More reasons for sayings.

QUOTE from J.P. Morgan: "I made a fortune by getting out of the stock market too soon."


I LEARNED some more reasons for sayings. According to the book LIFE IN THE 1500s" they all originated in Europe in the 1500s.

Pork was a luxury in the 1500s. If people had bacon, they would hang up a slab to show it off. It was an honor to be able to "BRING HOME THE BACON."
When company came, a man would slice off a little for each guest and they would sit around and "CHEW THE FAT."

Loaves of bread were divided according to status. Workers got the bottom of the loaf (often scorched), the family got the middle and guests got the top or the "UPPER CRUST."

In England, it was discovered that some coffins that were reopened after several years had scratch marks inside indicating the person had not been dead when buried. So they tied a string to the wrist of each person that led to a bell above the ground. Someone was assigned to sit at night and listen for the bells, which created the expressions,"GRAVEYARD SHIFT" and "SAVED BY THE BELL."

Whiskey was drunk from lead cups, the combination sometimes knocked people cold. If found on the road, they would be taken home and laid on the kitchen table. The family would gather around and wait and see if they would wake up. This was called "HOLDING A WAKE."


HUMOR for today:

A class reunion is a time when men and women travel great distances to be with people they haven't seen in 20 years.
Then they soon discover that 20 years is too often.

Reasons for sayings.

QUOTE from Guideposts reader, Elly Derr, of Auburn, GA: "Those who judge us don't matter. Those who matter don't judge us."

I've been hearing the following sayings ever since I was a kid. I LEARNED today where they originated. Most came out of Europe in the 1500s.

"IT'S RAINING CATS AND DOGS." This saying started because most houses had straw roofs with no wood underneath. Cats and dogs would sit on the roof in cold weather. But if it rained, the roof became slippery and the cats and dogs would slide off.

Those people are "DIRT POOR." In Europe in the 1500s only the wealthy had floors made of something other than dirt, which resulted in the expression "dirt poor."

"THE GROOM CARRIED HIS NEW BRIDE OVER THE THRESHOLD." Rich people had slate floors. They put thresh on them when they got wet and slippery, but often the thresh would slip outside. So they placed a piece of wood at the entrance which became known as the "thresh hold."

DON'T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER." In a tub of water, the man took the first bath, then his wife and children. The baby was last. Hence this expression.

(On my next post I will have some more.)

HUMOR for today.

Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the universe are pointed away from Earth?

How do the elderly know when they've been in the pool too long?

Breakfast trivia.

QUOTE from THE POWER OF SMALL: WHY THE LITTLE THINGS MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval: "Focusing on the tiniest details, finding magic in even the smallest inspirations, embracing the briefest moments - that's where the passion is."

I love to LEARN about trivial stuff from history. Like the quote said "focusing on the tiniest details", is what makes history come alive for me. I read in PARADE MAGAZINE some historical details about "BREAKFAST". The case for eating breakfast is well known in the medical field. It is known and proven that eating breakfast can keep your heart healthy, help with the waistline and prevent obesity, sharpen your memory and helps regulate blood sugar reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

So what did I LEARN about breakfast.

1. In the 1600s the Pilgrims used to drink a pint of beer or hard cider for breakfast along with some corn mush (maize porridge)they learned how
to make from the Native Americans. Beer and cider was safer to drink than the not-so-drinkable water.

2. In the 1700s immigrants from the Netherlands introduced "obiebollen" (oil balls), to America's breakfast table. We now know them as doughnuts. These deep-fried dollops of dough later became ring-shaped as part of an effort to speed production time and solve the soggy-middle problem.

3. We've all had corn flakes at one time or another for breakfast. Where did corn flakes come from? The answer is in 1902 Dr. John Kellogg and his brother, Will, baked up the first batch of corn flakes in a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Mich, which at that time was a mecca for health enthusiasts who avoided meat and fretted about digestion. Kellogg was a pioneer in proclaiming grains a healthy food and his ideas spread around
the world.

4.William Howard Taft was our largest president, weighing in the neighorhood of 350 pounds. He was also a big breakfast eater. In 1906, two years before he became president, Taft was observed eating breakfast in Savannah, GA. Taft ate shrimp with hominy, potted partridge, broiled venison, waffles with maple syrup, hot rolls, and a grapefruit. No wonder he was a 350 pounder.

5. However, the Breakfast of Champions goes to Olympic eight gold medal winner Michael Phelps. His standing breakfast during the Beijing Olympics was as follows:
a. Three fried egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise;
b. Two cups of coffee;
c. One five-egg omelet;
d. One bowl of grits;
e. Three slices of French toast topped with sugar;
f. And three chocolate chip cookies.

