do do again.)

So, I'm punting.  Taking my seat in the dugout. On the bench.  Skip, send a pinch hitter out.

Why?  Because I ain't eloquent, BUT, I think what I found that Micheal Josephson wrote in 2003 IS.

 

"Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours, or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built; not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage ,or sacrifice that enriched, empowered, or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom, and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters." (Micheal Josephson, 2003)

As a 'card collector', fanatic, sport's addict, psychology wanna be, I bet... were we to turn Michael's baseball card over... it would include at least one he knocked outta the park.

Rat-a-tat-tat, keep on pedaling,

Love, Victurd

Remember when...................

Like sands through the hourglass............. STOP!  Makes me wanna go to the beach!

WHERE did time go.......... the hell time is it?  Day, is it? It's Wednesday?  Nuh uh, there ain't no pills in Wednesday.  WHO are you and WTH is a blog?

Old.  Today mebbe, we'll talk about old people. Like, what do old people talk about?

Mentioned a bit ago, we four golfer old folks... after a round of golf... after we pull our old butts UP the stairs - has little to do with "first one up there buys the first round", I'm kidding, it does..  (rather than sprint, hop, jog fastly, 20 yrs ago).. and whereas... we usedta sit around and talk about......... girls.. cars.. girls... sports........ NOW........ it's hip replacements... knee replacements.. Arthritis.. Gastritis.. Cellulitis.. Diverticulitis, any kinda itis.  ... Gosh Darn (enter Republican or Democrat here).. and,... "why, back in our day."

The Who might ask "Who are you.. who who who who?  I really wanna know........

Well, they call us (the nice names) elderly, geriatric, golden-ager, oldster, pensioner, retiree, senior, .. and then the funny ha ha ones.. old fogy.. geezer... raisin.. dinosaur..  fossil... blue-hairs.. codger... fuddy-duddy..   old bag...  old fart..  sandwiched between Granny, Gramps, Nana, Mimi, Papi, Gigi, Pops....

It is said, we talk about:

Health (or lack thereof).. the past... grandkids... whippersnappers... "I take (enter amount of pills) per day"... "No, I'm just sure they lived in Westboro, not Canterbury"...  cataracts,, readers.. "All them Michael Jordan Goat kids ain't never seen Wilt, Kareem." I get my check on the 3rd Tuesday, you Wilbur?

Gadgets.  Remember no AC in cars so ya opened the Wing and pointed it onya?  Or... "that rat basta' has his brights on, stomp on the high beam thingy on the floor Herbie!" (nowadays, even after you read the damn manual seven times, ya still can't figure out how to turn on the brights.. and if you mess with the headlight settings, great fear we're gonna turn em off and won't be able to get 'em back on.....)

If ya ain't peeked at the below, you oughta

Seniors React to Autonomous Vehicles: Grandpa's First Time in a Driverless Car - YouTube

Athletic prowess....  Somehow, back in the day when we shot 27% from the field, averaged 7.2 points per game, has translated over the years to "Yeah, I prolly shot fitty percent, averaged a double double."

The price of (EVERYTHING) from back in the day....... bread, milk, house, car, a Ku Ku hamburger, a gallon of gas.. 

"Getting old is a fascinating thing. The older you get, the older you want to get."  Keith Richards

Remember when we usedta toss them hay bales up (enter way too many unrealistic levels/heights here)... 

Boobs.......... WELL HELL...  We ain't dead!

MYSOGYNIST!  AM NOT!  ARE TOO!

"We are always the same age on the inside."  Gertrude Stein

With a touch of irony, we walk directionally, directly into a room.. .try to remember why...... then we complain about moral compass in society today.  "Why I had two jobs back in the day, and old lady Smith paid me cash on the side to (paint her fence, mow her grass, clean her gutters, etc.)"

Music. And THEY thought the Beatles were bad!  We compensate for the saggers of the day by pulling our britches up WAY too high.

Midnight.  I heard of it once..  Wasn't John Voight in that movie?

