Greg's General Store

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...

“ 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 always heard that expression and assumed that it was what a boss said to his/her employees to motivate them to work harder. These days I am looking at it from another perspective and find it is so true. Every week day for the past 7 years I got in my car and headed off to work. My day consisted of 8 hours of actual paid work time, one hour of unpaid time at work and three hours of unpaid travel time. I justified this by saying that the money was good and it was compared to some jobs but it has taken its toll on me and I have aged tremendously in those 7 years. Looking back, I can say it was worht it but there were some heavy proces that I paid along with getting older. For starters the unpaid time has added up and I am amazed at the time I didn't get paid for. I did some calculations and came up with 3500 hours I lost over the 7 years that I didn't get paid for. I'm not bragging but that means over 100,000.00 I didn't get paid. I am not saying that that I should have ...

The other night my sister and I were bored so we were watching Presidential debate reruns. (As if it isn’t bad enough the first time.) It was actually highlights showing the differences between Republicans and Democrats. On most issues there were majorities on the right and left with a few mixed in the middle but on one issue it was unanimous and opposite on each side. “Gays and Lesbians in the military” I am sure everyone knows that the policy is “don’t ask don’t tell” Or in other words “it’s ok as long as no one finds out”. But what is the big problem here? Do we not want gays and lesbians to fight for their country? Heck I know some people that just want to beat up gays just because they are different. No I don’t think that is it. I think it has to do with Homophobia. And Lesbiaphobia. (I made that last one up. Sounds kind of presidential doesn’t it) For those that don’t know what those terms mean, let me explain. Homophobia is the fear of homos (as the people that have it call them...