Out 'n about.....

"When you're rockin' 'n a-rollin' you cain't hear yo momma call…."

Beautiful day here, sunshine 'n ever'thing that a body'd normally associate with life in California…

Me 'n da boyz ambled down Crestline, meetin' 'n greetin' as we went…a couple lady-types that seem to have added our little street to their own morning stroll, greeted da boyz 'n asked who wuz walkin' who…."Hard to tell, sumtimes" sez I….work is progressing nicely on the little house formerly owned by Mr. Gene Hall who bought it after selling his next door property…we bought this old manse of our'n from Gene 'way back in '76…He wuz nice enuff albeit a tad crazy but ain't we all when given the chance…

The Village is busy, busy, busy during the week…cars, pedestrians, 'n such…what I noticed t'day, howsumever, is that there seems t'be a sharp decline in the resident chicken population….I'll have to take that up with the Chicken Wrangler herself when I see her…she keeps a running census count so if there's a massive relocation project going on, she'll know about it…

Da boyz were disappointed at the Salon this morning as the treat bag wuz empty…John dumped out the remains for Rusty but Willy missed out…ah well, he ate about half my toast t'day anyway…John promised Willy that he'd have more treats t'morra but I don't think Willy wuz all that impressed…Willy is attentive when there's food at hand but when the food is gone, so is Willy…kind'a fickle 'n not too p'tickle, I guess….

The old quonset that served as a once upon a time movie house here in the Village is looking more'n more like a theater…I s'poze I could ask someone but that'ud take a lot of the fun out of the guessing…..

Rusty wuz lagging a little as we climbed the hill returning home 'n I commiserated with him as seems like the older I get, the steeper 'n longer are the hills….

"Just remember, once you're over the hill, you begin to pick up speed."  (Coming down Stoner Hill in 1955)

This, the following, is a rant!  It ain't p'tick'ly important why I'm ranting, primarily it's a way for me to get stuff out'a my own system.  You may ignore this post 'n that's alright or you may read it 'n wish to respond, either in agreement or dis….either way, it's okay by me 'n those of you who know me personally already know that most of the time, I'm really okay with arguing either 'n sumtimes, both sides of an issue so you're cordially invited to please yourself 'n take your best shot…Justin Other Smith

Back in the day, Bill Clinton testified that "It all depends on what you mean by the word 'is'…."  Then, of course, he was convicted of perjury 'n disbarred…Still, that wudn't enuff to get him impeached from his job as President 'n it certainly ain't affected his popularity over the years….

The same thing c'n be said for President Obama whose egregious lying seems to give him even more credibility in the eyes of his admirers….

Now, as to the testimony of Hillary about the Benghazi affair, it seems to hinge on depending on what you mean by the word 'It'….

She stated quite clearly that the buck stopped with her in a direct quote,"As I have said many times, I accept responsibility."  

On the other hand, she went on t'say, she wudn't there when IT happened, she didn't receive any notification when IT happened, 'n as a matter of fact, she ain't got the slightest idea why all this fuss is being made over IT anyway 'n it doesn't make any difference whether IT wuz the result of a video (it wasn't) or whether maybe IT happened because some guys went for a walk 'n decided that they would kill some Americans (might be a little closer to the truth)…none of that matters when what we should really be concerned with is not who is responsible but in seeing what steps we can take to ensure that IT doesn't happen again….

And what is really 'n truly bizarre about all this is that this statement came from a person who was lauded by all the Democrat lawmakers(?) 'n some of the Republican lawmakers(?) for having done the most wonderful 'n masterful job as Secretary of State ever, 'n is obviously headed for Sainthood along with her pervert husband, Billy Jeff….

But, 'n here's the twist, it really does make a difference becuz IT really is about more than four Americans dying in a terrorist attack in Benghazi…{it's about an administration that deliberately withheld the truth because of politics}…

The Obama administration falsely accused the Republicans of playing politics when in point of fact, it was their decision to 'LIE' to the American electorate because they were afraid the truth about Benghazi would have a negative effect on Obama's popularity….

