My name is Don. My screen name is an abbreviation for—Ball of Fire—BoF. Ball of Fire is derived from my Pony League nickname from 48 years ago—Fireball. I was a pitcher and first baseman. I threw the ball hard, but sometimes with lack of control. I’m right handed, but my fastball naturally cut into right handed hitters. I hit a eleven batsmen my last season—a league record for that year. Such a dubious accomplishment.

I taught school for 34 years—everything from social studies in a small town, to working in a suspension unit in a city near the Louisiana/Texas border. I found my niche in special education in 1975 and spent my final 25 years working with multi-handicapped students. I really enjoyed this because I didn’t have to deal with an excess of discipline problems. One year working in the suspension unit was plenty of a discipline oriented job.

I don’t know why I became a teacher. Like Mike, I didn’t particularly like high school. I usually passed without much effort. My biology teacher during my junior year was the pits. He never taught—just came into the room immediately after lunch and said open your books to chapter whatever, answer all the questions, define all the terms and do all the drawings with labels. Busy work! He was so lazy that he didn’t circulate around the room assisting students, but required students to come up to his desk. I never did any of the busy work, but managed to pass the tests. One day, before the teacher got to the room, I decided to entertain the class by making up and singing songs about the man. I had climbed up on a lab table and was singing a song about him. The teacher wore a patch over one eye and at the conclusion I said, “Mr. ____, one eye, one ear and water on the brain.” Some in the room started snickering. When I turned around, he was standing at the back of the room taking in everything. At the end of the semester, he informed me that I had failed Biology 1. I asked why and remarked that I had passed all the tests. He simply said, “You didn’t turn in a notebook.” I went on to Biology 2 under another teacher. Like the teacher in Biology 1 I got off on the wrong foot. My last two years in high school, I threw the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The first day the Biology 2 teacher walked into class, I was sitting there reading the paper. After a few minutes, he came back to my desk and asked me to put the paper up and join class. Although reluctant about it, I complied. A leaf and a bug collection were required for Biology 2. I turned in neither. By the end of the year, the second teacher was so fed up with me that he passed me on test scores alone just to get rid of me. Still, I had to retake Biology 1 in summer school. After a couple of weeks the summer school teacher called me up and said, “You seem to know all this stuff, why are you in summer school?” I simply told him what Mr. ____ told me, “I didn’t turn in a notebook.” I aced Biology 1 that summer.

My first year as a teacher, I informed my classes that they were not going to spend time in class answering questions and defining terms at the end of the chapter.

It wasn’t until my junior year in college and later graduate school (where I hid until my early thirties) that school challenged me.

I have a lot of interests. I am retired. Originally, I had wanted to go on bicycle tours during retirement years. Osteoarthritis in most of my joints ended that. Within the confines of arthritis, I try to keep busy. I try to walk or ride an exercise bicycle (sometimes both) everyday. I also own a Total Gym that I use regularly.I go to the coffee shop daily to see friends. There is a man who just turned 90 who comes into the coffee shop. He is a “SkipBoAholic.” We play two or three games a couple of times a week. I have another friend—a conservative populist—as he calls himself. Sometimes we argue over current affairs, but there are days when we agree on almost every issue that comes up. The coffee shop isn’t doing well and some of us are taking bets about when it will shut its doors.

Other than the coffee shop and trying to stay reasonably healthy I read, post on AD (almost exclusively)—believe me, this place is a godsend and listen to music. I have a large music library. It cuts across genres. I keep tabs of everything that made any of the Billboard charts in a database that is nearing 13,000 entries. The oldest songs in my collection are 1920s materials from Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith. I also have some current material by Nora Jones, Alicia Keyes and Mary J. Blige among others. Sandwiched between the 1920’s and the 2000s is what one might call a history of American pop music.

My roommates are the two Siamese mix brothers you see in the avatar. About five years ago, I lost a female tortoiseshell I had owned for 17 years and a couple of years late a male tabby that I’d had for thirteen years. The two brothers, named Mega-bite and Giga-bite (the misspelling is intentional) are three years and quite a handful after having two older sedentary cats.

