nKICK BACK AND RELAX! LET US SEARCH THE INTERNET FOR ALL THE INTERESTING GOODIES SO YOU CAN SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. FORTUNATELY, WE HAVE SOME DO-GOODERS WHO FIND SOME EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTIONS AND YOU WILL SEE THEIR NAMES PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED WITH THEIR FINDINGS! n
MANY, MANY THANX TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR PUBLICATION!
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Submitted by Leroy. If it was one of yours, sue me, I found it on the internet!
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‘A million stories … just as heartbreaking as mine’: How humble death notices captured COVID’s historic toll
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Families search for the words to sum up lives complicated and cut short by COVID-19n
nRyan Elliott couldn’t put off writing his father’s obituary any longer. Word was already spreading through Vallejo that his dad – a well-known commercial real estate broker and civic leader – had died.nnBut he had to work his way up to it. He and his brother, Jason, held warm childhood memories of their father teaching them to waterski at Lake Tahoe and drive off-road along the Rubicon Trail, but like many sons and fathers, their relationship was complicated. Their dad could be difficult – especially when it came to COVID-19.nnThe first week in January – nearly two years after the pandemic began and a year after the vaccine first became available – Ryan sat down with his laptop and began:nn“Stephen Raymond Elliott was born in Vallejo, CA and spent his 76 years of life as a fixture of the community,” he wrote, “before passing from this life due to complications caused by COVID-19 and acute stubbornness.”nnn“Anybody could read into that and understand,” Jason Elliott said, “that odds are he probably didn’t have a vaccine.”nnAs Americans near a cruel milestone of one million COVID deaths, personal obituaries like Stephen Elliott’s, humble death notices written by family and friends, have become a heartbreaking historical record of the worst pandemic of our lives.nnIn carefully worded expressions of pain and regret, published in newspapers and online, they chronicle the virus’s surges, mandates and breakthroughs, and the cultural clashes and family turmoil that continue to divide the country. And they reveal, through their numbers and tone, how we have struggled in the COVID era with the oppressive ubiquity of death, a subject so many of us spend our lives avoiding.nnWith gatherings banned for much of the last two years, obituaries often bore the weight of a funeral, the significance of a eulogy.nnNo longer did they carry the comforting clichés that a loved one had “died surrounded by family,” a time-honored deathbed ritual that proved a family’s devotion, and, for the dying, suggested a final state of grace.nnInstead, the pandemic obituaries often shared how loved ones “suffered greatly from the COVID-19 virus and the separation from much-loved family.” They pleaded for family and friends “in lieu of flowers,” to “please wear your mask and comply with county health orders.” And, ultimately, they often spelled out their loved one’s vaccine status, sometimes like the Elliotts did, and other times explaining that the relative had died “despite being vaccinated and boosted” to blunt the stigma of a careless death.nnNow, America is left with a million deaths, a million obituaries and a million families searching for the right words to sum up a lifetime cut short and complicated by COVID-19.nn“That’s a million stories that are just as heartbreaking as mine,” said Lyn Balistreri, who wrote her mother’s obituary after she died in a San Jose nursing home at the height of the first winter surge.nn“And it’s not just a million stories. It’s hundreds of millions of stories because everybody who died has extended family and friends who love them. It is the human suffering, not just the victims who died, but the people who are left behind. It’s kind of unfathomable.”nn
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THOSE OF YOU WHO FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK OR TWITTERHAVE SEEN THE PICS AND VIDS I TAKE OF THE VARIETY OF BIRDS THAT SHOW UP IN MY BACK YARD ATTRACTED TO A FLIMSY FEEDER I FILL EVERY MORNING.
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WELL, I GOT A BIT RAMBUCTIONS WHEN I SAW SOME BIRD HOUSE KITS ADVERTISED FOR A REASONABLE PRICE. THIS, AFTER I MENTIONED TO MY WIFE THAT I WAS CONSIDERING CRANKING UP THE OLD SHOPSMITH AND BUILDING ONE. SHE WORRIED ABOUT MY HANDLING SUCH A MACHINE AT MY AGE AND WHEN I SAW THE KITS, I FOLDED.
nTHEY COME WITH THE WOOD PARTS THAT SNAP TOGETHER, WOOD GLUE, 4 COLORS OF PAINT AND 4 PAINT BRUSHES, AS WELL AS AN APRON SO US KIDS WON’T GET ANY ON OUR CLOTHES. More photos to follow…..n
Watch “World’s Most Amazing Videos – Funny Trucker & Police Clip!
