Clancy & Sister Mary Kate

Clancy was in Dublin on a business trip and decided to head to a local pub for a drink. Standing outside the bar was Sister Mary Kate holding a tin cup. As Clancy threw a few bucks into her cup the nun launched into a long tirade about the evils of alcohol. She went on and on about how alcohol was tearing apart the fabric of society and how it was the root of all the city's problems.

Slightly ticked off at having to listen to this, Clancy said, "Listen sister, I work hard for my money and sometimes at the end of a long day I like a drink or two.  That doesn't make me a bad person. I have a wife I idolize and two wonderful kids at home. I provide for my family, I volunteer my time to several local service clubs and I contribute regularly to various charities. Yet you stand here and condemn me just because I drink the occasional sip of Jameson!" The nun was slightly taken aback and replied, "I see your point my son and I apologize if I offended you but the alcohol is such a powerful demon that all who consume it are doomed..."

 "Look there you go again," said Clancy. "How can you make such a sweeping statement. Have you ever even TRIED alcohol?" "Of course not!" gasped Sister Mary Kate, "The evil alcohol has never touched my lips." "Do you really think that one glass of booze can change you from a devout nun to some kind of evil degenerate?" "Well, I really don't know ..." "I'll tell you what," Clancy says.  "Come into the bar with me and I'll buy you a drink. One drink. I'll prove to you that 'evil' is not inside the glass, it's inside the person." "Oh, I could never be seen going into such a den of inequity, it's out of the question," said Sister Mary Kate.

"However, your comment about evil residing in the person rather than the glass is quite intriguing. I must admit you've aroused a curiosity in me." "Well let's go inside and settle this!" "No my son, I could never enter such a place... but how about this. Take my tin cup with you and fill it with this "Jameson" you mentioned. Bring it out to me and I'll try it." "You're on!" said Clancy. The nun removed all the change and handed him the tin cup. Clancy went into the bar and said to the bartender, "Two Jameson, and could you put one of them in this tin cup please?"

The bartender sighed and asked, "Is that nun out there again?"

Found: Purple Carrots in My Garden

What a shock it was when Wifey showed me the two purple carrots she pulled out of our raised bed gardens. We planted these stupid things around March of this year and not only gave up on them but also planted another crop on top of them.

The second crop, beans, failed miserably as well.  Either I planted these carrots at the wrong time or they just take darn near a full year to grow. Needless to say, the two brought in the house were just under the size of a traditional grocery store sized carrot.  They were purple on the outside and orange on the inside.

Best of all...they tasted delicious. Yummy or not, I don't think I'll mess with these again. They were an experimental crop and we learned lots from them. Same with the Indian corn. It grew very well and was a pleasure to look at. Not such a pleasure to eat. Some ears were delicious (solid yellow in color), other ears were a bit tough to chew (multicolored kernals).

The squash, cucumbers and watermelon did terrifically well. The entire front pumpkin patch spawned TWO pumpkins.  And rather small pumkins at that.

A Passing Hello

A quick entry into my dusty blog to say hello to my fellow bloggers.  Life is moving swiftly on my end as I work feverishly to keep up. Kids are all flourishing and enjoying school (gasp!)  Wifey is sewing her fingers to the bone getting ready for Christmas as we've promised to give only handmade goodies to family this year.  I am working twice as hard, or so it seems, at my hospitals to perform my regular duties and a few new ones.

I'm still watching all that is going on around us in this crazy world.  I'm not sure I believe the true nature of the Occupy Wall Street crowd.  Seeing Michael Moore and Al Gore attend some OWS rallies put them under scrutiny in my eyes.  Now Drudge says good 'ol ACORN is involved in another OWS movement.  I am still shocked at what they got away with (electing Obama with all their voter fraud).

Gerald Celente still proves to be a terrific indicator of what is happening now and what to expect in the future.  I have been an active (paid) subscriber of his now for three years.  He has helped me to "see the light" on the need for preparedness and is one of the people that spurred me to start becoming prepared.  His warnings led me to Survivalblog and the rest is history. (Of course, this coincided with my joining the LDS church who, as most know, are HUGE on preparedness).

I still have enough food to provide about a year's worth of nutrition for my family.  I haven't begun to plant crops for this season and I'm not sure if I'm too late now.  We are finally getting a cold spell in central Arizona. I'll have to look at my charts and see if my fellow bloggers have any advice (Anne...help!) ;-)

Just about everything that can break down...is breaking down mechanically right now.  Toilets, sinks, garbage disposal, radiator, catalytic converter, oil leaks x 2, my Crown Berkey (sob), refridgerator.  The rewards of actually keeping assets instead of renting them has caught up to me.  My ten year old house, and all appliances that came with it, is crumbling (or so it seems.)  Both vehicles are in serious need of repair.

Such is life. How are ya'll?

~OJD