Winter is Finally Here.

Do you know what one snowman said to the other? - “Do you smell carrots?”

Yesterday at Noon it was 72 degrees and partly sunny. By 4:00 PM it was below 50 and cloudy. Today there is no school and there probably won’t be any tomorrow, It’s 8:45 AM and it’s 30 degrees and sleeting. It’s supposed to get down around 22 today with an 80 to 100 % chance of the sleet and freezing rain turning into snow with an accumulation of anywhere from 2 to 9 inches by Friday. It’s not supposed to get above freezing again until Monday. It’s a tad nipply. Oklahoma weather sucks, it’s never really too cold or too hot but you can use the heater and the air conditioner all in the same day. The News Guy said there will probably be some power outages due to freezing and breaking limbs bringing down power lines. No worries, I have gas heat, a corded phone, two way radios (and so does my sister) enough food and water for a week or so, I wish I had a little more stock-piled but it’s been a hard year. I have propane lanterns and plenty of oil lamps, I wish I had more oil but I have enough for whatever Oklahoma can throw my way. I’m probably planning ahead for nothing because the News Guys hardly ever gets it right anyway. We’ll most likely get a inch and a half of snow and it will melt off by Saturday. Emily has already gone back to bed, she got up at 5:00 AM, showered and watched the news until they finally called school off at 6:10 AM, just the time she usually walks out the door to catch the bus, 5 more minutes and she’d been out the door. Anyway I think a nap sounds pretty good right about now, I've been up all night... again. Peace to all and good day.

(sorry for the lame snowman joke)

It’s November the 28th...

Exactly one year since I last worked. I had a training class on safety in the work place that day, and when I returned to the office after the class, I fell in the parking lot. I finished out the rest of the day which consisted of driving 120 miles to pick up a client and taking them to an appointment. I was in terrible pain and could hardly drive. When the day was over and I got to my home I didn’t think I could make it up the steps and into my house but I did, one step at a time and pulling my left leg up behind me as I went. I decided that day that there would be no more work, I had dragged it out as long as I could. It was a hard decision for me, I believe that I cried while I made it, I did not want to call work and say, “I quit” I was not raised that way, a man works and that’s all there is to it, but my body had had enough and even though it was not a strenuous job most of the time I was tired of working in pain. My employers were great to me, they did not want me to quit and they kept me on the payroll another month and paid me for my last vacation that I had coming. If I ever get well enough to work on my feet again they would hire me back with no problems, I had been with them 14 year, out of 1100 employees I was about the 10th one they hired. I had been with them since about 6 months after they opened and before they had any clients to provide services for, so I guess you could say that I grew with them, I miss the people I worked with most of all. Anyway, one year and I’m still here, I had a good Thanksgiving and I’m looking forward to a good Christmas, my Christmas’ are always good whether I get anything or not, my family is always happy and Emily always does real well. As long as I am warm, my family is healthy and happy, we have good food and all of the kids are smiling and happy, it’s a good Christmas. You can always bet on one thing though, the Shoemakes are going to have some good ass food come Hell or high water, it‘s a fact. Peace to all.

My friend Kim McD E-Mailed this to me but I thought I'd just post it here. If you want you could do it too.

1. What is your occupation? - Disabled, I was a Program Supervisor for a Supportive Living Agency.

2. What color are your socks right now? - Not wearing any.

3. What are you listening to right now? - The hum of my hard drive, everything else is silent at the moment.

4. What was the last thing that you ate? - Peanut M&M.

5. Can you drive a stick shift? - Proficiently.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? - Red, it's an Indian thing.

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? - Mytra, my sister.

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? - Yeah… I guess so.

9. How old are you today? - 42 years, 71 and ½ days.

10. Favorite drink? - Diet MT. Dew.

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? - Porn.

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? - Not Yet...

