Blondes - Sometimes You Have To Wonder, Are They Really...

...as dumb as the stereotype! 

A woman, reported to be a a "fashion branding student", reportedly had a few drinks while donning her new bathing suit. The report goes on to say that after a trip to answer the call of nature, she could not understand why her nether regions were continually being exposed. So, she contacted the swimwear company to complain about it and sent them a photo of her in the ill fitting suit. 

The reply was precious, here is part of it: “I have had a look at the picture you sent and believe you are wearing the swimsuit upside down..."  More here at the source.

I wonder, is she a natural blonde?

All the best,
Glenn B

I Changed The Clock...

...in my car today while driving west somewhere in Kentucky. I'm well on my way to Benton, AR, my temporary stomping ground until I get an apartment either in TN (yes I can spell Tennessee) or TX. Every other time I've visited Brendan in Benton, I kept NY time on the dashboard clock and depended on my phone for local time. This time is a bit different as I am not returning to my residence in NY since the sale of our the house closed yesterday.

Odd feeling it all is; I had thought once I had left NY, we would be separated legally by mutual agreement and I'd not be going back soon. That all potentially changed when divorce papers wete served on me. So, I may have to go back for court and or to hire an attorney. Hopefully we can still resolve it more or less amicably by way of a mutual agreement. 

As for the clock, I am not changing it back, it will stay on central time and if I go back to NY, I will use my phone to tell time there.

All the best,

Glenn B

Whatever Happed To...

...Pokemon Go? I have not heard of a single Pokemon Go player being mowed down by a dump truck or walking off of a cliff in years or so it seems. Has the craze died and been replaced by something else. I imagine that Trump Derangement syndrome could have something to do with Pokemon Go accidents falling out of favor with the media since they devote so much time and space to Trump bashing. Just wondering about it since I was reminded of PG while looking over another blog this morning.

All the best,
Glenn B

You Can't Take It With You...

...or should I say I can't take them with me! I gave away two of my beloved tortoises today and also gave away two last or earlier this week. The two I gave away then were Russian Tortoises which I have had for about 5 years; then went to a good guy Gideon H. I liked them a lot and will miss them but know Gideon will take excellent care of them over the long haul. Of the two I gave away today, one was a Redfoot Tortoise and the other a Hermann's Tortoise. The Redfoot I got from a good friend Harry F. a couple or few years ago, the Hermann's was hatched here in my house, the offspring of a female Hermann's I have had for possibly 15 to 2o years now and the sire was one of her first offspring or in other words both the stepbrother and father of the little guy I gave away today. That one given away today was two years and some months old. I had had an unrelated male that I had been breeding to the female but he disappeared out of my backyard maybe 5 or 6 years years ago, either stolen or wound up as racoon or hawk food and the older male I have now was the offspring of the original male and female I had. The ones I gave away today went to Harry F; he too I am certain will take excellent care of them.

I am left with only three tortoises of the seven I had as of late and I have a bit of grief over that. The remaining are my female Hermann's, my older male Hermann's ad my older Redfoot that I recall I got via an Internet dealer back in 2008. Thus I have had it for 11 years now (how time flies even relative to a tortoise's life). You may not think so but you do become attached to tortoises somewhat. I never named mine, always a disappointment to those who ask me what are their names, but I have become somewhat bonded to them. While not nearly as responsive as a dog they are highly responsive to their keepers as far as it goes for reptiles. Hopefully they will like their new home wherever we wind up.

All the best,
Glenn B

It'S Been A Busy & Torturous Week

I've been getting ready for my move down south and that means getting ready for the house closing on Tuesday. It also means that I was working on the separation agreement for me and my wife but that was all to naught because now she has filed for divorce. Talk about being disheartened, there I was thinking we had quite the fair agreement but you should see what her lawyer is demanding. I figure, if I do not contest it, I will be trying to live on maybe 35% of the current income from my pension, I may qualify for WIC if that becomes my income. 

