Just yesterday morning..........

(I'm late for work, if there are typos, I so solly!)

Just yesterday mornin', they let me know you were gone
Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to

Nah, this blog (kinda) ain't about Suzanne... or any kinda relationship, mebbe.  It's more about "Just yesterday morning"

Wasn't it just yesterday morning we ran into mom and dad's room in our PJ's at 'ugly-thirty' on Christmas to awaken them so we could see the rewards Santa brought us?

Big Chief tablet... "Dad, I'm ready, take off the training wheels." Junior high, 'hey, where'd this hair come from?'..

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell... one scent can be  unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet, confure up a  childhood morning beside a lake in the mountains."  Diane Ackerman

Just yesterday morning...I/we, celebrated being able to vote, finally.  Have a beer, legally, finally. Our first 'real' W-2.

Been walking my mind to an easy time
My back turned towards the sun
Lord knows, when the cold wind blows
It'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line
To talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Wasn't it just yesterday morning that cold wind blew we typed, printed, distributed resumes about us, who we were, are, where we wanna go, what we wanna do?  "Honey, have you seen the white out?"

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby
One more time again, now
Thought I'd see you one more time again
There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you, fire and rain, now

Fast forward (That, "Fast Forward" is a button we push to move through a recording faster, but it's also kinda the way life likens Cliffsnotes..........SNAP, it don't take long!)

Just yesterday morning, I was thinking about "Yippee, yummy, James Taylor at Starlight Theater tonight!"

And we... five buddies, went.. I know others from our area went.  Fun, very.  THE BEST people watching.  Folks, just like us, who just yesterday morning were pulling all-niters to study for a History test..  just yesterday morning we sang songs, gathered around a bonfire, keg on ice in a wash bucket nearby.

i/we, have wonderful buddies, truly.  Of the five of us, there's two new hips, a new knee, an afflicted fat boy (that be me)... so.. they kindly dumped us off at the gate.. .parked.. came, listened along side us.. Stood, bebopped (just like yesterday morning.

James was great.  And so were all the wunnerful musicians he'd gathered.. "this one was in such-n-such- band.. she sang with so-and-so...even his son, who looked a lot like James, but, with a touch of "he shoulda, coulda been a basketball player. Dayum he was tall." James's voice was good, maybe not the pure honey it was ten, twenty years ago, but hey, you and me ain't changed a bit, right?

1st setlist done. Some new, some done with horns, rousing percussions, even James on a shiny blue electric guitar, jumping up and down, like he'd done mebbe as a kid just yesterday morning.  Then "we're gonna take a 20 minute break now.  Not sure why, but, we'll be standing over there by those boxes, then we'll come back for the 2nd set.

Breaktime, pee (we're old), beer, cig (Victor, you have GOT to quit).. back to our chairs, more music from just yesterday morning.

Everything went on rewind from there. One, our brains. Two, the end of the concert.  The encore included acapella - a nice touch,  just like yesterday morning and our High School Choir.

Gathered geezers headed UP the stairs.  Some faster, some slower, undoubtedly many no longer with us, never afforded the opportunity. Seems like just yesterday morning they were with us.

Kind folks, like those before us just yesterday morning,, fetched SUV's, extended p/u trucks, Caddy's, Buicks, Foreign jobs, sweet dreams, flying machines - while those of us seated at the gate (most who ran like the wind just yesterday morning, but now slower, some afflicted, all, lucky to be there) awaited our GPS buddy's lift home.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaauuuuuuttttttttiiiiiifulllllll weather, people.  Exactly like a Summer's eve, just yesterday morning, 1971, 1995, 2003, yada.

Just like a rolling stone (VICTOR, one song per blog please..)  it gathers no moss..  but this I know, sure, it gathers wrinkles, but too, love, fun, alter trips, maternity ward stays, jobs, coworkers, longtime buds, good, bad, some ugly.. elder care.. elder loss.. loss of all kinds... 

Wasn't it just yesterday morning we ran the 600 yard dash, mom drove us everywhere, dad played catch in the yard, flipped our tassels, voted, remember that apartment?  Used an ole reel mower, then a regular push one, finally self-propelled, he

ll with that, I wants me, gots me, a rider.  Now, a zero turn.  Like them big ole mowers, things go faster now.. in spite of us not moving faster.  Yards are done in 20 minutes.. years seemingly pass simularly.

