Backyard Visitor

The White Squirrel
This critter showed up in our backyard the other day. It was quite interesting to see him playing with the other squirrels. So, evidently he is socially accepted. Here’s a few pictures I took.

Here’s our white visitor playing with a one of the gray squirrels.
The dove in this picture doesn’t seem phased by the white squirrel. Perhaps they already met.
He’s down the tree in a flash. Being white does not slow him down.

Another new critter showed up next door. Our neighbor told us that last week she looked up to find a raccoon on her outside window sill. I wonder if he’s met the white squirrel?

Fishing Today
If all goes as planned I may be on Douglas Lake today. And it may only be Doug and me, as Ralph said there is a possibility that he may not be able to make it. It’s hard work when only 2 are in the boat. After we put on the rod holders we have 16 rods to get rigged and out in the water for trolling… and someone has to drive the boat. We’re tough and I think we can handle it.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
You and I both have made a lot of mistakes in our life. Sometimes we are reminded of them. Is that good or bad? Well, it’s bad if we are discouraged by think about past mistakes (that’s the devil). But sometimes it could be good, in that it reminds us of what we once were and how we have changed for the better (that’s God).

~~~

Quote of the Day

Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.
~Author Unknown

~~~
Joke of the Day

Old Aunt Dora went to her doctor to see what could be done about her constipation.

"It's terrible," she said, "I haven't moved my bowels in a week."

"I see. Have you done anything about it?" asked the doctor.

"Naturally," she replied, "I sit in the bathroom for a half-hour in the morning and again at night."

"No," the doctor said, "I mean do you take anything?"

"Naturally," she answered, "I take a book."

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Dandelions

The Colorful Weed
Andrew Mason said, “If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn.”

Maybe so, but they are easy to grow and not desired on lawns. They are widely known as a weed you want to rid your lawn of.

Remember the dandelion seeds from youth? We used to find them and enjoy blowing the seeds away. While they used to be neat as a kid, they look pretty ugly to me today.

Here’s a lawn I passed by the other day. I just had to stop and take a picture with my cell phone. Can you imagine the thousands of seeds that are being produced. I’m glad I live upwind from this patch of dandelions.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Life is short, no doubt. We don’t realize this until we get older. It is good to make good use of our time, it is too precious to waste. Try to enjoy every moment, make the most out of every opportunity, … see if you can learn to enjoy the scenery on a detour.

~~~

Quote of the Day
If you mess up, 'fess up.
~Author Unknown

~~~
Joke of the Day

One day a guy was driving with his 4-year-old daughter and beeped his car horn by mistake.

She turned and looked at him for an explanation.

He said, "I did that by accident."

She replied, "I know that, daddy."

He replied, "How'd you know?"

The girl said, "Because you didn't say a bad word afterwards!"

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Unique Feature

Pilot Mountain
On our recent trip to North Carolina we passed by Pilot Mountain. It’s a very distinctive natural feature of the landscape in the state.

The knob on the mountain has bare rock walls. Here’s a few pictures I made from an overlook.

Read more about Pilot Mountain here:

• Pilot Mountain State Park
• Wikipedia on Pilot Mountain
• Town of Pilot Mountain

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Go outside every day and walk around. See how many miracles you can find. Look closely and you will find them everywhere.

Love may not make the world go around, but it sure makes the ride enjoyable. Don’t ever forget to be thankful that you are loved and that you have someone to love.

~~~

Quote of the Day

The easiest way to keep a secret is without help. 
~Author Unknown

~~~
Joke of the Day

The other day a young worker the opportunity to drop by his department head's office. They had a nice conversation, but at the end of the conversation the worker asked his boss, "Sir, What is the secret of your success?"

He said "two words"

"And, Sir, what are they?"

"Right decisions."

"But how do you make right decisions?"

"One word." he responded.

"And, sir, What is that?"

"Experience."

"And how do you get Experience?"

"Two words"

"And, Sir, what are they?"

"Wrong decisions"

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The Shot Tower

Second Visit
Last fall we made a visit to the Shot Tower which is south of Wytheville, VA on Interstate 77, but the gate was closed. Last week me made a second visit and the gate was unlocked, so we got a closer look. The following picture describes the purpose and the process of the shot tower. Click on the picture to get a more readable version.

Here’s a few more pictures taken around the Shot Tower. (Right click for a larger view.)

 

Last but not least is a picture of the Virginia country side taken from the parking lot.

