Gene’s Blog

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before April 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

OK, maybe the title of this blog is a bit of an overgeneralization but it applies most of the time.  Basically, what I am saying is that we are what we are because that’s what we’ve decided to be.  We live where we live, do what we do and think what we think because that’s we’ve decided to do.  Yes, I understand that there are some illnesses and other stuff that happens that tends to force us into a particular mode of operation.  But by the same token, how we function within our situation and how we deal with the things we need to deal with is always our decision.

This takes us right back to one of my foundation principles.  We believe what we believe because of our personal programming – our personal “truths” based on all of our experiences and the information we’ve been provided over the years.  Our present perception (whatever it is) of what is written in the preceding paragraph is absolutely correct based on our life experiences, input – and programming.  Does that mean that there are no incorrect opinions and this is one of those “I’m OK, you’re OK so let’s hold hands and sing something” things?   Oh, heck no!  This just means that we all have our personal reasons for doing what we do and thinking what we think. 

Unfortunately, none of us – repeat, none of us has been fortunate enough to get one hundred percent accurate and unbiased information and input into our little pea brains as we’ve trudged through life.  As a result, we’re all playing our life game with a few cards missing from our deck.  It’s almost a sure bet that we’ll never find all of ‘em, but I think the sporty thing to do is to do our best to search out at least a couple more cards before we revert back to our basic earth  elements.  And yeah, we’ll count the Jokers as worth keeping.  (Maybe they’re really the ones we oughtta look for first!  Just a thought.)  Note: For those of you who are presently holding a partial deck that is only giving you a Jack high poker hand - heck, that’s good enough to open.  Hang in there and keep playing!

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before April 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

1. THINGY (thing-ee) n.

Female - Any part under a car’s hood.

Male - The strap fastener on a woman’s bra.

2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj.

Female - Fully opening up one’s self emotionally to another.

Male - Playing baseball or football without a cup.

3. COMMUNICATION (ko-myoo-ni-kay-shon) n.

Female - The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one’s partner.

Male - Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the boys.

4. COMMITMENT (ko-mit-ment) n.

Female - A desire to get married and raise a family.

Male - Trying not to hit on other women while out with this one.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before April 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

I have regularly purchased or subscribed to a bunch of different magazines over the years.  Yes, including the one with the little bunny logo (for the articles, of course).  I’ve discontinued most of my subscriptions for various reasons.  Here are some of the periodicals that have fallen by the wayside.

Stink Bait Recipes for the Avid Fisherman

The Happy Goat Herder

Yodelers Quarterly

Circumcision for the Layman

Adjectives for Success

Decorating with Vegetables

Cat Hair Quilting

Fab Styles for Butchers

Cooking with Insects

Whaling Monthly

News of Slovenia

Olfactory Game Tracking

Games with Noodles

Better Living with Canned Yams

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before April 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

1. In the first book of the Bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating the world so he took the Sabbath off.

2. Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.  Noah’s wife was Joan of Ark.  Noah built and ark and the animals came on in pears.

3. Lots wife was a pillar of salt during the day, but a ball of fire during the night.

4. The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with unsympathetic genitals.

5, Sampson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a jezebel like Delilah.

6. Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the Apostles.

7. Moses led the Jews to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients.

8. The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert.  Afterwards, Moses went up to Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments.

9. The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

10. The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.

11. Moses died before he ever reached Canada.  Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.

12. The greatest miricle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before April 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

WHAT ONCE WAS… AIN’T NO MORE…

The above title has been designed intentionally to annoy the English teachers of the world – and come to think of it, everyone else who insists that it is nothing less than a sin against Mankind to use anything less than “proper, acceptable” English – ever.  Having said that and subsequently feeling much better about life in general (it never takes much to perk me up…), I’d also like to express my sincere appreciation to all you folks who have somehow managed to keep our English (or American, if you will) language from completely deteriorating into one giant heap of linguistic compost.  Of course, that will never prevent me from tossing rotting potato peelings on the pile from time to time.

Where were we?  Oh, yes – what once was…  Rather than beat around the bush and try to lead into this in a semi-logical manner, I’ll get right to the point.  The past is gone – vanished, disappeared in a cloud of dust and a hearty “Hi, Ho Silver!”  It is history, not real, mental vapor, and gone, gone, gone! 

“Yabutt…”

“Yabutt” nothing.  The past is gone!  OK, I do understand that a bunch of stuff has happened before now to influence what “now” is.  And sometimes it’s good to take a look at the past to see just how the hell we got to our “now”.  With a little luck, the record of the past will not have been so over-skewed by our individual and collective perceptions that we will be limited in our ability to make current rational decisions. 

Well, so much for luck!  We do change the past, don’t we?  We remember what we think we remember, then we shade it slightly with our current situation or viewpoint of life and the events surrounding us – and remember the past as we think it should be remembered.  The really good things that have happened just keep getting better and better.  Unfortunately, the bad things have a tendency to get worse and worse.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before April 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

Talking Dog for Sale

A guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: ‘Talking Dog for Sale’ He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.

