Four Down

And forty to go.

It all started six years ago on my drive out west.  While I was in Missouri and passing through Independence I saw a sign for the Truman Library.  I did something very unusual for me.  I changed my plans and visited the Library.  It was very impressive, a good history lesson.  I was quite young during the Truman years and didn't pay much attention to politics.

After the Library, I continued on my way.  But something stuck in my mind and I had a new goal.  I had to visit all the presidential libraries.  Since many of our earlier presidents did not have libraries, I've added homes to the plan.

A few years ago I visited the Kennedy Library and the Kennedy Memorial in Massachusetts, so far this is the biggest I've seen.

Last November, while I was visiting my niece and a friend, I stopped Oyster Bay on Long Island for a tour of Sagamore Hill, the home of Theodore Roosevelt.

I was just in time, since they closed the home the following week for two years for renovations and updating of the electrical.  This was a simple home, filled with his hunting trophies.  There were many animal heads and skins.  Theodore Roosevelt is the only president to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.  It was awarded to him posthumously.

Last week I went to Gettysburg, PA and toured the battlefield.  I also took a short tour of the Eisenhower Farm.



These are pictures of the sunroom, or what we would now call the family room and living room which was filled with much memorabilia from the White House years.  When Ike was at the putting green, Mamie would sit in the family room and watch him.  It was a very interesting tour.

Eisenhower raised black angus cattle and showed them.  He won many blue ribbons and awards.  Of course, who would tell the president his cattle wasn't the best?

I can't decide where to go next.  I'm leaning toward Hyde Park, FDR's home.  I could combine that with lunch at the Culinary Institute.

I have to work out a schedule for future visits.  I think a trip to Texas for LBJ and the two Bush's, then in California I could visit Reagan and Nixon. I guess Mount Vernon (Washington) and Monticello (Jefferson) would probably be close enough to visit on one trip.

All I have to do now is locate the rest of the presidents and then live to be 100 so I can get to them all.  The only problem is that every four years, there will be another one.

Chick-fil-A

Today I made my first purchase at a local Chick-fil-A.  I've been wanting to visit one of the restaurants since all this condemnation of free speech began, but I couldn't find the time to wander over to the mall where it is located.

The service was very good and very friendly.  It took me a while to order since I'm really not a fast-food fan.  I do enjoy a nice juicy burger, but they don't carry them.  I finally ordered a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread with a side order of carrot raisen salad (my favorite).  It was good, but I could probably do a better job at home.

I may go back to support the company's policies and their right to speak freely on their beliefs and to support those beliefs. 

Those people supporting a boycott hoping to put this company out of business are not thinking of the many employees who would be out of a job were it not for this company and the future employees if this company were able to expand.

Whatever happened to the right of our citizenry to speak out on their beliefs, to contribute to causes that support those beliefs without fear of retaliation?  Why is it wrong not to follow the crowd?

Now if I could just find an Amway distributor to counter that proposed boycott.

Chick-fil-A

The TV lately has been filled with stories about this company.  The COO of this company only expressed his personal views on Gay Marriage.  As soon as these comments became public, several mayors of major cities came forward and threatened to prohibit or make it difficult for this company to open restaurants in their cities.

The one comment that struck me as odd was Rahm Emmanuel.  He said that Chick-fil-A's values were not Chicago's values and the company would not be welcome in Chicago.  All I can say in answer to that is "Thank God".  Chicago does not have a reputation as a very law-abiding town.

At the present time, their murder rate is soaring with gang wars.  Maybe if the citizens of Chicago adopted some of Chick-fil-A's values, they would be much better off.

They're All Alike

Today I travelled up to Queens for "the works".  That includes a trim, touch-up and highlighting. Today, it also included a new style since I got tired of the old one.  I've been going to Connie for about 20 years since she rescued me from a gentle home perm which left my hair in a wild mess of tight kinky curls. 

Connie gave me a good cut and I've been going to her ever since.  I now travel 70 miles each way, but it's well worth it.  Just the other day one of my neighbors complimented me on my hair and wanted to know where I went.  When I told her, she decided she liked her own hair.

Anyway, Connie and I were talking with another hairdresser, Stella, whose husband owns the shop.  When Connie mentioned that her husband is working the 4 to midnight shift, Stella's eyes lit up with envy.  All three of us agreed that that was a wonderful shift.  It actually gave us some time on our own to do whatever.

It seems that all husbands, no matter their nationality (Stella's - Russian, Conie's - Italian and mine - Irish) just seem to want their wives to sit with them when they are watching TV.  It's not enough to be in the same room, we have to be doing the same thing - watching TV.  Of course, if we wanted company and they wanted to go out or work on a project, they would do what they wanted to do.

I'm just so glad to know that I wasn't the only one.

As I was leaving the shop, two of Connie's customers came in.  They both commented on how wonderful my hair looked.  That made me feel good because I needed a change and it was a good one..

Efficiency Makes You Fat

I've never believed people who said that as you get older your metabolism begins to slow down and you gain weight.  There were times in my 50s when I was much more active than when I was in my 20s and yet I had trouble keeping my weight down.  No, I think (besides the obvious that you may eat more) that you gain weight because you're more efficient.

Think about it, you're older, you're wiser.  You may have more to do, so you plan your time better.  Instead of, say filing one piece of paper, you wait until you have several.  Then you pull a chair over to your cabinet and file your papers.  If you were filing one piece at a time, think of the walking you could be doing.

When I lived in Queens, I had a two story house.  I did what all the "experts" said to do.  Instead of making several trips upstairs to put things away, I stacked them on the stairs and brought a bunch up at once, thereby saving several trips and not burning calories.

It's even worse here with everything on one floor.  I empty the trash baskets all at the same time and bring it to the garage all at once.  How much more exercise would I get if I emptied one basket at a time and brought it to the garage.

Hmm, I think I'll try this.  How many calories will I burn by hanging my clothes in the closet, one piece at a time?

Brownies

I am so proud of myself.

Back in the middle of June I wrote that I had baked some brownies and froze most of them, two to a baggie.  Last week I ate the last of them.

I must say they were delicious.  I realize that instead of slicing off a bit whenever I passed them, I was able to actually sit down and savor the deliciousness of the chocolate chips.  I would take them out of the freezer, let them thaw a little.  Then I poured myself a cup of coffee and took the time to really taste them.

They were so good and now that I know I can control myself by freezing them, I think I'll bake some more.

Taxes

I just heard a  bit of the president's speech in which he claimed to have cut taxes for the middle class.  I don't know about that, I haven't seen any tax cut.  I did fine one humorous spot.  When the president claimed to reduce taxes on the middle class there was silence from the audience.  He had to repeat that claim and I guess then the "applause" sign went up.

My one question to the Republicans is this.  When are you going to counter the president's claim that we had a surplus during the Clinton administration?  Yes, we did have a surplus then, but that was also a time of Republican controlled congress and the Contract with America which cut costs, including some entitlement programs.  They MUST put the emphasis on that.

It was during the Bush administration's last two years under a Democraticall controlled congress that our deficit got much higher.

Let's see - Republican congress = deficit reduction, Democrat controlled congress = deficit increase.

Which is better?