 I have recently been accused of name-calling (I plead guilty of calling President Obama a narcissistic pimp) but I will not apologize for calling him an egregious liar as that is, by his own statements, undeniably true 'n I will not apologize for my comments about Bill Clinton as he is a convicted perjuror (liar, liar, pants on fire for my liberal friends) 'n by his own admission, sumthing of a sexual deviant…'n I ain't gonna apologize for calling Hillary a liar also becuz her performance in front of the Congressional Committee wuz a shameless display of lawyerly (not a compliment) dissembling ($5 word for lying)…

I c'd go on, I suppose, but the main purpose of a rant is to excise poison from your system 'n I've pretty much done that...

So, it's raining here in Ol Fair Oaks, a nice gentle rain…the new streetlights are glowing 'n the little village looks busy so, I s'poze no matter what happens in our comic opera government, everyday life will just go on going on….

"A body demanding more gun control legislation is like a chicken rooting for Col. Sanders."

The bushes parted 'n out stepped The Village Chicken Wrangler toting a small red hen…

I would'a doffed my hat if both my hands hadn't been busy with da boyz who, it must be stated, took absolutely no interest in a woman carrying a smallish red hen…"This" she said, 

"is Pineapple!"   I wudn't sure how to reply to that statement so, wisely or not, smiled 'n stood mute.  "I'm not supposed to have any chickens in my apartment but I've had her for about four weeks now…we've been on a play date with another hen so she c'n learn how to speak chicken 'cuz I can't teach her that."  I cudn't argue with that, so I nodded my head, 'n me 'n da boyz headed off for the park….

S'pozed t'be a holiday t'day but you'd never know it from the activity in the Village…leaf blowers competing with power saws 'n hammers, one 'o the park guys standing on a power mower making circles…"Like a circle in a circle, like a wheel within a wheel" …if mem'ry serves, that wuz a song from the original Thomas Crown movie with Steve the cool guy…

'n everybody wanted to talk t'day so, of course being a Smith, we (me 'n da boyz) accomodated them…at least as long as da boyz c'd stand it…

There were other dogwalkers at the park t'day which excited Rusty 'n Willy sumthin'   turrible but we stopped at the Salon 'n got extra treats…I don't think any human can compete with a dog when it comes to egregious begging…

Anyway, the sun is shining, the finches are out in force, 'n we made it home in time for lunch so it's all good….

Y'know, I never wuz what you might call scared of work...why, I could look at a whole pile of it all day long 'n not feel guilty at all...

So, it's been one 'a them lazy Sundays where I really should have done at least a little bit of yard work (I walked around the yard 'n looked at it but wuz able to resist the urge to ackshully do anything productive)…

Me 'n da boyz took a leisurely afternoon stroll 'round 'n about…we met a couple smallish-sized Samoyeds, fortunately on-leash 'n managed to cross the street ahead of 'em, Willy tugging 'n huffing 'n puffing like the Big Bad Wolf that he ain't never gonna be…obvious, howsumever, that he, like so many small dogs, got no apparrent lack of self-esteem…

We strolled to where the Boulevard makes its turn 'n walked on the new sidewalk…very pretty it is, indeed, but short….then we crossed over 'n wandered by the quiet carwash 'n up the hill….