All about pee.  Frequency.  Lack there of.  Drip.  Drip.  Difficulty.  Suddenness.  Lid up, lid down.  Oops.  Herman your barn door is down.

Died hair.  Dentures.  Grab bars.  Tennis ball walkers.  Where'd I put my (phone, hat, keys, glasses, checkbook, teeth, much.)

Close your ears.  We get grumpy.  I DON'T WANT TO LIVE TO BE 90!  (ask him/her again how they feel about that at age 89 years, 364 days)

Growing old is a blessing.

DON'T ARGUE WITH ME SONNY!

Love, Victurd

PS:  I just lit a cig........ took a puff... went to put it temporarily in ashtray whilst I typed s'more.. There was already a lit one in there.  That's part of this as well.  Oh well.

Just an old fashioned love song...........

You ever get songs stuck in your head?

Fitty five.  I CAN drive fitty five, in fact, prefer it.  Tea/China, not much,.  Fifth on my list of things in my day (Victor, who cares? I know, bear with me).. 

1. Pee

2. Coffee

3. Wordle

4. Wordle battle with youngest niece who also is up at Ugly-thirty am daily.

5. Kansas City Star E Sport's page.

It's my thing, do what I wanna do.  I apologize. My brain is fulla inconsequential, nonsensical, song.

So,,, ,this morning... all of the above happened prior to 5am... and as I got to the 5th thing, the Sport's page.. I peeked at the bottom..  Fitty Five pages.

Pick/choose.  Like anything in life, we pick and choose.  The remote control of the TV.  The steering wheel (turn left or turn right).. Match.com (HA).. handing out THE BIGGEST Valentine in 4th grade...   Pick a card, any card..... We'd like two menus please..  the dreaded, last one picked in gym class.. or, in a neighborhood whiffle ball game.. or, mebbe, not picked come Prom time.   Sometimes, sorry Roy and Buck, "I'm a pickin' " ain't always accompanied by "I'm a grinnin'."

The hell was I?  Liberty, Missouri Victor.  Thanks.  Welcome.

So, one by one I click..  Page to page.  First article.  A fifteen second TV ad with millionaires (Travis Kelce, Bobby Whitt Jr, Justin Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid) pretty much begging citizens (on behalf of Billionaire owners) to Vote yes on a 3/8th cent sales tax for another 40 years to help pay for a new baseball stadium and renovations on the football stadium.  (If  the newspaper had Facebook (like, care, love, hate buttons)  I'd wish for a "Meh" button, then I think I'd click it.  I love me some sports, conflicted though on this.

Clicked (picking, opting in life, turn left here, nuh uh, right..  next channel plz.. hit the 'scan' button on the radio).......

Did..  on the paper.  An article on UL Washington.  (S'more soon, but first)

The song Oh, that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh. That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.  that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.  that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.

I like that song simply because it's either thumbs up or thumbs down on things infronta us in life. I LIKED the article on UL Washington (s'more soon, I promise, but first), so, I thoughta the song. I Googled the lyrics of the song (No.. I don't intently listen to lyrics that have played for fitty years).. and I see the lyrics include:

When I get to be in your arms, when we're all, all alone,

When you whisper sweet in my ear, when you turn, turn me on.

DAMNIT DARNIT, it seems they're all "Just an old fashioned love song."  Meh.

I'll simply move on thinking just about the refrain, chorus, whatever ya call it.. That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it.

UL Washington passed away.  I know he's not a Michael Jordan, Lebron, Shaq, The Babe, Mickey Mantle, known in every living room name.. UL was 70 when he passed.  He was a former Major League Baseball player, coach.

UL (where's the Like button?) don't stand for nuttin.  (I always admired the fact Harry S [for nothing] Truman had onea them in his name too.) While he did put a period after each letter when writing his name, all he was given at birth was UL.

