The Great Hunt of 2018

My much diminished blogging has me posting my first blog of the year when the year is almost over.

Another first in my life occurred over the last week. I went hunting for deer.  I had never before had a hunting license, much less gone out with the intention of killing some creature for meat.

Earlier this year my brother- and sister-in-law purchased some land down in southern Iowa, and for weeks he had told me I need to go get my license and a tag and come deer hunting with him.  I was already intending to take some time off for a family Christmas which just happened to coincide with the first half of the 2nd shotgun season here in Iowa.  The family gathering was cancelled for a variety of reasons, so it worked out well that I could go with him.

My first Great Hunt....or as I have learned this years tagline should be, "5 days of bonding, freezing my ass off, and no meat or trophy to show for it."

Day 1 was very exciting, partially due to this being a brand new experience for me, but also because that is the day we saw plenty of deer. Unfortunately for us the big push that came our way managed to pass through far enough away from our position for us to get a clean shot.  A little while later, my brother-in-law went to move the truck up towards the gate from the bottom of the property when luck struck.  I was positioned near the southeast corner of the property and witnessed our first fortune.  As he pulled up close, a young button buck invaded the property from the west. Mr. Buttons, as we called him, froze up.  Phil, however, did not. He popped from the truck, grab his gun and level it out over the opened door. At this point I had not seen the deer just inside the fence line. I followed the direction of his pointed gun and saw the deer standing there just staring at him. Then I heard the Boom and no more deer.  A shout of "Woo-Hoo!" came from Phil. Mere hours into our first day, and we were doing well.  Phil with his newest pal pictured below:

Day 2 found only 1 deer on the property, literally as it was jumping the fence to leave, and about 100 yards out, mooning Phil as she left.

Day 3, I went out on my own to some public hunting land near the metro.  Any other time of the year I could look out there and see plenty. I think they had been spooked over the past couple weeks of hunting and saw none.

Day 4, back to the property. Only 1 buck and a couple of does seen, none of them on the property.

I kicked myself for giving in to the cold. Had I waited another 10 to 15 minutes, that buck would literally have presented himself to me as a gift.  If only I would've just listened to my Uncle George's words of hunker down in one spot and wait to see if a deer or the end of the day comes first. I never did listen too well, and have a tendency to be impatient. This time it bit me in the ass.  I have spent the last couple weeks watching friends and family posting pictures from successful hunts, and I wanted so badly to be able to do the same.  I HATE, and I mean absolutely hate, not being successful at something the first time out.  I didn't care if I got some massive trophy buck or some small doe, I just wanted something worth taking a picture of while being able to fill my freezer with meat. Obviously, the arcade game Big Buck Hunter, where they present me with prey to shoot, is clearly more my speed, and completely different from the realities of being out in the countryside waiting on targets to come through.

I have received wishes of luck, reminders not to shoot myself or anyone else (especially my brother-in-law), and a few requests for deer meat from people who clearly had more faith in my hunting abilities than reality has shown.  I was told a few times not to get discouraged if I don't shoot anything.  I am frustrated, to say the least, and not looking forward to going back to work without having killed something. Discouraged, however, I am not. I intend to go out hunting again (and maybe listen to advice a little better), and hopefully have better outings where I will get to show off pictures of my own.

A Warped Sense of Reality

Sometimes I see things posted to social media and all I can do is shake my head. Sometimes I see an entire string of posts by one person and see that they share all these platitudes that seem to shed light on their personality and how they think. And then, I realize I know this person or people and see that every time they post these things they are the EXACT opposite of how things are.

Today I saw this post shared by someone I know, and if that person really believes this as pertaining to their situation they really have a warped sense of reality.

This year I've opened my home up to others, usually to keep the peace with others in the family, with the idea of helping these people regain a foothold in their lives and get back to taking care of themselves and their immediate family. 3 times I have done this, and 3 times I have failed to accomplish this mission. Maybe it was my fault?

Maybe I failed to realize that an expectation of standards and behavior should not be asked of people who come to live with you. And if they are family then this should definitely be overlooked and all actions by the other party, no matter how detrimental to themselves or their hosts, should be void of consequences. After all, they paid a paltry sum for rent/food, and being adults, or at least nearly of such an age, they should be allowed to act how they want, say what they want, and it should not be considered any of my business. After all I am merely the homeowner who is paying out far more for their needs than they contribute for. I keep the considerations low so that people might be able to have a shot at saving up their money towards embarking on a life of their own.

