Ok. This one isn't political but it's my opinion. If you agree to play fantasy football, play the damn game! It is truly ok for you to play anyway you want of course but here's what I do. I watch every NFL game that's on TV all weekend even if they are not the Green Bay Packers. PIP works fine when there are two games on at one time. I ache for the start of the next week on Monday when one weekend is pretty much over. I'm chomping at the bit to look at next week's opponent even before the MNF game. On Tuesday it's all about trolling the internet for info on who's injured and who's hot and who's not. I make all my waiver claims and look forward to Wednesday morning when waivers have run. Wednesday through Sunday morning, I'm agonizing over who to start. I look fwd to Start'em and Sit'em on CBS and Love/Hate on ESPN which happen on Thursday and Friday.
I am the commish in two leagues now. One just got passed to me this past week and that league has several owners who don't pay any attention to their team. I'm jousting with one owner who knows his opponent, not one of those who are always absent, has two blanks in her lineup at this moment. I doubt she will fill them by herself and am tempted to use my commish power to do so. The still, small voice seems to be saying "leave it alone". Gonna do that. I played against a team last week that had 4 open slots because of an absentee owner and a commish who had no time to tend the league. That's how I got to be commish. Now one owner is complaining that I'm too hand's-on and my ego is out of control. Then there's this little devil on my shoulder who says "Go ahead and insert a RW and a WR off waivers in her lineup because her opponent (the complainer) will never know if it was commish or owner who did it." SSV says "It's still wrong even if you don't get caught."

Ciao, babies!

Updated Guitar story

I'm guessing it was probably about 1966 when I decided to buy my first guitar. I was a freshman in college and, of course, folk music was very popular at the time. We also had this group that played guitar at tne Newman center for the Catholic masses there.
Having a limited budget and not knowing anything about musical instruments (nobody in my family played anything except maybe a little piano and we didn't have one) I went to K-Mart and, for reasons I will never understand, bought a 12-string guitar.

I tried to tune it and it never sounded right so I began messing with the neck. I totally messed up the truss rod so as to make further adjusting impossible and decided to take the guitar back to K-Mart in Eau Claire. To my surprise and delight, they took it back and gave me a total refund. With this and possibly a little more cash, I went downtown to what I think was Day Music store and bought my 1946 Gibson LG-2. I think I paid $75 for it but that was so long ago it might not be accurate. That guitar has been my main instrument up until I started buying Taylors in 2006 so I guess that was about 40 years.

At some point, I decided I wanted ANOTHER guitar and I bought an Ovation acoustic/electric. I didn't buy an amp so there was no way for me to play it electically. The few times I did try to plug it in to someone else's amp, it would not play because the internal 9-volt battery was dead. Not having hardly ever played it that way, I didn't even know it HAD a battery. Then when I found out that you had to remove the strings to get at the battery through the sound hole, I was quite dismayed.
Comparing the sound of the Ovation to the sound of my Gibson always left me feeling flat. The Ovation had a wood top but plastic rounded back and sides and the tone just didn't do much for me. I eventually gave that guitar to my son Geoff and it currently resides in my closet because Geoff is in the process of moving.

The next guitar I bought was a Sigma by Martin 12-string. I thought it's 12-string sound would be good to play in church. I picked it up used at a small music store in Sheboygan. Those were the days before electronic tuners and I never was able to tune it so that it sounded in tune to me. It sat. I didn't play it.

In 2006, I decided that I wanted an acoustic/electric that I could play in church. I went looking at some music stores in Green Bay and eventually ended up at Heid Music. They had a quiet little humidity-controlled room and I was able to sit in there ALONE and play my C-Dm-G-Cmaj7 chord sequence from John Prine's "Hello in there". I HATE going into music stores and hearing young kids playing all kinds of impressive electric rifs while I strum my humble chords. I didn't want to spend much more than $1000 on this guitar and eventually settled on two of them. One was a Takamine with external 9-volt battery access and tone controls on the guitar and the other a Taylor 210e with battery access through the sound hole and no tone or volume controls. I must have switched back and forth between the two about 25 times before finally settling on the Taylor. The nice young sales person did not hover or stay with me. He just answered my questions as they came up and left me to myself. I didn't think I'd ever be able to afford a Taylor because any Taylor I'd ever seen was more than 2 grand in price. The 210e was my choice because I just loved the sound. It is a dreadnought design and has a very satisfying bass sound to it. Surprisingly, I was able to overlook its battery access issue and its lack of tone controls. I traded the Sigma 12-string in on the 210e since I really didn't want it anymore.

The sales guy showed me a Fender Acoustasonic Jr. amp which I used to demo the guitars in the sound room and, rather impulsively, I decided to buy it too. This has turned out to be a very good move in hindsight but it did exceed my self-imposed budget.

With the purchase of the Taylor 210e, I became entangled in Taylor's effective marketing web. They gave me my first real exposure to the need to keep my guitars in a humidity-controlled area especially in the winter when it gets so dry. (By this time, my Gibson had already cracked due to lack of proper humidity control) Taylor also hooked me by sending me their quarterly magazine "Wood and Steel". It is full of pictures of beautiful guitars and lots of Taylor-talk.

Thus, I began to yearn for an all-solid-wood Taylor guitar. The 210e has a solid wood top but the back and sides are made of a laminate. It, incidentally, began its life on March 16, 2006 and was the 11th guitar built that day. This can be deciphered from its serial number.

And so one day, on my way back home from Theresa's house near Monroe, I decided to stop at a music store in Madison to look at some Taylor guitars. Having looked at it's website, I zeroed in on Madison Music, Inc., a small store located on the beltline. To my delight, they must have had at least a dozen Taylors in stock including one whose top, back and sides were Hawaiian Koa. To me, Koa is just breathtakingly beautiful and I SO wanted a Koa guitar. I asked the salesman if I could play it and he took it down for me and led me to their acoustic room. At the time, I really had no intention of buying a guitar and since the Koa listed for about $3000, buying was the furthest thing from my mind. As the salesman brought various other guitars in for me to play and without really pushing he suggested that the 714ce-LTD might be worth a look. It is a special guitar as in the spring and fall Taylor makes a limited run of guitars out of woods that normally would be much more expensive if custom ordered. When comparing the Koa guitar to the 714ce-LTD, I much preferred the sound of the 714. The Koa was not as rich and "boomy" and I guess I like "rich and boomy". A seed was planted and as I sat strumming the 714, I got the crazy idea to buy it. It remains my nicest guitar and the one that cost the most. It has a beautiful bright and boomy sound and I love it.

When I decided to retire in January of 2010, the idea came to me that I might never be able to afford another guitar. I had been eying one of the Taylor "hybrid" guitars, the T5. This is a thin-bodied heavier guitar with a 5-position switch which selects different combinations of the three pickups built in to the guitar. You can go from straight acoustic to twangy electric. I decided to spend my last paycheck on a guitar and set out looking for a store that had a T5 in stock. Through the internet, I discovered that the only place within Wisconsin was Jim Laabs Music in Stevens Point. They had two in stock and it turned out that there was special "factory pricing" on each which saved me several hundred dollars over the going retail price. I drove from DePere over to Stevens Point one day and ended up settling on a beautiful clear maple topped T5 custom. It has a much more twangy electric quality which fits certain of my songs better than a traditional acoustic. Thus, I was up to three Taylors.

A couple years ago, I put a Baby Taylor Mahogany on my Christmas list. I had owned a Martin backpacker guitar for a couple years but its tone and body form just did not cut it for me as a travel guitar. The "broomstick" design was really hard for me to hold and it was so small that its tone just barely sounded like a guitar. I gave this guitar to my daughter and she is using it to learn to play.
I never expected to get the Baby Taylor but Liz bought it for me and it has become my travel guitar. It's sound is "decent" for a small guitar and I enjoy playing it on the road as well as just grabbing it to figure out chords for songs that I can't find on the Internet. This became my 4th Taylor.

Having retired and dedicating myself to putting up covers of songs on YouTube, I began thinking about buying a nylon string guitar to play when I wanted to feature my voice on a particular soft song. I had not spent the entire final paycheck on the T5 and there was enough left over to purchase a Taylor NS24ce, the bottom-of-the-line nylon string guitar. I purchased it from a music store in Oklahoma via Ebay and was very pleased to note that though it was advertised as "used", it was virtually indistinguishable in any way from brand new. The price as also less than a new model and it just fit into the amount I had left to "spend" from my final paycheck. This was my 5th Taylor and I hoped it was my final guitar.

Then the worms started to creep into my brain again. They began to whisper "Twelve-string". I wanted a 12 because of the unique acoustic sound that they offer. I do not see myself ever becoming an electric player and I wanted that twelve-string sound to add to the diversity of my music videos on YouTube as well as offering me another attractive option for playing in church. Naturally, I had come to rely on the quality and sound of the Taylor brand and I began looking online for a less-expensive 12-string guitar. I felt that the bottom-of-the-line Taylor would be plenty enough quality for me and settled on the 354ce. The price that everyone (Musician's Friend, Guitar Center, every other vendor) advertised on the Internet was $1800 and this was for a 2010 model with Sapelle back and sides. I looked on Ebay and found a used 354ce for $1359 plus $55 shipping. It is a 30th Anniversary model limited edition with African Mahogany back and sides. After some discussion, I decided to purchase this guitar and it is Taylor #6. It was made in 2004 on May 14th and was the 50th guitar built that day. It is in excellent condition though the top has begun to yellow a bit. I am very pleased and I just love that 12-string tone!