UL's claim to fame?  His toothpick. (Like button, that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it.) He played shortstop for the Kansas City Royals, with a toothpick hanging outta the corner of his mouth.  Many thought "Danger danger (UL) Will Robinson", they even thought about banning it.  In 1980, UL batted .272, decent.  With alla the hullabaloo about the toothpick, he went the next year without one, batted, .227, thought to himself "to hell with that, I'm going back to the toothpick." That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh I like it, 

UL was born, thanks Wiki, in Stringtown, Oklahoma.  Ain't never hearda it, so, clicked it (today's kinda sorta theme, life is about like, don't like, click, don't click, turn left, no, right works, channel 383, ok Victor, we get the idea.)  

Stringtown, Oklahoma. Southeastern, kinda, Oklahoma.  Population 410.  It's believed the town was named due to 'a string of businesses along the train tracks', a bank, theater, and a pub. Why, why do a lotta towns list an infamous crime as to being their 'claim to fame'.  Whaddaya mean Victor?

Well. .I grew up in Liberty, MO.  Like Stringtown, small.. not quite that small... but.. our 'claim to fame', it's home to the very first daylight bank robbery in the United States, none other than Jesse James himself.  The town just to our North (Kearney, MO) boasts "Home of Jesse James", has a James Day celebration, come tour Jesse's birthplace, yada.

Back to Stringtown.  One time, bandcamp, August 5th, 1932, while Bonnie Parker was visiting her mother.. (You mighta hearda her, as in, Bonnie  and Clyde).. in fact, while Bonnie visited, Clyde Barrow and 'two associates' were drinking alcohol at a dance in Stringtown (illegal under Prohibition), they were approached by the Sheriff and Deputies, one was shot, killed, thus, the first killing of The Barrow Gang.

Back to UL.  He had a nice MLB career.  Ten years.  His own 'claim to fame' (aside from the toothpick), well, actually he had two.  In the 1980 American League Championship Series versus the Yankees.. he hit a two out single, thus, allowing George Brett up next, only to hit a TOWERING homer off ole Goose Gossage, propelling the Royals into the World Series.

Then............ 1983, similar scenerio, UL hit a two out single in the 9th inning against the Yankees. One Billy Martin then summoned the Goose ot the mound.. the rest, I guess, is history.  Brett's infamous Pine Tar home run.  I'm Kansas City biased, but, that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it.

Can you tell a story sdrawkcassab?  IE, the beginning at the end? Eh, why not.  UL had played baseball, graduated from Murray State College in Oklahoma.. The Royals were having a tryout for their newfangled 'Academy'.. UL's brother James was an usher for the Royals, arranged for UL to attend. (Hey!  How come James got FIVE letters and UL only got two?).... Anyways, UL made it, was invited to attend the Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy in Florida, a one time dream/plan of then Royal's owner Ewing Kauffman..  The Academy panned out (for a short at least) as UL, Frank White and a guy named Ron Washington graduated from it, and all went on to MLB infamy.

Me, me, me.  We know I do that too much.  Sorry... kinda sorta.  I've always said, onea my claims to fame is, "George Brett and I went to different schools together." Ha.  Then, there's always the "I shoulda been rich.. our family owned the biggest damn buggy making company this sidea the Mississippi River, then Henry Ford invented the damn automobile, I coulda, shoulda been rich."

And finally, redfacedly, I too was invited to the same tryout as UL, Frank and Ron. (Pick me, pick me! Sorry Charley).  I sucked, wasn't even invited back for day two, Sunday.

Life is about picking, opting, selecting, remotes, steering wheels, fitty five articles to choose, click from.  They picked UL and his 'pick'.  (and Frank, and Ron.)

Rest in peace UL, you done good.

Love, Victurd

By a whisker.......

Whadda you think of when you hear "whisker"?

I think of........... cats.   Santa.   ZZ Top.   That first stroll in the morning to pee, a glance in the mirror after shaving the day before.. "Damnit, they're back."  Unkept mebbe.  Just shoot me, sometimes I guess I think of homeless.   A close race, "won by a whisker."

Would you call the hair on a lady's legs whiskers?

