The 50 Plus Cafe, Pub, All-Nite Greasy Spoon and Dive Bar

today was whacky. Not in a good way.

Visited a friend of mine who’s in the hospital. That was sad enough. He is ravaged by MS.

But when we got back home and ready to work at the farm, we got word that a friend of our died.

He died doing what he loved.

He was an ace mechanic and machinist. He could do anything, build anything, get any motor started, figure out a way to do just about anything mechanical. He was 80 years old and didn’t let anything get in his way.

He took one of my neighbors kids under his wing and taught him how to fly. (He was also a pilot)

He was old school AND new school. He was gruff and also friendly. A mentor to many people. He didn’t suffer fools and he also had a heart as big as a house. He programmed his entire house, loved old technology and new technology. He was a doer and did his best thinking on his feet.

He designed and was building a solar kiln for drying wood. This weekend, i was literally gonna get some cherry slabbed at the local sawmill and then bring it to him to get kiln dried.

He was a helluva guy. And I will miss the hell out of him.

Then someone “bought” $30 of pumpkins and left $5. It happens sometimes and 3/4 of the time someone will leave an iou or come back and put the extra money in the box a few days later. Fingers are crossed. It’s not a lot of bread but it ain’t nothing either.

I guess it pales in comparison to losing a loved one.

My one buddy am a barely move and is my age. My other buddy died at 80 and was as sory as a cat.

Life is weird sometimes.
What a beautiful eulogy for your friend, W! I'm so sorry! 😢💔🫂
 
I don't have a flag to open or a bottle for a toast, but will think of this gentleman, and others, on each remembrance of WWII and thank them for their service.
Thank you for sharing this story.
At 92 you see my mom was born in '33. When she moved to the retirement community where she is now, I found a box of photos of her mothers. To that point I had no idea they existed and these may be from one of her 11 siblings as her home burnt down and all was lost. I scanned them in and when I get a chance show them on the TV with mom. At first I noticed how as a kid her tricycle had solid wheels as did the cars. Then as the war came on suddenly there were spokes and much fewer cars and the ones there lighter.
The big thing we are finally getting her to talk about is her father and three uncles in the NAVY. They all came home as did the uncles that had married sisters of her mother. In my teens Uncle Al would take us up in his airplane. Mostly all she talked about from the war time was rationing and keeping the house dark at night. Not traveling to nearby towns to see family for those years.
On my fathers side his parents spoke rarely of the first war. Mostly cousins and friends, but none came back. My grandmother had a photo of her closest cousin. Her son's wife had it and showed it to me. It could have easily been a photo of me. Gram was pretty bitter. My great uncle went to WWII, infantry. By the time I came around and met him he was pretty mixed up. One thing I remember about my fathers father was not just patriotism, but the frugal nature from having lived through the depression. There was something in his decision process like that could happen again. Or things he would do or make instead of purchase.
When I see kids today I see these things that didn't seem to get passed from generation to generation. Most of my remembrance is borne of my family experience. WWII and Korea. As I got a bit older I met so many that endured Vietnam and wonder if their sacrifice was somehow greater as the seem to carry something that cannot be spoken. The SEAL I knew from that era took no shit, but only spoke of it to someone who had also been there. As a high school age kid I learned to brave the ocean and work through sea sickness from a Marine. He never let up. Granted we were 70 miles out to catch a fish, but I learned that I was not a participant. More importantly, not to let anyone carry my water if I was able.
 
Thanks for the tip about Kegels
The first few weeks I had a hard time to remember to do it. If you do, eventually holding the clinch for longer and longer times becomes much more simple. That is also the time you start noticing changes. It takes a while. Be patient. I had a physical therapist. From the sound of her voice and appearance, I wished they were not facetime calls. She was pretty cool. We had the initial visit and she basically read over the two sites I mentioned. The second visit was a month or maybe 5 weeks. And all she did is ask a few questions to see if I had been doing the exorcises. By my responses she said I was where the more consistent exercisers would be in 3 weeks.
Now when I slack off there are some ways I notice I have been slacking off more than others.
 