At some point, I'll probably do another video on my guitars so that people can see what they all look like. For now, this is my Guitar Story and I hope to stick to it!!

Memorial Day Weekend Camping at Peninsula State Park

The weather this year was unbelievable for a Memorial Day weekend.  Forecast for Fish Creek was 79 on Saturday and 82 on Sunday and it was every bit of that.  Just to make it interesting though, we got a thunderstorm on Sunday night just so all of our stuff had to be packed up wet.  At least it didn't rain during the day.

This was perhaps our largest ever DeKeyser-Possley-Wolfert gathering.  Attendees this year:

Shirley Wolfert of Sheboygan Falls, WI, her son Chris and his wife Marla who live in Chicago.

Jim and Kathy DeKeyser (Currently Jim lives in Trabuco Canyon CA and Kathy lives in a suburb of Chicago near the airport and the expectation is that Jim will soon relocate there as well), their son Bill and his wife  Michelle (due to give birth in January) of Trabuco Canyon, CA, their son Nick and his fiance Melissa (due to give birth in August) of Houston, TX, Nick's son Andrew(5) of Dallas, TX and their son Daniel of Trabuco Canyon, CA.

George and Liz Possley of Hingham, WI, their daughter Theresa and her husband Robin Nelson of Monroe, WI, their two sons, Conner (3) and Reece (1), their son Geoff and his wife Laura of Oshkosh, WI and their son Carter (9 mo).

That's 20 people ranging in age from 9 mo. to 62+ years and arriving by air from all over the country.

It was again a wonderful reunion and a good time was had by all.  We camped at Tennison Bay 202, 206 and 207.   It would appear that next year we may need 4 sites but that remains to be seen.

George, Chris, Geoff and Dan played golf on Saturday at the Peninsula State Park Golf Course.  Scores were 42, 52, 54 and 64 on the front nine and they played 10 and 11 just to take advantage of a little of the twilight rate.

Nearly the entire group attended Mass at Stella Maris Parish in Fish Creek on Sunday morning.  After the traditional Sunday breakfast of pancakes, bacon and fruit salad, a hike was made to Not Licked Yet Custard Stand in Fish Creek.  About half the party braved the 3 mile hike back to camp after stuffing themselves on custard creations of all kinds.  The Flavor of the Day was Red Raspberry.

This is the 24th year with only one or two interruptions that these families have camped together on Memorial Day weekend and of course, we plan to do it again next year when our ranks may swell by the two children that are being carried by Bill and Nick's mates.

A highlight of the weekend was when Andrew and Conner danced like whirling dervishes while George played "Gloria" and "Midnight Hour" on his guitar.  Such dancing has never been seen before!  Pictures may appear on FaceBook soon.

That's it for now.

Ciao, babies!

Recent summary:

Perhaps this is a good time to catch up on a few things that have happened to me lately.

On January 1, 2010, after being off work for two weeks because of Christmas Break, I woke up at 5 a.m. with the strong feeling that I didn't want to go back to work.....ever. I asked my boss on Jan. 5 if I could work the rest of the week, take two weeks to think about it and then retire. He agreed. I have no regrets as of this day.

I have stayed home and tried to be a "house husband" to Liz. I keep after the dishes and Liz has not had to wash too many since my official retirement in late January. I do all the laundry and I prepare the evening meal.

The rest of my time is spent reading the comments on news stories and editorial pages in the Sheboygan Press and participating in the discussions. Even more so than that, I have launched into playing guitar and singing. I have purchased two more Taylor guitars, a 714ce LTD last June and an NS24ce a couple weeks ago. I tried to sell the 210e but after a few low-ball offers I pulled it off the market and will keep it. I now have 5 Taylor guitars and a Gibson and I play all of them.

As of this date, I have more than two dozen video recordings of myself playing and singing on my YouTube channel http://youtube.com/geoman7447

I have been actively recording a song or two each day since March 5th of this year.

I have also begun to attend social gatherings of musicians in the area. They are called Open Mic / Jam Sessions and are hosted regularly. I have attended in Saukville, Random Lake and last night in Sheboygan at the Wesley United Methodist Church. It was a small as it's ever been last night as there were only 8 of us present. People bring guitars, dobro, violin (fiddle), harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukelele and even a steel pedal guitar. Typically, everyone sits in a circle and they pass a microphone around and each person in turn leads a song of their choosing. The leader will tell the guitarists what chords are contained in the song and then sing it into the microphone as everyone else strums, picks, blows, shakes, pounds or does whatever else is musical. Verses are played without singing so that the solo musicians like the dobro player, blues harp guys, and other instrumentalists can play a verse as well. It's a group of mostly older people (over 40 by vast majority) with some as old as probably 80? There is sandwiches, soup and other snacks provided by the host and by anyone else who cares to. I'm amazed and very pleased that this kind of thing is available to me. I feel I fit in quite well with my degree of familiarity with guitar chord playing.

