Greg's General Store

This morning when I went outside it reminded me of a scene from that old horror movie; The Birds. There were literally thousands of birds in our yard. There were blue jays, cardinals, finches, ladder back's and some things that I didn't recognize. However cow birds made up the majority. Well I don't discriminate when it comes to feeding birds so I filled the feeder and let them have at it. Now you would think that birds would be afraid to come around here because we have cats. However out of the 4 cats that we have, only one likes to get birds and the others are more like this one: "Please wake me when it is time to eat." So here are some of the other birds that were in the yard this morning. "Do you mind. We are trying to eat here." This cardinal was acting shy. He is in the previous picture but he is hiding. This is inside my greenhouse. I was going to try to get a picture of the resident Carolina Wren but he too left before I could take the photo. Y...

You know you made it, when you can get fired and they keep paying you a salary. I doubt I will ever make it if that is the measure of success. Most of us just want to keep getting paid when we are working. I can't imagine getting paid for not working. It’s official. We are in a recession. I heard it this morning. I expected cutbacks but not this. Girl Scouts of American has decided to cut back. The boxes will be the same size but when you open your Girl Scout Cookies, you can expect to see more spacers and fewer cookies. The good news is that the price should be the same as last year. I just heard this, not one minute ago. There is a play here in Charleston tonight. It’s Show White and the 7 Dwarfs. But here is the kicker. Don’t bring the kids to see it. It’s an adult version of the play. I don’t even want to think about what this could be. I can see some couple bringing their little darling to see this “children’s” play and having to rush them out because of adult content. What ...

There is a meme going around where you are assigned a letter and you come up with 10 things that you love that start with that letter. My friend over at My ADHD Me offered so I accepted the challenge. She gave me the letter H . So here are 10 things I love that begin with the letter H. For starters, it’s Hot, Hot, Hot. I love hot wings, hot summer days and hot tubs. 1. Hot wings. I love good hot wings. I never met a hot wing I didn’t like.(well unless they were under cooked….Yuck) And no Hooters doesn’t have the best hot wings. That is just an excuse that we men use to get in the door. Theirs are ok but I have had ones that were a lot better. Sorry guys, I spilled the beans on this one. 2. Hot summer days. I prefer hot summer days over cold winter ones. Give me sweat over hypothermia any day. I welcome Global warming. Bring it on. Just kidding but I do like it hot. 3. Hot tubs. When it does get cold, you can find me in our hot tub or any hot tub for that matter. Yes we have one at hom...

Charleston was nicknamed The Holy City because of the numerous Churches in the area. It is hard to travel more than a mile anywhere in the area without passing a Church. In some areas, you will find a Church on every street corner much like gas stations in other cities. You will find any Denomination you want too so if you are planning a trip here, it won’t be hard to find a place to worship. However, you also need to know that there is an Anti-God movement on the rise here as well and that only stands to reason. Newton’s law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This not only applies to mass it also applies to religious beliefs. It seems that the stronger the religious society gets the more opposition there is to it. As some people try to move toward God, others try to move in the opposite direction. This has been happening since the beginning of time and will continue to the end. Since 9/11, there has been an increase in the attendance at Churches in ...

This past weekend, while at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando, I needed to use the little boys room. If you have never been to a Ritz Carlton hotel you are missing out. They are really fancy and the bathrooms are no exception. Since most of you have never been in a men's room, let me tell you about it. The walls are covered with marble and the floors are imported tile. There is usually an attendant in the men's room, keeping everything nice and tidy. There are no paper towels or any those air hand dryers. Instead they have monogrammed cloth towels to dry your hands. Then they also have perfume dispensers in case you need to freshen up your after shave. Sometimes they have a tip basket in case you want to leave one. The toilets were fancy designs made my American Standard. Now on that same day, we went to the Worlds Largest Flea Market in Daytona. While there, I had to use the little boys room. See a pattern developing here? Anywho, when I entered it I was surprised to see an attendan...