With one couple, they ran roughshod over us, and pretty much every family member to whom they appealed for help. They burned bridges as they moved from one to the next. Even so, they wanted to go back to where they called home....and yet despite better uses for a few hundred dollars, we bought them the bus tickets to go live their lives elsewhere.
In a matter of weeks they showed back up, with no money and no real plans. I let them live their gypsy lifestyle for a couple weeks, making sure the hardships and disappointments of homelessness sank in really deep. I made the mistake of assuming the lesson had been unforgettably learned. We took the time to get a financial plan and a plan for finishing at least their high school educations at the same time. They got to enjoy the comforts of a shower, a regular bed to sleep on....things we sometimes take for granted.
It worked for awhile....for what gigs a guy with no form of ID can get. Cash paying jobs, so at least he was trying. She stayed at home while we tried to get her mother to help get her forms of ID so she can get a job and register in school.

Everyday, and I mean literally EVERY. DAMN. DAY. They could be heard arguing and fighting like people half their young age. As is my style, I listened, but did not interfere, to let them figure out their differences. After all they are so much 'in love'. Much in the way I see how being 'in love' was taught them by one of their sets of parents.

Eventually, while away for my son's graduation from Basic Training, I learned of my car being stolen right out of my driveway. This is a bit new to me. I'm a very blessed individual in that i can leave my car running in the ghetto and disappear without it getting touched before I come back. Apparently some family who you sacrifice for, aren't quite as smart as those complete strangers who know not to take my ride. When confronted about taking the car by my wife and the implications of joyriding without a license, attitude was given. When the idea of being grounded came about, this 17 year old teenager threatened to move out.  Wrong answer to be giving my wife. Leaving our house because you don't want to follow the rules and believe you shouldn't suffer consequences of illegal acts of wrong doing is no skin off our back. In fact it only serves to make life easier for us.

Fast forward 2 days....I come home from work and am trying to relax for a bit and I hear them fighting. AGAIN. Then I hear the boy state his intentions to leave all the bullshit because it isn't healthy, so he will leave her and move out. At this point i feel the need to intercede. I make sure he understands that given their first foray here being disastrous, that if he decides he is packing up and moving on, there is no coming back. I give him 30 minutes to ponder this and make sure he is very clear in his understanding of what's going to happen. He chooses to leave anyways. I'm left trying to console a crying girl, who hours later is begging me to let him come back, that he didn't mean any of it and was just angry. Naturally at this point I have to let her know that I'm a man of my word and if I just back off every decision I make then my word is essentially worthless and that I can be a simple pushover to the whims of children. So NO, he made his decision and had plenty of time to reason it through before he left. While wear e having this discussion the boy managed to come in through my back door into the house from which he has been told not to return.
At this point I have to question his mental capacity and make him aware that if I lived in some other neighborhood he might have found himself face to face with a double barrel shotgun. Luckily for him i already knew it was him who walked in the back door.

Apparently not kowtowing to the demands of the girl and sending him back out of my house was just completely unreasonable on my part. So much so that if he wasn't allowed back then she was going to leave with him. Again I made sure she understood the ramifications of her actions. I was met with statements about how "he has been there for me when others weren't". Apparently she forgot all the time, money and stress spent by multiple members of the family over the last 6 months or so. I guess since we are family, our loyalty, forgiveness and compassion come at a much cheaper rate that that of someone she hasn't known for very many years and shows no signs of progressing into a responsible adult anytime soon. I do hope, for both their sakes, that this changes very very very soon.

For now they are apparently back to living in a tent on the other side of town. Its sad, but when I was young I was taught that for every choice you make there are rewards or consequences. And one day when you become an adult and move out you can do whatever you want, but you will be responsible for and held accountable to those decisions. I hope they realize in their late teens that they are no different from the rest of us in that their decisions can affect them. I really do hope they figure out how to become productive people. Doing so would put them light years ahead of their parental units, in my opinion. They just wont be figuring out that lesson within my home.

Back to the quote above, I'm sure stories will be told about how oppressive we were and how we kicked them out. Already heard about that last one being told by one of the girls parents after she chose to move out to chase her true love, also an unproductive member of society, ignoring the needs of their kids and failing to take any responsibility for themselves. But if they want to look at the reality of the situation:

Your family didn't turn their backs on you, you pushed away their love, help and guidance and turned your back on family as you walked out the door on your own volition.