On a better note, I had brunch with a group of other WIDs and welcomed 2 new members. We know how difficult it is to meet strangers but we try to make them feel welcome and inclusive. It makes me feel productive and hehelpful.
I think I would like to find a group like yours. My best friend is also a widow. We meet about monthly for lunch. She is a great source of information and comfort for me.
 
TS Imelda looks like she’s going to head out to sea so all the finger crossing worked. It’s been raining on and off so we’ll get that all day, but honestly we needed it. No rain in almost 40 days.

Hope everyone has a great start to the week. We wont mention the M word.

@Wonderer67 , so sorry for your loss my friend. Prayers out to y’all. What did your friend fly if I may ask?

We have a another week of official Oktoberfest…the MZ will reflect:

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Glad you didn't get the hit! 🥰
 
Good to know! We do have them, along with other critters, in our neighborhood. Thank goodness we've never encountered one! 😱🦨


Skunks are okay if you don't mess with them. They'll likely just go about their business.


The bizness partner had a part-pit doggie who killed critters that got in the yard. Damned skunks'd be a'sprayin' and she'd be a'killin'. Afterwards, she'd be a'stinkin' and a'stayin' out in the yard for the next three four days are so. Skunk'd be a'rottin'.


She tossed one over the fence one time into the next pasture. The mule came over and picked it up and the dogs lost their minds, so the mule proceeded to trot up and down the fence line and tease the dogs with the (that they considered to be theirs) skunk carcass. Wish I'd seen that.
 
If I had a fireplace I would try to find where I could cut a tree down and bring it home to chop wood. Actually enjoyed it the few times we did cut a tree down. As well the wood we would get delivered had to be chopped. Like yard work, it is mindless toil. Start doing the work and every one leaves you alone so they don't get put to work. And it is good exorcise without having to do some repetitious motion solely for the purpose of exorcise.
Most of my interaction with wood is hickory, mesquite and oak. The chunks slowly turn to ash leaving a great crust on meats that find their way into one of my grills. Kind of destructive compared to milling and furniture.
We sell a lot of firewood. Mostly Ash, maple and oak.

Hickory and Cherry are good for grilling!

They say you will warm yourself many times by cutting firewood.

When you take down the tree.
When you cut it into rounds.
When you split it.
When you stack it.
When you use it.
 
I'm re-binge watching Boardwalk Empire. I like how even the corrupt were honest, back in the day.
Having grown up in rural south I never experienced that kind of old fashioned until I lived in South Jersey. It still exists. Its a kind of respect. A lot of it lives on in the minds and motions of those that are grand daughters in this generation. Dating locals I learned a lot.
The sense of honor when people fill up the box after a few days after the stock is gone, makes me feel good actually.

Sometimes people will leave an IOU.
 
Morning all. Busy day. Coffee over the F1 race, but then off to momma’s to help bake our annual nut cakes for the holidays. Will be special this year as our granddaughter will be able to help. Have a great Sunday and wrap up to the weekend.

More HM MZ——

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Sounds fun!

I always thought you were a nut cake! 😂

Hopefully your mom is doing ok.
 
Checked the apple trees last night. This tree is full of these. They've still got a way to go. They're getting closer to being ready, but they're still hard and not sweet enough yet. We have a bit of cooler weather coming, which should help them sweeten up.
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Wow! Thise look delish!! What variety?

I know fuck all about apples, other than I really enjoy them this time of year.
 
