A new day - a new year

The BRD took me (the birthday boy), SWMBO and the Normster out for dinner last night. Each of the couples shared a pound of mussels in a Dijon and Chardonnay sauce.

Yum!

Then I had a New York strip steak and a baked potato.

The Normster and the gals all were more sensible - they had fish.

Oh, and as I told Mike over at his blog, I decided to pay tribute to him. I had several of these:

Yeah. That's a gin and tonic. Mike's favorite drink back before he became a one-kidney superstar. He does not seem to appreciate my nod to him, though. He's not only quit drinking alcohol he has kicked the cigarette habit as well. I dropped cigarettes back in 1991 when we returned from Mexico and confronted the high price of tobacco.

So, in all seriousness, I say congratulations, Mike. Eventually you will not miss either of these bad habits and you'll feel a heck of a lot better.

In the meantime, to another blogger pal . . . Tombo who likes to cook and photograph his dishes, I'll say "Look at those pictures above, Tombo, and eat your heart out!!!"

For the sake of honesty: I swiped all those pictures off the Internet but they are a good representation of what was on our table.

Flowering

Neither I nor SWMBO can remember what these things are called. They look like tiny roses so this year we're calling it the rosette plant. But, with the exception of the Vinca, it's usually the first thing that shows blossoms in our front garden. And it just seems to explode from nothing to fully covered with blossoms overnight.

It makes old sunny face (on the left) smile a bit.

The end of 67!

Tomorrow will mark the end of my 67th year.

Hard to believe.

This is a picture of me from 38 or so years ago. A young stud. Cleft chin and all. I don't remember that. But the glasses on top of the head? Typical. Even now.

What have I learned in all these years?

What have we all learned?

First of all, not to eat so much. That sculptured chin looked pretty good!

Happy B-earth-day!

I'm Still Here

A friend e-mailed me today and asked where my blog postings had gone. (I hadn't posted since the 15th, which was Tuesday.) I told him that sometimes one just has to take a break.

Another reason is just not having anything to say. I read a number of blogs and have noted that this reason does not stop some others from blogging.

But, be that as it may.

You may note that I have not posted anything on politics for quite awhile. That is because I just grew (as Barry Goldwater used to say) "sick and tired" of this year's campaign and the way the television media has reported and misrepresented it. In spite of being a political junkie for decades I have quit watching most television coverage of the campaign. This bothers the hell out of SWMBO, also a political junkie. She thinks I'm just bitter because my candidate isn't winning.

So, who is my candidate? Well, I may have a new one. Former representative Bob Barr is the new favorite for the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party. After reading a column by George Will saying that Barr could be to John McCain what Ralph Nader was to Al Gore and John Kerry, I began thinking that a vote for Barr might not be a bad idea.

To another subject. I have several friends living in Juneau, Alaska. A recent avalanche about 40 miles from Juneau wiped out several transmission towers linking a hydoelectric plant to the capitol. Emergency generators have been thrown into use to keep power coming to Juneau. But the electricity generated is vastly more expensive to produce. That means Juneau residents may see an increase in their electric rates of 500 to 600 percent. Imagine. Your monthly bill has been $200. Suddenly it's $1,000 or higher. Residents are looking for state or federal help.

I guess that's about it for today.

Number 42

Jackie Robinson was a great athlete who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he was hired to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers 61 years ago today. After a successful 10 year career, he retired.

His uniform number 42 was retired by the Dodgers in 1972 and in 1997 all of Major League baseball retired the number. A waiver allows the number to be worn by players on this date in honor of Robinson.

I was a Dodger fan for many years including Jackie's playing days.

He was a great man.

Get well, Mike!

Sorry, guys. I started early.