tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8008318564735765702024-02-19T11:33:08.538-05:00Murphy's WorldPaul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-27459248570317551132011-11-18T21:06:00.001-05:002011-11-18T21:11:03.027-05:00Washington can not be trusted to fix itself<strong><em><span style="color: #cc0000;">The following article appeared in the "Hernando Today" newspaper here in Florida today. It was written by my favorite congressman, Rich Neugent....... We need more in Congress and the Senate like him.</span></em></strong><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
By
Rep. Rich Nugent</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
Ladies
and gentlemen, your federal government is failing you and it is critical that
you speak up about it.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
Generations
of politicians – <i>from both parties</i> – have avoided their responsibility to
this nation. They have put short-term wants before the country’s long-term
needs. The cumulative effect of this is a national debt that is now larger than
our entire country’s economic output.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
Both
parties are responsible for it. Period. And it’s important that all Americans
are honest about that. We cannot afford to postpone fixing the problem because
of a desire to blame others. And that will be our choice this week when the
House of Representatives votes on a Balanced Budget Amendment to the
Constitution.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
This
is the first time Congress has considered such an amendment since it came up one
vote short of passing in 1997. As you would expect, there are people in Congress
today who were here in ’97. Some who supported it then are voting against it
now.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
It’s
not because of any trickery or fine print. This Balanced Budget Amendment is
what they call a “plain vanilla” version. It requires that Congress pass a
balanced budget unless, in the case of a national emergency such as a war or
natural disaster, three-fifths of Congress vote to temporarily waive the
requirement to cover the cost of that emergency.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
I’m
not sure what those former supporters have seen in the last fifteen years that
would give them confidence that Congress is capable of managing the
taxpayers’</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
money
responsibly. I certainly haven’t seen anything to give me that confidence.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
And
that, ladies and gentlemen, is the crux of the issue. Everyone would like to
believe that Congress can be trusted to manage the country’s finances, but the
facts scream otherwise. And it’s not just the facts of the last few years, or
the last ten years, but rather it is the facts of the last hundred years.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
Your
government has been making promises to you at every turn with borrowed money and
borrowed time. And after many years, we have started running out of credit and
have certainly already run out of time.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
Our
choice today is whether we change the course of the country’s history or not.
It’s a choice of whether we will guarantee our children a country they can
afford to keep. And it is a choice about whether we want to control our own
destiny or have it determined for us.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
The
President opposes this amendment and I submit to you that any member of
Congress, Republican or Democrat, who joins him is continuing a decades-long
record of failing to lead. They are continuing the status quo. Washington, D.C.
cannot be trusted to fix itself. You must fix it and that starts with demanding
that your leaders balance the budget once and for all.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sincerely,</span></div>
<br />
<div class="style1" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rich Nugent</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Member of Congress</div>
</span>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-84379035747908861142011-08-28T15:40:00.000-04:002011-08-28T15:40:30.217-04:00Government Restrictions on Small Busnness's GrowthBeing a small business owner for most of my adult life, I am especially sensitive to the hurtles that small business owners are subjected to in order to grow and survive. These hurtles become astronomical during an economic climate as we face today.<br />
<br />
During the forty some years that I have been involved in various businesses, I have always been frustrated at how the government has continuously held me back due to many taxes, fees and ridiculous requirements and restraints.<br />
<br />
My local congressman, Richard Nugent, gave his views on this subject in his “Situation Report” that I received today. I would like to share this with you.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Dear Friends,</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;"> Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in an awards ceremony at the local UPS facility (United Parcel Service). They were recognizing two of their drivers who have had no safety infractions or accidents of any kind after twenty-five years of driving for the company.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">They asked me to speak at the event, so in preparation, I did a little research on UPS’s history. As it turns out, it’s a pretty fascinating story. I won’t get into the whole thing (UPS is over a hundred years old), but I do want to tell you about one chapter that I think is really instructive for where our economy is today.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">In short, since its creation in 1907, UPS has been a pioneer in that industry. Basically, they invented it. In the early days, they were couriers running packages on foot around San Francisco, using bicycles for longer trips. They were so efficient and reliable that demand grew pretty quickly and before long, they started buying a fleet of Model Ts. </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Year after year, demand for the company’s services kept growing and they wanted to expand their business. But up until the 1950s, they’d mostly focused on delivering goods from retail stores to customers. They’d kept themselves busy inventing conveyor belt systems for sorting and filing technology for tracking packages, but the better they got at their job, the more people wanted to use them.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">In particular, individuals also wanted to be able to ship packages to other individuals. Imagine Grandma wanting to safely send little Timmy a Christmas present in Iowa. She couldn’t do it. UPS could help. But when UPS made the decision to enter that business, they were blocked by regulations from the federal Interstate Commerce Committee. In short, UPS would have been in direct competition with the United States Postal Service and that wasn’t to be allowed.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">The company wasn’t giving up though. They spent the better part of the next thirty years fighting the federal government just for the right to deliver packages. Finally, in 1975, UPS finally got the right to deliver door-to-door across America.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the drivers we were recognizing got a job with UPS just a few years after those regulations were taken down. This isn’t to say that there is no place for regulations in our country (clearly the banks and others got away with things a few years ago). But I do think it says a lot about the damage that frivolous, duplicative, and unnecessary regulations can do to job creation in this country.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">UPS was blocked for thirty years – <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">thirty years - </span> for no reason whatsoever, from becoming the world-leading American company that it is today. Think about the thousands and thousands of people who are employed in this country who wouldn’t have been if the ICC hadn’t backed down in 1975. Beyond that, think about all of the small companies all across this country who could not exist if they could not ship their goods to customers all across the country using a service as reliable and efficient as UPS.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Make no mistake about it, regulations like the one that blocked UPS still exist today. It’s hard to know what we’re missing out on by not taking a closer look at the red tape we’ve got on the books. All I know is, with double-digit unemployment in our area, and folks struggling to put food on the table, we don’t have a choice about ignoring impact of regulations on jobs.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">One of the first things we did upon coming into the new Congress was to pass legislation requiring an inventory of all regulations and putting in new checks for any proposed regulations that would have a “major impact” on economic growth meaning more than $100 million cost across the nation. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee set up a website where small business owners could register their opinions about what regulations they can and cannot live with. </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">It doesn’t come as any surprise that the compliance costs for federal and state regulations is more than four times more expensive per employee for small businesses than for large companies. And since small business create two-thirds of all net new jobs in this country every year, that’s not a small drag on job creation, it’s a wet blanket that is suffocating a lot of small firms out there and some right in our area. </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">As always, let me know what you think about all of this. If you know any small business owners personally, or have a chance to chat with one when you visit their store, encourage them to reach out to me. If I know the specific things that are holding their companies back, more than likely I can do something about it. It’s plainly clear we can’t afford to have small businesses struggling when they should be growing and hiring more workers. This economy will never recover without them.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Sincerely,</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Rich Nugent</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Member of Congress</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-56613869017012130372011-08-10T23:40:00.000-04:002011-08-10T23:40:31.583-04:00Arthur Laffer makes a lot of since!<div id="artPgHdLnWrapper"><h1 class="article"><span style="font-size: small;">Newsmax ran this article today, and I think Laffer makes a lot of sense. I felt compelled to share this. Let me know what you think.......</span></h1><h1 class="article">Laffer: Obama Must Use Reaganomics to Save Economy</h1><!-- Image Below Headline Start --><div class="artImageContainer" id="imageMid"><div class="artCaptionContainer"></div></div><!-- Image Below Headline End --><div style="float: left;"><div class="artPgDate">Wednesday, 10 Aug 2011 05:32 PM</div><div class="artPgByline">By Martin Gould and Kathleen Walter</div></div><div class="clear"></div></div><div id="artPgTopShareCont"><div id="moreShare"><div class="moreShareHeader">More ways to share... </div><div class="mediumShareCont"><div class="shareIconMixx"> </div><div class="shareIconMixx"><!-- Horizontal Share Bar End--><!--
