Creepy things.

Good Morning All.

I guess we all, at one time or other have had something happen to us that is sort of creepy. Sometimes, perhaps most times, we can explain the happening afterwards, but sometimes we can't.

Such a thing happened to me a couple of days ago and I thought it was worth chronicling on the of chance that someone else would find it sort of odd and funny at the same time.

In the newspaper that morning I had just finished reading an article about the mystery of the person who, for many years, left a tribute of three roses and a half finished bottle of Cognac at the one time grave site of Edgar Allen Poe.

I had, in the past, read about this on several occasions, but had never dwelt long on it, but on this occasion I was somehow driven, no... make that mentally urged, to re-read the Poem "The Raven", just to refresh it in my mind, and I proceeded to do just that. I sat at my computer reading through the poem and was struck anew with the simplicity and perfection of the meter of the Poem.
After reading the poem I sat for some time deliberating, as we all do sometimes, on whether to print the Poem and create a file for it, and ultimately decided not to do so.

At just that time, while my mind was still wound up in the ball of string that was the subject currently before me, and lost in thought, as we all sometimes are, when suddenly, just after reading the line, "Came a tapping, at my door", there WAS a tapping, a rapid and insistent tapping at MY front door.

Folks I don't mind telling you, the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, and I had goosebumps on top of goosebumps.

I got up from my chair to go to the door, half expecting I don't know what, but certainly something odd, opened the door and found not a Raven, not any other infernal symbol or mysterious avatar, but instead, Just the the Pastor of a local church in our small town stopping by to ask my wife and I to visit his church sometime.

I thanked the Minister politely and told him he would have to excuse me for being abrupt, but I had something on the stove, received his acknowledgement, and closed the door.

Now, this will sound a little silly, but after the Minister and his companion were on down the street, I timidly re-opened my door and looked to make sure there was nothing sinister "awaiting at my door". There wasn't.

Now I am 77 years old, or 539 in Dog's years, and I could count on the fingers of one hand the odd things that have happened to me or that I have witnessed, in my lifetime, that were unexplainable.

There was one other instance that I'll recite, then I'll close this too-long post.

My wife and I had gone for a Sunday drive outside of Natchez, Mississippi, where we lived at the time, and had stopped at a small Civil War Cemetery.

My wife and I had walked a little ahead of our friends and were enjoying the peaceful quiet beauty of the little graveyard, when we came upon one of the hundreds of markers we had seen,  and when I looked down at the plain back of the stone, I HAD to get out of there. I don't remember what I said to my wife, but I left the area we were in and was soon relieved of the ghostly panic feeling I had. I still do not know why I had to get away from that area, but I confess freely, without feeling a bit cowardly, I DID.

I would like to say I went back and investigated what name was on that stone, but I never did.


These are just two odd things that have happened to me in my lifetime. there have been other, which I may someday publish, but if any of you have strange but true stories in your life, please let me know. We will all enjoy them.

Stay Well

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Endangered Species

Good Morning All.

If I may I'd like to write a few lines about a subject that is Near and Dear to me; The English Language.

For some time, I have been adding to the fuel for a good "Grudge Fire" an attempt to repel the savages who would assault the ramparts of the Castle of the English Language.

Regularly, I read an interesting article on my Yahoo Home page, and then for some self-flagellating reason, I invariable read the comments per the article, following it ( the article).

As often as not, the article will contain several words misspelled and the thing that really ticks me off, will contain that asinine example of laziness, the phrase "LOL" or "OMG". Folks if you are too lazy to type out the full word, just quit typing, and for goodness sake, use spell check.

Another trend in our latterly, as a people, assault on our common language is the usages of the words "Like", "Totally" "You Know", "You Understand". It is really frustrating to a person who contemplates the future of our great Nation, if led by the people who so brutally rape our Language by using these silly phrases.

As an example sentence: "And I was Like, you know, totally like radically thrld by this Like" "Awesum Dude" who was Like, Totally Like Hot, You Know?.

This seeming season of laziness in regards to our English Language could, I supposed be blamed to the assinaine fad of 'Texting". Perhaps I will be the only person disturbed by this and other examples of ignorance, but I think that before a person under the age of, say, 30, can get a cell phone, he or she should have to pass a test via a written essay, in which the English used must be at least understandable and even, dare one hope, Correct.

Now if you want to assault me for daring to criticize such idiocy, I guess I'll just have to blame it on the fact that I have never Texted, never Twittered a single Twit to any Twit, have been known to go for months on end without using a cellular telephone, do not own or even want to own, an I pad, a Blackberry, an I Pod, a Tablet, other than the kind containing pages of actual paper on which to write.

Like, Gnarly, Know what I'm sayin"?

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Good Morning to all people of good will.

Well, its a rainy but warm day here in Southern Illinois, and for the warmth I am thankful. I try, earnestly, to count my blessings frequently, for that is the one method I know of to figuratively "Bail out our Boat" when it comes to the function of our brains.

After going through the overlong list of my blessings, I am drawn to focus  bit on those things for which I am not thankful.

I am looking at one thing for which I am not thankful, and that is Windows 8, also known by a variety of cursewords.

I personally view this O/s as just the latest egg laid by that Antichrist "Billy the Geek Gates.

Now, obviously I have not even a portion of a fragment of an ort of Gates Wealth, but that does not preclude my criticizing some of his products,

My Computer, an aging HP inherited from my Daughter after she and I wore out my old Dell was taken with a Binary illness recently, and perished, so like the naïf that I am, I traipsed happily off and purchased a new computer. that is where the trouble started.

I purchased another HP computer, as I had grown to really like the old one I had, and in doing so I opened Pandora's Box.

My new computer came with the NEW AND IMPROVED WINDOWS EIGHT OPERATING SYSTEM.

Possibly Billy the Kid could say something nice about the O/S, but I sure as heck can't. 

The only question I  would ask of the obscenely wealthy Mr. Gates is WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH WINDOWS XP?

As I write this, a good and Smart young friend is laboring over my old computer, trying a Hard-Drive transplant to bring it back to life, and after he has done so, I will happily convey my "New Computer" back to the store where I purchased it. It is a piece of Junk.

Forgive me for my rant, which many of you will not understand, as you are among the generation that fins no mystery in the computer world. As for me, I am honest enough to admit that I know very little about this Technical Subject, even though I have labored long and hard trying to educate myself in and to this subject, I apparently am a poor Teacher.

Have a wonderful day, and stay far-far-away from Windows 8.

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