The Life and Times of Jim
Hi, there. I'm Jim. Welcome to my phlog!
This site was written for Las Vegas, then LouisVille. Now, it seems to be about anywhere. In these phlogs, you'll see a lot of my personal notes and pictures. I like to post my observations here to remember life and celebrate it. I'm not religious. I don't pray for good fortune. I'm ecstatically grateful for the gift of life and I think our time should be remembered and not taken for granted. I'm not a writer. I think pictures tell stories so much better than words. I love just about everything in this life, and, I guess that would have to include you. So, if you've seen me, don't be surprised if your picture is in here somewhere. Of all the critters, people are absolutely the most interesting. 
<< 02/2005 < 01/2006 Calendar 03/2006 > 02/2007 >>Sign InView Other Logs
Thu 
02/09/2006 10:08:19
 Jim  Bloomsdale, Missouri
It snowed four inches this morning. I love the snow. The lakes, ponds, trees and roads all show a different personality. I like the towns in Missouri. They seem to be better organized than the little towns in Kentucky.
We're on our way to Branson, Missouri this afternoon.
It's interesting how much cities change from state to state.
Thu 
02/09/2006 05:52:07
 Jim  Cairo, Illinois
Once a booming river town, now the remains of the racial riots back in the 70's. I knew of the riots that wiped out this place, and was told to stay away if I valued my life. Apparently, I was told right. This town is full of cathedral churches, tall brick buildings, and a gas lit downtown. Run down victorian mansions that are over grown by foilage can be found almost any street, mostly homesteaded by vagrants. Hate and prejudice destroyed this jewel of Illinois, but its history can be seen along its cobblestoned streets.
Cape Girardeau, ILL
I guess this would be the big city between Paducah and St Louis. Its got a decent, but semi scary downtown area. We didn't stop here, haha.
Festus, ILL
The exits along the interstate are peppered with small towns having interesting names. We ate at a Ryan's buffet here. Festus has all the stores you'd find in a much larger town. They even have a Super Walmart.
Tue 
02/07/2006 08:44:13
 Jim  I got lucky. I connected!
We've been in Paducah for two days now. They said they have wireless internet, but it rarely works.
Here's a list of our adventures:
Livingston County - 3 Rivers Rock Quarry
The land where our trailer was is all quarry these days. The roads are gone too.
I wanted to see Sweet Potato Cave and the civil war cemetary. Also, there's a wall thats in the woods that was erected during the civil war, for a battle that was fought there, but you have to know where to find it. We missed all that. No road.
Livingston County - The Blue Hole
We stopped by the Blue Hole (a quarry thats now filled with water) along the Cumberland River. The road was blocked off to it, but we did get to see the old ghost town. A hillibilly looking guy with his coon dog came up and told us we wuz trespassing. Now here's the neat part - I told him who I was, and next thing uall knowd, we wuz talking bout old times. His name was Tom Joiner, and he knew the Cowans, Ruckers, Harmons, Leblancs and Ramages. Small world ain't it.
Things haven't changed at all in this backwoods country. People in the sticks still have affairs, shoot each other, and get crazy on moonshine. It was a neat conversation. I can't imagine what Becky was thinking...we talk to a hillibilly in the sticks and we know the same people.
Livingston County - The Waterfalls
Once again, you have to know where it is to see it. We drove up one lane roads to burnett and stopped by a wooden bridge. Becky and I made a path to the stream and finally made it to the falls. The waterfall is about 80' high, quite gorgious and maybe 100 people know about it. It was my treat to Becky.
Livingston County - Burna, Kentucky
On the backroads to Burna, we passed a family cemetary right next to the road. Several houses had side yards packed with old vehicles. Barns were everywhere. I can only guess what kind of crops they harvest, but, Kentucky is known for its high grade marijuana crops.
Livingston County - Burna, Kentucky (the crash site)
Back in 1971, there was an auto accident that plowed down a gas station with 7 people in front of it. I was there. Several people died. One guy was screaming with an engine on his chest. Terry and I got lucky, we were waiting in Neil Cowans car, waiting for him to take us home. Neil got hit. The car's bumper ripped half his leg off. He gave me his wallet and told me to call his wife, before he bled to death.
