Olga's Unisex Salon

We're still at the beach, just at Miami Beach, helping Robin do catch up stuff. More detail later, but in the meantime, see the next paragraph.

One more tip - recommendation - before I sign off. My friend Olga in the Miami Beach / Surfside area has a really cool unisex salon you ned to know about if you're ever there. It's called Hair and Body New Dimensions, so go check it out if you're anywhere around there.

Dick, from Miami Beach (for now).

Aging Gracefully

Aging gracefully

"$5.37." That's what the kid behind the counter at Taco Bueno said to me. I dug into my pocket and pulled out some lint and two dimes and something that used to be a Jolly Rancher. Having already handed the kid a five-spot, I started to head back out to the truck to grab some change when the kid with the Emo hairdo said the harshest thing anyone has ever said to me. He said, "It's OK. I'll just give you the senior citizen discount."

I turned to see who he was talking to and then heard the sound of change hitting the counter in front of me. "Only $4.68" he said cheerfully. I stood there stupefied. I am 66, not even 70 yet?" a mere child! Senior citizen? Isn't 70 the new 50? Geeze!

I took my burrito and walked out to the truck wondering what was wrong with Emo. Was he blind? As I sat in the truck, my blood began to boil. Old? Me?

I'll show him, I thought. I opened the door and headed back inside. I strode to the counter, and there he was waiting with a smile.

Before I could say a word, he held up something and jingled it in front of me, like I could be that easily distracted! What am I now? A toddler?
"Dude! Can't get too far without your car keys, eh?" I stared with utter disdain at the keys. I began to rationalize in my mind. "Leaving keys behind hardly makes a man elderly! It could happen to anyone!"

I turned and headed back to the truck. I slipped the key into the ignition, but it wouldn't turn. What now? I checked my keys and tried another. Still nothing. That's when I noticed the purple beads hanging from my rearview mirror. I had no purple beads hanging from my rearview mirror.

Then, a few other objects came into focus. The car seat in the back seat. Happy Meal toys spread all over the floorboard. A partially eaten doughnut on the dashboard.

Faster than you can say ginkgo biloba, I flew out of the alien vehicle. Moments later I was speeding out of the parking lot, relieved to finally be leaving this nightmarish stop in my life. That is when I felt it, deep in the bowels of my stomach: hunger! My stomach growled and churned, and I reached to grab my burrito, only it was nowhere to be found.

I swung the truck around, gathered my courage, and strode back into the restaurant one final time. There Emo stood, draped in youth and black nail polish. All I could think was, "What is the world coming to?" All I could say was, "Did I leave my food and drink in here?" At this point I was ready to ask a Boy Scout to help me back to my vehicle, and then go straight home and apply for Social Security benefits.

Emo had no clue. I walked back out to the truck, and suddenly a young lad came up and tugged on my jeans to get my attention. He was holding up a drink and a bag. His mother explained, "I think you left this in my truck by mistake." I took the food and drink from the little boy and sheepishly apologized.

She offered these kind words: "It's OK. My grandfather does stuff like this all the time."

All of this is to explain how I got a ticket doing 85 in a 40. Yes, I was racing some punk kid in a Toyota Prius.. And no, I told the officer, I'm not too old to be driving this fast.

As I walked in the front door, my wife met me halfway down the hall. I handed her a bag of cold food and a $300 speeding ticket. I promptly sat in my rocking chair and covered up my legs with a blanky (or was it a Snuggles).

The good news was I had successfully found my way home.


-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Charlie Brown Remembered

Our very good friend, Charlie Brown, passed away Sunday a week ago. You can read all about it on his Caring Bridge Journal and Back story. The memorial service itself was just this past Saturday in Charlotte. His daughter, Charlotte, had asked me to do the eulogy, so I thought I'd present a synopsis of my eulogy here - as an FYI.

I started with a quote: "God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being
spilled." ~Author Unknown

"The Power of Positive Pessimism" by Charlie Brown.
He was a published author. Not many can say that.
Many read it - a lot identified with it - some even saw them selves in it.

I first met Charlie Brown in Charlotte, at Tree Top, 1974. At that time, he was known as the candy man. We did rafting trips (Chattooga twice), mountain trips, road rallies, pig pickings, and beach trips. We also partied - a lot.

He was instrumental in my connecting with Sally and Susan - I knew CB, Sally/Susan knew CB,
but never all together. The Sunday after I had originally met Sally at the beach, we all had planned to gather at a place called Mancino's, a local watering hole. Having met only Sally, and not Susan, and knowing they were twins, I asked CB how to tell which from which. CB said to look for the one with the biggest smile.

