In the spring and early summer, vacationers pour into Southern California. We know they have been looking forward to beaches, sunshine, and a dip in the beautiful blue Pacific. Admittedly, as nice as it is here, we do have some minor weather occurrences. They happen regularly, so we don’t make much of a fuss over them. People on the East Coast name their weather anomalies such as hurricanes and tropical storms using female names one year and male names the next. Our stuff is so inconsequential we just use the same names every year. We have two female names and one male name. They are “May Gray” and “June Gloom” for the ladies, and “Coastal Eddy” for the guy. We Southern Californians are just thankful we don’t have to put up with the likes of Jack Frost.

Dave Thomas

9/26/2024

Vote Kamala to Save Democracy

The election of November 5, 2024, will be our country’s most important event since 1776. 238 years of freedom and self-determination can be lost if we fail to protect our democracy. There is a weak, immoral felon named Donald John Trump who wants to become president and destroy the finest country the world has ever known.  On January 5, 2021, Trump called together a mob who attempted a coup against our government and four of the heroic police died in the struggle or soon after. Donald Trump is a traitor. Why isn’t he in jail?

Donald Trump’s followers are a bunch of people who have lost the ability to think for themselves. They were mesmerized by Trump’s rantings and the incessant lies of Fox TV.

Trump’s followers are not happy with our Constitution and our way of life. Admittedly, our democracy is a work in progress. We are working on it. Don’t throw it away. Get off your ass and help fix it!

His followers  don’t seem to understand what our way of life would become if Trump won and declared himself a dictator. Trump would destroy Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Education, and anything else that takes money from the bottom line of him and his rich friends. Rules and regulations would be gutted. Inspectors and inspections would have to go. That kind of stuff costs money. Many corporations would find themselves in the same shape that Boeing is in today. Stockholders would push for higher profits, and all decisions would be about the bottom line and profits. Trying to cut costs and boost production would be pushed harder and harder. Pride of workmanship would be lost to the endless pursuit for higher profit. Morale would suffer when the errors would show their ugly heads.

Among the first things to go would be pensions and 401K plans. They could be outright stolen or taxed so heavily they would disappear. Again, anything requiring inspection would be jeopardized. Beef is subject to e-coli, chicken to Salmonella, pork to trichinosis. The rich guys could pay for the inspection, but most of us would have to take our chances.

I could go on and on about the losses to our way of life. Instead, let’s end up with a partial list of what can be attributed to Donald John Trump:

Vulgar

Dead-beat: Trump hires contractors and then doesn’t pay them.

Liar

Traitor

Rapist

Felon

Tax Cheater? (Still waiting to see taxes)

Fraud

Poor Manager

No empathy

No Compassion

Bully

Adulterer

Surely, Trump’s followers would find at least one thing on the list so disgusting they would abandon the moron.

Another big item is Trump’s attitude toward women. Trump things women are stupid and should be subservient and powerless. So much for Women’s Rights along with Civil Rights and Voting Rights.

We can’t lose our America. Vote and tell all your friends to do so. Tell everyone you see that we only want this scumbag in jail.

Vote for Kamala.

Dave Thomas

9/19/2024

1. Debating a woman is not a good idea.
2. The dogs and cats are not being eaten in Springfield, Ohio.

Dave Thomas

9/12/2024

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

It’s August 27^th. I’m sitting here, drinking a cup of coffee and mostly minding my own business. I am 88 years old today. I don’t know how that happened. I’ll attribute it to being happy. That is due to having a wonderful wife who is smart and fun to be around. Add three nifty kids who are also smart and fun to be around. Next comes four grandkids that are growing up just fine, and then throw in six great grandkids that are smart and cute, and you’ve got the whole enchilada for the close family group. Beyond those guys, I’m so lucky to have cousins and long-time friends.

November is a serious month for us. This year, Pat will be 87. Our twin boys, Russ and Doug, will be 66. Our daughter, Terri, will be 63. Pat and I will be married 67 years. The numbers just keep getting bigger.