What am I looking forward to? I have a nurse friend who returned to her native Ireland after working at a Fort Worth hospital for more than 30 years. I got an email from her today. She’s currently back in the states—visiting a sister who lives in Utah. She will be back in Texas in July. She’s been gone about a year and I very much anticipate seeing her again.

I misspelled "partially" in the title. Someone please fix.

Bof, as I told you before, I too am a real cat lover. My very favorite cat was a three legged tabby. I think she was a tortoise as well (brown). When that cat died, I swear it was like losing a child! We think she got killed by the dog next door. It was absolutely awful. She was the toughest and smartest cat ever I think. She would actually hunt and bring birds in to us-- even with only three legs. Like I said, it was an absolute nightmare when we lost her.

I have had lots of cats. All of them strays. In addition to the three legged cat, I had one of those russian blue cats that someone had abandoned and he was missing part of his upper lip. I also had a neurotic black cat named spooky.

My cat now is a gray tabby named Lucy.

The two "brothers" that you have sound so cute and their pic is really cute too.

Thanks hayleyanne Cat lovers have to stick together.

The two cats are so different. The near snowball, Giga-bite is a hider. The dark mask, Mega-bite is more gregarious—an in your face kind of cat with a lot of “I’m in charge” attitude. Mega reminds me a lot of Bucky in the comic strip Get Fuzzy

Mega’s posture and demeanor is almost identical to Bucky’s.

http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/arch...y-20050425.html

I also like Rob’s description of Bucky.

http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/arch...y-20050422.html

Edited to add:

Hayleyanne I am looking forward to reading your thread when you get time to put one together.

Great ball o' fire! I didn't know that's what your handle meant. Very cool. OK, I'm going to have to claim ignorance and ask...what's "SkipBo"?

Add another cat person to the list. Lately I've had a cute little tortie who seems to have adopted me (she comes to mooch food and luvs). At first I thought she was just another skinny little stray, and when I saw she had some kind of cut/sore on her, and her fur was all matted up, I was this close to scooping her up and taking her to the vet. I knew if I did, I'd have to adopt her, and my 3 cats wouldn't appreciate that much. Funny thing was, I didn't see her for a couple of days, then when she returned she'd been stitched up and all her fur shaved off except for leg britches and a poof on the end of her tail! She's a funny-looking little girl right now, but I guess she does have a home. I just wish they'd feed her better.

Well, I'm not a cat person myself so I'll skip the bit about them

I'm glad to have made your acquaintance BoF

I'm curious about the Osteoarthritis and the biking. Why can you ride a still motion bike and not a regular one? Is it the problem of suspension?

I love to ride my bike so I can understand the frustration it may cause you to be unable to ride outside. At the moment I am actually quite ill (I'm going through a bad patch) but I try to get at least one ride per week out into the forest which is immediately south of Århus. Its a coastal route out to a beach called Moesgård and very scenic (though rather small by US standards I suspect).

Do you find that having osteoarthritis has shaped your life at all? By which I mean, has it curtailed other ambitions beyond phyiscal excersize?

Over the course of the last few years I've become more reclusive than I used to be, but also more happy to see people and more willing to forgive. I'm not sure if this is a natural consequence of age, or the long term psychological effects of having a chronic illness.

Skip Bo is a simple card game made by the same company that makes Uno. There are 11 each of cards ranging from 1-12 and 16 wild or Skip Bo cards. The dealer gives each player 15 cards face down. The top card is turned over. Then the other players draw a hand of 5 cards. At first the only thing that can be played is a one or a Skip Bo as a one. A player as many cards as he/she chooses then discards one. There are four places to play cards and four discard slots. If my top card is a five I must wait until 1-4 have been played (either 1,2,3,4 0r a combination of numbers and Skip Bo.) The first person to play all 15 cards wins. I play a defensive game and block my opponent whenever possible.



The problem with the touring bike is balance and stiffness, some muscle atrophy and safety. I have had three operations on my left knee. I had a baker’s cist removed from behind the knee in 1998 along with a scope job to repair cartridge. Then in 2000 a doctor did a high tibia osteotomy. This is where then end of the tibia is cut off so that it doesn’t rub against the femur. I had some complications, including staph infection in my shin around some surgical pins that had been implanted. By the time it was over my left leg was ½ to ¾ inch shorter than the right. This was corrected with a total knee replacement in 2002.

