Saturday, September 30, 2017

Bread Machine White Bread Loaf

I found the recipe below for a bread machine white bread loaf  and since it was taunted as the best bread machine recipe, I decided to try it and the result was absolutely delicious.  

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cups warm water, about 110 degrees
  • 2 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons white sugar
  • 3 teaspoons yeast
  • 1/3 cup Olive Oil (it's not nearly as good with vegetable oil)
  • 4 cups flour (or 1.5 cups whole wheat flour and 2.5 cups bread flour)
  • 2 teaspoons salt


Directions1. In a bread machine, place water, oil and salt. 

2. Add flour on top of liquids. Pour sugar into one corner of the bread machine basket. Then make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast. Set your bread machine for "basic" loaf, and let it do the work for you!







Thursday, July 13, 2017

Best post I have read on Facebook.

Tim C Spell II
14 hrsBaton Rouge
To the little people throwing firecrackers and darts at the Commander-in-chief: You are a canker. A sore that won't go away. I would rather kiss a lawyer than be seen with you. Try to edit your responses of unnecessary material before attempting to impress us with your insight. The evidence that you are a nincompoop will still be available to readers, but they will be able to access it more rapidly.
There's the energizer bunny and then there's you, a busy little bad energy rabbit. Would that a hawk pick you up, drive its beak into your brain, and upon finding it rancid set you loose to fly briefly before spattering the ocean rocks with the frothy pink shame of your ignoble blood. May you choke on the queasy, convulsing nausea of your own trite, foolish beliefs. You're a fool, an ignoramus! And what meaning do you expect your delusional self-important statements of unknowing, inexperienced opinion to have to us who think and reason? What fantasy do you hold that you would believe that your tiny-fisted tantrums would have more weight than that of a leprous desert rat, spinning rabidly in a circle, waiting for the bite of the snake? You don't know Russia from rhythm!You are ridiculous and obnoxious. You are the moral equivalent of a South Louisiana mosquito. You are a living emptiness, a meaningless void. You are sour and senile. A disease, a fiend and a coward, and your bad breath blazes a noxious odor of contrails OVER THE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY THAT IS CYBERSPACE slithering its way past the Celsius warning nets of physical laws such as distance and space, into my 18" intimate communication zone. Anybody that close to my face better be there to either kiss me or fight me. I feel debased just for knowing you exist. I despise everything about you, yet can't find it in my heart to unfriend you. I wish you would go away already. I cannot believe how incredibly stupid you are. I mean rock-hard stupid. Dehydrated-rock-hard stupid. Stupid so stupid that it goes way beyond the stupid we know into a whole different dimension of stupid. You are trans-stupid stupid. Meta-stupid. Some pure essence of a stupid so uncontaminated by anything else as to be beyond the laws of physics that we know. I'm sorry. I can't go on. This is an epiphany of stupid for me. After this, you may not hear from me again for a while. I don't have enough strength left to deride your ignorant questions and half-baked comments about unimportant trivia, or any of the rest of this drivel. Duh. I mean, really, stringing together a bunch of insults among a load of babbling was hardly effective.
True, these are rudimentary skills that many of us "normal" people take for granted that everyone has an easy time of mastering. But we sometimes forget that there are "challenged" persons in this world who find these things more difficult. If I had known, that this was your case then I would have never read your posts. It just wouldn't have been "right". Sort of like parking in a handicap space. I wish you the best of luck in the emotional, and social struggles that seem to be placing such a demand on you.
You're an idiot. A moron of the highest order. You're so stupid it's a wonder and a pity you can remember to breath. Intelligent ideas bounce off your head as if it were coated with teflon. Creative thoughts take alternate transportation in order to avoid even being in the same state as you. If you had an original thought it would die of loneliness before the hour was out. On an intelligence scale of 1 to 10 (10 corresponding to the highest attainable IQ) you're rating is so far into negative numbers that one would need to travel into another quantum reality in order to even catch a distant glimpse of it.
Your personality is that of a rabid Chihuahua intent on destroying its own tail. Your powers of observation are akin to those of the bird that keeps slamming into the picture window trying to get that other bird it keeps seeing. You are walking, talking proof that you don't have to be sentient to survive, and that Barnum was thinking of you when he uttered his immortal phrase regarding the birth of a sucker. You are, at varying times, tedious, boring, and even occasionally earth shatteringly hilarious in your idiocy, routinely childish, moronic, pathetic, wretched, disgusting and pitiful.