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Are you planting anything this year? Many people have a small garden or at least plant some flowers in some pots. Look what Kevin and Family have in their flower pot this year.
That’s Oreo in a flower pot.
It seems she has dug some of the dirt out of the pot
and she likes to sit there.
Dogs better than flowers?

~~~

Quote of the Day

Between saying and doing many
a pair of shoes is worn out.
~Italian Proverb

~~~
Joke of the Day

A guy goes to visit his grandmother and he brings his friend with him.

While he's talking to his grandmother, his friend starts eating the peanuts on the coffee table, and finished them off.

As they're leaving, his friend says to his grandmother,
"Thanks for the peanuts."

She says, "Yeah, since I lost my dentures I can only suck the chocolate off them."

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Jordon Lake

Fishing Last Week
Beverly and I sneaked off to North Carolina last week and I got the opportunity to fish a couple of days with Monk Wilson in Jordon Lake. Monk and I were both in school at NC State back in 1961-3, and we lived next door to each other in the married student housing.

Monk is a big crappie fisherman and earns his living selling fishing tackle through his web site which is MonksCrappie.com. I asked how he justified fishing with me when he had orders to fill and other work to do. Monk replied that you have to do field testing routinely.

Here some pictures…

Here’s Monk’s Boat. We fished 8 rods out the front and 10 out the back.	Here’s Granddaddy with 2 crappie on the same line using 2 jigs. Only one was a keeper.
Monk backing in to load the boat for the trip home.	Jim & Monk with 38 crappie from Wednesday.
Here’s filets from 69 crappie, our catch over 2 days of fishing.	Monk & I filleted the crappie, and Lucy prepared them for freezing.

On Tuesday we only caught 31 crappie. On Wednesday we thought we had 40 by the fish counters we had in the boat, but it seems we must have counted a couple of fish twice, because when we took them out of the live wells we only had 38. We could of easily had 40, it meant just staying a bit longer. We left the lake that day around 2:30 pm with what we thought was our limit.

Many thanks to Monk and Lucy for all their hospitality!!! It was great to spend some time with them again.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Grandmother has a new Dogwood Tree that was planted last fall. It was a gift from Kevin and Bethany. We were glad to see it lived through the winter, and it had a solitary bloom on the tree this spring. We hope it will have more blooms next year. God, too, looks at us and hopes we will show more growth next year.

~~~

Quote of the Day

Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley.
~Author Unknown

~~~
Joke of the Day

A guy jumps out of an airplane with a parachute on his back. As he's falling he realizes his chute is broken. He doesn't know anything about parachutes really, but as the earth rapidly approaches he realizes his options are limited, he takes off the parachute and tries to fix it himself on the way down. The wind is ripping past his face, he's dropping like a rock, and at 5000 feet another guy goes shooting up past him.

In desperation, our man with the chute looks up and yells, “Hey do you know anything about parachutes?!”

The guy flying up looks down and yells, “NO, do you know anything about gas stoves?!”

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Some Old Car Stuff

Remembering Back
I’ve had first hand experience in using all of the following products. Have you?

Fender Skirts – I have  owned several cars with fender skirts. While they made the car look a little sleeker, they also made it hard to wash the wheels and those white side wall tires. I also remember having to remove them to put snow chains on the wheels when you had a big snowfall. (Well, I think I’ve covered several items that my grandchildren have never seen and may never see: fender skirts, wide white sidewall tires, snow chains)

Curb Feelers - Oh yes,  I think I even had a set of these on one car. They were used to let you know when you were getting close to the curb when parking. You could really mess up those white side wall tires or damage your hub caps if you scrubbed them on the curb.

Steering Wheel Spinner Knobs – Yep, I’ve been there and done that too. They were supposedly a aid to steering an auto, but you had to be real careful. You could get bruised up if the wheel spun fast and hit you in the arm or hand… and it hurt! These were also called Suicide knobs or Brodie knobs. They are illegal in many states today. They are not recommended for autos today, but for boats, maybe? Read on…

The picture to the left shows a knob currently offered on Amazon.com. So you can still buy them.

The last time I saw a steering wheel  knob being used was last year.—>
But it was not on a car or truck, it was in a  TVA boat. It was standard equipment for the boat when they do fish surveys by electric shocking. They often get into tight places and need to make quick turns. It’s ideal for a boat because there is no possibility of wheel spin, so now broken bones or bruises.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
As we get older we need to be careful about be judgmental. It so easy to look at others and condemn their actions or appearance. Remember when we point at another we have 3 fingers pointing back at us.

~~~

Quote of the Day

If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.
~Doug Larson

~~~
Joke of the Day

It was a cold winter day when an old man walked out onto a frozen Lake Erie, cut a hole in the ice, dropped in his fishing line and began waiting for a fish to bite.

