My Pinterest dump

Some things I've found that interest me....

Cool Cars 

Stairs

 

  

Girls and Guns

Guns 

Marshallers 

Rockies

 

Cool Jeeps 

Interesting

 

Dogs

 

Small Houses

 

 Scotland (my peeps!)

Sidewalk Cafes

 

Rugby

Some new Pintrest favorites....

 Dogs 

 Girls and Guns 

 Cool Airplanes

 

 Europe

 

 Small Houses

 

 Guns

 

 Cool Cars

 Watches

Funny Stuff

An odd duck....

....that would be ME!

I've always been a bit "not normal".  Okay, a LOT not normal.  The things that most people do, or aspire to do, hold little appeal for me.  I've always been an outlier.  The flow usually goes its merry way without me.

I HATE summer.  I loath heat and humidity.  If I'm sweating, I'm not happy.  (To my Florida friends....what were you thinking? :)  Autumn is my favorite season, followed by spring, and I enjoy winter, and snow, too.  Keep in mind I live in Texas.  I'm not suggesting I want to winter in International Falls, Minnesota, however.  Is it true body parts spontaneously fall off people there in the winter?

I'm only marginally coordinated, which might have been at least partially responsible for my pitiful athletic career.  A golf ball on a tee is safe from me.  

Speaking of....I'm not a sports fan, at least as you normally think of a macho sports guy.  I love (American) football, particularly at the college level.  I know the teams, their standings, star players, etc.  But I wouldn't walk across the street to see a baseball or basketball game.  And golf to me is about as exciting as watching a bear hibernate.  I do enjoy Formula 1 (Grand Prix) racing and English (Union) rugby.  Thanks to me both those sports now have an American audience of one.

I'm an introvert who is intrigued by people.  I can see someone in a park, for example, say "hello", and in five minutes know where they're from, what their day job is, if they have any kids or pets, what kind of car they have, etc.  People somehow seem more than willing to open up to me.  I enjoy people-watching from a distance, too, wondering what each person does by observing them.  However I have very few friends.  Lots of acquaintances, but few close friends.  EDIT:  It's been suggested that I'm more "introvert heavy / extrovert lite".  EDIT #2:  Simon Butler says I'm an extrovert, and I trust Simon Butler on such matters / definitions.  He's very smart.  :)

I have three daughters (and six grandchildren) and I love them dearly.  I hope I was / am a good father.  I sometimes think I wasn't good enough, but then I look at them, see how they turned out, and realize I must have done something right.   (BIG kudos to their mom, too!)

I don't mind apartment living.  To most people an apartment is just a layover on their way to a house of their own.  Been there, done that....too much maintenance.

I like fast airplanes and cars.  I don't have an airplane, and my cars have been rather mundane, but I still appreciate high performance mobile exotica.

I like firearms.  *gasp*  But I'm not a hunter.  I'm too lazy to get up at O-dark-thirty, go out to a cold, damp hunting stand, sit there for hours hoping to see a worthy target, shoot it, field dress it, drag it to a processor and pay him $$$ for his service, when I can just go to my meat market and get a beautiful steak M-Sat, 9-6 for a fraction as much.

I don't understand vanity or narcissism.  If you have to tell someone how cool you are, you aren't.

I'm very organized.  I think three steps ahead.  Odd, huh?

I love dogs.  To hear of a dog being abused really eats at me.  If I were ever to actually see a dog being abused I'm afraid I'd wind up behind bars....but the abuser would wind up in the hospital!  While I'm not a great lover of cats or birds or squirrels, etc, I would never abuse one. 

I'm extremely loyal.  I appreciate loyalty shown towards me and happily return it.  Yes, I've stumbled before, and learned from it.  In my business I have friends (subcontractors and vendors) who I've worked with for 20 or 30 years.  To bring in somebody new means someone else either retired or died.

I'm NOT technologically savvy.  I have a smart phone with probably 100 features, but I only use five or six of them.  In a world where Microsoft Windows dominates, I'm an Apple guy.  I don't play video games.  Hitting a little cartoon monkey over the head with a club when he pops out of a hole in a log just seems dumb to me.  Do game designers really make BILLIONS of dollars designing them?  *I don't get it*

I'm NOT a music aficionado. Back in my "yout" I was, and still know the lyrics to the Beach Boys, Dion, Chuck Berry, and the other REAL rock and roller's songs.  I've heard the names of todays big "musicians" (?), but couldn't for the life of me identify one of their songs.  The music of today just isn't pleasing to my ear.  My few exceptions are barely on anyone else's radar.  Ever hear of Enya, for example?  Didn't think so.  Jazz?  *crickets*

I'm a skeptic.  I can see through most scams and political bullshit.  The Democrats and Republicans, although they like to tout their own piousness and lambast their opponents, are in reality equal partners in crime.  I trust them both about as far as I can spit into a hurricane.  I'm NOT an ideologue, and can't imagine how anyone else could be, either.  Inflexibility is stupid!