An Election, A Crowd (or not), and Marches

So, as a country, we elected Donald Trump as President.  And by we, I mean both those who voted and those who did not.  As reported, a large percentage of eligible voters chose not to take to the polls and voice their opinion on who they believe should be president of these United States of America. Like a lot of people I too was cynical about the duopoly's appointed candidates. So my response was to vote for another person altogether. And no, I did not write my own name in, despite years ago making the remark that this would be the first election I was eligible as a candidate, and thusly would take the outsiders' track by storm to win the White House.  After internal polls had me at a strong showing of possible double digit support nationally (and by that I mean total votes, not percentage of), I elected to forgo the process of self nomination (I know, a surprise even to my own ego!) and vote for someone else who was actually running and listed on the ballot (although Bacon was a tempting choice for a write-in candidate).

Now I have heard from people on both sides that by voting a 3rd party candidate was merely the same as voting for the candidate they opposed.  That I wasted my vote, spitting in the very face of my civic duty and privilege to vote.  Of course I believe otherwise. I believe if you vote for whom you would like to have as your president then your vote counts.  If you vote for a candidate merely because you don't like another on the ballot, that my friends is what I call a wasted vote.  That section of the ballot is a vote to AFFIRM your choice.  If you wish to actively deny a vote, that's the section farther down where you find yourself choosing whether or not to retain any of the 4 billion judges most of you have never even heard of that work in one level of jurisprudence or another that oversees your particular county, state, or region.

Anyways, I digress...we elected Donald Trump. President. Of the United States of America. Yes to the chagrin on many. Yes, I too am shaking my head at this revelation.  There are many who openly state he is not their president.  Now I feel the freedom to express yourself is your natural right as a human, whether you are a citizen of this country or not.  But I am left wondering, if this guy is not your president, then you must not be a citizen of this country. And I wonder why so many of you non-citizens are all over the streets of this country and on social media proclaiming how he isn't your president.  Plain and simple, like it or not, if you are a citizen of the United States of America, for better or worse, Donald Trump is in fact your president, and will be for the next 4 years, or less if impeached or through resignation, or more if he somehow gets re-elected.  Short of moving out of the country and renouncing your citizenship, the fact that he is your president is an indisputable fact of your life for the time being. Now, unlike some others, I'm not going to tell you to "get over it, and move on". If you don't like his policies, by all means voice your dissenting opinions, form groups to lobby an opposition, march, whatever it is you want to do, go out and do it.

Now, maybe this is far too radical an idea, but maybe try these things with a little civility. All the labeling, the name calling, the violent acts against persons and property... merely the tools of fools.  And yes, before you try to point fingers I have called some of you pinko commie bastards. As a joke, never serious. except that one person. You know who you are.  I jest.  I have to use humor.  I write any of my serious blogs in portions, then stop for a bit and have a two, sometimes three-sided joke fest with myself because I need a little levity to break up the seriousness, before re-starting.  And it shows. My writing style is very much ADHD. Although I have never been diagnosed with such a disorder...probably because I'm too cheap to see a doctor who would bestow such an official diagnosis upon me.  During the day of inauguration, we saw images from protests right there in Washington, D.C.  Most members were peacefully assembling and exercising their rights.  However you had a few nincompoops who hijacked some of these protests and committed acts of violence against persons, and property as well. 

Now, while I abhor this violence, seeing a Starbucks get its windows smashed was a little humorous.  I mean really, if you are going to go after a business, why not go after someone who is charging a lot of good money for, in my not so humble OPINION, a craptastic coffee-like drink.  The Folgers or Maxwell House I brew at home, for far cheaper by the way, tastes much better.  Hell if you want to pay for coffee, come to my place. If you bring your own mug I'll happily give you a massive discount.  And even if you don't want to bring your own mug and want me to provide one for you, you'll save immensely over what you'll pay to stand in line at the Starbucks for their stuff.  One caveat...you drink it black, or have an option of milk and/or sugar.  No whipped cream, or any other fancy crap.  You want bacon with that...the stove is 3 feet away, cook your own.

Okay on to the crowd issue.  There has been much ado made over the size of the crowd at the Donald's inauguration versus that of Obama's.  One side, supported by the media says the Great Orange One's audience was definitively smaller. The other side, and much touted by the new administration and their alternative facts, state unequivocally this is untrue. Photos taken at different times, attendees versus total viewing including the internet and tv, reality versus Trump's ego, or whatever other reasoning might be at play here seems to be dominating a good portion of my facebook page, talk shows, and the news itself.

