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Monday, February 29, 2016

CARL ON WALMART

CARL ON 

WALMART














   Usually when I see Walmart on a blog or a comment on Face Book I get ready to see or read something weird, or very different. However last week I witnessed something different.
   I had gone to Arby's for one of my usual gourmet lunches and was sitting in Arby's parking lot eating and facing Walmart's parking that is just next door.
   I had just got settled in and here come a Mother, with two screaming young kids in a shopping cart. They were screaming, kicking and trying to hit the Mom. It was obvious the Mom was in distress.
   Then from "nowhere" here comes a lady who looks like she was a prime graduate of the "Boot Camp Body Building gym." My first thought was "Oh No, I hope this is not something bad that is going to happen,"
   Well the BC lady walked up and started talking to the Mom, and then patted the kids on the head (gently by the way) and things seemed to calm down. The BC lady walked off and the Mom waved to her, she waved back and I thought well that ended nicely. 
   Well it did, until the Mom tried to get the kids out of the shopping cart and into the car. As soon as she did the screaming and kicking started all over. I thought to myself, well here we go, she is never gong to get those kids in that car.
   Well Lo and Behold here came a young man (about 18 or 19 I would guess). He walked over to the Mom and said something and she answered. He smiled and set the big box he was carrying, on the ground.
   To make a long story short he reached into the shopping cart and lifted one of the youngsters out of the cart (all the while laughing and smiling at him) and handed him to the Mom. He waited until she had him buckled in and did the same with the other one. The young man and the Mom kept chatting and smiling all the time. I guess he connected with the kids.
   As the young man left the parking lot he "tooted" at her and she waved at him.
   And I thought to myself, "yes there are still a lot of good people out there in the world and probably a lot right there at Walmart.'
                                     THAT'S ALL

Thursday, February 18, 2016

A GOOD READ

A GOOD READ

GRAY MOUNTAIN















THIS WAS AN INTERESTING READ. I AM SURE SOME OF IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE SETTING, WHICH WAS IN THE COAL MINING AREA IN THE SO CALLED APPALACHIAN PART OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

AS I WAS RAISED IN A SMALL TOWN IN UTAH I HAD VERY MIXED EMOTIONS ABOUT THE BOOK. 

IT WAS NOT A TRUE STORY BUT I AM SURE A LOT OF WHAT IT EXPLAINS HAPPENS EVERY DAY SOMEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY.

I WAS INTRIGUED BY THE STORY AND PERHAPS SINCE IT IS MAINLY ABOUT THE COAL MINING INDUSTRY, SOME OF MY HIAWATHA FRIENDS MIGHT LIKE IT.
WRB Feb 2016

Friday, February 5, 2016

JUST REMINISCING


Today would have been my wife and my 60th wedding anniversary so I was looking through some old papers that are stored here and there in the house and just doing a little reminiscing. I found these few pages that she had penned, when we were writing her life story many years ago. I thought they were interesting as they showed what life was like in the 1940's in a small town in America. If this brings back memories of your life in a small town, please feel free to make a comment.   
Wally Baldwin 4 Feb 2016


