Good
morning,
Quote
of the day:
“The
sport of snow skiing consists of wearing $500 worth of clothes and
equipment and driving 200 miles in the snow in order to stand around
a bar and get drunk.”
P. J.
O’Rourke
A
few days ago I was waiting in my doctors office and read a story
about a female yellow Lab named Moxie. This girl retrieved a limit
of ducks and geese for 6 people one morning and a limit of pheasant
for the same crowd that afternoon and was still eager to some action.
I know this female yellow Lab named Kaylee that will retrieved a
thrown ball for as long as you have the arm for it. She likes a ball
harder than a tennis ball and it does not wear out as quickly. But
when she has had enough, especially when it is hot, she will
eventually will retrieve the ball and then head toward an outside
water faucet and sit down waiting on a drink rather than “go on the
alert”, after water she is ready again. Kaylee is a member of the
family and lives with my brother.
As
some of you know I surf two dating sites. Just the other day I got a
notification of about 20 eligible ladies. This is what was in one of
the profiles. She said that she had just returned from a trip to the
Mediterranean visiting Morocco, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and
Egypt. This lady lives in the Aiken, SC area and has two “jumpers”
or horses that jump fences and other obstructions. I should have
stopped reading right there because it is obvious that she and I are
not on the same financial plateau but I continued because her lead
picture was of a very nice looking lady. After the lead picture
there was one of a woman (I think) that had on a huge hat and
sunglasses the size of motorcycle goggles so all you could see was a
nose, lips and a chin. Then a pic of a beach somewhere, a pic of a
French bulldog and a dachshund, a pic of 8 or 9 brown pelicans on the
water, a pic of 7 people in hiking gear near a lake somewhere
mountainous, a pic of a handsome roan well groomed horse whose tail
had been partially braided, pic of the same horse with the woman
hugging its neck, a pic of two women on horseback standing in front
of what was obviously a pub somewhere in Europe, a pic of a woman
atop a horse coming over a jump. It looked like the same horse with
a braided tail but it was so far away I could not identify the rider.
Nearly all the pics of the woman showed her in “horsey”
trappings. You know what I mean, tight white pants, black boots, a
red Prince Albert cutaway coat and a black helmet with a bill. All
of this smelled of lots of money. I considered sending her a
response with my pics...like a pic of me near the front wheels of my
ancient Maxima, a pic of Kaylee the yellow Lab with the light just
right so you will see her retinas, a pic of a bottle of Makers Mark,
a pic of a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar I had at
Stax, a pic of my daughter's significant other replacing the right
front strut of my beloved Maxima, a pic of me and a motorcycle gang
standing in front of the Richard's biker bar in Mount Pleasant, a
pic of me and the “Four O'clock Cub”, and finally a pic of me
with my 30 year old fly rod. All of this should give that lady some
insight into who I am.
I
watched a TV show about the greatest Samurai swordsman in history.
He was a Japanese warrior named Musashi. This man killed his first
man in a duel at the age of 13. He then went back into a remote
forest and stayed four years training himself into a razor sharp
swordsman. He soon was attached to a warrior clan that was hell bent
on taking over Japan and their leader becoming the Shogun (king).
They soon ran into another clan of Samurai warriors that wanted the
same thing and a battle erupted. In this battle in 1601 there were
over 160,000 warriors engaged. Over 80,000 died in that one day and
they did it the hard way, with swords, knives, pikes and arrows.
Musashi was different. He used a sword in each hand rather than both
hands on one sword. He proved himself a worthy warrior at the age of
17. In this battle the warriors that were killed were beheaded and
all the heads were amassed in one pile. I wonder what that smelled
like a week later. Musashi began roaming the countryside looking for
duels. It has been documented that he was in 60+ duels and never
lost. He believed that a sword had a life of its own and was an
extension of the bearer. It is true that all Samurai swords are a
little different because they are all handmade. He finally gained a
duel with the alleged greatest swordsman in western Japan and they
agreed to meet on a small island. Musashi was four hours late and by
then his opponent was furious which is what Musashi wanted. He came
ashore without a sword which enraged his opponent even more. He did
have a wooden sword that the carved from an oar. His opponent
launched a furious attack but was soon struck down a beaten to death
by Musashi. He had two things working for him, he had “psyched
out” his opponent and he made his wooden sword 8 inches longer that
his opponent’s sword. That just goes to show that a fight is not
just who is the strongest, fastest or the fiercest. It is a mind
game.
Over
in Anderson County, S.C. the Sheriff and several other law
enforcement agencies formed a task force to take down the one of the
largest drug rings in the state that had an annual income of about
$30 million. In the raid 32 people were arrested including 2 nieces
and 1 nephew of the Anderson County sheriff. Also confiscated was
$430,000 in cash, powder and crack cocaine worth a tidy sum on the
street, a variety of vehicles, guns and houses. When asked about
arresting his own relatives, the sheriff said that he knew it was
going on but did not have the evidence until this raid. He said he
felt relieved. Me too.