On this issue, there are a couple things going on here. First, the media is literally playing Donald's game. Pointing out something to bruise his poor ego, letting him and his lackey's respond, and cue the back and forth. The more the media and the anti-Trump crowd keep it up, the more push back they get from the administration and all those who support him. Who's right? The better question that should be asked is Who Cares?  Let's just keep the distractions up over such trivial meaningless things, so we don't have to look at real issues that might actually affect us as a people.  For Fuck's Sake, its the real life equivalent to trolling on social media, without the need for social media.  The media and liberals are butt hurt about Trump winning, and Trump and Company is all butt hurt by even the slightest slight.  Maybe we should spend more time worrying about what is really leaving actual real life people across this land of ours hurt, and focus on finding solutions for those problems. I involve myself in pointless arguments all the time. Not because I want to trounce someone's feelings or alienate myself from the people around me, but for something to pass the time.  Hell, it's practically a family tradition to argue over anything and everything.  Partially for interaction, partially to understand each others' points of view and why we have them, and partially so we can sharpen our skills of Sophistry for when we decide to have a real argument.  But to fill news feeds the world over with this pointless drivel is beyond me.

Now, the marches.  All over the country, we saw these women's marches.  My sister participated in one in her home state of Florida. I have friends that did so in Colorado, and some great family friends in California who also chose to participate in these marches.  I applaud them all.  Exercising your freedom to express yourself, be it solo or in massive groups such as these is your God given right, and specifically protected by our sacred Constitution.  From what I've seen, these were all peaceful protests. To be honest, I haven't kept up on what exactly they were protesting.  I should probably ask...maybe I'll be answered in the comments section without having to ask. Always a much easier route for me.  I guess I see it more an extension of the anti-Trump protests, but what do I know? I was lucky to graduate high school much less have any real idea of what's going on around me.

One question I do have is this: If these marches were a protest for women's rights, what rights have been taken away from the women in our country?  I suspect I'll get an earful for asking such a question.  But then again, I like that, merely because it shows the free flow of thoughts and ideas. And please, give me YOUR thoughts. No hacked memes, no parroting the talking heads on TV. Just what YOU feel and believe.

So I'll leave it at that and just say...Your Turn to talk.

Laziness...Keeping me from posting for over a year!

I just happened to look at my page today while screwing around on the home computer.  I was shocked to see that it had been over a year since I even posted to here.  The craziness of lazyness took hold of me.
So for all 3 of you who ever read my musings I'll give you an update of what has happened in my life over the past 15 months since I last bored you to tears.

1) I bought a house.  Now my wife will tell you that WE bought a house, but despite my religious zeal for Grammar Nazism, I reserve the right to interchange pronouns when it suits me.  We'll just nevermind the fact that she may or may not have done most of the legwork when it came to dealing with banks and realtors to make this happen.  As the landscape of American politics has shown, the facts don't really matter.

With the purchasing of my first home came a lot of other firsts.  Like mowing my own lawn.  I've mowed a few lawns in my day, but those lawns always belonged to someone else.  I've also learned that if part of your lawn has Creeping Charlie and you mow over that stuff, it will spread to the rest of your yard.  Much like I did to my parents' yard once I am contemplating a healthy dose of gasoline and a match to battle this scourge to my compound....only on purpose this time.

I've also installed my first ever section of wiring for a new dishwasher that had to be replaced because the warranty people wouldn't touch the old, less than up to modern standards wiring to hook it up.  I've also installed 2 light fixtures for the first time, and one light switch.  These things have taught me that I am handier than I thought I was, but still no engineering genius.  Only a couple light jolts to the system to make sure my heart was still working properly. I also recently disconnected the DISH and reran the wiring to the antenna in an effort to save some money I was paying for a bunch of channels I never watch.  I sure will miss those marathon days of That 70s Show on IFC and NCIS on USA.  I'll get over it soon enough.  I'll either addict myself to shows that were in syndication well before I was a twinkle in my dad's eye, or go back to reading more actual books like I used to do when I was younger.

The biggest realization that I've had, I've always known...This house is gonna suck me dry with all the improvements it will need.  Recently a lot of people are saying the same thing with the new construction homes which are priced pretty damn well out of my price range to start and shabbily put up to boot in developments devoid of character or identity.  I can't tell the difference between one house and the next 100 anymore.  Very drab, very unoriginal, very...blah. This one was a steal for where we live, and it has character being an older home. So despite the next 30 or more years of trying to figure out which orifice I'm going to pull the money out of for these necessary improvements, I like my (yes I know, honey, OUR) choice.