Among other things, if I understood correctly: we would have to split our assets supposedly in an equitable manner, I would have to purchase her health insurance totally on my dime, if she has medical bills unpaid by insurance then I would be responsible for them (and I am guessing that such potentially could wipe me out for life), I would have to splitting my income with her, I would also be required to maintain life insurance with her as the ONLY beneficiary (so in essence screw our children because I had already told her I would be switching it over to them instead of her), and life insurance policy I have now would increase by probably 25 to 50% in cost to me when I hit 65. (And you probably thought federal employee benefits were excellent and while somne are wonderful - it is certainly not so for FEGLI life insurance! Which by the way, I was about to change in 2011 to a private company's policy not long before my retirement - I had three or four policies from which I was about to choose - but was then diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Oh well, I was stuck with what I had back then.)

After receiving the divorce paperwork, I offered my wife a substantial percentage more of the net proceeds from the sale of the house than she would otherwise have been getting but have received no reply from her nor from her lawyer. Well, that is except a text from the wife saying that her lawyer expects me to call her and expects me to supply tax and other documents - apparently to help them with their case. No reply by tomorrow on my offer and I will have to cancel the offer and hire an attorney myself. This could have gone so smoothly but to that all I can says is: 'Alas poor Yorick (in my case 'alas poor good, merry, happy, sad, difficult and even bad married times')! I knew him, dear readers.' 

Or maybe I should say it it all, as the great Bard said it centuries ago, and you can think of Yorick as me, or as any man, in a marriage that has died:

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your
gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment,
that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one
now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen?
Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let
her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must
come; make her laugh at that. "

Well anyway: All of this amazes me for some reason but you would think that after 32 years of dealing with attorneys throughout my career, and 33 years plus of being married to the same woman, I suppose I should have expected it. The funny thing is that what gets me the most is that the lawyer, for whatever reason, will not contact me directly and my wife will not give me the lawyer's email address so I can contact her in writing. I did send a text but got no reply. So, I tried to find out from my wife if the number she gave me for her attorney is a cell phone but as with other inquiries I have made of her, she has not replied. Go figure.

What looked as if it was going to be an amenable separation leading to divorce has turned into what promises to be only the first episode of a lifelong nightmare.

All the best,
Glenn B

Free Yoga Classes

All the best,
Glenn B

A One Nighter Is Not What It Used To Be

All the best,
Glenn B

Busted - Not Quite

All the best,
Glenn B

Belated Happy Birthday Wishes To:

Belated happy birthday wishes to president Trump.

Darn, I missed it by a day. 

All the best,
Glenn B

On Starting Out Being Alone Again

Dinner - First Full Day In The House Alone - is a Genoa salami,provolone and feta cheese sandwich on French peasant bread with Italian dressing and a bottle of Ommegang's Three Philosophers ale. With a diet like this, I may not live long when single but I will enjoy myself.

All the best,

Glenn B

Proof That Even Mice Get Married

All the best,
Glenn B

When The Heck Is Heterosexual Pride Month...

...or White History Month, or whatever celebration there is just for men. Someone please let me know.

Thanks,
Glenn B

Bang Bang, We Shot Each Other Down

At least not one of us that I know about!

All the best,
Glenn B

Two Pictures Say it All

All the best,
Glenn B

Okay - So It Seems Like Forever...

...,since I last posted anything on the blog. In truth, it's been a week. I was down in AR for the last week, brought more things down to my storage locker and to my son's place. Darned storage locker is full side to side but has some room going up, that is it would if the bottom boxes were not already collapsing under the weight of those higher up. I have more stuff but not all that much and it will get squeezed in there on my next trip to AR. That one is likely to nbe my last trip out of NY; then comes the wait for an apartment in either TX or TN. I am not about to live in AR on half my pension and have to pay state income tax - thus TX or TN. Right now, I am banking on the Texarkana, TX area for an apartment because it is closer to brendan in benton, AR bt if I buy a house with some land, it may be in TN because the land is less expensive there (and it is greener there too). of course, it is also about an hour and a half to two hours further from benton (at least where I would buy) but that would be okay I suppose.

More blogging later.