I've always been lucky able to sleep. Sometimes even feeling tired when I don't want too.
After 55 or so I had the pee thing. Constantly waking slightly to ruin a dream or just he feeling my head is pressing the pillow. Pee and back to sleep. I lived with it. Until a few years ago. First I stopped drinking beer. Not on purpose. I was going to have cataracts and thought hmmm. When is the last time I went without beer? I stopped for three weeks or more. Two before the first one and a week or so after the second one. I wasn't in a hurry for a beer. I had started back on the wine. When I has a sip off my first beer I felt it warm my face immediately. Not too long I felt tired. I didn't have any more and I did not miss it. Stopping to pee at night was a little different but didn't get my attention. The next year during a physical the doc advised we could continue no meds for slightly elevated blood pressure and not drinking coffee would help. I stopped cold turkey like I did smoking at the age 34 and the beer the previous year. I had headaches so bad I couldn't sleep. Finally figured out that coffee I made that didn't need a cup was causing withdrawals. Got well and continued no coffee and noticed I was up only 2 times a night to pee. That luxury went away. Long story short, I had done some damage to the prostate from riding my bike. I didn't know it was my bike but enough discomfort where I visited the urologist. End game of that was physical therapy. Kegal's. Look up male pelvic floor exorcises and read whats offered at Mayo and Cleveland clinic. 3 positions and 2 exorcises per position. I think this is what made the biggest difference. And made a differnce in other ways too. Then another year and another physical the doc told me I was fat, like non-alcohol fatty liver and I was dehydrated. Now I try to drink at least 2 liters of water outside of what I normally drink. Aside from water only milk after dinner and wine with. For a while drinking so much water was a problem. Now I often fall asleep 10:30ish and wake up at 8am. Can't explain it. If I do wake up it is uncanny. The clock reads 3:31 or somewhere before or after 4:15. If I eat late I will wake up an hour or two after I fall asleep. That is probably too much wine. When I eat late I tend to snack as I procrastinate, which translates to a whole bottle of wine.
Make sure you are hydrated, lighter colored pee. And give the kegal's a try. Even if its the easy ones you can do sitting in a chair. Once you master it, I find I can do it while driving. It does take a little practice. Which I will admit like any exorcise I find annoying.
There was a time in my IT life where I worked inside big pharma. I avoid medication. Most medication causes symptoms, possibly even the wake up every few minutes to pee one.
I can make myself have body orgasms from kegels.

Not saying that as a joke. But I can have prostate like orgasms from doing kegels and contraction.

I’m just sayin.

I try not to eat anything late. Mostly sleep is good… but every so often… for me, the biggest things is to pee if I get up in the middle of the night right.

No phone!
 
crunchy and tart? sign me up!
I'm a Granny Smith gal at heart but willing to step out and try another tasty apple.
well, unless they're disagreeable suckers before they've sweetened up? 🤨
Honeycrisp are really good just a touch tart. They actually have a sweet-tart flavor at the same time. A few days too long and I think they get too sweet. I think the zestar are next in flavor. They're just a bit too firm yet, but the flavor is coming long nicely. (There are ~dozen honeycrisp and ~dozen zestar trees. So we shouldn't run out anytime soon! )

These wolf rivers are known to make you wait until the bitter end of the season. They're really not very good until they're ready. The sweetness is coming along, but there is a bitter flavor that needs to mellow first. To give you an idea, even the deer don't like them now. Once ready, cooked and sauced they are really good. It only takes three to make a pie. Apparently over a pound each is not unheard of. I'm still 2oz short of that.
 
Jersey garage sales are the bomb. I found stuff I enjoy storing just like the original owner did. Found some really nice antique furniture and lamps I rebuilt too. They just don't make stuff like they used to. A little sad sometimes. Like one, the guy was old. I saw them occasionally driving down the street but never had a reason to talk. I stopped at the garage sale. The old guy was widowed and couldn't keep up the house like he should. Kids didn't care about the stuff or the house anymore. Nicer home ~100 years old in Haddonfield. Great place in Jersey on the 'right' side of the river across from where RCA invented the TV tube and Campbell's soup called home. Anyway, at 92 the kids didn't care so he had to get rid of stuff or throw it away. I was more enjoying talking to him and kept looking for something I could buy that he might feel I would give a good home. As I was turning to leave a flag caught my eye. It was an American flag. I moved the stuff blocking it and picked it up. The fabric felt light or thin but large. I started to lift the folds and he said I had found a gem, but it only meant something to him. I held it up a little higher and said it was an American flag and meant everything. I forget the name of the ship it flew over, it flew over the Whitehouse and was presented to him after WWII by Eisenhower himself. He was ceremoniously promoted to Admiral after the war ended prior to his promotion. I should have some more respect and remember the gentleman, but I think of him on the years I open that 12 foot by 8 48 star flag.
Great story!

Great find.
 
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