Our new garage and sunroom were completed last fall and I'm writing this in the sunroom. Both have transformed our home into a much more wonderful place for the long haul to eternity.

I have contracted with a landscaper to come in and plant a lawn as about 60% of our lawn was torn up to put in some tiling to handle drainage and to move some electrical lines underground. The lawn should be planted in the next week or so.

Last night, I also found that some of my musician friends regularly to to Elkhart Lake with their kayaks. Since I've been looking for someone to kayak with, this is a double windfall for me. We'll see where this goes but one thing is certain.

Retirement is marvelous!!

Ciao, babies!!

Spring Break Trip to Savannah

Liz and I decided to travel to Savannah, GA for our Spring Break Get-Away this year. I booked a room at the Rodeway Inn on Tybee Island a couple weeks before we departed. I did this through Priceline after using Kayak.com to search for deals. The room was $49.99 per night and I was pleased with this rate. About a week after making the reservation, I began to look at some of the reviews of this motel. They were abominable!! One person said, "Sleep on the beach if you have to but don't stay here." I began investigating other options. The hotels in the Historical District were all over a hundred bucks per night and the other low-cost options were out near the airport. Tybee Island is right on the Atlantic coast and the beach is just one block away from the Rodeway. I decided to stick with it and move if it was intolerable.

We got off on Saturday at about 8 a.m. and got through Chicago without too much of a delay. We stopped in Lebanon, Indiana for lunch at Denny's and fuel and then headed down the road. Things got a little dicey as we hit Nashville, TN just about when it was time to get off the road and find a motel. We headed down the Interstate and pulled off in Murfreesboro, TN to what seemed a motel heaven. There were a good half-dozen motels right along the freeway and we figured it would be a cinch to find a cheap place to stay. WRONG! The first place had a sign on the door that said "No Vacancy" and so did the second. I was just about to get back on the freeway when I decided to try the Day's Inn for a last shot. They had a room for $80 which we took. It was dark already and we were both tired. It turns out that the HORSE SHOW was in town and there were people from all over the country in attendance. We went to the Crackerbarrel restaurant and waited for about a half hour to get seated but it was worth the wait.

Sunday promised to be an exciting day of travel since most of the first day's travel is flat, flat, flat. I managed to use the B setting on the tranny of my Prius when we went down the first big mountain descent. The squirrels under the hood screamed but it did what it was supposed to do. It used the motor to slow the car down so I didn't have to sit on the brakes. Hearing about yet another inexplicable acceleration incident with a 2008 Prius on the news that morning didn't help my confidence but the odds of it happening to a given person are so slim that I took heart.

We stopped at a McDonalds in Forsyth, GA for lunch after having navigated past Atlanta. I like to stick with rural stops for motels and restaurants and this was a little more urban than I was comfortable with but sometimes you just don't have that choice not knowing what's just down the road.

We arrived at our destination of Tybee Island, GA in late afternoon. When I went into the motel office, I was immediately assailed with an odor that I associate with unfamiliar cooking. There was a bell on the top of the counter of the kind that has a little button that you push to make it ring. This bell, composed completely of metal, was covered entirely with rust. This was not a good sign. An old dark-skinned India gentleman came out. English was definitely not his first language. I ended up giving him the Priceline hotel info and he checked us in. We got the key cards and headed for our room. The door, a large metal one, had numerous places where the paint was scratched off. We walked in and the room smelled clean but the whole impression was of a motel that was very old and had not been maintained. The TV, a 27" CRT had a red tinge to its picture. I didn't even try to adjust it out as I figured this was a symptom of a failing, overused tube which probably could not be configured out. There was no internet of any kind provided at all. The light in the bathroom was a bare energy-efficient bulb. When we tried the shower, the water was warm at best. The coffee pot worked and the king-size bed was comfortable and clean. They didn't come in to clean the room on Monday and when I asked about towels, the younger India gentleman (also quite old) told me that if we brought in our dirty towels he'd give us fresh ones. They did come in and provide fresh towels and a new coffee packet on Tuesday so apparently they only do that every other day. When we came back to the motel on Tuesday, our key cards would not work. We went to the office and the younger India gentleman said he wanted to give us some bananas. He gave me this old laminated newspaper article about him and his commitment to healthy eating. He eats no meat, drinks no water and only eats vegetables. We accepted the bananas which were very good but I can't help but think that he de-activated our key cards just to get us to come in.