All the best,
GB

CSA General Smith's Surrender - Not The End Of The Story

On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. That is the name of town where surrender took  place - the actual surrender did not take place inside a court building but in the parlor of the Wilmer McLean home. (Source.) 

While that surrender is often considered to be the end to the American Civil War, it was not until almost 8 weeks later, on June 2, 1865, that the last full general of the Confederate States of America - General Edmund Kirby Smith - surrendered to Union Forces at Galveston, TX. Up until that time, Smith and the forces under his command continued to resist the Union Army. He fled to Mexico immediately after his surrender but later swore an oath of allegiance to the United States to receive amnesty. (Source.) Some consider Smith's surrender to be the actual end to the Civil War but there is a bit more to the story.

There was at least one field general left in the Confederacy who had not yet surrendered.  "In 1861 Stand Watie, a Cherokee {aka: De Gata Ga (Cherokee: “Stand Firm”)}, had raised and commanded the first volunteer Cherokee regiment—the Cherokee Mounted Rifles—mustered into the Confederate Army." (Source.) He was later promoted to Brigadier General and placed in charge of the First Indian Brigade. He surrendered with his forces on June 23, 1865. "Stand Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender his command." (Source.)

Now mind you, that quote said that Stand Watie was the last CSA General to surrender; yet, even his surrender was not the final surrender of CSA forces. There was still a Confederate ship in the fight. That ship had been purchased by CSA forces in Liverpool England in 1864 and renamed the CSS Shenandoah under the command of Captain James I. Wadell. After the above surrenders, the Shenandoah continued on its mission to destroy New England whaling ships. During that campaign in which the Shendandoah destroyed several Union ships, Wadell was informed of the surrender of the Confederacy. He decided to return to Liverpool where he surrendered. 


"The last Confederate surrender occurred on November 6, 1865, when the Shenandoah arrived in Liverpool. The only Confederate vessel to circumnavigate the globe was surrendered by letter to the British prime minister, Lord John Russell." (Source.)

All the best,
Glenn B

NY Sinking It's Claws Into Me Just As I Am Preparing To Leave

The closing on our house should take place anytime from June 10th to the end of June. After that, I'll be free of this socialist, anti-gun, whackadoo libterd of a state - or so I had thought. Then when I took a look at my mail today, those hopes while not shattered kind of sank somewhat - I got a jury duty notice. I have not received a jury duty notice in about 20 years. I know that because I am sure the last one I got was before 9/11  and am pretty sure it was at least a couple of years before then. Why in hell they had to send me one now boggles my mind. With my luck, we will close and they will want me to come in for a jury panel right before or after that. If after, they will have a hard time getting me there because once we close I am fleeing this shit-bird (thank you for the term Mr. Leahy) state to be a resident no more. If they do somehow manage to sink there hooks into me, I will have no place to stay so I hope they will put me up in a motel or drop me from the juror service rolls.

All the best,
Glenn B

Memorial Day - Remember & Honor Them In Your Own Way

if there is a heaven and from there you chance to look down
you'll see we earthbound this holiday with nary a frown
but if you watch closely enough you'll be certain to see
shed tears as we give thanks to you who passed on bravely
while keeping this land free from enemies of all sorts
fighting our wars protecting our people, skies, lands & ports
We remember you each of us on this your very special day
and we remember the sacrifices made and honor you today
for without your sacrifices our land would no longer be free
and we we owe it all to the brave fallen of the U.S. Military

Let's Spend The Night (Our Life) Together

When given a choice:





 

 All the best,
Glenn B

Memorial Day - Remember Them - Honor Them

When celebrating the long Memorial Day weekend at the beach, in the country, in your backyard for a BBQ, going shopping online or in the stores looking for sales or wherever and however - try not to forget the real reason for this holiday. 

Memorial Day is a day to honor those in our military service who died honorably fighting in war. It's purpose is not to honor veterans (we have Veterans' Day for that) nor was it initially to honor those in the military who died while serving but not while defending (as in combat) our great nation - the United States of America. Times and the holiday have changed, though I think sadly, and honoring all those who died in our military service - not just those who perished honorably in combat - is what it has evolved to today. Hopefully the emphasis is still placed on remembering and honoring they who fell in combat for the rest of us. 