If ya do, would you believe women spend more time shaving than men?  Uh huh, one source, "Women spend 72 days shaving their legs over the course of a lifetime.. approximately 1,728 hours.. Men spend 45 days shaving their beard and neck, or, 1,080 hours over their lifetime."

OK, in fairness, those stats, which didn't/don't even include armpits, bikini, or, say, a man's back (eww).. the stats are from a company in Nova Scotia espousing laser hair removal.

"Time to get out the hedge trimmers.  Yeah, I haven't shaved my legs since November."  Maxine

Hate, of course, is a strong word.  That said, I hate shaving. I do.  YOU?  I much prefer a good ole electric razor than the painstaking, sometimes 'ouching' razor, shaving creme, strokes, many. Besides, the older ya get, after you're done shaving, you wipe that crap off and it finds crevices.  Some left. A reminder of age, wrinkles, patooey.

I shave in the car, I do. Portable razor. People look at me strange, don't care, we're all strange.  So, ya pull up to the light, insteada hearing cranked up music, mebbe some F-bombs, mebbe someone checking out their phone insteada watching for the light to turn green, I'll be shaving.

 

Cats.

I thinka cats too. Cats, to me, are like political parties.  Either/or.  Dem/Pub.  Love/hate. Ya either love 'em, collect 'em as ya age, or, you hate, hate hate - there's that word again.

 

I actually love cats (TY ex wife for learnin' me about 'em, a lifetime of joy when I have had 'em.)  We are all aware, cats really don't give a rats what you think.  Kinda like us old people in that respect, I can relate. Cats, like people, also reach that Popeye point "I've had all I can takes and I can't takes no more."

Some people, when reaching that Popeye point, have road rage, use guns, fisticuffs, push, shove, cuss, spit.. yada...   Cats simply shred a curtain.  Wouldn't all our lives, this nation, this world, be better if, "When I find myself in times of trouble".. we'd shred a curtain?  Mebbe the facing of an ottoman?  

Victor.. you're getting off topic, you were talking whiskers.

Oh yeah, thanks.

I think we've all, mebbe, heard that them there cat 'muzzle whiskers' (the ones extending from their nose) are generally the width of their body, thus, allowing them use 'em as a measuring device to see whether they'll fit thru a space or not.

I wonder how many whiskers they have?  Thought you'd never ask.  Twelve (usually) on each sidea their nose.  Above their eyes, 3 to 6... they use these to protect their eyes when running thru tall grass, branches... they act as sensors to tell 'em, "hey, blink, quick."

"I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us.  Pigs treat us as equals." Winston Churchill

Were you aware cats have whiskers on the inside of their wrists?  Ahm, Victor, somewhere up above you mentioned something about "old people not giving a rats", well, we don't give a rats.

Sorry, you're stuck.  If you'd rather, this time'a day, you can go watch CNN (calm down, or, FOX) to hear the back and forth between Joe/Don... Don/Joe.   Uh huh, kinda figured that reaction.

YES, 'whiskers' in the insidea their wrists, legs, whatever you wanna call 'em.  These 'wrist whiskers' (say that, 3 times, real fast) are actually used when they've got prey captured, and they help sense their tiniest movement.

If cats whiskers fall out, will they grow back?  Victor, hand me the remote, I don't give a rats.  Sorry, yes, they grow back.

Why are my cats whiskers so long?  Duh, you gotta fat cat.

Do hairless cats have whiskers?  Lemme see, I think CNN is channel 44.  Usually, no, if they do have 'em they're generally broken, shorter.

Is there sucha thing as whisker fatigue?  YES Victor, about the second sentence once you started talking cats.  Bite me, yes, there is sucha thing as whisker fatigue.  PETA, or some article I read, suggested you make sure to buy wide bowls to combat this fatigue.  (I may watch TV with you if this don't get better.)

Who is the craziest cat lady?  VICTOR!  MYSOGYNIST!  AM NOT!  ARE TOO!  It's always heard as 'crazy cat lady.' Little ole lady and her cats.