For those who didn't know about it (which should be just about no one since she told everyone who blogs about it) Today is the ugly mug contest hosted by Linda at 2nd cup of coffee . Please go visit her so she will get off my back. :) Just kidding Linda. A wise man once said; "It's not the destination so much as the trip that makes life insteresting." As I said in an earlier post, I don’t own any ugly mugs. Well until now that is. I have been searching for weeks and weeks trying to find one for Linda’s ugly mug contest though and with no luck here in Charleston. I searched, second hand stores, Goodwill, yard sales and was about to start going through people’s trash cans in an effort to find just the right mug. But I did have an ace in the hole. This past weekend, as some of you know, my wife and I went to Orlando Florida for a wedding. To get there, we had to travel past the World’s Largest Flea Market which is in Daytona Beach Florida. The highway literally takes y...

Wow it's Sunday night already and yes we made it back home safe and sound. We had a great trip to Orlando. It was for my niece's wedding and everything was awesome. The wedding was a a small college chapel and the reception was at the Ritz Carlton. My wife and I decided to stay at a smaller hotel just around the corner so that we could have a little time to ourselves. I have a lot to tell about the trip but we still need to get things unpacked and cleaned up. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here are a few photos I took. This is the view from our window at the hotel where we stayed. We really liked the Hottub which was right beside the pool. I took this as the sun was setting at the Ritz. They had the coctail hour out on the veranda at sunset. First dance for the bride and groom. The groom is an officer in the Navy and the bride is a lawyer. Don't let her looks fool you. She is a pretty tough cookie from what I hear. Here is the chapel where the wedding took place. Hav...

We now pause for station identification........ You are reading Greg's General Store, a collection of funny stories, serious thoughts and earth shattering news that surround the life of me, Greg. Unfortunately I have to take a very short break this weekend but will return on Monday (maybe sooner) with a big bunch of photos to share with you all. (that's yall for my southern readers and youse guys for my northern readers) I thank you all for reading and commenting on my blog and hope that you will continue. In the meantime, while I am gone, I will be taking suggestions and/or comments on ways to improve my blog. If there is something that you like or dislike, now is the time to tell me. Since I will be away, I won't be able to retaliate and you can get away with saying anything that you like. Please keep it kid friendly because my kids will be reading daily I am sure. I will also be reading your blogs as well as mine should I get the opportunity. Oh and don't feel so...

I can hardly believe it myself. No I am not talking about the snow we had in Charleston yesterday although that was pretty amazing too. But this was bigger. Much bigger and almost earth shattering. Well for me anyway. It is hard to believe that something this big started less than two years ago. I mean I never dreamed that it would come to this. At first I just hoped it would happen. Then I wished it would happen and finally I almost prayed that it would happen. But until it actually happened I don’t think that the magnitude of it actually set in. And I owe it all to you. Yes you made it happen. Confused? It’s ok, I stay that way. No I am not talking about the presidential inauguration. No way. Those things happen every four years just like locus swarms but this is a once in a lifetime event. This is bigger than that. Much bigger. Let me give you a hint: Figured it out yet? Here is another clue. That’s right. Last night, I passed the 10,000 visitor mark. So who was the wonderful person...

Wadmalaw Island is hit with a severe winter storm. Near blizzard like conditions left the island paralyzed and cut off from the rest of the world. Well it could have been that way if it had snowed a lot harder and a lot longer. However we did get snow and I have the photos to prove it. Here is snow on our park bench. This one shows snow on some of our Loquat trees that we are growing. In this photo you can see my son standing out in the driving (well almost driving) snow. I made him do it, If you look close enough you can actually see some snow. The unofficial report says that we had .1" of snow. It melted before I could even make a snowman. :( All I can say is this is global warming at it's best. Have a great day kids, no snow day here. Greg

No not really. That is a George Strait song lyric. However recently, I had a visitor named Eric who asked me if I was really a Fireman and really in the Navy. He saw a comment I left on my favorite fireman's blog; Monkeys are funny . My answer would be kind of and Yes. First off Yes I was in the Navy for 20 years. I was kind of a fireman because everyone on the submarine went through firefighting school for obvious reasons. Being isolated on a submarine, often hundred of feet below the ocean and thousands of miles from land, we all had to be ready in case a fire broke out. There was no one else to fight a fire so we had to do it. An oil fire on a submarine would be out of control in less than 15 minutes and the compartment would flash, which means that everything and everyone in it would burn. Actually, my father was a fireman for most of his life. In his later years, he was the Fire Chief for the City of Ormond Beach. Before he was a fireman, he was a lifeguard on the beach, He sp...

