I am sure most do not even know what that phrase refers to. Then of course a bunch of you that do know what it means could probably care less or think those of us that do this task are nuts. Stone stompin is the searching of cemeteries for ancestors head stones. It is part of the genealogy process of discovering who your ancestors were. What they may have accomplished. How many children did they have? Who may have been the black sheep of the various families? Where did they come from? When did they arrive?
We are fixin to head to Galena, Illinois on the 22nd to do some searching for family ancestors. We will be hitting Galena and Elizabeth, Illinois; Cassville, Beetown and Cuba City, Wisconsin; Vinton, Ashton and (can't think of the other town name) Iowa. All in the hopes of finding records, such as marriage, birth and death certificates; military documents; old photos; newspaper articles and any other data that might prove interesting.
Why? Who knows maybe someday our children will receive a book about our ancestors that they can read. But more than likely will stick up on a shelf or in a drawer (hopefully not the trash). Wonder where my other booklets I have written for them have ended up? You know: "Cyclone", "Dick's Favorite Recipes", "Dick's Memories: Part 1", "My Little World Travelers" and "Dick's Memories of his Southeast Asia Tour". Anyway it is nice way for a Senior Citizen to spend their retirement time, get in some traveling to different areas of our country, all with the hoped for result their children will enjoy learning about their heritage. Time will tell.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
AND YOU WONDER WHY HE WENT BAD
It really amazes me how so many parents walk around in a complete daze. They have no idea where their kids are, let alone what they may be doing. Some of these parents are the low life abusers who get their kicks out of kicking their kids. Some are drug heads who don't deserve or even want kids, but have them. However, I would say, the bulk of the parents are law bidding (they think), hard working (just ask them), church going (as if that makes them perfect) citizens who scratch their heads in bewilderment when Little Johnnie goes off the deep end.
What on earth could have put the thought of killing someone into the minds of so many young people. Look at Columbine and the other shootings involving teenagers. What prompted such unforgivable action. Little Johnnie is a good student, always tells his parents where he is going and who he is with. When he is home he is always in his room studying, working on the computer or playing video games. But do these parents know what he is researching on the computer or what video game he is playing? To many of these video games involve some form of death and destruction. They are very graphic. After seeing some of these it is not hard to see why an impressionable child might not think "hey, I could do that". Don't kid yourself. I will lay you odds that some of these kids that went berserk, were also avid violent video game players. And their parents did not do anything about it. Now I grant you there are a few kids that go nuts in spite of everything their parents tried to do but I would venture to say that the bulk of kids that go astray is a result of the lack of parents doing something.
It is a crying shame that there are no laws to prevent such video games from being sold. Oh I forgot. We might step on somebodies toes and prevent some form of Freedom to do this or that. Okay so we can't stop the entrepreneur from producing or selling such crap. But a parent sure as hell has the right to prohibit their kid from playing them at home. But again they might be infringing on Little Johnnies rights. Bull shit. If he lives under your roof, he abides by your rules. Period. End. Got that off my chest. Feel better. Nah, not really. The games are still out there.
What on earth could have put the thought of killing someone into the minds of so many young people. Look at Columbine and the other shootings involving teenagers. What prompted such unforgivable action. Little Johnnie is a good student, always tells his parents where he is going and who he is with. When he is home he is always in his room studying, working on the computer or playing video games. But do these parents know what he is researching on the computer or what video game he is playing? To many of these video games involve some form of death and destruction. They are very graphic. After seeing some of these it is not hard to see why an impressionable child might not think "hey, I could do that". Don't kid yourself. I will lay you odds that some of these kids that went berserk, were also avid violent video game players. And their parents did not do anything about it. Now I grant you there are a few kids that go nuts in spite of everything their parents tried to do but I would venture to say that the bulk of kids that go astray is a result of the lack of parents doing something.
It is a crying shame that there are no laws to prevent such video games from being sold. Oh I forgot. We might step on somebodies toes and prevent some form of Freedom to do this or that. Okay so we can't stop the entrepreneur from producing or selling such crap. But a parent sure as hell has the right to prohibit their kid from playing them at home. But again they might be infringing on Little Johnnies rights. Bull shit. If he lives under your roof, he abides by your rules. Period. End. Got that off my chest. Feel better. Nah, not really. The games are still out there.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The four H's
Having House Hunting Hallucinations
I am sick of looking at houses. Sit home, search the home For-Sale Guide, look up potentials on the Internet, drool over the photos (or sometimes not), spend money on gas to go drive by all the look ups (30 miles into Sioux Falls, one way), schedule a viewing for the ones we think we like (again 30 miles one way), go look at the interiors, get disgusted and go home. Then we wake up in the middle of the night thinking about houses.
We have looked at about 15 houses (inside and out). What is funny the only two we like are actually within 3 blocks of Sandi's old house. We really like the one we saw yesterday. Not a thing wrong with it. Gorgeous landscaping (even in the Winter), superb interior and nothing for us to change. We basically like it as is. The lawn would probably take 5 minutes to mow and the rest of the yard is landscaped in rock and ornamental plants/trees. Plus back yard is privacy fenced and has two larger sheds in the back (hummm, a garden shed in one and a stained glass studio in the other????????)
So hopefully we can convince the owners to accept an offer but wait to close until we close on the acreage. What the hell, if you don't take a shot you get left out, right! Will see what happens.
I am sick of looking at houses. Sit home, search the home For-Sale Guide, look up potentials on the Internet, drool over the photos (or sometimes not), spend money on gas to go drive by all the look ups (30 miles into Sioux Falls, one way), schedule a viewing for the ones we think we like (again 30 miles one way), go look at the interiors, get disgusted and go home. Then we wake up in the middle of the night thinking about houses.
We have looked at about 15 houses (inside and out). What is funny the only two we like are actually within 3 blocks of Sandi's old house. We really like the one we saw yesterday. Not a thing wrong with it. Gorgeous landscaping (even in the Winter), superb interior and nothing for us to change. We basically like it as is. The lawn would probably take 5 minutes to mow and the rest of the yard is landscaped in rock and ornamental plants/trees. Plus back yard is privacy fenced and has two larger sheds in the back (hummm, a garden shed in one and a stained glass studio in the other????????)
So hopefully we can convince the owners to accept an offer but wait to close until we close on the acreage. What the hell, if you don't take a shot you get left out, right! Will see what happens.
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