2) I assumed the title of Operations Manager at my job.  I assure you this is through no fault of my own, but the evil conniving mind of my boss who thought it was a good idea to put me in charge of people.  After giving me some power to abuse he told me I better not fire a bunch of people I felt were substandard too quickly because I would end up having to cover their posts.  Although I have had the pleasure of ridding the company of less than desirable employees from our little company, sometimes at the expense of my own sanity, reworking a schedule for a week to fill in the new openings can be hell. I can feel grey hairs trying to work their way into my normal appearance.  I went from working day shift Monday through Friday, with nights and weekends free to spend with the family or go do something, to working nights and weekends again... which sucks! But money talks, and my wife and boss shoved me into taking the spot.  All in all it isn't too horrible, but if the Lottery comes calling me saying I won big, I'm out of there!

3) I actually set myself up with some vacation time (that I will actually get paid for thanks to Item #2) that will allow me time to go see family out in California I haven't seen in over 18 years.  My wife will get to meet some of my family she has yet to meet, my oldest son will see them again for the first time since he was 3, and my youngest son will get his first ever trip to California and meet that side of the family. I've been talking about going back for years, but my cousin Erin decided she liked a boy well enough to marry him, and forcing my hand to actually make the trip.  Those guys at the TSA better not screw up my flight schedule!

Other random musings include that after I get back from the aforementioned vacation, I might possibly be looking at getting another dog. After almost a year of our Gracie having a boyfriend on each side, the renters have left their houses and now she has no boyfriends to cavort with.  I think she is getting lonely and needs a playmate to help terrorize the cat, fight with for the attention of us humans residing here, and a companion to romp around the yard with and dominate like she did with the bigger boy toys (a Golden Retriever on one side and a Great Dane on the other) she enjoyed bullying before they moved away earlier this month.

The boys are getting bigger. The 17 year old is still lording over me, and recently started his first real job working as a host at a local Olive Garden restaurant.  Much like I did when I had my first slew of jobs, but lived with my parents, he is seeing dollar signs and that excites him.  I'm almost relishing the moment when he moves on and realizes how great it was to have the job with all the money rolling in and no real bills going out of anyone's wallets but his parents.  And much like my dad, I will laugh heartily and tell him I have no sympathy... until he asks to move back in and eat all my food again. But first he has to get through his senior year of high school.
The 12 year old, while not lording over me is slowly beginning to gain on me in height.  He is at that awkward age where he is still a kid and cute, but beginning to display the obnoxious behavior that comes with a junior high kid, which he will be this fall.  Not like when we were kids and were perfect angels throughout our upbringing, bringing great amounts of pride to our parents and the joy they received when being able to tell all their friends what wonderful kids we were to raise.  (You can stop laughing now mom and dad!) Whenever he has gone to someone else's place he always returns and they gush over what a polite young man he is, and what fun it is to have him in their home.  And within a half hour I find open bottles of his beverages sitting about in random places, candy wrappers strewn around the house, crumbs denoting that "Corwyn was here".  When asked to do something, snide remarks are heard, dirty looks given, or just plain silence of ignoring us abound.  Apparently his daily allotment of goodness doesn't last a whole day. 

I love these boys with all my heart and would never trade them in for the world, but some days I would consider selling them to any bidder!!!  A thought that I know would never have crossed the minds of my parents...again, I was an angel.  I'm sure they got their other-than-angelic ways from their mother. And I'm sure she'd disagree and say its the opposite, but hey, this is my blog.

On the last note for today, For those of you in and around Sac City, On Saturday May 28th, there is a scheduled planting of a memorial tree for Monte Burns at Tolan Field.  As some of you know, Monte passed just a little over 2 years ago.  Monte was like a second father to me, and his sons, Joshua, Jedidiah and Jerimiah were my brothers.  They will be dedicating this tree in their father's name, along with my parents for Monte, specifically at the ballfield where he put in years of coaching the kids of Sac City's Little League teams.  So if you knew Monte, or he coached you or one of your kids, I know the family would love to see you come out for this celebration of Monte Burns' life.

Little Town Surviving

When I was growing up in Sac City, Iowa...

1)  There was nothing to do...EVER
2)  I gotta get out...as soon as humanly possible!
3)  Add 1 and 2 together and EVERYTHING HERE SUCKS!

Of course these were the thoughts of a young kid who just assumed the rest of the world had to be better than what we had growing up.  Guess that whole "grass always being greener on the other side" business starts at an early age.