I often don't understand our legal system.  How can something be so wrong (as God and my mama taught me) and unethical, yet still be "legal"? "Loopholes" are evil.

I have more, but I'm tired of typing.  :)

S  

A new family member!

I found her trolling the internet, looking for someone from a warm climate to rescue her from Minnnesnowta.  She was...oh, wait...wrong family member.  *ahem*

It's the little gray and white furball in K's lap that is actually the one pulling the strings in our family now.  His name is Jax, which means, as best we can tell, absolutely nothing.  (But give me some time and I'll concoct an exotic story he can use to impress the ladies  ;)

In the approximately six weeks since our Luke abruptly died we've both been in mourning.  Hard as we try, dog people like us just cannot properly function without a dog nearby.  It's been a miserable six weeks.  That all changed on Friday when I stumbled across Jax in a SPCA rescue shelter in Plano. 

Our previous dogs had all come from quality breeders because, well, we didn't know where else to look.  There were breeders, and there were dog pounds, and that was it.  The fact that our thoroughbred dogs came with the proper papers meant little to us as we weren't going to sell them or breed them anyway.  

Now we've become more aware of all the thousands millions of dogs needing forever homes, and who will be put to death if they can't find one.  *sniff*  Not on my watch!  There's certainly nothing wrong with quality breeders (NOT puppy mills!), but at least now we have options.

Jax is a mix, Miniature Schnauzer and Poodle.  He's about two years old and is a bit scrawny at 14 pounds.  I think we can get another couple of pounds on him and then he'll be juuuuuust right.  He's almost freakishly good.  He's already house trained, and sheds virtually none at all, as you would expect from either a Schnauzer or a Poodle.  

He's already been fixed, has all his age appropriate shots, and is instant friends with everyone....us, other people young and old, and the other neighborhood dogs, too.  Street noises, including fire trucks passing by on hot runs, and even vacuum cleaners don't faze him.  He has the softest coat, and is a good strong walker.  (He'll no doubt walk a few pounds off me, which is a good thing!)

I had planned to post a few other pics of Jax, but he won't sit still long enough to capture anything but a blur.   He loves chasing tennis balls and playing with his squeaky toys.  He eats and runs and plays enthusiastically, but can also turn it off and just sit and chill with us.  He'll accept belly rubs until the cows come home.  (For the record, so will I.  Just sayin'  :)  

I'm hoping he's a football fan, as Saturday's this time of year will require him to share my attention with a couple of games on TV.  I'm sure we'll work something out.  ;)

Can you tell I'm pretty stoked abut the new kid?  K is too.  In fact, earlier she called for me, and there was a pregnant pause while she tried to remember my name.  :)

All is well here now.  And Luke, Emma, and Tara, just know that the new kid will NEVER replace you in my heart.  You just have another brother now. 

S

EDIT:  Oh, did I mention he has ONE blue eye?  It is the coolest thing!  The vet said sometime dogs with one blue eye are deaf on that side, which if true, might explain his acceptance of noises that other dogs freak out over.  All of which is just fine with me.  :)

They call me "The Hangin' Judge"

Do I have the most inconsiderate neighbors in the world or is this common everywhere else, too?

 

At the other end of that leash is a dog owner looking around to see if anyone was watching their dog poop.  If they think not, they can't leave the scene of the crime fast enough.

Listen up people:  There are many facets to responsible dog ownership.  You need to love them and give them attention.  You need to feed them healthy food.  You need to give them plenty of water. You need to see to it they get regular medical care.  

You need to kept them clean.  You need to provide them shelter from extreme weather.  You need to keep control of them.  AND YOU NEED TO PICK UP THEIR CRAP WHEN THEY DEPOSIT IT ALL OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD.  

If you can't live up to any one of those responsibilities, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE A DOG!

This morning when I was walking Luke the Wonder Dog I saw a lady standing there while her dog was offloading last night's dinner.  Obviously she didn't see me, because as soon as her pooch finished she hustled off leaving the mess where it lay.

After a few steps we made eye contact (she was still a half block away) and I raised up a little "poopie bag" (available free from dispensers positioned on every street corner) and waved it.  She looked away and scooted off double time.

