Category Life

Extra, Extra – It’s Candy Corn Day!

Michael 9 Comments

Hello, everyone. Today’s special post is released in honor of Candy Corn Day! The world’s most perfect food. I know. I said so. I’ve written about candy corn a lot and I think all of them were referenced in last yea’s special post. So I’m reporting most of it here, and give you a break from today’s political lies and insults.

Yes, let’s talk about Candy Corn! You will notice I capitalize the candy and the corn because it’s clearly worth special recognition. And I’ve given it just that. Over the years I’ve written about Candy Corn nearly as often as I have about guns in airports. (But nowhere near as often as Groundhog Day. I have my standards you know.) I think my favorite was this one, Why did the turkey cross the road? You know it must be good because it doesn’t even have Candy Corn in the title. Admittedly much of it recounts my adventure when I was stopped from proceeding up the road by a flock of wild turkeys (the non-alcoholic kind). But Candy Corn makes a surprise appearance toward the end. You should give it a read if you haven’t, or a re-read if you have. Take note, it was written in 2000 when we were being advised to keep our family holiday extravaganzas on the minimalist end of the banquet spectrum.

It was 2014 when Candy Corn got its first starring role in a RRSB blog, Children of the Candy Corn, when I mentioned the many things you can do with it, culinarily speaking. My favorite is still Candy Corn and Prosecco. And it was 2018 when in Corn, Sweet Corn, I expounded on Candy Corn’s claim to being the perfect food even though most autumn offerings push that nasty old pumpkin spice on everything and everybody.

And there you have it, a special ode to that special corn. Happy Candy Corn Day!
I now return to you regularly scheduled insultfest.

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Take a Peek – Tell me a story

Michael 3 Comments

Hello fellow bloggers! I again invite you to take a peek at another ROAMcare post, Tell me a story

Much of what we know is from stories told to us by storytellers. Often truth is optional. When you become the storyteller, you owe those looking to learn from you an honest story.

Tell me a story

Posted to Uplift, October 23,2024
3 minute read

When you take a novel from your bookshelf you expect a work of fiction. Whether the latest Grisham or a classic Tolstoy, the common ground is that the story is just a story.

Our lives are not a work of fiction, yet we still enjoy a good story, and many of us enjoy hearing and telling tales from “back in the day.” We recognize much of the remembrance includes a little exaggeration and we are okay with that.

Stories are much more than just the retelling of family lore or to entertain and enjoy. We learn from stories.

Read the full blog at Tell me a story, on Uplift at ROAMcare. As always there is no fee to read, nothing to join, no catches, no kidding.

While you are there, consider joining the ROAMcare community and have Uplift delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly our Monday Moment of Motivation and the email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at ROAMcare.org.

Uplift 2024

Animal Magnetism

Michael 7 Comments

For those wondering, Jingle seems to be adapting well to life as a tri-pawed. I could stop there but I also could get an entire post out of that thought. Let’s roll with it!

Animals adapt. That’s not an original thought. Animals adapt to their environment. We have not when we ought to have been.

Animals respond. Animals hear you. They may not always do what you want but they hear and they listen. We talk far too more often when we should be listening.

Animals love. It’s not unconditional as everyone would have you believe (try not feeding your pet this week and see how much they love you on Saturday), but it is constant.

Animals like. More important than loving each other, animals like even more. Treat an animal kindly and it will respond in kind. And in kindness.

Animals are honest. They always tell you exactly how they feel. You don’t hear a dog telling you the cat is dangerous while firmly clamping down on your hand with they teeth and jaws.

Animals think for themselves and got their own way. Enough said.

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Yes, we are at the place where you typically see a blurb about the latest Uplift blog post. That post is about how you can achieve wealth beyond your dreams, and it might surprise you how.

But before you go look, have you yet thought about joining the ROAMcare community and have the weekly Uplift blog delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly a Monday Moment of Motivation, and our email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at  ROAMcare.org.

