[BigMackCam]

Hey Mike, is that a rice cake box I see in your rubbish?

With my recent calorie intake, I don't have the energy to respond to that in the manner it fully deserves...

[MarkJerling]

Run it in? Nah, wouldn't dream of it...



Thanks, makes this feel even better - for the all too few days out lasts.

But I actually came back to the club house to show you what I have to deal with these days.

The view from the bungalow


The other way


(This, of course, is just to inform you, not in any way meant to rub anything in or anything...)

Now that looks like a lovely holiday spot!

[normhead]

Do you know why the statement is such a long standing joke?

No idea.

[Parallax]

The phrase he used was "Ich bin ein Berliner". It was said, at the time that by including ein in the phrase he was calling himself a jelly doughnut. (a Berliner being a type of German pastry, similar to a jelly doughnut). As he was not actually a Berlin resident, therefore speaking figuratively, the phrase he spoke was actually appropriate, but the whole thing was a field day for the cartoonists and comedians at the time.

Four years later, it found its way into a New York Times op-ed:
"It's worth recalling, again, President John F. Kennedy's use of a German phrase while standing before the Berlin Wall. It would be great, his wordsmiths thought, for him to declare himself a symbolic citizen of Berlin. Hence, Ich bin ein Berliner. What they did not know, but could easily have found out, was that such citizens never refer to themselves as 'Berliners.' They reserve that term for a favorite confection often munched at breakfast. So, while they understood and appreciated the sentiments behind the President's impassioned declaration, the residents tittered among themselves when he exclaimed, literally, "I am a jelly-filled doughnut."

A classic case of not letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

[ccc_]

he was a charming man and the germans cut him some slack because he tried

good on them

[Racer X 69]

doughnuts...MMMmmmmm

if humankind's stay on this planet should be admired for anything, it is the invention of sweet fried bread!

The only thing to improve it is to make a bar from it, coat the top with a maple flavored sugary glaze, and then top that with a thorough covering of crumbled bacon.

Bacon Maple Bar......MMMMmmmmmmmmmmm.................................................

[Ex Finn.]

It`s too cold outside to hit the treadmill downstairs!
Instead of exercising or buying the K3... I will eat another chipped beef and melted Finlandia-Swiss salad.

[Rupert]

We did hit 80F here this afternoon...felt so good! I had two workers here and we got the rest of the leaves raked and burned, two cars washed and detailed, and my deck and shop floors swept. Tomorrow we work on getting the leaves off the carports. I say we.....I just did the supervising,and not much of that!

Regards!...and it all beats shoveling snow!

[Parallax]

We did hit 80F here this afternoon...felt so good! I had two workers here and we got the rest of the leaves raked and burned, two cars washed and detailed, and my deck and shop floors swept. Tomorrow we work on getting the leaves off the carports. I say we.....I just did the supervising,and not much of that!

Regards!...and it all beats shoveling snow!

I don't think I got 80 degrees in the shower this morning.

[monochrome]

Sure is! Neat capture!

The Cardinal was not impressed....said it stuck to his beak.

Coldest day so far tomorrow ....30F for the high. Otis has about 50 old tires burning and it will warm up to the 70's by next week, he assures.

Regards!

What's that red thing on Otis's veranda?

[Parallax]

Two 5 year old boys were talking on day.
One of them said "I found a condom on the veranda".
The other one said "Really?!? What's a veranda?

[monochrome]

All this automation and electronic scanning is coming faster and faster. Maybe in time to save the cashier that forgets to punch in "Amount Tendered" and then has to call his/her boss to make change for a .96 cent purchase when you hand them a dollar bill. Yes, I have had it happen and more than once.
There is a reason workers are tied to low paying jobs. They lack basic skills and training. The future belongs to those that get educated, either by higher education or by training in the various trades that will always be available. Even robots won't crawl under a house where it is covered in sit to make repairs. ( I can say sit, I read it here earlier....all you have to do is leave out the *)

I think we are falling more and more behind in education/training. We will have the jobs in the new high tech world, but will we have the workers with the skills needed? Will we have more and more poor people unable to compete, unable to survive on their own?

My oldest grandson just got a huge promotion with a major US Bank.....a position not held by any other 26 year old employee in the company. He got it shortly after receiving a degree in the area of finance recommended by his company.......and also paid for by his company. This is what we need, more education and paid for by those corporations that benefit from it the most. He immediately started on obtaining his Masters, and they pay for that too.

Anyhow, that's how I see things and think we can do better...... and will have to if we maintain our world position in the coming century.

Regards!

We bought a house with special toilets. Kohler doesn't make them any more - too expensive and complicated - but they're the best toilets ever designed. Our plumber has one specialist who works on these - he's the Eric of Kohler toilets - and when we call they know to send 'Steve'.

Steve bills $64 an hour.

[Racer X 69]

So, while they understood and appreciated the sentiments behind the President's impassioned declaration, the residents tittered among themselves when he exclaimed, literally, "I am a jelly-filled doughnut."

So Mike's trash looks like a jelly filled doughnut?

What confuses me in another manner is why a man in England, where they speak English, has trashbags with derogatory slogans printed on them in German about a man who was probably one of the best to have held the highest office in the US.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Anyway, while scouring the Innerwebs trying to figure out why I missed the joke, I've been reading about Guantanamo (anytime you read about JFK you will read about Cuba, and anytime you read about Cuba, you will likely read about Guantanamo.

Interesting history there, we started out protecting them, then became bitter enemies.

Pity.

A couple famous people were born there, an actor (some dude played in soap operas, if you wanna call that 'famous'), and a musician. The musician was Isaac Guillory. Never heard of him until today. Listened to what I could find on the YouTube. Nice stuff.

Growing up a Navy kid I had friends who were from families of Sailors and Marines that had been stationed there. They gave me a perspective far different and much more personal than one gets from Wikipedia, or other sources. The 'inside story'.

[monochrome]

In my years as a land surveyor, starting in 1966, I saw many changes due to technology.
3 and 4 man crews were the norm back then, and then came EDM, electronic distance measurement devices, cutting the crew size to two.
GPS was starting to replace that second person for much of the work when I retired.
I haven't checked lately, maybe a robot is doing all the field work now.

I had an 8' privacy fence installed last fall. Kirkwood requires a formal survey to locate the property corners and fence line before issuing a fence permit. The surveyor sent two young men with all the electronic tools to locate the corners (rebar, pipe and even a 150 year old etched stone corner marker), but they actually used a sighting transit-level and grade rod to stake and string the fence line. $540.

I knew that rusty chain link fence was on my cranky neighbor's side . . MWWhhhahh hah hah hah

[monochrome]

*cough*wuss*cough*

It's 2 degrees even here.