The restaurant/house across the street was closed. The gas station was closed too, but apparently, someone had repaired it. Ramages grocery store was wide open with two guys installing windows in the front. Old man Ramage died from a heart attack while putting wooden walls up over the blocks. They were turning it into a local flea market. We talked to the two guys, they said come on in.
Now, I wasn't looking to buy anything, BUT, on the wall, there were 5 swords that caught my eye. I bought them all, plus a decorative knife for $55, and I can't wait to sell them on EBay.
Land Between the Lakes - Grand Rivers
We drove down the backroads to Land Between the Lakes or as we liked to call it, land between the legs. It used to be proclaimed as the best area to retire. The cost of living was cheap, golfing, boating, fishing, and nice cuisine was available. That...was in a different time.
The town was quaint, but the only restaurant we found was all non smoking. Four of us walked when we heard that (almost everyone in Kentucky smokes). It was funny though, we were the only customers, and they put us on their waiting list/register.
Most of the marina's had hundreds of huge yachts. Kentucky Lake is the second largest manmade lake in the United States. However, its allure must have fallen when I24 was completed. Most of the businesses in the area are empty shells of a time thats long gone. Its hayday has past, but, I'm sure with all of this countries growth, it will be revived some day.
Back to Paducah - Calvert City
Once home to Western Kentucky's richest people. The golf range and min-golf course I helped built was levelled, however, there is evidence of it. Someone had built a barn over it, which is now a gym. I didn't go all the way to the country club, but, I believe its gone too. Highway 60 is a has been, once again, from I24 openning up new channels for commerce.
Paducah - The BBQ Buffet
Starving, we stopped at a BBQ place. The 18 y/o waitress talked with a thick Kentucky accent "They haven't learned me how to use the register yet", "Bye Yall", "See Ya Hon". The food was local and delicious.
Tue 
02/07/2006 08:33:14
 jim  Paducah,KY-TearDropSleeper
Mon 
02/06/2006 11:04:58
 jim  Burna,KY-Death Gas Station,Restaurant
Mon 
02/06/2006 10:19:40
 jim  Burna,KY-Waterfalls
Sat 
02/04/2006 20:09:36
 Jim  Memphis - but where?
Tonight, we're staying in Memphis...kind of.
There's a Memphis in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. We picked Memphis, Arkansas. We're just across the Mississippi River from the real Arkansas. The Motel 6 we're in is supposed to have wireless internet, however when I called the desk manager, she said they have it, but its not set up yet. LOL. The jokes on me. har har
Sat 
02/04/2006 07:17:27
 Jim  Trip Chronicles
We spent four days at Charles Kelly's place in Forest, MS.
Every one was friendly, and I was recognized right off the bat. Oddly enough, everyone there was drinking in the morning, and everyone asked me if I quit drinking. Its strange, to hear my ex tell me she's glad I quit drinking, while driving off at 10am with a Vodka Smirnoff between her legs. Life is full of ironies. Anyway, everyone there starts drinking at 9am.
Outside of that, we mainly sat around for 4 days at Charles's place. Charles and Renee are really nice people!
Ruth and Ricky finally came over, and we had a GREAT TIME! Lot's of laughs and smiles.
Thu 
02/02/2006 08:10:53
 Jim  Forest, Mississippi - We’re vagrants
Amongst all the hastles of packing and moving...
I missed noticing my ATM card expired on February 1st. That means I'm cash broke.
Thats going to make this a VERY interesting trip.
Technically, we're vagrants right now.
Tue 
01/31/2006 22:32:58
 Jim  Forest Mississippi - Where we got stuck
Finding Charles Kelleys place turned out to be very difficult. The one lane backroads were difficult to see at night, then my GPS went on the fritz. I pulled off the road to fix it and got stuck.
After a few minutes, I was dug down deep. I fellow pulling a trailer came by and offered his help. We unhitched his trailer, but still couldn't pull my truck out. Some one else came along. Then an off duty volunteer fireman came by. Then an off duty police officer came by. Before you could say grits, there was about 14 people there, all offering their help. I thought that was so cool.
