life

Building Character

I’m all about building character.

Not THIS kind…

Largely because of errors-in-judgement I’ve made in my own life, I find myself drawn to other’s opinions with regard to how one should live.  And I sometimes even try to apply them to my standards, and see how (or if) they fit.

I’ve occasionally referred to The Art of Manliness in this blog.  While much of what is written there is a how-to, some of it is a paradigm-breaking thing.  Thinking outside the box, as it were.

This recent essay challenges the mold of modern parenting.  The one wherein a parent tells the child they can accomplish anything if they put their mind to it.  Now my parents tried their own version of this which was I wasn’t living up to my potential.  Not exactly a positive message.  I tried to encourage my own daughter, but let her figure out her own limits for herself.  She wasn’t necessarily supposed to live my dreams.  She was to live hers.

“You can do anything you put your mind to!”

“The sky’s the limit!”

“You’re the best!”

“Follow your dreams!”

Did you hear these kinds of things growing up? Your parents sure meant well. They really felt like you were the most special creature to arrive on planet earth – a beautiful boy full of limitless possibilities. You could do anything in the world!

But now that that boy is grown up and in his twenties, you might find that such encouragement has become more paralyzing than motivating. If your possibilities really are endless, how will you ever decide which path to take and what to do with your life? (TAOM)

I would encourage you to visit the link above and also read the other essays.  I often learn things there – and I’m old!

Better than thinking I can blow up the Earth because it blocks my view of Venus!

PI Blues

The results are in!  According to the to the impromptu poll I took the other day, what interests YOU first is The Gun Stuff, followed closely by  equally (as of this writing) by The PI Stuff.

The Political Stuff came in third.  Sadly, many times this meshes with the Gun Stuff.

This got me to thinking.  (I know, you could smell the smoke in your zip code!    )  I don’t write as often about the PI stuff as I used to, in part because I want interesting, clever, funny, dramatic stuff, and my muse doesn’t always have that.  Partially because PI stuff can be b-o-r-i-n-g.

Think about it.  One does much as a police detective, street cop or CSI does.  Without the force of the government behind you, or a backup a radio call away.  Back-in-the-day, there wasn’t an Internet, or boo-koo databases available at your fingertips.  Just like the gov’t guys, it was shoe leather, and more shoe leather (I actually DID wear holes in my Florsheims, and later in my Allen Edmonds), windshield time, interviewing neighbors  getting the neighbors to come to the door and speak with you (maybe), searching through dusty records and archives for that ONE clue, standing in line at Motor Vehicle Records (the great equalizer of PIs, process servers, insurance investigators and attorneys) hoping the funds spent will lead you to the next right clue.  Sitting on surveillance.  It was like waiting for the movie to start at the drive-in*.  Waiting and watching.  For untold hours.  Putting up with the nosy Alice Kravitz-type neighbors; curious dogs; police sent to investigate you by Alice.  Having to go to the bathroom and being unable to hold it any longer, and the standard-issue glass milk bottle just didn’t cut it.

I’ve not been a PI since 1986.  And I medically retired as a credit card fraud investigator in 2009.  It was demanding, underpaying, unappreciated, sometimes demeaning work.

I miss it.  I’ve got the PI Blues…

…from my head down to my shoes…with the holes in them...

*drive-in:  They used to show first-run motion pictures al fresco;  one could sit in one’s car and watch.  Better with two.  Of course, then less movie watching occurred!

On This Day in History

(the above to be read in a radio announcer’s voice…Gabriel Heater?)

As some of you know, part of my daily routine (aside from penning – or stealing copying – material for this blog is to read a daily almanac page from Ref Desk, entitled Today in History.  Some days seems mundane, as if nothing happened in humanity of note on that day.  Others?  Well, here are some snippets from today’s almanac page:

