Finally Getting the Garden Going

This Spring has not been very warm or cooperative at all, gardening-wise. Heck, we had 3 inches of snowfall less than two weeks ago! But today, I finally decided it was time to get cool weather crops in the ground. First though, I had to prepare the "soil" and fill the two new raised beds in the garden.

I follow the recommendation of Mel Bartholomew in his Square Foot Gardening book. One part composted manure, one part vermiculite and one part peat moss. It makes a rich, moisture-holding, wonderful fluffy blend that plants sure seem to love. After adding the mixture to the new beds, all four planting beds were ready to accept seeds and plants.

Ready to get started!

The seeds that went into the soil today are...

• Lettuce, 3 types: Oak Leaf, Lollo Rosa, and Rocky Top
• Spinach
• Sugar Peas
• Cilantro
• Onions, Red (from sets)
• Onions, Green (from sets)
• Marigolds

Tomorrow, I'll transplant these that should be ready for the outdoors...

• Onion, Bunching
• Sorrell
• Claytonia
• Onion, Italian Flat
• Purslane

If you're familiar with some of these "different" items, you'll know we really enjoy our fresh salads. If all goes well, we should have LOTS of variety and super delicious greens. 

Now...are they ready yet??? Can't wait. 

Something Has To Change

In their 2011 Budget Chart Book, the folks at The Heritage Foundation have clearly illustrated that the federal budget is in dire straits. Here's just one example of our astounding out-of-control federal spending:

Note that this shows inflation-adjusted dollars.

Go here for a much larger chart and access to the other unbelievable information.

Just as many other nations, U.S. states and cities are finally admitting, we simply cannot continue this madness any longer.

Friends, without substantial and meaningful reductions in federal spending---cuts that will affect each of us---our great nation is headed into financial chaos. Let's hope the representatives in Washington have the guts to take the tough, necessary actions now, before it's too late.

Spring, Oh Spring, Where Art Thou?

Did you ever have one of those winters that just seemed unwilling to release it's hold? Well, this appears to be just that type of year. As I write this in mid-April, it is 36° at 8:00 in the morning. The weather folks say we may see 52 degrees today, but enough already! We celebrate Easter this Sunday and at this rate my Easter bonnet won't have frills upon it; I'll be wearing my fur-lined hunting hat instead! (see profile photo at right)

The veggie seedlings are growing well for the garden, but unless something changes they won't be safe outdoors until July 4th or so. That's just not acceptable, Mother Nature. C'mon, let's get the warm up going, OK?

And unfortunately, this winter-hanger-oner affects more than just our temperature. As evidence, check out this photo from the back of our office building taken just 3 days ago:

Our 3-inch snowfall on April 18th. 

Yes, it all melted by day's end, but still...can we please hear the birds singing, feel sunshine and have afternoon temps of at least 60 degrees?!!!? 

{end of Paul's whining}

Our Impossible-to-Understand Tax Code

Since yesterday was our official "get it in or go to jail" federal income tax day, I thought I'd post this very interesting graphic from Chris Edwards at The Cato Institute and tax information provider CCH, Inc. Little wonder that preparing our annual income tax returns is such a dreaded and difficult task...the "instructions" are now up to 72,536 pages! Look how they've grown over the years:

Think about it:  Tolstoy's masterpiece, War and Peace, often referred to as a huge, huge book, is only 1,200 pages in length. The New King James Version of the Holy Bible is just 1,536 pages. Do we really need over 72,000 pages of instructions, rules, and law to guide us in income tax preparation?

There must be a better way.

Our New Friend from Eckernförde

Last October, we were fortunate to have a fantastic foreign exchange student stay with us for a few weeks. He was actually here to spend time with my stepson, Keegan, before reciprocating when Keegan travels to Germany in June.

Tjark ("TEE-ARK") was a wonderful guest and we learned a great deal from each other during his stay. He traveled here with about ten other German students. Tjark has an excellent command of the English language and it was great fun to learn a bit of the German language from him. I was limited to Guten Morgen Fraulein and Eine Bier Bitte being part of my German vocabulary!

Our new friend, Tjark

In preparation for his visit, during the time he was here, and still now we're corresponding, via email, with Tjark's parents, Dag and Frauke. It really has been a joy to learn more about their culture, their home, and Germany in general. Their home in Eckernförde is in the northern part of Germany, actually between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, not far south of the Danish border. 

Tjark's home town. 

It was a very educational time for all of us. We enjoyed Tjark's company and loved watching him and Keegan playing competitive video games, introducing Tjark to our customs, while learning a great deal about his own. It truly is a small world we inhabit.

Tjark and Keegan playing Wii. 

Carving Halloween pumpkins---which is also done in Germany. 

We got quite attached to Tjark by the time he had to travel back home. Having him with us was a joy, one we won't forget. This June, when Keegan travels to Eckernförde, I know each of us wishes we could go along!

After our farewell family dinner, before Tjark made
the very long trip back to his home.

Auf Wiedersehen, Tjark...until we meet again. 

Smoke, Mirrors, and Fraud

Remember just a week ago when Obama, Boehner and Reed were working so hard at coming to an interim budget agreement to avoid a government shutdown? Well folks it was mostly, if not all, pure horse hockey, crap, BS, call it what you will. We've been tricked into thinking those wonderful guys really did something praise-worthy. It appears those late-night "summits" at the White House were simply the three good old boys getting together to have a nightcap or two while they laughed at how they were fooling the ignorant U.S. citizenry.

Now that those "in the know" are studying the actual agreement reached, we're told most of these wonderful, monumental, hard-fought "cuts" are not reductions at all. We've been lied to, kept in the dark, made to think they agreed on something to really help our economy...and its mostly BUNK.

Republicans, Democrats, Progressives, the Right, the Left, Centrists, they're all crooks and should be thrown out of office at the earliest opportunity. The United States of America is broke, bankrupt, zilched out, ain't got nothin' (but printing presses) and in the not too distant future we're all going to feel the serious effects of a broken, worthless dollar and another country with its economy in ruin.

This just stinks.
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Kevin Drum blogs as follows:

Smoke and Mirrors Watch

— By Kevin Drum| Tue Apr. 12, 2011 12:26 PM PDT

Here's AP reporter Andrew Taylor digging into the $38 billion in spending cuts that Republicans agreed to and finding that an awful lot of it is smoke and mirrors:


Instead, the cuts that actually will make it into law are far tamer, including [...] $2.5 billion from the most recent renewal of highway programs that can't be spent because of restrictions set by other legislation. Another $3.5 billion comes from unused spending authority from a program providing health care to children of lower-income families.


....The spending measure reaps $350 million by cutting a one-year program enacted in 2009 for dairy farmers then suffering from low milk prices. Another $650 million comes by not repeating a one-time infusion into highway programs passed that same year. And just last Friday, Congress approved Obama's $1 billion request for high-speed rail grants — crediting themselves with $1.5 billion in savings relative to last year.


About $10 billion of the cuts comes from targeting appropriations accounts previously used by lawmakers for so-called earmarks....Republicans had already engineered a ban on earmarks when taking back the House this year.


Republicans also claimed $5 billion in savings by capping payments from a fund awarding compensation to crime victims. Under an arcane bookkeeping rule — used for years by appropriators — placing a cap on spending from the Justice Department crime victims fund allows lawmakers to claim the entire contents of the fund as budget savings. The savings are awarded year after year.


And this report from CBS News notes two other phantom cuts: $1.7 billion left over from the 2010 census and $2.2 billion in subsidies for health insurance co-ops that are going to be funded anyway via the healthcare reform bill. This stuff alone adds up to $27.4 billion, all of it money that wouldn't have been spent anyway. I suppose you can argue that some of it might have gotten reallocated if it hadn't been removed legislatively, but I doubt that the tea party true believers are in a mood to buy that. If these reports are correct, the bill contains only about $11 billion in hard cuts. Basically, it looks as if the tea partiers may have gotten snookered by their own side.

Family Reunions

 I remember family reunions in Monticello, Indiana, usually held in July on or around Grandma Martha Griffith’s birthday. Many of my Aunts and Uncles had moved to Indiana in search of work. We’re not talking 20 or 30 people here; this reunion involved, on a normal year, over 100 people! Aunts, Uncles (more than 20 right there) and then there were the Wickers, the Wilsons, so many cousins you couldn’t remember all their names from year to year. But a few were special, the ones that stood out from the crowd for one reason or another.  

We always rented a covered pavilion, first at the Monticello City Park and later at the county park right on the banks of the Tippecanoe River…the river of “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too” fame. We’d begin by stopping at Grandma’s house on Bluff Street, overlooking the river. The anticipation and nervousness filled the air — not wanting to forget anyone’s name, yet knowing you were going to be part of a family, a huge family…you belonged.  Entering the house, the wonderful aroma from Grandma’s kitchen filled the air: Kentucky Wonder green beans, the devil being boiled out of them along with a suitable portion of fatback from a favored hog, pinto beans, and, perhaps, fried chicken. Ah, the aroma, well, it was “home,” all were welcome and we belonged.  

We all need a certain definite sense of belonging; without it life is not as rich as it can possibly be; family reunions in Indiana gave me that wonderful, warm, comfortable feeling that I was accepted without question, no identification required, without having to play any games or prove anything. The feeling was very warm and welcome…it is still felt today as I recall those wonderful times we spent together.  

At one of those great reunions, Grandma stands with Uncle Jerry, Aunts Katie,
Gertrude, Barbara, and Mae, with my Dad on the far right. The young man in
front is surely a second- or third-cousin I cannot identify. 

Big Brother May Be Watching!

San Francisco's Entertainment Commission is considering some pretty unbelievable rules for certain events expecting 100 or more in attendance. Please note items 3 and 4 in particular, below, and ask yourself if this doesn't blatantly fly in the face of the First Amendment to our U.S. Constitution, which states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievance.


Feels pretty "creepy" and "1984-ish" to me!!!


~Thanks to Jim Harper of The Cato Institute for posting this story.
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Notice of Hearing on Proposed Adoption of Rules

Related to Security

at Places of Entertainment and One Time Events

The Entertainment Commission will consider adopting rules concerning security at places of entertainment and one time events at its regular meeting on April 12, 2011, at 6:30 PM in Room 400, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco.

These rules may cover the proposed permit conditions, summarized below, presented by the San Francisco Police Department for consideration by the Entertainment Commission.  At the hearing, the Commission may adopt rules that depart from the terms of the proposals below but address the same general subjects as the proposals.  In addition, while the proposals are framed in terms of venues with an anticipated occupancy of more than 100 individuals, the Commission may adopt rules that apply to a different or broader range of venues.

Members of the public will have an opportunity during the hearing to offer public comment and may also submit written comments at the hearing, or preferably in advance of the hearing.  Advance written comments may be emailed to or mailed to written comments will become part of the public record.  Names and contact information for commenter’s will be redacted if the written comment requests redaction.

Proposed Rules

These Conditions shall apply to all EC permitted events with an anticipated occupancy capacity of over one hundred (100) individuals.

1.      (a) Security personnel shall be provided in a ratio one (1) guard for every fifty (50) patrons.  (b) A security supervisor shall be provided at a ratio of one (1) supervisor for every four (4) guards.

2.      All individuals entering the premises shall be scanned by a metal detector.

3.      All occupants of the premises shall be ID Scanned (including patrons, promoters, and performers, etc.).  ID scanning data shall be maintained on a data storage system for no less than 15 days and shall be made available to local law enforcement upon request. 

4.      High visibility cameras shall be located at each entrance and exit point of the premises.  Said cameras shall maintain a recorded data base for no less than fifteen (15 days) and made available to local law enforcement upon request.

5.      The exterior of the premises shall be equipped with lighting of sufficient power to illuminate and make easily discernible the appearance and conduct of all persons on or about the premises.  Additionally, the position of such lighting shall not disturb the normal privacy and use of any neighboring residences.

6.      The premises shall provide a Security Plan acceptable to the Chief of Police which includes a Security proposal and EC Best Practices, collectively referred to as a Security Plan.

7.      All Security personnel that protect life and/or property shall maintain a current and valid California Department of Consumer Affairs Guard Card and shall comply with all rules and regulations governing the Card.   

8.      At all times the premises is open to the public a readily identifiable Manager employed by the EC permit holder shall be on-site.

9.      All Federal, State, and Local permits, required posting, including but not limited to occupancy, shall be posted in a conspicuous location clearly visibly to the public.  Said permits shall be maintained valid and current. 

Film Length

Are films getting longer and longer? 

I ask because as I get older, the following quote takes on

more and more importance and understanding:

The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.

Alfred Hitchcock

Hair

Being a child of the 60s generation when hair, hair and more hair was the way to go, at first it was hard to handle when mine began vacating my head in great numbers. Nice heads of hair seem to be prevalent in we Griffith men, as you can see by looking at these photos of my two sons from days gone by:

Glenn, around age 8

Greg at age 5 or so

Well, just so you two know, the Old Man also had a fine head o' hair at one point in his life, many years ago. As evidence, I give you this photo of me on Huntington Beach, California, just 45 years ago:

More hair, less belly!

So my point is simply this:  Glenn...Greg...watch out, your day may be coming!!!

Great-Great-Grandpa's New Tombstone

A connection with the Knott County Historical Society made it possible to replace my Great-Great-Grandfather's old, worn, handmade tombstone with one provided by the U.S. Government. Yes, even though Great-Great-Grandpa fought on the losing side of the Civil War, a new tombstone could still be obtained for his grave site.

The beautiful white marble tombstone placed at GG-Grandpa's grave site.

A number of family members joined us in Fall 1996 to commemorate this occasion and I was honored to be asked to deliver GG-Grandpa's second eulogy. A number of civil war reenactors were called to join in the ceremony, along with my brother-in-law, David, the only "damn Yankee" in the group.

The reenactors at our ceremony, including brother-in-law,
David, holding the U.S. flag

The setting for the ceremony was perfect, with the fog-shrouded hills of Knott County surrounding us at the little cemetery in the tiny town of Mousie. The riderless white horse added a special touch, too.

I was honored to have Uncle Estil drive down not only to join us, but to present me with my Grandmother's family bible to hold in safekeeping as the family historian.

Uncle Estil and my sister, Peggy, holding the bible.

More about the ceremony will follow in a later post, including the beautiful program prepared by the Knott County Historical Society, along with GG-Grandpa's military service details.