We Shall Keep the Faith

by Moina Michael, November 1918

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died. 

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.


More info on memorial Day at these links: 

https://www.cem.va.gov/history/memdayorder.asp

http://www.usmemorialday.org/?page_id=2

https://www.military.com/memorial-day

All the best,
Glenn B 

Damn - The Things We Find In The House

This morning, when I finally crawled out of bed, I found a box of 400 rounds of 5.56 NATO ammo on my coffee table in the basement. Went upstairs to ask my son why he bought that here in NY and he told me he found it in his old room. I'd thought he had cleared it all out. 

Then, early this afternoon, my brothers-in-law & my son moved some stuff out of my garage to take to the BIL's house upstate. I was quite surprised to see  a boxed spam can of Tul Ammo 7.62x39 rounds laying there on the garage floor after they were done. I was pretty sure I had brought virtually all of my ammo - minus a few boxes of this or that - down to my son's place in AR last month.

Just more space I need in my Corolla on my next trip to AR next week or so. I don't mind though, I'd rather need the room for it than not have the ammo.

My son also found a 1/10 oz gold coin I gave him several years ago. Happy he found that and it did not wind up forgotten here for the new owners.

All the best,
Glenn B

Found A Nice Deal On AR Mags & 5.56 NATO Ammo Today...

...pretty much thanks to Wirecutter and his blogpost:

P-mags – Get ’em while they’re hot

The thing is, I did not get the deal he posted about. I tried ordering ten (1) of the MAG571 PMAGs about which he blogged and at first all was going well, my order needed one more click and I would have had ten (1) 30 round MAG571 PMAGs for $79.99 with free shipping. That is all was well until my connection to Palmetto State Armory went down. When I logged back in a few minutes later - no matter what I did the promotion code did not work. I cleared my browser cache and tried again - no good; I ran CCleaner and cleared the browser cache and tried once more - no good. I used another browser - still no good. I called Palmetto State Armory, the guy in online customer service told me that I could order them at $12.30 each plus shipping, complete that order, call back customer service and they would refund the amount of the discount to my charge card. I said thanks and goodbye, was about to hang up and he said wait a minute; said he just ran the promotion code and it was not coming up so it must have expired. My guess, it expired and that is why I lost my connection when first making the order. Then I figured, let me try on my phone - still did not work - so I guessed he was right and the code had expired.

I looked around the site for similar offers on other PMAGs. Then I found this one (in case the link expires it was $199.99 shipped for ten (1) of the same PMAGs plus a 420 round ammo can of Federal 5.56x45mm, 55 grain, XM193LC1AC1 ammo). Now, I don't know what you think but I think that to be an even better deal. Lowest price I could find on AmmoSeek.com was $137.10 including shipping from Classic Arms (as I key this in). Most other places were considerably higher for the ammo and all other dealers I checked were much higher for the magazines at around a minimum of $12.00 each.

So, at $199.99 - with free shipping - for both, I got a great deal. Had them sent down to my son in AR. Of course, when I move down south to either AR, TN or TX, I'll have to make an AR one of my first purchases and try out those mags and ammo before he gets to them.

If you want either deal, look for those PMAGs and try the code PMAG - it may yet work but you need to order a minimum of ten for that deal. Someone on Kenny's site said it is an on again / off again thing. Otherwise, if you want the ammo and the mags, click this link. 

While I did not get the same deal that Wirecutter posted about, it's thanks to him I visited PSA in the first place and then found the other deal I did get. A hat tip and my thanks to him.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is It Jello Yet?

 As Mick Jagger sang: "...my favorite flavor cherry red". 

All the best,
Glenn B

Clowning Around

All the best,

Glenn B

A Picture Is Worth 600K Followers

One of the best pro-gun videos I have seen if only because she seems to have come unexpectedly on the scene, did so at the most unlikely of places (Kent State University) and quickly turned into one the best pro-gun advocates ever.

 
All the best,
Glenn B