Makes Me Want To Cry

Makes Me Want To Cry

Two years ago, I posted about an unsung hero.

http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/2014/03/heros-dont-always-make-6-oclock-news.html

In short, several years ago our accountant and his wife became surrogate parents to a two-year-old girl so she would be eligible for a lifesaving heart transplant.  Then they adopted her and she needed another transplant.  The trials and difficulties they went through were heartbreaking, but they loved this little girl and her health was now turning the corner.  She was going to school and was looking forward to living a normal life.

This made me want to cry for just how special these people were to take on such a huge task for this little girl who was now their own.

This last year when we went to sign off on our taxes we learned the accountant was separated from his wife.   Apparently, the stress and strain of this little girl’s health issues were too much.  They had grown apart, but, he stressed, they were doing whatever needed to not let the little girl feel the pain of the separation, they still made sure to both stay in her life and to continue to do things together as a family.

This made me want to cry because I know how difficult divorce can be, especially when a young child was involved, and I had some special empathy for this man because I knew him to be such a good person.

Today I needed some information on my previous year’s income tax returns.  It is a long story, but Mrs. C uncharacteristically had misplaced our returns.  I called the accountant.  The phone was out of service.  I checked on line for information and received a huge shock.

My accountant had been arrested for forging checks against two of his customer’s accounts.  Going back two year before my post on his heroism, he had been writing forged checks to himself to the tune of $500,000.

I don’t know the whole story, but this was not a dishonest man.  He does not live a lavish lifestyle.  He has no summer house, no plane or boat, hell he worked his butt off most of the year.  

I suspect he had great money difficulties related to the medical expenses of this little girl who had become his whole life.  Maybe his insurance didn’t cover the expenses before the adoption was completed, maybe it didn’t cover enough.  I can only imagine the expense of two transplants (If you are reading this Mike from Montana, how much?)

Whatever the reason, whatever the motive, whatever the pressures, there is no excuse for stealing, any amount of money.  Still, I knew this man to be a good man.  Now I assume he is broke, alone, and at the age of 60+ is probably going to jail and will certainly never work at his profession again.  I feel for him, hell, I fear for him.

He is a good man who made a bad decision for a wonderful cause.

Makes me want to cry.

BURNING LEAVES

BURNING LEAVES

This cranky re-run is from November 2013

In the good old days, back when air pollution wasn’t a concern, when global warming was not yet conceived of, and playing with fire was a childhood rite of passage, the Fall meant burning leaves.

We did not have leaf blowers which would have been fun.  We had rakes, and for manpower, dad had sons. My brothers and I were responsible for the leaf raking.  It was a lot of work, but we didn’t mind because we also got to burn them.

We did not recycle the leaves.  We did not bag them (the biggest pain in the ass known to man) we dragged them to the street and set them on fire. 

Ahh how I loved the sweet smell of burning, smoldering leaves in the Fall.  The leaf burning ritual made the hard work of raking and sweeping a chore we almost enjoyed.

There were some drawbacks to the leaf burning.  One fall weekend after a rainstorm, the leaves did not want to burn.  I suppose we could have waited a few days for them to dry out, but my oldest brother, Jim, was too resourceful for that. 

A little lawnmower gas might ignite those leaves. If a little gas might ignite those wet leaves, a lot of gas for sure would get the job done.  To be absolutely positive the leaves would burn, Jim added the whole  gallon jug into, around, and on top of a huge pile of wet leaves.

My brother was no dope; he knew putting a match to gasoline might be a little dangerous.  Jim positioned me ten yards away as he moved just several paces back from the leaves.  With one flick he drove a match against the match pack abrasive strip and sent that tiny flaming torch toward the gasoline soaked pile of leaves. 

The flaming match never reached the leaves.  My brother, a future physicist, failed to take gas fumes into account.  The fumes from a gallon of gas soaked into wet leaves apparently reached a tiny bit less than several paces.  The resulting explosion was instant.  It knocked Jim onto his back and slightly singed his eyebrows.

Damn that was cool! 

Stupid, but cool! 

Several years later our town put a halt to the Fall leaf burning ritual, and most towns in the state followed.  The leaf burning ban wasn’t from an air pollution issue, or global warming concerns; no, it was a safety issue.  Almost everyone waited for the weekend to burn the leaves, and a large bonfire in front of every quarter acre lot on the street created a visibility problem.  It took several car accidents from vehicles traveling blindly through smoke at about three miles an hour and a small child almost being run over to convince our town’s leaders that the sweet smell of burning leaves and the convenience of no bagging was not worth the residents safety.

The lawmakers were right of course, and the new ritual of leaf bagging and recycling is a good thing.  Still I miss those days of innocence when we did not worry about polluting our lungs, heating our planet or blowing ourselves up. 

I miss the old leaf disposal ritual.

It doesn’t quite seem like Fall without the smell of burning leaves.

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Contest announcement:

For a chance to win a nice painting from the talented Mr. Chatterbox, visit

http://chubbychatterbox.com/blog/announcing_the_start_of_the_chubby_chatterbox_give-away.en 

STUPID HEADLINES 102416

STUPID HEADLINES 102416

But...

It is time again for

Stupid Headline Sunday

(on a Monday)

This week’s stupid headlines and my stupider, sometimes sophomoric comments. 

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Man reportedly has penis removed after allegedly getting it stuck in a bottle – OK, it is embarrassing enough to get your penis stuck in a bottle, but to leave it in until it got gangrenous and had to be amputated?  Seriously dude, “In case of an emergency, break the glass!”

400 pounds of marijuana found floating off the Florida Keys – Locals claim they were catching snapper in the area using potato chips for bait.

Bob Dylan remains silent on Nobel Prize win – He was contacted, but claimed “it ain’t me you’re looking for babe, it ain’t me you’re looking for.”

GOP sources: Trump still competing in Virginia – Actually this is not a stupid headline, but I had a really funny comment for my original reading.

Scientists Accidentally Discover Efficient Process to Turn CO2 Into Ethanol – Problem solved!  I’ve been saying for a while if there is a problem, the solution is not in conservation and sacrifice, but for smart people to turn co2 into something useful.

Electric spoon could make veggies taste like chocolate or cheeseburgers – Because “Eat your peas, children are starving in China” doesn’t work anymore!

Authorities reportedly warn election officials about Russian hackers faking fraud – So they beat up Trump for suggesting the election may be tainted, while they debunk proof of fraud before it even exists…these guys are good!

Democratic campaign bus dumps sewage into Georgia storm drain – Kind of a metaphor for the whole campaign!  Both sides…relax Liberals!

10,000 endangered 'scrotum' frogs found dead near Lake Titicaca – I hate to use a tragedy in a Stupid Headline post.  It is horrible what is happening in this lake…however, how often does your 13 y-o-self find “scrotum” “Titi” and “caca,” all in the same headline?

Bill de Blasio on Donald Trump election rigging concern: 'We've seen this before. This is what fascists do' – Actually I think fascists do the rigging!  (This comment is in no way claiming the election will be rigged.)

Man charged for beating bus driver with bag of frozen chicken – Just one more example of why we must have stronger frozen chicken control laws!

And a final headline submitted by Rick Watson @ http://www.rickwatson-writer.com/        

Unseen Moons May Lurk Around Uranus – If all the planets were named by 13-year-olds the world would be a better place.

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Come back next week for more

STUPID HEADLINES