It’s about ten minutes or so until one of my favorite shows, “Forged in Fire”. Gotta love those bladesmiths going at it to build a blade for whatever strange competition that judges put in front of them tonight. 

I do respect the competitors, though. These guys are hammering hot steel into a weapon in a short amount of time. Sometimes they persevere, sometimes, not so much. 

You have to respect the perseverance. They deal with mistakes and obstacles presented to them on the way.  It’s a fun watch, and there are lessons to be learned along the way. 

We got a little good news here today. One of the kids has been invited to participate in an interview process foe a scholarship. I’m hoping everything goes OK with that. It would be nice if things fell the right way in that process. 

All in all, it’s been a decent day. The weather the last few days has been pretty good, but there’s been a little bit of a turn towards cooler weather today, and it looks like tomorrow will follow that trend. 

Other than that, nothing really new to share. 

I hope life is treating you better than you deserve…

Peace y’all. 

It’s a beautiful late fall/early winter evening here in rural Douglas County.  Kansas had a basketball game earlier and knocked off South Dakota (first half was sketchy, second half was all Kansas). 

Today is a day… the political stuff keeps mounting, Trump is under more and more pressure every day. His charity was shut down today, with it’s remaining assets to be distributed under the guidance of the court, but th investigation is ongoing. There is still a very high likelihood of charges being brought against the principals of that particular… thing. 

Trump’s former national security adviser is still waiting on his sentence to come down. Looks like this particular court decision is not going the way some of the observers thought it would. 

Meanwhile, I’m dealing with a couple of morons that just can’t connect the dots. Today I had to come straight out and ask one of these clowns if they were in the least bit capable of accepting that they might be wrong. I have a feeling that they are in just abject denial about the basic nature of the Putin-Trump relationship. 

For me, the dots are so easy to connect. The money, the real estate, the money-laundering, the oligarchs, the deceit, the need for secrecy. It all seems so very obvious to me. For some, they seem to have been completely sucked in to Trump’s cult of personality. 

All I can hope for is that tomorrow there is that one piece of evidence that finally gets some people off of their cloud of misconception and brings them back down to Earth. 

Peace y’all. 

It’s a lovely Monday evening in rural Douglas County. And I’m messing with people on social media. 

There’s a little twisted pleasure I like to engage in, and a particular forum. I have a tie to my old hometown, and people like to post their opinions on that forum, ranging over a variety of topics, but I have the most fun when some of these folks like to rant on political topics. 

Many of them are angry these days, as multiple investigations close in on Trump and his company, his fake charity, his political action committee, his inauguration fund, and his family. 

OK, for the casual reader, I think Trump is crooked. I think his company is engaged in a variety of illegal activities. I also think his charity has been cooking the books as well. 

So, these folks like to post their conspiracy theories and rub each others inner thighs until they all feel better about their support for a criminal. 

And that’s where I come in. 

I try to mess with them by getting them to agree that some of the most heinous crap pulled off my this administration is fine by them. 

I want them to celebrate that incremental security the United States must feel knowing that a poor 7-year-old girl escaping poverty in Guatemala.  I want them to consider that statement. I want them to own it. 

And I want them to think about it and consider the absurdity. 

I’m ranting. Enough for now. 

Peace y’all. 

Hey gang, it’s the old man, coming to you live around 10:00 PM on a Sunday night, a scant nine days before Christmas. 

I actually dis some Christmas shopping today. Lisa has been pretty upfront about some of her shopping this season, more than a couple of times letting me know that I got something for her, and me half-clueless about what she is talking about. 

Had a first today. I got into a social media debate with someone who, for lack of a better description (or more acceptable description), is a flat-earther. 

We are sitting here in the 21st century. There are people that actually believe that the Earth is flat. Seriously. They’ve got youtube videos that support their ridiculous anti-science conspiracy theories. 

Here’s the thing. Just about anybody can buy a weather balloon, helium, and a reasonably-capable cell phone with a recording camera and a GPS, and you send up your own little science experiment into the stratosphere. 