Lonely times when we seemingly could night find a friend. On the mountaintop times. Tell it all brothers and sisters (VICTOR!). I know I know, one song (thankfully, many dances.)

Life. First setlist. Break. Second setlist.  Encore.  Dayum, wasn't it just yesterday morning it all started?

Thanks for the tunes, memories Sweet baby James, it really twas just like yesterday morning.

Love, Victurd

It's a crock.....,

Cooking, eating.....

My eating habits are weird, laughed at, "You won't even try it?", nope.  You've seen the lists.. "How many of these foods will you NOT eat?"... On a list of 60, I'd prolly abhor, ignore, 45 or so. And....... I don't care what anyone thinks, they ain't in charge of my belly.  I literally could subsist on eggs, bread, $1 Banquet chicken pot pies, sweet corn, baked potatoes, peanut butter, sliced smoked ham, oranges, Fritos, cheese, cheese and s'more cheese.  Oh, and hot dogs WITH ketchup, I don't care WHAT my Tulsa friend says.

But....... that ain't what this is about.

I spose this is about....... the crockpot of life.  What's in yours?  

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?

I really wanna know (who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know (who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Come on, tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
'Cause I really wanna know (who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

Innie?  Outtie?  Night owl? Coffee at 3:30am whether you wanna or not? Tall, short, skinny, stocky, blonde, brunette, redhead, next question please, I'm bald.  Well I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee. Army brat, more homes than Pong bounces around. Je viens du Québec, et toi ? (That be, "I'm from Quebec, you?")  Liberty, MO, some say boring, I really like it.

What ingredients do you put in your day?  How long do you cook, ie, stay awake?  Are there things in the cupboard (people, people types) ya like (he/she smiles all the time, is a giver, 2 cups of that perty please.. )

And........ mebbe some stuff (people) thatya won't touch and will one day toss outta the cupboard due to expiration dates... "He/she is FULLA themselves.. it's a wonder he/she ain't broke his/her arm from patting himself/herself on the back." You know, the "don't you know who I am?" types.  Why yes, I know who you are.... wait a sec...... Ernie?  Grab another tall kitchen trashbag wouldya?  I just filled one up."

Life's too short to 'cook' with wet noodles.

We ain't gotta hate people.... mebbe just not like the behavior... or, mebbe not like their ideas, thoughts, as.. they're differn't from mine, yours, and that's ok, most streets go bothways.

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam.  New York is where'd I'd rather stay, I get allergic smelling hay. Loft in that big ole building over there please Oliver....... San Diego, I'll never wear a damn winter parka again..  I love the mountains, actually, love the snow too... 3BR, 2BA ranch on a cul-de-sac please in soccer mom suburbia.. (MISOGYNIST!  AM NOT!)..

I want a big ride, you know, onea them Caddy Escalades.... I REALLY like my 2002 Buick Century...  All my friends know the low rider.. The low rider is a little higher....   I'd give my eye teeth if I could findme onea them chartreuse microbus's like I had in '68...

You know, when I'm 'cooking up a relationship', I seek intelligence..... deep, deep blue eyes... fun, someone that knows how to have fun....  I'm kinda introverted, looking for same... It's all about the boobs.. VICTOR!  Hey, I didn't say it, it's the piggo in this blog that said it!...  I'm kinda fonda really nice derrieres..  VICTOR! OK, ya got me, sorry, kinda, butt, you seen her in yoga pants? Oink, sorry. Anddddddddddddddd, gimme a break (break me offa piecea that KitKat bar) I JUST THIS PAST WEEK, heard a LADY say "Women are just as bigga pigs as men."

Looks, body shapes don't really matter.. if, when I see 'it', I'll know.  Personally, I like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.

I wanna drive a forklift... write freelance... be in a rock band... be a financial planner, get the hell outta Dodge by age fitty.  Somehow, I wanna work in the travel industry so I can kill two birds, one passport.  I'm gonna homeschool my kiddos, he/she will work outside the home.

Baby we gotta quit smoking indoors, look at them yeller blinds!  "Sofa for sale, pet free, smoke free home."  I don't mind that hamster wheel, you?...  Ralph?  Either you scoot over, or push onea them labs off the damn bed, I ain't got room to lay down....  Honey ain't it cute the way Luna hops up on toppa the cabinets, stares down at us like she's the queen'a the household?

