Blogs (62,476)

My parents collected photos. Mostly family relatives and friends... no too many landmarks or scenic views. They were attached to pages in albums with names, dates and sometimes marked with the locations or occasions.

Most of the photos were glued to the pages and others were attached with small 'corner holders' so it was easy to remove and read the information on the back, usually written in pencil.

When we moved from New York to Miami, the albums were kept in a tweed suitcase in a storage room in the back of the house and only a few photos were in the living room on display. Sadly that part of the house was an addition before my parents bought the place and an undetected the roof leak damaged a portion of the photos stored there.

Sifting through moldy pages stuck together, I salvaged as much as I could. They were moved to a storage shed and when I sold the place, they were moved into plastic bins and are on my screened in back porch.

I have 2 cousins who retired from New York and moved to Florida, both a few miles from me. During WWII, my dad was in the navy and their dad was in the air force. At one point, the brothers met up and I've got 2 photos of the meeting. Not sure of the location and exact date, it's believed to be the only photos of them together in uniform!

I high-res scanned the photos and emailed them to my cousins who were 'blown away' by this, as their father was shot-down on a mission in Europe and a POW for several years.

A niece contacted me last night asking if I had photos of her father. Yes, of course and also one of her aunt she often stayed with. I'm not sure how a torn portrait of the woman came into my possession, but I scanned it and fully restored the digital image. I'll send those out later today.

Years ago, some of the old photos were scanned and copied to hard drives and backed up on portable drives. I'm taking a few days off this week and should be able to get more photos scanned and uploaded to my collection.

My ex-wife did some part-time modeling and met a clothing designer who invented a dress that could be worn in several different configurations. He gave the dress to her and as far as I know, it's the only one of it's kind. He claimed to have a patent on it. She's not interested in keeping the studio shots or the dress, both are in my collection. I'm sure the designer has passed on some time ago and there isn't anyone to confirm the history of the dress... I'm sure when the time is right, that dress may make another appearance.

I witnessed the birth of my grand daughter and took photos. This Christmas, I put a few of them on a thumb drive and brought to the party. She's 12 years old now and we played them on a laptop to the enjoyment of guests there.

My mother once showed me a photo of her father (my grandfather) driving a 1939 Packard. That's one of the photos I'll be looking for when I start digitizing another batch. Why? Because I'm the keeper of old photos.

Merry Christmas! I hope yours has been great. Mine was excellent. Good food, good company and some great gifts.

My sister and her fiancée gave me new pots and pans, and my mother gave me World of Warcraft cook book. 216 pages of the best food from Azeroth, so I am excited to dive into that and cook some great stuff.

Speaking of cooking great stuff.. I have so many ideas with food, that I might need a full week to test all my ideas. One of them is to cook some bacon until it's 30 seconds from being burnt, and then set it to cool off. Then, I'll use my chopper to grind it into dust, and then mix it into some salt, so it'll become bacon salt. Or - maybe I'll just grind it onto fine bits, to sprinkle that on food!

I also want to make my own chilli oíl, but I am guessing it isn't that hard to make. Just take some olive oil and shove some chillis into it, and leave it to infuse for about a month or so. Maybe longer..

I also want to make my own jerky, but for that I need a dehydrator, which I don't have yet. Maybe that's my next purchase..

How would you sleep...how would you feel...how would you change your life....would you even change your life at all...

If, we discovered we are not at the top of the food chain? What if all this time we thought we had our government...our military....our police force around to protect us...when in reality, there is nothing they can do to protect you. How would that change your being?

It is said in the next few years, humankind can go one of two routes. One way is not so great for us...whereas the other way...we literally become woke. No...not like the woke we speak of today. I am speaking of a wokeness where if we ask who was responsible for J.F.K., that answer is freely provided. There is nothing hidden.

Like I mentioned, the first way is not so great...

But, the second way may not be so great either. It is said that ignorance is bliss....but with all the knowledge that could be provided to us, the reality of our lives may not be such an easy pill to swallow either.

Perhaps...we are not the top of the food chain.