Stoner Hill in Fullerton was higher 'n steeper but it's gone, bulldozed away t'make room for progress, so this little hill will have to do……

"It ain't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe."  Happy Birthday to Robert Service

PG&E called to offer a 'deal' on, among other things, roofing….the fact is, we have an old house with an old roof, about 30 odd years old, as a matter of fact 'n we have wear 'n tear, so, y'know, an estimate cudn't hurt…at least until I saw the estimate, then I felt a little like Redd Foxx in his teevee series, grasping his chest 'n crying out to his dead wife that he wuz comin' home…

T'other day I heard a liberal commentator stating that 'the economy is improving rapidly' 'n that millions of new jobs have been created 'n it's a brand-new world 'n it's all good…but I have to wonder in what country he resides 'cuz I ain't been able to see all that…what I see is higher gasoline prices, higher grocery prices, higher taxes 'n more 'n more people looking for 'cash' work, but what the hey, it's a brand-new world 'n it's all good…

But da boyz don't care…we made our two trips 'round 'n about the village t'day…they got their treats from the Salon…now, when we're on the sidewalk that passes in front, they stop at the door 'n wait t'be invited in…(I could make a snarky remark about them being born Democrats but I'll get in trubble with Millyrose)…

But I had a pulse when I woke up this Thursday mornin' 'n I'm expecting to have one tomorrow as well…we're still on the green side of the sod 'n it's a brand-new world 'n it's all good…(so far)...

"It's just work, it ain't life!"  Line from a forgotten movie

"O Wind, when winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"  Percy Bysshe Shelly

What a nice, quiet morning it is….nary a cloud in the sky, tee-shirt weather…well, almost tee-shirt weather, still wearing the vest, howsumever…prob'ly in the '50s 'n, of course, we were about an hour later than usual t'day…not a soul sitting outside at the Fair Oaks Coffee Shop 'n Deli which almost never happens…

When we got in front of the beauty salon, L'il Willy wuz torn between begging for treats or charging acros't the street to meet 'n greet the large shephard on t'other side…fortunately, for Willy, the shephard wuz onleash 'n, in the end, his hunger for treats (as usual) wuz overpowering…I s'wan (as my Grandma Smith use'ta say) that dog'ud eat anything….

It's the middle of January which means that in about a month, give or take, it'll be Spring here in northern California…well, down here in the flatlands, anyway…up on the mountain, that ain't true…

When I wuz a boy, as I recall, sumwhere around the 1st of May or thereabouts, we (kids) cudn't hardly wait to take off our shoes 'n go barefootin' in the Spring grass…but that wuz long ago 'n far away…northern California has a 'hole 'nother climate going for it…

irregardless (yeah, I know that ain't a real word) of Al Goracle…'course, early Spring generally means long, hot summer but we been pretty lucky in that regard the last couple years…'n again, I'm talking local, the rest of the country has had some terrible weather…what with floods 'n droughts 'n tornadoes 'n such…

All that aside, hope springs eternal 'n I'm looking forward to Spring…

"Spring is God's way of saying, 'One more time'…."

"Early on a frosty morn….."

Downright chilly out here on the left coast this morning…I had a little errand to run first thing t'day so I got t'see a little frost on the punkin (figuratively speaking, of course, since punkin season's come 'n gone) but there's frost on the grass 'round 'n about….not in my yard, of course, seeing that I've got this really close relationship with Ma Nature 'n she's agreed to not harsh my mellow…(well, anymore than she thinks necessary)...

Angela Crangela in Arizona wuz on FB early this day complaining that it wuz a chilly 21 degrees there as opposed to Sacramento's 27….(I'm thinkin' Angela needs t'get on better terms with Ma Nature)...

Back in the States, I'm told that today is a balmy 37 in Ol South Shore…I guess it's all in your point of view…

Ol Fair Oaks Village is busy in the mornings, 'specially the Coffee House/Deli, 'n cold as it is, they got people sitting outside, all bundled up, gloved 'n scarved, sipping their latte's or expresso's or whatever's…da boyz use'ta pass by the beauty salon without a second glance but since the owner has taken to givin' 'em treats, now we have to stop 'n peer in the windows…dogs have excellent mem'ries when it concerns treats 'n even the chickens get a pass when push comes to shove…

When they began tearing the front off the old movie house, I wondered what they were gonna put in there…now, they seem t'be re-doing the old marquee…p'haps they'll put in another movie house…I've heard several people suggest that it'ud be a good place for a Retro House with maybe a wine bar 'n suchlike…guess time'll tell…

There're a lot of aphorisms about time 'n I s'poze if I wuz to give it some tho't, I could come up with one but it's gettin' late in the day 'n I gotta go.....