Our remote doesn't budge one click from FOX... History channel mostly...  Color me going nuts, it's on Nickelodeon 24/7.  We curl up together and watch Andy Griffith reruns.  The scarier the movie, the better.   Stop the insanity, PBS for me.

Victor, this is THE dumbest blog EVER. There is not one single, unified train of thought! (The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain... By George I think she's got it!) MISOGYNIST!  AM NOT! ARE TOO! (Victor, you use that misogynist line too much... here, lemme helpya up there into the cupboard.)

Pedigree, mutt, lower, middle, upper class, introV, extroV, regular ole regular V.. hang my sheets out to dry.. drop all mine off at the cleaners... 

Let's go to..................  Paris....... Branson.....  Vegas....... Destin...   Weston, MO..... a VRBO by a lake out tine the middlea nowhere.    Luckenback Texas

Honey?  How do I look?....  I'll wear black socks when I wear my sandals I don't give no damn what they think.....   Sir, you MUST have a collared shirt to play golf here.  Hey, let's go to Blacks Beach! Are you crazy? Shrinkage.  I'm going to WallyWorld, brb. But, you got on your PJ's?!! So?............

The color wheel..... the quilt.......... the blender.....  first, the noodles, add, ricotta AND mmozzerella, tomato sauce, ground beef AND pork, spinach, zuccini, olives, mushrooms, wine, garlic, onion and oregano, LASAGNA is my alltime fav. You?

When I was a little kid... oh.. twenty, thirty...ok damnit, 60+ years ago, the Kaleidescope really really intrigued, excited me.  Hold it up. Turn, spin.  Yum.

Kaleidescopes, crockpots, ain't much changed in 71 years, I love the view.

Love, Victurd

I'm positive, I think.

For sometime I've bantered about "If you wrote a book, what would be the title?"

I thought of two.......... the first was (and I know this is a repeat Pete) "Both Legs In One Underwear Hole" and I hadn't decided if it would be fiction or non-fiction........

The other.......  "I'm Positive, I Think"....  The hesitation life gives us.. the hitch in the getalong...  there's a hole in my bucket dear Liza that's how come the glass ain't all filled up... or maybe even, checkengine lights happen.

Anyways......... I decided I'd go thru the newspaper (I ain't even opened it yet) and find just how many POSITIVE stories  I can find.  I'm Positive,  I Think I will... actually, I already cheated by reading one story...

Caitlin Clark is really pretty amazing. If you've been under a rock (watch out for spiders, rattlesnakes), Caitlin was the #1 draft pick in the most recent draft for the Women's National Basketball Association.  While her start in real league play has gone well, really well in fact... there is, has been, can be, animosity toward her, maybe jealousy.... the other day, for absolutely no reason, a gal came up and knocked her flat on her butt.  Ya see "knocked on butt" during actual real play time, but this was when there was no play involved, clearly on purpose with no good intent... Continued........

She's received mostly positive support..  Sir Charles Barkely said "Be thankful (WNBA) she's a big reason your salaries will go up, you'll travel on charter flights.." or something similar...  but.....the quote I liked the most was from Martina Navratilova, "The players in the WNBA need to realize she is helping them.. now, and in the long run" she wrote on X "Caitlin is the tide that will raise all the boats!"  I'm a simpleton probably (it's OK if you nod your heads in agreement) as I'd never heard that quote.  I likes it. Positive, I know (not, Positive, I think.)

We're off to see the Wizard........no, that ain't it....... I'm off to read the paper, see IF there is positive in it.

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First 6 articles, nope, not yet.. sorry.......

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FINALLY.  Ten days ago, a 14"alligator was brought into a local elementary school as part of a petting zoo.  The alligator had it's snout taped for obvious reasons... lo and behold, he somehow escaped.. for four days they searched. Nope. Search called off. With snout taped, little gator faced long odds of making it. Yesterday, they found him near the school.  He was put in a cage.. he still had the tape on, but, he was moving around a bit.  Too early to tell, but it looks good.

