J0nny Ling0

Wooly Bully. Love that old tune. Sang it just last Saturday night and the crowds went wild! Well.... And, hya DWBH!

Thanks Tom, really. And ya know, I thought of telling Joaquin that he could just have the TV, but I suspected that he would have been a bit proud to have accepted such charity. I did split the hundred with two of my kids who have been faithful at helping us move, while two of them who have been slackers didn't get a "cut". But also, this evening, I did give a really nice "single over double" bunk bed to Joaquin which I had been asking $100.00 for, because he is such a fine guy. He was ready to pay the $100.00, but was really happy to get "such a deal". And so, life has it's blessings, and good things like this happen. Hey Tom, take care buddy. Like I said on that other thread, I'll be off line for awhile. But thanks for enjoying my stowree, which happened as it was written. Ya know, I just like to write, and the best way for me to make a "point" is to tell a story in anecdote form. That's just me. Take care, JL

Yesterday, I had a delightful yet sobering experience. I had this "500 pound gorilla" (that's go-rilla, not gue-rilla-huge difference!) in my living room in the form of a 36 inch old style flat screen TV. Not the nice slender kind, but the old style with the deep and huge back on it like the old style tube tv's. We just bought a new house and have been moving over this Labor Day Weekend, and we decided to sell the dang thing and spring for a new tv, the flat and lightweight kind. The decision to sell it was made not only because it just plain takes up too much living room space, but because I dreaded lifting it again two more times-once to get it out of the house, and then again getting it into our new house. And so, after advertising with a sign out on the nearby street, we began to get a number of calls. I guess "36 inch flat screen TV-$100.00" was pretty attractive. And so. This guy named Joaquin, thirty years old, was the first one to come and look at it. He liked it, would buy it, and said he'd be back at 4:00 in the afternoon with the money when he got off work. He works with a state organization called "REACH" which helps those unfortunate people who are handicapped in one way or another. Most REACH care recipients whom I have known have been kids. Kids with brain damage, or terminally ill cancer victims who get to the place where they need constant care. And so, after speaking my broken Spanish with him, and learning what country he was originally from, he left, because one of his "clients" as he so professionally put it, was out in his car. After he left, we continued to get phone calls for the TV because the sign was still out on the road. One woman who could see our U-Haul out front, came and found us, loved the TV and even offered $150.00 for it after learning that we had a buyer who would be back at 4:00. But I told her that no, I'd given my word to this guy, but if he didn't call or come back by 5:00, she could have it for $150.00 At 4:20, Joaquin came back and apologized for being late, but that he still had his client with him, and he had needed to help him with some things. And there the little feller was, in the truck that he had borrowed. The thin, blond haired boy was eight years old, but hadn't been able to speak since he was four years old due to the five tumors that he had in his neck and up near where his brain stem is. Joaquin said that he definitely could hear and understand, but was physically incapable of talking. I smiled to him, waved and said; "Hey there! Nice to see you!" He smiled, but there was definite sadness there, God bless his little heart. And so, Juaquin and I wrestled the "500 pound Gorilla" out of the house and to the truck and got it safely into the back. It probably only weighed about 250 pounds, but of course, as with most TVs there were no handles! What is with TV manufacturers and "no handles?!" And it is so big and awkward! But the job was done. So, Joaquin handed me a one hundred dollar bill and we shook hands. Then I said; "Glad you have so much brute strength Joaquin, because I'm gettin' too old for this stuff", for he, smaller than myself, handled his end even better than I did. He smiled, liking the compliment and said with his nice Nicaraguan accent; "Well, I guess that eight years in the Army was good for somethin!" And so I asked; "Where in the Army did you serve"? And he said that he'd done fifteen months in Iraq, and had been deployed not long after September 11, 2001. I asked if he had been part of the initial assault on Baghdad, and he said that he had. He'd been a regular infantryman, and when I asked, he replied softly that he had seen lots of action, as his gaze drifted over to the boy sitting in the front of his truck. I asked him if he had gained his US Citizenship after he had been honorably discharged, and he said that this was a fact. And with that, I was struck deeply with a sense of pride in this fine young man. And my heart swelled with pride for my Country as well. I got kind of choked up and looked at him, extended my right hand and said; "You are fine young man and a Great American. Thank you ever so much for Serving and may God bless you abundantly" as we shook hands firmly looking at each other eye to eye...