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STATE OFFICER MOVED TO TEARS
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Watch “Man-Child Destroys His Own Property Because of a Break-up” on YouTuben[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JjOhZXmhGE[/embedyt]
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WE KNOW IT AS “CIVIL STANDBY”
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March 17, 2020
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‘Without family by his side’
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Gary Young, 66, Gilroy
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U.S. COVID deaths at the time: 152 | California: 24 | Bay Area: 12
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READ MORE ON COVID DEATHS HEREn==============
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12 Facts About Bonnie And Clyde That Made Us Say ‘Hold Up!’
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Preparing Their Bodies For Burial Was Tricky Because They Were So Full Of Holesn |
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They Once Kidnapped The Man Who Later Embalmed Themn
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Bonnie And Clyde Weren’t Buried Together – But They Might Be One Day
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Bonnie Died Married To Another Man
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Read more facts HERE
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“To get back to my youth I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early, or be respectable.” – Oscar Wilde
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FREE FREE,nand if local I can maybe delivered.nFREE FREE
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THANX, WILL.nCAN’T THINK OF A BETTER USE FOR MUSINGS!n==================
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“Karma comes quickly: Puts a smile on a law abiding citizen’s face”
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n“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.” Albert Einstein (1922)n
“We must recognize that, as we grow older, we become like old cars – more and more repairs and replacements are necessary.” – C.S. Lewis
nnnAt 27, I would take on anyone with my fists or a baseball bat. At 50 I could throw objects at a bad guy with some authority, but at 72 … I need a gun — a small one, but a gun! The gun is the perfect projector of force, especially for the weakest among us. Any other alternative will leave you calling for help or pleading for mercy. It is important for the elderly to be as dangerous as feasibly possible in a defense situation.nnNo one wants to go into a life or death encounter with a sub-average weapon. Yet the M1911 has often been deposited into younger less arthritic hands. The lever 30-30 is no longer reached for first and the 12 gauge is now loaded with reduced recoil rounds.nnThis is especially important for the handicapped, the elderly, armed school personnel, and others for whom a virtual “hand cannon” is not practical. Guns are used to threaten and intimidate far more often than they are used in self-defense. No one expects the elderly or handicapped to open up with a .22 “get off me gun” or a 410 double barrel; and no bad guy is going to hang around with a face full of 40 grain bullets or buckshot.nnWhat’s more, government sponsored studies have found that the likelihood of victim injury was reduced from 10.9 percent before to 4.1 percent after brandishing a firearm. The victim injury rate after a defensive gun use was similar to using any other defensive weapon (5.3 percent) such as a knife or baseball bat, yet the elderly and infirmed are not going the swing a bat with the same authority as the young and athletic nor are they going to grapple with multiple miscreants.nnWith a growing population of elderly “baby boomers” the presence of a gun may be necessary, especially for those of diminished physical capability. Home invasion is an illegal and usually forceful entry to an occupied, private dwelling with intent to commit a violent crime against the occupants, such as robbery, assault, rape, murder, or kidnapping.nnA person may have a legal duty to retreat to avoid violence if one can reasonably do so. Yet “castle doctrines” in many jurisdictions lessen the duty to retreat when an individual is assaulted within one’s own home as long as there is a fear of imminent injury to oneself or others. Your most likely assailant could be an unarmed punk(s), a confidence scammer, or a former acquaintance with a restraining order filed against them.nnFew statistics are available on the increasing incidence of home invasion as such, because it is not defined as a crime in its own right in most jurisdictions. Persons arrested for what the police or media may refer to as “home invasions” are often charged with other crimes. Hot prowl burglaries, in which the offender enters a building or residence while occupants are known to be inside, are considered especially dangerous by law enforcement because of the potential for a violent altercation to erupt between the occupant and the offender.nnA Center for Disease Control report issued and funded during the Obama Administration in 2013 noted: “Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was used by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies.” The CDC finding that firearms are an effective and often used crime deterrent, and that most firearm incidents are not fatal could affect the future of gun violence research and legislation.[i]nnThe largest demographic group of gun owners are the elderly. Elderly Americans are the most likely to own a gun, and aged 65 and older now have the highest rate of gun ownership in America. According to a National Firearms Survey, more than 25% of people ages 65 and older own guns. This portion of the population generally has more fear when it comes to personal safety. Many of these folks bought their guns years ago and don’t show up in a data network. For some individuals, guns, like cars, symbolize independence and individualism.nnIt is extremely important as a senior gun owner to select the right weapon. This involves choosing a gun you’re able to handle with manual dexterity and strength. While a gun larger than a .22 is recommended for self-defense, if this is the caliber of gun you can best handle, it is better than no gun at all.nnThe hardest part of the whole damn aging process is acknowledging the change from guard dog to adviser and sage.n
Editor’s Note: When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns!