When I was really little we had a movie theater in which I saw half a movie before mom dragged me out screaming and crying. In my defense, if she had just kept feeding me junior mints, I would've been good for the whole showing of Bambi.

We had a corner bakery, where if we were really good and mom had some extra cash, my sister and I could get some delicious cookies.  Or mom had extra cash and shoving cookies into our faces was the best way to get us to shut up.

I wasn't very old when both of these places went away, so there was literally nothing left to enjoy in our small, and getting smaller, town.  Sure we had the parade and the 4th of July fireworks, Chautauqua Days,  and we had the Porktoberfest, and Halloween.  So there were a few days out of the year where we could engorge ourselves full of one kind of food or another. But the other 300 and some odd days...nothing.

We had to entertain ourselves, either playing in the ravine, tearing around town on our bikes, swimming at the local pool, or playing football in Witte's yard.  We had Little League and some other Summer Recreation programs.  Eventually we got out own recreation center to go lift weights, play basketball, swim during the winter time, among other things.

Thinking back on things, I guess things didn't suck as bad as I once thought. For a small town we had a lot of things to do, whether it was on our own, or through programs and facilities that a lot of people put in hard work dedicated to giving us kids, as well as adults, things to do right there in our own little burg.

One of the places that always been a stalwart of the community for the most part under a few different owners, in the recreation area, was Indian Lanes, our local bowling alley.  Now I only used the bowling alley sparingly.  I was usually using most of my money to load myself up on Dr Pepper from the local Casey's, as if my hyperactive self wasn't already too much for some people to handle before the caffeine infusion.  But it was always a place where adults could go and have their adult fun with friends, and still bring their kids who could play arcade style games, or you know, bowl a few frames.

I was recently back in Sac City for Christmas with my wife and my sons to see my parents as well as my sister's family who was up visiting from Florida.  My best friend, Jed was also out with his family from Wyoming, along with his younger brother Jeremiah and his family coming up from my neck of the woods, to celebrate with the oldest brother Josh and his family.  They did a family gift exchange at the bowling alley, which I had learned was now being operated by Josh and his wife, and I think along with a certain guy named Joe Zimmerman.  I make the claim of Joe based on the fact that they have a Notre Dame flag hung up on a wall, and Joe is the only person I know who is truly a Notre Dame fan.  Other than that small blemish (Sorry Joe!), the place looks pretty good.

Now Joe has always been the kind of guy who was made for small town living, and many days I can't blame him despite my living in the Des Moines metro area.  I like to go back to my hometown just to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  Joe did his time out of the area, but as expected he came back to his roots and his family and friends.  Joe is always a friendly guy with a big goofy grin, a joke waiting on his lips to tell you, and a big old hug. I love the guy.

Josh Burns on the other hand... He was the big brother from another mother, the guy I loved to hate and hated to love.  He was always there to put me in my place when I needed it, and also to pick me up when I needed that.  He really is a chip off the old block that is his father, Monte, who I always regard as my 2nd dad.  Monte always made time for us boys, and for everybody else, both personally, as well as being a longtime baseball coach for a multitude of kids who grew up in Sac City.  Josh and I were never as close as Jed and I were, but he was always around.  I never knew what his plans for life were, when he went off to college in Missouri, but he came back to live and work in the area.  And now he runs the bowling alley.  Like his dad, he's doing his part to help keep the small town of Sac City going.

Some people reading this may see Indian Lanes as just one business in a small town in the middle of nowhere. But to some of us who grew up there, it's nice to see that some places and some people are still there, just as they always were.  And when you can find a place for the whole family to spend some fun time together for a few hours without breaking the bank, you want to keep that in any community.  I think Indian Lanes fills that role. So if you get a chance, go to Indian Lanes, say hello to the owners, grab a bite to eat and something to drink, and bowl a few games.  I promise you wont regret the fun time you'll have and you will support a locally owned business stick around for everyone there now and those to come.

211 North 13th St

Sac City, Iowa

(712) 662-7467

Scammers EVERYWHERE!!

This year has been filled with scammers in my life.  And no, I'm not just talking about my cat who comes up and acts like he loves me just so I'll pet his furry fucking body. And no, I'm not talking about Nigerian princes trying to unload their fortunes on me to protect them from evil governments and rebels of said governments.  However, in my war against technology (and yes I realize I'm using the internet to post a blog against the evils of itself), the scammers have found more and more ways to get ahold of me.

I had someone offer me a job to wrap my car in advertisement for a nice little sum.  It was for Bud Lite Lime.  Now for those who know me, they know I'm cheap and will pimp out an endorsement for just about anything if you're willing to pay me.  So a few days later, I get a certified letter in the mail from Drummond Corporation- which turns out to be a coal-related company in Alabama.  Inside are two checks, both from Seminary colleges, one in Michigan and the other in Pennsylvania.  The checks are literally identical in appearance, and amount.  The only differences I find are the check numbers, the account numbers, and who they are from with their addresses.  Even the damn signature is identical.  One being a Puritanical Seminary and the other a more Evangelical type, I find it odd that they would hold with the same guy in charge of their finances, nevermind some Puritan organization pimping out alcohol.  Why not just say the Puritans are asking em to enlarge my penis to have sex with busty married MILFs at bigcockbangers.com or some damn website that goes against everything they hold to be holy?

Once I received the checks, I was asked about them through text, and then to deposit the checks into my bank and forward a Western Union money order off to some lady in South Carolina, who is the party responsible for coming out to wrap my car in the advertisement.  And the texter is using a California number.  Now, maybe Americans are in fact getting dumber, and this wildly tangled web of shit is such a boondoggle that most wouldn't see through this whole charade, but I was brought up when education along with a healthy dose of common sense was instilled in a good portion of us kids early on.  I had a nice back and forth with this lady and even gave her the confirmation number for a Western Union transaction.  She said she was having problems tracking it. I had given her a 10 digit code, much like seen on googled pics of western union confirmations.  I told her the tracking number corresponds to a phone number and she can call that number and confirm it for herself.  I don't know if she ever tried it or not, but after I gave her the number to the FBI's switchboard, and I never heard a peep from her since.

On another level of scams, I have received calls from all over the country from Pretrial Intervention Services, or some other variation of a like name.  It seems, unbeknownst to me, that I owe a check cashing place a LOT of money.  Thousands of dollars even.  I'm not entirely sure how they got my information, but they did have a healthy (or rather unhealthy) portion of some pretty specific financial and personal information.  They knew who my debtor was, and how much I owed total, but they couldn't tell me the original transaction amount or any of that business.  But despite their not knowing that, I was definitely in need of a lawyer, or I was going to need to settle up before this went to trial and ruined my social security (I'm not sure how they intend to ruin my social security yet, I figured that was a politician's job), and ruin my job!  I informed one, that my current job already ruined me, and that it was already such a leech of a job that it couldn't possibly be ruined further.

The first thing that has intrigued me about these callers is that all of them have been Indian (the dot not the feather), or Pakistani or some other similar ethnic variety with a heavy accent. After literally dozens of calls from a variety of offices around the country, I have yet to run into one person on the other end of the line that has anything other than a very generic Americanized name, first and last names both.  Some use celebrity names, mostly of some pretty famous athletes including Michael Jordan!!!  Man, that guy was such a great basketball player, and been a pretty good businessman from most accounts.  The economic collapse of 2007-08 must've really hit him hard.  It seems it has caused him to genetically mutate into an Indian accented customer service representative in Ohio.  I feel kind of bad for the poor guy.  His finance manager really sucked! 