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Sunday, all across baseball land, was Lou Gehrig Day...All MLB players wore patches with #4 on their jerseys in honor of Lou who passed away from his ALS battle on June 2nd, eighty-three years ago.  The next day (yesterday) in Kansas City, the Joe McGuff ALS Golf Classic was held. McGuff was a longtime Sport's writer/editor for the KC Star, who'd suffered from ALS.  Two KC biggies played... Tom Watson, who'd lost his caddie Bruce Edwards, and George Brett, who lost his good friend Keith Worthington, each, to ALS.  Good people doing good things, raising money to pass along in hopes of a cure one day.

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The family of Virginie Derr was liberated from Normandy on D Day during WWII. She's now a sales manager for Delta Airlines in Atlanta...  Delta has participated in flying D Day surviving veterans overseas on the Anniversary of D Day... In the past, these flights have gone into Paris, then, the vets had a loooooong bus ride to Normandy.  Derr took an idea to her boss ("travel to Paris, then bus to Normandy is grueling, especially given the survivor's ages.. can we fly straight into Normandy?")_... and BINGO!, he went for it.  In 2022, Delta became the first commercial airline to fly directly into Normandy.  Yippee! Sunday, 48 veterans made the same trek (Atlanta directly to Normandy) thanks to Derr, her boss and Delta.

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Virgo and Capricorn both afforded 5 stars in today's Horoscope. (I'm sorry.. I went thru like 7 dadgum sections of the paper.. there just ain't, hasn't been, wasn't, much positive news in it. SHOULD BE, good is everywhere, but, reckon that 'ain't news'. 

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Miles Russell will tee it up in the PGA's Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit later this month.  VICTOR?  Yes?  What's so whoop whoop positive about that? He's 15.  Holy guacamole.  I know. I'm 71, and my golf game looks like a compass (ie, North, South, East, West, who knows).. Victor, scram. We're looking for positive here. OK, will.

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E gads, as in, done been thru the "E Paper" and I'm sorry folks.. that's literally all I saw. So....... a needle pulling thread?.. ahm, no. 

So............. instead, I guess I'll simply have to steal some Brainy Quotes on positive to save face. (Victor, there's no saving your face, tis why the Doc spanked your butt at birth).. Bite me.

'Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow."  Helen Keller

"Once you replace the negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." Willie Nelson

"Correction does much, but encouragement does more."  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"A good laugh is sunshine in the house." William Makepeace Thackeray

OK, I'll get out of your hair, that is, if you have any!   Ohhh come on, don't get mad!  See what that Makepeace dude wrote just above.

(I like that idea of having a middle name like Makepeace.  My middle name is boring (Kendal) BUT, I did get a grandson named Kendal outta the deal!............ Just imagine the possibilities though:

Makemoney......  Makequilts...... Makedinner (Misogynist! AM NOT! Was thinking someone who liked to cook!) Makehouse...  Makepottery.. . Makepainting...   Makeblog.... Makewhoopie......  VICTOR? Yes?  Go to bed.

I'm positive in that I think I will, thanks.  I love that you swing by here, read, thank you, truly.  In a World where, at least in the news, negative outweighs positive, perhaps we could all jump in and try to offset by choosing to see and think positively.

I'm positive, I think.

Love, Victurd

Don't mess with Bill.......... it really gets my goat.....

Long ago and far away, ships in both the British and American Navies usedta take a goat with them.  A multipurpose kinda deal - the goat would eat the garbage and undesirable food, plus, provide milk and butter.  Ba-bah, win-win.  The first creature, animal or otherwise, to circle the Earth twice was a (female) goat, in 1767 and 1768. She was ba-aa-aa-aa-ad ass.

Legend has it, a Navy ship had a goat on it... the goat expired at sea... officers preserved the skin so it could be mounted.. Two young ensigns were entrusted with the skin, but first they decided to swing by and watch the US Naval football game.  At halftime, one of 'em dressed up in the skin, the crowd loved it, Navy won............ thus, tradition started.

1893, Midshipmen from the USS New York gave their live goat (El Cid) to the Navy football team as a gift... Navy beat Army that day 6-3, the formal tradition (live goat mascot) began.  In the early 1900's, after the Midshipment whooped up again on Army, the goat was led on a victory lap all about the train and didn't scoot until they reached Baltimore.  Twas there, formally donned "Bill."

Currently, Bill XXXVI is the 39th mascot and the 36th 'Bill'.  

Don't mess with Bill, no no no no no, don't mess with Bill - leave my Billy alone.

Army didn't pay no heed.  Band camp, 1953, one week before the Army-Navy football game..  Thanks to inside skinny from a Westpoint cadet (exchange student at the time at the Naval Academy) cadets from the US Military Academy spotted the goat behind the stadium.. stashed him in their convertible.. .put the top down... they ALMOST got away with it, but, as they were refueling the car, the goats horns punctured the convertible top.  People seen it. (Don'tya hate it when people say "seen it" like that? I kinda like it actually!)  They did make it back to campus... presented 'Bill' to the Corps at a raucous dinnertime pep rally (To be continued, heap long paragraph, sorry)

So.......... It got ba-aa-aa-aa-ad.  The Midshipmen refused to go to class until they got Bill back,  Officials from USMA (including President Dwight D. Eisenhower, himself a USMA grad) ordered Bill's return.  Army cadets complied, BUT, held a mass protest rally on campus, deemed by NY papers as "Goat Rebellion At West Point."  Army, and actually Navy too, ba-aa-aa-aa-aa-ad taste in their mouths... Army prevailed 20-7.

Holy guacamole, Bill has been stolen at least ten times, mostly by the Army dudes, but the Air Force Acadamy has done so too.  The Navy guys have taken their mascot stealing turns as well, running off with Army's mules on multiple occasions.

It's gotten so ba-aa-aa-aa-ad, in 1992, they enacted formal agreement NOT TO STEAL EACH OTHERS MASCOTS after Navy took a mule, cut phone lines and zip tied 9 Army employees.  That don't stop those kids, ha. Ba-aa-aa-aa-ad joke, sorry.

Most heists are shortlived, the animals are returned, but one year, not the case.  Bill was gone for quite some time.  In fact, an ad ran in the New York Times that read "Hey Navy, do you know where your 'kid' is today? The Corps does."

1965, five cadets, ready to steal Bill, but....... first.. they had two of their girlfriends drive up to the two Marines that were guarding Bill's pen.  The gals spoke of being "lost... and stood up by our blind dates.".. Attention was diverted long enough, yep, Bill stolen, taken back to West Point.

Them dadgum Cadets, they did it again in 2007.  This time, they went to the 'home' where retired Bills lived.  They actually filmed themselves kidnapping Bill XXXII, Bill XXXIII and Bill XXXIV then had the damn gall to post it all on YouTube.. so much as saying, "We ba-aa-aa-aa-aa-ad."

Stolen from some dadgum site (sorry, I ain't sure how to do, write that properly): 

"On December 5, 1991, 17 Naval Academy midshipmen, two advisors and a Maryland mule farmer snuck onto the campus of their eternal rival, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, to kidnap West Point’s beloved mascots: four one-thousand-pound mules. What happened next was the culmination of nearly a year of meticulous planning that cemented those midshipmen in the annals of U.S. Naval Academy lore — and may have contributed to the Navy pummeling West Point in their annual Army-Navy football game the next day.

“Our jaws just hit the ground,” said Dan Goldenberg, a 1992 Naval Academy graduate who was at the pep rally when the raiding party made their triumphant return atop the captured mules."

The cat's got my goat, or tongue, or sumpin.  I got myself in to this mascot stealing mess, I ain't real sure how to get out, end it, but... it ain't a ba-aa-aa-aa-ad time to do so.

Have a great day, hug a loved one, or a goat, or a mule.

Love, Victurd.

(Overtime, extra innings, whatever ya call it.  I've probably told this before, ie, ah, a Senior Moment.  I finally had the nerve to ask a gal that, for a long, long, long time, I thought was maybe the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, out for a date. Actually, to play pickleball, I'd heard she never had, wanted to... TBC

"Sure" (enter YIPEEEEEEE here!) She lived on a farm along with horses, ponies, mules, feral cats and goats. No lions and tiger and bears though.  "But... my goat is having a 'kid' any time, so, just know that upfront, I might have to stay and assist at birth."

Happened.  As I pulled up, she was all beautified, she always was, but.. she was in the barn helping the birth of the goat.  She'd harkened her sister to take over, as she thought "maybe two" after the first was successfully delivered.  So, we went to play pickleball.

