Ralph Hoffman- A Forgotten Veteran,

         Veteran's Day is tomorrow, and even though the United States died this past Tuesday and was replaced by a Fascist country of bigots and racists called Trumpland, it is appropriate that we remember a forgotten and unrecognized U.S.A. veteran of World War I.             Ralph Hoffman served in World War I.  He is buried in the South Salem Cemetery at South Salem, Ohio.  His grave had no flag and no veteran's memorial plaque.  I thought it a disgrace to our formerly free country that his grave has been unmarked for all these years after his death.  I had an extra flag so I put one on his grave myself.  I  hope that whoever decorates the graves next year will remember Ralph.           I have attached pictures of Ralph Hoffman's grave, after I placed a flag upon it, and a 1915 picture of him when he was in the U.S. Army.

People in Egypt Are Like Us

            I have just returned from a long trip to Egypt.  It was my first time in this very ancient country.  Like many people, I had always been fascinated by ancient Egyptian monuments and civilization.  When a tour with everything that I wanted to see came up at a reasonable price, I jumped at the opportunity and the chance to finally realize one of the biggest goals on my bucket list. 

            I found Egypt to be just as enjoyable as I had hoped.  The ancient monuments were as dazzling and fantastic as I had always heard.  The Nile River was even more amazing and important than I had ever imagined.  Exploring the monuments and the river are worth making the trip, but getting to know a nation's people and culture are where the heart of any trip lies.  Egypt is no different.  

            Unfortunately, when one takes the path of a fully guided tour, one experiences a somewhat rose-colored and spoon fed version of the local culture, but, even with that, there is still some opportunity to get to know a few real people.  I always like to learn as much as I can.

            The first thing you notice upon arrival in Egypt are the soldiers and the machine gun emplacement guarding the entrance and exit to the airport.  Then, as you proceed to your hotel, and later on through the country, you will see frequent checkpoints, especially at tourist sites, where soldiers and policemen watch everything from behind steel armor-plated shields.  Other police and soldiers in white uniforms, wearing side arms or carrying automatic AR-15 type rifles, supplement the checkpoints and make note of all movement.  Our tour bus had to pull over several times each day as we progressed from one location to another so that the police could check our bus for bombs, run us through and occasional security scanner, and record our number and country of origin. 

            I was told that a military service commitment of one year is compulsory for all Egyptian men upon reaching adulthood.  I was also told that any active duty soldier has the right to stop any person anywhere at any time to check their identification and travel papers, and to jail or cite them if their papers are not in order, or if their personal appearance and clothes are not clean and respectable.  I noticed that the Egyptian people all seemed to be clean in appearance, with close shaved faces or well trimmed beards and clean, hole free clothing, and I had wondered at this marvel.  There were no slobs or kids with their pants hanging down to their ankles in Egypt.  It appears that the soldiers are doing a very thorough job.                

            The second thing that one notices when arriving in Egypt, at least in Cairo, is the insane traffic.  The main road in the city consists of four traffic lanes in each direction, but the four lanes can suddenly and without warning turn into seven lanes of traffic.  Cars, buses, and trucks cram into every possible available space in order to get ahead of everybody else.  Vehicles are sometimes only inches apart.  Pedestrians walk across the road as if the traffic doesn't even exist and drivers go around them just the same as if both vehicle and pedestrian are surrounded by several feet of bouncy bubble wrap.  Horns honk every few feet.  There are no traffic lights and there are no left hand turns across traffic.  The whole scene reminds one of a crowd in a theater trying to reach the exit after hearing the word "fire"! 

            Every car in Cairo has scratches and dents, regardless of whether the vehicle is new or old.  Most vehicles don't even stop if they bump someone else.  Comprehensive and liability insurance is not required by law, and is not wanted by most.  If one's vehicle is damaged in an accident, regardless of the damage to the car or one's body, one does not usually sue the other driver, even if the accident was the other driver's fault.  One merely accepts any loss, medical costs, and hardship as being one's fate, and then forgives the other driver (ideally) and moves on with his life as best as he can.

            Because of the large amount of cars, garbage fires in the streets, and other pollutants, Egypt has heavy smog from one end of the country to the other.  The smog makes it harder to breathe.  At night, one cannot see the stars because of the smog, even in areas away from the city.

