Congratulations to Jason and Amy on their recent nuptials!
When I learned Jason and Amy were getting married, I mentioned to Jason that every wedding that I have been to where cake has been smashed in either the bride's face or the groom's face, has ended in divorce.
Thus the picture and rather cryptic note on Jason's blog.
Some thoughts on cake smashing here
More cake smashing thoughts here
Still more opinions here.
And here.
Earlier I related my fronting a red-headed lady $26.00 for gasoline at the convenience store.
My brother John, aka JohnInOcala, (soon to be JohnInDaytonaBeach or LongRoofJohn) added the following comment to that post:
It must be an inheritance from Bob Lee. A couple weeks ago, a similar thing happened to me at local Cstore, with a young woman, in a worn out Chevy Cavalier, looking for $16 for a night in the shelter for her and her two kids, in the car. Gave her twenty, even though unemployed, and have the same feelings of gullibility. john 5.21.2008 9:39 PM
Wonder if this was thought up by the Missouri Automobile Dealers Association: Guns or Gas.
From STLtoday.com: The sad legacy of the Jetton era.
Here's my Jetton story: In 2002, as I was preparing to seek the state representative's seat in the new 138th district here in Springfield, Mark Wright and Brad Rourke caught up with me in Jefferson City at the Capitol building and said Rod Jetton wanted to see me. I asked what would he want with me. Wright and Rourke said Jetton wanted me to register and run for the seat as a Republican. Jetton had told them to tell me that if I did that he would see to it that I became chair of the house education committee.
I told them I appreciated his interest, but I wasn't interested.
That guy who cures gay people* eventually won the seat. He was beat by Sara Lampe.
Trey and Austin's Mom called me and asked if I would pick the boys up from school this afternoon. I was cutting down a tree at my Mom's old house behind Pricecutter's and dulled the chainsaw blade. It was hot work and I was ready to take a break.
I picked Austin up at WINGS, he was sad because it was the last day there and his best buddy was moving to Dallas, TX. I told Austin after we picked up Trey, we'd swing by Fast Bobbie's and get a frozen Coke. He cheered up quickly.
We got to Sunshine and picked up Trey and headed to the convenience store. While there, I filled up the Suburban. I have learned to fill it up whenever I get below full because gas goes up so fast and the Suburban burns a lot of gas with the big 454Chevrolet motor. I'm driving the Suburban this week while the private nurse is driving the S-10: her Honda is in the shop getting a new paint job.
So, we are at the convenience store at Campbell and Sunshine and I am fueling the vintage Suburban when I notice the car at the pump behind me has a donut spare on the right front and the driver, a red headed woman, is approaching me.
Well, yep, she spins me a tale of misfortune and woe. She and her buddy live up by Rolla and have been to NAMI to an autism conference (her son is autistic as is the child of her buddy) and leaving NAMI they have a flat and pull into Pricecutter's parking lot and watch the air escape the tire.
She related that she asked several people for help but no one helped change the tire. Finally, she gave a man her last $20.00 to change the flat. I told her that guy was a jerk and she wasn't much better: giving away her last twenty, her gas tank sitting on "E" and still 70 miles from home.
She asked if I would loan her $5 for gas. I said no, but when I got done fueling I would put five gallons in her car off of my pump. I ended up pumping $26.00 worth of fuel in her car. She took one of my cards and said she would send me the money when she got home.
I asked where she worked, she said she was a SAHM because her son had such severe behavior problems he couldn't be left alone.
After I shut the pump off, I went into the store and got Trey and Austin their frozen Cokes. I also told the boys if they ever saw a lady with a flat, to fix it and don't charge her $20.00, because it's the right thing to do.
I took the boys back to our house and they ate Ramon noodles and watched a little TV, then played in the front yard until their Mom came and got them.
Me, I sat on the porch and watched them play. It was wonderful. After they left, I got to thinking about the lady and the gas. I should have told her to go back to NAMI, surely they have emergency funds for their clients. I wondered who was watching the two ladies' kids while they were in Springfield for the conference. I wondered if they made it back to Rolla area on the donut spare. They said they were only going to drive 55 mph. I wondered if I got beat out of $26.00.
I only put gas in her tank for two reasons: she mentioned NAMI and said she had an autistic son. NAMI stands for National Alliance of the Mentally Ill. We all fit into that category sometimes and we can use all the help we can get. My niece's son is autistic. If the lady hadn't mentioned those two things I would have sent her to the Salvation Army which is right down the street or back to NAMI. But I didn't.
Trey asked me why I put gas in that lady's car. I told him that sometimes people need a little help and sometimes I feel like helping them. I also told him that if he was ever 70 miles from home, with an empty tank, and only $20 and he has a flat tire, don't give a man $20 to change the flat because he will end up having to beg gas at a convenience store.
All in all, her story was almost worth $26.00. I am on a fixed income. I watch what I spend very carefully. I remember when I was a young man and never been kissed, I got to thinking it over, and boy was I pissed. Oh wait, that's a whole other story.
This one is about how in 1973 I was working at a warehouse making $3.25 an hour and Joe Cox, a guy I worked with, equated the cost of everything into how many hours he had to work to pay for it. Like, if a steak dinner in a restaurant cost $6.50, Joe would ask, "Is this steak dinner really worth two hours work?" I still do that today. That's why I am happy with a "30 pack" and a five pound bag of "salted in the shells" and sitting in the backyard sipping slow out of styrofoam cups, wondering if the ladies made it home and wondering why I even care.
I just won't eat the Rib Crib's "All You Can Eat Ribs And Two Sides" for $10.99 plus tax and tip, twice.
May 19, 2008
Media Advisory
For Immediate Release
The Springfield-Greene County Park Board will host an unveiling
ceremony at 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 20, at the Jordan Valley Ice Park, 635 E.
Trafficway.
Representatives from Mediacom Communications and the
Springfield-Greene County Park Board will be on-hand for the announcement of naming
rights of two City and Park Board facilities, which Springfield City
Council approved this evening at its bi-weekly meeting.
For more information, contact: Jodie Adams, Director of Parks, (417)
864-1049.
Bob Nelson
Public Information Administrator
Springfield-Greene County Parks
P.O. Box 8368
840 Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65801
Office: 417-864-1403
Fax: 417-864-1114
One of the neatest things about watching Sophie grow and learn, is all the new things she becomes exposed to. And it goes beyond chicken pox. Yesterday afternoon Sophie entertained us all with her first encounter with Missouri grown corn on the cob. Sweet corn, sweet Sophie! 
The SN-L had ran a story in today's paper about the proposed sale of the Hickory Hills School on East Chestnut and ByPass 65. Buried in this story was this quote:
Rognstad said the city has offered RLB Properties and developers interested in the south property the option to set up a community improvement district. That would mean the retail establishments developed there would charge higher sales tax -- up to 1 cent on the dollar -- which would ultimately be refunded back to the developers to help them pay for the improvements they had to finance.Oh yeah. 1 cent on the dollar is 1%.
Awesome Austin!
Terrific Trey!
And the prettiest one of all, Just Jaycee!
