Senior Citizen classes for old people. (first timers)

Welcome To all potential senior citizens.

I'm guessing you have muddled through the process without too much assistance or the use of power of attorney.

I don't know how old you are now, but at some point, between the ages of 50 and 60 you start thinking of yourself as "middle aged". This is a little trick you play on yourself. This will convince you that you are going to live to somewhere between 1oo and 120 years old. When I was growing up "middle aged was 27.

The reality of the situation is: Your gray hair is falling out, your nose is getting redder and bigger, your nose hairs are starting to sag, your vision needs trifocals, people don't seem to be talking as loud as they used to, you go to the dentist to get your tooth cleaned or you just drop your dentures off for repair on the way to Walmart.

The sad part is: We are just talking about your head. We haven't even started with the other parts of your body.

So...let me prepare you.

LESSON ONE: NAMES

When you get older you must have an old name. You can't be 62 years old and people still call you "Skippy" or "Biff" ....guys!!! It's Percival, Luther, Ebenezer, Horace, Elmer to name a few. Change it.

Ladies....after 55 no more "Heather or Buffy." It will be Blanche, Ethel, Agatha, and other old names. Change it.

It is sad that parents don't give their children life long names. Frank Zappa had the foresight to name his kids with names that will hold up for a lifetime. The names "Moon Unit" and "Dweezle" will stand the test of time. I guess people should think about this when naming someone.

LESSON TWO: IT'S NOT ALL BAD!!!

Yes, There are some down sides to Senior Citizenshipness. There also many upsides.

There is the senior citizen discount if you don't mind eating with a bunch of old coots.

honestly they give me the "willies". They are old, their walkers keep getting in my way, they shuffle instead of walk, they have bingo card all over the table in the restaurant, old people smell funny, When they have hair it is combed funny (men) and women usually have hair that is some shade of purple and they smell like vanilla extract.

I am one of them. What can I do?

I guess the saying is: " I have met the enemy and he is me!!!!..???"

LESSON 3: THIS COULD BE FUN!!!

Since young people think you are waste of skin and space, you can play the "I am old and confused." card. You can actually increase your creativity and intellect by pretending to be confused. I have taken my blood pressure on those machines at the pharmacies. I started hollering, "This machine won't let me go. I have hydrantphobia, make it stop." The Pharmacist saved me. He asked me if I was on any medication.

He was a nice man.

I also got myself trapped in a shed at Home Depot, went to sleep on a bed at the furniture store, directed traffic on Ocean Boulevard, asked for strange sandwiches at a diner (remember Jack Nicholson in "Five Easy Pieces". ) My favorite ploy, which I use on a regular basis is to pretend I am the Clint Eastwood.

Occasionally I just like to wonder around and pretend I am lost or confused. This works really well if you have your shirt on inside out or the buttons are not in the right button hole. Having your fly unzipped is always a good touch.

I have a senior citizen maneuver called "the triad". That would be: unzipped fly, pants pulled as high as possible with misaligned shirt buttons tucked into your pants with the shirt tail sticking out the fly opening. A real eye catcher.

Never do anything as pretentious as wearing your underwear on the outside or sox over shoes.

If you want people to give you some personal space, carry a box of depends and a can of lysol spray. Every 4 steps you take say something like...."oops!...Oh..oh.." and turn around and look at the floor.

This should get you started on the road to a fun Senior Citizenry.

Some upcoming classes:

How to convince your spouse that you are a useless human being. (For the gentleman who think his wife doesn't already know the truth.)

Dressing for distress: (not your distress, someone Else's.) What kind of suspenders to wear. What to do with unmatched sox. How to blow your nose improperly in public.

How to launch a snot rocket. (finger push on side of nostril, blow...launch!!!) How to use and misuse a toothpick. Many other subjects will be covered.

How to babble: This is a handy little ploy that will make your babble almost comprehensible. How to feign deafness. These two techniques are guaranteed to

put your listener at a big disadvantage.

