The Best of 2014

It was a very good year with lots of changes, all good ones and we are thankful.
We will finish with random thoughts:
Betsy Vann's old Chevy, found in Mineral Wells, TX. I let it stay there.

Last awful pun for 2014:

 There's no place like chrome for the Hollandaise.

A new toilet control found at a nice hotel in Durham, or was it Duke hospital? I forget, but somehow or another with this control you something or another...................maybe

Dink's health continues to ebb away, but she had some fun with all of her great grandchildren around for a very busy time at Hospice. Although Wednesday morning she was sitting up doing her crochet work, the last few days has seen her grow weaker. 

And this is our youngest angel, beautiful Christmas picture to finish. 

T Minus 6 Days

We had a great time in Savannah, still hard to believe that we've never been downtown in that old city before. We ate and drank like condemned people for a few short days and really did get away from most of it............I think we were trying to get into our Christmas fighting weight before the actual holidays.

Pictures? Yes:

Add your own caption, and yes, Santa was smiling

I sat with the pastor of this church in a plane a couple of years ago and I asked if this church was PCUSA or PCA, he said "independent." I asked for how long, he answered "since 1755" Must be a colonial thing. This is one of the scenes of the feather in Forrest Gump. Now, how did we know each other is Presbyterian? My guess is that it was meant to be......no, that's where this story goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. I was reading a book our session was assigned and he asked if I was a pastor. I know I know I know, but that story is true. 

I took this picture for Marie, good idea of how near big ships come to the river walk area.

Olympia Restaurant. One word: stop what you're doing right now and go there as quickly as you can. OK, that was more than one word.

OPA! Hope you enjoy it, I doubt if they will let us back in. Thanks for the heads up from the Highs who unfortunately will probably not be allowed in either. We shouldn't have mentioned their names.

 I haven't the foggiest, but there it is

The owner of these two fine animals told us how the short-hair pointers  discovered her wrapped Harry and David Christmas presents earlier and then "got into it" with the rest of them. I asked if I could take a picture to remind me why I don't need a dog.

We had fun, and thanks to all for covering us.

Dink is comfortable at Hospice, but is losing some short term memory. We have to always qualify that with the fact that she is still pretty sharp for a 1923 model. I talked with her one night from Texas this week and she was happy to tell me she had three desserts that night. Screw diabetes!

Prince George's parents published this picture this week

Do you think they were separated at birth?

I do. 

Pictures? No. Today I sit at Duke Hospital with my wife as she gets the "thing" on the tip of her nose taken off. Good news, it was only one mm deep and they are already patching it with skin from her ear. She joked with the doctor that she wanted to get her eyes done at the same time. They're laughing and my hands are shaking, glad everybody is having fun. She's tough and this ain't no time to lose your nerve. Sadly it reminds me of Jackson getting his tonsils out at UNC-CH years ago, not everyone in this waiting room is getting good news. 

And this weekend we will prepare our house for Christmas, I promise. I've done most of my work, getting the tree in the house and the boxes down from the attic. From here on it's pretty easy: drink Scotch and stay out of the way. I'm kidding. 

But in the mean time let's all relax and enjoy the sounds of the season, because I've been a good boy all year and I think Santa is bringing me a red one. If you're at work put on your headphones, either way turn up the volume and enjoy the symphony:

Sorry, saw that this week and I couldn't resist. Merry Christmas

And So This Is Christmas.............

That was a Lennon song I liked from the 70's, do you remember the tune? The official Lennon video for this song was a little too rough, too many brutal war images.

Last year TAR and I noticed many families who told us they just "weren't into Christmas" and this year we've joined that group. I can't put my finger on why, I have a lot of reasons and excuses but that is the way it is. The tree is in the sun room, the boxes are accessible, maybe we'll go back to old Christmas traditions and decorate on Christmas Eve. And this is the beginning of our decorations:

From the internet: old Abe could turn a phrase, but I thought Ben Franklin, Winston Churchill or Jesus Christ said this, or maybe Disraeli. My sons know that when I ask them who said "this" one of the names in this paragraph is a 95% bet.