2. He was a sailor, 2 years Navy, knew how to sail (Hobie, single masted), and captain a power boat (single screw, double screw) - owned Snoopy, cabin cruiser.

3. He loved to dance:
- Shag
- Disco
- If you watched him, never knew which was which
- C & W two step, learned in Dallas.

4. Talented Amateur photographer
- Wildlife Photos framed in his house
- Raft Up pictures from the Lake Norman 2003 - 04 raft up gatherings.
- Alaskan Cruise scenic pictures taken on our Alaskan Cruise in 2007.

5. Conservative politically - (I leaned to the right to make my point)
- He could out Rush Limbaugh
- Loved to discuss politics
- Used history and facts
- Could go on forever

6. Renaissance Man
- He built his own house as the general contractor.
- Loved good wine, good food, single malt scotch. and a good Cohiba.
- Man of all Seasons (beach in the winter, mountains in the summer)

7. History buff
- especially the SC Coast and Myrtle Beach and Conway.
- Civil War
- knew a lot about this and that, broad range of history.

8. Widely Read
- From Clive Cussler to Bruce Catton to Joel Osteen and Billy Graham, and his Bible.
- Could recite the Charge of the Light Brigade in its entirety from memory.
- Would read 3 - 4 books at a time.
- Loved to go back and re-read older books

9. C.B. was Gentleman and a Gentle Man
- Ladies Man (?) -I thought not. Lots of his really good friends were women.

10. Spiritual - basic faith that comes from the heart & soul.

11. At that point I brought a cigar and waved it at the congregation saying - here's how Charlie would have celebrated. After all, he considered cigar smoking the "Last bastion of Male Chauvinism."

He was was my friend, and sometimes mentor. He will be greatly missed.

CB's is Really Getting OLD!

WOW - that's cruel - but true. Actually 71 these days ain't all that old. It just makes getting around a little harder. And unfortunately, CB's in the hospital right now - so read all about it at his Caring Bridge Site so you can get the whole picture.

Sally, Susan, and I just got back from visiting him, and we had to readmit him to the hospital Friday night for extreme bloating caused by, of all things, his pain meds. So he's back in for a few days until they can get several things corrected.

Stay in touch with Charlie's progress by registering yourself with Caring Bridge. You'll receive email updates whenever he updates his Caring Bridge journal.

25 THINGS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT IN AMERICA

This is a bit different - but I thought rather noteworthy.
My thanks to friend Norman for passing this along to me.

25 THINGS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT IN AMERICA

25. U.S. Post Office
They are pricing themselves out of existence. With e-mail, and
and on-line services they are a relic of the past. (refer to #9)
Packages are also sent faster and cheaper with UPS.


24. Yellow Pages
This year will be pivotal for the global Yellow Pages industry.
Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will continue to bleed
dollars to their various digital counterparts, from Internet
Yellow Pages (IYPs), to local search engines and combination
search/listing services like Reach Local and Yodel Factors like20an
acceleration of the print 'fade rate' and the looming recession
will contribute to the onslaught. One research firm predicts the
falloff in usage of newspapers and print Yellow Pages could even
reach 10% this year -- much higher than the 2%-3% fade rate seen
in past years.
(Note: buildng mon-n-pop websites for local businesses is one of the fastest
growing internet related activities today. And not just websites, but related
services as well, like SEO, affiliate based hosting recommendations, etc.)


23. Classified Ads
The Internet has made so many things obsolete that newspaper
classified ads might sound like just another trivial item on a
long list. But this is one of those harbingers of the future that
could signal the end of civilization as we know it. The argument
is that if newspaper classifies are replaced by free on-line
listings at sites like Craigslist.org and Google Base, then
newspapers are not far behind them..


22. Movie Rental Stores
While Netflix is looking up at the moment, Blockbuster keeps
closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000
left across the world, but those keep dwindling and the stock is
down considerably in 2008, especially since the company gave up a
quest of Circuit City . Movie Gallery, which owned the Hollywood
Video brand, closed up shop earlier this year. Countless small
video chains and mom-and-pop stores have given up the ghost
already.


21. Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up connections have fallen from 40% in 2001 to 10% in 2008.
The combination of an infrastructure to accommodate affordable
high speed Internet connections and the disappearing home phone
have all but pounded the final nail in the coffin of dial-up
Internet access.


