I made it back home yesterday afternoon from my NC trip. I was just too tired to post anything yesterday. I was up at 3:50 A.M. eastern time while some of you were just going to bed. I had no flight delays and arrived at LAX early!

I enjoyed spending time with my family. I drove out to Raleigh to meet with my late wife’s youngest brother who is an officer in the Marines. I also flew up to Maryland to visit one of her other brothers and his family who is an officer in the Navy. He also has a restaurant in Pocomoke City, MD. Now if you want some great seafood and steaks you must stop by The Upper Deck on 1245 Ocean Highway. He has a really nice place there.

I helped my Dad in the garden and ate some fresh tomatoes, sweet white corn, okra, blackberries, green beans and yellow crook neck squash. I gained 10 pounds while there. Now it’s time to lose it. I think I shot over 400 rounds of ammunition though some of Dad’s rifles. Mom baked several blackberry cobblers. I gained 5 pounds from that alone.

I went fishing twice with my uncle and dad. I went down to Baden Lake to see my brother’s property. He has offered me a good deal on that and I’m thinking about buying it. I’m seriously considering living in NC for 6 months during the fall/winter season and here in CA the other 6 months. Eventually I’ll move to NC permanently. Now that I’m back, I have a ton of things to do.

I was really glad to find in my mailbox the signed and sealed Judgment. My life with that other person is officially over. I hope! Between now and October, I’ve so much to accomplish before I go back to NC. Here are few of my pictures for you to enjoy.

Red Cardinal, Male

Red Cardinal, Female

Tracker and Sassy sniffing for a rabbit.

Daddy picking green beans.

 Tracker posing for the camera.

Great blue heron on the lake behind Daddy's house.

You know what this is...

Me and my small stripped bass. The big one that got away broke my line.

I'm in NC for my summer vacation. But I'll admit, this is no normal vacation. I was up a 6 a.m. and by 6:30 a.m. I was out helping my Dad pick green beans. He has 3 long rows and by 11:30 a.m we picked over 3 bushels. I tell you the truth, I picked the most green beans today than I have picked all my life. Come Saturday, we'll do it again.

With all that work in the garden today my jeans got really dirty. And to top that off, Daddy's two beagles loved to run up and down between the muddy rows and jump on me. They were having so much fun. Of course, the dog lover I am, I didn't mind at all.

Then there is Tracker. Tracker, one of Dad's beagles, does something I've never seen a dog do before. When he gets to hot, he just jumps into his big tub of drinking water and cools off. And drinks from it too. I'll try to get a picture of that for you.

Okay. My ordeal is mostly over. I'm still waiting for the judgment to be signed, sealed and delivered.

So how do you show gratitude to the attorney and his staff for the work and accomplishments that were done? I've never been in this position before and don't have a clue.

 Well I leaned something new today. I can’t believe I haven’t seen of heard this before. It may be old news to some of you. I received a long e-mail about it but I’m including the important link only.

Xylitol (a sugar substitute used in sugar-free gum) can be harmful to dogs.

Even if you don't have a dog of your own, this is important information that may save the life of a dog you know.

This is true:

http://www.snopes.com/critt...

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

OPEC sells oil for $136.00 a barrel.

OPEC nations buy U.S. grain at $7.00 a bushel.

Solution:

Sell grain for $136.00 a bushel.

Can't buy it?  Tough!

Eat your oil!

Ought to go well with a nice thick grilled filet of camel butt...!!!

CIBC World Markets predicts gas will soon be $7 a gallon

Watch this video in which former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich addresses the problem.

http://www.afa.net/newtvide...

I just hate it. I could have stayed longer last night at the Meet and Greet and spent the night in Tehachapi. I arrived at court this morning at 8:45 a.m. only to sit out in the hall till 11:55 a.m. due to other closed hearings. After going in the court room the judge decided to recess till 1:30 p.m. I went home to catch up on the blog and eat my slaw dog.
 
Finally at 2:30 p.m. the judge handed down the sentence to my bogus attorney. For those who haven’t read my previous blogs on this matter here’s the rundown.

Last November after I left my un-wife, (I say un-wife because she doesn’t deserve to be referred to as ex because she was never a wife to me) I haired a woman to be my attorney. Well she turned out not to be an attorney. She has been in jail since. After a tip last December, I conducted a four week investigation while on vacation in North Carolina during the holidays. When I returned in January, I handed over 17 pages of evidence to the police and 3 days later she was arrested. She was actually an ex con from North Carolina.

For 1 felony count and 1 misdemeanor, she will only do 2 years and 30 days time in state penitentiary. Unfortunately the prior felony convictions in North Carolina did not count in California. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll be out in 12 months. She also has to pay fines and pay full restitution to me in the amount of $7,915.00. Don’t know when I’ll ever see that money.

Oh, to celebrate, I’m going to put on the grill bison sirloin and corn on the cob. Ya’ll come and join me and I’ll grill up some elk sirloin as well.

What a night it was. It was so good to meet all who came. I arrived earlier in the day to meet up with a few friends in town. I stopped by the depot and walked around a bit. How sad to see that gone. I arrived at Mama’s at 4:30 and decided to lean back in my seat a take a short nap. After walking in I recognized Sparks right away. She got up and gave me a nice hug and proceeded to buy me a drink. Thank you Sparks, that coffee mocha kept me awake all the way home. Sparks introduced me to Oohchild. It was just the three of us for a while then Joty walks in. Now Joty looked somewhat like her self description but I thought she dressed up well. The time started getting busy and I kind of lost track of who came in next. When I heard someone mention that Storilori arrived, I turned to look and the first thing that came to my mind is “Whoa,” “Hot babe in the room.” I had a chance to chat with her outside and realized, although they would be different, we could sit down for hours and share some amazing true-life stories. Bigdog and Olivia arrived and I could tell that if you saw them walking down opposite sides of the street you’d know they go together. Although I only heard the last half of your story, Olivia, I enjoyed hearing it. I enjoyed my conversation with Reffup on religion; don’t know how that got started. Then there was Eekitsaspider and Awsmom8, I enjoyed getting to know them more. Eek, I will continue to pray for you and your husband. Madkow, now I think the rest of us would agree that your name is not befitting to your appearance. There must be story behind that name I didn’t get to hear. It was good to meet your husband and your baby too. He’s so cute. (Of course I’m taking about your baby.)

Well I missed seeing GregL before I left. I missed Scottso too. I know how things can come up and keep you from doing what you’d like do. Then there is Gube. What happened to Gube? I have this very strong feeling he was there but was afraid of getting tied up and whipped. I really think he was there and I’m confident I know who he is. But out of respect I’ll keep that a secret.
 
I had a great time. Out of some of the bad memories of Tehachapi, last night will always be great memory. I doubt I’ll be coming back to Tehachapi but I will cherish my new friends. I won't make any promises, but I’ll try to slip in last night’s event in my novel. A big thinks to Mama’s Hilly Beans for putting up with our loud mouths. I think there will be a place for you in my novel too.

And if I forgot to mention anyone, please except my apologies. It was not intended.