How to keep your focus: I am sure that some of my contemp...ummm......so if anybody is interested in....whatever!!!

I just bought a "killer" GPS, really!!!

Geocaching can be hell!!!

I am always looking for bargains. I buy many used books through Amazon and I keep an eye on Ebay for a good deal. In recent days I have been looking for a trail GPS.

On the first of October I was on Ebay looking at Electronic stuff when I happen to come across a GPS of my dreams. I could not believe my good fortune.

The ad read something like this:

Killer GPS for sale. It's the Garmon Styx 666. The hottest deal on the internet. This unit will take you places you have never been before.

It even had a review from a lady named "Helen Karnate". She even gave me her cell phone number 999-7734.

She said she purchased it from the estate of a man named "Bob", who walked over a cliff on his way to church. Well, the price was right so I purchased the Damn thing. I had uneasy feeling that I was missing something.

The unit arrived after a three day wait. oddly, it did not have a return address. The instructions were written in English, but when my wife looked at them she said they were written in French, the condo associations lawn care person, Pedro, said it was Spanish.

I read the instructions and then turned the unit on.

It immediately said, "Hello, Robert!...Where would you like to go?...Oh, too bad. We will not have time to go there today." I replied angrily, "Go to hell!!" The GPS responded, "I thought you would never ask, Robert."

The unit and I argued most of the afternoon. He told me that the world was coming to an end on 10-10-10 at 10:10 AM. He referred to it as Binary Doomsday.

I started to believe in him.

I was going to sell our furniture on Craig's list, but who would buy it with less than a month to live and how would I spend the money. So I decided to enjoy my remaining days by doing some geocaching. I thought this would be enjoyable and healthy.

Sadly my GPS would tell me to walk two miles into the Atlantic Ocean or try to get my to find geocaches in really bad places like in the middle of the interstate.

"Your geocaches is right there, Robert. Get it." Traffic would be rushing by and vehicles honking at me.

I soon became weary of Geocaching and my wife got tired of going down to the police station or the psychiatric unit of the hospital to retrieve me.

Finally, The day arrived. Binary Doomsday! 10-10-10

01110100011010000110010100100000011001010110111001100100 (the end?)

At 9:45, I enclosed my self in bubble wrap, put in the earplugs, ate my last peanut butter sandwich, closed my eyes and waited for the end. I started humming so I would not hear it.

I felt something touch me. It must be the hand of God.

ME:"Is that you, God?"

GOD:"Uh,uh!" (That sounded like my wife!!!!)

ME: "Are we in heaven together?"

WIFE/GOD??: "Yup, We moved to Myrtle Beach two and half years ago. Now wake up and open your eyes, you crazy coot. Your snoring is starting to annoy me."

ME: "How long have I been snoring?"

WIFE" Since 1993!!!!!"

Well, I guess it must be 11-11-11. I must have a talk with my GPS.

"Well, What do you have to say to yourself, GPS?"

GPS: "You're still here, Robert?"

That's it. That was all I could take. I remembered a Star Trek episode "The Changling" that might apply in this particular case. I used that strategy.

ME:"My name is not Robert."

GPS: Excuse me?"

ME: "You have me confused with someone else."

GPS: "LOL, WTF, OMG, LMAO, OHOH!( GPS starts to smoke and spark).

My Styx 666 had a fiery demise.

Later that day I was looking for a new GPS. I came across a Garmin etrex. I purchased it. I noticed it was spelled differently than the one I originally ordered. Mine was a Garmon. This one is a Garmin. HMMM?

Perhaps I will formulate a missive to Captain James T. Kirk. I think he saved my life.

Is it just me?

Am I correct?

The other day while my wife and I went on our long walk, we stopped at a gazebo for a trail mix break. We stopped and talk to a couple of nice people. I commented later on that one of them was "mentally retarded." My wife corrected me on this. She was right.I could have used a better term to describe someone who has "Down's Syndrome."I googled it. I wanted to check on its usage. It is still used by the mental health profession, although others find it offensive. An example of that would be Rosa's law.

