I'LL TRY MY BEST

AS 2015 COMES TO AN END, AND 2016 COMES TO A BEGINNING:  I may have mentioned this in past posts. I didn't go back to check.  But if I have or have not, I will state here, I am not one to normally make New Years resolutions. While I understand, and believe that a looking back at the year ended and looking forward to the year coming up and making any changes that one feels necessary, I feel that if I need to, ( and I usually do) make corrections during the year, that time is the best time to make that life correction.  So, having said all that, after this post I resolve to try to make my blog posts more meaningful and less critical of those around me. Especially the tics.  I said after this post.
So while I feel that ones vote of personal and private, I am going to put myself out there and say this; I do not like Trump and do not intend to vote for him. However, in a contest between Trump and Hillary, I would have to shut my eyes, cross my fingers and vote for Trump. I don't like his ways of bullying and insults those who come close to him in the polls. I like Dr. Carson, but he is slipping in the polls and we will have to wait and see.
Now, I will end with Hillary.  For any one who is to young to remember, Or to enamored with her to think about it, please remember the time she was the first lady in a scandal filled presidency, and what it would mean for her to return, with Billary at her side.  Shudder. Also, remember   when they left the white house and George W. moved in, they had trashed the White House, removed the "W's" from the computers, trashed Air Force One and taken the White House China.  They were caught with the China, as it were and did return it, but still, her lies and deceit just can't be good for the country. And if the media would remind the public of these things, her campaign would go down the tubes. I think.  So, for any one who wants a Woman President, I have no objection, just no this woman.
Well, I guess that is enough for now, and we will see how long, in an election year, I can be a niver person, even to the tics.  AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

I'M REALLY GETTING TIRED

I'M REALLY, REALLY GETTING TIRED. A while back I said to myself, "Self, just back off from the posts about the tics".  I really wanted to just focus on other things in the few blog posts that I write. I have even considered blogging more about things closer to me, you know, like well, me.  But I have a hard time doing that, mostly and the tics just keep on getting, well, more tic,ky. So, here goes.
I a recent debate between Queen in her own mind Hillary and Bernie and another seldom mentioned Democratic candidate, Hillary made some unsupported claims about the Donald that she has been called out on. She refuses to back down.  And Donald. Well, if his language gets any worse, the country will run out of mouth washing soap before the elections are here, much less over. Would Donald make a good President. I think not. He is a successful businessman, but I think he will not be a good President. However, there is so much of the populace that is really tired of the current government leadership, that they are rallying behind him for whatever rhetoric that seems to spew from his mouth.  As for Hillary, She is being rallied behind for whatever reason I fail to understand at all.  It has been proven that she has told many lies about the things she has done. Even if you ignore a lot of what is said on social media, and take the liberal media with a grain of salt, Hillary still comes off in a bad light.  The media seems to ignore the face that she and husband Bill made off with hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of China and other items from the White House when they left after his term of office. They were caught and they did return said items, but they still did abscond with them. So what seems to be the draw for Hillary and Donald. I really don;t know. ( Are you getting tired of me using the word really?)  So, I think the best match up would be the seldom mentioned Democrat and Cruz or Rubio on the Republican side. Maybe a good look at an Independent candidate would be in order this time.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

I'M NOBODY

HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED, how the news anchors gush about things.  And they will say, "Everybody" does this; or "Everybody" wants this; Or "Everybody" has been waiting for this. Or "Everybody" watches this TV show or has seen this movie or is just waiting to do so. And I can just shake my head, cause I don't want, or haven't been waiting for or whatever it is that They are gushing about.  Since "Everybody" wants this and They said so, and since I don't and didn't, I guess that makes me nobody.
And you know what?  That just makes me happy that They and Everybody wants to do this or that or wants this or that and is waiting for this or that to happen and I don't want to and don't really care.  So, Yep, I'm just happy being a nobody.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

A PATIENT PERSON

ARE YOU A PATIENT PERSON? Those who know me best will tell you that I am not. If they chose to look back over the decades, they may tell you that I have improved.  What they won't tell you, probably because they don't know, is how much I have learned about myself over those decades and how much I work to control my patience. And what they won't know is that as I work and learn, it is getting easier to control myself, mostly.  Now, I mention all this just cause I can, and I will tell you the train of thought that brought me to write this post in the first place. 
A few days ago, during a conversation I was having with a friend of mine, the comment was made about how fast this year had gone by, and how it didn't seem all that long ago that people were panicking over the turn of the century and the possible problems that Y2K was going to bring.  Problems that just didn't materialize.  But as I thought on this thought and the few things that were said about how fast things were going, how fast the years are going by, I came to this conclusion. 
When we were young we were always looking forward to something. Grade school graduation, High School graduation, Proms, a first date, basketball season, the weekend dance, Christmas, getting old enough to get a drivers license, and then a car and then a job and it seems like it takes forever to get some of these things done, or to reach that date.  As we got older, we have reached these milestones and the ones we are looking forward to are getting less, and as we get involved in a busy life, it seems that time just slips away at times. And then the next thing we know, we look back and wonder, where did the time go. It seems only a few days ago I was a new husband and then a new father and now I am a Great grandfather.   Being a Great Grandfather is a matter of genealogy. Just how great I may be is debatable.  And as my time on the earth is winding down ( I guess it starts that process at birth, it just becomes more noticeable now) the time seems to slip by faster and faster every day. And my patience begins to go the other way.  While a school kid can't wait for summer vacation, I would just like to slow time down a bit. even though the days for both of us is actually 24 hours in duration.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR

THANKSGIVING IS OVER; and now it is time to start the Christmas season. I am one of those funny people who thinks we should celebrate one holiday at a time.  July 4th; Labor Day; Halloween; Thanksgiving and then Christmas. While decorations and a tree can be put up shortly after Thanksgiving, to do so before the Thanksgiving turkey is even cooked is pushing it a little.  Christmas carols after Thanksgiving is good, but start off slow and then build up. Even a steady diet of carols can get a little bit annoying at times.
But with this season, this year, there is a lot of doom and gloom across the globe. The latest shooting in Paris and then in San Bernadino, not to mention all the ones before them, and you just have to wonder what is going on.  Is this the escalation of evil that has been long predicted? The evil that will spread across the earth in the last days. Some will arguably say it is. Others not so much. Me, well I think it is an escalation. I think the end of the world as we know it is getting close.  But as awful as these shootings are, as awful as the increasing threat of the ISIS band is, much as the bulk of the world would like to see a return to sense and sensibility, I don't really think that is going to happen. Not any time soon, any way.
And as for the end of the world.  Well, the world is not going to come to a crashing halt with a grinding of gears and a smoking engine. Although there may be some smoke involved, the world will "end" with the 2nd coming of the Lord and sin, including the many wars and contentions will cease and the world will be a place of peace for many centuries.  Will this happen in my lifetime?
Probably not. In the lifetime of my children? Possibly. My Grandchildren and great Grandchildren? I would say most definitely it will happen in their lifetime. But with all that is happening at this time, all across the world, with world leaders pointing fingers at their neighbors, and while they paw the ground, throw dust across their backs and bellow like a couple of old bulls getting ready to fight, we must all remember the real reason for this season of the year. We should keep in mind that we are celebrating the birth of Christ, who came to earth, lived and died, as a perfect being, and in so doing, offered each of us the opportunity to return to that home from whence we came.  We should always remember that no matter how much pawing and dusting the world does, we need to always be mindful of what we are truly here for and what we are trying to accomplish on a personal level.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK