Newspaper and other random

1) The local paper, the Leavenworth Times, is down to 5 days a week.  Tu-Fr, Saturday "Weekend" version.  I've chatted with my bride as to whether subscribing is worth it.  Used to subscribe to the once-weekly Kansas Chief out of Wathena (mailed every Thursday) back when I lived in Doniphan County.  That way I knew who was running against me.

2) I now deliver six shopper routes on Tuesdays.  Totaling over 1,400 papers, the six routes run from 22nd to Esplanade, Metropolitan to Spruce (although it's not every route in that rectangle which basically covers the northern 1/3 of Leavenworth)  I include my younger three kids, and split the pay with them. (Molly works at the grocery store, and I've invited her, but she's not interested.)

3) I used a newspaper analogy to discuss my choices for conversation once.  I'd bore you if I talked too much world news, politics, or sports.  I don't care about fashion, celebrities, or Kardashians.  So what's there to talk about besides customers asking about 16-foot boards,

4) After going on another of my patented news-feed/subscribed-to purges, my twitter board looks like this:
People: 18
Leavenworth: 8
Pastors: 5
Music/Radio: 3
Other: 4
Used to follow a lot of other things, but...sometimes you have to pick what's really important.  Of course, then it gets to the point where you still check your FB/twitter, only to find out no one's posted in several hours.

5) Need to get some of those #mondaymelody blogs loaded up before the 4th.  I'm all the way to Labor Day.  So it's just a case of uploading 10 blogs.  (Never been that far ahead on blogging before.)

6) Thinking about what I'll write for my FB/twitter bio.  This is what my twitter bio currently is:
Married, father of four, oldest of ten. Leavenworth is my home. sed in his omnibus superamus propter eum qui dilexit nos : VIII XXXVII

7) Although a few of my friends have their own FB page for their creative stuff...don't plan on doing that in the immediate future.  I just don't have much to say.

Orlando

1st. I've already heard enough of the comments that are more fit for Westboro signs than this blog. And although I'm aware of the logic behind it...the next one who says something like that might get a "Fine, if you're going to quote the verse, take the rest of it and see who else will be spending eternity in the smoking section." from me.
And the people who my friends are willing to give a "maybe they'll change their mind" to...it makes me sick.

2nd. There are two lines that slant downward on my chart, and I bring them up often discussing mass shootings. In the United States, gun violence is down over the last 20-25 years. General violence is down over the last 20-25 years. Mass shootings are way up over the last 20-25 years. My brother has often lamented about what kind of world his young daughters are inheriting. He's a wise man. On the overall, it's a safer world than the world we grew up in, although a few of the dangers have increased.

3rd. Orlando just isn't another city to me. I have a couple connections to this mourning city. My parents met in Orlando. And I can reasonably assume that I was actually conceived there. And that city is the last place I flew to during my programming career, for a conference discussing and testing various wargames and their interaction. Orlando is the southernmost place I've ever visited.

4th. There are people who want to remind us that Isis is at war with the West. If the actions of the Orlando shooter are to be considered an act of war, then what is the appropriate response? Should there be a responsive declaration of war from our Congress, in accordance with our constitution? Should we be running more drone strikes and airstrikes against Isis targets? Should we bring in more special forces to sneak in and kill Al Qaeda and Isis number twos? (most dangerous job ever: Isis or Al Qaeda number two) Or is this a time to order boots on the ground and reconquer the territories held by ISIS, create a new secular state, and make it so unfriendly to Jihad either by running a religious test and only letting pacifist imams into the territory, or else make it clear that radicalization will not be tolerated. How we would threaten that is a fair question. I don't know if these are good ideas. It is just various options we can talk about.

5th. I occasionally wonder if we are giving these rascals too much credit. Perhaps their names should be not in their own echelon of criminal behavior, but merely call them criminals. Not terrorists, although their actions do scare the hell out of us. And perhaps deny them even the connection to the faith which they claim, and which others claim they pervert. Call the murderer just another criminal. Deny him in death any glory.

Finally. "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."
Guns just make it easier to kill people, hurt people, or threaten people.

Diamond

When I speak of marital longevity, I don't speak about my parents (18 years - mid20s if you count the years the state of Kansas considered them common-law married); nor do I speak of my in-laws (22 years).

I speak of my paternal grandparents (50 years, 10 months, and some days - both Jim & Ruby passed away the same year.)  And I speak with honor of my maternal grandparents (60 years.)

SIXTY years.  This is their diamond anniversary.

I'm in awe.  And respect.

They have four children, seventeen grandchildren, and at least thirteen great-grandchildren.  An awesome legacy of a great couple.

Although he had other jobs, the one I'm told about most is that my grandfather worked for the US Postal service.  And my grandmother worked for the school district as a deaf interpreter.  In addition, my grandmother has worked with the deaf for many years, and is an ordained Assemblies of God minister to the deaf.

God bless Ed & Diann.

Scatterbrained.

It's a lot easier to blog about my past, guided by a hand-picked list of events and tunes #mondaymelody starting July 4; than it is to blog about my present or my future.

Going for the old bullet points method.

• One of my kids has a peanut allergy that has accelerated quickly.  Packing benadryl, inhaler, epi-pen, and reading labels thoroughly.  But...I'm scared.  And after what happened this week - the worst reaction yet - I've never seen any of my children in that much danger before.  
• This whole summer job thing is bringing in some serious cash for my kids.  Molly works with Ivy at the grocery store, and she's rocking in the bakery & deli.  Noah and Olivia are helping one of our friends in church with some yardwork.  And the younger three (Noah, Olivia, Zack) are hitting downtown on the weekly Shopper route each Tuesday.  
• I'm posting a lot of political thoughts under the hashtag #ksleg on my twitter feed.  Being somewhat neutral on the twitter, although for multiple reasons, I know who I'm voting for the 41st House District.  #teamtony
• Copa America.  As of posting, the US needed a result to advance to the bracket phase, which would probably mean a matchup with Brazil at New Jersey's Metlife Stadium.  We've almost beat Brazil a couple times, but it's Brazil.
• Watched Agenda 2: Masters of Deception last week.  tl;dr - Author makes somewhat convincing case that USA is being prodded in multiple directions away from liberty and towards ever-increasing gov't, potentially ending with the US turning into a socialist/communist country.  
• I spend a hell of a lot of time in my car making small trips.  1 mile to my wife's job; 3 miles to my job; 3 miles to Wal-Mart; 1 mile to church; 1 mile to my kid's self-defense class; all those miles on the previously mentioned Shopper route.  Even without a 45-mile one-way commute, I'm still going less than a week between refilling my gas tank. #firstworldproblems
• I miss Xanga.  #2eprops
• My grandparents...that might be worth breaking the Saturday rule.  #06/16/56