We called Charles from a churches parking lot a quarter of a mile from where we got stuck.
The drove by us and asked us if that was us at the black church. I thought that was funny.
We followed Charles and Renee to their 7 acre plot of land with a double wide on it.
Tue 
01/31/2006 19:00:00
 Jim  Florida, Alabama and Mississippi
The coast in Florida was beautiful. Crystal clear ocean, with the whites sand beaches that I'd ever seen. We stopped at a convenience store and for the heck of it, I got some of their gumbo in a to-go cup. It was GREAT!
Alabama
Who'd guess, that the route would take us through a highway that averaged 20mph. The houses along the route were extremely dingy. Maybe there's more to Alabama than what we saw, but, I'd never go back.
Mississippi
The road improved A LOT, going across the state lines from Alabama to Mississippi. It seemed like everything changed. Meridian looked like it could have been a nice town to hang out at.
Mon 
01/30/2006 21:29:21
 Jim  Tallahasee, Florida
Monday, we stayed in Tallahassee, Fl at an interesting motel for $40 per night. In the parking lot, there were kids swinging sticks around and I thought it might be unsafe...BUT, they were students studying martial arts. Their swords were dull, 12 pounders. Walking around, I found a Sasha, Tea, Coffee house with wireless internet and a belly dancer. People buy a bowl of aromatic tobacco, and smoke it for an hour in an opium pipe. Pretty strange, but it seems to work. LOL.
Mon 
01/30/2006 00:41:16
 Jim  And by the way, it is whether you win or lose that
The only people that say "it's how you play the game that counts", are losers.
Unless I missed something, the scoreboards are full of scores, not ratings or opinion polls.
If you play by the rules, you either win or lose. If you don't play by the rules, you are cheating.
So, If you stink at golf, don't play Arnold Palmer to win.
If you play for the fun of it, play Arnold Palmer and waste his time.
Mon 
01/30/2006 00:34:27
 Jim  So do we have a destiny, or are we like feathers f
I like Forest Gumps answer, that he thought life is a little of both.
Then again, I like Skip's answer, that he didn't give a f.
Whether on not we chose to thinks so, we pick our paths in life.
Mon 
01/30/2006 00:08:29
 Jim  I don’t know what to think when I dream I can’t sl
Just woke up from a dream of me laying down, not sleeping.
A car alarm was triggered outside, and I realized I was in a pool of sweat.
Why does the temperature in this apartment vary so much?
Sun 
01/29/2006 09:38:18
 Jim  I love you Becky
We're taking off in maybe around 18 hours. Wow...I'm all jittery!
I hope this will be a great adventure. Too much snow could ruin it.
Sun 
01/29/2006 09:16:21
 Jim  Hi Renee
Great to see your alive and kicking!
Did you know calling our cell phones is a local call to you and its free to us too? Remember 20 ducks? lol
We've been either feeding our neighbors (the alligators) or getting bit by ants, or poisoned by poison ivy.
We haven't been saying much on this blog because nobody ever seems to go here anymore.
Becky and I are getting ready to visit some friends in Forrest Mississippi. They want to market this site.
I really like Mississippi for some reason, but we'll be going through Alabama and Louisiana on the way.
It should be fun!
Sat 
01/28/2006 09:52:50
 Jim  I’m going to miss Orlando

The things I thought were Excellent:
- Places: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Pleasure Island, the Cruise, Epcot, Key West, downtown.
- Terrain: trees, rain, ocean, lizards, alligators, swamps. The plant live, animals and insects here are widely diverse. 
- People: Most are very laid back. Everybody seems to treat you like a friend.
- Food: There's a restaurant on every corner. The BBQ is actually smoked meat, not just sauce on brisket.
- Businesses: A thimble collector could have a lucrative shop here.
- Driving: No one honks their horn here. Drivers here don't pay attention to the road, but they are laid back.
The things that need improvement (sucked):

- The phone system. You may have to dial phone numbers four times to satisfy the phone system.
- The news is stupid. If what the news has said is true, justice doesn't work for poor people.
  Its very irrelevent. A truck driver snoozed, rear ended some people, and the news mentions he's a sex offender. Why?
