Hodge Podge

I sit here in an elementary school computer lab with a plethera of thoughts running through my head. I am thinking about my son who is recovering from a bout of pneumonia. I am wondering how does the government justify collecting $.56 on each gallon of gas sold no matter what the price. I am also pondering how I want to spend my three day weekend coming up. One thing is for sure that I want to spend some of it relaxing, however, I need to mow which will take care of my walking for two days so I won't have to go to the mall (yes, I am a mall walker). I have Judgement House rehearsal on Saturday so two hours are taken care of.
Judges, Ruth, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone... What do these have in common? Yes they are all books. Yes, I am reading these books and more than likely will finish all three during the next three days.
Christmas is ONLY 63 days away (as of October 23) and I am thinking about outdoor lights this year. It is supposed to be a nice weekend so I might put up the porch lights. Then again, maybe not. I definitley will be playing the tunes of Christmas though. I also might do some research for a new post in my Disney blog. For those of you who are not aware I also have a blog about Disney called Confessions of a Disney Addict... . But for now I will end this post as usual with This Week in History the October 19-25 edition

October 19, 1216: King John of England dies and his nine year old son Henry becomes king.

October 20, 1818: The US Canadian border is established at the 49th parallel by the US and Great Britain

October 21, 1529: The Pope names Henry VIII of England Defender of the Faith after defending the seven sacraments against Luther. Ironically in five years (1534) Henry VIII will break away from the Catholic Church and form the Church of England...

October 22, 741: Charles Martel dies and his kingdom is split between his two sons
October 22, 1957: My brother John Dragstrem was born...

October 23, 1707: The first Parliament of Great Britain meets

October 24, 1929: Black Thursday first day of the Stock Market Crash that led to the Great Depression

October 25, 1760: King George III is crowned

Until next time good bye from the Mad Genius...

Area 51

Today I turn fifty-one. Hence the name of the post. Today also is the anniversary of the "discovery" of America by one Christopher Columbus. There is no doubt that a member of Columbus' crew spotted land on this date in 1492. There is no doubt that the landing and exploring of the islands of the Caribbean began a period of European dominance in the Western Hemisphere that has lasted for over five-hundred years.
Columbus was not the first European on American soil. There is a plethera of evidence that the Norse "Vikings" visited Greenland and parts of Canada some five hundred years before Columbus bumped into America. So, do we ignore or downplay Columbus' part of history? No, we cannot ignore the facts. Should we deify the man NO, there has only been one man that came to Earth already deified.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:
October 12, 1492 Columbus lands in the Caribbean for Spain thinking he had landed near China in the Indies he named the natives he found Indians
October 12, 1964 My birthday...

October 13, 54 Nero succeeds Claudius as Roman emperor

October 14, 1066 William of Normandy defeats King Harold in the Battle of Hastings
October 14, 1912 Theodore Roosevelt is shot during an assassination attempt in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

October 15, 1917 Mata Hari (double agent spy) was executed by the French government

October 16, 1859 Abolitionist John Brown leads a raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry

October 17, 1777Americans win huge battle at Saratoga
October 17, 1931 Al Capone begins prison sentence

October 18 1767 English surveyors draw Mason Dixon Line
October 18, 1867 US obtains Alaska (Seward's Folly)

Have a wonderful week!

I Hate Being Sick!

I know who likes it? Well I don't and that is all there is to it. However, I really hate it when I am just sick enough to feel icky, but not sick enough to stay home. The last week I have had this @$#* cold and it has slowed me down. I haven't been able to smell things like food or my wife's perfume. The bad thing is that my nose began to work when low and behold my youngest decided to load his pull-up last night. I can't smell apple cider but I can smell that? Where is the justice? Really, my biggest complaint with this bout with a cold has been, how exhausted I have felt. I wasn't able to muster up my semi-daily walks to keep off the pounds. I have managed to get to work and I did make it to Judgement House rehearsal but I paid for it afterwards.

Speaking of Judgement House it is on Halloween night and Sunday along with the following weekend in November atWoodlawn Baptist. I play Satan this year like last year and some peole don't think it is a stretch. After I am done here I am going to work on my lines so I can get my evil on. Now it is time for this week's version of THIS WEEK IN HISTORY...

October 5, 1813 US defeats British in the Battle of Thames breaking the Britain Indian alliance and protecting Detroit during the War of 1812

October 6, 1927 The first talkie The Jazz Singer premiers
October 6, 2001 My daughter Corri Rae Dragstrem was born

October 7, 1765 The Stamp Act Congress meets in New York

October 8, 1871 The Great Chicago Fire begins
October 8, 1956 Don Larsen pitches a perfect game for the New York Yankees in the World Series

October 9, 1888 The Washington Monument opens to the public

October 10, 1911 The Panama Canal opens
October 10, 1973 Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns
October 10, 1992 Pete and Jule Dragstrem were married in Mason City, Illinois

October 11, 2002 Former President Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize

That ends TWIH and we'll be back next Monday on a very special day for me!