Grrrrr!  They need to put me in charge for a while.  I'd shape them up!

 "Enjoy your weekend, Ma'am."

 

Good dog. :)

S

Here he comes....there he goes

Going to 4-yr-old grandson Parker's soccer game this morning.  I think later they'll break up and play positions, but for now they all just play "mob", as in wherever the ball goes, the mob follows.  It's 45 degrees this morning with a breeze.  That should wake everyone up.

Later we're going on a search for food trucks, probably downtown.  Looks like Luke the Wonder Dog is coming along, too.  There are always lots of dogs there, which should thrill him....unless any of them try to get too close.  

Then he does an admirable imitation of a greyhound chasing that little mechanical rabbit around the racetrack.

After that....gee....lemme think.  Oh yes!  Football, or as K calls it, #$%^&* football.  :)

S

Me from A to Z

Shades of JournalSpace!  These sorts of personal expose's were common back "in the day", but I haven't seen one since JS permanently crashed.   This exercise was at the suggestion of my friend Suldog, and at his request I'll play along.  Here's me, from A to Z:

Age:  62 chronologically, much less emotionally.  K sometimes says I'm a "stick in the mud", and I'm sure I am at times, but most of the time I'm having too much fun to act my age.  That may be because I pretty much toed the line as a kid and now I'm making up for lost time.

Bed Size:  Queen.  To me a King is just too big.  They're so big you can stretch out and never even know you're in bed with anyone else.  I like to think snuggling in a Queen bed is the perfect way to promote world peace.  *I can't imagine why that line hasn't worked better?*

Chore I Hate:  Yard work, hands down.  I hate mowing, edging, weed-eating, trimming shrubs, raking leaves, fertilizing, spraying for various bugs and lawn diseases....all of it.  All so it can look good for maybe 3 days until it starts looking shaggy again?  Talk about an exercise in futility!

Dogs?  I love dogs, pretty much all dogs.  But I only want a small to medium sized dog for myself.  Big dogs have too much going in one end and coming out the other.  My love of dogs is odd since my parents didn't have dogs and therefore I was never around one as a kid.  Right now we have a Yorkshire Terrier (Luke), and before him we had a Miniature Schnauzer (Emma), a West Highland White Terrier (Tara), and many years ago (pre K) I had an American Eskimo (Tahsha).  Dogs bring me much happiness.  :)

Essential start to my day:  A cold beverage.  Right now I'm partial to Trader Joe's Latte's and Mocha Cappuccino's.

Favorite color:  I'm easy.  I like green, blue, red....there's no color in particular I plan my wardrobe or room furnishings around.  If it looks good in context, I like it.

Gold or Silver?  Silver.  It's less flashy than gold.  I'm not a flashy person.

House or Apartment?  For 35+ years I owned my own home(s), but for the last 4 years I've had an apartment and I LOVE IT!  In fairness, at certain times in my life, such as when I had small children and they needed a safe place to play, a house was perfect.  But I'm long past that now.   A house again someday?  Never say never. *wink*

Instruments played:  AM radio, FM radio, Quadraphonic stereo, 8-track, cassettes, CD's and iPods.  I'm accomplished in them all.  ;)

Job title:  Until last fall, President of Park Place Custom Homes.  That sounds impressive until you read my job description:  "Responsible for every shitty detail if no one else can be found to dump it on."  Now I'm semi-retarded.

Kids:  Three daughters; Kristan, Andrea, and Erica.  Today all are grown, well educated, and gainfully employed.  *happy dance*  They've also blessed me with four grandkids (Austin, Colby, Parker, and Blakely), with one more (Reese) on the way.

Live:  If that's a long "i", yes I am.  Otherwise, in Frisco, TX, a far-northern Dallas suburb.

Married:  Happily, to the lovely and talented "K".  Six years so far and counting.  :)

Never Again....will I ever sign my name to a mega-million dollar bank note.  Been there, done that, (successfully) escaped by the skin of my teeth.  I don't trust #$%& bankers.  "He who has the gold makes the rules", and the rules are 100% tilted in their favor.  Always!

Other Fun Facts:  I love history (college minor), and in particular aviation history.   For a while I was a docent at a Smithsonian-affiliated aviation museum.  I was also very active for nearly two decades with the Confederate Air Force, today known as the Commemorative Air Force.  I traveled the country on their behalf and had a great time, but what I did was extremely dangerous and about 8 years ago I figured I'd pushed my luck long enough and hung up my chocks.  

Pet Peeves:  People who throw cigarette butts on the pavement, people who make messes and leave it for someone else to clean up, f__ked-up renditions of the Star Spangled Banner, people who pull in front of me on the road and then just poke along, cops who get all bent out of shape when I do 54 in a 40....