Take a peek – Wealth Beyond Your Dreams

Michael 7 Comments

Hello fellow bloggers! I again invite you to take a peek at another ROAMcare post, Wealth Beyond Your Dreams.

Life’s riches are laid out right in front of you. Reach within yourself and collect them by being the best version of yourself for yourself. Your wealth is in your well-being!

You have most of the riches one might ever expect to collect. A sound mind and a sound body are more than just the requirements for drafting one’s will. They are the cornerstone of health, physical and mental, and key components to your well-being.

It is unfortunate that many people discount the idea of self-worth, claiming it is a silly concept and that others determine your worth. Pardon our frankness but that is a bully’s approach to life. Self-worth has been a key to personal fulfillment since long before the term even existed.

Read the full blog at Wealth Beyond Your Dreams on Uplift at ROAMcare. As always there is no fee to read, nothing to join, no catches, no kidding.

While you are there, consider joining the ROAMcare community and have Uplift delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly our Monday Moment of Motivation and the email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at ROAMcare.org.

Uplift 2024.png

It’s That Time Again

Michael 15 Comments

Yep, it’s time again to clear some of the cobwebs and other unwanted things and thoughts rattling around in my brain.

I’m happy to report to you this week that Jingle, aka the yointer, had his surgery last week and is recovering nicely. You will recall due to an osteosarcoma he had his left, front leg and shoulder amputated. The surgery was last Tuesday and by Sunday he is bounding up and down stairs (against his vet’s wishes for a quiet, and not overly exerted rehab. Try telling “don’t do that” to a dog.)

In other news, I hope everyone who has has hurricanes and tornadoes pass through their yards over the last couple weeks is well, not injured, and can take a few deep breaths while working on restoring life to normal.

The weather along the east coast reminded me of a favorite gripe of mine. Why are airlines so freaking stupid. There were flights from Nashville to Dallas delayed because Tampa was closed. What genius decided “we’re going route all our flights through and park all our planes at airports all along the coast so that at the first hint of weather, whether hurricanes in the south or ice storms in the north, we can cripple the entire country’s air traffic. [evil laugh].” There are perfectly good airports at Pittsburgh Cleveland, Cincinnati, Nashville and other inland cities that are relatively weather safe and could serve as eastern hubs, but no, they have to pick an airport within sight of the ocean. Delta made a little more sense sticking with Atlanta. If only they weren’t Delta they might actually be able to keep an on-time schedule going.

Speaking of airlines, has anybody seen jeenie.weenie on either Instagram or YouTube? She’s probably on other sites too but those are the two I know for sure. (Hey, I don’t make up these peoples’ handles, I just write what I see). Jeenie is a current or former flight attendant and has some of the most “scratch your head and say dayam, if they ain’t right” posts about stuff, mostly air travel, but other things too. It really makes you think about how we really do that crap. Here’s a link to a random YouTube video.

That’s all I have for this week. It’s been a a little crazy but slowly getting back to normal. What would really help is if all the particularly stupid people running for office would stop sending me text messages about how dangerous, extreme, and radical their opponent is, I’d have lots more time to get things back to normal.

Oh, that reminds me…I put this little news nugget out there every couple of years and nobody believes me, but this year I have proof. Do you know political ads do not have to stick to the truth? Yes, not only can politicians lie, they are allowed to lie. Below is a little snippet from the paper (a real news newspaper) to a television columnist’s weekly Q&A column. Yes, politicians can lie, and stations must run it, if the ad is from the politician’s campaign. Third party ads can’t lie. Politicians themselves can. How can you tell the difference? If the ad includes the words “I’m [an old guy with a bad fake tan] and I approve this message” or something like that, it is a politician’s own political ad and it is also a good chance that it is a lie.

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See you next week, same approximate time, same equivalent channel.

Here we are again at the place where used to seeing a blurb here about the latest Uplift blog post. That post is about how you can Make Me Happy, and it might surprise you how.