13. What are you more scared of, Snakes or Spiders? - Spiders, I actually like Snakes.

14. Pets? - Dogs - Dutchy and Tig.

15. Favorite food? - Porter House Steak and a Baked Potato, hold the sour cream.

16. What was the last movie you watched? - “On Golden Pond”

17. Favorite day of the year? - Tomorrow.

18. What do you do to vent anger? - I yell a lot and make an Ass out of myself, it ain’t pretty.

19. What was your favorite toy as a child? - A Baseball & Glove.

20. What is your favorite season? - Fall.

21. Hugs or kisses? - Both together.

22. Cherries or Blueberry? - Cherries.

23. Do you want your friends to email you back? - Sure.

24. Who is most likely to respond? - You.

25. Who is least likely to respond? - Whatalotoffun (she hasn’t left a comment in a while)

26. Living arrangements? - Shitty.

27. When was the last time you cried? - A while back.

28. What is on the floor of your closet? - Empty boxes.

29. Who is the friend you have known the longest that you are sending this to? - Babs… sorta, she was my first blogging buddy.

30. What did you do last night? - Went to my sister’s for dinner.

31. Favorite smells? - A woman, vanilla, rain, wild mint.

32. What inspires you? - Glorious behavior in a person.

33. What are you afraid of? - Being poor.

34. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? - Bacon Cheeseburger w/Jalepenos, Onions and Mustard.

35. (there was no #35 so I’m making one up) Pro Life or Pro Choice? - Pro Choice but I’m dead set against abortion.

36. Favorite dog breed? - Blue Heeler but I own the best Rat Terrier there has ever been. His name is Tig and he's on my sidebar.

37. Number of keys on your key ring? - Truck ign. Truck door, Truck toolbox, house, gun cabinet, gun lock, handcuffs… that’s 7.

38. How many years at your current job? - Last job, 14 years, unemployed 1 year now.

39. Favorite day of the week? - Friday.

40. How many states have you lived in? - 2.

41. Favorite Holiday? - Opening day of Deer Season, Gun.

42. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery? - Many. I’ve owned about 12 Motorcycles. I’ve also driven a few fork lifts on the job.

43. Who is your favorite NFL team? - Steelers… who else?

44. Do you have a house phone that is NOT cordless? - Yes, for when the power is out, I learned that lesson the hard way.

45. Prefer 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? - 10 inches of snow, I hate hot weather.

First off, I just updated from IE 6 to IE 7.

So now I have to learn how to use it all over again, whatever happened to, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Second, I had some good/bad/I’m not sure, news today (today being Tuesday, Nov 21, I've not been to bed yet so it is still Tuesday to me). It all started with being on the phone trying to find out something about my disability claim yesterday for about four hours (sometimes I want to just give the f**k up) after being on hold forever to the national 1-800 number, just to find out that their computers were down and I’d have to call back. Sweet huh? So today after only an hour and finding out there was something wrong with my phone line and not being able to call any toll free numbers and guess what, the AT&T phone repair number is a 1-800 number. So I had to call my sister at work and have her call the phone company and have them call me back. Well to make a long f**ked up story a bit shorter, after two hours and six phone calls and changing to three different phones and being told that my less than a year old $169.00 phone is not worth a s**t which I refused to believe and besides along with my phone problems that means slower than ass internet hook-up. Anyway, strangely after talking to the phone cops, my phone and internet connection is working better, imagine that. So I give the disability folks a ring once again and find out some news, good or bad, I still don’t know. It seems that Social Security has made a decision about my claim on November the 13th, cool! Some progress finally, but the dear lady on the phone could not tell me the outcome, she said that I would have to contact the local office here in Muskogee (I know, hick town USA) so she gave the number which I already have. So I called it… and called it… and called it. Always busy, for two more hours busy, I started calling a little before 10:00 am and now it’s 1:45 pm, I’m so sick of holding the phone that my arm is getting weak. Anyway, once again to shorten it up a bit, about 2:00 pm I finally got a person on the line, a rather nice lady that eventually got around to telling me that a decision had been made BUT… my case was randomly selected for a review and was sent to Dallas Texas for said review. I asked her what the decision was and she informed me that she could not tell me because pending the review it could be overturned one way or the other and she did not want me to get my hopes up or down. I said, “you’ve got to be kidding me” she paused and in a way that let me know without just coming out and saying so that normally (she emphasized the word “normally”) that cases selected for a random review were because of an allowance, I said, “what do you mean allowance?” she said, approved. So I then I asked about how long did a review take and she said, “not very long and that they would send the results back to the local office and they would inform me one way or the other by mail.” I thanked her kindly and hung up at 2:21 pm. Almost four and a half hours with a phone to my ear, at one point I tried to plug my headset for my computer into the phone but it wouldn’t fit, too big. Did I mention that all the time I’ve been on the phone the last two days that my chest hurt and I had the chills and felt like I was going to throw up. I just knew I was gonna get bad news. But I’m taking this as good news because at least I was A-FRIGGIN-PPROVED! I could still be denied now but I’m trying to think positive. Back pay for a year will be pretty sweet. More waiting though. Wish me luck. Peace to all.

