Something New!

So, there I was today, bustin' my ass to get something finished. What was it? Another new necklace design? Hardly. I promised my nephew on my wife's side that I would make him a knife with a deer-horn handle.  I know deer have antlers, but some folks still call them "horns".

 

           Do you know the difference between "horns" and "antlers"? Horns don't fall off the animal(well, not usually), and antlers do! Don't worry, I didn't kill the donor deer...neither did my nephew. The horns(antlers) were found in the woods by him. He gave them to me to see if I could do something in the way of jewelry with them. But I came up with a better idea.

 

           Now, I took pictures of the knife before I gave it to him today. It only takes me a couple of days to make these, and now everyone wants one! I will try to post one of the photos here for you to see. It should work, I am just worried that it won't be very clear. I also included a tape-measure in the photo so you could better judge the size of the knife. I would say they are more for show than everyday use, but you could use it everyday if you wanted. I don't think it would be very comfortable to use everyday, but, you never know!

 

                       Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

Slow Week

   It seems to have been a slow week so far. Not much happening here. I would like to go fishing, but I can't seem to get away from the house. I still baby-sit for my granddaughter, also. I did go to the doctor this past Tuesday. The news wasn't good, as I knew it wouldn't be.

 

           My blood-sugar readings have crept up into the 200 and over range consistently. They say a "normal" reading for me should be in the 145 range. Mine is almost always over 200. Sometimes into the 300 range. I only want to sleep all dqay, and the thirst for water is relentless! To monitor my progress(or lack thereof), I keep a small notebook to record every reading.

 

             Looking at my notebook, it seems strange that I could actually stab my fingers and make myself bleed that many times! What is even more weird is that I could stick myself with an injection everyday! I have never willingly given myself a shot unless I was getting high! I get no return from the insulin injection, yet I do it everyday! LOL

 

              So, what does it all mean? Well, with my levels at their present readings, it causes memory loss, poor vision, what I call "hyper-thirst", and a constant feeling of being tired. I have to say that this is the single most crippiling thing that I have ever fought against. It seems that it would just be easier to give in to the disease, and just quit trying. But, unfortunatley, I seem to havee this damnable fight in me that won't give up.

 

               Maybe I went through too much in my lifetime; maybe I haven't been through enough...who the fuck knows?  If there is some "master plan" for me, I wish it would show itself. And the loss of my wife's brother to this same thing has not been wasted on me. Do I have a direction? No. Do I see a future for me right now? No, I don't. If there is a future, it is very bleak. Plus, things with the wife are strained, at best. The doctor says that high stress levels are adding to the problems with my health. She knows nothing about the problems with the wife.(My doctor is female).

 

           I want desperatlyto drink, but my insulin bottle says not to drink any alcohol at all. At this point, crawling inside a bottle is all I have left. My wife seems to not know, or not care, what she has done to me. Sometimes, I think about hurting her somehow to show her just what she has done...sometimes.

 

                                Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

Some Useful Information

 Well, I was doing a little light reading today, and found some useful info on depression and bi-polar disease. Want to see it? Ok, here goes...

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 Depression in Men - Although men are less likely to suffer from depression than women, 6 million men in the United States are affected by the illness. Men are less likely to admit to depression, and doctors are less likely to suspect it. The rate of suicide in men is four times that of women, though more women attempt it. In fact, after age 70, the rate of men’s suicide rises, reaching a peak after age 85.

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       If you look, it says that "after age 70, the rate of men's suicide rises". Shit! If I make it to 70, you can bet I will be VERY HAPPY! I didn't know that people that old contemplated suicide, much less carried it out! I guess you just never know.

 

               I do know one thing...I got this diesease from my mom's side of my family. Well, at least she gave me something I didn't have to steal or take for myself! My real dad had a couple of brothers that were mildly retarded, but not much else in the way of mental illness in his family. As  an added bonus, my dad always seemed to have his head on pretty straight.  He might not have been much for raising kids (my mom's words), but he was always a straight shooter, and you have to respect that.

 

            Besides, I have always only heard my mom's side of things. Who knows, the old man might just have remained silent so he wouldn't have to talk about my mom. If that is the case, then that is a class act in anyone's book, and you have to salute that! Anyway, just some random thoughts and musings from the old Dragonmaster today! Be cool, everyone.