"I recall one semester at Morehead when I scheduled all my classes Tues thru Fri just so I could sleep in on Monday...

I wuz never quite able to figure out how to do that in  real-life!"

Out 'n about…

Busy, busy, busy in old Fair Oaks t'day…According to the plan put forth by the Village Enhancement Committee, they were s'pozed to have the two blocks of Ol Fair Oaks transformed before Christmas…'n then at least in January or maybe, February…'n they may yet do it…they certainly seem t'be enjoying driving the monster backhoe up 'n down the 'Main Drag'….

Meanwhile, back in the States…well, t'be specific, back in my old hometown of South Shore, kentucky which appears, at least in the photo's posted by Willie Holmes III, t'be in the final stages of decay, wonder of wonders, there are folk back there calling for civic improvement…'course, we'll have to wait 'n see if anyone wants to step up 'n put their money where their mouth is…I don't have any hopes that such a thing will happen as the people who own the properties in question have owned them for a long time 'n seem content to let the whole place fall down….

But, enuff whining…

I've been to two movies this week which is prob'ly some kind of record as that's usually a years worth of moviedom for me…Spielbergs Lincoln which I enjoyed 'n whatsisname's Les Miserables, which I tho't wuz pretentious 'n just a few milimeters shy of falling asleep boring…..I realize that I'm in a minority position here as regards the hugely popular Les Miz but it wuz my money for the tickets 'n I could just as easy wasted it on beer or red wine... 

"A loaf of bread, a jug of wine 'n a tee-vee to fall asleep in front of...." 

Ah, Sati'daze....

"Baby, it's cold outside…"

It don't have'ta be all that cold for Californians to notice that sumthin' is wrong with the weather 'n it don't appear t'be global warming….more like global cooling…God help us if we ever had to deal with actual cold like the folks back in the States…

A bright, sunshiny day but on the nippy side…da boyz 'n I made our roundabout of the Village but I kept 'em moving…Oh, they would'a been happy to S&P as usual but along with being on the coolish side, I had plans to accompany Millyrose 'n two of the four to see Les Miz…it wuz an even 'n you c'ud tell right away that sumbody had put a fair amount of money into it…'n the talent wuz just talenting all over the place given the backdrop of the French Revolution 'n barricades in the street (which Parisians still do occasionally)…lots of grimacing in this version of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, lot of social commentary 'n such…somewhat relevant, I s'poze, in this techonological age of instant (relatively speaking) gratification…

It wuz an okay movie but I didn't shed a tear on the drive home…frankly, since I'd missed lunch, I wuz much more focused on what wuz gonna be the easiest 'n quickest calories that I c'd get into m'self (without stopping at a fast food place)…

Anyhow, the afternoon stroll with da boyz wuz pretty much just a quickie run down Crestline 'n back…it's cold out there…

And now, the heater is heating, the soup's on the stove 'n the wine is open 'n, one assumes, breathing…or whatever it is that wine does when you unscrew the cap 'n wait to pour it….

"I cook with wine.  Sumtimes, I even add it to the food."  W.C.Fields

Oscar Wilde said conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative….