            The people of Egypt, at least the educated people, are very concerned with the election in the United States.  They want to know, and seriously worry about, whether all Americans are bigots, misogynists, and haters of Muslims, as Donald Trump portrays us to be.  They worry that Trump is going to start a campaign of persecution, and even worse, against Muslims if he is elected.  The people who discussed the election with me and my fellow tourists said that they have regarded America as the shining example of acceptance, equal opportunity, and freedom in the world, but now they worry that it may be something worse than they could ever have imagined.

            The Egyptians that I talked to said they wanted to make it clear to Americans that they are not terrorists.  All they want is the same thing in life that every other person wants - a chance to live safely in peace, without fear, and to be able to take care of their families and earn a decent living.  They say that Islam is basically a peaceful religion, but Islam does have its share of psychopaths, just like Christianity or any other religion.  They want us to know that they, and Islam, do not support these psychopaths. 

            It is true that Islam does require Muslims to practice jihad, or holy war.  However, jihad originally means that one must protect himself and his religion when he is attacked, not go out and attack others.  It is not permissible to just go out and attack whoever is different from you, and it is not permissible under jihad to kill or harm women and children, unless they first attack you.  In fact, the Egyptians told me, someone who violates these tenants will go to hell, under Islam, instead of getting 70 virgins in heaven.  The 70 virgins story is a myth, told for the benefit of those who are ignorant and easily manipulated.

            I was surprised to learn that everyday Egyptians seem to know, and take it for granted, that Saudi Arabia is mostly responsible for the current terrorism spreading throughout the world.  They say that many rich Saudis financially pay for many of the terrorist attacks throughout the world.  Saudi Arabia also requires a book from a radical Islamist, written hundreds of years after the Koran, to be taught in their schools.  The book teaches that Muslims must kill anyone (ANYONE!) that is different from them, making terror acts and murder the official policy of Saudi Arabia.  The Egyptians that I talked to made it clear that if we want to bring terrorism under control, we have to first deal with Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Arabia is not the friend that many in power in our government claim it to be.

            Another very important thing that one will notice in Egypt is the condition of the public restrooms.  I only used the mens' restrooms, of course, but I found most to be filthy, in poor repair, occasionally lacking water, always lacking paper, and in general, always disgusting.  Egypt wants to build up their tourism industry, but, in my opinion, Egypt should be ashamed to offer such restrooms to those visiting their country. 

            One interesting thing about Egyptian restrooms is that you will find outside each restroom entrance, a man, woman, or child who will hand you four sections of toilet paper to use for any and all purposes while inside.  In return, you are expected to hand them at least one Egyptian pound coin, which is about 10 cents U.S.  Egypt is a poor country and this type of begging is the only way some people can make a living.  I suspected many times that these people stole the paper from the restrooms early in the day just so users would have to give them money for the paper.

            Ask for coffee in Egypt and you will get Nescafe instant coffee, not brewed.  The food is somewhat bland, but includes plenty of lentils, local fruits, vegetables, pita bread, Tahini and similar spreads, and stews, at least where I ate.  

            There is no middle class in Egypt.  You are either poor or you are well off.  There is no welfare or government support system for the sick, poor, or aged.  Each person has to work or depend upon their family to live.  The oldest able bodied male is responsible for the well being of the women in his family.  Our tour bus drove by a large cemetery one day.  Our guide informed us that over 500,000 people lived with the dead in the cemetery because they could not afford to rent or buy a house or apartment and they did not have any family to take care of them.  We have homeless people here in America too who live in cemeteries, so I guess the practice is not all that unusual.                                      

            Most average Egyptian people live in apartment buildings which they either rent or buy.  The apartments are as plain as a cardboard box on the outside and made of concrete and brick.  They have no decorations and no attempt is made to make the exterior look appealing.  The buildings looked like giant bee hives to me.  I wasn't able to go inside one of the apartments, but I was told that the interiors are decorated nicely, just like any other home. 

            I was privileged to attend a wedding after-party at my hotel while I was in Cairo.  In the after party, the bride and groom come out into public view to dance to live music so as to proclaim their marriage and joy to the world.  The bride in her white wedding gown, and the groom in his new dark suit, descended the decorated hotel stairs, and led several dances in the hotel lobby.  A live band with drums, a saxophone, and other instruments preceded them, playing Arabic music all the while.  Other women were dressed in beautiful and colorful Arabic clothing.  The dance lasted for about a half an hour and then the wedding party and guests went back upstairs to feast and party some more.  Our tour guide explained that if a couple cannot afford to rent a building for their party, they sometimes just hold it in the middle of the street.  Traffic automatically and courteously just diverts around them.  I felt very privileged to be apart of this couple's wedding celebration.