This brings me to my point(s). I could have said it in a more universally accepted way and be more politically correct. My second point is about "politically correct". I think it is getting extreme.

I like ethnic jokes. The problem is: It keeps perpetuating the myth and if something is repeated enough it becomes truth to some people. People start believing it.

Having said that, I will commence to offending people.I will tell you a little about myself. I am not a bad dancer....I am overly Caucasian.I do not get lost....I investigate alternative destinations.My wife is not a nag....she is verbally repetitive.
Ok! Now that you have the idea lets tell the tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" as written by an ultra liberal.

Politically Correct Little Red Riding Hood

There once was a young person named Little Red Riding Hood who lived on the edge of a large forest full of endangered owls and rare plants that would probably provide a cure for cancer if only someone took the time to study them.

Red Riding Hood lived with a nurture giver whom she sometimes referred to as "mother", although she didn't mean to imply by this term that she would have thought less of the person if a close biological link did not in fact exist.Nor did she intend to denigrate the equal value of nontraditional households, although she was sorry if this was the impression conveyed.

One day her mother asked her to take a basket of organically grown fruit and mineral water to her grandmother's house.

"But mother, won't this be stealing work from the unionized people who have struggled for years to earn the right to carry all packages between various people in the woods?"

Red Riding Hood's mother assured her that she had called the union boss and gotten a special compassionate mission exemption form.

"But mother, aren't you oppressing me by ordering me to do this?"Red Riding Hood's mother pointed out that it was impossible for womyn to oppress each other, since all womyn were equally oppressed until all womyn were free.

"But mother, then shouldn't you have my brother carry the basket, since he's an oppressor, and should learn what it's like to be oppressed?"And Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her brother was attending a special rally for animal rights, and besides, this wasn't stereotypical womyn's work, but an empowering deed that would help engender a feeling of community.

"But won't I be oppressing Grandma, by implying that she's sick and hence unable to independently further her own selfhood?"

But Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her grandmother wasn't actually sick or incapacitated or mentally handicapped in any way, although that was not to imply that any of these conditions were inferior to what some people called "health".

Thus Red Riding Hood felt that she could get behind the idea of delivering the basket to her grandmother, and so she set off.

Many people believed that the forest was a foreboding and dangerous place, but Red Riding Hood knew that this was an irrational fear based on cultural paradigms instilled by a patriarchal society that regarded the natural world as an exploitable resource, and hence believed that natural predators were in fact intolerable competitors.Other people avoided the woods for fear of thieves and deviants, but Red Riding Hood felt that in a truly classless society all marginalized peoples would be able to "come out" of the woods and be accepted as valid lifestyle role models.

On her way to Grandma's house, Red Riding Hood passed a woodchopper, and wandered off the path, in order to examine some flowers.She was startled to find herself standing before a Wolf, who asked her what was in her basket.

Red Riding Hood's teacher had warned her never to talk to strangers, but she was confident in taking control of her own budding sexuality, and chose to dialogue with the Wolf.

She replied, "I am taking my Grandmother some healthful snacks in a gesture of solidarity.

"The Wolf said, "You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone."Red Riding Hood said, "I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop an alternative and yet entirely valid worldview. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would prefer to be on my way."

Red Riding Hood returned to the main path, and proceeded towards her Grandmother's house.But because his status outside society had freed him from slavish adherence to linear, Western-style thought, the Wolf knew of a quicker route to Grandma's house.

He burst into the house and ate Grandma, a course of action affirmative of his nature as a predator.Then, unhampered by rigid, traditionalist gender role notions, he put on Grandma's nightclothes, crawled under the bedclothes, and awaited developments.

Red Riding Hood entered the cottage and said,"Grandma, I have brought you some cruelty free snacks to salute you in your role of wise and nurturing matriarch.

"The Wolf said softly "Come closer, child, so that I might see you."Red Riding Hood said, "Goodness! Grandma, what big eyes you have!

"You forget that I am optically challenged."And Grandma, what an enormous, what a fine nose you have."

"Naturally, I could have had it fixed to help my acting career, but I didn't give in to such societal pressures, my child. "And Grandma, what very big, sharp teeth you have!"

The Wolf could not take any more of these specist slurs, and, in a reaction appropriate for his accustomed milieu, he leaped out of bed, grabbed Little Red Riding Hood, and opened his jaws so wide that she could see her poor Grandmother cowering in his belly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Red Riding Hood bravely shouted. "You must request my permission before proceeding to a new level of intimacy!"

The Wolf was so startled by this statement that he loosened his grasp on her.At the same time, the woodchopper burst into the cottage, brandishing an ax.

"Hands off!" cried the woodchopper."And what do you think you're doing?" cried Little Red Riding Hood. "If I let you help me now, I would be expressing a lack of confidence in my own abilities, which would lead to poor self esteem and lower achievement scores on college entrance exams.

"Last chance, sister! Get your hands off that endangered species! This is an FBI sting!" screamed the woodchopper, and when Little Red Riding Hood nonetheless made a sudden motion, he sliced off her head.

"Thank goodness you got here in time," said the Wolf. "The brat and her grandmother lured me in here. I thought I was a goner.""No, I think I'm the real victim, here," said the woodchopper. "I've been dealing with my anger ever since I saw her picking those protected flowers earlier.

And now I'm going to have such a trauma. Do you have any aspirin?

"Sure," said the Wolf."Thanks.

"I feel your pain," said the Wolf, and he patted the woodchopper on his firm, well padded back, gave a little belch, and said "Do you have any Maalox?"

The End.

Well, actually you could do the same thing with the ultra conservatives.
The fact is: If you get a conservative and a liberal to write a report of Custer's last stand, you would get two unrecognizable version.

The liberals would do it from Sitting Bulls point of view and the conservatives would have done it from Custers point of view and John Stoessel would have said the whole thing was unnecessary.
As the ever optimistic George Custer said before he went into battle, "Don't take any prisoners, men." He didn't.

"UPDATE" Opa, Ouzo, and Omicron

Greek geeks!

My wife and I went to the Greek Festival this weekend. She was so impressed that she is thinking of converting to Greek Orthodox. It is a lot like being a Catholic but you don't have to kneel.

She has started referring to Istanbul as Constantinople. She has asked me to change my name to Gianas Hemlockis. She is starting to write funny. I see triangles on paper, she says "that's "D" or delta." How the airlines got involved in religion I am not quite sure. I think I have lost her. She walks around shouting "opa, opa!!"

She is getting swept up in this whole Greek culture thing. She has ordered bouzouki Cd's of Panayotis Thomakis, "the Jimmie Hendrix of the bouzouki" as she now reverently refers to him. I actually thought he was more like the "Eric Clapton" of the bouzouki. He is very good.

She has discovered a fondness for Greek food. This morning she asked me to go buy a 55 gallon drum of Extra virgin olive oil for cooking. I told my sweetie that I have a bad shoulder and I would have trouble moving 500 pounds of olive oil.

I dodged the bullet on that one.

We will be having chicken Souvlaki for lunch, Gyros for supper. I read that the traditional Greek breakfast was coffee and a cigarette. I will check this out.

This is what "Nick" suggested. No cigarettes. Nick is very concerned about health. I am not sure I want to follow his diet. He is only 37 years old.

We toured the inside of the church. all the stuff written on the walls was in some kind of cryptic code. There was all kinds of murals on the walls and ceiling. very beautiful church. I got a little queasy inside the church. The church was St John the Baptist church. As you probably heard, He was beheaded. I have a lot of trouble with beheadings depicted on church walls. I had to leave. Don't go into any church named St. john to baptist if you get queasy about beheadings.

I thought my wife will outgrow the Greek thing. Perhaps not.

This morning she was checking real estate in Athens.

I said, "Athens, Georgia? Why should we move a few hundred miles down the road? We have the ocean here."

She said, " Athens, Greece. It is on the Mediterranean Sea."

"Oh,Oh!!!!!!

This isn't over.

Organized Religion...Really????

Finding Religion

My wife and I were raised Catholic. I was an altar boy. I had to give it all up. Bad knees.

My wife, on the other hand, gave it up for an entirely different reason. The Catholic Church switched from Latin to French (In Quebec). She finally realized what they were saying.

We still go to church. Weddings and funerals. But we try to avoid it whenever possible.

The Catholic church kept changing the rules. You can't eat meat today. Oh, never mind. Do I have to go to confession? Not really? Maybe...Possibly, could be?

The language used to be Latin. That was cool. We had our own obscure language. Just us few. Catholics, Lawyers, doctors and Mary O'Brien, our high school Latin teacher.

My wife and I decided we wanted an easier religion. Something not based on guilt or hate. Something where we don't have to wear funny hats on certain days. Something where we don't have to fast for 52 days or eat strange food, or refrain from eating strange food.

I am thinking about making a list of things I want out of my religion.

Since all religions believe in god, I can sort through the ones that appeal to me.

I have decided that religions that put too much emphasis on sex are not for me. I am too old and too married. Perhaps fifty years ago that would sound appealing. Now It sounds exhausting. I cannot imagine being a bigamist or going door to door in a black suit and white shirt with pamphlets. That pretty much eliminated the Mormons.

I thought about becoming Jewish but I don't like the beanies. I had to wear one during my freshman year of college. Not much fun. I would have to go through some kind of ceremony, I'm sure. I wonder if I would have to be circumcised again?

Not happening!!!!

Cross out Judaism.

Baptist have good music. They like to sing a lot. My problem there is the beer situation. I like to have beer and dance when I hear good music. They don't.

I find the alcohol thing a bit odd. I am sure Jesus took a nip of wine at the last supper.

Maybe it was Welch grape juice.

I have eliminated Christian Scientists. My best friend's father died of a very treatable condition. He was a Christian Scientist....and an Accountant. What if my appendix is about to burst? Do I go to a Christian Science reading room and hope for the best? Do they have a 911 number to call? I think not.

They are off my list.

Jehovah Witness...Hmmm! What if I fall down at the non Christmas party and I need blood? I am too old to say, " Thanks anyway doc, just let me lie here and bleed to death." Too many strange rules.

Muslim....My wife won't wear the Burka...as I commanded her to do. She is an infidel.

I will have to pass on that religion.

Buddha....give me a call. You sound pretty relaxed as far as religion goes. However I will not set myself on fire to make a point.

I even tried to read the bible for guidance. This is something I have never done.

I had problems from the very beginning. Genesis!!

OK...God can do some wonderful things.

He made the earth in 6 days and then took a day of rest. Actually God could have done it with a snap of his finger. He is, after all......God. I guess he wanted to make a little project out of it. Then he took a rib from Adam to make Eve. Ok!! I like that part.

Now everything seems start unraveling and I am only two pages into the book.

A serpent talks the folks in Eden into take a bite of the forbidden fruit. I have problems with this part. A talking serpent? A gecko perhaps! The Forbidden Fruit? Acai, I suspect.

Well shortly after they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam realizes that Eve is as naked as a Tijuana Stripper....(or Jaybird?)........Eve grabs a leaf, Adam nod towards the tree house and ask, "Would you like to see my palm hammock?" and Eve says with a wink, " I'd love too." and she did.

Shortly thereafter they were expelled from Eden and I think they ended up in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. But I haven't got that far yet.

It is pretty complicated reading for me. Too many thees, thy, thou, to many words that end with eth. "Ye sayeth thee art badeth of all thine peopleth." Huh???!!!!

After that it gets confusing. I thought Goliath was about 24 feet tall. Even the bible is confused about this. At one point, it is said he was about six and a half feet tall, another biblical scholar said about nine feet tall. I suspect he was was the "Shaq" of his day. A big guy. Not twenty four feet tall, not nine feet tall, but I suspect he could dunk a basketball if he was in shape.

