DECEMBER 21, 2012

Remember the horror that was Y2K?  And all of the predictions of the End of Times through the years from one religious quack or another?  The current one stems from the calendar of the Mayan Indians of Mexico, which supposedly comes to an end on December 21st, 2012, at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time.  That's the prediction of one Lawrence E. Joseph, an alleged writer.

But others, like Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican studies, say to render Dec. 21, 2012, as a doomsday or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in."

So, as the old saying goes "don't sell the farm."  I suspect we'll all make it to Christmas Day next year.

But in the meantime, the sky over my part of Arizona today resembled some kind of apocalypse.

AUTUMN . . AND THE TEMPERATURE IS DROPPING

It looks like Autumn has finally gotten serious.  The high temperatures on the past balmy weekend were in the lower 80's.  Even today it is forecast to hit 79.  But tomorrow, ah tomorrow, that's when the temperatures will begin to drop.  Tomorrow's high is forecast to be 70, Wednesday's 69 and by Thursday the forecast high is 60!  That's SIXTY DEGREES, folks.  Flagstaff, only about 80 miles from here but a couple of thousand feet higher in elevation, has a possibility of SNOW!

Yes, I'm afraid the balmy days of summer are gone for this year and it won't be too long until we see something like this.

And then we'll be right back to complaining about the snow, the ice and the cold weather and wondering if summer will ever come.

SAD-URDAY SORROW

The baseball playoffs have begun and my Arizona Diamondbacks and their star pitcher Ian Kennedy were beaten in their opening game by the Milwaukee Brewers.  It was only 4 to 1 but it's still a loss.  Not as bad as the 9 to nothing drubbing Tampa Bay gave Texas yesterday or the 11 to 3 lesson the Phillies are handing the Cardinals as I write.  But a loss is a loss, especially at this time of year.

However, to quote a great American scholar, "tomorrow is another day."  (Scarlett O'Hara)

FOOLISH FRIDAY

It's Friday.  Time to relax, kick back and have some fun. 

If you're one of those people who still practice meatless Fridays, you might want to try some tasty catfish.



I hope none of you need to fly anywhere this Friday.  It's become more and more of a hassle.

Where ever and however you spend your day, make it a fun one!



RET.

All right, this time I'm really gonna tick some of you off.  I know it but I just can't restrain myself.

I was a draft dodger back in the late 50's-early 60's.  Not a real brave dodger who went to Canada or something.  I mean, first of all, I was going to college.  That got me "deferred".  That's a real polite way of saying "Let someone else go."

Then I left college behind and I was probably fair game for awhile.  But then I got married.  And my new wife had a 2 year old son.  So I'm not only married, I'm a father.  That got me deferred big time.  All of this was in the time of Korea.  Vietnam hadn't even begun yet. 

So, I never served my country in the military.  Sometimes I feel a bit sorry about that but most of the time I say "thank God".  I don't think I ever had that killer instinct.

All of which is to say that I sometimes scorn and sometimes praise those veterans who proudly make their service known.  Now, on the scorn side, are those guys who put "General, U.S. Army, Retired" or some such on their mail boxes, their personalized envelopes, their business cards, or whatever. 

But there are the other guys.  The fighters.  The guys who left friends behind on the battlefield.

Well.

I saw a car in a parking lot today and I took a picture.  I have no idea what the owner has in his history but he's sure proud of it.  And he may have reason to be.  Anyway, there's the picture.

What do YOU think?

THE COLOR IS BLACK

I'm not sure why it is but the BRD and I both seem to be drawn to black cats.  Don't get me wrong.  We have other cats of different hues and shades and the like.  But especially at this time of year, as we near October and work through the month to that most hallowed of nights . . the 31st . . . Halloween . . . well, then that's when a truly black cat comes into its own.  Just a short time ago, I received a photo by e-mail from the BRD of her black cat, Jet, posed provocatively and letting us all know what Halloween is all about.

I accused her of being lucky with that shot but she says she's been shooting him for three days to get it so I'll just say she's a great photographer.

Now, that's not all.  You may remember my blog post yesterday about that big black Jeep.  Well, the BRD's Beau Jack sent me two, count 'em, TWO photographs today of HIS jeep.  It's a little more rugged than the one I saw.  Take a look.



I like the look of that winch on the front.  You never know when you're going to have to pull some prissy yuppie's car out of a ditch.

A MAN CAR

Now I'm a sensitive guy.  I have my feminine side.  Don't get me wrong.  I appreciate my wife and my daughter and can understand their concerns when things get rough.  But . . .

I mean but . . .

There are some times when a man just has to be a man.

This happened to me the other day when I looked out the window and saw this car in my neighbor's driveway.

That, my friends, is a Jeep.  And not one of those bright red, girly kind of Jeeps.  This one is matte black, tinted windows, high off the wheels.  It's a JEEP, damnit.  The way it was supposed to be made.

Dog-gone!  That's a MAN'S ride!