Phelps said he consumed 12,000 calories a day but with his rigorous training he burned them off. He is definitely The Breakfast of Champions.

Like I said this kind of historical trivia is interesting stuff to me.

HUMOR for today. This isn't so funny but it shows how dumb some people are.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: A Florida bank refused to let a man born without arms cash his wife's check even though he'd provided two forms of identification. The reason given: He couldn't provide a thumbprint.

A DVD we should all see.

QUOTE from Pete Bungum and Clint Eastwood: "The reason, in my retirement, I haven't turned into a couch potato is that I want to learn something new every day. The brain has to be exercised the same as the rest of the body. It's about expanding, constantly pushing yourself."

So what did I LEARN today? I LEARNED a lot about the causes of our recession. My son Brad told me about a film that was made explaining how the global economic crisis of 2008 was created (he saw it on a plane ride to the U.S.) The name of the documentary film is "INSIDE JOB" and is narrated by Matt Damon. It was not shown at theaters but was shown at film festivals in Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and New York. I found a DVD copy at Menards the other day, it costs $20.00.

INSIDE JOB exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists (many of those involved in creating the crisis refused to be interviewed). The film traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulations and academia. It takes us through all five presidents since the 1980s and the role each played in bringing about this crisis; the five presidents include Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, G.W. Bush and Obama.

I've viewed it once and am going to watch it again or maybe three times. It is not political and treats all five presidents in a very nonpartisan manner. If you readers get a chance to buy a copy you would be doing yourself a favor. You will learn so much about the truth of our financial mess. If you do buy a copy then share it with as many people as you can.

I would like to have every American see this documentary film. I grarantee it will make you furious about what money, greed and deregulation has done to America.


HUMOR for today. Sigmund Freud said. "I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me."

It's all HUMOR today.

QUOTE FROM ANANYMOUS: "We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."

It's all HUMOR today. I take a magazine entitled THE JOKER. My latest edition had some pretty good ones that I'll share today.

George Bernard Shaw wrote a note to Winston Churchill. The note said, "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend....if you have one."
Winston replied< "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."
___________________________________________________
Mae West said, "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
___________________________________________________

An elderly man was stopped by the police at 1 AM. The officer asked, "Where are you going at this hour of the night?"
"I'm going to a lecture on the subject of alcohol abuse and the effects that it has on the human body."
Policeman says, "Oh really! And who is giving this lecture at 1 o'clock in the morning?"
"That would be my wife."
___________________________________________________
Dear Boss,
I have enjoyed working here these past several years. You have paid me benefits beyond belief. I have 3-4 months off per year and a pension plan that will pay ME till the day I die and a health plan that most people can only dream about.
I plan to take the next 12-18 months to find a new position.
During this time I will show up for work when it is convenient. In addition, I fully expect to draw my full salary and all the other perks associated with my current job.
Oh yeah, if my search for the new job proves fruitless, I will be back with no loss in pay or status. Before you say anything, remember that you have no choice in the matter.
I can and will do this.
Sincerely,
EVERY SENATOR OR REPRESENTATIVE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
___________________________________________________
'I don't mind coming to work, but this eight hour wait to go home is just BS."
___________________________________________________
A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today."
The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool.
"That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?"
"It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change the 'y' in baby to an 'i' and add the 'es'."
___________________________________________________
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.
The wife said, "You should do it because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."
The husband said, "You are in charge of cooking arould here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."
Wife replies, "No, you should do it and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."
Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me."
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of about 15 pages, that it indeed says HEBREWS.
__________________________________________________
Life is like a jar of jalapeno peppers - what you do today might burn your butt tomorrow.
__________________________________________________

Hope you got few laughs today. Laughter is good medicine.

HOW TO TALK HOSPITAL

QUOTE from a sign in front of a Florida funeral home: "We would rather do business with 1,000 Al Qaeda terrotists than with one American soldier."

From the Reader's Digest I LEARNED some slang terms used by doctors and nurses behind our backs and behind the backs of their colleagues.

Here they are:

AXE, BLADE, SLASHER - A surgeon.
BABY CATCHER - An obstetrician.
BANANA - A patient with jaundice.
BUNNY BOILER - A dangerously obsessive or unbalanced woman. From the film FATAL ATTRACTION.
CAPTAIN KANGAROO - Chief pediatrician.
COFFIN DODGER - Someone who survived against expectations.
FOREVERECTOMY - A surgical procedure that lasts a very long time.
HOUSE RED - Blood.
OBE - Open at both ends (diarrhea and vomiting).
REAR ADMIRAL - A proctologist.
SHADOW GAZER - a radiologist.
SPARK 'EM - to defribrillate a patient.
STREAM TEAM - The urology department.