Quote:  "Character means doing the right thing, even when no one is watching."  (author unknown)  Also: "Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." (Winston Churchill)

Righty or Lefty?  Righty, although I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

Siblings:  One, Todd.  Good guy, business partner, extremely competent, totally trustworthy.  He's 11 years younger than me (can you say "Oops"), so we were never close as kids.  Especially after the time I put him in the clothes dryer and gave him a couple of spins.  (Oh stop it!  You know you'd have loved to do the same thing to your kid bro/sis.  You just didn't think of it.)

Time you wake up:  Wake up around 5:30 (thanks to Luke the Wonder Dog), feet hit the floor about 6.

University attended:  Texas Tech University, class of '72.  Nine of the happiest years of my life!  (Kidding....I made it in 4.)

Veggies I dislike:  Pretty much all of them, especially those that have a color...yellow, green, red, orange...yuck! The blue ones aren't too bad.  And I do like jalapenos.  (When I was a kid to get my mother to quit bugging me I convinced her a jalapeno was a green vegetable.)  

What makes you run late?  Very few things.  I'm extremely punctual.

X-rays?  Sure.  For dental work, of course.  And on my head to see if I was "normal"....oh, and to check out my sinuses, and on my back, and on the typical assorted adolescent broken bones. 

Yum foods?  Steak!  Mexican!  Italian!  Banana pudding!  Pecan pie!  Ice cream!  (I'll stop there as this post is already waaaay too long.)

Zoo animal (favorite):   I'm not really into zoo's all that much, but I'd have to say it would probably be one of the birds of prey.  I find them fascinating.

OK, that's me.  Now as Jim (Suldog) challenged me, I'm challenging you to do one of these on yourself.  I think it's a pretty cool way to learn more about your blogging friends.  

Hope you enjoyed.  :)

S

Emma Belle....definitely THIS man's best friend

It was one year ago today that my dog, Emma Belle, gave me sole custody of our chair.

Emma Belle entered my life at the same time K did.  That's because she came with K as a sort of two-fer deal.  We never were sure exactly how old Emma was, but I'm guessing she was around 8 when she came to live with me.  I must say I've never bonded as quickly or as completely with a dog as I did with Emma.  K said more than once, "You've stolen my dog!"

Emma was smarter than one of those road skollers, too.  Together we were almost telepathic.  And unless I was away from home, she never left my side.  Not that I enticed her to follow me....she just enjoyed my company.  (Imagine that!)  If I got up from my desk in the study to go to the den or the kitchen, she would sense I was on the move and jump up from a sound sleep and follow.

She was a little too wide to sit beside me in our big leather chair (or maybe it was me who was a little too wide), so we worked out a deal....I would sit in the chair, but the ottoman was hers.  When I was away she would sit in my seat to keep it warm, but relinquish it as soon as I returned.

She had a temper, and a sense of remorse, too.  If I went somewhere and she wasn't ready for me to leave, she would go in the bathroom and turn over the trash can.  I suppose at some point it would dawn on her she had messed in her mess kit because when I returned she would greet me, not jumping up and down wagging her tail, but with her head down, ears back, and her big brown eyes barely making contact with mine.  I'd say her name like I was upset....Emmmmaaaaaaaa!  Come here!....and she would belly-crawl over to me.  I would ask if she was sorry and she would jump up on me and give me a "hug".  Then all was well, no grudges.

You can't imagine how scared I was when I took her to the vet on her last day.  She had pancreatitis, a common ailment for her breed, and I knew something was seriously wrong and we would soon be parting.  I left her as requested for them to do some tests, and was told to come back in a few hours.  I called K and told her to meet me back there, already having made the decision in my mind to put her down rather than make her suffer a few more days just so I could have a bit more time with my best friend.  She spared me from having to make that decision.  That's how considerate Emma Belle Park was.

Emma with her Christmas present.

Her position on "our" chair, never far away.

I always saved the last drop for her.

I loved her so.  Still do.  Always will.

S

Comfort or style?

As you might imagine, as a builder I'm interested in architecture and design.  I was reading an article in the paper this morning about a lady who sold her tech company for $23M, then to celebrate she renovated a loft (to the tune of $2M) she said "to make her friends envious".  Then I saw the slide show of her new digs.  Ugh!  It was all done in an ultra-contemporary style.  I just looked at her "den" and wondered where she would sit to read a book or watch TV?  

Here is an example of what I mean.  Does this look comfortable to you?