Lynea Lattanzio, that's who.  Now 67, she relates "I've taken in and lived with 28,000 cats. That's probably a record."  Uh huh, prolly.  Lynea operates "The Cat House On The Kings". Mind outta gutter, no happy endings here.  Well, I guess there would be for the cats.  At present, on her 12 acres, 800 cats, 300 kittens roam about.

"Including staffing, food, litter, maintenance and medical fees, the sanctuary runs up a bill of roughly $1.6 million a year." Holy guacamole, that's a lotta fur ball$.  “When I first started this endeavor I was out my own pocket for 7 years. I spent my retirement, I sold my car, I sold my wedding ring,” she explains, as if nothing would be worth keeping over the cats.

Just curious (it's me, Victor, again.) If you tried to see if cats really do have whiskers on their wrists.. did you get scratched?

"We have three cats.  It's like having children but there is no tuition involved."  Ronald Reagan

I gotta go shave.. you cats enjoy the day.

Love, Victurd

PS. Cat whiskers are actually called vibrissae hairs.  We humans have the same type of hair in our nostrils.  Do you shave your nostril hair?  Nevermind, it's cool.

"You don't have to see the whole staircase.. just take the first step." MLK

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  Of course, July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, the man (in?) on the moon.

I read and I get bored.  It's been a great downfall in my life.  The difference between A's and B's in school.  Ok, bite me, the difference between B's and C's.

It's been many moons since 'we' have revisited the Moon. Over Fitty I think.  Didn't we just talk 'fitty'?

Wiki done tells me "On 22 February, 2024, Intuitive Machine's Odysseus successfully landed on the Moon after taking off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 liftoff on 15 February 2024 in a mission between NASA, SpaceX, and Intuitive Machines, marking the United States' first soft unmanned moon landing in over 50 years. This event marked the first successful landing of a privately owned spacecraft on the Moon."

So.............................. so, one would think...  with all dayum steps of innovation, technology, that stuff, the next Wiki paragraph might read like:

"So, private venture, Uncle Sam's bucks too, yada..  the Odysseus landed three days ago.. armed with a humongous 3D printer, a dash of AI, and the World's first Electric Bulldozer - the Grand Canyon replica was dug, Taj Mahal II built, and thanks to AI, the entire town of Scottsdale, Arizona is now up there on the big green cheese...the Suez Canal digitally reproduced, Noah's Ark too, animals, we got animals. EVERYWHERE. Watch your step.  Steps.. we've done taken these strides, steps to current day, yep.  That's what happened."

But..................... nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I turned the channel to FOX, or was it CNN, I forget.. anyways:

"The lunar landing was not an ideal 'soft landing', it's presently leaning at a 30 degree angle, it's believed one of the landing foot struts broke off..  it's resting on an oxygen tank that's strapped on the outside of the main fuselage and since the antennas are not vertically lined, transmissions have been reduced."

I call BS (That's short for........ well, you know)....

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I turned the dayum TV off... went to regular ole regular radio (NPR... in fact, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth) and learned.......

"Much of the explanation from the moon back to the US is pure conjecture.  What (we believe) really happened (transmissions reduced) is that Elon Musk's Mastercard was compromised, he cancelled his card, then, the day before the lunar landing, his T-Mobile auto pay was rejected, he forgot to let them know the new number, expiration date, 3 digit thingy, yada... thus, they cut him (and all communication) off."

And you................. you there................ you thought this would be a remarkable motivation blog due to the MLK quote up there huh?

Well... sometimes there in life Senor', gump happens. Right Forrest?  Penny for your thoughts Edsel?  Johnny Football, RG3, The Boz.. right?  Besides that, how was the Play Mrs. Lincoln?

Beyonce was 9 when her all girls band LOST on Star Search.  Devastation.   In 1827 Charles Darwin DROPPED OUT of Med School..  leading his father to say, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat catching.”...   Einstein, hearda him? He didn't even talk until he was FOUR. Age 16, failed to pass the entrance exam into the Swiss Federal Polytechnic school.  

Age 26, Dave Ramsey filed for bankruptcy.  WHAT?  