Monday morning we went to breakfast at the Sugar Shack. We had located it via the large armfull of brochures we had picked up on the motel office upon our arrival. At the Sugar Shack, we were greeted by an old woman whose white hair was matted and unattractive. She explained that we could order at the counter and she would bring it out to us. The place had paint peeling off the walls. We didn't go back there for breakfast.

After breakfast we headed in to Savannah. It's about a 15 mile trip through salt marsh and creeks. We decided to take some walking tours the first of which started at 10 a.m. and was called Savannah Stroll. A lanky man in a slouch hat and carrying a wooden walking stick named Bill led this tour. We learned that he had been doing these tours for THE PAST 37 YEARS! He told us about the orderly way that Savannah was laid out with a series of open squares. There are 22 of the original 24 squares still in existence and plans to revert back to the last two as well.

In the afternoon, following lunch at a place called Leopolds (which Bill recommended), we took the Civil War walking tour with Rob. He took us down to River street where the cotton used to be sold. It is quite well restored to the way it was before the Civil War and it was fascinating to behold. When we had lunch, we learned that there were going to be a HALF MILLION people in town for St. Patrick's day. Apparently River Street in Savannah over St. Pats day is like Bourbon Street in New Orleans over Mardi Gras.

Sunday night we dined at Sting Rays, a seafood restaurant just a few blocks down from our motel. We sat in a "porch" that was crudely tacked on to the front of the building and dined at a table that was made of plywood and looked like something I could make. I had the Low Country boil which featured that largest shrimp I have ever had to peel and what most likely was Hilshire Farm sausage. I was hoping for some kind of locally-made sausage. The shrimp was awesome and the boiled red potatoes were also very tasty.

Monday we dined at The Crab Shack. We had to drive down a long narrow lane to get to the place and it was as much an attraction as a restaurant. They had a pool with young alligators out front and a very extensive arrangement of open air seating. We ate inside and it was an experience. The tables were also made of plywood but there was a 12 inch hole cut in the middle of the table with a square platform above the hole. We ordered the Crab Shack special platter for two and they placed this huge platter containing boiled shrimp, snow crab legs, crawfish, stone crab claws and mussels as well as the apparently obligatory Hillshire Farm sausage, boiled red potatoes and corn on the cob. We cracked and shucked and chowed down frequently tearing off paper towels from the roll provided. We did some serious damage to the platter except for the sausage and potatoes. All the crab and shrimp and crawfish were consumed and we left very satisfied.

Tuesday, we decided to take a trolley tour and a river cruise. We had breakfast at the Sunrise Restaurant down near Sting Ray's and the blueberry pancakes were a big improvement over the Sugar Shack. After driving to Savannah and parking in a lot recommended by Bill, we bought tickets for the 10 a.m. Trolley tour on Oglethorp Trolleys and the 2 p.m. river cruise on the Georgia Queen. The trolley tour was very enjoyable as we were able to cover much more ground than we had on the walking tours and the narrator, a Savannah native and a firefighter, was excellent. I had a Reuben sandwich at a little bar/restaurant on River Street. The waitress had recently moved to Savannah from New Jersey and was "deer in the headlights" about the prospect of all the people likely to be there on St. Patrick's Day.

The cruise on the Georgia Queen, a large boat with a likely fake paddlewheel on the back, was pretty much of a bore except for the huge container ship that passed us on the Savannah River. I find those things fascinating mostly because of their huge size and majesty. We sat with a recently retired 3rd grade teacher from Niagara Falls, Canada and her husband. They commented on the health care situation in Canada after I asked them about it. They said there were some long waits for non-critical things but that generally they felt the system works well. They were skeptical about the US's ability to pass significant health care legislation feeling it was "too late in the game" for it to happen.

Tuesday night, we dined at Uncle Bubba's, a restaurant nearer to Savannah that we had seen on the drive to Tybee. I had fried seafood for the first time on this trip. The scallops were huge and tasty and the Catch of the Day fish was so-so. Uncle Bubba's is located along a creek and the view would have been better had they been willing to raise the blinds but the blinds were old and they were unwilling to mess with them.

After another breakfast of Blueberry Pancakes at the Sunrise Restaurant, we departed Wednesday morning for Fort Pulaski. This fort is located about half way between Tybee Island and Savannah. We tromped around the fort on yet another beautiful sunny day (we were very blessed with great weather all week) learning that the Confederacy claimed the fort by walking in and taking over just after Georgia had seceded. There were only one officer and a caretaker manning this Federal fort at the time. The Union army then won the fort using rifled cannon from secret emplacements on Tybee Island after the Confederacy foolishly decided not to defend it. We didn't eat any lunch on Wednesday. When we left the fort, we decided to explore Cockspur Island and happened to see a container ship go by on the Savannah River.

Wednesday afternoon, we went to Captain Mike's Dolphin tours and prepared to go out looking for bottle-nose dolphins. I was the first on the boat to see a dolphin! We pretty much dogged that one dolphin for about a half hour before motoring back.

