I read a short story yesterday in Sci-Fi collection I have. The story itself tied in with a famous work by another author and looked at the situation from a different angle. What stuck with me was a continued effort of the main character to figure out the origins of society. The whys and hows why we keep certain things and get rid of others. The eventual conclusion was that local communities influence what society, as a whole, deems important. For the Sci-Fi story, this was all scientifically modeled to produce a way to determine the eventual outcome of certain actions.

Now it is interesting to me that sociologists do not yet have an accepted definition of the word community. The standard is a local group with a common interest or location. For sociologists, this doesn’t help much. Today it is even more confusing. This is very easy to see, since we now have global communities, cyber communities or online communities. Of course, we still have local communities.

Then I started thinking of all the communities I have been a part of. Some have been a better influence than others. Some I still consider myself to be part of, others not so much. But do we ever really leave a community? I’ve run into people I grew up with, people who lived just down the street. Even those I don’t run into have been influenced, for good or bad, from any interactions with me. And the same thing goes for me. People I’ve met have changed my life. Those interactions influenced choices I’ve made. By making those choices, I’ve influenced others I’ve been in contact with. Somewhat sobering thought, things I’ve done may now be influencing people I’ve never met.

And, I am a part of a few cyber communities. One of those is this blog. I wonder how many people take my words and somehow fit them in there lives. Could it be a movie review that makes them look up a show? A post about books I’ve read sends someone to the library? Or maybe a recipe gets someone to the kitchen to make an old family favorite. It is fun just to think about.

Of course, the one part of the communities I belong to where I had the biggest influence was my own family. I spent more time with them than any other part of the community at large. For good or bad, they’ve had me in their lives. That was some fun.

Some many moons ago, my wife decided to extend the Christmas season by just a little bit. Not to overwhelm the season, but to take the “I want” stage out of oldest child. We had the advent calendars, but they just seemed to bring on that inner consumer that my oldest daughter was (is???).

My wife decided to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. We told the story of St. Nicholas and how he eventually became known as Santa Clause. We also told how he gave to the people in need, not everyone. I like to think that this got more of the spirit of giving in our girls, but I never asked them. Anyway early on Dec 6 we would investigate our Christmas Stockings. The very first gifts of the season.

As parents we would put in a small gift that would take some attention away from the other getting. There would be fruit, candy and a Christmas Ornament from Grandma.

We carried on this tradition for many years. I know at least two of the girls (maybe 3) still celebrate the day. I hope it is the spirit of giving, not getting.

This is the 6th Christmas Season without my lovely wife by my side. A time mixed with dark thoughts and bright lights. With only my youngest at home, this may be one of the last time St. Nicholas visits this house. The traditions are changing as life changes.

It started off so well. I was leaving just a bit early so I could get some gas and other necessities. Oops, a mile from home I noticed that I forgot my boots. Important item for the play, so I had to turn around.

Back out for the second time, still early, but without as much leeway, I heard a funny noise from my truck when I turned a corner. Thinking I had something stuck, I got out and noticed that my tire was flat. ARRGH.

No problem, I have AAA…. I called my daughter to say I would not be able to pick her up and got out my AAA card to call for service. Dang it expired in November. Why don’t I remember the bill. I must have missed it.

Not to worry I can change a tire. Oops no flashlight, I couldn’t find the jack!!! I couldn’t see to change the tire. The countdown to the play was running fast. Call my daughter to pick me up!! Slowly move the truck to a safe location. And hope nobody tows the truck away before I could get the tire changed.

Show turned out well tonight. My oldest and youngest daughters were in attendance. As much as I love having friends in the audience, it is special when I get to entertain my family. Unfortunately, I was not able to spend as much time with them as I would have liked. I still had a tire to change.

Found a light, a jack and the lug wrench. A few chilly minutes later the temporary spare was in place. I was ready to go home for a cup of warm tea.

Tomorrow is another day, and I will have to see if I can find someplace to get some tires before the 2:30 show. So now I know what Santa is getting me for Christmas. I don’t recall asking for that.

Since I’ve been sharing some family hints in the kitchen, I remembered many stories and recipes that went together. Most of these stories were due to the fact that my children were picky about the food they ate. Some are more picky, some grew out of the picky stage. As you may be able to tell, some are still in the picky stage. I’ve decided that my blog is not the ‘stage’ that I want for these stories and recipes. Some may make it here, just because they were so much fun. Others will not. After this project is finished I may want to share the completed work, at least with my girls. 😉

Why share this here? I think I need a little bit of pestering just to get it done. So I’m asking, maybe begging, for my loyal readers to comment on this post every so often. Ask me how it is going, or even if I worked on it.

Some fun Huh?

Since today is election day, I thought I would do a rare political post.