Swatting as in being swatted is when someone calls the police falsely stating a crime was committed at the address of another person... in this case it's Georgia representative, Marjorie Taylor Greene. On Christmas day, with family attending her party, crisis hotline received several calls requesting emergency services giving out her address.

This is not the first time it's happened to Greene. On X / Twitter, she stated it was the 8th time!
So Merry Christmas to MTG as it made someone else merry too!

I buy Jeans size 36x30 and had that size for years. When my weight goes below 200 pounds, they get too loose and I keep pulling my pants up. I dislike belts and suspenders aren't in this time-zone. Some my my pants with the same size fit differently. Recently, I went through and pulled a few pairs marked the same, but way too tight!

I bought 2 pairs of 36x30 jeans last week and got around to trying them on last night... I could swim in them so they have to be returned and next time, I'll actually try them on in the store to confirm they fit correctly.

Last summer, I wanted to buy some shorts. Real shorts. I've expressed my dislike for the knee length cargo shorts, but sometimes that's all that's available and I go without. I blogged about some worn out white shorts that had holes in them, but that blog disappeared.

Walking by the women's wear, I found shorts that were the length of the tennis shorts I wore years ago. I pulled a size 18, held them to my waist and said, yeah, they should fit, but I was wrong. Too big. Next time back, I bought a size 14 and they were kinda loose. Okay, it's size 12 and that worked, so I went back to buy 2 more shorts in ladies size 12.

I've heard stories where garment manufacturers lie about women's sizes so when a woman who wore size 9 when she got married, is now a size 20, feels 'a whole lot better' about herself if the label is 14 and fits kinda loose. I get that picture.

So forget the number, if the clothes fit, wear 'em...

I showed someone's posts and mine on a blog to my Giant. I told him that I would post a blog as my next respond to that someone's post. I said I was ready to "fire" as I had "good weapon".

Guess what?

He said:
"Let it go, Kal. He doesn't worth your time and energy!"

I said:
"Ok, I will not post the blog. I will not stoop to his level!"

He said:
"Good. That's one of strategies to handle that type of people."

Hmmm.. I am so blessed to have my Giant in my life. Not only is he good looking, smart, sweet and kind, but also he is so amazingly wise!

Thank you, my HB! I love you soooo much!


Sooo now I am blogging a story about Christie, as an exchange.
Wait, I need to get some photos to post. I'll continue asap.
Meantime, I hope you all enjoy your xmas to the fullest with your family!

Watch this wonderful Christmas video…..Key in your search bar the above

I blame Frank Sinatra for downplaying the most important holiday of the year. Is this a rant? I don't think so... but read on and see MY point of view.

Here are some facts:
It's a one-day Christian holiday that Jews and other religious groups get to partake in. That includes the Santa Claus version for those who aren't religious.

Your holiday preparation starts a month sooner on the day after Thanksgiving where you shop for gifts that will take eight credit card payments to whittle-down the balance.

For this single day event, you will travel thousands of miles to see family on Christmas.
(think about that)

You spend $100 on a tree to hang decorations, put up lights and spray fake snow on your windows in parts of the country where it doesn't really snow.

Your office is decorated with cards mailed to you from your clients and suppliers.

Chestnuts are no longer roasted on an open fire... instead, you conveniently open a sealed pouch where someone at a factory cooked and peeled them for you.

Slaving 3 hours over an oven for the perfect turkey and fixings has been replaced by a phone app where the whole thing was catered from the local grocery store.

Chopping fire wood doesn't happen because the real fireplace was closed off and a faux glowing fireplace was installed years ago... it supports 4 different colors by remote and the real heat comes from your central HVAC system.

On that note... Have yourself a merry LITTLE Christmas!


Seriously Frank. What were you thinking?

We are all on cs for some or other rhyme or reason.

Whatever it may be, I sincerely say to all my friends, acquaintances and enemies on cs:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Wishing you peace, joy, and love this Christmas and always.

May this season be full of light, laughter and love.

May all your (good) wishes come true.