Greg's General Store

There are so many things in this world that are fake these days. Someone said that you can't put anything on the internet if it isn't true. That in itself is so untrue. I think that 90% of the information on line is fake and the rest is blown out of proportion by the media. I never thought that a day would that you couldn't believe what you read in a news paper but that day has arrived and it came with a bang. So I don't believe anything I read in the paper, on line or anything I see on TV. Especially those "reality" shows. If you didn't already know it, those shows are fake. Yes the people are real and the shows somewhat revolve around their normal lives but they are scripted and those people are doing crazy things just to boost ratings. I also don't believe in UFO's, free things, that Honey Boo Boo will ever amount to anything normal, and I don't believe that the path to Heaven goes through the front door of a church. It can but that come...

They are both emotional releases and sometimes I have trouble deciding which one to do. Yesterday at work, I got into a heated discussion with one of our electricians. Let me give you the background first. There is this pump/motor combination that isn't working and needs to be removed so that I can send it in for repairs. Picture a pool pump that is bolted to a frame with 4 tiny bolts. It really is as simple as that. So the question is who should remove it? An electrician because they do have to remove the wires and they have the technology to remove the tiny bolts and hoses. Or have a mechanic do it but they wouldn't be able to remove the wires legally so they would have to call that electrician to the scene anyway. Case one would take two electricians, one to do the work and the other one to complain about having to work. Case two would take one mechanic to do the work and two electricians to watch the mechanic and then one of them would have to remove the wires. Pretty s...

I am saddened by the recent events in Connecticut. The fact that a man could kill another person let alone a child just baffles me. And now it seems that everyone is looking for answers. Why would a man do this? We may never know the answer to that question but the alarming fact is that these kinds of things are becoming more and more common. They used to happen about once every 10 years, then about once a year and now it seems like about once a week. Is this really the end? Is it going to turn into a big free for all gun battle in our streets? I surely hope not. In the wake of this disaster, many people are calling for gun control. There may be a little truth to that reasoning in that if you were able to take away every gun from every American, there would be no more gun killings. However there would still be sick people and I am sure they would use other forms of weapons. We could take away every knife too and stop knife killings. Of course we would have to take away all forms of e...

As always I am thankful for so many things and not just on Thursdays. Today I am thankful that my wife is recovering quickly from her hand surgery. It isn't easy working all day and then coming home and being Mr. Mom. They will be taking the bandages off next Wednesday but she is already able to do a few things to help out. Thanks for all your prayers. Have a great day, Greg

I read an article yesterday that said a large percentage of the fish sold in NY is misidentified. In other words people are buying what they think is one kind of fish and in fact getting another kind. And I am not surprised. This reminds me of something that happened a very long time ago. My father used to do fish fry’s in Daytona back in the 60’s and early 70’s. It started as a lifeguard thing and was usually at the Daytona lifeguard station in Eleanor Village but he sometimes went to other locations. I enjoyed working with him so I was often his helper. Not only did I make a little money doing it (usually paid in sodas and candy) I also enjoyed the scenery if you know what I mean. The menu was usually the same: Fried Mullet, Hushpuppies, Coleslaw, Baked beans and Iced Tea. Dad’s fish fry’s were famous and there were even articles written about them in the local paper. If you never had fresh fried mullet, you are really missing something. When cooked fresh and cooked right it...

I started to write about this a short while ago but I never finished it. However now seems like a good time to make this post. There is a local radio station here in Charleston that regularly makes prank phone calls. It is intended for entertainment purposes but to me, it just isn’t funny. This is setting a bad example for our children, telling them not only is it ok to make prank phone calls but that it is ok to pick on someone as long as it’s in the name of entertainment. It really reminds me of all the times that I was picked on as a child and others would stand by laughing at my humiliation.   I was a bit chubby as a child and quite naive. I would do anything if asked and I trusted everyone. As I became a teenager I began not trusting people and even grew to hate some mean people. I carried that hatred and non-trusting into my adulthood and it really changed my life. I was afraid to talk or perform in front of others so I shied away from singing, acti...

That's right stalkers, you may be watching me but I am watching you back. I have the ability to see who is visiting or at least where you are from. I can figure out who you are if you are a blog friend just by your location. So why not leave a comment or if you aren't a blogger, send me an email. I love hearing from you, why you visited and what you thought. If you are new to my blog, I took about a year vacation from blogging but I am back now and will try to post at least every couple of days. So please say hi here or at my email. You can reach me at gmcushing@bellsouth.net. I would love to hear from you. And come back later today, I have an interesting (and funny) story to tell. Have a great day, Greg

I had a story ready to post today but then I realized that it is Thankful Thursday so I will put that one on hold. I am so thankful today for all the little changes in my life. The past 4 years have been a real struggle for us but I have learned one thing; we can survive on less and actually do pretty well. We have downsized a lot and gotten rid of a lot of clutter in our lives and I feel this is a good thing. As we go forward from here I know we can downsize even more and get to a comfortable place. I know a lot of people will be following this lead in the years to come and I pray that you are all successful in this venture even though for some it won't be a choice. Just keep your head up, keep pushing forward and thank God for everything that comes your way. Have a great day, Greg

This internet thing is just a fad: That’s what I thought when it first came out. I figured that it would be around for a short time and then fade away like Beanie Babies or Pop Rocks or The Beatles. I guess I was wrong. I can see a lot of positive things about the internet but there are so many negative things that I wonder if it is all worth it. And I do believe that the government could easily weed out a number of negative aspects if they really wanted to but they don’t. For instance they could very easily get rid of a lot of the hackers and stalkers. If they did that then the anti hacking and anti stalking departments of our government wouldn’t have jobs. So that isn’t going to happen. I think their goal is to catch enough to make it look like they are doing something so that their jobs look important but not enough to put a dent in the hackers and stalkers. It is sort of like war. We all wish that there were no wars but the government needs a little conflict from time to time o...