Well, it wuz s'pozed to be raining t'day…Mark Finan is generally pretty much on the money but last nite he said it wudn't gonna really rain on us but it did 'n  t'day, when the forecast clearly shows that it's s'pozed t'be raining, the sun is shining….I expect some sort of cosmic joke on , but, 'n don't tell my children, I've been known to be wrong on occasion…

Speaking of Mark Finan, he's definitely 'n consistently been the best dressed weatherman on Sac Teevee despite his affinity for buttoning every button on his suit coats…recently, he wuz spotted in a double-breasted model (buttoned up tightly, thank you very much)…very dapper is Mr. Finan 'n looked pretty good in a '30s sort of way…'course, if you ain't a fan of old movies, you prob'ly wudn't have noticed that…

Anywaze, it's another one o' them bright, sunshiny northern California daze here in Ol Fair Oaks…lots of people wand'ring the street this mornin'…..turista's seem to congregate at the sidewalk tables of the Deli…I try not to walk da boyz too close there 'cuz Willy is such an egregious beggar 'n Rusty wants attention from every woman he meets…fortunately there is a crosswalk there so having to move into the street to get past the entrance ain't that big o' deal….most drivers think they have to give chickens the right of way anyhow…

I've given up trying to tell people that if they just keep moving (albeit slowly) the durn chickens'll get out of their way… (Interesting aside, during rush hour traffic when so many drivers use Fair Oaks Blvd as a shortcut, they don't seem to have the same regard for pedestrians)…

We stopped to watch as a huge backhoe came down the street 'n turned onto California, did a three-point turn 'n waited while another, smaller backhoe, drove up…the small one gouged out a bucketfull of dirt, off-loaded it to the larger rig 'n then both of 'em drove away, searching for a home, I guess….I cudn't help but think that one guy with a shovel 'n a pick'emup cud'a done the same thing in just about the same amount of time but, of course, I'm old 'n don't understand the way modern technology works….

I wuz just thinkin' that what the country really needs are some labor-making inventions.

A daily mish-mash...

Well, Olde Christmas is over ~ the tree 'n decorations are down (outside lites are still up but that ain't the purview o' Millyrose)…ever'things in storage for another year, assuming of course, that another Mayan calendar event dudn't come along 'n mess things up for us all…

The sappy Christmas movies are over with (Thank the Lord) 'n there's snow on the Sierra with the promise of more t'come which should make the mountain folk happy…'n it's a good thing for us flatlanders also 'cuz we needs the water, 'specially since, by almost all accounts, Global Warming is upon us 'n we're facing drought 'n pestilence 'n…wait a minnit, is this just another Mayan end of the world thing?...

Al Goracle sold out to Al Jezeera (a quasi news organization that promotes 'n celebrates Muslim Terrorism) 'n is funded by Arab BIG OIL which Mr. Goracle has derided over the years because of their evil oil money but now that he seems to have got his share of the profits has….well, I find it increasingly difficult to keep up with this game of musical chairs so popular with the liberal elite…

Me 'n da boyz went wandering thru the Village this morn…they were invited into a beauty parlor (salon?…don't mean t'be disrespectful to the ladies but what in hell do they call these places t'day?)…anyway, da boyz got some treats 'n got petted 'n cooed over…I like dogs but I almost never get down on the floor with 'em 'n let 'em lick my face as so many of the ladies do…it ain't no wonder that they say dogs like women more'n they do men 'n I, for one, don't blame 'em a bit….

They're doing a total remodel job on the olde movie house (did I mention that it's a quonset hut ~ I wonder how many quonsets are still in use across the USA)…then we wandered acros't the street to The Stockman…just the greatest watering-hole in the world in Ol Fair Oaks 'n had a short talk with the doorman (really a bouncer but you can't call him that becuz you have to have a license t'be a bouncer in California 'n that requires money 'n training)…He wuz grousing a bit about all the "Civic Improvements"…he said he preferred dirt streets 'n no streetlights…(there ain't really any dirt streets left in Fair Oaks, just a couple that are poorly blacktopped)…we durn near had a quorum there on the sidewalk 'n we all agreed that we didn't want the Village Enhancment Committee on our streets….ah well, I guess we could start an Anti-Progress Committes…APC  for the headache of progress….

"If the opposite of 'pro' is 'con' does that mean that congess is the opposite of progress??"

Foggy Mondaze.....

'Brrrrrrr!"