Steps. Steps baby. MC Hammer grew up in the shadows of the Oakland Coliseum. Found, sold baseballs. Became the A's bat boy. Reggie himself called him "Hammer" due to his resemblance of Hank Aaron.  You know the rest eh?  Thanks to an incredible entertainment career, he (stepped) worked his way up to over $33 MILLION...later, luxuries, supporting fam, friends, found himself in debt for $13 MIL, filed bankruptcy. (You can't touch this.  Uh huh, they did.)

I reckon, the point being.............. When you're weary, Feeling small, When tears are in your eyes.. no, that ain't it, but, you get the drift eh?

Sometimes life just plain sucks.  Gump happens.  We've all stepped in it.  Pew.  Remember that smell as a kid?  You stepped in it. It FOLLOWS you in the house. WORSE than liver'n onions, BO, bad breath, a wet hound pooch.

One can plan. Denote. Annote. Take all the (seemingly) right steps.. (even 2 step a tad)... and the bottom falls out. (Ask a plumber, he'll explain.)

I have no idea why I did ANY of the above.

I promise, I'll take steps to do better into the future.

Step on it James, I'm late for my pedi.

Oh, I'm sorry ma'am.. do they still stink?

Love, Victurd

12/13/14.. the Tail of Eclipse...

First the left peeper popped open.  Clock, far away, left peeper is 'close-up' eye, so, hadta then open righty to see, ascertain whatinthehell time it was.

Sleepless in Seattle?  Well, no.  I mean, yes, but really, just kinda.

First, yes, this is kinda a story about me, a relationship, and, me thinks it's pretty certainly known, while there have been (in fact they ALL have been) WONDERFUL TIMES, each, they weren't really really long novels.

12/13/14. First date with a really hot blonde, and no, this ain't kiss and tell. It's just an old fashioned love song, ha.

I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be something, with the 12/13/14 starting date, if this did in fact turn into a novel-length relationship?"

Long about this same time, Seattle, Washington, Jeff Young adopted a 10 week old black lab, bull mastiff mix, name.. Eclipse.

Jeff and Eclipse would hop on the red bus right outside his apartment, roll a mile or so to the doggy park, have unleashed fun, run time...and red bus it back home.

Back in good ole KC, the 12/13/14 thing was kinda sorta working, and several times a week, we'd hop in the car, fetch her miniature schnauzer with us, roll the wind'er part way down, (head out, GLEE!) then we too would hit-up the dog park.

Mr. Young, back in Seattle, simultaneously went out for a cig, and let Eclipse out to 'do her thing.' He turned his head, then turned it back - gone, Eclipse was gone. Down the road, he saw the tail lights of the red bus. Uh huh, apparently, Eclipse's 'do her thing' was going via bus, BY HERSELF, to the dogpark.

This happened, again and again, and the again. Oh sure, oft times Jeff would go too, but some days, he'd let Eclipse out, she'd eyeball the green bus ('nope'), the yellow bus ('huh uh') and finally hop on the red bus...watch for her stop...head to the door, scratch, hop off, dog park fun. Rinse, repeat, she became a legend.

So much so, the bus system utilized her in ads, strapping a bus pass to her collar, taking pics of her, Jeff, all about Seattle.

Back in KC, a few years later, long about the actual Solar Eclipse, the 12/13/14 thing was ending. All good, this smart feller (me) had said (in part joking, but too, kinda seriously) "if we ever split up, I want visitation rights with one said mini Schnauzer". Did, for awhile anyways! Pull up, pickup, head out wind'er (GLEE!), dogpark, home.

Eclipse had a wonderful ten year Seattle thing with her, Jeff (or not), the red bus, dogpark, but her time on Earth ended recently as cancer set in.

Ends, sadly, happen....however, blessings are counted daily, no matter if it's novel length, a short story, or even a blog.

Get out there. Get offa your leash. Love. Run like they left the gate open - enjoy the dogpark of life, whatever mode you take to get there, unaccompanied, or not.

Love, Victurd