            In general, I found Egypt to be fascinating.  I enjoyed every minute of the trip, even though it was physically exhausting.  It took more than a day each time to travel back and forth between the US and Egypt, my visit was not long enough to fully adjust to the time differences, our schedule was very full and hectic, and we had to get up several times around 3:00 a.m. in order to get to our destinations in the cool part of the day, but the trip turned out to be worth it.  I had always felt an unexplainable tie to ancient Egypt, and it was good to finally be able to satisfy my curiosity. 

Retha Hester's Poverty Cake Recipe

Retha (Roosa) Hester (1918-2001) was my mother, Viola (Hester) Cokonougher's, aunt.  She undoubtably helped my mother start her recipe book back when my mother and father were first married, as well as exchange further recipes with her in the years after.  This is one of those recipes, scanned from my mother's recipe files.  I think the handwriting might be my mother's.  I have added Retha's picture below the recipe.

This is a picture of Retha Hester from 1946.

Like Eating Cardboard - The Flying Pizza

            I never met a pizza I didn't like, but yesterday, I met one I didn't like very much at all.   I was very disappointed in the New York style pepperoni pizza that I purchased last evening at The Flying Pizza at 421 Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Centerville, Ohio.

            A friend and I were driving through town, when suddenly, we developed cravings for the mouth watering and fulfilling taste of warm melted cheese, hot spicy pepperoni, zesty sweet tomato sauce, and the flavorful warm, slightly risen crust in a normal, well made pizza pie.   We decided to stop at the very next pizza joint that we came across.  Unfortunately, that was The Flying Pizza. 

            My friend and I ordered a New York style cheese and pepperoni pizza.  The pizza shop's staff were friendly and very helpful in explaining our options and in taking our order.  They told us that our order would be ready in ten minutes.  The price of the pizza was within normal limits, $14.00 for a 14 inch pie.  We ate in the restaurant, instead of taking our order out. 

            Our pizza arrived within the promised ten minutes.  It was hot and ready to eat.  Things went downhill from there.  The layers of cheese, sauce, and meat were each very thin and very bland tasting.  The crust was over cooked on the bottom and undercooked on the top.  My friend thought that the condition of the dough/crust might be due to the shop's oven might being too hot and the cooking time too short.  Chewing and tasting the pizza was a bit like that old stereotype saying of "chewing and eating cardboard".   The only other thing comparable that I can think of is reheated, day old,  cheap frozen pizza.  I don't know if people in New York really like their "New York style" pizza fixed this way, or not, but if they do, I think I'll avoid eating pizza when I visit.    

 

           Neither my friend nor I were satisfied.  We both agreed that we would not recommend this pizza shop to our other friends.  I would rate it a 1 out of 5.

Hyer or Lauderman picture ? Info wanted !

         Does anyone know anything about this picture? It comes from Linda Wisecup Wollam, who obtained the picture from her grandmother,  Dora Compton Lauderman.  Linda believes the picture may be, or have something to do with, members of the Hyer family of Frankfort in Ross County, Ohio.  It may even be Michael and Elizabeth Hyer.   If you have any information to offer, please leave a comment in the "Post a Comment" spacebelow.                                                                                                                                   

        Note the Gothic "Barrel House" construction of the building.  We can't really see in this photo if the building is a home or a cellar/milk house, but some Europeans used this type of construction for homes and out-buildings from the mid-nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, so it could very well be this couple's house. 
       Barrel House roof construction is not gone.  We still use it today, in some sports stadiums, and even in our glass enclosed bus stops, for example.  Just take a look!
       This photo was used with Linda Wollam's permission, and with her hope that you might be able to tell us more.

The "Currylicious" Indian Restaurant in Deluth, GA

            While visiting my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters in Suwanee, Georgia this past weekend, I had the pleasure of dining with them and other friends at an authentic Indian (Asian) restaurant.  Operated by Indian chefs, Fateema and Azym Hooda, "Currylicious" offers a vast traditional, homestyle Indian menu, plus a wide selection of beer and wine.  The cuisine is made from authentic Hooda family recipes, baked and cooked to order with fresh daily ground spices, available in meat, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free versions, and is sold at a reasonable price, usually around 10 to 12 dollars a dish.  The food is attractively prepared and comes in a serving size big enough for two. 

