The Squirrels are Mad

My Squirrels are mad at me. All six of them. I filled their feeder three times last week and they ate it all in a day. I told them if they did it again they would not get anymore for a week and guess what? They gobbled it all up in one day again. SO - they haven't had any food this week and boy are they mad. All day, every day this week, they sit out there and yell at me. I guess its time to give in and go feed them.

It's All About The Money

I just finished reading John Grisham's The Appeal. It's about the buying of a seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Although it's fiction, it's not to far off the mark. When I worked for a political consulting firm one of the first questions we ask a potential candidate was, how much money do you have - how much can you raise? Believe me - elections can be bought. The best man does not always win. How do we fix it? I don't know. Every attempt at election reform seems to fail.

My Gardenia

I love Gardenias. They are my favorite flower. Not because of the way they look, although they are very pretty, but because of the way they smell. I’m not someone who tolerates scents very well but I find the Gardenia intoxicating.

I have been told that they like well drained, almost sandy, soil and filtered sunlight. My Gardenia sits in a bog next to a swale and gets full sunlight all the time.

Poor baby. Maybe next year it will have more blooms.

I’m not Marty Stauffer

I have always admired wildlife photographers. When I was in school we often had an assembly where we watched Marty Stauffer wildlife documentaries. I watched the HD series on the Living Planet and was in awe as to how they got those shots.

We have always had lots of Cardinals at our bird feeder ever year and this year is no exception. There is a male and female that is exhibiting behavior I have not seen before. She waits on the picnic table, he goes to the feeder, get some seed and brings it back and feeds it to her. Back and forth he goes. This may be normal but I have not seen it before. She is a full grown female so why she can’t feed herself, I don’t know.

I decided I would get a picture of this. I set up a chair and around feeding time I positioned myself in the chair with my Nikon, take four shots, replace batteries and repeat, camera. I had the zoom all set and I waited – stone still. And I waited. Either the birds were not hungry or I didn’t fool them. I think the latter. After about 15 min I gave up.

So, now I have an even greater appreciation of wildlife photographers.

Best and Worst

There are two commercials running now that really give me the creeps. The first is the termite crawling out of Ben Franklin's eye on the $100 bill. The other is the woman wiping down her kitchen counters and refrigerator with raw chicken. Yuck!

On the other hand I love Meatloaf singing for Go Phone. I'll love him till the end of time!

English Lesson

If I hear one more candidate say "we have got to" blah, blah, blah I will scream. Oh, wait, I already am screaming. I think one of the requirements for President of the United States should be the ability to use proper english.

Orchids

I went to an Orchid auction yesterday. First one I have attended. I have a few but really don't know much about them. I just know what I like. My attitude towards mine is benign negligent. I water them now and then and maybe give them some fertilizer occasionally. They do just fine and bloom once or twice a year. I bought one with really pretty yellow blooms yesterday. I found the auction to be quite interesting. Your could tell who the really knowledgeable Orchid people were by the bidding. If it was something really good, the bidding got high and discussions (good natured arguments) broke out around the room. I came home and immediately took a picture of my new purchase. I print the pictures, laminate them and attached it to the plant. It's the only way I can tell them apart.

Letter to the Editor

The lead story of the St Petersburg Times this morning was "Rays: County could help fund stadium". This prompted me fire off the following letter to the editor.

ABSOLUTE NOT! With the passage of Amendment One the County Budget will already be stretched to the limit. My county tax dollars should go for essential services that benefit all the citizens of the county. If the Tampa Bay Devil Ray's want a new stadium for a team that has had very low attendance in the past, let them pay for it.

I doubt they will print it but at least I had my say.

I should mention that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are not located in Tampa. They are from St Petersburg. The city nor the county of Pinellas receive no publicity or credit for having the team. Perhaps Tampa should pay for the new stadium.

I will have more to say about Amendment One in another post.

Question?

Reference: The women from the polygamist compound in Texas.

It is illegal for a man to have more that one wife at a time and a woman having more than one husband would also be guilty of polygamy (although I don't know why on earth a woman would want more than one husband at a time - I have enough trouble handling one).

My question is - are there any legal ramifications for these women married to a man with more than one wife? Is a woman who marries a man, knowing that he has other wives, guilty of anything (other than insanity)?

Muhammad Ali

The Olympics are fast approaching and I’m sure someone will bring up Muhammad Ali and what a great boxer he was and what a great American hero he is. Every time I hear this it makes me yell at the TV screen.

Muhammad Ali was a great boxer but he is not a great American. He is a draft dodger. When he found out he was going to be drafted, he fled the country, became a Muslim, changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and declared himself to be a conscientious objector. His web site will tell you that he was a Muslim before receiving his draft notice - that may or may not be true – all I know is that the general public was not aware of it if that is the truth. By the general public I mean those who followed boxing at that time, which was everyone in my house. We got our first TV so Dad could watch boxing, Friday Night at the Fights was a ritual in our house.

By definition, a conscientious objector is a person whose conscience does not let him take up arms in warfare. There are a lot of jobs in the military that do not require the taking up of arms. The simple truth is that this man did not want to interrupt his lucrative boxing career to defend his country.

It seems a little strange to me that someone that makes his living using his fists to beat another man senseless can object to anything involving violence.

There were many other conscientious objectors at that time and I respect their right to believe as they wish – but – they, along with Muhammad Ali are not great Americans. They are, and always will be, draft dodgers.

Gun Control

I am a big believer in gun control. I am in complete control of most of the guns in my house (there is one I put in the air conditioning vent that I can't seem to find but I probably moved it and just can't remember where.)

The other day a ADT salesman knocked on my door.

He said: "Mam, do know that there was a break-in on your block last week"?
I said: "Really"?
He said: "Oh yes, have you thought about investing in a security system"?
I said: "I have one - guns".
He said: "What"?
I said: "Guns - lots of guns".
He said: "Really"? He then turned around and walked away. I haven't seen him since.

Buster Martin

Buster, the 101 year old Castro look alike, finished the London Marathon today. He never drinks water, only beer and smokes 14 cigarettes a day. Good for him. I'm sure some idiot reporter ask him what he attributes his longevity's to. The answer is obvious - good genes and a whole lot of luck. Way to go Buster!

Olympics

The Olympic Torch is being run around the world (a stupid idea in my estimation, but that's just me - I say take it from Greece to China and be done with it) and its drawing protests in many countries. The time for protests was when China was named as the host country. The Olympics are not going to be stopped now and the ones that are being hurt are the athletes. They just want to compete. Do they care about human rights - of course they do but they had no say in where the games would be held. Protest fine but we also need to support our athletes. The Olympic committee should have addressed the issue of human rights in China when it picked the country.

Hillary

Oh Yea - Just who I want for President - a woman who "bellies up the bar" with the guys.

What?

It's been a busy week. I'll have more later.