My highest was "The Helper" My second highest "The Reformer". My lowest-"Peacemaker. 2nd lowest-"The Skeptic"

Hey Bud, happy birthday, and if I am around any rum, I'll have a shot in toast to you! http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1024/132461...3774247.jpg?v=0 Damn. I tried to post the pic, but it would go. You'll just have to click the URL. Maybe someone else can figger it out?

Well Shell, That just wuddn't fair. Uggh! I just count my blessings that my kids are healthy and well! I just don't know what I'd do if the unspeakable ever happened! I believe in the "positive prayer", but when it comes to my kids, I flat our beg Him that they be spared any sickness or catastrophic accident! I think that the shortest verse in the Bible "Jesus wept" is in order here.....

Can't make it. In Alaska, we work hard all summer (construction industry for me), gearing up for the long winter. It is during the winter that we take off for parts South where the sun shines and life is warmer. Like, Mexico or Central America. OR, Viva La Vegas like we did last winter. And what a fine time it was! but, we won't be heading to Tejas this time. But what fun it would be to see you all! Even if it is me, "Jonny Lingo"!

Well now, I have pulled a tear on every one of these songs youz guys have presented fore shore. But, no song in this World gets me like "Hello In There" by John Prine. As a matter of fact, I saw John Prine live just last night for the first time, and once again, he reduced me to weeping when he played this one. Live was very good, even better than the recorded version that you will get to hear in a moment. But, when I found this YouTube deal just minutes ago, I really wept all over again. The song is about "Old People", and how we should take the time to say "hello in there". Every Old Person we ever see was once a vibrant youth, and even some one's bouncing baby boy or baby girl. Anyway, just enjoy the song, and I am thinking that it will definitely touch your very soul...

Why Dan, like me, your Better Half's beautiful good looks have shone through! What beauties! You have so much to be proud of. And a Grand Pa Pa you are as well I see! I have not garnered that distinction as of yet, but Meagan, our oldest is but twenty three, "boyfriendless" at the moment and the Boys, well, so far so good! Our oldest boy who is 21 doesn't have a steady gal just yet, but there certainly is Time for alla that! Riley at 16 is fine and handsome and has a black Mustang 5.0 with mag wheels, tinted windows, booming stereo, and all of the sudden, a new girlfriend who looks amazingly like Paris Hilton! Surprise! So much so that we call her "Paris". Anyways, so far the boys have not had any dalliances that have gotten any girls in the Family Way. Hopefully they will constrain themselves and remember that people are to be loved and not used...

Wash 'n Wear, So glad you you have been able to tell us of this, instead of us "reading about it"! Thankful to God that you made it through, and now, you can begin to take measures that will help you avoid another. And Rocky, I didn't know about your brother and sister, God rest their souls. I had a brother, Miles, who passed away some three years ago to some sort of a heart attack, so, I truly feel your pain there on that one. But hey, this thread's about the living! Congratulations on making it through W 'n W! :eusa_clap: :wave: :) :) :dance: Edited to add the dancing cool guy with the sunglasses!

Yeah, I still have more interest in my daughter and the lovely engineroom, but, I am wondering just what particular line Bumpy crossed to get banned for Life. I mean, was it as bad as a Comanche woman who was caught cheating on her husband and then therefore had her nose cut off or banned from the Tribe for Life? I mean, I know that Bumpy has/had an irascible nature at times, but to kick him out for Life? Sorry, I still don't get it... Oh wait, Excathedra, I should have said "lovely daughter" and not "lovely engine room....." Silly me! But, I spent many a watch down in that ER, and got to know the heartbeat of that ship quite well! And, I miss all of that fore shore. Oh, and here is a political quote that rings very true to me in relation to "ships and engine rooms, and Free Enterprise and Taxes". Here ya go: Obama says that he will only tax the Rich and Rich Corporations. That is the same as saying; "I won't shut down the entire ship, just the engine room". Yeah, I liked that one when I heard it. I think that one of Clinton's ex advisers made that comment. I think it was Dick Morris who made that statement. Very wise saying...

Yes, that Meagan is truly something. And, Thank you!

Well Dan, we already had that discussion in a thread called "Where's Bumpy"? But the thread got locked down by The Moderators. You can find it in the archives somewhere. I just read through it the other day when Le Bump was here.

Yeah...she's a beauty.... Thanks RsGrrlll....