We still enjoy getting up early and having coffee and the news. We are certainly not as active as we once were. We couldn’t survive now without our daughter, Terri, and the million things she does for us.

Thanks to all of you for the calls, cards, and Facebook greetings. It’s been a great day!

Dave Thomas

8/27/2024

Have you noticed that when Trump is blowing smoke at us (which is every time he opens his mouth), his voice changes to that of a little boy. His whining voice then gives us the same performance the little boy would give when trying to convince us that his BB gun didn’t break our window.

There was Trump, in the middle of the stage, mispronouncing Kamala’s name. Is this a grown-up or what? He may be 78, but he acts more like 8.

Dave Thomas

08/22/2024

Pat finished buying her groceries. Leaving the store, she was carefully threading her way through the parking lot and was being careful not to bump into any cars. She heard a strange noise overhead. It sounded like the clucking of a chicken. That, being a far-fetched idea, was discarded, and she decided it must be one of her crows. Being worried about a misstep causing a fall, she decided not to look up. “Safety first” is the motto of old folks. Pat continued to hear the strange noise as she put the groceries in the car and headed out. Going down the street, she suddenly had a crow flying right in front of her. The crow changed speed and elevation in what appeared to be an effort to make sure that Pat noticed it. This continued all the way home. When Pat pulled into the driveway, the crow landed in a nearby tree. The crow started talking immediately, and when Pat was able to get a word in, she thanked it for escorting her home. Then, as further thanks for the thoughtfulness, she put out some food. The crows extend favors, and she tries to recognize them and reward the good deeds.

Dave Thomas

8/15/2024

Follow That Car

Pat was visiting with our neighbor, Leslie, the other morning. Leslie was amused by the fact that whenever Pat left the house, she was followed by a bunch of crows. Check the next paragraph for more about this.

A Wing Man or Escort

Pat had a doctor’s appointment that afternoon, so at the proper time, she backed out of the garage and headed down the street. The office was about 15 minutes away, and several times she noticed a crow flying ahead of her. When she got to her destination, she pulled into the multistory garage and was able to park on the first floor. As she got out of the car and started for the office, she noticed a crow walking around on the floor behind the car. Apparently, it had followed her all the way from home and was just making sure everything was okay. Pat thanked the crow for being an escort and a part of the full-service security outfit.

Dave Thomas

8/8/2024

Our inability to communicate with the crow community is causing them some anxiety. An example of this surfaced just a few days ago. The crows know Pat and Terri and recognize their cars as well. If we could have just passed on the message, “She traded cars,” then the crow world would have remained calm. Terri had enjoyed her car for quite some time, but, one day, her mechanic told her that the mileage on the car indicated that she would soon be plagued with heavy maintenance charges. She spent several weeks shopping and ordered a car with all of the latest tech packages. After a month, the car arrived at the dealership, and Terri and her husband, Steve, went to check it out. When Terri was satisfied that the car was what she had ordered, she signed off and took delivery. Steve headed for home, and Terri headed for our house to show us the new car.

The crows were hanging out in the neighbor’s trees when Terri pulled up in the driveway and jumped out of the car. The crows all started jabbering at once. That was Terri, but what’s with her car? Is that really Terri? What’s going on? The crows continued to raise heck as Terri told us about the car. Terri left for her house and noticed that a crow had followed her. When she parked, she saw that the crow had landed across the street in a neighbor’s tree and was watching her. Later, she went into her backyard, and, in a neighbor’s tree, she saw the biggest, blackest crow she had ever seen watching her. The crows’ security force was on the job. She said this went on for a couple of days before the crows decided that everything was all right.

Dave Thomas

7/30/2024

It had been several weeks since any crows had shown up at the house. Pat was afraid her new friends had abandoned her. This particular morning, Terri drove up and parked in our driveway, and pandemonium broke loose. All you could hear was crows yelling and jabbering and carrying on in a most excited way. Pat ran to the window to see if these were “her crows.” Sure enough, the crow with the mangled foot was there, and this, indeed, was her group. However, the group had always been five crows before, but now there was a total of eight. The three extra crows were a little smaller and didn’t seem to be fully developed, so Pat figured they must be the new generation. Pat was happy to think that she had not been abandoned, but that her crow friends had been nesting and raising their young. The crows were just as excited about seeing Pat and Terri as the ladies had been about seeing them. It looks like we will be getting back to normal.

Dave Thomas

7/11/2024

Caw, caw, caw, caw! Hot damn! We can converse with another species. It was a big day when we figured out what four caws meant. Pat had been feeding the crows and talking to them for several days. Having a vision problem, all I can do is listen to them. Crows jabber all the time, but I noticed that if only one crow showed up, it would give four caws, and, in a couple of minutes, the rest of them would fly in. I compared notes with Pat, and we agreed that four caws were a summons. Pat tried it at different times and, sure enough, it worked every time.

The crows always arrived in a group of three or a group of five, and Pat could always tell if it was “her” crows because the guy with the mangled foot would be with either group. If a group of three came, it would be Boss Crow, the crow with the mangled foot, and one small crow that we took to be a mate. If it was a group of five that showed up, we figured the extra two were offspring.

The day that Pat found the 10-inch stick beside the water bowl, we figured it was a “thank you” gift. But, since we have been seeing less and less of the birds, it may have meant “Thank you and farewell.” We think that since spring is here, they may have found a new food source. Also, Pat has noticed that they will sometimes pick up some food and fly away with it. They may be nesting and have extra mouths to feed.

It’s been fun to observe these guys and learn from them. They are intelligent and can solve problems. We also discovered that they want to make friends, are compassionate, and have other human-like traits. Pat found a website on the Internet called “Crow Lovers” where people can post their crow stories. One man posted a video of himself teaching his pet crow how to dance and moonwalk.  A lady wrote and wondered what to do if the crows didn’t show up for breakfast. A man responded “Caw, caw, caw, caw!” There it is. Corroboration for our findings.

We went for four days with no crows. Then, the guy with the mangled foot and another crow that Pat thought must be The Talker started coming around at different times of the day. They would do fly-by’s real close to the windows so Pat would know they were there. She would get some food and go and talk to them. Sometimes, they would eat and sometimes not. Pat said they acted as if they missed her and just wanted to hang out and talk.

Two crows that Pat didn’t recognize (no bad feet) showed up for several days. A third crow would try to join them, but they didn’t like him and always drove him off. Pat wondered if it was a raven rather than a crow. There must be some big reason for their hostility.

One morning, Pat heard a cooing sound. She opened the front door and looked out. She saw that a crow was perched on the edge of the garage roof and making that cooing sound as if to call her. She went out and talked to it for a few minutes, and then it left.

Another time, Pat heard a bird in the driveway and went out. There was just one lone crow, and it was talking. As she talked to it, Pat tried to get closer, but the bird was fearful and kept backing up. No matter how she tried, the crow just wouldn’t relax and let her get up closer. Finally, it took off and flew over the house. She could hear it in the backyard jabbering. She went out to the patio and saw that the crow was perched up in our carrotwood tree. Pat sat down on the swing and started talking to the bird. It responded by jabbering and occasionally making little cooing sounds. She thought it was the bird that had cooed on previous days but was also the one driven off by the other birds and was scared to get close. It would sure make things easier if the birds were different enough to tell them apart. It would make it so much easier to understand their personalities.

The crows like grapes, so Pat comes up with a treat for them every now and then. The other morning, she put out some grapes and gave the four caws, and no crows came. After a few minutes, the two sparrows showed up. They immediately attacked one of the grapes and were pecking away with gusto. I guess if the crows don’t show up, we’ll be lucky in that we only have to put out one grape.

Dave Thomas

6/20/2024