Topps American Heritage.

To borrow a phrase from Monty Python, "And now for something completely different." After 2 very personal posts let's delve into a light-hearted subject. Topps has just released an American Heritage set. They have been doing Heritage sets for the last few years, putting modern players on the designs of their past cards. I have always liked these. Now they have gone one step further. This set takes historical figures, authors, industrialists, explorers, ect. and put then into a 150 card set. 25 of the cards cover the past election and those cards are short printed, meaning there are less of them. I like sets like this. It is small and fairly easy to get. Being a history buff I also enjoy it from that aspect. There are a few cards here of people that I was not aware of. I like researching things so I am going to expand my knowledge. If you are interested here is a total overview of the set from the blog Cardboard Junkie.

I selected the John Deere card because it reminded me of growing up on the farm. Motorcycle enthusiasts can identify a Harley-Davidson just from the sound. Farm boys are the same way with John Deere tractors. Dad always preferred Allis-Chalmers and International Harvester over John Deere, but there were enough around that we soon learned what the sound was.

There is also a set for the Presidents. They used the Topps 1952 card design for them. They are randomly packed. I hope to eventually get a full set. I currently have John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Grover Cleveland(second term0, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. Right now on eBay you can find the President Obama card going for as much as $54.95. I will wait for the price to go down. I also got a redemption card for a Jesse Ventura relic card. I am not exactly sure what it will turn out to be. I redeemed the card on-line and was told by Topps that I would receive the card by May 22. I will scan and post it here when it arrives.

I did have a winner of the trivia question from Thursday's post. My friend Jason from the Captain Comics board new about the song 200 Years.

Travis was right about yesterday's question. The answer is true.

This weekends question is Grade 2/English.

How many adjectives are in the following sentence? "David takes good care of his hairy dog."

I got overconfident and missed this one. 24-8.

Dirty Laundry.

When I did my entry yesterday there were two items that I debated about putting in there. I could have easily replaced them but I decided to leave them in. When I started this blog I thought I would basically review comic books and talk about my baseball cards. I never intended to reveal as much about me that I have, but I like doing it. It is almost therapy for me and the cost of it makes my inner Jack Benny very happy. The two items need a little more information. The two of course were:

7. My daughters do not speak to me.

8. I have 5 grandchildren. 2 of them I have not seen since my wife's funeral. The other 3 I have not seen in over 5 years.

My daughters share the same birthday but were born 3 years apart. I am not sure why my oldest is ignoring me. She lives in Illinois so we do have a distance barrier. I believe part of the problem is guilt. She did not speak to her mother often while she was alive, and I think talking to me drives it home. That is purely speculation on my part. My son lives here in Georgia and talks to her occasionally. I have told him to have her call but I am still waiting. My oldest daughter has three children, but they are not living with her. She was married twice, having a son with her first husband and a boy and a girl by her second. My grandchildren by her second husband are the ones I have not seen since the funeral.

I know why my youngest daughter is upset with me. It is because I was living with the one who left in the middle of the night. What offended her was she was older than the one who left. I guess to have made her happy I should have gone into a monastery. Had I got with that one shortly after my wife had died she would have been justified. I waited 4 years. My life did not end that day. I am sorry she can't see that but that is life. I would love to have them all back into my life, but I am not going to force myself on them. My door is always open to them. I just hope they take advantage of it before it is too late.

Now you probably know more about me than you ever cared to learn. While thinking about this post last night a joke came to mind.

A preacher is trying to stir up his congregation. He delivers a powerful message about confession and how it is good for the soul. When he is done he challenges the congregation to confess aloud.
One of the men jumps up and says, "Preacher. I have had a struggle with alcohol. Now that you all know you can all help me keep away from the bottle."
The preacher says, "That's great. Now someone else tell us."
Another man jumps up and says, "Preacher. I have a problem with lust. I have been lusting after my secretary. When I go to work tomorrow I will change secretary's and purge that lust."
The preacher says, "Now you people are getting into the spirit. Someone else get up and tell us."
A man jumps up and says, "Preacher, I had sex with a goat."
Dead silence falls over the congregation. The preacher looks at the man and says, "Whoa brother. I don't believe I'd have told that."