<div id="artPgSocVertCont"><br />
<div id="artPgSocVertFB"> </div><div id="artPgSocVertTw"> </div><div id="artPgSocVertDigg"> <a class="DiggThisButton DiggMedium"></a> </div></div>--></div></div></div></div><div id="artPgMnStryWrapper" jquery1313032993028="73"><div class="artPgMnStryWrapper" id="plc_lt_zoneContent_pageplaceholder_pageplaceholder_lt_zoneLeft_NewsmaxArticleLayout_pnl"><!-- Image Before Text Start --><div class="artImageContainer" id="imageBot"><div class="artCaptionContainer"></div></div><!-- Image Before Text End -->The only way President Barack Obama can solve the nation’s economic woes is to adopt “common-sense” Reaganomics, the policy’s architect Arthur Laffer claims in an exclusive Newsmax interview.<br />
<br />
Laffer said the White House called him in the spring and asked him to speak to Obama’s former Council of Economic Advisors’ chairman Austen Goolsbee – and he had told him exactly the same thing.<br />
<br />
“Reaganomics would fix any economy that’s in the doldrums,” Laffer said. “It’s not a magic sauce, it’s common sense.<br />
<br />
“You’ve got to get rid of all federal taxes in the extreme and replace them with a low-rate flat tax on business net sales, and on personal unadjusted gross income. That’s number one.<br />
<br />
“Number two, you have to have spending restraint. Government spending causes unemployment, it does not cure unemployment.<br />
<br />
“Number three, you need sound money. Ben Bernanke is running the least sound monetary policy I’ve ever heard of," Laffer said.<br />
<br />
“Number four you need regulations, but you don’t need those regulations to go beyond the purpose at hand and create collateral damage. The regulatory policies are really way off here.<br />
<br />
“And lastly you need free trade," Laffer said. "Foreigners produce some things better than we do and we produce some things better than foreigners. It would be foolish in the extreme if we didn’t sell them those things we produce better than they do in exchange for those things they produce better than we do.”<br />
<br />
In the interview the veteran economist said Standard & Poor’s was quite right in downgrading the U.S. credit rating – in fact it should have done so far earlier.<br />
<br />
The agency had no choice and if the other agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, don’t do the same they won’t be doing their jobs, said Laffer, who gave his name to the Laffer Curve which demonstrates that the maximum amount of government revenue does not come at the point of maximum taxes.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://www.newsmax.com/getattachment/a25678ca-c97c-4cab-acee-11bf000fe349/arthur-laffer.jpg.aspx?width=200&height=132" style="float: left; height: 132px; margin: 5px; width: 200px;" />“If you had a company that had revenues of $2½ million and expenses of $4 million, with no change in sight, $1½ million in losses each year as far as the eye can see and it had already borrowed $10 million, what would you rate that company? I surely wouldn’t rate it AAA.<br />
<br />
“That is the U.S. situation today," Laffer said. "Taxes are about $2½ trillion, government spending is about $4 trillion and we have about $10 trillion in net national debt. I don’t see that as being a AAA country.<br />
<br />
“If the S&P and the others were doing their jobs correctly, they should have downgraded a long time ago.”<br />
<br />
Laffer said he has no doubt the country will win its top rating back, but only when economic policies are completely turned around. He said President Barack Obama’s administration’s only economic plan seemed to be to expand government ownership of the means of production.<br />
<br />
“They have nationalized the health care industry pretty extensively. They’ve done that with home building as well. They’ve tried it with the auto industry as well. So they have moved very, very deliberatively and purposefully toward extending the government ownership of the means of production.<br />
<br />
“That to me, if you read the tealeaves, is what they are doing. It is not what they are saying they are doing, but that is what they actually are doing.<br />
<br />
“People don’t work to pay taxes, people work to get what they can after taxes. It’s that very private incentive that motivates them to work. If you pay people not to work and tax them if they do work, don’t be surprised if you find a lot of people not working.”<br />
<br />
Laffer said the current economic woes started to form under President George W. Bush but have been made worse by Obama’s policies.<br />
<br />
“There’s a wedge driven between wages paid and wages received and that wedge is the tax/government spending wedge,” he said.<br />
<br />
“That wedge has grown dramatically in the last 4 ½ years…under W and a Republican administration and…under Obama. Bipartisan ignorance has led us to this very disastrously desolate state.”<br />
<br />
Laffer had high praise for the role the tea party has played in bringing the problem of the deficits to the fore.<br />
<br />
“The tea party is not the problem, the tea party may well be the solution,” he said. “They are critical to the future of the country in a positive way. They are the only fiscally sound people I know out there all the time.<br />
<br />
“I don’t know that I would go as far as they go on a lot of issues but I surely respect their movement very much.”<br />
<br />
And he said any one of the group of Republicans vying for the party’s nomination for the White House would make “ a great president.”<br />
<br />
“Tim Pawlenty is spectacular. Newt Gingrich knows more about issues than anyone you’ve ever seen. Michele Bachmann is out-of-sight wonderful,” he said.<br />
<br />
“Rick Perry is second to no one in this stuff. If you look at Herman Cain, he’s phenomenal.<br />
<br />
“Oh and (Jon) Huntsman was a great governor of the state of Utah and is a phenomenally experienced intellectual competent man.<br />
<br />
“When you look at the Republican candidates, you see a group of people who are absolutely outstanding in attributes.”<br />
<br />
© Newsmax. All rights reserved. </div></div><br />
<br />
Read more on Newsmax.com: <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/laffer-obama-reaganomics-gop/2011/08/10/id/406893?s=al&promo_code=CCF5-1#ixzz1UghQdauj" style="color: #003399;">Laffer: Obama Must Use Reaganomics to Save Economy</a> <br />
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? <a href="http://polls.newsmax.com/repeal/?PROMO_CODE=B683-1" style="color: #003399;" target="_blank">Vote Here Now!</a>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-75073364271045760272011-08-03T23:00:00.001-04:002011-08-03T23:08:51.834-04:00My Sixty-Eighth Birthday Party <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1CZJyBzB4bOKU-TfrsQynCxCkAruMyB2mAcOKFmHFoiR1Gyyf8rySqg0xLhhP0dwbU8z0BRQ_woZfH93JOP6X4sxCIkFFbr9TK4CMtNu1FxwsMvtv3TgYA1D_F62zIUo1aAsnubZCMs/s1600/DSC02282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1CZJyBzB4bOKU-TfrsQynCxCkAruMyB2mAcOKFmHFoiR1Gyyf8rySqg0xLhhP0dwbU8z0BRQ_woZfH93JOP6X4sxCIkFFbr9TK4CMtNu1FxwsMvtv3TgYA1D_F62zIUo1aAsnubZCMs/s320/DSC02282.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Part of the Gang</em></strong></span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although my birthday was July 27<sup>th</sup> (Wed.), we planned a birthday party with my daughters on Saturday July 30<sup>th</sup>. Three of my daughters came to Lakeland for the party, as well as Dodie’s youngest son, Joey, his wife, Renee and fourteen-month-old son, Wyatt. It was a thrill for me to get three out of my five daughters together at the same time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was in charge of the steaks; everyone else shared the load for the balance of the menu. I grilled fourteen Rib eye steaks on the grill. I have a large grill with five burners, and almost did not get them all to fit on. </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtuKOTL7UVRFuv7xuiZNQL3E2eYlf0zGZDTaLcYo7XUys09z6zriLopaN7Jzgi4cO7fCX-hbZJ-rHrY0XmhyphenhyphenbMbrYqbn45g869OY9_jKFU9fgLkUv9jiF1IYiIsl8bwBDGNB7mn_cPtAY/s1600/Kathy%252C+Marcene%252C+Renee+%2526+Kim.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtuKOTL7UVRFuv7xuiZNQL3E2eYlf0zGZDTaLcYo7XUys09z6zriLopaN7Jzgi4cO7fCX-hbZJ-rHrY0XmhyphenhyphenbMbrYqbn45g869OY9_jKFU9fgLkUv9jiF1IYiIsl8bwBDGNB7mn_cPtAY/s320/Kathy%252C+Marcene%252C+Renee+%2526+Kim.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Kathy, Marcene, Renee & Kim</em></strong></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdS8hguwD3P_55uI3PZFTwgSJnzvcXyoyEPkIEMNd-b7lU8dt7DWURfYSE72XRm4mjaudCoxMrula4WAj9tOkkv6TTCecEA2OrY_jVvzKnXtMwfX-QdclA4wxEdRterbmvs21sOkklm8/s1600/Dan+%2526+Marcene+cooking+breakfast.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdS8hguwD3P_55uI3PZFTwgSJnzvcXyoyEPkIEMNd-b7lU8dt7DWURfYSE72XRm4mjaudCoxMrula4WAj9tOkkv6TTCecEA2OrY_jVvzKnXtMwfX-QdclA4wxEdRterbmvs21sOkklm8/s320/Dan+%2526+Marcene+cooking+breakfast.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Dan & Marcene Cooking Breakfast Sunday Morning</em></strong></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hAzqMiq-u-TQ0vhU0tRmYDqWFg64ayMJIydEc9mkii2YPXw_bCpUgdujQ4o3cjYuUCi5P27Gp36ojbbdeXWOWeMufpSN7nuf2_XNvq51E771p291zt_TRq-eX-ovgrnM8v2wjtW3YbE/s1600/DSC02288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hAzqMiq-u-TQ0vhU0tRmYDqWFg64ayMJIydEc9mkii2YPXw_bCpUgdujQ4o3cjYuUCi5P27Gp36ojbbdeXWOWeMufpSN7nuf2_XNvq51E771p291zt_TRq-eX-ovgrnM8v2wjtW3YbE/s320/DSC02288.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Wyatt Walking Ginger</em></strong></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEdij_Eci9KKjENzamZXQc5OtHhnB1AWF5YObS8KHULNJRckH6uZC_e2flyc2jaAgPfeI6burZt1cw1EEYM_2ekGUK4FZVz5HJAs3SzvHedcOFxirP-pW-6LiUilVlKsy0buFOcGRV_E/s1600/Dodie+making+Country+Cole+Slaw.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEdij_Eci9KKjENzamZXQc5OtHhnB1AWF5YObS8KHULNJRckH6uZC_e2flyc2jaAgPfeI6burZt1cw1EEYM_2ekGUK4FZVz5HJAs3SzvHedcOFxirP-pW-6LiUilVlKsy0buFOcGRV_E/s320/Dodie+making+Country+Cole+Slaw.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Dodie Preparing her 'Country Cole Slaw'</em></strong></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IXCezhYCJNjtLs53_kV6CxcJvZc64njQy4hBIhl6Ch432vGQgXoEuYXo318nGyjUS9N7L1jDvmqSvnyVSsa06gyQJG2HCkurmJsam6pKEBYCQKKETJEAvPPN58MhyXJIoIjCS4Lxq4M/s1600/DSC02279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IXCezhYCJNjtLs53_kV6CxcJvZc64njQy4hBIhl6Ch432vGQgXoEuYXo318nGyjUS9N7L1jDvmqSvnyVSsa06gyQJG2HCkurmJsam6pKEBYCQKKETJEAvPPN58MhyXJIoIjCS4Lxq4M/s320/DSC02279.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>The Grandkids Cody, Conner, Hailey, Allee & Tori </em></strong></span> </td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We all ate way too much, but it was a great party. I couldn't have had a better Birthday! We decided that we are going to do it again next year, and try to get all five daughters there.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-25230501485470228502011-07-25T19:01:00.001-04:002011-07-25T19:07:18.153-04:00On Our Way HomeWe left Dead Lakes County Park this morning, after staying there for over a week. We really enjoyed our stay. It was quiet and peaceful. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0A9PNMLHlMRX0CBHZCcmFKvC6ZXU5Sp-TrYXM9mpjjhJNs_QBlA1OIi0hm9ODXBWRznuNAqA5pHF6OFwtkFUZ8nmhjmhbZ_BmiOMMNBXe4hqZqMxS1uKsEDcrmJPKgWuC9puoq92Ppk/s1600/Econfina+River+Resort%252C+2011-07-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0A9PNMLHlMRX0CBHZCcmFKvC6ZXU5Sp-TrYXM9mpjjhJNs_QBlA1OIi0hm9ODXBWRznuNAqA5pHF6OFwtkFUZ8nmhjmhbZ_BmiOMMNBXe4hqZqMxS1uKsEDcrmJPKgWuC9puoq92Ppk/s320/Econfina+River+Resort%252C+2011-07-25.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a>We arrived at Econfina River Resort around 3:30 pm, with time left in the day to kick back and relax. Knowing that it was 5 O’Clock <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">somewhere </i></b>(as Jimmy Buffet would say) I fixed myself a Bloody Mary. Life is good.</div><br />
If you look closely at the picture of our motor home, you'll notice the "Sun Screen" that I installed the other day. Everyone needs one of these. It is absolutely great! I picked it up at Camping World before leaving on this trip, but didn't get around to installing it until the week at Dead Lakes. It helps tremendously to shade the patio area, it keeps a lot of the rain from coming in under the awning, and actually creates a Ventura effect that causes any air circulation to intensify through the under awning space. A word of caution, though..... I put the awning out after arriving today, along with sticking the two stakes into the ground, with bungee cords, then went in and activated the automatic leveling jacks. While the jacks were leveling the coach, we heard a loud bang..... When I went outside, both stakes had popped out of the ground. I found the stakes and one of the bungee cords a good twenty feet out from the motor home. I have yet to find the second bungee cord.<br />
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We will be leaving here in the morning, and driving to Port Richey. We are staying over there, in order to visit with Dodie's sister, Louise.Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-85119078415978563402011-07-21T14:05:00.001-04:002011-07-21T14:06:41.844-04:00Congratulations Atlantis Space Shuttle and Crew<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><strong>At 5:57 A.M. this morning, Atlantis’ last flight came to an end as its wheels touched down on the tarmac at Kennedy Space Center.</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71Ilt8ov-KXFQQCzUgBD2wZqRY06IuC1VvcZUZz9DJQj8zapyKWPS-ZJI8BKBXvdV0emyVGcULk7sUjSgbET5mUuq7s4KtTNnSCajOajo7pXV5KiCa7gjhV0-U4feVyJmPLlMdU1b8bs/s1600/Space+shuttle+Landing+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71Ilt8ov-KXFQQCzUgBD2wZqRY06IuC1VvcZUZz9DJQj8zapyKWPS-ZJI8BKBXvdV0emyVGcULk7sUjSgbET5mUuq7s4KtTNnSCajOajo7pXV5KiCa7gjhV0-U4feVyJmPLlMdU1b8bs/s320/Space+shuttle+Landing+1.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was the 135th mission for the space shuttle fleet, which altogether flew 542 million miles and circled Earth more than 21,150 times over the past three decades. The five shuttles carried 355 people from 16 countries and, altogether, spent 1,333 days in space - almost four years.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After months of decommissioning, Atlantis will be placed on public display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex. Discovery, the first to retire in March, will head to a Smithsonian hangar in Virginia. Endeavour, which returned from the space station on June 1, will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQAxyshjXdeGa7MSkYQQTJKrvXxGOCLPeMirYIMSsijA9WukfWEIOWIECX2ckOK7xOKGXBJNSZqDPivAINizUW8nJNQX3fRVww-Coo_9i-kf-nXeRl801CdoWxX6DUC9QMpgJiKJi2j8/s1600/Space+Shuttle+Landing+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQAxyshjXdeGa7MSkYQQTJKrvXxGOCLPeMirYIMSsijA9WukfWEIOWIECX2ckOK7xOKGXBJNSZqDPivAINizUW8nJNQX3fRVww-Coo_9i-kf-nXeRl801CdoWxX6DUC9QMpgJiKJi2j8/s320/Space+Shuttle+Landing+3.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">NASA's five space shuttles launched, saved and revitalized the Hubble Space Telescope; built the space station, the world's largest orbiting structure; and opened the final frontier to women, minorities, schoolteachers, even a prince. The first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn, became the oldest person ever in space, thanks to the shuttle. He was 77 at the time; he turned 90 this week.</span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsejUTm9aPNMkzOsNhT0p7fJ4Z7oRVuq29XSmCYzh2_7sNWiQuP7rwaCvLzDC4dg3z5-YUBO_PyhOo6mVTZ648ygPH_08sCZ3nHo_6GOrs9LgCq2kXNDOg3mohhboU0Qo8IDZnHLpnw5o/s1600/Walk+on+the+moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsejUTm9aPNMkzOsNhT0p7fJ4Z7oRVuq29XSmCYzh2_7sNWiQuP7rwaCvLzDC4dg3z5-YUBO_PyhOo6mVTZ648ygPH_08sCZ3nHo_6GOrs9LgCq2kXNDOg3mohhboU0Qo8IDZnHLpnw5o/s320/Walk+on+the+moon.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I remember during the 60’s, when the Apollo program was in process, leading up to the Apollo 11 mission when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit. Five later Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. In these six Apollo spaceflights, 12 men walked on the Moon.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I was fortunate to have been directly exposed to the Apollo era, since my first wife’s parents lived in Cocoa, Florida. We met a number of the NASA executives involved in the program during cocktail parties, etc. Also, my in-laws owned a dress shop on Cocoa Beach. Their shop was directly across the street from Ramon’s Surf, an upscale restaurant and lounge frequented by the Apollo astronauts and engineers. As a result, I met a number of the key players in the Apollo program. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><em>Note: Some of the facts I have listed above in regard to the Space Shuttle are compliments of Huffpost AOL News. Also, I obtained some facts pertaining to the Apollo missions from Wikipedia.</em></span></div></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-16122570242164483252011-07-16T22:49:00.000-04:002011-07-16T22:49:57.053-04:00Obama's Burthday Bash......<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 7.5pt 0in 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><strong><span style="color: blue;"><em>I try not to push my political beliefs, but I felt compelled to share this article with you......</em></span></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 7.5pt 0in 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 7.5pt 0in 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 19pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Obama Plans Pricey Birthday Bash on Default Day</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 2.25pt;"><b><span style="color: #636466; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saturday, 16 Jul 2011 01:25 PM</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;"><b><span style="color: #636466; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Martin Gould and Abigail Walls</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Share:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/BarackObama-Birthday-DebtCeiling/2011/07/16/id/403823?s=al&promo_code=C9EC-1"><span style="color: #071b59; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><shape alt="http://www.newsmax.com/App_Themes/Newsmax/images/articlePage/clear.gif" href="http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/BarackObama-Birthday-DebtCeiling/2011/07/16/id/403823?s=al&promo_code=C9EC-1" id="Picture_x0020_10" o:button="t" o:spid="_x0000_i1029" style="height: 11.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 11.25pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="clear" src="file:///C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif"></imagedata></shape></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17kp4EPSPEAI_6Hnh2d0RD5IGmiFvW9HEJ88BsSgHCchgvCMhBRlVXjYAvBS67riUR-gpmy7xmTO3fL2lX_EWFjmhQGiSvk31H5naIAoZGOmIm64Xgj0UPVVEOuQqZTSzGMDyESnmuD8/s1600/Obama%2527s+Birthday+Bash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17kp4EPSPEAI_6Hnh2d0RD5IGmiFvW9HEJ88BsSgHCchgvCMhBRlVXjYAvBS67riUR-gpmy7xmTO3fL2lX_EWFjmhQGiSvk31H5naIAoZGOmIm64Xgj0UPVVEOuQqZTSzGMDyESnmuD8/s1600/Obama%2527s+Birthday+Bash.jpg" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As America’s poorest wait for Social Security checks that may never come on Aug. 3, President Barack Obama will be out celebrating a milestone birthday at a party where tickets cost up to $35,800 each.<br />
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Obama has chosen the first day of the potential default to throw his 50th birthday bash, combining it with raising money f or next year’s election. His actual birthday is Aug. 4.<br />
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Republicans are slamming the decision to have the party as “insensitive.”<br />
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“This really shows how unserious he is,” Republican Rep. Joe Walsh, a fellow Chicagoan, tells Newsmax exclusively. “I realize it’s his birthday, but he is a president who has said he doesn’t know if social security checks will go out that day.<br />
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“If that’s the case, I cannot believe he will be having a big party that very day.”<br />
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Obama said on Tuesday that he cannot guarantee that social security checks will go out from August 3 unless a deal can be reached on raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit. “There may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it,” he told CBS’ Scott Pelley.<br />
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Unless the deal is reached, government services across the board will be cut and in many cases closed down.<br />
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“My first thought was that he will have to fly to Chicago before the third because I can’t imagine airports will be open,” said Walsh. “And he’ll have to have a huge supply of candles because the lights are going to go out.<br />
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“I am amazed he will be able to have a party at all.”<br />
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Walsh said he hopes to be in Chicago on Aug. 3 himself to be with his family in case the calamity that Obama has warned about comes to fruition. “I just doubt I’ll get an invitation to the party,” he said.<br />
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Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson is expected to perform at the birthday bash at the historic Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. The event will be one of the president’s biggest fundraisers of the year. Publicity literature featuring a red, white and blue Happy Birthday logo has already been produced.<br />
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The event will be “multi-tiered,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The Hudson concert would cost $50; admission to the party $200; a premium seat $1,000; a souvenir photo with the president $10,000; and VIP seating and dinner with Obama $38,500.<br />
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Another GOP Congressman, Louie Gohmert of Texas was incredulous about the timing. “That’d be as crazy as setting up golf games in the middle of going after Osama bin Laden,” he said. “I’m sure he wouldn’t do something like that – or maybe he would.”<br />
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Obama has been leading contentious talks all week with leaders of both parties in the House and Senate to avoid the August 2 deadline. On Friday he warned of financial “Armageddon” if a deal cannot be reached.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">© Newsmax. All rights reserved. </span></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-44325334362892103832011-07-15T22:25:00.000-04:002011-07-15T22:25:10.436-04:00Changing locations<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqkCZIeAwWZOxMV3S-OkNVGf-9EERqtrIws-gVWIHz6es8tuSncclWrLWcZkynP41Nu4iH2iOFho5pbTnYzvx2qQPWua1vQmgVFGY07SR2dq3xMXKjDDo9htIB62B96-qY8ldKkF72_s/s1600/Rustic+Sands%252C+Mexico+Beach+2011-07%252C+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqkCZIeAwWZOxMV3S-OkNVGf-9EERqtrIws-gVWIHz6es8tuSncclWrLWcZkynP41Nu4iH2iOFho5pbTnYzvx2qQPWua1vQmgVFGY07SR2dq3xMXKjDDo9htIB62B96-qY8ldKkF72_s/s320/Rustic+Sands%252C+Mexico+Beach+2011-07%252C+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I awoke this morning to find gravel trucks and a grader working on the entrance road to Rustic Sands RV Park. It makes me wonder if they read my bog concerning the water standing in the park yesterday. I hope they fill the ruts at the RV sites themselves. Our site had water standing right outside the door, where you would like to have dry land, since they do not have cement patios. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">We pulled out around noon and headed back to the Gulf County camprgound, Dead Lake RV Campground, where we stayed last weekend. We like this little park. It is quite and peaceful. We'll probably stay here for several days before heading back toward home.</span><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">It has rained here most of the afternoon. In fact it just started raining again as I am writing this blog. At least the ground has good drainage, and we are not under water. </span>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-15222275768872649832011-07-14T22:18:00.000-04:002011-07-14T22:18:01.194-04:00Side Trip to Fort Walton Beach<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We drove to Fort Walton Beach to meet a couple representing Woodall’s Directory today. We drove along Highway 98 most of the way, and really enjoyed the scenery. It was a slow trip, due to the congestion, but worthwhile. It took 2 ¾ hours, I had estimated the trip at 2 hours. Luckily, I added an extra hour to our allotted timing, so we were not late for our meeting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dodie and I enjoyed the trip. We have never spent any time along this section of the Gulf coast. We decided that we would like to return in the future and spend more time exploring the area. Next time we are traveling west, we plan on allotting a few extra days and hug the coast rather than count mile markers on I-10.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On our return trip, we stopped and had dinner at a nice little restaurant called Mike’s Oyster Bar on Front Street in the Panama City area. I have been craving some good fresh seafood, and I got it tonight. I ordered a steamer bucket including crab claws, mussels, clams, oysters, shrimp, corn on the cob, and potatoes. They even threw in some sausage. We both ordered cheese cake, but had to take it back to the motor home for later. There wasn’t any room left for it by the time we finished our meals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rustic Sands has been a relaxing park for us to get some rest this week, but since it has rained every day, it has turned into an extremely muddy (actually wet sand with water puddles everywhere) park. They can definitely use some work on their interior roads and infrastructure. Both our motor home and Hummer are covered with dirt. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We leave here tomorrow, and are returning to Dead Lakes Campground through the weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to wash the motor home and Hummer, since they both look like we have been doing some serious ‘off-roading’.</span></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-19518470336106166892011-07-14T09:21:00.000-04:002011-07-14T09:21:11.948-04:00Camping in the Florida Panhandle<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are currently staying in a nice, laid back park in Mexico Beach, FL. The RV Park is Rustic Sands. Mexico Beach is about twenty miles East of Panama City.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We pulled into Rustic Sands Monday afternoon and will be here until tomorrow. This is a region of Florida that we have not spent much time in the past, but it is a nice area, especially in the summer. There are a series of small, quant Gulf-side settlements lined along highway 98. It reminds me of areas in New England.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yesterday, I spent most of the afternoon fighting a virus in my computer. My email account began sending out emails to everyone in my address book with only a link inside. My daughter, Marcene, called me after receiving hers, and let me know that when she clicked on the attachment her computer froze. Fortunately, after getting some expert help, they were able to get their computer back up and running.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I contacted Norton, my main security software, and after hours with their techs, solved my virus problems. For $99.99, they took over my computer and rid my hard drive of the virus. I thought the charge was a little excessive, but I know nothing about how to go about virus hunting. While they were in my computer they also cleaned everything up and it is running much faster now. That helps me justify the fee. Life isn’t all that bad.</span></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-54180844012076189202011-07-08T16:24:00.001-04:002011-07-08T16:28:32.532-04:00My Apologies<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>I would like to apologize to you that have not completely given up on me as a result of my failure to make posts for the last three weeks. There has been a lot going on in our life that has distracted me. Among other things, I was diagnosed as having cancer in my number 9 rib. My Oncologist has put me on hormone injections. These injections are for the purpose of stopping production of testosterone in my body. This is supposed to kill the cancer cells. Hopefully, it will work. There are a number of side effects to the injections, and I am researching ways to counter them. If anyone has any knowledge on this subject, please let me know.</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><strong>We left Lakeland in our motor home and are taking a couple weeks trip up into the Florida Panhandle. Our first night out, we stayed in Port Richey and visited with Dodie’s sister, Louise. We had a great visit. We had dinner at Lone Star steak house. We had filet mignons, and they were delicious. </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><strong>After watching the TV coverage of the jurors’ verdict on the Casey Anderson trial, we left Port Richey and drove to Dead Lakes Park, a county owned park just East of Panama City, where we will be staying through Sunday night. It is a great little campground. We are among only three campers in the park, so it is nice and quiet. It is just what we needed in order to <span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">de-stress</span> and relax for a few days.</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong>We will be leaving here Monday morning and heading to Mexico Beach on the Gulf of Mexico for the next week before turning toward home and making a leisurely return. We will probably take several days on the way back to Lakeland.</strong></span></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-16552379294028798562011-06-20T22:42:00.003-04:002011-06-20T23:17:01.368-04:00Father's Day Weekend <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Uhm8nCtr2Rl6_ccYfpn14OtrmEUfUUPL3bomIMQOgMiEktnq6dFzEkBjdBdmOFRJWAaQImIba7z6qlfIlV4LJjn3o1K7M8_zVLYrJryI1HA9jxEsHOkfs5BEvJ8IES4imd2cXJwvR6c/s1600/Papa%252C+%252740%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Uhm8nCtr2Rl6_ccYfpn14OtrmEUfUUPL3bomIMQOgMiEktnq6dFzEkBjdBdmOFRJWAaQImIba7z6qlfIlV4LJjn3o1K7M8_zVLYrJryI1HA9jxEsHOkfs5BEvJ8IES4imd2cXJwvR6c/s320/Papa%252C+%252740%2527s.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>My Dad, Paul S. Murphy, Sr.</em></strong></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I would like to start off this post by remembering my Dad. He was not only a great Dad, but also my best friend. I have many wonderful memories of him growing up. Here is a picture of my Dad around the time I would have been born. He was serving in the Air Force during WWII.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Joey, Renee and Wyatt arrived here Friday evening to spend Father's Day weekend with us. They arrived just in time to share the corned beef brisket I was taking off the stove. I slow cooked the brisket in the lower section of my steamer pot, putting cabbage, onions and potatoes in the top, steamer section, about an hour before the corn beef was done. I pulled my meat slicer out and shaved the meat as thin as possible. It melted in our mouths. Nothing better than good ole corn beef and cabbage. If I don’t say so myself, it rivaled any I have eaten at Wolfie’s in Miami.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>We enjoyed a great visit over the weekend, and had a ball playing with Wyatt. He is walking now, and believe me, he keeps you hopping. He can now navigate about anywhere he wants to go. Nothing is safe from his grasp.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CXpPmdhDxnxeLqr_5Cnehf3hVWDcEetNC0fzKtWP_tpwNayRRpTfl294bzJ6bnxPy5pSQJOGSh_qs-CY8v0FsB4sJkNVk2svKx6WqYEEOyXJ-msroJVxgTffROsJKLokAWTNtntRdm8/s1600/Recliner+arrangement.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CXpPmdhDxnxeLqr_5Cnehf3hVWDcEetNC0fzKtWP_tpwNayRRpTfl294bzJ6bnxPy5pSQJOGSh_qs-CY8v0FsB4sJkNVk2svKx6WqYEEOyXJ-msroJVxgTffROsJKLokAWTNtntRdm8/s320/Recliner+arrangement.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>My Recliner Chair Arrangement</em></strong></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was surprised by a knock on the door Saturday afternoon. When I went to the door, I was presented with a neat floral arrangement from three of my daughters (Kathy, Kim and Sandra). It was in a container that was a recliner chair, with a working footrest. It has a handle on the side that operates the footrest. After the flowers are gone, it acts as a remote control holder. Cool…<br />
<strong><em>Click on the picture to see the details of the chair.</em></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Also, a little later, both Joey and I received an arrangement from our spouses. It made us feel like special fathers.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwB39ho4by_dh3PY-uMZ4Bok6XT3RBsOIovNBfPBcxEuS0Bd6JWRztYIBsR3nxib8R6Oaf8UOW4Bn8e09zL7QfvIiWXLeTzTatSUK2YM4Rdc9N7dOecIZNdiTNdwsVDGrA8SstwEAKDI/s1600/Dad%2527s+Rootbeer+arrangement.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><strong><em><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwB39ho4by_dh3PY-uMZ4Bok6XT3RBsOIovNBfPBcxEuS0Bd6JWRztYIBsR3nxib8R6Oaf8UOW4Bn8e09zL7QfvIiWXLeTzTatSUK2YM4Rdc9N7dOecIZNdiTNdwsVDGrA8SstwEAKDI/s320/Dad%2527s+Rootbeer+arrangement.JPG" width="213" /></em></strong></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>My Dad's Root Beer Mug Arrangement</em></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We had a relaxing day filled with calls from my daughters wishing me a happy Father's Day. It definately made all the years of parenting worthwhile.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We finished the day with steaks from the grill. The only thing that could have made the weekend better would have been if all our kids could have been here. Maybe next year.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-78605221759135023612011-06-17T22:46:00.000-04:002011-06-17T22:46:20.398-04:00Another business bites the dustI received an email from an old friend I grew up with from my home town in Kentucky today. He informed me of a lumber company that is closing it's doors in August, after 131 years. It is sad to hear of so many businesses closing, due to the present economy. Unfortunately, it goes much deeper than just our current recession.... Most of the problem steems from a trend in "Big Government" that is only going to get worse if we don't stand up and do something about it soon. Here is my comment sent back to my friend.....<br />
<br />
<div><em>I'm seeing this happen more and more lately. Its a shame that so many old established small businesses are going by the wayside. There are so many obstacles for the typical small business today.... Multiple taxes, fees, licenses, employee benefits, etc., that the average business can not survive in today's economy. </em></div><div><em> </em></div><div><em>And they wonder why our economy is on the rocks. If the average entrepreneur is not allowed to make a fair profit for his efforts, he will stop trying. When enough of them stop, who is going to support the masses who think they should receive a free ride. This is what will be the end of our free enterprise system as we have known it. What's left? Socialism?</em></div><div><em> </em></div><div><em>Sorry, I just had to express my feelings.</em></div><div><em> </em></div><div><em>Paul</em></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-60014505570930252922011-06-11T00:36:00.000-04:002011-06-11T00:36:43.276-04:00Finally, I am recovering<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would like to apologize for my neglect on posting to our blog. I have been fighting Pneumonia for the last week. Fortunately, I have been able to stay out of the hospital. We had a supply of medication left over from Dodie’s bout with pneumonia a few months ago, so I gave myself breathing treatments with the nebulizer. This, along with Dodie beating on my back to break up the congestion, has finally cleared my lungs enough to allow me to function again.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today was the first day I have been able to be active. Derrick, my lawn guy, came and mowed the grass for me. I’m still not strong enough to mow the two acres in this Florida heat, but I did accomplish a number of chores that I have been neglecting.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4IqKgLPiWjfFT1Z2zJ8S2cK43oEyweuCNZtzZF6G-NprfNfOwdQF-v4TS6C23R3d9noXVbqAzLxjmRomSjThaCBPmxEzdTHI94OhQUmF9Sb0tsj62gx1WnlSRyUmhVguw9hw8KYfJNU/s1600/6-8-2011%252C+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4IqKgLPiWjfFT1Z2zJ8S2cK43oEyweuCNZtzZF6G-NprfNfOwdQF-v4TS6C23R3d9noXVbqAzLxjmRomSjThaCBPmxEzdTHI94OhQUmF9Sb0tsj62gx1WnlSRyUmhVguw9hw8KYfJNU/s320/6-8-2011%252C+2.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night, I grilled a couple filet mignons for dinner. We enjoyed the steaks, along with baked potatoes with all the trimmings. I even prepared some B<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">éarnaise</span></span> sauce for the filets. There is nothing like a great steak to make you feel better after being sick.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully, I will be strong enough tomorrow to start getting caught up on everything that I have been neglecting.</span></div><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></span>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-80332118126116060592011-05-30T18:48:00.000-04:002011-05-30T18:48:10.839-04:00Memorial Day week-end at home in Lakeland<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sunday morning I awoke at nine o’clock and went straight into the kitchen to pour my first cup of coffee. I found Renee and Wyatt out on the porch. Joey was still sleeping, as well as Dodie. I enjoyed visiting with my daughter-in-law, and playing with Wyatt. I can’t believe how well he is walking! Last time we saw him, approximately three weeks ago, he was just starting to take a few steps. Now he is walking all over the house. Nothing is out of his reach, lookout Mom…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After we spent the morning lazing around the house, Joey went out and picked up Chinese for lunch/dinner. I told him not to get me anything since I was not hungry, but by the time he returned with the food my appetite kicked in. Thank God, they give extra large portions. I had plenty to eat, some from each of the others meals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After my lunch digested, and Granny was busy playing with Wyatt, I cranked up to mower and started mowing the grass. Since we have been traveling for the best part of the last three weeks, it was getting tall. I accomplished cutting approximately half of the two acres, and decided that was enough for one day, especially on a holiday weekend. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a refreshing shower, I spent the rest of the day/night visiting and relaxing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were all up early this morning, mainly enjoying the baby. This was our last chance, since the kids had to leave around noon to get home and prepare for their workweek starting early tomorrow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was tempted to finish mowing the yard, but my aching back persuaded me to wait until tomorrow.</span></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-81450521233750809452011-05-29T15:50:00.001-04:002011-05-30T19:00:12.912-04:00<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhJmYSi7ZZwSJJN3Gu_OQjZTm73lhfV0ZBjlatlNbstHyj2TQPGJLdM_qoQXjrATRy8hEojah15BdlCgqBd51hCDhyphenhyphen2EDqeEnpNNRdaXOnBO0fDB4iMGYkXpX_33dOwqmkegpG1RF1Ac/s1600/Dodie%2527s+hair+color+%2526+Style+2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhJmYSi7ZZwSJJN3Gu_OQjZTm73lhfV0ZBjlatlNbstHyj2TQPGJLdM_qoQXjrATRy8hEojah15BdlCgqBd51hCDhyphenhyphen2EDqeEnpNNRdaXOnBO0fDB4iMGYkXpX_33dOwqmkegpG1RF1Ac/s320/Dodie%2527s+hair+color+%2526+Style+2.gif" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Lynne, Styling Dodie's hair</em></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">On Thursday, Dodie and I both went to get our hair done. Dodie had her hair colored and styled, while I had mine cut. Afterward, we met Mike Cobb, CEO of ECI Development for dinner at the Riverside restaurant. It is an upscale restaurant on the outside docks at Regatta Point Marina in Palmetto, Florida. ECI owns three developments in Costa Rica, Belize and Nicaragua. Mike was an extremely personable guy, who gave us a lot of helpful information on what to expect if we decide to purchase property in one of these countries. </div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">Friday, we had planned to have lunch with two of my daughters, Kim & Kathy. As it turned out, Kathy became extremely busy in her Florist shop (Oneco Florists), so we went by and visited with them at Kathy's shop. Kim helps in Kathy's shop a day or two each week and this was one of those days. We enjoyed a nice visit while everyone was busy designing floral arrangements. After our visit, we bought a used crib to keep at our house in Lakeland for when our youngest grandchild, Wyatt, visits. Then we had dinner at Duff's Buffett.</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">Saturday morning, we packed up and drove back to Lakeland in time to meet Joey, Renee and Wyatt at our house. They came to spend the long weekend. Joey and I put the crib together, and Wyatt loved it.