Jellybeans in a Jar

I have not done it personally and I do not know anybody who has.  But when I was a young man, and just recently married, an older gentleman in the place where I worked told me about the "Jellybeans in a Jar Observation".  He asked if I had ever heard of it.  Respectfully, I said no.

He told me I was probably too late to verify it for sure but this was how one sets it up.

1. Obtain a nice sized jar with a sealable lid.

2. Buy a bag of jelly beans.


Now this is where it could get a little tough because you have be diligent in following through.

3. During the first year of your marriage, put a jellybean in the jar every time you share marital relations.

4. From then on, for each time you have marital relations, take out one jellybean from the jar.

The observation states that you will die long before the jar is empty.  I don't know, but it makes sense to me.

Orde Charles Wingate

The British sent Orde Charles Wingate to Judea to organize a fighting force should the Axis be successful in pushing into the Middle East oil fields. When the threat slackened, no less than Moshe Dayan went to him and complained that the training had not let up accordingly. "You don't understand," Wingate replied. "I am training the Army of Israel". Apparently he did a super job.

How I love my boy!

You question if you did enough. Then your son writes something like this.
And then you wonder, was it you who made him like this, or did he just bring these fine qualities with him when he came to earth?
And you still question if you did enough.


By Nathan Travis Boyce

The Jewish heritage is passed on through the mother. If your mother is Jewish, then you are Jewish. This is smart, as no one can deny that the baby was not born of that person.

Paternity has been questioned since the beginning of man. Women are lucky like that. However, when a man accepts a child into his life, whether he was there when the child was born or he is introduced to the child later, the man chooses how much of a role he will play in the child’s life.

It can be simply the realization when the child is born that the man is now a father, or it might be a more active choice later. There can be an instant attachment or an attachment that grows deeper over time, but when a man makes that choice he is now a dad. The world has a different meaning and the man has a different approach in life.

To be a dad means watching the baseball you just threw plow into your child’s face. The first time the ball hits him, you run over and comfort him. Maybe for that day the game of catch is over. The next time that ball hits him you still go over to them and comfort him, but catch that day does not end. Rub some dirt on it and keep at it, this maybe the most important lesson a man can pass on. It applies to all things in life.

The third time it happens you tell him to shake it off and catch goes on like it never happened. It means running behind your child, no matter how out of shape you are, when you take the training wheels off for the first time. in slow motion you watch him crash as you desperately try to reach him.

This happens a lot in life, and not just on bikes.

You stay awake at night wondering whether the punishment you meted out was too harsh for the offense, but you don’t take it back. You know the world does not wonder whether it is being too harsh for a poor decision that the child might some day make.

In your child’s eyes you are the biggest, meanest, nastiest thing that ever strode across the earth. You have to be, so that they will think twice before making mistakes they know are wrong when you are not around. The words “Just wait until your father gets home” ring loudly in most peoples ears. They have seen your wrath directed at them, and more importantly, directed at those that would harm them.

The best part about being the biggest, meanest and nastiest thing on the planet is those strong arms give amazing hugs. Those same arms that blistered a bottom red a few hours ago, will lift them up and carry them to their bed because they fell asleep in the car, or pretended to. There is never a fear of being dropped because dad is carrying them.

The benefit of being and doing all these things is that when that child you chose to raise goes out to face the world, you get to keep on worrying. No matter how well you taught your child, you know the world is now meaner, stronger and nastier than you ever were. You hope your child will rub some dirt on it and keep at it. In the end being a dad means no matter what evidence can be proved to the contrary, skin color, court decrees, DNA testing, no one can ever tell you that child is not yours.

There is no Such Place as Palestine-

I have seen a lot of comments lately regarding posters and tee-shirts proclaiming "There is no Such Place as Palestine".

I really don't know how this all started, possibly from a pulpit someplace.

Actually there is a place called Palestine, and there always has been. When the British occupied the area, they called it Palestine. If one looks for Biblical maps of the area published before 1950 he will find the area is named Palestine. Cities like Palestine, Illinois (pronounced Pales-TYNE) and Palestine, Texas (pronounced Pales-TEEN) are named for the place.

It is the ancient Philistia and it roughly encompasses the area also known as Canaan. That is also the area also known as Israel.

An unusual sidelight to this has to do with the area now known as the Gaza strip. This was on land reserved for the tribe of Dan, the most warlike of all the tribes of Israel, and it was never subdued by the Israelites, even in the height of their empire under King David. The primary cities were Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza, which exist even to this day.

Alec Baldwin's Finest Movie Moment - The Shadow

Living Green

My ancestors practiced sustainability in harvesting rain water in West Texas in the late 1800s and early 1900s. 

Rainwater from the roof was collected in a tank they optimistically called a cistern. They would screen the water with cheesecloth to filter out bugs and larvae and boil it for drinking. Baths were reserved for Saturday night either before a social engagement or later to be ready for church services on Sunday. This water was not thrown out. It was saved for doing the wash on Monday. The last items to be washed were the whites, and bluing was added to the now much recycled water for that. 

Different times, and times to which I believe the "environmentalists" want us to return.

My grand aunt Ruby. The house had city water and indoor plumbing by then, but the now unused cistern can still be seen.

Continuous Deception

There have been a lot of posts recently regarding demonstrations at state capitals across the country by disgruntled "workers". Do not be fooled by the word crafting of these posts and the articles that are shared within them. This is a concerted effort by government employees who are paid excellently and further receive perks that those of us in the private sector can only dream about.

This practice has caused huge deficits in most states' budgets. Now, when they are told they must live like the rest of us, they cry that they are treated unfairly. It is only through their deceptive practices now that they can hope to garner support from the rest of us who are not nearly at their level.

A pox upon all their houses.