 

                          Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

A Quiet Day

 I sit here alone today. My wife and daughter are out with another wife and daughter team. They say they are shopping. Well, there goes the budget! But all is cool, I have my hobbies, and some peace and quiet for awhile. Till later, minions!

 

                         Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

Will We Ever Learn?

 It is with a heavy heart that I write today. By now, all of you have heard of the shooting at Virginia Tech College. Thirty two people dead, along with the shooter; he chose to take his own life.  Why? Even as mean and evil as  I am, I can never condone the taking of a human life. Yesterday, I was once again embarassed to be human. Killing on this kind of scale is just too much. A friend of mine put it just right..."this is beyond the scope of what is right in our minds, therefore, it is hard to comprehend".

 

            I must agree with that. I just can't find any way to justify something like this. There is no reason for things like this to happen. Now we have the people on the news saying "he was a loner, no friends, and he kept to himself". What? Again? Another guy who was a "loner", and "had no friends"? Doesn't this sound familiar? Seems like we hear it every time something like this happens.

 

                Are some people just destined to "go ballistic" at any time? Is there nothing that we can do? Sadly, the answer is no, we can't. There is currently no system in place where we can say, "hey, that person is a loner, and could be potentially dangerous in the future". We just cannot lock people up for the things that they may be thinking...and I would never support something like that. The reason? You would not like what you can find in my mind at any given time! And, I am sure that YOU have had your moments, also. See how that works?

 

               Please, tell someone how much you care for them...you are not promised tomorrow, or any other day for that matter.

 

                         Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

You're Kiddin' Me, Right?

 So, Mr. Imus was fired by CBS...hmmm, let's look at that for a moment, shall we? And, yes, before I am finished, there will be blood. Mostly that of CBS, and a few others. That is figuratively speaking, of course.

 

              To Mr. Imus I say this...fuck 'em! I will show how CBS has a large double standard, and Mr. Imus can rest easy in the knowledge that he has not committed nearly as bad a faux pas as the heads at CBS. He should never have been fired; hell, he should have been rewarded!

 

                So, let's look at just what Mr. Imus said. He said, and I am paraphrasing here, that the Rutgers women's basketball team was a bunch of "nappy-headed hos". I need to take a minute here to agree with him. Who the fuck even pays attention to women's basketball? Ahhh, quit getting pissed off! Righteous indignation just doesn't work with me. If anyone thought seriously about women's basketball, then they would be pulling down millions of dollars, just like their male counterparts! Since they aren't, shut up.

 

             Now, to continue. Doesn't CBS own several recording labels? Yes, they do. Do some of those recording labels include hip-hop, and rap music? Yes, they do. Do people in rap music use "hos", "bitches", "sluts", and other derogatory terms for women? Yes, they do. So, for CBS, it is ok for rappers to do it, but not a white man to do it...pay close attention here, it gets far worse!

 

             Let's say I go outside my home and use the "N Word" to refer to a black man. Well, fuck me, I just commited a hate crime. Let the same black man say that word, and it is ok. As a matter of fact, let that black man call me a "cracker", "honkey", "white-bread", or something along those lines, and it is ok. What the fuck? I'll tell you what it is...Political Correctness. That bastion of the fucking liberals! I am not much into politics, but even I know that the dammed liberals are killing America!

 

              Look, stop with the damn double standard! If one type of person insults another, don't impose harsher punishment on the one over the other. Make it a level playing field. If I attack a black man, it is a hate crime here. If, however, the black man attacks me, it is just an assault! That is pure bullshit! If I attack someone, it is because THEY FUCKED UP! I have no feelings toward them one way or the other, except for that moment when they fucked up. And besides, I still don't hate them, I am too busy kicking their ass to hate them!!!

 

              And, while we are at it, why do black people nearly always riot, and burn things down when they don't get their way? Don't believe me? Remember Rodney King? How do you think O.J. got off with two murders? The police and mayor of L.A. didn't want a repeat of the Rodney King riots! You know it as well as I do. What about the riots in Watts, back in the sixties? What about Memphis, Tenn. in 1968 after Martin Luther King was killed? I lived in Memphis at the time. Martin Luther King was NOT a man of peace! Memphis was very nearly burned to the ground!!! Man of peace my Aunt Sadie! Hell, they even brought in the Military to stop the burning, looting, and rioting! Doesn't sound like a man of peace to me.

