"With the advent of cell phones, especially with the very small microphone that attach to the cell phone itself, it's getting harder and harder I find, to differentiate between schizophrenics and people talking on a cell phone." ~ Bob Newhart

Hello and welcome to our little visit to help get us up and going for the day, this one happens to be Thursday, June 15, 2017. I know what I am getting for Fathers Day. A new cellphone. It is at the house. (Since last Friday.) They are working to get it ready for me to use. Meanwhile, I am anxiously awaiting this major upgrade to my current capability. I was glad when they told me they had included my grandson, Jimmy Jr., in consulting on the type of phone I needed. He had pretty much gotten a needs analysis from me when we were out on the road a few weeks ago. My wife said she couldn't figure out why I'm in such a big hurry. Here's the deal. When I was on my flip phone I was happy happy because it did what I needed it to do, make and receive phone calls. When I switched to the wife's handed down Apple 4, I began using some of the other capabilities, but, with great limitations due to its connect speed and the age of the phone itself. That's my story. I couldn't Google on my flip phone and barely on the old Apple but with the new one, it will be a breeze. That's the allure of technology. I guess I have been captivated by the promise of better yet to come. I think she actually said it like this, "I can't figure you out. You stayed with that old phone and refused to change. Finally, you started using my old phone and now you are like a kid impatiently waiting for his new toy." One would think she has known me for more than 55 of my 71 years because I'm pretty sure she hit every nail squarely on the head!

I was reading from the Readers Digest online website some of their reportedly true but funny stories. The intro said these stories will keep you laughing for days. There's a problem with that promise. I read a dozen of them and none of them were very funny. To me. Here's one from a lady in North Carolina. "My colleague has been living 
in this country only a few months, 
and although normally chipper, he recently looked sad. When I asked what was wrong, he responded glumly, 'Today, everything wrong is going in my favor.'" See what I mean? It's not a bad story and it may have some amusement value attached to it, but, it, along with the rest of them will most likely not have anyone laughing, much less for days. Or, they are funnier than I think they are and other people may enjoy them immensely. I say, go for it. We all have funny experiences. Sometimes they are in the eye of the beholder. Like this one. I still laugh when I think about people I saw at my mom's viewing that I haven't seen since our high school years. What did they say when they walked up to me? "I would recognize you anywhere." Yep. As you can see, I haven't changed one bit.

Congressman Steve Scalise from Louisiana, wounded by shooter.

Wednesday's shooting of Republican office holders by the radical fellow is pretty sad. Sadder, are the many tweets from the far left saying those injured got what they deserved. You may see if differently, but, to me, these are some pretty scary times we are living in. Had there not been a security detail with the House leader who was wounded, we could easily have had a massacre on our hands. Reading about the shooter's background is chilling. He had multiple run ins with the law over the years. This included charges of domestic violence. He was rabidly anti-Republican and a passionate supporter of Bernie Sanders. Rhetoric does have consequences and the incessant barrage of hate coming from people who call themselves tolerant, well, it may have played a role in this attack. Maybe this will be a wake up call on all sides to tone down the rhetoric. I doubt it but I hope so. May God help our divided land. Amen. .....More later.