Dreams

Posted on 16/07/2020 by Grumpa Joe

My pillow wrestled with me all night long while I dreamt sad dreams. I couldn’t believe the sadness that overwhelmed me even though I was in a deep sleep. The dream was about my former place of employment. Mind you, I retired in 2001 and yet I dreamed about the dismantling of the manufacturing plant where I spent a huge part of my life.

There was a lot of confusion that didn’t make sense as in most dreams, but the theme dealt with ending the life of a very successful manufacturing plant that began in the 1950’s and continued producing until sometime in the 2010’s. The product line consisted of two items in various sizes. One was a plastic duct for routing wire, and the second was a plastic tie to bind loose wires together. These products evolved into a catalogue of the same in various material, colors, lengths, and accessories to enhance the finished product of electricians who used them in their work. As most successful companies do, ours grew. By the time I left the company our product line was merely a section in a large catalog and a department within a larger division. The products still have life, but no longer merit the attention they once did. They still produce profit and therefore they continue to live, but at the sign of a decline the business will change the model and eventually they will be sold or dropped.

Throughout his life the owner re-invested his profits to make more stuff. Out first plant (the one in my dream) became one of eight around the world. Eventually, the product I spent my life designing, improving, and making became a Division. Each of the manufacturing plants had their own product specialties, and they also grew. Of the seven domestic plants in the towns of Tinley Park, New Lenox, Romeoville, Cummings, Burr Ridge, Lockport, and Orland Park four have been moved to foreign countries. Three of the plants were sold and repurposed by the new owners. Only one, the one I toiled in, is gone from the face of the earth, and now I am having dreams about it.

I don’t miss being there anymore, and I am forgetting the names of the people with whom I worked, but I still recognize their faces although with an extra twenty years on them it takes a few seconds to register who they are. Why my brain decided to play this movie about the dismantling of the Tinley Park plant makes no sense to me. The second thing that makes no sense is the feeling of sadness that overwhelmed me. Maybe it is because four of my former bosses have passed as well as the owner, and their souls were uneasy last night. What did I do to poke my mind into this confusing whirlwind of disconnected stuff being removed, sold, destroyed, or sent someplace else?

All day, I’ve been feeling down because of this dream. Maybe it was because I took a bike ride yesterday instead of a walk. My entire body might have gone into automatic as it did for the many years that I commuted by bicycle to the office. I didn’t drink anything unusual, nor did I over eat. I will never solve this mystery and once this post is online I will put the whole affair to bed.

I enjoyed the fire fly display the night before much better.

Filed under: Aging, Biography, Manufacturing, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | 4 Comments »

Take Outs

Posted on 13/06/2015 by Grumpa Joe

This morning I opened my email and found this gem from an engineer friend. For those of you who are close to my age, you will appreciate this wisdom, and for those of you too young to know what it means to live with all of the things that you have taken away from life, good luck. I wish you success in the enjoyment you have brought upon yourselves.

Grumpa Joe

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YES, THIS IS US!!
Senior citizens are constantly being criticized for every conceivable deficiency of the modern world, real or imaginary. We know we take responsibility for all we have done and do not try to blame others.
HOWEVER, upon reflection, we would like to point out that it was NOT senior citizens who took:

The melody out of music,
The pride out of appearance,
The courtesy out of driving,
The romance out of love,
The commitment out of marriage,
The responsibility out of parenthood,
The togetherness out of the family,
The learning out of education
The service out of patriotism,
The Golden Rule from rulers,
The nativity scene out of cities,
The civility out of behavior,
The refinement out of language,
The dedication out of employment,
The prudence out of spending,
The ambition out of achievement or God out of government and school.
And we certainly are NOT the ones who eliminated patience and tolerance from personal relationships and interactions with others!!
And, we DO understand the meaning of patriotism, and remember those who have fought and died for our country.

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)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

SENIOR CITIZEN!

I’m the life of the party…..Even if it lasts until 8 p.m.
I’m very good at opening childproof caps…..With a hammer.
I’m awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.
I’m smiling all the time, because I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.
I’m sure everything I can’t find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.
I’m wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that’s just my left leg.
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

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Yes, I’m a SENIOR CITIZEN, and I think I am having the time of my life!

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Now if I could only remember who sent this to me, I wouldn’t send it back to them. Or, maybe I should send it to all my friends anyway.
They won’t remember, even if they did send it.
Spread the laughter
Share the cheer
Let’s be happy
While we’re here.

MAY GOD BLESS US
AND MAY WE
CONTINUE TO THANK GOD !!

Filed under: Aging, Characters I knew, family, Humoor, Humor, Sarcasm, Satire, Seniors | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Kick It Into High Gear

Posted on 31/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

It is time to reflect on the past year and to account for the precious time granted me by the Lord. I struggled with my accomplishment list as I took inventory of what I did. I recalled that during my working years, at the end of a busy day, I often told my staff, “Well, we didn’t get much done today, but we will give it hell tomorrow.” So here goes my advice to myself, “Well Joe, you didn’t get much done in 2010, so give it hell in 2011.”

My accomplishment list is short this year, but the projects were larger. Here is a short list of things I am proud of:

I posted one hundred and seventy-five pieces on my BLOG. Among these posts were fifty-six political cartoons. Some of them were genius, others mediocre.

I wrote two children’s stories and submitted them to publishers: “FLYING TO THE SUN,” and “MOON CAKES TO GO.”  I rewrote a children’s story titled “FIRE FLY AIR FORCE,” for summer, and two Christmas stories, “SANTA IS MISSING, and “THE GIFT,” in time for Christmas.