When she jumped in the car, I noticed a half inch square chunk of 'afterbirth' in her hair.  I never said nuttin.  Still gorgeous by my book. Couple games of pickleball, nope, never knocked it outta her hair.

She was somewhat humiliated when I told her about it a couple years later. Really, I didn't think she looked ba-aa-aa-aa-ad at all.)

Meatloaf.......

1. “Stop overthinking; it’s a thief of time and joy.” – Blake Lively

2. “Overthinking is like quicksand; the more you struggle, the deeper you sink.” – Emily Dickinson

3. “Don’t let overthinking drown out the music of your life.” – John Lennon

4. “Overthinking is the art of creating problems that weren’t there.” – Taylor Swift

5. “Stop overthinking; start living.” – Ellen DeGeneres

6. “Overthinking is a wasteful, unproductive habit. Break free from it.” – Michelle Obama

7. “Overthinking is a disease; let positivity be the cure.” – Lady Gaga

8. “Don’t let overthinking steal your sunshine.” – Emma Stone

9. “Overthinking is like walking around with an umbrella waiting for it to rain.” – Oprah Winfrey

10. “Overthinking is a slow poison. Stop sipping it.” – Leonardo DiCaprio

11. “Overthinking robs you of precious moments. Seize them instead.” – Angelina Jolie

12. “Overthinking is the art of creating chaos from calm.” – Justin Timberlake

13. “Stop overthinking; it’s the enemy of progress.” – Beyoncé

14. “Overthinking is a storm in your mind; find peace within.” – Serena Williams

15. “Overthinking is a silent killer of happiness.” – Katy Perry

16. “Stop overthinking; start believing in yourself.” – Jennifer Lawrence

17. “Overthinking is like chasing shadows; futile and exhausting.” – Ellen Page

18. “Overthinking is the devil’s playground; don’t dance with demons.” – Jennifer Aniston

19. “Stop overthinking; life’s too short for unnecessary worries.” – Robert Downey Jr.

20. “Overthinking is the art of creating problems where none exist.” – Meghan Markle

21. “Don’t let overthinking turn your garden of dreams into a jungle of doubts.” – Emma Watson

"Let me sleep on it... I'll give you an answer in the morning."  Meatloaf

15 minutes....

Coffee down (mosta the pot anyways)... yes yes, sure, peed.  Sitting (loafing) at computer, head to golf course soon, weather permitting, day of work.

Figure I got 15 minutes for a blog.  That ain't much.

Yet.......

In fitteen minutes, one could meet the love of their life on a work break.

Win (or lose) the State Baseball, Basketball, Football championship in the last inning, quarter.

A 'You know":....... I think I remember that anyways..... (VICTOR.. isn't '15 minutes' stretching it? Bite me!)

A salary review with your boss that either has you walking out with a puffy chest, or, mebbe indeedly heading to Indeed.  (15 minutes to spellcheck a blog.. they underlined indeedly, saying it ain't a word. Should be.)

Fifteen minutes of labor.  The lucky ones.

An Uber.

The front yard mowed.  

Burgers on the grill...... maybe even less....

A brisk walk.

A text chain with buddies, where, after five or six texts, ya get kinda one eye on phone, other eye on what you were doing (baby aggrevation?).  Mebbe even regret being on the text chain. Then, ya slap yourself and realize how damn lucky you are that folks think enough of you to include you.  Silence is perhaps a sad alternative.

Going for bread, milk at the Piggly.

Shower, shave, brush chops... no matter how bad it looks (I speak from experience) smile at that mirror as we're blessed to have awoken for another day.

Listen to the long version of You Can't Always Get What You Want........ twice.

"If you calculate 15 minutes a day shaving, that's 5,000 minutes a year shaving."  Fidel Castro (
I always remembered him having a beard.)

Close your eyes.......... devote 15 minutes of quiet to remember those gone, missed, loved.  Keep 'em 'alivc'.

Play Wordle (took about 15 minutes).. Compared scores via text with youngest niece who also gets  up at Ugly-30am.  Tie, "Great minds" we say anyways... I bemoaned about the fact I needed to clean house.. She suggested the Fifteen Minute Clean.  Commercials come on roughly every 15 minutes.. Dilute the time cleaning so it's not overwhelming by jumping up to clean, but only during the commercials.  First commercial came on.  I turned the TV off.  Took a 15 minute nap.

