Opening Day

After a long winter its finally here, trout season's traditional start on April Fools Day. How appropriate, only a fool would stand in waist deep water, with snow or rain to fish. Sounds like a plan, rivers and ponds will receive their annual supply of sacrifical fish to encourage the meat fisherman out for a free meal. Not really sporting, but as the old saying goes " give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish........

fishing boats Killarney, Ireland

Being Truthful

Seems that truthfulness has gone the way of all the old virtues. In the rush to give an answer, a cure, fix a problem or just to make a buck, lying or not being completely truthful has become the standard. Today I looked at a tree, from the car window I could tell there was a big problem. Top showed signs of decline, at the base a massive girdling root and surface roots chipped and scalped with visible decay. The most troubling sign was two yellow signs signifying a pesticide application and numerous holes filled with an unknown substance which I think was fertilizer.

I poked around and decided to ring the bell and speak with the homeowner, she opened a window and leaned out to engage me in a brief conversation. Her gardener treated the tree and assured her it would live, trying not to laugh I told her the truth and she realized that the treatment was a waste of money and told me of the steady decline in her tree. After thanking me for my honesty she disappeared inside to continue getting ready for work. So she can enjoy another spring with her tree before it needs to be removed and not waste any more time and money on a fools errand. Telling the truth even if it's bad news means more today, the quick buck artist eventually wise up or go out of business.

The Prolonged Winter

Extended by popular demand for those who always say" this isn't cold, when I was ...", you recognize that guy? Five days into spring we still are cold, had a few snow showers and not on day we could hang our hat on and say spring!

Giving Back

Today is the day I do my time and give back to nature why I greedily take whenever I can. Clean up day at my favorite trout stream, picking up other peoples crap they left behind! Opening day is Friday so I'll be ready!

Upswing or Up-sell?

Had to replace the tires on the old truck today, so went to the tire store and the old guy was gone. No surprise, but the new man worked his butt off trying to get me to spend more than I wanted! Bad move, ok maybe I need some work done but not all that stuff. He rolled one of the worn tires out, yes the one with the side worn bad and said it was a result of the need for this thing and that thing. So I let him talk and just said that's a battle for another day. The wear was due to the fact I take the turn a little too fast and don't rotate them tire very other week.

All salespeople today are taught right out of sales school to up-sell the bejesus out of every customer. Like this may be the only time they every come in! Be real, if you want a one timer act that way, if you like steady customers try not picking their pockets clean when they do come in. So the end result is one set of new tires, balanced, mounted and a wheel alignment. An old adage "find out what the customer wants and give it to them", doesn't mean give them the "business" when they come in. Have a nice day!

Done Sprung!

Dark early mornings are unfair,spring ahead came too early and it's a bad idea to fool around when things work! Anyway, dark and cold spring mornings no hint of warmth. Too early to plant, and cleaning up gets old quick. Where's the light?

Gun

Gun! Beat the gun into a plowshare! 30 round clip, what's the purpose? Want to make the news, 15 minutes of fame? Prove something? Live in fear? Give me a clue! You stupid bastard, who gave you the right to bring fear to my life? Go ruin your own life, leave me and mine alone, someone did you wrong? Someone insult you? You coward! Gun? Go find another answer, go find a better way, go away.

Basking in Brilliance or Cowering in Obscurity

Hard to say, everything has it's ups and downs. Raging from fear to elation , moment by moment! Go figure out why, there's a gun on the loose in the hands of a child, pretending to be a man. Somewhere a man is wondering why he was so careless! So now a child has a gun and someone is gonna pay. The child sees it as power I see it as a quick trip to hell.

Someone's gonna pay or is everyone gonna pay in the end. Who's turn is it to lose their life just because a man didn't act like a man and a boy who things he's a man may act out without thinking like a man. There's a gun out there! Be careful, the boy knows no difference!

The brilliance is knowing the difference between right and wrong. The obscurity is hiding it! There's a gun on the loose, do you know where, can you tell right from wrong? Are you a man or just a boy pretending to be a man? Do you know right from wrong? Can you be a man, not just act like one? There's a gun out there!

Dawn's Early Light Part 2

Its all about attitude, yesterday was winter, this morning it's spring. So in our heads, alls well! So it's time to get that garden cleaned up, start some seeds inside and spend more time outside.
A visit to the local home center (hate that term, big box everything store is too long),people were grabbing bags of grass seed, crabgrass killer and fertilizer. Picking at the flowers and longingly checking out those new grills. Suddenly those prized snowblowers were pulled off the shelves to hide till next year. The paint dept. was full of folks looking to spruce up the house, why they wasted the entire winter to do that is anyone's guess?
So this morning I'll do the same, fix up, cleanup and despite the cold, get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Shock and Awe

Yes, why I understand! The need I get, the rest is over the top!