Anyways, the this last week I keep missing calls from the San Francisco Bay Area.  I take the time to listen to the voicemail.  I was hoping to hear from someone in the 49ers or Giants organizations to let me know I was getting a portion of one of the stadiums named after me, and some other perks for being such a good fan over the years.  No such luck in the end...it was some Indian lady leaving me a well read response to call back to discuss my legal troubles.  Since I never bother to call back, they keep calling.  The other day I managed to answer the phone.  The lady (Her name happened to be Amanda Jones) wasn't so smooth in her delivery when she has to talk to me in person.  I told her that despite my legal troubles, I still regard myself as important enough to be spoken to in a more professional manner.  She told me to call back to her advisor's office at 415-513-0133, which just happened to be the same number she was calling from.  I guess business is a little bad for them that she didn't have the kind of phone that allowed her to transfer the call to the advisor personally so I could clear these matters up.  After missing yet another call while I was at work, I took a few moments to call back.  I reached Sam Watershead.  Sam also has an Indian accent.  I guess Sanjay Gupta was too busy to make the call, so at least I know I was talking to a real down home American kind of businessman. 
It seems that despite the fact that they call me from San Francisco, my case is being filed in Los Angeles County. That is quite a few hours drive between the two.  They had no reason why the debtor has NEVER bothered to contact me prior to such an important legal and financial matter would go to court, just that they had written the debt off as uncollected and warranting the spending of several thousands of dollars to haul me in for a judgement of a few thousand bucks.  Now, I'm no lawyer, but we do have a law school up here in the fancy little town of Des Moines, Iowa, and I do happen to know a few finer points of law.  For instance, in a civil judgement on a financial matter which had to have been contracted by me while residing here in the Des Moines area, they would be forced to go through my local Polk County sources, and that I would be served notice of any such impending court dates.  Sam seemed impervious to this and asked if I had a lawyer ready to go.  I said that I did not, mainly because Cash Advance America (my supposed debtor) wouldn't give me enough money to retain a lawyer, and that since I wasn't in any arrears I probably wouldn't need one anyways.  He asked me how we would resolve this matter then if I wasn't prepared with a lawyer.  When I asked if this was the part where I send him some money and he makes it all go away, he kind of hedged his bets.  So, it appears that Sam Watershead (If that's his real name! His real name is probably Peggy), wasn't a COMPLETE moron when it comes to interstate banking fraud, but he was completely unaware that I was the kind of guy who can put on a lot of bullshit to make me sound a lot smarter about matters than he can ever hope to be.  Guess I hadn't been toking enough of the marijuana joints and slobbering over my Cocoa Puffs enough to be taken in by his stupid ruse.  In fact, I just kept belching out more and more information on legal matters, financial regulations, etc etc, he finally decided, after trying and failing to "calm me down", to hang up me.  I felt pretty satisfied with my efforts.  I'm nowhere near the creative phone comedian as say Tom Mabe, but I did alright.

And just for the record, I'd like all of my readers to call the above listed number in San Francisco and see if you can talk with Sam Watershead, or whatever his nom du jour may be that day.  Let me know who you get to speak with and see if they might try to harangue you into court somewhere if you dont find a way to settle the matter ahead of time.

So Now That I've Voted...

My part in the 114th election cycle (or is it the 20th or the 847th?) is done.  I would like to point out, that once again I did not see my name on the ballot.  I didn't even vote for myself for any of the offices up for election.

Now some conspiracy theorists might suggest that this is a direct result of the biased Anti-Mook media machine making sure that my name didn't get out to the voting public, as well as airing commercials subliminally hypnotizing me into voting against myself.  Some might say it was Islamic Jihadists trying to suppress freedom and the American Way (Which I clearly represent at all turns), or the Koch brothers spending billions in silencing my voice among the masses of their preferred candidates.

I assure you, that none of these scenarios are the case. Since the voting polls are still open, I will take this time to get out my political message, before going silent on the matter until at least Monday, when the next election cycle punditry shall start with all those talking heads on TV.

I chose to not run for any office this year because in 2016, it will be the first time in my life that I will be eligible to seek the office of the President of the United States of America. 

Soon to be renamed the Mookified Compound

Because of the two year time crunch, I would not want to burden my supporters with the fact that I, as their chosen leader, would be forced to spend all the time I am supposed to be representing them out on the campaign trail.  Also, If I were to end up in an office that the term would over run that time frame, I would not want to disappoint them by leaving my elected position to take over the bigger better opportunity.

So, in the off chance that too many of you numbskulls wrote me in as your candidate of choice, let me be clear.  I am regretfully informing you that I am hereby conceding this year's elections.  It was a non hard fought battle, but I have stepped aside from the path of all my many opponents. the more they wreck shit between now and then, the greater my accomplishments as leader of the free world, and eventually the universe (I'll be more specific on my plans for NASA at a later date) will seem.

"But what about getting some government experience before attempting to ascend to the Presidency?" you say. To this I answer: I will not be labeled a political/Washington insider. The only pork I want to be associated with supporting between now and then will be bacon. And bratwursts- lots of both.

The kind of pork Washington DC needs!

With your help in 2 years, I will see us through a new sense of economic prosperity to include greater investments in business as well as higher wages for many.  A complete change in our foreign policy, and total reform of immigration.  The budgets will be balanced, the national debts drawn down, infrastructure improved and other amazing things that will blow your minds.  I'd put it down in writing, but by keeping it in my head, none of these idiots in Washington that are all about them and their parties taking credit for shit can steal it and destroy the perfection of the idea and screw 90% of the population, or more.

So consider today, the day you elect your representatives for this midterm election, the day I officially announce my candidacy for the next President of the United States.  I'll accept your support in the form of PAC money, or just straight cash in hand. Thank you for not voting for me this time around, and good night my fellow Americans.

Be a freedom loving patriot- Vote Mookie in 2016!