20. Phone Land Lines
According to a survey from the National Center for Health
Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one in six homes was
cell-only and, of those homes that had land lines, one in eight
only received calls on their cells.


19. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
Maryland 's icon, the blue crab, has been fading away in Chesapeake
Bay Last year Maryland saw the lowest harvest (22 million pounds)
since 1945. Just four decades ago the bay produced 96 million
pounds. The population is down 70% since 1990, when they first did
a formal count. There are only about 120 million crabs in the bay
and they think they need 200 million for a sustainable population.
Over-fishing, pollution, invasive species and global warming get
the blame.


18. VCRs
For the better part of three decades, the VCR was a best-seller
and staple in every American household until being completely
decimated by the DVD, and now the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). In
fact, the only remnants of the VHS age at your local Wal-Mart or
Radio Shack are blank VHS tapes these days. Pre-recorded VHS tapes
are largely gone and VHS decks are practically nowhere to be
found. They served us so well.


17. Ash Trees
In the late 1990's, a pretty, iridescent green species of beetle,
now known as the emerald ash borer, hitched a ride to North
America with ash wood products imported from eastern Asia . In less
than a decade, its larvae have killed millions of trees in the
Midwest , and continue to spread. They've killed more than 30
million ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone, with tens of
millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana . More than 7.5 billion ash
trees are currently at risk.


16. Ham Radio
Amateur radio operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide)
wireless communications with each other and are able to support
their communities with emergency and disaster communications if
necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of
electronics and radio theory.. However, proliferation of the
Internet and its popularity among youth has caused the decline of
amateur radio. In the past five years alone, the number of people
holding active ham radio licenses has dropped by 50,000, even
though Morse Code is no longer a requirement.


15 The Swimming Hole
Thanks to our litigious society, swimming holes are becoming a
thing of the past. '20/20' reports that swimming hole owners, like
Robert Every in High Falls, NY, are shutting them down out of
worry that if someone gets hurt they'll sue. And that's exactly
what happened in Seattle . The city of Bellingham was sued by Katie
Hofstetter who was paralyzed in a fall at a popular swimming hole
in Whatcom Falls Park . As injuries occur and lawsuits follow,
expect more swimming holes to post 'Keep out!' signs.


14. Answering Machines
The increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly
tied to No 20 our list -- the decline of landlines. According to
USA Today, the number of homes that only use cell phones jumped
159% between 2004 and 2007. It has been particularly bad in New
York ; since 2000, landline usage has dropped 55%. It's logical
that as cell phones rise, many of them replacing traditional
landlines, that there will be fewer answering machines.


13. Cameras That Use Film
It doesn't require a statistician to prove the rapid disappearance
of the film camera in America . Just look to companies like Nikon,
the professional's choice for quality camera equipment. In 2006,
it announced that it would stop making film cameras, pointing to
the shrinking market -- only 3% of its sales in 2005, compared to
75% of sales from digital cameras and equipment.


12. Incandescent Bulbs
Before a few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt)
bulb was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement
and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact Fluorescent
Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older, Edison-era
incandescent bulb. The EPA reports that 2007 sales for Energy Star
CFLs nearly doubled from 2006, and these sales accounted for
approximately 20 percent of the U.S. light bulb market. And
according to USA Today, a new energy bill plans to phase out
incandescent bulbs in the next four to 12 years.


11. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys
Bowling Balls.. US claims there are still 60 million Americans who
bowl at least once a year, but many are not bowling in stand-alone
bowling alleys. Today most new bowling alleys are part of
facilities for all types or recreation including laser tag,
go-karts, bumper cars, video game arcades, climbing walls and glow
miniature golf. Bowling lanes also have been added to many
non-traditional venues such as adult communities, hotels and
resorts, and gambling casinos.


10. The Milkman
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1950, over
half of the milk delivered was to the home in quart bottles, by
1963, it was about a third and by 2001, it represented only 0.4%
percent. Nowadays most milk is sold through supermarkets in gallon
jugs. The steady decline in home-delivered milk is blamed, of
course, on the rise of the supermarket, better home refrigeration
and longer-lasting milk. Although some milkmen still make the
rounds in pockets of the U.S. , they are certainly a dying breed.


9. Hand-Written Letters
In 2006, the Radicati Group estimated that, worldwide, 183 billion
e-mails were sent each day. Two million each second. By November
of 2007, an estimated 3.3 billion Earthlings owned cell phones,
and 80% of the world's population had access to cell phone
coverage. In 2004, half-a-trillion text messages were sent, and
the number has no doubt increased exponentially since then. So
where amongst this gorge of gabble is there room for the elegant,
polite hand-written letter?

