November 23rd, 2024
“ Dobroho ranku”, or “Good Morning!” in Ukrainian, is an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine. I have decided that the UJT will remain focused on Ukraine until we can all rejoice at the end of hostilities. It has been 1019 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.
This week I learned some stuff:
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- As a kid, my favorite holidays were always Christmas and my birthday. As an adult I came to almost dread them for various reasons, But Thanksgiving is the perfect fat old guy holiday!!! Seeing everyone together, all the food, the pies, and did I mention all the food!!! We are ramping up around here. The turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and pecan pie makings are all stocked. We even got a little ham for the turkey hater in the clan. Are you ready at your house?
- This week I finished my Christmas Project, and with my waterfall project on hold until more help is available, I restarted my stained glass project. I have improved my workspace by adding another table outside by the pond and covering it with plywood. It has been a long time since I used my circular saw and it felt really good to do it again. I am now figuring out if my glass will do or if I need to buy more. I have all the lead came, solder, and flux required. Keep your fingers crossed!
- I am a pain in the butt to buy Christmas and Birthday presents for. Mostly, if I need it, I go and get it, but my kids asked me to help them out last year by putting up a Wish List on Amazon. This is a list of things I probably would not buy for myself(because I haven’t) but might enjoy trying out. You don’t have to get the stuff at Amazon but I would guess most do. Anyway, if you have people like me on your list, you might want to suggest that they create a list on Amazon.
- You can find out all about today’s history here.
This week’s Website Update: I
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- This week, I have created a new “Whores Day Vors” (Teehee. sounds so much better than “Appetizer”) for this holiday. I call it the Cheesy Pickle/Pepper cup. The gang around here seemed to like them.
- This week, the Home Page will quote the great Winnie the Pooh, “A hug is always the right size.”. this quote reminds me of the first time I met Marsha Clark. We met under some fairly tense conditions and, as always, just got all the d passionate parties to play nice and achieved our mutual goal in. At the time, she was the Account Manager of one of EDS’ largest banking customers whose contract was up for recompute. Masha called in some “fresh eyes”. It was a bumpy ride, but she herded all the cats to the finish line. As we were getting ready to leave, she came up to me and gave me the first and biggest hug I have ever received from a business executive. I was so surprised and honored. That moment remains one of my career highlights. We have been good friends ever since.
Bonsai Tree and Stained Glass, Update:
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- I am sorting glass for my next stained glass adventure! WooHoo!
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
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- This week I had a flashback to when I was a boy growing up in the 50’s and 60’s. Once WWII ended, unlike the rest of the world, the US had a wave of prosperity roll over the middle class. Unlike WWI, vets came home to find good high-paying jobs, and with the GI bill millions of houses began to dot the landscape, forming “the Suburbs”. middle-class Americans, dressed for dinner and enjoyed cocktail hours before their dinners. TVs and two-car families were to be found almost everywhere, But I remembered that people carried linen or cotton handkerchiefs as part of the daily uniform. On TV, whenever the female lead started to cry, the male lead always produced a pristine white hanky from his suit pocket. Even as youngster, my Mom or Grandma would dutifully put our washed and ironed hanks in our pockets. I think this was mostly wishful thinking that if we had handkerchiefs, we would be less inclined to wipe our runny noses on our sleeves. In the days before paper towels, my alleges would fill my hanky pretty fast before I switched to toilet paper or those school paper towels that had slivers of wood in them. Unlike he movies, I never got a chance to offer my hanky to any distressed damsel. If I had, it would have been soggy and gross. Ewww!
Music Update:
Again this week, I am featuring songs from my top 50 list on iTunes. This is another big brother feature from Apple. Itunes keeps track of what you play the most. Oh boy! The funny thing though, when I looked at it, I liked all the songs 🙂 This a random sample in no particular order.
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
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- Blind Faith — Can’t Find My Way Home — Always a favorite since the very first time I heard it. This is from their great album,“Blind Faith” album released in 1969.
- Ton Petty & the Heartbreakers — American Girl — Another Love at First Sight song for me. This comes from their iconic album, “Refugee” released in 1979.
. - Blood. Sweat & Tears — Bless the Child — I am not sure how many people know that Steve Miller and Bob Scaggs grew up together in North Dallas. This is a Box written song released in 1994 box set.
- Bruce Springsteen — Growing Up —. This was my introduction to Bruce’s brilliance. “Greetings from Ashbury Park. NJ.” came out in 1973 and changed the world.
- Jimmy Buffett — Chanson Pour Les Petits Enfants — I don’t do “Favorites” but this comes out pretty high on my “Oh Boy!” scale. “Volcano” came out just as i needed it really badly in 1979.
- Blodwyn Pig —Change Song — This mostly unheard of band just blew me way when I heard their album,”Ahead Rings Out” released in 1969. I think I owe my friend George Gomez a shout-out for turning me on to the guys.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; Always remember… The best is yet to come! As always, thank you for being my friend!