Add a little science to the thing, and you set it up with a parachute that deploys at 1500 feet, and you’ll be spared the additional expense of repairing your cell phone when it returns to the green hills of Earth. 

Anyway, this guy was a moron. I’ve seen the curvature of the Earth. When I look west, I don’t see Denver or the Rocky Mountains. I can look up at night and watch satellites go overhead. That, and ‘ve never seen another heavenly body shaped like a lozenge. 

There’s a growing anti-science movement in this country, and it is disturbing. There’s an old expression about “Choose your enemies well, for you shall come to resemble them”. Our old adversaries were the cold, calculating, godless Soviet Russians. It was a competition based on science. 

Somewhere along the line, we refocused our attentions on the terrorist groups on the fringes of Islam. What did we do? We showed them. We started to disregard science and resemble our enemy… we became more religious. We started casting our science aside and made the choice to make religion more important than science… just like the Taliban. 

I never thought I would find myself rooting for the rise of communist China.  Might help the US get refocused on science over religion, however. 

I’m going to watch the last few minutes of this football game, then hit the sack. 

Peace y’all. 

Hello. I hope this particular blog entry finds you well. 

Which is kind of a ridiculous, all things considered. Does this blog entry hold a superior position when it comes to wishing you well, or finding you in a particularly optimal position in your life?

Reality? I write this intended for my future grandchildren, maybe even some others down the line (Hi!).  I don’t know who you are, or how things will turn out for you. I have three children, Bonnie, Gracie, and Dane. I’m hopeful that at least one, if not all, will marry and have children (the old-fashioned guy in me would hope that things take place in that particular order, and I can say without hesitation that my spouse feels the same way!). 

You are my legacy. You are my gift to the rest of world for generations to come. I’m not going to be a billionaire, I’m not going to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m going to be an old grandfather (I hope) that makes little rocking horses for his grandkids. 

I hope I live long enough to see those days.  I’m 55. I have a couple of health issues, but hopefully they won’t slow me down too much. (That’s a ridiculous statement… I know stuff is going to slow me down…. that’s life, and age). 

Anyway, I’m going to go sniff around the kitchen and see if there is anything sweet to snack on. 

Peace y’all. 

Welcome to the 20, 178th day of my life. It has been a pretty good one. 

OK, I’m mad at Dane, but I’ll get over it. 

Raising a smart kid can be frustrating. Please feel free to explore that situation, as I hope to have grandchildren. 

Started off the day making sure the boy was up and ready for school.  Took the garbage out to the road – isn’t always the case that there is always just one more bag of trash to go out? I hope in your day and age you embrace to the idea of recycling everything. 

After that, I got to work on my potluck dinner entree. So, I need to check myself – the first thing I did after getting up was breaking out my Instant Pot and getting eight pounds of pork loin in there with some marinade and some other seasonings. 

I love the Kings Hawaiian dinner rolls. They all stick together, which means they lend themselves very well to having all of the cut in half horizontally in two nice pieces, just keep your bread knife level. 

I put together a spread of cream cheese and pineapple,  then spread that over the top, followed by the pressure-cooked pork loin. 

Only mistake I may have made was not making enough. They were all eaten. That makes a guy feel good. 

Now I get to ponder what I might do a little differently next time. 

I hope your life is going well. Remember, no matter where I am at, Grampa Bob loves you. 

Peace y’all. 

Hey gang! It’s a Thursday night and the Chiefs are playing host to the Los Angeles Chargers, and the fourth quarter is just underway with the Chiefs up by a touchdown. Right now the Chiefs are having better luck with penalties against the Chargers than they are with their offense.  We’re not moving the ball in a very reliable fashion at the moment. 

And then Travis Kelce hauls a pass in for a first down. I’ll take it. 

Chiefs just had a free play as the Chargers jumped offside, and bounced a touchdown pass off the receiver’s helmet in the end zone. Could’ve been a score. 

Oh well. And Kelce gets another first down. 

I’ve got some cooking to get up and do in the morning, making my sliders fr the company potluck. Need to wrap up my white elephant gift for the get together as well. 

Lisa is asleep next to me, and I’m texting my mom when the opportunity allows. She’s probably slipping back and forth between the game and the sleeping world. 

I’m just chilling out, waiting for Dane to get home. Then I’ll get the leftovers from dinner all put away and get ready for the rest of it. 

Another first down for the Chiefs. Hope they can get another score in. Hoping… it would be really nice to get this win under our belts. 

I’ve still got some Christmas shopping to get done. 

Hey, I hope your life is going well. Mine certainly is. 

Peace y’all. 

Good day… which might mean ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’, or ‘good evening’ depending on the time of day that you are reading this. 

For me, it is evening, about twenty minutes until nine-o’clock. It’s been a weird day for me, with a little later start, a run into the office to take a look at a few things. Filled out a little paperwork in anticipation of the company moving from Kansas into Missouri, and had a couple of conversations with the powers-that-be regarding new classes looming on the horizon. 

Finally got the right parts in to fix Lisa’s recliner. Let me tell you, there were two little Yorkie-mixes very happy with the living room sitting situation tonight. I love our dogs, and Freya currently has her fuzzy little chin sitting on Lisa’s shin, eyes shut in a blissful repast. 

I’ve got some ideas for the company White Elephant gift exchange on Friday. I’m going to whip up some pulled pork sliders for the pot luck.  I’ll work up a batch or two of pork in the Instant Pot, then make a mix of cream cheese and pineapple chunks for a spread. I’ll get some of those sweet Kings Hawaiian dinner rolls, cut them all down the middle, then put together my sliders. I’m hoping for a positive reception. 

That’s all I’ve got for now. Tomorrow’s entry will likely have something to do with the Chiefs-Chargers game, because that will be the focus of my attention in that time window. 

Peace y’all. 

Well, I’m trying to avoid a chronological disaster tonight. Apparently, last night I forgot to increment, so there are two Day 20,173s and no 20,174. I’ll leave it alone and just accept that I screwed up. 

We’re kind of having a family night at home. “Doctor Strange” is on the television, and Lisa had a small bowl of blueberry cheesecake ice cream, Bonnie went with the lime sherbet, and Dane went with a double vanilla… who even knew they made a double vanilla?

I’m sitting here in a recliner that doesn’t recline (but hopefully that gets resolved tomorrow). Bonnie is done with her finals, Lisa has to give one tomorrow, and Gracie has hers on Thursday, plus a little more time working on her studio project. 

Tomorrow I should make a run into the office and get some things ready for the move to the new building. Might grab a few more things to throw together for my white elephant gift for work on Friday. I need to figure out what I’m going to take as far as a food item. Maybe I’ll throw a pork shoulder in the Instant Pot and add a little pulled pork, pineapple and cream cheese sliders to the festivities. 

Yep… that sounds like a plan. 

May your day be blessed. 

Peace y’all. 

Another day, another blog entry. 

Hi guys. 

I forgot to post my daily “gratitude” post on Facebook, and my beloved wife noticed. I had written a gratitude post, but I guess I forgot to hit the post option. 

Got into a little debate on social media today, and I brought both barrels. Eventually one of the opposing participants in the debate essentially said that I was mean and that I took the fun out of online political debates. 

I asked him if he wanted a participation trophy. 

It’s not my fault that he took up a position diametrically opposed to mine. He’s a Trump supporter. He must’ve been a bit overwhelmed by recent news from the White House. Trump is on trouble. He’s still trying to be a cheerleader.  I kicked the stool out from underneath him, figuratively speaking. 

I’ll have to learn to live with myself. 

He said I go in for the “kill shot”. 

You know, I might be a liberal. I might not be as educated as folks with MBAs and PhDs. I might not be as well versed in the classics. 

But I do like to win. 

And when people post content that is based in idiocy, I’m going to call ’em out on it, most of the time. Sometimes I let it slide and let others take their shots first. 

But when people blatantly post lies, I’m going to call ’em out. 

It needs to be done. 

The truth matters. 

Peace y’all.