8. Wild Horses
It is estimated that 100 years ago, as many as two million horses
were roaming free within the United States . In 2001, National
Geographic News estimated that the wild horse population has
decreased to about 50,000 head. Currently, the National Wild Horse
and Burro Advisory board states that there are 32,000 free roaming
horses in ten Western states, with half of them residing in
Nevada . The Bureau of Land Management is seeking to reduce the
total number of free range horses to 27,000, possibly by selective
euthanasia.


7. Personal Checks
According to an American Bankers Assoc. report, a net 23% of
consumers plan to decrease their use of checks over the next two
years, while a net 14% plan to increase their use of PIN debit.
Bill payment remains the last stronghold of paper-based
payments -- for the time being. Checks continue to be the most
commonly used bill payment method, with 71% of consumers paying at
least one recurring bill per month by writing a check. However,
a bill-by-bill basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers'
recurring bill payments (down from 72% in 2001 and 60% in 2003).


6. Drive-in Theaters
During the peak in 1958, there were more than 4,000 drive-in
theaters in this country, but in 2007 only 405 drive-ins were
still operating. Exactly zero new drive-ins have been built since
2005. Only one reopened in 2005 and five reopened in 2006, so
there isn't much of a movement toward reviving the closed ones.


5. Mumps & Measles
Despite what's been in the news lately, the measles and mumps
actually, truly are disappearing from the United States . In 1964,
212,000 cases of mumps were reported in the U.S. By 1983, this
figure had dropped to 3,000, thanks to a vigorous vaccination
program. Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine,
approximately half a million cases of measles were reported in the
U.S. annually, resulting in 450 deaths. In 2005, only 66 cases
were recorded.


4. Honey Bees
Perhaps nothing on our list of disappearing America is so dire;
plummeting so enormously; and so necessary to the survival of our
food supply as the honey bee. Very scary. 'Colony Collapse
Disorder,' or CCD, has spread throughout the U.S. and Europe over
the past few years, wiping out 50% to 90% of the colonies of many
beekeepers -- and along with it, their livelihood.


3. News Magazines and TV News
While the TV evening newscasts haven't gone anywhere over the last
several decades, their audiences have. In 1984, in a story about
the diminishing returns of the evening news, the New York Times
reported that all three network evening-news programs combined had
only 40.9 million viewers. Fast forward to 2008, and what they
have today is half that.


2 Analog TV (already bye-bye)
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 85% of homes in
the U.S. get their television programming through cable or
satellite providers. For the remaining 15% -- or 13 million
individuals -- who are using rabbit ears or a large outdoor
antenna to get their local stations, change is in the air.. If you
are one of these people you'll need to get a new TV or a converter
box in order to get the new stations which will only be broadcast
in = 0 A digital.


1. The Family Farm
Since the 1930's, the number of family farms has been declining
rapidly. According to the USDA, 5.3 million farms dotted the
nation in 1950, but this number had declined to 2.1 million by the
2003 farm census (data from the 2007 census hasn't yet been
published). Ninety-one percent of the U.S. FARMS are small Family
Farms.

Both interesting and saddening, isn't it?

Back Again - But for how Long?

Back from MIA, but only for a sort while, then off (maybe) to VA, then back to MIA. And speaking of that, I just posted a new blog entry on my Shagmiser Blog - check it out.

Paul, Teresa, and the kiddos are due in late today or tomorrow. They need their annual ration of sun, sand, sea and surf (and don't we all). Kendra (sans Steve for now) and the girls are visiting sister Carrie right now, so we'll have a pretty good family group here @thebeach this week. Pretty cool.

Back to MIA in about a week and a half to help Robin and Kathie. Sister Melissa will be joining us this time for the help out while Robin takes on a secret mission to Gitmo. Really hush, hush stuff.

Sally's still fending off the tourons at the aquarium while Susan's spending all her waking hours at Dillard's. Me? I'm just doing my Internet thing, taking Mom to various doc type appointments. The really bad lower back pains she's been experiencing lately are the result of a compressed spinal joint (?). The ortho guy will probably do some outpatient procedure to correct the problem and hopefully relieve the pain. Then it's on to physical therapy, which she ain't too happy about, especially since they denied us getting her one of those power wheelchairs. But it's like the doc said, use it or lose it.

