. . . he had no idea how to use it. Someone came by to remove a truck from my property yesterday. Big trailer, big truck, ramps, winch, come-a-longs, and tie downs and he couldn’t get the truck on the trailer. Hours spent trying to do it his way and when we did it my way it was done in 30 minutes.

I am so sore and I was sore yesterday too. Lifting and moving items that were heavy and awkward and so unnecessary. Combined he had a dually 350 pick up with a 40 foot 5th wheel flat bed to haul a dually 550 dump truck off of a flatbed truck. It didn’t work well and the 550 fell partially off the truck. This happened just before I got there.

My Jeep was the workhorse of the rescue project. It pulled all rigs that were connected straight. It pulled the 550 sideways to further straighten the combination. Lockers and 4 wheel low did the trick.

I have to apologize to Dennis. when he came to chat, I was too sore to stand and talk. Had the table been free of debris, a.k.a. Sam’s Club shit, I would have loved to sat and chatted with you.

It’s 3:15 a.m. as I type this. At 2:30 a.m. the phone rang. Another crank call, the second in a weeks time. It’s kinda fun when this happens, other than the lack of sleep that occurs, because I immediately use the block call feature on my phone system and the dumb ass can’t call the store anymore. When the idiot complains about not being able to call, I explain the system to them and tell them that they were blocked due to phone abuse and I never take people off the blocked list. One complained “that’s not fair, we were just having fun” so I asked him if I punched you in the face for fun if he’d understand and just shrug it off? He didn’t get it.

America is the only country where a significant proportion of the population believes that professional wrestling is real, but the moon landing was faked.   – David Letterman

“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

• Stupid banks are closed.
• My barber is closed.
• The financial markets are closed. That effects gas pricing for me.
• Don’t worry, it’s not MLK that I’m complaining about, I’m not a fan of any weekday holiday.
• Never was.
• George, Abe, and Marty you’re all a pain in my ass.

At least that’s what the weatherliars have claimed. I hope that they’re wrong again. I think this year was the worst wind year we’ve ever seen out here.

Oh yeah, let’s not forget to welcome back the daily drought warnings from the weatherliars. Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve been graced with moisture.

It’s Sunday! Breakfast and shopping in Santa Fe. I love shopping. No, really I do. Quit laughing!

I talked to Beth yesterday.  Hi Beth! She had Nancy on the speaker for backup in case I got nasty. Hi Nancy! The three of us don’t chat on the phone often enough. Let’s make it an every other day thing.

I should call Carl soon, but I know he hates phones. Hi Carl! Keith and I talk occasionally, but Carl and I seldom chat. Hi Keith!

Can’t forget Paul. Paul and I haven’t talked since Turkey Day or thereabouts. Hi Paul!

Heading east soon. I know I’ve said that earlier this month but I couldn’t go and Nina went alone. I blame Tori. Hi Tori! We will be going to meet and supervise the actual move of almost all of ML’s shit. That will leave just the repairs and getting the dump listed with a realtor. We had discussed keeping the condo as our home in the Chicago area, but I’m not a fan of the area and for the few times a year we get there I’m thinking that hotels are more cost effective.

Thinking of a new bed. I hope that will help me sleep better. Last night I was actually in bed for 8 hours. It’s been years since that happened. I could get used to that.

Your life is a gift from the creator. Your gift back to the creator is what you do with your life.

ML told us that she’s gonna be more tolerant. I almost peed myself laughing. That is all.

I missed posting yesterday. I guess I was so happy that Nina returned to me. I could have cheated and posted something today and changed the date, but that’s not right, right?

It’s amazing how good some candid pictures can be. I’ve received more compliments over the picture of Erin and Nina at the airport. It is a good shot.

Yesterday I was at Lithia getting my Jeep lifted so my new tires fit without rubbing on bumps. Well, that’s not the only reason for the lift, but I’m gonna stick with it for the time being. Now if my spare would come in, I’d be set.

While there I asked the general manager if I could test drive the VW beetle in the lot. He asked if I was interested in buying it and I told him no, I just had some errands to run and needed a ride. He tossed me the keys to a $60,000 pick up. NICE truck. Loaded. His personal truck. I was impressed by his trust and the HEMI in the truck. Wow, that truck has some giddy up. The Magna-Flow exhaust gave it a nice sound and added some ponies. Thanks New Corey.

My  Jeep looks great with the tires and lift. I’ll post pictures later today to this post.

Top pic after lift,  bottom picture is before lift.

Marylou. She’s a strange old broad. Nina and I were talking about her last night on the way home and we figured that with the strange upbringing that she and Shirley experienced and her solitary lifestyle, she just has no clue on how to act normal. And then there’s the funny shit her meds cause. About once a week, she gets mad at something and you can tell she’s mad. Curt answers to questions, glares at the person that angered her, and other subtle things. The kicker here is that the meds she’s on affects her memory. After an hour or so she gets this confused look on her face and you know that she has forgotten why she was mad. She remembers that she was mad and is determined to remain mad, but the confusion remains. By the time she wakes up from her nap, everything is back to normal.

You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.

• Nina returned home as promised. Good Nina.
• She walked right past us while we were sitting in the waiting area.
• When she called us, she was already at the baggage area.
• She’s not the most observant member of the family.

Now that Nina’s back, she should see this video:

 httpv://youtu.be/C6uQC9MM5cQ