But before you go look, have you yet thought about joining the ROAMcare community and have the weekly Uplift blog delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly a Monday Moment of Motivation, and our email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at  ROAMcare.org.

Take a Peek – Make Me Happy

Michael 9 Comments

Hello fellow bloggers! I invite you to take a peek at another ROAMcare post, Make Me Happy.

You can’t make anyone happy. Only you can make you happy and you can make only you happy. And therein lies how you can make anyone happy.

Make Me Happy

Originally posted October 9, 2024
3 minute read

Recently Michael scrolled by a meme on social media that read “You’re not a pierogi, so you can’t make everyone happy.” You can substitute your favorite comfort food and you still won’t make everyone happy, yet we humans still try. Maybe it’s because we are still confused about what makes happiness.

The most positive thing you can do to offer happiness to someone is to be happy for yourself and to be happy with yourself.

Read the full blog at Make Me Happy on Uplift at ROAMcare. As always there is no fee to read, nothing to join, no catches, no kidding.

While you are there, consider joining the ROAMcare community and have Uplift delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly our Monday Moment of Motivation and the email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at ROAMcare.org.

Uplift 2024

 

 

You can’t keep a good Jingle down

Michael 12 Comments

Why is it some days I can think of nothing to write and others, there is a surplus of ideas that I could pick from. I usually keep the serious stuff for the ROAMcare site which means most of the time this site is left with the breezy, often trivial, rambling essays that makes little sense outside the confines of my mind.

This week though, this week is serious stuff.

Last week, actually the last couple of weeks I’ve been more than a little distracted. The daughter’s doggie Jingle, who might as well be part mine they live so close and he’s here so often, is facing his mortality. He is suffering from an osteosarcoma in his front left what would be a shoulder if he was a human. (Scapula in dogs? Maybe it is a shoulder too.) After a couple of weeks of tests and scans, his only hope of fighting his fight is to have the leg and shoulder amputated which is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. That’s assuming the one final scan he has before the surgery does not reveal any metastases to the chest or lungs. If he has the surgery, a final biopsy will determine if he would benefit at all from chemo also.

I just spoke of Jingle in The Search for Bigfoot when I described him as “fairly normal-sized for a dog of indeterminate origin. He’s part pointer, part husky, and looks those parts. But he has feet the size of an ottoman, which has always led me to describe him as a yointer. Part pointer, part Yeti. It seems that could be accurate – technical differences between Himalayan abominable snowmen and hairy North American cryptids notwithstanding.”

For the last 2 or 3 weeks, the little fella hasn’t been able to use that leg, either because of the pain when he puts it down or the inability to move it from the nerve compressed by the tumor, so he’s already been getting his practice hopping on three legs and still does a mile walk every morning (down from his usual 2-2&1/2 miles), and he still eats and plays, and still demands scratches and treats. As the daughter says, “He’s still jingly.”

Providence smiled on us when last Friday we celebrated the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, he who is invoked at the annual blessings of pets at many churches around the world and which ours held just yesterday. It was the reminder that a medal of that very saint hangs on Jingle’s collar and that dogs too need prayers.

If you are of a mind to, perhaps you’d mention Jingle in your prayers tonight.

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You’re used to seeing a blurb here about the latest Uplift blog post. If you can’t decide if you should click that link and go find it, it could be just right for you because it’s about problem solving.

But before you go look, have you yet thought about joining the ROAMcare community and have the weekly Uplift blog delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly a Monday Moment of Motivation, and our email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at  ROAMcare.org.

Take a peek – Solving Problems the Right Way

Michael 9 Comments

Hello fellow bloggers! I invite you to take a peek at another ROAMcare post, Solving Problems the Right Way.

Among our interactions at home, at work, and places in between, there are few when some disagreement doesn’t arise. True problem solving has less to do with deciding who is right and everything to do with finding the right way to be.

