Veterans Day 2009

I cannot take credit for this image. I found it on the internet. But the face of a war soldier has not changed much from WWI, WWII through Korea, Vietnam and now Afghanistan and Iraq. My face looked like this in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968.

I am a severely injured combat infantry soldier from my service in Vietnam.

I am a few days late posting a Veterans Day entry but I think it is an extremely important day is our lives. We must remember those who serve in our armed forces. It would be wonderful if one day there were no need for armies and conflicts, but that day sure seems a long way off.

I was invited to attend a whole school assembly at my grandchildren's Elementary School in suburban Seattle, and then to speak to each of my kids individual classes. The entire program was done so well and with such respect that I felt honored to be present. 500 elementary school children sat quietly and respectfully on the floor in the assembly hall and participated in their part of the program and respectfully observed as adults spoke their parts.

After all these years of being a Vietnam veteran I finally felt like a part of larger America again. Vietnam veterans were so hated and despised for so long that it gets absorbed as a part of our personality and we are often outside looking in.

Thank you for respectfully observing Veterans Day this year.

My Car is Crashed

I brought my car into the service place last Wednesday to get the oil changed and they crashed my car. I bought the car brand new in this place 16 years ago and have brought it there for service every 3000 miles for the past sixteen years. The gas pedal got stuck they said.

Caught his foot between the brake pedal and the gas pedal. The appraiser called me yesterday and he said the car is totaled. Now I need to find money to buy another car.

Isn't it hard to believe how much damage was done? They crashed through the garage door and into the lift hoist. My poor little car is done for. I really took care of this car and kept it in great condition.

Insurance companies don't look at what the value of the car is to the owner, but just the book value of a car of the same vintage in Kelly Blue Book or something. I had 123,000 miles in this car and it had about ten years left. Maybe more.

Bad enough if I had crashed my car myself. But I was in the waiting area having a cup of coffee. I didn't even see it happen.

Road of Death

A friend sent me an email with these pictures of what is called "The Road of Death" in Bolivia.

I saw a television program about this very road last Winter on one of those cable channels. This road is a miracle of engineering, but I personally would not choose to travel it.

The program said that there are some people who find it necessary to travel this road every day. It is the only road connecting a part of the interior of Bolivia to the coast. The TV program said this road is 30 miles if I remember correctly.

Maybe later this week I might Google the road to get more information.

I-Phone!

I finally got a cell phone last week. It took me around twenty years to join the cell phone community.

I never really needed a cell phone, and I am not quite sure I need one even now. Everybody has a cell phone so I suppose I should have one. Now I need to get my cell phone number out there so people can call me sometimes.

I don't get many telephone calls even on my land line, so I don't expect that will change now that I have a cell. But it will be nice to have when I travel to Seattle or somewhere in case of emergency or something.

This phone has a lot of features. It can receive email and surf the web with a web browser. It even has wireless built in. Who would have ever thought that this kind of machine would even be invented. It is quite impressive.

My last post about the camera? I did finally receive a refund from the seller. He does not answer email but he did respond when I sent the entire package back to him in Connecticut. I will be more careful about buying things on line now.

Buy Carefully

I bought a Casio Camera like this EX Z-50 from a vendor who sells through Amazon.com. This was to be a gift for my brother.

I had the camera sent directly to his home in another state, and when it arrived the package contained a completely different camera and is broken.

The Amazon vendor said in his ad that the camera is "like new" condition. That was a total lie.

I had my brother send the camera to me in Oregon and yesterday I sent it back to the seller. I have emailed the seller several times but they have not replied. I enclosed printed copies of all the emails inside the package.

I was under the belief that Amazon.com checked out the vendors who sell under the Amazon.com name. I was wrong. Looks like they allow anybody at all to sell through their company.

I wanted to post this on my blog to vent some frustration. I do not expect any of the money I paid to this vendor to be returned. I did ask them several times for my money but no response from them at all. They are ignoring me.

The camera should arrive back in Conneticut tomorrow or Saturday. I wonder if they will even acknowledge receiving it? I plan to keep watch on Amazon.com to see if they try to re-sell it to another trusting person.

Amazon.com has an area where one can post feedback about sellers. I plan to post extremely negative feedback next week. I will give one more chance after they receive the camera to see if they might have a bit of honor.

Labor Day 2009

Tomorrow is Labor Day. Please honor and remember the workers of America. This is a day set aside to remember working class Americans.

I will be at my annual Labor Day church picnic but I will remember what the day represents. I grew up in Michigan. One of the primary states of unions. Mining industry, Auto industry and others.

Have a nice day tomorrow.

I-Pod

This is a joke I read in the Oregonian Newspaper September 3, 2009. In the"Uncle Edgster" column, page E6.

I do not take credit for authoring this entry, but I think it is worth sharing in my blog.

Here is the joke I am borrowing from the Oregonian:


"I was in the pub yesterday when I suddenly realized I desperately needed to fart. The music was really loud so I timed my farts with the beat. After a couple of songs I started feeling better. I finished my pint and noticed that everybody was staring at me. Then I suddenly remembered that I was listening to my I-Pod."

Big Moose

Wow... look at the size of this moose! How would you like to come across this guy while you are walking in the woods?

Wheelchair Day with The Mayor

On August 1st, 2009 Access Benton County in cooperation with Corvallis Parks Department is hosting a "Wheelchair Ride with the Mayor" from 10AM to noon.

This will be on Saturday at the same time of day as the Corvallis Farmer's Market.

We will have a specific route mapped out, with a handout and the route identified with sidewalk chalk all along the way. Not a difficult journey and only a few blocks long. Starting and ending at Jackson Street Fountain.

Twenty wheelchairs will be available for you to borrow when riding the route. We wish to just raise awareness of disabled access in a small way with this event. Kind of a small part of a typical day in Corvallis for a person who lives in a wheelchair.

The Mayor and other officials will be present and will ride the route in a wheelchair. City Council Members, Benton County DA and others. Various agencies who provide services to the public will be on hand, in addition to Access Benton County and Corvallis Parks Department.

Benton County Parks, CoHo Housing, Benton Health Department and others will be there. We will be giving away free information about many disability issues and we will even hand out some prizes as long as they last.

Please come to watch and to hopefully participate.

A route for kids will be in the area of the Jackson Street Fountain, so there will be no need for children to go out into the street and to cross traffic. The wheelchairs will all be adult size chairs and are somewhat big for kids to safely handle on their own.

Eat your Vegetables!

I have always liked cartoons. I subscribe to a daily cartoon site and this one really was funny for some reason.

I guess mother has trouble getting junior to eat his vegetables? I don't know why this is funny. Kind of sick cartoon in a way, but I found it to be funny.