The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.

‘You talk?’ he asks.

‘Yep,’ the Lab replies.

After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says ‘So, what’s your story?’

The Lab looks up and says, ‘Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.’

‘I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running. But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.’

‘I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired.’

The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.

‘Ten dollars,’ the guy says.

‘Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?’

‘Because he’s a liar. He never did any of that shit.’

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before April 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

*****

Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

BRAIN SNACKS (BS?) – Quick thoughts to enlighten or brighten your day (or not – your choice…)

I’m worried that the universe will soon need replacing. It’s not holding a charge. - Edward Chilton

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. - Thomas Jefferson

My husband gave me a necklace. It’s fake. I requested fake. Maybe I’m paranoid, but in this day and age, I don’t want something around my neck that’s worth more than my head. - Rita Rudner

Money won’t buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a huge research staff to study the problem. - Bill Vaughan

The best year-round temperature is a warm heart and a cool head. – Unknown

A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure. - Segal’s Law

The trouble with talking too fast is you may say something you haven’t thought of yet. – Ann Landers

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before March 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

RANDOM THOUGHTS

An assortment of thoughts, observations and opinions developed over dang near seven decades.  In no particular order - or obvious sense of logic for that matter…

I Was Born Before…

No wait – I can’t do it that way.  The list would be far too long.  We’ll start over.  Here’s what I remember having around the old farmhouse in my very young days.  Electricity.  Now I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal now, but from what I understand we didn’t get wired until I was about two years old.  Moving on.  A furnace in the basement that burned coal (heat is good), a kitchen stove that we burned cobs in (cobs - you know, the supportive plant base that holds the little kernels of corn), running water (fed by a windmill to a holding tank in the attic) an average assortment of furniture, an AM table radio, a 78rpm “record player”, a piano, a “crank” telephone (party line, “operator” enabled) and… and… OK, that was about it except for the usual stuff a small family needs to function.  Indoor bathroom?  Nope.  TV?  Had just barely been invented.  Microwave… computer… DVD’s… ipods?  No… no… no… and of course, no.  No Internet, no cell phones… none of the goodies that we now find in the average home – and pretty much take for granted.  So how did we survive?  Just fine, thank you.  We worked hard, ate well, socialized with our families, listened to the radio and music from the record player, played the piano, sang, played card or board games and generally enjoyed life.  Yes, life was good.

(Please feel free to acknowledge that I did not climb up on the old soapbox to rant about how spoiled we are and that we would all probably be better off if we would pack away most of our modern gadgets and get back to a simpler, more fulfilling lifestyle.  Thank you…)

A Religious Educational Note

Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck. - George Carlin

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before March 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

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Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

Dear Mom & Dad,

Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and are worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened.

Oh yes, please call Adam’s mother and tell her he is okay. He can’t write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found Adam in the dark if it hadn’t been for the lightning.

Scoutmaster Keith got mad at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn’t hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will blow up? The wet wood didn’t burn, but one of the tents did and also some of our clothes. Mathew is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Keith gets the bus fixed. It wasn’t his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked okay when we left.  Scoutmaster Keith said that with a bus that old you have to expect something to break down; that’s probably why he can’t get insurance. We think it’s a neat bus. He doesn’t care if we get it dirty, and if it’s hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the fenders. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in a bus made for 24. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrol man stopped and talked to us.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before March 2010, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

*****

Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

Her name is Ardella.  Well, that’s what I call her anyway.  Come to think of it, she may not be so much of a “her” as an “it” but what the heck, if my little pea brain wants to think of her as a “her” then who am I to quibble over details? 

I think I may have seen her once.  Actually, it was more of a “glimpse” than anything.  Sort of like a blurry white dress moving from the hall into the TV room.  Or maybe it was just the effect of one of those tiny eye globby things.  I dunno.  It’s hard to be sure about a lot of this stuff.  The way I have her pictured though, she’s about thirty years old, five foot six, with long blondish hair – and oh yeah, well proportioned.  Hey, it’s my image and I can manipulate it any way I want!

We first met in the men’s locker room at my last regular job.  Seriously!  I had actually suspected for some time that “someone” – or something - was hanging around.  It was just one of those feelings I’d had – along with the periodic leg chills that made me feel like I was standing knee deep in North Atlantic waters.  So there I was, doing what I needed to do when suddenly there was that old familiar “feeling”.  And yes, leg chills.  I decided it was time to find out what the heck was going on.

“OK, enough of the silliness.  Just who or what the hell are you?”

“Ardella…”  said the female voice thought.

“I suppose there’s some point to this?”

Silence…

I decided that I’d been working entirely too hard – even though it was peculiar that the name “Ardella” had popped into my head.   That’s not a particularly common name and it did get my attention.  I would have expected something more exotic though for a “being” from the other side.  Maybe a name that sounded more like one of those heavier elements on the Periodic Table.  Or maybe something that had mostly consonants and ended in the letter “z”.  But Ardella?  Strange…  And our meeting site?  Stranger yet…

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