 

Solving Problems the Right Way

Posted October 2, 2024
3 minute read

In just about a month, Americans will go to the polls to elect 23 governors, 33 senators, 435 members of the House of Representatives, one Vice President and, oh yes, one President. In many of those races it is difficult to differentiate the opponents from their ads and campaign signs. Regardless of party, the advertising party is for the “hardworking people” and the opposition is “too radical” or “too extreme.’’ How is it that both sides can be right? They can’t, and too often neither side is.

We see the difficulties in expressing oneself without bias or without attempting to either make less of someone’s accomplishments or to make more of one’s own when they are presented to us in such jarring fashion as a political ad. If we took a close look at our own interactions with those who take a different view of how something should be done, would we see the same traits as we are seeing now being played out on the larger stages?

Read the full blog at Solving Problems the Right Way on us lift at ROAMcare. As always there is no fee to read, nothing to join, no catches, no kidding.

While you are there, consider joining the ROAMcare community and have Uplift delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly a Monday Moment of Motivation and our email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at ROAMcare.org.

Uplift 2024

Hunting Headlines

Michael 10 Comments

I almost didn’t post anything today. I had the art already done so I figured I should use it. I hate to waste brain power, I have so little of it available.

It’s been a hard week. In some future post I’ll tell you about it, but for now let’s just say I’m tired. Some days I have the energy of an 8 year old. Other days, the energy of an 8 year old dog. Just getting old enough to really enjoy laying in that spot of sun across the living room floor. Actually that’s *lying* in that spot of sun. See what I mean. A fresh brain wouldn’t make that mistake.

To get back to what I was going to write, which would have been a diatribe against headline writers, I present to you some headlines. They were going to be much more politically oriented, controversial, and certainly tick off somebody. The moral of the story being if you live your life based on headlines and sound bites you probably think it’s appropriate for a man to wear a hat to the dinner table. Probably worn backwards to boot.

Anyway, just yesterday I was shocked (shocked! I say) to discover headline bias in the sports section. See the image below. I watched that game, and to be perfectly honest, neither headline is accurate. But … but, you still have to be a disgusting example of humanity to wear a hat at the dinner table. And for the particularly dense ones, breakfast and lunch too.

See you next week.

Blog Art 2

You’re used to seeing a blurb here about the latest Uplift blog post. It’s a dandy one if I say so myself. You can read it in the ROAMcare site. But before you go look, have you yet thought about joining the ROAMcare community and have the weekly Uplift blog delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly a Monday Moment of Motivation and our email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at  ROAMcare.org.

 

Take a peek – Harvesting Greatness

Michael 3 Comments

Greeting dear blogging friends! I give you another peek at a ROAMcare post, Harvesting Greatness.

Harvest time is here. Time to set aside the hard work and reward yourself. Time to harvest the greatness you have carefully cultivated.

Harvesting Greatness
Posted on ROAMcare, September 25
3 minute read

Summer is behind us; Autumn is just beginning. Fall festivals and harvest fairs are on the calendar. Harvest time. A period of celebration going back centuries. Millenia even. It was the harvest that fueled communities through the stinginess of winter and the necessary thriftiness of spring. Summer would bring moments of respite from the stored necessities while everyone waited for the annual fall bounty. Naturally there is a caveat to this celebratory season. You reap what you sow. In the words of American author Ralph Ransom, “Before the reward there must be labor.”

There will come a time when you want to set aside the hard work and reward yourself for that labor. There will come a time to harvest the greatness you hopefully cultivated.

As with harvesting a crop or a backyard garden, there is more to reaping the bounty than simply pulling up what had been planted. And as we had compared cultivating greatness to tending one’s garden, harvesting greatness also has its comparisons to reaping one’s bounty.

Read the rest of Harvesting Greatness at Uplift on ROAMcare.org. Yep, like always, there is no fee to read, nothing to join, no catches, no kidding. While you are there, consider joining the ROAMcare community and have Uplift delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website. In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly a Monday Moment of Motivation and our email exclusive Blast from the Past repost of one of our most loved publications every Friday. All free and available now at ROAMcare.org.

Uplift 2024