  The news was showing weapons retrived from a gang at a park here. They were knives you can buy at a 7-11.
- The justice system: 
  A sober, poor immigrant landscaper hits a 4 year old who runs out into the street. He runs.
  They catch him and give him a public defender.
  The public defender pleads him guilty. He gets life in jail for hit and run. Why weren't the parents charged?
  Any immigrant who has an accident here will have to run. They will be afraid of American justice.
  His life was ruined by the parents who let their 4 year old run around unsupervised.
  He would have gotten charged with criminal negligence no matter what he did.
- The roads, street numbers and street names are a mess.
- Most of the lakes are accessable only if you own a house on the shoreline.

Fri 
01/27/2006 11:14:43
 Jim  New Route
Sun  4am-Orlando
Mon 5pm-12hrs-1236 Pleasant Ridge,Forrest,Ms (680 miles) leave Tue 8am.
Tue 5pm-08hrs-9427 sr-dd,Bloomsdale,Mo(1181 miles) 500miles
08hrs-Lincoln,Ne(1668) 487 miles
07hrs-Cheyenne,Wy (2100 miles) 432 miles
08hrs-Salt Lake City,Ut (2541) 441 miles
04hrs-Cedar City,Ut(2793) 252 miles
03hrs-Las Vegas,Nv(2965) 172 miles
50 hours
Thu 
01/26/2006 13:53:06
 Jim  Routes
Orlando,New Orleans,Ida,St Lake City-46
Orlando,New Orleans,Houston,San Antonio,Tucson,Phoenix,Grand Canyon-46
Orlando,New Orleans,Memphis,Ida,Topeka,Denver,Albuquerque-45
Orlando,New Orleans,Ida,Oklahoma City,Albuquerque-44
Orlando,New Orleans,Houston,San Antonio,Tucson,Phoenix-41
Orlando,Ida,Oklahoma City,Albuquerque-40
Orlando,Ocala,Atlanta,Nashville,Paducah,Ida,St Louis,Kansas City,Topeka,Denver-41
Orlando,Ocala,Atlanta,Nashville,Paducah,Ida,St Louis,Oklahoma City,Albuquerque-40
Orlando,Mobile,Shreveport,New Orleans,Amarillo,Dallas,Albuquerque-37
Thu 
01/26/2006 00:57:46
 Jim  Went to Epcot Center
Very mild compared to other mega resorts, but it had its strong points.
Future World seemed outdated, but International World was very nice.
At the parks closing, they gave a spectacular fireworks display.
A 20 foot earth with a TV screen around it floated in the lake.
It showed people singing on it, then it opened up.
It was awesome!!!
Tue 
01/24/2006 23:04:54
 Jim  Insightfullness and Marketting
5.5" x 11" door knob fliers cost 4c each, in lots of 20,000 = $800.
Advertising door-to-door, its possible to hang 330 per hour per person. 660 for 2 people.
20,000 would take 60 hours to hang...or 30 hours for 2 people to hang.
Mon 
01/23/2006 04:35:43
 Jim  Sitting up, late this night.
Thinking about coming back to Vegas. Thinking about all of the favors I've done there. 
One good deed every day can add up to the thousands after years go by.
I'm saddened that I'm not worth a free phone call during the holidays.
Some think this planet might be another planets hell.
This planet is simple and beautiful. People make it hell for each other.
John Lennon couldn't spread the truth with his song (Imagine).
People just keep blowing each other up, stealing, politicing land away from others.
If only people could see, the harm they do others hurts themselves. 
We only think we are individuals. We can't see that we are components of a single life force.
Sun 
01/15/2006 00:00:00
 Jim  Martin Luther King Day
:)
Fri 
01/13/2006 19:55:56
 Jim  Sonny, check me out
Hey Sonny...check this out!!! 
It's really easy to add web pictures to the logs!
Just right click a picture on the web, select copy,
right click into your log entry's area,
right click and select paste!
Sun 
01/01/2006 06:11:20
 Jim  2006 Begins
Ringing in the New Years

Last Vegas - Over 40,000 fireworks mounted on rooftops. By far, its the largest show in the world!

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