He was there for almost an hour without even a nibble when a young boy walked out onto the ice, cut a hole in the ice not too far from the old man and dropped in his fishing line. It only took about a minute. WHAM! A largemouth bass hit his hook and the boy pulled in the fish. The old man couldn't believe it but figured it was just luck. But the boy dropped in his line and again within just a few minutes pulled in another one.

He went to the boy and said, "Son, I've been here for over an hour without even a nibble. You have been here only a few minutes and have caught two fish! How do you do it?" To which the boy responded, "Roo raf roo reep ra rums rarm."

What was that you said?" the old man asked. Again the boy responded, "Roo raf roo reep ra rums rarm."

"Look, son" said the old man, "I can't understand a word you're saying."

So the boy spit a wad into his hands and said,

"You have to keep the worms warm!"

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The Current Recession

Unemployment
One means for measuring the impact of a recession is to look at the percent unemployment. It’s often difficult to see the trends by just looking a column of numbers. And then to see the trends over all 50 states is even more difficult.

As a statistician, I always appreciated the good use of graphical methods to explain what may be hard to see in the data itself. I commend the people who developed the following graphic to show the trends in unemployment from January 2007 through December 2009. Watch the video below. The darker colors are higher unemployment levels. The darkest color is 10% unemployment or higher.

Go ahead, watch it. It only lasts 1/2 minute. It makes statistics more interesting when good graphical methods are use.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:

You’ve heard this before, and I may have said it before… but what people remember about you more than anything else is how you make them feel.

~~~

Quote of the Day

Jumping at several small opportunities
may get us there more quickly than waiting
for one big one to come along.
~Hugh Allen

~~~
Joke of the Day

The boss called one of his employees into the office. "Rob," he said, "you've been with the company for a year. You started off in the post room, one week later you were promoted to a sales position, and one month after that you were promoted to district manager of the sales department. Just four short months later, you were promoted to vice-chairman. Now it's time for me to retire, and I want you to take over the company. What do you say to that?"

"Thanks," said the employee.

"Thanks?" the boss replied. "Is that all you can say?"

"I suppose not," the employee said. "Thanks, Dad."

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A Wild Ride

The Train Ride
I received this note a few days ago with a link to a video that is very impressive. Read below, then click the YouTube video.

”This video came from a fellow who works for the Rail Road as a train dispatcher.  Every once in a while he sends a cool video involving trains.  This is one of them.

“Trains nowadays mount cameras in their cabs, facing forward and backward, the same way police cars do. This video is a rearward camera.  This is video of a train that ran through a tornado.

“First there is the normal rearward view from the last of three engines, with the trees looking normal.  Then you begin to see rain, and then, halfway through the video the trees begin to sway violently . . . and then the "fun" begins.”

Wow!

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Dress properly--The most important thing you put on everyday, is your expression. It’s more than a smile. It’s the sparkle in your eyes. It tells people that you’re happy, that you enjoy life, and that you have love in your heart.

~~~

Quote of the Day

I have not failed.
I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
~Thomas Edison

~~~
Joke of the Day

A nursery school teacher was delivering a station wagon full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog.

The children fell to discussing the dog's duties.

"They use him to keep crowds back," said one youngster.

"No," said another, "he's just for good luck."

A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrant."

And, speaking of dogs…

We need to stop cutting down so many trees…

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Never, Say Never?

You Must Say NEVER to Some Things
Erma Bombeck said, "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."

Tennessee Granddaddy has some "nevers" also.

• Never go to a restaurant that still has the  Christmas decorations up in February thru October.

• Never wait in line for over 5 minutes, unless it means life or death.

• Never take a laxative and sleeping pill at the same time.

• Never do anything that you wouldn't want to tell your wife.

• Never give advice unless you are sure the person wants it. Even then be careful.

• Never ever ask a woman if she is pregnant or ask her age.

• When driving on the interstate, never miss the opportunity to go to the bathroom.

• Never forget to say thank you and to show common courtesy.

• Never forget to smile.

• Never touch the stove to see if it is hot.

• Never cosign for a friend.

• Never get a tattoo.

• Never kick a cow pile in the pasture field.

• Never use a big word when a simple one will do.

• Never argue with a woman. You'll always lose.

• Never hesitate saying, "no" when you wife asks if she looks fat.