On Wednesday night, we ate at MacElwees Restaurant which is right across from the Sugar Shack. We decided to go with Tenderloin and shrimp and were not disappointed. I wasn't crazy about the dill seasoning on the steak but the meal was enjoyable nonetheless.

On Thursday morning, we ate for the third time at the Sunrise Restaurant and then headed for home. We trusted the GPS unit to get us out of Savannah and it did. The bad news is that we found ourselves heading over the magnificent bridge over the Savannah River that we had not crossed in entering Savannah. I said "What the heck" as the GPS took us up to South Carolina. Little did I realize the consequences of that decision. Our route took us into the mountains and we were quite hungry and down to a blinking single bar on the fuel gauge when we motored into Hendersonville, North Carolina and another Crackerbarrel. We had the fish special (since it's a Friday in Lent and we are observing Catholics) and then headed back out on the road. Soon we began to see signs of some kind of detour for I-40. It turns out that there was a rockslide on October 25, 2009 and the road was still not re-opened. We stuck with the Interstate detour to Johnson City, TN rather than try the two-lane mountain road route that might have been shorter but likely much more "thrilling". If you do a search on "I-40 rockslide", you can see photos and videos about this rockslide.

We drove until we got to Williamsburg, Kentucky before packing it in for the night at a Super 8. Again, I did all the driving on the trip down and back and this leg was a particularly long one with the added hour because of the detour.

Friday morning, we drove again until we found a Crackerbarrel somewhere....This thing is getting so long I can't even remember where we were yesterday.

The GPS led us unwittingly to the Chicago Skyway which turned out to be a good decision. Traffic from I-65 on to 80-94 west was unbelievable and backed up for miles as we sped by heading for the Dunes Highway. When we got to the Dunes Highway, we realized we didn't want it and went on to the Skyway. Chicago traffic was a bit of stop and go until we got north of downtown and the going was great until we got near home. The fog was so thick I almost missed the turn for W to Hingham. I was down to about 35mph and still could not see where I was going.

The trip on Friday was much nicer than on Thursday because it rained all day. Of course this beats by a mile the trip home from Charleston when we hit a blizzard going around Chicago.

It was a very successful and enjoyable vacation in 2010. I hope you have enjoyed my account.

Ciao, babies!!

Guns! Rights! Public Safety.

Yes. I opened a can of worms. I posted the following on Facebook. "Ok. These folks that want to push this "open carry" issue have got my attention. I don't agree with them. The last thing this society needs is more people packing heat. How would you like to live in a society where someone could draw and shoot you if they were drunk, high or menopausal?"Except I disagree for one reason, the people that are shooting people for your reasons are going to be the people that have their guns illegally. The people that go about it the proper way by getting licensed, are not going to ruin their life by doing stupid things. They value their rights and spend their time and money to do it legal and are not going to just shoot someone. I used to be licensed in MN and when you go through the process, you respect it and don't want to lose it. I value my rights and will not sit back and let people that are afraid like you try to take them away from me. What's next, will we have to license our kitchen knives because someone used one once to stab someone?"

Regarding: "The people that go about it the proper way by getting licensed, are not going to ruin their life by doing stupid things." People who are drunk, high, mentally ill, under extreme duress for any reason, often do things that are illogical or "stupid" if you will. Are you trying to make a case that anybody who goes through the process of getting a license for a gun would not dare to ever drink too much or use drugs? Is there any test that can be devised that would guarantee that a person carrying a loaded handgun would not mistakenly shoot it in such a way as to harm another person? Guns give a human the ability to very quickly end the life of another human or injure that person in an instant. If more people are allowed to carry HANDguns, then still more people will feel it is also necessary to carry a gun for "protection". The more guns there are, the more accidents there will be. The more guns their are the more children will find them. The more guns there are, the more people will do tragic things with them whether these are licensed guns or licensed people. There is no way to take the "human element" out of this equation.

Now about your rights: Patrick said: "I value my rights and will not sit back and let people that are afraid like you try to take them away from me." While I have this male thing that makes my emotions swell when somebody accuses me of being afraid, I can admit that, yes, I am afraid. I do not want my loved ones, my children, my grandchildren or anybody to have to live in a society where weapons are carried routinely by citizens exercising their rights. The interpretation of the Constitution of the United States to the effect that citizens have the UNFETTERED RIGHT to carry a weapon troubles me for two reasons. First of all, the authors of the Constitution were fearful that the British would try to come and re-claim their new country. The only way they could defend themselves was the same way they had won their independence. This was by citizen-soldiers who carried rifles. Today, citizen soldiers with rifles will not protect us from our NATIONAL enemies. Second, even if the constitution currently gives the right to "bear arms", the Constitution can be changed. IF the courts interpret the Constitution as giving US citizens the right to carry HANDGUNS then I would join the side which would seek to AMEND the Constitution. It has been Amended before and it will be again.

The NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION, in my opinion, continues to pursue an agenda that says to its members, "ANY restriction WHATEVER on the use of any kind of firearm is a dilution of our rights and is to be fought with all of our might."Thus, those who belong to the NRA will fight laws that seek to restrict things like submachine guns. These guns allow criminals to possess more firepower than police with predictable results. Restricting these weapons would not keep these weapons totally out of the hands of criminals. I know that. But laws against them would make it harder for criminals to hide them, import them, and use them. It would also make it easier to put them in prison for longer periods of time.

I'm not against people owning guns for hunting or target shooting. I do think that the types of guns should be restricted by law. You want to hunt with a handgun? Fine! Keep it locked unless you are in a place where wild things live. If you want to carry a gun in public, I have no problem as long as you keep a trigger lock on it until you are in a place where you are authorized to use it, like a rural area where hunting is legal or a firing range. If you are found with an unlocked HANDGUN outside of an authorized LOCATION then your weapon should be confiscated and you should be jailed or fined to an extent that would deter you from doing so again. Firearms that allow you to fire in such a way that they can puncture standardized vests worn by police or in a repeating fashion should be restricted to licensed collectors and even then be required to be disabled so as not to allow them being fired.

I know my brother has guns including handguns. I love my brother very much and do not mean to mess with his pleasure. I trust him because I know him. I have never seen his handgun(s?) and hope I never do.

So, yes, if I walk into a restaurant in Sheboygan and notice people at the bar carrying handguns, I'm probably going to leave. I don't fear guns. I fear people with guns. I will continue to express my opinion against the proliferation of guns and support laws that restrict guns and ammunition. If you have any evidence that may change my mind, I welcome your input. I am just a man and, as such, am often poorly educated and lacking in experience. I promise to try to keep a mind that is open enough to listen to you and a spirit that respects you no matter what your opinions are.

I wish you peace, Patrick, and welcome your thoughts.

Ciao, babies!

There's no going back now.

I've had my conversation with my boss, Tom Smith, and all will move forward as planned. I'll go to SNC tomorrow for my official last day of work. They will take me to lunch at the Abbey with the whole department. From 2-4 p.m. there will be a reception for me down the hall from my cubicle. After that, I'll drive down the road INTO the sunRISE. The sun will rise on a new chapter in my life. As I've repeated often since Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds the future.
Today, I managed to upload a song that I recorded to my Facebook profile. I recorded it here in the sunroom using my M-Audio Firewire Solo mixer and my MacBook Pro using Garageband. I wrote the file from Garageband to an MP3 file on my computer. I had to sign up with a website called ReverbNation in order for them to host my song. That means I had to upload it to their server. They then provide an Application that I put in my profile on Facebook and presto-George, my recording is available for you to stream.
The song is titled "These Roads Don't Move" and it is from Jay Farrar of the band Son Volt and Ben Gibbard of the band Death Cab for Cutie. You can see them perform it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXfUSmdGa6E
I'll be adding more songs although ReverbNation limits me to 8MB of space for free. It's about $30 per year for them to host "unlimited" amounts of my songs so I'll probably just keep only two or three on my Facebook profile at any given time. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time and it's what retirement is meant to allow me to do.
That's it for now.

Ciao, babies!

Hot TV deals

The phone rang while I was on the treadmill this morning at about 8:20 a.m. I answered. The lady said, "Good morning, may I speak to Mr. Possley." I replied, "This is Mr. Possley." She said, "Mr. Possley, we'd like to thank you for your purchase of the Pet Zoom Pet Park." I said, "If you are going to give me any other offers or try in any way to sell me anything, please stop right now." She said, after a slight pause, (no doubt to check her script), "Mr. Possley, have you been validated?" I hung up.

The Pet Zoom Pet Park is a mat that you put on the floor where your dog is supposed to pee. We use pet pads because we are not able to take Gidget outside to pee. The pet pads are smelly and expensive. I don' t know if this $35 Pet Park will be any help but am willing to take the chance that it might.

I'm writing this because this is the second time in the past few months that I have ordered one of these highly advertised TV items over the internet and been targeted with additional marketing. The first time, was when I ordered a device for cleaning the inside of your windshield. It is a handle with a pad on the end. Having to reach over to get all the edges of the inside of a windshield can be quite difficult.

When I ordered the Windshield Wizard, after giving my credit card information (don't roll your eyes or give me advice, I've been doing it for years), I was besieged with at least SIX additional offers wanting me to buy an additional item at reduced cost, insurance, and related items. It seemed like forever before I could complete the transaction. A few days after I ordered the Wizard, I began to notice phone calls that had been made to our home phone but no message left. Once they finally got through, I was able to determine that this was marketing follow-up to my order of a ten dollar piece of plastic. It took a couple phone calls to get them to go away but they have.