I hear that the SF Hales (Peter, Bekah, and the group) just visited Austin to catch up with twin bro Paul and family. We can't wait to hear all about it.

Oh yeah! Why a trip to VA? Next post I'll spill the beans.

Till next time,
Old Bro

Still at the Beach, Miami Beach

Well, I'm still in Miami Beach, visiting with Robin and Kathie, helping out, doing this and that, etc. Just laying back, enjoying the MIA summer heat (believe that), and watching the scenery along Ocean Blvd. in SOBE.

It's been awhile since I've been here, but not too much has changed. Here's a picture of the lovely couple and sister Melissa, taken awhile back at Morton's restaurant.

I'm due back in NMB maybe around this coming Tuesday. Back to my beach, with the sand, sun, sea, and surf. Cool stuff. More later, so TTFN.

Oops! I forgot to mention one thing. So if you're on an RSS feed for this, I apologize. Anyway, before I flew down to MIA to visit the younger Bro & Kathie, I bought a Kindle from Amazon.Com, and had it delivered to Robin's MIA address so it would be there when I got there (smart huh?). Anyway, I've been playing with it, and it is fantastic. Not only can I download from over 300,000 ebooks from the Kindle library, I can also download audio books from audible.com and listen to whatever I download. It's a reader, audio player, and all around cool gadget to lay out on the beach with (oops).

But here's the cool thing. The Kindle does NOT need to be connected to your computer to be able to download whatever book it is you want to read. It's got its own wireless network, separate from your computer wireless network. Much like your cellphone. So you can sit on the beach, search the Kindle store, find what you want, then download that book, all while sitting there watching the waves roll in. Pull down your shades, and begin to escape into the wonder of the written word. Now that is too cool.

Get your own Kindle here:
http://sallyhrecommends.com/sallysamazondeals

NOW, I'm finished.

Still at the Beach, just a Different Beach

Well, I really am still at the beach, just not North Myrtle Beach. I'm actually in Miami Beach with Bro Robin and Sister Kathie. Visiting, checking the sites, cruzing SOBE, all the touron stuff. Haven't learned Spanish yet, but the osmosis is starting to kick in. Hard for it not to.

My good friend Arlene has just (almost) published her first book. It's called Success Mapping, and it's due out Aug 1, but you can sign up for an advanced copy and get a free gift in the process. Check it out at her Sinequanon Group website. We've known Arlene for a long time, been to Cabo with her and Jeanne the Z, and partied around Dallas many times. Her new book is not one I would pass up, 'cause this lady knows whereof she speaks, and can walk the walk.

We were originally concerned that our tourist season would be off because of 1) the economy and 2) the bad precedent the City of Myrtle Beach set with their anti-biker attitude. Well, we look pretty busy, but that's up here in North Myrtle Beach. Don't really know about MB proper, and could actually care less. NMB is doing things right, or so it seems. There's a new free outdoor band concert every month on Main Street now, joing the Mclean Park concerts, a new water slide (see previous post), plans to open a family oriented ride park next month next to the horseshoe, and (drum roll, please) the opening of the Main Street Extension. Things are happening up here, and we're loving it.

Cheers from Miami Beach, pray for surf, and let your suds settle.
Dick @thebeach.

Still at the Beach, just Different Beach

Well, I really am still at the beach, just not North Myrtle Beach.

New Slide for North Myrtle Beach

I'll let the video do the talking. The slide itself is on the beach around 1st Avenue South.



The kids are having a ball, and the area just over the dunes will be the site of the new ferris wheel and other small rides, only increasing the family attraction to North Myrtle Beach.

You all come on down now, you hear?

Born Again American

This is a special video I just came across, and I thought it was worth posting here. Take a look, see what you think.

Now go to their website at:
http://www.bornagainamerican.org/

Well, tomorrow's the old 66 (and I do mean old). But there is a good side. Social Security says I can now earn as much money as I want without being penalized. Gosh, that sure is generous of them.

So if you'd like to see the sign of the times I grew up in, just click on this link:
http://www.billsretroworld.com/RETROLIFE.HTM

These pictures really bring back memories. Except for the Beatles wig - where did that come from?
That picture above is of the old Beach Movies we shot on Super 8 back in the 70's. Does that bring back any memories? What, me? Nostalgic? I don't think so! Just click on the picture for some shots of yesteryear.

Oh well, it's off to making scads of money now that I know Uncle Sam won't gig me for it. You all take care now, you hear? And visit my other blog over at the Shagmiser's Blog.