"The fog comes

on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on."
Carl Sandburg

Just back from our morning S&P 'roundabout…brrrrr….fog ain't lifted 'n Baby, it's cooold outside….well, northern California cold anyway not Minnesota cold or even Ohio cold, but cold enuff….

The workers down the street claim they're gonna put in a full five dayz this week…last week, they just kind'a showed up 'n stood around tellin' what they wuz gonna do…on the other hand, the ones down to the old theater have been busy ripping the old front off the place, jackhammering the sidewalks 'n piling the detritus in neat little piles fronting the street…

Meanwhile, I'd like to say the beautification project of Ol Fair Oaks goes apace but t'ain't so, the workers there move like gov't people, slowly 'n deliberately (I don't think there's any malice aforethought or otherwise)…the project wuz s'posed t'be finished before Christmas 'n then they said late January or early February but that just might be positive thinking…I b'leeve I'll just wait 'n see…in the meantime, me 'n da boyz'll keep daily tab on ever'thing….

Old friend of mine died over the weekend…Denver Moore wuz 80 years old 'n had Parkinsons…he stayed young longer than most…Moore wuz my little hometown's version of The Fonz twenty years before Happy Days made The Fonz into an American icon…anyway R.I.P. old friend...

The best thing about hot coffee on a cold morning is that it's generally served indoors.

January Daze....

"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners."  Johnny Carson

Willy 'n the Old Dogger are lovin' the cool (some might say cold) dry weather cycle we're having right now…bright sunshiny frost on the windows mornings….I left my old truck parked on the street last nite (Alice Hymers kickin' in, I s'poze for want of a better reason)..,On the street, icy windows; in the driveway, clear….t'is that old devil wind what does the trick…

Had to stop 'n watch the crew working on the old movie house…appear t'be dismantling the false front completely….all old plywood 'n particle board underneath…the quonset itself looks pretty good considering that it must have gone in there in the late '40s….I think the current word to describe it should be 'Retro' and we'll no doubt have a movement to 'save the quonset'….maybe get the EPA involved…'n possibly immigration but that'd be a whole 'nother story….

Gallivanting 'round 'n about in the old truck, back 'n forth across the river, out to Orangevale with the gurlz, what do I care about a little thing like gas mileage….in the Toyota, a little goes a long way; in the truck, bass-ackwards, I swear you can almost watch the guage going down, down, down….

Last year (last week) the price per gallon wuz going down but this year, thanks I s'poze to all the new taxes, up we go again…I saw where Obama wuz golfing 'n swimming in the blue Pacific, my guess is, he'd be counted among the under-employed….

On the lighter side, I hear that The Gays don't like Chuck Hagel (I don't like him either) for Secretary of Defence…Modern times has a whole new looooong list of qualifications for public service jobs…not sure where that's gonna end but I remember once upon a time I applied for two positions with the California State Lottery…I got turned down for one position becuz I wuz under-qualified 'n turned down for the second one becuz I wuz over-qualified…'n that wuz when I wuz still a Democrat…..

"America wudn't founded so's we could all be better. America wuz founded so's we could all be anything we damned well please."  P.J.O'Rourke

Once around the park….

Lots of happenin' stuff in the old Village….new street lightes, a couple new sidewalks 'n looks like maybe a remodel of the once upon a time movie theater that fronts on the park 'n has been home to I don't know how many forgettable bizness's over the last fifty-odd years….Last week, I think it wuz, I mentioned that Oaks Hardware had gone out of business after 75 years…t'day, I drove by Capital Nursery at the corner of Madison 'n Sunrise to find that they also had closed after 85 years...

Howsumever, the old movie theater (prob'ly you might not have known that Once't  upon a time, the Village ackshully had one) seems t'be undergoing a facelift….sumthin' like that anyways…what it is, is a quonset hut with a false front 'n I ain't sure what they're gonna do but it gives me 'n da boyz sumplace to stop 'n gawk on our stroll 'n that ain't nuthin' t'be sneezed at….