Play Sudoku in bed whilst trying to go to sleep. I don't Ewes counting sheep.  I look at Sudoku numbers instead.  Works.  I'm certain I can snore within fitteen minutes.

Read a stupid blog.

Write a stupid blog.

"Women are like ovens... we need 5 to 15 minutes to heat up."  Sandra Bullock.  Victor, you damn misogynist!  AM NOT, ARE TOO, AM NOT, ARE TOO!

Fifteen minutes of fame.  (No such luck for me, BUT, George Brett and I DID  go to different schools together.)

In fitteen minutes you can pass gas, of course run into another room.. turn the coffee off... eat a donut (or two if you think you got time).. hug someone.  Kiss someone.  Text someone.  Pet your dog, cat, rabbit (why?), turtle (careful), salamander (eww)... grab the mail... 

Worry (I much prefer another donut, but, worry happens.)

Smile (it's dayum hard to smile for fitteen minutes, but, I love them folks who smile all dayum day long.

Smoke a cig.  Actually, two. I KNOW I KNOW.

Smoke pot. I (honestly) don't, but I don't care if you do.

"I hate to go to the movies or watch a TV show and know the ending within 15 minutes."  Amaury Nolasco

Spend 15 minutes on Wiki trying to find out just whointheheck Amaury Nolasco is.

GO OVER 15 MINUTES WRITING A BLOG.  CRAP I GOTTA HURRY.  ie, woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head.. and looking up, I noticed I was late (enter heavy breathing here).. found my coat and grabbed my hat, made the bus in seconds flat.  (I don't wear a hat. It's 75 degrees, no coat. No bus, my 2002 Buick Century. Don't laugh damnit, it runs, looks awesome.)

Cuss Victurd for 15 minutes of your life you'll neva' eva' get back.

Sorry.

Kinda.

Hugs, smiles, well wishes, fitteen minutes of 'em.

Love, Victurd

Million dollar voice, but a ten-cent brain......

Howdy, nice to meet you folks.

The name's Hiram, and I was born in Mount Olive, Alabama almost a hunnerd and one years ago.....  I was the third baby born to Jessie Lillybelle (Lilly) and Elonzo Huble (Lon)...  My older brother, Ernest Huble, died two days after his birth in 1921.  My sister Irene was born the next year, then me, my turn, born in 1923.

My grandpappy fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side, then he was captured, joined the Union side. Dad was a railroad engineer until World War I broke out.. he was drafted, spent a year in the service, but, had a terrible fall, breaking his collarbone and a took a severe blow to his head.

When I was born, they determined I had spina bifida occulta and that caused me a lotta pain over the years.  When I was three, mom played the organ in the Mount Olive Baptist Church and I'd hop up on her lap and join in on the singin'.  Got my first harmonica when I was 6, so, my family actually ended up calling me "Harm".. .but my friends called me 'Herky' or 'Skeets'.

We moved a lot, what with dad chasin' jobs and all.. then, he started having facial paralysis when I was 7... they sent him to the VA hospital in Pensacola.. he stayed there 8 years, so I was pretty much grow'd up by the time he came home.

Momma had a boarding house in Georgiana, AL and around that time, my aunt Alice taught me how to strum some basic guitar chords.  It was tough times, what being in the Great Depression - in fact, momma also worked in a cannery and if that and the boarding house wasn't enough, she worked as a night shift nurse at the local hospital.  The boarding house burnt down, and we lost everything. A US Representative named Hill helped mamma to get dad's disability pension - so she was able to buy another boarding house for us to live in.

If you're keepin' up, that's a lotta life already and by now I'm only eight.  Hey, that's ok 'cause mamma bought me my first git-tar then, a second hand one for $3.50.  I'd grab my git-tar, follow ole Rufus 'Tee-Tot' Payne around town - he was a street performer.. he'd gimme lessons, and in return, mamma would fill his belly with good eats.

When I was fifteen, I had a little disagreement with my PE teacher about some exercises, we actually got into a fight..  mamma wanted the school board to fire him... they wouldn't, so we up and moved to Montgomery, AL.  I never saw Rufus again.  I guess later in life I had some pretty good luck in music, but ole Rufus is really the only training I ever had. Well, him, and Aunt Alice and those basic strums..