TTFN - Dick (the Old Bro, Disco Tricky)

Where in the world are Dick & Sally

We ain't home, that's for sure. But we were over the Memorial Weekend, and we had visitors. If you'd like a preview of who it was, just watch this video:

Memorial Weekend SHORT Video

I'll maybe shoot some additional video, and see if you can guess where we are. In the meantime, keep your toes in the surf, and your head above the waves. We'll catch you on the next post.

TTFN .......... Dick

The Blue Crab Festival is this coming Weekend

The annual Blue Crab Festival is this coming weekend in Little River, SC, on the waterfront. Saturday, May 16th from 9am to 8pm and Sunday, May 17th from 9am to 6pm.

Band Lineup:
Saturday, May 16th 12 PM - 4 PMThe Castaways
Saturday, May 16th 4 PM - 8 PMSea Cruz
Sunday, May 17th 12 PM - 4 PMThe Fantastic Shakers
Sunday, May 17th 4 PM - 7 PMCoastline Band

SOS Spring Safari Parade for 2009

Yep! Here's a teaser video all about the 2009 SOS Spring Safari Parade, right down the middle of North Myrtle Beach, Ocean Drive Beach. I made this using Animoto.Com, a great site for creating videos from snapshots.

If you are seeing this post in an email through an RSS feed, you cannot see the video. If that's the case, just go to http:/beachmiser.blogspot.com to see the video. Overall, there were over 600 entries in this year's parade. It was quite colorful, and had a lot of music, most playing beach music. The Penguins took first place. Look for them. I am going to post the regular video I shot soonest, but that takes a lot more time, and will have to be segmented into multiple parts.


BTW - if you all have ever wondered what I use to shoot these videos, it's a little handheld video recorder that's really compact and handy:
Flip MinoHD Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black)
Try one on for size yourself .....

4 New Video Sites

I've been doing some gatheriung, and searching, and found some really cool videos that are sweeping the Internet and YouTube. I've gone ahead and posted them to their own sites for your viewing enjoyment:

Swing Dance from St. Louis, talk about Oreo Cookie:
http://digitalshores.com/swingdance

Sound of Music Dance Troupe showing off in Belgium:
http://digitalshores.com/soundofmusic

Dance of a Thousand Hands from a deaf-mute Chinese Troupe:
http://digitalshores.com/thousandhands

Susan Boyle Amazing video on Britain's Got Talent:
http://digitalshores.com/dream

If you haven't seen these videos yet, you owe it yourself to view them.
They will literally lift you up, set you free, and mow your lawn.
Well, maybe not mow your lawn, but at least get you to start thinking about doing it.

Girl on the Beach

Most of you know we live very near the beach. And, we do like to walk the beach, a lot.
The weather's been kind of nice lately, and a lot of "early" sun bunnies can be found laying out.

Well, just recently, we noticed a girl who was at the beach almost every day. She wasn't unusual, nor was the travel bag she carried, except for one thing; she would approach people who were sitting on the beach, glance around and then speak to them. Generally, the people would respond negatively and she would wander off. But occasionally someone would nod and there would be a quick exchange of money and something that she carried in her bag.

We assumed that she was selling drugs and debated calling the cops, but since we didn't know for sure, we decided to just continue watching her.. After a couple of weeks my wife said, 'Honey, have you ever noticed that she only goes up to people with boom boxes and other electronic devices?' I hadn't and said so. Then she said, 'Tomorrow I want you to get a towel and our big radio and go lie out on the beach. Then we can find out what she's really doing.' Well, the plan went off without a hitch and my wife was almost hopping up and down with anticipation when she saw the girl talk to me and then leave.. I then walked up the beach and met my wife at the road.

'Well, is she selling drugs?' she asked excitedly. 'No, she's not,' I said, enjoying this probably more than I should have. 'Well, what is it then? What does she do ?' my wife fairly shrieked. I grinned and said, 'She's a battery salesperson.' 'Batteries?' cried the wife. 'Yes!' I replied.

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN

!!!!!!!!!OOOOH! You're gonna dislike me for this - but it will make your day

'She Sells C Cells by the Seashore!'

And People Ask Me Why I Like Retirement...

Tidbits, Here and There, Scattershots

OMG - it's Spring here at the beach, finally. Seems like everyone is out in their yards, pruning and cutting and raking and mowing and stuff. I just love watching them do all that. Makes my heart glad.

Me and the LBO went all the way to the beach today (it's been awhile), and there were just gobs of people there, sunning and laxing and being all touristy. Made my heart feel glad.

