One Bottle Too Many

Most of my readers know that in addition to being a Dad, I am also a granddad and I dote on them all with equal enthusiasm. Trixie, not having any children of her own, has to endure my constant bragging and occasional baby-sitting duties.

Now, I understand how daunting it is to be around kids. Just last week Ol' Dutch was called into emergency baby-sitting service for my two granddaughters, ages 3-year-old and 4-month-old.

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Reinventing Yourself

In my life travels, I have encountered people go through life seemingly stuck in some kind of time warp just slogging along in their daily grind with no hope of change to their lives.

They are in so deep they can't even think about a change to the daily grind. As someone who worked the same job for 32 years; went to the same church for 50 years; had the same friends and lived in the same town I was born in for most of my life, I understand how that happens.

I often had dreams of grandeur whereby I would sail the world's seas or travel to far off place but responsibilities of a family always took precedence over those kinds of dreams. I watched as others partook of the good life going to all kinds of exciting places. When I spoke of these desires I was always met with a resounding “NO” from my married half.

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Hair Raising Situation

Last week found me traveling out of the Valley on my winter sojourn to warmer climes in search of more fishing adventures. All was fine until I started down the east side of La Veta Pass where all of a sudden I lost the trailer brakes.

I pushed down hard on the brake pedal but if felt like a spoiled peach. Things soon got hot and the truck started shaking and bumping and grinding all over the highway like I did the last time I walked across the beach barefoot.

Only the truck wasn’t quite as loud as I was. My hair was standing on end and turned two shades whiter while Cooper slept on. That just shows you that dogs trust God more than we do -- or something like that.

A quick consult with the man upstairs was in order and He must of not been too busy this day as I was able to bring the entire rig to a halt at the bottom without incident.

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Trophy Wives

The subject of trophy wives is nothing new especially in the world of Hollywood, sporting personalities and men with considerable money. This is not to say that a woman can't have a similar love interest but in that case it’s called a boy toy. As Trixie reminds me, though, women with money generally do not want nor need a man as peace and quiet are their main goals.

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Volume Buying

Ever since I was elected to be the one to go to the store when the TOILET PAPER emergencies occurred in our household, I have always bought plenty and had it on hand no matter what.

 

Living 12 miles from town in those days made it a tad harder than a run to the corner market too. So I learned to pick up a LOT of TP whenever I was at the store which caused no end to tension about storage space. Now that I am full time Rv-ing the lack of space does cause some difficulties in keeping very much on hand. When I switched RVs last year, Trixie was flabbergasted at the number of rolls I can stuffed away in nooks and crannies.

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Match.com and other firestarters

They say “never say never” and I have to tell you, turns out they were right. Having been thrust into the world of singlehood after 35 years of marriage, I found out just how hard it is to meet someone to date.

First, I was in the "come to dinner at our house" trap whereby well-meaning couples have dinner and bring their mother, sister, cousin, daughter, niece, ex-wife, sister-in-law, friend or any other eligible single woman. I still believe it wasn't so much that they thought I was a good fit for their pick as much as they needed to unload them on me. Those dinners were always uncomfortable and I learned to ask early on how many people will be at dinner. And that quickly opened up my social calendar.

Discouraged with that approach, I, like millions of other singles, entered the world of online dating. With a simple click of the mouse, thousands of eligible ladies across the nation and even the entire world invaded my inbox.

Before I get to the nitty and gritty details, I must say there was great excitement every day as I awaited kisses, winks, waves and a whole menagerie of other online affections from single women who had seen my profile.

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