These are quite interesting and funny. I'm going to check with my niece Shelley in Brainard, Minnesota, to see what she knows about these and if she has some to add to the list.

HUMOR today comes from the Life's Funny section in The Reader's Digest. A lady from Syracuse sent this to the Digest.

She said her mother was reading about immigrants taking the oath of citizenship when she noticed something interesting. Her mother said,"Look at the list of names, they're all foreigners."

HOW TO WRITE A CONDOLENCE NOTE.

QUOTE from Martha Stewart: "My new motto is, when you're through changing, you're through."


Ruth Ann and I are getting to the age when many of our family, friends, and acquaintances are passing away. Which means we are sending more and more sympathy cards. One of the hardest things for me to do is to find the appropriate words to write on the card. But the Reader's Digest had an article entitled, "How to Write a Condolence Note." So I LEARNED some helpful tips for what to write.

Here is the article.

What you say and how much you say depend on how close you are to the deceased or to the family. But, as with a thank-you note, a few well-chosen handwritten sentences will generally suffice.

Phrases like "I'm so sorry," "He was the model of the man I hope to become," and "I'll miss her too," will help you connect with the recipient. According to the Emily Post Institute, you needn't restrict yourself to expressions of sympathy. If you have a favorite anecdote about the deceased or some particular memory you cherish, by all means, include it.

But AVOID COMMENTS like "She's in a better place," "It was God's will," and "At least he isn't suffering anymore."
Leave that for the bereaved to say - when they're ready.

(These are some good words for me to remember when I write the next one.)

HUMOR for today. This is a good one.

It is called "PERIOD."

THE KINDERGARTEN CLASS HAD A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT TO FIND OUT ABOUT SOMETHING EXCITING AND RELATE IT TO THE CLASS THE NEXT DAY

WHEN THE TIME CAME FOR THE LITTLE KIDS TO GIVE THEIR REPORTS, THE TEACHER WAS CALLING ON THEM ONE AT A TIME.

SHE WAS RELUCTANT TO CALL UPON LITTLE JOHNNY, KNOWING THAT HE SOMETIMES COULD BE A BIT CRUDE. BUT EVENTUALLY HIS TURN CAME.

LITTLE JOHNNY WALKED TO THE FRONT OF THE CLASS, AND WITH A PIECE OF CHALK, MADE A SMALL WHITE DOT ON THE BLACKBOARD, THEN SAT BACK DOWN. WELL THE TEACHER COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT JOHNNY HAD IN MIND FOR HIS REPORT ON SOMETHING EXCITING, SO SHE ASKED HIM JUST WHAT THAT WAS.

"IT'S A PERIOD," REPORTED JOHNNY.

"WELL I CAN SEE THAT," SHE SAID. "BUT WHAT IS SO EXCITING ABOUT A PERIOD."

"DAMNED IF I KNOW," SAID JOHNNY, "BUT THIS MORNING MY SISTER SAID SHE MISSED ONE. THEN DADDY HAD A HEART ATTACK, MOMMY FAINTED AND THE MAN NEXT DOOR SHOT HIMSELF."

THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, AND HOW OF CANNING.

QUOTE from George Bernard Shaw: "There is no love sincerer than the love of food."

I found this quote in one of my quote books and thought it appropriate for my BLOG entry today. The love of food is one of my great loves in life. Breakfast is my favorite meal. I don't know how any human can skip breakfast. How can a person have any energy during the day when they have no fuel in their body. I love food so much that I eat five times a day - but small amounts.

The sibject of food was on my mind because yesterday Ruth Ann and I (mainly Ruth Ann) finished our canning for the summer. We ended up with about 75 quarts, pints and half pints of sweet pickles, dill pickles, kosher dill pickles, beet pickles, salsa, tomato juice and stewed tomatoes. So today I'm going to explain what I've LEARNED about the origins of canning and the purpose of canning.

THE WHO, WHEN, WHY AND WHERE OF CANNING. Canning was created by the French in 1795 when Napolean offered a sizeable financial rerward to anyone who would invent a method of keeping food safe for his military troops.Nicholas Appert, a chef in Paris, won the prize when he developed the canning process. At about the same time, the tin-coated metal can was patented in England. So that is how it started.

THE HOW AND WHAT OF CANNING.  Canning is the technique of preserving food in airtight containers through the use of heat. This process of food preservation is possible because the heat treatment inactivates enzymes and kills microorganisms that would cause food to spoil during storage. The airtight packaging protects the food from recontamination following sterilization, thus permitting storage at room temperature for many months without spoilage. Fruits, which are high in acid, must be boiled a little less than a half hour. Meats, fish, poultry,and vegetables, however, are low in acid and  must be boiled for a half hour or longer in order to kill the microorganisms.