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-59280049273631018082011-05-26T00:49:00.002-04:002011-05-26T00:58:22.386-04:00Camping in Bradenton, Florida<div style="text-align: justify;">We left Mill Creek RV Resort yesterday and headed home to Lakeland. We checked on the cats and the house, but ended up sleeping in the motor home in our yard. When I walked into the house, I found that the door to the room that houses our automatic cleaning litter box was inadvertantly closed before we left for our trip. The poor cats had no where to poop, so guess what happened. We spent about an hour cleaning up, but everything is fine now. We can't blame the cats, it was our fault that they could not get to their litter box.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwcqezUA-XbxlfvM8HeQkA7DGSoy8v_K0942YTXWHHL6YzxmCm6T3D3qTm_PvpWCXBvfd2evkNrGL3mnjzKhdak7rVxBQHYh1c1nsRMbGThx8EJsU2wr6sS7hcJ1dXaXvhXYNPlcY3Zk/s1600/2011-05-26+visit+to+MH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwcqezUA-XbxlfvM8HeQkA7DGSoy8v_K0942YTXWHHL6YzxmCm6T3D3qTm_PvpWCXBvfd2evkNrGL3mnjzKhdak7rVxBQHYh1c1nsRMbGThx8EJsU2wr6sS7hcJ1dXaXvhXYNPlcY3Zk/s320/2011-05-26+visit+to+MH.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Chilling at the campsite</em></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">This morning we hit the road again. We drove to Bradenton where we had reserved a spot in Arbor Terrace RV Resort. The park is right in the heart of town, but you would never know it while there. As at Mill Creek, our parking fee was reduced by 50% due to our CampClub USA membership. This definately makes camping affordable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I called one of my daughters that lives in Bradenton and her and her family came over to visit us tonight. Kathy, Brent and Allee showed up around six o'clock and I grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Her son (and my grandson), Cody was unable to come. Sorry we missed you Cody.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWVSi9v5pSju1achXab0G3I3hNL59kNWzGMfItwv6kfnTYI4m05-cLjM0onUY0V7Y3w8Jr_4R2Qhuq-sB3jqalBugn613eGoyp69x8mnrKw5ljUsl2eLY-jFLUSCyz1_5xVtzPFtUvqs/s1600/Grandkids%252C+3-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWVSi9v5pSju1achXab0G3I3hNL59kNWzGMfItwv6kfnTYI4m05-cLjM0onUY0V7Y3w8Jr_4R2Qhuq-sB3jqalBugn613eGoyp69x8mnrKw5ljUsl2eLY-jFLUSCyz1_5xVtzPFtUvqs/s400/Grandkids%252C+3-2011.jpg" t8="true" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Grandkids</em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Rear, left to right: Cody, Allee and Hailey</em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Front, left to right: Evan, Conner and A.J.</em></strong></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">Kathy brought me some pictures that I hadn't seen. One was especially appreciated as it includes my grandkids from three of my daughters. When Sandra was in Bradenton after our trip to the Keys, they rounded up all the kids and had their picture taken together. It is rare to get that many of them together all at one time. I will cherrish this picture.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">Dodie and I have hair appointments tomorrow afternoon. Lynne, my hair dresser, has been cutting my hair for years. After moving away from the area a number years ago, I always try to come back to get her to cut my hair. Every time I go to a different hair dresser, they chop up my hair. It is baby fine, and very dificult to cut.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">Then , we have a meeting tomorrow night. We plan to have lunch with Kim and Kathy on Friday. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">It is always great to see my kids and grandkids.</div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-27486356086497977362011-05-22T16:42:00.002-04:002011-05-22T16:49:42.330-04:00Had to say our goodbyes<div style="text-align: justify;">I started my morning off, as usual with a cup of coffee. Dan got his electric griddle out and started cooking a whole big batch of blueberry pancakes, so I threw some sausage on my grill. The pancakes and sausage made an easy, but delicious breakfast.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLnVfjncPIg4AYazW1hEbsh6Z8bbjcVokHJW2nm6yV3BURAnhlcE8BdDJ1uM3oLzLxwmRcNCQxDfv8XSflxsRDAC_M5fg15ChCttArYrL11YToHRvdCkpORiIbnoBlQ8z9PBERpDp1fk/s1600/IMG_2662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLnVfjncPIg4AYazW1hEbsh6Z8bbjcVokHJW2nm6yV3BURAnhlcE8BdDJ1uM3oLzLxwmRcNCQxDfv8XSflxsRDAC_M5fg15ChCttArYrL11YToHRvdCkpORiIbnoBlQ8z9PBERpDp1fk/s320/IMG_2662.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Dan & I working on some complicated strategy</em></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">Since the kids have to leave today, Dan & I checked out a few problems they are having with their motor home. The 30 amp electric cable was heating up considerably, mainly, I felt, due to the condition of the male plug on the end. It was definitely overdue to be replaced from a life under various voltages, not all up to the desirable 120 volt range. We cut the old plug off the end of the cable and installed a new Bakelite plug. (Much more desirable than the original rubber plug integrated into the cable that comes from the factory).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After our electrical engineering project was completed, we tested it out..... <strong><i>no hot cable anymore....</i></strong> Yeh!! We had both worked up a sweat, so the two of us headed to the pool to bring our body temperatures down. It sure felt great after our labor in the sun. By the way, my outside thermometer is currently showing 99 degrees!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">We came back from the pool and checked out his generator. It had cut out on him on the way here, making their trip miserable with no air conditioning. When we cranked it up, it started and ran without a load, but the governor was oscillating to an extreme. After the generator warmed up, it smoothed out to some extent, but was not running properly. I set the idle adjustment up to a little higher RMP and it settled down, so we turned on the A/C to put a load on the generator. It ran much smoother, and seemed to handle the extra load with no problem. Life is good…. They will have air conditioning on their return home.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6o1rEYqdTtN7vOdpx6eR0bgGG0d8DK6CrQxMTkP3KALB6q8QH99HP-Yz_tJCbfkSsOoURbxJ9D8V1LB8POWcrDCdGXaW9_dQIsJGwYkgmKvof5kbZIU6YD591MpXYBb7uXIGmReEh5I/s1600/IMG_2665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6o1rEYqdTtN7vOdpx6eR0bgGG0d8DK6CrQxMTkP3KALB6q8QH99HP-Yz_tJCbfkSsOoURbxJ9D8V1LB8POWcrDCdGXaW9_dQIsJGwYkgmKvof5kbZIU6YD591MpXYBb7uXIGmReEh5I/s320/IMG_2665.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Tori on her new bike</em></strong></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">The gentleman that lives across the street from our campsites, yes (the one that brought to my attention that I was in the space backwards), was having a garage sale. He had a beautiful pink bike, with multiple gears, both front and rear suspension, etc. It was brand new with only one little scratch on it. Tori fell in love with it, so we went over for her to take a test drive. I bought it for her. My granddaughter deserves a sexy bike, right?</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9L14HKEgJUHTfm1tuDMJKVJbfsOPf8UnPXghSUlF1YGCsR-hG1WOfazU3RxxkC4FibY3-7QX1UQkqFjHBYlD9UHuwTnzLf57AE_fisDjbkPQE-OtFIO4o0VlJqQhP-ksT53Cl48orbpY/s1600/IMG_2650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><strong><em><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9L14HKEgJUHTfm1tuDMJKVJbfsOPf8UnPXghSUlF1YGCsR-hG1WOfazU3RxxkC4FibY3-7QX1UQkqFjHBYlD9UHuwTnzLf57AE_fisDjbkPQE-OtFIO4o0VlJqQhP-ksT53Cl48orbpY/s320/IMG_2650.JPG" width="320" /></em></strong></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Skeeter, waiting for the food to come out</em></strong></td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">After relaxing for a short while, they packed up, said their good by’s and headed for home. The generator finally died on them before they made it home. Oh well, I thought I fixed it. I guess Dan will need to get a real mechanic to take a look at it.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Tori wearing her fake nerd glasses, </em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Skeeter relaxing in the shade</em></strong></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1KyvolCz0MxWUH9dj-V8_Q5oNaj02lcDYkHr8gr3t9LJt-tFk0HE44fx27WI-9pHbuIonqLDX8-rUQ8ZfCdveEpdLrHq9iFn-poRt1EBVVWqtSNaog6ZSSh613o0bN7cV3xbCRjFZa8/s1600/IMG_2661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1KyvolCz0MxWUH9dj-V8_Q5oNaj02lcDYkHr8gr3t9LJt-tFk0HE44fx27WI-9pHbuIonqLDX8-rUQ8ZfCdveEpdLrHq9iFn-poRt1EBVVWqtSNaog6ZSSh613o0bN7cV3xbCRjFZa8/s320/IMG_2661.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Ginger enjoying a day camping</em></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Dodie & I have decided to stay over for another day. Who knows, maybe two more days. Life is good when you're retired. </div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-26913061511119686872011-05-22T01:59:00.002-04:002011-05-22T02:07:36.249-04:00Saturday at Mill Creek Resort<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOFDwIZjFxUysnwizyopX_UAI-YAFOg8FyF5uvGM5nk5K_TJpk-4EX3HCIxCDwJzqqRFbujS4_XnvtT6-XqVgJoJhtcsCmseCmMgkT6TUiBPT3cOx4VpTYcBg0uePJoYFvxVus5UiPgs/s1600/Lounging+in+the+motor+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="239" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOFDwIZjFxUysnwizyopX_UAI-YAFOg8FyF5uvGM5nk5K_TJpk-4EX3HCIxCDwJzqqRFbujS4_XnvtT6-XqVgJoJhtcsCmseCmMgkT6TUiBPT3cOx4VpTYcBg0uePJoYFvxVus5UiPgs/s320/Lounging+in+the+motor+home.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I climbed out of bed at 9:00 AM, poured a cup of coffee, and opened our motor home door to find Marcene, Dan & Tori sitting on the patio. It seems they have been up since 7:00. Wow, that's early for a day off</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: large; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">!</span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynZxFik8sC2ZufEuuy473DCBwWScyujWpk4ZJrDd4XNO8FIGlwK1SstXE4rS2OY4G6slhLbr9xiGpVHiT0EVckc9T-yTx8RxCFiQ0Hhw4IjQIDJlPcUJCuNaBihGZTCZTSHselk1Xm6c/s1600/Marcene%252C+Dan+%2526+Tori.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynZxFik8sC2ZufEuuy473DCBwWScyujWpk4ZJrDd4XNO8FIGlwK1SstXE4rS2OY4G6slhLbr9xiGpVHiT0EVckc9T-yTx8RxCFiQ0Hhw4IjQIDJlPcUJCuNaBihGZTCZTSHselk1Xm6c/s320/Marcene%252C+Dan+%2526+Tori.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We lounged around most of the morning before going to the pool to cool off. It was extremely hot today. The thermometer showed 97 degrees at 3:00. It was probably closer to 100 degrees mid-day, but I didn't think to look.