                                       JUST REMINISCING
   I want to make a list of a few things that have come to mind as I have tried to think about my life while writing this personal history.
   How many people do you know that bribed the driver’s license instructor to get your driver’s license, by giving him a stack of comic books.---I did!
   How many people remember ironing with an old flat iron that you had to heat on the top of the stove before ironing? (They also made great foot warmers when heated and wrapped in a towel on a cold winter night.)---I do.
   Who can remember using a hand cranked cream separator to separate the cream from the milk, after milking your own cow?---I do.
   How many people know what a coal bucket is and what it looked like?---I do.
   How many people going to the post office every day during Work War II to see if there was a letter from your Uncle or Brother who was in the thick of the fighting?---I do.
   Can any of my children or grandchildren imagine me bowling on an organized bowling league and being one of the star bowlers?---I was.
   Can you imagine anyone cooking ten pounds of dried beans for one meal for two people?---I did.
   How many people do you know that were excused from school for the day in High School to go help herd cows?---I was.
   How many people are fortunate enough to have their children bring their friends home, to their house to play and have fun?---I was.
   How many girls can recall having their hair put up in “rags” and sleeping on them, so they would have ringlets in the morning to go to school?---I did.
   How many people can remember making their own butter in a churn that was operated by hand, and do you remember how the churn worked?---I do.
   How many people can recall when they saw TV for the first time and were they fascinated by it? ---I can and I was.
   How many mothers remember the fad of their children putting their hair up using empty juice cans to make the curl the right size?---I do.
   How many parents have said, Use it up---wear it out---make it do? ---Mine did.
   I laugh when I imagine my children or grand children wearing a skirt made out of a feed sack. However I did. Feed came in sacks of various colors and designs and some even had pictures on them. They would be made into a full skirt gathered at the top and we thought they were really neat.--- I wore some.
   I wonder how many in MY FAMILY learned TO DRIVE on a tractor?---I did.
   How many people remember licking ration stamps and outing them in a book for gas, tires, coffee and sugar?---I do. ( We did the same thing with SAVINGS STAMPS.)
   How many people recall laying on the floor and WATCHING the radio shows (like we watch TV today)--- The Green Hornet, Superman, Amos & Andy, Fibber McGee & Mollie, Fred Allen, Jack Benny and all of the big bands and crooners of the day?---I did.
   Do people of today remember when you had to crank a handle on the side of the telephone to get the operator and have her say”number please”? ---I do and I did.
I am not sure many people remember a penny post card and mailing a letter for 3 cents. ---But I do.
   Does anyone remember what V-Mail was?---I do.
   Did anyone else use an inkwell and pen tips attached to a wooden handle like a pencil. You had to keep blotting it with an ink-blotter so it did not smear?--- I did.
   Do you think people actually saved their rags and made rag rugs to use on their floors years ago? ---I did.
   Do any of my children or grandchildren believe I wore spurs and boots, not just for looks, but for working with the cows?---I did.
   Could any of my family spend 8 or 10 hours a day in a saddle, several days in a row, without getting saddle sores? ---I did.
   Has anyone had to make lye soap over a bon fire in the back yard? You had to stir the pot for what seemed like hours?--- I did.
   How many girls have helped with the branding of calves, and be able to stand the smell of burning hair and the bawling of the calves?--- I HAD to.
   Has anyone ever been stuck in an Emery County ALKALI mud hole, better known as Emery County Snow?---Oh yes I have.
   I’ll bet no one else in my family gathered eggs and took them to the store to trade for penny candy.--- Yes I did.
   I am sure most kids from the country have taken corn or potatoes or tomatoes from someone’s garden (without asking)—(not stealing of course) for a cookout. Ours was always cooked in the (hollow) and ---yes I did.
   Has anyone ever broke an ankle while snowmobiling, but had to walk back to the car, because their husband said it was only a bad strain?---Of course I did.
   I often wonder if there is anyone over 65 who still believes in Santa Clause?---Perhaps I do?
   I am sure all of my children remember my old wash line in the back yard, but when I was young we had one there because there was no such thing as a clothes dryer. We used the wash line out .of necessity because there was no other way to dry clothes,--- Oh yes I hung them in the winter also.
   Would any of my children or grandchildren allow someone to squirt milk in their mouth right from the cow?--- I did.
   How many people remember a hand cranked ice cream maker? When it got hard to turn the ice cream was ready.--- I remember.
   Do any of you know what a sunbonnet is and what they looked like, or better still has anyone ever wore one?--- I did.

   Do any of you know what a “party line” on the telephone was? Or did anyone have the opportunity to quietly pick up the phone and listen in to someone else’s conversation? I might have?

Monday, February 1, 2016

Carl's Computer takes a few days off!

COMPUTER TAKES 

   A FEW DAYS OFF.

Day 1. It's OK everyone needs a rest.

Day 2. So who needs it. I have plenty to do.

Day 3. No I am not nervous, I just like to sit
in this room and look at an empty desk.

Day 4. The next time that ___ty, blankety thing
gets sick I am chunking it in the garbage

Day 5. I hate to let that ^#?&$/ thing to control me!!!

Day 6.No I do not need to have that "<*^#> thing. I don't use it much anyway. I just hate looking at my @%! desk all day. but I will get even when it comes back. I will not touch it for a long time just to show who is boss!!! (maybe even 5 minutes) And I will never let it sit and watch me eat my lunch again??