Saturday Morning Coffee

Well, good morning. I see that I am not the only old fogy unable to navigate these waters. My friend Mark, from NYC, sent an email duplicating a message he supposedly left here as a comment. It did not happen. I, on the other hand, have just spent the last 26 minutes trying to re-discover the path that leads to posting a new post. I believe I am on the right track enough to put this to the text area, but will copy it to some place else before pushing the last button. In case it loads my words on the big barge and takes them out to sea. They will still be somewhere where I can at least email them off to my friend.
As for the coffee, I did have some, although I am not a big coffee drinker these days. I once was teaching a class on the merits of pH, and solubility, while having a cup of it on my desk. A rather unruly student sitting close to the front had quite a time keeping his eyes open, and was plainly not paying attention. After half an hour discourse, he woke up long enough to realize he was the center of attention, and asked a stupid question to appear as if he were paying attention. He asked what is pH? I said: for your purposes it is just a matter of immersing some litmus paper in a liquid, and comparing it to a color chart, and once matched, determining if he were in trouble or not. All this while, I dipped some litmus paper in my coffee, and held it to the color chart. It occurred to me in that instant, that if a person were to dump a 55 gallon barrel of this mixture down a city drain, he would be in abeyance of local ordinance. The pH of my coffee was strictly acidic. And so much so, that it was near the pH of my stomach acid. Having had upset stomach be a common complaint, it was the last time I drank coffee regularly. I still like it, and love the smell, but it is tea for me these days. pH neutral, and a blessing to my stomach.
I went with my wife some 80 miles north last evening to visit my elderly parents. My dad had severe vascular issues, and my mom has leukemia that wearies her terribly. My week was nasty and insulting as usual, and we typically go to dinner Friday evening, or do something to break the week from the weekend. They were as well as can be expected, and happy to have some company. My mom made chicken and dumplings, which my wife had secretly prayed earlier in the day for some comfort food, and we talked about things on our minds.
Of course politics came up, and the de-throning of our Governor was high on the list. My dad thought he got his just deserts, and my mom even chimed in on his immoral, and wicked ways. I had heard earlier in the day in a TV interview a senator who had been involved in voting him out, say: "He is absolutly the best liar I have ever heard." This is an amazing compliment coming from a politician. I knew early, when Richard M. Daily who has had many photos with Blogo and Bama, stated that "Rod is Cookoo" this man's ship had sailed. When the reighning prince of Chicago puts his foot on your neck you are all the way done. Guilty or innocent of this particular crime, his arrogance has done him in. I suppose a unified congress in the state of Illinois is now the standard to which other states can hope for. It has to at least be entertaining. We do seem to have earned "The crookedest state in the Union" title, and if he goes to jail, will have the most former governers in prison at one single time, and maybe the most former governers of all time who went to prison. It occurs to me this Quinn has an amazing task before him : "You'll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn"

Back to the Trough

Well, here I am again. Trying to post instead of commenting on a post. It really is a bit confusing, and out of my purview. I suppose, what I need to do, is get the technical stuff out of the way before deciding on a form. SO, please forgive the rough start. Surely it is like learning to drive a car with a clutch.

First post

Well, what an auspicious moment. My first blog entry. My daughter set this up, and I find the picture of myself before she was even thought of intriguing. I am now an old man comparatively. My thoughts are better organized than then, although I am probably not as much fun.I remember the day well. My wife to be and I and two college friends were at my log cabin for the weekend, and we walked up to a nearby cliff, which I called my "thinking place" While sitting there, Stan or my wife backed up to the edge of the cliff, and took this shot, standing on the edge of a very long way down. The shirt was embroidered by my wife, and one of my favorites. I had hair, and may have been holding a favorite toy in my hand. Hence the smile. As for the blog, I haven't decided on a "point" or topic yet. I would do politics, but am not as clever as some at this, and would not like to place 38th or some such in that rank. My views on literature would soon uncover me as a pretender, or at the most, having a very select read or topic. Engineering bores me these days, (it once was my passion) and self examination in a public arena, leaves me flat. I should be old enough to decide, but as of now have not. My computer time is limited, due to my wife's obsession with the machine. I could get another one, and may, but it seems sort of "uppity" to have more than one in the house. I will get back to you my friends.