So we ran away. Despite everything we have balancing in the air we took our 4 day weekend and went to Savannah. Got in late last night and relaxed with a great dinner at the Old Pink House. Who knows what the rest of the weekend will bring. It is hard to believe that in all of my travels I haven't managed to get into downtown Savannah!

Dink is very comfortable at Hospice. She is getting weaker but seems to enjoy the attention that not only our family but also and especially the staff gives her. After years of watching her diet due to diabetes she now enjoys coconut cake and chocolate almost daily. And good for her.

Off to Texas Monday, back home Thursday night and up to Durham late Thursday night. Seems as though TAR needs a procedure Friday, more on that later. Told you, lots of balls in the air. Oh, and so this is Christmas.........................

Getting A Little Dark

First of all on a happy note we watched Peter Pan last night, and no, I won't grow up, It was fun and live, and oh my, did Tinkerbell call Wendy a "silly ass" twice and tell the Lost Boys to "shoot the Wendy Bird" And they did! Oh my indeed, Tinkerbell was evil, didn't remember that from my childhood. Jackson commented that Christopher Walken looked like he was making it up as he went along; OK, respectable enough job, but I'm not so sure he wasn't a bit tipsy. And all of the pirates looked a bit, well a lot but I must be PC................ Now let's get dark, who can come up with a joke about Walken on a boat, here's a starter: what kind of Wood doesn't float?  

Been hearing a lot of artillery from Camp LeJeune this week, hope we still are holding it.
30 Rock had this dialog in 2009 while Jack was trying to get Tracy to come back to the show:

Before the most recent wave of sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby began to turn the tide of public opinion against the actor, "30 Rock" was on it.Crushable's Jenni Maier stumbled upon this little-known fact when she was watching the 2009 episode "The Bubble" from the show's third season. As a side plot of the episode, Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan) quits "TGS" (the fictional show on NBC that Jordan works on) and Jack Donaghy (played by Alec Baldwin) goes to great lengths to get him back. One of Donaghy's efforts includes hiring a Bill Cosby impersonator to convince Jordan to come back to the show.You can watch the clip here on Tumblr.

Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and "Rick," the Cosby impersonator, sit down with Donaghy before calling Jordan in the episode.

Maier transcribed the dialogue between "Rick," the Cosby impersonator, and Jordan in the scene:

Jack Donaghy: I’ve arranged for one of Tracy’s childhood idols to reach out to him.

Tracy Jordan: Hello?

Jack Donaghy: Tracy, this is Jack, I have someone here who wants to speak with you.

Rick: Tracy, this is Bill Cosby.

Liz Lemon: [whispering] Really? This is your strategy?

Jack Donaghy: [whispering and smiling] I heard him do this at a party!

Rick: I want you to come back to the TGS for the people who like the jokes and the things.

Tracy Jordan: Bill Cosby, you got a lotta nerve gettin’ on the phone wit’ me after what you did to my Aunt Paulette!

Rick: I think you’re confusing me with someone else.

Tracy Jordan: 1971. Cincinnati. She was a cocktail waitress with the droopy eye!

Rick: I’m the guy with the pudding.

Tracy Jordan: Don’t try to tell me what to do! Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, wit’ yo’ light-ass kids! Jack! Why would you make me talk to this man?

And in 2005 SNL knew something:

Dink moved in and had a good week at Hospice. Her spirits are good, she's had a lot of company, can eat whatever she likes............we'll see what happens next. She is getting lots of attention and visitors, so far so good. Hospice is treating her well, what a great way to do things which must be done. 

Now let's get darker, remember the TV show MASH? It was a clever and funny show as Hawkeye, Trapper John, BJ, Colonel Potter, Hot Lips, Frank, Klinger, Radar etc. go through the Korean War in eleven short years having a good time and also showing some of the blood and guts that go along with it. Remember the last episode? What do you remember? The pure elation of the Korean War ending, their longing to go home yet also a farewell to friends............remember this part?

Yeah, neither did I. And I think that's OK because a lots of memories are altered through time to protect ourselves from ourselves, and that's more than likely a very good thing.

Natalie...............I know, first class seat.
Off to San Antonio tomorrow for HARDI, back Tuesday.