Operation Christmas Child

The true meaning of Christmas - The Gift Of Christ’s Love

Operation Christmas Child is a project where people are asked to put together a shoebox to be sent to needy children around the world. Simple items are placed in the boxes including hygiene items, school supplies, small toys, gum or hard candy, and clothing items. Please go to, “Samaritan’s Purse” @ http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
Operation Christmas Child sends a message of hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and Christian literature. This program provides an opportunity for individuals of all ages to be involved in a simple, hands-on missions project that reaches out to suffering children while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus Christ, God's greatest gift. In past years, Samaritan's Purse has collected over 6 million shoe boxes worldwide and distributed them to children in over 90 countries. National collection week was November 13th to the 20th. But you can still help, just click on the link above.
Some of these children have never had a gift, some have never had anything. When they receive something like this they are so happy that they want to share what they get with others. Children that have never had anything have not had the opportunity to share, this is something new to them, it’s not something they were taught like most of us, it is just naturally in their hearts. To have nothing but feeling compelled to share what little you get with others is the true meaning of Christmas. The true joy of giving. Merry Christmas.

MEME From An Old F**ker

I got this from Xmichra (again) she said that she got it from “old bitter balls” and that the title amused her so she had to do it. So I gave it a shot too. If you read this, consider yourself tagged. So no backtalk now, just get it done!

1. - Do you like the look and the contents of your blog? ~ Yes, the template suits me, I like things neat and orderly. As for the contents of my rambles, if I don’t like it I don’t post it, I leave a lot of things on the cutting room floor.

2. - Does your family know about your blog? ~ My sister and my daughter do, I have three brothers that don’t, I’m not really keeping it from them it’s just something that’s not up their alley. I’d get a kick out of it if they did read it though.

3. - Can you tell your friends about your blog? Do you consider it a private thing? ~ I’ve told all of my friends about it, I e-mail them every now and then and remind them but most could care less, they are too busy with their own lives. I don’t have anything to hide, I’m an open book most of the time. I consider most of my blogging friends real friends anyway, sometimes they pay more attention to me than my face to face friends.

4. - Do you just read the blogs of those who comment on your blog? Or do you try to discover new blogs? ~ Most days yes, but I make my self go down my blogroll about once a week and visit everyone, I don’t always leave comments though, sometimes my opinions sound kind of harsh so I delete them and go on down the line, I try not to flame anyone on their own blog, but sometimes I can’t help myself, honesty gets the better of me. If I like a comment or a picture that someone leaves on a post of someone’s I will go and check out their site then if they come by mine it kind of gets something going, I’m sure everyone know how that is.

5. - Did your blog positively affect your mind? Give an example. ~ Well much like Xmichra I haven’t killed or maimed anyone since I started blogging, I guess that’s a positive thing, I don’t get mad as much as I used to but that could also be the medication, I like the honesty of writing.

6. - What does the number of visitors to your blog mean? Do you use a traffic counter? ~ Again like Xmichra I’m a traffic whore just like I’m a comment whore also, it gives a little validation to writing when you know people are reading it, I have three traffic counters and I check them all of the time, I love the thought that people on the other side of the world take the time to read my thoughts.