Births

1834 John Wesley Powell US, geologist/explorer/ethnologist

1871 Sir Ernest Rutherford nuclear scientist

1874 Harry Houdini [Erik Weisz] Budapest Hungary, magician/escape artist

1898 Dorothy Stratton organizer (SPARS-women’s branch of US Coast Guard)

1902 Thomas E Dewey Ohio, 1st Catholic Presidential candidate 1944, 1948 (R)

1909 Clyde Barrow bank robber (of Bonnie & Clyde fame)

1930 Steve McQueen Slater MO, actor (Wanted, Dead or Alive, Blob, Bullitt)

Deaths

1603 Elizabeth I Tudor [Maiden Queen] UK queen (1558-1603), dies at 69

1905 Jules Verne sci-fi author (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 77

1953 Queen Mary of Britain dies

1964 Peter Lorre Hungarian/US actor (Maltese Falcon, Raven), dies at 59

1976 Bernard L Montgomery British General, defeated Rommel, dies at 88

On This Day…

1664 Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island

1721 Johann Sebastian Bach opens his Brandenburgse Concerts

1765 Britain enacts Quartering Act, required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers

1832 Mormon Joseph Smith beaten, tarred & feathered in Ohio

1883 1st telephone call between New York & Chicago

1898 1st automobile sold

1906 “Census of the British Empire” shows England rules 1/5 of the world

1930 Planet Pluto named

1947 John D Rockefeller Jr donates NYC East River site to the UN

1975 Muhammad Ali TKOs Chuck Wepner in 15 to retain the heavyweight boxing title

1989 Worst US oil spill, Exxon’s Valdez spills 11.3 million gallons off Alaska

1980 El Salvador’s leading human rights activist, Archbishop Oscar Romero, 62, was assassinated by a sniper while saying mass in a hospital chapel.

Who knows what happened in history tomorrow?

It’s March 6, Again!

…and I cannot believe I’ve been blogging for TWO YEARS!

Two years ago, today, I began writing this blog.
I’d been on disability, and passed the time on the Internet reading blogs.  I was frankly looking for some female friends who liked guns, and found some female gun bloggers.  Unfortunately, these were in Ohio, Indiana and Idaho.  They became my blogmothers.  (Note-to-self:  find female gun bloggers in AZ!)
I had no clue what I was doing.  Some would say I still don’t.
In the past two years I’ve learned to write in paragraphs, write about those things I know, and to be disciplined. (sometimes)
I’ve written at least one blog post daily (sometimes two, occasionally three, once or twice four) every day.
And I’ve included a cartoon, a tasteful photo of a beautiful woman and a You Tube clip of my choosing, every day, as well.
And a quote of the day.
I told a couple friends locally I was writing a blog, and, before I knew it, I had followers (!)
Follower number 10 was North , the first person not actually known to me at the time.  Since then he and many others have become friends!
As of this post, I have 89 followers, including a female blogger in Pakistan.
Over 164,821 pageviews! (if we include the 84K from the first year’s BLOGGER version)  5,397 comments, (some of which weren’t even from me!)
I’ve written 1,146 posts, about 2/3 of which were of my own authorship (not stolen borrowed or expounded upon from another blog).
And I’ve made many friends in the United States, and around the World.
I’m proud to say I’ve actually met some of these folks, and spoken with others on the telephone.  Some have regularly communicated via email.  A few have become close.  One even gifted me ammunition!  I’m both proud and humbled.
And still amazed.
One of my early followers was my good friend Mark Bell, who passed away February 1, 2012.  He told me one of his first stops every morning was Guffaw in AZ.  I like to think he still stops by.
I will continue to strive to report the facts and truth as I know them, for as long as I am able, and I care to.
And perhaps a few more PI stories.
I’ve tampered with amended The Usual Suspects to add those who have been friends and contributors and delete those who have stopped blogging.  Sadly, some have passed away.
My thanks to all of you for your support.
I remain,
Your obedient servant,
Guffaw

There’s a LOT of this going around!

Rev. Paul, of Way Up North reportedly had a cardiac event and rolled his pickup truck yesterday.  He’s doing okay, after a stent was put in, but the truck not so much.

Please keep good thoughts for him, and pray, if that’s your thing.  Paul is one of my first Internet blogfriends  and has been an ardent supporter of both me and this blog.

Hang in there, Rev. Paul!

How Time Flies…

January 26, 2013…

January 26 has always been a weird day.

• My Mother passed away on this date when I was in primary school.  I’ve very few memories of her.
• My nephew Brian was born on January 26, 1966.  Guess that makes you almost OLD, huh bud!
• And I left my last employer on this date in 2009, admitted to the hospital, as I was having difficulty breathing.

Turned out to be diffuse large cell lymphoma.  I spent the next six months enduring chemotherapy, weird pain, weakness and hair loss.  And weekly doctor visits.  It looked for a while that I wasn’t gonna be around to write this blog nonsense.