 

              There are also two protaganists in the world of black leaders that need to go away. You know who they are as well as I do. Reverend Al Sharpton, and Reverend Jesse Jackson. These men have repeatedly made far too much of nothing, and played to the media to hype things up. These two men need to step down, and shut the fuck up! We should NEVER hear from these two assholes ever again!

 

            Do I hate black people? Not really. I am just trying to make the point that white people bend over backwards to pacify them, and we only get kicked in the ass for it! Look at what they do in their own neighborhoods. They kill each other like it is nothing! They deal drugs, even to their own! People will read this and say that I hate black people...I could care less. But, I am sick and tired of the double standard. Just be fair, not one sided.

 

                                Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

You Might Be A Redneck.....

 Funny as it sounds, I am occasionally reminded just why I moved back here years ago. Whether it is the quiet lifestyle I lead, or the option to pick up a gun and go hunting whenever I want, or the simple pleasure of just going fishing within five minutes of my home. There are any number of reasons for moving here being a good idea. Yesterday was no exception. Although strange to some of you, what happened yesterday was quite normal for this part of the world.

 

           My driver's license expired on Tuesday, the tenth of April, because of my birthday. My wife's license will expire next Tuesday, the seventeenth. So, we decided to drive the fifty miles(one way) to have our licenses renewed. Having secured our licenses, and endured waiting in a room where everyone was a cop(quite naturally, I don't like cops!), we were headed home. As we came through one of the small towns(population of about 300), I noticed a police car in front of us. It was a "plain" cop car. So plain that they stand out! I told my wife not to get too close to him, when his brake lights suddenly came on.

 

               Well, he stopped, right in the middle of the highway. I was about to lament at how the cops mess with everybody, when, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a small, black figure in the road. It was coming from the left side, and going all the way across the highway. Cat? No. Dog? No. Child? No. It was a damn CHICKEN!!! A cop, and ALL THE TRAFFIC BEHIND HIM, stopped to let a damn chicken cross the road!!!

 

                  As my wife continued on driving, I pondered out loud, "so, why DID the chicken cross the road"? To which my wife answered, "to hold up traffic for a couple of seconds"! The chicken made it to the other side, unmolested by any of man's horrible machines, and everyone had a good laugh! And, I hope you had one, too.

 

                           Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

How Far We Have Come...

 A long time ago, forty seven years back, as a matter of fact, a small child was brought into this world. He came in kicking and screaming, I am sure, as most children do. His future looked to be in question. Born in a convent, his natural father nowhere to be found. Four other children would follow him from this woman.

 

            At 11:00 pm that night, this child came into the world. He was small for a baby, or so I have been told. His first few years of life were tough, but then he wasn't the only one to see hard times. You see, in the Ozark mountains in Missouri, life is always tough. Only the strong survive there. I know, I have lived there. I beat the mountains, and I left there.

 

            The child I speak of is me. Today is my birthday. It was me that came into this world kicking and screaming forty seven years ago, and I have not shut up since! Nor will I. Only death will silence my voice. And that doesn't look likely anytime soon. I could be wrong, I have been before. If I have learned anything in my years on this rock, it is to expect the "unexpected". For those of you who knew what today was and "hollered" at me, thank you. It means alot to me that someone actually acknowledges that I exist.

 

              I think that if I were silenced, and could not speak out, I would explode. I will always speak my mind. And, oh yeah, I am STILL SMOKE-FREE!!! That makes just over three years without a smoke. Yes, it is hard at times, but I just tell myself that I never want to go through quitting again. And, as an added bonus, my diabetes seems to have settled down some. I can finally get some consistant numbers on the blood-sugar tests.

 

                                    Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

I CAn't Win??

 I have noticed a strange trend these days. Kids who play games at school can never lose. Consequently, they can never win, either! What the fuck? If you ask a teacher just what the hell is going on, you get one standard answer from ANY teacher..."we don't want anyone getting their feelings hurt".

 

          What!?!? What?!?! What about the kids that did "better" than the others? Don't you think that taking their victory from them "hurts their feelings"? Who the fuck came up with this shit? When I was a kid, if you lost, you tried harder. You didn't cry about it, you simply did better the next time, or you faced defeat like a man. The other guy did better and he won, fair and square!