7. - Did you imagine how other bloggers look like? ~ Yes. That’s why I ask for pictures of everyone, I know what most of my friends look like, but I don’t care if they know what I look like, I’m not as pretty as I once was, I tell people I’m kind of a cross between John Candy, Steven Segal, Michael Madsen, and Chewbacca. (In reality more like Meatloaf)

8. - Do you think blogging has any real benefit? ~ See # 5

9. - Do you think that the blogosphere is a stand alone community separated from the real world? ~ No, I think that it brings the world a little closer together, especially when I read about other bloggers meeting one another.

10. - Do some political blogs scare you? Do you avoid them? ~ Nope, I normally don’t read them. I’m political enough and it usually causes an argument between friends, so I’ve agreed with some to not go there. ( X )

11. - Do you think that criticizing your blog is useful? ~ If you don’t like it don’t come back, I’m sure a lot of folks haven’t.

12. - Have you ever thought about what would happen to your blog in case you died?~ Yes, but I’m more worried about what my friends would think, that’s why I have a contingency plan for just that very thing, my daughter will post a farewell letter incase of my demise.

13. - Which blogger had the greatest impression on you? ~ If anyone has impressed me I added them to my sidebar. Just go down the list.

14. - Which blogger do you think is the most similar to you? ~ Oh Gawd !! I hope to Hell no one is similar to me, that would be scary.

15. - Name a song you want to listen to? ~ There is a song in a movie, it’s at the beginning of “Leaving Las Vegas” with Nicholas Cage but it is NOT the song “Leaving Las Vegas” it’s kind of a Jazz song, all I can tell you is the a man sings it and it’s not Sting. I would like to hear again and own it. (I guess I could always just rent the movie, huh?)

I’m so broke, I have no cheese to go with this whine…

I’ve tried to lead a good life, if I can think before I act I always try and make the best possible choice. I never pass up a chance to help someone, I’ve given my last dollar away. If I can say something to brighten someone’s day I always do. I’m kind of a grouchy person by nature so it is not always an easy thing for me. I truly believe in God and truth. I never care about anyone having to know if I’ve done a good thing or not, as long as God and I know that’s always been enough. I believe in karma but I don’t believe in making deals, for instance - God if you do this, I’ll do that. I don’t believe it works that way. I don’t believe that if I send an E-mail within 5 minutes of reading it to 10 of my friends that a miracle will happen tomorrow at 1:00 PM (but I can’t help sending them anyway). But if I’m good and generous and gracious I think that it will come back around. It may not be a blessing that I want but usually something that I need. It works both ways though, if I’m not so good I believe that it too will come back to visit me. Sometimes I wonder what I’ve done to deserve the way things have turned out, am I forgetting something in my past? Surely the good outweighs the bad. I must be overlooking all of the times that I lost my temper and out of anger said or did something that hurt someone. For that I am sorry. One time in a movie John Wayne said, “Never apologize, it’s a sign of weakness.” well I must be weak because I’ve said I’m sorry an awful lot. I can’t think of anyone I’ve left bad blood between (I take that back, I’m sure there are a few ladies out there that would wish me no good) for that I’m sorry, and if I ever run into them I’ll tell them so. You can count on that. Back to my point, my whole life right now revolves around Social Security. I know people must be getting tired of hearing about that but it is with me every waking moment and sometimes when I’m not awake. What I would receive from S.S. would be a small drop in the bucket compared to things. It wouldn’t affect or hurt anyone at all, such a small thing but it would mean the world to me and my family. Hope is a good thing as long as you have it. All I want in life is to pay my bills and take care of my own. In case I haven’t been clear, I’m getting tired of waiting, I’m getting tired of whining, and I’m getting tired of doing without the simplest of things. I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Its raining (that's a good thing) my chest hurts (that's a bad thing). So much for Wordless Wednesday. Peace.

Here’s my Wordless Wednesday … but wait, it has words, oh well, my bad !