Apparently he wasn't in great shape. He had a head like an over ripe melon. David hit it with a rock and he keeled over dead. Shaq would have said, "What was that, a gnat?"

Then David beheaded Goliath. This is a good story to tell your children.

I am a little confused about the ten commandments. Isn't that a nice round figure. I suspect there was more commandments but Moses dropped a few stone tablets on the way down. After all, he was up there for forty days. He might have been a little cranky on the trip down. I am questioning Moses work ethic.

I can picture him negotiating with God.

God: "Did you bring a quill and some papyrus, Moses?"

Moses: "Nah! I have good memory."

God: "I have 16 commandments for you."

Moses: "16? Could we round that off to 15?"

God: "Ok, but I will have to throw in some and/or in the mix"

So God gives the commandments to Moses. God says "repeat them back!!!"

Moses:Ummmm!!!...verily.....Ummmm!

God says, "I knew it, I knew It. Here!!! I made these commandments in stone. Bring em down the hill. All fifteen. 3 tablets."

Moses:" That's not a hill, that's a mountain."

God: I know what it is, Einstein. I made it. Remember?"

Moses: "Einstein????"

Moses leaves the mountain. He gets to the bottom after twenty days and says, "Hey, ya'll gather round. I've been yonder. I gotcha ten commandments for ya'll ya'll." (he apparently spent some time in South Carolina)

This is what I think happen.

I read on a little further.

Wow!!! Did you know that Methuselah lived 969 years? Noah...950 years...Adam...930 years? What were these guys eating? No trans fats or high fructose corn syrup.

Did Noah once say, "Hey...I haven't had sex in 881 years. I am getting a little cranky."

I wonder.....these people lived a long time. I think there is a book of the bible missing or it is in Commandments 11 through 15.

It's called "Recipes and lifestyles".

It is somewhere between Genesis and Revelations...somewhere, possibly.

Some strange stuff going on in that bible.

I will keep looking. I will stick with Catholic...for now.

Get a Life

Not necessarily my own!

Last evening I suggested to my wife that our neighbors were actually aliens. I am not talking about from Mexico or Haiti aliens. No! I am talking about Alpha Centauri, Rigel 7, or Saturn type aliens.

She is very aware of my logical thought process.

"OK, let's hear it."

I explained to her that when we moved recently,we moved into a "sleeper agent cell incubation pod area." They probably have some kind of capsule they eat or they consume "Earthlings". These people are not earthlings.

"Did you ever see them buy groceries? Did you ever see them eat?" The answer to that is "NO!!!" These people are clearly not from Earth.

She salvoed with, "I smelled barbecue steaks cooking next door." " Spray!" I answered.

"It makes them seem human."

"I rest my case".

My wife looked confused and befuddled. Then a sense of clarity and resolve came over her face.

WIFE:"Wait a minute, Clarence Darrow! Aren't you the same person who chased a car to North Carolina because you thought Jesus Christ was in the car and you wanted his autograph?

Aren't you the one who was attacked by seagulls on the beach because you had a watermelon on your head?

You thought you had a connection with Peter Noone of "Herman's Hermits" because his limo ran over your toes?

Aren't you the very same person who told our next door neighbor to "Get off my lawn" because you thought you would be like Clint Eastwood that day? Wasn't this you?"

ME:"Yeah.......What's your point?"

WIFE: 'The point is....GET A LIFE!!!!!

Hmmm!!! I thought I had one. I tried to model after someone I admired and respected, Clint Eastwood. I also have a striking resemblance to him. That doesn't hurt. I have to admit that I had to cut back on my Eastwoodness after the incident at Food Lion. The incident that nearly got me arrested.

The Incident: I got to the checkout line and the clerk asked me how many bananas I had purchased. Sadly I got caught up in the moment and said, " I know what your thinking, punk. Your thinking "Did he buy six bananas or only five?" " Now to tell you the truth I forgot myself in all the excitement. But being this is a Platinum Discover card, the most powerful credit card in the world and will blow your head clean off, You have to ask yourself a question: Do we take Discover? Well, do ya, punk?"