Down
in Aiken, South Carolina a man walked into a convenience store and
robbed the joint but not before beating the crap out of the clerk
with a stick. He ran outside and jumped aboard his trusty Toro LX
and sped away. A Toro LX is a 15 HP riding lawn mower. After a
furious chase with speeds sometime reaching 8 MPH the culprit was
arrested. It has not been confirmed yet but I suspect he is a
relative of Harry Reid.
This
Date in History November 19
1942
Earlier in 1941 Adolph Hitler ordered his army to invade Russia is
spite of a treaty that had been signed just a few months earlier.
The German army dashed across the Russian plains delivering
horrendous death and destruction. The Germans had unquestioned
control of the skies and could bomb anything they felt like. The
Germans had split their forces into three sections and very soon
Moscow and Leningrad were under siege. Hitler ordered the 6th
Army to attack and capture the great city of Stalingrad. The 6th
Army was commanded by General Von Paulus and he had 250,000 troops.
Von Paulus estimated it would take about 10 days to force the city to
surrender. There was one thing that he neglected, the Russian
winter. The German air force had bombed Stalingrad into rubble and
Von Paulus thought he could set up a siege and Stalingrad would
surrender. He was wrong. The Russians used the rubble to establish
defensive strong points. This meant that the Germans would have to
go in and dig the defenders out a few at a time. What happened after
that was a battle that went down in history as one of the most
ferocious ever fought. There were 15,000 to 16,000 casualties every
day for an extended period. There was a female Russian sniper that
is credited with over 300 kills. Finally the winter descended on the
Germans that were not prepared for such bitter weather. Eventually
the 6th
army rolling stock came to a halt. On this date Russian General
Zhukov ordered a counter attack and he was able to cut the supply
lines to the Germans. Between the cold weather and the Russians
looking for revenge, Von Paulus surrendered. He only had 90,000
troops left with no help in sight. There were only 5,000 soldiers
from Von Paulus' army that lived to see their homeland again.
1967
On this date Chaplain (Major) Charles Watters is recommended for
the Medal of Honor. The Chaplain went in with the 2nd
Battalion, 503rd
Infantry when they attacked the North Vietnamese regulars on hill 875
during the battle of Doc To. The Americans were taking a beating but
the Chaplain moved among the troops administering first aid to those
that he could reach. He went outside the perimeter on several
occasions to retrieve soldiers that had been caught outside the
perimeter and wounded. Chaplain Watters was on his knees giving the
last rights to a dying soldier when an American fighter/bomber
dropped a 500 pound bomb on the perimeter by mistake. Chaplain
Watters was killed instantly. The Medal of Honor was given
posthumously in a White House ceremony in 1969.
1977
On this date in an unprecedented move, Egyptian President Anwar
Sadat visited Israeli President Menachem Begin in Jerusalem and makes
a speech to the Israeli Knesset, or the equivalent of the House and
Senate in the United States. Sadat was seeking peace with the
Israelis after fighting on and off with them since 1948. It is
needless to say that the rest of the Moslem world was outraged. The
two went one step further the next year when they met in Camp David,
Maryland under the sponsorship of US President Jimmy Carter and an
accord was reached and signed by all parties concerned. This
historic event cost Anwar Sadat his life when he was assassinated the
next year. He was killed because he sought peace. The greater
majority of Muslims don’t want peace.
1985
Earlier the petroleum giant Pennzoil made an offer to buy the
family owned Getty Oil. Getty Oil agreed to the price and the deal
was announced over the media. The problem was that there was not yet
a signed agreement for the deal, so the even bigger oil giant Texaco
step in and offered the Getty family twice as much as what Pennzoil
had offered and they took the deal. Pennzoil raised almighty hell
and initiated a lawsuit against Texaco. On this date a state court
in Texas awarded Pennzoil a judgment of $10 billion stating that even
though there was not a written contract, there was indeed a contract.
That just goes to show you that in Texas your word is a contract.
Born today:
1862
Evangelist Billy Sunday. He said “Going to church doesn’t
make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an
automobile.” Billy Sunday was the engineer of one of the greatest
Christian revivals in American history.
1917
Indian politician Indira Ghandi. She said “There is not
politician in India that is bold enough to say that cows can be
eaten.” People in India are starving to death with a cow standing
just outside the door. I don’t get it.
1938
US Zillionaire Ted Turner. He said “If I had a little humility I
would be perfect”. The rumor is that Ted was really crushed when
he and Jane Fonda split. I don't like Jane but she is wearing her
age well.
1962
US actress Jody Foster. She said “Normal is something not to be
sought after; it is something to be avoided.” Jodie is one of my
favorites.
Thanks for
listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment