Tomorrow is Veterans Day

 America has generally forgotten the meaning of this day.  On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month the "War to end all Wars" ended.   November eleventh is set aside here and in Europe as a special day to commemerate the end of World War One.   

World War One was fought with machine guns, large machine guns.  The casualty rate was listed at over 40 million. There were 20 Million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians.  (Information found on Google).

Of course these numbers do not include the mental injuries, Post Traumatic Distress was not really considered a wound in the 1900 to 1920 time frame, but there were many many men women and children that suffered from that malady too.

I am a verteran, of what you wonder?  The cold war, Operation Desert Storm and the start of anti terrorism.   Unfotunatly, 9/11/2001 was not the first terrorist attack either in Europe, or the United Stated, or the Orient.   Many of the people that I trained with over the years died in either accidents preparing to fight terrorists, or in actual terror attacks.

When Desert Storm happened I was not allowed to deploy because I had Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders.   My Unit deployed and I stayed behind.   After I moved to my new Unit, I deployed to Turkey for Operation Provide Comfort.  This was really part two of Desert Storm.  Incerlick Turkery was considered a combat zone.  (Initially the military pulled all the dependents out of the base. After the Iraqi's surrendered the dependents were brought back. But it was still considered a combat zone.)

I spent almost ten months here.  It was really only a 45 day tour, but because the base I was at Bittburg AFB Germany, was slated to be closed I was left in Turkey as a continuity person for deployed security personnel.

While there we were shot at at least once.  This was not an attack, but poachers that were using hot reloaded ammo.  We could see them on Thermal Imaging.  We actually watched local police catch and litterally beat down several teen age poachers.

The point of all of the above is to explain the following thoughts.

I never know what to say when someone thanks me for my service.  I enlisted because I needed a job and my wife at the time was pregnant.  The Air Force wanted me, they offered me a great job that paid four times what I was earning to start.   I missed my daughter being born (I was there for my son and second daughter, but I was in Technical School in San Antonio in May of 78 when my oldest was born) and because of that wonderful job I was deployed a lot of the time that my children were growing up.

So when folks thank me for my service I thank them for the compliment, but what I really want to say is "It was a job like any other.  I both hated it and loved it."   I am not any sort of a hero.  I have many friends that are actually heros. Two of them have the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Those guys are heros, they were actually in war.   My brother Bob (aka Bob the Computer Guy and if you know anyone in Colorado Springs that needs their computer repaired they should call him) was in Vietnam and many other hostile events, he is a hero. Me I just had a well paying job and attended college.  I actually have a degree in Industrial Security and about sixty hours of paralegal studies. With all that I drive a truck for a living.  But I would do it all over again if I had to.

So to all the folks I know that have served thank you for your service, to those that have enlisted since 2001 realize you are welcomed home and appreciated by this country.  If anyone gives you a hard time about your service find either a guy like me, a cold war vet, or a guy like my younger brother, a Vietnam vet and let us explain to those folks that the only reason they have the right to protest or tell you  that you are evil, is friends of yours, you and friends of ours sacraficed their lives, and body parts to make sure that this is a free country.  Don't get me wrong. People have a right to protest, we all veterans worked hard to insure those rights, but having the right to do something doesn't automatically make you right.   Let us old guys take care of your light work and you guys just enjoy your lives.  

Bounce is done for today.  More tomorrow with pictures of the Veterans day Luncheon and more pictures from the Senior Center.

Life in the slow lane about to come to an end. Work calls

 For the last three months I have been on short term disability.  I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 13 September.  I have been doing a lot but not what I want to do.  In truth I want to go fishing, but 50% pay just covers some of the bills.  I am not sure what I am going to do.  I don't know that I will be cleared to go back to work.  I have lost weight, gotten my blood sugar under control, my blood pressure is way down.  If I can lose another 20 pounds I may be off blood pressure medicine all together.

What I have been doing since the first part of October is volunteerring at the Mills County senior center in Goldthwaite TX.   I help cook  (Full disclosure I can cook, and I enjoy it, but I am not a cook.  I have helped cut things up.  I know that involves using sharp objects, but I did it carefully and I still have all ten fingers and toes.  <that last part is for my son.  A few years ago I cut my finger so bad using an exacto knife I needed stitches, so every time he hears that I am using sharp things he tells me to "Step away from the razor blade old man">.)

This time washing dishes, and helping cook and serving food to the seniors, and many of them are thirty years older than I am so I am honoring my Mother by being very polite and respectful to them.   They like to have fun too, so it has been a very enjoyable time.  I try really hard to not talk like a truck driver.

 Folks getting ready to eat lunch

Laura's amazing banana pudding

Laura and Ann on Ann's last day before retirement.

Me, Lynn and Ann in kitchen

Desert being served  (apple cobbler and ice cream)

Laura and Lynn

Laura and Lynn preparing deserts

MS Billie chatting with seniors before lunchd

Above are pictures taken by me and others during the last two weeks.   Some of them are in other posts.  These folks here are awesome.   They seem to enjoy the work I do and talking with me.  I thought I was going to go completely nuts while not working.  I did for the first week or so, now I have a great reason to get up, make my bed, and get to work.   I am really not sure what will happen at the end of the month.  If I do not go back to work at Stevens, then I don't.   I love working there, and I would like to keep working there. The Covid-19 pandemic sort of eliminated some of my chance to move into an office job there, but I plan to send an email to the  Vice President of driver relations and see if I can work with new drivers.  I do this a lot anyway becasue I give my phone number to Grad drivers any time I am on the Dallas Yard.   Many call me or text or email me for help.  I gladly give it to them.   True story, when I started we did not have cell phones, and email was available but hard to use on the road.  I literally quit every week for six or seven months.  Sometimes I quit every day.  If I would have had the communication devices I have now I probably would not have been with Stevens for 24 years.

Ok here are some pics from today

Laura is a volunteeer here at the Senior Center

She was showing me her red apron, and yes she voted.  She makes awesome deserts, and she is a nurse too (a very knowledgeable and good nurse).

Well this was pretty long. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.   I have comments set up so that I moderate them.  But please feel free to enter them.  I will post any and all comments, just some of my freinds write like they talk and they talk like soldiers and truckers, so I have to moderate comments.

Thanks, I will be posting a lot more.  I will keep everyone up to date on my work status too,

Dave Taley

aka Bounce

,

 I really miss good old Clyde the motorcycle.   He and I have been to a lot of places together,   In the good old days I used to write things that he saw too.   Sometimes that was a little goofy.   The good news is that I plan to go get him and Big Red soon.   Along with my clothes and some furniture.   I have a trailer that   I can load the bikes onto, and as soon as I can get it registered licensed and insured, sometime around the 8th of November, I am going to go get that stuff.   I have to pay for the work done to Clyde, and storage for both bikes but I will have that money too.   I want to give Clyde to my son, because I can't ride two bikes.  But I might have to give him Big Red instead.  Both are paid for, so it is just a matter of me deciding which one I want to ride.

I wrote the above last week and this week I am registering the trailer, but I may not be going to Wisconsin until the end of March.   Will contact Troy my mechanic and let him know.  I have to go back to work.

Friday

 Today started late. I left my wallet at home and had to turn around and drive back for it.  It was raining really hard too.  That part is pretty good, the ranch needs the rain.  Will check the gauge later and post amount tomorrow, but I will bet we got almost an inch this morning.  The only problem is that it rains hard and fast, this can cause floods.  It would be nice if it rained steady for a few hours and soaked everything deep, but it just seems to rain hard for a bit and not soak the ground and then it runs off.

I am again writing this in the Mills County Community Center.  I am still volunteering here and it is still fun.  In a month I hope that I can go back to work.  I miss driving a lot.  I did not realize how much I enjoyed it until I couldn't do it.  I have driven in all forty eight continuous states, and several (I think 5, but it could be more or less) provinces in Canada.  I haven't been to Canada since a little before the 9-11 attack, but I really do not miss going up there.  It is a little easier to do now, but I do not have a passport. Funny thing is you do not need one to get into Canada, but you do to get back into the states.  Driving is not difficult, but it can be hard on a person.  Being alone is sometimes okay, and sometimes not okay.  Since being on this short term disability I have talked more to many folks than I ever did in the truck.  I enjoy the company, but also look forward to getting back to the solitude of solo truck driving.   The work here is enjoyable and rewarding, but it doesn't pay the rent.  I will probably continue to volunteer here, just not all the time.   If I go back to truck driving I will be out for 9 or 10 weeks, then home for 5 to 7 days.  On the days that I am home I will volunteer here.   Billie, and Ann and Laura are fun to work with and talk too.  

Laura is a Nurse, and she checks peoples blood pressure and oxygen levels every day if they want her to do that.  She keeps a record of it and can tell you what it was and how consistent it is.  This is a good deal.

This is a picture of Laura today explaining about how she takes blood pressure readings and what they mean.  Laura is the one standing up.   She is pretty cool.  Today she told me about what she went through with Covid-19.  It almost killed her.  I for one am glad it didn't get her.   She is pretty smart and has worked as a nurse for a long time, she is good at it. She has invited me to come watch her get re-baptized this Sunday, I just may go.

• 

These are pictures of the early voting area set up in the Community Center.  I have been watching it all week, and I voted on Monday.  This area has been pretty busy all week.   It is great to see that so many folks are voting.  It is also fun to realize that Goldthwaite is a small town where everyone knows everyone.  They are all friendly with each other.     Neighbors help each other all the time.  

Well that is pretty much it for today.  I will be taking a few pictures and will add them before I post this today.  But it is time for lunch and I have work to do.

Final thought, now that I have a trailer I will be going to Wisconsin  to pick up Clyde and Big Red.  Not sure when, might be before I go back to work, or possibly in the Spring, weather will be the issue there.

Thanks again for reading and I will moderate but all comments get posted here.

Thursday Lunch crowd.

Lynn and Laura setting up deserts

and Clowning for the camera in the kitchen.

This picture and next picture were taken before they knew the camera was there.  They work really hard to make everything taste and look good for our diners.

Folks chatting and waiting for lunch.

 I am again at the Mills County Community Center.  I am a volunteer here, but I enjoy the folks here too.  This week is early voting week and that means no fun stuff happening.  Bingo has been postponed for a while and so has chair areobics.  But  lunch still happens every day.   Yesterday was a Thanksgiving meal with Sweet Potatoes and stuffing, and Chicken breasts instead of Turkey, but it was great food.   We fed 40  folks in the Community Center, and another 20 or so meals were delivered.   Pecan pie and Ice Cream for desert.

I was a little busy so I didn't get any pictures yesterday.  There will be pictures from the DID ranch in the second half of this post.   I will get some pictures of the folks that come to lunch today and tomorrow and will post those. I really enjoy this place, it makes my time off work bearable.  I do get to wash a lot of dishes, mostly pots and pans.  There is a dishwasher for plates, silverware, cups and glasses.  Everything gets pre washed though.  Preperation is a lot of work, setting up the Meals on Wheels meals is a lot of work, but there are about 4 or 5 of us volunteers so it goes pretty fast.  I am typing this part of the post during the break between packing cold stuff (desserts, milk and salads today) and boxing hot stuff.  That is almost ready to happen.  Time to go wash my hands.  

Well all the meals are prepared and I got some pictures too.  Lynn and Laura dishing out Ice Cream and clowning for the camera, and the others are of folks waiting for lunch to get ready.

We fed about 60 folks today counting the meals for wheels folks.  Lots of work and fun too.

This is the results of the work on the deserts for today. Apple Cobbler and Ice Cream

Now for a few pics from the Ranch this week.  Eyore the Donkey likes me, and so do Ziggy and Getta (pronounced like it is spelled)  and for the same reason.

Thanks to everyone that has read these posts this week.  More than a hundred views.  Comments are welcomed especially if you have suggestions for things I should talk about.  

Thursday and Friday

 Well I hope everyone liked the pictures.  I am currently sitting in the Mills Counnty community center getting ready to put together the meals on wheels lunches.  This is fun to do and a lot of work.  There is also a lunch here too.   At the time I started this (which was yesterday) It was Charlie's birthday and Bingo day combined.   Two of the Ladies told Charlie that they were going to sing "Happy Birthday" to him backwards.  They did. I was going to video that but only got a picture.  Full disclosure, they stood backwards in front of Charlie and sang Happy Birthday, so they were singing it backwards.

You would think that as many posts as I have made on here I would remember how to add photos.   Believe it or not I had to google how to do it and then still couldn't figure it out.   

After singing Happy Birthday to Charlie we played Bingo.  Now I know that I said I was a volunteer here, but yesterday and today I brought along my friend Dean's son Lynn to help.   He is a great worker, and the ladies here have asked him to fill out an application.  He has.   Hoping he gets the job, it will be good for him and the community center.  The lady that is the cook wants to retire and just come in for lunch once in a while.

This is a picture of Lynn (probably spelled wrong)  He is a hard worker and a good guy. Extremly smart.  He is home brewing wine and some of it is amazingly good.

That is about it for today.  Thank you to the four folks following this blog.  Please feel free to comment and give me suggestions of things to write about.   I am living in Lometa Texas and the Community Center is in Goldthwait Texas.   I plan to explore some of the sights here, and there are quite a few.  I also want to go up to Hico Texas.  There is a small Billy the Kid museum there.   Brushy Bill Roberts died there.  He claimed to be Billy the Kid in 1950. The Govenor of New Mexico refused to acknowledge him, even though he had a lot of evidence and witnesses to back him up.  I think they just wanted that little story to stay dead.

Thanks  again

How I am spending my time while on a forced vacation

 This post is going to be mostly photos.  This is a picture of me in front of the Beast 2.0/.  I had a lifted 2001 F250 pickup with a 7.3 Diesel engine, but I sold it to a friend who wanted it for a project for his son.  A pack rat had eaten through the wiring harness, but Beast now runs and is getting a lot of loving care.  I bought a 2011 F250 that was gas powered and nice for running around in but did not have the towing capacity that I needed, when the opportunity to buy this F350 diesel pick up  came up, I sold the "Tin Lizzy" and am putting the proceeds of that towards paying off the Beast 2.0.   If you know me you'll know that I give my inanimate objects pet names.   Clyde the motorcycle was actually the first vehicle that I did this with.  But the new bike has a name too.  Although I do not have much time with it, I have been using big Red to describe it to me.   Once I get it to Texas and and ride it a little it may get a new name.  Right now I am thinking it is a she, but you never know.   Beast, Tin Lizzy and Beast 2.0 are all female vehicles, bikes are different, and Clyde liked the name Clyde from the first time I used it.  So for now it is  big Red.

Now for some more pictures.   I started working at the Mills county community center as a volunteer a few weeks ago.  I really enjoy it.  I help assemble the Meals on Wheels lunches that they send out, and wash pots and pans for the cook.   Since I am off work until the end of November this gives me something to get up and do.   They serve lunch and I help do that, then I wash dishes and then head home for my lunch.  I have changed my diet a lot, picture shows it too.  I have lost about 50 pounds since January.

Here are a few pictures from the community center. The first one is Billie with the plant that the folks who come for lunch got her for the work she did fixing food the week that Anne, the cook was on vacation.

The rest are of the folks that gave it to her and the community center.   It is a beautiful facility and nice to visit and to work in. 

The next pictures are of a porch that my friend Dean, and I (I didn't do much but hold tools and watch to make sure that the saw and welder sparks didn't start a fire) are putting together at another friend named Chuck's house.  It was quite the project and the framing is all box steel.  The boards are composite wood.

Dean had to notch almost every board because of the panels on the outside of the house.  I will take a few more pics today and add them to it.  There are 46 20 foot boards going into the floor, and it is coming out well, and it will outlast probably the rest of the house, and definitely me or Dean.

Well that is just some of the things I have been doing while not working.  It isn't much, and I am getting a form of cabin fever, but I am relaxing, and getting my blood sugar under control, and continuing to eat regularly and well.   Tish has made several meals, she calls them "Dave" friendly.  Meaning that diabetics can eat them without messing up their sugar.  I am still under a doctors care, and still taking insulin shots.   I hope to be done with that soon so that I can go back to work. The last series of pictures are of food that I have cooked for myself.  I am learning to use an air fryer and intend to take that and a small refrigerator along with the micro wave on the truck.   The air fryer uses 1700 watts but I think the invertor in the truck will handle that load.

This is a picture of the liners that I use, makes it a snap to clean up.

I got them off Amazon and I will post a link later.  Going to do a whole entry about air frying my food I think

Chicken legs and pepper, mushrooms and onions it was as tasty as it looks.