If your good standing family name isn't mud already then you are wholly without any redeeming social grace or value. If God ever decides to give the planet an enema you'd better run like the wind because anywhere you stand is a suitable place for The Insertion. There is no animal so disgusting, so vile that it deserves comparison to you, for even the lowest, dirtiest, most parasitic member of the animal kingdom fills an ecological niche. You fill no niche!!! To call you a parasite would be injurious and defamatory to the thousands of honest parasitic species. You are worse than vermin, for vermin do not pretend to be what it is not.
PAY ATTENTION!!! WAKE YOUR NARCOLEPTIC CARCASS UP & TAKE YOUR MEDICINE LIKE A MAN, YOU WILL BE A BETTER MAN FOR IT.
You are a fraudulent, lying, predatory charlatan. You are of less worth than a burnt-out light bulb. You will forever live in shame. You are the anti-Midas, for all that you touch becomes valueless and unusable. You are an aberration, a corruption, and a boil that needs to be lanced. You are a poison in need of being vomited. You are a tooth so rotten it infects the whole body.
This won't cost you anything, lagniappe if you will...but I don't like you. I don't like anybody who has as little respect for others (much less, leadership) as you do. You are a spineless little worm deserving nothing but the profoundest contempt. You're a mean jerk and a weasel. Your life is a monument to stupidity. You are a stench, a revulsion, a big suck on a sour lemon.
I might never get over the embarrassment of belonging to the same species as you. You are a monstrous malformity. I wretch at the very thought of you. You have all the appeal of a paper cut. Lepers avoid you! You are a weed, a fungus, and the dregs of this earth. Monkeys look down on you. Even sheep won't follow you. You are unreservedly pathetic, starved for attention, and lost in a land that reality forgot. You are a waste of flesh for the time being. On a good day you're a halfwit. You are deficient in all that lends character. You have the personality of wallpaper and a consistent source of all unpleasantness. You spread misery and sorrow wherever you go when you pop your peanut head out of your smartphone.
I cannot believe how incredibly stupid you are. The only thing worse than your logic is your manners. Maybe later in life, after you have learned to read, write, study, spell, and count, you will have more success. True, these are rudimentary skills that many of us "normal" people take for granted that everyone has an easy time of mastering.
You are hypocritical, greedy, violent, malevolent, vengeful, cowardly, deadly, mendacious, loathsome, despicable, belligerent, opportunistic, contemptible, criminal, bigoted, racist, sexist, tasteless, idiotic, brain-damaged, imbecilic, insane, arrogant, deceitful, demented, lame, self-righteous, byzantine, conspiratorial, satanic, fraudulent, spastic, ignorant, clueless, illegitimate, harmful, destructive, dumb, evasive, double-talking, devious, revisionist, narrow, manipulative, fundamentally flawed, dogmatic, idolatrous, unethical, cultic, suppressive, controlling, restrictive, malignant, deceptive, dim, crazy, weird, dystrophic, stifling, uncaring, grim, unsympathetic, jargon-spouting, aggressive, mind-numbing, abrasive, poisonous, flagrant, self-destructive, abusive, and socially-retarded.
Shut up and go away lest you achieve the physical retribution your behaviour merits. If your professional drug of choice is political science, you'd better hire yourself a hotshot lawyer & keep a few half honest bail bondsmen on speed dial. If you're looking for sympathy you can find it in the dictionary between shingles and syphilis. Thank you for your kind attention to and expected cooperation in this matter.
My prayer is that somehow, someway, you will cease and desist with the old behavior, that you enter into your finest hour. That the darkness that has dogged the path gives way to brilliance like lightning...that when you pray, you will simply pray that the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God of all Grace will show Himself stronger and mightier than ever and lend wisdom to this man that we the people have elected to lead this great land, this last undefeated outpost and beacon of goodness and normalcy, a blessed hope of freedom and liberty and opportunity to the race of men.
Hail To The Chief of Twitter! He's no quitter! The President of these United States, Donald Trump.
Good morning.

Friday, July 7, 2017

I am still here.

Life is full of ups and downs but if you determine in your heart that no matter what happens you are going to keep plugging away you will be surprised at how much you can endure.

Psychologists  may research what it means to be resilient but they will never really understand resilience until they are personally tested.

