Category: Uncategorized

Sweetie and I have written another book
and we’d like it if you would take a look.

You can order it here if you’d like one
or get a copy from Amazon.com

It’s available in the Kindle format
or in paperback if you’d prefer that.

We think it might be our best ever
as time goes by, we’re getting better.

(Though you wouldn’t know it by this poem)

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #300

About: Education

“If ya ain’t never been taught no better,
ya ain’t likely to do no better.”

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From The Hints Book Almanac II
©R. L. King & Donna Hale Chandler

 AUTOMOTIVE HINTS – Cold weather – On cold wintry nights, coat your car windows with a solution of 3 parts of white distilled vinegar to 1 part of water. You’ll wake up in the morning with frost-free windows. Another Cold weather tip – On cold wintry nights, coat your car doors gaskets with vegetable oil to prevent freezing in the winter months.

 

SHE JUST KEPT MOVING ON
© R.L.King 2012  From the book NICE & NAUGHTY

He could see an inner strength, yet he knew that she’d known pain.
He sensed that she’d known passion, she was anything but plain.
She was built strong and beautiful, then they’d broken the mold,
but someone had left a scar, which seemed not so very old.
He could tell that she’d been hurt, but she hadn’t fallen for the con.
She might well have given up, but instead she just moved on.

There was sadness in her eyes, and loneliness in her heart.
He wanted to bring her comfort,  not knowing where to start.
It hadn’t been an easy life; she’d lived it on the fly,
mostly day to day, just managing to get by.
Nor had it been real joyful, she hadn’t known much fun.
Yet, she’d managed to survive, somehow she just kept moving on.

One day she moved on to him, or maybe he made the move on her,
what ever the case may be, they’re both so glad it occurred.
Suddenly her life had meaning; she knew he was the one,
she’d finally found her place in life, she’s no longer moving on.
“He could see an inner strength, yet he knew that she’d known pain,
he sensed that she’d known passion, with him she would again.

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Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #324

About: Plannin ahead

“Nobody has a lock on tomorrow.”

By:  Donna Hale Chandler

It was Christmas of 2008, my sweetie gave me what I’m sure was supposed to be a Christmas gift that would bring me hours of pleasure and simplify my life in the process. I am a technology-challenged 60 year-old female so when I opened the shiny new DVR, it looked to me like a nightmare from hell. Not only would it need to be hooked up PROPERLY to my television, I would also need to LEARN how to use it.

Oh horrors! This man is smiling at me as if he’s given me the world and my head is already starting to ache in protest. I’m doubtful that the old brain cells are able to learn one more new thing. I don’t want to seem ungrateful and I certainly don’t want to appear stupid so I squeal with delight, declaring that this is exactly what I’ve been wanting and I can hardly wait to see how it works.

Hours later, ‘honey’ goes home and leaves me with a DVR all correctly connected and a brand new remote control in my hand. Although he has several times, explained how to use the remote, he could have been speaking a foreign language as far as I was concerned.

I, however, am not a quitter and a few days later I at least know how to turn my TV on and off when suddenly something goes wrong. Oh no, what did I do to break it? No picture, no sound, this can’t be good. Track down the Owner’s Manual, find the troubleshooting page. No picture, no sound, check connections. Well, unless the DVR demons came in while I was sleeping, the connections should be right. It worked yesterday.

Ah ha, an 800 number, just what I need. Ages and ages and ages later the nice, polite DVR service rep decided that I must need a replacement. One would be mailed to me the next morning. Yikes! That means, disconnecting and re-connecting the thing AGAIN.

Sure enough, the replacement DVR is delivered, the broken one is re-packed and taken to UPS to ship back and the replacement DVR is hooked up. When I turn on the TV, there’s no picture and no sound. Again, I unhook everything, starting all over by hooking it up all over again. Still, there is no picture and no sound.

Now where did I put that 800 number? It was just like an instant replay, push this button, disconnect this wire, reconnect wire, and push 3 buttons at the same time while singing American the Beautiful, nothing worked. AGAIN, it was decided that another replacement was what I needed.

By the time I stopped crying from frustration, the THIRD DVR arrived. Again, I pack away the non-functioning one. This time however, my son was visiting and everyone knows that young people automatically know now how to hook up anything and everything.