I have a recumbent stationary bike which is easy to mount and dismount. Thirty minutes riding it does provide a little temporary relief

Basically all this has changed what I had envisioned for retirement, but I don’t dwell on that. When one dream becomes impossible, I’ve found it best to get another dream. I stay as busy as I was when I worked, only most of the time it’s doing what I want to do, not what I have to do.

Greetings from one who lives with twelve cats.

Victoria, I just saw your post.

Wow! Twelve cats.

There was a 1950 comedy entitled Cheaper by the Dozen, but that was about twelve kids, not cats. Twelve cats would probably be less expensive than kids, not as much trouble and by all means better company.

I just got home from my daily trip to the coffee shop. The more gregarious of my cats greeted me at the door with his purr box in full gear. There is no price tag one can put on this type affection.

Where in Texas do you live? My in-laws have lived in Plano for about 12 years now.

I live in Fort Worth which is in Tarrant County, Texas. It’s about 30 miles West of Dallas and 50 miles West of Plano.

Contrary to popular belief, Fort Worth is not an appendage of Dallas. Two weeks ago the Professional Bowler’s Association held an event in Fort Worth. The ESPN announcer kept saying that Fort Worth was near Dallas and was located in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. While Dallas has a larger population—slightly over one million compared to Fort Worth's slightly over 500,000, Fort Worth is hardly a blip on the radar screen.

The two cities are different. Dallas has an Eastern flavor based on commerce and banking, while Fort Worth is Western and more blue collar oriented. Convair/General Dynamics/now Lockheed Martin is located on the west side of Fort Worth. From that plant the B-36, B-58 and the Air Force version of the F-111 fighter plane emerged.

Despite its blue collar roots, Fort Worth, at least in my opinion has more cultural attractions than Dallas. Dallas has the Myerson Symphony Center, but Fort Worth has a newer facility named Bass Performance Hall. Fort Worth also has the Kimbell Art Museum, the Museum of Science and History and the Museum of Modern Art.

What is now W. 7th Street was once the Old Chisum Trail—immortalized in song by Tex Ritter (father of John Ritter) where cattle were driven into the historic North Side Stockyards which once were home to both Swift and Armour packing houses. Today the Stockyards area is largely tourist. It is home to Billy Bob’s Texas, which bills itself as the "world’s largest honky tonk.” (I saw Tanya Tucker there last Saturday with some friends visiting from Ohio.)

Fort Worth has two major Universities—Texas Christian University and Texas Wesleyan University. TWU has a law school. In addition the University of North Texas operates an osteopathic medical school at the North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.

Arlington, a city located between Fort Worth and Dallas, now has a population of more than 300,000. It is home to the Texas Ranger Baseball team and Six Flags Over Texas. Jerry Jones is building a new stadium in Arlington (Tarrant--not Dallas County Ha! Ha!). So, the Dallas Cowboys will soon be the Dallas Cowboys in name only.

When one flies into the Metroplex, they land at DFW Airport, but the facility is located in Tarrant County near another town named Grapevine.

Despite my love for my city I think the city fathers and mothers are letting things slip. At the end of the steam age the Texas and Pacific Railroad (now defunct) donated a 720,000 lb. 2/10/4 steam locomotive to the city. The 610 was the last surviving T&P locomotive in its class. In the mid-1970s the 610 was renovated in the Stockyards area and pulled a leg of the Bicentennial Freedom Train in 1976. Today it sits rusting at the Texas State Railroad in Palestine in East Texas

Last week, Fort Worth lost another piece of history. There are currently only four remaining B-36 bombers. One of them was in mothballs, awaiting construction of a transportation museum long promised by the city, but never delivered. Despite the fact that it was manufactured here, it’s being shipped to a museum in Arizona. It really makes me sad to realize what wonderful centerpieces the 610 locomotive and B-36 would have made for the never completed museum. Shame on our city leaders.

