HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Whether you're having turkey with all the trimmin's, greasy pizza or a plain ol' bologna sandwich, ENJOY!

DO YOU REMEMBER ...

November 14 ...


1851 - Herman Melville’s book Moby-Dick ("The Whale") was first published in New York City by Harper & Brothers.

1943 - Ernie Nevers of the St. Louis Cardinals became the first professional football player to score six touchdowns in a single game.

1961 - The Elvis Presley film "Blue Hawaii" premiered.

1967 - The Monkees received a gold record for Daydream Believer.

1969 - Apollo 12 blasted off for the moon from Cape Kennedy, FL.

1969 - Number 1 on the music charts - To See My Angel Cry (Conway Twitty)

1972 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 1,000 (1,003.16) level for the first time.

1979 - U.S. President Carter froze all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks abroad in response to the taking of 63 American hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran.

1991 - U.S. and British authorities announced indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

1991 - Thomas McIlvane fatally shot four workers at the Royal Oak, MI, Post Office before killing himself. He had been fired from the location.

THE COUNTDOWN'S ON ....

Two days to go!! Hallalujah!!

Have you gotten the endless calls? I've gotten recordings from Darrel McGraw, John McCain, Shelly Moore Capito, Anne Barth ... even invites to meet Hillary & Bill Clinton!

I will miss the pollsters who call constantly. I've lied to every single one of them. I've lied about my age, I've lied about my income level, I've lied about who I'm voting for. Right now, there's an NBC poll that has Obama winning with 52%, McCain trailing at just 48%. I wonder how many of those polled people lied?

SNOW IN THE FORECAST!

OK, so it's not so really for our area, but still ...

Less than 2 weeks to go before all the campaign commercials give way to Christmas ads.

And the world goes 'round & 'round & 'round ...

GIMME THE BEAT

For a brief moment (or 90), gas was $2.25 yesterday in Elkview.

Last week, Clay County was on the news for honoring a fallen soldier. This week, we were back in the news for our new Peppy Le'Pew school. Halloween's right around the corner - maybe enough soap on the windows will help.

Another few weeks & the campaigns commercials will be over. What commercials get bumped so those can take their place?

Peak season for fall colors is upon us - the temperature is supposed to be in the 80s again today. Reckon we'll get snow this year?

Some Gave All

As I type this, another American Hero is on his way home for the last time. There won't be any welcome home parties, there won't be any celebrating, there won't be tears of joy. There will be a lot of sorrow, a lot of pomp and circumstance, a lot of media coverage, a lot of opportunity lost as yet another young life is given for The Cause.

What price, this Cause? Are we, as a country, better off for the loss of this young man? Absolutely. Would his parents agree that the price was worth the cost? Is their pride in him enough to fill the void his loss has left behind? In the darkest hours of tonight, in the coming days and weeks, in the years ahead without him, will that pride sustain them? I sincerely hope it at least brings them comfort.

I sat down here to talk about what a beautiful day it is & how flinging open my windows & letting in the fresh, clean air immediately takes me back to 1970 something & memories of being a carefree kid. It's funny how something as simple as the smell of Fall can do that.

Somehow, though, I got off on a tangent (as I'm apt to do). Sgt. Nicholas isn't the first to die for his country; he won't be the last. The question is, how many is enough? How many men and women have to die before we say, "No more"? World peace isn't attainable; inner peace is. What's it going to take for us to let that be enough?

Deepest condolences to the family of Jamie Nicholas. Thank you for your sacrifice.

HAPPY FALL!!

Throw open the windows &

get out the comfy cushions for the porch chairs!

Fall is here!!

The Next Day ....

Bank of America's buying Merrill Lynch ... Lehman Brothers is filing for bankruptcy ... Baer Sterns is no more ... Banks that survived over 100 years & a coupla world wars are gone, gone, gone.

A commuter train engineer in California killed 25 people & injured over 100 more because he was allegedly text messaging with a teenager ...

Hurricane Ike is nothing but a breeze ... search & rescuers are finding more & more people who refused to evacuate ... Galveston, Texas is barely clinging to the map ...

OPEN FORUM

- Another 2 months & all the campaigns will be over. We'll either have a young black guy & an old dude in the White House or an old dude & a young white woman. Either way, history's in the making. Isn't history always in the making?

- Hurricane season's in full swing. There's a reason I live in a mountainous, land-locked area. Unlike a couple of my brothers ...

- School's back in session with only faculty senate days as holidays until November.

- It's almost time for the Apple Festival! Otherwise known as Old Home Week around here.

- What's going on in *your* world?

WOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!

BACK TO SCHOOL!!

The first day of school is always met with mixed emotions. First it was dropping those babies off for the first time & leaving them in the hands of virtual strangers. Then it was putting them on the bus for the first time. Then it was ... always something. This year, I have a high schooler for the first time. A high schooler & a 7th grader. Good grief. Where has the time gone?

Best of luck to all the kids for a great year! Even better luck to all the teachers -

WE'RE WATCHING YOU.

BAHAHAHAHAHA LOL