Friday, November 12, 2010

And The Very Latest From The Frozen Tundra...

It has been rather uneventful up here in the Frozen Tundra lately.

Sarah has been working her butt off trying to get the “Guest House” in shape, and as usual I haven’t been any help. Sometimes I feel pretty damn worthless. When I was younger, I was always doing things around the house and yard, but now I'm just too damn worn out. But, it is hard to see her work so very hard and not be able to jump in and help.

Sarah’s ex, Pat Shafer gave us a couple of really nice pieces of deer meat (a backstrap and a flank). I don’t have any good knives right now but, I did the best that I could with what I had to work with, and got some nice steaks, two roasts, some tenders, and some stew meat out of the pieces. So far I fried up the tenders and they were wonderful!

Sarah has been trying to teach me how to play WOW, but sometimes we both think that it might be a lost cause. I am a dwarf hunter named STONEWOLLF and she is a dwarf priest named SHARRASS. My avatar really looks a whole lot like me, which in itself makes the whole damn thing pretty scary. I like the game and the concepts and I appreciate how wonderful the graphics are…I just suck at games.

The Legion had a special Veteran’s Day Dinner, they have wonderful food and it is cheap. The special dinner was chicken breast in gravy, cheesy mashed potatoes, corn and Cole slaw. There was chocolate cake for dessert, and the whole thing was $5 a plate. The beverage was extra, but wow…the food was good and you can’t eat at either McDonald’s or Subway that cheap. They had a drawing for ten $10 prizes, and I won one of them. So the only money we spent was for the beverage. The speaker was the District Commander out of Moorhead, he retired after 37 years as full colonel in the Air Force, it is even more remarkable since he rose from the ranks. He taught school for about eleven years and the started his own insurance agency. He was a really good speaker and it was really an excellent way to spend Veteran’s Day.

Well, it is my first Game Night. Sarah and her friends used to have them quite regularly, but haven't had any since she has been married to me. Sarah and I played Trivial Pursuit as a team, and while we didn't win the game, we had the most correct answers. It was really fun and I look forward to doing it again.

So, I am up here in the Frozen Tundra trying to stay warm because it’s “colder than a well-digger’s ass” right now, and it just started to snow. Oh, whoop-de-do!

And that’s the absolute truth, give or take a lie or two…see you next time!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

More Musings About My Life In TRF

Continuing my thoughts about living up here in the Frozen Tundra, other than the unbelievably cold winters and needing a “Rocket Train” to get anywhere, this is a wonderful place to live.

As cold as it is, most of the people are extremely warm and friendly. In some ways it is like stepping back in time to the early Sixties or even the Fifties. I had some misconceptions about the folks up here because of their mania for guns, their support for right to life, and their nationalistic pride. I almost figured them for “Tea Partiers”. I was really wrong.

When I began doing research on the candidates to vote this year, I discovered that they voted Democratic in overwhelming numbers. So much for assumptions…this is probably one of the Bluest areas in Minnesota.

I recently joined the Edlund-Holmstrom Post 117 of the American Legion. It made me feel wonderful because other than the Post commander, who is significantly younger than me, I was a “Youngun”. The fellow who signed me up had to keep adjusting his Ear Trumpet in order to hear my name and address and everyone was using either a cane or a walker. There are five hundred and some members…but only about twenty are active. Both the Mid Term Elections and the Legion meeting fell on Sarah’s birthday so we decided to have dinner there…good decision, we had some of the best food that we had in a very long time and it was cheaper than McDonalds.

On a different subject, we recently purchased the trailer next door, and will soon become “trailer trash slum lords”. It has been wonderful because it has allowed Sarah to exercise her nesting tendencies. She has made our temporary guest house into a lovely vacation cottage. It is really pretty spectacular, but she has worn herself out doing it.

Oh, and when we were out the other evening we had left Elsie in the entry way as normally do, but she got bored and decided to attempt suicide by shredding the beautiful Schefflera that Sarah got for her birthday last year. This is one of the most toxic plants to dogs, so I had to flush out her mouth with water and give her about three bowls of milk. She doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects, but I have never had a dog with as many suicidal tendencies. The next task was trying to prevent Sarah from committing pupacide.

And that is the absolute truth…give or take a lie or two!

See you next time!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Mid Term Election Blues

Wow, I didn’t know how to respond to the absolute ignorance of the American Public. There was a chance to accomplish so much and now I see a nation of lemmings rushing over a cliff.

I didn’t know what to do with my frustration so I composed this little piece of doggerel which, when accompanied by some music in the style of a very early Dylan becomes a very bad song. At the request of one of my blog followers it is today’s posting.


Mid Term Election Blues

Our hearts are so heavy as if filled with sand
As idiots rejoice all over this land
There is serious concern for this country’s demise
When Bachmann’s reelected and Ron Paul survives
It’s shameful to think that the land of the free
Can be purchased by lobbyists, if they have the fee

There was so much optimism in 2008
We looked on in wonder and thought it was great
When our shiny young President stepped into the fray
To see it slip away is a very sad day
Our global respect was on the rise
Now the sound that you hear are international sighs

Our enemies are cheering in mass celebration
At the absolute foolishness of this great nation
And on the horizon a specter may arise
A Palin Presidency based upon lies
If that were to happen it could be the end
For among all our allies we’d not have a friend

I fear for our forces deployed everywhere
Because these people pretend, they don’t really care
People don’t count, no, people don’t matter
The “Fat Cat’s on Wall Street and in Boardrooms
Have the money to scatter
All of our troops, each son & each daughter
Will only end up used as cannon fodder

With Ralph Reed as our moral guide
We’ll only end up “With God on our side”
They’re will be no diversity or middle class gains
We’ll become more “Third World” with all of their pains
Both very rich and very poor will expand
You might see some “Black Shirts” and the return of the Klan
But free thought and progress won’t happen here
Our citizens are content to watch Fox and drink beer

My vocabulary has recently included “Hoser” and “Eh!”
‘Cause I might just have to move to Canada-yeh!


I hope to get in a better mood soon…but until then. see you all next time…