"My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor." ~ Phyllis Diller, Comedian, (1917-2012)

Good morning. It's Wednesday, January 6, 2016. I had my six month diabetic check-up yesterday. My appointment was at 10 a.m. No food until after the blood was drawn. Worse than that. No coffee. I think I found one website that presented the idea that coffee would not impact those tests. One. Dozens of others said not to even think about it. The one that said it was okay appeared to be somewhat questionable, therefore, I decided to follow instructions. It's a good thing the wife had made our New Year's supper Monday evening. I'm talking about fried pork chops, black-eyed peas, tomato gravy, cabbage, and cornbread. She had also made her some rice and regular gravy. That is a must have duo for her family and that typically includes breakfast. I'm not sure her family had ever heard of tomato gravy but that was part of our annual ritual, therefore, she was good enough to add that to our menu. The tomato gravy goes on the black-eyed peas. It was all very wonderful. It wasn't strong enough keep me from being somewhat wobbly through my fasting challenge until 11 a.m. the next day, but that meal was very delicious indeed. After having been gone for nearly a week she had something to say that Monday when I walked through the back door from work. She said she wanted to treat me to a surprise and something different for a change: A home cooked meal. I say Amen to that. Amen. Now I wait for the judges to send in their report so I can figure out where I finished in the diabetes competition. I should know something by the end of the week.

We are not into buying fireworks. We are not against fireworks. In fact, we do enjoy watching them at a special event or on TV. We did fireworks some when the boys were young and at home. Earlier this week I was at this convenience store near our Company and it had one of those very large fireworks stands beside it. Beside the fireworks stand was a travel trailer with a truck connected to it. The store people lease out this space for 4th of July and New Year's. One problem. This area received quite a bit of rain over the past few weeks. The travel trailer and the truck were both hopelessly bogged down. What I observed was a scene that Jeff Foxworthy could have both appreciated and told better than I. Three fellows were there scratching their heads, drinking their beer, and trying to figure out what they might do to solve this problem. They had an ancient pick-up truck with chains and multiple come alongs hooked to it. It had not been able to budge the stuck vehicles. I was in the Company's one ton truck and they kept eyeing it but I was on a schedule and couldn't have even thought about helping. They didn't ask. They were hollering forth and back and bumping into each other as they tried to figure out what they might do. It had probably sounded like a really good idea when they first moved to the site. I know that land. It holds water. They will likely end up spending their profits on a wench truck. I did feel sorry for them but at the same time I cannot deny that it was mildly entertaining and a good way to pass the time while filling up our portable 100 gallon tank with diesel.

Yep. He was right. They laughed at what he said. But, when it is all said and done, the late Yogi Berra nailed it: "You can observe a lot by just watching." I've pretty much made that my mantra during the 2,214 daily visits I've made using this blog as my vehicle. It may seem that I'm all over the page because life is often just that, all over the page. And, it is, after all is said and done, mostly in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure those three fellows had no intention of providing comedic relief to anyone. They were as serious as they could be and that was likely impacted to some extent by the number of beers consumed. Yet, I wasn't the only one observing their situation with somewhat of an amused attitude. It's like that time I flipped over in my chair while working at the big company. Everyone waited to make sure I was okay and then they rattled the high rise glass with uproarious laughter. It turned out to be an accidental event that brought a laugh. I will tell you this. Based on my many years in the observation business, well, I would rather be the observer and the one laughing any day. Just sayin..... Have a great day and may God add His blessings to us all. Amen. .....More later.