“No,” he says, “He doesn’t need the instructions.” I pace the floor as he twists and turns this cable and that cable, connects this wire, unhooks that one. Finally I hold my breath, and push the On Button. Picture, sound! I had picture and sound! I could even change the channels! The DVR Gods had taken pity on me.

I still need to learn to use the record, pause, back-up and go-forward buttons, set my ‘season passes’ etc., but I’ll manage somehow. Be careful, though, because believe me, a DVR would be hazardous to your blood pressure, even when it’s a gift from your special someone.

*********

Gram use’ta say“You have to wait until evening
to determine how wonderful the day was.”

*********

From The Hints Book Almanac
By Donna Hale Chandler and Richard Lee King

USES FOR ALUMINUM FOIL, cont’d

4. Decorate a cake – No pastry bag? Not a problem, just use a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil to form a tube. Fill it with frosting and toss it away when finished. No pastry bag to clean.
5. Make a salad bowl – The next time you’re invited to a pot luck and are assigned the duty of bringing an extra large salad, don’t panic if you don’t have a bowl large enough. Just line the kitchen sink with foil and toss away.
6. Keep rolls and breads warm – Wrap them in a napkin and place a layer of aluminum foil underneath. The foil will reflect the heat and keep your bread warm for quite a while.

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A BUDDY
© By: Richard L. King
From the book, Wanderin & Wonderin

A BUDDY
is someone who never judges ya,
never condemns ya,
never scolds ya,
always forgives ya
an always offers ya a beer afterwards.

A BUDDY
will do his best to help ya solve a problem
an even if the two of ya ain’t able to,
he’ll offer ya a beer
an make ya feel better
because ya tried.

A BUDDY
will kick yer ass in a game of pool,
then buy ya a beer
and if ya should happen to kick his ass,
he’ll still buy ya the beer.

A BUDDY
will go fishin with ya,
even if he don’t enjoy fishin,
jist because he knows you do.
An he’ll bring the beer.

A BUDDY
will always be willin
to watch the game with ya,
(Even if it’s been called off.)
any game, no matter what sport
they all go with a beer.

A  BUDDY
will share a beer with ya
no matter what the occasion
an if’n there ain’t no occasion,
he’ll help ya come up with one.

A REAL GOOD BUDDY
might not turn ya into an alcoholic,
but it won’t be from lack a tryin.

Why do ya think they called it BUD…weiser?

*********

Gramps use’ta say
© R.L.King 2012 #287

About: Social media

“Everybody ain’t gotta know everything.”

by Richard L. King

Something I read a few days ago brought back a memory of my childhood so I made a few notes and decided to get back to it later.  It’s now later.

When I was a kid a bunch of us from the neighborhood used to get together to ice skate on a pond in our neighborhood. Our closest neighbor lived over a quarter of a mile away so when I say neighborhood, it takes in quite a large area.   The ice skating pond was nearly a mile from our house, but that wasn’t much of a walk in those days. We used to build a fire out on the ice and mess around all afternoon and well into darkness.

Of course, what passed for ice skates in those days certainly wouldn’t pass muster in today’s world and the ice skates that I called mine had been through three older brothers and who knows how many total strangers, but a bonfire is a bonfire, even today.

I still think that roasting hot dogs using a stick broken off from an old bush is probably more enjoyable than using roasting forks from Field N Stream or Outdoor Life. In those days, a loaf of homemade bread served as our hotdog buns, but catsup is catsup and mustard is mustard. Then or now, there isn’t/wasn’t much difference.  Thinking about it now, I can almost taste that hot dog.  There’s just something different about one that you roasted yourself over an open flame, when it’s below freezing and it’s a long walk home.

Scraping the snow off from an area large enough to become our “rink” was half of the fun, but coming up with a stick that even remotely resembled a hockey stick, was highly unlikely. Old wooden lath held together by screws and adhesive tape may have looked better, but they were very fragile and rarely made it through an entire game.

Being the youngest boy in the neighborhood, meant a lot more watching, than playing,,,, although I will say that it’s awfully hard to eat a hot dog while your playing.

There may be something to be said about watching after all.

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Gramps use’ta say
© R.L.King 2012 #282

About: Friendship

“Giving generously of yourself,
usually offers the best return on your investment.”