if i could have SANTA bring me

[C.O.B.]

Ive had a revelation. IF Santa could bring me something it would be a snow blower I have just finished shoveling the driveway again and have been enjoying my morning coffee with 800mg of Motrin and a heating pad it's amazing one can work up a sweat at a balmy 2 degrees

[Dean Romig]

Keep at it Rich.... It'll keep you young.

As they say - "At our age, anything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

Ya,...right!

[C.O.B.]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Keep at it Rich.... It'll keep you young.

No thanks, Iv'e worked to long and to hard at becoming old and crusty

[wayne goerres]

Hang in there. Global warming may take care of the problem for you. Than you wont have to waist your wish on a snow blower and you can wish for another parker.

[OLD GEEZER]

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. This was posted on another Forum with thanks to Tom Carter and Dr. Drew Hause


The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts...
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "It’s really all right."

"I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me."

"My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am."

"I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat."

"I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."


LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq
__________________

[C.O.B.]

Thomas THANK YOU for sharing that. We must NEVER forget our brave men and women who fight for our freedoms every day and give up their time with family and all to often give us the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom.

[OLD GEEZER]

Charlie: I didn't mean to hi jack your tread. Thomas

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Thomas,

I think you put the frosting on this cake!

Mark

[OLD GEEZER]

Charlie: I see that I misspelled Thread but you will have to forgive me for my Norwiegen starts to take over. I learned that from my dad. the measurement thirty three and a third was pronounced tirty tree and a tird. Uff Da Thomas

[StubTwist]

Originally Posted by Thomas L. Benson Sr.

Charlie: Norwiegen starts to take over. I learned that from my dad. the measurement thirty three and a third was pronounced tirty tree and a tird.

I have heard that accent growing up. My grandfather came here to the USA from Sweden at the age 16 who could not utter a single word of English. Swedes could not pronounce the letters TH either...

"Okay tden" was something he would commonly say when finishing a conversation.