            My group tried the Papad (a thin, deep fried crisp wafer) with a cilantro condiment, the Cauliflower 65 (Cauliflower cooked with various ingredients, spices, and sauces cooked in a high temperature Chinese wok), the Half Tandoori Chicken (chicken marinated in ginger, garlic, lemon, sour cream, and spices before being cooked sizzling hot in a traditional Tandoor clay oven), the Chicken Makhanwala, aka Butter Chicken, (chopped chicken cooked in a rich tomato based sauce with herbs, then finished with butter and topped with cream), as well as other dishes too many to list.  I myself tried the Goat Masala, a dish made from chopped goat meat, with bones and all, cooked in onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chili, spinach, and spices.  Most dishes were also served with Basmati Rice, and most of us added an order of Garlic Naan (flat bread baked in a clay oven) to our meal as well.  We all allowed sharing and taste testing by the others, and as a result, experienced an expanded culinary experience that we could never have had by dining alone.  We all agreed that the food and restaurant was very worthy of being recommended to others.

            Bottom line, if you like Indian food, or if you want to try Indian food, and you happen to find yourself near the small suburb of Duluth, Georgia, stop in at "Currylicious" and give it a try.  "Currylicious" is located at 2400 Satellite Blvd.; Deluth, Georgia 30096.  You can see more of their menu and hours of operation on-line at http://mycurrylicious.com/.

The Rusty Bucket at the Dayton Mall.

Had lunch at the "Rusty Bucket" in the Dayton Mall, 2812 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Dayton, Ohio yesterday.  The restaurant's web site says the business is part of a "casual tavern chain with a sports-bar atmosphere serving comfort-food favorites & a long beer list."  I agree.  Found the food to be good, the prices reasonable, the atmosphere pleasant, the building clean and attractive, and the service friendly, helpful, and efficient. 

The Thurman Cafe in German Village, Columbus, Ohio

          Three friends and I ate at The Thurman Café, 183 Thurman Ave., in German Village of Columbus, Ohio this past Saturday afternoon.  The Thurman Café is one of the more popular restaurants in German Village, as evidenced by the 45 minute wait we had to experience to get into the place at 2:00 in the afternoon.  Part of the wait though, can be attributed to the small and cramped size of the restaurant.  Only so many people will fit into the place. 

          The Thurman Café is really just a small bar that is being used as a restaurant.  For an interesting touch, the walls are covered in photos and signed dollar bills.  The ceiling is covered with Budweiser beer ads.  We noted that out booth was so cramped that we had to suck in our breath the whole time we were there just to fit into our seats.  The edge of the table uncomfortably dug far into our abdomens.  True, a couple of us were slightly overweight, but, given the fact that most of America is, and that overweight customers are a fat (pun intended) source of income for a restaurant, a couple of more inches between the seat backs and the table would have been gratefully accepted.

          Once we got seated, my friends and I were greeted by friendly and personable waiters who quickly took our orders from a very ample menu and brought them to us in a reasonable time frame.  The restaurant specialty is a 12 ounce hamburger, with more than 20 different burgers to choose from.  There are also coney dogs, pizzas, wings, and many other sandwiches.  The biggest burger is the Thermanator, made from two 12 ounce burgers, bun, and all the trimmings, for $21.99.  Once we saw the softball size burgers, my friends and I decided to order something more suited to our smaller appetites. 

          My friend Susie ordered Sweet Thai Chili chicken wings.  She liked them, especially the sauce.  It was "perfect, with just the right amount of spicyness."  I tasted them.  I liked them too.

          Greg ordered the "Chicken Club".  He liked it, but was not unusually impressed.  When he saw the oversized, traditional corned beef "Reuben" that I had ordered, he suddenly developed a craving for a Reuben of his own.  My sandwich was packed with corned beef.  The cheese and sauerkraut blended perfectly with the meat and the bun, and the thousand island sauce served on the side allowed me to temper the juiciness of the sandwich to my individual taste.  I like sauerkraut so I wouldn't have minded a touch more kraut, but the overall taste of the sandwich was so good, as prepared, that the difference was not enough to pick at.

          Donna ordered the "Breaded Gourmet Onion Rings" and the "Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings".  She loved the rings.  They were "crisp" and tasted good.  She hated the boneless wings.  They tasted more mild than "Hot".  Donna thought that maybe the restaurant had somehow gotten the hot sauce mixed up with a touch of barbeque sauce, ruining the intended taste.  She gave the wings an overall thumbs down. 