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Dan, settling into the pool routine</span></strong></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVm8peNgWv9V6zZeNp-Oi_J_9ZT0HJ7WZ7_WfJh-Kwrk4-xkFaflLPbUQZwTn2uNUL5FDwgx0vTd9vTcmhBXaegyrg4NpH4ZJW-Wu1CjrPs5JADHPhze2eENPjOAi9hm68qpr55Sd83s/s1600/Copy+of+Marcene+%2526+Tori%252C+poolside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; height: 176px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 274px;"><img border="0" height="232" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVm8peNgWv9V6zZeNp-Oi_J_9ZT0HJ7WZ7_WfJh-Kwrk4-xkFaflLPbUQZwTn2uNUL5FDwgx0vTd9vTcmhBXaegyrg4NpH4ZJW-Wu1CjrPs5JADHPhze2eENPjOAi9hm68qpr55Sd83s/s320/Copy+of+Marcene+%2526+Tori%252C+poolside.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Marcene & Tori, poolside</span></strong></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After our swim, Dan & I checked out his refrigerator. It was not working on 110 volts. Checking the circuits, we decided the problem was in the "Brain". I suggested that we hot wire directly to the heating element. As hot as the weather is, I doubt if it will freeze everything in the fridge even though it will be cooling constantly without the thermostat in the equation. At least their food won't spoil.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Later, after the world didn't come to an end as was predicted, I threw some rib-eye steaks on the grill. We had baked potatoes, Caesar salad and corn along with them. The steaks had been marinating since yesterday afternoon, and were extremely tender. I added a little bit of Jack Daniels to the marinade. Everyone thought the added flavor was a good touch. We finished off the meal, after a break to let our food digest, with key lime pie.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-48488743000811018852011-05-20T23:45:00.000-04:002011-05-20T23:45:23.990-04:00Visit with my oldest daughterDodie and I awoke this morning, loaded a few items into the motor home and drove an hour to Mill Creek RV Campground in Kissimmee, Florida. We met Marcene, Dan and Tori for the weekend. They have an Alumalite (by Holiday Rambler) motor home, so we decided it would be fun to meet halfway between our respective homes. They live in Palm Bay, FL. We arrived first, around three o'clock in the afternoon. I went ahead and did the registration for both of our rigs, since they would be arriving after the park office closed. During several phone calls with the park manager, Gordon Dickson, we became old friends. Gordon is one of those persons that you just feel close to after a few conversations. When we arrived at the park, Gordon proved to be all I was expecting him to be. You couldn't ask for a more obliging manager. He assigned our two rigs to adjoining lots, making sure that our space was positioned so Dodie wouldn't miss her satellite TV reception.<br />
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As I pulled up to our lots, Dodie suggested that we pull in rather than back in, as we are supposed to do. She stated that that would allow us to have our doors facing each other, and we could set up a common outside lounging area between our two motor homes. Although I understood her reasoning, I quickly let her know that it would be a total pain for me, due to the location of all the hook-ups.<br />
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I told her that I would think about it while I unhooked the Hummer, but was not really wanting to go through all the extra work to accomplish her suggestion.<br />
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When I finished unhooking the Hummer and returned to the motor home, Dodie brought to my attention that we were spending the week end for the purpose of visiting with my daughter and her family. "Don't you want to be able to make it easier for us all to visit?" Dodie was making a very solid point.<br />
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Guess what...... I pulled our motor home into the space rather than backing it in. After an extra half hour in the grueling Florida heat, I had everything set up. I had to fish the sewer hose under the motor home to the sewer outlet using the extension hose, had to get the extra electric extension cord out and had to get the extra water hose out. Well, it did work out, and we ended up with a neat common area when they arrived.<br />
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Gordon stopped by while I was getting everything set up to make sure that we were able to lock in on the satellite, which we were. He asked about me being in the space backwards, thinking that I did it to be able to get satellite reception. I explained to him why I had parked the way I did. He thought that it was a great idea, since we were going to have both motor homes there in adjoining sites.<br />
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Just as I finished setting everything up, the guy that lives in the house across the street (not a part of the campground) sauntered up to me. I turned toward him and said hello. He looked at me as if I had committed some horrible sin, saying "Do ya realize that you are parked backwards in that space, son?" After explaining my reasoning to him, he shook his head and walked away. Some people just don't understand.<br />
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After my ordeal with the set up, I was sweating and somewhat overheated, so I put on my bathing suit and went to the pool. It was great. The water was a perfect temperature, and cooled my overheated body down to a respectable temperature.<br />
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The kids arrived around six o'clock, and backed in to their space. After we got both awnings out, and all the chairs, etc., we had a great set-up. Life is good!!!<br />
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I threw hamburgers on the grill and we had a very enjoyable evening, and look forward to a great week-end's visit.Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-17837734659249598852011-05-14T12:54:00.000-04:002011-05-14T12:54:47.653-04:00Weekend at Madeira Beach KOA<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We loaded the motor home yesterday morning and headed to Madeira Beach for the weekend. KOA offered a promotion for this weekend. Pay for Friday night and get Saturday night free. They call it their “Care Weekend”. They asked me for a donation to the children’s cancer fund, which I gladly obliged.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is a nice campground, located on the water. It is close to the beach, plus you can bring a boat. I plan to return with our jet boat sometime this summer. They have a swimming pool and Jacuzzi amoung many other activities. It’s geared toward kids, so there is a multitude of families staying in the campground. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left the two cats at home, since we will only be gone two days, and brought Skeeter, our dog. This is Skeeter’s first trip in the motor home. He absolutely loves it. He will definitely become a "motor home dog". He road on the dash during the trip here. He had a ball looking at all the traffic and sights. Once at the park, Skeeter adapted to campground life like a trooper. I’m sure this will be the first of many trips for him in the motor home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We slept in this morning, but plan to get out and scout around the area for the remainder of the day. There are several restaurants that sound inviting, so we will probably choose one and have lunch out.</span></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-45115233917663607272011-05-08T23:14:00.002-04:002011-05-08T23:23:00.706-04:00Lannie's Sixth Birthday<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition to it being Mother's Day, Happy Mother's Day all you Moms, it is also Lannie, our grandaughter's, birthday. Six years ago today, she was born on Mother's Day. This is the first year since that both celebrations have been on the same date, so it is a special year for Lannie.</span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi54zv4uUxyhMeY_dVbhEl1alCvGKtt-FozL2Q2tHTCEGmUlAbVv28DEck6MjjHx8J-EEDuoDhuTEG0-gOKnnGS6kjJnL1WUzvJ7QqVMYjbSjINPENniLMnQ8vfUqoQuXPuwLjjapiCfw/s1600/Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday++2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi54zv4uUxyhMeY_dVbhEl1alCvGKtt-FozL2Q2tHTCEGmUlAbVv28DEck6MjjHx8J-EEDuoDhuTEG0-gOKnnGS6kjJnL1WUzvJ7QqVMYjbSjINPENniLMnQ8vfUqoQuXPuwLjjapiCfw/s320/Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday++2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Make a Wish</em></strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1KLSIFOcxgEYqHM9FUh2nko3bRpkUHEFt8JWhkB-Tn7GlucWOEE0Mi9taeW_k83JS0LMFK6EsrUEgQc0NGi-Tii3nkZHdLC-BI6jzTQ7B7jxhznaBeNdk-xqxsB-YNreqsh-W2QtyGY/s1600/Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">Donna, Joey, Riley and Lannie came up for the weekend so we could all celebrate the occasion together. We had a nice visit last night and today. After a dinner consisting of Roast Pork Lion, French Fries and Baked beans, we brought out the Birthday cake. Lannie did a great job of blowing out the candle. Of course, she made a wish beforehand.</span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWq17zSpRi558-t50-Q11sNueOhbdtG35Ehv5r9SUlzew0vx_oquq6Gj9Vbw_vxewyKnxovmJVmvvlEPYkR6mLXSSnFSyfLWRloMcWEMZOq1uZL6ZBU5_S_SUZDbeHtLhIVhVecienrlo/s1600/Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWq17zSpRi558-t50-Q11sNueOhbdtG35Ehv5r9SUlzew0vx_oquq6Gj9Vbw_vxewyKnxovmJVmvvlEPYkR6mLXSSnFSyfLWRloMcWEMZOq1uZL6ZBU5_S_SUZDbeHtLhIVhVecienrlo/s320/Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday+5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Cutting the Cake</em></strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">Everyone was waiting for Lannie to cut the cake so we could have a piece. Once the cake was cut and the pieces were handed out, we all enjoyed our cake. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, Lannie was dying to open her presents, so we had to eat fast.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu54sbstsD-6EiuOtz7EDHIeuMa25QvzLJ3R6lL9eLOluHCJsT16wFQSVW6j1SrmWl8Oc_63cu7-ICbgQj0NY06qc0mEsFPEPTHk6ySb7ZSxze2YIXpzREscIwLMRiQQkDxQ6GmJU8hyphenhypheno/s1600/Copy+of+Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu54sbstsD-6EiuOtz7EDHIeuMa25QvzLJ3R6lL9eLOluHCJsT16wFQSVW6j1SrmWl8Oc_63cu7-ICbgQj0NY06qc0mEsFPEPTHk6ySb7ZSxze2YIXpzREscIwLMRiQQkDxQ6GmJU8hyphenhypheno/s320/Copy+of+Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday+9.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Lots of presents</em></strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, the part that Lannie was waiting for came..... Opening her presents. She received lot's of great presents, but the one she seemed to like best was the cash money. I guess she takes after her Grandad.