Ruth Ann LEARNED to can from her mother while growing up on a Minnesota farm in the 1950s. I'm grateful she LEARNED because I sure love to eat the fruits of her labor. I get to enjoy her canned goodies through the fall, winter and spring. Her canning contributes immensely to my love affair with food.


HUMOR for today.

A WOMAN TELLS HER PRIEST, "Father, I have a problem. My two female parrots only say, "Hi, cutie, Wanna have some fun?"

"Don't worry," says the priest. "I have two male parrots who only pray and read the Bible. We'll put them in the same cage - your parrots are sure to stop saying that horrid phrase."

The next day, the woman takes her parrots to the priest's home.The male parrots are inside their cage holding rosary beads and praying. When the woman places the female parrots in the cage, they cry out, "Hi, cutie, Wanna have some fun?"

One male says to the other, "Put the beads away, Frank. Our prayers have been answered!"

How to say NO.

QUOTE from Diane Feinstein. "Winng isn't everything, but losing has little to recommend it."

I LEARNED from The Reader's Digest five effective ways to say NO when you are asked to do something you don't really want to do or you are too busy doing other things.

Here are the five ways as explained in The Reader's Digest new book, "LIFE...The Reader's Digest Version."

1. "NO, BUT THANK YOU FOR ASKING." This one is genius. It works with just about any kind of request, and the asker rarely knows how to respond.

2. "I'D LOVE TO, BUT I SIMPLY CAN'T MAKE THAT BIG A COMMITMENT. IS THERE SOME OTHER WAY I COULD HELP." Here you're making it crystal clear that you aren't available for the task being pressed upon you, but you're not completely blowing off the person in need either. No one can hate you when you're offering to lend a hand elsewhere.

3. "I'M NOT ABLE TO TAKE THAT ON RIGHT NOW." This is code for "I do not have room in my life for it, and if I took it on, not only would it not get done, but I'd probably end up going postal over it.

4. "NO, BUT I BET SO-AND-SO CAN HELP YOU." This is a solid NO, with a generous side of helpfulness. And think of all the wonderful folks you can recommend in your place (like the neighbor you don't care for). I used this one about 1974 when I was asked to umpire Little League baseball games for the third year in a row. I said NO to the league president but I said I know five guys who are much better umpires than I could ever be.These five guys had bitched about my umpiring on several occasions in the previous two years. So I gave him the five names. Guess what? Not one of them volunteered to be an umpire.

5. "I'M REALLY NOT OKAY WITH THAT." Sometimes it's all right to use your NO to set the record straight about your position, especially when the request goes against your values. "I'm afraid I don't support that cause/candidate/organization."

Saying NO has been hard for me on occasion over my lifetime BUT I've gotten much better at saying NO as the years have passed. One (not mentioned in The Reader's Digest five) I've used on quite a few occasions is, "I did that when I was younger and it was a good experience but now I want the younger generation to have the same good experience I had." It works.

HUMOR for today comes from an email sent by Jerry and Elsie Narveson.

                                                OLE AND CLARENCE

Ole lived aacross the Minnesota River from Clarence BUNGUM, whom he didn't like at all. They were yelling across the river at each other all the time.

Ole would yell at Clarence,"If I had a vay to cross dis river, I'd come ofver dere an beat you up good, yeah sure ya betcha by golly."

This went on for years. Finally, the state built a bridge across the river right there by their houses.

Ole's wife, Lena, says, "Now iss yer chance, Ole. Vhy doncha go over dere and beat up dat Clarence like you said you vud."

Ole replied, "OK, by yimmy, I tink I vill do yust dat."

Ole started for the bridge, but he saw a sign on the bridge and stopped to read it, then turned around and came back home.

Lena asked, "Vhy did you come back?"

Ole said, "Lena, I tink I changed my mind 'bout beatin' up dat Clarence. You know, vhen I yell at him from across da river he don't look so big. But dey put a sign on da bridge dat says "Clarence is 13 feet, 6 inches."

How to tell if someone is is telling a lie.

QUOTE from Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

One of the magazines I read every month is the Reader's Digest. I love that magazine as there is so much to LEARN about so many different topics. In the August issue I LEARNED several more things to watch for when you suspect someone is telling a lie. I knew some of them but there were some new ones. Here is what the Reader's Digest had to say - they listed seven things to look for.