 

              I don't think you are helping a child this way. I think you are only setting them up for large disappointments later in life. No one gives you anything in this life. If you get anything, you work for it, or take it, plain and simple! The only thing that you are given is a name, the rest you work for.

 

                I hear you out there. You are saying that I let my girls win at things when they were little...you couldn't be anymore wrong! I taught BOTH girls to play chess. Now, do you really think that they would have learned ANYTHING by letting them win all the time? Even video games. IF I could beat them, I did. It was a rare thing, but sometimes I did win. They lost, they tried harder the next time.

 

                What are we saying to the kids that "win"?  "Well, you did good, but you just can't win, winning is reserved for grown-ups"?  The world is a hard place, and there are no places for those that "do good". The world takes everything from you that it can. Let's not let it snatch victory from those that win. Hell, I have lost before and kept my dignity. I don't think that would have been possible if the other guy had his victory taken from him. You can LEARN from losing, and you can GROW because of it!

 

                                 Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

Bikers vs. Sopranos

  I have recently started watching "The Sopranos". As most of you already know, the sopranos is, or was, a program specific to HBO. I prefer Showtime Networks. Hence, I have never seen the Sopranos. These guys are really cool. Shut up, already. I hear the grumbling in the back. But DragonMaster, the sopranos kill people... only those that deserve it, my minions.

 

           The likeness of the Sopranos to Bikers is not lost on me. How can they be like Bikers? Loyalty, Brotherhood, Soldiers, willing to die for each other. Although the "real" gangsters in the news everyday seem to have trouble with keeping their mouths shut, Tony's boys have no such problems. except for one...

 

               Pussy. Big Pussy as he is known on the show. I think it is ironic that "Pussy" is screwing Tony! Wearing a wire for the F.B.I. Don't worry, I happen to know that Big Pussy goes for a one-way boat ride later on in the series. He gets what he deserves; there is no place for rats in Tony's organization. And this rat can't swim!!!

 

                The idea of a "made guy" seeing a shrink! And now, his shrink is seeing a shrink!!!! That is too much! I never knew a Biker to see a shrink. Unless it was to try to get out of something.

 

                 The Sopranos, like Bikers, are into all kinds of things, extortion, drugs, loan-sharking, insurance scams, you name it. I have never known a Biker to kidnap anyone, but I am sure it has happened; I just never met anyone personally who did it. I have told you just some of the things I was into in my time with the Bikers that I grew up with. The truth is, I can never tell ALL, it would put some people in jeapordy; and not "civvies", either. I am talking about "Brothers". Brothers who would not hesitate to "do away" with a rat in their midst.

 

              Tony's guys, like Bikers,(with the exception of "Pussy"), are fiercely loyal, and I can relate to that. So they talk a little funny, doesn't everyone? Hey, who could forget "Paulie"? If I needed a stand-up guy along with me, I would take Paulie every time! Paulie is a true soldier for the "family". He DOES...he never questions, he just DOES. That is a stand-up guy. Biker or Mob Guy, he gets the job done.

 

                              Holla' If You Hear Me!!!

Kids, They do Grow up...

  Last week, my oldest daughter went wild turkey hunting one morning before going to work. She went with her boss, and she had a blast. I taught her many years ago how to use various wild animal calls. She never paid any attention to what I was showing her, or at least it seemed that way...

 

               She is able to call male turkeys (called "gobblers") at will. She can use a slate call, a reed call, or a shaker call. She can even use an old wooden "box" call. Most hunters will tell you that the box call is one of the hardest to master. I know it was for me. Funny thing is, when she was just a little squirt, she favored the box call over anything else!

 

             I know, you want to know if she got a turkey...no, she didn't. She saw a large male, but didn't get a clean shot. She knows that no clean shot means NO SHOT AT ALL. I will never condone taking shots that only wound game animals. She goes by that rule as much as I do. Now for some of you, you may be thinking that hunting is a horrible thing to do.

 

                I can assure you that we don't hunt for "trophies". Any game animal killed here is used for food, and for anything else that can be used from the animal. Nothing is wasted here. So, what was the point of this short, but interesting, story? Just when you think your kids aren't paying any attention to you, believe me, some of what you are doing or teaching sinks into their heads. Which brings up an interesting idea; be VERY CAREFUL what you teach them. The wrong things could come back to bite you in the ass! Take care of each other, and I will be back with more!!

 

                            Holla' If You Hear Me!!!