i'm just a poor wayfaring stranger

 I’m trav’ling through this world below;

There is no sickness, toil, nor danger,
In that bright world to which I go. (trad)

over the years i have enjoyed sharing tales of the Characters of the Night that i have crossed paths with or even shared a ride along on the road to insanity for a while. One fella slipped through the cracks......and even though i have often talked about Diego Garcia, there was one guy i haven't thought about in a long, long time......that ended last night.....and i think i know why........in my Uber from Raleigh the other day, the driver seemed familiar to me......i knew that i did not know him, buy he sure reminded me of someone.

Jerome Timms from some tiny forgotten town in the great State of Georgia was indeed a character from the road.......he was approx 35 when i met him...i was 20.......a 2nd Class Petty Officer working in the Post Office and the Airport on Diego Garcia....just like me.......and he lived next door on the 3rd floor of the Barracks ....he was an African American from a dirt poor area in GA....he was always in clean, starched and ironed uniform and he had his hair cut almost every week...he was good at his job and he took his role in the Navy seriously....a lifer for sure.....but a great guy........it took a while for him to warmup to me....he was guarded, and he thought I and the other guys & gals in the Post Office drank too much ..go figure......but one day i was sorting the mail for our division and saw a newspaper in a brown wrapping addressed to Jerome Timms.......so since we lived next door, i brought his paper back to the barracks and knocked on his door.....he was very appreciative......here is where it gets weird.......this was the spring of 1986....and this black guy fm Georgia was a subscriber to the PACKER REPORT ...it was published by Ray Nitschke , it was approx 30 pages and was published on a monthly basis and it was cover to cover stories on the Green Bay Packers.......the Packers were avg at best in the mid 80's....far removed from the Lombardi Days, and Brett Favre was a decade away......so as Timms opened up his newspaper he asked me if i read it on the walk over.........i laughed and said no......he then insisted that I could borrow it as soon as he finished reading it......again i laughed and said no.......Timms had a roommate named Robert B.A Bivins from Americus Georgia......and Timms considered Bivens to be a Big City Boy because Americus had running water, electricity and a population of about 10,000......( I wish i could remember Timms town)........compared to Timms town i guess Americus was like NYC.......so Timms said to me , "Hey T.O. , you better call dibs on my paper, i think old Bivens wants to read up on my Packers"........to which Bivens would protest and insist he didn't give a SH!T about the Damm Packers.......and then i realized that Timms had a great sense of humor and loved to try to get under people's skin....and that became our running joke.......everyday....and i mean everyday he came into work , he would ask really loud if anybody seen his Packer Report........and people took him serious and would answer NO, and or try to help him find it...........meanwhile he had it in his back pocket the whole time........we had 30 people in the division and he called everyone PC ...(we were all Postal Clerks and our rating was PC) except he took to calling me T.O for my initials ......if someone new came into the office for work he would yell over "Hey PC, you seen my Packer Report ?" .......and i would chuckle.....and this  went on all day....everyday.......the Big boss was a Senior Chief....he didn't mess with him....but he would come over to where i was working with a few other folks and would say "I  think Ol Senior Chief took my damm Packer report....he was eyeballing it last month".....and some people would try to convince him that Senior Chief would never do that.....and i would crack up laughing.....one other guy he never messed with was another Black Guy...also in his 30's...a Big Dude named Larry Groth from Chicago......and he didn't find Timms to be funny.....so when Larry came into work Timms would talk quietly to himself , but loud enough for me and Bivens to hear..."Mr Larry Groth did NOT take my Packer Report....he's too angry.....he wishes the Bears had their own newspaper"...........eventually he started coming to the enlisted club with us after work, and whenever there was a lull in the conversation he would ask someone how they thought the Packers were gonna do this year......or, of course; if they had seen his Packer Report....or wanted to borrow his Packer Report.......and whenever his roomate Bivens would chastise him or tell him to shut up, he would say "ya see T.O. , ol bivens mad, those big city boys don't like small town guys"........"Americus is BIG, BIG city....he has no use for the rest of us".....then he would wait 10 seconds and say " Allright B.A. , you can borrow my Packer Report"......when we used to have mail call, people from all over the Island would come to pick up their Divisions mail......and Timms would always ask people to check their mail and let him know if they found a copy of the Packer Report mistakenly in their mailbag.....he would make up a crazy story about some Admiral that was hot under the collar because he hadn't received the Packer Report in 2 months.....and people promised to bring it back if they found it....and he and would crack up.....when we used to go to the Chow Hall for meals he would ask the Fillipino workers if they had seen a copy of the Packer Report....sometimes he would come into the Bar during baseball season with a dead serious look on his face and walk up to someone and tell them....."Mr Ray Nitscke thinks we can be real good this year, i read it in the Packer Report" and he would keep nodding and walk away...... .never really figured out WHY he loved the Packers......he told me he did not have a TV growing up in the 60's when the Pack were winning titles....i guess he listened on the radio and fell in love with the team....i think i was the only mental patient that really got a kick out of him......most of the other people would talk about him behind his back and most thought he was retarded....but me and Bivens knew better......I remember the day he left the island , i told him i would have a shot for him if the Pack ever won another Super Bowl......not sure if i kept that promise......but if you are still out there Mr Timms, God Speed Brother.