          Would we try the Thurman Café again?  Probably.  There were so many items on the menu, and the wait staff were so friendly, that it might be worth giving the restaurant another shot.  However, due to the long wait to be seated, and the unpredictability of the taste of the food, we probably will be giving other restaurants a shot at making us happy first before we rush back to the Thurman Café.

Roosters in Washington C.H., Ohio

          My friend Susie and I ate supper at the new Rooster's restaurant at 120 Crossing Dr., Washington Court House, Fayette County, Ohio this past Wednesday.  They had been open only two days and were doing a booming business.  Our wait time to get a table was about fifteen minutes.  The new restaurant is located in the old Dakota Steakhouse, and except for a few wall decorations, looks pretty much the same as the old restaurant. 

          We ordered the Nachos Deluxe to share, she ordered a Char-grilled sandwich, and I ordered the Roosters Traditional Wings with "Hot" sauce.  The Nachos tasted good, but were not as good as those I've had in other restaurants.  Susie found her sandwich to taste good and to be adequate in all measures, but she still didn't think it was anything to brag about. 

          My wings tasted good, but were nothing to brag about either.  They were supposed to have been tossed in "Hot" sauce, but their clean and dry appearance showed that they were not.  The "Hot" sauce that was in a pool at the bottom of my dish was more of a mild sauce.  It was so mild tasting that I personally considered Rooster's "Hot" sauce category to be false advertising.  In an attempt to make the wings spicier, I liberally sprinkled some of Rooster's hot cayenne pepper sauce directly from the bottle onto my wings, but even that sauce was relatively mild.  It wasn't even half as hot as the normal cayenne hot pepper sauce you can buy in any grocery store!  I decided right then and there that if I ever go back to Rooster's, I will order the hottest sauce possible the next time and see if that sauce is as spicy as it is supposed to be.  I do have to say though, that, considering the price of chicken wings in today's market, the serving size was adequate for the price. 

          I found the service at Rooster's to be problematic.  The waitress was very welcoming and friendly, and very efficient, for her part.  However, there seemed to be problems in the kitchen that translated to problems with my order of wings.  I was served the wrong thing, and it took far too long to get the order straightened out.  When I finally did get my wings, the waitress told me that, because of the mistake and long delay, I would not be charged for them.  Restaurant management charged me anyway.  I didn't care about having to pay for the bad service, because I expect to pay for my meal when I eat at a restaurant anyway, but misleading promises and this kind of inconsistency are totally unacceptable. 

          One small service that would make the restaurant better too, would be that they provide wet wipes for their patrons' sticky hands after they eat all those messy chicken wings.  A dry old paper napkin just won't do the job! 

          Even though I found this visit to Rooster's to be disappointing, I have to note that this particular restaurant had been open for only two days.  One has to expect somewhat of a learning curve, within reason, until employees get more efficient and used to their jobs.  It also seemed like everybody in town was trying the new restaurant this night, and all that traffic had to have had a draining effect on service.  Maybe things will get better in the future as restaurant management and workers get more experienced.  I hope so.      

          In the meantime, Susie and I agreed that we would go back to Rooster's again in the hope that our next experience will be much better.  After all, everybody deserves a second chance … most of the time.

Lunch at the General Denver in Wilmington, Ohio

          Good food, good service, and a reasonable price.  That's what I found the day before Valentine's Day this year at the historic General Denver Pub at 81 W. Main St.; Wilmington, Ohio.  This past Saturday seemed like a good day for me to get a date and try out the pub for the first time.  We decided to try the noon meal.

          The four story General Denver was built in 1928 and was named after General James William Denver, a hero of the Civil and Mexican Wars, and the namesake for the city of Denver, Colorado.  The brick Tudor Revival style building was originally built as a full service hotel and had a formal restaurant with a dining room, and a pub/bar.  All three areas are still in use today, but the food is mostly now served in the pub, along with a wide selection of drinks.  A friendly atmosphere is accentuated by the friendly, prompt service, dark wood framed walls, traditional old wooden bar and shelves, and toasty fireplace on the far wall.  American style pub cuisine is served every day of the week except Monday.  The menu leans heavily on sandwiches, mostly burgers, but also consists of the usual salads, pasta, seafoods, and steak.  With a few exceptions, most meals range from $7.00 to $15.00.   