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1KLSIFOcxgEYqHM9FUh2nko3bRpkUHEFt8JWhkB-Tn7GlucWOEE0Mi9taeW_k83JS0LMFK6EsrUEgQc0NGi-Tii3nkZHdLC-BI6jzTQ7B7jxhznaBeNdk-xqxsB-YNreqsh-W2QtyGY/s1600/Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><strong><em><img border="0" height="211" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1KLSIFOcxgEYqHM9FUh2nko3bRpkUHEFt8JWhkB-Tn7GlucWOEE0Mi9taeW_k83JS0LMFK6EsrUEgQc0NGi-Tii3nkZHdLC-BI6jzTQ7B7jxhznaBeNdk-xqxsB-YNreqsh-W2QtyGY/s320/Lannie%2527s+6th+Birthday+1.JPG" width="320" /></em></strong></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">Lannie counting her money</span></em></strong></td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-6005097964080365122011-05-05T21:55:00.000-04:002011-05-05T21:55:55.834-04:00Finally, a Florida tag and registration for my car hauling trailer<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm9lQrTuFOQkjOq6cIkxD3LSNkiDUgCHOVHlZO3VL_FcPKm3T0c3z0FTsKcmkxxC_R_d_rKZU1kNuDYh_jP1I_99BJhO9WNmkUt5m57vl5QOblLwPrjHComUrorGfQL-tNpEwywfNQ89o/s1600/Trailer+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm9lQrTuFOQkjOq6cIkxD3LSNkiDUgCHOVHlZO3VL_FcPKm3T0c3z0FTsKcmkxxC_R_d_rKZU1kNuDYh_jP1I_99BJhO9WNmkUt5m57vl5QOblLwPrjHComUrorGfQL-tNpEwywfNQ89o/s320/Trailer+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I finally found the time to rewire the plug on the trailer and take it to the scales to get a weight ticket, required by the DMV. Today I went down with all of my paperwork and obtained a tag and registration. It took three separate trips, but finally it is done. Now I have Florida tags on all of my vehicles. Life is good....</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Later, Dodie & I went To Brandon to a doctor's appointment. Afterword, we found a small family owned Italian restaurant, Angelina’s, and decided to try it. It was great. Dodie ordered the traditional spaghetti, while I ordered Veal Picatta. In addition, they had Escargot on the menu, and I could not resist. I seldom find Escargot in a restaurant these days, so when I do I usually order it. Our meal was exceptional. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone in the Brandon area. We will definitely try it again in the near future.</div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-18723585252689892242011-04-30T02:40:00.000-04:002011-04-30T02:40:58.080-04:00Wyatt's First Birthday<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QRzy9UvwT5ZWWA3uPT2dU7fuTu1jC_oI_d31PM0K5_hwnGtbMyf7bgwpk9xfO3relSC9HhdoXy4_grmTLwP2u4rPavu-Dwyg8LExWW7A6yIo_rjfnaIif1ORz7u7MsFU-XpbUAO2OIU/s1600/Wyatt%2527s+party.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QRzy9UvwT5ZWWA3uPT2dU7fuTu1jC_oI_d31PM0K5_hwnGtbMyf7bgwpk9xfO3relSC9HhdoXy4_grmTLwP2u4rPavu-Dwyg8LExWW7A6yIo_rjfnaIif1ORz7u7MsFU-XpbUAO2OIU/s320/Wyatt%2527s+party.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">Today, our youngest grandson turned one year old. It only seems like a few months since he was born. I guess time flies when you are having fun.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Joey, Renee and Wyatt came to spend the weekend with us so we could participate in Wyatt’s first birthday. Donna and her family came up tonight from Ruskin to take part, also. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I cooked dinner for everyone, and then we brought out the cake. I am not sure how much he comprehended what the party was all about, but I can assure you that he had a ball.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzre64tcI_-bKNyC9vD10Vadx2XDsHcsHJ4et9udtHJS6aXSfbriEZpX2sCdB-STcibBnTDx9RNfu1E_3G1Z9oaX6lT0oTaVAs4vdORaf9pf4qt4MyYt77wPulyACmPzcTHRRUxNTLX4/s1600/Wyatt+with+Cake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzre64tcI_-bKNyC9vD10Vadx2XDsHcsHJ4et9udtHJS6aXSfbriEZpX2sCdB-STcibBnTDx9RNfu1E_3G1Z9oaX6lT0oTaVAs4vdORaf9pf4qt4MyYt77wPulyACmPzcTHRRUxNTLX4/s320/Wyatt+with+Cake.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">We had a beautiful cake for Wyatt, and he actually seemed to try to blow out the candle. Of course, he had some help. Everyone was anxious to cut into the cake, and I must admit that we did justice to it once the “blow the candle out” session was finished.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9xLQU6vmZlFrRQL7zUE1peZcaYDU7hz3QiXGM9E1jjRTBUjNgvJlXcZC3Ltz9CF5CSAhJS0UUMNtjJn53N4EgzBzwIiH1tdPcRrpYQJ7EstedAtPSqY06sYOLwQ7hyphenhyphenIyYBuzUHvqtsY/s1600/DSC02197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9xLQU6vmZlFrRQL7zUE1peZcaYDU7hz3QiXGM9E1jjRTBUjNgvJlXcZC3Ltz9CF5CSAhJS0UUMNtjJn53N4EgzBzwIiH1tdPcRrpYQJ7EstedAtPSqY06sYOLwQ7hyphenhyphenIyYBuzUHvqtsY/s320/DSC02197.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even our newest member of the family, Skeeter, got in the action with his birthday hat. Some dogs will do anything for a bite of cake.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWk190PFlbeeaotWdXLzg97ukqaN2nSxe4YbDxEQrPFHsq5AWkw9yGLLdI1-vGWyj6iT_UqbiA2hfPhEoZNkApOAJBOiGvsEmrT-8jB_cstzhNCIIAWrQ8A-_OxmFyWXXLHfoEsGRZ_cI/s1600/DSC02216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWk190PFlbeeaotWdXLzg97ukqaN2nSxe4YbDxEQrPFHsq5AWkw9yGLLdI1-vGWyj6iT_UqbiA2hfPhEoZNkApOAJBOiGvsEmrT-8jB_cstzhNCIIAWrQ8A-_OxmFyWXXLHfoEsGRZ_cI/s320/DSC02216.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">After stuffing ourselves with cake, we moved on to the presents. Right now, in this stage of Wyatt's life, "Chuck the Truck" is his favorite thing. He got tons of different variations, and had the time of his life playing with them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7yHOeTQvcOO3I_ARs83ic33PvBHaErGffoq_7R0kX9VVPbGxLVmyehCi1LHRKL1eAZm3vlPTkAuGmxoXVPRdBYjZzdOEgoJQYDQC3P2I5kOkf7m4xLg07j4mukQ7XJliuAxAe6l-YMM/s1600/First+picture+of+Mommy+and+Wyatt+in+the+bath+on+his+first+birthday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7yHOeTQvcOO3I_ARs83ic33PvBHaErGffoq_7R0kX9VVPbGxLVmyehCi1LHRKL1eAZm3vlPTkAuGmxoXVPRdBYjZzdOEgoJQYDQC3P2I5kOkf7m4xLg07j4mukQ7XJliuAxAe6l-YMM/s320/First+picture+of+Mommy+and+Wyatt+in+the+bath+on+his+first+birthday.jpg" width="221" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">After totally wearing himself out, it was time for his first birthday bath, and then off to bed. By the time Joey & Renee layed him down for the night, Wyatt was out like a light. Sweet dreams, Wyatt.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was a great party with family. </span></div>Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800831856473576570.post-48558563729291928792011-04-24T01:04:00.001-04:002011-04-24T01:08:22.958-04:00A Great day at "Old Town" with my daughter & Family<div style="text-align: justify;">It was a beautiful day here in Florida. I had scheduled to meet my oldest daughter, Marcene, her husband, Dan and my granddaughter, Tori in Kissimmee, FL for lunch today. The weather was so nice; I put the top down on my Mustang and cruised along I-4 to Kissimmee for our lunch date. We met at “Old Town” on route 192 by Disney World. This is a unique spot filled with restaurants, novelty shops and various amusement rides.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUxRH5CKd7qDbqTSLb21rkAceYTDIJ6cj3q1SLP5JxDVwLAZi6M3Ux0DRqglHSFB0zn9N3YmV7lOexnNTbHlcWixW7huX-z8lNTWYndx5jBUkgfK6PJrLQ2ISDYEEvMvVjuAY3VbDmHA/s1600/Old+Town+2010-04-23+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUxRH5CKd7qDbqTSLb21rkAceYTDIJ6cj3q1SLP5JxDVwLAZi6M3Ux0DRqglHSFB0zn9N3YmV7lOexnNTbHlcWixW7huX-z8lNTWYndx5jBUkgfK6PJrLQ2ISDYEEvMvVjuAY3VbDmHA/s320/Old+Town+2010-04-23+06.JPG" width="320" /></a>We had agreed to start our visit by having lunch at “Kool Katz” restaurant. Arriving a few moments before Marcene and her family, I settled down on the outside patio (the table underneath the Oldsmobile convertible in the picture) and enjoyed a Bloody Mary while I waited for them. Dan had decided that it was a perfect day to get some time on his bike, so he drove his Harley, following Marcene and Tori in their car. Dan has become a weekend warrior, and just could not pass up the opportunity to get some bike time in. I suggested that he should get a sidecar so they could all three ride on the bike.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwDxxvstD68IzzIK-nHqbCiya6jgll26gYESR1RlsirVUk7dAzXgQ0W_WFybLJ1gUrTGdF3IKoxIJqTMqO50fdrqnbC6EfZJaWGw1rjd9DtulJswF2zB-0wXrH9h4xzsMOpIKwb4qJQM/s1600/Old+Town+2010-04-23+05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwDxxvstD68IzzIK-nHqbCiya6jgll26gYESR1RlsirVUk7dAzXgQ0W_WFybLJ1gUrTGdF3IKoxIJqTMqO50fdrqnbC6EfZJaWGw1rjd9DtulJswF2zB-0wXrH9h4xzsMOpIKwb4qJQM/s320/Old+Town+2010-04-23+05.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;">When they arrived, we decided to be seated inside the restaurant in order to let Dan cool down from his ride. His face was flushed and Marcene was concerned he was getting overheated. I will have to admit that I was somewhat warm myself, after riding with the top down. We enjoyed a delicious meal with good conversation, catching up with each other’s lives since we had last visited. I ordered a Reuben sandwich, one of my favorite dishes. It was excellent.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNnJZKbJehZpp9kfTJiwkiEt7dGKYER6i96Ar_CMXUdOixYNe-SVezyJ9VA25uQ5q0EWdHUClpF1URTdn0kMi3B2QYIdJIfxeQzXh-xISWJxsqyJrtTTk2_lrbWYwoQbJxEJb9VKaOA4/s1600/Old+Town+2010-04-23+07.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNnJZKbJehZpp9kfTJiwkiEt7dGKYER6i96Ar_CMXUdOixYNe-SVezyJ9VA25uQ5q0EWdHUClpF1URTdn0kMi3B2QYIdJIfxeQzXh-xISWJxsqyJrtTTk2_lrbWYwoQbJxEJb9VKaOA4/s320/Old+Town+2010-04-23+07.JPG" width="320" /></a>After lunch, we all walked around and checked out the many novelty stores included in the "Old Town" complex. They have lots of unique shops to browse through, and we hit them all. We refrained from participating on any of the rides, but did linger at the “Haunted Grim House”. We enjoyed talking to some of the characters there</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm5RRESVZQox_GhtcRejmMomT8NKgVT6-jhZv_D-sJfQ5b7bGjYXmExu9le78hZGwk42CrosIJOYrcD6s6GCvRTebZkEAck_59Pt2ND2wMkWtjyMn0_85Dp3Rndw6D-LPwIeyl7VRitKI/s1600/Old+Town+2010-04-23+03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm5RRESVZQox_GhtcRejmMomT8NKgVT6-jhZv_D-sJfQ5b7bGjYXmExu9le78hZGwk42CrosIJOYrcD6s6GCvRTebZkEAck_59Pt2ND2wMkWtjyMn0_85Dp3Rndw6D-LPwIeyl7VRitKI/s320/Old+Town+2010-04-23+03.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Tori found a cute boy while we were there, but I thought that he was a little on the strange side. I guess Granddad is a bit over protective….</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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It was a great day, visiting with Marcene and her family. They live in Palm Bay, FL on the East coast, so we meet somewhere in the middle occasionally. That way no one has to drive too far. I hope that they will be able to come to our house for a full weekend sometime in May.Paul Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897508782098466390noreply@blogger.com0