1. NOSE - Flared nostrils, deep breathing...chances are someone's anxious.
2. PULSE - Telling a lie puts color in your cheeks. The anxiety can cause you to blush.
3. EYES AND BLINKING - Is there something in your eye or on your mind? Rapid blinking indicates that your brain is working overtime. Also, they seldom look you in the eye when telling a fib.
4. LIP NIBBLING - Your mouth has a big mouth - it often rats you out whenever a lie passes its lips.
5. HIDING HANDS - Liars often shove their hands behind their back because those fidgety digits might give them away.
6. SHRINKING - Like an animal avoiding detection, a liar may pull his arms and legs inward or keep his movements to a minimum - anything to appear smaller.
7. CONTRADICTORY BEHAVIOR - When your husband says "I loved the tie you bought me" while he's wearing a tight smile that doesn't reach his eyes, expect to see him in a turtleneck.

The ones I was most acquainted with were blinking and not looking you in the eye., lip nibbling, and shrinking. When Ruth Ann started at the Anamosa Reformatory in 1969 she was told to watch the eyes when dealing with the inmates. It was a dead giveaway that they were lying if they were constantly blinking and not looking you in the eye.

When she worked in the Reformatory Hospital for the prison doctor they had one inmate (Darrell) who was a habitual liar. So Ruth Ann and one of the guards decided to keep track of everything he said he had done on the outside and try to figure out how old he would be. After several weeks of keeping track of his lies they figured out he would have to be 123 years old. Anyway, one of his jobs for many years was to out run the cops in North Carolin while he was hauling/smuggling white lightning. "They never caught me" he said.

He's the same guy who got out on work release and was sent to Mason City. He had a job and was not to drink or leave the state. After his first week of work he got drunk on Friday night and went on a week long bender and went into Minnesota. He couldn't figure out why he was sent back to the Reformatory. He told the authorities that "I just wanted to have a little fun."


HUMOR for today.

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

Few thing in life are more satisfying than seeing your kids have teenagers of their own.

Why we should enjoy every day.

QUOTE from Oscar Wilde: "I am not young enough to know everything."

If there's one thing I've LEARNED in life it can be summed up in the above quote.The older I get the more I realize that is so true. I realize how little I really know and how much more I want to know. So one of the reasons I'm writing in this BLOG several times a week is to make myself keep LEARNING.

With that introduction I'm going to talk today about why we should thank the good Lord every morning for another day of life, and hopefully another day of good health. While reading AARP Magazines latest issue I saw on the back page some milestone birthdays this month for six famous people. They were  Geoffrey Rush(age 60), Martha Stewart (age 70), Regis Philbin (agae 80), Nance Reagan (age 90), John Glenn (age 90), and Ben Bradlee (age 90). The thought running through my mind was these people have made good use of the days of life they have been given.Which then led me to start figuring out just how many days of life they had lived so far. Here are the results:
:
At 60 years Geoffrey Rush has lived about 21,900 days. (Rush played the stuttering coach for the king in The King's Speech.
At 70 years Martha Stewart (and Pete Bungum) have lived about 25,550 Days. Actually I have about 270 more days than Martha as my 70th birthday was last November 20th.
At 80 years Regis Philbin has lived about 29,200 days.
At 90 years Nancy Reagan, John Glenn, and Ben Bradlee have lived about 32,850 days.

The bottom line is we ALL get only so many days of life on this earth. To me, we should enjoy each and every one of them. When I fully retired from the work world in 2004 I decided I was going to do the following with my new freedom to help me enjoy each day I had left on this earth.

1. I was going to stay physically active. I would work out for at least 45-60 minutes a day for at least five days a week. (I do yoga and walk 45 minutes.)

2, I was going to stay mentally active by continuing to LEARN. I would do that by doing a lot of reading, watching a lot of the History Channel, watching the news channels, do a lot of traveling - I WANTED TO NEVER STOP LEARNING.

3. Write some books including my autobiography.

4. I would say a little prayer each morning expressing my gratitude to the good LORD for another day of life and asking his blessings for the people I pray about.  (I wrote a 365 day Gratitude Journal in 2009 in which I expressed my gratitude to 365 people and things who/that enhanced my life in some way.)

5. And FOCUS FORWARD  meaning to set some short term and long term goals. I did that by making a list of things I wanted to do before my days expired. I've achieved over half. I've found that having goals improves your outlook on life and wards off depression.

At age 70 all I can say is so far, so good. My five point plan is working. I'm a pretty happy dude at age 70.

HUMOR FOR TODAY comes from the HAGAR THE HORRIBLE  comic strip.

Hagar is on top of a mountain talking to God.

Hagar says: "I keep complaining about my wife but you never listen!"
God says: "I'm so sorry, but I suggest you contact my local representative in your area."
Hagar says: Who is that?"
God says: "Your wife Helga."

