Sunday, October 18, 2026

Meet Jimmy John...


...#1 grandson's handsome bantam rooster...so named because if he doesn't do his job he'll end up on their menu.

Apparently he's in no danger of becoming a chicken sub, since all the hens are being serviced and laying eggs to everyone's satisfaction.

Ok, I admit it, it's a slow news day here at the bustling headquarters...


...of the Atomic Monster Cafe, and mainly because I've been working hard at avoiding this...


...and this...


...and this and this:


In other words, politics.

Can't wait for the election to be over, but woe to us if the mental defectives...


...actually win.

There's an astounding number of people who don't realize their freedoms - preserved in our constitution for the past 250 years and protected by those sworn to defend it - are on the ballot November 3rd.

As long as they have a cell phone and internet connection...


...they think they're fine.

They're wrong.

I used to tell people jokingly, "Vote your conscience.  If you don't have one, you can always vote democrat."

No more.

The D's have run so far off the rails I've amended that to:

"Vote your conscience.  If you don't have one, stay home and keep smoking weed or whatever hallucinogenic you use to achieve your vegetative state."

For the rest of us normies, consider this truth courtesy of Gary Varvel:



Vote responsibly!


I mentioned in a previous post Karen and I have joined a senior center:


Evergreen Commons.

It's a gorgeous facility and we were surprised to learn it has 5,000 members.

Thankfully they don't all show up on the same day, because Karen uses their pool to exercise, while I take advantage of their fitness equipment:




They also have many other activities and classes, along with a coffee shop and cafeteria where lunch is served daily.

Neither Karen nor I are thrilled at having arrived at this stage of life - I'd much rather be 45 than pushing 70 - but by the grace of God we're here, and having a beautiful center available for very reasonable $$'s is a true blessing.

Plus I found an old guy selling steroids from his car outside the gym...

I asked, why the orange jump suit? he said he loves fall colors.

...so maybe I can lose the stringy old man look and bulk up again.


Had an extraordinary round of hickory golf this weekend.

Wait...did I say extraordinary?

Silly me.

I meant "wretched".

Since I've been playing this course I've never had a round where I was double bogey or worse for every hole.

Thankfully, that is still true - but just barely.

This weekend was, hands down, my worst round ever.

If not for a back handed bogey on the 9th hole (terrible tee shot, decent recovery to the green, 2 putt for bogey), I would have been skunked, 9 - 0.

Almost felt bad for Mr. Links...he was like a pitcher on the verge of a no hitter that slips away in the 9th inning on a bloop single.

you know what happens next

The worst part of it was I had a witness.

Though he'll probably deny it, Justin came with me, and I fear he caught whatever I had, as he did only slightly better (2 bogeys against 7 doubles / triples).

I'm sure both of us agree...


Ever.


Let's 23 Skidoo out the back door:

got all 3 of the fireplaces going this weekend...it was 35°saturday morning

Karen is #1 of course; since you're reading this, that makes you #2; #3 is sort of a rotating slot filled by whoever's done something nice for me recently

beautiful lake vista courtesy of Larry up at his cottage

don't know how many more times I'll get to sit out here and enjoy the view...winter's knock knock knocking on autumn's door

leaves are falling, autumn's calling...

...but there are still a few holdouts...

...that haven't given up the ghost yet


Ever had your confidence shaken?

If you're young and super talented, it's possible your answer is "no".  (What you really mean is "not yet", but you'll learn that eventually.)

A former friend once told me most people get slapped around by life by age 40; for many of us, that's a true statement.

It's definitely happened to me.

I was pretty good at my job for a lot of years, but getting fired was a gut punch I didn't expect.

In the face of a humbling setback - professionally, relationally, financially, physically, spiritually - what do you do?

I'll tell you what you don't do; you don't quit:

¹³ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
¹⁴ I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

    - Philippians 3

Press on.

And as you do, trust God for the results:

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

    - Proverbs 3

later, mcm fans...