There are individuals who for one reason or another seem to be able to take anything life throws at them and continue to move forward. At times they may appear stuck in neutral when the reality of the situation is they are recharging their "batteries" or gathering their wits or strength for what lies ahead. I relate this to a GPS attempting to recalculate. Just because a course is changed does not mean the journey ends.

Resilience can only be learned through EXPERIENCE

Monday, May 2, 2016

Another amazing day

This the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad. Psalm 118:24

If we can remember that everyday is a gift, that folks who have passed on would give anything to experience just one more time, we would be much more grateful and enjoy our lives to a fuller degree.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Keys to a Successful Life

To become the best version of myself, I must come to the stark realization that it is not all about me and what I want, need or desire but instead it is how can I help you fulfill your wants, needs and desires. If I achieve these goals for enough people then my life will not have been in vane.

Since childhood, reading books and writing have been a great and joyous past-time although I can not tell you the names of Authors or Book Titles like many folks but the materials have been synthesized to become part of my being.

My brain has a way of taking in materials, extracting the kernal and filing the rest. I do not have the ability to instantaneously recall minute details unless I take the time to drill down on a topic or subject then details start to emerge. I believe this is why I appear to some folks to be scatter brained when in fact it is my way of bringing facts from deep inside the recesses of my brain to the forefront so that they may be readily available for access.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Alone in a crowded room

Have you ever felt that no one really knew who you were and even if they did they did not care?
Have you ever been in a room full of people and felt utterly alone?
Have you ever wanted to climb into a hole and disappear or become a fly on the wall, present but not?
Have you ever been holding hands with a person you loved and suddenly realized that they were a stranger?
Have you ever been speaking to a group and started feeling like you were having an out of body experience, watching or hearing yourself but being disconnected from the person speaking?
Have you ever been driving down the road and realized that you have been been doing so unconsciously?

No, Well I have and it is not a feeling of being in control.

There were been times in the past that anxiety was so prevalent, in my life, that it ruled my every moment because I did not know when it might show-up and take control. It was always lying in wait just below the surface.




Ending: I was never treated as an anxious or depressed patient but have been on medication for symptoms at times for short periods.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Writing

I was watching a video of a guy explaining what it takes to become a good writer and his top three suggestions were:
1) Know what you are writing about (your topic)
2:) Spend as long as it takes to write a good sentence.
3) Refer to numbers 1 and 2.

While I agree that 1 is important, I am not so sure about number 2. I have read books and articles written with such precision and nuance as to be intellectually mind numbing or narcolepsy inducing.
The more "intelligent" among us seem to believe that in order to get their point across they must use words learned in college or dug up in some obscure text, when the reality of the situation is the only ones impressed are themselves and others of their same ilk.

I guess I should ask what is a good sentence?

My theory on good writing is:
Just write from the heart and it will strike a chord with the right folks.
If your grammar and spelling are not up to par get someone to help you but don't let them "erase" your voice, which is the way you speak.

How to become fat on pennies a day.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Links to articles related to legal and illegal immigration issues.

Combining American and Mexican Social Security Systems: Totalization
The United States-Mexico Social Security Totalization Agreement was signed in June 2004 and could allow millions of illegal Mexican workers to draw billions of dollars from the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund.http://www.thedustininmansociety.org/issues/totalization.html

  To tell you the truth I never thought about the issue of illegal immigration and the drain to the American financial system. I was under the false impression that most came across the border to do menial labor that most Americans would not do. Then I see where thousands are drawing food stamps and standing in line at the Social Security office to get a S.S. card so they can draw benefits and that opened my eyes. Then I hear about babies being born here that are granted automatic citizenship and realize that those babies are being born to mothers who are or will be on welfare, food stamps, wic, snap and other government programs while the country is over 17 trillion dollars in debt. Not to mention the cost of housing illegal prisoners in jails, prisons, and detention center around the country. The scourge of drugs and related violence caused by illegals who come to this country to deal narcotics and participate in Gang activities is growing every day as more and more young men file across our Southern Borders unabated. This puts more of our citizens at risk than ever before as these gangs move into the suburbs to peddle their poison.

If we would really stop and think about what is going on right under our noses it is a scary proposition and outcome for our kids or in my cases nieces and nephews and their kids.