2+3= Nitschke

I want to sing salvations story,
In concert with the blood-washed band;
I want to wear a crown of glory,
When I get home to that good land.

I’m going there to see my brothers,
They passed before me one by one;
I’m just a going over Jordan,
I’m just a going over home.

and when i hit the ground i was making tracks

And they were just taking my car down off the jacks,

so i threw the man a twenty and jumped in and fired that Mother up (C. Daniels)

Do you think when Charlie Daniels tipped his mechanic that he wanted 28% of that twenty to go to the IRS ?? No Sir...and so the first piece of common sense legislation in decades is close to becoming a reality, the first change that will truly benefit the working man and women....the lower and middle class will finally see a significant boost to their bottom line......the Big Beautiful Bill contains the most important change for main street.....NO TAX on TIPS.

10-15 years ago everyone carried cash and paid for most service items with cash.....bars, restaurants, taxis etc etc......but today nobody carries cash.....people pay for a lousy cup of coffee with their debit card......and thus...if there is a tip , it is electronically recorded and ultimately paid to the employer and NOT the poor slob slinging drafts.....the Employer of course notifies the IRS for every penny that eventually makes it's way into the servers hand and they are taxed on it.......we know this government has a serious taxation problem, they have an insatiable thirst for other people's money......but if i decide to give a bartender an extra $10 or $20 for going above and beyond, there is no reason the Federal Govt should get a piece of that $$$ , so they can then redistribute it to someone who deems bartending work as beneath them, or they are too lazy to work for .....or to pay college tuition for an illegal or to chop the nuts off some teenager with mental health issues that wants to become a Nancy.

you might think this would be bipartisan.....that even the demonrats would support such common sense  legislation that benefits sooo many voting Americans...but they are so crippled with Trump Derangement Syndrome that they just can't agree with The Donn on anything.......if he cured cancer they would bitch about the job losses in the health care system.....but hey.....let hem keep standing with the 20% in these  80-20 issues........i mean seriously...how many Americans have never worked for tips or earned overtime ?  this one is a no brainer.......like 2+3=BEEER

The Rangers drafted a defensemen in the 6th or 7th round of the draft by the name of Passmore.....no joke.........if the Blue seats still existed i bet it would only take one or two shifts before they started chanting "Shoot the puck Passmore, shoot he Puck"

But I figured I had better go ahead and split before the cops got there
When I hit the road I was really wheeling
Had gravel flying and rubber squealing
And I didn't slow down 'til I was almost to Arkansas

Headed Down South

 to the land of the pines

And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
Pray to God I see headlights

I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight ( Ketch Secor - Bob Dylan)