Well I got some good news for a change today, my Brother that WAS going to move to Florida got a pretty good job today here in Oklahoma, I’m not going to say where but it pays a pretty fair wage and it has good benefits. So he and his family will NOT be moving now. Other than getting approved for Social Security that’s the best news I could get. Maybe my luck is changing for the best, keep your fingers or toes crossed. Peace and Good Day.

I was in a huge panic last night.

I hadn’t cleaned any of my guns in a while and I decided that I’d better check them and make sure none of them were acquiring any surface rust. And when I was getting out my handguns I was coming up three short. I yelled for Emily to come give me a hand and we tore apart my two gun cabinets and still came up three short. I was starting to lose it, so I counted my long guns and came up one short (I thought) but Emily came up with it, it had been moved to another gun rack and I guess that I was in such a panic that I over looked it. But still three handguns short, a .44, a .36, and a 22 magnum. So I told Emily to put everything else on hold because we were going to tear the house apart until we found them. So first we looked through all of my hunting and camping gear (well almost all of it) then we looked through some plastic storage tubs (I don’t know why they would be in there but I was leaving no stone unturned) I was starting to sweat, I’d had a few guns stolen before and it about made me throw up, I a .357 magnum stolen from my house when I still lived in my Dad’s house and I had a .357 stolen out of my truck a few years back ( I have no luck with . 357’s I guess) anyway Emily and I were going from box to box searching when we looked in an old Remington Ammo box and found all three of the missing guns. I must be getting old because I could not for the life of me remember why I put them in there, I keep all but one of my guns in locked gun cabinets or locked on a gun rack. I keep a .45 next to my bed (no lectures please, I’m not going to die from lack of shooting back) so all of my guns were accounted for and locked back away, I must be getting old. Emily sure was relieved because she could see what a panic I was in. so we calmed down and had supper then watched her favorite TV show, “Prison Break”. So tomorrow I will start cleaning guns, it shouldn’t take to long I only have about 26 left. Oh…I did go by a friends blog tonight and he mentioned that he had acquired an 1892 Winchester Carbine, he did not say what caliber but it really doesn’t matter, I have a couple of Winchester carbines but none that old, I have a new Rossi Mod 92 .45 Lrg Loop Carbine but it’s only a replica of the old Winchester, I have a few Rossi’s and they are all fine shooting guns but I’d give my eye teeth to have a real 1892 Winchester, it’s the model John Wayne carried in so many of his movies (one of his rifles is on display at the “Cowboy Hall of Fame” in Oklahoma City) I had the pleasure of seeing it there back in ‘93. Anyway all present and accounted for so I can rest easy now. I hope everyone has a good week. Peace.

In Broken Arrow Oklahoma, about 30 miles from my home there is an Exotic Animal Sanctuary. They rescue animals from stupid people that think they can raise them as pets but when they get too big or troublesome to handle they get rid of them. The sanctuary has lions, tigers, zebras and a variety of other animals, they survive off of grants, donations and other private funding. In the last 6 months 5 grey wolves have mysteriously died, autopsies have shown that they have died from some type of poisoning such as meat laced with rat poison. Officials believe that the tainted meat was thrown over the fences by some sick individual. These wolves started their lives as pets and can be handled quite easily by humans, the bad thing about it is that they have relied on humans for food so they will normally eat whatever is given to them. Normally 70 % of the food for the sanctuary comes from donations, but now all food donations have been halted until further notice, this has put a large drain on the their finances now that 100 % has to be paid for. Right now a 6th wolf has taken ill and does not look like it’s going to make it. I would love to catch the sick son of a bitch that is responsible for this, I would take him (assuming that it’s a him) out to the woods and set him on a stump, I’d nail his nuts to the stump and then catch the stump on fire. Most wolves in North America are endangered anyway, from years of ranchers poisoning and trapping them to keep them away from stock animals, I can understand protecting what’s yours but it was taken way to far. I’ve known a few people who have owned part wolf mixes and they have been fine pets. Anyone who would kill one for sport or whatever perverse reason is a sick Asshole in my book. I hope this matter at the sanctuary is resolved soon.