The great state of Ohio gave us the following laws

In Ohio it is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday, however, no one can be arrested on a Sunday or the 4th of July….

It is illegal to get a fish drunk.

In Canton Ohio it is illegal to play any game in the public parks without the Superintendent’s permission.

In Cleveland it is illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

In Youngstown it is illegal to run out of gas.

Now that is just a few dumb laws for more in Ohio and other states Click Here.

After reading just a few of these laws I wonder if anyone would trust a politician to make laws that really matter. They are the one who made these laws. As far as I know there still are no wild whales in Ohio.

Now I want a sandwich.  I’m watching a show about sandwiches.  Roast beef of all kinds and now a ground beef sandwich that isn’t a burger.  It looks like a sloppy joe without the sauce.  Just cooked ground beef.  It looks good.   It is just amazing the number of ways you can make beef sandwiches.  On to Philly Beef Steaks and Hoagies.

I’m not sure how somebody got a job traveling around the country tasting various sandwiches.  Can I have that job.   Ok, maybe not.  Some of these sandwiches look just bad.

Now this got me thinking of my favorite sandwiches.  I’ve written about my comfort foods before, so I may have to give a list of just sandwiches.   I guess I’m thinking of things that you normally won’t find in restaurants.     I guess this week, I will try a few sandwiches and see what I like the best.

On the way home from Ft Wayne this evening, I stopped at a place for a hot dog. I ordered a Chicago Style dog, not knowing exactly what I would get, but I was in the mood for something different. It was an OK hot dog, I think. It was covered with so much stuff, I was pushed to even taste the hot dog.

Ok, you Chicagoans (is that correct?), what is it with the BRIGHT GREEN sweet relish? Is this normal? I was curious as to what exactly was in that, but it tasted like a sweet pickle relish, so I just ignored the color. Anyway, I’m not sure how close this was to an authentic Chicago Dog, so here is what was on it. Diced onion, bright green relish, a kosher dill wedge, tomato wedges, mustard, hot dog, poppy seed roll and some celery salt (I think?? that is what it tasted like). Anyway I think the dog was a beef hot dog, but like I said, it was smothered.

The root beer at Dogs and Suds is really good. The medium size is served in an ice cold mug (just the way I like it). It was a less sweet, more bite root beer. Sort of like Barq’s and it may have been draft.

Good place to eat, just north of I-69 in Fort Wayne exit 111.

Since early this summer, the powers that be have been building an extension on the street where I work. The paving appeared to have been finished late last week. I thought that the road would be open early this week at this week. I’m looking forward to it, since it will cut off 2 miles from my daily trip to work. On top of that it will be one less light. I’m still waiting.

It could be that they are waiting to paint the lines on the road. This would be easier to do on a closed road. I can understand that. This week has not been the best for paint. Cool/cold and rainy most of the week. Maybe next week. I know it won’t be tomorrow, the road crews don’t seem to work on Fridays.

I’m not sure how many people know this, but my feet tend to give me problems. Nothing really serious, but at the end of most days, my feet are always sore and tired. It doesn’t matter if I’m wearing dress shoes, casual shoes, running shoes, walking shoes, work boots or even no shoes, the end result is the same. Except for two days this week.

I have been looking for a pair of square toed harness boots. My brother had a pair that he wore until they completely wore out. He always said they were the most comfortable things he ever wore. I found a pair on Friday evening. They were a bit pricey for me, but I said what the heck. I needed some new shoes, and these could also be worn on stage. Two things for the price of one. Stage and shoes/boots for the winter months. Not the same brand my brother had, but they were a good pair of boots.

Anyway, I wore them all day Saturday (and into the early morning hours) and put them on again on Sunday. After 24+ hours of wear (and remember these are ‘new’ boots), my feet on both evenings felt fine. Good support all day without any binding. I don’t think my feet would have felt any better if I had stayed in bed all day…. That was totally unexpected.

And the strange thing about all this… My brother (even though he has been gone from this earth since 2003) was right again. At least this time he can’t rub it in….

PRICE WARS!!!

It appears that major toy resellers are trying very hard to get your holiday dollars. With hard economic times, we all need a break or two, so this could be a benefit to those out shopping for children they know.

According to the article Toys-R-Us is going to open mini shops just in time for Christmas. These may or may not have good deals, but they will give some out of work people short term jobs for the holidays.

Wal-Mart has a $10 toy sale, so that again may or may not be a good deal. It all depends on the toy.

I heard that Target was having some Christmas event with the Toy department too, but I have not found any news story online to back it up.

Or you could do what I plan on doing… Dig a hole in your backyard and hide until the Christmas shopping season is over… 😉 Oops, I can’t do that, I’m in a play. Oh yeah, that is like hiding until something is over. I won’t have time for anything else.