Scattershot: What with this BS economy and all, I thought I'd summarize Suze Orman's latest article (January edition of O Magazine):

1. No Blame, No Shame. Exhale, get on with it. Ain't your fault.
2. Take a snapshot of your finances
3. Adopt a foolproof credit card strategy
4. Try harder to save
5. Separate savings from investments
6. Know your credit score
7. Evaluate your retirement plan
8. Diversify your assets
9. Don't obsess over your home's value
10. Protect your family - and your nest egg.

That's it in a nutshell. Get the magazine edition if you want to learn more.

Want to read my latest review? http://shagmiser.blogspot.com/

Everyone's doing great here. And if you actually read this, leave a comment so I'll know you're out there. Just say HI or something.

When's it Gonna get Spring?

I know, I know, what lousy use of the language, but hey, when is Spring Gonna Sprung? A lot of Canadians are here right now, as are the Spring Breakers, but it's still pretty chilly, and here these people are walking around in their shorts and t-shirts while I'm freezing my butt off. Even the dog balks at going outside. Until this weather gets warmer, the golf carts going to stay garaged.

I just posted a new blog entry on the IM blog. Check it out:
http://shagmiser.blogspot.com

Mom seems to be taking to her (now not so) new place. Lots more getting up and around, getting more social, and actually doing stuff she never considered doing while she lived on her own. It expensive, but between her EJ account, social security, and VA benefits, she's covering the bases. We just wish the EJ account hadn't tanked so bad (thanks to greedy Wall Street and dumb ass politicians).

Susan's back to work, Sally's at the Aquarium, I'm trying to learn more about mini sites and how to run them correctly (see the blog comment above), so all's right with the world. All things considered, we're better than OK - we're in the place we've always wanted (the beach), I can't be fired since I'm retired, and I'm doing what I really enjoy. So life really is a beach after all.

Our niece Rachael is still really suffering, and they still can't seem top figure it out. If you get a chance, send Rachael some serious get well thoughts and prayers. If you don't now how, check out her ongoing story at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rachelhale

TTFN, and we'll see you - @thebeach.

Sally and Susan's Birthday Video

Sally and Susan celebrate their birthday tomorrow by taking a trip down memory lane today. Watch the video and enjoy it with them. They are getting it on - Again!



Wow! Now that was fun!

Flight of Dick's Disco

This is from the Flight of the Conchords - It's not exactly like I remember "Randy's on a Friday Night."

History of Valentine's Day

Here's something a little unique for this blog. Martin Avis of Kickstart Daily just posted the History of Valentine's Day on his site, and it's a little unusual in the fact that every time you refresh his page, a reworded version comes up. According to Martin, "You can refresh the page as many times as you like, and each time a different version of the article will be displayed." See for yourself at his History of Valentine's page. In the meantime, here's the article, re-published with his permission.

Be My Valentine

Long before anybody had heard of Saint Valentine to spice things up and bring some passion into the cold winter, mid-February was looked forward to as a lusty occasion for lovers. From 400 years BC, the Romans conducted an annual sweep stake as an act of worship to their god of shepherds, Lupercus. Teenage women had their names written down and put inside a box and drawn blindly by adolescent men. The young people then found themselves legally paired for a year.

600 years later, the warlike emperor Claudius II banned young men from marrying -- because he thought that unattached males could fight harder in battle.

A Christian bishop, Valentine, didn't agree with Claudius and disobeyed the law and performed secret marriage ceremonies until Claudius learned of his disobedience and first imprisoned him, and finally had him brutally executed on February 24th, 270.

While he was imprisoned, Valentine fell in love with his guard's daughter and when he was finally taken to be killed, he sent her a letter which he ended with, 'From your Valentine.'

Valentine's story provided a good excuse, and so, the Church, in AD 496, took the opportunity to get rid of the hated partnership sweep stake held in honor of the god Lupercus and so made some changes of their own to the rules of the event:

From then on, either gender would select a name in the lottery, but now they wouldn't get the expected year of 'marriage' (and often lust), they would now receive the name of a Saint whose character they were obliged emulate over the coming twelve months.

What a crushing disappointment that must have been for the lusty youngsters in Roman days!
The day of the new-style lottery was named after Saint Valentine whose selection, more than two centuries after his death, was aimed at ridding Christian Rome of the old-religion god Lupercus than from any real intention to promote love.