Still if someone is headed this way for vacation, it would be a mistake to go to Dallas and bypass Fort Worth.

This is a rather long answer, but please excuse my local pride.

I don’t know where else to post this link, so I’m going to do it as an update to my introduction. As many of you may know, I am somewhat of a student of popular music. I believe that every thought or emotion humanly possible has, at some point, been captured in a song. Pop music is often a mirror of culture at a particular time.

A few months ago, a friend send me a link to this page entitled the “Vietnam Era.”

Vietnam Era Music

The site, however, is much broader than Vietnam. Not all the songs are about war and many are pre or post-Vietnam. Those songs about war are pretty even balanced between the hawkish and dovish.

Songs cannot be downloaded here, but you can listen for free. Enjoy.

It’s sort of like a time warp .

I Haven’t Jumped Ship…but

I have lived in the same duplex for give or take a decade—a decade that saw a change in teaching assignments, three left knee operations and retirement. So, it was with some in trepidation that I signed on for a new place just two doors down from my present abode.

When I moved into the place I’m moving, I rented from a retired Air Forced Colonel—an efficient landlord who has been a personal friend ever since. About five years ago he sold to a man who is a legend among Fort Worth slum lords. Getting things fixed the last five years has been liked pulling teeth. Often my “new” landlord has started a project like tearing down the back fence without (it’s been three years now) without putting a new one up. Mean while he has raised the rent twice, to the level of better maintained in the area since buying the place.

I should have known what was going on when I first met him. He had one of those fish symbols on his business cards, and upon seeing my rather extensive music collection asked me if I had anything by the Gathers. Earlier this summer he went to Colorado to do “mission” work. About a week ago I was in the grocery store and told her I was moving because the landlord wouldn’t fix things. She asked who my landlord was and when I uttered his name she said, “Oh, he’s one of the worst.” She then told me that her brother had rented a placed from the man. Part of the agreement was that the landlord was supposed to provide, under written contract, a refrigerator. Four months passed. The landlord provided no refrigerator and the cashier’s brother paid no rent. Then the landlord threatened eviction. The brother moved and filed a suit against the landlord for breach of contract. Small world.

Don’t you just love the way some people abuse free enterprise?

The clerk also told me that the landlord had moved to Colorado permanently and that his son-in-law was collecting rents for him. So, putting two and two together, I think my decision to move was a good one. If it were difficult to get a resident landlord to fix things, it would probably next to impossible to get one a thousand miles away to do so.

I have been moving for the past few weeks. Moving in itself is stressful. You know, boxing stuff, doing a sort of triage—1. keep, 2. take to storage, 3. give away/throw away.

I now have everything packed the movers come tomorrow, then comes the unpacking and putting things in their “proper” place.

I also boarded my two cats today. Moving is equally stressful for them. I captured the white cat you see in the avatar and shoved him in the cage this morning. I expected the darker one to run for cover, but he strutted around like King Kong, as if gloating over the fact that I had his brother in a cage. I decide to act while I could, so I grabbed him and shoved him ihn on top of his brother. In the process I got kicked hard between the right thumb and index finger. I was still bleeding when I got to the vet’s and they graciously treated the injury. I’ll retrieve the cats tomorrow.

As soon as I post this I’m going to break my compute down and move it by can to the new place. I hope SBC doesn’t have any line problems, so I can get back on-line immediately, but that’s not a given.

As soon as I get back on line, I’ll probably do minimal postings, like birthday greetings until I get all the boxes unpacked. Edited to add: I just talked to a representative at the phone company and my phone line at the new place won't be prepared for DSL until November 22.

I my family, even those I most often disagree with. I look forward to getting settled, so that I can resume full participation. Meanwhilwe, I'll be checking in to see what's happening at the coffee shop.

BTW: Mike, I just saw Friday where Buddy Guy has rescheduled Billy Bob’s for Dec 2. I must get tickets and find time to go see him.

BoF, best of luck to you in your move. I sympathize with your feelings on the whole endeavor. It's such an upheaval, even when it is voluntary. I hope it all goes smoothly and you're settled and back with us in no time!

Don't you just hate slum...er, I mean, scum...er, I mean landlords?