Peggy and I spent twelve weeks basking in the sunny climes of Arizona while my kids stayed home to shovel snow. We visited cousins and friends in California.

Lion Joe organized and led the STRIDES: Lions Walk for Diabetes Awareness, with a team of really great Lincoln-Way High School teachers, and Lions.

In between those activities, Grumpa Jose  kept the garden in order, and the lawn maintained. This is the first year, I was proud of the green grass in front of our home. While I was tending the front with loving care, the backyard lawn turned  into thistle and chickweed.  Jose also waged a war with the Wabbits and built barriers around his flower beds. The Wabbit wars were documented on the BLOG. Just as the fence along our southern border fails to keep out drug runners, my fences were no match for the Wabbits. It turned out that West Nile virus is a more effective deterrent. While I waited for the virus to kick in, the Wabbits consumed my prize perennials.

In order to keep my sanity during this activity called 2010, I kept calm and chilled by consuming eight cases of red wine. Of all the accomplishments, the wine tasting was my favorite.

Finally, here is some  wisdom for my friends:

I know you didn’t get much done in 2010, so kick it into high gear, and give it hell in 2011.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Filed under: Biography, Cartoons, children's writers, family, Fire Fly Air Force, Garden, Government, Lions Club, Memories, Santa is Missing, THE GIFT-2010 Edition, Wabbit Wars | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Mojave Caper

Posted on 16/05/2010 by Grumpa Joe

     This story begins after World War I, in 1934.  Many men from America fought in that war to save Europe from a dictator. Many of them never came home.  The ones that survived wanted to honor their fallen friends. One of them, a WWI Army medic has maintained a memorial shrine in the Mojave for fifty years. The VFW took over after John Riley Bembrey could no longer do the job. 

    The memorial is a cross atop a hill in the middle of God’s majestic and beautiful desert filled with Joshua trees, cactus, and rocky, sandy desolation. They chose the spot because those who went there, to honor the dead, could commune with nature, God, and possibly to speak to a fallen comrade.

     Not many people knew of or heard of this monument until recently when the cross became news. One of our fellow Americans saw the cross, and decided it upset his sensitive psyche. The man, a former National Park Service employee, filed a suit in federal court claiming that the cross was a violation of separation of church and state because it was on federal land, and it upset his sensitive psyche. The court ruled in his favor and covered the cross with plywood to appease him.

     The matter did not end with the plywood.  The ruling was appealed and brought before the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the cross could stand because it is a symbol for fallen soldiers. Not to mention the bag of worms the court would open. Think of the thousands of crosses in military cemeteries all around the world. The government would have to remove them because we upset one person’s sensitivities.

Within two weeks of the Supreme Court ruling, the cross standing on a hill in the Mojave, disappeared. Who could have taken it? I have some leads for the FBI to follow. Here they are:

  1. the chicken shit employee who started the protest. Not a chance, the guy doesn’t have the balls to perform such an act.
  2. the ACLU. This is a better option. This decision is a loss for them. They would sooner defend a person’s right to atheism than the rights of those who fought and died for that right.  They also have the money to hire thugs who know what a hacksaw is. They themselves would never consider getting their lily white hands dirty outside of court.
  3. Obama. He is a prime suspect because he has claimed that America is not a Christian Nation. The Supreme Court ruling has discredited that claim by giving fallen soldiers an association with the symbol for Christianity. Since the Muslims deny the holocaust, it would not be surprising that they also deny the existence of the hundreds of thousands of crosses in military cemeteries proclaiming Christianity as a valid belief. He also has the resources to make it happen.
  4. the VFW. They may be taking the cross to more secure ground than federally owned land.
  5. lightning. A huge bolt of energy from heaven struck the cross and vaporized it. Surely, a sign that God is unhappy with America and the direction of “Change” we are taking.

     You can add many more possibilities to this list, but they will not bring the cross back. Nor, will another stupid reason bring honor back to the foolish destruction of a symbol honoring our military.

Filed under: Cartoons, Conservative, Government, liberals, Memories, politics, religion, Satire, Society | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

“Kill the Republic”

Posted on 23/03/2010 by Grumpa Joe

 

      Three cheers! The Democrats created a moment of history. They saved the first black president of the USA from the pits of disgrace: or did they?  I congratulate the five hundred and thirty five for their blatant disregard for the voices of 180 million constituents.  It is clear to me that this group of Congressman does not give a damn about the people who hired them. They have chosen to listen to a higher authority, the president. In this win-lose situation, they flexed muscles they forgot they owned.  They did exercise democrat political tricks learned on the battlefield from the likes of Alinsky, Kennedy, and Daley.  The ends justify the means, and the means is anything that works at the time. Bribery, lies, deceit, airplane rides, all fit the bill.

     With the current economic situation, and a new Great Depression still looming before us, I predict that this new bill will bankrupt the country before Obama Care will take care of a single newly insured person. Do we really think that after collecting a huge pile of money for four years that the 535 will fail temptation to spend it on something else? History is on my side on this point. They will spend it, but not on health care.

     Even if we were to vote them all out of office today, it will take a hundred years to undo the damage perpetrated on us by this act. By that time, the culture of the USA will evolve into a godless social state of twenty first century slaves serving the 535. Will you care?  Will living in the nanny state fill you with rapture? Will you accept the loss of liberty and a life of servitude?

     Congratulations America, you got the change you want to believe in. You will have an opportunity to debate the point with me in the soup lines soon.

     In the near future, a group of people from the United Socialist States of America will draft a new Declaration of Independence. It will begin something like this. . .

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. . .

Extracted from the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

Filed under: Cartoons, Conservative, economy, Election, Government, health care, liberals, politics, religion, Society | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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