An Iowa pig farmer to a multi-milliomaire NFL lineman.

QUOTE from Marshall Yanda: "I guess this means I made it, huh?"

I LEARNED  yesterday that anything is possible if you have talent and you get your head on straight and make the most of that talent. The quote above comes from my former student who is now an NFL superstar.  His name is Marshall Yanda and he is the son of Iowa hog farmers located  several miles north of Anamosa. Marshall played high school football for Anamosa but didn't get into a D-1 school because of his grades. So he went to North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City for two years (2003-2004) where he blossomed into a great football lineman and a good student. He played the last two years (2005-2006) for Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Ferentz had been an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens and he called the Ravens and said they should draft Marshall as he was going to be a great NFL offensive lineman. They did so in 2007 and Marshall ended up starting in his rookie year. His second year (2008) he hurt his ankle, had surgery and didn't play. In 2009 and 2010 he really blossomed into greatness and became known as one of the NFL's best lineman. He became a free agent in 2011.

As a free agent he was open to offers from other teams. The Bears, Rams, Redskins and Bucs were interested but Marshall wanted to stay with the Ravens. And the Ravens wanted Marshall to stay with them. So on Tuesday, (July 26) at 10 a.m. his agent started talking to the other teams. At 5 p.m. that afternoon the deal was done with the Ravens. They offered Marshall a contract for $32 million to play for the Ravens for the next five years. He gladly signed - he wanted to remain a Raven and got his wish. Baltimore General Manager Ozzie Newsome called the Yanda signing the key to the team's off-season needs.

The quote today was made when our newspaper sports editor called Marshall to talk about his new contract. Marshall was on the highway driving to Baltimore with his wife and son when he got the call. He went on to say, "I don't plan on changing how I live or how I do things on a daily basis just because of this contract. I still plan on being the same person I was before. I'm not going to buy a fleet of cars or a bunch of homes or a lot of fancy jewelry. Well, I'll probably buy my wife a few nice things, but we don't plan on spending money like it grows on trees. That's just not who we are."

He also said, "I have to admit, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever sign a $32 million NFL contract. Back when I played for Anamosa, it was always my dream to play for the Hawkeyes. I never thought the NFL was even a possibility. I guess this just shows dreams can come true if you believe in yourself and work hard." Yanda's contract is the second-richest ever given to a Ravens offensive lineman behind only all-Pro Jonathon Ogden.

During the lockout Marshall was lifting weights with the Hawkeye  players in Iowa City and helping his dad on the farm. "That was fun, but I'm ready to get back to Baltimore and get back to work playing football. I can't wait to get started."

By the way, if you want to watch Marshall in action this fall his number is 73 and he usually plays right guard.

To me, Marshall is an example of the good old MIDWESTERN work ethic and common sense.

HUMOR for today: I did some figuring on Marshall's salary.

32 million dollars for 5 years amounts to $6,400,000 a year.

a. They will play 16 regular season games a year plus 4 exhibition games for a total of 20 games. If the Ravens do not make the playoffs they will play only those 20 games. So I divided 20 into 6,400,000 and his per game salary will be $320,000.

b. If they go all the way to the Super Bowl they will play 24 games. If that is the case then his salary gets really low at $267,000 per game. (But they get a Super Bowl check so that would offset his lower salary)

c. Here's the humor part. Marhall makes more in 3 1/2  games than I made in 36 years of teaching school.

More information about our nation's national debt

QUOTE from Bill Maher: "If you think you have it tough, read history books."

I've been doing some more reading on how the U.S. got into this financial mess. This is what I've LEARNED.

On Reagan's inauguration day of January 20, 1981 we had a national debt ceiling of $985 billion, 15 billion dollars short of one trillion. During Reagan's eight years in office the debt ceiling was raised 16 more times. In 1981 Reagan got Congress to pass dramatic tax cuts to the top rates. He later realized the cuts were too deep and they were modified. When Reagan left office on January 20, 1989, the national debt had tripled to $2.8 trillion.

During George H. W. Bush's four year term (January 20, 1989 to January 20, 1993) the national debt ceiling was raised to $4.145 trillion. Bush realized the growing problem with the debt and got Congress to pass tax increases, which probably caused him to lose the presidential election  in 1992.


During Bill Clinton's two terms, (January 20, 1993 to January20, 2001), the national debt ceiling was raised four times to $5.95 trillion. He got Congress to raise taxes in 1993. By 1997 the budget was balanced and the governmet was accumulating surpluses and starting to pay off our national debt.