As so often happens, the public's memory was harder to beat down than political will -- particularly when unpopular and Saint Valentine's name continued to be associated with passion and love. Young Roman men, deprived of their lottery, started instead handing paper notes to the girls they fancied on February 14th.

So it was that the modern habit of distributing and receiving Valentine cards was effectively begun over 1500 years ago!

The very first modern-day card that is still in existence is in the collection of the British Museum. It was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife in 1415. The poor man was a 'guest' in the Tower of London at the time and so his feelings of love were probably quite heightened!
Five hundred years ago the Bishop of Geneva wanted to reinstate the yearly 'live like a saint' lottery, but his efforts were short-lived. February 14th was by then too firmly associated with lovers for the Church to successfully interfere.

In 1797 a British publisher, a man who would have done well in modern times, issued a guidebook called 'The Young Man's Valentine Writer' in which were pages of pre-written love poems for the creatively challenged.

Anonymous Valentines cards began with the Victorians. Those outwardly straight-laced folks privately adored anything sensual and passionate, but outwardly were obliged to maintain an aura of respectful purity. Amusingly for us the words in the cards became more and more obscene, but the authors were able to maintain their respectability from behind their self-imposed anonymity.

The first publisher of Valentine's cards in America, Esther Holland was able to charge up to $35 for a single card. That was a fortune in 1870!

In case you are wondering, we still write kisses with the letter 'x' because in the days before people could generally read and write, your signature was a cross. To make the mark an oath, people would draw their cross and kiss it -- much the same as they would kiss a Bible. Unsurprisingly the hand-drawn X and the kiss became one and the same.

Have a love-filled Valentine's day!

Dick

Again, our thanks to Martin Avis for providing this little ditty and allowing us to share it with you.

http://kickstartdaily.com/

This, That, and Other Things

Jim Daniels of the Biz Web Gzette just published an informative blog post for all you guys out there wanting to do things right in 2009. It's titled "How to Grow Reliable, Long-Term Income Online..." and he lists it as 8 very solid, fundamental steps. Go read the whole thing for yourself, I think you'll like it 'cause it's right up our netrapreneurial alley (that's a word?).

Well, we've got the Moms moved in OK. You can read all about it on her blog: http://momprogressblog.blogspot.com/. Things have settled down quite a bit what with her moving over there and all, so I now have more time to get things rolling again.

We're still in the winter off season here @thebeach, so there's hardly anything to report.

I am making available a new report called the PLR Process, and you can get your free copy by heading over to The PLR Process. I did not write it, but the guys who did really know what they are talking about. I write about it a little more on my Shagmiser Blog - go check it out. Over there, I also mention 3 new sites I just published. Niche sites. I plan to do more so keep your eyes out. I built all 3 of them in under 2 hours total, using the tools provided by PLR Pro. What a deal. Now if I could just monetize them.

Right now I am looking at Mom's trailer, which I had to put into the back yard for lack of anyplace else. Anybody need a trailer?

More later - and TTFN.
Dick

Off on a Tangent

I am going to veer a bit today, even though it has been awhile since I've posted. The world is too much with us, as Mom used to say. Speaking of ...... if you want to know how she is doing, check Mom's Progress Blog. I try and stay ahead of it AMAP.

It seems as if the whole world was watching the Obama Inaugural ceremony on Tuesday (the 21st of January), via TV, the Internet, IPhone, smoke signals, whatever. And he assumes office in the worst possible circumstances for his country and the world. But he said something that resonated with me, and I am sure to a lot of people, especially in these days of Wall Street greed, massive ponzi schemes, corporate and media irresponsibility, and world wide tensions. He said,

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. "

In my humble opinion, that's a pretty good aim.

I've actually been doing a better job of keeping my Shagmiser Blog more-or-less up to date, so check it out for my latest scheme, er, opportunity. AND, the old standby, my Internet Retirement System web site is still cooking along. In fact, if you put that specific term into Google, I rank second. Now that's pretty good.

Not too much doings here @thebeach. Mid Winters just came and went. Jack and Becki came down from Charlotte for a visit, and we all headed to Fat Harold's for some cold beer and hot shag dancing (I'd call it shagging, but too many of you from outside the Grand Strand area would get the wrong idea). Speaking of shagging, I've posted some YouTube videos of some pretty good shaggers on my History of Shag web page. Check it out.

We have our new SC tags, and the one thing it does promote is http://travelsc.com/ right there on the tag itself. I have yet to check it out - maybe you should.

TTFN - We'll see you on the Strand and in the sand.