Does anyone remember the 70's TV show All In the Family?  Remember Archie Bunker's chair?  It was this old raggedy thing that Archie wouldn't let anyone else sit in.  He said his butt print on the cushion was just right and he didn't want anyone else messing with it.  (NOTE:  That chair is today in the Smithsonian.)  I feel pretty much the same about my chair.

It cost a small fortune 15 years ago, but I think it will probably outlast me.  I know it looks like hell, but it is supremely comfortable.  That ottoman has been the favorite napping spot for 3 dogs (Tara Belle, Emma Belle, and now Lukie Boy).  I place my feet wherever the dog isn't.  

When I had my detached retina surgeries years ago I was told I couldn't lie down to sleep until my eye healed, so for a while this served as my bed, too.  The back cushion just envelopes me, and the bottom cushion...well...speaks for itself.

The table on the right usually has a book or a couple of magazines on it, a clock, and a good, bright (3-way) reading light.  Underneath I even have a jar of peanuts handy for snacking.  A lot of football has been watched from that chair, lemme tell ya!

Unlike the lady in the story above, I gave up years ago trying to make my friends envious.  All I care about these days is making my butt happy.  And my dog.  ;)

S

PS...I do let K sit there whenever she wants.  Archie would be appalled, but she deserves it, too.

It's official. The winner is.....

....actually it's a tie.  It seems the good folks, all 10 of them, in Dixville Notch, NH have split their votes 5 (Obama) to 5 (Romney).  Dixville Notch is famous for opening its polling place at midnight, becoming the first to report election results to the world.  What they need is one more person to move there, and assuming he's an eligible voter, insuring there will never be a tie again.  Until one of the others dies. *sigh...why is this always so complicated?*

Here's what I'm proposing to end the stalemate:  I'll offer myself up as President.  Actually "Dictator" might be more appropriate.

My agenda: 

First, I'd banish all professional politicians to France.  That would mean no more Congress.  Those 9% of you who still like Congress....get over it!  They're now France's problem.

Next I'd go to "Wall Street" (the term to include all the ivory-tower crooked financial types), round 'em all up, and banish them to France.

Telemarketers and those who load up my mailbox with junk mail will be banished to France.  (This means YOU credit card companies!)

Anyone who's mean to dogs....let's make that just mean people in general....will be banished to France.

Chefs who insist on putting "colorful vegetables" on the same plate with my steak....will be banished to France.

Football would become a year-round sport, playing in two shifts.  Each plays for six months, then takes six months off for knee surgeries and rehab while the other shift keeps us me entertained.  Anyone who objects will be banished to France.

Anyone driving an electric car will not have to pay taxes.  Not because I like electric cars, but because they're saving lots of gasoline....FOR ME!  They'll be allowed to vacation in France, but they won't have to.

Anyone not in construction or agriculture who owns a pickup truck will be banished to France.  Minivan owners are on thin ice, too.

And people who are in front of me at a traffic light, yapping and texting and not paying attention, who wake up just as the light turns yellow again, making me miss MY turn to go.....will be banished to France.

I think I'm gonna like this Dictator thing.

Feel free to petition me with those you'd like to see banished to France, too.  After all, I'm here to serve.  :)

S

Not a very happy day

First, the good news:  We received a brief respite from all the political news.

Now, the bad news:  We have to watch all the disaster and misery taking place up and down the east coast as the result of hurricane Sandy.  What I noticed, however, is that all the news is covering is the disaster in New York City. If I lived in New Jersey or Pennsylvania or Rhode Island, etc, or had loved ones living there, I'd want to know what was going on there, too.  I guess the media is just taking the path of least resistance....no surprise. My prayers today are for all those affected.

Thank God for all the rescuers and first responders, especially the US Coast Guard.  Are they great or what?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I spent yesterday afternoon at my daughter's house sitting with her very sick, elderly dog.  Moxie has been sick since last week, and after tests their vet says all indications are he has liver cancer.  They were on the verge of having him put down, but he suddenly perked up, started eating and wagging his tail.  They hoped he was getting better, so they brought him home.

As I suspected would happen, he started throwing up again and showed signs his end was near.  My daughter had to go to school (she's a teacher) and my SIL had to go out of town on business, and I just couldn't let that poor dog lie there all alone, so I sat with him and stroked his head and petted him and did what I could to make him comfortable.  

Fortunately he didn't seem to be hurting.  He just slept.

Update:  I just heard from my daughter (7:45 am).  They had to take Moxie back to the vet late last night.  They put him down.  :(  

RIP good friend.  He's now in good company with my Tara and Emma.

S