And I know what you mean about kitty wounds! I got a few of those myself during my move.

Good luck with the move BoF

Best of luck with your move, BoF.

Sorry your landlord experience was so bad. Looking forward to you being back online. Hopefully that will be before my big move (just four weeks away)...

I saw Buddy Guy with Eric Johnson this summer, and mind-blowing doesn't even come close to describing that experience. When Clapton called him a living legend, he wasn't kidding.

Speaking as a weekend hack who isn't fit to even tune Buddy Guy's guitar, I measure guitar talent by what I term "fluidity" - not speed or technical prowess. It's simply how smooth they play their licks. And Buddy Guy is second to none. I grew up studying Gary Rossington exactly for that reason and until Buddy Guy, thought he had a lock on smooth playing. But not even close. Buddy Guy has a touch you can't study or learn. You either have it or you don't.

Eric Johnson is no slouch either, but he has more of a technical ability than raw touch ability (and my bet, a key reason why he uses so many effects).

Interesting intro BoF - and thanks for letting us know what the letters stand for. I wouldn't have guessed that in a hundred years. Just a little advice - do whatever you possibly can to see Buddy Guy. He won't be around much longer and you'll regret not getting to see him.

I wish you the best on your move and the new place.

Sorry about the slum lord and his behavior. I suspect his practices will turn around and bite him in the butt someday--with any luck, he'll know why.

I love cats, too. We have had a calico named Agatha for several years now (Agatha Kitty!). Her coat has the colors of an agate slice--orange, black, white--all mixed up together. She has a partial mask on her face, reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera.

Agatha is very well-behaved, a patient cat if ever there was one. She is a valued companion.

Thanks to everyone who responded for their encouragement. Moving is a stressful, hard job

SBC finally got my DSL service transferred to my new place today.

I'm out of my old place and have about 40 boxes sitting in my living room waiting to be unpacked and the contents placed in an appropriate place.

My old landlord is back from Colorado for the winter. He drove up as I was sweeping out the storage facility. He talked about fixing the place up and raising the rent to the going rate in the neighborhood. Then this morning I noticed he had already placed a for rent sign on the lawn.

I'm back. I'll be posting regularly as soon as I'm unpacked. Hopefully I won't be moving again soon.

Welcome back BoF. I hope you enjoy your new home for a long time.

I couldn't agree more. I live in Dallas (basically) only because my career has landed me here, and believe that once we get to the point of raising children that I'd like to move West.

Ft Worth is more apt to be considered "true Texas", where you can go to a nice dinner in boots and bring your hat and not feel out of place. People are more likely to open doors and the "fast" feeling of Dallas seems to escape the air.

As BOF so beautifully mentioned, Dallas is just peachy for industrial/commerce related ventures. If you're a business owner attempting to garner new customers or find joint partnerships it's a great place to be. Probably one of the best (if not the best) in the South.

However... if you and the gang plan to pack up and "see Texas", just stay on I-30 and keep driving west... Cow Town is the place to see.

I personally prefer it for it's "TX Country" roots. There is a bar called the White Elephant, just down the block from the illustrious Billy Bob's ... where Tx Legends have played and are born. Willy's Picnic is now being held on the 4th of July in Ft Worth, and even the downtown Ft Worth area is clean and relatively safe (surely in comparison to Dallas!!! ). The Ft Worth zoo is amazing as well.

If you're lookin' for something "cosmopolitan" or more "fast-paced", Dallas might be your thing. There are tons of places to go shopping and trendy places to eat/go out (of course, of which I generally could care less about).

There are a few hold outs of Tx here in Dallas, and of course we know where they are... but I whole-heartedly agree w/ BOF... Cow Town is where true Tx resides...

I am currently logged in from a local coffee shop.

I am doing some major computer upgrades including:

1. Dual Core processor
2. SATA Harddrives
3. PCIE Video Card
4. Dual Layer DVD Burner

I will lurk from the coffee shop, but probably won't post for a week to ten days.

As one of my least favorite historical figures General Douglas MacArthur put it, "I shall return."

Everyone take care and I'll see you in a few days.

Don