With the reduction in the Reagan tax cuts, the increase in taxes by George H. W. Bush, and the tax increases by Clinton we ended up with a balanced budget by 1997. And there were no increases needed in  the debt ceiling because we were balancing the budget and having surpluses. The last debt ceiling increase voted by Congress during Clinton's presidency was in August, 1997.

Congress did not have to vote on raising the debt ceiling again until 2001 when there were massive tax cuts  by the George W. Bush administration.

I need some HUMOR today after wrting the above..

At the Social Security office a man was applying for his Socail Security benefit.

Staffer: Married or single?
Applicant: Single.
Staffer: Previous marriages?
Applicant: Two.
Staffer; Did either of them end in death?
Applicant: No. Both times I got out alive.

Do you know how to be happy? Take this quiz and find out.

QUOTE from Edith Wharton: "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time."

I founrd this quiz in PARADE Magazine to be very INTERESTING and ENLIGHTENING. Give it a try. The correct answers are at the end.

1. Cheerful people generally:
a. Do only activities they enjoy.
b. Look for little ways to boost their mood during the day.
c. Don't give happiness much thought.

2. Research shows that vacation-goers feel happiest:
a. A month before they take off for the destination.
b. In the middle of the vacation.
c. Right after they get back.

3. True or false? How happy you are is determined mostly by your genes?

4. To get the most enjoyment out of your work life, you should:
a. Make friends with your coworkers.
b. Be your own boss.
c. Ask for a raise.
d. Telecommunte/work from home.

5. If you're sad, which of the following is most likely to cheer you up?
a. Watching reruns of your favorite sitcom.
b. reading a novel.
c. Tuning in to the news.

6. You have little free time. Which activity will bring you the most pleasure?
a. Working in the yard.
b. Tackling home improvements.
c. Hitting the mall.

7. True of false? Optimists are happier than pessimists.

8. Which genre of music is known as an instant mood booster?
a. Classical
b. Reggae
c, Jazz
d. Top 40
e. All of the above.

9. Taking  __?__every day can actually help battle depression.
a. Aspirin
b. Fish oil.
c. A multivitamin.
d. Ginseng.

10. Which piece of happiness advice from a Disney movie is actually backed by scientific evidence?
a. "Look for the bare necessities." - from THE JUNGLE BOOK.
b. "Just say Hakuma Matata (no worries)!" - from THE LION KING.
c. "What do you do when things go wrong? Oh, You sing a song." - from SNOW WHITE.
d. 'Think happy thoughts." - from PETER PAN.

The ANSWERS are:
1 is C.  2 is A.  3 is false. 4 is A.  5 is B.  6 is A.  7 is false.  8 is E.   9 is B.  10 is D.

How did you do?  I got six correct. If you want to see the explanations go to parade.com. The name of this quiz was Sunny Side Up.


HUMOR for today is about happiness. It is a QUOTE from Oscar Wilde.

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they leave."

Debt crisis: How did we get into this financial mess?

QUOTE from John Barrymore: "If ir isn't the sheriff it's the finance comapny. I've got more attachments on me than a vacuum cleaner."

I LEARNED from the newspaper (AP article) how the debt grew from $5,8 trillion in 2001 to its current $14.3 trillion.

When Bill Clinton left office on January 20, 2001 we had a balanced budget, a half trillion dollar surplus and were paying down the national debt, So what has happened? According to the article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette the reasons for the astounding increase are as follows:
1. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts under George W. Bush cost $1.6 trillion.
2. Addidional interest costs were $1.4 trillion.
3. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost $1.3 trillion so far.
4. The economic stimulus package under President Obama cost $800 billion.
5. The 2010 tax cuts, a compromise by Obama and Republicans that extended jobless benefits and cut payroll taxes cost $400 billion.
6. The 2003 creation of Medicare's prescription drug benefit under Bush cost $300 billion.
7. The 2008 Wall Street bank bailout under Bush cost $200 billion.
8. And there has been hundreds of billions less in tax revenue than expected since the Great Receccion began in December of 2007.

Okay, that's what the article said,  What do you think?

HUMOR for today: TURTLE EXERCISE PROGRAM.- HEALTH MESSAGE,

1. IF WALKING/CYCLING IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH,THE POSTMAN WOULD BE IMMORTAL.
2. A WHALE SWIMS ALL DAY, ONLY EATS FISH, DRINKS WATER AND IS FAT.
3. A RABBIT RUNS AND HOPS AND ONLY LIVES 15 YEARS.
4. A TORTOISE DOESN'T RUN, DOES NOTHING...YET HE LIVES FOR 450 YEARS.

A fun time at Ruth Ann's cousin reunion in Waterloo.

QUOTE from Herbert Hoover: "Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt."

I haven't blogged since July 23. Last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we went to Waterloo, Iowa for Ruth Ann's cousin reunion on her Mom's side of the family. Terry Trogstad and wife Patty were there from Atlanta, Georgia; Patty Trogstad Cooley and husband Jim were there from Eau Claire, Wisconsin; brother Roger Rain was there from Preston, Minnesota; and the co-hosts were Ron Syverud of Evansdale, Iowa and Becky Syverud Helgerson and husband Jerry of Waterloo, Iowa.

We met at the Isle of Capri Casino on Monday afternoon and had dinner together that night. Then all five cousins contributed  $20.00 in a pool and went to the hig stakes room and played $5.00 a pull on a Triple Star slot machine. They were down to $15.00 left when Terry's turn came and he hit red 7, triple star, red 7 - it was worth $600.00. They decided to spend a hundred to see if they might get lucky again, but no luck.
So the 5 cousins split the $500.00 and got $100.00 each. Not bad for a $20.00 investment and to come out $80.00 ahead in five minutes. After that it was all individual gambling.

Ruth Ann and I went our separate ways to do some gambling. About 11 PM I decided to go to the room and hit the sack. I awakened at 2 AM to go to the bathroom and noticed I was alone in bed. I figured she must have found a good machine and was still gambling. I went back to bed and awakened again at 4:30 AM. I reached to the side of the bed and it was empty, still no Ruth Ann. Now I was getting concerned. So I got dressed  and went to the casino at 4:45 AM. I found her sitting by her cousin Patty who had come to join her about 2 AM. They saw me coming and Patty said to Ruth Ann, "Here he comes." Then they giggled like a couple of a seventh girls. Ruth Ann had just told Patty, "Pete gets up early to take his morning walk and he's liable to be here any minute." So when I showed up they thought it was pretty.funny.When I told Ruth Ann I was getting concerned about her she said she couldn't leave becasue she had been winning all night. So I went and took my walk at 5 AM and returned by 6 AM and Ruth Ann was still gambling, Patty had gone to bed. Then I went and played a video poker machine and won $112.50 on my first hand. I wasn't so upset with Ruth Ann after that. The results of Ruth Ann's all-nighter is that she came out over $300.00 ahead . Ruth Ann finally went to bed at 6:30 AM and slept till 11:30 AM. My thoughts after her all-nighter and my winning poker hand is that maybe that is the time of the day to gamble. I'll try it the next time we go to a casino.

Tuesday night we all met at Ron's home in Evansdale and had our annual golf tournament. Three years ago Ron constructed a 3 hole course in his back yard. Each hole is 5-8 yards long with a tiny green that is 2 feet in diameter. Husband and wife are partners and we play best shot. Ron and Roger, the two single guys, are the other team. We play each hole twice and each is a par 3, so 18 would be par for the course. The good news is that Ruth Ann and I won it with a score of 20. We had one birdie, three bogies, and two pars. The other scores were 21, and three 22s. That is the second time we've won in the last 3 years. Again, we took home the traveling trophy. I tell you it is really hard to be humble when you have the kind of golf skills Ruth Ann and I have.

After the golf tournament we had dinner. Ronnie is a former Army cook and knows how to prepare a good feast. He fixed ribs, baked beans, sweet corn,  Becky provided  potato salad and then we enjoyed watermelon. Everything was wonderful. After the meal we all went back to the casino.

When we got to the casino Ruth Ann was so tired from her all-nighter she went to bed at 8:30. I went down to the casino floor and saw Jerry and Becky playing a slot machine. I sat and visited and saw Jerry was having good luck so I decided to try the same kind of machine. They showed me how to play and the machine got hot. I stayed at that machine  for over an hour. I put in $110.00 and cashed out $247.00. That was fun and profitable. When the machine cooled off I went to bed at 11PM, no all-nighter for me.

Wednesday, we were alone and did some more gambling. Ruth Ann continued her hot streak and when we left her profit for the three days was $560.00. My profits from Tuesday morning and Tuesday night dissipated and I went home with a  loss of $30.00.

We've been doing this reunion for five years and it gets more fun every year. We all agreed we have to keep this going as long as we can - we're all in our 60's and 70's now - so we're not exactly spring chickens.
In fairness to the others, Ruth Ann and I are the only one's in the 70's  - BUT JUST BARELY.

HUMOR for today: I met a fairy today that said she would grant me one wish.
"I want to live forever." I said.
"Sorry," said the fairy, "I'm not aloowed to grant wishes like that!"
"Fine," I said, "Then I want to die after Congress gets their heads out of their asses!"
"You crafty bastard," said the fairy.