Some Crazy Irish Stuff

Out of the closet all you Irish! Can't hide it on St. Patrick's Day, time to drive the snakes out of wherever you are. Get a Guinness and revel in what was once reviled! Good people once crossed the street to avoid you, now your the best friend to everyone. Oh, you hide, didn't wear the green, nor did you say "top o'the morning"? Too bad you missed it then. So put it away for another day, better luck next time.

Last Day

Kind of sad, end is here! What happens next is anyone's guess, but gotta move forward. Time has now come for change. Change of season, finally winter is over!
No more endless cold days, sure it may still snow and have a few cold days, but it won't last. Flowers, green grass and time to spend outside getting fresh air and sunshine. Just remember to put on the sun screen.

Beating Plowshares into Weapons?

Peace through nuclear energy? After some some sixty five years since we invented the bomb it's odd or just fate that the worst nuclear disaster occurs where the first one happened. Kind of ironic that a country so affected turns to nuclear energy knowing how dangerous it really is. Building plants on fault lines and active ones at that. Something to ponder, all the talk about alternative energy that ebbs and flows with the price of oil and now the true cost of doing nothing is apparent. When will we ever learn. People are more important than that and we need to develop clean safe sources of energy that's not gonna kill us, cause cancer or make our little blue planet completely unlivable. Get with the program big oil.

Still Crazy After a Long Winter

Hibernation over! People are calling and in their winter rest became more demanding. What I find most peculiar is that no one is ever home, now I know most people love not to work and complain that they need to be home more, but call and say your coming over- no one is ever home. Surely they aren't working, but the thing that most people love to do the most stay home and do nothing is just not happening when someone needs to come over to do something. I always wonder what is so important? Most cases they are doing nothing somewhere else! Odd, yet bears the question then when you give a time range they retort can you call me. Jeez lady that's what I'm doing now! You can stay put for two hours in one place, even an hour? can you give me 15 minutes before you have to abandon ship and go shopping?

Dawns Early Light

Patriotic, no just an observation on the time change. Sun gets to sleep in, not me! This is a day of confusion for most, tomorrow will be an ordeal for the truly disoriented.

Daylight Savings?

A curious thing, light. We need it, complain when we don't have it and again if we have too much. Face the facts, when we wake up tomorrow disoriented it will be by act of Congress! So you know whom it blame, not the innocent clock, nor the sun! Just a bunch of well meaning people we elected.
So I have to ask the question the daylight we save, who has it and if it's in savings is it at least paying a good rate of interest? Final question is that interest taxable?

Spring Ahead

Yes indeed it is! Less than a fortnight away, and what will change? A few minutes more of daylight each day, slightly warmer days, more rain less snow? What will really change is attitudes and the way we feel. More daylight improves moods, getting outside in the fresh air helps your brain work. So enjoy the coming of spring and the flowers soon to be seen.

Time to get out that fishing gear and dust of the bike.

The Countdown!

5,4,3,2,1 weekend!!! You see it all around you, TGIF, putting all your hopes and dreams into one night and two days. Then Sunday evening the big letdown, Monday looming! Careful not to live in the moment or vicariously through other lives, how about looking forward to tomorrow as a chance for something new? Why waste a perfectly good week worrying about the weekend and start living each day as it comes? Makes perfect sense to me!

Every day I look to accomplish something could be simple stuff or finish a major project doesn't matter. I live each day in a day tight compartment and when the day is over it's over. Look forward to stuff, you betcha, but never lose sight of today. Tomorrow is another day and yesterday is over can't change it if I tried.

Keeping Safety in Mind

Our lives are little bits of time linked together by major events; birthdays, vacations, births, deaths. In those other bits when we are rushing around or relaxing it's always important to keep a sense of presence. Mindless things we do if we don't think can be tragic.

Take fore instance people who smoke, certainly bad for your health as well as those around you. Lighting up in the wrong place at the wrong time could be deadly. Never smoke inside, in bed, near flammable liquids. Still some people still think  "aah never happen to me", just a word to the wise, thinking is always required. It doesn't matter if you have walked down those steps a thousand times or hundreds of showers or I always make a left turn here- all it takes is one time.

Tenant Refuses to Leave

Kind of like a news story on page 30 of the local paper, landlord evicts tenant. Local wildlife will use trees for habitat and around here the habitat is shrinking. This is good if the tree with the cavity is in the back forty, but if it's next to your house. The tree may have to be removed. Then you gotta deal with HIM! Call an animal removal expert to deal with this guy, rabies is at an all time high so let the pros deal with the squatters!