I had a very difficult few days in the Garden State.......highs and lows.......Track was an amazing reunion/celebration day.......perfect weather, great turnout and cold beer.....it was the highlight of my trip.........sadly my days in the office were marred by NJ Transit........a total nightmare...and i won't bore you.........Amtrak was a disaster both going and coming.....and i was so rattled and frazzled that i left  a day earlier than planned.....skipped Alexandria and rode the train for 14 straight hours to Raleigh.......I had to get on the right side of the Mason Dixon.....spent the night in a hotel downtown, went out for a few drinks in Wolfpack Territory and tried to unwind.......the following day at sunrise i found myself in a $300 uber desperately trying to reach home base at Capt Archies before they opened at 11:00 a.m. ....one the way out of town the above song came on the stereo.....i had no idea that Bob Dylan wrote the chorus for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid soundtrack and received a co writing credit........the version by Old Crow Medicine Show is both beautiful and haunting and it summed up my trip........it remined me of the time i was leaving  Dublin in 92....and Dirty Old town came on the radio......it was defining moment for me.....the my life was in flux and a state of change....the haunting sound of Shane McGowan was powerful.....a song that has stayed with me to this day.......but i digress.........as i rolled out of Raleigh i embraced the fact that I am a Southerner Now....this is my home....my safe space...the place i want to be.....and i love it......i take it all in and i am enjoying myself........BayRidge and Little Silver were great to me....and i loved my time there.....but this now is what i am all about....and i am grateful to be livin the dream......I will be back to Raleigh someday soon.

2+3= GRITTS

And I gotta get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Hey mama rock me 

Good old Randy Newman

 No one likes us-I don't know why

We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now

The ice age is coming

 The suns zooming in,

Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin,

Engines stop running, but I have no fear. (the Clash)

There is a force that is uniting to disrupt my pilgrimage to the North, train delays, heat restrictions, tornadoes, power outages and credit cards being declined…..the last acts of desperation……but alas I shall overcome.

2+3=armegeddon

I LIVE BY THE RIVER 

a lot of people won't get no supper tonight

 A lot of people won't get no justice tonight

The battle
Is getting harder
In this iration
Armagideon time ( The Clash)

it almost makes you think of Blazin saddles , the classic response when Sheriff Bart tells the town folk " can't you see this is the last act of a desperate man?"     ....to which Howard Johnson says " We don't care if it's the first act of Henry V, we're leaving"

the streets of the planet are in serious turmoil, but it is is starting to feel like this is a feather trying to stop a steel pendulum.....the good guys have the momentum and the return to some form of common sense and normalcy are inevitable.

Russia is killing itself off and going bankrupt by the day.....whenever the blood shed in the Ukraine stops they will be an empty shadow of their former selves.

Iran is getting ready to limp back to the negotiating table, but i think it's too late.....i think, hope and pray that Israel lands the knockout punch today.....take down the electric grid and bomb the oil fields.....let the people rise up and throw out the Religious regime once and for all. POTUS left the G-7 summit in Frogland early last night, he then told the 10 million citizens of Tehran to evacuate immediately....could be a ploy to force Iran to the table....but he doesn't really bluff when it comes to live and death......we'll see.

and on our shores the people have tuned out the media......the resistance is nothing more than a dating app for restless singles....go to a protest, meet a future boyfriend...put on an arab scarf and pretend you care about whatever is trending ........Gaza, Mexicans, lgbtqlmnop Alphabet community........their leaders are tired retreads......schumer, pelosi, amy wine garden have lost their steam, they are going through the motions....even they don't believe their rhetoric and nonsense.

I think these American protests are in fact the last acts of some very desperate people, and I think by Labor Day the world will be in a much better place, but what do i know, i'm just a doggie born with the gift of Gab.

i do know that 2+3=BEEER

Remember
To kick it over
No one will guide you
Through Armagideon time

All the early Roman Kings

 in the early, early morn’

Coming down the mountain, distributing the corn
Speeding through the forest, racing down the track
You try to get away, they drag you back
Tomorrow is Friday, we’ll see what it brings
Everybody’s talking ‘bout the early Roman Kings ( Dylan)

On this beautiful Flag Day we send Birthday greetings to King Don....(not Don King)

We Raise a Glass to Honor the Stanley Cup Champions of 1994.

We Salute the US Navy and Army as they celebrate their 250th anniversary

and we wait patiently for the Police, ICE and National Guard to crack some skulls on the streets of this Nation.