Last picture is of the air fryer basket after using the liners.  no cleaning required.

 

 I started this blog because I wanted to comment on another blog.  That guy had it set up so that folks had to open their own blog to do so.   

I had a lot to write about every May and looking back that was really the only thing I wrote about.  I love the mission of Run For The Wall, and for the most part I love the people that do it.   Some are more interested in their goals than the mission, but there are not that many of them. I moved from Wisconsin to Texas two years ago.  Last year I finally got a Texas license.  That was difficult because of Covid-19.  You had to make an appointment with the DMV and you could not just walk in and get a license.  With a lot of help from the qualifications department at Stevens I finally got it done.  I have a friend that works there that allowed me to use his address, and I got it done.   Now with all this time off I have found a place to live. I have some dear dear friends that have  rented me a single wide trailer that is at the front of their property.   I changed my license and finally got the post office to change my address.  That too was difficult because of Covid-19.  You would think that the whole world caught it and died because of it.   

In some ways, no a lot of ways things have changed.  Here in America people found that they could work from home and not have to drive into work every day.  My friend in Karnack Texas still works from home, he loves it because he doesn't have to drive almost 350 miles a day.   In a lot of ways people are more productive when working from home.  Others not so much.  But instead of logging off and walking outside to smoke or vape, they can do it at their desk.  So they are on their phones more.   Some just play games while waiting for the phone to ring.   But the point is they are at the phone more often than when they had to walk outside for a "break".   Also E-Mail is often the only way to contact some folks now.  

I am one of those.   If you know my email address write me, I will answer it.  My phone is still there and it still works, but I usually just let calls go to voice mail now a days.   There are so many scammers and sales people calling I just do not answer any more.

So what have I been doing while on short term disability?  I started volunteering at the local community center in Goldthwait Texas.  Lots of very nice folks there.  Putting together the meals on wheels and making lunch for the folks that can get to the center is fun.  It is a lot of work, and the Cook is on vacation this week, so we volunteers have been busy.  The lady that runs the program is very nice and keeps us on track.

Wednesday we had live music and celebrated a gentleman's 94th birthday.  Come to find out there are a lot of 90 year olds in the lunch crowd.  The music was great and it was fun listening to it.  Lunch was things that I can't eat but everything else was great.

In addition to that I am feeding the animals while my friends went on a short trip.   I feed four cats, two dogs, fifteen or so sheep, three cows, a calf, a donkey named EEore, and a Llama named Ethyl.  There are also a rooster and 6 chickens.  Plus an animal that I have not seen that is supposed to be a cat, but could be a raccoon.  That is over where the cattle feed is, and whatever it is eats the food every day.   

Dean and Tish have been very good to me and I am thankful that they trust me enough to do this for them.  The dogs sleep with me, and are not much of an alarm clock, in fact they tend to ignore the alarms I have set.   In fact today I got up, cleaned up and got dressed and the two dogs were still asleep.  When I mentioned that I was going to feed them Jetta yawned and went back to sleep, Ziggy did not react at all.  But I got it done.    EEore likes me and lets me scratch his nose.  Ethyl is a different story.  She acts like she had a bad experience  at a petting zoo, and won't allow anyone to touch her. But I am working on being able to scratch her nose too.  The Bull the Ram allow me to feed them, but they watch me like hawks. That is how I am spending my forced vacation.  I collect eggs and harvest Okra out of the garden too.

So twice a day I am busy, then I volunteer at the community center, and I enjoy all of it.   I have pictures, and will try to add them to this post later.

Time for dinner, then I have chores to complete.  Thanks for reading.

Bounce

 To the four or five folks that follow these posts I must apologize for not writing in here for the last couple of years.   A lot has happened since my last post.   I moved to Texas, got divorced, bought two different Pick up trucks, and have learned how to feed chickens, sheep cows.

In addition to that two years ago this month I was run down by a big truck in an El Paso truck stop.  Idiot driver was reading his cell phone when driving to the pumps.  I was walking no where near the path to the pumps, but he hit me and dragged me a bit over 30 feet.  I was sore, had road rash in a few places.  I insisted on going to the hospital to get checked out.  I was fine. The truck driver (flip flop wearing idiot) that hit me told the responding law enforcement officer that I jumped under his truck.   The video witness statements clearly refuted that statement.  The video from the truck stop security camera clearly shows the driver was looking at the cell phone in his hand.   Before someone asks, no I did not sue.  I called a few lawyers, including the "Texas Hammer" and got the same thing from all of them, I wasn't hurt bad enough for them to take the case.   The one guy that said he would do it wanted 40% of anything I got and told me that it would mean at least six months off of work.   Today I would do it, but then I didn't think I could afford it.   Almost a year later the driver found out that my company had put a lien against him and finally reported it to his insurance company.   That insurance company fired his agent and dropped him for not reporting the accident.  I got almost enough cash to buy a 12 year old used pick up truck.  It was too small to haul the kind of travel trailer I want so I sold it and bought a bigger truck.

The divorce cost me a duplex, and a paid for motor home.  I will never get married again.  In fact it is hard for me to want to even be with some one anymore.  I trusted my Ex wife, and it turns out that she and her daughters screwed me over pretty bad.  But like the song says "Thank God and Greyhound she's gone."  Funny thing is I have managed to save money and still cover all my bills. Never could do that before.

Okay, that should bring everyone up to date with me.   I still work for Stevens Transport, and I now live in Lometa Texas.

More to come, and pictures too.

 First an apology to the four or five who read my posts here.  I have not been here since 2019. Covid is not my excuse. Life is.  Things have changed a lot for both me and Clyde since 2019. He has been fixed and is languishing in storage somewhere in Wisconsin.  His younger sister, aka Big Red (haven't ridden her enough to have any other name.  She is bid and she is red so I guess that works). My clothes, and a desk, a dresser and a bed and a lamp are in storage in Wisconsin. I have moved to Texas, and have not been in Wisconsin since September of 2019.   I am now divorced, not my idea, but I did  not fight it.

I still work for Stevens Transport, and still for the most part like my job.   Currently I am in a motel in Albuquerque, NM.  The wonderful new Freightliner I got a few months ago doesn't run properly, and right now the dealership it is at has no idea why.  They have had it since Monday, and did not even look at it until yesterday.  They are giving our Road Rescue a run around, but at least they have looked at it.  Main CPU keeps losing programing, the only way to start the truck is disconnect the battery cables, wait 5 minutes, reconnect and it works.  While parked at night it locks up again.  unfortunately it will also lock out the neutral on the transmission if turned off during the day.  Truck is set to only idle for three minutes, so it will shut down when getting out  to look, or opening the doors at a dock, and then won't start.  Then I have to disconnect batteries and reconnect to get it started. Sometimes the four way flashers work, sometimes they don't.  Along with that the traction control, anti roll back and lane departure switches and units do not work.  This truck only has 20,000 miles on it so it is a warranty issue and the shop it is at does not want to replace the computer in the truck.  If they get it fixed fine, if not I will just limp it back to Dallas and see if I can get a different truck.

Okay that is enough about me.

I have some exciting news

Run For The Wall has not been cancelled again for this year.  I am not going because I cannot afford it. I like everyone that does it. I love the mission, but I just cannot do it this year or next.  After I retire I may be able to.  In 2019 before it cancelled I resigned from my self made job of Central Route Communications team.   I hope the keep doing it but  I doubt seriously that they will.  Current leadership doesn't think what I did was important.  I know it was, but Central Route was the only route doing it.  I will be posting information here as I receive it, and OOIDA is supporting us again this year.  They were pretty happy that the Run is on.   I have no idea of the numbers, but since it has been two years I am betting that there will be a huge turn out this year.

So that is about it for now.  

Except that I plan to start a new blog.  No name for it yet, but it will be about my retirement, and Clyde may be in it.  I plan to give him to my son Luke. Clyde likes Luke and Luke rides very well.  Although Clyde is old, he is far from obsolete, new brakes, new tires, new clutch and all body work repairs done.  Old Clyde is pretty much like new.

I plan to buy a toy hauler trailer and see the country.  That is what the new blog will be about.  Might even try video blogging to.  Never too old to learn new things.

Thanks for reading.

comments are appreciated, suggestions on what you would like to see here, or maybe suggestions for the new blog?

Bounce is out