Wait this isn't about tonight. Its about today. Let me start over. It was a cold and rainy day. It has been raining here all day and the temperature never got above the mid 50's. So when the going gets tough, the tough get baking. I started my day by reading many of your blogs but it was so early that there were very few new blog posts. So I decided to hit the kitchen and do a little baking. First up, Cinnamon rolls. And not out of a can either. These were from scratch. I started with a basic yeast roll recipe. After letting it rise until it doubled, I rolled it out to about an 18 X 18 inch square. Then I brushed it with some butter, and sprinkled it with Cinnamon and sugar. Next I rolled it into a log and then cut the log into 1 inch slices. I then laid them out on a lightly greased baking sheet so that the sides were almost touching. Then I sprinkled the top with a little more Cinnamon, covered the pan and let them rise a second time for 30 minutes. Then I baked them for 20 m...

I know I could shake a single tag but two of my readers tagged me and a double tag is just about impossible to not-address. But here's the thing. You all don't know just how boring I am so when you see what the results of this challenge turns out to be, you may just stop visiting. Ok I have stalled enough. Here is how this thing works. I am supposed to go to my photo library and then go to the 4th folder and pick the 4th picture and post it. Then all I have to do is to explain what it is and tell something about it. After that I am supposed to pass this along to someone else to do. So without further ado, here it is: This is a photo of a plant that I grew this year in my front yard. It is a Castor bean plant. Supposedly you can take one of the beans and push it down into a mole hole and when they come along they will eat it. Castor beans are deadly poisonous so the mole should die. I ran into a few problems though. First off this was the idea of someone that I used to work with...

I thank God that I am alive. A drunk driver ran a red light right in front of me this morning and could have easily killed me. I thank God that it is freezing this morning. It keeps the mosquitoes and sand gnats in check. I thank God that all the passengers in that airline that crashed survived. It could have been a lot worse. I thank God that I was physically able to go to the gym and work out at 5 am this morning. Many people were unable to get up. I thank God that I had this job to go to this morning. Millions of Americans are out of work. I thank God that the heater is working in my office and I am comfortable while I sit here and type. The homeless man I passed this morning in the street can’t say that. I thank God for good friends old and new. I love my new blogging friends. I thank God that I have enough Gas in my car to make it home today. Payday is just around the corner. I thank God for unexpected bills that are helping to keep me on my diet. Going out to dinner really isn’t ...

You know, I shouldn’t let things like this get to me but for some reason I can’t help it. Last night, I was watching CBS evening news and this story came on. It was about a Drum Corps from a New Jersey school that was going to be in the Inaugural parade. Sounds innocent enough doesn’t it but wait, hear the rest of the story. Well for starters it really isn’t a school. It is a home for boys that have been in trouble. I thought that part was great but it gets bad. The home director whose name is Bill, really wanted to get his boys into the parade, so he wrote a letter to the committee asking if his Drum Corps could be a part of it. Still so far so good but here is where the problem is. He lied. He put on the application that the Corps consisted of 12 marching drummers and he went on to describe their colorful uniforms and how good they were. The truth is there were only 6 members of the “Corps” and they had never marched a day in their lives. They also had no uniforms. He made it all up ...

The other night we were discussing some of the problems in the world and how PE "O" wasn't going to be able so solve some of them. My youngest son walked in and upon hearing some of the things we were discussing said; "We were talking about the dark ages too in school today." Now my mind was still thinking present time and the PE and I quickly put two and two together and came up with five so I responded; "What did you say young man? " He said; "We are studying the dark ages in school. Isn't that what you were talking about?" Is that egg on my face? Well to tell the truth I have always been gullable and thoughout my youth I was the brunt of many a cruel joke. That happened throughout my preteen years so that when I reached my teens I had such a inferiority complex that I crawled inside my shell. It wasn't until I went to my class reunion that I realized that I let a few bad people change my whole life. While at the reunion, several ...