In case you missed it.... there are 1500 protests and One Magnificient Parade scheduled for this weekend. As our Commander in Chief celebrates his birthday, his military will donn their finest dress uniforms, roll out the latest weapons and strike up the Band and fly the colors of our great Nation. 

and thousands of illegal alien criminals will gather with self loathsome miscreant citizens of this nation to cry for Rapists, Murderers and Pedophiles....we have a crybaby loser culture in this nation.....when Biden won, when Spoonjiah won ....i wasn't happy......but i went to work everyday and still proceeded with my life.....i still gathered with friends and enjoyed cool refreshing glasses of Ale....i even went to weddings, parties and Thanksgiving dinner that i knew would be attended by liberals that voted for the other guy.....i didn't protest in Bryant Park......i funneled my discontent and energy into the Blog and made rational arguments against the demonrats.....occasionally my dog grabbed the keyboard and took some lowbrow racist jabs at the Indonesian Prince....but hey, obama ate dogs....so we're even.

But a large portion of our Society just can't function......they live in fear of some Wooly Mammoth Orange Beast that is going to do unthinkable things to them.....they relish in their fake victimhood.......like their party elders....Newsome , Padilla and all....they wish to be arrested and persecuted to validate their fears and to enjoy the avalanche of sympathy from their peers.....their just rewards are to wallow in the mire....they secretly pray for the Govt or someone to cancel their life so they have someone to blame for their own failure on the planet....it's so much easier to sit in Mommy's basement and lament that the system is rigged.....as opposed to stepping into the arena, taking a job and working hard to excel.......today I will drink beer in the Deep Dark Red South.....a Yankee in Captain Archie's Court....i will reward myself for my years of hard work , and i will patt myself on the back with each beer i drink.....and i won't laugh at the other side because that is what they probably want....but i will chuckle when i think of Henny Youngman....back when the jews in America were funny.

"She's a great cook...she made a meal fit for a King.....here King, here King"

PSA....next Saturday is the annual PC's BBQ at Monmouth Park.....look for the Sweater nite flag in the picnic area.

2+3=BEEER

If you see me coming and you’re standing there
Wave your handkerchief in the air
I ain’t dead yet, my bell still rings
I keep my fingers crossed like the early Roman Kings

come senators, congressmen

 Please heed the call

Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’   (Dylan)

but what if the senators are on the side of the rioters ?  what if the governor and his stooges are suing the Federal Govt to block the National Guard and the deployment of the Marine Corp to restore order ?

The battle outside on the streets of Los Angeles is for the soul of America, the battle is between those that believe in the union of a nation and maintaining our sovereignty......verse those that want open borders, no law enforcement, nomadic tribes that roam the globe and setup up tents wherever and whenever they want.....this front on the streets of LA will go a long way in determining which path America eventually takes. The people spoke in the last election....we can only hope that the people have the stomach to stay the course and support the dirty work that comes with reversing 4 years of a govt supported invasion.

it's hard to fathom, but somehow the demonrats are actually aligning themselves with Mexican flag waving thugs, the car & US Flag burners, the Soros hired agitators, the border crossing rapists, wife beaters and even murderers......AGAINST.........the Los Angeles Police, ICE , the National Guard and our military...........but in a twisted world at least they are taking a stand.....they are openly anarchists and socialists that wish to tear this society down.......i don't agree with them, but at least they are not hiding behind a rock.....the worst element in our society are the people that walk the tight rope.....you know them, they work in your building and live amongst us.......they denounce violence but defend mostly peaceful protesters....they claim to support ICE but don't want them in schools, prisons , court houses or sanctuary cities.....they don't like criminals but believe every Cartel member deserves due process......they dismiss the fact that these people broke the law to get into this country.....they want to overwhelm the courts so that nobody gets deported....because secretly they are the same as the anarchists, socialist communists....but they don't have the balls to stand with them....they have a caveat for everything.....they full smug in their own half & half horseshit....they think they are Better than Maga Nation and the Far Left....they are NOT......they are the weak kneed flip floppers that consistently change their vote against whichever party is in power because they are scared to chose a side.....they proclaim to be Independents but they are the reason the Dems and Republicans keep rotating in and out of the White House....a revolving door.......well it's time to make a decision and chose a side.....the choice cannot be any more clear than it is today in LA.

side note... all these chinese nationals being arrested for smuggling biological materials , roundworms, pathogens into the country have ties to the University of Michigan...it's time start asking the tough questions......."What Did Harbaugh know, and when did he know it ?" 

It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’