• Never forget you wedding anniversary and your wife birthday.

Do you have some “nevers” that I may have missed. I’d like to see them.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Dad and I’ll joke sometimes by saying, “If I had known I would live so long, I would have taken better care of myself.” That’s funny when you think about it.

~~~

Quote of the Day

Take care of your body.
It's the only place you have to live.
~Jim Rohn

~~~
Joke of the Day

An elderly woman decided to have her portrait painted. She told the artist: "Paint me with diamond ear-rings, a diamond necklace, emerald bracelets, a ruby broach and a gold Rolex."

The confused artist said: "But you're not wearing any of those things."

"I know," she said. "I don’t own any of them either, but if I die before my husband, I'm sure my husband will remarry. And I want his new wife to go crazy looking for the jewelry."

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The Airplane Service Station

I Was Always Excited
When I was a young boy and we passed through Powell, Tennessee, I always had my nose to the car window when we passed by the novel Airplane Service Station. It was a gasoline service station for automobiles that was built in the shape of an airplane. Here’s a crop of a picture taken by G.S. Nighbert …

I don’t remember ever stopping to buy gasoline, but I  always wanted to get a good look when we passed by. This relic is still standing today, but in need of restoration. There’s an active effort underway to save the plane by restoring it to it’s original design. For more information and pictures of the service station click on the “Save the Plane” logo.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:

Do you have to be busy all the time? Can you sit down and just think? It’s good to rest and meditate and not be busy every minute of every day.

~~~

Quote of the Day
May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
~Irish Blessing

~~~
Joke of the Day

When the store manager returned from lunch, he noticed his clerk's hand was bandaged, but before he could ask about the bandage, the clerk said he had some very good news for him.

"Guess what, sir?" the clerk said. "I finally sold that terrible, ugly suit we've had so long!"

"Do you mean that repulsive pink-and-blue double-breasted thing?" the manager asked.

"That's the one!" "That's great!" the manager cried, "I thought we'd never get rid of that monstrosity! That had to be the ugliest suit we've ever had! But tell me. Why is your hand bandaged?"

"Oh," the clerk replied, "after I sold the guy that suit, his guide dog bit me."

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Son and Granddaughter

Greg and Mandy
Many of you know that our first son, Mark Gregory White, was killed in an auto accident in 1983, just weeks after his daughter, Mandy, was born.

We have always seen some of Greg in Mandy. This was confirmed recently when looking at some photographs that showed Mandy and Greg when they were about the same age. We thought there was a strong resemblance. What do you think?

In the first set of pictures they were both 14 years old and wearing braces. In the second set, Greg was 17, and we’re not sure about Mandy.

We love Mandy, we miss Greg, and we’re thankful for the memories.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Take a look at a caterpillar. There’s nothing about it that would give you a clue that it will become a butterfly.

~~~

Quote of the Day

God gives every bird its food,
but He does not throw it into its nest.
~J.G. Holland

~~~
Joke of the Day

Moe goes to the doctor. He has a string hanging out of his left ear.

The doctor says that this is most unusual. "I don't know what to make of it. I have no diagnosis. Perhaps we should just pull the string and see what happens."

The learned doctor proceeded to pull the string. He pulled and pulled, and out came a dozen long-stemmed American Beauty roses. "My Goodness," proclaimed the doctor, "I've never seen that before.

Where do you suppose they came from?"

Moe replies, "I don't know. Is there a card?"

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Off to the Races

Pinewood Derby
A couple of days ago we went to enjoy the competition and fun among some Cub Scouts at one of their local Pinewood Derbies. Our grandson, Zachary, was in the competition.

I had never seen the races before, even though I remember helping at least one of my sons make his Pinewood Derby car. We enjoyed the races and the fun. Here’s a few pictures (click on the picture for a larger view):

Looking down the race track. There are three (3) lanes.	The finish line. The other side shows how each car places.
Zachary’s car has to be weighed & checked to make sure it is “legal”.	Zachary and a friend watch the races to get a close view.
Here’s all the winners from each Cub Scout Den.	Zachary holds his car and his 3rd Place trophy.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:

Don’t do today what you can put off until tomorrow.
No, I’m just kidding.

~~~

Quote of the Day

Love one another and you will be happy. 
It's as simple and as difficult as that.
~Michael Leunig

~~~
Joke of the Day

Even though you may only write email, proper writing skills are still very important so that you leave a good image which the other person. Here’s some tips:

How to Rite Good
Don't use no double negative. Make each pronoun agree with their antecedent. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should. Now, about them sentence
fragments. When dangling, watch your participles. Verbs has to agree with their subject. Just between you and i, case is important, too. Don't write run-on sentences, they are hard to read. Don't use commas, they aren't
necessary. Try to not ever split infinitives. It's important to use your apostrophe's correctly. Proof-read your writing to see if you any words out. Correct spelling is esential.