Sunday, October 11, 2026

Consider This...

spotted in the Lowe's parking lot...must be October

...a placeholder for now.

For several excuses reasons, this weekend slipped through all 9 of my fingers like water slipping through...uh...all 9 of my fingers.

Which is to say, it went by too fast...


...but I'll resume this tomorrow with a full accounting of all our…


…adventures.

Translation: you didn't miss much, but I'm going to write it down anyway.

more to come, mcm fans...


Sorry for the one day delay.

Ever since I was unceremoniously retired life has been a bit of a scramble.

Our sense of urgency to get on top of the situation has regularly collided with the great unknown.

And so we've been learning about God's command to "wait on the Lord" (<Psalm 27:14>, <Isaiah 40:31>).

A couple of big things in our life that still remain "open" are the possibility of moving and downsizing.

Recently we thought we might have dealt with both those issues:

#4 son found a parcel of land in Sparta that sounded promising...


...and we started a conversation with the folks at
<Everything But The House> about auctioning many of our collectibles.


This weekend both of those crashed and burned.

We drove out to Sparta and walked the land.

The property is very nice - a farmer's field, good water table so easy to drill a well, people around but not too close, etc.

But on the way back as we discussed this possibility, Karen nailed the issue that was making both of us uneasy:

If we were 30 years younger it would be exciting.

It's a blank canvas upon which you could paint whatever you wanted for your yard, landscaping, trees, the driveway, etc.

And 10 years from now it will look like it was always there.

But in 10 years I'll be 80 (Lord willing), and neither of us have any real interest in all the work, time and $$s starting from scratch implies.

As far as EBTH goes - they have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau for their finances, but every site I searched for customer reviews - including the BBB, Birdeye, Trustpilot, Reddit, etc - gave them a cumulative customer satisfaction rating of less than 2 (both sellers and buyers).

So it appears they have good accountants but lousy customer service.

Looks like we're back to square 1.


There's a ton going on with politics and I'm usually happy to run my mouth about it...


...but truth is, I'm sick of all the noise and just want the election to be over.

It's sobering to think we've come to this point, where our constitutional republic is under siege from within.


All the moronic D's screamed there would never be another free election if the Bad Orange Man was elected...


...but you can bet your bippy that will actually be the case if the party of Mamdani the Ugandan Commie...


...ever seizes power.

If you love America and value your freedoms, get out and vote Republican this November.


Ok, now for the good stuff...


...hickory golf.

That's from this morning's round and you can see there's some color on the course now:

no, I was not searching for my golf ball in there...played (mostly) from the fairways today

It was an enjoyable round...about 61 degrees, partly sunny and I was striking the ball well, which resulted in a 6-3 win.

Really wanted to call it a 7-2 win, but trouble was brewing on #2.

Had a decent drive that bounced just to the left of the fairway in the short grass.

Should have been easy to spot, but could I find my ball?

Forward, backward, side to side but the little white sphere was nowhere to be seen.

If golf balls could laugh, I'm positive I would have heard it snickering somewhere close by.

Finally gave up, dropped another ball and VERY reluctantly added the penalty stroke, which cost me the hole.

I'm certain the next guy that played #2 bent down, picked up my ball and wondered, "why would anyone leave a perfectly good Callaway supersoft sitting there in plain sight?"

Not too many rounds left in this rapidly disappearing season, so working hard to finish strong.


Enough of the constant whining; let's open a big refreshing can of 23 Skidoo:

the Chipster hanging out on our back patio

starting to embrace the colors of the season

more fun with trail cams

beautiful sunset from "up north" at Larry's cottage

and speaking of...we close our pool on the saddest day of the year...

...he removes his dock on with the same sentiments

larry shared this from Ted Nugent...ain't it the truth


Still feeling a little frazzled with the world at large and our current circumstances, but we know God is in control.

¹⁰ Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth

¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah.

    - Psalm 46

later, mcm fans...