Arrivederci al Luciano grande

I'm not much of a classic music aficionado, but I can recognize a decent tenor when I hear one, dag gummit!!! I was mousing thru the kids I-tunes collection when I came across a Celine Dion tune. It caught my eye because it was a duet with the late Luciano Pavarotti. I clicked on the selection and slipped my head phones on.
I Hate You Then I Love You; (Open in a new tab and the song will play... eventually.) A soothing duet with some modern touches of pop genre, It is the first time I heard Luciano sing a song in English. I couldn't stop the song, I just wanted to hear every word, every note. I didn't sing along, I sat quietly until the next track cued. Simply amazed.
The Italian Tenor died 9-6-07... I would have to hope that a tenor seat in God's Angelic choir has been filled.
Goodbye to the great Luciano.

Ocooweeeeeeeeee!!

(sung to Gilligan's Island theme song)
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip. That started from a concrete spill,
aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a skinny dude named Chase, the skipper didn't show, Five passengers paid $30 that day, for a two hour tour. a two hour tour.
The water started getting rough, the tiny ship was swamped. If not for the 800mg. of Naproxen in my blood, My back would claim comp, my back would claim comp....
The raft hit ground several times as we pasted thru rapids with names... like...Double Suck...
and Grumpy too...The Tablesaw and Hell hole...The doldrums... Flipper and Witches Hole...
Here on the Oooocoooeeeeee!

The Ocoee runs on weekends until the end of October. It was well worth the $$. I recommend it to adventurers of all ages. Contact the Ocoee Inn for times and river schedules. See more pictures of Fashionchicka (5th from left) and Basegasket (3rd from left) and Ocoee Photos.

Frack broke her hip!!!

It's hard for me to utter these words. Unless you were youngest of a boat load of siblings or your parents family plans got a late start. If you are saying those words up top this post your probably getting old. Oops! but this isn't about me now is it?
At this moment Frack waits in pre-op to repair a Intertrochanteric hip fracture. A scary thought for anyone, even more for the patient. Seeing Her in all that pain is like a strike to my core, leaving me a bit nauseated inside, I feel so bad for her, but Frack is a tough old wineskin, she'll pull through.
I knew when the decision was made for Frick and Frack to move to K-town it would be good for times just like these. If you can find any good in a hip fracture. Last night in the ER, together, as a family, we shared in her pain, our own contemplations, and even mustered a session of hysterical laughter... "think outside the BOX!!" LOL (family joke, Ronny will know what that means.) In retrospect this event, as unpleasant as it is, will bring our extended unit closer.
If I could offer any appeal to the reader today it would be this; if you have family, close or not, single, divorced, or re-married, blood or twice removed... Share life with them, now... Don't wait for the slip and fall... or the winter, or any future event to prompt you. Do it today.

Chrome Locusts

It started on or about mid week. You would here the faint buzzing of one or two over on the bluff. By lunch on Thursday, shadows cast by them on hotel parking lots and Weigels gas pumps left you feeling anomalous even edgy. Dinner time on Friday, it was obvious we had a major event happening. They were everywhere.! everywhere!!! eating our crops! and pillaging our orchards!!! (slap! pause, silly look)
No this is not another episode of Little House on the prairie, but the HOG rally happenings in K-town this weekend. They did swarm on our little city, not doing crop damage but dumping greenbacks only second to emissions from their fish-tail exhaust pipes. How much? some estimates say around 7 mil. Good for Mr Freelunch, even better for Me! Let me explain.
So many good things have happened to our unit since moving here last year, but the announcement of the national HOG rally coming to Chillhowee sang to my ears like... (click here)

I came down with the chrome virus back in 01 when I bought my first couchglide, geezerglide, hardly ableson, second mortgage. (choose one) The romance of riding an American icon on American roads with the greatest American people has gotten (word?) under my skin and found a home, (under my skin, not on...no tattoo...Yet.) So you can imagine as the weekend approached, if I had a womb and something was in it, it would have leaped! A real feel good event for any Harley Davidson lover, sweet! (chills, hairstand).
So life goes on, and as Public Service picks up what the swarms of "chrome locusts" left behind I will never look upon that sacred site in the same way again. A homecoming was made here, a homage to Americana freedom, here in my city, and I was there.
Grandchildren gather, let me tell you a story...

Hot Hot Hot

What else can I say... it's really hot in K-town in August. So what assignment does the Sargent give me on this record breaking day? Go work in the attic at #20. I think I lost about 2 pounds. Anyway, on to what I wanted to share. For a year now my city travels have taken me past the AmSouth Bank building. You've seen it, anyone who has been to K-town has seen it, all the travelers west and east bound I40 have seen it. Towering above most of the city's buildings, high atop the mammoth structure is the time and temperature.
No big deal you say, you've seen that before, "A bank clock with temp, big deal.... Actually it is pretty high up there, and you can read it for miles. It does make my image of the city a bit more memorable, it even makes me happ......... what's that...75 degrees? It's not 75 degrees!! its 102. They should fix that." "Yes dear, please watch the road..."
We have such a nice little city here, I guess I should overlook this little botheration, but its been a year... and now its on the news!!
I hate the thought of being outdone by the Brits, but when Big Ben shut down they were on it like a city worker on a free lunch! Oh wait... maybe it can't be fixed. gasp, tears.....slap! If we can build a space travel machine out of foam... We can fix the bank clock!
Come on AmSouth, FIX IT... NOW!

Press 1 to continue blogging in english

Finally a place where I can freely express my thoughts, as limited as they are sometimes. I like the idea of having a place where all the instructions are in english, and I don't have to share space with unfriendly ones.
Before I go on any farther I need to give credit where credit is due. If it weren't for the influences of K-towns own Tennessee Jed this spot wouldn't exist, and all these these thoughts, experiences, puckey, (choose one) would never be recorded... ever... Thanks Jed, really.
So get in, sit down, shut-up and hold on (used to drive school bus) here we go. Between daily city commiseration, the adventure of raising teens and other exposures to damaging rays..., or Bob's, or Suzie's, I hope I can come up with the words, maybe buy stock in a paragraph factory, do whatever I can to share things endemic to the world in which I reside.
Now I sleep ( unlike Chuck Norris, He waits) and prepare myself for morrows emprise waiting in the wings. ZZZzzzz