We are ALL the same deep down.

If you know Nancy and I very well, you know we have traveled all over the world. I am not bragging, we have been very fortunate. And as we've traveled, we have experienced many different cultures and had in-depth conversations with people in those countries about their feelings, beliefs, religion and thoughts about Americans and the United States. All of them want to same things. They want a family to be safe. They want to live in a peaceful country. They want to worship the god they believe in. And they want to see their grandchildren have a better life than them. They want everyone to be an equal, no matter their color, race, sex or gender. Sound familiar? It is the same as I want and probably you too. That is NOT what the Russian President wants.

Vladimir Putin as launched a war against a peaceful country, not their army, but at the people of Ukraine, on their homes, their hospitals, their schools, in an attempt to break their proud, spirit and resilience. But it is not working. The Ukrainians are strong and ARE resilient. As much as they have been through over the decades by Russia and other countries and to stand up the the power of Russia, is amazing.

But this is one of many conflicts we have seen in recent years. The old 'Iron Curtain' countries, central and South American countries, the Middle East countries, and not to forget South East Asian countries have seen their fair share of conflict.

One scholar said, "Conflict starts over money, sex and greed." I believe egos, politics and religion should also be part of that statement. Oh yeah, politics. It is part of everything whether you realize it or not. Politics is negotiating, give and take, get the upper hand and scratching each others back, so to speak. Sometimes the negotiations are direct and sometimes it is behind the scenes. It just depends on your advantage. Children learn these tactics at a very young age. Arguing over toys or candy, it's politics.

I believe in fair and equal treatment of all. Like I said many times before, I am color blind. But many people are not, and don't care for anyone that is different from them. That is sad. maybe if we all just let by-gones be by-gones, there would not be as many conflicts. But I don't believe that will ever happen.

My hopes are that you the reader would treat everyone as your equal. Equality for all (as written in our Declaration of Independence) was written in hopes of creating a 'perfect union' in the United States after separating from Great Britain. We, like many other countries, have tried and failed in many ways, to make those hopes become true. Unlike Russia, we are much farther ahead in civil and social rights, but still have a long way to go. We each must put any biases behind us and see we ALL are much like ourselves.  One race, the human race. Take care and be safe.

Again, I thank you for reading my ramblings. I really do appreciate it.

Don't be so darn critical!

 We ALL have been critical about something at one time or another. Me too. But most of the time I keep it to myself and never say a word to others. I am now going to let a few of those criticisms out into the open. 

Our criticisms largely come from tradition, or perceived ideas/faults. The things we believe are right and correct. The things our parent instilled into us may be a factor, such as dress nicely, talk softly in a crowd, table manners, and so on. My mother would never alone me leave the house with holes in my clothes. Now I see adults wearing jeans with a lot of holes and factory made tears. I see businessman wearing suit coat that look like they were bought when they were 12 years old. Guys walking around with the pants down below the hugs almost to their knees. People with green and red hair, or haircuts only on one side of their head. Is that fashion? I am afraid it is folks. It is today's fashion statement. I may not like it, but our parents did not like us wearing t-shirts to a school dance either, or the music we listened to. It's call TRADITION. And some of those traditions are hard to give up.

I heard a story about a family and the way they cooked a pork roast. A young girl asked your mother, "Mom, why do you cut the roast in half before you put it into the oven?" Mother answered, "That's the way my mother did it." So the young girl asked her grandmother why, "Grandmother, why did you cut the roast in half before you put it into the oven?" Grandmother answered, "Because it was the only pan I had." That is a traditional believe that no one questioned until the young girl become curious. We all should be curious and question things, not to be critical, but the find the truth BEFORE you become critical.

The other day as I filled my gas tank, I saw a sticker next to the price showing the President pointing at the price saying, "I did this." I stood there amazed someone thinks our President can control everything. Apparently that sticker person did not check their facts. More so, he or she wanted to criticize someone they did not vote for, or don't agree with.

In the many business classes I took in college, the theory of 'Supply and Demand' was always stressed to us. During the pandemic, demand for fuel/gas went down, and so did the need for drilling and producing gasoline, so workers were laid off and oil rigs went dark. As we come out of the pandemic (so to speak) demand is up because people want to travel, but the production of oil industry is slow to get up and running again. It is not Russia or the lack of effort of the President, but supply and demand. Other countries need oil too and when Russia attacked Ukraine, other countries went to other oil producing countries to meet their demands.

I am not saying tradication is a bad thing, but it must be taken with some consideration and modified to today's environment. Wearing holes in my clothes is not my thing, or coloring my hair. I am too old for that, plus I don't have that much hair. I'll let my grandkids do their thing and I'll do mine. I may wear a loud colored shirt but my sock will match.

I guess the bottom line is, before you openly criticize someone or something, check your facts, make sure they are not bias, don't just listen to the 'hear-say', and look deeper than the surface BEFORE you open your mouth. I have had too feet in my mouth, and that taste is not pleasant and sometimes never goes away.

Happy 1st day of Spring, pray for Ukraine, take and be safe. Please leave a comment either good or criticisms, I can take it.

Golden years

 If you were born between the mid 40s and the early 60s, you were born during (what I call) the Golden Years. Not the retirement Golden Years, but the best of times, and the worst of times. Yes there was still conflicts in the world, and yes there were pandemics like polio and HIV/AIDS, and racial riots with protests. But here in the USA, we moved forward faster than any country in the world. The rest of the world was still reeling from World War 2 in the 40s and 50s. Then in the 60s there was Vietnam.

I am not saying everything was great, but better. Assassassinations bannered the headlines with a President, his brother and a great civil rights leader, not to forget a great Hispanic leader who was not assassinated but met with resistance. You know their names and probably remember what you were doing when you heard about their demise. As bad as all that sounds, and was, we still progressed. Wages increased, but so did the cost of living. Families went from a one car family to two, three and sometimes four. Homes got bigger and more luxurious, improvement in our lives progressed because on technology discovered during the space race. The modern age arrived faster.

For me living in a divorced family, things were tough, but still good. A very strong willed single mother raised me and instilled positive ethics into my personality. That's what I called my greatest start into life. Of course I had my demons too, which I managed to control ... somewhat. I believe the military experience cured me of most of those through my love of music and responsibilities that were placed on me. But music REALLY got me through some really rough times. The music still brings back memories of those times.Sometimes, when no one is around, I still rock out.

I look at people like Keith Richards and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones band, and ask myself, "How is it they are still alive at 76 & 78?"  Rocking for 60 years?After all the stuff they have done? WOW!

I grew up with people like Big Daddy Roth and George Barris, the famous car builders, and idolized them for their skills and creativity. I didn't think I could ever do that and be anywhere close to their level, and still don't, because I am not, but I still try.

I finally realized what I wanted to do in life was to give back to those who matter, teaching and educating folks about our forgotten past, continue being creative with my hands. But not only with my hands but my mind too. I believe when I was hired by the fire department, and they allowed me to spread my wings, ideas came out like a flood. Not ALWAYS good, but a flood. I credit a few understanding people for that. Except for the firefighters who lost their lives, those were definitely the Golden Years for our department. 

Ok, maybe it was always the 'Golden Years'. They did have some good times and some not so good times. I believe we have to embrace them anyway and make the future times mostly good times by learning from the bad. Someone told me years ago, "Those who record the history, will write the future."  Hopefully we will learn from our past and make the future a better time. And that starts with you and everyone else. Take care. Support Ukraine with prayers.