The 'King of Cool's' collectibles auction

A telegram sent by late U.S. movie star Steve McQueen to Patrick Wayne, the son of U.S. actor John Wayne, on his father's death is displayed in Los Angeles. An auction of McQueen collectors' items will be held on the 11th of November at the Petersen Automotive museum. The sale will feature motorcycles, motorcycle clothing, knives, saddles and other memorabilia.

I'd cut off my left testicle with a dull deer antler for a saddle owned by Steve McQueen.

Born Terence Steven McQueen on the 24th of March at Beech Grove, Indiana, USA. Dies at 3:45 am on the 7th of November 1980 in Juárez, Mexico, less than 24 hours after undergoing a successful surgery to remove the cancerous tumors in his right lung. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
I wonder what they would call an "unsuccessful surgery?" He was only 50 years old.

adopt your own virtual pet!

1. Click on the puppy treats.
2. Click again to release the treats in the air.
3. Click on the puppy to make it stand and bark.
4. Pause for a moment and it will sit.
5. Click on "more" to get the ball.
6. Play around with it, you'll figure it out.
7. Click on "bunnyhero labs" and adopt you own pet

This is a Meme to myself…

What I will spend my money on.
(That is if a Lawyer doesn’t take most of it first)
This is what I spend my days thinking of. It’s the first and last thing I think about everyday.

1. Catch up house payments. (if they’ll let me)
2. Pay my Sister back.
3. Pay my Friend back
4. Buy Emily a truck. (if they still have it)
5. Get Emily a Cell Phone.
6. Get insurance on my truck and update the tag.
7. Start Emily a savings account.
8. Buy a Colt Mod. 1911-A1, MK-IV .45 ACP.
9. Buy Emily a butt-load of new clothes.
10. Pig-out on BBQ Ribs at “Runts BBQ”

I’ve been waiting…

November 1st -- Another month has passed and still no word from Social Security, I was told that I would hear something within sixty days from my last appeal. That was 76 days ago. This month the shit’s gonna really hit the fan. I guess I’ll start packing, it won’t take long because my new home is gonna be a ‘92 Chevy Pickup and it won’t hold much. Maybe I can trade my PC for a Laptop and talk my sister into splurging for a wireless internet hookup. I’ll live in the woods and post things on my blog that I see in the wilderness like how squirrels mate or how that opossums really do have a bone in their pecker and how some people in the South like to cut them off and dry them out and make toothpicks out of them (you must really have something stuck in your teeth bad to be willing to pry it out with a petrified opossum pecker) that reminds me:

-- Do you know how you can tell that the “Toothbrush” was invented by a Redneck?--
-- Because if it was invented by anyone else it would be called a “Teethbrush”.--
Also:
-- Do you know why you can’t take a group photo of Rednecks?--
-- Because, every time you say “Cheese” they all get in a single file. --
(for you folks up North, that joke was in reference to Government Cheese)

You know, I just thought of something, maybe there is a connection in Government Cheese and the reason why so many Rednecks have Billy Bob teeth (you know the kind of teeth that look like Indian corn) I bet that the Dentistry Profession and the Government Cheese folks are in cahoots with one another! Gives ya something to think about now don’t it? Anyway, that’s enough Redneck humor for a while. I’m supposed to bitching about the Feds dilly-dallying around with my Disability check. I was told by one source that when they received their first check that there was no notice before the fact, they just checked their mail one day and it was there. So being naïve I thought that not hearing anything was a good sign and that maybe the first of the month I’d get paid. Well I just checked my bank account online and all I had in the bank was $1.97 (I gave SS the info to have my payments directly deposited and checks usually clear through my bank at 2:00 AM) so I guess the wait will continue, I wonder how long the Mortgage Co. will give me to move out of my house. Well at least I’ll get to live in the country, I’ve wanted to every since I moved to town anyway, all though I was hoping that it would be in a house, not in the back of my truck covered with a tarp.

(If I sound like I really don’t care too much, it’s the medication working. Peace everyone.)