I am banned for life from Food Lion.

That did not "make my day".

I have tried being Clark Gable but that "Frankly, my Dear, I don't give a Damn." did not sit well with my wife since that would be my answer to any question. I gave that one up after a few hours. She still won't talk to me. Now I give a damn.

Cary Grant? "Judy..Judy...Judy"..Hmmm..I tried it and I sound like Goober Pyle.

I tried "Bogie" last week. I was saying stuff like: "We don't need no stinkin Food Lion, Here's looking at you, Kid." That kind of thing.

I even tried James Cagney. I was chasing squirrels Monday. I was hollering, "You dirty rodent!!!!"

I have though of seeing a Psychiatrist, but I started acting like McMurphy in "One flew over the cuckoos nest" and I was afraid of Nurse Ratched.

My wife just shakes her head and says, " You are not well."

I occasionally slip into lucidity.

Well, I guess that's life. But not mine.

The only time I feel like my genuine self is when I am somebody else.

A Squirrel's Tale (tail?)

Oh nuts!!!!...and fruits!!!!

Leonard and Sheldon are two squirrels who visit my bird feeder on a daily basis. A daily basis? I should say on an hourly basis.

I am at wits end.

I know! I know! A short trip!!!

I have tried everything. They are winning!!!!

They get on my patio, hop up the 3 steps, stand in front of the sliding glass doors and taunt my cat, Wilson. Wilson is furious. He is a bird watcher. They chase the birds away.

They feed hourly at my squirrel proof bird feeder.

I open the sliding doors and they flee. I should say they fly. They are getting really good at this flying thing. I am afraid I am teaching them how to fly. They are flying a good 10-12 feet in the air and clinging to the tree. I am hoping they will make a mistake and not put their furry little heads down, hit their head on the tree and render themselves unconscious. I would put them in a cage and I would taunt them.

sadly, it never happens.

If I sit out on the patio they will sit in the tree and make awful sounds. I assume they are doing the squirrel equivalent to swearing.

I purchased something that has cayenne peppers in it. It is suppose to keep squirrels away from the feeder. Leonard and Sheldon love it but it almost blinded me.

When I was putting it in the "SQUIRREL PROOF BIRD FEEDER", the wind came up and blew it in my eyes, up my nose, in my mouth, all over. At that point I was begging for someone to "just kill me now.....please...please...please". No one did.

I have tinkered with idea of hooking up some electricity to the bird feeder and giving them a shock when they get on the feeder. Somehow I feel that I will be the one getting the shock or the next day they will show up with rubber gloves and wire cutters and destroy my work.

I am starting to feel like Wile E. Coyote.

My neighbor caught a couple of squirrels in humane traps. He took the time to drive them to North Carolina and release them. He should not have stopped for that cup of coffee.

The squirrels were back before he was.

Well at least he didn't end up like my other neighbor, Mary Margaret O'Callahan.

Mary Margaret has started calling herself, Thermodora the Warrior Princess and squirrel slayer.

She wears a thong and a bra, a plastic tiara and a BB gun now.

She shot a squirrel with the BB gun. It didn't do much damage to the squirrel but now she is on a mission. She mumbles, giggles and twitches quite a bit. She walks around the neighborhood in her outfit saying, " Hey squirrel, I got something for ya."

Nobody will report her. The women are afraid of her because she is armed and the men think she is "kinda good lookin".

I can see the road I may be going if I do not revise my thinking.

HMMM!

I have finally decided to make peace with Leonard and Sheldon.

Yes, this will give me peace of mind. I will do this. After all, they are only doing what they were put on this earth to do. I don't want to end up like my neighbors. It is the natural order of life. I should embrace this concept. I should embrace Leonard and Sheldon. Yes, embrace.....(twitch)...them. Embrace them VERY HARD.

Squeeze the life out of them. (twitch)

I must deny these rodentia of MY air, MY space!!!!(hee!hee!)