Age 15, I won $15 in a talent show at the Empire Theater singing my first ever original song, WPA Blues.. Long about that time, I changed my name from Hiram to _____.  (Sorry, you may know by now, but if I toldya that, it'd gimme away.)

Daddy came home for a short, mamma said "nope, I'm in charge now.".. he stayed for my birthday then went back to the medical center.  Me and Smith "Hezzie" Adair started a band called '______ and Hezzie and the Drifting Cowboys - and we'd play any, everywhere they'd have us - clubs, gatherings, and at the local dancehall, Thigpen's Log Cabin.

Mamma became our manager, I dropped outta High School so we could travel and play, and we went clear to Georgia and down to the Florida Panhandle.  World War II hit, and it brought good and bad for me. Due to my back, I was medically disqualified to serve, but, they took all the resta my bandmates.  Got replacements.. but.. I kinda liked to drink, that caused problems and many of them quit.

I'd had a radio show in Montgomery, but they fired me for the drinkin', and.. one time backstage at one of my concerts, I met Roy Acuff (he was a hero of mine) and he told me, "You've got a million dollar voice son, but a ten-cent brain."

Life was kinda a whirlwind.  I gotta job at a shipyard in Mobile, transferred to Portland, Oregon, did the same thing there.. soon back home to Alabama.. Met a perty lady, Audrey Sheppard at a medicine show.. we both worked at the shipyard, lived at the same hotel in Mobile, before ya know it, there we were in a Texico gas station in Andalusia, AL, getting married by the justice of the peace.

In '46, at the recommendation of Ernest Tubb, I auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville but they said "Nope".   Did eventually get a 6-song record contract with Sterling Records, helped by Acoff-Rose Music.  Acoff-Rose liked the songs..  got me a contract with MGM Records, had my first hit "Move It On Over."   After that, I moved it on over to Shreveport, joined the Louisiana Hayride radio show, got me into living rooms in the entire Southeastern United States.. Ping-ponged between Louisiana and Eastern Texas performing.. then........

June 11, 1949, made my debut on the Grand Ole Opry.. I think they liked me.. I got six encores..  I could really never read music, but, I guess I could write songs and sing 'em ok - as, by the 50's, I was making $1000 a show.  Fast and furious the next three years were..  

Went on tour with Bob Hope.. signed a motion picture contract with MGM.. up to New York to be on Perry Como's show... March of '51, admitted to North Louisiana Sanitarium for alcoholism and my back.. out... I was squirrel huntin' with my fiddler, jumped a gully, didn't make it.. had a spinal fusion at Vanderbilt University Hosptital.. left "AMA" Christmas Eve.. 

As I'd mentioned, it was a whirlwind.  Back to NY (twice) to sing on The Kate Smith Evening Hour.. a brief affair with dancer Bobbie Jett... (that brought us a daughter, Jett Williams).. Audrey, of course, divorced me, so, I wrote "You Win Again" and "I Won't Be Home No More."

I had a whole buncha hits that I'll tellya about in a sec.. but.. on August 11, 1952 I was dismissed from  the Grand Ole Opry for "habitiual drunkeness and missing shows."  My back hurt!  Years of that back pain, booze, and some prescription drug abuse - it all finally caught up with me New Years Day, 1953 as I transpired from heart failure in the backseat of a car near Oak Hill, West Virginia - I was on my way to a concert in Canton, Ohio.

Of course there was a lot more in there of my life, but that's a basic glance..

Mebbe you remember some of my songs............   I Saw The Light...   Hey Good Lookin..    I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive..   I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry....    Cold, Cold Heart...      Lovesick Blues..   (I Heard) That Lonesome Whistle...   Your Cheatin' Heart..   Jambalaya..    Move It On Over.. 

Loveya, Hank

(Editor's note..  wow.. Sam Cooke, age 30.. Hank, 29.. and so, so many more BRILLIANT ones across music land gone way too early..  life is all about "If Only"......woulda, coulda, shoulda.. some we control, some, we don't.  There ain't never a day that should go by that we take for granted.  Sorry if that's preachin, I look at it more as "observing, and reasoning.")

Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh,

Love, Victurd