          My date ordered the "Lamb Burger", consisting of ground lamb, feta cheese, roasted red peppers, herbs, fresh arugula, remoulade, mozzarella cheese, and fried green tomato, all on ciabatta bread. She loved it.  She thought her sandwich was flavorful, with just the right ingredients, and was the right size for her appetite.  She was particularly impressed that she could get onion straws as her side dish without having to pay extra for them.  Some people are not hard to please.  I tasted her sandwich, and I liked it too.  The taste of the lamb meat was a welcome change from a regular beef hamburger.

          I ordered "The Dirt Bag" burger, consisting of 1/3 pound of ground beef, a sautéed pepper blend, sautéed onions, mushrooms, bacon strips, bleu cheese crumbles, provolone cheese, pickles, lettuce, raw onions, and tomatoes, all on a multi-grain bun.  I found my sandwich to taste perfectly adequate, but I couldn't say that it was exceptional.  My biggest complaint was that the spicy jalapeño peppers overwhelmed the myriad of other tastes available in the sandwich.  If I were to ever order this sandwich again, I would ask them to leave off the jalapeños.  I ordered regular fries with my sandwich.  The fries were crisp, hot, fresh, and satisfying.  What more can you ask from fries?                

          My date said that she would definitely like to go back to this restaurant/pub again.  I liked it well enough myself to return someday, and from the number of local patrons that dined at the same time we did, other people obviously feel the same way.  On a zero to five scale, my date said that she would rate the pub at a 4.  I think I would go with a healthy 3 myself.  I recommend that you try out this restaurant yourself, and see what you think. 

Sunday Buffet at Golden Corral in Chillicothe, Ohio.

         Endless buffet . . . enormous variety . . . outstanding hospitality.  That's how Golden Corral restaurant chain describes itself in its web site.  My date Susie and I ate at their Chillicothe, Ohio restaurant Sunday (2 February 2016), and I can say they are not too far off.  Nothing is endless, including Golden Corral's buffet, but the exaggeration can be forgiven because they actually do have an enormous variety of food dishes.  They have so many dishes, in fact, that I hold them, and my many trips to their restaurants, as partially responsible for my excess weight gain over the past few years!  Managers, cashiers and table attendants are efficient, polite, and attentive for the most part, and do much to make sure that the buffet dining experience is satisfying.  Golden Corral is of one of my favorite restaurant chains for casual, sit down buffet dining.           
         You can usually find a Golden Corral just about anywhere in this part of the country (Ohio) nowadays.  I like that they have almost all of the American style meats, sides, breads, salads, and deserts that I could want from a casual restaurant.  I especially like that I can get a grilled-to-order, all-you-can-eat steak at a reasonable price (currently $11.59 for seniors) with the evening and weekend buffets.  I usually start my excursion through the buffet line by first picking up my medium rare steak from the chef at the hot grill, and then by going from one end of the buffet to the other while I put a small bite of all the meat dishes and seafood on my plate.  I then take that back to my table to eat before I go back again to fill another plate with equally small spoonfuls of whatever sides, fruits, and deserts that I want.  I love the salad buffet too at Golden Corral, but I'm a carnivore, and with so many of the other good meats and foods on the buffet, I don’t always make it to the salads.  I like to finish my meal with some fruit to aid digestion and a taste of ice cream from the self-serve machine to satisfy my sweet tooth.  I usually unsuccessfully try to avoid the desserts, as good as they are, in order to cut down on my sugar intake.                                                                    
        The Golden Corral in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio is a very popular spot for families to eat on weekends.  We arrived at 2:00 p.m. this past Sunday, usually a slow time, and found the restaurant stuffed full of customers.  The cashier moved us politely, quickly, and efficiently through the check-in line, and we found a table right away.  Getting my steak hot off the grill and surfing the buffet went quickly, and well.  My date met me back at our table where we were able to enjoy our food and each other's company just as if we were in a less crowded restaurant.  The food was delicious, and, was, with a couple of exceptions (my steak had a lot of gristle and was more rare than I had asked for, and the Bourbon Chicken tasted like it had chemicals in it), everything we hoped it would be.  I would rate this particular visit to the Chillicothe Golden Corral on this particular day a 4 out of 5, and recommend it to those who like to eat at buffets.

The New Star Wars Movie - Nothing New!

