Greg's General Store

Remember those trips with the family when you were young and how you constantly asked that question? It always seemed like an eternity when you were stuffed in the back of a station wagon and on a long trip. Well that’s the way we traveled anyway. Your trips may have been different. There were 7 of us so the car was always crowded. Mom and Dad sat in the front with my youngest brother. Then three kids sat in the back seat and I would get way in the back with the luggage. None of us were strapped in either but somehow we lived through it all. Anyway the point is there had to be a destination in mind in order to ask that question. Usually for us it was upstate NY to visit the relatives or Camp JOY (Church camp) in West Virginia. Both were long trips from Florida. So this morning I was listening to the Steve Harvey show on the radio as I do every morning at 6:00. If you are ever up at that hour, I highly recommend his show. He starts his show each day with an inspirational mes...

Where are you going and why are you in such a big hurry? That is what I would like to ask some of the people that pass me in the morning. Each day I get up and get ready for work then head out and join in the Indy 500 as we all rush to work. Well I am not in a big hurry so I lose the race. I get up 15 minutes earlier than I have to so that I don't have to rush. I like to get ready then sit quietly and meditate for a few moments before getting into the rat race. Once I hit the road, I drive the speed limit and make it to work with lots of time so that I can again relax before starting my work day. Not everyone is like me though, Every morning someone gets right on my bumper and swirves back and forth waiting for just the right moment to pass and then they head on down the road at high rates of speed. I usually catch up with them at the next light only to see them fly off again trying to get somewhere quickly. I admit it, I do drive what I consider the speed limit. If it is 55, I sta...

Here are my top three.... Number one in my list is going to the dentist. I have always hated going to the dentist because nothing good has ever happened to me in a dentist office. I mean there are needles, pain, blood, gagging and an occasional throwing up episode and I just can’t get past that sound of the drill. I know I am a grown man and shouldn’t be afraid of it but I am. By the way, I have an appointment this afternoon and am dreading it. I am claustrophobic too and I always feel like I am going to choke with all that stuff in my mouth. When I was young, my dentist was named Dr. Fang. The name alone says it all. Number two on my list is spiders. There is something scary about a spider. I think they were created by the devil just to scare me. Once when I was very young, I got a big banana spider on my face and to this day I nave nightmares about it. They just look creepy to me and then there is that anticipation of the bite when they get on you. Number three for me is heights bu...

There I said it. I will say it again "Merry Christmas". How could anyone be offended with that statement? I saw on the news the other day that some town in Colorado is putting some restrictions on Christmas this year so as not to offend anyone. Things like only white lights and no tree visible from the street. I just don't get how it could. I mean the whole reason we celebrate Christmas is the birth of Christ right? So how could someone even think of separating Christmas from religion. This world has gotten so crazy. In protest, I am putting up extra lights this year. I have my whole driveway lined with lights and a big star up in the air. And none of those silly decorations either like Snoopy or Charley brown holding a candle. I do however have a big frosty the snow man up on the roof. (remember free frosty) If any of the offends anyone, I suggest you drive by quickly and close your eyes. Pretty soon the churches will have to take down their signs and crosses so that non...

This morning on my way to work, I stopped for a cup of coffee at a local convenience store. I always stop there as it gives me a few moments to wake up fully before hitting the heavy traffic and they do have great coffee. The place is very clean and bright inside but outside things are not so good. There are usually a few people hanging around having their last few beers for the night or possibly their first few for the day. This is at 5:30 in the morning mind you. Today I was approached by a woman asking for some change to buy a soda. I would dare say that she has approached me over a hundred times asking for the same thing. She really doesn't want a soda. She just wants money. She probably doesn't even know that she has asked me before. Once she gets enough she heads back to the closest crack house and gets her fix. Soon she is back on the street asking for money again. A year or so ago in that same general location a man came up and asked me for money. He said he had run out...

Fall colors We didn't go to the mountains this year to see the leaves change. I really wanted to go but with changing jobs and so many things going on, we just couldn't make it. I don't know if the leaves were as lovely as they were last year when I took this picture, but this is how I remember it. As the weather turns cooler and the days grow shorter at least I have this picture planted in my mind. A brighter day. The other night there was a documentary on TV about Thanksgiving. It covered the history of it from the beginning until present time. What it all boils down to is that the holiday has changed throughout the years but there was always a central theme. Taking the time to be thankful for what you have. I do want to thank everyone for the comments on my last two posts. After my two humerus Thanksgiving posts, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on the things I am thankful for. Oh I am sure if I wanted to, I could dwell on the negative things in my life but I choose...

Gobble-De-Goo: That’s Turkey talk for Eat My Stuffing. Today I was thinking about Thanksgiving and realized there is a lot about it I don’t know. I really have a lot of questions about the entire holiday. I mean I can cook a great turkey and dressing with all the trimmings but some other things baffle me. For starters, do American Indians celebrate Thanksgiving? I seriously would like to hear from a Native American because I really don’t know the answer to this one. I mean the whole concept is kind of weird to me. It is like celebrating the beginning of the end. I mean this was sort of the kick off meeting before the Pilgrim Executives took over the new world. Several years ago I worked for an American chemical company that was taken over by an English company(sound familiar?). It all started with a big meeting/meal with everyone happy and friendly and then they took over our company. I don’t celebrate that now though. Question #2. And I am really serious about this, but were there onl...

“ A Thanksgiving Story ” I just realized that Thanksgiving is only a week and a half away. Where did this year go? It seems like the older I get, the faster time goes. I wonder when you get near the end, if it will be like warp speed on Star Trek and everything will just be a blur. That would be kind of cool. Well depending on where you end up that is. Anyway Thanksgiving always reminds me of family and big dinners. The whole family would show up at my Grandmother’s house and it was a great time. I remember one Thanksgiving most of all though. It was back in the 60’s and I was just a youngster. My father was in charge of getting the turkey. I think that was his assignment because they usually gave him free turkeys at work and he would supply it for the meal. This one year, there were more relatives than usual attending so he had to “buy” a turkey because the one they gave him wasn’t big enough. A few days before Thanksgiving, my Dad and uncle brought home a nice big one. It was a fresh...

I have read the movie reviews but have to disagree with the masses on this one. Everyone is raving about the movie "Ratatouille". The critics are saying the animation is superb, the voices are wonderfully done and the plot is delightful. Wake up people. This is about a rat in the kitchen of a restaurant. Am I the only one that sees a problem here? This rodent came from the sewers below Paris and who knows what diseases it is carrying not to mention more bugs that one can imagine. Did everyone forget about the black plague that they say was carried by rats? This is a Pixar film which is a division of Disney. I dare say that if Walt was alive today, he would agree with me. What started out as a cute little Mickey Mouse is now a disease carrying rat in a kitchen. What's next Pixar ? Oh I know, how about a roach that wants to be a doctor so he lives in a hospital and crawls all over the medications and such. Yes that is hilarious and wholesome. Yea right. This is why I don...

First of all, my sympathy goes out to all those that lost their houses in the California fires, but the biggest hurdle is still in front of them. As was the case with the hurricane in New Orleans and the one in Charleston, we can expect some changes in insurance coverage. After these hurricanes, the three major insurance companies got together and changed some definitions. For instance now there is a difference between flooding and rain damage. If your roof blows off and rain ruins everything you own that is hurricane damage and not flood damage. If wind damage associated with a major storm is determined to be wind shear then you better have wind damage coverage along with hurricane damage. There are so many loopholes that one really doesn't know what will be covered. Now that all these wild fires have destroyed so many expensive houses, I see the major insurance companies changing the policies to say that a house fire must start from within the house. In the future you will have t...