Ben’s Blog

I couldn’t help but repost this for the few people who read my blog and not Dave’s

Amazing how a couple well-placed bleeps can turn Sesame Street into Adult humor.

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference. 

Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event’s organizers was unable to attend.

The church’s youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it’s a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event. The church expected hundreds of teenagers from as far away as Canada.

More here:
http://www.koco.com/news/16860079/detail.html

Since starting this blog I’ve tried to carry my camera around more often to snap pictures of odd/funny things that I see.  Here are two from last week (you can click on each to enlarge):

I noticed this car parked in the Rylee’s Ace Hardware parking lot near my house.  I’m not sure why a person would choose to mount two mounted deer heads to the rear of their car.  This was quite the setup - great care and effort must have been taken to make sure these didn’t fall off.  Aside from the obvious question of “why?” I also wondered how this person got into their trunk and if the hat on the doe was really necessary.

The credit for this sighting goes to Holly.  While driving up north we stopped half way to let Bailey out at a little park between Lake City and Houghton Lake and this sign was posted at the entrance of said park.  Apparently the calendar that most people follow doesn’t apply to certain areas as this park is open an extra day in November - the 31st.

Perhaps the person in the first picture hung the sign in the second picture so that they could extend firearms deer season one more day so that they could add a third deer to the car.  OK, maybe that would be a stretch.

It is official now - I am 30. If the adage “with age comes wisdom” is true then at least I can take comfort in the fact that I am getting wiser in the ways of the world. I spent a quiet weekend at the cabin celebrating my birthday with Holly and the dog and had a great time relaxing in between chores.

If I may rant for a moment… Owning “vacation” property is nice, but is no vacation. I spent a fair amount of time this weekend raking leaves, moving firewood, mowing and cleaning so that others enjoy their time when they visit. There is something wrong with this setup…at least I enjoy working while I am up there so it doesn’t feel like a chore. Sometimes I get irked by others visiting/using the cabin because they seem indifferent to the effort that goes into keeping the place up and running - it is more than just a monthly payment. I have so much blood (literally), sweat, and tears wrapped up into the ongoing project that I probably take things a bit too personally. But I digress… That being said - I hope everyone enjoys and gets a chance to visit

So, back to the birthday… I got some unique gifts that suit me perfectly. Holly went crazy at Barnes and Noble - I got a handy cheat sheet to identify Michigan birds, two test booklets for determining IQ (so that we can finally determine who is smarter), as well as a starbucks gift card and a squirrel proof bird feeder (obviously not from B&N). My in-laws gave me a couple how-to books on building sheds, barns and garages as well as a sweet cooler for the boat. My mom sent a nice card and gift (standard check) a couple days late - as to be expected with my mom. I have to cut her some slack…it must be hard to remember your oldest son’s birthday when it falls two days after the Fourth of July.

I was listening to AM Radio while stuck in traffic (had to turn off Satellite radio to get traffic report) and caught a story about the Redesigned Naturalization Test that people immigrating into our country must pass.  The latest changes go into effect October 1st, 2008.

The hosts were quizzing callers and sadly, from the sounds of it, most people who already live here couldn’t pass the test.  Here are a couple of the questions…how do you fare?  The answers to the following 4 are below, but DON’T CHEAT.

1. When was the Constitution written?
2. Who was President during World War I?
3. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
4. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

You can find all the questions and answers here:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf

Keeping in mind WOOD 1300 probably has a fairly conservative audience, they also replayed a self proclaimed “rant” by Rick Roberts titled “I want my country back.”  They pull it off the shelf on special occasions to spread the sentiment.  It was pretty good - the guy was definitely passionate - you can hear it or read the transcript here:

http://www.760kfmb.com/rick_blog/?p=72

Happy Independence Day!

Answers: 1787, Woodrow Wilson, 9