But, here I am .   I’ve been more than fortunate.

People sometimes gasp when I recount certain chapters in my life.  My leg disability at age 12, loss of my daughter, and being a cancer survivor.  While I’ve had my moments, it’s nothing compared to Brigid’s brother and his battle against lymphoma.  Or CoolChange (c)(c) watching over his beloved wife, now in hospice.  They need all your good thoughts, and prayers, if that’s what you do.

And if you donate blood, please continue to do so.  Or start.  And mark that organ donor spot on your driver’s license.  It’s the least we can do.

Sad PS – Rick (CoolChange) announced in his blog today that his beloved wife passed @ 5:55 yesterday.

God Bless John Moses Browning!

One of the most prolific and innovative inventors in history, JOHN MOSES BROWNING was born on this date in 1855.

The next time you rack your semiautomatic pistol, remember the slide mechanism was invented by Mr. Browning.  Otherwise, we’d be stuck with Georg Luger’s toggle top!  Seen many of those designs, lately?

Every time I first touch off my one remaining prized 1911, I try to intone, “God Bless John Moses Browning!”

For a succinct biography of the man, please go to 1911.org

A real character

It’s always sad when someone, even someone you didn’t know, passes.  Funny how we also adopt certain persons as symbols or remembrances of our youth, and when they pass, it reminds us of our own aging and mortality.

Ernest Borgnine passed away, yesterday.  At age 95!  Popular culture forever links him with the McHale’s Navy TV show from the 60′s, but he was so much more than that.

From Here to Eternity

Marty

He was one of the long-time Hollywood guys who just seemed like a regular guy, and obviously appreciated his fans.  For this reason, I love character actors.

On a more personal note – I made a breakfast fast-food purchase this AM, as I do too many AMs, and the price was different.  Lower.  When was the last time THAT happened?  I questioned the clerk.

She gave me the Senior discount!  I didn’t request it, nor was I a Junior last year!

Tempus Fugit

Life’s Rules – Modern ‘P.C.’ Edition

Washington Rebel brings up two of Life’s Rules which influence every aspect of Modern Society.

~”…, I’m discerning that we have two rules in place — on which we never actually voted, but from which we’ll brook no deviation, we’ll tolerate no violation, and yes, we pass judgment on the character of our fellow citizens according to not only their compliance with these rules, but their enthusiasm for so complying. One, we don’t discriminate. Ever. If we do, we make sure we discriminate in the “right” direction. Two, human life is precious. It is so precious that we have to make sure everyone is out of danger, all the time, no matter what, and we seem bound and determined to keep writing more and more safety rules until everyone lives forever.”
….
A more cynical perspective would be that we aren’t interested in making anyone safe at all, we’re just concerned with ass-covering. And, as Surber opines, the people we put in positions of power just like to push others around. Maybe it’s a case of, a certain job will attract a certain personality type. These jobs have authority invested in them…so that’s the personality type they attract. Bullies.~
(emphasis Guffaw)
Go read the whole thing.  Don’t wear a helmet when doing so, be a rebel!

h/t Morgan K. Freeberg

Ain’t Life Grand?

Well, another year has come and gone.  (How many people have said that to you-don’t you just want to shoot them?)
Last year was interesting.  In the sense of the Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times.”
I was awarded Social Security Disability Income, which, when coupled with my private insurance, kept my at the same income I’ve just been squeaking by on for two years.
Then, they awarded me Medicare, with the requisite monthly premium deducted.
Then, my private insurance decided they were no longer going to pay me the difference.
Based on the remaining balance, I can either pay my mortgage or buy groceries.
Groceries won!  Yea Food!
But, regardless, we’re still hanging in there.  The legal clinic tells me it may take them a year to get me out of my home.
Still awaiting the result of my appeal to the private insurance to get my benefits reinstated.
With my new medical benefit, I was able to have a skin cancer removed, along with two other skin ‘issues’.  And my new ‘free’ clinic doctor, I’ve medication, some I’ve been missing for two years!  Medication, Yea!
I’ve a new orthopedic shoe I named ‘Ed Sullivan’ (it’s a really big shoe!), so I can walk a little less like Deputy Chester Good. (for you young people – see early Gunsmoke TV episodes)
And I’ve supportive family and friends!
Ain’t Life Grand?