I heard Senator Rubio say in an interview a few days ago that he sees the problem of "Anchor Babies" first hand in Florida where wealthy foreigners fly in, have a baby who under our current laws is a citizen of the United States, then they fly back to wherever they came from therefore hedging their bets that if something ever happens they can always come to America because their baby is a citizen. How screwed up is a system like this where a kid who has never set a foot in this country or contributed one cent into the system can at their will come back when they are older and reap the rewards of being an American citizen?

If this practice is ever going to stop it needs to be now while we have a man who is willing to take on the tough issues. I am afraid that if Donald Trump is elected and tried to implement some of what he is suggesting he will be killed by some Drug Cartel or a Democrat who will see a large voting block disappearing before their eyes.

If you want your eyes opened read this report from 2006.
http://www.thedustininmansociety.org/issues/anchor_babies.html


More to come:

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Panic Attacks are real!

40 million or just over 18% of Americans have anxiety disorders and of those 40 million 15% experience panic attacks. It is twice as common in women as in men.

The Razor's Edge leads many to Mental Health Facilities.

Spending time on, "The Razor's Edge" leads many to Mental Health Facilities.

Many of Hollywood's "Elites" have through the years walked the Razor's edge between insanity and genius, which has led many to treatment facilities.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Death is always close at hand


How many of you believe yourself to be invincible? 
If you do, let me break the news to you, You are not invincible and someday you will die because that is what we were born to do. 
Every living creature's ultimate conclusion is to return to the ether from whence it came and all they do in the interim is but preparation for that final destination.

We came from somewhere and someday,
when this tour of duty is over, we will return . 

Death is always close at hand so it is not to be feared but embraced. 

Monday, September 15, 2014

Hunters Hunt and Prey get Eaten! Which are you?

The last few months have flown by; Summer is in full swing and Fall is just around the corner. The first weekend in September means Hunting season has begun as Doves are blasted from the sky by people of all ages wielding shotgun of various calibers. In October, Squirrels, Rabbits, Deer and various other game animals will become prey for the hunters. November means Ducks and Geese will get their opportunity to run the deadly gauntlet and as a Hunter, I am getting amped up.  

The last few years have been especially trying for me because I have been unable to enjoy the outdoors as much as I have in the past, due to health issues, but it looks like maybe this year, I am going to get into the woods and on the water with the help of some friends and once again feel the excitement of the Hunt!



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Surviving the survival experts...


It never ceases to amaze me when I am on Youtube checking out survivalist/outdoors-man type videos that so many people pass themselves off as survival /disaster experts. I swear the last place I want to be when something happens is in the woods because apparently everyone of these jack-legs are going to be posted up behind every log and brush pile "surviving". It is going be a freaking free for all when these paranoid folks start shooting at each other because they think the other person is coming after their "cache" of Spam and Ramen noodles.

I am not talking about everyone because there are some folks whom I believe know what they are talking about but the majority of these jokers are just regurgitating what they have read in a book or seen in a video. God help us if something serious does happen because it is not going to be a pretty sight.

Most people have never been more than a few hundred yards off a major highway or waterway and when a SHTF scenario occurs the best place to be is a long ways away from these areas. In no way am I an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I would suggest sheltering in place with friends and family if at all possible because those are the ones you should be able to trust. Cache guns, ammo, food in places other than your cupboard, gun cabinet or bedroom closet. Be like the squirrel and hide stuff everywhere but don't forget where you hide it. Hide it somewhere within walking distance and easy to find at night. Going after it during the day is asking for trouble.

Here is the part where I rely on lists others have made: This is my opinion as to what is most important...
1) Water and purification tablets because water is the most important part of any survival situation and you can't always make a fire to boil it.
2) Instant food... Oatmeal, Grits, Ramen, Onion Soup, Gravy, Bullion cubes, whatever you can find that can be mixed with water to get some nutrients into your body.  Store in moisture tight containers preferably threaded PVC pipe containers that can be buried.
3) Shelter, is anywhere that you can stay as dry as possible.
4) Fire...Matches, Lighters, Nine volt battery and steel wool,
5) Clothes are whatever fits.
6) Hygiene, stay as clean as possible but not too clean because folks will accuse you of misusing the water which will be needed for drinking and cooking, plus who wants to smell clean when everyone else is stinking, you will just be asking for trouble. The best thing to do is capture as much rainwater as possible and find a continuous water source asap.
7) Weapons, anything that can be used to fend off attackers. In a bad situation having friends to watch your back is a good thing otherwise stay out of sight as much as possible and if you have guns and ammo keep them out of sight unless needed for protection then do whatever you have to do to survive. If you have a dog make sure he is as mean as you need him to be otherwise he will be someone's meal.