My question about Henry Gibson was to obscure. Henry was one of the stars of Robert Altman's movie Nashville. Altman had all the stars write a song. Henry's was called 200 Years. The lyrics for the song are:

My mother's people came by ship
And fought at Bunker Hill
My daddy lost a leg in France
I have his medal still
My brother served with Patton
I saw action in Algiers
Oh we must be doin' somethin' right
To last 200 years.

I pray my sons won't go to war
But if they must, they must.
I share our country's motto
And in God I place my trust.
We may have had our ups and downs
Our times of trials and fears.
But we must be doin' somethin' right
To last 200 years.

I've lived through two depressions
And seven Dust Bowl droughts
Floods, locusts and tornadoes
But I don't have any doubts.
We're all a part of history
Why Old Glory waves to show
How far along we've come 'til now
How far we've got to go.

It's been hard work but every time
We get into a fix
Let's think of what our children faced
In two - ought - seven - six.
It's up to us, to pave the way
With our blood and sweat and tears.
For we must be doin' somethin' right
To last 200 years.

I'll see if I can come up with another contest for that card.
The answer to yesterdays question was Sherwood Forest of course.
Today's question is Grade 4/Geography:

True or false? Meridians measure degrees of longitude.

I guessed on this one and guessed right. 24-7.

200 Posts, 25 Things, And A Contest.

If you have noticed, I try to match my pictures with the content of my blog. This is my 200th post. The picture you see is Henry Gibson, who appeared on Laugh-In. Henry has a connection with the number 200. What is it? This is my contest. The first person who answers this actually gets something. What, you ask? That will be revealed at the bottom of this post, after the Fifth Grader question. Some of my friends have been posting lists of 25 things about themselves. Here is mine.


1. I read J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy every 2 years.

2. The Lord Of The Rings movies are my favorite movies, but Gettysburg is a close second.

3. I never dated in High School.

4. When I am home I rarely sit down and watch television or a movie. I have it on but am usually doing something else too.

5. I am a great procrastinator.

6. I have three children that were part of the package deal with my wife. They were 7, 6, and 4 when we married.

7. My daughters do not speak to me.

8. I have 5 grandchildren. 2 of them I have not seen since my wife's funeral. The other 3 I have not seen in over 5 years.

9. I spent 16 years cleaning in hospitals and nursing homes.

10. My senior year in High School I was a sports reporter. I wrote about every game or event for the local newspaper.

11. I always wanted to be a writer.

12. My favorite television show is Babylon 5. My second favorite is Ellery Queen, which starred Jim Hutton.

13. I am a die-hard Cubs fan and have been since 1969.

14. I don't watch or listen to sports, I just follow the results.

15. I was married for almost 22 years, lived with someone for 4, and have been dating a woman for over a year now.

16. I like all kinds of music, but my favorite is classic rock.

17. I have attended 3 concerts in my life. I saw Harry Chapin, Barry Manilow, and Blue Oyster Cult, and spent less than $20 to see all three.

18. The movie I saw the most times in a theater was Grease.

19. I have lived in Mason City, Illinois; Springfield, Illinois; Hanover Park, Illinois; Auburn, Illinois; and Calhoun, Georgia.

20. When I was 13 my hands were frostbit.

21. I broke my arm when I was 4.

22. I cut out newspaper clippings and glue them on a sheet of paper, forming something like a magazine. I make copies and send to a friend in Auburn, Illinois.

23. I tried smoking and drinking after I turned 21. I have not smoked since then and I very rarely drink.

24. Outside of where I have lived, I have visited Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

25. I have never seen the ocean, but I hope to change that this year.
The answer to yesterday's question was true. Today's question is Grade 4/Literature.

Where did Robin Hood live?

Another easy question for me. My total is 23-7. The prize for my contest is a Superman embossed foil card from the Superman Returns movie. The scan isn't great but it looks like this.

Looking At The News.

Three stories in the news caught my attention. The first was the woman who had 8 babies. This article says cash wasn't her motivation for having the babies. She has a spokesman, but was not looking to cash in when she decided to use in-vitro and have 8 babies. Who is this spokesman, Rod Blagojevich? My favorite part was the last line in the story where the spokesman did say there have been movie and other media offers, but it is too early to discuss how much money she might receive. The woman now has 14 children and is not married. I think the medical community needs to look at the ethics involved here. First of all, she already had 6 children. Why on earth did they put 8 embryos inside her? How did she pay for it? Most parents, when multiple births are involved, do get freebies. Usually they get diapers, baby food, and other baby accessories. Manufacturers are hesitating here. They are afraid of a backlash if they help. We will see what happens.