If the above paragraph looks OK to you, then you are in trouble when it comes to writing.

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My Home is Kingsport, TN

Kingsport
I was born in Knoxville, TN, and moved to Kingsport with my wife, Beverly, and my son, Gregory, in 1963. We’ve been here ever since except for almost 3 years in Mexico. We had two more children, Kevin and Bethany, who were born in Kingsport.

Ever wonder how Kingsport got its name? It is called a port but it is located many miles inland. The way I understand it, there was a man name King who owned or operated a a barge station on the Holston River. Hence, over time “King’s port” became Kingsport.

Is Kingsport famous? Not so much. It is the home of Eastman Chemical Company. And Elvis came here once to play in our little civic auditorium. It is supposedly the last time he was not the top bill for the show.

Perhaps the most unusual history of Kingsport involves a circus that came to town in September 1916 (before my time). A local man was hired by the circus as an assistant elephant trainer. On September 11 he was killed by Mary, a 5 ton Asian elephant. What happened is uncertain, but the story says she picked him up and threw him into a drink stand, then stepped on his head deliberately.

There was a public outcry of wild proportions that called for the elephant to be killed. The elephant was dubbed Murderous Mary by the newspapers. As a result of the ordeal, the Circus owner reluctantly decided that the elephant needed to be put down.

On September 13, 1911 the elephant was transported to Erwin, TN where a crowd of over 2.500 people watched the elephant killed by hanging in the Clinchfield Railroad yard. Poor Mary was hung by the neck from a railcar fitted with an industrial crane. The life of Mary the elephant had come to an horrible end.

Since then we’ve had nothing so horrible to happen. Kingsport is a good place to live.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Someone said, you should learn something new every day.   Unfortunately, many of us are at that age where what we learn today, we forget tomorrow.
But, friend, give it a shot anyway.

~~~

Quote of the Day

Whoever is in a hurry shows that the thing
he is about is too big for him. 
~Lord Chesterfield

~~~
Joke of the Day

Did the audience like your speech? Yes, they did. When I sat down, they said it's the best thing I've ever done.

And…

During a boring and especially long-winded speech, one of the members of the audience became so upset he threw a wine bottle at the speaker. Unfortunately, the flask struck someone else near the podium, knocking him unconscious. As the poor man was being revived, he was heard to say 'Please, hit me again - I can still hear him talking.

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Cleaning Up

Pressure Washing
A few years ago I got a new toy called a Pressure Washer. I just had to have one. It looked to be so much fun. Little did I know…

They are a lot of hard work. I got it started a couple of days ago and did a cleanup number on our patio and the sidewalks around our home. Here’s some pictures, and some show my “hard” work:

Here’s the machine.	Granddaddy at work
Close up view of the nozzle working away the grime on the sidewalk.	Grandmother was watching while I did some fancy writing with the pressure washer

That sidewalk did not look very dirty until I started working on it. It’s hard to believe the grime that collects. This sidewalk was cleaned 2 years ago. It got this dirty in two years in the elements. But it gave me a unique way to let Grandmother know that I love her.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
What is it they say about men and boys?
Is it something like this, “The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys”?

~~~

Quote of the Day
The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air.
Exercise and diet.

These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they'll ease
Your will they'll mend
And charge you not a shilling.

~Nursery rhyme quoted by Wayne Fields

~~~
Joke of the Day

Prison Vs. Work
Makes me glad I’m retarded. I mean retired.

IN PRISON
You spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell.
AT WORK
You spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle

IN PRISON
You get three meals a day.
AT WORK
You only get a break for 1 meal, you have to pay.

IN PRISON
You get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK
You get rewarded for good behavior with more work.

IN PRISON
A guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK
You must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.

IN PRISON
You can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK
You are fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON
You get your own toilet.
AT WORK
You have to share.

IN PRISON
They allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK
You cannot even speak to your family and friends.

IN PRISON
All expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required.
AT WORK
You get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON
You spend most of your life looking thorough bars from the inside wanting to get out.
AT WORK
You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON
There are wardens who are often sadistic.
AT WORK
They are called managers.

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