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“Old age comes at a bad time.” – San Banducci “
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May BirthdaysnnCOMING SOON….. RELOAD IN A DAY OR TWO! 🙂 | ||
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“Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there is nothing you can do about it.” – Golda Meirn
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“The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened. – Mark Twain
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“DA KINE”
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Editors Note: We were stationed in HI when I was a kid andnthese were truly Hawaiian rules!
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“Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes, age just shows up all by itself.” – Tom Wilson
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AND IF YOU WONDERED WHERE THE CUTE QUOTES CAME FROM:n(Editor’s note: buncha repeats here I messed up in editing. Too much trouble to decide which I repeated…. Do me a favor and just laugh the first time you read one and then politely smile the second time and casually read on. Thanx.)
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“I don’t plan to grow old gracefully. I plan to have face-lifts until my ears meet.” – Rita Rudner
n“I’m at that age where my back goes out more than I do.” – Phyllis Dillernn“Nice to be here? At my age it’s nice to be anywhere.” – George Burnsnn“Don’t let aging get you down. It’s too hard to get back up.” – John Wagnernn“First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down.” – Leo Rosenbergnn“Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life.” – Kitty O’Neill Collinsnn“Old people shouldn’t eat health foods. They need all the preservatives they can get.” – Robert Orbennn“It’s important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle.” – Unknownnn“At my age, flowers scare me.” – George Burnsnn“I have successfully completed the thirty-year transition from wanting to stay up late to just wanting to go to bed.” – Unknownnn“Nobody expects to trust his body much after the age of fifty.” – Alexander Hamiltonnn“At fifty, everyone has the face he deserves.” – George Orwellnn“At age 20, we worry about what others think of us… at age 40, we don’t care what they think of us… at age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.” – Ann Landersnn“The important thing to remember is that I’m probably going to forget.” – Unknownnn“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” – Andy Rooneynn“The older I get, the better I used to be.” – Lee Trevinonn“You know you’re getting old when you can pinch an inch on your forehead.” – John Mendozann“I was thinking about how people seem to read the bible a lot more as they get older, and then it dawned on me—they’re cramming for their final exam.”- George Carlinnn“I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap.” – Bob Hopenn“All men are the same age.” – Dorothy Parkernn“I don’t do alcohol anymore—I get the same effect just standing up fast.” – Anonymousnn“By the time you’re 80 years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.” – George Burnsnn“Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” – Maurice Chevaliernn“Getting older. I used to be able to run a 4-minute mile, bench press 380 pounds, and tell the truth.” – Conan O’Briennn“I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to.” – Albert Einsteinnn“Grandchildren don’t make a man feel old, it’s the knowledge that he’s married to a grandmother that does.” – J. Norman Collienn“You know you are getting old when everything hurts, and what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work.” – Hy Gardnernn“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.” – Mark Twainnn“You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.” – Joel Plaskettnn“At my age ‘getting lucky’ means walking into a room and remembering what I came in for.” – Unknownnn“Old age is when you resent the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated because there are fewer articles to read.” – George Burnsnn“The idea is to die young as late as possible.” – Ashley Montagunn“You know you’re getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you’re down there.” – George Burnsn
“Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.” – Anonymousn===============
n“To get back to my youth I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early, or be respectable.” – Oscar Wilde
“The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.” – Will Rogers
“We must recognize that, as we grow older, we become like old cars – more and more repairs and replacements are necessary.” – C.S. Lewis
“Old age comes at a bad time.” – San Banducci “
“Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there is nothing you can do about it.” – Golda Meir
“The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened. – Mark Twain
“Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes, age just shows up all by itself.” – Tom Wilson
“I don’t plan to grow old gracefully. I plan to have face-lifts until my ears meet.” – Rita Rudner
“I’m at that age where my back goes out more than I do.” – Phyllis Diller
“Nice to be here? At my age it’s nice to be anywhere.” – George Burns
“Don’t let aging get you down. It’s too hard to get back up.” – John Wagner
“First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down.” – Leo Rosenberg
“Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life.” – Kitty O’Neill Collins
“Old people shouldn’t eat health foods. They need all the preservatives they can get.” – Robert Orben
“It’s important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle.” – Unknown
“At my age, flowers scare me.” – George Burns
“I have successfully completed the thirty-year transition from wanting to stay up late to just wanting to go to bed.” – Unknown
“Nobody expects to trust his body much after the age of fifty.” – Alexander Hamilton
“At fifty, everyone has the face he deserves.” – George Orwell
“At age 20, we worry about what others think of us… at age 40, we don’t care what they think of us… at age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.” – Ann Landers
“The important thing to remember is that I’m probably going to forget.” – Unknown
“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” – Andy Rooney
“The older I get, the better I used to be.” – Lee Trevino
“You know you’re getting old when you can pinch an inch on your forehead.” – John Mendoza
“I was thinking about how people seem to read the bible a lot more as they get older, and then it dawned on me—they’re cramming for their final exam.”- George Carlin
“I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap.” – Bob Hope
“All men are the same age.” – Dorothy Parker
“I don’t do alcohol anymore—I get the same effect just standing up fast.” – Anonymous
“By the time you’re 80 years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.” – George Burns
“Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” – Maurice Chevalier
“Getting older. I used to be able to run a 4-minute mile, bench press 380 pounds, and tell the truth.” – Conan O’Brien
“I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to.” – Albert Einstein
“Grandchildren don’t make a man feel old, it’s the knowledge that he’s married to a grandmother that does.” – J. Norman Collie
“You know you are getting old when everything hurts, and what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work.” – Hy Gardner
“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.” – Mark Twain
“You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.” – Joel Plaskett
“At my age ‘getting lucky’ means walking into a room and remembering what I came in for.” – Unknown
“Old age is when you resent the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated because there are fewer articles to read.” – George Burns
“The idea is to die young as late as possible.” – Ashley Montagu
“You know you’re getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you’re down there.” – George Burns
“Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.” – Anonymousn
Flashback Washington High Fremont 1960
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C’yaL.Pyle#1621nnFacts About Historical Figures We Just Learned This Month That Made Us Say ‘Really?’n
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Mel Blancnn
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===============nA man walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “If I show you a really good trick, will you give me a free drink? “
nThe bartender considers it, then agrees.nnThe man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny rat.nnHe reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a tiny piano.nnThe rat stretches, cracks his knuckles, and proceeds to play the blues.nnAfter the man finished his drink, he asked the bartender, “If I show you an even better trick, will you give me free drinks for the rest of the night, the bartender thinks that nothing could possibly top the first trick so he agrees.nnThe man reaches into another pocket and pulls out a small bullfrog, who begins to sing along with the rat’s music.nnWhile the man is enjoying his beverages, a stranger confronts him and offers him $100,000.00 for the bullfrog.nn“Sorry, ” the man replies, “he’s not for sale. “nnThe stranger increases the offer to $250,000.00 cash up front.nn“No, ” he insists, “he’s not for sale. “nnThe stranger again increases the offer, this time to $500,000.00 cash.nnThe man finally agrees, and turns the frog over to the stranger in exchange for the money.nn“Are you insane? ” the bartender demanded.nn“That frog could have been worth millions to you, and you let him go for a mere $500,000! “nn“Don’t worry about it. ” the man answered.nn“The frog was really nothing special.nnYou see, the rat’s a ventriloquist. “n
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