Diem Carping...

I had explained my personal dilemma in another post, and now I think I have made a decision, at least for now.

I named the horse. His name is Toby.

_{I wanted to name him Taffy, but my sweetheart man chose Toby. I thought it was so neat that we both chose names that began with “T”, so we flipped a coin to choose!}

Then, my guy started putting props on the horse. My dog even respects the horse, by not pulling at him and generally keeping his distance.

Everyone, please give Toby a big 43T welcome!

When President Truman retired from office in 1952, his income was substantially a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an ‘allowance’ and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, ‘You don’t want me. You want the office of the president, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale!’

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, ‘I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.’

Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale.

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, ‘My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!’

Yesterday, I had to go to the dentist for a checkup. I had been nervous about it, for no good reason really. I have very healthy teeth, and as a pleasant surprise I found that I still had dental insurance coverage in place.

Therefore, I had no reason to be stiff as a board and clenched-jaw tight for my twice-yearly cleaning and checkup. My dentist does the entire process himself except for the final polish, so it was him who I dealt with firsthand.

“Can I tell you a joke?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied.

“Ok, there was this attractive young woman who had to go to the dentist. And like you, she was very nervous.”

“Okay.”

“Very nervous, just like you. And she asks the dentist, how bad is it, are you going to have to numb me up?”

“And the dentist answers her, ‘Yes, I’m going to numb you up real good, don’t worry.”

“Then, she breathes a sigh of relief just before the dentist bends down, puts his face into her cleavage and goes….

“NUM-NUM-NUM-NUM-NUMMM!”

I laughed so hard that I got him laughing, and we had to stop three times for both of us to compose ourselves.

Here is a picture of my first fledgling baby!

I found this sign while cutting through a funky neighborhood on errands today ….

There were limbs lost, and a few tears on both sides.

However, the tomato plants are now (im?)properly caged!

My mint is stating to root!

Most of it is still looking healthy and green, and only a few sprigs have outright shriveled.

In a few days, I’ll be ready to reassess and transplant some into fresh soil.

The tomato plants are doing quite well!

Soon I will have to install their cages to support their ever-growing heights….

... is reveling in the arms of someone you love who also loves you.

My tomato plants are doing well, despite my recent neglect. I was feeling guilty about this so today I planted them into buckets. I still need to poke some drainage holes, but I can do that tomorrow.