Notice how nicely these post just seem to follow one another. :) Purely coincidence I assure you. Many years ago my wife and I took a vacation to Dominica Republic. When most people think of vacation spots, Dominica usually doesn’t come to mind but through a series of complicated events, we ended up there. (I will save that for another story) I don’t know why, but some of the most beautiful places on earth are tucked in among some of the most poverty stricken places on earth. Dominica is no exception. The place where we stayed was called Playa Dorada which means “golden beach”. Inside the security fence were beautiful hotels, lush gardens, tropical swimming pools, golf courses and lovely beaches. Just outside the fence was poverty like you have never seen in America. And to make matters worse, the area where we stayed was said to be the “Better side of the island.” I can only imagine what the other side is like. Patrice , one of my blogger friends knows because she has been there. She ...

I thought I would try something a little different to see if I could get to the 25 comments needed to achieve the "They like me" status. So without further ado, let me take you to my kitchen. Here is what I cooked up today. "Seafood marinara" You will need: 10 lbs of frozen tomatoes (don't freak on me, I will explain) 1 medium onion 4 cloves of garlic 2 tsp salt 2 tbs oregano 1 tsp pepper 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup chopped fresh parsley 1 cup white wine(more of you are like me and watched the galloping gormet on TV) 1 lb mussels in the shell 1 lb large scallops 1 lb fresh shrimp Ok about the tomatoes. We take fresh tomatoes every year and freeze them in 1 quart bags. All you have to do is wash them and them bag them. When you are ready to cook with them, simply put them under cool water and the skins will come right off and they you cut the top off and dice them up. It is really easy and much easier than canning. You can take out as many as you like when you want to us...

There are a few things in life that upset me: Spiders, rude people, unruly children and spilling my coffee to name a few. But nothing gets my blood boiling faster than hearing the name Flat Stanley. On the surface, Stanley sounds like something innocent, but I am here to tell you that he is evil and has the power to tear your family apart. Flat Stanley was the brain child Dale Hubert, a third grade teacher from Ontario Canada. Back in 1995, he decided to start this project to inflict pain on unsuspecting parents and students as well. The concept is simple: You take a picture of Flat Stanley and decorate it. Then you cut it out and there you have it….Flat Stanley. Then you send it to other people and they take stupid photos of them with Stanley or you take him on vacation with you in order to ruin your vacation and Dale should be shot or better yet put in a pot of boiling oil and slowly fried and tortured and and and Ha Ha….Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha….Whahahahahahahahaha Sorry this happens every ti...

I know I told you a long time ago that I am not a big fan of watching TV. My favorite shows are Cash Cab, Animal planet and of course, Local on the 8’s. (the weather channel) That was up until this week. My wife actually found this new show and turned me on to it and now I am addicted. It was just like one hit of Reefer in Reefer Madness. One try was all I needed and now I am a TV junkie. Ok I just dated myself with that one. I am of course talking about “The Repo Man.” For those who have not seen this show, you are really missing out. It is about the repo-man. He is a very large Mexican Gentleman who along with his wonderful family and a tattoo covered strong man go out and reposes things that people aren’t paying for. His family consists of his son and daughter who seem to be quite normal but then there is his sister. She is another really large individual, (not that there is anything wrong with that), but she chooses to wear slinky outfits to show off her body. Then there are her fa...

The reason that I haven’t been posting much lately is that I have been really tired and I have been sleeping a lot. It’s not due to depression though. I think it is an allergic reaction to our cat. You see, he has been inside a lot lately after his attack. I really think there are a lot of dogs hanging around the neighborhood so we keep him inside for his protection. The reason that all these dogs are hanging around is because there seems to be several foxes living in the woods by our house. I am sure that they are there due to the increased number of birds, mice, snakes and other vermin that have taken up residence around our house. The “fox food” is here because there is still a lot of green vegetation around that would normally be brown this time of year and it is all due to global warming. So you see the reason that I haven’t been blogging much lately is due to global warming. And that’s the truth. Yesterday I was thinking about my youth and all the things that my parents taught me...