So the point of this message is to tell the reader my experience and my opinion.

"Marketing" in today's world is pretty much lying for a living. These people are clever and I have to hand it to them. They can sell a clever product, one that attracts your attention, and use it to gain access to the ability to try and attract you to spend more money on things you may not be interested in.

I don't go to the mall very often. Maybe I will now that I have retired. I know that they do sell, or at least the last time I was there they did, TV offer merchandise at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Perhaps I'll call there to see if I can buy the item at BB&B before I order online again.

Otherwise, I believe that my proactive preparedness, helped to fend off today's telemarketer. Hopefully, they will not further target me.

I had that lady scrambling for her script. She probably blew it by giving me a chance to talk so early in the conversation. I am so tempted to use derogatory names for such telemarketers. That said, some people sell drugs or their bodies to "keep the wolf away from the door". I don't have the right to judge what other people have to do for a living. God bless all telemarketers! And God give me the strength to deal with them with compassion.

Ciao, babies!

Day 3 Retirement Report Card.

Ok. Let's dispense with your initial guffaws over the short time frame. Yes, I am STILL IMPULSIVE AND still always defending myself.

Here are some facts dealing with my first two days of separation from St. Norbert College active employment:

1. I have been up before 6 a.m. every day.

2. I have increased my time on the treadmill from 30 minutes (on days when I went to work) to 45 minutes.

3. Still eating the same breakfast of two PB&J sandwiches. Going to lose the J when the jar is empty.

4. One additional AA meeting yesterday at 10 a.m. in Plymouth. Met several people I have not seen in years.

5. Paid my property taxes and my homeowners insurance.

6. Paid off all my Fantasy Football and Pick'em Pool winners.

7. Had supper on the table at 6 p.m. for Liz both days. Ok. It WAS frozen pizza on Monday but I made spaghetti (love hearing Conner say spa ge DEE). Tonight it might be something out of a box, or maybe I'll live on the edge and try something else.

8. I am totally at peace with my decision to quit working.

9. Did my push-ups (30-35 from the knees) on Monday and today.

10. Had nice long conversations with each of my brothers on the phone yesterday.

11. Received a call from the General Service Office in New York about some things I had ordered. That would have been a phone tag thing had I been working.

12. Watched two movies. Revenge of the Nerds on DVD on my computer in the sunroom on Monday and Funny People yesterday afternoon/evening on TWC PPV.

13. Have not peeked at Footprints nor do I intend to. Checked SNC email and realized that some people are responding to my "I'm retired" auto-reply message.

14. Am very relieved at not having to care whether some student who asks for a job gets a quick response, whether Andy is having trouble with the consultant schedule or whether anybody is experiencing any discomfort because of my absence.

Today? I'm going to do whatever the heck I want.

Ciao, babies!

The naked perceptions of one on the brink:

I happened to mention my frequent musing about retiring or not retiring in a Facebook post a few days ago. My brother Joe, retired for a couple years and several years my junior, said, "Why not? Do it!". My cousin said "Go for it!"

Then, on New Year's Eve, our friend Shirley, retired from teaching for a couple years was our guest. I asked her if she still liked what she was doing and she said she did. She said she decided to quit because of the change in superintendents that was imminent and because of some of the new requirements including those related to technology.

These things were swimming around in my mind.

When I awoke at 5 a.m. on New Year's day the decision was "there". I lay in bed having "gone around the bend".

Pro: I'm 62 and can start Social Security whenever I want.

I'm healthy enough to do whatever I want to do without being limited by my body.

That 3 hours per day on the road will be missed but I can take a ride in the Kettles if I want to see trees, turkeys and sunrises.

"Going out on top". No unpleasantness of any kind to act as a springboard. This is very important to me.

I want more freedom to pursue things that time won't allow right now. Singing? Coffeehouses? Volunteer work? Visiting the kids whenever they can put up with me? Being available to help when needs arise? Making Liz's days a little easier by making dinner and doing some cleaning? Ok. Let's be realistic. I am, after all, basically lazy. Perhaps I'm bordering on the idealistic.

Con: The wonderful people I work with and those I serve.

Being "involved" in the evolution of technology.

Having people to talk to about tech stuff.

The pride of owning a job in the technology field.

A decent salary.

The security of employment.

A place to go on a regular basis and the built-in motivation that comes with it.

The satisfaction of helping people and being valued. People think I know more than I do.

Have I forgotten any really obvious things here? Sure. I'm human. I will continue to try and listen to God.

Time to make breakfast and be with my beautiful grandsons. More later. Maybe lots more.

---Ciao, babies!!