In my opinion, if you are dependant on lots of medicine to stay alive you can pretty much kiss your ass goodbye in any prolonged situation unless you have figured out a way to hoard them or buy in large quantities off the internet well in advance because lots of folks will be looking for drugs and people who have them will be in big trouble if others who need them find out. The best thing to do if you have meds is keep your mouth shut.
Secrecy is pretty much a given if you want to survive very long.

Make up your mind that any food which is edible will be eaten. This is no time to be picky.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Believe and You Will Achieve.


 
 
I have often wondered, “Why it is that 12 step programs require a person to identify themselves with negative stereotypes such as I am an Alcoholic, Drug Addict, Sex Addict, etc?”

Why can't a person just state implicitly, “I am a Child of God and I refuse to participate in any activity which fringes on my ability to live up to my birthright?” I know that people are going to say that they are not strong enough to do it on their own to which I say, “That is where your belief in a Higher power kicks in and all that other stuff is just noise which keeps people in bondage and dependent on their sponsors and the organizations.”

Again this is my opinion don't let it ruffle your feathers.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Reflections on Life

Reflections on Life
 


Most people spend their lives running in circles never thinking about death unless it's to attend a funeral and then only for the time it takes to get through the ordeal.
 
I may think of death a little more than the average person on the street unless they are suicidal just because I have faced it on a few occasions during my first 50 years on this earth. I have experienced what it means to have Cancer, Heart problems, A severe bacteria infection(MRSA) and a couple of life threatening accidents. I have heard people make the statement, "Whatever doesn't kill you. makes you stronger and I am here to call B.S.". While experiencing heart ache, sickness and pain may make you a little more determined to do everything you can to stay alive, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I am not physically stronger than I was before I had my first heart attack or experienced my first heartbreak.
 
As I approach my 50th birthday, I am taking the time to reflect back on a life that while it may not have been the most glamorous has definitely been interesting. I traveled much of the country and had many love affairs in my twenties and early thirties while spending much of my thirties and early forties very deeply in love with the wrong woman. While having spent the latter part of my forties recovering from heart disease and heartbreak, I have found solace in the fact that I am experiencing this alone having had enough common sense to not marry and put a wife and family through all I have had to endure.
 
My father did not afford my mother the common courtesy of walking away when he found that he could not be faithful to just one woman and therefore his wife and three children experienced a life of broken promises and shattered dreams. While we loved my father he never loved us enough to be faithful to our mother nor did he have the nerve to walk away and let us live in peace. It is during times like this that I find myself reflecting not on my own life but on the life my father forced on us. There are things I have done and said that when I look back are a direct reflection of his influence. Things I can never write and only my dearest friends will ever know because of the shame associated with the acts and circumstances. There are many people in the same situation; and while we may suffer in silence I draw comfort in knowing I am not alone.

I think I hold on so tight to the past because it is such an integral part of who I am and I can't seem to let go without losing the memory of my father. People may think it weird and self defeating that on one hand I despise much of what my father stood for yet I have done many of the same things.

( This is going to be one of those post that will be updated periodically because there is so much to write about.)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, October 21, 2013

How to become fat on pennies a day.

Homeless doesn't have to mean Hopeless.

LIFE WAITS FOR NO ONE...

As a Christian Freemason, Templar and Shriner I have an overwhelming desire to help people even though some folks would look at me and think that I'm the one who needs the help. I have been given an opportunity to


 Life is passing us by and there are needs that are going to go unmet because it was our responsibility to meet those needs.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Why do we do? What we do?




Do you do things for the rewards you receive from others or for self gratification? In school we received stars for being "good" and demerits for being "bad" or in our case as a children we received whippings for being "disobedient" and nothing for being "obedient". This is actually an ineffective system because to avoid the whippings all we had to do was not get caught which made us pretty good at being sneaky. It offered no real incentive for being obedient.
Back to the original question, "How many of us actually do things because they are right for us instead of what someone else says is right for us?" As a teacher I watch as kids struggle in one subject while exceling in another because society and the education system demands they be proficient in all subjects. When are we going to learn to stop putting pressure on kids and adults and understand that if they need to know something they will figure out how to get it done. I know people who quit school in the 6th grade who have become multi-millionaires because they had abilities which can not be taught in a classroom.