Category: Blog
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The Route (Part 1)
Year: Circa 1970 My Favorites Songs in 1970 “Let It Be” by The Beatles…really anything by the Beatles. “Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head” by B.J. Thomas. “American Woman” by The Guess Who. My brother had this album, so I listened to it quite a bit. “I’ll Be There” by The Jackson 5—yea, the J5…
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Harvey and the Hayshakers: Part 2
Becoming Hound Dog Headliner and Leisure Suits Times were good in the 1970’s and early 1980’s in my hometown of Shenandoah. The farm economy was strong, a new Eaton’s Transmission factory just opened (eventually employing about 400 people) there were 4 Seed and Nursery companies, a gate factory and a robust main street. Main street…
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Harvey and the Hayshakers
Becoming Hound Dog Part 1: The Music and the Passion Typically, on Sunday afternoons after church, dad would break out his guitar and start strumming and singing. He would sing what I would call country music classics such as: Johnny Cash- “Folsom Prison Blues”. Hank Williams: Your Cheating Heart, Hey Good Looking, Jambalaya, I’m So…
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Elon Musk: Multi-Dimensional
I recently finished the book, “Elon Musk”, by Walter Isaacson. I really enjoyed it, but I do not intend this Post to be a book review by any stretch. I consider myself pretty-well read when it comes to current events, history and contemporary biographies. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by what…
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And Now the Rosary…..
Reference my Blog post on 12/31/24. “Sales of Bibles are Booming” A recent article on Fox called “Rosary’ beats Rogan: Is faith-based media becoming mainstream”, reported that The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR)” climbed to #1 on Apple Podcasts to start off the new year…” Now will that last? No idea,…
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An Outhouse on Main Street- October 31, 1974
Growing up in the 70’s was really awesome. No cell phones, no social media, no Xbox or Play Station. Games like Pong and Space Invaders were just introduced but you had to go to Pizza Hut or a local bar to play. If you wanted have a good time you had to be a bit…
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Ralph’s Peach Schnaps
My dad delivered fuel to many farmers in the surrounding area for about 65 years. His first worked for COOP, then started his own business with the DX brand. He drove a fuel truck that would hold, I would guess, 1,500 to 1,800 gallons of diesel fuel or gas for tractors, combines, grain trucks etc.…
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Open a Book, Open Your Mind
If you read my previous Blog entries, you should get the sense that I am a proponent of reading, especially history if one is going to position himself/herself for exercising the discipline of critical thinking. As you probably know, many of the world’s greatest minds were or are avid readers, not only of history, but…
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The Blizzard
Friday the 13th. What could go wrong? And it was April…..Spring! My wife Jan and I were moving items we purchased from Colorado to Iowa. I was driving a mini-van and my wife was driving a SUV. We checked the weather and it was a go….so we took off on what should be about a…
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Read, Read Read; Think, Think Think; Write, Write Write
Years ago, I was working on a business proposal. The proposal lead (Ron) had some wisdom that still rings a bit true about 25 years later. He said before you write a single word in regard to the proposal, “Read, Read, Read”. Next, “Think, Think, Think”, and finally, “Write, Write, Write”. He actually wrote this…
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Sales of Bibles are Booming
I recently read on article in the Wall Steet Journal (December 1, 2024) called “Sales of Bibles are Booming, Fueled by First Time Buyers and New Versions.” There was been a 22% jump in Bible sales in 2024. The real question is “why”? Are people looking in other directions for hope and positive messages? A scaffold for…
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History and Karma
I do not intend to get into political opinions on any topic. I do want to relate some past relevant events to the election this year. I believe Hillary Clinton coined the word for the supporters of Trump as “deplorables”. That was introduced when she ran against trump in 2016, but was dredged up again…
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How to Make Friends Circa 1970:
Good friends are hard to come by. Friends who stick together for over 55 years are even more of a rarity. My great friend Randy and I still talk about how we met so many years ago. We first met when we got into a fist fight with each other…a great start to a relationship.…
My View from 1958 