The banks still don't get it. They were bailed out, yet continue to reward employees as if they did a good job. Wells Fargo was going to treat their employees with 12 days in Las Vegas, including a private Jimmy Buffet concert. What were they rewarding them for, running the company into the ground? The government gave them $25 billion. They shouldn't even have rated a Happy Meal at McDonalds let alone a Las Vegas vacation. Unfortunately it took criticism to wake them up.

The last item took place in Russia. It is another example of why excessive drinking is a bad idea. It seems this man came across a raccoon and he decided to get intimate with it. The raccoon objected and bit off the offending appendage. I wonder if Lorena Bobbit ever considered that?

Tomorrow is my 200th post which will have 25 things about me and a contest with an actual prize.
Travis took the 50-50 chance and got it right. The answer was true.

Today's question is another true-false one. Grade 1/Math.

True or false? The sum of two whole numbers is always another whole number.

I got this one. I am now 22-7.

Mr. Ego.

Manny Ramirez has always had a certain aura about him. He is an extremely talented baseball player, but as a team player he has a less than stellar reputation. He has spent most of his career in the American League with the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox decided last year that they could live without him. He became a free agent at the end of the season and the Red Sox did not want to pay him what they knew he would be asking so the traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers last July 31 as part of a three team deal. the Pittsburgh Pirates were the third team in that deal. I think Manny felt that a lot of teams would be jumping at the chance to sign him. Spring training is coming and Manny is still unsigned. The Dodgers offered him a one year deal for $25 million. Manny's agent, Scott Boras, called it "a suggestion." I would take that suggestion in a heart beat. It is believed Manny wants a 4 year contract, but teams aren't in a hurry to commit that kind of money for 4 years, especially considering Manny is 36. I am sure eventually he will sign, but he had better come down on his price soon. Maybe he hasn't heard about the recession.

I have decided to combine the 25 things post with my 200th post, so you will see it Thursday.
Travis was correct. Punxsutawney Phil is in Pennsylvania.

Today's question is Grade 5/Math.

True or false? Zero is an integer.

I knew this one. I am now 21-7.

Quick Cards 2.

Originally I was going to post a list of 25 things about me. I will be doing that later. I am a slow typist and it was taking me longer to do than I wanted to spend on it today. Monday is the day where as soon as I get off at Wal-Mart I head for Taco Bell so naturally I am a little tired. I also am rapidly approaching my 200th post and I am going to do something special for that.

This card is another of Upper Deck's Yankee Stadium cards. I love the picture here. 1944 was not one of the Yankees better years. They had a largely no name team because of the war. They finished third in the American League, 6 games behind the St. Louis Browns. That was the Browns only pennant in St Louis, although they had more success after moving to Baltimore in 1954. This card represents the game played on September 16 when the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Yankees 6-3. I now have almost 100 of these cards. Someone has put the entire set together and he will get his own baseball card in the 2009 Upper Deck set. If I get that card I will scan and post it.
Jeff, Travis, and Mike all answered correctly, France did indeed give us the Statue Of Liberty.
Today's question is Grade 3/Social Studies.

Today is Groundhog Day. In what state does famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil look for his shadow?

Incidentally, if Phil is correct we get 6 more weeks of winter. I got this one and am now 20-7.

More Changes.

I mentioned a little bit ago that we were playing musical managers at Wal-Mart. The game continues. Our store manager and district manager have "stepped down". Of course that is the polite way of saying they were kicked out. They have not been fired, just demoted. Our store manager is going to a store in Dalton, and I don't know what is going to happen to the district manager. I knew we had been getting a lot of company from the regional office lately. I finally figured out what is going on. Yesterday the Wal-Mart CEO, Lee Scott retired. The new CEO is shaking everything up and the higher ups are covering their posteriors by dumping on those under them. I am so glad that I have turned down the management offer that I had.

In this economy the pressure is on. I am sure they will be pushing us harder. I am up for it but I am not sure about some of my co-workers. More changes will be coming I am sure. I'll let you know when the do.

The answer to Friday's question was a staff.

Today 's question is Grade 2/U.S. History.

The Statue Of Liberty was a gift to the United States from what country?

A) England
B) Spain
C) France

An easy one for me. 19-7.