        A friend and I saw the new "Star Wars - The Force Awakens" movie today (20 December 2015).  I was disappointed with the movie.  My friend was too.  It seemed to me to just be a second class remake of the very first Star Wars movie to come out.  Two people meet in the desert, join up with a smuggler and his Wookie, meet the princess/general, and lead a resistance rebellion against a death star in order to save the universe.   Father and son fight.  Been there, saw that  . . .  in the first Star Wars movie!  Didn't really need to see it again.  Sure they added a few characters and had a wonderful family reunion the next generation, but the basic plot was still the old same-o, same-o.  In addition, the acting was pretty wooden, and the spirituality written into the original movie as the "Force" was sadly lacking.  Moving a few things and reading a few thoughts hardly imparts the original wisdom of the Jedi and the "Force" that was inherent in the original movie.  

Terrorism Spreads Like a Disease

          Originally written 16 December 2015:  Like everyone else, I’ve thought a lot lately about terrorism and the reasons behind it.  Terrorism seems to stem from frustration, anger, and hatred, and/or mental disability.  Ignorance, misinformation, greed, and power hungry villains are its enablers.   Violence, pain, fear, and suffering are its results. 

          People get frustrated and angry when economic conditions and educational opportunities are so unequal that others live in luxury while they themselves can’t even get a job to feed their families.  They learn to hate when others hold their hardships and situation over their head and deny them the opportunity to advance themselves.  Many such victims turn to terrorism in their feelings of hopelessness and frustration.  And, of course, there are always the mentally disabled, those who are disconnected from reality, the ones who hurt in ways unimaginable to most of us, and who want others to notice them and feel the same kind of pain that they do.  Some such mentally disabled people want an out, any kind of out, from the world in which they find themselves, and many don't mind taking many others with them when they go.  Such people make perfect terrorists.              
          Pseudo religious leaders who teach and lead a perverted form of religion rather than spirituality,  power hungry tyrants who will do and say anything to claw their way to the top of the heap, and the greedy, self appointed aristocrats who want the riches of others because they think their money gives them control and makes them better than others, are the ones who enable the conditions, frustrations, and insanities that lead to terrorism.  They use others to practice terrorism and self destruction while they themselves sit back and reap the results.
          I've noticed that frustration, anger, and hatred, whether expressed through terrorism or other means, are spread very similarly to a communicable disease.  Whomever these things touch, they infect.  Anger, hate, fear, and violence beget anger, hate, fear, and violence.  That is the way diseases operate too.  They are communicable.  They spread to others, through their victims and the ones in contact with their victims, and then reproduce.  
          Think about it.  Terrorists attack other people like a lethal disease attacks the body (think Ebola, for example).  Their victims either then die, or they survive with injuries and psychological damage from which they may or may not ever recover.  Such damage can be irrational fear, hatred of the attacker, and an uncontrollable desire to strike back at the thing that hurt them.  The same feelings can also infect the victims' family members, friends, and group members.  These victims and secondary victims then take on the same anger, hatred, fear, and desire for violence that the original terrorists displayed, and redirect it toward those that they feel has attacked them.  Thus, the disease (terrorism) spreads back and forth, from victim to victim, from crowd to crowd, and nation to nation.  Eventually, when the disease has reached enough people and has done enough damage, it becomes an epidemic that affects everyone in one way or another.  
         Since terrorism is like a disease, then applying the principles for the control of communicable diseases should be useful.  In controlling an infectious disease, we identify the source, find the method of transmission, isolate those infected, develop and apply treatments, prevent further transmission, and destroy the cause if possible.  We are already employing many of these ideas in our fight against terrorism, some of which are working, and some of which are not.  I am not going to explore those things now.  They are for discussion at another time.  After all, I'm just writing a blog post, not a book. 

Introduction and Copyright Notice

         My purpose in creating this blog is to provide an outlet for the thoughts that arise from my observations, opinions, and life experiences.  My hope is that you will find this blog to be interesting, entertaining, and enlightening.  If you agree with me . . . great!  If not, then let's agree to disagree.  If you don't agree with me, I don't mind a bit. Life doesn't require everybody to always see eye to eye.                                                                      
        Thanks for visiting my blog.  I hope you will visit this site again, and that you will tell your friends to visit too. Like everyone else, I'm just trying to find the meaning of life, as life applies to me.  Please check back often. I'm sure the site will be changing and evolving as circumstances dictate.  For now, I'll just do the best I can.                                             
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